If this, therefore, be thy case, who readest these lines; afflicted and unsanctified, mourning bitterly for thy dead friends, and more cause to mourn for thy dead soul, christless and graceless, as well as childless or friendless : no comfort in hand, nor yet in hope ; full of trouble, and no vent by prayer or faith to ease thy heart.
Poor creature ! thy case is sad, but yet do not wholly sink and suf- fer thyself to be swallowed up of grief: thou hast laid thy dear one in the grave, yet throw not thyself headlong into the grave after him ; that will not be the way to remedy thy misery : but sit down a while, and ponder these three things.
First, That of all persons in the Korld^ tliou hast most reason to he tender over thy life and healthy and careful to preserve it : for if thy troubles destroy thee^ thou art eternally lost ^ undone for ever. " World- " ly sorrow (saith the apostle) works death.'" And if it works thy death, it works thy damnation also ; for hell follows that pale horse. Rev. vi. 8. If a believer die, there is no danger of hell to him, the second death hath no power over him ; but woe to thee if it overtake thee in thy sin : beware, therefore, what thou dost against thy health and life ; do not put the candle of sorrow too near that thread by which thou hangest over the mouth of hell.
O it is far better to be childless or friendless on earth, than hope- less and remediless in hell.
Secondly^ Own and admire the bounty and goodness of God mani- fested to thee in this affliction ; that when death came into thy family to smite and carry off one, it had not fallen to thy lot to be the person ; thy husband, wife, or child is taken, and thou art left : had
* NUiU miseriiis misero non miserante seijfsvm, i. e. None is more to be pitied than a poor sinner that does not pity liimself.
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thy name been in the commission, thou hadst been now past hope.
O the sparing mercy of God ! the wonderful long-suffering of God towards thee ! Possibly that poor creature that is gone never pro- voked God as thou hast done : thy poor child never abused mercies, neglected calls, treasured up the ten thousandth part of that guilt that thou hast done : so that thou mightest well imagine it should rather have cut thee down, that hadst so provoked God, than thv poor little one.
But, O the admirable patience of God ! O the riches of his long- suffering ! Thou art only warned, not smitten by it : is there nothing in this worth thankful acknowledgment ? Is it not better to be in black for another on earth, than in the blackness of darkness for ever ? ' Is it not easier to go to the grave with thy dead friend, and weep there, than to go to hell among the damned, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth ?
Thirdly^ This affliction for which thou mournest, may be the great- est mercy to thee that ever yet befel thee in this world, God hath now made thy heart soft by trouble, shewed thee the vanity of this world, and what a poor trifle it is which thou madest thy happiness : there is now a dark cloud spread over all thy worldly comforts. Now, O now ! if the Lord would but strike in with this affliction, and by it open thine eyes to see thy deplorable state, and take off thy heart for ever from the vain world, which thou now seest hath no- thing in it ; and cause thee to chuse Christ, the only abiding good for thy portion. If now thy affliction may but bring thy sin to re- membrance, and thy dead friend may but bring thee to a sense of thy dead soul, which is as cold to God and spiritual things, as his body is to thee ; and more loathsome in his eyes than that corpse is, or shortly will be to the eyes of men : then this day is certainly a day of the greatest mercy that ever yet thou sawest. O happy death, that shall prove life to thy soul.
Why this is sometimes the way of the Lord with men, Job xxxvi. 8, 9. " If they be bound in fetters, and holden in cords of affliction, " then he sheweth them their work and their transgression, that " they have exceeded : he openeth also their ear to discipline, and " commandeth them that they shall return from iniquity.'"
O consider, poor pensive creature, that which stole away thy heart from God is now gone ; that which eat up thy time and thoughts, that there was no room for God, soul, or eternity in tliem, is gone ; all the vain expectations that thou raisedst up unto thyself, from that poor creature whicli now lies in the dust, are in one day quite perished. O what an advantage hast thou now for heaven, beyond whatever thou yet hadst ! if God will but bless this rod, thou wilt have cause to keep many a thanksgiving day for this day.
I pray, let these three things be pondered by you. I can bestow no more comforts upon you, your condition bars the best comforts
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from you, they belong to the people of God, and you have yet no- thing to do with them.
I shall therefore turn from you to them, and present some choicer comforts to them, to whom they properly belong, which may be of great use to you in reading, if it be but to convince you of the blessed privilege and state of the people of God in the greatest plunges of troubles in this world, and what advantages their interest in Christ gives them for peace and settlement, beyond that state you are in.
And here I do with much more freedom and hope of success, ap- ply myself to the work of counselhng and comforting the afflicted. You are the fearers of the Lord, and tremble at his word ; the least sin is more formidable to you than the greatest affliction : doubtless you would rather chuse to bury all your children, than provoke and grieve your heavenly Father. Your relations are dear, but Christ is dearer to you by far.
Well then, let me persuade you to retire a while into your closets, redeem a little time from your unprofitable sorrows, ease and empty your hearts before the Lord, and beg his blessing upon the relieving, quieting, and heart-composing considerations that follow : some of which are more general and common, some more particular and spe- cial ; but all of them such as, through the blessing of God, may be very useful at this time to your souls.
Consideration 1. Consider, i?i this day of sorrow, who is thejramer cmd author of this rod hy which you now smart ; is it not the LoT'd? And if the Lord hath done it, it hecomes you meekly to submit. Psal. xlvi. 10. " Be still, and know that I am God."