called so much better for what is that space of time to Eternity 'T is called also The house of all the living because all that ever did or shall live shall there dwell together God hath provided all Men one House in the Womb and another in the Tomb one when they enter into the World and another when they go out and the Wise Man tells us The day of death is better than the dayâ— of ones birth Eccles 7.1 For man that is born of a woman is born to sorrow Job 14.1 therefore the Coffin is to be preferred before the Cradle An Ancient Father calls the days wherein the Martyrs suffered their Birth-days because then they began to live indeed their Marriage-day because then the Marriage was consummate between Christ and their Souls It was an Epicure that said Ede bibe lude post mortem nulla voluptas But 't is better saith Solomon to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting Eccles 7.2 Now through this Gate your dear Daughter is gone and you are stepping after her you are treading out her steps and others ere long will do as much for you you are but a Vessel of Clay and begin to crack your Pains and Aches and Decays in Nature may mind you that you are declining that you have one foot in the Grave and are you troubled that another hath stept in before you Yet a little while and you will enjoy her to Eternity when both of you will be stript of all Infirmities and Corruption which here renders Communion less delightful Where you shall be ever with the Lord and with the spirits of just men made perfect 1 Thess 4.17 Heb. 12.23 Blessed is that Day and happy will that Union be between Christ and the Soul and happy is that Man whether he die old or young that shall come to Mount Sion unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant c. Heb. 12.22 23 24. Oh what a Glorious Meeting will here be in Heaven how Happy and Glorious will that day be when we leave this wretched World and wicked Company to enjoy the Assembly of holy and happy Saints and Angels yea of God himself blessed for ever Now she that formerly was in her blood and no eye pityed her Ezek. 16.3 4 5 6. doth now shine by the Beauty her Husband hath put upon her as the stars for ever and ever and ere long you will meet where you shall never part Then will you solace your selves in each others Love and both in the love of your dear Redeemer When she will never repent that she died so young nor you that she lived no longer She is not lost but found she is but gone a days Journey before you and at Night you will Lodge together you will over-take her and find her in her Father's Cabinet among his Jewels She hath gotten the start and is at the Race end before you she hath won the Prize and is this matter of Grief or Rejoycing She hath cast her Ground and recovered the Hill and is at the Race end before you You came not together into the World and it was unlikely you should leave it together There was a probability you think she might have survived you but God determined otherwise Some Roses are taken in the bud some are full blown when others wither and fall but those that grow longest prove but fading Flowers and are of short continuance sic transit gloria mundi God is not engaged to shew us the Reason of his Actings his Will is his Law and 't is our Duty to acquiesce in it We cannot resist his Power and we pray his Will may be done let us not contradict our own Petition God knows best what is best and he tells us All shall work for the best to those that love God Rom. 8.28 and this may suffice us If you prefer your own Will before his or loved your Daughter better than your God you cannot be his Disciple If you had rather enjoy her Company than submit to God God will take it ill from you he took her hence when he saw her Work was done and left you as yet to moil and toil and sweat in the Vineyard Submission under his strokes is your best and wisest course contending against his Will is foolish and sinful foolish because you cannot resist it sinful because you ought not to resist love to God and the Creature cannot be both in the same Party in the prevailing degree we cannot serve God and Mammon 'T is your Wisdom rather to mind your own end than to lament hers The Scripture frequently minds us and not in vain for we are apt to forget it of our latter end and the brevity of our Lives And this if well minded would imbitter all Earthly Enjoyments and make us set a low value upon all Creature-Comforts Man that is born of a woman saith Job is of few days and full of trouble he cometh forth like a flower and is cut down he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not Job 14.1 2. And what more fading than a Flower What more fleeting than a Shadow And sometimes 't is compared to a Weaver's Shuttle yea to a Post that hasteth away Your Glass is also running and the last Sand is ready to drop 'T is the Complaint of Old Themistocles that a Man must die even when he begins to live when he begins to be Wise Death calls him hence we usually spend the flower of our Age the strength of our Bodies and the vigour of our Spirits in sinful Vanities before we know why we live or what Errand we came into the World upon little considering that upon a little Inch of Time depends Eternity our everlasting well or ill Being many had their time before they begin their Work not considering that whether they sleep or wake work or play their Glass is running and their Time wasting Few and evil saith old Jacob are the days of the years of my Pilgrimage and yet few attain to the number of Years which he then had attained There is but a little time between our Spring and Fall and therefore our Lives may fitly he compared to Jonah's Gourd that sprung up in one Night and perished in another Death is stealing upon us tacito pede with a silent foot and 't is an absurd thing saith one to ask when we shall die but rather when we shall make an end of dying for every day Death seizes upon some of our Lives and gains ground upon us and steals upon us insensibly as the shadow doth upon the Dial till our Sun be set and whether sleeping or waking we are in continual motion we are like Men
nations are as the drop of a bucket and are accounted as the small dust of the balance that taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And all nations are before him as nothing and are accounted to him less than nothing and vanity Isa 40.12.15.17 Fear ye not me saith the Lord do ye not tremble at my presence which have placed the sâ—nd for â—he bound of the sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it and though the waves toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over it Jeâ— 5.22 He setteth bounds to the sea and saith Hitherto shalt thou go and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed Job 38.11 He numbreth the stars and calleth them by their names Psal 147.4 He removeth the mountains and they know not he overthroweth them in his anger He shaketh the earth out of her place and maketh the pillars thereof tremble He commandeth the Sun and it ariseth not and sealeth up the Stars He alone spreadeth forth the heavens and treadeth upon the waves of the sea Which maketh Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the chambers of the south Which doth great things past finding out and wonders without number Job 9.5 c. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters and the clouds are his chariot he walketh upon the wings of the wind He maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming fire That layeth the foundations of the earth that they shall not be removed for ever Psal 104.3 c. Is it not he that made the World of nothing and can as easily reduce it into nothing He hangs the Earth upon nothing and that in the midst of the open Air and gave a Being to all his Creatures when they were nothing and nothing comes to pass without his Providence Nay is it not he that keeps the Keys of Life and Death at his Girdle I kill saith he and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand I lift up my hand and say I live for ever Deut. 32.39 He brings to the gates of death and back again and doth what pleaseth him in heaven and in earth and none can resist him neither dare any say What dost thou And is this he that hath done you this wrong and with him is it that you contend But consider Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he 1 Cor. 10.22 Shall we provoke him to a Duel as sometime Caligula did their Heathenish Jupiter Was there ever any that hardened himself against God and prospered Job 9.4 Who ever could boast of the last word or glory in the last blow The Walls of Aphek did Execution on the Blasphemous Syrians and the Angel of God upon the Assyrians If we harden our heart against God he will harden his hand against us for he will lay us upon our back ere he leave But haply though we do acknowledge God doth excel us in Power yet we imagine we have the better Cause and therefore with Jonab we think we do well to be Angry or at least with Job we would dispute the Point with him Job 13.3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty and I desire to reason with God Why what hath God done Why he hath taken away your Daughter in the midst of her days Well but hath he no Interest in her Is it not he whose we are and whom we serve Was it not he that gave her her Being and breathed into her the breath of Life and she became a living Soul Did he not give her her Being 'T is not long since there was nothing heard of her and did he not continue her in her Being till her death Was it not he that fed and cloathed her at his own Cost and Charges And was she not engaged to him for every bit of Bread she did eat and every drop of Drink she drank and for the Cloathes she did wear Was it not his wool and his flax that cloathed her his corn and his wine that fed her his silver and his gold that enriched her Hos 2.8 Let us take heed then of paying our Rent to a wrong Landlord her Limbs and Senses her Peace and Plenty her Wit and Reason yea her Life and Breath were given or rather lent her by God It was he that covered her in your Womb and through him she was born Psal 139.13 It was he that put bowels of Compassion into your Heart to make Provision for her when she could make none for her self and to him she was indebted for every breath she breathed and for every Mercy that rendred her Life more comfortable to her and doth it become Christians thus to quarrel with our great Benefactor Or is it meet that we should require of him an Account of his doings Or expect that he should bring his Will to ours Whose is the Pot but the Pot-makers and may not he if he please dash it in pieces with his foot And who can say why dost thou thus Now if this great God this Omnipotent Being this God that hath such an Interest in us and such Authority over us yea greater than any Man upon Earth hath over any thing he doth enjoy hath taken away one of his own Creatures and glorified himself with her that he had made for his own Glory shall we take Offence at it That it was his Hand I doubt not but you acknowledge for nothing comes to pass without his Providence Affliction springs not out of the dust neither doth trouble arise out of the ground yet man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward Job 5.6 These things come not to pass by Fate or blind Fortune as the Heathens imaginee or by Chance as the Philistines supposed 1 Sam. 6.9 but the hand of God is in all this and therefore the lamenting Church concludes That she will bear the indignation of the Lord because she had sinned against him Why should a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Lam. 3.39 Is there evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it Amos. 3.6 That is the Evil of Punishment for the Evil of Sin He is not guilty of sin He is of purer eye than to behold iniquity with approbation Shall not the judge of all the earth do right Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass if the Lord commandeth it not Lam. 3.37 I form the light and I create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do these things Isa 45.7 Yea we may find that the Evil that came upon Jerusalem came from God Micah 1.12 For God sits at the Stern and guides the great Affairs of the World and when we sin what can we expect from a Righteous Judge but Sufferings Where sin goes before sorrow follows as the shadow follows the substance But now you have found out the Person and the Fact
Cross or any thing to molest us had it not been for sin yet are we apt to over-look it and yet have our finger always upon the Sore we cry out Oh my Back my Belly my Bones my Heart but seldom Oh my Sin we are like hâ—m that complains of the pain in his Foot but not of the Shooe that pincheth him of the Gout Stone Strangury Surfeit but not of the Intemperance that is the cause Pharaoh cries out Take away the Frogs the Lice the Darkness let there be no more Hail but not take away the Sin the hardness of Heart that brought them God when he threatens Death for sin threatens also all the Causes and Fore-runners of Death and all the Evils which accompany a sinful Life for these are the Natural Productions of sin and much worse Fruit it bears if Repentance prevent it not and like a mighty Wind blows it not down before it come to Maturity otherwise it will be bitter Fruit We have far greater cause to cry out Oh my filthy Sins Oh my Pride my Passion my Covetousness my Deadness Dulness Formality Hypocrisie c. than Oh my dead Father my Husband my Son my Daughter We should cease quarrelling God and turn the edge of our Anger Sorrow and Indignation against Sin and against our selves for our sin and so our Quarrel will be much more just 'T is a stubborn Child that when corrected for a known fault will rather quarrel his Father than acknowledge his own Guilt We are apt to cry out Oh my Loss Oh my Cross than Oh my Sin my Infidelity my inordinate Affections which forces God thus to Correct me Let us remove the Cause and the Effect will cease Thus you see whether we consider sin in it self in its pestiferous infectious Nature or whether we consider it in its direful Effects the Miseries that attend it we have more cause to bewail it than any Loss or Cross that can befal us for sins sake as the Cause is worse than the Effect 3. But this is not all for sin procures Spiritual Judgments as well as Temporal and these are far more deadly and dangerous for these Distempers reach the Soul when the other touch only the Body or Estate Sin defiles and deforms all the Powers and Faculties of Soul and Body Sin is so Infectious and Contagious and the Effects thereof so Malignant that the greatest and most dangerous Plague-sore even that which rendeth the Soul from the Body is not so dangerous 'T is sin that hardens the Heart and turns it into the Nature of a stone We read of a stony heart and of all the Plagues that fell upon Pharaoh this was the worst and a greater than this cannot befal a Mortal Man in this Life God complains of this That the house of Israel were impudent and hard-hearted Ezek. 3.7 c. And the great Gospel-promise is To take away thâ— stony heart and give them hearts of flesh And as it hardens the Heart so it blinds the Mind which by reason of sin is Naturally Judicially and Wilfully blind the Image of God consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness these by the Fall were lost and Ignorance Wickedness and Profaness the very Image of the Devil were engraven in their stead 1 Cor. 3.14 And Men walk in Darkness till the Scales of Ignorance are wiped from their Eyes and Christ's Spiritual Eye-salve applyed Rev. 3.18 A natural maâ— cannot perceive the things of the spirit for they aâ—â— spiritually discerned Many also are Judicially blind God in his just Judgment giving them up to strong delusion to believe lies Mat. 13.13 c. They are Wilfully blind and God will not Cure them like Hagar they cannot see the Well of Water that is before them They are wilfully Ignorant that they may sin the more freely The God of this world hath blinded their eyes 2 Cor. 4.4 He draws a Curtain between them and the Light and holds his black hand before their faces and were they anatomized his Image would be found â—ngraven upon their hearts Light is come into â—â—e world and men love darkness rather than light â—ecause their works are evil They are willingly â—gnorant of what they are not willing to know â—hey have also cauterized Consciences seared with 〈◊〉 hot Iron and reprobate minds Rom. 1.28 And â—istempered and disordered Affections set upon â—rong Objects loving what they should hate â—nd hating what they should love fearing Men â—nd their threatnings and despising God and his â—hreatnings being given up to vile affections Rom. â— 26 1 Tim. 4.2 Yea they are given up to â—tubbornness of Will Judges 2.19 And of this â—e have Pharaoh for an Example that was beâ—ome Cannon-proof that all the Judgments â—rought upon Egypt could not work upon him â—uch are mentioned Jer. 44.19 that would bake â—akes to the Queen of Heaven let God himself say what he would to the contrary they will set up â—heir Post by God's Post and prefer their Dagon â—efore the Ark therefore God gives up such to â—trong delusions to believe lies Rom. 1.24 The Memory also though strong enough to retain what is bad yet 't is like a leaking Vessel that cannot retain any thing that is good In a word â—ll the Powers and Faculties of the Soul are polâ—uted and the Members of the Body are the unhappy Instruments to act the wickedness the Soul contrives So that a Toad or Serpent is not fuller of Poison than Man's heart is naturally of Sin and Wickedness and of noxious Qualities the Fruits and Effects of which if timely Repentance prevent not will be the loss of God's Favour which is better than life in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasureâ— for evermore Psal 16.11 The loss also of an Interest in the Blood of Christ will follow which is of more value than the World it self for such trample upon the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing Heb. 10.29 Yea they do despight unto the Spirit of God and put themselves from under the favourable Protection of God and thaâ— Guard of Angels that God sends forth as ministring Spirits for the good of those that love him and makes Men uncapable of the sweet Communion of Saints which David made his chiefesâ— Delight on Earth Psal 16.2 It deprives them of the Peace of Conscience a Jewel of inestimable worth and brings many times such a Storm there that all the World cannot allay aâ— in Cain Judas Spira and many more that Bird in the Bosom when it sings sweetly makes better Melody than all the World can do Sin also deprives Men of all true Interest and Spirituaâ— Right to all our outward Enjoyments a Civiâ—â— Right we may have but a Covenant-Right we cannot have in a Natural condition for these things are not given but lent to a wicked Man and an Account will be required to the utmost Farthing In a word unrepented sin deprives Men of an Interest in God in
Heaven and Glory and of the Beatifical Vision for withouâ— holiness we shall never see God Let us therefore leave off sorrowing for petty Losses and Crosses and turn the whole Torrent of our Sorrow into this Channel even against our sins 4. Nay the mischief of Sin ends not here it also exposeth us to the wrath of God and makes him our Enemy that otherwise would be our closest surest and fastest Friend and did we â—now what it is to have God for our Enemy it â—ould send us trembling to our Grave for when â—is Fury is kindled it sets on fire the foundation of â—he mountains Deut. 32.22 'T is better have all â—he World to grapple with than with God if â—e frown upon us no Creature dare smile If â—e be for us who can be against us Rom. 8.31 â—f God have a Controversie with us who dare â—ake our part or move a Hand or Tongue in our Defence We cannot grapple with him he is â—oo strong for us we cannot flye from him as â—onah thought to do he will over-take us neiâ—her can we hide our selves from him Psal 136 â— c. We cannot struggle out of his hand â—or he is the Almighty and we but despicable Worms if he tread upon us he leaves us dead â—ehind him Before him the Holy Angels cover â—heir faces and all the Infernal Spirits tremble â—n his hand is the soul of every living thing and the â—reath of all mankind Job 12.10 If he with-hold â—ur breath we return to our Dust for we have â—o more than what he puts into us how then â—hall we contend with our Maker Can Chaff â—nd Stubble grapple with a devouring Flame One blast of his Displeasure can blow us into Hell yea Heaven and Hell and All into nothing â—nd how are we like to make our Party good â—gainst him when we cannot move a Finger â—wag a Tongue or fetch a Breath without his â—ssistance Well but let us well consider whether our Cause be good What cause hath God given us to take up Arms against him Hath he â—een a hard Master to us Or with-held our Wages Jonah thought he did well to be angry but was soon convinc'd Job had a mind to quarrel him and seems of any other to have the best Cause but when the Contest began hâ— soon threw down the Cudgels and lays his hand upon his Mouth Hath not God been our greateâ—â— Benefactor and done more for us than all the World ever did or can do Is not he our beâ—â— Friend and shall we become his profest Enemies Many good works have I done among you saith Christ for which of those do you stone me John 10.32 God gave us our Being when we had none and shall we hate him for it We were tâ—â— Clay and he was the Potter and might have dash'd us into pieces with his foot He gave us Reason when he might have made us bruit Beasts as Dogs or Swine or more contemptible Creatures He hath given us Limbs and Senses when otherâ— want them Peace and Plenty yea Life and Liberty and hath made our Lives comfortable to us when we deserve not the Ground we tread upon or the Air we breath in and shall we flye at the Face of God and thus requite the Lord our Maker Nay hath not Christ suffered more for us than any other hath or can do We had sold our selves Bond-slaves to Satan and neither Man nor Angel could have redeemed us out of our Slavery or have paid a Ransom sufficient for us but Christ laid down his Life to free us from the guilt of sin from the filth of sin from the Punishment due for sin from the Curse of the Law the Wrath of God the Slavery of Satan and from Everlasting Damnation And hath he for all this deserved our Malice and Hatred He hath bestowed more upon us than the World hath to bestow 't is he that sends us so many Ambassages for Peace and rains Heavenly Manna so plentifully about our Tents he gives us Promises such as the greatest Kings upon Earth cannot make and make good to their greatest Favourites as of his Spirit his Graces his Son and his Glory And is all this nothing Shall we foster sin in our Bosom that hinders us in the Enjoyment of those promised Blessings and expose us to the wrath of God and the everlasting Destruction of Soul and Body and expose us also to all Miserie 's Temporal Spiritual and Eternal God forbid Well we cannot make our Peace with God till we break our League with Sin and if God be our Enemy and our Enemy he will be if we are at Peace with Sin then we may expect he will treat us as Enemies Well may we fear that every bit of Bread we eat will choak us and every drop of Drink we drink may be our bane and that every Creature may wait for a Commission to end our days that the Floods may drown us as they did the Old World or the Fire consume us as Sodom or the Earth swallow us up as Korah and his Complices or the greatest Judgments that ever we read fell upon Mortal Man may be our Portion Oh what need had we then to leave sorrowing for other things and turn all our Tears into the right Channel that it may drown our sins that expose us to these Miseries and Mischiefs 5. Nay but this is not all for Eternal Death as well as Spiritual and Temporal is the Reward of Sin the everlasting separation of Soul and Body from God which is called The second Death and this is far greater than all the Miseries before mentioned for if the sinner be not reconciled to God which cannot be before sin be mortified he shall be cast into the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 This is the Natural Fruit and Effect of every beloved sin even the everlasting Damnation of Body and Soul a thousand thousand rentings of the Soul from the Body is not comparable to one renting of the Soul from Christ Sin doth that for us that all the Men on Earth and Devils in Hell could never do even pull us out of the Arms of God This threw Angels out of Heaven Adam out of Paradice and Millions of Souls into Hell This brought Death into the World and is the very Sting of Death and if this Sting be not taken out it will sting the Soul to Eternity This imbitters our Lives as you have heard while we are in the World and opens the Door to let us out of the World and will open Hell it self to let us in and is the only bar to keep us from coming out But if Sin were mortified we might with Old Simeon depart in Peace and with Ambrose say I am not ashamed to live nor afraid to dye And with Paul I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Death without his Sting is like Samson without his Hair or like the Drone-Bee without a Sting not