Judg S. sò. Gen. 20, 1. 1. Sam r6. z; Inward caul s fioful. t. ehe want. of the fear of God. Deliverance fro*the King. o, fFears, or then thofe that arc molt temperate, becaufe by voluptuoufnefs they havedif joyn ied , and weakned their Ipirits. So young men many dines are more fear-fill of j Death, then thofe that arc old, as we fee in the gory, fudg. 8. to, jeerer the Ton ofGideon when he thould have killed Zebet, and Zilmunna, the Text faith, &was afraidbecaufe he was a young man; but Gideon, that was ed,er did it vvil- Jingly, as a manbetter aecuftomed, and experienced vvith oblervations ofchanges andvarieties of accidents amongft men. We (hall fee the fervants of God themfelves have difcovcred this wea'kneCs` öf fpirit, fpecially upon hidden apprehenuons of things. Abraham upon the t;tJ ion and violent apprehenfion of Death , was put to a floral (hilt : I thought ( faith he ) thefear of God is not in this place, and they will flai mefar my waver Peke, therefore 1 faid this is myffler. So Samuel, whenGod fens him to anoync vid, he difcovered his wcaknefs , Ifsoul fhoatld know what Iam at doing, he will flay me ; therefore he defired to have fome other mefLge,under the colour where- of he might put Saul off. So Peter out ofa fuddcn appreheafion of death, and fear of it , he delayed his Matter : This weakncfs of fpirit is in man natural- 1 y, Further , there is another thing that caufeth this natural fear, and that is , the unacquaintednefs men have with Death, there is fomewhat in this matter, that is ftrange to men;motwith(tandingThey hear,and fee many die before them daily, they hear things fpoken ofby the Minder, and they read the Scripture, and many ex- cellent comforts , but whobath feen thefe?what becotneth of there men? they fee Death -the ftri& porter of the world,letmen out of the carth,hut he locks the door of the Grave upon them, and none cometh back again to tell what is done in rhea place offilence, to tell what is become of man, when they are in the Grave, how they (peed in that worldof fouls ; there isno man returneth from the dead to report chefethings to them. N)w this affeð the natural man , nay all men naturally are afle&ed with the fearful apprehenfion ofdcath , becaufe they know not what will comeafter as tite natural man (peaks in Ecelefiailcs. When foram fee out, a watch-man to lee what was abroad, and fpied an army coming, he Pent a fervant, but Phu biddcth him goe behind him , he fendech another, and hegoe behind him !hill: tith he, Ifee the mengo but they come riot back: the Text faith, he was afraid. Make readythe Chariot , faith 7oram ; Ifthis be the iffue that men go, but never come back again, it is high time to look about us. Certainly ( beloved) filch are the apprehenfionsofdeath : We lee men( faith the natural man ) go down to the Graveandnot come back again, we fee that a man ceafeth to be, and to do thofe add-ons that we do, when we areupon the earth, therefore let us confider the mat- ter more feriouíly. When theCaptain ofthefifty, that carne to theMount to Elijah, law the two former Captaiues, and their companies confirmed, law that they were all dead, that they ceafed to be, but helaw not what became of them afterward , therefore he cometh with fear to theProphet, and intreateth him that hisltfemigbi be precious in hisfight. All ftrange things we knowaffeft men, and every thing, as iris more (tango; fo it more affeð mannaturally: Let there but come a beaftout of the Wilder- nefs, affòon as everhe cometh unto a, manand Teeth him, he flieth from him, be- caufe heis not ufed to the fight ofman, it is ftrange to him; but now take a beaft that,is brought up in the paiture, in the field, he will come to a manwithout fear, becaufehe isu(ed to the fight of him. So it it is hear: Death is apprehended as a {range thing, as a thing that a man never knew by experience; Men have leen thus much that people have died, but they never heardof any that came back again to. tell them how it fared with them after death. This (I fay) that men thould go to the placeof pence and have all matters haled, all things kept fecret down there, there cometh no report thence, this affe&etb men with fear. Thefe are the natural caufes. Secondly, thereare other caufes within, that affe&men with the feat of death, and thofe are finful caufes. Firp, the want of thefear of God, andas this is Ids, to thefear ofdeath is mote; There-
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