A Prospect of Eternity, Chapter 18
CHAP. XVIII.
Ʋſe of Exhortation.Branch 3 The third branch of the Uſe will be, That you would entertaine a right notion of Death as an in-let to Eternity.
WEE muſt look upon death, as the common paſſage, as the Poſterne gate to eternity, the Straights to the Ocean; the Heathens they fancied concerning death, that after death there was Charon to waft them over the River Styx, &c. But this is moſt certain, Mors eſt vehiculum morientis.that death only lands the ſoul upon the coaſt and ſhoar of eternity, it is only the ſhort bridge to an everlaſting condition. It is but the twinkling of eye when man dies, but he awakens either in eternall woe, or welcome. Death only is the dying Mors non eſt obitus ſed abitus.patient, either Sledge or Chariot to carry the Priſoner, or Courtier to miſery, or everlaſting felicity.
Indeed, ſome mens paſſage is more rough then others; ſome men die with more torment, and pain, and diſtemper then others, but yet death is but the common road to eternity. It is ſtrange to obſerve what notions moſt men have of death.
Some look upon death as the debt of nature, that common engagement Job 1. 1.which every one muſt diſcharge, and Job 14. 14.for which death will arreſt every one of us. And ſo men ſuppoſe that having paid the debt, they are clear for ever, as if there were no eternity behind the hangings. And therefore they pant not after a Chriſt, nor ſearch the rols of heaven for a pardon, nor wreſtle with God for a ſmile; but conjecture that ſurrending according to deaths ſummons, there is an end of all their troubles and triumphs; they confine all their care and heat to cocker and ſupply a ſubſiſtence here, and when they come to die all their debts are paid. What ſtupid ignorance are moſt men infatuated with, to ſuppoſe that becauſe death gives them a diſcharge of their life, it ſhould therefore give them a diſcharge of their ſins? Let ſuch deſperate ſinners conceive, that death immediately will clap up their ſouls in everlaſting darkneſſe, and at the reſurrection their ſins ſhall drag their worme-eaten bodies from the gaol of the grave to receive the ſentence and doome of a miſerable eternity; and Mat. 5. 26.they ſhall finde death, not to be the diſcharge, but the beginning of their debt, and that it ſhall deliver them into ſuch purſevants hands, Mat. 18. 28.as will be plucking them by the throat to all eternity.
Others look on death as the grave of all their troubles, the very exit of all their perplexities; they wait for the good time, and do imagine that after Mors corporalis est privatio vitae corporis facta per animoe ſe parationem ab illo propter peccatum. Polan.all their reſtleſneſſe, heats, diſturbances, diſappointments and agonies in the world, they ſhall take up their Inne, or rather their home in the Sepulchre, and ſhall lie as free from trouble, as their marble ſtatues, the coffin ſhall ent…mbe all their vexations; they ſuppoſe they ſhall goe to bed, and to reſt in their winding ſheet. Ah! do ſuch vain men conjecture, the ſin which is the great Promoter, Wolfe, Lyon, Tyger of the ſoul, will ceaſe its purſuites when the ſinner comes to the grave, or will be bribed by the rhetorick Heb. 9. 22.of a worme? Sin to a wicked man is like a tormenting diſeaſe to the poor helpleſſe patient, which will not be inchanted with good words, but will be at the heels of death, as the meſſenger of Gods wrath, to lay hold upon the ſoul immediately, and nonſuite it to everlaſting loſſe and miſery. Theſe deluded ſinners, who ſuppoſe that death will crucifie all their troubles, and obliterate all their calamities, doe but take up their reſt in a ſhadow, death ſhall not rocke their ſouls aſleepe, though it caſt their bodies into a temporary ſwoon.
Others look on death, as a thing of courſe, and they cry, we muſt all die ſooner or later. And it is the inquiry of the world when any die, more what he hath left, then where is he gone; the inqueſt is rather after his wealth, then his ſoul. Moſt men look upon the ſetting of their lives, as we do upon the riſing of the Sun, as a thing common and inobſervable. And is this all, deluded Sinner? It is true, when the Modus moriendi, the way of dying, is ſtrange and prodigious, then greater impreſſions are made; but otherwiſe the thing it ſelf is but the ſubject of a talkative diſcourſe. But let the Vulgar of the World ſteep their thoughts in this meditation; death determins us to the throne, or the wrack for ever. It is either Chriſts herald to proclaime concerning the deceaſed Saint, Thus ſhall it be done unto Eſth. 6. 11.the man, whom the King delighteth to honour, as Haman cryed before Mordecai: Or elſe it ſhall be the Sergeant of God ſent to arreſt the ſinner without bail or mainprize to under goe the ſtroake of eternall vengeance.
In a word, let us ralley up the follies of moſt men into theſe foure ranckes:
1. The ſick patient, he cries out for death, to take him out of the furnace of his torment, that his diſeaſe and diſtemper may be at an end. But let me tell the Patient, if he is ſick of ſin, death will be a bad Phyſitian, it will heighten his diſeaſe: turne the rod into a Scorpion, will turn the mild ſoft diſtemper, imagine it in the higheſt torture the Patient undergoes, into a miſcellany of all torments, let them be boyld to the height.
2. The diſcontented ſinner, whoſe diſappointments and loſſes in the world fill him with agonies and perplexities, he hanging upon the Croſſe, ſtretches out his armes to embrace death, and ſuppoſeth that it will eaſe him of all his pangs and vexations; but fond ſinner, death to the wicked, is but a Goale delivery, and how fretfull wilt thou be, when thy ſoul ſhall be diſappointed to eternity?
3. And the old, decrepit, bed-rid ſinner, whoſe body is a common hoſpitall; who hath a bundle of diſeaſes, and a ſyſteme of diſtempers about him, who hath more diſeaſes then veins; ſo that if Galen had loſt any diſeaſe to treat on, he might finde it in him; he courts and cals for death, and waits for one iſſue more, among all the reſt, an iſſue out of the world. But doth ſuch reumatique, flegmatique, decrepit, frantique ſinners ſuppoſe death will be a crutch to keep them from falling into hell? Surely thoſe diſeaſes which attend nature in the ſocket, in the declenſion of it, if grace have not cured them, death ſhall turne them into inſupportable maladies.
4. And the tired worldling who hath gone himſelf out of breath in the purſuance of world affaires, he looks upon death as a quiet and retired chamber to reſt in. But let ſuch a one conſider, if in all his purſuites he hath not followed an intereſt in Chriſt, and made that the object of his ſweat, he ſhall take up his lodging in a bed of eternall flames.
Not to amplifie the argument further, Death doth not ſtrangle the ſinner, or ſtiffle the Saint, but only ſerries them both over to eternity. But it ſhall land them at a different place, as may be manifeſt upon the review of theſe particulars.
And firſt let us obſerve what death is to a believer.
Death is the believers change, his alteration, not his execution, his tranſplantation, not his diſſolution, When Job 14. 14.a believer dies, God doth but take a flower out of the wilderneſſe, and plant it in his Garden, or take a roſe out of the field, and put it in his boſome. Joſephs change from the Priſon to the Gen. 42. 12.Throne, from being a Priſoner to become a Prince; and Jobs change from Job. 41. 39.the dunghill to a reduplicated condition, were but the pregnant prefigurations of the Saints change by death. It doth only change the copy, the ſtate, the countenance of a child of God, and make him who looked pale with trouble and miſery here, look freſh with glory and beauty for ever. Death to a Saint only turnes the ſcale, 2 Cor. 4. 17.and makes it weigh down with a weight of eternall glory. As the Moon after its change comes to its full; ſo death it placeth the poor, inconſiderable, derided, ſcoft Saint, whoſe body it may be is covered with ſoares, and ſoul beleaguered with agonies, and name with reproaches, and eſtate with loſſes, in the throne of boundleſſe felicity, and ſets the Crown of immortality on his head.
Death is the laſt day of a believers non-age; whileſt the Saints live here, they live upon a Penſion, the allowance of providence, they are under age; but death brings them to receive their portion, and therefore heaven is called an inheritance. Death is the laſt day Si tanta & tam ſuavis eſt a…ha, quam deus hic ſuis largitur, quanta erit hareditas ipſa, quam ſuo tempore praeſtabit? A Lap.of the Saints Apprentiſhip, it manumits the Saint to eternall liberty. Here all the Saints are like Jacob, they ſerve for their Ruchels, and death puts a period to their ſervitude, to all their longings, groanings, ſighs, to all the harſhneſſe they endure, all the toyles they ſuſtain, all the bread of adverſity, Obſerva quod Chriſtus non dicit, ut ſerviant mihi Sancti, ſed ut videant gloriam meam. Muſc.and water of affliction they feed upon.
In a word, Death frees the believer from all, not only his labours, but from his mean allowances, as he is an heir under age, an heir of promiſe (obſerve the word promiſe) and puts him in poſſeſſion of the full tranſcendent revenues of everlaſting, never-dying honour and glory. Death is the Saints Secretary to write his releaſes.
Death brings the Saint into the ſame preſence-Chamber with Jeſus Chriſt; Joh. 17. 28.it opens the door for the Saint to come in to God, and a conclave of Angels: the life of a Saint here is but an unkind wall, an injurious lattice between Chriſt and him; now death breaks down this wall, and opens the wall for the Saints entry to lie in the everlaſting embraces of Jeſus Chriſt, it Cant. 2. 14.plucks up the hedge that the Saint may Mors piorum nihil allud eſt, quam foreign ad Chriſtum; laetabatur Patriarcha Jacobus, cum videret currum a filio Joſepho miſſum; & nos contriſtabimur quando coeleſtis Joſeph currum nobis mittit quo in coelum evehamur? Ger.goe over to his beloved, it draws the curtain that the believer may have a full view of the beauties of Chriſt, it doth as it were pluck the maske from the face of Chriſt, to preſent him in his ſweeteſt lovelineſſe to the Saint. Death takes away all obſtructions and impediments of an abſolute and entire fruition of the Lord Jeſus; while we are here, we may receive a letter from Chriſt now and then in Goſpell communion, but death lodges us in the boſome of our pretious friend. Death is the fiery chariot to bring us to the Court of Chriſt.
Death is the reſt and ceſſation of a believer from all his diſquieting, and tumultuous diſturbances in the world, foreign, the quiettation of a Saint. A learned man obſerves, that foreign, reſt, is the ſame with that which the Hebrewes call foreign refrigeration or refreſhment. And ſo death indeed, is nothing but the unlading of a Saint of all his burdens, the cloſing after the ſunſet; it layes the body of a believer in a ſweet ſleep for a while, and brings his ſoul into the banqueting houſe of In altera vita deus ſanctos ab omnibus miſeriis liberatos, in vera & prepetua quiete, laetitia, gaudio, & gloria conſtituet. Chemn.eternall felicity. Here the poor believer is ſcorcht ſometimes with the heat of Gods wrath; ſometimes with the ſtorming of Saints malice, ſometimes with the boyling of his own corruptions, and ſometimes with the toyles of the affairs of the world; but death takes the Saint out of the heat, Sed in Chriſto, iis qui in ipſum credunt, mors eſt ſomnus, quies & refocillatio. Id.and brings him into the chearing ſhade of endleſſe happineſſe. The Saints diſſolution ſhall unchain him from all his diſtemperatures and oppreſſions he was fettered with here, and ſhall lay him at reſt in the refreſhing, raviſhing boſome of Jeſus Chriſt.
Death is the meſſenger of Chriſt, to bring the Saint newes of an eternall victory; the Herald Chriſt imployes to uſher the Saint to the throne. Here lies the indulgence of the Lord Chriſt, and one pretious fruit of his bloud, That death which was the effect of ſin, the monſter from the womb, part of the curſe which ſin drew upon the head of mankind, is now bloſſomed into a rare bleſſing, and is under Chriſt the Saints beſt friend, the honourable Ambaſſadour of Chriſt to tell the Saint of an approaching crown.
But now let us traverſe the darke ſide, and ſee under what wofull notions we muſt paraphraſe upon the death of the wicked.
Death to the wicked is an inlet to eternall wrath, it opens the ſluces of divine indignation, it powres out and unſtops the vials of Gods diſpleaſure upon the reprobate ſoul; thoſe drops of anger which here in this life, ſometimes blaſted and ſcorcht the ſinner, death turnes into a perpetuall ſtorme, and ſets the reprobate as a marke for God to ſhoot all his arrowes of diſpleaſure againſt him. Here indeed in this life, the fierceſt anger God drawes out Hab. 3. 2.againſt a ſinner, is full of mixtures of mercy and pity, is attempered with bowels and compaſſion; hath its intermiſſions and breathing times, hath its pauſes and ſtops; but death ſhall caſt Rev. 6. 17.the ſinner into the furnace, whoſe heat ſhall not be allayed by any mitigation.
Death to the ſinner is his particular doomeſday, the firſtday of his dreadfull account; as ſoon as ever death divorces Heb. 9. 27.vorces the ſoul from the body, and gives Seneca & Philoſophi aiunt; Mors homini natura eſt non poena, immo vero ipſe dico; mors homini poena eſt, non natura. Corn. A Lap.the parting blow, God paſſeth an immediate ſentence of eternall death upon the widowed ſoul, and the Lord begins the execution of the deceaſed ſinner, which ſhall never be overtaken with a cloſe or end. Then the ſinner ſhall begin to reape the fruit of all his evill wayes, and paſſively diſcharge every particular debt. Then all the wounds of a wicked mans conſcience ſhall feſter, and ranckle with intolerable pain, and Gods executions ſhall finde out every vaine thought, and die it in the bloud of the ſoul, death immediately Mors eſt peccati comes, filia, & ſtipendium.in its ſtroak ſummons the ſinner to the bar to receive the ſad ſentence and doom, which ſhall be to all eternity in the execution; vengeance doth but wait for a ſinner till the clock of death ſtrikes, and then it ſeizeth on him, as an everlaſting prey.
Indeed the ſoul being the nobler part of man, and ſo the more blameworthy as caſting it ſelf away upon the account of ſin, and likewiſe being the principall agent in all offences, for the poor body is dragged and animated by the ſoul to all miſcarriages, that gives life and will, and love to all corporcall iniquities, the body of it ſelfe being but a dead piece of clay. I ſay, the ſoul being thus the grand agent in all ſin, it receives its doom firſt, and fals under its wofull execution, and death doth caſt it upon the ſpikes of immediate and everlaſting ruine.
Death to the ſinner is the ultimate period of all his comforts, all his good As the Poet ſaith, Mors ultimalinea rerum; and I may in reference to the wicked, ſolaminum too.dayes are buried in the grave with him. No lightning of comfort followes the thunder of his death: when once the ſinner dies, there is no hope left, of ever enjoying again a ſmile from God, applauſe from the world, refreſhment from relations, ſupplies from the creature, ſweetneſſe from ordinances, or ever lying in the ſhade of any relaxation. In dying the ſinners ſun is ſet, with all its beams of mercy and conſolation, the darkneſſe of the night of death, as Joh. 9. ….death is called ſometimes, ſhall bury all colour of ſatisfaction or eaſe to the ſinner.
In a word, to cloſe this Chapter, Death in the generall, is not mans concluſion, but his initiation to joy or torment, rather the budding then the withering of his being. In death the 2 Cor. 5. 8.ſoul is neither muſt out, nor rockt aſleep; death is but the Alarum of the ſoul to triumph or tribulation. Death is not a gulfe, but a gale, not to drown the dying patient in, but for him to paſſe thorough; it can no more bury the ſoul, then the grave could detaine the body of Chriſt. Finally it is mans ſummons, which cites both Saints and ſinners before God, the courtiers to attend and waite on his throne, and the priſoners to heer and undergoe their doom.