discouragements unto our endeavours and we are apt to cry out with Solomon's Sluggard There is a Lion in the way and therefore it is that the hands of the Sloathful refuse to labour And so it is with us in Spirituals difficulties soon discourage and hinder our endeavours whereas they should be a whet to Industry The Kingdom of Heaven says our Lord suffers violence and the violent take it by force But alas in many Christians the fears of death are so strong that they keep them in Bondage all their Days But now were Death removed out of our way could Christians be cloathed upon with their House which is from Heaven without laying down the earthly Tabernacles of their Bodies in the Grave were there no such thing as dying to make way for our Entrance into Heaven how delightful would the Thoughts of Heaven be to us we should not then run with Patience but with Chearfulness the Race that is set before us we should no longer need Motives to quicken us in our way to Heaven but so earnest and vehement would our desires and longings be after it that nothing could stop the eager pursuits of our Souls for the obtaining of it How delightfully should we pray Lord let thy Kingdom of Glory come Our Meditations thereof would so draw forth our Affections and ravish our Souls in the delightful fore-thoughts of it that we should think nothing hard to part with for the attaining of it But that now which abates our Desires after Heaven must needs hinder our diligent Endeavours in the use of Means for the obtaining of it Now as Death is an Enemy so it is the last Enemy but yet withal it is an Enemy that shall be destroyed so the Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 15. and 16. Now the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death But how or by whom is this last Enemy Death destroyed and overcome I answer Not by our selves for Death seems rather to have destroyed us than we it when it brings the Body down into the Grave and turns it into Corruption and Rottenness But this last Enemy is destroyed by our victorious Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ the Captain of our Salvation he it is who by the Merit of his Death hath overcome Death and of a deadly Enemy hath made it become a most comfortable Friend to all that believe in him Now for this we must know Christ hath not delivered us from our Obligation unto Death for since the Fall of Man Death is become necessary for a Christian being the only way appointed by God for our Entrance into Heaven and therefore we see that Believers die as well as Vnbelievers Neither hath Christ delivered us from Sickness and Distempers the usual Fore-runners of Death David complains Psal 38. My Loins are filled with a loathsome Disease there is no soundness in me because of thine Anger neither is there any rest in my Bones because of my Sin But now in these Respects Christ hath overcome Death for Believers First He hath taken away the Sting of Death This Captain of our Salvation upon the Cross as in an open Field and pitch'd Battel did spoil Principalities and Powers Col. 2.15 Now one of these Powers armed against us was Death and the Weapo◠with which Death fights against us is Sin Our 〈◊〉 Jesus Christ now took away our Sins upon the Cross and so spoil'd Death of his Power For having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them on his Cross Death once struck the Lord of Life and Glory with its Sting and by striking him lost its Sting in his blessed Side so that ever since all that are in Christ do or may insult over Death as being conquer'd and overcome for them so speaks the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. and 55 57. O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The Sting of Death is Sin says he and the Strength of Sin is the Law But thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Secondly Christ delivers Believers from the fears of Death Heb. 2.14 15. Forasmuch then as the Children were Partakers of Flesh and Blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil But is this all No the Apostle adds another end and that is that he might deliver them who through fear of Death were all their life-time subject unto Bondage Now that which makes an Enemy to be feared is his Strength his deadly Weapons Christ now by dying on the Cross took away the Weapons of Death its Sting whereby it hath Power to hurt and that is Sin Now Death being disarmed Christians are free'd from the Fears of it It is true Men may sometimes fear a naked Enemy but there is no real Cause for it seeing he cannot hurt them And so the People of God sometimes may exceed in their Fears of Death but they have no just Cause neither would they be so afraid of Death if they were strong in the Faith of Jesus Christ who hath disarmed Death for them Thirdly Christ delivers his People from the Curse of Death In it self Death is a Curse the Punishment of Man's Sin the Expression of God's Wrath the Execution of the Law and the dreadful Sentence pronounced against Man upon his Apostacy from God In the day thou eatest thereof says God thou shalt die the Death But all that die under the stroke of Death do not die under the Curse of it all deserve it indeed but to some the Nature of it is changed thorough him who is the Resurrection and the Life they that believe shall never die A Voice from Heaven hath pronounced them blessed that die in the Lord Rev. 14.13 The Nature of Death is changed to them that are in Christ such do but sleep To die to a Saint is no more than to undress and go to Bed Let what will become of Dives our Friend Lazarus sleepeth John 11.12 The Just by Death enter into Peace they rest in their Beds and are taken from the Evil to come Death to the wicked is like a Malefactor's putting off his Cloths that he may be scourged according to Law So Death uncloathes the wicked that by the Wrath of God they may be tormented for ever But now to the godly Man Death is but like a Child's putting off an Old Garment that he may put on a new one So Death uncloathes the Godly of the Rags of their Mortality that they may be cloathed with an incorruptible Garment that shall never fade or change but keep its beautiful Lustre and Glory for ever Fourthly Christ delivers his People from the Dominion of Death It is true when Death hath laid their Bodies down in the Grave in seems to have Dominion over them but it is but for a while for our Lord Jesus hath taken away this seeming Dominion of
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
Therefore says God when thou passest through the Waters I will be with thee they shall not overflow thee and when thou walkest thorough the Fire thou shalt not be burnt Esai 43.2 Take Courage therefore O Christian be not afraid of any Affliction be not afrighted no not at the sight of death it self though thou see'st it is a narrow passage a way beset with Briars and Thorns though it be a strait Gate for Flesh and Blood to pass through yet fear not for it is the Gate of Heaven the way that leads unto Glory Be not afraid therefore to walk in the valley of the shadow of death though love of Friends and strength of Body fail thee yet fear not for God will be with thee his Rod and his Staff will support and comfort thee he will be your God and your Guide not only unto death but for ever and ever for he will never never never leave his People nor forsake them till he hath brought them to the eternal enjoyment of himself in Glory Secondly Wouldst thou O Christian be comforted and supported against death then much and often meditate upon the Lord Jesus Christ Now though every thing in Christ and every thing done by Christ be exceeding sweet and precious for unto them that believe he is precious Christ and whole Christ is precious for there is nothing in him or done by him that we can tell how to want But yet I shall instance in some few things more particularly which may be of great Use unto a Christian to meditate upon for his support against the hour of Death As First Meditate often upon the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Now though in general these were so great that they exceed all our Expressions and Apprehensions yet how willingly and patiently did he undergo them all both from God and Man in his Body and in his Soul His Body was racked and tortured in all the parts of it but especially in those parts wherein the sense is most quick and therefore his Pain and Anguish was most afflicting They digged or pierced my hands and my feet saith the Psalmist of him Psal 22.16 He suffered in his Soul also for he conflicted with the wrath of an angry God which was impress'd upon him in such a dreadful manner that had he not had the strength of the Deity to support him it had certainly overwhelm'd him and ground him to Powder For it was pure Wrath without the least mixture of sparing Mercy the great God bated him nothing That 's a sweet Scripture Rom. 8.32 God spared not his own Son And it was well for us that he did not for had he spared him he had not spared us His Death was not common and ordinary but a Death by Crucifixion he humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the death of the Cross which was a violent death considered in it self and therefore he is said to be cut off out of the Land of the Living though in respect of himself it was voluntary and therefore he tells us I lay down my Life of my self John 10.18 And indeed Christ must either die a voluntary Death or none at all partly because there was no Sin in him to deserve Death and partly because otherwise his death had not been a Sacrifice acceptable and satisfactory unto God for us for that which died of it self was never offered in Sacrifice but that which was slain in its full force and strength This death of Christ was also full of exquisite Pain and Torture and therefore when he was going to encounter with it he screws up his Request to his Father to the highest pitch Matth 26.39 Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me It was also a death full of shame than which nothing is more cutting to an ingenious noble Spirit And truly in this respect the Thieves that suffered with him fared better than he for they had no Taunts Reproaches and Sarcasms cast upon them they only encountered with Pain But Christ had Pain and Shame also for the Souldiers the Jews the Thieves all scoffed and flouted at him And therefore says the Apostle he not only endured the Cross but he despised the shame Heb. 12.2 But this is not all for the death of Christ was a cursed death Pain was bad and Shame was worse but the Curse is worst of all for he that is hanged on a Tree is accursed of God and therefore Christ that he might shew the greatness of his Love to his People redeemed them from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for them Gal. 3.13 Now though Christ knew that all these Sufferings and this death should befal him yet so great was his Love to Believers that he underwent all willingly and patiently What godly Man on Earth what Saint or Angel in Heaven can read or hear those Words of his in Luke 12.50 without Astonishment where speaking of his death and sufferings he saith he had a Baptism to be baptized withal which was a Baptism of Blood And how am I straitned till it be accomplished Indeed it is said when the time of his sufferings drew near that he began to be sorrowful that he was sore amazed and very heavy My Soul says he is exceeding sorrowful even unto death Not that Christ repented of his Undertaking when he was to suffer no for when the time of his suffering was come the Holy History tells us he not only went to a place that Judas who betrayed him knew of that so he might be the more readily taken but when his Enemies came thither to apprehend him he went forth to meet them and asked them Whom seek ye And when they told him Jesus of Nazareth he tells them I am he upon which they fell to the ground and as if they were more afraid to apprehend and bring him to his sufferings than he was to suffer he speaks to them again and by his Words Oh how willingly blessed Jesus didst thou go to suffer he doth as it were strengthen and encourage them to go on in their work of laying hold of him he said therefore unto them a second time Whom seek ye They said Jesus of Nazareth Jesus answered them I have told you that I am he if therefore you seek me behold here I am He was a Volunteer in his dying and offering up of himself His death was a Free-will Offering and this made him to become a Sacrifice Psal 40.7 8. Then said I loe I come In the Volume of thy Book it is written of me I delight to do thy Will O God yea thy Law is within my heart As if he had said my very heart is ready for the shedding of my heart-blood Therefore says he I lay down my life no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up John 10.17 18. As if he had said if