all these pleas and fall speedily upon soul work Secondly Consider the danger of delayes delayes in this case are exceeding dangerous one dayes yea for any thing I know one hours delay herein may prove thine eternal undoing it may prove the loss of Christ the loss of heaven the loss of thy soul and all for ever Alas Art thou sure thou shalt live one day one hour more in this world for ought thou knowest the next mornent thou goest down into the grave Job 21.13 But in case thou shouldest live longer in the world art thou sure the Gospel and the means of Grace shall be continued to thee if thou shouldest not be taken from the world yet the Gospel may be taken from thee though the day of thy life may last a while longer yet the day of Gospel Grace and mercy may suddenly expire and if that be once gone all the tenders of Christ all the offers of Grace all the exhibitions of Life and salvation are gone if the Gospel be once gone thy season is gone and thy Soul is gone and thy Salvation is gone and that for ever therefore saith the Apostle Now is the accepted time speaking of the day of Gospel-mercy now is the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 Or grant thou shouldest live and the Gospel should be continued to thee as the outward means yet art thou sure that the day and season of grace will last any longer than this present moment remember that sad word which our Lord breathed out with tears in his eyes over neglecting Jerusalem Luk. 19.42 O that thou hadst known at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Alas how soon may God withdraw his Spirit from thee how soon may he call home his grieved Spirit from thy neglecting resisting soul once for all saying my Spirit shall strive no more with that man Gen. 6.3 how soon may God seal thee up under judicial blindness and hardness of heart so that thou shalt never be able to believe or to do any thing for the good of thy soul in order to the other world thou talkest of to morrow and of hereafter but who knows but that before to morrow God may clap the seal of an hard heart and a blind mind upon thee so as that though thou shouldest live a thousand years and withal enjoy the fairest means that ever any soul enjoyed yet thou shouldest be never able to believe to repent to do any thing for the working out of thy Salvation it is often times his way of proceeding with neglecting delaying ones Isa 6.10 Joh. 12.39 40. Or how soon may the Oath of God go forth against thee thou talkest of to morrow but alas who knows but that before to morrow God may swear in his wrath thou shalt not enter into his rest it is what is threatned against such as will not hear his voice to day but harden their hearts against him Heb. 3.7 8 9 10 11. There is a time when God's Oath goeth forth against such and such sinners for their contempt and neglect of Christ and Grace a time not only when God saith but sweareth and that in wrath that they shall never enter into his rest and if once Gods oath is gone out against a man that man is past recovery then farewell Christ and Heaven and Soul and all for ever O how dangerous are delays therefore take heed of them and fall presently upon soul work Thirdly consider the disadvantage of delayes delayes herein are disadvantagious as well as dangerous indeed were there no danger in them I mean as to the eternal state yet the disadvantage of them is so great as if rightly considered might be enough to antidote the soul against them and engage it presently in the work which relates to another world Pray consider it a little by delayes the soul loseth much sweet communion with Christ and many a blessed communication of love from him which he might enjoy the sooner we fall upon the work of heaven and eternity the sooner we come to a taste and beginning of heaven and a blessed eternity in our souls O the sweet embraces braces the blessed discoveries the glorious incomes of love and delight that the soul loses by his delayes to get into Christ and to walk with God and to mind eternal concernments Poor soul by thy delayes thou hast lived upon husks and swill all thy dayes hitherto whereas thou mightest have eaten bread in thy Fathers house and drunk wine new in thy Fathers kingdom thou hast lived on the muddy dungy drossie delights of fin and the creature whereas thou mightest have solaced and delighted thy soul with those chrystal streams of undefiled pleasures which are at Christs and the Fathers right hand Besides by delayes the work of thy soul grows more difficult hereby corruption grows more strong and the heart grows more hard by every dayes delay the old enmity strengthens it self and the soul is more and more setled upon its lees for accustomedness in sinning hardens the heart in sin as is hinted Jer. 13.23 every day the soul is more alienated from Christ and hardened against him at best if thy soul doth at last come to see thy need of Christ and desireth to close with him and to mind the work and concerns of another world yet the longer thou delayest this business the greater temptations thou wilt have to get over for though now thy heart faith it is too soon yet after a few dayes delay it will say it is too late it will be apt to conclude that now thy day is over and now Christ will have nothing to do with thee Oh why shouldst thou be such an Enemy to thy own soul as to run it upon these disadvantages rather avoid them by falling presently upon Soul-work Fourthly Confider the sinfulness of delays and the horrible guilt they bring upon the soul as delays are dangerous and disadvantagious so they are sinful too exceeding sinful and provoking to the God of Heaven the truth is were there no danger in them no disadvantage by them to the soul yet the sinfulness of them is such as should make us afraid of them In every days delay to mind and pursue Soul-work there is positive rebellion and disobedience to the Will and Command of God for the Command is To day if ye will-hear his voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3.7 8. by delaying therefore thou rebellest against the Command in every day's delay to mind and pursue soul-work there is horrible unkindness and ingratitude to God and Christ which surely is a black sin and brings great guilt upon the soul God spares you time after time when he might cut you off the next moment and this he doth that you may pursue the work of your Souls and Eternity and oh what unkindness what ingratitude must it be in us to neglect and put off this work in every delay to mind and
Serenissima Anna D G Ang SccE Fran et Hiber Reg Fidei Defencor Printed Sold by N. Boddington at the Golden Ball in Duck Lane The Great Concern OR A SERIOUS WARNING to a Timely and Thorough PREPARATION FOR DEATH With Helps and Directions in order thereunto By EDWARD PEARSE Being the last that ever he preached John 9.4 I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work The Third Edition recommended as proper for Funerals LONDON Printed for J. Robinson at the Golden Lyon in St. Paul's Church-yard and B. Aylmer at the three Pigeons in Cornhil 1674. TO THE READER Reader IF thou art one who indeed livest in the belief of a future Life an Eternity of happiness or misery when time and days shall be more I am confident the ensuing Discourse will be grateful and welcom to thee I make no Apology for its plainness nor am I at all solicitous touching the censures I may fall under for publishing of it If thou wilt read it with an upright heart I question not but through a blessing from above it may do thy Soul good sure I am thou wilt find the Argument most weighty and the Concern thereof most important and woe be to that soul which misseth the design it tends to and aims at When men come to die and do find themselves launching forth into the vast Ocean of Eternity at least when once they find themselves incircled in that Ocean which quickly they do when once Death makes its approach then they see that their great interest lay beyond this poor vain perishing World and the things thereof then they see that their Great Concern was to have look'd and liv'd beyond time and days and have made provision for an Eternal state but alas alas then 't is too late too late then they cry out O Eternity Eternity O miserable souls that we are how did sin and the world blind and bewitch us that we could not ere now when 't is too late see the weight of an Eternal Interest O blind and bruitish Creatures that were taken with carnal and sensual things things pleasing only to a sensual appetite and forgot God the chief Good the things of Heaven and a blessed Eternity which would have made us happy for ever Now to prevent these doleful lamentations and such a dismal and remediless shipwrack of Eternal Souls as also to shew them the path of Life and to engage them to make sure of a blessed Eternity while time and days last is the design of the ensuing discourse and of the dying Author in it And the Lord the God of all Grace prosper it in order thereunto God has kept me for a full half year by the Graves side one while lifting me up then casting me down and now he seems to be speedily finishing my days to whom through the infinite riches of free Grace I can with some comfort and boldness say Come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen And now farewel vain World farewel Friends and Relations farewel eating and drinking and blessed be God farewel sin and sinning within a few days I shall sin no more nor ever be in a possibility of sinning but shall be like my Lord and shall see him as he is And lastly farewel Reader E. P. READER THe first Impression of this Book was so well entertained among Ministers and others and wrought such good effects that the news thereof did very much rejoyce the Reverend Authour upon his Death-bed insomuch that be had an intent to give order for a good number to be given judging it the fittest present at his Funeral but being told there was not a sufficient number to gratifie the many thousands that would attend him to the Grave that good intention was prevented Since his death some pious persons have thought fit considering the suitableness of the subject to bestow many of these at Buryals instead of Rings Gloves Biskets Wine c Reading and Meditation much more beautifying such Solemnities than eating and drinking c. and have already found this way very instrumental to make people serious on such sad occasions Wherefore this good design is by the Generality of Ministers and others recommended to all that are desirous to mind their own Great Concern and to excite others to A Timely and thorough preparation for Death R. A. The Author hath two other Treatises viz. 1. The Best Match or the Souls espousal to Christ 2. A Beam of the Divine Glory or the unchangeableness of God opened THE Great Concern OR A PREPARATION FOR DEATH Psalm 39.13 O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more CHAP. 1. Which contains an Introduction and an Explication of the Words of the Text with the General truth of them and therein the foundation of our intended Discourse TO walk with God here on earth while we live and to be ready to live with God for ever in Heaven when we come to die is the Great Work we have to do the Great Concern we have to mind in our present Pilgrimage To grow great and high in the World to build our Names and Families to live a life of sensual pleasures and delights spending our dayes in mirth these are low mean poor things things infinitely beneath the dignity of a soul and altogether unworthy of the least of its care and solicitude but to know God to love God to obey God to delight in God to contemplate the glorious excellencies and perfections of God to live upon God and to live to God upon him as our chief good and happiness and to him as our last end and withall to be found ready at last to live with him for ever to enter upon the beatifical Vision and to pass into that life of love and holiness which the Saints and Angels live above being made perfect in the Vision and Fruition of the God of Glory this is truly noble this is worthy of the care and solicitude of Souls to promote these things and more especially the latter is my design in fixing my Meditations on this Scripture which I am the rather induced to do because I am apprehensive that the time of my going hence when I shal be seen no more is drawing very nigh The words are a holy and pathetical wish and desire breathed out into the bosom of God by the man after his own heart and that when under sore and heavy afflictions under grievous sickness say some under great straits and distresses by reason of Absolon's rebellion and conspiracy against him say others In this wish or desire of his you may note three things 1. What that is which he wisheth for or desires of God and that is sparing mercy O spare me 2. The end of this wish or desire of his and that is the recovery of strength O spare me that I may recover strength 3. The ground or motive which induced him to make
terrible as the wit and malice of men can possibly make it He can converse with his last enemy as one that hath lost his sting and power and so without the least fear or dismayedness of spirit None of these things move me sayes Paul neither count I my life dear unto my self that I may finish my course with joy His Afflictions did not move him did not terrifie him but if death should come what then Why that shall be welcom too saith he Acts 20.24 Who is afraid of a conquered enemy an enemy which a man seeth dead and slain in the field One that has all things ready for a dying hour he sees death to be a conquered enemy an enemy conquered by the death of Christ and so is carried above the fear of it 2. Hereby the soul is inabled in a holy manner to triumph over death and even to scorn and contemn it which is an higher Conquest still A man that has all things set right and well ordered in the matters of his soul he is not only carried above the fear of death but he rides in triumph over it as one that divideth the spoil He can with boldness and comfort challenge this last Enemy of his and even dare it to do its worst to him O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory saith the Apostle The sting of death is sin the strength of sin is the Law But thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. As if he should say Death you talk of a Sting but where is it Grave you would threaten us with Victory and overthrow but do your worst conquer us if you can As a man that has disarmed his Enemy thrown him upon his back sayes to him O Sir where is your Sword Where is your Pistol Where is the execution you threatned Do your worst 3. Hereby the Soul comes to be able solemnly to choose and desire Death yea to exult and rejoyce in Death as that which of an Enemy is become a Friend and an in-let into all happiness to him So 2 Cor. 5.5 6 8. Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God who hath also so given unto us the earnest of his Spirit Therefore we are alwayes confident knowing that whilest we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. So Phil. 1.22 23. But if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my Labour yet what I shall choose I wot not for I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Mark he desires Death he chooses Death as that which is a Friend to him and an in-let into his happiness Such an one can say as I have read a German Divine did when dying I am ready sayes he and desire to be gone out of this life in which all things are not only full of miseries and calamities but which is to be lamented all things are full fraught with sins I say I desire to pass into that life in which there is no sin no misery Yea more such an one can exult and rejoyce in death Luke 2.29 30. Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation They are words of joy and exultation in the sight of Death's approach The Child of some tender and indulgent Father being abroad at sojourn and seeing a Messenger come from his Father to fetch him home how does he exult and rejoyce O sayes he my Father has sent for me home now I must go to live with my Father to eat and drink at my Father's Table to live in my Father's presence enjoy my Father's love and counsels and this he rejoyces in and exultingly embraces the Messenger 'T is the very case here the soul having all things ready all things set right within when Death comes 't is but as a Messenger to him to fetch him home to his Father's house which he can welcome and embrace with joy O sayes he my Father has sent for me home home to Heaven there to live immediately in his presence and upon his fulness and now I shall be for ever with my Father now I shall for ever feast my Soul with my Father's love and the constant views of my Father's face now I shall see him face to face whom here I could never see but through a glass darkly now I shall see and be for ever in the embraces of my sweet Lord my Lord that bled for me that died for that trod the Wine-press alone for me Now shall I enter into the glorious liberty of the Children of God I have hitherto been in bondage in bondage to Satan in bondage to my own heart which has all along wretchedly imposed upon me but now I shall enter upon the glorious liberty of the Children of God Now I shall partake of the Inheritance of the Saints in light Now I shall bathe my soul in the Chrystal streams of undefiled pleasures running fresh along the banks of Eternity at my Father's right hand Now I shall spend a whole Eternity in Praises Doxologies and Hallelujah's to God and the Lamb Now I shall have all my spots and wrinkles my sins and sorrows done away at once Now shall I sigh no more and which is infinitely better I shall sin no more for ever no more complain of dark visions and short visits from God no more complain of distances and alienation between him and my Soul for ever There shall be no more interruption of communion with my sweet Saviour but I shall stand in his presence and behold his face for evermore In a word hereby death the King of Terrors becomes the King of Comforts to the Soul and a man comes to die both happily and comfortably Some men die neither happily nor comfortably and such is the case of all who die out of Christ they die in their sins they die to be damned for ever Some die happily but not comfortably such is the case of poor Christians dying under dissertion whose Sun sets in a Cloud they die in the dark not knowing what shall become of their Souls to Eternity which yet go safe to Heaven being built upon the Rock of Ages the Lord Jesus Christ Some die both happily and comfortably such is the case of all those who have all things set right between God and them all things ready and in order before a dying hour comes Some die presumptuously thinking all is right and well in the matters of their souls when indeed nothing is so that is sad for Eternity The Lord deliver your souls and mine from such an Exit Some die tremblingly or doubtingly not knowing how things are with them whether well or ill but they fear ill that
vagabond and a fugitive it changes it self into all shapes it will and it will not 't is like a leaf moved and carried about with the wind My vain and importunate heart hales me now to the Market and then to strifes and brawlings now to feasting and then to impure lusts now the flesh is inflamed with sordid titillations then the mind is defiled with filthy cogitations And who of us may not make the same complaint yea such is the enmity and opposition of our own hearts against Heaven and the things of Heaven that many times when we most resolve and set our selves to follow God and to pursue the work of our souls then they set us most back It was a great speech of that same Father This sayes he is my daily exercise with my whole strength I bend to thee and would mount up to God and Heaven but by how much the more strongly I endeavour to come up to thee by so much the more powerfully I am cast into the earth into my self and even under my self captivated to my lusts And so 't is often with us Le ts then and oppositions must be expected by us on all hands and we had need therefore the more to awaken to our work 'T is true if you will ingage in good earnest in the work of your souls your helps and incouragements will be greater than your lâ—ts and discouragements you will have more with you then against you You will have God with you and Christ with you and the Comforter with you and all the Graces of the Covenant with you be incouraged therefore to set upon Soul-work Now lay all these things together and see if it be an easie matter to make ready for a dying hour and if it be not why should we neglect Why should we delay any longer 6. How terrible will death be to you And what a dreadful change will it make with you in case you still neglect to make ready for it Suppose my Beloved you go on in the neglect of this Great Concern putting far from you the evil day what think you will the issue of it be will not death be most terrible to you when you shall be called to conflict with it Will it not make a dreadful change with you Surely it will Death to an unready soul what will it be It will be the period of all his mercies of all his comforts of all his hopes For such an one receives all his good things in this life before death comes Luke 16.25 It will be the sending of him to his own place the cutting him down as fewel for everlasting burnings It will be as a worthy Divine speaks the taking up of a Draw-bridge and the pulling up of the Flood-gates of Gods eternal wrath to let in the deluge of it upon his soul for ever It will be a change to him but what change will it be Surely a very sad one 1. A change from Earth to Hell And is not this a sad Change The wicked shall be turned into Hell and all that forget God Psalm 19.17 And we read of the rich man who was unready for death that being dead he was in Hell Luke 22.23 2. A change from Light to Darkness and is not that a sad change The Holy Ghost speaking of such an one tells us God shall drive him out of light into darkness and chase him out of the world Job 18.18 Here wicked men enjoy the light of Creature comforts but God will drive them out of these into the darkness of Eternal misery into utter darkness Mat. 25.30 into blackness of darkness Jude 13. 3. A change from pleasure to pain from delight to torment a sad change it is from pleasure and delight in sin to pain and torment for sin Luke 16.23 Here the soul sports himself in the pleasures and delights of sin and he thinks he can never have enough but then there will be an end of all those pleasures and delights and nothing but pain and torment and vexation will succeed them 4. A change from the offers of Grace to the Revelations of Wrath Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave or thy faithfulness in destruction saith the Psalmist in that 88 Psal 11. True in the 1 Pet. 3.19 20. we read of Christ's preaching by his Spirit to the Spirits in Prison that is to Souls in Hell But mark when was it that he preach'd to them not when in prison but in the days of Noah when they lived in the world There is never an offer of grace and love made to souls in the Grave while life lasts the soul hears the joyful sound And O the sweet offers the gracious tenders the loving invitations that are made to him of Christ of Grace of Eternal Life and Love O the wooings the meltings the entreatings the allurings of Divine Love to and over the soul but when death comes farewell all these farewell all the sweet offers of Christ and all the blessed motions of the Spirit then there 's nothing but wrath reveiled and wrath shall come on the neglecting soul to the uttermost 5. A change from fair probabilities to utter impossibilities of life and salvation a sad change still Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation now and not hereafter 2 Cor. 6.2 Now there is a fair probability for the worst of sinners to be saved if they will look after Salvation and mind their Eternal Concerns Christ is both able and willing to save to save was the end of his coming into the world and of all he did and suffered here 1 Tim. 1.15 Now they are besought and entreated to be reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5.19 20. but when death comes that changes these fair Probabilities into utter impossibilities of life and salvation Therefore mark Now says the Apostle is the day of salvation that is now while life lasts and while the Gospel is preached 6. A change from hope to despair a sad change indeed We read that the hopes of the Hypocrite shall perish Job 8.13 and that the expectation of the wicked shall perish Prov. 10.28 Whether men be open sinners or close hypocrites their hopes at last shall all fail and turn into despair despair of ever seeing God or enjoying the least tittle or Iota of good for ever Thus death will be terrible to you and make a dreadful change with you in case you neglect to make ready for its coming 't will affright you as bad as the hand-writing upon the wall did that proud King Dan. 5.5 6. Which made his countenance change his thoughts to trouble him and the joynts of his loyns to be losed and his knees to smite one against another O when death comes and thou shalt be found unready how will thy countenance change thy joynts be losed thy thoughts troubled and thy heart tremble within thee In a word I would say to you as the Prophet spake of old Isa 10.3 What will you do
In a word my beloved the Saints when in the best frame have many of them been so far from being fond of long life here that indeed they have thought it long till the time came when they should go hence and be no more crying out with an holy impatiency Why is his Chariot so long a coming why tarry the wheels of his Chariot 2. Covet to live much in a little time 'T is said of that Reverend and worthy Divine Dr. Preston that he desired to and accordingly did live much in a little time And our Lord himself you know did not live long in this world but he lived much in a little time he did much work in a few days for God and souls And indeed my beloved 't is not a long life but a fruitful life that is most amiable most desirable and most like his life who is life it self 'T is not he that lives many years but he that lives much in a few years that is the most happy soul I know those whose ambition is not to live long but to live fruitfully and to do as much as possibly they can in a little time and might they have their option or choice it would be this to live much in a little time and then have their dismission to rest And my Beloved let this be your choice and your ambition be casting about in your selves how you may live much in a little time how you may compass much spiritual work and business in a few days Labour to treasure up much grace much experience of God and his love to bring a large revenue of glory to him and the like And for this end possess your souls with a deep sense of the exceeding worth and preciousness of time and accordingly set your selves to redeem it looking upon the loss thereof to be the greatest loss in the world Eph. 5.16 we are commanded to redeem the time And what is it to redeem the time but to esteem time as precious as a thing of incomparable worth and value and accordingly to make the best and highest improvement of it for the honour of God and good of our souls that possibly we can It is to fill up our time with duty and our duties with grace to make use of time for those ends for which time is given us not to eat and drink and solace our selves in the Creature but to serve and honour the Creator to work out our Salvation to get acquaintance with God and Christ to make sure of Heaven and a blessed Eternity O Sirs look upon time as precious so indeed it is Time is the most weighty and momentous thing in the world 't is that which our eternal all depends upon According as we do or do not manage and improve our time well so will it go with us for ever 'T is a sweet meditation which I have read in a discourse of a holy man This life saith he of ours is most swift and yet in it Eternal Life is either gotten or lost for ever This life of ours is most miserable and yet in it Eternal Happiness is either gotten or lost for ever No less than a whole Eternity of Happiness or Misery Salvation or Damnation depends upon our use and management of our little time here in this world As the tree falls so it lies Eccles 11.3 As it is with us when we go out of time so it will be with us to all Eternity and this we should be much in the thoughts of accounting therefore the loss of time to be the greatest loss 'T is a weighty saying which I have read in one of the Ancients It is a great and heavy loss indeed saith he when we neither do good nor think good and let me add nor get good but we suffer our hearts to wander abroad about vain and unprofitable things and yet it is too difficult to restrain or keep them back from these things Truly no loss like the loss of time the loss of estate the loss of Trade the loss of this or the other outward comfort is nothing to the loss of time these being lost may be recovered again but time being lost can never be recovered more accordingly set your selves to redeem it and do it as much as possible you can accounting that day lost wherein you have not done something for God and your souls the truth is we live no more than we are conversant in the work of God and our souls For as for that which we call life that is not spent in this work it is not indeed to be accounted life Thirdly would you indeed set all things right in your souls make all ready for a dying hour then think much and often with your selves how great a change death will make with you when ever it comes death is a change and in many respects the greatest change which the Sons of men are to pass through all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come Job 14.14 Job had many changes and great changes Changes and war were upon him as he complains Job 10.17 But no change like this of death this was the great change and this he waited for all his days indeed death is a great change to every man and woman come when and how it will 't is that as you have heard that deprives men of all their enjoyments here which dissolves the union between soul and body which turns the body to dust and putrifaction and which is unspeakably more than this it is that through which the soul enters into the immediate presence of God and states it in eternity it is a change from time to eternity from work to reward a reward suitable to the work we have here been doing whether it be good or evil and is not this a great change Take a few hints in particular about it to shew the greatness of it First It is such a change as all other changes upon the outward man are but leading and introductory unto and into which at last they all issue and resolve themselves we pass through many changes here in this world we may say as Job Changes and war are upon us but these are but leading and preliminary as it were to this last and great Change these all are or should be to us Monitors of this last Change and do but a little darkly shadow it out unto us Secondly It is such a change as calls for great spiritual changes to pass upon us here to sit and prepare us for it a change in our minds a change in our wills a change in our affections a change in our conversations a change in our whole man a real change a thorough change an universal change Old things must be done away and all things must become new 2 Cor. 5.17 The mind must be changed from darkness to light from ignorance to knowledg in spiritual things The will must be changed from enmity to subjection from
not get union with Christ and an interest in Christ This is what lies at the bottom and foundation of all of all our hopes of all our mercies of all our comforts of all our acceptation and communion with God of all Grace on Earth and of all Glory in Heaven and without it whatsoever our attainments in Religion are whatever our Profession may be whatever place or esteem we may have to the Church of God though never so raised and eminent yet we have nothing that will avail us in a dying hour I remember a saying of a learned man That thou maist live in death saith he get into Christ implant thy self into Christ by believing Faith joyns and unites us to Christ and they that are in Christ cannot die for Christ is their life And indeed if we have union with Christ he will be life in death it self to us Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord that is die having union with Christ being implanted into Christ Rev. 14.13 If we have union with Christ he will not be only life in death to us but he will even turn death it self into life the King of Terrors into a King of Comforts insomuch that the soul shall be able to triumph over it as the Apostle doth 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. whereas without this without union with Christ and an interest in Christ we shall never be able to look death in the face with comfort but shall when we come to die be some of the miserablest spectacles in the world It is the speech of a worthy Divine who is long since gone hence A Christless dying man or woman says he is one of the saddest spectacles in the world For a man to be dying and not Christless that is comfortable for such an one dies but to live for ever he dies the death of Nature to live the life of Glory for a man to be Christless and not dying is something tolerable for who knows but that the next meeting at an Ordinance may be the time of God's love to him of drawing him into Christ but for a man to be dying and Christless Christless and dying too that is intolerable that is terrible indeed for such an one dies to be damned and he is going off from all hopes and possibilities of mercy for ever Oh therefore above all press after union with Christ and an interest in Christ this was Pauls great care and solicitude to the very last that so he might go off the Stage with comfort and that for which he accounted all things but dung as most base and vile Phil. 3.8 9. O Soul didst thou indeed know and consider of how much weight and importance an interest in Christ is to thee with reference to thine eternal happiness thou would cry out as eagerly for Christ as ever Rachel did for children saying Give me Christ or else I die give me union with Christ and an interest in Christ or I am undone eternally Oh look to the great uniting act of Faith make a right choice of Christ chuse him as your Lord and Head your King and Saviour and renew your choice of him every day resigning up your selves entirely to him to be saved and governed by him in his own way Secondly Would you indeed have all set right and made ready in the matters of your souls for a dying hour then press after a firm and unshaken assurance of an interest in God and his love and of your right and title to eternal life of another and a better life than this is here without some good evidence for Heaven and some well-grounded assurance of an interest in God and Eternal Life things are not ready with us nor are we in such a preparedness for a dying hour as we ought to be though a man hath an interest in God and his love though he hath a right and title to eternal life and happiness yet as long as he is in the dark and at an uncertainty in his own soul about it things are out of order with him and he is greatly unready for a dying hour For pray mark as our interest in this is requisite to our dying happily so the sight and assurance of that interest is requisite to our dying comfortably Indeed when a man hath attained to some good evidence for heaven to some well-grounded assurance of his interest in God and Christ then are things in a good posture with him in reference to a dying hour then he can play with Death and triumph over it as Job did when he could say I know that my Redeemer liveth Job 19.25 26. And as the Apostle seems to speak of it 2 Cor. 5.12 We know that when our earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven None of you do comfortably leave your house unless you have another to go unto much less can you comfortably quit this world unless you have some well-grounded assurance of another and a better life Take a man that is in the dark and at a loss as to his interest in God and Christ and he knows not what Death will do to him nor where it will lodge him whether in heaven or in hell whether upon the Throne of Glory or in the Prison of eternal Darkness in the Bosom of Christs love or under the Revelations of his infinite and eternal wrath and is such a one ready for a dying hour Surely no As ever therefore you would have things right and ready within indeed for a dying hour you must press after an assurance of your interest in God and Christ you must do as the Apostle exhorts give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 You must every day prest after a fuller and firmer assurance as to your eternal interest you must be much in faith much in prayer much in examining your evidences much in proving your state much in looking after the seal and evidence of the blessed Spirit which is indeed all in all and never rest till you can say My Lord and my God my Heaven my Glory God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever O then all will be sweet and well with you this is that which the Saints of old have laboured after with their whole might Say unto my soul saith David to God I am thy salvation Psal 35 3â— set me as a seal upon thy heart and as a seal upon thine arm Cant. 8.6 This Austin pressed much after Lord saith he tell me what thou art to me say unto my Soul I am thy salvation so say it that I may hear it behold the ears of my heart are before thee open them O Lord and say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation O my Beloved this is worth pressing after for this is the
converse and communion with God in such ways as are suitable to this present state and the highest happiness souls are capable of eternally in heaven is to live in the Divine presence and to see Gods face continually and to lodge for ever in the bosom of his love we may run out to a thousand things and when we have done all this will be the highest and indeed the only happiness of souls viz. to converse with God and to enjoy communion with God and they that miss of this will miss of all happiness for ever accordingly we should prize it and press after it we should account all things as nothing on this side God and communion with God in Christ the Saints of old have done so Many saith David will say who will shew us any good but Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Psal 4.6 as if he should say While others are seeking their happiness from carnal and earthly enjoyments Corn Wine and Oyl the happiness we desire is thy love thy favour the beamings out of the light of thy countenance upon our souls So Psal 39.7 Now Lord what wait I for my hope is in thee I have done with the streams as if he should say and I desire to cleave wholly to the fountain I have done with the creatures of which I have formerly been too fond and I would now take up my whole rest solace and satisfaction in thy self alone and also Psal 73.25 26. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none on earth I desire in comparison of thee my heart and my flesh faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever The same spirit dwelt and acted in Austin All fulness and plenty says he which is not my God is want and poverty And again elsewhere Thou Lord art my God my happiness and unto thee and after thee do I breathe and suspire day and night O my Beloved did we indeed prize communion with God more we should live more in communion with him and this take for a certain truth that it will never be well with us indeed till we see all in God and account we enjoy all happiness in enjoying communion with him Secondly In the close of every day take a serious view of and diligently consider what hath passed between God and you what transactions there have been between God and your souls that day there doth not a day pass wherein there do not many things pass between God and his people and he that wouuld prevent distances and estrangements between God and him should seriously ponder and lay to heart vvhat hath passed between God and his soul vvhat tranfactions there hath been between God and him that day On the one hand ponder and consider vvhat hath passed from God to you and vvhat his carriage towards you hath been vvhat approaches he hath made to you vvhat intimations of love vvhat overtures of communion vvhat discoveries of himself and his glory how far and in vvhat vvay God hath been dealing vvith your spirits convincing enlightning quickening or comforting of them vvhat calls he hath given you vvhat myrrhe he hath dropped upon the handle of the Lock what tastes you have had of his sweetness and Grace vvhat holy impressions he hath made upon you and the like On the other hand ponder and consider what hath passed from you to God and what your carriages towards him have been what reception and entertainment you have given him making his approaches to you what value you have put upon his presence and the intimations of his love how far you have embraced and improved the overtures he made you of farther communion with him what awe there hath been upon you of his holiness and his all-seeing eye what out-goings of heart there have been found within you after him what breathings of love what holy longings and desires what springings and workings of spiritual joy and delight of soul to him and in him what place he hath had in your thoughts and contemplations how far you have lived to him and upon him wherein you may have either grieved or delighted his Spirit and the like Thus in the close of every day ponder and consider what hath passed between God and you and accordingly deport demean your selves before him wherein you have failed or been defective in any thing in order to keeping up communion between God and you be humbled and set all right by Faith and Prayer adore God in his acts of Grace and Condescension as to be sure you will find cause to do and loath your selves for any acts of sin or unkindness undutifulness or disrespect that you have been guilty of towards God O this would be a blessed course indeed to prevent distances and estrangements between God and you This David calls a communing with his own heart and enjoyns it as a duty of the highest importance Stand in awe and sin not commune with your hearts and be still Psal 4.4 it is what he lived in the practice of Psalm 77.6 if he were the Author of that Psalm I communed with my own heart and my Spirit made diligent search O be punctual in this work Thirdly Be much conversant and that with all spiritual diligence in the ways and duties of Communion those ways and duties wherein God is wont to meet his people and maintain converse and communion with them and in all of them wait for God and his approaches to you there are those which we may call ways and duties of communion ways and duties wherein God and his people do hold converse with each other wherein God visits and communicates himself unto his people and wherein his people may be said to visit God and make out after God and these are the use of the Word and Sacraments the exercise of Prayer Meditation Self-examination and the like now as ever you would prevent the growing up of distances and estrangements between God and you see that you are much conversant in these and that with a holy and spiritual diligence waiting for God and the manifestations of God to your souls in them these are the galleries wherein Christ and his People do take sweet turns together the green beds wherein they lie down in the bosom of each others love therefore keep up a constant and diligent attendance on God in these and in all your attendances on him look after converse with him let it be your solemn aim to converse with him and see his face to have a visit a smile a descent of love from him I do suppose you to be such as do and will attend on publick Ordinances and wait for God there as they waited for the Spirit at Jerusalem that only then which I would press you to in this present case shall be to be much conversant in Prayer and Meditation between God and your own souls in these two great duties of communion with God secret
Prayer and Meditation Oh the loss as to communion with God that we expose our selves unto by being no more in Prayer and holy Meditation The holy Ones of old and those that have been men of the highest communion with God have also been men of much Prayer and great Meditation as I might instance in David and Daniel and others and indeed their communion with God came in and was kept up this way God you know hath told us the Prayer of the upright is his delight Prov. 15.8 and Christ bespeaks the Prayer of his Spouse as most pleasing and delightful to him Cant. 2.14 O my Dove thou art in the clefts of the rock in the secret places of the stairs let me see thy countenance and hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely as if he should say Approach to me in scret Prayer I will assure thee it will be most sweet and pleasant to me And as he thus delights in the Prayers of his People so he will surely delight them in their Prayers vvith the visits of his Love and communications of his Grace the beamings out of his Glory to and upon their souls he hath promised to make them joyful in the house of prayer yea he hath promised to perform the whole Grace of the New Covenant in answer to their prayers Ezek. 36.37 Oh the great things God doth for his People and the sweet communion that is kept up between him and them in a way of Prayer I remember a saying of one He that is not much in prayer will never be a man of much excellency And I may as truly say He that is not much in prayer is never like to be a man of much communion with God And so for Meditation O how sweet how Heaven-like a duty is that Oh how much of God is let out many times to the souls of his people herein David experienced this Psal 63.5 6. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night-watches while he was conversant in this duty of Meditation his soul was filled with joy and satisfaction as with marrow and fatness Again saith he my meditation of thee shall be sweet Ps 104.34 Oh be much and frequent with God in these ways and duties of communion Fourthly Give Christ his due place and honour in all your makings out after communion with God Joseph told his Brethren they should not see his face unless they brought their Brother Benjamin with them and truly you are not like to see the face of God in any of the fore-mentioned ways and duties unless you bring Christ with you and give him his due place and honour therein that is to say unless you eye him and act Faith upon him as the only way and medium of communion with God Christ bespeaks this at our hands while he tells us I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me John 14.6 and by his Blood it is that we have a way opened to us into the Holy of Holies access for our Persons and Prayers into the Divine Presence Heb. 10.19 20. yea not only has he purchased a liberty and opened a way for us to approach into the presence of God but having done this by his Mediation and Intercession it is that any of us come to God hence he is said to save to the very uttermost all that come to God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 Indeed vvere it not for Christ none of us could ever hope to see the face of God and live none of us could ever hope to see one smile of Gods face one embrace of his bosom any the least descent and emanation of love from him vvere it not for Christ vvhen vve come unto God vve should find him to be a consuming fire and vvhen he and our souls did meet it vvould be as the meeting of devouring fire and vvithered stubble in a vvord all communications of Grace and Love from God to us are by and through Christ and all the Love the Duty the Homage vve tender to God must be all tendered to him by and through Christ if ever we find acceptation vvith him have Christ therefore in your eye in all your approaches unto God as him by whom we have access unto the Father Eph. 2.18 Let the real language of your souls be If I have any one smile from God it must be upon the account of Christ if he sheweth himself pacified towards me it must be through his blood if he gives out any grace any favour any blessing to me it vvill be upon the sole account of his Mediation if ever either my person or services be accepted of the Lord it must be in and through this Mediator moreover how great soever the distance between God and my soul is yet Christ can bring me nigh unto him and however unworthy of or unsuitable to communion with God I am in my self yet such is his well-pleasedness in Christ that well-beloved Son of his that I will hope through him to find Grace in his sight and to be lodged in the bosom of his Love Thus put all the honour upon Christ that is due to him in this business this is what is pleasing to the Father and the more you thus honour him the fuller and more constant will your converse and communion with God be Ninthly Would you indeed have all right and in order for a dying hour would you be ready for that last and great work then live wholly and constantly upon Christ and his righteousness for your justification and acceptation with God both living and dying the more we live out of our selves upon Christ and his righteousness for justification and acceptation with God the more ready posture we are in for a dying hour this indeed is the main thing and when we have done all that ever we can to deck and adorn our selves with Grace and gracious dispositions still we must live out of our selves and out of all those Ornaments upon the naked righteousness of Christ for Justification and Salvation This is that which the Scripture calls the readiness of the Lambs Wife Rev. 19.7 8. Let us be glad and rejoyce for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready and wherein that readiness lay the next words tell you To her was granted to he cloathed with fine linen clean and white which fine linen is the righteousness of the Saints that is the righteousness of Christ imputed to the Saints through believing this is the best robe mentioned Luke 15.22 a robe indeed which covers all our nakedness that beautifies and adorns us and renders us most amiable in Gods eye whatsoever spots and blemishes whatever failings or defects may be upon us yet these are not
driven from hence for ever O doleful to be in the flames to suffer the vengeance of Eternal fire to be sinning and always bearing the punishment of sin and all this for ever O this makes it out of measure heavy thus and always thus under the wrath of God and for ever so this puts weight into it Thus you see a little of the weight of Eternity O contemplate it daily 3. Consider and contemplate how doleful a thing it will be to miscarry for ever and on the other hand what a wide door of mercy there is open to you the fair opportunity you have of making a blessed provision for your souls and eternity 1. Consider and contemplate how doleful a thing it will be to miscarry for ever to perish eternally the more worth there is in the soul the greater weight there is in Eternity the more doleful it will be to perish or miscarry as to the interest of them to miscarry in our Estate in our trade in our name in the change of our condition in this world or the like this is sad and sinks many but Oh what is this to the miscarriage of the soul for ever what is this to a miserable Eternity to the loss of God of Christ of the Comforter of Heaven and Eternal life what is this to the wrath of God to the vengeance of Eternal fire to utter darkness to blackness of darkness for ever O Sirs to have infiniteness and Eternity combined against you to make you miserable and to be for ever as miserable as infiniteness and eternity can make you as assuredly you will in case you neglect to make provision for your souls and the future life O how dreadful how doleful will this be and what bitter lamentations will it fill you with for ever Did Esau weep when he had lost his Birth-right and did Lysimachus upbraid himself and bewail his folly for parting with his Kingdom for a draught of water O then how will you weep and wail and even tear and torment your selves for ever for your sin and folly when you shall find that for a little of this world for the satisfaction of a lust for a few dreggy drossy pleasures and sensual delights or perhaps through a mere sloth of spirit you have lost your souls and have plunged your selves into an infinite Ocean of Eternal woe and misery whence thereis no redemption for ever for you Pray lay that Scripture to heart now Lu. 13.27 28. Depart from me says Christ all ye workers of iniquity Depart here is the Doom that will pass at last upon every unrepenting unbelieving sinner every soul that makes not ready for a dying hour well and what then there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you thrust out O Sirs when you shall see such and such lodged safe in Heaven in the Bosom of Christ and your selves shut out and not only so but cast into utter darkness as you have it added Mat. 18.12 when you shall see your selves shut up in the infernal Pit and there seal'd up under Gods eternal wrath O then ye will weep and gnash your teeth indeed then your own Conscience will be eternally a second Hell to you tearing and tormenting your souls in the remembrance of your sin and folly in neglecting to prepare for and make sure of a better state Think of these things ere it be too late 2. Consider and contemplate what a wide Door of Mercy there is open to you and what a fair opportunity God gives you to make a blessed provision for your souls and Eternity What shall I say why Sirs the way of Salvation is made plain to you and you are daily called to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb the great King of Heaven invites you to come and partake of his Gospel-Feast by one and another Servant of his which he sends to you he lets you know that all things are ready all that your souls can need to make them happy for ever Christ is ready and in him life is ready grace is ready peace is ready pardon is ready a compleat righteousness for your justification acceptation with God is ready heaven is ready salvation is ready and withal he bids you come yea he earnestly importunes and solicites you to come and feast your souls upon these things he freely and frequently offers himself and all to you intreating your acceptance yea more he opens the arms of his love to you assuring you of most cordial welcome and ready reception notwithstanding all your sins and miscarriages him that cometh unto me I will by no means cast out Jo. 6.37 let him be who and what he will a young an old sinner a small a great sinner a sinner that hath stood it out against me a little or a long time I will not cast him out my Grace is free my Fulness is large and sufficient my Blood is precious and has an infinite vertue in it my Spirit is powerful and efficacious I am every way mighty to save able to save to the utmost all that come to God by me yea 't is my work and business to save my Father seal'd and sent me for that end and for that end came I into the world and there did and suffered such things as I did and I may not I will not cast off any poor soul that will come and partake of me and my Fulness and that would fain be helped on towards life and blessedness This is really the language of Christ to poor sinners yea more he sends his Spirit to enlighten to convince to perswade to draw and allure them and he does move in them and strive with them O what a wide door of mercy is there here open to you Sirs and how fair is your opportunity of preparing for and making sure of a blessed Eternity O accordingly as you love your souls and would live for ever come into Christ come and apply and improve him in a way of believing for the good of your eternal souls in his strength set upon repenting believing work the work of your souls and Eternity and your day being so bright as indeed it is O labour to know the things of your peace in your day lest neglecting them Christ speedily say of you as once with tears in his eyes he did of neglecting Jerusalem Luke 19.42 O that thou hadst known in thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes I have done I 'l close all with that holy wish for you my dear Congregation and my self that Austin was wont to make for himself and his people namely That as they had been often crowded together to worship God in that earthly Temple wherein he preach'd so they might eternally live toge-in the Heavenly Temple above So my wish and desire is that we my beloved you and I who have often been thronged and crowded together in an earthly House may live together eternally and eternally adore God together in our Father's House above and if we shall never preach and pray and here and sing together more on Earth as I am apt to think we shall not yet that we may praise and love and admire God and sing Hallelujas to him for ever together in Heaven Amen Amen FINIS
Self-denial and the like We have also Secondly Special work to do the work of our particular Stations and places work that is incumbent upon us as we stand thus and thus related being Magistrates or Ministers 〈◊〉 Masters of Families or the like for all such Relations bring their work and duty with them and this indeed is properly our own work and this we should be diligent and faithful in as ever we would be found ready for a dying hour Paul had his work to do and he was diligent and faithful in the discharge of it which gave him comfort when he came to die 2 Tim. 4.6 7 8. I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness c. He had been faithful in the discharge of his work while he lived and being now to die he found the comfort and sweetness of it yea this was that which our Lord himself comforted himself withal when he was to die and in the sense of it goes to his Father with boldness for his glory Joh. 17.4 I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do indeed he had a great deal of work given him by the Father and he was faithful and punctual in the discharge of it all which was a comfort to him now he was to die and he himself tells us that is the blessed servant whom when his Lord shall come shall find so doing that is faithful and diligent in the discharge of his proper work Mat. 24.46 Truly this is the posture which some though but a few are found in they make conscience to discharge the duty that is incumbent upon them they say with their Lord I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work John 9.4 they see a Night coming Death coming Judgment coming Eternity coming and accordingly they desire to lay out their whole souls in the work of God to live up to the Laws of Christ in every relation and they look upon that day as lost wherein they have not done somewhat for God and their own souls and how comfortably may such look death in the face when it comes I have read the Life of an Holy Minister who was seised upon by sickness which was unto death while he was preaching the everlasting Gospel and lying a few days sick ere he died a Fellow-labourer of his another Holy Minister coming to visit him and seeing death in his face cryed out in some passion O dear Sir are you going to Heaven from us To whom he replied Yes and I bless God that my Master found me in his work Truly might a man have his choice and option he would have death to find him while he is engaged in the work of God Oh study your own work study the work and duty of your Christian calling study that work and duty which is incumbent upon you in your particular relations and beg of God a heart to be diligent in the discharge of one and the other Eighthly Would you indeed have all right and in order in the 〈◊〉 of your souls ere a dying 〈◊〉 then be sure to suffer no 〈◊〉 no estrangement to grow up between 〈◊〉 and you but labour to keep 〈◊〉 â—â—â—stant and intimate acquainâ—â—â—â—◠〈◊〉 him Acquaint thy self with God and be at peace Job 22.21 the more of an holy intimacy and acquaintance with God we maintain the more we are at peace in our selves and I am sure the more we are at peace in our selves the more ready we are for a dying hour Woe and alas for us how oft do we let fall our converse and communion with God and suffer sad distances and estrangements to grow up between him and us And indeed my Beloved it is a sad and amazing thing to think how suddenly and imperceptibly distances and estrangements will grow up between God and a mans soul for my own part should I have heard of it only by the hearing of the ear and had not found it by too many sad and woful experiences I could not have believed how suddenly and imperceptibly distances and estrangements will grow up between God and a mans soul yea and that after the nearest liveliest and most intimate acquaintance and communion with him which calls upon us to be very watchful and circumspect as to this thing and my Beloved as you would die with boldness and comfort let me advise and persuade you to give all diligence to keep up constant intercourse and acquaintance with God and watch narrowly against all distances between him and you Which of us that knows any thing of the things of God knows not that we suffer distances and estrangements to grow up between God and us we cannot tell how with any tolerable boldness and comfort to look him in the face in a duty or scarce to think of him with delight much less shall we be able to look him in the face with comfort in death in case we suffer distances to grow up between him and us moreover take this for a sure rule That the more you are versed in communion with God and do maintain an holy intimacy and correspondence with him the more boldness and comfort you will have when you come to die then you will be able to say I am now going to be and live for ever immediately with that God with whom I have lived in much sweet and intimate communion here I am now going to converse more fully with him in Heaven with whom I have enjoyed much sweet converse here on Earth Should death find a man under distances and estrangements between God and him it must necessarily be uncomfortable unto him but when there is an holy intimacy kept up between God and the soul then the soul need not fear or be ashamed to look death and Judgment both in the face Little Children saith John abide in him that when he shall appear we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming 1 John 2.28 We are put into Christ by Faith at our first Conversion and we abide in him by after-acts of Faith and Communion and this abiding in him is the way to have boldness before him at his coming therefore mind this and pray much about this take heed of distances growing up between God and you and labour to have those sweet visits those sweet intercourses of love those blessed acts of communion kept up between God and you that are wont to be kept up between him and his watchful close walking Saints and in order hereunto take three or four short hints First Look upon and esteem converse and communion with God to be as indeed it is your highest happiness both here and in heaven the highest happiness souls are capable of here is to live in