A Treatise of Self-Denial, Treatise · Chapter 38

A Treatise of Self-Denial · Treatise · Chapter 38

p. 243CHAP. XXXVIII. Twenty Reaſons for denying Life.

1. COnſider, that Our Lives are not our Own; but God that doth require them is the Abſolute Lord of them. More truly than you are owner of any thing that you have in the world, is he the Owner of your lives and you. And therefore both in Reaſon and Juſtice we ſhould be content that he diſpoſe of his own. If he may notfreely diſpoſe of you & your lives, you may as well deny him the diſpoſe of any thing, and ſo deny him to be God: for he hath the ſame right to you as to any thing elſe, and the ſame power over you. And therefore if you conſent that he ſhall be God (for which he needs not your conſent) you muſt conſent that he be the Owner and Diſpoſer of all, and of you as well as all things elſe: Otherwiſe he is not God.

2. You can be content that the lives of others, yea that all the world be at Gods diſpoſe: In reaſon you cannot wiſh it ſhould be otherwiſe. You are content that the lives of Emperors and Kings that are greater than you, ſhould be at his Diſpoſe? And is there not the ſame Reaſon that he diſpoſe of your life as of theirs? Are you better than they? or more your own? or hath the world more need of you than them? or rather is it not unreaſonable ſelfiſhneſs that makes ſo unreaſonable p. 244a difference with you? If Reaſon might ſerve, the caſe is plain.

3. You are contented that far greater matters than your lives ſhould be at Gods diſpoſe: The Sun in its courſe, the frame of nature, Heaven and Earth and all therein are at his diſpoſe, and would you wiſh it otherwiſe? Days and Nights, and Summer and Winter, and times and ſeaſons are at his diſpoſe; and you dare not murmur that all the year is not Summer or day-light, and that there is any Night or Winter. The Angels of Heaven are at his diſpoſe to do his will, and are content to be uſed on earth for your ſervice, and they deſire not to be from under his diſpoſe? And ſhould you deſire it? or rather deſire that his will may be done on earth as it is in Heaven! If you would not have the Crowns and Kingdoms of the world at his Diſpoſe, and Heaven and Earth are at his Diſpoſe, you would not have him to be God: But if you would have theſe greateſt things at his diſpoſe, what are you then, that your lives ſhould be excepted?

4. Whom would you have to be the Diſpoſer of mens Lives but God? Is any other fit for the undertaking? No other can give life but he! And no other can preſerve and continue it but he! If your life had been in any creatures hand, you had been dead long ago: For no creature is able to uphold it ſelf, much leſs another alſo. Is any Creature wiſe enough to order the world and the affairs thereof? Is any Creature powerful enough, to diſpoſe of the world and all things in it? Is any Creature good enough to do it without the communication of its imperfection which would diſorder & deſtroy all? I know you make no doubt of any of theſe things. No Creature is fit to be God; and therefore none is fit to undertake the work of God; And therefore p. 245it muſt be God or none that muſt have the Diſpoſal of your lives and you.

But I know what it is that ſelf would have! You would have the Diſpoſal of your own lives, or elſe have God to diſpoſe of them as you would have him, which comes all to one. But how unreaſonable is this? Would you alone have the Diſpoſal of your own lives? or would you have all men elſe in the world alſo to have the Diſpoſal of theirs? If all ſhould have this Priviledge, what a miſerable Priviledge would it prove? No man then would die, and then either you muſt forbear marriage, or what would you do with your poſterity, when there were no room on earth? And then you could not puniſh a Malefactor with death! And what a world would it be, if all men were Diſpoſers of themſelves, when there would be as many different ends and minds as men? every man would be for himſelf, and an enemy to others; and the world would run every man on his own head; and a madder confuſion than can be imagined, would ſeize on all. If you would have every man have the diſpoſe of his own life, you would have as many Gods as Men, and ſo have no God; and you would have as many Kings or Rulers as men, and ſo have no Ruler? and you would have the world to be no world, when God were to them as no God. And if you would not have it thus with all, what reaſon have you to deſire it for your ſelf? What are you more than all the world, that you ſhould be exempted from the common ſtate of mortals, and be at your own diſpoſal more than they, and be inſtead of God unto your ſelves?

5. You think it neither cruelty or injuſtice, that the lives of bruits ſhould be much at your diſpoſe! Your poor fellow-creatures muſt die when you require it. Birds and Beaſts and Fiſhes, even multitudes of them p. 246muſt die to feed you, yea often for your delight, to make you a Feaſt, when you have no neceſſity. The moſt harmleſs ſheep you will not ſpare; The moſt laborious Ox, the moſt beautiful Bird, muſt give up their lives to ſatisfie your pleaſure. And is not God ten thouſand thouſand times even infinitely more above you, than you are above your fellow-creatures? Is one creature fitter to kill another, and afterwards devour it, and becomes its grave, than God to diſpoſe of the Lives of all?

6. Where could you wiſh your Lives to be better, than in the hand of the moſt wiſe & gracious God? If you may reſt content, or have confidence in any, it is in him. You neednot doubt of his Goodneſs, for he is goodneſs and Love it ſelf. And therefore though you ſee not the world to come that you are paſſing to, yet as long as you know that you are in the hands of Love it ſelf, what cauſe have you of diſquiet or diſtruſt? And that you know that he is wiſe as well as Good, and Almighty as well as Wiſe, and therefore as he meaneth you no harm, (if you are his children) ſo he will not miſtake, nor fail in the performance: You need not fear leſt your happineſs ſhould miſcarry for want of skill in him that is Omniſcient, or for want of will in him that is your Father, or for want of Power in him that is Omnipotent. You may far better truſt God with your lives, than your ſelves. For you have not wiſdom enough to know what is beſt for you; nor skill to accompliſh it, nor Power to go through with it: Nay, you love not you ſelves ſo well as God doth love you. Did you but believe this, you would better truſt him. You can truſt your ſelves in a narrow Ship, upon …he wide and raging Seas, when you never ſaw the Country that you are g…ing to; and all becauſe you believe that the voyage is for your commodity and that you have a skilful p. 247Pilot. And cannot you commend your ſouls into the hand of God, to convey you through death to the inviſible glory, as confidently as you dare commit your lives to the conduct of a man, and to a tottering Ship in a hazardous Ocean? You can truſt your lives on the skill of a Phyſician; And cannot you truſt them on the will of God? If you had your choice whether your lives ſhould be at your own diſpoſe, or Gods, you ſhould far rather chooſe that God might diſpoſe of them than your ſelves: As it is better for an Infant to be guided and diſpoſed of, by the Parents than by it ſelf. A Good King will not kill his own Subjects needleſly: And a natural Father or Mother will not not needleſly kill their own Children: yea a very brute will tenderly cheriſh their young: And do you think that God who is infinitely good, will cauſeleſly orinjuriouſly take your lives? or that he doth not mean you good even in your death?

Object. But how can I think it for my good to die? and to have my nature diſſolved? Anſw. Paul did deſire to depart or be diſſolved, and to be with Chriſt as beſt of all, Phil. 1. 23. And did not he know what was for his good as well as you? He was willing rather to be abſent from the body and preſent with the Lord, than at home in the body and abſent from the Lord; and therefore groaned earneſtly deſiring to be clothed upon with his houſe which is from heaven that mortality might be ſwallowed up of life, 2 Cor. 5. 1, 2, 4, 6, 8. When the Hen hath ſate to hatch her young ones, they muſt leave the ſhell as good for nothing, and muſt come into a world which they never ſaw before. And what of that? Should they murmur at the breaking of t…r former habitation? or fear the paſſag… in… ſo … ▪ … wide, ſo ſtrange a place, in … …f … which they were in before? No more … the breaking of theſe bodies, and … the … p. 248of fleſh, and paſsing under the conduct of Angels, into the preſence of our Lord. God is but hatching us here by his ſpirit, that he may bring us out into the light of glory. And ſhould we grudge at this?

7. And what if God call you to ſacrifice your lives to him, as he called Abraham to ſacrifice his Son? What if he call you to come to him by a perſecutors hand? or at leaſt to be willing of your natural death? He calls you but to give up a life which you cannot keep; and to do that willingly, which elſe you muſt do whether you will or not: Willing or unwilling, die you muſt! How loth ſoever you are, you are ſure to die. You may turn you every way, and look about you on the right hand and the left, to all the friends and means in the world, and you will never find a medicine that will here procure immortality, nor ever ſcape the hands of death. It is appointed to all men once to die, and after that the Judgement, Heb. 9. 27. And no man can change the Decrees of Heaven. And ſeeing all your turnings and unwillingneſs cannot avoid it, is it not better to ſubmit to it willingly than unwillingly? God doth impoſe it on you as a neceſſity. Your willingneſs may make a vertue of Neceſſity, and out of Neceſſity extract a reward: but your unwillingneſs may turn your ſuffering into your ſin, and a Neceſſary death unto an unneceſſary miſery now (and hereafter if you be not true believers) as Paul ſaith of his Miniſterial labours, 1 Cor. 9. 16, 17. If I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if againſt my will, a diſpenſation is committed to me: for neceſſity is laid upon me—] So I may ſay in the preſent caſe: If you give up your lives willingly in the love of God, you have a Reward; but if you do not Neceſſity is upon you, and die you muſt whether you will or no. You may ſcape the Reward by your unwillingneſs, but death you cannot p. 249eſcape. And me thinks you ſhould ſee that it's little thanks to you, to give up that life which you cannot keep; And yet this is all that God requireth. Perhaps you think, that though you cannot keep it ſtill, yet ſomewhat longer you may keep it. But you be not ſure of that. The next hour may God deprive you of it. And O what a dreadful thing it were, if as ſoon as you have denied God your lives, he ſhould ſnatch them from you in his fury, and caſt you into Hell! and if he ſhould diſtrain for his own as ſoon as you have denied it him! and you ſhould die as enemies that would not die as Martyrs, and as his Friends! And in this ſence hath my Text been many a time fulfilled, He that will ſave his Life ſhall loſe it.

8. Conſider alſo that it is upon terms of the higheſt advantage imaginable to your ſelves, that God calls you to reſign and lay down your lives. It is not indeed to loſe them, but to ſave them, as my Text doth promiſe you [He that loſeth his life ſhall ſave it.] No more than you loſe your cloaths which you put off at Night and put on again in the Morning: Or rather, no more than you loſe your louſie rotten rags, when you put them off at Night, and are to have in the Morning a Suit of Princely attire in their ſtead. Will any man ſay, theſe rags are loſt? At leaſt they will not ſay that the man is a loſer by the change. That is not loſt that is committed to God, upon the ground of a promiſe. Nor that which is laid out in his Servive, at his command. Reaſon will tell us, that no man can be a loſer by a courſe of ſubmiſſive Obedience to God. You cannot be at ſo much coſt for him, or offer him ſo dear a ſervice, which he is not able and willing to ſatisfie you for a thouſand fold. God will not be beholden to any man. You cannot bring him in your debt, beyond what he doth by his bountiful promiſe: But if p. 250you could, he would not continue in your debt. You'l make nothing of your death, if you do not either undergo it for Chriſt, or bear it ſubmiſſively by the power of heavenly love conſtraining you. Meerly to die whether you will or no, as a fruit of ſin, is common to the moſt ungodly men: But if the love of God can make you voluntarily ſubmit to death (whether natural, or violent from perſecutors) what a glorious advantage may you make of it? You will 1. Put your ſalvation more out of doubt …han any other courſe in this world could do. For whoſoever periſheth, it's moſt certain that ſuch as theſe all be ſaved▪ 2. And therefore you may die with the greateſt confidence and joy, as having ſeen the matter of your doubts removed, and dying in the very exerciſe of thoſe graces that have the promiſe of ſalvation: and in ſuch a … as hath the fulleſt and moſt frequent promiſes in the Goſpel. 3. And then the Crown of Martyrdom is the moſt glorious Crown. You will not have an ordinary place in heaven. Theſe are that part of the Heavenly Hoſt that ſi and neareſt to the Throne of God, and that praiſe him with the higheſt joys, who hath brought them through tribulations, and redeemed them by his blood. If a man ſhould make a motion to you to exchange your cottage for a Palace and a Kingdom, you would not ſtick at it▪ as if it were againſt you, becauſe you muſt leave your ancient home: And how much leſs ſhould you be againſt it, when you are but moved to ſtep out of your ruinous cottage into glory, when it would ſhortly fall upon your heads, and you muſt leave it whether you will or no, for nothing.

9. What reaſon have you to be ſo tender of the fleſh? Is it the greatneſs of its ſuffering that you ſtick at? Why, you put poor Beaſts and Birds to as much, and ſo do the Butchers daily for your uſe: and they muſt p. 251ſuffer it. And why ſhould the body be ſo dear to you? for the matter of it, what is it but earth? and wherein is it more excellent than the beaſts that periſh? I think God hath purpoſely clothed your ſoul with ſo poor a dreſs, that you ſhould be the leſs unwilling to be unclothed, and might learn to ſet more by your ſouls than by your bodies, and to make more carefully proviſion for them. It ſeems he hath purpoſely lodged you in ſo poor a cottage, that you ſhould not be at too much care for it, nor be too loth to leave it. You have its daily Neceſſities and Infirmities and pains, and ſomewhat of its filth and lothſomeneſs, to tell you of its meanneſs: And why ſhould you be ſo loth that ſo poor a cottage, ſo frail a body ſhould be turned to duſt? Duſt it is, and to duſt it is ſentenced. When the ſoul hath left it but a week, men can ſcarce endure to ſee it or ſmell it? And ſhould the breaking of ſuch an earthen Veſſel be ſo unpleaſing a thing to you? And for its uſeſulneſs, though ſo far as it is obedient it was ſerviceable to your ſouls, and God, yet was it ſo refractory, ill diſpoſed, and diſobedient, that it proved no better than your enemy. Many a temptation it hath entertained and cheriſhed; and many a ſin hath it drawn you to commit; Thoſe ſenſes have let in a world of vanity; Thoſe wandring eyes have called in covetouſneſs, and pride, and luſt. Thoſe greedy appetites have been ſo eager on the bait, that they have too oft born down your faith and reaſon, and drawn you to exceſs in meats and drinks, for matter or manner, for quality or quantity, or both. Many a groan thoſe ſins have coſt you, and many a ſmarting day they have cauſed you, and a ſad uncomfortable life you have had by reaſon of them, in compariſon of what you might have had. And this fleſh hath been the Mother or the Nurſe of all. You were engaged by your Baptiſmal Covenant to fight againſt it, p. 252when you entred into the Church; and if you are Chriſtians, this combate hath been your daily work, and much of the buſineſs of your lives. And yet are you loth to have the victory, & ſee your enemy under feet? Do you fight againſt it as for the life of your ſouls, & yet are you afraid leſt death ſhould hurt it or break it down? Have you fought your ſelves friends with it, that you are ſo tender of it? when you are the greateſt friends to it, it will be the moſt dangerous enemy to you. And do not think that it is only ſin, and not the body, that is the fleſh, that is called your enemy in Scripture. For though it be not the body as ſuch, or as obedient to the ſoul, yet is it the Body as inclining to creatures, from which the ſinful ſoul cannot reſtrain it; & it is the body as having an inordinate ſenſitive appetite and imagination, and ſo diſtempered, as that it rebels againſt the Spirit, and caſteth off the rule of Reaſon, and would not be curbed of its deſires, but have the rule of all it ſelf. Was it not the very fleſh it ſelf that Paul ſaith he fought againſt, and kept under, and brought into ſubjection, leſt he ſhould be a caſt a-way? 1 Cor. 9. 26, 27. Why ſhould ſin be called [Fleſh and Body] but that it is the Body of Fleſh that is the principal-ſeat of thoſe ſins that are ſo called. If ye live after the fleſh, ye ſhall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body, ye ſhall live, Rom. 8. 13. If ye ſow to the fleſh, of the fleſh ye ſhall reap corruption, Gal. 6. 8. That which is firſt in Being, is firſt in ſin: But it is the Fleſh or Embryo endued with ſenſe that is firſt in being. Be not therefore too tender of that which corruption hath made your priſon and your enemy: Many a time you have been put to reſiſt it, and watch and ſtrive againſt it; and when you have been at the beſt, it hath been hindring you to be better; and when the ſpirit was willing, the fleſh was weak: And quickly hath it cauſed p. 253your cooling & declenſion. Many a bleſſed hours communion between God & your ſouls, that fleſh hath deprived you of. And therfore though ſtill you muſt love it, yet you ſhould the leſs grieve or be troubled at its ſufferings, ſeeing they are but the fruits of its ſin, and a holy contentedneſs ſhold poſſeſs your minds, that God ſhould thus caſtigatorily revenge his own quarrel & yours upon it.

10. But yet conſider, that were you never ſo tender of the body it ſelf, yet faith and reaſon ſhould perſwade you to be content; For God is but preparing even for its felicity; His undoing it but to make it up again. As in the new birth he broke your hearts and falſe hopes, that he might heal your hearts, and give you ſounder hopes inſtead of them: ſo at death he breaketh your fleſh and worldly hopes, not to undo you, and leave it in corruption, but to raiſe it again another manner of body than now it is, and give it a part in the bleſſedneſs which you hoped for. If in good ſadneſs you believe the Reſurrection, what cauſe is there for ſo much fear of death? You can be content that your Roſes die, and your ſweeteſt Flowers fall and periſh, and the green and beauteous complexion of the earth, be turned into a bleak and withered hue, becauſe you expect a kind of Reſurrection in the Spring. You can boldly lie down at night to ſleep, though ſleep be a kind of death to the body, and more to the ſoul; and all becauſe you ſhall riſe again in the morning. And if every nights ſleep (or one at leaſt) were a gentle death, if you were ſure to riſe again the next morning, you would make no great matter of it. Were it as common to men to die every night, and riſe again in the morning, as it is to ſleep every night and riſe in the morning, death would not ſeem ſuch a dreadful thing. Thoſe poor men that have the falling-ſickneſs, do once in a day or in a few days, lie as dead men, and have as p. 254much pain as many that die: And yet becauſe they uſe to be up and well again in a little time, they can go merrily about their buſineſs, the reſt of the day, and little fear their approaching fall. How much more ſhould the belief of a Reſurrection unto life, confirm us againſt the fears of death? And why ſhould we not as quietly commit our bodies to the duſt, when we have the promiſe of the God of heaven, that the Earth ſhall deliver up her dead, and that this body that is ſown in corruption, ſhall be raiſedin incorruption? It is ſown in diſhonour, it is raiſed in glory: it is ſown in weakneſs, it is raiſed in power: it is ſown a natural body, it is raiſed a ſpiritual body] So great and wonderful the change will be, as now is unconceivable! we have now a droſſie l…mp of fleſh, an aggravation of the Elements to a ſeed of life, which out of them forms it ſelf a body, by the Divine influx. Like the Silk-worm which in the Winter is but a ſeed, which in the Summer doth move & attract that matter from which it gets a larger body, by a kind of Reſurrection: But it is another manner of body (I will not ſay of fleſh) which at the Reſurrection we ſhall have. Not fleſh and blood, nor a natural body, but of a nature ſo ſpiritual, ſublime and pure, that it ſhall be indeed a ſpiritual body. And think not that this is a contradiction, and that ſpirituality and corporeity are inconſiſtent. For [There is a Natural Body, and there is a Spiritual body] The root of the fleſhly Natural body was the firſt man Adam, who was made a living ſoul, to be the Root of living ſouls. The root of the ſpiritual Body is Chriſt, who being a quickning Spirit, doth quicken all his members by his Spirit; which Spirit of Grace is the ſeed of Glory; & as from an holy and gracious Saviour we receive an holy and gracious nature: ſo from a Glorified Saviour we ſhall receive a glorious nature: p. 255we are now changed from glory to Glory in the beginning, as by the ſpirit of the Lord: But it is another kind of Glory that this doth tend to. Howbeit that is not firſt which is ſpiritual, but the natural; and afterwards the ſpiritual; The firſt man was of the Earth, Earthy: The ſecond man is the Lord from heaven. And from each of them we partake of an anſwerable Nature. As is the Earthy, ſuch are they that are earthy, even all of us in our fleſhly ſtate, having earthy bodies from an earthy Adam, and natural bodies from the natural Adam. And as is the heavenly, ſuch are they that are heavenly: for Chriſt makes men like himſelf, even firſt gracious and then glorious as Adam begets us like himſelf, that is, natural (and ſinful.) And therefore all thoſe that have followed Chriſt in the Regeneration, ſhall follow him into Glory, and having conquered by him, ſhall reign by him and with him: and having received the holy nature here which is the ſeed of glory, they ſhall receive the glorious nature there which is the perfection of that Grace; And ſo as Chriſt hath an heavenly ſpiritual body, and … an earthy natural body, ſo ſhall his Members have, that they may be like him. And as we have here born the image of the earthy, in having firſt a natural, fleſhly body; we ſhall alſo bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam, in having a ſpiritual body, that is not fle…. Now, leſt any doubt of it (ſaith the Spirit of God) [this I ſay, that Fleſh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth Corruption inherit incorruption] 1 Cor. 15. 42. to 51.

Object. If there were but as much likelihood of a Reſurrection as there is of the Reviving of the plants in the Spring, I could believe it; for there is a life remaining in the Root or Seed: but the body of man hath neither Root nor ſeed of life, and therefore it's contrary to nature that it ſhould revive.

p. 256Anſw. 1. If it be above nature, that is all, it is not contrary to it; Or not ſo contrary as to be above the power of the Lord of nature. Will you allow no greater works for God than ſuch as you can ſee a reaſon of, and can aſſign a natural cauſe of? what did Nature in the creation of nature! It was not certainly any cauſe of it ſelf! If Chriſt roſe without a natural cauſe, even ſo ſhall we. 2. But why may I not ſay that the dead body of man hath a living Root, as truly as the plants in winter. The ſoul is the Root of the body, and the ſoul is ſtill alive: And Chriſt is the Root of the ſoul, and he is ſtill alive. For though we are dead, yet our Life is hid with Chriſt in God: and when Chriſt who is our life ſhall appear (at the Spring of Reſurrection) then we ſhall alſo appear with him in Glory, Col. 3. 3, 4. And though there be no Phyſical contact between this living ſoul and the body, yet there is a Relative Union, and a deep rooted Love of the ſoul to its body, and inclination to it: ſo that it is mindful of it: and waiteth with longing for that hour when the command of God ſhall ſend it to revive that body. It is not incredible that a ſilly ſnail ſhould by its natural life and power make for it ſelf a beautiful habitation. Or that the life of a Roſe-tree that was buried in the root, ſhould fabricate a ſweet and beauteous Roſe by which it may make an oſtentation of its inviſible ſelf to the world. In how ſmall a room doth the life of a ſilk-worm lie (of which I ſpoke before) in the winter! That little grain or ſeed is ſuch as yields no ſign of life to the beholder: yet doth it form it ſelf a larger body, and that body ſpin its ſilken web out of its own ſubſtance, and in that, houſe it ſelf in a husk, and take to it ſelf another ſhape, and thence become a winged Fly, and ſo generate more. But nearer us, in the generation of man, the vital principle in the ſeed, doth quickly with concurrent p. 257cauſes form it ſelf a body. The warmth of the body of the Hen or other Bird, can turn the egge into a Chicken. Why then may not the living ſ…ul, that is the Root and life of the body in the duſt, be the inſtrument of God to reform its own body? as certainly it will be the principle that ſhall reinform it. But you ſay, the body being dead hath no natural root, nor way of receſs to life again, becauſe the privation is total. To which I anſwer, Firſt the Relative union between the ſoul and it, and the ſouls diſpoſition to the Return into its body, is as potent a cauſe of its reviving, as the natural union of the Root and branches: if withal you conſider that Chriſt is the Root of the ſoul. Rational agents if perfect, will work as certainly as Natural. For natural cauſes do nothing but by a Power communicated to them from an Intellectual cauſe, even God himſelf. Why ſhould Nature do any of theſe things but becauſe God that makes and ruleth all, will have it to be ſo? Now Jeſus Chriſt is the Political Head of the Church. The body in the grave hath its own Relation to him: Chriſt is ſtill living, and reſolved, and engaged by promiſe, and enclined by Love, to revive that body. And as Chriſt is the life of the ſoul, ſo the ſoul is the life of the body; and this ſoul, as I ſaid, is waiting to be ſent again into it. And when the hour comes, what can hinder? The Love of the ſoul to its body, and its deſire to be reunited, is a kind of natural cauſe of the Reſurrection: A candle not lighted, is as far from light, and as much without it, as a dead body is without life. And yet one touch of a lighted candle will light that which never was lighted before. And ſo may one touch of the living ſoul that's now with Chriſt, put life into the body that lieth in the duſt. And as the lighted candle makes the other like it, and communicateth of its own nature to it; ſo doth p. 258the glorified ſoul communicate a new kind of excellency to the body, which it never had before: even to be a ſpiritual, glorious, incorruptible, and immortal body. In the firſt creating of man, the new formed body as to the matter of it, was no better than the body of a Beaſt or any common piece of earth. But the ſoul made the difference: when a Rational Soul was breathed into that Body, it advanced the very body to a dignity beyond the bodies of brutes, even ſuch as the natural body of man had before ſin. When Chriſt was about to repair faln man, it was the ſpirit of Chriſt informing: the ſoul that cauſed the renewed ſoul to communicate again a dignity to the bodies of ſanctified men above other bodies. And ſo when the body was dead becauſe of ſin, (having the root of ſin and death within it, and being mortal therefore) yet the ſpirit was life becauſe of Righteouſneſs (being the Root of holy and Righteous diſpoſitions, and the new life in man himſelf) Rom. 8. 10. For Chriſt the principal root of life, and the ſpirit and holineſs, are firſt in order of nature in the ſoul, and but by communication and ſecondarily in the Body: But contrarily, ſin made its entrance firſt by the Body, and hath its Root and Seat▪ firſt in order of nature in the body; & it is ſo communicated to the ſoul: Thus ſin comes in at the backdoor, even at the wrong end, and by the baſer part: But Grace comes in the right way by the Nobler part; ſin hath its Root in the viler part: but Chriſt hath his ſeat firſt in the better part. And yet I muſt add 1. That ſin is not ripe till it reach the will, though it enter by the fleſh and ſenſes: it is not formed, nor to be called ſin, till it reach the will, and as there it is ſcituated: but yet the thing it ſelf is firſt in and by the fleſh. 2. And the will is truly the ſeat of Original ſin it ſelf, as well as the ſenſitive part: but not the firſt Root of p. 259the corruption. Though ſin be Worſt in the Rational part, becauſe the corruption of the beſt is the worſt, yet it is not firſt there. But Holineſs is firſt alſo in the ſoul, and ſo communicated to the body. And ſo alſo Glory it ſelf will be. And therefore take notice of the wiſe and gracious providence of God, that taketh the ſoul to heaven before-hand that it may be firſt Glorified, and ſo may be fit to communicate glory to the body: And ſo as the Natural Soul dignified the Natural Body, and the Sanctified Soul did Sanctifie the body, ſo the Glorified Soul by reunion with the body, ſhall communicate its Nature to the body at the Reſurrection, and ſo it will be made ſpiritual, immortal, and incorruptible by the ſoul; and ſoul and body, are made ſuch by Chriſt.

So that by this time you may ſee that there is more Reaſon for the Reſurrection for all the body is turned to earth, than there is Reaſon that a Candle that's gone out ſhould be lighted again by another; or than there is Reaſon that I ſhould put on my cloaths in the morning which I put off at night. It's true, thoſe cloaths have no power to put on themſelves; nor is there any natural neceſſitating cauſe of it: but yet there is a Free cauſe in me, that will infallibly (if I live and be able) produce it: For nature diſpoſeth me to abhor nakedneſs, and deſire my cloaths, and therefore in the morning I will put them on. And ſo nature teacheth the ſeparated ſoul to deſire a reunion with its body; and therefore when the Reſurrection morning comes, it will gladly take the word from Chriſt, and give that vital touch to the body that ſhall revive it, and ſo put on its ancient garment; but wonderfully changed from fleſhly to ſpiritual, from diſhonourable into glorious.

p. 260And now I hope you ſee, that you may put off theſe cloths with patience and ſubmiſſion, and that it is no wrong to the fleſh it ſelf to be put off, but tendeth to its higheſt advancement at the laſt: Though the firſt cauſe of ſin, and the neſt of ſin ſhall be ſo broken firſt, that it ſhall firſt be ſeen what ſin hath done, before it be ſeen what Grace will do; and the fruit of our own wayes muſt firſt be taſted, before we ſhall fully feed and live upon the bleſſed fruit of the grace of Chriſt.

11. Moreover, as there is a Reſurrection for the body it ſelf, and that to a more perfect eſtate than it can here attain, ſo the whole nature ſhall be perfected beyond our preſent comprehenſion. This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it. As the fruit is far from ripeneſs in the firſt appearance, or the flower while it is but in the husk or bud; or the Oak when it is but an acorn; or any plant when it is but in the ſeed; no more is the very nature of man on earth: As the Infant is not perfect in the Womb, nor the Chicken in the ſhell, no more are our natures perfect in this world. Methinks for the ſake of the body it ſelf, much more of the ſoul, if we are believers, we ſhould ſubmit contentedly to death. While you are here you know that creatures will fail you, enemies will hate you, friends will grieve you, neighbours will wrong you, Satan will tempt you and moleſt you; the world is changeable and will deceive you; all your comforts are mixed with diſcomforts; the body carrieth about with it calamities enough of its own to weary it: What daily pains muſt it be at for the ſuſtentation of its ſelf in its preſent ſtate; and yet what grief and ſorrow muſt it undergo? Every member hath either its diſeaſe, or a diſpoſition thereto: What abundance of paſſages can pain and ſickneſs find p. 261to enter at; and how many rooms that are ready to receive them! As every member hath its uſe, ſo every one is capable of ſorrow; and the ſorrow of one is at leaſt as much communicated to the whole, as the uſefulneſs is: The pain of the ſimpleſt member, even of a tooth can make the whole body a weary of it ſelf. What is the daily condition of our fleſh, but weakneſs and ſuffering with care and labour to prevent much worſe, which yet we know cannot long be avoided: The ſorrow of many a mans life hath made him wiſh he had never been born: and why then ſhould he not wiſh as much to die, which doth ten thouſand fold more for him if he be a Chriſtian, than to be unborn would have done. Not a Relation ſo comfortable but hath its diſcomforts: Not a friend ſo ſuitable, but hath ſome diſcordancy: nor any ſo amiable and ſweet, but hath ſomewhat loathſome, troubleſome, and bitter. Not a place ſo pleaſant and commodious, but hath its unfitneſs & diſcommodities: Not a Society ſo good and regular, but hath its corruptions and irregularities. And ſhould we be ſo loth to leave (whether naturally or violently) ſuch a life as this? When the fruit is ripe, ſhould it not be gathered? When the corn is ripe, would you have it grow there and not be cut? When the ſpirit hath hatched us for heaven, ſhould we be ſo loth to leave the ſhell or neſt? When we are begotten again to the hopes of immortality, ſhould we be ſo deſirous to ſtay in the womb? O Sirs, it is another kind of life that we ſhall have with God? They are purer comforts, that ſtay for us above! But if you will not have the Grapes to be gathered and preſt, how can you expect to have the Wine? Me thinks our fle…h ſhould have enough e're this time, of ſickneſs, and pain, and want, and croſſes, and ſhould be content p. 262to lie down in hope of the day when theſe ſhall be no more.

Little would an unbeliever think what a Body God will make of this, that now is corruptible fleſh and blood! It ſhall then be loathſome and troubleſome no more. It ſhall be hungry, or thirſty, or weary, or cold, or pained no more. As the ſtars of heaven do differ from a clod of earth, or from a carrion in a ditch, ſo will our glorified immortal bodies differ from this mortal corruptible fleſh. If a skilful workman can turn a little earth and aſhes into ſuch curious tranſparent glaſſes, as we daily ſee: and if a little ſeed that bears no ſhew of ſuch a thing, can produce the more beautiful flowers of the earth; and if a little acorn can bring forth the greateſt Oak; why ſhould we once doubt whether the ſeed of everlaſting life and glory which is now in the bleſſed ſouls with Chriſt, can by him communicate a perfection to the fleſh that is diſſolved into its elements? There's no true beauty but that which is there received from the face of God: And if a glympſe made Moſes face to ſhine; what glory will Gods glory communicate to us, when we have the fulleſt endleſs intuition of it? There only is the ſtrength, and there's the riches, and there's the honour, and there's the pleaſure; and here are but the ſhadows, and dreams, and names, and images of theſe precious things.

And the perfection of the ſoul that's now imperfect, will be ſuch as cannot now be known. The very nature and manner of Intellection, Memory, Volition, and Affections, will be unconceivably altered and elevated, even as the ſoul it ſelf will be, and much more, becauſe of the change on the corruptible body, which in theſe acts it now makes uſe of. But of theſe things I have ſpoke ſo much in the Saints Reſt, that I ſhall p. 263ſay no more of them now, but this; that in a Believer that expects this bleſſed change, and knows that he ſhall never till then be perfect, there is much unreaſonableneſs in the inordinate unwillingneſs and fears of death.

12. You know that fears and unwillingneſs can do no good, but much increaſe your ſuffering, and make your death a double death. If it be bitter naturally, make it not more bitter wilfully. I ſpeak this of a violent death for Chriſt as well as of a natural death; For as the one cannot be avoided if we would, ſo the other cannot be avoided when Chriſt calleth us to it, without the loſs of our Salvation: and therefore it may be called Neceſſary as well as the other. Neceſſary ſuffering and death is enough without th… addition of unneceſſary fears.

13. Nay were it but to put an end to the inordinate fears of death, even death it ſelf ſhould be the leſs fearful to us. Theſe very fears are troubleſome to many an upright ſoul: and ſhould we not deſire to be paſt them! As a woman with Child is in fear of the pain & danger of her travel; but joyful when it's over; ſo is the true believer himſelf too oft afraid of the departing hour: but death puts an end to all thoſe fears. Is it the pain that you fear? Why how ſoon will it be over? Is it the ſtrangeneſs of your ſouls to God, and the place that you are paſſing to? This alſo will be quickly over; and one moment will give you ſuch full acquaintance with the bleſſed God, and the Celeſtial inhabitants, and the world in which you are to live, that you will find your ſelf no ſtranger there; but be more joyfully familiar and content than ever you were in the boſom of your deareſt friend. The Infant in the Womb is a ſtranger to this lighter open world and all the inhabitants of it; and yet it is nor beſt ſtay there. You can fail for commodity to a Country that you never ſaw: p. 264and why cannot you paſs with peace and joy to a God, a Chriſt, a Heaven that you never ſaw? But yet you are not wholly a ſtranger there; Is it not that God that you have loved, and that hath firſt loved you? Have you not been brought into the world by him, and lived by him, and been preſerved and provided for by him? and do you not know him? Is it not your Father, and he that hath given you his Son and his Spirit? have you not found an inclination towards him, deſires after him, and ſome taſte of his love, and communion with him, and yet are you wholly unacquainted with him? Know ye not him whom you have loved above all? in whom you have truſted? and whom you have daily ſerved in the world? Who have you lived to but him? for whom elſe have you laid out your time and labour? and yet do you not know him? And know you not that Chriſt that hath purpoſely come down into fleſh that you might know him? and that hath ſhewed himſelf to you in a holy life, and bitter death, and in abundant precious Goſpel mercies, and in Sacramental repreſentations, that ſo he might entertain a familiarity with you, and infinite diſtance might not leave you too ſtrange to God? Know you not that Spirit that hath made ſo many a motion to your ſoul? that hath ſanctified you, and formed the image of God upon you, and hath dwelt in you ſo long? and made your hearts his very work-houſe, where he hath been daily doing ſomewhat for God? It is not poſſible that you ſhould be utterly ſtrange to him that you Live to, and Live from, and Live in; and not know him, by whom you know your ſelves and all things, nor ſee that Light by which you ſee whatever you ſee.

p. 265O but, you ſay, you never ſaw him, and have no diſtinct apprehenſion of his eſſence. Anſw. What! Would you make a Creature of him, that can be limited, comprehended or ſeen with fleſhly mortal eyes? Take heed of ſuch imaginations. It is the underſtanding that muſt ſee him: You know that he is moſt Wiſe, and Good, and Great; and that he is the Creator, and Suſtainer, and Ruler of the world, and that he is your Reconciled Father in Chriſt; and is this no knowledg of him? And then, the Heaven that you are to go to, is it that you are an Heir of, where you have laid up your treaſure, and where your hearts and converſation hath ſo long been; and yet do you not know it? You have had many a thought of it, and beſtowed many a days labour for it, and yet do you not know it? O but you never ſaw it for all this? Anſw. It is a ſpiritual bleſſedneſs that fleſh and blood can neither enjoy nor ſee: But by the eye of the mind you have often ſeen, at leaſt ſome glimpſe of it; You know that it is the preſent intuition and full fruition of God himſelf and your glorified Redeemer with his bleſſed Angels and Saints in perfect Love and Joy and Praiſe. And if you know this, you are not altogether ſtrangers to heaven. And for the Saints and heavenly Inhabitants, you are not wholly ſtrangers to them. Some of them you have known in the fleſh, and others of them you have known in the ſpirit: You are fellow-Citizens with the Saints, and of the houſhold of God, and therefore cannot be utterly unacquainted with them.

But me thinks the ſtranger you are to God and to Heaven, and to the Saints, the more you ſhould deſire to be there where there is no ſtrangeneſs; This is not the time or place of moſt intimate acquaintance. If you would be acquainted, you ſhould draw nearer and p. 266not draw back. It's death that muſt open you the door into that preſence where ſtrangeneſs will be no more.

And if it be the doubts of your intereſt in Chriſt and life that makes you ſhrink and loth to die: Conſider, that to refuſe to die for Chriſt, is the way above all to increaſe thoſe doubts; but to give up your lives for him, or chearfully to ſurrender your ſouls to him at his call, is the readieſt ſureſt way in the world to prove you at preſent in a ſtate of grace; beſides that you will be haſtened into a ſtate of glory, where you ſhall be quickly and fully paſt all doubts of your ſtate of former grace. In a word, as all the fears and ſorrows of this life will then be at an end, ſo with the reſt will our fears of death: And therefore death ſhould be the more welcome, becauſe it is the end, as of all other troubles, ſo of theſe diſturbing fears.

14. Conſider alſo what a multitude have trod this bloody way before you. Almoſt all that ever were born have died, and are now in the world that you are paſſing to. You are not the firſt that entred at this narrow gate. The deareſt Saints of God have died. If Abraham, Moſes, Joſhua, David, Peter and Paul could not eſcape the ſtroak of death, what are you that you ſhould murmur to follow ſuch and ſo many that have gone before you? You need not fear being ſolitary in heaven. There are millions and millions more of Saints, than there are on earth: Many that you knew; and millions more that will then be as dear to you as if you had known them. Is it not better be among innocent ſouls, than a defiled guilty world? Is it not better be where no ſin entreth, and never a h…ſt or paſſion comes, than to live as among Wild beaſts, with furious unreaſonable ſinners? Is it not better be where Light is perfect, and all your doubts are fully reſolved, p. 267than in darkneſs, and perplexity, and among an ignorant blind generation, that are enemies to the light which you deſire! Is it not better be where is nothing but the perfect love of the Infinite God, in perfect Saints and bleſſed Angels, than to live among perverſe ungodly men that make you almoſt weary of your lives? If it be a delight to us to read the writings of the illuminated Saints of God, and we think them ſuch Jewels and Ornaments in our Libraries; what a pleaſure would it be to converſe with them that wrote theſe Books, and that in their celeſtial perfection, where they have attained a thouſand times more light than before they had; and where all the doubts are reſolved which their books could not reſolve. O bleſſed Society, in compariſon of that we now converſe with!

15. Nay more, leſt the bloody way of death ſhould ſeem too ſtrange and terrible to us, the Lord Jeſus our Head hath trod that path; and that of purpoſe to conquer death, by taking away the ſting and principal cauſe of terrors, and making that a paſſage to felicity, that was a paſſage to everlaſting miſery: So that ever ſince Chriſt hath gone this way, there is no ſuch danger in it to his followers. Where the Captain of our ſalvation goeth, his Souldiers may boldly follow him. For aſmuch as the children were partakers of fleſh and blood, he alſo himſelf likewiſe took part with them, that he might deſtroy by death him that had the power of death, that is the Devil; and might deliver them that through fear of death, were all their life time ſubject to bondage] Heb. 2. 14, 15. He hath cleared our way, and taken out of it the foreſt thorns, and hath prepared us an habitation with himſelf. And ſhall we fear to go the way that Chriſt hath gone, and purpoſely gone to clear it for us?

p. 26816. Moreover Conſider, that the Celeſtial inhabitants have purpoſely made themſelves familiar with us in this lower world, that they might acquaint us with themſelves, and lead us upto their bleſſed habitation, and fit us for it; No man of common reaſon can doubt but that thoſe more capacious glorious parts of the Univerſe, are ſtored with inhabitants anſwerable to their glory; when we ſee every corner of the lower world to be repleniſhed with inhabitants. And Scripture and ſome experience tells us, that thoſe Angels of God are converſant here about us men: They bear us up in their hands, that we daſh not our foot againſt a ſtone, they pitch their tents and encamp about us, as an appointed guard for our ſecurity: It is their very office: for what are they but miniſtring ſpirits, ſent forth to miniſter for them that ſhall be heirs of ſalvation? Heb. 1. 14. They converſe with us, though we ſee them not, and are about us night and day; They are among us in our holy aſſemblies, obſerving our behaviour before the Lord, 1 Cor. 11. 10. and they are witneſſes of our good and evil, Eccleſ. 5. 6. From them, as the Servants of God, was the Law received, Acts 7. 53. Gal. 3. 19. Heb. 2. 2. They read our books, and ſtudy with us the Myſteries of the Goſpel, 1 Pet. 1. 12. And as near as they are to God, they are glad to make the Church their book in which to read his manifold wiſdom, and know it by beholding it in us as in a glaſs, Epheſ. 3. 10. The Nations have their Angels: The Churches have their Angels; and the particular Saints alſo have their Angels; Dan. 10. 13, 20, 21, Rev. 1. 20. Acts 12. 15. Mat. 18. 10. They are not ſtrangers with us, but have charge of us to keep us in all our ways, Pſal. 91. 10, 11, 12. They rejoyce in our converſion, Luke 15. 10. They are part of the heavenly Society that we are already liſted in, p. 269Heb. 12. 22. They aſcend and deſcend as ordinary paſſengers between heaven and earth, Gen. 28. 12. They are round about us, and we live as in their Camp, Pſal. 34. 7. Before them we muſt be confeſſed or denied, Luke 12. 8, 9. They convoy our departed ſouls to Chriſt, Luke 16. 22. They ſhall attend Chriſt at his ſecond coming, as they prcolaimed his firſt, and attended him on earth, Matth. 25. 31. Mar. 8. 38. They ſhall be his Heralds to call up the dead to judgement, Mat. 13. 39, 49. & 24. 31. And at laſt we ſhall be their companions and equal to them, Luke 20. 36. So that you ſee we have the ſame Society inviſible, which we ſhall have in heaven: Yea and ſometime when God is pleaſed, they manifeſt their preſence by viſible or audible apparitions. And ſhall we fear to remove into the preſence of theſe bleſſed ſpirits that now attend us, and are ſtill about us, and the inſtruments of ſo much of our good?

Yea the Lord Jeſus Chriſt came down to be familiar with us, and to bring us into a ſtate of friendſhip, and holy boldneſs with God himſelf: And yet ſhall we draw back?

17. I would put this queſtion to you for your ſerious anſwer, Can you be contented, yea do you deſire, to have no more of God than here you have? Is this much of the knowledge of him, and his will and works ſufficient for you? Would you be no nearer him, and enjoy no more of him? What ever your fleſh ſay, ſure the love of God in your hearts will not ſuffer you conſiderately to ſay ſo. Conſult with your new nature, with the holy principle that is in you; Me thinks you ſhould not be content to remain for ever at ſuch a diſtance from God as you are? If you can, I blame you not to be afraid of death. If not; Why then are you loth to go to him?

p. 27018. And I would ask you alſo, Whether you are content with the meaſure of ſanctification which you have, or which is to be attained in this life? Are you content to live for ever with no more knowledge or love of God? No more faith or love to Chriſt? No more ſenſe of the worth of Grace? No more righteouſneſs or peace or joy in the Holy Ghoſt? No more meekneſs, humility, or heavenly mindedneſs? Are you contented rather to live for ever under all the pride and ignorance and paſſion, and ſelfiſhneſs and luſt and worldlineſs, and all other ſins that here beſet you, rather than to remove to the place of perfection, and yield that death ſhall break the veſſel and neſt of your corruptions? If you care ſo little for the grace of God, and ſee ſo little beauty in his image, and ſee ſo little odiouſneſs in ſin, that you had rather keep it for ever, than go to God by the paſſage of death, I blame you not to be afraid to die: But if otherwiſe; Why do you deſire perfection and deliverance, and yet be ſo loth to come and receive it? When you know that it is not to be had on earth.

19. Moreover, are you contented to remain for ever as unſerviceable to God as here you are? Alas! how little do you for him: how much do you to diſpleaſe him? lay together all the ſervice of your lives, and how ſmall and poor a matter is it? And would you ſtill live at theſe rates? Will this content you? Me thinks it ſhould not if you have grace in your hearts. Why then do you not deſire to depart and to be with Chriſt? There you ſhall be perfectly fitted for his ſervice, and therefore perfectly perform it. What other ſervice God will have for us, we cannot yet tell; but Love and Praiſe we are ſure will be the chief, and the reſt will be good and holy and honourable, what ever it be. If you are Chriſtians, me thinks the ſenſe of your unprofitableneſs p. 271and of your unpleaſing frame of heart and life, ſhould be your daily grief! and therefore you ſhould deſire the ſtate where you may be more ſerviceable, and not be ſo unwilling of it.

20. Laſtly, I would ask you, Are you contented to attain no other end of all your life and labours and ſufferings than here you do attain? What is it that you pray for, and ſeek and ſtrive for? is it for no more than is to be had on earth? If you have no higher deſign, intentions or deſires, I cannot much blame you to be loth to die. But if you have, me thinks no man ſhould be unwilling to attain his end. What have you done and ſuffered ſo much for heaven, and now would you not go to it? Had you rather all your labour were loſt? Do you deſire to be happy, or do you not? If you do, (as certainly you do) would you not go where happineſs it to be had, when you are ſure that it is not not to be had on earth? What ſay you! is there not plain reaſon in all this that I propound to you? It is a ſad caſe, when men ſeek not God and Heaven as their felicity, but only as a leſſer evil than hell, which they would endure, rather than enjoy, when they can keep no longer this earthly life which they account their felicity; where this is the caſe, it's a ſad caſe. And were not this a common caſe, there would not be ſo much unwillingneſs to depart.

And now Chriſtian Reader, I beſeech thee weigh theſe foregoing Conſiderations, and judge whether it be not a contradiction to thy profeſſion, and unſeemly for a believer to be unwilling to die when God ſhall call him: Much more to caſt away evelaſting life, for the ſaving of his temporal life but a little longer! O learn the needful leſſon of ſelf-denial, eſpecially in this point of denying your lives! He that can do this, can do all; and may be ſure that he is mortified indeed: p. 272And he that can do all the reſt, and ſticks but at this, and could part with any thing for Chriſt ſave his life, doth indeed do nothing, nor is it eſteemed ſelf-denying. It is a leſſon therefore that is exceeding neceſſary to be learn'd, and worthy all your time and diligence, even to deny your Lives for the love of Chriſt.

Perhaps you will ſay, We live in days of peace and liberty, and therefore are not like to be called to Martyrdom: What need then have we to learn this leſſon? I anſwer, 1. You are uncertain what changes you may ſee: but if you never ſuffer, yet you muſt be ſure that you have a heart that would ſuffer if God did call you to it: For though you may be ſaved without ſuffering, where you are not called to it, yet you cannot be ſaved without a heart that would ſuffer if you were put upon it. 2. And if you cannot deny your lives for Chriſt, you will not ſincerely deny your pleaſures, or profits or honours for him. If you would not ſuffer death for him if he called you to it, you will not ſincerely ſuffer loſſes and wrongs and reproaches for him, which almoſt every Chriſtian muſt expect. So that to try your own ſincerity, you ſhould look after it. 3. And it is certain that death will ſhortly come; and then if you have not learnt this leſſon, to deny your ſelves even in caſe of life, you will die unwillingly and uncomfortably.

At leaſt me thinks, I might reaſon thus with any man of you, good or bad. Either death is indeed terrible, or not. If it be not, why do you ſo fear it when it comes! If it be, why do you not as well fear it before it comes, even in your youth and health? For you are ſure then that you muſt die, as if it were upon you. A wonderful thing it is, that mans heart ſhould be ſo unreaſonably inſenſible; and that there ſhould be ſo great a difference in the affections of moſt in regard p. 273of death. It's no matter of doubt or controverſie whether they ſhall die. He is a block and not a man, that knoweth it not as certainly now, as he ſhall do in his ſickneſs. And yet, in health theſe wretches will not be awakened ſo much to fear it, as may reſtrain them from ſin, and help them to prepare for it. It's troubleſome preciſe talk with them, to talk of making ready to die: Either they ſlight it, or love not to hear or think of it. And yet the ſame men when death is coming, and they ſee they muſt away, are even amazed with fear and horror: And I cannot blame them unleſs they were in a better caſe. But this I muſt blame them for, as moſt unreaſonable, that they can make ſuch a lamentable complaint when death and Hell are near hand, and yet make ſo light of it all their life time.