appointed in Christ Jesus but this measure or stature is not the same to every Christian some Christians have a longer term of Life than others some have more means and opportunities than others and some have greater Parts and Abilities than others Now God is not a severe Master expecting to reap where he hath not sown or to gather where he hath not strowed God doth not look for what he doth not give where he gives more he expects the more but where he gives less he expects the less Christians to whom God hath given great parts and Abilities with great means and opportunities of Grace even unto Old Age from such God expects much because he hath given much Ordinary degrees of Grace must not serve their turns but they must transcend others in Faith Love Humility and all other Graces contending for the attaining unto the State of the Resurrection from the dead But now for others whose parts have been low whose means and opportunities are small and their time in the World but short God doth not expect that the Beauty of their Grace should shine so Gloriously as others Say not therefore O doubting Christian that thou knowest not believest not lovest not delightest not in God to that degree that others do It may be thou dost not but if thy Knowledge Faith Love and Delight be not so great as others yet thy Grace may be as true and as real as any others In a Star there is as true light as in the Sun though there be more light in the Sun And thy Grace though little and weak is true Grace though it be not so much nor so strong as others Quiet thy self therefore O drooping Soul for such may be the weakness of thy parts such the smallness of the means of Grace that thou enjoyest and so few the Talents thou art intrusted withal that God expects not so much from thee as he doth from others And if the Great God will accept of yea Reward the little that thou hast why shouldest thou be troubled or disquieted God doth not despise the day of small things and why shouldest thou A little Grace yea the least of Grace is too good to be cast away Though thou couldest not be Saved without a strong Saviour and therefore Christ is said to travail in the greatness of his Strength mighty to Save yet a little Faith laying hold upon this strong Saviour will keep thee from perishing be not therefore discouraged O Christian fear not Death though thy Grace be weak and imperfect and so may not give thee that comfort in Death that thou expectest yet shall it as truly overcome Death through the strength of Christ as the strongest Grace and though Death kill thee yet it shall not hurt thee nay it shall make for thy Eternal Advantage for it shall be the ending of all thy Fears but the beginning of thy Eternal Joys and Rejoycings But may some poor Soul say I want the assurance of the Love and Favour of God and this makes me unwilling to die were I but assured my sins are pardoned and God reconciled to my Soul through Jesus Christ I could then chearfully submit my self to the stroke of Death but this is that which afrightens me I fear lest God is mine Enemy and then I am sure death cannot be my Friend and how then shall I dare to think of dying in this Condition To this I Answer art thou under some fears and apprehensions that God is not thy reconciled Father in Jesus Christ though I cannot blame thee that thou art fearful of dying under such apprehensions yet I must blame thee for thy former negligence that thou hast not made this sure to thy self in the time of thy health and strength Next to dying in a State of impenitency and the Horrors of Conscience under the fore tasts of Hell and Wrath dying under the apprehensions and fears of God's being our Enemy is the most dreadful condition that can be for though our future safety and happiness depends not upon our assurance that God is at peace with us yet our present Comfort doth and it is all one as to the present quietation and satisfaction of our Souls when we are a dying whether God be our Enemy or no if he will not smile upon us when our Souls are a departing but leave us in that hour as our last punnishment for some sin that he hath been provoked by to breath forth our Souls under the apprehensions of his Wrath and Displeasure Assurance of the Love and Favour of God to know that our sins are Pardoned and we accepted in the Beloved to know the joyful sound to have the light of God's Countenance lifted up upon our Souls when we are passing through the gloomy Valley of the shadow of Death For God not only to Love us but to tell us that he Loves us and to manifest it to us by shedding abroad his Love into our Hearts by the Holy Ghost so as to fill us with Joy and Peace by believing this is Life nay this loving kindness of God is better than Life it is the Suburbs of Heaven yea it is Heaven it self for it is as much of Heaven as we can desire or contain of Heaven whilst we are on this side Heaven On the contrary to be doubting of the Love and Favour of God to fear he is our Enemy that we are yet in our Sins liable unto the Wrath and Vengeance of God this is very sad and uncomfortable yea some resemblance of Hell it self especially if Conscience be awakned and these Apprehensions and Jealousies continue upon us under the approaches of Death this therefore must needs be very Afflictive to a poor doubting Soul But yet be not discouraged for it is the Condition of many of God's Children for a long time to remain doubtful both as to their present State in Grace and their future State of Glory There are Believers of divers growths in the Church of God Fathers Young-men Children and Babes And as it is in most Families in the World there are more Babes and Children than grown Men So is it in the Church of God there are more weak and doubting Christians than strong Men who are grown up unto a full Assurance But remember the Promise is made to the being of Faith not to the Knowledge and Evidence of it to Faith as it is a true Faith not to Faith as it is a strong Faith Heaven may be sure to those who yet in their own Apprehensions may not be assured of Heaven Live therefore by Faith O Christian when thou canst not live by Sence and Feeling and know that that God who hath given thee a true Judgment to value Jesus Christ and a Sanctified Will to choose him with ardent and strong Affections to Love him and desire him and supported thee under the fears of sin and guilt will come in with assurance also if he sees it good for thee And know also for thy
difficult Work Death continually hastning towards us yet few consider how suddenly themselves or others may Die. Death comes violently to Wicked Men yet no Man dies before his time however in Scripture some are said so to do An Exhortation to prepare for Death with Motives to quicken Christians thereunto and Directions to help them therein HAving spoken something of the Life of Man as it hath Relation unto the Subject I am speaking to which by Reason of Sin is become short frail and uncertain I shall now consider the State of Man under Death which is the end of his Temporal but the beginning and entrance upon his Everlasting State which that Christians may with the more profit and advantage meditate upon I shall reduce all that I have to say of it unto three particulars The State of Man under Death is a State that admits of no returning unto Life a State that admits of no amendments and a State that is fixed and determined First The State of Man under Death is a State that admits of no returning unto Life again When once the Sun of this Life is set it will arise no more upon thee for ever Are not my Days few says Job Cease from me that I may take comfort a little before I go whence I shall not return And Job 10.20 When a few Days are come says he I shall go whence I shall not return Job 16.22 That 's a strange Journey indeed that admits of no return That which pleaseth us while we live is the hopes of returning to our Homes again but when we die we take a Journey whence there is no returning for there is no recovery out of the Grave when once we are Dead Indeed it is a fundamental Article of the Christian Faith to believe the Resurrection of the Dead for the Scripture tells us that all Men shall stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive according to what they have done in the Body Now if there be not a Resurrection of the Dead how can this be therefore our Lord tells us plainly John 5.28 that the hour is coming when all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth but this time is not yet come and till this time comes the sentence of Death is irreversible upon all And though God hath already stretched sorth his hand to the Grave for the raising of some Persons from the Dead miraculously yet as those few that have escaped Death make no breach upon this general Truth that all must Die so it doth not at all infringe this general Truth that God will not now by the manifestation of the same miraculous Power raise any from the Grave because some have been raised and recovered out of it Secondly The State of Man under Death admits of no amendments or alterations Life is the Time of Working in Death we receive the Reward of our Work Our Lord tells us of himself I must Work the Works of him that sent me while it is Day for the Night comes wherein no Man can Work Joh. 9.4 Death puts an end to all Works whether they be Natural Civil or Religious There is no eating or drinking nor any pleasure to be taken in any outward enjoyments in the State of Death there is no buying or selling or getting gain when we are Dead nay Death puts an end to all Spiritual Works those Duties that upon Earth were the Saints exercise in the Grave there is an end of them there is a dying and perishing for ever in respect of Faith and Repentance in respect of praying and hearing the Word these are Heavenly Works but the Time for the performance of them is while we are here upon Earth None of these Labours are in Heaven or in Hell no nor in the Grave whither we are all going In Heaven there is nothing but rest in Hell though there be no rest yet there is no labour In Hell there is nothing but Wages in Heaven there is nothing but Reward our whole Work lies in the few Days that are on this side both What we do for the obtaining of Heaven or for the avoiding of Hell it must be done now for there is no Work no Device in the Grave whither we are all going Thirdly The State of Man under Death is a State that is fixed and determined He that dies under the Guilt of Sin shall never have it forgiven him The Blood of Christ that was appointed for the Pardon of Sin and for the Justification of a Sinner shall never make God propitious to a Soul that dies under the Guilt of Sin though that Blood now speaks better things than the Blood of Abel and crying aloud to Heaven nay in Heaven for Mercy hath obtained Pardon and forgiveness for thousands of Souls now in Glory yet hath it no virtue in it that shall be applicable to any Sinner for the remission of his Sins when once the Sentence of Death is executed upon him There is a Sacrifice appointed by God to take away Sin in this Life even the Blood of Christ that cleanseth from all Sin and now he intreats and beseecheth Sinners to come unto him that they may have Life by him but those that will not now accept of his Gracious offer but continue in Sin and Disobedience all their days and die under the Guilt thereof there remains no more Sacrifice for them and it is impossible they should ever be Pardoned because the Sufferings of Christ were never Ordained as an Expiatory Sacrifice for their Sins His bleeding and dying upon the Cross will do them no good at all now the Time and Season of Mercy and Grace with them is gone and past for ever Nay let me add a dreadful word unto all such instead of any Benefit and Advantage that will come to them by the Blood of Christ it is that which cries loudly against them for the Wrath and Vengeance of God to fall upon them to Eternity Besides he that dies under the guilt of Sin dies also under the filth and pollution of Sin from whence he shall never be cleansed We read in Scripture of a Refiner's Fire but Hell Fire is not of this Nature it enrageth the Sinner but it doth not Refine him No that Sin or Holiness that accompanies Men out of this World shall abide with them for ever he that dies in a State of Sin his guilt remains upon him for ever there are no Seasons of Grace to be enjoyed in another World nor are there any Operations of the Spirit of God vouchsafed to Renew and Change Men hereafter Whilst we are in this World though the Law Condemns us for our sin and guilt and the Gospel disowns us for our filth and pollution yet even such as we have been Washed have been Justified have been Sanctified and so may we for the Blood of Christ is still a Fountain open to wash in for Sin and for uncleanness and the Infinite though Provoked
fearest God thou needst not be so foolishly fond of this Life for what is there in it that should make thee coat upon it Is it not a Life full of cares and troubles Have not thy Sins made it so The Wise Man tells us that all that is in this Life that can be outwardly enjoyed is nothing but Vanity and vexation of Spirit Hast thou not by experience found it so Thou shouldst therefore with Holy Job bless God not only for giving of Life but for taking of it away also God gave it thee for a time and but for a short time too and if thou wert so wise as thou shouldst be thou oughtest to count it thy felicity that it is so short for it is a Life of sorrow and who will complain because his sorrows are so short It may be thou hast met with some pleasures here that gratifie thy sense but are they comparable to what thy Soul hath tasted in the enjoyment of God unto which God by Death is calling thee to the enjoyment of with himself in Heaven to all Eternity Darest thou say that Earth is like Heaven Is Christ in those dark and dim discoveries he makes of himself in the Gospel like to Christ in the full and open manifestations of himself in all his Glory in Heaven Canst thou say thy Soul is so like him in Wisdom Holiness Joy and Peace here as it will be above when it comes to be enrolled among the Spirits of just Men made perfect If thou wilt be in love with Life be in love with Eternal Life and henceforth fear not to die at God's call for the obedience that thou owest unto God binds thee and the gain that Death will bring should both invite and encourage thee Though Death ends this Life it begins another and though thou may'st rot under ground in one part of thee yet it is in thy vilest part thy Body and even that will spring up and flourish again shortly And in the mean time thy Soul thy better part shall live a more noble and excellent life Think well therefore of Death for as it ends thy Life so it ends thy Sin and thy sufferings also In these particular Instances O Christian thou feest how little cause there is for thee to be afraid of Death I shall now in the next place endeavour to discover how unfit and uncomely a thing it is for Christians to fear Death and for this consider First A Christians fearing of Death brings a reproach upon Religion as if there were not that in Christianity that could lift up a Soul above the fears of Death For a Papist that professeth no Man can in an ordinary way be assured that he shall go to Heaven when he dies to tremble at the thoughts of Death this is no great matter it is but to act according to what his Religion teacheth him but for one that professeth the knowledge and assurance of Salvation and a future happy State to stand amazed at death the way and passage through which God hath appointed we must enter into Heaven where this happiness is to be enjoyed shews if not a want of Faith yet at least a great weakness of Faith and gives occasion to those that speak evil of the good ways of God to reflect disgracefully upon Religion Secondly To live in fear of Death is that State of Bondage and Slavery which wicked Men are under and from which Jesus Christ came to deliver his People And therefore for a Believer to live dejectedly under the fears of Death is a very uncomely thing Indeed the fears of wicked Men are so great that they cannot think of Death without horrour and when they come to die they are compelled to it for of all things in the World they dread Death most and could they but be assured that they shall live here always they would desire no other Heaven Fearfulness and amazedness under the apprehensions of Death is the proper State of wicked Men that Slavery and Bondage unto which they are always subject for upon good grounds they can have no hopes in Death but are full of fearful expectations of Wrath and fiery Indignation that shall Torment them for ever But now for true Believers God hath made your state and condition very unlike unto theirs as to the issues of Death because you have good hopes of Eternal Life even in Death so says the Wise Man Prov. 14.32 The Righteous hath hope in his Death Now since there is so great an unlikeness between you and them both in Death and after Death let there not be a likeness between you and them as to your fears of Death let a Faelix tremble at the hearing of Death and Judgment but let not the Godly hang down their Heads but lift them up with joy and rejoicing because the day of their Redemption draweth nigh Thirdly Consider this to be afraid of Death is to fear that which is but the Shadow and semblance of Death For to speak strictly a state of Sin and separation of the Soul from God for Sin this is Death properly but the separation of the Soul from the Body only is but the Shadow of Death But O how seldom is it to see Men trembling because of a spiritual Death because they are dead in trespasses and sins though this be infinitely more dreadful than any temporal Death can be And therefore to shew how full of Woe and Misery this Death is it is called Damnation which is the extremity of all Misery This is that now to which this spiritual Death tends and in which it will terminate Hence therefore Wicked Men are said to be condemned already and the wrath of God abides upon them and that they shall have their Portion in that Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone which is the second Death This shall as certainly be their Portion as if they were there already Therefore O Christian if thou wilt fear Death fear not that which is the shadow and the appearance of it but fear that which is Death indeed fear Sin that is the cause both of the first and of the second Death also for if thou art spiritually alive and raised from the Death of Sin as all true Believers are how uncomely a thing is it for thee to fear the Shadow the appearance of an evil which cannot hurt thee when thou art delivered from the evil it self Fourthly Consider for a Christian to fear that which is both common and certain is an uncomely and unsuitable thing Afflictions in general are the common lot of all God's People in this World but Death is that which is more common because it is that which befals all both good and bad from other outward Afflictions there is a possibility that some may be free or if they befal them they may be delivered from under them again but no Man can escape Death What Man is he that liveth saith the Psalmist and shall not see Death shall he
what our future State will be and therefore we are afraid of Death The desires we have of our Eternal Happiness puts us upon hoping the best but our doubts and fears are so many we cannot but tremble to think of our departure because we are under such uncertainties whither we shall go when Death takes us hence To this I Answer who art thou that makest these Objections Either thou art a wicked Man or one that truly fearest God If thou art a Wicked Man under the guilt of thy Sins and in an unpardoned State I cannot wonder that thou art afraid of Death nor can I blame thee that thou art unwilling to die Thou hast cause enough to make thee fear and tremble For there is nothing in Death or what is to come after it if thou understandest thy danger aright but what might fill thee with the greatest Terror and Consternation imaginable Whatever thou fearest is to come and may come quickly for ought thou knowest is infinitely far greater and worse than what thou canst now imagine what thou feelest or fearest are but the beginning of thy Sorrows nay all the Miseries thou canst meet with in Life and all the pains that thou canst suppose to be in Death fall infinitely short of those unconceivable Horrours and Miseries that are the Portion of Sinners in the next Life And for any Comfort or Relief against Death whilst thou art in thy Sinful State there is nor can be none Thy work therefore must be speedily to get into Christ labour to have thy Sins Pardoned Follow God with earnest Cries Tears and Importunities of Soul that thy sinful Nature may be changed and Sanctified and then let Death come when it will though thou die under never such fears and uncertainties as to thy future State yet Eternal Happiness attends thee and when Death hath once closed the Eyes of thy Body the Eye of thy Soul will quickly be opened to thy everlasting Joy and Consolation If thou art one that truly fearest God but yet art unwilling to die because thou art uncertain how it may go with thee as to thy Eternal State Why then examine thine own heart whether these fears do not proceed from thine own carelessness God hath vouchsafed to thee many means and opportunities for the encreasing thy Knowledge for the strengthening thy Faith for the enlarging thy Love for the confirming thy Hope for the establishing thy Soul in the ways of God and to provoke and stir thee up unto the continual Exercise of Grace that hereby thou mightest grow up into some Knowledge and Assurance of his Love towards thee through Christ and so mayest groundedly conclude the certainty of thy future Happiness But thou hast been sloathful not putting forth thy self with all diligence in the improving the Helps and Advantages God hath put into thy hands and therefore thou art so in the Dark and under fears how it may go with thy Soul for ever if this be thy case go humble thy Soul before God lie low in his presence beg earnestly the manifestations of his Love and Favour towards thee And for time to come put forth the endeavours of thy Soul unto the utmost in the use of all the means God vouchsafes unto thee for the removing thy Fears satisfying thy Doubts encreasing thy Knowledge confirming thy Faith and Hope in a future State of Happiness provided for thee and how soon God may come in whilst thou art thus humbling thy self before him and manifest his loving kindness unto thy Support and Comfort thou knowest not But however if he should for some Reasons thou canst not at present apprehend leave thee to walk under thy Doubts and Fears still yet if thou art sincere one that hath the Grace of God in Truth in thy Soul I would say thus much that these Fears and Jealousies about the attainment of the Happiness of Heaven if it be a Distemper as it is become so natural to us all that it is with much difficulty cured in this present State but yet it may be with great diligence and industry of Soul But for thy Comfort O doubting Believer know though these Doubts and Fears are sinful and thou dost thereby provoke God yet they shall not prejudice thy future Happiness though they may and do often hinder thy present Peace and Comfort For certainly God will never Damn a Believing Soul let such a one think what he will of himself For though thou art not assured that thou art his yet God knows all those that are his and not one of them shall Eternally perish Suppose therefore that thou shouldst die under Doubts and Jealousies and thy Soul should go out of this World sitting in a Cloud of Tears this hinders not but it may arise in a fair morning of Glory Heaven only is a place privileged from Tears and Fears But may some Soul say I am not willing to die because I fear I have no Grace or at least it is but little that I have for when I compare my self with others the most I can say of my self is this that all my Grace and Holiness lies in a Love to Grace and in a desire after Holiness I hope through Grace I can say that there is nothing in all the World if I might have my choice that I desire more than to be like my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ But O how short do I fall both of my Rule and of my Desires my walkings in the ways of God are very uneven and unconstant the corruptions of my heart are so great and so frequently breaking forth by Fleshly Affections and Worldly Desires that if there be any Grace within me it is very hard to diseern it by reason of the sin that doth accompany and go along with it and how then should such a one as I dare to think of dying Were Grace strong and vigorous could I sensibly find the strength encrease and growth of it in a tendency towards perfection I could then think of dying with some courage But the weakness and imperfection of Grace much discourageth me that I cannot with any willingness and chearfulness entertain the thoughts of it in my Soul To this I Answer let not the thoughts of Death discourage thee O weak Christian for Death can no more shall no more hinder the Happiness of a weak Believer than of a strong Believer It is true a strong Faith may carry thee more comfortably to Heaven but a weak Faith will carry thee as truly to Heaven For Faith saves not as it is strong or weak but as it is true and a weak Faith is true Faith as well as a strong Faith Grace and Holiness is of Absolute necessity for every Christian for without them it is impossible to please God or to enjoy him For as the Apostle saith Without Holiness no man shall ever see the Lord. But yet all Christians are not equally Holy there is a measure or stature to which all Christians are