490 Tempus putatfonls, or, this day thou (haltbe with me inTaradif. Why fhould saintPatelfoearnefilyde- fire to be difolved and tobe with Chrift ; ifafter hisdiffolution till the dayof judg- mcnt,he fhould not come near himnor fee his face ? Why should all godly Chrifti- ans héftiwilling to be abfcntfrom the body,tbat theymight beprefenr wzththeLard,if aftcrrheyweteabfentfromthe body they fhou!d not come into the Tords prefence? who dart queflion that which the Apolille fo cxprefly and fo confidently delivers, wt know that if thehoufe of our carthlrrtabernacle be dzffolved, we have an eternal in the Heavens. As for thep'hrafe, thou fhaltgo to thj Fathers, it is but an elegantcircumlocution of the period of our life ; a quaver upon the clofe thereof, for the meanint;is, thou thalt die, or go the way ofallJlelh. Quo)`tius e/Eneas quo dives Tulles, & encat. Whither all thy Fathers went before thee, good and bad, rich and poor ; for Deaths ficklclikethe Italian Captains fword, which could not dìflinguiih between a,Guelfand Gibelive, flays all, and makes a prey ofall. The righteous foul muff for a time be divorcedfrom the body as well as the foul ofthe wicked, and in the graves the y orms claim kindredof the cleft, as well as of the reprobate : the con - fideration whereof, put the Preacher into a pallion, how doth the righteous man die .ta well ou the wicker( ? as it is faid ofAbraham, that he isgathered tohis Fathers ; fo it is laid altoof Ifbmael, andmay beof the wickedeflman that breaths. And herein the languageofCanaan, and the language of.afloaod, do not much differ; for what the Romans mean by that their phrafe, abtit adpiares, be isgone to.the many. The Hebrews in a fanaified phrafc exprefs byabiit adinures, he ùgone tohisFathers, or gathered to hù people, whereof fonte interpreters give this acute reafon. It cannot be faid of no here wlilfl we live, that we are gathered to our own people in a fpiri- tual fence, becaufe heregoodand'bad are gatheredtogether, Eleaand Reprobate fo- journ together, all areas it were leant Commonersupon the earth, the CityofGod, and the City ofthe world fayl in the fame flop to the Haven ofdeath. The Draw - net of the Gof/iel catcheth fweet and .{tanking f/h ; in Godsfield, Tares growwith wheat; itshisfoar, there u mach Chsfnubgoodgrain. But afterdeath,Godtaketh his Fan in his hand, and pargeth hù Roar. After we depart hence, God placeth and forteth his Childrenby themfelves,and the Children of the ut. grid and_the wick- ed are by then-delves : and fo everyman is exaftly gathered to hie ownpeople; every flar is fet iwhis own conflellation, every grain is put inhis ownheap, every perfon and familyis joyned to his own tribe, we all pats by the famegate of death, but pre- fcntiy after we are out of it ; fome take tirright hand,and are ranked withfheep;o - thers,rbe left hand,and are rankedamong hisgoats. We arcall like Plate worn out of fafhion, and we mull all be altred, and therefore ofneceflity muff be melted, that is diffolved by death ; but after we have run inthe fire ofthe judgment ofGod, of that whichv vas pure metal Godwill make Vefe/sofhonour, but ofthedroffy and gleamy fiuf , that is the prophane or impure perfon or hypocrite, veldt of difhonour; and thrfe fhall fhinc like thefanan the Firmament, thofe shall glo like coals in the fire of hell for evermore. By this it fhould Teemmayfome obje 1, that the righteous have no prerogative in death above the wicked, but only after death ; and conlèquently that Godprohiifed Abrahamno blefng in thefe words, thoufbaltgo to thefathers ; it had been rather a fingular favour to have kept him out of the commontrack with Enoch, and have tranflated him, that be might notfee death : this objection is an- fwered in the next words. Inpeace, it is no fpeciai birlflog or favourto bringuuto our fathers by death, for ffatatumeft omnibus bominibus Jewel mori, the Statute providethfufictently tofend us to the place wherewe wereborn, but to fendus thitherin peace, is a fingular fa- vor whichGod vouchfafethhis dearChildren, efpecially in Inch a peaceas Abraham, went in, whereina three-fold peace concurred. r. Peace, 1
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