The blessedness of the death of these that die in the Lord and more…The blessednesse of the death of these that die in the Lord and more…

To proceed then more particularly to these directions, how to live as ye may die well, wherein if we should be large and say all that might be said to this purpose, it would lead us to speak of all the duties of holiness, and that with respect to all the conditions of our life, sickness and health, prosperity and adversity to our particular and general callings, and to all events; for as we carry in these, so we may expect to die, but these being general we shall pass them, and only propose some five or six directions in order to mens dying in Christ, as the great scope of this doctrine.

To proceed then more particularlie to these directions, how to live as ye may die well, wherein if we should be large and say all that might be said to this purpose, it would lead us to speake of all the duties of holinesse, and that with respect to all the conditions of our life, sicknesse and health, prosperitie and adversitie to our particular and general callings, and to all events; for as we carie in these, so we may expect to die, but these being general we shall passe them, and onlie propose some five or six directions in order to mens dieing in Christ, as the great scope of this doctrine.

The first direction is, seek to establish yourselves in the faith of these general truths that concern your ⟨p. 54⟩dying, especially to be established and confirmed in the faith of death, judgment and eternity, wherein it will be either well or ill with you for evermore; And this is not only to have a general conviction of the truth of these, but by meditation to draw them down to particular application to yourselves, that ye will die, that after death ye will come to Judgment and be eternally happy or miserable; for as we said before, one of the great evils that cherisheth Atheism, is mens living as if they were never to die; so then it is a foundation of well doing, solidly to believe death, judgment, and eternity, and they can never live well who lay not this for a ground, that they will die and come to Judgment, and who consider not what will readily be their challenges at death, that they may seek to answer them now, and what may be their tentations, that they may be guarded against them; Therefore ye would be established in the faith of these generals, and endeavour to draw death and judgment near to you, you would pursue them close in your meditation; Suppose that death were this very night approaching you, consider with yourselves if ye durst appear before Gods tribunal to be judged; more of this in our thoughts would help us, through Gods blessing, to mortify lusts, and to give death little to do when it comes; But the truth is, the most part never think seriously on death, and because they desire not another life then the present, they shun to think of death; I commend the necessity of this to you from the great averseness that your carnal hearts and humours have from the serious and stayed thoughts of it, I pose you that are given to pleasure, can ye endure to think on dying? And you that are glutting and surfeiting yourselves with the world, Dow ye abide to think on that word, Thou fool this night thy soul shall be taken from thee, and whose shall these things be? And you that are profane, dow ye think on that sad sound of the