death's hand at thy door, to come forth unto him, that he may perform his promise which, in the day of thy betrothing, he made to thee ; and thou lovest him but Httle, if thou be not willing to be at the trouble of a removal hence, to enjoy liis blissful presence in heaven, where such j)i-eparation is made for thy entertainment, that thou canst not know here, though an angel were sent on purpose to inform thee. Oh, what tongue can express that felicity, which infinite power makes readj' ! The Turks say, they do not think we Christians believe heaven to be such a glorious ])lace as we profess and talk of; for, if we did, we would not be so afraid to go thither, as they see many, that profess themselves Christians, to be. It cannot be denied, but all inordinate fears of death betray great unbelief, and little hope. We do not look upon death under a right notion, and so we start at it, which, were we by faith hut able to see through, and assure ourselves it comes to do us a good tin-n, we should feel as comfortably at the thoughts of it, as now we are scared at the apparition of it. The horse eats that hay in the rack, which he is afraid of when a little lies at a distance on the road ; because there he knows it, but on the way he doth not. Christian, understand aright what message death brings to thee, and the fear of it will be over ; it snatcheth thee, indeed, from this world's enjoyments, but it leads thee to the felicities of another, incomparably better. And who, at a feast, will chide the servant that takes away the first course, to make room for the second to be set on, that consists of far greater delicacies?
Section V. — Then thou comportest with thy hope, when thou livest in the joy of thy hope. A sad heart does not become a lively hope. Let him follow his master with a heavy countenance, that looks to get nothing by his service ; thou art out of this fear, and therefore wrongest both thyself and thy God by thy disconsolate spirit, Heb. iii. 6 : ' Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end.' Christ takes no more delight to dwell in a sad heart, than we in a dark house ; therefore, let in the light which sheds its beams upon thee from the promise, or else thy sweet Saviour will be gone. We do not entertain our friends in a dark room, or sit by those that visit us mopish, lest they should think we are weary of their company. Christ brings such good news with him, as may bespeak better welcome with thee than a disconsolate spirit. Could such a message be carried to the damned, as might give them any hope of salvation, it would make hell itself a lightsome place, and tune those miserable souls into a rejoicing temper in the midst of their present torments. Blush, then, and be ashamed, O ye drooping saints, that a few thin clouds of short afflictions, coming over your heads, should so wrap you up in the darkness of your spirits, as that the hope of heaven, whither you look to come, should not be able in a moment to dispel and turn your sorrow into a ravishment of joy and comfort.
Section VI. — -When with thy rejoicing of hope thou preservest an awful fear of God ; ' The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him-, in those that hope in his mercy,' Psalm cxlvii. 11. We too often see, that children forget to pay that respect and revei-ence which is due to their parents, when once the estate is made sure unto them. And, truly, though the doctrine of assurance cannot be charged with any such bitter fruit to grow naturally from it, as Papists would make us believe, yet we are too prone to abuse it ; yea, the best of saints may, after they have the love of God, with eternal life, passed over to them under the privy seal of hope's assurance, be led so far into temptation, as to fall foully, and carry themselves very undutifully. Witness David and Solomon, whose saddest miscarriages were, after God had opened his very heart to them in such manifestations of love as few had the like ; both are checked by God for this, and a blot left upon their history, on purpose to shew what a sad accent this gave to their sin, that they fell after such discovei-ies of Divine love nuide to them, and to leave us instances of human frailty, and that in the most eminent saints, such as were penmen of holy writ, that when oiu" hope grows into greatest assurance, and this assurance spreads itself into highest rejoicing, from the certainty of our expected glory, we should yet nourish a holy fear of God in our hearts, lest we forget him in the abundance of our peace. This holy fear will be to oiu' joy, as the continual dr()|)ping of water on the ii'on-work in the fuller's wheel, which keeps it from firing, or as the pericardium, with which the God of nature hath moated about the heart in our bodies, that by the water
544 AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION.