Sermons upon death and eternal judgment

2. To receive Death not only with Patience, but earnest desires to be with Christ. I know Death is naturally unwelcome. Our Saviour tells St. Peter, When thou art old, another shall bind thee, ¹and lead thee where thou wouldest not: Signifying his Martyrdom.² The circumstance [when thou art old] is remarkable, and intimates the natural unwillingness to die, when there was little time to live. But his rational sanctified Will was superior and prevalent. The universal desire of the Saints is to be happy in the presence of God. for the Divine Nature communicated to them is intelligent and inclining towards its chief good: and if the obtaining it, were not by being unclothed, but clothed upon by an immediate translation to Heaven, how willingly would they leave this World? But there is ⟨p. 160⟩a bitterness in Death that makes it unpleasant, and many holy Souls that desire the Glorious Liberty in Heaven, yet are loth to leave their Prison. Now there are so many Arguments to make the Saints desirous of dying, that methinks since Life is chiefly valued and dear to them, as it is the way to Heaven, when they are come to that blessed end, it should not be longer desirable. What is this lower World that chains us so fast? 'Tis the Devil's circuit wherein he ranges seeking whom he may devour: 'Tis the Theatre of contentions: The low aspire to rise; the exalted fear to fall. The Poor envy the Rich; and the Rich despise the Poor. 'Tis a foreign Country to the Saints, and as Pilgrims and Strangers, they are liable to reproaches, injuries, and hard dealings from the Wicked, ⟨p. 161⟩the natives of the Earth. What is the present momentany Life that so enamours us? 'tis surrounded with Temptations, oppressed with Fears, ardent with irregular desires, and continually spent in vanity or vexation. In Adversity 'tis depressed and melancholy: in Prosperity foolish and proud. 'Tis a real infelicity under the deceitful appearance of felicity. But above all other motives, the evil of Sin from which we cannot be clearly exempted here, should render Death desirable. The best suffer internal divisions between the law of the Flesh, and the law of the Mind; as Rebecca felt the twins, Esau and Jacob, repugnant in her Womb, How hard is it to be continually watching the Heart that Corruptions do not break out, and the Senses that temptations do not break in?