The Fading of the Flesh and Flourishing of Faith, Chapter 5
CHAP. V. Second USE. An Exhortation to ſinners to prepare for death, with three quickenning motives. Death will come certainly; it may come ſuddenly: When it comes twill be too late to prepare.
THE ſecond Uſe ſhall be by way of Exhortation: which will run in two diſtinct channels, partly to the ſenſual worldlings, partly to the ſerious Chriſtian. I ſhall ſpeak one word to the Wiſe, but in the firſt place two words to the Wicked.
Exhortaion 1. To the Wicked to fit themſelves for the other WorldIf the fleſh will fail you, mind the ſalvation of thy ſpirit, when one leaf fals in Autumn, we conclude that all will follow after; by the death of others, thou mayſt conclude thy own diſſolution; When mens Leaſes of the houſes wherein they dwell are neer expired, they think of providing another Habitation, that they may not be expoſed to the injury of the wind and weather in the naked ſtreets. Reader, I am come to thee with a meſſage this day from the faithful God, and it is to acquaint thee, that the Leaſe of thy life is almoſt worn out; the time of thy departure is at hand, what Houſe wilt thou provide for thy precious ſoul, that it may not be obnoxious to the roarings of damned ſpirits, and to the rage of tormenting Devils? The Roman Gladiatours deſigned to death, were very careful, ſo to contrive and carry themſelves, that they might fall handſomely. Sure I am, thou art one appointed for the duſt; where, O where is thy ſollicitouſneſs to dye comfortably. Poſſibly thou art one who haſt often ſpoken of dreſſing thy body neatly for the Coffin, thy wedding ſhift, the fineſt ſheet, thy handſomeſt head-cloaths muſt all adorn thy clod of Clay, and grace thy carkaſs, to entertain the Wormes at their feaſt, with clean and fine Linnen: But in the mean time, thou haſt no thoughts of dreſſing thy immortal ſoul againſt the coming of the bride-groom.
When thou dieſt thou throweſt thy laſt caſt for thine everlaſting eſtate, thou ſhalt never be allowed a ſecond throw. An Error in death, is like an Error in the firſt Concoction, which cannot be mended in the ſecond. Where thou lodgeſt that Night thou dyeſt, thou art hous'd for ever. That work which is of ſuch infinite weight, and can be done but once, had need to be done well. God hath given thee but one Arrow to hit the mark with, Shoot that at randome and he will never put another into thy Quiver; God will allow no ſecond Edition to correct the Erratas of the firſt, therefore it concerns thee with all imaginable ſeriouſneſs to conſider what thou doeſt when thou dieſt.
One would think, thou ſhouldſt take little comfort in any creature, whilſt thy eternal ſtate is thus in danger. Auguſtus wondered at the Roman Citizen, that he could ſleep quietly when he had a great burden of debt upon him. What reſt canſt thou have, what delight in any thing thou enjoyeſt, who oweſt ſuch vaſt ſums to the Infinite Juſtice of God, when he is reſolved to have full ſatisfaction either in this or the other world? When David offered Barzillai the pleaſures and preferments of his own royal Palace, he refuſed them, becauſe he was to die within a while. How long have I to live, that I ſhould go up with the King unto Jeruſalem? Let thy ſervant turn back that I may dye, 2 Sam. 19.34, 35, 36. i. e. Court me no courts, I have one foot in the grave, my glaſs is almoſt run, let me go home and dye. Without controverſie, thou haſt more cauſe to wink on theſe withering comforts, and to betake thy ſelf wholly to a diligent preparation for death. The Thebans made a law, That no man ſhould build a houſe before he had made his grave.
Every part of thy life may mind thee of thy death.Mortibus vivimus. Senec. The Moraliſt ſpeaks true, Thou liveſt by deaths; thy food is the dead carkaſſes of birds, or fiſh, or beaſts; thy fineſt rayment is the worms grave before tis thy garment. Look to the Heavens, the Sun riſeth and ſetteth, ſo that life which now ſhineth pleaſantly on thee will ſet; how much doth it behove thee to work the work of him that ſent thee into the world while day laſteth, that thou mayſt not ſet in a cloud, which will certainly prognoſticate thy foul weather in the other world. Look down to the Earth, there thou beholdeſt thy mother out of whoſe womb thou didſt at firſt come, and in whoſe bowels thou ſhalt ere long be laid. The duſt and graves of others cry aloud to thee, as Gideon to his Souldiers, Look on us, and do likewiſe; O trim thy ſoul againſt that time: If thou riſeſt up, and walkeſt abroad in the ſtreets, thou ſeeſt this houſe and that ſeat, where ſuch a woman ſuch a man dwelt, and lo, the place which knew them ſhall know them no more; they are gone, and have carried nothing with them but their godlineſs or ungodlineſs. If thou lieſt down thy ſleep is the image of death, thou knoweſt not whether thou ſhalt awake in a bed of feathers, or in a bed of flames; but art certain, that ſhortly thy body ſhall lye down in the grave, and there remain till the reſurrection. Look on thy companions, thou mayſt ſee death ſiting on their countenances, its creeping on them in the deafneſs of their ears, in the dimneſs of their eys; nay its poſting towards them in the very heighth and Zenith of their natural perfections. Look on thy own houſe of clay, death poſſibly looks out at thy windows, however it looks in at thy windows; thou weareſt it in thy face, thou beareſt it in thy bones, and doth it not behove thee to prepare for it? Naturaliſts tell us, that ſmelling of earth is very wholeſom for conſumptionate bodies. O Reader, a ſerious thought of thy death, that thou art but duſt, would be very wholſom for thy declining and decaying ſoul.
Hard bones ſteept in vinegar and aſhes grow ſo ſoft that they may be cut with a thread. Give me leave for one half hour to ſteep thy hard heart in ſuch a mixture; poſſibly it may be ſo ſoftned through the operation of the Spirit with the Word,Drexel. Eternit that thou mayſt become wiſe unto ſalvation. Its reported of one Guerricus, that hearing theſe words read in the Church, And all the days that Adam lived, were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died; All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died; And all the days of Enos was nine hundred and five years, and he died; And all the days of Methuſelah were nine hundred ſixty nine years, and he died, Gen. 5.5. He was ſo ſtrongly wrought upon by thoſe words, And he died, And he died, that he gave himſelf wholly to devotion. Friend, if thou haſt any dram of true love to thy ſoul, and its unchangeable condition in the other world, the conſideration of death would make a deep impreſſion upon thee.
But that I may awaken and rouſe thee while there is time and hope, and then help and heal thee, I ſhall in the proſecution of this Exhortation
Firſt, Speak to ſomewhat that may be perſwaſive.
Secondly, Offer to thee ſomewhat that is Directive.
Firſt, I ſhall offer thee ſome thoughts which may quicken thee to a diligent proviſion for this time.
Motives, 1 Death will come certainlyFirſt, Doſt thou not know that Death will come certainly? As the young Prophet ſaid to Eliſha, Doſt thou know that the Lord will take thy Maſter from thy head to day? 2 Kings 2.3. Reader, Doſt thou know that the Lord will take thy ſoul out of thy body, and ſend it to the unknown regions of the other World; where thou ſhalt ſee ſuch things as thou never ſaweſt, hear ſuch things as thou never heardſt, and underſtand ſuch things as thou didſt never underſtand? Poſſibly thou wilt anſwer me (as Eliſha them) I know it, hold your peace. But truly I am ready to urge it again, being aſſured that thy knowledge is (as Cicero ſpeaks of the Athenians) like artificial teeth, for ſhew onelyonly; thou doſt not yet know it for thy good. Therefore give me leave to inforce it ſtill. Doſt thou know that God will bring thee to death, and to the houſe appointed for all the living? Doſt thou know that thy ruddy countenance will wax pale, thy ſparkling eyes look gaſtly, thy warm blood cool in thy veins, thy marrow dry up in thy bones, thy skin ſhrivel, thy ſinews ſhrink, nay thy very heart ſtrings crack? And haſt thou provided never a cordial againſt this hour? Doſt thou not read in the writings of God himſelf, That no man hath power in the day of death, and there is no diſcharge in that war, Eccleſ. 8.8. No man hath power, either to reſiſt deaths force, or to procure termes of peace. The greateſt Emperor with the ſtrength of all his dominions cannot withſtand Death. The moſt eloquent Oratour by his ſtrongeſt reaſons, and moſt pathetical expreſſions cannot perſwade Death. The deepeſt Counſellour by all his policy cannot outwit or cozen Death.
O mighty Death (ſaith the Hiſtorian) thou haſt drawn together all the far ſtretched greatneſs, Sir Walt. Ral. Hiſt. World in fine.all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it with theſe two words, Hic jacet. There is no diſcharge in that War. Every one muſt go in perſon, there is no appearing by a proxy: Though the Tenant would ſerve for his Land-lord, the Subject for his Soveraign, the Father for his Child, as David for Abſolom, yet it will not be accepted. All muſt in their own perſons appear in the field, and look that grim Goliah Death in the face; It is appointed for all men once to dye, Hebr. 9. God hath decreed it, and man cannot diſſanul it, The Grammarian (as one obſerveth wittily) who can decline other nowns in every caſe, can decline Death in no caſe. Death is every moment ſhooting its Arrows abroad in the World, and doing execution, and though it ſhoots above thee, ſlaying the Superiours; below thee, taking away thy Inferiours; on thy right hand, killing this friend; on thy left hand, cauſing that acquaintance to drop; yet twill never ceaſe ſhooting till thou art ſlain. Thy life for a while may be kept up, like a Ball by the Rockets, and toſt from hazard to hazard, yet at laſt twill fall to the earth; When once Death this ſon of a murderer (ſin) comes to take away thine head, there will be none to ſhut the door, or hold him faſt. Now men that muſt travel, arm themſelves for all Weather. Women that cannot eſcape their appointed ſorrows, provide Bezer and Amber powders, againſt that time. But O what a mad man art thou, who knoweſt certainly of the coming of this Enemy, and that when he cometh he can both kill and damn, deſtroy both body and ſoul, yet takeſt no care to arm thy ſelf for that hour.
In other things thou provideſt for what may be, and wilt thou not for that which muſt be. In Summer thou layeſt in fuel and food, becauſe it may be thou mayſt live to ſpend it in Winter. Thou workeſt early and late to encreaſe thy heaps, and to add to thy hoards, becauſe it may be thy Children may come to enjoy it. Where is thy reaſon then, to toly and moyl for an uncertainty, and thus fooliſhly to neglect that which is of neceſſity?
Secondly, Death may come ſuddenly.Secondly, Doſt thou know that death may come ſuddenly? Some diſeaſes do no ſooner appear, but we diſappear. Death like a flaſh of lightning hath on a ſudden burnt down many a body. It ſometimes ſhoots white powder, doth execution without giving warning.
Deiodorus dyed with ſudden ſhame; Sophocles with ſudden joy; Nabal with ſudden fear; Pope Alexander was choakt ſuddenly with a Fly; Anacreon the Poet with the Kernel of a Grape; Aeſchilus was kild by the ſhell of a Tortoiſe, which the Eagle let fall on his bald head, miſtaking it for a Rock; The Cardinal of Lorrain was lighted to the Chambers of death by a Poiſoned Torch; A Duke of Britany Preſt to death in a crowd; King Henry the ſecond of France was kild at Tilting; Senecio Cornelius had his breath ſtopt by a Squinzy. I might name very many others, who took a ſhort cut to their long homes, Balthazers carouſing in his Bolls drunk his bane; Ammon, merry at his dainties, meets with Death; Zimri and Cozbi unload their luſts and their lives together; Korah and his companions find the Earth Opening her mouth and ſwallowing them up quick, though ſhe ſtay for others till they are dead; Herod ſcarce ends his proud ſpeech, before he is ſent to the place of ſilence; Ananias and Saphira finiſh their lies and their lives at the ſame time. Scarce a week but nigh thoſe parts we live in, ſome or other by violent or natural means, are ſuddenly ſent into the other World. That which hath been one mans caſe may be any mans caſe. Reader, when thy breath goeth out▪ thou art not ſure of taking it in again; thou mayſt like the fool be talking of many years, when that God whoſe word muſt ſtand, may ſay, this night thy ſoul ſhall be required of thee; and O what will then become of thee! Thy eternal condition, that eſtate which is to be for ever and ever, dependeth on this uncertain life, and art not thou mad to be reveling and roaring, dallying and delaying, when thine unchangeable eſtate is in danger. Theives after the commiſſion of their Robberies, frequently repair to Inns, where they drink joyfully, and divide their booty, when on a ſudden, the Hue and Cry arriveth at that town, the Conſtable entereth their Room, attacheth their perſons, marreth all their mirth, and carryeth them to the Goal, whence after their tryal for their fellonies, they are carted to Tyburn. Many a ſinner in the midſt of his carnal triumph, hath been haled to eternal torments, like that filthy Adulterer mentioned by Luther, who went in…o Hell out of the imbraces of his Harlot. The Philoſophers ſay that the weather will be warmiſh before a ſnow. When the skie is moſt clear, then the great thunder commeth; Sodom had a fair ſunſhiny morning, but a ſtorm of fire and brimſtone before night. Sure I am, thou haſt no promiſe to excuſe thee in thy greateſt pleaſures from ſuch a ſudden puniſhment. Thou art already a condemned perſon, and thou wanteſt nothing but the meſſenger death;Speed. nothing but an hurdle, an horſe, and an halter, (as Judge Belknap in Richard the ſeconds time ſaid of himſelf) to carry thee to thy deſerved Execution. Pſa. 64.7. God ſhall ſhoot at them with an arrow, ſuddenly ſhall they be wounded. When the Pye is priding her ſelf on the top of a Tree, little thinking of a Fowler ſo near, ſhe is fetcht down by a ſudden ſhot.
It may be thou truſteth to thy youth and ſtrength, becauſe thou feeleſt no infirmity, therefore thou feareſt no mortality; Thou thinkeſt Death ſhould go to the dead bones, and dry breaſts, to ſuch as ſee with four eyes, and go on three legs, but doſt thou not know that Death never obſerveth the Laws of nature. As young as thou art, thou mayſt be rotten, before thou art ripe. Thy Sun may ſet at high noon; the Jews have a Proverb, that the old Aſs often carryeth the young Aſſes skin to the market; Bloſſoms are liable to nipping, as well as full grown fruit to rotting. Have not ſeveral been Married and Buryed in the ſame week; nay dreſt by the ſame hands in one day, for their Weddings and their Coffins; Benſirah the Jew hath a good ſaying, The Bride went into her Chamber, and knew not what ſhould befall her there, Pro. 27.1. Therefore boaſt not thy ſelf of to morrow, for thou knoweſt not what a day may bring forth. Is it thy ſtrength thou truſteſt to? alas the Leviathan of Death, laughs at the ſhaking of that Spear, he counts thy ſtrength but as Straw, and thy youth but as rotten wood, he maketh a leak in a ſtrong new Veſſel, and it preſently ſinketh; though thy body be never ſo ſtrong a Fort, Death (to take it) needeth not beſiege or block it up with lingering diſeaſes,Maximum vivendi impedimentum eſt expectatio quae pendet excraſtino. Senec. de brevitat. vita. cap. 9. but can undermine it, and blow it down in a moment. Think therefore with thy ſelf, this day may be the laſt day that ever I ſhall ſee, this hour may be the laſt hour that ever I ſhall ſpend, theſe words may be the laſt words that ever I ſhall ſpeak; O what a fool am I to live thus contentedly without fear, next door to the eternal fire, there is but one ſtep betwixt me and Hell, and for ought I know the very next ſtep that I take may be thither, and then Wo and Alaſs I am gone for ever! Surely this conſideration like an Hectick Feaver, might cauſe an irrecoverable Conſumption of all thy carnal joy. Death is called War, Eccleſ. 8.8. thou knoweſt not but orders may come from the Lord of Hoſts for thy ſudden march, thou mayſt not have an hours warning to put on thy Armour, or prepare thy ſelf.
Invaſions are judged far more dangerous then pitcht Battels, becauſe thoſe are ſudden, and uſually take men unprovided, I muſt tell thee that when ever Death cometh, twill be dreadful and dangerous, for (continuing as thou art) twill ſurpriſe thee unprepared, and unable to make any reſiſtance; O how twil tear thy ſoul like a Lyon, renting it in peices, whilſt there is none to deliver it. No Chapman comes amiſs to him whoſe ſhop is ever furniſhed; but every Enemy will foil him, who goeth always unarmed and naked. Death to a ſinner is always ſudden. They go down quick into hell. Job 21.
Thirdly, When Death comes, too late to prepare.Thirdly, Doſt thou not know, that whenſoever Death comes, twill be too late to prepare for it? The Ship muſt be Rigd in the Harbour, twill be too late to do it in the main Ocean in a ſtorm; Probably enough (though now thou canſt ſpend thy days delightfully without Chriſt and grace, yet) when the Bridegroom cometh by Death, thou wilt, as the fooliſh Virgins, talk of getting Oyl, becauſe thy lamps will be then gone out; but alas then twill be too late, onelyonly ſuch as are ready enter in with him. I have read of a Woman in Cambridge, who lying on her death bed, was viſited by perſons of Worth and Piety, and heard much Heavenly diſcourſe from them; but they could hear nothing from her, ſave this, Call time again, Call time again: But time runs ſwiftly, and being once paſt is irrecoverable. Time, ſaith Bernard, were a good commodity in Hell, if it could be bought up at any rate. Ah when thou comeſt to dye, a Week, a Day, nay an Hour, would be more worth to thee then all the World. But twill be impoſſible to put off the Tryal which Death hath with thee for thy ſoul till another time, till another Term. When Death calleth, at leiſure, or not at leiſure, ready or unready, willing or unwilling, thou ſhalt not deny, but muſt go the way whence thou ſhalt never return.
The Tide will not ſtay for the greateſt Merchants goods, they muſt be ſhipt before, or left behind, Death will not ſtay for any man to fraught his heart with grace, he muſt do it before Death cometh, or it can never be done. If our ſpiritual change be not before our natural change, we are miſerable unchangeably. Petronius ſpeaks of one Eumolpus, who in a deſperate ſtorm was compoſing Verſes, and when the Ship ſplit upon a Rock, and they called to him to ſhift for himſelf; He Anſwered, Let me alone till I have finiſht one Verſe which I perceive to be lame; Death will not wait whilſt thou finiſheſt the moſt ſerious works.
It is ſaid of Demetrius after that though he lived a ſlave all his life time, yet when he lay on his death-bed, he earneſtly deſired manumiſſion, that he might deſcend into his grave in freedom. Reader, I doubt not but though thou liveſt a ſlave to ſin, and Satan, yet thou wouldſt dye the Lords freeman; but God himſelf tells thee, that if thy life be in bondage to thy luſts when Death comes, there is no getting thy liberty, Eccleſ. 9 10. Either now mind thy ſoul and enſure thy ſalvation, or it can never be done, there is no doing it in the place whither thou art going. Life is Deaths ſeed time, and Death is lifes Harveſt, Expect thy Crop both for quality and quantity anſwerable to thy ſeed which thou now ſoweſt. Cicero ſaith of Hercules, that he had never been enrolled among the Gods in Heaven, if he had not layd out his way thither whilſt he lived. Neither canſt thou live with God hereafter, unleſs thou liveſt to God here.
Friend, think of it ſeriouſly. Thy preparation for Death muſt be now or never. Bees work hard in Summer, flying over this and the other field, ſucking this and the other flower, and all to lay in Proviſion againſt Winter, at which time elſe they muſt ſtarve, no honey being then to be made. The Shell Fiſh opens and takes in moyſture, whilſt the tide floweth in upon them, that they may be ſupplyed when the Waters ebbe. And wilt thou like a Drone now ſleep and then ſtarve. Let thy reaſon judge, Is it a fit time to dreſs thy ſoul for the Marriage feaſt of the Lamb, in the dark night of Death? Or what canſt thou think to do in that diſmal hour? conſcience will tell thee thou hadſt thy candle of life ſet up to have wrought by, and that is burnt to the ſnuff whilſt thy work is ſtill undone. The day is paſt, thy ſoul is loſt, becauſe thou unworthy wretch didſt defer it till it was too late. Wilt thou call to the Sun of thy life as Joſhua did, Stand ſtill for one hour, that I may be avenged of theſe fleſhly Luſts which hinder me of the Heavenly Canaan? Alas, alaſs it will not hear thee, it cannot obey thee, for time ſhall be no more with thee, thou art entering upon thy eternity. Remember that thou art warned of it, and do not (as Ceſar being warned by Artemidorus of a conſpiracy, to ſlay him ſuddenly, Pocketed up the Paper, and was very buſie in ſaluting the People, till at laſt he was ſlayn) ſo trouble thy ſelf with trifles, as to complement away thy ſoul and ſalvation.