4:::!2 Of DEAtH. Chap. U. Durl: iaken out of magnificent Tombs, and Plebean Dull: from common Graves? Who can know who were rich and who were poor, who had Power and Command, who were Vaffals, who were remarkable by Fame, who by Infamy? They /ball not fay this is 'Jezebel, 2-Kings 9· l7· not know this was the Daughter and Wife of a.King. The King of Baby/on, !tiled Lrtcifcr the bright Star of the Morning, that poffefs'd the firft Empire in the World, was degraded by Death, humbled tothe Grave, and exchanged all his glorious St·a tc fOr Worms and Putrefaction. The f!Vorm ts fpread under thee, and the "fflorms cO'Ver thce;Ifi.1. 1 4· 11. In fl1ort, Death feparates Men from all their admired charming Vanities. Now confidering Man merely in the Order of Nature, what RcflcEl:ion is more fearful and tormenting, than the neceffity, that cannot be over· ruled, of parting for ever with all the Del ights of Li fe? Thofe who have afcended to the Throne, that are 'arrived at the height ol Temporal Happinefs, what a melancholy Profpeet is before them of Death and the dark Grave? When all things confpire to make Men happy here, the fenfitive Faculties and their Fruit ions are ebbing and declining, till they fink into Death, the Whirlpool that will 01ortly fwallow them up forever. This renders the Thoughts of Mortality fofrigh tful, and checks the freeft enJoyments of carnal Pleafures. 2. Death is fearful in the apprehenfion of Confcience, as 'tis the moll: fenfible mark of Gods Wrath, that is heavier than Death, and a Summons to give anaccount of all Things done in this Life, to the Righteous Judg of the•World. 'Tts appomted to all Men onre to die, and aftermard the Judgment, Heb. 9· 27. The Penal Fear is more wounding to the Spirit than the Natural. When the awakened Sinner prefently expeas the Citation to appear before the Tnbunal above, wherenoExcufes, noSupphcattotls, no Pnvdeges avail where the Caufe of Eternal Life or Death mull: be decided, and the awards of Juftice bi immediately executed ; 0 the Convulfions and Agonies of Confcience in that hour! when the difeafed Body cannot live, and the difconfolate Soul dare not die, what Anxieties furround it? This redoubles the Terrors of Death, that the firft tranfmits to the fecond that was figured by it. 0 the difmal afpeet of Dwh riding on a pale Horje, with Hell the bl"k .AttendantJolfowmg. Thts Fear JUrprtzed the Smners m Sion. Jtflho among m can dwell with devouring Fire? who am~ng us can remain with everlajling bt~rnings ? Tl~is made ~Heathen, thc!Jovernor of a Provmce, to tremble before a poor Pnfoner: Wh1le Paul di{ioflrfed of RtgiJt~oufnefi, Temper,mce, and1udgmen_t to come, Felixtrembled, ABs 24. 25. _'Tua {earJultlungtofallintotheHandsoj the livmg God, who lives forever, and can punifb forever, Heb. 1 o. l x. None is fo powerful as God, nothing fo fearful as the guilty Confcience. l· The Degrees of thiS Fearareexprefs'd by Bondage. ThiS Paffion, when regular in its ObjeCt and _Degree, is exc~Jiehtl y ufeful: 'tis a wife Counfellor and faithful Guardian, that pluci<S of! the Mask from our Enemtes, and keeps Reafon Vtgtlant and aatve to prevent a threatning Evil, or to fufiain it in rhe beft manner. 'Tis obfervable in rhe brute Creatures, that the \Veak and Fearful a.re rnofi fubtile and ingenious ro fecurc themfelves, and fupply the want of Strength with Artifice. Buc when Fear is inordinate, 'ris a tyrannous Prz~ar feme! Maficr, that vexes the weary Soul, and hinders its free ~ nd noble Op~rario~s. Cefar chofe men q~am rather to be expos'd to fudden death, than to be c~nrmually harafs'd WJth fear how to ~~:f:o~m;.:z: avoid it. The .Greek word i.mplies the bi~ding of the Spirit, t~a.t ~aufes an inward Slave- •n·· ~ ry. AndintheAporl:lesWnting*theSp~ritof Fear, and the ·'P"" of Bondage, areequi: M:,.vrom. 8. valent. Jfbbojheth, when Abner provok'd by th~ Charge abouc.Saul's Concubine, 1mperi-, 1 ~· N ouOy threatncd to tranflate the Kingdom to .Davtd, was ftruck JVtth fit~h a fear, that he could. x~;o(-(2'\~~ not anfwer Abner a word, 2 Sam. 3· 10, 11. The fudden Paffion filfied his Reply, and J, 7·' reduc'd him to adefencelefs Silence. Now the fear of Death, as 'tis remifs or vehemenr, fuch are the degrees of Bondage from it. 1. It imbitters the enjoyments of the prefent Life, and makes the mort profperous iri the World, even in the frrlnefi of theiJ fuf/iciency, to be in jlraits. Though the Scnfes are pleafed with the quick fweetnefs ofChange from one Objea to another, yet the Soul cannot have a delightful undifturbed Fruition, forefeeing that the /!ream of Plea fure will iffue into the dead Sea. Tml; Light is {weet, •nd 'tis a pleafant thing to behold t!Je Sun, Ecclef. I I. 7· But how fhort is this Life with all its Pleafures, in comparifon of the Days of Darkne{s that follow. Now though 'tisour bell: Wifdom and trueft Liberty to rejoyce in this World as if we rejoiced not, and frequently to meditate on the cooling DoCtrines of Death aod Jutl.r,-, ment, to reprefs the tranfports of the voluptuous Appettte; yet fince the Comforts of tillS Life are liberally mdulged to us by the Love of God, to be the Monves of our grateful and affeetionate Obedience, to fweeten our paffage t'? Hea~en, we '!'ay wtth tranqudhty of Spirit make a pure and chearful ufc of them 10 hiS Servtce : and tlS an oppreffing bondage when the difquieting anxious Fears of Death hinder our temperate enJoyment of his · Favoors and Bleffings. . 2 , The
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