The Christians Defense Against the Fears of Death, Chapter 8
CHAP. 8.
The ſecond Remedy againſt the fears of Death, is to expect it at every hour.
IT is not ſufficient to think often upon Death, and to diſcourſe of it in an excellent manner; for there be ſome that mention death very frequently, and with many pious reflexions; yet nevertheleſs they cannot boaſt of being free from all apprehenſions of Death; their Tongue is always ready to ſpeak of Death, but their Heart cannot yield to expect it; they know that Death will ſeize upon them, but they entertain this dangerous opinion, that the time is not yet come; they acknowledge that they are indebted to God and Nature, but they delay the payment of the Debt from day to day, as if they were able to corrupt the Serjeants of Death, and obtain a Reprieve at their pleaſure. There is no man ſo old and decrepid, but flatters himſelf with the fancy of having yet at leaſt a year to live in the world. In ſhort, we imagine always, that we perceive Death at a vaſt diſtance from us, and that we ſhall ſoon enough fit our ſelves to receive it as we ought; therefore when ever, or where ever it comes to drag us out of the World, it ſurpriſeth and aſtoniſheth us.
If we will prevent this miſchief, we muſt not only conſider that we are mortal, but that our life is ſhort and of no long continuance; we muſt continually ſay with Job, Are not my days few? Job 10. and imprint in our minds this Sentence of David, The Lord hath made my days as an hand-breath, mine age is as nothing before him, Pſal. 39. or that of Moſes, The beſt of our days are but labor and ſorrow, for they are ſ… cut off, and we fly away, Pſal. 90.
The Antients painted Time with Wings, to expreſs its inevitable ſwiftneſs. The Holy Spirit compares our Life to a Weavers Shuttle, to an hired Servant, to a Poſt that runs apace, to a Packet-Boat, or to an Eagle that flies after its Prey. The Sacred Writers ſpeak of our Life, as of a Torrent of Waters, of a Cloud, a Vapor, a Wind, or a Breath: They tell us that our days are gone as a Dream, they fly away as a Shadow, they vaniſh as a Word in the Air, and that they periſh as a thought. In a word, all the Lightneſs and the moſt unconſtant things of the World, whereof the motion is very ſuddain and quick, are employed in Holy Scripture, to expreſs the vanity of our Life, and the ſhortneſs of our days.
Beſides that, our Life is of a ſhort continuance, it ſlides away inſenſibly, like to a Clock, the Wheels move without ceaſing, although the Hand appears to us to be ſteady; or to a Plant that grows continually, although the increaſe and growth is not to be diſcerned by our Eye-ſight, or like to a Man who ſtands in a Ship under Sail, he goes forward whither he will or no; Thus whether we Sleep or Wake, whether we Go of Lye down, whether we Eat or Faſt, whether we Work or Reſt, we proceed on continually forward towards our Grave; our Body is like a Tree eaten continually by Worms, for the day and the night feed upon it, without intermiſſion; in vain do ye baniſh out of your minds the thoughts of Death, if ye will not call it to your remembrance, it will not fail to mind and remember you; the more ye fly from it, the more it follows and purſues you at the heels, and when ye imagine Death to be fartheſt off from you, it is neareſt to you.
As the Canker when it infects and enters into the Breaſt, it devours the Fleſh without interruption; ſo Time conſumes and devours us continually: The Meat that we ſwallow, and that nouriſheth us, brings us by degrees into the embraces of Death, as the Oil that cauſeth a Lamp to burn, leads it to its end; or as when a Torch is lighted, it begins to dye, aſſoon as it begins to burn; thus I may ſay without exceſs, that the very firſt moment of this Animal Life, is the firſt moment of our Death. As we ſay of all ſublunary Bodies, that the Generation of the one, is the Corruption the other: ſo is it with Time, The birth of an hour, of a day, of a week, of a monethmonth, or of a year, is the death of that which precedes; It is like a wheel, that mounts to no other end, but to fall down again.
Seeing therefore that our Life is nothing elſe but a continued Death, in proper terms we are miſtaken to name only the moment of the ſeparation of the Soul and Body, the hour of death; for as when many Canon ſhot are diſcharg'd againſt a Caſtle, to open a breach, we don't ſay that the laſt hath done the work; or as when an hard ſtone is cut with Chiſwel and Hammer, or inſenſibly cav'd or undermin'd with Water, the laſt blow or drop don't carry away alone the glory of the performance: Thus when our Bodies decay and crumble away to duſt, we muſt not only conſider the laſt ſtruglings againſt Death, or the laſt attempt of this Enemy. Of a Ladder by which we aſcend and deſcend, we view every ſtop from the top to the bottom; Of an Hour-Glaſs we look to every grain of Sand; Of a Voyage or Journey, we reckon the firſt League, as well as the laſt; And in a Race, we take notice of the firſt ſtep that we go out, as well as of the laſt when we ſtop: Thus we muſt reckon our Death to begin from the firſt moment that we draw our breath, until the laſt when we yield up the Ghoſt.
Beſides what happens every moment to this poor and deſpicable nature, an infinite number of ſtrange, unwonted, and unexpected accidents, do ſtop and ſhorten our Race. The Taper is not always conſum'd by its own flame, many blaſts of wind and ſhowers of rain do extinguiſh it. If our Life is ſhort, it is no leſs weak and uncertain. The Body in which we lead a languiſhing life, is like Jonas's Goard, for if it be but mov'd with a contrary and unwholſome blaſt, or toucht by an unhappy Worm, it withers upon a ſuddain, Jonas 4. This was the thought of Eliphas, when he ſaith, We dwell in houſes of Clay, our foundation is in the Duſt, we are cruſhed before the moth, Job 4. When God intends to deſtroy Mankind in his wrath, and kill multitudes in his diſpleaſure, he doth not always employ the agency of Angels, as when he cut off all the firſt-born of the Land of Egypt, when he ſtretched forth the ſword of his vengeance upon Jeruſalem, and when he kill'd of Senacharib's Army in one night, one hundred fourſcore and five thouſand Men; he doth not always let looſe the wicked Spirits, as when he gave them leave to raiſe a furious Tempeſt, which caſt to the ground the Houſe where Job's Children were, and buried them in the ruines, Job 1. He doth not always open the fountains of Heaven, as when he waſh'd away the firſt wicked world with a fearful deluge, Gen. 7. He doth not always cauſe fire and brimſtone to rain from Heaven, as he did upon Sodom and Gomorrah, upon Adma and Zeboim; he works not always miracles in the waters, as when he drown Pharaoh, and his Egyptian Hoſt in the waves of the Red Sea; He prepares not always Whales to devour us, as he did Jonas; He ſends not always burning Serpents, as to the murmuring Generation of Iſraelites in the Deſarts; He commands not always the Earth to open and ſwallow us up, as it did Corah Dathan and Abiram; He ſends not always from above great Hailſtones, as when he knocks down the Amorites; He deſtroys us not always by flames that proceed from his preſence, as he did Nadab and Abihu, who offered unhallowed Fire upon his Altar; He Commands not always the Lions and the Bears of the Forreſt to iſſue out and devour us, as he did when the rebellious Prophet was kill'd, and when the ill-tutor'd Children of Bethel mockt Eliſha; In ſhort, God employs not always the Plagues and Judgements of Peſtilence, of War, and of Famin; the unpleaſant ſmell of a fuming Snuff, a flying vapor of malignant Smoak, is able to choak and kill us in a moment: A Fly, the Kernel of an Apple, an Hair of the Head, or the Seed of a Grape, or Aſhes, or Sand, or ſome other Atom, may ſtop the breath of our life. Therefore God adviſeth us by the Prophet Iſaiah, Ceaſe ye from Man whoſe breath is in his Noſtrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of? Iſai. 2.
It is to be conſider'd that theſe miſchances happen very frequently, and in every place Death lays for us its ſnares, every where, as well in the boſom of our tender hearted Parents, and in the embraces of our deareſt friends, as amongſt the moſt barbarous and ſavage People, and amongſt our moſt inhumane Enemies; Its inviſible Darts fly up and down every where; and as the Pſalmiſt informs us, The peſtilence walketh in darkneſs, and deſtruction waſteth at noon-day. Pſal. 91. Death is as buſy on the ſolemn Feſtivals, as well as in the working days; it drags us as eaſily from the Table, where we take our delights, as from the bed of Sorrow, where we ſigh and groan; there is no ſacred retreat where we may find a refuge, it hath no more regard of the Temples dedicated to Gods ſervice, than of the common houſes; All the Riches of America, and the power of the greateſt Monarchs, are not able to protect us from its purſuance; it requires a preſent payment of the debts that we owe; and it is not poſſible to appear by an Attorney, at the Summons that it ſends to us.
Death claps not its warnings on the poſts of Doors, it thruſts them not into the hands of Meſſengers or Lacqueys; there is not one Summons, but it may write down upon it thoſe words, Speaking to him in Perſon: it ſurpriſeth us …t home and abroad in our Cloſets, and in the Streets, in our Beds, in our Sedans, in the midſt of our Feaſts, and all our Pompe. It offers violence to the Sacred Perſon of the greateſt Kings, in their moſt ſumptuous Palaces, in their moſt flouriſhing Cities, and in their ſtrongeſt Fortifications, in the midſt of their moſt faithful ſubjects, and moſt victorious Armies, upon their Thrones, and in their triumphing Chariots. As King Ahab when he was going to take poſſeſſion of Naboth's Vineyard, told the Prophet Elijah in a rage, Thou haſt found me mine Enemy, 1 Kings 21. Thus when the prophane Worldlings dream of nothing but of the pleaſant enjoyment of their unjuſt poſſeſſions and of ſwimming in the Blood and Sweat of the meaner people, they meet unexpected Death, which they curſe in their hearts, and if it did not ſtop their mouths, they would ſay alſo in their rage, Haſt thou found me out mine Enemy?
This Holy Meditation caus'd the wiſeſt King upon Earth to tell us, Man knoweth not his time, as the Fiſhes that are taken in an evil Net, and as the Birds that are caught in the ſnare, ſo are the Sons of Men ſnared in an evil time when it falls ſuddainly upon them, Eccl. 9.12. This ſame conſideration hath cauſed this excellent Sentence to be written in the Book of Job; In a moment, ſhall they dye, and the people ſhall be troubled at midnight, and paſt away, and the mighty ſhall be taken away without hand, Job 34. That is, that to deſtroy Kingdoms and whole Nations, and to carry away the moſt luſty and mighty Men, Death hath no need of other aſſiſtance, but its own Arm.
Do you deſire, Chriſtian Reader, the deſign of all this diſcourſe? Let me tell you then, that ſeeing Death is certain, and not to be avoided, and that there is nothing ſo uncertain, as the hour of its arrival, we muſt ſo live as if we were to breathe forth the laſt gasp at every moment; We ſhould behave our ſelves, as if we had always our Souls upon our Lips, ready to yield them into the hands of our great Creator, and to ſpeak in Job's Language, Having our Fleſh between our teeth, and our Souls in our hands, Job 13. Seeing that we know not at what time, nor in what place Death intends to come upon us, let us expect it at every moment, and in every place. Seeing that we lodge in this Earthly Tabernacle, without any loſs or aſſurance of Time; let us be ready to depart at the firſt warning; for it will be far better for us to goe out willingly than to be drag'd out againſt our wills; it is not convenient that Death ſhould carry us away in the ſame manner as the Sea bears and toſſeth a dead Corps upon its wayes; But we muſt in this occaſion imitate the diſcreet Pilate or Mariner, that trims his Sails, and helps by his Art the Winds and the Tide, to drive him to his deſired Haven: We ſhould not follow Death as the Malefactor follows the Executioner that leads him to ſuffer; but as the Child follows his Father that conducts him to a Feaſt; we ſhould not engage him in a combat with Death by conſtraint, as the antient Slaves did with the wild Beaſts in the Roman Amphitheaters; but we ſhould imitate David's generoſity, who, of his own accord, march'd out of the Camp of Iſrael, to fight with Goliah: It is better for us to attack and ſeize upon Death, than to be ſurprized and devoured by it unawares.
Come when thou wilt, O Death! thou ſhalt never ſurprize me, for I wait for thee at every moment with my weapons ready in my hand; Thou ſhalt never drag me forcib…y, for I will follow thee willingly and joyfully; Although thou art mine Enemy, yet will I ſpeak to thee in the Language of the Spouſe, in the Canticles, to her beloved. Draw me and I will run after thee. Nay, I will meet thee in the way and receive thee with hearty embraces; for inſtead of dreading thy coming, I deſire it paſſionately, and hope for it; for at thy firſt arrival, aſſoon as I ſhall have ſeen thee, I ſhall have overcome thee, O bleſſed and happy day, that aſſures me of ſuch a glorious Victory, and of ſuch an Eternal Triumph.
A Prayer and Meditation upon the continual expectation of Death.
O Gracious God, in whoſe power alone, and at whoſe pleaſure are the Times and the Seaſons; I know that it is appointed to all men once to dye, and that the Grave is the dwelling which thou haſt prepared to receive all Mankind; we underſtand ſufficiently by the experience of former Ages, that none is able to ſay, I ſhall live, and ſhall not ſee Death. Thou O Almighty God, our Supreme Judge haſt pronounced our irrevocable Sentence in the Earthly Paradiſe, that we muſt dye; ſo that I ſhould be guilty of the greateſt folly and madneſs, if I did not firmly believe that I muſt dye as others, and follow at my turn in the way of all fleſh: But Lord, thou haſt been pleaſed to hide from our knowledge, the wonderful proceedings of thy providence, and doſt not ſuffer us to ſee the Hand that marks out the laſt hours of our Life: We can perceive no ſhadow to diſcover to us with certainty, when ſhall be the going down of our Sun; we know not at what hour of the day, or of the night, thou wilt call us away to appear before thy great Tribunal. Give us therefore Grace, O merciful God, to be alway ready to anſwer to thy Call, and to obey thy Holy Commands; that I may be as a Ship at Anchor, that ſtays only for a Wind to ſet her Sails forward; or as a Soldier who waits only for the Signal to march to the Encounter. Give me Grace, O good Lord, that I may be like the good and faithful Servant, who expects his Maſters coming, and hears his voice aſſoon as he calls; Or like the wiſe Virgins, who were ready to meet the Bridegroom, and to follow him into the Marriage Chamber, ſeeing that I can never know, neither the time nor the place, when Death will come to me. O that I might expect and wait for it at every moment, and at every place! O that I might live in ſuch a manner, as if I were always ready to dye. That my Soul were always upon my Lips, prepared to fly away. That I were continually in readineſs to commit it into thy hands. O my God, my Faithful and Merciful Creator. By this means I ſhall receive Death with Joy, when it comes as thy Servant and Meſſenger, and I ſhall follow it willingly, being certainly perſwaded that it will lead me into Eternal Life, and introduce me into thy Glorious and Immortal Palace. Amen.
A Prayer and Meditation for Youth.
O Almighty God, and Ʋniverſal Light, that enlighteneſt every Man coming into the World, the only Author of my Being, by whoſe Gracious allowance I breath, Thou, O Lord, haſt formed and faſhioned my Body, with thy Divine hand, and haſt put into it an immortal Soul, created after thy likeneſs. Thou haſt not only beſtowed upon me a Life, but haſt, by thy continual care, preſerved my Soul, and kept my Body from all the dangers, unto which this weak and frail Nature is always ſubject. Although I feel my ſelf luſty and ſtrong, if thou withdraweſt away from me thy Spirit, and that Divine Vertue that ſuſtains me, I ſhall inſtantly fall away, and return again into nothing, from whence thine Almighty Hand hath taken me. O merciful Lord, ſeeing that I live by thee alone, make me to live only to thee, and for thee, that all my actions may tend to thy Glory, and Praiſe thee; That I may conſecrate to thee with all my heart, the Firſt-Fruits of my Life, and the Flower of my Age, that I may remember my Creator in the days of my Youth, and that I may abſtain from Vice before the Time come, in which I ſhall ſay, That I have no pleaſure therein. O Father of Mercies, pardon and forgive all the Sins and Infirmities of this fooliſh and unconſiderate Youth. Give a ſtop to all the unruly motions, and repreſs the violent attempts of this boiling Age, tame this miſerable Fleſh, that is not obedient to the will of its God. That if the dread of thy Holy and great Name, and the reſpect that I owe to thy Sacred Eyes that behold me, are not ſufficient to recall me from the Commiſſion of ſin, and to oblige me to obedience; Give me Grace to look continually upon Death, that appears round about me, and it may be in my very boſom; Give me Grace to liſten daily to the Heavenly voice that calls me to come forth before the Tribunal of the Great Judge of the World, who ſpies my moſt ſecret actions, who reads the moſt inward thoughts of my mind, and examines all the paſſages of this moſt wretched life.
O that this flouriſhing Age, and this perfect Health that I enjoy, might never flatter me with the conceit of being free from, and out of the reach of Deaths mercileſs Darts. But let me remember that there are more Flowers and Bloſſoms that fall to the ground, than Men gather of Fruits; and that more tender and young Plants are taken up by the Root, then are hewen down of old, and overgrown Trees. O that I might have always in my mind this conſideration, That a greater number of Babes and Children are buried, than of old Men; and that the firſt perſon who was dead and buried in the Earthly Paradiſe, was but a young Man in the flower of his Age. Great God of the Spirits of all fleſh, wean my Heart and Affections from the World, from all deceitful Pleaſures, and from theſe inferior Vanities, that I may find in thee all my Joy, and my moſt raviſhing Delights. Let me not feed my fancy with the vain hopes of having yet many years to ſpend in eaſe, and in the pleaſure of this life; but let me remember that there is no part of it free from evils, from croſſes, cares and diſpleaſures. That the greeneſt Fruit hath many times a ſecret Worm that devours it, as well as the rip…ſt, and that the freſheſt bloſſom hath prickles, as well as the moſt flouriſhing or decaying Roſes. The more I ſhall live in this miſerable and corrupted Age, the more evil I ſhall ſuffer, and the more bitterneſs I ſhall drink, and the more I ſhall ſpot my Soul, and offend my God; I ſhall have liv'd ſufficiently, if I have learnt to live well, and to prepare to dye well. I ſhall do both, if thine Holy Word become my guide, and if thine Holy Spirit Sanctify me, and Direct me in thy Will, which is Good, Holy, Pleaſant, and Perfect. Aſſiſt and ſtrengthen me O Lord, that I may find thy Yoke eaſy, and thy burden light. O good God, if thou prolongeſt my days, increaſe in me the Riches of thy Grace, and enflame my Soul with thy Love; but if thou doſt cut me off betimes, let me not be ſo great an Enemy to my ſelf, as to be ſorry, becauſe thou wilt ſo ſoon tranſport me into an happy and immortal Eſtate, becauſe thou art pleas'd to abridge my Labors, to put a period to the cruel War againſt my filthy Luſts, and to beſtow upon me the Crown in the middle of my Race. I ſhall obtain ſufficient Glory and Comfort, if thou doſt grant me ſtrength enough to overcome the Devil, vanquiſh Death, and triumph over the Enemies of my Salvation. O let me not be ſo mad and fooliſh to lament for the loſs of a moment, that flies away apace; Seeing thou doſt promiſe to introduce me into an Eternity, where there is no alteration nor ſhadow of change, and where thou ſhalt bleſs me with an eternal, flouriſhing, and happy Youth. O my good God, I am ready to Glorify thee, either in Death or in Life, ſeeing that thy Son Jeſus Chriſt is to me gain, whether I live, or whether I dye, Amen.
A Prayer and Meditation for Old Age.
O God, the Antient of days, and Father of Eternity, it is thy pleaſure, that in every Seaſon and Age, thy Children be prepared for Death; I have therefore good cauſe, O Lord, to prepare and diſpoſe my ſelf for that laſt hour; I who have already a foot in the Grave, Grant, I beſeech thee, that the more this outward Man decays, the more the inward man may be renewed day by day; That this weak and infirm Body, that ſtoops towards the Earth, teach me to lift up my Mind and thoughts towards Heaven. Grant, that old Age that hath furrowed my Face, and wrinkled my Skin, may alſo wipe off all the ſpots of my Soul, and drive from my Heart, all diſpleaſure and grief: That Age that cauſes my Knees to quiver, and whitens my Skin, may ſtrengthen my Faith, and refreſh my Hope and Aſſurance upon thee; and that Death that purſues me cloſe at the heels, may cauſe me to ſeek a ſhelter under the protection of the Prince of Life. O Soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth, thou ſeeſt the pitiful condition unto which I am reduc'd; I am become a trouble to my ſelf, and uſeleſs in the world; my Soul is weary of its abode, by reaſon of the griefs that it endures, for I do but lead a dying Life, or rather a living Death. My Good God and Creator, I have been under thy protection before I was born from the Womb of my Mother; thou haſt bin my God, and aſſured Refuge. Thou, O Gracious Lord, haſt bleſs'd my Infancy and Youth, and crown'd all my years with thy Fatherly Grace, and loaden me with thy Bleſſings; Leave me not, I pray thee, in my white and decrepid old Age; and now that my ſtrength faileth, be thou the Rock of my Soul, and the ſtrength of my Life: My years are paſs'd as a Torrent of Waters; at preſent, I am nothing but the ſhadow of a ſhadow, that ceaſeth to be, but thou art always the ſame, and thy years ſhall never fail. As thou haſt no beginning, thou ſhalt never have an end. Renew my days, as the Eagles; Animate, I beſeech thee, and quicken this Death, theſe Aſhes that I carry, but rather reach to me thy hand, and take me out of this Dwelling of Clay, that rots and decays with age, into thine Heavenly Jeruſalem; I have loſt all taſt of earthly Meats and Drink; It is now high time that thou ſhouldeſt ſatiate me with the Dainties of thy Holy Table, and give me to drink of the Wine of thy Kingdom. I am already as out of the World; my life holds but by a weak ſtring. O Gracious Lord, now let thy Servant depart in Peace, according to thy word, for mine Eyes have ſeen thy Salvation, Amen.