The quiet Endofthe¶ighteour. Hera then we fee is a Caveat to all that have no will, nor delire tube acquainted ith the Scripture: Divers think they fhould have done well enough,thantlrwehad no Inch Book aswe call thewordofGod. To be a Scripture-man is a by-word,a reproach, a matterofdifgrace ; and fooner will men Ellen to fome idle Pamphlet, than to amatter ofScripture. Well, beguile not your fouls,withthefevain conceits'-, with your Popifhand carnal imaginations. I fay, and teftifiefrom this place, that that manor woman,which tareth not to be taught out ofGods book,cannot die like a Chriftian: Who canteach thee theway to die wcll,butGod?And where dothGod teach, but in the Scripture ? If our thoughts ofDeath, if ourprovifion, andprepa ration for Death be not warranted,and guided by Gods word,it is all in vain. Lord; faith Simeon, my delire ofdiffolution is according to thyword; my care to be pre- pared, hathbeen ordered by thyWord; he cannot die with comfort; thatcannot make the likeprofelfion. And this may Terse for the nextgeneral part,theground ofthisdelire, and preparation for Death, it isGods word; Lordnowlette(ithouthy fervent depart, according to thy word. The thirdand laft partfollows,, the natureandqualityof the deathofthe Righte- ous; (A departure in peace, or a peaceable difmi(fìon.) Here ire two things, fielt a difmiflion.: fecotylly, a difiniflion accompanied with peace. Theword (a-') tranflated (Let thy fervantdepart,) may well beEnglilh ed thus, let thy fervant loaf; ; Lordfreeme, enlarge me, fee me at liberty. Hence we learn; that, The fervants of God do by `Death receive a final difcharge from all manner of mifery. This is evident out of the force of the phrafe here tiled : Simeonknew that fo long as helived, his foul was (as it were) imprifoned in his body, and i{I it he was held in bondage under the remnantsofOriginal corruption, fubjeft to the affaults andtemptation ofSatan, in continual and daily pollibilityto trefpafs and fin againt God,befide otheraffliCtionsand grievances inthebody and cuate but hehad:shith: all thisknowledgeand underftandingofthe nature of Death, that itwasanesalsrge-t ment to the foul, and a freeingof it utterly and finally from all thofe;'agd'fhë like incumbrances. The fame may begathered fronithe phrafe ufed by Saint 7taul ,fltfsxe.(:ftzl he) Lc so'ree 4o0.4, to bediftived, and r;247( 4,7sit,g1- z,anu'u,a4, read the, t:sir'éof.iio}tdepar- tore ; the words thew thattherecomes a libertyby deathto-the fouls ofGods fer- vanes. Thephrafe that Sanie PeteruffGth,is worthy ourobfervation for this purpofe. Firlt,he terms death,zm6e c the layingdown ofaburden,and bythat means the foul is lìghtned and cafed. Secondly, he terms it d iltll., a going out from a place andconditionofhardfhip.The fècondbook of Mofes,which relates thé departure of the Ifraelites out of Egyptian. bondage hath the fame name Exodiet. As for the point itfelf,namely,that the death of theRighteous,is to thema difcharge from all mifery, the Scripture bears witnefs to it : Rleffed (laid he) are the dead, mhsch die in'the L_ ord,even fofaith the fjiirit,ehatthey may refi from their labours: As long as they livehere,they arediverfly troubled,when theydie their labours are at an end, and they are received into rot, Saint John tells us, that in his 4ifion he faw, the fouls ofthem that wereftain,lie undertbe_4ltar_. Now the Altai in the time ofthe law was a place ofrefuge and fafety, and thence itappears, that by death the fervants of God are eft faons receivedinto aplace of holy, fecurity, where there is no eüpefta tionofinyfurthertnifery. They arelaidto be received, ae71, =t tai sAG.da, into r.4braams bofome, into the fellowfhip of the fame happinefs withni4krabam, the Father ofall true believers. TheDoctrine in the uricplace makesagainft thofe oftheChurchof l jme,which maintain a placeof torment, even for thefervants of God after this life, where they muff be tried foratime, before they can enter into Reft,andhappinefs. This place they termPurgatory, the torment here they holdto beunfpeakable, and far furpaffing any tormentwhich the wit ofman is able to devife. But this place among others is E e..e" a fufbcient 393 oft. DoFfr, 4. Death ficeth Dodd fervants from all mifc,ÿ Phil. t. s;. Tim. 4.d, 2Pet. :.14. a,Pct. 2 is, ttev.r4.t;, Reà. 6.;; Luke16,1*, ConfutatiQi of Psirgatory.
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