Time and the End of Time, Treatise 2

Time and the End of Time · Treatise 2

p. 88Deut. 32. 29.

O that they were Wiſe, that they underſtood this, that they would conſider their latter end.

IT is always ſeaſonable to inſiſt on ſuch ſubjects as direct us to ſpeak of another world, eſpecially in time of great Sickneſs and Mortality, in which thouſands of ſouls night and day have been crowding into Eternity (witneſs the late dreadful Plague in ſixty five.) I therefore made choice of this ſerious, and heart-wakening ſubject, that drowſie, ſecure ſouls might be awakened to a deep conſideration of the world to come. The whole Chapter is ſtiled the Song of Moſes, his Swan-like Song, or Song before his death, the dying words of that eminent faithful ſervant of God; and if the words of a dying man are to be regarded, how much the words of a dying Moſes. This Moſes being ready to go into the other world, compoſeth this p. 89ſong, of which the Text is apart; and dying words are weighty, and make the deepeſt impreſſion.

This ſong is partly

Narratory.

Minatory.

Promiſſory.

In the Narrative you have

1. A Narration of the infinite greatneſs, and moſt glorious attributes of the God of Iſrael, introduced with a pathetical and awakening acclamation: Give ear O ye Heavens, and I will ſpeak; and hear O Earth the words of my mouth.

2. We have a Narration of their corruption, ingratitude, and rebellion, verſe 5. 6. They have corrupted themſelves, they are a perverſe and crooked generation: do ye thus requite the Lord, O fooliſh people, and unwiſe. Notwithſtanding the remarkable favours, and rare indulgence of God toward them, yet they forſook him, provoked him to jealouſie with ſtrange Gods, and ſacrificed to Devils, and not unto God, Verſ. 16. 17. Becauſe of which he threatens.

1. To hide his face from them, then which nothing more bitter to the ſoul, Ver. 20.

p. 902. To inflict variety of ſore temporal judgements upon them, then which nothing more burthenſome to the body. I will heap miſchief upon them, I will ſpend mine Arrows upon them; they ſhall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter deſtruction, the ſword without, and terrour within, ſhall deſtroy both the young man, and the Virgin, with a man of gray hairs; for a fire is kindled in mine anger, and ſhall burn to he loweſt Hell. And Verſ. 27. God gives the reaſon why he would not utterly deſtroy them, and make a full end of them. Were it not that I feared the wrath of the envying, &c.

And now the words of the Text ſeem to be the Application of the whole, O that they would conſider their latter end.

You may look upon theſe words as it were a Mount caſt up, by which the people of Iſrael might take a view of things to come, and have a proſpect of what ſhould befal them in their latter end. O that they were wiſe! to be wiſe is oppoſit to that brutiſhneſs, ver. 28. They were a Nation …oid of counſel, for they wanted the right exerciſe of reaſon, and that wiſdom which is from above, to obſerve, and improve p. 91the gracious providences and diſpenſations of God.

That they would conſider: Conſideration is a fixed act of the underſtanding or mind, in order to practice; for doing and conſidering are frequently joyned together, Judg. 18. 14. Now therefore conſider what ye have to do, Heb. 10. 27. Let us conſider one an other to provoke unto love, and good works. The ſame thing is variouſly expreſſed in Scripture, viz. to look narrowly upon a thing, to call to mind, to know and conſider in ones heart, to call things to remembrance, to commune with a mans heart, Pſal. 77. 5, 6.

Their latter end: By which we are not only to underſtand thoſe tremendous, and deſolating judgements that ſhould ſurprize them in this world, but to remember the great things of the other; as alſo old age, death, the grave, erernity, death with its antecedents, concomitants and conſequences.

The words contain a pathetical Option or wiſh, O that they were wiſe! In which obſerve.

1. The perſon wiſhing, viz. the moſt great and gracious God.

p. 922. The thing deſired, and that is Divine Wiſdom: a Jawel indeed, a price far above Rubies.

3. The perſon for whom God thus deſireth, viz. for Iſrael, a people nigh unto the Lord, and yet a bruitiſh inconſiderate, and unwiſe people. O that they were wiſe, &c.

4. What this wiſdom is, or wherein it doth conſiſt, viz. in the conſideration of their latter end.

The Doctrines obſervable from the words are theſe.

Doct. 1. That God doth earneſtly deſire, and long for the good of a people.

Doct. 2. That an inconſiderate people are a fooliſh and unwiſe people.

Doct. 3. That want of ſerious conſideration is incident not only to the prophane, but to men profeſſing God and Godlineſs: The Iſraelites were the onelyonly Church of God then in the World, and yet they were not wiſe to underſtand and conſider their latter end.

I ſhall not handle theſe apart, but ſpeak to the chief ſcope and intent of the words in this one propoſition.

Doct. That it is a duty and matter of high concernment to conſider our latter end. O p. 93that they were wiſe! that they would conſider, viz. practically conſider, and live always in the belief of the other world, ſo as to do up all their work while it is day. This ſeems to be the great import of the ſpirit of God in this Text.

Eternal ſouls, whatever eſcapeth your thoughts, this muſt not; this ſhould be your vade mecum; It ſhould riſe up with you, lye down with you, walk with you where-ever you go are. This Moſes himſelf, that precious and renowned ſervant of God deſir'd, ſeeing ſuch a dreadful mortality in the Wilderneſs, and ſo many ſad ſpectacles of Divnie wrath, Pſal. 90. 10. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wiſdom. And as Moſes deſir'd it, ſo alſo holy David, Pſal. 39. 4. Lord, make me to know my end, and the meaſure of my days, what it is, that I may know how frail I am. And Solomon ſets a better upon it, Eccleſ, 7. 2. It is better to go to the Houſe of mourning, then to the Houſe of Feaſting: for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. And it is an Argument that men are dead, when at a Houſe of mourning they are not moved with compaſſion, to a due and deep conſideration of their doleful and dying condition.

p. 94I ſhall come now to ſhow you what we are to conſider, concerning our latter end; and O that it may take a deep impreſſion upon all that ſhall read theſe plain truths.

Seriouſly conſider and believe,

1. That it is moſt certain that an end will be. For whatſoever the Scriptures ſpeak of Death, the Grave, and Hell, is an infallible Truth. You are to conſider, that every man is mortal, muſt dye, and paſs into the other World; and that in every one of your bodies there is an immortal, and never-dying ſoul; and that after theſe bodies have ſlept in the duſt of the Earth, they ſhall live again; there ſhall be a reſurrection of the juſt and unjuſt; and at the end of the World a Tribunal ſhall be ſet up, before which all the World ſhall be made to ſtand. And that as ſoon as your breath is gone, the ſpirit ſhall return to God that gave it, either to the Juſtice of God, or to the Mercy of God, to the place of joy, or to the place of torment.

Our tranſgreſſion, natural conſtitution, with a ſtatute Law of Heaven have p. 95brought us under a neceſſity of dying. Where ever this Viper faſtneth, it killeth certainly, though not ſuddenly; ſin and death are twins, ſin is the great murderer that let death into the world; For her houſe inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. In the day that thou eateſt thereof, thou ſhalt dye, Gen. 2. 17. That is, thou ſhalt become mortal. As ſoon as Adam had ſinn'd, he (and we in him our repreſentative) became ſubject or liable to death: Sin, like a mighty Monarch reign'd from Adam to Moſes: a Malefactor caſt at the Bar, is dead in Law, though he be repriev'd for a time; the Body (ſayes the Apoſtle) is dead becauſe of ſin: ſome dye in the womb, ſome in their infancy, ſome in their youth, & they that live longeſt, dy at laſt: Death never hurts a man, but with his own Weapon; it always finds Sin in us, and the ſting of death is ſin. And where ever you meet it, or ſee it, you may ſay of it, as Abab to the Prophet, haſt thou found me, O mine enemy? Death, and every death, is the fruit of ſin, death temporal, death Spiritual, and death Eternal: The ſoul that ſins ſhall dye, Ezek. 18. 20. The wages of ſin is death, Rom. 6. 23. Our natural conſtitution rendreth us obnoxious p. 96to diſſolution; our fleſh is not the fleſh of ſtone, or of braſs, but frail and mouldring duſt, to which, as to our Centre, we muſt return, Gen. 3. 19. Duſt thou art, and to duſt ſhalt thou return, Eccleſ. 3. 20. All go to one place, all are of the duſt, and all turn to duſt again, Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed for man once to dye. Job 14. 5. His days are determined, the number of his moneths are with thee, thou haſt appointed his bounds that he cannot paſs. No ſhield, or Buckler can fortifie againſt this King of terrors; impartial death (the great Leveller) knows no faces, and therefore none can be exempted. If faithfulneſs might challenge impunity from death, then Moſes might have been excus'd; if beauty, then Abſalem: if ſtrength, then Sampſon: if ſinceriry and piety, then David: if ſultilry, then Achitophel: if magnanimity, then Alexander: if riches, then Croeſus: if wiſdom, then Solomon: but one event happens to them all, ſo that when the fatal moment cometh, no ranſom can be given, no art nor skill can keep us here. Sirs, were this Doctrine of the other would believed, it would have a greater impreſſion upon our hearts: did we ſeriouſly conſider of that future ſtate of retribution, according p. 97to our faith of which we muſt live or die, ſtand or fall to eternity, it would have a greater influence upon our lives.

2. Conſider, That at your latter end, all things in this World will fail you, and take their leaue of you for ever. All your natural indowments, outward enjoyments, Parts, Parentage, Birth, Breeding, Wit, Wealth, Crowns, Kingdoms, Pearles, Diamonds, Houſes, Lands, Wives, Children, Friends, when your breath is gone, all theſe are gone, Prov. 27. 24. Riches are not for ever, neither doth a crown endure to all generations. The glittering Sun of all outward glory will certainly ſet, which your own experience, and Scripture evidence doth clearly evince. Riches have wings, and they fly away, Prov. 23. 5. The faſhion of this world paſſeth away, 1 Cor. 7. 29, 30, 31. We brought nothing into this world; and 'tis certain we ſhall carry nothing out, 1 Tim. 6. 7. If a man were poſſeſſed with as much of this World, as Solomon the great King of Jeruſalem, who had great Magnificent Buildings, fruitful, p. 98pleaſant Vineyards, Gardens, Orchards, and Trees of all manner of fruits, variety of ſervants, poſſeſſions of great and ſmall Cattel, heaps of Gold and Silver, peculiar Treaſure of Kings, Muſical Inſtruments, Men and Women ſingers, and whatſoever his eyes deſir'd; yet when he takes a ſerious view of all things, he would ſay with him, all is vanity, and that a man hath no profit of all his labour which he taketh under the Sun, which made the wiſe man even to have life, Eccleſ. 2.

Since the fall, there is a curſe upon the Creature, which indeed is deceiving, vexing, decaying, and all our outward comforts may be compared to Pharaoh's Hoſts, and alive this hour, and the next drown'd and dead upon the Sea-ſhore, and though you judge they ſhall endure for ever, Pſal. 49. 11. Luke 12. 19. They will deal by you as Abſalom's Mule that left him in his greateſt extremity. What woful miſeries attend Wordly riches, in the getting keeping and parting with them? they are ſnares and thorns, plagues and Scorpions unto many; they pierce them thorow with many ſorrows, 1 Tim. 6. 10.

Yet here men toyl, beat their brains, p. 99weary their bodies, tire their ſpirits, break their ſleep, perplex their thoughts, rack their conſciences, ingulf and drown themſelves in cares, endanger their ſouls (dreaming of nothing but perpetuity:) and when they have done all; like the Silkworm, dye in their work: Nay, many a man ſurvives his own happineſs, which periſheth before he periſheth; and its the worſt of miſeries to outlive our own happineſs: therefore let not riches highten your hearts, and prompt you to pride, which is too common.

This day the rich worlding ſang a requiem to his ſadly deluded ſoul, concluding he had much laid up, the night following his ſoul is required. Haman is to day the ſecond man in the Kingdom; but ſoon loſt all, and his life too. Now doth Nebuchadnezzar walk in his ſtately royal Palace of Babel,, priding himſelf in his outward pomp; but while the word was in his mouth, a voice came from Heaven, ſaying; O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee be it ſpoken, thy Kingdom is departed from thee, Dan. 4. 29, 30, 31.

Jeruſalem this year is the Princes among the Provinces, the next year made tributary; and they that live delicately p. 100are deſolate, and embrace Dung-hills, Lam. 1. 1. and 4. 5. Yeſterday Job's Cattle might be numbred by thouſands, and tomorrow he is ſtript of all, and left naked. Neither is our age without a ſad and dreadful inſtance (viz.) famous London, on the Lord's day ſtanding, by Wedneſday burnt and laid in aſhes, and thouſands of the Inhabitants houſleſs and harbourleſs; therefore if riches encreaſe, ſet not your hearts upon them; they are uncertain, cannot ſatisfie, cannot profit, will periſh, and that for ever: O then, let thoſe precious, dear, everlaſting jewels, laid up in your mouldring, decaying, dying bodies, be cared for! What can it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and loſe his own ſoul? Mat. 16. 26.

3. Conſider, How ſoon all the preſent pleaſures of ſin will be gone, and leave nothing but a ſting. Old age, weakneſs, ſickneſs, will make a great change in the whole outward man as to beauty, ſtrength, natural vigor, liveneſs of ſenſes, and all whereby a man might take any pleaſure p. 101in the world, or in his luſt. When ſickneſs old age, deaths fore-runner cometh, it will make a ſtrange change in the moſt comely countenance; corporal comelineſs and beauty is ſoon ſtain'd, ſickneſs will not only fade it, but deface it: You that are endowed with comely proportion, ſparkling eyes, well-favouredneſs, amiableneſs of colours, of white and red; with ſtraitneſs agility of body, with a cheerful aſpect: when old age cometh; it will plow deep forrows in thoſe fair faces; and yet many (ignorant of their foul ſouls, and filthy hearts) are proud of their fair faces, and comely features; ſo that they grow wanton by reaſon of it, and to ſet out their beauty and whiteneſs of their skins (not being contented with Creators curious make) will add painting, patches, powdering, criſping, curlings, artificial hair, and what not? Know that old age will not onelyonly whither your be… (which is but skin deep) but a… outward ſtrength, natural vigor; livelineſs of ſenſes, and all whereby you may have any worldly pleaſure.

Old age is Solomon's evil day, when the Sun, Moon and Stars will be darkned, the keepers of the Houſe tremble, p. 102and the ſtrong men bow themſelves, and the grinders ceaſe, and all the daughters of Muſick ſhall be brought low, and fear ſhall be in the way; when the whole outward man is decayed, (viz.) eyes dim or dark, Ears deaf, Teeth rotten, Gums bare, Head bald, Breath corrupt, Hands and Feet weak and trembling; an evil day indeed, in which you ſhall find no delight in your former dalliances, for the Graſhopper will be a burden, and deſire ſhall fail, Eccleſ. 12. But the beauty of Grace withers not under the greateſt declinings of natural beauty; for grace is the Oyl in the Lamp that never goeth out, but ſhineth more and more. The Kings Daughter is all glorious within, Pſal. 45. Godlineſs, which is Gods likeneſs, caſts a luſtre that is very lovely in the ſight of God and Man. Thou art all fair, my Dove and there is no ſpot in thee.

Sinners! you that now taſte the ſweet of Sin, rejoyce to do wickedly, that ſpend your time in riotous Drunkenneſs, Chambers of wantonneſs, lye upon Beds of Ivory, and ſtretch your ſelves on your Couches, and eat the Lambs out of the flock, that chant to the ſound of the viol, that drink Wine in Bowls, that are uot p. 103grieved for the afflictions of Joſeph, that put far away the evil day; Know, that the fire of ſin will burn, and that your ſweet morſels are but for a moment; thoſe ſweet morſels and delicate dainties will coſt your dear.

Hear now this, you that are given to pleaſure, that feaſt your ſelves in doing evil; 'tis but a little time, and you will ſee and ſay, that all your delights, hopes, joys, are paſt and gone, and that you ſhall never ſee or taſte them more, only the gravel, gall, guilt and ſting will remain. You that love this Helliſh banquet of ſin (the ſtoln Waters that are ſweet, and bread eaten in ſecret that is pleaſant) don't know that the dead are there, and that her gueſts are in the depths of Hell. Prov. 9. 17, 18. Sin is a ſweet poyſon, pleaſant in the acting, but bitter in the end: For the ſoul that ſinneth ſhall dye. Ezek. 13. 20. And will you ſpare it, and keep it ſtill within your mouth? hide it under your tongue, untill it becometh the gall of Aſps within you, Job 20. 12, 13. Conſider alſo, that your ſecret wickedneſs committed in the dark, in corners, that is mask'd and cloſe kept, is known to God.

p. 104The infinite Holy, and heart ſeaching God marks them, Job 10. 14. Hoſ. 7. 2. Watcheth them, Job 14. 16. Sealeth them, they are down among his Treſures, Deut. 32. 34. and they will find you out, Num. 32. 23. (If not truly and deeply repented of and pardoned) they will lye down with you in the Grave, and follow you into the other World, and meet you at Gods dreadful Bar, and be diſcovered in the ſight of the whole world; evil ſhall purſue the Sinner: This evil thing, and bitter (bred in the womb, not buried in the grave, nor extinguiſhed by the fire of Hell) ſhall purſue the ſinner unto Hell. Sinners, this is moſt certain, unrepented ſins will never leave you, but lye down and riſe with you, your bones are full of the ſins of your youth, which ſhall lye down with you in the duſt, Job 20. 11. Sin is a bad bed fellow, and a worſe gravefellow, and if it ſleep with you, it will awake with you, when the dreadful Trumpet ſhall ſound, Ariſe ye dead and come to jndgement: The damned in Hell have all their ſins about them; that which was the cauſe of their being caſt into Hell, will be their everlaſting campanion there; and will you take theſe Vipers and Scorpions p. 105into your boſom, that will be always gnawing upon your hearts? Know this, your poſting Sun of all ſinful ſenſual delights, will ſet in the dreadful Ocean of endleſs, eaſeleſs, and remedileſs ſorrow.

4. Conſider, That only which is eternal, will ſtand you in ſtead when you come to dye, (viz.) when you ſhall ſhoot the vaſt Gulf, and lanch out into the infinite Ocean of Eternity, that hath neither bounds, banks, nor bottom.

Immortal ſouls! Do you ſee any thing that hath Eternity engraven upon it? There are variety of objects, both of perſons and things, that preſent themſelves to your view: Lift up your eyes to the vaſt Heavens that are beſpangled and beautified with a glorious Sun, Moon, and glittering Stars, that have been there for ſome thouſands of years, ſee whether eternity be there? No, they had their beginning, and muſt have their Period, Gen. 1. 1. Heb. 1. 10, 11. Thou Lord in the beginning haſt laid the Foundations of the Earth, and the Heaven are the works of p. 106thine hands: They ſhall periſh, they ſhall wax old as doth a garment, but thou remaineſt: The day is coming wherein the Sun ſhall be turned into darkneſs, and the Moon into blood; The Stars of Heaven ſhall fall, and the Powers of the Heavens ſhall be ſhaken; the Elements ſhall melt with fervent heat, and the Earth with the works that are therein ſhall be burnt up, Matth. 24. 29. 2 Pet. 3. 10.

Moreover, look to your near and dear Relations, for whom you expoſe your ſelves to ſo much pain, care, and trouble; Look to Abraham your Father, and to Sarah that bare you (as the Prophet ſpeaketh in another caſe) to your Huſbands, Wives, Children, Parents, Friends, Neighbours, Magiſtrates, Miniſters; are theſe for ever? No: Many of them are gone down to the dark Valley already, and ſhall return no more: or look to thoſe brave Heroes, Alexander, Caeſer, Pompey, and where are they? are they not all conquered by the King of terrors, and held in the Priſon of the Grave, for many hundred years: Look to your Silver, Gold, Pearl, Perfumes, coſtly Cabinets, ſtately Structures, Princes Pallaces; p. 107are theſe for ever? No: They are corruptible things, and cannot deliver in the day of the Lords wrath: Kings Palaces are deſolate places, ready to become a heap: Crowns are tranſlated from head to head; Scepters paſs from one hand to another; and Kingdoms have their riſe, and they have their ruine: And will you ſell your precious ſouls for pelf, and tranſitory traſh, which indeed is more in expectation then in fruition; conſider how little that is worth, for which you run the dreadful hazard of loſing Heaven.

But now (if you are Believers) lift up your eyes to the everlaſting Hills, and put the Eagles eye of Faith within the Vail, there's the Ancient of Days, God your Father the chiefeſt good, and higheſt happineſs; there is Chriſt your dear Redeemer, the Prince of Glory; and a Houſe not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens; and upon the favour of God, the love and Righteouſneſs of Chriſt, you may ſee Eternity.

Again, turn your eyes inward to the hidden man of the heart; is there the ſeed of God, or impreſs of his Image, and the Divine Nature? 1 John 3. 9. 2 Pet. 1. 4. p. 108Is there an active, living, ſpringing principle of Grace? John 4. 14. On this thou maiſt read Eternity; Grace is the Heir of glory, every drop of which runs into the Ocean, and nothing elſe can befriend you; For the things that are ſeen are temporal, but the things that are not ſeen are eternal, 2 Cor. 4. 18.

5. Conſider, which of the two Eternities you are going towards? I would have you deeply and ſeriouſly conſider, That there is one place for the Sheep, and another for the Goats; one place for the Righteous, and another for the Ungodly; one place for Believer, and another for Unbelievers; one place for the Dead, and another for the Living: An eternal Night, or eternal Day; eternal Pains, or eternal Pleaſures; eternal Bliſs, or eternal Burning; an eternal Life, or eternal Death; an eternal Heaven, or an eternal Hell.

Now Sinners, ſtop here and conſider, unto which of the two do you belong? Have you any certainty of a bleſſed and glorious Eternity? that Heaven, not Hell, p. 109will be your place and portion; for reſolving of which, conſider and anſwer to theſe Queries.

Have you unfeignedly believed, repented and turned to God with the renting of your hearts, and reſigned your whole ſouls to him? do you find your hearts affectionately and venemently carried out to Jeſus Chriſt ſo, as not to be ſatisfied without Union and Communion with him? Is Jeſus Chriſt the Beloved and Darling of your Souls?

Have you (being ſenſible of what you have done againſt him, and of your unworthineſs of him) by a deep, and heart humiliation, laid a Foundation for Heaven and Happineſs? You muſt Sow before you can Reap, and they that Sow in tears, ſhall Reap in joy, Pſal. 126. 5.

Are you Heaven-born, or born after the fleſh only? If by a ſound work of converſion, you are become new creatures indeed, 2 Cor. 5. 17. It is well, ſtand and wonder at amazing mercy; if not, fear and tremble; for if you fail here, you are utterly undone for ever.

Further, are you riſen with Chriſt, or dead in treſpaſſes and Sins? Eph. 2. 1. Are you partakers of the firſt reſurrection, p. 110or are you in your graves, rotting, ſtinking in your ſins, being paſt feeling? are you truely at odds with Sin and every ſin? or do you take pleaſure in unrighteouſneſs? are you for Godlineſs in the life and power of it? and is there no reigning allowed ſin in your hearts and ways? doth ſin, and every ſin look ugly, feel heavy, taſte bitter? and no Idol of the heart to keep Chriſt out of his Throne? no ſecret ſin lived in againſt Conſcience? Do you pray and deſire to live in the fear, and as under the eye of God, making conſcience of ſecret ſins, and of ſecret duties, with a ſincere reſpect to Gods glory, and your own good? doth the heart-ſearching God find you in your Cloſets, on your knees morning and evening pouring out your ſouls before him? every one that is Godly will pray, Pſal. 32. 6.

Are you crucified to the World, or do your ſouls cleave unto the duſt? have you a Treaſure in Heaven, or treaſure in the Field onelyonly? Have you bought the Pearl? or are you content with Pebbles? Who are your Aſſociates? The, Devils Herd, or Chriſts Flock? are you companions for Swine and filty Dogs, the World of Ungodly; or of the Doves and p. 111Lambs of Chriſt? whoſe mark have you? the mark of Sheep? (viz. Holineſs, humility, innocency or the mark of Goats (viz. Luſt, Pride, and uncleanneſs?) who keeps the Throne? the King of Saints, or the God of this World? do your hearts and lives ſpeak, Heaven, Heaven, Heaven, or Hell, Hell, Hell; Hell is not more the place of the devil, then the heart of a wicked man. Can you look upwards and ſay, Our Father …hich art in Heaven, or muſt you look down-werd and ſay, Our Father which art in Hell. How can you take comfort in any thing of this World, that are like to be unſpeakably and eternally miſerable in the other World. Suppoſe you had as much of the Riches, Pomp, and glory of the World as any man that ever liv'd upon the face of the Earth? If you could ſay, this Crown, this Kingdom, this Countrey is mine, this Gold, this Silver, or this Shop, theſe Goods, this Manner, this Farm, theſe Fields, theſe Flocks, this Corn, theſe Cattle, and theſe Mines, theſe Pearls, theſe Jewels are mine, what would all avail you; if your ſouls are the Devils? Now how ſtands the caſe of your precious ſouls? are they ſecured, have you made a real preparation for p. 112death and judgement, or left all undone? Are you veſſels of honour prepared unto Glory, or Veſſels of wrath fitted for deſtruction? Rom. 9. 22, 23. Let conſcience ſpeak, commune with your hearts, Pſal. 4. 4. Conſider your ways, Hag. 1. 5. Search and try your ſelves, Lam. 3. prove your own work, examine your ſelves whether you are in the Faith, 2 Cor. 13. 5. Whatſoever you ſow, you ſhall certainly reap, Gal. 6. 7, 8. And in the place where the Tree falleth there it ſhall lye, Eccl. 11. 13. If it falleth to the North, it lyeth to the North; if it falleth towards the South, it lyeth towards the South. If you live and dye towards Heaven, Heaven will be your place and home: but if you live and dye towards Hell, Hell will be your place and home. For according to your doing in this World, will be your doom in the World that is to come, 2 Cor. 5. 10. And is it not ſad and dreadful, to believe that you have precious never dying ſouls, and do not know whether they ſhall be ſav'd or damn'd, ſtand or fall, live or die to all Eternity? And yet this is the caſe of thouſands, and millions of men and women now in the World, that are making poſt haſt to Hell, and think p. 113and hope they are in the way toward Heaven, Prov. 16. 25.

6. Conſider, How near you are to your everlaſting habitation: You are all going down amain the ſtream of time, into the great Ocean, and you will ſhortly come thither. There's not a ſtep you ſtep, nor a breath you draw, not a word you ſpeak, not a moment of time you live, but hath an influence upon Eternity. Theſe golden ſands running between two Eternities will quickly be gone, a ſhort race will be ſoon run. O what a nothing is our life! viz. a ſpan, a dream, a wind, a ſhadow, a vapour, a poſt, ſwifter then a poſt, Job 7. 6. You are all going to your long and laſt home, to the houſe of Eternity, every man goeth to his long home, Ecel. 12. 5. How doth he go? he goeth ſwiftly, always in motion, night and day, ſleeping and walking, labouring or loytering, this poſt haſtens, time and tide ſtays not. Again, he goeth inſenſibly, man doth not diſcern, or perceive how his precious time doth fly from him; the ſhadow on the p. 114Dial paſſeth from one hour or figure to another, from the Sun riſing to its ſetting, though its ſpeedy tranſient motion is not obſerved: So man paſſeth from infancy to Child-hood, from child-hood to youth, from youth to middle age, and ſo to old age, and the Grave; and we take little or no notice of it. Again, he goeth irreſiſtably, neither men nor Angels, Phyſick or Phyſitian can keep him here; it is as eaſie to obſtruct the whole courſe of Nature, or to hinder Gods Covenant of day and night: a man may as well reſtrain the Sun from riſing, the Sea from flowing, or the wind from blowing, as keep man from dying and going to the place appointed for all living. We are but of yeſterday, Job 8. 9. It was but as it were yeſterday, and we were in the womb of nothing, had no being, and it will be but as it were to morrow, and we ſhall diſappear, and be (as to this world) as if we had never been. We are cruſhed before the moth, Job 4. 19. And in a moment we go down to the Grave, and ſhall come up no more. Yea, our Pictures and Statues remain freſh and firm, when we are gone down to the Bars of the pit, and reſt together in the duſt, and our very Dogs, Horſes live, when we p. 115are dead, and become meat for worms,

This heart-affecting meditation, had a very great influence on a great Perſian King, who taking a view of his huge vaſt Army, wept to think that within a hundred years not one man of them would be left alive. Sinners, you are to look beyond the grave, becauſe after death, the judgment, Heb. 9. 27. O then tremble to conſider that you are all this day ſtanding before the door of Eternity, either on the brink of life, or the brink of death, upon the borders of heaven, or the mouth of hell, and ſhall ere long be made to ſee what is on the other ſide of the wall; as ſoon as death hath ſhut your eyes, you ſhall ſee and know what you ſhall be for ever, If you are now unconverted and without God in the World, you are almoſt come within the ſight of the burning Lake of Fire and Brimſtone; but if Saints, you are almoſt within the view of the New Jeruſalem; if Ungodly Sinners, you are almoſt within the dreadful noiſe of the Mile-ſtones of wrath, and the ratlings of the fiery chains of the Priſoners of Hell, the dolorous out-cries, and hideous roarings of the ſpirits in priſon, crying out one and all, O what an evil p. 116and an infinite evil, and bitter bitter thing is ſin, which we would not conſider or believe, till we came to this diſmal place of torment: There you may hear the curſed tormented unbeliever crying out upon his God-provoking, Chriſt-rejecting, and ſoul-murdering ſin of infidelity, ſaying in the anguiſh of his ſoul, If I had accepted of the remedy, I had not been in this doleful miſery the Lord of Glory was at the door, I heard him knock a long time, but would not let him in, therefore is Hells mouth ſhut upon me for ever. There the Swearers, Liars, Blaſphemers, that did tear and rend the ſacred name of their Creator, and ſwear by the blood and wounds of their offered Redeemer, are heard with their hot and ſcorched tongues to bewail that ever they ſhould take the name of the infinite Holy God in vain.

There the hypocritical and falſe-hearted profeſſors, the ſinners in Sion cry out, and wiſh that either they had made no ſhew of love to Chriſt and Holineſs at all, or that they had lov'd him in ſincerity, and above all, that ſo they might have eſcaped everlaſting burnings.

There the impudent, ranting, ſwiniſh Drunkard, that pleas'd his eye and pallate p. 117with his pleaſant cups, ſparkling Wine, and curſed Companions, is heard to wiſh in the Agony of his ſoul, O that I had been ſober temperate, abſtemious, that ſo I might not have taſted of the Wine of the wrath of God, which is red, and full of mixture, the dregs whereof I muſt be made to drink forever, Pſal. 75. 8. Iſa. 5. 22.

There the filthy unclean Adulterers, and Adultereſſes, that burn'd in their Helliſh luſts, which they were reſolved to ſatisfie, are heard to wiſh, O that we had been ſober, modeſt, chaſte, and that our wanton luſtful eyes had been ſtark blind and never known or ſeen the face of man or woman, that we might not have ſuffered the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude 7.

There the notoriouſly vile, abominable Atheiſts, that mockt and ſcoft at the belief of a Deity and judgement to come, and that ſaid in the pride and ſtoutneſs of their hearts, let him make ſpeed and haſten his work, that we may ſee it, for we have made a Covenant with death, and with Hell are we at agreement, may be heard to roar and cry, O that we had heard, believed, and feared what was fore-told by Miniſters concerning this dark and dreadful place before it was too late.

p. 118There the worlding and wretched Earthworm, that made Earth his Heaven, gold his God and chiefeſt good, is heard to ſay in the grief of his heart, O that I had never ſeen either Gold of Silver all my days, ſo that I might have had a better portion; or that I had with Lazarus beg'd my bread, ſo that I might not have come into this place of torment.

There the timerous fearful cowardly Apoſtate and back-ſlider in heart, who for fear of a little outward hardſhip, declin'd his profeſſed principles, and turn'd his bach on Chriſt, and his perſecuted little Flock, may be heard to wiſh, that either he had never known the way of righteouſnees, or that he had been faithful unto the death.

Secure, and ſadly deluded ſouls, conſider you are not far from this direful gulf, where multitudes of ſouls lament and weep day and night; and certainly, if the horrible and amazing cries and yellings of thoſe infernal ſpirits were ſounding in your ears, you would not reſt quiet in your Beds or Houſes.

There were ſad and aſtoniſhing out-cries when the world was drown'd. when Sodom was burn'd, to ſee the Clouds ſuddenly p. 119drop fire on their heads and houſes, and men, women, and children, burning together: but this was but a flea-bite, to that place, where is weeping, and gnaſhing of teeth to all Eternity. Remember all you that forget God, the day of your calamity is at hand, and the things that ſhall come upon you make haſte, Deut. 32. 35.

But if you are the ſervants of the Lord, and real Saints, Mourners in Sion, lift up your heads and hearts, for you belong to another place and better Country, viz. to mount Sion, and unto the City of the living God, the heavenly Jeruſalem, and to an inumerable company of Angels; to the general Aſſembly, and Church of the firſt born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the ſpirits of juſt men made perfect. And to Jeſus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of ſprinkling, that ſpeaketh better things then that of Abel, Heb. 12. 22, 23, 24. And know, that you are almoſt come within the hearing of thoſe heavenly. Songs, eternal triumphs and Hallelujahs of Saints and glorious Angels in your Fathers houſe, Where you will have fulneſs of joy, and pleaſure for evermore, Pſ. 16. 11.

p. 1207. Conſider, How ſudden, violent, or unexpected your end may be. Therefore let none think or ſay, they ſhall dye in their neſt, or promiſe your ſelves a time of preparation by a long life, or a lingring ſickneſs, Conſumption, or ſuch like: Fearleſs, careleſs ſinners! you don't know what a night, or what an hour may bring forth; the rich man in the Goſpel while he dream'd of many dayes, was arreſted by a killing and dreadful meſſage, Thou fool this night thy ſoul ſhall be required of thee, Luke. 12. 20. He lives not, that knoweth, where, when, or how he ſhall dye; ſome have gone to bed well, and dyed the ſame night; others have dropt dead from their Horſes; ſome have died at their Tables, whilſt the meat hath been in their mouthes; others have died in their full ſtrength, being wholly at eaſe and quiet; with breaſts full of milk, and bones moiſtned with marrow: others die in the bitterneſs of their ſoul, and never eat with pleaſure. They ſhall lye down a like in the duſt, and the worms ſhall cover them, when they are brought p. 121to the grave, and to remain in the tomb. Sirs! There are many dreadful inſtances in the word of God of the ſad and ſudden approach of this mercileſs meſſenger death, which ſtand as ſo many Sea-marks to give you warning, leaſt death ſhould come in an hour you look not for it, and find you unprepared. The King of the Chaldeans in his greateſt jollity, and having not a thought of death, ſaw a hand-writing on the wall, which was very terrible, and the ſame night was ſlain. While he was feaſting and drinking wine, and praiſing the Gods of Gold and Silver: in the ſame hour came forth fingers of a mans hand, and wrote over againſt the Candleſtick upon the Plaiſter of the wall of the Kings Pallace, and the King ſaw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the Kings countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, ſo that the joynts of his loynes were looſed, and his knees ſmote one againſt another, Dan. 5. 3, 4, 5, 6. and 30. Death is the King of terrours, and terrour of Kings. Good Hezekiah received a ſudden ſummons for death, Iſa. 38. 1. which made him turn his face to the wall, pray, and weep ſore, and to chatter like a Crane, and mourn like a Dove, in the bitterneſs of his ſoul, becauſe he p. 122was to go to the gates of the grave, and to the pit where there is no hope. The firſt born in Egypt were ſlain at midnight, which made a great cry, Exod. 29. 30. Korah and his wicked company were ſwallowed up in the midſt of their Rebellion, Numb. 16. 30, 31. They went down quickly into the pit, and all Iſrael fled at the cry of them.

There dyed ſuddenly of the men of Bethſhemeſh fifty thouſand, and threeſcore and ten, becauſe they looked into the Ark, 1 Sam. 6. 19. And God many times taketh away the deſire of our eyes with a ſtroak, as he did Ezekiels Wife, Ezek. 24. 16. Job's children died at their banquet, Iſhboſheth was ſmitten and died in his ſleep, Ananias and Saphira being Huſband and Wife, died within three or four hours one of the other with a lie in their mouths, Act. 5. 5, 10. The righteous Judge many times ſhoots an arrow ſuddenly at wicked men, who dye in the act of ſin, Pſ. 64. 7. When they are about to fill their bellies, the Lord doth caſt the fury of his wrath upon them, as he did upon the choſen men of Iſrael, Pſ. 78. 30, 31. Many times, God, to execute his fierce wrath, ſends out his deſtroying p. 123Angels, who will make dreadful work in a little time, for in one night in the Camp of the Aſſirians, the angel of the Lord ſmote a hundred and fourſcore and five thouſand, that in the morning were all dead Corpſes, Iſa. 37. 36. How ſhort and uncertain is our life, ſubject every moment to the ſtroak of death, & which the leaſt crumb or flye may put an end unto, as it hath to many. And as our end may be ſudden, ſo alſo it may be violent; a mortal diſeaſe may invade both Heart and head, and poor dying creatures many times are ſo diſtreſſed and diſtracted, that they cannot think of any thing but their tormenting pain, being uncapable to ſay any thing to God or men about their ſouls! O how ſtupid and unſenſible do many ſouls make their paſſage into the other world! like Nabal, or like a man in a lethargy; or as ſo many ſtocks or ſtones, and not awake till they awake in the flames of hell. The rich man dyed, and in hell he lift up his eyes; his firſt and ſecond death was very unexpected. All you obdurate ſinners! ſtand here and wonder at the matchleſs mercy, and infinite patience of the great God, in delaying the p. 124King of terrors ſo long; God hath not dealt ſo kindly with thouſands of ſinners that are gon before unto judgement, and who went down to the pit in a moment, witneſs the late dreadful Plague, by the means of which a hundred thouſand ſouls were ſent into Eternity. O let not London, nor England forget that, and other tremendous judgments, which our ſins have called for, leſt a worſe then any yet ſhould come upon us. The forgetting of our latter end is a deadly and provoking ſin, and that which will haſten judgement. Her filthineſs it in her skirts, ſhe remembred not her laſt and: therefore ſhe came down wonderfully, ſhe had no comforter. Lam. 1. 9.

8. Conſider, That where death cometh to ſtrike the ſtroake, your ſouls are ſtated, your Eternity is caſt without change for ever: Then your immortal ſouls are for ſalvation or damnation, for an eternal life, or eternal death, for an eternal heaven, or an eternal hell. You ſadly beſotted ſouls! know and remember, while you have a day, before the golden threed of life be p. 125cut, that if you be found without Chriſt, Faith, Repentance, Holineſs, but a moment after death, you are undone to Eternity. After death all means and hopes fail, there is no work or device in the grave, Eccleſ. 9. God will be then irreconcilable, ſin unpardonable, heaven not attainable, and your ſouls loſt irrecoverably. And then the Devil your bloody adverſary will have his deſigne upon you; he knoweth, that if you be his in life and death, that you are his forever, and that he and you ſhall never part. Sinners! this is certain, as the tree falleth, ſo it lyeth; as is the ſeed, ſo will be the harveſt: if you do the Devils work, you muſt have the devils wages, if you march under the command and conduct of the Prince of Darkneſs, and ſuffer him to lead and hurry you hither and thither at his will, whil'ſt you live, you will be his priſoners and ſlaves in that dreadful dungeon of diſmal darkneſs after you are dead.

Conſider, the Land of darkneſs is no place for ſervice, there's no repenting in the grave, no Lord have mercy on us written upon Hell Gates, no Sabbaths, no Sermons, no Miniſters there. 'Tis in the time of life that you are to labour, p. 126and make preparation for life eternal, becauſe according to your work and choice in this world, will be your everlaſting lot in the world that is to come. It is appointed for you once to dye, and after death the judgement, Heb. 9. 7. The pale horſe death goeth before, and hell followeth after, Rev. 6. 8. there will be no change of your condition; the eternal ruine, or eternal welfare of your precious ſouls depends on thoſe few minutes; this ſwift ſtream of mans life, after it once turneth or declineth, ever runneth with a perpetual ebb, never floweth again: ſo that all that you leave undone now, will be undone for ever. If you die unbeleivers, you will be unbeleivers for ever; if you dye under the guilt and power of ſin and wrath of God, you will remain under the guilt of ſin and wrath of God for ever: but if you dye holy, humble, mortified, ſincere ſouls, you will remain holy, heavenly, and in the favour of God for ever: Rev. 21. He that is filthy, will be filthy ſtill, and he that is holy will be holy ſtill: but the inpenitent unpardoned ſinner, though he live a hundred, or a thouſand years in ſatisfying his luſt, will be accurſt at laſt. Poor ſinners! that p. 127read this little. Treatiſe, let me beg you to up and be doing while it is day, the night will come, wherein you, not no man can work; John 9. 4. Then to your work with might and main while your candle is burning, your Sun ſhining: will you yet loiter, and ſee your glaſs running, your Sun ſetting, your ſelves dying, and your ſouls periſhing? O ſeek the Lord while he may be found, Iſa. 55. 5. in an acceptable time, 2 Cor. 6. 2. before the day paſs as the chaff, before the decree bring forth, before the evil day cometh, before they that look out of the windows be dark, and the keepers of the houſe begin to tremble, before the doors be ſhut in the ſtreets, and the ſilver cord be looſed, or the Pitcher broken at the fountain, before you are gone to your long home, and the ſpirit return'd to God that gave it.

Conſider with your ſelves, are your fit to grapple with this mighty Monarch death, are you fraughted for this long Voyage, and ready and willing to paſs through this dark Entry; take heed and feare, leſt you be found unfit. Think on the ſadly deluded Virgins, that had their Oyl to buy when their Lamps p. 128ſhould burn, and ſo came to the door, but found it ſhut; think upon poor Eſan that was hunting for Vienſon, while he loſt the bleſſing.

Poor periſhing ſouls! what do you intend to do? if you will work, it muſt be now or never. Are you reſolved to ſeek and ſecure the Kingdome of God firſt, Mat. 6. 23. whilſt it is called to day, or will you beſtow nothing but dregs and ſnuffs of rotten old age upon God and your immortal ſouls? O that you might know in this your day the things which belong to your Peace, before they be hid from your eyes?

9. Laſtly conſider, That it is the moſt dreadful and amazing ſight on this ſide hell, to ſee a Chriſtleſs unbeleiver breathing out his laſt: There are other ſad ſights, viz. to ſee a man ſtarving for want of bread, or dying for want of a phyſitian, or drowning for want of a boat, or to ſee a man dead, a dead corps, a body without a ſoul; but ah! how ſad and aſtoniſhing a ſpectacle is it, to ſee a man near the coaſts of Eternity, viz. to behold a p. 129wretched ſinner in his cold ſweats and dying groanes, with his precious immortal ſoul ſtanding on his pale, cold, quivering lips, and death the great Conqueror, and the King of terrors, marching furiouſly with his Writ of remove in one hand (not to be reverſt) and his deadly dart and ſting in the other hand, conſcience on the rack, barking, biting, and tearing him like a Lyon, the Devil, Gods Executioner looking on and ſtanding by, the heart under dejecting and ſinking deſpair, the eyes dim and fixed, his heartſtrings ready to break with anguiſh, his Wife, Children, Friends at the bed-ſide weeping, ſighing, crying, wringing their hands, beating their breaſts, the Wife crying out, alas my Husband! the Child crying out, alas my Father! The poor periſhing ſoul all this while looking backward upon his miſpent time, and bypaſt ſins, inward upon his own heart, a dreadful ſight! where he ſeeth no Chriſt, no grace, no purity, nothing but ſin, guilt, death, darkneſs: Then looking upward to that God that hath been provoked, to that Chriſt that hath been rejected, to that Heaven and Eternity that he hath loſt, and looking down-ward to p. 130that dark and dreadful pit that muſt be his place and portion (with a fearful looking for of judgement) ſeeing the Devils come and ready to ſeiz upon him. O what a dreadful out-cry, and ſhriek will the ſoul make when it departs, perceiving it ſelf ſinking down, down to the burning lake, and bottomleſs pit, where he muſt take up his lodging with devouring fire to all Eternity!

The pangs of death, the worlds loſs, anguiſh of Conſcience, & frights of hell, meeting together, will make a man perfectly miſerable, and force him to cry out with curſed Cain, Gen. 4. 13. My puniſhment is greater then I can bear; or to ſay with the ſadly afflicted Church, behold, no ſorrow like unto my ſorrow. And if the dreadful reflection of a guilty accuſing conſcience be ſo tormenting here, what will the whole flame and Sea of wrath be, when poured out to the very utmoſt?

Senſleſs ſinners! Conſider, this may be your doleful caſe when you come to die, viz. to have much ſorrow and wrath with your ſickneſs, Eccl. 5. 17. For there is no is peace to the wicked, ſaith my God: not one word in all the Bible but ſpeaks terrour p. 131in life and death; though the ſinner live a hundred years he ſhall be accurſt, he dieth under the curſes written in God's Book; yea, under that moſt dreadful Goſpel curſe, 1 Cor. 16. 22. The apprehenſion of which will cauſe ſuch diſtraction of ſpirit, and ſad reflection of guilt, which will make them curſe their God and their King; looking down to the pit, roaring out; Who among us ſhall dwell with devouring fire? who among us ſhall dwell with everlaſting burnings? Therefore be wiſe to conſider this, all ye that forget God, leſt he tear you in peeces, and there be none that can deliver, Pſal. 50. 22.

And as it is dreadful and amazing to ſee the unbeleiver dying, ſo on the contrary, 'tis comfortable and reviving to ſee the godly man dying, becauſe his ultimum is his optimum, his laſt is his beſt; the day of his death is better then the day of his birth, Eccl. 7. 1. His end is peace, Pſal. 37. 37.

God at peace, Conſcience at peace, and all at peace, O bleſſed ſight, to ſee the heaven born panting ſoul going out of the world upon the wings of joy, calmneſs and ſerenity of ſpirit, with full ſail for heaven; longing and crying out, p. 132make no tarrying O my God, haſte my beloved, haſte, ſo come Lord Jeſus, I deſire to depart, and to be with Chriſt, which is beſt of all, Phil. 1. 23.

You have heard what are the great things to be conſidered, namely, that an end will certainly be, this world is no place of continuance; they that now ſee you, ere long will ſee you no more for ever. You have heard that your preſent things will periſh, that ſin ſo full of deadly poyſon will leave a ſting, a dart that will ſtrike through your Liver, and that the caſe of the wicked will be doleful, dreadful, yea, deſperate, when they come to dye, for when death comes, your ſouls then will be ſtated, ſo as there can be no alteration to all Eternity.

The next thing is to ſpeak to the reaſons, why it is a duty and matter of ſuch moment to conſider, are theſe following.

Reaſ. 1. Is taken from God, Becauſe the only wiſe, gracious, moſt indulgent, and ſoulcompaſſionating God, wiſheth it, and that moſt vehemently. O that they were wiſe! p. 133that they underſtood this, that they would conſider their latter end: Sirs, in this pathetical Option, or deſire, there is the very tender bowels of God, this is the very language of his heart, and it is, as if he had (after the manner of men) ſpoken thus to his faithful ſervant Moſes. I have but one wiſh, or requeſt, and all is comprehended in this one, viz. that thou ſhouldſt go and tell them from me, that they muſt be wiſe to conſider this, to remember the dayes of old, and the years of many Generations, what I have done for them in chuſing them above all the Nations of the world to be my treaſure, portion, and peculiar people; and becauſe I love them, I have delivered them, wrought wonders for them in Egypt, the Red Sea, and in the wilderneſs, and have kept them as tenderly as the apple of mine eye, carrying them upon Eagles wings; but yet let them know, that they have forgotten me, provoked me, and that their end is like to be miſerable, for afire is kindled in mine anget, and unleſs, they do ſpeedily conſider, it will burn to the loweſt hell.

Now you ſouls in peril, which is beſt? to thwart, croſs, and greive your wellwiſhing, p. 134deareſt, beſt and only friend, or to pleaſe and geatifie your proſeſſed, deadly, implacable enemy? your adverſary the Devil can't endure that you ſhould think of death or dying; for if Satan that old Serpent would permit, and ſuffer you to look into hell, he could neither drag nor draw you thither at his pleaſure. And will you go on in the wayes of ſin and death? or bethink your ſelves whoſe you are, what you have done, whither you are going, and what is like to become of you when your breath is gone, what proviſion you have made for your other world, that ſo the great buſineſs between God and your ſouls may be made up.

Sinners! if the infinitely holy, juſt, and righteous God, did deſire or deſigne your ruine and deſtruction, he would not have excited you to this ſolemn and ſerious conſideration of the end of ſin, death, and Eternity, until it were too late, and you left without remedy; ſo that what is here intended hath a tendency to make you happy, if it be regarded, O that they were wiſe, &c.

p. 135Reaſ. 2. Becauſe a deep, ſerious, and heart-affecting conſideration of death and the grave, will both realize it, and repreſent it as near, even at the door, and make it to ſtand in open view: Whereas things looked upon at a diſtance, whether they be good, or whether they be evil, have but a little, if any influence: Now a fixed and hearty conſideration, will give as it were a being to future things, and bring them near, ſo that you may really converſe with thoſe things.

A truly godly man, that hath a veiw of unſeen things by divine contemplation here, upon the wings of faith and hope, he may aſcend up into heaven, and walk a turn in the golden ſtreets of the New Jereuſalem, as the Prophet Ezekiel was in the Viſions of God at Jeruſalem in his mind, when his body was by the River Chebar among the Captives in the Land of the Chaldeans; ſo likewiſe thoſe ſadly wounded ſpirits, who through fear of death are all their life-time ſubject to bondage, being exercis'd with ſoul-conflicts, and under powerful cutting and killing convictions of ſin and miſery, or p. 136have ſuch dark and diſmal thoughts and apprehenſions of hell and the wrath of God, which make them ever and anon to enter into the Chambers of death, and viſit the priſoners of the pit, and look upon that black guilt and fiery furnace to be ſo near, that they are on the brink of it falling down continually. This hath been the caſe of many of Gods precious ones, who are now in heaven above all theſe fears and frights that were once more bitter then death. And O how many travailing with theſe pangs and agonies of ſoul are ready to cry out with holy Job, Chap. 6. 4. The arrowes of the Almighty are within me, the poyſon whereof drinketh up my ſpirit, the terrors of God do ſet themſelves in array againſt me: Such is the nature of meditation, or conſideration, that it will cauſe future and remote things to have a real, powerful, and deep impreſſion on our minds. As for inſtance.

A Merchant in India, by his meditation, or contemplation, may converſe with his Affairs, his Wife, Children, and Friends in England, or a Merchant that's walking on the Exchange in London, may have his mind and thoughts in Spain, or p. 137Italy, or elſe where; a Malefactor caſt into Priſon for ſome notorious Crime, may, long before the Aſſizes, converſe with all the ſad circumſtances of his tryal, he may (in his thoughts) ſee him ſelf brought to the bar, ſtanding before a terrible Judge to heare his indictment read, the Charge prov'd, his doom and ſentence pronounced, and ſee (as it were) himſelf at the place of his execution, with the rope about his neck, which muſt immediately hang him: and if you would in good earneſt ſet your ſelves to conſider your latter end, you may really and heart-affectingly converſe with old Age Weakneſs, Sickneſs, your death-Bed, ſhort-Breathing, cold ſweats, dying Pangs, and Groans, Winding-ſheets, Coffins, and ſee your ſelves (as it were) ſtreched out, nail'd up, and on the ſhoulders of men carrying to the grave, where Worms and filthy Vermine muſt feed upon you.

The Servants of God, and Saints of old, have done this with great ſucceſs, & ſoul advantage, and ſo ſhould you. They have reckoned or counted their Lives by dayes, becauſe they were every day liable to Death, and expected it daily. p. 138Teach us to number our dayes, ſaid Moſes, Pſal. 90. 12. Few and evil have the dayes of my life been, ſaid old Jacob. For man that is born of a woman, is of few dayes, Job 1. 1, 5. All the time of which (ſaid Job) will I wait till my change come, Job 14. 14. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the houſe (a dark houſe) appointed for all living. And Chapter the 17. 1. he ſaid my breath is corrupt, my dayes are extinct, the Graves are ready for me; where-ever he went or came, he was looking for a Grave. Again, by conſideration we may not only look to the Grave, but beyond it, to the great Tranſactions, and aſtoniſhing things that ſhall be after death. We may converſe with the worlds burning, Chriſt's coming, the Trumpets ſounding, the Graves opening, the Deads riſing, the Wickeds roaring, who (as jolly as they are) ſhall then cry to dead and deaf Mountains and Rocks to fall on them to hide them from the dreadful face of the now ſlighted Son of God; for in that great day of his fierce and terrible wrath, they will not be able to ſtand, Rev. 6. 16. 17.

By realizing this conſideration, we may ſee the Judge ſtanding behind p. 139the door; and the Son of God (as it were) ready to break forth out of the Clouds with power and great Glory, as Hierom did, who ſaid, whether I eat or drink, I hear this voice in mine ears, Ariſe ye dead and come to judgement: Now if a right conſideration of the great things to come be ſo penetrating, and heartawakening, let death, which alwayes, doggeth you at your heels, be often upon your thoughts, your heads and hearts too ſhould be much upon it; every night you lye down, and every morning you ariſe, let there be ſome ſerious and awful thoughts of death and Eternity. That which many have engraven on their Rings, viz, Remember to dye, let it be by the Pen of a Diamond written on your hearts. It's ſtoried of Philip of Macedon that he laid a charge upon one of his ſervants to come every morning into his chamber, and proclame this, that he was mortal; and if a Heathen were ſo careful of keeping the memory of his mortality, much more ſhould a Chriſtian: we ſhould alwayes remember the dayes of darkneſs, and keep life and death, heaven and hell before us, there being but a ſtep between us and death. The neglect p. 140and want of this, was Iſraels ſin, and Jeruſalems too, She did not remember her laſt and, therefore ſhe came down wonderfully, Lam. 1. 9. And this God, who would have us remember, and conſider, doth ſadly complain ofby the Prophet, Iſa. 1. 3. calling heaven and earth to witneſs for him, Hear O heavens, and give ear O earth, the Oxe knoweth his owner, and the Aſs his Maſters crib, but Iſrael doth not know, my people do not conſider.

Reaſ. 3. A ſerious conſideration of your latter end (through grace) will prove an abſolute and ſoveraign Antidote to expel the greateſt evil (yea, a means to eſcape an infinite loſs) viz. ſin, and the dreadful effects, and conſequences of it.

What is the cauſe of that inundation and ſea of wickedneſs, and moſt prodigious ſins, that are now in the world, and in this Nation, in every City, Town, and Place, and in the moſt Families, among all ranks and degrees of men, viz. Magiſtrates, Miniſters, People, Parents, Children, Maſters, Servants, p. 141but this, their not duly, and deeply conſidering their latter end; this we find laid down in the word of God to be one main ground of all ſin, and of the neglect of all duties.

You careleſs ſouls! did you beleive and remember that you muſt die and come to judgement, that your naked ſouls, and naked ſins, muſt ſhortly ſtand before the moſt tremendous, direful Judge of quick and dead, the reflection hereof would be as a knife at your throats, as a ſword at your breaſt, or as a hand-writing on the wall, to retard and hinder your conſtant and deſperate courſe of wickedneſs.

O what horrid, helliſh outrages are, now committed, and that deliberality, impudently, obſtinately, even againſt the light of nature, Conſcience, Scripture? What Curſing, Lying, Swearing, Blaſpheming. Sabbath-breaking, Cheating, Couzening, Stealing! what wantonneſs, filthineſs, uncleanneſs, ſwiniſh drunkenneſs, covetouſneſs, earthly-mindedneſs! what mocking, ſcoffing, wrath, envy, malice, pride, paſſion, and ſpiritual wickedneſs too, as unbeleif, a theiſm, impenitency, hypocriſie, apoſtacy, hatred of p. 142God, his people, miniſters, wayes, and ordinances every where aboundeth! Men declare their ſins like Sodom, and are not aſhamed of the unfruitful works of darkneſs; and why? but becauſe they doe not ſet their minds and hearts upon their latter end.

Poor dying ſinners (Let me! out of tender compaſſion to your bleeding, and almoſt ſinking ſouls) intreat you as for the Lords ſake, to goe down to the grave, to go down to hell in your thoughts, and ſtop here, and think of the King of terrours, the worm of Conſcience, the approach of Devils, the burning lake, the bottomleſs pit, the loſs of God, of Chriſt, of Heaven, and your precious ſouls; remember, thoſe fiery, ſcorching, endleſs flames, the preſence and company of Devils, Reprobates and damned ſpirits; and your ſweet morſels will be gall and wormwood to you: theſe amazing things being truly reflected on, will be as lightning in your eyes, as thunder in your ears, as thorns, darts, and ſwords in your fleſh, as poyſon in your bowels, as fire in your bones, to compel and force you ſpeedily tocurb and check the reins of your helliſh luſts, that you ſo might five from wrath to come.

p. 143Did you but view that dark and cold grave, and hot hell that is ſo neer, you would rather ſtarve or dye then run to that exceſs of riot; you could not ſleep, and ſnort, dance and ſport upon the pits brink under ſuch a conſideration.

But forget all this baniſh the thoughts of God, death, and hell, and you will run and ruſh into ſin, as the horſe into battel, Luk. 12. 45, crying peace, peace, till danger, death and deſtruction cometh, 1 Theſ. 5. 3.

This was that mighty ſin that ripened Jeruſalem for ruine, and brought her down wonderfully: her filthineſs is in her skirts, ſhe remembreth not her laſt end. The Lord complaineth by the Prophet Iſaiab of the ſame thing, Iſrail doth not know; my people doth not conſider; but what follows, ah ſinful Nation, a people laden with iniquity, a ſeed of evil doers, they have forſaken the Lord, they have provoked the holy one of Iſrael; compare Lam. 1. 9. Iſa. 1. 3. 4:

But he that doth that which is lawful and right, ſhall ſave his ſoul alive; who is that? he that conſidereth and turneth away from all his tranſgreſſions that he hath committed, he ſhall ſave his ſoul, p. 144whoſoever doth periſh, that man ſhall never periſh, Ezek. 18. 14. 28.

Reaſ. 4. The conſideration of your latter and, will be a powerful incentive to make you exert and put forth the greateſt induſtry in a way of duty, yea, it will certainly have an influence upon all our duties, and upon all our graces; for conſidering and doing are frequently joyn'd together, Pſal. 41. 1. Prov. 31. 16. ſhe conſidereth a field, and buyeth it: I thought on my wayes, or conſidered my wayes, and turned my feet unto thy teſtimonies, Pſal. 119. 59. Lam. 3. 40. Heb. 10: This, if any thing, will make you ſerious, diligent, and conſtant in any duty, and to work while it is day, before the night cometh wherein no man can work. The Apoſtle exhorts to conſider one another, to provoke to love and good works, and ſo much the more as ye ſee the day approaching, Heb. 10. 24, 25. The remembrance of the day of our death, and of our paſſing into eternity, with a deep impreſſion of it upon the heart, will be as a voice of thunder, ſpeaking to the ſecure ſenſleſs ſinner, awake, p. 145awake thou that ſleepeſt, open thine eys, ſtand upon thy feet, and behold and ſee what a ſea of blood and wrath is here. See and beleive, beleive and conſider, conſider and fear, fear and fly, and make haſt in thy work: Thy work is great and weighty, diverſions are many, adverſaries are ſtrong, thy ſtrength is ſmall, thy time is ſhort, thy account is great, death and judgement are at the door, therefore up and be doing, now, or never.

You ſlow and ſlothful ſouls! Let your apparent and inevitable danger ſuddenly provoke and ſpur you unto your duty, to ſeek the Lord in a time accepted, before the door of life beſhut, God with-drawn, and mercy quite gone.

The prophaneſt Sea-man, will ſigh, mourn, pray, promiſe, vow, if death and danger looks him in the face; when the ſhip was like to be broken, and death threatned immediately to ſurprize them, the Marriners were ſore afraid, and cryed every one to his God. And this, the very light of nature dictated to the ſhipmaſter (though a Heathen) that then it was no ſeaſon to ſleep, what meaneſt thou O ſleeper? ariſe and call upon thy p. 146God, if ſo be that God will think upon us that we periſh not, Joneh 1. 6. and the moſt notorious thieves and murderers will pray in priſon, or when they come to the Gallows, the place of execution.

When the moſt righteous Judge ſent his deſtroying Angels to the City of London, and other places in the year 65. for the dreadful fear of which many thouſands did flye, and many thouſands did fall, viz. the carkaſes of men like dung upon the ground, and as handfuls after the Harveſt man. When death did knock at a thouſand doors in one night, Owhat confeſſing of ſin, faſtings, crying, and importunate knocking was there at the throne of grace (and it may be by many perſons & families, that prayed but little before or ſince) that God would pity, pardon, and remove that amazing, ſweeping judgement, which is now almoſt forgotten. Upon an unwakening apprehenſion of Ninevehs fatal ruine, the King and his Nobles decreed and proclaimed a Faſt, and injoyned every one to cry mightily to God, Jonah 3. 7.

Sinners, were you but truly ſenſible of your peril, you would pray to purpoſe, p. 147viz. more ardently, more in wardly, more deeply, more affectionately then ever you have done. It was a ſuppoſed danger, and that of death, that cauſed Jacob to weep and make ſupplication, for Eſau hated Jacob, and ſaid in his heart, the dayes of mourning for my Father are at hand, then will I ſtay my brother Jacob, Gen. 27. 42. and Jacob was greatly afraid and diſtreſſed, Gen. 31. 7. Which made him ſo importunate with God for deliverance, and he prevailed, Gen. 31. 11. Hoſ. 12. 4. Poor ſinners! your caſe is dangerous (I will not ſay deſperate) but you are ignorant of it; you do not know that you are poor, miſerable, blind, and naked; were you but ſenſible that you are liable to the wrath of God, the ſtroke and ſting of death every moment, it would conſtrain you to cry mightily to God for pardon. Holy Job, when he conſidered of Death and Judgement, ſet prayer to work, and ſaid, Why doſt thou not pardon my tranſgreſſion, and take away mine iniquity for now ſhall I ſleep in the duſt: O that thou wouldeſt hide me in the grave, that thou wouldeſt keep me ſecret until thy wrath be paſt, that thou wouldeſt appoint me a ſet time, and remember me, Job 7, 21. &. 14. 13. p. 148This alſo made thoſe two gracious Kings Hezekiah and David, to weep and pray in the bitterneſs of their ſouls: In thoſe dayes was Hezekiah ſick unto death, and Iſaiah the Prophet came unto him, and ſaid, thus ſaith the Lord, ſet thine houſe in order, for thou ſhalt dye, and not live; then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and wept ſore, and prayed to the Lord, Iſa. 28. 1, 2, 3. David, when the ſorrows of death compaſſed him, and paines of hell got hold of him, then (ſaid he) I called upon the Lord, O Lord, I beſeech thee deliver my ſoul, Pſal. 116. 3, 4. Jonah that could ſleep in the ſhip, prayed in the Whales belly, Out of the belly of hell I cryed, and thou heardeſt my voice, Jonah 2. 2. The Apoſtle Peter, and Chriſt himſelf preſſeth prayer from the conſideration of the end of the world. The end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore ſober, and watch unto prayer, 1 Pet. 4. 7. and pray (ſaith Chriſt) that you may eſcape all theſe things, and ſtand before the Son of man, Luk. 21. 36. Neither doth our dear Lord Jeſus preſs that on us, which he did not practice; for being ſenſible of the bitter and moſt dreadful cup of his Fathers wrath, prayed, Father, if it be poſſible, p. 149let this cup paſs, Matth, 26. 39.

Sinners! let me tell you, as ſecure and ſenſleſs as you are, an awakning impreſſion of approaching death and judgement upon your ſouls; would be as the cry at midnight, to excite and ſtir you up, to get in your Oyle, and to trim your lamp. The Virgins, both wiſe and fooliſh, were all aſleep and ſecure enough, until that ſudden and amazing cry was heard, behold the Bridegroom cometh, go you forth to meet him, Math. 26. 6. Then they all aroſe, and trimmed their Lamps. 'Tis the ſtorm and rain that haſtens the Bee into the Hive, that brings the Traveller into his Inn, the Ship into the Hare bour; ſo likewiſe the ſenſe of death, the dead and drouſie Profeſſor unto his prayer; in their afflictions they will ſeek me early, Hoſ. 5. 15.

Anh eart-affecting meditation of unchangeable eternity, will be as a voice from the clouds, crying, haſt ſinner haſt, poſt haſt, haſt as for thy life in the work of faith and repentance, in parting with ſin, and cloſing with Jeſus Chriſt, without which there will be no hope. Noah was moved with fear, and prepared and got into the Ark, to the ſaving of his houſe, when the ſecure p. 150deluded world died by the deluge, Heb. 11. 7. Knowing the terrour of the Lord we perſwade men, 2 Cor. 5. 11.

You wretched ſinners, that will not beleive or conſider until you are juſt dropping into the pit, if you had but a little cranny to look into the other world, how violent and reſolute would you be in the ſpeedy proſecution of your known duty; you would examine, prove, and try your ſelves; you would read, hear, meditate, watch, pray, repent, fear, love, obey more then ever. Did you ſee, the night will come, is coming, and that the dayes of darkneſs ſhall be many, whatſoever you do, you would do it with your might, Eccl. 9. 10. Now before the decree bring forth, before the day paſs as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, ſeek ye the Lord; for how ſhall you eſcape if you neglect ſo great ſalvation, Zeph. 2. 23. Heb. 2. 3.

Reaſ. 5. You are to conſider your latter and, becauſe there lyeth your higheſt wiſdom. O that they were wiſe, &c. If you would p. 151be ſo wiſe as to exceed all the Wiſe men; great Statiſts and Polititians in the world, it muſt be in conſidering of, and preparing for your end. Sirs, in this you are moſt concerned, becauſe hereby you will promote your own intereſt, for it will make a man profitable to himſelf, wiſe for himſelf, Job. 22. 2. Prov. 9. 12. 'Tis true wiſdome to underſtand this, viz. to be wiſe to that which is good, Rom. 16. 19. to be wiſe in Chriſt; to ſecure the cheifeſt good, is the beſt wiſdom.

There are many worldly wiſe men, who while they live provide for every thing but death, and they are often ready to dye, before they begin to live (in a ſpiritual ſenſe) and is it not a very unfit and ſad ſeaſon, to prepare for death when its a burden to live? And indeed ſuch are the many evils attending old age, that men can have no pleaſure in them, Eccl. 12. 1, And ſhall theſe be accounted the only wiſe men, that are but wiſe in their Generation to get the world, to purſue lying vanities, and forſake their own mercies, to hew out ciſterns, broken ciſterns rhat can hold no water, and forſake the fountain of living water? this is to prefer Pebbles before Pearls, to gain p. 152Larth, and to loſe Heaven, Jer. 2. 13. Jonah 2. 8. Math. 16. 26. To be happy for a time, and miſerable to eternity.

True wiſdom, and ſerious conſideration, is exerciſed about things good & evil, yea it is converſant about the beſt good, how it may attain it, and about the worſt evil, how it may impede, avoid and eſcape it, chuſing the moſt adequate and effectual means to bring it to paſs. This excellent divine wiſdom is proper and profitable to direct, Prov. 10. 10. and ſo it doth every conſidering godly man while he lives, firſtly and firmly to ſecure that which he hath of greateſt value, viz. a precious ſoul, more worth then any thing he ſtands poſſeſſed of: If all the Rocks were Pearls, all the earth and Heaven Gold, or if all the water in the vaſt Ocean were converted into Cryſtal, or the moſt precious ſtones in the world, and put all into one ſcale, and the ſoul into the other ſcale, the ſoul would weigh it all down. Our dear Lord tells us, that the gaining of the whole world is an invaluable conſideration to the loſs of our ſoul, Math. 16. So that he muſt be wiſe indeed, that hath gotten a Cabinet p. 153for this rare incomparable Jewel, where it will be for ever ſafe. He that winneth ſouls is wiſe, ſaith the wiſeſt of a meer man, Prov. 11. 30, and ſure then he is ſo that ſaves his own. Again, he that conſidereth his end, is in the very way to procure and make the beſt friend, that will certainly ſtand him in ſtead to purpoſe, and in the greateſt peril, viz. God, Chriſt, Angels, Saints, Conſcience, Scripture, his real friends. When once the breach is made up between God and the poor ſoul, who can harm or hurt it? If God be for us, who can be againſt us? Rom. 8. I will lay me down and ſleep in peace, Pſa. 14. 8. Moreover, he provideth againſt the greateſt wants, by the laying up for a ſpending time. There was not a man to be found in all Egypt ſo wiſe as Joſeph, who fore-ſeeing their want, filled the ſtore-houſes againſt the years of Famine. He that gathereth his meat in the Summer, ſaith Solomon, is wiſe, Prov. 10. 5. Conſider the time of youth is your Summer; old-age, a ſick-bed, is not a gathering, but a ſpending time, and you are not wiſe, wiſe towards God, wiſe for your precious ſoules, that do not make it your buſineſs to Trade, and lay up a p. 154ſtock and ſtore againſt that time. Many a ſilly ſoul like the wanton Graſhopper, leaps and ckips, chirps and ſings all the Summer, and when the Winter cometh periſheth for want: But the truly ſerious and conſidering ſoul, like the laborious Bee or Ant, toils and labours in the Summer: And that man might put off ſloth, and learn his duty, and ſo provide for time to come, Solomen ſends him to the Ant, Go to the Ant thou ſluggard, conſider her wayes, and be wiſe, which provideth her meat in the Summer, and gathereth her food in Harveſt; Prov. 6. 6, 8. And ſo the wiſe in heart, that trade for eternity, lay up, the beſt ſupplies againſt the evil day which are the favour of God, an intereſt in Chriſt, pardon of ſin, peace of conſcience, a ſtock of prayers, rich and choice experiences, and love-tokens of their fathers favour, the evidences for their heavenly Country. This is the hidden and heavenly treaſure of the godly man, who only is called the man of wiſdom, Micah 6. 9.

Beſides, he preventeth the worſt evils, viz. the guilt of ſin, the ſting of death, ſorrows of hell, terrours of Conſcience; the wrath of God, the loſs of God, his p. 155ſoul, and heaven. This infinite and irreparable evil or loſs he ſhall never ſuſtain, becauſe this timely conſideration of death and judgement, will be a means to fit him for it. They that were ready went in to the Marriage, Matth. 25. 10.

But for you that are careleſs of your immortal ſouls, that think not of death, that will not conſider your latter end (if infinite mercy doth not ſpeedily prevent) you will certainly dye without wiſdom; if you do not ſeaſonably ſecure your ſouls, make God and Chriſt your friends (while the poor people of God lay up a treaſure in heaven, a good foundation againſt the time to come.) You will treaſure up wrath againſt the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgement of God, Rom. 2. 5. And this is the doleful caſe of many worldly wiſe men, & of thoſe too whoſe office and imployment is to keep (if it might be) others alive, viz. to cure diſeaſes and prevent death. It is obſerved concerning Paracelſus, a great Phyſitian, a man very skilful in Chymical Experiments, that he bragged and boaſted, that he had attained to ſuch wiſdom in diſcerning the conſtitutions of men, and in ſtudying remedies, that whoſoever p. 156did follow his rules, and keep his directions, ſhould never dye by any diſeaſe, caſually he might, and of age he muſt, but he would undertake to ſecure his health againſt diſeaſes. A bold and moſt preſumptuous undertaking: But he who by Art promiſed to protect others, could not by his art make himſelf a protection in the prime of his age, who died before, or when he had lived but thirty years.

Poor mortals! ſith that thou cant prevent death, it is your wiſdome to prepare for it, and foraſmuch as you cannot by any means, power or skill, keep off the ſtroak of death, get while you may a remedy or Antidote againſt the ſting of Death, that when you dye you may not dye unpreparedly, or dye without wiſdom. For man in honour that underſtandeth not, is like the beaſt that periſheth, Pſal. 49. 20. So died that miſerably miſtaken rich man, who (though by himſelf or others judged wiſe) in the account of the only wiſe God was a very fool: who providing only for the time of life, and not for death, did deſerve the name of thou fool, This night ſhall thy ſoul be requir'd, Lu. 12. 20. a dark and dreadful night indeed, p. 157in which he loſt both worlds at once, earth and heaven too. And will you ſay, that you are wiſe, and not conſider what your end will be. The five Virgins are called fooliſh Virgins; but why? becauſe they did not make proviſion for the Bridegroom's coming, and when they came to the Door it was ſhut upon them; ah! ſad and dreadful diſappointment, Mat. 25. 10.

But the diligent and prepared ſoul, that hath gotten in his oyl, and made all ready, is in a capacity to look upon Death with a ſmiling aſpect, becauſe the deadly poyſon and ſting is out, and it can but kill the body, 'tis not able to hurt the ſoul: But the ſleepy ſecure ſinner will be dreadfully ſurprized as Belſhazzar was by the hand writing that appeared on the wall, the terrifying and amazing ſight of which changed his countenance, and troubled his thoughts, ſo that neither his Wine, his wives, or Concubines could comfort him: who had lifted up himſelf againſt the Lord of Heaven, Dan. 5.

Sinners! Conſider the King of terrours is a terrible ſight, and none more, then to thoſe that have their heaven here, p. 158it will be to ſuch as the tearing their caul from their very hearts, worſe then cutting off a Member from the body; for many have ſuffered the loſs of Members, to ſave their lives; O death, death, death, how bitter, bitter, is the remembrance of thee to the man that is at eaſe in his poſſeſſion. And let me tell you, evils and dangers, by how much the more ſudden and unexpected they are, by ſo much the more dreadful and aſtoniſhing they are. What a ſad and hidious cry was there in Egygt, when at midnight God ſmote their firſt-born, and alſo when the Earth opened her mouth and ſwallowed up Korah and his curſed company, that went down alive into the pit, inſomuch that all Iſrael fled at the cry of them, for they ſaid, leſt the earth ſwallow us up alſo, Numb. 16. 31, 32, 34. And how terrible was that ſudden ſhower of fire and brimſtone upon filthy Sodom, after a bright Sun-ſhine morning, Gen. 19. 23, 34 So when grim and ghaſhly. Death cometh in a black night, and draweth the curtain, and looketh upon the ſecure ſinnet, it will be very formidable, for who can look Death in the face, that dare not look God or his own conſcience in the p. 159face? But the ſincerely godly man, fitted for death, may look and live above the fear of Death, and Hell, and welcome Death, as old Jacob did the Waggons, that his ſon Joſeph ſent to fetch him down to Egypt; when he ſaw the waggons the ſpirit of Jacob their Father revived, Gen. 46. 27. Death, though a grim Porter, will open the gate of Glory to every Beleiver, and let them into their Fathers houſe, for both life and death are theirs, 1 Cor. 3. 22. Bleſſed are the dead, that dye in the Lord, Rev. 14. 13. To me to live is Chriſt, and to dye is gain, Phil. 1. 11. Whoſo is wiſe will obſerve theſe things. Theſe are the reaſons why your latter end muſt be conſidered.