sloth and negligence by our omissions of duty or trifling in it by too great a conformity to the World and too easie a compliance with the men fashions and customs of it by listening to Temptations and running upon the occasions of sin by the immoderate use of things lawful or venturing upon what is unlawful really in its self or at least so to us because doubtful how oft by going contrary to the light of our Minds the checks of Conscience the Motions of the Holy Spirit the Directions of the Word and the rebukes of Providence do we even the best of us displease God grieve his Spirit break our peace disquiet our Minds and wound our own Consciences and how soon doth God by frowns and rebukes by withdrawing himself hiding his face denying a sense of his love and suspending in part or in whole the witnessing and comforting presence of his Spirit tell us he is displeas'd and make us sensibly know find and feel he is so are we not hereupon on a sudden left in darkness to be scared with our own melancholy guilty thoughts and the blacker suggestions of Satan the accuser of the Brethren Are we not bowed down greatly and our Souls not only Rev. 12 1â— disquieted but cast down within us Is not the day gloomy the cloud thick the night very dark and does not the poor deserted Soul with warm affection and passionate longing cry out Oh! that I could see him Don't we at such a time mourn and complain and cry out of the sadness of our Case to God and Man Are we not forc't in the bitterness of our Souls and anguish of our Spirits to say Oh! that it were with me as in months past when the Light of Gods Countenance was bright and shining and I convers'd with the Majesty of Heaven as a Man with his friend but it is not wo is me It is not so now oh that it were Lord when shall it be How oft do the Children of Light walk in darkness question their Adoption and Sonship their Covenant-Interest in and Relation unto God! How oft is there a Curtain drawn between Them and Heaven the Face of God Vail'd and the Light of his Countenance Eclips'd How oft does he withdraw and they cannot find wrap himself up in Clouds and Darkness and they cannot see him with what a pained heart grieved Soul with what an accent of sorrow does such an one cry out My God My God 〈◊〉 hast thou forsaken me I was 〈…〉 wonted to have Communion with God in Prayer to see him at a Sacrament I have had that enjoyment of God which 〈◊〉 would not have been without for all the 〈◊〉 Time was the Sabbath was my best day I long'd for the dawning of it and with joy welcom'd the Morning Light 〈◊〉 Ordinances where my delight 〈…〉 has often said how amiable are 〈…〉 〈…〉 O Lord of Hosts My Soul 〈…〉 yea even fainteth for the Courts of 〈…〉 Heart and my Flesh drieth out 〈…〉 God but now O my Soul what a change is this I pray but he giveth 〈…〉 answer I go to his Table with this Wish Let him kiss me with the 〈…〉 kisses of his Mouth but even there month after month I do not see the King's Face if he be my God my Father and Friend why is it thus with me from how many may we hear such bitter complaints as these But the Righteous at Death hath hope of deliverance from these inward spiritual and therefore most afflictive evils and such an â—â—e in the Evening of Life may say after a â—â—â—tle while and I shall no more offend grieve or displease my heavenly Father and he will always look upon me with a smiling Face a favourable Eye and a pleased Countenance I shall noâ— see him as I now do in a Glass 1 Co. 13. 1â— darâ—ly but Face to Face I shall dwell in his Presence stand before his Throne and enjoy his Favour which is better than Life I shall love God and feel that I love him God shall love me and make me know it and tho' I have often questioned both yet then I shall douâ—t of neither I have had many cloudy days disconsolate hours and dark nights many sad thoughts perplexing doubts and tormenting fears as to my spiritual and eternal state O ETERNITY ETERNITY how have the thoughts of it amaz d troubled me and sometimes made me even tremble but in this sickness I am better satisfied than ever now my fears are gone my doubts in great part resolv'd Now Evening is come and it is neither day nor night the light of Gods Countenance â—â—ch 14. 7. shines upon me Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his Psal 103. 1. Holy Name this is but the pledge of those more full and lasting Beams which shall scatter all my Clouds what I now feel is but a little a very little to what I shall Are the shadows of the Evening stretched out upon me Is night coming It is day the light of Gods Countenance makes it day and blessed be God this is but the dawning of that everlasting day which now is near hand and which will perfectly and for ever scatter all my fears Thus the Righteous hath hope in his death of an absolute freedom and final deliverance from these great and almost insuppâ—rtable evils we wretched mortals we who yet dwell in flesh are exposed to he can and he does hope that after a few hours he shall be afflicted pestered with sin buffeted by Satan deserted by God no more for ever tho' he cannot see his Lusts actually giving up the Ghost and dying yet he hopes he and his sins shall dye together tho' Satan may Dog him to the utmost borders of time yet he hopes he shall not follow him into Eternity that tho' some scruples may remain and his afflictions and pains will not be over 'till death hath done its work yet he hopes death will put an end to all Secondly The Righteous hath hope in his Death what hath he then hope of of a Convoy of blessed and holy Angels to secure his passage to the other World Man consists of a Body and Soul when he dies a separation is made the body is left the Soul is gone friends take care of the Body that it may have a decent Burial and truly some respect and honour is due to the Corps to the very dust of them who sleep in Jesus and even after death remain united to him as to this the dying Christian is not much concern'd for he knows his Lord will find it at his coming where-ever it be laid but the Soul being more noble his great care is for that and he hopes Angels will be ready to conduct in to the glorious and eternal Mansions above Holy and confirmed Angels who have as much good nature in them as they have strength and power are very serviceable to us men especially to
unclean persons who have frequented the House of the strange Woman have found that her House inclineth Prov. 2. 18. to death and her path unto the Dead Ah wretched men sottish sinners What do they do but violently break the thred of Life When it might have been spun out to a further length by sinning against God they murder their Bodies as well as damn their Souls send one to the Grave and the other to Hell before the time Infinite folly But yet the most holy and righteous have the seeds of corruption in them and are mortal as the Garment breeds the Moth which frets it So we the Diseases which sooner or later will send us to our long home The righteous Eccles 12. 5 are subject to the same sicknesses and diseases as others are to burning Feavers pining Consumptions and to Old Age which is attended with 100 and 100 infirmities and is of all diseases the most incurable Life is a Candle which if no Stormy and ill-natur'd Winds blow out when it is burnt down into the socket will go out of its self a thred which if no scorching Feaver burn time will wear and old age will fret asunder This body tho' there be an Holy Soul inhabiting in it is such an house that if it be not pulled will tumble down of it self Tho' Wisdom hath length of days in her right hand Prov. 3. 16 many of her Children go to Bed late yet an immortality here is not in her power to confer upon any they may hope for it in another World but they cannot have it in this this is a priviledge peculiarly belonging to the future State Now righteous men undergo Death upon a double account 1. As the fruit and consequent of sin Immortality was the priviledge of Innocent Death is become the punishment of faln man If we search the Sacred Records we may easily find from what and whence to derive Death's Pedigree sin ah cursed evil ushered Death into the World That threatning In the day thou eatest thereof Gen. 2. 17. thou shalt surely dye upon the Apostacy of our first Parents was turned into a standing sentence involving them and their whole Posterity for by one man sin Rom. 5. 12. entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in that all have sinned Death is not owing to an irresistible Fate to the weakness of our primary constitution but to Sin as the deserving cause it was sin set Death upon its Pale Horse and nothing now can dismount him as the Tree brings forth fruit as the seed sown brings forth Corn so sin when Isa 1. 17. it is finished brings forth death Sin open'd the Door and then Mortal Sicknesses Deadly Distempers Killing Diseases and Death it self entered in Sin draws Death after it as the Needle doth the Thred and attends on it as the Shadow doth upon the Body Could all Graves be open'd could we stand in some convenient place and at one view behold the many thousands Death hath captivated and slain could we see all the Carkasses that have dropt into and are now rotting in dust we might say Lo all these were first the spoils of sin and then the Trophies and Triumphs of Death This is the account Scripture gives of Deaths Universal Empire Sin cursed Sin oh what Fools are we to be fond of it oh what infinite and unaccountable madness is it to lay and hug that hissing Serpent in our Bosoms which will sting us to Death is the cause of all those Funerals which have been are or shall be in the World Now tho' the Righteous are renew'd and sanctified they are so but in part they have sin in them the meritorious and deserving Cause of Death and therefore that Sentence that carries Death in it DUST thou art and to Gen. 3. 19. DUST THOU SHALT RETURN must be executed even upon them Tho' they are pardon'd yet their Pardon runs with an exception of Death 'T is true for Christ's sake upon the score of that painful shameful death he in their place and stead underwent upon the Cross the SECOND Death which is Death with an Emphasis shall have no power over them but notwithstanding all he hath done and suffered because they are sinners the FIRST must and will How far death to good men is a penal evil and yet retains the nature of a punishment I shall not in this wrangling age offend any by attempting to determine It may suffice that sin brought death into the World and furnished it with those Weapons wherewith it wounds and kills all If any say since the death of Christ and the effusion of his blood upon the Cross Death is rather an advantage to his followers I grant and thanks be to God it is so but may not death be the Wages of sin tho' a good and kind God makes it the path to Heaven and this leads me 2. To consider the death of the righteous as a Means of their deliverance from sin and the appointed way to the glorious Mansions which are above 'T is true God could make us perfectly holy take away the life and destroy the very being of sin the first moment of our conversion when we have done his will served the purposes of his Grace and attain'd the end of our being born by an happy pleasant and easie translation he could take us up Body and Soul to Heaven but he hath otherwise determin'd and made Death necessary in order to both According to the Divine Constitution they must first dye and then be perfectly holy and finally happy Do you ask why the righteous die why that sin might be destroyed as Sin brought Death into the World so Death shall excellent contrivance of Infinite Wisdom for ever abolish Sin tho' death had its sting strength power nay its very being from sin yet it proves by the ordination of God the destruction of it Those Arrows of Death which kill the Christian strike thro' the very Heart of his Sins and Lusts and they both die together A Saint puts off the Garments of Mortality and his filthy Raiment at once the sin that was born with them and lived with them and accompany them from place to place in their last moments takes leave of them for ever The Christian dies that Sin may do so too To this more will be said hereafter Moreover the Righteous here are Strangers and Pilgrims this is their Character and it is expressive of their Frame and Temper While they live they are in a strange place among a strange People and at a distance from their own Oh! How do they wish long pant desire and groan to be elswhere They are born from Heaven belong to it and wish to be there They are Citizens of the new Jerusalem in it are Mansions designed purchas'd prepared and standing empty for them but they must dip there feet in the cold fatal stream that runs beween this World
hope may a little comfort us in the Sun-shine of the Day but not when the dark Night of Death is coming If you would have your hope to be lively at Death examine carefully the grounds and reasons of it what footing there is for thy hope in the Scripture That hope and no other which hath been often brought to the Touch-Stone and tried is like to last when grim and frightful Death shall look us in the Face Ask your own Consciences a reason of that hope that is in you and take not up with the first answer but let this weighty and momentous question be oft repeated and as often answered and by this means you will be less apt to suspect it hereafter it will then be strong and lively when Nature is weak and feeble and afford you joy and ravishment when the Shadows of Death shall sit on your Eye-lids and your Immortal Spirits are taking Wing and flying to the other World An hope that is taken up no body knows how or why will certainly fail when there is most need of it Retire then Christian from the World and set some hours apart for this great Work and speak to thy self in some such manner as this Death O my Soul is coming and after that men go to Heaven or to Hell in which of these must I be and dwell for ever whither must I go when I die where will death land me Shall I go to God or Devils Be reeeived up into a Mansion of light above or be cast down to a Dungeon of Darkness below When I shall knock at the Gate of Heaven and say Lord Lord open to me am I like to be admitted or deny'd When thou O my Soul shalt leave this Body shalt thou under the conduct of Holy Angels go to the joyful assembly above or be drag'd by Infernal Spirits who lie watching for their Prey to the Congregations of Devils beneath Thou art going O my Soul thou art going to an ETERNAL World but is it to an happy or a miserable one to ETERNAL Joys or to ETERNAL Sorrows to Heaven where is an ETERNAL Day or to Hell where will be an ETERNAL Night It is well with me at present I am full and at ease I want nothing this World can afford The lines are fallen to me in a pleasant Psal 16. 6. place I have a goodly Heritage but how is it like to go with me hereafter Will it be well or ill with me for ever O my Soul ought I not shall I not be concern'd to know how it will fare with me for ever Hope of Heaven is very common who almost among the sons of men does not hope for it But how many are mistaken now and disappointed hereafter How many have lived in hope and dyed in hope and after all been for ever shut out Oh how many have been imposed upon by Satan cheated and deceived by their own hearts and am not I in danger of being so too Is not Satan as cunning and subtil now as he was then Is not my heart as base false deceitful and treacherous as theirs and am not I as likely to be blinded by self-love as they were How much hope is vain false and groundless serving only to delude men at present and shame them for ever How many have been buoyed up and flusht with hope on a Death-bed and in a little time Doleful moment swallowed up of total final and remediless despair What if this should be my case What if it should be so with me Do I hope for Heaven O my Soul of what kind is my hope What was the Spring What is the Nature What are the Effects What Stamp is it of Whose Superscription does it bear Is it any better is it any thing more than the hope of the Hypocrite which shall perish Job 8. 13. Will it endure a trial at the Bar of Conscience and at the Bar of God too Have I any one promise in all the book of God to countenance my hope and warrant my expectation This question is weighty and important and to mistake here may be very fatal and is infinitely dangerous Therefore tell me O my Soul what manner of hope is thine Thus and thus I find it is with them who have a good hope Is it so with me or no I am loth to be deceived afraid of being mistaken therefore O my Soul deal plainly and truly with me O my Conscience take the candle of the Lord and search me and faithfully tell me as thou wilt answer the neglect another day whether my hope be sound and good or no. If you would take this course what a confirmed hope might you have in Life and what a lively hope in Death An hope that would mitigate the terrors abate the horror asswage the pangs and sweeten the agonies of a dying hour With such a hope you may die not only safely but comfortably too go to your Graves not only in peace but with triumph While other mens Chambers are filled with disconsolate sighs and groans yours may ring with acclamations of victory and songs of praise While the awakned and despairing sinner is crying out must I die must I die O my weeping friends must I die your looks may be pleasant your countenances chearful and your hearts transported with joy You may be able to welcome Death and triumph over the Grave you may have such a glorious prospect of the happiness above that you may praise God with your last with your dying breath and Hallelujah may be your last word in this World as well as your first in the next Infer IX Hence we may learn how to carry it with reference to those Righteous and Holy Relations of ours who had such hope in their Death Are any of our holy relations dead and did they die in hope and is there no duty incumbent on us who are left behind Have we nothing to do but to provide for their funeral and follow them to the grave Alas as to them when we have done this we have done all we can for them When we have got them a Coffin purchased a Grave for and laid them in it we can do no more for them But at such a time is there nothing to be done by us for our selves Does not the Death of an Husband a Wife a Father a Mother call upon surviving Relations to improve it At such a time God calls Providence calls and Death calls upon us to mind our duty I shall not largely treat on this Head but only shew what is to be done by us with reference to them as they died in HOPE First We should take notice of and remark their happy and comfortable end We should observe register and remember Gods kindness and love to his gracious and merciful dealings with them in their last sickness and on a Death-bed It cannot but be useful to take notice of the miserable end of many wicked men Is Conscience awakned and
Isal 38 19. praise God but the living the living they should When they were sick you did I am sure you should pray for them and being dead and having died in hope you should give thanks to the Father of Mercies for his Mercy to them for his goodness to them in the close in the evening in the concluding act of their lives Tho' thanks be to God we know nothing of praying for the Dead yet we may and ought to praise God for his Grace to them and especially for that Grace which enabled them to go off and die so well Did God in the evening visit their Souls speak peace to their Consciences publish their Pardon and carry them beyond the fear of Death and the Grave Did the Comforter come and did they find and feel he was before death did did God open the Eyes of the Soul to read their Evidences for Heaven before death closed those of the Body did God shine in upon their Souls and in the evening-time was it light did you hear them speak Zech 14. 7. of their departure without Tears and Groans nay with Joy and Triumph did you see a Calm upon their Spirits did you see them compose themselves to die in the same manner they were wont to do when they went to sleep with little or no difference only an unusual coldness and did they thus die Lord what praise is due to Free Grace Is it not the duty and interest of the Husband to bless God for his mercy to his departed Wife Is it not the duty of Children to offer up a Sacrifice of praise to their God and their Fathers God for the seasonable help the gracious supports and the suitable comforts afforded to a Father to a Mother in a dying hour should not as many praises be given to God for his mercy to their Souls as Tears shed over their Coffins and Graves what praises oh what hearty praises are due to God that they set sail with a fair Wind an happy Tide and got safe to Shore is it not melancholy and sad to see such near Relations full of doubts and fears crying out I cannot die I dare not die and did God prevent all this by giving them hope and the joy of hope too before they left us to go to him and should not God have the Glory that is due unto his name Our sacrifices of praise should mount up to Heaven in a pure and bright flame and there meet the Souls of our deceased Relatives Thanksgiving and Praise is a debt which holy persons who were thus priviledg'd in their last moments would have their surviving Relations pay to God in their name and stead Thirdly Another Duty is a careful imitation of their holy Lives This is a special branch of that Communion we have with departed Saints and the nearer they were to us in the flesh the more careful we should be to imitate them How does it concern Children who are left behind to follow the example tread in the steps of an holy Father or a godly Mother oh how should they endeavour to be the living Images of their deceased Parents gone from them to God! how greatly doth it concern such to labour after the same Vertues and Graces to accustom themselves to the same holy practices and religious exercises to keep up the old friendship there hath been between God and their Family that the Covenant Relation might not be broken in them Were they humble and meek quiet and patient holy and heavenly were they devoted to God and to the service of the Redeemer and did they live walk and act as such did they slight the World and all the gay and charming vanities of it and fill up every Relation with duty were they given to secret Prayer did they keep up Communion with God adorn their holy profession and live suitably to it at all times did they carefully husband and redeem their Time wisely imploy and improve all their Talents were they kind and merciful liberal and charitable and did they live as Heirs of the Grac of God and Candidates for Immortality and the expectants 1 Pet. 3. 7. of a future Glory were they burning and shining lights an honour to their Profession a credit to Religion and a peculiar Grace and Ornament to the particular Churches they were Members of did they carry it towards God and Man according to the rules of their holy Religion did they converse with God live in Heaven and prepare for Death and Judgment oh how worthy is this the imitation of them who are left behind How oft is wickedness and vice profaneness and irreligion transmitted from Father to Son and how do their Children act as if they were only born to perpetuate the War against Heaven and were only left to fill up the measure of their Father's iniquities how oft do some particular Vices or Vice run in a blood and are propagated from generation to generation till the whole family of these accursed Sinners is extinct and oh what a shame and pity is it that Piety and Religion which are the honour and glory of a Family which make a man excellent while he lives and render his memory precious when he is dead which render us dear to God and useful to others should not outlive the present Generation See more of this in the Epistle To stir us up to a careful imitation of such holy relations what argument can be more prevalent than this before us To consider what is the happy conclusion of an holy life viz. hope in Death At such a time every one is ready to cry out with Balaam Oh that I might die the death Numb 23. 10. of the righteous and my latter end might be like to his but what a vain wish is this if our lives be unlike to theirs the Children of holy Parents more especially should strive to be followers of them and keep God among them Was God should such an one say my Fathers God and my Mothers God and shall I forsake or cast him off Oh what a sin and shame is this have I such a fair Copy to write after and will it not greatly reflect on me if mine be full of blots and blurs When you are tempted remember you are the off-spring of them who were the friends and lovers of God that you are come of an holy stock and then say would my holy Father my godly Mother who are now with God have done thus and thus Are they acting the part of holy Angels in Heaven and shall I the Son the Daughter of such Religious Parents be acting the Devil upon Earth Will not the very dust of these holy Relations rise up in Judgment against and condemn me O my Soul let me remember with what comfort they lived with with hope they died with what joy they shall rise again what foretasts of Heaven how much of their reward they hadon a death-bed and let me charge it upon
THE Righteous Man's HOPE AT DEATH Consider'd and Improv'd for the Comfort of Dying Christians and the Support of Surviving Relations To which is Added Death-bed Reflections c. Proper for a Righteous Man in his Last Sickness By Samuel Doolittle This was the first Sermon the Author Preacht after the Death of his Mother Mrs. Mary Doolittle who deceased Decemb. 16. 1692. and is since enlarged LONDON Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Leggs in the Poultrey over against Stocks-Market 1693. TO His Loving Sisters Mrs Mary Sheafe Mrs Tabitha Hearne Mrs Susanna Pool Mrs Sarah Dawson Mrs Martha Doolittle Dear Sisters THAT Infinitely Wise God who does what he will and gives not account of any of his Matters Job 33. 13. has made a breach upon us That God who gave at first and for many years continued has now removed from us a dear and tender Mother This Arrow that killed one wounded all that Stroke that took away Life from her took away an excellent Wife from our honoured Father and a dear Mother from you and me At once fatal hour she was left a breathless Corps he a solitary Widdower and we Motherless Children What a sad and sudden change is made in Persons and Families when Death knocks at the door and enters in The Root now is dead and dry tho' the many Branches are yet spar'd For many years God continued us an entire Family The Destroying Angel that knockt at many doors visited many houses pass'd by ours When the Ax has been laid at the Root of many Families when many Branches have been lopt off and many Trees hewn and cut down we stood in the Vineyard untoucht But Death will come and a parting time will come Will come alas it is come The sweetness of her Temper the greatness of her Love the tenderness of her Affection the Grace of God in her whatever might endear a Mother rendered her company delightful and her presence a great part of our earthly happiness But God would have her home and would not that the Mansion designed for her should stand any longer empty That Body which had many Infirmities and which a-while-a-go with grief and tears we beheld pined and wasted consum'd and worn with languishing sickness is now at rest And the more noble Soul is now among the Spirits of Just men made perfect Thus hath Heb. 12. 23. her heavenly Father disposed of her and is it not time to think what is our work and duty is it to weep and mourn While she lived she was worthy to be loved and now she is dead she is worthy to be lamented and silent Tears will and may speak what words must not Hath Death remov'd and the Grave buried her out of our sight did she take leave of us with her cold and dying Lips and is she gone and must we see her no more Sad thought may we not weep and mourn we may we ought but yet there is something of greater importance that such Providences call for and should be the employment of surviving Relations The Red has been speaking and yet speaks Lord grant we may hear the Voice and understand the Language know the meaning and obey the Call of it Death hath been speaking the Grave with open mouth hath been speaking her last Sickness Decease and Funeral have been speaking O that I and you may have an Ear to hear what this Providence saith While she was with us she spent that little time and the less breath she had in speaking for God's Glory and the good of others Oh! never forget that Affectionate Exclamation Oh love the Lord all ye my Children And being dead she yet speaketh and with Heb. 11. 4. a louder Voice too She had no greater Joy than to see her Children walking in the Truth No doubt you are Children of many Prayers and Tears she travailed with you again and long'd to see Christ formed in you and I doubt not but it was a comfort to see such probable grounds to hope you were born again That you were not only born of her but born of Water and the Holy Spirit and I will venture to say she loved none so much for bearing John 3. 5. her Likeness as for having the Image of God Her highest ambition was to see you good holy and living in the Fear of God and when you were to change your condition and enter into a Married state her earnest desire was you might Marry in the Lord and be disposed of to such as might further not hinder you in the way 1 Cor. 7. 39. to Heaven it did delight her to my knowledge in her last Sickness that some of you have such Her early Instructions serious Counsels seasonable Reproofs holy Example fervent Prayers and many Tears spoke Love to your precious and Immortal Souls What but this was the Language of all Lord save me and mine too let me go to Heaven and let my dear Children follow after Be thou a God Friend and Father to me and them bind up my 1 Sam. 25. 29. Soul and the Souls of mine in the bundle of Life And now blessed be God all of this kind has not been in vain She lived to see the fruit of her labour and her Prayers in part answered and what is given I hope and I pray God it may be but the first-fruits earnest and pledge of what is yet behind Have you begun well and are you set out in your Journey to Heaven Go on and hold out Has the Spirit enlightened renewed and changed you Have you the Likeness of God and the Image of Christ Have you given up your selves in a serious and solemn manner to the Blessed Trinity Father Son and Holy Spirit Is sin your grief and burden the object of your sorrow and hatred do you oppose resist and fight against it persevere to the end and the Crown is yours Let nothing discourage you if the way be rugged and your Journey tedious if you are threatned with Storms and Tempests if you find it hard to watch and pray to wrestle and conflict to deny your selves live by Faith and perform many duties which are contrary to corrupt Nature don't faint tire and give out Heaven is at the end of your Journey and Heaven oh believe and think oft on it will make amends for all When once you are there with an over-flowing Joy will you think of these Afflictions Crosses and Disappointments for then you shall see know and be fully convinc'd that Infinite Wisdom made them all serviceable to your Eternal Welfare Tho' the flesh is pain'd and smarts yet a time will come when you shall praise your heavenly Father for seasonable Chastisements and the Discipline of his Rod. Tho' the flesh may be uneasie and the burden may pinch you tho' the Rod may make you groan and weep tho' Satan may tempt and your own hearts may be ready to question your Relation to and Covenant-Interest in
for all what the Apostle saith He that doth 1 Joh. 3. 7. Righteousness is righteous What can be the meaning what can be the import what sence can with any tolerable shew of reason be assigned but what suiteth with our present notion He that doth Righteousness i. e. He that perfectly obeys fulfils the whole Law is righteous Is this the meaning Then God help and pity us where shall we find a righteous man Is it He that doth righteousness that is he that being in a State of grace lives up to the rules of the Gospel is guilty of nothing but what is consistent with sincerity and is continually labouring after perfection is righteos Is this the import and gennine sense of this phrase Then thanks be to God some such are to be found And thus much for the first General the Character of the person here spoken of Secondly We are to consider what is here supposed and taken for granted with reference to this righteous man and that is he must die It may be you may think such an one as I have described should have a Protection be privileged from that which is the common lot of others be wafted over to Heaven from one World to t'other and not see Death be caught up to Paradise and not be put to the pain of dying But it is supposed and taken for granted in the Text that the righteous man must die 'T is true indeed our Lord Jesus the Captain of our Salvation hath perfum'd the grave conquered death and destroyed him that had the power of it He encountered this enemy conquered and triumphed over it and every righteous man shares in that victory and triumph Christ hath destroyed the power chang'd the nature pluckt out the sting of death and disarm'd it of its terrors and the righteous may boldly challenge it and with an exuberant joy triumph over it in the words of the Apostle O Death where 1 Cor. 15. 55. is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The Sting of Death is Sin and the strength of sin is the Law But thanks be to God v. 57. which giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Thus O happy men may they triumph over death But yet their righteousness cannot shall not deliver them from the stroke of it No no Saints and Sinners Good and Bad the Holy and Prophane the Righteous and the wicked are under the same uncontroulable necessity of dying Though they shall not be damned yet they must die Though they shall not be sent to Hell yet they must go to the Grave Though they shall be saved from that hot fiery furnace yet not from the cold dark and silent Pit Though their Souls shall not become a Prey to Devils yet their Bodies must become a Banquet for Worms Though the Soul shall not be rackt and tortured in the dismal Regions below yet the flesh must see Corruption Though they have Mansions in Heaven yet Sickness will shake shake Alas Death will pull down the Walls and tear up the very Foundations of their Earthly Tabernacle Though they shall go to Heaven yet death will carry them thither in its cold Arms. Because Christ who is their Head and Husband Lives they shall Live also Live Where Joh. 14. 19 shall they live In Yonder glorious Heavens in Yonder blessed abodes in Mansions of light far above Yonder shining Sun there there it is these righteous ones shall live But alas They must die first Death hath been is and will be the passage to eternal Life And the Grave is in our way to Heaven As Death spares none for their tenderness and Beauty honours none for their wealth and grandure fears none for their strength and power reverences none for their Grey Hairs and Hoary Heads reprieves none for their flowing tears and passionate entreaties So neither will it pass by any for their Piety Religion and Righteousness With death there is no respect of Persons all must become a sacrifice to and lye Wounded Bleeding and Slain at the foot of it Holy Job cries I know thou wilt bring me to Death and to Job 30. 23. the House appointed for all the Living And David I go the way of all the Earth This 1 King 2. â— is among the Decretals of Heaven For Heb. 9. 27. it is appointed for men once to die Righteousness is no Armour against the arrows of Death No they will strike through and through and stick in our Hearts What is become of the holy Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles of our Lord Jesus Where are they Where Dead and Gone Where are they Their Souls are praising God in Heaven and their bodies sleeping in the dust of the Earth Your holy ancestors and progenitors that were the friends of God where are they Where Alass They are dead and gone and their Sepulchers are with us to this day Aâ—t 2. 19. they served the Will of God in their Generation and then died and after the experience of many Ages may we not ask and easily answer that Question of the Psalmist What man is he that liveth and Psa 39. 48. shall not see death Had we the meekness of Moses the Faith of Abraham the Integrity of Caleb the Patience of Job the Piety of David the Wisdom of Solomon yet we must die for lo these Men of God are gone before us for how many Ages have these righteous ones been sleeping in the bosom of the Earth our first and common Mother When we read in the Sacred History of the Holy Lives eminent Graces of Gods dear Saints how useful and serviceable they were in their time and place where and how long they lived do not we find and then he 〈◊〉 5. â— died concludes the History and makes up the Period Oh! how vast are the Dominions how extensive is the Empire of the King of Terrors In the Sacred Story we read but of two only viz. Enoch and Elias who by an especial grant and priviledge were exempted from this Law of Death they went immediately from Earth to Heaven when all others except those who shall be found alive at the end of the World must take the Grave in their way they were like living plants transplanted to the Heavenly Soil when our Bodies like Corn that is Sown must first rot and dye and then spring up again Death as things now stand is a debt that we all owe to Nature and will not be remitted no not to the Friends of God themselves The Saints are originally out of the same dust they as well as others dwell in Houses of Clay and Earthly Tabernacles and tho' they may be repaired by Food and Physick yet at last they will tumble the Body of a Saint is not made of more lasting Dust and durable Clay than the Body of a Sinner I grant that Sinners may impair their health and weaken nature by gluttony and drunkenness and other acts of intemperance how many
and that before they can get thither Faith may and very often does give them a refreshing ravishing and transporting prospect of Heaven Oh! How oft after such a view does the Soul flutter in the Christiâ—ans breast clap its wings and would â—in be gone But Death only can wast us over to and give us the possession of it In short Gods Children die that they may go home I might further add there seems some necessity of dying upon the account of the Body What should this terrene dull and heavy Body do in Heaven How unsuitable is it as it is now to that Place and State to that Company and Work and to be the Instrument of a glorified Soul It must undergo a change that it may be capacitated for this We must be Vncloathed of this Earthly that we may 1 Cor. 5. 4. Be cloathed upon with a Spiritual Body And we must die that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life These Old Houses that are ever and anon tottering and shaking must be pulled down by the hands of Death that we may have new and better This Body must be sown in the dust that it may Spring up more Beautiful Fresh and Comely our Bodies like foul Waters by running through the Earth are Purged and Purified God will not put his New Wine into these Old Mat. 9. 17. Bottles And indeed if he should they would quickly burst and therefore he suffers Death to break that he might have an opportunity to new make them It is to no purpose to say that God can make what alteration and change he pleases and is necessary in the very instant of Translation and what need is there the Body should Die lie in the Grave so long Rot and Putrifie in the Dust For though God can do it in this way he willeth to do it in the other and Who art thou O MAN that thou repliest Rom. 9. 20. against God Upon these accounts Death seemeth necessary to Good Men And that we might not live in continual Fear in Slavish Bondage and a perpetual Torment because of this necessity I now proceed Thirdly To consider what and how great the Priviledge of the Righteous is when he comes to the last Scene of his Life and Death is about to turn him off the Stage We have seen the dark side of the Cloud The Righteous die Let us now turn our Eye and view the bright side The Righteous hath hope in his death Sweet words comfortable thought glorious priviledge with this hope Lord how Psa 23. 4. comfortably may they walk thro' the Valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil You have heard heard You have seen seen Oh how often have you seen that the Righteous die as well as the Wicked that Death preys upon and the Grave swallows up one as well as the other Have you not many and many a time visited them when sickness had lodged them in their Chambers and confin'd them to their Beds Have you not heard their last sobs and groans seen their dying pangs and agonies Have you not clos'd their Eyes laid them in their Cossins and often attended their Funeral followed them to their long Home and lest them in dust and darkness Behold the Righteous die but how dieth the Righteous as the Wicked no verily as they do not live so neither do they die as the Wicked A righteous man may have the same disease be exercised with the same pains and feel the same pangs in a dying hour But upon a spiritual account the difference is vastly wide and great he hath hope in his death Before I distinctly consider what is the Object of this Hope to prevent any mistake it is necessary to premise these two things 1. Every righteous person every man that falls within the already-mentioned Character i. e. every sincere and upright Christian hath ground of hope in his death This does not only belong to some special favourites but is common to all who have God for their Father The Promises which are the foundation of a Christian Hope are not made only to Apostles and eminent Saints to men of renown in the Church but they belong to nay are the Birth-right of even those who are but Babes in Christ All that are born again tho' all are not of the same growth stature and strength are Children Rom 8. 17. and therefore Heirs They have right Col. 1. 12. to and may live and die in hope of the Inheritance of the Saints in light Heaven is sure to them by the Promise of the Father the Purchase of the Son and the In-dwelling of the Holy Spirit who is the Earnest and Pledge of it And the weakest Believer the least of Saints hath ground to hope The Gospel is so ordered the Covenant is so methodiz'd God hath made such ample Provision that every one may have good hope thro' 1 Thes 2. 16 Grace and all that bear this Character are allowed encouraged nay commanded to hope Their hoping is as mighty a pleasure to God as it is a comfort to themselves Hath the blessed Jesus poured out prayers and tears and blood did he groan and die on the Cross that they might have a Mansion above Hath the Holy Spirit in pursuance of the same blessed design been at the pains to renew convert and change them Hath he restor'd them to the image and likeness of God that they might be capable of the enjoyment of him Is he daily forming and attempering their spirits more and more for the heavenly state and employment Hath God the Father in his Eternal Counsels design'd Heaven for them Hath he made them many express and plain Promises of it and can he take it ill they live and die in hope Lord how infinitely unreasonable are we and how do we discourage the Death of the Son the work of the Spirit and the Promises of the Father nay not only naked Promises but Promises repeated over and over seal'd and confirm'd with an Oath by encouraging our doubts and fears all these may and ought to hope May I says many a doubting Christian hope I am but weak in Grace and but a Babe in Christ I have done but little for God and Christ I have but few Talents and them I have not employed and improved as I should and might I was the chiefest of Sinners and now am the least of Saints the very meanest among my spiritual Brethren there are none but love God more and serve him better and bring a greater Revenue of Glory to him than I either do or can or shall while others shine as the Sun in the Firmament of the Church I am but as a poor small and twinkling Star and may I hope to be saved is not Heaven and the happiness thereof too great too glorious a Reward for me Oh! had I the Grace the Faith and Love the Humility and Meekness the Self-denial and Patience the Zeal and Courage c.
such as are Heirs of Salvation we are under God Heb. 1. 14. very much beholden to those kind loving and generous spirits for those innumerable and unknown offices of kindness and good turns they have done us They are our Life-guard from the Cradle to the Grave a whole body of these invisible Beings encamp round about us How carefully do they watch over us how diligently do they observe us how constantly do they bear us up in their Arms and by what unaccountable and to us unknown methods do they prevent imminent dâ—ngâ—rs and save us from the Snares lâ—id for us how ready are they to encourage assist and help us in any Spiritual work in any great and difficult undertakings how do they long for our Repentâ—nâ—e rejoice at our Conversion and what haste do they make to carry the happy tidings of it to Heaven that others 〈◊〉 rejoice with them with what a â—iâ—â—ty concern do they drive and chase aâ—ay evil â—â—irits with what courage do they 〈◊〉 â—s from the râ—ge and fury 〈…〉 â—illing are 〈…〉 in thiâ— dangerous 〈…〉 we have been foil'd 〈…〉 how seasonably have 〈…〉 what 〈◊〉 have they made to espouse our quarrel and fight out the remaining battle for us How off have they kept us from being hurt by those Apostate and Malignant Spirit which in vast numbers rove about in the Air and wander up and down in this lower World upon no other errand than to do mischief and prey upâ—n immortal Souls These good Angels are further beneficial to holy men at death in that they immediately take the Souls of such into their custody and guard them in their Journey from one World to the other and never leave them till they come safe thither How unacquainted are we with the way to yonder inviâ—â—â—le World it is a pâ—th we have never â—one a râ—â—d we have never yet travelld neither can we discover any footsteps of those who are gone before us How hard is it for Souls that have been so long embodied in flesh to find which is the right 〈◊〉 and tract in those vast wide anâ— uâ—known Regiâ—â—â— of Air how impossâ—bâ—â— is this but by the direction of son 〈◊〉 â—â—perienced 〈◊〉 and who can 〈◊〉 â—ore or bâ—â—â—er experience than 〈◊〉 Messâ—nger of Heaven who hâ—â—e 〈◊〉 velled a thousand and a thousand nay innumerable times from that World to this and from this back again to that Moreover what a melancholy and frightful thought is it that my separated Soul must pass thro' the lower Regions of the Air which are the Dominions of Apostate Spirits the Devil's Camp and Satan's Head-quarters and this lonely and solitary having none either to accompany or defend it But that this might not amaze departing Saints they shall have as many Angels as are necessary to guard and defend them That holy Soul may pass safely thro' the Territories of their Enemies that they might not be scared terrified or daunted by those swarms of unclean spirits which lie up and down in the Air a good God hath appointed a Convoy of Angels to attend them and no doubt a convenient number of them stand round about the Death-bed of every good man and immediately receive his Soul when it is expired Some think that the fiery Chariot and Horses in which Elijah mounted up to Heaven was a Convoy of Angels however for this they have a commission and those good and kind spirits do not disdain to perform this last act and office of love to the meanest Saint for the Beggar died and the sacred Story tells us he was carried by Angels into Luk. 16. 22. Abraham 's bosom How comfortable is it to study the Commission given to Angels in this particular and how supporting to hope nay to be assur'd they will act according to it Lo this is the hope of the Righteous at death Gloririous Priviledge Thirdly The Righteous have hope of deliverance from Hell and the torments of the Damned The afflictions of time are nothing to the miseries of Eternity The distress and anguish of a poor creature stretcht on the Wheel rackt and tortur'd in every limb part and member is but a weak and faint resemblance of the horrous and agonies of despairing Souls in Hell The pains of the first are nothing to the pangs of the second and Eternal Death There is a fire kindled that shall never go out flames burning which shall never be quencht a Worm to gnaw that shall never die and Devils to torment who shall never be weary of that bloody and hellish work There impenitent sinners oh how terrible and dreadful a place is Hell must feel the strokes of Revenging Justice the â—â—â—â—es of their own Enraged Consciences drink of the Cup of the Wine of the Wrath of God and be scared with the sight of ten thousand ugly Devils They must burn and not be consumed be tortured and never die have pain and no case trouble and no rest sorrow and no joy tho' they go laughing to Hell they shall never laugh more they shall have an eternal night and no day be fill'd with despair and have no hope Hell what an amazing word is it Hell how extreamly melancholy are the thoughts of it Hell whose heart does noâ— tremble at the hearing of it Hell what unknown miseries are wrapt up in it Hell Hell how many wretched sinners have voluntarily run into it to escape the beginnings of it in their own Consciences but yet all we â—â—n imagine and fansie in this World is infinitely short of what this single this little word Hell imports and must be felt in the next But a Righteous man Lord what must be the joy of his departing Soul hath hope in his death he shall be delivered from all this I must die may he say but I shall not be damn'd I must go to a cold dark silent and solitary Grave my Glass is run the number of my years months hours and moments is now finisht I am going to my long home but I shall not be sent to an hot burning and flaming Hell My flesh this Body of mine must ror in dust but my Soul shall not burn in that fiery Oven the way which leads to those Chambers of horrour and darkness is broad exceeding broad the Gate that leads to Hell is wide and standeth open day and night and thousands go in thâ—reat but I hope I shall take another path 'T is true I sinful I have deserved Hell again and again and I might have been in it long ago but I do hope thanks be to God I do hope and will hope my blessed Jesus will snatch me as a firebrand out of those everlasting burnings Amen Amen Fourthly The Righteous at death hath hope of being immediately received into Heaven and welcomed by all that are there The Souls of Believers being separated do not wander up and down in yonder vast large and capacious Regions much less are they according to the Roman Fable to suffer
believe a future final and general judgment but I hope may the departing Saint say things will go very well with me in that day I have often pray'd God grant that I may find mercy of the Lord 2 Tim. 1. 18. in that Day and I hope I shall I hope that mercy and not rigorous justice will pronounce my sentence that I shall find a friend in Court that the judge himself will be so that blessed Jesus who is nay Advocate and elder Brother who died for me and washt me in his Blood who Sanctified me by his Spirit and reconciled me to God is to be my Judge and therefore I hope when I am judged I shall not be condemn'd The sentence of absolution stands upon record Mat. 25. 34. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the Foundation of the World This this Oh! this is the blessed sentence that belongs to me I have read it again and again I have meditated upon it till I have been ravished and transported with joy What sweet what reviving words are these how worthy is each of them of a particular remark Come glorious invitation Ye blessed of my Father endearing title Inherit the Kingdom No less still more joy Prepared for you for me Lord for Worms for Men for Sinners Soveraign Grace Before the Foundation of the World what so long ago so early designed was my name written upon a Mansion above long before any of my members were written in thy Book Grace Grace Lord I admire and adore that love that free and generous and early love of thine I cannot comprehend if the reading and meditating upon these words be so delightful what will it be to hear them spoken and spoken to ME I hope now I am a dying man I hope to hear this Sentence from the Mouth of my Saviour and when these words of Life and Joy shall drop from those sweet and blessed Lips Lord what Joy shall I feel a joy which now I can neither comprehend nor bear Is this the Sentence I expect to hear O my weeping friends stop your flowing tears silence your groans hush those sobs and sighs and let us sing Psalms of praise to God oh begin and help me to praise him and with my latest breath I will say Amen Hallelujah Eighthly The Righteous hath hope in his Death what hath he hope of what of the full entire and eternal happiness of the whole man when the final judgment is past and over Sentence being past judgment being over and the Court broken up all pass to their Eternal abodes some ay and the greatest part too of that vast assembly to the Regions of horrour and darkness beneath others viz. the Righteous to the Mansions of Bliss and Light above Now oh joyful day Christ and all his friends immediately march in triumph to Heaven those everlasting Gates are open'd they all enter into those peaceable quiet and undisturbed Regions and so shall they be for ever with the Lord. 1 Thes 4. 17 Before one part was praising God in Heaven and the other silent in the Grave the Soul was the Companion of Angels the Body the Food of Worms the one as distant from the other as yonder Heaven is from the Bowels of this Earth but after the great and solemn transactions of that day the WHOLE MAN the WHOLE CHRISTIAN shall be admitted into the Heavenly State Christ their head and husband shall bring them to Heaven with a lo O my Father here are the Men thou gavest unto me here are the Men for whom I suffered and died while they were in the World I kept them and have now ransom'd them from the Power of Death and the Grave I have brought them safe to glory I present them to thee without spot or wrinkle and Father I will they be where I am that they may behold and partake of my Glory Joh. 17. 24. This perfect happiness of the whole man the Righteous hath hope of he looks beyond Death to the Resurrection beyond that to judgment and beyond judgment to Heaven and Heaven is the summ of his desires Heaven it is the center of all his hopes and wishes and such an one in his last hours may say methinks I foresee the time when my Lord and the judge of all will come methinks I hear the Trumpet sound and see the dead raised from my death-bed I have a prospect of the transacâ—ious of the last day I see by faith I see what shall then be done to the men whom the King of Heaven delights to honour methinks I see the redeemed and ransom'd of the Lord marching in triumph to the City above and the glorious blessed Jesus leading the way I shall not be left asleep or stay behind but accompany them to the everlasting Kingdom and this Flesh of mine which now must see corruption this body of mine that now must rot in darkness shall then be united to my Soul and not only my Soul but my Body shall have the happiness it is capable of This is my Faith and this is my Hope Come Lord Rev. 22. 20. Jesus come quickly and accomplish what thou hast promised and I and all thy Followers live and die in the hope of Thus we have finished the Doctrinal part and now proceed Fourthly and Lastly To make application of what hath been said upon this argument to our selves The most serious and weighty the most plain and searching the most important and awakening truths have little or no influence upon our hearts and lives for want of a close warm home and particular application Shall I apply what hath been said Would to God I might come to the quick reach the heart alarm the Conscience of every one that shall read these lines where shall I sharpen my Arrows that they may pierce and wound what words shall I use that drowsie sinners may be startled Lord help me Lord help the reader Lord help us both and that I might not lose my Labour and you your Souls I solemnly charge and in the name of the Eternal God I Sub-poena thee O CONSCIENCE closely and impartially to apply to the Heart what the man shall read with his Eye Conscience Now 's thy time to speak hereafter it may be too late for ever when once the man is dead and damn'd thou may'st torture and torment him but it will be impossible to fright him into Repentance Is the man drowsie O Conscience Conscience thunder in his Ears is he asleep jog and awake him is he unconcern'd as to any preparation for death judgment and an Eternal world tell him of this misery forewarn him of his danger call cry in his Ears till he is startled what shall be said in general do thou according to thine office as thou wilt answer the neglect of it to God thy Judge hereafter apply in particular if any thing be said suitable to the case of the man whose Conscience thou art be
shame and at last die in horror and despair Sickness and Death O vain man will shake thy hopes The Sentence of thy Judge and and the Flames of Hell will dash them Hope may accompany thee while thou livest go with thee to the very borders of the Eternal World and then at farthest it will bid farewel to thy amazed and trembling Soul The time will come believe it Sirs the time will come when you shall hope no more no more no more for ever This hope is worse than none for it hinders Mens repentance and all the kindness it does them is first to hood-wink and then damn them How fatal is this hope A wicked man can have no good hope either living or dying and that false hope he maintains and cherishes in health when sickness comes many times takes the wings of the morning and flies away In an hour he must remove out of one World into another but he hath no hope it shall be into a better He bequeaths his body to the dust his Estate and Goods to his surviving friends but he can not Lord what an Agony must the departing Soul be in with confidence commend his Spirit into the hands of Jesus He may hope his Friends will give his body a decent burial but he has no hope alas he has no hope Angels will conduct his Soul to glory Oh Death Death how terrible is it when there is no hope of a better life To awaken such let me add to die without good hope though it be bad is not all For the wicked as it is in the former part of this verse is driven away in his wickedness Sad words miserable ends Prov. 14. 32. Ere long Sinners Death will grasp thee in its cold Arms ere long Pale Death will sit in that face of thine that now is Fair and Ruddy and the seat of a Charming Beauty ere long Death will shackle those feet which brought thee to this assembly shut those eyes which are a window to let in vanity into thy mind stop those ears which have been delighted with filthy and unsavoury discourse ere long Death will drive thee out of the World thou must be confâ—â—ed to a narrow Coffin sleep in a Bed of dust under a coverlet of crawling Worms but this is not all no nor the greatest part of thy misery for thou shalt be driven away in thy wickedness Go out of the World guilty and accompanied with the sins of thy whole Life Death unties the knot and thy Soul is gone gone Whither is it gone Into the invisible World to the illightned Tribunal of a Just Impartial and Inexorable Judge Death sets open the Door and thy immortal Spirit immediately flies away and all thy sins like so many black and frightful Devils hasten and post after Thy Sins O man thy sins mount and ascend as fast as thy Spirit and will be at the Judgment-seat as soon as it Methinks a thought of this should make thine heart ake thy lips quiver rottenness enter into thy bones and force thee to cry out Good God! Whatever becomes of me let me not die in my sins An impenitent sinner goes into Eternity dogg'd by Devils and his own impure Lusts When he dies that hope which with artifice and cunning he maintain'd in his life-time forsakes his wretched and trembling Soul In one instant it is gone and gone for ever follow him from one World to to'ther from his sick-bed to the Bar of God Doleful Hour Infer II. Do and must the righteous die Then how does it concern us to make a good use of them while they live The righteous are the lights of the World like the Sâ—â— in the Firmament profitable and beneficial to all Though hereafter these wise Virgins cannot supply us with Oyl out of their Vessels to recruit our Lamps and maintain the expiring Flame yet at present they may like the Sun communicate of their light and heat to us How much Spiritual good may we receive by them and how careful should all be to make a wise improvement Have you an Holy Father a Godly Mother who pray for weep over and daily instruct you Hearken to their instructions follow their example take their counsel for they must die That Holy Father of thine who with compassion and tenderness begs of thee to remember God and thine own Soul that Godly Mother of thine who brought thee forth with pain and sorrow and is in travel with thee again till Christ be formed in Gal. 4. 19. thee must die And if thou dost not hearken to and improve their serious reproofs godly counsels and wholesome advice what a torment may the thought of it be when they are dead and gone Methinks I hear a negligent and careless Son being lately come from the grave of his holy Father or godly Mother in bitterness crying out God in giving me such holy Parents gave me a great mercy but I Oh wretched man that I am neither valued nor thankfully improved so great a blessing as should and might have done My Father my Mother that is now dead very often and that with tears told me of my sin and danger with abundance of kindness in the Spirit of meekness reproved me for my youthful follies and vanities with much Plainness and Holy Zeal they instructed and counselled informed and directed me they brought me to the Solemn Assembly and taught me at home they wept over me and prayed to God for me and put me upon secret Prayer and reading the Holy Scriptures but all this labour in whole or at least in great part has been lost as to me Might I not have been much better might I not have had more grace and holiness had I improved this blessing I had the same advantage may the wicked and disobedient Son say but I slighted the instructions of my holy Father and contemned the counseâ—â— of my godly Mother and now they are dead and gone how likely am I to die in my sins having not the same helps and advantages as I had when they were with me Such reflections Conscience being awakned by the hand and rod of God may be made when such holy Relations are taken away to prevent which let all especially the Children of Holy Parents improve the lives and company of such The like might be said as to Husbands and Wives Masters and Servants c. Labour to get as much good as you can by holy Relations Christian Friends and Acquaintance for these you shall not have always with you Infer III. How great is the mercy and goodness of God to his People though they are not exempted from Death Death sounds harsh the Grave is very frightful When we think the Friends of God the Members of Christ the Favourites of Heaven and the Followers of the Lamb must die are we not sometime posed and almost at a stand Are we not puzzled to reconcile the Death of such men with the goodness and love of God and those
serviceable more proper or powerful than to consider they died in hope may we not more easily with more submission and less reluctancy commit the Body to the Dust when we have ground to hope the Soul which is by far the better part and to which certainly we owe most love is in Heaven may not Gods Grace and Mercy to them before their departure abundantly comfort us after their dissolution we have more infinitely more reason to groan and weep Lord forgive us we do not over a wicked Relation that is dead while he liveth than 1 Tim. 5. 6. over a godly Relation that lives tho' he dies That wicked profane son of thine who lives to thy shame and Gods dishonour calls for more Tears than thy godly and religious Son who is dead i. e. gone from his Earthly to his Heavenly Father a Lugâ—s Corpus a quo recâ—ssit anima Luge animam à qua recessit Deus Aâ—g De Sanct. 13. Do'st thou weep over the Body from which the Soul is gone weep over that Soul from which God is departed b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in Phil. Hom. 3. Let us saith another lament sinners not only when they die but while they live but let us rejoice over the righteous not only while they live but when they are dead If we would not offend while we sorrow if we would weep as if we wept not 1 Cor. 8. 30. let us seriously consider with what great blessed and glorious hopes our Holy Relations died and that now they are receiving the end of their Faith and Hope the Salvation of their Souls Cannot we 1 Pet. 1. 9. behold the Pale Wan Gastly and Breathless Corps they have left behind without wetting it with an immoderate shower of Tears Can't we follow them to their long home look into the deep and dark frightful and lonesome grave in which we must leave them without an excess of sorrow Let us look up and consider whither they are gone what they now are enjoy and do what employment and society they have what rivers of pleasure they are drinking of and what angelical joys they are now filled with Is their Pilgrimage over are they got to the end of their Journey Are they gone home and are they now with God After many threatning storms and tempests many fears of shipwrack and drowning has Death safely landed them and are they got well into Harbour Have they done their work finished their course and are they now receiving the reward The reward they long pray'd and waited for Is their warfare accomplisht their conflict with sin and all the legions of darkness now over and the crown obtain'd Are they gone from this to a better World to a World more holy and happy more quiet and peaceable Are they gone from Earth to Heaven To Heaven where they long'd wisht and groan'd to be To Heaven where their treasure hearts and hopes were long ago To Heaven where there is all good and no evil all that can be thought of wisht and desired to make up a compleat and entire happiness Is their trial over and their account delivered up with joy and has God said Well done good and faithful Servants Have they exchang'd Earth for Heaven Sickness for Health Sorrow for Joy pain for Ease Trouble for Rest Groans for Songs Tears for Triumph a State of Sin for a State of perfect Holiness Are they past for ever past those difficulties and dangers snares and temptations which we are liable to and must encounter Have they done wrestling and fighting watching and striving complaining and weeping Are they gone to the true land of the living and are they beyond the pain the fear the possibility of dying any more for ever Are they gone from a Sick-bed a Crazy Body an house of Clay a Tabernacle of the Flesh that was always shaking and tottering to a mansion in their Fathers house to a City that hath foundations whose Builder and maker is God Are they gone to their own countrey and their own People To God the Judge of all to Christ the Mediator of the new Covenant to an innumerable company of Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect Have they the Beatifical vision the ravishing fight of the Man Christ Jesus in all his glory Are they in Heaven and are they glad they are Without the least thought wish or desire to return to this wretched Earth of ours again Did they run their Christian race with holy patience and constancy and have they won the prize Are they reaping the fruit of all their prayers and tears religious duties and holy endeavours Are our departed Relations who t'other day were weeping sinning and suffering with us now sate down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob with Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Confessors and Martyrs in the Kingdom of God above Did they live in the fear die in the favour of God and shall they rise in his love Did they live in comfort and at last die in peace Are their Souls gone to Heaven and does their Flesh rest in hope And is not this enough and more than enough to check an intemperate sorrow Can we as it were hear the separated Soul of one whom we lov'd knew and conversed with a while ago or of one who was related to us in the flesh upon its first arrival at yonder blessed World with wonder and admiration crying out Glorious Sight Blessed Company Happy Place Where am I What a change is this What Musick do I hear Is this Heaven Incomparable place Is this glorious Mansion for me Admirable grace Must I be with God and Christ and be with them for ever Vnspeakable Happiness Must I O ye Holy Angels and glorified Spirits be one of your Number Excellent Company But is this Heaven Is this the Heaven I heard of so often What I was told Alas poor mortals do not know what Heaven is was not one half of what I now find Is this Heaven Am I in it must I be here for ever Glory to thee O God the Father for preparing it Glory to thee O God the Son for purchasing it Glory to thee O God the Holy Ghost for preparing me for Heaven And yet immoderately weep at the thoughts of his departure Had they hope on a death-bed and are they now in possession of all they hoped for and have not we more cause to weep for our selves who are left behind than for them who are gone have not we more reason to wish Lord that my work were done my Soul prepared and my Account ready that I might be gone than wish oh that I had my Wife my Father my Mother again we that are Christians design Heaven Heaven is the blessed Port we are bound for and shall we repine and grieve that our holy Relations are safely Landed before us Is this our love to ' em oh what abundant provision has God made for the support of his people under such afflictive
be unthankful for the mercies of many For the mercies of my whole life Oh how evil and criminal would this be my flesh is pain'd my affliction great my sick-bed uneasie and the hand of God presseth me sore my tears and sorrows my innocent groans which I hope are only the voice of oppressed nature pierce the hearts and draw tears from the eyes of my dear Relations but yet O my Soul I charge thee by all that is solemn and sacred let there not be a murmuring thought a repining word or any peevish carriage Remember remember the days of Old the mercies of former times and be thankful Thy God hath been good is and will be so and be thou ALL LOVE and PRAISE Was it not God who form'd and fashion'd me in the Womb and brought me forth into the light with an entire and perfect body Were not all my members Ps 139. 16. written in his book and did not he watch over my substance while it was yet imperfect and did not he take care I should not be be born out of due time Was it not 1 Cor. 15. 8. he who appointed when where and of whom I should be born and did not he order all the circumstances of my birth in the best manner When I was a poor helpless infant when I hung on my Mothers breast and lay in my cradle did not he take the care of me Did not his providence watch over me in my Childhood and prevent many unknown and unseen dangers Did noâ— he in my youth keep me from the many evils which in that ungoverned age I was exposed to and might have brought upon my self Has not his careful eye been upon me from my first moments even until now how pretious are thy thoughts unto me O Ps 139 17. God! How great is the sum of them Was it not of God I had the happiness to be born of Religious Parents who set before me a good example wept over and prayed for me That I had seasonable instructions wholsome counsels and the benefit of a vertuous education in my first and early years Was it not he that restrained and with-held me from those sins and lusts which many are overtaken withal and I my self was in danger of in that age of folly and vanity Hath not he fed and cloathed provided for and defended me Been my refuge in a storm my sanctuary in a time of danger my deliverer in an evil day and my Physitian in sickness How oft hath he brought me out of the fiery furnace raised me from a sick bed renewed my strength and saved me from going down to the pit when in my own and others apprehension I was at the mouth of and ready to drop into it hath not he supplied my wants increased my substance blest my endeavours and given me a considerable portion of this Worlds goods Is it not of him I have Friends and Relations to be a comfort to me while others have none or such as are worse than none even a cross and a scourge to them Hath not his Arm upheld his power defended his mercy succoured his bounty supplyed his treasuries enricht me Hath not his providence been ever watchful over me and his holy Angels my constant and perpetual life-guard When in my affliction and pain I have cryed to him hath he not heard my groans regarded my tears answered my prayers in the fittest season and best manner eased or supported me removed my burden or given me strength and so ordered the affliction from first to last that I have been forc't to say Lord it is good for me I have been afflicted Psal 119. â—1 I have not only had the mercies of the left hand but those of the right not only temporal but Spiritual not only for a perishing body but more and greater for an immortal Soul Thanks be to God that he quickened and raised me when I was dead in Trespasses and Sins Eph. 2. 1. that he brought me to hear his Holy word and made it effectual for my conviction and conversion that the same word which was to others the savour of Death unto Death to me was the savour 2 Cor. 2. 16. of Life to Life That the same Word the same Blessed Gospel which blinded them enlightned me which left them in their sins and under the power of Satan brought me home to God for this thy special grace and mercy to my Soul Lord I do I will and hope I shall for ever bless thee Who or what am I What have I done or what can I do That I should be chosen and effectually called when others are not Lord Why didst thou call and convert me and not another me and not my Neighbour me and not him who sate in the same pew heard the same Sermon and for many years attended upon the same ministry Free grace distinguishing mercy differencing love Am I converted changed sanctified and pardon'd Lord I do I will admire and adore thy powerful and victorious grace Awake O my Soul awake prepare a song Oh love and bless and praise thy God I was an Apostate wretch a stubborn enemy a disloyal Rebel and it was a long time before I would lay down my weapons return to my duty and yield patience waited mercy invited ministers exhorted the Spirit pleaded conscience urged God expostulated with yearning bowels the Blessed Jesus called to me from Heaven and beseeched me by his wounds and tears blood-shed passion and death to be reconciled to God but I vile wretch that I was did not hear How many reproofs and counsels warnings and exhortations earnest pleadings and pathetick Sermons were lost upon me And blessed be God all were not that one did the work Did God convert me after many Sabbaths enjoyed and many Sermons heard in vain Infinite kindness Lord I bow and worship before thee and with all the powers of my immortal Spirit bless and praise thee Was it not God pityed me when I did not pity my self Who called after and stopt me when I was running head-long to Hell Who loosed my chains broke my bonds knockt off my setters and brought me out of the House of bondage Was it not he who with a mighty power and stretched-out arm delivered and rescued me when sin ruled and govern'd and Satan led me in triumph as his vassal and captive And shall not I though a sick and pained man adore and bless him Bless him I do I will Bless the Lord O my Soul Ps 103. 2. And all that is withim me bless his Holy Name Since my Conversion and becoming a new man since God took me into his family adopted and made me his Son how much and what great things have been done for me what sweet and ravishing Communion have I had in holy duties publick and private in the assembly of Saints and in my Closet what large speedy and remarkable answers of Prayer what a ravishing sense of Divine Love and Favour
what holy motions and breathings what enlivening quickening and comforting influences of the Holy Spirit have I had how oft hath God supported my drooping and reviv'd my dying Spirits answered my doubts expell'd my fears and treated me as a Friend nay more as a Son how hath God in mercy restrained the Tempter or wisely ordered the Temptation as to the nature strength and continuance of it what succour and support what strength and assistance have I experienc'd at such a time and how oft through Grace have I been more than a Conquerour when I sinn'd and fell God did not cast me off banish me his family and null the former Relation but pittied me a faln Christian when he heard my groans and saw my penitential Tears his Bowels yearned he took me up and embraced me in the Arms of his Mercy wiped my weeping Eyes comforted my sorrowful Heart and said Son be of good chear thy sins are forgiven Mat. 9. 2. thee Oh! the joy oh the unspeakable joy of that hour methinks I yet sensibly feel what lively and warm impressions those words made upon my Heart upon my Heart that the moment before was ready to sink and dye within me when I was covered with Tears Blushing and Shame when I lay sighing sobbing and groaning at his Foot-stool crying out in the bitterness of my Soul I have sinned I have sinned before I rose from my knees before I said Amen my God came and said I have pardoned I have pardoned and now go in peace For the mercy and kindness of that hour Lord I bless thee now When through the weakness of my Grace the strength of my Corruptions and the power of Temptation I have wandred and gone astray when my zeal has abated my affections been cooled when I have been remiss negligent and careless back-sliding and on the declining hand he sent some affliction or other to call me back to awaken warm quicken and recover me When I have loved the World too much and my God too little when my affection to Earth has been too warm and to Heaven too cold when duties have been neglected or performed without life vigour and zeal when I begun to be too Worldly Earthly and Sensual he suffered me to meet with disappointments took away part of my Estate snatcht away a bosom Friend a dear Relation filled my Body with pain shook me over the Grave and threatned to cast me into it and all this with a merciful design to reform and make me better And Lord I thank thee any afflictions have been sanctified to such an end that the voice of the Rod has been accompanied with that of thy Spirit and both were effectual to reclaim me that at any time I came out of the fire more refin'd and purg'd and that those Waters of Affliction washt away my filthiness Lord I can do and will bless thee for seasonable corrections and the discipline of thy Rod. So good and kind so liberal and bountiful so merciful and gracious hath God been to me I have had so much for Body and Soul for time and eternity that I am fill'd with wonder and must cry out Oh the heighth and depth length and breadth of the love of God! my mercies have been more than my moments and every single mercy deserves and calls for a Psalm of Praise Lord when I am dead and in a silent Grave I cannot praise thee and therefore now I will blessed be God I lived till I was born again that ever I heard of that sweet that blessed that charming name JESUS and that I was enabled to believe on him for all the Mercies I have had in this World and for the hope and prospect of more and better in the next Blessed be God for Pardoning Mercy Sanctifying Grace and the Blood of Jesus to wash and cleanse me a sinner Blessed be God for the supports and comforts I have in this sickness that Satan is restrain'd and my own corruptions curb'd Blessed be God I am made meet for Heaven and that I know I am Lord what Grace is thine how free and sovereign What love is thine how constant and matchless how sweet how exceeding sweet is the thought that God hath loved doth love me and will do so unto the End I 'll bless thee Lord while I live thank thee with my last Breath and O my God through Christ thy Son and my Saviour accept my dying praises Bless the Lord O my Soul bless the Lord for me O my Friends bless the Lord O ye his Holy Angels my single voice is not sufficient may every Tongue all breath praise his holy name Amen HALLELUJAH III. After Death cometh Judgment what an awakening Thought this is and ought to be How this Thought may and should be improv'd by us in our last Sickness particularly to put us upon Confession the exercise of Repentance and earnest Prayer to God for Pardoning Mercy SICKNESS Summons Men to die Death Summons them to Judgment May this Sickness be my last and do I suppose it will hearken O my Soul and thou may'st hear Deaths Voice Come unto the Bar come give an account of thy Self to God in the NAME of the ETERNAL GOD whose Servant and Messenger I am I cite thee O Man to make thine appearance before the Tribunal of thy Maker Sovereign and Judge in the other World Awful Tidings what awakening and startling words are these must I O my Soul quickly Dye and after that be judg'd go from my Death-bed to the Bar of an Infinitely Holy Just and Jealous God must my Life be examined all my Actions scanned and my everlasting state in that moment be determined must a Righteous and Irreversible Doom pass upon me must I Dye in one moment and in the next be Judg'd and shall not I search my ways examine my state take a survey of my Heart and Life before I pass to that final and irreversible Judgment and hold up these guilty hands of mine at God's Tribunal shall I not endeavour to know what has been amiss that I may confess be humbled for repent of it and beg pardon Lord help me a sick Lord for Jesus sake help me a dying man in this serious solemn work help me to find out my sins to repent and implore thy mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ who is my only hope in Life at Death and after Death I was born a sinner and came into the World guilty and polluted behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my Mother Psal 51. 5. conceive me As I am a Child of Apostate Adam dreadful thought I am unlike to the Holy and Blessed God and resemble the Devil the worst of Beings and had I no other sin this were enough to shame confound silence and condemn me But alas have I not found this original sin active in my Heart and fruitful in my Life with what force and violence has it hurried me to the commission of sin oh
to thy holy pleasure and am entirely willingly to die now if thou think it best and most convenient my slavish fears of Death have been a pleasure to Satan a torment to my Self a dishonour to God a blemish to my Profession a disgrace to my Hopes Lord at last help me to overcome them Oh! that I could passionately long that Death would come and waft me over to yonder pure and blessed undefiled and eternal Regions while I am so excessively fond of this vain sinful and wretched life while I stand trembling and shivering on the confines of time and am loth to enter into a blessed Eâ—ernity how may all the Inhabitants above wonder at my folly Oh that my Faith Love and Hope might be increas'd and strengthned that I might pant and long wish desire and groan to be in Heaven What abundant reason O my Soul have I to be willing to dye and dye now if God so please have I not met with those crosses and disappointments with those troubles and miseries which are sufficient to wean me have I been tossed on the Waves driven by the Winds endangered by many a Storm and should I not rejoice I can see Land and am so near a quiet Harbour how oft upon the account of Temptations from â—atan Afflictions from God the Rebukes of his Providence the Hidings of his Face and the withdrawings of his Spirit have I complain'd groan'd and wept and shall I be unwilling to have my burdens removed my sorrows ended and all Tears wiped from mine Eyes is not the World mine Enemy and has it not really been unkind to me and shall I be loth to leave it amazing folly if I should live longer even till the Almond does flourish to extream Eccl. 12. 5. old Age should I not be unprofitable to others and a burden to my self and only an insignificant Cipher among my Fellow Creatures is it not better for me to die now than to live till the World is weary of me and I am weary of my self too Am I not O my Soul a Stranger and Pilgrim upon Earth am I not born from above and do I not belong to another Countrey and should not my temper be suitable to my character that is should I not be weary of my Pilgrimage and long to be at home are not Strangers and Pilgrims wont to be so our Journey say they is long and tedious oh that we were at home in our own Countrey among our own People and Kindred a stranger that hath a Journey to go would pass over it as soon as he can his thoughts mind and heart are set upon home and he longs to be there notwithstanding the conveniences and accommodations of his Inn the pleasantness of the Countrey c. yet he longs to be at home And shall I desire to be a wandring Pilgrim in this World when I might and God would have me be a setled Inhabitant in the other oh how becoming my character is it to send sighs groans and prayers as Harbingers to Heaven to tell my God I would fain be there Why do I not cry out here Woe is me I am a stranger and sojourner when shall I come to my own Countrey my Eternal Home to my Elder Brethren and Spiritual Kindred many are gone before and I follow after but blessed Jesus when shall I come to thee my God my Saviour my Hope my Treasure my Happiness my All is in another Countrey oh that I were there too how should the hardships and difficulties the ill usage and sorry entertainment I meet with in my Pilgrimage make me long for home and willing to go whenever my Heavenly Father sends for me Have I not O my Soul been pestered with sin all my life long has it not cost me many a sigh and groan tear and prayer how oft have I offended my God displeased my Father grieved my Redeemer wounded my Conscience and defiled my Heart and if I live longer shall I not sin more is there any hope sin will dye till I do and can I bear the Thought that I should for so many years yet to come offend so good a God hath not this flesh been a snare to me and this body an instrument of much evil and shall I be loth to put it off is not sin my heaviest burden my sorest Enemy have I not often said so and often cried out O wretched man Rom. 7. 23. that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death and shall I be unwilling to be delivered now Criminal Hypocrisie hath not sin defiled all my powers and faculties wounded my Conscience harden'd my Heart dampt my joy disquieted my mind disturbed my peace and brought many an affliction upon my Body hath it not eclipsed the light of Gods Countenance and caused my God and Father my Redeemer and Saviour to stand afar off and shall I not be willing to dye now that I may sin no more Have not I O my Soul been designing Heaven and Praying for Heaven what is the end of all my Sacred Duties Holy Services and Religious Worship but that I may be Saved and get to Heaven and is God calling me to Heaven and shall I be loth to go and all this because this Body must dye first Heaven O my Soul what a sweet and charming word is it and what a pleasant sound does it make Heaven what an happy and desireable place is it Heaven what a delightful and ravishing Theme is this Heaven is not one Thought one single view enough to Transport with Joy and make a Man cry out oh that I were there is God now calling me to Heaven to Heaven the Throne of Divine Majesty the Presence Chamber of the Eternal King to Heaven where I shall have the Vision of God ravishing sights of the Blessed Jesus and the Company of Holy Angels and blessed Souls to Heaven that for Beauty and Glory Transcends not only all that has been seen but all that can be imagin'd shall I refuse and draw back how beautiful are these lower Heavens which are but the Porch and outward Court to the other and how much must the Third Heaven the Temple of the Divine Majesty the Habitation of Glorious Angels in â—eauty and splendor excel these is this the place I shall go to when I dye and can I with any tolerable shew of reason be unwilling to dye now ah sinful silly Soul dost thou draw back art thou unwilling to leave this body what to go to Heaven What! to go to such a glorious happy World Art thou indeed unwilling and art thou not to be blam'd Blam'd thou art for what egregious folly is this can I thus slight Heaven and not blush to think I do Moreover O my Soul If I am a Christian I have solemnly taken God for my only Portion my Ultimate End and Soveraign Happiness I love him and my Saviour above all more than Father or Mother House or Land Estate or
had a sufficient time to prepare for Death and Judgment Have not I lived long enough to make an experiment of what the World can do for me Long enough to confirm that old maxim Vanity of vanities all is vanity and is not my unwillingness to die now Eccl. 1. 2. inexcusable How shameful O my lingering Soul is it for me an old Disciple after I have been trained up in the School of Christ so many years after I have heard so many plain and convincing Lectures of the vanity of the World the certainty of Death the glory of Heaven and happiness of eternity to shrink and draw back when so many younger have chearfully submitted to the will of God! Dost thou not O my Soul by this time see there is reason why thou should'st be willing now to put off this earthly Tabernacle Let me now hear what thou canst object against this which is thy duty honour and interest Am I loth to die now because I shall leave relations who have their dependance on me and to whom I have been useful Foolish talk cannot God who provided for 'em by take care of them without me And if they are his will he not Cannot God who is the Fountain be better than I who am but a Cistern and a broken Cistern too May I not leave my solitary Widow and Fatherless children with God Am I loth to die now because I must take my final leave of Friends and Relations whom I have lov'd with whom I have liv'd and conversed with much delight Foolish Soul loth to leave them what to go to God Christ and company infinitely better to enjoy which for one hour is much better than to enjoy theirs for an age Am I unwilling to die now because of those pains and pangs those sharp conflicts and agonies I must endure before body and Soul do part Fond reasoning must not these pains be endured at one time or other will not Death be Death that is be attended with some pains whenever it comes Had I not better take heart and undergo them once and that now than be terrified many years longer with the fears and melancholy prospect of them Will not these pains be my last and when they are over and in a few hours they will shall not I be at perfect ease and rest Hath God done and the blessed Jesus suffered so much for me Is Heaven so blessed and glorious a place that it transcends all I can imagin And shall I make excuses and frame Apologies resist and struggle be backward and unwilling to endure a little pain that I might go to God and Christ and be in Heaven Have not many endured more and greater pain in hope of less advantage Have I not a Saviour who experimentally knows what it is to be pain'd and die to stand by succour support and assist me in this terrible passage from Time to Eternity Finally O my trembling Soul may not the pains of that hour be much less than I fear think and apprehend they will be Am I loth to die now because this body must go to the grave rot and putrifie and lie a long time among Worms Fond affections to a lump of Clay is this the reason of my unwillingness O wretched sinful Soul where 's thy Faith concerning that fundamental Article the Reâ—urrection of the Dead Is not Christ risen and shall not they that sleep in Christ rise too Will not the glorious morning quickly dawn Will not the day of redemption of the body ere long come And shall not this Body this very Body of mine be quickned raised and in all respects be much better than now it is Will it not be a Beautiful and Comely a Strong and Healthful a Powerful and Active a Spiritual and Immortal Body Will not a time come when our last enemy DEATH shall be destroyed and mortality be swallowed up of LIFE When I shall sleep in the dust I shall not think the time long and when my Lord shall come and the trumpet sound and arise ye Dead shall be spoken by the mighty and powerful Jesus shall I not live and dye no more Therefore let me be willing to die once and since I must once let me be willing to die now What is there O my Soul in this vain wretched and sinful World that I should desire to stay yet longer in it What is this Flesh this Body that I should be loth to lay it in the grave What can be frightful and terrible in death since Christ hath conquer'd disarm'd it and taken out the sting What is there in the other World I am so loth to go unto it Have not I sinn'd and suffer'd sorrow'd and griev'd groan'd and wept long enough already Have I not been afflicted tempted and buffeted long enough already Why do I not long for deliverance Look O my Soul Heaven is prepared the gates are open and there 's a mansion for thee Hearken listen thy God thy Jesus calls saying come Christian come away from a dark and sinful miserable and defiled World to this World of Life Light and Love Angels and Saints O my Soul are longing for thy arrival with one consent they wish thee safely landed The former are ready to be thy convoy to yonder glorious World the latter with a triumphant joy will welcome thee as soon as ever thou comest thither Linger no longer but go out O my Soul go out with Joy and Triumph My God hath prepared Heaven for me an happiness beyond infinitely beyond all my thoughts hopes and wishes an happiness that will amaze and transport me as soon as ever I am landed on that blessed shore an happiness that is perfect without any defect and eternal without any end My blessed and loving Jesus hath by his sufferings blood-shed and Death purchased Heaven and a Mansion for me What a glorious blessed Heaven must that be which was the purchase of such sacred pretious and invaluable blood is Heaven the purchase of my Saviours warmest blood Excellent place This all this am I now called to take possession of but oh how loth and unwilling am I to go it is my sin my shame and folly that I am so pardon pity and help me Lord I have been speaking to my self chiding reproving blaming and persuading this sinful silly and backward heart of mine but to what little purpose And now dear Lord I turn my self and speak to thee for I shall never be willing except thy Spirit and Grace make me so I see that Heaven is on the other side but yet how loth am I to step into a dark cold and solitary grave I am convinc'd that Heaven is better than Earth that it is worth a dying to go to God and Christ and yet I cannot ah what a sinful wretched heart have I I cannot long and wish to die Oh pardon my lothness and backwardness and give me a more humble obedient submissive and resigning frame that if this Cup
must not now pass from me I may imitate my dear Saviour in the like circumstances chearfully saying Father not my will but thine be done The arguments I have â—uk 22. 42. used are weighty and serious sufficient to convince my judgment stop my mouth and make me silent but after all O pity pardon and help me I find I am backward and loth to die now Lord make me content content that 's too little make me desirous to die and to die now God forbid that after all my Soul should be violently rent and torn from me Lord Let me have such a firm belief of a future happiness such lively hopes and clear evidences of my right and title to it such a burning and flaming love to thee my God to thee my Saviour such pleasing foretasts of Heavenly joys such a reviving prospect of that glorious future state that I might overcome the fears of Death the terrors of the Grave and Triumph over both That I may long and pant desire groan and wish to be with Christ which I must and do acknowledge to be far better Lord inspire my departing Soul with that Faith Hope and Love that I may now glorifie Thee credit Religion and commend thy holy Ways that I may strengthen the weak and encourage the fearful by a chearful and willing comfortable and triumphant departure Sanctifie these afflictions and pains and this present sickness to me and let them put me upon longing after Heaven where are none answer my doubts expel my fears arm and fortifie comfort and encourage my weak drooping and trembling Soul and the nearer I draw to my end the more warm and earnest let my desires be Oh for thy holy Spirit to excite those Heavenly and Spiritual desires in me which I cannot raise in my self O thou almighty and victorious Jesus who hast conquer'd Death and the Grave enable me in these my last moments to triumph over them saying O DEATH where is thy Sting O GRAVE where is 1 Cor. 15. 55. thy victory Many experiences have I had of thy Grace and Mercy love and kindness O my Saviour forsake me not now in this my last extremity O Blessed Jesu who hast been my support and help in Life be my Strength my Comfort and my Joy at Death While in this my last sickness I have been speaking sometimes to my self and sometimes unto God I have obtain'd the Mercy I wanted and laboured after a willingness to die now my doubts are answered my fears remov'd my sins are pardoned God is reconciled my Conscience pacified my hopes are lively my evidences clear my assurance strong and my joy full and now thanks be to God how do I long to dye shall I be afraid of Death What! of a baffled vanquisht and conquer'd Enemy I am not I was but now blessed be God I am not Am I a Member of Christ a Son of God an Heir of Heaven and shall I be afraid of thee O Death through Grace O mine Enemy I am not Methinks I am already in the Suburbs of Heaven and I long to enter into that holy City I have a prospect of yonder blessed World and this prospect is so ravishing and transporting that I wish for a present possession No Heir ever longed more for his Inheritance no Captive ever longed more for Liberty no sick and pained man ever longed more for ease than I now do for Heaven When I am there what charming musick shall I hear what glorious sights shall I behold what blessed and delightful company shall I have what joy will enter into possess and fill this Soul of mine what a Mansion of Light and Glory shall I enter into when I have put off this earthly Tabernacle how does a thought of this make my fettered and yet imprisoned Soul cry out How long Lord how long farewel vain World farewel not Earth but Heaven is my home and I long groan and wish to be there Is the time of my departure at hand Is the time come that I must die Lord I do submit thy holy will be done My Body I chearfully bequeath unto the dust O faithful grave keep what I commit unto thee this Body till my Lord shall come and then deliver it up In the dust shall this flesh of mine sleep and rest in hope My Soul my pretious and immortal Soul O my God I resign to thee into thine hand I commit my Spirit Thou Psal 31. 5. hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth Father into 〈◊〉 â—ands I commit my Spirit Lord Luk. 23. 46. Acts 7. 59. Jesus 〈…〉 Must I die now Lord 〈◊〉 in thy will believing thy promise trusting in thy mercy thro' the ALL-SUFFICIENT MERITS of thy Son and my Saviour I wait wait Lord I long for the happy moment And my last Petition and dying prayer shall be Come Lord Jesus come qickly Rev. 22. 20. 1 Thes 4. 17. that I might be for ever with the Lord come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen Amen FINIS
my self in a solemn manner to be a follower of them so far as they were followers of Christ When an holy Father or Mother dies methinks this is the farewell language I have resigned and devoted my self to God and by his grace I have been enabled in some measure to live suitably to such a state 'T is true I have had my imperfections and failings many infirmities have attended me which I heartily bewail and unfeignedly lament but I have thanks be to God I have the testimony of my Conscience I have been sincere and upright and now at last God is beginning to give me the rewards of a holy Life I have had in this sickness much from God and I hope for more I am full I am full of joy I long I long to be gone would God my work were done and I were gone Religion is not a vain thing and now I find it is not I have serv'd a good Master I have been his I have lived as his and now upon a Death-bed he treats me as his own as a Friend as a Servant nay even as a Child I do not repent of my Prayers and Tears my Watching against and Wrestling with sin my Circumspect walking and my Holy Life of any of the pains I took the endeavours I used to be truly Religious Repent no no I do not I thank God for hâ—s grace bestowed on me and that his grace was not altogether in vain Tho' I relie only on the merits of Christ and desire to be found and accepted in him yet I do and can rejoice that my works prove my Faith to be more than a dead one My fears are gone my doubts are answered my peace is setled my Conscience is quiet my joy full and I can die and now by these my last comforts by these my dying hopes I beseech beg of charge and conjure you O my dear Children Whom I shall leave in a wicked World to Serve Please and Honour God What Errata's there have been in my Life let them be corrected and amended in yours And wherein grace hath enabled me to be a follower of Christ do you be followers of me I now leave you to go to the Father but this do and God be with you Amen When Holy Relations are snatcht away dead and gone what doth more nearly concern them who are left than to study and imitate their Holy Lives to tread in their steps follow their example and write after their Copy Oh what a laudable ambition is it to strive who shall come nearest to the Original and whose Copy shall be fairest Fourthly Another duty incumbent on us Is to be more speedy serious and solemn in making preparation for our own departure Thoughts of Death should be serious lively and affecting and it is our sin and folly if any of them be cold flat dull and ineffectual Death carries that awful sound it is of that infinite concern and importance that every view thought and glance should be improved by us We should neither think nor speak of this solemn and weighty thing Death without concern But alas while we only entertain our selves with meer contontemâ—â—ation and naked speculation how little do the best of us advance in real piety How seldom is it that these thoughts make any deep through and lasting impressions upon our hearts perhaps they scare and terrifie us at present and produce some short-lived pangs of a gasping devotion but how few are the better for walking among graves and Tombs By reason of a croud of worldly business secular affairs present prosperity and flattering hopes of its continuance through vain sports and foolish pastimes carnal mirth and sensual joy the crafty insinuations of a subtil Devil and the fly suggestions of a deceitful heart most of these thoughts come short of that end they are proper to attain How few alas how few in this dying World of ours which every day and hour is changing its inhabitants are reform'd amended and made better don 't they love the World pursue vanity follow their pleasures neglect duty forget God and themselves have they not as strong an appetite after the little things of time and are not their affections to the great things of Eternity as cold and flat as ever But if it be so when we think of Death should it be so after we have seen it and God has been holding the frightful picture of it before our Eyes If this won't affect and awaken the Lord pity us what will When a near and dear Relation is gone the living should prepare to follow And if such an one died in hope it should add Life and Vigour to our endeavours for in them we see that to be prepared is no impossible thing After such a Providence it is seasonable adviseable and may be very profitable and useful to make this ensuing Reflection I am but poor Dust a crawling Worm breathing Clay a sinful Creature I must certainly and I may quickly die After a few more moments and hours I may after a few more weeks and years I must Ere long alas in a little little time it will be with me as it now is with this near and dear Relation of mine My breath will fail my pulse be low my tongue faulter my countenance change my visage will be marr'd my looks will be frightful and my body cold and stiff It is his or her turn to die now ere long it will be mine May not I be the next person that falls sick the next time this grave is opened may it not be to receive me The next Funeral out of this Family may it not be mine The next Arrow that is shot may it not glance by others strike me and leave me dead on the spot Do I think of living many years that it will be a long time before my present Lease be expired Vain thought do I talk of another year or day This may be my last and for ought I know it will be so And is it not O my Soul my grand duty my great concern and ought it not to be my chief care to make my peace with God to obtain the pardon of my sin and an interest in Christ to get grace wrought and the evidence of it that I may Die in Hope That on a Death-Bed I may firmly depend on the mercy of God in my sorrowful moments trust in the Merits of Christ and with my last breath commit my Soul to the care of my Redeemer with Faith and Confidence saying as some of the last words I shall ever speak in this World Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Act. 7. 59. Is one dead and another dead is my Father or my Mother my Husband or my Wife dead and shall not I prepare for the evil day that is coming apace and will be quickly here in that day in that moment I and my dearest friends must part in that moment my Soul and Body must be Divorc'd in that moment awful
thought my Soul must go to judgment stand at the Bar of that God whose purity is untainted whose holiness is unspotted whose justice is impartial whose power is irresistible whose truth is invariable whose anger is as a flaming Fire whose glory is amazing whose Majesty is tremendous and whose sentence will be righteous final and irreversible and shall I be vain and worldly slothful and negligent careless and secure merry and sportive when I may have such a speedy summons Shall I dare to be so with the last groans of my dying Father or Mother in mine Ears when the language thereof was O my Children prepare to follow me When Ienter'd the dark and silent Chamber stood by the Bed-side of my dying Father of my departing Mother when I saw the last breath and what a change one minute made when I heard the last sob and groan the sight of mine Eyes and the hearing of my Ears did affect my Heart every thing I then saw and heard made some impression upon me my thoughts of Death Eternity and a World to come were more serious affecting and moving than at other times when I saw with what peace and comfort hope and joy they died then thought I with my self Lord what is Grace Christ and Pardon of sin thy favour love and hope of Heaven worth oh that I might thus die and shall these thoughts die and come to nothing when my dead are buried out of my sight shall I forget their hopes and my own wish purpose and resolution when their Funeral is over shall my care to provide for my own be over too Lord revive these thoughts and let them not wear off having seen the happy death the comfortable end of so near and dear a Relation I hope I shall wisely improve this Memento of my own Mortality be more speedy and solemn in making preparation for my own Change assist and help me Lord Fifthly Another duty is to moderate sorrow for the death of such holy Relations and Friends who died in Hope Mourning for the dead is neither uncomely nor unlawful Nature commands and Religion allows us to pay this Tribute at the Grave of deceased Relatives Religion only corrects it does not root out natural affections it is only a Pruning Knife to cut off the luxuriant Branches not an Axe to cut down this Tree at the Root Religion is a Bridle to curb and restrain but not an Opiate to stupifie We are not required to cease to be Men when we become Christians Grace and good Nature are not such Enemies that they cannot dwell together nay usually the former thrives and flourishes best where there is most of the latter We may lawfully shed some Tears over the Grave of deceased Friends upon such occasions have not holy men had their set and appointed days of mourning To die unlamented to be thrown into a disconsolate hole of the Earth without the solemnity of a sigh groan or tear is it not a sign there was but little worth in the dead or a great deal of ill nature in the living nay is it not threatned as a punishment Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehojakim the Son of Josiah King of Judah they shall not lament for him saying Ah my â—rother or ah my Sister they shall not lament for him saying Ah Lord or ah his glory Jer. 22. 18. Holy Job mourned for his Children when Dead he met with many trials and afflictions before the Sabeans and Chaldeans had rob'd and plunder'd him Fire from Heaven had destroyed his substance and yet he bore this with an heroick patience and a noble greatness of mind we don't find he utter'd a groan or dropt a tear upon this account but when he received the heavy tydings that his Sons and Dâ—â—â—hters were dead then he arose and renâ— his Mantle and shaved his head the usual signs of a solemn mourning in this he was not guilty for God himself bore him â—itness that in all this he sinned not Job 1. 20 22. To cry out at such a time Alass my Father alass my Mother alass my Brother is but to speak in the language of a Prophet 1 Kin. 13. 30. A Father dead a Mother dead and may we not be sensible of such a stroke and mourn for such a breach Are they dead who under God were the Authors of life to us and ought we not to mourn mourning at the Funeral of such Relations was permitted even to the Priests Lev. 21. 1. David when he would express the greatness of his sorrow sets it out by this I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his MOTHER All funeral Psal 35. 14. sorrow is not unlawful Shall death pale cold grim and frightful death knock at our door enter our house come into our family captivate and snatch away a principal member of it shall death turn the desire of our Eyes into a breathless corps spoil the beauty tâ—e the Tongue close the Eyes stop the Ears Fetter the Hands and shackle the Feet of a dear Relation is their life gone and breath stopt and are they turn'd into cold clammy Earth must we see their faces hear their voices enjoy their company which many and many a time we have with so much delight and pleasure no more must we have the benefit of their instructions and counsels prayers and tears no more are they who a while ago were many ways useful to us now in one single moment become like to the Heathen Idols which have Eyes and See not Ears and Hear not Noses and Smell not a mouth and Taste not Hands and Handle not Feet and Walk not and have we not cause to mourn what can we see our dear friends those whom we laid in our Bosoms and Loved as our selves become the spoil and triumph of our common Enemy Death and not weep what can we thrust a Wife a Mother into a scanty Coffin croud them into a narrow Grave without a Tear Solomon tells us there is a time to weep and a time to mourn is not such a time as this the season for Ecles 3. 4. both But tho' we may and ought to mourn yet we Christians who are acquainted with that life and immortality which is brought 2 Tim. 1. 10. to light by the Gospel should bound our grief and moderate our funeral sorrows especially with reference to such as died in Hope How many with Rachel mourn for their Children and will not be comforted because they are not how many upon such sad occasions abandon themselves to an obstinate sorrow lay the reins loose upon the neck of their head-strong passions and then foolishly cry out they cannot bridle them how many have weaken'd Nature destroyed their Health and hasten'd their own Death by excessive grief for that of another when these Waters swell too high o'reflow the Bank and threaten to Deluge us it is time to sink them Now to check an immoderate sorrow what can be more useful and