expressions of his love and faithfulness unto you if you can yet read them in Scriptures not defaced or blotted out through unthankful for getfulness Take also a new survey of the carriage of your hearts towards the Lord. What have been your desires after him how have ye trusted in him and cleaved to him what communion with him what delight in him what service have ye done for him how faithful have ye been to him what have been your private affections in duty and your publique zeal in your profession how have you improved his talents and encreased your spiritual stock of grace what growth in meekness self-denial patience faith love knowledge holyness and purity what is the present frame of your hearts after so much means and seasons of grace so long enjoyed Is it more humble more heavenly more unmoveable and fixed upon God And lastly are ye more fruitful and abounding in the work of the Lord Thus can ye manifest the truth of grace by the exercise of it the growth and fruitfulness of it hereby your joy shall be full and Christ's joy shall dwell in you John 15.11 What a glorious evidence hereby had the beleiving Thessalonians to whom the Apostle Paul writeth in their commendation that their faith grew exceedingly and their love one towards another abounded 2 Thes 1.3 Happy are they that can ascend this mountain of assurance and take a sight as from Mount Pisgah of the heavenly Canaan crying out with Saint John in admiration 1 John 3.1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God therefore the world knoweth us not But if your evidences are lost or hardly legible for the renewing ard preserving of them take this next direction Direct III. Thirdly Then perfect holiness to the highest degree attaineable upon earth This is the Apostles counsel drawn from the great priviledges and promises of grace 2 Cor. 7.1 Having these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all pollution of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And because we deny that any man can be perfect so as to be without sin and all infirmities upon earth for if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us 1 John 1.8 Therefore take this necessary caution of proposing any measure unto your selves thereby to limit your utmost endeavours after the greatest measure of grace ye can possibly attain unto for therefore we have a perfect example set before us even God himself that we should be perfect as he is perfect Mat. 5.48 And also of Christ that he that saith he abideth in him ought also to walk even as he walked 1 John 2.6 That though we are not perfect yet with Paul forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before we may press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.13 14. Wherefore beloved laying aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset you run with patience the race that is set before you looking unto Jesus the Authour or Leader and the finisher of your faith Heb. 12.1 2. And since ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God with whom ye hope to appear mortifie your members which are upon the earth and crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof labour to conquer all your corruptions to purge out the reliques of the old leaven and to wash your hearts from iniquity and the vanity of your very thoughts and desires Be exceeding careful to suppress and quench every motion arising from the flesh and to avoid whatever may defile the conscience and thereby cloud your comforts and darken the light of your inward joy and peace And I beseech you that ye would walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing in obedience to every command and the strictest rules of the Gospel and that as ye have at any time heard how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more 1 Thes 4.1 That ye may at last stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God working out your salvation hereby with fear and trembling Phil. 2.14 Col. 4.12 Wherefore add to your faith vertue to and vertue knowledge temperance patience godliness brotherly kindness charity that ye may not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ and tho rather give diligence herein that ye may make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.5 6 10. Direct IV. Redeem your precious time and the seasons of grace for the time is short saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.29 The time of life is short the of health and strength is short and consequently the time of grace and the opportunities thereof are short Therefore see that ye walk circumspectly or exactly redeeming the time or season because the dayes are not only short but evil Eecl 5.15 16. And that not only in regard of the temptations and snares thereof but of the perils and afflictions the troubles and tribulations that attend the last dayes of the world Our Saviour knowing the day of his working and ministery to be short having but a while to remain upon earth took all occasions to finish his Fathers work who sent him into the world John 9.4 I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work And is not your night Christians coming on and your Sun near setting when the light of this present life shall vanish and give place to the darkness of death O that ye would keep an eye upon and the swiftness of that motion which will suddenly have measured your appointed race And be not slack in the work of the Lord but double and redouble your diligence that ye may be ready for the Masters call and the Bride-groomes coming What a blessed condition is that soul in that can say with Saint Paul 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered up and my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith But is it not otherwise with many poor souls who could wish for another life to be renewed unto them for the discharge of their trust they have neglected the improvment of mercies which they have sleighted the filling up of that space they have idly squandred the gathering in of experiences which they have pretermitted and for the laying in of a store and stock of grace and wisdom by such rich advantages of trade and heavenly gain and profit which they have lost and over slipped Who now begin to look back with shame and sorrow upon the time of youth and strength and the yeares of plenty and fulness of the bread of heaven bewailing their folly in not providing for the yeares of famine wherein they will be glad of the gleanings of
THE SOULS ASCENSION IN THE STATE OF SEPARATION Summarily delivered in a Sermon preached at Shenly in the County of Hertford the 21. of November 1660. at the Funeral Solemnities of Mrs Mary Jessop late wife of William Jessop Esq and since enlarged and publish'd for common benefit By ISAAC LOEFFS M.A. Eccles 3.21 Who knoweth the Spirit of Man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the Earth London Printed for N. Ranew and J. Robinson at the Angel in Jewen-street 1670 TO My ever honoured Uncle WILLIAM JESSOP ESQUIRE SIR MY natural modesty and backwardness to appear in publick together with the difficulty of obtaining the Press have detained this short Treatise so long from you that you may well judge it unseasonable now to be presented unto you Yet considering the duty of that relation wherein I stand unto you through your late dear Yoak-Fellow whose death was the occasion of this Discourse and the obligation that is upon me by so many favours and undeserved kindnesses received from you as also the benefit which possibly may accrue to others from so serious a Subject I have ventured it abroad into the world under the protection of your Name how weakly so-ever managed and liable to the censures of this scrupulous Age. However I may hope that as Funeral Sermons above others have an advantage upon Auditors by their sad occasion so this also may affect the impartial Reader by the weight of its Arguments And although it was first intended and promised you for a private present and an acknowledgment of that due respect and unfeigned love which I do and shall ever bear to your self and your Relations yet I presume it will not be the less accepted because others are now made equal sharers in it And my confidence herein is the more strengthned by the consideration of that publick spirit which you have manifested at all times by your willing and unwearied pains in the service of your Generation wherein your integrity and faithfulness have so eminently appeared that your name is known and honoured throughout the Nation But this above all is your Crown that in all your publick employments you have not sought your self and the advancement of your Family so much as the honour of God the interest of his people and the enlargement of the Gospel by your high esteem of and the encouragement you have given unto the Faithful Ministers of it among whom I have been an unworthy Labourer And blessed be the Lord who hath made his Grace to abound towards you by his assisting and supporting presence in all your paines and travels whereby you have been enabled so chearfully to undergo the burden of your hard services who hath also blessed your careful and conscientious endeavours for the promoting of Godliness in your Family and among your near Relations One fruit whereof I cannot but mention for your unspeakable comfort concerning your dear Relation taken from you being present at her dissolution who about to close her eyes from her mourning Children and Friends and all the visible things of this life did sensibly joyfully and openly acknowledge and declare her assured and known interest in Christ unto whom she immediately departed Now the Lord supply all your wants and be your reward and the blessing of your off-Spring And if this poor present may add any thing of spiritual benefit and advantage to your own soul the souls of your relations or any others it will be the rejoycing of From my study at Shenly in the County of Hertford Oct. 20. 1669. Your unworthy Kinsman and Servant in the Gospel ISAAC LOEFFS THe Reader is desired to correct these following mistakes which escaped the Press by reason of the Authors absence PAge 2. Line 27. for walk read reach P. 5. l. 12. leave out not P. 9. l. 13. f. hand 1. head P. 10. l. 3. f. alwayes r. already P. 22. l. 8. f. live r. evil P. 26. l. 5. f. Luther 1. Augustine T. 43. l. 16. f. strange r. strong p. 120. l. 9. f. medicinal r. mystical P. 125. l. 2. f. Christ r. God P. 129. l. 2. blot out in Scriptures THE SOVLS ASCENSION In the State of SEPARATION PHILLIP 1.24 For I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better MAN being in honour abideth not or lodgeth not all night therein saith David Psal 49.12 But becomes like the Beasts that perish for that which befalleth the Sons of men befalleth Beasts as the one dieth so dieth the other so that a man hath no preheminence above a Beast saith Solomon Eccl. 3.19 Nevertheless though he dieth like the Beast yet his Spirit retaining the immortality of its essence returneth not to corruption with his body but is capable of a state after death and dissolution according as the infinite wisdom of his Creator doth dispose thereof in a way of justice or mercy * For the spirit returneth to God who gave it Chap. 12 7. And because most men are so irrational and foolish as either through ignorance of their own nature and being to deny the immortality of their souls or through delusion and presumption to conclude the certainty of their future felicity judging all things by sense and the present dispensations of external and common providence therefore it shall be my present design in handling this Text to give unto you a private prospect through the gate of death towards the mountaines and valleys of eternal happiness and misery by presenting unto you the secret and hidden way of the spirit and soul of man in its sudden flight and motion at the time and in the state of separation from the corporeal and fleshy part which falls from it towards its earthly center And forasmuch as the dissolution of nature doth not only divide the two essential parts of soul and body but also the common rode of this temporal life into two distinct paths towards the greatest different states of everlasting joy or sorrow I shall labour to walk both in this subject the first in the doctrinal part because it is the proper and plain scope of the Text and the other in the Application by way of consequence and deduction For which end and purpose it will be necessary for me first to bring you to the Text by the preceeding parts of the Chapter and the occasion of this Epistle to which it hath relation and then by the Text to the matter intended The occasion of Paul's writing this Epistle to the Church at Philippi was an honourable Present the Church had sent unto him being then a prisoner in Rome by the hands of Epaphroditus their pastor by way of charity to supply his present necessities By whom having understood the state and condition of that Church and being affected with so great an expression of their love unto him he returned this sweet Letter and Spiritual Epistle And in this first Chapter after
be with him which in it self considered was earnest agreeable to his earnest expectation or stretching forth of the hand in looking as that word denoteth in the 20. verse of this Chapter To depart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or to be dissolved according to others or to die as the Apopostle had said in the 21. verse To die is gain The Apostle seemeth to strain himself for a word that he might set forth so gainful a death as he is speaking of which sometimes he calleth a dissolving of this earthy tabernacle and an unclothing 2 Cor. 5.1.4 Peter styles it a putting off of this tabernacle The spirit of God in the Holy penmen of the Scriptures hath set forth the death of the Saints by pleasant and alluring expressions as to sleep to be changed to be gathered to the Fathers and in this place to depart And to be with Christ Paul was in Christ alwayes by grace and Christ revealed in him by the spirit of illumination he was a follower of Christ by conformity and obedience and came behinde none of of the other Apostles in his labour and sufferings for him and as he desir'd to be found in Christ so to depart and to be with him that he might immediately enjoy him and enter into the joy of his Lord and Master unto whom he had been faithful in his ministry and Apostleship The state of happiness is often set forth in Scripture by this phrase of being with Christ and being with the Lord Luke 23.43 This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Rom. 6.8 Now if we be dead with Christ we believe we shall also live with him And 1 Thes 4.17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall ever be with the Lord. Which is far better * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or very much better that is in regard of himself it is better to die then to live though in regard of the Church for him to abide in the flesh it was better and more needful for them as in the following verse And in regard of himself and his glory with Christ it must needs be far better if we consider as Paul did that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which should be the reward of his light afflictions as he so them esteem'd comparatively 2 Cor. 4.17 For our light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is beyond expression * Christus caelum non patiuntur hyperbolem And therefore our translation rendereth it a farre more exceeding as Paul here styles it far better Having thus opened the words of the Text I shall lay down one Proposition only from these words of the Apostle and handle that as suitable to this present occasion and solemnity Doct. That it is the desireable and peculiar priviledge of the Saints to be brought immediately to Christ by their departure hence by death In the managing of this doctrine or proposition I shall endeavour to shew and clear these three general Heads the handling whereof will take in the substance and essential parts of the whole Text it self First What is that death in the nature and quality of it that brings the souls of the Saints departed immediately unto Christ Secondly what is it or what may be understood by this phrase to be with Christ Thirdly how doth the death of the Saints bring them immediately to Christ at their departure and in what manner doth the Soul depart to Christ First What it that death in the nature and quality of it that brings the Souls of the Saints departed immediately to Christ 1. Negatively Every death or the death of every man doth not bring him or his soul to Christ It is not death barely and in it self considered as it is a privation of life by the dissolution of nature and parting asunder of soul and body Otherwise what were the priviledge of Paul which here he so greatly desired more then of Judas the Traitor but that Judas went not to Christ but to his own place is evident Acts 1.25 The godly and the wicked die alike in respect of natural dissolution Eccl. 2.26 How dieth the wise man as the fool As there is no visible distinction or marke of difference between the Godly and the wicked by the external things of providence in the course of their lives but all things fall out a like to all men that no man might know love or hatred by what is before him but by what is within him and upon his heart so neither can the righteous be discerned from the reprobates by any visible character of the outward manner of their departure and dissolution And this will appear in the several kinds of death both are subject unto in the course of providence as also in the outward circumstances thereof The godly and wicked may both die of the same disease and distemper of body as feaver consumption dropsie yea the most painful diseases as the gout and the stone and also of the most noy some and uncomfortable distempers as the small pox and the plague it self of which Hezekiah was sick unto death 2 Kings 20.1 Again they may both die by a violent hand Stephen was stoned to death as well as Achan They may both also die by the same occasion and sudden providences as those upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them Luke 13.4 Which did not argue that they were greater sinners then others Moreover they may both die in the full number of their days and a wicked man may live to be an hundred years old and be accursed Isai 65.20 And though wicked men sometimes through the just judgement of God doe not live out halfe their dayes yet the godly may die in their youth and strength and the Lord in mercy take them away from the evil to come Isa 57.1 Lastly they may die alike in regard of the present peace and calm or trouble and disturbance of spirit a godly man may want assurance upon a death bed and a wicked may goe out of the world like a Lamb with peace and presumption and a quiet dissolution Psal 73.4 There are no bands in their death 2. But positively That death which bringeth the Soul to Christ at the time of departure out of this life is to be considered in relation to the state and condition of the person in death as holy righteous and godly So that it is the quality of the person dying that makes him happy in his death whose death is his gain and his departure to be with Christ To this the Scriptures bear clear and rich testimonie Prov. 14.32 The righteous hath hope in his end Ps 37.37 The godly man is marked with this priviledge Marke the perfect man behold the upright the end of that man is
peace Balaam 's wish strongly confirmeth it Numb 23.10 Let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his And to add no more quotations in so plain a case Paul in my Text appropriateth this priviledge to himself and such as he was real Christians true Saints and unfeigned believers I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ and to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain Therefore look what we are living such we are dying Death is but the term of life and changeth not the state of the person but the degree of that state Grace must be wrought here but perfected hereafter in glory which is grace consummate and if no grace here no glory hereafter for as the tree falleth so it lieth But if I should draw the curtaines that are about these dying Saints and consider how they die that come to Christ by death I would propose it unto you briefly in two or three expressions for the discovery of it and your information in it according to the Scripture The Godly die in the faith of Christ believing in him and all the promises of God which in him are yea and amen Heb. 11.13 These all died in faith not having received the promises they die in the interest of Christ and they are Christs in death as well as life Rom. 14.8 Whether we live we live to the Lord and whether we dye we dye to the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords Yea they die in union with Christ Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 This is that death and the death of such as these are is that departure whereof Paul speaketh in my Text and how desirable it is beyond this present life it self will further appear by the several and sutable acceptations of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original which we translate to depart in which word as an alablaster box the Apostle hath inclosed precious spikenard to annoint the Saints against their funeral by which we shall understand the gainful advantage of death to the godly as it looketh back to this present life as the terminus a quo or the bounds from which they depart First the word is used to loosen the cables of a ship solvere rudentes a metaphor taken from mariners who sail from one Banke or Port unto another it importeth a flitting or sailing from the state of this present life to our heavenly country Afflictions in the Scriptures are compared to waters and the world is a troublesome sea to the Saints over which they sail through many stormes till they come to shore For through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Many are the afflictions of the righteous and in the world ye shall have tribulation saith Christ to his Disciples John 16. last And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus saith Paul shall suffer persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 But the death of the Saints is the end of their sorrowes and if we suffer with Christ we shall be glorified together Rom. 8.18 Then all tears shall be wiped from their eyes and sorrow and mourning shall flee away when they shall arrive at the land of promise the Cape of good hope Heaven is the Saints fair haven it is called the bosome of Abraham Luk. 16.23 Which Gregory Nyssen expounds to be like a bay or bosome of the Sea into which a godly man sayling from hence putteth in his soul as a haven free from danger and tempest where it shall receive the fulness of all good things Secondly The word is translated reverti to return Believers are sent forth to labour in this world and they are Christs factors upon earth for the advancement of his glory and kingdom and the heavenly gain of their own eternal happiness They trade for heaven by which their conversations are said to be in heaven Phil. 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our City life or commerce or our conversation is in heaven whence we look for the Lord Jesus Christ to come They are citizens of heaven but they trade from home in a far countrey as merchants seeking the pearl of great price Mat. 13.44 Which having found they returned home richly laden with the treasure of the Gospel Death is the souls return to God Eccles 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it Job saith he shall return thither Job 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Greek Scholies expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto God How joyful is the return of the Saints to their heavenly home and their happy rest after their laborious travail and restless pains in the works of their salvation attended with all the fruits of holiness and righteousness as an evidence of their faith and testimony of their obedience Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the spirit for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Rev. 14.13 As the wagons which Joseph sent for his Father Jacob and his houshold brought them to the land of Goshen and to the full plenty of Joseph's provision so death bringeth the Saints to their joyful rest and to Christ their heavenly Joseph Death is the unharnessing of the Saints at their final return to their full peace and everlasting inheritance * Solvunti◠sarcina vincula Thirdly the word is applyed sometimes to the loosing of the cords of a tent * Solvere sunos tobernaculorum Beleivers in this life and while they are in the body dwell as in tents and tabernacles in an unsetled and changeable estate as pilgrims and strangers having no continuing City and therefore often remove their tents like the Patriarchs of old Heb 11.9 10. Where the Apostle speaking of Abraham saith that by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange countrey dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for he looked for a City which had foundations whose builder and maker is God Al the faithful are heirs of eternal promises how mean and contemptible soever they seem in the eyes of the world as a gazing-stock unto them among whom they sojourn for a time As they are not of the world so they have little favour and respect from it for therefore the world hateth them John 15.19 No wonder therefore the people of God have alwayes accounted themselves strangers here Psal 119.19 I am a stranger in the earth saith David hide not thy commandements from me And Peter writing to the Jews 1 Pet. 2.11 I beseech you saith he as pilgrims and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the Soul How welcome then is that dissolution that looseneth the cords of those tents and pulleth
soul It is dreadful to consider what a mass and mountainous bigness the sins of a poor carnal wretch arise unto if we lay them together his original sin actual sins sins of omission and commission his secret sins and open and scandalous sins his whole life hath been a trade of sin and whatsoever proceedeth from him is sin the ploughing of the wicked is sin and his prayer is turned into sin And to his own sins personally committed we may add his other mens sins either occasioned countenanced or allowed Now multiply these by their particulars and individuals and measure all by their sinful circumstances and then judge of the guilt of every sinful ma that dieth in unbelief and without pardoning grace through the bloud of Christ Secondly The conscience of every wicked man is awakened immediately after death and dissolution to a continual sense of the guilt of all his sins Natural conscience in carnal men is for the most part peaceable silent in this present life delight custome in sin hardning the heart and searing the conscience which they labour to keep asleep by diverting the thoughts to worldly objects or to satisfie by a formal profession attended with some outward performances But as soon as ever the soul of an unregenerate person is separate from the body this lyon awaketh sleepeth no more the faculties of the soul being alwayes in act and exercise in a separate state whereby his sins shall be alwayes before him and set in order before his eyes upon which his conscience shall reflect continually without diversion or intermission Then the sins you have laboured to forget and cast out of mind shall be brought to remembrance and ye shall ever behold them for which conscience shall charge and accuse you and in the fresh remembrance of them you shall lye down self-condemned for ever This is the worm that never dieth Mark 9 48. But shall gnaw your hearts to eternity Thirdly Hereupon the soul of a wicked man shall tremble at the sight and presence of God That the soul of every man and consequently of the wicked shall see and approach the powerful and immediate presence of God in his Divine nature and essence upon their dissolution is apparent in that the spirit of man is said to go upward Eccles 3.21 And to return to God who gave it Chap. 12.7 As also by the particular judgement immediately consequent upon death whereby God appearing to conscience decideth and determineth the eternal state and condition of every soul preparative to the last and glorious appearing of Christ at the great and terrible day who shall then judge the whole world and the soul and body together For it is appointed unto men once to ye and after this the judgement Heb. 9.27 Which may include this particular judgement after death whereof we are speaking as well as the last and general judgement yet some restrain it to the particular only But in what manner the soul of a wicked man shall see God take in a few words Death being the unclothing and putting off off the earthly house of the body the soul remaineth naked in respect of that clothing which nakedness of the separate souls of the Saints is covered and clothed upon with the glory of their house in heaven 2 Cor. 5.3 In which state of nakedness wherein the souls of the wicked abide the soul must needs be quickly and powerfully apprehensive of God and of any impression and influence of God upon it as the body being naked of its clothing is tenderly sensible of heat or cold and any thing that approacheth unto it For the foul being separate from the body receiveth its object no more through the senses of the body but in an immediate way of discovery of them We know also that the Lord doth sometimes immediately wound the spirit of man while it is in the body by letting fall the drops of wrath upon it and thereby tormenteth it which David calleth the rebukes of God Ps 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct a man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth Moreover if the soul being a spirit and separate from the body can converse with spirits as the Saints with Angels and the damned with Devils much more with God the Father of spirits who can discover himself unto them as he pleaseth But take heed of mistaking here for though a gracious and and sanctified soul reconciled unto God hath to do with him as a father in the apprehension of his love through which it hath comfort and joy in communion with him yet it is not so with the sinful soul of that than that dieth in his sins which apprehendeth God only as he appeareth to it in wrath and displeasure for without holiness no man shall see the Lord that is with peace and comfort Heb. 12.14 Now consider ye that forget God can ye see and behold the wrath of his countenance doe ye not tremble in your very thoughts of him Surely the presence of an angry God will make every guilty soul to fear and tremble at his feet when they shall be brought before him by his Serjeant Death The apprehension of guilt and of God together made Adam and Eve to run behind the Trees for fear when they heard the voice of God in the garden Gen. 3.8 Moses though a Favourite yet when he saw the appearance of God in the thundrings and lightnings and earthquakes the smoke and fire heard the sound of the trumpet upon Mount Sinai he said I exceedingly fear â—nd quake Heb. 12.21 When Elijah apprehended God was in the still small voice he wrapped his face in his mantle â—nd went out and stood in the entring of the â—ave 1 Kings 19.13 When Job came to see God with his eyes he abhorred himself in dust and ashes Job 42.6 The judgements of God made holy Davids flesh to tremble Psal 119.120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee I am afraid of thy judgements The glorious vision which Isaiah saw how did it work upon that holy Prophet Isaiah 6.5 When he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne and cryed woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King â—he Lord of Hosts And if these Saints so eminent for grace and holiness have trembled at the presence of God manifested unto them in love and mercy how shall the unner and ungodly stand in his sight Doest thou beleive there is a God If not thou shalt see and beleive but remember that the Devils beleive and tremble Fourthly The soul of a wicked man thus trembling before God the holiness of God breaketh forth in wrath upon the soul to punish torment it For the soul appearing before God in the guilt of all its sins which are the greatest contrariety opposition against the holy nature of God who
discover and act all manner of vexation fretfulness reluctancy and opposition under the anguish of its hopeless condition And this may be demonstrated if one consider the nature of a carnal heart and spirit and the tendency thereof which doth naturally end in this degree of sin 1. There is a natural enmity in every carnal soul against God which remaineth for ever in it where grace doth not subdue and mortifie it The carnal mind is enmity to God Rom. 8.7 And it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be So that this enmity is discovered in this life by acts of sin and wicked workes done by carnal men against the holy and righteous will of God and consequently abiding in the soul after death it will in like manner manifest it self to eternity the Soul being wholly void of all sanctifying and renewing grace Secondly This enmity will more fully act after dissolution by the total withdrawing of the spirit of God whereby in this life it was limited and restrained God setteth bounds to carnal men in this life to keep the world in some degree of peace for the more quiet habitation of his people without which their lives on earth would be altogether disquiet and uncomfortable through the rage and fury of the wicked But in hell there is not so much as restraining grace to dam up the fountain of corruption from breaking out and flowing forth in its full strength and liberty Thirdly the greatest sufferings whatsoever have no power to suppress or destroy corruption and carnal enmity as in themselves considered It is a sanctified affliction through the love of God that purgeth and taketh away sin from his children who by his chastisements are made partakers of his holiness But the torments of hell are the execution of the fierce wrath of God wherein there is not the mixture of one dram of love God intending the destruction and not the salvation of the soul in taking vengeance upon it So that the sinful habits and habitual enmity of the soul are increased and blown up to the highest degree of malice by despair under eternal punishment Fourthly To this we may also add that to be given up to sin is one of the greatest Judgements of God and therefore may be a part of or at least an adjunct to the torments of the damned God sometimes punisheth sin with sin by hardning the heart for its hardness and searing the conscience for its senselessness and giving up to believe a lye for not receiving the love of the truth as also he gave up those Idolaters who imprisoned the natural light and knowledge of God to uncleanness vile affections and a reprobate mind Rom. 1. Now the highest degree of sin God giveth up a carnal man unto in this life is the sin against the holy Ghost which is to sin with malice and to doe despight unto the spirit of grace Heb. 10.29 When a reprobate heart shall grow to that hardness in sin as to sin under conviction and to revenge it self upon God and the spirit of God by committing sin upon the account of sin or because it is sin otherwise it cannot be a wilful sinning after receiving of the knowledge of the truth This being the highest degree of sin upon earth the formality whereof is malice and revenge we may easily be perswaded to believe that hell is full thereof where this malice is more stirred up by despair under these torments then it can be in this life and where the souls of the wicked vent their malice against God by blaspheming and cursing him to his face which is the proper discovery of it as desperate malefactors sometimes in their torments curse both Judge and Executioner And foâ— the proof of this I shall only argue thâ— the case from two or three Scripture instances First of Job whom Satan supposed to be but a hypocrite and temptâ—… God to afflict him with this confidence that he should curse him to his face Joâ— 1.11 The Devil well knew what over whelming afflictions would work upon carnal and sinful heart even to curse Goâ— to his face and had not Jobs sinceritâ— through the power of God upheld anâ— preserved him the Devil had had his design and Job had cursed God as well aâ— the day of his birth Another is of thosâ— wicked ones of whom the Prophet â—…saiah speaketh Isai 8.21 And thâ—â— shall pass through it hardly bestead anâ— hungry and it shall come to pass that wheâ—… they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their King and their God anâ— look upward Whence it appeareth thaâ— when God upon earth punisheth a people for their wickedness with some extream calamity under which they despair looking upwards and seeing no help the wickedness of their hearts will through madness and malice break out into cursing of their King and their God whether true of false Which appeareth yet more clearly in the prophesie of the powring forth of the vials of the wrath of God upon the Antichristian party in several plagues and punishments for their final ruine and overthrow Rev. 16.9 And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory And verse 11. They blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their paines and their sores and repented not of their deeds Likewise verse the last They blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail for the plague thereof was exceeding great Much more will a sinful soul blaspheme in hell where despair is the torment of those torments Which Christ himself seemeth to put out of all question speaking of the sufferings of hell when he saith There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Math. 8.12 and 13.42 50. That is against God through fretfulness and malice for so the phrase of gnashing the teeth is taken in other Scriptures Psal 37.12 The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth So the Jews did upon Stephen Acts. 7.54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth So that as the Saints in heaven bless God with Praises and Hallelujahs so the damned in hell howl under pain and curse him and thus in hell sin shall be perfected as well as grace in heaven every wicked and graceless soul shall sin under suffering while it is suffering for sin Lastly Hereupon the wrath of God is further provoked and heightned by the actual sin of a wicked and desperate soul under its torments So that to make this everlasting punishment of a damned soul in hell unspeakable miserable the sufferings thereof are not only eternal as they are the just reward of sin committed in this life against an infinite God whose justice can never be fully satisfied but by the eternity of the punishment but they are also for ever increased and renewed by enraging provocations of malice and
blasphemy whereby the soul requoi leth a-against God through anguish thereof By this we may conceive how exquisite the torments of the wicked will be hereafter the soul eternally sinning and continually adding fresh oyl to the flames of wrath for sin kindleth wrath and wrath kindleth hell and hell kindleth sin and sin again wrath and so for ever This is the work and action between an infinite God and a poor unhappy soul to eternity God punishing the soul sinning and the soul sinning God punishing in which torments the body shall partake with the soulafter its resurrection being united again made so far capable to endure its torments as not to be dissolved or destroyed by the extremity and eternity of them Thus sinful and wretched man shall be ever dying weeping yelling howling and sinning under the intollerable pangs of the second death Rev. 21.8 The fearful and unbeleiving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Repent therefore and beleive the Gospel turn from your sins and forsake your wayes that ye may escape this judgement of God for now is the day of salvation through the forbearance of God who would have have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth From this Text and Doctrine we may be again informed upon what grounds the people of God may desire their dissolution How desireable a priviledge the departure of the Saints is hath been already opened but for further direction in it I shall here make up the banks to keep these desires in their right channel which otherwise are ready to break out into unlimited and unlawfull currents Therefore to satisfie this case of conscience concerning the desire of death let every precious soul consider these following Propositions First It is altogether unwarrantable for beleivers to desire dissolution out of meer passion under the forest trouble affliction or tryal It is usual for carnal men upon discontent to wish they might dye who also under the burthensomness of corporal distempers often desire a release from their present paines not knowing or considering that thereby they shall immediately fall from their beds into hell This also is incident to the Godly through infirmity whose passions in this case are not excusable Thus it was with that holy Prophet Elijah when he was forc'd to flee from the rage and persecution of Jezebel who threatned to take away his life 1 Kings 19.34 And when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba and left his servant there but he himself went a dayes journey into the wilderness and came and sate down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am no better then my Fathers Elijah's passion under this persecution being now alone tired and weary probably with his journey as well as assaulted and troubled with slavish fear was the ground of this his request and supplication Now if we compare with this story the expression of S. James presenting Elias as an example of the prevalency of prayer we may judge that this passion was an infirmity in this Prophet James 5.17 Elias was a man subject to passion as we are and he prayed c. The like instance we have of Job who through passion gratified Satan so far under his temptation as to curse the day of his birth and also through vexation of spirit under his afflictions to wish and long for his grave Job 3.20 21 22. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul which long for death and it cometh not and dig for it more then for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Take also the Prophet Jonah for an example hereof who after he had preached destruction to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord and saw not the execution thereof according to his prophecy was discontent at the patience and repentings of God towards that City and besought the Lord he might dye Jonah 4.3 Therefore now O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to dye then to live for which the Lord checketh him in the next verse dost thou well to be angry And in the 9 and 10. verses When the Gourd was withered and the Wind and Sun beat upon him that he fainted he wished he might dye again and passionately replies to Gods second rebuke of him I do well to be angry even unto the death Secondly Every Christian looking upon death as a priviledge and means to bring him to Christ ought no further to desireit then with submission to the will of God and a willing subjection to his work and service in his generation To hasten death by unlawful meanes is no less then self murther as hath been already proved and hereby the desire thereof is in some measure limited preservation of life by all lawful means being a duty incumbent upon all Our times and seasons life and death are in the hands only of God the wise disposer of all things for the good of them that love him between whose will and ours there ought to be a perfect conformity in relation to all changes and dispensations Christ escaped from the Jews when they often sought to kill him because his hour was not yet come but then he refused not but accepted that bitter cup which his Father gave him to drink When Job had recovered himself from under the power of his passion he besought the Lord to appoint him a set time and he would wait Job 14.14 All the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change come We must not run home before we have done our worke but mind our worke as well as our reward God hath appointed a particular service for every beleiver in his generation which he should labour to finish with David before he falleth asleep Acts 13.16 For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God fell asleep Saint Paul declaring to Timothy the near approach of his dissolution and departure forgetteth not to mention the finishing of his work in the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered up and my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith But till it was finished he was willing to abide in the flesh notwithstanding his great desire to depart and to be with Christ as in the words following my Text. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you And having this confidence I know I shall abide and continue with you for your furtherance and joy of faith Thirdly This being minded it is lawful and warrantable for a
and unworthy wretches who disdain and slight such reports of mercy and the rich mystery of Gods good will towards men in Christ which the Angels admiring bow themselves and stoop down to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 Hearken O ye unbeleivers Is it not a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to save sinners whereof ye are the chief What is the meaning of so many publique Assemblies every Lords day and our occasional comings together upon this or any other providential call what is the meaning that so many are set apart and make it their study and labour to preach unto you whom ye openly see in their Pulpits spreading their hands and hear them with so much zeal and fervency crying aloud spending their very strength and hazarding their healths and life it self in their unwearied paines Is it not Christ whom we preach and in whom ye say that ye beleive How can ye beleive that wallow in the mire of your unclean and polluted conversations How can ye beleive that commit iniquity with greediness and blush not at your open sins and profaneness How can ye beleive that make the world your God and prefer the trrash of the earth before the treasures of heaven How can ye beleive that seek the honour and praise and favour of men more then the honour that is of God that ye may be great upon earth and get a name which shall be written in the earth Is it not true that all men have not faith ye say ye beleive and ye have faith can your faith save you can a dead faith a feigned faith a fruitless and a workless faith save you Can ye prove or shew a true faith without workes Give me leave to try your faith in regard of the object of it Doe ye beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ Doe ye beleive in that Christ who from the beginning was promised to the sore-fathers who saw his day and rejoyced who in the fulness of time appeared in our flesh made of a woman and under the law and took upon him the form of a servant who suffered so much shame and reproach by the contradiction of sinners and at last an accursed death the death of the cross for the satisfaction of divine justice and appeasing of the wrath of God so highly provoked by the sins of men who arose from the grave having overcome and broken the bands of death to assure unto us our justification who lastly ascended into the highest heavens and is there interceeding for his people and ruling and reigning till he overcome all his enemies whence he shall come again and appear the second time without sin unto the final judgement of the world and the full salvation of all that beleive in him Why then do ye say in your selves or is it not the language of our unbeleiving hearts who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ from above and who shall descend in to the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead What strange fancies have ye in your mindes of Christ and beleiving in Christ Is not your faith a fancy O that the word of faith were nigh unto you even in your hearts the word of faith which we preach And that ye would beleive our report when we preach Christ and him crucified as we have evidently set him forth crucâ—fied among you Besides if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed it would soon manifest its self by the growth of it and the fruits that proceed from it It would be a Christ prizing faith a heart purifying faith a world conquering and crucifying faith it would be a Saint loving and a soul humbling faith it would work in you the fear of God and the fear of sin a love to the truth and to every ordinance of Christ it would make conscience tender and the heart sincere and upright with God yea it would render holiness beautiful and lovely and all the wayes and commands of the Lord delightful and easie besides it would make future things present and present things absent and as if they were not and yet the beleiving soul inherits all things and possesseth all things The exercise of faith is a pleasant joyful and glorious act through the transcendent and unspeakable excellency of Christ the object thereof Now if these things be a mystery unto you and your hearts wholly strangers unto them look into the Gospel more seriously and acquaint your selves further with the riches of the mystery of Christ even the riches of mercy and the unsearchable treasures of Christ and be no more faithless but beleive If ye were but sensible of the wants of your souls as ye are of the straights and necessities of your bodies it would not be so hard to perswade you to come to Christ the great treasury of all supplies who hath gold for the poor and eye-salve for the blind and white rayment for the naked Rev. 3.13 Now are not ye thus poor and blind and naked and consequently wretched and miserable And how freely doth Christ offer himself to become all fulness unto you who is made of God unto all that beleive wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 what sure foundation can ye build upon if Christ be not the corner stone and rock of your trust and confidence and to whom will ye goe for eternal life if ye refuse him and reject the counsell of God by persisting in unbeleif and impenitency I can assure you from the word of God that other foundations can no man lay then is laid by Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts 4.12 To day therefore whilst it is called to day harden not your hearts refuse not him that speaketh from heaven lest you perish in your unbeleife but lay hold upon this strength of God that ye may make peace with him ye shall make peace Isai 27.5 For he is our peace by whom we have access with boldness unto the throne of grace and he is able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God by him Heb 7.25 O sinners beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved every soul of you your sins shall be blotted out and your iniquity shall be remembred no more and receive him who is ready to receive you and to bless you with all spiritual blessings that ye may be the children of God and heires of the promises and of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven Secondly The exhortation is also to all Christians for to such my text hath a more special relation even to those who with their hearts beleive and love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity who though peradventure they cannot so freely with Saint Paul desire to depart yet in case of departing unfeignedly desire to be with him And because
gracious person to desire to depart and to be with Christ Who among all the heires of promise doth not desire the possession and enjoyment of his hopes in Christ his deliverance from sin sufferings and sorrow and the full fruition of all the glory and happiness of his heavenly portion and inheritance Let the spiritual ecchoes and silent answers of all true born Israelites resolve this question whose hearts are enlarged to rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God unto which they are begotten by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead This maketh the greatest afflictions of the Saints in this world so light unto them while they look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen 2 Cor. 4.18 And therefore reckon with Paul That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in them Rom. 8.18 Hence are those earnest groanes and longing desires of the righteous to be uncloathed and cloathed upon with their house from heaven wherein they symbolize and sympathize with the whole creation which desireth to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God Rom. 8.23 And not only they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body Use 3. Use of inquiry If it be the desirable priviledge of the Saints to be brought immediately unto Christ by their death then it may be profitable and useful for us to inquire into the causes why many Christians are so far from desiring it chearfully submitting unto death as that they tremble at it and seem to slye from it What is the reason that they are still in bondage to the fear of death notwithstanding the sting thereof is taken away by the destruction of sin and the grave perfumed as a bed of spices by Christ's lying therein Now therefore for satisfaction to this case and withall to remove and cure this uncomfortable distemper I shall lay down briefly some of the chief causes whence this fear may arise First it may arise from a natural principle of self-preservation For God hath planted this instinct of nature in every part of the creation to labour to preserve its being and secure it self from dissolution Hence it is that nature abhorring avacuity or emptiness in any part of the universe because it tendeth to destruction for the preservation thereof causeth in the creatures motions contrary to their inclinations causing the air to descend to fill up vacuities in the earthly element and the water to ascend contrary to its nature to supply the room and absence of the forced air which we see in several experiments and ordinary inventions And this principle appeareth in every particular creature naturally avoiding whatsoever threatneth or tendeth to its destruction But to come nearer to the case of humane dissolution We naturally shun whatsoever we apprehend may offer violence to us and are subject to sudden passions at the approach of cruelty yea nature put in mind of a weakness in any part of the body maketh strongest reparations and fortifieth that place where a breach was made a broken bone well set becometh stronger then before And hence it is that through fear we decline any eminent danger and labour to preserve our natural beings resisting dissolution as the greatest natural evil Therefore the Philosopher called death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most terrible of terribles and Job the King of terrors Job 18.14 This natural fear was in Christ himself as he was man when he approached his death and sufferings who through a conflict of nature desired to be delivered from them Mat. 26.39 O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me And yet there was no sin in it because it was a natural desire and that for a moment suddenly overcome by reason and deliberation or a short suspension quickly subdued by a voluntary submission and firm resolution the spirit being willing but the flesh weak in Christ himself But grace doth not only teach to deny self but is also powerful to subdue our natura wills and inclinations to the will of God as it was also in Christ nevertheless not my will but thine be done Secondly It may proceed from immoderate love and inordinate affections to the world and the things of this present life And there is a great proneness in believers themselves to â—ive too much liberty to earthly and worldly affections and to take too much delight and content in the good things of this life which are but bona corporis the goods of the body These things are snares unto us in our life and as stocks to the feet of the soul at the time of departure How loth are we to let go our tenure and hold of these delights upon a sick bed to take our last farewell and shake hands with near and dear relations to have our eyes closed and no more to be opened upon these visible comforts and to suffer the pillow to be drawn away from our heads that we may yield up our spirits to a more easie and free passage Certainly if we were more crucified to the world and strangers in it we should far more willingly leave it whereas through the love of it we are still hoping for a longer time and continuance in it and that God would still add either more yeares to our dayes or at least more dayes to our years Were not the stakes of our worldly delight drove so deep and strongly fastned in the earth our earthly tabernacles would more easily be dissolved The creatures in themselves are good and life is not only sweet in it self but as it is also ratio possidendi our tenure of them they are but for one life without renewing the lease thereof Therefore for the loosening of these cordes and stakes consider how much better one Christ is then all the creatures and one God then a thousand worlds and the glory of heaven then the superficial varnish and beauty of the whole earth If ye be Christians and risen with Christ take the Apostles counsel Col. 3.1 2 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Therefore saith he mortifie your members which are upon the earth inordinate affections evil concupiscence and covetousness which is Idolatry Christians take heed of fastning your affections here it may be Christ may require you should testifie your love to him by suffering for his sake and the Gospel and that unto the death and if worldly affections discompose
the spirit and render beleivers unfit for a natural dissolution how much more will they entangle in a time of persecution And what will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul For saith our Saviour whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it Matth. 16.23 24. Remember that Christ is your life and the cause and fountain of life and if you lose life it self for him you will find it again in him nec propter vitam vivendi perdere causam venture not the losing of Christ himself for this life sake This was Pauls present case and condition in my Text he was willing to suffer and by suffering for Christ to depart unto Christ which is far better Thirdly This fear of death may flow from a want of a clear evidence of an interest in Christ When a Christians evidence for heaven is darke and dubious the white stone slurred and the new name hardly legible when neither his own spirit nor Gods spirit beareth full witness or give in a clear testimony to adoption and reconciliation in this case eternity is terrible and the face of death and its appearance exceeding ghastful Sometimes the death of the Godly is a streight passage and a darke entrance when together with the pangs of dissolution the guilt of sin appeareth to conscience the wonted favour of God is withdrawn by removing his supporting presence and the Devil by strong assaults and temptations takes advantage of weakness to vex and disquiet the soul striving and strugling for support and comfort Methinks I hear such a heart cry out in the words of the Prophet David Psal 39.13 O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more seen It is exceeding hard for a Christian to venture to launch forth into eternity upon uncertainties and without a hopeful at least if not a full and satisfactory perswasion of happiness and salvation In this case the soul hath no other help but to roul it self upon mercy by renewing the acts of faith upon Christ to stay it self upon God though hiding his face and strongly to rest and rely upon the rock of ages And let this comfort and support in such an hour of trouble and tryal that when thou droppest into eternity and seemest to fall in the act of dissolution into eternal sorrow then the everlasting armes are ready to receive thee and as soon as ever death closeth the eyes of thy body thy soul shall see the glorious face of God himself to thy everlasting though unexpected joy Therefore imitate and follow the steps of Christ thy forerunner who in the same condition of desertion exercised faith upon the cross saying Mat. 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Fourthly The Saints may be subject to the fear of death and not chearfully submit unto it from their ignorance of the state of heaven and their happiness with God hereafter It is a received axiome ignoti nulla cupido we cannot desire what we do not know and apprehend And though the greatest part of what we know here be the least part of what we know not but shall know hereafter for we know but in part yet most Christians are guilty of neglect unexcusable ignorance in that they might know far more of the state of heaven then they doe It is true what the beloved Disciple and Apostle asserts 1 John 3.2 Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is The Scriptures are not altogether silent in revealing So the glorious inheritance of the Saints that though we are not able in our understanding while we are in the body to behold so great a glory had it been fully revealed yet so much is revealed thereof unto us that we may in the promises thereof discerne and contemplate as we doe the glory of the Sun by its reflexion in still waters For as it is written 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath revealed unto them that love him but as it followeth in the next verse God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God among which are profunda coeli the high or deep things of heaven It would be endless to gather together those pieces of heaven which like rich pearles and sparkling diamonds lye scattered up and down the Scriptures Let every high and heaven-born soul look more after his portion and spend more i me in surveying that inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in the heavens for him This will sweeten the thoughts of death and strengthen the soul to encounter the King of terrours Who would not endure the strongest paines for heavenly pleasures who would not shoot this gulph for eternal gain who would not dare to dye once that he might live and never dye more yea who would not depart that he might be with Christ Use 4. Then suffer the word of exhortation and first let every natural men accept of a friendly call to provide and prepare for the day and hour of his dissolution Consider wherefore thou art come into the world and how thou mayst close thy dayes in peace Wherefore hath God given thee a being and breathed into thy nostrils the breath of life Why did not she that bare thee miscarry before she had reckoned her months that thou wast not the untimely fruit of the womb why wast thou not stifled in the birth and the long expectations of him that begat thee frustrate with the news of a stilborn child or why diedst thou not in thine infancy as a blossome withered through sudden blasting By how many preventing and preserving providences hath thy life been renewed and continued unto thee that thou still drawest thy breath and swallowest thy spittle what account canst thou give of the golden talent of time God hath betrusted thee withal upon every moment whereof dependeth eternity Call to mind the dayes that are past and gone and shall return no more and examine the short periods and divisions of time never to be recalled which thou hast spent either idlely and impertinently or for the most part sinfully and prophanely Art thou born to sin or dost thou therefore sin that thou mayst shorten thy dayes by hastening to fill up the measure of thine iniquity why shouldst thou dye before thy time Is there no measure of sin or bounds of profaneness that thou drinkest in sin as the fish the water and drawest iniquity with cart ropes and the cords of vanity O make not so much hast to hell thou wilt be there too soon but turn at reproofe and to day whilest it is called to day harden not thy heart who knoweth