either caft off the Fear of God, and all Reverence for his Laws, to fatisfy themselves with fome cold and formal Devotions, were they poffefs'd with a warm and conftant Senfe of thefe Things. For what manner of Men ought we to be, who know that we must shortly die, and come to Judgment, and receive according to what we have done in this World, whether it be good or Evil, either eternal Rewards in the Kingdom of Heaven, or eternal Punishments with the Devil and his Angels?

That which firft prefents itself to our Thoughts, and fhall be the Subject of this following Treatife, is DEATH; a very terrible thing, the very naming of which is apt to chill our Blood and Spirits, and to draw a dark Veil over all the Glories of this Life.

And yet this is the Condition of all Mankind, we must as furely die, as we are born: For it is appointed unto men once to die. This is not the Original Law of our Nature; for though Man was made of the Duft of the Earth, and therefore was by Nature mortal; (for that which is made of Duft is by Nature corruptible, and may be refolved into Duft again) yet had he not finned, he fhould never have died; he should have been immortal by Grace, and therefore had the Sacrament of Immortality, the Tree of Life, planted in Paradife! But now by man fin entred into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all men, for that all have finned, Rom. v. 12. And thus it is decreed and appointed by God, by

an

an irreversible Sentence, Duft thou art, and unto duft thou shalt return.

Now to improve this Meditation to the beft Advantage, I fhall, 1. Confider what Death is, and what Wisdom that should teach us. 2. The Certainty of our Death, That it is appointed unto men once to die. 3. The Time of our Death; it must be once, but when, we know not. 4. The natural Fears and Terrors of Death, or our natural Averfion to it, and how they may be allayed and fweeten'd.

СНАР. І..

The feveral Notions of Death, and the Improvement of them.

HAT Death is: And I fhall confider three things in it: 1. That it is our leaving this World. 2. Our putting off these earthly Bodies. 3. Our Entrance into a new and unknown State of Life; for when we die, we do not fall into Nothing, or into a profound Sleep, into a State of Silence and Infenfibility till the Refurrection; but we only change our Place, and our Dwelling; we remove out of this World, and leave our Bodies to fleep in the Earth till the Refurrection, but our Souls and Spirits still live in an invifible State. I fhall not go about to B 2

prove

prove these Things, but take it for granted that you all believe them; for that we leave this World, and that our Bodies rot and putrify in the Grave, needs no Proof, for we fee it with our Eyes; and that our Souls cannot die, but are by Nature immortal, has been the Belief of all Mankind. The Gods which the Heathens worshipped, were most of them no other but dead Men; and therefore they did believe, that the Soul furvived the Funeral of the Body, or they could never have made Gods of them: Nay, there is such a strong Senfe of Immortality imprinted in our Natures, that very few Men, how much foever they have debauched their natural Sentiments, can wholly deliver themselves from the Fears of another World. But we have a more fure Word of Prophecy than this: Since life and immortality is brought to light by the Gospel. For this is fo plainly taught in Scripture, that no Man who believes that, needs any other Proof. My Business therefore fhall only be to fhew you how fuch Thoughts as these should affect our Minds: What that Wisdom is, which the Thoughts of Death will naturally teach us; how that Man ought to live, who knows that he must die, and leave his Body behind him to rot in the Grave, and go himself into a new World of Spirits.

SECT.

SECT. I.

The firft Notion of Death, That it is our Leaving this World; with the Improvement of it.

Irft then, let us confider Death only as

1. Fl

our leaving this World; a very delightful Place, you'll fay, especially when our Circumstances are eafy and profperous: Here a Man finds whatever he most naturally loves, whatever he takes Pleasure in; the Supply of all his Wants, the Gratification of all his Şenfes, whatever an earthly Creature can wish for or defire. The truth is, few Men know any other Happiness, much less any thing above it. They feel what ftrikes upon their Senfes: This they think a real and substantial Good; but as for more pure and intellectual Joys, they know no more what to make of them than of Ghofts and Spirits; they account them thin vanishing Things, and wonder what Men mean who talk fo much of them. Nay, good Men themfelves are apt to be too much pleased with this World, while they are easy here; fomething else is neceffary to wean them from it, and to cure their Fondnefs of it, befides the Thoughts of Dying; which makes the Sufferings and Afflictions, and Disappointments of this Life, fo neceffary for the best of Men. This is one Thing which makes the Thoughts of Death fo terrible: Men think themselves very well as they are, and moft

B 3

moft Men think that they cannot be better, and therefore very few are defirous of a Change. Extreme Miseries may conquer the Love of Life, and fome few Divine Souls may long with St. Paul to be diffolved and to be with Chrift, which is beft of all; but this World is a beloved Place to the Generality of Mankind, and that makes it a very troublesome thing to leave it: Whereas did we rightly confider this Matter, it would rectify our Miftakes about these things, and teach us how to value, and how to use them. For,

1. If we must leave this World, how valuable foever these Things are in themselves, they are not fo valuable to us. For befides the intrinfick Worth of Things, there is fomething more required to engage the Affections of wife Men; viz. Propriety, and a fecure Enjoyment. What is not our own, we may admire if it be excellent, but cannot doat on; and what is worth having increases or decreases in Value, proportionable to the Length and Certainty of its Continuance: What we cannot enjoy is nothing to us, how excellent foever it be; and to enjoy it but a little while is next to not enjoying it, for we cannot enjoy it always; and fuch Things cannot be called our own. And this fhews us what Value we ought to fet upon this World, and all Things in it; e'en just fo much as upon things that are not our own, and which we cannot keep.

We use indeed to call Things our own, which we have a legal Title to, which no Man