I . A Funeral Seridtm. decidin!l ftroke betwe~n him and all hi~ fpirit~al Ene!"~s . ..\?.hen -he hath~een long llruggltng (with too little fuccefs) agamft Sm and Satan, and \S ready to famt, and dcfpond, in the Conflia, Death comes in, fent as an AuXiliary from God, and gives him both the day and the triumph. c;ertainly_he cannot b~t count it a good office done him, to h1ve his earthly houfe ),'ull'd down upon fo"many of his uncircumcifed Foes, though it crufh hin\ too in the Fall. ' · Thits h;uh God brought over Death, which \Y3S be~oFe a formidable Enemy, · ro be of a Believer's Party: fo tl)a_t though it had its ftirig and. llrength, its very Being fi·om Sin, ye~ it proves the. moft effe?tn~l means for t~e deftntB:ioh of Sin. As ' Worms when they creep into their holesleavea· iliniy dirt al)out them; ro it is with a Chriftian; when he dyes he l.eaves his S_in, "his Filth and Coniipt,ion, allatthe Grave's mouth. There he leaves theq1, and h1s Soul,, got, free from that clog, mouil.ts up ' into a blelfed Eternity, where it is for ever·fixt and perf~Cl:~ iilHolinefs~ytherethere is no ObjeCt to tempt, nor Corruption to betray. No fteain'of aqy LuftThaH there rife to cloud our beatificial Vifion of GQd, fitch as do 'here too often dark2n tile eyfi' both of our Reafon and our Faith: we !hall nt;) more da.(t kjild glanceS upOn orir Sins,) nor no more know a wavering and hovering defire after them. Oh bl~tred ~etemty r when the Soul !hall be for ~ver tied up to one all-fatistying good! .when it IHall with as natural a pronenefs, and 'vehemCht ardour, love alld deligh t in GO'd, as it>" loves it felf, and delights .in its own happ\nefs ! And why .then fhoul d we aefire t'd linger here below, and to fpP, out a mifCI!'ble Life, whereofSin a11d Sorrow'will ilQl have the greateft !hare? Here the bell of us are engaged iu perpetual.Q)larrcls PI'-' tween Sin and Grace, the one will not yielO, and the other cannot; Co .rruptioncom-. pels one way, and Grac:c sqmmands another: hafre therefore, 0 Ch rifrian, out of this fcufRe, make haftc to Heaven, and there this Controver fie !hall b e for ever decided. There we fh<ill no mo,re live in fear of new Sihs, nor in forrowforold, butalF farrow and fighing Jhall~eafe, all tears !hall be wiped from our Eyes,andallSinioot~ cd out pf our hearts. :And upon' this account Death. is neceffary. ' c Now tho.ugh by thefe,' aq<i other fuch like confideration's, we may arri ve at a certain knowledge that we lhaJl dye, yet the particular. circumfrances o f thE' time, an& manner of out Death iS Known ~o God only. , 1 Some have a little befOr~ their deceaf~, given fecret p·refages of tbcfe things, as I am informed this honourable perfon d~d. Whence thefeyroceed will' p.o't be neccP fary here to enquire.. .Poffibly thCy may be only fortuitous and cafu ai: the event may make thofe thingS j)ats for prediChons which were orily fpbHp at rando m. Or if they fcem too punctual to be fitch, the belt account that I ca ngive is this that Death being about to, unloofe t~ofe .fecret and fwc.et han<is, ih:ofC vital KnoiJ that tic our Souls and Bodies together,' We be~in to grow more unqmpned in our knowledge, as well .is opr being; and receive mtelligencies of things_ after anbther way, than by the d\lll conveyan,ce of fenfe . There is now that dnfr an d a!hes in the eye of the Soul that hinder it from difcovering futuritic{; bUt whe1'i d eath is blow.. ing this away, it begins to know after its own manner; and recciv_es at. leaft fame obfcure and glimmering hints of thofe Objects which· fenfe could nev er adminifter. And hence poflibly may proceed thofe llrange prophetick ~~eeches that many hava given out concerning their own Death. But when-foever tlley are, God doth ordi-· narily referve the exaa knowledge of thefe things to himfclf. . Firjt, He only knows the critical ~nd punfutal time. of our Death, for he hath determined it to a very moment. It is GO<\ that turns up our Glafs, that \Juts fuch 3 Mcafure of Sand into it, and no more, and hath prefixt that it lhall run fuch a TiQie and no longer. It is he ,that hath written our N?mes upon fo many Days and Hours as we Ihalllive, "as upon fo many leaves ofh~ Boork._; . and it i~ impoflible for U5 tb turn over.that Dar.or Hour that· hhh riot pur' i;1aines written .utx>n it, from all Eternity. Now this Book of Life, .God hath.wi,ittell in an han'd .that is not le; gible ,by us. We know nqtthe'Ta)eofDaysthat 11< riat~ appOll}teil u,s, but ' this we knpw, that we !hall fitlfil; and crrnnot exceed them. He bath (e,t, us our Bounds of iiving, beyond Wh!ch we cannot ~fs, The 'Illfultt. that dies as foori :is it ' feeth the light bath fill'd 'up its ~ppointei\,time, .a< well as ne that lives to decrepid A~e. And therefore, though God.be faid in Scripture, to cu~ .olf fome Men in the inidllof theirpa.ys; this mJ.I;O:,n?t. be fo. U~det:'fto#, as 'fther~'Ye;;~. remai~ing ~n ~~~the rtofe of Time any Days that were due to 1them; but only tt denotes, either that God cuts ' · them
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