it is indeed a Terror to Kings too the Philosopher calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most formidable of Formidables and Nature in the best doth find it frightful enough yet our Lord saith I will not leave you Comfortless John 14.18 The First Comfort against the Fear of Death and that our Lord hath left us for our Relief is 1 Cor. 15.55 that Christ hath unstinged that Serpent and that now his Redeemed may triumph over it Moses first fled from the Serpent but being better informed he took it by the Tail and then it became an Useful Rod in his Hand Exod. 4.3,4 Thus Israel at first fled from Goliah as affrighted with the sight of such a Monster of Mankind but so soon as they understood that David had slain him and laid him along without his Head upon the ground then did they run as fast to him to trample upon him c. as they had before run away from him sore affrighted 1 Sam. 17.24,52 So could we but believe that Christ our Lord David had swallowed up Death in Victory as we are assured Isai 25.8 and that Christ's Death is the Death of Death Hos 13.14 then might we sing a Triumphant Song with the Apostle over both Death and the Grave c. A Second Breast of Comfort against the Fear of Death is that precious Promise of God Thou shalt not be afraid when Destruction or Death cometh Job 5.21 and thus God said to Old Jacob fear not to go down to Egypt for I will be with thee and I will bring thee back again c. Gen. 46.3,4 Accordingly our Saviour saith to his sanctified ones Isai 13.3 Fear not to go down among the Dead which is a going the way of all the Earth Josh 23.14 for I will go down with thee and I will assuredly also bring thee back again as one of my Children of the Resurrection Luke 20.36 as if he had said I will bring you without failure from the Jaws of Death to the Joys of Heaven as surely as Ezra and Nehemiah brought all the Captive Jews out of the Captivity of Babylon and we must consider for our Comfort that Death seizeth upon the Body only which we derive from the First Adam as Joseph's Mistress seized only upon Joseph's Garment his Person escaped so the pretious Soul is returned to God that gave it Eccles 12.7 A Third Breast of Consolation for Saints to suck against the Fear of Death is the Righteous hath Hope in his Death Prov. 14.32 Death to a Believer is as the Vally of Achor Josh 7.24,27 Israel's entrance into the Land of Promise a Door of Hope Hos 2.15 into the Heavenly Canaan there to sing Hallelujah's to the Lord for ever Death indeed to Sinners is but a Trap-door that drops them down into Hell Psal 9.17 When that Grim-Sergeant Arrests them by God's Permission and Commission in the Devil's Name and hurls them into an Infinite Ocean of Hell-fire Oh what Dreadful Skreaks doth that Guilty Soul give when it is hurried away and hurled into Everlasting Burnings Isai 33.14 and to swim naked as i◠Scalding Lead and Liquor for evermore But blessed be God 't is better with the Saints whose Debts are all paid by their Dear Redeemer they are not afraid of the Arrest of Death but looks upon it as God's Officer sent to give them possession of a Mansion of Glory and therefore their Hearts are not troubled when their Lord sends for them to be ever with him in Heavenly Happiness John 14.1,2,3,4 and 16.7 and 1 Thes 4.17.18 Oh how willing was Old Jacob to go down into Egypt when it was only to see his younger Son Joseph whom he had not seen for many years c. How much more willing yea desirous ought we to be to go up to Heaven a far better place than Egypt there to see our Elder Brother Jesus Christ How glad were those Three Wise Men of the East to take a long Journey when it was only to see the Babe of Bethlehem Christ in the Cradle c Now if we can but say as those Wise Men said We have seen his Star c. Matth. 2.2,11 how much more ought we to long for this Journey c. that we may behold our Lord Christ advanced upon the Throne of his Glory and to behold his Face in Righteousness Psal 17.15 c. which is a Beatifical Vision a Sight far exceeding those Three Romam in Flore Paulum in Ore Christum in Carne which Father Augustin so earnestly wished to see namely Rome in its Glory Paul in the Pulpit and Christ in the Flesh Alas all those Sights are infinitely below the beholding him in his Glory 1 John 3.2 It was a good Prayer of the same Augustin saying Lord can no Man see thy Face and live O then let me die that I may see it c. A Fourth Cordial against the Fear of Death is Better is the day of our Death than the day of our Birth Eccles 7.12 'T is better every way For 1. Our Birth begins our Miseries but our Death ends them if we die in the Lord we are blessed Rev. 14.13 Whereas Man born of a Woman is born to trouble c. Job 14.1 Yea miserable so soon as warm in the Womb at Conception Psal 51.5 Birth is our entrance into this lower present Evil World Gal. 1.4 but Death in Christ is our entrance into the best and blessed World 2. We come crying into this World c. but some Saints have gone singing and triumphing out of it into a better World hoping that their Death was but the Day-break of Eternal Brightness c. A Fifth Cordial is that Death cannot separate us from the Love of God Rom. 8.28 'T is so far from destroying the Union that it is called a sleeping in Jesus 1 Thes 4.14 And as by sleep the frame of the Body is refreshed so by Death the Union of the Soul is refined Now when we are wearied with our days Labour we are not afraid to go take our rest When Lazarus died our Lord said our Friend Lazarus sleepeth John 11.11 and he said the same of Jairus's Daughter Matth. 9.24 and this is the frequent Phrase in Scripture to call Death a Sleep Job 7.21 2 Sam. 7.12 1 Cor. 11.30 Now as Sleep doth not separate Friends but only for a time betwixt good Night and good Morrow so no more doth Death which is but a bidding good Night for after sleeping in the Grave as in a Bed Isai 57.2 the Morning comes to rise again The Sixth Cordial is 2 Cor. 5.1,2,3 to 9. We know 't is not we think or we hope only this is the true Triumph of our Trusting in Christ our leaning upon the Lord Isai 50.10 that when our Clayie Cottages moulder down we have a Mansion of Glory to go to While we abide in those tottering Tabernacles we groan earnestly being Burdened ver 2.4 that is both with Sin and Misery whereof we have here our
and Honourable are joined together Isai 9.18 nor could Hoary Hairs be a Crown of Glory as Soloman saith Prov. 16.31 nor could a Gray Head be an Old Man's Beauty Prov. 20.29 if not found in the way of Righteousness A gray headed experienced Christian is called a Father 1 John 2.13 such as whose due is the highest veneration Levit. 19.32 especially such as are described in Psal 92.12,13,14 Such are of the highest Form in Christ's School for NB. Note well a Christian hath his degrees of Growth distinctly described in the Word of God As 1 st We have his Conception Gal. 4.19 2 dly His Birth 1 Pet. 1.23 3 dly His Childhood 1 Cor. 3.1,2 4 thly His Youth or well-grown Age when he is past the Spoon 1 John 2.13 5 thly His full-grown Age Ephes 4.13 And 6 thly His Old Age as 1 John 2.13 Acts 21.16 c. Job 29.8 and 32.4,6,7 Rom. 16 5,7 and 1 Tim. 5.1,2 Unto all these Scriptures shewing how a Good Old Age ought to be highly valued and reverenced I may add the Testimony of a Pagan Poet who extolls that Golden Age wherein he lived having only the Light and Law of Nature to conduct them in their Lives yet thus he writes Credebant hoc grande Nefas Morte piandum Si Juvenis Vetulo non assurexerit si Barbato cuicunque Puer licet esse videret Plura Domi farra majores Glandis Acervos Tam venerabile erat praecedere quatuor Annis These are the Verses of Juvenal in his 13 th Satyr the sense whereof in short is this That in this Pagan Poet's time all Men looked upon it as a Capital Crime and counted it punishable by the Judges if Young People did not rise up and reverence such as had Hoary Heads tho' the Young were rich the Aged were poor c. which is a clear demonstration that the Law and Light of Nature did concur and taught the same Truth with the Law and Light of Scripture Levit. 19.32 and the rest afore-named especially when this Evil Age in it self becomes by Grace a Good Old Age 't is to be honoured c. 2 dly The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why it must be so the Reasons be these over and above that before-mentioned namely that Old Age must be a good thing of it self and in its own Nature and Substance altho' it is made an evil thing in too many by accident as before because it is a Blessing which the Lord hath both graciously promised and performed to many of his Servants c. And a short Life is a Curse which the same God severely threatneth unto the Wicked yea and long Life it self is also a Curse unto all Christless ones tho' they live untill they attain to the Age of an Hundred Years Isai 65.20 Moreover the Reasons that demonstrate this great Truth we must be careful and conscientious in making our Old Age a Good Age are principally Three The first is because this doing as it ought to be done will be a blessed Remedy against those three woful maladies of Old Age to wit the Natural Moral and Spiritual Evils afore-mentioned therefore Solomon prescribeth the Remembrance of God in the days of Youth as a most comfortable preservative against all those Evils which commonly Old Age is attended with and maketh it an unpleasant time As 1 st A Good Old Age is a Sovereign Antidote against the Natural Evils accompanying it As 1. Against the loss of Bodily strength then the Grace of Faith in the Good Old Age doth put Strength in Weakness Health in Sickness and Ease in Pain this comes to pass by the sorce of Faith Heb. 11.34 Joshuah is one of those that was strengthned in the weakness of Old Age which he acknowledgeth saying and now behold the Lord hath kept me alive Josh 14.10,11 which mercy was the greater because he out-lived many Thousands of other Israelites whose Carcases did fall in the Wilderness Yet then he saith of himself I am this day fourscore and five years old yet lo I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me to spie out the Land of Promise Numb 13. which was forty five years ago as my strength was then when I was but forty years old even so is my strength now at fourscore and five for War both to go out and to come in Viridis Vegeta Senectus singulare Dei Donum est a fresh and vigorous Ability for Generation-work in Old Age is a singular Gift of God This Gift God gave to Moses Deut. 34.7 and to Paul the Aged as he calls himself Phil. v. 9. whose strength was perfect in weakness and when he was weak in Nature then was he strong in Grace 2 Cor. 12.9,10 and thus that seeming Contradiction is reconciled And this Gift God gave likewise to famous Mr. Dod in our days who as he was another Moses for meekness which is a great prolonger of Life so he was not unlike him and Joshuah in Health and Strength of Body when he arrived to an exstream Old Age this was a Mercy which that Good Man most highly valued So that 't is said of him Desicere potius quam Desinere Visus est that is he seemed rather to decay dissolve and melt away by Inches than to die by any Agony of Death 'T is my frequent and fervent prayer to God that he would grant us an easie passage out of this World and an open passage into the better World and to die like a Lamb is universally esteemed as a great Gift of God An exemption from the Torturing Torments of the Stone of the Strangury of the Gripes and of the Gout c. is my Singular Mercy 2. As to the loss of their younger near and dear Relations this Good Old Age wants not sufficient Cordials wherewith to sweeten the Bitterness and allay the Grief of this great Evil also as good Old Abraham did comfort his own Spirit saying let me bury my Dead out of my Sight c. when he had lost a pretious Rib out of his Side in the death of his dear Wife Sarah not only dear to him but also very dear to God himself Insomuch that God gave this Honour unto her above all other Women in Scripture Record that the Age of her life is Recorded and of Her only c. Gen. 23.1,2 Why the length of the Life of any other Woman save only Sarah's is not Recorded by God's Pen in Scripture our Divines render this Reason that it was to humble that Sex which was first in bringing Sin and Death into the World 1 Tim. 2.13,14,15 and therefore deserved not to have the continuance of their Lives mentioned in Sacred Writ by the unsearchable Will and Wisdom of God 'T is said indeed that Abraham mourned for her Death and she was the first also that we read of who was mourned for when she died as well as the only one of that Sex whose term of Life
A Divine Legacy Bequeathed unto all MANKIND OF ALL Ranks Ages and Sexes Directing How we may live Holily in the Fear of God and how we may die happily in the Favour of God both which Duties are of Universal Concern The Rules here are how to be Truly Valourous in warring a good Warfare and in fighting the the good Fight of Faith while we Live and to be Blessedly Victorious when we Die By Christopher Ness Minister of the Gospel in London Exitus Acta probat Finis Coronat Opus saith the Philosopher Our Last Works should be our Best Works saith our Lord Rev. 2.19 London Printed by T. S. and sold by T. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside and J. Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-yard 1700. The Epistle to the Reader Candid Christian I Have been now through the Grace and Mercy of my good God a Labourer in my Lord's Harvest and a Vine-dresser in my Master's Vineyard almost Threescore Years wanting but a very little of it and in the space of those last Twenty Years I have through the good hand of my God upon me as Ezra's phrase is Chap. 7.6,9 been enabled to publish to the World this following Catalogue of Books little and great As 1. The Crown and Glory of a Christian in the Year 76. 2. A Christian Walk and Work on Earth till he come to Heaven in the Year 77. 3. The Chrystal Mirror or Christian's Looking-Glass shewing the Treachery of the Heart in the Year 78. 4. An Antidote against the Poison of Popery in the Year 78 79. 5. A Discovery of Antichrist in his Rise Reign and Ruine in the Year 79. 6. The Devil's Patriarch in the Life of Pope Innocent XI in the Year 80. 7. A Spiritual Legacy to Young Ones in the Year 81. 8. A Church-History from Adam to this Day and a Scripture-Prophecy to the End of the World in the Year 81 82. 9. A New-Years Gift for Children in the Year 83. 10. The Wonderful Signs of Wonderful Times in the Year 84. 11. An Half Sheet upon the Comet or Blazing-Star 12. Three Sheets inlarged upon the same Subject 13. A Whip for the Fools Back who did Ridicule God's Holy Ordinance of Marriage c. 14. A Key with the Whip unsolding the Intreagues of Absalom and Achitophel both these latter are writ in Satyrical Verse 15. Advice to the Painter about the Earl of Shaftsbury's enlargement from the Tower in smoother Verse 16. An Astrological and Theological Discourse upon the great Conjunction ushered in with a great Comet c. 17. A Strange and Wonderful Trinity or Triplicity of Stupendious Prodigies namely consisting of a Wonderful Eclipse of a Wonderful Comet and of a Wonderful Conjunction all these without Date were written between the Year 82 and 89. 18. My First Volume in Folio called a Compleat History and Mystery of the Old and New-Testament both Logically discussed and Theologically improved beginning at Adam and ending at Moses 19. The Second Volume in Folio having the same Title with the first begins with Joshuah and ends at Solomon's Birth 20. The Third Volume in Folio with the same Title begins at Solomon's Life and ends at the end of the Old-Testament 21. The Fourth Volume in Folio with the same Title begins at the Birth of Christ and ends at the Death of John the Divine which is an Exposition of the whole New-Testamen All these Four Volumes are now commended to the World by Three of our Learned and Judicious Divines namely Mr. Matthew Barker M. George Griffith and Mr. Samuel Slater which Testimonial is printed at the bottom of the Dedicatory Epistle to the Fourth Volume under their own Three Hands Tria sunt omnia instar omnium c. this Work hath taken me wholly up from the Year 89 to this Year 99. And now 22. This Divine Legacy which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multum in parvo much in a little Isocrates wrote his best Book the last and Plato died at 81 with his Pen in his Hand and Demosthenes desired to do so c. Yet have we better Examples than those Philosophers for Joshuah when he was going the way of all the Earth and stricken in years Josh 23.2 and 14. did then give most grave and godly Counsel to the Old-Testament Church Chap. 23. and 24. And Paul the Aged wrote the more effectually to young Philemon under that Title of Veneration Philem. ver 9. And the Beloved Disciple John who while Young leaned upon his Lord's Bosom Joh. 13.23,25 did under the Venerable Name of Elder 2 Joh. 1. and 3 Joh. 1. write his first General Epistle to Children Young Men and Fathers in the New Testament 1 Joh. 2.12,13,14 but above all God himself thunders out threatnings against Children Young Men and Aged Jer. 6.11,12,13 In congruity to those perfect Patterns I an Old Servant of Christ have drawn up this Directory talis qualis est to all Ages especially to us that are Old adding only 1. That Old Age is a dead weight 'T is then a difficult Duty to turn unto God when we have been turning and running from him all our former Days No Spur can move a Founder'd Horse and Hard Wax takes no impression When the Body is weak and Presumption is strong to say God is merciful is said truly but not safely Therefore 2 All must be careful to live well while Young and then shall we die well whether Young or Old 3. When we have seen an end of all worldly Perfections then may we best see that God's Commands are exceeding broad and all our Obedience to be exceeding narrow Psal 119.96 The Good Lord grant that this Legacy may come to you in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ Rom. 15.29 Amen THE CONTENTS OF THIS Divine Legacy CHAP. I. COntains faln Man's Malady and Danger pag. 1. to 42. CHAP. II. Faln Mam's Remedy and Deliverer p. 43 to 63. CHAP. III. The Redeemed are Conquerors by their Strong Redemer p. 54 120. CHAP. IV. Advice to Young and Old to war a good Warfare in God's Armour and Watching unto Prayer p. 130 to 177. CHAP. V. The Characters of True Conquerors through the strength of Christ p. 177 to 232. CHAP. VI. Advice to the Aged for saving the Soul p. 232 to 319. CHAP. VII The Holy Means for making Old Age to become a Good Age p. 320 to 357. CHAP. VIII Contains both Counsel and Comfort 1. Against the Evils of Old Age. 2. Against the Fears of the Hour of Death And 3. Against the Terrors of the Day of Judgment p. 358 to the last CHAP. I. Man's Malady and Danger MAN's Life is a Warfare Job 7.1 Margin which the Septuagint reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie a place of Pirates as Paul was in perils often both by Sea and Land 2 Cor. 11.26 so are we all while in this lower World for Satan is both a Robber by Land that seeks not for Straw but
be demonstrated from Scripture the first man defiled Nature and ever since Nature hath defiled every man his whole Frame is out of frame whole evil is in man and whole man is in evil As in Noah's Flood not any one part of the Earth could be seen dry So nor any one part of man can be found that is not infected with this Original Pollution and the chief cause of all our Actual Sins is charged not upon Satan but upon this Evil Concupiscence that is inbred in us Jam. 1.15 The Tempter might strike Fire long enough in vain if we did not find him dry Tinder for his Sparks to fall upon We cannot say as our sinless Lord said the Prince of this World cometh and finds nothing in me that is to favour his Temptation Joh. 14.30 But alas when he comes to tempt us he finds a Treacherous Party within this Birth-sin of ours which betrays us oftentimes into his hands as hath hapned unto some Cities besieged whose Gates have been opened by some Traiterous Citizens within for a free entrance of the Enemy that were besieging it round about Hence is it that all men are said in Holy Scripture to be dead in sin Ephes 2.1 and Bondslaves to Satan Heb. 2.15 and subject to all Calamities of this Life under the Curse of God Gal. 3.10 Yea and good men even the best of men are but men at the best for Original Sin in them is stronger than their Grace for if God should leave us with our stock of Grace that he hath graciously given us and let us be alone but a while in the hands of our own Counsels this sin of our Nature would easily swallow up our stock of Grace wo to us when God departs from us Hos 9.12 The Reason is because Grace given to us is like the putting of Hot Water into that which is Cold Tho' this will warm it for the present yet the Water will reduce it self into its own natural temper of Coldness unless Fire be kept continually under it Take another Example as a River would run caeterâ—…s paribus the nighest way to the Seaâ— which is the Receptacle of all Rivers were it let alone to its own tendency by nature but we see the various situation of the Earth in some places higher than others and by the Art and Industry of Man the most Rapid River is madd to run in crooked Streams in and out to break its forcible passage even so this Original Sin would drive all persons the nighest way to Hell were it not that it meets with not only the several Tempers and Dispositions of Nature in the Sons and Daughters of Mankind which makes it work variously according to their various Constitutions as David saith I have kept my self from my iniquity Psal 18.23 that is from my Constitution sin c. but also and that more especially through the over-ruling Power of God and that by two ways 1. Either by giving Restraining Grace even to Pagans as he did to that Pagan King Abimelech Gen. 20.6 whereby God kept him at a modest distance from medling with Sarah Abraham's wife which otherwise he would have undoubtedly defiled seeing so many Kings tho' called Christian make it their too common practice or 2. By giving Renewing Grace even to his own chosen and called ones whereby he changeth their Natures so that one of the Antient Fathers tells this Story of a Young Man who had been for some time intangled with an Harlot and meeting with some Remorse of Conscience he withdrew from her upom some occasions he had in another Country and after a â—ittle time returning home this impudent Whore meets him takes hold of him and said to him Ego sum Ego I am the same Woman I was when you left me at which he smartly replied to her sed ego non sum ego but I am not the same Man I was through the Grace of God whereby he said with David The Snare is broken and my Soul is delivered Psa 124.7 therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 VVhere Christ comes he saith Behold I make all things new Rev. 21.5 both all the Members of the Body and all the Faculties of the Soul These all were formerly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weapons of wickedness unto sin but now become weapons of Righteousness unto Holiness Rom. 6.13,17,18,19 so that Christ makes new understandings new wills new memories new consciences c. in the inner man yea and new tongues hands and feet c. to talk walk and work for God in the outward man ☞ Let this likewise be well weighed how this Original pollution of the faln Nature is like the first Confused Chaos at the Creation of the World which had the seeds of all several kinds of Creatures in it and that prolifick Vertue continues unto this day even so in Original Sin lays the Spawn of all several kinds of sins which lasteth all our lives until death destroy this body of Death at the last as the other will last while the World lasteth So This fretting Leprosie of sin is typically described in the Law of that Plague Levit. 14.41.43,44,45 The house which hath that Contagion all the scraping of the Walls within it will not cleanse it until the house it self with the Stones and Timber of it be broken down yea and it begins betimes as well as it lasts long This sour Leaven doth leaven the whole lump with its sowrness and spreads it self over all the Ages of Man as Infancy Childhood Youth and old Age. 1. Infancy Austin's story Vidi Zelantem parvulum I my self saw a little one rise up in Rage against his fellow-suckling for beguiling him of his Mothers Milk from whence that Antient Father proves and confesses that sin began betimes both in himself and in others 2. Childhood there is much folly bound up in the heart of a Child Prov. 22. v. 15. as fardles or packs are bound upon the Carriers Horses back and these bonds of Iniquity keeps him fast in the gall of bitterness Acts 8.23 so makes not only Childhood but also 3. Youth to be not only Vanity but likewise often abounds with Villany Eccles 11.9,10 with 12.1 where the Preacher presseth upon Youth to indulge themselves in their youthful lusts if they dare do so adding a stinging But which marrs the Yonkers mirth God will judge thee for all thy Tricks of youth account them not Trifles which both Job and David so bitterly bewailed Job 13.26 and Psal 25.7 Therefore he exhorts such to remember their Creators at that time as Psal 119.9 before 4 ly Old Age come which is an Evil Age both for sin and misery But more plainly this Truth of Man's Malady and Danger is held forth in that Text The strong Man armed c. which declares Man's Malady and Danger Luke 11.21 where Satan is described 1. By his
Healer as our Lord Jesus is there is no kind of Disease can be found Incurable and thus the Prophet saith By his stripes we are all healed Isa 53.5 and tho' man have for his Mallady Satan who is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a roaring Lion seeking whom he may not only bite or scratch but Devour or drink up at one Draught or swallow down at one Mouthful as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies 1. Pet. 5.8 Yet this is our comfort that our Blessed Saviour who is also a Lion of the Tribe of Judah Revel 5.5 He is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who saveth us from the wrath to come 1 Thess 1 10. Thus Man's Remedy against all his Malady is his blessed Redeemer but more particularly even from the mouth of our dear Redemer himself in his excellent Parable concerning the strong Man's peaceable possession of his house until the stronger Man came upon him with a writ of Ejectment and dispossession of him c. Luk. 11.21.22 As the former of those two Verses holds forth Mans Malady and Danger which is at large discoursed upon and discovered so the latter Verse gives a most clear demonstration of Man's Remedy and Deliverer namely himself whom he calls the stronger Man and most amply accomplished to effect a compleat Deliverance and Salvation for us sorry Mortals out of all the before-named Miseries In both those Verses we may behold as in a clear Looking-glass and discerne whose we are and whom we Serve as the Apostles phrase is Acts 27.23 whether we belong to Satan or to our Saviour c. as we find the witnessings of Gods Spirit with our Spirits Rom. 8.16 Concerning this possession of the strong Man and the Dispossession of him by the stronger Man c. as our Saviour calls himself in ver 22. which doth represent Gods Champion coming forth to redeem man fallen into misery by the wiles of Satan and one who will not be baffled in any of his Undertakings for our Lord is called Mans Undertaker Isa 38.14 and he saith likewise Oh Mankind thou hath Destroyed thy self but in me is thy Help Hos 13.9 or as another paraphrastick Reading runs what hath Destroyed thee even the mutability of thy will Deceived by the grand Deceiver who was by his Creation an Angel of Light and propably one of those Sons of the Morning who sung Praises to the great Creator for the Creation of the Heavens Job 38.7 Yet afterwards by his Luciferian pride Isa 14.14 was changed into the prince of Darkness Eph. 6.12 that glorius Angel was Turned into a Damned Devil and who first set himself against the great Creator himself saying with proud Lucifer Isa 14.13,14 Ero sicut Altissimus I will be like the most High and when he found that the thing formed was too weak for Him that formed it and that the Potter had power over the Clay c. Rom. 9.20 21. So that the Creature could not prevail against his Creator then Satan falls foul upon God's Creature Man whom he saw Created in the Image of God wherein he Acted like that malicious Traitor who when his devilish designe was disappointed of Assassinating the Kings Royal Person himself he then falls foul upon the Kings Picture and tears it all to peices Thus the Devil did with the first Adam who was Gods Picture by his Creation and prevailed yea and so as that he prevailed not only against Adams Person but also against all Adams Posterity by pouring his Poison into the Spring-head or fountain as is demonstrated before as Adam was the publick Person and Rrepresentative of all the whole Race of mankind hereby we are all born Children of wrath Eph. 2.3 Enquiry how did the Creator take this Affront and Indignity done to him by the Devil in rending his Picture into peices c. was God unconcerned Answer the 1 st Indeed it was once at the least a seeming Divine dispensation concerning bloody Herods Imprisoning and Beheading John the Baptist that famous fore-runner of the Worlds Reedemer yet all that time God seemed to be silent as if not at all concerned therein by any External or sensible Providence of God to testifie his dislike and Abhorrency of such a Barbarous murder Mat. 14,3,4,5 to the 13 th notwithstanding Gods seeming silence as to outwrrd Judgments upon those malicious murderers the Lord gave an Inward plague in perplexing Herods conscience for this bloody Butchery Luke 9.7 where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies that Herod pendebat stood amused and amazed and stuck fast in the mud as it were and could not stir his feet but was ready to hang himself as the words import so in an angry Conscience Herod heard an angry God c. But Answer the 2d As to this Original Affront of Satan to his Maker in Defacing the Kings Image by putting the first Adam to the Foil and to that foul Fall the King of Kings is most highly concerned and comes immediately to the very place and spot of ground where this very Villany was newly perpretrated Summons the Offenders personally to Appear and He saith to Satan well Satan thou hast prevailed indeed over the first Adam notwithstanding I have my Glorious ends in it So to over-rule it as to bring forth the greatest good out of that greatest evil by the Chymical Art of my Unsearchable Wisdom but be it known to thee I will send the Second Adam into the world who shall not only match thee but also over-match thee he shall disposseses thee of this thy new possession The seed of the woman shall break thy Head though thou by thy Serpentine subtlety hath now bruised mans Heel and put him into a limping and halting posture Gen. 3.15 I will send my Son in the Similitude of sinful Flesh who through his Death shall Destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil Hebr. 2.14 and tho' thou hast sinned from the beginning yet for this purpose the Son of God shall be manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil as well as the Devil himself 1 Joh. 3.8 Thus the Everlasting Gospel as it is called Revel 14.6 was preached even by God himself in Paradise and seeing God himself was the first Preacher of the Gospel therefore that employ of God's Embassadors is very honourable Work and not so contemptible as the blind World doth unworthily account it to be c. Behold here how our most Gracious Father in Heaven provides and prepares a most Sovereign Plaister made up of the warm Blood of our Blessed and Bleeding Redeemer who was the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World Revel 13.8 So soon as the Strong Man armed had given this mortal Wound to the Root of Mankind even to Innocent Adam in his Paradise-Estate and this Gospel of Peace our good God himself did preach thus early that none of the Spirits of his dear Children though corrupted by the faln Nature might sink in
Lambs with all their Dams also and this vast number of Rams in such a season of the Year when their Wool was best grown upon their Backs and many more such examples of Tribute might be added Oh that we could ask our own Hearts whether our Affections have been conquered by the Lord Jesus the Stronger Man and Conqueror NB. Are all our Affections turned into Graces as the Affection of Fear into the Grace of Fear and the Affection of Love into the Grace of Love and so of the rest then our Lord hath laid his Laws upon them and they pay each of them their Tribute to Christ Oh blessed is that Soul that pays so many thousand Lambs or devout Prayers to Christ the King of Glory which must needs be numerous if both Occasional and Appointed Prayers if publick and private Prayers both in our Closets and in our Families for the space of one whole year be reckoned up all together If we do all these things then this Great King will greatly delight in our Beauty Psal 45.10.11 and give us Victory over our last Enemy Death which Christ will destroy 1 Cor. 15.26.55,56,57 CHAP. VI. Advice to the Aged for saving the Soul 'T IS the Sacred Sentence and Saying of Solomon the wisest of Men that The Hoary Head is a Crown of Glory if it be found in the way of Righteousness Prov. 16.31 Which words do discover a most clear Character of a compleat Conqueror through Christ's love to us Rom. 8.37 whereby he strengthens us to a kind of Omnipotency to wit of an ability to do all things which ought to be done by us both in Active and Passive Obedience Phil. 4.13 The word Proverbs in the Hebrew is Mashalim which is derived of Mashal signifying to Command Oh that this Divine Proverb may have a commanding power and influence over all us Aged Persons so that all our Gray Hairs may become a Crown of Glory to us by their being found in the way of Righteousness This Text is a compound of two principal Parts to wit a Thesis and an Hypothesis or a Position and a Supposition The Position is first 't is positively asserted that Gray Hairs are a Crown of Glory and then the Supposition follows if it be found in the way of Righteousness There be three Enquiries here to be answered the first What is meant by that Phrase of Gray Hairs or Hoary Head to which the Answer is 1 st Gray Hairs and Hoary Hairs or Head are promiscuously taken in Scripture for one and the same thing as in Levit. 19.32 1 Kings 2.6 and 9. Isai 46.4 Gen. 42.38 and 44.29,31 Prov. 16.31 and 20.29 2 Sam. 12.2 Job 15.10 Deut. 32.25 Hos 7.9 Psal 71.18 c. Answer the 2 d is That Gray Hairs Gray Headed and Hoary Hairs or Head are all Synonymical Expressions with Old Age with all those afore-quoted Scriptures Thus the Antient of Days Dan. 7.9 and Everlasting Father Isai 9.6 is described to have Hair as white as Wool Rev. 1.14 so Levit. 19.32 There this Phrase Hoary Head is used with the Old Man for Doctus in Lege one that is learned in the Law of God The 2 d Enquiry is What is meant by the Crown of Glory Answer 1 st This signifies the highest Honour that can be conferred upon Mankind a Crown is above a Garland a Miter c. a Crowned Head is a Title of the highest of all Humane Honours and there is a great affinity in the Greek Tongue betwixt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Old Age and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Honour and thus the Lord commanded that the Aged should be honoured Levit. 19.32 That Silver Crown of Hoary Hairs which the Finger of God doth set upon the Head of Aged Persons doth render them Venerable and to be Reverenced of all even in all Places and Companies where they come 'T was a caution of Restraint in Rome Cato Videt c. much more Deus Videt c. insomuch that they as it were carry an awful Majesty and Authority along with them both for suppressing of Vice and for encouraging of Vertue in their presence where too much familiarity yea and too much folly with it do not breed contempt Answer the 2 d This Crown is of the best kind of Crowns 't is not only a Crown of Silver as before or a Crown of Gold the best sort of earthly Crowns but 't is a Crown of Glory and that in a double Kingdom namely in the Kingdom of Grace here which is oft in Scripture called Heaven and also in the Kingdom of Glory hereafter So that such Aged Persons as are found to be God's Friends and Favourites as Old Abraham had that very Title given to him no fewer than three times of being God's Friend 2 Chron. 20.7 Isai 41.8 and Jam. 2.23 they shall have a double Crown of Glory first in this Life they shall have the Crown of Reverence and Veneration from all as Old Abraham was thus Crowned whom the very Heathens the Hittites most highly honoured saying to him thou art a Prince of God Hebr. or a Mighty Prince amongst us Gen. 23.6 even the Natural Conscience cannot choose but stoop to the Image of God stampted upon and shining forth in both the Persons and Actions of such as are eminent for Godliness as Abraham was and so it had been done to him before by King Abimelech and by Phicol the chief Captain of his Host Gen. 21.22,23 where they with all imaginable Reverence make their most Humble Address to Father Abraham that he might make an everlasting League with them and with their Posterity c. For both this King and his Captain as also did the Hittites all plainly see in him a behaviour that was more than ordinary to Mankind They were affraid of that Name of God even that Glorious and fearful Name put upon him and called upon by him and by all his Seed also Deut. 28.9,10,58 yea still the Sons and Daughters of Abraham even all God's People are called Princes in all Lands Psal 45.16 The Righteous are more excellent than their Neighbours Prov. 12.26 tho' they be never so great that dwell by them if they have only Greatness without Goodness The Jewish Rabins say that those Seventy Souls which went down with Jacob into Egypt were of much more worth than all the Seventy Nations whereof the whole known World consisteth Christ makes all his Saints to be Kings Rev. 1.6 and to be Conquerors also Rom. 8.37 they are his Glory Isai 4.5 2 Cor. 8.23 and therefore this Crown of Glory is given to them even in this World and if we can but become faithful unto Death then shall we have given us the Crown of Life in a better World Rev. 2.10 and we may the more have hope hereof because we are not kept by any power of our own which is no better than weakness it self Tho' David said I have kept my self from mine Iniquity Psal 18.21,23 and the born of God
to discourse upon is the Accidents of this Nature and Substance of Old Age which are principally two namely 1 st The Quantity and 2dly The Quality of it First Concerning the Quantity of it and this is twofold 1 st That which was more special and peculiar to the Antedeluvian Patriarchs And 2 dly That which is most General and Universal to all the Post-diluvian generation of Mankind ever since Noah's Flood not only unto this day but also to the end of the World 1 st As to the Patriarchs They indeed lived very long and to a very great Old Age yet they all did die at last for the God of Nature did ordain upon the Fall of Adam that Nature should decay and die at last NB. Note well That none of the Patriarchs did live out compleatly a Thousand Years for that term of Time is reckâ—…d as one Day 2 Pet. 3.8 and if any of those Patriarchs had lived out their Thousand Years then that Divine Doom upon faln Mankind in the Day thou eatest the forbidden Fruit thou shalt surely Die Gen. 2.17 Now if any one of those had lived beyond a Thousand Years then Man had not died within the compass of that Mystical Day c. The Patriarchs indeed had a very large Quantity and a long Lease of their Lives and this was for many weighty Reasons of four several sorts 1. Natural 2. Civil 3. Moral 4. Theological The 1 st is Natural because 1. There was much vertue in those Herbs upon which they constantly made their daily Meals 2 dly The Climate where they lived had a most temperate Air and every way most congruous to their Constitutions But 3 dly above all their own Temperance from Surfeiting and Drunkenness for the Old Adage is Plures pereunt Gula quam Gladio more Persons do die by Intemperance than by the Sword c. These Three are the Natural Reasons In the 2 d Place the Civil Reasons are 1 st They lived so long both for the better populating of the World And 2 dly For the better spreading of the Church of God out of the White Line in the World they lived thus long to beget Sons and Daughters for this purpose Then in the 3 d Place the Moral Reasons are 1 st For the better institution of all Arts and Sciences c. And 2 dly For the more promoting of their own Experimental knowledge because they wanted those Books and Libraries which we in our days do enjoy therefore the Lord lent them such long Leases of Eight or Nine Hundred Years whereby they got the greater stock of Knowledge by such long Experience And in the 4 th Place The Theological Reason is For the propagation of the True Religion in the World as was hinted above in the White Line the Posteririty of Seth as the Black Line was the Off-spring of cursed Cain as is made apparent in the draught of ancient Genealogies which are drawn with a White and a Black Line all along to distinguish the Church from the World NB. Note well 1. As the longest Day hath the shortest Night so the longest Life of those Patriarchs had the shortest Death for the night of Death came upon them at the last we read of no Agonies they had in their Dying c. NB. Note well 2. As the Microcosm or great World was drown'd as it were with a Dropsie in Neal's deluge and shall at last be burned as it were with a burning Fever even so the Microcosm or Man who is called the little World More of this afterwards But 2 dly as to the Quantity of Lease of Man's Life since the Patriarchs time which is now general and universal over all Mankind we must know that as the long Lives of those Patriarchs near the beginning of the World tho' now faln under sin doth intimate to us and give us a guess how long Man night have lived upon the Earth had he not sinned before he had been translated into Heaven as Enoch was So that the Age of Man began to be shortned after Noah's Flood and more especially after the confusion of Tongues at the building of Babel for Peleg which signifies Division so called because Tongues were divided in that day and his Son Regu and those born after them lived not above half the time of those than were born before them as Porcus notes well in his Medulla Histor Eccles pag. 15. NB. Note well May not we in our Day call our Sons Peleg as Heber did his Son for in a colour of building up Sion 't is rather a Babel because of the Confusion of Tongues amongst us not understanding one anothers Languages Prob Dolor this is for Lamentation c. Know likewise that after this diminution of Man's Age at the Confusion of Tongues Moses comes and mentions a shorter cut of the Lease of Man's Life as we are told in the Ninetieth Psalm which is called the Prayer of Moses that he made most probably when he saw the Carcases of the People fall so fast in the Wilderness and committed to Writing for the instruction of those that were left alive yet were doomed to Death as Numb 14. at large relateth and this Prayer of Moses is fitly placed next to the eighty ninth Psalm that it might be an illustration of that passage What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death shall he deliver his Soul from the Hand of the Grave Psal 89.48 After this verse Moses reads a Divine Lecture upon Man's Mortality shewing how God turns Man to destruction Psal 90.3 that is God by turning loose upon Man divers Diseases turns him now soon out of the Worlds And when Moses had set forth the misery of Man's Life by many similitudes as a Watch a Flood a Sleep Flower c. which indeed is such a Misery as cannot sufficiently be set forth by any similitudes ver 4 5 6 7 8 9. He at last comes to determine how short a Lease God gives Man of his Life saying the days of our Years are Threescore Years and Ten ver 10. that is as if he had said Tho' the Fathers lived much longer yet as wickedness increased in the World so Mens Days decreased and now their Lives are daily shortned and one Generation soon dispatched away after another All Men have a quick dimission from their appearance upon the Stage of the World and all this is done that the World it self may come the sooner to its perpetual period And tho' some by reason of a more robust Constitution than others have and therefore may attain to fourscore Years yet few exceed seventy and fewer attain to it and such as live longer do pay interest of Pains Sorrow and Misery for their inlargement beyond the generality of Mankind because the Body is then much decayed and filled with Diseases c. And thus Barzillai accounted himself a very Aged Man when he had attained to the age of fourscore Years old 2 Sam. 19.32 saying of himself How long
Mercy that no deadly â—oison of Satan doth now harm us as our Lord did promise unto all Believers after his Resurrection Mark 16.17,18 Oh that all we Aged Ones could sincerely praise the Lord for this high Favour that 〈◊〉 now find by sweet experience we can better resist the Devil now so as to make him flee from us Jam. 4.7 We can now resist him more stedfastly in the Faith 1 Pet. 5.8,9 than we were able to do in our youthful days and tho' we be able through Grace to say this yet out of an Holy Jealousie over our own Hearts we must still make a farther enquiry what is the principal procuring Cause of such an happy and easie Conquest over our own Corruptions and Satan's Temptations now in our Old Age whether we be not more beholden herein unto the decays of our own Natures in us than to any strength of God's Grace freely given to us because we may die to sin by the deficiency of our natural strength of Body when sin doth not die to us through those powerful Operations of the mortifying Spirit of Grace Rom. 8.13 but more of this after c. Now come we to the Second Reason why a Good Old Age is a great blessing because the goodness of it is not only a blessed Antidote and Preservative against those threfold Evils before-named but also it is a blessed Preparative for Death at the end of our Old Age and of our Lives This preparation for Death is not only an universal but also an indispensable Duty for after death comes the Judgment Heb. 9.27 then is the time of Reckoning which our Lord Requires after his Returning however long or short it be wherein all Mankind both the good and the bad Servants must Reddere Rationem or give an exact account of their Stewardship whether they have wasted or improved their Lord and Master's Goods Matth. 25.14,19 Luke 16.1,2 and 19.15 c. as I shew at large in my Fourth Volume of the History and Mystery of that Parable pag. 185 186. Now every Man's Death-day is his particular Dooms-day for then the Spirit returns to God who gave it Eccles 12.7 when the Body returns to Dust of which it was first made Gen. 2.7 by rotting in the Grave c. Then the Soul goeth to God not to dwell with him for there the Speech is made of all Men both bad and good but to be disposed of by him for his Final Estate then is the Soul or Spirit as being there opposed to the Body to receive its Final Doom either for Everlasting Weal or for Everlasting Wo. Therefore to prepare for Death is a most necessary tho' it be a much neglected Duty Now such as be good in Old Age their goodness consists in being alway prepared for it both Habitually and Actually they learn to die daily 1 Cor. 15.31 and makes Death familiar to them both at Bed and Board Their Conversation is in Heaven while their Commoration is here on Earth Phil. 3.20 They labour and learn to live with dying Thoughâ—s because they hope at last to die with more living comforts They have Heaven as an happy Harbour of Rest in the Eyes of their Hope which serves to season and sweeten all Sorrows and Sufferings to them as it was with blessed Paul who had his Eye fixed upon that Crown of Glory which was laid up for him and for all Believers 2 Tim. 4.8 and therefore he was not at all discouraged at his light Afflictions which were but for a moment in comparison of that exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 where we have a most elegant Antithesis or opposition and a double Hyperbole beyond the reach of our English Translation As thus 1. For Affliction here is Glory 2. For light Affliction here is a weight of Glory And 3. For momentary Affliction here is Eternal Glory and the sight of this by an Eye of Faith put Paul upon his Cupio Dissolvi I desire to be dissolved Phil. 1.21,22,23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there signifies to loose off from the shore of this Mortal Life and to launch out into the Ocean of Immortality which he accounted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is far far better and best of all Thus this preparation for Death had caused Old Simeon before this Apostle even to sing his Soul out of his Body as before This likewise made that Good Old Man Job to say I would not live always Job 7.16 for he hoped to behold his Redeemer c. Job 19.25 Thus may we accordingly say we would not be Young always because we have been so hampered and pester'd with many youthful Lusts which now through Grace a Good Old Age hath weakened An Hoary Head that is found in the way of Righteousness doth ripen fast like good Fruit upon the Tree of Life in its Autumn and becomes day by day more mellow for Death and hath nothing thâ—n to do but to die being able through Mercy to say with his sweet Saviour Father I have finished my work which theâ—… gavest me to do in the World John 17.5 Oh how ready was David how willing and how prepared to die and to fall asleep in Jesus 1 Thes 4.14 when he could say his Conscience bearing witness with him in the Holy Ghost as Rom. 9.1 that he had served out his Generation in his whole Generation-work according to the will of God Acts 13.36 The Third Reason why a Good Old Age is a most rich Blessing and Benefit to the Sons and Daughters of Mankind is because it doth priviledge them with a true Title unto Mansions of Glory prepared for them in a better World Such as have continued in ways of Holiness all their Life and become faithful unto death Rev. 2.10 they shall assuredly at the last arrive at the Haven of Heaven and Happiness when they die for God himself hath assured us and God Keeps the best and surest Ensuring Office that having our Fruit unto Holiness then our end shall be Eternal Life Rom. 6.22,23 for then comes first the Joy of Harvest as when fruitful Fields are white unto Harvest John 4.35 then comes the Husbandman with his Sithe or Sickle and cuts down his Corn binds it up in Bundles and carries it Home to his Barn c. even so God the great Husbandman as Christ calls him John 15.1 when he sees his old Servants as it were white unto Harvest with Hoary Heads and fully ripened in the way of Righteousness then doth he take them down by the hand of Death and gathers them Home into his heavenly Garners Our Lord doth certifie this great Truth to us over and over again saying that Heaven is surely secured for us and we are likewise safely secured for Heaven by the mighty Power of God the word there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth we are kept as with a Guard and in a Garrison and that at the last we shall receive the end of our Faith even the
namely of much smartings burning pains and sorrows if that Sting be not timely dâ—awn out by the Grâ—ce of true Repentance The Lord himselâ— pâ—…ed that Stinging Sermon unto Cain Iâ— thou dost well shalt thou not be accepâ—…d but if thou dost evil then sin lies at thy 〈◊〉 that is like a mighty Mastiff-Dâ—g whâ—ch lies sleeping at the Door and if once awakened he is there ready to pull out the Throat of the Soul Gen. 4.7 And Moses tells the People agreeable to this caution of the great God to Cain and surely your sin will find you out Numb 32.23 that is the Guilt of sin will haâ—… you at your Heels like a Blood-Hound and the punishment of it will ovâ—…ke you c. Yet such as do surely â—…nd â—t their sin by an unfeigned Repenâ—…ce before their sin thus fearfully find 〈◊〉 â—hem even all such as câ—nfesseth and â—…keth their sin shall fiâ—d 〈◊〉 Proâ— 28.13 Then if Death at 〈…〉 â—orth â—y Sting at us ' tiâ— no mâ—re harmâ—ul than an enchanâ—…d Stiâ—gâ— like those Serpents which th◠〈…〉 raised up by their Enâ—…ments Exod. â— 12 they were 〈◊〉 really Serpents but in appearanâ—… only and â—o thâ—ir Stings were like themselves more Phâ—…ms which could not 〈◊〉 sting any one true Israelite and as 〈◊〉 Mâ—…k-Serpents were swallowed up by Moses his real one even so Christ who is Life Essential hath swallowed up Death in Victory as before So that now through the Grace of Christ tho' Death may buzz about our Ears like a Drone-Bee that hath lost its Sting yet it cannot sting us with any mortal Sting for that is quite lost in the death of Christ for all his Redeemed as Christ hath taken away not sin it self but the Guilt of sin So nor hath he taken away Death it self but the Sting of it Thus Augustine doth phrase this double Purchase of Christ for us both in respect of Sin and in respect of Death saying Christus tollit Peccatum Mortem nonne sint sed ne obsint our Lord indeed doth take away both Sin and Death from us yet not that they should not be at all but that they should not be hurtful to those for whom he died And 't is for this glorious Priviledge that the Apostle Paul as one of Christ's chief Heraulds proclaimeth openly to the World and that with a world of Solemnity and Triumph his own Victory over Death by his dear Redeemer 1 Cor. 15.57 and therefore exhorts us to be always stedfast and unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord well-knowing that our Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord ver 58. The same Apostle saith with such a firm Faith which both took Root downward and brought forth Fruit upward that for him to live was Christ and to die was gain and he longed to be dissolved Phil. 1.21,22,23 5 thly 'T is his returning Home to his Father's House c. because death to a Good Man is the day-break of an eternal Brightness 't is as the Vally of Achor as a Door of Hope into the celestial Canaan Josh 7.24,27 and 15.7 Hos 2.15 even into that Heavenly Country unto which the Holy Patriarchs so earnestly pressed to enter Heb. 11.13,14,15 and as it were hastened Home thither where their Father was and their All also Hereupon for them to die was no more but repaterasse as Father Bernard phraseth it that is to go Home again to their Father's House whither when they come they are assured of a most hearty and of a most happy welcome The Parable of the penitent Prodigal and his compassionate Father's meeting together at Home with Feasting and exceeding great Joy Luke 15.20,23,24 doth illustrate this The Prodigal only came but the Father ran and fell upon his Neck and kissed him and killed the fatted Calf for him and put the best Robe upon him c. to make him welcome yet all this was but a dim shadow of that exceeding excessive and eternal meeting of our Heavenly Father with his dear Children to whom Christ most lovingly speaketh Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Matth. 25.34 Oh the infinite Bowels of a Father yerning over his Adopted Sons and Daughters as if he had thus said Where have you been my dear Darlings all this time of my long absence from you and of yours from me come nâ—w and heartily welcome come now into my Bosom which is now wide open to receive you as the welcomest Guests that oâ—er accosted me ye shall lie warm in my Bosom to all Eternity c. and with Crowns of Glory upon your Heads ye shall sing Hallelujahs unto the Lord for ever and ever NB. Note well To know this upon a dying Bed câ—nnot but be a Rich Cordial to know that death is only Perta Coeli Janua Viâ—… the Postâ—rn Gate to the Heavenly City and the Narrow Door to Everlasting Life that it is our restoration into a better Paradise than that was out of which the first Adam was banished at first by his sinning but this Heavenly Paradise The Second Adam purchased for us by his suffering that death doth now by the purchase of Christ bring to us both Malorum omium Ademptionem Bonâ—rum omnium Adentionem that is the râ—moving of all that is evil and the receiving of all that is good This consideration brought Paul out of his Sâ—râ—it when he had been musing and â—…hting and knew not what he should châ—ose â—…ether Life or Death at last he 〈◊〉 â—orth into this resolve 〈…〉 I desire to be dissâ—lved and to return 〈◊〉 to my Father's House from whom I expect to hear Well done thâ—… good and faithful Servant enter 〈◊〉 into the Joy of thy Lord Matth. 24.21,23 which is a Joy so big so great that it cannâ—… enter into us Quicquid Recipitur recipitur ad Modum Recipientis saith the â—…losopher the Vessel receiving m◠〈…〉 Measure congruous to and c◠〈…〉 the Matter received Now 〈…〉 ouâ— Vessâ—ls are not large en◠〈…〉 Joy to enter into us th◠〈…〉 that we must enter int◠〈…〉 it is such a Joy as is more m◠〈…〉 Lord and Master than for 〈…〉 yet such a liberal Lord do w◠〈…〉 as will honour his Servants with 〈◊〉 matchless Joy We serve a most Honoâ—rable Master who employs us in most Honourable Work and will at last pay us with most Honourable Wages Unto all this aforesaid let me add the Christian's Charter as another pretious Cordial unto a dying Saint namely the large Inventory which the blessed Apostle distinctly describeth that belongeth to every true Believer saying all things are yours whether the World and so you lose nothing when you leave the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's 1 Cor. 3.21,22,23 that is the World is theirs tho' not in possession yet by way of Reduction ye shall
that case our sin is writ upon our Punishment and our own guilty Consciences do put a Sting into that Darkness upon our Windows of Wantonness and Wickedness This must needs be a Prick and a Thorn to torment Blind Eyes The Sixth Evil of Old Age is and the Doors shall be shut in the Streets when the sound of the Grinding is low ver 4. which some interpret the Ears that then grow dull of Hearing and at last Deaf because Hearing is caused by two Bones placed within the inside of the Ear whereof the one stands still and the other moveth like the nether and upper Grindstones of a Mill And as the Ear was a Door by which Death first entred into the World when our first Parents gave a listning Ear more to the Old Lyar than to the God of Truth So the Lord hath appointed it as a suitable Antidote that the Ear should be a Door to let in Life and Salvation now as it had done Death and Damnation before for God saith in the Old Testament incline your Ear to me hear and your Soul shall live c. Isai 55.3 And he saith in the New Testament that Faith cometh by Hearing c. Rom. 10.17 But alas the Deaf cannot hear the word the Door is shut yea the Young as well as Old while in the state of Sin all are possessed with a Deaf Devil until Christ come and cry Ephphatha that is be opened Mark 7.34 and straightway his Ears were opened ver 35. But others do understand those Metaphorical Doors in Eccles 12.4 to be the Lips of Man's Mouth because of David's expression in his Prayer Lord keep the Door of my Lips c. Psal 141.3 These Doors the Lips are said to be shut without because the sound of the Grinding is low that is say they the Lips are shut close together when for want of Teeth to grind their Food with the Meat is rolled and chavelled up and down the Mouth and if the Lips be not kept close shut the Meat in tumbling to and fro would drop out of the Mouth There is yet a Third Interpretation of this Allusion which I cannot omit of those words The Doors shall be shut in the Streets that is these Aged Ones shall keep home avoiding the company and society of Mankind such as Feastings and Merry Meetings when the sound of the Grinding is low that is when neither his Teeth nor his Stomach and Appetite can any longer serve him for much feeding or feasting as in Old Barzillai 2 Sam. 19.35 The 7 th Decay in Old Age is and he shall rise at the Voice of the Bird that is the least noise of a Swallow that nests in the Chimney top c. or any little Bird will waken Old Persons especially the crowing of the Cock which is not caused by any quickness in their Hearing that then is dull as before but from the dryness of their Brains which causeth badness of sleeping from coldness of Blood and deficiency of Moisture therefore is it said the Old Man rises up at the least Noise because being awakened and weary with lying along and unable to turn his Body in his Bed he must rise to change his posture for his ease c. The 8 th Evil of Old Age is all the Daughters of Musick shall be brought low that is they shall neither have any Voices wherewith to sing of themselves nor take any delight to hear others that have Voices to sing ver 4. for as their Instruments of Speaking which make Musick do fail so their Instruments of Hearing for receiving Musick do fail also Homer observeth that Old People cannot themselves sing Propter Raucam Vocem for their unpleasant Voice which is no better than Creaking and Screaming And Juvenal expresseth it thus nam quae Cantante Voluptas what pleasure can the Old find either in singing themselves or in hearing others sing as they themselves cannot sing Tuneably with distinction of Sounds so they can take no delight in hearing the Melodious Notes of other Singers as Old Barzillai did acknowledge to King David who was that sweet Singer of Israel 2 Sam. 19.35 As their dulness of Hearing disinables them from discerning the Melody so the lowness of their Spirits makes them melancholick insomuch that they cannot affect Musick And this is very remarkable here that Old Men whose Hearing is so quick as to be awakenned with any little Noise of a Bird c. yet the exquisiteness of the sense of Hearing to delight in the sound of Musick is quite gone from them The 9 th Evil of Old Age they shall be afraid of that which is high and fear shall be in the way ver 5. that is they shall be very fearful to walk upon high places where there may be any danger of falling and they being very timerous themselves will shrink and tremble yea cry out when they behold Young Ones over bold and venturous c. As they are themselves afraid of climbing up aloft because of the stiffness of their Joints and the unweildiness of their Bodies So they dare not stand in any high place because a Vertigo a giddiness or swimming of the Brain doth soon seize upon them Their Heads are as weak as their Hamms they can neither climb up because they are short winded and when they are got up they dare not look down for fear of falling c. Yea they are afraid of every Hillock or little Stone standing up in their way for fear of stumbling on it because of the unnimbleness of their Limbs They fear to be cast down by careless People riding or running and carrying Burdens to and fro c. The 10 th Evil of Old Age is the Almond Tree then flourisheth that is when their Heads grow Gray and Hoary which is of it self a Crown of Glory a flourishing Ornament if found in the way of Righteousness Prov. 16.31 But it is an undeniable evidence of the decay of our Radical Moisture which should duly nourish the Hairs both of our Heads and Beards The Almond Tree is the first that flourisheth Jer. 1.11,12 The Prophet there saw this as a sign of Gods hastning the execution of his Judgments against a sinful Nation for this Tree Blossometh before any other Tree Natural Philosophy tells us that the Almond Tree doth Blossom in January while it is yet Winter and its Fruit is ripe in March when 't is but early Spring c. and therefore it hath its Name from its early appearance both of Buds Blossoms and Fruit but here it is made a Resemblance of an Hoary Head yet with this difference 1 st The Almond flourisheth in the Spring but the Hoary Head in the Winter of our Old Age. 2 dly That Tree hath all its white Blossoming Flowers before the Fruit but we have our white Hairs after our Fruit-bearing to God in our Generation-work Notwithstanding this double Disparity there is this one Congruity that runs parallel betwixt them namely that the
Hoary Head found in the way of Righteousness is the flourishing Crown of the Old Man in the Spring of a better World unto which he is hastening with white Snow or Church-yard Flowers upon his Head This makes up another of the five Characters afore-mentioned that Old Age hath White Sugar in its Hair as it is Gray-headed c. The 11 th Evil of Old Age is then the Grashopper or Locust shall be a Burden that is the Old Man cannot bear the least Weight or Burden no not the Weight or Burden of a Locust or Grashopper because he is already become a Burden to himself by manifold Distempers upon him as Gout Phthisick c. But another learned Expositor interprets this Clause neither by the noise of the Locust for that is intimated before ver 4. in the Voice of the Bird nor by its weight Hyperbolically spoken to signifie that the lightest Burden is a Load to Old People but most fitly as he saith it is meant of the slowness of the Aged's digestion For tho' the Locust be a clean and wholesom Food Levit. 11.22 and much used in those Hot Countries especially by the poorer sort of People Matth. 3.4 yet even this Light Meat proves heavy and burdensome to the Old Man's Stomach The 12 th Evil of Old Age is that then Desire shall fail that is not only Appetite either to Meat or to Drink as was in Barzillai afore-named but also all vehement and strong Affections to the common Pleasures of this Life called the Delights of the Sons of Men Eccles 2.8 such as are the Lusts of the Flesh the Lusts of the Eye and the Pride of Life all these shall be taken away c. Hence famous Tully reckons this as one great Benefit by Old Age quod Hominem a libidinis aestu velut a quodam Tyranno liberabit that it sets a Man free from the Fire and Flagrancy of Lust as from a great Tyrant And this also implied in that Etymology of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies an Elder derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignis and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 extinguo to wit the Quenching of Fire Thus far go the First sort of Evils attending the former part of Old Age while we are yet able to walk abroad now follow the Second Sort that do accompany our Decrepit Age which are the symptoms and forerunners of approaching Death and then it is that we are said to have one Foot in the Grave There is yet one of the Five Characters behind to be now mentioned namely the Old Man hath also an Almanack in his Bones as well as Eyes or Spectacles in his Pocket a Leg or Staff in his Hand Sugar or Snow in his Hoary Head and Teeth or Knife at his Girdle Now this Almanack is the many Aches and Pains all over his Body which makes him Weather-wise and wiser than his Almanack and can better prognosticate that ill weather is near at hand when he begins to feel many pungent pricking Pains infesting the Humours of several parts of his Body the like Prognosticks as the Lord Bacon in his Natural History telleth us are found in some certain Weather-wise Fowls which against stormy Seasons will make most doleful Ditties and sad Outcries and the Reason hereof as that learned Nobleman rendreth it is because then the purified Air penetrates into the Quils of their Feathers which puts them to much Anguish and causeth them to cry out after◠an hiddious manner Thus it is with us in our Decrepid Age such Cramps and Convulsions do come upon us as do foretel the Storm of Death is drawing nigh and that we are going apace to our long home Eccles 12.5 And therefore the Moral of the Apologue is very weighty and well worthy of serious consideration The Story in the Fable runs thus There was a Man who made this Bargain with Death not to come for taking away his Life and sending him away into another World until he had due notice and warning hereof before hand Death agrees and the Bargain was struck up between them both After this the Man liveth a long time yet not altogether without some Ailments and Illments all standing memorials of Mortality At the last Death comes in good earnest as God's Sergeant to Arrest him and to carry him to the Prison of the Grave Nay saith the Man to Death Hold now thy Hand for I must bind thee to thy Bargain wherein thou bound thy self to give me timely notice and due warning of thy coming To this Death smartly replied Oh Man how many Harbingers hast thou had concerning my coming in those sundry Distempers of Tooth-ach Head-ach and such like all which were my Forerunners but thou minded them not therefore Thou Fool at this Time thy Soul shall be required of thee as Luke 12.20 whereupon Death cast his fatal Javeling at him struck him down dead and hurried him away to his place in another World The Moral of this Mystical Fable is this That even all the Infirmities of the First Sort namely not only the Five Characters of Old Age fore-mentioned with all the other Decays of Nature which the Eldest Son of Wisdom Solomon recordeth Eccles 12.1,2,3,4,5 they are all Summons sent from Heaven to us that we may be making ready for our departure from this Earth But more especially those of this latter Sort which do more immediately introduce Death it self The two First whereof be external in the last of part ver 5. As 1 st Man is just a going to his long Home Gnal Beth Gnalamo Hebrew the House of his Age the Grave where he shall rest until the Day of his Resurrection Job 14.12 Now the Sentence of Death is seen by many indicant Signs to writ upon him as 2 Cor. 1.9 and he lies sighing out those sad words of Job My Spirit is spent my Days are extinct the Graves are ready for me Job 17.1 2 dly The Mourners go about the Streets that is his Friends and Neighbours run to see him die and to close up his Eyes making many mournful Moans and Lamentations over him to provoke others to lament with them Amos 5.16 and Jer. 22.18 This is one of the dues of the Dead so it be done aright The Four following Decays are Internal ver 6. in the very Act of Dying namely the dissolution and perishing of those principal parts wherein the life and strength of Nature do inwardly consist As 1 st Or ever the Silver Cord be loosed that is the Marrow of the Back-Bone which runneth from the Brain through the Neck to the bottom of the Back through twenty four Joints and takes in therewith all the Sinews of the other parts of the Body and which are the Ligaments of all the Members Now as this Marrow is of a Silver Colour and is therefore called a Silver Cord so as it is a Cord that ties all the whole Body together Now when this Cord comes to loosened the Back bendeth Motion
to Second Causes some have shortned their own Lives c. Tho' the Moral of this Fable hold true in some singular Instances yet for the General 't is an undeniable truth that Old Age may comfort it self with this blest freedom from Youthful Lusts Aged People cannot be so Eye-sick nor so Heart-sick of Lustful Desires as the Young are but are then arrived into a more quiet Harbour from the furious Tempests of Carnal Concupiscence Secondly The Aged may comfort themselves with their long experience in the World for experimental Knowledge doth far exceed and excel that which is meerly Notional and upon this account 't is truly said Tho' Young Men think Old Men Fools yet the Old are sure that the Young are Fools for want of experience For as Experience is called the Mistress of Fools so it truly is the Mother of Prudence It was a Prophane Saying of a Pagan Poet that Prudence was above Destiny but a Christian may safely say that next to Divine Providence Humane Prudence may challenge the highest place in the management of Humane Matters and that Old Age hath the chiefest interest in that Prudence Young Elihu did acknowledge this for a great Truth saying multitude of Years should teach Wisdom Job 32.7 And Musicians do experience that Old Lutes make a sweeter Sound than New Ones The not knowing of this Truth was both the Folly and the Ruine of that Foolish King Rehoboam who choosd to follow the Counsel of his Green-heads that stood before him rather than of those Grave Senators who had stood before his wiser Father 1 Kings 12.6,7,8,9,10 c. As Young Men are properly for Action so Old Men are principally for Advice and therefore the Roman Senate consisted of Senators so called for their Age which became so famous in the World that it occasioned that saying Romani Sedendo Vincunt as if the Advice of their sitting Senate did contribute more to all their Glorious Conquests than all the brave Actions of their Fighting Soldiers and thus the Heads of Cities c. are hence called Aldermen c. Thirdly The Aged may comfort their own Hearts with this Consideration likewise that they have so long weathered the point under the conduct of their Gracious God through such a broad and tempestuous Sea of a most troublesome Life Oh happy are those that can say many have been my Troubles but the Lord hath delivered me out of them all Psal 34.19 and God's Angel hath redeemed us from all our Evils in our whole Lives hitherto Gen. 48.16 and that the Pillar of Divine Providence hath hitherto been our Guide in the Wilderness of this lower World as the Cloudy Pillar did guide Israel in that wayless Waterless Wilderness in their many motions and mutations and we have walked all along as Helpless Children in the Hands of our Heavenly Father whom we have sometimes followed as it were blindfold like Abraham the Father of the Faithful who went out not knowing whither he went Heb. 11.8 who tho' he knew not whither he went yet he well knew with whom he went for he was ever as a Child in his Father's Hand Happy are such as can say Lord thou hast been our King of old Psal 74.12 and we have been Young but now are Old yet never saw the Righteous forsaken nor his Seed tho' begging Bread Psal 37.25 and we will Remember the days of Old c. Psal 143.5 and this God is our God for ever and ever he will be our Guide even unto Death Psal 48.14 Fourthly The Aged may comfort themselves that now they are approaching near the end of their troublesome Voyage through a dangerous Sea both of manifold Tribulations and of many Temptations also yea and nigh to the end of their Toilsom Travel and Wandrings in the Wilderness of this lower World and now drawing nigh toward their Harbour and Haven of Eternal Happiness in Heaven The end of all Motion is Rest and the nearer we come to our Centre the more active and hastening we ought to be that we may contradict that uncharitable Proverb Juvenis in Sanctis Senibus Satanizat in Annis that is Young Saints sometimes prove no better than Old Devils whereas such as are Saints while they are Young ought to become Angels when they come to be Old for the Path of the Just is like a Shining Light that shineth more and more to a perfect day Prov. 4.18 Plutarch affirms concerning the Laborious Bee that it never degenerates into an idle Drone And Augustin's Character of a true Christian is Semel Electus Semper Dilectus once Elected and ever Beloved this therefore makes our Election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 As we draw daily nearer our best Home then to hunger after it and hasten toward it so much the more c. Fifthly The Old Disciples of Christ may comfort themselves with this consideration that the Lord loveth his Mnasons Acts 21.16 even when they are past their work forasmuch as they have taken heed to fulfill their Ministery they received in the Lord Col. 4.17 Hitherto to the best of their Abilities their Consciences bearing Witness hereto in the Holy Ghost Rom. 9.1 2 Cor. 1.12 Acts 23.1 and 24.16 they are still beloved of God for what work they have already wrought for his Glory and for the good of many Saints the reflection of this cannot but conduce much to the Comfort of their own Souls Tho' now they be like Travellers that ride upon Tired Horses they can proceed no farther in publick Generation-work yet they can say with Paul the Aged Philem. ver 9. to will is present with us but how to perform we find not Rom. 7.18 And now their only work is to Ripen fast and to become fully Mellow to be gathered home c. NB. Note well The Lord 's tender loving-kindness to the godly Levites under the Law in giving them leave when Old to retire from that Laborious Service of his Sanctuary Numb 8.23,24,25 yet were they as Judges c. all which may comfort us under the Gospel c. Still God commands let the Younger submit to the Elder 1 Pet. 5.5 and as David was kind to Young Chimham for Old Barzillai's sake 2 Sam. 19.38 So the Lord is kind to the Off-spring of his Old Servants who are Children of many Prayers c. Thus tho' they be laid aside as Old Almanacks useless by Men they are not so by their loving God c. Secondly The Cordials and Comforts that the Lord hath left us upon Record against the Fear of Death If we would get good Gold we must go to Ophir good Balm we must go to Gilead c. So if we would get good Comfort we must go to the God of all True Comfort 2 Cor. 1.3 and to the Book of God which consists of those full Breasts of Consolation which we are commanded to suck and be satisfied against all our Fears c. Isai 66.11 Job calls Death the King of Terrors chap. 18.14 and so