§ 26. "What interest hath this empty world in me; and what is there in it that may seem so lovely, as to entice my desires from my God, or make me loth to come away? Methinks, when I look upon it with a deliberate eye, it is a howling wilderness, and too many of its inhabitants are untamed monsters; I can view all its beauty as deformity; and drown all its pleasures in a few penitent tears; or the wind of a sigh will scatter them away. O let not this flesh so seduce my soul, as to make it prefer this weary life before the joys that are about thy throne! And though death itself be unwelcome to nature, yet let thy grace make thy glory appear to me so desirable, that the king of terrors may be the messenger of my joy! Let not my soul be ejected by violence, and dispossessed of its habitation against its will; but draw it to thyself by the secret power of thy love as the sunshine in the spring draws forth the creatures from their winter cells; meet it half way and entice it to thee, as the load-stone doth the iron, and as the greater flame attracts the less! Dispel therefore the clouds that hide thy love from me; or remove the scales that hinder mine eyes from beholding thee; for the beams that stream from thy face, and the foretaste of thy great salvation, and nothing else can make a soul unfeignedly say _now let thy servant depart in peace_! But it is not thy ordinary discoveries that will here suffice; as the work is greater, so must thy help be. O turn these fears into strong desires, and this lothness to die into longings after thee! While I must be absent from thee, let my soul as heartily groan, as my body doth under its want of health! If I have any more time to spend on earth, let me live, as without the world, in thee, as I have sometime lived as _without thee in the world_! While I have a thought to think, let me not forget thee; or a tongue to move, let me mention thee with delight; or a breath to breathe, let it be after thee, or for thee; or a knee to bend, let it daily bow at thy footstool; and when by sickness thou confinest me, do thou _make my bed, number my pains, and put all my tears into thy bottle_!
§ 27. "As my flesh desired what my spirit abhorred, so now let my spirit desire that day which my flesh abhorreth; that my friends may not with so much sorrow wait for the departure of my soul, as my soul with joy shall wait for its own departure! Then _let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his_; even a removal to that glory that shall never end! Then let thy convoy of angels bring my departing soul among _the perfected spirits of the just_, and let me follow my dear friends that have died _in Christ before me_; and while my sorrowing friends are weeping over my grave, let my spirit be reposed with thee in rest; and while my corpse shall lie rotting in the dark, let my soul be in _the inheritance of the saints in light_! O thou that _numberest the very hairs of my head_, number all the days that my body lies in the dust; and thou that _writest all my members in thy book_, keep an account of my scattered bones! O my Savior, hasten the time of thy return; _send forth thy angels_, and let that dreadful, joyful _trumpet sound_! Delay not, lest the living give up their hopes; delay not, lest earth should grow like hell, and thy church, by division, be all crumbled to dust; delay not, lest thy enemies get advantage of thy flock, and lest pride, hypocrisy, sensuality, and unbelief prevail against thy _little remnant_, and share amongst them thy whole inheritance, and _when thou comest_, thou _find_ not _faith on the earth_; delay not, lest the grave should boast of victory, and having learned rebellion of its guest, should refuse to deliver thee up thy due! O hasten that great resurrection day, when thy command shall go forth, and none shall disobey; when _the sea and earth shall yield up their_ hostages, _and all that sleep in the grave shall awake, and the dead in Christ shall rise first_; when _the seed_ which thou sowedst _corruptible, shall_ come forth _incorruptible_; and graves that received rottenness and dust, shall return thee glorious stars and suns! Therefore dare I lay down my carcass in the dust, entrusting it, not to a grave, but to thee, and _therefore my flesh shall rest in hope_, till thou shalt raise it to the possession of _everlasting rest. Return, O Lord, how long? O let thy kingdom come!_ Thy desolate _bride saith, Come!_ for thy _Spirit_ within her _saith_, Come; and teacheth her thus to _pray with groanings which cannot be uttered_; yea, _the whole creation_ saith, Come, _waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God_; thou thyself hast _said, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, Come Lord Jesus?_"