and ten thousand times more Besides for what reason dost thou suppose God to have given thee these things Surely thou canst not be so brutish as to think that the great God made thee and serveth thee in daily with such variety of mercies health strength food raiment influences of heaven and fruits of the earth onely or chiefly that thou should eat and drink and follow thy calling and provide for thy family were such low ends the ground of his kindness or is it not that thou mightest ravish that pure and virgin inheritance by an holy and heavenly violence that thou mightest imploy them and improve them to the utmost about his service and thy own salvation Reader I must desire thee to consider and grant me these two or three suppositions in prosecution of this my second request to thee 1. Suppose thou hadst seen the Son of man who now sitteth at his Fathers right hand rising from his place and attended with the thousand thousands that are before him and with the ten thousand times ten thousand that minister to him coming and sparkling so gloriously through the firmament that he dazaleth the very eyes of the Sun and makes him to hide his head for shame and sitting down in the cloudes with the glory of his Father a fire devouring before him and behind him a flame burning Conceive now with me that thou hearest him call to the Archangel Sound the last Trump that the dead may arise and come to judgement Harke to the sound of the Trump how it rendeth rocks melteth mountains breaks in pieces the bands of death and bursts asunder the gates of hell how it pierceth the ocean and fetcheth from the bottom of the sea the dust of Adams seed how it descendeth into the belly of the earth and forceth it to vomit up all the bodies which it had ever taken down how it openeth the marble tombs of Princes and Potentates and makes their Highness and Majesty stoop as low as the meanest to the King of glory Dost thou not see the bodies of the Saints look how they flie upon the wings of the wind to their souls and both to the bosom of their beloved Saviour See how the spirits of unregenerate ones leave for a little while the dark vault of hell and enter though most unwillingly into the stinking carrion of their bodies and both haled by angels to the judgement seat of Christ When the Court is thus set conceive the Commission read wherein Jesus Christ is authorized in his humane nature by his Divine Power to be Judge of the quick and dead the law is produced both of nature and Scripture the books are opened hoth of Gods omniscience and mans conscience by which all men are to be tryed for their everlasting lives and deaths The holy ones are now called their persons through the righteousness of Christ acquitted by publike proclamation before God Angels and men their performances duties graces services sufferings punctually related to their glory and infinitely rewarded in their perfect freedom from all evil and eternal fruition of the chiefest good Behold how the unholy are with violence draged to the bar examined strictly by the covenant of works have all their sins secret open personal relative of nature and practice in thoughts words and deeds revealed publikely and aggravated fully with all their crimson crying bloody circumstances heark how pitifully they plead what poor evidences they had for salvation what sorry excuses for their Atheisme and abominations their conscience instead of a thousand witnesses accuseth them the law casteth them the Judge pronounceth against them a most severe sentence of condemnation the devils feise on them for its speedy execution Now what confusion and shame of face what lamentation and forrow of heart possesseth them what doleful screechings what bitter yellowâ—ngs are heard among them Here is body cursing the soul for being so ungodly a guide and soul cursing the body for being so unready an instrument and both cursing the time that ever they met together and wishing though in vain that they might for ever be parted asunder Now the worldling curseth his flocks and his Farm his gold and his silver that had more of his heart and of his care and time then his precious soul Now the lazy Christian curseth his madness and folly that he should think a little formal preparation were sufficient for such a strict examination A bloody husband hast thou been to me saith the wife thou mindedst provision for me for a little time and never regardedst my instruction about the things of eternity A cruel father hast thou been to me saith the child for generating me a child of wrath an heir of hell and never endeavoring my regeneration whereby I might have been a child of God and an heir of heaven and thus cursing crying roaring raging they are sent to the place where is mourning without mirth sorrow without solace darkness without light death without life pure wrath without mixture perfect pain without measure nothing but weeping and wailing sighing sobbing and gnashing of teeth for ever ever ever Suppose I say that thou hadst heard and seen all this and God should after it try thee in this world fourty years wouldst thou not night and day be strugling and striving with God by prayer watching over thy own heart waiting upon thy Saviour With what earnestness wouldst thou pray with what seriousness wouldst thou read and hear with what exactness and exemplariness wouldst thou live how diligent and laborious wouldst thou be in a faithful improvement of all thy time talents and opportunities that thou mightest find mercy at such a day even the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life Wouldst thou after such a sight think any time too much or any pains too great for thy eternal good Couldst thou give the world and the flesh the choicest place in thy heart and the chiefest part of thy life as now thou dost shouldst thou dare to be nibbling again at the devils baits or to be playing with the eternal fire or to put off God with a few cold formal prayers and that by fits in stead of hearty fiery continual supplication or to put off Jesus Christ with a complement that thou wearest his livery and professest thy self a Christian in stead of a sincere resolved dedication of heart and life to his word and law What saist thou man And why wilt thou not be as diligent and as holy now thou maist in the glass of Scripture see all that I have spoken for the substance of it at least if thou hast but an eye of faith and without question the sight of faith is as sure and true as a sight of sense what reason canst thou have why thou shouldst not work as industriously to escape hell and obtain heaven as if thou hadst known these things experimentally when the word of the living and true God speaketh it so expresly look 2 Cor. 5. 10. Acts
Christian mourn in some wildernesse till Dooms-day dig thy grave there with thy nails weep buckets full of hourly tears till thou canst weep no more fast and pray till thy skin and bones cleave together promise and purpose with full resolution to be better nay reform thy head heart life and tongue and some nay all fins live like an Angel shine like a Sun walk up and down the world like a distressed pilgrim going to another Countrey so that all Christians commend and admire thee die ten thousand deaths lie at the fire-back in hell so many millions of years as there be piles of grasse upon the earth or sands upon the sea-shore or stars in the firmament or motes in the Sun I tell thee not one spark of the wrath of God against thy sin shall be can be quenched by all these duties nor by any of these sorrowes for these are not the blood of Christ It is both unacceptable and unprofitable for thee to approach God either in himself or in thy self I dare not meddle with an absolute God saith Luther Nolo Deum ab olutum Luth. God in himself is a consuming fire but in his Son a loving father Do thou therefore now thou knowest thy self and sin labour to know Jesus Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. 2.2 And count all things dung and drosse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus thy Lord Phil. 3.8 Read and pray and weep and pant and thirst that thou maiest be found in him not having thy own righteousness which is according to the law but that which is through the faith of him the righteousnesse which is of God by faith Phil. 3.9 Take a view of him in the Gospel where he is crucified before thine eyes and behold him displayed in both his natures and all his offices and therein his suitablenesse unto and sufficiency for all the wants and necessities of thy dying soul Doest thou see a cloud of judgments gathering apace and ready to pour down on thy head run to him for shelter he is both a shadow from the heat and a shelter from the storm Is thy conscience wounded with thy sins hasten to the wounds of thy Saviour by his stripes thou maiest be healed Isa 53. Do the murdering pieces of the Laws curses threaten to destroy thee flie like the distressed Dove to the clifts of the rock of ages the bored hands and feet the pierced side of the blessed Redeemer there thy soul may be sure of safety He is the onely Ark wherein thou maiest be saved when the whole world that lyeth in wickedness shall be drowned shall be damned He is the little Zoar whither thou mayst retire and thy soul shall live when fire and brimstone yea hell * Gehenna è caelo Salv. shall be rained from heaven on ungodly ones He is the true City of refuge wherein thou mayst assuredly escape the wrath of God which like the avenger of blood pursueth thee An hearty thankful acceptation of Jesus Christ as he is tendered in the Gospel will at the day of judgement be a plea as acceptable unto God and profitable unto thee as perfect subjection to all the commands of the Law Consider how full his merits are he is en horn of salvation Luke 1.69 i. e. strong to save the strength of the noble beasts lying in their horns * 'T is a folly to think that an Emperors Revenues will not pay a beggars debts Christ hath undertook to satisfie and he hath mony enough to pay Free grace can shew you large accounts and a long bâ—ll cancelled by the blood of Christ Mr. Manton on Jam. p. ult There is no sinner so black but the blood of this Saviour can make white Rev. 7.14 There are some diseases which other Physicians cannot cure but he healeth all diseases All are dangerously but none desperately sick whom he undertaketh Thou owest a vast debt to Justice but the Lord Jesus is an able Surety He is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him Heb. 7.25 O what is it that thou wantest which perfect righteousnesse and infinite meritoriousnesse cannot procure Do'st thou want Remission God forgiveth sin for Christs sake Ephes 4. ult The blood of Jesus Christ his Son clenseth form all sin 1 John 1.7 He was a great sinner as Luther observeth by imputation that thou might'st be innocent through condonation and pardon * Themistocles appeased the anger of K. Admetus by holding the Kings young son in his armes so doth the Christian appease the beholding his Son in the arms of faith Dost thou want reconciliation with God He maketh peace through the blood of his Cross Coloss 1.20 God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself 2 Cor. 5.20 He endured his Fathers frowns and fury that thou might'st enjoy his smiles and favour Dost thou want sanctification His blood is sanctifying as well as justifying Heb. 9.14 He did not only buy off thy score of guilt but also purchast a new stock of grace for his bank-rupt creature to set up with again The oyl of grace was abundantly poured on the Churches head that it might fall down on the skirts and members Of his fulnesse thou mayst receive grace for grace Joh. 1.16 Dost thou want salvation He hath the power and gift of eternal life Joh. 10.28 John 17.24 He is the Authour of eternal salvation Heb. 5.9 Thou mayst have boldnesse through the blood of Jesus to enter into the holy of holies Heb. 10.19 20. He paid an infinite summe to purchase the Fathers house for thine everlasting home What ever thy need be he is able to supply it for he is an universal Treasure which can never be spent a Spring that can never be drawn dry In him dwelleth the fulnesse of the God-head bodily Col. 2.9 Consider also how free his mercy is as well as his merits full Thou mayst drink of the water of life freely Rev. 22.17 If thou wilt buy his benefits thou must leave thy mony behind thee His wine and milk is to be had without mony and without price Isa 55.2 Do not hold off thinking to carry worthinesse to Christ but believe on him and thou mayst fetch worthiness from Christ The same free-grace which gave Christ for thee without thy prayer will at thy desire give Christ to thee Do not alwayes lie poring upon thy unworthiness but if thou art sensible of it and sorrowful for it believe it thou art worthy enough to Divine acceptation though not to Divine satisfaction As his Omnipotency answereth thy weakness and his fulness thy wants so doth his free-grace all thy unworthiness The natural Sun doth not inlighten more freely then this Sun of Righteousness doth enliven all that come under the shadow of his wings Ponder how universal his offers of grace are Jesus Christ with all his merits are tendered to all The proposals of Divine mercy and love are general and universal Go preach the
the message might have been wel-come and death desireable as a passage to eternal life but it 's Thou fool had it been this year or this month nay had it been this week the man might have been fore-warned and fore-armed but it is this night thy soul shall be required of thee Had it been this night thy riches shall be required of thee how harsh would it have sounded in his eares who had no other God but his gold who like a Mole lived in the earth as his element O how hard would it be to part this covetous muck-worm and his Mammon of unrighteousnesse but it is not thy silver but thy soul shall be required of thee Had it been This night thy relations shall be required of thee thy wife and children and all thy kindred shall be required of thee what heavy tidings would it have been to his heart that had had no kindred in heaven with what wringing of hands and watering of cheeks and sighs and sobs would such news have been entertained many an eye would a tender husband and father have cast upon his loving wife and lovely babes and O how would his eye have affected his heart with grief and sorrow to consider that these thriving hopeful plants must be removed into another soil that this near conjugal knot must be untied and he and his dearest relations who had so often and so much rejoyced together so suddenly be separated and that for ever but it is not thy wife that is one flesh with thee but thy Spouse that is a spirit within thee thy soul shall be required of thee Had it been This night all the means of grace shall be required of thee it had been worse then the losse of a limb to him that had had any spiritual life the Ordinances of God to a soul are as the Sun to the world without which notwithstanding all its earthly delights it would be but a place of darknesse and of the shadow of death Matth. 4.16 but it is thy soul the former might have spoken the mans condition very dangerous but this speaks it altogether desperate Thou fool this night thy soul shall he required of thee The former although sad are yet nothing to this not so much as the noise of a podgun to the noise of a Cannon This is the great Ordnance which includes and yet drowns those smaller pieces Couldst thou Ambr. ult pag. 69. saith one upen the fore-cited Text purchase a Monopoly of all the world hadst thou the Gold of the West the Treasures of the East the Spices of the South the Pearls of the North all is nothing to this incarnate Angel this invaluable soul O wretched worldling what hast thou done thus to undo thy soul Was it a wedge of gold an heap of earth an hoard of silver to which thou trustedst see they are gone and thy soul is required Alas poor soul whither must it go to heaven No there is another place for wandring sinners Go ye into everlasting fire prepared for the Divel and his Angels thither must it go with heavinesse of heart into a Kingdome of darknesse a lake of fire a prison of horrible confusion and terrible tortures Reader if thou art not new-born put this case to thy self and ask thy soul what it wil do in such an hour when the grave shall come with an habeas corpus for thy body and the Divel with an habeas animam for thy soul when thy soul shall leave this dwelling of thy body and passe naked of all its comforts into a far countrey where Divels and damned spirits are the inhabitants where screeching yelling and howling is the language where fire and brimstone is the meat and a cup of pure wrath without the least mixture is the drink where weeping and wailing is their calling where a killing death is all their life Assure thy self if thou diest unsanctified thou wilt find far more and worse then all this O my soul saith Bernard what a terrible day shall that be Bern. medita when thou shalt leave this mansion and enter into an unknown Region who can deliver thee from those ramping Lyons who shall defend thee from those hellish monsters Now thou most unworthily undervaluest thy precious soul little caring what flaws by sin thou causest in this Diamond like the cock on the dung-hill thou knowest not the worth of this Jewel but preferrest thy barly-corns before it I have read that there was a time when the Romans did wear Jewels on their shoes thou do'st worse thou tramplest this matchlesse Jewel under thy feet whil'st thy dying body is cloathed and pampered thy ever-living soul is naked and starved some write of Herod I suppose because of that infant massacre It was better to be his swine than his Sonne for when his superstition hindred him from slaying his hogs his ambition helpt him to kill his child I say it were better to be thy beast than thy soul thou canst every morning and evening what ever happen take care that thy beasts be watered and foddered and many times in the day look abroad after them to see what they ail and accordingly take order for their supply and yet O man or rather O brute thou canst let thy soul go an whole day and never feed it with the set meals of prayer Scripture and meditation yea and in an whole day nay it may be an whole week not ask thy soul in good earnest how it doth what it wanteth what sins it hath to be mortified what grace it hath to be bestowed or increased what spiritual necessities to be supplied Reader Is it not so let conscience speak and canst thou read these lines without blushing and heart-breaking that thou shouldest spend more time and strength upon thy beasts than upon that soul which truth it self saith is more worth than a world Matth. 16.26 which is created capable of such an high work as pleasing glorifying and enjoying God and of such an happy reward as the immediate and eternal fruition of and communion with his infinite majesty in heaven Well this soul thus despised when lost though then too late will be esteemed Hell will read thee such a Lecture of thy souls worth that it will make thee understand it and believe it whether thou wilt or no and then thou shalt have time enough in that eternity in which thy soul shall be lost to befool thy self for thy desperate madnesse in gratifying thy bruitish flesh and thus basely neglecting thy soul that heaven-born Spirit Sixthly Thou shalt by death lose the infinitely blessed God this is the losse of losses the misery of miseries the very hell of hell such a loss as there was never the like before it nor ever shall be again after it such a loss as no tongue can express as no heart can conceive yet such a loss as thou shalt know fully when experimentally The four first losses might have been born with comfort and delight by
compleatly miserable but the everlasting duration of them and lo here it is the positive part of thy punishment will be permanent there the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched Mark 9.44 and the privative part also shall be perpetual thou shalt suffer everlasting perdition from the presence of the Lord 2 Thes 1.9 Thou sinnest in thy eternity and God will make thee suffer in his eternity Thou sinnest against an infinite God and therefore thy punishment must be infinite which because it cannot be in regard of intention thy back is not strong enough to bear an infinite stroak therefore it must be in duration Infinite power cannot inflict greater or longer paines than infinite Justice doth call for The debt thou owest to the righteousness of God will be ever paying and never paid and therefore thou shalt not escape out of that prison till thou hast paid the uttermost far thing Matth. 5.23 Ita feri ut se mori sentiat Suer The command of Caius Caligula to the Executioner after he had condemned a malefactor was so to strike that they might feel themselves dying and indure the pains of an enduring death Such will be the everlasting death of the damned they will be ever ever dying and never dead they shall seek death but not find it follow after it but it will free from them Rev. 9.6 The same Author reporteth of one that requested of Tiberius Caesar death rather than long imprisonment Nondum tecum redii in gratiam how he was answered by the Emperour You and I are not yet friends The truth is the punishment there must needs be long yea eternal because God and the sinner shall never be friends In this life God treateth with the soul by his Ambassadours upon terms of peace nay he beseecheth the sinner to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5.21 the carnal man still continueth in his enmity against God walking contrary to him and fighting against him God continueth many a day to some many a year offering peace desiring there may be a league made onely it must be offensive and defensive it must be an holy peace and league against the Devil the world and the flesh upon this the sinner breaks off he will not be an enemy to his old cursed friends now at death this Treaty dieth and the breach then continuing it is irreconcileable for ever Then the King of Kings causeth his terrours to set themselves in array against the sinner and proclaimeth open and eternal war Reader for thy souls sake let me beseech thee to ponder this but one half quarter of an hour every morning that the pain which sin bringeth will be eternal O how may it take off the edge of thy love to thy most pleasing lusts Endlesse misery must needs be easelesse no condition so intolerable as a miserable condition that is unalterable It s a comfort to a woman in travel in the midst of her sharp throws and bitter pangs to think these will have an end the hope of that doth much help her to hold out but wo and alas they whose end is damnation shall have damnation which hath no end It doth much support the Saints under the anger of God that though it be sharp it will be but short his anger endureth but for a moment Psal 30.5 but then will not the heart of the sinner be rent in pieces with rage and despair to know that the wrath of God must abide on him John 3. ult The Egyptians three dayes darknesse was esteemed a sore plague but what will thy punishment O sinner be when thou shalt suffer utter darknesse blacknesse of darknesse for ever Jude v. 12. Ah wounding word ever ever the most cutting word in comparison of it is healing the bitterest word in respect of this is sweet Despair will be the cutting off of all hope and to have hope the anchor of the soul cut off will be the deepest cut in the world then the vessel of the soul will be liable to all storms and tempests imaginable Suppose that one of thy hands were to continue burning in one of our fires as many millions of years as there have been minutes since the Creation couldst thou undergo it with any patience what thinkest thou of it Alas this were a mercy a heaven to the misery of men in hell what wilt thou do when thy whole man shall suffer the vengeance of eternal fire Jude 7. Who can dwell with the devouring fire who can dwell with everlasting burnings Isa 33.14 It is storied of one Roger Bishop of Salisbury that being in prison extreamly tortured live he would not and die he could not truly such will the case be of rebellious ones they shall long for death but it will not come and dig for it more than for hid treasures O how would they rejoyce and be glad if they could finde a grave but a being must be given to them that are in misery and life to the bitter in soul It is called death indeed because 〈◊〉 is neither desired there nor can it properly be said to be enjoyed it is a living death or a dying life such a death as shall never taste of life and such a life as shall never taste of death After the murderer of his soul hath continued in that lake of fire as many thousand years as there are fish in the mighty Ocean and as there are creatures great and small upon the whole earth and as there are stars in the heavens and after this as many millions of ages as there are hours in all the fore-mentioned time yet after all this his torment will not be one moment neerer to an end O eternity eternity eternity what art thou to what shall I liken thee or with what comparison shall I compare thee Thou art like a vast Ocean which hath no banks like an outragious fire which knoweth no bounds like the grave that is never satisfied like the barren womb that never saith It is enough in respect of God thou art like Melchisedec without father without mother having neither beginning of dayes nor end of life In respect of the good like a day which had a morning but shall never have an evening in respect of the bad like a night which had an evening but shall never have a morning In thee it is that the justice and severity of God the sinfulnesse and malignity of sin the deceitfulnesse and vanity of the world the madnesse and desperate folly of sinners will sufficiently be demonstrated In time men are whipped but in thee it is that they are executed In thee it is that men must suffer long for all their abuse of the long-suffering of God In thee it is that the swearer shall have enough of wounds and oaths and blasphemies when he shall have Devils wounding his soul with their fiery darts and when he shall blaspheme the Name of God through extremity of torments In thee it is that the Adulterer will have
you are of his honor that was so tender of your eternal welfare how you testifie your thankfulnesse to him for all the bitter agony and ignominy which he suffered for you You shall shortly never more have the least opportunitie though you would give a thousand worlds for it to do any thing in for Gods glorie your own or others good Work therefore the work of him that sent you into the world while it is the day of your life for the night of death is hastening on you wherein you cannot work Up and be doing as a Christian as a Magistrate and the Lord be with you Sir I have no more to speak to you but that the Hearer of prayers may hear often from you that I may take heed to the ministrie which I have received of the Lord and fulfil it and to assure you that my prayers at the throne of grace shall be that you and your religious Consort may continue to dwell together as fellow heirs of the grace of life and your hopeful Children may be planted with and grow up in grace till they shall be transplanted into the true Paradise the Kingdom of Glorie This through the help of heaven shall be the petition of Your real Servant in the ever blessed Saviour George Swinnocke Febr. 15. 1658. 9. Christian Reader THere are two thing which should be of highest regard with us a serviceable life and a comfortable death and they are both so inseparably conjoyned that in vain do we hope for the one without the other which of these is to be preferred was a doubt which put the Apostle to an Anxious disquisition on the one side there was service on the other side there was gain if he lived he should preach Christ if he dyed he should enjoy Christ and remain with him for ever therefore Paul was at a stand and knew not what to determine Surely he had an holy heart that could thus set duty against enjoyment and think his service worthy to come into competition with his spiritual and eternal interests that which made Paul so indifferent and incurious as to the means was the resolved fixing of his scope his end scope was Christs glory now 't was all one to him how God would use him to such a purpose as a man that is resolved upon a journey taketh the way as he findeth it fair or foul t is enough that it leadeth him to his journeys end so Christ might be glorified either by his Ministry or by martyrdom Paul was indifferent 't was enough that Christ should be glorified none have such an unfeighned respect to Christs glory but those that live in the communion of his life mens tendency is according to the principle by which they are acted carnal men that act by their own life and live upon their own root bring forth fruit to themselves water riseth no higher than its fountain but those that have life from Christ use it for him to them to live is Christ as they live in him and by him so they live for him and to him We need then to take all occasions to press men to get into Christ that they may live in the communion of his life and in the strength and influence of it be carryed out to his glory this is that which will make life serviceable and death sweet and to this we need to be pressed by all kinde of arguments both those which are taken from Gods relation to us as also those which are taken from our expectations from him Rom. 14.8 We are the Lords by every kinde of right and title and therefore owe all manner of service to him even though nothing should come of it but they that do the Lords work will not want his wages though he might require our service out of meer soveraignty yet he condescendeth to propound a reward and that so full and ample that it should ravish our hearts every time we think of it These considerations which I have here loosely discoursed of are notably improved in the ensuing treatise which being communicated to me by a friend of the Author I could not but return it with this Character that 't is a discourse grave and judicious and yet quickened with such warmth and vigor of illustration as that it may be of great use to awaken men unto more seriousness in the great concernments of their souls among which nothing can be more momentous than our living in Christ that we may live to him and then with him for evermore this being signified I leave thee to the work it self which I cannot but judge to proceed from one both of a good head and heart and profess my self Thine in the service of the Gospel Tho. Manton THE PREFACE and EPISTLE TO THE READER Especially of the Parish of Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire and Borden in Kent as also the occasion of this Treatise I Have sometime considered with my self not without some remorse and grief of spirt the multitudes of men and women that even in those places where the Word of God is plainly and powerfully taught run headlong in the broad way which leadeth to destruction And indeed if my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night though every tear were a tear of blood I could never sufficiently bewail the slain of the daughter of my people of that Parish to which the providence of God hath called me That the lying vanities of this world should by most be so greedily pursued and the reall mercies relating to a better world so wretchedly despised that a brutish flesh which must shortly be food for wormes should be so highly prized and constantly gratified and an angelical spirit the soul which must live for ever so basely slighted and unworthily neglected that every soul-damning lust should be so heartily embraced and the soul-saving Lord but coldly and complementally entertained that the road to Hell should be so exceedingly filled and the way to Heaven almost wholly unoccupied Surely this ought to be for a bitter lamentation and O what sea of blood is enough to bemoan this horrid wickednesse It hath seemed to me therefore a matter worthy of diligent enquiry what special Malefactors should be indicted for these many soul-mischeifs and soul-murders which are committed amongst us And truly by that acquaintance which I have with the Word of God and experience of the soul-affairs of men I find though many Accessaries might be named that ignorance ought to be arraigned and condemned as one of the principals The people perish for want of knowledge Hos 4.6 Inner darkness is the beaten path to utter darkness to the blackness of darkness for ever Men in this mist of ignorance like ships run upon those rocks which split them eternally As the Indians prefer every toy and trifle before their Mines of Gold so they every sensuall sinful pleasure every foolish perishing creature before the beautiful Image of God the
eyes that thou mayst see the wonderful things contained in his law Psal 119.18 If thou cryest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasure then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God For the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding Prov. 2.3 4 5 6. 3. Take heed of sinning against those commands which thou knowest Hold not the truth in unrighteousness Do not wanton away the light least God give thee up to judiciary darkness Thou knowest thou shouldst pray with thy family and in secret make conscience of the Lords day instruct thy children forbear drunkenness swearing lying uncleanness and the like be sure thou do not shut up this knowledge in thy conscience and deny it in thy conversation lest as a candle pent up in a dark lanthorn it swail out quickly If any man will do my will he shall know my doctrine whether it be of God or no John 7.17 To practice what you know is the way to know what to practice Knowledge is the mother of obedience it breeds it and obedience is the nurse of knowledge it feedeth and nurtureth it if thou improvest thy little stock well doubt not but God will adde to it and encrease it leave no means untried for the obtaining this purchase I have if thou belongest to our Parish offered thee to instruct thee to my power in the mysteries of Christ appointed also days for that end it may be thou art one of those many that ate too old to learn that scorn to be taught I would ask thee one question and think of it Art thou not too old to be saved Dost thou not scorn to go to heaven Surely thou dost by contemning the way thou scornest the end Well take heed thou dost not die without knowledge for if thou dost all the world cannot keep thee one quarter of an hour out of hell and then thou wilt have time enough to befool thy self for refusing a good offer and willfully rejecting through thy pride those things which concerned thine eternal peace I shall conclude this head with the words of that eminent and pious writer Mr. Gurnal Arm 1 part p. 239 240. How long saith he may a poor Minister sit in his study before any of the ignorant sort will come upon that errand i. e. to learn the knowledge of God themselves Lawyers have their Clients and Physicians their Patients these are sought after called up at midnight for counsel but alas the soul which is more worth then raiment and body too that is neglected and the Minister seldome thought one till both these be sent away Perhaps when the Physitian gives them over for dead then we must come and close up their eyes with comfort which were never opened to see Christ in his truth or else be counted cruel because we will not sprinkle them with this holy water and anoint them for the Kingdom of heaven though they know not a step of the way that leads to it Ah poor wretches what comfort would you nave us speak to those to whom God himself speaks terror Is heaven ours to give to whom we please or is it in our power to alter the laws of the most High and save those whom he condemns Do you remember the curse that is to fall upon his head that maketh the blind to wander out of the way Deut. 27.18 What curse then would be our portion if we should confirm such blind souls as are quite out of the way to heaven encouraging them to go on and expect to reach heaven at last when God knows their feet stand in those paths that lead to eternal death No 't is written we cannot God will not reverse it you may read your very names amongst those damned souls which Christ comes in flaming fire to take vengeance on 2 Thess 1.8 And therefore in the fear of God let this provoke you of what age or sex rank or condition soever you be to labor for the saving knowledge of God in Christ whom to know is life eternal John 17.3 Secondly Do not rest in bare knowledge but endeavor to get thy will affections and heart renewed a clear head must be accompanied with a clean heart saving knowledge is ever a sanctifying knowledge Content not thy self with any thing short of regeneration and the power of godliness Master Robert Bolton Mr. Boltons life â—y Master â—gshaw when dying told his children That he verily believed none of them durst think to meet him at the great tribunal in an unregenerate estate So I am confident that none of you can with any comfort nay without unspeakable horror and sorrow meet me at the Bar of Christ in your natural estates O how sad will it be for thee that art now asleep in sin to awake like the Jailor at the midnight of death and to find this inward change this new creation this life in Christ missing what an heart quake will possess thee how pale and trembling wilt thou spring into the presence of Christ in the other world for thy particular judgement Consider thy profession will not serve turn the storm of death will wash out all colours of profession that are not laid in the oyle of renewing grace Mat. 25.8 Thy priviledges will not do it circumcision is nothing nor uncircumcision but a new creature Gal. 6.15 Thou mayst enjoy Scripture and Sabbaths and Sacraments and many seasons of grace and hell at last Nay the higher thy exaltation in regard of these priviledges if thou diest unconverted the greater thy condemnation will be None go to such Chambers of utter darkness as they that are lighted thither with the torches of Ordinances Heathen will keep holy day in hell in comparison of those that are now lifted up to heaven and perish If the sweetest wine make such sharp vinegar and the cold lead when melted be so hot and scalding how pure and weighty will that wrath be which shall be extracted out of abused love and mercy Grace is the sweetest friend but the bitterest enemy If thou waste the riches of grace God will recover out of thee riches of glory Thy performances also can be no infallible evidence of thy good estate The Pharisees prayed fasted did many of them abound in outward acts of charity righteousness and holiness which are commanded by God and must be minded by all that will be saved and yet Christ telleth us expresly That except our righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven Mat. 5.20 There was in them aâ— in the young man one thing wanting and that was the regeneration of their natures the actual predominancy of the interest oâ— God and Christ in their hearts above all interest of the flesh and world I beseech thee therefore make sure of the new
birth without which it is impossible for thee to escape the second death I have in the third use of this Treatise endeavoured to awakeâ— thee to and to direct thee about this great work as in the first use I have discovered the unspeakable endless misery of them that dye before it be done Those which had the Sudor Anglicus or sweating sicknesâ— dyed assuredly if suffered to sleep those were their best friends that kept them waking though they possibly had little thank for it It may be thou mayst think I am too sharpe but truely the wound is deep dangerous yea deadly and therefore though I put thee to pain by lancing it I am forced to it otherwise thou wilt not be cured Sin and hell and holiness and sanctification are other manner of things then the sleepy world dreameth of The Lord give thee an heart to obey his counsel in order to thy conversion and then I am sure thou wilt have cause to give him thanks that I would not let thee sleep quietly on a bed that was in a flame nor in an condition that was next door to infinite misery and eternal desperation Thirdly exalt godliness in thy family If once Christ be chief in thy heart I am confident he will to thy utmost power be so in thy house that thou art really which thou art relatively Labor that thy children and servants may know and serve God Dwell with thy wife as a man of knowledge as heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindred 1 Pet. 3.7 Bring up thy children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Eph. 6 4. Teach thy servants their duty to God and their own souls Consider these are the laws of the righteous God and ere long when thou shalt leave all the dying and lying vanities of this world thou must give an account in the other world how thou hast obeyed them God hath committed a great trust to thee even the charge of the souls of all in thy family and doth not thine heart tremble to think of soul-blood of soul-murder I assure thee thou mayst be as truely and really guilty of their deaths and damnations by starving them as by poisoning them I mean by not instructing chatechizing and principling them in the things of God by not praying with them and over seeing that they mind the worship of God as in making them drunk and teaching them to steal and swear For thy children Dost thou not know that they are born children of wrath and heirs of hell and canst thou be quiet till thou seest in them some signs and hopes of regeneration an interest in Christ and thereby a right to heaven When thou readest of Herod how he murdered poor children thou condemnest him thou thinkest Ah hard-hearted Herod But dost not thou do ten thousand times worse in murdering the souls and bodies of thy dear children for ever Ah hard-hearted ah bloody father Herod was a man of bowels a merciful man to thee Is it any wonder to hear saith one of that ship sunk or dasht upon a rock that was put to sea without card of compass nor is it a wonder to hear of children sinking in perdition who are thrust into the world which is a sea of temptations without any knowledge of God and their duty One would think every time thou readest and hearest of the extremity and eternity of hells torments of the multitudes that must undergo them of the few even of those within the visible Church that shall be saved and of the difficulty of obtaining salvation that thy loyns should tremble and thy joynts smite together that thy head yea heart should ake for fear any of thy dear children should be among those many that must drink that cup of the Lords pure wrath that thou shouldst be restless night and day in wrastling with â—od and instructing them in using all means to prevent their endless ruine surely if thou hadst a spark of true love to thy children thus it would be with thee And for thy servants unless thou art careful that they serve the Lord they are but little beholden to thee for thy service thou givest them possibly food and outward things convenient but dost thou not do as much for thy cattel And is it thinkest thou enough to do no more for those souls which must live in unspeakable pain or pleasure for ever then for thy beasts If he that provideth not for the bodies of his family be worse then an Infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 surely he that provideth not for their souls is kin to a devil say not they are stubborn and will not be taught Hast not thou power in thy hands either to teach them or turn them out of doors Let none serve thee that will not serve God Thou wilt not keep a servant that knoweth not how to do thy work at least if he will not learn and then follow it with diligence Now let thy conscience be judge Is not Gods work the pleasing and glorifying his infinite majesty of far greater concernment than thy greatest and weightest work and darest thou keep one that neither knoweth how to do it nor will learn Follow the man after Gods own heart Ps 101.2.9 I will walk within my house with a perfect heart Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me he that walketh in a perfect way he shall serve me It is said of Constantine that in this he was truely great that he would have his whole Court gathered together and cause the Scriptures to be read to them and instruction to be given them from the Word of God Besides if thou didst but regard thy own temporal good thou wouldst instruct thy servants and children in spiritual things for they that are unfaithful to their Master and father in heaven will be unfaithful to their master and father on earth They that make no conscience of their duty to God but rob him of his service and worship will never make conscience of their duty to thee but if they have opportunity will rob thee of thy time service and goods Be sure that thou performe family duties as praying reading and the like morning and evening do not serve the flesh and the world all day and then put God off with a few cold sleepy petitions at night the command is Pray continually 1 Thess 5.17 Daniel was at it three times a day Dan. 6.10 David seven times a day Psal 119.164 Gods mercies are renewed on thee every morning and should not thy prayers and praises be renewed every morning Doth not the preservation of thy family every night deserve family acknowledgement in the morning Wearisome nights are appointed to others the beds of others prove their graves thou and thine might have awaken in hell doth this distinguishing mercy deserve no thanks Is not thy family every day lyable to many dangers both bodily and spiritual doth it not need pitying sanctifying
souls of them to whom the Sermâ— was preached and of the Parish whâ— the Lord had committed to my chaâ—â— I considered with my self that by râ—son of my sickly and infirm body I â— not likely to continue long with tâ— people to which the providence of â— did at first joyn me and from whicâ— far greater things could never divorce â— and therefore it might not be needâ— to leave them some testimony of my â— fained desires of their eternal welfaâ— Who knoweth what this mean piâ— may do if the divine power pleasâ— accompany it Possibly out of the â— that is here sown when the husbâ—â— man is dead an harvest may be â—ed of glory to God and good to souls Reader If thou gain any spiritual profit by it let God have the praise and let him be remembred in thy prayers who is Thy Servant for Christs sake George Swinnocke Febr. 22. 1658. 9. THE Contents TWo great Lessons to be learned of all page 1 The division of the Chapter p. 2 3. The meaning of the words p. 4 5. Doct. They that have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death p. 6. What is implyed in To me to live is Christ p. 6. 1. Christ the principle of a Christians life p. 6 7 8. 2. Christ the pattern p. 9 10. 3. Christ the Comfort p. 11. 12 13 14. 4. Christ the end p. 15. Wherein a Christian is a gainer by death p. 19. 1. He gaineth a freedom from all evil ibi 1. From the evil of sin p. 20. 1. From the commission of it p. 20 21 22. 2. From temptations to it p. 24 25 26. 2. From the evil of suffering p. 27 28. 1. From ignominy in his name p. 29 30. 2. From infirmities in his body p. 31 32. 3. From sorrow in his soul p. 33 34. 2. He gaineth the fruition of all good p. 3â— 1. The society of perfect Christians p 36 37. 2. Nearest communnion with Jesus Christ p. 38 39 40. 3. The enjoyment of the blessed God p. 42 43 44. which shall be Full p. 47 48. Immediate p. 49 50 51. 1. Use by way of Information The difference betwixt the estates of the good and bad at death p. 54. to 63. 1. The sinner loseth by death p. 64. 1. All his carnal comforts his relations wealth honor mirth and that for ever p. 65. to 68. The difference between a Saints loss of outward things by death and a sinners p. 68. to 73. 2. All the means of grace p. 73. to 78. 3. The society of all the Saints p. 78. to 82. 4. All his hopes of heaven p. 82. to 87. 5. His precious soul p. 87. to 95. 6. The blessed God p. 95. to 102. 2. The sinner gaineth by death 1. Fullness of sin p. 102. to 105. 2. Fullness of suffering In regard of intension p. 105. to 111. In regard of duration p. 111. to 122. 2. Use by way of Examination To try our title to happiness p. 122. to 127. 1. Arguments to inforce this use 1. It is easie and ordinary to mistake p. 127. to 132. 2. True Christians are very few p. 132. to 139. 3. The benefit of a faithful tryal p. 139. to 144. 2. Marks of a true Christian 1. To him to live is Christ 1. Is Christ the principle of thy life p. 144. to 147. 2. Is Christ the pattern of thy life p. 147. to 150. 3. Is Christ the comfort of thy life p. 150. to 152. 4. Is Christ the end of thy life p. 152. to 155. 2. He hath the Spirit of God p. 155 156. which is 1. A purifying Spirit p. 156. to 160. 2. Enabling to pray p. 160. to 163. Fervently p. 163. to 166. Frequently p. 166. to 170. Counsel to a Christian that upon tryal findeth his estate good p. 170. to 173. To him that findeth his estate bad p. 173 174. 3. Use by way of Exhortation To Labor for this spiritual life and thereby for this gain p. 175. to 180. Rich men should labor for it p. 180. to 185. Poor men should p. 185. to 190. Two requests to all that desire this spiritual life 1. Req To set about it speedily p. 190. to 195. 1. Hath not God waited on thee long enough already p. 195. to 198. 2. Hast thou not served sin long enough p. 198. 3. Thou wouldst not defer things of lesse concernment p. 199. 4. The longer thou delayest the farther thou wandrest from God and happiness p. 200. 5. Thou canst not promise thy self the next hour p. 201. 6. Art thou sure God will accept thee hereafter p. 202. 2. Req To set about it seriously and with all thy might p. 203. to 208. Inforced by a fourfold supposition 1. Sup. Thou hadst seen the terror of the day of judgement p. 208. to 213. â— Sup. Thou wert sure to dye this day moneth p. 213. to 217. â— Sup. Thou couldst speak with thy carnal sloathful neighbors in hell p. 217. to 218. 4. Sup. Thou hadst seen the Majesty and purity of the infinite God p. 219. to 222. Directions for the attaining this spiritual life 1. Direct Labor for the knowledge of thy sins and misery p. 224. to 234. Mark that six sheets are false figured in this place in the book 2. Direct Get thy heart truly affected with and throughly humbled for thy sins and misery p. 234. to 271. 3. Direct When thy heart is humbled cast thy self wholly and onely upon the merits of Jesus Christ p. 171. to 186. 4. Direct Dedicate thy self and all thou hast to the service commands and glory of Christ p. 186. to 200. 5. Direct Be diligent in reading hearing and meditating on the word of God p. 200. to 208. 6. Direct Be frequent and fervent at the throne of grace p. 253. to 263. Motives to labor for this spiritual life 1. It is the most honorable life p. 263. to 267. 2. It is the most comfortable life p. 267. to 275 3. It is the most profitable life p. 275. Conclusion of this large use to the unconverted p. 287. 4. Use by way of consolation to all that live spiritually p 288. It is comfortable 1. Against persecution from the world p. 290. 2. Against the temptations of the devil p. 294. 3. Against the corruptions of thy own heart p. 297. 4. Against our own deaths p. 300. 5. Againgst the death of our godly friends and relations p. 303. It is further comfortable if we consider 1. The excellency of this gain which will appear p. 305. 1. By the foretastes of it p. 306. 2. By the price paid for it p 309. 3. By the titles given to it p. 311. 2. The certainty of this gain p. 315. It is ensured by promise ibid. By witness by oath by seals p. 317. 3. The eternity of it p. 318 REader I desire thee to excuse the unsuitableness of some of the page titles that being the work of the Printers I intended a running Title according to the several heads which
Piscator will by no means grant it to be the mind of the Spirit in this place In the words you may see the sign of a Saint to him to live is Christ and his solace to him to die is gain his holy description in the former his happy condition in the latter The Text being thus explained affordeth this truth taking both parts of it together Doctrine That such as have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death He that liveth in Christ on earth shall live with Christ in heaven Where the soul hath the seed of holinesse it shall reap an harvest of happinesse The Apostle when he summeth up the estate of a believer counteth death as a part of his riches Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death all are yours 1 Cor. 3.22 and ye are Christs he that can say I am Christs may as truly say Death is mine If thou canst say I am Christs servant I am Christs Subject thou mayest say Death will be my preferment death will be my advancement For the Explication of this doctrine I shall shew first what is meant by that phrase to me to live is Christ and secondly wherein it will appear that death to such a man iâ— gain Four things in the phrase To me to live is Christ For the former To me to live is Christ may imply these four things 1. Christ is the principle of my life All living creatures have an inward principle by which they live and according to which they act Plants have a principle of vegetation beasts have a principle of sense Ad vitam spiritualem quod attinet certum est adnos derivari exiguos quosdam rivulos ipsum autem fontem in Christo latere Daven in Col. 3.3 men have a principle of reason and their lives are different answerable to their different principles But a Christian hath an higher principle that is Christ dwelling in his heart by faith Ephes 3.17 and thence it is that he lives an higher life As the body liveth by its union with the soul so the Christian liveth by his union with Jesus Christ Christ is the fountaine and spring of his life the soul of his soul and the life of his life I live saith the Apostle Gal. 2.20 yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Sonne of God As the branches they live but it is by the root they derive sap from it and so live by it So the believer he liveth spiritually but it is by Christ he deriveth the sap of grace from this true Vine and so liveth by him The water in the Rivers doth not more depend upon the Ocean nor the light in the air upon the Sun than the life of a Christian dependeth on Jesus Christ And therefore the Holy Ghost telleth us He that hath the Son 1 Joh. 5.12 hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life I have sometime read that the Lioness bringeth forth her whelps dead till after some time the lion roareth aloud and then they live This is certain every man and woman is born dead dead to God dead in sins and trespasses till this lion of rhe tribe of Judah uttereth his voice then they arise from the dead and Christ giveth them life When the soul like the body of Lazarus hath been dead so long that it stinketh and is unsavory when it hath been many dayes nay many years rotting in the grave of corruption then if Jesus Christ calleth effectually Lazarus come forth sinner come forth of thy carnal unregenerate estate then and not till then the soul heareth the voice of the Son of God and liveth Grace is of a divine birth Joh. 3.3 it is the seed of God John 3.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Except a man be born from above 1 Joh. 3.9 an unction from the holy One 1 Joh. 2.27 called dew which is of a coelestial extraction Psal 110.3 and light 1 Joh. 1.7 the fountain of water is in the earth but the fountain of light is in the Heavens Non nascimur sed renascimur christiani The web of godlinesse was never spun out of mans own bowels As none can see the Sun but by its own light so none can with an eye of faith see the Sun of righteousnesse but by the light of grace derived from him We are his workmanship saith the Apostle created in Jesus Christ unto good works His workmanship not only in our natural capacity as men as creatures and in our civil capacity as rich or poor high or low but also in our spiritual capacity as Christians as new creatures Secondly To me to live is Christ i. e. Christ is the pattern of my life my life is not onely from him but according to him Christ is the rule according to which I walk the copy after which I write As sin and disobedience is a resemblance of the first so grace and holinesse is a resemblance of the second Adam True christianity consisteth in nothing but our conformity to Sanctitas dicitur per quam mens scipsam suos actâ—â— applicat Deo So the Schoolâ—e and imitation of Jesus Christ And indeed as the child in generation receiveth from the parent member for member part for part and the paper from the press word for word letter for lettter and the wax from the seal figure for figure So in regeneration Christ is formed in the soul and it receiveth according to its proportion grace for grace One end of Christs incarnation and life in the flesh was to set an exact pattern for our lives in the spirit He left us an example that we shoeld follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 All the actions of Christ are instructions to a Christian His actions were either moral or mediatory In both the Christian imitates him In the former doing as he did exercising the same graces performing the same duties resisting the same temptations forbearing the same corruptions In the latter by similitude dying to sin as he died for sin rising to a spiritual life as he rose again to a natural life None indeed can parallel the life of Christ but every new creature imitateth Christ in his life he walketh as Christ walked Philip. 2 1 Joh. 2.6 The same mind is in all the Saints so far as they are regenerated that was in Christ the same will the same affections they love what he loveth they loath what he loatheth what pleaseth him pleaseth them what grieveth his spirit grieveth their spirits As the wicked are like their father the Devil unholy as he is unholy so the children of Christ are like their everlasting Father holy as he is holy onely with this difference in Christ there is a fulnesse in them a measure in Christ pureness in them a mixture Thirdly To me to live is Christ i. e. Christ is the comfort of
there are some diseases which are called opprobria medici because they cannot cure them but none are opprobria Christi he healeth all whom he undertaketh If the higher an house standeth on earth it be esteemed the healthier surely then the highest heavens must be a pure air and all health Revel 20.4 there shall be no more death nor any more pain for the former things are past away So that every christian that dieth in the faith how diseased soever he were before shall then immediately as in the Gospel be made every whit whole John 7.23 Thirdly As death will free the believer from diseases in his body so also from sorrows in his soul The christian liveth upon earth as in a valley of tears and often mingleth his drink with weeping As he is a man he is born to sorrows as the sparks fly upward he cometh into the world crying and goeth out groaning and his whole life from the womb to the tomb is in some regard a living death or a dying life But as he is a christian he drinketh deepest of this cup of sorrows the world is a tender mother to her children but a step-mother to strangers Sometimes the afflictions of the good cause high-water in the Saints heart by the rivers of Babylon he sits down and weepeth when he remembreth Zion Psal 137.1 He cannot but sympathize with the miseries of his fellow-members as being himself in the body Sometimes the transgressions of the bad cloath him with mourning like Croessus son though dumb before yet he cryeth out when his father is wounded As with a sword they pierce his bones when they blasphemously say unto him Psal 42.10 Where is thy God rivers of tears run down his eyes because the wicked forsake Gods Law Psal 119.136 Sometimes his own corruptions like so many daggers stab him to the heart that he should abuse such an Ocean of unspeakable love by so unsuitable a heart and so unanswerable a life He confesseth his iniquities and is sorry for his sins Psal 38.18 Sometimes divine desertions darken and cloud all his comforts When God hides his face he is troubled Psal 30.7 As there are no joyes like to those joyes wherewith God reviveth him in the day of his favour so there is no sorrow like to those sorrows wherewith God depresseth him in the day of his anger Thus his life is a circle of sorrows but death will be the Funeral of his sorrows and resurrection of his joyes now he soweth in tears but then he shalâ— reap in joy The day of death is a Saints Marriage-day Sampsons wife indeed wepâ— on her wedding-day Judg. 14.16 but when the soul which in this life is contracted shall at death be solemnly espoused and more neerly conjoyned unto Jesus Christ all tears shall be wiped from its eyes there shall be no more sorrow Revel 21.4 At that Marriage-day Christ will turn all water into wine all mourning into mirth all sighing into singing and cause the bones which he hath broken to rejoyce Now the Saints sorrows are not perfect sorrows non dantur purae tenebrae to the believer it shineth and showreth at the same time he sorroweth not as they which have no hope but his joy at death shall be perfect joy fulness of joy Psal 16. ult and permanent joy when they shall see Christ at death their hearts shall rejoyce and their joy shall no man take from them John 16.22 then the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isa 35. ult So much for the privative gain of a christian by death or his freedome from evil There is a second thing which is positive Adeâ—pt â—o omnium bonoruâ— and that is the fruition of all good which a believer shall gain by death and in this Head I shall observe these three gradations First a believer by death shall gain the company of perfect Christians Death wil exempt him from all commerce with sinners and teach him fully the meaning of that article The communion of Saints In the field of this world the tares and the wheat grow together but in that heavenly Garner they are parted asunder There is no treacherous Judas among the Apostles no covetous Demas among the Disciples no Amorites to be prickes in the eyes and thorns in the sides of the Israelite no bestial Sodomite to vex righteous Lot with their unclean conversation no flattering Doeg sets his foot in that heavenly Sanctuary David doth not there complain Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace Psal 120.4 5. nor Isaiah that he dwelleth among a people of unclean lips Isa 6.5 nor Elijah that he is left alone Hell holdeth none but sinners heaven hath onely Saints He that dieth in the Lord goeth to the congregation of the first-born to the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And questionlesse the sweet company will be part of our felicity If Platinus the Philosopher could say Let us make haste to our Countrey there are our parents there are all our friends and if Cicero the Orator could say O praeclaruÌ„ diem cùm ad illud animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar Cic de Senect O what a brave day will that be when I shall go to the councel and company of happy souls to my Cato and other Roman Worthies How much better will it be with the Christian when he wall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven when he shall leave the rout and rabble of wicked ones and be admitted into the society of all that died in the faith and be joyfully welcomed by the melodious quire of Angels and be heartily embraced by the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles yea all the Saints Surely if ever thar Proverb were true it is here The more the merrier The fair streams there will never be drawn dry though it be divided into many channels the musick there is not the lesse harmonious because many hear it nor the light of the Sun of righteousness the lesse pleasant because many see it and O what a gain will this be to enjoy the company of them that are holy If Aaron when he met Moses on earth was glad at his heart certainly there was greater joy at their meeting in heaven If David placed all his delight in the Saints here below when they shined a little with the light of purity like the Moon and had their spots in them what delight doth he take in them above now they have perfect purity and shine like the Sun in the firmament of their father Matth. 13.43 If it were so lovely a sight to see Solomon in his rags of mortality that the Queen of Sheba came so far to behold it what will it be to see him in his
he shall eat bread in the Kingdome of God They are before the Throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them they shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat For the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters Rev. 7.15.16 17. Observe Reader I say a Christian shall gain by death Immediate fruition of God a full immediate fruition of God now the Saint drinketh of the waters of life and they are pleasant though through the Conduits and Cisterns of Ordinances but with what joy will he draw water immediately out of the Well of salvation Dulcius â—x ipso fonte c. We read in Joshua 5.12 when Israel came to Canaan Manna ceased and they did eat of the fruits of the Land While the Saint is in the Wildernesse of this world he needeth and feedeth on the Manna of the Word Sacraments Prayer and the like but when death shall land him at that place of which Canaan was but a type the Manna of Ordinances shall cease he shall eat the fruits of that Land Ordinances are necessary for and suitable to our state of imperfection Jacob drove his flocks as they were able to go so doth Christ his sheep Here we are in a state of uncleanenesse and therefore want water in Baptisme to wash us saith an Eminent Divine in a state of darknesse and therefore want the light of the Word to direct us in a state of wearinesse and therefore want a Lords day of rest to refresh us in a state of weaknesse and therefore want bread in the Supper to strengthen us in a state of sorrow and therefore want wine to comfort us in a state of beggery and therefore want prayer to fetch some spiritual alms from the beautiful Gate of Gods Temple Whil'st the Saint is as a child he thinks as a child speaks as a child understands as a child but when he shall come to be a perfect man he shall put away these childish things when every earthly member shall be mortified and the body of death wholly destroyed when the faculties of the soul shall be enlarged and the sanctification of the inner man perfected when the rags of mortality shall be put off and grace swallowed up in glory The Sun shall be no more thy light by day nor the Moon thy light by night but the Lord thy God thine everlasting light and thy God thy glory Isa 60.19 Apostles Prophets Pastours Teachers are for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the body of Christ no longer then till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ Ephes 4.11.12 13. When God shall be all in all then and not till then Ordinances will be nothing at all When the Saint comes to his journeys end he may throw away his staffe Now how much will this adde to the former that the Christian shall without ordinances enjoy God! How lovely is the face of God though it be but in the glasse of the Gospel 2 Cor. 3.18 this was the one thing which David begg'd that he might dwell in the house of the Lord to see the beauty of his face Psal 27.4 Ah how lovely will he be when the Christian shall see him face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 If it be so good to draw neer to God on earth Psal 73. ult and if they are blessed that watch at Wisdomes gates and wait at the posts of her doors Prov. 8.34 how good will it be to draw neer to God in heaven and how blessed are they that wait not at the door but dwell in that house How pleasant will it be for the soul when it's eyes shall be strengthened to see God as he is without the spectacles of Ordinances We esteem that honey sweetest which is suckt immediately out of the comb though hony out of a dish is sweet and we do with more delight eat that fruit which we gather ourselvs from the tree than we do that which is brought to us through others hands The enjoyment of God is so sweet in the dish of a Duty that a Christian would sooner lose the best friend he hath than it But O how sweet will it be in the comb of immediate communion This fruit is very delightful and pleasant as it is conveyed through the hands of Ministers though the liquor will sente of the cask but O with what delight Christian canst thou read it and thy heart not warmed with joy with what pleasure wilt thou with thine own hands gather this fruit from the Tree of life that standeth in the midst of Paradise Rev. 22. Thus I have given thee a little of that great gain which a Saint hath by death death will free him ftom all evil both of sin and suffering it will give him the fruition of ali good in the enjoyment of perfect Saints and the blessed Saviour and in full immediate communion with the infinite God who is blessed and blessing his for ever This is the heritage of a righteous man from God and this is the portion of his cup thus shall it be done to the man whom the King of heaven delights to honour There is but one thing more required to make the Christian perfectly happy and that is the eternity of all this but I shall speak to that in the last use I now proceed to the application of the Point The first use which I shall make of this Doctrine shall be by way of information If such as have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death it informeth us of the difference betwixt the deaths of the sinner and the Saint the one is an unspeakable gainer the other an unconceivable loser by death Death to the good is the gate through which they go into the kingdome of heaven death to the bad is the trap-door through which they fall into hell The godly dyeth as well as the wicked but the wicked man dieth not so well as the godly The metal and the drosse go both into the fire but the metal is refined and the drosse consumed As the cloud in the wildernesse had a light side to the Israelite but a dark side to the Egyptian so death hath nothing but light and comfort for the Israel of God nothing but darknesse and sorrow for the sinful Egyptians Death to every one is a messenger sent from the Lord of life it cometh to the regenerate as the young Prophet to Jehu I have an errand to thee O Captain and what was his errand he poured the oil on his head saying Thus saith the Lord I have anointed thee King over Israel 2 Kings 9.5 6. It is a messenger from God to call
Kingdome which the holy shall immediately upon their deaths enter into but what is all this to thee when thou must be without it for ever thou mayst see Abram afar off and Lazarus in his bosome but between him and thee there will be a great gulf As a stranger thou mayst hear the last Will and Testament of Christ read and therein the fair rich and large portions which he hath bequeathed to his children John 17.24 Luke 12.32 but not the least mention made of any good for thee look from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation and see if there be one good word spoken to thee whil'st thou art in thy natural estate Moses like thou mayst by the prospective of Scripture have a Pisgah sight of Palestine of that good Land flowing with milk and hony but as God is true if thou diest in unregeneracy thou shalt never enjoy one foot of it The worst of a Saint is past when he dyeth but thy worst O sinner is to come there are some dregs in the bottome which thou art yet to drink down thou hast thy good things here and he his evil things but at death he is comforted and thou art tormented He hath all his hell upon earth his heaven is to come thou hast all thy heaven on earth and thy hell is to come when thou passest into another world the hell of a Saint is an easie hell But ah how hot is that hel in hel how fiery is that furnace how how terrible those torments I may conceive somewhat the damned feel most but no tongue can expresse them But it may be Friend thou art one that thrivest in this world and therefore dost not trouble thy head much lesse thy heart with the things of another world thou art unwilling to put a spoonful of those thoughts into thy sauce least it should make thy meat unsavory it would mar thy mirth and spoile thy sports As Sigismund the Emperor did not love the pronunciation of the Greek Zeta because it represented the gnashing teeth of a dying man so thou art resolved to banish such enemies as thou thinkest out of thy coasts and like a bear to go down that steep hill of death backward But know thou O man that whether thou wilt consider of thy death before-hand or no it is hastening upon thee though thou puttest it farre from thee whether thou wilt or no it draweth nigh to thee the ship moveth not so fast in the waters nor the Sun in the heavens as thou art hastening towards thy long thine everlasting home and then death will bring thee up a reckoning for all thy sweet morsels merry meetings time and talents whatsoever believe it then thou wilt have sowre sauce for all thy sweet-meats thy presumption will prove but like Hamans banquet before execution What advantage then will thy suni-shiny morning of common mercies bring thee when as on Sodome it will be followed with flakes of fire and brimstone before night Dost thou not know that when the wicked flourish it is that they may be destroyed for ever Psal 92.7 The higher thou ascendest on this ladder the greater thy fall when death turneth thee off thou art but ripening for ruine and fatting on earth to fry in hell all the while thou art flourishing in a course of sinning nay thou mayest be much nearer hell then thou art aware of The mettal when it shineth brightest in the fire is nearest melting thou like a candle mayst give a blaze when thou art going out of the world into blacknesse of darknesse for ever The Hawk flieth high and is as highly prized being set upon a Pearch and set out with the gingling bells of encouragement and carried on his Masters fist but being once dead and pitched over the Pearch is cast upon the dunghill as good for nothing The Hen scrapes in the dust nothing rewarded while she liveth but being dead is brought as a choice dish to her Masters Table Thus wicked men in this life are set in high places godly men lie groveling with their mouths in the dust but being dead the former is cast into hell the latter brought to Heavens Table But that I may awaken thy conscience O secure sinner and make thee look about thee whil'st there is time and hope if the gracious and powerful God please to assist I shall give thee an estimate of the sinners losses by death by which thou mayest see what a difference there is between the death of the titular and the real Christian And here Reader thou must help me with thy conceptions for I shall come infinitely short in my expressions As none can endure it so none can declare it for who knoweth the power of Gods wrath Psa 90.11 The oratour when he would describe the violent death of the Crosse doth it by an Aposiopesis What saith he shall I say of the death of the Crosse Quid dicam in crucem tollere Tull. much more cause have I to speak so of this death What shall I say of this eternal death 1. By death thou shalt lose all thy earthly delights and carnal contentments The table of thy life possibly is richly spread with variety of outward enjoyments riches relations honours pleasures beauty and bravery but death will come in with a voider and take all away It is called an uncloathing 2 Cor. 5.4 and indeed it wil strip thee naked of all such garments and ornaments Thine eye shall no more see good Job 7.7 i. e. the good things of this life they will all die with thee as to thy use and comfort It is a doleful expression of Abram to Dives Thou hadst or thou receivedst thy good things in thy life-time Luk. 16.25 O what a cutting word was that to his heart when he was passed into another world Remember there was a time when thou and they were joyned together but now ye are parted for ever to have been happy Miserum est fuisse felicem was no small aggravation of his misery It is with thee while in this world as it was with the Jews in the Vineyards and fields of their Neighbours pluck and eat they might while there but pocket up and carry away they might not Deut. 23.24 25. Death is the great thief which will rob thee of all thy riches The wealthiest Emperor the next moment after death hath no more than the poorest beggar As thou camest forth of thy mothers wombe naked thou shalt return to go as thou camest and shalt take nothing in thy hand of all thy labour Eccles 5.15 That gold which thou lovest and trustest more than God these pebbles which thou valuest above the pearl of price that treasure on earth which thy heart is set upon more than on the true treasure in heaven will all leave thee when death findeth thee In his Treatise of love Mr. Rogers telleth us of one that being nigh death clapt a twenty shilling piece in his mouth saying Some
wiser then some I will take this with me however but alas poor fool he could not be so good as his word The Holy Ghost excellently termeth rich men rich in this world because riches will not make men rich in another world 1 Tim. 6.17 Death will seal a Lease of ejectment and turn thee out of all thy possessions and death will give thee a bil of divorce and separate thee from all thy relations The relations of Husband and Wife Parents and children are calculated only for the Meridian of this world and shall not out-live this life Thy dear husband or thy loving wife and thy most dutiful children wil all serve thee as Orpah did Ruth Ruth 1â—4 follow thee while thou art full but forsake thee when thou shalt be empty cleave to thee in thy health and life but leave thee in thy greatest danger at death and thy birth and breeding honour and respect wil serve thee in the like kind they are but a shadow which wil not be seen when the Sun of thy life is set The great distinctions in the other world wil be holy or unholy not noble or ignoble Be not afraid when one is made rich when the glory of his house is encreased for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat his glory shall not descend after him Psa 49.16 17. Death is the great leveller making Princes and Peasants equal All thy sinful pleasures will also be lost the sweet taste thou foundest in thy mouth wil be gone though they wil rise in thy stomach and after in thy belly be more bitter than gall Thy merry meetings jovial companions witty jests sporting recreations pictures for thine eyes musick for thine ears dainties for thy taste thine eating and drinking and all these delights on earth which thou solacest thy sensual soul with desiring no other heaven will all like leaves in the Autumn of thy death fall off from thee though in the short summer of thy life thou art richly laden with them yet in thy long thine everlasting Winter thou shalt be stript naked of them Thou mayest say to all the fore-mentioned delights of riches relations honours and pleasures and what ever it is which thou foolishly rejoycest in as Charles the fifth Emperor of Germany whom the world counted most happy did to his trophies treasures and things of the like nature A bite hinc A bite longe Be gone get you farre out of my sight Be assured that as a false harlot leaves her lovers wheâ— they are arrested for debt and followeth other customers so this painted strumpeâ— this deceitful world that now layeth opeâ— her fair breasts to allure thee to go a whoâ—ring after her and commit spiritual fornication with her when death shall arreâ— thee by a Writ from heaven will whollâ— forsake thee and follow them that survive now what a losse will this be But it may be thou comfortest thy self against this that all even good as well as bad will joyn with thee in this losse Reader dost thou consider that they who enjoy the stars all night and come in the morning instead thereof to enjoy the glorious Sun are no losers the Sun hath all the light of the stars and far far more Neither can the godly be properly called losers of these comforts because they enjoy them all and infinitely more in the blessed God As mony answereth all things Prov. 10.19 Mony is equivalently sheep oxen corn meat drink cloth whatsoever you want for this life is virtually in mony so God to a gracious soul after death will answer all things he will be eminently and virtually Father Mother wife child wealth honour pleasure and all things though he loseth them here he will find them there and much more but when thou O sinner losest them in this world they shall never be made up to thee in another world thou losest not only the streams but the fountain not only the beams but the Sun and therefore thy portion will be scorching drought and dismal darknessâ— Besides these things are not the portion the all of a good man they are not his estate or inheritance they are but an additional over-plus cast in over and above So much the words of Christ imply Matth. 6.33 And all other things shall be added to you As when a father giveth his son a thousand pounds worth of ware he casteth in paper and packthread or one thousand yards of cloth he doth not stand upon the bredth of the thumb which is to be allowed in measurng so God having given himself and his Son to his Saints out of his vast bounty casteth in the creatures as an over-plus they are not their estate or portion or all no when a godly man at the great and terrible day of the Lord Jesus shall see his house and land and outward good things in that common flame which shall burn up the earth he may then behold it with comfort Omnia mea n eoum portâ— â—ias and say with the Philosopher I have my all still But sinner thy losse of them will be a losse indeed for these things are thy all they are all thy God and all thy Christ and all thy happinesse and all thy heaven they are all the fulnesse of joy and all the rivers of pleasures and all the weight of glory which thou shalt enjoy They are all thy riches all thine inheritance all thy consolation all thy reward all thy portion and all thou shalt be worth for ever look Luk. 16.24 They have received their consolation cold comfort indeed ye have your reward * Mat. 6.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they receive it as their full pay whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an acquittance It is one of the saddest speeches in the Book of God whose portion is in this life Psal 17.14 ah poor portion Thou hast no other Paradise but thy garden no other mansion but thy beautiful building no other inheritance but thy Land no other kindred but thy wife and children no other honour but the stinking breath of thy flattering neighbours no other God but thy gold no other heaven but the earth all thy estate is in dust rubbish and lumber surely then it will be a losse with a witnesse to lose all that in a moment and that for ever wherein all thy happinesse consisteth Will it not be a sad sight for thee to stand as it were upon the shoare and to see the vessel in which is imbarqu'd all thy treasures all thy near and dear relations all thy respect and esteem all thy joy and delights sinking before thine eyes and lost for ever or to see that house in which is thy Plate and Jewels thy wife and children and all that ever thou art to be worth in a flame and nothing possible to be recovered would not thine eyes affect thine heart with unspeakable horrour Now this O Reader will be thy case if thou art unsanctified at
death when thou lyest upon thy death-bed and art going out of the world thou mayst take thy leave of thy friends estate honour and delights in such language as this Farewel my dear wife children and all my friends farewel for ever I am going where lovers and friends will be put farre from me I must never never have any friend more but shall remain friendlesse to all eternity Farewel my house and Land my silver and gold farewel for ever I shall from henceforth and for ever be a beggar and though I beg but for one drop of water to coole my tongue when this whole body shall be in unquenchable flames I must everlastingly be denied Farewel my honours and delights farewel for ever I shall never more be respected or comforted confusion of face and easelesse pains are to be my endlesse and unchangeable portion Thus man thou wilt most miserably even out-live thy felicity and when thou comest to live indeed i. e. in the other world want all thy comforts and joys 2. Thou shalt lose by death all thy spiritual preferment It is now no mean mercy to thee hadst thou an heart to prize and improve it that thou enjoyest the Ordinances of God the means of grace many golden seasons for the good of thy soul that thou mayst sit at Gods feet and hear his voice out of Scripture fall down on thy knees and seek his face by prayer but know to thy sorrow death wil rob thee of all these Jewels Now thou hast the tenders of mercy the intreaties of the Minister the motions of the Spirit the invitations of Christ liberty to cast thy self down at the foot-stool of Heavens Majesty and to be as fervent and instant as thou wilt for mercy but then the gate wil be shut and there wil be no praying or hearing or preaching in the place whether thou art going Psal 88.11 Shall thy loving kindnesse be declared in the grave or thy faithfulnesse in destruction the interrogation is a strong negation There is no preaching of Gods clemency or fidelity either in the grave or hel All the Lectures read in the former are by worms of mans mortality and all the Sermons heard in the latter are of mans misery and Gods severity Reader I assure thee from the living God that though in this life thou art now and then bungling about a duty and giving God thy stinking breath a few cold lazy petitions which proceed from thy corrupt lungs thy cursed heart thou shalt do so no more after death As the Saints shall be above this mediate enjoyment of God so thou shalt be below it And truly hadst thou ever had Communion with God in a duty this losse would go near thee How amiable is the worshipping of God to a gracious soul he prizeth Ordinances because they are the means of it in this world above his estate and food or what ever is deare to him Psa 119.14 72 111. Job 23.12 Psa 84.1.2 3. And this priviledge he shall have by death to be employed stil about the same work of pleasing glorifying worshipping and enjoying God only he shall do it in a more excellent and more delightful way He continueth as it were in the same School death only removes him to an higher form or if you will death sends him from the School in which he was fitted and prepared to the University of heaven but O sinner thou must be deprived of this happinesse indeed now thou esteemest the Ordinances of God a burden as precious as they are to others they are tedious to thee The Church is thy Goal the Sabbath is thy ague-day the commands of Christ are bonds and fetters to thee Psa 72.3 The voice of thy carnal heart is when wil the glasse be out when wil the duty be done when wil the Sabbath be over that thou mayst follow the world Amos 8.5 Thou thinkest the prayer is too long the Sermon is too long the Sabbath is too long the duties are all too long wel be patient but a little a short time and thou shalt never be troubled with these long duties more The night is coming when there is no working Joh. 9.4 There is no enjoying Sabbath or Sacraments or seasons of grace no wisdome knowledge or device in the grave to which thou art hastening Eccles 9.10 Now the Minister exhorteth thee to cast away thy sins and come to thy Saviour to reject thy soul-damning lusts and accept of a soul-saving Lord The Father commandeth thee by his Soveraignty over thee and propriety in thee as thy Creatour The Son entreateth thee by presenting his bloody sweat and sufferings unto thee as he is thy Redeemer The Spirit stirreth thee to pity thy precious soul and to minde thine unchangeable estate to consider seriously in this day of Gods patience the things which concern thy eternal peace The Gospel is a Treasure of inestimable value freely offered to thee upon condition thou wilt but heartily embrace it and the easie yoke of Christ together The Word of God chargeth inviteth allureth beseecheth promiseth threateneth all these like so many Trumpets do loudly sound a retreat to call thee off from thy slavery to the world and flesh unto the glorious liberty of the Sons of God but thou art as deaf as the Adder and wilt not hear the voice of these heavenly charmes as hard as the Rock the waves of threatenings which dash unweariedly against thee stirre thee not the showres and dews of promises which fall on thee continually make no impression neither mercies nor judgements neither men nor God can prevaile with thee Well sinner think of it again and again and thy heart is hardened with a witnesse if it do not tremble to think of it the hour is approaching when thou shalt never have these tenders these invitations these means these motions more though thou shalt earnestly and uncessantly desire them and willingly accept of them if they could be granted thee after thou hast fryed as many millions of yeares in hell as there are stars in the heavens piles of grasse on the earth and sands on the sea shoar yet thy intreaty upon such an hard condition shall be denied then thou wilt befool thy self to purpose for staying til the day after the faire for not accepting when thou wast wel offered then mercy wil be mercy indeed then grace wil be grace indeed then the Gospel wil be glad-tydings indeed when by the want of them thou shalt fully know the worth of them Now God holdeth the Candle of his Word to thee and instead of working thou playest instead of working out thy own salvation instead of working the works of him that sent thee into the world thou playest the fool the drunkard the beast the hypocrite the Atheist wel thou shalt go into utter darknesse where those lights which thou now enjoyest will never shine Plutarch observeth of Hannibal he might once have taken Rome and would not afterwards he would and could not now
hear a voice this hour as that wicked Pope did Veâ—i Miser in judicium Come thou wretch unto thy particular and eternal judgement what wouldst thou do where wouldst thou appear and where wouldst thou leave thy glory Isai 10.3 I would not for a world take thy turn How is it possible that thou canst eat or drink or sleep with any quietness of mind that in the day thy meat is not sauced with sorrow and thy drink mingled with weeping that in the night thou art not scared with dreams and terrified with visions when thy whole eternity dependeth upon that little thread of life which is in danger every moment to be cut asunder and thou to drop into hell Art thou a man that hast reason and canst thou be contented one hour in such a condition Art thou a Christian that believest the Word of God to be truth and canst thou continue one moment longer in that Sodom of thy natural estate which will be punished with fire and brimstone I tell thee didst thou and the rest of thy carnal neighbours but give credit to Scripture thou and they too would sooner sleep in a chamber where all the wals round the cieling above and floor below were in a burning light flame then rest quietly one moment in thine estate of sin and wrath But for thy sake thy condition yet not being desperate though very dangerous that thou mightest avoid the easeless misery of the sinner and attain the endlesse felicity of the Saint I have purposely written the next Use which I request thee as thou lovest thy life thy soul thine unchangeable good nay I charge thee as thou wilt answer the contrary at the great and dreadful day of the Lord Jesus that thou read carefully and that thou practice faithfully the means and directions therein propounded out of the Word of God 3. My third Use shall be of exhortation to those that are dead in sins to labour for this spiritual life Whoever thou art that wouldest have gain by thy death then get Christ to be thy life Hast thou read of that fulness of joy of those rivers of pleasures of that exceeding and eternal weight of glory of that Kingdom that cannot be shaken of that enjoyment of Christ of that full immediate fruition of God and in him of all good of that perfect freedom from all evil which they and only they shall be partakers of who have this spiritual life And is not thy heart inflamed with love to it thy soul enlarged in desire after it Extrema Christianorum desiderantur etsi non exâ—r iâ— Hiâ—â— thy will resolved to venture all and undertake any thing for it Surely if thou art a man and hast reason thy will and affections will be carried out after things that are good but if thou hast but a spark of Christianity thou canst not but be exceedingly ravished with things so eminently so superlatively so infinitely good The Historian observeth that the riches of Cyprus invited the Romans to hazard dangerous fights for the conquering it How many storms doth the Merchant sail through for corruptible treasures How often doth the Souldier venture his limbs nay his life for a little perishing plunder Reader I am perswading thee to mind the true treasure durable riches even those which will swim out with thee in the shipwrack of death Stephen Gardiner said of justification by Faith only that it was a good supper doctrine though not so good a break-fast one So the power of godliness this spiritual life though it be not so pleasant to live in as to the flesh yet it is most comfortable to die with When Moses had heard a little of the earthly Canaan how earnestly doth he beg that he might see it Deut. 3.25 I pray thee let me go over and see the good Land that is beyond Jordan that goodly mountain and Lebanon Thou hast read a little of the heavenly Canaan and hast thou not ten thousend times more cause to desire it Plato saith If moral Philosophy could be seen with moral eyes it would draw all mens hearts after it May not I more truly say if the gain of a Saint at death could be seen with spiritual eyes with the eye of faith it would make all men in love with it and eager after it Baalam as bad as he was did desire to die the death of the righteous and surely they that dislike their way cannot but desire their end but God hath joyned them both together and it is not in the power of any man to put them asunder therefore if thou wouldst die their deaths thou must live their spiritual lives Holinesse is the seed out of which that harvest groweth If thou wouldst be safe when thou shalt launch into the vast Ocean of eternity if thou wouldst be received into the celestial habitation when thou shalt be turned out of thy house of clay make sure of this life in Christ If an Heathen Prince would not admit Virgins to his bed before they were purified Est 2.12 canst thou think the King of Kings will take thee into his nearest and dearest embraces before thou art sanctified Believe it heaven must be in thee before thou shalt be in heaven Unless the Spirit of God adorn thy soul as Abrams servant did Rebeckah with the jewels of grace thou art no fit Spouse for the true Isaak the Lord of glory The brutish worldling indeed would willingly live prophanely and yet die comfortably dance with the Devil all day and sup with Christ at night have his portion in this world with the rich man in the other world with Lazarus There is a story of one thaâ— b iâ—g repâ—â—ved for his vicious life and pâ—rswaded to mind godliness would anâ— often Thâ—t it was but sayâ—ng three words at his death â—nd he â—as sure to have eternal life probably his three words were Miâ—erere mei Deus but he riding one day over a bridge his horse stumbled and as boâ—h werâ— falling into the river he cryeth out Capiat omnia diabolus â—o se and mâ—n â—nd all to the Devil As he l ved so he died with three words 〈…〉 such as he hoped to have had As the young swaggerer told his gracelesse companion when they had been with Ambrose and seen him on his death-bed nothing affrighted at the approach of the King of terrors but triumphing over it O that I might live with thee and die with Ambrose But this cannot be an happy death is the conclusion of an holy life The God who giveth heaven hath in great letters written in his Word upon what termes and no other it may be had He chooseth to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth 2 Thess 2.13 It is as possible for thee to enjoy the benefit of the Sons passion without the Fathers creation as without the Spirits sanctification Believe the word of truth John 3.3 Verily verily I say unto thee except a
be farthest from and most opposite to Christ when they receive the most light of prosperity from him and art fullest of the blessings of his goodness Take heed thou be not like the Horse and Mule Psalm 32.9 to drink plentifully of the streames and never look to the Fountain but let thine eyes as the Churches be Doves eyes When the Dove hath pecked her corn she turneth her eyes heavenward she looketh up Cant. 1.15 It is reported of the Spartans that they use to choose their King every year during which year he liveth in all abundance but is after the year be expired banisht into some remote place for ever One King knowing this being called to be King did not as others prodigally spend his revenues but heaped up all the treasure he could get together and sent it before to that place whither he should be banisht and so in the year of his Government made a comfortable provision for his whole life So wise are they that lay up a treasure in Heaven against the time of their departure out of this world Art thou poor Labour for this spiritual life it will make thee rich indeed Thou hast little on earth but thou mayst have a treasure in heaven God offereth thee Grace Christ and Life as freely as others take heed thou neglect them not and think as they in Sweden that it is only for Gentlemen to keep the Sabbath that its only for Gentlemen to mind Religion thou hast a soul to save an endlesse estate to provide for an hell to escape an heaven to attain a dreadful day of judgement to prepare for as well as they It is a great mercy that though God difference thee from others in temporals yet not in spirituals Among the Israelites the price for their ransome was equal half a shekel the rich shall not give more nor the poor lesse Exod. 30.12 15 16. thereby * Willet in loc signifying that the same price was paid by Christ for the redemption of all poor as well as rich and that the vertue and merits of Christs passion belong equally to all thy outward condition doth not exclude thee from an interest in Christs death and intercession Poor Lazarus may lie in the bosom of rich Abraham The poor may be gospellized as that Matth. 11.5 is sometimes read not only have the Gospel preached to them but be changed by it God accepted the Lamb and Dove in sacrifice when he rejected the Lion and Eagle But thou must be one of Gods poor not of the Devils ragged Regiment Will it not be sad for thee to have two hels one on earth in cold hunger and thirst and wants and another in hell in heat and unspeakable woe How many of thy condition serve the Devil and the world all their dayes in drudgery and slavery and are turned into hell as a Sumpter-horse at the night of death after all his hard travel with his back full of gals and bruises A low man if his eye be clear may look as high as the tallest B. Hall Contempl. the least Pigmie may from the lowest valley see the Sun as fully as a Gyant upon the highest mountain Christ is now in Heaven it is not the smalnesse of our person nor the meanness of our condition that can let us from beholding him The soul hath no stature neither is heaven to be had with reaching If God clear the eyes of our faith we shall be high enough to beho d him Do not say thou art to provide for thy wife and children and hast no time to regard thy soul in a solemn serious performance of duties remember the same God that commandeth thee to follow thy particular calling as a man injoyneth thee likewise to follow thy general calling as a Christian and that in the first place Seek first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and all other things shall be added to you Mat. 6.33 and also with the greatest labour John 6.27 Phil. 2.12 Labour not for the food that perisheth but for the food that endureth to everlasting life Where our Saviour doth not indeed absolutely forbid labour for the body but comparatively thy labour for thy soul should be so much so great that thy labour for thy body should be no labour at all not deserve the name of labour in comparison of it Now consider what answer thou wilt make to the great God when he shall plead with thee for the breach of these commands besides hast not thou many spare hours in many evenings and on wet dayes wherein thou mightst go to God in secret and with thy family and humble thy soul in a mournful confession of thy sins and sensible apprehension of the wrath which is due to thee and wherein thou mightst be importunate for pardon and grace without which thou art lost for ever Nay the Lord knoweth how many Lords dayes thou hast enjoyed which dayes he hath set apart as well out of mercy as out of soveraignity not only for the glory of his Name but also for the good of thy soul wherein thou mightst both publickly privately and secretly have furthered thy spiritual and eternal good but how dost thou squander away those precious hours sometime in corporal labour alwayes in spiritual idleness in sleeping or walking or sitting at thy door or talking with thy neighbors and yet thou hast no time for thy soul But lastly tell me hast thou time to eat and drink and work and sleep and no time to work out thy salvation to fit thy soul for death for judgement for eternity If thy house were in a flame thou wouldst not let it burn and say I have no time to quench it If thy neighbor call thee to sit or talk or dine or it may be to go to the Ale-house with him thou dost not answer him I must provide for my family I have no time but when thy Maker and Preserver the blessed God calleth upon thee by his Spirit and Word to be diligent for the making thy calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 thou must provide for thy family thou hast no time for this Foolish worm leave off thy vain and cursed pretences and set upon the business for which thou wast sent into the world even the glorifying and obeying the Lord or thou shalt have another manner of answer to thy simple excuses from the Judge of quick and dead when for thy want of time to serve him in he shall give thee an eternity to suffer in Reader I have two things to desire of thee before I deliver thee the directions which I have received of the Lord for thee and indeed unlesse thou grant me or rather God and thy soul these two requests all that I have to say will be to no purpose at all my requests are that thou wouldst follow the counsel of God in order to the recovery of thy soul out of its bottomlesse misery with all speed and with all diligence Now because
The Spirit indeed is a free Agent and worketh in what manner and measure he pleaseth But this is certain he convinceth all of their sins and miseries conviction doth go before conversion The Physitian of souls will heal none but such as know both their distemper and their danger and thereby how infinitely they are obliged to him for their cure As in the first creation one of the first thing God made was light so in the forming the new creature illumination is before sanctification Every one is able to say in Christ as he in the Gospel This I know whereas I was blind now I see John 9.25 This is absolutely necessary in order to the second direction I have to commend to thee which is the sincere humiliation of thy soul There must be a day-break of light in the understanding before there can be an heart-break of sorrow in the affections till sin and wrath be discerned by knowledge in the mind they will be no burden to the conscience nor grief to the spirit As no good wrapt up in darknesse excites desire so no evil swathed up in ignorance striketh terror We may observe this by the holy Apostles expression I was alive without the law but when the commandement came sin revived and I died Rom. 7.9 i. e. the time was that I was ignorant both of the laws strictnesse and my own sinfulnesse and then I thought my self to be very safe my conscience was very quiet and my heart full of hope or more properly presumption about my future eternal happinesse thus I was alive without the law but when my eyes were inlightned to see how exceeding broad the Commandements of God were and that once I compared my crooked race with that strait rule and took notice how far short I came of that obedience which the law required I was then a dead a lost man I quickly pulled in my plumes and took down my sails with which I was hastening in my conceit to Heaven for I found that I was in very deed in the road to hell When the Commandement came sin revived and I died There was then life enough in my lusts to wound me unto death for I dyed Reader if thou art convinced so farre of the absolute necessity of conversion as to desire it unfeignedly let me request thee for the sake of thy poor soul to set some considerable time apart thy body hath had many years surely thy soul deserveth one day and that speedily to be serious in about its endlesse estate and to compare thy wicked life with the pure Law of God and observe how exceedingly thou hast swerved from the precepts therein commanded consider not only its outward and literal but likewise its inward and spiritual meaning and thou mayst presently discern that thy whole conversation for so many years as thou hast lived hath been a continued aberration and wandring from the Lord and his Laws If thou lookest aright in that glasse it will discover all the spots all the dirt that have been in the face of thy heart and life Jam. 1.23 By the Law is the knowledge of sin Rom. 3.20 Consider also that thy breach of the Law makes thee liable to the curse of the Law which is the infinite eternal wrath of the Law-giver Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them Gal. 3.10 The Law must be satisfied since not in its accomplishment it will in thy punishment If God cast the glorious Angels out of heaven and reserved them in chains of darknesse to the judgement of the great day for one sin and that as some think in thought into what an hell may he cast thee whose iniquities for weight are like the sand of the sea and for number like the sparks of a furnace and the stars in the firmament Think of it with all possible seriousnesse thou hangest over the mouth of hell every moment by a small thread of life and if that should be cut asunder the whole world cannot save thee from dropping into it 2. Direction Humiliation 2. In the next place labour to get thy heart deeply and throughly affected with thy sins and misery Humiliation must follow Illumination It is not enough for this knowledge of the transgressions thou hast committed and the wrath thou hast deserved to swim in thy head it may be there as fire in the flint to no profit but it must sink down into thy heart and be beaten out into an application of and lamentation for thy guilt and wickedness Man is so sinfully subtle that he can bear the historical knowledge of these things in his understanding he can hear the name of sin and hell and be no more troubled then at a painted devil or a tale of purgatory but when God brings down sin from being a notion to be an obligation and entereth an action against the soul within it self then it will begin to melt and mourn under the sense of its sins and sufferings Thus after the Spirt of God hath been a spirit of conviction it becometh a spirit of bondage that eye which was before enlightened to see the lewdnesse of his heart and life cometh now to affect his heart with grief and sorrow This we find in those Converts Acts 2.37 when they had heard of their sin and guilt they began to recant and repent When they heard those things they were pricked to the heart The nails which had pierced Christs hands now pierce their hearts It was with them saith one as if the sharp points of daggers had been stuck or fastened in their hearts They wounded themselves with sorrow that ever they had wounded the Lord Jesus with their sins The whole life indeed of a true Christian is in some respects a life of repentance He is often greiving Gods Spirit and therefore he is often greived in his own spirit As long as the ship leaketh the pump must go Though the Christian doth not paddle or wallow in the mire of sin every day as gracelesse ones do yet he findeth that daily his hands contract dirt and his soul guilt therefore he must daily wash with faith and repentance Some report of Mary Magdalen that she spent thirty years in Galba in weeping for her sins And Tertullian saith of himself That he was born for repentance Anselm telleth us That with grief he considered the whole course of his life I found * In lib. meditat writeth he the infancy of sin in the sins of my infancy the youth and growth of sin in the sins of my youth and growth and the ripenesse of all sin in the sins of my ripe and perfect age and then he breaks out into this pathetical expression What remaineth for thee wretched man but that thou spend thy whole life in bewayling thy whole life But especially at the time of a Christians conversion he is to mind contrition when the vessel is newly tapt
riches and honor Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace She is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her Prov. 3.13 14 15 16 17 18. ANd now Reader I have done this large Use of Exhortation which is of such infinite concernment to thy precious soul but what thou wilt do or what use thou wilt make of it I know not Could I have told what other holy bait to have laid which had been more likely to have caught thy soul it is probable I should have laâ—d it I appeal to thy conscience whether tâ—ere be not unspeakable weight and unquestionable truth in the particulars which are laid down Well what sayest thou to them and what effect have they wrought upon thee Art thou resolved through the help of heaven speedily and diligently to practice the directions which I have from the Almighty God injoyned thee Is it not a thousand thousand pities that such endlesse matchlesse happinesse should be so gratiously offered by God and so unworthily neglected by men that an empty perishing world should be so eagerly pursued and heartily embraced when the unsearchable riches in Christ the Image of the blessed God eternal weight of Glory are basely undervalued and wretchedly despised Good Lord what teares of blood are sufficient to bewail this monstrous unthankfulness Friend if thou art truly resolved to obey the counsell of God thou wilt have cause to blesse that Providence which called me to this task and I may rejoyce in thee and thou in me at the day of Christ But if thou either delayest the work till thou art more at leisure or dalliest about it doing it as if thou didst it not I am sure the greatest wrong will be to thy self for behold thou sinnest against the Lord and be confident thy sins will sooner or later find thee out I come in the next place to my last Use which will be of consolation If they who have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death what comfort is here to the new born Creature Here is wine indeed to make glad the heart of every one that is holy Reader art thou sanctified and alive in Christ then thou art freed from all the misery which is mentioned in the first Use as the portion of the ungodly I may say to thee as Gryneus when he had been reproving and threatening sinners would turning to the Saint say Bone vir hoc nihil ad te Good man all this is nothing to thee Though they are losers thou shalt be a gainer by death Come but with the mouth of faith and thou mayst suck much honey from this combe thou mayst draw much milk of consolation from this breast to thee to die shall be gain Surely here is enough to ballast thy soul and keep it steady in the most tempestuous condition and to ballance and weigh down the greatest the heaviest affliction Hierom comforted the Hermite that was in a wildernesse sad and pensive Meditare coelum tam diu non eris in eremo If thou hadst hope only in this life thou wert of all men most miserable but because thou hast hope beyond this life thou mayst be of all men most comfortable Should such a man as I fly Nehem. 6.11 Should sucha a man as thou fear that art heir to a Crown to a Kingdom Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom In thy greatest losses this may support thee that death will be thy gain by giving thee possession of a life which will make amends for all If an heathen could say It is unbecoming a Roman spirit to cry out I am undone while Cesar was safe sure it is more uncomely for a Christian to complain as if he were undone when his soul is safe his eternal estate is secure For thy help I shall digest this Use into this method briefly First to shew thee against what it is comfortable Secondly wherein it is comfortable For the first It is comfortable first against the opposition of the world The world will hate thee because thou art not of the world John 15.19 She is a Paradise to her children and lovers but a Purgatory to aliens and strangers Whilst thou art in the stormy sea of this world thou art a ship bound for the Streights He that goeth towards the Sun shall have his shadow following him but he that goeth from it shall have it flie before He that goeth towards the Sun of Righteousnesse shall be sure to have these shadows these afflictions at his heels Infinite Wisdom seeth fit to imbitter the breasts of the creatures to wean thee from them Trouble upon earth is one legacie which thy Saviour hath left thee In the world ye shall have trouble John 16. ult The Souldiers were to have his garments Joseph was to have his body His Father was to have his soul He had his crosse left and that he bequeaths to his Disciples But be of good chear he did not only leave thee his crosse but hath also made thee heir to a Crown He never lookt over the threshold of Heaven Bish Hall Heaven upon eâ—rth Sect. 14. that cannot more rejoyce that he shall be glorious than mourn in present that he is miserable Oppose thy future felicity to thy present misery thy happinesse at death to the hardships thou meetest with in life thiâ— will be the way to counterpoise the temptation and to keep thee from fainting in tribulation whilst thou lookest not at the things which are seen which are temporal but at the things which are not seen which are eternal 2 Cor. 4. I have read of one Giacopo Senzaro an Italian who having been long in love and much crossed about his match filled a pot full of black stones only one white stone among them and being asked the reason answered There will come one white day meaning his marriage day which will make amends for all my black dayes So whatsoever poverty nakednesse hunger cold pain shame losses thou undergoest here in this world how many soever thy black dayes are of trials and troubles of persecutions and opposition thou mayst say there is one white day of death one long day of eternity coming which will make amends for all It was a brave speech of Luther when he was demanded where he would be when the Emperor should with all his forces fall upon the Elector of Saxonie who was the chief Protector of Protestants He answered Aut in coelo aut sub coelo either in heaven or under heaven Why shouldst thou be discouraged at any losse considering thou hast a treasure in heaven a more enduring substance At any disgrace considering thou art heir to a Crown of glory At any pain or sorrow when thou art entitled to fulnesse of joy and pleasures for evermore No storm should disquiet thee that shall shortly enjoy an everlasting calm What a
of Jesus Christ at death will quite dry up that issue of corruption Death will give thee a Writ of ease from all those weights and sins which do so easily beset thee Thou shalt be without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14.5 Will it not indeed be a brave world with thee in the other world when thou shalt have as much holiness as thy heart can wish or hold If God should grant thee such a request upon earth that thou shouldst have as much of his Image and of his Spirit as thou couldst desire wouldst thou not think thy self the happiest man alive I am confident thou wouldst and also that nothing lesse than perfect purity would be thy prayer Well death will help thee to this When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likenesse Psal 17. ult Now thou hast enough to stay thy stomack but then thou shalt have a full meal When the Israelites went out of Egypt towards Canaan there was not one feeble person among them When the Christian entereth into the true Canaan he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David nay as the Angel of the Lord before him When thy frame of nature shall be ruined thy frame of grace shall be perfected and raised to the height of glory 4. It is comfortable against thy dissolution To thee to die is gain death will be thy passage into eternal life Thou needst not fear death as a foe it will be one of thy best friends How did this hope of happinesse at death hold up the Martyrs heads above water and carry them through those boistrous waves of violent and cruel deaths with the greatest serenity and alacrity of spirit Xenophon Agesilaus King of Sparta used to say that they which live vertuously are not yet blessed persons but they had attained true felicity who died vertuously What is there in death that thou art so afraid of it Wilt thou fear a Bee without a sting Dost thou not know it had but one sting for Christ and Christians and that was left in Christ the head whereby now though it may buz and make a noise about their ears yet it can never sting or hurt the members The waters of Jordan though tempestuous before yet were calm and stood still when the Ark was to passe over If thou hadst been banished many years from thy dear Relations whom thou lovedst as thy own soul and from thy rich possessions and comforts which might have made thy life pleasant and delightful into a place of bondage a valley of tears a prison where thy feet were fettered with irons and thy face furrowed with weeping Mors non vitamrapit sed reformat Prudentius wouldst thou be afraid of a messenger that came to knock off thy shackles and fetch thee out of prison and carry thee to those friends and comforts And why art thou afraid of death which cometh to free thee from thy bondage to Satan sin and sorrow and to give thee present possession of the glorious liberty of the sons of God Art thou afraid to be rid of thy corruptions of Satans temptations of the worlds persecutions Art thou afraid to go to â—aints where are no sinners to Christ without his cross to the full immediate eternal fruition of the blessed God then why art thou afraid to dye and dost not rather desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ knowing that while thou art present in the body thou art absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 Calvin in loc Jâ—el was offended at one that in h s sickness prayed for his life Well the best of it is thou art more afraid then hurt It is well observed by a judicious expositor that the Periphrasis of death mentioned John 13.1 where it is called a departing out of the world and a going to the father doth belong to all the children of God it is to them but a going out of the world to their dear and loving father And questionless this was that which made the Saints so desirous of death Basil when the Emperors Lieutenant threatned to kill him said I would he would for then he would quickly send me to my father to whom I now live and to whom I desire to hasten Calvin in his painful sickness was never heard to complain but often lifting up his eyes to heaven to cry out How long Lord How long Lord Plutarch in vit It is reported of an heathen Epaminondas that when he was wounded with a dart at Mantinea in a battel against the Lacedaemonians and told by the Chirurgions that when the dart was drawn out of his body Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo c. he must needs dye he called for his Squire and asked him Whether he had not lost his shield Non est timendum quod nos liberat ab omni timendo Tertull. he told him no whereupon he bade them pull out the dart and so died Surely Christian thou hast more cause to dye with courage when thou hast not lost thy God nor thy soul nor any thing that was worth the keeping 5. It is comfortable against the death of thy friends and relations which dye in the Lord. To dye is gain if it be their gain why should it be thy grief nature will teach thee to mourn but grace must moderate that mourning We may water our plants but must not drown them We may sorrow but not as they which have no hope least we sin When Anaxagoras was told that both his sons were dead he boldly answered the messenger I knew that I begat mortal creatures The people were enraged and perplexed at the death of Romulus but were afterwards quieted and comforted with the news which Proculus brought That he saw him in glory riding up to heaven So when thou art sorrowing for the death of thy child or husband or father or mother or brother or sister that sleep in Jesus thou shouldst hearken to the news which faith brings that it saw them filled with joy mounting up to heaven and there enjoying rivers of pleasures and a weight of glory and surely if after such news thou shouldst continue weeping it should be for joy Friend this text containeth choice sweet meats for thee to feed on at the funeral of thy dearest godly friend Lugeatur mortuus sed ille quem gehenna suscipit quem Tartarus devorat Hier. I suppose if thy relation died out of Christ thou hast not a little cause of sorrow and probably that was the sharp edge of the sword which wounded the soul of David for the death of Absolom that he died in his sins his fear was that his son died not only in rebellion against the father of his flesh but also against the father of spirits But when thy relation dyeth in the Lord thou hast surely more cause to rejoyce that thou ever hadst such a friend or relation who shall to eternity be employed in the chearful
glorifying and beatifical vision of God then to mourn that thou hast lost him for a little time It was a memorable speech of William Hunters mother when her son was to dye a violent death for he suffered Martyrdom under Bonner I am glad saith she that ever I was so happy as to bear such a child that can find in his heart to lose his life for Christ and then kneeling down on her knees she said I pray God strengthen thee my son to the end I think thee as well bestowed as any childe that ever I bore Take the counsel of the spirit not to sorrow as others which have no hope and know this for thy comfort that those which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord wherefore comfort one another with these words 1 Thess 4.13 to the end I shall shew thee farther in what respects it is comfortable and then conclude 1. It is comfortable if thou considerest the excellency of this gain as David said of Goliahs sword so I may of this gain of a Saint by death There is none like it In hist Eccles Nicephorus tells us of one Agbarus a great man that hearing so much of Christs fame by reason of the miracles that he wrought he sent a Painter to take his picture and that the Painter when he came was not able to do it because of the radiancy and divine splendor which sate on Christs face whether this be true or no I leave to the author but without controversie there is such a radiancy on the glorified head and members in heaven that none can conceive it much lesse describe it There are three things which will speak a little how great the gain of every godly man is by death 1. The fore-tastes of it do shew that it is excellent Saints here have the first fruits Rom. 8.23 and they do speak what the harvest will be The Jewish Rabbies report that when Joseph in the years of plenty had gathered much corn in Egypt he threw the chaffe into the river Nilus that so flowing to the neighbor Countries they might know what abundance was laid up for themselves and others So God is pleased that we might know the plenty in heaven to give us some sign some taste of it here upon earth He enableth us to conclude if his wayes are wayes of pleasantness how pleasant will the end be If his people have songs in their pilgrimage in their banishment surely they have Halelujahs in their Country in their fathers house If there be so much goodness laid out upon them in this valley of tears how infinite is that goodness which is laid up for them in the masters joy Christian Didst thou never taste and see that the Lord is gracious Didst thou never in thy closet enjoy fellowship with the father and with Jesus Christ his Son Didst thou never find one day in Gods Courts nay one hour better then a thousand elsewhere Did the Lord Jesus never call thee aside from others and carry thee into his banqueting-house and cause his banner over thee to be love Did he never kiss thee with the kisses of his lips and embrace thee in his dearest arms Hast thou not sometimes seen the smiles of his face and found them better then life And hearing his voice known thy heart-burning towards him with love Dost thou not remember at such a time he took thee up into his Chariot and gave thee a token for good shewing thee a glimpse of thy future glory solacing thy soul with a sense of his favour ravishing thy heart with hopes of thy eternal happiness when thou didst wonder exceedingly at the creatures emptiness and befool thy self for doting so much upon nothing when thou didst see sin in its opposition and contrariety to the divine nature and thy own welfare and didst curse thy lusts with the most bitter curses whereby thou had offended so gracious a Lord when thou didst behold the Lord Jesus in all his embroydery and glory O how lovely was he in thine eyes how sweet was he to thy taste how precious was he in thy esteem how closely was thy soul joyned to him how largely was thy spirit drawn out after him how earnestly didst thou desire to be ever with him when thou thoughtest what joy is there in being with Christ if there be so much in Christs being with me How happy are they that enjoy the fountain if some small streams are so pleasant when thou saidst Master it is good to be here Let us build a tabernacle My soul is filled with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips One thing do I desire of the Lord that I may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever ever This is the foretaste of glory by this thou maist conceive what heaven will be As Fulgentius when he beheld the beauty and bravery the glory and gallantry of Rome cryed out If earthly Rome be so glorious how glorious is heavenly Rome Si talis est R ma terrestris quatis est Roma coelestis so thou mayst gather if thou hast so much joy when thou hast heaven onely in hope what joy shalt thou have when thou shalt have it in hand If the seed-time be so joyous how great will the joy of harvest be If the promise can stay one that is ready to die surely the performance will be better then life from from the dead If Jerusalem below be paved with Gold then questionless Jerusalem above is paved with Pearl 2. The price paid for it speaketh the excellency of it where there is honesty and righteousness in the seller and wisdom in the buyer there the price of a thing will speak its worth Now here there was infinite righteousness in God the seller and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ the purchaser therefore the price laid down for heaven will speak the excellency of it If the price were very great the place must be very glorious Heven is called the purchased possession Eph. 1.14 because it was bought with the blood of the Son of God Reader wonder at this price and at this place We are bold to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Heb. 10.19 When thou hearest of a purchase on earth that costeth a hundred thousand pound or a million wouldst not thou presently conclude Surely that must be an incomparable seat for delight what pleasant Springs what stately rooms what curious contrivances what unheard of excellencies must be there without question all things imaginable for riches glory and comfort But when thou readest in Scripture of a