comfort The Scripture tells us Psal. 16. That in God's presence there will be a fullness of joy and by consequence there can be no scantiness of enjoyments but pleasures for evermore yea a River of Pleasures nay a bottomless and boundless Ocean of them the Infinite and Eternal God must himself be exhausted before the delights and pleasures of Heaven can be spent Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath entred into the heart of man what God in the Mansions above hath prepared and reserved for them that love him There is a feast of Love a Crown of Life and Robes of Glory There is Abraham's Bosom and the joy of their Lord which is too big to enter into them therefore they shall enter into it and be filled encompassed and swallowed up by it as a small Vessel in the Sea When once the gracious Soul hath set foot upon that coelestial Countrey and made its entrance into that stately and magnificent Palace of the great King he shall be not only filled with satisfaction but likewise rapt up into astonishment and highest admiration What am I that God hath brought me hitherto And what were all my services that they should be thus rewarded Oh how light and inconsiderable doth he now think all his former sorrows and sufferings if compared with that far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory What low thoughts will he then have of the Skin-deep beauties and transitory delights here below on which the besotted Children of men do so foolishly dote And with what an holy scorn and indignation will he call to mind that pains men did take for and that eagerness with which they did pursue the trifling vanities of the Earth and how they scrambled for them and quarrel'd about them And oh how doth he wish and long for that blessed day in which the Church militant shall be made triumphant and all his gracious Friends all his Brethren and Sisters in Christ all the chosen and beloved of God shall be taken up to the same place that they may see what he sees and be possest of that which he enjoys That so they may altogether contemplate the glory of God and be satisfied with the fruition of him and endear admire and extol Father Son and Spirit unto all Eternity Lay all these things together and you will easily see that there is great yea abundant reason why those that have seen Gods Salvation should be willing yea desirous to depart in peace and to take their flight into the other world And now I come to shut up this discourse with some application And in the first place this serves to shew us what it is that above all things should engage and draw out the vigour and strength of our desires namely the sight of Gods Salvation My Brethren I beseech you frequently to consider that we must all die there is no shift for it Death will not be bribed and it cannot be avoided It is appointed for all men once to die by a Statute-Law enacted in Heaven which admits of no repeal The aged Father of this Family is now gone and the youngest Child here must follow him sooner or later And is it not good for us to prepare for Death Will it not be our Wisdom Will your Wisdom more eminently discover it self in any thing than in this That so this King of Terrours may not be terrible unto you that you may not fear him but rejoyce in him you will die uncomfortably this is past all dispute you will die unhappily if you die unpreparedly Oh the horrour that will sieze an awakened sinner upon a Death-Bed When he shall think thus my glass is run my time is spent I must die but alas I am not fit to die I must now appear before my Judges but I have not made my peace Now then go on and consider what is to be done by you in order to this preparation A Life of vanity and folly will not fit you the more you sin the more you sharpen the sting of Death An eager minding the World and pursuing the delights of that will not fit you the more you have indulged your self in a course of prophaneness the more afraid you will be to die and the more you have set your hearts upon the Creatures the more loath and unwilling you wil be to die when you come to die the love of the World will make you unwilling to leave it and Conscience of sin and guilt will make you tremble at the thoughts of appearing before God Turn away your Eyes then from beholding vanity and pray that they may be opened to see Gods Salvation Oh study Christ get an intimate acquaintance with him Beg of God to reveal him to you and in you that you may know him whom to know is life eternal and never rest quiet nor contented till you have seen him by an Eye of Faith and laid hold upon him by an hand of Faith as one that loved you and gave himself for you and have a care that there be not a deceptio visus mistake in the case but look to this that your sight be saving and the Faith you pretend to the Faith of Gods Elect that you may upon good grounds such as the Scriptures will warrant appropriate him to your selves as your Lords and Gods and Saviour Rest not in any thing till you find and feel Christ living and commanding in you his Image drawn upon you his Law written in your hearts and his Spirit poured out Take not up with a verbal profession formal duties and unblameable Conversation common convictions and some stirrings and flushes of affection All this may be and all come to nothing Hypocrites may go so far and yet they do not go far enough but after all fall short of Heaven It is not the form of Godliness that will avail you but the power not a name to live but the life it self God is not taken with empty shews and appearances he is for reality and truth in the inward parts You can take but little comfort from Christ dying without you unless you find Christ formed and living in you notwithstanding the Death of Christ you may be for ever lost and damned unless you be made partakers of his Life Remember and consider that expression Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of glory When Christ dwells in you by Faith when he is in you by his Spirit and by his Graces then and not till then is there a firm Foundation laid on which you may build the hope of glory For hope so grounded is good hope such as shall never make ashamed Vse 2. The second use will be of Reprehension Those are blame-worthy and deserve reproof whose eyes have seen Gods Salvation Men and Women that do know the Jesus in whom they have believed and are made partakers of sanctifying saving grace and have had the manifestations of God's favour and Covenant love made to them and are verily
or reason of this his request for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation This Scripture being chosen by our deceased Brother for his Swan like-Song I shall present you with those several Observations I have made upon it and briefly touch upon them and so pass to that which I purpose most to insist upon Doct. 1. Every Godly man is God's Servant So Simeon stiled himself here Lord lettest thou thy Servant And so did David Psalm 116. 16. O Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant He gloried more in his being Gods Servant than in his being King of Israel Wicked men are the Slaves of Corruption and Vassails of Satan the Scriptures saith they serve divers Lusts and truly that is an hard task if a man cannot well serve two Masters how shall he serve divers many Their service is meer drudgerie and bondage Two things may justly discommend it viz. they have dirty works and they shall have dreadful wages their works foul them and their wages undoe them But you O Saints are the Servants of God and you are so upon a threefold account besides that of your Creation First Upon the account of your Redemption which was brought about by the power of Christ who rescued you out of the clutches of sin and Satan Luk. 1. 74. He hath delivered us out of the hands of our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives Secondly You are Gods Servants upon the score of purchase that Jesus who purchased Heaven and Glory for you hath also purchased you for himself and the price which he laid down was no less than that of his own Blood and therefore it is your unquestionable duty to glorifie him in your Souls Bodies and Spirits 1 Cor. 6. 20. Thirdly You are Gods Servants by virtue of Covenant you have chosen one another he hath chosen you for his people and you have chosen him for the Lord your God an agreement hath been made and Indentures sealed Ezekiel 16 8 I entered into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine Vse Remember and seriously consider then whose you are and unto whom you belong Study and acquaint your selves with your Masters will and knowing it apply your selves immediately to the performance of it let your life be a life of obedience to God and whatsoever your hand findeth to do as the matter of his Will be sure that you do it with all your might knowing that your labour shall not be in vain and that it is most highly reasonable you should be as industrious about the work of God as you have been about the work of Satan as diligent for your best Friend as your greatest Enemy as industrious for the saving of your Souls as you have been for the damning of them And for your encouragement and quickning consider 1. First That in the service of God there is perfect freedom his Yoke is easie and his burden light You are never so much your own men as when you are Gods servants You are so his servants as that you also are his Children Your work is cut out by the hand of a most tender Father and therefore it should be done with the Heart and Spirit of a Child David resolved to run the way of God's Commandements 2. As you have the noblest work so you shall one day have the most glorious rewards You may now do your work with singing you shall then receive your reward with admiring When you have done the work of Servants you shall be instated in the inheritance of Sons where Christ is there shall his Servants also be to behold his Glory and to share with him in it for the Apostle assures us that he and his people shall be glorified together And their work is not so difficult nor are their sufferings so pressing but that their future Crown will unspeakably excel them for its weight and splendor Doct. 2. I Observe That Gods Servants must be at Gods dispose and not at their own Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart I dare not stir without thy order thou didst send me hither and here I must stay until thou shalt please to send for me hence I am weary of being here Lord wilt thou dismiss me and give me leave to be gone It is Gods unquestionable right to order out as he pleaseth concerning us and that in these things 1. God may cut out for us what work he pleaseth and lay it either in active or passive obedience as he thinks good Whatsoever his Will is we must not dispute but obey it and so be like those ministring Spirits the Angels above who do his pleasure yea all his pleasure 2. It is Gods right to carve out our allowances either a full or a scantie condition abundance or want to set us in a Palace or upon a Dunghil to cloath us in Scarlet or in Canvas to give us comfort or afflictions We must be wholly at Gods finding Feed me said good Agur with food convenient for me he did not prescribe to God but left God to judge what was so 3. It is fit that God should measure out our time for us and bestow upon us a longer or a shorter day of life we do not live nor do we die at our own pleasure or at the will and pleasure of men but God He is not only our Lord but also the Lord of our time So David cheerfully acknowledged my times are in thy hands to make them cloudie or serene halcyon or tempestuous to prolong or to contract them as seemeth good to him It is an indubitable part of Gods Royal Prerogative to order concerning us and it is the unquestionable duty of our place to submit to his Orders Whatsoever he commands we must do even as did the Centurions servants if he said to one of them Go he went if he said to another Come he came Reason good we should do so for all the Commandements of God are Holy and Just and Good And an Universal Cordial Respect to them will evidence our sincerity and secure us from shame And whatsoever God doth we must accept not only kissing his Hand when it sweetly seeds us nor only his Arm when it graciously supports but likewise his Rod when it doth smartly lash us There ought to be no discontents no quarrelsome murmurings nor immoderate excessive sorrows when he blasts our sweetest Comforts or kills our dearest Relations yea though he should do it with a violent stroak for he may do what he will with his own When he destroyed Nadab and Abihu by fire in the very act of their sins Aaron their Father held his peace He saw that God was provoked by them and angry with them and therefore concluded it his wisest course to be quiet It is indeed extreme madness for the Clay to say to to the potter why dost thou so or for the creature to contend with his Creator Such contendings
procure us heavier blows 3. Doct. We may learn that Death is a departure Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart When a man dies he removes He doth not then go back again into nothing but into another Place and into another State Christ called his Death a going away Joh. 14. 28. Ye have heard how I sayed vnto you I go away So Joh. 16. 7. It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you Our Death also is a going away Those that make the longest stay here must be gone at last A wicked man when he dies departs out of his warm Climate and pleasant State from his Friends and Riches from his Comforts and Delights into Miseries and Torments which are Intolerable and Eternal And it is no wonder if such a man play loath to depart and Death be unto him a King of Terrors But when an Holy Gracious Person departs he leaves all his sins and enemies all his troubles and sorrows behind him and he goes to a better place and better company and infinitely better delights He enters into peace and into rest and into the joy of his Lord. He gets off from the stormy troublesome Sea of this World where he was so frequently indangered and baths himself in those Rivers of pleasure which are at God's Right-hand for evermore Vse 1. Let the consideration hereof quiet us under those Breaches which Death makes in our Families and Relations Though it be very afflictive to think my dear Husband is gone my tender Father is gone my loving and faithfull Friend is gone Yet this will lighten and sweeten that affliction if we think whether he is gone from Earth to Heaven from Troubles to Joy and Glory from us to God Christ the Spirit Angels and Saints above Oh Blessed and Everlastingly making Exchange Vse 2. Let the consideration hereof quicken us the good Lord grant that we all may frequently and seriously think of this our departure and industriously bestir our selves in order to a full preparation for it Oh let us get our work done before we go Christ did so Joh. 17. 4. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now come I to thee Mind follow finish that for which you came into the World before you are called out of the World Oh! get your evidences full and fair that when Death siezeth upon you you may lay hold upon Eternal Life Make sure of Heaven before you come to leave the Earth How sweet was it for Christ to tell his Disciples I go to my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God Doct. 4. We may from hence learn this Lesson That a departure in peace is exceeding desireable This was the subject matter of Simeon's desire and prayer Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace He would go out in a calm neither in a stink through sin nor in a storm through fear but in an holy peace This promise was made to Abraham the Father of the Faithfull Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace That is with a quiet pacate and comfortable Spirit with joy and satisfaction without any trouble for what he should part with and without fear of any thing he should meet with And you find Psal. 37. 37. The Royal Prophet bids you Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is Peace Whatever troubles he is encountered by in his way he hath Peace at his end A wicked man may dye in Stupidity but not in Peace he may then be secure but he is not safe though he then have no trouble yet he hath cause enough of trouble My God saith there is no Peace to the wicked neither in his Life nor at his Death Such an one dies in sin and therefore he cannot dye in Peace But now a Godly man whose heart is sprinkled from an evil Conscience hath Peace in his Death usually he hath Peace with his own Conscience that befriends him witnesseth for him speaks comfortably to him and is an excellent Cordial at a dying hour Always he hath peace with his God they are Friends he is Reconciled to God and God to him Moses dyed at the mouth of the Lord God kist him home Vse Well my Friends I am confident you all desire such a Death you would willingly go out of the VVorld in peace Oh let it not be only the matter of your desire but likewise of your endeavour use means in order thereunto and follow these directions 1. Make your peace now Cease your enmity against God throw down your weapons of Rebellion and return unto your duty How can those persons rationally hope that God should be a Friend to them when they dye who are enemies to God while they live now now seek peace and ensue it 2. Make hast to Christ make sure of Christ get unto him He and he alone is the peace and the Prince of peace there is no peace to be had out of Christ. Let him saith God lay hold upon my strength that is upon Christ that he may make peace with me and he shall make peace with me Have a care that you be not found in your sins nor in your selves nor in your own Righteousness trusting in that No no saith Paul Phil. 3. 8 9. I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him 3. Look after a sanctifying change in your hearts and natures follow Peace and Holiness Holiness both of inward Disposition and of outward Conversation Grace ushers in peace purity and peace go together the work of Righteousness is peace and the effect of Righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever By the study and practice of Holiness you may lose your peace with some men but you will keep up and maintain your peace with God yea and with good men too Prov. 22. 11. He that loveth pureness of heart for the grace of his lips the King shall be his Friend Doct. 5. VVe may from these words gather this instruction That a truly gracious man may very well be willing and free and forward to dye Thus good Simeon was here he prayed for Death Let me depart let me be gone out of this VVorld Do thou Lord send for me that I may come to thee And not only so but he also prayed for a quick dispatch a speedy dismission as one that was in hast to be gone As you may learn from that particle Now now lettest thou thy Servant depart He did full well know that he must dye one day that was certain and unavoidable the Chambers of the grave are prepared for all the living but he would dye presently now O Lord now without more ado now without any longer tarrying A wicked man doth not care how long Death stays he puts that day far from him because he looks upon it as a very evil day