the line of modesty in what I shall speak about them And the first is this QUERIE I. Querie 1. Whether any Notion or Conception can be formed of a separate Soul and if so how we may be assisted duely to form it and conceive of it Sol. Solution §. 1. 1. It must be acknowledged not only very difficult but an impossible task for a Soul immersed in matter and so unacquainted with its own Nature and Powers as it is in its embodied state to gain a perfect clear and adequate Conception of what it shall be in the World to come Expect not then a perfect image much less any magnificent draught of this excellent Creature This would be the same thing as to go about to depaint the Sun in its Glory Motions and Influences with a Pencil I shall think I have done enough if I can but give you any umbrage or faint representation of this sublime and Spiritual Being and the manner of its subsisting and acting out of the body For seeing it is by nature invisible and in most of its actions whilst it is in the state of composition it makes the same use of the body and natural Spirits that a Scribe doth of his Pen and Ink without which he cannot decipher the Characters which are formed in his fancy it must needs be difficult to conceive how it subsists and acts in its separate state §. 2. But though we acknowledge it to be a great difficulty to trace it beyond the Limits of this World though we perceive nothing to depart from the Body at the instant of its expiration but a puff of breath which vanishes like Smoke into the air And though Atheistical Witts daringly pronounce an immaterial substance to be a meer Iargon Hobs Leviathan cap. 34. a Contradiction in terminis which being joined together destroy one another Yet all this doth not make the Notion of a separate Soul impossible much less undermine its existence in its unbodied and lovely state the Scriptures having so abundantly obviated all these Atheistical Suggestions by so many plain Discoveries of the Happiness of some and Misery of others after this Life Yea my Text answers us That Death is so far from destroying or annihilating that it perfects the Spirits of the Just. §. 3. There can be no more difficulty in conceiving of a separate Soul than there is in conceiving of an Angel For it is certain that a separated Soul and an Angel are the liveliest and clearest representations of each other in the whole number of created Beings Dr. More 's Immortality of the Soul lib. 2. cap. 17. § 4. 8. Bell. de Ascen mentis Some make the difference betwixt them little more than of a Sword in the Scabbard from one that is naked A Soul is but a Genius in the Body and a Genius or Angel is a Soul out of a Body An Angel saith another is a compleat and perfect Soul a Soul an imperfect and incompleat Angel The separate Soul doth not become an Angel by putting off the Body they are and still will be divers Species but in this they agree that in their common nature they are both Spirits that is Immaterial Substances endued with Vnderstanding Will and active power And I know not why the one should not be as intelligible as the other or if there be any advantage the Soul certainly must have it seeing our acquaintance with Souls is much more intimate than with Angels Angels indeed have larger Capacities and have no natural inclination to be embodied as Souls have but their common Nature as they are Spirits is the same And if we can conceive of one we may also of the other §. 4. But the difficulty seems to lie in this how the Soul can subsist alone without a Body and how the habits of Grace which were infused into it in this life by Sanctification do inhere in it or can be reduced into act by it when it hath no bodily Organs to work by As to the first there is no difficulty at all if we once rightly apprehend what is meant when we call it a Spiritual Substance that is a Being by it self independent upon any other Creature as to its existence as was opened before The Soul depends not for its life upon the Body but the Body upon the Soul It is the same Sword when it is drawn as it was when sheathed in its Scabbard the Soul is as much it self when separated from the Body as it was when united with it it s Being is independent on it it can live and act in a Body and it can do so without it For it is a distinct Being from its Body a substantial Being by it self And §. 5. As for the habits of grace which accompany it to Heaven it would much facilitate our apprehension of it if we but compare acquired and infused habits with each other 'T is true they are of different Natures and Originals but the Soul is the subject of them both and their inhesion and improvement is much after the same manner Take we then an acquired habit into consideration which is nothing else but a permanent Quality rendering the subject of it prompt and ready to perform a work with ease Suppose that of Musick or Writing and we shall find these habits to be safely lodged in the Soul as well when the body is laid into the deepest sleep which is the Image of death as when it is awake and most active for they are both Artists when asleep and need learn no new Rules to play or write when you awake them which shews the habits to be permanently rooted in their minds Infused habits of grace are as deeply rooted in the Soul yea deeper than any acquired habit can be For when Knowledge and Tongues shall be done away love abideth 1 Cor. 13.8 viz. after death when the Body is asleep in the Grave §. 6. Add hereto that these habits of grace are inseparably rooted or lodged in a subject which is by nature a Spirit that is to say The Understanding and Will are the primary Faculties of the Soul and are therefore called Inorganical because not affixed to any Member of the Body as the sensitive Appetite and locomotive Powers are to their proper Organs The Soul therefore hath the free use and exercise of them in its separate state an intelligent active Being able to use its faculties of Understanding Will and Affections and consequently in their use to reduce these habits of Grace inherent in them into act without the help of the Body For to suppose otherwise were to dispirit it and destroy the very nature of it Moreover let this Spirit thus furnished with gracious habits be now considered in separation from the Body in which state it enjoyeth and rejoyceth in a double Priviledge it never had before viz. Perfection both of it self and of its Graces and the nearest access to God it is capable of 2 Cor. 5.6
to your inquisitive and searching minds 'T is possible they may be censured by some as undeterminable and unprofitable Curiosities but as I hate a presumptious intrusion into unrevealed Secrets so I think it a weakness to be discouraged in the search of truth so far as it is fit to trace it by such damping and causeless Censures Nor am I sensible I have in any thing transgressed the bounds of Christian Sobriety to gratifie the Palate of a nice and delicate Reader I have also here set before the Reader an Idea or representation of the state and case of damned Souls that if it be the Will of God a seasonable discovery of Hell may be the means of some mens recovery out of the danger of it and closed up the whole with a Demonstration of the invaluable preciousness of Souls and the several dangerous snares and artifices of Satan their professed Enemy to destroy and cast them away for ever This is the design and general scope of the whole and of the principal parts of this Treatise and Oh that God would grant me my hearts desire on your behalf in the perusal of it Even that it may prove a sanctified instrument in his hand both to prepare you for and bring you in love with the unbodied life to make you look with pleasure into your Graves and die by consent of Will as well as necessity of Nature I remember Dr. Staughton in a Sermon preached before King Iames relates a strange Story of a little Child in a Shipwrack fast asleep upon its Mothers lap as she sate upon a piece of the Wrack amidst the Waves the Child being awaked with the noise asked the Mother what those things were she told it they were drowning Waves to swallow them up the Child with a pretty smiling Countenance beg'd a stroke from its Mother to beat away those naughty Waves and chid them as if they had been its Play-mates Death will shortly Shipwrack your Bodies your Souls will sit upon your lips ready to expire as they upon the Wrack ready to go down Would it not be a comfortable and most becoming frame of mind to sit there with as little dread as this little One did among the terrible Waves Surely if our Faith had but first united us with Christ and then loosed our hearts off from this inchanting and ensnaring World we might make a fair step towards this most desireable temper but unbelief and earthly mindedness make us loth to venture I blush to think what bold adventures those men made who upon the Contemplation of the Properties of a despicable stone first adventured quite out of sight of Land under its conduct and direction and securely trusted both their Lives and Estates to it when all the eyes of Heaven were vail'd from them amid'st the dark Waters and thick Clouds of the Sky when I either start or at least give an unwilling shrug when I think of adventuring out of sight of this World under the more sure and steady direction and conduct of Faith and the Promises To cure these evils in my own and the Readers heart these things are written and in much respect and love tendered to your hands as a Testimony of my Gratitude and deep sense of the many Obligations you have put me under That the Blessings of the Spirit may accompany these Discourses to your Souls afford you some assistance in your last and difficult work of putting them off at death with a becoming chearfulness saying in that hour Can I not see God till this Flesh be laid aside in the Grave Must I die before I can live like my self Then die my Body and go to thy dust that I may be with Christ. With this design and with these hearty Wishes dear and honoured Cousin and worthy Friends I put these Discourses into your hands and remain Your Most obliged Kinsman and Servant Io. Flavell THE PREFACE AMong many other Largesses and rich Endowments bestowed by the Creators bounty upon the Soul of Man the * Demonstravimus à communâ— omnium jam inde à condito orbe gentium ac populâ—rum prâ—sertim bâ—nâ—rum literatorum Consensione animam humanam incorruptibilem immortalem esse â—oque corrupto corpore ipâ—um â—anere superstitem ut in sempiternum aut pro benefactuà Deo coronetur aut pro malefactâ—â—s puniatur Zanch. de Aâ—lmarum immortalâ—tate p. 653. Sentiments and impressions of the World to come and the ability of reflection and self-intuition are peculiar invaluable and heavenly gifts By the former we have a very great Evidence of our own immortality and designation for nobler employments and enjoyments than this imbodied state admits and by the latter we may discern the agreeableness or disagreeableness of our hearts and therein the validity of our title to that expected blessedness But these heavenly gifts are neglected and abused all the World over Degenerate Souls are every where fallen into so deep an Oblivion of their excellent Original Spiritual and Immortal nature and alliance to the Father of Spirits That to use the upbraiding expression of a great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Max. Tyr. Diss. 41. Philosopher they seem to be buried in their Bodies as so many silly Worms that lurk in their holes and are loth to peep forth and look abroad So powerfully do the Cares and Pleasures of this World charm all except a small remnant of regenerate Souls that nothing but some smart stroke of Calamity or the terrible Messengers of death can startle them and even these are not always able to do it and when they do all the effect is but a transient glance at another and an unwilling shrug to leave this World and so to sleep again And thus the Impressions and Sentiments of the World to come which are the natural growth and Off-spring of the Soul are either stifled and supprest as in Atheists or born down by impetuous masterly lusts as in Sensualists And for its self-reflecting and considering Power it seems in many to be a power received in vain It is with most Souls as it is with the Eye which sees not it self though it see all other Objects There be those that have almost finished the course of a long life wherein a great part of their time hath lain upon their hands as a cheap and useless Commodity 〈◊〉 Dei est ista vita mortalis ubi homo vanitati similis factus est dies ejus velut umbra praetereunt Aug. de Civâ—â— lib. 21. c. 24. which they knew not what to do with who yet never spent one solemn entire hour in discourse with their own Souls What serious heart doth not melt into Compassion over the deluded Multitude who are mockt with Dreams and perpetually busied about Trifles Who are after so many frustrated attempts both of their own and all past Ages eagerly pursuing the fleeing shadows who torture and rack their brains to find out the Natures and Qualities
Religion upon which both our faith and comfort is founded and consequently it undoes and ruins us as to all solid hope and true joy The Doctrines or Principles it overthrows are among many others such as follow 1 It nullifies and makes void the great design and end of Gods eternal Election The Scriptures tell us that from eternity God hath chosen a certain number in Christ Jesus to eternal life and to the means by which they shall attain it out of his meer good pleasure and for the praise of his grace This was 1 an eternal Act of God Eph. 1.4 long before we had our being Rom. 9.11 2 This choice of God or his purpose to save some is immutable 2 Tim. 2.19 Iames 1.17 3 This choice he made in Christ Eph. 1.4 Not that Christ is the cause of Gods chusing us For we were not elected because we were but that we might be in Christ. Christ was ordained to be the Medium of the execution of this Decree and all the mercies which were purposed and ordained for us were to be purchased by the bloud of Christ He was not the cause of the Decree but the purchaser of the mercies decreed for us 4 This choice was of a certain number of persons who are all known to God 2 Tim. 2.19 and all given to Christ in the Covenant of Redemption Iohn 17.2 6. So that no Elect person can be a Reprobate no Reprobate an Elect person 5 This number was chosen to Salvation 1 Thes. 5.9 No less did God design for them than glory and happiness and that for ever 6 The same persons that are appointed to Salvation as the end are also appointed to sanctification as the way and means by which they shall attain that end 1 Pet. 1.1 2. 2 Thes. 2.13 14. 7 The impulsive cause of this choice was the meer good pleasure of his will 2. Tim. 1.9 Rom. 9.15 16. Ephes. 1.9 8 The end of all this is the praise of his glorious grace Eph. 1.5 6. to make a glorious Manifestation of the riches of his grace for ever This is the account the Scripture give us of Gods eternal choice But if our Souls be mortal and perish with our Bodies all this is a mistake and we are imposed upon and our understandings abused by this Doctrine For to what purpose are all these Decrees and contrivances of God from everlasting if our Souls perish with our Bodies Certainly if it be so he loseth all the thoughts and counsels of his heart about us and that counsel of his will which is so much celebrated in the Scriptures and admired by his People comes to nought For this is evident to every mans consideration that if the Soul which is the Object about which all those counsels and thoughts of God were imployed and laid out fail in its being all those thoughts and counsels that have been imployed about it and spent on it must necessarily fail and come to nothing with it The thoughts of his heart cannot stand fast as it s said Psal. 33.11 if the Soul slide about which they are conversant In that day the elect Soul perisheth the eternal consultations and purposes of Gods heart perish with it Kekerman tells us that Albertus Magnus with abundance of Art Albertus Magnus statuam hoâ—rinis construxit que cum libramentis quibusdam â—otis atque aliis machiâ—is iâ—tâ—a latentibus peritissimè câ—mâ—ositis liâ—guam quadam ratione disciplina noventibus articulâ—ta 〈◊〉 prenunciarit and the study of thirty years made a vocal Statue in the form of a Man It was a rare contrivance and much admired The cunning Artist had so framed it that by Wheels and other Machins placed within it it could pronounce words articulately Aquinas being surprized to hear the Statue speak was affrighted at it and brake it all to pieces Upon which Albertus told him he had at one blow destroyed the work of thirty years Such a blow would the death of the Soul give to the counsels and thoughts not of Man but of God not of thirty years but from everlasting If the Souls of men perish at death either God never did appoint any Souls to Salvation as the Scriptures testifie he did 1 Thes. 5.9 or else the foundation of God stands not sure as his word tells us it doth 2 Tim. 2.19 So then this supposition overturns the eternal Decrees and Counsels of God which is the first thing 2. It overthrows the Covenant of Redemption betwixt the Father and the Son before this World was made There was a federal transaction betwixt the Father and Son from Eternity about our Salvation 2 Tim. 1.9 Zech. 6.13 In that Covenant Christ engaged to redeem the Elect by his bloud And the Father promised him a reward of those his sufferings Isai. 53.12 accordingly he hath poured out his Soul to death for them finished the work Iohn 17.4 and is now in Heaven expecting the full reward and fruits of his sufferings which consist not in his own personal glory which he there enjoys but in the compleatness and fulness of his mystical Body Iohn 17.24 But certainly if our Souls perish with our Bodies Christ hath a very bad bargain of it Nor can that promise be ever made good to him Isai. 53.12 He shall see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied He hath done his work but where is his reward See how this supposition strikes at the justice of God and wounds his faithfulness in his Covenant with his Son He hath as much comfort and reward from the Travel of his Soul as a Mother that is delivered after many sharp pangs of a Child that dies almost as soon as born 3. It overthrows the Doctrines of Christs Incarnation Death Resurrection Ascension and Intercession in Heaven for us And these are the main Pillars both of our faith and comfort take away these and take away our lives too for these are the springs of all joy and comfort to the people of God Rom. 8.34 His Incarnation was necessary to capacitate him for his Mediatorial work It was not only a part of it but such a part without which he could discharge no other part of it This was the wonder of men and Angels 1 Tim. 3.16 A God incarnate is the Worlds wonder No condescension like this Philip. 2 6 7. The Death of Christ hath the nature and respect of a Ransom or equivalent price laid down to the justice of God for our Redemption Matt. 20.28 Act. 20.28 It bought our Souls from under the curse and purchased for them everlasting Blessedness Galat. 4.4 5. The Resurrection of Christ from the Dead hath the nature both of a Testimony of his finishing the work of our Redemption and the Fathers full satisfaction therein Iohn 6.10 and of a Principle of our Resurrection to eternal life 1 Cor. 15.20 The Ascension of Christ into Heaven was in the capacity and relation of a forerunner Heb. 6.20 It was to prepare places for
to their preservation For were it not for this Propriety and Relation no Man would be at any more cost or pains for his own Body than for that of a Stranger 'T is Propriety which naturally draws Love Care and Tenderness along with it and these are ordered by the wisdom of Providence for the conservation of the Body which would quickly perish without it 2. The Body is the Souls antient Acquaintance and intimate Friend with whom it hath assiduously and familiarly conversed from its beginning They have been partners in each others comforts and sorrows They may say to each other as Miconius did to his Colleague with whom he had spent twenty years in the Government of the Thuringian Church Cucurriâ—â—s certavimus laboravimus pugnavimus vicimus viximus conjunctissimé We have run striven laboured fought overcome and lived most intimately and lovingly together Consuetude and daily conversation begets and conciliates Friendship and Love betwixt Creatures of contrary Natures Let a Lamb be brought up with a Lyon and the Lyon will express a tenderness towards it much more the Soul to its own Body 3. The Body is the Souls house and beloved habitation where it was born and hath lived ever since it had a being and in which it hath enjoyed all its comforts natural and supernatural which cannot but strengthen the Souls engagement to it Upon this account the Apostle calls it the Souls home 2 Cor. 5.6 Whilst we are at home in the Body 'T is true this house is not so comfortable an habitation that it should be much desired by many Souls we may say of many gracious Souls that they pay a dear rent for the house they dwell in or as it was said of Galba Anima Galbae male habitat their Souls are but ill accommodated but yet it is their home and therefore beloved by them 4 The Body is the Souls instrument by which it doth its work and business in the World both natural and religious Rom. 6.13 Through the bodily senses it takes in all the natural comforts of this World and by the bodily Members it performs all its Duties and Services When these are broken and laid aside by death the Soul knows it can work no more in that way it now doth Iohn 9.4 Eccles. 9.10 Natural men love their Bodies for the natural pleasures they are instrumental to convey to their Souls and spiritual men for the use and service they are of to 〈◊〉 own and others Souls Philip. 1.23 5. The Body is the Souls Partner in the benefit of Christs Purchaces It was bought with the same price 1 Cor. 6.20 sanctified by the same spirit 1 Thes. 5.23 interested in the same promises Matth. 22.32 and designed for the same glory 1 Thes. 4.16 17. So that we may say of it as it was said of Augustine and his friend Alippius they are sanguine Christi conglutinati glewed together by the bloud of Christ. And thus of the grounds and reasons of its Love Inference I. IS it so Learn hence the mighty strength and prevalence of Divine Love which over-powering all natural Affections doth not only enable the Souls of men to take their Separation from the Body patiently but to long for it ardently Philip. 1.23 While some need Patience to dye others need it as much to live 2 Thes. 3.5 'T is said Revel 12.11 They loved not their lives And indeed on these terms they first closed with Christ Luke 12.26 To hate their lives for his sake ie to love them in so remiss a degree that when ever they shall come in competition with Christ to regard them no more than the things we hate The love of Christ is to be the supream love and all others to be subordinate to it or quenched by it 'T is not its own comfort in the Body it principally and ultimately designs and aims at but Christs glory and so this may be furthered by the death of the Body its death thereupon becomes as eligible to the Soul as its life Philip. 1.20 O this is an high pitch of grace A great attainment to say as one did Vivere renuo ut Christo vivam I refuse life to be with Christ Or another when asked whether he was willing to dye answered Illius est nolle mori qui nolit ire ad Christum Let him be loth to dye that is loth to go to Christ So 2 Cor. 5. We are willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. 'T is not every Christian that can arrive to this degree of Lovâ—â— though they love Christ sincerely yet they shrink from death cowardly and are loth to be gone There are two sorts of grounds upon which Christians may be loth to be unbodied 1. Sinful 2. Allowable 1. The sinful and unjustifiable grounds are such as these viz. 1 Guilt upon the Conscience which will damp and discourage the Soul and make it loth to dye It arms death with terrour the sting of death is sin 2 Unmortified affections to the World I mean in such a degree as is necessary to sweeten death and make a man a Voluntier in that sharp engagement with that last and dreadful Enemy It is with our hearts as with fewel if green and full of sap it will not burn but if that be dried up it catches presently mortification is the drying up of carnal affections to the Creature which is that that resists death as green Wood doth the fire 3 The weakness and and cloudiness of Faith You need Faith to dye by as well as to live by Heb. 11.13 All these dyed in faith The less strength there is in Faith the more in death A strong Believer welcomes the messengers of Death when a weak one unless extraordinarily assisted trembles at them 2. There are grounds on which we may desire a longer continuance in the Body warrantably and allowably as 1 To do him yet more service in our bodies before we lay them down This the Saints have pleaded for longer life Psal. 30.9 Psal. 88.11 12 13. and Isai. 38.18 19. 2 To see the clouds of Gods anger dispelled whether publick or personal and a clear light break out ere we dye Psal. 27.13 3 They may desire with submission to outlive the days of persecution and not to be delivered into the hands of cruel men but come to their Graves in peace Psal. 31.15 and 2 Thess. 3.2 That may be delivered from absurd men 3. But though some Christians shun death upon a sinful account and others upon a justifyable one yet others there are who seeing their Title clear their work done and relishing the Joys of Heaven in the praelibations of Faith are willing to be uncloathed and to be with Christ. Their love to Christ hath extinguished in them the love of life and they can say with Paul Act. 21.13 I am ready Ignatius longed to come to those Beasts that were to devour him and so many of the Primitive Christians Christ was so dear
death a terrible meeting again at the Resurrection and horrid reflections upon each other mutually charging their ruine upon each other to all eternity Whilst they that are in Christ part in hope meet with joy and bless God for each other for evermore TEXT 2 Peter 1.13 14. Yea I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in Remembrance Knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle even as our Lord Iesus Christ hath shewed me AT the tenth verse of this Chapter The Apostle sums up his foregoing precepts and exhortations in one great and most important duty the making sure of their calling and election This exhortation he enforceth on them by a most solemn and weighty motive ver 11. Even an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom No work of greater necessity or difficulty than to make sure our Salvation no argument more forceable and prevalent than an easy and free enterance into Glory at death an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sweet and comfortable dissolution to enter the Port of glory before a wind with our full ladeing of comfort peace and joy in believing our Sails full and our Streamers flying Oh how much better is this than to lye Wind-bound I mean heart-bound at the Harbours mouth tost up and down with fears doubts and manifold temptations making many a board to fetch the harbour for so much is signified in his figurative and allusive expression v. 11. And for their encouragement in this great and difficult work he ingageth himself by promise to give them all the assistance he can whilst God should continue his life and knowing that would be but a little while he resolves to use his utmost endeavour to secure these things in their Memories after his death that they might not dye with him This is the general scope and order of the words Wherein more particularly we have I. His exemplary industry and diligence in his Ministerial work II. The consideration stimulating and provoking him thereunto I. His Exemplary industry and diligence in his Ministerial work in which two things are remarkable viz. 1 The quality of his work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 excitare expergesacere i. e. mentes vestras tanquam do mitantes ac torpescentes c. Poli Synopsis which was to stir them up by putting them in remembrance to keep the heavenly flame of love and zeal lively upon the Altar of their hearts He well knew what a sleepy disease the best Christians are troubled with and therefore he had need to be stirring them up and awakening them to their duty 2 The constancy of his work as long as I am in this Tabernacle i. e. as long as I live in this World The Body is here called a Tabernacle in respect of its moveableness and frailty and in opposition to that house made without hands eternal in the Heavens And it is observeable how he limits and bounds his serviceableness to them by his commoration in his Tabernacle or Body as well knowing after death he could be no longer useful to them or any others in this World Death puts an end to all our ministerial usefulness but till that time he judged it meet and becoming him to be aiding and assisting their faith Our life and labour must end together II. We have here the Motive or consideration stimulating and provoking him to this diligence knowing that I must shortly put off this Tabernacle even as the Lord Iesus Christ hath shewed me in which words he gives an account of 1 The speediness 2 Necessity 3 Voluntariness of his death and the way and means by which he knew it All these must be considered singly and apart and then valued altogether as they amount to a weighty Argument or Motive to excite him to diligence in his his duty 1. He reflects upon the speediness or near approach of his death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 brevi suturum Every Christian knows not the time of his death as Peter did by special Revelation But though we know it not by a word spoken to us in particular we know it by a word written for all in common Eccles. 9.5 the living know that they must die I must shortly put off this my Tabernacle which is a form of Speech of the same importance with that of Paul 2 Tim. 4.6 The time of my departure is at hand my time in the Body is almost at an end 2. The necessity of his death it is not I may but I must put off this my Tabernacle yea I must put it off shortly for so the Lord had shewed him Christ had signified it expresly to him Iohn 21.18 19. And besides this most Expositors think this clause refers to some special vision or Revelation which Peter had of the time and manner of his own death so that besides the natural necessity or the inevitableness of his death by the law of Nature he was certified of it by special Revelation We have here also 3. The voluntariness of his death for voluntariness is consistent enough with the necessity of the event Deponere dicit ut significet se voluntariè mortem obiturum esse pro Christo. Pool I must put off or lay down my Tabernacle he saith not I must be torn or rent by violence from it but I must depose or lay it down Camero will have the word here used for death properly to signifie the laying down of ones Garments he made no more of putting off his Body than his Garments Upon the consideration of the whole matter the speediness of his death which he knew to be at hand the Necessity of it that when it came he must be gone from them and could be no more useful to them and his own inclination to be with Christ in a better state being as willing to be gone as a weary Traveller to be at home he judged it meet or becoming him as he was called of Christ to feed his sheep as he was gifted extraordinarily for the Churches service full of spiritual excellencies all which in a short time would be taken away from them by death I say upon all these accounts he could not but judge it meet to be stirring them up and every way striving to be as useful as he might Hence the Note will be DOCT I. How sâ—rong soever the Affections and inclinations of Souls are to the fleshly Tabernacles they now live in yet they must put them off and that speedily (1) The certaintâ— of death Ioâ— 16.22 Anni numeri i. e. qui numerati sunt adeo ut brevissimi periodo circumscripti THE point lies very plain before us in the Scriptures That is a remarkable expression we have in Iob 16.22 When a few years are come I shall go the way whence I shall not return in the Hebrew it is when the years of number or my numbred years are come years so numbred that they are circumscribed in
the matter of their Election which in it self is necessary and unavoidable so did Paul Philip. 1.23 but others are drawn or rent by plain violence from the Body Iob 27.8 when God draws out his Soul That man is happy indeed whose heart falls in with the Appointment of God so voluntarily and freely as that he dare not only look death in the face with confidence but go along with it by consent of will Remarkable to this purpose is that which the Apostle asserts of the frame of his own heart 2 Cor. 5.8 We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. Here is both Confidence and Complacence with respect to death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word signifies Courage Fortitude or if you will an undaunted boldness and presence of mind when we look the King of Terrours in the face We dare venture upon death we dare take it by the cold hand and bid it welcome We dare defie its Enmity and deride its noxious power 1 Cor. 15.55 O Death where is thy sting And that 's not all we have Complacence in it as well as Confidence to encounter it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are willing the Translation is too flat we are well pleased it is a desirable and grateful thing to us to die But yet not in an absolute but comparative Consideration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are willing rather i.e. rather than not see and enjoy our Lord Jesus Christ rather than to be here always sinning and groaning There is no Complacency in death in it self it is not desirable But if we must go through that strait gate or not see God we are willing rather to be absent from the Body So that you see death was not the matter of his submission only he did not yield to what he could not avoid but he ballances the evils of death with the Priviledges it admits the Soul into and then pronounces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are content yea pleased to die We cannot live always if we would and our hearts should be wrought to that frame as to say we would not live always if we could Iob 7.16 I would not live always or long saith he But why should Iob deprecate that which was not attainable I would not live alway he needed not to trouble himself about that it being impossible that he should both Statute and Natural Law forbid it Ay but this is his sense supposing no such Necessity as there is if it were pure matter of Election Upon a due ballancing of the accounts and comparing the good and evil of death I would not be confined always or for any long time to the Body It would be a bondage unsupportable to be here always Indeed those that have their Portion their All in this life have no desire to be gone hence They that were never changed by grace desire no change by death if such a Concession were made to them as was once to an English Parliament that they should never be dissolved but by their own consent when would they say as Paul I desire to be dissolved But it 's far otherwise with them whose portion and affections are in another World they would not live always if they might knowing that never to die is never to be happy If you say Qu. this is an excellent and most desirable temper of Soul but how did these holy men attain it Or what is the course we may take to get the like frame of willingness Sol. They attained it and you may attain it in such Methods as these 1. They lived in the believing views of the invisible World and so must you if ever death be desirable in your eyes 2 Cor. 4.18 It 's said of all that died comfortably that they died in faith Hebr. 11.13 You will never be willing to go along with death except you know where it will carry you 2. They had assurance of Heaven as well as Faith to discern it Assurance is a lump of Sugar indeed in the bitter Cup of death nothing sweetens like it So 2 Cor. 5.1 so Iob 19.26 27. This puts Roses into the pale Cheeks of death and makes it amiable 1 Cor. 15.55 56. and Rom. 8.38 39. 3. Their hearts were weaned from this World and the inordinate affectation of a terrene life Philip. 3.8 all was dung and dross for Christ they trampled under foot what we hug in our Bosomes So 't is said Hebr. 10.34 Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selves c. And so it must be with us if ever we obtain a Complacency in death 4. They ordered their Conversations with much Integrity and so kept their Consciences pure and void of offence Acts 24.16 Herein do I exercise my self c. and this was their Comfort at last 2 Cor. 1.12 This is our rejoycing c. So Iob 27.5 My Integrity will I not let go till I die O this unstings death of all its terrours 5. They kept their love to Christ at the height that flame was vehement in their Souls and made them despise the terrour and desire the friendly assistance of death to bring them to the sight of Jesus Christ Philip. 1.23 so Ignatius O how I long c. Thus it must be with you if ever you make death eligible and lovely to you which is terrible in it self There is a loveliness in the death as well as in the life of a Christian. Let me die the death of the righteous said Balaam Inference II. MUst we put off these Tabernacles of Flesh Many cry out on a death-bed O â—end for Ministers and Christians to pray Alas What can they do then Is that a time for so great a work to be shuffled up in a hurry amidst distractions and Agonies How necessary is it that every Soul look out in season and make provision for another habitation If you must be turned out of one house you must provide another or lie in the streets This the Apostle comforted himself with that if uncloathed he should not be found naked 2 Cor. 5.1 a building of God an house not made with hands You must turn out and that shortly from these earthly Habitations O what provision have you made for your Souls against that day The Soul of Adrian was at a sad loss when he saw he must be turn'd out of this World O Animula vagula blandula heu quo vadis But it was Abraham Isaac and Iacob's Priviledge that God had preâ—â—â—â—d for them a City Heb. 11.16 I know it 's a common presumption of most men that they shall be in Heaven when they can be no longer on earth Praesumendo sperant sperando pereunt But a few moments will convince them of their fatal mistake their poor Souls will meet with a confounding repulse like that Matth. 7.22 There is indeed a City full of heavenly Mansions prepared for some but who are they
that are intitled to it and may confidently expect to be received into it To be sure not the presumptuous who make a Bridge of their own Shadows and so fall and perish in the waters Brethren it is one of the most solemn enquiries you were ever put upon And therefore I beseech you see whether your Characters set you among those men or no. 1. First Those that are new-born shall be cloathed with their new house from Heaven when death uncloathes them of these Tabernacles The New Ierusalem hath 〈◊〉 but new-born Inhabitants 1 Pet. 1.3 4. and Christ tells us Iohn 3.3 all others are excluded Glory is the Priviledge of Grace Let nature be adorned and cultivated how it will if not renewed by grace there 's no hope of Glory You must be born again or turned back again from the Gates of Heaven disappointed You must be regenerated or damned This alters the temper of thy heart and suits it to the life of God which is indispensably necessary to them that shall live with him Else Heaven would be no Heaven to us Rom. 8.7 and therefore we must be wrought this way to it 2 Cor. 5 5. No Priviledge of Nature no Duties of Religion avail without this Gal. 6.15 If Morality without Regeneration could bring men to Heaven Why are not the Heathens there If strictness in Duty without Regeneration Why not the Pharisees there Believe it neither Names nor Duties no nor the Blood of Christ ever did or shall bring one Soul to glory without it O then thou that boastest of an house in Heaven lay thine hand on thy heart and ask it Am I a new Creature i.e. Am I renewed 1 in my state and condition 1 Iohn 3.14 past from death to life 2 In my frame and temper Eph. 5.8 once darkness now light in the Lord. 〈◊〉 In my Practice and Conversation Eph. 2.12 13.1 Cor. 6.11 if not my Soul is destitute of an habitation in the City of God and when I die my Body must lie in the lonely house of the Grave that dark Vault and Prison and my Soul be shut out from God into outer darkness 2. Secondly Those that live as Strangers and Pilgrims on earth seeking a better place and state than this World affords them for them God hath made preparations in glory Hebr. 11.13 16. If you be strangers on earth you are the Inhabitants of Heaven Now there be six things included in this Character 1. They look not on this World as their own home nor on the people of it as their own people 2 Cor. 5.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be unpeopled These are none of my fellow Citizens we must go two ways at death 2. They set not their affections on things present as their portion 2 Cor. 4.18 Psal. 17.13 14. Their Bodies are here their Hearts in Heaven 3 Their carriage and manner of life not like the men of this World 1 Pet. 4.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Rule guides them Rom. 12.2 and so their course is steered at least intended Philip. 3.20 our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Trade is in Heaven 4 Their Dialect and Language differs from the Natives of this World Their Language is earthly 1 Iohn 4.5 6. but these have a pure lip Zeph. 3.9 5 Their Society and chosen Companions are not of this World Psal. 16.3 They are a Company of themselves Act. 4 21. 6 Their Spirit and temper of heart is not after the World 1 Cor. 2.12 They have another Spirit Numb 14. 24. These things discover us to be strangers on earth and consequently the men for whom God hath prepared heavenly Habitations when we die 3. Thirdly Those that live and die by faith shall not fail to be received into a better Habitation by death This is another Character of them that shall be recâ—â—ved into glory laid down in the same place Hebr. 11.13 They lived by faith and when they died they died embracing the promises which is Characteristical of those that shall dwell in that heavenly City and implies 1 Intimate acquaintance with the promises they are things well known and familiarized to them The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salutantes Saluting them is a Metaphor from the manner of parting betwixt two dear and intimate Friends The Faith of a Christian embraces the promises in its arms as dear friends use to do at parting and saith farewell sweet promises from which I have sucked out so much relief and refreshment in all the troubles of my life I must now live no more by faith on you but by sight O you have often cheared my Soul and been my Song in the house of my Pilgrimage 2. It implies the firm credit that a Believer gives to things unseen upon the grounds of the promises as if he did sensibly take and grasp them in his very arms and bosome They take Christ and all the invisible things in the promises into their sensible embraces 1 Pet. 1.8 faith is to them instead of eyes 3 It implies the sincerity of a Believers profession who dare trust to that at last gasp which he professed to believe in the midst of life and the Comforts of this World As he professed to believe in health so you shall find his Actings when his eye and heart strings are cracking Rom. 14.9 Christ in the promises was his professed joy in life and this is what he grasps at death and lays his last hold on 4 It shews you whence all a Believers comfort comes in life and death O 't is from the promises Christ in the promises is the Spring of their Consolation This they fetch their comfort from when the World cannot administer one drop of refreshment to them There be two great works faith performs for the Saints one in life the other in death In life it is the Principle of Mortification to their sins in death it is the spring of Consolation to their hearts It makes them die whilst they live and live when they die 4. Fourthly Those that love the Person and Appearance of Christ have a mark that sets them among the Inhabitants of Heaven and Glory 2 Tim. 4.8 but then this love must be 1 Sincere and without Hypocrisie 2 Supream and above all other beloveds 3 Conforming the Soul to Christ if sincere and supream it will be transformative 4 Longing to be with him Such love is a mark of Souls for whom Heaven is prepared Inference III. MUst we put off our Tabernacles and that shortly What a Spur is this to a diligent â—edemption and improvement of time This is the use Peter made of it here and every one of us should make It was said of Bishop Hooper he was spare in his diet spare in his words but most of all spare of his time You have but a little time in these Tabernacles what pity is it to waste much out of a little 1 Great is the worth and excellency of time all the Treasures of the World cannot
ejusdem animae id est informationis seu unionis erga corpus Conimâ—r Some call it the privation of the second Act of the Soul that is its Act of informing or enlivening the Body Others according to Scripture phrase the departing of the Soul from the Body So Peter stiles it 2 Pet. 1.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after my departure i.e. after my death Relictio câ—rporis depositio sarcine gravis modo aliea sarcina non patietur qâ—â homo praecipitetur in gehennem August Augustine calls it the laying down of an heavy burthen provided there be not another burden for the Soul to bear afterwards which will sink it into Hell In respect of the Body which the Soul now forsakes it is called the putting off this Tabernacle 2 Pet. 1.14 And the dissolving the earthly House or Tabernacle 2 Cor. 5.1 In respect of the terminus à quo the place from which the Soul removes at death it is called our departure hence Phil. 1.23 or our weighing Anchor and loosing from this coast or shoar to sail to another In respect of the terminus ad quem the place to which the Spirits of the just go at death it is called our going to or being with the Lord ibid. To conclude in respect of that which doth most lively resemble and shadow it forth it is called our falling asleep Acts 7. ult our sleeping in Iesus 1 Thes. 4.14 This Metaphor of sleep must be stretched no further than the Spirit of God designed in the choice of it which was not to favour and countenance the fancy of a sleeping Soul after death but to represent its state of placid rest in Jesus's bosom if it refer at all to the Soul for I think it most properly respects the Body Locus Sepulturae consecratus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc est dormitorium appeâ—iâ—tur and thence the Sepulchres where the Bodies of the Saints were laid got the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dormitories or sleeping places This is its last farewel to this world never more to return to a low animal life more Iob 7.9 10. For as the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more he shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more The Soul is no more bound to a Body nor a Retainer to Sun Moon or Stars to meat drink and sleep but is become a free single abstracted being a separate and pure Spirit which the Latins call Lemures Manes Ghosts or Souls of the dead and my Text Spirits made perfect a being much like unto the Angels who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodiless Powers An Angel as one speaks is a perfect Soul a Soul is an imperfect Angel I do not say that upon their Separation they become Angels for they will still remain a distinct Species of Spirits Semper à corporis compedibus nexibus liberi Max. Tyr. Angels have no inclination to Bodies nor were ever fettered with cloggs of flesh as Souls were And by this you see what a difference there is betwixt these two considerations of death How gastly and affrighting is it in its previous pangs how lovely and desireable in the issue and result of them which is but the change of Earth for Heaven men for God sin and misery for perfection and glory PROP. III. The Separation of the Soul and Body makes a great and wonderful change upon both but especially upon the Soul THere is a twofold change made upon man by death one upon his Body another upon his Soul The change upon the Body is great and visible to every eye A living Body is changed into a dead carcase A beautiful and comely Body into a loathsome spectacle that which lately was the object of delight and love is hereby made an abhorrence to all flesh Bury my dead out of my sight Gen. 23.4 What the Sun is to the greater that the Soul is to the lesser World When the Sun shines comfortably how vegete and chearful do all things look How well do they thrive and prosper The Birds sing merrily the Beasts play wantonly the whole Creation enjoyeth a day of light and joy but when it departs what a night of horror followeth How are all things wrapt up in the sable Mantle of darkness Or if it but abate its heat as in Winter the Creatures are as it were buried in the winding-sheet of Winters frost and Snow just so it is with the Body when the Soul shineth pleasantly upon it or departs from it That Body which was fed so assiduously cared for so anxiously loved so passionately is now tumbled into a pit and left to the mercy of crawling Worms The change which judgment made upon that great and flourishing City Nineveh is a fit emblemâ— to â—hadow forth that change which death makes upon humane Bodies That great and renowned City was once full of people which thronged the streets thereof there you might have seen children playing upon the Thresholds Beauties shewing themselves through the windows Melody sounding in its Palaces But what an alteration was made upon it the Prophet Zephaniah describes Chap. â— v. 14. Flocks shall lye down in the midst of her all the Beasts of the Nations both the Cormorant and the Bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it their voice shall sing in the windows desolation shall be in the thresholds for he shall uncover the Cedar work Thus it is with the Body when death hath dislodged the Soul Worms nestle in the holes where the beautiful eyes were once placed Corruption and desolation is upon all parts of that stately structure But this being a vulgar Theam I shall leave the Body to the dust from whence it came and follow the Soul which is my proper subject pointing at the changes which are made on it The essence of the Soul is not destroyed or changed by the Bodies ruine It is substantially the self same Soul that it was when in the Body The supposition of an essential change would disorder the whole frame and model of Gods eternal design for the Redemption and glorification of it Rom. 8.29 30. but yet though it undergo no substantial change at death yet divers great and remarkable alterations are made upon it by sundering it from the Body As 1. It is not where it was It was in a Body immerst in matter married unto flesh and blood but now it is out of the Body uncloathed and stript naked out of its garments of flesh like pure Gold melted out of the ore with which it was commixed or as a Birdlet out of her Cage into the open Fields and Woods This makes a great and wonderful change upon it 2. Being free from the Body it is consequently discharged and freed from all those â—ares studies fears and sorrows to which it was here enthralled and subjected upon the Bodies account It puts off all those
and perfect than when the Body in an Ecstasie is laid aside as to any use or assistance of the mind The Soul for that space uses not the Bodies assistance as the very words Ecstasie and Rapture convince us Si autem hoc non est ex natura animae sed per accidens hoc convenit ei ex to quod corpori alligatur sicut Platonics posuâ—runt de facili quaestio solvi possit Nam remoto impedimento corporis rediret anima ad suam naturam Aquin. p. 1. Q. 8. Art 1. 2. To understand by Species doth not agree to the Soul naturally and necessarily but by accident as it is now in Union with the Body Were it but once loosed from the Body it would understand better without them than ever it did in the Body by them A Man that is on Horse-back must move according to the motion of the Horse he rides but if he were on Foot he then uses his own proper motion as he pleaseth So here But though we grant the Soul doth in many cases now make use of Phantasms and that the agitation of the Spirits which are in the Brain and Heart are conjunct with its acts of Cogitation and Intellection Yet as a searching Scholar well observes The Spirits are rather Subjects than Instruments of those actions And the whole essence of those acts is antecedent to the motion of the Spirits As when we use a Pen in writing or a Knife in cutting How 's Blessedness pag. 174 175. there is an operation of the Soul upon them before there can be any operation by them They act as they are first acted and so do these bodily Spirits So that to speak properly the Body is bettered by the use the Soul makes of it in these its noble actions but the Soul is not advantaged by being tied to such a Body It can do its own work without it its operations follow its essence not the Body to which it is for a time united In summ 'T is much more absonous and difficult to conceive a stupefied benumbed and unactive Soul whose very nature is to be active lively and always in motion than it is to conceive a Soul freed from the shackles and clogs of the Body acting freely according to its own nature I wish the favourers of this Opinion may take heed lest it carry them farther than they intend even to a denial of its Existence and Immortality and turn them into down-right Sâ—matists or Atheists PROP. VI. That the separated Souls of the just having finished all their work of obedience on earth and the Spirit having finished all his work of Sanctification upon them they do ascend to God with all the habits of Grace inherent in them and all the comfortable improvements of their Graces accompanying and following them THis Proposition is to be opened and confirmed in these four Branches 1 When a gracious Soul is separated from the Body all its work of obedience in this World is finished Therefore death is called the finishing of our course Acts 20.24 the night when man works no more Iohn 9.4 There is no working in the grave Eccles. 9.10 for death dissolves the Compositum and removes the Soul immediately to another World where it can act for it self only but not for others as it was wont to do on earth I shall see man no more saith Hezekiah with the Inhabitants of the World Isaiah 38.11 that which was said of David's death is as true of every Christian that having served his Generation according to the Will of God he fell asleep Acts 13.36 I do not say this lower World receives no benefit at all by them after their death for though they can speak no more write no more pray for and instruct the Inhabitants of this World no more nor exhibit to them the beauty of Religion in any new acts or examples of theirs which is that I mean by saying they have finished all their work of obedience on earth Yet the benefit of what they did whilst in the Body still remains after they are gone as the Apostle speaks of Abel Hebr. 11.4 Who being dead yet speaketh This way indeed abundance of service will be done for the Souls of men upon earth long after they are gone to Heaven And this should greatly quicken us to leave as much as we can behind us for the good of Posterity that after our decease as the Apostle speaks 2 Pet. 1.15 they may have our words and examples in remembrance But for any service to be done de novo after death it is not to be expected We have accomplished as an Hireling our day and have not a stroke more to do 2 As all our work of obedience is then finished by us so at death all the Work of God is finished by his Spirit upon us The last hand is then put to all the preparatory work for glory not a stroke more to be done upon it afterward which appears as well by the immediate succession of the life of glory whereof I shall speak in another Proposition as by the cessation of all sanctifying means and instruments which are totally laid aside as things of no more use after this stroke is given Adepto fine cessant media Means are useless when the end is attain'd There is no work saith Solomon in the Grave How short soever the Souls stay and abode in the Body was though it were regenerated one day and separated the next yet all that is wrought upon it which God ever intended should be wrought in this World and there is no preparation-work in the other World 3 But though the Soul leave all the means of grace behind it yet it carries away with it to Heaven all those habits of grace which were planted and improved in it in this World by the blessing of the Spirit upon those means though it leave the Ordinances it loseth not the effects and fruits of them though they cease their effects still live The truth dwelleth in us and shall be in us for ever 1 John 2.17 The Seed of God remaineth in us 1 John 3.9 Common gifts fall at death but saving grace sticks fast in the Soul and ascends with it into glory Gracious habits are inseparable Glory doth not destroy but perfect them They are the Souls meetness for Heaven Col. 1.12 and therefore it shall not come into his presence leaving its meetness behind it In vain is all the work of the Spirit upon us in this World if we carry it not along with us into that World seeing all his works upon us in this life have a respect and relation to the life to come Look therefore as the same natural Faculties and Powers which the Soul had though it could not use them in its imperfect Body in the Womb came with it into this World where they freely exerted themselves in the most noble actions of natural life so the habits of Grace which by Regeneration are here
done to it in order to its preparation for our Souls So that no delay can be upon that account 2 The departed Souls of Believers are as ready for Heaven as ever they shall be For there is no preparation-preparation-work to be done by them or upon them after death Ioh. 9.3 Eccles. 9.10 Their justification was compleat before death and now their sanctification is so too Sin which came in by the Union going out at the separation of their Souls and Bodies They are Spirits made perfect 3 The Scripture is plain and full for their immediate glorification Luke 23.43 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luke 16.22 The Beggar dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosome Philip. 1.21 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better The Scripture speaks but of two ways by which Souls see and enjoy God viz. Faith and Sight the one imperfect suited to this life the other perfect fitted for the life to come and this immediately succeeding that for the imperfect is done away by the coming of that which is perfect as the Twilight is done away by the advancing of the perfect day 4 To conclude There is nothing in reason lying in bar to it It hath been proved before the Soul in its unbodied State is capable to enjoy blessedness and can perform its acts of Intellection Volition c. not only as well but much better than it did when embodied I conclude therefore That seeing Heaven is already as much prepar'd for Believers as it need be or can be and they as much prepar'd from the time of their Dissolution as ever they shall be The Scriptures also being so plain for it and no bar in reason against it All the forementioned Opinions are but the Dreams and Fancies of men who have forsaken their Scripture-guide and this remains an unshaken truth That the Spirits of the just go immediately to glory from the time of their Separation PROP. VIII At the time a gracious Souls separation from the Body it is instantly and perfectly freed from sin which till that time dwelt in it from its beginning But thenceforth shall do so no more IMmediately upon their separation from the Body Ideoque vocat conseâ—ratos vel perfectos quia carnis infirmitatibus non amplius sint obnoxii depositâ ipsâ carne Marl. in loc they are Spirits made perfect as my Text stiles them and that Epithet perfect could never suit them if there were any remaining root or habit of corruption in them The time yea the set time is now come to put an end to all the dolorous groans of gracious Souls upon the account of indwelling sin What the Angel said to Ioshua Zech. 3.3 4. The same doth God say of every upright Soul at the time of its separation Take away the filthy Garments from him and cloath him with change of rayments and set a fair Miter upon his head Thus the Garments spotted with the flesh are taken away with the Body of flesh and the pure unchangeable Robes of perfect holiness cloathed upon the Soul in which it appears without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14.5 There is a threefold burdensom evil in sin under which all regenerated souls groan in this life viz. 1 The Guilt 2 The Filth 3 The Inherence of it in their nature And there is a threefold Remedy or cure of these evils The guilt of sin is remedied by justification The filth of sin is inchoatively healed by sanctification The inherence of sin is totally eradicated by glorification For as it entred into our persons by the union of our Souls and Bodies so it is perfectly cast out by their disunion or separation at death The last stroak is then given to the work of sanctification and the last is evermore the perfecting stroak Sin languished under imperfect sanctification in the time of life but it gives up the Ghost under perfected sanctification from 〈◊〉 after death Sanctification gave it its deadly wound but glorification its final Abolition For it is with our sins after Regeneration as it was with that Beast mentioned Dan. 7.12 which though it was wounded with a deadly wound yet its life was prolonged for a season And this is the appointed season for its expiration For if at their dissolution they are immediately received into glory as it hath been proved they are in our seventh Proposition they must necessarily be freed perfectly from sin immediately upon their dissolution because nothing that is unclean can enter into that pure and holy place They must be as the Text truly represents them The Spirits of just men made perfect For if so great holiness and purity be required in all that draw nigh to God upon earth as you read Psal. 93.5 certainly those who are admitted immediately to his Throne must be without fault according to Rev. 7.14 15 16 17. When a compounded being comes to be dissolved each part returns to its own principle so it is here The Spirit of man and all the grace that is in it came from God and to him they return at death and are perfected in him and by him The flesh returns to the earth whence it came and all that body of sin is destroyed with it neither the one or other shall be a snare or clog to the soul any more A Christian in this World is but Gold in the Ore at death the pure Gold is melted out and separated and the dross cast away and consumed Hence three Consectaries offer themselves to us Consectary I. That a Believers life and warfare end together We lay not down our weapons of war till we lie down in the dust 2 Timothy 4.7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course The course and conflict you see are finished together Though they commence from different terms yet they always terminate together Grace and sin have each acted its part upon the Stage of time and the victory hovered doubtfully sâ—â—â—times over Sin and sometimes over Grace but now the â—â—r is ended and the quarrel decided Grace keeps its ground and sin is finally vanquished Now and never before the gracious Soul stands triumphing like that noble Argive In vacuo solus Sessor Plausorque Theatro not an Enemy left to renew the Combat the war is ended and with it all the fears and sorrows of the Saints Consectary II. Separated Souls become impeccable or free from all the hazard of sin from the time of their separation For there being no root of sin now inherent in them consequently no temptation to sin can fasten upon them all temptations have their handles in the Corruptions of our natures Did not Satan find matter prepar'd within us dry tinder fitted to his hand he might strike in temptations long enough before one of his hellish sparks could catch or fasten upon us Temptations are grievous exercises to Believers they are darts Eph. 6.16 they are thorns 2 Cor. 12.7 but
and admit the dreadful conclusion These are the last and therefore oft-times the most violent conflicts The malice of Satan will send them halting to Heaven if he cannot bar them out of it 3 To conclude The hidings of Gods face puts terror into the face of death and makes a dying day a dark and gloomy day All darkness disposes to fear but none like inward darkness They must like a Ship in distress venture into the Harbour in the dark though they see not their Land-marks 2. But others have the priviledge of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 easy death a comfortable and sweet passage into glory through the broad gate of assurance 2 Pet. 1.11 Even an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom What a difference doth God make not only betwixt those that have grace and those that have none but betwixt gracious Souls themselves in this matter The things which usually make an easy passage to Heaven are 1 A pardon cleared Isai. 33.24 The Sense of pardon swallows up the sense of pain 2 An heart weaned from this world Heb. 11.9 13 16. An heart loosed from the World is a foot out of the snare Mortified limbs are cut off from the Body with little pain 3 Fervent love to Christ and longings to be with him Philip. 1.23 He that loves Christ fervently must needs loath absence from Christ proportionably 4 Purity and peace of Conscience make a death-bed soft and easie The strains and wounds of Conscience in the time of life are so many Thorns in our Bed or pillow in the time of Death 1 Iohn 3.21 But integrity gives boldness 5 The work of obedience faithfully finished or a steddy course of holiness throughout our life is that which usually yields much peace and joy in death Acts 20.24 6 But above all the presence of the Comforter with us in that cloudy and dark day turns it into one of the days of Heaven 1 Pet. 4.14 And thus you see though all dying Christians be equally safe and all supported and carried through by the power of God yet their farewels to the Body are not alike chearful There are many external and internal circumstantial differences in the deaths of good men as well as a substantial and essential difference betwixt all their deaths and the death of a wicked man QUEST III. Whether any Souls have notices and forewarnings given them by Signs or Predictions in an extraordinary way of their approaching Separation Terms open'd The terms of this Question need a little explanation Let us therefore briefly consider what is meant by signs what by predictions and what by extraordinary signs and predictions A sign is that which represents something else to us than that which is seen Signâ—m est quod aliud repraesentat quam quod cernitur or heard And a sign of death is that which gives notice to our minds that our departure is at hand A Prediction is a forewarning of a person more plainly and expresly of any thing which is afterwards to fall out or come to pass Praedicâ—re est aliquem de re aliqâ—a eventuâ—a praemonere and a prediction of death is an express notice or message informing us of our own or of anothers Death to the end the mind may be actually disposed to an expectation thereof Of Signs some are ordinary and natural some extraordinary and supernatural or at least preternatural There are natural symptoms and prognosticks of Death which are common to most dying persons and by which Physicians inform themselves and others of the state of the Sick These are out of this Question we have nothing to do with them here but I am inquiring after extraordinary signs and predictions by words or things forewarning us immediately or by others of our approaching death The Question is whether such intimations of Death be at any time truly given unto men or whether we are to take them for fabulous reports and superstitious fancies For the Negative Reasons for the Negative the following grounds are laid REASON I. The sufficient ordinary provision God hath made in this case renders all such extraordinary notices and intimations of our Death needless And be sure the most wise God doth nothing in vain We have three standing ordinary and sufficient means to premonish us of our departure hence viz. the Scriptures Reason and daily Examples of Mortality before our eyes The Scriptures tell us our life is but a vapour which appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away James 4.14 That our days are but to an hand breadth and that every man in his best estate is vanity Psal. 39.5 Reason tells us so feeble a tye as our breath is can never secure our lives long The living know that they must dye Eccles. 9.5 The radical moisture which is daily consuming by the flame of life must needs be spent ere long And all the Graves we see opened so frequently are sufficient warnings that we our selves must shortly follow Therefore as there was no need of Manna when bread might be had in an ordinary way so neither is there need of extraordinary signs when God hath abundantly furnished us with standing and ordinary means for this purpose REASON II. And as the Scriptures render such signs needless so they seem to be directly against them Christ commands us to watch because we know not in what hour the Lord cometh Yea even Isaac himself an extraordinary person and endued with a Spirit of Prophecy whereby he foretold the condition of his Sons after him yet it 's said Gen. 27.2 That he knew not the day of his death And it is not reasonable to think that common persons should know that which extraordinary and prophetick persons knew not REASON III. All mankind belong either to God or the Devil To such as belong to God such extraordinary warnings are needless for they have a watchful principle within them which continually prompts them to mind their change and besides death cannot endanger those that are in Christ how suddainly or unexpectedly soever it should befal them And for wicked men it cannot be thought God should favour and priviledg them in this matter above his own children and as for Satan he knows not the time of their death himself and if he did it would thwart his design and interest to discover it to them Luke 11.21 So that upon the whole it should seem such signs and predictions are of no use and the relations and reports of them fabulous But though these reasons make the common and daily use of such signs and predictions needless E contra yet they destroy not the credibility of them in all cases and at all times For I. There are recorded instances in Scripture of premonitions and predictions of the death of persons Thus the death of Abijah was foretold to his Mother by the Prophet and the precise hour thereof which fell out answerably 1 King 14.6 12. And thus the death of the
his eyes upon the plaisterd wall within side the bed and whilst he was vehemently begging of God the life of his Friends there appeared upon the plaister of the wall before him the Sun and the Moon shining in their full strength The sight at first amaz'd and discomposed him so far that he could not continue his Prayer but kept his eye fixed upon the body of the Sun at last a small line or ring of black no bigger than that of a Text pen circled the Sun which increasing sensibly eclipsed in a little time the whole Body of it and turned it into a blackish colour which done the figure of the Sun was immediately changed into a perfect Death's head and after a little while vanished quite away The Moon still continued shining as before but whilst he intently beheld it it also darkned in like manner and turned also into another Death's head and vanished This made so great an impression upon the beholder's mind that he immediately awaked in confusion and perplexity of thoughts about his dream and awakning his wife related the particulars to her with much emotion and concernment but how to apply it he could not presently tell only he was satisfied that the dream was of an extraordinary nature At last Ioseph's dream came to his thoughts with the like Emblems and their interpretation which fully satisfied him that God had warned and prepared him thereby for a suddain parting with his dear Relations which answerably fell out in the same order his Father dying that day fortnight following and his Mother just a month afterwards I know there is much vanity in dreams and yet I am fully satisfied some are weighty significant and declarative of the purposes of God 3. Lastly An unusual and extraordinary elevation of the Soul to God and enlargement in Communion with him hath been a signifying forerunner of the death of some good men For as the Body hath its levamen anteferale lightning before death and is more vegete and brisk a little before its dissolution so it is sometimes with the Soul also I have known some persons to arrive on a suddain to such heights of love to God and vehement longings to be dissolved that they might be with Christ that I could not but look upon it as Christ did upon the box of Oyntment as done against their death And so indeed it hath proved in the event Thus it was with that renowned Saint Mr. Brewen of Stapleford as he excelled others in the holiness of his life so he much excelled himself towards his death his motions towards Heaven being then most vigorous and quick The day before his last sickness he had such extraordinary enlargements of heart in his Closet-Duty that he seemed to forget all the concernments of his Body and this lower World And when his wife told him Sir I fear you have done your self hurt with rising so early he answered If you had seen such glorious things as I saw this morning in private prayer with God you would not have said so for they were so wonderful and unspeakable that whether I was in the Body or out of the Body with Paul I cannot tell And so it was with learned and holy Mr. Rivet who seemed as a man in Heaven just before he went thither And so if hath been with thousands beside these I confess it is not the lot of every gracious Soul as was shew'd you in the last Question nor doth it make any difference as to the safety of the Soul whatever it makes as to comfort Let all therefore labour to make sure their Union with Christ and live in the daily exercises of grace in the duties of Religion and then though God should give them no such extraordinary warnings one way or another they shall never be surprized by death to their loss let it come never so unexpectedly upon them Quest. It may be also queried whether Satan by his Instruments may not foretel the death of some men How else did the Witch of Ender foretel the death of Saul And the Southsayers the death of Caesar upon the Ides i. e. the fifteenth day of March which was the fatal day to him Sol. Foreknowledg of things to come which appear not in their next causes is certainly the Lords Prerogative Isai. 41.23 Whatever therefore Satan doth in this matter must be done either by conjecture or commission As to the case of Saul 't is not to be questioned but that he knowing the Kingdom was made to David by promise and that the Lord was departed from Saul and saw how near the Armies were to a Battel might strongly conjecture and conclude and accordingly tell him To morrow thou shalt be with me 1 Sam. 28.19 And so for the death of Caesar The Devil knew the conspiracy was strong against him and the Plot laid for that day and so it was both easie for him to reveal it to the South-sayers and his interest to do it thereby to bring that cursed Art into reputation As for other signs and forewarnings of death by the unusual resort of doleful Creatures as Owls and Ravens vulgarly accounted Ominous Wall-watches upon this account called Death-watches and the eating of wearing-apparel by Rats I look upon them generally as supertitious fancies not worthy to be regarded among Christians God may but I know not what ground we have to believe that he doth commissionate such Creatures to bring us the message of death from him To conclude therefore Let no man expect or depend upon any such extraordinary premonitions and warnings of his change or neglect his daily work and duty of preparation for it We have warnings in the Word in the examples of Mortality frequently before us in all the diseases and decays we often feel in our own Bodies and by the signs of the times which threaten death and desolation Be ye therefore always ready for ye know not in what watch of the night your Lord cometh QUEST IV. Whether separated Souls have any knowledg of or commerce and intercourse with men in this life and if not What is to be thought of the Apparitions of the Dead 1. By separated Souls understand the departed Souls both of the Godly and Ungodly indifferently and not as it is restrained to one sort only in the Text for of both it is pretended there are frequent Apparitions after death 2. By the knowledge such Souls are supposed to have after death both of persons and things in this lower World we understand not a general knowledg which one fort of them have of the state and condition of the Church militant on earth for this we think cannot be denyed to the Spirits of the just made perfect seeing they are still fellow Members with us of the same mystical body of Christ and do behold our High-Priest appearing before God and offering up our prayers for us and long for the consummation of the Body of Christ as well as cry for vengeance
in se Peccata expurgat sanguine cuncta suo Horribilis mors est Fateor sed proxima vita est Ad quam te Christi gratia certa vocat Praesto est de Satana peccato morte triumphans Christus ad hunc igitur laeta alacrisque migra Which may be thus translated Cold death my heart invades my life doth flie O Christ my everlasting life draw nigh Why quiver'st thou my soul within my Breast Thine Angel's come to lead thee to thy rest Quit chearfully this drooping house of clay God will restore it in the appointed day Has't sinn'd I know it let not that be urg'd For Christ thy sins with his own blood hath purg'd Is death affrighting True but yet withal Consider Christ through death to life doth call He triumphs over Satan sin and Death Therefore with joy resign thy dying breath Much in the same chearful frame was the heart of dying Bullinger when his mournful friends expressed their sense of the loss they should sustain by his reâ—â—val Si Deo visum fuerit mea opera ulterius in Ecclesia ministerio uti ipse vires suffiâ—iet libens illi parebo sin me voluerit quod opto ex hac vita evocare paratus sum illius voluntati obsequi ac nihil est quod jâ—cundius possit mihi contingere quam ex hoc misero corruptissimo seculo ad Christum Servatorem mâ—um migrare idem ibid. Why said he If God will make any farther use of my labours in the Ministry he will renew my strength and I will gladly serve him But if he please as I desire he would to call me hence I am ready to obey his Will and nothing more pleasant can befal me than to leave this sinful and miserable World to go to my Saviour Christ. O that all who are out of the danger of death were thus got out of the dread of death too Let them only tremble and be convuls'd at the thoughts and sight of death whose Souls must fall into the hands of a sin-revenging God by the stroke of death who are to breathe out their last hope with their last breath Death is yours saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 3.22 your Friend your Priviledge your passage to Heaven 't is your ignorance of it which breeds your fears about it Inference II. GAther from hence the absolute indispensable necessity of your Vnion with Christ before your dissolution by death Wo to that Soul which shall be separated from its Body before it be united with Christ none but the Spirits of just men are made perfect at death Righteous Souls are the only qualified Subjects of blessedness 'T is true every Soul hath a natural capacity of happiness but gracious Souls only have an actual meetness for glory The Scriptures tell us in round and plain words that without holiness no man shall see the Lord Hebr. 12.14 that except we be regenerate and born again we cannot see the Kingdom of God John 3.3 You make the greatest adventure that ever was made by man indeed an adventure infinitely too great for any man to make when you shoot the Gulph of vast eternity upon terms of hazard and uncertainty What thinkest thou Reader darest thou adventure thy Soul and eternal happiness upon it that the work of Regeneration and Sanctification that very same work of Grace which the Spirit of God hangs all thy hopes of Heaven upon in these Scriptures is truly wrought by him in thy Soul Consider it well pause upon it again and again before thou go forth Should a mistake be committed here and nothing is more easie or common all the World over than such mistakes thou art irrecoverably gone This venture can be made but once and the miscarriage is never to be retrieved afterwards thou hast not another Soul to adventure nor a second adventure to make of this Well might the Apostle Peter call for all diligence to make our calling and our election sure That can never be made too sure which is so invaluable in its worth and to be but once adventured Inference III. HOw prejudicial is it to dying men to be then encumbered diverted and distracted about earthly concernments when the time of their departure is at hand The business and imployment of dying persons is of so vast importance and weight that every moment of their time need to be carefully saved and applied to this their present and most important concern How well soever you have improved the time of life believe it you will find work enough upon your hands at death dying hours will be found to be busie and laborious hours even to the most painful serious and industrious Souls whose life hath been mostly spent in preparations for death Leave not the proper business of other days to that day for that day will have business enough of its own Sufficient for that day are the labours thereof Let a few Considerations be pondered to clear and confirm this Inference Consideration I. The business and imployment of dying persons is of the most serious awful and solemn nature and importance it is their last preparatory work on earth to their immediate appearance before God their Judge Heb. 9.27 It is their shooting the Gulph into eternity and leaving this World and all their acquaintance and interests therein for ever Isai. 28.11 It is therefore a Work by it self to die a Work requiring the most intense deep and undisturbed exercises of all the Abilities and Graces of the inner man and all little enough Consideration II. Timâ— is exceeding precious with dying men the last sand is ready to fall and therefore not to be wasted as it was wont to be When we had a fair prospect of many years before us we made little account of an hour or day but now one of those hours which we so carelessly lavished away is of more value than all this World to us especially if the whole weight of eternity should hang upon it as often times it doth then the loss of that portion of time is the loss of Soul Body and hope for evermore Consideration III. Much of that little precious time of departing Souls will be unavoidably taken up and imployed about the inexcusable pressing calls and necessities of distressed nature all that you can do for your Souls must then be done only by fits and snatches in the midst of many disturbances and frequent interruptions So that it is rarely found that a dying man can pursue a serious Meditation with calm and fixed thoughts for besides the pains and faintings of the Body the Abilities of the mind usually fail Here also they fall into a sad Dilemma if they do not with utmost intention of mind fix their hearts and thoughts on Christ they lose their comfort if godly and their Souls if ungodly and if they do Friends and Physicians assure them they will destroy their Bodies These are the straits of men bordering close upon eternity they must hastily
of God herein though submission be one of the lowest steps of duty in this case If it be hard to fix our thoughts but an hour upon such an unpleasing subject as death how hard mâ—st it be to bring over the consent of the will If we cannot endure it at a distance in our thoughts how shall we embrace and hug it in our bosoms If our thoughts flie back with distaste and impatience no wonder if our will be obstinate and refractory We must first prevail with our thoughts to fix themselves and think close to such a subject before it can be expected we chearfully resign our selves into the hands of death We cannot be willing to go along with death till we have some acquaintance with it and acquainted with it we cannot be till we accustome our selves to think assiduously and calmly of it They that have dwelt many years at deaths door both in respect of the condition of their Bodies and disposition of their minds yet find reluctancy enough when it comes to the point Objection But if separation from the Body be as it is an enemy to Nature and there be no possibility to extinguish natural aversation to what purpose is it to argue and perswade where there is no expectation of Success Solution Death is considerable two ways by the people of God 1. As an Enemy to Nature 2. As a medium to Glory If we consider it simply in it self as an Enemy to Nature there is nothing in it for which we should desire it but if we consider it as a medium or passage into glory yea the only ordinary way through which all the Saints must pass out of this into a better state so it will appear not only tolerable but desirable to prepared Souls Were there not a shore of glory on the other side of these black Waters of death for my own part I should rather chuse to live meanly than to die easily If both parts were to perish at death there were no reason to perswade one to be willing to deliver up the other It were a madness for the Soul to desire to be dissolv'd if it were so far from being better out of the Body than in it that it should have no being at all But Christians let me tell you death is so far from being a Bar that it is a Bridge in your way to glory and you are never like to come thither but by passing over it except therefore you will look beyond it you will never see any desireableness in it I desire to be dissolv'd saith Paul and to be with Christ which is far better To be with Death is sad but to be with Christ is sweet to endure the pains of death is doleful but to see the face of Christ is joyful To part with your pleasant habitations is irkesome but to be lodged in the heavenly Mansions is most delightful A parting hour with dear Relations is cutting but a meeting hour with Jesus Christ is transporting To be rid of your own Bodies is not pleasing but to be rid of sin and that for ever What can be more pleasing to a gracious Soul You see then in what sense I present death as a desirable thing to the people of God And therefore seeing nature teacheth us as the Apostle speaks to put the more abundant comeliness upon the uncomely parts suffer me to dress up death in its best ornaments and present it to you in the following Arguments as a beautiful and comely object of your conditional and well regulated desires And Argument I. IF upon a fair and just account there shall appear to be more gain to Believers in Death than there is in Life reason must needs vote death to be better to them that are in Christ than life can be and consequently it should be desireable in their eyes 'T is a clear dictate of reason in case of choice to chuse that which is best for us Who is there that freely exercises reason and choice together that will not do so What Merchant will not part with an hundred pounds worth of Glass Beads and Pendents for a Tun of Gold A few Tinsell Toyes for as many rich Diamonds Mercatura est amittere ut lucreris that is true Merchandize to part with things of lesser for things of greater value Now if you will be tried and determined by Gods Book of Rates then the case is determined quickly and the advantage appears exceedingly upon deaths side Philip. 1.21 To me to live is Christ and to die is gain Objection True it might be so to Paul who was eminent in grace and ripe for glory but it may be loss to others who have not attained the heighth of his holiness or assurance Sol. The true and plain sense of the Objection is this whether Heaven and Christ be as much gain to him that enjoys it though he be behind others both in grace and obedience as it is to them who are more eminent in grace and have done and suffered more for its sake and let it be determined by your selves but if your meaning be that Paul was ready for death and so are not you his work and course was almost comfortably finished and so is not yours his death therefore must needs be gain to him but it may be loss to you even the loss of all that you are worth for ever To this I say the Wisdom of God orders the time of his peoples death as well as all other Circumstances about it and in this your hearts may be at perfect rest That being in Christ you can never die to your loss die when you will I know you will reply that if your Union with Christ were clear the Controversie were ended but then you must also consider they are as safe who die by an act of recumbency upon Christ as those that die in the fullest assurance of their interest in him And beside your Reluctancies and Aversations to death are none of your way to assurance but such a strong aversation to sin and such a vehement desire after and love to Christ as can make you willing to quit all that is dear and desireable to you in this World for his sake is the very next door or step to assurance and if the Lord bring your hearts to this frame and fix them there it is not like you will be long without it But to return Paul had here valued life with a full allowance of all the benefits and advantages of it To me to live is Christ that is if I live I shall live in Communion with Christ and service for Christ and in the midst of all those Comforts which usually result from both Here 's life with the most weighty and desireable benefits of it laid in one scale and he lays death and probably a violent death too for of that he speaks to them afterwards in Chap. 2.17 thus he fills the Scales and the Balance breaks on deaths side yea it
and the Power of God q d. did you know and believe the Scriptures of God and the Power of God you would never question this Doctrine of the Resurrection which is built upon them both The Power of God convinceth all men that know and believe it that it may be â—o and the Scriptures of God convince all that know and believe them that it must be so as for his Power Who can doubt it At the Command and fiat of God the Earth brought forth every living Creature after his kind Gen. 1.24 25. at his Command Lazarus came forth Iohn 11.43 And was there not as much difficulty in either of these as in our Resurrection By this Power our Souls were quickened and raised from the death of sin and guilt to the Spiritual life of Christ Eph. 1.19 and is it not as easie to raise a dead Body as a dead Soul But what stand I arguing in so plain a Case when we are assured this mighty Power is able to subdue all things to it self Phil. 3.21 And then for his promise that it shall be so What can be plainer See 1 Thes. 4.15 16. This we say unto you by the Word of the Lord c. i.e. In the Name or Auhority of the Lord and by Commission and Warrant from him he first opens his Commission shews his Credentials and then publishes the comfortable Doctrine of the Resurrection and the Saints preheminence to all others therein Well then what remains in death to fright and scare a Believer is it our parting with these Bodies Why it is not for ever that we part with them as sure as the power and promises of God are true firm and sufficient to accomplish it we shall see and enjoy them again This comforted Iob chap. 19.25 26. over all his diseases when of all his enjoyments that once he had he could not say my Friends my Children my Estate yet then he could say my Redeemer When he looked upon a poor wasted withered loathsome Body of his own and saw nothing but a Skeleton an Image of death yet then could he see it a glorious Body by viewing it believingly in this glass of the Resurrection So then all the damage we can receive by death is but the absence of our Bodies for a time during which time the Covenant-relation betwixt God and them holds good and firm Matth. 22.32 He therefore will take care of them and in due time restore them with marvellous improvements and endowments to us again divested of all their infirmities and cloathed with Heavenly qualities and perfection 1 Cor. 15.43 44. And in the mean time the Soul attains its rest and happiness and satisfaction in the blessed God Argument IV. THE consideration of what we part from and what we go to should make the medium by which we pass from so much evil to so great good lovely and desireable in our eyes how unpleasing or bitter soever it be in it self No man desires Physick for it self There is no pleasure in bitter Pills and loathsome Potions except what rises from the end viz the disburthening of Nature and recovery of health and this gives it a value with the Sick and pained Under a like consideration is death desired by sick and pained Souls who find it better to dye once than groan under burthens continually Death is certainly the best Physician next and under Jesus Christ that ever was employed about them for it cures radically and perfectly so that the Soul never relapses any more into any distemper Other Medicines are but Anodynes or at best they relieve us but in part and for a time but this goes through the work and perfects the cure at once Methinks that Call of Christ which he gives his Spouse in Cant. 4.8 Come with me from Lebanon my Spouse with me from Lebanon look from the top of Amana from the top of Shenir and Hermon from the Lions dens from the Mountains of Leopards scarce suits any time so well as the time of death Then it is that we depart from the Lions Dens and the mountains of Leopards places uncomfortable and unsafe More particularly at death the Saints depart 1. From defiling corruptions inâ—o 1. Perfect purity 2. From heart sinking sorrows inâ—o 2. Fulness of joy 3. From entangling temptations inâ—o 3. Everlasting freedome 4. From distressing persecutions inâ—o 4. Full rest 5. From pinching wants inâ—o 5. Universal supplies 6. From distracting fears inâ—o 6. Highest security 7. From deluding shadows inâ—o 7. Substantial good 1. From defiling corruptions into perfect purity No sin hangs about the separated though it do about the sanctified Soul They come out of the Body suitable to that character and encomium Cant. 4.7 Thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee It doth that for the Saints which all their graces and duties all their mercies and afflictions could never do Faith is a great purifier Communion with God a great cleanser sanctified afflictions a Refiner's fire and Fuller's Soap these have all done their parts and been useful in their places but none of them nor altogether perfected this cure till death come and then the work is done and the cure perfected All Weeping all Praying all Believing all Hearing all Sacraments all the means and instruments in the World cannot do what death will do for thee One dying hour will do what ten thousand praying hours never did nor could do In this hour the design of all those hours is accomplished as he that is dead by mortification is at present freedom from sin in respect of imputation and dominion Rom. 6.7 so he that being justified and mortified is dead naturally is immediately freed from the very indwelling and existence of sin in him We read of the washing of the Robes of the Saints in Rev. 7.14 The blood of the Lamb cleanseth them from every spot but it doth it gradually The last spot of guilt indeed was fetcht out by one act of justification but the last spot filth is not fetcht out till the time of their dissolution when they are come out of the Agonies of death which the Scripture calls great tribulation then and not till then are they perfectly cleansed Sin brought in death and death carries out sin O what a pure lovely shining Creature is the separated Spirit of a Just man How clear is its Judgment how ordinate its will how holy and altogether heavenly are all its affections now and never till now it feels it self perfectly well and as it would be 2. From heart-sinking Sorrows into fulness of Joy The life we now live is a groaning life 2 Cor. 5.2 where is the Christian that if his inside could be seen and his heart laid naked would not be found wounded from many hands From the hand of God of Enemies of Friends of Satan but especially by the hands of its own Corruptions Christ our Head was stiled a man of sorrows from the multitude of his Sorrows and it
drops not down from Heaven in a night-dream as the Turks fable their Alcoran to have done in that lailato hanzili night of demission as they call it no no the righteous themselves are scarcely saved many seek but few find strive therefore as men and women that are heartily concerned for their own Salvation Sit not with folded arms like so many heaps of stupidity and sloth whilst the door of Hope is yet open and such a sweet voice from Heaven calls to you saying Strive Souls strive if ever you expect to be partakers of the Blessedness that is here to be enjoyed strive to the uttermost of your abilities and opportunities Such an Heaven is worth striving to obtain such an Hell is worth striving to escape such an invaluable Soul is worth striving to save I confess Heaven is not the purchace or reward of your striving No Soul shall boastingly say there Is not this the Glory which my duties and diligence purchased for me And yet on the other side it is as true that without striving you shall never set foot there Say not it depends upon the pleasure of God and not upon your diligence for it is his declared will and pleasure to bring men to Glory in the way though not for the sake of their own striving as in the works of your civil Calling you know all the care toil and sweat of the Husbandman avails nothing of it self except the Sun and Rain quicken and ripen the Fruits of the Earth and yet no wise man will neglect plowing and harrowing sowing and weeding because these labours avail not without the influences of Heaven but waits for them in the way of his duty and diligence rational hope sets all the world awork Do they plow in hope and sow in hope and will not you pray in hope and hear in hope You that know your Souls to be hitherto strangers to Christ and the regenerating work of the Spirit how is it that you take them not aside sometimes out of the distracting noise and hurries of the world and thus bemoan them O my poor graceless Christless miserable Soul how sad a case art thou in others have but thou never feltest the burden of sin thousands in the World are striving and labouring searching and praying to make their Calling and Election sure whilst thou sittest still with folded hands in a supine regardlesness of the misery that is hastening on upon thee Canst thou endure the devouring wrath of God Canst thou dwell with everlasting burnings Hast thou fancied a tolerable Hell Or is it easie to perish Why dost thou not cast thy self at the feet of Christ and cry as long as breath will last Lord pity a sinful miserable undone and self-condemning Soul Lord smite this rockie heart subdue this stubborn will heal and save an undone Soul ready to perish The characters of death are upon it it must be changed or condemned and that in a little time Bowels of pity hear the cry of a Soul distressed and ready to perish And you that do not understand the case and slate your Souls are in you have never a Bible near you O turn to those places 1 Cor. 6.9 10. where you will presently find the more obvious marks and characters God hath set upon the children of perdition and if you find not your self in that Catalogue among the unrighteous Fornicators Idolaters Adulterers Effeminate Thieves Covetous Drunkards Revilers Extortioners c. then turn to Ioh. 3.3 and solemnly ask thy own Soul this question Am I born again Am I a new Creature Or still in the same condition I was born in What solid evidence of the new birth have I to rely upon if I were now within a few gasps of death Am not I the man or woman who live in the very same sins which the Word of God makes the Symptoms and Characters of Damnation And doth not my Conscience witness against me that I am utterly void and destitute of all that saving Grace and a meer stranger to the regenerating work of the Spirit without which there can be no well-bottom'd hope of Salvation And if so are not the tokens of death upon me Am not I a person markt out for misery And shall I sit still in a state of so much danger and not once strive to make an escape from the wrath to come Is this vile body worth so much toil and labour to support and preserve it And is not my 〈◊〉 worth as much care and diligence to secure it from the everlasting wrath of the great just and terrible God O that the consideration of the wrath to come the multitudes all the world over preparing as fuel for it and the door of opportunity yet held open to Souls by the hand of Grace to escape that wrath might prevail with thy heart Reader to strive and that to the uttermost to secure thy precious Soul from the impending ruine EPHES. 5.16 Redeeming the time or opportunity because the days are evil TIme is deservedly reckoned among the most precious mercies of this life and that which makes it so valuable are the commodious seasons and opportunities for Salvation which are vouchsafed to us therein Opportunity is the golden spot of Time the sweet and beautiful flower growing upon the stalk of Time If Time be a Ring of Gold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 opportunity is the rich Diamond that gives it both its value and glory The Apostle well knew the value of Time and seeing how prodigally it was wasted by the most doth therefore in this place earnestly press all men to redeem save and improve it with the utmost diligence In this and the former Verse We have 1. The Duty injoyned Walk circumspectly We have 2. The Injunction explained 1. More generally Not as fools but as wise 2. More particularly Redeeming the time 3. The Exhortation strongly inforced with a powerful Motive Because the days are evil Among these Particulars my Discourse is principally concerned about the Redemption of Time or Opportunities which in this life are graciously vouchsased us in order to that which is to come and here it will be needful To inquire 1. What the Apostle means by Time 2. What by the Redemption of Time 1. Time is taken more largely or strictly according to the double acceptation of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth sometimes Time and sometimes Occasion Season or Opportunity and accordingly is expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tempus and Tempestivitas the latter is the word here used and denotes the commodiousness and fitness of some parts of Time above others for the successful and prosperous management and accomplishment of our main and great business in this world which is to secure our interest in Christ and glorifie God in a course of fruitful obedience For these great and weighty purposes our time is graciously lengthened out and many fit opportunities presented to us in the
man more than his two eyes certainly no Being at all is more desirable than a Being without these take away the true spiritual pleasure of life and you level the life of man with the beast that perisheth and take away the hope and comfort of the Soul in death and you sink him infinitely below the beast and make him a Being only capable of misery for ever Now there can be no true spiritual pleasure found in that Soul that hath neglected and lost his only season of Salvation all the solid delight and comfort of life results from the settlement and security of a mans great concern in the proper season thereof The true mirth of the converted Prodigal bears date from the time of his return and reconciliation to his Father Luke 15.24 Two things are absolutely prerequisite to the comfort of life viz. a change of the state by Justification and a change of the frame and temper of the heart by Sanctification To be in a pardoned state is matter of all joy Matt. 9.2 and to be spiritually minded is life and peace Rom. 8.6 no good news comes to any man before this and no bad news can sink a mans heart after this And for hope and comfort in death let none be so fond to expect it till his Soul have first complied with and obeyed the Call of God in the time thereof a careless life never did nor ever will produce a comfortable death What is more common among all that dye not stupid and sensless as well as unregenerate and Christless than the bitter dolorous complaints of their mis-spent time and losing their season of Mercy Reader if thou wouldst not feel that anguish thou hast seen and heard others to be in upon this account know the time of thy visitation and finish thy great work whilst it is day Argument VI. NEglect no season of Salvation which is graciously afforded you because your time is short Death and Eternity are at the door You know that you must shortly put off these Tabernacles 2 Pet. 1.13 14. that when a few years are come you shall go the way whence you shall not return Iob 16.22 All the living are listed Souldiers and must conflict hand to hand with that dreadful Enemy Death and there is no discharge in that War Eccles. 8.8 It will be in vain to say you are not willing to dye for willing or unwilling away you must go when Death calls you It will be as vain to say you are not ready for ready or unready you must be gone when Death comes your readiness to dye would indeed be a Cordial to your hearts in death but then you must improve and ply the time of life and husband your opportunities diligently carelesness of life and readiness for death are inconsistent and exclusive of each other the Bed is sweeter to none than to the hard Labourer and the Grave comfortable to none but the laborious Christian you know nothing can be done by you after death the Compositum is then dissolved you cease to be what you were to enjoy the means you had and to work as you did O therefore slip not the only season you have both of attaining the end of life and escaping the danger and hour of death The VSE I shall close all with a word of Exhortation perswading if it be possible the careless and unthinking Neglecters of their precious Time and Souls to awaken out of that deep and dangerous security in which they lye fast asleep upon the very brink of Eternity and to day whilst it is yet called to day to hear the Voice of God calling them to Repentance and Faith and thereby to Christ and everlasting Blessedness Behold he yet standeth at the door and knocks Rev. 3.20 the door of Hope is not yet finally shut there are yet some stirrings at certain times in mens Consciences God comes near them in his Word and in some rouzing acts of Providence the death of a near Relation the seizure of a dangerous Disease the blasting and disappointment of a mans great Design and Project for this World a fall into some notorious Sin these and many such like Methods of Providence as well as the convincing voice of the Word have the efficacy of an awaking voice to mens drowsie Consciences and if careless Sinners would but attend to them and follow home those motions they make upon their hearts who knows to what these weak beginnings might arise and prosper The Souls of men are as it were imbarked in the Calls of God your life is bound up in them if these be lost your Souls are lost if these abide upon you and grow up to sound Conversion you are saved by them More particularly consider 1. What a mercy it is to have your Lot providentially cast under the Gospel To be born under and bred up with the means and instruments of Conversion and Salvation We have lived from our youth up under the Calls of God and within the joyful sound of the Gospel God hath not dealt so with other Nations Psal. 147.20 Though others should seek the means of life they cannot find them and though you seek them not you can hardly miss them 2. How great a mercy is it to have your lives lengthened out hitherto by the patience of God under the Gospel That neither that golden Lamp nor the Lamp of your life both which are liable to be extinguished every moment are yet put out Thousands and ten thousands your Contemporaries are gone out of the hearing of the voice of the Gospel they shall never hear another Call the Treaty of God is ended with them the Master of the house is risen up and the doors are shut Your neglects and provocations have not been inferiour to theirs but the patience and goodness of God hath exceeded and abounded to you beyond whatever it did to them 3. Bethink your selves what an aggravation of your misery it will be to sink into Hell with the Calls of God sounding in your ears to sink into eternal misery betwixt the tender out-stretched arms of Mercy this is the Hell of Hell the Emphasis of Damnation the racking Engine on which the Consciences of the damned are tortured And thou Capernaum which art exalted to heaven shalt be brought down to hell Matt. 11.23 Such a fall after so high an exaltation is the very Strappado which will torment your Consciences Hell will prove a cooler and milder place to the Heathens that never enjoyed your light means and mercies in this world than it will to you None sink so deep into misery in the world to come as they that fall from the fairest opportunities of Salvation in this world 4 Let no man expect that God will hear his cryes and intreaties in time of misery who neglects and slights the Calls of God in the time of Mercy God calls but men will not hear the day is coming when they shall cry but God will not hear Prov. 1.24
25 will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him Iob 27.9 no no he will not and this is but a just retribution from the righteous God whose calls and counsels men have set at nought but whatever men now think of it it is certainly the greatest misery incident to man in all the world for as no words can make another fully sensible what a priviledge it is to have the ear favour pity and help of God in a day of straits so it is impossible for any words to express the doleful state and case of that Soul whom God casts off in trouble and whose cryes he shuts out 5 Beware of neglecting any Call of God because that Call you are now tempted to neglect may be the last Call that ever God intendeth to give thy Soul Sure I am there is a Call which will be the last Call of God to rebellious Sinners and after that no more Calls but an eternal deep silence his Spirit shall not always strive with man and the more motions and calls you have already slighted the more probable it is that this may be the last Voice of God in a way of Mercy to thy Soul and what if after this God should seal up thy heart and judicially harden it make thy will utterly inflexible and thine ears deaf as he threatens Isa 6.10 What an undone miserable man or woman art thou then O beware of provoking the forest of all Judgments by persisting any longer in a course of rebellion against Light and Mercy 6 Whilst your hearts put off and neglect the Calls of God you can never by any means arrive to the evidence and assurance of your Election for your Election is only secured to you by your effectual calling 2 Pet. 1.10 there is no way for men to discern their Names written in the Book of Life but by reading the work of Sanctification in their own hearts Rom. 10.8 I desire no miraculous Voice from Heaven no extraordinary signs or unscriptural notices and informations in this matter Lord let me but find my heart complying with thy calls my will obediently submitting to thy commands Sin my burden and Christ my desire I will never crave a fairer or surer evidence of thy electing love to my Soul and if I had an Oracle from Heaven an extraordinary Messenger from the other World to tell me thou lovest me I have no reason to give credit to such a Voice whilst I find my heart wholly sensual averse to God and indisposed to all that is spiritual 7. What reason have you why you should not presently embrace the Call of God and thankfully lay hold upon the first opportunity and season of Salvation Have you any greater matters in hand than the Salvation of your precious Souls Is there any thing in all this world that more concerns you If the affairs of this life be so indispensably necessary and those of the world to come so indifferent if you think that meat and drink trade and business wife and children be such great things and Christ Soul and Eternity such little things or if you think the Salvation be a work of the greatest necessity yet it may safely enough be put off to a time of uncertainty I may assure you you will not long be of this mind How soon are all the mistakes of men in these matters rectified in a few moments after death Rectified I say but not remedied your opinion will be changed but not your condition 8. Do you not every day easily and readily obey the Calls of Satan and your own Lusts whilst God and Conscience are suffered to call and strive with you in vain If Satan or your Lusts call you to the Tavern to the World and your sinful Pleasures you speedily comply with their Call and yield a ready obedience if Pride call if Covetousness call if Passion and Revenge call they need not call twice and shall God call and Conscience call only in vain Lord what a Creature is Man become If a vain Companion call you have no power to deny him if God call you have no ear to hear him 9. You cannot but observe the obedience and diligence of many others how seriously painfully and assiduously they ply and follow on the work of their own Salvation and yet they are no more concerned in the events and consequences of these things than you are Doth it not trouble you when you compare your selves with them Do not such thoughts as these sometimes arise in your hearts upon such observations Lord what a difference is there like to be betwixt their end and mine when there is so apparent a difference in our course and conversation Doth not God distinguish persons in this world by the frames of their hearts and tenor of their lives in order to the great distinction he will make betwixt one and another in the Day of Judgment Have not I as precious a Soul to save or lose as any of them What is the matter that I sit with folded arms whilst they are working out Salvation with fear and trembling Why should any man or woman in the world be more careful for their Souls than I for mine Surely its capacity and excellency is equal with theirs though our care and diligence be so unequal 10. To conclude God will shortly give you an irresistible Call to the Grave and after that his Voice shall call to you in your Graves Arise ye dead and come to Iudgment but wo be to you wo and alas that ever you were born if you should hear the Call of God to dye before you have heard and obeyed his Call to Christ. Will your Death-bed be easie to you Can you with any hope or comfort shoot the Gulph of Eternity before you have done one act for the securing your Souls from the wrath to come 'T is a dreadful thing for a poor Christless Soul to sit quivering up on the lips of a dying Sinner not able to stay nor yet to endure a parting pull from the Body in such a case as it is In a word if the God that made and will shortly judge you if the Redeemer that shed his invaluable Blood and now offers you the purchaces and benefits of it if you have any love to or care of your own Souls which are more worth than the whole world if you have any value for Heaven or dread of Hell then for Gods sake for Christs sake for your precious Souls sake trifle with Heaven and Hell no longer but be in earnest to work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling Could I think of any other means or motives that might secure your Souls from danger I would surely use them Could I reach your hearts effectually I would deeply impress this great concern upon themâ—punc but I can neither do Gods part of the work nor yours it is some ease to me I have in sincerity though with much imperfection and feebleness done part of my own