Jesus the Head will diffuse it self into all its Members to quicken and raise them also in the morning of the Resurrection And indeed Christ is not perfectly risen till all Believers are risen also For though Christ's personal Resurrection was perfect when he arose out of the Grave and though all Believers did then arise with Christ representatively yet till all Believers arise personally at the last day the Resurrection of Christ hath not received its full perfection How comfortable therefore is this to a Believer to consider that by the same Faith that he puts Christ's Resurrection into the Premises he may put his own Resurrection into the Conclusion If Christ be in you says the Apostle speaking to Believers in Rom. 8.10 11. The body is dead it is a poor frail dying body because of sin And though you are really united unto Christ by his Spirit dwelling in you which is a great and glorious Priviledge yet your bodies must die as well as others but the Spirit saith he is life because of Righteousness Though your bodies die your souls shall be su'allowed up in life upon your dissolution this Happiness Believers have even in death But this is not all for saith the Apostle if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you what then why though your bodies must fall by Death into the Grave yet they shall rise and live again at the Resurrection and that by virtue of the Spirit of Christ which dwelleth in you and is the Bond of your Mystical Vnion with him who is your Head for says the Apostle He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Because Christ is your Head and his Spirit dwelleth in you you shall be raised again and that not as others by a meer word of his Power as the wicked are but by the Spirit of Life dwelling in Christ your Head which is an excellent Priviledge indeed O the Consolation that the hope of the Resurrection fills the Believing Soul withal it is this Blessed Hope that supports it not only under the Troubles of Life but makes it Triumph even under the Pains and Agonies of Death it self Thirdly Meditate frequently upon the Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven Now this Ascension of Christ into Heaven as it was full of Glory and Triumph in respect of himself so is it full of admirable Comfort in respect of Believers As to himself his Ascension was Triumphant a Cloud was prepared as a Royal Chariot to carry up this King of Glory into Heaven so it is said in Acts 11.10 That whilst his Disciples beheld he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight and no doubt a Royal Guard of Angels attended the Solemnity of their Lord's Ascension If when Christ came into the World to suffer Angels waited upon him for even then it was said of him Let all the Angels of God Worship him surely much more then now that he hath finished the work of Mans Redemption do the Angels Worship him in his return to Heaven again where he is exalted to have a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow both of things in Heaven and things on Earth and things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father But may a poor Believer say what is all this to me what am I the better that Christ is Ascended and Exalted thus in Glory Yes this is much for the advantage of Believers for it is the same Jesus that was Crucified for them that God hath made both Lord and Christ It is he who took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham who is Exalted above Angels being gone into Heaven Angels Principalities and Powers being made subject unto him It is this Jesus Christ whom God hath raised from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not only in this World but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church Ephes 1.20 21. Christ Ascended into Heaven as a publick Person or the fore-runner of Believers for he is not gone to take possession of Heaven only for himself but also in our Name and for us So the Apostle tells us Heb. 6.20 speaking of the most Holy place within the Vail whither says he the fore-runner that is Christ is for us entred And if we will not believe the Apostle Christ himself tells us the same thing John 14.2 In my Father's House are many Mansions I go to prepare a place for you And if I go away I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Christ is now in Heaven transacting the Affairs and Concerns of Believers both for their present Peace and Comfort and for their future Eternal Happiness not only by intercepting the daily cry of their sins by the continual Representation of his Death and Sufferings unto his Father and so making an Atonement and Reconciliation with God for them but by the Blood of his Cross he maintains this Peace and keeps up good thoughts in God towards Believers sprinkling their poor and weak but sincer Services with the Incense of his own Merits so that though both they and their Services deserve to be rejected for their own sakes yet they shall both be accepted for Christ's sake This now is something that Christ is doing in Heaven in the behalf of Believers since he is Ascended to his Father and to their Father to his God and to their God But yet this is not all for in that comfortable Prayer of his to his Father before his Ascension into Heaven which is say some the Copy of his Intercession now he is in Heaven he doth as it were tell us that he looks not upon himself as perfectly Happy until he hath the whole number of Believers with him in Glory and therefore says he John 17.24 Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where Lam that they may behold that is that they may enjoy my Glory which thou hast given me O what Comfort then is here to all Believers against the Fears of Death for assure thy self O Believing Soul that neither Death nor the Grave shall be a bar to thy Happiness thou must die it is true so did Christ but he is Risen and Ascended up into Heaven and so shalt thou also in due time and therefore says the Apostle He hath made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephes 2.6 Salvation and Happiness is made sure to a Believer by Christ for if when we were Enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death
whether it be good or evil But because Generals do not so much affect us unto our Edification I shall be a little more particular in my Discourse upon this Subject and so I shall speak something concerning Death in a Threefold Sence as the Scripture holds it forth unto us And so there is I. A Death in Sin II. A Death to Sin And III. A Death for Sin First There is a Death in Sin this the Scripture mentions often 5 John 25. The hour is coming and now is when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live So 5 Ephes 14. Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light So let the dead bury the dead Mat. 8.22 This Death in Sin consists in the want of a Principle of Spiritual Life being the deprivation of the Life of Grace and Holiness which is the Life of the Soul and without which the Soul is dead And thus all Men naturally are dead because they are without the Spirit of Christ which enlivens and quickens the Soul to all Acts of Grace and Holiness wherein this Spiritual Life doth manifest it self as the Soul enlivens and quickens the Body unto all Acts of Nature wherein the natural Life doth manifest it self That all Men are thus dead in Sin naturally is evident from Scripture 2 Ephes 1 2 3. The Apostle writing to the Ephesians who by the Almighty Power of God were raised from this Spiritual Death as he tells them in the First Verse And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins that he might beget in them a grateful Sense of God's Goodness towards them herein He describes to them their former deplorable Condition Wherein says he in times past ye walked according to the Course of the World according to the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that worketh in the Children of Disobedience And in Ver. 3. the Apostle puts himself into the Number Among whom says he we all had our Conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature Children of Wrath even as others And then in the fourth Verse he gives them to understand by whom they were raised out of so miserable an Estate But God says he who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by Grace ye are saved Now this Spiritual Death or this Death in Sin is the fruit and effect of our first Parents Apostacy from God whereby we are not only deprived of the Image of God which is the Beauty yea the Life of the Soul but are also depraved with the Image of the Devil which is not only the Deformity of the Soul but even as Death unto it And because this is a Spiritual Death and reacheth chiefly to the Soul it is therefore the more hurtful and dangerous though the effects of it extends it self to the Body also being that which is the Cause of Natural Death for therefore the Body is a frail dying Body because it is joyned to a sinful Soul but this is not all the Mischief it doth for this Death in Sin unless Grace prevent is that which ends in Eternal Death which consists in an everlasting separation of Soul and Body from the eternal Enjoyment of God in Heaven in whose presence there is fulness of Joy and at whose right hand there are Pleasures for evermore Secondly There is a Death to Sin of this we read Rom. 6.2 How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein So in 1 Pet. 2.24 That we being dead to sin should not live any longer therein This Death to sin consists in the Spirits indwelling in the Soul by its sanctifying Operations enabling the Soul to mortifie sin Hence the Apostle tells us Rom. 8.13 That if through the Spirit we mortifie the deeds of the Body we shall live Such therefore who have felt the Efficacy of an Almighty Power from the Death of Christ by the Operation of the Spirit applying of it to their Souls to break the power and strength of sin so that it doth not reign in them they may be said to be dead to sin because sin is dying in them As those Persons over whom Distempers have prevailed so far that they have lost their bodily strength that it cannot be recovered again are said to be dead even while they live so tho' sin still live in the godly by reason of the Remainders of it yet are they dead to sin because the Power and Strength of it is abated and lessened the Spirit of Sanctification prevailing dayly over sin so that it doth not rule and reign as formerly it did Thus to dye to sin is to be made alive to God and blessed are they that have a part in this Resurrection from the death of sin to the life of Grace for on such the second Death shall have no Power Thirdly There is a Death for Sin or because of sin Now this is Two-fold Temporal and Eternal 1. Temporal Death This is contained in that merciful Threatning God gave unto Adam in Paradice to prevent his Apostacy Gen. 2.16 17. where after God had so largely expressed his bounty and goodness unto man in giving him liberty to eat of every Tree of the Garden restraining him only by a Command from the Tree of Knowledge for the Tryal of his Obedience as Ver. 17. Of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat which he backs with a Threatning in the next Words For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye The Truth of which Threatning the Experience of all Mankind to this day is a standing Confirmation so true is that of the Apostle As by one Man sin enter'd into the World and Death by sin and so Death passed upon all for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 2. There is an Eternal Death for sin and this follows upon the Death of the Body consisting in the separation of Soul and Body from the Presence and Favour of God for ever in Hell and is in part executed on the Souls of wicked Men at Death and perfectly upon Soul and Body at the Resurrection when the Wicked shall be turned into Hell and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power which in Scripture is called the Second Death Rev. 21.8 Where wicked and unregenerate persons are said to have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the Second Death This is the height and perfection of all Misery This now is the Substance of what is contained in this Word Death so far as Words can explain it which if we consider in all the forementioned Sences it is that which we cannot comprehend all that hath been
forced from him whether he will or no. But though a Sinner's Death be violent yet no Man dies before his time though some in Scripture are said so to do Hence we read that Caution of the Wise Man Eccles 7.17 Be not wicked over much why shouldst thou die before thy time And God threatens Psal 55.23 Bloody and deceitful Men shall not live out half their Days And it is a common saying among us that such a one is cut off in the midst of his Days To all which I shall only return this short Answer That simply and in it self considered it is impossible but that the whole tale of Days that God hath appointed to every one must be fulfilled according to the Number of them They are set down by God and no Man can die before God's time It is true a Man may die before his time that is before he is prepared by Grace or before he is ripened in the course of Nature Such expressions as these denote no more than either that God cuts them off in their full strength and in the vigour of their years when yet they might according to humane probability have lived much longer or else comparing the shortness of their lives with the length of others God seems as it were to break it off in the very midst before he hath finished it And is Death the lot of all Men sooner or later Though all die not the same way and after the same manner nor at the same time yet is Death the end of all Men Doth Death pass upon all because all have sinned Why then let every one prepare for Death The Spirit of God tells us that all flesh is grass and the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field which soon withers and dies And is it so with these Bodies of ours that they are frail and dying The Wisdom of a Christian then should manifest it self not in labouring to avoid the stroke of Death for that is impossible nor yet in spending too much time in daubing over a House of Clay or in repairing and propping up of an Earthly Tabernacle which when we have done all will at length crumble into dust but seeing the Body is appointed for and will turn to dust to be sollicitous that when it dies it may die happily and comfortably Christian whoever thou art into whose hands these lines may fall know that I am come to acquaint thee with a message from the True and Faithful God that cannot lye that the Lease of thy Life is almost expired and that the time of thy departure is not far off What habitation hast thou provided for thy precious and immortal Soul that it may not at its departure out of thy Body take up its dwelling with Devils and damned Spirits for ever It may be thou hast provided well for thy Wife and Children heap'd up much Silver and Gold together for them added House to Land that they may dwell upon the Earth it may be thou hast settled thy Estate so as to prevent all disputes and quarrelings when thou art dead I cannot say but thou hast done well and that these things ought to be done I condemn thee not But what hast thou done for thy Soul all this while Hast thou not laid out much more care and pains for thy never dying Soul than thou hast for thy perishing Body If not let me say unto thee O careless Sinner as the Mariners said unto Jonah in the Storm What meanest thou O Sleeper What meanest thou O drowsy stupid Sinner Arise for God's sake and for thy Soul's sake and bestir thy self look about thee Whither art thou going What will become of thee Is not Eternity before thee And must not thy State and Condition be for ever hereafter as thy Preparations are now O that God would open thine Eyes that thou mayest see what will make for thine Eternal Interest before Death open them when it will be too late Now that I may press this Exhortation the more home upon thy Conscience I shall lay down two or three Reasons for thy more thorough Conviction that it will be much for thy Interest and Advantage to be ready and prepared for Death First Consider Conscience will then be very busie and active in reviewing thy Life Now if for the most part thereof thou hast walked uprightly with God Conscience will then give thee some measure of boldness towards God But now if at such a time when Conscience is reflecting back upon thy former Life it cannot but say if it will speak the Truth as usually upon a Death bed it doth I have been considering thy former ways and the Account that I can give of them in general is that they abound with multitudes of Sins and Provocations which no Man can number to particularize them would be endless but if it may tend any way to thy Repentance before it be too late Remember O Sinner for I do how long God hath lengthened out thy Life how many tenders of Christ and Salvation by him he hath made unto thy Soul which thou hast rejected How many years of Sabbaths hast thou enjoyed How often hath the Spirit of God moved upon thy Soul and stirred up holy motions in thy Heart which thou hast resisted and quenched What multitudes of mercies wherewith God would have drawn thee to himself hast thou slighted and abused How many corrections and afflictions hath God laid upon thee wherewith he would have imbittered Sin unto thy Soul that himself might have been more sweet which thou hast despised and grown more hardened in Sin under How hath the Patience of God been even wearied with waiting upon thee whilst thou hast pressed him with thy Sins even as a Cart is pressed with Sheaves and yet thou wouldst not forbear thy wicked ways Doest thou not remember the particular times and days the several seasons and occasions wherein it hath been thus and thus with thee Surely says Conscience thou canst not forget it these things are all down in my Book though thou thoughtest I took no notice of them and I am now a going to open this Book to shew it to thy Judge where I shall justifie them all to thy very face for I do very well remember every one of them O that for thy Soul's sake I could say I do as well remember thy praying thy hearing thy reading thy Meditation of holy and heavenly things with the sincerity yea the fervour and earnestness of thy Soul expressed in all these that I could bear Witness to thy Faith to thy Humility to thy Patience and Self denial to thy Repentance and Godly Sorrow for Sin to the daily longing and breathing of thy Soul after the being rid of a Body of Death that thou mightest never offend God any more but I cannot say these things of thee and I dare not now flatter thee and tell thee that I can when I cannot and if I should it would do thee no good
Corruption and rottenness which their Bodies must turn to when they are dead But admit what thou sayest O Christian should be true that thy pains in dying should be great yet hast thou not sinned and thereby deserved that what thou fearest thou mayest feel let me tell thee There is not the most Righteous man on Earth but hath sinned and the least sin merits more pains than any man in the first death ever yet endured If therefore thy pains in dying should be great it is just with God what thou sufferest and it is of his mercy that thou sufferest no more for there is no comparison between thy pains and thy sins between what thou mayest suffer and what thou deservest to suffer let thy sickness be what it will and thy pains as great as well thou canst imagine they are no more nay they are not so much as thou hast deserved If God should deal with thee according to the demerit of thy sins it is not the most smart and severest pains of a Temporal death that are ended by dying but easeless and endless Torments in Hell to all Eternity that would be thy Portion Fear not therefore O living Christian complain not O dying Christian though thy pains in death should be great for it is but the punishment of thy sins nay let me say to thee O Christian be thankful and rejoyce for it is the last punishment thou shalt ever endure for thy sins either here or hereafter But further Is it the corruption and rottenness that thy body must be subject to in the Grave that terrifies and afrights thee Let me say this unto thee It is no very great matter what becomes of thy Body when it is once dead though it were burnt to Ashes at a Stake tho' it rot in the Fields as Dung upon the Ground tho' in the Bowels of the Earth it become a Feast for Worms and turn to corruption and rottenness this will then be of no more concern to thee than if it had with the greatest Cost and Charge been Embalmed and Buried by thy dearest Friends The State of death knows nor feels no difference between the one and the other And what if thy Body lies in the Grave for a while it will not there be miserable for it feels no pain but rests quietly in its Bed sweetly sleeping away time until the Morning of the Resurrection when thou shalt awake out of the Dust again and shalt die no more And in the mean time thy Soul if thou art a true Believer for unto such only there is Peace and Comfort in death upon its departure out of the Body is advanced unto unspeakable Happiness in Heaven among the Spirits of Just Men made perfect in the Eternal Enjoyment of the infinitely blessed God the Fountain of Light and Life where thou shalt have as much Delight and Satisfaction as thou canst possibly contain and more than now thou canst conceive And why then art thou so afrighted with the fears of Death when this is all the hurt it can do thee O but Death is that which will take me from all my Friends and Relations and deprive me of all that Comfort and Delight that here I enjoy in their sweet Society To this I Answer Suppose it be so that by Death thou art taken from a dear Yoke-fellow that is now the Delight of thine Eyes suppose thou losest all thy Friends and Kindred in the Flesh whom thou lovest even as thy own Soul not knowing certainly whether ever thou shalt see them or at least so as to know them any more again for ever If this be all thy trouble how easily can God make it up unto thee Alas when Death hath once opened thine Eyes and let thee see what blessed Society thou shalt enjoy in Heaven thou wilt not thou canst not be troubled for what thou hast left behind thee here when thou art come to the Heavenly Jerusalem the City of the Living God to an innumerable company of Angels to the General Assembly of the first born to God the Judge of all to the Spirits of Just men made perfect to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant and where the blood of Sprinkling speaks better things than the blood of Abel will it then grieve thee that thou hast left thy Friends and Relations on Earth Why this is the State thou expectest this is the Company thou hopest to enjoy hereafter why then let the believing joyful expectations of this Association bear up thy Soul under thy Fears by Death of losing thy Friends and Relations here But thou mayest say possibly they may want me when I am dead and gone though I want not them whilst I am with them I see their â—ants and take care to suppy them and when they are going into any evil or sinful way I Councel them I Reprove them and I pray for them and endeavour to instruct them in the fear of the Lord. But when I am gone I know not who will do any of these things for them and what then will become of them To this I Answer canst thou say in good earnest that this is thy strait that therefore thou desirest to live that thou mayest be a means if God saw it good to further and promote their Souls Happiness why then let me say this to thee is it not a time of health with thee now doth God lend thee the sweetness of such Relations and Friends shew that thou lovest them indeed by taking hold of the present opportunities thou now hast to Admonish to Reprove and to Correct so far as it is thy place Oh double and treble thy diligence in all Respects wherein thou mayest be advantageous to their Souls multiply thy Prayers and Tears thy Sighs and Groans unto God follow him Night and Day and give him no rest until thou hast some good ground to hope that God is not only thy God but the God of thy Friends and Relations also and when thou hast done thy utmost and God by Death calls thee away hence so that thou canst do no more quietly resign up thy Soul into his hands and commit them to the care and kindness of thy God who is the Great and Vniversal Father that takes care of all his Creatures but is by special Relation a Father to them that fear and serve him But may some poor Soul say when I come to die the change that I must pass through by death is so strange and so amazing that I know not how I shall be able to bear it death will both change my place and company here I converse with Friends and Relations and Acquaintance whom I well know because I have lived so long among them but when I go hence O what a strange place and company shall I then see such as I never saw in all my life full of dazling and astionishing Brightness and Glory the thoughts whereof may justly fill my Soul with fear and amazement To this I
of his Son much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his Life For certainly he is able to save unto the utmost all that come unto God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them Christ hath not lost his Love and Affection to his People by his Advancement Harbour not therefore O Believing Soul any suspicious thoughts in thy Heart concerning him as if by his Exaltation into Heaven he were now become forgetful of any of his Members here below groaning under Sin or Misery for though the days of his Passion are ended yet so are not the days of his Compassion He retains the same Temper and Disposition of Soul now he is in Glory his Heart is not changed though his Condition be but he still bears the same Respect to his People now that he did when he was on Earth for indeed he there Lives and Acts upon the account of Believers so says the Apostle He appears in the presence of God for us Heb. 9.24 Doth God O Believing Soul by Diseases and Distempers upon thy outward Man cause thy Beauty and Comeliness to consume and wither hath long and tedious Sicknesses almost wasted and destroyed thy Body and by all art thou brought so low that thou despairest of Life Doth Death seem to be written upon all thy helps to Life And do all the means that are used for thy Recovery seem rather to further thy Dissolution than any way to hinder it Why yet fear not Death but Remember as God hath Glorified and highly Exalted Jesus Christ whose Form and Visage as the Prophet speaks was marr'd more than any Mans so he will Exalt thee also not to an Equality of Glory with Christ for in Heaven he shall be the Light and the Glory of it but yet there shall be some likeness and Conformity in all the Members of Christ unto him who is their Head Fear not therefore O Christian the worst that Death or the Grave can do unto thee for assure thy self as because he lives Believers shall live also so where he lives there Believers shall live also Thirdly Another Consideration for the removal of the fear of Death is frequent Meditation of the Happiness of the Soul in Death and of the Resurrection of the Body after Death As for the Happiness of the Souls of Believers in death it is exceeding great the Body at present suffers loss for though once it was an excellent Fabrick the Workmanship of God's hands yet being forsaken by the Soul it is become loathsome and turns to Corruption and rottenness so says the Wise Man The Body returns to the dust from whence it was taken there to consume and moulder away this is the State of Man's Body in Death procured by Sin and inflicted by God But now for the Soul that returns to God that gave it either to partake of Eternal Blessedness or to receive Eternal Punishments Now that the Happiness of Believers in their Souls is great at Death will appear if we consider either the Evils they are freed from or the Blessedness they attain unto as for the Evils that accompany our present State in this Life Death frees Believers from them all at once during this Mortal Life indeed Sufferings are annexed to the State of a Christian as a necessary Appendix to his very Being for such is our condition while we are here that Afflictions are almost become as needful for the Soul as Food and Raiment is for the Body therefore saith the Apostle if need be you are in heaviness through manifold Tribulations 1 Pet. 1.6 God sees it needful that Afflictions should be and in his Wisdom and Mercy he proportions the Afflictions of his People to their necessities This Life is a Life of Suffering unto the People of God it is their appointed Path and Way through which they must walk to Heaven therefore says the Apostle We must through many Tribulations enter into the Kingdom of God It is appointed for us so to do And indeed as Job speaks Man is born to trouble as the sparks flyupward he comes into the World crying and all the rest of his time between the Cradle and the Grave he is not much Happier for his Life is made up of Sin and Suffering the Evil of Sin and the Evil of Suffering there is a kind of a continual Chaining or Linking together of one Misery or Affliction to another a mixture of Pain and Sorrow or Succession of Evils and Troubles that runs through all his days as one Wave falls upon the neck of another so one Evil is no sooner gone but another comes in its room One depth as the Psalmist speaks calls upon another Floods and Storms of Miseries and Afflictions daily pass over our heads And if Troubles and Afflictions come not of themselves nor are caused by others we can Mint and Coin them our selves by our Sins Our Lord tells us That sufficient to the day that is to every day are the Evils and Troubles thereof but as if they were not enough we can create Troubles to our selves before hand and Anticipate in our Fancies and Apprehensions for our greater Vexation and Trouble Evils that are to come though we know not whether we our selves shall live till they come And herein we are more cruel to our selves than the Devil is to himself for that Evil Spirit cares not to be Tormented before his time whereas we antidate and bring Evils that are at a distance from us nearer to us by unquiet Apprehensions and sinful distracting Vexations entertained in our minds and so the fears of Miseries to come make us far more miserable than when those miseries are come upon us and by the Apprehension of an imaginary Evil we make it become a real Affliction and an unfeigned Torment to us in our resentment of it Thus Sin and Sorrow Afflictions and Temptations divide our days and time while we are here until Death comes for a Believers relief and then there shall be an end put to all his Sorrows and Sufferings because there shall be an end of Sinning After Death there shall be no Cries nor Tears under any Miseries or Afflictions no fears of future Evils nor no grief for past sins the causes of them no Poverty or Distress shall come near that Holy place the Habitation of Holy Souls all the Inhabitants there are become Kings possessed of Riches and Glory without value Fear not therefore O dying Believer whose Soul by Death is getting free from thy Body for thou art but removing from Earth to Heaven where thou shalt instantly be with thy dear Lord and Saviour thou art but going to thy God and Father and the Father of Spirits to visit those Mansions of Glory that are there prepared for thee Chearfully therefore take thy leave of thy Body and let it know that thou art taking thy flight to Heaven during the time that it shall sleep in the dust of the Grave until the morning of the
the Body in the Grave it were then a tolerable evil but when we shall consider death as a punishment for sin as that which puts us into an unchangeable Estate this is that which makes it dreadful and terrible indeed While we are in this World which is the time of our preparation for an Eternal State of Strangers yea of Enemies we may become Friends but when death hath once seized upon us it is impossible our State should then be changed We cannot now say of the vilest Sinner in the World that there is no hope of him we must not write desperation upon the fore-head of the wickedst Man on Earth but if he dies in that State then he is lost and undone for ever for as the Tree falls so it lies as death leaves Men so Judgment will find them And this Judgment is such as is conclusive and never to be Repealed Hence it is therefore that take the most hardned Sinner one whom Custom in sinning hath made past feeling yet when he comes to die if Conscience be but awakened it is impossible for him to look death in the Face without great fears and horrours Nay it is a sight so amazing and confounding that were it not for the Righteousness of Christ and that Satisfaction he hath made unto the Justice of God by his death it were utterly impossible that any Believer should bear up under it but Blessed be God the Blood of Christ then speaks Peace and so Believers are not only supported but carried comfortably unto Heaven through the gloomy Valley of the Shadow of death Death being thus terrible now it must needs be looked upon as a dreadful Enemy unto Man An Enemy now is one that when he comes against us always comes Armed to do us a mischief such an Enemy now is death for ever since the Fall of Man death hath been Armed with a deadly Sting now this Sting of death whereby it becomes hurtful unto Man is sin so saith the Apostle The sting of death is sin Now this Sting reacheth not only to the Body but to the Soul also as to the Body it takes away all those Contentments and Comforts wherewith it was here Refreshed and Delighted Death rends the Husband from the Wife and the Wife from the Husband it divides Children from their Parents and Parents from their Children death spoils us of whatsoever is desirable in this life strips a Man of all and turns him naked out of the World But this is not all death not only bereaves us of all that is good here but it brings many Evils along with it Sickness pains on the Body Grief and Anguish upon the Mind and Spirit It is a terrible Enemy to wrastle and contend withal it will make a Man sweat and bleed no Man can Encounter with death but he shall feel great Anxiety and Vexation both of Body and Mind unless he have strength from above to enable him to go through the Contest Death in its own Nature is so furious an Enemy unto Sinners that it will not cease till it hath pulled the Body down into the Grave and dragg'd the Soul into the Presence of God and from his Tribunal into the Torments of Eternal Fire where the first death terminates in the second death and the Torments exceed not only all our Expressions but all our Apprehensions also where death that is now such a dreadful Enemy would there be counted an unspeakable Mercy for there they shall seek death but shall not be able to find it But more particularly the Enmity of death appears in these particulars First The Fears of death do much abate our desires after the Enjoyment of God in Heaven It is true every Believer is one that loves God above all and looks upon Heaven as that which shall be his dwelling place for ever and accordingly sincerely desires and longs after it and in his daily Conversation walks with his Face thitherwards but when he sees death stands in the way between him and Heaven and that there is no coming for him to that place of Bliss but he must pass through that dark Valley this puts him to a stand and makes his desires weak and low The best Christians I believe have sometimes felt such workings as these within their Souls for tho' the Regenerate part discovering it self in the work of Sanctified Affections would be soaring upwards towards God and Heaven in whose presence the Soul would fain be but seeing death standing in its way how are the desires of such a Holy Soul kept down by the fears of it and he turned back as one that was afraid to come into his Father's presence Where is the Christian the Eye of whose Faith is so steadily fixed upon Christ in Heaven whose Soul is sometimes ready to cry out I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better yet withal when he sees the rude hand of death stretched out to undress him and that there is no coming unto Jesus Christ for him but by first suffering a Dissolution and laying down of his Earthly Tabernacle in the Grave though he would fain be with Christ that he might enjoy him whom his Soul loveth yet seeing this dismal Enemy death in the way doth not shrink back and cry out O I dare not venture O what a dreadful Enemy is this and what dreadful Enmity doth it put forth in the obstructing our desires though after God and Heaven causing us to run from God as it were at that time when we truly and dearly love him Happy Souls are they in whom Faith and Love work so powerfully as to conquer and overcome these fears Secondly If death as an enemy prevails so as to abate our desires after the Enjoyment of God in Heaven it will be apt to endanger our falling in love with this present World and so make us miserable by causing us to take up with the men of this World who have their Portion in this Life Take a Christian whose desires after Heaven are weak though true because blunted by the apprehensions of some frightful difficulties that must be gone through for the attaining of it how apt is such a one to be tempted to think that it is best for him to take up with those delightful pleasures that may be had here without such dangerous adventures but now if that which darkens the Blessed Vision of Heaven and our unspeakable Happiness in the fruition of God there and which also deadens our desires after this blessedness be once removed which usually is the dreadful apprehensions of death with what ease can such a Soul with a Holy Scorn and Contempt despise all the trifling Vanities of this World as things not worthy to be regarded Thirdly The Enmity of Death manifests it self in obstructing a Christians endeavours towards Heaven A discouraged disconsolate Soul moves but slowly be it towards Earth or Heaven Difficulties that should stir up greater diligence usually are great
it were not my pleasure to part with it all that Men or Devils could do they were not able to wrest it out of my hands Now though Christ by his death and sufferings accomplished several ends as the satisfaction of the Justice of God the procuring Pardon and Remission of Sin and the obtaining Heaven yet this also was one end of his death and a very comfortable one too and that is the overcoming of death for Believers Christ Jesus the Lord of Life and Glory hath by his death spoiled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in his Cross By his death he hath not only destroyed death but him also that had the power of death that is the Devil and delivered them who through fear of death were all their lives-time subject unto that bondage The Blood of Jesus Christ hath slain death's Enmity not that death is so destroyed that Believers shall not die but it is unstung It still wears its Dart by which it strikes all Men but it hath lost its sting by which it hurts Is death therefore riding upon its pale Horse and making haste towards thee O Believer fear it not be not dismayed at it though there may be much of pain in it yet there is nothing of the Curse in it it is as a Serpent without a sting thou mayest take it into thy hand yea into thy bosom without danger Death poured out all its Poison upon Christ when he was made a Curse it fastned yea it lost its sting in his blessed Side And who would fear an Enemy that is conquered Death to a Believer is not only an innocent harmless thing but it is one of his best Friends death is yours says the Apostle speaking to Believers It is theirs as a special Privilege When Christ was upon the Cross there was a Contention between him and death and as it was prophesied of him he was then the plague of death and the destruction of the Grave for he swallowed them up in Victory So that now death drives but a poor Trade among Believers all that it can do is but to destroy the Body and to afright some that are weak in the Faith but it cannot hurt them Victory over death is as sure to them as if they had already overcome and therefore says the Apostle speaking of Death and the Grave Thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Secondly Meditate upon the Resurrection of Christ This is a great Fundamental Article of the Christian Religion that upon which the Faith the Hope and Happiness of a Christian for Eternity is built for as Christ died for our Sins so he arose again for our Justification And if Christ had not risen the Faith and Hope of a Christian is but vain If Christ be not risen a Christian shall not rise and if there be no Resurrection there is no Life everlasting If Christians have hope only in this Life they are of all Men most miserable But blessed be God Christ is risen and therefore the Faith and Hope of a Christian stands firm for it is built upon the Rock of Ages against which as the Gates of Death did not so the Gates of Hell shall not prevail That Christ is risen the Scripture is clear an Angel declares it Matth. 28.6 He is not here he is risen as he said Come see the place where the Lord lay Holy Men who were Eye-witnesses hereof give their Testimony to this Truth when our Lord shewed himself alive to them by the space of Forty Days in nine several Apparitions and once was he seen of five hundred Brethren together 1 Cor. 15.6 And says the Apostle Acts 2.24 He was raised from the dead the pains or bands of death being loosed because it was not possible he should be holden of them It was possible Death should seize upon him and so it did he willingly yielding himself up unto it because as our Surety he owed a death by way of satisfaction to the Justice of God for our sins which he had taken upon him and accordingly he paid it otherwise Death could not have taken hold of him But though death did take hold of him yet could it not keep it though it had possession of him in the Grave yet it could not keep him there no that was impossible partly because he is life essentially life so himself tells us I am the Resurrection and the Life Now it is not possible for death to hold life it self longer under its power than he who is life it self pleaseth And then partly it was not possible Christ should be held under the power of death in â—espect of us for having undertaken the great work of restoring us unto life if his life had been subdued by death if he had been held down a Prisoner under the power of death and the grave we had been lost and undone for ever for as the Apostle argues if Christ be not risen then our Faith is vain we are yet in our sins But Christ being to carry on the work of our Redemption to perfection though he submitted himself to die yet was it impossible Death should have Dominion over him for ever Christ therefore is risen and he is risen as a publick Person in the behalf of all Believers who are therefore called the Children of the Resurrection and said to be risen with him Eph. 2.6 Christ's Resurrection is not only the Cause of a Believer's Resurrection but the security of his happy Resurrection therefore he is said to be the first fruits of them that sleep Now as the first fruits did both assure and sanctifie the whole Harvest so doth Christ do for Believers by his Resurrection he assures them of their Resurrection and sanctifies it also that it shall be a blessed Resurrection even unto an Eternity of Happiness And therefore it is with respect to Believers that Christ is called the First-born or the first begotten from the dead who are in their time and order to be born from the dead the Resurrection giving New Birth or Being unto those bodies which while they were in the Grave seemed to have none For as certainly as the whole Harvest follows the first Fruits so doth the general Resurrection of Believers at the last day follow the Resurrection of Christ For as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15. and 12. If Christ be risen from the dead how can it be but that there must be a Resurrection from the dead If we acknowledge the Body of Christ is risen we cannot rationally deny the Resurrection of our own bodies because Christ's Resurrection is not only the Exemplar of our Resurrection but the Cause of it for because Christ and Believers are but one Mystical Body he the Head they the Members and the Head being risen the Members shall not always lie rotting in the Grave but shall in due time arise also For the Spirit of Life that is in Christ