encourage himself against the fears of death by this refreshing consideration. Let him say with holy dying Muscu- lus, why tremblest thou, O my soul, to go forth of this tabernacle to the land of rest ? Hath thy body been such a pleasant habitation to thee, that thou shouldest be so loth to part with it, though but for a time, and with assurance of receiving it again with such a glorious im- provement ? I know, O my soul, that thou hast a natural inclination to this body, resulting from the dear and strict union which God him- self hath made betwixt thee and it ; yea, even the holiest of men do sometimes sensibly feel the like in themselves ; but beware thou love it not immoderately or inordinately ; it is but a creature, how dear so- ever it be to thee ; yea, a fading creature, and that which now stands in thy way to the full enjoyment of God. But sa}^, my soul, whv are the thoughts of parting with it so burdensome to thee ? Why so loth to take death by its cold hand .? Is this body thy old and dear friend ? True, but yet thou partest not with it upon such sad terms as should deserve a tear at parting. For may est thou not say of this departure, as Paul at the departure of Onesimus.'^ Philem. ver. 15. *' It therefore departeth for a season, that thou mayest receive it for '' ever." The day of re-espousals will quickly come ; and in the mean time, as thy body shall not be sensible of the tedious length of interposing time, so neither shalt thou be solicitous about thine absent friend ; for the fruition of God in thine unbodied state, shall fill thee with infinite satisfaction and rest.
Or is it not so much simply for parting with it, as for the manner of thy parting, either by the slow and lingering approaches of a na- tural, or the quick and terrible approaches of a violent death : Why, trouble not thyself about that ; for if God lead thee through the long dark lane of a tedious sickness, yet at the end of it is thy Father's house. And for a violent death, it is not so material whether friends or enemies stand weeping or triumphing over thv dead body. Nihil corpus senslt in nervo cum anima sit in coelo. When thy soul shall be in heaven, it will not be sensible how the body is used on earth.
4 But oh ! what an uncomfortable parting will mine be ! and how much more sad our meeting The ungodly again! how will this soul and body blush, yea, souVs rcjlection. tremble when they meet, who have been co-partners in so much guilt ? I damned my soul to please my flesh, and now have ruined both thereby : Had I denied my flesh to serve Christ, worn out my body in the service of my soul, I had thereby happily provi-
91 KUSBAXDKY SPIFxITUALTZED ; Oil,
dec! for them both ; but I began at the wrong end, and so have ruhu ed both eternally.
-DARE seeds have no great beauty, but, inhum'd,
That which they had is lost, and quite consumed ;
They soon corrupt and grow more base, by odds,
When dead and bury'd underneath the clods :
It falls in baseness, but at length doth rise
In glory which delights beholders' eyes.
How great a difference have a few days made.
Betwixt it in the bushel and the blade !
This lovely, hvely emblem aptly may
Type out the glorious resurrection-day ;
Wherein the saints that in the dust do lie, J
Shall rise in glory, vigour, dignity ; ^
With singing, in that morning they arise.
And dazzle glory, such as mortal eyes
Ne'er view'd on earth. The sparkling beauties here.
No more can equalize their splendor there.
Than glimmering glow-worms do the fairest star
That shines in heaven, or the stones that are
In evVy street, may competition hold
W^ith glittering diamonds in rings of gold.
For unto Christ's most glorious body they'
Shall be conformed in glory at that day ;
Whose lustre would, should it on mortals fall.
Transport a Stephen, and confound a Paul.
""Tis now a coarse and crazy house of clay ;
But, oh ! how dear do souls for lodgings pay f
Few more than I : For thou, my soul, hast been
Within these tents of Kedar cooped in ;
Where, with distempers clogg'd, thou mak'st thy moans,
And, for deliverance, with tears and groans
Hast often su'd : Cheer up, the time Vill be
When thou from all these troubles shall be free :
No jarring humours, cloudy vapours, rheums.
Pains, aches, or whatever else consumes
My day in grief; whilst in the Christian race.
Flesh lags behind, and can't keep equal pace
With the more willing spirit : None of these
Shall thenceforth clog thee, or disturb thine ease.
THE HEAVENLY ¥SE OF EARTHLY THINGS. 95
CHAP. XII. Upon the Kesemblance of Wheat and Tares,
As wheat resembled is hy viler tares ; So vile hypocrisy like grace appears.
JIt is Jerom's observation, that wheat and tares are so much alike ill their first springing up, that it is exceedingly difficult to distin- guish the one from the other : These are his words, Inter triticum et loliuvi quandiu herha est, et nondum culmus venit ad spicam ; gran- dis smilitudo est; et indiscernendo aut nulla, ant per difficilis dis^ tantia. The difference (saith he) between them, is either none at all, or wonderfully difficult to discern, which those words of Christ, Mat, xiii. 30. plainly confirm. Let them both alone till the harvest ; there- by intimating both the difficulty of distinguishing the tares and wheat ; as also the unwarrantable rashness of bold and hasty censures of men's sincerity or hypocrisy, which is there shadowed by them.
XXOW difficult soever it be to discern the difference betwixt wheat and tares, yet, doubtless, the eye of sense can much easier discri- minate them, than the most quick and piercing eye of man can dis- cern the diffiirence betwixt special and common grace ; for all saving . graces in the saints have their counterfeits in hypocrites. There are similar works in these, which a spiritual and very judicious eye may easily mistake for the saving and genuine effects of the sanctifying Spirit.
Doth the Spirit of God convince the consciences of his people of the evil of sin ? Rom. vii. 9. Hypocrites have their convictions too, Exod. x. 16. " Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; " and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against' *' you." Thus was Saul also convicted, 1 Sam. xv. 24.
Doth true conviction and compunction work reformation of life In the people of God? Even hypocrites also have been famous for theic reformations. The unclean spirit often goes out of the formal hypocrite, by an external reformation ; and yet still retains his pro priety in them, Matth. xii. 43, 44. For that departure is indeed no more than a politic retreat. Many that shall never escape the dam- nation of hell, have yet escaped the pollutions of the world, and that by the knowledge of the Son of God, 2 Pet. ii. 9.\.
Doth the Spirit of the Lord produce that glorious and supernatu- ral work of faith in convinced and humbled souls ? In this also the hypocrite apes and imitates the believer, Acts viii. 13. '' Then Simon