comfort The Scripture tells us Psal. 16. That in God's presence there will be a fullness of joy and by consequence there can be no scantiness of enjoyments but pleasures for evermore yea a River of Pleasures nay a bottomless and boundless Ocean of them the Infinite and Eternal God must himself be exhausted before the delights and pleasures of Heaven can be spent Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath entred into the heart of man what God in the Mansions above hath prepared and reserved for them that love him There is a feast of Love a Crown of Life and Robes of Glory There is Abraham's Bosom and the joy of their Lord which is too big to enter into them therefore they shall enter into it and be filled encompassed and swallowed up by it as a small Vessel in the Sea When once the gracious Soul hath set foot upon that coelestial Countrey and made its entrance into that stately and magnificent Palace of the great King he shall be not only filled with satisfaction but likewise rapt up into astonishment and highest admiration What am I that God hath brought me hitherto And what were all my services that they should be thus rewarded Oh how light and inconsiderable doth he now think all his former sorrows and sufferings if compared with that far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory What low thoughts will he then have of the Skin-deep beauties and transitory delights here below on which the besotted Children of men do so foolishly dote And with what an holy scorn and indignation will he call to mind that pains men did take for and that eagerness with which they did pursue the trifling vanities of the Earth and how they scrambled for them and quarrel'd about them And oh how doth he wish and long for that blessed day in which the Church militant shall be made triumphant and all his gracious Friends all his Brethren and Sisters in Christ all the chosen and beloved of God shall be taken up to the same place that they may see what he sees and be possest of that which he enjoys That so they may altogether contemplate the glory of God and be satisfied with the fruition of him and endear admire and extol Father Son and Spirit unto all Eternity Lay all these things together and you will easily see that there is great yea abundant reason why those that have seen Gods Salvation should be willing yea desirous to depart in peace and to take their flight into the other world And now I come to shut up this discourse with some application And in the first place this serves to shew us what it is that above all things should engage and draw out the vigour and strength of our desires namely the sight of Gods Salvation My Brethren I beseech you frequently to consider that we must all die there is no shift for it Death will not be bribed and it cannot be avoided It is appointed for all men once to die by a Statute-Law enacted in Heaven which admits of no repeal The aged Father of this Family is now gone and the youngest Child here must follow him sooner or later And is it not good for us to prepare for Death Will it not be our Wisdom Will your Wisdom more eminently discover it self in any thing than in this That so this King of Terrours may not be terrible unto you that you may not fear him but rejoyce in him you will die uncomfortably this is past all dispute you will die unhappily if you die unpreparedly Oh the horrour that will sieze an awakened sinner upon a Death-Bed When he shall think thus my glass is run my time is spent I must die but alas I am not fit to die I must now appear before my Judges but I have not made my peace Now then go on and consider what is to be done by you in order to this preparation A Life of vanity and folly will not fit you the more you sin the more you sharpen the sting of Death An eager minding the World and pursuing the delights of that will not fit you the more you have indulged your self in a course of prophaneness the more afraid you will be to die and the more you have set your hearts upon the Creatures the more loath and unwilling you wil be to die when you come to die the love of the World will make you unwilling to leave it and Conscience of sin and guilt will make you tremble at the thoughts of appearing before God Turn away your Eyes then from beholding vanity and pray that they may be opened to see Gods Salvation Oh study Christ get an intimate acquaintance with him Beg of God to reveal him to you and in you that you may know him whom to know is life eternal and never rest quiet nor contented till you have seen him by an Eye of Faith and laid hold upon him by an hand of Faith as one that loved you and gave himself for you and have a care that there be not a deceptio visus mistake in the case but look to this that your sight be saving and the Faith you pretend to the Faith of Gods Elect that you may upon good grounds such as the Scriptures will warrant appropriate him to your selves as your Lords and Gods and Saviour Rest not in any thing till you find and feel Christ living and commanding in you his Image drawn upon you his Law written in your hearts and his Spirit poured out Take not up with a verbal profession formal duties and unblameable Conversation common convictions and some stirrings and flushes of affection All this may be and all come to nothing Hypocrites may go so far and yet they do not go far enough but after all fall short of Heaven It is not the form of Godliness that will avail you but the power not a name to live but the life it self God is not taken with empty shews and appearances he is for reality and truth in the inward parts You can take but little comfort from Christ dying without you unless you find Christ formed and living in you notwithstanding the Death of Christ you may be for ever lost and damned unless you be made partakers of his Life Remember and consider that expression Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of glory When Christ dwells in you by Faith when he is in you by his Spirit and by his Graces then and not till then is there a firm Foundation laid on which you may build the hope of glory For hope so grounded is good hope such as shall never make ashamed Vse 2. The second use will be of Reprehension Those are blame-worthy and deserve reproof whose eyes have seen Gods Salvation Men and Women that do know the Jesus in whom they have believed and are made partakers of sanctifying saving grace and have had the manifestations of God's favour and Covenant love made to them and are verily
procure us heavier blows 3. Doct. We may learn that Death is a departure Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart When a man dies he removes He doth not then go back again into nothing but into another Place and into another State Christ called his Death a going away Joh. 14. 28. Ye have heard how I sayed vnto you I go away So Joh. 16. 7. It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you Our Death also is a going away Those that make the longest stay here must be gone at last A wicked man when he dies departs out of his warm Climate and pleasant State from his Friends and Riches from his Comforts and Delights into Miseries and Torments which are Intolerable and Eternal And it is no wonder if such a man play loath to depart and Death be unto him a King of Terrors But when an Holy Gracious Person departs he leaves all his sins and enemies all his troubles and sorrows behind him and he goes to a better place and better company and infinitely better delights He enters into peace and into rest and into the joy of his Lord. He gets off from the stormy troublesome Sea of this World where he was so frequently indangered and baths himself in those Rivers of pleasure which are at God's Right-hand for evermore Vse 1. Let the consideration hereof quiet us under those Breaches which Death makes in our Families and Relations Though it be very afflictive to think my dear Husband is gone my tender Father is gone my loving and faithfull Friend is gone Yet this will lighten and sweeten that affliction if we think whether he is gone from Earth to Heaven from Troubles to Joy and Glory from us to God Christ the Spirit Angels and Saints above Oh Blessed and Everlastingly making Exchange Vse 2. Let the consideration hereof quicken us the good Lord grant that we all may frequently and seriously think of this our departure and industriously bestir our selves in order to a full preparation for it Oh let us get our work done before we go Christ did so Joh. 17. 4. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now come I to thee Mind follow finish that for which you came into the World before you are called out of the World Oh! get your evidences full and fair that when Death siezeth upon you you may lay hold upon Eternal Life Make sure of Heaven before you come to leave the Earth How sweet was it for Christ to tell his Disciples I go to my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God Doct. 4. We may from hence learn this Lesson That a departure in peace is exceeding desireable This was the subject matter of Simeon's desire and prayer Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace He would go out in a calm neither in a stink through sin nor in a storm through fear but in an holy peace This promise was made to Abraham the Father of the Faithfull Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace That is with a quiet pacate and comfortable Spirit with joy and satisfaction without any trouble for what he should part with and without fear of any thing he should meet with And you find Psal. 37. 37. The Royal Prophet bids you Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is Peace Whatever troubles he is encountered by in his way he hath Peace at his end A wicked man may dye in Stupidity but not in Peace he may then be secure but he is not safe though he then have no trouble yet he hath cause enough of trouble My God saith there is no Peace to the wicked neither in his Life nor at his Death Such an one dies in sin and therefore he cannot dye in Peace But now a Godly man whose heart is sprinkled from an evil Conscience hath Peace in his Death usually he hath Peace with his own Conscience that befriends him witnesseth for him speaks comfortably to him and is an excellent Cordial at a dying hour Always he hath peace with his God they are Friends he is Reconciled to God and God to him Moses dyed at the mouth of the Lord God kist him home Vse Well my Friends I am confident you all desire such a Death you would willingly go out of the VVorld in peace Oh let it not be only the matter of your desire but likewise of your endeavour use means in order thereunto and follow these directions 1. Make your peace now Cease your enmity against God throw down your weapons of Rebellion and return unto your duty How can those persons rationally hope that God should be a Friend to them when they dye who are enemies to God while they live now now seek peace and ensue it 2. Make hast to Christ make sure of Christ get unto him He and he alone is the peace and the Prince of peace there is no peace to be had out of Christ. Let him saith God lay hold upon my strength that is upon Christ that he may make peace with me and he shall make peace with me Have a care that you be not found in your sins nor in your selves nor in your own Righteousness trusting in that No no saith Paul Phil. 3. 8 9. I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him 3. Look after a sanctifying change in your hearts and natures follow Peace and Holiness Holiness both of inward Disposition and of outward Conversation Grace ushers in peace purity and peace go together the work of Righteousness is peace and the effect of Righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever By the study and practice of Holiness you may lose your peace with some men but you will keep up and maintain your peace with God yea and with good men too Prov. 22. 11. He that loveth pureness of heart for the grace of his lips the King shall be his Friend Doct. 5. VVe may from these words gather this instruction That a truly gracious man may very well be willing and free and forward to dye Thus good Simeon was here he prayed for Death Let me depart let me be gone out of this VVorld Do thou Lord send for me that I may come to thee And not only so but he also prayed for a quick dispatch a speedy dismission as one that was in hast to be gone As you may learn from that particle Now now lettest thou thy Servant depart He did full well know that he must dye one day that was certain and unavoidable the Chambers of the grave are prepared for all the living but he would dye presently now O Lord now without more ado now without any longer tarrying A wicked man doth not care how long Death stays he puts that day far from him because he looks upon it as a very evil day
Righteousness As if God would take you from hence to your loss and you should be better in a strange Land than in your Fathers house And the preparations that God hath made for Eternity are not so good as those that he hath made for a short time and so Abraham Isaac Jacob David Peter Paul and the rest of the Saints departed had better have staid here and now they are with God do wish themselves with us again In a word it is as if the immediate and full enjoyment of God would not be sufficient for you you could not find room enough nor goodness and delights enough in a God but you must go begging to the door of creatures and patch up to your selves an happiness with these small and sorry shreds of being and you have found more to live upon and to delight your selves in the drop of a bucket than you can or do find in the Ocean of goodness I beseech you seriously consider of these things all these things lye uppermost any one may see them in such a persons unwillingness and loathness to dye whensoever God would have him But to proceed Vse 3. In the third and last place this may prove a very comfortable consideration and staff of support in the hands of those who labour under sorrow and continual heaviness of heart because of their departure of their gracious and holy Relations they are dead and you carry as if all your comforts were dead with them This is certain that when God gives such blows those that have any thing of tenderness do feel the smart of them Breaches in the Family do make breaches upon the Spirit When Lazarus was dead Jesus wept Mourning at Funerals is no Soloecism but a lovely sight so the sorrow be kept within those bounds that reason Religion have set it And where there are such breaches they call for binding up We should all be as so many good Samaritans pouring Oyl into the wounds of the Spirit for the suppleing and healing of them God hath been pleased to come into this Family and break the head of it and cut it off in taking him away he took away a tender Husband a loving Father a good Master a dear Friend one that in these evil days owned God his Waies and People and kept a Church in his House and his doors open that hungry Souls might feed upon and be refreshed with the bread of life which was there from Sabbath to Sabbath delivered out unto them The death of such a person is a common loss not only to the Familie but to the Country too and because thereof you are in Heaviness and afflicted in your Spirits Neither is this your case alone but of many others Death rides in Circuit and according to the Commission which it hath received so it makes it seizures here in an Husband deprived of the delight of his Eyes there is a woman made a Widow and her Children Fatherless Many a faithful fruitful useful Christian is cut down under whose shadow and in whose sellowship his Relations and Acquaintance did greatly rejoyce Unto such I have something to say that should prevail to the silencing of them and that is this it is the will of God the great God will have it so Thou wouldest have had thy Husband thy Wife thy Father thy Child lived longer but God would have him die now and this should knock all quarrelings and murmurrings and discontents down for there is all the reason in the world why God's will should take place and he should fullfil all his pleasure and why our will should submit and give place to God's And then I have something to say that may quiet satisfie you under such a providence for it is not enough for us that we be silent under it unless we be also reconciled to it at peace with it now in order thereunto take these 2 particulars consider them 1. They did see Gods Salvation before they did depart and so they dyed not under terrour nor in doubt nor at any uncertainty but in peace before Death closed the Eyes of their Bodies God had opened the Eyes of their Faith and shewn Christ to them and his love in Christ and you have reason to be perswaded good things concerning them even such as do accompany Salvation nay to be now perswaded of their Salvation it self This was the reason of my choosing these words of Simeon for the Subject of my discourse at this time because they were the Swan-like Song of our deceased Brother the very last words he spake save some short and holy Counsels which he gave to his beloved and most hopeful Son and shall not this satisfie you But then add 2. Now that those Holy ones are dead they see those things which they never saw things that are most richly worth their seeing and which as the case now stands with mankind they could not see without dying They have those sights which make the seer blessed they are taken up to the beatifical Vision They do not see an end of all their sins and sorrows nothing shall defile nor afflict them more all filth and all tears are wiped away they see the accomplishment of all their hopes the fullfilling of all their prayers the reward of all their services the Crown of all their sufferings They see the excellent Majesty and Glory of that God whom they had chosen and do now behold his face in righteousness Neither is that sight terrible to them as it was to Moses in the Mount so that he did exceedingly fear and quake No those Holy Souls do see God and live and rejoyce that sight is their satisfaction and delight They see that Blessed Jesus who loved them and gave himself for them and washed them in his own blood and made them Kings and Priests unto God yea they shall be like him for they shall see him as he is They do see that Holy Spirit which convinced them and sanctified them who directed them in their difficulties strengthned them in their weaknesses assisted them in their duties and most sweetly supported and comforted them in all their distresses They see an innumerable company of Angels and Spirits of Just men made perfect In short they see that which Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive namely that Glory Kingdom Inheritance those Robes Crowns and Thrones which God hath prepared for them that love him And the day is coming in which they shall again see those Bodies that at their flight to Heaven they left behind in a better State than ever And you O Saints shall see them too and Christ with them and then your hearts shall rejoyce and your joy no man shall take from you Only in the mean time do you live believingly walk humbly holily and circumspectly get your Vessels filled with Oil your Lamps burning and your Loins girt make haste to the Kingdom of God and be ye followers of them that through Faith and Patience do inherit the Promises
A FUNERAL SERMON Delivered upon Occasion of the Death of that Worthy Gentleman John Marsh Esq Who lived at Garston-Hall in Watford Parish in the County of Hartford And Died in the Lord and was Buried Septemb. 16 1681. By Samuel Slater Late Minister of the Gospel at Edmunds-Bury in Suffolk Isa. 57. 2. He shall enter into peace they shall rest in their Beds each one walking in his uprightness LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel 1682. The Epistle Dedicatory To my Honoured Friends Madam Marsh and her Pious Son and Daughters AT the Motion and Desire of your since Deceased Father and Husband my Worthy Friend I did after the Solemnization of his Funeral deliver the following Discourse to you in Private And in order to Common Good I have here made it Publick The Father of Mercies accompany it with his Blessing upon you and all others into whose hands it shall come that thereby Love to and Faith in Christ may be promoted together with Holiness of Life and Comfort at Death That you may not be unmindful of that King of Terrors at his greatest distances nor terrified by him in his nearest approaches I was greatly pleased to see your gracious Deportment under that Afflictive Providence which deprived you of one so desireable and that you were duely affected with your Loss yet sweetly submissive to your God Though the Cup was bitter you did not faint nor murmur It was indeed a Mercy that you enjoyed him so long for he was full of Dayes and had a flourishing old Age. And it may be a Comfort that you shall see him again in Heaven where you shall Eternally rejoyce together in God That your Souls may prosper your Graces increase your Comforts abound your Daies may be filled with Mercy and Duty and your selves at last received into Glory is the Hearty Prayer of Your Friend and Servant in our dear Lord Jesus S. Slater Decemb. 22 1681. Errata corrigenda PAge 13 line 16 for primative read privative p. 14. l. 12. for places r praises l. 22. for Son r Sun p. 20. l. 10. for lusted r likened p. 22. l. 6. dele thus p. 23. l. 31. dele that l. 36. after am l r that l. p. 26. l. 20. for him r them p. 30. 1. 14. for Judges r Judge l. 37. for Lords and Gods r Lord and God p. 34. l. 34. for their r the. p. 35. l. 16. for in r is p. 36. l. 10. for not r now LUK. 2. 29 30. Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation THESE are the words of Holy Simeon who is supposed to be the Son of Hillel and Chief of the great Synedrion and Father of the Learned Doctor Gamaliel at whose Feet the great Apostle of the Gentiles Paul was educated Concerning whom the Sacred Scripture testifies that he was a Just and Devout man i. e. Godly and Righteous Wary and Cautious A man that managed his Life and ordered his actions with that due circumspection as evidenced his sedulous care of approving himself to God This good man waited for the Consolation of Israel viz. the incarnation or coming of the Son of God the promised and longingly expected Messiah in whom all our comforts are laid up if we be Israelites indeed That Jesus alone can be our Consolation who is our Salvation It is only under his shadow we can sit with great delight because under that alone we can sit in safety Those men and Women that seek their comforts out of Christ will find themselves under miserable disappointment And by how much the higher they are raised in hopes and expectation by so much the lower they will be plunged into sorrow and vexation I do earnestly beseech you Christians to remember this that Christ is the Consolation of Israel and improve it for your Souls advantage Especially I speak this to you my Friends who are most nearly concerned in the late stroak of Providence and do now mourn under the smart thereof Learn whither you should repair for support and healing even to this Jesus who to this day yea for ever continues to be the Consolation of Israel and in whom you may find abundantly enough to sweeten this bitter Cup. This Simeon who thus waited was well rewarded for his Faith and Patience having this assurance given him that he should not see Death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. He should not see Death until Christ was born Christ should come upon Earth before Simeon should go to Heaven From whence you may learn this truth That waiting upon God is not in vain much time may be spent in it but it will not be time mis-spent God is not wont to send a waiting Soul mourning away Such an one may come to God with a tear in it's Eye but sooner or later it shall go from him with a smile upon it's Countenance Thou O mourning drooping Christian dost not see Christ now he covers himself with a Cloud well sink not under discouragement but let patience have it's perfect work and do thou charge thy Soul to wait on I am perswaded before thou seest Death thou shalt see Jesus Christ will manifest himself unto thee however as soon as Death hath closed thy bodily Eyes thou shalt both see him and thy self with him in Glory Well Simeon having waited long though not too long came into the Temple which did then exceed in Glory for there he met with Jesus And having met with him he toook him up in his arms and he was a most blessed arm-full doubtless the good old man was glad he had got him and his heart did leap within him He never before embraced so great and glorious an Object And I tell thee O Christian who hast got Christ in thy Heart and dost hug him in the arms of thy Faith thou hast as much reason to rejoyce as Simeon did when he had him in his arms for it is Christ in you the hope of Glory If he be formed in you you shall be saved by him Having taken Christ in his arms what did the good man do Oh! he blessed God and truly he had reason How could he be without his Song when he had got him who was his strength and Salvation We have cause to bless God for Creatures for our Health Strength Estates and Relations because we are less than the least of these but we have infinitely more cause to bless God for Christ because he is a gift of the dearest love and of the greatest excellency All Earthly comforts come from the hand of God but Christ comes from the Some part of that which Simeon spake upon this occasion you have in the words of the Text in which take notice of these two things 1. Simeons humble petition and request to God Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word 2. The ground
But good Simeon did not care how soon Death came he lookt for it yea and he long'd for it he thought it was too slow pac'd and its motions towards him not quick enough He knew Death would do him a good turn and therefore he was a voluntier in dying And I must say this supposing that a Godly man have no cloud upon his Spirit and no flaw nor blurr in his Evidence supposing that God shines upon his Soul with the bright and comfortable Beams of his love and favour and that his own Conscience doth speak comfort to him plainly I know no reason no solid substantial reason why he should be backward and unwilling to dye unless it be serviceableness and usefulness in the World If once a Christians work be done what should he stay here for If once he be full ripe for Glory why should he stand any longer It is not worth his while to continue here were it not that he may do good in his place and be helpfull to others and yet farther serve the interest of Gods name and glory and upon that account he ought to deny himself and be willing to wait yet longer for his Rest and Crown Thus it was with Holy Paul Phil 1. 23. I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better It was better for him he knew he should mend himself But saith he ver 24. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you They would need his company and his labours his counsels and his comforts and upon that account he submitted Ver. 25. Having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of Faith And he was content so to abide Indeed there is not any reason at all why a wicked man should be willing to dye he can promise himself no good by it It doth not come Peaceably to him it brings it's sting along with it He dyes to dye his Natural Death is a passage to Eternal He loseth all by Death and gets nothing Therefore I say there is no reason at all why he should desire to dye And there is but one reason I mean which is worth any thing and which is not easily answered why a truly Godly man should be willing to live And that is serving his Generation according to the will of God But I am sure there are a great many weighty and cogent reasons why such an one should be willing to dye and not only submit to Death but also welcome it and long for it of which I shall speak more by and by Doct. 6. A Sixth Instruction which these words do most freely afford us is this That though a Godly man be never so desirous to dye yet it is his duty and will be his business to stoop and submit his will to the will of God Thus it was with this holy man he was willing and desireous to dye he even longed to be gone Lord lettest thou thy servant depart but he would not go without license he would stay Gods time Though Heaven be never so desireable and this World never so troublesome though the Country be never so pleasant and the way thither never so tedious Be our sicknesses pains and crosses never so great and heavy Be our enemies never so furious and violent our dangers never so eminent our persecutions never so sharp and bitter our temptations never so fierce and fiery we must in patience possess our Souls and be content to bear them till God shall please in his own time to command for us a deliverance out of them Let our conditions be never so dark and dismal we must not escape by opening the door with the Devils Key nor break out of Prison by offering violence to our own lives Job had very dreadfull exercises his State was sad and deplorable He was stript of all his outward enjoyments bereaved of his beloved Children smitten in his body with sores and inflammations his Wife was a cross to him and his Friends cruel God himself carried as his enemy and set him up for a mark to shoot at He had but one comfort left him that was the Testimony of a good Conscience Yet he was resolved to wait all the days of his appointed time untill his change should come He would not make more hast than good speed As long as God was pleased to tarry holy Job was well pleas'd to wait VVe should write after so fair a Copy so to do is both our wisdom and our interest For God is wiser than we his VVisdom is infinite and his time is always best He that goeth to his grave in Gods time goes as a shock of Corn in its season God always plucks his fruit vvhen it is ripe and fit to be gathered He vvill not pluck it sooner and it shall not hang any longer Doct. 7. The seventh Doctrine vvhich these vvords afford us is this Gods promises are to be pleaded by us Thus in the Text Novv lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word There is the argument that he useth for the enforcing his Petition He had received a Revelation from God that he should not see Death i. e. that he should not die he should not taste of Death though he saw the Death of others yet he should not see his own Death until he had seen the Lord's Christ the Messiah or the Lord 's anointed one namely Jesus the Saviour And now saith He Lord now that I have seen him do thou graciously grant me my dismission Be it unto me according to thy word Have you a word O Christians a word of promise blessed be God you are rich in them God hath abounded in promises to his people You have words of inestimable value words better than Gold better than mans bonds words that are suitable to and cordial in every condition into which providence can cast you Now then what is your duty with reference to these words but to make use of them It is pity they should lie by neglected as useless Fetch them out as you have occasion and live upon them that when you are rich in promifes you may not be poor in comforts You do deal disingeniously with God and unworthily with promises unless you use them Q. If any one should propound this question What is that right and proper use which we should make of promises A. I Answer Turn them into Faith and Prayer make use of the promises as food for your Faith and matter for your Prayers Promises are the Life of Faith by these things men live said good Hezekiah and they are the strength of Prayer So then 1. You must believe the promises Set to your Seal that God is true and faithful that his Word is setled in Heaven that all his promises are in Christ yea and in him Amen i. e. of a most sure and certain accomplishment and accordingly do you hope in them and
perswaded that it shall be well with them when they dye and that they shall go to Heaven when they go from Earth and yet they are loath to dye and thoughts of their departure from hence are afflictive to them When the message of Death was brought by the Prophet to good Hezckiah he turned his face to the wall and prayed and wept sore And good David himself though he knew that God had made with him an Everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure yet he cryed O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and he seen no more He would fain live a little longer and see a few more days past over his head I do not wonder that wicked men are loath to dye for they get nothing by it nay they lose all by it they are utterly ruined and undone by it Death takes them from all their good things jovial companions and pleasant enjoyments and carries them into that Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone Therefore who would think it strange that they should put from them the day of their Death which will be to them such a day of evil They have reason to desire Life yea to say I would live always because it is better for them to live than to dye if you kill them you spoil all Such men may well say to Death as Ahab did to Elijah hast thou found me O mine enemy But here is the wonder that a Godly man should firmly assent unto this truth that there is another life after this and that that life is unspeakably better than this There is no compare between the comforts of this and the glory of that and they are also confident that when once they are absent from the body they shall be present with the Lord and when once this frail uncertain troublesome life shall come to an end they shall live that better life when once they are got off this stormy tempestuous Sea they shall bath themselves Eternally in those Rivers of Pleasures which are at God's Right-hand And yet Death is a word that sounds harsh in their ears they care not to hear of it when they think of it they are troubled A Deaths head upon the board spoils the Mirth and marrs the Feast it doth not only make them serious that it should do but it also makes them sad and dumpish and still they have desires that they may and some hope that they shall have a longer continuance in the World and draw out some more years yet before they come to the end of their line I must and do most readily grant that long life is a blessing a great blessing as such it is the matter of the promise but withall know Eternal Life is a greater blessing and he is no loser that lives but a little while here and then goes to live for ever with God For gracious persons that have seen God's Salvation and know they have seen it I say for such to be unwilling to dye carryes two evils in the Bowels of it 1. It is too great a magnifying of this present evil World an over-valuing of it and a setting too high a rate indeed an unreasonable price upon the enjoyments and delights of it Your esteem of them are far above their intrinsic worth what will carnal men say who stand by and see how you are wedded to the World and unwilling to be divorced from it What have they reason to say but that you find a great deal in it You tast the fatness of the Olive and the sweetness of the Vine and so think it is good to be here Certainly this speaks your setting your hearts too much upon the Creatures And hereby you do justifie and encourage them in their Worldliness they are strengthened in their love of the World and devotedness to it And also you do hereby cross and thwart God and run counter to him in one of his grand designs which is to wean his People from the World and to take their hearts off from creature delights which do ingross so much of their time and cares and do so much distract their thoughts and embase their Spirits and hinder them both as to their service of God and Communion with him And indeed how indecorous and unbecoming is it for Heaven born Souls to embrace Dunghills and for those that profess themselves risen with Christ to set their affections upon those things that are here upon Earth And for you who are the children of God and heirs of Heaven to mind carnal things It is far more unseemly than to see the heir of a Crown stopping Ovens or raking Kennels After these things saith our Saviour do the Gentiles seek that is those who know no better who are without God in the World who are drowned in the flesh and understand not the worth of an immortal Soul and upon these things let them dote still alass their portion is in this life being Aliens from the Covenants of promise and having no hope But as for you who have been taught of God who have heard of a blessed immortality who have seen those invisible glories that are within the vail you should be disingaged from all inferiour delights and carry towards them with a Spirit of indifference You should use the world but do not love it make it serve your occasions but suffer it not to command your affections While you have it in your hands and in your chests keep it out of your hearts The world is as we use to say of fire a very good servant but a very bad master Things are usefull and beautifull in their places so is the world but when it is in the heart it is out of its place and then it is stark nought and doth much hurt 2. For those who are the people of God and do know they are so who have seen God's Salvation I say for them to be unwilling to dye is a great reproach and disparagement to those glories which are above Christians you do hereby bring up an ill report upon the Land of promise as if the Honey and Milk of Canaan were not so good desireable as the Garlick Onions of Egypt what is the interpretation meaning of such a Spirit but that you fear it will be to your loss to exchange Earth for Heaven to leave delights Temporal for those that are Eternal What shall I say this averseness from Death and loathnesses to depart from hence is a piece of practical blasphemy as if these sorry cottages were better to inhabit than those stately Pallaces that these puddle delights and muddy streams were more delicious and desireable than that pure River of water of life which is clear as Chrystal and proceeds out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb as if these childish and trifling vanities did out-weigh and out-worth the glories which are above And these pitifull contemptible glow-worms did out-shine and obscure the Eternal Sun of