WEe reade in one of the Evangelists that Jesus took a little childe [a living childe] and set it in the midst of them, to teach them the doctrine of hu­mility: In like manner wee have a little childe this day [a dead childe] set in the midst of us, to teach us the lesson of our Mortality. Hee that runs can read it, but it will ask some time to stand still and learn it. Yet such is the temper of God his people, of such teachable spirits are they,She died in the 12th. year of her age; pro­portionably here are twelve meditations offer themselves to you. that [as it is prophesied of them Esay 11. and I may allude to it [a little childe shall lead them. And I may say of our dear sister [as the scripture saith of our brother Abel] being dead shee yet speaketh. The language of the present providence speaketh these twelve things.

They rue Adams sin who have not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression.

The day of ones death is better than the day of ones birth, as much as the outgate of troubles is better than the in let to it.The Thraci­ans were wont when a childe was born to weep or lament, considering the miseries it was to undergo: but when one died there was mirth and joy, consi­dering the mi­series hee was freed from. It was not Lazarus his rest that Christ wept over, but hee wept that Lazarus must come to his conflict again.

There is a time to be born, and a time to die; and the time of life is so short, that the Holy Ghost doth not vouchsafe to men­tion it, and the experience of some finde it to be but a step [à tu­mulo ad tumulum] from the womb to the grave.

God gives life to whom hee will, and hee may take away life when hee will.

A Babe in Christ is better than a Man out of Christ: it is better to sleep in Jesus than awake to sin; to die in the Lord than to live to your selves.

If not a sparrow from the house top, surely not such a flower out of ones bosome as a childe, can fall to the ground without a providence.

How much better is it to be a ch [...]lde of God, than to have a childe from God? for once a childe of God, and for ever his.

Dying comforts give up the ghost, but still there is a living God to rest upon.

There is a name better than of a Son or Daughter, an Everlast­ing name that shall never be cut off: How much better is it to have our name written in heaven, than to have our name propa­gated in a lineal descent upon earth?

You must not fix your eye upon the worlds moveables, a wan­dring glance sufficeth when you look upon flitting objects, which you ought to look upon as going as well as coming: When you see how light som it is upon the sun rising, think how dark it will be when the sun sets.

Children are uncertain joyes and certain griefs; witnesse the imposition of the names upon the two first children that ever were born, Eve the mother of all living called her first childe Cain, which signifies a possession; yet calleth her next childe A­bel which signifies vanity.

Some whom God hates [as the wicked] may live long, but it is to fill up the measure of their sins, and to encrease their tor­ment in hell, and their misery is to be pityed: Others whom God loves [as the godly] dye sooner, and are quickly inYoung ones ripe for heaven God crops off as choise flowers, and puts them in his bosom. heaven, and their happynesse must not be envyed.

All these things the party deceased while dead yet speaketh: there is one thing more which the party now dead (while living) did bespeak, and that was a Text of Scripture to be discoursed upon by mee; yet before I name it, I shall carry you to the con­sideration of this observable circumstance: I can say of it [as it is in the place of Proverbs concerning Lemuel, mutatis mutan­dis] The words and the prophesie that her mother taught her: A good pattern for mothers [whose opportunities a e many] to be dropping good instructions betimes into the hearts of their [Page 3] children: It was Timothy's commendation, that from a childe he had known the holy Scriptures. For them that travel into a farre countrey, how beneficial is it before-hand to learn the la [...]g [...]age of that countrey? You traine up your children [I hope] for heaven, you intend they should travel to Canaan, be feeding them in state of Infancy with the milk and honey of Canaan, teaching them to speak the language of heaven before they come thither.

The divine Sentence chosen to my hand, and the Oracle at which wee are now to consult, is,

THe designe of the Apostle in this Epistle is to hold forth Christ in the excellency of his Nature, Person, Offices; chiefly in his Pri [...]stly Office, as appears by chap. 8. 1. Now of the things which wee have poken [or which are to be spoken [...] will beare either] this is the summe [or the he [...]d, th [...] c [...]t, the [...]p of all; so he word [...] will signify.] Wee have such an hig [...] Pri [...]ct, &c. so that the main subj [...]ct and argum [...]nt yea the emi [...] a [...]d the top noti n of the Epistle which hee disc [...]urses, is the priestly Office o [...] Christ: And of it hee speaks largely in this nin [...] chapte [...], and h [...]e touch [...]th [...]p­on it in the contex.

The words in this seven and twen ieth verse being the branch of a similitude, they cannot be re [...]d with th [...] full s [...]ns [...] o [...] them, without calling in the following word, v. 28. so Christ was on [...]e offered, &c. and therefore I sh [...]ll not so much take the l berty, as submit to the necessity of handling them in this conjunction.

I seeking rath [...]r to profit than to please and knowing that [aequè mala est & nimi [...] & [...]ull [...] di [...]isio,] m [...]cing a text is as bad as not to divide it, shall rest in this plain and [...]m [...]liar division of the words.

Here is,

• 1. A word of connexion, And.
• 2. The notes of comparison, As and So.
• 3. The terms of the similitude, It is appointed for men once to die, &c. Christ was once offered, &c.

I shall not dwell upon the connexion, nor descant upon the notes, nor spend time in a curious suit [...]ng and exact fitting the se­veral parts each to other; for a similitude is a tender thing and must not be vexed, and though it suit not in every word and syl­lable, every letter and punctilio; it suffices if it agree in the main, the drift and scope of it being illustration. Now the Apostle discoursing the sufficiency of Christ his sacrificing himselfe once for all, shews it by a resemblance, men dye once, Christ offered himself once, nothing cometh between mans death and judgment, and no other sacrifice between Christ his offering up himself and his coming to judgment.

I shall glosse upon the letter of the words, and give you what I conceive to be the minde of the holy Ghost in them, and then raise doctrinal conclusions out of them. For the opening of the words, I will propound and answer, These five Queries:

1. Q. What it is to dye?

Answ. The Scripture mentioneth, 1. A death in sin, Eph. 2.1. 2. A death to sin, Rom. 6.2. 3. A death for sin, Rom. 6.23. The first is proper to the unregenerate. The second is proper to the regenerate. The last, if you understand it of eternal death, is only the portion of reprobates; if of a temporal death, is the lot both of the wicked and the godly. Spiritual death is the sepa­ration of the image of God, holinesse and righteousnesse from the soul; temporal death is a separation of the soul from the body; eternal death is a separation of soul and body from a sight of the face of God for ever. The death I shall discourse is temporal or corporal; and thus [as I hinted before] to die is to have the knot untyed, the union dissolved between soul and body. As for God to depart from the soul is the death of it; so for the soul to de­part from the body is the death of it. Rachels soul departing, shee died, Gen. 35.18.

2. Q. What is meant by appointed?

Answ. The Greek word is [...], rendred statutum est, di­vine [Page 5] scil. consilio: It is appointed in the Decree of God. The Scri­pture gives us a copy of that Decree, pronounceth the Statute, and if wee search when and where, and upon what the Statute was enacted, wee shall finde the original Record and Roll is Gen. 3.9. Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return: which was spoken in prosecution of that threatning Gen. 2.17. In the day thou eatest thou shalt dye. Both which texts, though primarily spoken of Adam, yet secondarily include us, hee being set up as a publick person and the representative of all his posterity. Note also, that it is sin that hath brought upon men this necessity of dy­ing; for though Gen. 2.7. it is said, God formed man of the dust of the ground: yet it was not said, Unto dust thou shalt return, till man had fallen by sin. God decreed death as a punishment of sin. Sin grafted death upon the stock of nature. Rom. 5.12. By one man sin entred into the world, and death by sin.

3. Q. What Men are here meant?

A. The expression is indefinite and equivalent to an universall call in the fore-quoted place Rom. 5.12. and hear what mo [...]e it can say, By one man sin entred, &c. and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Our act being included in Adam's [with his eyes we saw, with his hands we took, with his mouth we did eat the forbidden fruit] by a just law the sentence of death passed on re [...]cheth him, all men. If you do not flatter your selves, in both these glasses God sets before you this day, both of Scripture and Providence, you may see the image of death in your own faces. All of you may look upon your selves as dead men, the sentence is passed upon you: And such a one is, and is called in law, a dead man that is sentenced, though hee be not ex­ecuted till many dayes after.

4. Q. What is meant by once dying?

A. Once in Scripture is taken two waies: 1. As opposed to inconstancy and uncertainty of continuance, Psal. 89.35. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. And thus it signifies firmly irrevocably, it shall surely be accomplished. I finde a late Commentator of great worth referring the word once in my text to, appointed, reading the place thus, It is once ap­pointed for men to dye, and that once shall stand, there shall ne­ver be any altering of the Statute, there is no need to make a new [Page 6] law upon the point, God hath once settled it, and it is settled for ever. Though this be a truth, yet the letter of the words in the origin [...]l seem not so m [...]ch to favour it; for it is not [...], but [...]. 2. As opposed to repe [...]ition or frequency, to a second time; as in that speech of Abishai, 1 Sam. 26.8. Let mee smite him to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time: and thus it signifi s once and no more, once and not again. And so is it taken in this Ep [...]stle: ver. 26. of this Chapter, once is oppo­sed to oft: ver. 28. it is said that Christ was once offered; which is interpreted Chap 10 10. where hee speaks of the offering of the bo [...]y of Jesus Christ once for all.

Now take the word once either of the wayes; both wayes doubts may be started concerning some who did not dye once, con­cerning others who are said to dye twice. For the former sort, the in [...]ances of Elijah and Enoch are urged; the one went up by a whirlwinde into heaven, 2 K [...]ngs 2.11. the other was translated that hee should not see death, Hebr. 11.5. But it is answered, These persons were under the obligation of death as well as o­thers: As Adam, though hee did not dye tha day h [...]e sinn [...]d, for his life was reprieved till h [...]e was nine hundred and thirty yeares old, yet from the moment hee sinn [...]d m [...]rtal [...] era he was sub­ject to death, and brought himself d wn to [...]h c [...]d i n of mor­tality. So Elijah and E [...]och, though the [...]r soul [...] and bodi s were not sep [...]rated as other mens, but caught up og [...]her on a sudden to partake of the glor fie [...] state, were in just c lvable to [...]he str [...]ke of death even whilest mercy ward [...]d of th [...] blow. Again, these persons did undergo that which was p [...]op [...]table an logi­cal: this their translation was in stead of d a [...]h; they did suff [...]r a change, as they that are living at Christ his last coming shall, 1 Thes. 4.17. and w [...]ich is the m [...]stery Paul shews us, 1 [...]or. 15. 51. And hee expresses it as his desire [ [...]t it might be] [...]o goe to heaven on this manner, and takes it for grant that others are as ready to wish it as himself, 2 Cor. 5.4. Not that wee would be unclothed, but clothed upon, [if men might have their choice, who had not rather keep on the clothing of his body and have a new suit of glory put upon it than lay it down] that mortality might be swallowed up of life [of life eternal, then that temporal life [Page 7] should be swallowed up of mortality]. Lastly, these persons who were bound to have payd the debt of na [...]ure, as well as o­thers if God had strictly held them to it, were freed by the spe­cial di [...]pensation his grace for special purposes of his glory. Much might be said in the gen ral concerning the extraordinary holiness of both these persons, and God as an act of favour taking them up alive to glory, would let the world know how highly hee esteems those that walk with him, fear him, love him and obey him in ve­ry sinfull corrupt times, such as were those in which they both lived. The special reasons assigned are these: For Enochs trans­lation, God hereby [in the very non-age of the world and infan­cy of the Church] would give the faithfull Patriarchs a document of the resurrection and life eternal. It may be thus made out: the first man that dyed was a martyr, and dyed for religion; now as in Abels death they were taught to prepare for sufferings, so in Enochs translation they were taught a lesson of the happinesse of the glorified estate which would make amends for all. And you may observe Hebr. 11.4, 5. presently after the Apostles men­tioning the death of Abel, hee mentions this translation of Enoch, giving notice in both of the different fruit of holinesse in respect of God and evil men; by men it is persecuted even to death, by God rewarded even to everlasting life. For Elijahs rapture, this is made a type of Christ his ascension. Elijah was caught up to hea­ven as hee was talking with Elisha. And the Lord Jesus after hee had spoken unto them (i. e. Apostles) hee was received up into heaven, Mark 16.19. Elisha was an eye-witnesse of Elijahs ra­pture, hee saw it, saith that text 2 Kings 2.12. And so Acts 8.1. Yee shall be witnesses unto mee— but what witness [...]s? eye­witnesses too, ver. 9. When hee had [...]poken these things, while they beheld, hee was taken up, &c. For the other so [...]t of Instances, concerning those that are laid to be twice dead, Epist. Jude ver. 12. I answer the Apostle here speaks of a spiri [...]ual death, of hypocrites that were dead in th [...]ir natural condition, a [...]d dead after profes­sion. Simulata pietas duplex iniquitas: dead originally in the first Adam, dead actually in their own personal transgressions. Twice dead (i. e. according to some) throughly dead, finally and irrecoverably dead: dead not only in reality but in appearance, as it followeth, plucked up by the roots, plainly discovered to be [Page 8] such as had no vital influence from Christ. And for those proper and pertinent instances concerning Lazarus, who had dyed once and then was raised again, John 11.44. and the bodies of oth [...]r Saints which arose cut of the grave, Mat. 27.52. the note of Be­za upon my text may be of use to untye the knot, loquitur Ap­stolus de consueta & naturali hominum conditione, nam quòd La­zarus & alii aliquot bis mortui sunt, extraordinarium fuit. Though it be otherwise in the ordinary course of providence, yet room must alwaies be left for God to make use of his prerogative when and where and how hee pleases. Particular exceptions do not destroy a general rule. Exceptio firmat regulam in non ex­ceptis.

5. Q. What is meant by Judgment, and what Judgment is here meant, whether general or particular?

A. I shall not runne through the various acceptation of the word [...] in the new Testament, I shall take it as Verbum fo­rense, and so Judgment imports a judiciary scanning and trying of causes and persons, and accordingly pronouncing and executing a sentence upon them either of absolution or condemnation. Now judgment thus taken in my text may be understood both of par­ticular and general judgment, of little and great dooms-day; which two admit of these differences. The particular is at the end of mans life, the general at the end of the world: the parti­cular is of some particular persons; the general is of all that ei­ther have been or shall be [called therefore the Judgment of the great day, because of the great appearance]: the particular is hidden and secret, known to the person judging and the party judged, not so to others; the general shall be publick and mani­festative, sinners shall be openly shamed, and saints openly hono­red. In the particular judgment and moment of death, the soul knows what it shall hold to, being sentenced and accordi gly conveyed to a state of happinesse or misery. At the general judgment and resurrection of the body, soul and body being united shall together partake either of the joyes of heaven or torments of hell.

The Doctrines are these:

• It is appointed for men to dye.
  • 1. Death is a stated appointed business.
  • 2. First or last death shall be every mans case.
• But after this co­meth judgment.
  • 3. That which makes death so conside­rable is somewhat that comes after.
  • 4. As death leavs men judgment findes them.

5.Christus mel in ore, melos in aure, jubilum in corde. Paul names Christ ten times in the ten first verses of 1 Cor. 1. ch. Meditation of Christ and his death will sweeten thoughts of death and judgment to us. The Apostle weaves Christ into the discourse [and I would not leave him out] making him the other branch of the similitude, So was Christ once offered to b [...]a [...] the sins of many, &c.

I assume these in order:

1. Doctr. Death is a stated appointed business. Job 14.5, 6. seeing his daies are determined, the number of his moneths are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that hee cannot passe. Turn from him that hee may rest, till he have accomplished as an hireling his day. Not only because mans time is full of travel and labour, but because hee works for a set time, hee is likened to an hireling. Our death, the time of our death, the kinde of it, the manner of it, that wee shall dye, when wee shall dye, how wee shall dye, how long wee shall be dying; whether wee shall be taken off the stage in infancy, youth, or old age by a natural or violent death; whether wee shall take a short step to our long home, or walk through a long and dark entry of tedious sicknes­ses and lingring diseases to the black hall of the king of terrours, all these fall under the decree and appointment of God.

Inferences from the point are these:

1. Inf. Wee should reckon upon death, the decree of GodVoluntas Dei necessitas rei. carries all before it. Job 30.23. I know that thou wilt bring mee death, and to the house appointed for all living. Those in­deed that by men are appointed to dye, God by the greatness of his power can preserve, Psal. 79.11. and loose, Psal. 102.20. but if God hath appointed one to dye at such a time, all the men up, on earth cannot rescue him. Philip King of Macedon had a young monitor that came every day and saluted him with this antheme of mortality, Philippe mortalis es, Philippe mortalis [Page 10] es. The Empe­rours of Con­stantinople had a Mason came to them on their coronati­on day, with choice of tomb­stones, and these verses in his mouth, Elige ab his saxis ex quo (invictissi­me Caesar) Ipse tibi tumulum me fabricare velis. Our dayes are numbred with God, and let us say as Psal. 90.12. Teach us so to number our dayes that wee may apply our hearts to wisedom. True wisedom of improving our dayes begins at numbring our dayes, and this wisedom is not learnt but by God his teaching. God keeps reckoning for us, but wee should in a spiritual way be reckoning of them our s lves on this manner, I cannot live alway, I shall not live long. O let mee live well. Job 16.22. When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return; not return by any power of nature, not return again to the state of nature.

2. Inf. Wee should not be overwhelmed with immoderate sorrow, when wee see [...]his Statute, Law and Ordinance of hea­ven executed upon any of our nearest relations, husband, wife, father, mother, childe, brother, friend, &c. all this was set down before-hand in the Kalendar of God his eternal decree. Under affliction wee must be dumb, Psal. 39.9. I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it: but not deaf, Micah 6.9. Hear the rod and who hath appointed. The rod hath a voice, when you feel the smart of it, hear the voice of it: What doth it say? this comes by God his appointment. Job 23.13, 14. We are of many mindes, off and on in our resolves and purposes; but hee is in one minde, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireths even that hee doth; for hee performeth the thing that is appointed for mee. That I may speak briefly and fully to the present case, I shall descend to particulars: 1. 'Tis lawfull to lament the losse of our friends. Abraham came to mourn for Sa­rah and to H [...]e that looks into the Hebrew text, may see that the word for weep hath one letter less than ordi­nary, quia lu­ctus ejus fuit moderatus, so Buxtorf. to sig­nifie hee excee­ded not in his sorrow. weep for her, Gen. 23.2. Grace doth not come to destroy nature but to rectifie it. 2. To be insensible of the hand of God in it is sinfull. It is an heathenish sin to be without natu­ral affection, Rom. 1.31. and it is a charg drawn up against E­phraim, Hos. 7.11. hee is like a silly dove, without heart. Only the dove laments not when her young are taken away. God will not hold them guiltlesse to whom the losse of a childe in the house is no more than the losse of a cow in the yard: They have the lesse to provide for (think they) and yet through the curse of God upon their stupidity are as worldly as ever; like the hen that now looses one chicken, then another, till the kite hath snatch'd away almost all her brood, and yet shee followts her [Page 11] scraping still. 3. If you keep up the lawfulnesse of the thing, and keep out the sinfulnesse of it, your care must be, that natural affections do not hinder the exercise of gracious dispositions. Wee must not weep out the eye of faith, nor sorrow without hope, Nec sicci sint o­culi nec fluant. 1 Thess. 4.13. you may water your plants but not drown them. They wept, yet said, The will of the Lord be done, Acts 21.13, 14. 4. Yet sometimes the affections of the best Saints have been too strong for their judgments, and strangely overflow'd all banks and bounds of reason and moderation. When Jacob, upon a sight of the bloody coat, supposed an evil beast had devoured Joseph,—he refused to be comforted, and he said, I will go down into the grave unto my son, mourning, Gen. 37.33, 35. So though time was when David could bear warr and blood, the fireing of Ziglag, the captivating of his wives, and still encourage himself (as the text saith) in the Lord his God [1 Sam. 30.6.] yet when God struck him on the weak side, hee changed his behaviour, and in the businesse of Absalom carried himself like a very puny, or baby; hee wept, and as hee went thus hee said, O my son Absa­lom, my son, my son Absalom: would God I had for thee, O Ab­salom my son, my So Virgil expresses Her­cules his passi­on when he had lost Hylas: Rursus Hylan & rursus Hy­lan per longa reclamat avia. son, 2 Sam. 18.33. 5. The great cause of inordi­nate grief is inordinate love. If our love be too much, our grief will be overmuch. The excesse of one affection turns into the ex­cesse of another, [as the sweetest wine degenerates into the shar­pest vinegar]. Jacob doted too much upon Joseph. David was too fond of Absalom. It is the Apostles rule, that they that have wives [and it holds as true of children] be as though they had none, 1 Cor. 7.29. Wee must use perishing things with perish­ing affections, love them as alwaies about to leave them. Outward things must hang loose, like outward garments which wee can soon lay aside. If the heart was but weaned, and wee had buried our friends alive [that is acted over their deaths afore-hand in our own thoughts] it would be such an amazing astonishing thing to part with them when God calls for them. 6. Having pointed at the cause, I will attempt the cure of this distemper, by laying down a few Considerations that may calm our discontents and quiet our mindes, when God shall take away the sweetest flower out of the nose-gay of our creature comforts. 1. Hee doth it that best may. Why dost thou strive against him, for hee [Page 12] giveth not account of any of his matters? Job 33.13, 2. Hee taketh away nothing but what he first gave. 3. When he giveth any thing to us, he doth not relinquish his own right. 4. Is so he may call for his own when hee pleases. 5. Hee takes away nothing but what he will again restore, and that a hundred-fold, if not in kinde, yet in worth, making it up some wayes in some­thing else that is better for thee. 6. God may take any thing away from mee in love but his love. 7. Earthly things are but indifferent things, and why should not I be indifferently affected to them? Here a little joy and a little sorrow is enough. They that rejoyce must be as though they rejoyced not; and they that weep as though they wept not, 1 Cor. 7.30. 8. It was God that did comfort mee by the creature, and God is able to comfort mee without it. I lived upon God alone in the use, and can I not live upon God alone in losse of the creature? My childe, my friend dies, but the Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, &c. Psal. 89.46.9. These worldly comforts are uncertain, but O my soul thou art interessed in covenant-mercies, that are the sure mercies of David. Although my house be not so with God, yet hee hath made with mee an everlasting covenant, in all things ordered and sure: for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although hee make it not to grow, 2 Sam. 23.5. 10. Blush O Christian and be asha­med, if a principle of the grace of God in thee, do not cause thee to do that in obedience to God, which length of time will do; for that will wear off the greatest crosse. 11. Lastly, whensoever the Lord removes any comfort, if wee finde our selves ready to say to the instrument, as did the Owners of the colt, what do you loosing it? you should be silenced, though not with that answer which was returned by the disciples to them, the Lord hath need of it; yet with this, the Lord sees it needfull for us that thus it should be. It was said of Reuben, hee went up to his fathers bed, and so the creature intercepts and way-lays the respects due to God, and then the cistern shall be broken, to bring us to the foun­tain. If a childe have that room in the parents affection which is peculiar to God, though it be a very hopefull childe, God uses to remove it. As if a wife come once to love a servant better than her husband, though hee bee otherwayes a most usefull servant, yet the master will turn him out of doors. If in the fulnesse of [Page 13] creature-enloyments wee wax wanton and insolent against God, death brings a voider, and God bids take away those abused comforts, Ezek. 24.21. —When I take from them the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their mindes, their sons and their daughters. If you set your minde upon a thing, and the heart once grow to it, look for an unsettlement. You may hug a creature so long till you kill it with kindenesse. You may soon wither your best flowers by smelling too oft on them. God takes away that from us, which had first taken our hearts from him.

3. Inf. This doctrine teaches us a lesson of patience: Gods appointment must be mans quietus est. God hath set down be­fore hand how many tedious dayes and wearisom nights thou shalt have, ere the bright morning of eternity dawn out upon thee; how long thou shalt lye upon a sick-bed, before it prove thy death-bed. Job 7.3, 4. I am made to possess moneths of vanity, and wearisom nights are appointed to mee. When I lye down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tos­sings to and fro untill the dawning of the day. Though the time appointed b [...] long, Dan. 10.4. yet At the time appointed the end shall be, Dan. 8.19. Compare Job 7.1. Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? with Job 14.14. All the dayes of my app [...]inted time will I wait, till my change come. Job's condition was sad and sorrowfull, but hee believed a change, and hee re­solved to wait to the uttermost. Though for the present God shew you hard things, yet wait upon God who hath ordained better things for you. In due time you shall have deliverance, in the mean time exercise patience. Till then, mercy must not be bestowed, and it would be no mercy in comparison, if patience be not tryed. Certainty countervails all delayes. And withall re­member, the weights and plummets of mans restless impatience cannot make the clock of Gods appointed time to strike one mi­nute sooner than hee hath set it.

4. Inf. This discovers the sinfulness of sudden rash wishes for death before our appointed time is come. This is in effect to ask God to alter his own purposes: And such persons do but as it were call for death in jest; if it should come in good earnest, they would be loth to give it entertainment. As the old man in the [Page 14] fable, casting down his burden called for death, but when it ap­peared in its horrid shape, hee desired it to help him to take up his burden, &c. To wish for death, only to be freed from the troubles and afflictions of life is very sinfull [which was the in­firmity of Elijah, 1 Kings 19.4. and Jonah chapt. 4.8.] And ab­solutely to wish for death, though it be to be with Christ in glo­ry, is not lawfull; [therefore Paul, when hee was in a streight betwixt two, by submissionSancti habent mortem in desi­derio, vitam in patientiâ. to the pleasure of God for the time made a fair escape, Philip. 1.22, 23, 24, 25.] Wee must not live how wee list, nor think to die when wee list. None of us li­veth to himself, and no man dieth to himself: whether wee live therefore or die, wee are the Lords, Rom. 14.7, 8. If the remo­val (saith one) of the antient bounds and land-marks which our fathers have set be a sin frequently prohibited, how heinous a thing is it to attempt a violation of the antient boundary of our dayes fixt by the decree of God himself? All the time you would live beyond, and all the time you would die before that, is of your own appointment.

5. Inf. This consideration that it is appointed [in the D [...]cree of God] to men to die, should make men willing to die [which is to make a vertue of a necessity]. 'Tis an excellent thing to be a Volunteer in death, when it can be said,Anima egre­ditur non eji­citur. God comes upon the hypocrite firmâ ejectione, seals a lease of Eject­ment, and takes away his soul, Job 27.8. the soul was not ha­led and pulled out of the body, but came out surrendering and re­signing it self to God. That familiar discourse that Jacob had with death, and his cheerfull entertainment of it without dismay­ment, is admirable; Gen. 48.21. chap. 49.29, 33. And Israel said, beh ld I die: I am to be gathered unto my people: Hee gather­ed up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost. They who died for the Lord [as the blessed Martyrs] did, and they who die in the Lord [as all Believers do] should, die willingly. Very no­table is that speech of Hilarion, Egredere, quid times? Egredere, ani­ma mea, quid dubitas? sexa­ginta prope an­nis servisti Christo, & mortem times? Go out my soul, why art thou afraid? Go out, why lingerest thou? thou hast served Christ well nigh sixty years, and dost thou now fear death? If Christians will dye as Christ did, let them have that in their eye which Christ had. Hee became obedient unto death, 2 Philip. 8. hee willingly offered up himself, John 10.18. No man taketh my life from mee, but I lay it down of my self, [and hee laid it down in conformity to the pleasure of God, as it follows] this commande­ment [Page 15] have I received of my father. Hee dyed in contemplation of the decree of God, was slain and crucified according to the de­terminate counsel of God, Acts 2.23. Paul saith of himself, 2 Tim. 4.6. I am now ready to be offered up, &c.

6. Inf. This doctrine informs us, that no man can out-live, and every man shall live out God his appointment. For the first branch: looking upon thy body and finding it in good plight [fish-whole, as sound as a ro [...]ch] thou sayst thus to thy self, Death shall not take mee yet, the grave shall spare mee a while longer, but know thy Covenant with death shall be disanulled, and thy agreement with the grave shall not stand, Isai. 28.18. There was one, Luke 12.19. who promised himself many years, when hee had not dayes to live: And the spirit of God throwes the fool in his face for it, ver. 20. God said unto him, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee. Man cannot add a cubit to his stature, nor a minute to the time God hath assigned him. If God call for it, thou canst not keep thy breath in thy body a moment longer. No man hath power over the spirit, to retain the spirit, nei­ther hath he power in the day of death, and there is no discharge in that warr, Eccl. 8.8. For the second branch: Though it be said of some men over-much wicked, they die before their time, Eccl. 7.17. yet is it thus to be understood, They dye 1. before the time they made account of; 2. before the time they might have rea­ched unto, in the course of nature; 3. but not before the time God had appointed. Psal. 31.15. My times are in thy hand: not in the hands of my friends to lenghthen them, not in the hands of my enemies to shorten them, not in my own hands to dispose of them as I please, but in a better hand, in God his hand, who determined the time of my entrance into, and departure out of the world, and that by an immutable decree, saying, Hitherto thou shalt come and no further.

2. Doctr. First or last death shall be every mans case. It is appointed to men to die, of what sort, rank or degree soever. What man is hee that liveth and shall not see death? shall hee de­liver his soul from the hand of the grave? Psal. 89.48. hence death is called, Josh. 23.14. the way of all the earth, Eccles. 9.5. The living know that they shall die. The longest day hath its night. Hee died: this is mentioned eight times in the fifth of Ge­nesis, [Page 16] and added there to the relation of the long lives of the an­tient Patriarchs [when one man was as many men had many ages now] to shew the unmoveable certainty of that threatning of death against the disobedience of our fi [...]st parents. In the third chapter o [...] Job [upon your perusal of it you may see it] there is an elegant particular enumeration of the several conditions of men, and it is shewn how death seizes upon all sorts, Kings and Coun­sell rs of the earth, ver. 14. Rich men and Princes that had hou­ses full of gold and silver, ver. 15. Children whether abortives, or perfection of nature, ver. 16. Oppressors and oppressed, prison­ers and those that imprison them, small and great, master and servant, ver. 17, 18, 19. The Grave [...] is one of those four things that are never satisfi [...]d, it saith not it is enough, Prov. 30.16. when it [...] postulavit, pe­tiit. hath had the husband, it gapes for the wife: [Mat. 22. ver. 26, 27. there was a woman that had out-lived seven husbands; and, saies the text, last of all the woman died also] when it hath had the childe, it gapes for the parent [witnesse David his Fune­ral meditation, when the childe was dead, hee said, 2 Sam 12.23. Can I bring him back again? I shall The Romans taking their leave of the dead, used this form of words; Vale, vale, nos te ordine quos natura permise­rit sequemur. Hence the word Exequiae. And the custom a­mongst us of following the herse has the like significan­cy in ie. go to him, but hee shall not return to mee] when it hath had one generation, it gapes for another. [Eccles. 1.4. One generation passes away and another generation cometh.] The latter crowds the former out of the world; one goeth away to make room for another. But I come to particulars: Excellencies of the Body [as beauty and strength] of the Minde [as wisedom and knowledg] Worldly excellencies [of riches and honour, power and authority] are no protection against the arrest of death. For the first, strength and beauty, Job 21.23, 24. One dyes in his full strength, his brests are full of milk, his bones moistened with marrow. Beams of bodily beauty are soon eclipsed by sicknesse [Psal. 39.11] wholely darkened by death. Esay 40.6, 7. All flesh is grasse, and all the goodlinesse thereof is as the flower of the field; the grasse withereth, the slower fadeth, &c. Pluck up the flower by the roots, and what then becomes of the goodl ness of it? Man is compared to a flower and a shadow, Job 14.1, 2. and beauty is but the shadow of a shadow, and the goodliness of the flower which oft decayes before it, alwaies with it. Lucian brings in the skeleton of Nar­cissus, shewing his bones and bare skull, wondering what was [Page 17] become of his beauty? Let the beauteous Galate [...]'s, beloved Di­nah's, enamouring Bathsheba's of the world, that have so many roses blown and lilies display'd in their youthfull cheeks know, that ere long their lips must kiss the dust, the filth o [...] the grave shall a­scend the very throne ofThere is this distich in our English chro­nicle of the fa­mous Rosa­mund, Hìc jacet in numbâ r [...]sa mundi n [...]n rosae mun [...]a, Non redol [...]t sed ole [...] quae redolere solet. beauty, worms shall crawle between their fair eye-lips, and eat out those wanton windowes of lust. For the second: Wisedom excells folly as farr as light excelleth darkness, yet wise men dye, likewise the fool and the bruitish person, &c. Psal. 49.10. Abraham is dead and the Prophets, J [...]h. 8.52. For the third: Wealth cannot here raise a ransomDivēsne prisco natus ab Inacho nil in­terest, & infi­mâ de gente sub dio moreris, vi­ctima nil misc­rantis Orci. Horat. Luke 16.22. It came to passe that the beggar dyed, the rich man also dyed. Wherefore should I dye being so rich? said that wre ch [...]d Cardinal Henry Beauford Bishop of Winchester in He [...]ry the Sixths time. F [...]e, quoth hee, will not death be hired? will money do nothing? Lastly, a title of honour is no shield against the stroke of death, and a scepter of power cannot give a man a dispensation from the grave. This short account is given of thoseThese are the several lots they draw in their courses, Regnabo, regno, regnavi, sum sine regno. Kings o [...] Edom they reigned and dyed [Gen. 36.32. to 38.] Princes are likened to twofaced pictures; if you look on the one side of them, they are Gods; if on the other side, they are Men, and shall dye like men, saith Psal. 82.6, 7. Upon Cyrus his tomb was written this Epitaph, ‘ [...].’ And Psal. 146.3, 4. several arguments are brought to take off our confidence in Princes, because 1. They are men, 2. helplesse, 3. mortal, 4. corruptible, 5. not only in the frame of their bo­dies but projects of their mindes. And the order of the words is so set, that the members following are either a reason or some confirmation to what went before: Trust not in Princes, why? because they are the sons of men; why not in the sons of men? because there is no help in them; why is there no help in them? because when their breath goeth forth, they return to their earth; what if their flesh be corrupted? nay their thoughts also perish. I, and your great sword-men too, Alexanders and Caesars, lye down in the slimy valley, and after all their co [...]q [...]ests of others, yield themselves up as conque [...]ed by death, which beares this motto, Nulli cedo: while living they aspired in their desires after great Territories on earth; but dead, a littleNónne tel­luris tres tan­tùm cubiti te expectant? measure of [Page 18] ground for length and breadth will suffice to bury their bodies in: Behold, great and victorious Hercules, the subduer of the mon­sters of the world, when hee was dead, and his body resolv [...]d into ashes, scarcely filled an earthenEcce vix to­tam Hercules implevit ur­nam. pitcher. Saladine the great Turk provid [...]d to have no solemnity at his funeral, and ordered that before his co [...]ps a black cloth should be carried on the top of a spear, and this proclaimed, Saladine the Conquerour of the E [...]st hath nothing left him but this black shirt to att [...]nd him to the grave. I ha [...]e read of a famous Library that hath the Globe of the world set at the one end of it, and a Skeleton at the other, to teach if a man was Lord of the whole world, yet he must dye. And let mee add, the grave puts no d fference between Monarchs and Vassals: As Diogenes told Alexander, he could not in the grave distinguish between the bones of King Philip and other m [...]ns bones. Who can see a difference between the ashes of a tall Oak and an humble Shrub? The grave-dust of beautifull Vashti a Queen, will smell no sweeter than that of the blackest Egypti­an b [...]nd woman.

Appl. If death shall be every mans case, then let every man think of, prepare and provide for death. Ashes keep fire alive, and thoughts of our dissolution into dust and ashes will keep the spa [...]ks of Gods grace alive in us. What place can a man be in, what action can a man go about, what creature can a man behold o [...] make use of, but it may put him in minde of death? Eglon was slain in his parlour, Saul in the field, Ishbosheth upon his bed, Zen [...]charib in the Temple, Joab at the very altar. Jobs sons and daughters were taken away in the midst of their Feasting; the old world in the midst of their building and planting, marrying and giving in marriage;Unus introitus innumeri exi­tus. some have dyed of grief, o [...]hers of joy; some have been consumed by fire, others drowned with water; others torn in pieces by wilde beasts, &c. though there be but one way of coming into the world, yet I had almost said, there are as ma­ny waies of going out of the world as there are men in the world. I have read of som Ph [...]losophers that had their graves alway open befo [...]e [...]heir gates, that going out and coming in they might consi­der their latter end. Think of death in the midst of your purchases. Abraham bought of the sons of Heth a burying-place It is the m [...]re remarkable, be­cause it is the first purchase of possession men­tioned in Scri­pture. for his dead, Gen. 23.14, 15. Think of death in the midst of your plea­sures. [Page 19] Joseph of Arimathea built his Sepulchre in a garden, Joh. 19.38, 41. Let mee tell thee, death looks for thee every whe [...]e, do thou look for it every where. Every step wee take is toward the grave, how carefull should we be that every step we take be in the way to heaven? How safe is it for you to look into the grave before you drop into it? It is said, he that sees the Basil [...]sk be­fore he be seen of it, avoids the poyson: He that with an eye of preparation sees death before it comes, shall not feel the sting of it when it comes. You that will confidently look for life in death, must seriously think of death in life. Some look for death and can­not finde it, but O how sad is it when death findes men before they look for it! Since you came into the world, how many have come into the world and gone out of the world too? Have you seen so many going before you, and will you not think of follow­ing after? Away with such bruitish stupidity amongst men as is in a herd of fatting cattel, where the Butcher cometh to day and fetcheth away one, to morrow and fetcheth away another, &c. and the rest that are left behinde neither misse their fellows nor dread their own desti [...]y. Physitians better their knowledgExperimenta per mortes a­gunt. and gain experience, and shall not we mend our lives, by the death of others? Shall the Christian only be unskilfull in his profession, which is to live religiously and dye comfortably? The Sun knows the time of his going down O that the children of men were but as wise! Rise in the morning, as those that know not whether ever they shall go to bed again, unless in the grave: Entertain every day with such as this, Art thou the last, or lock I for ano­ther? Close your eyes to sleep at night, as those that know not whether ever they shall open them again till the morning of the resurrection. As soonNascentes morimur. Qu [...]ti lie dem­pt [...] est aliqua p [...]rs vitae & cùm cres [...] [...]t vi­ta tum de [...]re­scit. as we begin to live, we begin to dye; and how much the longer time we have lived, so much the the shor [...]er time we have to live. Let us live as those that are alwaies dying, a [...]d yet as s [...]ch that are ever to live in another world. T [...] dye is a work that never any of us yet did, but to provide for death is a work we should be doing every day of our life. Th [...] we must dye, is a thing generally known and granted by all, but [...] live as those that veril [...] believe they must dye once and may dye speedily, is a thing that most [...]re altogether strangers unto, and none are so well aq [...]ainted with as they should. 'Tis appointed [Page 20] to men once to dye, we had need look to it that we dye well, be­cause we are to dye butQuod statu­tum est semel, diu deliberan­dum est. once: We have most reason not to err at all, where it is not possible to err a second time. As one well observes upon the place, actually to err twice is most sinfull, but not to have a possibility of erring again is most dangerous. As the Heathen man said, He would be C [...]oesus while he lived, but So­crates when hee dyed: so saith the wicked man with Balaam, Let me dye the death of the righteous; but if so, you must live the life of the righteous. If you mean to be happy, you must be holy. If you expect happiness, as an host should give you good enter­tainment when you come to your journies end, you must take ho­liness for your companion while you are in the way. If you hope to see the face of God in heaven, you must hear the voice of God on earth. To dye in your sins is damnable, and to live in your sins but one day longer is very hazardous. If you will hearken to counsel [as it will be worse for you if you will not] take this ad­vice [it is God that sends it, though by the mouth of a worm] repent of your sins, believe on Christ, that your sins being pardon­ed, your persons justified, you may live in Gods sea [...], and dye in his favour, rest in his peace, and be raised by his power, and so partake of everlasting glory.

3. Doctr. That which makes death so considerable, is somewhat that comes after. As that which makes life so considerable is somewhat that comes after, and that is death. —the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead, Ecles. 9.3. so there is somwhat that comes after death which makes it so considerable: And if you ask what is that? I answer, Judgment, the Resur­rection, Eternity. The one is of the Soul, the other of the Body, the last is of Soul and Body.

1. Judgment, I mean the particular judgment [the general I shall touch upon in the next point] which is an instating of the soul immediately after death in a condition of weal or wo. Christ said to the penitent thief, To day shalt thou be with mee in Pa­radise, Luke 23.43. And Judas dying went to [hell which is called] his own place, Acts 1.25. Death in comparison was no death if judgment followed not. Immediately after absence from the body follows presence with the Lord, 2 Corinth. 5. verse. 8: [Page 21] And the Sodomites are suffering vengeance, &c. Epist. Jude ver. 7.

2. The Resurrection. Man being arrested by death for a debt of nature, is laid up in the grave, from which common prison there is no bail or main-prise, yet may we hereafter sue out an Habeas corpus, which the Judg of all the world will not deny us at the general Assize, that we may make our corporal appearance, at which time there is to be a Gaol-delivery of all deaths prisoners. There is a shadow of this truth in nature, The body not being cast away, but sown like corn that being buried for a time under the clods, afterward appears aboveEach night [...] but the past daies funeral, and the morn­ing his resurre­ction. ground: But the substantial proofs of it must be fetched out of the scriptures of old and new Testament. Esay 26.19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise: Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust, &c. That text Mat. 22.32. proves two things; the souls immortality, and the bodies resurrection: Our Saviour proves Abraham to be living, because God long after the death of A­braham had said, I am the God of Abraham; so that death is not an utter extinction, for God is not the God of the dead but of the living: He was alive then as to his soul, and as to his body it should live and rise again; for God is the God of Abraham, and it is not the soul only, but the conjunction of the body and soul together that makes up the personQuomodo felices si expar­te perituri? Idon [...]us est refi­cere qui reficit. There are types of it in the blossoming of Aarons dry rod, and in Ezekiels dry bones which in a vision he saw moving one toward another, till they were tyed together by sinews, and covered with flesh, and received the breath of life, and stood up like an army. There is a certain de­monstration of it from the power of God, who can as easily raise the dead, as he did at first c [...]eate them. Therefore Mat. 22.28, 29. Christ tells the Sadduces which say there is no Resurrection, Yee do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God: That almighty power of God which made the Whale after its swallowing of Jonah to cast him upon dry land again, shall one day make the grave (this great eater and devourer of our bodies) to disgorge and vomit them up again. The earth shall cast up her dead, Esay 26.19. God will say to the sea, Give up Rev. 20.13., and to the earth Restore, and all the creatures in the world that have swal­lowed mans flesh, shall finde they have eaten morsells of too strong [Page 22] and hard a digestion for their weak stomacks.The summe of Epicurean do­ctrine is this, Ludo, bibas, comedas, post mortem nulla voluptas. Nemo tam car­naliter vivit, quàm qui negat resurrectionem carnis. To shew that hee arose not as a private but publick person, hee arose with a multitude, Mat. 27.52, 53. Herein man differ­eth from a beast; in dying they are alike, not so in rising again. And for such who think it shall be with them but as w th the beasts after death, they carry themselves but as [...]ruit beasts in their life-time. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ep [...]sus, what advantageth it mee if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink for to morrow wee dye, 1 Cori [...]h. 15 32. Christ is risen, therefore we shall rise; he arose a [...] the first-fruits, as a second Adam, 1 Cor. 15.16, 20, 21, 22. If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. But now is Christ ris [...]n from the dead, and bee me the first fr its of them that sl pt [...] by man came death; by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all dye, even so in Ch [...]ist shall all be made alive. There are instances of such as have been restored t [...] l [...],v. Heb. 11.35 and raised out of the grave [as the S [...]s ch [...]ld [...], the Rulers daughter, Lazarus &c.] and that which ha [...]h been may be; for the hand of God is not withered, nor his power lesssened, nor the difficulty of the thing increased. The Resurrection of the body is called a mystery, 1 Cor. 15.51, 52. and it is one of those flowers in the garland of our Creed, properly an Article of Faith, and therefore no wonder though reason do so much b [...]g [...]le at it. The Philosophers dream'd of a transformation of bodies [into new shapes] and a transmigration of souls [into new bodies] but the resurrection of the body [to be united to the same soul a­gain after a long separation] was a point they understood not, and therefore derided it, Acts 17.18. Certain Philosophers said, What will th b [...]bler say? because he preached unto them the re­surrection. The Funeral solemnities of the Jews about the de [...]d in their imbal nings [Gen. 50.26.] and washings [Acts 9.37.] shewed they expected a resurrection, which is called the hope of the twelve tribes, Acts 26.7, 8. The very same body that dies, shall rise again.Aquileiensis Ecclesia in sym­bolo dicebat, Credo. resurre­ctionem carnis hujus. Th [...] plac [...] is express, Job 19.25, 26, 27. I know that my Redeemer liveth, an [...] tha [...] he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And thou [...]h after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for my self, and mine eyes shall behold and not another, &c. And there is a great emphasis in that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. [...]3. This mortal shall put on immortality. This, not another. Tho [...]gh the [...]ame [Page 23] body for substance shall be raised, yet there shall be an alteration of in r [...]g [...]d of these qualities: 1. Immortal [...]ty, 2. Incorrupti­bility, 3. Spirituality, 4. Pow r, 5. Glory.Concerning other particu­lars of stature, age, &c. I cease to enqui [...]e, be­cause God hath fo [...]born to re­veal them. You have an enum [...]ration of all these, 1 C [...]r. 15.43, 44.53. A clock grown rusty is t [...]ken asunde [...] and d [...]o [...]d wheel fr m wheel, pin from, in, not to b [...] lost but re [...]sh [...]d [...]: Death laies us in the grave where limb [...]rem limb, joyn [...] from ioynt, memb [...]r f [...]om member, not t be iust but set tog [...]t er again in a more glorious manner. H nce [...]e tim of the [...]u [...]ction is called the regen [...] ­ration, Mat. 19.28 [...]cause th [...] [...]ll sh [...]ll be pe [...]f [...]ctly renewed a­gai [...]. In Scr p [...]u [...]e we g [...]t t [...] [...]l [...]mp [...]es of the be [...]u [...]y of a glo­rifie [...] body: 1. in Moses's [...]c, Exod. 34.35. which [...]one so that it d [...]zled the p oples eyes to behold it. 2. In St [...]p [...]en's cou [...]tenance, Acts 6.15. which was as [...]f hee had been [...]he c [...]un­tenance of an Angel. 3. In Christs [...]an figura [...]ion, Ma. 17.2. when his fac [...] d [...] shine as the sun. H [...]s [...]o [...]y [...]s th [...] st [...]ndard [...]o which ours shall be conform [...]d, Phil. 3.21. who shall change our vile body, that it may b [...] fashioned like unto h [...]s glorious body. Th [...] bodies both of good [...]n [...] b [...]d shall be raised, Acts 24. ver. 15. —there shall be a res [...]rrection of the dead, both [...]f the just and u just. Bod [...]es as we l as souls of men are now instruments of sin or service, we [...]pon [...] of unrighteousness or holiness; and there­fore justice [...]eq [...]es that hereafter th [...]y should be suitably punish­ed or reward [...]d, and be v [...]ssels of wrath or glory. Christ shall raise th [...] bodies of the s [...]ints as an Head [Coloss. 1.18.] of the wick [...]d only as a Judg [...] [J [...]hn 5.25 27.] In the resurrection there sha [...]l be an or er kept [1 Cor. 15 23.] and the saints sh [...]ll rise first [1 Th [...]ss. 4.16.] Though all shall rise, yet with a dif­feren [...] s [...] or even, J [...]n 5.28, 29. All that are in [...]he graves shall hear his voice, and shall c [...]me forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurr ction of damnation. As Pharaohs servants came both out of prison but with d [...]ff [...]re [...]t successe; the one was re­stored to his place, the other w [...]s h [...]nged. So Dan. 12 2. amongst them that sleep in the dust of the ea [...]h, some sha l awake to ever­lasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con [...]empt In the Creed the resurrect on of th [...] body s placed b [...]w [...]en the remis­sion of sins and eve [...]lasting l [...]fe. Then only the resu [...]rection is [Page 24] a benefit when remission of sins goeth before and eternal life fol­loweth after.

3. Eternity. It is observed that most of other creatures live long, but dying perish all to nothing: Therefore let them, who complain nature hath given too long a life to a raven & too short to a man, consider that though man be short-lived here, yet dying he liveth elswhereLibenter sum mortalis, qui fu­turus sum im­mortalis. eternally. After death mens conditions are cast for ever. Mercy hath made an eternal provision of happiness to entertain all God his holy ones in heaven: Justice hath prepa­red eternal torments for all ungodly ones in hell. A word of each. For the former, see 2 Co [...]. 5.1. For [this is argumentative and brought in as a sweet support under bitter suffering mentio­ned in the fore-going chapter.] Wee [this glorious priviledg be­longed not to Paul alone, but to other sa nts with him] know [not only conjecturally but certainly] that if our earthly house of this tabernacle was dissolved [death is but the dissolution of the parts whereof man is composed, and taking asunder the soul from the body: as a tent or tabernacle, to which Paul a tent-maker elegantly compares the body, is destroyed not by consu­ming [...]he p [...]rts but taking them asunder. The other words are emphatical too: The body is but an house, and houses will be out of repair, houses will fall in time: An earthly house, a piece of earth neatly made up, which may and must be resolved into its first principles: It is the earthly house of this tabernacle, which was a moveable house pitched into the ground, fastened with a few cords and pins easily removed] Wee have a building of God [so celestial glory is represented in Scripture under t [...]e notion of a city whose builder is God, Hebr. 11. All that rich worldlings can say when they die is this, We know when this house of our body is taken down, we have a stately tomb or s [...]pulchre framed by the skill of a cunning artificer; all which is but terrestrial glo­ry, and amounts but to the building of man.] An house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens [mark the opposition, an house in the heavens, by way of contra-distinction [...]o the earthly house: Not made with hands, so differing from those houses that are set up by carpenters and masons, which are mans handy-work, in framing of which they make use of their hands: Eternal, and so most unlike a tabernacle that is presently dissolved.] For the lat­ter, [Page 25] see Mat. 25 41. Then [the when to this then you have ver. 31. when the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him, and he shall sit upon his throne of glory, then] shall hee say [Christ shall at that day judg not only as God but as man, John 5.27. Acts 17.31. hence you read of the sen [...]ence of his mouth what he shall say] to them on his left hand [ungodly men now give every base lust the right hand of Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ will set ungodly men at his left hand, which is a place of disrespect, as the right hand at which the godly are set, ver. 33. is a place of dignity] d part from mee [the wicked now say to Christ, depart from us, Mark 5.17.In the word de­part there is the punishment of losse, in the word fire the punishment of sense, and ever­lasting makes it insupportable, burning hotter than the fire. and then will Christ return their own words upon them, depart from me: Oh but bless us before we go, No, d [...]part] Yee cursed [and whither are these cursed ones sent? the next words tell you] into everlasting fire [so the wrath of God and pains of the damned are set out by fire, because of the tormenting nature of it. Dives said, Luke 16. I am tormented in this flame. H ll fire burns the soul as well as the body; though it burns both, yet it consumes neither; bodies and souls of those wretched cast-aways shall be incorruptible im­mortal, that so their paines may be endless, as well as easeless and remediless. Hence you read of unquenchable If a drunkard had all his cups about him in hell, he could not with them quench one spark of that fire. fire, Ma [...]. 3.12. the vengeance of eternal fire, Epist. Jude v. 7. these shall be puni­shed with everlasting perdition, 2 Thess. 1.9. these shall go into everlasting punishment, Mat. 25.46. This present world shall have an end, the covenant of day and night shall be changed, the stars shall finish their course, summer and winter shall have an end, but the prisoners of hell shall never be released.] Object Now if any shall question how it can stand with the justice of God to inflict upon men eternal punishments for temporal transgressions: Answ. Let them consider 1. Though the sins of men are finite in respect of the time, yet being committed against God an infinite majesty, they are infinitely heinous, and why may not the punishment then be infinitely lasting? 2. The sins of the wicked are infinite in inten­tione peccantis, in regard of their inward d [...]sposition of minde:Deus punit nos in aeterno suo, quia nos pecca­mus in aeterno nostro. If they should live etern [...]lly, they would with full purpose of heart set themselves to sin against God eternally. 3. Upon the dam­ned reprobates there ever remains guilt, and therefore it is not a­gainst justice they should ever suffer punishment. 4. Some add, [Page 26] not only doth there remain upon them the guilt of all their sinnes committed on earth, but there is a continual addition of new guilt by sins committed in hell [this is asserted by some, though controverted by others]. 5. The damned are clap'd up prison­ers in hell in order to satisfaction: And because they can never satisfie God, they must never be set free: N [...] man that comes there comes forth till he hath paid the uttermost farthing, and not satisfying to the uttermost, he must be tormented to the utter­most, which is the undergoing of an infinity of torments. Adde but eternity in any good, it makes it infinitely good: Oh the bottomless Ocean of sweetness in the word ever, when it is joy­ned with being with the Lord! it is (saith one) like the faggot bond that bindes all the scattered parcels of heavens blessedness together, and keeps them from dropping out. And so on the other side, adde but eternity to any evil, it makes it infinitely evil. E­ternity amazes me to speak of it, and it may astonish you to hear of it, especially you wretched sinners, the smoke of whose tor­ment with fire and brimstone shall ascend for evermore. When as many thousands of years are passed over as there are hairs on your head, as many millions of years as there are sands on the sea­shore, as many ten thousand mill [...]ons passed as there are drops of water in the Ocean, yet these will not reach eternity. Which is described to be an unbounded possession of life which is perfect and altogether. Time is fluid, but Eternity is a standing mo­ment.

Appl. I shall improve the point, By way 1. of instruction to All, 2. of comfort to the Godly, 3. of terrour to the Wic­ked.

1. Ʋse of Instruction to all in two branches: And it teaches, 1.—dicique beatus A [...]te obitum nemo supremā ­que funera de­bet. Not to judg of the happiness or misery of men by their present condition in this pres [...]nt world, but by what cometh after in an­other world. He cannot be miserable in this world, that shall be eternally happy in the next world; nor c [...]n he be truly happy in this world, th [...]t shall be eternally miserable in another world. Luke 16.25. Re [...]ember that thou in thy l fe time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is com­forted and thou art tormented. I have read of a stubborn refra­ctory sinner that is brought in saying on this wise: I will drink, I [Page 27] will swear, I will swagger, I will do what I list, and what then? I will quarrel, I will kill, and I will care for no man, and what then? why then conscience is brought in wispering on this manner, Ah couldst thou say, I will goe to heaven, I will be saved, I will be happy hereafter; this was some­thing, but thou must dye, thou must come to judgment, and must h [...]ld up thy hand at the tribunal of that just God that will render to every one according to his doings. 2. Not to suffer your selves to be wedged down to the present things of this life, but to look beyond life to death, beyond death to judgment, beyond the particular to the general judgment, and so to Eternity. Look beyond life to death, Eccles. 11, 8. If a man live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the daies of darkness for they shall be many. Look beyond life and death to the parti­cular judgment, Rejoyce O young man in thy youth, and let thy heart chear thee in the daies of thy youth, and walk in the waies of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eies: but know thou that for all th [...]se things God wil bring thee into judgment. A wofull Irony: as if hee had said, Tumble down the hill as fast as thou wilt, but be sure thou shalt break thy neck. Take thy fill of thy lusts, but remember thereby thou wilt damn thy soul. Look be­yond the particular to the general judgment, Rom. 14.10. Wee shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And think of eternity, 2 Cor. 4.18. We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal. Your bodies are mortal [like a Venice-glasse goodly beautifu [...]lSplendemu [...] licèt heu quàm citò frangimur: Corpora nostra sunt verè vi­trea., and f [...]ail, brittle, soon broken] but your souls are immortal [and must triumph eternally in the joies of heaven, or fire eternally in the flames of hell] therefore labour for the true treasure of grace, that you may have somewhat in you immortal b [...]sides your souls. Oh s [...]ek after such excellen [...] spiritual good things as may stand you in stead when soul and body shall part at the moment of death, and when s [...]ul and body shall meet again at the time of the resurrection mutually to partake of an everlasting condition. A wicked rich man is compared to a sumpter-horse that bears much treasu [...]e on his back all day, but is eased of it at night a [...]d [...]urned into the stable with his back full of galls and bruises. A greedy [Page 28] Wo [...]ldling is also likened to the hedg-hog that by rowling and tumbling up and down scrapes together a great deal of world [...]y pelf, but is forced to leave it behinde him when hee creeps in at the narrow hole of the grave. F [...]r wee brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out: But they that will be rich fall into a snare, &c. 1 Tim. 6, 7, 9. Earthly things forsake men [a [...] Absalom his mule that went from under him] in the time of extremity, but spiritual blessings will stick to us when the world shall leave us and wee must leave the world. I have sometime met with a story of a man that had a suit, and when his Cause was to be heard, he applyed himself to three friends to see what they would do for him: One answered him, he would bring him as farr on his journey as he could. The second promised him to go with him to his journies end. The third engaged him­self to go with him before the J [...]dg and to speak for him, and not to leave him till his Cause was heard and determined. These three are a mans riches, his friend, and his graces: His riches will help him [...]o comfortable accommodations while they stay with him,Plus valebunt pura corda & conscientiae bo­nae quàm mar­supia plena. but they may take wings and fly away from him before he dye. His friends and kindred will go with him to his journies end, bring him to the grave, and interr his body, and then leave him. But his grac [...]s go further, and accompany the soul when it goes befo [...]e God, and do more for him tha [...] both the other can do. Life is fading, but there is somewhat better than this life which is last­ing, 1 Tim. 6.18, 19. —That they do good, that they be rich in good works, laying up in store for themselvs a good foundation a­gainst the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. Esay 51.8. The moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool, but my righteousness shall be for ever, &c.

2. Ʋse of Comfo [...]t to the godly. There is somewhat after death that make [...] it a blessed thing to you. R [...]vel. 14.13. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, that they may r [...]st from their labours, and their works do follow them, v [...]z. in the glorious re­wards and recompences that free grace h [...]th allotted to them. D [...]ath [...]o the saints is an out-let to sin and an in let to happiness: so that looking upon death in the consequence of it,Mors janua vitae, porta coe­li [...] they may say as J [...]c [...]b, Surely this is n [...]ne other but the gate of heaven. Since [Page 29] no man can see the face of God and live, why should not you be willing to die, that you may see the face of God? O Believers this is you [...] priv l [...]dg; things to come are yours, 1 Cor. 3.22.

3. Ʋse of Terror to [...]h [...] wicked, because the wor [...]t is yet be­hinde; the end of their dayes shall be the begining of those sor­rows which shall never haue end. They have no true comfort in life, no hope in death, but a fearfull expectation of punishment af­ter death. D [...]ath will [...]u [...] a period to all the pleasures of sin, and like a trap-door let them down to hell where nothing will remain but the worm and the fire. The grave and hell have the same word in the Hebrew [...] Sepulchrum in­fernum., and to a [...] ungodly man they are in a manner the same thing: His body cannot be so soon in the grave, but his soul w ll be as soon in hell. Revel. 6.8. Behold a pale horse, and his nam [...] that sat on him, was death, and hell followed with him. The wicked live as if they bad no souls, as if there was no God no judgment to come, no hell, but in another world they shall k [...]ow all this to their torment: There are m [...]ny jolly Atheists on earth, but none in hell.

4. Doctr. As death leaves men judgment findes them. I spake before of the particular, and I might now enter in [...]o a dis­course of the general Judgment but the point is obvious, the field large, and therefore I shall confine my self to these three things: 1. To give dem [...]nstrations that th [...]re shall be a d [...]y of judgment, 2. prove the doctrine, 3. apply it. Of these very briefly. For the first, amongst others I will n [...]me three argu­men [...]s of a day of judgment: 1. The inwaard tribunal erected in mens private consciences, sheweth there is a supreme power to which they must be accountable [ [...]s petty Sessions fore-tell the great Assizee]. Rom. 2.15, 16 —their consciences hearing wit­ness, and their thoughts the mean w [...]ile accusing or excusing one another: th [...]n the n xt thing wee hear of is, the day when God shall judg the secrets of men, &c. 2. Since there are so many unrighteous proceedings of men in their courts of Judica ure, the justice of God r [...]quires that they should app a [...] at a higher barr, where things being called over again all shall be set right and streigh [...]. [Many a [...] unjust Judg that now sits confi ent [...]y upon the bench, shall then stand trembling at the barr] R [...]m 2.5. it is cal­led the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, [Page 30] in opposition to the unrighteousness of men, as it followeth ver. 6. Who w [...]ll render to every man according to his deeds. 3. The decree of God stands firm for a day of judgment. Acts 17.31. He hath appointed a day in the which he will judg the world, &c. Death and judgment are appointed [death prevents judgment amongst men, yet shall one day give up [...]ts dead to the judgmentRev. 20.13. of God]. For the second: con ult Eccles. 11.3. If the tree fall toward the South, or toward the North in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. As trees must down, so men must die. Trees being cut down, some fall toward the South, some toward the North: When men are cut down by death, some go to heaven, others to hell, which two are as farr distant as North and South. The bent and byas of mens desires and actions in the course of their lives will shew whither they are like to go at last. whether to God or the Devil: As where the boughs are most, and greatest, and on which side the tree leans while it stands on that side, no doubt it will fall. The tree once fallen bears no fruit for ever: so death deprives men of further opportunities of doing good. You had need up and be doing, and so while lasts lay hold upon eternal life, least when death comes eternal death lay hold upon you. The harvest is the end of the world, Mat. 13.39. And Gal. 6.7. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. When seed-time is over, it is in vain for them that have sown bad seed to look for a good crop. For the third: This point disco­v [...]rs Appl. 1.The reason why Satan so bestirrs himself at the last cast, and then stickles to purpose to seduce and pervert to deceive and delude a soul because he knows after death he shall never be suf­fered to do it more. Expect a shrewd p [...]rting pull, a terrible storm from the Prince of the Ayre at the hour of death,Morsus morien­tium ferarum sunt ferocissimi. which is the hour of temptation: A besiegers l [...]st on-set upon a castle is most furious, dying beasts b te sore. The D [...]vil must now roar or hold his peace for ev r; if he let go a soul now, it is for ever out of his gun-shot; if he get a soul now, he gains it for ever. 2. The excellency of a good conscience and walking before God with an upright and perfect heart, such a one need not be afraid in health to think of sickness, in life to think of death, in death to think of judgment, but with confidence and com ort may brea he forth his last [...], was the speech of a heathenish philosopher, but may be a lesson for a Christian professor. breath into the bosom of him from whom he r [...] ­ceived [Page 31] his first breath, because though as death leaves men, judg­ment shall finde them, yet neither death nor judgment shall finde him out of Christ. Which leads to the next point.

5. Doctr. Meditation of Christ and his d [...]ath will sweeten thoughts of death and judgment to us. See how the point rises pag. 9. For my method in handling it, I will give you 1. Me­ditations of Christ, 2. of the death of Christ, 3. of Christ as Judg of the world, 4. Apply it.

Three Meditations of Christ.

1. Christ hath delivered the Saints from the power of the grave and f [...]om the dominion of death. Hos. 13.14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death. O death I will be thy plagues. O grave I will be thy destruction. And the Apostle with a little variation app [...]ies this to Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 15.55.57. Death is not the same thing to the godly and the wicked, Psal 49.14, 15.Qui pro nobis mortem semel vicit, semper vincit in no­bis. Like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them, &c. but God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave. Death the King of terrors [Job 18.14] is so far [...] subdued by Jesus Christ the King of saints [Revel. 15.3.] that though it may touch it shall never hurt any of his servants. As in the saints though sin remain, yet the dominion is taken away: so though death remains, the ghost­liness, the evil, the horror of death is removed and taken away by Jesus Christ. But in regard of the wicked it is still in its fu l force and strength, and it is said, the first-born of death shall de­vour them, Job 18.13. and they are killed by death, Revel. 6.8.

2. Christ hath so ordered it, that as death shall not hurt any, so i shall befriend all his servants, and be so farr f [...]om doing them an injury, that it shall do them a courtesie. Christians complain not so much of the death of the body as of the body of death, corru­ption which they carry abou [...] with them; now I may say to all such at the day of death as Moses [...]o the Israeli [...]es conce [...]ning [...]he Egyptians, The enemies [your lusts] whom you see t day you shall see them again no more for ever. You l [...]ok upon sins being in you as your greatest misery, and your being with Christ as your [Page 32] greatest happ [...]ness; now in both these regards, death is put into your joynture or th [...] charter of your p [...]iviledgesIts notable how death is put among Si­ons priviledges and amongst Babylons Plagues, Rev. 18.8. by Christ, 1 Cor. 3.22, 23. All things are yours, &c life and death for ye are Christs. But how is death yours? did you not hear in the second doctrine, that in a sense death is every mans? but it is yours [O Christians] in a peculiar manner as subservient to your happiness. If there was no dissolution, how could you come to be with Christ in glory? A d again, the Leprosie of sin hath so eaten the walls of the house, that it will nev [...]r wholely be gotten out, till the house it self [I mean of this earthly tabernacle] be plucked down, as it is exactly shadowed out Levit. 14.43, 44, 45. But Rom. 6.7. Hee that is dead is freed from sin.

3. Upon Ch [...]ist are founded all a Christians hopes for glory and everlasting life [no argument being sound in heaven any further than it proves men to be in Christ] Christ in you the hope of glory, Col. 1.27. If in this life only we had hope in Christ, we were of all men most miserable, 1 Cor. 15.19. But now we are of all men most happy, for the righteous hath hope in his death, Prov. 14.32. What hope, but that of Eternal life which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ? Rom. 6.23. Christ hath delivered his, from the second death, Rev. 20.6. Hence it is said, Our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and im­mortality to light through the Gospel, 2 Tim. 1.10. Christ saith, Rev. 1.18. I have the keies of hell and of death. None of his can be fetched out of this world by the pursuivant of death, but he must first open the door, much less can any go to hell without his warrant: What need we fear death and hell when Christ our redeemer hath the keyes of both? And how comfortable is it to think that Christ also hath the keies of the kingdom of heaven Mat. 16.19. to open to whom he will? The space between heaven and earth is wondrous great [the comparison is used to set forth the sublimity of God his thoughts above mans, Esay 55.9.] many hundred thousand miles as Astronomers say, yet is there one lad­der by which we may climb up, Jesus Christ, who is the true Jacobs Ladder [Gen. 28.12.Scala Paradisi quae fracta est in Adamo re­parata est in Christo. John 1.51.] the bottom of which toucheth earth in his humanity, the top reacheth heaven in his divinity. The first Adam th ew us down, the second Adam helps us up again; the one cast us out of, the other lets us into Par d se [Gen. 3.23. Luke 23.4 [...].]

Three Meditations of the Death of Christ.

1. As by the death of Christ the hypostatical union was not dissolved, nor the humane nature separated from the divinity: so by the death of saints the mystical union is not dissolved, neither bodies nor souls are separated from Christ: The very dust of the saints is still in Christ his keeping, and though n a most mysteri­ous manner, yet both souls and bodies are united unto him. Hence they are said to sle [...]p in Jesus, 1 Thess. 4.24. to be d [...]ad in Chr st, 1 Thess. 4 16. and their souls to be under the Altar, Rev l. 6.9. Christ is the Sacrifice, the Priest, and the Altar.

2. The grave [that otherwise affords but a noysom smell] is perfumed ever si [...]ce the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Val­lies lay in it. This dark hole is m [...]de lightsom ever since the true light [eclipsed for a time] shone out of it. Sampson found an hony-comb in the Li [...]ns cark [...]sse: Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, from whose death we may suck abunda [...]c [...] of sweetness. His Se ulchre is the sweetest knot in all Josephs garden. Your thoughts cannot be dyed into a richer colour than the meditation of Christ crucified. As Paul did alwaies bear about in the body [so do you in your mind] the dying of the Lord Jesus. The pale face of death looks ruddy when the blood of sprinkling is upon it: Look upon it in the red glasse of Christs blood, and you may see it changing its visage, altering its complexion, putting off its deformity and putting on beauty;Mors Christi mors mortis. Deaths courage is cooled ever since it ran through the veins of Christ: The edg of its sword i [...] abated, since it was sheathed in Christ his side. Our combat is facilitated by his conquest,M [...]rs Christum gust [...]vi [...], non degluti vit. who by dying conquered and disarm­ed death, and so beat it at its own weapon. Christ died ( [...]ith the Apostle Rom. 14.9.) that he might be Lord of the dead: And exercise Lordship over death too, Rom. 6 9. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him, nor over us who have an interest in him. The Bee sting­ing a dead body takes no harm, but stinging a l ving body oft looses both sting and life. So long as death stung mortal men dead in sin [which is said to be the sting of death, 1 Cor. 5.56.] it self was in no dang [...]r, but going to sting Christ [who is the re­surrection of the life, John 11.25.] it lost both sting and strength and is become a dr [...]ne.

3. The ends and intendments of Jesus Christ in his death were such as may be a comfortable support to us in our death. He died [Page 34] for these ends, 1. To make up the breach that sinne had made between God and us. Sin bred a distance between God and man, Christ died upon this account, to remove that out of the way which hindred their frindly closing, and so to bring God and man together. He suffered once the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God, 1 Pet. 3.18. He suffered as a publick person, as the representative of Gods elect, as a surety of Belie­vers, as a sacrifice, to satisfie God and justifie us sinners. Hence he is said in scripture to be a propitiation for sin, to bear our sins in his own body on the tree, to be our peace, to make our peace through the blood of the Crosse: the places are known. I will urg but that Rom. 5.10. where we are said to be reconciled to God by the death of his son. 2. To make sure all the pro­mises to us which are our great cordials of comfort. I will name one that takes in all, and that is the promise of heaven, Heb. 9.15. He is the Mediatour of the New Testament, that by means of death, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal Inheritance. As sin is the strength of the Law and all the threat­nings thereof: so the satisfaction of Christ in his death is the strength of all the promises in the Gospel. 3. To put the devil out of office, who is the accuser of the brethren, and to take away those slavish fears of death that might arise from our own guilty consciences. Heb. 2.14, 15. —that through death he might d [...] ­stroy him that had power over death, that is, the devil, and deli­ver them who through fear of death were all their life subject un­to bondage. How had Satan power over death, but as the hang­man over the gallows, or an executioner over the prisoner; now if a Judg set a prisoner free, what hath an under-officer to do with him? That blood of Christ which satisfies God his justice, may answer all the quarrels of Satan, and satisfie all the scruples of our own conscience. We all standing indebted to the Moral Law; herein lay the devils power over us, that he could boldly accuse us and sue our bond, but Christ by his death hath taken away this power [paying the debt and cancelling the bond] so that Satan is now not an accuser but a slanderer. It is very observable how Old Testament Saints did decline and deprecate death, saith Da­vid Psal. 39.13. O spare me a little, that I may rec [...]ver strength before I go hence and be no more. And Psal. 102 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of my daies, &c. So when it was told him that he must die, how lamentably doth he take on, and [Page 35] what pitifull moan doth Hezekiah make? Esay 38. v. 2, 3. Hee turned his face to the wall and wept sore. v. 10, 11, 14. I am de­prived of the residue of my years: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Like a crane or a swallow so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove. Whereas on the other side New Testament Saints welcom their departure and wish for their dissolution. Saith Simeon Luke 2.29. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, &c. Saith Paul Philip. 1. ver. 23. —having a desire to depart and to be with Christ. You may see a difference, now the reason followeth. The faithfull before the coming of Christ had not so manifest and clear a light concer­ning the future resurrection, concerning the joyes of heaven, con­cerning the happiness of the everlasting state, concerning the par­don of sin, the freeness of grace, and the abundance of mercy that was revealed by Jesus Christ when he actually made our atone­ment by the blood of the crosse. I do not say that the faithfull before the coming of Christ were ignorant of these things, but that their knowledg in these things was not so clear and full as the knowledg of the faithfull after the coming of Christ; hence their hearts did more recoil upon them, their servile fears more prevailed, and they could not throw themselvs with such confi­dence into the jaws of such a devourer as death.

Three Meditations of Christ as Judg of the World [for so ver. 28. the Apostle mentions not only Christ and his death, but his second appearance] to sweeten thoughts of judgment to the saints.

1. There are many sweet relations in which Christ standeth to the saints that is a comfort; our friend, our brother, our husband, our head shall be our Judg, and hee will not endure to have his own members cut off. Think of these relations Relationes sunt minimae entitatis sed maximae effica­ciae., and the affe­ctions of them, and the effects of those affections amongst fel­low-creatures, and look upon them all but as so many shadowes of Christ, whose alliance to us being so near, and his heart so constant, that no glory or advancement of his shall make the least alteration of any respect or office of love which such relations call for at his hand. Greatly comforting and refreshing (saith one) must the thoughts of Christs appearance be to us, when we think of beholding him to be the great Judg of the world, who hath took on him our flesh, who hath given us his spirit, upon whom we fixt our expectation of happiness, for whom we suf­fered [Page 36] from this vile world, whom we alwaies looked upon as our treasure and portion, and for whose c [...]ming we have so groa­ned and longed.

2. Christ the Judg will take the saints as joint-assessours with him in he work of judgment, that is an honour, Matth. 19. v. 28. —When the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Is­rael. The saints are said to be the glory of Christ, 2 Cor. 8.23. And it is sa [...]d he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them th t believ [...] 2 Thess. 1.10. This is part of the revenue of glory tha shall c [...]me to him by you in that day, not a sentence shall pass wit [...]out your votes. And is not this a thing to be admired, that a company of poor contemptible saints [that formerly were vilified and scorned] should when Christ appears appear with him in glory? Col. 3.4. And not only so, but be ad­vanced to such heigth of glory and dignity as to be admitted into an honorable ass [...]ssourship with the Lord Christ, in sitting with him upon the Bench and about the throne of Jud ca [...]ure, and ha­ving all th ir enemies stand before them to be justly judged by them whom here they judged unjustly? And which is yet more, they shall in that judgment appear with Christ trampling not on­ly upon the pride and malice of men out devils al o, consenting to and approving the sentence which Chr [...]st shall pass on evil men and evil angels. 1 Cor. 6.2, 3. Do ye not know that the saints shall Judicio ap­probationis, laudis & glori­ficationis. judg the world: Know ye not that we shall judg angels?

3. Though a sentence of absolution shall be passed up [...]n the saints, yet Christ will not pass [...] on them a sentence of condemna­tion, that is their safety. I know it is doubted by some, whether at the last day the sin of the saints shall come into the judgment of discussion and discovery, but if the r sins be brought forth, they sh ll b [...] br [...]ught forth but as a cancelled bond, a [...]d that they themselvs shall escape the judgment of condemnation, is clear, Joh. 5.24. He that believeth shall not come into con [...]emnation: and it is uttered by Ch [...]ist for the comfort of bel evers upon that fore­goi [...]g speech ver. 22. where he said All judgment was committed unto him. When mention is made Rev. 20.12. of the books be­ing op [...]n d, the next words are these, and another b ok was open­ed which was the book of Life. Venturus est judicare te qui venit judicari pro te. [...]. Non una con­demnatio. Shall not Christ save those from death for whom he suffered death? H shall come to judg the saints who came to be judged for them. They shall never be con­demned, [Page 37] for whom Christ was sentenced, condemned & executed. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ J. Rom 8.1.

Appl. I shall imp ove the point by way of 1. Instruction, 2. Exhorta ion, 3. Consolation.

1. Ʋse of Instruction serves to discover the miserable condi­tion of people out of Christ. Ephes. 2. ver. 12. At that time yee were without Christ having no hope, &c. S n and the Law, the curse and wrath of God, death, hell, devil, and eternal condem­nation, as so many f ll lyons roar upon them, and with open mouth gape for them and threaten their ruine. Such lie open to all danger, have no guard nor shelter. Death gripes them and stings them to the very soul, carries them away us Gods executioner, seizes on them as a merciless officer, takes them by the throat as that cruel servant in the Gospel. There is no special shield against death and judgment, but only an interest in Christ. Lewis the E­leventh charged those about him that they should not name that terrible word death. But you must hear of it, I and there is a dr [...]adfull clause in the statute of dying [as my text tells you] after thi [...] the judgment, and there is no armour of proof will keep the arrow from the quick, but only faith in Christ. You that live in your sins, and love your sins, and sli [...]ht and contemn that Jesus who alone can save you from your sins, in stead of disa ming death and judgment, you put a sword into their hand and arm them both against you. 'Tis storied of a Christian King of Hungary, who being on a time marve l us sad and heavy, his brother that was a resolute Courtier would needs know what he a led, O bro­ther (saith he) I have been a great sinner against God, and I know not how I shall app ar before him when he comes to judg­ment: These are (saith his br [...]ther) melanc [...]oly thoughts, and made a toy of them as Gallants use to do: The King replies no­thing for the present, but the custome of the Countrey was, that if the Executioner of Justice came and sounded a trumpet before any mans door, he was presently to be led to execution. The King in the dead time of the night sends his deaths-man and causes him to sound his trumpet before his brothers door; who hearing and seeing the m [...]ssenger of death, springs in pale and trembling into his brothers presence, and beseeches the King to let him know wherein he had offended? O brother (replies the King) thou hast loved me and never offended me, and is the sight of my Executioner so dreadfull to thee, and shall not I so great a [Page 38] sinner fear to be brought to judgment before Jesus Christ? If your consciences tell you that you are sinners and not saints, no friends but enemies to Jesus Christ, I must tell you J. Christ is an enemy to you, and what a fearful thing must it needs be for a man to think that his enemy shall be his judg?

2. Ʋse of Exhortation stirrs up all true Christians to three things, to thankfulness, diligence, watchfulness.

1. To thankfulness, blessing God above all for Jesus Christ. He is called the gift of God, John. 4.10. and shall we not say as 2 Cor. 9.15. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift? Pre­sently after Paul had said, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, his heart was full, hee could not hold, hee must have a vent, hee adds his doxology, Now unto the King eternal be glory, &c. 1 Tim. 1.15, 17. Judah [out of which tribe it is evident our Lord sprang, saith the Apostle Hebr. 7.14.] signifies confession, praise, cele­bration, implying [as some have observed] that God is princi­pally to be praised for Christ, who being the only begotten Son of God was the choisest love-token that ever was bestowed upod the sons of men. To calm the sea of God his wrath Christ our Jonah was cast into it. When the floods of ven­geanc [...] are rising, Christ is out Ark, 1 Pet. 3.20, 21. when the avenger of blood is pursuing, Christ is our City of refuge, Hebr. 6.18, 19.20. when the Angel is destroying, Christ is our Passeover, 1 Cor. 5.7. A leaf plucked from the tree of Life is the only plaister for a bleeding soul. No rest for the wearied soul, till it sit down on the cr [...]sse of Christ, and there it must sit and sing, Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is within mee, &c. In and through Christ all los­ses are recompensed, all wants supplyed, all curses removed, crosses sanctified, promises accomplished, sins pardoned, corruptions sub­dued, the grave sweetned, death destroyed, life merited, Satan con­quered, hell shut up, heaven opened, in a word, all blessings procu­red. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord J. Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. Eph. 1.3. Christ the blessing of blessings calls for a song of songs

2. To diligence in a daily bearing Christ in your thoughts & hee­ding him in your whole course. Where should a Christian dine but in the grave of Christ? where should he sup but in the wounds of Christ? where should he lodg at night but in the arms of Christ? [Page 39] what work hath he to do all day but to walk with & exalt his crucifi'd Lord? for the father will be glorified in the son, Joh. 14.13. This is to glorifie God in a gospel way, in a higher way than Adam in innocency glorified him, and now it is the only way of honouring God; for Joh. 5.23. he that honoreth not the son honoreth not the father. Marvel not that I presse you to make room for Christ in your meditations, since hereby the comfort of your life will be much sweetned, the bitterness of death allayed, and the evil of death wholely removed. For Christ is your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, 1 Cor. 1.30. your peace, Eph. 2.14. your strength, P [...]il. 4.13. your hope, 1 Tim. 1.1. your delight, Cant. 2.3. your riches, Eph. 3.8. your honour, 1 Pet. 2.7The Greek word is [...].: your glory, Luke 2.32. your life, Col. 3.4. natural life, Joh. 1.3.4. All things were made by him, in him was life and the was the light of men: Spiritual life, Joh. 5.21. The Son quickeneth whom he will. Eternal life, Fp. Jude v. 21. looking for the m rcy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. In a word, your All, Col. 3.11. Christ All and in All. So all in all to the Church, that the Church is call [...]d Christ, 1 Cor. 12.12. As the body is one and hath many members, &c. so al­so is Christ A synecdo­chical speech putting the head for the whole body..

3. To watchfulness against all such doctrines as derogate from the honour of Christ: Remember, all your comfort in life and all your hope in death depends upon Christ, [...]s the vesse [...]s of a house hang up­on a nail fastened in a sure place. Oppose with all your might such as deny Christ in his person, natures, offices. Oppose Judaism, Arrianism, Socinianism, Papism. Oppose the Jews that wholly deny Christs per­son, calling him the deceiver, disowning him for the promised Messi­ah. Oppose such who deny either the Godhead or the Manhood of Christ, or deny the personal union of the two natures in Christ. Op­pose the Socinians, who falsly teach that Christ did not die as a sure­ty in our place and stead, and so deny Christ in his priestly office. Op­pose the Papists, who deny Christs prophetical O [...]fice, while they set up the Pope as the infallible judg of controversies, and deny Christ in his priestly Office, while they mingle the blood of Martyrs with the blood of Christ, and make the Mass a propitiatory sacrifice, as if the sacrifice of Christ was imperfect, and deny Christ in his Kingly office, while they give the Pope a power to make laws to binde the conscien­ces of people & set him up as universal Bishop & head of the Church. Let me leave this note with you, great and fundamental truths are to be maintained with much boldness and strength of resolution. Epist. Jud. v. 3. Contend earnestly for the faith Non fides quâ credimus sed quae credi­tur bic intelli­gitur. that was once delivered to [Page 40] the saints: for the doctrine of faith contained in the Gospel that holds forth to you the incarnation, l [...]fe, death, resurrection, ascension, intercession, whole work of the r [...]demption of Jesus Christ.

3. Ʋse of consolation to all believers, to whom to live is Christ, and Sit scopus vitae Christus quem s [...]quâ vis in viâ ut ass [...] ­quaris in patria to die is gain, Phil. 1.21. To such death is not so much a punish­ment as an emolument, not so much a loss as an advantage, a postern to let out temporal a fore-door to let in everlasting life, the grave not not a prison but a b d Esay 57.2. and the time of the last judgment a time of refreshing, Acts 3.19. That Christian that hath oft parlied with death, in the meditations of the death of Christ, and in the contempla­t [...]on of the cons [...]quences of his own death cannot but rejoic [...] in death, if he know but what the death of Christ means, and what follows on his own death which he hath m [...]ditated upon. The day of a Christi­ans death may be called his marriage-day with Jesus Christ, his a­scension-day to glory, his coronation-day, the birth day of eternity. And i [...] Sc ipture it ss called a sleep Church-yards are called sleep­ing places; I wish our Chur­ches were not so too. Acts 7 60. a sleep in I [...]sus, 1 Thess. 4.14. a gathering to our fathers, 2 Kings 22.20. a change, J [...]b 14. ver. 14. a departure, 2 Tim. 3.6. The nature of death to you is altered, and therefore the name of it is changed. When Tiribazus a noble Persian was arrested, at first he drew his sword and defended himself, but when they charged him in the Kings name and informed him th [...]t they came from the King to carry him to the King then [...]e yielded himse [...]f willingly. So when death claps [...]n ar­rest upon a christian at first he startleth and strugleth [as a man at fi [...]st putting his feet in [...]o cold water shrinks] but when he r [...]collects his though [...]s and conside [...]s that death is sent as a mess [...]ng [...]r fr [...]m Jesus Christ to bring him to Jesus Christ, then he embraces it, and his soul go [...]th as readily as ever Rebeccah did with Abrahams servant to meet Isaac. Though heathens ( [...]s mythologists observe) made death (the d [...]ughter of the night) a goddess, yet they gave her no divine ho­nour, nor Templ [...], nor Pri [...]st, nor Altar, nor Sacrifice, nor festival daies as they gave to other gods; they had no hope in death, as thinking it did ut [...]erly destroy them, or bring them to endless punishments and torments due to a bad life: But a Christian may wish for it [rath [...]r than fear it] as putting a period to sin, sorrow, misery, and leading him by the hand to eternal happiness and the rewards annexed to a holy life: As that Martyr said, It is but winking and you are in heaven.