FOOTNOTES[126]Hic labor extremus, longarum hæc meta viarum est. Virgil.[127]Luke x. 42; Phil. i. 19, 23.[128]Mr. Vines, Mr. Capel, Mr. Hollingworth, Mr. Ashurst, Mr. Ambrose, Mrs. Burnel, &c.[129]Reader, bear with this mixture: for God will own his image when peevish contenders do deny it, or blaspheme it; and will receive those whom faction and proud domination would cast out, and vilify with scorn and slanders.[130]Isa. liii. 10-12.[131]John i. 10-12: iii. 16, 19, 20; Rom. vii. 20-25, 9; Psal. xi. 1-5.[132]Matt. xxviii. 19, 20, 2; John xvii.; Rev. i. 18; Rom. x. 9-12.[133]Heb. xii. 7-9; Rom. viii. 28.
[126]Hic labor extremus, longarum hæc meta viarum est. Virgil.
[127]Luke x. 42; Phil. i. 19, 23.
[128]Mr. Vines, Mr. Capel, Mr. Hollingworth, Mr. Ashurst, Mr. Ambrose, Mrs. Burnel, &c.
[129]Reader, bear with this mixture: for God will own his image when peevish contenders do deny it, or blaspheme it; and will receive those whom faction and proud domination would cast out, and vilify with scorn and slanders.
[130]Isa. liii. 10-12.
[131]John i. 10-12: iii. 16, 19, 20; Rom. vii. 20-25, 9; Psal. xi. 1-5.
[132]Matt. xxviii. 19, 20, 2; John xvii.; Rev. i. 18; Rom. x. 9-12.
[133]Heb. xii. 7-9; Rom. viii. 28.
Direct.I. When you see the sickness or death of friends, take it as God's warning to you, to prepare for the same yourselves. Remember that thus it must be with you: thus are you like to lie in pain; and thus will all the world forsake you, and nothing of all your honour or wealth will afford you any comfort. This will be the end of all your pleasures, of your greatness, and your houses, and lands, and attendance; and of your delicious meats and drinks; and of all your mirth, and play, and recreations. Thus must your carcasses be forsaken of your souls, and laid in a grave, and there lie rotting in the dark; and your souls appear before your Judge, to be sentenced to their endless state. This certainly will be your case: and oh how quickly will it come! Then, what will Christ and grace be worth! Then, nothing but the favour of God can comfort you. Then, whether will it be better to you to look back on a holy, well-spent life, or upon a life of fleshly ease and pleasure? Then, had you rather be a saint, or a sensualist? Lay this to heart, and let the house of mourning make you better, and live as one that looks to die.
Direct.II. Use the best means for the recovery of the sick, which the ablest physicians shall advise you to, as far as you are able. Take heed of being guilty of the pride and folly of many self-conceited, ignorant persons, who are ready to thrust every medicine of their own upon their friends in sickness, when they neither know the nature of the sickness or the cure. Many thousands are brought to their death untimely, by the folly of their nearest friends, who will needs be medicining them, and ruling them, and despising the physician; as if theywere themselves much wiser than he, when they are merely ignorant of what they do. As ignorant sectaries despise divines, and set up themselves as better preachers, so many silly women despise physicians; and when they have got a few medicines, which they know not the nature of, nor how to use, they take themselves for the better physicians, and the lives of their poor friends must pay for their pride and folly. No means must be trusted to instead of God, but the best must be used in subservience unto God. And one would think that a small measure of wit and humility might serve to make silly women understand, that they that never bestowed one year in the study of physic, are not so likely to understand it, as those that have studied and practised it a great part of their lives. It is sad to see people kill their dearest friends in kindness; even by that ignorance and proud self conceitedness, which also maketh them the destroyers of their own souls.
Quest.But seeing God hath appointed all men's time, what good can physic do? If God hath appointed them to live, they shall live; and if he have appointed them to die, it is not physic that can save them.
Answ.This is the foolish reasoning of wicked people about their salvation. If God have appointed me to salvation, I shall be saved; if he have not, all my diligence will do no good. But such people know not what they talk of. God hath made your duty more open and known to you, than his own decrees. And you separate those things which he hath joined together. As God hath appointed no man to salvation simply without respect to the means of salvation; so God hath appointed no man to live but by the means of life. His decree is not, Such a man shall be saved, or, Such a man shall live so long, only; but this is his decree, Such a man shall be saved, in the way of faith and holiness, and in the diligent use of means, and, Such a man shall live so long, by the use of those means which I have fitted for the preservation of his life. So that as he that liveth a holy life, may be sure he is chosen to salvation, (if he persevere,) and he that is ungodly, may be sure that he is in the way to hell; so he that neglecteth the means of his health and life, doth show that it is unlike that God hath appointed him to live; and he that useth the best means is liker to recover (though the best will not cure incurable diseases, nor make a man immortal). The reasoning is the same, as if you should say, if God have appointed me to live so long, I shall live though I neither eat nor drink; but if he have not, eating and drinking will not prolong my life. But you must know, that God doth not only appoint you to live, that is but half his decree, but he decreeth, that you shall live by eating and drinking.
Direct.III. Mind your friends betimes to make their wills, and prudently by good advice to settle their estates, that they may leave no occasion of contending about it when they are dead. This should be done in health, because of the uncertainty of life; but if it be undone till sickness, it should then be done betimes. The neglect of it oft causeth much sinful contending about worldly things, even among those near relations, who should live in the greatest amity and peace.
Direct.IV. Keep away vain company from them, as far as you can conveniently (except it be such as must needs be admitted, or such as are like to receive any good by the holy counsel of the sick). It is a great annoyance to one that is near death, to hear people talk to little purpose, about the world, or some impertinencies; when they are going speedily to their endless state, and have need of no more impediments in their way; but of the best assistance that their friends can afford them. Procure some able, faithful minister to be with them, to counsel them about the state of their souls; and get some holy, able christians to be much about them, who are fit to pray with them, and instruct them.
Direct.V. Bear with their impatience, and grudge not at any trouble that they put you to. Remember that weakness is froward, and as you bear with the crying of children, so must you with the peevishness of the sick; and remember, that shortly it is like to be your own case, and you must be a trouble to others, and they must bear with you. Be not weary of your friends in sickness; but loving, and tender, and compassionate, and patient.
Direct.VI. Deal faithfully and prudently with them about the state of their souls. Your faithfulness must be showed in these two points: 1. That you do not flatter them with vain hopes of life, when they are more likely to die. 2. That you do not flatter them with false persuasions that their state is safe, when they are yet unsanctified, nor put them in hopes of being saved without regeneration.
Your prudence must be manifested, 1. In suiting your counsel, and speeches, and prayers to their state; and not using the same words to the ungodly, as you would to the godly. 2. In so contracting your counsel for the conversion of the ungodly, as not to overwhelm them with more than they can bear; and yet not to leave out any point of absolute necessity to salvation. Alas, how much skill doth such a work require! And how few christians (that I say not, pastors) are fit for it!
Quest.I. But is it a duty when the sick are like to die, to make it known to them?
Answ.Sometimes it is, and sometimes not. 1. Some sicknesses are such, as will be so increased with fear, that the patient that before was in hope of a recovery, will be put almost past hope. And some sicknesses are much different, and are not like to be so increased by it. And some are past all hope already. 2. Some are so prepared to die, that they have the less need to be acquainted with their danger; and some are unconverted, and in so dangerous a case, that the absolute necessity of their souls may require it. When the soul is in so sad a case, and yet the body may be endangered by the fear of the sentence of death, it is the safest course to tell them, that though God may recover them, yet their disease is so dangerous, as calleth for their speedy and serious preparation for death; which will not be lost, if God restore them. So that they may have so much hope, as to keep their fear from killing them, and so much acquaintance with their danger, as may put them upon their duty. But in case there be already little or no hope, or in case the disease will be but little increased by the fear, (which is the case of the most,) the danger should not at all be hid.
Quest.II. Am I always bound to tell a wicked man of his sin and misery, when it may exasperate his disease, and offend his mind?
Answ.If it were a sickness that is void of danger, in case his mind be quiet, and be like to kill him if his mind be disturbed, then it were the most prudent course to call him so far to repentance and faith, as you can do it without any dangerous disturbance of him; because it is most charity to his soul to help him to a longer time of repentance, rather than to lay all the hopes of his salvation upon the present time. But this is not an ordinary case; therefore ordinarily it is a duty to acquaint the sick person, that is yet in his sin, and unregeneratestate, with the truth of his danger, and the necessity of renovation. Alas! it is a lamentable kind of friendship, to flatter a poor soul into damnation, or to hide his danger till he is past recovery. When he is in a state of unexpressible misery, and hath but a few days' or weeks' time left, to do all that ever must be done for his salvation; what horrid cruelty is it then, to let him go to hell for fear of displeasing or disquieting him!
Object.But I am afraid I shall cast him into despair, if I tell him plainly that he is in a state of damnation.
Answ.If you let him alone a little longer, he will be in remediless despair. There is no despair remediless, but that in hell. But now you may help to save him, both from present and endless desperation. He must needs despair of ever being saved without a Christ, or without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, or without true faith and repentance, and love to God, and holiness. But need he despair of attaining all these, while Christ is offered him so freely, and a full remedy is at hand? He must know his sin and misery, or else he is never like to escape it; but he must also be acquainted with the true remedy; and that is your way to keep him from despair, and not by flattering him into hell.
Quest.III. But what should one do in so short a time, and with dead-hearted sinners? Alas! what hope is there? If it were nothing but their ignorance, it cannot be cured in a moment. And is there then any hope in so short a space, to bring them to knowledge, and repentance, and a changed heart, to love God and holiness; and that when pain and weakness do disable them?
Answ.The case indeed is very sad; but yet while there is life, there is some hope: and while there is any hope, we should do our best, when it is for the saving of a soul; and the difficulty should but stir us up to use our utmost skill and diligence. But as it is the misery of such to delay conversion till so unfit a time, so is it too frequently the sin of believers, that they delay their serious endeavours to convert men, till such a time as they almost despair of the success.
Quest.IV. But what shall we do in a doubtful case, when we know not whether the person be renewed and truly penitent, or not; which is the case of most that we have to deal with?
Answ.You can tell whether the grounds of your hope, or of your fear concerning them, be the greater; and accordingly your speech must be mixed and tempered, and your counsels or comforts given with the conditions and suppositions expressed.
Quest.V. But what order would you have us observe in speaking to the ignorant and ungodly, when the time is so short?
Answ.1. Labour to awaken them to a lively sense of the change which is at hand, that they may understand the necessity of looking after the state of their souls. 2. Then show them what are the terms of salvation, and who they are that the gospel doth judge to salvation or damnation. 3. Next advise them to try which of these is their condition, and to deal faithfully, seeing self-flattery may undo them, but can do them no good. 4. Then help them in the trial; q. d. If it have been so or so with you, then you may know that this is your case. 5. Then tell them the reasons of your fears, if you fear they are unconverted, or of your hopes, if you hope indeed that it is better with them. 6. Then exhort them conditionally, (if they are yet in a carnal, unsanctified state,) to lament it, and be humbled, and penitent for their sinful and ungodly life. 7. And then tell them the remedy, in Christ and the Holy Ghost, and the promise or covenant of grace. 8. And lastly, tell them their present duty, that this remedy may prove effectual to their salvation. And if you have so much interest or authority as maketh it fit for you, excite them by convenient questions so far to open their case, as may direct you, and as by their answers may show whether they truly resolve for a holy life, if God restore them, and whether their hearts indeed be changed or not.
Direct.VII. If you are not able to instruct them as you should, read some good book to them, which is most suitable to their case: such as Mr. Perkins's "Right Art of Dying Well;"—"The Practice of Piety in the Directions for the Sick;"—Mr. Edward Lawrence's "Treatise of Sickness;" or what else is most suitable to them. And because most are themselves unable for counselling the sick aright, and you may not have a fit book at hand, I shall here subjoin a brief form or two for such to read to the sick that can endure no long discourse. And other books will help you to forms of prayer with them, if you cannot pray without such help.
Direct.VIII. Judge not of the state of men's souls, by those carriages in their sickness, which proceed from their diseases or bodily distemper. Many ignorant people judge of a man by the manner of his dying: if one die in calmness and clearness of understanding, and a few good words, they think that this is to die like a saint. Whereas in consumptions, and oft in dropsies, and other such chronical diseases, this is ordinary with good and bad: and in a fever that is violent, or a frenzy or distraction, the best man that is may die without the use of reason: some diseases will make one blockish, and heavy, and unapt to speak; and some consist with as much freedom of speech as in time of health. The state of men's souls must not be judged of by such accidental, unavoidable things as these.
Direct.IX. Be neither unnaturally senseless at the death of friends, nor excessively dejected or afflicted. To make light of the death of relations and friends, be they good or bad, is a sign of a very vicious nature; that is so much selfish, as not much to regard the lives of others: and he that regardeth not the lives of his friends is little to be trusted in his lower concernments. I speak not this of those persons whose temper alloweth them not to weep: for there may be as deep a regard and sorrow in some that have no tears, as in others that abound with them. But I speak of a naughty, selfish nature, that is little affected with any one's concernments but its own.
Yet your grief for the death of friends, must be very different both in degree and kind. 1. For ungodly friends you must grieve for their own sakes, because if they died such, they are lost for ever. 2. For your godly friends you must mourn for the sake of yourselves and others, because God hath removed such as were blessings to those about them. 3. For choice magistrates, and ministers, and other instruments of public good, your sorrow must be greater, because of the common loss, and the judgment thereby inflicted on the world. 4. For old, tried christians, that have overcome the world, and lived so long till age and weakness make them almost unserviceable to the church, and who groan to be unburdened and to be with Christ, your sorrow should be least, and your joy and thanks for their happiness should be greatest. But especially abhor that nature that secretly is glad of the death of parents, (or little sorrowful,) because that their estates are fallen to you, or you are enriched, or set at liberty by their death. God seldom leaveth this sin unrevenged, by some heavy judgments even in this life.
Help against excessive grief for the death of friends.
Direct.X. To overcome your inordinate grief for the death of your relations, consider these things following. 1. That excess of sorrow is your sin: and sinning is an ill use to be made of your affliction. 2. That it tendeth to a great deal more: it unfitteth you for many duties which you are bound to, as to rejoice in God, and to be thankful for mercies, and cheerful in his love, and praise, and service: and is it a small sin to unfit yourselves for the greatest duties? If you are so troubled at God's disposal of his own, what doth your will but rise up against the will of God; as if you grudged at the exercise of his dominion and government, that is, that he is God! Who is wisest, and best, and fittest to dispose of all men's lives? Is it God or you? Would you not have God to be the Lord of all, and to dispose of heaven and earth, and of the lives and crowns of the greatest princes? If you would not, you would not have him to be God. If you would, is it not unreasonable that you or your friends only should be excepted from his disposal? 4. If your friends are in heaven, how unsuitable is it, for you to be over-much mourning for them, when they are rapt into the highest joys with Christ; and love should teach you to rejoice with them that rejoice, and not to mourn as those that have no hope. 5. You know not what mercy God showed to your friends, in taking them away from the evil to come, you know not what suffering the land or church is falling into; or at least might have fallen upon themselves; nor what sins they might have been tempted to.[134]But you are sure that heaven is better than earth, and that it is far better for them to be with Christ. 6. You always knew that your friends must die; to grieve that they were mortal, is but to grieve that they were but men. 7. If their mortality or death be grievous to you, you should rejoice that they are arrived at the state of immortality, where they must live indeed and die no more. 8. Remember how quickly you must be with them again. The expectation of living long yourselves, is the cause of your excessive grief for the death of friends. If you looked yourselves to die tomorrow, or within a few weeks, you would less grieve that your friends are gone before you. 9. Remember that the world is not for one generation only; others must have our places when we are gone; God will be served by successive generations, and not only by one. 10. If you are christians indeed, it is the highest of all your desires and hopes to be in heaven; and will you so grieve that your friends are gone thither, where you most desire and hope to be?
Object.All this is reason, if my friend were gone to heaven: but he died impenitently, and how should I be comforted for a soul that I have cause to think is damned?
Helps to moderate our sorrow for the damned.
Answ.Their misery must be your grief; but not such a grief as shall deprive you of your greater joys, or disable you for your greater duties. 1. God is fitter than you to judge of the measures of his mercy and his judgments, and you must neither pretend to be more merciful than he, nor to reprehend his justice. 2. All the works of God are good; and all that is good is amiable; though the misery of the creature be bad to it, yet the works of justice declare the wisdom and holiness of God; and the perfecter we are, the more they will be amiable to us. For, 3. God himself, and Christ, who is the merciful Saviour of the world, approve of the damnation of the finally ungodly. 4. And the saints and angels in heaven do know more of the misery of the souls in hell, than we do; and yet it abateth not their joys. And the perfecter any is, the more he is like-minded unto God. 5. How glad and thankful should you be to think that God hath delivered yourselves from those eternal flames! The misery of others should excite your thankfulness. 6. And should not the joys of all the saints and angels be your joy, as well as the sufferings of the wicked be your sorrows? But above all, the thoughts of the blessedness and glory of God himself, should overtop all the concernments of the creature with you. If you will mourn more for the thieves and murderers that are hanged, than you will rejoice in the justice, prosperity, and honour of the king, and the welfare of all his faithful subjects, you behave not yourselves as faithful subjects. 7. Shortly you hope to come to heaven: mourn now for the damned, as you shall do then; or at least, let not the difference be too great, when that, and not this, is your perfect state.
Dear Friend: The God that must dispose of us and all things, doth threaten by this sickness, to call away your soul, and put an end to the time of your pilgrimage; and therefore your friends that love and pity you, must not now be silent, if they can speak any thing for your preparation and salvation, because it must be now or never: when a few days are past, they must never have any such opportunity more: if now we prevail not with you, you are likely to be quickly out of hearing, and past our advice and help for ever. And because I know your weakness bids me to be but short, and your memory is not to be burdened with too much, and yet your necessity must not be neglected, I shall reduce all that I have to say to you, to these four heads: 1. Of the change which you seem near to, and the world which you are going to. 2. Of the preparation that must be made by all that will be saved, and who they be that the gospel doth justify or condemn. 3. I would fain help you to understand which of these conditions you are in, and what will become of your soul, if it thus goeth hence: and, 4. If your case be bad, I would direct you how you may come out of it, and what is yet to be done while there remaineth any time and hope. And I pray you set your heart to what I say; for I will speak nothing but the certain truth of God, revealed to the world by his Son and Spirit expressed in the Scripture, and believed by all the church of Christ.
1. God knoweth the change is great, which you are near. You are leaving this world, where you have spent the days of your preparation for eternity, and leaving this flesh to corrupt and turn to common earth, and must here converse with man no more: you are going now to see that world, which the gospel told you of, and you have often heard of, but neither you nor we did ever see. Before your friends have laid your body in the grave, your soul must enter into its endless state, and at the resurrection your body be joined with it. Either heaven or hell must be your lot for ever. If it be heaven, you will there find a world of light, and love, and peace; a world of angels and glorified souls, who are all made perfect in knowledge and holiness; living in the perfect flames of love to their glorious Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator: and with them you will be thus perfected yourself: your soul will see the glory of God, and be rapt up in his love, and filled with his joys, and employed triumphantly in his praises, and this for ever. If hell should be your portion, you will there be thrust away as a hated thing fromthe face of God, and there you will find a world of devils, and unholy, damned, miserable souls; among whom you must dwell, in the flames of the wrath of God, and the horrors of your own conscience, remembering with anguish the mercy which you once rejected, and the warnings and time which once you lost:[135]and at the resurrection your soul and body must be reunited and live there in torment and despair for ever. I know these things are but half believed by the ungodly world, while they profess to believe them; and therefore they must feel that which they refused to believe: but God hath revealed it to us, and we will believe our Maker. You are now going to see the great difference between the end of holiness and of sin; between the godly and the ungodly; and to know by your own experience those joys or torments, which the wicked will not know by faith. And oh what a preparation doth such a change require!
II. You are next to know what persons they are, and how they differ, who must abide for ever in these different states. As we are the children of Adam, we are all corrupted; our minds are carnal, and set upon this world, and savour nothing but the things of the flesh; and the further we go in sin, the worse we are; being strangers to the life of faith, and to the love of God and the life to come, taking the prosperity and pleasure of the flesh for the felicity which we most desire and seek. The name of this state in Scripture is, carnal, and ungodly, and unholy; because such men live in a mere fleshly nature or disposition for fleshly ends, in a fleshly manner, and are not at all devoted to God, and carried up to heavenly desires and delights; but live chiefly for this life, and not for the life to come: and though they may take up some kind of religion, in a second place and upon the by, for fear of being damned when they can keep the world no longer; yet is it this world which they principally value, love, and seek, and their religion is subject to their worldly and fleshly interest and delights. And though God hath provided and offered them a Saviour, to teach them better, and reclaim and sanctify them by his word and Spirit, and forgive them if they will believe in him and return, yet do they sottishly neglect this mercy, or obstinately refuse it, and continue their worldly, fleshly lives, till time be past, and mercy hath done, and there is no remedy. These are the men that God will condemn, and this is the true description of them. And it will not stand with the governing justice, and holiness, and truth of God to save them.
But on the other side, all those that God will save, do heartily believe in Jesus Christ, who is sent of God to be the Saviour of souls; and he maketh them know (by his word and Spirit) their grievous sin and misery in their state of corrupted nature; and he humbleth them for it, and bringeth them to true repentance, and maketh them loathe themselves for their iniquities; and seeing how they have cast away and undone themselves, and are no better than the slaves of Satan, and the heirs of hell, they joyfully accept of the remedy that is offered them in Christ: they heartily take him for their Saviour and King, and give up themselves in covenant to him, to be justified and sanctified by him; whereupon he pardoneth all their sin, and further enlighteneth and sanctifieth them by his Spirit: he showeth them by faith, the infinite love of God, and the sure, everlasting, holy joys, which they may have in heaven with him; and how blessed a life they may there obtain (through his purchase and gift) with all the blessed saints and angels: he maketh them deliberately to compare this offer of eternal happiness, with all the pleasures and seeming commodities of sin, and all that this deceitful world can do for them: and having considered of both, they see that there is no comparison to be made, and are ashamed that ever they were so mad as to prefer earth before heaven, and an inch of time before eternity, and a dream of pleasure before the everlasting joys, and to love the pleasures of a transitory world, above the presence, and favour, and glory of God: and for the time to come, they are firmly resolved what to do; even to take heaven for their only happiness, and there to lay up their hopes and treasure, and to live to God, as they have done to the flesh; and to make sure of their salvation, whatever become of their worldly interest. And thus the Spirit doth dwell and work in them, and renew their hearts, and give them a hatred to every sin, and a love to every holy thing, even to the holy word, and worship, and ways, and servants of the Lord: and in a word, he maketh them new creatures; and though they have still their sinful imperfections, yet the bent of their hearts and lives is holy and heavenly, and they long to be perfect, and are labouring after it, and seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and live above the world and flesh: and shortly Christ will make them perfect, and justify them in the day of their judgment, and give them the glorious end of all their faith, obedience, and patience. These are the persons, and none but these, (among us, that have the use of reason,) that shall live with God.
III. Now this being the infallible truth of the gospel, and this being the true difference between the righteous and the wicked, the justified and condemned souls, oh how nearly doth it now concern you, to try which of these is your own condition! Certainly it may be known: for God will judge the world in righteousness, by the same law or covenant by which he governeth them. Know but whom the law of Christ condemneth or justifieth, and you may soon know whom the Judge will condemn and justify; for he will proceed according to this law. If you should die in an unrenewed state in your sins, your hopes of heaven would all die with you; and if you should think never so well of yourself till death, and pretend never so confidently to trust on Christ and the mercy of God, one hour will convince you to your everlasting woe, that God's mercy and Christ's merits did never bring to heaven an unsanctified soul. Self-flattery is good for nothing, but to keep you from repenting till time be past, and to quiet you in Satan's snares till there be no remedy: therefore presently, as you love your soul, examine yourself, and try which of these is the condition that you are in, and accordingly judge yourself, before God judge you.[136]May you not know if you will, whether you have most minded earth or heaven, and which you have preferred and sought with the highest esteem and resolution, and whether your worldly or heavenly interest have borne sway, and which of them it is that gave place unto the other? Cannot a man tell if he will, what it is which his very soul hath practically taken for his chief concernment, and what it is that hath had most of his love and care? and what hath been next his heart, and which he hath preferred when they came to the parting, and one was set against the other? Cannot you tell whether you have lived principally to the flesh, for the prosperity of this world, and the pleasures of sin? or whether the Spirit of Christ by his word, hath enlightened you, and showed you your sin and misery, and humbled you for it, and showed you the glory of the life to come, and the happiness of livingin the love of God, and hereupon hath united your heart unto himself, and turned it from sin to holiness, from the world to God, and from earth to heaven, and made you a new creature, to live for heaven as you did for earth: surely this is not so small and indiscernible a work or change, but he that hath felt it on himself may know it. It is a good work to bring a sinner to feel his unrighteousness and misery, and to apply himself to Christ for righteousness and life: it is a great work to take off the heart from all the felicity of this world, and to set it unfeignedly upon God, and to cause him to place and seek his happiness in another world, whatever become of all the prosperity or pleasure of the flesh. It is thus with every true believer, for all the remnant of his sins and weaknesses: and may you not know whether it be thus or not with you? One of these is your case: and it is now time to know which of them it is; when God is ready to tell you by his judgment. If indeed you are in Christ, and his Spirit be in you, and hath renewed you, and sanctified you, and turned your heart and life to God, I have then nothing more than peace and comfort to speak to you (as in the following exhortation): but if it be otherwise, and you are yet in a carnal state, and were never renewed by the Spirit of Christ, will you give me leave to deal faithfully with you, as is necessary with one in your condition, and to set before you at once your sin and your remedy, and to tell you what yet you must do if you will be saved.
IV. And first, will you here lay to heart your folly, and unfeignedly lament your sinful life before the Lord? not only this or that particular sin, but principally your fleshly heart and life; that in the main, you have lived to this corruptible flesh, and loved, and sought, and served the world, before your God, and the happiness of your soul? Alas, friend, did you not know that you had an immortal soul, that must live in joy or misery for ever? Did you not know that you were made to love, and serve, and honour your Maker; and that you had the little time of this life given you, to try and prepare you for your endless life; and that as you lived here, it must go with you in heaven or hell for ever? If you did not believe these things, why did you not come, and give your reasons against them, to some judicious divine that was able to have showed you the evidence of their truth? If you did believe them, alas, how was it possible that you could forget them? Could you believe a heaven and a hell, and not regard them, or suffer any transitory worldly vanity to be more regarded by you? Did you know what you had to do in the world, and yet is it all undone till now? Were you never warned of this day? Did never preacher, nor Scripture, nor book, nor friend, nor conscience, tell you of your end? and tell you what would be the fruit of sin, and of your contempt and slighting of Christ and of his grace? Did you know that you must love God above the world, if ever you would be saved, and that you must to that end be partaker of Christ, and renewed by his Spirit; and yet would you let out your heart upon the world, and follow the brutish pleasures of the flesh, and never earnestly seek after that Christ and Spirit that should thus renew and sanctify you? Do you not think now that it had been wiser to have sought Christ and grace, and set your affections first on the things above, and to have made sure work for your soul against such a day as this, than to have hardened your heart against God's grace, and despised Christ, and heaven, and your salvation, for a thing of nought? You see now what it was that you preferred before heaven: what have you now got by all your sinful love of the world? where now is all your fleshly pleasure? will it all now serve turn to save you from death, or the wrath of God, and everlasting misery? will it now go with you to another world? Or do you think it will comfort a soul in hell, to remember the wealth which he gathered and left behind him upon earth? Would it not now have been much more comfortable to you, if you could say, My days were spent in holiness, in the love of my dear Redeemer, and in the hearty service of my God; in praising him and praying to him, in learning and obeying his holy word and will; my business in the world was to please God, and seek a better world; and while I followed my lawful trade or calling, my eye was chiefly on eternal life; instead of pleasing the flesh, I delighted my soul in the love, and praise, and service of my Redeemer, and in the hopes of my eternal blessedness; and now I am going to enjoy that God and happiness which I believed and sought. Would not this be more comfortable to you now, than to look back on your time as spent in a worldly, fleshly life, which you preferred before your God and your salvation? Christ would not have forsaken you in the time of your extremity, as the world doth, if you had cleaved faithfully to him. You little know what peace and comfort you might have found, even on earth, in a holy life: how sweet would the word of God have been to you! how sweet would prayer, and meditation, and holy conference have been! Do you think it is not more pleasant to a true believer, to read the promises of eternal life, and to think and talk of that blessed state, when they shall dwell with God in joy for ever, than it was to you to think and talk of worldly trash and vanity? If you had used the world as a traveller doth the necessaries of his journey, the thought of heaven would have afforded you solid, rational comfort all the way. O little do you know the sweetness of the love of God in Christ, and how good a christian findeth it, when he can but exercise and increase his knowledge, and faith, and love to God, and thankfulness for mercy, and hopes of heaven, and walk with God in a heavenly conversation! Do you not wish now that this had been your course? But that which is done cannot be undone, and time that is past can never be called back: but yet there is a sure remedy for your soul, if you have but a heart to entertain and use it. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."[137]Jesus Christ being God and man, is the Mediator between God and man; his death is a sufficient sacrifice for our sins; it is his office to save all those that come to God by him: do but unfeignedly repent of your sinful life, and yet set your heart upon the life to come, and love God and holiness better than the world and fleshly pleasure, and trust your soul on Christ as your Redeemer, and he will certainly forgive you, and reconcile you unto God, and present you justified and spotless in his sight. Think of your sin till you abhor yourself; and think of your sin and misery till you feel that you are undone if you have not a Saviour; and then think what love God hath showed you in Christ, in giving him to be incarnate and die for sinners, and offering you freely to pardon all that ever you have done, and to justify and save you, and bring you to endless glory with himself, if yet at last you will but give up yourself to Christ, and accept his mercy and return to God. What joyful tidings is here now for a sinful, miserable soul! Yet this is the certain truth of God. This is his very covenant of grace, which is founded in the blood of Christ, and which he is now ready to make with you, and seal to you by hisSpirit within, and his sacrament without, if you do but heartily and unfeignedly consent: believe in Christ, and turn to God, from the world and the flesh, and resolve upon a holy life if you should recover, and then I can assure you from the word of God, that he will freely pardon you, and take you for his child, and save your soul in endless glory. As late as it is, he will certainly receive you, if you return to him by Christ with all your heart. And doth not your heart now rejoice in this unspeakable mercy, which is willing to save you after all the sin that you have committed, and after all the time that you have lost? Do you yet love that God that is so abundant in goodness and in love? and that Saviour who hath purchased you this pardon and salvation? Is it not better, think you, to love, and praise, and serve him, than to live in fleshly lusts and pleasures? and is it not better to dwell in heaven with him, in endless joys, than to live awhile in the vain delights of sinners, and thence to pass to endless misery? O beg of God now to give you a new heart to believe in Christ, and repent of sin, and love him that is most holy, good, and gracious: and take heed that you slight not his grace any longer; and that you do not now take on you in a fear, to be that which you are not, or to do that which you would not hold to, if you should recover. And to make all sure, will you now sincerely enter into a covenant with Christ; I mean but the same covenant which you made in baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's supper; and which would have saved you, if you had sincerely made and kept it? Let me therefore help you both to understand it, and to do it, by these questions, which I entreat you to answer sincerely as one that is going to the presence of God.
Quest.I. Do you truly believe that you are a rational creature, differing from brutes, being made to love and serve your Maker, and have an immortal soul, which must live in heaven or hell for ever? and that there is indeed a heaven of joys, and a hell of punishments, when this life is ended?
Quest.II. Do you believe that in heaven, the souls of the justified at death, and the body also at the resurrection, shall be joined with the angels, and shall dwell with Christ, and see the glory of God, and be perfected in holiness, and filled with the sense of the love of God, and with the greatest joys that our nature can receive, and shall live in the most delightful love and praise of God for ever?
Quest.III. Seeing you are certain that all the pleasures of this life are short, and will end in death, and leave the flesh which desired them in corruption, do you not firmly believe that the joys of heaven are infinitely better, and more to be desired and sought, than all the pleasures and profits of this life? and that it is most reasonable that we should love God above all creatures, even with all our heart, and soul, and might?
Quest.IV. Seeing then that the love of God is both our duty and happiness, is it not reason that we should be kept from the love of any thing in the world, which would steal away our hearts from God, and hinder us from loving him, and desiring, and seeking him? and that we should mortify the love of worldly riches, honours, and delights, so far as they are against the love of God?
Quest.V. Seeing God is the absolute Lord and Ruler of the world, is it not reason that we obey him, whatsoever he commandeth us, though we did not see the reason why he doth command it? And yet is it not plainly reasonable, that he command us to love, and honour, and worship him; and to love one another, and to deal justly with all, and do as we would be done by, and to be careful of our souls, and temperate for our bodies; and not to neglect or dishonour our Maker, nor to neglect our own salvation, nor abuse our bodies by beastly filthiness or excess; nor to wrong our neighbours, nor deny to do them any good that is in our power? This is the sum of all God's laws: and this is the nature of holiness and obedience. And do you not from your heart believe, that all this is very reasonable and good?
Quest.VI. When the sinful world was fallen from happiness into misery, by turning away from God and holiness to sensuality, and God sent his Son to be their Redeemer and Saviour; to be a sacrifice for sin, and a teacher and pattern of a holy and obedient life, and to make a new covenant with them, in which he giveth them the pardon of all sin, and everlasting happiness, if they will but give up themselves to him as their Saviour, and Sanctifier, and by true repentance turn to God; do you not verily believe that miserable sinners should gladly and thankfully accept of such an offer? and abundantly love that God and Saviour, that hath so tenderly loved them, and so freely redeemed them from the flames of hell, and so freely offered them everlasting life? And do you not believe that he, who, after all this, shall slight all this mercy, and refuse to be renewed by sanctifying grace, and shall neglect his God, and soul, and this salvation, and rather choose to keep his sins; doth not deserve to be utterly forsaken, and to be punished more than if a Saviour and salvation had never been offered to him?
Quest.VII. Hath not this been your own case? Have you not lived a fleshly, worldly life; neglecting God and your salvation; and minding more these lower things? And have you not refused the word and Spirit of Christ, which would have brought you to repentance and a holy life? and consequently rejected Christ as a Saviour, and the Holy Ghost as a Sanctifier, and all the mercy which he offered you on these terms?
Quest.VIII. If this hath been your case, are you now unfeignedly grieved for it? not only because it hath brought you so near to hell, but also because it hath displeased God, and deprived you of that holy and comfortable life, which you might all this while have lived, and endangered all your hopes of heaven? Do you so far repent, as that your very heart and love is changed; so that now you had rather have a holy life on earth, and the sight and enjoyment of God in the heavenly joys for ever, than to have all the pleasure and prosperity of this world? Do you hate your sins, and loathe yourself for them, and truly desire to be made holy? Are you firmly resolved, that if God do recover you to health, you will live a new and holy life? that you will forsake your fleshly, worldly life, and all your wilful sins; and will set yourself to learn the will of God, and call upon him, and live in the holy communion of saints, and make it your chief care to please God, and to be saved?
Quest.IX. Are you willing, to these ends, to give up yourselves absolutely now to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as your reconciled Father, your Saviour, and your Sanctifier, to be sanctified and justified, and saved from your sins, and from the wrath of God, and live to God in love and holiness? And are you willing to bind yourself to this, by entering into this covenant with God, renouncing the flesh, the world, and the devil? Either your heart is willing and sincere in this resolution and covenant, or it is not. If it be not, there is no hope that your sin should be pardoned, and your soul be saved upon any other, or easier terms! And for all that God is merciful, and Christ died for sinners, it was never his intent to save one impenitent, unsanctified soul.But if your heart unfeignedly consent to this, I have the commission of Christ himself to tell you, That God will be your reconciled God and Father, and Christ will be your Saviour, and the Holy Spirit will be your Sanctifier and Comforter, and your sins are pardoned, and your soul shall be saved, and you shall dwell in heaven with God for ever.[138]God did consent before you consented; he showed his consent in purchasing, and making, and offering you this covenant. Show your unfeigned consent now by accepting it, and giving up yourself unreservedly to him, and you have Christ's blood, and Spirit, and sacrament, to seal it to you. The flesh and the world have deceived you; but trust in Christ upon his covenant terms, and he will never deceive you.
And now, alas, what pity it is, that a soul that is in so miserable a case, and is lost for ever, if it have not help, and speedy help, should be deprived of all this grace and glory, and only for want of repenting and consenting! What pity is it that a soul, that is ready to go into another world, where mercy shall never more be offered it, should rather go stupidly on to hell, than return to God, and accept his mercy! Do but truly repent and consent to this covenant, and all the mercies of it are certainly yours. God will be your God, and Christ, and the Spirit, and pardon, and heaven, and all are yours. The Lord open and persuade your heart, that you may not be undone and lost for ever, for want of accepting the mercy that is offered you!
And now I know it would be comfortable to you, if you could be fully assured that you are forgiven, and shall be saved. In a matter of such unspeakable moment, how joyful would a well-grounded certainty be, to any man that hath the right use of his understanding? I tell you therefore from God, that there is no cause of your doubting on his part, but only on your own. There is no doubt to be made, whether God be merciful, nor whether Christ be a sufficient Saviour and sacrifice for your sins; nor whether the covenant be sure, and promise of pardon and salvation to all true penitent believers be true. All the doubt is, whether your faith and repentance be sincere, or not: and for that, I can but tell you how you may know it; and I shall open the truth to you, that I may neither deceive you, nor causelessly discomfort you.
If this repentance and change which you now profess, and this covenant which you have made with God, 1. Do come only from a present fear, and not from a changed, renewed heart; 2. And if your resolutions be such as would not hold you to a holy life, if you should recover; but would die and fade away, and leave you as you were before, when the fear is past; then it is but a forced, hypocritical repentance, and will not save you, if you so die.[139]Though a minister of Christ should absolve you of all your sins, and seal it by giving you the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ; for all this you are lost for ever, if you have no more: for absolution and the sacrament are given you but on supposition that your faith and repentance be sincere; and if this condition fail in you, the action of the holiest minister in the world will never save you.
But, 1. If your repentance and covenant come not only from a present fear but from a renewed heart, which now loveth God, and Christ, and heaven, and holiness, better than all the honours, and riches, and pleasures of the flesh and world, and had rather have them, even on God's terms; 2. And if this change be such, as if you should recover, would hold you to a holy life, and not die, or dwindle into hypocritical formality, when the fright is over; then I can assure you from the word of God, that if you die in this repentance, you shall certainly be saved. And though late repentance have so many difficulties that it too seldom proveth true and sound, and it is an unspeakable madness to cast our salvation on so great a hazard; and to defer that till such a day as this, which should be the principal work of all our lives; and for which, the greatest care and diligence is not too much: yet for all that, when conversion is indeed sincere, it is always acceptable, how late soever; and a returning prodigal shall find better entertainment with God, than he could possibly expect; and never will Christ cast out one soul that cometh to him, in sincerity of heart.[140]The Lord give you such a heart, and all is yours. Amen. Jer. xxxi. 34; Eph. i. 7; Acts v. 31; Eph. v. 26; Rev. i. 5; 2 Cor. vi. 16; Mal. iii. 17; John i. 12; iii. 16; Eph. ii. 14; Rom. viii. 1, 17; Luke iv. 18; Rom. v. 1, 5; Luke i. 74; John x. 28; Luke xxiii. 43; 1 Cor. xv. 8; Tit. iii. 3, 4; Acts iv. 4-6; 1 Tim. i. 13-16.
Dear friend: Though nature teacheth us to have compassion on your flesh, which lieth in pain; yet faith teacheth us to see the nearness of your happiness, and to rejoice with you in hope of your endless joys, which seem to be at hand. We must rejoice with you as your friends that love you, and therefore are partakers of your welfare: and we must rejoice with you as your fellow-travellers and fellow-soldiers, that are going along with you to the same felicity; and if we are left behind for a little while, yet hope ere long to overtake you, and never to be separated from you more. This is the day for which Christ hath been so long preparing you; and which you have so long foreseen, and have been so long preparing for yourself. This is the day which you thought on in all your prayers and patience, in all your labours and sufferings, your self-denial and mortification, since God did bring you to yourself and him. Now you are going to see the things which you have believed; and to possess the things which you have sought and hoped for; to see the final difference between the righteous and the wicked; between a holy and a worldly life, between the vessels of mercy and of wrath. Your time is hasting to an end, and endless blessedness must succeed it. O now, what a mercy is it to have a Christ! that you are not to encounter an unconquered death; nor to go to God without a Mediator: but that death is by Christ disarmed of its sting; and that you may boldly resign your soul into the hands of your Redeemer, and commend it to him as a member of himself! Now, what a case had your soul been in, if you had no intercessor! if you had been to answer for your sins, yourself only; and had not a Saviour to be your advocate, and answer for you! Now you may better perceive than ever you have done, what God did for you when he opened your eyes, and humbled, and changed, and renewed your heart; and how great a mercy it is to be a penitent believer. You may now see more fully than ever heretofore, what God intended for you, when he converted you; when he forgave all your sins, and justified you by his grace, and adopted you for his child, and an heir of life, and sealed you with his Spirit, and sanctified and separated you to himself. Now what a case were you in, if you were yet in your sins,and in the bondage of Satan, and had not this evidence of your title to eternal life! if you had your heart to soften, and to humble, and to convert, and your faith and justification all to seek, and all your preparations for heaven to make; if you had all this to do, with a pained body, and a distracted mind, in so short a time, with God, and eternity, and death before you, ready with terror to overwhelm your souls! if now you were to seek for an interest in Christ, and for the pardon of all your sins, and your peace with God were yet to make! if you had all your life past to look back upon, as consumed in sin; and when time is at an end, must cry out of all that is past, as lost! This is the case that God in justice might have left you to. But what an unspeakable mercy is it, that you have already been reconciled to that God that you are going to! and that the sins which now would have been your terror, are all forgiven through the blood of Christ! that you can look back upon your time, since the day of your conversion, as spent in faithful devotedness to God, and in a believing preparation for your endless life; and in godly sincerity, notwithstanding your manifold sinful imperfections, which Christ hath undertaken to answer for himself! Though you have nothing of your own to boast of; and no works that will justify you according to the law, at the bar of God; but you need a Saviour, and a pardon, for the failings, even of the best that ever you did; yet must you with thankfulness remember that grace which hath begun eternal life within you, and prepared and sealed you to the fall possession of it. For all the mercy that is in God, and for all the glory that is in heaven, and for all the merits and satisfaction of Christ, and for all the fulness and freeness of the promise;[141]if God had not given you a believing, penitent heart, and sanctified and sealed you by the Spirit of his Son, all this could have afforded you little comfort, but would have aggravated your misery, as it did your sin. Seeing then that, many of the wicked would be glad to die the death of the righteous; and when it is too late, they would all be glad if their latter end might be like his; how glad should you be, that God, by such a life, hath prepared you for such an end! And though a humble soul hath still an eye upon its own unworthiness, and Satan is ready to aggravate our sins, in order to our discouragement and fear; yet must you remember what an honourable victory grace hath had over them; and look on them as Christ did, as the advantage of his grace; that "where sin abounded, there grace hath super-abounded."[142]You have had something to humble you, and to show you that you were a child of Adam; and you have had something for grace to contend with, and to conquer; and for Christ to pardon: bless him through whom you have had the victory. Had you not deserved hell, Christ would not have saved you from a deserved hell; and the song of the Lamb would not have been so sweet to you, in the everlasting remembrance and experience of his grace. You have sinned as a man, and he hath pardoned as God; you have been weak and nothing, but his grace hath been sufficient for you, and by his strength you can do all things. He hath as dear a love to you now in his exaltation, as he had upon the cross, when he was bleeding for your sins. And will he suffer a chosen soul to perish, for whom he hath paid so dear a price? A Christ in heaven that had never been on earth, would have seemed a stranger to us, and one that never was acquainted with our miseries, nor had testified his love at so dear a rate, as might have convinced, and encouraged, and won our hearts. And a Christ on earth, that had not passed for us into heaven, would have seemed to us but an insufficient, conquered friend; and were unfit to provide us a mansion with the Father, and to receive our souls, when they are separated from the flesh. But "now we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, and was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin;" and therefore "can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and therefore we may come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," Heb. iv. 14-16. This is your time of need, and here is a supply for all your needs. As we may come boldly through our High Priest to the throne of grace, so may we boldly pass by his conduct into the presence of God in glory. For he is purposely gone before "to prepare a place for us, that where he is there we may be also," John xiv. 1-3. Oh what a joy is it to our departing souls, that we have our Head and Saviour already in possession of the kingdom which we are passing to! What a support and joy is it, to receive this message from our ascending Head, "Say to my brethren, I ascend to my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God," John xx. 17. What a joy is it to read his promise, John xii. 26, "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be." You have served him, and are following him, and now are going to be with him where he is.
There you shall be delivered from the darkness of this world. How dimly did we see through the lantern of the flesh! how little did we know! and how much were we ignorant of! and what pains did our little knowledge cost us.! But there, one sight of the face of God will put an end to this longsome night; and will show you that, which all the reading and study of a thousand years could never satisfactorily have shown you. There you shall understand the works of God: the frame of the creation; the place, and office, and reason of all things, which here you knew not. The mysteries of the gospel, which angels pry into, will be there much more unfolded to you, than the clearest divines were able to explain them.[143]All sciences there shall be one pansophy; and all things knowable shall appear to you in their wondrous, perfect harmony. What welcome will those blessed angels give you that here disdained not to minister for you, and bear you up in all your ways, and interested themselves in your concernments, rejoicing before God at your conversion! How glad then will they be of your safe arrival at the promised harbour of felicity with themselves! What joy will it be to you to be presently entertained, and welcomed into the acquaintance of those blessed spirits, and of all the holy souls that are delivered from this flesh and world; and to see their order, and be numbered with their society, and to be employed in their joyful work. Oh how much better company is that than the best below! There is no ignorance, and therefore no error; no want of love, and no contention; nor narrow, private interests to contend for, but all made happy in perfect love in him that is their universal end and happiness. There is no dissension, nor perverse disputes; no ignorant zeal, nor blinding passions; no proud or covetous designs, and therefore no hurtful means to prosecute them; no seeming necessity to hurt our brethren, toadvance, or enrich, or save ourselves; no slanderers there condemn the souls whom Christ doth justify, nor take away the righteousness of the righteous from him; no cruel mockings, imprisonments, or banishments; no wandering, destitute, afflicted, or tormented; nor more suffering for the sake of righteousness; but having suffered with Christ they are now reigning with him; and those, of whom the world was not worthy, are taken to God from an unworthy world. There are no troublesome mutations or confusions; no wars, nor rumours of wars, because no lusts to war in their members; but united souls in the harmony of love, do without any discord praise the Lord.[144]The church is not there divided into sects and factions, either through the pride or peevishness of its members; none scrupleth communion with the rest; none silence others from speaking the praises of their Redeemer; nor drive away others from their brotherhood and communion. There is neither unrighteous law, nor disobedient subject, nor unpeaceable neighbour, nor unfaithful friend, nor hurtful or malicious enemy! There is no afflicted friend to mourn for, nor any disconsolate soul to grieve with; no ignorant person to instruct, nor obstinate heart to persuade or pray for; no fearful, doubting christian to be comforted, nor weak and wavering soul to be confirmed; no imprudent, scandalous actions of the godly to be lamented; no remnants of pride, self-conceitedness, or any delusion to keep out the light; no blemishes in them for the enemies to reproach, nor any malignant enemies to reproach them; no misrepresentations of things or persons; no raising or receiving false reports; no sin of our own to grieve for, or to strive against; and no sin of others to trouble the society, or be lamented. There we shall have no suffering friend to suffer with; none labouring of want, while you have plenty; nor any groaning in pain and sickness, while you are well. As no want or pain of your own will afflict you, so no suffering of your friends will interrupt your joy. Your comforts shall not be turned into lamentations, for the madness and obstinate wickedness of a sodomitical generation about you; nor your righteous soul be vexed with their filthy and sottish conversation.[145]You shall not dwell in a world where the most part is drowned in heathenism and infidelity, nor in a church defiled with papal tyranny, cruelty, covetousness, or profaneness. The whole society will shine in light, and flame in love, and none through any weakness or corruption will be a clog or hinderance to another.
You shall above all this behold the person of your glorified Redeemer! You shall see that body, in its glorious change, which once was humbled to the virgin's womb, and to a life of poverty, and to the scorns of sinners; to be spit upon, and buffeted, and crowned with thorns, and first made a laughingstock, and then hanged up to die upon a cross, at the will of proud, malicious persecutors. You shall there see that Person whom God hath chosen to advance above the whole creation; and in whom he will be more glorified than in all the saints.[146]The wonderful condescension of his incarnation, and the wonderful mystery of the hypostatical union, will there be better understood.
And, which is all in all, you shall see the most blessed God himself;[147]whether in his essence, or not, yet undoubtedly in his glory, in that state or place, which he hath prepared to reveal his glory in, for the glorifying of holy spirits. You shall see him whose sight will perfect your understandings, and love him, and feel the fulness of his love, which is the highest felicity that any created being can attain. Though this will be in different measures, as souls are more or less amiable and capacious, (or else the human nature of Christ would be no happier than we,) yet none shall have any sinful or troublesome imperfection, and all their capacities shall be filled with God.
O dear friend, I am even confounded and ashamed to think, that I mention to you such high and glorious things, with no more sense and admiration! And that my soul is not drawn up in the flames of a more fervent love; nor lifted up in higher joys, nor yet drawn out into more longing desires, when I speak of such transcendent happiness and joy! O had you and I but a glimpse with blessed Stephen or Paul of these unutterable pleasures, how deeply would it affect us! And how should we abhor this life of sin; and be weary of this dark and distant state; and be glad to be gone from this prison of flesh; and to be delivered from this present evil world![148]
This is the life that you are going to live; though a painful death must open the womb of time, and let you into eternity, how quickly will the pain be over! And though nature make death dismal to you, and sin have made it penal, and you look at it now with backwardness and fear; yet this will all be quickly past, and your souls will be born into a world of joy, which will make you forget all your fears and sorrows. It is meet that as the birth of nature had its pains, and the birth of grace had its penitent sorrows; so the birth of glory should have the greatest difficulties, as it entereth us into the happiest state.[149]Oh what a change will it be to a humbled, fearful soul, to find itself in a moment dislodged from a sinful, painful flesh, and entered into a world of light, and life, and holy love, unspeakably above all the expressions and conceptions of this present life. Alas! that our present ignorance and fear should make us draw back from such a change! that whilst all our brethren that died in faith, are triumphing in these joys with Christ, our trembling souls should be so loth to leave this flesh, and be afraid to be called to the same felicity! Oh what an enemy is the remnant of unbelief, to our imprisoned and imperfect souls! that it can hide such a desirable glory from our eyes, that it should no more affect us, and we should no more desire it, but are willing to stay so long from God! How wonderful is that love and mercy, that brings such backward souls to happiness! and will drive us away from this beloved world, by its afflicting miseries! and from this beloved flesh, by pain and weariness! and will draw us to our joyful blessedness, as it were, whether we will or not! and will not leave us out of heaven so long, till we are willing ourselves to come away!
You seem to be almost at your journey's end. But how many a foul step have those yet to go, whom you leave behind you in this dirty world. You have fought a good fight, and kept the faith; and shall never be troubled with an enemy or temptation when this one concluding brunt is over. You shall never be so much as tempted to unbelief, or pride, or worldly-mindedness, or fleshly lusts, or to any defects in the service of your Lord. But how many temptations do you leave us encompassed with! and how many dangers and enemies to overcome! And alas! how many falls and wounds maywe receive! You seem to be near the end of your race, when those behind you have far to run. You are entering into the harbour, and leave us tossed by tempests on the waves. Flesh will no more entice or clog your soul! You will no more have unruly senses to command, nor an unreasonable appetite to govern, nor a straggling fantasy, or wandering thoughts, or headstrong lusts, or boisterous passions, to restrain. You will no longer carry about a root of corruption, nor a principle of enmity to God. It will no more be difficult or wearisome to you to do good. Your service of God will no more be mixed and blemished with imperfections. You shall never more have a cold, or hard, or backward heart, or a careless, customary duty to lament. That primitive holiness which consisteth in the love of God, and the exercise and delights thereof, will be perfected; and those subservient duties of holiness, which consist in the use of recovering means, will cease as needless. Preaching, and studying, and books, will be necessary no more. Sacraments, and church discipline, and all such means have done their work. Repentance and faith have attained their end. As your bodies, after the resurrection, will have no need of food, or raiment, or care, or labour; so your souls will be above the use of such creatures and ordinances, as now we cannot be without. For the glass will be unnecessary, when you must see the Creator face to face.[150]Will it not be a joyful day to you, when you shall know God as much as you desire to know him? and love him as much as you desire to love him? and be loved by him as much as you can reasonably desire to be beloved? and rejoice in him as much as you desire to rejoice; yea, more than you can now desire? I open to you but a casement into the everlasting mansions, and show you but a dark and distant prospect of the promised land, the heavenly Jerusalem. The satisfying sight is reserved for the time, when thereby we shall have that satisfying fruition.
And is there any such thing to be hoped for on earth? Will health or wealth, will the highest places or the greatest pleasures, make men happy? You know it will not. Or if it would, the happiness would be so short, as maketh it little worthy of our regard. Have you not seen an end of all perfection? Have you not observed and tried what a deluding dream, and shadow of felicity, the world puts off its followers with? How they act their parts as players on a stage; and they that in a dream, or mask, did yesterday seem princes, lords, or conquerors, to-day are buried in a darksome grave! And they that yesterday seemed great and rich, to-day have no more of their furniture, or possessions, than a coffin and a winding-sheet, and a place to hide their loathsome flesh! And they that yesterday were merry, and jovial, and in health, and honour, to-day lie groaning in painful misery, are leaving their dear-bought, beloved riches, never to be delightful to them any more. How little doth it concern them, that must dwell in heaven or hell for ever, whether they live in wealth or poverty, in honour or shame, in a palace or a cottage, in pain or pleasure, for so short a time as this transitory life, which is almost at an end as soon as it is begun! How many millions of dying parents have cried out of the world as vanity and vexation! and yet their besotted posterity admire it, and through the love of it lose their souls and everlasting hopes! They boast or rejoice in the multitude of their riches, as if their houses would continue for ever; though in their honour they abide not, but are like the beasts that perish, and death feedeth on them, when like sheep they are laid in the grave; and though this their way is their folly, yet their posterity approve their sayings, and follow them by the same sin to the same perdition, Psal. xlix. 6, 7, 10-14, 17, 19, 20. And is this a world for a holy soul to be in love with? Hath it merited our affections? Doth it love us so much, or use us so well, that we should be loth to leave it? John xv. 18-20. As it loved our Lord, it will love his followers: as it used him, it will use us, if he restrain it not. Is a blinded, bedlam world, a malicious, cruel, and ungodly world, a false, perfidious, deceitful world, a place for a saint to be loth to leave? O blessed be that love, that blood, that grace, which hath provided better for us! And shall we be unwilling to go to so sweet a feast? and to partake of a happiness which cost so dear?[151]
Come on then, dear friend, and faint not at the last; and fear not to encounter with the king of fears! It is the last enemy, and it is a conquered enemy! Conquer this, and you have no more to conquer. Lift up your head, and look to your victorious, reigning Lord; gird up the loins of your mind, and let faith and patience hold out yet a little while, and play well this last part, and all is your own.[152]
If the tempter now assault your faith, and sinking flesh do give him any advantage, abhor his blasphemies, and cry for help to him that conquered him. Do you think yonder high and spacious mansions are uninhabited; when every part of sea and land hath its inhabitants? Why have those blessed angels been so long employed in ministering for you, but to let you know, that your souls are not so distant from them, but that they are glad of familiarity with you, and you may be like them, or equal with them in felicity? Nature hath put you out of doubt, that there is a God of infinite, eternal being, power, wisdom, and goodness, who is the efficient, dirigent, and final cause of all; the Creator and Governor of the world. And the same nature hath put you out of doubt, that all that his creatures have, or can do, is due to him from whom they have it; and that so far as you are capable to know, and love, and serve him, that you should employ your faculties herein: and nothing is more undeniable to you, than that it is our duty to love and serve our God, with all our heart, and soul, and might. And it is as clear to you, that neither are these powers given us in vain, nor this duty required of us in vain, nor yet that man's natural, highest duty is made to be the way of his misery and undoing. And sure that way, which turneth the mind from sensual pleasures, and casteth a man on the malice and cruelty of the world, and engageth him in so much duty, which both the flesh and the world are utter enemies to, would be his misery and torment, if there were no rewards and punishments hereafter, and no future judgment to set all straight, that seemed crooked in the judgments of men. If all the intrinsic evidences of credibility, in the sacred word, were not sufficient; if all the antecedent evidences of prophecy were too little; if the concomitant evidence of all the miracles of Christ, and his apostles, and other of his servants,with his own resurrection and ascension, did seem too distant from you; yet mark what subsequent continued evidences it hath pleased God to bring even to your very sense, to assure you of the truth of this gospel, and of the life to come. Whence cometh that universal, unreasonable enmity, which in all generations and nations of the world, from Cain and Abel till this day, is found in the carnal against the spiritual, holy seed? Even a Seneca telleth us of it among heathens, against that remnant of virtue, and temperance, and sobriety that was found in the better sort of men. Could all mankind be thus infected, and hate a saint that never hurt them, much more than those that themselves confess to be most vicious, if the fall of Adam were not true? Have we a whole world before our eyes, that are visibly polluted with that irrational leprosy, and yet shall we doubt whether our common father was sick of that disease? And do you not see that the gospel, wherever it is heartily entertained, doth renew the soul, and change the life, and make the man to be another man; not only amending some little things that were amiss, but making us new creatures, and turning the bent of heart and life another way? Though the carnal, nominal christian, that never heartily received the gospel, do differ from a heathen but in opinion and formality; yet serious christians are other men, and so transformed, as that their holy desires and endeavours do contain the seed of life eternal, and are such a preparation for it as cannot be in vain. Would God concur thus with any word, which is not true, and holy, and good, to make it effectual for the renovation of so many millions of souls? Have you not found that his work of grace is carried on by heavenly wisdom, love, and power? and is a witness of his special providence? and containeth his own image upon the soul? And shall we then question the author of the seal, when we see that the image and superscription which it imprinteth is divine? And have you not had such experiences yourself of the fulfilling of this word, in the answer of prayers, manifest both on men's souls and bodies, which are enough to confute the tempter, that would shake your faith, when he seeth you in your weakness, unfit to call up all those evidences, which at another time you have discerned? For my own part, I must bear this witness to the truth, that I have known, and felt, and seen, and heard such wonders wrought upon fervent prayer, as have many a time convinced me of the truth of the promises, and the special providence of God to his poor petitioners. I have oft known the acute and chronical diseases of afflicted ones relieved by prayer without any natural means. Some of the most violent cured in an hour; and some by more slow degrees. Besides the effects upon men's souls, and estates, and public affairs, which plainly demonstrated the means and cause. And shall a promise thus sealed to us, be ever questioned again? Nay, have you not the witness in yourself, 1 John v. 10-12; even the Spirit of Christ, which is the pledge and earnest of your inheritance, and the seal and mark of God upon you? In a word, it is an unquestionable truth, that the rational world neither is, nor ever was, nor can be governed agreeably to its nature, without an end to move and rule them, which is beyond this life; and without the hopes and fears of a reward and punishment hereafter. Were this but taken out of the world, man would no longer live like man, but as the most odious, noxious creature upon earth. And it is as sure that it agreeth not with the omnipotence, wisdom, and goodness of God, to govern so noble a creature by a lie, and to make a nature that must be so governed. And it is as certain that all other revelation is defective, and that life and immortality, the end and the way, were never so brought to light, as they are in the gospel, by Christ, and by his Spirit.[153]