unto your Souls by frequent Meditation Dost thou dread this King of Terrours give not way to thy Fears but bring Death often into thy thoughts there is no such hurt in it as thou imaginest nothing that should terrifie a Christian Consider a little what it is that Death can do against thee and what it is Death shall do for thee and then tell me if thou hast any cause to fear it nay tell me what cause thou hast to rejoice in it What is it death can do against thee It may part thee and the World thee and thy Friends yea it will part between thy Soul and thy Body bringing it down into the dust for a time to become a Feast for Worms and this is the worst that Death can do against a Believer But then consider withal what Death shall do for thee why it shall bring thee to a Happiness so great in the enjoyment of God as is unutterable for thee to express and unconceivable for thee to imagine and this not for a time but for ever this death shall do for thee O Christian and surely if thou believest these things with a lively active Faith thou canst not any longer set death at a distance from thee as an Enemy that thou art afraid of but converse with it familiarly as a Friend yea as thy best Friend next unto Jesus Christ Job was thus familiar with death Job 17.14 I have said unto Corruption thou art my Father and to the Worms ye are my Mother and Sister and Brother Accustom thy self therefore O Christian unto the thoughts of death and often think what a happy change thou shalt thereby undergo even an entrance into Heaven and Glory And then though the thoughts of death be full of horrour unto others yet such thoughts unto thee will not only be profitable but exceeding delightful Fourthly If you would die with Courage and Joy then often meditate upon the Death of Christ It is a common Argument and in the Mouths of most Persons that all must die all that have lived before us have gone this way But who is there that takes courage to follow others into the Grave because multitudes are gone thither before them No it is but a poor encouragement to die because other Men like our selves have died before us But when a Christian shall believingly remember and consider that Jesus Christ died and was laid in the Grave not only before us but for us and that he hath there conquered the King of Terrours even upon his own ground this makes a Believer die with a holy courage and descend into the Grave with an undaunted boldness But because Christians so seldom meditate on the Death of Christ therefore are they so afraid of their own death He that hath often conversed with death in the Meditation of the death of Christ as Believers do or should do cannot be afraid to die if he knows what the death of Christ means which he hath meditated upon Savingly to know that Christ is gone before us in death is not only enough to make us cheerful but to make us alive in death He that by Faith contemplates that Christ is gone before him by dying and that in dying he died for him and that he also is alive and lives for him with what abundant joy and consolation may he depart out of this World CHAP. VI. Objections against Death and Vnwillingness to die answered Consolations against the Fear of Death in general Comforts against the Death of Friends and Relations in particular The Saints great Gain by Death propounded as a Motive and Encouragement unto Christians against the Fears of it THough it be the Duty of Christians to die willingly yea with Courage and Joy to commit their Souls into the hands of God yet are there many who cannot overcome their fears of death so as to be willing to die and the Reasons thereof are such as these First say some We could be content to die had we but attained unto sixty or seventy years as some Men do but alas we are young in the prime of our years and in the strength of our Days The Sun of our Life hath not been long up and must it go back and decline yea and set also already We are willing to die hereafter but O that God would spare us a little longer To this I answer these are foolish pityings of thy self For if it please the Great God in whose Hands thy life is thy breath and all thy ways that thou must die young hast thou any Injustice to charge him withal What wrong hath he done thee in cutting short the thread of thy life Thou hast forfeited thy life into his Hands long since and if sparing Mercy hath continued the Forfeiture and given thee a space and time of Repentance though not so long as thou desirest yet more than thou deservest yea and more than he owed thee Thou shouldst therefore rather be thankful for it and with all diligence improve it than repine that it is so short or be unwilling to part with it so soon For though long life may be a Blessing yea is promised so yet if thou art a Believer a short life shall be no Curse unto thee To a pardoned Soul all things are Blessings yea Death it self for the bitterness of it is taken away Righteous Abel though young dies and dies by Murder whilst wicked Cain the Murderer of him lives some hundreds of years after When God who is the great Lord of Time and measures out to every one what number of days they shall live hath appointed unto thee the day and hour of thy departure though the days of thy life be but as a span long compared with the lives of others yet is it in vain to contend with God thou may'st trouble thy self and make thy life uncomfortable but thou can'st not alter God's Decrees for he is of one Mind as Job speaks and who can turn him That is none can and therefore chearfully yield up thy self unto his Will But possibly thou wilt say I would live longer that I might serve and honour God more If thou art sincere in what thou sayest it is well but if God will take the Will for the Deed and accept of what thou hast done already and reward thee with the eternal Enjoyment of himself immediately hast thou any Cause to complain What if thou gettest to Heaven twenty or thirty years before thy Father or Brother or many other of thy Acquaintance that are travelling with their Faces Heaven-ward and have been so many years already Will it grieve thee that thou art got to Heaven too soon where if thou art a Christian thou always hast a desire to be I assure thee thy Friends and Relations though they may not envy thy Happiness yet if they had but once tasted the Sweetness thereof their longings after it would be so great that they would continually cry out Oh Time hasten and flee away that
such a sufficient Ransome no man can give to God Christ is indeed become a Ransome for Believers but it is to deliver them not from the first but from the second Death for as to the first Death it is appointed unto all Men once te dye Some have a longer time in this world and others a shorter but all dye one goes before and another follows after one Man rots in the Grave and makes it empty that he which is yet alive may have a place to lye down therein We all dwell in houses of clay whose foundations are in the dust which will shortly tumble down into it Earthly Tabernacles we have that must be dissolved and laid in the Earth here we have no abiding place Death and the Grave will shortly take all for all go to one place all are of the dust and all turn to dust again Eccles 3.20 Some are sent before and others follow after but all go the same way some have a long Race to run others but a short but Death is at the end of both To him that is old Death is certainly near and to him that is young Death is not far off He that dyes not till he is old travels a long way before he meets with Death whereas he that dyes young hath but a short way to his long home Death meeting him betimes but still whither young or old all must dye the decree is gone forth and there is no reversing of it There is an appointed time to Man upon Earth as Job speaks and when that is expired Death cuts him off and throws him into the Grave the house appointed for all living Death is inexorable it spares none and the Grave is in atiable it is not satisfied with any when it hath the Husband it gapes for the Wife when it hath the Parent it gapes for the Child when it hath one Generation it gapes for another one Generation passeth away and another Generation cometh and the latter crowds the former out of the world No Man hath a dispensation against Death there must be a dissolution of all things and therefore a dissolution of all Men. No Man hath more Priviledge than another against the Sentence of Death the greatest Prince dyes as soon as the meanest Peasant Neither Power nor Wisdom neither Strength nor Riches neither Beauty nor Honour nor any outward Excellency whatsoever can protect any against the stroke of Death these things can do much among Men yea every thing but they avail not against Death powerful Death despiseth them all Power can do nothing to ward off the stroke of Death from any where is Alexander and Casar and all the Great Conquerors of the World why they and all their Greatness and Power are gone down into the Grave and after all their Conquests over others have yielded themselves up as conquered by Death There is no Title can be given unto Man which sets him farther off from Death than to call him God and this high Title God himself hath honoured some Men with Psal 82.6.7 I said ye are Gods but least they should be lifted up with Pride with the same Breath he adds an humbling Consideration to take down all proud and lofty Thoughts but ye shall dye like Men. Kings and Princes that are the greatest for worldly Power and have the priviledge to be called Gods yet have they not the priviledge of God not to dye like men No Mans Wisdom can save him from dying Death will be too hard for the most cunning Politician Wisdom is an excellent Gift of God and renders a Person lovely in the Eyes of all it makes a mans face to shine it sets a Glory and Beauty upon a Mans Person and Actions a Man can hardly give a greater Commendation of any Man than to say he is a Wise Man and yet of Solomon not only the wisest of Kings but the wisest of Men it is said than he stept with his Fathers as well as others and though he tells us Wisdom excells Folly as far as Light excells Darkness yet we know wise men dye as well as the foolish and bruitish person We read indeed of a poor Wise Man that by his Wisdom delivered a City but we never read of any that by their Wisdom delivered themselves or others from Death no for as there is no work no levise in the Grave whither we are going so is there no Knowledge or Wisdom that can keep a man from going into the Grave Eccless 9.10 No Man by his strength can overcome Death Bodily health and strength are no defence at all against Death It is true they are great Mercies where God gives them unto any a sickly weakly Man is burthensome to himself and others though God heaps upon him other Mercies in abundance as Wealth Honours and Relations yet he takes little delight in them the want of Health imbitters all whereas a Man that is hcalthful and strong takes delight in every Comfort and Enjoyment though it be even poor and mean in comparison of what others have but though health and strength be so great a Mercy yet can they not withstand the Power of Death they may make a man dye with strong pains upon his bed but they cannot defend him against Death If God bestow upon any of us a strong healthy Body it is a great Mercy and we ought to be thankful for it but we may be soon laid in the Grave for all that Death should not be a stranger to us because sickness and distempers are strange things to us for we have not long Life much less can we escape the stroke of Death because we are bealthy and strong for in the fullness of our strength we may be in Death one dyeth in the fullness of his strength when his Bones are full of Marrow As for the strength of any Man though he be a Sampson yet this great Leviathan Death counts it but as straw and the soundest and purest health but as rotten wood David complains that the Sons of Zerviah were too hard for him But there are none such that are too hard for Death Death stays not to take men at advantage when they are weakned with age and sickness as Simeon and Levy did the Schecemites when they were sore Gen. 34.25 No Death can do its work as easily and as speedily in health as in sickness in strength as under weakness No man by his Riches can protect himself against Death all the Riches in the world are too low a Value to ransome any from Death and the Grave Solomon tells us Money answers all things and indeed rich Men can do great things by their Wealth many seek the favour of such their Riches make them many Friends The Wise Man tells us The rich mans wealth is his strong City Prov. 18.11 by reason whereof they trust to their Wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their Riches thinking they are well provided for against all Evils What made
2.23 That he was taken up in a siery Chariot by a Whirl-wind into Heaven So great was his Zeal for God and his Glory and so highly did God esteem it and him for it that he must not abide any longer on Earth but be taken up into Heaven and that in no other way but by a fiery Chariot a Passage to Heaven that did bear some Resemblance to his Zeal for God while he was here on Earth The Apostle also tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 That at the last Day we shall not all dye but we shall all be changed and 1 Thes 4.17 We that are alive and remain shall be caught up with him in the Clouds to meet the Lord and so shall we be ever with the Lord. These Exceptions of some few that have not dyed nor shall not dye do not at all make void this general Truth that all shall dye but rather make for the Confirmation of it The general Rule or Law saith all must dye none escape but by special Grace or Priviledge and though the Saints that shall be found on Earth at the Resurrection of the dead dye not yet they shall undergoe that which is equivalent unto Death for they shall be changed Death is call'd a Change so saith Job All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change shall come And they that are alive at the Last Day undergoe a Change also The Change of Death is a putting off of our Mortality but the Change at the Last Day is a putting on of our Immortality The one is a Change by being uncloathed the other is a Change by being cloathed upon but both is a Change And thus all dye or shall be changed By what hath been said it is very evident That Death befalls all men one time or other sooner or later But for the Manner how or the Time when any shall dye this is unknown unto any The Living may and do know that they shall dye but they know not when they shall dye What our Lord saith of the day of Judgment is true of the day of Man's Death of that day and hour knoweth no Man Many a Man hath been mistaken concerning the purpose of God I said says David in my prosperity that I shall never be moved but he was mistaken for he adds in the next words almost But thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Much more may we be mistaken concerning the Time of our Death I said says Hezekiah in the cutting off of my days I shall go to the gates of the Grave I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the Land of the Living I shall no more behold man with the Inhabitants of the World Good Hezekiah thought there was no way for him to escape Death but he was mistaken for afterwards he tells us God had in Love to his Soul delivered it from the Pit of Corruption and he Lived fifteen Years longer after he had given himself over for dead A Man may have the Sentence of Death in himself when as to that particular time God hath given out none against him So on the other hand the Rich Man in the Gospel reckons not of Death till many years hence and he is very liberal to his Soul because God had been bountiful to his Body he had got a great Stock of Riches and he gives himself a rich stock of Time even many years he resolves to make his Life larger as he had done his Barns and because they are full of Corn he also will be full of Days whereas the Word came out against him from God Thou Fool this night shall thy Soul be taken from thee and he that before resolved to Live many years could not now Live till the next Morning It is our Wisdom always to be prepared for Death but it s more than belongs to us peremptorily to determine the Time of our Death or the Length of our Days But though the Time of our Death be unknown to us yet is it known to and fixed by God he hath determined not only the Time when but also the Place where and the Manner how we shall dye with all the Circumstances relating thereunto It is God that turns up the Giass of our Time and puts such a Measure of Sand into it and no more such a Measure that it may and shall run so long and no more that it shall run no longer than his Appointment God speaking after the manner of Men is said in Scripture to have a Book wherein is written down not only the Number of our Sins but also the Number of our days and as we cannot commit a Sin but it is written down in some Leafe of his Book so can we not live a day or hour that hath not our Name written down upon it in Gods Book That some have the Time of Life confined only to the dark Cell of the Womb and never see the Light that others are strangled in the place of breaking forth of Children and are only Causes of Grief to them that bear them that others dyâ— in their Infancy without the Knowledge of good or evil and leave only sad Remembrances to their Parents that once they were that others grow up to years of Discretion but are cut off in the prime of their days and in their full strength and that others live to extream old Age till Nature is wholly spent and consumed in them All this is from the Appointment of God they all fill up the Number of those Days and the measure of that Time that God hath allotted to them and then they depart according to his Will How many have we seen cast upon sick beds whom God hath there visited with strong pains bringing them so low that their Lives seem'd to be brought unto the Grave and themselves numbred with them that go down into the Pit free among the dead and as the slain that lye in the Grave given over by themselves and all others for such and yet even these God hath raised up again shewing Wonders as it were to the dead as the Psalmist speaks causing them to arise and praise his Name What 's the Reason of all this Why God's appointed Time was not come and so Diseases could have no further Power over them And what is true of Sickness is as true of Men who are but like Diseases Executioners of God's Decree upon Man even they have no Power to lengthen Life or to hasten Death but what is given them from above God hath not only set us the bounds of our Habitations but the bounds of our Living also Job speaks much to the stating and determining of this Case Job 7.1 Is there not an appointed Time to Man upon Earth Now in an Appointment of God there must be a Certainty or else we make him like unto a mortal Man that is changeable which cannot be Therefore Man having an appointed Time by God upon Earth he must reach to it
and he cannot go beyond it But Job further explains it in the next Words Are not his days as the days of an Hireling Now an Hireling is one that hath days or time prefixed or set which he must fulfil and then he is discharged from his Employment And so it is with Man God hath set him his Time which when he hath accomplished Death by God's Appointment comes and dischargeth him from his Work so in Job 14.5 Job tells us Mans days are determined the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds beyond which he cannot pass And all the days of my appointed Time saith he will I wait till my Change shall come Mans Life is appointed and fixed by God his days are determined by him We know not how long we shall live but God doth he gives us out our days and our months by Tale the number of his months are with thee Whatever Man is Lord of he is not Lord of his Time We cannot dispose of one minute for our selves or â—thers We live not by our own Wills if we did who would dye Nor do we live at the Will of others for who of us then would live or at least â—ive long But we live at the Will of God Tenants we are at his Will he gives us the Lease of our Lives and for what Years he pleaseth He is Lord of Time and therefore he hath Power to appoint to one man a greater to another man a lesser measure of Time as seems good unto him David therefore when his Enemies were taking Counsel against him to take away his Life bears up his Spiris with this as a comfortable Consideration My Times are in thy hands O Lord Psal 31 15. The Jews we know design'd the Death of Christ a long time but they could not accomplish it till his hour was come and therefore when he was brought before Pilate to be judged says Pilate to him Knowest thou not that I have Power to Crucify thee and have Power to release thee No says Christ thou hast no such Power of thy self neither couldst thou have any such Power except it were given thee from above What Christ said of himself is true of every Man he lives not after nor dyes before his hour is come Our Friends cannot lengthen our days nor can our Enemies shorten them no it is God that holds our Souls and Lives in being and when he pleaseth and not before we return unto our Dust. God hath determined our days to us and God keeps the reckoning of our days for us and if as our Lord tells us That a Sparrow falls not to the ground without our Father and that the very hairs of our heads are all numbred Surely then the days of our Lives are numbred The hairs of the head are the meanest part of us and indeed but a stringy Excrement and there are such numerous multitudes of them that it is a kind of a Wonder that they can be numbred or any Account kept of them but yet to shew that the Providence of God extends its self to the least things it extends to the numbring of our hairs much more than to the numbring of our days But. Though Death observes the Order and Appointment of God yet it observes no Order among men It fears none for their greatness nor spares none for their goodness nor despiseth any for their lowness Though Christians are Souldiers and in a continual Warfare with their Spiritual Enemies obeying the Commands of the Captain of their Salvation while they live yet do they observe no Order nor keep to any Rule in dying The Old go not always before the Young nor the Rich before and the Poor following after Death hath no Master of Ceremonies but it takes promiscuously here a Child and there a Man here a Rich Man and there a Beggar here a strong Man and there a weak Man here a Master and there a Servant The Law of Nature saith that a Man in his full strength is not so likely to dye as one that is wither'd with Old Age it sets Death further off from one whose breasts are full of milk and their bones moistened with marrow The Law of Nature saith O Death go to the wrinkled face to the dry bones to those the Infirmities and Weaknesses of whose Age are so many and so afflictive that they seem to have no Pleasure in their Lives but are desirous of thy presence and company O Death for their ease and relief But O meddle not with this gâ—odly young Man or that beautiful Woman alas they are but now in the flower of their days and in the prime of their years and therefore spare them But Death will not Answer nor Regard these Requests for Death observes not the Law of Nature but the Appointments of God who is the Lord of Nature We see it therefore daily Death knocks as often at the young Man's door as at the old Man's and as frequently carries the strong and healthful Man Prisoner to the Grave as the weak and sickly And as there is no Order observed in Death so is there none in the Grave Death and the Grave are the two great Levellers of Mankind While Men live there is and there ought to be distinctions among them God hath appointed it so and Men ought to observe it acknowledging the power and greatness of those that are in high Places For as the Scripture observes as there is one Glory of the Sun and another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory 1 Cor. 15. and 41. And as there is difference in the Celestial Glories so also is there in the Terrestrial there is a Glory belonging unto Kings there is a Glory belonging unto Noble-Men and a Glory belonging unto Common People all have not nor ought to have the same Glory but one Man differs from another Man in Glory But when Death comes there is an end of all these distinctions the Grave mingles the Dust and Pones of the one with the other We cannot there distinguish the rich Man's Dust from the poor Man's nor the Bones of Kings from those of their lowest Subjects Rich Men indeed descend with greater Pomp into the Grave and are buried in more eminent Places and under more stately Monuments But though great Men's Tombs differ from their Inferiours yet their Bones do not but the Worms feed upon all alike While Men walk upon this Dust their distances are many but when they lie down in the Dust they are all alike Civil Differences then all cease and Moral Differences only take place and according as Men have been or done good or evil here so shall they be differenced for ever hereafter If it be demanded now how Man came to be notal I answer Not by Creation for he was created as in a holy so in a deathless State Immortality was a part of God's Image at first
we read that Amasa was removed out of the High way into the Field and a Cloth cast upon him And what then why the Holy Text tells us All the People went on after Joab So is it with us if we behold a Person lying upon a death-bed gasping and bleeding and with dying groans ready to expire his last breath here we make a stop and pause with some astonishment at so sad a sight but let a Cloth be thrown over the Dead and the Corps drawn aside into the Grave and covered with Earth presently we go to our employments and trading and possibly some to their sinful Practices again as if the last Man that should die were now buried Now the Reasons of this stupidity and carelessness may be such as these First The great Love and Affection Men have to the World and the things thereof These take up all the thoughts and time of some Men so that they have no leasure nor desires to think of Death or to make Preparations for another Life The Pleasures Honours and Profits of the World are fine things in their Eyes they please their Fancies and so possess their Minds with a fond desire of long Life that they may delight their senses in these earthly things and these ardent earnest desires of theirs will let them think of nothing less than many days to satisfie their sensual part in these delightful enjoyments If we should look abroad into the World we may easily perceive which way the Inclinations of most Men carry them How eagerly do some pursue the Pleasures of the World How unweariedly do others follow the Profits of the World And how impatiently do others thirst after the Honours and Preferments of the World as if their Happiness were wrapp'd up in these outward Accommodations Whereas our Lord tells us that a Man's Life consists not in the abundance of the things that he enjoys here in this World And by these things the thoughts of Death are not suffered to come into Men's Minds and if they will crowd in upon them sometimes they are soon cast out again as unwelcome Guests that come to disturb their Peace Secondly Men put off the thoughts of Death and Preparation for it because they generally look upon it as that which is afar off And this is the greatest sottishness in the World If you go to those that are young and tell them that they must die it is true say they and Old Men ought to consider it and prepare themselves for it but surely for us there is no such hast yet Alas they think they must of right and course live till they are Aged If you go to Old Men and tell them that they must die alas their Age tells them so they cannot deny it but though God visit them with weakness and infirmities the Companions of Old Age which impair their Health and waste their strength continually yet they Hope these decays are not so great nor so violent but that they may yet weather out a few years more those that are healthful and strong think they need not prepare for Death till they have warning given them of its approach by Sickness And those that God doth summon to the Grave by Sickness and Diseases they have a secret hope that because they have formerly escaped from other distempers therefore they may do so again Thus now most Men thrust Death from them and put the evil Day afar off And it is a true saying that usually the hopes of a long life is the cause of an evil life for because Men hope they shall live long therefore they are careless how they live at present presuming they may have time enough to repent and amend all hereafter Thirdly Men put off the thoughts of Death because such apprehensions bring a great deal of Fear and Terrour with them Death is that which Nature abhors to think of it cannot endure the thoughts of Separation between those near and dear Companions of Soul and Body Oh to think that this Body that is here pamper'd and made so much of should become vile and loathsome in the Grave laid in a Bed of stench and rotteness covered with Worms mouldring away into the dust of Oblivion This is a sad and melancholy subject for our thoughts to muse upon O this King of Terrours Death How unâ—â— come is he unto the thoughts of most men especially considering him as having his sting in him which is Sin O then it is no wonder that those whâ— are Conscious to themselves of 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—ing guilâ— dare not think of standing before the dreadful Tribunal of God whither Death God's Serjeant will bring them but cry out with Horrour Who among us can dwell with devouring Fire Who among us can dwell with everlasting Burning 〈◊〉 it is no wonder that such put far from them thâ— thoughts of Death because they know that day whensoever it comes will be to them â—n evil day But if Men would seriously consider how shouâ—â— their time in this World is the hazard and dangerâ— they run by their delays would be prevented Surely they that have a lively sense of the things of Eternity upon their Hearts that know their time herâ— to be but short and believe that upon the improvement of this short time their misery or happiness for Eternity doth depend will not be so foolish as to put off their Preparations for Death and Eternity till hereafter when they have no assurance of their lives no not for a moment This is so weighty a consideration that if it were laid to Heart would prevail with all Men that have the right use of their Reason and Vnderstanding Our time in this World is short and uncertain yet is our work very great We are but of yesterday and possibly before to Morrow we may not be and the Great God hath suspended Eternity upon the improvement of this moment a few days or a few hours nay possibly a few minutes will determine our everlasting State and condition and according as we are in spending of them so shall our Doom be either to Eternal Happiness or to Eternal Misery and why Oh why should our precious and immortal Souls be so vile in our Eyes as to lose them by sloth and carelessness Why should any of us be such Fools and Mad-men to hearken to the sollicitations of the Flesh or to the allurements of a flattering deceitful World so as to put off and neglect our everlasting concerns Should we not rather say to the World or whatever it be that would hinder us in our great work Stand off for we are working for Eternity an Eternity that is but a few days it may be but a few hours hence a boundless a bottomless endless state and condition into which we know not how soon we may be cast and therefore we have no time to dally in or to trifle away But though our Time be short yet is it long enough for our great Work if diligently
in the Things of this World should be unwilling to die that the Thoughts of Death which parts them and their Happiness should be bitter and unpleasant This now is naturally the Temper of all Men till God opens their Eyes and discovers to them more excellent Things even Things of a spiritual and divine Nature which as they are more suitable to their Souls so are they more durable and satisfying and having once tasted what present Sweetness Peace and Joy there is in God and in ways of Holiness besides what is laid up for them hereafter in Heaven their Hearts and Affections are now become dead to the World and all worldly Things so that they have no relish and savour of these Things upon their Spirits But as St. Paul saith of himself so it may be said of them they are now crucified unto the World and the World is crucified unto them The World sees no Glory or Beauty in them and they see as little in the World How easily now can such take their leaves of it when God by Death calls them to it The Apostle tells us for his part he did die daily 1 Cor. 15. and 31. And did we die daily in our Desires and Affections unto the World and the Things thereof it would not be so hard for us to die when we come to it in good earnest When Death comes to a Man whose natural strength and vigour hath been wasting and consuming a long time by lingring Sicknesses and Distempers his Death is not so hard and strong as that Man's Death is whom a few day's Sickness cuts off in the midst of his strength and Vigour Nature being strong in him to make resistance against it whereas in the other the strength of Nature is wasted and consumed and so Death to him is more easie So is it here the Christian whose Love and Affection to the World and the Contentments of this present Life hath for many years been consuming and dying will more freely and readily part with them at Death than he whose Love and Affections are strongly and eagerly bent upon them such a one must be rent and torn from them by force and violence in the hour of Death When our heart 's set loose from all things that are desirable under the Sun and there is nothing upon Earth that insnares and intangles our Affections towards it one Difficulty yea and a great one too in our way of dying is then removed Death will rend and tear that heart that is glued in love to any thing in this World Therefore O Christian as to all thy worldly Enjoyments possess them as if thou possessed'st them not rejoice in them as if thou rejoicedst not and use the World as not abusing of it for the Fashion of the world passeth away How dreadful will Death be to one who as the Apostle saith minds earthly Things and how easie will Death be to one whose Mind and Conversation is in Heaven It is good therefore for us to consider that we are but Strangers and Pilgrims here Heaven is the proper Place and Dwelling for holy Souls Make provision therefore by a holy weanedness of Heart and Affections for your departure bence send your best things to Heaven before-hand that is your Heart your Love your Delight and then you your selves will the more readily and willingly follow after them Fifthly Would you be prepared for Death live every day then as if it were your last doing nothing therein but what you would be willing to be found doing at Death and Judgment He that shall every day seriously consider with himself for ought I know this may be my last day The shadows of Death may stretch themselves over my Life before the shadows of the Evening overtake me I have no Assurance of my Life here no not for a moment How is it therefore with thee O my Soul as to Eternity what is thy daily Work and Employment Is it that wherein if I should meet with Death at the end of it I can comfortably give an Account thereof unto the Great God If I knew this to be my last Day would I be thus employed as I now am If not why do I venture upon the doing of that which I would be loath Death should find me a doing since I know not but Death may overtake me before I have finished what I am about Reader whoever thou art possibly thou mayest be guilty of no very great mistake if thou shouldst think with thy self as healthful and as strong as now I am yet there may be some secret invisible Hand of Death stretched out towards me possibly this very day I may feel some Symptoms and some Fore-runners of it some mortal incurable Disease may seize upon me before Night and cast me upon a sick Bed which to me may prove a Death bed Supposing now that this were thy very Case and that thou hadst received the Sentence of Death though not as Hezekiah did by a Messenger sent immediately by God unto him as he had but by the Violence of some Distemper accompanied with those Signs and Tokens that usually are and have been presages of Death unto others How then wouldst thou spend those few small Moments of Time that thou hast yet left thee on this side Eternity How would thy Thoughts work What would thy Words and Discourses then be Surely thou wouldst not be so abominable stupid and secure so wretchedly careless and negligent of thy Soul and of thy eternal Interest and Concerns when thy Soul is as it were sitting upon thy Lips and looking over into Eternity being ready to take its sudden flight thither as to be plodding and contriving in thy Thoughts how to enjoy the Pleasures Profits and Delights of the World which you now find to be nothing but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit nor yet would you be so desperately mad and bold as to send then for your vain and wicked Companions with whom you have consumed so many Days and Years in Sin and Wickedness that you and they might now laugh and waste away your last Hours together also No certainly there is no relish and savour now in any of these Things unless it be that which is bitter yea surely the Remembrance thereof will then be more bitter to the Soul than Gall and Wormwood Oh now the Consideration of the Wants and Exigences of the Soul begin to thrust and force themselves into the Mind and Thoughts of a Sinner O the sight of a righteous and a severe Judge of a strict Account and of a dreadful Tribunal Oh the bitter Vpbraidings and Terrors of an accusing Conscience the fearful Reflections upon past Sins and the Expectations of future Torments the Fears and Thoughts of these Things do now fill the Mind and perplex the Soul and make a Sinner cry out O what shall I now do to be saved Were you never in all your Lives by the Death-bed of a careless negligent Sinner whose
PRACTICAL DISCOURSES CONCERNING DEATH AND HEAVEN DISCOVERING The great Necessity of a speedy Preparation for Death with the danger of neglecting or delaying such Preparations ALSO The Excellency Glory and Happiness of Heaven opened and explained as the Portion of all true Believers after Death By Nathanael Ranew late of London Bookseller London Printed for N. R. and sold by J. Robinson A. and J. Churchill J. Taylor and J. Wyat. 1694. TO THE READER Christian Reader THE Desire of all Men is to be Happy and the Design of these Discourses is to bring Men to the Enjoyment of the highest Happiness The former Treatise being a Discourse of Death and the Grave which are as a Way through which all must pass to the attaining of this Happiness is that which is not acceptable but grievous unto Flesh and Blood The Dissolution of the Union between Soul and Body a turning to corruption and rottenness in the Grave where Worms shall gnaw and feed upon those Bodies that now are the Beauty and Comeliness of this lower Creation as quickned and animated by Rational and Immortal Souls that inhabit in them this is that which Nature dreads and of all things in the World most abhors and where there are in any no higher Principles to act from than what is founded in Nature to such Death must needs be very terrible because it is that which tends to its ruine and destruction Now it being the State and Condition of all Men by Nature since their Apostacy from God to have a prevailing Principle and Inclination in them unto the Creature and to take up with the Enjoyments of this World for their Happiness when Death comes to break asunder the Bonds of Life such Persons are of all Creatures most miserable and no wonder then if Death be formidable unto them If now upon this or any other account there be any thing in the pale face of Death that makes it have a grim and ghastly Aspect so that the thoughts of it are frightful and amazing to thee and thou startest back as one that is afraid to die yet be not discouraged from studious Meditations of Death for though at the first they may be terrible yet when thou hast accustomed thy self unto such Contemplations thou wilt find them very profitable and such as will by the Blessing of God work thy Heart into such a serious frame and put thee upon those Endeavours and Practices as have a tendency in them to fit thee for the approach of Death which will much abate the fears and dread thereof unto thee And as a farther encouragement unto so beneficial an employment take into thy most serious thoughts the Glory and Happiness of Heaven unto which Death brings all those that are prepared for it which is the subject of the second part of these Discourses and truly this is a State of so great Bliss and Happiness as may well lift up thy Soul above all the discouragements of the pains and torments of Sickness the horrours and fears of Death in the separation of Soul and Body thereby and the loathsomeness and corruption of the Grave and fill thee with vehement longings and desires after the possession and enjoyment of it I need not I hope make any Apology for the publishing of that which may be helpful to prepare Christians for Death and Heaven and such is the design of the following Discourses and that they may be so read them over attentively meditate on them seriously pray over them fervently and practice what is contained in them diligently and constantly and through the Blessing of God they will be effectual to bring thee unto the Happiness of Heaven which is the earnest and hearty Desire and shall be the daily Prayer of the Publisher If thou reapest any benefit hereby give God the Glory for his Assistance herein and let him have thy Prayers who desires nothing so much as the Honour of God and the good of Souls Farewel An Introduction Practical Preparation for Death CHAP. I. Of Death in general Of the sorts and kinds of Death mentioned in Scripture Death befalls all Men there is no withstanding of it nor any priviledged from it The time of Death urknown unto us yet Fixed and Appointed by GOD. Death makes all equal Sin subjects unto Death DEATH is a Subject every Christian should often have in his thoughts because it is that unto which he is lyable every moment of his Life neither the hearing thinking nor speaking of it can therefore be unseasonable at any time And tho' Considerations of Death to living Men are usually most unwelcome yet are they as profitable to promote the Interest of a Christian as any other for no Man can live well till he can dye well and no Man is so prepared for Death as he who frequently imploy's his Thoughts in the Consideration of his own Frailty and Mortality Indeed Custom hath made it become almost an improper thing either for a Minister to Preach of Death without the Representation of a Funeral or for one Christian to speak unto another of their Latter End without it be in the House of Mourning where an Example of their Mortality is before their eyes But if the Mouths of Christians were more frequently filled with Discourses of Death and the Grave to which all are hastening but know not who shall get thither soonest they would find such Benefit and Advantage thereby in the quickning and hastning their Preparations for their dissolution that they might always be in a readiness when Death shall come as would infinitely make amends either for the unaccustomariness of the Work or whatever pains and labour they had taken with their hearts to render them fit for the coming of their Lord. What Death is is as little known unto some as it is consider'd by most many take it to be nothing but a Cessation of Life and all actings in this World and it were well if there were not too many to be found who think this to be all that Death doth and when they are thus dead there is an end of them making themselves no better than the Beast that perisheth Happy were it for all wicked Men if Death were no more than this But though Death be a Cessation of Natural Life and so of all Natural Motion and Action yet is it more properly a Separation between Soul and Body whereby the Body becomes a dead unactive thing because the Soul which is the Principle of Life and Operation hath forsaken it but yet Death as it reacheth not the Soul at all for that lives after its Separation from the Body so it shall not for ever keep Soul and Body asunder but only until God's appointed Time and then shall the Body be raised again out of the Grave by the mighty Power of GOD and united to the Soul to live together in a state of Blessedness or Misery for ever according to what they have both been and done together in this World
whether it be good or evil But because Generals do not so much affect us unto our Edification I shall be a little more particular in my Discourse upon this Subject and so I shall speak something concerning Death in a Threefold Sence as the Scripture holds it forth unto us And so there is I. A Death in Sin II. A Death to Sin And III. A Death for Sin First There is a Death in Sin this the Scripture mentions often 5 John 25. The hour is coming and now is when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live So 5 Ephes 14. Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light So let the dead bury the dead Mat. 8.22 This Death in Sin consists in the want of a Principle of Spiritual Life being the deprivation of the Life of Grace and Holiness which is the Life of the Soul and without which the Soul is dead And thus all Men naturally are dead because they are without the Spirit of Christ which enlivens and quickens the Soul to all Acts of Grace and Holiness wherein this Spiritual Life doth manifest it self as the Soul enlivens and quickens the Body unto all Acts of Nature wherein the natural Life doth manifest it self That all Men are thus dead in Sin naturally is evident from Scripture 2 Ephes 1 2 3. The Apostle writing to the Ephesians who by the Almighty Power of God were raised from this Spiritual Death as he tells them in the First Verse And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins that he might beget in them a grateful Sense of God's Goodness towards them herein He describes to them their former deplorable Condition Wherein says he in times past ye walked according to the Course of the World according to the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that worketh in the Children of Disobedience And in Ver. 3. the Apostle puts himself into the Number Among whom says he we all had our Conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature Children of Wrath even as others And then in the fourth Verse he gives them to understand by whom they were raised out of so miserable an Estate But God says he who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by Grace ye are saved Now this Spiritual Death or this Death in Sin is the fruit and effect of our first Parents Apostacy from God whereby we are not only deprived of the Image of God which is the Beauty yea the Life of the Soul but are also depraved with the Image of the Devil which is not only the Deformity of the Soul but even as Death unto it And because this is a Spiritual Death and reacheth chiefly to the Soul it is therefore the more hurtful and dangerous though the effects of it extends it self to the Body also being that which is the Cause of Natural Death for therefore the Body is a frail dying Body because it is joyned to a sinful Soul but this is not all the Mischief it doth for this Death in Sin unless Grace prevent is that which ends in Eternal Death which consists in an everlasting separation of Soul and Body from the eternal Enjoyment of God in Heaven in whose presence there is fulness of Joy and at whose right hand there are Pleasures for evermore Secondly There is a Death to Sin of this we read Rom. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein So in 1 Pet. 2.24 That we being dead to sin should not live any longer therein This Death to sin consists in the Spirits indwelling in the Soul by its sanctifying Operations enabling the Soul to mortifie sin Hence the Apostle tells us Rom. 8.13 That if through the Spirit we mortifie the deeds of the Body we shall live Such therefore who have felt the Efficacy of an Almighty Power from the Death of Christ by the Operation of the Spirit applying of it to their Souls to break the power and strength of sin so that it doth not reign in them they may be said to be dead to sin because sin is dying in them As those Persons over whom Distempers have prevailed so far that they have lost their bodily strength that it cannot be recovered again are said to be dead even while they live so tho' sin still live in the godly by reason of the Remainders of it yet are they dead to sin because the Power and Strength of it is abated and lessened the Spirit of Sanctification prevailing dayly over sin so that it doth not rule and reign as formerly it did Thus to dye to sin is to be made alive to God and blessed are they that have a part in this Resurrection from the death of sin to the life of Grace for on such the second Death shall have no Power Thirdly There is a Death for Sin or because of sin Now this is Two-fold Temporal and Eternal 1. Temporal Death This is contained in that merciful Threatning God gave unto Adam in Paradice to prevent his Apostacy Gen. 2.16 17. where after God had so largely expressed his bounty and goodness unto man in giving him liberty to eat of every Tree of the Garden restraining him only by a Command from the Tree of Knowledge for the Tryal of his Obedience as Ver. 17. Of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat which he backs with a Threatning in the next Words For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye The Truth of which Threatning the Experience of all Mankind to this day is a standing Confirmation so true is that of the Apostle As by one Man sin enter'd into the World and Death by sin and so Death passed upon all for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 2. There is an Eternal Death for sin and this follows upon the Death of the Body consisting in the separation of Soul and Body from the Presence and Favour of God for ever in Hell and is in part executed on the Souls of wicked Men at Death and perfectly upon Soul and Body at the Resurrection when the Wicked shall be turned into Hell and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power which in Scripture is called the Second Death Rev. 21.8 Where wicked and unregenerate persons are said to have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the Second Death This is the height and perfection of all Misery This now is the Substance of what is contained in this Word Death so far as Words can explain it which if we consider in all the forementioned Sences it is that which we cannot comprehend all that hath been
said of it is but like the painting of the fire to the eye which expresseth not the pain and anguish that is in it unto the Senses For if we understand by Death a Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Death I may allude to what the Psalmist saith of the Power of God's Anger Who knows the Power of thine Anger So who knows the dreadfulness of the Horror and Pain that is contained in thee O Death according to our Fear of thee So yea and much greater is the Misery which the wrath of God by thee inflicts upon all those that live and dye in their sins But though Death be thus terrible yet is it the more common acceptation of it that chiefly affects the generality of Mankind for as for Spiritual Death or Death in sin because of the present pleasures and Delights which bewitch the Senses this they are insensible of And as for Eternal Death that is looked upon by many as a Dream or Notion as a thing that may never be or if among some it be credited for a Truth yet is it looked upon as that which is a great way off and if the terror of it doth startle the Consciences of some yet are they soon quieted with such thoughts as these Christ dyed for all and God is a merciful God and so they hope all shall be well with them But now for Temporal Death which consists in the separation of the Soul from the Body this is so much Death to them that they think there is no other but that at least they apprehend none so prejudicial to them This is a Truth so evident that which way soever they go or turn objects of Mortality present themselves before their eyes in the Death of Friends Relations and others whereby the reigning Power of Death over all is visible sweeping away all Men before it into the Grave the place of silence and rottenness yea themselves are not without some symtoms of their approaching dissolution diseases and distempers as well as business and employments wasting and consuming their bodies dayly whereby they may be convinced that they also are made of the same Mould and must shortly be crumbled into the same Dust with others Thus Death meeting with them so often and staring them so frequently in their faces gives them to understand that there is no way for them to escape its stroke the thoughts whereof cannot but now and then make them fear and tremble But though nothing be more certain than Death yet nothing is more uncertain than the Time of Death For though all shall dye yet all do not dye at the same time nor after the same manner To some God gives long Warning Nature wasting and consuming in them by lingring Distempers with others God is more quick shooting them with an Arrow as it were and suddenly they are wounded unto Death and Destruction Some their hoary Heads are found in the Way of Righteousness and they come to their Graves in a good old Age others arise early to that height of Impiety that the Earth groans under the burthen of their great Wickedness and God is so provoked thereby that he causeth the Earth to swallow them up quick to some the Promise of Long Life made for an Encouragement to Obedience and Holy Walking is turned into a Performance God satissying them with length of days and then leaves them to depart in peace shewing them his Salvation others God cuts off in the midst of their days and of their sins also and they go down quick into the Grave and into Hell too Though the days of a good Man at the most are but few yet because of some special Goodness they are often prolonged so though the days of a wicked Man at the most are but few yet because of some special Wickedness they are often shortned The Wise Man proves this Assertion Prov. 10.27 The fear of the Lord prolongeth or adds to days but the days of the wicked shall be shortned As every Man because he is a Sinner shall live but few days so some shall not live half their days because they are Notorious Sinners The short of it is this Death doth not always give Warning how many rise in the Morning that make their Beds in the Grave before the Evening How many go well to Bed at Night whose Sleep is their Death and they arise no more until the Morning of the Resurrection How often have we seen many projecting for themselves and theirs great things in the World laying house to house and land to land that with the Fool in the Gospel they might eat drink be merry for many year when on a sudden or in that very Night their souls have been taken from them To presume therefore of Long Life and thereupon to neglect to prepare for Death is the great 〈◊〉 piece of Folly imaginable for scarce is 〈…〉 Week passeth over our heads wherein we may not hear of some or other that are suddenly gone into another World and that which hath been the Case of others may be ours also It is the sad Condition of a wicked Man let him dye how and when he will he dies miserably if Death cut him off suddenly then he goes down quick into Hell that Gulf of all Woe and Misery If Death gives him long Warning by a succession of many years distempers yet all this while he doth but pine away in his Iniquity and encreaseth his Misery when Death shall cut him off and throw him into that place of Torment the pain and anguish whereof is so great that it cannot be sufficiently expressed no not by them that feel it But now it is the happiness of a godly Man let him dye never so suddenly yet he always dyes happily because he is in a state of Peace and Reconciliation with God it is true he may dye without a sence and feeling of that Peace and so his passing thorow the Valley of the Shadow of Death may be terrible to him but still God is with him and though the eye of his Faith be held so that he cannot discern him to be his God though his Rod and his Staff do not comfort him yet they do support and strengthen him and as soon as Death hath opened his eyes he beholds the face of God to his everlasting joy and satisfaction Doth Death then come certainly and sometimes suddenly It is thy Wisdom O Christian always to be prepared for it and then let it come when it will tho' this Night thou maist bid it welcome But as Mans Life is short and frail so is his Death sure and certain for it is the common lot 〈◊〉 Men. Man saith Job that is all Men are good 〈◊〉 dye it is the way of all the Earth it is the end of all Men. Who is he that lives and shall not see Death No Man can redeem his Brothers no nor his own Life from Death that he should still live for ever and not see Corruption
the rich Man in the Gospel else so confidently say to his Soul Thou bast Goods laid up for many years eat drink and be merry But Death would not be put off so for that Night was his Soul taken from him notwithstanding all his great Possessions It is in vain to cry out on a Death Bed with that wretched Cardinal Beauford in Henry the Sixth Time Wherefore should I dye being rich will not Death be bribed Will Money do nothing No truly it cannot for as Riches profit not in the day of Wrath to pacifie the Justice of an angry God so neither will they profit in the day of Death to bribe that King of Terrors Beauty is another outward Excellency that many glory in and indeed it is a great Ornament a Gift of GOD and no small one it is a taking thing We delight in things that are beautiful Beauty to some is a Portion among men to others a favour from God It is a silent Eloquence a tacite Perswasion and works much upon some What is said of the Church Psal 45.11 So shall the King greatly desire thy Beauty I know it is spoken there of Spiritual Beauty the Graces of the Spirit of God which beautifie and adorn the Church in the eyes of Christ for it is said the KING's Daughter is all glorious within But yet it is true also in some me sure of outward Corporeal Beauty it is a desireable thing and may duly be an attractive of Love it is that which draws the Eyes and Hearts of many tho' often it is an incentive to Lust both to great Men and to good Men. Solomon loved strange Women the Scripture saith and they turned away his heart from God and having smarted severely for it as a fruit of the sincerity of his Repentance and to prevent so great wickedness in others he hath left us many Excellent Cautions and Counsels in Sacred Writ against the ensnaring Temptations and powerful Charms of Beauty But though Men are deluded and deceived by beautiful Objects and Persons yet Death is not A beautiful Face is as mortal and as soon yea sooner many times turned into duct and corruption than a face that is deformed Death regards a goodly well favoured Joseph or Absolom no more than a leprous Vzziah or Gebazi nor doth it spare a beautiful Rachel more than a blear ey'd Leah Favour is deceitful and Beauty is vain in this respect for they profit none in a dying hour the beautifulest Person and the most lovely Complexion is quickly turned into Paleness and Corruption when once the time of their dissolution is come Death soon making those that for their Beauty and Comeliness were most admired by others become most loathsome and intolerable and they most desirous with Abraham to bury such dead out of their sight By what hath been said it appears that all Men notwithstanding all their great Attainmen's in Worldly Excellences are not exempted from dying And as no outward so no inward-Excellency and Perfection can priviledge any from Death no not Grace it self Grace is as Salt to the Soul to preserve it from Moral Corruption for ever but it cannot preserve the Body from Natural Corruption in this World In Heaven where there shall be nothing but Grace and Holiness in the Soul in perfection there there shall be no dying but here on Earth where Grace is insperfect being mingled with Sin and Corruption there is a necessity of dying Death is become domestical to us we have the Seed of it within us we carry it daily in our bosoms I mean in the body of Sin as the Apostle calls it that we carry about with us which will never be extirpated and destroyed till the death of the body All our Prayers and Tears cannot prevent Death Prayer can do great things to instance in particulars of its Prevalency would be endless Our Lord himself tells us That whatever we ask the Father in his Name he will give it us John 16.23 That is an Astonishing Scripture Esay 45.11 Thus saith the Lord The Holy One of Israel and his Maker Ask me of things to come concerning my Sons and concerring the Works of my hands command ye me As if saith one God was as ready to do them service as if they had him at their Command There is a kind of Omnipotency in Prayer and therefore it is said of Jacob that as a Prince he had power with God and prevailed Gen. 32.28 And the Apostle tells us The effectual fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man availeth much how much the Apostle could not tell us but leaves it to every one to make Observations from their own Experience But though Prayer can do such great things yet it cannot prevent Death We read indeed that the Prayer of Faith doth save the Sick but though it can even restore from a sick-bed yet it cannot raise from a Death-bed Nay Christ himself hath not so Redeemed us that we should live for ever and not see Corruption he hath Redeemed us that we shall live for ever in Heaven but he hath not Redeemed us that we should live for ever on Earth and not dye no it was the Priviledge of Jesus Christ the Redeemer that he should not see Corruption and therefore of him only it is said Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption But may some say this necessity of dying seems not to be unalterably imposed upon all Men for some have lived who never dyed and some shall live hereafter that shall not dye I Answer It is true the Scripture makes mention of Two and but Two that lived here oâ— Earth and by special Grace and Favour were exempted from Death ascending up unto God leaping over Death and the Grave as it were in their passage to Heaven and they are Enoch and Elias concerning Enoch it is said That by Faith he waâ— transtated that he should not see Death Heb. 11 5â— He was a Person eminent for Holiness for it is said That he walked with God three hundred years and obtained this Testimony before his Translationâ— that he pleased God Gen. 5.22 And being such an Eminent Proficient in Grace as that there waâ— none that we read of like him at that time he obtained such Grace and Favour from God as none did for it is said He walked with GOD and he was not for GOD lock him O the Excellency of Grace and Holiness how highly doth it ennable and advance a Man Enoch walked with God and God thinks the Earth not good enough for him and therefore he takes him to himself into Beaven nay this is not all so much was God taken with the Holiness of Enoch that he shall not go to Heaven in the ordinary way as other Saints do by Death but he shall be translated from Grace to Glory without so much as looking into the Grave The like we read of Elias another eminent and zealous Servant of God 2 King
imprinted upon Man God's Image being defaced by Sin Mortality took place Man never had an Impossibility not to die but he had a possibility not to die and that was the State of Man's Immortality In his State of Innocency his Life was made as long as his Obedience In God's dealing with our first Parents he back'd his Command with the threatning of Death Gen. 2.17 Of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Our first Parents disobeyed this most righteous and equitable Command of God and thereby brought Death upon themselves and all their Posterity For though God formed Man as the Holy Story tells us out of the Dust of the Earth yet so long as Man stood he never said to Dust thou shalt return but only put in a supposition or threatning that in case he did fall he should surely die But when by Sin he had fallen from God then he hears what he must be Dust thou art and unto Dust thou shalt return So that the Justice of God stands engaged to inflict Death upon every Transgressour And to this the Apostle ascribes it Rom. 5.12 By Sin Death entered into the World and so Death passed upon all because all have sinned Death therefore seizeth upon us not as we are Men but as we are Sinners To die is a penalty inflicted upon Man for Sin If Man had not sinned he had not been under a necessity of dying but by sinning he became mortal Sin therefore is not only the Sting of Death but the Cause of Death It is that which gives it not only its Terror but it s very Being and therefore it is somewhat remarkable that among all the Creatures in the World Man only is termed mortal It is certain other Creatures decay and perish as well as Man yet among all perishing things Man only hath the wretched Denomination of being mortal and there is good Reason for it since he alone of all perishing things being created immortal voluntarily subjected himself unto Death and by his own default brought upon himself the Name of Mortal as a brand of perpetual Infamy CHAP. II. Thoughts of Death ought to be laid to heart by all It is a Christian 's great Wisdom and ought to be his greatest care to provide for Death The great folly and danger of neglecting or delaying such Preparations upon hopes of long life Sickness a very unfit time for such a work Men very prone to put off thoughts of Death and Preparation for it with the Reasons thereof Time short though long enough for our great work if diligently improved Excellent Essects that the Consideration of our latter end would produce It is a very comfortable thing to have all things set right between God and the Soul before a dying hour Time ought therefore to be valued and our days wisely to be numbered THough the Life of Man be very short frail and uncertain though Death hath nothing of a peradventure in it but is that which will most certainly over-take all Men none being able to withstand it nor any priviledged against it Yet how strangely besotted are the generality of Men in putting far from them this evil day as if because God hath not told them the exact time when they shall die they were not bound to take any notice that they shall die But doubtless this is as great a piece of Folly as most we can be guilty of For why doth God so often visit us with Pains and Distempers upon our Bodies which threaten Death Why are we so frequently called to the house of Mourning to accompany others unto their long home Is it not that hereby we might reflect upon our own Mortality with the most serious thoughts by beholding the Death of others Doubtless much of a Christian's Life should be spent in the thoughts of Death and in a right numbring of his days so as to lay to heart his latter end It is not that which should be forced upon us by some unexpected Providence of God in snatching some away out of the World by some sudden stroke by the hearing whereof we are amazed and by whose Funeral the thoughts of Death force themselves into our Minds but we should make it the Matter of our daily Meditation the thoughts of which we should accustom ourselves unto and that not only when with old Barzillai we have not long to live when by Reason of Age our Strength is departed when Infirmities and Distempers upon us are so many that we can taste no sweetness in any outward Enjoyments but even with Joseph of Arimathea who made his Sepulchre in his Garden a place of Pleasure so should we in the midst of all our Delights and Recreations and when we are best able to relish what sweetness there is in them even then should we check all such Inclinations in us by accustoming our Minds unto the frequent serious awful thoughts of our latter end For this we have the practice of our blessed Lord who when he was transfigured before his Disciples the Glory whereof was so great that St Peter's weak Eyes were not able to behold it yet he then thought no Subject so fit to be discoursed of as that of his Death which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem Luk. 9.31 It is therefore a wicked Proverb that is frequent in the Mouths of many They thought not of such a thing no more than they thought of their dying Day Alas poor foolish Man what not think of thy dying day Dost thou know what thou sayest Is the day of thy Death of no more Concernment to thee than so What not so much as to think of it Dost thou not know Oh vain trifling Man that thy dying day will be to thee the beginning of a state of Happiness that shall never cease or an entrance on a state of Misery that shall never know an end And what is it not worth thy bestowing a thought upon it For Shame O foolish Man for I scarce know how to call thee Christian thy talk is so profane and thy Life so loose that it savours little of Christianity to be sure not of the power of Godliness if thy ways be according to thy Words It is said of the Old World that they eat they drank they married and were given in Marriage until the day that Noah entred into the Ark and they knew it not till the Flood came and swept them away What was the Old World destroyed because they knew not of the coming of the Flood No Noah was a Preacher of Righteousness and doubtless he had told them of it many a time but yet it is said they knew it not till the Flood swept them away that is they knew it not so as to consider and make Provision against the Deluge came so they knew it not So is it now with many in this Case they are not undone eternally by not knowing they
presumptuous as if thou hadst the Lease thereof in thine own hands and at thine own dispose Indeed we read of good Hezekiah that upon his recovery from a fit of Sickness God gave him a Lease of his Life for fifteen years but who ever had the like Scripture and Experience speak of nothing more plainly than the Frailty and uncertainty of Man's Life It is therefore compared to the Wind to a Leaf to a Flower to a Shadow to a Vapour by all which the Spirit of God sets forth to us the Frailty Brevity and uncertainty of Man's Life endeavouring hereby to take us off from all foolish conceits and vain hopes of long life for what is our Life but a Vapour that appeareth for a while and then vanisheth away a little breath turned in and out by the Nostrils a narrow passage that is soon stopt and we are gone We have no Assurance of our Life no not for a moment Death lies in Ambush every where for us We have a Proverb that the young Man may die but the old Man must die whereas Observation will inform us that incomparably more die young than old And did we but seriously consider by what small pins this Frame of Man is held together it would appear no less than a Miracle that we live one day or hour to an end so many dangers so many Casualties do we pass through every moment and are the thoughts of Death and thy preparation for Death and that Eternity that follows it to be put off to such uncertainties Are not all thy days on Earth few and thou hast spent some of them already and possibly those few days of thine that are already past and gone are all the days thou hast to pass say not then to God to thy Conscience or to others that put thee upon a present preparation for Death and Eternity I will do it to morrow or hereafter boast not thy self O vain Man of to morrow for thou knowest not even what this day may bring forth to thee possibly this day may bring forth thy death and where then will be thy to morrows preparation for it But suppose Death should not cut us off suddenly but give us warning of its approach by Sickness and Distempers of Body yet how unfit a time is that to prepare for dying for Diseases sometimes come with that Violence that they quickly take away Mens Senses and Vnderstandings and having lost the use of their Reason they are fit for nothing And hast thou O presumptuous sinner that trustest to a Sick-bed preparation for Death and Eternity and Assurance that this shall not be thy State and Condition then nay thou hast just cause to fear that thus it shall be because in the time of thy Health and Strength when God called after thee to look towards himself and to mind thy Everlasting Concernments thou wou'dit not therefore now that thou art come to lie upon a Death bed and thy Conscience is awakened with horrour because of thy former negligence and the prospect of thy future Misery that now the Violence of thy Distempers should be so great as to render thee uncapable of such a Work Or if God should be so merciful to thee which thou hast no reason to expect as to continue to thee the use of thy Reason and Vnderstanding so that being apprehensive of the approach of Death and Conscience also be awakened and terrifying thee with the fears of a strict account that thou art going to give unto the Great God of all that thou hast done in the Body whether it be good or evil dreading also what the Consequences thereof may be by reason of thy negligence and carelessness in the time of thy Health and Strength to make preparation for thy Eternal State It being thus with thee and thine Eyes being opened to see whither thou art going thou art very desirous it may be now to set thy Soul in order because thou fearest thou shalt die and not live Yet thy Sickness may be so sharp and pains may come upon thee with that Extremity that all thou canst do will be little enough to mind thy Body God may visit thee with such strong pains upon thy bed as may make thee cry and roar with such horrours as may make thee a terror to thy self and to all that come near thee so that all thou canst do for thy self or what others can do for thee may not be able to give thee any ease or relief And is this the time thou choosest to prepare thy self for Death and Eternity in What when thou canst hardly tell how to turn thy Body upon thy Bed for a little ease Dost thou think this a fit time to turn thy Soul fron Sin unto God in Suppose thou wert now cast upon a Sick-bed and thy Body full of pains if any one should come and put thee in mind of some Worldly Business wouldst thou not think it a good excuse to say Pray trouble me not now because I am Sick Speak to me of these things when I am Well again And dost thou think it Reasonable to be excused from Worldly Business because thou art Sick and yet dost thou Judge it the best time for thee to be employed about thy Spiritual concerns when thou art sick yea when thou art dying Surely desperate folly and madness is in the hearts of these Men who thus live and thus think to die Alas the time of Sickness is a time of spending not of getting it is not a time to gain Evidences for Heaven but to use them and to take the comfort that flows from them Alas poor Man thou shouldst now be solacing thy Soul in God as thy Father reconciled to thee in Christ and having made it the business of thy life to serve and please him sincerely though not without weaknesses and imperfections thou shouldst now be able to say thou hast through Jesus Christ received the Atonement and art continually rejoycing in hopes of the Glory of God the comfort whereof should be so great as to swallow up all thy Bodily pains and distempers and carry thee chearfully through the Pangs of Death so as that thou shouldst be able to say Blessed be God I am not sick for mine Iniquities are forgiven me This should be thy State and Condition upon a dying bed But if thou hast thy work to do thy Preparations for Heaven and Eternity to make when thou art upon thy Sick yea thy Death-Bed Oh how miserable I had almost said how desperate is thy Case How many Gracious Souls have found it work enough upon a Death-bed to attend the Pains and Distempers of their Bodies and believe it O Sinner who ever thou art thou wilt find it a great truth that to suffer and be sick is work enough for any Man at one time But suppose God should be so Gracious to thee as by some lingering and gentle sickness for many days yea months together give thee warning of thy
approaching Dissolution and thy Conscience also should be awakened to stir up in thee some serious thoughts and endeavours to prepare thy self for thy departure hence yet since thou hast so often turned thy back upon God and refused to hearken unto those many Calls that he hath vouchsafed unto thee in the time of thy life to be Wise for thy self by considering thy latter end but thou wouldst not how justly may he now reject thee at the time of thy death though thou follow'st him with never so many earnest cries yea and Tears also That is a most dreadful place of Scripture Oh that it were Engraven with a Pen of Iron and with the Point of a Diamond upon the heart of every careless negligent sinner Proverbs 1. from 24. to 31. Because I have called and you have refused I have stretched out my hand and no Man regarded But you have set at nought all my Counsel and would none of my reproof What then O dreadful O Soul confounding words I also will laugh at your Calamity and mock when your Fear cometh When your fear cometh as Desolation and your Destruction as a Whirlwind When Distress and Anguish cometh upon you Well but what follows upon this will not God be Entreated cannot Prayers and Cries do any thing with God No for it follows in the next words Then shall they call upon me but I will not Answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me for they hated Knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord They would none of my Counsel they despised all my Reproof What 's the Conclusion of all this why that we have in the next words therefore shall they eat the Fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own Devices Whoever thou art that Readest these Lines if through thy carelessness this should ever come to be thy Case because thou wilt not take warning I have only this doleful Word to leave with thee for thy serious thoughts and meditations and from my Soul I wish it may do thy Soul good this State that I am speaking of will be a State so full of dismal anguish and perplexing horrours that no words are able to express the misery of it Moreover a sick-bed Repentance and Preparation for thy Eternal State is very questionable How hard a matter wilt thou find it then to satisfie thy own Conscience or to convince others that what thou now dost is done in the uprightness of thy Heart and not in Hypocrisie Alas the present feeling of the wrath of God and the future expectations of fiery indignation in Hell may constrain thee unto all that thou dost It was a very sad Relation and I wish the reading of it may do some Soul good which once I received from the Mouth of an eminent Godly Minister of many years standing in the Ministry I have says he been called to visit abundance of Persons upon their Death-beds who reflecting back upon the wickedness of their lives hav professed a great deal of grief and sorrow and made many Promises what they would do and how they would live if God would restore them to their health again but among them all says he thus dying I could never yet meet with one that could give me good ground to believe the Happiness of their future state and condition in another World O let the consideration hereof cut thee to the Heart O thou slothful and delaying Sinner But if thou shouldst be sincere then in thy turning unto God and thy Preparations for Death and Eternity such as are sound and not hypocritical and feigned and God should be graciously entreated of thee in this last and greatest hour of thy distress yet will it not wound and pierce thy Soul to consider what Peace of Conscience what joy in believing what comfortable testimonies of God's loving kindness to thy Soul thou hast lost the sweetness and delight whereof would have born up thy Soul in a dying hour and have carried thee triumphantly through the gloomy valley of the shadow of Death so that thou shouldst have feared no evil But now instead thereof by reflecting upon the former course of thy life which hath been a continual trade of Sin and Wickedness whereby God hath been dish moured and provoked by thee all thy days he now appears to thee as thy dreadful Enemy visiting thee with nothing but terrible Rebukes of horrour and wrath in thy Conscience And though God may have mercy upon thy Soul eternally and the state of thy future Happiness may be sure and certain in it self yet thy passage to it may be very uncomfortable insomuch that as to thy sense and feeling thou art but leaving Earth to go to Hell God's bringing thee to Heaven being by the Gates thereof But though delays in this case are dangerous and sick-bed preparations for Heaven and Eternity at best but uncomfortable yet how prone are most Men to put off the thoughts of Death and their Preparations for it Solomon tells us Eccles 7. That it is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Feasting for this is the end of all Men and the living will lay it to Heart We ought indeed daily to familiarize Death to our Souls by frequent thoughts and meditations of it but when we go to the House of Mourning to see any laid in the Grave this is a special proper time and season for the living to lay Death to Heart and it is probable if Men will at any time lay Death to Heart surely they will do it at such a time as that is for when will Men think of Death if not when they see it before them It is true some do lay Death to Heart when they are called to such Solemnities O then they have a fit of grief upon them but as soon as they have vented their Passion the fit is over and so is their thoughts of Death with it And though Solomon seems to promise for the living that in the House of Mourning they will lay it to Heart yet there are very many that have been so often there that they are grown familiar with Death but in a bad sence for the frequency of such occasions have worn off all impressions of Mortality from their Hearts so that now they can go to the Grave again and again and not be affected with it they look upon it as a matter of Custom and Formality for Men to die and be buried and when the solemnity of the Funeral is over the thoughts of Death are over with them and as soon as they can get out of the sight of the Grave their Preparations for the Grave are out of their Mind The Holy History tells us in 2 Sam. 10.12 that when Amasa was slain by Joab and lay wallowing in his Blood in the midst of the high way every one that came by stood still being astonished to behold so dismal a Spectacle But afterwards
Majesty of Heaven condescends so low as to entreat us with more Earnestness and Affection to pity our own Souls and accept of a Pardon then Guilty Condemned Sinners desire to obtain it but when this Life is at an end there shall be no more Offers of Mercy but the Blood of Christ shall then be a Spring shut up and a Fountain Sealed that none can wash in it and be Cleansed Death Seals up the State of a Sinner for ever You know what Abrabam tells the Rich Man in Hell in Luke 16.26 Between us and you says he there is a great Gulf fixed so that they that would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence The State and Condition that Men enter upon after Death is fixed and unalterable Therefore O Sinner what thou dost for God for Heaven for thy Soul do it quickly for this is the only Time and Season for thee to work in and as thou now Sowest so thou shalt Reap for ever The State of Man under Death being thus it greatly concerns all Men to wait for Death Job tells us it should be his Practice Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change comes Now waiting as it relates unto Death may include three things Meditation Expectation and Preparation First Meditation He that waits for the Accomplishment of any Worldly Business especially if it be of Concernment to him how busie will his Mind and Thoughts be in musing upon it He now that is waiting for the coming of Death considering both the certainty of it that it will come and the uncertainty of it when it will come and believes withal that Eternal Happiness or Eternal Misery will be that State to which Death will bring him cannot but have his Thoughts much taken up about it This will make a Soul Truly and Spiritually Wise and therefore the Psalmist Prays Lord teach us to number our Days that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom He that is truly Wise will Meditate of Death and he that Meditates of Death will be truly Wise The more we number our Days and think of our Time the fewer Sins we shall have to number for as a Copy is then safest from blotting when dust is thrown upon it so are we from Sinning when we remember we are but Dust Secondly Waiting includes in it Expectation That which we wait for we are in Expectation of and that Man may be said to wait for Death that in every Action of his Life in every Alteration of his State and Condition saith to himself well I must Die when though his Bones are full of Marrow though Riches come in upon him like a Flood yet saith he I must die I have no abiding Place here I am but a Stranger and Sojourner in this World as all my Fathers were I have now Wife and Children Friends and Lands but I cannot enjoy any of these for ever no nor my Life it self for I have but a Lease of it and that but a short one too which will soon expire I expect Death daily even in the midst of all my Enjoyments I am but a Steward of all that I have here and I must shortly be called to an Account such and such are gone before me and I am following after The other day Death snatched away such a dear Relation from me this day it hath seized upon such a Friend and Acquaintance and to morrow the same Messenger may come for me It is that I expect and therefore I wait for it Thirdly Waiting includes in it Preparation He that waits for Death ought to be preparing for it This now is exceeding Requisite because it is above the reach of Words to express how much depends upon this Preparation it is that our whole Life should have respect unto every thing that we do ought to have a tendency in it to make Death Comfortable But of this Preparation for Death I shall speak more hereafter in its proper place This waiting for Death by way of Meditation on it by way of Expectation of it and by way of Preparation for it is very necessary considering what an Important difficult Work the Work of dying is and this will appear if we consider two things First what Death is Secondly what Death doth First what Death is and here are three things considerable Death is a Deprivation Death is a Desolution and Death is a Destruction All which make Death terrible and the Work of dying difficult First Death is a Deprivation It strips us of all those Comforts that in this World did Refresh us Friends Relations Lands Houses these have often delighted us while we live yea it may be too much by setting our Affections inordinately upon them and now what Grief of Soul doth it create to us violently by Death to be torn from them but part we and they must whether we will or no and that for ever Job tells us We came naked into the World and we shall return naked out of it The Apostle indeed seems to intimate as if some Men in our days could scarcely believe it and therefore to beat Men off from such a conceit he tells them 1 Tim. 6.7 We brought nothing with us into this World this is true and all Men will grant it and says the Apostle it is certain we shall carry nothing out of it Death makes all lie equal in the Dust Secondly Death is a Dessolution In Life Soul and Body are united and live lovingly together there is a near union between them a union which because of their long Acquaintance and Co-habitation together is become so dear that no union can be more desirable as to the continuance of it nor no union more dreaded as to the Dissolution of it except it be the Spiritual union between Christ and the Soul There are several kinds of unions and generally Love is the ground of them all There is an union of Friendship between one Friend and another whom Love hath united so strongly that they seem to Act as if one Soul animated them both so Jonathan loved David even as his own Soul This is a strong union There is also a Relative union between Parents and Children so Jacob loved Benjamin so that it is said his Life was bound up in the Life of the Lad This is a stronger union than the former There is also a Marriage union between a Man and his Wife and this is a stronger union than either of the former Man and Wife making but one Flesh as the Scripture speaks But yet there is a union that is stronger and nearer than any of these Vnions and that is the Vnion between Soul and Body for these two make but one Person Now all dis-unions are uncomfortable and some dis-unions are dreadful and as some dis-unions are dreadful so those dis-unions are most dreadful which rend that from us that is nearest and dearest to us
For Friends to be parted never to see the Faces of one another again this is sad And therefore when St. Paul was taking his leave of the Saints in Macedonia in Acts 20.38 it is said They fell on his Neck and kissed him sorrowing most for the words that he spake that they should see his Face again no more But it is sadder for Parents and Children to be disunited David found it so when he cryed out so Passionately for his Son 2 Sam. 18.33 O Absalom my Son my Son would God I had died for thee O Absalom my Son my Son It is yet more sad to have a dis-union made between a Man and the Wife of his Bosom when God shall take away with a stroke the desire of his Eyes one that hath been a meet and fit Yoke-fellow in the Lord whose Eyes can refrain from weeping or their Hearts from bleeding under such a sad stroke of Providence But yet there is a dis-union that comes nearer than all these and that is a dis-union between the Soul and the Body those two Old Sweet Intimate Companions born together into the World and who have lived in sweet Society together all their Days for Death to come and make a Dissolution between two so near and so dear together by a violent rending and tearing the Soul and Body asunder Oh this is exceeding sad and dreadful indeed and that which must needs make the Work of Dying hard and difficult Thirdly Death is a Destruction So David calls it Psal 90.3 Thou turnest Man to destruction That Excellent Frame of Man's Body which David tells us was fearfully and wonderfully made in secret and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the Earth by God himself and that with Infinite Power and Wisdom Psal 139.14 15. Sickness will not only stain its Glory and make the Beauty of it to consume like a Moth But Death will Demolish and pull it down to the ground turn it into Corruption and Putrefaction yea into Dust it self utterly destroying it so that it shall not be any more until by the Power of God it shall be raised up again at the last day Death now being so destructive a thing unto Man that nothing will content it less than his Annihilation in the Grave dying must needs be a hard and difficult thing unto Flesh and Blood Secondly Dying is an important difficult Work if we consider what Death doth now this I shall explain by opening these two things First Death occasions our Spiritual Enemies to assault us Secondly It awakens Conscience against us First Death occasions our Spiritual Enemies to assault us most fiercely Now these Enemies are two Sin and Satan First Sin When doth the Guilty Prisoners Crimes come into his Mind but when he hath a Summons to appear before his Judge And when doth the Guilt of Sin fly in the Face of a Sinner but when Death hath him under his Arrest to carry him before God the Great Judge of Heaven and Earth Multitudes of Sins that before lay hid and seem'd to be quite forgotten now shew themselves and come fresh into a Sinner's mind as so many Witnesses against him which upon the Review he cannot but Remember though formerly he had forgot them Oh what a number of horrid Wickednesses do now haunt his Thoughts with dismal apprehensions in the dark night of Death walking up and down like so many Frightful Ghosts scaring and terrifying his Soul Well may an Impenitent Sinner say then unto Death hast thou found me O mine Enemy art thou come O Death to call my Sins to Remembrance and to slay my Soul Secondly The Devil will then be very fierce and furious in his Assaults His Time now is but short and therefore his Rage is great This is his hour yea his last hour and therefore the Power of the Prince of Darkness is now most put forth he knows he hath but a few hours more to wait and if he can but keep the Sinner so long he is then his for ever Assure thy self therefore O Sinner he will be diligent in watching thy Sick-bed both by night and by day and if all the Power or Policy of Hell can prevent it neither Cordial shall benefit thy Body nor Counsel and Advice profit thy Soul The Devil is the great Enemy of Souls and because he is miserable himself he therefore labours that all others may be as miserable as he is now the ways by which he expresseth his Enmity against Souls that he may keep them from Eternal Life are these Sometimes by obstructing the Work of Grace in the Souls of Men and thus he works with all his might by all his Wiles and Devices that he can to draw men unto and keep them in a way of Sin that they may not set their Faces towards Heaven much more that they may not with earnest endeavours of Soul seek to obtain it It is true God always hath the Devil in a Chain and can if he pleaseth restrain and hinder him in all his Malicious Attempts against his Children and many times he doth manifest his Power and Grace towards his Servants in a dying hour by curbing in the Malice of that Evil one that he shall not be able to trouble and molest them in their Passage into Heaven But yet sometimes God doth then permit the Devil to shew his Malice against his People and then how fiercely and furiously doth he make his Assaults upon them Then it is they meet with the sorest Trials and because he could not prevail upon them formerly as a Tempter now he turns to be their Accuser charging all their Sins upon their Souls with all the bloody aggravations of them upbraiding them with all their Profession as if they had been but Hypocrites in all that they had done This God sometimes permits him to do that their Grace being exercised the Trial thereof may appear to be more precious than Gold that perisheth being found to the Praise and Glory of God and the Shame and Reproach of their Adversary the Devil in a most Glorious Conquest over all his Temptations for through the Grace and Strength of Christ they overcome him in all his Accusations and notwithstanding all they go not only quietly but sometimes Triumphantly into Heaven and Glory Secondly Death awakens Conscience The Practice of a Sinner is to lull Conscience asleep that he may the more quietly and undisturbedly go on in Sin but when Death comes usually the Conscience of a Sinner is awakened if the Sinner be not past feeling given over to a reprobate sence Conscience hath its Times and Seasons of stirring in the Souls of Men as sometimes under the Preaching of the Word Conscience begins to stir within a Sinner and tells him that those Duties that have been laid before him by the Minister are the Commands of the Great God and therefore ought to oblige him to Obedience Here Conscience is an honest Informer Sometimes when a Sinner is taking the
at all for the Great Judge of Heaven and Earth before whom thou and I are now going to appear knows all these things that I have now told thee of to be true and will quickly undeceive thee whatever thy hopes are now and make thee know these things unto thy everlasting confusion unless out of the infinite Riches of his Grace and Mercy he give thee Repentance presently which thou canst have very little hopes of now at Death since thou didst not turn to him in thy Life Secondly Consider when thou comest to die thou wilt then have to do with God himself immediately It is true while we are here in the Body we have to do with God and all our Affairs whatsoever are transacted under his Eye and in his presence therefore we read in Heb. 4.13 That all things are naked and open unto the Eyes of that God with whom we have to do There is no Prayer we make no Sermon we hear no Holy Duty we perform no Mercy we enjoy no Affliction we lie under nor any Action we do in our whole lives but we have to do with God in it But when we come to die we have to do with God in another way and manner than what we have to do with him in this World here we have to do with God in Duties and Ordinances but it is in such a way as is becoming our present state of distance from him of which I may say as the Prophet doth in another case it is neither clear not dark insomuch that Faith it self hath much a-do sometimes to discover God unto the Soul and no wonder then if a Carnal Eye cannot discern him But when as the Wise Man speaks the Soul shall return to God that gave it the Soul then goes into the immediate Presence of God having to do with him in such an immediate way and manner that there is nothing in the Eye of the Soul to obscure or hinder the sight of the Divine Presence no vail of Flesh between God and it but naked Majesty and Glory discovers it self to the Soul with the rays of its own light which is so full of wonder and astonishment that we know not now how to conceive of it much less to express it And if a holy Prophet seeing but a Vision of God crys out Wo is me I am undone for I am a Man of unclean Lips and mine Eyes have seen the King the Lord of Host Isai 6.5 O how much more may it overwhelm a Soul when stripp'd of its Body to see not only a Vision of God but to see God himself as it were face to face But this is not all for the Soul is not by Death barely brought before the Great and Glorious God but it is brought before him to be judged to an Eternal State In this Life we come into the presence of God upon a Treaty of Peace between God and our Souls God is now in Christ reconciling Sinners unto himself and is willing not to impute their Sins and Trespasses unto them and if they will accept of his terms they may make Peace with him for he saith now unto Sinners let them take hold of my strength and so make Peace with me and they shall make Peace with me but if Sinners will not throw away the Weapons of their Rebellion out of their Hands I mean their Sins out of their Hearts whereby they fight against God but Death comes and strikes them dead with their Weapons in their Hands I mean in the embracements of their lusts God and they must treat after another manner not upon terms of Peace but upon terms of Judgment for away they go immediately after Death before God as a Judge the Spirit then returning unto God that gave it to receive a determinative sentence of Happiness or Misery for ever And who would not then be always prepared for the stroke of Death that carries the Soul into the presence of such a Judge who hath power to and who will determine its everlasting State Thirdly As a farther Argument to perswade Christians unto a preparation for Death Consider the misery of those who when Death comes upon them are unprovided for it And this I shall do in these following particulars briefly First An unprepared Sinner at Death loseth all his outward comforts and enjoyments In this Life it may be Providence did abound towards him with variety of outward enjoyments as Riches Relations Pleasures Profits and the like but Death is now come and hath swept away all of these things that were desirable It was a doleful expression of Ahraham unto the Rich Man in Hell Luke 16.25 Son remember thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things Oh what a cutting word was this to his Soul when he was passed into another World And will it not wound thy Soul as deeply O Sinner who hast not made thy Preparations for Eternity when thou comest to pass through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to consider thou hast received all thy good things already yea and having received them if thou couldst always live with them and keep them always with thee it might be something to thee but alas thou canst not for when Death comes it will turn thee out of all thy possessions and enjoyments when thou diest thou shalt take nothing in thy hand with thee of all thy labour as the Wise Man speaks Eccl. 5.15 The things of this World will not go one step with thee beyond this present Life and think O Sinner if thou canst what a doleful thing will it be for a poor Soul to be 〈◊〉 down naked upon the vast Ocean of Eternity having nothing to relieve and support it self with all its Riches and Treasures being left behind it in another World Secondly The Misery of an unprepared Sinner for Death appears in this that then he shall be deprived of all the Seasons and Opportunities of Grace It is no mean Mercy to thee O Sinner hadst thou a Heart to improve it that thou now enjoyest the Ordinances of Life and Salvation that thou hast the tenders of Mercy the entreaties of Ministers the motions of the Spirit invitations to come unto Christ leave and liberty to cast down thy self at the Feet of God and by Prayer and Supplication seek his Face and be as earnest and fervent as thou wilt or canst be for Mercy But let me tell thee at Death the door of Mercy will be for ever shut there will be no Praying or Preaching or Hearing in the Place whither thou art going no declaring this loving kindness of God in the Grave nor this faithfulness of his in Destruction Now the Ordinances of God though precious to others yet are they tedious and irksome unto thee the Church of God to thee is little better than a Prison the Sabbath-day is the longest day in the Week in thy Account thou wouldst fain be rid of it the Commands of Christ which to a Gracious Soul are
sweet and delightful are no better than Bonds and Fetters unto thee which thou wouldst fain break asunder and cast away from thee the Language of thy Carnal Heart is this though the Sermon be commonly measured by the space of an hour yet thou cryest when will the Glass be out when will the Duty be done when will the Sabbath be over that we may follow the World again thou thinkest Prayer too long and Sermons too long and Sabbaths too long Well be patient O Sinner for a while and in a short time thou shalt never be troubled with these long painful Duties any more Death will ease thee of all these Burthens that Night is coming upon thee wherein there shall be no more of these Works done for ever and then though with Esau thou shouldst carefully seek a place of Repentance with Tears to bewall thy former Folly yet thou shouldst not find it Thirdly The Misery of an unprepared Sinner for Death lies in this that he then ioseth all his hopes and expectations Hope it is the Anchor and Support of the Soul in time of Trouble sometimes the Soul is brought to such straits and under such sore pressures that it hath nothing to live upon but Faith and Hope Faith believes there shall be a happy issue out of those troubles the Soul is under and therefore Hope encourageth the Soul to wait patiently till a time of Deliverance doth come it will come saith Faith for God is Faithful who hath promised I will wait therefore saith Hope and my expectations shall not be in vain for they that wait upon him shall not be ashamed But now all the Hopes of a Sinner will fail and disappoint him at Death for indeed he had no true well-grounded Hope We read in Scripture of a true and lively Hope 1 Pet 1.3 but this is found only in the Saints Blessed be God saith the Apostle who hath begotten us again to a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead But a Sinner's Hope is not a lively but a dead Hope and what can the Fruits of such a Hope be but shame and disappointment When a Wicked Man dies says the Wise Man his Expectations shall perish Prov. 11.7 And what is the Hope of the Hypocrite says Job though he hath gained when God taketh away his Soul Job 27.8 why nothing but shame and disappointment And if Hope deferred maketh the Heart sick as Solomon tells us then Hope frustrated especially a Hope of Heaven and Happiness must needs kill even as with a thousand Deaths Fourthly An unprepared Sinner at Death loseth his Soul and this is such a Jewel that its worth and value is not known on Earth but shall be fully known in Hell Were it possible for thee O Sinner to understand what is included in the loss of thy Soul it would be as a Dagger at thy Heart the thoughts of it would make thee mingle thy drink with weeping and imbitter all the Comforts of thy whole life unto thee In Matt. 16.26 What is a Man profited if he gains the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul Behold here O Sinner of what an incomparable worth and value thy Soul is and what an irreparable loss it is if thou losest it this is such a loss as there is none like it for the gain of the whole World cannot balance the loss of one Soul It is also an irrecoverable loss God hath given thee two Eyes two Hands and two Feet and if thou losest one Eye thou hast another or if thou losest one Limb thou hast more but God hath given thee but one Soul and if thou losest that thou hast no more If thou losest thy Estate by thy diligence and the Blessing of God upon thy endeavours thou mayest recover it again yea if thou losest thy Life thou mayest be a gainer by it for thou mayest find it again for he that loseth his Life for my sake says Christ shall find it How so shall he live again here on Earth no but he shall find it with infinite gain and advantage in Heaven for instead of a Temporal Life he shall gain an Eternal Life But if thy Soul O Sinner be once lost thou art undone for ever this is such a loss that the thoughts thereof may make thy Hair stand on end upon thy Head yea it is that which when ever thou readest or thinkest of may make thy Heart to ake do not thy Ears tingle and thy Loyns tremble to hear of it Having thus laid down some quickning Considerations to stir up Christians to prepare for Death I shall in the next place endeavour to propound such Directions as may by the Blessing of God be helpful to them in their Preparations for their latter end Now the General Direction for a Christian's Preparation for Death is to get an Interest in Christ by a Work of Conversion changing the State and Condition of the Soul This now is the main Work of a Christian without which he is no real Christian Profession of Christianity gives a Man the Name of a Christian but it is only Implantation into Christ by believing that gives a Man the being of a Christian It is Essential to a Christian as a Christian that he be in Christ By Nature all Men are Strangers yea Enemies to God and Christ and therefore it is necessary that there be a Manifestation of the Power of Converting Grace to change our Hearts and Sanctifie our Natures and till this be done we are but Nominally Christians we have only a Name to live but we are dead He that is not in Christ is not a Christian in Deed and in Truth Now this being in Christ which is always accompanied with Conversion and Sanctification is that which makes Life comfortable Death easy and Heaven sure and certain He that hath an Interest in Christ may live joyfully in any Condition if he knows but his own Happiness he need not be troubled let what will befal him whether he hath more or less he hath it with the Love of God all his Mercies come swiming to him in the Blood of Jesus and therefore he may well sit down and be content yea be thankful and rejoyce knowing that all things shall work together for his Eternal Benefit and Advantage there being no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus And as for Death how easy a thing is it to such a Soul I confess Death is very terrible to one that is out of Christ but to one that is in Christ Death is his Friend yea his best Friend next to Christ what says the Apostle of such 1 Cor. 3.21 All things are yours that is for your Benefit and Advantage whether Paul or Apollo's or Cephas or things present or things to come or Life or Death all is yours But how comes all this about why because you are Christ's and Christ is God's Death therefore cannot hurt
to the Soul 's everlasting Comfort and Consolation when Death shall bring it to appear before him Thirdly Would you be prepared for Death get sin pardoned and labour much after the Assurance of it Sin is the cause of death the means by which Death came into the World had there been no sinning there would have been no dying but sin coming into the World death came along with it Rom. 5.12 As by one Man sin entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned By sinning against God Man is come under a necessity of dying The wages of sin says the Apostle is Death nay sin is that which gives Death its sting so we read 1 Cor. 15. and 56. The sting of Death is sin This is it which gives Death its power and makes it so dreadful and because of Guilt lying on the Soul makes it unfit to die But now where the Soul is sprinkled with the Blood of Christ the Guilt of Sin taken away by an Act of Pardon and Forgiveness that Soul is prepared to receive and entertain Death whensoever it comes and though it make not that Death shall not be yet it makes that Death shall not hurt for Sin is pardoned Sin is that which makes the Soul cry out bitterly under the Apprehonsions of Death and of the Wrath of God Oh that I had never committed such and such Sins Why know O pardoned Sinner thou hast thy wish for God when he pardons Sin makes it to be as if it had never been committed Things forgotten are no more to us than as if they had never been Why now says God I will forgive their Iniquities and I will remember their Sins no more And doth God O fearful Soul make thy Sins to be as if they had never been by his pardoning Grace and Mercy and shall not thy former fears of Sin and of Death by Reason of Sin be now as if they had never been Thou need'st not fear O trembling Soul that thou shalt ever be questioned again for those Sins that God hath once forgiven thee God's Acts of Oblivion can never be repealed for the Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance Guilt binds a Sinner over unto Punishment no wonder then that an unpardoned Sinner who is unfit to die is afraid of Death for whenever Death comes to such a Soul it comes with a deadly incurable Sting Death to an unpardoned Sinner is Death with a witness for it is Death and Hell in to the Bargain But now to a pardoned Sinner let Death come when and how it will he is prepared for it his Condition is safe he cannot be miserable Death may kill him but it cannot hurt him and therefore what need he fear it Now if you would know the Safety and Happiness of your Condition labour for an Assurance that your Sins are pardoned Your future Happiness depends upon the pardon of Sin but your present Comfort depends upon your Assurance that Sin is pardoned He whose Sins are pardoned dies safely but he who knows his Sins are pardoned dies comfortably Pardon of Sin frees from Condemnation but it is Assurance of Pardon that brings Peace and Comfort That Man is not so ready to die nor in such a prepared Frame of Soul for Death as he ought to be in who though his Sins are pardoned and thereby he hath a Right and Title unto Heaven yet walks in the dark and is at Vncertainties whether his Sins are pardoned or not for as our pardon of Sin is necessary to our dying happily so the Assurance of our Pardon is necessary to our dying comfortably Take a Man that is at a loss and under Doubts and Fears that his Sins are not pardoned if Death should come to him while he is under those Doubts and Fears with what difficulty would he make a shift to die How hardly would he be brought to it What Pretences and Excuses would he make Alas says he I know not where I am nor what Death will do with me and though I am so sick that I cannot live yet I am so afraid I dare not die for I know not whither I am going nor where my Dwelling shall be for ever whether in Heaven or in Hell O what shall I do therefore But now he whose Sins are not only pardoned but he walks daily under the comfortable Assurance thereof it being sealed and witnessed to him by the Spirit of God which Spirit as the Apostle saith witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If Death comes to him he rejoiceth for saith he I know that if my earthly House of this Tabernacle be dissolved I have a Building of God an House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens The Sum of all is this Pardon of Sin is very good for it is our Safety for they that are pardoned shall certainly be saved but to have Sin not only pardoned but to have the Assurance that it is pardoned this is much better For God to love us so as to pardon and accept us is the ground of our Hopes for Heaven hereafter But to have God manifest his Love and to assure us that he loves us is our Heaven on this side Heaven And the more we have of this Assurance the more joyfully and comfortably shall we be able to pass through a dying Hour Fourthly Would you be prepared for Death labour for Hearts and Affections crucified to the World and all things here below It is impossible we should ever be willing to leave the World when God calls us hence till we have first learned to use the World as if we used it not 1 Cor. 7. and 31. For if our Affections are set upon worldly Things and our hearts engaged in an eager prosecution of them it will be as Death to us before we die to think of parting with them and much more unwilling shall we be to take our everlasting Farewel of them when Death comes to us in good earnest This is commonly the Temper or rather the Distemper of most Men the Delights and Accommodations that God affords them for their more comfortable passage through this World and to encourage them with greater Chearfulness to serve him have got such an Interest in their Hearts and Affections that they prize and value them above measure The Love of the World and the things of the World is grown so prevalent with many that if they might have their Desires they would not care for nor trouble themselves with any other Heaven but would be content to live here always saying Let us build Tabernacles nay let us have a continuing City here But O Lord forgive them for they know not what they say They never experimentally tasted the Excellency and Sweetness of Heaven and heavenly Things and that is the Reason they are so in love with Earth and earthly Things Now what wonder is it that those who place their Happiness
more time to live here upon Earth they love God more than all Things and Persons whatsoever but yet their affections are not so fully taken off from the World nor from their Friends and Relations as they should be they are not wrack'd and tormented with perplexing fears of Wrath and Hell but yet they are not ravish'd with the Joys of Heaven Concerning the Death of such as these we must say Blessed are they that thus die in the Lord for though they have not that assurance that some have and so die not so comfortably as to sense and feeling as they do yet have they that Faith and Affiance in the Lord Jesus Christ whereby they die happily But then there are others that are strong Christians grown Men in Christ who have attained unto such a full assurance of Faith that they are not only willing to die but are desirous of Death being perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor length nor depth nor any Creature shall ever be able to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus for they know in whom they have believed and with whom they have intrusted the everlasting Concernments of their Immortal Souls and that he is able and faithful yea and will also keep that good thing that they have committed unto him unto that day And therefore they can with a Holy Triumph through Christ say O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Wherefore they can with chearfulness commit one half of themselves that is their Bodies unto the Grave where though they know it shall turn to Corruption and Rottenness yet that troubles them not because they know also that by the Power of God it shall be raised up a most Glorious Body at the last Day for they are assured that their Redeemer lives and they believe that he shall stand at the last day upon the Earth and not only so but because he lives they believe that they shall live also And though for the present Worms destroy their Bodies yet in their Flesh they shall see God whom they shall see for themselves and their Eyes shall behold him and not anothers and that to their everlasting Joy and Comfort Now to such as these Death is both happy and comfortable also and therefore they are desirous to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all But now a Question may arise here Is it not Lawful to desire or wish for Death To this I Answer negatively and positively in some cases it is unlawful and sinful and in some cases it may be lawful and commendable First negatively wherein it is sinful and unlawful And so for any to wish for or to desire Death through impatience or discontent in any condition because they cannot have their own Wills but are crost in their desires this is sinful This was the Sin of Jonah who because God had smitten the Gourd from which he received some refreshment presently he falls into a Passion and in a discontented fit he concludes the matter that it was better for him to die than to live Jonah 4.8 but God knew it was better for him to live than to die and therefore in his pity he spares him that he might repent of his Sin This was the Infirmity of Elijah which the Apostle seems to take notice of when he tells us He was a Man of like Infirmities with us Jam. 5.17 for as to any other Infirmities of that Holy Man the Scripture is silent but it takes notice of this that when he was persecuted by Jezabel's Cruelties and fled for his Life under fear and infidelity in 1 Kings 19. and 24. he cry'd out It is enough O Lord now take away my Life for I am no better than my Fathers These fits of passion and discontent are sinful and not to be justified and yet how frequent is it for Men thus to vent their discontents when any trouble befalls them that crosseth their Wills presently nothing will serve their turns but Death O that they were Dead I will not say what once I heard spoken to be always true in this case that such Persons by wishing for Death wish for Hell and Damnation with it I dare not say so least I should offend against the Generation of the Righteous But this I will say that there are many wicked prophane wretches who when something doth cross and vex them instantly cry out Oh that they were dead to whom if God should not be more merciful to their Souls than they themselves are to their Bodies but take them at their word and presently strike them dead it may be feared he must also by striking their Bodies into the Grave smite their Souls into Hell they allowing themselves no space and time for their Repentance O that such Persons would seriously consider what they do when they wish such an End may befall them Again to wish for Death absolutely is sinful though we are under pains that are more painful than Death it self Nature puts us upon desiring to live and Grace should put us upon desiring to live because God wills it though we be under sore afflictions for as it is our Holiness to do the will of God while we live so it is our Holiness to be content to live while we suffer according to his will To desire Death because our lives are full of troubles is a sinful wish or desire for God may and often hath as much use of our lives when we are in an afflicted condition as when we are in a prosperous condition a sickly Body yea a sick Bed may bring as much Glory to God as a healthful Constitution and we may do as much service when we are bound in Chains and in a Prison as when we enjoy the greatest Freedom and Liberty Passive Obedience brings as much Honour to God as Active doth When you lie under any troubles therefore wish not for Death beg of God rather that he would remove those Evils from you than remove you from those Evils God hath a thousand ways to let us out of trouble though he doth not open the door of the Grave to let us in thither Pray that your Afflictions may be sanctified and that your Spirits may be raised up above your troubles while you live and seek not nor desire freedom from them by Death For a Christian to bear a burden well is more desireable than to be delivered from it especially if while we are suffering our selves we are doing good unto others A Christian should be contented yea he should rejoice in suffering Evils that lie upon when he doth good thereby unto others He that is of a gracious publick Spirit will triumph over Personal Troubles and Afflictions so long as he sees God making use of him as
the Body in the Grave it were then a tolerable evil but when we shall consider death as a punishment for sin as that which puts us into an unchangeable Estate this is that which makes it dreadful and terrible indeed While we are in this World which is the time of our preparation for an Eternal State of Strangers yea of Enemies we may become Friends but when death hath once seized upon us it is impossible our State should then be changed We cannot now say of the vilest Sinner in the World that there is no hope of him we must not write desperation upon the fore-head of the wickedst Man on Earth but if he dies in that State then he is lost and undone for ever for as the Tree falls so it lies as death leaves Men so Judgment will find them And this Judgment is such as is conclusive and never to be Repealed Hence it is therefore that take the most hardned Sinner one whom Custom in sinning hath made past feeling yet when he comes to die if Conscience be but awakened it is impossible for him to look death in the Face without great fears and horrours Nay it is a sight so amazing and confounding that were it not for the Righteousness of Christ and that Satisfaction he hath made unto the Justice of God by his death it were utterly impossible that any Believer should bear up under it but Blessed be God the Blood of Christ then speaks Peace and so Believers are not only supported but carried comfortably unto Heaven through the gloomy Valley of the Shadow of death Death being thus terrible now it must needs be looked upon as a dreadful Enemy unto Man An Enemy now is one that when he comes against us always comes Armed to do us a mischief such an Enemy now is death for ever since the Fall of Man death hath been Armed with a deadly Sting now this Sting of death whereby it becomes hurtful unto Man is sin so saith the Apostle The sting of death is sin Now this Sting reacheth not only to the Body but to the Soul also as to the Body it takes away all those Contentments and Comforts wherewith it was here Refreshed and Delighted Death rends the Husband from the Wife and the Wife from the Husband it divides Children from their Parents and Parents from their Children death spoils us of whatsoever is desirable in this life strips a Man of all and turns him naked out of the World But this is not all death not only bereaves us of all that is good here but it brings many Evils along with it Sickness pains on the Body Grief and Anguish upon the Mind and Spirit It is a terrible Enemy to wrastle and contend withal it will make a Man sweat and bleed no Man can Encounter with death but he shall feel great Anxiety and Vexation both of Body and Mind unless he have strength from above to enable him to go through the Contest Death in its own Nature is so furious an Enemy unto Sinners that it will not cease till it hath pulled the Body down into the Grave and dragg'd the Soul into the Presence of God and from his Tribunal into the Torments of Eternal Fire where the first death terminates in the second death and the Torments exceed not only all our Expressions but all our Apprehensions also where death that is now such a dreadful Enemy would there be counted an unspeakable Mercy for there they shall seek death but shall not be able to find it But more particularly the Enmity of death appears in these particulars First The Fears of death do much abate our desires after the Enjoyment of God in Heaven It is true every Believer is one that loves God above all and looks upon Heaven as that which shall be his dwelling place for ever and accordingly sincerely desires and longs after it and in his daily Conversation walks with his Face thitherwards but when he sees death stands in the way between him and Heaven and that there is no coming for him to that place of Bliss but he must pass through that dark Valley this puts him to a stand and makes his desires weak and low The best Christians I believe have sometimes felt such workings as these within their Souls for tho' the Regenerate part discovering it self in the work of Sanctified Affections would be soaring upwards towards God and Heaven in whose presence the Soul would fain be but seeing death standing in its way how are the desires of such a Holy Soul kept down by the fears of it and he turned back as one that was afraid to come into his Father's presence Where is the Christian the Eye of whose Faith is so steadily fixed upon Christ in Heaven whose Soul is sometimes ready to cry out I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better yet withal when he sees the rude hand of death stretched out to undress him and that there is no coming unto Jesus Christ for him but by first suffering a Dissolution and laying down of his Earthly Tabernacle in the Grave though he would fain be with Christ that he might enjoy him whom his Soul loveth yet seeing this dismal Enemy death in the way doth not shrink back and cry out O I dare not venture O what a dreadful Enemy is this and what dreadful Enmity doth it put forth in the obstructing our desires though after God and Heaven causing us to run from God as it were at that time when we truly and dearly love him Happy Souls are they in whom Faith and Love work so powerfully as to conquer and overcome these fears Secondly If death as an enemy prevails so as to abate our desires after the Enjoyment of God in Heaven it will be apt to endanger our falling in love with this present World and so make us miserable by causing us to take up with the men of this World who have their Portion in this Life Take a Christian whose desires after Heaven are weak though true because blunted by the apprehensions of some frightful difficulties that must be gone through for the attaining of it how apt is such a one to be tempted to think that it is best for him to take up with those delightful pleasures that may be had here without such dangerous adventures but now if that which darkens the Blessed Vision of Heaven and our unspeakable Happiness in the fruition of God there and which also deadens our desires after this blessedness be once removed which usually is the dreadful apprehensions of death with what ease can such a Soul with a Holy Scorn and Contempt despise all the trifling Vanities of this World as things not worthy to be regarded Thirdly The Enmity of Death manifests it self in obstructing a Christians endeavours towards Heaven A discouraged disconsolate Soul moves but slowly be it towards Earth or Heaven Difficulties that should stir up greater diligence usually are great
Death by the Merit of his own Death and hath declared his Victory over it and our deliverance from it by raising up his own Body from the Grave Christ by his Death did meritoriously conquer Death for Believers but he did not actually conquer it till his Resurrection but then he did the Day of his Resurrection was the Day wherein Grace did triumph thorough Christ towards believing Souls for on that Day Christ did openly shew to Heaven to Hell to Earth that Death was not only conquerable by Believers but that it was actually conquered for them thorough him Blessed Souls in Heaven believe it to their everlasting Consolation and are thereby fully confirmed in the Resurrection of their own Bodies because their Head is already risen for them The damned in Hell have the Knowledge of it to their greater Torment because they now know their sinful Bodies shall be raised to suffer for ever with their Souls in that Place of Torment and therefore they believe and tremble The Saints on Earth also know it and therefore they rejoice in the believing Expectations of it being assured that as the Bonds of Death were loosed by which Christ was held in the Grave for the space of Three Days but could not possibly be held by them any longer so neither shall it be possible for Believers always to be held under them But there is a time coming when all that are in their Graves shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and shall come forth Joh. 5.28 And if we believe says the Apostle that Jesus died and rose again even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him in 1 Thes 4. and 14. for says the same Apostle Christ is risen and become the first Fruits of them that sleep in 1 Cor. 15.20 And as Christ being raised from the Dead dieth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him So the time will not be long before Believers shall also be raised from the Dead and shall die no more for there shall then be no more Death nor Sorrow nor Crying nor Pain no more Diseases or Fears of Death or the Grave for behold all former things are passed away and all things are become new Rev. 21.45 But though Christ hath overcome Death yet is there still a Fear of it in most And indeed Death is an Object of Fear neither is all Fear of Death to be condemned as sinful Now for the better understanding of this that Death is an Object of Fear and when it may be lawful to fear Death and when the Fear of it is sinful I shall consider Man in a threefold Respect As he is a meer Man as he is a sinful Man and as he is a true Believer First I shall consider Man as he is a meer Man compounded of Soul and Body and so the Nature of Man abhors Death and if it were possible as it is not to find out a Man in the World that were free from all manner of Sin yet would he fear Death were he liable to it because it is that which tends to his Dissolution and Destruction Thus our Lord Jesus Christ himself though he was perfectly holy and free from all Sin yet in this sense he feared Death and therefore he prays Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me Thus now to fear Death as it is evil and destructive unto Nature is not sinful or unlawful Secondly Consider Man as he is sinful and unregenerate and so Death is an Object of Fear and full of Horror For to all such Death comes armed with Power not only to make a Separation between Soul and Body for so Death rules over all but it comes to kill and to destroy Soul and Body for ever for to such it is not Death alone as it is to the Godly but it is Death and Hell together Rev. 6.8 And I looked and behold a pale Horse and his Name that sat on him was Death and Hell followed with him It is no wonder if Death be dreadful and terrible unto such but it is rather a wonder that such can take any rest in the night or enjoy any quietness in the day that under the Fears of Death they are not distracted But here is the Misery of such they are so afraid of Death that they will not let the Thoughts of it come into their Minds but do what they can to banish the Thoughts of that evil day far from them But know O foolish Sinner though thou sleepest and art secure in Sin yet thy Death and thy Damnation slumbers not for Death and Hell are riding on Horse-back making haste towards thee and will soon overtake thee to thy eternal Ruine and Destruction and then thou shalt know by sad Experience that the Fears of the first Death which now thou labourest to stifle yea to drive away from thy Thoughts were not so full of dread and horror as the feeling of the Second Death will be for ever Death therefore unto wicked Men is an Object to be feared and the fear of Death in them is not only lawful but commendable and that upon which their Thoughts should much dwell because it is that which will prevent much Sin in them while they live and may possibly render Death more comfortable to them when they come to die Thirdly Consider Man as regenerate and become a true Believer yet so he may and often doth fear death For let a Man be never so much a Saint yet he will be still a Man and therefore as death will be death so nature will still be nature and therefore death as death will be abhorred Neither is there any necessity that the fear of death should be wholly conquered and subdued in the Godly so as that if should not be because it may and often doth turn to their Benefit and Advantage for hereby they are made to walk more humbly with God and more watchfully over themselves for while they consider that they are poor frail dying Creatures subject unto death continually and that they must pass from thence unto Judgment to give an Account of what they have done in the Body by this means they are kept from falling into many Sins that now would wound their Consciences and break their peace and hereafter make their death more dark and uncomfortable By this fear of death also the Godly are quickened in their preparations for Heaven and Eternity for because death is so certain that it will come and withal so uncertain when it will come the Godly are hereby stirred up unto a speedy and diligent preparation for it that so they may be ready for their departure whensoever God by death shall call them hence And death now is an Object of Fear in general so are there Reasons why Christians fear death in particular as First Some are afraid of death because of the extremity of those pains which they must undergo when they are dying and because of the
Answer art thou a Christian indeed and dost thou talk after this manner as if thou wert a Stranger to God to Christ to Heaven and the Happiness of Glorified Saints there whom is it thou callest Father every time thou Prayest is it not the God of Heaven What dost thou make of Jesus Christ thy Professed Lord and Saviour whose love to thee was so great that he would manifest it in no other way than that by which he might most endear himself unto thee and most strongly engage thy Love and Affections unto him and that was by laying down his Life and shedding of his Blood a a Ransom for thy Soul and a propitiation for thy Sins whom thou professest also to believe that he is Aseended up into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God presenting his Blood and Sufferings before the Throne of the Majesty on high that both thy self and thy Services that are Impure and Imperfect in themselves may yet be accepted through him Is it not through his Righteousness alone that thou hopest for Justification unto Life and Happiness and through his Strength that thou art enabled to perform all thy Duties and yet dost thou not know him what a strange thing is this But alas sayest thou it is very little that I know of him never did I see him in all my days But what if thou hast not beheld him with thy Bodily Eyes yet canst thou not say with the Apostle whom having not seen yet thou hast and dost believe in him and sometimes it may be so as to rejoyce with that Joy that is unspeakable and full of Glory and tho' thou hast not known him after the Flesh yet thou hast known him after the Spirit though thou hast known him but a little and what thou dost see and know of him Spiritually is but through a Glass darkly yet be not dejected fear not for he knows thee perfectly and hath separated thee and set thee apart for himself from Eternity and hath effectually called thee in time Justified thee by his Grace yea he knows thee by Name and now in the approach of Death he is coming to take thee to himself where thou shalt see him as he is and know him as thou art known of him And as for those Glorious Creatures the Angels and Saints in Heaven methinks it should even Ravish thee to think how those Noble and Excellent Creatures will flock about thee and bid thee welcome into Heaven as one greatly beloved of the Lord saying unto thee not as the Angel once said unto the two Mary's Mat. 28. come see the place where the Lord lay but come see the Throne where thy Lord sits in all his Majesty and Glory But may some say I may well be afraid to die because it is that which puts an end to my life and being here and who can without fear look upon himself and see his Body withering and decaying and not be troubled at it is not Death the great Dread and Terror of the World Job therefore calls it The King of Terrors O how doth the Expectations of Death appale the Faces weaken the Hands shake the Hearts imbitter the Pleasures and damp and cool the Spirits even of the Mighty ones of the Earth Should God say unto many that they should set their Houses in Order for they shall die and not live should they see a Tekel written upon their Walls their days are finished this night shall their Souls be taken from them what sad Lamentations would most Men make Life O how sweet is it to them all that they have would they give for their Lives doth not Nature it self teach us to seek the Preservation of our Beings and abhors whatever tends to its Dissolution as death doth To this I Answer because of this abhorrency of Death which is implanted in the Nature of all Men living there may be even in the best of God's People a fear of Death and an unwillingness to die Our Lord himself who was without Sin discovers something of this who though to shew his great willingness and readiness to die for Sinners said I have a Baptism to be Baptized withal which was the Baptism of his Blood and how am I straitned till it be accomplished thinking long for the coming of the day of his Death whereby the work of our Redemption was in a great measure to be accomplished yet when Death came to him see how his pure and innocent Nature was put to it when he cry'd out Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me It is true in his Case there was more than Death in it there was wrath there was a curse there was all the Sins of the World wrung into that Cup to mingle him a bitter draught but this was also something of it for there was Death in the Cup. It will therefore be the Wisdom of Christians to whatever measure of confidence and assurance they may have attained so as upon good grounds to have overcome the fears of Death and to look upon their dying day as the most joyful day in their lives yea though in this confidence their Hearts may sometimes pant after the coming of that day and they ready to cry out make haste my beloved come Lord Jesus come quickly yet will it be your wisdom to buckle on all your Armour to get all your Evidences and Experiences ready for the conflict of that day and hour may be such as that you may stand in need of your utmost Preparations for you know not how the Flesh may shrink in the day of Trial. But if it should be so yet be not discouraged O Christian for possibly this very instance of our Lord may be left upon Record for this very end to comfort his People when they shall be overtaken with the same fears and troubles And as for the sweetness of this present Life the losing whereof makes thee to fear Death let me ask thee this Question Who art thou that art so fond of this present Life Art thou a Christian indeed and in truth or dost thou only make a profession of Religion without the life and power of Godliness If thou art only an outward professor I wonder not that thou shouldst set so high a price and value upon life and art so unwilling to part with it because all thy happiness is terminated in things that are enjoyed on this side Death and the Grave for as for those great and glorious things that Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor can possibly enter into the Heart of Man to conceive that God hath prepared for them that love him and which are to be enjoyed beyond time in Eternity thou hast no lot or portion in those matters What wonder therefore if thou mourn and sigh even to the breaking of thy Loyns when Death comes to put an end to thy Life for then it separates between thee and thy happiness for ever But if thou art one that truly
fearest God thou needst not be so foolishly fond of this Life for what is there in it that should make thee coat upon it Is it not a Life full of cares and troubles Have not thy Sins made it so The Wise Man tells us that all that is in this Life that can be outwardly enjoyed is nothing but Vanity and vexation of Spirit Hast thou not by experience found it so Thou shouldst therefore with Holy Job bless God not only for giving of Life but for taking of it away also God gave it thee for a time and but for a short time too and if thou wert so wise as thou shouldst be thou oughtest to count it thy felicity that it is so short for it is a Life of sorrow and who will complain because his sorrows are so short It may be thou hast met with some pleasures here that gratifie thy sense but are they comparable to what thy Soul hath tasted in the enjoyment of God unto which God by Death is calling thee to the enjoyment of with himself in Heaven to all Eternity Darest thou say that Earth is like Heaven Is Christ in those dark and dim discoveries he makes of himself in the Gospel like to Christ in the full and open manifestations of himself in all his Glory in Heaven Canst thou say thy Soul is so like him in Wisdom Holiness Joy and Peace here as it will be above when it comes to be enrolled among the Spirits of just Men made perfect If thou wilt be in love with Life be in love with Eternal Life and henceforth fear not to die at God's call for the obedience that thou owest unto God binds thee and the gain that Death will bring should both invite and encourage thee Though Death ends this Life it begins another and though thou may'st rot under ground in one part of thee yet it is in thy vilest part thy Body and even that will spring up and flourish again shortly And in the mean time thy Soul thy better part shall live a more noble and excellent life Think well therefore of Death for as it ends thy Life so it ends thy Sin and thy sufferings also In these particular Instances O Christian thou feest how little cause there is for thee to be afraid of Death I shall now in the next place endeavour to discover how unfit and uncomely a thing it is for Christians to fear Death and for this consider First A Christians fearing of Death brings a reproach upon Religion as if there were not that in Christianity that could lift up a Soul above the fears of Death For a Papist that professeth no Man can in an ordinary way be assured that he shall go to Heaven when he dies to tremble at the thoughts of Death this is no great matter it is but to act according to what his Religion teacheth him but for one that professeth the knowledge and assurance of Salvation and a future happy State to stand amazed at death the way and passage through which God hath appointed we must enter into Heaven where this happiness is to be enjoyed shews if not a want of Faith yet at least a great weakness of Faith and gives occasion to those that speak evil of the good ways of God to reflect disgracefully upon Religion Secondly To live in fear of Death is that State of Bondage and Slavery which wicked Men are under and from which Jesus Christ came to deliver his People And therefore for a Believer to live dejectedly under the fears of Death is a very uncomely thing Indeed the fears of wicked Men are so great that they cannot think of Death without horrour and when they come to die they are compelled to it for of all things in the World they dread Death most and could they but be assured that they shall live here always they would desire no other Heaven Fearfulness and amazedness under the apprehensions of Death is the proper State of wicked Men that Slavery and Bondage unto which they are always subject for upon good grounds they can have no hopes in Death but are full of fearful expectations of Wrath and fiery Indignation that shall Torment them for ever But now for true Believers God hath made your state and condition very unlike unto theirs as to the issues of Death because you have good hopes of Eternal Life even in Death so says the Wise Man Prov. 14.32 The Righteous hath hope in his Death Now since there is so great an unlikeness between you and them both in Death and after Death let there not be a likeness between you and them as to your fears of Death let a Faelix tremble at the hearing of Death and Judgment but let not the Godly hang down their Heads but lift them up with joy and rejoicing because the day of their Redemption draweth nigh Thirdly Consider this to be afraid of Death is to fear that which is but the Shadow and semblance of Death For to speak strictly a state of Sin and separation of the Soul from God for Sin this is Death properly but the separation of the Soul from the Body only is but the Shadow of Death But O how seldom is it to see Men trembling because of a spiritual Death because they are dead in trespasses and sins though this be infinitely more dreadful than any temporal Death can be And therefore to shew how full of Woe and Misery this Death is it is called Damnation which is the extremity of all Misery This is that now to which this spiritual Death tends and in which it will terminate Hence therefore Wicked Men are said to be condemned already and the wrath of God abides upon them and that they shall have their Portion in that Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone which is the second Death This shall as certainly be their Portion as if they were there already Therefore O Christian if thou wilt fear Death fear not that which is the shadow and the appearance of it but fear that which is Death indeed fear Sin that is the cause both of the first and of the second Death also for if thou art spiritually alive and raised from the Death of Sin as all true Believers are how uncomely a thing is it for thee to fear the Shadow the appearance of an evil which cannot hurt thee when thou art delivered from the evil it self Fourthly Consider for a Christian to fear that which is both common and certain is an uncomely and unsuitable thing Afflictions in general are the common lot of all God's People in this World but Death is that which is more common because it is that which befals all both good and bad from other outward Afflictions there is a possibility that some may be free or if they befal them they may be delivered from under them again but no Man can escape Death What Man is he that liveth saith the Psalmist and shall not see Death shall he
deliver his Soul from the hand of the Grave No he cannot Now God hath in Mercy made that to be most common which is most grievous and afflictive that he might thereby abate the terrour of it to us and for any one to strive against that which no Man can avoid or shun argues that Man to be guilty of great folly It is therefore very unbecoming thee O Christian to fear Death which is the common way of all Flesh yea the way by which all the People of God enter into Heaven and Happiness But to proceed a little farther in this subject I shall in the next place endeavour to discover that the fears of Death may not only be overcome for a time but that it is possible for a Christian to live without them or above them which though it be a high attainment yet is it that to which Grace may reach and that which many of the People of God do daily experience the comfort of Now by a Christians living without the fear of Death I mean a holy quiet ation and satisfaction of Soul as to his future State of Happiness founded upon the knowledge of his Interest in Christ who hath overcome Death for all Believers whereby the thoughts of it approach doth neither distract nor disquiet his Mind so as to bereave him of that Peace and Tranquility of Soul that he enjoys is his Hopes and Expectations of Heaven and Glory but that he can with a holy Contentation and Satisfaction resign up his Soul unto God whensoever he calls for it Now that such a State as this is attainable I need say no more than that this was one of the ends for which Christ died that by Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and deliver them who by reason of the fear of Death were all their life-times subject unto Bondage So that we being delivered out of the hands of all our spiritual Enemies whereof Death is one we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our lives In this Heavenly frame was Holy David when he said though he walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death he would fear no evil And so was St. Paul when he tells us he was perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come should be able to separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No wonder therefore that he could say I desire to be dissolved though it was by Death that he might be with Christ Thus to live above the fears of Death will cost much pains with our own Hearts great diligence and circumspection over our selves in all our thoughts words and ways much watchfulness against all Sin and Temptations for if we be remiss and through carelessness much more through presumption we fall into Sin or neglect Duty we shall soon be brought into Bondage and Slavery by the fears of Death If therefore O Christian thou art one who hast overcome the fears of Death and canst live above them thou may'st then die with courage and leave this World though Death carry thee out of it with joy and rejoicing And that thou may'st be able to do so let me briefly lay down two or three Directions First Have a great care of blorting thy Evidences for Heaven Darkness is an uncomfortable thing And when Christians have been tampering with the works of Darkness I mean some known Sins blotting their Evidences which should discover their Title to Heaven so that they cannot read them what wonder is it while they are thus in the dark that they are afraid to leave Earth though it be to go to Heaven because they know it not for which they may thank themselves God would not only have his People go to Heaven certainly but joyfully and therefore he hath made ample provisions for their Peace and comfort both in Life and Death so that they may not only have good hope but strong consolation through Grace yea may with a holy exultation of Soul cry out Thanks be to God who always causeth us to Triumph in Christ But now if when God hath spoken Peace they will turn again unto folly by venturing upon Sin they hereby create their own sorrows Fear and Consternation of Soul under the apprehensions of Death come from themselves they are their own Tormenters and the hinderers and disturbers of their own Peace and Joy And now if instead of being able to read their Evidences for Heaven which should comfort them they can only make wounding reflections upon their Sins that have blotted those Evidences so that they walk in darkness and the fears of Death continually afflict their Souls they must thank themselves for where there is the apprehensions of guilt lying upon any Soul unpardoned there the thoughts of death will be terrible This made David when in his own apprehensions he was drawing nigh to the Grave beg so importunately of God that he would spare him a little longer that he might recover his strength before he should go away from hence and be seen no more If therefore when you come to die you would leave this World cheerfully you must live in the World conscienciously Exercise your selves in all things to keep Consciences void of offence towards God and towards all Men. Take heed of those black Fiends thy Sins which will fright thy Soul in the dark night of death If thy Conscience be kept clean thy Evidences for Heaven will be clear and the thoughts of death comfortable Many be venturing upon Sin wound their Souls and when death approaches O then they start back and sain would they be spared a little longer If Conscience be raw with the guilt of any one Sin a very light affliction much more death will make a Man kick and fling and very unwilling to bear it but where the Spirit is sound and the guilt of Sin taken off from the Conscience by the love of Christ death it self will be embraced with courage and joy Secondly Deaden your Hearts and Affections to the World and all the comforts thereof The inordinate love of worldly enjoyments and the imperfect love of God makes Men afraid to die He whose Heart and Affections sit loose to the World a small matter will make him willing to leave it but where the Heart is fastned to it in love and affection there will be no parting from it without much reluctancy He that hath laid up his Heart in Heaven can comfortably think of laying down his Body in the Grave Prize therefore Heavenly things above Earthly Place your Happiness in spiritual things count them not only your Food but your Feast yea make them your recreation Were Heaven and Heavenly things the continual solace and delight of our Souls with what joy and rejoicing should we leave Earth to go to Heaven Thirdly Familiarize the Thoughts of Death