45o Verf. 21. An Expo.fttian upon theBookof, O B. Chap. 3; and labours fo long as he fees himfelfa blefling or ,a help to the publick : and though helongs to dye for himfelf, And to be with Chriji which is better, yet he is loth to dye, fo -long as he can fay with bittited Paul, Neverthelefs to abide in the fleflz,ic more - needful foryou, (or .others, -) Phil. y,-.2,4;.. When a Heathen Emperour, efar,faid,he had lived long.enough,whether he refpc ted Nature or Honour ; Tully the Orator anfwered him well, But you have nót lived long enough for the .Commòn- wealth. .Much more may we fay, when.we fee able and godly-men longing for death, be caulk ; hey lave. lived long enough, whether they refped common- Nature or their own Honour; But you have not yet lived long enoughfor' the,Chur;ch of.Cod, andfor the common -good of his- peo- ple.we fhoulá be willing to live fo long,asGod or his people have a firoak ofwork .to be done, which our abilities and opportunities fit; us to cio : In this fence, A living Dog is better then a deadLyon, Ec.clef. 9. 4. That is, it is better to live (though we are_the mean - tì,)- working for God,then dye or be dead,though=we have been' the cheifefi. I inlarge this the,:rather,becaufe of theprefent troubles,and the infirmity ofour flefh,whichfometimes-is ready toenvie thofe who . dye, becaufewe live in forrow ; and is not fatisfied with this, that our Sours are here fhelter'd from, death, and under the covert ofChrijl, unlefs our bodies alfo may be fhelter'd in death, 'and lie under the covert ofthe grave. So much to.that quefiion, Let us-note fomething£rom thewords themfelves, Which long for death, and it cometh not, and dig for it more then for hid trea- fores. Qbferve firff, That Many ,:frieiions to our, fenfe are werfe then. death. They long for death, 'becaufe they are in mifery. It is laid , and it is a Truth,O death,how bitter art thou to a man that is at eafe,in his pofiltiìens ? And there is a truth alfo in this,.O death, how tweet art thou to a man that is bitter in his foul ! It often falls out, that to dye 'is but a (bolt afidion, but afilidion many times is a long and a continued death,a frequent death,as theApotile'fpeaksofhis afflictions, in deaths often (2 Car. t a. 23.) That there is a bitter .acts in death, the fpeech of Agog implies, (a:Sam. 15.) Surely the bitternefi of death is pafi ; Yet while a man (as lamenting Jeremy complains, Lam. 3:. 19 .) remembers his afielions, and his mEery, the wormwoodand the gall, that is, his afflictions and mi.ferymore bitter then gall and wormwood., his fence over- - comes.
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