they are of such exceeding importance that if thou art once perswaded to them my work will be half effected and because delayes and laziness are the two great gulphs in which such multitudes of souls are drowned and perish I shall speak the more to them My first request to thee is that thou wouldst presently set about the affairs of thy soul We say of things that must be done De rebus necessariis non est deliberandum there needeth not any deliberation about them Is not this the one thing necessary to prepare for the last hour to make sure of thine everlasting well-fare In re tam justa nulla est consultatio If thou believest the word of God thou wilt not give the flesh so much breath as to debate it muchless wilt thou as Felix did put off the thoughts of righteousness and judgement to come till thou art at better leisure till thou hast a more convenient season What more weighty work hast thou to do then to work out thy own salvation Is the following thy calling hoarding up an heaps of earth feeding cloathing that flesh which shall shortly be food for worms is any of these half so necessary as thy provision for eternity If thou art old its high time to begin to prepare for thy latter end Thou hast the feet of thy body almost already in the earth in the grave and hadst thou not need have the feet of thy soul thy affections in heaven Thou hast but a little time to converse with men doth it not behove thee to be much in communion with God Death often possibly knocketh at thy door by the hand of sickness and warneth thee to look after another habitation for thou art to be turned out of thy house of clay Dost thou take warning what wilt thou do if thou shouldest dye before thou didst ever begin to live If the Sun of thy life should set before the Sun of righteousness hath arisen on thee all the while thou livest thou art dead and thou livest long to add to thy torments as others have died soon to hasten them Thou art but like stubble laid out a drying to burn the better in hell all the while thou continuest a stranger to the new birth Thou hast every day been treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath been gathering as it were more wood to increase those flames in which thou if thou thus diest shalt live for ever Because judgement against an evil work is not speedily executed therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his dayes be prolonged it shall not go well with the wicked Eccles 8 11 12 23. The sinner an hundred years old shall be accursed Isa 65.20 I have read of the Circassians a kind of mungrel Christians that they divide their time betwixt the Devil and God dedicating their youth to robbery and their old age to repentance How much time hast thou spent in the service of sin how little time hast thou left the service of God and thy soul Is it not high time for thee to number thy dayes and to apply thy heart unto wisdom speedily Old sinner dost thou not tremble to think that there is but a step betwixt thee and death nay betwixt thee and hell O the time and talents and opportunities which thou hast to reckon for more then others Happy happy had it been for thee to have been turned out of the wombe into hell rather then to dye an old man and not a babe in Christ If thou hast a sparke of love to thy self mind thine inward change presently least thy change come even death and send thee to unchangeable misery If thou art young Honor adolescentum est timorem Dei habere Ambros de offici mind the gathering the Manna of godliness in the morning of thine age present the first fruits of thy life to that God who desireth the first ripe fruits Exod. 3.19 The firstlings are his darlings Gen. 4.4 and that cloth will keep colour best that is died in the Wool the vessel will sente longest of that liquor with which it is first seasoned let thy soul like Gideons Fleece drink up betimes the dews of grace As young as thou art thy life is every moment at the mercy of the Lord There is a saying that in Golgatha there are skulls of all sizes In the Church-yard thou mayest see graves of all sorts and some of thy very length thou art concerned therefore to remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth Aquinas telleth us the young man hath death at his back the old man before his eyes and that is the more dangerous enemy that pursueth thee then that which marcheth up towards thy face This calleth for the greater care and watchfulness In the Isle of Man the maides spin their winding sheets the first thing they spin do thou in youth and health ponder and prepare for thy death lest as young and strong as thou art death trip up thy heels and throw thee and it prove thine everlasting overthrow Besides canst thou imagine that such a sinner deserveth favor who cometh in to serve God at last when he can serve his lust no longer Is it equal be thy own judge to give the flower of thine age the spring of thy life the best of thy time thine health and strength to the devil and thy brutish flesh and to give the dregs the snuffe the bottom of all this to the infinitely glorious God whose creature thou art at whose cost and charge thou livest every day and night and who calleth upon thee for thy service not for the need he hath of thee but because of the need thou standest in of him all whose happiness doth consist in the pleasing and enjoying his Majesty Whoever thou art of what age soever either set speedily about thy soul-work or answer these few questions the Lord shall put to thee or be speechless and without excuse at the day of Christ First Hath not God waited upon thee long enough already wouldst have him whom the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain who hath millions of glorious Angels waiting on his Majesty to wait on thee miserable worme alwayes I tell thee all the while thou art sinning his eyes behold thee his heart is incensed against thee and his hand can reach thee and avenge him on thee every moment How many hath he sent into hell that never tasted of his patience as thou hast done The angels sinned and were not waited upon one hour for their repentance yet how many years hath he endured thee with much long-suffering and still waiteth upon thee that he may be gracious unto thee Isa 30.18 The last oath thou didst swear he could have cursed and rotted thy tongue The last time that thou wentest prayerless to thy rest he could have sent thee to little ease to the place
he shall eat bread in the Kingdome of God They are before the Throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them they shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat For the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters Rev. 7.15.16 17. Observe Reader I say a Christian shall gain by death Immediate fruition of God a full immediate fruition of God now the Saint drinketh of the waters of life and they are pleasant though through the Conduits and Cisterns of Ordinances but with what joy will he draw water immediately out of the Well of salvation Dulcius â—x ipso fonte c. We read in Joshua 5.12 when Israel came to Canaan Manna ceased and they did eat of the fruits of the Land While the Saint is in the Wildernesse of this world he needeth and feedeth on the Manna of the Word Sacraments Prayer and the like but when death shall land him at that place of which Canaan was but a type the Manna of Ordinances shall cease he shall eat the fruits of that Land Ordinances are necessary for and suitable to our state of imperfection Jacob drove his flocks as they were able to go so doth Christ his sheep Here we are in a state of uncleanenesse and therefore want water in Baptisme to wash us saith an Eminent Divine in a state of darknesse and therefore want the light of the Word to direct us in a state of wearinesse and therefore want a Lords day of rest to refresh us in a state of weaknesse and therefore want bread in the Supper to strengthen us in a state of sorrow and therefore want wine to comfort us in a state of beggery and therefore want prayer to fetch some spiritual alms from the beautiful Gate of Gods Temple Whil'st the Saint is as a child he thinks as a child speaks as a child understands as a child but when he shall come to be a perfect man he shall put away these childish things when every earthly member shall be mortified and the body of death wholly destroyed when the faculties of the soul shall be enlarged and the sanctification of the inner man perfected when the rags of mortality shall be put off and grace swallowed up in glory The Sun shall be no more thy light by day nor the Moon thy light by night but the Lord thy God thine everlasting light and thy God thy glory Isa 60.19 Apostles Prophets Pastours Teachers are for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the body of Christ no longer then till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ Ephes 4.11.12 13. When God shall be all in all then and not till then Ordinances will be nothing at all When the Saint comes to his journeys end he may throw away his staffe Now how much will this adde to the former that the Christian shall without ordinances enjoy God! How lovely is the face of God though it be but in the glasse of the Gospel 2 Cor. 3.18 this was the one thing which David begg'd that he might dwell in the house of the Lord to see the beauty of his face Psal 27.4 Ah how lovely will he be when the Christian shall see him face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 If it be so good to draw neer to God on earth Psal 73. ult and if they are blessed that watch at Wisdomes gates and wait at the posts of her doors Prov. 8.34 how good will it be to draw neer to God in heaven and how blessed are they that wait not at the door but dwell in that house How pleasant will it be for the soul when it's eyes shall be strengthened to see God as he is without the spectacles of Ordinances We esteem that honey sweetest which is suckt immediately out of the comb though hony out of a dish is sweet and we do with more delight eat that fruit which we gather ourselvs from the tree than we do that which is brought to us through others hands The enjoyment of God is so sweet in the dish of a Duty that a Christian would sooner lose the best friend he hath than it But O how sweet will it be in the comb of immediate communion This fruit is very delightful and pleasant as it is conveyed through the hands of Ministers though the liquor will sente of the cask but O with what delight Christian canst thou read it and thy heart not warmed with joy with what pleasure wilt thou with thine own hands gather this fruit from the Tree of life that standeth in the midst of Paradise Rev. 22. Thus I have given thee a little of that great gain which a Saint hath by death death will free him ftom all evil both of sin and suffering it will give him the fruition of ali good in the enjoyment of perfect Saints and the blessed Saviour and in full immediate communion with the infinite God who is blessed and blessing his for ever This is the heritage of a righteous man from God and this is the portion of his cup thus shall it be done to the man whom the King of heaven delights to honour There is but one thing more required to make the Christian perfectly happy and that is the eternity of all this but I shall speak to that in the last use I now proceed to the application of the Point The first use which I shall make of this Doctrine shall be by way of information If such as have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death it informeth us of the difference betwixt the deaths of the sinner and the Saint the one is an unspeakable gainer the other an unconceivable loser by death Death to the good is the gate through which they go into the kingdome of heaven death to the bad is the trap-door through which they fall into hell The godly dyeth as well as the wicked but the wicked man dieth not so well as the godly The metal and the drosse go both into the fire but the metal is refined and the drosse consumed As the cloud in the wildernesse had a light side to the Israelite but a dark side to the Egyptian so death hath nothing but light and comfort for the Israel of God nothing but darknesse and sorrow for the sinful Egyptians Death to every one is a messenger sent from the Lord of life it cometh to the regenerate as the young Prophet to Jehu I have an errand to thee O Captain and what was his errand he poured the oil on his head saying Thus saith the Lord I have anointed thee King over Israel 2 Kings 9.5 6. It is a messenger from God to call
you are of his honor that was so tender of your eternal welfare how you testifie your thankfulnesse to him for all the bitter agony and ignominy which he suffered for you You shall shortly never more have the least opportunitie though you would give a thousand worlds for it to do any thing in for Gods glorie your own or others good Work therefore the work of him that sent you into the world while it is the day of your life for the night of death is hastening on you wherein you cannot work Up and be doing as a Christian as a Magistrate and the Lord be with you Sir I have no more to speak to you but that the Hearer of prayers may hear often from you that I may take heed to the ministrie which I have received of the Lord and fulfil it and to assure you that my prayers at the throne of grace shall be that you and your religious Consort may continue to dwell together as fellow heirs of the grace of life and your hopeful Children may be planted with and grow up in grace till they shall be transplanted into the true Paradise the Kingdom of Glorie This through the help of heaven shall be the petition of Your real Servant in the ever blessed Saviour George Swinnocke Febr. 15. 1658. 9. Christian Reader THere are two thing which should be of highest regard with us a serviceable life and a comfortable death and they are both so inseparably conjoyned that in vain do we hope for the one without the other which of these is to be preferred was a doubt which put the Apostle to an Anxious disquisition on the one side there was service on the other side there was gain if he lived he should preach Christ if he dyed he should enjoy Christ and remain with him for ever therefore Paul was at a stand and knew not what to determine Surely he had an holy heart that could thus set duty against enjoyment and think his service worthy to come into competition with his spiritual and eternal interests that which made Paul so indifferent and incurious as to the means was the resolved fixing of his scope his end scope was Christs glory now 't was all one to him how God would use him to such a purpose as a man that is resolved upon a journey taketh the way as he findeth it fair or foul t is enough that it leadeth him to his journeys end so Christ might be glorified either by his Ministry or by martyrdom Paul was indifferent 't was enough that Christ should be glorified none have such an unfeighned respect to Christs glory but those that live in the communion of his life mens tendency is according to the principle by which they are acted carnal men that act by their own life and live upon their own root bring forth fruit to themselves water riseth no higher than its fountain but those that have life from Christ use it for him to them to live is Christ as they live in him and by him so they live for him and to him We need then to take all occasions to press men to get into Christ that they may live in the communion of his life and in the strength and influence of it be carryed out to his glory this is that which will make life serviceable and death sweet and to this we need to be pressed by all kinde of arguments both those which are taken from Gods relation to us as also those which are taken from our expectations from him Rom. 14.8 We are the Lords by every kinde of right and title and therefore owe all manner of service to him even though nothing should come of it but they that do the Lords work will not want his wages though he might require our service out of meer soveraignty yet he condescendeth to propound a reward and that so full and ample that it should ravish our hearts every time we think of it These considerations which I have here loosely discoursed of are notably improved in the ensuing treatise which being communicated to me by a friend of the Author I could not but return it with this Character that 't is a discourse grave and judicious and yet quickened with such warmth and vigor of illustration as that it may be of great use to awaken men unto more seriousness in the great concernments of their souls among which nothing can be more momentous than our living in Christ that we may live to him and then with him for evermore this being signified I leave thee to the work it self which I cannot but judge to proceed from one both of a good head and heart and profess my self Thine in the service of the Gospel Tho. Manton THE PREFACE and EPISTLE TO THE READER Especially of the Parish of Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire and Borden in Kent as also the occasion of this Treatise I Have sometime considered with my self not without some remorse and grief of spirt the multitudes of men and women that even in those places where the Word of God is plainly and powerfully taught run headlong in the broad way which leadeth to destruction And indeed if my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night though every tear were a tear of blood I could never sufficiently bewail the slain of the daughter of my people of that Parish to which the providence of God hath called me That the lying vanities of this world should by most be so greedily pursued and the reall mercies relating to a better world so wretchedly despised that a brutish flesh which must shortly be food for wormes should be so highly prized and constantly gratified and an angelical spirit the soul which must live for ever so basely slighted and unworthily neglected that every soul-damning lust should be so heartily embraced and the soul-saving Lord but coldly and complementally entertained that the road to Hell should be so exceedingly filled and the way to Heaven almost wholly unoccupied Surely this ought to be for a bitter lamentation and O what sea of blood is enough to bemoan this horrid wickednesse It hath seemed to me therefore a matter worthy of diligent enquiry what special Malefactors should be indicted for these many soul-mischeifs and soul-murders which are committed amongst us And truly by that acquaintance which I have with the Word of God and experience of the soul-affairs of men I find though many Accessaries might be named that ignorance ought to be arraigned and condemned as one of the principals The people perish for want of knowledge Hos 4.6 Inner darkness is the beaten path to utter darkness to the blackness of darkness for ever Men in this mist of ignorance like ships run upon those rocks which split them eternally As the Indians prefer every toy and trifle before their Mines of Gold so they every sensuall sinful pleasure every foolish perishing creature before the beautiful Image of God the
first mover they follow its motion thus it is with the unregenerate part of a man it hath proper ends of its own pride and flesh-pleasing and the like contrary to the ends of the spirit but in obedience to the regenerate part the Christian leaveth the former ends and follows the ends of the latter Bonum est mihi si Deus me uti pro clipeo dignetur Bern. The honour of Christ is exceeding dear to a true Christian It is dearer then his name Lord saith a Father use me for thy shield to keep off those wounds of dishonour which would fall on thy majesty Let the reproaches wherewith they would reproach thee fall upon me Prorsus Satan est Lutherus sed vivit regnat Christus Amen And Luther is called a Devil saith Luther in an Epistle to Spalatinus but be it so so long as Christ is magnified I am well apaid nay the honour of Christ is dearer than life to a believer Paul as one saith of him stood a tip-toe to see which way he might glorifie Christ most whether by life or death Neither count I my life dear unto me so I may finish the Ministry I have received of the Lord Jesus Act. 20 and 24. I come now to the second thing promised and that is to manifest wherein the christian that hath Christ for the principle pattern comfort and end of his life shall be a gainer by death And truly Reader in speaking of this gain I shall acknowledge my self at a losse though my tongue were as the pen of a ready writer it could never expresse it and if my pen were as the tongue of a ready speaker it could never describe it The land of Canaan notwithstanding all the helps we have is still for the most part terra incognita an unknown land The sights there are light inaccessible as to mortal eyes 1 Tim. 6.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. quod fando explicari à quopiam homine non potest Beza â—rasm ita eo ponunt and the sounds there are words not audible as to mortal eares 2 Cor. 12.4 words which may not or cannot be uttered or both One being asked what God was answered that he must be God himself before he could know God fully I am sure it is requisite that that Christian should be in heaven first who would know heaven fully Fame which in other things is too free and prodigal in this is too sparing and penurious and that in so great a degree that Reader after thou hast heard it set forth by the holiest heavenliest man alive though of the greatest capacity and oratory yet if ever thou gettest thither thou wilt finde cause to speak as the Queen of Sheba did in another case 1 Kings 10 6 7. It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy glory and thine excellency Howbeit I believed not the words until I came and mine eyes had seen it and behold the half was not told me the delight and happiness exceedeth the same which I heard There it is indeed that God doth more for the believer then he is able to ask or think As the losse of the damned will be beyond the most melancholy mans fear so the gain of the saved will be above the strongest christians faith The eye of a man may see much good the ear of a man may hear more the heart of a man may conceive most of all but yet neither hath eye seen nor ear heard nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2.9 They which have written most of this subject might have added at the end of their books as in other Treatises some have done Desiderantur nonnulla or plurima desunt More is desired or more is wanting It is as easie saith one to compasse the Heavens with a span to contain the Ocean in a nutshel as to relate heavens happinesse Reader I shall speak to this subject but briefly Set the Holy Land before thee as it is in a Map in a little room yet by what I shall speak in this place and in the the last use as the spies by the clusters of grapes thou maiest gather the land is good it floweth with milk and honey and this is some of the fruit of it Numb 13.27 The christians gain by death will appear in these two particulars He shall gain a freedome from all evil the fruition of all good and is not this man a gainer Ademptio omnium malorum First he shall by death be freed from all evil the immediate and full presence of the chiefest good which the believer shall enjoy after death will cause the absence of all evil The influences of that Sun will scatter every mist and disperse all clouds which now darken the conditions of pious souls The day of a christians dissolution will be the day of his redemption Luke 21.28 this may be the reason why the Apostle placeth redemption last saith an Expositor 1 Cor. 1.30 Now we have Christ made into us wisdome righteousnesse sanctification but then redemption When the Saint is passed through the red Sea of death and landed at the true Canaan he shall then see all his bodily and spiritual enemies dead on the shore In the middle Region there are storms and tempests and so here below but above all is calm and quiet While the christian is upon earth evils like Jobs messengers follow him one upon the heels of another but when he leaveth the earth every evil will take it's eternal leave of him Therere are two evils which are indeed the onely evils though the first is by much the worst the evil of sin or defilement and the evil of suffering or chastisement Now a believer by death shall be freed from both these First from the evil of sin and in this take notice that death will deliver the christian both from the commission of it and from all suggestions tending to it First Death will free the Saint from the commission of sin In hell there is nothing but wickednesse In heaven there is nothing but holiness The unregenerate man is never so wicked as after death now sin is in its minority then it will be in it's maturity now it is but the sinners evening but then iâ— will be a perfect night of blacknesse oâ— darknesse The godly man is never so holy as after death grace is now in its infancy then it will attain to its full age now it is as the morning light then it will attain to its noon-day brightnesse Sin is now by a spiritual life mortified that it doth not raign but then by death it shall be nullified that it shall not so much as remain in a believer The ungodly after death shall be perfectly like the Divel the Indians some write have a conceit that death will transforme them into the ugly shape of the Divel and
there are some diseases which are called opprobria medici because they cannot cure them but none are opprobria Christi he healeth all whom he undertaketh If the higher an house standeth on earth it be esteemed the healthier surely then the highest heavens must be a pure air and all health Revel 20.4 there shall be no more death nor any more pain for the former things are past away So that every christian that dieth in the faith how diseased soever he were before shall then immediately as in the Gospel be made every whit whole John 7.23 Thirdly As death will free the believer from diseases in his body so also from sorrows in his soul The christian liveth upon earth as in a valley of tears and often mingleth his drink with weeping As he is a man he is born to sorrows as the sparks fly upward he cometh into the world crying and goeth out groaning and his whole life from the womb to the tomb is in some regard a living death or a dying life But as he is a christian he drinketh deepest of this cup of sorrows the world is a tender mother to her children but a step-mother to strangers Sometimes the afflictions of the good cause high-water in the Saints heart by the rivers of Babylon he sits down and weepeth when he remembreth Zion Psal 137.1 He cannot but sympathize with the miseries of his fellow-members as being himself in the body Sometimes the transgressions of the bad cloath him with mourning like Croessus son though dumb before yet he cryeth out when his father is wounded As with a sword they pierce his bones when they blasphemously say unto him Psal 42.10 Where is thy God rivers of tears run down his eyes because the wicked forsake Gods Law Psal 119.136 Sometimes his own corruptions like so many daggers stab him to the heart that he should abuse such an Ocean of unspeakable love by so unsuitable a heart and so unanswerable a life He confesseth his iniquities and is sorry for his sins Psal 38.18 Sometimes divine desertions darken and cloud all his comforts When God hides his face he is troubled Psal 30.7 As there are no joyes like to those joyes wherewith God reviveth him in the day of his favour so there is no sorrow like to those sorrows wherewith God depresseth him in the day of his anger Thus his life is a circle of sorrows but death will be the Funeral of his sorrows and resurrection of his joyes now he soweth in tears but then he shalâ— reap in joy The day of death is a Saints Marriage-day Sampsons wife indeed wepâ— on her wedding-day Judg. 14.16 but when the soul which in this life is contracted shall at death be solemnly espoused and more neerly conjoyned unto Jesus Christ all tears shall be wiped from its eyes there shall be no more sorrow Revel 21.4 At that Marriage-day Christ will turn all water into wine all mourning into mirth all sighing into singing and cause the bones which he hath broken to rejoyce Now the Saints sorrows are not perfect sorrows non dantur purae tenebrae to the believer it shineth and showreth at the same time he sorroweth not as they which have no hope but his joy at death shall be perfect joy fulness of joy Psal 16. ult and permanent joy when they shall see Christ at death their hearts shall rejoyce and their joy shall no man take from them John 16.22 then the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isa 35. ult So much for the privative gain of a christian by death or his freedome from evil There is a second thing which is positive Adeâ—pt â—o omnium bonoruâ— and that is the fruition of all good which a believer shall gain by death and in this Head I shall observe these three gradations First a believer by death shall gain the company of perfect Christians Death wil exempt him from all commerce with sinners and teach him fully the meaning of that article The communion of Saints In the field of this world the tares and the wheat grow together but in that heavenly Garner they are parted asunder There is no treacherous Judas among the Apostles no covetous Demas among the Disciples no Amorites to be prickes in the eyes and thorns in the sides of the Israelite no bestial Sodomite to vex righteous Lot with their unclean conversation no flattering Doeg sets his foot in that heavenly Sanctuary David doth not there complain Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace Psal 120.4 5. nor Isaiah that he dwelleth among a people of unclean lips Isa 6.5 nor Elijah that he is left alone Hell holdeth none but sinners heaven hath onely Saints He that dieth in the Lord goeth to the congregation of the first-born to the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And questionlesse the sweet company will be part of our felicity If Platinus the Philosopher could say Let us make haste to our Countrey there are our parents there are all our friends and if Cicero the Orator could say O praeclaruÌ„ diem cùm ad illud animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar Cic de Senect O what a brave day will that be when I shall go to the councel and company of happy souls to my Cato and other Roman Worthies How much better will it be with the Christian when he wall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven when he shall leave the rout and rabble of wicked ones and be admitted into the society of all that died in the faith and be joyfully welcomed by the melodious quire of Angels and be heartily embraced by the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles yea all the Saints Surely if ever thar Proverb were true it is here The more the merrier The fair streams there will never be drawn dry though it be divided into many channels the musick there is not the lesse harmonious because many hear it nor the light of the Sun of righteousness the lesse pleasant because many see it and O what a gain will this be to enjoy the company of them that are holy If Aaron when he met Moses on earth was glad at his heart certainly there was greater joy at their meeting in heaven If David placed all his delight in the Saints here below when they shined a little with the light of purity like the Moon and had their spots in them what delight doth he take in them above now they have perfect purity and shine like the Sun in the firmament of their father Matth. 13.43 If it were so lovely a sight to see Solomon in his rags of mortality that the Queen of Sheba came so far to behold it what will it be to see him in his
robes of glory Mr. Thomas Wilson Minister of Maidstone in Kâ—nt an eminent servant of the Lord Jesus I remember I have sometimes heard an able holy Minister now with Christ say that that sight of five hundred Saints and Jesus Christ among them 1 Cor. 15.6 was one of the bravest goodliest sights that ever eyes beheld on earth Sure I am they that are in heaven see a far better beholding Jesus Christ in the midst of many thousands Secondly A Christian shall gain by death the neerest communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and O what happinessâ— is included in this Head The presence of Christ on earth can make a mean cottage a most delightful court to the three children it turned the fiery furnace into a delectable palace what will it do then in Heaven Bernard saith he had rather be in his chimny-corner with Christ Mallem in camino meo cum Christo quam in coelo sine Christo Bern. than in heaven without Christ Luther saith he had rather be in hell with Christ than in heaven without Christ communion with Christ can sweeten the bitterest condition Christ alone is the salt which seasons all the Saints comforts without which nothing is savoury to the spiritual taste A duty without Christ is like a body without a soul which hath neither loveliness nor life in it Communion with Christ is one great motive which inciteth the Saint to and encourageth him in the Ordinances of God He attendeth on Scriptures because they are they that testifie of Christ the pearl of price is hid in that field Cant. 5.1 In them the lips of Christ like lillies drop sweet-smelling myrrhe and O how his heart burneth within him with love to Christ whilst Christ is opening to him the Scriptures He frequenteth prayer because therein Christ and his soul converse together in that Ordinance he enjoyeth much of Ch ists quickning presence he speaketh to Christ by holy supplications and Christ to him by heavenly consolations He mindeth fasting because therein his soul may with Jesus Christ have a spiritual feast or the greatest cause of his weeping is with Mary They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him The means of grace are therefore so desirable and delightful because rhey are the Galleries wherein he walketh talketh feedeth and feasteth with the Lord of glory The highest duty without Christ is as a dish without meat from which he goeth as empty and unsatisfied as he came to it It is to him as Tullies Hortens to Austine of little worth if the Name of Jesus be not there If he love the Saints with a love of complacency 't is because they are Christs seed if he love the sinner with a love of pity 't is for Christs sake his affections are contracted or enlarged towards any thing as it hath lesse or more relation to Christ and nothing is of true value or worth in his esteem which hath not aliquid Christi something of Christ in it Now consider Reader if the presence of Christ be so precious so pleasant to the Christian here when he can see so little of his excellent beauty and receive so little of his infinite bounty what will it be when he shall appear to the soul in all his royalty and fill the water-pots of the soul up to the brim with the riches of grace and glory Demorrhathus of Corinth saith they lost the chief part of their lives happinesse that did not see Alexander sit on the throne of Darius if that were such an happy sight what a sight shall the Saints have to see Christ on his Fathers Throne O how much is included in those few words To be with Christ which is the description of the Saints gain by death Philip. 1.23 This was the great Legacy and portion which Christ bequeathed his in his last Will and Testament John 17.24 This was the great promise and sweet meats which the tender father provided to comfort his fainting children with at his own Funeral John 16.22 This was the great prayer which Paul maketh for his beloved Timothy 2 Tim. 4.22 This was the enlivening cordial which the good Physician administred to the dying patient Luke 23.43 This is the great reason for which the godly long for death Philip. 1.23 I desire death saith Melancthon that I may enjoy the desirable fight of Christ Ut desiderato fruar conspectu Christi and O when will that blessed hour come when shall I be dissolved when shall I be with Christ said holy Mr. Robert Bolton on his Death-bed Surely then this gain is great which the Saint shall have by death He that hath Christ with him by grace may say with Peter Master it is good to be here but he that is with Christ in glory may say with Paul To be with Christ is far better without doubt best of all They were blessed which saw him in his estate of debasement Luke 10.23 but much more blessed will they be that shall see him in his estate of advancement Thirdly the Saint by death shall gain the full and immediate fruition of God The former were excellent but this as the Sun among the Planets surpasseth them all The other were as Rivers this is the Ocean they were as branches bearing goodly fruit but this is the root upon which they grow they all as lines meet in this center this is the top-stone of the celestial building this is the highest stair the apex of the Saints happinesse This is the greatest gift which the creature can possibly ask or the infinite God bestow The boundlesse God cannot well give a greater mercy than this Is any thing yea are all things in heaven and earth equal to God God alone is the highest object of faith 1 Pet. 1.21 and therefore the greatest ground of joy and satisfaction to the soul Psalm 17. ult The Vision of God is the beatifical vision 1 John 3.3 and therefore the fruition of God will cause perfection in the soul The enjoyment of God is the great desire and delight of the Saints on earth Psalm 42.1 2. nay it is the happinesse of the humane nature of the Lord Jesus Psalm 16.5 6. without question then it will be the Heaven of Heaven That excellent description of Heaven mentioned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.28 That God may be all in all 1 Thess 4. ult is a being ever with the Lord. This is all the most fluent tongue must be here silent and the most capacious understanding will be soon at a stand in the consideration of the felicity which floweth from the fruition of God The presence of this King will make the Court indeed For the Lord to be with us is our chiefest security though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evil for thou art with me Psal 23.4 but for us to be with the Lord will be our choicest felicity In his presence is fulnesse of
God offereth thee heaven thou choosest earth and notwithstanding he assureth thee that now is the only acceptable time now is the only day of salvation yet thou wilt not hear when he calleth I tel thee the day is near when thou wouldst but God wil not when thou shalt call but he wil not hear and then thou shalt find no place for repentance though Esau like thou seek it carefully with tears When once thy particular judgement is pass'd 't wil be in vain to beg a Psalm of mercy 3. Thou shalt at death lose the society of all the godly even of those excellent ones in whom is the delight of Christ Prov. 8.31 and all the delight of Christians Psa 16.3 It is a blessing to thee upon earth did the Lord but sanctifie it to thee that thy lot is cast in a Land in a Parish in a family where those holy ones are that thou mayst hear their gracious prayers see their pious patterns and enjoy their precious precepts Homo boni pedis A Saint is as the Proverb is in Africa A man whose coming is prosperous this churlish Laban could confesse Gen. 30.27 and the Heathenish Egyptian found by experience Gen. 39.2 All the Countrey fareth the better for a good and rich Christian he eateth not his morsels alone but keepeth open house for all comers He both desireth and endeavoureth that others might be not almost but altogether as he is None are more spiritually covetous to make Proselites then the true Israelites As the wall which receiveth heat from the Sun reflecteth it on the passengers so he wisheth so wel to the worst that they were partakers of the same grace that they may have fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ his Sonne John 1.1 Like the Bee he goeth to this and that flower to this and that Ordinance and sucketh some sweetness some spiritual good and carrieth all home to his house to his hive As sin is diffusive a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump 1 Cor. 5. 6. Some say they that have the plague are very desirous to infect others so is grace like oil spreading the gracious desire to go to an innumerable company of Angels with a numerous company of Saints Their examples are amiable and sometimes instrumental for the conversion of others 1 Pet. 3.1 1 Cor. 7.16 Justin Martyr confesseth of himself that beholding the Saints piety in life and patience at death he gathered their doctrine to be the truth and was converted their prayers are desirable and that in the esteem of prophane and ungodly men Exod. 8.28 Exod. 9.28 Acts 8.24 In a word The Saints are clouds which water the earth Heb. 12. the salt which keepeth the world from putrefaction Mat. 6. That place Prov. 10.25 But the righteous is an everlasting foundation The Hebrews expound the righteous are the foundation of the world which but for their sakes would soon shatter and fall to ruine Sanctum semen statumen terae Isa 6.13 Absque stationibus non staret â—undus I beare up the pillars thereof saith David Psalm 75.9 It is for the sake of the good that the bad are spared Acts 27.24 All that sailed with Paul were saved for his sake How many a time have they stood in the gap and diverted a flood of wrath from breaking in Psal 106.30 Numb 14.20 How many a mercy hath come flying to the world upon the wings of their prayers But O sinners herein wil be a part of thy misery that thou shalt for ever be banish't their company now possibly thou thinkest the Parish the worse for such strict inhabitants thy dwelling the worse for such precise Neighbours thy family the worse for such an humble zealous child or servant now thou do'st not know what thou gainest when thou hast their society but thou shalt know what thou losest when thou hast lost them to eternity If Cicero did so bewail his banishment from the Romane Moralists that though the Countries through which he travelled did him much honour yet he would often look towards Italy with sighs and tears and if the Disciples wept so much for the losse of Paul they fell about his neck and kissed him and wept sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more in this world Acts 20.37 38. how wilt thou sigh and sob weep and wail when thou shalt be parted from them in the other world Did the devout men make suck great lamentation for the losse of one good man for a little time Act. 8.2 what lamentation shalt thou make for the losse of all good men to eternity Surely as in Ramah there wil be a voice heard lamentation weeping and mourning for the losse of these children of God 4. When thou diest thou shalt lose all thy hope or presumption rather Thy dead hope for Saints only have a lively hope 1 Pet. 1.3 wil fail thee at death As thou hast no true holiness so thou canst have no true hope but something 't is likely thou hast upon which thou reliest as to thy future estate It may be thou hast the good things of this life and thence concludest thy right to a better life as if because the great House-keeper of the world throweth some bones to the dogs therefore he must love them with a paternal love thou do'st not consider their houses may be full of gold whose hearts are empty of grace and whose souls shall assuredly come short of glory Job 22.17 18. Psal 17.13 14. It may be it is thy profession of Religion that holds thee up by the chin and keepeth from sinking as if because a stage-player is drest in the Robes and for a quarter of an houre acteth the part of a King he must therefore have a real right to the Dignity Dominions and Revenues of the Regal Office not believing that those colours of the form which are not laid in oyl in the power of godlinesse wil be wash't off at death Matth. 25.8 Or it is likely thou enjoyest the priviledges of the Gospel Sabbaths Sacraments and the seasons of grace are the bladders with the help of which without an inward change thou thinkest to swim to heaven do'st thou not know that many go to hel fire with Font-water on their faces and from the table to the tormentour Matth. 22.13 that Esau a cast-away and Ishmael an out-cast had both Abram to their father and so had they whom truth it self assureth that they were of their father the divel John 8.44 Circumcision availeth nothing nor uncircumcision but a new creature Gal. 6.15 All such things are but lying words where an internal work of grace is wanting Jer. 7.4 5 6. Or possibly thou art a man of many performances thou mindest secret family relation-duties which too too many neglect praying reading hearing Christian communion like the spider thou weavest a curious web out of thine own bowels and therewith makest thee a house in which thou
restest quietly but O friend God hath * Job 8.14 15. a besome of death which will sweep this down This and all the rest as nigh as they seem to be to heaven will prove but a Castle in the air whether any or all these or something else be the Pillars by which thy hope is upheld in life they wil fail thee at death and then the rotten props being taken away the house of thy hope wil fall These are all but a sandy foundation and therefore when that great storm comes they will down to the ground Matth. 7.26 27. It is possible thou mayest hope all the time thou livest but thy life and hope wil depart together like thy neighbours thou mayst be ful of hope even when thou art going into the pit of despaire and die in peace though thou art going unto the place of eternal war but the next moment after death thy hopes wil take wings and flie away Prov. 11.7 When a wicked man dieth his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth He died perhaps with his head ful of hopes and expectation as those seemed to have done that came bouncing at heavens gate with Lord Lord open to us but soon were their hearts filled with desperation when they heard Depart from me ye workers of iniquity I know you not Etiam spes valentissima periit as some read that fore-cited place His great hope shall be little worth A false heart and false hope can never hold out in such a real hardship Job 27.8 What is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gained when God shall take away his soul An Expositor glosseth on it thus The anchor of a wicked mans hope entereth not within the vail as a godly mans doth closing with God himself in Christ Hebr. 6.19 which anchor in all storms is sure and stedfast but is cast upon false and loose ground and therefore when the storm comes his Anchor drives and is unstedfast and so his hope and heart fail together The stoutest unregenerate man alive wil drop at last when God cometh to take away his soul then his crest falls and his plumes flagge The wicked is driven away in his wickednesse Prov. 14.32 He being arrested by death as a cruel serjeant in the divels name is hurried away and hurld into hel as Syrens are said to sing curiously while they live but to roare horribly when they die so thou that art high in hope on earth wilt be lower in grief in hel when thou shalt see all thy hopes like Absoloms Mule to fail thee in thy greatest extremity We say if it were not for hope the heart would break what wilt thou do then when thy hope shall depart and thy heart continue How sad wil thy condition be when thou shalt fall from the high pinacle of thy presumption into the bottomelesse gulph of desperation surely thy raised expectation disappointed wil prove a sore vexation how extreamly wilt thou be perplexed when thou shalt fall as low as hel whose hopes were raised as high as heaven If hope deferred make the heart sick Prov. 13.12 then hope of such happiness wholy frustrated wil kil it with a thousand deaths ImprobiduÌ„ spirant sperant justus etiam cum expirat sperat When a gracious man dieth his hope is perfected in the fruition of all and ten thousand times more then he hoped for when a graceless man dieth his hope perisheth in an utter disappointment of all that he though with little reason so much expected 5. Thou shalt lose by death thy precious soul this wil be a losse indeed the price of this pearl is not known to thee on earth but it wil be fully known in hel this one head Reader didst thou but understand what is included in it would stab thee to the heart and the thought of this one losse would be enough to imbitter the comforts of thy whole life The soul of man is called the man Job 4.19 though not in a natural Quia animaest principalior pars hominis unumquodque autem consuevit appelâ—ari id quod in eâ— est principalius Aquin in Job 4.19 yet in a moral consideration saith one upon that place it being the most noble the most excellent part of man and 't is usual to denominate the whole from the better part The body is but an house of clay its foundation is in the earth but the soul the inhabitant in this house is of an Angelical spiritual nature The generation of this was from heaven Zachariah 12.1 The operations of this are most noble the Redemption of this cost the blood of God Psal 31.5 Acts 20.28 this is that part of man which is capable of the Image of his Maker Col. 3.10 Ephes 4.24 the working out the salvation of this is the whole of a Saints care and labour Phil. 2.14 't is upon the welfare of this that the body dependeth for its unchangeable estate what a losse then wil the losse of this be Faciâ—is jactura sepulcri An Heathen can tel us that it is an easiy matter to beare the losse of an earthly house for our bodies when we die but certainly it wil be hard to beare the want of an heavenly habitation for thy soul Let him that bought this ware speak to its worth and thy losse What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul Matth. 16.26 Behold what an incomparable what an irreparable losse is here It is such a losse there is none like it The gain of the whole world cannot ballance the losse of one soul If a temporal life be more worth then meat and the body then rayment what is an immortal eternal soul worth Couldst thou set thy soul to sale for all the world yet for all that thou wouldst be a loser nay as the rich man a beggar This is an irrecoverable losse If thou losest one eye thou hast another if thou losest one limb thou hast more if thou losest thine estate thou mayst recover it again if thou losest thy life thou mayst be a gainer by it thou mayst find it again Matth. 16.25 but if thou losest thy soul at death thou hast no more there is no second throw to be cast no after-game to be play'd thou art gone thou art undone for ever Here is a losse man that may make thy hair stand an end thy head yea thy heart to ake when thou readest or thinkest of it do not thine eares tingle and thy loines tremble to hear of it When God would smite the rich fool under the fifth rib as it were and strike him so home as that there need not a second thrust he doth it in these words Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee Luke 12.20 Ah! sad sentence wherein every word speaketh wo every syllable sorrow and sighs Had it been Thou wise man
if it were as good as the best so there is a great deal of counterfeit holinesse in the world a great deal of civility of morality of common grace which is taken or rather mistaken by men for true saving grace much fancy is taken for faith presumption for hope self-love for Saint love and worldly sighs for godly sorrow What can the Saint do but as to the outward appearance the sinner may do the same as the divel is Gods ape so is the self-deluding soul not seldom the Saints ape Doth the Saint abstain from grosse sins so doth he whose Religion consisted so much in Negatives Luke 18.11 Doth the Saint pray so do the Pharisees and make long prayers too Matth. 23.14 Do the Saints fast Nehem. 1.4 Dan. 9. So do they Matth. 6.16 9 14. and it may be twice in one week Luke 18.11 Do the Saints give alms Acts 10. so do they Matth. 6.1 2. Do the Saints confesse sin the sinner can do it in the very same words 1 Sam. 15.24 Doth Ephraim repent Jer. 31.18 so doth Judas Matth. 27.3 Doth Abram believe Rom. 4. so doth Simon Magus Act. 8.13 Doth Hezekiah humble himself 2 Chron. 32.26 so doth Ahab and walk softly into the bargain 1 Kings 22.15 Doth the man after Gods own heart fulfill all Gods will Act. 13.22 you shall hear that a Jehu shall do very much and that by a testimony from Gods own mouth 1 Kings 10.31 Thou hast done well in executing that which was right in mine eyes thou hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart What a great resemblance is there in all these outwardly but a vast difference inwardly The ungodly sometimes do attain to the outward actions but never to the inward sanctified affections of the godly As the painter may paint fire but he cannot paint heat that is beyond his skill Many titular Christians are like the Onyx-stone of which Naturalists write that it is clear and bright in the superficies but dark and muddy at the center men of civil conversation but not of sanctified affections Now all this calleth aloud to thee to try thy self whether thou goest beyond them that do all before-mentioned and yet come short of heaven Besides it is not seldome that a true Christian for want of a prudent trial judgeth himself unsound As the face of Moses so his heart shines with grace and he knoweth it not Christ is in him as he was with the two Disciples and he as they is ignorant of it Many Christians like Hagar weep and mourn that they must die for thirst when the water of life is by them yea within them There is that maketh himself rich full of peace and joy from assurance of Gods favour and his salvation yet hath nothing not one jot of grace or true ground of joy there is that maketh himself pooâ— perswadeth himself to be in a most wretched estate and yet hath great riches Pro. 13.7 is highly in Gods favour and hath great store of saving grace But most coÌ„monly the error is on the other side how doth every swaggering or at best civilized sinner presume that he is a Saint how often hath he blear-eyed Leah lying by him all night and he thinketh it is beautiful Rachel til the light of the morning discover the contrary how many have the Devil and the world lodging in their arms and embraces and think it is Christ the fairest of ten thousand till upon examination it be found otherwise Reader take heed this be not thy case that thou like Uriah carriest letters about thee importing thy own execution and yet thou not know of it it is ordinary for men to think they are spiritually rich and increased with good and to have need of nothing and not to know that they are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Revel 3.17 they cry like Agag Surely the bitternesse of death is past there is no fear of death of wrath of hell or damnation when they are liable every moment to be hewn in pieces before the Lord to be torn in pieces by the roaring lion O how many a precious vessel soul I mean hath been split upon this rock of presumption Doth it not therefore concern thee to be serious and faithful in searching thy heart lest thou shouldst as the most deceive thy self about a businesse of such unspeakable consequence Secondly consider the fewnesse of them that have Christ for their life or that live this spiritual life every one almost that liveth within the visible Church is ready to say that heaven is his inheritance and he shall escape the wrath to come when the Word of God and the works of men do clearly and fully speak the contrary The Devil hath his droves all the earth wandreth after the beast Rev. 17.8 The whole world lyeth in wickedness 1 John 5.19 The enemies of God cover the earth like grasshoppers for multitude Judg. 7.12 they fill the Countrey when the Israeliter are like two little flocks of Kids 1 Kings 20.27 The good and the true shepherd calleth his flock a little flock Luke 12.32 nay a little little flock 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being in the original two diminutives to shew ther fewnesse When four if not five Cities were destroyed one righteous Lot with his small family is delivered Gen. 19.15 When an whole world is drowned a few that is eight souls are saved 1 Pet. 3.20 Therefore the children of God are called a remnant Micah 7.18 two or three yards remaining of fourty or fifty and compared to the gleanings after the vintage Isa 17.6 one or two bunches may be left under some thick or outmost bough but what are they to the many baskets full that were gathered before The Saints are jewels now how few are there of such pearls in comparison of pebbles Mal. 3.17 and strangers Psal 119.19 how small is their number to natives which are the worlds own Joh. 15.19 The Church of Sardis hath a few names onely that have not defiled their garments Rev. 3.4 Some have divided the world into thirty parts and have affirmed nineteen of those to be without Christ in whose name alone is salvation and six of the remaining eleven to be â—apists which certainly are in no safe way to heaven and five parts of thirty only to be Protestants amongst whom they that read of their way of worship beyond the Seas will find many of these to be but mungrel-Protestants But to wave this and to come to England where it is generally by godly men believed that God hath as numerous an issue of new-born children as in any such quantity of ground in the world and Reader take the publick congregation thou dost joyn with in the solemn worship of the ever-blessed God upon his own day and suppose one should come and sweep out of it in the first place all notorious sinners drunkards swearers adulterers extortioners liars railers scoffers at
where there is no rest day or night The last time thou didst quench the motions of his Spirit and stifle the convictions of thy conscience he could have taught thee by experience what is the meaning of the worm that never dyeth and the fire that goeth not out and yet he spareth thee stretching out his hands all the day long to a rebellious child Isa 65.2 Should not his long patience quicken thee to speedy repentance Answer God whether he hath not waited enough been long-suffering enough already and if he have not continue in thy ungodly course and see who shall suffer longest at last he or thou It is one thing to forbear a debt another thing to forgive the debtor The longer God is in fetching his hand about the heavier his blow will be when he striketh The threatning is like a child the longer it is kept in the womb the bigger it groweth and it will put thee to the more pain when it cometh to the birth of its execution therefore bethink thy self before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaffe before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon thee Zeph. 2.2 Dost thou not see in the Scriptures many examples of Gods severity upon the abuse of his patience What became of Sodom and Gomorrah when God waited in the dayes of Lot Are they not suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jude v. 7. What became of the Jews upon whom Christ waited calling upon them and crying to them to return and reform is not wrath come upon them to the utmost 1 Thess 2.16 Are not these like the Maste of a ship sunk in the sands standing up to warn thee to avoid their course least thou split eternally Have not these the same inscription on them with Senacheribs tombe Look on me and learn to be godly Do not the Sodomites seem to say Look on us and learn to be godly Do not thy Atheistical neighbors in hell that thought they had had time enough before them and futured their repentance cry O look on us and learn to be godly and that with speed Friend take example by others least thou be made an example to others To day after so long a time thou wilt hear his voice harden not thy heart Heb. 4.7 My second question which I desire thee to answer is Hast thou not served the world and the flesh long enough already Is it not yet time to serve God hath not lust had too much of thy heart and the flesh of thy life already may not the time past of thy life suffice thee to have wrought the will of the flesh 1 Pet. 4. and 3. Canst thou have the face to say with the sluggard a little more slumber a little more sleep a little more drunkenness a little more swearing a little more wickedness is not the debt which thou owest to Divine Justice great enough Is not the heap of wrath and fury which thou hast provided for thy self against death and judgement big enough Dost thou think that thou maist serve the flesh too little and the Lord too much It may be thou hast served the devil twenty thirty fourty fifty sixty or seventy and knowest not whether thou shalt have so many hours to serve God in and is it not yet time to begin Answer me Hast thou not wallowed long enough in the mire of Atheism worldliness and sensuality wilt thou not yet be made clean Ah when shall it once be Jer. 13. ult 3. If one should offer thee an house and land or a bag of money wouldst thou not presently accept it wouldst thou say I am not yet at leisure hereafter will be time enough and is there not infinitely more reason why thou shouldst presently close with Christ and leave thy sins and seek the Kingdom of heaven Is not heaven more worth then earth are not the fruits of Christ better then silver and his revenews then choice gold Prov. 3.15 When gold is offered thee saith Ambrose thou dost not say I will come again to morrow and take it but art glad of present possession but salvation being profered to our souls few men haste to embrace it Is it not a sordid slighting of Jesus Christ the Lord of glory for thee to be more ready and hasty to take a little perishing wealth then his most precious blood Canst thou read the story of Pope Gregory the seventh how he made the Emperor Henry the fourth with his wife and child to stand bare feet and bare leg'd three days and three nights in a cold frosty season before he would admit them into the house and thy heart not rise against the Popes pride and wickedness And why doth it not rise against thy own obstinacy and vileness that hast suffered the King of Kings to stand knocking at the door of thy heart till his head hath been wet with the dew and his locks with the drops of the night and though he hath waited thus many years yet thou hast denyed him entrance and art not to this hour resolved to give him speedy acceptance 4. Dost thou not finde by experience that the longer thou delayest the farther thou wandrest from God and holiness and the more unfit thou art for and the more unwilling unto the work of conversion is it not time therefore to turn with speed when continuance in sin insensibly hardeneth thy heart and gradually indisposeth it more to the work of repentance as the ground so is thy heart the longer it lyeth fallow not ploughed up the harder it will be wilt thou go one step farther from God when thou must certainly come back every step and that by weeping cross all the way or be damned for ever The purchase of heaven is like buying the Sybils prophesies the longer thou holdest off the dearer A stain which hath been long in cloaths is not easily washed out an house that hath long run to ruin will require the more cost and labor for its reparation Diseases that have been long in the body are cured if at all yet with much difficulty The devil which had possessed the man from his infancy was hardly cast out and not without much renting and raging Mar. 9.21 26. Satan thinks his evidence as good as eleven points at law now he hath once got possession and the longer he continueth Commander in chief in the royal fort of thy heart the more he fortifieth it against God and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty All the while thou delayest God is more provoked the wicked one more encouraged thy heart more hardened thy debts more encreased thy soul more endangered and all the difficulties of conversion daily more and more multiplied upon thee having a day more to repent of and a day lesse to repent in 5. Canst thou promise thy self the next hour to repent in and darest thou defer it to another hour thou sayest thou wilt mind these things when thou art old but what if thou dyest while thou
yet he doth not see the wealth the infinite riches that lye buried in them So wicked men see the waters the afflictions the conflicts but not the wealth the comforts the inward joy of the children of God Thirdly as this spiritual life is the most honorable and comfortable so it is the most profitable life no calling bringeth in such advantage as Christianity godliness is profitable unto all things 1 Tim. 4.8 There is an universal gainfulness in real godliness Plutarch telleth us that the Babylonians make above three hundred several commodities of the Palme-tree but there are many thousand benefits which godliness bringeth no Merchant ever had his vessels returned so richly laden as he that tradeth heaven-ward Observe Reader after the Apostles affirmation his full confirmation of it Godliness saith he is profitable unto all things It hath the promise of this life and that to come i. e. It hath heaven and earth entailed on it and therefore it must needs be profitable It giveth the Christian much in possession the promise of this life but infinitely more in reversion the life that is to come The promises of God are exceeding great for their quantity and precious for their quality promises and they all belong to a godly man he is called an heir of the promises Heb. 6.17 Whensoever the tree of the Scripture is shaken whatsoever fruit of those precious promises falleth down it falleth into the lap of a godly man If at any time that box of costly ointment be broken and sendeth forth its fragrant sent and vertue it is to the refreshment only of the Saints Godliness is profitable to thy self If thou art wise thou art wise for thy self and if a scorner thou alone shalt bear it Prov. 9.12 The sinner is no bodies foe so much as his own the murdering peices of sin which he dischargeth against God miss their mark but do constantly recoyle and wound himself The Saint is no bodies friend so much as his own others fare the better for his great stock of grace but the propriety in all the comfort of all and the profit by all is his own It enables him to give away the more at his door but how rich a table doth he thereby keep for himself Godliness is profitable for thy children the just man walketh in his integrity and his children are blessed after him Prov. 20.7 personal piety is profitable to posterity yet not of merit but mercy Though grace come not by generation but donation and though God hath mercy on whom he will yet the seed of the Saints are visibly nearer the quickning influences of the spirit then the children of others When God saith he will be a â—od to the godly man and his children I believe he intendeth more in that promise for the comfort of godly parents then most of them think of Acts 2.36 Gen. 17.7 The children of believers are heirs apparent to the covenant of grace in their parents right Godliness is profitable in prosperity it giveth a spiritual right to temporal good things a gracious man holdeth his mercies in capite in Christ that is his tenure as Christ is a co-heir of all things he being married to him by this spiritual life is a co-heir with him he enjoyeth earthly things by an heavenly title and one peny enjoyed by special promise is far more worth than millions which ungodly men enjoy by a general providence as the beasts of the field do their provender It is godliness that causeth a sanctified improvement of mercies Grace alone like Christ turneth water into wine corporal mercies into spiritual advantages The more God oiles the wheels the more chearfully and swiftly he moveth in the way to heaven the more showers of heaven fall down upon him the more fruitful and abundant he is in the work of the Lord as we see in that gracious King Iehosophat 2 Chron. 17.5 6. The Lord established the Kingdom in his hand and all Iudah brought presents unto him and he had riches and honor in abundance and his heart was lift up in the wayes of God Mark the more Gods hand was enlarged in bounty the more his heart was enlarged in duty The more highly God thinks of David the more lowly he thought of himself 2 Sam. 7.18 Outward mercies to a believer are a ladder by which he mounteth up nearer to heaven Thus godliness like the Philosophers stone turneth iron and every thing into gold but the want of this spiritual life causeth a cursed hellish use of mercies ungodly men like the spider suck poison out of those flowers out of which the Bees the Saints suck honey Their mercies are like cordials to a foul stomach which do but increase the peccant humor He feedeth on such plenty that he surfeits himself because of their abundance Job 21.7 8 9 to 14. Therefore they say unto the Almighty Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes like the Israelites they make of the jewels which God giveth a golden Calf and worship that in stead of God Godliness is profitable in adversity it maketh a Christian like a Rabbit to thrive the better in frosty weather The child of God learneth the better for the rod Before he was afflicted he went astray but now he keepeth Gods word Psal 119.67 Well may grace be called the divine nature for it can bring not onely light out of light spiritual comfort and good out of outward good things but also light out of darkness good out of evil gain out of losses life out of death It will like Sampson fetch meat out of the eater like the Ostrich digest stones like Mithridates fetch nourishment out of poison When wicked men like Ahaz in their distress sin more against the Lord as fire the more it is kept in in an Oven the more it rageth so doth corruption but godly men far otherwise are by the fire of affliction the more refined and purified for their masters use Godliness is profitable to thee while thou livest In doubts it will direct thee as a light to thy feet and a lanthorn to thy paths In dangers it will protect thee by setting thee on high and giving thee for a place of defence the munition of rocks in wants it will supply thee by affording thee bread in the word when thou hast none on the boord and money in the promise 1 Tim. 4.8 which is by thousands the better when thou hast none in thy purse in thy pain it will ease thee in disgrace It will honor thee in sorrows it will comfort thee in sickness it will strengthen by causing thee to count the crosses of this life as nothing and unworthy to be compared to the pleasures and glory which shall revealed in all distresses it will support thee and make thee more then a conqueror over all through him that loveth us Rom. 8.37 Lastly godliness will be profitable to thee when thou diest death which is the terrible of terribles to
of Jesus Christ at death will quite dry up that issue of corruption Death will give thee a Writ of ease from all those weights and sins which do so easily beset thee Thou shalt be without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14.5 Will it not indeed be a brave world with thee in the other world when thou shalt have as much holiness as thy heart can wish or hold If God should grant thee such a request upon earth that thou shouldst have as much of his Image and of his Spirit as thou couldst desire wouldst thou not think thy self the happiest man alive I am confident thou wouldst and also that nothing lesse than perfect purity would be thy prayer Well death will help thee to this When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likenesse Psal 17. ult Now thou hast enough to stay thy stomack but then thou shalt have a full meal When the Israelites went out of Egypt towards Canaan there was not one feeble person among them When the Christian entereth into the true Canaan he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David nay as the Angel of the Lord before him When thy frame of nature shall be ruined thy frame of grace shall be perfected and raised to the height of glory 4. It is comfortable against thy dissolution To thee to die is gain death will be thy passage into eternal life Thou needst not fear death as a foe it will be one of thy best friends How did this hope of happinesse at death hold up the Martyrs heads above water and carry them through those boistrous waves of violent and cruel deaths with the greatest serenity and alacrity of spirit Xenophon Agesilaus King of Sparta used to say that they which live vertuously are not yet blessed persons but they had attained true felicity who died vertuously What is there in death that thou art so afraid of it Wilt thou fear a Bee without a sting Dost thou not know it had but one sting for Christ and Christians and that was left in Christ the head whereby now though it may buz and make a noise about their ears yet it can never sting or hurt the members The waters of Jordan though tempestuous before yet were calm and stood still when the Ark was to passe over If thou hadst been banished many years from thy dear Relations whom thou lovedst as thy own soul and from thy rich possessions and comforts which might have made thy life pleasant and delightful into a place of bondage a valley of tears a prison where thy feet were fettered with irons and thy face furrowed with weeping Mors non vitamrapit sed reformat Prudentius wouldst thou be afraid of a messenger that came to knock off thy shackles and fetch thee out of prison and carry thee to those friends and comforts And why art thou afraid of death which cometh to free thee from thy bondage to Satan sin and sorrow and to give thee present possession of the glorious liberty of the sons of God Art thou afraid to be rid of thy corruptions of Satans temptations of the worlds persecutions Art thou afraid to go to â—aints where are no sinners to Christ without his cross to the full immediate eternal fruition of the blessed God then why art thou afraid to dye and dost not rather desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ knowing that while thou art present in the body thou art absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 Calvin in loc Jâ—el was offended at one that in h s sickness prayed for his life Well the best of it is thou art more afraid then hurt It is well observed by a judicious expositor that the Periphrasis of death mentioned John 13.1 where it is called a departing out of the world and a going to the father doth belong to all the children of God it is to them but a going out of the world to their dear and loving father And questionless this was that which made the Saints so desirous of death Basil when the Emperors Lieutenant threatned to kill him said I would he would for then he would quickly send me to my father to whom I now live and to whom I desire to hasten Calvin in his painful sickness was never heard to complain but often lifting up his eyes to heaven to cry out How long Lord How long Lord Plutarch in vit It is reported of an heathen Epaminondas that when he was wounded with a dart at Mantinea in a battel against the Lacedaemonians and told by the Chirurgions that when the dart was drawn out of his body Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo c. he must needs dye he called for his Squire and asked him Whether he had not lost his shield Non est timendum quod nos liberat ab omni timendo Tertull. he told him no whereupon he bade them pull out the dart and so died Surely Christian thou hast more cause to dye with courage when thou hast not lost thy God nor thy soul nor any thing that was worth the keeping 5. It is comfortable against the death of thy friends and relations which dye in the Lord. To dye is gain if it be their gain why should it be thy grief nature will teach thee to mourn but grace must moderate that mourning We may water our plants but must not drown them We may sorrow but not as they which have no hope least we sin When Anaxagoras was told that both his sons were dead he boldly answered the messenger I knew that I begat mortal creatures The people were enraged and perplexed at the death of Romulus but were afterwards quieted and comforted with the news which Proculus brought That he saw him in glory riding up to heaven So when thou art sorrowing for the death of thy child or husband or father or mother or brother or sister that sleep in Jesus thou shouldst hearken to the news which faith brings that it saw them filled with joy mounting up to heaven and there enjoying rivers of pleasures and a weight of glory and surely if after such news thou shouldst continue weeping it should be for joy Friend this text containeth choice sweet meats for thee to feed on at the funeral of thy dearest godly friend Lugeatur mortuus sed ille quem gehenna suscipit quem Tartarus devorat Hier. I suppose if thy relation died out of Christ thou hast not a little cause of sorrow and probably that was the sharp edge of the sword which wounded the soul of David for the death of Absolom that he died in his sins his fear was that his son died not only in rebellion against the father of his flesh but also against the father of spirits But when thy relation dyeth in the Lord thou hast surely more cause to rejoyce that thou ever hadst such a friend or relation who shall to eternity be employed in the chearful