and be put in possession of it and that is immediately upon their death for so saith the Text Henceforth they are blessed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Apostle Paul reckons upon his being with Christ immediately upon his departure Phil. 1.23 Now Christ as he now is so he then was in Heaven in glory The coÌ„verted Thief is promised he should be received into Paradise as soon as he was dead Luke 23.43 This Paradise must be the heavenly one for of the earthly one we may say as they of Moses his Body no Man knowes where it is to this day Again in 2 Cor. 5.8 We may see that the Apostles expectation was to be present with the Lord as soon as he should be once absent from the body Stephens prayer Acts 7.59 Lord Jesus receive my Spirit was in vain or could have no comfortable return if the Soul doth not at death presently goe to blessedness He doth not pray nor expect that his body should be received to the Lord but his Soul or Spirit he knew his body should go to the grave and he knew also his Soul should go to God according to what Christ promised John 14.3 That where he is there his members should be also If the Children of God do not enter into glory presently at death they are most lamentably deceived and sadly frustrated in what they conceive strong hopes and go forth in full assurance of Doctor Preston used to say it is but wink and be with God the closing of the eyes by death would bring the Soul to the light of life When Basil that couragious Christian was threatned with death by the Tyrant he prayed to God the Tyrant might not change his intentions lest he should lose his expectation he expected to change misery for glory Taylor the constant Martyr coming within two fields of the place where he was to be burned Mr. Fox Act and Mon. comforted himself that he was within two stiles of his Fathers House which was in his meaning Heaven Another Martyr embracing the stake said This day shall I be maried to Iesus Christ One of the Antients reproved the immoderate mourning at the death of godly people thus Cypr. saying why should we put on black cloaths when our Friends put on white That is the Robes of glory calledin the Revelations the fine linnen of Saints I might heap up instances of this kind the constant expectation of them that dyed in faith is at death to enter into their Masters joy And though they do not say as I have read of a blasphemous Monk give me eternal life which thou owest me yet in hope of present possession of eternal life which God that cannot lie hath graciously promised they can say with Hilarian Go forth my Soul go forth why tremblest thou thou hast served Christ thus many years and dost thou now fear death I shall add further the earnest desires longings after death in some of the Children of God surely they promised themselves present blessednesse Saint Paul was not onely willing to die but did desire it yea vehemently See 2 Cor. 5.2 We groan earnestly Some Saints having their hopes raised up to the fruition of this glory have been almost impatient Come Lord Iesus come quickly and why are the Chariot wheeles so long a comming they even longed to be as we may say fingring of it so as never did a rich Heir long more to be in the possession of his Lands They have thought every day ten every year twenty saying in the words of the Psamist Make haste Lord make haste So then I may say and so conclude this poynt if the people of God do not immediately at death enjoy blessednesse they are the most miserably deluded people of any in the world Away therefore with that wretched doctrine of the Souls sleeping in death being altogether Anti-Scriptural Oh that it might for ever lie dormant and awake no more It tends much 1. To the imboldening of sinners in a way of sin See Matth. 24.48 The evil Servant that reckoned of his Masters delaying his comming thereupon grew very bold in more and more sin 2. To the sadning of the hearts of Gods people Prov. 13.12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick This shall suffice to be spoken to the third and last thing and also to the whole by way of Explication the Application follows In the Application of this poynt I shall speak to four uses 1. Of Information 2. Instruction 3. Consolation And 4. Exhortation 1. By way of Information according to the rule of contraries Oppositorum eadem est Scientia if they who are in Christ when they die are blessed then those who are not in Christ when they die are cursed upon different accounts Death hath a different complexion it is like the Red-sea which to the Israelites was a passage to Canaan Aliis vehiculum aliis Sepulchrum but to the Egyptians a place of drowning to their utter desturction To such as are in Christ the day of their death is better then the day of their birth being their encrance into everlasting joy but to others it will be the saddest day that ever came being the beginning of their sorrowes 'T is appointed for all to die in that respect all are alike but it is not appointed for all to die in the Lord in that respect there is a great difference of persons Some die in their sins John 8.24 Some are taken away in their iniquity Ezek 33.6 These are cursed when they die Psalm 9.7 The wicked shall be turned into Hell which place seemes to be commented upon and explained Psalm 11.6 Vpon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup. I might here inlarâ—e upon the state of the damned after death in the same Method as before of the state of the glorified Before the bright side of the Cloud now the dark side A little briefly When Saints die they are freed from all evil but when sinners die they lanch into a Sea of evils 1. They will find the absence of all good A godly Mans miseries terminate with this life so do a sinners comforts I have read of the old Arcadians that they would weep bitterly when the Sun did set fearing it would never rise more sure I am sinners dying have cause to bemoan themselves sadly for when the Sun of their life is once set it will be perpetual night of darkness and misery They may weep as those did at Pauls parting Acts 20. shall see the Face of comforts no more they have their portion in this life and when once they die they shall be alarmed with that memento Luke 16.15 Remember thou hast had thy good things implying they shall have them no more 2. There will be to them not onely no good but all evil as 1. The evil of sin there is sinning in Hell in Heaven there is none on
follow through divine Justice Having thus opened the words I might draw from them many useful observations but because the time will not allow the handling of them I shall not so much as name them there is one point only which I intend to speak to and it is that wherein the marrow and sweetness of the consolation lies I shall lay it down almost in the very words of the Text viz. Doct. They who dye in the Lord shall certainly be blessed when they dye The Point is so clearly held forth in the Text that I need not look out for other Scriptures to confirm it but I shall gain the time in sparing what may bespared That which I intend is first to speak to it by way of Explication and secondly by way of Application There be three things needful to be explained 1. Who may be said to die in the Lord 2. What the blessednesse is which they who die in the Lord shall have 3. The time when they shall have it I. For the explaining of the first who may be said to die in the Lord I shall take notice of two opinions about it and then lay down a third which I conceive holds forth the true meaning of this phrase to die in the Lord. First therefore some widen the Phrase too much as if it did comprehend and take in all those who having lived professors of the true God and true Religion die holding this profession These make every formal profession though abstracted from the power of godliness enough to carry a person to Heaven making the Gate wide which Christ saith Matthew 7. is narrow Let Men professe the true Religion that is be Christians not Jews Turks at least be Protestants not Papists let them be Orthodox in Judgement and not grosly sinful in life let them but keep their Church hear pray receive and walk in a round of duties these shall be saved when they die This is the opinion of some This hath proved a spreading leaven and it is no wonder to see the Assertors of such Doctrine draw many Disciples after them it is so pleasing and who almost would not trade for Heaven if it may be purchased at so easie a rate 'T is a Matchiavilian axiome that to seem religious is profitable but to be religious is troublesom Now if that be enough to make one religious which was laid down before I pray what great trouble is it hear a few Sermons mumble over a few prayers they may do this and yet live at ease in Syon 'T is usually said to the reproach of zealous professors that some make more a do than they need Master favour thy self be not righteous over-much lesse will serve thy turn But now if the Kingdom of God consist not in word but in power If many may strive to enter into Heaven and yet not be able 1 Cor. 4.20 Lu. 13.23 Mat. 11.12 If Heaven must be stormed and taken by violence then surely every formal slight serving of God will not serve the turn nor suffice to arrive to that blessednesse promised in the Text to such as die in the Lord. Carnal Gospellers may seem to live in the Lord Rev 3.1 Have a name to live and so they may seem and but seem to themselves and some others to die in the Lord but the hoped-for blessednesse where where will it be Secondly Some on the other extreme Apellabo Martyrem praedicabo satis narrow the sense of this Phrase too much limiting and restraining it to those onely who die Martyrs sealing the truth with their blood Martyrdom indeed is a piece of service tending greatly to the honour of God and hath alwayes been honourably remembred by the Saints and will be gloriously rewarded from the Lord These indeed are meant in the Text yea chiefly and eminently but not excluding others who die in the Lord though they die not Martyrs Many Expositors might be quoted who understand it of all the godly those who die in their beds as well as those who die at the stake Peter was crucified and dying in the Lord was blessed Beatus est Petrus dum crucifigitur sed non minùs est beatus Johannes dum in lecto moricur uterque enim c. Aret. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vbi geminum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 auget vocem John dyed in his bed but yet dying in the Lord was blessed We read Psalm 116.15 That the death of the Saints is precious in the sight of the Lord not this or that death for kind but in general whatsoever death they die and the Original is emphatical intimating that the Prophet doth not assign it and limit it to any one kind of death but to whatsoever kind of death And thus some Translations render it And though Beza doth translate it as if it pertained onely to Martyrs yet the phrase doth not necessarily import so much as Doct. Fulke sheweth in his confutation of the Rhemish Translation were it meant only of Martyrs the verse would rather run thus Blessed are the dead which are killed or slain for the Lord or for the Lords cause Now many die in the Lord who do not thus die for the Lord as possibly some may seem to die for the Lord who do not yet so much as die in the Lord. The Apostle in 1 Cor. 13. Speaks of some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who give their body to be burned and yet have not charity viz. any work of saving grace by a Synecdoche The first Martyrs were Innocents and such should all Martyrs be but that all be not so the Apostle himself intimates and if this be the meaning of dying in the Lord then they are all blessed which the Apostle will not affirm but rather deny But to conclude this we may say in some sense all that dye in the Lord die for the Lord viz. as the Psalmist For thy sake are we killed all the day long that is we are lyable to troubles and persecutions more or less all Saints meet with them even they who have the peaceablest lives and most quiet deaths But this is not the restrained sense before which relates only to such as shall be violently killed and murthered in the cause of Christ therefore Thirdly If we would know who they be which are said to die in the Lord we must mark the phrase and manner of expression which is very frequent and obvious in Scripture viz. Some persons are said to be in the Lord in Christ when others are said again not to be in Christ now such as are thus in Christ shall be blessed when they die The Scripture I say speaks often that some are in Christ who is the Christians Lord according to those expressions the Lords day the Lords table See Rom. 16.7 They were in Christ before me and Verse 11. Them of the Houshold of Narcissus which are in the Lord or in the Lord Christ Thus 1 Thes 1.1 Paul writes to the Church
Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven at Gods table Here in this life a Beleever hath sweet refreshments in his or her Souls peace which causeth joy that passeth Vnderstanding joy which others know not of A stranger intermedleth not with his joy but this is far short of what they shall have when they shall come to see God as he is The best Wine is kept till last The joy which Beleevers have in this life arising from their inward peace is said to be full 1 John 1.4 Mr. Saunders the Martyr seemed so full as if he had some to spare some to bequeath to his Wife and therefore in his Letter from Prison to her he legacies this to her who had no mony nor worldly goods to give her His words are thus set down in the Book of Martyrs I am merry and I trust I shall be merry maugre the teeth of Men and Devils Riches I have none to endow you with but the sweet feeling of the love of God in Christ whereof I thank my God I have a part that I bequeath to you Was not his joy full Mr. Bolton lying on his sick bed said to his Friends standing about him that he was as full of comfort as his heart could hold And truly their joy is full in comparison of the worlds empty joyes which are but from the teeth outward but in respect of Heavens joy it is but inchoative and comes far short of it What is the Morning light to Psal 36.8 Cant. 5.4 Noon-day what is a taste to a full draught to drink of the river of pleasures What is it to look in at the Key-hole to the being let in to the Chamber of the Bridegrom The manner of expression Mat. 25.21 23. Is observable where the good and faithful Servant is bid to enter into his Masters joy There is not onely shewed that it shall be a place of joy but there is hinted the greatnesse of that joy such as cannot enter into him but therefore he shall enter into it It cannot enter into a Beleever by Comprehension but he shall enter into it by fruition yea there is shewed in what measure the Beleever shall partake of it he shall enter into it not hear of it or only see it but go into it and walk it in the length and breadth thereof And further if this joy exceed the sweet spiritual joy of Beleevers no doubt but it far surpasseth the joy of wicked Men and wordlings Indeed their joy is often great and full in its kind they drink Wine in Bowles they lie upon beds of Ivory they chaunt to the sound of the Viol. Amos 6.4 5 6. I have heard of one who resolved to spend 500 l. to please his 5. senses and I have read of another who provided ponds of sweet waters to drown himself in after he had spent what time of life he might in surfeting wallowing in sensual pleasures Now can we think these joys may be compared with the joy blisse and happinesse of Heaven they are not worthy to be named the same day with the spiritual joy of Beleevers before spoken which yet as hath been shewed comes far short of what shall be in glory Worldly joyes are vain empty frothy those we speak of are full and substantial They are seeming painted joyes they do not reach the heart nor quiet the heart at least give but a light touch a kind salute and pass away but those whereof we speak are lasting and abiding they refresh both inward and outward Man the heart and the flesh Psalm 84.2 I shall here lay down one convincing Argument to prove that the joy which glorified Saints shall have must needs go beyond all other pleasures and joyes whatsoever take it thus The higher and greater the mercy is the greater must needs the joy be These keep pace and as one riseth so the other riseth also the more weight is hung on the faster the wheeles move See Psalm 126.2 Our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing Now what might cause this great joy Verse 3. The Lord hath done great things for us great Mercies are Ecchoed again with great joyes Now what greater Mercy can a poor Creature be capable of than to sit in heavenly places If this be the greatest Mercy as sure it is in it self and in the account of gracious Souls Psa 73.24 witnesse their waiting and even longing till afterward come when they shall be received to glory then it must needs provoke the greatest joy like that spoken of Isa 35.10 Which some expound of Heaven they shall come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads the head being put for the whole Man as Prov. 10.6 And many other places the meaning is they shall be all over covered with joy from top to toe That which is poured on the Head will run down and thus the joy of Heaven shall be Luc. 6.38 good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over I shall close up this second part with one consideratiō more whereby besides what hath been already said it may appear that the life in Heaven and glory shall be happy in exceeding great joy and it is this The work of Beleevers in glory shall be in continual praising God singing songs to the praise of free grace whereby they are brought to Heaven whiles others otherwise alike hewed out of the same Rock digged out of the same pit are yet turned into Hell Now singing is the expression of mirth and joy as by the bush hung out we know there is Wine within singing comes not from an heavy heart Prov. 25.20 Some say it shall be the onely work with which the People of God in Heaven shall be wholly taken up the Jewes say that the sacrifice of praise or thank-offerings exceeds all other sacrifices in two things 1. In the universality being performed by Men and Angels 2. In the perpetuity when all other sacrifices shall cease this shall remain this shall out-live all legal sacrifices and be the proper work of the blessed when praying shall cease and hearing cease Yet praising and singing Hallelujahs shall continue I may apply hither Ps 84.4 Blessed are they that dwell in this house they shall be still praising God still or evermore We have heard what flocking there hath been sometimes to the University to be present at a Musick act Now in Heaven there shall be continual Musick singing and making melody continual praising Some think the very forms of words wherewith glorified Saints shall praise God are set down in Rev. 5.13 Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever And Rev. 11.17 We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come I have read that holy Chrysostom's last words were Glory be to God from all creatures they are as it were the breathings of
a Soul in Heaven before it was quite gon from the earth The summe of all is this that Believers shall have perfect bliss and happiness They shall live in Heaven where shall be pleasures mirth singing and rejoycing above what we are able to express or to conceive This shall suffice for the first branch of the second part by way of Explication They who dye in the Lord are blessed Blessedness must be full that is there must be no evil and there must be all good the perfection of grace and holiness with the fulness of bliss and happiness But now 2. As it must be full so it must be lasting and enduring and so indeed the bessednesse of Saints shall be not onely for a long time but for ever It shall be Eternal such as is the Eternity of our Souls which had a beginning but shall have no ending called Eviternity to distinguish from the Eternity of God A parte post non a parte ante who alone is the first and last without beginning without ending This bliss hath a beginning henceforth saith the Text but shall have no ending it is Eternal Eternity at the very naming of it is enough to amaze our thoughts in studying to know what it is It is the continuance of any good thing which makes it a full good Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years said the rich Man in the gospel He glories not so much in the abundance of his goods as in the hope of their continuance How do Men rejoyce in the purchase of an estate because they have that not by lease for term of years but the Deeds run to them and their Heirs for ever Though indeed it is not for ever but far short of that For besides what may happen in the interim at the great day all the Evidences shall be undoubtedly burnt and it is more than probable from divers Scriptures the Land also Heb. 1.11 Isa 51.6 Matth. 24.35 2 Peter 36.10 12. Rev. 21.1 To be sure the propriety in these pronouns Mine and Thine shall cease Yet the hope Men have of its continuance for some long time doth much content them David took it as a great favour that God would bestow a Kingdom upon him to raise him from following the sheep to be King over Israel 2 Sam. 7.18 Yet Verse 19. He saith This was but a small thing that which made the mercy great was that God had spoken of continuing it for a great while to come he adds and is this the manner of Man O Lord God he seems to be much transported in admiring the continuance of his Mercy though it were not so much to him in person but to his posterity Let a thing in it self be never so excellent yet the fear of losing it darkens all the excellency of it Earthly treasures are therefore less to be accounted of because Thieves may break thorough and steal them What true content could the rich Man take in his abundance when once he heard This night all should be gone Corneliam nescie an faeliciorem talem virū habuisse an miseriorem amisisse Et invito processit vesper Olympo 'T is spoken to the humbling of the great ones upon earth that though they live like Gods yet should die like Men Though the good thing be great yet if not lasting t is not ful yea the greatness of it greatens the misery upon the losing When a Scholar hath been reading a good Book it troubles him to see Finis When the people of God have been keeping a day of Prayer in Communion with God it saddens them much that they should break off because the day is done But now the blessedness of Saints is not onely a great good as hath been shewed but a lasting good it shall have no end 1 Thess 4.17 They shall be for ever with the Lord Rev. 3.12 He that goeth in shall go out no more some interpret it of a Beleever in this life Notat gloriae stabilitatem Pisc in loc Isa 33.20 to prove no falling from grace some again interpret it of the state of glory The life of glory is such a life to which immortality is essential 2 Tim. 1.10 We read of life and immortality that is to say immortal life Heaven is a Tabernacle that shall not be taken down not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken The blessednesse of Beleevers shall be eternal but what is Eternity I shall shew you how a learned and holy Divine illustrates it to the meanest capicity Suppose saith he the whole World were a Sea Mr. Perkins on the Creed and that every thousand years expired a bird must carry away or drink up one onely drop of it in processe of time it will come to passe that this Sea though very huge shall be dryed up but yet many thousand millions of years must be passed before this can be done Now if a Man should enjoy happinesse in Heaven onely for the space of time in which this Sea is drying up he would think his case most happy and blessed but behold the Elect shall enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven not onely for that time but when it is ended they shall enjoy it as long again and when all is done they shall be as far from ending of this their joy as they were at the beginning And now by what hath been said we may in some measure understand what is that blessedness which the Saints and Children of God shall have it is great and full it is also lasting yea everlasting which cannot be said of any thing here below The best of the worlds excellencies are fading and quickly blasted No day so pleasant but ends in a darknight No Summer so fruitful but ends in a barren Winter No Body so fair but will be changed by death from Beauty to Deformity In the dayes of Noah they were eating and drinking but the flood comes and sweeps them all away Great mirth was among the Philistins but their banquetting-house becomes their burying-place The Monarch of Babel whose head was of Gold had the feet of clay Sic transit gloria mundi All the pomp of the world is like Jonahs gourd now flourishing and anon fading there is that worm in the root of all worldly comforts as will blast them But the mercies and joyes and comforts of Heaven are not such they are eternity mercies eternity joyes eternity comforts take away the lastingness or rather everlastingness and we blow up Saints happinesse Thus much for the explication of the second thing viz. What that blessedness is which they who dye in Lord shall have Now a word of the third thing and so I will come to the Application Therefore 3. Having shewed who they be who dye in Lord and what the bessedness is that they shall have it remains to shew in the third place when they shall be made partakers
Paul thence presseth they should be contented to suffer because they should be glorified Ridlie the Martyr cheered up his fellow saying Rom. 8.17 though we have a bitter break-fast yet we shall have a sweet Supper meaning in glory From these passages I may infer to your comfort who are Christians indeed that be your present burthens never so heavy yet glory yea I may say one half hour in glorie will make amends for all Some persecutors have been very witty to invent most exquisite torments yet the hope of blessedness hath made them to be as nothing The Martyrs in their undaunted courage made no more of them then Sampson of the Philistins wit hs or like the Leviathan in Job Iron is but as straw and Brass as rotten wood Job 41.27 All their troubles and sufferings are but light they are heavy in themselves but the weight of glory makes afflictions light See 2 Cor. 4.17 18. Oh Christians do but make experiment when you are apt to droop and find your Spirit is overwhelmed run to this as to your Aqua Vitae bottle take but a sip of it and it will refresh you you shall be blessed Write blessed are c. Yea saith the Spirit Oh then lift up the Hands which hang down and the feeble Knees There is no Cup so bitter but this will sweeten it no Fire so hot but this will slack and quench it I say again do but make experiment God hath provided many supports for his drooping people but I may say as David of Goliahs sword None like to this no support like the remembrance of glory One leaf of the tree of life is better then clusters of worldly comforts Be thy burthen what it will how heavy soever yet the calling to mind future blessedness will make it light and easie Gen. 21.19 But alass Saints droop and with Hagar are ready to faint when there is a Well of water by them but they see it not at least have not skill to draw The Lord open your eyes as he did hers But you will say when shall we have this blessednesse and glory I Answer at Death you shall have it not now but afterwards See John 13.36 Christ said to Peter whither I go thou canst not follow me now but thou shalt follow me afterwards Christ went to Heaven thither Peter should come at length when he dyed Death is in a sort a cause of this happinesse that is without which it will not be And indeed see how graciously God hath ordered it Death came as a curse Mal. 2.22 but it is turned into a blessing God threatneth to the wicked to curse their blessings and promiseth to the godly to bless their curses Death with one hand holds forth a Sword even over Believers to slay their Body it smites one and other hip and thigh But observe its other hand with that death opens a door of glory Who would think that Death should do this 'T is as in Sampsons riddle Edulium ex edente out of the eater came meat it is a riddle indeed but a very truth And whereas Death is dismal and dreadful the King of fears it becomes now an Anchor of hope the valley of Berachah or blessing So that the Saints can welcome it and say as David of Ahimaas He is a good Man 2 Sam. 18.27 and bringeth good tidings They can wait for it Job 14.14 He was an expectant all his dayes yea wish for it thus Paul I desire to be dissolved Phil. 1.23 They can stand as Abraham in the door of the Tabernacle to speak to the Angel or with Elijah in the mouth of the cave to meet the Lord coming to them by death Now how comes this to pass even because they know they must be as it were beholding to Death to do them this favour and kindness to bring them to their blessedness This sure affords strong Consolation to the Children of God I shall carry on this use of Consolation a little further to the particular case of any who may be excercised in the loss of godly Friends they die in the Lord and therefore are blessed But you will say this was matter of comfort concerning those who dyed under that persecution to which this relates But mark the voice from Heaven said Write intimating it is of use in all ages for what is written is for the Churches Learning and comfort to the end of the World Blessed are the dead that die now in the Lord. The Apostle in 1 Thess 3.4 Holds forth this blessedness which Saints shall have after this life is done makes it a main argument of comfort to those that survive having lost their godly friends verse 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words and chiefly with the words immediately preceding that they are dead in Christ and so shall ever be with the Lord. This is comfort indeed and it is but sorry comfort where this hope is not fixed sure this foundation and no other will bear up the building of comfort Heathens indeed who knew nothing of the blessedness of such as die in Christ had their consolatory addresses to their afflicted Friends They would tell them Death was that which none could avoid therefore in vain it was to grieve Mors ultima linea rerum They told them it was the common lot of all things Not onely Men but famous Cities flourishing Kingdoms had their periods Anaxagoras comforted himself at the death of his Children saying he begat them but mortal ones Heri vidi fragilem ftangi hodiè mortalem mori Epictetus seeing a Woman weeping for her pitcher which she had broken and next day for her Son being dead stayed her mourning telling her it was all one her Son was but as an earthen pitcher Little better are those comforts wherewith carnal Christians labour to relieve themselves and their Friends in these cases as thus Death is the way of all the earth the house appointed for all living Josh 23.14 Job 30.23 Psalm 119.109 Jam. 4.14 Isa 40.6 we carry our lives in our hand Our life is as a vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away All flesh is grass and the goodlinesse thereof as the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower fadeth These are Scripture-truths indeed and not taken out of Heathen Philosophers or Poets They are such as rightly used and applyed may be comfortable to relieve under the losse of Friends and dear relations But their intendment is not so much for Consolation as for Instruction to us that hearing of the frailty of this life we may prepare for eternity Nor indeed in themselves absolutely can they afford any solid comfort because they speak onely to the condition and state of the Body But when the state of the Soul after Death comes to be weighed 2 Cor. 5.10 Rev. 20.12 John 3.3 Rev. 20 10 Psal 9.17 as that all must appear before the
judgement seat of Christ and that the Books shall be opened and great and small must stand before God when it shall be considered that unless a Man be born again he shall never see the Kingdom of God when hear of the lake that burns with fire and brimstone and that the wicked shall be turned into Hell I say again when these things come to be weighed the other passages barely considered will be but as a spiders web wherein is no strength how finely soever it may seem to be woven But now when we have good grounds to believe concerning our dead Friends that they loved feared and served God in their life time that they were godly in Christ Jesus or in the words of the Text that they were in the Lord Jesus when they dyed when we can comfort one another with these words This will afford strong consolation for of such the word of truth saith they are blessed They are freed from sin made perfect in holiness they are entred into their Masters joy they would not live again on earth they are ten thousand thousand times better This is comfort indeed this is an Handkerchief to wipe away all tears from our eyes yea to make us go away and be no more sad This is the use of Consolation Oh that Christians would lay it up as a choice treasure for so indeed it is Some may need it for the present let them make use of it Others may soon need it therefore lay it up against a time of need 'T is ordinary with us when we find any thing though for the present we know not what use to put it to yet we will lay it up saying we may need it before seven years come about So I say of this you will ere long one and another have need of this cordial therefore keep it by you carefully you may need it before seven years come about perhaps before seven dayes yea seven hours come about God may call you your selves to die and what will be your comfort in a sick bed but to know you are in Christ and so shall be blessed if you die He may spare you and take away your Friends Relations wherein can you comfort your selves under such providences but onely in this they were in Christ and therefore are blessed 4. The fourth and last use shall be for Exhortation It directs it self both to Saints and Sinners But a word to the first because there is great need of speaking a little more largely to the other Therefore 1. Let all the Children of God and Members of Christ study their own bliss acquaint thēselves before hand with the glory that shall be revealed afterwards Sursum corda Set your affections on things above Let your conversation be in Heaven Labour in your meditations to be rapt up into the third Heaven Be often as it were drawing the Latch of Heaven door and look in yea walk thorough that holy Land in the length and breadth of it Holy Heavenly Meditations will enable you to do all this Let your hearts take possession of Heaven whiles your bodies are upon earth and this will work a disdain of things below Non satis futura gaudia nostri nisi renuat conconsolari anima tua donec veniant as also a longing after the things above which ought to be in every Child of God surely the more we study this blessedness the more will the desire after it be kindled in our breasts But I shall speak no more to this part of the use because all a long and especially in the foregoing use I have spoken to this matter in particular Therefore 2. This use directs it self to such as are yet sinners out of Christ My Exhortation to you is this that you would speedily get into Christ That you would labour to be such as that when you come to die you may be blessed Die you must Zerxes that great Commandre standing in the head of a vast Army wept to think that within one hundred years they would be all dead even those valorous Men who might seem to outbrave and defie death The impossibility to avoid death is a certain truth at all times but yet chiefly to be considered by us in these dying times times of much mortality God putting us in fear that we may know our selves to be but Men Psal 9.20 We are apt to put far away the evil day Amos 6.3 Isa 28.15 and to make Covenants with death but when we study seriously the decree of God passing upon all like the Laws of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered when we consider our own weakness and frailty our mould and metal we cannot but know we must die If our inside were turned outward it would be seen that for fear of death we are all our life time subject to bondage This lyes near our breast Heb. 2.15 and makes the heart even die within us while yet we live Oh poor Sinners die you must and no doubt but you would be glad to be blessed when you die Balaam would fain be happy in death Let me die the death of the righteous Numb 23.10 His wish implies that none shall be blessed in death but the righteous Sic mihi contingat vivere sicque mori 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now would you be happy in death be holy in life live in the Lord and you shall die in the Lord If you be gracious here you shall be glorious hereafter To whom to live is Christ to them to die will be gain But to them who live without Christ and without holiness Death will be Death and Hell into the bargain 'T is a frequent and true saying that holiness is the way to happiness not the causal and meritorious way which onely is Christ but yet a way and therefore the Apostle saith Ep. 2.10 That God hath ordained that we should walk in it that wherein we are to walk certainly is a way and if any baulk holiness the way they will never find happiness the end 'T is said of the Emperour Bassianus that coming to the Empire and being to chuse a Title he was wished by one to take the name of Pius which signifies Godly but he refusing that chose rather to be called Faelix which signifies happy which occasioned his Friend to make this witty reply and doth the Emperour think to be happy without being holy 'T is much disputed where the place of happiness is and divers opinions are about it but it is agreed on all hands about which is the way that leads to it The way is but one in this sense the way of Holiness which is not onely but one way but also a straight and narrow way opposed to all loose and sinful walkings Heaven is a place which receives not the proud but the humble not the covetous but the liberal not the unclean but the chaste not the drunken but the sober not the envious and malicious but
such as are of a meek Col. 1.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui idoneos nos fecit Trem. Beza gentle and loving Spirit 'T is the inheritance of Saints for which persons must be made meet or fitted The Spirit of God finds persons sinful but it new moulds them and changeth them into holy ones before it brings them to Heaven 'T is said of one of the Roman Emperours when he came to the Empire he found the City built of Brick but before he dyed their buildings were of Marble I may apply it to the change which the Holy Ghost makes in the Soul Invenit lateritiam reliquit marmoream Suet. in vit August he makes a sinful Soul holy which is more then to pull down buildings of Brick and to erect buildings of marble The result of all is this that Holines is the way to blessedness they who would take Christ for a Saviour must take him for a Sampler they who would have the benefit of his death must take the example of his life The Exhortation therefore is labour to be holy as ever you desire to be happy Be divorced from your lusts cast away your idols subdue the strength of sin bid no welcome to the Friends of sin watch against the wiles and fetches of sin make you a clean heart get a regenerate heart the image of God renewed upon your Souls Qui vult finem vult media ad finem cease not till you be partaker of the Divine Nature In a word be godly in Christ Jesus you must use the means in order to the desired end Must go to the School of Grace before you can come to the Vniversity of Glory I shall now lay down 4. things by way of caution and then a few closing Counsels and so I will have done For the cautions 1. Do not think that all shall be blessed for onely they shall be blessed who are in the Lord when they die To be in Christ and to be godly is all one Now the Scripture saith not onely that all are not godly but that the number of godly ones compared with the ungodly is but small absolutely considered they are many Matthew 8.11 Many shall come and sit down with Abraham c. Revel 7.4 An hundred and forty and four thousand were sealed But comparatively they are but few Matth. 7.14 Narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock or as the Original will bear little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 little flock 2. Do not think that Christ and grace and a right to blessedness may be had when thou wilt to be at thy beck come and it comes There is this presumptuous conceipt in many which makes them not so much as look after getting into Christ till they come to die when they have extreme need of being in Christ and not to have Christ then to get Luke 19.42 Let Sinners hear and fear that word and wish of Christ Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that concern thy peace yea but they might say we will know them t is yet all in good time He answers they had lost their day and season and now they were hidden from their eys Will not some bemoan themselves when it is too late in the words of the Prophet Jer. 8.20 The Summer is past the Harvest is ended and we art not saved The time of grace ends with the time of life to all Manna must be gathered on the six dayes of thy life there is no gathering on the seventh resembling thy rest in death there is no devise nor knowledge in the grave But yet the day of grace may end with some before they come to the end of the days of their life And though we know not the expiration of it nor can say of any particular person nor any particular person say of himself that the day of grace is past unless it were known that he had sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost Yet Scripture expressions hold forth the truth of the thing that it is so And therefore let all presumptuous delayers look well about them and O Sinner to day on this thy day hear the voice of Christ believe and repent How knowest thou but this may be the day this the Sermon which if thou rejectest Mercy and Peace may be for ever hidden from thine eyes Blessedness is not to be had when thou wilt 3. Do not think though thou livest in sin and goest on in thy wickednesse yet thou mayest come to Heaven at last for all that Consider and seriously weigh but these Scriptures Deut. 29.19 Gal. 6.7 1 Cor. 6.9 And if this have been thy thought thy inward thought for none will say so whatever they think they may well make thee be of another mind 4. And lastly by way of caution think not that every remiss way of serving of God will serve the turn to bring thee to blessedness Lukewarmness is the sin of our age and the bane of our Souls Many Christians by profession are in their spiritual condition 1 King 2.1 like David in his old age as to his bodily condition so cold that though they covered him with cloathes yet he gat no heat All the Ordinances under which they lie will not warm them into any Zeal but they continue either very cold and frozen or at most but lukewarm Like the Climat wherein they live which is neither extreme cold nor violently hot but temperate they have a profession but no power they keep in a round of duties without being quickned in any love to God or zeal for God but alass this will not bring to Blessedness as was shewed before in the opening of the Text. These are the cautions Now to draw to a Conclusion I have from the Scripture before us held forth the bliss and happiness of Saints and thereby an offer hath been made of the same blessedness unto Sinners It offers it self to you Oh that you would offer your selves to it In this Sermon you may say Salvation came to your House it came to your Doors Heaven goes a begging that it may be accepted But it fares in this case as we commonly observe in other cases proffer'd things find little acceptance because proffered And indeed if we consider the multitude of Sermons that are preached and how in every Sermon Christ and Heaven and Blessedness are offered yet by very few accepted We must needs think and judge the frequent tenders do through the corruption of our hearts occasion the horrible sleighting of them Silver in the days of Solomon being common was of no account The Lord grant this sin bring not upon us the scarcity of the Word that it should be with us as in the dayes of Samuel 1 Sam. 3.1 The Word of the Lord was precious in those dayes there was no open vision The time may come when we would give a world