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to caft out their very fpirits, as I may fay, in their glorious activities and exercifes! Well then, here you fiad a fpirit natural⚫ly endued with understanding, will, and affections: in these faculties and affections, the habits of grace permanently root-, ed, which therefore accompany it in its afcenfion to glory : an ability to use and exercise these faculties and graces, and that in a more excellent degree and manner, than it did or could in this world, the fubject and habits inherent being now 'both made perfect: the clog of fleth knocked off, and all di⚫ftance from God removed, by its coming home to him, even as near as the capacity of the foul can admit. Conceive fuch a fpirit fo qualified, now ranked in its proper order among ⚫ innumerable other holy and bleffed fpirits, which furround the throne of God, beholding his face with infinite delectation, and acting all its powers and graces to the higheft, in the worshipping, praifing, loving, and admiring him that fitteth on the throne, and the lamb for evermore :' And then you have a true, though imperfect idea or notion of the fpirit of a juft man made perfect.

I will not here make ufe of the other glafs to represent a damned foul, feparate for a time from its body, and for ever from the Lord: that will be fhewn you in its proper place.

Query 2. Whether there be any difference in the feparation of gracious fouls from their bodies? And if so, in what particulars doth the difference appear?

Sol, For the clear stating and fatisfying this question, I will lay down fome things negatively, and fome things pofitively about it. On the negative part, I defire two things may be noted.

1. That there is no difference betwixt the feparation of one gracious foul and another, in point of fafety. Every regenerate foul is fully fecured, in and by Jesus Christ, from the danger of perithing, and is out of hazard of the wrath to come.

This must needs be fo, because all that are in Chrift are equally juftified by the imputation of Chrift's righteousness, without difference, to them all; Rom. iii. 22. "Even the righteousness "of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon "all them that believe, for there is no difference:" by virtue whereof, they are all equally fecured from wrath to come, one as well as another. As all that failed with Paul, fo all that die in Chrift come safe to the fhore of glory, and not one of them is loft. The fting of death fmites none that are in Chrift.

2. There is no difference betwixt the departing fouls of just men, in refpect of the fupporting prefence of God with them

in that their hour of diftrefs; that promife belongs to them all, Pfal. xci. 15. “I will be with him in trouble;" and fo doth that, Heb. xiii. 5- "I will never leave thee, nor for fake thee.” Their God is certainly with them all, to order the circumftances' of their death, and all the occurrences of that day, to his glory, and their good. Supports I have, (faid a good man in fuch an hour) though fuavities I want; and fo they have also who meet with the hardeft conflict at death.

But notwithstanding their equality in these privileges, there is a great difference betwixt the departing fouls of just men. And this difference is manifeft both in the

1. External] 2. Internal ]

circumftances of their death.

1. In the external circumftances of their death, all have not one and the fame paffage to heaven in all refpects; for,

(1.) Some go thither by the ordinary road of a natural death from their beds, and the arms of lamenting friends, to the arms and bolom of Jefus Chrift: but others fwim through the Redfea to Canaan from a fcaffold to the throne; from a gibbet or ftake to their Father's houfe; from infulting enemies to their triumphant brethren, the palm-bearing multitude. This is a rough, but honourable way to glory.

(2.) Some lie long under the hand of death, before it dif patch them; it approaches them by flow and lingering paces, they feel every step of death diftinctly as it comes on towards them; but others are favoured with a quick difpatch, a fhort paffage from hence to glory. Hezekiah feared a pining ficknefs, Ifa. xxxviii. 10, 12. what he feared, many feel. O how many days, yea, weeks and months, have many gracious fouls dwelt upon the brink of the pit, crying, How long, Lord, how long?

3. The pains and agonies of death are more acute and sharp to fome of God's people than to others: death is bitter in the most mild and gentle form of it. Two fuch dear and intimate friends as the foul and body are, cannot part without fome tears, groans, or fighs; and thofe more deep and emphatical - than the groans and fighs of the living use to be: but yet, comparatively speaking, the death of one, may be ftiled fweet and eafy to another's. Latimer and Ridley found it fo, though burnt in the fame flame.

In this refpect all things come alike to all, and the fame difference is found in the worst, as well as in the best men: fome like sheep are laid in the grave, Pfal. xlix. 14. others die in the

bitterness of their foul, Job xxi. 25. and by this no man knows either love or hatred.

2. There are befides thefe, fome remarkable internal diffe. rences in the diffolution of good men: the fum whereof is this,

ift, That fome gracious fouls have a very hard, ftrait, difficult entrance into heaven: just as it is with fhips that fail by a very bare wind; all their art, care, and pains, will but just weather fome head-land, or cape: they steer faft by fome dan. gerous rock or fand, and with a thousand fears and dangers, win their port at laft. Saved they are, but yet to use the apostle's phrafe, fcarcely faved, or faved as by fire. And this difficulty arifeth to them from one, or all these causes.

(1.) It ordinarily arifeth from the weakness of their faith, which is in many fouls, without either the light of evidence, or ftrength of reliance; neither able to diffolve their doubts, nor fteadily repose their hearts: and thus they die, much at the rate they lived, poor doubting, and cloudy, though gracious fouls, They can neither speak much of the comfort of past experiences, nor of the prefent foretastes of heaven.

(2.) The violent affaults and batteries of temptations make the paffage exceeding difficult to fome. O the fharp conflicts, and dreadful combats many poor fouls endure upon a death bed! O the charges of hypocrify, fortified by neglects of duty, formality and by-ends în duty, falls into fin after conviction and humiliati on, &c. all which the foul is apt to yield to, and admit the dreadful conclufion.

C.

Thefe are the laft, and therefore oft-times the most violent conflicts. The malice of Satan will fend them halting to heaven, if he cannot bar them out of it.

(3.) To conclude: The hiding of God's face, puts terror into the face of death, and makes a dying day, a dark, and gloomy day. All darkness difpofes to fear, but none like in. ward darkness. They must like a ship in distress, venture into the harbour in the dark, though they fee not their landmarks.

2dly, But others have the privilege of an udavacia, eafy death, a comfortable, and fweet paffage into glory, through the broad gate of affurance, 2 Pet. i. 11. even an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom. What a difference doth God make not only betwixt thofe that have grace, and those that have none, but betwixt gracious fouls themfelves in this matter; the things which ufually make an eafy paffage to heaven are,

1. A pardon cleared, Ifa. xxxiii. 24. The fenfe of pardon fwallows up the fenfe of pain.

2. A heart weaned from this world, Heb. xi. 9, 13, 16. A heart loofed from the world, is a foot out of the inare. Mortified limbs are cut off from the body with little pain.

3. Fervent love to Chrift, and longings to be with him, Phil. i. 23. He that loves Chrift fervently, muft needs loath ablence from Chrift proportionably.

4. Purity, and peace of confcience, make a death-bed foft and cafy. The ftrains and wounds of confcience, in the time of life, are fo many thorns in our bed, or pillow, in the time of death, John iii. 21. But integrity gives boldness.

5. The work of obedience faithfully finished, or a feddy courfe of holinefs throughout our life, is that which usually yields much peace and joy in death, Acts xx. 24.

6. But above all, the prefence of the Comforter with us in that cloudy and dark day, turns it into one of the days of heaven, 1 Peter iv. 14. And thus ye fee, though all dying Chriftians be equally fafe, and all fupported, and carried through by the power of God; yet their farewels to the body are not alike cheerful. There are many external, and internal circumftantial differences in the death of good men, as well as a fubstantial and effential difference betwixt all their deaths, and the death of a wicked man.

Query 3. Whether any fouls have notices, and forewarnings given them by figns, or predictions, in an extraordinary way, of their approaching feparation?

The terms of this question need a little ex- Terms opened. planation. Let us therefore briefly confider

what is meant by figns, what by predictions, and what by extraordinary figns and predictions.

"A fign is that which reprefents fomething elfe to us than "that which is seen or heard." And a fign of death, is that which gives notice to our minds that our departure is at hand.

"A prediction † is a forewarning of a perfon more plainly. "and exprefly of any thing which is afterwards to fall out or "come to país;" and a prediction of death is an express notice or meffage, informing us of our own, or of another's death, to the end the mind may be actually difpofed to an expectation thereof.

*Signum eft quod aliud repræfentat quam quod cernitur. Prædicere eft aliquem de re aliqua eventura pramonere. VOL. II.

RI

Of figns, fome are ordinary and natural, fome extraordinary and fupernatural, or at leaft preternatural.

There are natural fymptoms and prognostics of death which are common to most dying perfons, and by which phyficians inform themfelves, and others, of the ftate of the fick. These are out of this question, we have nothing to do with them here; but I am enquiring after extraordinary figns and predictions by words or things forewarning us immediately, or by others, of our approaching death. The queftion is, Whether fuch intimations of death be at any time truly given unto men? or, Whether we are to take them for fabulous reports, and superftitious fancies?

For the negative, the following grounds are laid.

Reafon 1. The fufficient ordinary provifion Reafens for the God hath made in this cafe, renders all fuch negative. extraordinary notices and intimations of our death needlefs: and be fure the moft wife God doth nothing in vain. We have three ftanding, ordinary, and fufficient means to premoni us of our departure hence, viz. the fcriptures, reason, and daily examples of mortality before our eyes. The fcriptures tell us, our life is but " "pour, which appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth

a va

away," James iv. 14. That our "days are but as an hand"breadth," and that "every man in his best estate is vanity," Pfal. xxxix. 5.

Reafon tells us, fo feeble a tie as our breath is can never secure our lives long. "The living know that they must die,”-Eccl. ix. 5. The radical moisture, which is daily confuming by the flame of life, muft needs be spent e're long.

And all the graves we fee opened fo frequently, are fufficient warnings, that we ourselves muft fhortly follow. Therefore,

as there was no need of manna, when bread might be had in an o dinary way, fo neither is there need of extraordinary figns, when God hath abundantly furnished us with ftanding and ordinary means for this purpose.

Reafon 2. And as the fcriptures render fuch figns needlefs, fo they feem to be directly against them. Chrift commands us to 66 watch, because we know not in what hour the Lord cometh." Yea, even Ifaac himself, an extraordinary perfon, and endowed with a fpirit of prophecy, whereby he foretold the condition of his fons after him, yet it is faid, Gen. xxvii. 2. "That he knew not the day of his death." And it is not reasonable to think that common perfons fhould know that, which extraordinary and prophetic perfons knew not.