we would but when our work is done and with our Master's leave We must not with our own hands pluck down these earthly Tabernacles neither deny our consent when God will pluck them down we are Tenants at will and must not think to have our Houses at our own dispose whether they shall down or not we came not into the world but at his appointment and must not go out without his leave I know a Godly man though he have some assurance of a better habitation is not so reconciled to death as to choose it for its own sake for Deaths looks are not lovely it being the King of terrors Job 18.19 and the terror of Kings and in it self formidable and hath daunted the courage of the stoutest Souldiers and triumphs over the most triumphant Conquerour and sometimes discomposeth the most composed Christian And therefore as on the one hand it should not be overmuch feared so on the other it should not be overmuch slighted Christ himself had some fearfull apprehensions of it and well he might knowing what he had to suffer the Sting was then in but by his death it was taken out in reference to Believers yet the Serpent is formidable but not poysonful it will strike still though it cannot sting and as 't is an Outlet to Life so 't is an Inlet to Eternity and who can enter into so vast a Gulph and so boundless an Ocean without amazement where he can find neither bank nor bottom 'T is impossible for men to put off Humanity neither doth Christianity teach us to be Stoicks yet it teacheth us to bound and moderate our passions and not overmuch to fear Death When we have a lawful call to it and when 't is our duty to dye when God sends let who will be the Messenger obey we must Lu. 12.5 Fear not them saith Christ that can kill the body and can do no more but fear him that can cast both Soul and Body into Hell yea I say unto you fear him All outward things must be undervalued for Life sake but Life it self must go for Gods sake if thou sell thy life for any worldly advantage thou wilt make a hard bargain For what good will the world do thee when thou art dead Luk. 12.20 Thou fool saith Christ this night will thy soul be required of thee and then whose are these Thou must part with any thing in the world to preserve it but if thou sell thy Soul to save thy life or part with Christ upon that account thou wilt make a bad bargain Mat. 16.26 for what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in Exchange for his soul This is not to prevent death but to Exchange one death for another temporal death for eternal 'T is not a choosing death thou art Press'd to but a submission to the will of God that is required at thy hands and of two evils the least is to be chosen if thou must either choose death or choose sin death is the more eligible for sin will expose thee to the second death and prove the everlasting separation of soul and body from God which is worse a thousand times than death If thou must lose thy life or thy soul let life go if thou must deny life or deny Christ Christ is better than thy life being the very life of thy soul and he that to avoid a little temporal pain incurs eternal torments makes a foolish bargain Now though there be no reason to love death yet is there great reason why thou shouldst love God better than life Psal 63.3 whose loving kindness is better than life though life be dear yet Christ is dearer The Cup of death may be bitter but Hell and Damnation and the eternal Wrath of God are much bitterer which if thou forsake Christ thou must drink up to the bottom which Eternity will be little enough to do God puts Sugar into the former none into the latter Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them But those that miscarry are sent away with a curse Mat. 25.41 Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels c. 'T is true after the Fall death was threatned as a Curse and a Judgment for sin but by the death of Christ the nature of it is changed to Believers Psal 116.15 and the malignity of it abated Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints the sting is taken out and we may put the Serpent into our bosom 't is now to the godly a Sleep Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and so 't is said of Stephen he fell a sleep and the Grave is but Gods Cabinet to hide his Jewels where they are secured from the evil to come Isa 57.12 26.20 't is but a Chamber to hide them in till the indignation be past And though Deaths chambers be dark they are best to sleep in where thou shalt meet with no disturbance no noise without or terrour within thou shalt neither see nor hear nor feel nor fear evil death is but a sturdy Porter to open the door of thy Fathers house the gates of Heaven to thee to let thee in And though it may expose thee to some pain for the present 't is not much and 't is but momentary and not worthy the glory that shall be revealed for endless Joy presently succeeds it and pain will soon be forgotten If thou canst but stoop a little and croud in at this strait gate and narrow door thou wilt enter into that spacious City the New Jerusalem If thou canst not love death for its own sake yet entertain him for his Masters sake for it is the Embassadour of the great God and for his Message sake for he brings an Answer of peace To submit unto the will of God and to be obedient unto the death is not only thy Duty but thy Wisdom and Interest and to say with Christ Not my will but thine be done and with Samuel 1 Sam. 3.10 Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth If thou deny thy Life when God requires it Christ will deny thee entrance into those Heavenly Mansions and 't is a thousand times better lose thy life than lose his love think not yet that Heaven is had upon hard terms thou maist haply lose something for Christ but shalt never lose by him the way to save thy life is to hide it with God in Christ The hardest terms that Christ propounds are but reasonable 't is thy Interest to go to Heaven though it were even through the flames of Hell much more through the pangs of Death Paul easily concludes to dye for him was gain and to be with Christ was best of all he dyed daily and carried his life in his hand
the hands of the cruel into the hand of thy blood-thirsty Enemies but consider who 't is that appoints Death is it not the great God that gives life and is there any but he that can take it away can any act without him when they cannot breathe without him is it not he that kills and makes alive and brings to the Gates of Death and back again is it not he without whose Providence a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground by whom all the hairs of thy head are numbred As thy life is not put into thy own hands to live while thou listest and to dye when thou pleasest no more is it into thy enemies hands to take it away when their pleasure is but in the hand of thy mercifull Father who best knows when thy work is done and when thou art ripe for glory 'T is true he useth Instruments sometimes one and sometimes another but these instruments cannot go one link beyond their commission and these are of his own chooseing sometimes inanimate creatures must do his Will and prove his Executioners thus the waters must drown the old world thus the Red Sea must overwhelm proud Pharaoh and his Host thus the fire must burn up Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities adjacent thus the Earth must swallow up Corah Dathan and Abiram and their company sometimes bruit Beasts 2 King 2.24 thus the two she-Bears that killed forty two Children that mocked the Prophet 2 King 17.25 26. thus he destroyed those that feared him not with Lions yea sometimes very Insects are his Executioners thus he plagued Pharaoh and his people and many others Herod was devoured of Worms and many of Lice and the least of creatures if animated by him can stop the breath of the proudest Tyrant and the strongest and most potent Prince without him can do nothing The Devil himself cannot touch one of Jobs Cattel without his leave the fire cannot burn the three children nor the Lyons devour Daniel having no Commission from him A world of Arians could not destroy Athanasius nor a world of Papists Luther and Calvin God as he hath appointed all men to dye so he hath determined by what death the time when and the manner how and the instruments by whom and every circumstance belonging to it If he pleased he can make five of his people put a hundred to flight Lev. 26.8 and a hundred chase ten thousand Isa 69.1 his hand is not shortned that he cannot save neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear I know in our Creation we were by our composition made subject to death but by his blessing had we not sinn'd we had not dyed for sin brought death into the world but when the Fall came man had not only an aptitude to a dissolution but an irrevocable decree past upon him and dye he must and ever since nature of it self tends to ruine and our bodies like an old house must yield to time and fall in pieces God I know hath power in his hand to maintain life longer or take it away sooner and he acteth accordingly he sets one a longer Lease than another as he thinks fit The Fathers of the first ages lived long some of them near to a thousand years in our age few reach a hundred and there are but few that live so long as Nature might spin out their lives but either by some disease some accident some violence or other offered to Nature their lives are cut off Mans body being compounded of the four elements and of contrary qualities heat and cold drought and moisture except God by his special blessing keep these in peace they will strive for the predominancy and indanger the compositum When sin entred into the world Rom. 5.12 death entred by sin and so death passed over all for as much as all have sinned and Christ in the work of Redemption hath not freed us from the first but the second death not from the stroak but the sting of death Christ died not to deliver us from hunger and thirst cold and nakedness sickness and diseases but so far forth as is for our good and God himself and not we our selves must be Judge in the case Christ himself suffered these miseries and dyed by the hand of cruelty and greater than the Master is the Servant cannot be and man is as liable to this as before Christs suffering Nature thou seest disposeth thee to death and God hath determined the time when for God is the God of Nature and disposeth it as he sees good Well maist thou expect death as the wages of sin and every day doth expose thee to some danger or other which may take away thy life Death comes irresistible like an armed man thou hast no time certain no time promised no breath but what God puts into thee and therefore thou shouldest daily expect death let it come in what shape it will or let God send by what messenger he pleaseth thou shouldst bid him welcome thou shouldst stoop willingly under the stroke for 't is but death still thou canst not avoid it therefore make a vertue of necessity Seeing thy Lamp must out 't is not much whether it be put out or burn out whether the tree rot down or be cut down whether the Rose wither or be gathered if the later 't is like to be put into the bosom all is but death and a death thou owest and a death thou must pay thy natural constitution adapts thee to it and God by his decree designs thee to it and 't is thy duty to submit and no reason to the contrary for it is thy interest The potion thou art to drink is prescribed and mixt by the wise Physician the Cup thou art to drink comes out of thy Fathers hand and no more nay not so bitter as he gave his only Son and he drank up the very dregs of it for thy sake yea and there is Sugar put into thine to sweeten it All the circumstances of thy death are determined by him and none can add one dram to the potion he hath mixed for thee and yet dost thou grumble that it is too much or too bitter dost thou think thy self wise enough to alter Gods Eternal Decrees who hath determined thy daies the number of thy months are with him Job 14.5 he hath appointed thy bounds that thou canst not pass Or wilt thou quarrel the messenger he sends and like the foolish dog bite the stone and let the passenger that threw it go free is there evil in the city 〈◊〉 3.6 and the Lord hath not done it without his leave a dog cannot move his tongue against thee nor an enemy his finger whoever be the Instrument God is the Author Isa 10.5 if the King of Assyria be the rod God is he that holds the rod and when the Child is reformed the rod will be burnt David could see God even in Shimei's cursing 2 Sam. 16.10
thy sin that makes thee take so much pains in duty to keep thy heart to God this hides his face from thee that thou canst scarce have a glimpse of him in an Ordinance this is the Root upon which all other sins grow the Spring that feeds all the streams of vice and hence they issue and this is it upon which the Devil fastens all his temptations the want of this made the Devil successeless in his tempting of Christ his fire fell upon wet Tinder and this is the misery of it this sin never dyes for age but the longer we live the stronger it grows some sins are in a decaying condition as to the Act when age disables an Adulterer and some others but this decayes not yea and we propagate it also to our Posterity our children receive it from us and so it will be propagated from one generation to another to the worlds end Oh the horrid nature of this sin 't is the Image of Satan which he stampt upon us when the image of God was lost and this cannot be rased out but by death here thou art troubled with a hard heart a stubborn will disordered affections unruly passions vain thoughts idle imaginations which thou canst not shake off more than thy very Nature this makes thee so unlike to God so like to Satan whose Image thou bearest and whose work thou doest this makes thy duties stink in the nostrils of God and thy whole man Soul and Body out of order this hinders thy communion with thy God and makes him a stranger to thee it makes thee act as an enemy to him and him to thee and thy iniquity hides his face from thee These are the Anakims that terrifie thee these are the sons of Zerviah that are too hard for thee these are the Caananites which are thorns in thine eyes and pricks in thy sides these sins of thine are the cause of all thy trouble thou hadst never had aking head or aking heart or loss or cross or any thing to trouble thee had it not been for sin but from these thou canst not be freed one moment no Prayer no Duty no Action but savours of them this thou art sensible of this burden thou groanest under and lookst upon sin as thy greatest enemy and well thou maist for nothing could hurt thee but for this this it is that makes the soul vulnerable which otherwise man nor Devil could not hurt this thou hast preached against spoke against prayed against thou hast railed upon it and called it all that naught is well now let us see whether thou wast in Earnest or in Jest whether all this was in sincerity or hypocrisie death comes now to free thee from this bondage ease thee of this burden and brings a potion to cure thee when all other Doctors have left thee and can do no good he will bring thee where sin and sorrow shall be no more for into heaven they shall never enter art thou willing of the seperation to give sin a bill of divorce and put it away wilt thou shake hands with it and bid it adieu for ever this potion will purge the soul from all the reliques of this distemper and cleanse the heart which is the fountain of all thy actions and make all the streams thence proceeding run clear and fetch away all those gross humours of sin that filthy lump that lyes upon thy heart and presseth it down and lyes as a clog upon it it will cast out all those unclean Spirits and cleanse those Augean Stables from all pollution this is the only Physitian in the world that can do it and God the great Physician of Souls hath approved of his Recipts and sent him to thee upon this errant to heal thee of the wounds of sin and to restore thee to thy primitive purity wherein thou wast created what saist thou wil't give him entertainment or no The Devil and the damned would take a potion a thousand times bitterer upon the like condition help thou canst not have till thou art purged nor to Heaven thou canst not go for no unclean thing shall ever enter there purged thou canst not be without death for then Christ will wash thee clean with his own blood and sprinkle thee with clean water and present thee to his Father without spot or wrinkle or any such defiling or deforming thing and cure thee of all thy soul distempers and bodily infirmities which shall never more seize upon thee he will say to sin and sorrow as unto the unclean spirit Go out of him Mar. 9.25 and enter no more into him These sins be they that keep thee under the hatches that thou canst not serve God without distractions but death will unpinion thy wings and let thy soul at liberty and then thou shalt never be troubled with vain thoughts or imaginations more thou shalt never speak vain word more or do any sinful action more what wouldst thou give for thy freedom from sin for one month or one year and what now wilt thou give for a perpetual freedom what dost thou yet hang back and art not willing to suffer one hours pain for it is this thy Love to God which thou hast professed that when thou art put to thy choice thou choosest sin before him is this thy hatred of sin that now thou art loth to leave it when it comes to the trial is this the fruits of thy prayer preaching and profession Art thou now at a stand whether to deny thy God or thy Sin and art inclined to choose sin rather than God and hadst rather be present with sin and absent from God and hadst rather live in the suburbs of Hell than dye and come to Heaven and hadst rather enjoy sin for ever than God for ever for till death hath passed over thee thou canst not be free from sin neither canst thou enjoy Happiness for Sin was born with thee and will dye with thee it hath an indwelling in the soul Psal 51.5 thou wast shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin 'T is as natural to thee as to live 't is thy very nature 't is thy very self thou maist as well shake off Nature yea shake off self as shake off sin it sticks closer than the skin to thy back or the flesh to thy bones these may be separated but sin cannot till the great separation between the body and soul and then the same stroak that lets out thy life will let out thy sin and all thy misery which is the consequents of sin this hath caused thee many a sigh and sob and sorrowful hour and many a prayer many an affliction and many a lash of his rod and hindred thee many an hours Communion with thy God it hath spoiled thee many a duty and made thy life a very burthen it hath broke thy peace many a time with God and wounded thy conscience and made God hide his face from thee and many a time he hath whipt
true it wounds thy body but thy Soul is safe but it destroyes them both in body and soul and it brings more profit to the soul than dammage to the body 't is but as the prick of a pin to a dangerous Ulcer which were it not prickt would prove mortal it will put an end to thy pains and a beginning to thy Joyes for when thy life expires sin also dyes and sin and sorrow are breathed out with thy life and from this day thy Lease in Heaven bears date which shall never expire Rouse up thy self O my Soul be not dejected God minds thee no hurt Death will not cannot hurt thee Kill me they may saith the Martyr hurt me they cannot the worst they can do is but to send me to my Fathers house the sooner Many a warning thou hast had many a Corps thou hast interred many a Funeral Sermon thou hast Preached for shame say not thou hadst not sufficient warning wast thou so mad as to think of going to Heaven another way or that thou wast immortal when thou sawest so many about thee dye daily or that thou shouldst live to old age when thou sawest so many dye young and felt so many sensible Symptoms of thy approaching death thou hast as thou didst suppose some grounded hopes that thou hadst a part in the first Resurrection and that therefore the second death on thee had no power and why then is death so terrible Many have more distempers in their Souls than in their Bodies 't is true this is thy case yet thou hast hoped thine are not mortal the malignity of the disease is over when many others have Plague-Sores running upon them these may expect death and have cause to fear it it will but heal thy distempers but inrage theirs thou hast had many meditations of death and many discourses with death and you did seem pretty well agreed thou hast looked death in the face and is he now become more terrible or art thou more timerous that when he comes to thy Bed-side draws thy Curtains and shakes thee by the hand thou tremblest hath Christ done thee no good by his passion by subduing Death disarming him pulling out the sting and trampling him under foot yea laying him prostrate at thy feet hath all the pains thou hast taken in heavens way workt no more upon thee set thee up no higher where now is thy promised obedience and thy prayers Thy will be done when thou art ready to resist Gods Will when 't is manifested and preferrest thine own before it why dost call thy Father the only wise God when thou thinkest thy own wit best and that thou knowest best when 't is best for thee to dye and wilt not submit to his will and that if thou wouldst speak out thy mind is to indent with Christ this thou wilt do or Suffer but not that this sin thou wilt leave but that thou wilt not thou wouldst pick and choose thy duties and take the easiest part of it and leave the difficult dangerous and costly part undone and wilt not have heaven at so dear a rate Thou pretendest a desire to be happy and who doth not Balaam desires the death of the righteous and that his end may be like his but they will not live the righteous mans life and thou art not willing to dye his death for he is conformable to the will of God both in life and death which is that thou dost dislike O my Soul some great thing is amiss with thee thy corruptions are as strong fetters to hold thee in the Devils Slavery thy grace is weak and cannot procure thy freedom the Devil is too cunning for thee the world subtil and thy own heart deceitful to betray thee into Satans hands Oh my God this is my condition this is the estate of my Soul here lyes my distemper the world lyes too close to my heart and Christ lyes at too great a distance my corrupt deceitful heart is ever and anon puting me on to choose this for my happiness a little Grace I see will not carry me through the temptations that lye before me but Lord speak the word and grace will flourish and corruption will dye thou hast said and I believe it that thou wilt not break the bruised reed Mat. 12.20 nor quench the smoaking flax till thou bring forth Judgment unto victory Lord I believe help my unbelief and let not my little grace be lost in the great heap of the rubbish of my corruptions Lord if thou open mine eyes to see the emptiness of the creature and the fulness of Christ then shall I love the one and despise the other Psal 119.32 and shall run the ways of thy Commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart I see no reason why I should be exempted from obeying thy Will even to the laying down of my life and though flesh and blood will not yield willing obedience to it yet 't is my resolution thus to do Lord strengthen my resolution I know my fears are the result of my Infidelity Lord strengthen my faith that I may overcome them for by thy strength I shall stand and without thy assisting grace I shall Apostatize and fall back Leave me not to my self for then I shall undo my self dishonour my God scandalize Religion bring a reproach upon the Gospel wound my Conscience break my Peace with my God and undo my Soul Luk. 9.62 Let me not O Lord now I have put my hand to the Plow look back again Nor when I have begun in the Spirit Gal. 3.3 end in the flesh Rev. 2.10 Lord make me faithful to the death and then give me a Crown of Life MEDITAT V. The World is not desirable to a Christian OH my Soul why art thou desirous to stay in the World and why so unwilling to go to thy Father The time was when thou wast otherwise minded thou lookedst upon it as Bochim a place of tears a Golgotha an unlovely habitation thou wast not willing to dwell in Meseck and in the tents of Kedar thy affections did like fire mount upward and what Load-stone hast now to draw thee back thou wast at a point with all things under the Sun and didst wear the World about thee as a loose garment ready to cast off upon all occasions and dost now spit upon thy hands and take better hold dost now set up thy Staff and with Peter say 't is good being here Art now beginning to build Tabernacles here and slight that house not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens thou didst conclude with Solomon Eccles 1.14 All is Vanity and vexation of spirit and now at last hast found some solidity 2 Pet. 2.22 art thou now returnining with the dog to his Vomit and the washed Sow to her wallowing in the Mire are the Scales of ignorance now fallen from thine eyes and dost thou see some excellency in the worlds enjoyments that before
hast as much Grace as thou desirest why then dost pray for an increase and usest means to strengthen it Why Death will bring thee to perfection canst thou content thy self with a low frame of Spirit and a small measure of Grace why dost thou theâ— complain that thou canst not serve God with greater freedom and that thy duties are performed so deadly dully and drowsily and with so much distraction and yet art content with them as they are and longest not for the time when thou shalt serve him without distraction and never have wandring thought more thou complainest that thou feedest upon the husks of duty and findest not God in the duty and yet art willing to rest in this condition and longest not for the time when thou shalt solace thy self in his love serve him according to his will and enjoy him for ever dost thou do God as good service as thou desirest and doth he reward thee here according to thy content art thou fully satisfied and dost expect no more at his hands art thou satisfied for all thy duties losses crosses and afflictions if so why hast thou put up so many vain petitions wherein thou beggedst for greater matters nay what matter had it been if thou hadst never put up any petition for such a portion is given to those that never care to Pray Hear Read or do any Religious Duty but if thou expect a better reward why then art thou afraid of death which puts thee into the possession of it Why art thou afraid of having thy prayers answered and thy requests granted and a reward given thee an hundred fold if thou pressest after perfection why art thou afraid of it when it cannot be obtained on this side Death wouldst not have thy prayers granted death will conduct thee where it shall be done but it is in vain to expect it on this side Heaven art thou afraid of being called out of the Vineyard to receive thy wages and wilt rather lose thy labour than go home for thy pay hast so eagerly pursued after happiness and when thou comest within sight of it doth thy heart fall thee or wouldst thou find happiness where no man ever did or dost expect it to be sown in the furrows of thy field art thou searching for Honey in a Wasps nest None of these things can be had in this world they are reserved for Heaven sin will not dye till thou dyest nor leave thee till body and Soul are separated serve God thou canst not till thou come to Heaven without distraction thy graces will be imperfect thy knowledge weak thy love cold thy obedience imperfect and all thy Graces maimed and thy corruptions will be strong 1 Cor. 15.54 Lev. 14.44 till this corruptible hath put on incorruption and thi mortal hath put on immortality and these natural bodies become spiritual and then deathshall be swallowed up of Victory Sin in thee here is like a Leprosie in the House it will not be cleansed till the house be pull'd down it is in thy very nature and sticks as close as the skin to thy flesh yea as the flesh to thy bones and more close these may be separated but so cannot sin while we live till Death make the division this polluteth the heart which is the fountain and hence the streams are filthy for like corruption it lyes within and will break out in some botch or other the very heart and conscience the affections actions life and conversation are polluted so that thou maist say with the Leapers Vnclean Vnclean and thus it will be while thou art in the world and there is no other way to cleanse thee or make thee whole but passing under the stroak of Death this lances the Ulcer and heals the Sore and while sin goes before misery follows for this follows sin as the Shadow the Substance or the effect the cause and the same hand that cures the one heals the other also for in Heaven sin and sorrow shall be no more yea sorrow and sighing shall flee way and there shall be no more pain abut till we are rid of sin we shall never be rid of sorrow the natural effect of it Nil valet medicamentum dum ferrum in vulnere thou maist as well expect fire without heat or water without moisture or a stone without weight as sin without sorrow here thou maist expect to lie under an afflicted condition while thou livest and the holier thou art the worse entertainment thou art like to meet with in the world it will love her own but hate the godly as it hated Christ 't is a Step-mother to them but an own mother to the wicked these she nourishes but would starve the other if the their Father did not look to them It is by reason of sin that our lives are so bitter and we live inter suspiria lachrymas between sighs and groans here thou livest alwaies under the hatches 2 Cor. 12.7 and alwaies hast some thorn in the flesh some messenger of Satan sent to buffet thee and being amidst these storms and tempests driven from side to side and alwaies in danger canst thou fear a safe harbour when thou art weary canst thou be afraid of rest or being hungry or thirsty art afraid of meat and drink all manner of miseries attend us here in this vale of tears and whatsoever outward misery a wicked man suffers a child of God may suffer the like Eccle. 9.2 all things fall alike to all as to the good so to the bad and is not that Physician welcome that will free us from all these we pay our Physician if he heals us of one distemper our Surgeon if he cure one wound but death deserves more that cures us of all that is called evil here thou livest in the midst of thy enemies they are both within and without some seek thy estate others thy good name some thy liberty and some thy life and others thy soul and these lay snares accordingly to take their prey and dost thou choose to live in such a Neighbourhood thy very sences are the floodgates to let in sin thou canst scarcely open thy eyes or ears or any other sence but some bewitching object or other presents it self and the Devil baits his hooks with it to Angle for thy soul one vanity or other comes in at these windows either to provoke pride or covetousness or passion or luxury or some vice or other that lodges in the heart these are the five Cinque-Ports and here the Devil many times sails in with the Tide Jer. 17.9 And thy heart is deceitful also and desperately wicked and ready to betray thee into thine enemies hands thy very Relations many times prove a snare and either draw away thy affections inordinately to them or incline thee more to accept of life upon unlawful terms This was Spira's ruine thy Children and Servants many times prove thy trouble either beholding them under Sufferings or fearing
of good Christians have suffered death under this pretence For a good work said the Jewes we stone thee not but for blasphemy This sect is every where spoken against And after the way which men call heresie saith the Apostle so worship I the God of my Fathers There 's none that persecute the Saints as Saints but as Offenders no man will put an innocent man to death under that notion the Devil hath taught them their lesson better than so Job is not punisht as a righteous man but a hypocrite that served God for gain and if God restrained his wages he would curse God to his face Daniel must be cast into the Lions den and the three children into the fiery furnace for breaking the Kings Laws and the Jews put all to death in Hamans time being against the Kings profit He that would kill a dog saith the proverb must say he was mad But these aspersions are not inconsistent with eternal salvation 'T is true thou art a great offender against God and so deservest death but thou art not like to suffer upon this account greater offenders escape safe but thy fault is that thou wilt not betray the Truth thou wilt not worship God according to mens Inventions thou wilt not bow down to their Idols who set up their Dagon by the Ark these things are most like to lay thee open to sufferings rather than Atheism debauchery or open prophaness But if it be thus thou art not the first innocent person that hath been oppressed in judgment neither art thou like to be the last Eccle. 7.15 't is no strange thing to see a righteous man perish in his righteousness but thy innocent blood if shed will like the blood of Abel cry from the earth for revenge and do them more hurâ— thau the stroak of death can do to thee and thy cause will be cal'd over again and tryed at another Barr and if maintaining the Truth and keeping a good conscience and standing close to thâ— cause of Christ be the cause of thâ— sufferings fear not thou shalt hereater be acquitted when thine enemies shall be condemned and Heresie then will be otherwise defined than now they do Oh my God I see death cannot hurt me my enemies cannot hinder my happiness if my own deceitful heart do not deceive me Lord leave me not to my self for then I shall miscarry Lord through thy strength I shall be strong and if thou leave I can do nothing Lord qualifie me fit for suffering and death and then command what thou wilt MEDITAT VIII The Miseries Death frees us from OH my Soul what saist thou yet wilt thou submit to God even to the death and leave it to Gods dispose what death thou shalt dye whether a natural death or a violent thou seest neither can hurt thee if thou be prepared either will undo thee if thou be not and therefore thou needst not to fear it nay it will do thee much good and therefore thou maist desire it with submission to thy Makers will thou maist sing with Paul that Swan-like song Cupio dissolvi I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all There are three things especially which make thy life uncomfortable to thee and that is Sin Sorrow and Temptations and from those or either of those thou canst never be freed by any but death sin is the cause of misery and temptations the cause of sin while thou art in the world thou art under the tyranny of sin and while sin lives sorrow never dies for afflictions follow sin as the shadow doth the substance or the effect the cause and while there is a Devil in hell and thou be on earth thou canst never be free from his assaults 'T is true in the Creation the soul was made innocent and the body spotless but by the Devils instigations Man lost his integrity sinned against God and so lost his Image and in the room of Original righteousness stamped upon his soul he hath Original sin so that thy whole man soul and body is polluted and that in all the powers and faculties of the soul and the body is become the instrument to act the sâ—â—s the soul conceives thou broughtest a poysonful Nature with thee into the world which thou canst not be stript of while thou art in the world yea before thou couldst sin thou wast sinful and before thou couldst act reason thou wast guilty of Treason against thy God thou broughtest the spawn of all sin with thee as a Wolf brings his wolvish nature into the world or a Toad or Serpent a noxious quality though when young they cannot reduce it into act Corruption hath naturally a seat in the soul from within come murders adulteries c. It possesseth the noblest powers and faculties of it Now a Swine in the Garden is not seemly much less in the Parlour or the Bed-chamber it takes up its residence in the heart which is the room wherein Christ himself should lodge This original corruption with which thou art tainted is virtually every sin for it is the Spawn of it there is no sin acted but the seed of it lyes here and hence it is thou art so disposed to evil and so averse from good there is no sin so bad but thou hast an inclination to it if this seed be watered with a temptation if the restraining or Sanctifying grace of God prevent not and no duty so good but this sets thy heart against it the very Praising of God that Angelical duty is opposed by this original sin This sin of Nature this original corruption is universal and that makes it much worse universal in respect of Time even from the fall to the end of the world no day free from this sin some sin reigns most in some Ages this in every Age. Also in respect of Persons no meer man was ever free since the fall no son of Adam or daughter of Eve other sins some persons may be and are little infected with but this all stand infected with And in respect of Parts 't is universal also no power of the soul no member of the body free from it and 't is continual and perpetual without any Intermission thou canst not leave it behind in one duty 'T is said that some Serpents when they go to drink lay by their poyson as also when they go to generate This I know not but this I am sure of thou canst not lay aside thy sinful nature yea when thou makest thy Addresses to God himself thou mayst haply lay aside the acting of sin but not being sinful for couldst thou leave thy sin behind thee thou mightest have more sweet communion with thy God in one Duty than now thou canst have in all thy duties for 't is sin that stains all thy duties and makes them signifie little to thee and wert thou not in Christ God would hate them and throw them back into thy face with disdain 't is
thee home and now art fallen in love with it that thou wilt not leave it and rid of it thou canst not be till death let out thy life 't is only in the Grave thou wilt be at rest and hid from sin which then cannot find thee nor any miseries which now are the effects of sin nor from the temptations which are the inducements to sin and dost thou yet tremble to part with such an Enemy thou hast pretended Enmity to sin and been at Daggers drawing with it and art now reconciled to it it hath been thy trouble to have it and is it now thy trouble to leave it many a poysoned Arrow the Devil hath shot at thee and wouldst still be his Butt to receive his Arrows and venomous Shafts These Hell-hounds haunt thee and will hunt thee till thou art in thy Grave there they will lose the scent and can follow thee no longer here is thy Borough thy hiding place where thou art shut in by God and secure Here the weary are at rest here the Prisoners are secure and hear not the voice of the Oppressour here thou shalt be freed from all that is called misery Sin is an imperious Tenant or Inmate it will not out till the house be pull'd down yea will turn the Landlord out of doors Oh what hard hap had man to admit of such a Guest but this is thy comfort sin is but a Tenant at will not at thy will but the Will of God who will shortly pull down the House and set thee at liberty and Oh! thy madness that though thou canst no other way be rid of it yet art unwilling to dye and be happy In Heaven Paul shall never cry out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death Here the unclean conversations of the wicked shall never vex the Soul of righteous Lot David here shall never water his Couch with his tears nor Jeremy wish his heart full of water and his eyes a fountain of tears to weep day and night for the destruction of his people There is nothing here that can procure misery for here sin shall be shut out for no unclean thing shall ever enter But it is not sin only but sorrow also as well as sin shall be done away for when the cause is removed the effect shall cease It was sin that brought Death into the World and all the forerunners of it yea all the concomitants and consequents of it here thou art troubled with a sickly body subject to many infirmities many pains aches griefs and troubles scarce a waking hour free from pain and from head to foot scarce a free part but one pain or other doth molest it some pain ache or grief attends it every sense as 't is an inlet to sin so 't is to pain and misery to let in one trouble or other into the Soul and help to affect the heart with some fear or care or grief or trouble and these consume it as the scorching Sun the tender Flowers Oh how tender a piece is this dust-heap thy Body more brittle than glass it self a little cold or heat soon molests it how many tender Membranes Sinews Arteries Veins Muscles c. are therein contained and every one subject to obstructions extentions contractions dislocations c. and upon this distempers necessarily follow well maist thou say with Job Job 3 4.13 14 15. I am made to possess moneths of vanity and wearisom nights are appointed to me When I lye down I say When shall I arise and the night be gone and I am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day When I say my Bed shall comfort me and my Couch shall ease my complaint then thou scarest me with Dreams and terrifiest me through Visions So that my Soul chooseth strangling and Death rather than Life What bitter pills what nauseous potions dost thou take when sugered with the hopes of health what crying out Oh my Back Oh my Head Oh my Heart Oh my Bones Oh what would I give for a little ease a little rest a little sleep for a Stomach my Stomach nauseates my meat when others want meat for their craving Appetite and how hard a thing is it to keep up this poor old decaying ruinous Cottage in repair one Wall or other is continually ready to fall to ruine and at which door Death will enter is not yet known and when it comes it will but destroy thy body which for the Materials of it are no better than the body of a Beast which ere long will fall for Death is all this while undermining it and the rational Soul doth only keep it from putrefaction and Death is but a departing of the Soul from it to Glory and why shouldst be troubled to have the Prison-walls pull'd down and the Prisoner set at liberty why art unwilling to lay aside this flesh which hath taken part with Satan against thy God and is at present a temptation to thee with Peter to deny thy Master why choosest thou to live in a darksome nasty Prison where thy Wings are pinioned that thou canst not mount up to thy God where thou hadst thy Original this body is but a clog at thy heels and never was intended for thy dwelling place but only as a Tent or Pavilion an Inne or resting place for a night where like a wayfaring man thou maist rest for a while and away but here thou hast no continuing City thou art passing on to another place Phil. 3.21 to a Mansion a House not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens which Christ at his departing provided for thee when this Tabernacle shall be built into a Temple for God shall change this thy Vile body that it may be like unto his Glorious body and why then dost content thy self in this dirty Cell when thou maist have such a glorious habitation doth thy heart ake to think that the time is coming it shall never ake more or dost thou weep to think all tears shall be wiped from thine eyes and thou shalt never weep more or is it a matter of grief think'st that thou shalt never grieve more and art afflicted to think thy afflictions are at an end what unnatural sorrow is this art thou sick to think that in Heaven thou shalt never more know what sickness means or that thou shalt never more have an aking Head or an aking Heart here thou wilt be freed from whatsoever may be properly called Evil and shalt want nothing that is really good Here Christians themselves prove stumbling-block's in each others way which causeth tears from the eyes and sorrow from the heart but there the fire of love will consume the thorns of contention here corruptions like thorns serve to keep the fire of contention alive and those flames are more like to burn up their graces than their dross for the divisions of Reuben there are great thoughts of heart Judg. 5.15 but
here is no such thing Ridley and Hooper here accord Luther and Calvin are made Friends those Rivers of pleasure at Gods right hand quench all the sparks of contention pride and ignorance hath kindled among the godly and there is no bone of contention thrown among them there is nothing but sweet peace and concord and what was weak is there made strong and as no contention so no sorrow upon that account Every son of the first Adam came into the world crying and every son of the second Adam while he is in the world hath cause to cry God had one Son without sin but none without sorrow Christ himself was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief God chasteneth every son he receiveth and scourgeth those he loveth Heb. 12.8 If we be not chastized we are bastards and not sons But at death thy sorrow shall cease and thy joyes commence there shall be no more pain no more death for sorrow and sighing shall fly away But as thou shalt have an everlasting freedom from all hellish flames which is the portion of the wicked and their cup put into their hands by God so shalt thou have everlasting freedom from all temporal sorrow which is the godly mans cup and lot while they are here put into their hands by their loving Father here thou shalt be freed from sin the world and the Devil thy mortal thy sworn enemies thou shalt never more have a pale face a languishing body trembling joynts a dim sight or any infirmity or deformity there shall be none that stoop for age or any immature youth but all perfect men and women in the prime of their age as 't is conceived about the age and stature of Christ as Divines think the Apostle alludeth to that when he saith Eph. 4.13 Till we come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Unto such a stature that we should have been at had there been no infirmity or defirmity had hindred here we shall have no peccant humour no languishing disease no carking care no griping grief no fretting fear no consuming evil nay nothing that bears the name of evil the Wormwood and the Gall shall there cease for ever and sickness and diseases shall be no more no predominancy of humours no hurtful quality shall accompany our bodies when they are glorified Exod. 14.13 When this corruption shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality then may we say of sin and sorrow as Moses of the Egyptians These your enemies which you see to day ye shall see them no more for ever For as no unclean thing shall ever enter Heaven nor shall any thing that bespeaks sorrow or suffering we shall deal by these when we ascend into Heaven as Abraham did by his Servants when he went to offer his Son Isaac in Sacrifice leave them at the foot of the hill for if sin enter not there is no place for sorrow but unspeakable glory transcendent Joyes pleasure for evermore and though the glory there be inconceivable yet the faculties of the Soul shall be enlarged to receive it without offence now we cannot behold the Sun in its lustre but 't is an offence to the eye but then thou shalt be capacitated to behold a glory ten thousand times greater than the Sun with delight and shall not this death which ends all our sorrows and miseries and ushers us into this glory be welcome to us Nay but this is not all thou hast not only a crazy tottering ruinous house to live in but thou livest among bad Neighbours also and there is little comfort in a bad Neighbour-hood the house where thou dwellest is haunted with evil Spirits and thou canst have no freedom day nor night these continually trouble thee day and night and infest thee even in thy holy duties while sin that is the Devils daughter and his darling lives there her Father will not be absent and his presence is uncomfortable to a godly man he is thy sworn enemy and thou canst not be rid of him though thou givest him never so many foils he will not desist neither canst thou make any peace with him but upon harder terms than the men of Jabesh Gilead were offered by Nahash the Ammonite to put out their right eyes but nothing but the everlasting damnation of body and soul will serve him many a blasphemous temptation and many a poysoned arrow he darts into the Soul many a foul suggestion and fain would he make a rape of her he frequently storms the chief Fort Oh the hourly danger that thou art in by reason of his temptations and thine own corruptions for this is as Tinder to the fire ready to catch upon all occasions and many a time he enters the breach and if he were not beat back again would destroy the Fort of the soul many a snare and gin he layes for thee and baits his hooks according to thy inclination sometimes with one Bait sometimes with another like as a cunning Angler doth for Fish or the Fowler for Birds and what he finds most taking that he useth most sometimes he moves thee to presume if that prevail not to despair sometimes to neglect Duties if that serve not to trust in them or be proud of them sometimes to be proud of thy Enjoyments at another time to despond or murmur at thy wants or disappointments sometimes he baits his hooks with thy Relations and either perswades thee to Idolize them or moves them as he did Peter to tempt Christ Master save thy self and this proved Spira's ruine and I doubt not hath ruined many in this age He doth what he can to fly-blow all thy Duties and render them odious to God and takes advantage by every action thou dost making thee to neglect it or he foists in some by or base ends of his own into it or makes thee pride in it if things succeed to thy mind he puffs thee up with pride if thou meet with disappointments he makes thee repine and makes thee believe the world is a bad pay-master yea God himself a hard Master and that thou deservest better at his hand and as to thy calling sometimes he perswades thee that thou takest a great deal of pains for little or no profit and hast no competent reward for thy labour and therefore 't is better give it over and live at ease sometimes he perswades thee thy calling is honourable and would lift thee up above thy brethren a thousand are the shares which he layes in thy way to entrap thee and although thou shouldest repell them yet 't is a great trouble to be thus continually haunted by them as it is for a Chaste woman to be alway troubled with the unclean motions of a filthy Adulterer and as the Devil so the world layes traps for thee sometimes in pleasures sometimes
the folly of men thus to fear a temporal death and not to matter death eternal to fear the wrath of man and not the anger of Almighty God to fear the death of the Body and despise the death of the Soul to fear the creature more than the Creator that feareth the rage of man and not the wrath of Almighty God Gregory In hell there is death without death and end without end because death ever liveth and the end ever beginneth for death will never dye Oh how sweet would death be there accounted if it would take away life and not compell those to live that would fain dye Oh the stupidity of men when a small loss will wring tears from their eyes and an infinite and irrecoverable loss is not regarded yea the speech of it they can digest with laughter Many quake and tremble to come before an earthly Judge and when they are going before the eternal Judge can sport themselves in the way they fear to lanch forth into the Sea and not to lanch forth into this infinite Ocean of Eternity for hell torments are not only easeless but endless and remediless While there is life there is hope but where the breath is gone the hope is past while the door is open there is entrance but when 't is once shut though thou knock it will not be opened When the soul is separated from the body of a wicked man God will be separated from the soul and an uniting time will never come Christ stands now to receive repenting Sinners but his Spirit will not alwayes strive with them the door will be shut and only those that are ready will go in to the marriage This is the time when the Father will receive a repenting returning prodigal but it will not last long God will put an end to the day of grace the night comes when no man can work the Sun will set that shall never rise and the day end that shall never dawn again and then all hopes of wicked men will be dasht for as the tree falleth whether to the north or south east or west there it shall lye That tree that falls hellward there it will lye for ever For after this life is no redemption for ever let the Pope say what he will to the contrary their feigned Purgatory will prove a delusion the fire thereof was only kindled to make the Popes Kitchin warm but hell fire is of another nature for all their Masses Dirges and Prayers cannot deliver one soul from thence But if the sentence of condemnation be once past and damned souls delivered up to their tormentors there is no help all conclude this decree is irrevocable and hell torments remediless Here the worm saith Christ dyeth not Mark 9.44 and the fire never goeth out Mat. 25.41 46. Rev. 20.10 15. and Christ calls hell torments everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels yea he calls it everlasting punishment the Devil that deceived the world shall then be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false Prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever into which lake of fire whosoever is not found written in the book of life shall be cast and many the like expressions we may find in Scripture which plainly tells us the perpetuity of hell torments where 't is called Everlasting darkness Jude 13. 2 Thes 1.7.8 eternal fire everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power How little foundation is there then for Origens opinion that after a time the Devils and the damned should be refined by this fire and should be delivered but what Scripture speaks thus and if the Scripture be silent nay speak point blank contrary where is the foundation of this fancy Micah 6.7 it is not with thousand of rams nor with ten thousand rivers of oyl that they can be redeemed the first born of their bodies will not be taken as satisfaction for the sin of their souls Mat. 16.26 and what saith Christ shall a man give in exchange for his soul The rich glutton with all his wealth Luk. 16. with all his prayers and intreaties could not purchase one dram of water to cool his tongue and this was far short of ransoming his soul Prayers and tears then will not serve turn they are good preventing physick Though as one saith we should wear our tongues to the stump Shepard Sincere convert and weep more tears than there is water in the sea it will do no good It was not with corruptible things as silver and gold thou wast redeemed from thy vain conversation received by tradition from thy Fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot but if we now neglect this great Salvation and despise the offers of mercy in the daies of our life what remains for us but a fearful looking for of judgment and if the earth were turned into a globe of Gold or an heap of Diamonds and all offered for the redemption of a lost soul it would be rejected for this is not the blood of Christ nay this blood it self though more precious than the world would not serve in this case neither for it was never shed to this end to redeem souls out of hell though it was shed to keep them from hell and is of infinite value to this end nay if damned souls should obtain the prayers of all the Saints yea Angels in heaven it would do them no good Prayer here if pointed by faith may pierce heaven and prevail for a blessing Jam. 5.15 The Prayer of faith may save the sick and if he have committed sins they may be forgiven but prayers for the damned are out of season there is a time when God will be found and a time when he will not be found When the door is once shut it is not knocking then will open it yea the Angels and glorified Saints will then rejoyce in their damnation that God is glorified by it and those Ministers that now weep over their people and pity them will then pity them no more for ever yea to speak with reverence God himself cannot then help them not that he wants power for he could turn Heaven and Hell and all into nothing but he is infinite in justice and truth as well as power and this would intrench upon his Justice and Truth his word is out to the contrary and he may as well deny himself as his word yea he will be so far from an inclination this way Pro. 1.24 that he will laugh at their destruction and mock when their fear cometh in a word there is no ransome for a miserable soul the blood of Christ was of sufficient price to have saved the world had it been applyed for the end it was shed for but lost souls and damned Spirits have no interest in
conceptions can a brute beast have of a Rational being no better can we have of celestial things which are so far out of the reach of sense Kings are the highest degree of honour and dignity among men and therefore all the Saints are said to be Kings Kings wear Crowns and so do they but these Crowns are not made of gold but of Glory but what that glory is we yet know not God is the Sun of righteousness that casteth abroad his beams and the Angels and glorified Saints are as the Moon that are inlightned with his rayes and by reflexion become light and shine as the Stars in the Firmament by their borrowed light and how many millions of Suns then will appear at once in this Horizon which shall never set again Oh the wonderful love and mercy of God! that this body of clay shall then shine as the Sun and be made like unto the glorified body of the Lord Christ this is the place where sin and sorrow shall be no more they shall never enter these gates or ever reach the heart of any Believer no painful pang no hard labour no sickness no sorrow nothing that bespeaks evil shall ever enter but everlaststing Joy and endless triumph those that believe this and believe that they have a have a part in this they may well say with Paul I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ If Cleombeotus hearing Plato's discourse of the Immortality of the soul hastened his own death that he might have the pleasure of another world well may a Christian though not lay violent hands upon himself yet wait every day when his appointed time come and cry out Come Lord Jesus come quickly Thus thou seest the place is glorious and the company delightful and adding more lustre to the place and more happiness to one another Here upon earth as thou art among sorrows and troubles so in a bad Neighbourhood even among men spiritually dead most thou conversest with are so and who but mad men would live among the tombes every family have some most families have all thus dead in trespasses and sins nay not only dead but infectious also every one hath some plague-sore or other running upon him and thou art apt to take the infection nay many are infected to the danger of the life of the soul and who would live in such an infected air in such a pest-house thou livest also amongst enemies some open some secret the latter many times worst of all some seek thy Estate by unjust dealing some would rob thee of thy good Name by detraction and reproaches by lyes and slanders others of thy liberty by persecution and some of thy life but the greatest enemies seek the destruction of both body and soul and all these lay snares in thy way to intrap thee many wait for thy halting and for an occasion to do thee a mischief but in heaven here is a good neighbourhood good society the inhabitants there are free from guile free from corruption self seeking every one loving another as himself and God better than all here both the Saints and Angels are perfect in Holiness without spot or stain without sin or sinful inclination here thou shalt sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of thy Father and have no worse company than the Spirits of just men made perfect It was Socrates the wisest of the Philosophers comfort when he was to dye that he should after death converse with Homer Hesiod and other excellent men in another world It was Cato's comfort against the pains of death that now he was to leave the Colluvies as he calls them that filthy sordid base unworthy company with which he was forc'd to converse those beastly belly-gods and that he should converse with the Souls of wise men departed But of all men in the world believers may comfort themselves that they shall in Heaven enjoy the company of Saints and Angels yea with God himself and come to the City of the great King Heb. 12.23 the Heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven for if the Society of the Saints were so delightful here when yet they had their Sins and Imperfections what will they be there when they shall be there when they shall be healed of all their corruptions if here they were Comely though black what will they be when they are without Spot or wrinkle here on Earth they are like fire-sticks setting one another on a flame of love provoking each other to love and to good works building each other up in their most holy faith exciting each others zeal for Gods glory and the common good watching over each other sympathizing each with other and helping to bear each others aflictions but oh how sweet then wilâ— their Society be when all imperfections shall be done away and they shall be perfect in holiness when nothing will appear but perfect Love Unity and Amity one with another when all shall be of one mind and every one shall speak the same thing and there shall be nothing to interrupt their joy or break their peace or frustrate their hopes or cross their wills Oh blessed Society between whom is no strife no contention no difference in judgment no discontent can arise where there is no hypocrite dissembler or hollow-hearted person among them but all mind all pursue the same thing the praise of their dear Redeemer when there is no Error in Judgment no disorder in the affections no disobedience in their wills no trouble in the conscience no defect in the memory Oh happy day when will it come when I shall enjoy those miriads of Angels and glorified Saints in glory here the Saints are tossed to and fro in the world as if they were not fit to live in it but there they come to their resting place this is their center where they are as firm as mount Sion and shall not be moved here is their work but there is their wages here is their suffering there is their Reward here is their pilgrimage there is their Country here they are subject to infirmities there they are made perfect in holiness here are those nimble Posts of Heaven Gen. 28.12 which Jacob saw ascending and descending upon the Ladder in his Vision these are Gods Army these are Believers Guardians and in Heaven they shall be their fellow Brethren here are the Noble Army of Martyrs that loved not their lives to the death whose garments were dyed red with their own blood Rev. 14. and now are made white in the blood of the Lamb here are the hundred forty four thousand John saw with harps in their hands which follow the Lamb which way soever he goes singing Halelujahs Salvation honour power and glory be unto our God here are the innumerable company which he saw out of all Nations and Countries and Languages which no man