at all for the Great Judge of Heaven and Earth before whom thou and I are now going to appear knows all these things that I have now told thee of to be true and will quickly undeceive thee whatever thy hopes are now and make thee know these things unto thy everlasting confusion unless out of the infinite Riches of his Grace and Mercy he give thee Repentance presently which thou canst have very little hopes of now at Death since thou didst not turn to him in thy Life Secondly Consider when thou comest to die thou wilt then have to do with God himself immediately It is true while we are here in the Body we have to do with God and all our Affairs whatsoever are transacted under his Eye and in his presence therefore we read in Heb. 4.13 That all things are naked and open unto the Eyes of that God with whom we have to do There is no Prayer we make no Sermon we hear no Holy Duty we perform no Mercy we enjoy no Affliction we lie under nor any Action we do in our whole lives but we have to do with God in it But when we come to die we have to do with God in another way and manner than what we have to do with him in this World here we have to do with God in Duties and Ordinances but it is in such a way as is becoming our present state of distance from him of which I may say as the Prophet doth in another case it is neither clear not dark insomuch that Faith it self hath much a-do sometimes to discover God unto the Soul and no wonder then if a Carnal Eye cannot discern him But when as the Wise Man speaks the Soul shall return to God that gave it the Soul then goes into the immediate Presence of God having to do with him in such an immediate way and manner that there is nothing in the Eye of the Soul to obscure or hinder the sight of the Divine Presence no vail of Flesh between God and it but naked Majesty and Glory discovers it self to the Soul with the rays of its own light which is so full of wonder and astonishment that we know not now how to conceive of it much less to express it And if a holy Prophet seeing but a Vision of God crys out Wo is me I am undone for I am a Man of unclean Lips and mine Eyes have seen the King the Lord of Host Isai 6.5 O how much more may it overwhelm a Soul when stripp'd of its Body to see not only a Vision of God but to see God himself as it were face to face But this is not all for the Soul is not by Death barely brought before the Great and Glorious God but it is brought before him to be judged to an Eternal State In this Life we come into the presence of God upon a Treaty of Peace between God and our Souls God is now in Christ reconciling Sinners unto himself and is willing not to impute their Sins and Trespasses unto them and if they will accept of his terms they may make Peace with him for he saith now unto Sinners let them take hold of my strength and so make Peace with me and they shall make Peace with me but if Sinners will not throw away the Weapons of their Rebellion out of their Hands I mean their Sins out of their Hearts whereby they fight against God but Death comes and strikes them dead with their Weapons in their Hands I mean in the embracements of their lusts God and they must treat after another manner not upon terms of Peace but upon terms of Judgment for away they go immediately after Death before God as a Judge the Spirit then returning unto God that gave it to receive a determinative sentence of Happiness or Misery for ever And who would not then be always prepared for the stroke of Death that carries the Soul into the presence of such a Judge who hath power to and who will determine its everlasting State Thirdly As a farther Argument to perswade Christians unto a preparation for Death Consider the misery of those who when Death comes upon them are unprovided for it And this I shall do in these following particulars briefly First An unprepared Sinner at Death loseth all his outward comforts and enjoyments In this Life it may be Providence did abound towards him with variety of outward enjoyments as Riches Relations Pleasures Profits and the like but Death is now come and hath swept away all of these things that were desirable It was a doleful expression of Ahraham unto the Rich Man in Hell Luke 16.25 Son remember thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things Oh what a cutting word was this to his Soul when he was passed into another World And will it not wound thy Soul as deeply O Sinner who hast not made thy Preparations for Eternity when thou comest to pass through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to consider thou hast received all thy good things already yea and having received them if thou couldst always live with them and keep them always with thee it might be something to thee but alas thou canst not for when Death comes it will turn thee out of all thy possessions and enjoyments when thou diest thou shalt take nothing in thy hand with thee of all thy labour as the Wise Man speaks Eccl. 5.15 The things of this World will not go one step with thee beyond this present Life and think O Sinner if thou canst what a doleful thing will it be for a poor Soul to be 〈◊〉 down naked upon the vast Ocean of Eternity having nothing to relieve and support it self with all its Riches and Treasures being left behind it in another World Secondly The Misery of an unprepared Sinner for Death appears in this that then he shall be deprived of all the Seasons and Opportunities of Grace It is no mean Mercy to thee O Sinner hadst thou a Heart to improve it that thou now enjoyest the Ordinances of Life and Salvation that thou hast the tenders of Mercy the entreaties of Ministers the motions of the Spirit invitations to come unto Christ leave and liberty to cast down thy self at the Feet of God and by Prayer and Supplication seek his Face and be as earnest and fervent as thou wilt or canst be for Mercy But let me tell thee at Death the door of Mercy will be for ever shut there will be no Praying or Preaching or Hearing in the Place whither thou art going no declaring this loving kindness of God in the Grave nor this faithfulness of his in Destruction Now the Ordinances of God though precious to others yet are they tedious and irksome unto thee the Church of God to thee is little better than a Prison the Sabbath-day is the longest day in the Week in thy Account thou wouldst fain be rid of it the Commands of Christ which to a Gracious Soul are
whether it be good or evil But because Generals do not so much affect us unto our Edification I shall be a little more particular in my Discourse upon this Subject and so I shall speak something concerning Death in a Threefold Sence as the Scripture holds it forth unto us And so there is I. A Death in Sin II. A Death to Sin And III. A Death for Sin First There is a Death in Sin this the Scripture mentions often 5 John 25. The hour is coming and now is when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live So 5 Ephes 14. Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light So let the dead bury the dead Mat. 8.22 This Death in Sin consists in the want of a Principle of Spiritual Life being the deprivation of the Life of Grace and Holiness which is the Life of the Soul and without which the Soul is dead And thus all Men naturally are dead because they are without the Spirit of Christ which enlivens and quickens the Soul to all Acts of Grace and Holiness wherein this Spiritual Life doth manifest it self as the Soul enlivens and quickens the Body unto all Acts of Nature wherein the natural Life doth manifest it self That all Men are thus dead in Sin naturally is evident from Scripture 2 Ephes 1 2 3. The Apostle writing to the Ephesians who by the Almighty Power of God were raised from this Spiritual Death as he tells them in the First Verse And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins that he might beget in them a grateful Sense of God's Goodness towards them herein He describes to them their former deplorable Condition Wherein says he in times past ye walked according to the Course of the World according to the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that worketh in the Children of Disobedience And in Ver. 3. the Apostle puts himself into the Number Among whom says he we all had our Conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature Children of Wrath even as others And then in the fourth Verse he gives them to understand by whom they were raised out of so miserable an Estate But God says he who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by Grace ye are saved Now this Spiritual Death or this Death in Sin is the fruit and effect of our first Parents Apostacy from God whereby we are not only deprived of the Image of God which is the Beauty yea the Life of the Soul but are also depraved with the Image of the Devil which is not only the Deformity of the Soul but even as Death unto it And because this is a Spiritual Death and reacheth chiefly to the Soul it is therefore the more hurtful and dangerous though the effects of it extends it self to the Body also being that which is the Cause of Natural Death for therefore the Body is a frail dying Body because it is joyned to a sinful Soul but this is not all the Mischief it doth for this Death in Sin unless Grace prevent is that which ends in Eternal Death which consists in an everlasting separation of Soul and Body from the eternal Enjoyment of God in Heaven in whose presence there is fulness of Joy and at whose right hand there are Pleasures for evermore Secondly There is a Death to Sin of this we read Rom. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein So in 1 Pet. 2.24 That we being dead to sin should not live any longer therein This Death to sin consists in the Spirits indwelling in the Soul by its sanctifying Operations enabling the Soul to mortifie sin Hence the Apostle tells us Rom. 8.13 That if through the Spirit we mortifie the deeds of the Body we shall live Such therefore who have felt the Efficacy of an Almighty Power from the Death of Christ by the Operation of the Spirit applying of it to their Souls to break the power and strength of sin so that it doth not reign in them they may be said to be dead to sin because sin is dying in them As those Persons over whom Distempers have prevailed so far that they have lost their bodily strength that it cannot be recovered again are said to be dead even while they live so tho' sin still live in the godly by reason of the Remainders of it yet are they dead to sin because the Power and Strength of it is abated and lessened the Spirit of Sanctification prevailing dayly over sin so that it doth not rule and reign as formerly it did Thus to dye to sin is to be made alive to God and blessed are they that have a part in this Resurrection from the death of sin to the life of Grace for on such the second Death shall have no Power Thirdly There is a Death for Sin or because of sin Now this is Two-fold Temporal and Eternal 1. Temporal Death This is contained in that merciful Threatning God gave unto Adam in Paradice to prevent his Apostacy Gen. 2.16 17. where after God had so largely expressed his bounty and goodness unto man in giving him liberty to eat of every Tree of the Garden restraining him only by a Command from the Tree of Knowledge for the Tryal of his Obedience as Ver. 17. Of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat which he backs with a Threatning in the next Words For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye The Truth of which Threatning the Experience of all Mankind to this day is a standing Confirmation so true is that of the Apostle As by one Man sin enter'd into the World and Death by sin and so Death passed upon all for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 2. There is an Eternal Death for sin and this follows upon the Death of the Body consisting in the separation of Soul and Body from the Presence and Favour of God for ever in Hell and is in part executed on the Souls of wicked Men at Death and perfectly upon Soul and Body at the Resurrection when the Wicked shall be turned into Hell and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power which in Scripture is called the Second Death Rev. 21.8 Where wicked and unregenerate persons are said to have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the Second Death This is the height and perfection of all Misery This now is the Substance of what is contained in this Word Death so far as Words can explain it which if we consider in all the forementioned Sences it is that which we cannot comprehend all that hath been
may be prevail to a Victory sometimes even over those over whom it shall never prevail unto Condemnation This now calls for a constant work of Mortification Every day there are corrupt Inclinations and Propensions to be kept in sinful thoughts to be contended with Evil motions to be supprest and it is not the meer Habis and Principle of Grace received in our first Conversion without the vigorous and constant Exercise of it in a way of Mortification that will overcome all these Though Regeneration hath given Sin its Deaths wound yet Mortification must daily weaken and subdue its Power and Strength and according as the work of Mortification is successful in the Soul so will be our Peace and Purity in Life and our Joy and Comfort in Death Secondly Keep Conscience clear that it may not have the guilt of any known sin to charge you withal Now Conscience may then be said to be clear when it is pure and when it is a Peaceable Conscience that is peaceable must be pure and a pure Conscience usually is a peaceable Conscience When Conscience is free from all known and willful defilements and not justly burthened with the guilt of Sin then is Conscience clear If it be possible do not wound Conscience and if you would not have a care of Sin he that is not watchful to avoid Sin cannot have a clear Conscience It is impossible for us while we are surrounded about with Infirmities and oppressed with a Body of Sin and Death which the Apostle complains of to keep our selves free and unspotted from all Sin for in many things we offend all Those Sins now that are Sins of weakness and Infirmity as they are usually small Sins and so hardly discernable many times by our selves nor others so they do not break our Peace with God nor obscure the clearness of our Consciences but they are known and willful sins that waste and wound the Conscience and they that are not careful to keep themselves from sinning thus can never have a clear Conscience nor be in a prepared State for Death for how can Conscience speak Peace unto the Soul upon a Death-bed with the guilt of any known sin upon it If you wound Conscience by sin now Conscience will wound you for sin hereafter Any known sin committed against Conscience will exceedingly discompose and trouble the Soul in a dying hour Reader doth thy Conscience reprove thee for living in any sinful way or for being careless and remiss in looking after Heaven and Eternity hearken unto Conscience now that Conscience may hearken unto you another day O Sinner when thou shalt come to lie upon a Death-bed and begin to examine thy Conscience how things are with thee and how it is like to go with thee for ever thou wouldest then be glad to have Conscience give thee a comfortable answer and say all is well and all shall be well with thee to Eternity thou hast been Faithful in following my Counsels and Reproofs that from the Great God according to his Word I delivered unto thee and now I will be as Faithful in declaring to thee the Truth of things as to thy future State fear not therefore for it shall certainly go well with thee for ever Wouldst thou now have Conscience speak thus comfortably to thee at Death hearken to what Conscience saith to thee now for if thou dost not hearken unto Conscience in thy life time when it Faithfully Admonisheth and Reproves thee Conscience will not hearken unto thee at thy Death to excuse and acquit thee but will prove thy great Accuser and Condemner Guilt lying upon the Conscience makes the Soul ashamed and afraid to come before God even in this Life much more at Death A Guilty Sinner chooseth rather to run away from God that if it were possible God might not find him Thus we imitate our Grand-Father Adam who as soon as he had sinned endeavours to hide himself from God among the Trees of the Garden And who of us is there but may observe the same by himself what slavish fear what dejection and sinking in our Spirits doth seize upon us when we come before God in the Performance of a Duty after we have provoked him by some known sin with what Doubtings with what Fears and misgiving of heart do we come into his Presence as if we were not willing that God should take any notice that we are before him and if we are not in continual pain while we are performing the Duty yet we would willingly enough that the Duty were done and over And if we cannot tell how to engage in Duty with a guilty Conscience how shall we be able to contend with Death with a guilty Conscience If the Presence of God in Duty be so dreadful and terrible unto the Soul under the Apprehension of some known sin committed by it and not pardoned to it that it makes it quake and tremble to come before him what then will the Presence of God in Death and Judgment when Conscience shall be awakened to make terrible Reflections not upon a particular sin but upon the sins of a whole Life if not Repented of Oh with what horrour and amazement with what Consternation and Confusion must such a Soul be filled withal But now he whose Conscience is clear Oh how doth he Rejoyce to draw nigh to God how glad is he to go up unto the House of the Lord as David speaks with what delight doth his Soul hasten unto God in Duty that it may taste how good the Lord is that it may see the Power and Glory of God so as it hath sometimes done in his Sanctuary O with what Peace and Contentment of Mind shall I say alas these are Expressions of too low and too mean a Signification to represent the workings of such a Soul towards God rather with what Joy and Rejoying with what Triumph and Exultation doth such a Soul make its abode and stay with God in Duty where it enjoys the sweet and refreshing Smiles of his Countenance and sits under the delightful Banner of his Love Thus it is with a Christian in Duty that hath a clear Conscience And if it be thus with him in Duty and Conscience continue to keep its clearness and inoffensiveness in an upright walking with God daily it cannot be bad or ill with such a Soul at Death A Conscience kept clean and pure in Life will be quiet and peaceable in Death nay let me say more he who hath made it his care and business to walk continually with a clear and inoffensive Conscience in his Life shall certainly have much boldness yea and usually a great deal of Joy and Rejoycing in Death and though the Devil may and will labour to disturb such a Soul's Peace and Comfort then yet a Conscience sprinkled with the Blood of Christ shall be too hard for him And what Conscience doth in God's Name on good grounds upon a Death bed God will confirm and enlarge
deliver his Soul from the hand of the Grave No he cannot Now God hath in Mercy made that to be most common which is most grievous and afflictive that he might thereby abate the terrour of it to us and for any one to strive against that which no Man can avoid or shun argues that Man to be guilty of great folly It is therefore very unbecoming thee O Christian to fear Death which is the common way of all Flesh yea the way by which all the People of God enter into Heaven and Happiness But to proceed a little farther in this subject I shall in the next place endeavour to discover that the fears of Death may not only be overcome for a time but that it is possible for a Christian to live without them or above them which though it be a high attainment yet is it that to which Grace may reach and that which many of the People of God do daily experience the comfort of Now by a Christians living without the fear of Death I mean a holy quiet ation and satisfaction of Soul as to his future State of Happiness founded upon the knowledge of his Interest in Christ who hath overcome Death for all Believers whereby the thoughts of it approach doth neither distract nor disquiet his Mind so as to bereave him of that Peace and Tranquility of Soul that he enjoys is his Hopes and Expectations of Heaven and Glory but that he can with a holy Contentation and Satisfaction resign up his Soul unto God whensoever he calls for it Now that such a State as this is attainable I need say no more than that this was one of the ends for which Christ died that by Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and deliver them who by reason of the fear of Death were all their life-times subject unto Bondage So that we being delivered out of the hands of all our spiritual Enemies whereof Death is one we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our lives In this Heavenly frame was Holy David when he said though he walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death he would fear no evil And so was St. Paul when he tells us he was perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come should be able to separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No wonder therefore that he could say I desire to be dissolved though it was by Death that he might be with Christ Thus to live above the fears of Death will cost much pains with our own Hearts great diligence and circumspection over our selves in all our thoughts words and ways much watchfulness against all Sin and Temptations for if we be remiss and through carelessness much more through presumption we fall into Sin or neglect Duty we shall soon be brought into Bondage and Slavery by the fears of Death If therefore O Christian thou art one who hast overcome the fears of Death and canst live above them thou may'st then die with courage and leave this World though Death carry thee out of it with joy and rejoicing And that thou may'st be able to do so let me briefly lay down two or three Directions First Have a great care of blorting thy Evidences for Heaven Darkness is an uncomfortable thing And when Christians have been tampering with the works of Darkness I mean some known Sins blotting their Evidences which should discover their Title to Heaven so that they cannot read them what wonder is it while they are thus in the dark that they are afraid to leave Earth though it be to go to Heaven because they know it not for which they may thank themselves God would not only have his People go to Heaven certainly but joyfully and therefore he hath made ample provisions for their Peace and comfort both in Life and Death so that they may not only have good hope but strong consolation through Grace yea may with a holy exultation of Soul cry out Thanks be to God who always causeth us to Triumph in Christ But now if when God hath spoken Peace they will turn again unto folly by venturing upon Sin they hereby create their own sorrows Fear and Consternation of Soul under the apprehensions of Death come from themselves they are their own Tormenters and the hinderers and disturbers of their own Peace and Joy And now if instead of being able to read their Evidences for Heaven which should comfort them they can only make wounding reflections upon their Sins that have blotted those Evidences so that they walk in darkness and the fears of Death continually afflict their Souls they must thank themselves for where there is the apprehensions of guilt lying upon any Soul unpardoned there the thoughts of death will be terrible This made David when in his own apprehensions he was drawing nigh to the Grave beg so importunately of God that he would spare him a little longer that he might recover his strength before he should go away from hence and be seen no more If therefore when you come to die you would leave this World cheerfully you must live in the World conscienciously Exercise your selves in all things to keep Consciences void of offence towards God and towards all Men. Take heed of those black Fiends thy Sins which will fright thy Soul in the dark night of death If thy Conscience be kept clean thy Evidences for Heaven will be clear and the thoughts of death comfortable Many be venturing upon Sin wound their Souls and when death approaches O then they start back and sain would they be spared a little longer If Conscience be raw with the guilt of any one Sin a very light affliction much more death will make a Man kick and fling and very unwilling to bear it but where the Spirit is sound and the guilt of Sin taken off from the Conscience by the love of Christ death it self will be embraced with courage and joy Secondly Deaden your Hearts and Affections to the World and all the comforts thereof The inordinate love of worldly enjoyments and the imperfect love of God makes Men afraid to die He whose Heart and Affections sit loose to the World a small matter will make him willing to leave it but where the Heart is fastned to it in love and affection there will be no parting from it without much reluctancy He that hath laid up his Heart in Heaven can comfortably think of laying down his Body in the Grave Prize therefore Heavenly things above Earthly Place your Happiness in spiritual things count them not only your Food but your Feast yea make them your recreation Were Heaven and Heavenly things the continual solace and delight of our Souls with what joy and rejoicing should we leave Earth to go to Heaven Thirdly Familiarize the Thoughts of Death
2.23 That he was taken up in a siery Chariot by a Whirl-wind into Heaven So great was his Zeal for God and his Glory and so highly did God esteem it and him for it that he must not abide any longer on Earth but be taken up into Heaven and that in no other way but by a fiery Chariot a Passage to Heaven that did bear some Resemblance to his Zeal for God while he was here on Earth The Apostle also tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 That at the last Day we shall not all dye but we shall all be changed and 1 Thes 4.17 We that are alive and remain shall be caught up with him in the Clouds to meet the Lord and so shall we be ever with the Lord. These Exceptions of some few that have not dyed nor shall not dye do not at all make void this general Truth that all shall dye but rather make for the Confirmation of it The general Rule or Law saith all must dye none escape but by special Grace or Priviledge and though the Saints that shall be found on Earth at the Resurrection of the dead dye not yet they shall undergoe that which is equivalent unto Death for they shall be changed Death is call'd a Change so saith Job All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change shall come And they that are alive at the Last Day undergoe a Change also The Change of Death is a putting off of our Mortality but the Change at the Last Day is a putting on of our Immortality The one is a Change by being uncloathed the other is a Change by being cloathed upon but both is a Change And thus all dye or shall be changed By what hath been said it is very evident That Death befalls all men one time or other sooner or later But for the Manner how or the Time when any shall dye this is unknown unto any The Living may and do know that they shall dye but they know not when they shall dye What our Lord saith of the day of Judgment is true of the day of Man's Death of that day and hour knoweth no Man Many a Man hath been mistaken concerning the purpose of God I said says David in my prosperity that I shall never be moved but he was mistaken for he adds in the next words almost But thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Much more may we be mistaken concerning the Time of our Death I said says Hezekiah in the cutting off of my days I shall go to the gates of the Grave I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the Land of the Living I shall no more behold man with the Inhabitants of the World Good Hezekiah thought there was no way for him to escape Death but he was mistaken for afterwards he tells us God had in Love to his Soul delivered it from the Pit of Corruption and he Lived fifteen Years longer after he had given himself over for dead A Man may have the Sentence of Death in himself when as to that particular time God hath given out none against him So on the other hand the Rich Man in the Gospel reckons not of Death till many years hence and he is very liberal to his Soul because God had been bountiful to his Body he had got a great Stock of Riches and he gives himself a rich stock of Time even many years he resolves to make his Life larger as he had done his Barns and because they are full of Corn he also will be full of Days whereas the Word came out against him from God Thou Fool this night shall thy Soul be taken from thee and he that before resolved to Live many years could not now Live till the next Morning It is our Wisdom always to be prepared for Death but it s more than belongs to us peremptorily to determine the Time of our Death or the Length of our Days But though the Time of our Death be unknown to us yet is it known to and fixed by God he hath determined not only the Time when but also the Place where and the Manner how we shall dye with all the Circumstances relating thereunto It is God that turns up the Giass of our Time and puts such a Measure of Sand into it and no more such a Measure that it may and shall run so long and no more that it shall run no longer than his Appointment God speaking after the manner of Men is said in Scripture to have a Book wherein is written down not only the Number of our Sins but also the Number of our days and as we cannot commit a Sin but it is written down in some Leafe of his Book so can we not live a day or hour that hath not our Name written down upon it in Gods Book That some have the Time of Life confined only to the dark Cell of the Womb and never see the Light that others are strangled in the place of breaking forth of Children and are only Causes of Grief to them that bear them that others dyâ— in their Infancy without the Knowledge of good or evil and leave only sad Remembrances to their Parents that once they were that others grow up to years of Discretion but are cut off in the prime of their days and in their full strength and that others live to extream old Age till Nature is wholly spent and consumed in them All this is from the Appointment of God they all fill up the Number of those Days and the measure of that Time that God hath allotted to them and then they depart according to his Will How many have we seen cast upon sick beds whom God hath there visited with strong pains bringing them so low that their Lives seem'd to be brought unto the Grave and themselves numbred with them that go down into the Pit free among the dead and as the slain that lye in the Grave given over by themselves and all others for such and yet even these God hath raised up again shewing Wonders as it were to the dead as the Psalmist speaks causing them to arise and praise his Name What 's the Reason of all this Why God's appointed Time was not come and so Diseases could have no further Power over them And what is true of Sickness is as true of Men who are but like Diseases Executioners of God's Decree upon Man even they have no Power to lengthen Life or to hasten Death but what is given them from above God hath not only set us the bounds of our Habitations but the bounds of our Living also Job speaks much to the stating and determining of this Case Job 7.1 Is there not an appointed Time to Man upon Earth Now in an Appointment of God there must be a Certainty or else we make him like unto a mortal Man that is changeable which cannot be Therefore Man having an appointed Time by God upon Earth he must reach to it
approaching Dissolution and thy Conscience also should be awakened to stir up in thee some serious thoughts and endeavours to prepare thy self for thy departure hence yet since thou hast so often turned thy back upon God and refused to hearken unto those many Calls that he hath vouchsafed unto thee in the time of thy life to be Wise for thy self by considering thy latter end but thou wouldst not how justly may he now reject thee at the time of thy death though thou follow'st him with never so many earnest cries yea and Tears also That is a most dreadful place of Scripture Oh that it were Engraven with a Pen of Iron and with the Point of a Diamond upon the heart of every careless negligent sinner Proverbs 1. from 24. to 31. Because I have called and you have refused I have stretched out my hand and no Man regarded But you have set at nought all my Counsel and would none of my reproof What then O dreadful O Soul confounding words I also will laugh at your Calamity and mock when your Fear cometh When your fear cometh as Desolation and your Destruction as a Whirlwind When Distress and Anguish cometh upon you Well but what follows upon this will not God be Entreated cannot Prayers and Cries do any thing with God No for it follows in the next words Then shall they call upon me but I will not Answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me for they hated Knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord They would none of my Counsel they despised all my Reproof What 's the Conclusion of all this why that we have in the next words therefore shall they eat the Fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own Devices Whoever thou art that Readest these Lines if through thy carelessness this should ever come to be thy Case because thou wilt not take warning I have only this doleful Word to leave with thee for thy serious thoughts and meditations and from my Soul I wish it may do thy Soul good this State that I am speaking of will be a State so full of dismal anguish and perplexing horrours that no words are able to express the misery of it Moreover a sick-bed Repentance and Preparation for thy Eternal State is very questionable How hard a matter wilt thou find it then to satisfie thy own Conscience or to convince others that what thou now dost is done in the uprightness of thy Heart and not in Hypocrisie Alas the present feeling of the wrath of God and the future expectations of fiery indignation in Hell may constrain thee unto all that thou dost It was a very sad Relation and I wish the reading of it may do some Soul good which once I received from the Mouth of an eminent Godly Minister of many years standing in the Ministry I have says he been called to visit abundance of Persons upon their Death-beds who reflecting back upon the wickedness of their lives hav professed a great deal of grief and sorrow and made many Promises what they would do and how they would live if God would restore them to their health again but among them all says he thus dying I could never yet meet with one that could give me good ground to believe the Happiness of their future state and condition in another World O let the consideration hereof cut thee to the Heart O thou slothful and delaying Sinner But if thou shouldst be sincere then in thy turning unto God and thy Preparations for Death and Eternity such as are sound and not hypocritical and feigned and God should be graciously entreated of thee in this last and greatest hour of thy distress yet will it not wound and pierce thy Soul to consider what Peace of Conscience what joy in believing what comfortable testimonies of God's loving kindness to thy Soul thou hast lost the sweetness and delight whereof would have born up thy Soul in a dying hour and have carried thee triumphantly through the gloomy valley of the shadow of Death so that thou shouldst have feared no evil But now instead thereof by reflecting upon the former course of thy life which hath been a continual trade of Sin and Wickedness whereby God hath been dish moured and provoked by thee all thy days he now appears to thee as thy dreadful Enemy visiting thee with nothing but terrible Rebukes of horrour and wrath in thy Conscience And though God may have mercy upon thy Soul eternally and the state of thy future Happiness may be sure and certain in it self yet thy passage to it may be very uncomfortable insomuch that as to thy sense and feeling thou art but leaving Earth to go to Hell God's bringing thee to Heaven being by the Gates thereof But though delays in this case are dangerous and sick-bed preparations for Heaven and Eternity at best but uncomfortable yet how prone are most Men to put off the thoughts of Death and their Preparations for it Solomon tells us Eccles 7. That it is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Feasting for this is the end of all Men and the living will lay it to Heart We ought indeed daily to familiarize Death to our Souls by frequent thoughts and meditations of it but when we go to the House of Mourning to see any laid in the Grave this is a special proper time and season for the living to lay Death to Heart and it is probable if Men will at any time lay Death to Heart surely they will do it at such a time as that is for when will Men think of Death if not when they see it before them It is true some do lay Death to Heart when they are called to such Solemnities O then they have a fit of grief upon them but as soon as they have vented their Passion the fit is over and so is their thoughts of Death with it And though Solomon seems to promise for the living that in the House of Mourning they will lay it to Heart yet there are very many that have been so often there that they are grown familiar with Death but in a bad sence for the frequency of such occasions have worn off all impressions of Mortality from their Hearts so that now they can go to the Grave again and again and not be affected with it they look upon it as a matter of Custom and Formality for Men to die and be buried and when the solemnity of the Funeral is over the thoughts of Death are over with them and as soon as they can get out of the sight of the Grave their Preparations for the Grave are out of their Mind The Holy History tells us in 2 Sam. 10.12 that when Amasa was slain by Joab and lay wallowing in his Blood in the midst of the high way every one that came by stood still being astonished to behold so dismal a Spectacle But afterwards
Majesty of Heaven condescends so low as to entreat us with more Earnestness and Affection to pity our own Souls and accept of a Pardon then Guilty Condemned Sinners desire to obtain it but when this Life is at an end there shall be no more Offers of Mercy but the Blood of Christ shall then be a Spring shut up and a Fountain Sealed that none can wash in it and be Cleansed Death Seals up the State of a Sinner for ever You know what Abrabam tells the Rich Man in Hell in Luke 16.26 Between us and you says he there is a great Gulf fixed so that they that would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence The State and Condition that Men enter upon after Death is fixed and unalterable Therefore O Sinner what thou dost for God for Heaven for thy Soul do it quickly for this is the only Time and Season for thee to work in and as thou now Sowest so thou shalt Reap for ever The State of Man under Death being thus it greatly concerns all Men to wait for Death Job tells us it should be his Practice Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change comes Now waiting as it relates unto Death may include three things Meditation Expectation and Preparation First Meditation He that waits for the Accomplishment of any Worldly Business especially if it be of Concernment to him how busie will his Mind and Thoughts be in musing upon it He now that is waiting for the coming of Death considering both the certainty of it that it will come and the uncertainty of it when it will come and believes withal that Eternal Happiness or Eternal Misery will be that State to which Death will bring him cannot but have his Thoughts much taken up about it This will make a Soul Truly and Spiritually Wise and therefore the Psalmist Prays Lord teach us to number our Days that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom He that is truly Wise will Meditate of Death and he that Meditates of Death will be truly Wise The more we number our Days and think of our Time the fewer Sins we shall have to number for as a Copy is then safest from blotting when dust is thrown upon it so are we from Sinning when we remember we are but Dust Secondly Waiting includes in it Expectation That which we wait for we are in Expectation of and that Man may be said to wait for Death that in every Action of his Life in every Alteration of his State and Condition saith to himself well I must Die when though his Bones are full of Marrow though Riches come in upon him like a Flood yet saith he I must die I have no abiding Place here I am but a Stranger and Sojourner in this World as all my Fathers were I have now Wife and Children Friends and Lands but I cannot enjoy any of these for ever no nor my Life it self for I have but a Lease of it and that but a short one too which will soon expire I expect Death daily even in the midst of all my Enjoyments I am but a Steward of all that I have here and I must shortly be called to an Account such and such are gone before me and I am following after The other day Death snatched away such a dear Relation from me this day it hath seized upon such a Friend and Acquaintance and to morrow the same Messenger may come for me It is that I expect and therefore I wait for it Thirdly Waiting includes in it Preparation He that waits for Death ought to be preparing for it This now is exceeding Requisite because it is above the reach of Words to express how much depends upon this Preparation it is that our whole Life should have respect unto every thing that we do ought to have a tendency in it to make Death Comfortable But of this Preparation for Death I shall speak more hereafter in its proper place This waiting for Death by way of Meditation on it by way of Expectation of it and by way of Preparation for it is very necessary considering what an Important difficult Work the Work of dying is and this will appear if we consider two things First what Death is Secondly what Death doth First what Death is and here are three things considerable Death is a Deprivation Death is a Desolution and Death is a Destruction All which make Death terrible and the Work of dying difficult First Death is a Deprivation It strips us of all those Comforts that in this World did Refresh us Friends Relations Lands Houses these have often delighted us while we live yea it may be too much by setting our Affections inordinately upon them and now what Grief of Soul doth it create to us violently by Death to be torn from them but part we and they must whether we will or no and that for ever Job tells us We came naked into the World and we shall return naked out of it The Apostle indeed seems to intimate as if some Men in our days could scarcely believe it and therefore to beat Men off from such a conceit he tells them 1 Tim. 6.7 We brought nothing with us into this World this is true and all Men will grant it and says the Apostle it is certain we shall carry nothing out of it Death makes all lie equal in the Dust Secondly Death is a Dessolution In Life Soul and Body are united and live lovingly together there is a near union between them a union which because of their long Acquaintance and Co-habitation together is become so dear that no union can be more desirable as to the continuance of it nor no union more dreaded as to the Dissolution of it except it be the Spiritual union between Christ and the Soul There are several kinds of unions and generally Love is the ground of them all There is an union of Friendship between one Friend and another whom Love hath united so strongly that they seem to Act as if one Soul animated them both so Jonathan loved David even as his own Soul This is a strong union There is also a Relative union between Parents and Children so Jacob loved Benjamin so that it is said his Life was bound up in the Life of the Lad This is a stronger union than the former There is also a Marriage union between a Man and his Wife and this is a stronger union than either of the former Man and Wife making but one Flesh as the Scripture speaks But yet there is a union that is stronger and nearer than any of these Vnions and that is the Vnion between Soul and Body for these two make but one Person Now all dis-unions are uncomfortable and some dis-unions are dreadful and as some dis-unions are dreadful so those dis-unions are most dreadful which rend that from us that is nearest and dearest to us
such The Happiness of those that are in Christ lies in the Manifestation of the Divine Love and Favour unto their Souls now this Death cannot hinder them of I know many of God's People have not the Light of his Countenance liftted up upon their Souls in Death but their passage to Heaven is dark and uncomfortable God loves them though they know it not yet by this darkness and uncomfortableness which Death brings upon them by their passage through it Death is but bringing them to the most clear Discoveries of the Love of God to their Souls in Heaven with which they shall then be filled and satisfied to all Eternity Our Comfort in Death lies in the Knowledge of our Interest in Christ but so doth not our Happiness that lies in our Interest in Christ whether we know it or not Our Consolation in a dying hour springs from our Assurance that Christ is ours and we are his but our safely and security in that hour ariseth from the certainty of our Interest in Christ Indeed our Ignorance that we are in Christ when we come to die may prejudice our present Peace and Comfort in Death but it shall not prejudice our future Happiness after Death They that are in Christ are always in a safe Condition they may die uncomfortably indeed but they cannot die miserably they are built upon the Rock of Ages and therefore though they fall by Death into the Grave even as others yet they perish not with others Death may kill them but it cannot hurt them He that hath an Interest in Christ being united to him by Faith need not fear what Death can do unto him True and thorough Conversion from Sin unto God is a sure Foundation for Peace and Safety both in Life and Death He that is interested in Christ is built upon a Rock that is Impregnable the Gates of Death and Hell shall not prevail against him To behold a Man dying that is in Christ this is Comfortable for such a one dies that he may live for ever and changes only a Temporal for an Eternal Life To behold a Christless Person but not in a dying condition this is something tolerable for who can tell but that the next Sabbath or the next Sermon God may make it a time of Love to his Soul even such a day of his Power and Grace towards him as thereby savingly to draw him unto Christ But to behold a dying Man and a Christless Man also this is dreadful yea even intolerable for such a one dies from Earth to be Damned in Hell It was a sad and doleful Complaint and Oh that it might startle and awaken some secure Sinner to look after Christ that was once uttered by one upon a Death-Bed being just a dying Oh I want nothing now but a Christ to Save me O miserable State and Condition indeed for in having him the Soul hath all that can do it good or make it good but in wanting of him the Soul hath nothing that can do it good here or make it happy hereafter Interest in Christ is the only true Preparation for Death This now is the general Direction for our Preparation for Death without which there is no dying happily or comfortably But the more particular Directions are these that follow First Wouldst thou be prepared for Death then die unto Sin by daily and constant endeavours to mortifie and subdue the Power and Strength of it in the Exercise of a Holy Life The Apostle tells us in Rom. 6.23 That the wages of Sin is Death By which he means Temporal and Eternal Death This now is the Fruit of Sin for Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death But is there no way to escape this Death yes from Spiritual and Eternal Death there is a deliverance and therefore the Apostle tells us in Rom. 6.13 That if we through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body that is the deeds of the Body of Sin then we shall live and not die that is we shall live Spiritually and not die Eternally and as for a Temporal Death though we cannot scape the stroke of it yet we shall be free from the Curse and Sting of it Wouldst thou therefore O Christian be prepared for Death when it comes then take from it now its Power and Strength When the Philistines saw Sampson was too strong for them they labour to know wherein his great Strength lay and when they found it was in the Hair of his Head they would not be quiet till they got his Hair cut off Every Christian hath to deal with a dreadful Enemy unto Nature and that is Death Assault he will all of us at one time or other yea and be too hard for us If now we would overcome him we must find out where his great Strength lies the Spirit of God now tells us that the Power and Sting of Death is Sin so we read in 1 Cor. 15.56 The Sting of Death is Sin And the Power and Sting of every Mans particular Death lies in his own Sins Death cannot hurt any of us but by that Power and Strength that our sins put into its hands Christian the way how thou mayest overcome thine Enemy Death is set open to thee his Strength is discovered to thee that thou mayest have thine Advantage against him to weaken him and to take away his Strength and that is by dying unto Sin this will be the Death of Death Yield not therefore at any time to its Solicitations for this is but to make Death the more strong and Powerful to wound thy Soul and Conscience When therefore thou art tempted unto any Sin though it may seem pleasant and delightful yet before thou yieldst unto the Temptation say to thy self O my Soul how will this relish with me when I come to lie upon a Death-bed and my Soul sits trembling upon my Lips ready to take its Flight unto the Tribunal of God What Peace and Comfort will it procure to my Conscience then Will not the Remembrance of it prove more bitter than Gall and Wormwood and the grating Reflections of Conscience more stinging and tormenting to the Soul than a thousand Deaths could possibly be Wouldst thou not have Death bitter then let not Sin be sweet now Part with Sin betimes get that removed that is the troubler of a Death-Bed and the Sting of Death and that is Sin Make it your daily business to be dying unto Sin Now this dying unto Sin implies our constant endeavours to subdue the Power and Strength of Sin and this is done by daily Mortification It is true in the People of God Sin doth not Reign and that is Comfortable to consider Sin in the Work of Conversion hath received such a Wound as is incurable but yet wherever Sin is in any Soul it doth not use to lie dormant but where it cannot Reign it will molest and struggle yea and it
Conscience was then awakened under Horrors and Desperation If you have not others have and what hath been their dying words Oh that God would pardon their sins that he would Sanctifie and Save their Souls that he would spare them a little space that he would grant them a little time longer that they might recover their Strength that they might Repent of their Sins and Reform their Lives or else that he would graciously manifest his Love and Favour to their Souls and receive them to his Mercy This is the Language these are the Thoughts and Cares of Men upon a Sick bed when they see death coming near them and staring them in their Faces And if this were thy Case and Condition O Sinner that thou didst now lie tumbling and tossing upon a Sick-bed yea upon a Death-bed would not these things be in thy mind would not the same Thoughts and Cares possess thy Soul and the same words and discourses fall from thy Mouth why let the same Care the same Thoughts the same words take up some part of every day and hour of this Life now for thou knowest not but that this moment thou art as near death as if thy Friends and Relations yea and thy Physicians also despaired of thy life and had given thee over for dead O if we could thus spend every day as if it were our last we should then hardly be brought to the doing of any thing but what we would be willing death should find us doing and how exceedingly would this further our Preparations for a dying hour Sixthly He that would be in a readiness for a dying hour must frequently meditate of his own death and of the death of Christ To Meditate of our own death will make us Studious to prepare for it and to Meditate of the death of Christ will Arm us against the Fears of our own Deaths He that by frequent Meditations of his own death and of the death of Christ hath made death familiar to his Soul is not only prepared for death but in a great measure also freed from the fears of death As to the considering of our own death the Scripture is often in calling upon us to lay the thoughts of it to our hearts Oh that my People were wise says God that they understood this that they would consider their latter end And though a Man lives many years and rejoyces in them all yet let him remember the days of darkness for they shall be many Eccle. 11.8 By days of darkness we are to understand death or the State of death during the abode of our Bodies in the dark Grave or in the darkness of the Grave He that frequently ponders of his ways will at length be brought to turn his feet unto God's Testimonies as David speaks of himself So he that often thinks upon death will by the serious thoughts of it be stirred up to make some timely preparation for it this being the end to which the Contemplations of death doth tend This is that Wisdom which Solomon tells us the Living gain by going often to the House of Mourning even so to lay to heart the thoughts of death so as to make preparation for it It is sad that the Goodness and Mercy of God should occasion our forgetfulness of him and of our selves and yet it is commonly so with us When God lays his Afflicting hand upon us especially under some smart stroke we are then brought to seek God as the Prophet speaks In their Affliction they will seek me early There is some tendency in Afflictions to make us mindful of God and of our own Interest and Concerns which is the design God aims at in Afflicting us But when God is pleased to open his hand towards us as the Psalmist speaks and fill us with his Blessings then we are very prone to forget both him and our selves we forget God because when we are full we are ready to deny God and say who is the Lord and we forget our selves because we return not that Duty and Obedience which such Goodness and Mercy should engage us to And because the Streams of Mercy now run pleasantly about us we consider not how many the days of darkness are that will overtake us shortly but put far from us the thoughts of death and the Grave and this is the Reason why when death comes it finds us so unready and unprepared and we so troubled and discomposed in our Spirits and under so many fears and doubts as to our Spiritual and Eternal concerns Frequently therefore O Christian make thy private Retirements Commune with thy self alone visit Death and the Grave in thy thoughts take a walk now and then in the Valley of the Shadow of Death suffer not thy thoughts to be estranged from such Meditations If thou findest thy self shy and unwilling to engage in such a work yet bring thy heart to it inure thy self to the thoughts of Death in general and of thine own death in particular And that thou mayest not be afraid of it to the Meditation of thine own death joyn the Consideration of the death of Christ who hath Conquered death took away its Sting By dying he slew death was the death of death as it was Prophesied of him in Hosea 13.14 O Death I will be thy Plagues O Grave I will be thy Victory He now that by Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is interested in his death may say when ever the time of his departure comes thanks be to God through Christ I am ready and prepared for it Muse therefore much upon the Death of Christ for herein lies thy support and comfort O Soul against thine own Death Seventhly He that would be prepared for death must labour for an assurance of a better life always living by Faith in the Contemplation of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven He that is assured of an Eternal Life in Heaven need not nay will not much fear a Temporal death here upon Earth Christians the time is coming when you and all things and persons in this World must take your leaves one of another and part for ever what then O Christian will bear up thy Spirit at such a time why nothing less than the sense and hopes of the love of God and of thy Interest in Christ some Evidences of a work of Grace upon thy Soul which is an earnest and foretaste of Heaven and Glory These are the only things that will bear up thy Soul in a dying hour When a Man hath attained to some well grounded Assurance of his Interest in God and Christ and thereby of his Right and Title unto Heaven then are things in a good posture with him and he in a readiness for Death and the Grave And how light will that Soul make of death that hath the assured hopes of Heaven and Glory to encourage him to go through it He that by Faith lives in the daily Contemplations of the Glory and Happiness of
yet it may Rule as a Tyrant and we be brought into Captivity by it and by force kept in Bondage under it sometimes How willing therefore should a Christian be to die that he may be free from Sin for he that is dead saith the Apostle Rom. 6.7 is free'd from Sin Death only will free us from the danger and possibility of offending God any more for then we shall come to the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Heb. 12. 23. Why then O Christian shouldst thou desire to linger long here upon Earth and to spin out a miserable Life in this VVorld whereof Sin and Sorrow will have the greatest Share Here the best Christians are engaged in perpetual Conflicts between Sin and Grace Sin will not yield and Grace cannot yield Corruption compels one way and Grace commands another Haste therefore O Christian out of this troublesome Contest yea make haste to Heaven for there and there only it is that this Controversie will be ended for there we shall no more live in fear of new Sins nor in sorrow for old Sins but all Sorrow and Sighing shall cease all Tears shall there be wiped from our Eyes and which is better all Sin shall be rooted out of our hearts for ever Upon this Account now Death is not only necessary in it self but it is that which the People of God should embrace with the greatest willingness and chearfulness that may be But this is not all for the People of God must go one step higher and it is what the VVord of God doth require and that is not only to be content or willing to die but long for Death To be contented to die is a good Temper of Soul and may be an Argument of the Truth of Grace for it is seldom or never found in a wicked man to be sure not from a right Principle But truly Christians this is no such great Matter in comparison of what we should labour to attain unto Muse seriously upon it a while O Christian Is it not a strange kind of Expression to drop from the mouth of a Saint that he is content to be happy that one that professeth all his Happiness lies in the hopes he hath of enjoying God in Heaven and that it is the End and Design of his Life that he may attain unto this and that yet when he comes to speak of Death he should only say he is contented to die that he may be happy in the Enjoyment of God We use not to speak thus concerning the World here Men are not said to be content to be rich but covetous after Riches not willing to be advanced but ambitious after it And why then should it be said only of a Christian that he is contented to be with God and contented to be in Heaven Why Oh why should not the Soul the more noble excellent Part of a Man be carried out with vehement and earnest longings after its proper and full Happiness as well as the Body that vile Part of Man is carried with restless Appetite after Health Safety and Liberty Why should a Soul alone be contented to be happy when all things in the World do so ardently court and so vehemently pursue their respective Ends and several Perfections Truly this is not that Frame and Temper that Christians ought to content themselves with but their Souls should be raised up to a higher pitch even to a holy longing after their being ever with the Lord. It is the Duty of a Christian to look out after so much Enjoyment of the blessed God as we are now capable of and because we cannot fully and perfectly enjoy him in this Life to long after the time of our departure hence and with holy Pantings of Soul breath forth earnest Desires that we may be fully and eternally happy in the Enjoyment of him Be not therefore O my Soul contented only but be holily covetous and full of vehement longings after an Eternity of Blessedness in the Enjoyment of God and because this Body is that which hinders this desired and longed for Happiness though thou may'st not dissolve and break it into pieces thy self yet with Submission to the Divine Will wish it were broken desire that it may be dissolved And though thou must be contented to live God's time yet henceforth be desirous of and long to die To set this a little home upon thy Conscience O Christian consider that this Frame of Soul is that which the Scripture makes the Temper and the Duty of all Believers Indeed there are few Professors that are of this Evangelical Temper of Soul yea but few that are willing to believe they ought to be so But yet this Frame of Soul is made the Character of a sincere Christian the Scripture abounds with Expressions of this Nature Luk 21.28 Our Lord speaking concerning the day of Judgment for the encouragement of Believers bids them look up and lift up their Heads for their Redemption drew nigh by with our Lord means not a bare speculation but a beholding with joy and longing for that day and time 2 Tim. 4.8 The Lord shall give a Crown of Righteousness to them that love his appearing And in Tit. 2.13 we are commanded to live godly in this present World as those that are looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ So in 2 Pet. 3.12 What manner of Persons says the Apostle ought we to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness looking for and hastning to the coming of the Day of God By these Scriptures it appears what is the nature and temper the disposition and inclination of a Godly Man even to look to love to long and to hasten unto the enjoyment of God for that which is of God in any Soul must needs carry the Soul after God But here I am afraid least some weak Christians should be troubled because they cannot find these ardent desires and holy longings of Soul in themselves after their dissolution and enjoyment of God Now that I may not discourage any weak Believer nor make the Hearts of those sad whom God would not have made sad I shall add a few words though not for encouragement unto sloathfulness yet for support against fears and despondency Therefore O Christian search thine own Heart and see how it is with thee and if thou findest it is so as the objection intimates see then if thou canst find out the cause thereof possibly thou art grown careless in thy spiritual watch or thou givest too much liberty to thy self in things that are lawful the World it may be is got too near thy Heart thy Affections run out too much after it And no wonder then if while this frame and temper continues and things are thus out of order with thee thou dost not long after Heaven nor art willing to die though it be the only way by which thou canst come to the enjoyment of God
Death by the Merit of his own Death and hath declared his Victory over it and our deliverance from it by raising up his own Body from the Grave Christ by his Death did meritoriously conquer Death for Believers but he did not actually conquer it till his Resurrection but then he did the Day of his Resurrection was the Day wherein Grace did triumph thorough Christ towards believing Souls for on that Day Christ did openly shew to Heaven to Hell to Earth that Death was not only conquerable by Believers but that it was actually conquered for them thorough him Blessed Souls in Heaven believe it to their everlasting Consolation and are thereby fully confirmed in the Resurrection of their own Bodies because their Head is already risen for them The damned in Hell have the Knowledge of it to their greater Torment because they now know their sinful Bodies shall be raised to suffer for ever with their Souls in that Place of Torment and therefore they believe and tremble The Saints on Earth also know it and therefore they rejoice in the believing Expectations of it being assured that as the Bonds of Death were loosed by which Christ was held in the Grave for the space of Three Days but could not possibly be held by them any longer so neither shall it be possible for Believers always to be held under them But there is a time coming when all that are in their Graves shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and shall come forth Joh. 5.28 And if we believe says the Apostle that Jesus died and rose again even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him in 1 Thes 4. and 14. for says the same Apostle Christ is risen and become the first Fruits of them that sleep in 1 Cor. 15.20 And as Christ being raised from the Dead dieth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him So the time will not be long before Believers shall also be raised from the Dead and shall die no more for there shall then be no more Death nor Sorrow nor Crying nor Pain no more Diseases or Fears of Death or the Grave for behold all former things are passed away and all things are become new Rev. 21.45 But though Christ hath overcome Death yet is there still a Fear of it in most And indeed Death is an Object of Fear neither is all Fear of Death to be condemned as sinful Now for the better understanding of this that Death is an Object of Fear and when it may be lawful to fear Death and when the Fear of it is sinful I shall consider Man in a threefold Respect As he is a meer Man as he is a sinful Man and as he is a true Believer First I shall consider Man as he is a meer Man compounded of Soul and Body and so the Nature of Man abhors Death and if it were possible as it is not to find out a Man in the World that were free from all manner of Sin yet would he fear Death were he liable to it because it is that which tends to his Dissolution and Destruction Thus our Lord Jesus Christ himself though he was perfectly holy and free from all Sin yet in this sense he feared Death and therefore he prays Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me Thus now to fear Death as it is evil and destructive unto Nature is not sinful or unlawful Secondly Consider Man as he is sinful and unregenerate and so Death is an Object of Fear and full of Horror For to all such Death comes armed with Power not only to make a Separation between Soul and Body for so Death rules over all but it comes to kill and to destroy Soul and Body for ever for to such it is not Death alone as it is to the Godly but it is Death and Hell together Rev. 6.8 And I looked and behold a pale Horse and his Name that sat on him was Death and Hell followed with him It is no wonder if Death be dreadful and terrible unto such but it is rather a wonder that such can take any rest in the night or enjoy any quietness in the day that under the Fears of Death they are not distracted But here is the Misery of such they are so afraid of Death that they will not let the Thoughts of it come into their Minds but do what they can to banish the Thoughts of that evil day far from them But know O foolish Sinner though thou sleepest and art secure in Sin yet thy Death and thy Damnation slumbers not for Death and Hell are riding on Horse-back making haste towards thee and will soon overtake thee to thy eternal Ruine and Destruction and then thou shalt know by sad Experience that the Fears of the first Death which now thou labourest to stifle yea to drive away from thy Thoughts were not so full of dread and horror as the feeling of the Second Death will be for ever Death therefore unto wicked Men is an Object to be feared and the fear of Death in them is not only lawful but commendable and that upon which their Thoughts should much dwell because it is that which will prevent much Sin in them while they live and may possibly render Death more comfortable to them when they come to die Thirdly Consider Man as regenerate and become a true Believer yet so he may and often doth fear death For let a Man be never so much a Saint yet he will be still a Man and therefore as death will be death so nature will still be nature and therefore death as death will be abhorred Neither is there any necessity that the fear of death should be wholly conquered and subdued in the Godly so as that if should not be because it may and often doth turn to their Benefit and Advantage for hereby they are made to walk more humbly with God and more watchfully over themselves for while they consider that they are poor frail dying Creatures subject unto death continually and that they must pass from thence unto Judgment to give an Account of what they have done in the Body by this means they are kept from falling into many Sins that now would wound their Consciences and break their peace and hereafter make their death more dark and uncomfortable By this fear of death also the Godly are quickened in their preparations for Heaven and Eternity for because death is so certain that it will come and withal so uncertain when it will come the Godly are hereby stirred up unto a speedy and diligent preparation for it that so they may be ready for their departure whensoever God by death shall call them hence And death now is an Object of Fear in general so are there Reasons why Christians fear death in particular as First Some are afraid of death because of the extremity of those pains which they must undergo when they are dying and because of the
Therefore says God when thou passest through the Waters I will be with thee they shall not overflow thee and when thou walkest thorough the Fire thou shalt not be burnt Esai 43.2 Take Courage therefore O Christian be not afraid of any Affliction be not afrighted no not at the sight of death it self though thou see'st it is a narrow passage a way beset with Briars and Thorns though it be a strait Gate for Flesh and Blood to pass through yet fear not for it is the Gate of Heaven the way that leads unto Glory Be not afraid therefore to walk in the valley of the shadow of death though love of Friends and strength of Body fail thee yet fear not for God will be with thee his Rod and his Staff will support and comfort thee he will be your God and your Guide not only unto death but for ever and ever for he will never never never leave his People nor forsake them till he hath brought them to the eternal enjoyment of himself in Glory Secondly Wouldst thou O Christian be comforted and supported against death then much and often meditate upon the Lord Jesus Christ Now though every thing in Christ and every thing done by Christ be exceeding sweet and precious for unto them that believe he is precious Christ and whole Christ is precious for there is nothing in him or done by him that we can tell how to want But yet I shall instance in some few things more particularly which may be of great Use unto a Christian to meditate upon for his support against the hour of Death As First Meditate often upon the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Now though in general these were so great that they exceed all our Expressions and Apprehensions yet how willingly and patiently did he undergo them all both from God and Man in his Body and in his Soul His Body was racked and tortured in all the parts of it but especially in those parts wherein the sense is most quick and therefore his Pain and Anguish was most afflicting They digged or pierced my hands and my feet saith the Psalmist of him Psal 22.16 He suffered in his Soul also for he conflicted with the wrath of an angry God which was impress'd upon him in such a dreadful manner that had he not had the strength of the Deity to support him it had certainly overwhelm'd him and ground him to Powder For it was pure Wrath without the least mixture of sparing Mercy the great God bated him nothing That 's a sweet Scripture Rom. 8.32 God spared not his own Son And it was well for us that he did not for had he spared him he had not spared us His Death was not common and ordinary but a Death by Crucifixion he humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the death of the Cross which was a violent death considered in it self and therefore he is said to be cut off out of the Land of the Living though in respect of himself it was voluntary and therefore he tells us I lay down my Life of my self John 10.18 And indeed Christ must either die a voluntary Death or none at all partly because there was no Sin in him to deserve Death and partly because otherwise his death had not been a Sacrifice acceptable and satisfactory unto God for us for that which died of it self was never offered in Sacrifice but that which was slain in its full force and strength This death of Christ was also full of exquisite Pain and Torture and therefore when he was going to encounter with it he screws up his Request to his Father to the highest pitch Matth 26.39 Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me It was also a death full of shame than which nothing is more cutting to an ingenious noble Spirit And truly in this respect the Thieves that suffered with him fared better than he for they had no Taunts Reproaches and Sarcasms cast upon them they only encountered with Pain But Christ had Pain and Shame also for the Souldiers the Jews the Thieves all scoffed and flouted at him And therefore says the Apostle he not only endured the Cross but he despised the shame Heb. 12.2 But this is not all for the death of Christ was a cursed death Pain was bad and Shame was worse but the Curse is worst of all for he that is hanged on a Tree is accursed of God and therefore Christ that he might shew the greatness of his Love to his People redeemed them from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for them Gal. 3.13 Now though Christ knew that all these Sufferings and this death should befal him yet so great was his Love to Believers that he underwent all willingly and patiently What godly Man on Earth what Saint or Angel in Heaven can read or hear those Words of his in Luke 12.50 without Astonishment where speaking of his death and sufferings he saith he had a Baptism to be baptized withal which was a Baptism of Blood And how am I straitned till it be accomplished Indeed it is said when the time of his sufferings drew near that he began to be sorrowful that he was sore amazed and very heavy My Soul says he is exceeding sorrowful even unto death Not that Christ repented of his Undertaking when he was to suffer no for when the time of his suffering was come the Holy History tells us he not only went to a place that Judas who betrayed him knew of that so he might be the more readily taken but when his Enemies came thither to apprehend him he went forth to meet them and asked them Whom seek ye And when they told him Jesus of Nazareth he tells them I am he upon which they fell to the ground and as if they were more afraid to apprehend and bring him to his sufferings than he was to suffer he speaks to them again and by his Words Oh how willingly blessed Jesus didst thou go to suffer he doth as it were strengthen and encourage them to go on in their work of laying hold of him he said therefore unto them a second time Whom seek ye They said Jesus of Nazareth Jesus answered them I have told you that I am he if therefore you seek me behold here I am He was a Volunteer in his dying and offering up of himself His death was a Free-will Offering and this made him to become a Sacrifice Psal 40.7 8. Then said I loe I come In the Volume of thy Book it is written of me I delight to do thy Will O God yea thy Law is within my heart As if he had said my very heart is ready for the shedding of my heart-blood Therefore says he I lay down my life no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up John 10.17 18. As if he had said if
are there for ever abolished and taken away There are no Deformities upon the Body to render it Contemptible nor no Reproaches upon the Name to make it Scandalous there is no Sickness or Distempers upon the outward Man nor no Desertions or Darkness upon the inward Man there are no Temptations from Satan to vex the Soul nor no Weaknesses and Infirmities to annoy the Body there 's no more Death or dying but Life for evermore Mortality is now swallowed up of Life Corruption hath put on Incorruption and Mortality hath put on Immortality and Death and Hell are cast into the Lake of Fire and which is more than all this there that is in Heaven we shall no more sin nor offend God to all Eternity Earth and Hell are the places both of sin and Suffering but Heaven is a place of perfect Joy and perfect Holiness nothing enters in there that is either Afflictive Polluted or Defiled When Death parts Soul and Body for a time then Sin and the Soul part for ever Here we are continually sinning and offending of God and it is the constant grief of a Godly Man that he doth so here our Righteousnesses are no better than filthy rags and Grace it self hath its defects when we believe most strongly we must cry out Lord help our unbelief but now in Heaven there are none but the Spirits of Just Men made perfect In a word there is nothing there that may in the least be an Allay or Diminution unto the Happiness of that blessed State that is there enjoyed to Eternity But this is not all Death doth not only free Believers from all that is Evil and Afflictive but it brings them to the perfect Enjoyment of whatever is beneficial and good Death being the means and way by which they enter into Heaven where Blessedness and Happiness is to be enjoyed in such fulness of perfection as exceeds not only our Apprebensions but our Imaginations For there it is that the infinitely great and blessed God discovers himself in all his Glory to be enjoyed by the Saints as their Portion to Eternity There it is that they shall behold their once bleeding and dying but now Glorified Redeemer Cloathed in their own Nature who loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood who was dead but is alive and now lives for ever more and because be lives they shall live also There they shall Enjoy that which was the great desire of the Apostle and theirs also to be with Christ which is best of all and how much blessedness is included in those few words to be with Christ the enjoyment of Heaven only where Christ is can make known to us There it is that Believers fully understand the meaning of that Article of our Christian Faith even the Communion of Saints here it was that they placed their Delight in the Saints the Excellent ones of the Earth and there their Delight shall be in great measure in the Saints some of the Excellent ones of Heaven There shall then be no mixture of sin and Corruption with our Graces which here is an Allay to the Lustre and Brightness of them but they shall Shine forth in their full Glory and Beauty Grace there shall be in its full Perfection nothing shall then be wanting in our Knowledge nor any thing imperfect in our Love our Obedience shall then flow from us with all readiness and chearfulness of Soul and our Joy and Delight in God shall not admit of the least Diminution or Disturbance to Eternity This O Soul is that in general which the Happiness of Heaven is made up of and to the Enjoyment of this Happiness without Interruption or Cessation for ever is that to which Death brings all Believers And surely if ever those words have any Truth in them they are here verified so that a Saint may truly say The lines are now fallen to me in a pleasant place I have a goodly Herit age O Blessed and Glorious State indeed who is there that knows and believes this infinite unconceivable Happiness that would not willingly die to enjoy it Unto which State of Blessedness God of his infinite Mercy bring us all to the Enjoyment of for the alone sake of Jesus Christ our only Saviour and Redeemer Amen FINIS