The Seventh Character of a Conqueror is to put his Laws upon the Conquered according to his will and pleasure as Jehoshaphat and Jehoram did by the assistance of Elisha who said to them this is but a light thing with the Lord to give you Water in your want but he will deliver the Moabites into your hands 2 Kings 3.17,18 but ye shall smite every fenced City and shall fell every good Tree and stop all Wells of Water and mar Hebr. grieve every good piece of Land with Stones as if it were a grief to any good Soil to become useless and unfruitful ver 19. all this was done to Moab ver 24 25. Thus also if we be Conquerors we must endeavour to batter down all the strong holds of Satan in us with Sling-stones as was the custom of that time which is now done by mighty Bullets out of the Mouths of great Cannons The Slingers went about Kirhareseth and broke down only the Towers of it this was the will and pleasure of the Conqueror not quite to demolish the Walls of it as he did the other Cities It were well if we could sling such smooth Stones as David did at Goliah's Head especially such of the Holy Scriptures as our Mistical David did at the Devils Head Matth. 4.3,7,10 So ought we to sling such Stones at the Tempter that we may knock down the Turrets of Pride and Presumption c. which Glory is our Shame Phil. 3.19 This we must do at the least tho' we cannot quite demolish the Walls and Foundation Oh that we could go thus far and Oh that we could with those Conquerors of Israel cut down every tall Tree which are of the Devil 's planting and watering that bring forth only wild and sower Grapes paltry Hedge fruit as Crabs and such Trash in us and Oh that we could mar or grieve every piece of Terra Diaboli the Devil's Land in us as one part of America is called which bears no Fruit but the unfruitful works of Darkness so called Ephes 5.11 And Oh that it were a grief to us as before to become useless and unfruitful in our Places and Stations Oh that we could mar or grieve every inordinate Affection in us which do mar or grieve our pretious Souls Yet farther Oh that we could likewise stop up every Well of Water namely all those filthy Issues of Sin which nothing can heal us of save only a believing Touch of our dear Lord Jesus Matth. 9.20 And yet a little higher Oh that we could sow those Lands we have already conquered out of the hand of the Strong Man by the helping hand of the Stronger Man our pretious Redeemer our Goel with no other thing but Salt as Abimelech did Judg. 9.45 the City of Sechem which he not only pulled down but he also sowed it with Salt as a token of its utter extirpation This was the custom of Conquerors which they used against Cities of greatest provocation and affronts to them because Salt is taken in Scripture not only for a Sign but also for a Cause of Barrenness Gen. 19.26 Deut. 29.23 Judg. 9.45 Psal 107.34 and Zeph. 2.9 for Salt made the Land in those hot and dry Countries utterly barren and desolate when it was sown upon it as nothing but Nettles and Salt-pits were found in Moab when it was devoted to perpetual Desolation And thus it is with all Spiritual Conquerors through Christ's love to them and his strength in them they pray to the Lord that all their fleshly Lusts which war against their Souls 1 Pet. 2.11 may even every one the best beloved of them may be put to death as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.13 signifies In order hereunto when those Spiritual Enemies have received their Mortal Wound whereof they must die tho' it be of a long lingering death like those People that die of Consumptions and this Deadly Wound is always given to them at our first Conversion yet all along if we be right Conquerors in Christ we must still pray to the Lord that the Deadly Wound then given may never be healed any more as that was which the Apocaliptick Beast had gotten and was healed again Rev. 13.3 Our earnest Petition to the Lord must be that he may put rhe same Curse upon our Lusts which he put upon the fruitless Fig-tree saying Let no Fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever and immediately the Fig-tree withered away Matth. 21.19 at which his Disciples marvelled c. ver 20. Accordingly we should desire an everlasting Barrenness may come upon those wild Olive Trees our fleshly Lusts so called Rom. 11.24 wild by Nature yea and upon that Root of Bitterness to wit original Concupiscence which springeth up too too often to trouble us Heb. 12.15 We must beg hard of the Lord that all these sinful Soils may be sowed with Salt even to a perpetual Destruction that we may learn in Christ's School to deny all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts which is the negative part of a Christian and likewise to live soberly as to our selves justly as to all men and holily as to the great God in this present World Tit. 2.12 This is the positive part of a Christian where Note well that three Adverbs Sobre Juste Pie do much exceed the three Adjectives Sobrius Justus Pius for in those latter are included only Acts of Grace but in the former are included the Habits of Grace for it is not one single Act or two but a constant Habit of Grace notwithstanding some interruptions in our way that gives the denomination of a true Christian Now this excellent state can never be attained unless we first become Conquerors through Christ so as to be able to give Laws to our Lusts which are called deceitful Lusts Ephes 4.22 and deal with them as Joshuah dealt with the Gibeonites who made them hewers of Wood and drawers of Water Josh 9.21 Tho' they had deceived him but once yet our deceitful Lusts have deceived us even times and days without number and in all other Scripture-instances we find that evermore the conquered become Tributaries to the Conqueror As 1 st Those Canaanites that could not be driven out yet they did serve Israel under Tribute Josh 16.10 according to the Law of Moses Deut. 20.11 2. Thus the Tribes of Israel when they became strong did put the Canaanites to Tribute as Ephraim Judg. 1.28 and Napthali ver 33. and the Danites by the help of Joseph his Brother ver 35. 3. Thus likewise did David unto Moab after he had cast his Shoe over it c. Psal 60.8 as its Conqueror treading them under foot then the Moabites became David's Servants and they brought him Gifts 1 Chron. 18.2 And this was a prodigious Gift unto David's Successor namely an hundred thousand Lambs and an hundred thousand Rams with their Wool 2 King 3.4 The King of Moab was a great Sheep-Master and his Tribute he paid yearly was this vast number of
becometh slow and Feeling daily faileth c. 2 dly Or the Golden Bowl be broken that is the Heart as some sense it which is the primum Vivens ultimum Moriens the first that Lives and the last that Dies therefore is it called the Fort-Royal of Life Or the Pericardium about the Heart which the Soldier pierced with his Spear in our Saviour's side from whence there came forth Blood and Water John 19.34 and 1 John 5.6 But others do interpret it to be rather the Head or Skull called the Brain-pan for the Brains are contained within the Meninges thereof and the Piamater covereth them like a Swathing Cloth or the inner Rind of a Tree as in a Cup or Bowl and a wound in this is ever mortal Now the Hebrew word here being the same with Golgotha which signifies a Skull 2 Kings 9.35 Matth. 27.33 and Judg. 9.53 all this make the latter Interpretation the more probable for when Death comes with his Javelin or Dart to wound the Brain-pan or Skull which is round like a Cup or Bowl and is called here Golden because of its colour then the Sutures or Seams of the Skull are parted asunder from whence it comes to pass that the Chaps of Dying Persons do fall and the Almonds of their Ears are stopped c. Oh what cause have we break forth into David's words saying We are wonderfully framed Psal 139.14 If the pretious Office of this Golden Bowl for preserving the Brain c. be well considered 3 dly Or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain that is either the Veins at the Liver as some say which is the Shop of Sanguification or Blood-making those Veins carry Blood from the Liver into all parts of the Body by way of Circulation c. Or as others understand it the Arteries which carry Spirits from the Heart and conveys Nourishment Sense and Motion from one part to another c. There is yet a Third Sense put upon this Pitcher that is the Bladder is broken at the Spring of Water or Urin c. Now as when either the Veins at the Liver especially the Vena Cava Vena Porta as the Anatomists name them or the Arteries at the Heart do come once to lose their drawing and distributing Office and Vertue then the Body doth immediately decay even so when the Muscle at the Neck of the Bladder comes to be broken and loseth its Retentive Faculty then the Water or Urin doth run insensibly from a Dying Person without stay 4 thly Or the Wheel is broken at the Cistern that is according to the Sentiments of some Expositors the Head which draweth all the Operations of Life from the Heart and hence it is that when any dreadful Fright is apprehended by our Heads and suddenly doth surprize us we presently are struck with a Paleness because all the Blood in our Faces doth run back to the Heart as to the Fountain of Life c. But others are of opinion that by this Wheel broken at the Cistern must be meant the Lungs broken off from their double Office and Motion of Inspiration and Respiration and this Breaking or Obstruction is caused by Phlegmn from the Stomach which is as a Cistern from all parts of the Body c. The Lungs are as a Wheel transmitting the Air in and out by a Motion up and down like to that of a pair of Bellows which Men learnt to make from the posture and operations of Mens Lungs that were of God's making and thus indeed Man learns all other Artifices from God the great Artificer God instructs the Husbandman Isai 28.26 and all others also Now tho' there be no open Passage betwixt the Stomach and the Lungs and therefore there is no ordinary purging of the Lungs but upwards by spitting and coughing yet when the Stomach is overcharged with Phlegm the former distilleth the latter into the Lungs and thereby stoppeth them in their Motion This may be exemplified thus when a Man or Beast is dead there seemeth no way of entrance for Water into the Bladder no not so much as for any Air for if we blow the Bladder full of Wind none of it will issue out and yet while Life lasteth in the Body both Water and Sand doth pass through little Veins called Valvulas into the Bladder even so by some such like secret passages doth the Cistern of the Stomach convey Phlegm into the Lungs yea sometimes to the very stifling of them and upon this stoppage of the Lungs with Phlegm so that the Wheel cannot turn the Air or breath up and down and in and out to the Nostrils Then from this obstruction of the Lobes whereof the Lungs do consist so that their Motion like a pair of broken Bellows is broken off then followeth the Rutling in the Throat which is the common Herauld proclaiming that Death is at Hand c. NB. Note well How Solomon the Eldest Son of Wisdom hath left upon Record in Eccles 12. a most sublime Lecture of Anatomy as well as of Divinity in his Dissection of the infirm Body of Old Age which he sweetly setteth forth by a continued Allegory Ubi quot Lumina imo Flumina Orationis that is containing so many Lights yea and Floods of Eloquence and all this Solomon did not so much to demonstrate his own excellent Skill and unparallel'd Prudence but more especially and principally to instruct yea and to provoke all Mankind to become wise unto Salvation and to remember our Creator early before any of these Evils of Old Age come upon us c. CHAP. VIII Counsel and Comfort to Young and Old against the Evils of Old Age the Fear of Death and the Terror of the Day of Judgment THIS Eight Chapter consists as well of Comforts as of Counsel against the Evils of Old Age against the Fear of Death and against the Terror of the Day of Judgment First The Comforts against the Evils of Old Age 'T is a Time desired by all who are they that would not live long c but 't is welcomed by few because of the Burden of Distempers that it brings along with it c. If God bless us to live up to Old Age we ought not to complain of it for 't is a blessing we must bless God for Length of days is from the Right Hand Riches and Honour from the Left Prov. 3.16 And God promised to his Jerusalem after its Restoration that there should be Old Men and Old Women in the Streets of it with Staves in their Hands Zech. 8.4 yea and it was God's Curse upon the House of Ely that not any that were Old should be found in it 1 Sam. 2.32 Therefore if God do still preserve the rotten Thread of our Lives and draw it out to last so long and yet the Clue have a little more Yarn upon the Botton Oh how thankfully ought we to welcome this Guest of Gods own sending and not to complain of it as our great
the strongest Oaks c. it maketh the Hindes to Calve which is the most difficult Birth of all Females Job 39.1 they being so narrow-made Creatures c. And the Voice of the Lord stilleth the Rage of Rivers and Seas by sitting upon the Floods and keeping them under his Call Psal 29.4,5,6,7 to 11. The Third Character is The Voice of Christ reacheth the Heart it maketh manifest the Secrets of the Hearts of Unbelievers at a Sermon-hearing and causeth them to fall down and worship God and to say that God is in his Prophets of a truth 1 Cor. 14.24,25 Thus when Christ speaketh with a strong hand as he did to the Prophet Isa 8.11 to any person then Christ opens the Heart as he did the Heart of Lydia Acts 16.14 tho' it be called a small still Voice 1 Kings 19.12 yet having the Lord in it it is mighty in its Operations for pulling down of the strong holds of Satan and casting down every high thing that exalts its self against God in us 2 Cor. 10.4,5 Christ's Voice hath Spirit and Life in it John 6.63 and therefore is it only effectual to break the heart for sin to dissolve the Stone and to mortifie sin in it and to quicken it for God and to change it into the Image of God c. 2 Cor. 3.18 The Fourth Character is Christ's Voice calleth from evil to good from ways of wickedness to ways of holiness it always cries come up hither to God Rev. 11.12 but never go down thither to sin this latter is the Voice of an Egyptian and when we meet it we must with Moses slay it but the former is an Hebrew Voice which we must save alive as he did Exod. 2.11,12 Christ's Breath or Spirit is called a Spirit of Holiness Rom. 1.3 and always calls us to be Holy as he is Holy 1 Pet. 1.15 and 2 Pet. 3.11 Truth calls to forsake the Foolish Prov. 9.6 but Error calls to Fleshly Delights ver 15 16 17. therefore we must reject that Voice which promotes not the power of Godliness The Fifth Character is Christ's Voice is alway consonant to the Light and Law of Nature This is the remainder of God's Image in faln mankind some sherd whereof do still remain after Adam's fall whereby Cain knew that Murther Joseph that Adultery his Brethren that Theft c. were all heinous sins long before the Law was given by Moses Hereby likewise the Gentiles who have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law these are a Law to themselves which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts their Conscience bearing witness and either excusing or accusing c. Rom. 2.14,15 Therefore that Voice which crosseth the Voice of an awakened Conscience is not Christ's Voice The Sixth Character is the Voice of Christ is alway congruous to the Light and Law of the Holy Scripture for Christ who is called the word John 1.1 cannot contradict himself He is not Yea and Nay but in him was Yea c. 2 Cor. 1.17,18,19,20 He is the same both in his Voice that is spoken and in his Word that is written therefore our Lord saith to the Law and to the Testimony if any speak not according to this word it is because they have no Light in them Isa 8.20 The Word written must be the Rule of our Lives because it shall be our Judge after Death as our Lord saith the word that I have spoken the same shall judge you at the last day John 12.48 Rom. 2.16 according to my Gospel So that if any pretended Voice of Christ come to us which holds not congruity with the Scipture of Truth Dan. 10.21 1 Joh. 4.1 we must look on it as a Delusion c. The Seventh Character is The Voice of Christ always calls to weighty matters and that in order c. but never to trifling Deeds and in disorder and confusion Thus Nehemiah perceived it was none of God's call that called him from God's work no fewer than five or six times to trifling discourses with them in private c. Neh. 6.4,5,6,12 and thus Paul was exasperated against the Divining Damsel for disturbing them many days from their Praying work c. Acts 16.16,17,18 The Eighth and Last Character to mention no more for brevity sake is Christ's Voice doth put the Right Hearer of it into an acting frame and doing posture for thus he saith Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say Luke 6.46 'T is not Hearers but Doers whom God respects Rom. 2.13 Hearers only and not Doers deceive themselves Jam. 1.22 'T is not the hearing and talking but the walking and working Christian that Christ loveth c. Inferences from hence 1 st That we may hear the Voice of Christ we must come to every Ordinance in publick and to every Duty in private in an hearkning posture I will hearken what the Lord will say c. Psal 85.8 Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth 1 Sam. 3.19 To hearken is better than the fat of Rams 1 Sam. 15.22 To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3.7 but listen and hearken with bored Ears Psal 40.6 c. 2 dly Pray for a Discerning Spirit 1 Cor. 12.10 that we mistake not the Younger for the Elder as blind Isaac did Gen. 27,21,22 The Voice may be Jacob's when the Hands may be like the rough Hands of Esau c. and we may think that we are embracing our beloved Rachel all the night when in the morning-light it proves a Blear-eyed Leah as it was imposed upon Jacob by churlish Laban Gen. 29.25 and therefore must we pray for God's Spirit to lead us into all truth John 14.26 if it do witness with our Spirits Rom. 8.16 This is the ultimum or last appeal then may we say with the Apostle I have the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2.16 and with the Prophet If I be deceived my God hath deceived me Jer. 20.7 For the Spirit of Truth doth not only assure us of our interest in Christ but also of the truth of the Voice of Christ to us to prevent mistakes c. 3 dly Prove all things and hold fast that which is good 1 Thes 5.21 Try before we trust take nothing upon trust he was a fond Philosopher that said he had rather err with Plato than follow the Truth with others whereas we should follow any that follow Christ 1 Cor. 11.1 Wo to them that call evil good c. Isa 5.20 therefore should we say with Isaac Come near my Son that I may feel thee Gen. 27.21 And John turned to see the Voice of him that spake to him Rev. 1.12 And the same Apostle saith our Hands have handled of the word of Life 1 John 1.1 the Ear tryeth words c. Job 12.11 As Timothy must lay hands sudddenly on no man 1 Tim. 5.22 So we on no Thing no Voice c. for we may hear a noise only of
have I to live can I tast what I eat or drink c and how long have I to live ver 34. that is my Breath is corrupt or my Spirits are Spent my Days are extinct and the Grave is ready for me as Job speaks of himself Job 17.1 He was Senex quasi Seminex half dead and felt himself pedetentim mori to die by peace-meal even sensim sine sensu insensibly yielding every day somewhat to Death and therefore he tells David with a most thankful Heart that it was not adviseable for him to embrace his Royal Offer of a Courtly Life to him who was now superannuated and was already as it were dead both to Meat and Musick all such delights of the Sons of Men Eccles 2.8 Those days saith he are come upon me wherein I can have no pleasure Eccles 12.2,3,4 Therefore 't is high time now for me and for all such Aged Ones as I am to make and pack up our Fardles and prepare to pass hence into that better Country which is Heaven as the Holy Patriarchs did Heb. 11.13,14,15,16 My continuance can be but short here in this World saith old Barzillai to David and therefore I would not now leave my Habitation where I may retire and rest me from the Noise of the World but now my whole work is a firm resolve to make ready for Death and to lay hold on Eternal Life 2 Sam. 19.35,36,37 1 Tim. 6.19 And indeed this is the indispensable Duty not only of such as are Old but 't is necessary for all that are Young to do so likewise because this Quantity and the length of the Lives of all Persons in all Ages is very uncertain the Proverb saith as soon goes the Lambs Skin to the Market as that of the Old Sheep the Young may die as well as the Old must die And 't is an old observation yea and a true one that there be more of Mankind which die under Ten Years old than they which live above Sixty Years We all live in Houses of Clay and our Foundation is in the Dust easily crushed as the Moth with the least touch of Man's Finger and much sooner are we crushed with the Finger of God Job 4.19 If our Cottages of Clay had a Foundation of Brass or Marble they might possibly stand some time in the World but seeing our best Foundation is no better than Dust call'd Terra Fricabilis which is so easily crumbled asunder in the Hand of a Child Oh 't is no less than a Miracle of Mercy that some of us do subsist so long alive upon the Earth seeing the Walls of our Earthly Tabernacles as Paul calls the Body 2 Cor 5.2 are weak and the Foundation of our Clay-House is far weaker being but Dust light flying and unstable Dust which is soon wherried and whirled about with every puff of Wind Hence Man is not only a Clod of Clay neatly made up by a skilful Potter as was the first Man Adam of the Earth Earthy 1 Cor. 15.47 and a Lump of Dust Gen. 3.19 but also he is but an heap of Vanity yea at his best estate Kol-Adam Kol-Abel omnis Adam est totus Abel every Adam or Man is wholly Abel or Vanity even when he seems to be well underlaid on all sides and most setled and likeliest to live Psal 39.5,11 And again Adam Abel's compar est Adam is Abel's Mate Man is like to Vanity and as a Shadow that hath no substance in it or subsistence at all Psal 144.4 and he not only consumes away like a Moth as Psal 39.11 as before with the least touch the Moth is crushed but 't is said further that Man is crushed before the Moth Job 4.19 It is not said there before the Lion that would be no wonder but 't is said before the Moth to shew what a poor thing Man is when a Moth can crush him that a Fly can choak him as it did Pope Alexander that an Hair in a Mess of Milk may stifle him as it did great Marius the Roman General and as some say Pope Adrian also Thus Druslus the Emperor Claudius's Son was suffocated with a Pear that was cast up and catched by his Mouth in sport only Thus Aemilius Lepidus was destroyed by a light bruise upon his Toe Many such Stories I might relate of this Nature but to be short let me add only one more which I can both affirm and confirm upon my own knowledge that a great Lord of this Land who was my Patron c. that was brought to his Death only by paring a Corn upon his Toe which did after Gangreen and struck upwards whereof at last he died All these Instances with many more which might be added do demonstrate the uncertainty of our Lives as there is nothing more certain than our Deaths for that is established by the great Statute of Heaven that all Men must once die Heb. 9.27 yet as to the time of it there is nothing more uncertain especially considering how Man is destroyed from Morning to Evening Job 4.20 the Hebrew reading is he is beaten to pieces as in a Mortar with one Misery upon another until the very Breath be beaten out of his Body at length yea and all this from Morning to Evening that is not only all the day long but even all the life long which is here for its brevity compared to an Artificial Day and such as no Man can be sure he shall have twelve hours to his Day For how many are there whose Sun hath set at High-noon even in the prime and pride of their Days they have been snatcht away by the Hand of Death yea yet higher how many do we see whose Sun doth set at its very rising so that they are carried from the Grave of the Womb to the Womb of the Grave even from their Birth to their Burial And assuredly we all every Hour as well as every Day do yield somewhat unto Death and nearer and nearer do we approach to our latter end yea and the longest liver of us hath but a short cut from the first Rising of our Sun to its last Setting from our Birth to our Burial The Psalmist saith that the Sun knoweth the time of its going down Psal 104.19 But this cannot be said of any of the Sons of Men that they know the time of their going down to the Grave good Isaac knew it not Gen. 27.1,2 except only Hezekiah who by a special dispensation from God knew it much less can we that are old know the time of our going down or the Quantity of our Old Age. The Jewish Rabbins do mention three Steps or Degrees in the measure of Old Age the first they call Senes the second they name Annosi and the third they stile Decrepidi and thus they reckon when a Man comes to be Sixty Years old such an one they reckon'd to be reached only to the Borders of Old Age passing along until he stepped on unto Seventy Years
of Age at which Age David died see after Then Secondly They accounted him among the Annosos an Old Man indeed who lived up from Seventy to Eighty Years of Age such a Man was got a great way into that far Country of Old Age even into that Hyperborean cold and frozen Climate where the Snow of Hoary Hairs lay continually upon his Head undissolved But Thirdly The highest Step and Degree is such an one as liveth above Eighty Years old those they number among Decrepid Ones that then are Superannuated declining to a Doteage in whom all the Senses of the Body yea and all the Faculties of the Soul begin daily to decay as in Old Barzillai before-named according to his own confession unto David such very Aged Persons are accounted wondrous Old as is the Expression in the Old Singing Psalms Psal 90.10 for it falls out most commonly that in this wondrous Old Age we pay the deep interest of Pains in dolorous Distempers being the time wherein as Solomon saith we can have no Pleasure Eccles 12.1,2 c. and according to the Old Adage bis Pueri Senes Old Persons are twice Children as after their Birth so before their Death they become meerly Childish which once did occasion my self to say when I saw a very Old Woman one past all other Work rocking the Cradle that had a very Young Babe in it behold there is one Child rocking another and thereupon I gave her the best advice I could how it was high time for her to make sure work for a better World Moreover beside this Rabinical Animadversion thus Spiritually Improved we have another more Critical and Christian Calculation of Man's Life made by one of our English Martyrs who left behind this curious Criticism saying because the common term of Humane Life in the ordinary course of Nature is but Threescore Years and Ten according to Moses that Man of God's computation Psal 90.10 Now if we divide those Seventy Years into four Equal Parts then must it necessarily follow that every Man is three parts Dead when he doth but arrive at the Age of Fifty Years This solid Observation doth much sooner mind us of our Mortality than that before of the Jewish Rabbins and to the same purpose I my self have both publickly and privately taught the like Lesson upon the end of my four Fingers and the Thumb shewing to the Eyes of those I spake to how the top of the little Finger represents our Childhood the top of the next Finger shews our Youth the top of the longest Finger demonstrates our Middle Age when we come to our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or fulness of Height and Health then the top of the fore Finger which is a little lower than the middle Finger declares our beginning to decline by little and little but lastly from the top of the fore Finger to the top of the Thumb there is a great fall and hence is it that we usually say such an Aged Person breaks fast in a little time the Lord help us to learn this Lesson upon our Fingers ends NB. Note well The God of Nature hath ordained that Nature in all his created Beings must decay yet this is the Sovereign Power of the Creator over all his Creatures to determine the Time measure and Quantity when the period of Nature shall come to decay and be dissolved Thus Job acknowledges this Divine Rule and Dominion of God over all Mankind saying his Days are determined the number of his Months are with God thou hast appointed his Bounds that he cannot pass c. Job 14.5,6 that is God hath set every Man the Bounds of his Time whether shorter called here his Days or longer the number of his Months and whether shorter or longer they have both their Bounds which they cannot pass no more than the unruly Ocean can pass the Bounds that its Maker hath set it Job 38.8,9,10,11 We should think the same of the Waters of Afflictions that the Lord doth limit them saying thus far shalt thou go and no sarther and here shall thy proud Waves be staid This Sovereign Rule and Dominion of God over Man in determining his Time upon Earth is made manifest in ordering such long Leases of Life to the Patriarchs and such a short Term to the Lives of the following Ages This is elegantly expressed thus by Tertullian Vitae Jugera illis sed nobis tantum Spithamas Deus dedit illi Gigantes fuere nos vero Pugiones c. God gave to the Patriarchs whole and long Acres of Life but to us only a Span-breadth thereof they were lofty Gyants but we are puny Dwarfs yea and this Divine Dominion is daily apparent as the only over-ruling Reason why some likely to live long do die soon while others that are more weak with daily Distempers do live longer than they as well as it is the Will and Wisdom of God that we see the Sons and Daughters of Men do die daily in all Ages in Childhood Youth Middle Age as well as Old Age And as God hath set Bounds to Man's Time so hath he determined Man's Task likewise thus John Baptist had his Course to fulfil Acts 13.25 the word for Course in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the Dromedary hath his Name which is a swift Creature and will run an hundred miles in a day Thus the Baptist tho' he lived not long but was cut off by Herod yet he lived much in a little space he wrought hard and made haste in his Work as not willing to be taken with his Task undone Thus 't is said of David also in Acts 13.36 that he served out his Generation and then he fell asleep after he had done his Generation-work according to the will of God There is an appointed time to Man upon the Earth Job 7.1 both for his Time and for his Task and he who bears up the Heavens prescribes such a Pillar before Man with this Inscription writ upon it ne plus ultra thou shalt pass no farther stat sua cuique dies said Virgil of old every Man hath his Day set him wherein he must die his last Day stands but all the rest of his days to that Day are in a running posture Some Lutherans indeed do teach that God hath not determined the period of Men's Days but that it is in Man's power either to lengthen or to shorten them But many Scriptures teach the contrary that God hath set the Bounds of every Man's Life to a very Day as well as his Place of Dwelling Gen. 49.13 Acts 17.26 and tho' thofe Bounds may be passed which our Natural Constitution in the ordinary course of Nature setteth yet those Bounds which the Almighty Power and Providence of God setteth us we can never pass For Job useth two Metaphors 1 st That of an Hireling Job 7.1 and 14.6 Now we agree with Hirelings to work with us for a day and therefore are they called Day-labourers The 2 d
Metaphor is Tsaba warfare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. Job 4.1 because man's life is exposed to Pirates as before Now if our life be a warfare 't is well known how Soldiers have their time of fighting and their time of resting according to the Commands of their Captain General They must obey his Order for both falling on and for falling back as he pleaseth stat pro Ratione Voluntas his Will is a Law to them And thus every good Soldier of Jesus Christ as Timothy is called 2 Tim. 2.3 must be willing either to Act or to Rest according to the Commands of the Captain of our Salvation as Christ is called Heb. 2.10 whether private Christian or publick Minister we must all resign up our Wills into his Will as we read in Ecclesiastick History of a famous Minister called Martinus who being by the Lord seized upon with Sickness 't is recorded how he prayed Decumbens dico Domine si adhuc populo tuo sim necessarius laborem tuum non recuso c. that is Lord serve thy self of me for thy Service is sweet to me if thou hast no more Service to command me then O Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit c. This was piously spoken yet Old Simeon as we read Luke 2.29,30 spake better saying Lord now let thou thy Servant depart in peace Now this good Old Man having laid in his Heart what he lapt in his Arms the most blessed Armful that he ever met with even the Beautiful Babe of Bethlehâ—m he then sung the nunc Dimittas so called even his Soul out of his Body saying I fear no Sin I dread no Death I have lived enough I have my Life I have long'd enough I have my Love I have seen enough I have my Light I have served enough I have my satisfaction I have sorrowed enough I have my consolation even the consolation of Israel whom I and other Believers have long waited for ver 25. even the Messiah that Menachem or Comforter mentioned Lam. 1 16. and yet singing farther Oh sweet Babe let this Psalm serve for a Lullaby to thee and for a Funeral for me Oh sleep in my Arms and let me sleep in thy Peace All this sweet Song Simeon concludes with the procuring cause of his Sacred Musick saying for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation This was his great satisfaction that he had accomplished his Service to his Most Honourable Lord and Master who had employ'd him all his Life in most Honourable Work and who he was assured was going to pay him most Honourable Wages seeing he had got his Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Heart as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Hand as 't is said of the Blessed Virgin who therefore is said to rejoice Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 danced a Gallyard and to magnifie the Lord her Saviour as well as ours Luke 1.47 But far above those two Instances aforesaid to wit Ancient Martinus and the good Old Man Simeon our sinless Saviour saith best of all concerning himself in his last Prayer before his Death saying Mine Hour is now come O Father Glorifie thy Son c. I have Glorified thee on Earth I have finished the Work thou gavest me to do and now O Father Glorifie me with thy Self that is my Manhood with the same Glory which my Godhead had before the World was made John 17.1,4,5 c. Our Lord did not did not ask his Wages before his Work was done his Time was now come and he was now Ripe and Ready to be gone into his Fathers Kingdom This holy practice of our precious Redeemer is left upon Record on purpose for our instruction and comfort Rom. 15.4 that it may be a Pattern to avoid that precipitancy which prevailed over those two famous Prophets men of God Elijah and Jonah who both of them in a strong Pang of Passion desired to Die before their Hour of Dying was come and therefore are we told that these great Servants of God were subject to the like Passions as we are Acts 14.15 Jam. 5.17 It is a sinful desire for any who would be gone to Heaven before their Work be done on Earth we must rather say O Father if thou hast any further Service for me to do I am willing to live longer c. the Will of the Lord be done Acts 21.14 Having thus far discoursed upon the first Accident of Old Age after its Nature namely the Quantity or Measure of it which we have observed to be Uncertain and Various either long or short according to the Statute-law of the great Law-giver the Lord of Lords c. who hath appointed all men once to die c. Heb. 9.27 even Methusalem who was the longest liver upon Scripture-record and who came the nearest to be a Thousand Years Old which is reckoned a number of perfection never attained to by any mere man Tho' he lived many Hundred Years even near to a Thousand and begat Sons and Daughters yet he died at the last see my first Volume of the History and Mystery of the Holy Scriptures of Him at large Now I come to the Second Accident of Old Age to wit the Quality or Manner of it which is either Good or Evil. Concerning the first How it is a good Old Age in its own Nature and by God's blessing upon it I have already demonstrated in the foregoing Discourse and I do design to enlarge much more upon that Point when I arrive at the Third Part after its Nature and Accidents to declare the Dues to and the Duties of Aged Ones whereby Old Age may become good indeed Now as touching the latter of these two That Old Age is an Evil Age that Senium Malum convertuntur These two are convertible Terms Solomon the Wise doth sufficiently evince and evidence in his saying Oh Young Ones remember your Creator before Evil Days come and the Years draw nigh wherein you shall say I have no pleasure in them Eccles 12.1 Wherein he begins to describe First The wearisom evils of Old Age from the latter end of ver 1. to the last end of ver 6. Then Secondly Of the evils of Death ver 7. both which he brings in as two strong motives to urge Young ones to be mindful of their Duty For First in the General All Authors both those that be Civil as well as those that be Sacred do unanimously concur in this point That Old Age and Misery are very seldom found separated As 1. Plutarch saith Senectus ut Africa semper aliquid Novi adportat as Affrica is never without some Monster so Old Age is never without some Ailment 2 Cato saith Solet Senectus esse Deformis Infirma Obliviosa Edulenta Lucrosa Indocilis Molesta that is Old Age useth to be Deformed Feeble Forgetful Toothless Covetous Unteachable and Unquiet 3. Horace saith Multa Senem circumveniunt Incommoda Many are the Inconveniencies that do encompass Old Persons
is related by the Holy Ghost and both these were done for the greateâ— Honour of this Lady as Sarah Hebrew signifies who was a Type of the Gospel-Church Gal. 4.22 to 31. and she was the Wife of that greatest of Patriarchs who is called the Father of the Faithful and whose Bosom is the Synonymon with Mansions of Glory Rom. 4.16 Luke 16.22 Yet his mourning for her was moderate and not as without Hope 1 Thes 4.13 Her Death had not made any such divorce from him but there still remained a blessed conjunction betwixt them therefore he calls her his Dead eight several times over in Gen. 23.3 c. to shew he had not lost her nor lost his interest in her and that he had only lent her to the Lord he had only bid her good night in hope to see her Alive again in the Morning of the Resurrection she was only faln asleep in Jesus 1 Thes 4.13,14 the Union was not dissolved by Death As this consideration was comfortable to this Good Old Abraham so it was no less a comfort to that Good Prophet Ezekiel when the Lord took from him the Desire of his Eyes Ezek. 24.16 even that sweet Companion of his Life And this may likewise be the Comfort of all Godly Couples and of Friends also when God is pleased to make a separation one from another 't is only for a time and not for ever Our present meetings together in this World are joyned with some short parting 's asunder but our Hope in the Lord is we shall at last meet together again in a better World so as never to part asunder any more for then we shall be with the Lord for ever and for ever wherefore let us comfort one another with these words 1 Thes 4.17,18 Oh blessed Hour Oh thrice happy Union There is but a Sleep for a Time for a Night of Death only as by Sleep the Body is refreshed so by Death the Body is refined Let it be our care to cleave close to Christ at the instant of Death then shall we sleep in Jesus and he will be our Gain both in Life and Death Phil. 1.21,22,23 After this Night of Sleep comes the Day-Break of Eternal Brightness and after this Union here below cometh an Everlasting Communion in Heaven above Those Scripture Comforts should come home to our Hearts therefore ought we to comfort one another with them by Christian Communication and then may they afford us more strong Consolation than all the Comforts of Phylosophy of which Cicero said on his Death-Bed Nescio quo modo imbecillior Medicina quam Morbus est that is I know not how it comes that the Medicine is too weak for my Disease None can say so of those Sripture Cordials which the Lord doth ordinarily water with the Dews of his Divine Blessing The same Cordial did serve to satisfie Job likewise in the loss of his Children looking upon them not as lost but only lent to the Lord who had before but lent them unto him and had called his own only home to himself He still looked on them as his Dead as well as Living they were still his his Dead as Abraham's phrase was so oft of his Dead Wife after they were Dead and Buried How else could it be said that God gave to Job twice as much of every thing as he had before seeing he had but the same number of Children afterwards that he had before to wit Seven Sons and Three Daughters Job 42.10,13 He reckoned there remained still a blessed Union and Conjunction between him and them which was founded upon his hope of an Happy Resurrection In a word learn we to say our Godly Relations are not lost they are only gone before us and we are hastning after them they are only removed out of one Room into another out of the Out-houses and Kitchin of this World into the Presence-Chamber and Palace of Heaven They have changed their Place but not their Company as Good Dr. Preston said upon his Death-bed They are only gathered like Lillies Cant. 6.2 by the Hand of Christ who hath transplanted them into the Paradise of God Our Lord said to the penitent Thief this day thou shalt be with me in Paradice Luke 23.43 NB. Oh Matchless Love in our Dear Redeemer to speak thus lovingly to this poor Penitent while he was in horrible Torture himself upon the Cross and paying so unspeakably dear for Man's sin yet rejected he not this Malefactor's Petition ver 42. How much more may we now hope he will hear our Prayers and answer them with good words and comfortable Zech. 1.13 seeing the Debt is now all paid and the whole work of Redemption is now finished 3 dly Suppose the Third Natural Evil do come upon us to be as Lamps despised and a scorn to Young Scoundrils c. as Job complained before in our Old Age yet is there a blessed Remedy to this wretched Malady namely that pretious Promise commit thy way unto the Lord c. and he shall bring forth thy Righteousness in which way thou must still be found as the Light and thy Judgments as the Noon-day Psal 37.5,6 that is we must in the first place mind the Condition of this Promise to wit of rolling our selves upon the Lord as the Hebrew word signifies and depend wholly upon him both for safety and for success in all our undertakings Kimchi reads it Volue exonera unload thy self by casting thy Burden upon the Lord as David explains it Psal 55.22 that is ease thy Mind to God by Prayer and resign up thy All by Faith unto his care and conduct Trust also in him this is of the same import with Commit but repeated to take better impression and to beget more incouragement then whatsoever we commit to him he will bring it to pass in the general ver 5. Then follows the particular part of this Promise in the Second Place about Slanders ver 6. saying God will so oyl thy good Name which is as pretious Ointment Eccles 7.1 Prov. 15.30 and 22.1 that no defaming Infamy shall stick to it Dirt will stick upon a Mud-wall but it cannot do so upon Marble Suppose we be slandered without Cause as God tells Satan he slandered Job without Cause Job 2.3 with 1.9 and we lie under those Blacknings for a time but consider how the Earth lieth under Darkness all the Night long yet as the Morning by its sudden arising driveth away that Darkness so shall the Lord clear up our wronged Innocency and as the Moon wadeth from under a Cloud and from under an Eclipse by the interposition of the shadow of the Earth betwixt her and the Sun so shall we in God's time get over all our Evils of this kind or of any other if we still be found in the way of Righteousness God will clear up the innocency of his slandered Servants and bring it to light like the Sun at Noon-day but assuredly this will be done
Burden but entertain it chearfully with God-praising hearts 'T is true tho' Old Age be a rich Blessing of God in it self as is largely demonstrated before and yet is called an Evil Age for Reasons afore-named Notwithstanding God hath not left it comfortless as 't is said John 14.18 But the Spirit who is the Comforter hath left upon Scripture-Record so many Cordials as are truly Soveraign against all the Evils that attend it insomuch as Old Age may be an easie Age a calm and quiet Harbour if Youth hath done it no disservice in filling its bones with the sins of Youth before-hand and if Intemperance which is like the Thief in the Candle wasting it away hath not weakned its Head or Feet c. In this case Old Age hath cause to complain of the evil of the Man and not the Man to murmure at the Evils of Old Age. Thus Old Job oft complains of the Misery of his Old Age saying Lord thou changest our Countenances and sendest us away Job 14.20 and many myriads of such Sighs too long to relate do ever and anon issue out of his Mouth And he himself tells us the ground of all his grief was that God made him to possess the sins of his Youth Job 13.26 therefore says he thou writest bitter things against me c. Thus likewise Old David complained I am become like a Bottle in the Smoak Psal 119.83 and much more in many other Psalms c. which drove him to groan out that Petition Lord remember not against me the Transgressions of my Youth for thy tender Mercies have been of old c. Psal 25.6,7 Both those Instances were Holy Persons who after those and many more such Complaints were both of them comforted by the God of all Comforts 2 Cor. 1.3 and had their Old Age marvelously sweetned to them and had their best Wine at the last both those Good Men had remembred their Creator in the days of their Youth Eccles 12.1 and tho' their Youth-Time had been a very rough Voyage through a surging stormy Sea yet their last Years were their best Years as it was to Good Old Jacob who after a long Life of manifold Miseries did enjoy seventeen Years of sweet Tranquility and Comfort c. But alas this Mercy can never be expected by those who never had God neither in their Heads Psal 10.4 nor in their Hearts Psal 14.1 nor in their Words Psal 12.4 no nor in their Works Tit. 1.16 and such as drive a Through-Trade all their Lives in Weaving the Web of Wickedness having been twice dipped in the Devils Dye-Tub as the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Scarlet Sins doth sigâ—ie namely in the Wool of their Youth and in the Web of their Elder Years those can never expect any comfort in Old Age. Pliny tells us Serpens Serpentem devorans fit Draco as that Serpent which commonly devoureth other Serpents becomes to be a Dragon at last So a long swallower of many Sins becomes at the length a most Monstrous Sinner c. that Old and true saying that if Persons prove not Fair at twenty Strong at thirty Wise at forto Rich at fifty and Religious at sixty Years of Age such will never prove either Fair or Strong or Wise or Wealthy or Holy Ones all the days of their Lives This ancient Adage holds a most apt congruity with that saying of Solomon such as seek me early shall find me Prov. 8.17 Whereas the Habitual Sinner to whom God hath given the Space of Repentance many times but never the Grace of it Rev. 2.21,23 leads the Life of sin Thoughts beget Delight Delight begets Consent Consent begets Action Action begets Custom and lastly Custom begets Necessity so that he brings himself under a Law of an unavoidable Sinning against his maker and as David tells Saul wickedness proceedeth from the wicked as naturally as Water from the Fountain 1 Sam. 24.13 Satan is not satisfied to have Men Sinners only but he will have them also to abound in sin and to be like the Crocodile that grows while it lives in growing greater and grosser Sinners to the end of their Lives Alas this is but the laying of a bad and not a good foundation for the time to come As we are commanded to lay up a better store against Old Age and Death and to lay hold on Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6.19 NB. Note well Our Lord tells Peter what Miseries he should meet withal when he came to be Old John 21.18 He had the manner of his Death foretold him that he should glorifie God by Martyrdom ver 19. and observe what an holy Improvement he made of this Precaution he had made his Solemn Appeal to an All-knowing Lord saying thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee ver 17. and to testifie his Love to his Lord in feeding his Lambs he wrote those two famous Epistles General to the Churches of Christ and in the latter of them he saith I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance c. Yea I think it meet while I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up c. knowing that shortly I must put off this Tabernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me 2 Pet. 1.12,13,14,15 He knew that his Tent or Tabernacle must soon be taken down his Earthly House as Paul who was a Tent-maker calls the Body a Tent 2 Cor. 5.1 So both these two great Apostles did truly and duly endeavour to magnifie and to glorifie Christ both in Life and at Death John 21.19 and Phil. 1.20 Thus both Peter the Elder and Paul the Aged as they stile themselves 1 Pet. 5.1 and Phil. ver 9. were well in-laid and fortified before-hand to undergo the Evils that attended them both in their Old Age c. May we but get Hearts to own God while we are Young then God will not forget us but own us when Old and as our days are so shall our strength be Deut. 33.25 Now more particularly the Comforts against the Evils of Old Age are First That then the Law of our Members cannot so easily lead us into captivity unto sin Rom. 7.23 as formerly in the Heat and Vanity of our Youth Indeed the Witty Fable runs thus Cupid that Pagan God of Love and Mors that is Death happened to meet together and to lodge all Night both of them in one and the same Inn but in the Morning they chanced to mistake each others Quivers filled with Darts Hereupon Cupid after this shot the frozen Darts of Death at many Young People in their briskest time of their Loving and Lusting whereby many Young Gallants and Tempting Ladies were brought unto an untimely Death c. But on the contrary Mors did shoot the Fiery Darts of Cupid at the Aged Persons who in the Course of Nature were hastening to the Grave and hereby arose that wantonness of Old People for Marriage c. by which means it may be said as
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
salvation of our Souls 1 Pet. 1.4,5,9 Insomuch that Death which is in it self no other than Nature's Divorce the Bodies Prison the Soul's Banishment the Arrest of Judgment the Curse of Sin and the King of Terrors as well as the Terror of Kings Job 18.14 unto all Mankind in General yet such a change doth the power of Godliness both in Young and Old that are chosen and called make in their Changes from one World to another that their Death's is only their 1. Harvest or Ingatherings into God's Garner c. 2 'T is the Joy of Marriage which is called a Rest in the House of the Husband Ruth 3.1 so Death is our Rest A Rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 they shall Rest 1 st From their Labours of Necessity their Needs of Nature shall then cease for ever they shall Hunger no more they shall Thirst no more c. as they have done while in the Body 2 dly They shall Rest from their Labours of Infirmity they shall never complain of any more Aches and Pains in any one of the parts of the Body as they have done frequently heretofore in the time of their Mortality 3 dly From the Labours of their Callings c. they shall toil no more in the Sweats of either their Brows or their Brains c. And 4 thly Which is above all they shall Rest from their Labours of Iniquity a Laboribus Peccati as well as Officii they shall never sin any more whereas heretofore in the time of their sojourning upon Earth they had this weight upon them which they could never lay aside nor cast it off and sin did then easily beset them so that they could not run the Race that was set before them Heb. 12.1 Because of the Law of the Members that did continually war against the Law of their Minds and oft bringing them into Captivity yea and as oft making them to cry out Oh wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me c. Rom. 7.23,24 But now Christ is come to them and knock'd off all their Fetters which formerly clogg'd them c. and setteth them at perfect liberty Isai 61.1 and those whom the Son of God doth free they are free indeed John 8.36 3. Death to those that die in the Lord and in a Good Old Age also is not only the Christians Harvest Marriage and Rest as before but 't is likewise their Conquest over all their Spiritual Enemies so they have also the Joy of Victory as well as of Harvest of Marriage and of Rest They are become by their Holy Life and Happy Death more than Conquerors Rom. 8.37 even Triumphers in Christ 2 Cor. 2.14 and so as they have won the Crown of Glory by their overcoming the Wicked one through the strengthning Love of Christ upon them so they shall wear it as Kings Rev. 1.6 and as Conquerors for evermore 'T is said the last Enemy to be destroyed is Death 1 Cor. 15.26 Now to all true Believers Death is already swallowed up in Victory ver 55. as Fuel is swallowed up by the Fire and as the Sorcerers Serpents were swallowed up by Moses his Serpent so that they can say to Death when it comes to them as Jacob said to Esau surely I have seen thy Face as the Face of God Gen. 33.4,10 Thus that Esau Death doth meet a Member of Christ with Kissing rather than with Killing or so much as Frowns yea and guards him home to his Father's House as Esau guarded his Brother Jacob Home to Canaan after his long absence from it he went before Jacob as his Life-guard ver 12. Thus after a long Conflict by the Indwellings of Sin all our Life comes the Conquest at the last in our Death Alas we cannot beat sin out of Doors as Sarah did the Bond-woman Hagar but this Fretting Leprosie sin can never be either washed out or scraped off from the Walls of our Earthly Tabernacles until the House that is infected with that Plague be demolished by Death and the Stones and Timber thereof be altogether taken down As it was thus in the Type under the Law concerning the House of Leprosie Levit. 14.43,44 So it is with our Houses of Clay as the Antitype which can no way be Amended but must be Renewed and this is only done in part while we are in the Kingdom of Grace But this cleansing Work is compleatly perfected when Death gives us a dismission from hence into the Kingdom of Glory The belief of this made Old Simeon sing his Soul out of his Body and Paul the Aged Phil. v. 9. was not only a Conqueror but which was more even a Triumpher in Christ as before for he sang a Triumphant Song over Death and the Grave singing as well as saying Oh Death where is thy Sing and Oh Grave where is thy Victory 1 Cor 15.55 This is the boldest and the bravest Challenge that ever any Mortal Man did ring in the Ears of Death in which words he as it were out-braved it calling it Craven to its Face as the Vulgar saying is and bids it do its worst to him that it could do like the Philosopher Anaxarchus who with an undaunted Courage told the Tyrant who was beating his Body to pieces with a great Iron Pestle in a large Mortar made purposely for that Barbarous Butchery in the very Act of his Martyrdom he most confidently cryed out to his Tormentor Tunde Tunde Tyranne Vasculum frangis sed Anaxarchum non Laedis Beat on beat on thou Bruitish Tyrant thou indeed doth break the Vessel of the Man but thou can never hurt Anaxarchus the Man himself Much more might this blessed Apostle insult over this greatest of Tyrants that universal Destroyer of Mankind to wit Death with his Javelin in his hand seeing he was so able as to render such weighty Reasons for his Triumphing Insultation as he saith the Sting of Death is Sin c. ver 56. signifying hereby that our dear Redeemer had been the Death of Death by his Death Mors Mortis Morti Mortem quoque Morte dedisset The Death of Christ gave Death its Death as it was prophesied of him Oh Death I will be thy Death c. Hos 13.14 thus our Saviour did disarm Death and took out the Sting from this Venemous Serpent so that we may now as safely put Death into our Bosoms in a serious Meditation of dying Daily as some men whom I have seen have with enough of safety put into their Bosoms a Snake whose Sting was before pulled out If Death do now shoot out any Sting at us we may thank our selves for our not being more constantly sound in the way of Righteousness If at any time we turn aside to crâ—…ked Paths there will the old crooked Serpent meet us and he will not only sting us there but also leave his Sting behind him in us as the Bee doth to those that are stung by it and this may be the procuring Cause of many sad effects