A Sovereign Antidote Against the Fear of Death, Tract · Meditation 2
MEDITAT. II. Death is common to Good and Bad.
O My Soul, why art thou yet afraid at the apprehenſion of death? why doſt thou draw back? why doſt thou frame excuſes? is death any ſtrange or unwonted thing, that thou haſt not ſeen nor heard of before? then there were ſome cauſe: but is it not as common as 'tis for a man to be born? is it not the end of all fleſh, the way of all the world? Omnibus una manet nox et calcanda ſemel via lethi: is it not the common road that all men tread, when they go out of the world? young and old, great and ſmall, rich and poor, good and bad, all throng in at this Gate; and art thou loath to ſtoop ſo low? Death ſometimes ſtrikes the child in the womb, and ſometimes the man that ſtoops for Age, and art thou afraid of that which unborn Babes, and crooked old age undergo? Heb. 9, 27.and that which is as ſure as the coat upon thy back? It is appointed unto all men once to dye, and after Death the Judgement. All men dye once, and moſt men twice, but the ſecond Death is far more formidable: Job 14.1, 2, 5.Man that is born of a woman, is of a few dayes, and full of trouble; He cometh up like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth alſo as a ſhadow, and continueth not: His dayes are determined, the number of his Months are with God; he hath appointed his Bounds that he cannot paſs: Job 14.14. and 10.9.'Tis therefore thy Duty, all the dayes of thy appointed time to wait till thy change come; for he hath made thee as the Clay, and will bring thee to Duſt again: 1 Tim. 6.7. Wiſ. 7.16.Thou broughteſt nothing into the world, and 'tis certain thou ſhalt carry nothing out; all have one entrance into Life, and a like going out; Death makes a very great change; ſo that wicked men have cauſe to fear it, the Godly to deſire it, and all to expect it: Life flies away ſuddenly and cannot be retained, Death comes ſpeedily and cannot be reſiſted; O death, Ecclus. 41.1.2.how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lives at reſt in his poſſeſſions! unto the man that hath nothing to vex him, and hath proſperity in all things; yea unto him that is able to receive meat; Oh Death, how acceptable is thy Judgment to the needy, and to him whoſe ſtrength faileth him, &c. The beſt and holieſt men have dyed; for Innocency it ſelf is no Target againſt it; otherwiſe Chriſt had not dyed, in whoſe mouth was found no guile: The ſtouteſt and ſtrongeſt cannot reſiſt death; Sampſon himſelf muſt yield him the victory: The wiſeſt cannot preſerve himſelf alive; Solomon himſelf, that had ſtudied the nature of all Vegetables, 1 King 4.33.from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hyſſop that grows upon the wall, yet found out none that could cure the dint of Death: contra vim mortis non eſt medicamen in hortis. The worſt of men alſo are ſubjected to his power; thoſe that would ſell their Souls to ſave their lives, cannot do it; there is no power can reſiſt it: at one time it prevail'd againſt almoſt all the world, as in the Flood; againſt populous Cities, as Sodom and Gomorrah, &c. againſt Potent Princes and great Armies, as over Pharaoh and his Hoſt; Senacherib's Army, where an hundred fourſcore and. five thouſand were ſlain in one Night: thus good and bad paſs through the ſame Gate, but then their way ſoon turns, the Godly to the right and the Wicked to the left hand; the one to Heaven, and the other to Hell; for as death is an outlet to let us out of the World, ſo 'tis an inlet to let us in to Eternity; to the Godly an inlet to Eternal Bliſs, and to the wicked into Eternal miſery. Then will a difference be made between the Good and the Bad, as wide as between Heaven and Hell. Death is a debt we owe to nature, and pay it we muſt, and tis not much matter whether it be ſooner or later, or whether we dye a natural or violent Death; they both ſignifie the ſame thing; ſhould'ſt thou turn every ſtone, and uſe all means direct or indirect, thou canſt not long preſerve thy life: poſſibly if thou deny payment of this debt, when God requires it, thou maiſt preſerve it a little longer, and but a little; for God will ere long diſtrain for the Debt, and then caſt thee into an Eternal Priſon. Gods determinate counſel is upon thee, and he knows eventually when thy death ſhall be: he hath determined thy bounds that thou canſt not paſs; God commanded Abraham to Sacrifice his Son, and it was his Duty ſo to do, and his ſin if he refuſed, though God determined eventually it ſhould not be done, yet if he had refuſed it he had miſs'd of the Bleſſing. Thy appointed time is with God, but unknown to thee; 'tis his revealed will that is thy duty, thou muſt look after, not eventually what ſhall come to paſs; ſecret things belong to God, Deu. 29.29.but things revealed unto us: if God and his truth, his Goſpel and his cauſe call thee to lay down thy life, and ſeal thy doctrine with thy blood, thou muſt carry thy life in thy hand, and lay it down at his feet: If God command thee to loſe thy life, 'tis thy duty to dye, and if by denying Chriſt life be prolonged, 'tis a hard bargain, and 'tis no leſs thy ſin though God eventually determined thy life to be prolonged. There are many that haſten their death by their intemperance, and ſacrifice their lives to Bacchus and Venus, to drunkenneſs and luſt, and ſo become a Victim to the Devil himſelf; yet are not Gods decrees altered; for though many haſten their death, or uſe unlawful means to preſerve their lives, and ſo both the one and the other become Guilty, yet Gods decrees are not altered. If thou devote thy life to God, and fully reſolveſt to loſe it for his ſake, if he require it, though he never call thee forth to ſuffer, thou wilt not loſe thy reward; and if thou reſolveſt thou wilt part with Chriſt, and kick up thy profeſſion rather than ſuffer for him, if he never put thee upon the trial, God will take the will for the deed; whether thou wilt or no, dye thou muſt, for death will not be bribed: Crowns and Kingdoms will not prolong their owners lives; thou maiſt ſay of death as Paul of preaching, A neceſſity is laid upon me, will I, nill I, dye I muſt: if willing, I have a reward; if againſt my will, I cannot help it; death will not be corrupted with bribes, won with promiſes, nor terrified with threats. When the time will be, 'tis not ſo much thy concern to know, as thy duty to prepare for it: thou maiſt loſe thy ſelf, but canſt not preſerve thy life one day beyond the appointed time: if thou deny God a temporal life, he will deny thee eternal life. I have read of one in perſecuting times, being called to ſuffer for the truth he had profeſſed, cryes out, The fire is hot I cannot burn; but within a ſhort ſpace he was burnt in his own houſe, and we have cauſe to fear he finds the fire of Hell incomparably hotter than the flames he was burnt in, which yet he could not evade. Death triumphs over all ranks and Eſtates of men, from the King upon his Throne to his meaneſt Subject. Mors pauperum tabernas regumque turres aequo pulſat pede. Death makes no difference; ere long the grizly hand of Death will with a winding ſheet cover thoſe naked Breaſts and ſpotted Faces, which have been the Looking-glaſſes of luſt; And worms will ere long make their neſt between thoſe Breaſts which are now expoſed to ſight. and ſale, and eat out thoſe wanton windows of love, and meſſengers of luſt; death will then cool the courage of the ſtouteſt hot-ſpur. Crowns and Scepters are the ſpoils taken by this Conqueror as trophies of his victories: Job 14.7.man that is born of a woman is of ſhort life, and full of trouble. Inward corruption diſpoſeth us to Death as well as open violence; thy body is an earthen pitcher ready to break at every knock; this earthly tabernacle muſt be repaired with food or Phyſick, or both daily, or it will ſoon fall about thy ears: many are the harbingers of death, many are the ſenſible decayes in nature, which tell thee thy end is approaching; the weakneſs of thy ſight, the dulneſs of thy hearing, the rottenneſs of thy …eeth, the wrinkles in thy face, and thy gray hairs mind thee that this crazy Pitcher will not long come home from the water unbroken. The contrary Elements whereof thy body is compounded, the diſagreeing qualities within thee of cold and heat, drought and moiſture, will at length quarrel for the upper hand, and work the deſtruction of the compoſitum; were there no external cauſe of thy diſſolution, theſe will effect what thy greateſt enemy can but do; though haply not ſo ſoon. The fruit when 'tis once ripe, will fall if it be not gathered; the Roſe will wither if not pluckt; the ſturdieſt Oak, or Elm, or Cedar will at length yield to time. Methuſalems glaſs will run out; and theſe houſes of clay will at laſt tumble down of themſelves. Pſal. 89.48.What man is he that liveth and ſhall not ſee Death? ſhall he deliver his ſoul from the hand of the grave: Mors omnibus communis eſt: 'Tis the common path all the world walks in, ſome ſooner, ſome later; ſome in Infancy, and ſome in Youth, and in middle, and ſome in old age; And 'tis the beſt way for thee to put thy life into his hands that gave it, and who only is able to preſerve it; and aſſure thy ſelf he will diſpoſe of it to thy advantage; and if he take it from thee, will exchange it for life Eternal: for a Believer to dye is but as the putting off an old ſuit of cloaths, 1 Cor. 5.6.and exchanging it for a new: and who will fear to put off his old naſty Rags at night for rich Robes in the morning? 'Tis but to change a Cottage for a Palace, Earth for Heaven, and the creatures for God; and who will not be willing of ſuch a bargain? yea of a Peaſant to be made a Prince? Whatever thou loſeſt for Chriſt, thou ſhalt loſe nothing by him; for he will repay thee a hundred fold: Mat. 19.29This is the way to ſecure thy life, or to part with it at the beſt advantage, when otherwiſe thou wilt loſe thy life as the Phariſees did their duties, for nothing; they prayed, they faſted, they gave alms, but by reflecting upon themſelves, and not looking at God in what they did, they loſt their Reward. If thou loſe thy life and canſt not help it, what praiſeworthy thing doſt thou? Thouſands of men, it may be imagined, that never intended a life for Chriſt, have yet with others been bloodily Maſſacred upon a religious account, when ſomething elſe lay at the bottom; theſe have ſuffered Death without a reward, and this may well be thy condition. 'Tis true thou ſhouldſt not run before thou art ſent, or expoſe thy life to danger without a call, ſo maiſt thou be guilty of thine own death, which is murder in the higheſt degree; this is the way to ſhorten thy life, but to haſten thy miſery: But to dye for Chriſt is gain, and ſoul-advantage; and how canſt thou that pretendeſt to believe a Reſurrection to Eternal Life, and pretendeſt an intereſt in it, yet fear to dye, which is the only way to enjoy it: we ſow our ſeed willingly in hope of a plentiful crop, we go to bed willingly in hope of reſt and ſleep, and ſhall we fear to repoſe our body in the Grave in hope of a joyful Reſurrection? O the Ignorance, the Infidelity, the want of Love that appears in thee! for didſt thou really believe what thou pretendeſt to believe, or hadſt thou that love for Chriſt which thou pretendeſt to have, thou wouldeſt long for the time when thou ſhouldeſt enjoy this happineſs, when thou ſhouldſt enjoy this God: Mat. 6.21.love would make thee run through fire and water to come to him; Love makes labour light, it makes a man ſlight all the difficulties that lye in the way: Ʋbi amor ibi animus; and where the treaſure is, there will the heart be alſo; doſt thou believe that at death this mortal ſhall put on immortality, 1 Cor. 15.54.and this corruptible ſhall put on incorruption, that death ſhall be ſwallowed up of victory; and that in Heaven thou ſhalt never hunger more, nor thirſt more, nor have need of any creature ſupplies, and never meet with more loſſes, croſſes or afflictions to moleſt thee, but ſhalt be as the Angels of God, which behold Gods face in glory? Dan. 12.3. Phil. 3.21.doſt thou believe that thy glorified body ſhall ſhine as the Sun in the firmament, and be faſhioned like unto Chriſts glorified body; and yet art afraid to dye, and come to glory? how can theſe things be reconciled? The queſtion is not, Whether thou muſt dye or no, this is determined by an irrevocable decree, but it is about the Time and the Manner of thy death: who is fitteſt to diſpoſe of it, thee or the great God that gave it? wouldſt thou have it at thine own will? alas! thou canſt not preſerve it a moment, and thou canſt not preſerve it from a violent death, and a languiſhing diſeaſe may haply be more painful than the death thy enemy puts thee to: thou canſt not deny Chriſt thy life without hazard of eternal death, and wilt thou not rather ſuffer a few pangs than run this hazard, and be obnoxious to eternal torments? Thou haſt a ſickly weakly body, many diſtempers hang upon thee, from head to foot, ſcarce a free part, and ſubject to more than yet thou feeleſt, and there is no other Phyſician can cure thee but Death; his ſtroak is the Catholicon, the univerſal Medicine for all diſtempers; and doſt thou fear the potion which ſo many of the Saints have taken and did well; nay never any that miſcarried under his hands: Chriſt by his death hath deſtroyed him who hath the power of death, Heb. 2.14, 15.even the Devil; to deliver them which through the fear of death were all their life time ſubject to bondage: Now the only way to be delivered from this fear, is to fall under this Stroak; for death frees us from this as well as from all other miſeries. If thou ſhouldſt yet deny thy life, and ſo think to ſave it, thou art much miſtaken, when God is thine enemy, and thine enemy then he will be. Every creature will wait for a Commiſſion to take away thy life: God can hide Death in the ſmalleſt creature: With what contemptible things did he torment Pharaoh and his people, which had they not been withdrawn upon Moſes ſupplication would have been their deſtruction, as Frogs, and Lice, and Locuſts, and Caterpillars, &c. Nay we may read of many that have loſt their lives by ſuch as theſe: ſome have been devoured by Rats and Mice; others deſtroyed by Leeches, ſome ſtung to death by Bees, Waſps and Hornets; ſome choakt with Flies, with Figs, with Grapes, Ward on Mat. part 329.with the kernel of Grapes, with Fiſh-bones, crums of bread, an hair in milk; ſome have been eaten of lice, others of worms; ſome have dyed in ſmelling of a flower, ſome with the prick of a pin, or thorn, and many other ſuch like. God needs not muſter any great Army to deſtroy thee; the leaſt of his creatures can do it, if he give them a commiſſion; and if thou deny thy life when he requires it, well maiſt thou fear this commiſſion will be ſealed; well maiſt thou fear the bread thou eateſt will choak thee, the drink thou drinkeſt will be thy bane; and what ever judgment thou ever readeſt or heard'ſt of, that ever befell. a graceleſs ſinner, it may be thy portion; that the flouds may drown thee, as it did the old world, and Paraoh and his hoſt; that the fire may burn thee, as it did Sodom and Gomorrah; that the earth may open her mouth and ſwallow thee up, as it did Corah, Dathan and Abiram. Or whatſoever other judgments have befaln the Enemies of God, may be thy portion: for Apoſtacy is a moſt dangerous ſin, ſome creature or other may well diſtrain of thee in Gods name, when thou denyeſt the debt. Hadſt thou been the firſt that ever taſted of death, as Abel was, thou mighteſt have been afraid; had never any before thee entred into deaths darkſome Cell, or gone through that dark and narrow entry, it were ſomething, but when ten thouſand times ten thouſand have gone before thee, what need this fear? and ſeeing, will we, nill we, all of us muſt dance after deaths pipe, why wilt thou not do it willingly? God loves a chearful giver, he loves a freewill Offering, and loves not grumbling Servants: millions of the Saints are now in Heaven that have travailed this road, yet none of them repent they came there too ſoon: Many of them have been taken out of the world by the hand of violence, and now have the crown of Martyrdome upon their heads; Rev. 12.11.they loved not their lives to the death, and now have received a crown of life; and if thou be faithful to the death, this will be thy reward when thou comeſt to thy Juorneys end, thou wilt be among the ſouls of juſt men made perfect, ſinging Halelujahs to God for ever and for ever; then wilt thou bid adieu to a vain, miſerable cheating and deceitful world. But haply thou maiſt ſay, Here I am acquainted, but there I am a ſtranger, and what comfort can I have in the removing? Art thou a ſtranger! the more ſhame for thee; other Saints were ſtrangers and pilgrims in this world, and made haſt home into their own country: if thou hadſt been well acquainted with the Word, thou wouldſt have ſeen the vanity, and emptineſs of all earthly felicity; and that there was nothing in the world worth thy love; and hadſt thou had thy converſation in Heaven as thou haſt pretended, thou wouldſt not have been ſuch a ſtranger there, as thou ſeemeſt to be: But ſtay, haſt thou not many friends and relations there? is not almighty God there, whom thou calleſt Father? and art thou a ſtranger in thy Fathers houſe? haſt had no communion, no trading with him in his Ordinances? what is then become of all thy prayers, and other duties? are thoſe all loſt? 'tis true, thou never faweſt his face, neither canſt ſee it and live, but haſt not ſeen him in his Word, in his Ordinances, in his promiſes, threatnings, providences, and Attributes? Bleſſed is he that hath not ſeen, Gal. 4.26.and yet believeth; and is not Jeruſalem that is above the mother of as all? and is not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt him whom thou calleſt thy Lord, and thy God, and thy Husband, and thy elder Brother, yea thy Head? and is a loving wife a ſtranger to her beloved husband? and is not the Holy Ghoſt there, from whom thou haſt received ſuch ſweet conſolations, in thy ſinking fits? and are not the holy Angels there, beholding thy Fathers face in glory, who are now thy guardians that rejoyced at thy converſion, and will rejoyce at thy Coronation: 'Tis true thou ſeeſt them not, thou knoweſt them not, they are inviſible; but they ſee and know thee, and then thou wilt be able to ſee and know them, for they ſhall be thy conſtant companions, and thy fellow brethren. And are there not millions of glorified Saints, which are thy Spiritual kindred, fellow members of Chriſts body, yea brethren in Chriſt? yea are there not ſome that thou kneweſt in the dayes of their fleſh, whoſe company thou ſo much deſiredſt, and whoſe death thou ſo much lamentedſt? nay are there not ſome that were related to thee in the fleſh, gone before thee, of whom thou haſt comfortable hopes that they are with the Lord; and will not their company be now as comfortable as it was on earth? yea thou wilt know more there than ever thou didſt here; for I queſtion not but the Saints ſhall know each other: for, ſhall we ſit with Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, and not know them? All the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apoſtles, Martyrs and glorified Saints are here, and is not thine Inheritance, thy Crown, thy Manſion-houſe here? and art thou yet a ſtranger? is not this thy countrey which thou pretendeſt to be ſeeking, and all this while art thou a ſtranger to it? yea doſt not live upon heavenly allowance, and haſt thy meat, and thy drink, and thy cloathes for thy ſoul from hence? Or is it death that thou art a ſtranger to; why didſt thou not know that thou waſt mortal? why then didſt not acquaint thy ſelf with death? thou kneweſt all muſt dye, why didſt not conſider of it, and among the reſt of thy own death? didſt not believe God when he ſaid, Duſt thou art, and unto duſt thou ſhalt return? Heb. 9.27.or when he ſaith, 'Tis appointed unto all men once to dye, and after death the judgment: and when he told thee, that all fleſh is graſs, and the flower thereof as the flower of the field? But if thou hadſt not believed God, couldſt not believe thy own eyes and ears? doſt not dayly ſee younger and ſtronger than thee go before thee? doſt not hear of many round about thee ſtrucken by death? many ſuddenly, many by a violent death, and many by diſeaſes? Doſt not remember a hundred thouſand ſlain in London in one year? two or three hundred thouſand in Ireland in a few weeks bloodily Maſſacred? haſt thou not many Lectures of mortality read to thee, many Monitors of mortality within thee? doth not the dimneſs of thy eyes mind thee, the very Spectacles thou lookeſt through tell thee of the decayes in Nature; and canſt expect greater warning? or haſt any more conſiderable work to do than to provide for death? and is death yet a ſtranger? haſt thou not viſited many a ſick bed, and been with many a departing ſoul, and received their laſt breath into thy boſom, and yet haſt not ſufficient warning? God never ingaged to give thee ſo much; thou art his liſted ſouldier, and haſt taken preſs-money, and thou art ingaged to be in a continual readineſs; yet God hath given thee many a particular warning to prepare for death: thou haſt many a time look't death in the face, and God hath often pluckt thee by the ſhoulders, and ſhewed thee grim death before thee; and thou haſt ſeveral times received the ſentence of death within thee, and God hath in effect ſaid to thee, Set thy houſe in order, for thou muſt dye; nay not only ſo, but God hath imployed thee to warn others, yet he hath forborn thee above ſixty years, and every year given thee many warnings, and what wouldſt thou have more? and yet art unacquainted with thy main work? What if he had taken thee hence thirty or forty years ago, as he did many that were companions with thee in vanity, what had been thy condition, that yet pretendeſt thou art not ready? and what hopes is there of thee, if God ſpare thee another year, that thou wilt bring forth better fruit? is old age the beſt and fitteſt for repentance, and preparation to dye? when thou wilt find enough to do to wraſtle with pains and bodily diſtempers? would a Captain take it for a ſufficient excuſe, if a Souldier that is by ingagement to be ready at an hours warning, and ſhould give him a week, a month, a years time to make ready, and at the end of that time he ſhould plead, his Arms are not fixed, nor other neceſſaries provided; and if the Captain give him another year, and at the end thereof he ſhould plead the ſame excuſe, would this be taken for a good excuſe? yet this excuſe hath been in thy mouth many years together, and 'tis doubt if God yet lengthen thy daies and give thee more years, it will be the ſame. Hath not death entred into thy habitation? hath it not taken away thy parents, thy loving wife, thy dear children, and other of thy near relations? and didſt not yet lay it to heart? waſt thou no wiſer than fatted beaſts, that are taken away one after another to the Shambles, and thoſe that remain are ſenſeleſs of the danger, neither conſider their turn is coming? yea hath not death thrown many a dart at thee, and ſometimes wounded thee in the head, ſometimes in thy bowels, and yet doſt not conſider that he hath a dart will reach thy heart? Yea ſometimes thou haſt thought thou haſt had thy deaths wound, and yet wilt take no warning to get on thy Armour? doth not the pains, the aches, the diſtempers of thy body, under which thou daily groaneſt, bid thee prepare for thy winding-ſheet? doth not news ring dayly in thy ear, this and that friend, relation, or neighbour is dead, and ere long others will ſay of thee, he is dead alſo? haſt thou not interred many a dead corpſe, and preacht may a Funeral Sermon, and given many an exhortation to the living to prepare for death, and comforted many that have loſt their friends by death, and waſt never yet ſatisfied that thou waſt mortal, and muſt dye alſo? didſt thou think thy ſelf only exempted from the common lot of all men; or that God would bring thee to Heaven another way? or couldſt thou wiſh thou wert immortal and ſhouldſt live on earth to Eternity? art thou willing to take the Earth for Heaven, and the creature for God, and the happineſs thou meetſt with here for Heavens glory? haſt enough to ſatisfy thee here below, and deſireſt no more? if not, why wouldſt not dye and come to happineſs? if the earth be more deſireable to thee one year, why not twenty, and why not to eternity? if God ſhould bid thee chooſe thy time, and appoint it thy ſelf, what time wouldſt thou require? haply Methuſalems daies; well, but theſe would expire, and death at the end would be as bitter as now it is. If death were the road to Hell as 'tis to the wicked, thou mighteſt well ſtartle at it: And I have wondred at thoſe of them that have been ſo prodigal of their lives, when Life is the only preſervative out of Hell. Or if thy caſe were that of the beaſts, and thou were to be reduced unto the horrid eſtate of nothing, death might make thee ſhrug, but when thou believeſt that death to thee will be an entrance into glory, an outlet to miſery, and an inlet to happineſs, and the ſame road that Chriſt and all the glorified Saints have gone to Heaven in, how can this be reconciled with thy fears? Haſt thou had ſo many diſcourſes of death, and with death, and doſt believe that the ſting is taken out by Chriſt, and doſt yet run from this Serpent, and take him for an enemy that is but thy Fathers Meſſenger, ſent for thy good? This muſt needs be thy ſin, and thy folly, and doth too evidently beſpeak thy Infidelity, or the weakneſs of thy Faith. Thou haſt comforted others at the laſt gaſp, and prayed with them; and for them, thou haſt ſtrengthened the weak hands, and feeble knees, and now doſt faint under the ſame burden? But hadſt thou had more mortifying Meditations of death, and with the Apoſtle hadſt learned to dye daily, death would not have been ſo terrible a Bugbear to thee as now it ſeems: didſt thou once a day look him in the face, by a ſerious meditation, and by a believing expectation, he would not look ſo grim and terrible. Bears and Tigers are not ſo terrible to thoſe that are their keepers, and acquainted with them, as to others. The Lion in the Fable was at firſt ſight a terror to the Fox, but time much allayed his fear: the more thou beholdeſt death, the leſs deformed, yea the more lovely he doth appear: death will be no excepter of perſons; the rich and poor, high and low, whether they will or no muſt dance in this Ring; when God commands, he muſt and will ſtrike: death is written upon thy cradle, and thou waſt rockt upon the mouth of the grave, and ever ſince no day hath been ſure to thee, but it might have been thy dying day: 'tis not long ſince thou didſt bewail the death of thy Parents, and 'tis not long before thy children will bewail thine; one generation comes and another goes, and the latter treads out the ſteps of the former: we trod out the ſteps of our predeceſſors, and our poſterity will do as much for us. The world is but a Tent to abide in for a time, an Inne to tarry in a night, a Lodging place for a wayfaring man, a baiting-place in a Journey: Oh the folly of moſt men, that take it for their Inheritance, and look for no more; but to the Godly 'tis no continuing city, no abiding place, neither indeed worthy our love. Were the world as the garden of Eden, full of delights and pleaſures, thou hadſt ſomething to ſay for it, and yet the worm of time would eat out the very heart of it, the ſhortneſs of the continuance would ſpoyl the ſport. Many doat on beauty, but none but the blind will fall in love with deformity it ſelf. The world is a Bochim, a place of Lamentation, and who falls in love with ſorrow? 'tis a Golgotha, a place of dead mens skuls, and who but mad men converſe among the Tombs? 'Tis a peſt-houſe, an infected, and an infecting place, where moſt we converſe with are infectious: 'tis a priſon, a place of hardſhip, where the ſoul hath not liberty to act according to its nature: 'tis a place of Egyptian bondage and ſlavery, where there is little but moiling, toyling, working, caring, from morning till night, for a poor living, wherein we are ſo chained to our Oars, that we have ſcarce time to eat our meat; and what madneſs is it over eagerly to deſire ſuch a life, and to quarrel thoſe that eaſe us of our burden, and put an end to our labours? Here thou liveſt under continual pains, aches, griefs, and troubles, ſorrows, dangers and temptations, and what not; and is any poor priſoner lying in his fetters, or Gally-ſlave chained to his oars, unwilling of his liberty? nay would they not endure a little pain for their liberty? and is there but a little pain between thee and eternal happineſs, and doſt ſtick at that, when wicked men indure as much in the road to Hell? doſt thou prize glory at ſo low a rate? wilt thou ſuffer pains and labour, and cark and care for worldly vanities, and wilt thou ſuffer nothing to enjoy bliſs and happineſs? the Phyſitian cures thee not without pain, thou takeſt bitter pills and unſavoury potions, when Sugred with the hopes of Health; thou wouldſt ſuffer the Surgeon to dreſs thy ſores though he hurt thee, and if need require to cut, lance the fleſh, yea to cut off a limb or joynt to ſave the reſt; which is greater pain than many feel even in the pangs of death, and yet thou muſt pay them for their pains, and ſhall only the phyſitian Death, which will cure thee of all thy pain and miſery, be diſreſpected, and abhorred, and lookt upon as the worſt of enemies, and all becauſe he puts thee to a little pain, which ends in eternal glory; when many times the pains in dying is not ſo much as the raging pain of an aking tooth? but imagine it to be the worſt thou canſt, what proportion doth it bear to the ſucceeding joy? not ſo much as is between a Flea-biting and an earthly Crown, and who would not indure much more for a Kingdom? what pain wouldſt thou indure for an hour, to be freed from the Stone or Gout all thy life, if thou wert under the racking pain of it? or what pain would a poor man indure one day to have a Knights or Lords eſtate at night? Oh death, if thy pangs be grievous, they are but ſhort, but what are the pains of Hell, which muſt be indured by thoſe that deny their Redeemer for Lifes ſake? If thy Supper be ſharp, thy reſt will be ſweet: this conſideration made death it ſelf welcom to the Martyrs; who for the joy that was ſet before them, indured the croſs and deſpiſed the ſhame, and now are ſet down with Chriſt in his Kingdom of glory: Torments and tortures to them were Jocularia, matters of ſport: The ſoul that ſees the Crown, heeds not the weight of the Croſs; and were there no other way to Heaven, but by the gates, nay through the flames of Hell, the believing ſoul would through. Luther would rather be with God in Hell, than without him in Heaven; but much more would they go through the gates of death: what though the paſſage be dark, a believer by the perſpective of Faith can ſee light at the other end. A Souldier that fights but for a temporary reward, yet with what violence doth he preſs through the thickeſt of his enemies, and carries his life in his hand, and all for a thing of nought call'd Honour; and doth not a crown of glory ſhine as bright in thy eye, as popular applauſe doth in his? doſt thou believe eternal glory is offered to thee, and that thou maiſt have it for the ſuffering a little pain, and doſt thou ſtick at the price, and let God beſtow his favours where he pleaſeth, thou wilt not have Heaven at ſo dear a rate? thou art well worthy then to loſe it. If theſe outward enjoyments will give thee content, then the Atheiſt, the Epicure, the beaſtly belly-God, the Drunkard, the Adulterer, hath more pleaſure than thee; the beaſt of the field, the fouls of the air, the fiſh in the ſea, that have neither carking care, nor fretting fear, and many of them free from labours and pains, are in a happier condition than poor Man is, if this be his all, and Believers then are of all men the moſt miſerable. If this be the ſumm of thy hopes, why doſt thou faſt, and pray, and deny thy ſelf theſe carnal pleaſures which others take? if their reward will give thee content, why doſt not ſwear with the Swearer, and drink with the Drunkard, and debauch thy ſelf with the Adulterer? if thy portion and theirs be alike, why doſt not run into the ſame exceſs of riot with them? Pſal. 58.11.But there is a reward for the righteous, ſurely there is a God that judgeth the earth; and art thou afraid to receive the righteous mans reward? wilt thou after all thy profeſſion content thy ſelf with the Epicures portion, and loſe all the pains thou haſt taken in Heavens way? let them be loth to dye that are loth to be with Chriſt, or loth to be happy. Is God willing to glorifie thee, and art not thou willing to be glorified? is he willing to beſtow Heaven upon thee, and art thou unwilling to take it, becauſe 'tis up Hill? take heed leſt for murmuring at the tearms, God ſwears thou ſhalt never enter into his reſt; as he reſolved thoſe that made light of his Supper ſhould never taſt of it. Mat. 22.8.If thou make light of Chriſt and glory, ſo as to put them into the one end of the Scales, and a little pain in the other, and make this weigh down all the reſt, Chriſt will make as light of thee, and reſolve thou ſhalt never have him: if thou art unwilling to leave. Earth for Heaven, and the Creature for God, and to enter the purchaſed Inheritance in the way he hath appointed, God may juſtly give thee thy. Portion elſewhere. 'Tis the Devils grand deſign to keep thee from God, from Chriſt, from Glory, and art thou as willing as he to ſtay thence? thou wilt do him the greateſt courteſie, and thy ſelf the greateſt miſchief imaginable. O my Soul, look well about thee, Heaven and Hell are before thee, if thou like not Heaven upon the offered terms, Hell is like to be thy portion: thoſe that murmured at the land of Canaan by reaſon of ſome difficulty in the way, periſhed in the Wilderneſs. The way to Heaven and Hell, is both by the Gates of Death; if thou give up thy life to Gods diſpoſe, Heaven will be thine; if not, Hell is thy reward. Oh my God, I believe, help my unbelief; I know I muſt dye, I know 'tis my duty to dye for thee if thou requireſt; thou gaveſt me my life, and haſt moſt reaſon to diſpoſe of it; Lord my Spirit is willing, but the Fleſh is weak, I cannot ſtand by my own Strength, Lord I can do all things through thee that ſtrengtheneſt me; let my reſolves be for Heaven, which way ſoever thou commandeſt me to come to thee, though through a Sea of Blood, or in a fiery Chariot; let me glorifie thee by my Life and by my Death, that I may be glorified by thee after my Death.