SERM. Sometimes the quiet death of a very bad man, CLXXXVII. proceeds from stupidity, and want of a just fenfe of the danger of his condition, and this from want of difcipline and inftruction in the nature and principles of religion: this temper looks like courage, because it is fearlefs of danger'; but this fearleffnefs is founded in great ignorance and want of apprehenfion; whereas a true courage difcerns the danger, and yet thinks it fit and reasonable to venture upon it. Now this ftupidity of dying men, who have lived very ill, is commonly the cafe of fuch as have been brought up in great ignorance, and have lived in great fenfuality, by which means their fpirits are immerfed, and even ftifled in carnality and sense; and no wonder, if they who live like beafts, die after the fame manner. And thus our SAVIOUR reprefents the rich glutton in the parable, as never coming to himself, and a fense of his condition, till he was awakened by the flames of hell; Luke xvi. 22, 23. "The rich man in hell he lift up As if he had never "alfo died, and was buried, and been awakened till then, his voluptuous and fenfual Or elfe this falfe peace may be afcribed to the delufion of false principles, by virtue whereof it is often feen, that men die in a very bad cause, not only without any regret and trouble, but with chearfulness and fatisfaction: and this is not to be wondered at, because every man's confcience is a kind of God to him; and whether a man be in the right or wrong, fo long as he thinks he does well," and his heart "condemns him not," he is apt to have confi"dence towards GOD;" but for all that, it greatly concerns CLXXXVII. concerns every man to take great care to inform his SERM. conscience. For if men will not be impartial in their inquiry after truth, and be not ready to receive it "in the love of it," St. Paul tells us, "that for this "caufe, GoD may fend them ftrong delufions, that they should believe a lye, and that they might be "damned, because they believed not the truth, but "had pleasure in unrighteoufnefs," 2 Theff. ii 10, 11, 12. that is, in falfhood and imposture: for fo the word adixía, which is here rendered unrighteoufness, is sometimes used in the new testament. And this is the last cause I fhall mention, to which the false peace of wicked men, when they come to die, is to be afcribed, viz. to the laft judgment of GOD, who permits great finners to be fo hardened in an evil course, as neither living nor dying, to be awakened to a sense of their condition; fuch as the apostle speaks of, 1 Tim. iv. 2. who are faid to have "their confciences feared, as it were, with a hot iron." This, it is to be hoped, is but the cafe of a few, that are thus utterly forfaken of GoD, and left to perish in their own hardness and obftinacy. This is like a gangrene in the body, which mortifies the part, and leaves it without fenfe, and thereby incapable of recovery. I proceed, in the Second place, to fhew whence this difference between good and bad men, when they come to die, does proceed. And here I fhall endeavour to fhew, that this difference is founded in the true nature and reafon of the things themselves; in the nature of religion and virtue, and of impiety and vice; in the different ways and courfes of good and bad which do naturally tend to thefe different ends. men, SERM. And to make out this more clearly and diftinctly, CLXXXVIII fhall endeavour to manifeft these two things. I. That a religious and virtuous life, is a real ground of peace and ferenity of mind, of comfort and joy, under all the evils and calamities of life, and especially at the hour of death. II. That impiety and wickednefs is a real foundation of guilt and fear, of horror and despair in the day of adverfity and affliction, and more especially in the approaches of death. I. That a religious and virtuous life is a real ground of peace and ferenity of mind, of comfort and joy, under all the evils and calamities of life, and efpecially at the hour of death. Under the evils and calamities of life, innocency is a great stay and fupport to our minds under fufferings, and will bear up our fpirits, when nothing elfe can, especially if a man fuffer for a good confcience, "and for righteousness fake;" because then, befide the comfort of innocency, we are intitled in a fpecial manner to the favour of Gop, and the comforts and fupports of his HOLY SPIRIT, and the hopes of a glorious reward from that GoD, for whofe fake and in whofe caufe we fuffer. All trouble is tolerable to him who hath no burden of guilt upon his mind, to him who is at peace with his own confcience, and at peace with GOD, and is affured of his favour and friendship, of his providence and care, of his approbation and reward; this is a firm ground, not only of patience, but of joy to a good man, in the faddeft and moft difmal condition he can fall into. " Unto . the upright (faith the pfalmift) there arifeth light in darknefs," Pial. cxii. 4. And no wonder, becaufe he that fears GoD, and ferves him faithfully, and and fuffers for him patiently, hath laid a fure founda- SERM. tion of comfort to himfelf, hath fown the feeds of CLXXXVII. contentment and peace, of joy and gladness in his own mind, which will spring up and flourish most, And more efpecially at the hour of death, then the comfort of a good man overflows, and "he lifts up "his head with joy, becaufe his redemption draweth nigh:" then the reflexion upon a well-spent and unfpotted life, fills his foul with abundant confolation, with " joy unspeakable and full of glory;" for GOD, and the things of another world, appear more real and fubftantial to him, as he draws near to them, and his faith begins to be turned into fight and fruition; he now stands upon the confines of both worlds, and difcerns more clearly the vanity and emptiness of that which he is going from, and the fubftantial and durable happiness of that which he is entering into. Here is the trial of our faith, and the proof of religion, by the real fruits and effects of it, in the peace and comfort which it gives to a good man, when he is leaving this world; fo that "when he walks "through the valley of death, he fears no ill," and his hopes are then most lively and vigorous, when he is ready to give up the ghoft; the voice of nature, and of every man's reafon and confcience, as well as fcripture," fays to the righteous, it shall be well with him, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings; but CLXXXVII. SERM. "wo 'unto the wicked, it fhall be ill with him, for "the reward of his hands fhall be given him." Which brings me to the IId thing, namely, that impiety and wickedness is a real foundation of guilt and fear, of horror and defpair, in the day of adverfity and affliction, and efpecially in the approaches of death. And how can it be otherwife, when all inward fupport and comfort fail him, and all forts of evil and calamity inward and outward, affault him, and break in upon him at once? when the principles of infidelity fail him, and what he had made out fo fpeciously to himself, vanifheth into nothing," as a "dream when one awakens, and as a vifion in the "night?" for when any great calamity befals this man, GoD, "who was not before in all his thoughts,' then begins to appear terrible to him, and he cannot banish the thoughts and fear of him out of his mind. But how uncomfortable is this, to be convinced there is a GOD, when a man hath most need of him, and can least hope for his favour and pity? But especially at the approach of death, what a sad preparation for that is an impious and wicked life? How does his confcience then fly in his face, and how bitter is the remembrance of thofe fins which he committed with fo much pleafure and greedinefs ? What a terror is the almighty to him, and the apprehension of that vengeance that threatens him, and that eternal misery which is ready to fwallow him up ? And in the midft of all this anguish and horror, which naturally spring from an evil confcience, and the guilt of a wicked life, he is deftitute of all comfort and hope; he hath denied the GOD that is above," and now he dares not look up to him: his whole life hath |