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…

In prosecuting this Doctrine, we shall speak a little to the clearing of both the branches of it, and then come to the use. The first branch is, that there are many that die not in Christ, this is clearly implied in the words; Its looked on as a rare thing in the spreading of the Gospel after the reign of Antichrist to find People dying in the Lord, he is a rare so a happy man that dies in him. The second branch of it is, that be who they will that die not in him but die out of him in their sins, they die exceeding miserably; we shall confirm the first, and then speak a little to the explication of the second.

In prosecuting this Doctrine, we shall speak a litle to the cleiring of both the branches of it, and then come to the use. The first branch is, that there are many that die not in Christ, this is cleirly implyed in the words; Its looked on as a rare thing in the spreading of the Gospel after the reigne of Antichrist to find People dieing in the Lord, he is a rare so a happie man that dies in him. The second branch of it is, that be who they will that die not in him but die out of him in their sinnes, they die exceeding miserably; we shall confirme the first, and then speak a litle to the explication of the second.

For the first, that there are many that die not in Christ, it appears from Matth. 7. vers. 22. and from Luke 13. vers, 24. These three will confirm it abundantly; 1. the plain words of Scripture where Christ speaketh of Heaven as having, for coming to it, a narrow way & a strait gate so that few enter in thereat, and of Hell and Destruction as having a wide gate and ⟨p. 37⟩a broad way into which many enter, and when he speaks of the day of Judgment, he says, many shall come to him in that day and say, Lord, Lord, open to us, to whom he will say depart from me I never knew you, and he will set the goats on his left hand and send them thence into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels; these Scriptures speak not only of such as are without the Church, but also if not mainly of many visible Professors, yea even of such as preached in his name, and yet say of them that they die not in Christ. 2. If ye will look to the ordinary connection that is betwixt mens living and dying, ye will find that the way of the most part of men declares plainly that they die not in the Lord; for as we show, mens being and living in Christ must precede their dying in him, before they can die in him they must needs be in him; we do not say that all must be and live so many years in him before they can die in him, but that they must be sometime in him before they can die in him, and that they must live and put forth some acts and breathings of a spiritual life, of the life of Faith in him, if it were but a few words to Gods glory and for others edification, or a few sighs, groans, and looks to him; as we may see in the thief on the Cross though his time was very short; And if this being and living in Christ must precede dying in him, if ye compare it with the most part of your lives, Ah! how sad a prognostic gives it, of what is like to be your way of dying? How many are there of you that live still in black nature and were never borne again? If I could class the lives of the most part I would essay it. 1. How many are living like Atheists not calling upon God at all, casting off fear and restraining Prayer before him? And as these live so they die for the most part either securely or desperately. 2. How many live in formality and never knew what it was to mortify the Flesh, or sincerely to