of the Righteous and the Wicked They may I grant be alike in their ends but they will not be alike afterwards Though they may die the same kind of Death yet Death will not be the same to both the one shall be a gainer by it and be with Christ which is far better than any condition here the other shall be a looser by it and be in greater misery than any he feared in this World. That which by any means cuts the thread of his Life casts down also all the Pillars of his hope Proverbs 11.7 When a Wicked Man dyeth The Wicked Man's misery after Death his Expectation shall Perish and the hope of unjust Men Perisheth As then he is deprived of all his Wealth and Honour Sport and Pleasure and all that outward good or comfort which here he took any contentment in so his departed Soul will find nothing to supply the want of them 'T is true It hath to doe with God but not in a way of mercy and favour and therefore his presence will not comfort it in the absence of earthly comforts The Spirit says Solomon returns to God that gave it that 's spoken of the Spirit or Soul of Man in general whether good or bad The Spirit of a good Man returneth to God as to a gracious Father the Spirit of a bad Man as to a Righteous Judge and disposer of it And we cannot imagine that the Soul of one that would never return in a holy sense in his life time should return to God in a happy sense when his life is ended For he will recompense him according to his ways saith the Prophet and hath revealed his Wrath against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men Rom. 1.18 'T is said of the unbeliever so continuing that the Wrath of God abideth on him John 3.36 And every ungodly Man we doubt not is an unbeliever in a Scripture sense though he cares not to think so ill of himself And what wonder is it if the holy one shew his high displeasure against the departed Soul of that Sinner that would not Religiously depart from Evil nor was ever reconciled through Jesus Christ Now what a dreadfull case will this be What a terrible taking will a guilty Impenitent Soul be in when it sees it self in the Regions of Eternal Darkness When it hath lost all comforts and comfortable Expectations and shall never see any more good when Money and Lands when Acquaintance and Friends when Time and Hope and all is gone O what deep distress what substantial sorrows will it be filled with when 't is compast about with miseries unchangeable and utterly swallowed up without help or hope in the depths of God's revenging Wrath Consider of it Reader in the fear of God and never let thy Soul be satisfied without that mercy and grace which may fit thee to escape such a fearfull condition 2. It may also keep us from wondring at or at least from stumbling at the troubles of true obedient Christians in this World. They come on them many times thick and threefold as we call it and are so far from moving the careless World to pity them that they expose them rather but too commonly to the utmost scorn and contempt Sometimes also they are ready to Blaspheme on that occasion and say Behold what good doth all their Godliness do them For how miserably do they live and who is there round about that have more sorrows and grievances than many of those that make so much adoe about Religion But assuredly all this will not warrant them to despise Religion or those that love and follow it For besides other considerations that might be urged namely Their remaining sinfulness which maketh the chastisements of their Heavenly Father needfull for them with that most wise providence and Fatherly love that ordereth and limiteth them together with the nature of Sin it self that makes them worthy of more and greater sufferings than in this mortal life they can ever bear Death eternal being the wages of Sin Rom 6.23 I say besides these and the like considerations that may be urged the shortness of their troubles and the certainty of their Souls Happiness after Death may abundantly satisfie them and is more than sufficient to countervail the saddest sufferings of this mortal State as will farther be evinced by the nature and property of that Felicity which in its place with God's Assistance I shall endeavour to explicate SECT X. Being a perswasive to several great Duties THE truth of the present point may be looked on as a true and just ground for Christian practices and 't is great pity but People should be somewhat the better for a point of so much comfort and encouragement to Goodness Here therefore I may fitly endeavour to engage my self and others to the duties following 1. Patience under God's afflicting hand whether by outward or inward troubles Men of ordinary prudence can follow very unpleasant methods of Physick from the meer prospect of that ease and health which they hope in time to find by so doing though none do promise them health much less assure them of the continuance of it How should a Christian then endeavour more and more that patience may have its perfect work when he foresees by Faith that blessed Rest which his Soul shall have after death hath seized upon his Body and hath the word of God to assure him that this happiness shall never end but be compleated at the Resurrection of the just when their wasted Bodies shall forsake their dark Prisons and Shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Mat. 13.43 He may therefore say with chearfulness as once a worthy Servant of Christ Hold out Faith and Patience for your work will shortly be at an end 2. The Duty of Charity should hence be enforced upon us according to our place and power What if Men be never so unworthy or unthankfull yet Christians should be ready to extend their Charity to them in any reasonable way for the sake of that good God who will do them so much good after death How can they do less than shew forth real compassions on all fit occasions yea towards their very names if they find them wronged therein when they remember their heavenly Father's Love and consider how shortly he will receive their immortal Souls and Crown them with his tenderest mercies 3. Upright living in the general how should this engage a Christian to honour his God what he can and as the Apostle exhorts to do all to his Glory to live by Faith and walk in Love and be ready to every good work For as Samuel said 1 Sam. 12.24 Serve the Lord in truth with all your heart for consider what great things he hath done for you How fitly then may I say to such a one be diligent in thy duty and lead thy life to the glory of that gracious God who will satisfie thy Soul with his glorious
Christians I think fit to add that this privilege of being with Christ after Death is not peculiar to St. Paul but belongs also to all that are truly Godly Death as well as Life is yours said he to the believing Corinthians and in them to all other faithfull Christians and certainly he meant t' was theirs in a comfortable sense for their good and leading to their happiness 1 Cor. 3.22 And if all things work for good to them that love God Death shall also and do them a kindness as well as the Apostle Rom. 8.28 nor doth the Apostle make any comparison between himself and the rest of the faithfull in this case or set himself above them in any respect as also in other places he declares them to have the same interest in him and Acceptance for his sake Christ who is our Life Colos 34. He made us accepted in the Beloved Eph. 1.6 Phil. 4.19 My God shall supply all your need according to his Riches in Glory through Christ Jesus Yea He is made unto us Wisedom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 And that the Souls of other Christians are capable of happiness after death as well as S. Paul's I will undertake to prove when I can think worth while so to doe SECT III. The point proved from Luke 23.43 This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise and Colos 1.20 To reconcile all things to himself whether things on Earth or things in Heaven with an Answer to some exceptions AMong the many Scriptures that confirm this comfortable Doctrine these are very considerable In the former our Saviour tells the dying Penitent the joyfull News This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise but he was not so in respect of his Body therefore in respect of his Soul. Whether his Soul was to be that day in Heaven or only tending to it I shall not here enquire 'T is enough for my purpose that it was to be in Paradise for that can signifie no less than a place and state of happiness And we doubt not but Christ's favourable presence could make any place a Paradise for delight and more delightfull than the Earthly Paradise ever was This Text is so strong on our side that our greatest opposers can hardly tell what to say to it any otherwise than by espousing that wretched evasion of the foresaid Racovian Doctor Val. Smalcius viz. Changing the Sentence by misplacing the Comma and reading the words thus Verily I say to thee this day Thou shalt be with me in Paradise namely some time or other as if this day were meant of Christ's speaking and not of the Penitent's enjoying Modus loquendi Hebraicus c. It is says he a speaking after the manner of the Hebrews who use to express themselves so when they would tell us matters of special remark as Deut. 30.18 If ye Worship other Gods and serve them I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish But if they gain the cause at such a rate Luk. 23.43 cleared let them take all and set up their own Heresie for sacred and saying truths For 't is easie to turn â—â—â—th into errour and sense into non-â—â—â—se by mis-pointing any places of Scripture or any other Books and when Men make so bold with the words of our Lord we may fitly call them to account for it and censure their presumption and perverseness which in this case seems very plain For first they shew us no good reason why it should be read I say unto thee this day nor was there need that Christ should tell him that he said so in that day nor do we find him use such an expression in any place or on any great occasions For when he would tell us the necessity of Conversion he says not I say unto you this day but Verily I say unto you except ye be converted ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and the like of his being owned by the Angels Verily Verily I say unto you hereafter ye shall see Heaven open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man Joh 1.51 Vain enough therefore is that Author's suggestion that it was so spoken for the weightiness of the matter And though in the Old Testament there were such phrases used I say to thee this day yet it was in matters of threat or of command but not in matters of promise or comfort Our Lord also hath it Verily I say c. now as there was no need at all of such a solemn Asseveration to tell the Penitent Thief when it was he spake unto him his own Ears being sufficient so it was very proper to be used in telling him of the happy change that he should make so speedily and tended much to satisfie him in it So that of the Apostle Colos 1.20 to reconcile all things to himself whether things on Earth or things in Heaven Here what can we suppose meant by things in Heaven reconciled Piscator expoundeth tam fideles c. as well the faithfull received to Heaven as those still on Earth If this be the sense of it 't is full enough to prove the faithfull Christians Soul to be happy after death and if it be not I almost despair of knowing it As to the Holy Angels it seems very improper to interpret it of them for how are they Things reconciled that never offended their God and so needed not any reconciliation And there is in that Chapter no discourse of Enoch and Elias or any thing to enforce it to be meant of them and whether the expressing it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things not all Persons he may not have a special respect to the Souls of the faithfull departed I leave to others to consider of SECT IV. The same proved from 2 Cor. 5.8 we are willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord and Heb. 12.23 The Spirits of just Men made perfect IF other places should not satisfie Men as to this particular yet these one would think could not fail of so doing In the former St. Paul speaks nothing that was peculiar to himself but joyneth the rest of the faithfull in the very same privilege with himself We says he are willing to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore it must needs be granted that the Apostle did believe that when they were as he calls it absent from the Body they should be present with the Lord not only in a general sense as all things are but in a gracious and spiritual manner and such as containeth more comfortable Communion with him than any they could have in this mortal Life and that their being thus present with them when absent from the Body is to be understood in respect of their Souls is that which needeth not to be proved to any that make use of sober reason and are willing to understand the plainest words and
I find not that the contrary minded have made any exceptions against this proof that are worthy any serious consideration And for that of the Apostle Heb. 12.23 I take it to be no less convincing For what but the Souls of good Men can be supposed to be called the Spirits of just Men made perfect For it cannot be said of the Angels they being distinguished from them in the same verse nor can it be meant of the Persons of Men Bodies and Souls united for these are called Men and not Spirits much less the Spirits of just Men. Obj. But we find in Scripture the Angels that have a charge over the faithfull are called their Angels and why may they not be called their Spirits being Spirits indeed Ans The question in this matter is not whether they may not be so called in some sense or respect but whether in that Text they are so called and I say they are not for two Reasons 1. Because the Angels are mentioned just before as was intimated and they are never called the Spirits of Men or the Spirits of the Just in Scripture 2. Because these are spoken of as made perfect as the things that are imperfect are brought to perfection by degrees for so the original signifieth now the Holy Angels never were destitute of any perfection that their nature needeth Since therefore it must be only the Souls of the Just that there are called the Spirits of the Just it will be easie to conclude the point from it For 't is evident it cannot be meant of their Spirits or Souls while in the Body here on Earth for in this state they are not made perfect but have a great deal of sinfull imperfection in them not as though I were already perfect said St. Paul of himself And 't is said they are made perfect that is already perfect and therefore is not spoken of that perfection which they shall have hereafter at the Resurrection of their Bodies nor can the scope of the place or context favour the interpreting of it concerning their state on Earth and since it cannot be understood of their Souls in their Bodies on Earth nor at the Resurrection then it must be meant of their Souls in their separated state And if in that state they are they are more perfect than before they were they must certainly be more happy also SECT V. The same Doctrine proved from Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their Labours c. HAving urged several Scriptures for my purpose I shall now only add this unto them And if any Person doubts whether this will prove the happy state of Just Mens Souls in separation from their Bodies he must be a Man of doubtfull Religion But for the business let us note in what manner the truth was manifested I heard said St. John a voice from Heaven saying to me write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Note also that it is not spoken of Men as living on Earth or in Heaven but of them as dying in the Lord in his Faith and Fear Blessed are those Dead It is added from henceforth from the time of their dying And how can we think it would be said Blessed are those Dead if they did not obtain some blessed privilege by dying if death did not bring more good to their Souls than hurt to their Bodies then we have the Spirit asserting it yea saith the Spirit Together with one part or property of their blessedness they rest from their Labours from all their troubles whatsoever And this Rest must include a positive happiness in the Love and Peace of their gracious God For a meer Negative or Privative Rest consisting in a bare Freedom from Pain and Trouble is no more than the Beasts partake of when the Horse is dead there 's an end of his weariness as well as his work And I hope we may safely believe that a dead Christian that shewed himself such in his life is in a better state presently after Death than a dead Beast can be and he whose Religion is any thing stronger than his Atheism will account this Text an evidence of it And this shall suffice for Confirmation of the point and I doubt not but it may be some satisfaction to those that seek the truth in Love and humbly implore the guidance of God's Holy Spirit In the next place I am to make good my method and so to vindicate this truth from exceptions and defend it from that violence which some have offered unto it SECT VI. The Happiness of Just Mens Souls in the state of separation vindicated AS to contend for the truth is no unlawfull strife by clearing and confirming it so to maintain it against objections is not unnecessary And I know not whether some may not expect it But before I answer Mens Cavils against this comfortable Doctrine it may not be amiss to say something to those that would dissuade us from medling with matters of this nature For to what purpose say they should we trouble our selves about it For if we believe the Servants of God shall have an Eternity of Happiness after the Resurrection is not that sufficient for us whether our Souls can be happy in their separation or not Whether it is kindness or crosness Religion or Sin that moves men to talk after this rate I shall not now enquire Sure I am It is our Duty to search the Scriptures and blessed be God for the liberty of doing so And certainly 't is not below us to search them for this purpose if perhaps we may find satisfaction about it which that we may I trust will be acknowledged by the unprejudiced Reader Things revealed do belong to us and that this is revealed may easily be perceived by what has been insisted on about it And he that grants it a truth will never deny it to be a comfortable one whatsoever also Christians may undervalue methinks they should not despise the Consolations of the Scripture which will hold when other comforts fail And though it be not very delightfull to deal with the confident cavils of deceived Sinners yet to prevent their mischief I am willing to bestow a few lines upon them As for Scripture that they use to oppose this truth by 't is especially that of the Psalmist Ps 6.5 In death there is no Remembrance of thee and in the Grave who shall give thee Thanks But must not they be very quick-sighted that can find in the place of Darkness an Argument against this encouraging Doctrine But how little this Text maketh against it a few words will shew For. 1. The Psalmist doth not say there is no Remembrance of God after Death but thus In Death there is no Remembrance of thee viz. In that which is in Death or under Death's power even the Body Or then there is no such Remembrance of God as in the time of Life for the
Edification of others or the like and we know Negatives in Scripture are sometimes meant only in some respect or kind as when the Prophet says there is no Peace to the Wicked that is no sound well-grounded Peace for they may have Peace such as it is yea till sudden destruction come upon them 1 Thes 5.3 It follows Who shall give thee Thanks in the Grave very sure that 's no place for Praise Yet nothing hinders but that the Soul after its departure may have a blessed Remembrance of the goodness of its God and give him perpetual thanks in its way and according to its capacity Nor do those words of the Psalmist import any thing to the contrary For as it was no part of the Psalmist's design to enquire into the state of a separated Soul in that Text so the Soul it self when separated from the Body is not in the Grave Nor doth it answer to the word Who for the Soul is not a Person but only a Constitutive part of the Person With no less vanity is Psal 146.4 objected against this point His Breath goes forth he returneth to his Earth and in that very day his thoughts Perish for Man 's thoughts in that Scripture need be extended no farther than his Earthly Thoughts his Counsels Projects and Policies as to this world Moller in loc which is enough to dissuade us from putting our trust in Man. Which also to doe was the purpose of the Psalmist in that place The Soul of the best Man would be pitifull Poor indeed if after Death it should be deprived of all its thoughts or thinking power and I am very confident the Apostle would not have desired to depart this Life if after Death his Soul should not have so much of Life as a thinking faculty containeth In the new Testament also there are some Texts urged by these Men but chiefly that of St. Paul 2 Tim. 4.8 Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me in that Day meaning the day of Judgment Therefore that Blessedness signified thereby say they is reserved till that day and not given before But this Argument is so far wide that no art can make it come any thing close for their purpose For though we grant that the Faithfull have not their Happiness till then which is the most that it can prove Yet that doth not contradict the Happiness of their Souls in their separated state And how happy soever their Souls be in that case yet their Persons cannot enjoy the State of Glory till they are in the State of Personality in the Union of their Bodies and Souls which will not be till the Resurrection There be I confess other Texts that some can fansie this Doctrine to be opposed by but I pass them because they are so far from confuting it that in my Opinion they do not so much as seem to concern it SECT VII The point improved for Confutation of Errours AMongst the many good purposes for which the truth in hand may be serviceable it may fitly be considered for the disproving some principles that some People have too gladly entertained 1. That of the Libertines that the Soul at Death looseth its very being and vanisheth into Air or what they please or that it then hath a drowsie state if any and sleeps as it were in the Grave or other places Doctrines exactly calculated for the Meridian of Profaneness and may indifferently serve for all bad practices They are indeed of such a dismal Aspect and Malign Influence that I can hardly compare them to any more fitly than those that came out of the mouth of the Leviathan for they look as ugly though not just like them And as one day their folly shall be manifested to all Men so the present truth doth fully discover it For if the Soul in its separated state be capable of Joy and Happiness as was proved certainly then it looseth not its Being nor its Apprehension And well may he be deemed a senseless Man here that thinketh his Soul shall be so insensible hereafter And as plainly doth it oppose the Doctrine of Purgatory which though Bellarmine and his Brethren say hath its difficulties as to those questions about it which the Church has not determined yet is strongly asserted by them as a place of real punishment for the Souls of such as shall see Happiness at last but must in order to it be Purged and Purified in that place of Suffering Which can hardly need any other confutation than the proof of the happy state of the Spirits of the just in their departure from their Bodies which I hope hath been given from the Texts urged for that purpose SECT VIII For Trial of our selves whether we are of the number of those just ones that may justly expect this approaching Felicity SInce there is such a happy state for the just after Death yea presently after it so as that Death it self becomes their advantage and leadeth their Souls into the blessed presence of their Saviour Since it is thus I say methinks it should mightily move considering People to search and try their ways and states and see whether they are in such a state as may warrant them to lay claim to this Happiness at Hand which the word of our God discovers to us If it be reported any thing credibly that they who are so and so qualified shall have Honours and Preferments how easily would they be brought to consider whether they have the supposed Qualifications at least if they think themselves capable of them though at the same time they are not ignorant that Death will shortly disgrace all worldly glory Much more should Men try whether they can yet lay claim to that real Happiness that shall come quickly and last for ever Now as to this They need no more to prove their Interest in it upon the account of Christ than to prove themselves to be truly Just or Righteous Persons For 't is the Just that shall come out of Trouble Prov. 12.13 'T is the upright one whose end is Peace Ps 37.37 'T is the Righteous that hath hope in his Death Prov. 14.32 'T is the same also that the Prophet tells us shall enter into Peace Esa 57.2 And we know by a Just or Righteous Man the Scripture meaneth a Godly or Religious Man. There are but two sorts the Good and the Bad in Scripture which are commonly called the Righteous and the Wicked Malachi 3. Psal 37. The Just and the Unjust Math. 5. So that the question will be who are these Just Righteous Religious People To which I shall Answer 1. Negatively 2. Positively 1. Negatively They are not the Just ones that laugh at Religion and mock at all that is called Holy that are more taken with the principles of the Leviathan than with the precepts of the Bible that are Enemies to the word of Righteousness and had rather hear of any
goodness when once it hath left this sinfull World. 4. It should make a Christian willing yea glad to glorifie his God by dying for his truth if providence should call him to it Life is sweet says the Proverb and to part with it when we can keep it is commonly counted a hard Chapter and 't is really a principal part of self denial But 't is no more than a Christian ought to be content to practise though Mr. Hobbs his Leviathan would render it needless when God calls him to it and when he cannot keep his Life without renouncing the truth or doing wickedly some other way and as in such cases he should think himself bound to it by Christ's dying for him whose death was more grievous than the death of any Man else and whose life was more precious than the life of all created Beings so he should be encouraged to it by acting his faith upon the truth in hand for why should he either think it much or think it sad to part with his life for the honour of that immortal Majesty whose presence and favour is his whole Felicity and shall surely be to his departed Soul an Ocean of Eternal Peace and Pleasures 5. It should move a Christian to be content under the ordinary crosses of this life and particularly pains and sicknesses and spightfull causeless aspersions and disgraces No Affliction we confess is in it self joyous but grievous and therefore People are not to be blamed for being sensible of them nor are those kind of Persons wonderfull wise nor yet very charitable that censure their Neighbours of gross impatience for crying out in an extremity of pain though I say no Afflictions or those instanced in are in themselves any other than matters of grievance yet a Christian has no cause to be discontent or discouraged for his mind may receive great satisfaction when his Body can receive no ease and why should he faint at those Tribulations that shall so shortly have an end and a happy end too For however his Body be tired with Sicknesses and his Name abused by the basest Tongues yet e're long his Soul shall have Rest enough yea and credit enough also amongst the excellent Inhabitants of the unseen-World when once it hath put off its Earthly Tabernacle 6. It should move Christian Parents to take care of their Childrens spiritual welfare and see that they be brought up in the Knowledge of God and the Instructions of that sacred word Which is able to make them Wise to Salvation 2 Tim 3.15 And so tends to prepare them for a happy immortality when this mortal life is passed away SECT XI Containing the Resolution of two great Questions I thought to have gone on in the smooth track of duties and comforts arising from the Doctrine in hand but on second thoughts I was willing to resolve so far as the giving my opinion of some Queries relating to the present point 1. Whether the Souls of the Just after Death do go so immediately and directly to Heaven or are so confined and limited as to have nothing to do e at any time in this lower World 2. Whether the Rest and Joy which they have after Death be perfect or not Concerning these I desire the Reader to be of my mind no farther than he can see some reason for it As to the former the most common opinion I think is that such departed Souls have no more to doe with any on Earth or have no presence with them nor appearance to them at any time or on any account But with me the saying of it without the proving of it signifies but little and I know no Argument they being for it that my reason is satisfied in I therefore conceive the contrary to be true that holy Souls after death may be at some times and on some occasions present with Men in this World appear to them and converse with them though I believe it is not ordinary nor ought to be expected by any And since there 's noâ— better way to prove a thing may be than to prove that it hath been I shall therefore offer what to me seemeth considerable for that purpose And first That Text of St. Matthew 17.3 There appeared says the Evangelist unto them Moses and Elias talking with them Moses then appeared at Christ's Transfiguration now we read that Moses dyed and was buried in the Land of Moab Deut. 34.5 And if then he appeared in his Body he must have been raised from the Dead at that time but Scripture tells us no such thing which in all probability it would have done if it had been so There is therefore as great a probability that he then appeared in his Soul only And I find the Reverend Bishop Hall in Contempl. on the Transfiguration express himself in this sort Moses did then appear but whether in the Body or out of the Body I cannot tell Thereby granting the latter might be as well as the former and it is no absurdity for me to suppose that possible which so excellent an Author judged so If any should ask how can a Soul being a spiritual substance appear in the World perhaps I may answer in like manner I cannot tell and if I nor others cannot tell the manner of it yet that disproves not the reality of the thing I know the Spider makes his Web yet I do not tell Men nor they me how he makes it nor yet of what matter And if such Cavillers would tell us how Angels do appear that are as far from all essential corporeity as the Souls of Men we might the easier shew them how Souls may appear And thus much also I will add that an eminent Divine assured me that the best Philosophers he knew were of opinion that the Souls of Men removed from their Natural Bodies are embodied as it were in Aerial Vehicles and that he himself was of the same Judgment 2. That of Samuel appearing to Saul 1 Sam. 28.12 13 14. may fitly be urged For the Scripture gives no cause to believe that Samuel's Body was then raised from the Dead nor do I find Expositors supposing such a thing it may therefore well be thought it was Samuel in Soul only For the context seems to evince that it was Samuel really The Apparition being called by no other name as oft as 't is mentioned vers 12. When the Woman saw Samuel vers 14. And Saul perceived it was Samuel and thrice more in the other verses 't is so called I know the contrary minded will have Samuel to be meant of somewhat else either the Witches Familiar or Satan in his shape or some cunning piece that was to deceive Saul with I know not what extraordinary Arts and Tricks as Mr. Scott and Mr. Webster are willing we should think But if this be a warrantable way of interpreting Scripture I shall hardly know what is not and let any intelligent Person judge whether by such a way of interpreting
of Righteousness when the Spirit of Glory hath perfected all its Graces and delivered it from all the darkness of sin And in being free from sin it shall be free from all other evils as he that is freed from his Debt is secured from all arrests and troubles that relate to it for whatsoever our God may be pleased to doe out of Sovereignty and without respect to his Creature 's sin as 't is supposed Job's Afflictions came on him in that way Yet Divines agree that God did never lay Affliction on his People but while they had sin dwelling in them so that the Souls of his Servants after Death are rid of all other evil as well as of sin They shall then be no more disturbed by any Enemies of their Peace the Regions of the unseen World they are then in shall be always Serene The Ocean of Eternity shall be calm and comfortable to them Then they shall have no more to doe with the Temptations of Satan the Mocks of the Profane the Snarls and Censures of proud-hearted Hypocrites These shall follow the upright no farther than the Grave For their end is Peace Psal 37.37 How found and substantial will the Soul's Joy be when it sees it self safe in the Arms of God's Love beyond the sphere of sin and sorrow which should move it to bear the more contentedly the Troubles and Temptations of this Transitory Life In particular the gracious Soul shall then have the excellencies that are most essential to true Happiness and be perfected in the Knowledge and love of God in Christ St. Paul himself though he knew much more of Christ than most ever did or shall do in this World and had the Revelations of things too great to be uttered 2 Cor. 12. Yet his knowledge had a real imperfection at the same time We know but in part 1 Cor. 13.9 and vers 12. Now I know in part but as it follows then I shall know as I am known I will not play the Critick on that phrase nor search curiously into the depths of it 't is for our purpose clear enough for it must be meant of perfection of knowledge because 't is opposed to a knowing in part If any say it is to be understood especially of the state at the Resurrection I shall not gainsay it But I see not why it may not be applyed also to the Soul in its Separation For as the particle Now doth confessedly denote the state of this Life so the particle Then doth as plainly intimate any time or state after this Life ended And he might express it so if it were properly and primarily meant of the Soul in its Separation from the Body As when he said Phil. 1. I desire to depart and be with Christ Which Being with Christ is confessedly intended in respect of his Soul. Nor is it easie to conceive how his Soul 's being with Christ after Death should be so much a better condition than any in this Life if therein it had not perfection in the Knowledge and Love of Christ For on Earth he had a great measure of them and was daily tending forwards towards perfection and was assured that nothing should separate him from the Love of Christ Rom. 8. Surely therefore a holy Soul will not want for knowledge when it has left the World. How can it be any thing less than perfectly light in the Lord when it shall be perfectly and gloriously present with him And who is able to tell us what a Joy and Blessedness this must be If I could know my God and Saviour with such a powerfull spiritual and affecting knowledge as some good Men have had on Earth my heart should be glad and my spirit rejoyce though I were utterly despised in the World and had not one hours health all the days of my Life yet all their knowledge here was imperfect as we have seen And how much better shall that state be where all sinfull imperfections shall be done away If the Mystery of Christ and Salvation by him be such a glorious thing that the Angels of Heaven desire to look into it 1 Pet. 1.12 O then what abundant matter of satisfaction and joy will it yield to all those blessed Souls to whom it doth really and eternally belong and to whom the worth and excellency of it with their interest in it is fully discovered by the Spirit of Grace and Revelation 2. Another privilege that holy Souls shall have after their departure hence is their Company They shall then converse with the best of Creatures and such as never offended their good God I mean the Holy Angels After Death they shall be as it were made Free of that Company and see themselves Members of that Blessed Society united in and under the same Head Christ Jesus Now indeed if they should see but one of those immortal Spirits standing be fore them with his Crown of Glory compassing them about with a Light brighter than that of the Sun offering to draw nigh unto them and asking to joyn with them in the Praises of the great Jehovah such a sight probably would more astonish them than rejoyce them because the sense of their sinfulness might cast a Damp upon their Hearts and make them unfit for the heavenly employment But it shall be otherwise with their Souls when they are fully conformed to their Maker's Will and as free from sin as the Angels of his presence for the Angels of Heaven and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect are Members of that happy Society which Divines use to call the Church Triumphant and therefore are related to one another by a far nearer and nobler Relation than that of Fellow Creatures of which the learned may consult Polanus in Syntag. and H. Altingii Theol. Nov. problemat p. 616. In a word they are called in the Gospel Their Angels Math. 18.10 And we cannot think that those blessed Spirits above that have ministred to them and by Gods appointment took charge of them and especially rejoyced at their Conversion Luke 15.10 I say we cannot think they will do any thing less than joyfully congratulate their safe Arrival at the state of perfect purity and peace and chiefly as it is the proper Fruit of the Will of God and the purchase of his Christ Surely the holy Inhabitants of the best World will not be strange to Holy Souls when they come into it nor are they like the foolish Hypocrites of the Earth that delight to shew themselves proud and scornfull and look with an evil eye upon the welfare of others 3. As I question not a Holy Communion and Converse between the Angels of God and the perfected Spirits of the Just so hitherto I can as little doubt their knowledge of one another and their satisfaction in each others Happiness in their state of Separation at least and especially those of them that were before more nearly related and were wont to join together in God's Service and
Blessedness indeed If the People of Israel after the Dedication of the House of God went away so glad and merry in heart for the Goodness that the Lord had shewed them therein 2 Chron. 7.10 If they had so much comfort in their Souls when Providence had delivered them from the sorrows of their Captivity and made them sit in peace under their own Vines Neh. 8.17 If the Wisemen rejoyced so exceedingly when they saw but our Saviour's Star appear Math. 2.10 O then what blessed Joy may we conceive to possess those happy Souls that partake of the sweetest Influences of that Sun of Righteousness and enjoy those Rivers of sacred pleasures that flow from his everlasting Love being perfected at the same time in their Love towards him This must needs be far better than the best condition here and how much better thou shalt know Christian Reader at the fittest Season in a far better manner than I am able to tell thee SECT XV. Being other Brief Improvements of the Point THIS Truth will truly serve for other good purposes besides those already mentioned and in the next place it may assure us of the comfortableness of a Christian Life The Enemies of Religion being as St. Paul speaketh unreasonable and wicked men instead of Reasons against it do rather deal in Reproaches and Slanders And there 's scarcely a greater reproach cast on it by the Men of the World than the unpleasantness of it as they imagine and the opposition they suppose it to carry against Mens present Comfort and Content Religion they confess is many times like Fire a good Servant as we use to say and therefore they think good it may be to have something of it and make a profession of it for their Credit sake or other earthly Ends But in the mean time they are loth to account it a good Master For if they came under the power of it and be ruled by it in their general Course they think it would make them melancholy and robb them of the very Joy of their Lives But assuredly there is no more reason why we should be asraid of Piety for the causeless Censures of ungodly Sinners than why we should despise the Light of the Sun for a mad Man's mocking and railing at it Let men but try the good way in truth and walk uprightly in it and then my Life upon it it shall not in the main make them sad It shall much rather make them glad yea it shall one day be the Joy of their Hearts to remember that they walked therein 2 Cor. 1.12 This is our rejoycing the Testimony of our Consciences that in Simplicity and godly Sincerity we have had our Conversation And the reason of it may in part be seen from hence for the good Way shall have a good End and bring them that walk in it to a happy State in spight of all that Death can do yea after it has done its worst upon them When they depart this Life they shall be with Christ which is far better Phil. 1.23 2. We may here inform our selves of the Nature of those Troubles that come upon good Christians in this Life viz. That they are but Crosses and not Curses Trials of Grace and mercifull Visitations not Vengeances in the least Degree or any Effects of destructive wrath for surely that mercifull Father that will make them so happy after Death doth not mean any mischief to them in the Afflictions he layeth on them in this present Life But will make all things work together for good unto them that love him Rom. 8.28 3. It may encourage Christians in their Spiritual Warfare and make them to run with patience the Race that is set before them How strenuously should they now strive against Sin since they shall shortly be more than Conquerours through him that loved them what Difficulties should make them weary of well doing since they shall so certainly and so speedily enter upon the Eternal Rest 4. Let Christians seriously consider this point and endeavour by Prayer and Meditation and all other good means to get their Hearts more affected with this Happiness that is so near at hand And to this end compare we the Joy of Just Mens Souls made perfect with other matters of Consolation that the Scripture offers unto our thoughts O what gladness would it have put into the Heart of a pious Christian to have seen the Saviour of the World in the Temple to have heard him preach the Doctrine of Salvation and speak as never Man spake To have seen the Multitudes that were miraculously fed and the Dead that were raised by him To have seen him invite poor Sinners to himself standing in the most solemn Day of the Festival and crying with a loud Voice whosoever is a-thirst let him come unto me and drink especially if at the same time he could have known his need of him and interest in him And what a Joy would it have been to have seen him after his Conquest over Death ascending to the high and holy Place To have stood among the Celestial Orbs to behold how he passed through the Regions of the Air how dark the brightest Stars were made by the presence of their Maker's Glory But chiefly what a thing would it have been to have seen the Blessed Jesus at his Entrance into the Heaven of Heavens To have seen the Everlasting Doors set open for that King of Glory to enter in together with that unconceivable welcome which he then received of all the Heavenly Hierarchy Angels and Archangels Cherubins and Seraphins all the innumerable Armies of immortal Spirits congratulating his incomparable Victories over Sin the Devil and Death offering up their praises to him and casting all their Crowns before him How joyfull a thing may we well conceive this would have been or rather joyfull beyond all our present conceptions And yet I think we may easily believe that the perfected Spirits of the Just do enjoy more comfort than all this could amount to for though in such Cases a Godly Man's Eye would in a great Measure affect his Soul yet while his Soul is sinfull 't is impossible it should be so perfectly joyfull as when it is freed from all Sin And while Sin is in it self Enmity against God it abiding in us must needs be an Enemy to our Comforts and withhold in some measure Good things from us SECT XVI Being a farther Improvement of the Doctrine aforesaid as an Antidote against the fear of Death HE that dwells in a World where Dying is so much in fashion should be one would think very inquisitive after something if possible to be found that may comfort him against that fatal stroke which he has so little hopes of escaping nor can I apprehend how any Man should be able to lead a truly comfortable Life that is not above the fears of Death in some good measure because there is no Place or Case no Company or Condition no Day nor
Hour wherein it may not overtake him for ought he knows to the contrary And though what I am now to add can be but little comfort to the careless ungodly World because Religion will comfort none whom it doth not rule yet to the true conscientious Christian I hope it may afford even strong consolation For what more effectual Armor against the fears of Death can be shewed to such a one or be wished by him than this Truth before us That Death it self shall be his advantage and prove a Friend unto his Soul. If a Man have an Antipathy against Bleeding so as to saint almost at the very thought of it yet he that can prove that it is necessary for him as a means against those difficult and dangerous distempers that he feels or fears and can demonstrate the safety of it also may thereby reconcile him to it and make him not only content but glad also to part with a little of his Blood. Much more may a Godly Christian be content to part with his Life when God calls for it while his Faith and his Reason is really satisfied by the word of truth that his Death shall be safe and gainfull and that his Lord and Saviour will be better to his Soul than the Life of his Body and all created comforts whatsoever For a wicked Man to be afraid of dying is no wonder at all nor no Absurdity neither well may he fear Death that shall feel Damnation after it if he dye in the State he is yet in but for a Religious Person that placeth his Happiness in God through Christ and desires nothing more than to be fitter to serve and enjoy him For such a one to be afraid of dying O what pity is it I do not say 't is strange For alas it is but too common with the best Many are now of a fearfull Heart that shall stand without Fear at the Day of Judgment but I may safely say that such Fears in such Persons are very needless and strangely unreasonable As yet I know nothing that a good Christian is less concern'd to fear than dying For when he is absent from the Body he shall be present with the Lord 1 Cor. 5.8 that is in a more excellent manner than he was or could be in this mortal Life in a State far better as 't is expressed elsewhere Philip. 1.23 God hath often said by his Prophets Fear not and in Esay 40.10 He urged it to his Servant with the Reason of it Fear not for I am with thee Be not dismayed for I am thy God c. Now if any shuld say this may excuse them perhaps from fearing ordinary Evils but not from fearing Death I wou'd then demand the Reason of his Speech and can perswade my self that he cannot shew any Reason truly so called in defence of it And I need say no more to confute him therein than to tell him that God is the God of his People as truly and as comfortably at a dying Hour as at any other time and that Death shall not separate them from the Love of God Rom. 8.38 But possibly it may be expected that I should answer some objections which also with God's Assistance I shall endeavour to do Obj. 1. When you have said all you can yet say some we know very well that Dying is a Hard word and a Harder thing and hath such Difficulties accompanying it as are puzling and unpleasing to the most of Men. Answ What it may be to the most is little to my purpose to enquire of For 't is not most Men but good and upright Christians that here I speak of And that Dying is so hard a thing to such persons I think I am not obliged to believe 'T is confessed it may seem so unto them but it is not so indeed for the Difficulties are more fancifull than real And when they are most troubled at the thoughts of Death yet in that Case it is not Dying it self but Snning and Doubting that is the cause of their Distress which as to the weakest true Christian they are pardoned for Christ's Sake so at Death there is an end of them See before Sect. 12. Christ's Death for them has taken away the Sting of Death 1 Cor. 15.56 57. So that they have more cause to be afraid of Living than of Dying For in Life they are liable to variety of Troubles and may often be in heaviness through manifold Temptations But in Dying they are subject to none of them From thence forth their Souls shall never see one evil Hour They that dye in the Lord are blessed from thence forth and they rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 Obj. 2. But at a dying Hour we may expect Satan's fiercest Assaults and strongest Temptations For he is never more apt to assail us than when we are at the weakest as some report of the Learned and Pious Mr. Pemble that when he lay on his Death-bed the wicked one managed his subtilest Suggestions against him even in way of Argument to baffle his Faith in the Blessed Jesus to keep his Soul from resting on that Rock of Salvation Answ This needs not to trouble any true hearted Christian For first he cannot conclude it shall therefore be his own case or that his last Hour shall be in any sad sense an Hour of Temptation God deals very variously with his People and ordereth all their Affairs according to the Methods of his own most mercifull Will and Wisdom Mr. Pemble and others had manifold Temptations in their latter Hours Mr. Holland Molinaeus Mr. Robert Bolton and multitudes more had their Hearts then filled with Heaven's Peace and though Satan wants not malice or knowledge to take advantage of their weaknesses and to oppose them with his fiery Darts when he sees them least able to resist yet we are sure his Power is limited so that he cannot give them one Minutes disturbance more than God is pleased to permit whose mercy we are told is to everlasting upon them that fear him Psal 103.17 and therefore shall not be turned from them by all the Power of Hell. How well would they be satisfied if some of their best friends whose kindness they have most experienced had a power given them to order all circumstances that concern their Death Behold the matter is much safer than so and all their Affairs in a better hand Sure I am the truest Affection and heartiest Love of the most compassionate Parent upon Earth is as nothing and vanity to the tender Mercy of that Great High Priest and gracious Saviour with whom they have to do Nor would he be called the Shepherd of their Souls 1 Pet. 2.25 if he did not mean to take care of them accordingly and help them in their greatest need Ob. 3. But the mere Absence of the Soul from its Body may seem to make its condition somewhat uncomfortable for Philosophers commonly write of the Desire it hath to the Body and a
ensuing Assertions 1. That such a case is not inconsistent with the State of a true Christian Though the bright Morning Star Christ so called be truly risen upon any Person and hath imparted to him the Light of Life yet that doth not make it impossible for his Sun to set in a Cloud for the Word of God says nothing to the contrary Though he therein promiseth his Servants everlasting Joy after Death yet he promised not that they should have Joy the Minute or Hour before they dye And when Solomon tells us there is one Event to the Righteous and to the Wicked as to outwards he meaneth Ecl. 9.2 I cannot fansie why any uncomfortable Circumstances about Death should seem to be excepted Our Blessed Lord himself in comparison of whose Holiness the Heaven of Heavens is but unclean departed this Life in the Depths of Sorrow and cryed with a loud voice My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Math. 27.46.50 Which being intimated gave some satisfaction to a Learned and worthy Divine when in his last Sickness he asked his Friend what that man might think of the State of his Soul that is just a-dying and can find no comfort in his God Mr. Rob. Bolton mentioneth a very Religious Gentlewoman who in her latter Hours was exercised with many Sorrows and to appearance dyed in them shewing little or no Sign of any comfort in her Soul. But that judicious Man of God did not think the worse of her State or question her Salvation but rather supposed that sad Dispensation of her God to be in Judgment to those wicked People that maliciously slaundered her good Conversation in Christ that those who would not be bettered by her unblamable Life might be hardned by her uncomfortable Death But this we may account God's strange Work most commonly the way of Holiness doth end more comfortably And we are assured the upright ones end is peace Psal 37.37 though we cannot be sure of peace in his Soul just before his End because we read God's Judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out Thus of the first Assertion The Second is this That to be followed much with Satan's sorest Temptations is no ill Sign St. Paul himself complained of Terrours within as well as Troubles without Yea Christ himself when his Heavenly Father had solemnly owned him for his Beloved Son in whom he was well pleased Math. 3.17 the next news we hear of him was that he was led into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil yea 40 days as St. Mark hath it Mark 1.11.13 whilst the strong man armed keepeth possession the things he hath are in peace The Pyrate spendeth not his biggest Bullet upon the empty Ships but upon the laden and best laden So Satan doth not cast the fiery Darts of his Temptations against those that are under his accursed slavery and follow the ways he would have them at least not usually nor unless he have them at a pinch as we say under some considerable Crosses as to the World but rather against those that have chosen a better Master and turned through grace into the Holy Path. The third Assertion in answer to the said Objection is thus That a Christian's Fear of Dying uncomfortably is no sign that he shall Dye so As God bids his Prophet say to them that are of a fearfull heart Be strong and fear not So he is pleased many times to strengthen and encourage them abundantly and do for them above all they could ask or think He that had his Spirit overwhelmed in him and walked mournfully all the year round by reason of those blasphemous Suggestions that the unclean Spirit had so constantly exercised him with yet at length was enabled to offer up joyfull Praises to his God and Saviour and ended his days in a blessed peace as a great Authour hath testified The like is recorded of Mr. Saunders viz. That though he was sometimes much concerned as we call it to think what he should do if he should be brought to the fiery Trial yet when he was brought to it he had his Fears removed and being strengthened with God's Spirit of Might passed as comfortably through that Sea of Blood as the rest of that noble Army of Martyrs The fourth Assertion God often worketh by contraries and brings about his gracious purposes by means that seem the most unlikely As he brought water for his People not out of the Sea or the River but out of the Rock so he often suffers those People to be most shaken with Temptations whom he meaneth most to establish to make most grounded and rooted in the Faith. Of which I might instance in Luther and others if it were my purpose to enlarge on this particular The fifth Assertion The Arm of God's Love is infinitely stronger than the Arm of a Christian's Faith If therefore he be such in sincerity he may be sure that either he shall not Dye in despair or Discomfort or else that he shall not be ruined by Dying so For if his Graces be never so much opposed yet God's Kindness to his Servants is absolute and unconquerable If their Faith and Hope should seem to be shaken beyond recovery yet compassion cannot fail in the Father of Mercies and his Covenant of Peace shall not be removed Esay 54.10 so Rom. 8.38 What shall separate us so speaking of the rest of the faithfull as of himself from the Love of Christ Neither Death nor Life nor things present nor things to come that is they shall never do it by any means or any sad Circumstances that can attend them The sixth Assertion Despair in all kinds and cases is no such heinous and dangerous Sin as some have imagined And it were to be wished that some Authours otherwise learned and good had written more cautiously about it than they have done And those that despaired of Francis Spira's Salvation because he ended his days in the darkness of Despair may seem as unskilfull as uncharitable and I believe they have been blamed for it by many Divines besides and since Mr. Perkins But to come directly to the point it self Despair therefore may be considered in several sorts of People and on several grounds or occasions of it As to the first Despair in a wicked man if total and ordinary I confess must needs be a very sad matter because it hinders him from using the means of Salvation Yet it doth not make his Salvation impossible because 't is not impossible for it to be removed 2. To despair of Salvation out of a conceit that there is not in Christ a sufficient Power and Merit for that purpose This I say is no less dangerous because it is grounded on a prevalent Unbelief and argues the Person under it to have no right Apprehensions of the Person of Christ or the Excellency and Alsufficiency of his Merit and Righteousness 3. But for a true Christian to be brought into Despair by Temptations and Mistakes