they be such things is not eternity the very formality of them is not eternity that massie substance affixed to the exceeding weight of glory which counterpoiseth weigheth down and witnesseth the levity of those afflictions which we now suffer for a moment Eternity is the sting of sorrow but the strength of joy the horror of damnation but the honour of salvation the dread the dolor of the reprobate but the desire delight of the Elect the plague the sting of the gnawing worm and tormenting not consuming fire but the pleasure the lustre of the wedding garment and of the cooling refreshing streams of the waters of life My soul Christ my Savior hath redeemed me from the one and sealed me to the other of these conditions fear not therefore to go out of this body to pass through this red Sea this dark dreadful dismaying gulf into the Ocean of thine Eternity remember consider thy Lord long since declared strait is the gate and narow is the way which leadeth unto life I will by Gods grace stoop at this strait gate I will press through this narrow way seeing life so rich so glorious so blessed life is the end thereof to be enjoyed for ever The Conclusion § MOst blessed Jesus thou art the Lord of life and glory of thine own good will in compassion and pity to lost man thou didst leave the delights of Heaven and of thy fathers bosome and wast cloathed with mans mortal nature Thou hast subjected thy self to death to the most violent shameful and cursed death that thou mightest sweeten and sanctifie this cup in which all thine elect and Saints must pledge thee thou hast tasted death for all men Thou having felt the sting and encountred the strength of death didst conquer and triumph over the grave thou hast gotten thou hast given all that beleive in thee the victory over death thou art in thy Church and to thy Saints the first fruits from the dead thy glorious resurrection is our pledge and assurance that we shall not be always held under the power and dominion of death but that we shall be raised up to raign with thee for ever § I thy weak and worthless servant am under the expectation of death and if thou restrain not the wrath that is in man it may be a violent and shameful death under the dread hereof I look unto and desire to encourage my self in thee the captain of my salvation Be not far from me my God and my Saviour in this hour of my temptation but let thy grace support me under the stroak and save me from the sting of death strengthen my faith unto the full apprehension due application of thy death and resurrection to the curbing of my passions and check of my fears that I may willingly cheerfully follow thee through the vale of the shadow of death O be my God! my God and my Guide unto under death § Death is natural to man common to all men but its nature is changed unto some and but to some of the sons of men this dreadful Executioner of thy vengeance on the wicked is but a grim messenger to fetch thy children home this thy Sheriff executing Malectours putteth the heirs of salvation into the possession of that inheritance thou hast purchased for them and appointed to them the wicked dye when thy friends do but sleep and rest in their beds Be pleased O my Redeemer to know me and make me know my self to be one of that number to whom the nature of death is changed to whom it may not it cannot be apprehended or appear so dreadful evidence and cleer up to my soul and conscience that real supernatural change of quality in my self which may convince me of and secure unto me the contranatural change of the nature and quality of death to and upon me § Union with thy glorious self can only secure against the sting and encourage under against the terrifying apprehension of the stroak of death unite me O Lord unto thy self communicate to me thy grace that only evidence of my union with thee that assurance that only that full assurance that death shall not divide between thee and me death shall not seperate my soul from thee death shall not seperate my body from thee but my dust shall be regarded by thee my death shall be precious in thy sight make O my God the graces of thine holy spirit so legible in me that I may thereby make my calling and election sure and read readily that name that none can read but he who hath it and that I may be certainly resolved in my self that my name was written in thy book of life before the foundations of the world was laid § Thy grace O Lord hath been extended to me make me to see it teach me seriously to reflect it unto thy praise and the encouragement of my soul under and against the terrors of the dread of death I am through thy grace and abundant mercy called by the name I have been born within the pale of thy Church and under the Covenant of thy salvation I was dedicated to thee and thy service as soon as I was born thy covenant was then set on my flesh by baptism and I now bear it on my flesh I dare not with prophane Esau despise this my birth-right but must and by thy grace I will rejoyce that I pertake of the fatness of the Olive and that I am a branch from an holy root sanctified by and unto God Thou didst bless me O Lord with Christian nurture and education I have known thy word from my childhood thou hast seasoned me with and sanctified me by thy truth thy word is truth it hath been the delight of my soul and the direction of my life and faith Thy spirit hath been and is in me the spirit of conviction and of burning by it I see the finfulness of sin and possess with grief shame the iniquities of my youth and the evil of my ways and doings it lusteth against my flesh and draweth disposeth my mind to serve the Law of God when my flesh is forced to serve the Law of sin Thy glorious Gospel thy gracious spirit O Lord hath convinced me of and affected my soul with mine own guilt thy fathers wrath and justice and the salvation wrought out by thee and by thee alone I do beleive there is no name by which men can be saved but thy name most blessed Jesus thou art the true Messiah the only Mediator between God and man the all-sufficient Saviour of all that come unto thee unto thee O Lord I come weary and heavy loaden with my sin Oh give me easie pressed with a dread of thy fathers wrath plead my cause satisfie for me his offended justice be the propitiation for my sins oppressed with my lusts Oh save me from my sin subdue corruptions in me change my nature be to me a perfect Saviour for to thee I run on
thee I relye thee I embrace with all my soul to be my Lord and my King refuse reject me not O God of my salvation I have resigned up my whole man to thy most holy word and will and desire to walk in thy most holy ways thy love shed abroad in my heart hath enflamed me with a love to thy name to thine ordinances thy people and thine house the zeal of thy house hath consumed me I have through thy spirit embraced esteemed thy truth in the love thereof and thy people for the truths sake which is in them For thy sake I have denied all outward comforts I have taken up my cross and followed thee Consider remember O Lord my present bonds for thy sake I am killed all the day long I am accounted as a Sheep for the slaughter the reproaches of them who reproach thee are fallen upon me all this is come upon me yet have I not departed from thee nor dealt falsly in the Covenant in which thy glory is concerned § These things O Lord I do reflect not as matters of merit in me or as engagements on thy justice to do me good for I well know they are not mine own and if they were and were perfect yet I must when I have done the best I can acknowledge I am an unprofitable servant all I can do is due to thee the best of my actions are but the debt I ow thee but alas my best actions are full of sin my righteousness is as a filthy rag a menstruous garment which needeth thy propitiation and thy fathers pardon and must be perfumed by the incense which is on the censer in the right hand of thee my high Priest Yet O my Savour I reveiw these things in me as the effects of thy grace to me of thy spirit in me and as infallible evidences of thine union to me for flesh and blood could not reveal nor work these things in me by thy grace sanctifying my nature my soul is and shall be saved ô refuse me not deny me not to be thine O let thy spirit of adoption seal up my relation to thee and mine interest in thee let me not remain in the dark or be deceived in a matter of so great concernment to me clear up to me by certain premises the truth the realty of mine inseperable union with thee else I am undon have said nothing to my soul in all that I have said against the dread of death § Grant unto me O Lord the remission of all my sins the sence of the guilt thereof doth sting my soul under the apprehensions of mine approaching death Whatsoever doth befall me in this life I beseech thee suffer me not to dye in my sin Oh convince me of humble me for and turn me from all iniquity and every reigning lust but graciously cast it behind thy back blot it out of thy remembrance that in the day it is sought for it may not be found against me sin hath passed on me and death by sin but deliver me O my Saviour from falling by under the second death from which there is no possibility of redemption Secure unto my soul thy sufferings as the full ransom of my soul and the satisfaction to thy fathers law and justice for mine offences and for my many great trangressions so shall I be able to meet death with boldness I shall then insult over that King of terrors with on O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory I shall then triumph over death and him who hath the power of death the Devil If my heart deceive me not I would not sin that grace â—hould abound but now blessed Saviour that I have sinned I do I dare not but earnestly beg thy grace may abound that I may in my death through the pardon of sin sing unto thy praise thanks be unto God who hath given met he victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. § O thou the only high Priest of my profession thou canst be touched with mine infirmities thou knowest the power the prevalency of my natural passions under the apprehensions of mine approaching death thou ever livest to make intercession for me graciously rebuke my passions restrain my fears revive my faith renew my hope and establish my heart under and against all those amazing affrighting apprehenfions of death which nature dotâ— conceive sence doth dictate or Satan doth suggest unto my dread Compassionately grant me the comfortable supports of thy presence grace and spirit whilst I walk in the vale of the shadow of death that I may with all patience and meekness lie down and receive that stroak of death which I cannot avoid and yet cannot be willing to receive That I may with submission drink that bitter cup thou puttest into my hand concerning which my nature not corrupted with sin could not but pray Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me give me an heart groaning to be clothed on with my house from heaven whilst I cannot desire to be uncloathed of this earthly tabernacle and seeing my presence in the flesh is mine absence from thee O Lord perswade me to be willing to be dissolved that I may be with thee which is best of all § As a man I cannot desire I cannot but fear to die be pleased O my Savior to convince me of and afflict me with the happy sequels of my death that the sence thereof may make me contrary to the power property of my nature desirous to die let not the dread of death drive me to accept on sinful terms the deliverance from the most violent and shameful stroak thereof enable me to live the last breath of this my dying life in the ways of thy truth and holiness to the praise of thy grace and in this last act to play the man couragiously evidencing my self affected with a clear sence that all the evils of death are discharged and assured that I am united to thee who art the resurrection and the life through whom though I die I shall live again and having fought the good fight of faith and finished my course of nature I shall escape the curse of death and be received into eternal life and glory with thy self thy blessed Saints and Angels for ever guide me all my days by thy counsel and at last receive me into thy glory Into thy hands I commit my spirit it is thine own thou hast redeemed it and thou wilt keep it until thy glorious appearance blessed Jesus my Lord and my Redeemer Amen Amen Amen FINIS
though dark quietly shut your doors about you the wise God is willing to hide you for a little moment until his indignation be past My soul and body are dear companions it is not strange to see these two parted with dread and greif and yet nearest relations dearest friends must shake parting hands each with other in this world brethren that have lived long together and love most dearly must leave each others company at their Fathers pleasure and for their future good this is my case in death my soul be contented take chearful leave of thy body thou art returning to the father of spirits My body consent willingly to shake hands and shut out thy soul thou must for a time be shut up by God from falling under those desperate dangers and deep distresses which are more dreadful and intollerable then is death it self The design of death in dividing my soul from my body was to divide both from God but this is impossible for union with Christ and with God in him is inseperable no case will make them cast me off no condition can cut me off from them whom they love once they love to the end forever Joh. 13.1 Christs union is with me my self my whole self the whole not any single part of man no part of me can therefore be by the power of death dismembred from him death may militate against Christs body it may rend and mangle his members but it cannot destroy his body his mystical body it cannot divide any his members nor any part of his members from him death shall ere it be long by the sound of the last triumphant trumpet at the glorious and general resurrection know and prove that the union between Christ and the bodies of his people is as real as inseperable as the union between him and their souls Christ will not lose any part of his purchase he paid a price for man for whole man for our bodies and for our souls both are his all enemies that interrupt the union that intercept the communion which is between Christ and his members must be destroyed and the last enemy to be subdued is death when the Grave the Sea and Hell shall give up the dead bodies which are in them as in repositories for a time I shall then find the design of death in dividing my soul from my body is failed disappointed and become frustrate it never could divide either of them from God my Father or from Jesus Christ my Redeemer nor shall it be able long to keep these parts of me asunder and at distance each from other for my union with God and Christ doth necessitate and will most powerfully irresistably effect the re-union of my soul and body at the resurrection that I whole I my self out only part of my self may enjoy them for ever Let my God and my Saviour do with me what they please so they will but please to be with me in life and in death whilst I am and with my divided parts when I am not I will then perswade prevail with my self contentedly to enjoy them in my divided parts until the time return that my parts reunied my whole self may be placed in an inseperable possession of them in perfect glory world without end SECT XVIII VVHen I am dead my body will be covered with worms Worms will eat me when dead but conscience will not bite me and will feed upon me but it is no matter I shall not see their scrawling I shall not feel their gnawing of my flesh and if I did yet that is nothing whilst my soul shall escape the gnawings of an accusing conscience that worm which never dieth there is more mercy in being freed from this one worm then from many thousands of those silly weak dying wormes Why should it trouble me to become the companion of wormes must not I say unto the worm thou art my Mother Job 17.14 and my Sister what am I my self but a worm a weak creeping worm Psa 22.6 David did apprehend himself a worm a King and yet a worm and Bildad Jobs friend noteth of man in general Job 25.6 that he is a worm whilst I then am my self but a worm let the worms feed sweetly upon their fellow when I am dead I can do man no good why should I not be glad any creatures can fare the better for my death the wormes cannot cover me from the sight of God they may crawl upon my body but it is not thereby made loathsom to the Lord. They may devour my flesh but the worm which never dieth shall not distress my soul I will not therefore appear so weak as to afflict my self with the apprehensions of the power and prevalency of those silly creatures to which I must be subject but of which I shall not be sensible SECT XIX IN Death I shall see corruption In death I shall corrupt but rise again my body will corrupt be covered with dishonour consume away to dust moulder away to nothing this I cannot deny for it was peculiar to the holy one the Lord Christ and to him onely to dye and not to see corruption but yet I do beleive the resurrection of my body God can preserve my dust and make my dead bones to live my body is united unto Christ death cannot destroy that union my body united to Christ shall by the power of his resurrection be most certainly raised up at the last day that I may sit with him in heavenly places God is the God of Abraham Isaac Mat. 22.32 and Jacob he is the God of the living and not of the dead though therefore the bodies of Abraham Isaac and Jacob be dead and buried and have seen corruption and be dissolved into nothing yet they shall live again they retain in the grave an animating principle which will produce its effect they shall be raised up and exist in their individual specifical persons and subsistencies this was the Lords Argument to convince the Sadduces of the resurrection of the body this priviledge was not peculiar to those Patriarchs for I also beleive that my redeemer liveth and that he shall at the latter day stand upon the earth Job 19.25 26 27. and though after this skin wormes destroy my body yet in my flesh I shall see God him I shall see for my self whom mine eyes shall behold and not anothers though my reins be consumed within me My present life doth witness the first Adam to be a living soul my resurrection from death and the grave must witness the second Adam to be a quickening spirit My body is part of my self it must not it cannot be lost its seperation from my soul maketh me cease to be this seperation continued would continue me a nonentity for ever my self is redeemed and related to the Lord and my soul or my body is related to him but as parts of my self these divided must be reunited that my self
the cross can I chuse but desire these should be can I chuse but leap for joy to know that these invisible things are eternal My soul stand still upon thy dying shore take a second a serious view of eternity as affixed to thy salvation to thine inheritance to thy glory and to thy life and tremble be troubled at the thoughts thereof if thou canst thou wilt be more ready to tumble thy self headlong into then once to turn back from thine Eternity First then Eternal salvation Death determineth all my woe it giveth me an immunity from all evil it passeth me into the possession of salvation salvation from sin from sorrow from weakness from sickness from all defects and deformities from all infirmities and imperfections from diseases of body disgrace unto my name and distempers of mind from all the envy of Satan rage of men and wrath of God is the happy and certain sequel of my death through Christ my Lord. Can it possibly greive or amaze me to see and to know that this salvation is eternal or that I am going to possess and enjoy it for ever shall my heart ake to appprehend it shall never ake more shall I blear mine eyes with weeping because God is about to wipe all tears from mine eyes for ever Have not I beleived and preached this salvation and the eternity thereof shall now mine entrance thereinto be mine affliction I have professed my self did and would and I have earnestly perswaded others to persevere in piety pressing to salvation and waiting for the time when there should be no more weeping or woe no more pain or greif no more fear or sorrow no more distress death or danger and shall I now give back when God hath brought me to that time shall I dread the discharge of evil which I have all my days desired and groaned for or shall the eternity of this immunity embitter mine expectation or enjoyment of it do I retain the sence of evil and can I desire to return to it again have not the Paroxismes of a Feaver the Fits of an Ague of the Stone or Collick perplexed me and made my strength to fail have not the threats of humane rage filled my soul with terror and exceeding dread have not mine apprehensions of Gods wrath and eternal woe which my sin hath deserved filled my heart with horror my soul with fear and greif and my bones with trembling shall I now fear to be put into that estate wherein all these evils shall end for ever wherein I shall never more feel it I shall never more fear it Oh blessed Eternity annexed unto so great salvation 2. Mine Inheritance is eternal Death putteth my soul into the possession of mine inheritance the inheritance which Christ hath purchased for me which God hath promised to me the inheritance among the Saints the inheritance of the Saints in light the inheritance of an house in heaven the inheritance of the blessed mansions of God the inheritance of a Kingdom the Kingdom of Heaven the Kingdom of God in this inheritance I shall inherit the confluence of all honour and happiness in this inheritance I shall sit down a Co-heir with Jesus Christ the onely begotten the onely beloved Son of God shall it greive me that this inheritance is eternal is not Eternity the Emphasis the excellency of this inheritance my soul could never be so much ravished with the plenty pleasure scituation society greatness and glory of this mine inheritance as it would be damped and deadned discouraged and discomfited with the vanity the transiency of the same what a cutting consideration would it be to think there were but a possibility of a cutting off from this inheritance or of my being cast out of it though but for a time unto this inheritance I have been called by the glorious Gospel I have been sealed by the blessed spirit of adoption I have received in my self the earnest the first fruits of this inheritance I have been thereby encouraged in mine expectation and enflamed in my desire of a full possession thereof shall I now draw back and decline mine inheritance and the enjoyment of it because it is incorruptible and fadeth not away because it is eternal without end I have ever deemed and determined the most rich and honourable inheritance on the earth a pompous vanity because it is temporal and transient Shall I now dread to enter into the possession of that inheritance which is Real because Eternal can I be so foolish as to desire the worm of time should eat into my fair estate and make my flourishing inheritance to fade I have all my days lived a child in nonage longing for and looking at but kept out of mine inheritance but I am now at age I shall now become a man a grown man and enter upon and into mine estate and this is my comfort mine advantage I shall abide a man a perfect man for ever the second childehood of old age shall not overtake me to deprive me of or discapacitate me to enjoy this my heavenly inheritance Oh! how have I longed and laboured how have I panted and prayed how have I pleaded with God how have I pressed against the power of men and Devils to get into the possession of this inheritance now I am come to the door shall I stand at the Threshold shall I dread to enter in sit down and possess mine inheritance because it is eternal will eternity be the burden of my heavenly estate My soul embrace death the door the dark entry which passeth thee into thine inheritance proceed with joy with courage praise God for the eternity of thy future state is not this my substance much better because more enduring then all my worldly goods hath not the hope of this made me content with the loss and to take joyfully the spoyling of those shall desireable delight eternity dismay my soul entring into the possession of what I have so much esteemed so long expected who would not exchange a Lease for life for an inheritance to be enjoyed for ever who would not part with all to purchase to possess such an inheritance a Royal Heavenly holy inheritance and shall I not gladly breath out a dying life to affix and secure eternity to this mine inheritance 3. Eternity is affixed to glory Death shall invest my soul with GLORY Eternity must needs be the sparkling lustre of GLORY mine Inheritance shall be a Glorious Inheritance and so much more glorious by being eternal mine inheritance is a palace not a poor cottage a mansion not a moveable Tent a Kingdom not a Country Village an Heavenly not an Earthly Kingdom a Kingdom of God not of men and is not this a Glorious Inheritance would not any man desire to enjoy this for ever Mine Inheritance or estate in this world hath ever been poor vile and base but my soul shall now pass into Glory and be invested with nothing but Glory I