The way not to fear death, and not to let nature have overmuch scope, is to disarm death beforehand, to pluck out the sting of it by repentance ; weaken it beforehand, that it may not get the better, even as we do with our enemies. The way to overcome them is to weaken them, to weaken their forces, to starve them if we can, to intercept all their provision. What makes death terrible and strong ? We put stings into it, our sins, our sins against conscience. The time will come when conscience will awaken, and it will be ther , if ever, to our comfort ; and then our former sins will stare in our faces, the sirs of our youth, the sins that we have before neglected soundly to repen'i for. Therefore let us labour this way to make death less terrible.
Again, that we may not fear it overmuch, let us look upon it in the
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glass of the gospel, as it is now in Christ, as it is turned clean another way. Now, it hath sweet names. It is called a dissolution, a departm-e, a sleep- ing, a going to our Father's, and such like. God doth sweeten a hitter thing, that it may enter into us with less terror. So it must be our wisdom to sweeten the meditation of it, by evangelical considerations, what it is now by Christ.
And withal to meditate the two terms, from whence and whither. What a blessed change it is if we be in Christ ! It is a change for the better, better company, better employment, a better place, all better. Who would be grieved at, and afraid of, death '? Let us recall the promise of the pre- sence of God. He will be with us to death, and in death. ' Blessed are those that die in the Lord,' Hex. xiv. 13. And especially foith in Christ will make us, that we shall not fear death, when we shall see him our head in heaven before us, ready to receive us when we come there ; and to see ourselves in heaven, already in him ; as verily in faith and in the promise, as if we were there. ' We are set in heavenly places ' with Christ already. Let us have these and such like considerations to sweeten the thought of death.
But to touch this, which is an appendix to that formerly mentioned, that
Obs. God's children are deceived concerning tlieir death qfttinies.
The time of death is uncertain. St Paul thought he should have died when lie did not ; he was deceived. There is a double error about death. Sometimes we think we shall not die, when indeed we are dead men. Sometimes we receive the sentence of death, we pass a censure upon our- selves, that we cannot live, when God intends our escape. So it is uncer- tain to us the horn' of death. Sometime we are uncertain when it is cer- tain ; sometime we think it certain when it foils not out so. Both ways we are deceived, because God will have us, while we live here, to be at an uncertainty for the very moment of death. ' Our times are in his hand.' Our time of life ie in his hand. We came into the world when he thought good. Our time of living here is in his hands. We live just as long as he will have us. Our time of death is in his hand. The prophet saith not only, my time is in thy hands, but ' my times,' my time of coming into the world, my time of living in the world, and my time of going out of the world shall be when thou shalt appoint me. Therefore he will have us uncertain of it ourselves, till the moment of death come. St Paul was de- ceived, ' He received the sentence of death in himself,' but he died not at that time.
So that the manner and circumstances of death are uncertain, whether it shall be violent or fair death, [whether] it shall be by diseases or by casualties, whether at home or abroad. AH the circumstances of death are hidden from us, as well as death itself and the time of it.
And this is out of heavenly wisdom, and love of God to us, that we should at all times be provided, and prepared for our dissolution and change. It is left at this micertainty, that we might make our estate certain, to be fitted to die at all times. Let us make that use of it to provide every day. Oh, it were a happy thing if we could make every day, as it were, another Ufe, a several life ; and pass sentence upon ourselves, a possible and pro- bable sentence ; it may be this day may be the last day. And let us end every day as we would end our lives. How would we end our lives ? We would end them with repentance for our sins past, with commending our souls into the hands of God, with resolution and purpose to please God in »]1 things, with disposing all things wisely in this world. Let us end our
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days, every day so, as much as possible may be ; let us set everythinof right ; let us set the state of our souls in order, set all in order as much as may be every day. It were a blessed course if we could do so.