ARMED FORCI^IfffilCAL UBRARY




       Washington, D. C. 
 
 
THE
Afflicted Man's  Companion:
                     Oil A
         DIRECTORY
                   T   FOR

PERSONS AND FAMILIES

               AJFLICTED WITH

      Sickn^f or any other Distress.

          ■•0        with

   DIRECTIONS  TO THE SICK?

       Both under and after Affliction.     VS

                     ALSO^
Directions to the  Friends of the Sick, and others  who vi&i-t
  them.  And likewife to ALL, how to prepare Loth for Sick-
    ness and lhATKj  and how to be exercifed at the  time
                    or" Dying.

                to which is added,
A Collection of Comfortable Texts  of  Scripture, \ery suitablefor
 Dying Believrrs.  The Choice  Sayings of many eminent; Dying
 Saints.  The Author's Last Advice to his V/ ife and Children : And
 his Dying Words, written byhimself, and found among his papers
 after his death.

                ■^©©C©1*" ---        •
      By the Rev. Mr. JOHN WILLISQy,
     »(M  Late Minister of trie Gospel in Dundee,
                 ■■m i €S>e3B> €&€£«■*—----

      VERT  NECESSARY  FOR / LL FAMILIES.
INE1
                : W-YORK:

rUBLISHED BY FA\EKT DUTCaUVCK.

          J. C. TOTTS.NjTpF.IxrF.a.
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TO THE READER.
^ r~pHE fubjeft of this  Book, however  melancholy it
J A  may appear to fome, yet  it is neceffaVy unto  all;
<v feeing the word of God, find our own experience do affurc
'* us, that " man who is born of a woman,  is of few days,
  and full of trouble ,"   and tkat he is born to trouble,
^ as the fparks fly upwfd."  Nay, God's deareft children
  are not exempted frA this common fate.   We fee what
  is the character Godgiveth his church, Ifa. liv. 11.  " O
  thou  afflided, aj^ofTed with  tempeft, andr not com-
  forted!"
     If in this world then we muft look  for  tribulation, it
  is highly neceflary for every man to feek direction  how
  to provide for it, and behave under it,  fo as he may glo-
  rify God,  edify others, and attain to  eternal  happinefs
  at laft.  The tribulations we have to  look for here  arc
  manifold;  but amongthofe that  are  outward, I know
  none about which men ought to be more  thoughtful and
  concerned, than bodily ficknefs,  that ufual harbinger of
  death, and which uihers the way to judgment.
     This is a fubject not much handled  in publiu fermor.s,
  which are delivered only to them tl.-'t are  hi health,  the
  fick being incapable to attend them.  Wherefore it feen:?
  the more neceflary to handle it in writing, that fo the af-
  flicted may have a book in  their houfes, and at  their
  bed fides,  as a  monitor to preach to them in private,
  when they are reftrained  from hearing ferrsons  in public.
     And though  fometimes minister's fermons may be ve-
  ry fuitable totfce cafe of the fick and afflicted? yet alas !
  the moil part are carelefs  and  forgetful hearers of theft:
  things while thtfy are in health and profperity,  are reck-
  oning the evil day at fome diftance from them.   A book
  then, fuch as the following directory,  being  with then
  in time of ficknefs and afrMtion, may  by the divine blcf-
  fing, be ufeful to bring to their remembrance  the cou.i-
  fels and admonitions which (HE^Vcry muah neglected in
  the time of their health.         f
     Again,  minifters of the gofpel though never fo much
  inclined to attend the fick, yet by  rcafoa of difability 
 •*                 To the Reader.

 ■■■ k! multiplicity of other  work, cannot  be always  villi
 them,  to direct, refolve,  and comfort them.   Ikit fuch-
  book as this they mny have flill at hand to confult with.
   And in regard the afflicted, for the moft part,  are out
of cafe to  read for themfelves, it would be a molt charit-
able work  fur friends or neighbours that attend.them, to
lay'hold on proper feafons for reading fuch a book as this
in their hearing, and especially fu<*h chapters or direct-
ions &z they judge moft Suitable fitfr them.   That you
might be helped in fome  noeafure to exoner your  con-
sciences, and do your laft offices of kihdnefs to your fick
and dying friends, when you can Serve them no longer in
this world.
   I might have brought in and handled fome controver-
sies (had 1 been Sond  of  them) in  the enSuing treatife,
about the admini ft ration of the Lord's fupper to the fick,
and about extreme umSlion, which feme alfo  begin to
plead for,  and thence have* taken occafion to touch at
foaie other new ufages, fuch as the middle Hate, pray-
erfi for the dead, and  other  popifh errors, that fome
(called  Protcftants). would  have revived and introduced
-morg us.   But I have  induftrioufly  fhunned what is
controversial, and kept clofc to what is  practical,  and
owned by  all  true Chriftians.
   For preventing the growth of  thefe,  and other er-
rors, (from which this nation hath been much longer free
than others,) I wifh all ranks among us  would  clofely
obferve the facred rule of faith,  God's  word, and re-
member the folemn and national engagements we  of this
land are under, to maintain the pure truths of God there-
 in contained,  in oppofition to all forts of error, whether
 Popifh, Palagian, Arian, Antinomian, &c.  And may
 vc ever abhor the doctrine that would teach us to break
 thtfe  bands afunder.           :*
   Have we not ground, this d^ry,  to fufpect that Satan
 is carrying on a deep and fubtle plot for Snaking  our co-
 ■venanted  reformation,;and weakening a Proteftant inter-
 ;ft ? when, upon the dther  hand, fome are beginning o-
 p^ly to advance  and propagate the old abjured  Popifh
 doctrine, which our retainers din  ^-~-.v out, and with 
To the Reader.
a-xes and hammers would go at once to cut down all our
carved work :  and at the  fame time, on the other hand,
fome would be at the breaking down the excellent fence,
of our reformation, viz. our covenants, c^nfeflions, the
magistrates power, {jfc   For this end, papfrrs are fpread
and pofitions  advanced, impugning the warraiitablencfs
of our national covenants and confefiions, and the obliga-
tion thereef;  reflecting alfo upon our worthy reformers
and anceflors, as unenlightened, who framed and took
them, or died adhearing  thereunto ; and alfo  denying
the  magistrate's 'power  eirca/acra, (for the Support ot
truth, and fupprefling of herefies,) acknowledged by the.
word of God, and our confeffion of faith y and all thin,
fbrfooth, to make way for a toleration of all errors and
Sects among us : though they cannot but know, that tole-
rating of falfe  religions is exprefsly ranked among the fins
forbidden in the fecond commandment, according to the
expofition of our larger Catechifm ; and is alfo condemn-
ned by  the  xxiiid chapter of our confeffion : in  both
which we may fee the clear Scripture texts, cited by the
aflembly, Sor  refuting and condemning any fuch tolera-
tion.   Ah I- what jay may all this caufe at Rome, there-
fore tell it not in Gath. &c.
  As the Lord did  fignalfy  countenance our reformers
practice, in entering into  Solemn and national covenants
with God, and among themfelves, for religion and refor-
mation  by the pouring out of his fpirit  from on high,
for bringing in of many fouls to  himfelf, and  for  over-
turning idelatry and  fuperftition,.and advancing reforma-
tion to a great pitch, in fpite of all the enemies and diffi-
culties that w&re in the way ;  fo their practice of nation-
al covenanting even under the New Teftarnent difpenSa-
tion,  is fufficiently warranted  both by  the light  of na-
ture and the word of^C-od, and that in both Teftament3.
And this will appear, 'Ifc^ve confider the fcripture-prece-
dents, together with theforomifes and prophecies of the
Old Teftarnent relating lo^ofcel tirr.es,  and compare
them with the New ; and efpe.cjfcl'y :hofe which fcretel
the unchurching of the jevyifhjpition, and tin ingrafting
©f the Gentile naiioas in vheirjfcom ; and. that thereupon 
6                To the  Reader.
the nation;;! ehurch-ftate and privileges of the Jews, were
to be transferred  to Chriflian  nations, and  particularly
this of being nationally in covenant with God.   Which
prophscies are to have their fpecial and full  accomplish-
ment at  Babylon's downfall.   For illuftrating  thefe
points, and applying the fcripture-texta  relative thereto,
I might expatiate in fcveral fheett of paper,  if it were
proper here.  I fliall only at this tinle cite Some of the
texts that may be well improven to the forefaid purpo-
fes;  which the reader may turn  to and confider at  his
leifure, fuch as  Ifa. xix. iS, 21, 23, 24, 25.  Ifa. xlv.
33.   Jer. 1. 4, 5.   The lx. lxi. and  lxii. chapters of Ifa-
iah throughout.  Ifa. lv.  3,  4, 5.  Micah iv.  i, 2.  Zech.
 'ii.  21,22, 23.  Rev,ii. 15.  Rom.  xi. 17,  19. Rom. x.
12, 19. Matth. iii. 5, 6.  Acts viii. 6, 12.  2 Cor. viii. e.
Matth. xxi. 43.  Rom. ix.  24, 2:.  26, compared with
Hof. i. 9, ic, n.  Hof  ii.  23.   Likewife I might cite
fcveral prophecies with refpect to the iflands, and utmoft
ends  of the earth, which were peopled  by Japhet, that
have  a very peculiar and favourable afpect  to this cove-
nanted land.
   Bcfides all which, it is evident  from the firft and  great
command of the law, which is directed to Ifraei as  a na-
tion, and  obligatory under the New Teftarnent  as well
as the Old, that it is  a moral duty uiiiverfally and per-
petually  binding upon nations and focieties, as  well as
Angle perfons,  to chufe,  acknowledge  and avouch the
Lord to be their God to walk in his ways, and to keep
his ftatutes.   This is required in  the firft commandment,
according to  the  expofition of  our Larger Catechifm,
and is there confirmed by thefe  texts, that warrant and
exemplify the practice'of national covenanting, fuch as
Deuf. xxvi. 16, 17. Jofh.  xxiv. 22.   In fuch a national
way did our fathers of old  acknowledge and avouch the
Lord to be their  God, and djfvote  themfelvcs and their
pofterity to the Lord.  AndJblefTed be the Lord our
God, who did many dpys declare  himfslf to be well
plcafcd  with the barf^n, and efpecially by filling the
temple with his glory,  ^
   As the prophets and |pdly Jews were at great  painj 
                  To the Reader.                7

to convey to pofterity hiftorical accounts of the wonder-
ful deliverances God wrought for Ifrael  at the Red-fea,
and in refcuing them from  Egypt,  Babylon, and other
enemies ;  fo it would be ufeful to  fortify our reforma-
tion, if we were careful to hand down to the rifing gene-
ration a  fcnfe  of God's  diftinguifhing  mercies  to this
land, in  delivering us from Spiritual Babylon,  and  in
refcuing us from time to time from thefe captains that
have fought to lead us back thither.   Many a time hath
he delivered us, when we have been brought very low.
   By many instances it hath appeared, that  the  glorious
Jehovah hath not been afhamed to own  his covenant-re-
lation to this Sinful and unworthy land.   God forbid that
we of  this age fhould be afhamed to own our covenant
relation to him.   This hath been both our glory and
our Safety ;  and I hope,  there will ftill be found a rem-
nant to own it, and plead it with God in time of danger..
Surely, it is not time now to difclaim it, when the ene-
mies of our Zion are combining together, and feeking to
raze her to the foundation.   Let all her lovers cry migh-
tily to her covenanted Lord, in her behalf, in thefe fha-
king times :  Let them join to put up that prayer of the
Pfalmift,  Pfal. lxvi'ii. a8.  " Strengthen, O  God, that
which thou haft wrought for us ;"  and that of  Habak-
kuk, Hab. iii. 2. "  O  Lord, revive thy work in the
midft of the years."                 May 27, 1727.
   N.  B.  The forefaid digrefTion in the preface to the
firft edition, was  oceafimed by the broaching of fome
 Sectarian notions, which  introduced great reelings and
 fhakings in this corner, and other parts ©S the  church ;
fince which time,  alas I  fhe hath  ewjoyed little peace
within her walls,  or pofterity within her palaces ; but in-
ftead thereof,  fhe hath been tolfed with  tempefts  and
 troubles of various; kftris, whereby the  children of Zion
 have been brought and Kill lie under great  diftrefs and
 affliaion.             *
   The firft impreffion of this bg*k  being difpofed of, and
 a fecond called for, I have morTip'-eadily contented to  it,
 at this time of general calami^- and diftrefi.,  feeing  the
 book is intended as a directory to Chrirtians under afflic- 
  8                To  the Reader.

  tion,  whatever fort it be.  It cannot but be obvious t»
  every ferious obferver,, that the Lord's judgments are ia
  the earth  at this  day, and that the inhabitants  of this
  land are generally vifited  with calamities of divers kinds
: both fpiritual and temporal;  which makes a Directory
 how to manage and carry under them the more feafona-
 ble and neceflary.
    Ah !  the Lord's hand  is vifibly lifted  up againft  us at
 this day, and hath  been for fome years paft, in fhutting
 up the church's womb, blafting gofpel ordinaDces, and
 withdrawing his Spirit from the afTcmblies of his  people,
 and from our judicatories.   The flood-gate is opened for
error, infidelity, and loofenefs, to overfpread the land ;
fo that the gofpel of Chrift, the holy fciiptures,  and all
revealed religion, are contemned and ridiculed by many.
" The angel of the Lord  hath divided us both in  church
and ftate^and hath  mingled a perverfe fpirit within us ;"
yea, hath made fuch woeful breaches amongft godly mi-
nifters and chriftians, who are aiming at the fame things,
that no balm can be found for healing them.  There is a
way opened for a carnal felf-feeking miniftry  to get  into
the vineyard, when faithful labourers are  thtuft out, and
godly preachers and ftudents are difcouraged from en-
tering in.   Not a few chriftian congregations, who lately
were harmonious and united in partaking of gofpel ordi-
nances, are now fo miferably rent and fcattered, through
mournful intrufions, and" dividing courfes, that they  can-
not worfhip God together ; and many of them are wan-
dering  like (beep having no fhepherd, expofed to beafts
of prey, and liable to periih in a flate of ignorance or ne-
gligence-
   Like wife,  the Lord's hand  is remarkably  lifted up
againft us, in the variety of temporal judgments and ca-
lamities brought upon us withinHTvery fhort time paft.
Sometimes the Lord fends forjjjlhis  ftormy. winds with
extraordinary violence, fo as to  carry terror and defini-
tion along  with themf boThr-bv fea and  land, and even
threaten to bury us in<*he ruins of our houfes.   Some-
times he fends fuch longjcontinued rains  in  time of  har-
veft, as threatens to deff oy tfie whole crop  before our 
To the Reader.
o
eyes.  Sometimes Such extraordinary ftorms of fro ft and
fnow, as to bind up the waters and mills, that food can-
not be prepared  for us, and we arc readjr  to famifh i'h
midft of plenty.  Sometimes he fends  fiifck  destructive
florms of  lightening and thunder from  heaven, and kin-
dles fuch fires on earth, that whole cities, with  their inha-
bitants, are like to  be  confumed therewith.   Upon our
neighbouring coontries dreadful inundations  have  been
Sent of late, for deftroying the inhabitants with their cat-
tle and effects.  Again,  God hath vifiied us  with  long
continued drought,  cold, and unnatural  ftorms  in  the
fpring,and fomctimes with frofl in midft of fummer, which
have brought on extraordinary fcarcity and dearth of vic-
tual ; fo that there  are great diforders committed in the
land by riots  and tumults for  want of  food to fuftain
them.   In the mean time we  are  engaged in  war  with
cruel enemies, who feize our Ships, carry our countrymen
captive, throw them into  dungeons and noifome  prifons,
where they  ufe  them barbaroufly ; yea, much of  their
blood is fhed and many valuable lives are loft  in our de-
fence.   And befides our other calamities, we fuffcr great-
ty through decay of trade and merchandife, and penury
of money ; in many places merchants, tradefmen and ar-
tificers want birfinefs ;  there is  no work  nor hire for la-
bourers, and for thofe who would ufe. honeft induftry for
bread,  whether men or women ;  fo that want " is come
upon us as one that travclleth, and poverty like an armed
man ;"  and many are  reduced to  extreme mifery,  and
ftarving circumftances for lack of bread.
   By all which proceedings it.appears that God hath a
peculiar controverfy with Scotland, and threatens to pu-
nifli  her remarkably for her heinous fins and provocations.
The Lord's hand hath been long lifted up againft us, and
now it is higher lifted i*p than ever ; and the higher it is
lifted up, the blow is like,to be feverer when given.   He
hath fent many lefler ftio^es and judgments upon  us, as
forerunners a»d  warningsl|lGgreater, which he hath ftill
in referve for us,  if we repent pot ;  for his magazine is-
far from being jexhaufted.  Asffiere are many caufesfor
*'  fe calamities of  ours^fo ifchink there is  a principal 
 10                To the Reader.

 one mentioned, Matth. xxiv. 12. " Iniquity doth abound,
 and the love of many is waxed cold."   Infidelity, immo-
 rality, and contempt of the gofpel, are come to a prodi-
 gious height ;. our hearts arc become cold and frozen to
 Chrift and his intereft, to his people and holy laws ; for
 which caufe God is provoked to fend fuch judicial cold
 and frofts upon our land, and the fruits of the earth, fo as
 to mar and diminifh our crops,  and reduce both men and
 beafts to the  greateft ftraits.—And yet fo great is our
 impenitency and perverfenefs,  that we will not  fee the
 Lord's hand, nor be reformed  by all thefe judgments.
   It might be well expected when the Lord's judgments
 are so vifibly in the earth,  that not only his  people by
 profeffion, but even the inhabitants of the  world would
 learn righteoufnefs, according to Ifa. xxvi. 9.   But alas !
 fo perverfe are we in walking contrary to God, that nei-
 ther the inhabitants of the world, nor thofe who  profefa
 to be feparated from the world, will alter their courfe nor
 learn righteoufnefs ; nay, inftead of that, many are learn-
 ing ftill more wickednefs.  "Shall 1 not vifit for thefe
 things ? faith the Lord;  and Shall not my foul be aven-
 ged oh fuch a nation as this ?"  Alas !  hath he not  been
 provoked to fay concerning us, as he did concerning his
 ancient people,  Lev. xxvi. 23,  24. "  If ye  will  not be
reformed by thefe things,  but  will  walk  contrary  unto
me, then will I  alfo walk contrary unto you, and will
bring feven times  more plagues upon you,  according to
your fins."  And likwife to fay unto  us, as unto them,
" When ye fpread forth your  hands, I  will hide  mine
eyes from you ; and when ye fall and  make many pray-
ers, I  will not hear ;  but I will  confume you with tke
fvvord,  with the famine, and with the peftiMnce," as in
Ifa. i. 15. Jer. xiv.  I2. .
  The fwoid,  famine,  and peftihfhce,  are  God's three
mortal arrows,  which  he commonly threatens to moot a-
gainfl impenitent and  incorrijble offenders.   Two of
thefe are already (hot arfpilPua»the fword is drawn, and
much of  our countrymen'*  blood is already  fhed •  and
what further ftreams of it  may flow before it  be  put up
«> its (heath, God only fcqowt.'  The  evil arrow  of fa-


                         % 
To the ReadeK                11
mine (as God calls it, Ezek. v.  16.) is let flyagainft us
at the fame time, and famine is the arrow which is the
foreft of the three.   When it was put to [David's choice
which pf the three he would be the butt of, he would not
choofe* famine.   The prophet Joel doth  bewail  and de-
precate this judgment in the moft pathetic manner, and
calls the whole  land to falling and prayer, for removing
it, Joel i. ro, 14.  And we See, when God is  moft an-
gry, and threatens to fpend his arrows  upon  a guilty
people, he begins with the arrow of famine, as the foreft,
as in Deut. xxxii. 23, 24.  " I will  fpend mine arrows
upon them ;  they Shalt be burnt  with  hunger."  And
we fee what the Spirit of God faith of thofe who die by
this arrow, Lam. iv.  9.  "  They that be  flain with the
Sword are  better than  they that be  flain with hunger;
for thefe pine  away, ftricken through for want of the
fruits  of the field ;"  and therefore their death is  moft
lingering aad miferable.  Likewife famine ufeth to bring
on the moft noifome  and mortal difeafes, and frequently
the peftilence doth follow  upon the back of famine.   Is
it  not high  time then, for our land to take the alarm,
when  God begins to fhoot his  evil arrows ? When the
lion roars it becomes  us to fear, yea to humble qurfelves
in the duft, and mourn for our iniquities, which kindle
 the fire of his wrath.
   Let .us fearch and try our ways, and turn again t« the
 Lord, from whom we have deeply revolted :  and parti-
 cularly, let us mourn for and turn from  thefe fins which
 the word of God points out as bringing on famine: fuch
 as, 1. Afcribing our earthly comforts and  bleffings to
 other things than God, the true author.   This  fin we
 find threatened with fcarcity and famine,  Jer.  xliv. 17,
 26, 27.  Hof.ii. 5, £.  2. Perverting of plenty to lux-
 ury and prodigality, renfWlity and excefs, revellings and
 dancings, balls, and  affem^ies.   We fee  how thefe arc
 threatened, Ifa. v. 11, 12,1^. j^jj^vi. 4,6,7.   3.  Re-
jecting the bread of life, and defplfing the food of our
 fouls.   God ufeth to punifh men for this fin, by depri-
ving them of bread  for their hj&es, Jer. xi. 21, 22.—
 4. Men's minding their own thifigsmore than the things 
 12                To the Reader.

 of God ;  and njjlecling to build his houfe, and put re-
ject upon his  ordinances.  Upon fuch  accouuts God
 Wings on fcarcity and famine, Hag. i. 9, 10, 11.  5. Co-
 venant-breaking  and dealing  cruelly with the poor, or
 with ftraugers that live among us;  it  is  for thefe fins
 that God fent the three  yean famine upon  the  land of
 Ifrael, 2 Sam.  xxi. 1.
   Moreover, let us look upon all thefe temporal  ftorms
 ann  calamities which are come, or coming upon the land,
 as warnings to prepare for a  more awful  ftorm that we
 mult all meet with, namely, the ftorm of death and judg-
 ment ;  let U3 ftand habitually prepared for that ftorm,
 and  then other ftorms will not fo much affect us.   If it
 be afked, What we fliall do to be Safe in the time of that
 trying ftorm ?   the anfvver is,  Let us fee that we be a-
 mong the broken in heart, or Sincere penitents, who are
 heartily grieved for all known fins;  that we be true be-
 lievers in Chrift, who truft in nothing but  his righteouf-
 nefs and merits  for justification and falvation ,  that we be
 born again  and made  new creatures by a faving change
 both in heart and life ;  that  it be our  great bufinefs to
 clear up our evidences of peace with God through Chrift,
 and  our title to  the maniions which he hath purchafed
 by his blond.   O that God's judgments  when they are
 in the earth, were means to awaken us  to  flee from the1
 wrath to come,  to Chrift our refuge !   When the floodl
 of great waters are fwelling up to the brim,  our only
 fafety is to fecure a hiding-place in Cnrift's  wounds.
   Let us follow the example of Noah,  who when he faw
 the flood coming, took warning, and prepared an ark for
 faving himfelfand  his  hoitfhould, Heb xi. 7.   Let ui
 even imitate the Egyptians that feared  the Lord ;  they,
 when warned of the dreadful ftorm of hatt that was com-.
 ing on the land,  made their forvants and cattle to flee into
 the houfes, Exod. ix. 20.   God hath in mercy provided
 chambers for his  Bflfl^**. to  hide themfelves  in,  wheJ
 ftorms are coming,Vve'fr the  chambers of his attributei
 avid  promifes, and the. chambers of Chrift's wounds and]
 ir.tercefiion ; in theJbonly ca« we find fafety : let us
1 
To, the Reader.                13
*hen enter'into them by faith, when he invites us, Ifa.
xxvi.20,2 I.
   Seeing, in thefe evil days, we have fo many harbingers
and forerunners of death before our eyes, it will be high-
ly our wifdom to keep ourfelres ftill in a waiting pofturc,
nlways ready and willing to die.   What is there in this
weary land to tempt us  to defire to abide in it ? Is it not
a land overwhelmed with fin  and forrow ?  O believers,
nr-e you toffed with tempefts here ? Seek the wings of a
dove, that you  may flee away, and be at reft.   Be habi-
tually defiring to depart, that you may be with Chrift.
Surely for you  to die is gain, yea, infinite gain 1  What
are thj imaginary pleafures of this world to the real hap-
pincfs of the next ?   Though  the ftruggles of death be
grievous to nature,  yet the gain of dying Should reconcile
you  to it.   You do not flick at the trouble  of putting
eff your clothes at night, to gain a little reft to your bo-
dies 4 and why Should you  Stick at unclothing yourfelves
cf the garment  of flefli at God's call, to gain everlafting
reft  to your fouls,  and the fruition of Chrift's glorious
prefence forever ? Let the thoughts of this gain put you
upon ufing all means to  get your hearts weaned from the
love of the world, and its comforts.  " Keep the mantle
of earthly enjoyments hanging loofe about you, especial-
ly in.thefe calamitous times, that fo it may be eafily dropt
when death comes  to  carry  you to the eternal world.
O for move  of the lively faith of that world, and of him
that b the Lord and purciiafer cf it!    But feeing this
fubj^ct is more largely  infiftcd on in the book itfelf, I
Shall add no more here upon it.   Only  I fhall fubjoin a
collection  of fome fweet and comfortable texts of  fcrip-
ture, very proper for dying believers to meditate and feed
on by faith, to grip  to and .plead with God, and fuck con-
f olation from, when tj^y have  a  near profpect of going
through the dark valley1, and entering into the unknown
regions of eternity.   God's word will then be our hope. 
        Comfortable Ttxts for Hying  Believers.
 f~^i OME unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy la-
 lfc/  den, and I  will give  you reft, Matth.  xi.  28---
 Hun that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out, John
 vi. 37.
   In my father's houfe are many manfions; if it were not
 So, I would have  told you :   I go to prepare a place for
 you.   And if I go and prepare a place for  you, I will
 come again, and receive you to myfcif, that where I am,
 there ye may be alfo, John xiv. 2, 3.
   Becaufe I live ye fhalllive  alfo, John xiv. 19.
   Chrift faith, •'  Surely I come quickly." anfw.  " A-
 men.   Even fo, come Lord Jcfus." Rev. xxii. 20.
   There remaiueth a  reft to  the people of God.   Heb,
 iv. 9.
   I have waited for thy falvation, O Lord, Gen. xlix.
 18.
   Lord now letteft thou thy fervent depart in  peace.
 For mine eyes have feen thy  falvation, Luke ii. 29, 30.
   He is the rock, and his work is perfect, Deut. xxxii. 4.
   The Lord will  perfect that  which concerneth  me,
"Pfal. exxxviii. 8.
   Being confident—that he which hath begun a good
 work in you, will  perform it until the day of Jefus Chrift,
 Philip, i. 6.
   I know that my redeemer liveth,and that he Shall ftand
 at the latter day upon the earth.  And though after my
 flcin, worms deftroy this body, yet in my :efh Shall I fee
 God ;  whom  I Shall fee for  rnyfelf, and mine  eyes Shall
 behold, and not another; though my  reins be confumed
 within me,  Job, xix. 25, 26, 27.
   Although my houfe be not  fo with God ; yet he hatk
 made with   me an  evcrlafting covenant,  ordered in all
 things and  fure ;  for this is all rf( falvation, and all my
 defire, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.         p^'
   Yea, though I walk throughfthe valley of the fhadow
 of death, I will fear noleviIT*or thou  art with .... Pfal.
 xxiii 4.               ~Wk
   Into thine hand I corRmt my Spirit.   \uu ha it re-
deemed me, O  Lord God oSf truth, Pfal.  sii'.  .
 
             Comfortable Texts,  £>V.          15

   For this God is our G > J for ever and ever ;  he will be
 our guide even untodeat'i, Phil. xIviiL 14.
   Thou Shalt guide me with thy counfel, and afterward^
 receive me  to glory.   Whom have I in haaven but thife*?
 and there is none upon earth that  I defire befides thee.
 My flefh and my heart^faileth : but God  is thv* Strength
 of  my heart, and my portion for ever, Pfal. lxxiii. 24,
 25,26.
   The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit: a  broker*
 and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not defpife, Pfal,
 K.17.
   O that I had wings liks a dove!  for then would I fly
 away and be at reft.   I would haften my cfcape from the
 windy ftorm and tempeft, Pfal- Iv. 6,  8.
   Though ye have lien among the pqts, yet Shall ye be
 as the wings of a dove covered with Silver, and her fea-
 thers with yellow gold; Pfal. lxviii.  13.
   The blood of Jefus Chrift his  fon  cleanCctU us from
 all  fin, I John i. 7.
   Having boldnefs to enter into the holieft by the blood
 •f Jefus, Heb. x. 19.
   He hath faid I will never leave thee nor forfake thee.
 Jefus  Chrift, the fame yefterday, to-day  and forever.—
 Heb. xiii.  5, 8.
   He retaineth not his anger forever, becaufe he delight-
 eth in mercy, Micah vii. 18.
  Though he flay me, yet will I truft in him, Job xiii  15,
  In his name Shall the Gentiles truft, Matth.  xii. 21.
  Bleffed are all they that  put their truft  in him, Pfal.
 ii. 12.
  He knoweth our frame,  he remembereth that  we are
 duft,Pfal. ciii.  U.
  I lothe it,  I would  not live alway, Job vii. 16.
  We knovrthat i£ QMA" earthly houfe of this tabernacle
 were diffolved, we have a building of  God an houfe not
made with hands, eternal |in the  heavens.   We are wil-
ling rather to beahfent  fron*th^jody, and prefent with
the Lord, 2 Cor, v. 1. 8.
  For me to live is Chrift, anirto die is gain.  Having 
 Io           Comfortable Texts

 a dtfire to  fkpart, and'to be with Chrift ;   which is iar
 better, Philip, i. 2 r  23.
 ^IrVnd now, Lord, what wait I forr" my hope is in thee,
 Pfalm xxxix. 7.
   My beloved'is mine, and I am his.   His left hand  is"
 under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. A-
 wake, O north wind, and come thou Souths blow upon my
 garden, that the fpices thereof may flow  out :  let my
 beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleafant fruits.
 Until the daybreak, and Shadows ft'eeaway. Make hafte
 my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or a young hart on-
 the mountains of fpices,  Cant.  ii. 6, 16, iy> and iv. 16.
.and viii. 14.
   O  death, where is thy fling ?  O grave,  where is thy
 victory ? But thanks be  to God, which  giveth us the vic-
 tory,  through our Lord Jefus Chrift, I  Cor. xv. 5 c, 57.
   The time of my departure is at hand, I have fought  a
 good  fight, I have finifhed  my courfe,  I have  kept the
 faith.   Henceforth there is laid up for. me a  crown of
 righteoufnefs, which the Lord, the righteous Judge Shall
 give me at  that day ;  and not to me only,  but unto all
 them  alfo that love his appearing, 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8.
   The day of death is better than the day of one's birth,.
 Ecclef. vii. 1.
   And God Shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and
 there  Shall  be no more death, neither farrow, nor crying,'
 neither Shall there be any  more pain ; for the  former
 things are  paffed away, Rev. xxi. 4.
   This is  a faithful faying, and worthy of all accepta-
 tion, that Chrift Jefus came into the world to fave finners,
 of whom I am chief, 1 Tim. i. 15.
   God fo loved the world,  that he gave his only begot-
 ten Son, that whofoever  believeth in him Should  not pe-
 rifh, but have everlafting life, Jojg| iii.  16.  '"
   For he hath made him to be  fin for us',  who knew no
 Ci-i ;  that we might be the rightffccHjfnefs of God in him,
 2 Cor. v. 21.         ££^^~
   Thanks be unto GoJfor his unfpeakablc gift, 2 Cor.
Ix. 15.               V  .„
   BL-ffed be the Lord C&d of Ifrad, for he hath vifited 
              for dying Believers*            17

and redeemed hi3  people, and hath raifed  up an horn of
Solvation for us in the houfe of his fervant David, Luke
i. 68, 69.                                     &*
  Them which Sleep in Jefus, will God bring with him.
Then Shall we be-caught up together with  him in  the
clouds,  to meet the Lord in the air : and  fo Shall we ever
be with  the Lord, 1 Theft, iv.  14, 17,
  Unto him that loved us and waShed us from our  fins,
in his own blood, &c.  Worthy is the Lamb  that was
flain, to receive power and glory, Rev. 1. 5. and 5.  12.
  We know that we have paffed from death unto life,
becaufe we love the brethren, 1 John, iii. 14.
   I am perfuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor an-
gels, nor principalities,  nor powers, nor  things prefent,
nor  things to  come, nor  heighth, nor depth,  nor  any
other creature, Shall be able to feparate us from the  love
of God which is in Chrift Jefus our Lord, Romans viii.
38,  39>
   I know whom I hare believed, and I am perfuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him
againft  that day, 2 Tim. i. 12.                      .
   I" count all things but lofs and dung, that I  may win
Chrift,  and be found in him, aot having miae own righte-
  oufnefs, &c. Phil. iii. 8, 9.
   Chrift jefus,  who of God is  made unto  us wifdom,
and righteoufnefs, and fan&ification, and redemption, 1
Cor. i.  30.
   We rejoice in Chrift Jefus, and have no confidence m
the  nefh, Phil. iii. 3.
'  Giving thanks unto the Father, who  hath made Us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of  the faints in
light, Col. i. 12.
   Behold, he  cometh with clouds ; and  every eye  Shall
 Cce  him.  Amea#9^n  fo, come Lord Jefus, Rev. i,
 7. and  xxii. 20.'       v
                       i  Dundee,  5th June, 174^
                         B2 
Some  of fhe Author's 'Dying Fjaculations,  as they ivere
  '.  written by  himf If a few  clays 'before he  died, and
  '**  left iuiih his Bible lying on his  pillow,. the — day of
     May, 175b.
      OLET me  deep in Jefus !
      I would  not live always in this evil  world,  that
has little in  it tempting, and feems ftill  to grow worfe,
and where  the torrent of fin  and  back Sliding feems to
grow Stronger.
   I  would dtfire to depart, and to be with Chrift, which
is far better than to be here.   I am willing rather to be
abfent from the body, and prefent with the Lord. Whom
have  I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth
I defire bcfides  thee :   for though  my heart,   Strength,
and 'fl'cfh fail;   yet the Lord will  be the ftrength of my
heart, and  my portion  forever.
   Now, Lord, what wait I for ?  my hope is in thee ;   I
have waited for thy falvation, O Lord.
   O  for Simeon's  frame, to be faying, " Lord now let-
teft thou thy fervant depart in peace, for  mine  eyes have
feen  thy falvation."
   When Chrift fays, "  Surely I come quickly ;"  may my
foul  anfwer, " Even fo, come Lord  Jefus."
   I  am living on the righteoufnefs of Chrift, yea, dying
in the Lord.  Even fo, come.   I am detained here up-
on the Shore, waiting for a fair wind to carry me over this
Jordon.   I have waited, and will wait for thy falvation,
O Lord.   The Lord is a Rock, and his work is perfect:
Lord perfect what concerneth me.
   O  that  I could fay with Paul,  " The time of my de-
parture is  at hand.   I  have kept the faith, I have fouglrt
the good fight, I have run my race, I  have finifhed my
courfje ; henceforth is laid up for j^e a crown  of righte-
oufnefs, which  the  righteous Jpord  will give me at his
coming."                   J"
   lam vile  and pollutecLQ^hbw Shall I  be cleanfed ! —
But  th*| is a comfortablffpromife, " The blood of Jefus.
Chrift his Son cleanfeth u» from all fin."  And fo is that,
*• Though ye have lain among the pots, yc Shall be  as- 
             Dying Ejaculations.              )9

dcvcs, whofe wings are covered with Silver, and their fea*
thers with yellow gold."
   1  rrfolve to obey, to Submit to the Lord's will, to  flie
like  Mofes and Aaron, the one at Mount Hor, the other
at Mount Abarim.   They went up, and died there at  the
command of the Lord.
   O that when my flefh and  Strength fail, God may  be
the ftrength of my  heart and my portion forever !  When
now the  keepers of the houfe do tremble,  O that God
may be the keeper  !  when  the  grinders ceafe, becaufe.
they are few, O that God would feed my foul with man-
na, that will need none of thefe implements !  when  the
daughters of mufic are  brought low,  O' to be fitted  for
the heavenly mufic  !  when the lookers out at the win*
dows are darkened, O that my foul may be enlightened
to fee Jefus my Redeemer.
   Lord, help the  unbelief and infidelity of my heart;
and help to more of the  faith of a rifen Jefus, and afcend-
ded Rede. mer.   O let me believe and feel the fweetnefl
of that word of Chrift, *'  I  afcend to  my Father and
your Father, and to my God and your God.'*
   O how Shall fuch an unholy creature as Iprefume into
fuch a pure and holy place !  But the apoftle has taught
us, we may have boldhefs  to enter into  the holieft of all
by the blood of Jefu?.
   O that when the time of my  laft combat comes with
my laft enemy death, I may be helped above  all to take
the Shield of faith,  whereby I  may be relieved from the
fling of death, and may quench the  fiery darts of  the
wicked one.
   O that I may be helped to adore the fovereignty  of
God, kifs his rod, and humbly  fubmit  to it.   Save  me
from both extremes ;  let me never defpife the chaftening
of the Lord, nor ftJinfl^hen 1 am rebuked of him.
   Now the prince of darkjiefs will Study to raife tempefts
of temptation,  to  Shipwreck  the poor  weather-beaten
veffcl of my foul, when it  wop£d enter into the harbour
of reft above;  may Chrift  co»e to be pilot,  fteer  the
helm, and it (hall be fafe.   -•
   O for more faith !■'  may q*y faith ripen to a full affu- 
 20           Sonic of toe Author*?

 ranee, that I may go eff the flage rejoicing, and that an
 abundant entrance nay be minillered to me into the king. .
 dom of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift.
   O for more faith, that I  may die like Simeon, when
 he had Chrift in  his arms, faying, " Now let thy Ser-
 vant depart in peace, mine eyes have feen thy Salvation."'
   Lord, one fmile of thy  countenance would banifh a-
 way all my doubts and fears, and  make me ling in pains.
   Is my Redeemer gone to prepare a place for us ?  why
 Should I be fo Slothful to follow his fleps, when he is  fay.
 ing  come  up hither;  come up,  dwell here;  come upr
 reigH here; come up, fing here.
   O Lord, deliver my foul from  death, mine eyes from
 tears, and  my feet  from  falling. • O  fave me  from the
 horrible pit, draw  me from out of the  miry clay, Set my
 feet upon a rock, and eftablifh-my geings, and put a new
 fong in my mouth.
   O give grace to Strive by faith and prayer  to enter in-
 at the Strait gate.   Lord,  thou haft bid me knock, and
 it Shall be opened ; aflc, and ye Shall receive : Seek, and
 ye Shall find.  Lord, I knock, opeu unto me ;   Lord, !• -
 would be in, I muft be in ; let  me but  in over the  thref-
 hohj; let me in within fight  of  my  Redeemer's face,
 within fight  of the fmiles of his  countenance ;  let me
 within hearing of the  fongs of the Redeemed  ;  let me
 get to the outfide of that praifing company ;  I will be
 well enough if I get in.
   Lord in I muft be,  out I cannot ftay ;  O Shut me not
 out with fwearers, fabbath-breakers, and profane perfons.
 Lord, I  never chufed  their  company while in this-
 world; Lord, do. not  gather, my foul with Sinners here-
 after.
   The redeemed are gathering, and the wicked are ga-
 thering, Lord, gather me with thjrfock ;  they  are faft a
 gathering ;  the church's head-is gone ; ^e has left  the
earth, and  entered into  his  glory ;  my" brethren and
 friends, many of them hapr arrived where he is ;  I am
 yet behind.   O how gflat is the  difference betwixt  my
 Slate and theirs.  I am jfrpaning out my complaint, they
are Singing God'«praifef\a« ia darknefs,audcannot fee


                     JL____ 
             Dying Ejaculations.              2l

 thy face, but they behold thee fac« to face.   O ihould I
 be Siti; Tird to ftay behind, when my> friends arc  gone !
 Shall I wander here  in a hungry defart, when they  are
 triumphing  above,  and dividing the fpoil ?  O help me
 to look after them with a ftedfaft eye, and cry, O Lord,.
 how long.?
   O heavenly Father, draw me after Jefus, for none can
 come to him without thy aid.   O Father, draw me  up>
 there where he is, and I will  mount up as  on  eagle's
 wing"?.  O draw me ; and when thou feemeft to fly from?
 me, Lord, enable me to follow hard after thee.
   O thou who remembereft  the dying thief, when on the
 way to thy kingdom, O remember me when now  feated
 in thy kingdom,  and fay to my foul, when I am  dying,
 u This day Shalt thou be with me in paradiSe."
   Lord, I am called to the work I never did, O give me
 the ftrength I never had.  O ftrengthen me like Sampfor*
 for this once, when at death, to pull down the Strong holds
 of fin within me.   Lord, wafh away my Sins in the blood
 of Chrift, and then my foul Shall not Sink, in the ocean of
 thy wrath. •
   O what is my life but a vapour 1  a fand glafs of Sixty
 or feventy years! O how faft  decs  it rundown! how
 foon runs it out !  Vain, vain is the love of life !  O give
 me grace to overcome the love  of life, and  the fear of
 death.  O for more patience, and lefs fretting.   If the
 damned had hope of being Saved from hell after a  thou-
 sand years of my pain, how willingly, would they endure
 h ? Blefled be God, my pains are not hell, their ftatc is
 not mine.
  Lord, draw near to me, and fave me ;   my body is full
 of trouble, and my life draws near  to the grave.  But
 Lord, thy loving  kindnefs is  better than life : O make
 thy loving kindnefs^wx to me, and I will willingly part
 with this dying lifeT^^
  Oh that I conld make all the  world fee the  beauty of
 my precious and adorable £a.riour.
  Nothing^but an intereft irijllhrift can- give peace in
life, or comfort in death.   He^is the chief  among ten
thoufand and  altogether lovely.  My body is in part
                          i
                          < 
22           Some of the Author's

dead, but I know I cannot die eternally while Jefus lives.,
I mult go down to the grave ;  but what is the grave ; it ■.
is but a  refining pot Since my  Saviour lay in it, it is but '
abed of rofes.  " He is the rdfe of S'.uu\>n, and lilly o£
the valley."                                         '
   It was his free grace that drew me, and made me wil-
ling in the  day of his power ; no defire, no merit in me,
it  was all free and undefrrving.
   O let the chaftifemeut of my body be the medicine of
my foul, to Cure me of fin, and bring me to Sincere repen-
tance for it:  for Chrift was wounded for our tranfgreSfi-
•ns, he was bruifed  for our iniquities ;   the chaftifement 1
of our peace was upon him.                           ■
   Lord, remember the chaftifement of Chrift for fin, and
let my pains be the  chaftifement of a father, and not the
wounds of an enemy.  Let Chrift's. fafferings mitigate
mine.
   I rejoice in the profpect of that glorious  inheritance
feferved fafe.  I  could  not comfortably  enter eternity
any other way but in and through this God-man  media-
tor ;  if he was not God as well as man, I could  not be
fupported,  bat he is God.
   Oh, this precious Saviour, he i6 my all in  all; he is my
all fufficient good, my portion,  and  my choice ;  in him
toy vaft defires are fulfilled, and ail my  powers rejoice ;
I am travelling through  a  wildernefs to  a city of habita-
tion,  whofe builder and maker is God.
   Oh, delightful  thought  ! that I who was going on in
fin, Should be plucked as a brand out of the burning  Ohr
how will they lie  on a death bed who have nothing but
their own Works to fly to !  with only this to depend oh,
I Should be the moft miferable of all creatur#s ;  but the,
long  white robe  of my Redeemer's righteoufnefs is all
my defire.  They are truly bleffed^hey alone are happy
who are enabled to exult  in the garment of celeftial glo«
ry, which never waxeth old, i^the illuftiVMS robes df. *',
Saviour's confummate righteoufnefs,  which are incorrup-
tible and immortal.  Thipi a robe which hides every fin
of thought, word, or de«K that  1 committed.   Oh hovr
unfpeakably happy are the%, who are juftified by this all*"

                         i 
             Dying Ejaculations.             2o

perfect righteoufnefs of  the Lord jteis Chrift, and who
therein can conftantly triumph and glory !
   Lord, I live upon Chrift, I live upon his righteoufnefis,
I live upon his blood aud merits ; yea I die alfo leaning
wholly upon this bottom.   It is not paft experiences or
manifestations I depend  upon :  It is Chrift a prefent all-
fufficient  Saviour,  and  perfect  righteoufnefs  in him, I
look  to.  All my attainments are but lofs and dung be-
fides him.
   When I find myfelf polluted,  I go to this fountain for
cleanfing.  Lord, give me delight in  approaching to
thee ; delight to be at a throne of grace. O that I could
 make my bed there, lie and die there.
   The kingdom of heaven Suffers violence, and the vio-
lent take it by force.   O for ftrength  to  offer a  holy
violence by faith and prayer.
«'  Thus the A uthor died as he lived, testifying the power
   of religion  upon himfelf ;   and  that at a  time  when
   men have moft need  of its comforts.  The foregoing
   words are  ti-i-ifcribed from his own manufcript,  now
   lying in the  hands pf Mr. Bell, minifter at Aberbro-
   thock."
                          WILLIAM BELL. 
THE
AFFLICTED  MAN'S  COMPANION,:


                THE INTRODUCTION.
      MAN, when he firft dropt from his Maker's hands,
       was a holy and innocent creature, pure from fin,
and confequently free from ficknefsand trouble, enjoying
uninterrupted health and  prosperity both in  body and
foul.  But no fooner was he tainted with fin,  but he be-
came liable to all forts of miferies, temporal, Spiritual, and
eternal : his foul being the rcfidence of fins and lufts, his
body turned the receptacle of ficknefs and difcafes.  And
feiing God's own children have the relicks of fin and
corruption in them, while in this world, they  are not to
expect exemption  from  fuch afflictions ; and the infinite.
ly wife God fees meet to make ufe  of bodily  diftempenj
to correct the corruptions, and try the graces  ef his peo-
ple, and to promote both their Spiritual and  eternal ad-
vantage.   Hence  it is  faid  of Lazarus, John  xi.  3,
'•  Behold, he whom thou loveft, is fick."   He was be-
loved, and yet fick.  It is no  rare thing for  the deareft
of God's  faints to be put to  chatter like cranes,* and
mourn like doves, by reafon of fore ficknefs ;  as Hezeki-
ah did, Ifa. xxxviii. 14.  Sanctified and  healthy  foulr
may be matched with weak and fickly bodies, as was Ga-
ius 3  John 2.   Notwithftanding'the cafe is fometimej
moft trying and exercifing to the beft of God's people|<
and they are never more ready to queftion God's love, or
quarrel with his providence,  than  under heavy ficknefi
and bodily diftrefs.   It  is therefore  highly the concern*
mentofall,  whether families oj^private  perfons, to en-
quire how they ought to behave ulider or after afflicting
ficknefs;  and  how they fltftl provide for  fuch an evil
time before it come.  An^ifor the help of all that defire
instruction in this  mattj^fl have written the following di-
rectory ; which, for method's fake,  1 Shall divide into fc-
veral chapters.          ' 
          Afflicted  Marts Companion.         25

    I.  I Shall give fome general directions to all  families
 and perfons vifited with ficknefs and affliction.
    II. Some particular directions to thofe who are Sharp-
 ly afflicted with fore fickneSs and long trouble.
    III. Directions to the children of God under fick-
 nefs.
    IV. Directions to unregenerate perfons under ficknefs.
    V. Directions to the people of  God when recovered
 from ficknefs.
    VI. Directions-to unrenewed perfons recovered from
 ficknefs.
    VII.  Directions to thofe fick perfons, who are appa-
 rently in a dying condition.
    VIII.  Directions to the  relations, acquaintances and
 neighbours of the fick,  who are themfelves in health for
 the time.

    N. B,  Let  it  be remembered, that what I fay to thofe
 vifited with ficknefs, is likewife applicable to all other af-
 flicted perSons, whatever their diftreSs be,



                   CHAPTER I.

 Containing general directions to  all families and perfons
                  vifited with fickness.

 Direct,  i.   Diligently inquire into the ends and defgns%
     for which ufually God fends ficknefs and ajfli8ion up-
     on perfons.

     AN infinitely holy and gracious God hath various  and
       wife ends in afflicting  the children of men, whe-
 ther they be conver|$-dorunconverted ;  which ought to
 be duly confidered by tilL  and cfpecialiy by thofe who
 are vifited with ficknefs pKpme  whereof I Shall iultance.
   I.  God vifits with  fiekrieS^, to caufe carelefs  finner3
bethink themfelves concerning their fouls eftate and con-
ditioc, who perhaps had aevey a ferious thought about it
                          c 
 26        Afflicted Id arts  Companion.

 before.   There  are  many  who, when in  health  and
 ftrength, are fo itffent upon the plcafures and profits of
 the world, tkat  they mind nothing elfe;  all the warnings,
 exhortations, and counfels  of ministers,  teachers  and
 friends, are loft upon them :  They cannot endure to en-
 tertain a thought of God, of the foul,  of  death, of hea-
 ven, of hcil, or of judgment to come ;  till God doth caft
 them into fome ficknefs or bodily diftrtSs;  and then,
 Sometimes, they  begin with the prodigal, to come  to
 themfelves,  and  bethink themfelves, concerning their
Souls, and a future life.  Now, this is  God's defign,  I
 Kings viii. 47.  " If they bethink themfelves in the land
 whither they are carried captives, and repent," &c.  By
 ficknefs, God gives a man, that before was wholly divert-
 ed from foul-matters by  bufinefs,  company, and plea-
 sures, occafion to bethink himfelf.  The man is now con-
 fined to his chamber, is deprived of his  former company
 and diversions,  and fo gets time and leifure to commune
 with his own heart, and reflect on his former ways, and to
 hear what confidence fpeaks concerning a judgment day,
 and  a world to come, and the need of a  Saviour.   And
 fo by the bleSGng of God upon fuch affliction?, not a few ,'
 have begun their firft acquaintance with God and  Chrift,
 and ferious religion.   Nay,  the furnace is Chrift's ufual JL
 work-houfe, where he has formed the moft excellent vcf-
Sels of honour and praife, Ifa. xlviii. 10.   "I have cho-
 fen thee in the furnace of  affliction."  Manaffeh,  the
 Prodigal, Paul,  and the Jailor,  were all  chofen there.
   II.   God vifits us uith ficknefs, in order to inftruct
 and teach us thefe things we know not, Pfal. xcvi.  12.
 It was a faying of Luther, Schola crucis eft fchola lucis.
 And indeed the fchool of affliction is the place where ma-
ny of Zion's fcholars have made good proficiency in fpi-
 ritual and experimental knowledge — Now, there are Se-
 veral remarkable leffons  which <Jpff would  teach us by
 the rod.                    A&'
   1 ft.  The knowledge of Gg(i.  It is Said of Man<uTeb>*
 7,  Chron.  xxxiii. 12,  1 v* When he was brought  to*
 affliction, &c. then ManJ|ch  knew that  the Lord  he was .
 God."  ThougH Mani;!.\ wn3 well educated) and early 
         Afflicted Marts Compcnon.         27

tautrht the knowledge of God, yet till now he knew  not
the Lord : But now he knew him in his power and great-
nefs, his  holinefs and hatred of fin ; now he knew God m
his good nefs of mercy,  and wondered that  he had kept
him fo long out of hell.
   2dly.  Another leffon is the knowledge cf ourfelves.
In time  of health and profperity, we are apt to forget
ourfelves, and our mortality ; but ficknefs caufeth us to
know that  we are but meR, and frail  men, Pfal. ix. 20,
that God hath an abfolute Sovereignty over us, and can
as eafily  crufh us, as we do a moth.
   3dly.  He  teacheth us the emptinefs  of the world.
 How vain a help is that, which fails a man in the time of
 his greateft need !   and oft-times  we fee,  that worldly
 means and friends can neither give the  leaft eafe to the
 bodies, nor comfort to the fouls of perfons under ficknefs
 and diftrefs.
   4thly.  Another leffon is  the great  evil oSfin, which
 isthe caufeof all fickneffes and difeafes whatever, 1  Cor.
 xi. 30.  " For this caufe  many are weak and  Sickly a-
 mong you."—Ah !  what a root of bitternefs muft  that
 be, which brings forth fuch bitter fruit!
   5thly. He fheweth us the precioufnefs  and excellency
 of Chrift and his promifes ;   which only can  enable a
 Christian to rejoice in tribulation,  and be eafy under the
 greateft  pains and difeafes.   There are many who are in-
 different about Chrift  in time of health, that when fick-
 nefs comei, do change their note, and cry,  O for an inter-
 eft in Chrift, above all things !
   III.   God fends fuch trials  and diftreffes, in order to
 mortify  and kill  fin in us. Ifa. xxvii. 9.  "  By this  Shall
 the iniquity of Jacob be purged,  and this is all the fruit
 to take away his fin."  And  indeed ficknefs and afflic-
 tion, through the b>#ngof God, hath a native tendency
 to weaken and fubdue T|ur prevailing fins and  lulls.  O
 man, is thy heart turned ..hard, fo as thou art not fenfible
 of thy own fins, or of ethers fufferings ? God fees meet to
 try the fire of  affliction, to fee if it  will melt thy frozen
 heart.   Haft thou undervalued health, and flighted thy
 medics ? Now God-removfi them from thee, that by the 
 28         Afflicted Man's Cvwftmien.

 want of them, thoujpAyft know the worth of them.  Art  ■]
 thou turned proud awd Self-conceited ?  God fend- tlue a
 thorn in the fffcfh, to prick the Swoln  bladder of pride,
 that thou may ft not  be  puffed up above mtafure ; God
 lays thee low upon thy bed, that thou  mayft be lowly in
 thy heart.  Doth lc\e to the world prevail in thee ? God  •
 fends affliction to difcover its  tmptinefs, and  wean thee
 from it," Art thou fallen Secure, dead, and formal ? God  *
 fends affliction to awake thee,  that thou may ft not Sleep
 the Sleep cf death.
   IV.  God ftnds ficknefs, to awaken  in us the Spirit at
 prayer and fup plication,  and mike us  more earneft and
 importunate  in our  addrtfles to  the throne of Grace."
 There ia a  great difference betwixt our  prayers in health
 and in ficknefs, betwixt our hmr.iiiaticns in prosperity,
 and in adverfity.  In proSperity we pray  heavily  and
 drowfily, but adveifity adds wings to  uui defines.   Ifa.
 XX vi. I 6.  Lord, in t, cable ha vc ihey viftd} thee, they fiour-
 tdout a prayer when thy chafun'.ag ciw upon than. Though
 ihey wtre  backward enough  to prayer hefure, yet t!;ey
 pour it cut mofi iretly now.   The \c-.y heathen marine is
 cried aloud to God  iu a ftorm—What a famous prayer  <
 did Manaffeh make when he vva" ur.dcr his iron fetters !  '
 We find it  thrice mentioned, 2 Chrcn. xxxiii. 1 3, ifc,  19.
 And the voice of fervent prayer it v.l.a the Lv>rd defires
 to hear.
   V.  Another end is,  to  loofe  our  hearts  from the
 things of this world; and caufe us to look and long  for
 heaven.  When we enjoy health and cafe in this world,.
 wc are apt to fay with Peter on the mount, // is good for
 us to be here', but when''u'lnfs  rometh, God's  people
 will turn their tongue, mid  fay with the Pfal null, Pf J.
 Ixxiii. 27.  It is good ft r me to drew nigh to Cod.  When
 things here go well with us, we are^t to think ourfelves
 lit home :   but, when trouble r^jieth,  we begin to fi y,
"  arifc, let  us depart,  this  is nM our  reft."  Thoup'h
 heaven was much out of fight and out of n:ind before,
yet, when rfflicting ficknt.'s comes, the poor believer will
figh, and  Say with D.vitl.- Pl|i. 1,. 6. 0  that I Lad wiugs. 
         Afflicted Man's Companion          20

like a dove I for then would I fly (tnvay (ind be at refl; 1
would haflen my efcape from the windy tempefl.
   VI.  God defigns to make the world bitter, and Chrift
fweet to us.   By fuch afflictions, he lets men fee, that
the world is  nothing tut vanity, and vexatioH of fpint;
that riches avail not in the day of wrath :  then it is, that
they may fee  the  infufficieHcy of the world  to relieve
them : that, as one faith,  " A velvet flipper cannot cure
the gout ; a golden cap cannot drive away the head-ache;
nor a bed of doun give eafe in  a fever."  And as the
world turns bitter, fo Chrift grows fweet to the believer.
In time of eafe and health, Chrift is often very much ne-
glected and forgot.   As the difciples, while the fea was
calm fuffered Chrift to Sleep with them in the Ship, think-
ing they might make their voyage well  enough  without
bis help ; but when they were ready to be drowned, then
they fee their need of Chrift, they  awake him, crying,
Maflcr, five  us, or elfe we pen/h.  So the  belt cf faints,
when all iseafy aboutthem,are proneto fuffcr Chrift to Sleep
within them, and fo to neglect the lively actings of faith
on Chrift ; but when the ftorm  of affliction begins to a-
rife, and they  are ready to be overwhelmed with diftrefs,
then they cry, " None but Chrift, none but Chrift."
   VII.  God tryfts with ficknefs and diftrefs, in  order
both to prove and improve his people's graces, Dcut. viii.
2.  Rev. ii. 10.  Grace is hereby both tried  and ftrength-
ened.   ift.  Such  afflictions do prove both  the truth and
ftrength of our graces, as they  Serve to try if we love
God for himfelf;  if we can endure and holdout in Serv-
ing him, waiting and depending upon'him, notwithstand-
ing of difcouragements.   That  faith will  fuffice  for  a
little affliction, that will not fuffice for a great one.   Pe-
ter had faith enough to come upon the fea  at  Chrift's
call, but as foon as the waves began to fwell, his faith be-
gan  to fail,  and  his feat  to fink, till Chrift mercifully
caught hold of  him, faying, "  O thou of little  faith,
wherefore didft thou  doubt  ?"  Matth. xiv. 3 i.   Little
did Peter think his  faith waa  fo weak till now.
   2dly. They tend to improve our graces alfo, bjj quick-
ening and  Strengthening them.   <Xhev Serve t.^a  wktt-
                        C 2 
SO       Afflicted Marts Companion'.

ftone to fiiarpen faith, fo as the foul is made to renounce
earthly Shelters, and to clafp  about  God in Chrift, as its
only refuge and portion.   They excite to repentance and
ferious mourning for fin ; for, like the winter  ftofts and
fnows, they make  the fallow ground of our heart more
tender.   They prompt us to heavenly mindednefs, Self-
denial, and  patient  waiting on God.   Yea, the experi*.!
ence of Cod's people  can atteft  it, that  grace is  never
more  lively, than  under affliction.  David never found
himfelf better, as to his fpiritual ftate,  than when hp was
perfecuted and hunted as'a partridge on  the mountains;
and hence fays, Pfal. cxix. 71.  " It is good for me, that
I have been affliaed."
   VIII.  God's aim is, to awaken us to redeem time, to
prepare for flitting, and clear up our evidences for hea-
ven.  In  the  time of health we  are apt to trifle away
time, to loiter in our journey, and  forget that we  are pil-
grims on the earth ;  wherefore God fends  ficknefs as kis
meffenger, to mind us thereof.
   Now it highly concerns us, when ficknefs attacks us,
to cenfider and meditate  upon thefe  ends for which God :
brings on diftrefs, and pray earneftly that  they may  bo
accomplished in us; and fo our ficknefs Shall not be unto
tkath (Spiritual or eternal) but to the glory of Gqd and
good  of our fouls.


Direction ii.   Let all who are  vifited with Jtchneft*
    fearch for the sfchan in the camp, and inquire diligent-
    ly what is  the ground and caufe of God's conlrovtrfp
     •with them.

   IT hath been the practice of God's people in Scripture*
    times, to inquire into the caufe and meaning of God'»
rods which have been  laid upon  them.   So  David,  a
Sam. xxi. when the land  of Ifrael waj three years under
the Stroke of famine, he inquirejjinto  the  meaning of it.
So  Job is exceedingly defirous to know why God fet him
op  as a mark for his arrows^Job vii. 20. and hence it is
(hat he makes that petition^ Job x. 2. which is moft Suit* 
         Afflicted Harts Companion.         31

ible for every man in diftrefs, " (hew me wherefore thou
cowtendcft with ma "
   I grant indeed,  that  God Sometimes vifits his people
with affliction, for the trial  and exercife  of their grace,
and for their fpiritual instruction, more than for the cor-
rection of their fin.  But fin  being the original and foun-
dation of all affliction, it is fafcft, when it is our own cafe,
and moft acceptable to God, to look on fin as the procu-
ring caufe.   Or, if c^ur fins have not  immediately procu-
red the  prefent affliction, yet  the  beft of God's children
muft own that they have at leaft defervcd it.  We fee
the fin  uf the Corinthians is mentioned as the caufe of
tl.eir  ficknefs,  i Cor. xi. 30.  " For this  caufe many
are weak and Sickly among yon."  The Pfalmift con-
cludes the very fame  thing,  Pfal. evii. »7, 18. " Fools
becaufe of their tranfgreflions and  their iniquities, are af-
flicted :   their foul abliorreth all manner of  meat; and
they draw nigh unto  the gates of death."   But  ordina-
rily, by ficknefs,  the  Lord points at  fome one fin in us,
more than another, fome  Jonah in the Ship, that hath rai-
led the   Storm, which  the Lord would have us to Search
out and throw over board without delay.
   Qutfl. But how Shall we difcover and find out the par-
ticular fin for which God afflicts us with ficknefs and dif-
trefs i
   Anf  \ft.   Study the Lord's word,  and the chaftife-
ments there recorded, which he hath inflicted upon peo-
ple for their  fins ; and inquire  iS you  be guilty  of the
like.  Obferve what hath been God*s  mind to his peo-
ple, and what fin he hath pointed out  to them, when they
have been brought under fuch a rod :  and fo you may
learn  his mind to  you, Rom. xv. 4.  M For whatsoever
things  were  written  aforetime, were  written for our
learning."
   idly.  Confider what is the fio which confcience doth
moft of all accufe thee for, in thy moft ferious and folita-
ry heurs.  Confcience ij» God's deputy, and thy boforr*
monitor, whofe voice, perhaps,  thou haft little regarded
in the day of thy health ; wherefore God hath  Sent  a
Sharper meffenger, to (econd the vficeof eonfeience. Hear 
32         Afflicted, Marts Companion.

now the voice of the rod, for it is the Same with the voice ,
of confcience.  in the day of profperity, carnal profits'
and  pleafures made fuch  a noife,  that the voice i f con-
fcience could not be heard:  wherefore God hath b;ought
on thee the filent night of adverfity, that his deputy may
obtain audience.  Well then,  give ear; what faith con-
fcience now ? may  you not  heir it faying, as Reuben to
his brethren in diftrefs, " Spake  I not  to you in the d<-v
of health,  do not commit fuch a fin, and do not delay re-
penting for fuch a  fin ;  but you  would not hear ?"  O
man, let confcience get  a hearing at laft, as it got with
the patriarchs, when they were brought  to diftrefs in E-
gypt, and  made them to confels their fin  in felling of Jo-
feph, Gen, xiii. 21. "  We are  verily guilty concerning*-
our brother, in that we faw theangui/h of his Soul, when
he befought us, and we would not  hear %■  thereSore is this.
daftrefs come upon  us."
   $dly. Conficier what are  thefe evils, that others  have
obferved in you,whether they be friends or foes.  Hear-
ken to what a christian friend noticeth in you, either when
Speaking to you, or others about you.  " Let the  righ-
teous finite me (faith David) and it  Shall be a kindneSs."
Yea do not diSregard what even enemies fay of you ; as
David got good by the  malicious  reproaches of Shimei,
in the day of his  affliction, fo may you in the time of
diftrefs;   for fometimes malice itfelf will fpeak truth.
Enemies are Sharp Sighted to fpy  out our faults, and fo
may, through the divine  Ueffing, prove monitors to us,
both  with refpect to fin and duty.
   £;th!y.   Omfider the nature and circumftances of thy
diilr-Th.   Oft-times the  affliction  is fo Suitable  to the
tra.ifgrefli w, that we n.ayclearlyreadour fin written onthe
forehead of our pnriiftunent, as in  the cafe  of Adonibe-
zek, and many others.   And alfo you may  be helped to
fiud it out by the Lord's timing of the rod to you.  Was
it Sent when you was under much  formality in duty \ or
when you  was eagerly pui Suing t£e things of the world  ?
or when you was under the  power of fome prevailing hilt
or other ?  then the rod qpincito reprove you, and awake
you to See the evil therecf. 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.         33

  <$thJy.  Confider what is the fin that hath been former-
ly moft  affrighting to thy thoughts,  and  perplexing to
thy confcience, when thou haft been in the  immediate
view of death and a tribunal.  It is very likely (if thou
haft not truly repented of  it) that is the fin which God
now intends to  awake thee to  fee the evil uf, that thou
mayft Sincerely mourn for, and turn from it,  looking to
Cod in Chrift for pardon and mercy.
  Oljetl. Ah (faith one) it is my lot to  lie under a dumb
and filent rod,  I do not understand its  language, 1 cannot
hear its voice,  I cannot find out the fin that is pointed at
by it ; what courfe Shall 1 take ?
  Anfw.  I.   Be deeply humbled under this trial, and
bewail thy cafe before the Lord ; for it very much aggra-
vates the affliction to God's people, when they know not
the language of it :  Hence  was it that  Job  lamented fo
heavily, that his way was hid, and he knew net the rea-
fon of God's contending with,him, Job  iii. 23.
   2.   A believer's cafe maybe fometimes fo dark,  that
!t requires a great deal of fpiritual art and wifdom to en-
able him to hear the voice cf the rod; and understand its
language.  Hence it is Said, "  He is  a man of wifdom
that fceth Cod's name upon it," Micah  vi. 9.  Now, this.
wifdom mull only come from above ;  Therefore,
   3.  Go to God, and earneftly beg for this wifdom, that
you may know his  mind,  and the meaning ©f the  rod.
Do as  Rebekah, when the  children Straggled in  her
womb, file went to enquire of the Lord, faying, " Why
am I thus ?" Gen. xxv. 22.  Cry to God to give you
lis  Spirit, to teach and enlighten you to  fee fin in its evil,
and the particular evils you  are guilty of. This was Job's
courfe in his affliction :  " Shew me (fays he) wherefore
thou contended with me    That which I fee not, teach
thou me.  Make me to know  my tranfgreffion and my
fin."   There is no better way fiova prifouer to know the
rcafon of his confinement, than to r.fjc the magiftrate who
committed him.   God is a  wife agent,  and can give bell
account of his own actions.
  4. If thou canft not find out the .particular fin for which
God afflicts thee, then labour to  fcpent of every know* 
34         Afflicted Maris Companion.

fin, and cry for pardon, of every unknown and forgotten
Sin alfo.  Do that out of wifdom, which Herod did out
of malice, who becaufe he could not finel out the babe Je-
fus, killed all  the children of Bethlehem, that he  might
be fure to kill  Jefus among them.   Let us fcek the utter.
ruin and death of all our  fins, that we may be fure to de*
ftroy that Sin for which God afflicts us.
  5.  Study to exercife a  Strong faith,  and a humble Sib-
mifllon, while God keeps  you under the Silent rod.  a Re-
lieve firmly, that Gcd is juft, though you know not what
be contends.   And however long he thinks  fit to nsake
you walk in the dark, refolve  humbly  to wait on him,
and commit yourfelf to him, who has many times guided
the blind in the way they  knew not.


Direct,  iii.   When any jit of ficknefs attach you, think
    fcrioufly upon  death, and make diligent preparation
    for it.
I DO not mean that any man may delay the  work of
    preparation for  death, till ficknefs cometh :  No, no \.
this Should be the great and uptaking bufinefs of every
man, in the time of his health  and ftrength.   But fickj^
nefs and difeafes being the harbingers of death,  and the
meffengers Sent from God to warn us of its coming ;  eve-
ry man is thereby called to renew the work of preparation
for death, with all earneftnefs  and  application.   God's
voice, by every fit of ficknefs,  is that in Deut. xxxii. 29.
" O that they were wife, that  they understood thi6, that
they would confider their latter end ?" God knows our ■
folly, and readinefs to forget this great work in the day
of health ; and therefore, in bis mercy, he fends ficknefs
and affliction, to teach us fo to number our days that we
may apply our hearts to  this piece of heavenly  wifdom*
of making preparation for death.
  And here  I  Shall drop,  \fl, Some motives to prefs it.
%dly,  Advices for the tloing it  aright.
  I   For motives confider thefir things :
  1 ft. Confider God'i* mercy and patience towards you,
in giving ycu  fo r.:any warnings, and So  many years to 
        Afflicted Marts Companion.        35

prepare  for death ;  and  i«  fending  his raeffengers and
Warnings fo gtntly and gradually, to excite you to this
work ; when many younger and ftrongerthan you, are
hurried into eternity, and little or no time given them to
think where they are going.  Have you not been fpared
many years, in the midft of dangers, when you have feeh
that bold archer Death Shooting his arrows, and killing
thoufands of your  neighbours and friends round about
you i Sometimes  the arrow hath glanced over your head,
and Slain fome great man, your Superior:  Sometimes it
hath  alighted at  your feet, and cut off a child or a Ser-
vant, your inferior :  Sometimes it hath gone by on your
left hand, and killed your enemy ; at other times it hath
paffed or your right hand, and killed your near relations'.
So that you have feen  friends and foes, fuperiors and in-
feriors, relations and Strangers dropping down dead round
about you ;  and all this for  a long tract of time, to give
you warning to prepare for death.   O let the gOodnefs
and forbearance of God, towards you, lead you to repen-
tance, and perfiiade you to flee  Speedily to Chrift, for re-
fuge and protection from wrath.
   2dly.  Confider how terrible death will be if it  merit
you in an unprepared ftate, in a Chriftlefs and impenitent
condition.  What a fearful  change will  it bring upon
you ! A change  from  earth to hell, from hope to defpair,
from pleafure to pain, from comforts to terrors;  a change
from the offers of  grace, to the revelation of wrath  ; a
change from probabilities, to utter impossibilities of falva-
tion.  Death will cut  off all your hopes and expectations
©f mercy  forever,  Job xxvii. 8.  There  is  no coming
back, to amend what  hath been done amiSs  here : and
there is no work nor device in the grave, whither you go.
As the tree falls, fo  it will lie, throughout all.eternity.
   II. I come to give fome advices, in order to the  right
preparation for death,  ijf, Set about felf-examination
work.  Inquire  if you be in Chrift or not ;  if you be
yet far off from God,  or  if you hjr brought near by the
blood of Jefus.  And fee that you be impartial in this
fearch, and willing to find out the truth  of this impor-
tant qucftion.  Be not foolifhly tender of yourfelf, and 
 36         Afflicted Mar's  Companion.

 apt to belrveve that you are Safe, when it is not fo ; for,
 •this way, thouSands do ruin themfelves.   But be contest
 to know the worft of your cafe, and thoroughly to un-
 derstand your foul's danger, that you may be  moved to
 take the right way to efcape it.   Wherefore take a vie* t
 of  the  marks of Chriftlefs and  unconverted  perfons Set
 down in God's word, and judge yourfelf by them : And
 •confider alfo the figns of true grace recorded therein, and
 fee if they be applicable to you or not.
   idly.  If after inquiry,  you find your ftate is bad ; that i
 yon have been a lover of  the world  more than of Godj
 you have minded your body more than your foul; yo*;
 have lived in the neglect of precious  Chrift ;  allowed
 yourfelf in known fin : O then be convinced of your ina-
 bility to help  yourfelf, and your need of Chrift  to helfj
 you-   And labour to be deeply humbled before God, un«1
 der a fenfe of your fin and folly.   4<  Ah, how foolim|y,v
 how rehellioufly,  how unthankfully  have I carried?  I
 have abufed God's mercies, and left undone the work
 for which I was made, and preServed, and enjoyed the
 gofpel.   Oh 1  I had all  my* time given me, to make pre-,
 paration for endlefs eternity, and 1 have never minded it,
 till now that ficknefs, the haibinger of death, is come
 upon me :  And now, what fhall I do  to  be  Savedi"
 Well then,  in order  to  convince and humble you the
 more, caft back your eyes npon the fins of your nature,
^.nd of your  by-paftlife ;  view them  in their nature, num-
 ber, aggravations and  deferrings.  O do not  fo many
 years' fins need a very deep humiliation  1 O do you not
 Stand greatly in  need  of  fuch a perfon  as Chrift, to be
 your Saviour anil Ranfomer from fuch a vaft number of
 fins ? O  but their weight will profs you eternally down
 to the lo.veft hell, if left to yourfelf, and laid upon your
 back.
  idly.  O finner, art thou deeply humbled, and defirous
of mercy upon any terms ? Believe then, that thy cafe U
 not remedilefs, but that there is a Sacrifice provided for
 your fins, and an able\jnd all-fufficicnt Saviour  in your
 offer.  Believe that the Lord, Jefus Chrift is the Son of
 God, and become fiefh to be a furety for you ;  that lie U 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.         37

both able and willing to fave to the tittermoft all that
come unto God by him.  Though your fins, your dan-
gers and your fears were never  fo great, yet he is  able
and willing to fave.  O flee prefently to this refuge-city,
whofe gates  are open to receive you.   Truft your foul
upon ChriSTs Sacrifice and meritorious blood, for mercy
and falvation.  Apply humbly to him, that he may teach
you  the will of God, reconcile you to his Father, pardon
your fins, renew you by his Spirit, and Save you from
eternal wrath.
   ^thly.  Give up yourfelf to God  in Chrift, by way of
covenant and folemn refignation.  Eveiy man doth this
facramentally in baptifm ; but you muft alfo renew it
perfonally and explicitly, and thereby give a cordial and
voluntary confent  to the covenant oSgrace.  Acquiefce
cheerfully in the gofpel-way of falvation through Chrift
and  his righteoufnefs; and accept  of God in  Chrift, as
thy  portion.  Make choice of God the Father, as thy
reconciled Father in Chrift ;  and God the Son as thy Re-
deemer and  Saviour; and God the Holy Ghoft, for thy
Sanctifier, Guide and Comforter.   And likcwife give up
thyfelf,  foul  and  body, and  all thou haft, to be the
Lord's; engaging, in Chrift'<< ftrength, to live for God,
and  walk with him in newnefs of life.   And Study to do-
all this deliberately,unfeigncdly and cheerfully.  Though,
perhaps, you have done this, hypocritically  at  former
times, you have profaned God's  covenant, and behaved
unfteadfaftly and perfidioufly therein; yet now endeavour
to be Sincere with  God Sor once.
   $tbly. Be living daily in the  exercife of faith and re-
pentance: renew the acts thereof frequently, in propor-
tion to your renewed fins and guiltinefs.  Cleave clofe to
glorious Chrift, your  High Prieft  and Surety, and be
ever wafhing in his blood.  As long as you are in the
world,  you'll need to  wafh your  feet, John  xiii. 10.
Come death when  it will, let it find you at the fountain,
al ways looking to, and making ufe^pS Jefus Chrift.  You
have great  need of Chriftv.every day of your life,  more
efpecially in ficknefs ; ibut.moft of all, at a dying hour.
O what need will you.have of Chrift,  then, as  an Adre- 
38         Afflic'ed Marts Companion.

cate with God, when the  queftion is to be determined,
Where your manfion is to be affigned, through all eterni-
ty, whether in heaven or in hell i O then, be looking al-
ways to Chrift, with the eye «f faith.   Live in the con-
ftant thoughts of  this blcffed Mediator.   Let  him be
firft in your  thoughts in  the  morning, and laft  in your
thoughts at night.
   (sthly.  Be Striving to mortify every fin and  luft,  both
outward and inward.  Be  dying to fin daily, that fo you
may not  die for fin eternally.  O that fin may  be daily
lofing its ftrength, and dying in you i So that it  may be
certainly dead before you.  Pray earneftly,  that  your
fins may  die, before you die :  For, if they die not before
you, but out-live the dying body,  they  will live eternally
to fling and torment the never-dying foul.

Direct,  iv.   Be not anxious for recovery to health ; but
     leave the iffue of the prefent ficknefs, to the will and
    pleafure of the infinitely wife God.
     REMEMBER, O man, thou  art the clay, and God
      is the Potter; he is abfolute Lord of thy life and J
times, therefore learn to adore his Sovereignty over thee,
and all thy enjoyments.  David  did fo, when   he faid,
"  Lord,  my times are  in  thy hand,"   Pfalm xxxi. 15.
And-indeed they are  only beft in his hand, for  he bcft
knows how to difpofe of them.  The prophet faith, Ifa.
xxx. 18, " The Lord is a God of judgment, bleffed are
they that wait for him."  Judgment there fignifies wif-
dom :  The Lord is a God of wifdom, and will order and
time all things well ; and  therefore it becomes us quietly
to wait for his pleafure, faying, «« The will of the Lord
be  done."   It is taken notice  of, as a great fin in the Is-
raelites, that they waited not for his counfel,  but limited
the Holy One of  Ifrael, Pfalm lxxviii. 41.  What an
unaccountable folly and preSumption is  it, for worms of
the earth, to Seek to ittyit and limit the Sovereign  of Hea-
ven, to their meafures ! ,It becomes us  at  all times, and
efpecially in fickncSs and affliction, to  have low, fubmif-
five thoughts of ourfelves,  and high exalted thoughts of 
         Afflicted Marts  Companion.         39

God's Sovereignty, fuch as Nebuchadnezzar had,  Dan.
iY- 35* " -A-"1* a^ tne inhabitants of the earth are  repu-
ted as nothing :  And he doth accerding to his will  in the
army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth :
and none can flay his hand, or fay u<Uo him, What doefl
thou ?"   We fhould therefore refer all to  his wife deter-
mination, and be willing to  die or live,  as  he  Shall be
pleafed to appoint.   I remember I have read of agodly
woman, who, in her ficknefs, being afksd by one, Whe-
ther fhe wfcs moft deiirous to die, or to live ?  She anfwer-
ed, " I have no choice in that matter, but  refer myfelf to
the will of  God."  " But  (Said the other) fuppofe God
fhould refer it to you, whether to die, or to live, which of
them would you chocfe ?"  " If God (replied fhe) fhould
refer it to mc, I would even refer it back again to him."
It becomes  thee, O man,  to be entirely refigned to the
will of thy Maker, and  to  ftandlike a fentinelin thy Sta-
tion, ready  to move, as  thy great General and Comman-
der fhall  give order, concerning thee.   It  would be plea-
fant and acceptable to God,  to fee thee more defirous to
be delivered from fin, than  from ficknefs.  O but fin is  a
far worfe difeafe,  than  any ficknefs  in the  world  ! b.  g
importunately, that the great Phyfician may cure this
woful foul-diSeafe, and let him do with the body what he
plcafe-th.   This was David's practice  in his affliction,
Pfalm xxv.  18,  " Look upon my affliction, and my pain,
and forgive all my fin."  As for his pains and afflictions,
he afks no more, but that God would regard them, and
look  upon them, and do with them  as  he thought fit;
but, as for his fins, no lefs will Satisfy  him  than a pardon,
and blotting them entirely  out, fo  as they might  be re-
membered no more.

Direct,  v.  Bind yourfelf  with holy purpofes and refo-
     lutions, in Chrift's ftrength, to be more watchful againji
    ftn, more diligent in  duty, and to improve the time of
     health better, if God Jhall be pleafed to  rejlore it again
     to you.

       HEN God is vifiting your  iniquities with rods,
        and pleading a controveHy with you for your o-
w 
40        Afflicted Marts Companion.

miflions and flacknefs in d-ity, he expects that  you  will
return from vour back Hidings, and Set about a ferious re-
formation and change of life.  Hofca v. 15, "I will g»
and return to my place, till they acknowledge their of-
fence, and Sve-k my face : In their affliction they will  feek
me early."  See then that you open your car to disci-
pline :   Study to r.nfwer God's call and expectation, and
in his ftrength refolve to enter upon a new  life.   " Sure.
ly now it is meet to be faid unto God, I have borne chaf-
tifement.   I will not offend any  more.    That which I
fee not, teach thou rae t  If I  have done iniquity, I will
do fo no more," Job xxxiv.  31, 32.   Now is the feafon
you fhould fay with Ephraim, Hofea, xiv. 8, ** What
have I to do any more with idols ?"
   Having duly  examined  yourfelves, and Searched out
your fins, you ought to put a bill of divorce into each of
their  hands.   Deliberately refolve againft all your  fins,
whether Secret or open j  and efpecially  refolve  againft
your darling and beloved fins, thefe Sifts of which do moft
eafily befet you.   Refolve alfo againft all temptations to
fir?, and particularly againft the fnares of  bad  company,
whereby you have been formerly enticed ; fay  now with
David, Pfalm cxix. 115, "  Depart from me, ye  evil do-
ers: For I will keep the commandments of my God."
   You muft not only purpofe to  forfake all fin, but alfo
to mind every known duty : That you will make religi-
on your  one thing  needful;  the pleafing of God, the
chief bufinefs of your life ;  that you will Set  the Lord
always before you, give him your heart in all duties,  aim
at  nearnefs and communion with  God in every one of
them ;  and Still pref* forward to the full enjoyment of
God in heaven, through eternity.
   Refolve alfo, through grace, that you will, in a fpecial
 manner, mind fecret duties, which the eyes of  men do
 not obferve, and thefe duties which confcience doth moft
 challenge you for neglecting.  And you that are  heads
 of families, refolve to make more confcience of family re-
ligion, of worfhipping God with  your families, both
 morning  and evening ; instructing your children and fer-
 vants in the knowledge of Chrift, and recommending reli- 
         Afflicted  Man's Companion.         41

gion «Tnd godlinefs to all round about you, whether rela-
tions or Strangers.
   And if you would have your  resolutions effectual, fee
that they be accompanied with a deep fenfe of your in-
fufficiency to perform them in your own ftrength.  Bear
always in miad the corruption and deceitfuhiefs of your
own heart, and make all your refolutions in a humble de-
pendence on the fufficiency of Jefus Chrift your furety.
Obferve the apoftle Paul's advice to his fon Timothy, 2
Tim. ii.  I,  "  Be  Strong in the grace that  is in Jefus
Chrift."  All your  flock,  O believer, is in his hand, Sj
that without  him you can  do  nothing ;   but, through
Chrift (lengthening  you, you are able to do all things.


Direct, vr.   Set your houfe in order  ly making your lat-
     ter-wills, and fettling, your dome/lie and fecular affairs,
     while you have  freedom  and capacity, for doing it.

     AFTER the heart is ftt in order, the next work is to
       fet your houfe in order, according, to God's coun-
fel to Hezekiah, Ifa. xxx<»iii. i.   It is recorded of the
patriarch Abraham,  that he m.s careful to fettle the af-
fairs of his family before his deHtb,"Gen. xxv.  5, 6.   Pie
difpofed of his eftate to Ifaac, ami legacies to the fons of
his concubines.   It is too general a  ftailt, that men de-
lay and put off making their wills,  as they do  their re-
pentance, to the very laft,  and fo too-frequently never,
make them, at all.   Confider the evil of deferring or ne-
glecting this neceffary affair:  For  if you, upon whom
God hath bellowed  means, Snail die icteitate,  your t-ftate
may defcend otherwife than  you  intended ;   much of it
may be fpent  in tedious and expenfive lsw-fuits :  fuch
differences may  fallout among relations that fhould live
in friendfhip and mutual affection, r.s cannot be healed ;
fome of them  may be  reduced to extreme want, when a:
fmall legacy might have them puythem in a way of living ;
And many fuch inconveniencies;may follow.  Well then,
if your neglect  fliould bring on  thefe evils,  and involve
pofterity into endlefs ftrifes  and contentions;  may you
not juftly fear that the guilt thereof will puVfue you into
                        D2 
 42         Afflicted Marts Companion.

 another world, whofe wretched carelcfsnefs was the occa-
 sion of all that mifchief ?
   Pray, what  is the reafon that men put off this affair?
 Is it not, becaufe they do not incline to think fo  ferioufrjr
 on death, as this will  occafion them to  do ?  Doth not
 this fmell  of abominable  earthly-mindednefs, and fpcak
 as if a  man dcured all his portion in this life,  and cared
 not for a better ? and that he is fo far from preparing for
 death, that he cannot endure  to think of it ? Alas that
 this worldly difpofition fhould fo far prevail among U3l
 But furely there is no wife man will fay, that the putting
 off the thoughts of death, will keep death at the greater'
 diftance ; or that preparing for death, and making our
 wills, will bring on death the fooner.
   It were furely beft to order our affairs timeoufly : yea*
 do it in time of health, rather than delay it  unto a fick
 bed, or a death-bed ; for  either you may be fnatched off
 fuddenly, and have no time for it ;  or you may be taken
 with fueh a diftemperas fhall feize your tongue, So as youil
 cannot exprefs your mind ; or feize your understanding,.!
 So as you cannot rationally difpofe of your effects.  And
 though none of thefe  fhould  happen, yet  certainly it
 proves a great disturbance to a  dying man, to be  calling
 up, ordering  and fettling the affairs of his family, when he
 fhould be fecuring a heavenly  maufion for his foul, and
 clearing up his evidences  thereunto.  It is great wifdom
 to  put  this affair by hand ; that you may have as little
 to do with the world as may be, and all occafions of dif-
 traction to your immortal foul may be prevented, when
 it is  near to its flitting into an eternal and unchangeable^
 ftate.                                                *
   Moreover, in fettling your fecular affairs, obferve thefe
 following advices,    i.  Make your  will/cheerfully, and
 freely lay down whatever  you  enjoy, when God calls you
 to it.  Praife God that you had thofe things while you
 reeded them, and when you have no longer ufe for them,
 leave them without repining, to thofe that come after
you.  Look not back to Egypt, when you are upon your
inarcl-i to Canaan. 
        Afflicted Marts Companion,         43

  idly.  See that you deal juftly, in providing for your
family, paying all your juft debts, and making reftitution
if you have wronged any.  Abhor all defigas of defraud-
ing any of your lawful creditors : For, if your laft act
fliould be  unjuft, you leave a bltt upon  your  name here ;
and fince you cannot repent of this wickednefs,  it being
among your laft deeds,  you expofe yourfelf to a fearful
doom in the world whither you are going.
   ylly.  In fettling your eftates, fee that God and good
ufes be not forgot nor left out.  When you  are leaving
the world, and can glorify God no longer here by your
words or actions, fee to honour the Lord  with your fub-
ftance, by leaving fome  part-thereof to a pious and chari-
table ufe.  I know, it is a  work of charity  to give for
maintaining the bodies  of the poor ; and efpecially  the
poor of God's people, who belong to his family ; But it
is much more pious and charitable, to leave fomewhat for
propagating Chriftian knowledge in dark places, for edu-
cating poor children to  read the Scriptures, and inftruct-
ing ignorant fouls in the knowledge of Jefus  Chrift.   It
is much to be lamented, that fo many  rich men among
us die, and leave nothing to fuch pious ufes.   The libe-
rality of papifts on their death beds, may give a fharp
challenge to many profeffed proteftants.  O what a fhame
is it to  the profeffors  <-f the doctrine of grace, that the
falfe doctrines of merit and  purgatory fhould produce fo
many donations and mortifications among the papifts, and
the faith of Chrift's moft glorious  gofpel fhould not do
the like among true belivers !  Shall the proud conceit of
merit, and the imaginary fear of purgatory, prompt men
to do more this way,  than the certain perfuafion of the
love of  God in Chrift,  and  the well grounded hope of e-
ternal life through the alone merits of  Jefus Chrift ? O
 what a reproach is this to our hoiy religion !
   Alhly. It might be much to the glory of God, and good
of foils,  that a great part, of our teftaments and  latter-
wills  fhould confift of Solemn  charges, and exhortations
and bleffings to our children, or thofe  to whom we be-
queath any legacy ; fo as they can never  open our tefta-
ments, or look into them, but they might hear Something 
44        Afflicted Marts Companion.

that may make impreffijn3 on their fouls, for their fpiri-
tual edification, and for quickening them to the diligent
practice of both family and perfonal godlinefs.
                 CHAPTER  II.

Containing fome particular Directions to thofe wko are
     Sharply afflicted with ficknefs and long trouble.

Direction i.  jfujlify God in the greatefl afflictions whkh
                      befall you.

     THOUGH God Should condemn you, fee that yoi»
     acquit him, and fay, he is  righteous in all his deahj,
fngs.   When the church was under the heavieft diftrefsrt
die finds caufe tojuftify God, Lam. i.  18, 4> The Lord
is  righteous, for I have  rebelled againft his command-
ment."  So doth godly Neherniah, Neh. ix. 33,  " How*
beit thou art juft in all that is brought upon us ;  for thou
haft done right, but wc have done wickedly.'-' The fame
doth holy David acknowledge, Pfal. cxix. 75, "1 know
O Lord, that thy judgments arc right, and that in faith-
fulnefs thou haft afflicted me."   Now,  in order to bring
you to this agreeable frame, and to convince  you of the
equity and juiticc of God in his difpenfatious,  however
heavy and long your diftrefs be,  I fhall lay before you the;
following considerations :
   ift.  Confider the infinitely holy and  righteous nature
of that God who fmiteth thee, Pfalm cxix. 137, " Righ-
teous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments."
We prefume it of a righteous man, that he will do righ-
teous things ; and fhall we not much more believe fo of
a holy and righteous God ? We cannot be infallibly cer-
tain that a righteous man will always do fo ;   for a righ-
teous man may leave his righteoufnefs, becaufe the crea-
ture is mutable :  but  Sod is  immutably righteous ;  fo
that we may be confident of it,  that the Judge of all tbe
earth will  do right, for it is impoffible  he can do other-
wife, Zech, iii. 5, "The juft Lord is in the midft there- 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.         45

of,  he will not  do iniquity."   He will not, he cannot;
for it is contrary to his nature.
  zdly.  Confider that God never brings on any affliction.
without a caufe, i  Cor.  xi. jo, " For this caufe  many
are  fick."  He hath ftill juft ground for the heavieft af-
fliction,  from thy fins and provocations, and may always
fay  to thee as to Ifrael Jer. ii.  17,  19,  "  Plaft thou  not
procured'this unto thyfeif, in that thou haft forfaken the
Lord thy God, when he led  thee by the way ?  Thine
own wickednefs Snail correct thee, and thy  backflidinga
Shall reprove thee : know therefore, and fee, that it is an
evil thing and bitter, that thou haft forfaken the Lord."
There is ftill ground enough for affliction to be found in
the beft of God's people ;  and therefore it is faid, Lara.
iii.  33,  " For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grive the
children of men."   No ; it is our fins that oblige him td
it.   As Chrift whipped the  fellers of oxen and fheep, out
of the temple with a whip (as is generally thought) made
of their own cords ; fo God never fcourgeth us but with
a whip made of our own fins,  Prov. v. 22,  " His owri
iniquities  fhall take the wicked himfelf, and he fhall be
holden with the cords of his fins."  If we confider the
mighty God as a Lord difpenfing grace, then we find he
acts Sovereignly, and according to his will and pleafure,
Matth. xi. 26,  " Even fo, Father, for foit feemethgood
in thy fight."  But, if we confider  him as a judge, dif-
penfing judgments, he never doth it without a foregoing
caufe on the creature's part.   God's treafure of mercy
is always full and  ready to be let out to them that feek
it; but his tteafure of wrath is empty till men fill it up
by  their fins, Rom. ii. 16,  " Thou treafureft up to thy-
feif wrath againft  the day of wrath."   We  do  always
provide fuel for God's wrath before it  kindle and break
out upon us.
   $dly. Confider farther this inftance of God's equity,
lhat when there is a caufe given, God dothnct prefently
take it, but continues to threaten oft, and warn long, be-
fore he execute the fentence of his word.  He fends lef-
fer  ftrokes as warnings of greater, if we repent not;  and
he repeats  his warnings many times, both by his word 
46         Afflicted Mans  Compunion.

and providence before he fmite.   Yea, cw n when repeat-
ed warnings are flighted, he delays a long time, and waits
to be gracious, Ifa. xxx. 18.   And when man's obflinacy
ana incorrigiblencfs arrive to fuch  a height, that he can
fpare no longer ;  yet how loth is he to give them  up to
feverc judgments ! Hof. xi.  18,  "  How fhall I give thee
up, Ephraim ? How fhall I  deliver thee,  Ifrael?   How
fhall I  make thee as Admah ?  How  fhall I fet thee as
Zeboim ? Mine heart is turned within me, my rcpentingf
are kindled together."  When the Lord hath Sinners ia j
his arms, ready to give them up to fevere judgments, yet'
he makes a ftand, and would fain be prevented before he
proceed to his ftrange work ;  for fo  he calls his acts of*-
judgment,  Ifa. xxviii. 21.  Acts of mercy are co-naturayB
moft agreeable and pleafant to God, Micah vii. 18   " Heil
delighteth in mercy :  but judgment is  his ftrange act, andifl
his ftrange  work.                                    .'
   qthly. Confider that when at laft he fends ftrokes  on ";
us, they are always Short of the eaufe ; he  exacts not the;j
whole debt that Sinners owe  to his  juftice, as Ezra-doth
acknowledge, Ezra ix. 13, " Thou haft punifhed us left-
than our iniquities  deferve."   The  Stroke he  is  therf'
Speaking of, was a moft heavy judgment ; fearful ruin and
defolation came upon Jerufalem, and  the whole land of
Judah ; the city and temple  were burnt to afhes, the peo- j
pie carried  captives to a ftrange land, and treated as bondj
Slaves among the heathens:  Yet, faith the holy  man,
" Thou haft punifhed us lefs than our iniquities deferve."
q. d. It is  true we have been carried to Babylon, but in
juftice we might have been fent to hell: our houfes were
burnt, but our bodies  might  have been burnt too :  Wc
have been drinking water, but we might have been drink-
ing blood :  We have had grievous burdens on earth, but
we might have been groaning in hell :  We  were  banifhed -1
from the temple,  but  we might  have  been eternally ba-
nifhed from God's prefence.   We think it a great favour
among men, when any punifhment is mitigated, when the'
Sentence of death is changed into banifhment,   or when
banifhment is turned  into  a  fine, or a great fine is made
fmalkr: And will you think  that God deals Severely or 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.         47

 rigoroufly  with you, when he  lays you on a fick-bed,
 when he might have juftly laid  you in hell, and poured
 out all his wrath upon you there ? You but tafte of the
 brim of the cup, when God might caufe you to drink of
 the bottom and dregs thereof.
    Have you not caufe then to acknowledge God's juf-
 tice, nay, even his  mercy too, in  his dealings  with you,
'.however rough they feem to be ?  May you not, with good
rfcafon fay, any thing Iefs than hell is a mercy to fuch an
 ill-deferving creature  as  I am ?  If even a hard-hearted
 Pharaoh, under diftrefs, came the length to own the juf-
 tice of God, Exod. ix. 27, "I have  finned ;  the Lord is
jrightous ;"  fhall any profefied Chriftian fall Short of  that
A obftinate Egyptian ?

 Direction  ii.  Labour fill  to  be fenfible of God's hand
     under heavy afliclion, and beware of fupidity and un-
     concrnednefs under it.

   IT is a fin  to faint under heavy affliction, but it is a du-
    ty to feel it, Heb. xii. 5,  " My fon, defpife not thou
 the chaftening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art re-
 buked of him."  The Apoftle there doth caution againft
 two extremes which every chriftian under the rod fhould
 be careful to avoid,  1.  Defpifing or making light of af-
 fliction.  2.  Sinking or defponding upon affliction.  We
 ■re in great hazard of running into the one or the other.
 As to the firft, We may be faid  to defpife the chaftening
 of the Lord when we do not  obferve God's hand in our
 affliction, fo as to reform the things whereby he was dif-
 pleafed : Or  when we refolve to abide the trial,  by the
 Strength of our own refolutions  and  ftout-heartednefs,
 without looking to God for fupporting grace :  Or when
 we turn ftupid and infenfible  under the heavy and  long
 continued  rod.   This defpifing and flighting  the rod is
 not patience, but ftupidity;  it is  not chriftian magnani-
 mity, but a ftoical temper of mind, moft Sinful and provo-
 king to God.  We fee how angry  God is  with finners,
 when his ftrokes  are not  felt,  Ifa.  xli. 25, " He  hath
 poured upon him the fury of his anger, and it hath fet 
48         Afflicted Marts  Companion.

him on fire round about, yet he  knew  not; and it hath
burned him,  yet he  bid it not  to heart."   Jer. v. 3,
" Thou haft Stricken them, but  they have not grieved:
thou haft confumed them, but they have refufcd to re-
ceive correction : they have made their faces harder than
a rock, they have  refufed to  return."   There  is little
hope of a fcholar minding his leffon, that is regardlefs of
whipping.   It is  a dreadful fign to be  like Pharaoh,
Sleeping in our fins, when God is thundering in his wrath.
He that will fleep  when his houfe is on fire, or lie ftill in
bed, as if he was not concerned, may affuredly expect to
be confumed in its flames.  As David could not bear it,
when the meffengers,  he fent to the  Ammonites out of
goodwill,  were affronted and dcfpifed;  So  neither will
God endure it, when the meffeHgers he fends to Sinners
arc flighted ; for he that  flights a meflerger, affronts  hit
matter.   Thofe who make light of affliction, make l:gMf
of God that  fends it, and make light of fin that pro-
cures it.
  Qu.efl. But, when is it that people are Suitably concern^
ed under a  heavy  rod.   Aufw.  When they  fee God'l
hand, hear God's voice,  anfwer his intent,  are curious to <
know his mind,  defirous to do thofe things he requires,
and reform thofe things he is difpleafed with.
  Remember, every  affliction  is  a meffenger from God,
and defervesa  hearing from you.   It comes to thee with
fuch a  mcffage as Ehu did to Eglon, Judges  iii 20, " I
have an errand from God to thee, O king :"  1 have a
meffage from God to thee, O christian, O Sinner.   Well,
lend an ear, and hearken  with reverence and attention to
this errand ; fay, " Speak, Lord, for thy fervant hear-
eth, what wouldft thou have me to do ?" Believe it, that
God Speaks  as really to you by his rod, as by his word ;
therefore he fays. "  Hear ye the rod."   God fpake a«
truly by his  ten plagues  to Egypt, as he did by his ten
precepts to Ifrael.   And if the calm voice of the word
were more regarded, we  fhould  hear lefs  of  the rough
voice of the rod.   As Gideon  took briers and thorns of
the wildernefs, and with them taught the men of Succoth,
who would not be  taught by  fairer means, Judges viii. 
           Afflicted Man's Companion.         *. ^

   t6. fo God takes'the Sharp prickles of fore afflictions,
  to teach you his ftatutes, when yon  will not be taught
  by fofter methods.   Beware the* of grieving God's Spi-
  rit, by turning Stupid and infenfible under fharp or long
  continued trials :   But, the more pain* God is at with
  ycui by his  rod, hearken the more careSully to his  voice ;
.  and labour to make the greater proficiency in the  fchool
 v nf affliction, where he thinks fit to continue yoa; that
[  fo you may inherit  that bleffiug, Pfal. xciv. 12.  " Blefl-
  ed is the man whom thou chaftcneft, O Lord, and  tcach-
  eft him out of thy  law."

f Direction iii.   Beware of mifconflru8ing God's deal-.
P      trigs towards you, and of charging him foolishly.
         WE  arc  apt  to believe fatan's  fuggeftions, unier
          heavy trials, and to  entertain wrong  thoughts
._  of God and his difpenfations.   Now, thefe you ought to
L guard again A.  A*, fo: inflance, if. Beware of harbour-
  ing atheiftical thoughts, as if there were no Providence,
  «o wife Governor of this lower World, no diitinction be-
  twixt the good and bad; and that it is to no purpofe to
  be religious, like thofe mentioned in Mai. iii. 14.  " Ye
  have faid it is vain  to fevve God ;  and what profit is it,
  that we have kept his ordinances, asd walked mournfully
  before the Lord of Hofts ?" Yea, even the Pfalmift, when
  he begins to compare his own Sharp trials with the wick-
  ed's cafe and profperity, is tempted to .liink all religion
 •is vain, and fay, Pfaim  Ixxiii. 13,  14.  " Verily I have-
'» eleanfed my heart in vain, and wafhed my hands in inno-
  "cency.  For all the day long have I been plagued, and
  ucfeaftened every morning."   But  thefe are  nothing but
  the hcllifh fujgeftium of fatan, that irreconcileable enemy
  of God, and precious fouls, againft which we  fhould
  clofely lie;: owr ears.
    idly. Beware of charging Godwin your hearts with ri-
  gor or injuftice in  hij dealings,  like these, Ezek.  %\:\i.
  25. " Yet ye fay  the  »-ay of the Loid is  not equal."
  How  highly  unjuft an J injurious, arc fuch thvi^hti tv

                            E    ,jft iJ^  * ■
                                i   *'V;  0 - 
50         Afflicted Marts Companion.

him, who is the judge of all the earth, and cannot do but
right ?
   $dly. Beware ef thinking that heavy afflictions do al-
ways fpeak wrath in God  againft thee.  No,  fometimes
they fpeak forth  love, and  God may be carrying on a
fove-defign thereby to thy foul, viz. to fubdue thy ftrong
lulls, and draw thee nearer unto himfelf.   As for thole
who think that the Smarting rod and divine love cannot
dwell together, let them read that paffage, Heb. xii.  5,
6. " And ye have forgotten the exhortation which Speak-
eth unto you as unto children, My fon, defpife not thou
the chaftening of  the Lord, nor faint when thou art re-
buked of him.  For whom the Lord loveth, he  chaften-
eth, and fcourgeth every fon whom he receiveth."
   4-thly. Beware of defpondingand diftruftful thoughts of
God, under fharp afflictions.   Some are ready to raze the j
foundation, quit their intereft in God, and the promifes,
and caft away their hope and confidence, faying with Gi» ;
deon, Jadges vi. 13, " Oh  my Lord, if the Lord be with
us, why then is all this  evil befallen us?"  So David was
ready to draw a hafty conclufion, Pfalm xxxi.  22, •' I
Said in my hafte, I am cut off  from  before thine eyes.,,;l
But this was  the effect of  unbelief; for he that believeth J
will not make hafte.


Direction  iv.   Under fore  trouble and diftrefs, labour
           to exercife afrong and lively faith.

   IT was a noble and heroic refolution in  that holy man
    Job, under his fingular trials, Job xiii. 15. Though
he flay me, yet will I truft jn him.   q. d.  Let  my Stroke*
be never fo fore and heavy, yet I will not let go my grips
of his word and promifes; I will not raze thefe founda*,
tions of my hope.  It was the way the Pfalmift kept  '
himfelf from finking under his heavy burdens, Pfal. xxviii.
 13. I had fainted unlets I  had  believed to fee the good-J
nefs of the Lord, in the, land  of the living.   Confider bat
a  little the noble influence that faith hath to  Strengthen
and Support the foul under fore trials.
   if. Faith grips to the great gofpel promiic of  falva^

______rr____:_i-__-____________________»_______1 
         Afflicted Marts Companion,         51

tion in and through Jefus Chrift, and fo fecures the foul's
main intereft through eternity;  which may may make the
foul eafy in every lot.
   idly. Faith views God  in Chrift, at the helm in the
greateft ftorm, and fo it endures, as feeing him who is invi-
sible, Heb. xi. 27.
   $dly. Faith cafts the foul's anchor upon the Rock of
Ages, and ftays itfelf on God, and the faithful promifes ;
whereby the foul is cafed and difburdened of its fears and
melancholy apprehenfions, Pfal. iv. 22. Ifa. 1. 10.
   ^thly.  Faith brings new ftrength and auxiliary fupplies
of grace from heaven,  when the former fupply is exhaust-
ed and fpent;  whereof David had the fweet experience,
Pfal. xxvii. 13.   As God doth plant and actuate grace in
the foul, fo he is pleafed to come in  with feaSonable fup-
plies and reinforcements to the weak and decayed grace*
of his  people, anfwerable to their prefent exigencies and
preffures—And thus he doth from time to time feed the
believer's  lamp with frefh  oil, give in  more faith, more
love, more hope, and more defires ; and thereby he gives
power to the faint, and Strengthens the things which re-
main, when ready to die.
   $thly.  Faith keeps  the foul from  finking under heavy
trials,  by bringing in  former experiences of the power,
mercy and faithfulnefs of God to the afflicted foul.  Here-
by was the Pfalmift fupported  in diftrefs, Pfal. xiii. 6.
Pfal. lxxxvii. 4.   O,  faith  faith, remember what God
hath done both for thy outward and inner man; he hath
not only delivered thy body when in trouble, but he hath
done great things for thy foul; he hath brought thee out
of a ftate of black nature, entered into a covenant relation
with thee,  and made his goodnefs pafs before thee ;  he
hath helped thee to  pray, and many times hath heard thy
prayers and thy tears.   Hath he not formerly brought
thee out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay,
and put a new fong in thy mouth, and made thee refolve
never to  give way to fuch unbelieving doubts and fears
again ?  And how unbecoming is it for thee now  to fink
in trouble ?
   6tbly.  Faith' Supports the foul, by giving it a pleafant 
5'2       Afflicted Marts Companion.

t:sw and profpect of a happy  outgate from all trouble;
when it fhall be admitted to See and  dwell  with Chrift
hereafter.   Thus was Job  fupportcd in  his greateft dif-
trefs, Job xix. 25, 26, 27.  " For I know that my Re-
deemer Iiveth;  and that he Shall Stand at the latter day
upon the earth  —Whom I fhall fee for myfelf, and mine
eyes fhall  behold,"  &c.  A believing view of the foul's
meeting with its Redeemer, and receiving a crown of glo- \
ry from him at laft, is an excellent Support to a chriftian
Tinder the heavieft affliction, and fo was it to Paul, 2  Tim.
iv. 7, 8.
   ythly.  Faith  gives  great Support, by the encouraging
representations it makes cf Chrift, and of his prefent con-
cern for  the believer while under affliction.   As for in-
stance, if. Faith reprefents Chrift  to  a believer under
trials, as Sympathizing with him under his diftrefs,  feel-
ing his pain, hearing his groans, bearing his burden*, and
ready to  relieve him in in  his own appointed time, which
it well becometh him  to wait for.
   idly. Faith  reprefents Chrift as putting in his almigh-
ty arm under the believer's head, and conveying invisible
ftrength  to fupport and hold  him up, under  his greateft
pre flares.
   $di'y. Faith  reprefents  Chrift as pleading the afflicted
believer's caufe with Coel, and anfwering all  the  charges
cv the law, the chaiie iges of confcience, and accufations
of fatan a<;?iinft him.
   j.Mr.  Faith repiefcnts Chrift as {landing by the fur-
nace as a refiner where his gold is melting, carefully over-?
feeing the tria'3 of  his people, that they may work for
their good: and re--Iy to bring them out thereof,  when \
they are fiiffirisntly purified from their drofj.
   cthly.  Faith reprefents Chrift as Smiling on his people
under the crofs, whifp'erinj peace into their car, and fay-
ing, Well done, good and faithful fervant.

Direction  v.  Labour to bear with patience, whatever
       load of trouble the Lord appoh.ts for you.    -,&

11 7 E fhall, perhaps, obferve fi>me who are Strangers to
  V V  religion, contentedly endurii £ very paiiifui  evils; 
          Afflicted Man's Compan'u':.        53

 and this they may do by virtue of a natural hurdinefs and
 refulution which fome are endowed with, or upon the ac-
 count of arguments furnifhed by human prudence.   This
 is only patience as a moral  virtue which Some  attain to.
 But it is patience as a fpiritual grace, or a  fruit of tae
 Spirit, which we muft aim  at under our trials;  that wc
 may bear them contentedly from divine principles, to di-
 vine ends.  Now this grace of patience wc muft earneflly
 beg from God, under heavy afflictions, for it i3 only he
 that muft work it in us;  and therefore he is called the
 God of  patience, Rom. xv. 5.  And in order to your
 attaining of this grace,. I fhall lay before you the follow-
 ing considerations, which  may  be ufeful, through the'
 Lora's blefling, for that end.
    if. Confider the patience  of our Lord Jefus Chrift,
 under fufferings inexpreffibly greater than yours.  When
 it pleafed the Lord to bruife him, and put him to grief,
 how patiently did he bear all?  according to that remark-
 able word, ISe, liii. 7.  4< He w*s oppreffed, and he was
 afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as
 a lamb to the Slaughter, and as  a fheep before his Shearers
 is dumb, fo he opened not his  mouth."   Now, Chrift
 Suffered as an example of patience, though it was not his
 chief end ; and furely all the members  of the body fhould
 Study to  imitate the head in patience.  Did your bleffed
' Saviour patiently  endure fuch agonies and preffures of
 wrath for  you $ and  will  you decline to  undergo  fome
 Short pains or ficknefs, in obedience to his commands ?
   idly.  Confider God's fovereignty over you.  He is the
 great potter and you arc his clay; and why may he not
 do with you as he  fleafeth? If your children offend you,
 you fcourge them, and perhaps do it Sometimes without
 rcafon ;  yet how ill do you take it, when they reiufe- to
 fubmit ? How  will you drive and fpur your horfes under
 you, and may be Sometimes unreafonably ?  Yet they bear
 ail quietly and make no refiftance.  Shall they tike blows
 from their rr.after, and will not you  from your Maker,
 that has far more  power over you? If any challenge you
 for cruelty to  your children or beafts,  you take  it not
E 2 
 54,         Afflicted Marts Companion.

 well, becaufe you think you may  do what you  will
"with your  own, and  no man hath a right to  quarrel
 with you:  But, hath  not God a greater property in
 you, than you in your  children and  cattle ?  And, will
 you not patiently fubmit to your wife and abfolate Sove-
 reign ?
   ^dly.  Confider thy fin as the meritorious  caufe of all
 thy afflictions,  however heavy they be.   If thou haft
 t ight thoughts of thy fins, and the aggravations thereof,
 thy mind may be compofed  to a  patient fubmiffion to
 God's hand.  If fin be heavy on thee, all thy afflictions
 will be light.   Luther gives this as  a  reafon why he
 flighted the rage of the pope and emperor,  and all his
 outward troubles—They are all little to me, becaufe fin
 is fo weighty on me.  Hence it was that Paul complain-
 ed not at all of his fufferings, as great as they were ;  but
 he eried out much of his fins, Rom. vii. 24.   " O wretch. ?I
 ed man that I am, who fhall deliver me from the body of
 this death ?  Senfe of fin doth  fwallow up the fenfe of af-
 fliftion,  as the ocean doth little brooks.   For with whom
 Ihouldft thou quarrel, but with thyfelf, when thou bring- >
 eft troubles on thyfelf ?  This confederation fhould bring
 thee to refolve  and fay  with  the prophet Micah vii. 9. \
 ** I will bear the indignation of the Lord, becaufe I have
 Sinned againft him.
   4-thly. Confider, how Sharp Soever the pains are, you
 are called to bear, yet they fall infinitely fhort of what
 you have juftly deferved at God's hands.  It is of his in-
 finite mercy that death  and evcrlafting  deftruction have
 not been your portion long fince,  and  that you are not
 row roaring under the extremity of his indignation in the
 bottomlefs pit, together with the devil and his angels.
 And confequently, whatfoever falls fhort of this, is truly
a great mercy ; and is fo far from being ground of quar-
reling, that the greateft fufferer on this fide hell,hath juft
caufe to admire God's clemency in dealing more favour-
ably with him than he hath deferved.
   e,thly.  Compare thy caSe with others that have been, or.
^refently are in diftrefs,.  Do  not  fay  there  is  none ffr
fcardly'dealt with as thou art j for  thou knoweft not the 
          Afflicted Marts  Companion,         SB

  affliction of others.   Confider duly the trials of that emi-
  nent faint Job, in all the circumftances thereof, and fee if
  you can fay your Sorrow is near So great as his forrow was.
  Again, compare your cafe with that  of the damned in
  hell, who he and fry in  endlefs  and ceafelefs  flames, fo
  that they have no reft day nor  night, but  the fmoke of
  their torment afcends  for ever.  And think what a bleff-
  ing it is,  that you are  yet in a ftate of falvation, and not
  delivered over to thefe everlafting burnings, which were
  the due demerits of your fins, and to which you might
  long ago have been juftly condemned, had it not been for
  the patience and long-fuffering of Almighty God, who
  waiteth to be gracious  to guilty finners.   When you con-
  fider thefe thipgs, inftead of  being ehffatisfied  with the
  divine difpenfations, you have caufe to blefs God, that
  matters are not worfe with you, and that you  are kept
  out of hell to this day, where  thoufands,  no more guilty
  than you, are prefently roaring in endlefs defparation.
   Unto thefe considerations I fhall Subjoin Some few help*
  or advices,  in  order to the attaining of patience under
  fore troubles.
.   i. Labour to get  pardon of fin  and peace with God,
  Secured to thy foul, and this will enable you to bear the
  heavicft crofs with patience.   Hence it was that Luther
 cried,  "  Smite, Lord as thou wilt, I  take all in  good
 part, feeing my fins are pardoned.  O! pardon of fin  ia
 the crowning bleffing !  therefore will I bear any thing, I
 will Swallow up quarrelling into admiring, I will welcome
 the pruning knife, feeing there is no Sear of the bloody
 axe to fell me down."
   2. Labour to fee  God's hand in thy affliction.   Do
 not, like the dog, Snarl at the ftone, but  look  up to the
 hand that throws it   And Surely a view of the hand 6T
 a hoh/ God, may Serve  to calm all the boiftcrous waves of
 thy corruption; fo did it with David, Pfalm  xxxix. 9.
 " I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, becaufe  thoif
 djdft it."   When he looked to the inftruments  and Se-
 cond caufes of his afflictions,  his heart waxed  hot, and
 the fire of his inward paffion began to burn and break out j
 but when he once cfpisd G«d's hand and Seal to the war- 
 56         Afflicted Marts  Companion.   N

 rant for  his correction, he became filent, and pat;ent'.v
 Submitted to thfc divine w.-lj.
   3.  Get a humbled and  felf-dcnied frame of fpiril, that
 you may have low thoughts of yourfclrei, and of all your
 attainments whatfoever.  A proud man cannot think of
 fubmittingto  the divine will, bi:t will break before he
 bow.   Hence we fe«  a vaft difference  betwixt a proud
 Pharaoh,  and an humble Eli,  under the rod :  The  one
 fays,  Who is the  Lord, that I fhould ol-y hi in ? But the
 other faith,  // //  the  Lord, let him do what feemcih  him
good.
   4.  Get love  to  Jefus Chrift.   Love  is an enduring
 principle, 1  Cor.  xiii.  7. It eadureth all things.  It makes
 the foul, like the kindly child, draw nearer to Chrift, the
 mere it is beaten.
   5.  Interpret  God's ways and  dealings  with you al-
 ways  in the beft fenfe.  And, lafly, Be carneft in pray-
 er, that God may conquer  your  rebellious will, and fi:b-
 due thofe mutinous rifings  of heart within  you againft
 himfelf.
Direction  vi.   Beware of envying wicked men,  when*
         you fee them in htnlth and profperity.

    THE Pfalmift, when he was chaftened every morning
      and in great  adverfifcy, was liable to this evil, Pfal.
Ixxiii. 3. I  was envious at the foolifh, when I faw the
profperity of the wicked.  Corrupt nature doth Strongly
incline us to this finful difpofition, especially in the day
of fore affliction ; for the  Spirit that dwelleth in us, luft-
eth to envy, James iv. 5.  But, did we rightly confider
the ftate of wicked men, we would fee greater rcafon to
pity than envy them, in the  moft profperous condition: M
Why  ?  The profperity of the  fools fhall deftroy them,
Prov.  i. 32.  It makes them forget God, and turn har-
dened and fecure in fin, which  haftens their ruin.   Who
would envy a malefactor's going  up a high ladder, and
being  mounted  above the  reft of  the  people, when it ii
only for a little, and in order to his being turned 1
hanged ?  This is juft the cafe of wicked men,
:d orer and  1
a, who are  |

       J 
          Afflicted  Marts Companion.         57

  mounted up high in profperity ;  for it in  fo, only that
  they may be call down deeper ir.to de*Jru&ion.   Obferve
  that word, Pfalm xxxvii. i, 2—Fret not thyfelf becaufe
  of evil-doers, neither be thou envious againft thofe that
  work iniquity ;  For they fhall foon be  eut xlown like
  grafs,  &c.  And  that word, Pfalm xcii. 7—When the
  wicked fpring as the grafs, and when all the workers of
.  inquity do flourish, it is that they fhail be deflroyed for-
  ever.   It would be a brutifh thing fo envy an ox his high
  and fweet pafture,  when he is  only thereby fitted  to the
  day of flaughter.  Who would have envied the beafts of
  old, the garland and ribbons with which the heathen a-
  dorned  them when they went to befacrificed ? Thofe ex-
  ternal ornaments of health, wealth, pleafurcs and prefer-
  ments, wherewith wicked men are endowed, cannot make
  their ftate happy, nor change their natures to the better.
'  Whatever appearance thefe things make in the eyes of the
  world, they are but like a noifome dunghill covered with
  Scarlet, as vile and loathfome in  God's fight as ever.-—
  How quickly is the beauty of  earthly  things  blafted ?
  The triumphing of the wicked is fhort, Job xx. 5.  They
  live in  pleafurcs  on the earth, for a while ;  hut God firts
  them in flippery  places, from whence they foon Slide into
^perpetual pain and anguifh.  .They have a fhort time of
  mirth, but th«y fhall have an eternity of mourning. The
, longer  their profperity is, their fins are  the greater, and
  their fufferings will be  more grievous.  But, O believer,
  it is in mercy to  thee, that God doth hedge up thy way
  with thorns, that thou mayeft not find thy paths;  whilft
  he  turns the wicked  loofe,  and fuffers them to ftray and
  wander whither  they  will, to their eternal ruin.  God
  takes this method  with thee, to  make you meet  for an
  inheritance,  and to prepare you for a crown of glory ;
  but he takes a contrary way with the wicked, to fit them
  for deftruction ;  Therefore you ought not  to be  fretful
  under his hand, but thankful.  We  read of Queen Eliza-
  beth, when fhe was in  prifon, how  fhe envied  the poor
  milkmaid fhe saw paffing by,  and would  have thought
  h?rfelf happy  to have been in her condition ; but had that
  afRictcd princefs known the glorious reign  of forty-four 
58        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

years fhe was foon to enter upon, fhe would not have re-  :\
pined at the happinefs of fo mean a perfon.   But, O af-
flicted believer, it is not a glorious reign for a fet number
of years, that is provided for thee ;  it is even a reign
with glorious  Chrift thy Redeemer,  for ever and ever:  -,,
And, haft thou any ground to be difcontented or envious I

Direction  vii.  Guard againfl repining complaints and.
     difcontented murmurings againfl the Providence ofGodt  1
     under  heavy ficknefs and aficlion.                   1
      WE fee, the murmurers and complaincrs are clafTed,i
       with thofe that walk after their own lulls, Judged
ver.  16.   I know, the people of God are liable to mur-
muring and impatience alfo under affliction ;  bnt there is
a great difference betwixt them and  the wicked.   I'll  *
have occafion to fpeak  of  believers' murmurings after- •;
wards, when I come to fpeak of their cafe in particular;  ]
but  here I  fhall handle the fin of murmnring in general,  '^
and  as it appears mainly in the unrcgenerate,  under heavy  j
affliction.                                             ,*
   This fin of murmuring is the froth of impatience, an J  1
fcum of difeontent;  it  is  firft cherifhed by repining A
thoughts, and then vented by unfuitahle complaints and"  fl
cxpoftulations, taxing the administration of  Providence;  I
as if God dealt too hardly with us.   Our very thoughts^
are  audible with God, yea, as loud in his ears, as words J
arc in ours ; but it is yet worfe, when repining thoughts  -
are not crufhed, but fuffered to break  out into  words  ]
tending to  the dishonour of God.                       :
   Quejl. But, it is  altogether unlawful  to complain  of  1Jt
affliction, whatever be our cafe ?
   Anfw. Humble complaints are not murmurings, nor
finful in themfelves ; otherwife there would  be no room
for prayer, and for Spreading out our diftreffed cafe before  j
the Lord.   We find God's children making complaint!
in affliction ; but then they do not complain  of God, but  .!
to God, with a humble inquiry into the  caufe and mean-  '*"
ing  of bis  difpenfations, and laying all the   blame  upoa  ,
themfelves, as did Job, chap x.  i.  2—1 will leave my  , 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.         59

 complaint  upon myfelf; I will fpeak in the bitternefs of
 my foul, I  will fay unto God, do not condemn me ; fhew
 me wherefore thou  contendeft with me.   Thus the blefs-
 ed Son of  God himfelf did, in his diftrefs, when he cried,
 My God,  my God, why haft  thou forfaken me ?  But
 there we may obfei ve, he complains to God, not of God;
 he hath not a hard word or thought of God, but expref-
 feth a holy confidence  in God,  My God, my God; he
 hath two words of fait:! for one word of fear, he humbly
 inquires into the caufe of the  difpenfation,  and defires to
 bring up his will to God, not that God fhould bring down
 his will to him—If it be poffible, fays  he, let this cup
 pafs ; however, glorify thy name, provide for thy own
 glory,  and do with me what  thou pleafeft.  In this mat-
 ter our Lord doth  fet himfelf as an example of patience
 to us, teaching us to bewe.re of impatient murmuring and
 quarrelling with God's providence  in  our affliction;
 which many times we  are guilty of, either when we har-
I bour hard thoughts of God's dealings, or  break forth
 into rafh and unadvifcd fpeechcs; when  we charge God
 foolifhly, and complain  either  of too much feverity, as
 Ezek.  xviii. 2. 25. or too long delay, as  Ifa. xlix.  14.
 or when our complaints arc mixed with unbelief and dif-
 truft, as Pfalm Ixxviii. 19. or when we complain more of
I^our punifhment than we do  of our fin,  and nothing will
 fatisfy  us but deliverance from trouble.
,.   Now.to deter you from thefe murmurings and corn-
r plaints in trouble, I Shall lay before you the following con-
[ ^derations:
    if.  They wh;0 deferve worft, do commonly complaia
 and murmur moft, and are mcft ready to thi-ik that they
 are hardly  dealt with.   The unthankful Ifraelites were
^ftill murmuring.  Ambitious Abfalom was difcontented.
 Bloody Haman, in midft of  all  his greatnefs, cries out,
 What doth all this  avail me ?  But humble Jacob  faith, he
 was not worthy of the leaft of all ^he mercies and truth
 which  God had Shewed him.  Andholy Job bleffes God,
 and patiently Submiti, when he took from him, as well as
 when he gave him.
    idly. Murmuring is a fin that God takes Special notice 
60        Afflicted Marts Companivit.

of, and lo;;ks on as an injury and affront done immediate-
ly againft himfelf.   Numb. xiv. 27—I  have heard the  ^
murmurings of the children of  Ifrael, which they mur-  ■$■
mar againft me.   He that gives ears to the groans of hi
own Spirit, doth alfo hear the grumblings of thirr, and
will reckon with thee for them.
   $dly. It can no wife benefit or relieve us in diftrefs.  I
may fay of finful corcplair.ing, (as Chrift of  finful care)
Which of you, by complaining, can add one cubit to his
ftature ?  What eafe or relief can you ge; by cor-trnding  ^
with God ?  Nay, inftead of ezfing you of your burden,   ;
it will make it the heavier ; as a child, the more he Strug-   -
gles with his parents, he is the more beaten.  The Ifrael-  ',
ites were once within eleven  days journey of Canaan^ I
but by their  murmurings they  provoked God to leads]
them forty years march in the wildernefs before they couluB
reach it.
   qihly.  Whatever  be  your  diftrefs,  there is no juft
ground for complaints, whilft  thou haft thy life for a   '.
prey.   Remember  that word  of  the  afflicted church,B
Lam. iii. 39—Wherefore doth a living man  com plain,'a^
man for the punifhmcht of his fins !  A man living, a man
upon the earth, a man out ot hell, hath no caufe to com- j
plain, whatever be  his affliction.  For, let him compare  ;j
his fin arfld puniShment together, he will find tlure is no \
proportion :  fin is a tranSgreffion againft the infinite God;
puniShment is hut an affliction  upon  the finite creature:  1
fin Strikes at the very being of God;  but pui-.iihment on-
ly at the comfort of the creature.  So  that whatever
your pnftifhment be, you have  more caujc to give thanks
than  to complain ; and to fay with Ezra, Thou haft pu-
nifhed us lefi than our iniquities deferve.   It might have
been  a thouSand times  worfe, if Strict juftice had been the -j
rule : It is of the Lord's mercies we arc not confumed. . t
    cthly. When you murmur under fickr.efs, you  quarrd j
with  the mcSTcnger of' that fovereign God, who gave you
 your lives, and can  take them again when he think* fit;
 and we know that mcffengtrs  ought not to  bs maltrea'-
 ed or abufed, whatever be their commiSSion, aa   far ltfj
 when they  are fent  upon a good d.-iigu.  Now,  ifyoul 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.        61

  confider the defign of this meffenger and his errand to
  you, inftead of  fretting  and quarreling at his coming,
  you ought rather to blefs God that fends fuch a fuitable
  harbinger and  forerunner, to tell you that death is  ap-
  proaching, and that he vouchfafes to take fo much pains
  on you, to wean you from the world, and make you will-
  ing to  be gone, by long continued  trouble;  when he
  might  have Seized you  in a violent manner,  and driven
  you away by main  force, without  ufing any means to
  obtain your confent.   Have not  many, who  were moft
  .unwilling to  die, at the beginning of a ficknefs, been
  brought, by the increafe and continuance of it, to be well
t ^Satisfied to leave the world, and long  to be with Chrift ?
  And was not this for their advantage ?
    6thty.  Confider the great evil and finfulnefs of impa-
  tient murmurings, complaints and qarrelings under afflic-
  tio*.
    j.  Murmuring hath in it much unbelief and diftruft of
  God, Pfalm cvi. 24, 25—They believed  not his word,
  but murmured in their tents.   They could  not  believe
  that the  wildernefs was the way to Canaan,  that God
  would provide and  furnifh a table for them there, and re-
;  4ieve them in all  their ftraits.    So it is with us in trouble,
;  we quarrel with  God's providence, becaufe we  do not
'  believe his promifes ;  we do not  believe that this can be
V «onfiftent with love, or can work for good in the end.
    2. It hath in it unthankfulnefs. While we complain of
  one affliction, we overlook a thoufand mercies.   The If-
  raelites  murmured  fo for what they had not, that they
  unthankfully forgot all they had.  Whereas a thankful
  perfon is fo far from fretting that God doth not give him
  every thing, that he  wonders that God fhould give him
  ■any thing.   I am  lefs than the leaft of all thy mercies,
  faid Jacob ;  VVe are perplexed, faid Paul, but not in de-
  fpair: we have  God to go to, which is matter of praife.
i But the murmurer unthankfully overlooks all  his prefent,
* and forgets   all  his former mercies';  and  gives not God
  thanks for any thing.   Becaufe  God removes his com-
  forts, his health, ftrength and  eafe for a time ;  all the
F 
62        Afflicted Mail's Colnpanion.

years he formerly enjoyed them, though moft unelcfefved.
ly, are quite buried in oblivion.
   3.  It  implies much pride and Self-conceit.   He that
eomplains of God's dealings, fecretly  applauds his own
defervings.  Only by pride comes contention.   When
men have a conceit of themfelves, they pick quarrels with
God's providence, being apt to think they deferve better
treatment at his hands : Whereas the humble foul is fen-
fible he  deferves nothing but wrath, and  therefore lays ,
his hand on his mouth when the Lord afflicts him.      '
   4.  It involves men into rebellion againft Gcd.   When
God  ftrikes men for  fin, murmurs  fly in his face, and
kick  againft his ftrokes, like bullocks unaccuftomed to
the yoke.  They in fome refpect refcmble that deSperate
apoftate Julian, of whom it  is written that he Shot up his j
darts againft  heaven, when he was in diftrefc.  They ful-j
fil that word, Prov. xix.  3 - -The foolifhneft  of man per-1
verteth his way, and his heart fretteth againft the Lord.:}
The  repining heart  boils with  rage againft God avd his
difpcnfations, like thefe Jews when  hungry  and hardly
beftead, Ifa. viii. 21—They fhall fret themfelves, and curfe;.
their king and their God, and look upward           m
   c.  It  imports much  impenitency and unhumblednefl|
for fin ; and that we have feen little of the iutrinfic evi!^
of fin;  and of our  ill-defervings  for it.  Can we truly
believe that our fins deferve hell-fire, and  yet impatient-
ly repine at fick.iefs, and leffer ftrokes upon our bodies ?
   6.  It includes much  atheifm and  blafphemy  againft"
 God, and his infinite perfections in fevcral refpects :
   (1.)  by our impatient murnaurings, we either virtual-
 ly deny that things here below are governed by  God's
 providence;  or elfe,
   (2.)  We  tax bis providence with  unrighteoufhefs in
 the management thereof J   as if God did  withhold from
 us what i3 due, or inflict on us what we have not deferv-
 ed.  Oh what atheifm is this 1  Shall not  the Judge of.
 all thcearth  do right ?  May he  not,  upon  the juftefti
 ground, anfwer every murmur, as Matth. xx. 13—Friend^
 I do thee no wrong !
    (3.) We in effect giafp at the Sovereignty, sad ufmt» 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.         63

  the throne of  the  moft high God, and would have the
  difpofal of things in our hands ;  yea, we prefume to fum-
  mon God to our bar to give account of his adminiftrati-
  on, when we take upon us to quarrel at any of his difpen-
  falions.  Alas, we little remembered that wo is pronoun^.
  ced againft fo  doing, Ifa. xiv. 9—Wo unto him that ftri-
  veth with his Maker; fhall the clay fay to him thatfafh-
  ^oneta it,  What makeft thou ? or thy work, He hath no
.' hands ?
     (4 ) We on the matter, take fin's part againft God ;
  wc either  juftify it,  or extenuate  its evil, and alledge,
  by our murmurings, that God is unrighteous to punifh
 ■/■ fuch Small fins with fueh heavy afflictions
     (5 ) "We virtually queftion God's power to reach us a
  a greater blow, when  we enter the lifts  with God, and
  contend with our Maker ; is it not in effect to Say, we
  know how to reduce him to our terms, or make our par-
  ty good againft him.
     (6.) We difparage his wifdom,  and take upon  us to
  he his counfellors, as  if we  could inftruct him  better in
  the management of affairs, and teach him  what is fit to be
  done with his creatu-es.   Hear what the Lord faith, Job
  xi. 2 - Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty, ia-
 4 ftruct  him ?  He that reproveth  God, let him anfwcr it.
t Murmuring  is a reproving of God, and  a charging him
  with ill conduct, faying, in effect, with Abfalom,  There
  is none that takes Care to order mens  affairs :  O  that  I
  were king of the world!  then fhould things be better or-
  dered than they now are.   So blafphemous is  the  lan-
  guage  of our impatient murmurings.   Let  us therefore
  be afhamed of them, and abhor ouifelves in duft and afhes
  for our foolifhnefs in  cenfuring the actions  of the only
 "*wife God.  Shall a poor ignorant paffenger that  under-
  stands not the ufe of the  compafb, be angry that the Skil-
  ful pilot will not fleer the veffel according to his pleafure?
     (7.) We hereby Slight and  undervalue the riehes  of
  divine goodneSs, of which we have  formerly Shared, and
  do ftill partake : Like foolifh and petti fh children, if they
 rjJ|annot have their will, or get fome thing* they want, do 
64        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

prefently throw away the things which they have,  Say-
ing with unthankful Haman, All this availeth me nothing.
  Lnfly,  I might add, This fin hath  fome refemblance
to hell itfelf; for there the damned do continually vex
and torment themfelves with their fretting and impatient
thoughts, which  caufe them to break out in fearful rage
and blafphemy againft God.
   Quejl.  But how fhall  we prevent  fuch difcontented
murmurings ?  for fometimes trouble is So great, we can-
not bear it patiently.
  Anfw.  God hath given you reafon, to bear rule  over
pafiion, and furniflied you with Strong arguments to pre*
vail againft difcontents.   Why then fhould you be fo bru-
tifh as to dethrone reafon, and Suffer fenfe and paffion to .
govern in you?  Are you not chriftians,  and  fworn to.1
live  according to the. rules of that  excellent religion?1
Why then do you act fo contrary to your profeffion and \
engagaments ?
   iiefides what I have already faid, I Shall add fome few ,
remedies more, fir the cure of this murmuring diftemper.
   if.  Look on thy murmuriugs as worfe than all  thy
pains and troubles whatfoever;   thofe are but affliction^
from God, but thefe are fins grievous and provoking un-
to God.                                             i
   idly.  Remember the  judgments  which  murmuring (
hath brought down from heaven upon finners.   Miriam
was Smitten with  leprofy for it;  Dathan and Abiram
were fwallowcd up alive;  fiery ferpents, plagues, and ex»
clufion from Canaan, were lfrael's judgments for this fin,
I Cor. x. ic—Neither murmur ye, as fome of them mur-
mured, and were  deflroyed of  the deflroyer.  The ar-
rows which murmurers fhoot againft heaven, do fooa re-
turn upon their own heads.
   %dly. Whatever thy fufferings are for the prefent, yet
ftill  believe thy cafe might be worfe.   The troubles that
light upon the body are nothing fo terrible as thofe that
light on the foul, Prov. xviii. I i—-A wounded Spirit who (
can  bear ? They are nothing to  what thy innocent Savir '
our Suffered upon the crofis, yea nothing to what fome
martyrs have endured for the truths of the gofpel. 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.        65

    tfthly.  Get very low thoughts of yourfelf, and a deep
  fcnfe of ill-defervings for fin.   O ! fliould a fire-brand of
  hell murmur for temporal afflictions iJ
    $thly.  Be ftill examining thyfelkflather than cenfuring
  God.   Doth God feem  to neglefir thee, fay alas !   it  is
  moft juft  ! Have not I neglecteyhim, and given  a deaf
 -ear to his calls many a day ?
    6thly.  Bear in mind that thefe troubles  will not  laft,
  there is a great  change near ; either they will iffue in life
  or death.   If life, you will be afhamed you had no more
  patience when fick ; f death,  then if  you  belong to
  Chrift, it will give a finlfhing  ftroke to all troubles and
  complaints, and heaven will make amends for all.  But if
  you be not in Chrift, whatever your afflictions he now,
j  troubles a thoufand  times worfe are abiding you in  ano-
  ther world ;  death will turn thy croffes into pure unmix-
,  ed curfes ; and  then, how gladly wouldeft thou return to"
  thy former afflicted  ftate, and purchafe  it at  any  rate,
  were there any poffibility of fueh a return ? You now fly
  out in a paffion, and fay, you are not able to  bear what
  you complain of: But confider, if you will not obedient-
^ ly bear God's reds now, you will then  bear more, whe-
  ther you will or not;  and God will  make you able  to
  bear more, when there will never be any hopes of relief.
    fthly.  Study to give vent to thy Sorrows in a way  of
  prayer and  praife.  An oven  ftopped-is the  more hot
  within ;  but the breath of prayer or praife gives eafe.  If
  we  did complain more to God, we fhould complain lefs
  of God.   What a mercy is it that you have ftill God  to
  go  to ? improve the privilege, confefs unworthinefs, and
  beg the grace of patience and fubmiffioa out  of Chrift's
  full treafures,   Be alfo praifing God  for mercies  receiv-
  ed ; and  however bad thy cafe is, blefs God it  it is not iu
  kiell, you  are in  the land of hope.   *
F2 
<36         4fflictc:J Marts Companion-.

             v* .^CHAPTER III.
Containing  fpecitl TDirections  to  the Children of Gor/r
      when under Sflknefs or  any other affliction.     ,
 .Direction  i.  Let beRcyers efpecially guardagainf faint*
       ing or  defponding under God's afflicting hand.

    T'HIS is an exhortation which God in a peculiar man-
      ner directs unto his children, Heb. xii. 5—My Son*,
 deSpife not  thou the chaftening of the Lord, nor faint
 when thou art rebuked of him. / There are two extremes
 mentioned, defpifing and fainting.   I fpoke of the firft
 before, in Chap. II. Direct. II.  It is a duty to feel out
 affliction, but  a fin to faint under in  it.  God's people
 may  be faint under their trials, when they fink or de-
 Spond, or give way to  fretting or  repining under them.
 In the preceding Direction, I fpoke of the evil of mur-
 muring in  general,  here I Shall Speak of the believers'
 faint ings in particular.
   I.  I Shall inquire whence their fainting under afflictiot
 doth  proceed.
   II. Bring fome arguments and helps againft thjs evil.
   1.  As to  the firft, Whence thefe faintings in believeail
 do proceed,   if.  They proceed from the grievoufnefs 5
 of their affliction, and the heavinefs of their burden, which
 is ready to amaze  and  ftagger  their thoughts,  and fink
 their Spirits with fear and defpondency.  Hence did the
\Pfalmift complain, Pfal. Ix. 3—Thou haft fhewed thy
 people hard things :  thou halt made Us to drink the wine
 of aftonifliment.  And  Pfalm lxix.  2—I fink  in deep
mire, where there  is no  Handing ; I am come into deep
 waters, where the floods overflow me.
   idly.  From the fmallnefs of their fpiritual  ftrength,
 and particularly the weaknefs of their  faith, Prov. xxiv.
 10—If thou  faint in the day of adverfity, thy ftrength is
 Small.   Whence was it that Peter Sainted  and began to
 fink in the waters, but from the weaknefs of his faith ? 1
Matth. xiv. 30, 31.  We know not our ftrength, till it
be tried.  Sometimes we have fuch a conceit  of it, that-f 
          Afflicted Marts  Companion.         '67

 we think, Ike Peter, we can walk  upon a fea of trouble ;
 but in a little, behold,  Some Su-unfine blalt aflaults our
 confidence, arid then we faint, or cry^put with him,  HJp,
 Lord, or elfe we perifh.   Peter MClToned only upcn the
 fea, but  he did not think of the hjpifterous wind ;  and he
 looked to dangers, more than ^rthe power that  was to
 carry lim through them.
   ylly-  From their in patience of delay, when oViverance
 is long a coming, it is not*eafy to wait God's 1'eifure, and
 to keep the heart from defptrate cmsclufions, Pfalm Xxxi.
 22—1 faid in my  hafleV 1  am cut  off from  before  thine
 eyes.                 t-
   ^thly.  From thepo^er of fatan's temptations and furi-
 ous aflaults.  When flkan is fet loofe in time of affliction
 to throw in his fiery  d<nrts, the believer is ready to faint,
 and fay, as Pfalm  Ixxvij. 8 — Is his mercy clean gone for
 ever, &c.
   tjthly.   For their wearifome conflicts with a body of
 death and an ill heart.  Thefe in time of affliction do add
 affli6tion to the afflicted.
   6thly.  From long and great deferticns.  When God
 hides his face from the believer in affliction, his foul faints
 under  it, as in Ifa. xliv. 14—Zionyhath  faid, the Lord
 hath forfaken me,  my God hath forgotten me.'
   'jthly. From the confcioufnefs cf their guilt, and ill de*
 Servings  before God, upon the account of old fins, abufe
 of mercies, and untender walking before God.  Afflicti-
 on doth  revive old finsras with Job, Job xiii. 26—Thotl
 writeft bitter things againft me, and lpakeft me to poffefs
 the  fins of my youth.   His  old^jffins, and  guilt   of his
 youthful  follies now revived upo* him, and fat clofe to
 his confcience, which occafioned  his fainting under his
 burden.                           t
   Lafly.  Great afflictions do frecf&ently cloud the be-*
 Iiever's graces and evidences for heav$n, and difcover their
 corruptions; whereby they are made to fink under their
;trial.  They fee more unbelief, impatienee,  diftrtift and
   uty to God in them, than they faw before : Whereby
"they are  Sometimes tempted to raze the foundation, and
*jay all their former attainments were but dalufions^aid 
65         Afflicted Marts Companion.

their profeflions but hypocriiy.  .Thefe  things make af.
flicti >us fo.-aetinves very heavy and linking to  the people
of God.         >
   II.  In the next pmc£,  for preventing and helping this
evil ot  fai'H-.-.'.g under <rrnictioiii>, let believers confider,
   if.  Hick heavy trioV are all needful for you.   Detp
waters are  nut more neeqful to carry a Ship into the ha-
ven, than great affliction* ■ are to carry the veffcls  of our
fouls into the poit of blifs.   Strong wind and thunder are
frightful, but they are neceffiiry..to  purge the air.   One
of the  fharpeft calamities that ev|r  befel Ifrael, was the
BabyloniSh captivity, yet even this was in mercy to them;
for the Lord faith, Jer. xxiv. 5-^  have Sent them out of
this plact,  into the land  of the Qfi ildeans for their good.
Strange 1 Of freemen, to be uia'de prifnners,  and that in
a  ftrange land among the heathen;  to  be  removed far
from their  own boufes, vineyards, friends, nay, and from
the temple of God and his or'dSjftnces;  and  yet all this
for their  good I. why? they were hereby effectually wean-
ed and broke off from their darling fin of idolatry.
   idly.  Confider,  that your affliction, however heavy it
be, will foon have an end;  Ifa. Ivii.   16—For  I will not
contend  for ever, neither will 1 be always wroth ;  for the
Spirit fhould fail before me, and the fouls which  I have j
made.   The goldsmith will not let his gold lie any longer
in  the furnace than it is  purified.   The wicked have a
fea of wrath to drink:  but, O  drooping believer, take-^
comfort;  you have  but  a cup of affliction, which will *
Soon be exhausted.   The time is near when all thy trials
fhall have an end:  In heaven there is no crofs, no com.
plaint, no tears nor Sorrows for ever.                 1
   3<//y.  Faint not, O child of God; for thefe affliaioai
are all  the hell which thou Shalt have; thou haft nothing
to fear hereafter.   Jndfis had two hells ;  one in time, by
terror in  his confeienjee, another after this life, which en-
duresto eternity: but all the hell a believer hath, is but
this light affliction, which is but for a moment.
  ^thly.  Delponding or  murmuring in affliction,  is evil
in any, but in none is it fo bad as in the children of Godi
It doth very ill become tbeir covenants, their  privilege
 
          Afflicted Marts Companion,         69

 their hopes.  Have they refigned and given up themfelves
 and all they have to God, by a folemn covenant, and will
 th y fret when he difpofeth of them ? Didft thou not fay,
 O believer, in J he day when thy heart was ftung with fin,
 pnd the terrors  of God made thee afraid, O let me have
 Jefus  Chrift for my Saviour and portion, and I will be
 content, though I fhould be ftricken with boils like Job,
 or beg my bread with  Lazarus ? Now, God tries thee, if
 thou wilt ftand  to thy word:  O beware of retracting.
 Hath not that foul enqngh,  who hath an all-fufficient
 God for his portion ?  If God be thine in covenant, that
 comprehends all things.
  ,  $lh!y.  It doth difoonjpofe and unfit the foul for  any
 duty.   It is ill-failing in a ftorm, fo it is ill-praying when
 the heart is in a ftorm of difquiet and defpondency.
    6thly.  Your  fainting under affliction,; and carrying as
 if the confolations of God were fmall, is enough to Hum-
 ble others at religion, and make them call the truth of it
 in queftion.   When they fee  thofe  that piofefs religion,
 and have oft declared that their rejoicing is in Chrift Je-
 fus as their portion, begin to fink and defpond under out-
 ward affliction, O may they not be tempted to fay, Where
 is the truth of religion ? Where arethofe divine Supports
  aid confolations which we have often heard of?
    Laflly.  O then feek to get faith revived, and ftrengthf
 encd,  and refolve  with Job to truft in God,  though he
   iculd flay you.  This would be of  noble ufe to keep the
 [heart  from finking under preffures of affliction, as the
\\ Pfalniilt  found  it to his fweet experience  Pfalm xxvii.
 13—I had fainted unlets  I had beSeved to fee the good-
 nefsof the Lord in the land of the living.
    III.  I come  to anfwer fome objections or excufes of
 fainting believers, which   they do commonly alledge as
 the ground of their difcouragementfrin their afflictions.
    ObjecJ. I. "  O (faithone) my afflictions are not ordi-
 nary : they are  fore preffures I lie under, and of various
 kiuds too."
    Anfw.  1.  O believer,  God hath taken the ordering of
 jour lot in his  own hand, and he knows what is fitt.efl
 forVou.   Should a man be left to carve out his own  por- 
70         Affile'ed Marts Companion.

tion, it would foon appear he would be hi< own greateft
enemy.   We would all  be for the  dainties cf  pleafure
and profperity, which would not be for our foul's health ;
Us children think green fruit the beft diet, becaufe  they
pleafe their tafte;  but their parents are wifer to keep them
from them.
   idly. God may fee that  you  have many   and ftrong
Iufts to be fubdued, and  that you  need many and fore af-
flictions to bring you down.  Yoor pride and obftinacy
of heart may be ftrong,  your chftempers deeply rooted,
and therefore the phyfic muft be proportioned to them ;
as with the  Ifraelites, Pfalm cvii.  n, 12—Beciufe ttay
rebelled  againft  the words of  Gwd, and   contemned
the counfels of  the Moft High :   therefore  he brought j
down their heart  with  labour.  O believer,   yonr Gofl'i
and Father, that hath the mixing  of  your cup and por»;|
tion, is a wife and Skilful phyfician, who knows your con-
ftitution and yonr need,  1 Pet. i.  6—If need be you are
in heavinefs through manifold temptations.    And  asjie
knows your need, fo*he underitands your ftrength, 1 Cor.
X. 13—Faithful  is he,  that will  not fuffer you to  b«
tempted above what you are able.
   $dly. God fends^great  and  fore  troubles,  that you
may have the more experience of God's wifdom and mer-
cy in your Support and  deliverance,  PSalm lxxii.  20—
Thou  which haft Shewed' me great arid  fore troubles,
fhall quicken aHd bring me up again  from the depths of
the earth.
   0bje3.  II. " Bub-( faith another) my affliction is Singu-
lar ; there was never rfny in my condition."
   Anfw.  if.  It  is veiy ordinary  for every man in great
diftrefs, t,o reckon .his  cafe  Singular, becaufe  he feels
beft what is neareft Yimfelf, but is a Stranger to what hil
neighbour feels.    ■
   idly. This fuggeftion is one of fatan's devices, that he
may tempt a chi  d of God to queftion his Father's love}
but he is  a liar and  net  to be credited in  what he Saith:
For other's of your  brethren have been  afflicted  in the
lame kind and degree, if not worfe, 1 Peter, v. 9—Knpj 
         Afflicted Marts Companion,         71

 ing that the fame afflictions are accomplifhed in your bre-
 thren that are in the world.
   $dly.  Whatever your cafe be, you muft'own your fuf-
 ferings are not fo great as your fins.  The trials of God's
 people in Babylon were fingular;  yet  Ezra owns, Ezra
 is.  13—Thou haft punifhed us lefs than our iniquities de-
 Serve.   If our provoked Judge fhall in his clemency fend
 us to Babylon inftead of hell, we have no caufe to  com-
 plain.
   ^thly. But, O child of  God, however thou complain*
 eit of the Singularity of afflictions now,  all fuch complaints
 will be  taken out of thy mouth ere long, and that time is
 •near when thou ftiait be  made to wonder at the wifdom of
 God in guiding fo  many fons and daughters to glory,
 ..through Such a variety of trials, exercihss,  afflictions, and
 temptations, and made to fay as thofe in Mark vii.  37—-*
 He haui done all things well.
    ObjeS.  III.  " But, faith one, my affliction is long con-
 tinued, ..nd I fee no out-gate ;  and how can  I  but faint
 und.rit?"
    Anfw.  if.  It is not fo long as your fins deferve  ;  for
 in juilice it might be for ever, it might be, the worm that
  never d'.eth and the fire  that is never quenched.
     idly. Your fufferings on earth are  not fo long as your
  reward in heaven, Rom. viii. 18—For I reckon that the
  fufferings of the prefent time, are not worthy  to be com-
  pri, ed with the ^lory which fhall be revealed in us.
     $dly. No length or continuance of affliction here fhould
  hiiider  ;i believer's comfort, if we tal^e a view  of our head
  an;! patter Jefus Chrift.   H nv«lr)ng did  his afflictions
  continue ! No 1 .id was put to  them,  till he cried with  a
  loii'' voce, and gave up the ghoft.   Though he was the
  S.I-. of God,yet from the hour of his#birth to the moment
  of his  death, from his  manger to rls crofsj his afflictions
  Still i;icreafed  and he ended his day%in the midft of them.
  Now, Chrift h the head of the church, and your great re-
^ prefentative,  O believers, into a conformity  with  whom
  you are predeftinated:  • be content then to be  like your
  bend and pattern, t»> have no eafe or  reft from afflictions,
  tiliyuii lie down in the grave,  it is  " there the wicked 
 72         Afflicted Marts  Companion.

 ceafe from troubling, and  there the weary be at reft,'J
 Job iii. 17.
 .  c^hfy.  Remember that your afflictions are a part of
 Chrift's crofs, which your loving Redeemer hath contri-
 ved /or your good, and hath appointed you  to  take up
 and bear with him.   Now love to Chrift fhould keep you
 from wearying to bear off a part of Chrift's crofs, efpeci-
 ally whe'i he himfelf bears the heavieft end of  it,  nay,
 bears you and your crofs both.  It is faid of Jacob,
 .Gen. xxix. 20, that  he Served  feven years for  Rachel,
 and they feemed to him but a £ew days, for the love he
 had to her.   And, fhall we not endure a few years afflic-
 tion for our Lord Jefus Chrift,  who lived a life of for.
 rows, and died a curfed  death for our fakes?  Had we
 more love to Chrift, his  crofs would  not be fo tedious
.to us.
   Sthly. Should it not be good news to thee, that there
 is a deliverance for thee at death from all thy troubles,
 and that this time is haftening and very near ?   Be  not
 anxious for an outgate here in  time, for that favours too
 much of unbelief and love to  the world.  Doth it not
 feem to fay, that you wduld be better content to be turn.|
 ed back again to tha Stormy tumultuous fea of this world,
 than to be Safely lamied at your reft above ?  That  you
 would be gladder of a few temporal mercies on earth, thail^
 to enter upon your eternal inheritance with Chrift ?
   Object. IV. " No wonder (faith one) that I faint un-
 der my affliction,  for I  want thefe confolations and  Sup-
 ports which God ufeth to referve for afflicted faints."
   Anfw.  if. If Got^e  prefently chaftening  you  for
your fins, you  muft he content to feel  the bitternefs of
 fin, before you  can tafte  of the fweetnefs of God's confo-'
 lations.           ^
   idly. Can  you faykhat your afflictions have duly hum-
 jled you, and fitted/ you for comfort ?  Have they yet
 brought you to  a wiuingnef6 to quit and renounce  all ycur
 beloved fins,  and even to part  with all your earthly en-
joyments and comforts at God's call, and be content with
 God  in Chrift alone fo-your happinefs and porti m ? It
 this be not done, your afflictions have not had theirjdue 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.         73

  effect, to  prepare you for comfort, and till then you can-
  not expect it.  You are in the hands of a wife and Skilful
  phyfician, who will not toohaftily heal and bind up your
  fores, fo as to let tbem fpoil and fefter at  the bottom
    $d/y. Though you have no fenfible confolations  from.
  God in your prefent  trials, yet  you muft ftill labour to
  keep  in the way of duty, and live by faith on his promi-
  fes.  Believe firmly that  God is good to  them that love
  him, and  that there is forgivenefs with him to the  peni-
  tent Sinner.   And if all ftars withdraw their light whilft
  you are in God's way, then affure yourfelf the fun is near
  the arifing.
    Object.  V. " But my affliction is fuch,  that it difables
  me from duty, and makes me ufielefs  and unprofitable;
  and this makes me Saint under my burden."
    Anfw.  if. God Sends afflictions never  to unfit, but to
  quicken you for the performance  of duty ; to make you
  repent more  thoroughly,  pray more  fervently, flee  to
  Chrift more earneftly, and mind heaven more intenfely.
;.   idly. Ifitbeyour duty to others that your affliction
jr incapacitates you for, then remember,  if God in his pro-
  vidence difable you for that, it is no longer a duty incum-
  bent on you, and you muft not grudjge if  God  take you
  off, and put others in  your room.  God is a free and fo-
'  vereign agent, and will be tied to  no mean or inftrument
  whatfomever for carrying,on his work.f


  Direction  ii.  Let all the children of God be exemplary
      in  patience and fubmiffwn, ttfc God,  under their afflic-
      tion.

  I TREATED of patience, and gave fome motives and
     helps  to it, to all  afflicted perfoiis  in  general, Chap.
  II. Direct. V.   But here I Shall bring fome Special argu-
  ment to Chriftian patience and fubmiflion proper for be-
  lievers.   You that God hath done So much for beyond
  others,  ongbt to Shine in this grace of patience, and  be
  examples  to others for it, when God chaftensyou, though
  with very fore affliction.           v      _
    if.  Study patience under affliction : for it h the cor?.- 
74        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

man path and beaten road to heaven, that all the  faints
have trod, who hare gone thither before you.   Behold
the print of the foot-fteps of all the cloud of  witneffes
in this road ; and would ye be fingular, and choofe a way
of your own ? When God folemnly renewed his covenant
with Abraham, and he had prepared the facrifice, where-
by it was to be  ratified and confirmed, God made a fmo-
king furnace to pafs betwixt the pieces of the facrifice,
Gen. xv. 17. to let him know that there was a furnace
of affliction attending the covenant of grace and peace,
and all that entered thereto.  God has appointed that all
the Stones of this fpiritual  and heavenly building fhall be
hewed and polifhed by affliction here ;  and  we are not
to think that God's ordinary way will be changed for us.
We muft not think to walk on rofes, when fo many wor-
thies have marched through briars and thorns to heaven.
   idly. Confider,  that  the greateft afflictions you meet
with are confiftent  with the love of God, nay, fpring from
his love to you.   Every Sanctified rod is a gift and roy-
al donation fent by the hand of God to you, Phil. i. 29—:
To you it is given, in behalf of Chrift, not only to believe
on him, but alfo  to fuffer for his fake.  Now  furely, it-,
we looked on the cijofs as a gift, an honour, an advantage,
and blefling, we would bear it patiently, Pfalm xciv. 12,
Bleffed is the man whom  thou chafteneft, O Lord.   0
believer, thy temlporal crofs comes from  the fame  love
that thy eternal crown comes  from, according to Rev.
iii. 19,  21.  Men  will not take pains to correct Stubborn
Servants, but will turn them out of doors ;  but  love con-
strains them to chaftife' their fons.   God out of hatred <
lets many a Sinner go unpunifhed in  this world :  Sor, why
Should he prune or^refs the tree which he intends for the
fire ;  the malefacto^efcapes Scourging that is condemned
to the gallows, Job xxi. 3—The wicked ii referved to
the day of destruction ;  they fhall be brought forth to the
day of wrath.   But it is far otherwife with the children
of God.   That is a ftrange word which Job hath, Job
vii. 17, 18—What is  man that thou Shouldeft magnify
him;  and that thou Shouldeft fet thine heart upon him:
And that thou Shouldeli vifit him every morning, andtt^* 
           Afflicted Marts  Companion.        75

   him every moment? Now, if we compare this place with
   others in the context, we will fee how he acknowledgeth
   that the  moft overwhelming diftrefs proceeds from the
   love and care of God, yea,  from his fixing his heart tin
   him, to magnify him, and do him good ;  and that for
   this end he doth chaften him every morning, and try him
   every moment ; and that with fuch afflictions as for the
   prefent are fo far  from being joyous,  as that they give
   the foul no reft,  but even make the man  weary of  his
   life ; as he expreffetU what effects his  affliction had on
   himSelf,  Yea, it may be obferved in the Providence of
   God from the foundation of thejworld, that thofe who
   have had moft afflictions have had moft grace, and the
   moft eminent teftimonies of acceptance with God.   Jefus
   Chrift the Son of  Gq#, had the moft afflictions of any ;
   and yet the Father always loved him, and was well pleaf-
   ed with him.      #
      3<#y.  Confider thjj bright examples of patience which
   God fets before you *in his word.  Befides  that of his
   dear fon, the Lord Jefus Chrift, of which I  fpoke before;
   confider the  patience of Job, when  he  was ftript of all
   earthly comforts,  and lifM under the greateft afflictions,
   yet he calmly falls down and  worfhips God, Job i. at.
   and faid—Naked came I out of my mother's womb, a;>d
   naked fhall  I return :  The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
j   taken away, bleffed be the  name of the Lord.   In all
   this Job finned not, nor charged Gdri foolifhly.  Confi-
   der the patience of David, when  he was driven from his
   throne, from his houfe, and from^#od's  Sanctuary, and
   all this by his own fon : yet hoj^robmiSIive is he to God ?
   2 Sam. xv. 16—Behold, herP&n I, let him do to me as
   feemeth good to him.  And when  Shimei curfed him.
   and threw Stones at him, he patiently bore it, and would
   fuffer no harm to be done him fork, faying, as in 2 Sam.
   xvi. 11—Let him alone, and let him'curfe, for the Lord
  ' hath bidden  him.   Confider  the patience  of holy Eli,
   when, though  he heard Inch news as like  a hidden clap
.?  of thunder   made  the ears of fuch as heard it,  to tingle,
   and their hearts to tremble,  yet  he calmly and  quietly
frvJ&ibmittedto it, i Sara. iii. 18—It  is the  Lord, let bi:a 
76        Afflicted Marts Companion.

do what  feemeth him good.   He doth not fly in God*«
face in a paffion, but  falls down at  his feet  in a humble
fubmrfiion.  Obfei ve alfo the wonderful patience of Aa-
ron, when God afflicted him very fore he is filent and fub-
ttiiffive under the Lord's hand, Lev. x. 3—And Aaron
held his peace.  If we confider the greatnefs of the pu-
nishment, we  will fee the more  caufe  to commend the
gr*atnef3 of his patience.   1. Aaron  loft  his children 5
not  his eftate or  worldly  fubftance,  but his  children,
thefe are a part of a man's bowels ; other earthly loffci
are not comparable to this ;  therefore  it was that fatan,
that cunning  enemy,^eferved the  lofs of Job's  children
to the laft onfet,  a3 his great mufter-piece  and fharpeft
attack.   How fadly  did Rachel lament and weep for het ,|
children!  Matth. ii.  18—Aardk held his peace.   2.
Aaron loft his two fons at once. ' How pathetically did
David bewail  the lofs of one fon, 2%am. xviii. 33—O my-^
fon Abfalom, my fon, my fon, Secret Aaron loft both
his fons  together, and faith not one word ;  He held his
peace.   Aaron loft  them by a fjidden death, of  which
he had no warning •  Sicknefs iifaally prepares  men for
the Stroke that is coming by orRth ; but Aaron met with
 a furprifing blow, yet he held his peace.  4.  Aaron's fons
 were not taken away  by an ordinary ftroke of  God's
 hand, but by  an extraordinary Supernatural rod;  for it ra
 faid—There went jput fire from the Lord, and devoured
 them, and they died/before the Lord, Lev. x. 2.   He loft
 them in fuch a manner as might fpeak forth God's anger;
 now, a religious fatHlgJuid rather loofe all his children in
 the favour of God, tlunkjme child in his anger; yet,
 whatever were the bitt^JIgredients of-this cup* Aaron
 was not impatient againft God that mixed it for him, but
 held his peace, becauSe God did it.
   \thly.  To engage you to patience under your trials, do
 but compare your cafe'fcvith that of others.   Do not Say
 there is  none  afflicted as you are ; for there are many far
 deeper plunged in the waters of Mara than you are ; fome
 are  ftill  upon  the rack and  fpend  theh whole days and *
 years in continual fightftig and ftruggling ;  as  in Pfalm
 xxxi. ic—My life is fpent with  grief and my year* with*: 
         Afflicted Marts Companion*        77

Sighing.  Have you fore diftrefs in your bodies ?  others
have grievous wounds in their fouls.  Do you bear the
wrath of man ? others bear the wrath of God.  You have
but one Single trial,  others have many twilled together.
Some are ftript of all comforts, you have comfort ftill re-
maining.  You may have had many fad things in  your
trial, but you have not grJund as yet to complain as the
Pfalmift doth,  Pfalm m\\\. 7—All thy  waves and thy
billows are  gone oveii^ie.  Take a view  of what the
Son of God, what the •poftles, and what the martyrs and
other worthies have  endured.  They had trial of cruel
mockings, fcourging#|fconds and imptifonments :  They
wandered in defarts, in, mountains,  and in dens and caves
of the earth, being deftitute, afflicted, tormented.  They
were tempted, they  a*re crucified, ftoned to death,fawn
afunder, flain with tnt Sword, &c.  And yet how well
did they take with Ac crofs ?  Saith Paul—We glory in
tribulation, Rom. v/2.   And what Saith James ?  James
i. 2—My brethren, cbant it all joy when ye  fall into di-
vers temptations.  Ajif he had faid, Rejoice aye more
and more, that you arAfflicted: God is magnifying you,
he is vifiting you, doingjfciLgood. taking the more pains
on you, and fitting you for glory.
   Sthly. The consideration of God's former mercies and
kindneffes to you, Should engage you to patience in trou-
ble, and  make  you blufh to take  any thing ill out of
God's hand.   Thus Job taught his impatient wife, Job
ii. 10—What? fhall we receive goocjj at the hand of God,
and fhall we not receive  evil ?  (fc believer, let not thy
afflictions caufe thee to bury fjfj mercies in oblivion.—
HasnqtGod brought thee jfcmfatan's family, and put
you among his children ;  andmft you forget to underva-
lue that hour i Hath he ftruck offthy fetters, taken off
thy priSon-garments, and Set you^atliberty; and will you
be unthankful ? Hath he given thee Chrift for thy trea-
fure and portion, and entitled you to  his unfearchable
riches ;  and will you be difcontenjed ? hath he given you
the graces of his fpirit, which are more precious than ru-
bies ;  and will you quarrel wh0h  he fmites in fome out-
ward things ? hath he made you^anhcir of glory, and pro-
                       G 2 
78         Afflicted Marts Companion.

vided eternal manfions above for you";  and will you bo
fretful for want of fome trifles  here ?  The view Mofes
had of the recompence of reward in heaven, caufed him
to choofe to Suffer affliction patiently with the peoplf of
God.
   6ihly. The time of affliction is ufnally God's graciouj
trying feafon with his peopl^ in the time of their rareft
comforts and fweeteft foretafteVof heaven, according to 2
Cor.  i. 5.   Paul and Silas did  ntver Sing more joyfully
than  when they were laid in thfifinner priSon, with their
backs torn with Scourges, and their feet  faft in the flocks,
Acts xvi. 24.  And when wa6 ljpthat Jacob faw the an-
gels, of  God  afcending and defeending upon the ladder
that  reached betwixt heaven and earth, but at the time
when he was in a  deftitute cafe, flfcced to lie in the open
field, having no canopy but the he^ens,and no pillow but
a ftoae ? When was it that the tfifce children Saw Chrift j
in the likenefs  of the Son of  ManA walking with them/i
but when they were in the furnagefand  when it was hot-
ter than ordinary ?  When was itxhat Ezekiel had a vifi-
on of God, but when fitting fohjjlry by the river Chebar
in the land of his captra|£? \Pien was it  that John got
a glorious vifion of Chriurjbut when  he was an  exile in
the ifle of Patmos ? And, when was it that Stephen faw
the heavens opened, and Chrift Standing at the right hand
of God pleading  for him, but when they were ftoning and
bruifing him to dealh ? So that the moft remarkable ex-
periences of God's  kindnefs,  that believers get in this
world, have been trac^dto the time  of affliction : the con-
sideration whereof fhouuLmovo every chriftian to wait on
the Lord, and bear hisgjfcfc with patience.
   •jthly.  When  you are helped to  Ariftian patience and
fubmiflion under God^ hand, it doth contribute much to
the credit of religion,»nd to the conviction of the world,
that there is a certain reality in the truths  of the gofpel,
and a great efficacy in the  grace of  God, which bears
you up, and carries you through, beyond the ftrength of
nature.
  Lafly. O believerj,  bear up with  patienee under the
crofs, for thou haft not long to bear it.  God's wrath on 
          Afflicted Marts Companion,         79

  the church abideth but for a moment, yea,'a little moment,
  Ifa. xxvi. 20—Come, my people,  enter thou into thy
  chambers, and Shut thy doors about thee, hide thyfelf as
  it wereSbr a little moment, until the indignation be over-
  paft.  Sxrcly  a moment,  a little moment, which is the
  Smallcft part of time, will foon be over ;  and wilt thou not
  have patience for a  mon^nt f The Pfalmift Supported
  himfelf with this  configuration,  Pfalm  ciii 9—He will
  not always chide, neithjr will he keep his anger for ever.
  The time of indignat#n will foon be overp'aft, and.4he
  time of confolation wilUfucceed.  O believer, the end of
  all thy trials is  near, s|ink  on it, and look for  it.   Is it
  bodily pain or ficknefs that  is thy affliction ? then confider
  the end  of it will be either life or death ;  if death, then
  what thou fuffereft  is the laft brunt, bear it patiently.
  Thefe enemies you ndw fee,  you will fee them again no
  more. In the manfiqns above there is no pain nor crying  ;
  the inhabitants therd fhall  never fay they are fick ;  and'
  one hour with them wHl make thee forget a'l thy momen-
  tary afflictions.  If thriffuc fhall b# life, you will be
  afhamed, when well,  that you had no  more patience
  whilft fick.       ,         .^^
     I fhall clofe  this direction with the words of the apof-
  tle James, James v. 10—Take, my brethren, the pro-
£, phets, who have Spoken in the name of the Lord, for an
  example of fuffering affliction, and cf patience.   Behold
  we count them happy which endure.   Ye have heard of
  the patience of Job, and have feen the end of the • Lord,
  that the  Lord is very  pitiful, and of tender mercy.


  Direction iii.  Let believers  Be much employed  in the
      praifes of God, while they are under affliction, by fick-
       nefs or otherwife.

       AS we fhould blefs the Lord % all times, and keep up
        good thoughts of God on every occafion, fo efpci-
  ally in the time of affliction.   He^jee we are commanded
  to glorify the  Lord in the fires, Bfi.  xxiv. 15.   And this
  the three children did in  the hotteft furnace.   So Job
,  bleffed God when he had taken few.ay his greateft com- 
80        Afflicted Marts Companion.

forts, Job i. 21.  And this is agreeable to that command,
I Theff.  v. 18—In every thing give thanks.  I grant in.
deed we cannqt give thanks for affliction, as afflicton, but
cither as it is th« means of fome  good to us, or as the
gracious  hand of God is fome way remarkable therein to-
wards us.  In this refpect there is no condition on this
fide of hell, but we have"cafce to praife God in, even  in
the greateft calamities.  Henllgt was that David, when
he fpeaks of his affliction, Pfalqtcxix. 67, adds prefent*
ly—-Thou art  good and  doft gjod.  And he declares,
ver. 65—Thou haft dealt Well v*th thy fervant, O Lord,
according unto thy word.   Herr§t Paul and Silas piaifed
God when they were fcourged and impriSoned.
   Well then, O believer, obey the command of thy God,
and imitate his  worthies, by praifing God under thy af-
fliction.   1. This practice would* be  very  pleafant and
acceptable to God ; for as. mufiCfcs fweeteft on  the wa-
ters, fo praife is moft agreeable toiGod  from an afflicted
foul on the waters of trouble,  it is a fign of a noble and !
generous fpirit, to Sing the  prwfes of  God's goodnefs,;
while his hand  is afflicting us.  , TJiftrefs and danger will
make the wickedeft topjpy ; 1nvt it is a principle of love I
and gratitude that makes the foul to praife.  2. It wouldj
bring credit to  religion, to fee faints  thankful and praif-*
ing God  under the crofs ;  it  would make people fay,
furely they find fweetnefs in  God and his ways, that  we
fee not;  they havemeat to eat that the world knows net
of.  And this wquld invite Strangers  to come and try a
religious life.   The»joyful praifesofthe  martyrs at the
(takes, and in the flames, made people go home with lore
to religion in their heaKflk   3.  If the  iffue of  your af-
fliction Should be death, this employment of praife would
be a fweet preparatire to fit and difpofe you for the work
of heaven.   Ufe yourfelf much to this heavenly life, and
be oft trying to finglhe fong of Mofes and the Lamb in
time of ficknefs anu trouble;  and this would fweeten
the thoughts of death, and make you incline to be there,
where praife is  their <J||Hftant work.
   Quef.  What fhouldj be the Subject of a b«Iiever*al
thankfgiving and praife under affii&ion ? 
          Afflicted Marts  Companion.         81

    Anfw.  He hath manifold grounds of praife: as— \fl.
  Upon the account of  God's mereies to him through the
  by-paft  part of his life.  Flis mercies to thee, O believer,
  cannot be  numbered ;  compare  thy  mercies  with thy
  Croffes,  arid  thou wilt  foon  fee  thy  receivings are far
  greater  than thy fufferings. - Thou  haft had many days
  of plenty  for one day of Scarcity, many days of liberty
  for one  day of ftraits,  n>a"ny days of health for one day of
  ficknefs.   And are not; thefe to be remembered  with
  praife ?
    idly. And more particularly, in thy greateft  affliction,
  thou haft  ground to praife God,  O believer,  thou waft
  born in a  land of light, where thou hadft the means of
1  converfion to God, and acquaintance with Jefus Chrift ;
  and efpecially, that  God of his free.grace made thefe
  means effectual to work a  Saving change  on you,  when
  others were paffed by.   I3 not this matter of praife, that
:  he opened your eyes,  humbled your foul, and renewed
  your heart ?  that he gate  you Chrift, forgave your fins,
  -and adopted vou into  his family,  and  made you an heft*
  of heaven ? Oh 1  what a fad cafe would it be, if you were
  yet in your fins, and in the  bondage of Satan ;  if you had
  conversion work to begin to,  if you had your  faith and
ifhiftification and intereft in Chrift all  to Seek, and all your
•preparations Sor heaven to make :  if you had all this to
'do with a fick and  pained body, and a'  disordered mind
 that cannot command one fettled thought  with the ter-
 rible view of death and eternity befor%your eyes.   This
 is the cafe that God in juftice might have left you to.—-
 Well then, ought  you not to praife  God,  that fent his
 Holy Spirit in time to determineyo.ur heart to clofe with
 Chrift, and be reconciled to that God you are fhortly to .
 appear before;  and that  thefe  fins^  which now would
 have been your terror are all forgiven and wafhed away,
through the blood of Jefus Chrift A-
   3<//y.  Is it not matter of praife in thy greateft trouble,
 that thou haft a great High Prieft, that is paffea into the
 heavens, to provide a manfion with the  Father  for thee,
 and to receive thy foul when  feparated from the body ?
 that, where he is, there you may be alfo ! 
82        Afflicted Marts  Ccmpaniott.

  yhly. You have caufe to blefs God, that he fends fuch
fuitable harbingers, as  ficknefs and trouble, to tell you
that death is approaching, and that he fhould take fuch
pains on you to weaB you from the world, and make you
willing to be  gone.   Many  of God's people that hart A
been averfe to dying at the  beginning of a ficknefs, by
the increaSe and continuance of it, have been brought to
be well fatisfied to depart that they may be  with Chrift.  -
   Sthly.  You have ground to blefs God for timing yout
affli&ions fo well, that  he fent  them not  till he faw you
flood  in need of them ;  he faw a need  for them, as I
Peter, i. 6. and he would not let  you want what wai
needful.
   6th/y.  You ought  to praife  God, that he mitigates  i
your trials, and proportions  your burden for yonr back,
that when he takes a rod to  you, he hath not made it  a
Scorpion;  that when he deprived you of one comfort and
enjoyment, he  did not ftrip you of  all,  and leave you
wholly comfortlefs;  that when you Suffer in one  thing,
he hath not made you to fuffer in every  thing, in foul,
body, eftate, relations, and all together ;  that inftead of  ;
afflicting you for a  few days,  he hath  not made your
whole life a fcene of mifery and affliction.  Blefs God that|
he punifheth youlefs, unfpeakably leSs, than your iniqui-
ties deferve ; that your fick  bed is  not in  hell, your fever
is not evcrlafting burnings, your pain is not the gnawing
of the worm that never dieth.
    'jthly.  You hav,e caufe to praife God,  that your aTic-
tion is not fo greaKas  that  of  fome others, and  even of  (
 fome  that were very dear to Gt.d, and had not  grieved  <
 him fo  much as you have done.   Remember  the ttials
 that fome have endured, of "  whom the world was not
 worthy," which I mentioned before as recorded Heb. xi.
 Yours are nothing lo theirs, nothing to Job's, that emi-
 nent fervant of God. J Obfervc the difference withthankf-
 giving and praife.
    i'thly.  You have reafon to blefs  God for the Strength'.
 and fupport he hath given   you under affliction.   Yo*
 would foon .fink and fuccumb under a Small burden, if he
 did not  fupport  you by his grace ;  but, when he bearsi 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.        83

 you up, the heavieft trial Shall not fink you.   Have you
 not met with fome afflictions, you have thought, at a dif-
 tance you would never have been able to bear up under
 them ? yet, when they have come, you have found them
 < light and portable, by  reafon of the ftrength  God hath
•. beftowed on you.
    gthly.  You have ground of thankfgiving that the mer-
 cies and bleffings which  God hath continued with you,
 are far greater than thofe he hath taken from you;  for
 though he hath taken this  and that temporal bleffing
 from you, yet he hath not taken Chrift from you,  nor
''. his holy Spirit from you; he hath not feparated you from
 }, his Icve, nor cut you off from all hopes of heaven.  How-
1 ever great your trials be, yet ftill there  is a mixture of
 mercy in your lot, which fhould be matter of praife.
   • Lafly. You have caufe, O believer, to blefc God, that
 all the afflictions he brings on  you are  in love, and for
. your profit.   All his  ways are mercy and truth to you.
 I If he fmile, it is in mercy ;  and if he fmite, it is in mer-
 i cy.  God  may change  his difpenfations, but his heart
  is ftill towards them, and the cords wherewith he fcourg-.
* eth them, are cords of love.  Their profit  is the great
' thing he aims at, in all their chaftifements, Heb. xii. 10.
( He defigns thereby to reclaim  them from their wander-
•', ings, cut off provifions for their lulls, make them pant ami.
l*long for a better  ftate, and caufe them to  mend their
 pace toward it.   Hence  David faith—It is good for me
 that I was afflicted :   For. before I was  afflicted, I went
  aftray, but now I  have learned  to keep thy word, Pfalm
  cxix. 67, 71.  From all which it appears you have ma-
  nifold grounds of praife, even in the time of affliction.


  Direction  iv.   Let the  children of God, when vifted
       with ficknefs t fet about actual-preparation for death
       and eternity.

       EVERY believer hath his main work done, and  is al-
       ways in a gracious ftate, by reafon of his union  with
  Jefus Chrift,  his reconciliation with God, through the
  merit of  his. blood,  and the uaiverfal change that  is 
84         Afflicted Man's Companion.

wrought in him by regenerating and fandtifying grace;
upon which account every child of God  hath habitual
preparation for meeting with death.  Yet becaufe fre-  •
quently, when ficknefs cometh, there are  many things out
of order with them, that make death frightful and unde-
firable, they mlift fet  about actual preparation for death,
and  feek  to have their fouls  made ready for the bride-
groom's coming.   And here I fhall fhew wherein this ac-  '
tual readinefs  of believers doth confift, which fhould be
their proper work and exercife in time of ficknefs,  efpe-  )
cially when ficknefs is lingering, and doth not deftroy the
ufe of reafon.  But beware of thinking  that this fhould  '
be delayed till ficknefs come: No, no, the time of health  >
13 the main working feafon, and all fhould be then by-hand  '
as - far as poffible.  But,  feeing even the  beft generally*!
find much to do at the  very laft, I fhall give the  follow-  j
>ng advices for your actual preparation.                  i
   if.  Seeing ficknefs is  a mean appointed of God for  ;
his people's good, and particularly for fitting them for a ,
better  world ; labour earneftly to reap the benefit of fick-
nefs, feek God's blefling upon it, that thereby you  may
be helped to difcover more of the evil of fin, that you may
hate and abhor it the  more, and that you may  fee the  .;
more effectually the vanity and vexation of the world, and
  §et your  He^rt  loofed from all the things of time, and
  rought to a willingnefs to be diffolved,  that you may be
with Chrift.      J
   idly. Seeing the time of ficknefs and  death is the time
of your greateft need, beg earneftly of God, for your Re-  '
deemer's fake, fuch fpecial affiftance, influences and ope-
rations of his holy fpirit, as he knows needful for you in
your prefent low and weak condition, in order to carry on
and complete your actual readinefs for meeting with him-
felf at  death, and entering into the invifible world, and
being fixed unalteraWy in your everlafting  ftate.
   $dly. Renew the exercife of repentance, and  of faith «1
in the blood of Chrift, for removing all grounds of quarrel
and controverfy betwixt  God  and your foul.   And in
order thereto, review your paft life, and look into your
heart alfo,  and Search out every predominant fin and idojll 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.         8j

   of jealoufy ; for if there be any iniquity regarded in your
   heart, and  unrepented of  by you, it may occafion  no
   little anguifh andbittenefs of fpirit in a dying hour. Well,
   when  thou haft difcovered fin, humbly  confefs  and-
   bewail it before the Lord,  and afk forgivnefs for it thro*
   the blood of Jefus Chrift the Son of God, which cleans-
   eth from all fin. Yea,  make confeffion of all thy fins, and
   particularly reflect upon the fountain and fpring of them,
   viz.  thy  originalfn.   Know  the plague of thine own
   heart, and mourn over it, mourn forthe lofs and mis-fpend-
   ing of much precious time. Mourn for the unprofitable-
   ncfs of thy life. Now when the  ax is laid to the root of
   the tree by ficknefs, it is high time  to mourn for your
   unfruitfulnefs under the means of grace and  waterings
   of the holy Spirit.   Mourn for your finning againft fach
   light and love as have been many days displayed to  you
   in the glorious gofpel.   And, in a fpecial manner, mourn
  • for your fins of omiffion, which  commonly are but little
,. -. minded by U9.  Thus  mourn for all thy fins,  till thou
   doft water thy couch with tears.   It  is moft fuitable  that
   death fliould find every man, even every child of God, in
   the exercife of mourning and repentance:  for they  that
   thus fow in tears fhall eternally reap in joy. But .lee  that
   your tears run much in the gofpel channel, and  flow from
   the believing views of a crucified Chrift, whom you have
   pierced by your fins.  And in the midft of your mourn-
   ing, be ftill aiming to  take faith's  gjrips of the clefts of
   this rock, for fheitering thy foul from the guilt of by paft
   fins ; Say, "Lord Jefus, I have no refuge but thy wounds,
   no fountain but thy blood,  no covert but thy righteouf-
   nefs.  And feeing thou freely makeft  offer of thy merite
   for my protection and inviteft even the chief of finners t»
   come unto thee, faying, Look unto  me, and be yefaved;
   Lord, I embrace the offer,  and flee to thee to cover me.''
   O believer do this, not once or twice, but do it  a hundred
   times over  : do it as long as thou baft breath to draw in
   the world. Be ftill  breathing to the  very laft, after a
   a ucified Jefus" for relief againft the  guilt of fin,  which
   thou art always contracting ; and wilt be till the earthly
   houfe of this tabernacle be  diffolved,
                             H 
$6         Afflicted Marts Companion.

   4-thly, In order to your actual readinefs to go forth to
meet the bridegroom, when coming td you by death, you
muft do as the wife virgins, Matth.  xxiv. 7.  " Arifc
and  trim your lamps."   As  it is not enough to  have a
fair  lamp oSa profeffion, fo it is not fuflkient to have only
"the oil of grace in the  lamp; nay, or to have it burning
in fome degree.  There is more rcquifite at this time,
that the foul may be actually  ready ;  the lamp muft be
trimmed, which imports, if A fupplying it with more  oil;
you muft feek to have your grace increafed, to have new
degrees, new Strength, and new fupplics of grace given
you from Godj to fit you for the laft conflict  with your
Spiritual enemies,  and efpecially the  laft enemy  death.
idly It imports  a Stirring  up of the oil,  and  railing  the
wick fome  higher:  So there mult be  an exhortation of
grace, which  may be in alow  declining condition: you J
muft endeavour  to ftir and raife it up to a more lively ex-
ercife, and moVe elevated acts. Stir up the gift that is  in thee: i
make the oil burn clear and fhine bright. Bring faith, love,
 repentauce and  holy defires,  to a lively  exercife. idly, ,
This trimming   imports the cleanfing of the lamp,  by
taking away the dead allies that hinder the light, or pre- *•
vent its burning fo clearly as otherwife it would.  So you
muft labour to  take away the dead afhes of corruption,
•that hinder the  Shining of  grace : remove all  unbelief,
earthlinefs, deadnefs, felf, and formality, and whatever  elfe
doth Supprefs the exercife  of faith, love, and heavenly
mindednefs: let all theSe dead afhes be fnufled away by
repentance.and  mortification.  As you  ought to ftrive
earneftly againft all thefe heart-evils in time of health, fo
now labour to give them a dead ftroke when death's har-
binger gives you  a fummons.
   $lhlyt Be diligent ingathering andfumming up.allyour
evidences for heaven and eternal life, that fo you may not
venture into the  dark valley at an uncertainty. The com-*
fort of dying will much depend on the clearnefs of yonr ,
evidences;  it is therefore your wifdom to examine them'
carefully, and fee if you can fay, " I know m whom I have
helieved; I have confented with my Soul to the method of
falvation laid down in the covenant of grace, I  am defiro»s 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.         S7

 that the glory of it Should be eternally aScribed to the
 free grace of God, and the creature be wholly ahafed  in
 his fight.  I ha?re chofen  God for my portion, and Chrift
 for my only Saviour: and  the happinefs which I aim at  is,
 to enjoy God in  Chrift for  ever. And, in order thereto,-
 I depend on  the holy Spirit to  apply the redemption
 which Jefus Chrift  hath purchafed to me, and to Sanctify
 me perfectly. There is no Sin but  what I hate and define
 to part with. I would rather have more holineSs, than  to
 have health and all the pleafures in the world.  I earneft-
 ly defire the flourifhing of Chrift's kingdom,  and prefer
 Jerufalem to my chiefeft joy."  If this your evidences,  be
 clear, you may cheerfully take  death  by  the cold hand,
 and welcome its grim meffengers and long to be gone that
 you may be with Chrift. You may fay  as  Pfalm xxiii. 4.-
 " When  I   walk  through the  valley of the fhadow  of
 death,I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." You may
 go off the ftage with the Pfalmift's  words in your mouth,
 Pfalm xxxi 5. " Into thine hand I commit my fpirit,
 for thou haft redeemed me,  O Lord God of truth."
   m6thly, Labour earneftly to overcome the love of life
  and fears of  death,  fo as to be content to part with  all
  things here at God's call.   O believer, what is there in
  this earth to tempt thee  to hang back, when God calls
  thee to depart ? While  you are here, you may lay your
  account  with many  loffes, croffes,  difappointments,
  griefs, and calamities  of all forts.   Friends will fail you,
  enemies will hate you, lufts will molelt you, Satan will
  tempt you,  and the world will deceive you.  Death 1;
  the  way that the  deareft of God's faints, * nd  all  the
  cloud  of witneffes have gone before you; yea, the Lord
  Jefus  your head hath trod this path and hath taken  the
  fling out of death,  and  hath paved a way through its
  dark valley that his people  may fafely follow him. Hath
X the Captain of your falvation gone before you, and  will
   any of his foldiers fhrink to follow him? Art thou con-
  tent  to  remain always at the fame diftance from him,
  and to enjoy no more of his prefence than now you have?
  are you Satisfied to live for ever with no more knowledge
  of God,  no more love to Chrift, no more holiness or hea- 
 88         Afflicted Marts Companion.

 venly-mindednefs, than  at prefent you have? Do ycu
 not groan  under your  remaining  ignorance, deadntfs,
 wanderings, pride, pafflon, unbelief,  fclfifhnefs,  world-
 linefs,  and other fins and lufts that here befet you? And
 are you not defirous to  go to the place where you  will
 be eternally free of them all,  and where you fhall never
 complain of a dull, dead,  and fenfelefs  frame of heart,
 Or of any heart-wearinefs or wanderiBgin duty any more?
 For the heart fhall then be as a fixed pillar in the temphr
 of God, and fhall go no more out: the eternal adoration'
 and praifes of God fhall be the foul's delight and element
 forever.   By fuch considerations Strive to conquer the
 fears of death and defires of life, which are  often great
 clogs to the people of God in their preparations for flit*  t,
 ting.
  'jthty, Be oft  meditating  upon the heavenly glort
 which  Shortly all believers will fee  and enjoy.  Be much  '
 in the contemplation of the glorious company above;  be-  [
 hold Chrift upon  his glorious throne, at the right hand
 of God and Abraham,  David,  Peter, Paul and  all the
 reft of the faithful ones, with their crowns  ofrighteouf-
 ness, triumphing about their Redeemer.  Think, O be- \
 h'ever,  how happy  will that day be, when thou Shalt
 meet with thy father, and   brethren,  and thou fhalt fee  j
 thy elder brother on the throne, ready to pafs Sentence
 in thy  favour.  What melody will that fentence found in
 thine ears,  Come ye blefed of my Father, &c.  What frame
 wilt thou be  in, when he fets the  crown of glory on thy
 head!  O eternally free love !  wilt thou cry,  " O  Sa-
 viour,  thou didft  wear a crown of thorns,  that I might  ,
 wear a  crown of glory ; thou didft groan on the crofs
 that I might now Sing.   Wonderful See love, that chu-
 sed me, when thoufands were paffed by; that faved  me
 from ruin,  when my companions in fin muft burn in hell
 for  ever."  Think how ravilhing it will be to meet with
your godly acquaintances  in heaven, with  whom  you
prayed, praifed, and converfed here?  Will  you not then
cry out,  "O my brethren  what a change is here!  this
glorious place is not like the poor dwellings we had on
earth;  this body, this  foul, this ftate, this place, our 
           Afflicted Marts  Companion.         S9

  clothes, our company, our language, our thoughts, are
  far unlike thofe we had then ? The bad hearts, the body
  of death,  the corruptions and temptations we then com-'
  plained of, are all now gone.  Wefhave no  more fears
  of death or hell, no more ufe for repentance or prayer,
  faith or hope; thefe are now Swallowed  up in immediate
  vifion,  eternal love, joy and praife."  And for thy help,
  O believer, in meditating on thefe things, read fome part
  of the  book of Revelations, or caufe them to be read to
  you; and fuppofe with yourfelf you had been a compan-
  ion with John in the Ifle of Patmos, and had got fuch a
  view of the glorious  Majefty, the bright thrones,  the
  heavenly hods,  and fluning Splendour which he faw;  the t
  faints  in their white robes, with  crowns  on their heads
  and palms in their hands,  and heard them Singing the
  fong of Mofes and the Lamb, and  trumpeting forth their
 . eternal hallelujahs; what a heavenly rapture wouldft thou
'.  have been in? Well then,  O believer, thou Shalt Shortly
  have clearer and fweeter fights than all thoSe which John
  or any of  the faints  ever faw  here upon earth.  Surely
  that heavenly glory is a fubject worthy of thy thoughts,
  and moft fuitable for thee to meditate on in time  of fick-
  nefs, and  when in the view of death.
     Zthly, It would be alfo very fuitable at this time, in
  order to your actual readinefs for death, {o be frequently
r  looking out and longing for Chrift's coming.  As .Abra-
  ham flood in  his tent door, ready to go forth  to meet
  the angels that  were Sent  unto him, fo Should the believ-
  er keep himfelf in a waiting  pofture at this time.   He
  fhould  be  like the loving wife, that  longs and looks for
  the coming of her abfent huSband, according to his let-
  ters to her.   By this time (thinks fhe) he will be at fuch
  a place, and  againft  fuch a time he will be at another
  place,  and foin a few days I  will fee him.   In the char-
  acter of believers, they are fuch as love his appearing, 2
  Tim. iv. 8. Theydefire his coming, Cant. viii.  14. Make
 ■ hafte, my  beloved: even fo come,  Lord Jefus, come qiatk-
'. If.   Believers Should look upon  themfelves as  pilgrims
  here, wandering in a wildernefs,  ahfent from home, and
  at a diftance from their father's houfe j  and in time of pf-
                        H 2 
90         Afflicted Marts CompanUn.

fliction it is very proper for them to be crying as David
doth, Pfal. Iv, 6.  " O that I had wings like a dove !  for
then  would I fly away, and be at  reft ; I would haften
my efcape  from the windy  umpeft."  " O when Shall
the time of my pilgrimage, and the days of my banifh-
ment be finifhed, that I may get home to my country and
and friends above !  Oh!  my Lord  is gone,  my Saviour
hath left the eaith,  and entered into his glory! my friends
and brethren are gone to their blcffed reft,  where they
fee God's face, and fing his praife for ever: and, how can
I be willing to flay  behind, when they are gone ?  Mult I
fee finning here, when they are ferving God above? Mull
 I be groaning and Sighing, when they are triumphing and
 dividing the Spoil?  Surely 1 will look after  them,  aid
 cry, O Lord, how long ?  when Shall I be with my Savi*
 our and my God ?

 Direct, v.  Let believers in time of fcknefs endeavour ,:U
   they can to glorify God, and edify thofe that arc about themt
   by their fpeech and behaviour.

   IF  ever a child of God  be active to promote the honor
    and glory of God,  it Should be in time of  ficknefs,
 and  when death may be approaching.  And  there is
 good reafon for it; for if, This may be the laft  oppor-
 tunity that ever thou Shalt have to do any thing for God,'
 and therefore thou fhouldft ftudy to improve it to theut-
 moft.  Heaven,  to which thou art going,  is the place
 where thou Shalt receive thy reward; but thoucanft have
 no accefs there to advance God's glory, by commending
 God and Chrift, and religion to finners, or weak believeri.
 Upon  this account, many of God's  children have  been
 content to fufpend  their  heavenly happinefs for a while,
 and to flay upon the earth for fome longer time.   I  have
 read of a certain martyr, when going to fuffer,  who expreff-
 ed fome forrow that he was going  thither, where he
 Should do his God  no more fervice, to  wit, in the  Scnfe
 above explained.  And of  another,  that faith,  '*  If it
 were poffible there could be place for any griefin  heaven,
 it would arife from the Chriftian's  coniidering,  that he
 did So little for God while he was upon the earth," Now 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.         91

is the working feafon, O believer, be bufy  while it laftr,
according to the example of thy bleffcd Saviour,  John
ix. 4. "I muft work the work of him that fent me, while
k is day; for the night cometh wherein no man can work."
This confideration  fhould  make thee be ftir thyfelf with
the greateft activity, like Samfon before his death, who,
when he could have no more  opportunity  to Serve God
and his church, he cried to God, and faid, Judges xvi.  l9,
uO Lord God, remember me I pray thee, and ftrength-
en me this once."  And, then, he bowed himfelf with all
his might, to pull down the pillars  of Dragon's  temple,
being willing to facrifice his life to the ruin thereof.
   idly, The holy fpeech and carriage of dying believers,
may, through the blefling of God, make deep  impreflion
upon the hearts of unregenerate men that are witneffes to
them.   Thefe who have derided the people of God  for
the ftrictnefs  of  their lives,  and defpifed their counfels
and reproofs, as proceeding from humour or precifenefs ;
yet have begun to  notice their words and actions, when
they have feen them oa Sick-beds, and on ttrF borders  of
eternity, and to have other thoughts of religion and holi-
riefs than formerly  they had.   Now they  think the man
is in good earneft, and fpeaketh the  thoughts of his heart;
and, if ever he can be believe'd, it muft be now.  It is moft
convincing to carnal perfons, to fee believers  bearing up
with  patience is  their ficknefs; to hear them fpeaking
good of God, commending his ways, and rejoicing in God
as their portion,  in midft of all their fharpeft pains; to
fee them behaving as thofe that are going  to dwell with
Chrift, fmiling and praifing God, when friends are fighing
and weeping about them.   This inclines them to think,
furely there muft be a  reality in religion, there is a vifible
difference betwixt the death of the  righteous and of  the
wicked.  Hence a wicked Baalam wifhed to die the death
of the  righteous, and to have his laft end like his.   11 left
a conviction upon that  young man's confcience, who faid
to his loofe companion, after they had vifited godly Am-
brofe on his  death-bed,  and faw how cheerful he was,
and triumphing  over approaching  death.   " O that I
might live with thee, and die with Anabrofe!"  Nay, fuch 
92        Afflicted Man's Companion.

fights might draw them not only to defire to die the death
of the righteous,  but alfo to refolve  to live  their lives.
If carnal men faw believers going off the ftage with fuch
confidence and joy, as becomes  thefe that are  entering
into eternal reft with Chrift, and thefe   that  are  going
out of  a howling  wildernefs to a glorious Canaan; it
might be a powerful invitation to them to go and. feek
after the fame felicity.    '
   ^dly, This likewife would be very edifying and con-
firming to all that fear God.   How much would in con-
tribute to eftablifh them in the practice of holinefs,  and
to quicken them in their diligence in ferving and glorify*  -
ing God in the days of their health, to  hear  a dying be-
liever fay, " Of all the time which I  have ever  lived, I
have no  comfort  now in reflecting  upon  one  hour,  but
what I fpent in the fervice of God.  Were  I to begin  \
my life,  I would redeem time more carefully  than ever,  \
One hour in  communion with God, is far fweeter than  ,
many years fpent in worldly  plaafores.  Come  here, then,
all ye that fear God, and I will tell  you  what  he  hath
done for my foul.  O tafte and fee that  God is good?" r«
   ^thly,  Confider the examples of God's children in  forA
mer ages, how ufeful and edifying their words have been/H
at fuch a time, to all round about them.  But this head
I intend to infift fully upon afterwards.                >
   S>uef. But how fhall I behave  fo as I may glorify  '
God and edify others, when  I am fick or dyiag? I would  j
have fome particular directions for it.
   Anfw. if, You may do this by  your  patience under
pain, and fubmiflion  to God's will, with  refpect to the
event, whether life or death.   It is ftumbling  to othcrt,
to fee believers fretful in trouble, and unwilling  to  leave
the world, when God calls  them.  But it is moft con-
vincing and confirming  to  fee them  frankly refighing
themfelves to God's difpofal, faying, " Let  God him-
felf choofe for me: he is wife, and knoweth beft what is
needful  and  moft proper for  me:  I  have  no will but
God*s wilLM   For any man to defire to  live  when God
calls him to die, or to defire to die when God calls him to
live, is equally a fign of cowardice:  for he that defire* to 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.         93

  lire, is afraid to look death in the face; and he that de-
  fires to die, would flee from fome calamity, and take Shel-
  ter in death.   But he is the moft valiant man that can die
  willingly when God would have him die, and live as will-
  ingly when God would have him live j this is true chris-
  tian valoor.
    idly, By pious exhortations and warnings to thefe that
  ate about you.   It may be the laft occafion you  may
  have of glorifying God in this way.   O do not loofe the
  feafon which may be ufefully improven to  the good of
  fouls.   For thus a believer may bring  more honour to
  God, and more advantages to precious fouls by his  fick-
| Hefeand death, than ever he did by all his health and life
  in the world ;  for their fpeeches have more weight  with
  people at fuch a time than any other.   Hence the Patri-
  archs, knowing the prevalency of fuch  words, do  urge
/ Jofeph with Jacob's dying charge, Gen. i.  16, 17, "And
'* they fent a meffenger unto Jofeph, faying, Thy father
  did command before he died, faying, So fhall ye fay unto
■  Jofeph, Forgive, I pray thee now,  the trefpafs   of  thy
  brethren,"&c. And as we ought to be ready to give good
\ counfel to all when we lie on fick  beds, fo efpecially we
  fhould be concerned for children and near relations, they
r are more affected than others with our fickness, and fo
  will they be with our  fayings ; our admonitions may do
  them good when we are rotting in the dull.
    Quefl. What ought to be the subject of our difcourf-
  es and exhortations to others at fuch a time ?
    Anfw.   i ft, It is very proper to be much in commend-
* ing the matter you have ferved,  and the excellency of his
  fervice, to thofe that are about you.   "flft them of the
  equity and goodnefs of thefe laws which you have obey-
  ed, and  of the  bounty and faithfulnefs  of that Lord
•  whom you have worftiipped,  loved, and praifed; and of
  the greatnefs and eternity of that reward you are going
  to poffefs.   Let the children of God extol their father,
  and his care of them, and kindnefs to them.  Let the
  ranfomed of the Lord magnify  their Redeemer,  and his
  wonderful  love and fufferings for them. Tell others what
  fweetiiefs and Satisfaction you  have found in your  own 
94         Afflicted Matfs  Companion.

experience in attending God's ordinances, and in Secret
duties; what comfort you have found in Chrift,  and thd
promifes of his covenant.  And thus let your laft breath
be fpent in exalting and commending Chrift and  religion
to others.
   idly,  Be warning others of the vanity of the world,
and of all its wealth and pleafures.   Tell them that they
may fee by  your cafe, that thefe things which people
are bewitched with in  the day of their health,  can fig;
nify nothing to a a fick or dying man ; they cannot eafe
us in, our pains,  they can afford no peace to a troubled
foul, they cannot lengthen our lives one hour, and far
lefs can they fave from the wrath  of an angry God. "Oh,"
may you fay, " what a miferable cafe had I been  in at
this time, if I had no better portion than this world, and
nothing elfe to look  to but its riches  and pleafures!
Wherefore,  Sirs,  fet not your hearts  upon it,  but for-
fake it before you are forfaken by it, and make choice of(
that  which will be fi-ipporting to you  in the evil day."
   $dly,  Be warning them of the evil of fin, and what mif-
chief and deceitfulnefs you have found  in it.   Tell  therfl|i
that though the devil and the flefh would tempt you to
look upon fin as a harmlefs thing, yet the  pleafure  wiU
foon be gone, and a Sharp fling  will be left behind.   Sin
will appear no light matter, when the foul is going hence■
into  the awful prefence of a holy God.   You would give
a thoufand worlds then for Chrift, and the blood of atone-.
 ment to anfwer for your fins.
   ^thly, Tell  them of the great difference betwixt the
godly and wicked man's choice. The godly man chufetWJ
the better parvthat cannot be taken from  him ; he  lays
up his treafure in heaven where  none can reach it, fo  that
it yields him rich fupplies when ficknefs and death come
upon him. But O how foolifh is the wicked man's choice,
that for a moment's fleftily  pleafure,  doth  loofe his im-
 mortal  foul,  and  everlalting happinefs!  Warn them to
mind the one thing needful "in time, and not to pamper
their bodies for the worms, but to fet themfelves prefent-
ly to clofe with the offers of Chrift, and  make  lure an
intereft in his righteousnefs to •ever them in the cvildaji! 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.         95

   -phly, Be telling them of the evil of floth and negli-
 gence in the work of their falvation : and be exhorting
 .them to mind it,  and do it with all  their might.   For
 •however fome may centre and deride God's people now
  for their ftrictnefs,  diligence,  and zeal in the matters of
 ■religion; yet when they come to  die, they  will be ready
  to wifh  that they  had been more diligent in falvation
  work; that they had loved God, fled to Chrift, and had
 fought and ferved him with all their hearts and fouls: and
  to cry,  "O for a little more time!  O if God would re-
-cover and try us once more with  health,  how  diligent
 would we be !" And tell them that thefe who have been
   oft ferious and painful in falvation work, yet when they
 come to die, do much lament their floth and negligence :
 yea, thefe  that have been moft reproached  by the world
 for  their diligence and  fervency, do often  wifh at  that
 time, " O  that we had been a thoufand times more dil-
 igent and laborious in God's fervice!"
    6thly, Labour to perfuade others of the preciousnefs of
 time, the wifdom of improving the time of youth,  and
'. of health;  and the great folly  of delaying repentance,
 and  putting it  off to a fick bed, faying to them,  " I now
 find  by experience, that a time of ficknefs  is a moft unfit
   afon to do any thing to purpofe for the foul; my mind
 is fo diverted and indispofed for  fpiritual work by  fick-
 nefs  and pain,  that I cannot attain to any fuitable com-
 pofure for it.   And how miferable were I, if I had all
[, ray work to begin at  this time  1  O take warning,  and
 improve precious time, and efpecially the day of the gof-
 pel,  the time  of the  Spirits ftrivings,  and the time of
 youth,  which  is the moft ufual  feafon orthe converfion
 of fouls, and of bringing finners into acquaintance with
 Jefus Chrift.

 Direct, vi.  Let God's children,  when fck and dying, be
 ,  txprefjing a great concern for the advancements of the king-
N dom of Chrif, and of true religion in the rifing generation.

     ZEAL and public fpiritednefs for Chrift's intereft is
      very becoming his people in  all the periods of their
 life,  but more efpecially at  this time.  When Chrift is 
 96         Afflicted Marts  Companion.

 ready to take you to  his kingdom in heaven, O be not
 unmindful of his kingdom on earth.   It would be accepr>
 able to God, and pleafing in the fight of men, to fee yo»
 exprefling a warm concern for the rifing age, and for pro-
 moting the welfare of the fouls of your children, and
 others that furvive you : and feeiug you can be no longer
 ufeful to thefe you leave behind, by your  counfels, exam-
 pies, or prayers, as formerly ;  do your utmoft for them
 now.   And this concern the children  of God in time of
 ficknefs may evidence feyeral ways.
    if, By earneft prayers to God, both for the profperity
 of his church, and the flourishing of religion in general,
 and alfo for your children and relations in particular, that'
 they may be a holy feed, and a generation to ferve  God,
 and fhew forth  his praise in  the world, when you are gone
 off the ftage.
    idly, By intrufting the care of your children's eduen
 tion to fuch tutors and guardians as will be much concern-1
 ed for their fouls, and  will St before them godly exam-
 ples and  inftruAions in their young and tender years.
    $dly, By filling your latter.wills and teftaments with
 many  pious advices and folemn charges to your children
 and relations, with refpect  to their ferving of God, and
 worfhipping him in their families,  and in fecret ;  fo u
 they  can never look into your teftaments, and the lega-
 cies left to them, but they will hear Something that may'
 be affecting, upftirring, and edifying to their Souls.
   ^thly,  By' honouring the Lord with your  fubftancc,,
 and leaving fonfething of what God hath bleffed you with '
 to pious ufesj;  particularly  for the religious education of,
 the children ofjthe poor, for buying Bibles for them, and*
 other  good books ;  and for  propagating  of Chriftian i
 knowledge in ignorant  places, fuch as the highlands and
 iflands, by  erecting .and maintaining  Schools  thereind
..which glorious work is  happily begun, and pretty faridJ
 vanced by that  honourable  fociety at Edinburgh, whofcl
 treafurer  is ready to receive donations from all fuch as*
 the Lord pleafeth to move to make a free-will offering for j
 promoting that pious defign.  Many pious perfons have
 contributed already thereto  j and it were defirable that 
          Afflicted Man's Companion.         97

* others, whom God hath enahled for it, fhould mind it be-
  fore they die;  for by fatal  experience we may obferve,
  that the moft godly parents do not  know how their chil-
  dren will employ the eftate  they leave them, whether as
  fuel for their lufts, or as oil to feed the lamps in God's
  fanctuary.   It is proper for themfelves then, before they
  go off the ftage, to difpofe of fome part of their fubftance,
  for the glory and fervice of thai God  who gave it unto
  them.
    $thly, It  might contribute to promote  piety, and  to
  make the deeper imprefiions upon  the minds of your chil-
  dren and  friends, if under  the  warnings of death, you
  Should imitate the example of the prophet  Elijah, who in.
  his life time  made a writing which  he procured to be deliv-
  ered to king Jehoram after his death,  2 Chron. xxi. 12.
  So in like manner you might write letters, and leave them
  in the hands of  your friends and  executors, full of advi-
  ces,  charges,  admonitions,  confolations, or threatnings,
  to be delivered to your children or friends, upon occalion
  either of their good or bad canverfation after your death:
  which probably would be more regarded by  them, than
  the counfels you gave them in the time of your life : for
  in fome refpect they would be received and read by them,
  as if they were letters from heaven.

 1. Direct,  vii   Let the children  of God labour to  fortify
    themfelves what they can againft all Satan's temptations
    and affaults, which they may expect to meet with  in time
    offeknefs and affliction.

  A TIME of affliction is commonly a time of-tempt-
        ation : for the old ferpent knows the fitteft  feafons
  for affaulting the children of  God  ; and  he  will  not be
  wanting to improve this opportunity of advantage  fwr Set-
  ting upon the poor foul.  When  Pharaoh heard that the
  people were entangled in the wildernefs, he purfued them ;
  fo, when Satan fees a  foul entangled  with diltreffes and
  troubles, he thinks it  high time to   make  an attack.
  He fceks to winnow and lift away  the believer's grace,
  and  therefore he comes when  the corn is a threfhing  by
  the  rod.  When  Job was Smitten  in his eftate,  health, 
§8        Afflicted  Marts Companion.

ind all other comforts, then this coward falls upon him, f
and tempts him to impatience, murmuring, and  wrong
thoughts of God.
   At this time, O heliever, you have fpecial need  to be
on your guard,  and  look  out.  Reckon  always,  whea
ficknefs or trouble cometh, the prince of this world com-
«th, alfo.   Stand then  to your defence, and put on your
armour, efpecially the  Shield  of faith, that you may be
able to quench the fiery*darts of the devil.   You have
need at this time to put in practice our Lord's  direction,
" Watch  and pray,  that ye  enter not into temptation."
Pray for wifdora and Skill to counteract him, and that yon
may not be ignorant  of his devices  ; and pray particularly
for grace to make you proof again ft all his falfe represen-
tations of God and his providence to you; for he that
.durft reprefent Job falfely to an all-Seeing and  all-know-
ing God, will with much  holdnefs reprefent God falfely
 to you, who fee and know fo little.   He will be ready to
 tempt you to think that God is angry with you, and deal-
 ing with  you as an enemy.  Thus was Job tempted, Job
 xxxiii. 10, n. " Behold he findeth occafions againft  me,
jit counteth me for his enemy: he putteth my feet in the
 flocks, he  marketh all  my  paths."  But obferve what
 Elihu anfwers, " In this thou art not juft: God is greater
 than  man.  Why doft thou  Strive againft him ? for he
 giveth not account of any of his matters."  But feeing I
 Spoke before of the wrong thoughts of God,  which we
 are apt to harbour in time of affliction, Chap. II. Direct.
 3. I fhall  proceed  to  fpeak of fome other temptations
 wherewith  Satan doth affault God's people when in  dif-
 trefs, and furnifh fome anfwers thereto. *
    1. Saith the tempter, " Thou art nothing but a hypo-
 crite; all thy  religious performances  have been  done in
 hypocrify, to be feen of men : thou never haft repented-
 or believed fincerely in  the fight of God."
  Anfw. I acknowledge there  hath been much hypocrify
 in me, but I hope it is not allowed and reigning hypocri-
 fy ; I  always wreftled  againft it;  wherefore I am not a*
hypocrite.  I regarded the efteem of men too much, but
I hope I value the efteem of God much more.   My faith
and repcolance arc weak, but I hope they  are Sincere. 
            Afflicted Marts Companion.        99

*■  And whatever defects and fhort comings have formerly
   cleaved to thefe graces in me, I do now unfeignedly repent
   of all my fins, i look to  him that  I pierced, and mourn.
   I am heartily willing to be juftified by the righteoufnefs of
   Chrift alone, and to be chtanfed and fanctified by  his Spi-
   rit : and here I give up myfelf to Chrift as my only Sa-
   viour.  And  this I  hope is,  through grace,' true re»-
   pcnting and believing, which God will accept'for Chrift's
   lake, what ever my former defects have been.
     Tempt. 2. But faith the  tempter, "Thy repentance
   cannot be true;  for thy heart is not broken,  and thine
U  eyes do hot fhed tear6 for fin.'*
m-^^nnfw. It is my very great burden, and conftant com-
   plaint to God, that I cannot attain to agrfe&ter meafure
   of Sorrow anj^contrition Sor fin: but yet it ijTmy comfort
   that repentance is not to be confined to fitch degrec-3 and
   fvmptoms of ferrow as fome do win at,   I hope I can
   fay through grace,  that my heart is fet  |gainft  all fin,
   great and frtlall: and I would give all! have in the world
   to be wholly delivered from fin.
     Tempi. 3.  Saith the tempter, "  Jut  thy. day of grace
   is paft,  it is too late for thee to think of repenting or be-
   lieving;  God will not accept of theenow."
     Anfw. But I hope it is not fo with  me, feeing  God
   gives me a heart that  pants after God, aild Chrift, in the
   way t»f commanded duty. The offers of falvation through
   €hrift are made to all who believe and  repent: and late
   penitents are not excluded from the benefit of thefe gra*
   cious offers more than others.
     Tempt. 4.  But faith the tempter, u Thou art none of
   God's elect,  and if thou-be not  chofen to falvation, thou
   canft not be Saved."
H^.  Anfw. Secret things belong to God,  and it were pre-
 -emption in me  to piy into his fecret decrees;-but one
   thing I am fure of,  that every foul that  is chofen  to faith
   and repentance,  is alfo chofen to falvation  ; but  I  truft
   <Jod  hath chofen me  to the former, and therefore to the
   latter.
     Tempt. 5. But faith the tempter, "You over-value
   your  graces and duties, and fo  they cannot be true and
   real."' 
1G0       Afflicted Marts Companion.

  Atifat. But  I count  them all but lofs and  dung in  ,
comparifon of Chrift.  I defire always tohe deeply  hum-
bled under a fenfe of my finfulnefs and unworthinefs, and
to abhor every motion that would carry me  away  from  <
Chrift and his righteousnefs,  and  would tempt me to re-
ly on  my gjace or  duties, or put them in  the  le'|ft in
Chrift's room.
   Tempt. 6., "The  iffueofthy  ficknefs may be death,
and thou art not ready ; for thou  haft no affurance of thy
falvation."
   Anfw. A  perfect  certainty is not  to  be .expected ,. i
here ;  there will be ftill fome queftions, fomeVdoubt*^
and fears;  but-thefe I refolve not to indulge now, but to  *"
break  throusm all,  that I may embrace Chrift, and be*'
found in hina*  The defires of my foul are ^Chrift, and
the remembrance of his name :  and fuch^t believe, he
will not  fuffejfc to periSh.   " I believe, Lord, help my
unbelief."    "
    Tempt. 7. 'U,But thou art  a Stranger to  the  invifl'e
world; how wilt thou adventure  into that world of Spir-
its, wifh which  thou haft So little acquaintance?"
   Anfw. But Chrift, who is my head and beft friend, is
 no ftranger to it; he  is the Lord of that land, and pro-  1
 vides manfi-onstor all his people there; and he will receive
 every  one of tEpn home, and lodge  them  fafely.  " The
 Spirits of juft  mt;n made perfect," were once what  my  *
fpirit now is; they were ftrangers to that world  before
 they came to it, as  well as I: but  their head being in it,
 encouraged them to go  to it: and now they rejoice in it
 as the kindly  dueling-place of all the faints.
    Tempt. 8. " But thou art vile,  and God is  infinitely
 pure and glorious;  how canft thou think of approaching
 fi> near to him?"
    Anfw. Though a weak eye be not able to look upon
 t'ie fun, yet I hope to be fitted and ftrengthencd for that
 glorious fight.  Befides, God doth now appear to us in
 his Son  Chrift-  where his infinite glory is pleafantly vail-
 ed fo as  the faints may behold him.   Thefe glorified fouls
 above were once vile as well as*others?  but  their Saviour
 did cleanfe them, and prefent them to the Father with> i 
             t4
         Afflicted Marts  Companion.     •  101

 out fpot or wrinkle.   And whatever  be my unworthi-
 neSs, I am relieved by confidering my union with Chrift,
 and looking on t|e glory and dignity of my head.  Sure-
 ly God will not  defpife the members of his dear Son, nor
 trample on€ny that are his flefh and bones.
   Tempt, g; But what will become of thy wife and  chil-
 dren, when thou art taken from them ?
   Anfw. If I truft God fo willingly with my foul, and
 my eternal concerns, why may I not truft him  with my
 relations alfo ? Have I not feen how wonderful he  hath
 provided for others ? Doth not every thing in the world
 depend <5n his will and pleafure ? How eafy is it then for'
IGq£To fupply his own ?
    jempt. 10. " But ftill death is terrible to nature, even
 the king of terrors."
   Anfw. But  my Redeemer hath'tafted death for me,
 and taken out its fearful fting ; he hath conquered death,
 and keeps the keys of death and hell. Wherefore through
 him will I fing,  " O death, where is thy fting? O grave,
" where is thy victory ?"
    Tempt, n. " But  it is terrible to think of appearing
 before God's tribunal, to be tried and judged."
   Anfw. But my friend and interceffor will be the judge
 there.  Will Chrift condemn  the members  of his own
 body, and thefe he hath So often comforted ?
    But befides all thefe, a holy God may fometimes fuf-
 fer the tempter to affault his own people in time of their
 affliction with his fiery darts and his fierceft battering en-
 gines, fuch as temptations to Atheifm, blafphemy, def-
 pair,  &c. whereby their fouls may be terribly  Shaken,
 and fore amazed.
    Your relief in this  cafe is to look to  your head, and
 ngpember how he was himfelf buffetted by this enemy,
 aflalpted with the moft odious temptations, that he might
 thereby get an experimental  touch and feeling of your
 condition, in order to his Sympathizing with you, and
 relieving you from this enemy, whom he hath already
 conquered in your name.  Bat for thefe things he will
 be inquired of by tho houfe  of Ifrael.  You muft act
 faith  on your exalted head.
                         I  2 
102       Afflicted Marts Compa.r.lo;.

                 CHAPTER IV.
Containing fome Special directions to uu^cgencrate per-
      i"o:i^, when a'lticted by ficknefs or otherwife.
Direct,  i.  Take a ferious view of the miferautt condition
   of a Chriftlefs perfon under ficknefs or heavy affli&ion.

 if, /^ ONSIDER the vaft  difference  betwixt  your
    \_y caSe,  and  that of a  true  believer;   he 4iath
 ground of confolation in the  greateft  diftrefs. but you
 have none.   However fharp the rod of corredMpn be to
 him, yet it  is the  hand of a   Father ;  but yoSJiave to
 do with an angry and fin-avenging God:  and  w
 ftand in his fight, if once he be angry ? for he comm
 both the  firft and fecond death, and he can caft you both
 into the grave and hell at once,  Rev. vi. 8.  " Hell fol-
 lowed the pale horfe."  Death is the king of terrors,,
 but hell is a  thoufand times more  terrible.   When God
 afflicts his children, he ftands to them in  the relation of
 a  loving father;  but he deals with you  as an inccnfed
 judge.  Though  he fees  it neceflary for  their good to
 chaftife them, yet  he doth  it with a  relenting hand i,
 yea, every ftroke  goeth as it  were to his heart, Ifa. lxiii.
 2.   "In their affliction he was afflicted."  But when he
 arifeth to punjfh his enemies,  he  Strikes  them with ha-
 tred and  deteftation, as a man would do a toad or ven-
 omous creature.   Though they cry, he  hath no  pity,
 Prov.  i,  16.   " I  will laugh at your calamity, and mock
 when  your fear cometh."
    zdly,  If your ficknefs threaten you with death,  what
 a dark and melancholy profpect muft you have of  your
 approaching change ?. Why, O Chriftlefs foul, it is  what
 you are wholly unprepared   for.   The old houfe falls
 down  about your  ears, before you have another loe*
 provided.   When death cafts you t^the door, you
 no where to lay your head, unlefs it be on a bed oi
 and brimftone.  O how furprifing and fearful wil!
 change be, that death will make on you !  A change from
 earth  to hell, from light to darknefs, from comforts ta
 terrors, from  hope to defpair, from the offers  of grace to
 
         AfflicWd Marts  Companion.        103

i^the  revelation  of wrath ; a  change from the fociety of
 faints on earth, to the company of the damned  in  hell.
 Whatever  fondjbopes of falvation you have now, your
 hopes fhall lead *ou  no further than  to the  king of
 terrors, andjthen " your hopes fhall be cut off, and your
 truft like a Spider's web," Job viii. 14.  Though it coft
 you much pains to weave and fupport  this  web  now,  it
 will prove  a weak and flender defence  to your foul, when
 death iconics with his befom  of deftruction, and fweeps
 both you and it away to hell.   You will then be taken
 from jfl thqf means of grace you have abufed, and be for-
 ever7 denized of an opportunity of buying  oil; your
 ^inpjpnT go out to death, and never be lighted any more.
 ^IBpjIn this extremity, you have no airth to look to for
 comfort.  O Chriftlefs  finner, what  will  you do in the
 day of vifitation ?  To whom will you flee for help ?  Your
 houfes, your lands, your money, your honours, your com-
 panions, your  relations, will all be miferable comforters
 to you.  Every thing will look black and difmal round
 about you.  If you look without you for  help,  you may
 fee your friends weeping and lamenting your cafe ; but
 this will do nothing but increafe your vexation and mife-
 ry.  If you look within you  for relief,  confcience,  that
 before you. would not fuffer to fpeak, will meet  you with
 bitter flings and upbraidings. It will bring to your view
 the fins you had forgot, the time  you have miffpent, the
 health you have mifimproven, the offers of grace you have
 refufed, the great falvation you have  neglected.  What
 folly was it for thee to provoke God, and flight Chrift, for
 a little  worldly profit,  or a little brutiih pleafure? Can
 thefe relieve thee  when tlie  arrows  of  the Almighty
 Slick within thee, and the terrors of God  do fet  them-
selves in array againft thy foul ? In the mean time, the
 de^jL that tempted you to your foul-ruining courfe, will
 ftep-r.i, and reprefent your fins in their blackeft colors and
 aggravations, to render you altogether hopelefs  and def-
 periKe.  O finner, thou that refufeft reft from  Chrift  in
 the day of health, and  grace, Shalt find no eafe  from the
 creature in the day of ficknefs and death.   Your ficknefs
  will allow no reft to your body, and your fias will permit 
104      Afflicted  Marts C&mpanion.-

no eafe to your foul.  You may expect the  fulfilling eP*
that threatening Deut. xxviii. 65:—67,  " The Lord (hall
give thee a trembling heart, and failing,of eyes, and for-
row of mind.   And thy life fhall  hang'in  doubt before
thee,  and  thou  fhalt  have f«ar day and nij»ht.  In the
morning thou fhalt fay, Woidd God it were even, and at
even, thou fhalt fay, Would God  it were moqjijng," be-1
caufe of the pain of thy body, and anguifh of thy fpirit.

Direct, n.  Let  unregenerate perfons carefMp approve
   their ficknefs ahd affliction^ as means tofurtheAtheir eon*
   verfion, and pray that God may blefs it for t^mena\

       MANY have begun their  acquaintance with' Godtff
       and  with themfelves in the time of  affliction |*tne
furnace is frequently the Spirit's work-houfe,  where  he
forms his  veffeh of praife.  There are many who, while
health  and  ftrength continue, mind  nothing but vain
pleafures; one day they go to their games  and fports,-?
another day to their cups and lacivious company, anotk 4
er day to vifiting their Sriends ; and thus they  Spend the 1
whole time  of their health and profperity in fin  and vani--,
ty.   All the warnings, counfels, and exhortations of pa--
rents, friends, and ministers, do them no good, they can-
not endure to entertain a ferious thought of God  or  of
Chrift, of death, of heaven, of hell, or judgment to come.
But  when  God doth caft them into ficknefs, or fome
great afflicton, they,through thebleffingof God,beginto
come to themfelves, like the prodigal, and think of  re-
turning again to their  Father.  Several inftances to this
purpofe  might be  given.   The  earl of Rochefter is a-
late one,  whofe life was notoriously lewd, profane, and-
atheistical, and who had wickedly employed  his wit and
parts to ridicule all religion ;  yet when he was affliftfldj
with pain and ficknefs, and brought to the gates of d«h;
he began to  entertain quite other apprehenfious thafjhe
had dene before ; he profefled he had ferious and  rever-
end thoughts  of religion  and holinefs, which  befor?he
laughed at; he moft earneftly  and affectionately warnejfl
others to  abandon  their evil courfes, and to live relig^
oufly and foberly, and to look upon  religion as the great- ;
»& reality  in the world 3 he retracted, all hia impious and- 
        Afflicted Man's Companion.        105

profane language, wherewith he ufed to reflect on  the
ways of godlinefs, and willingly attefted all this under his
hand.
  Pray then for the divine bleffing on your ficknefs, that
it may contribute to the converfation of your foul;  which
it doth feveral  way?,   ift, By opening men's eyes to
get a true  fight  of things,  to  behold religion in its true
fliupe, ^and fin  in  its proper colours ;  hence the  rod is
faid  to gi^wifdom, Prov. xxix. 15.  They  who have
mocked at rdigion, and made light of fin all their days,
have b^eti  tasght by bodily ficknefs to change their tune.
Then thej^egin to have an efteem of the Bible,  and to
\jfeM0L fend for a pious minifter, and to defire the pray-
ers on. he  people of God.  Now they  perceive fin to be
bitter as gall and wormwood,  they lothe and  abhor that
which they liked before ; now the word of God  makes
deep impreflion on them, and particularly Such a word as
tli: t, Jer.  ii. 19. " Know thereSore and fee, that it is an
evil thing  and bitter,  that  thou haft forfaken the Lord
t!,y God."
 . 'indly.  Sicknefs helps to fet the word preached home
upon the heart.   When God  fpeaks to us in the  day of
pealth and profperity, we oft give him a deaf ear, Jer. xxii.
21.   But when diftrefs conies,  it brings the  words of
|0od, and of his minifters, to our remembrance, as  it
broutht Jofeph's to the remembrance of his brethren,
Genv^ii. 21.
   %dly. Sicknefs contributes to loofe a  man's heart from
the world, and to cool his Icve thereto  ; whereby a great
l.inorance of converiion  is removed out of the way,  and
the iv.in is made to fay, " How vain and helplefs are the
wor'.u's cotr.forts to me now !  thefe things I delighted in
Jjorrneilv   are taitelefs to  me at this time.  There is no
porfcm can Siit my foul's needs, but Gcd himfelf."
   4/?/y.  It Spun a man on to  prayer that  formerly neg-
lected  it.   When the prodigal is brought to diftrefs, he
fays, " I  will arife and go  to  my father."  He forgat
his father  l>ef«-re, but now he will eddrefs him, Hof. v. 15.
"-Til their ; Jitiction they will feek me early."   Thus the
Lord frequently  begins and promotes the  converfion of 
106        Afflicted Marts Companion.

fouls to himfelf.  And O finner,  if this be the  fruit* (ft
thy ficknefs,  it will not be unto death,  but the glory of
God.
Direct, iii.  Be careful to obey God's voice in the rod,.
   and beware of fighting it.

     EVERY fickness hath a meffage from God, and hii
      voice you ought to harken  to with reverence and
attention,  Micah vi. 9.  What  faith he  to ycfo at tint '
time ? O finner, he faith, " Retire from theAvorld, think
on death and eternity, abhor thefe  lufts antodols whicH.
God is fmiting you for, flee fpeedily to the ftntag hohtjd
repent,  and  be converted, that your fins may beHjpM^
out."  This is God's voice  to  you, and  confider how
provoking it will be to him,  if you flight it.
   if, You will provoke God to flight your voice  when-
you cry to him, and Stop  his ear againft the voice of your',
fupplications, Zech. vii.  13..
   idly,  You will provoke God to ceafe from  being a re«-'
prover to you,  fo that he will fpeak to you no more.
   $dly,  You will provoke him  to bring  heavier judg-'i,
ments on you, yea, fo to draw his fword  of juftice agaihff.
you,  that he will fheathe it up no more, as he threaten*!
Ezek. xxi. c.
   ^thly, God  may break off all intercourfe  and corres-
pondence with you, as with thofe, Ezek. xx. 31.  "As*;
I live, faith the Lord  God,  I will not be inquired of by
you."
   $thly, He may Seal  you up forever under your fins,
hardnefs, and pollution ; and fay to you,  as to fome wc ,1
read of, Ezek. xxiv. 13. Hof. iv. 7.  Rev. xxii. 11." Be-
caufe  I  have purged- thee,  and  thou was not purged,. (
thou  fhalt not be purged  from thy  filthinefs  any mortJf"
till I  have caufed my fury to reft upon  thee;   Epjhraitn
is joined to his  idols,  let him alone.  He that is filthy,
let him be filthy ftill."  He that is  hardened  agaiqft the
voice of my rods, let him be  hardened ftill."   WelllheR,-
O finner, while God ii in fpeaking terms with  you, nark-
en to his voice, and  obey it; fay, " Lord,  what wilt-
thou have me to do ?'* 
           Afflicted Marts Companion,      101

   IRECT. iv.  Caf back your eyes upon the fins of your by
   paft life, and labour to be deeply humbled for them before
   the Lord.

     SEEING you are fummoned to prepare for going to
      the judgment feat of God,  where your foul is to re-
• ceive its  final fentence ;  labour to prevent the  terror of
 that appearance, by your judging yourfelf beforehand.
 And this you muft do, by Summoning yourfelf before the
 bar of confcience, examining narrowly into your ftate,
 accufing and  condemning yourfelf for your fins.   And
 fee  that you be impartial in this work,  willing to know
||h( truth and difcover the worft of your cafe.  You muft
 Ice  sfrra  be duly fenfible of  your danger,  otherwife you
pC&nnot think to efcape it.   Take a narrow view of your
 Sins in their nature, number, aggravations, and deServings.
 And in order to this, if thou haft any meafure of ftrength
 for it, let the expofition of the ten commandments  in our
'Larger  Catechifm  be  distinctly read over unto  thee.
.Make a  paufe upon every queftion, and fay  within  thy-
[ ielf, " Have I not  omitted what is  here required by
! God ? And have I not committed what is here forbidden
 by  God ?  How oft have I repeated thefe fins ?  How
Ijong have I  lived   in  the   practice  of them ? O ! do
 not  fo many years fins  need very ferious repentance,  a
- very deep humiliation ?  " O ! doth not fuch a vile finner
'as I, ftand greatly in need of Chrift to my cautioner and
 ranfomer for fuch a  vaft number of fins ? will not  their
|weight prefs me eternally down to the  loweft hell, if they
 remain unpardoned, and be laid upon my back !" There-
 fore view them clofely, and confefs them particularly be-
 fore God.
,,   if. In the firft place, bewail thy original fin, the foun-
tain of all thy actual tranfgreffions, as did David, Pfalm
'li. 5. " Behold, I was  Shapen in  iniquity, and in fin did
lay  mother conceive  me."
   idly.  Acknowledge ana mourn over  the  Sinful out-
breakings of thy life,  whereby thou haft dishonoured Godi
and  grieved his holy  Spirit; and efpecially fins againft
light- 
 108        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

   $dly, Be humbled for thy fins ofomifiion, for ncglcd^
 ing of commanded duties, particularly for the  neglect of :
 prayer in fecret, and of family religion.
   ^thly, Mourn for the lofs of precious time.  Alas! for
 the  time   of your youth miffpent,  many S;ibbath days
 trifled away !
   $thly, Lament thy long Hiring of Chrift, ar.d falvation
 through his righteoufnefs, which fo  preflinglv hath, been
 offered to thee in the gofpel.               •
   dthly, Bewail thy Stifling the  convictions, and quench- ;
 ing the motions of the Spirit, and thereby provoking him
 to depart from you.                         1|_  *- ^^
   'jthly, Mourn for thy unthankfulnefs to GocPllj^BwH
 cies and deliverances, which  might have allured  you  to '
 repentance and newnefs of life.
   Bthly.  Confefs thy  flubbornnefs under former  afflic-
 tions, which have provoked God to  fend new trials upon
 you.                                          .
   gthly. Be humbled for thy earthly-mindednefn, in that
 thou haft all thy days been careful and cumbered about,
 many things, and haft neglected the one thing necefltffy..'
    lothly.  Mourn for the latenefs of thy repentance, and
 thy prodigious folly in delaying fo long to  bethink thy-
 felf, and turn  to the Lord.   " O how unwifely have
 I acted,  to miffpend the time  of health, and deify  fo
 great a work till now, that I am laid on a fick bed! and
 now, if I  die before I am converted,  I am loft forever.
 O Lord,  T am afhamed and  confounded at my fnadoefs .
 and folly, and have no  excufe  to plead for myfelf, but
 muft'ftaud afar off with the poor publican, and finite_up-
 on my breaft,  and cry, God be merciful to me a finner.''

. Direct,  v.  Flee prefent ly to Jefus  Chrift by a true faith,
    and clofe with him as offered in the gofpel.           . _
      ART thou fenfible,  O finner, of thy grievous guilt
       and ill-deServings before God ? then do .not defpair*,
 for Jefus  Chrift,  who hath offered to divine juftice an aU>
 fufficient  facrifice for fin,  is offering himfelf tot!  ee,fay-
 inrr,   " O diftreffed Sinner,  look unto me, and be Saved.
 Turn unto me, why will ye die ?  Come unto  me, heavy 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.        109

 laden foul,  and I will give you  reft.  He that  cometh
 to me,  I will in no wife caft out."   Will not fuch gra-
 cious words, fuch moving calls, melt thy  heart within
 thee, and make thee cry to him, " Lord Jefus,  I flee to
 thee as  my refuge,  for deliverance from  fin, and protec-
 tion from the wrath to come :  I look to thy wounds, I
 truft in thy  righteousnefs, I depend on thy  merit, I lie
 atthy feet,  and this I  am refolved  to do  as long  as I
 have breath  to  draw in the world."
 Direct, vi.  Call for the elders of the church  that they
    may pray for you in your ficknefs.

JStnpAlS is the apoftle James, his direction  to the fick,
   X James v.  14.  He doth not fay, if any be fick, let
 him Send Sor the phyficians,  but Sor the elders or minif-
 ters.
    It is true, phyficians are to  be called, but not in the
 firft place.   It was  Afa's fault that in his difeafe he
 Sought  not  the Lord,  but to  the phyficians; and, alas,
 how many follow his example !  Minifters are only called
 for  in  the laft place, and very often when time is paft,
 the fick being at the point of death; and fcarce capable
 to fpeak or  hear.  But if you  defire to reap benefit by
 the inftructions and prayers of minifters, call for them time-
 oufly,  and open your cafe  unto them ;  feek their coun-
 fel, and beg for their prayers.   It is their office to teach
 and pray for you, and they have authority to offer falva-
 tion to you through Chrift, and to minifter comfort to
* them that are caft down ; wherefore a bleffing may be ex-
 pected on their miniftrations and performances more thaa
 others.  Hence God  faid to  Abimelech of Abraham,
  Gen. xx. 7.  "He is a prophet, and he  fhall  pray for
  thee."  And to Job's friends concerning  Job,  Job  xiii.
 8.  "Go to my fervant Job,  and he fhall pray for you,
 for him will I accept: left that  I  deal  with you  after
 your folly."
    And Lafily, Remember that as the  apoftle James en-
 joins the fick to call  for the elders to pray over  them, fo
 at the fame  time he directs you, James v. 16. to cor.fcfs
  your faults  one to another, Chriftian to Chriftia-!,  or.J
                         K 
 110       Afflicted Marts  Companion.

 friend to another, the  people  to their  minifter.   Not
 that this gives any warrant for the Papifts their auricular
 confeffion, which they force upon all men to their priefts
 as a fatisfadtion for fin,' and  when they  fack  their con-
 sciences, (when they feel no diftrefs) to  confefs their
 moft fecret fins, to enumerate them alt under pain  of
 damnation, a"nd which they ufe -as a politic to dive into
 the fecrets  of princes, ftates,  and all private perfons u^
 But as Luther,  Calvin, Beza, and many others  of or-
 thodox divines do teach, it is very profitable ana necefla-^i
 ry for thefe that  are  inwardly troubled with  a fenfe of
 their fins, to eafe and disburden their  confcienbes, l*t
 confefling of them to the faithful minifters of Chrrfc^jJ
 order to their receiving fuitable counfels and confolations
 from them, fuch as Chrift hath left in his word for con-
 trite-hearted penitents.
   Thus let every man in ficknefs ufe all appointed means
 for preparing his foul for a  future ftate.   Thy prepara-
 tion will  by no means  haften death, but Sweeten it to
 you.  Death muft furely have a moft  formidable afpcct
 to an unprepared finner: he may falute it as  Ahab did
 Elijah, " Haft thou found me, O mine eaemy ?" why ?
 it brings heavy and doleful tidings to him.  But a prepa-
Yed foul may falute death, Welcome, O  my friend, thou
 bringeft me tidings of great joy;  everlafting deliverance
 from fin,  and all the bitter fruits of  it.  I Shall  never
 complain of thefe any more.


                  CHAPTER V.

 Containing directions to the  people of God, when the
    Lord is  pleafed to recover them from ficknefs
                     and diftrefs.

 Direct,  i.  It is very proper, both under ficknefs and af-
  ter it,  to examine if the affliction be fan ttfed to you, and
  hath come from the love of God.

  IT would be very comfortable for us to  know that the
   atictions which God vi/its us with, are not the pun- 
           Afflicted Man's Companion.        Ill

  ifhment of a judge, but the chaftifement of a father; that
  they do  not  proceed from wrath, but from love ; that
  they are notcurfes,  but bleflings to us.  Njw, the beft
  way of knowing  this is by the effects which they  work
  Mid produce in us, through the bleffing of God.
    if.  Canft  thou fay, that thy affliction hath humbled
  thee in the fight  of God,  and made thee confefs  and be-
  wail thy fins and  ftrayings from  God  as the procuring
  fcaufe-tfiereof ? Hath it been like Mofes's rod, that Smote
  t"he rock,  and fetched out much water ? Did  you water
  your couch with  tears, and mourn humbly before God for
' "all thy God-provoking fins? Thca it is  a good fign fick-
    Cris fanctified.
     idly. Doth thy afflictufa drive thee  nearer God, and
  caufe  thee aim at clofer communion with  God  in duty
  than formerly, faying, " However' carclefa and overly  I
  have  been in  time  paft,  it is furely good for me now to .
  draw  near to God ?"   Then thy ficknefs is a bleffing to
  thee.
     $dly. Affliction is fanaified, when the corruption and
  deceitfulnefs of  the heart is  the more difcovered and bid
  open  to the view of the foul; fo as the man  is n-ace tn
  abhor himfelf in dull and afhes, and cry out as the leper,
  "Unclean,  unclean."  I never could have thought my
  heart was So wicked as now I Sec it.
     4//j/y. It is a fanaified  ficknefs,  that  purgeth tie
  heart, and changeth the  life, and gives a dead Stroke to
  thy fins and idols, and makes thee to loathe  and  it her
  them more  than ever, faying with Ephrairc,   " What
   have  I to do any more with idols?"
     c,thly. It is a bleffed rod, when grace  is more quick-
  ened  and Stirred up thereby, and the man  turns more
  fruitful in holy duties and good works ; when it is a bud-
   ding, and bloffoming rod, like to Aaron's, Numb. xvu.
   It is  recorded there of  Aaron's  rod,  that  it  brought
   forth bud?,  bloomed bloffoms, and yielded almonds.  So
   it is happy with us, when our rods and fickneffes <*o pro-
   duce in  us, not  only the  buds of a profefiion, or the blof-
   foms or  fome  beginnings  of a  reformation;  but even
   caufe us to yield  almond^,  fruit  favoury to God.   Is 
 112       Afflicted Marts  Companion.

 confcience become more tender with refpect to fin ! Are-
 we more jealous  over our hearts? Are wc more fervent
 in prayer, more  lively in praife, more mortified to  the
 world,  more defirous of communion with God? Then
 may we fay with David, " It is good for us we have
 been affliaed ?" and with Hezekiah, "Thou haft, in love
 to my foul, delivered it from the pit of corruption.'*

 Direct. 11  Make confcience of offering to God the facrtfictf
   of thankfgiving, upon his recovering thee from fitknefs tr
   any difrefs.

      THE Pfalmift gives uethis direaion from God^Tfal.ta
      1. 14,  15.  And he fhews  us  that it was his%q|P
 praftice in a fuch cafe, Pfal. cxvi. 17. Pfal. ciii. 1, 2, 3,
 Iffc.  The command is juft, let  us obey it;  the example
 excellent, let us imitate it.  Praise is comely for  the up-
 right.  Here I fhall give fome motives and advices..
    if, God, who is the author of all thy mercies and de-
 liverances, gives  you tongues  for this very end, that ycu
 may blefs and praife him for thefe mercies, James iii. 9. \
 Hence  man's tongue is called his glory above the reft of
 the creatures, Pfal. Ivii. 8.  There is none in the creation
 fo endued and qualified for praifing God, as man is. An-
 gels have reafon and minds, whereby they adore and ad-
 mire God's goodnefs and excellency, but have no tongues
 to praife  him ; beafts have tongues, but without fpeech or
 reafon to  ufe them : but man hath both reafon and fpeech,
 that he may both admire God's goodnefs, and with  his
 tongue found  forth God's praife.  See then, O believer,
 that you ufe  your tongue to anfwcr the end of your cre-
 ation.  God lofeth his due rent of praife from the reft of
 the world, but he expeas it  from  his children, whom
 he hath formed for this end, and on whom he hath bellow-
 ed many diftinguifhing favours.
  idly, The facrifice  of thankfgiving is moft pleafing and
 aofceptab'le to  God.  He loves your tears and  prayers,
 O believer, but much  more your praifes.   How well plea-  *
 fed was  our Lord with the poor leper Samaritan, that re-
turned and gave him  thanks for curing his bodily diftem-
per? Luke x vii.  He difmiffed  him with a Special  bleff- 
           Afflicted Marts  Companion.        113

  itig, and cured him of his foul's difeafes, as well as of
  his body's.  And  therefore,
    j//(y,Confider that thankfulnefs for thy mercies received
  is a moft profitable courfe for ourfelf; for it is the way to
  get more and better bleffings bellowed upon you accord-
  ing to Pfal.  lxvii.  5, 6.  " Let the  people  praife thee,
  0 God.  Then  fhall the earth  yield  her increafe: and
  ^God, even our own God, Shall blefs us."  Thanksgiving
  for former  mercies is a  kindly way of petitioning for
  new favours, and God will underftand it in this fenfe.
    4f£/jyGod is fo well pleafed  with the duty of thankgiv-
  »ng,lhat he honours it to be  the eternal work of heaven.
^■UWfereas other graces, fuch as, faith, hope,  and repent-
  ance, will then be melted into love and joy  forever, fo
  other duties of worfhip, fuch as,  reading, hearing, and
 (• prayer,  will then be changed  into that  of praife  and
  thanhfgiving; the glorified company above will  never be
,' weary of this work; and fhall not we delight in it now,
  when'God is'calling us to it by fo many new mercies?
     In the next place, that thou mayeft offer the  facrifice
  ff thankfgiving to God for thy recovery, with  geacious
  acceptances 1 fhall lay before you the following advices.
     1. See that your heart be  touched with a fenfe of the
'<  greatnefs of themerey, andof'the goodnefs of God man-
;  ifefted therein.   We muft put a due value upon  our mer-
  cies, and have our hearts affeaed with God's kind deal-
  ing towards" us'in'them, 'if we would be rightly thankful
  to God the author of them.—Hence it was that David
  called upon his heart,  and  all  within  him,  to  blefs the
  Lord for his benefits,  Pfal. ciii. 1. and in Pfal.  exxxvifi.
   I. he faith, " I  will praife thee with my whole heart."
  As in an inftrument of mufic, the more found comes out
  of the belly of it,  it is the fweeter; fo 0(1 r praife is the
  more acceptable  to God, when the heart is full of gra-
  cious affeaionsj
     2. Let  your praife be the native  refult  of  faith and
  love in your foul, otherwife it  will be but an empty found.
  Faith is neceflary  to draw by the veil, and fhews Mtfie
  perfeaions  of the invifible  God, who is the Spring arid
  author  of all our mercies; love gives a deep, fenfe of hi?
                          K2
* 
 114        Afflic.ed Marts Companion.

 goodnefs, enlargeth the heart towards God, and open*
 the lips to fhew forth his praife.
   3. Study to have a deep fenfe of your own unworthi-
 neSs and ill defervings at the Lord's hand, upon the ac-
 rcr.nt of your fins,  and ill improvements of former deliv»
 erances, faying with Jacob,  Gen. xxxii. 10.  " I  am
 not worthy of the leaft of all thy mercies."
   4. Look above inftruments and  fecond caufes, and do  „
 not afcribe your recovery to phyficians or outward means,"
 tiut  to  the Lord, the prime author of it,  whoSqbleffing
 alone it is that gives efficacy and fuccefs to the appoint.'
 cd means,  and by whofe mercy cnly  we" are Spart^iand'
 brought back from the gates of the grave.  To tlnjM*^
 apoftle attributes Epaphroditus hi* recover)', Phil. ii. 27.
 " Indeed he  was fick nigh  unto  death, but  God had  '
 meixy  on him."  Hence we are told, 1 Sam. ii. 6. "The "3
 Lord bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up."
   5. Qbferve narrowly the  remarkable circumftances of
 the Lc id's goodnefs, and the fweet  ingredicntSiof thy
 mercies.   As for  inftance,  (1.)  How difcernible  the i
 Lard's hand  was in thy  deliverance, which obliged thee I
 to fay, Surely this is the  finger of  God 1 This  is  the
 Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in mine eyes,   (z.)
 How thy deliverance came to thee as the return of pray-
 er,  makes thee fay, Surely he is a prayer-hearing  God.
 (3.) How deliverance  came when there  was  but little
 ground to hope for it.   See how. Hezekiah obferved this
 ingredient in his recovery from ficknefs.   Ifa. xxxviii. •
 1 o,. 11. "I faid in the cutting off of my days,  I fhall gp.>
 to the  gates of the grave:. I am deprived of the refidue
 of my years..  I faid,  I  fhall not fee the Lord, even the
 Lord ia the land of the living:. I fhall  behold man no
 more,  with the^ inhabitants of the  world."  vcrfe 15.
 " What fhall I fay? he hath  both Spoken  to me,  and
 .him.'eif hath done it." Sometimes  God fends deliverances .
 to his people  when they are moft  hopelefs,. and faying, ;!
 with thec-ptiv.es in Babylon,  Ezek. xxxvii. 11. Behold j
 out- bones are dried, and our hope  is loft, ancl we are cut
 eff.ftf our parte" (4.) Remember how the  extremity
. ^f thy  dJitTef* was  God's opportunity of Sending relief.. 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.       115

  Abraham never forgat the feafonablenefs of God's ap-
  pearing for him in his extreme need upon mount Moriab,
  when he called the  name of the place Jehovah Jirak>
  for prefervnig the memorial of it;  " In the mount of
  the Lord it will be Seen." So doth David. Pfal.  cxvi. I
  was brought low, and he helped me."
     6.  Let the prefent  deliverance bring all former mer-
  cies to thy remembrance, that fo thou mayeft praife God
-.,, for thftn all,  whether they be  national or  perfonal mer-
i* ties, public or private, fpiritual or temporal.  New mer-
  cies fhould revive the memory of the old,  and all of them
'■'. Should come  above board  at fuch times? fo  doth the
■J^ialmift direa,  Pfal. cv. 2.  " Sing to the Lord, talk ye
Tof all his wondrous works."  And what he direas others
  to, he  praaifcth himfelf in  fuch a cafe, Pfal. cxvi.  12-.
  " What fhall I render to the Lord for all his  benefits to-
  wards me?"
     7.   Be ready  to communicate to others  an account of
  the Lord's kind dealings towards you,  and the  fweet in-
  gredients of his mercies ; and particularly of his  fending
  fpiritual deliverance to  your foul, as well as outward de-
  liverance to your body, when he is pleafed to do fo. And
- do this in order to recommend the fervice of God to oth-
  ers, and to engage and invite them to affift you in  blef-
  fing and praifing the Lord.   We fee how David obferved
?- his  foul deliverances, Pfal. cxvi. 7, 8.  and declares his
  experience to others, Pfal. xxii  22.  I  will  declare thy
  name  unto my brethren ; in the midft of the congrega-
  tion will  I  praife thee."  Pfal.  Ixvi.  16.  " Come and
  hear,  all ye  that fear God,  and I will  declare what he
  hath done for my foul."
     Laftly, Remember always to give thanks for mercies
  to  the Father, in the name of our Lord Jefus Chrift, as
  direaed, Eph. v. 20.  Your fpiritual facrifices are only
,  acceptable to God, when you offer  them up by Jefus
  Chrift, 1 Pet. ii. 5. As we muft  feek all our mercies in
  Chrift's name, fo  we muft give thanks for them alfo in
  his name.  He is the Mediator of our praifes,  as well as
  of our prayers.  Believers have not one mercy, but what
  comes fwimming to them in Chrift's blood,.and is the fruit 
116        Afflicted Man's Companion.

ef his death and purchafe to them :  and therefore he is
to be owned and looked to in the receiving of every mer-
cy.  And as Chrift is the  only mediator for conveying
bleflings and mercies from God to us,  fo  he is the fole
mediator for conveying all our Services and fpiritual facri-
fices to God.   God accepts of them only a6 they are per-
fumed by Chrift's meritorious facrifices, and potent inter-   ,
ceflkm.                                              j

Direct,  in.  When the Lord is pleafed to grant thee any
  fgnal mercy or deliverance from trouble, beware of forget-
   ting the Lord's kindnefs towards thee.

    FORGETTING of God's remarkably  kind  prUfc^
     dences is an evil we are naturally  prone unto when
we are in a profperous ftate.   Hence it is that the fpirit
of God gives fo many cautions againft it in his word ; and
the faints of God do fo folemnly charge their own fouh
to beware of it, as in  Pfal. ciii. 2. "Blefs the Lord,  O
my foul, and forget not all  his benefits ; who hcaleth all
thy difeases, who redeemeth thy  life from deftruaion."
Forget not his benefits, but caiefolly  preferve and treafure  i
them up in  thy meme>ry.   It was ufual for faints under
the Old Teftarnent to fet up  fome  vifible  monument to
remind them of God's fingular favours to them ; they
ereaed ftOnes, and built altars, to be memorials of the mer-
cies they  received, and put names on the  places for this
end. Let all this teach you to guard againft this evil of
forgetting, the Lord's kind providence in recovering you
from ficknefs.
   You are guilty of this-evil, when you do not duly val-
ue the mercy, but let it pafs as a turn of common provi-
dence.  When you let the  impreflion of the  mercy wear
foon off your hearts ;  when you  make bad ufe of it, or
do not rightly improve it to God's glory, and your own
foul's good ;  when you do not put on new refolutions to
walk more exaaiy, lire more fruitfully, and Serve God;
more holily and humbly; then are you  guilty of forget-
ting his benefits.
   This is  an evil moft grievous and provoking, to a good
*»d gracious  God, as is evident from  the many heavy? 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.,       117

  complaints he makes of his.people for it, as in Judges viii.
  34.  Pfal. Ixxviii. it.  Pfal. cvi. 23.  Wherefore  watch
  and  pray againft it.

  Direct,  iv.  Inquire after  thefe fruits of righteoufnefsr
    which are the genuine effetts of affliaion in the children of
    God, who are duly exercifed thereby.

      THE apoftle fpeaks of thefe fruits,  Heb. xii. 11. as
       natively following upon fanaified affliaions,  and a
  kindly exercife of fpirit under them.   And therefore it is
: .jrour duty to inquire if they be produced in you.
•k  if. The increafe  of true repentance is  one of thefe
  fruits which is the produa^of fanaified trials.  Job found
  it in himfelf on the back of his affliaion, chap. xiii.  6.
  "Now I  abhor myfelf, and repent in dull and afhes."  It
  would be happy, if we could find our hearts  more Soft and
  melting upon the view of fin, after we  have been in the
  furnace of affliaion.
    idly. Another fruit is the improvement of faith.  The
  affliaed believer is taught  to look to, and depend more
  upon God in lime of need, and  lefs upon the  creature.
  He  now fees that  vain is the help of man  in the day of
  calamity, and that God in Chrift is the only proper objea
  of  the foul's truft.   This was the fruit of the  apoftle's
\ affliaion,  2 Cor. i. 8, 9,  10. "We were prcffed out  of
'.  'meafure, above ftrength, iufomuch that we defpaired even-
  of life.  We had the fentence of death in ourfelves, that
  we  fhould not  truft in ourfelves, but in God that raifeth
  the  dead : who delivered  us from fo great  a death, and
  doth deliver:  in whom we truft that he  will yet deliver."
    ^dly, Humility and low thoughts of ourfelves is one of
  the  fruits of righteoufnefs which fanaified affliaion doth
■  yield.  How proud and lofty was Nebuchadnezzar be-
  fore he was  affliaed, Dan. iv. 29, 30.   But afterwards
  he ii made to own God, and humbly  fubmit to him  as
  his  Supreme and incontrolable Sovereign, and to acknow-
  ledge, that thofe who walk in pride, he is  able to abate,
  ver. 37.   This was God's defign in the various trials  of
  his  people Ifrael in the wildernefs, Deut. viii. 16. " That
  1*« might humble thee, prove thee, and do thee good at 
 118        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

 thy latter end."  See then, O believer, if this fruit be
 produced in thee.
   \thly, Another-fruit is the fpirit of prayer and Suppli-
 cation.   This  was  vifible in the  Pfalmift's cafe, after
 God  had delivered him  from the forrows of death, and
 heard  his voice,  Pfalm  cvi. 2.   " Therefore,  fays he,
 will I call  upon  him as long as I live."   O, faith the
 true believer, God's mercy to me in trouble, and his fend-
 ing me  relief when I cried to him, will  make  me  love
 prayer the better,  and engage me to be more diligent  in
 it all my  days; for I ftill fee I have daily  need of his
 helping hand.                                    ^  A
   $thly,  Heavenly-mindednefs is a fruit of fanaified af-
 flidion.   Before the man wa3 inclined to that language,
.It is good for us to be here, let  us  build  tabernacles  in
 this lower  world.  But  now he turns  his tongue, and
 changeth his thoughts, and faith, with the Pfalmift,  " It
 is good for  me to  draw nigh to  God.  Arife, let us de-
 part, this is not our reft." This world is nothing but the
 houfe of our pilgrimage,  heaven only is our home.
   6thly,  Another fruit of fanaified trials, is greater love
■ to God than formerly.   How much was  David's heartj
 warmed with love and gratitude to God, upon the back^
 of his affliaion, fo that he wants words to exprefs the  af-
 fe-aions of his  Soul ?  Pfah cxvi.  1,8,  12.  "I will love
 the Lor,d becaufe  he hath heard  my voice. I was brought
 ■ low, but  he helped me.   Thou haft delivered  my foul
 from death, mine  eyes from tear?, and my feet from fail-
 ing.   Wh.it Shall  I render unto the Lord for all his be-
 nefits towards  me?"
    ythly,  Learning and keeping God's word  is a fruit  of .
 fanaified affliaion, Pfalm cxix.  67, 71.   Let U3 inquire'*
 if this fruit be  produced  i.i U3 after ficknefs.   Do we at*
 tend to  the   word  more clofely ? do we believe it  more
 firmly ? do we embrace its offers more earneftly? and do
 we live more in the expeaation of that glory which the
 word doth reveal to  us?  " Then it is good for us wc have
 been afflicted:  for wc have learned more of God's word."
    Sthly,  Tendernefs of  confcience  is a happy fruit  of^
 Sanctified  trouble;  when the believer, after it, becomes 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.        119

 exceedingly afraid of fin, and of making new wounds  in
 his confcience.'  He cannot think of adventuring again
 upon any known fin ;  for the fmart  of  former wounds,
 and the pain they occafioned in the foul, when diftrefs lay
 upon him, makes deep and lafting impreflion on his mind,
 as it did  on the affliaed church, Lam. iii. 19, 20. "Re-
 member  mine affliaion, and my  miSery, the  wormwood
 and the gall, my foul hath them ftill in remembrance, and
 is humbled within me."  Now, Such fruits of righteouf-
 nefs are an evidence we  have been fuitably exercifed un-
 der affliaion: O to find them produced in us after  fick-
 nefs is over!

 Direct, v. Be careful to perform thefe refolutions, engage-
t   ments  or vows, you have come under in the time of ficknefs,
W.  . and walk fuitably to them.

   A  S a time of ficknefs and affliction is a proper feafon
[  JlV  for making.vows to  God, and binding our  fouls
; with resolutions to mortify fin in the heart, and  purge it
 away from the life, and to be diligent in duty, and  walk
f more humbly with God: fo  a time of recovery from fick-
  nefs is a proper feafon for paying and  performing  thefe
1 vows.    This was the royal Pfalmift's praaice in fuch a
t cafe, Pfalm cxvi.  6, 16, 17,  18.  "I was brought  low,
 and he h/lped me.   Truly I am thy fervant, I am thy
 Servant.   I will offer to thee the facrifice of thankfgiving.
  I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the  prefence
t of all his people."  Now for your affiftance in this mat-
I  ter, I offer you thefe few advices.
    if, Defer not to pay your vows,  but be  fpeedy, and
I  take the firft opportunity to pay them.  Delays in this
j  cafe are moft dangerous; Solomon,  that wife man, was
i  fenfible  of this,  which  made him give thee this advice,
  Eccl.  v. 4.  " When thou voweft a vow  unto God,  defer
  not to pay it."
    idly,  Be ftill jealous of thy heart, which is prone to
  deal treacheroufly with God after affliaion is over.  The
  Ifraelites  praaice  is a fad inftance of his truth, Pfalm
  Ixxviii. 34, &c. " When he flew them,  then they fought
  him, and they returned and  inquired early after God, &c. 
120        Afflicted Marts Companion.

Nevertheless, they did flatter him with their mouthr and
they lied  unto  him with their tongues;  for their heart
was not right with him, neither were they fteadfaft in his
covenant."  The purpofes of many in affliaion  are like
to the  vows of  mariners in a ftorm; they are the firft
things  which they forget and break when once they win
fafe fhore.  However penitent fome feem to be  in  fick-
nefs, yet when they recover from it, they foon return to
their old fins again.   They are like metals in a  furnace,
they melt and turn liquid while in it, but when out, they
foon return to their old hardnefs.   There is good reafon
for that caution  the Lord give us, Mai. ii. 16. "There-
fore take heed to your fpirit, that you  deal  not treacher-
ously."
   $dly, Cry continually for ftrength from above to ena-
ble you to perform your vows.  The Pfalmift  took this  >
courfe, and  found it  fuccefsful, Pfalm cxxx viii. 3. "In
the day when I cried to thee, thou anfweredft  me, and
Strengthened ft me with Strength, in my Soul."   And for-
get not, O believer, that God has  treafured up  Strength1!
for thee  in  thy  head and furety Chrift Jefus ;  wherefort'l
be ftill borrowing from him, for the performing of all thy *■
engagements, 2 Tim. ii. 1. "My fon  be  ftrong in the' •
grace  that  is in Chrift Jefus."   Put thy treacherous
heart in thy furety's hand: for  though thou  a&  weak,
y«t thy  Redeemer is ftrong.   Whenever then you firft
perceive your  heart begins to Start afide  from  God, be
fure to check it, and look  up to God  in  Chrift for
ftrength to fecure it againft treachery and perfidious deal-
ing: cry  with the  Pialmift,  "Be furety for thy Servant
for g»od."
   ^.thly. Guard  diligently againft thy predominant Sin,
the fin that hath moft eafily befet thee, the fin  that was
moft  bitter and uneafy  to thee in the  day  of diftrefs.
Keep a narrow eye  upon it now;  for if once that  fin be
got vanifhed, the reft will the more eafily be put to flight.
   zthly. Be frequently meditating on thy vows, and on  1
the condition thou waft in when they were taken on, and
ftudy to keep alive- in thy heart the fame apprchenlion of
things after  fick»ef» which thou hadft in the  time of it. 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.        121

   How vain and comfortlefs did the world and its vanities
  then appear to thee! how awful were the truths of God
  on thy Spirits! how far preferable was the loving-kind-
  nefs of Gael to thee than life i how precious was Chrift
  then in thy eyes !  O that your judgment, thoughts, and
  impreffions of thefe things, may continue ftill the fame!
    '6thly,  Keep up  the tmpreflions of the precioufnefs of
  time,  that you may diligently improve it;  and fhake off
  floth and idlenefs.   Remember what a view you  got in
  the time of ficknefs, of long-lafting eternity ; and what a
  trouble it was to you to  look, back, and fee how much
  time you had loft in fin and vanity.  When Sometimes we
ttar^ brought  to the brink of eternity, the near views we
.  then  get  of  its vaftnefs  and  unchangeablenefs,   are
'  Sometimes So awful and amazing to us, that we are rea-
1  dy to think, though we had Methufalem's years to live, it
  would be ,'unreafonable wilfully to miffpend one hour of
  them all.   Well then,  is ficknefs ovef-,  or time fo Short,
  ' and fo little of it remaining behind ? will we be fo foolifh,
  a».tojbe lavifh of it ftill, and trifle itilaway as before ?
     Ithly.  Set  a Special mark upon alljthefe fins, whether
   of omiftion or commiffion, that made death to  look grim
,  and ghaftly upon you in the time of ficknefs, and againft
i  which you refolved ; and fee  to get. every one of them
  amended and removed.   Remember and confider how fad
  it will be for you, if ficknefs find you again in the very
  fame fins which formerly flung you.  -What will you fay
   to confcience, when it fhall challenge:you ?. How.will you
  look-death in the Sace,  if it fliould  find; you living in the
  Very  fame fir* you formerly mourtjed for* and promifed
   againft !  Death would  then be the king of terrors to thy
  „foul  indeed.
     O  then, mind  thy vows, and fay with the Pfalmift,
   Pfal. lvi   12, 13.  " Thy vows are upon me,  O God: I
   w^ll render praifes to'thee.   For tho* haft delivered my
I  'foul from death:  wilt thou deliver, my-feet from falling,
\ ,that  I may walk before God in the fight of the living."
L 
122
Afflicted Marts Companion.
                    CHAP. VI.
Containing direaions to the unregenerate.whcn they are
     recovered from ficknefs, and reftored to health.  .
Direct, i.  Seeing the affliaions of the wicked are wfanQ't-
  fed, it is  necejfdry you  examine what forts of affliSion
  yours hath feen,  and what fruits it hath produced in you.
I  HAVE  in the preceeding chapter  fliewed, that the
    affliaions of believers are  fatherly chaftifements pro-
ceeding from love; that they are fanaified,  and yield the
peaceable fruits of righteoufnefs: I have given the markl
of fanaified affliaions,  and mentioned   the happy fruits
which they prpduce in the children of God.
   On the other hand, it is neceflary to let Chriftlefs per
fons know,  that their affliaions are of  a different kind t
they are even punifhment from God as a judge, proceed-
ing from wrath: they are  unfinaified to them, and pro-
duce no fruits, but what are bitter and unfavory. •
  Well then,  O Chriftlefs foul, thou haft reafon to fid-
pea the worft concerning  thy ficknefs,  that it hath not
been fanctified, and its fruits are not good. O then, laboured
to know the  truth'of the matter,that thou mayeft be hum-
ble under a fenfe of thy mifery, and flee to Jefus Chrift
for relief.  And for thy affiftance in this inquiry, I will
give fome marks of unfanaified affliaions.
   if.  If ficknefs hath not humbled thee under a fenfeof
thy fins, the procuring caufe thereof, nor any wife hath
weakened fin in thee, nor  reclaimed  thee from it,'but it
remaineth in thee asftremig as ever; it is a fign  thy af-
fliaion is  unfanaified." This was the  cafe of thofe of
whom  God complaineth,  Jer. ii. 30. " In vain have I
fmitten your children; they received no correaion." As
if he had faid,  The phytic I gave them did not purge out
fin ; nor weaken Corruption in the  leaSt.   They have  been
Stricken, but-  not grievad  Sor fin; the fire hath 'burnt
round about  them,  but they have  not laid  fin to heart,
that kindled  the flame.
  idly.  It is a mark of unfanaified  affliaion, when, it
hath no influence upon a finner to bring him to a ferious  ' 
          Afflicted Man's  Companion.      123

communing with his  own heart concerning the eftate of
his foul, and to inquire in what terms he Hands with God
that  afflias  him.  God's voice by affliaion is that in
Hag. L 7. " Now confider  your ways."  In the day of
adverfity confider whcic you areA what you are, what you
have done, and what is the meaning of the rod, and whrft
will be the iffue of it  through eternity,  in cafe  it hath a
cpmmiSTion to cut the thread of life.  Now when a man
remains ftupid and carelefs about thefe important matters,
and never noticeth the voice of affliaion, fo as to inquire
(erioufly about his foul's condition;  "Am  I under a cove-
nant of works, or a covenant of grace ?  Am I a  child of
God or an enemy of God ? Have I fled to the  city of
refuge, or am I ftill in a fhelterlefs ftate.? Am I ftill under
a cloud of wrath,.or am I  brought under the banner of
love ?" I  fay, where there are no fuch inquiries, the afflic-
tion is unfanaified.
   idly. It is a certain Sign of unfanaified affliaion, when
a perfon grows worfe by it, and revolts  the more he in
ftrickcn, like thefe, Ifa. i. 5.
   Quefi.  When may it be faid,  that a perfon grows
worfe by affliaion ?
   Anfw.  1. When the fanner's heart turns  harder than-
it was before:  fo every plague on  Egypt,  increafed the
plague of hardnefsin Pharaoh's heart.   It fares with ma-
ny hearts, as with iron that is often heated in the  fire
and quenched in the water, it  ftill  increafeth in hnrdnefs.
2. When  a perfon gives way to impatience and murmur-
ing againft God while he aiflias him..   3. When the lulls
of the heart  grow more ftrong  and impetuous, atid after-
wards rage the more,  that they may,have  been ftopt in
their courfe by affliaion.   In  fuch cafes a perSon grows
worfe by the rod.

Direct, ii  Confider the great danger of not It'u-g bettered
   by ficknefs, and of not complying with the voice of God's
   rod.
     GOD's voice by his-rod doth loudly call finners to .re-
     pentance, and fleeing  to the  Lord jefus Chrift for
 refuge from,wrath,.  Now, when this voice is not harkv- 
 124       Affliclcd Marts Companion.

 cned to,  but men go in their fecure and finful courfe  as
 before, God is highly provoked, and  the  iffue will "be
 terrible.   For,
   if. Though ficknefs be removed,  and the furnace  of
 affliaion  be cooled for tt« time; yet the wrath that kind-
 died it, continues ftill to  burn. And you have ground to
 fear left you be ranked among thefewho are the genera-
 tion of God's wrath, againft whom he will have indigna- ^
 tion forever.
   idly. If leffer rods do not awaken you,  you may ex-
 pea greater and foref judgments are coming on  you.
 Yea,  God may caufe them to come rolling  thick upon
 you, as waves and billows in a ftorm, one upon the neck
 of another.  The great depths, both above and below,
 may be  opened together ;  the difpleafure  oS  God, and
 wrath of men, may confpirfe and  meet to pour out them-
 felves as water-fpouts upon you at once : and to whom
 then will ye look for help?
   %dly. The Lord  may give over dealing with you, or
 Hfing any  further  means to reclaim you; he may re-
 fute to correa you any-more, or heftow a rod  upon you •
 for your  good, and fay of you, as of Ephraim, Hof. iv.
 17. " Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him alor.e."
  Aihly.  The Loid may give yon up to fpiritual plajuei
 and judgments; and indeed this commonly is  the refult ,
 of obftinacy  and incorrigiblenef; under outward  rods. !
 When Ifrael would not barken to  God's voice, he gave
 them up  to their own hearts lulls, Pfal. Ixxxi. 11, 12.
 Now, thefe plagues  are the fevercft.  External judgment!
 ;:re Gcd's rods,  but fpiritual judgments are his fwordf,
 which pierce the very  foul.  Blindnefs of mind, hard-
nefs of heart, fearednefs   of conScience, vile  affeftion*,
and a reprobate fenfe, are the very forerunners of hell and
damnation.  Thefe  who  are  impenitent and  unfruitful
under outward affliaions,  have caufe  to tremble left God
be provoked to inflia thefe fpiritual judgments. *"*
  $thty,  Be aflured, though God fpare you long, yet the
£kfs of his forbearance will at length  run out. God's pa-
tience towards firiners hath a term and bound, over which
it will ndt pafs.  The time will come, wkcira long fuffer- 
          Afflicted  Mart's Companion.        125

  ing God  will at  laft fay, " My fpirit  fhall no longe:
  ftrive ;" and the angel will cry, as in Rev. xiv. 7.  " The
  hour of God's judgment is  come."  You that abufe
  God's patience, and prefume upon it* his treaty of peace
  will end with you in a little, and the matter of the houfe
  will rife up and fliut to the door.  Then patience will
  come down, and juftice will afcend the ftage, and trample
  upon,  and triumph over,  all that abufe divine patience.
  Sodom was a wonder of God's patience for a long time,
  but now it is a killing monument of his angei.
     fyhly,  If you be  not bettered  by God's rods or Spa-
  ring mercies, then your  prefervatibn  at  prefent will be
u aothing but refervation for the day of God's wrath. And
'  the longer your cup of fin is a filling, the fuller fhall the
  cup of God's patience, you treafure up wrath for your-
  felves againft the day of  wrath, Rom. ii. 4. and though
  you be delivered from fome judgments, you. are referved
  for worfe, yea, Seven times worfe, according to Lev. xxvi.
  23, 24. Nay, there is a ruining blow defignedagainft you,
  both foul and body, as Soon as your cup is Sull; an'd the
  axe is  already laid to the root of the tree, Matth.iii. 10.
  One blow of God's axe will cut you off forever.
     Remember this, O finner, though God's hand be lifted
■   off you at prefent, and his  meffenger death be for  a little
,   recalled, yet he will quickly return, and knock fo loud at
   your door, as not to be refufed.   And what will you do
   in the day of vifitation ?  How ghaftly muft the pale horfe
   be, when hell follows him  at  the heels ? And how hot
   and fiery muft that hell be, which is inflamed and blcwn
   up by fo long impenitence, and abufe of vatience ?
   Direct, hi.  Wonder at  the patience of God  in fparing
     fuch heU-deftrving finners as you are, and be thankful
     for it.
         HATH along fuffcrinjr God prefcrveu the thread of
         your life,  when it  was almoft  fnapt  afundcr by
   the violence of ficknefs? hath he freed you from  racking
   pains, under which you were groaning ?  nay, faved you
i   from  the grave and hell,  into which you were failing?

                           L  2 
126        Afflicted Man's Coinpanitn.

and have you not caufe of Wonder and thankfgiving ? To
move you to it, confider thefe few things. '
   if. How rniferable had you been  through all eterni-
ty, if your SickneSV had carried you off to another world
in your fins? You had been howling with damned Spirits,
under endlefs and ceafelefs torments,  and forever cut'off
from thefe  hopes,  and offers of mercy you now  have.
Then the matter .of the houfe would have had the doorfo
barred  againft you, as it could never have been opened
again to you,  knock as you would, Luke xiii. 25.  •  ■■'.  '
   idly.  Confider how heavily you had burdened his pa-
tience with your henious fins, and frequent relapfes there-
into :  and that after conviaions, calls, and  various rods
fent to reclaim you:  fo that he  was put to fay, as in
Amos ii. 13.   "Behold,  lam preffed under you, as a
cart is preffed that is full  of fheaves."  He was  overbur-
dened with  your  fins, fo that the axel-tree of patience
was ready to break, and let you fall, into hell;  and yet,
behold he hears with yod ftill. :•'
   $dly.. Confider how Soon he could haveeafed himfelf of
the load, and fhaken you off into  the pit of deftmaion.
In a moment  could he  have done it,, and yet  he bears  '
many years with your fins that are fo  grievous to him.  J
Yea, it is with a fort of reluaancy that he eafes himfelf
of Sinners*  after he gets  the  utmofl provocation, Ifa. it
i 4.  "Ah! I! will  eafe me of mine adverfaries."
   Alhly, How ready is he to turn away his  anger* and
j-prieve finners  from  deftruaion, when  in  their diftrefs
■hey  make but a Shew of repentance, and turning  u:Uo
God  ! as we fee in Pfal.  Ixxviii. 36,  38, He, like a ten-
tier-hearted prince, calls back the warrant for their execu-
tion,  after it was gone forth.              '  .
   cthly, Confider how much'many Chriftlefs finners are
beholden to Jefus Chrift for fparing mercy.   He is rep-
.rcfented by the dreffer, Luke  xiii. i'nterce'eding; that tile
fruitlefs fig-tree might be fpared and tried fome-.time lon-
ger, after orders given to cut it down.   Were it.not for
Tefus Chrift, O  fianer, however  much .you  forget and
Slight him,  you had  fu.tly been,in  lieil long eric  now. '
How oSt doth he obtain another year, and after thai ano-  ' 
         Afflicted Marts  Companion.        127

 ther, for the unfruitful finner,  and unthankful abufers of
 divine patience !
   tthly, Confider how fparing mercy hath diftinguifhed
 you from many others, who lived not fo long, nor finned
 fo much as you haye done.  God hath wounded the hai-
 ry fcalp  of many, and taken  them away in their youth j
 when he hath continued you to manhood, and perhaps to
 old age ; though your fins  and ill defervings  be greater
 than thefe cf many, on whom, he hath long.Since  taken
 vengeance.              •  --
   God hath left many also toffing and groaning on beds
 of pain, when he hath eafed and raifed you up.  O  then,
 return like the thankful leper, and magnify the God of
 your health.   Hath God diftinguifhed you from others,
 by his goodnefi ? It becomes  you to diftinguifh yourfelves
 from others,  by your thankfulnefs.  O that  men  would
 praife  the Lord fpr his goodnefs !  imdeferved and dtf-
 tinguifhing goodnefs  !
   To move you to this,  let me fet, the example of Hez-
 ekiah before  you,  Ifa. xxxviii. and there fee how thank-
 fully and affeaifcnately he remembered the Lord's mer-
 cies in  recovering and delivering him from the bitter af-
 fliaion he had been under.  " 1 faid,  I am deprived of
 the refidue of my years, I fhall-behold man no more with
 the inhabitants of the world.  Like a crane  or'fwallow,
 fo did. I  chattEr;  I did  mourn as a dove.   Behold,  for
 peace 1  had  great bitternefs ; but  thou haft in love to
 my foul delivered  it from the pit  of corruption.   The
 living:Sl:;ill praife thee, as I do this day."   Yea, he wsb
 fo overcome  with a  fenfe of the Lord's  patience and
 mercy towards him ;  that he is at a lofs how to exprefs
 it, verfe  15.' " What,Shall I  Say ? He hath both Spoken
 i.Klo me,, and himSelf h:.th done it."
    Let all who are recovered from ficknefs, ftudy to imi-
 tate that good king in holy  admiration and  thankfulnefs
 tokhe  God of their. life.                       fr_
■ Direct, iv.  Study  to improve the fparing mercy and'good*
!. \nefs of God to you in a right^andfuitable manner.   ,,

'" fl\  SINNER,  hath Godbmugbt you back Srom the
■' V/  ga*« of d«ath? and bliak ot kell, reftored  you to 
Ii8       Afflicted  Man's Companion.

health, and given you a new offer of mercy and falvation1
through Chrift in a preached gofpel, which you formerly
defpifed ?  Strive now to improve the  Lord's patience
and kind dealings towards you with the utmoft care,  and
abufe his patience no longer.  And  ui order  thereto,
take the following counfels.
   I. Be deepiy humbled  for your former obftinacy and!
impeniteney, notwithftanding of God's gracious and pa-
tient dealing.  O let the  fparing mercy and goodnefs of
God towards thee,  lead thee to repentance,  which is. the
native defign of it,' according to Rom. ii. 4.  " Defpifeft
thou the riches of his goodnefs, forbearance, and long*
fuffering, not knowing that the goodnefs of God leadeth
thee to repentance ?"  As if he had faid,   "Doftthou
r.ot fee,' O man, the kind providence of God in  fparing
and recovering  thee  from ficknefs,  taking thee by the
hand,  and pointing  out. to thee to go to thy clofet to
mourn and weep for all thy bypaft fins,  and particularly
for thy miffpcnding the time of health, and abufing of
the  Lord's patience ?"   The confideration of David's
goodnefs  and  forbearance towards Saul, melted  Saul's
heart, for  as hard and rugged as it was, and made him to
lift up his  voice end weep, and fay to David, 1 Sam. xxiv.
17. &c. " Thou art more righteous than I ; for thou haft
rewarded  me  good,  whereas I have rewarded thee  evil.
And thou haft fhewed this day, how that thou haft dealt
well with  me ; for as much as when the Lord had deliv-
ered  me into  thine hand, thou killedft me not.  For  <
(fays he)  if a man find his enemy,  will he let  him go
well away ?" O far  more  reafon haft thou, O- man, to
weep and  cry, " God  hath four.d me his enemy, yea in
my enmity and  fins, fighting  againft  himftdf;  he  had
me on a Sick-bed, and  on the very brink of hell, and the
kaft touch of his hand would have thruft me in:  but yet
he hath fpared his enemy,  and let  me go well awayi Oh,
will nol thefe cords of love draw  me, and. thia mauhltfs
goodnefs invite and hire me to repent r  Can any confide-
ration in the world be more, powerful than  this to  melt
my hard heart into tears  of holy Shame and Sorrow for'
iny ftiff-neckednefe end rebellion againft  a  graoiouq/aiid- 
          Afflicted Man's Companion.       120

 long-fuffering God * Away with thefe c'urfed God-pro-
 voking fins of mine! down with thefe weapons of rebel-
 lion?  let me never lift them more againft fuch a merciful
 Sovereign!"
    II. Zealoufly  improve  the  time, which God in  his
 long-Suffering hath  lengthened out to you in  working
 out the falvation of thy  foul.   Have you  fo long been
 loading the patience of God with yotir  fins? have you
 many a day been grieving his holy Spirit, by trifling away
 your time,  flighting his  motions and venturing on fins
 againft light ?  O then beware  of burdening his patience
 anymore; but diligently harken to every motion of God's
'' fpirit, and of your own confcience for the time to come.
 You have much work to do and but little tithe to do it in ;
 therefore lay hold on every opportunity for cai-rying  it
 on.   The confideration of the  much^ime you have alrea-
 dy loft and miffpent, fhould make  you -the'more  diligent
 in what remaineth.   How much of it have  you loft  in
 youth ? how much in ignorance?  how much in  negli-
 gence ?  how much in worldlinefs 1 how much in paftimes?
 how much  in idle words?  how'much in adual firts and
 provocations againft God ?  and now it may be near  the
 evening of youf day.  And will you not fpend'the even-
 ing (which God is mercifully lengthening out) with  ex-
 traordinary care and diligence r"  If a traveller loofe the
: beginning of the day, he muft travel the fatter in  the
 evening, otherwiSe  he may fall Short of his journey, and
 haye  his lodging to feek when   night comes.  Paul had
  ir.iffpent much of the beginning of his life; arid this con-
  fideration (when  his eyes  were opened) did ftir him up to
  be niore diligent in the fervice of God fo that he was
  more zealous than any of the reft of the apoftles. O man,
  follow his  example, and trifle  no longer  in the work of
  God.  Art thou not Convinced thou haft fquandered away
  enough of this precious treafure  of time already ? And
  wilt thou alfo miffpend and throw away the little that re-
  mains?  Oh ? be not fo foolifh.      •           •'/  _-
    III. Be careful to raze all falfe foundations, and build
  your hopes of falvation, upon the only Sure rock, JeSus
  Chrift.  Let it not difcourage thee to dig to the foun- 
130       Afflicted Marts Companion.

dation, that fo much of thy day is loft ; for it is better to
do it late than never.   Remember how  miferable is the
condition of that  houfe which is built upon  the fand,
Matth. vii. 27  " For  when the flood  comes, and  th^
ftorm arifeth and beats upon it,  great and difmal will the
fall of that houfe bo."  Do^Vr* build your hopes of hea-
ven upon Qod's "abfolute mercy, upon  your conyiaions,
upon your freedom from grofs fins, upon your prayers or
tears upon your morality and juft  dealings with men:
thoughthefe.be  neceflary and  excellent in themfelves,
yet they are falfe foundations  for to build the hopes of
your juftification and falvation upon, feeing they  arc
wholly  infufficient  to bear fuch a  weight.   Howevefr
much thefe things have been efteemed and valued by you
formerly, in the matter  of juftification; yet if you, re-
folve to be a wife builder, you will  let them all now go,
yea,  count them all  but  lofs  and dung, that you may
win  Chrift, (our only hope) build on him alone,  and he
found in  him,  not  having on  your  own righteousneft,
which is but filthy rags.
   Well  then, raze  and tear up every  falfe  foundation,
dig deep, till you win to the rock Chrift.   Dig deep in-,
to the holy law and nature of God; dig till you  fee thqj
infinite  ftrianefs of divine juftice, the unfpcakable  evil
that is in fin, the hidden vilenefs and abomination of the
heart,, your own inability to do any thing.for your help
and  relief.  Dig yet further,  till you fee the  infinite fuj-
nefs and freenefs  of God's peace in Jefus Chrift,  ll^at
fuitable  remedy that  anfwers  all a poor  finner needs.
Dig deep, and dig on, till you win to this rock; let your
cry be ftill. to God;  Lord, lead me  to  the  rock  Chrift,
and his  all-fuflkient  righteoufnefs only.  Aa faith upon
this   rock, rely on  it, build  all  your hopes on it, and
fay, this is my reft  forever,  here will I dwell, for I have
defired it.   Lord, the defire of my foul is only to Chrift,
and  the remembrance of h.W nasie.   His name is an oint-
ment poured forth ;  therefore  do the virgins love him." .
   IV.  If you would rightly improve the fparing mercy
and  goodnefs of God, let it lead  you to repentance and
reformation of life   Turn from all thefe fins,  whether cf 
         Afflicted Marts  Companion.        131

omiffion or commiflion, now in the day of health, which
confcience  challenged  you for in the  time of ficknefs.
Mind.Chrift's  caution and  warning  to  healed finners,
John v.  14.  "Behold, thou art made whole ;  fin no
more, left a worfe thing befal thee."  O let fin die with
thy ficknefs ; and do not relapfe into thy  former fecuri-
ty and finful ways.   Beware of returning with the dog to
thy vomit,  and like the fow that is wafhed, to the wallow-
ing again in the mire of thy former fins and uncleannefs-
es; left  being  entangled and overcome again with the
filthinefs which now thou haft  efcaped, thy  latter end
prove worfe than  thy beginning.
   Ldfily, And to fum  up  all I fhall fay  in this chapter,
be careful to red«*em time,  and aaive in providing for an
eternal ftate.  O prize and value the mercy of health and
ftrength  more than ever.   Sympathize with  thefe who
are ftill lying on fick beds, and under languifhing diftem-
pers; neglea not to pity and pray for them.  Remember
the diftreffed cafe you were in yourfelves, when you had
no reft in your bones,  when wearifome nights were ap-
pointed to you, dnd you were full of tofiing to the dawn-
ing of the day.   Confider' how flippery is your Handing.
Though the late  ftorm of trouble be over,  yet the clouds
will return after rain.


                 CHAPTER  VII.

   Containing directions to thofe  fick perfons,  who  are
      apparantly in a  dying condition,  and draw-
             ing near to another world.

I HAVE already in the firft,  third, and fourth chap-
    ters,  given feveral direaions concerning our fubmif-
fion to the  will of God, making preparation for death,
calling for  minifters, edifying  others by  our  discourfc,
fettling  our worldly affairs, 8cc. which are very proper
'for dying perfons, and therefore I fhall not repeat them,
but  proceed to fpeak'of other things.   Only  letme add
this word,  if you have  hitherto negleaed  to make  your
wills, fettle  your worldly affairs, Send Sor minifters t» 
132       Afflicted  Marts  Companion.

difcourfe  with and pray over you \  delay  it no longer,
but do it Speedily, while you have the ufe of your reafon
aiiel underftanding.   And  what I have  more to  fay, take
it in the.following direaions:

Direct.  I.  Confider  when death fares you in  the face,
  that now is the time if ever io exert the utniofi activity in
  preparing'to meet with it.

     LAS, it is to be regretted that the moft part of men
     .neglea their fouls, miffpend their lives, mifimprove
their healths,  and leave undone the work for which they
were created, preferved and enjoyed the gofpel.   Surely
a near profpeet of death and judgment can#pt but be un-
eafy to fuch perfons,   What a mekjiicholiy. thought muft
it be for a dying man, " Oh 1  I had all  my time given me
to make preparation for endlefs eternity : and alas, I never
minded it till now, that I muft leave the ftage of this world.
Is there any hope for fuch a earelefs and miferable finner:"
I acknowledge the cafe is fad, but yet it is not remedilefs
nor defperate ; feeing there is a facrifice. provided for your
fins, and there is an- aU-fufh\gent Saviour in your offer,
who never did caft out any humbled foul,  that came to \
him for mercy,   Yoa  have great reafon indeed  to abhor
and condemn  yourfelf  before God, for your fin  and fol-
ly ; yet defpair  not, but believe, whatever be your fins,
your  dangers, your fears and  temptations, that Jefus
Chrift is both able and willing to  Save to the uttermoft
all that come to God by him ; and that his grace abound-
erh more than your  fin aboundeth.  O how glad would
devils  and damned fouls in  hell  be, if they were but in
your cafe, and had your offers and hopes ! how diligently i]
would they improve  the time of mercy!  O be perfuaded /
then to  fpend the little time that now remains with the
utmoft care,  in making penitent confeffion of fin to God,
and apply the blood of Chrift for pardon.  Nay,  even
the belt of God's people have need to be  diligent  at  thU \
time,  in  making actual preparation for  dying.   God  ii
now faying to. you, as  Jofhua did to the  ifraelites, Jnftu
i. ii.  " Prepare your viauals,, for within three  days  ye^
, Shall paSj over this Jordan, to go  in to  pofiefs the Jans' 
          Afflicted Mirts  Companion.        133

 which the Lord your  God giveth you."  Lay  in pro~
 virion for  your paffing over  this Jordan  of death: you
 know not how rough the paffage may be.
    I fhall give Some motives to preSs  this diligent and ac-
 tive preparation;  and therefore confider,
    if. The fhort'time ofyour life that  remains is all the
 time you have for working out your falvation.   Whjrt
 you do for attaining heaven, and avoiding hell, muft be
 done no v or never ; for there is no work  nor device in
 the grave whither thou goeft, nor  is there  any  com-
 ing back to this world to amend what hath been  amifs,
 Dying is a thing yon cannot get a trial of, it is what you
 can only d;> once, and no more, Heb. ix.  27.
 .  idly.  Be diligent  now,  for as Soon as death gets
 commiffion to cut you off, it  will execute it :  it will not
 fpare you,  nor allow you one minute more time  to pre-
 pare  for eternity.  The moft mercilefs  enemies have
 Sometimes been overcome by  the  prayers and tears  of
 fuch as on their knees do beg a little more time to prepare
 for another world, and  doharken  to their requefts: but
 this enemy, death, will  uot grant  one moment's refpite.
If • 3<//y.  Confider that  your  eternal ftate and  condition
prill be according to the ftate in which you die.  Death
 , will  open the doors either of heaven or hell to you, in
t one of which you fhall take up your eternal abode.  As
{■ the tree  falls at death,  fo will it lie through eternity.
    $th!y.  Confider what  a ferious and awful matter it is to
 die, and go into another world, for then you will have
 immediately to do  with  God  your judge; there will  be
 no veil betwixt him and  your foul.   You will then enter
 into a world of fpirits,  wherewith  you are fo little ac-
 quainted : you an* frighted now to go in a room alone,
 that is faid to be haunted by a fpirit; how frightful then
  muft the cafe of thofe be, who arehurried into a  world
 of fpirits, not knowing but devils muft be their compan-
 ions forever ? Surely then  it  is your intereft to give  all
 diligence  now, to make  your acquaintance with' the
 .'Lord of that world,  before you enter into it.
\   $thly,  Put forth all  thy utnroft  aaivity for thy foul
 now ; fov,  to be fure,  Satan will  put  forth  his utmoft
                          M 
 134       Afflicted Man's  Companion.

 againft it.   If thou be in a Chriftlefs ftate at this time,
 he will ufe all his efforts and ftratagems to keep thee from
 Chrift ; either by  flattering thee that thy ftate is good,
 thereby to lull thee aSleep in fin and Security ; or by tell-
 ing thee, it is out of time to help matters with thee, there-
 by to drive  you into defpair.   The devil  will leave no
 method unattempted to ruin thy foul, when death is near:
 for he knows his time is  fhort; and  if he catch not the
 foul then, he will never get it:  and neither can he hurt
 it hereafter ; for if once it enter heaven, he can  trouble
 it no mcce.
   If thou art a believer in Chrift, Satan, thy malacious
 enemy will not fail to attack thee,  at this time,, with all
 his might;  for though he may  know he cannot keep
 thee out heaven,  yet he will labour to render the paflage
 towards it,  as dark, tempeftuous, and uncomfortable as
 pofiibly he can.But it is the believer's happinefs, this cru-
 el enemy is under a ftrong chain, and cannot do all  he
 would ; for Jefus Chrift is the good fhepherd that hath
 undertaken  for all his fheep.   Neverthelefs, by his wife
 permiffion,  this adverfary may Sometimes give great dis-
 turbance to a dying faint; which calls thee to the great-
 eft diligence and watchfulnefs at this time.It is the obfer-
 vation of one, that as the devil is moft bufy at the con-
 clufion of a duty, as of prayer,  that the Chriftian may
 be moft difturbed and diftradted  when he is to cloie  up
 all in the name of Chrift, and fo all his defires be fruft rat-
 ed :  fo he is moft  bufy  in the conelufion of our  day?,
 and when death is at hand, feeking by  temptations, dif-
 traetions, and Salfe imaginations, to do us all the mifchicf
 he can, and all  becaufe he knoweth his time is  fhort;
 according to that  word,  Rev. xii. 12.  "The  devil is
 eome down,  having great wrath, becaufe he knoweth that
 he hath but a fhort time."  He may fitly be called, jhe
 wolf of the evening, mentioned in Jer. v. 6. in  regard  he
 comes forth  nioft fiercely in the evening of men's lives, to
 fet upon their precious fouls.   Yea fo bufy is he fome-
times with believers under dangerous ficknefs,  feeking to
overthrow their faith and  aflurance,  that it  is the obser-
vation of a good man, that he feldom fecth a  fick faint, 
            Afflicted Marts Companion.        135

\    followed clofe with temptations, recover of that ficknefs ;
    for Sataa,  knowing he hath  but little time, proves  as
    uneafyto him as he can.  Hence that great man of God,
    Mr.  Knox, faid, when he came to  die ; " In my life-
.    time the devil tempted me to defpair, calling my  fins in
    my teeth ;  but  now in my fickneSs, he tells me, I have
    been faithful  in the ministry, and fo have merited heaven:
    but  bleffcd  be God,  who brought  thefe texts  into my
    mind, Not  I  but the grace of God in me:  What  ha I*
    thou that thou haft not reccivedl"   The children-of If-
    rael had never fuch hot work from their enemies as when
    they juft came to enter into the promifedland.
      What need then haft thou,  O believer, to be  diligent,
    in thy preparations on a dying bed to quicken grace, put
    forth thy utmoft ftrength,  bring all the afliftance thou
    cahft from  the Captain of thy falvation, when thou haft
    fuch' a cruel enemy to encounter with !  Now is the time
    for aaion,  though yet it will be your wifdom to leave as
    little to'be done at this time as poffible.

    .Direct, ii.  Continue to the lafi in the exercife of true re-
      pentance and humiliationforfin.

         POSSIDONIUS,  who wrote the life of Aiiguftine,
         faith, that he  heard him  often  fay in his health,
    that repentance was  the fitteft difpofitioii both f*,r dyir.i;
    christians and minifters ; and for  himfelf, that he died
    with tears in  his eyes, weeping for fin.   When death ap-
   "proacheth  neareft,  we fliould thus ftir  up  ourfelves to
    give  fin the moft deadly blow of any we have given it all
    our life.  As it is moft laudable  to die forgiving  finner*
    that  have  wronged us, fo  alfo taking revenge upon  fin
    that  hath injured a gracious God.   The'apoftle tells us,
    2 Cor.  vii.  11. that indignation  and revenge attend true
    repentance.  Wherefore, as Samuel took vengeance  on
    Agag a little before his death, and Mofes (at  God's
    command)  avenged the children of Ifrael of the Midian-
    ites juft,before he was gathered to his people, Num. xxxi.
    2. and dying Sampfon gave  the meft  fatal blow to the
    Philiftines of any he  had given them before ; fo a dying
    Chriftian fhould take  the fevereft  revenge on fin at laft, 
  136       Afflicted Marts  Companion.

  which hath fo  oft through  his life difhonoured God,
  pierced Chrift,  andgrieved his holy fpirit.   It is the laft
  opportunity you will have to Shew  your indignation at it,
  and therefore do it effeaually.
    Again, confider it is old fins unmourned for, that ma-
  ny times keep believers fo much  in the dark,  when they
  come to die, thefe do raife fo many thick clouds about
  their evening fun, and  hinder them from  going off tin
  ftage with fuch comfortable  aflurance of  God's love ai
  otherwife they  might attain to.   Thefe did very much
  hinder Job's  peace and fcttlement, in the day of afflic-
  tion, as he complains Job xiii. 26.  " He makes me to
  poffefs the iniquities of my youth."   It  is a fad thing
  when young fins and old  bones  meet together.  O that
  young people would mind this in time ! you are  doing
  that now which will abide with  you to age, if not to e-
  ternity.   Sin muft be bitter fome time or other, for God
  calls it a root that bears gall and wormwood, Deut. xxix.
  18.  Ifrael could not have peace nor fuccefs while there
  was an  Achan  in the  camp ;  fo  neither  can you have
  confolation or aflurance while any fin lies unreckoned for
 in  the confcience. Make a thorough Search then into old
  fins and mourn over them. We find Paul frequently call-
 ing over the fins of his life, and even  thefe he was guilty of
 before converfion ; " I was injurious, a blafphemer/' &c.
 whereby he maintained much inward peace and confola-
 tion.  Be oft looking back to old fins, with inward forrsw
 and faith  in Chrift's blood, if you  would  have a death-
 bed eafy and foft to you.

 Direct. 111.  Be mindful  of all acts  of jufice nnd charity,
   which may be incumbent upon you at this time.

   IT is great wifdom in  men to fettle their worldly affairs
    in the time of health,-that fo their minds may be free
 for fpiritual exercifes, and not disturbed with earthly cares
and bufmefs when they come to a dying-bed ; but if this
hath been negleded hitherto it muft not be  omited uow.
I have given direaions about it, chap. I. direa. 6, fo that
I Shall Say little here : only be careful  to do juftice to every
man, as much as in you lieth ; and  particularly,  1. By 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.  .'   137

making a juft  and rational pro  ifion for your wife and
children.  2. By ordering payment of all your juft debts,
without defrauding any of your lawful creditors.  3. By
making reftitution in  cafe you have wronged any man.
If juftice be not done in thefe matters how can your fouls
be difburdened of guilt ?
  Tn the next place,  forget not the aas of charity which
God requires of all the profeffors of the  gofpel.
  if.  Seek reconciliation with your neighbours, where
any difference or miftakes have  fallen  in;  that fo you
may die in peace and charity with all about you.
  idly. Be  ready  from  the heart to forgive thefe that
have done  you any  wrong.  If the natural fun fhould not
go down upon  our wrath, much lefs Should  the  fun of
our lives.   If you carry an  unforgiving  fpirit with you
into another world, how can you expea to meet with a
forgiving God there;  when he hath exprefsly declared,
Matth. vi. 15.  " If ye forgive not men their trefpafies
neither will your father forgive your trefpaffes?" O then
imitate your glorious  Saviour and  his  martyr Stephen,
who at their death begged mercy from God, for thofe
that mortally hated them, Luke xxiii.  54. Aas vii. 60.
  $dly. If the  Lord  hath given you fubftance, honour
the Lord with it, by leaving fome part of it to the poor,
and to pious ufes.  I have  preffed this once and again
before; but I mention  it  frequently, becaufe  it  is
much  forgotten by dying perfons in our age.   Remem-
ber, it is not left arbitrary to you to give or not, as you
pleafe:  no,  for God doth charge it upon you as a duty,
yea a  debt  that you  owe  him,   1  Tim.  vi.  17, 18.
" Charge them that are rich in this  world, &c. that they
do good, be rich in good works,  ready  to diftribute."
And he pronounced  them bleffed who confidered the
poor,  Pfal. xli.  1.  I grant that people are not  to  leave
all their works  of charity to a death-bed j thefe fhould
alfo be minded in our  lifetime, fo as to make  our own
hands our  executors,  and our own eyes our overfeers of
our charitable projeas: but Surely it iy a  proper feaSon
for  fltewing charity to  God's poor, when we are leaving
them, and cannot have occafion for Shewing it more. Re-
                        M  2 
138       AJJuc ed Marts  Companion.

member what is recorded of Dorcas  after her  death,
Aas ix. 36. that fhe was a woman  full of good work*
and alms-deeds.  And her friends, verf. 39. Shewed the
tffeas  of her charity to Peter  after  her death.  All
which  is written for  our example and admonition, that
we may be rich in  fuch good works, that our friends may
have them to Show after  our death.   Surely it is a fign  .
of the  degeneracy of this age, and that religion is on the  >
declining  hand,  when people generally fall fo Short of the
zeal and piety of their fathers in his matter.
   A^hly. It would  be a   commendable work of charity in
dying  perlons,  to  be giving many good counfels to their
relations and'Children,  and to be putting many fervent
prayers to God for them. So Chrift, when near to death,
committed his fpiritual children to his Father,  and  ear-
neftlyHiegging his  proteaion and care of them, John xvfi.
 11.   " I am no more in the  world, but thefe are in the
 world: keep them through  thy name, keep them from
 the evil," &c.  In  like manner, cry to God for your chil-
 dren : " Lord,  thou haft gracioufly given them to me, I
 nowreftore them back to thee—They are born to  me
 once,  O  that they may be born to thee a fecond time! I
 am leaving them in the midft of fnares and temptations,.
 O that it may be their happinefs to be preferred in Chrift
 Jefus! Keep them by thy power through faith unto  fal-
 vation.   O  take them within the bond of thy  covenant,
 and be thou their Father, to protea, direa, and provide
 for them.   Give them a name in  thy houfe better than of
 fons and daughters, that I may  meet with them at thy
 lijht  hand with everlafting joy."
    faflly, Be fuitably concerned alfo for the whole church
 of Chrift, and efpecially for thefe that  are in affliaion,
 that God may  loofe their bonds, fend  them liberty and
 profperity in his due time, " Do good in thy good plea-
 fure unto Zion, build  up the  walls of thy  Jerufalcm.
 Peace be within her walls, and profperity within her pal-
 aces." 
         Afflicted^Marts Companion.        139

Direct, iv. Labour what you can to overcome the love of
  life,  and fears of death : that you may attain to willing-
  nefs to  die, and leave the  world when  God calleth you
  to it.

  IT is no wonder that  a wicked man,  or one that hath
    no  i.itercft in Chrift, be unwilling to die :  why, he is
affrighted with  the  guilt of paft fins,  and the  fears of
future  torments ; and  it is impoffible to be rid of thefe
till  he become a true believer  in Chrift.   No man hath
ground to  welcome death but the believer ; yet it is to
be regretted that fo many of them fhould appear unwil-
ling to leave this world, which is nothing  to them but a
wildernefs and weary  land.   Lot's foul  was  vexed and;
troubled in Sodom,  yet he wa& loth to leave it ; fo fome
believers,  when called to leave a  vexing world,  do Shew
much hankering towards  it, and linger  behind.   This
proceeds partly from nature,  which dreads a diflblutionr
and partly from  the weaknefs of grace.   But  O  let all'
God's children labour to overcome this averfion, and go
forth to meet death halfway, and bid it welcome.   And
for their help in this matter,  I fhall lay before them the
following Arguments.-
   if,  Confider how  little reafon a  believer hath to be
much  in love with this prefent life.   i. It is a finful
life; fin dwells in your nature, breaks out in your life, and
pollutes all your duties.   How often have you  groaned
under  -this burden ?  and fhould you not be willing to be
eternally delivered from it ? 2.. It is a life of difeafes and
infirmities, and fhould you not  be glad to be  cured ,of
them all at once ?  3.  It is a life of temptation, fatan is
ftill harrafling thee, and fhould you not be defirous to bc-
out of his reach ? 4. It is a life of perfecutions from the
wicked:  they hate, reproach* and injure you many ways;
and is it not defirable  to  be " where  the wicked ceafe
from troubling, and the weary be at reft?" 5. It is a life
of clouds and darknefs : your fun is often veiled, and your
evidences obfeured, which occafions  many bitter com-
plaints, and fhould you not defire that time when the day
Shall break, and all Shadows fly away ?  6. It is a life o£ 
 140       Afflicted Man's Companion.

 calamities and fears:  It is like a ftormy fea, where one
 wave rolls upon the back of another, and when one cala-
 mity is paft, we many times fear a greater is  coming;
 and Sometimes the heavens turn  fo black and  gloomy,
 that we fear a hurricane of judgments is ready to blow ;
 and Should you not blefs God when he comes, by death,
 to  houfe your fouls, and fet you out of harm's way?  It
 is in mercy that  God takes away the righteous from the
 evil to come,  Ifa. Ivii.  i.   So dealt  he with Jofiah, £
 Kings, xxii. 20.  " I will gather thee to thy fathers, and
 thou fhalt be put into thy grave in peace, and thiae  eyes
 Shall  not  fee all the evil which I fhall bring upon this
 place."  So it is obfervable that Mcthufelah died the ve-
 ry  year before the flood ;  Auguftine a  little  before the
 facking of Hippo; Pareus juft before the taking of Hei-
 delberg.  Luther obferves that all the apoftles  died be-
 fore the deftruaion of Jerufalem.  And Luther himfelf
 died before the bloody wars broke out  in  Germany.
 Thus God  frequently hides his people from the tempta-
 tions and troubles that are coming on the earth.   Why ?
 he  fees many of them not in cafe to endure them ;  and
 therefore he in mercy takes  them away from a tempting
 and finning world, to a land of holmefs and reft.  While
 we are  here, we live in a world that lies in wickednefs;
 every fenfe of  the body betrays the foul into fin ; the
 poor foul can fcarce look out  at the eye, and not be in-
 fected ; nor hear by the ear and not be diftracted; nor
 fmell at the noftrils and not be tainted ; nor tafte at the
 tongue and not be allured;   nor touch by the hand  and
 not be defiled.
   O  believer, what is this life that  thou art fo fond of:
 it is but a living death, or a dying life.   Ti is full of grief
 for things paft, full of labour for things  prefent, and full
 of fears for things future.  The firft part of our life  is
 fpent in folly; the middle part is overwhelmed wi:h cares;
 and the latter part of it i» burdened with infirmities  and
 age.  And what gain we by the prolonging of this life ?
 nothing  but to  do more evil, fee more  evil, and fuffer
more evil.   And fhould a chriftian be unwilling to be rid
 of thofe grievances ? 
           Afflicted Marts  Companion.        141

i     idly  Confider that dying is appointed as the way, anef
; , the only way to glory: there  is no way to enter the pro-
  mife-1 land,  but by crofting the Jordan of death.   And
  fhould not a ftranger defire to  be at home with his friends,
  though he hath a rough way and Stormy fea to pafs? Is
  there any home like  heaven,  where  your incomparable
 . friend Chrift is ?   O what a  happinefs is it to be with
  Chrift, and  to fee him as he is ? how happy do you think
  Peter, James, and John were, in being taken up to mount
  Tabor, to be eye-witneffes  of  their Saviour's transfigura-
  tion ?  but, O believer, death  procures  a greater happi-
  nefs to you;  it ufhers you  to Mount Zion, where you
 , fhall not only fee your Saviour whiter than thefnow, and
'  brighter than the  fan, but ycurfelf transfigured  with
,*;him, made like him, and eternally fecurcd of his prefence.
  The three apoftles faw but two prophets, but you fhall
  fee all the prophetf, all the apoftles, all  the  patriarchs,
  all the martyrs, all the holy perfons you once converfed
  with on earth, and in general all the faints in heaven, each
  of them fliining as the fun;,  and how fweet willtheir com-
  pany be ? O how foon will the trifles of the world vanifh
'  and all its pleafures be forgot, when once the believer gets
  a view of that captivating glory above!  When the Shep-
  herds-heard but fome few notes of the angels fongs, who
 praifed God at the nativity of our Saviour, they prefent-
 1y left their flocks,  and ran to  Bethlehem to behold the
 child Jefus lying in the manger;  but much more caufe
£hath a believer to leave all the pleafures of the world, and
 rmi to behold an  exalted Jefus fitting on the  throne of
Hiis glory, with all his faints and  "angeh, Singing praifes
 around him.
   If Cato and Cleombrotus, two heathens, after reading
 Plato's book of the immortally of the foul, did voluntari-
 ly,  the one fall on his  fword,  the other break his neck
 from a precipcie,that they might the fooner come(as they
[, fancied) to partake of thife joys ;   what a fhame is it for
 Chriftians,  who have a far furer and clearer difcovciy of
 thefe things from God's own book, to be found unwilling-
Uv to enter into thefe heavenly joys, when their blcffed Rcr
ficcmer call*  for them thither ?
 
 1
I
 142       Afflicted Marts Companion.

   3«7y, Confider how willing Chrift was  to come from'fj
heaven to earth for you; and fhould you be unwilling to
remove from earth to heaven for him ? yen, for yourfclvcs,
for the gain is yours ? O did Chrift affume  your nature,
become  obedient  to death, andpurchafe an  inheritance
for you with his blood ; and will you  be backward to go
 and take poffeflion of it ?  O for a  Chrift-like  obedience
•at death!
   Laflly, Confider what a reproach is caft on chriftianity
 by a believer's unwillingnefs to  die.   For christians to
 pray, and fpeak much of Chrift, of heaven and glory, and
 yet be  unwilling to enter into that glory;   what is it but
 a mifbelieving of God,  and  a tempting of Strangers fo
 think there is no reality in'religion ?
    §>uefi. Since  death is not eafy to grapple with, hoV
 Shall  I  attain to this bleffed difpofition, a  willingnefs to
 die?
    Anfw. if. Be frequently putting forth the afts of fi
 'Upon the righteoufnefs of Chrift; 'and believe that Chri
 died  to  bring in  perfea righteoufnefs for believers, that
 they all might be  complete in him.  Now why fliould %
 believer be afraid  to appear before God in Chrift's ritditfrj
 oufnefs, which is  fo pleating and acceptable to him ? Re^
 xiv. 4, 5. they are faid to be without fault before the throne
 of God.  If a believer were to appear before God  in !:(»
 own righteoufnefs, clothed  with his own duties and per-
 formances, it would be dreadful to think  of dying; bit
 to have the white garment of an elder brother to putotf,!
 gives another view of death.  Alas, it is  our neglecting
 the daily exercife of faith in the righteoufnefs of Chrift,
 that  makes the  thoughts of death  To unwelcome-      . j
    idly, When  you  attain to peace  and  reconciliation
 with God, labour to preferve it.   Be flaring and clearing
 accounts  with  God ever)'day,  and watch againft there?
 fins that wound confcience, wafte comfort, and grieve the
 Spirit of adoption.   When we think God is  difpleafcd ,
 with us, we will be afraid of going to him.
    $dly, Study to be more denied to the enjoyments of
 this life, and to ufe them with a holy indifferency; other-
 wife there will be an unwillingnefs to leave thefe tilings; 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.        143

k   tfthly. Labour to be deeply fenfible of the burden of
indwelling fin and corruption, and the workings thereoS
in your  hearts;  and this will  make the thoughts of
death welcome, becaufe it eternally delivers you from it.
   $thly,  Seek further  difcoveries  of the lovelinefs of
Chrift, and the daily exercife and increafe of your foul's
love to him; for  it is the nature of love  to long after
communion with  the perfon that we love.
   6thly,  Make death  familiar  to you by the  frequent
 forethoughts of it.   Retire oft from the world  to think
of dying, when you are in beft health.
   "jthly,  Be much taken up  in the fweet employment cf
praifing God, and exalting  the worthy Lamb that was
i flain; and  this will incline you to be there, where this is
 the continued work.
   Laftly. Be oft thinking-of thefe warnings and forerun-
 ners of death, which God fends to wean your  heart from
i the love  of life, and difpofe you to a willingnefs  to die.
 For this end, God fends manifold difeafes, pains, infirmi-
, ties, wants, ftraits, loffes, croffes, disappointments, &c.
. And in a Special manner, let old people view the forerun-
 ners and harbingers of death, which God fends to prepare
[his way : fuch as the decays  and infirmities of old  age,
which we  have elegantly defcribed in figurative expres-
sions, Ecclef. xii. 2.  " Then the light of the fun,_moon,
'tnd ftars fhall be  darkened;" *.  e. in old perfons, the in-
itellcaual powers and faculties, which are as lights in the
 foul, fhall be weakened.  And then do " the clouds re-
 turn after  rain;" i.e. their diftempers are frequent, like
 a continual dropping in a  rainy day ; and the endyig of
 one is but  the beginning of  another.—Verfe 3.  " Then
 the keepers of the houfe do tremble;"./, e. the head and
 hands which were employed for the prefervatiotr of  the
body do  fhake.—The ftrong men bow themfelves,"  i. e.
 the legs  and thighs which are the pillars of the houfe be-
come weak and feeble.—*' The grinders  ceafe  becaufe
they are few ;" t. e. the teeth  which like the upper and
nether millftone do grind our meat and prepare it for con-
co^ion then ceafe to do their part.—"Thofe  th?t look
1 out of the  windows arc darkened ;" /. e.  the eyes  wax 
 144       Afflicted Marts Companion.

 dim, whereby God calls us to turn them away from be- t
 holding vanity and to look after the things that  are not  ,
 Seen.—Verfe 4.  " The daughters of mufic are brought
 low;" i.e. they  have neither  voice nor  ears; they can
 neither fing themfelves, nor take pleafure in the voice of
 Singing men or women.   Then death pulls us, as it  were
 by the ear, to think on the mufic above.—Verfe 5. " The  s
 almond-tree flourifheth ;" /. e. the hair grows white, like
 the almond-tree  in the bloffom.   And as the  outward
 parts of the body do weaken, and decay? fo alfo do the in-
 ward parts thereof:  therefore it is faid, Verfe  6. "The  •*
 Silver cord fhall be loofed, the  golden bowl broken, the
 pitcher broken at the fountain, the wheel broken at the .
 ciftern;"  i. e. the Silver  cord  of the finews is  loofed,
 which carries the faculty of fenfe and motion  from the  <
 head,  through the body.   The head, which like  a goJd-}j
 en bowl or box, contains the brain,  that  is the foun*^
 tain of fenfe and morion through age is broken, and  turns  -
 crazy.   The  many pitchers of the veins,which carry the ~\
 nourishing blood from the well to  the liver unto each part
 of the body, become like  broken  veffels.   And the
 wheels of the arteries,  which convey the  vital fpirit* ji
 from the heart  to the feveral  members, for quickening  ^
 them begin to turn faint and languid.  All thefe things
 do warn old perfons  to take  their affeaions  off time's
 things, and fet them .upon things above, that they may
 be helped to  fay, we " defire  to depart, and to be with
 Chrift."
  But after all, fome  believers will have objeaions againft
 willingnefs to die, fome whereof I fhall confider.
   ObjeS. 1. ** I am threatened to  be cut off in the flower
 of mine age."
   Anfw.  Inftead of fretting on this account, you ought
 rather to adore and praife a gracious God,  that is willing
 to beftow the  reward of the whole day upon thee,  who
 haft only laboured fome hours of it.  Praife him that  he
 is willing to take you fo foon home ;  whereby you wiH
 prevent much  fin and Sorrow in the world.
   Object. II.  ''I have houfes and lands, and a comforta- '
ble dwelling on the earth." 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.        145

    Anfw. Thefe are only needful in your paffage through.
 the world ;  above there is  no ufe for thefe comforts.
 There God provideth manfions for his people a thoufand
 times more comfortable, John xiv. i.  i Cor. v. i. Surely
 boufes of God's building, and of  Chrift's furnifhing, are
 preferable  to the cottages built hymen's hands.
    Object.  III.  "But I am loth to leave  God's ordinances,
 and tae fweet communion I have had withfiim therein."
    Anfw.  Above there will be no need  of ordinances,
 Sacraments, bibles, or minifters; for the Lamb will be the
 light  of the heavenly temple, and all hid things in religion
 will be difcovered in Chrift's face.  There you will cele-
'. brate an eternal Sabbath,  drink the fruit of the  vine new
 • with  Chrift, be ever with the Lord, without any cloud
 v or interruption of your communion with him.   Is it any
 lof3  to be taken from the  fhallow ftreams, and Set by the
 fountain that is ever full and running  over ?
"*'   Object. IV. " I am loth to leave the company of godly
. friends and relations."
    Anfw. Death  will take you  to your friend Chrift,
u that is far better than them all.  And  for one friend you
. Jofe upon earth, you fhall find an hundred inheaven; and
> the£e godly relations you leave here,  you Shall foon meet
  with them again there ; where you will have far fweeter
 -communion than  poffibly you can have, upon earth with
  them, or the beft of men,  who, while here, have Several
  infirmities and paffions, that many times make their con-
 i! "verfe uncomfortable.
 ^   Object. V.  " But I would fain  fee the  glory  of Zion
  upon earth, when God's promifes to her fhall be accom-
  plifhed."
    Anfw. So Mofes would fain have had Ifrael's happi-
  nefs in the promifed land: but his dying in the firm belief
 x>f God's fulfilling all his  promifes to them  there, was
  more acceptable to God,  than his beholding the perforn-
 ( ance.  And the glory of the church militant is a fight
  nothing  comparable to that of the  church triumphant
  above.
    Object. VI.  " But I  would incline to ftay to do God
N 
146        Afflicted Marts Companion.

more fervice in his church below, whole  ncccfiities are
claimant."
   Anfw. i •  You will not want opportunity  for  fencing
and glorifying God above, and where you will be in far
better cafe for it.  Here our hearts are oft out of tune for
God's work, and  we are forced to hang our harps upon*
the willows ; but above there are no willows to hang them
on ;  no faint there will ever complain of any indifpoiitiott  \
of heart or tongue.                                   1
   idly. God knows  the  neceflities of his church,  and is  '
more  concerned  for  them than thou eanftbc; and it is
cafy for him to raife up inftruments to carry on his work
when thou art gone.
   Object. VII. " I am afraid of the  pain  and pangs of
death.  The thoughts of thefe make me fhrink back."
   Anfw. ift. Many  die without much  Seeming fenfe of  \
pain, and it is probable have lefs pain at the hour of death,
than they have felt under feveral former difeafes.
   idly. If they  be fharp, they are foon over; and each
pang  of death  will fet  fin  a Step  nearer   the  door,
and  thy foul a  Step  nearer  home:  and therefore  it be-  ,
cometh a Chriftian to die cheerfully, and to be glad when
he can find the grave.
   Now, what I have faid in this  chapter is to the be-
lieving foul: for it is no wonder though the fouls of the
ungodly,  at death, fhrink back into the body, and trem-
ble to go forth,  when they can have no profpea of any
better lodging than utter darknefs.

Direct, v. Study to imitate the ancient worthies, by dying
                       in faith.                        ,

     THIS was the charaaer and epitaph of the old Tef-  <
      tament  faints, Heb. xi. 13. " Thefe  all died ia
faith."   As they  had  lived by  faith, l'o they  died ia  •
faith.  They  not  only  continued true believers to the  '■
laft,  dying in the ftate of Saith, but they died in the ex-
ercife of faith alfo.    Now, the exercife of faith in dying
includes feveral things, worthy to be imitated by all df- >
ieg believers.
   if, An open  and  prufeffed adherance to  the dearie 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.       147

of faith,  and truths of chriftianity.  This faith all Chrif-
tians fhould  zealoufly own in the view of death, and per«-
fevere in it to the laft without wavering.  This would be
to die like martyrs,  though we  die in our  beds.   How
fteadfaftly did old Polycarp  adhere  to  Chrift and his
truths to the laft, and fo died in faith !   When he was
urged by the proconful  to  deny Chrift,  he anfwered,
" Thefe fourfcore and fix years  have I ferved  him, and
he never once offended me :  and how  fhall I now deny
him ?"
   idly,  Dying in faith imports  an inward,  hearty, and
firm  belief  of the fundamental  articles of the chriftian
faith : and improving  them  fo, as to make them the
foundation of our comfort and hope at the hour of death.
As for inftance, we muft yield  our departing fouls, in
the firm belief of  their living and exifting in a Separate
condition aftef this life,  and  of that future ftate of blef-
Sednef3 and reft which God hath prepared  for all believ-
er?.   Again, we  muft difmifs the body to the grave, in
a firm belief and hope of a joyful refurreaion at the  laft:
day.   Thus that holy  man,  Job, both lived and died ih
faith, Job xix. 25, 26, " I know that my redeemer liv-
eth, and that he  Shall  Hand  at  the latter  day upon the
earth.  And though after my fkin, worms deftroy this
body, yet in my flefli I  fhall See God."   A Chriftian
then dies in  faith,  when he  believes thefe  truths fo,  as
cheerfully to obey  God's call, and venture into the in-
vifible world, upon the teftimony which God hath given
concerning it:  as Abraham did  in  going  out to an un-
known land, Heb. xi. 8.  " By faith Abraham, when he
was called to go out into a place which  he fhould after
receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went out, not
knowing whether he went."                     t
   $dly,  The believer dies in faith, when he makes frefh
application to Chrift as his only  hope  and Saviour, takes
him in his arms of faith, as old Simeon did before his
death, faying,  " In the Lord  Chrift I have righteouf-
nefs and  ftrength ;" though  I have neither righteoufnefs
nor'ftrength in myfelf, yet I have both in him, my blef--
fed furety and redeemer.  We  have many ufes for faith 
148       Afflicted Marts Companion.

in Chrift at the hour of death.   By faith we muft depend  »
»pon Chrift's blood for making atonement, and wafiunr
away the guilt of all our bypaft fins.  By faith we muft
put on the  righteoufnefs of Chrift for covering our naked
fouls, when they  are to appear and Hand before God.—
By faith we muft  rely on Chrift  for ftrength to Suffer
pain,  refift temptations,  and  conquer death and all our
enemies.  By faith we muft look to Chrift as our leader,  <
and truft him for our fafe cond»a through the dark vaU
ley of death,  and for fafe landing on the  fhore of glory.
   Aithly, The believer dies in  faith, when he trufts his
departing foul with confidence in his Redeemer's hand,
faying with Paul,  2 Tim. i. 12.  "I know whom I have
believed, and I am perfuaded  that he is able to keep that
which I have committed to him againft that day." This ,^
was the  Pfalmift's practice,  Pfal. xxxi. 5.  " Into thy
hand I commit my fpirit ; for thou haft redeemed me,
O  Lord God of truth."   So the man that dies  in faith,
commits the jewel of his foul  to his Redeemer's keeping,
and confides in his care of it.  Why, he made it,  he
hath redeemed it, he loves it, it is his  own,  a  member
of his  body, and he will not hate his own fiefh.  He  \
loves his dying faints much better than we love an  eye,
a hand, or any other member of our body, which, to he
Sure, we will not loofe,  if it  be  in our power to fave  it.
    $thly, Dying  in faith imports, that  the  dying faint
confides in God's faithfulnefs  and truth for making good
all thefe promifes to his church and people after his death,
which  are not yet accomplifhed.   We fhould go off the
Stage in the firm belief of God's fulfilling all his promi-
fes concerning the profperity of his church,  the calling
of the Jews, the  deftruaion of Antichrift, and the  fe-
 cond^ coming of our Lord ; and likewife concerning our  .
families, that God will be as  good as his word,  and be a
father to the fatherlefs,  and a hufoand to the  widow.
    Would  we then be fo happy as to cie in faith, let us
 take thefe advices.
    if,  Let us  be careful to  get  faith  beforehand :  for
 death is a  time to ufe faith,  not to get it.  They were 
          Afflicted Mart's Companion.        119

 foolifh virgins who  had their oil to buy when the  bride-
 groom was come.
    idly, Study to  live every  day in the exercife of faith,
 and be ftill improving and making ufe of Chrift,  in all
 his offices, and for all thefe ends and ufes for which God
 hath given him to believers.
    $dJy, Be  frequently clearing up your evidences for
 heaven, and beware of letting fin blot  them to you.
    ifthly, Record and lay  up the experiences of God's .
 kind  dealings with you,  and be often  refleaing  upon
 them, that you may  have  them ready  at hand in the
' hour  of death.
    Lafly, Meditate  much on thefe  promifes which have
 been fweet and comfortable  to you in  the time of Strait ;
 and beg that  the Lord may bring them to your remem-
 brance when you come to die.

 Direct,  vi.  Set the examples of other dying flints  before'
    you,  andfudy in like manner  to fine in grace, heaven-
    ly difcourfe, and  be  exemplary in piety,  and for the glo-
    ry  of God, and good of fouls, when you  are going off
    the fl age.

       THIS is  the laft opportunity you  have of doing fer-
        vice to  God, and the  intereft of religion ; wfiere-
| fore Strive to improve;it dilligently for the honour of God,
 and the edification, of thofe that  furvive .you.   How,
 pleafantis it to fee God's people leaving the world, com-
  mending Chrift  andiits fervice, and perfuming the place
 they  lie in with their laft breath! I have, Chap. III. Di-
 rect. 5. and 6. adduced feveral modes  to prefs this point,
 and given dircaions concerning the fpeech and behaviour
 of the children of God when on fick-heds, which I fjmil
 not repeat.
    That which I defign here is, to Set  before you the ex-
 amples of fome eminent faints, and their examplary, piou*
 and holy f peeches and Sayings,  when they were a-dying ;
> and that in order to confirm and eftablifh others in reli-
* gion, and alfo to excite them to imitate thefe fhining wor--
J  ttiies when they alfo come to die.   Surely it is for this
'  very  end, that God  hath ordered U3  to  be compafled a-

L_l_                   N *              ____L 
1 SO       Afflicted Man's Companion.

bout with fo great a cloud of witneffes,  Heb. xii. 3.—  *
Thus doth the apoftle improve  their example, Heb. xi.
And  how earneft is he in this matter ? Heb. vi.  II. tz.
" And we defire, that every one of you do fhew the fame
diligence, to the  full affurance of  hope unto the end:   t
that ye be not Slothful, but followers of them, who thro'
faith  and patience inherit the promifes."
   I fhall begin with fome examples from the  facred hif-
 tory  ; and,  in the firft place, with  the  King of faints,
 our Lord Jefus Chrift.  O  how fweet and comfortable
 were his difcourfes  unto his  difciples,  when his death
 drew nigh !  and what a heavenly prayer  did he make for
 them, and all his elea ones at that time ! Thefe we have
 recorded in the  14th,  15th, 16th, and 17th chapters of
 John .  which are moft feafonable at all  times for us to
 read end meditate  upon, but efpecially when  death is
 approaching.   And likewife let  us read  the hiftory of
 our  Lord's pafiion,  in which we may obferve the  won-  \
 derful expreffions of his faith in God,  his patience under  1
 fufferings,  bis pity to his enemies, his love to his mother "
 and  his difciples,; his concern for his Father's glory,  his  J
 obedience in his death,, and his willingnefs  to be offered ■
 up.   Thus the  bleffed  Sun of  righteoufnefs did Shine
 forth moft glbrioufly  at  his  Setting, with the radiant
 beams of his heavenly  graces and virtues ;  and herein he
 hath fet himfelf a pattern to all  dying  faints to the end
 of the world;
    Jace>b, when he was- on his death bed, called his fons
 together,  and gave them many fpecial  charges and blef-
 fings ;  we  have his excellent words recorded  in Gen.
 xlviii. and xlix. chapters.  And in particular, how fweet-
 ly doth he fpeak of the coming of the Mefliah to them ?
 Gen. xlix.  to. 18.   And  how  affeaionately doth he
 commend God's goodnefs and kind providence towards
 him through his life ? Gen. xlviii. 1 e,  16.  " The God
 yvhich fed  me all my life long unto this  day," &c.
    Jofeph,  when he was a-dying, fpoke lovingly to his
 brethren, who had  dealt cruelly with him; and affured
 them of the Lord's, faithfulnefs in keeping his promife 
          Affliaed Marts Companion.        151

  to their fathers, Gen. 1. 20.  " I die, and God will fure-
  ly vifit you, and bring you out of this land."
     Mofes,  when he was to go up to mount Nebo to die
  there, left many bleffings, and gave many weighty  charv
  ges to the children of Ifrael; we have his holy and rav-
  riliing words recorded, Deut. xxxii. and xxxiii. chapters,
  And particularly how pleafantly doth he commend God,
  and his  ways to the people ?  Deut.  xxxii.  4.  " He is
  the Rock,  his work is perfea :  for ail his  ways are
  judgment ; a God of truth, and without iniquity, juft
  and right is he."
     Jofhua, when he was near his  end, gave many folemn
* charges and exhortations to  the  people, which we have
,'• narrated, Jpfh, xxiii. and xxiv. chapters.  And  there  we
  may fee the remarkable methods  he takes  to rivet im-
1  preffions and conviaions upon them,  now  when he can
  inftnia them no longer.  And, particularly, he appeal*
  to their confciences concerning the  faithfulnefs of God
  in keeping his word to them, that  fo he  might engage
>  them to fidelity to him, Jofh. xxiii. 14.  " And behold,
  this day I am going the way of all  the earth, and ye
  know in all your hearts  and in  all your fouls,  that not
  one thing hath  failed of  all the good things which the
l! Lord your God fpake concerning you."
¥    David, when his end was near,  affembled the people,
  and folemnly charged them, as in the audience of God,
   to keep his commandments, 1 Chron. xxviii. 8, 9. And
   particularly, he charged his fon and fucceffor Solomon,
   to " know the God of his father, and to ferve  him with
   a perfea heart, and with  a willing mind."
     The apoftle Paul, when taking his laft farewell of the
   elders of Ephefus,  he  moft folemnly charges  them,  to
   "take heed to themfelves, and the flocks over which the
   Holy Ghoft had made them overfeers," Aas xx. 28.—-
   And how fweetly doth he fing in the view  of approach-
   ing death ! 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8..  "  I. am now ready to be
   offered, the time of my departure is at  hand.  I have
   fought a good fight, I have finifhed my courfe, 1 have
;   kept the faith.   Henceforth there is laid up'for me a
    crown of righteoufnefs, which the  Lord, the  righteous. 
152      Afflicted  Marts Companion.

Judge Shall give me at that day; and  not to me only,
bnt unto them alfo that love his appearing."
  In imitation of thefe  fcripture  faints,  the  people of
God in  all ages have ftudied to glorify God and edify
men at their death, by commending God  and godlinefs
to their friends  and families.   Thefe we ought to teach
by our example,  both how to live and how to die, as
others have  done before us.   Thus Said  once a dying
faint to his family, " I have formerly taught you how to
live, and now I teach you how to die."
  Now, becaufe in all ages the fpeeches of dying Chrif-
tians have been much obferved, and God hath remarkably
bleffed  them  to  the eftablifhment  and  confirmation,
quickening and exciting  of others to  imitate  them; I
fhall bring feveral examples  from human histories and
writings,  and moftly from Clark's Lives,  of fundry emi~
nent Saints,  whofe graces have Shone brighteft,  and their
fpeeches were moft heavenly,  when the fun of their life
was at the Setting.,
   i. That old difciple,   Polycarp, when  he came to the
flake at which  he was burnt, defired  to  ftand untied,
faying,  " Let  me alone, for he that gave me ftrength
to come to  the fire,  will give me  patience to endure the
flame without your tying."
   i. So  holy  Cyprian triurr^hed over  death, Saying,
"'Let'him  only fear death, who muft pafs  from this
death to the fecond death."  When he heard the Sen-
tence of  death  pronounced' aga'mft him, he  faid,  " I
thank God for freeing me from  the. prifon of this body."'
   3. Bafil,  when the emperor Valens fent his officers to
tempt him with great preferments  to turn  from the faith,
he rejeaed  them with fcorn, faying,  "  Y'ou may offer
thefe things to  children."   And when they threatened
him with fufferings,  Ire  faid,  " threaten your  purple
gallants xvith thefe things, that give themfel./s to their
pleafures."
  When Modeftus the perfea threatened Eafil, to con-
fiscate lis goods, to torment him, to banifh him or kilt
him, he anfwered, "  he need  not fear confiscation,  that
bad nothing to  loofe  : sor banifhment,' to whom heavea 
            Afflicted Marts  Companion.      155

  on3y is a country :  nor torments, when his body  would
  he daflied with one blow :  nor death, which is the only
  way to fet him at liberty."   The perfea  telling him he
  was mad,  faid,  Opto me in eeternun%, fc detirare, I wifh I
  may forever be thus mad.
    4.  Ignatius being led from Syria to  Rome to be torn
  in pieces of wild beafts, he expreffed h'n fear left it fhould
  happen to him as to fome others,  that the lions out of a
  kind of reverence, would not  dare to touch him.  And
  therefore he oft wifhed, "  that their appetites might be
  whetted to difpatch him.   For (faid he)  the lions teeth
  are  but like a mill,  which though it bruifeth, yet wafteth
  not the good wheat,  only prepares and fits it to be made
  pure bread.   Let  me be broken by them, fo I may be
  made pure manchet for heaven."
    j.  The great Mr. Knox, our reformer, when he lay a
,  dying, was much in prayer, ever crying,  " Come Lord
  Jefus ; fweet Jefus, into thy hands I commend my fpirit."
  Being afked by thofe that  attended him, if his pain was
  great ? he  anfwered, " That  he did not efteem that a
  pain, which would be to him the end of all trouble, and
  the beginning of eternal joys."  Oft times,  after fome
  deep meditations, he faid,  " O ferve the Lord in fear,
  and death  fhall not be  terrible to you;  Bleffed is the
  death of thofe that have  part in the death of Jefus."
    After a fore  temptation from Satan,  (which'I former-
  ly mentioned) over which he triumphed at length, he faid,
  ♦'Now the enemy is gone away  afhamed, and fhall no more
  return.   I am Sure now my battle is  at an end, and that
  without pain of body, or trouble of fpirit, I fhall fhortly
  change this mortal and miferable life, with that happy
  and immortal life which fhall never have an end."  After
  one had prayed for him, he was afked whether he heard
  the prayer ? he anfwered, " Would to God you had heard
  it with fuch an ear and heart as  I have done! adding,
  Lord Jefus, receive my fpirit."   With  which  words,
  without any motion of hands or feet, as one falling afleep,
  rather than dying, he ended his life.
    6. Dr. Gouge,  when he was old and  dying was fore
  affliaed  with the  ftone, and other painful maladies j yet 
154      Afflicted Marts Companion.

though by reafon of hi: pains he was oft heard to groan,  4
he never once grumbled againft the difpenfations of God.
He never cried out, a great fufferer, but oft, a great finntr:  -i
yet ftill  comforted himfelf, that there is a great Saviour.
In his greateft torments he would fay,  " Well, yet in all
thefe there is nothing of hell, or of God's wrath.  0 my
foul, be filent, be patient:  it is thy God and Father that
thus orders thine  eftate.   Thou  art his  clay ; he  may
tread and trample  upon thee as he  pleaseth ; thou haft  J
deferved much  more.   It  is  enough that thou art kept  '
out of hell; though thy pains be  grievous, yet they are
not intolerable, thy God affords  fome intermiffions; he  j
will tnrn it to thy good, and at length  put an end to all;
and none of thefe comforts can be expeaed in hell." In
his greateft pains, he oft ufed holy Job's  words,  " ShaH  '
we receive good from the hands of the  Lord, and not evil
alfo ?"  When any of his friends  would have comforted
him, with telling him of his eminent gifts and fervice in  '
the miniftry, he would anfwer, " I dare not think of any
fuch thing for comfort: only Jefus Chrift, and what he  I
hath done and endured, is the ground of my furecomfort."  ,
The thoughts of death were pleafant to him, which he- \
often t«rmed, his beft  friend, next unto  Jefus  Chrift, 1
And he would blefs God, that he  had nothing to do but •
to  die.
  7. I have read of another minifter under the like extreme
pains.   When he  was  afked, how he did ? his frequent  ;
anfwer  was, " The bufh always burning, but not confum-  .]
ed ; though my pains are above  the ftrength of nature,  ^
yet they are not above the  fupports of grace."   He
would pray, " Lord drop comfort into thefe bitter waters  •<
of Marah.   Let the blood of Sprinkling which extinguifh-
eth the  fire of thine anger, allay my burning pain.   Oh
if my patience were more, my pains would be lefs; Lord,  *
give me patience, and inflia what thou  wilt.  This is a' ''
fiery chariot, but it will carry me  to heaven.  O my God,
break open the  prifon door, and fet my poor captive foul-
free: I  defire to be diffolved,  but  enable me  willingly to
wait thy time."  He would  again  cry, " When  fhall
the time come, that I fhall neither fin more,  nor  ferrow  / 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.       155

  more: Lord,  keep me from difhonouring thy name  by
  impatience.  Oh, who would  not,  even  in burnings,
  have honourable  thoughts of God !  Lord, thou gaveft
  me no occalion to have hard thoughts of thee.  Bleffed
  be God, for the  peace of mine inward man, when  my
  ■outward man is fo full of trouble.   This is a bitter cup,
  but it is of  my  Father's mixing; and  fhall I not then
  drink it?"
    8. Mrs. Jean Aflcew, who was a martyr in king Henry's
  reign,  to her confeffion in Newgate fhe thus fubfcribed ;
li* Written  by me  Jean  Afkew,  that neither  wifheth
•'death,  nor feareth its might, and as  merry as one bound
,  towards heaven."  When the chancellor  fent her letters
Lat the Stake, offering her the king's pardon, if fhe would
 •recant; fhe refufedto look upon them, gave this anfwer:
  " That fhe came not hither to deny her Lord andMafter."
    9. Mr. James Bainham, when  he was at the  flake in
  the  midft of the  burning  fire, which had  half confumed
 j, his legs and arms, fpake thefe words ;  " O ye  Papifts!
 ' behold ye look for miracles, and here now ye may fee a
  miracle ; for in this fire 1 feel  no  more pain,  than if I
i were in a bed of down; it is to  me as a bed of rofes."
^   10.  John Lambert, as he was burning  in Smithfield,
,  and his legs were quite confumed with the fire, he  lifted
  up his hands, his fingers  flaming  like  torches,  but  his
  heart abounding  with  comfort, crying out, "None but
  ■Chrift,  none but Chrift."
    n.  Mr. Robert Glover, a little before his death, had
  loft the fenfe of God's favour, for  which he was in great
r  heavinefs and forrow ; but when he came within  fight of
. the flake at  which he was to fuffer, he was on a  fudden
  fo filled  with  divine comfort,  that,  clapping  his hands
1  together,  he cried out to his Servant,  " He  is come,  he
  is come;" and fo died moft cheerfully.
    12.  It was a faying of  Auguftine,1 " Boughs  fall  off
•  trees, and ftones out  of  buildings;  and  why fhould it
  feem ftrange that mortal men die ?"
    13.  Mr. John  Dodd had a violent fever,  that there
  was but little hope of his life; yet  at length his phyfician
 coming to him, faid,  " Now I have hope of your recove- 
 156       Afflicted Marts  Companion.

ry."  To whom Mr.  Dodd anfwered, You think  to  /
comfort me with this, but you make my heart fad.  It is
as if you fhould tell one who had been fore weather-beat-
en at fea. aud conceiving he was now arrived at the haven
where his foul longed to be, that he muft go back again
to be toffed with new winds and waves."
  He would often fay in his ficknefs, "I am not afraid to
look death in  the face.   I can fay, Death where is thy
fting ?  death cannot hurt me."  He ufed to fay, "The
knowledge of two things would make  one willing to die,  •
viz. What heaven  is, and that it is mine." " Yes, (Said*
one) if a man were fure of that." To whom he anfwered,
" Truly affurance is to be had ; and what  have  we been
doing  all this while ?"
   Some others of the fayings of  this holy man were fo   ,
 pithy and remarkable, I cannot pafs them here.         y
   Once Mr. Dodd coming to  vifit a godly  minifter on£|
 his death-bed, who was much oppreffed with melanchop'l
 ly, and complained to him, faying,  " O Mr. Dodd, what
 will you fay of him who is going out of the  world, and
 can find no comfort ?"  To whom Mr. Dodd anfwered,  \
 " What will you fay of our Saviour Chrift,  who, when
 he was going out of the world, found no comfort, but
 cried out, My God, my God, why haft thou forfakeH  [
 me?"—He Said of affliaions, "they are God's portions,
 which we may fweeten by faith and faithful prayer) but
 we, for the moft part, make them bitter, putting into
 God's cup the evil ingredients of our impatience and un-
 belief.—He calls death the friend of grace, though it be
 the enemy of nature;  for whereas the word  facraments,
 and prayer, do but weaken fin, death kills it." He ufed
 to Say, "A man is never in a hard condition, unlefs he
 have a hard heart,  and cannot pray."   He  inilructed
 Chriftians how they fhould never have a great nor lafting
 affliaion,  and that was, by looking upon  the things that
 are not feen, which are eternal, 2 Cor. iv. 17,  18.   1 or
 what can be great to him that counts the world n«;th'.. ??
 And what can  be long to him th'.t accounts his  lit-.  X
 a fpan long ?—When he faw  a  Chriftian look fad, 1 c
 would fay as Jonadab did to Aranon,  " Art thou a king's 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.        157

  fin,  and lookeft fo  ill?"  And when fuch  complained
  to him cf their loffes and croffes, he would ufe the words
,  of EHphaz to Job,  " Do the confolations of God feem
f fmall unto you ? God hath .taken from you your children,
  your goods,  &c. but he hath not taken from you him-
t  felf,  his Chriit, nor his Spirit, nor heaven,  nor eternal
  life/'
     To a friend of his that rofe from a mean to a great ef-
  tat", he fent word, " That this was but -.s  if he  fliould
  go out of a boat into a barge or Snip ; but he ought fcri-
  oufly to remember,  that whilft he was in this world, he
  was but upon the floating fea.
     He oft faid, " That if it were lawful to envy any, he
  v.i ild envy thofe that turn to God in their youth, where-
  by they efcape much fin and forroiv,  and arc like Jacob,
  that  ftole the bJeffing betimes.  He ufed to compare re-
|> proofs given in paffion, to fcalding potions, which the pa-
"r tient could not take down; in reproofs we fliould labour
pr for mee-kuefs of wifdom, ufing Soft words and hard argu-
fe «nents.
'     He was a moft  popular miniftcr, but much perfecu-
  ted.   Once  he took a journey to fee his father-in-law,
  Mr. Greenham, and to bemoan himfelf to him, upon ac-
L count of his croffes and hard ufage.   Mr. Greenham, ha-.
  vjng heard all  he could fay, anfwered him thus: " Son,
  fon,  when affliaion lieth heavy, fin lieth  light."   Mr.
  Dodd ufed oft to blefs God  for this fpeech, faying, " If.
  Mr.  Greenham had bemoaaed him as he cxpeaed, he
P had done him much hurt."  He forgot not this  faying
'-" in his old age,  but made excellent ufe of it  for himfelt
; and others,
<    14.  Oecolampadius, that  famous divine of Switzer-
  land, when lying on his death-bed, and being  afked,
> whether the light did not offend him? he anfwered, point-
I iag to his brcait, Hie fat lucis,  " Here  is abundance of
  light;"  meaning of comfort and joy.   He  afked one of
  his friends,  What  news? His friend  anfwered, none.
t Then,  faith he,  I  will tell you fome news;  I fhall  pre-
I fently be with my Lord Chrift.
I    15.  A certain godly man patting through his laft fick- 
158       Afflicted Marts Companion.

nefs  with extraordinary calmnefs  of confcience, being
afked by fome of his friends about it,  he anfwered, that
he had ftedfaftly fixed his heart upon that fweet promife,
Ifa. xxvi. 3.  " Thou wilt keep him  in perfea peace
whofe mind is ftaid on thee ; becaufe he trnfteth in thee."
And  my God,  Said he, hath gracioufly made  it fully
good unto  my foul.
   16.  Mr. Robert Bolton, minifter at Bronghton,  well
kr.own by his writings, in the time of his laft ficknefs,
which was long and fharp, he  often breathed out thefe
words :  " Oh, when will  this good hour come ? when
fhall I be diffolved ?  when fhall 1 be with Chrift ?" Being
told, that to be diffolved was indeed better for him, yet
it would be  better for  the church that he  would flay
lyre ; he anfwered, " If I fhall find favour in the eyes
of the Lord, he will bring me again, and fhew me both
it and his habitation ;  but if otherwife, lo,  here I am,
let him do what feemcth him good in his eyes."  Being
afked by another, if he could not be content to live, if it
pleafed God ? he anfwered, " I grant that life is  a great
bleffing  of God, neither will I negka  any  means that
may preferve it ; and do heartily  fubmit to God's will ;
but of the  two,  I infinitely defire more to be  diffolved,
and to be  with Chrift."  He  bade all that came to fee
him, make Sure of Chrift  before they came to die, and
look upon the  world now as a  lump of vanity.   He en-
couraged the minifters that came to him, to  be dilligent
and courageous in  the work  of the  Lord, and not to
 faint nor droop for  any affliaion that fhould arife there-  «i
upon.
   When he found himfelf very weak, he called for his   ■<
 wife and children.   He defired her to bear his diffolution,
 which was now at hand,  with a Chriftian fortitude,  a
 thing he had been preparing   her  for  by the  fpace of
 twenty  years ;  and bade her make no doubt  but fne
 fhould meet him again in heaven.   He exhorted his chil-  '
 dren to  remember thefe things he had frequently told
 them before ;  adding,  " That he hoped and believed,
 that none of them durft think  to mee^ him at that great
 tribr.r-.jl in an unregenerate ftate." 
         Afflicted Marts  Companion.        159

   Some of his parifh coming to watch with him,  it was
 moved, that as by his doarine he had difcovered to them
 the exceeding comforts that were in Chrift, fo he would
 now  tell them what he felt in his own foul.   " Al$s,"
 faid he,  " do you look for that of me now,  that wants
 breath and ftrength to fpeak ?  I have told you enough
 in my miniftry ; but yet to fatisfy  you, I am, by the
 wonderful  mercies of God, as full  of comfort as my
 heart can hold ; and I  feel nothing in my foul but Chrift,
 with whom  T heartily defire to be."  And  obferving
 fome weeping, he looked to  them and faid, "  Oh, what
■ a deal ado there is before one can die."
   When* the pangs of death  were upon him, being told,
,that fome  of  his  dear friends were ^bout  him,  to take
 their laft farewel, he   caufed himfelf to be raifed up in
 his bed  ;  and after a  few  gafpings for breath, he Said,
 " I am  now drawing on  apace to my diffolution  ; hold
. out, faith  and patience, your work will fpeedily be at an
 end."   And  then fliaking them  all  by the hands, he
 prayed  heartily  ar.d particularly for them, and defired
 them to make fure of  heaven, and to bear in mind what
 he had formerly told them  in his miniftry,  protefting to
 them, that the doarine he  had preached to them for the
 Space of twenty years  was the truth of God, as he Should
 anfwer  it  at  the tribunal of Chrift,  before  whom he
=- fhould fhortly appear.
   When he was Struggling with death, a veiy dear friend
 taking him by the hand, afked  him if he felt not much
 pain ? " Truly no (faid he)  the greateft  I feel is your
 cold hand."
   17. Mr. John Holland, agodly minifter,  continued
 his ufual praaice of expounding the fcripture in his fam-
 ily to the laft ; and the day before  his death he called for
 a bible,  and caufing another to read the 18th chapter of
 Romans,  he difcourfed upon it,  verfe by verfe ; but on v.
 fudden he  faid,  "O flay your reading ; what brightnefs
 is this I fee ?  have  you  lighted up any candle ?"  A
 ftandcr by faid no, it is the fudffhine,  (for it was about
 five o'clock in  a  clear fummer's evening) " Sunfhine,
 faid he,  nay, it is my  Saviour's ftinfhine^   Now farewe! 
160       Afflicted Marts Companion.

world ;  welcome heaven ; the day-ftar  from on  high
hath vifited my heart :  O fpeak it when I am gone, and
preach it  at my  funeral; God  dealeth familiarly with-
man ; I feel his mercy, I fee his majefty ; whether in t*r.c
body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God he knoweth ;
hut I fee things that are Unutterable."   And in this rap-
ture he continued till he died.
   18.  I knew not long ago, an  eminently godly man,
G. M. that fell into feveral fuch  extraordinary  raptures
Sometime before his death, fuch as hi? bodily ftrength and
fpirit were not able to fupport under, though he had no
ficknefs.  Sometimes he was fo fwatlowed up and over-
come by the  manifeftations of God's love to his few),
that his words could not be well underftood ; his natural
colour, heat,  and ftrength,  would fo go off, that all
about  him would conclude him to be dying : but  when
he was able to get words uttered, they were fo heavenly
and ravifhing concerning the love of Chrift,  and freedom
of grace,  that by-ftanders could  not hear him without
weeping.   Sometimes minifler*,  when they came to vifit
him,  and found him in thefe raptures,  were forced to
turn all their prayers in hi* behalf into praifes ;  except*
fome petitions they would put  up to God, " That he
might gracioufly Spare nnd be tender of  his weak bor'y,
asd enable him to bear that load  of loving kindnefs God
was pleafed to let out to him,  and which his prefent bod-
ily ftrength was not fufflciefit for."   Yea,  they  would
be put to  cry, " Lord, if it be thy will,  hold thy hand,
for he is  but a  clay veffel; this  new wipe will burft the
old bottle ; preferve  him  in  life as a monument  of the
rich grace of God, for the  conviaion of Atheifts  and
carnal people, and for the confirmation  of the faith of
the children of God."—Sometimes he  would.cry in ab-
rupt expreflions,  " O angels  ! help me to praife him  !
O faints admire his love, and wonder  at him. —Again,
O flames of love ! my  foul   feeth Chrift! the heavens
open !  I fee a throne, and the Lamb in the midft of  the
throne! O what think ye of Chrift ?  my foul breathes,
breathes towards him !  my  fpirit is exhaled out  of me
by the manifestations of God !"   He ufed frequently to 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.        161

  fay with a heavenly air to his friends, " O what think ye
  of Chrift?"  When his ecftacy did Somewhat abate, fi>
  that  he attained  a  pleaSant cahnnefs  of  thought,  and
  freedom of fpeech, he would  difcourfe of the myfteries
  of religion, the clc-aing  love of God, the freeelom of
 • grace,  the unfearchable riches of Chrift,  and the glori-
  ous contrivance of redemption through  his death and fac-
  rifice; I fay, he would talk of all thefe things more like an
  angel than a man.,  For fuch was his heavenly eloquence,
  fluency of words, and facility  of fpeaking  upon thefe
  Subjects,  (which olherwife was  not natural to him) that
  thofe who came  to  fee him were exceedingly furprifed
if and aftonifhed to hear him.  His body gradually weak-
  ened under thefe raptures  of fpirit, and he longed much
  to be off the world, becaufe  he thought he could be fo
  little  ufeful in it for  advancing God's  honour.   He
  reckoned  himfelf bound  to  improve   the fhort time he
  was like to have  here, in commending Chrift and religion
  to all that he had accefs to,  aud alfo  to admonifh them
P of any thing he knew amifs in them, which he  did moft
  eonvincingly.  And  having occafion to fee fome who
  vilipended the eftablifhed church and the ordinances, and
  told them, that from his own  fweet experience he could
  fay, that God  was to be  found in them.  He feemed to
  ha»c fin wonderfully mortified ;  for he  complained of no
  other heart-plague but felf, and it was  his great exercife
  to get felf wholly fubdued ; he purfued it through many
  of its windings and lurking place?, and  after all he would
  regret his little fuccefs againft it.  "For (faid he) when
  I am in my moft elevated frames,  and admitted to the
  neareft accefs to my Redeemer,  that  Subtle enemy felf
  will enter in with me, and offer to pull the crown off his
,  head before my face."
     Once after hearing a fermon on Pfal. Ixxxv. 8. " I will
P hear  what God the Lord  will fpeak,"  he broke out  in a
  rapturous difcourfe toons that came to fee him,#bleffing
  God that he had fpoke to him in that fermon.  " And
  0 (faid he) what am I that the  Rock of Ifrael fhould
  have fpoke to  me thefe  three fermo;i-days  bygone, af-
\ hiring me that all ny fins are  forgiven !  What am I, a 
162       Afflicted Marts Companion.

vile worm, that he fhould be fo kind and condefcendingy
as to difcover Chrift  and  heaven in fuch a manner to me,
and affure  me  that I will Shortly be with him !  Oh I
thought that I had  finned him away from me, but I fee
he will not bide away ! O admirable free grace ! O help
me to praife him !"
   When death drew near, there was fome alterationiu
his c.fe ; yet he  never questioned his-intereft in Chrift;
but ftill afferted,  "  I know he is  my God and my Re-
deemer, and I will  fliortly be with  him."   And once
when he was ready to complain for want of God's  wont-
ed manifeftations, he faid,  " The  Lord  knew his body
was now weak, and could not bear what formerly he had
met with, yet (faid  he) glory to his name, he hath given
me three blinks Since my laft illnefs began."
   19. Dr. Harris, head of Trinity-college in Oxford,
in his laft ficknefs ufed  to exhort all about him to get
faith above all things.   " It is (faid he)  your  viaory,  ±
your  peace, your life, your  crown, and your chiefeftO
piece of  fpiritual armour.   Howbeit, get on all other
piece, and go  forth in the Lord's might: Stand  to the
fight, and the  iffne fhall be glorious.  Only  forget not
to call in  the help of your  General.1 •  Do all from him
and under him."—On the Lord's days  he  woold not
Lave any kept  from the ordinances  upon his account;
and,  when  they  returned  from the  Sermons, he  would  1
Say to them,' Come, what  have you for me ?"  And
when any gave him  account of what they had heard,  he
would refume the heads thereof, and fay, " O what ex-
cellent truths are thefe .'  Lay them  up  carefully,' for
you will  have need of them."  When friends came to
vifit him,  he would fay,  " I cannot  fpeak,  but  I can
hear."   Being afked, where his  comfort lay ? «He an-
fwered, " In Chrift, and in the free grace of God."
   One telling him, that he might  lake much  comfort in
his labours,  and the good he had done ;  his anfwer was,
" All is nothing  without  a Saviour, without  him my
beft w^orks  would condemn me.   Oh, I am afhamed cti
them, they  are fo mixed with fin.   I have done nothing
fc>r God tfs I ought.  Oh, lofs of time fits very heavy 
        Afflicted Marts Companion.        165

upon my fpirit.  Work,  work apace ;  affure yourfefves
nothing will more  trouble you  when you come to die,
than^t hat you have done  no more for  God,  who hath
clone fo much for you."
  Sometimes he ufed  thus to breathe out himfelf, "I
never in all my life  faw  the worth  of a Chrift,  nor  tailed
the fwectncfs of God's love in that meafure as now I do."
Scing'afked -by  minifters. what  they Should chiefly're-
queft lor him ? he anfwered, " Do not only pmy  Sor
me,  but praife God that  he fupports me, and -keeps off
Satan from mc in my weaknefs  ;  beg  that  I may hold
out.   I am now a good way home,  near the fhore,  I
leave ycu toffing on the  fea ; Oh,  it  is a good time to-
the' in'."'    '  •    /" '  '
   in all the letter-v.ills  which  he  mat'?, he took care
this legacy fhould  ftill be inferted ; "Item, I bequdath
to all my children, and to  their  cljjldren's children,  to
tach of them  a bible, with this inscription, -None but
Chrift."   He ufed to fay,  "It  is a hard thing for a
faint to forgive himfelf fome faults, when God hath for-
gwert-them."                                      :,■
   20.  'David Chittjeus,  when he lay a dying, lift r.p his
head from the pillow to hear the difcourfes of his friends
that fat Ly him;  and faid, " That he fliould die with the
greater comfort, if he might die learning Something."
   21. Mr.  Cooper, when a-dying faid, " I faw not my
children when they were in the womb, yef there the Lord
fed them  without  my care or  knowledge.   I fliail nOt
 fee  them  when   I go out of the body,, yet fhall they
not want a father.."  Again, death is fomewhat  driery,
and the ftrcams of that Jordan between us and our Ca-
naan  run furioufly,  but they  ftand ftill  when the ark
 com«."                                             '
   22.  The Reverend Mr. Halyburton, that fhining light
 in St  Andrews,  when a-dying  commended Chrift  and
 godlinefs with great earneftnefs,  to all that came  to  fee
him.   He exhorted his brethren  to diligenc* in the mis-
istry.   " It was the delight of my heart (faid  he)  to-
 preach the gofpel:  I defired to decreafe, that the bride*
 groom migh increafe;  and to he nothing that  he  rri-A: 
 164        Afflicted Matfs Companion.

 be all.   I repent I did not more for him.   O that I had
 the tongues of men and angels, to praife him!"   When
 he wasadvifed to lie quiet, he faid, " Whereon fhould a
 man bellow his laft breath, but in commending the Lord
 Jefus Chrift, God  clothed in our nature, dying  for our
 fins ?"
 '. He caufed read one of Mr   Rutherfod's letters,  viz.
 that to Mr. John Mein, and thereafter faid, ** That  is. a
 book I would commend to you all, there is more  praai-
 cal religion in that letter,  than in a book of a  larger vol-
 ume."
   He exhorted fome minifters  that came to fee him to
 faithfulnefs.  "  As for the work of the miniftry (faid he,}
 it was my deliberate choice,  were my days lengthened
 out much more, and days as t rouble fo-ae as they are  like
 to be, I would rather be a contemned minifter of God,
 than the greateft prince on earth."—He faid, when ta-
 king farewell of his wife,  children and fervants, "Here
 is a demonftration of the reality of religion, that I a poor,
 weak, timorous man, as much afraid of death as any, am
 now enabled, by the power of grace, compofedly  and
 with joy to look death iii  the face, I dare look'it in the
 face in its mod  ghaftly fhape,  and hope within a little to
 have the victory.   I cannot but commend the Lord Je-
 fus.  As far as my word will go, I muft. proclaim it,  he
 is the beft mafter that ever I Saw."  To his fon who was
 a child,1 he faid, "If I had as many fons as there are hairs
 in yourhead, I would, beftow them all on  God."—To
 Some prefent he faid,'4t 0  firs,  I dread mightily  that a
 rational fort of religion is  corning in  among us;  I mean
'by, it, a religion that coofifts in a bare attendance on out-
 duties and ordinances, without  the power of godlinefs;
 and thence people fhall  fall into a way of  ferving  God,
 which is mere d-ejfm, having no  relation to Chrift Jefus
 and the fpirit of God."—He expreffed his fears of a ftorm
 corning on the church of Scotland; but he  Said,   "The
 day would «,reak, and the Lord would arife, and he.  ho-
ped the church would be ^ made a  wonder,  and  the
Lord  will fay,  Lo, this people, have  I  formed for my-
 Se'fj he can make a nation to. be born at once.'^   He cri- 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.        165

  rd often,with the fpoufe in the fong, "When  Shall the
  day break,  and the  Shadows fly away?  Turn my belov-
  ed,  and be thou as a roe, or a young hart on the  moun-
  tains of Bether."
    He faid,  " Shall I  forget Zion ?  Nay, let my  right
  hand forget her cunning, if I prefer not Jerufalem to my
  chiefeft joy.   O to have God returning to this chureh,
  and his work going on in the world;  if every drop of my
  blood,  every bit of my  body, every hair of  my head,
  were all men ; they fhould all go to the fire to  have this
 -going  on."—He faid,  " If I would  fay, that I  would
  fpeak no more in the name of the Lord,  it would be like
  a fire within me.  I am calling you to fee a miracle. God
  is melting me down into corruption and  duft, and yet he
  is keeping rr.c in a  calm.—I could not believe that I
  would have borne, and borne cheerfully this rod fo long ;
, this is a miracle, pain without pain; and this  is  not a
  fancy of a man diforderedin his brain, but of one lying
  in full compofure.   O bleffed be  God,  that ever I was
  born.   I have a father and mother and ten brethren and
  Sifters in heaven, and  I  fhall be the eleventh.   I  fhall
  fhoitly be at that glory that  I have been  long expeaing.
  Though I come not near Mr Shield's glory,nor Mr.An-
  derfon's, yet I  will be well enough if I win it.   Worthy
  is the fcmb to receive glory."
    2.L.  Mr  Hugh Mackaiil, in his  Speech before his
  death, faith, "I have efteemed the folemn engagement
  of this  nation to the Lord,  pregnant  performances  of
  that promife, Ifa. xliv. 5. where it is evident that where
  church reformations come to any  maturity, they  arrive
 at this degree of faying, I am the Lord's, and  fubferi-
 bing with the haad tint© the Lord.   So was  it  in trre
 days of the reforming kings of Judah, and  after the res-
 toration from the captivity of Babylon in the days ofNe-
 hemiah.  This fame promife did the  Lord Jefus  make
 yea and amen to us,  when he redeemed us frevm  fpiritual
 Babylon—I glorify-him, that he hath  called me forth
 to fuffer for his name and ordinances,  and the Solemn en-
 gagements oS the land to him.  HereaSter I will not talk
 vvith fiefh and blood, nor think on the world's  confek- 
166        Afflicted Marts Companion.

tions.  Farewell all  my friends, whofe  company hath
been refrefliful to me in my  pilgrimage.  I  have done
with the light of the fun and moon.  Welcome eternal
life,  everlafting  love, cverlafting praife, evcrlafting glo-
ry.  Praife to him that fits upon the throne and to the
Lamb forever."
  »2i.  The famous Mr. Durham being vifited by a min-
ifterSti his laft ficknefs, which was long and lingering,
who faid to him, fir, I hope you have fo Set all in order,
that you  have nothing elfe to do  but  die,  I blefi
God (faid Mr. Durham) I have not had that to do neither
thefe many years.
  25. Mr. RowlandNevet,his dying prayer for his children
was that the Mediator's bleffing might be  the portion of
every one of them.   Adding to them, I charge you  all,
fee to it,  that you meet me  on  the/right hand of Chrift
at the great day.  When he was Sometimes n.uch fpent
with his labours he  would appeal  to God, that  though
he might be  wearied in his  fervice,  he would  never be
weary of it. Being oft di(tempered in his body, he would
fay, he was never better than in the pulpit,  and that it
the beft place that he could  wifh to  die in.
   16. Mr. Philip Henry, when a-dying,  his pains were
very fharp,he faid to his neighbours who came to fee him,
O make fure work for your fouls by  getting an intereft in
Chrift,  while you are in health ; for if I had that work to
do now, what would come  of  me.   A little before his
laft illnefs he wrote to a reverend brother,  "  Methinks it
is ftrange, that it Should be your lot and mine to abide
fo long on earth by the fluff, when fo many*of our friends
are dividing  the fpoil  above; but God will  have itfo;
and  to be willing to live in obedience to his holy will, is
as true an aa  of grace as  to be willing to die when he
oalls."   One afked him how he did, he anfwered,  " I
find the chips fly off apace, the tree will be  down Short-
ly."   He was Sometimes taken  with fainting fits, which
when he recovered from,  he  would fay, " Dying is but a
little more."   Once h* faid  after  recovery, "Well I
thought I had been putting  into the harbour, but 1 hud
I muft yet to fea again," 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.        167

    27.  Mr. Matthew Henry, his  death was  Somewhat
 fudden, he faid a little before, to fome about him,  " You
 have been ufed to take notice of the Sayings of dying men;
 this is mine, That a life fpent in the fervice of God, and
 communion with him, is the moft comfortable and plea.-
 fant  life that any one can live in this world."
    28.  Holy and learned Mr. Rutherford, a little before
 his death, let a written teftimony to our covenanted work
 of reformation ; and therein he  proves the  warrantable-
 nefs  of nations entering into  covenant with God under
 the New Teftarnent times,  and fhews, that this praaice
 is the accomplishment of feveral Old  Teftarnent prophe-'
 ees,  fuch  as Jer. 1. 4. 5.  ISa. ii. 3.  Zech. viii. 2.  Ifa.
' xix. 23,  24, 25. which relate to gofpel-times.  And when
 he was dying, he fent feveral meffages to the  prefbytery
 of St.  Andrews,  defiring them to adhere to God's caufe
 and  covenant.—In his ficknefs he oft broke out in facred
 raptures, extolling and commending the  Lord Jefus,
 whom he often called his bleffed Mafter, his kingly King.
 When his  death drew near, he faid, I Shall Shine, I Shall
  fee him as he is, I Shall  fee him reign,  and all  his  fair
  company with him, and I Shall have my large Share : my
  eyes fhall fee my Redeemer, thefe very eyes of mine, and
  no other for me."—When exhorting one to be diligent
  in feeking God,  " It is no eafy thing to be a Chriftian;
  but  for me, I have gotten the viaory, and Chrift is hold-
  ing  but  both his arms to embrace me."—-He was won-
  derfully ftrengthened againft the fears of fuffering and of
  death, " For," fay he,  "  I faid to the Lord, if he fhould
  flay me five thoufand times, I would truft in him ; and I
';  fpoke it with much trembkng,  fearing I fhould not make
\  my  heart good.  But as really as ever he fpoke to me by
  his  Spirit, he witneffed unto my  heart, that his grace
'.- fhould be fufficent for me."—He faid to fome" minifters
  that came to fee  him, "My Lord and Mafter is the chief
  of ten thoufand of thoufands,  none is comparable to him
  in heaven  or in earth.   Dear brethren, Do all for him,
  pray for Chrift, preach for Chrift,  feed the  flock  com-
  mitted to your charge  for Chrift; vifit and catechife for
  Chrift:  do all for Chrift,  and beware  of  man-pleafing. 
168        Affliaed Marts Companion.

Feed the flock out of love, the chief fhepherd will appea-.
Shortly."-----Once when he recovered from a  fainting
fit,  he faid,  " I  feel, I feel,  I believe, I enjoy,  I re-
joice,  I feed on manna ."—As he took a little wine in a
fpoon, Mr.  Robert Blair faid to him, You feed on the
dainties of heaven,  and think nothing of our cordials on
earth.   He  anfwered they are all but dung, yet they are
Chrift's creatures,  and in obedience to his command, I
take them —After fome diScourfe Mr. Blair  faid to him,
what think you  now of Chnft ! to which  he replied, I
Shall live and adore him, glory, glory to my Creator, and
to my Redeemer forever.  Glory Shines in Immanuel's
land.—Afterwards he  faid, O that my  brethren did  \
know what  a mafter  I  have Served* and  what peace I
have this day ! I Shall Sleep in Chrift, and when I awake  '
I fhall be Satisfied with his likenefs.'"'  Then he faid thia
night fhall clofe the door, and put my anchor within the  '■<
veil;  I fhall go away in a  flecp  by five o'clock in the
morning:"  which exaaly fell out.  That night, though
he was very  weak,  he oft had this exprefiion,  O for arms
to embrace him !  O for a well tuned harp!
   When fome fpoke to him of his former painfnlaefs and
faithfulnefs  in the work of God;  he faid,  " 1 difclaim all
that; the port I would be in at, is  redemption and for-
givenefs of fins through his blood." His laft words were,
" Glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land."
   29. Hugh Kennedy, provoft of  Ayr, when he was
a-dying, a minifter faid to him, You have caufe, Sir, to
be affured that the angels  of God  are now waiting at
the ftoupsof this bed to convey your foul to Abraham's  *
bofom :  to whom his anfwer was, " I am fure thereof;
and if the walls of this houfe could fpeak,  they  could
tell how many fweet days I have  had in  fellowfhip with
God, and how familiar he hath been with my foul."—
He was one of the greateft  wreftlers with God that was
in the age wherein he lived, and had moft remarkable re-
turns of prayer.   The great Mr.  Welfh, in a letter from
France,  faid to him,  '• Happy is that city, yea, happy
is that nation, that hath a Hugh Kennedy in it; I have 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.        169

  myfelf certainly found the anfwers of hb  prayers frorct1
  the Lord in my behalf."
     30. The great Mr. Robert  Bruce,  minifter of Edin-
  burgh, when dying through weaknefs-and old age, be-
  ing afked by one of hie friends, How matters ftood-now
  betwixt God and  his  foul? anfwered, "When I  was
  young,  I was diligent, and lived by faith on the Son of
  God ; but  now I am old, and  net able to do fo much;
  yet he condefcends to Seed me with lumps oS  fenfe."
 - That morning before he died, he came to breakfaft at his
  table, and  having  eat, as he ufed, one Single  egg; he
■  Said to his daughter,  I think I am yet hungry, you may-
  bring me another.   But preSentty he fell into a deep med-
;  itation;  and  having mirfed  a while, he Said,  "Hold,
  d:.i:ghter, hold, my Mafter calls me." With thefe words"
  his fight failed him, whereupon* he called-for the' Bible ;■
  but finding his  fight gone; he Siijd, ".Caft "trie UP the
i  eighth chapter of the epiftle to the Romans, and Set my
  finger on theSe words, 'I am perfuaded, that  neither
  death, nor life, nor angels, &c. fhaU'be able  to  Separate
  me from the'love of God, which is  in  Chrift; Jefus my
   Lord.'   Now,'faith he, is my  finger yport  tliem? they
  told him it was.  Then, without any more,  he faid,
  " No v God be with you, my children, I have breakfalt-
  edwith  you,  and  fhall fup with  my Lord Jefh3  Chrifi
  .this night."  And fo gave up  the ghoft,
wl    31. John Stewart, provoft of  Ayr,.was a fingularly
i? pious man j yet when he lava dying, he faid  to  fome
\_ about him.  " I go the way of all' fiefh,' and it  may be
j  fome eff• you ^outrt notmng'ofmy'wcil befog"': yea, I teft-.
,  ffy, that exeeptrwhen I Slept,  or was on birlioeSs, I was
  not thefe ten years without thoughts/of Cod; So long cs
  I could be  in going from my houfe to the crofs; and yet
  Sdoubt myfelf, and am in great agony, yea,  at the brink
|  ofdefpafrl"5  But a day or two before he died," he turn-
  ed his facr to the  wall from  company for two hour?.
  Then Mr.  Fcrgrrfon the minifter coming in, afked.what
  he wasa-doirlg? upon which'he;-turned himfelf with
\ thefe words,  " rhave been fighting z$d working out my
  faction with ftfff'and trcniblfng; and now  I blefs God',
                              P 
170      Afflicted Man's Companion.

it i3 perfeaed, fealed, confirmed, and all fears are gone."
  32.  Luther,  when  he fell  fick,  made  bis' will,  in
which  he  bequeathed  his deteitation of Popery to liri
friends, and to the pallors of the church, having before
made this  verfe,
        Feftis eram vivu:, morfens cro mors tua, Papa,
  In his laft  will, he faith,  " O Lord  God, I thank
thee that- thou wouldft have me live a poor and indigent
perfon upon earth.   I have neither houfe  nor lands, nor
poffeflions, nor money to leave.   Thou, Lord, haft given
me wife and  children ; them, Lord, I  give back un-
to thee.'  Nourifh, inftrua, and keep them.  O thou
the father of orphans, and judge of the widows,  as thou
haft done to me, fo do to them.
* In his.laft prayer, Feb. 18th. 1546 he hath thefe words:
" I pray God to preferve his' gofpel among us ; for the
Pope,  and the Council of Trent, have  grievous  things
in hand.  O  heavenly father,  I give tltee  thanks that
thou haft  revealed to me thy fon Jefus Chrift, whom I
believe, whom I profefs, whom I glorify, and whom the
Pope and the root of the wicked perfecute and dilhonour."
Mr. Fox faith ofXuther, " That a poor friar fhould be
able to ftand againft; the Pope was a   great miracle; that
he fhould prevail againft the Pope was a greater;  and af-
ter all to die in peace,  having fo many enemies,  was the
greateft of all."
   33.  Mr. Jofeph Allein, a moft painful, laborious min-
ifter, being deprived of the ufe of his arms and legs be-
fore his, death, was alked by a friend,  hpw he could be fo
well contented to lie So long in that  condition? He an-
fwered, " What! is  Gpd my  Father, Jefus Chrift my
Saviour, and  the Holy Spirit  my Sanaifier and Com-
forter;  and fhall I  not be content   without limbs and
health ? He  is an unreafonable wretch  that' cannot be
content with a God,  though he had nothing ^fe."
  When his people of Taunton came to  Dorckefter. to
fee him,--' where be lay ;  he-was, much revfted, and would
be f^t up in the bed,  have his curtains cjrfwn by, and de-
fired them  to ftanf rourd about  the bed-/ asd caufed to 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.       171

t.ike out his hand,  and held it out to  them,  that  they
might ta-ke it, as he  ufed formerly to do, when he had
been abfent  from them.  And  though very weak, y< t
he fpoke to them thus, " O how it refoiceth my heart u>
fee your faces, and to hear your voices, though I cannot
fpeak as heretofore unto you. ' Mejhihks;  1  am  now
like old Jacob, with all his fons  about  him.'  Now you
fee my weak eftate}  thus I have  been for many weeks
fince I parted with you,  but God hath been  with me.
My friends,  life  is mine,  death js mine ; in that covenant
of which I preached  to you, is all my falvation,  and  all
my defire :  Although my body  dq not profper,  /hope
through grace my  foul doth.  / have lived a fweet life by
the promifes, and I hope through grace can die by a pro-
mife.   It  is the  promifes of God that  will Stand  by  us.
Nothing but God in  them will (land us in  the day of af-
ffiaion. My dear  friends, I feel the power of  thefe doc-
trines I preached to  ycu on  my  heart, the doarines of
faith, of  repentance, of Self-denial, of the covenant of
grace,  of contentment, &c. O that you would live them
over,  n3w I cannnot  preach them to ,you ! Tt is a fharr.e
for a believer to be caft down under affliaions, that hath
So many glorious p^ ivileges,  juftification, adoption, fana-
ification,  and eternal  glory.   We fhall  be as. the a;i-
geta of God in a  little while; nay, to Say the trurh  be-
levers  arc,  as it were, little angels already, that live in
the power of faith.   O  my frienas,'-live  like 'believers,
trample this dirty  world under your feet ; be not taken
with its comforts  nor difquieted with its crOfTefs,  you
wi'l he gone out  of it fhortly." '
  When they came to take leave of him, he would needs
pray with  them,  as his weak ftate did funer him.  Then
he faid, " Farewell my  dear friends; go  home  anojlive
over what I have preached to you, and the Lord provide
for  you'when I  am gone.  Now I cannot  preach to you,
but let q»,y wafted  ftrength, and ufelefs limbs,  be a'fer-
mpn to you.   1  am afiaid of fome of you, after all I have
Spoken to  you.  There  are many  profefforsw  who can
pray well,  and talk well,  whom we fhall  find at the left
hand  of Chrift  another day.  You have your  trades. 
172      Afflicted Marts Companion.

your  eftates,   yoyr  relations;  be  not  taken  with
thefe, but with God ; O live on him.  For the Lord's
Sake, go home and take hee'd of the world, worldly cares,
worldly comforts, worldly rclatbns, Sec.  Ohl let not my
labours and Sufferings,  let not, my wafted ftrength, and
ufelefs limbs,  rife  up  in  judgment againft you at  the
great day of the Lord,"   Then he faid,  " The Lord
having given authority to his minifters to blefs  his peo-
ple,  accordingly I blefs you  in his name,"  (ufing  the
words he always ufed after Sacraments) " The Lord blefi
you and keep you, the Lord caufe his face to fhine upon
you, and give you peace.   And the God of peace,  that
brought again  from  the dead our  Lord Jefus, that great
.Shepherd of the Sheep, through the  blood of the ever-
lafling covena#t, make you perfea in every good  work
to do his will, working in you that which is well pleafirfg
in his fight,  through Jefus Chrift; to whom be glory fqiy
-ever and ever.  Amen."
   In the morning*,  his firft fpeeches would be, (which
he alfo ufed in his.health.) " Now we have one day more,';
this is one more for God; now let us live well  this day,
work hard for our fouls;  lay up much  treafure in heaven
this day,  fcr we have but a few to liv,,"
   Being t?kea to the Bath, where he met with extraor-
dinary kindnefs frpm Strangers, for many rcforted to him,
to fee-him, and hear  him  fpeak, having heard what a
monument of mercy he was: he did delight himSelf much
in the corifideration of the Lord's kindnefs to him,  and
the.token's  of Strangers their love, and v. ould  often  fay,
" I was a Stranger,  and mercy took me in;  in prifon,  and
it came to me ; fick and weak,-and it vifited me." N. B.
He had been mtfth perSecuted, and put in prifon, for no
other crime bjut preaching the gofpel.
   He had a moft pious and affeaionate wife, that waited
clofely upon him, to whom lie  faid,  " Now,.my  dear
heart,  my companion  in all my  tribulations and afflic-
tions.  I thank thee for all thy pains and labors r^r rr.e at
home and abroad, ic prifon  and  liberty, in health  and
ficknefs.'*  And he  prayed, that the Lord would requite 
         Afflicted Marts Companion,        175

her, fill her with all manner of  grace and  confolations,
and fupport and carry her through all difficulties.
  He had Some conflias with Satan a  little before his
death: once he uttered thefe words,  "Away thou foul
fiend, thou enemy of all mankind, thou  fubtle fophifter,
rrt thou come now to rholeft me ? Now I am juft going!
Now I am fo weak, and death upon me! Trouble me not,
for I am none of thine ! I am the Lord's ; Chrift is mine,
and I am his, his  by  covenant;  I hare  fworn  myfelf
to be the Lord's, and his I will be; therefore be gone.'*
Thefe laft words he repeated often,  as pleading his cov-
enanting with God, as a mean to refift the devil and his
temptations.  When  he looked  on  his  weak confumed
bands, he would fay,. *' Thefe fhall be changed: this vile
body fhall be made like to Chrift's glorious body. O what
a glorious day will the day of refurreaion be! Methinks
I fee it by faith: how will the faints lift up their heads,
and rejoice? and how fadly will the  wicked world  look
then ! O  come let us make hafte ; our  Lord will come
fhortly ! If we long to be in heaven, let us  haften with.
eur work: for when that is done, away we fhall be fetch-
ed,  O  this vain, foolifh,  dirty  world !  / wonder  how
reafonable creatures can fo doat upon it!  What is in it
worth the looking after!   I care  not  to be in it  longer
than while my Mafter hath either doing or fuffering work
for me : were that done,   farewell to earth."
  This eminent faint had this teftimony given him by
one; It may be faid of him,  in  as  high a degree as  of
molt faints on  earth, that each thought was to  him a
prayer, each prayer a Song,  each day a Sabbath, each
meal a facrament,  and fo his life on earth £ foretafte  of
ftiat eternal repaft,  to which he hath now arrived.
  '34.. The noble  Marquis of'Argyll,  being a zealous
friend of our covenanted reformation, was  put to  death-
May 27, 1661.  His  friends contrived methods for ma-
king'his efcape out of the cattle  of  Edinburgh;  but he
thanked them, and told them,  he would not difown the
Caufe he had fo publicly efpoufed, hurt refolved to fuffer
the utmoft.  When the fentence of death was paffed by
the parliament, on Saturday May 25th,  he faid, ** /ba4- 
174       Afflicted Man's  Companion.

the honor to fet the crown upon  the king's head, and  /
now he  haftens me to a better  crown than his  own "
Then he was  fent to the tolbooth.  His excellent lady
embracing him when he entered,  wept  bitterly, faying,
feveral times,  " The Lord will require it."  Not any in
the room could refrain from tears; but the Marquithim-
felf was perfeaiy compofed, and faid, " Forbear, for-
bear; truly / pity them, they know not what  they arc
doing:  they may flint me in  where  they pleafe, btit
they cannot fhut out God from me.  For my part, / am
as content to be here as in  the caftle,  and as content in
the caftle as in the tower of London," (where he was firft
put,) " and as content there as when  at liberty;  and /
hope to be as content  upon the  fcaffold  as any of them
all."—He adcled, that he remembered a Scripture cittd
to him lately by an honefl minifter in the caftle, and en-
deavoured to put it in praaice,  when Ziglag was taken;  ,
and burnt, and the people fpoke of ftoning David, " He
encouraged himfelf in the Lord his God."  All his fhort
time, till Monday, he  fpent with the greateft Serenity and
cheerfulnefs, and in  the  proper exercifes  of  a  dying
Chriftian.  He faid to fome minifters allowed to be with
him in the prifon,  that fhortly they would envy him who
 was got before them—And added, " Mind that  / tell
 you, my fkill fails me, if you who are minifters will not
either fuffer  much, or  fin much: for though you go
along with thefe men in part, if you do it not in all things,
you are but where you are, and fo  muft fuffer; and if
you go not at all in with them you fhall but fuffer."
    The Marquis was naturally timorous, but he  defired
thofe about him to obferve,  as he could not but do, that
the Lord had" heard  his prayers, and removed all fear
from him.   And indeed his friends work was to  reftrain
and qualify his fervent longings after his diffolution, and
not to fupport him  under  the  near views  of  it.  The
Lord was exceeding kind  to him  at this time:  for upon
Monday morning,  that day he fuffered, when he was  ia
the midjt of  company,  and  thronged  in fubferibing pa-
pers relating  to his eftate,  he  was fo overcome with a fia«
guiar manifestation from God?  that ke broke  out in  a 
        Afflicted Marts  Companion.        175

raptnre, and faid,  "  / thought to  have  concealed the
Lord's goodnefs, but it will not do;  /am now ordering
my affairs, and God is Sealing my charter to a better in-
heritance, and juft now  faying tome,  Son, be of good
cheer, thy fins are forgiven thee?''  After he had  retired
Sometime alone, when he opened the  door, Mr. Hutche-
Snn,  one of the mjnifters that attended him,  faid  to  him,
What cheer, my lord? he anfwered,  " Good cheer,  Sir,
the Lord hath again confirmed and faid to me, from hea-
ven,   Son, be cf good cheer, thy fins are forgiven thee."
And he guflied out in abundance of  tears of joy, fo that
he retired to the windows, and wept there. Afterwards
he faid in a perfea rapture to Mr. Hutchefon, " I think
his kindnefs  overcomes  me;" but  God is good to me, that
lets not out too much of it here,  for he knows I could
not bear it:  get my cloak and let us go."   But  being
told  that the  town-clock was kept back,  fo that the
hour was not yet come  ; he anfwered, "they are far in
the wrong;" and  prefently kneeled down, and prayed
before all prefent, in  a  moft fweet and heavenly manner,
to the refrefhment of all that  were there.
   When he  wa3 going  out to  the Scaffold, he  faid,  I
could die like a Roman, but I choofe rather  to die as  a
chriftian.  Come  away, gentlemen, he  that goes firft,
goes cleanlieft."----When going  down, he  called Mr.
James Guthrie to  him, and embracing him in the moft
eneka ring way, took hisfarewel of him.  Mr. Guthrie,
at parting, addreffed  the Marquis thus, " My lord, God
hath been with you, he is with you, and  God will be
with you; tfnd fuch is my refpea for your lordfhip, that
if I were not under the  fentence  of death myfelf, I could
cheerfully die for your lordfhip."  So they parted  for a
Short feafon, iu two or three  days to  meet in  a better
place.
   The Marquis, in his fpeech  on the Scaffold, hath thcSe
words,  " God hath  laid  engagements upon Scotland;
we are tied  by covenant to  religion  and reformation.
Thofe that were then unborn are engaged  to it, and  it
paffeth  the power of any under  heaven to abfolve a  man
from the oath of God." 
176        Afflicted Marts Companion.

   35. Mr. John WeMh, miiifter of the  gofpel at Ayr,
ivhom Mr. Rutherford (in his preface  to his furvcy of
Antinomianifm) calls that apoftolic,  heavenly and pro-
phetical man of God;  and there tells us, that he  had it
from thofe that were witneffes of his  life, that of every
twenty-four hours he gave ufually eight to  prayer, and
that he fpent many nights in prayer to God,  interceding
for fufforing Protectants abroad, as well as for his mother-
church.   This holy man, when prifoner  in the caftle of
Blacknefs,  and in the view of death, (being condemned
to.it for maintaining the liberties of this church, though
afterwards the fentence was changed into banifhment,) in
his letter to a chriftian  lady hath thefe words:
   " I long  to eat of that tree which is planted  in the
midft of the paradife of God, and to drink of the pure
river clear as  chryfcal, that  runs through  theftreetof
the New-Jerufalem,   I  long  to  be  refrefhed with the
fouls of  them  that  are  under the altar,  who wen* flain
for the word of God,  and the teftimony that they held ;
and to have thefe long white robes given me, that 1 may
walk in white  raiment with thefe  glorious faints,  who
have wafhed their garments, and made them white in the
blood of  the Lamb.   Why Should I think it a ftrange
thing to be removed from this place, to that where my
hope, my joy,  my crown, my elder Brother,  my Head,
my Father, my Comforter, and all  the glorious  faints
are, and where the fong of Mofes and the Lamb is fung
joyfully ;  where we fhall not be compelled to fit  by the
rivers of Babylon, and hang up our harps orj| the  willow
trees, but fhall take them up, and  fing the  new hallelu-
jah, Bleffing, honour, glory and power,  to him that fits
upon  the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever ?
What is there under the old vault of the* heavens, and in.
this old-worn earth, which is groaning under the bondage
©f  corruption,  that  fhould make me defire to  remain
here ?  i expea that new heaven and new earth, wherein
righteoufnefs dwelleth, wherein I fhall reft forever more.
I look to get entry to the New-Jerufalern  at one of thefe
twelve gates, whereupon are  written the names of the
twelve tribes of Ifrael.   I know that Jefus Ch/ift- hathji 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.       177

prepared; them for me.   Why  may  I not "theft, with
boidnefs  in  his  blood,  ftep into that glory,  where  my
head .and Lord hath gonebefore  me ?  jefus Chrift is  the
door and the  porter ;  who then fhall hold me out ? Q
jhou faireit among the children of men, the delight of
.mankind, the  light  of the Gentiles,'the glory" .of'Ifhe
Jews, the life of the dead, the joy of angels and Saints,
lay Soul panteth to be with thee.  I refufe not to  die
with thee, that .I may live with thee ; I  refufe not to
fuffer with t'fcce,  that I may rejoice with thee.   O when
fhall I be filled with  his love !  Surely, if a man knevV
how precious it is, he would count all things but drofs
and dung to gain it.  I  long for that fcaffolJ, or that
ax, or that cord, that might be to me that laft.ftiep of
.tbis'tuy wearifome journey, .to go to thee, my Lord —-
Who am I,  that he fliould firft have called .me, and then
conftitute me  a minifter of.the glad tidings of the gofpel
of falvation thefe many years, and now laft  of  all to be a
Sufferer for his caufe. and kingdom ?  Thefe  two points,
\ft, That Chrift is the head of his church:  idly, That
fee is free in her government from' all  other jurifdiaiort*
except Chrift ; yea, as free as .any kingdom under heav-
en, not only tD con vocate,  hold,  and keep her meetings
andaffemblies; but alfo to judge nf all her affairs arnongft
her  members  and fubjeas : thefe are the caufe of our
Sufferings.  I  would be moft glad to be offered;up  as a
facrifice for  fo glorious a truth ; hut,  alas!  I fear that
.my fins,  and the  abufe.of fo glorious things as I have
found, deprive me pf fo  fair  a  crown.   Yet my Lord
doth know,  if he would call me to it, and ftrengthen me
in it, it would be to me the moft glorious day, and glad"
jdt hour I ever faw in my life; but I am in his hands, to
do with me whatfoever fhall pleafe him."
   This eminent faint fpent,much of his time in the mount
of prayer and wreftling with God.;  was admitted  to.ve-
ry intimate nearnefs  witblhim, and  had  many  fecreLt
,tlringS;.revealed to him from God.  He ufed to fay, " He
wondered how a chriftian could lie in  bed all  night,
without rifirg to fpend fome of the night  inipraver and
praife."                  \.            .1 
178       Afflicted Marts Ccmpavacn.

  In his laft'illnefs he had a great' weaknefs in his knees, Jf
caufed by  his  coitinual kneeling at prayer, the flcfh
thereof became infenfible, and  hard like a fort of horn ;
but when in his weaknefs: he was defired to remit fome-
■what  of his'former  painfulnefs, his  anfwer was, "He
had his life of God,  and therefore it fhould be fpent for
him"  During his  ficknefs he was  fo filled  with the
fenftble-enjoyment of God,  that he was fometimes over-
heard in prayer to have thefe words,  " Lord,  hold thy
hand,' it is enough, thy fervant  is a clay veffel,  and can
hold no more."-
   36. Mr. Chriftopher Love,  minifter of Laurence-Jury
in London, who  was beheaded on Tower-hill, Auguft
11, 1651,  in time of Cromwell's  usurpation,  and for
fufpeaedv plotting againft his government ; his words on
the Scaffold were  moft pathetic and weighty.—" Altho'
(faid he) there be but little between me and death ; yet
this bears  up my heart,  there  is but 'little between me
and heavert.  It comforted Dr. Taylor the martyr, when
he  was going  to execution, that  there were  but two
ftiles  between him and his Father's houfe : there is a lef-
fer way  between, me and my   Father's houfe, but two
fteps  between me  and glory.- "It is but lyin^ dc'wn upon
that  block,  aid  I   fhall afcend upon a trir-v.ie.  I am
this day failing towards the bcean of eternity  through a
rough paffage, to my.haven of reft, through a red fea to
the promifed land.   Methi-nks I hear God fay to me,  as
he did to Mofes,  Go up to Mount Nebo,'anddie there;
fo to me, Go  up to Tower-hill, and die  there.  Ifaac
Said of himfelf, that he  was old, and yet he knew not
the day of his death : but I cannot fay fo.  I am young,/
and yet 1 know the day  of my death; and I  know th«
kind  of my death, and the place of my death alfo.  I am
put to fuch a kind of death, as two "famous preachers of
the gofpel were put to before me ; John the Baptifl, and
Paul the apoftle,  they were both beheaded'.   1 read alf& -
in Re .  xx.  4.' The faints were beheadedforthe word of
 God, and trfimony of Jefus.   But herein is the disadvan-
tage  which I lie  under in the  thoughts of many;  they
judge, that I fuffer not for the word of God, or for con» 
         Afflicted Marts  Companion.        179

 fcience, but for meddling .with ftate matters,  -To this I
 fhall briefly fay, that it is an old trick of Satan, to im-
 pute the caufe of God's peoples fufferings, to be con-
 trivements againft the ftate, whea in truth,  it is their re-
 ligion and confcience they  are perfecuted for.   The  ru-
 lers of Ifrael would have put Jeremiah  to death upon a
 civil account,  though indeed it  was o^ly the  truth  of
 his prophefy that made the rulers angry with him : and
''yet upon a civil  account, they pretend he muft'die, be-
 caufe  he  fell away to the  Chaldeans, and  would have
 brought in foreign forces  to invade them.  The  fame
 thing is laid to my charge,  of which I am as innocent as
 Jeremiah was.  So Paul,  though he did but preach Je-
 fjs Chrift,  yet his enemies would have had him put to
 death,; under pretence that  he was a mover of fedition —-
 Upon a civil account, my life is pretended to  be taken
 away ; whereas it is, becaufe I purfue my covenant, and
 will not proftitute  my priscipies"and confcience to the
 ambition and  lufts of men.   I had rathsr die a  covenant-
 keeper, than  live a covenant-breaker.   Beloved,  I am
 this day making a double  exchange :  I am changing a
I pulpit for a fcaffold,  and a fcaffold for a throne ; and I
 might add a third,  lam changing the prefence of this
 numerous multitude on Tower-hill, for the innumerable
. company of faints and angels in heaven, the holy hill of
I Zion.;  and I am  changing a guard of  foldiers  for [a
| guard of angels, which'will receive mc and carry me to
| Abraham's bofom.  This fcaffold  is the beft pulpit that
 ever 1 preached in :  in my  church-pulpit,  God through
^ his grace made me an inftrument to bring others to  heav-
 en ; but in this pulpit he wilt bring me to*heaven."  Af-
 terwards he faid, " Though my blood be not the blood
 of nobles,  yet it  is Chriftian blood, minifter's blood, yea
 more, it is alfo innocent blood.  I magnify the riches of
 God's mercy and grace towards me,  that I who was
 born in Wales, an obfeure country, and of obfeure pa-
 rents, fliould be  fingled out  to  honourable  Suffering.—
 For  the firft  fourteen years  of my Ufe I never heard a
 fermon preached ; yet la the fifteenth year of my life, it
' pleated God to convert me.   Bleffed. be God, who not 
1W       Afflicted Marts Companion.

only made me si Chriftian/'but alfo1 a minifter, jndgin.j  ^.
me fahhful and'put-tmgme into  tb* miniftry, whichis
my glory.  I had rather be a preacher in the pulpit than
a prince upon a throne ;  I had rather be an inftrument
to bring  fouls to.heaven,  than that  all nations  fliould
bring tribute to me.   Formerly (faid he) I have  been
under a fpirit'of bondage/;  yea",  Sometimes I have had'  ',
more fear indraWiiig out a tQorh,  than  nowv I have fbr  !
cutting off my head.   When fear  was • upon me, death
was not near; now when death is near  me, my fear is   j
evanifhed.  I am comforted in this,  though men  kill me
they cannot damn  me;   though they thruft me  out  of
the world,  yet they  cannot  fmit me Out of heaven.—«-
When. I have Shed my blood I expea the fnll declaration-
of "the remiffiotiof furs thrpugh theblood of Jefus Chrift.
 I am'going- to my'long  homey and  ye to  your  fhort   |
homes;  but  I fhall be  at my home before yc  be  at
yours'."'  He prayed, that feeing  " he was called to  do
the work which he never did,  he might havethe ftrength  ^
which he never had.-"         '
 ; Dr. Wild, in his: elegy, hath thefe lines :
       Mcthinks-Lheai-heheaded faints .above ^     .
       Call to.each other, Sirs, lmke room fair Lot c.
       Who when he came to tread the fatal ft  ge,
       (WhwhyrovVThis glory, and his «n'mi« FageV
       His blood, ne'er tun to's hewt-j Chrift's Wood wa» tlieio,
       Pse\ iving it J his own -W.*s all to fp3 t;
       Wliicb, '.rifmg in his^hwjes, did feem to fay,
       Is.thts the blood you thirft for ? Take'f! pray.
       Spectators m his looks fuch life did fee,
       1 httthgy if ?tv'il mora iikt to.die trran he.
       fiight'aing,, which fiU'ii the air .vyjth-blaring light,          j
       ,D\d ferve For. torches at that difmal oight ;
       In  which* and all next day for many hoars,
       Heaven groaVd in thunder* and did weep in toowers :
       Nor do I wondcrrthat Q6d thunder'd fo.
       W'ben's Boanerges.murdtL'dlay below,   r>  ,

    j*. Mrs. Joyce Ltwis being condemned.to bp  burnt
 for the Proteftant religion in queen'Marynj reign,, wheu
 She beard that the writ for her execution', was cbmV,  She
 laid to her friends, "as for death, I' fear it not;  (ot
 when! behold the amiable countenance of Jefus Chnfk 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.       181

 my dear Saviour,  the ugly face of death doth not much
 trouble me."
    38. Bullinger  of Zurich, in his  ficknefs, faid to his
 friends,  " If the Lord  will make any further ufe of me
 and my  miniftry in his church, I willingly obey him ;
 but if he pleafe,  (as I much defire) to take me out of
 this miferable life, I  fhall exceedingly rejoice, that he
 pleafeth to take  me out of this corrupt and wretched
 age to go to my Saviour Chrift.  For (faid he) if Socra-
 tes was glad when his  death approached, becaufe as he
 thought  he fhould go to Homer, Hefiod, and other
> learned   men,  whom  he expeacd  to meet with in the
 other world ; how much more do  I joy, who am  fure
 that I Shall fee my faviour Jefus Chrift,  as alfo the faints,
 patriarchs, prophets, apoftles, 'and all the holy men  who
 have lived from the beginning of the world? Now, when
 I am fure to fee them,  and to partake of their joys,  why
J, fhould 1  not willingly die, to  enjoy  their perpetual foci-
 ety and  glory ?"
    39. Mr. Theodore Eeza, a  famous pallor in Geneva,
I when he apprehended the approach of death, revifedhis
 will ; and  fo eafing  himfelf  of all  worldly  thoughts,
 wholly betook himfelf to expea the tiire of his depart-
 ure, which he had much  longed for.  He oft ufed  the
 apoftle's  faying,  " We are his workmanfhip, created ia
 Jefus Chrift unto good works."   And that of Auguf-
 tine, Domine quod capifli perfiee, ne  in portue naufragium
 accidat.   " Lord, perfea that which  thou haft begun,
 that I fuffer not  fhipwreck in the haven."  And  rhat
 faying of Barnard ;  Domine, fequemur te, per te, ad te:—-
 Te, qui averitas j Per te, quia via : Ad te, quea vita —
 ."  Lord,  we will follow thee,  by thee, to thee.  Thee,
^becaufe  thou art the truth ; by thee,  becaufe thou art
 the way  ; to thee, becaufe thou art the life."
    40. Melaahon of Wittemberg,  Luther's dear com-
 panion,  faid, " That he  much longed to be diffolved ;
 and that for two reafons :  if.  That he might enjoy the
 much deiired prefence  and fight of Chrift, and  of  the
 heavenly church,   idly.  That he might be freed  frems
 the cruel and implacable difcords cf divines," 
182       Afflicted Marts Companion.

  41.  Mr.  John  Bradford,  a minifter and martyr in  ,
Queen Mary's reign, when the keeper told him that the
next day  he  was  to be burnt in Smithficld* he put off
his cap, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, faid, " 1 thank
God for it, it comes not now to me on  a  hidden, but
as a thing waited for  every day and  hour;  the  Lord
make me worthy thereof."   One CrcfTwell  offering to
interpofe for him,  and defiring to know what lus requefi
was, he faid, " I have no requeft to  make ;  if the queen
give me my life, I willthaiik her ;  if fhe will banifh me
I will thank her ; <if fhe burn me, I will thank her ; if fhe
will condemn me to perpetual imprisonment, I will thank
her."   The Chancellor pre fling him to do as others had
done,  in  hopes  of the queen's mercy  j he faid,  " My
lord, I defire mercy with God's mercy; that is, without
doing or  faying any thing againft God and his truth.—
But  mercy  with God's wrath, God keep  me from.—
 God's mercy (added he) I defire, and alfo would be glad  ;
 of the queen's favour to live as a fubjea without clog or
 confcienee ;  but olherwife the Lord's mercy is better to
 me than life.  Life in his difpleafurc is worfe than death,
 and death with his favour is true life."
    In  his  letter to Dr. Cranmer, Dr. Ridly,and Dr. Lat-
 imer,  he  hath thefe words ;  " Our dear brother Rogers
 hath  broken the ice valiantly.  This  day or  to-morrow
 at the uttermoft, hearty Hooper, fincere Saunders,  and
 trufty Taylor,  will end their  courfe,  and receive their
 crown.  The next am I, who hourly look for the porter
 to open me the gates after them, to enter into the defired
 reft.   God forgive me  my unthankfulnefs  for thi3 ex-
 ceeding great  mercy.'  Though I  fuffer juftly,  (fori  <
 have been a great hypocrite, unthankful, &c. the Lord  (
 pardon me, yea, he hath done it, he hath done it indeed,)
 y:t what evil hath he.done ? Chrift, whom the prelates.
 perfecute, his truth which  they hate in me, hath done
 no evil, nor deferved death.   O what am I, Lord,  that
 thou  fliouldft thus magnify me ? Is  it thy wont,  to  fend
 for Such a w.etched hypocrite in a fiery chariot,  as thou
 didft fend for Elias ?"
    In  one of his meditations, after confeffing of fin, faith 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.        185

he, " O what now may we do !  defpair ? no, for thou
art God, and therefore good ;  thou art merciful, and
therefore thou forgiveft  fin : with thee there  is  mercy
and propitiation, and therefore thou  art worfhipped.—
When Adam  finned, thou gaveft him mercy before he
defired it; and wilt thou deny us mercy, who now de-
■fire the fame ?  Adam  excufed  his fault, and accufed
thee ; but we accufe ourfelves,  and excufe  thee : and
 Shall we be fent empty away ? How often in the wilder-
nefs didft thou fpare Ifrael,  and defer thy plagues at the
 rcqueft of Mofes, when the people themfelves made no
 petition to thee ?  Now we do not only make our petitions
 to thee, but alfo have a Mediator, far above Mofes,  to
 appear for  us, even Jefus Chrift  thine own Son; and
 fhall  we (dear  Lord)  depart  afhamed ?—O merciful
 Lord,  for thine own glory fusTer not the enemy of thy
 Son Chrift, the Romifh  Antichrift, thus wretchedly to
 delude  and draw  from thee our poor brethren, for whom
 thy dear Son  once died,  Sec.  Suffer him not  to feduce
'the fimplc fort with his fond opinion, that his falfe god*,
 his blind,  mumbling, feigned  religion,  or his foolifh  fu-
 perftition, doth give him fuch concmefts, fuch viaoricr,
 and fuch triumph* over us.  But,  O Lord, this is thy
 righteous judgment, to  punifh us  with the tyrannical
 yoke of blindnefs, becaufe we have caft away  from u.s
 the fweet yoke of. the wholefome words of thy Son our
 Saviour."
    In his letter to Mrs.  Anne Warcup, he  faith, " My
 ftaff ftandeth  at  the door.  I look  continually  for the
 Sheriff to come for me ; and I blefs God I am ready for
 him.   Now go I to praaife that which  I have preached.
 "Now I am climbing up the hill;  it will caufe me to puff
 and blow before 1 come  to the cliff.   The  hill is fteep
 and high, niy breath is fhort, and my ftrength is feeble.
 l*ray therefore to the Lord for me, that, as I have now
, through his rroodnefs even almoft come to the top, I may
 \yy his  grace be ftrengthened, not to reft till I come where
 1  mould be."
    He was lingular for humility and felf-ahafement, tho'
 a moft eminent Saint.   He fubferibed fome of his letters, 
 18 1-        Afflicted Man's Companion.

the moft  miferable hard-hearted unthankful finner, Join
Biadford.  A  very painted hypocrite, John Brae ford.
Miferriwu: peccaior, John Bradford.   The fit.ful John
Bradford.
   42.  Mr.  Edward Decring, a little before his death,
faid to his friends,   "  As  for my death, I blefs God I
fetl and find fj much inward joy and comfort to my foul,
that, if I were put to my choice, whether I would die or
live, I would a thoufand times rather choofe death than
life, if it may fland with the holy will of God."
   43.  Mr. Robert Rollock, when a-dying,  prayed,
 "  Lord,  1 have hitherto feen but darkly in the glafs of
 thy word ; now grant  that I may enjoy the eternal frui-
 tion of thy countenance, which  I have fo much  defired
 aid longed for.   Hafte, Lord, and do  not tarry  ; I am
 weary both of nights and days : come,  Lord Jefus, that
 I  may come to thee.   Break thefe eye-firings,  and give
 me others ; I defire to  be diffolved, and to be with thee ;
 hafte,  Lord Jefus,  and defer no longer.  Go forth, my
 weak  life, and  let  a  better fueceed.  O  Lord Jefu?,
 fhruft  thy  hand into my body and take my foul  to thy-
 felf.   O my fweet Lord, fet this foul of mine free, that
 it may enjoy her huSband."
   44. Galeacious Carraccinlus,  marquis of Vico, when
 a-dying, took his leave of his wife,  and all his Chriftian
 friends,  telling them,  he would lead them the  way to
 heaven.  A nd he cried to Jefus Chrift,  that " As he  had
 fought him all his life,  fo now he would  receive and ac-
 knowledge him as his own."
   45.  The famous Lord Dupleffis in  France, when a-
 dying, was much concerned for the church of  God in
 diftrefs,  praying earneftly for her deliverance.  He par-
ticularly  bleffed fuch of his grandchildren as were  follow-
ing the  ftudies  of  learning, faying, " that he  was af-
fured they  fhould be blcffed with the  bleffings both of
heaven above,  and of the earth beneath."   When a min-
ifter fpoke of the fervice he had done the church by his
writings, he faid, " Alas, what was there  of mine in  the
work ? Say not, that it  was I, but God  by me."  Then,
lifting  up his bauds above his head,  he cried three time's 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.       185

 u Mercy, mercy, mercy."   Adding,  "that he did it, to
 fhew that it was the alone mercy of God to which he had
 recourfe."   And .declared,  that his faith was altogether
 founded upon the goodnefs  of God in Jefus Chrift, who
 by the Father had been made unto him, as to all others
 that believe in  him, wifdom, righteoufnefs, fanaifica-
 tion, and redemption. " Away (faid he) with all merit;
 1 call for nothing but mercy, free mercy."  When one
 was bleffing God for giving him fuch peace and comfort
 at his end,  he  faid, " I feel, I feel what I fpeak."   As
 to his faith of the truths of God, he  faid,  " He was en-
 tirely perfuaded thereof, by the demonftration of God'a
 holy Spirit, which was more powerful, more clear, and
 more certain, than all the demonstrations of Euclid."—
 When fecretly praying,  he  was overheard Saying in bro-
 ken Sentences, " I fly, I fly to  heaven.  Let the angels
 carry me to the bofom of my Saviour."  Afterwards
 faid, " I know  that my Redeemer liveth, and I Shall fee
 him with thefe eyes,  Hifce eculis ;"  which wcrds he re-
 peated four or five times.
   46.  Jerome of Prague, when he  was fattened to the
 (take, and the  executioner began to kindle the fire be-
 hind him, he bade him kindle it before his face.   " Fcr
, (faid he) if I had been  afraid of  it,  I had not come to
 this place,  having had fo many opportunities offered me
 to efcape it."
   47.  Mr. Hooker, a  minifter in New-England,  when
 one that flood  weeping at his bed-fide, when he lay a-
 dying, faid  to him, " Sir,  you are  going  to receive the
 reward of all your labours ;"  he replied, " Brother, I
 am going to receive mercy."
   48.  Mr. Heron, another minifter there, when dying,
 and leaving  a family of many  fmall  children :  his poor
 wife fell a-weeping, and faid, " Alas ! what will become
 of all thefe children ?" He prefently and  pleafantly  re-
 plied,  "Never fear; he that  feeds  the young ravens,
 will not ftarve the young Herons."  And  indeed it came
 to pafs accordingly.  It was an ancient obfervation con-
 cerning  the Englifti martyrs under the bloody ■Matian
 persecution,  "That nq le of them went more jp) fully to 
                                           i
18G       Afflicted Marts  Companion.

the ftake, than thofe who  had  the greateft  families ti
commit unto the Lord "
   49.  Chryfoftom, when the cmpreSs Eudoxa, (an Ari-
an,) fent a threatening rneffagc  to him, he  laid, " Go
tell her,  Nilnifi pgecattimtitueo  I fear nothing but fin."
   When he was Sentenced to banifhment,he faid, "None
of thefe things trouble me ;  for I faid before within my.
felf, if the emprefs will, let her banifh me  ;  the earth ii
the Lord's, and the fulnefs thereof.   If fhe will, let her '
faw me afander ;  Ifaiah was  fo ufed :  If fhe will, let her
caft me into .the  fea; I will remember  Jonah:  If fhe
will, let her caft  me into a burning fiery furnace,  or to
the wild beafts j  the  three  children and Daniel were fo
Served :  If fhe will, let her ftone me, or cut off my head;
I  have St. Stephen and the Baptift for my compainionsi
If fhe. will, let her take away all my fubftance ;  naked
came I out of my mother's womb* and naked fhall I re-
turn thither again."
   But I muft break off, for time wonld  fail  me to enu-
merate the many iBftances of the faith*  love,  patience,
hope,  courage, and conftancy of the faints and martyrs
©f Jefus,  when in the view of death.   Some have told
the perfecutors, " That they might pull the hearts out
of th  ir bodks, but they could  nsver pluck the  truth
out of their hearts."  Others have faid,  " That if every
hair of their heeds were men, they fhould all fuffer death
for Chrift and his truth?."—" Oh (faid one of them) can
I die but once for Chrift ?"
   To conclude r let thefe  examples prompt us to feek
grace  fiom God, and make it our earneft ftudy to i*iN
tate and follow fuch a cloud of  witneffes,  that we may
die martyrs in refolution, our graces may be  moft livtly
at the  laft, our evening fun may  fhiue brighteft, and we
may go off the ftage glorifying God, and leaving a fwee*
favour behind  us, as thefe famous worthies,  whofb
praife is in the churches,, have done before  us.  ' 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.        187

Direct, vii. Let  dying perfons be much  in prayer and
  ejaculations to God.

  1}RAYER  is the native breath of renewed fouls ; it
     is as necefTary to their fpiritual life,  6s breath is to
the natural life. Lam. iii. '56. " Hide not thine ear at my
breathing."   The firft thing a child of God doth, wheri
he is new born, is to breathe by  prayer. Aas ix.  11.
" Behold he prayeth."  And it is alfo his kft Work in
the world t« pwy, Aa« vii. $9, 6c: "And they Honed-
Stephen, calling upon God, and faying, Lord Jefup, re-
ceive my fpirit.   And he kneeled down,  and cried with
a loud voice, Lord, lay not this  fin to their charge. And
when he had faid this, he fell afteep."  A dying Chrif-
tian hath many to pray for ; he is to pray  for the chtirch;
of God, for his friends and  relations, and alfo  for his1
enemies, as Stephen did ; of which I fpake before.  But
efpecially he muft pray for himfelf, that fin may be for-
given  and that he may have  fafe condua through  th*
dai k valley.  I have heard of fome that have been  found
dead upon their knees } a noble  pofture to die in !  How
agreeable is it to enter praying into the land of praife !
60 did  Stephen, yea, fo did our  blcffed Saviour himfelf;
" Father, forgive them, for they  know  not what they
do.  Father, into thy hands I  commend my fpirit.''—
The laft words that holy TJfher uttered were,  " But,.
Lord,  in fpeeial forgive my fins of omiffion."   " Lord,   .
(Said dyiiig Beza)1 perfea that  which  thou  haft begun,
that I  fuffer not Shipwreck in  the haven."  I remember
Co have read of an old minifter,  when he found death ap-
proaching,  he faid, " I defire to die like  the poor thief,.
trying to the crucified Jefus for mercy.   I am  nothing,
I have nothing, I can do nothing, except  what  is un-
worthy.  Mf eye,  and hope, and faith,  is to Chrift ori
hhr crofs.  -I bring an irtiworthinefs like that of the poor
dying  thief unto him, and have no more to plead than
he.  Like the poof thief crucified with him, I am wait-
ing to be  received by the infinite grace of  my Lord,
into his kingdom."  Let us in like manaer die,  crying; 
188       Afflicted Man's Companion.

to a crucified Jefus  for mercy.  Lord, remember me,
now thou art in thy  kingdom.
   O dying Chriftian, remember the time  of  prayer is
near an end ; after death there will be  no more occafion
for prayer.  O then beg that the fpirit of prayer may be
fo poured down upon you at this time,  that you may be
enabled  to pour  out your  heart before God,  both for
yourfelf  and others.   O how earneftly fhould you pray
then, when you are taking your leave of prayer !  Mind
the example which your Redeemer  gave you ;  it was be-
fore his death that  he  offered up prayers  and Supplica-
tions with ftrong crying and tears unto  God.   1 ac-
knowledge, fick and dying perfons are  frequently  out of
caSe for  making prayers of  any great length or continu-
ance,  (which confideration Should excite us to the great-
er diligence in  prayer in the time of  our health) and
therefore they ought to be the more frequent and fervent,
in fhort and fuitable ejaculations and petitions to God, as
 their exigencies do  require.
 Some Meditations and^Ljaculations, proper for fick and dy.
       ing perfons, and efpecially for a dying believer.

       OLORD,  thou art the God of my life, and haft
       the keys of  death in thy hand.   Thou haft meaf-
 ured the length  of my  life, and  appointed  the hour of
 my death.   The number of my months and  days is with
 thee, and thou haft  appointed  the bounds over which I
 eaanot pafs.
   What is my  life but a vapour, that appeareth for a
 little time, and thei vanifheth  away !  At the longeft,
 how fhort is it! and at the ftrongeft,  how weak! "What
 man is it that livetb here, and fhall not fee death ? When
 a few days  are come, I will go the  way whence I fhall
 not return."   God hath decreed it,  fin hath deferved it,
 my frailty  demonftrates it,  death's harbingers  proclaim
it, and I muft expect it.
  There is  110 difcharge in this  war, no exemption fom 
          Afflicted Marts  Companion.       189

  death's ftroke.  Death's  meffengers are come to warn
  me, that my laft  day and laft hour chaweth nigh.  The
  Sound of their matter's  feet ii behind them.  This clay-
  houfe muft  be diffolved,  my  foul difiodged, and my
  place here fhall know me no more ;  I will  be quickly as
  water fpilt on the ground,  that cannot be  gathered  up
  again.
    O  that I may be fuitably exercifed in my prefent weak
  and dying condition ! When my fiefh faileth, and my
  heart fainteth within me, O that  God may be the ftrength
  e-f my heart, and portion forever !  When the keepers of
  the houfe do tremble, let God watch over it, and be the
.  keeper of my foul !  When the grinders do ceafe, becaufe
'  they are few,  let  my foul bo fed with manna from heav-
*  en.   When, the daughters of  mufic are brought low, let
  my foul  be  difpofed for hearing the fong of Mofes and
  the Lamb,  in the temple above.   When  thefe that look
  out at the windows are darkened, let the eyes of my foul
  be enlightened to behold,  with the dying  martyr Ste-
>  phen, the heavens opened, and the glorious Jefus Hand-
  ing on the right hand of God,  making  interceffion for
  me, and ready to receive me.    Let my hope and defire
  look out at the windows, and  fay, " Why is his chariot
  fo long a-coming ? and why tarry the wheels of his char-
  iot ? Make hafte, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or
  a young hart on the mountar.s of Bether."
    O that I may obferve the affliaing hand of God in my
  prefent ficknefs ! Surely  affliaion cometh not out of the
  duft, nor doth trouble fpring out of the  ground.  ,Q
  Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation,  nor chaften mo
  in  thy hot difpleafure.   Have mercy on me, O Lord,
  for I am weak;  and beal  me, for my  bones are vexed.
  When thou with rebukes doft  correa man  for iniquity,
•  thou makeft his  beauty  to confume  away like a  moth :
  furely every man is vanity.   The forrtiws of my heart are
  enlarged, O  bring me out of my diflreffes.  Look upon
 my afHiaion and  my pain, and forgive  all my fin.  I
 look for fympathy  to  my great High  Prieft, who is
 touched with the  feeling of  my  infirmities.  My help
 and ftrength is in him. 
190        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

  O that when I  am  affliaed, I  may not defpife (fir
trhaftening of the Lord, nor faint when I am rebuked of
him ! Let me hear the rod, and him that hath appointed
it.   Let me kifs the rod, and accept of the punifhment
of mine iniquity.  O that in my affliaion I may be help-
ed to humble myfelf greatly before the God of my fa-
thers, and  make  a  true  and penitent cdnftffion of my
fins !
   Oh ! what fhall  I fay to thee,  O  thou preferver of
men ? I will fay,  Lord, be m«rciful to me ; heal my foul,
•for I have  finned againft  thee.  I  acknowledge, that
 through an evil heart of unbelief, I  have many a time
 departed away from the living God.  O how vainly and
 foolifiily have I lived in the world 1 How lavifh  of my
 precious time ! How  unmindful of my latter end !  How
•carelefs of my immortal foul! How little in preparation
 fbr eternity !  Oh, my own heart  condemns me,  my fins
 teftify againft me ;  and thou  who knoweft tVm better
 than I  do myfelf, together with their feveral nggrava*
 lions, mighteft juftly condemn me too.   But my com-
 fort is, that with thee the Lord  there is mercy, that
 thou mayeft be feared ; and with thy Son there is plen-
 teous redemption :  wherefore, for his fake, be pleafed,
 to forgive me all  my paft tranfgreffions, whether in tlio't,
 word,  or deed, thofe I remember, and thofe 1 have for-
 gotten, and let them neither be  charged on me to my
 Shame and cdnfufion in this world,  nor to my everlafting
 ruin in that which  is to come.   Lord, forgive the follies
 of my childhood, the extravigancieS  of my youth, and
 all the iniquities of my riper years.
    Oh ! 1 am polluted with fin, and dare not  appear be-
 fore  God  with  my own filthy rags upon me.   When
 Adam loft  the garment of original'righteoufnefs, he fled
 from God,  and dreaded the Summons of offended juftice.
 Now, there is no appearing before God with acceptance,
 but in the garment of his Son, my elder brother.   Now
 none can  have boldnefs  to ente<r into the holieft of all,
 but by the  blood of  Jefus.  O  enable me to  difclaim
 whatfoever  duties I  have performed, or graces I have
 cxercifed, and to rely on a crucified  Chrift alone for par- 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.       1S1

 don  and life.   Though  thou fiayeft  me, let  me  die
 trufting in and cleaving to a crucified Jefus.
   Now the powers of darknefs will feek to raife a tem-
 peft to fhipwreck the veffel of my fouL when it would
 enter into the eternal haven : O that like the  wife mari-
 ner, when the  ftorm approacheth, I may endeavour to
 fecure the veffel with the anchors of  faith and hope faf-
 tened on the Rock  Chrift !
   O that, when the time of combat with my  laft enemy
 cometh, I may above all take the fhield of faith, whereby
 I may be fheltered  from  the fting of death, and may
 quench the fiery darts of the wicked one.
   O that the Lord of hofts, the captain of my falvation,
 may be with me in my laft conflia, and may help me to
 put on the whole armour of God, and give me  Skill to
 ufe it, that I may be able to Stand in the evil day!  Teach
 my  hands to war,  and my fingers to fight, that through
 thee I may  do valiantly,  and tread down all mine ene-
 mies.   O that now I may fo finifh my courfe, and fight
J, the good fght  of faith,  that at death I may  receive the
 crown of righteoufnefs, which  the righteous Judge will
 give to all that love his appearing.   O that my faith may
i ripen  into a full affurance, that I  may  go off the Stage
 with joy, and an abundant entrance may be administered
 unto me into the kingdom of my Lord and Saviour Te-
 fus Chrift !
   O that the night  of my death may fhine bright with
 the  fparkling ttars of heavenly grace ! Lord, increafe my:
 faith !  let the pilgrim's ftaff of faith  be never out of  rcy
 hand,  till I come to my journey's end.   O  let me  get
 Chrift all in my arms,  like old Simeon  before his death,
 thct I may fay,  like him,  " Now let thy fervant depart
 in peace, for mine eyes have feen thy falvation."  Kindle
 the  fire of heavenly love in  my foul, and give  me a tafte
 of heavenly joys.  O for one beam of thy light, to ban-
 ifh away all  my doubts and fears ! Lord, let in  Something
 of heaven to my foul, before itfclf. go into heaven.
   Lord, take me not out of this life till thou haft fitted
 me for a better.   May I  be fitted for  heaven before I
 leave the earth,  and finifh  my work  before I finifh ray 
 192       Afflicted Marts Companion.

courfe 1  Make me ready to meet thee  at thy coming,  '
that fo thy coming may not he the matter of  my terror,
but the matter of my hope, defires, and joyful expecta-
tions.  O that I may be in  a longing frame for that blcf-
fed time, when he will come,  and put a period to all  my
fins, forrows, troubles, and temptations here ; and when   j
I  fhall exchange my prefent being in the body,  for an
everlafting being with  the Lord ! Lord,  Strengthen  my
faith, and hope, that fo neither the fweetnefs of life,  the
pain of death, nor apprehenfions about  my future ftate,
may make me unwilling to die.  Is  my Redeemer afcen-
ded,  and gone  before  me to prepare a place for me ;
why then mould I be Slothful to go in,  and poffefs  the
 good laud ?
  ' Mercy hath filled up all my life, and  brought me near
 to the end of it; O let it not leave me now, when all  the
 enjoyments of the world are nothing to me, and I am to   '
 take an everlafting farewel  of them all.   Now one fmile
 of thy face,  one tafteof thy love,  would be ftrength and
joy to my departing foul.  Q remember the word to thy   ,
 Servant, upon which thou  haft caufed me  to hope ; haft  \
 thou not faid,  " I  will never leave thee,  nor  forfake
 thee ?"  O fulfil this word to me in the time of my need,   1
 O let me never go off the ftage with a heavy heart, or a
 guilty confcience ;  but may I depart in  peace, and deep
in Jefus.   Let me breathe out my  departing foul to thee,
and truft it  in thy hand and fafe keeping:  and  let  my
fiefh reft in hope of rifing glorioufly at the-iaft day, thro'
him who is the rcfurreaion and the  Ufe, the Lord Jefus
Chrift.
   Love aad praife is the exercife of faints for ever : may
I  be acquainted with  it here !   O Shall I not love and
praiSe  him, who hath  forgiven all my iniquities, healed
all my difeafes, redeemed  my life from deftruaion, and
crowned  me  with loving kindnefs and  tender mercies ?
He hath caufed goodnefs aod mercy to follow me all  the
days of my life ;  aad fhall not I follow  him with  praifes
at the end of  it ?
   Now the  time of my departure  is at hand,  and  the
lamp of life is ready  to be cxtinguifhed.   O that I may 
        Afflicted Marts. Companion.       19S

die in faith, that whether the  Ianjp go out of  its own
accord, or by fame fudden blaft, it .may be lighted again
by the immortal beams of the Sun of righteoufnefs ! And
though I  be overtaken with the Sleep of  death, and lie
down in the bed of the  grave ; yet fhall I awake again
in the morning of the refurreaion, that morning which
fhall  never be fucceeded  by  an evening  ; when I fhall
behold thy face  in righteoufnefs, and be eternally Satisfied
with thy  likenefs.
%\ Now I am  going the  way of all the earth, ready to
hunch forth into eternity, where I fhall  be fixed in  my
evcrlafting condition.  Grant me,  Lord, the perfea ufe
of my  fenfes, of my reafon  and underftanding, that  I
may glorify thy name, and edify my  neighbours to  the'
laft moment of my departure.   And now,  when I  am to
cotifha with the king of terrors, O  fupport and affift
me in my foreft extremities and laft agonies.  O merci-
fully mitigate death's pangs, and let my paffage heeafy,
and  my landing Safe.  Stand by  me in  my dying mo-
ments, and fuccour my  Soul  in thy hands from  all its
deadly enemies.   And when I  am numbered among the
dead, let me alfo be numbered  among the redeemed  and
blcffed of the Lord for ever.
   O Lord, thou determineft  both the bounds of man's
life,  and the bounds of his habitation.  If a hair of my
head cannot fall to the  ground without thy providence,
far  lefs  can my whole body fall into the grave without
it.   Tlviu haft told me plainly, that I  muft  die ;  but
mercifully haft  concealed the time, place, and manner,
that I might always ftand upon my guard,  every hour
expea thy coming,, and have my accounts in my hand,
■always prepared  to give them up to thee my Judge.—
Juftly mighte'ft  thou have Snatched me away by a Surpri-
sing  call, and fudden ftroke :  but in thy goodnefs thou
giveft me warning, and time  to fet my houfe and foul in
order.  O gracioufly finifh what is now  wantiKg of the
• work of thy grace in my heart and foul,  and thoroughly
accomplifh and fuvnifli me to appear in thy bleffed  pref-
ence.  May I  now die to fia every hour, that I may not
                          R 
194       Afflkted Marts Companion.

die for fin hereafter.  Caufe fin wholly to die before rat,
fhat it may not rife in judgment againft me after death.
   O God, be thou my refuge and ftrength, and a very
prefent help in trouble \ and then 1 will not fear, thongfc
the waters of affliaion rage, and be troubled, and tho'
all the  mountains of earthly  comforts  Shake  with the
dwelling thereof.   There is a river, the flreams whereof
 hall make glad the city of  God.  O let my foul dwell
befide thefe living Streams, and drink of them for ever.
 in the valley of the Shadow of death, Lord, be thou prefl
 ent as the good Shepherd  with thy  guiding rod, and
 fupporting ftaff j  and make my departure eafy, and full
 of peaCe and hope.  Lord,  carry me fafe through the
 dark paffage upon which I am entering, and let me find
 k a gate of glory, a door  opened into the  cverlaftiag
 kingdom and joy  of the Lord.  Lord Jefus,  receive my
 fpirit, and let  it be prefented, juftified, and fpotlefs to
 the Father* that it may come to the fpirits of juft men
 made perfea,  and join  with them  in  Singing the new
 foncr, " Worthy is the Lamb that was flain, and hath
 redeemed us to  God by his blood,  to receive power,
 honour, glory, and bleffing for ever.   Amen."



 <$ome Meditations for drooping believers, when death is near.

      TRAVELLERS, who have met with many florraa,
       troubles, and  dangers  in their journeys, rejoice
 when they come  near to their own  country ; and fhaM
 not I,  a ftranger  and pilgrim, that hath been long wan-
 dering in a wilderncfs,beglad when I come near my blet
 fed home, my dear friends, and eternal habitation ?
   With  what checrfulnefs do fome women endure the
 pains of child-bearing, being fupported with the hopes of
 a child's being born in the  world ? And what is the joy
 of a man-child being brought into  this finful and mifera-
ble world, to the joy of a fanclificd foul's being brought
out of it  into heaven, for ever ? It is pleafant when the
hard winter goeth  over, the meffengers of the Ipring, the 
        Afflicted Marts Companion.       195

finging of birds doth come, and fhall not I rejoice, when
ficknefs and forerunners of death do tell  me, that the
winter of my darkuefs and trouble is paft,  and the fum-
mcr of my eternal light and joys is at hand  ?
  What though death be the king of terrors ?  is not glo-
rious Chrift the  king of comforts ? Have not I met al-
ready with this bleffed King : and why fhould I fear to
meet with the other ? O let my ftrength and  fupport at
this time come from  Chrift, my covenanted Redeemer.
  0 Lord, deliver my foul from death, mine eyes from
tears, and my feet from failing ! O  bring me  out of the
miry clay,  fet my feet upon a rock,  and cftablifh my  go-
ings, and  put a new fong in my mouth, even praifes to
our God !
  If Jacob went down fo cheerfully into  Egypt,  when
God faid unto him, " fear not  to go down ;  for I will
go down with thee, and I will bring thee up again'* why
Aould a  believer  fear to go down" to the grave,  when
 God hath undertakes to go down with him thither, and
to bring him up again.'  His body may be turned into
duft, but  God is in covenant with his duftand will  not
fuffer the  leaft particle of it to be loft.
  Arc not the  righteous taken away from the evil to
come ? Do they not  reft  in their beds, and  enter into
peace r Why then fliould I grudge at dying ?  When the
Lord is to bring heavy  wrath and  judgments upon a
land,  he frequently houfeth many of his people in heaven
before-hand : and how happy are thefe that win the houfe
before the fweeping  hail-fhower  doth fall.   A believer
needcth not to  look  f°r anv fettled fair weather in  thij
world   it will be  nothing but one fhower up, and an-
other down,  till he  be houfed in heaven.   O why then
Should I linger in this wilder nefs I
   How highly dignified is the believer, inbeing made an
heir of God, and a  joint heir with his own  Son  Jefus
Chrift ! fo that  Chrift and the believer do,  as it were,
divide heaven betwixt them ; they have the fame Father,
dwell in the fame houfe, fit at the fame table, reign on
the  fame throne,  and  partake of the fame glory.   O
what honour is this, which is put upon a worm  of the 
196      Afflicted  Marts Companion.

earth ! It is indeed but little that the young heir enjoyl
of the inheritance while in  this world ;  no more thai
will ferve  to bear his charges to heaven, where he fhalt
get all, forget his prefent ftraits,  and remember his pov-
erty no more.   O why then  fhquld not I, like a young
heir,  be looking and longing for the expiring of my mi-
nority, when 1  fhall arrive at  ripe age, and enter upon
the full poffeffion of the inheritance ! O that I could fend
out faith  and hope, thefe  two faithfnl fpies, to furvcf
the promifed land, or at leaft to  vifit the borders of my
elder  brother's  country  '.  what an encouraging report
would they bring back !  My glorious  Lord is gone, he
hath left the earth, and entered into his glory ; my breth-
ren  and  friends have many of them arrived there alfo.
How  great is the difference betwixt my ftate and their's!
I am groaning out my complaints, but they are Singing
 God's praife :  I  am  in  darknefs and  cannot fee God i
but they are in light, and fee him face to face.  O my
Lord, fhall I flay behind,  when they are gone ? Should
 I be fati>fied to wander iu the wildernefs, far diftant from
my Father and  my God, when  they are triumphing a-
bove, dividing the fpoil ? No, I will look ftill after them
with  a ftedfaft  eye, and cry,  O Lord, how long ?  I  will
wait now in hope, yea, rejoice in  the forethoughts cf
the  day, when my minority fhall be  expired, ray pil-
 grimage  finished, my banifhment over, that  I may get
home  to my country and friends above.
   What though my days be dark and gloomy now, my
winter be fharp and ftormy ?  why, it  is but fhort,  and
near over ;  the  eternal fummer approacheth: the long
day,  the  high fun, and the fair garden of my wcll-belov-
ed, above thefe vifibie heavens, will quickly make amends
for all.  Let me get up by faith, and vifit the new land,
vi ■■■v the fair city, and behold the white throne, and the
Lamb that fits  thereon, that I may rejoice in hope of the
glory of God.
   Shall many of the heirs of wrath go finging and rejoic-
ing to hell ;  and will an heir of God go  drooping  and
forrowing to heaven ?  Oh, let me not,  by ray behaviour
on a death-bed, bring up a bad report upon Chrift's good
wav, and the land which he hath purchafed. 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.        V9T

   Have I fuch great and precious promifes left me,  and
fhall I not live and feed upon them in the time of my need?
   Shall I not  truft the word of him that is faithful  and
true'} Hath he not  faid to me,  " When thou paffeft
through the waters,  I will  be  with thee ; and through
the rivers, they fhall not overflow thee ; when  thou walk-
eft through the fire,  thou  flialt  not  be burnt ; neither
Shall the  flame  kindle upon thee !" When the difciples
were fore tolfed with winds and wave-!,  thou cameft to
them in the fourth watch of the night, walking on the
waters ; and when their fears were increafed, thou faidft,
" It is I, be  not, afraid."  Thou  rebukeft the winds,
and there prefently followed a great calm. My Redeem-
er's compaffions continue ;  his bowels  are not fhut  up
this day, more than in the days of his flefh. " Jefus Chrift
is the  fame to day, yefterday,  and forever."
  Ah  !  I have too little improven my acquaintance with
precious  Chrift in the day-of my life ! how ready am I
mifken and miftake him, when hechangeth  His difpofi-
tions towards me ! Though I have been long at Chrift's
School, what Small proficiencyhave I made in the woik
and myftcry of faith  ?  How little have I  learned to be-
lieve in the dark,  and to drop an anchor at midnight up-
on the rock of ages,  and to look out for the dawning of
the day ?."
  Surely the day fhall break, and the fhadows flee away :
my King cometh,  my  well-biloved  is on  his way ; he
hath fent his letter before him to warn me of it, faying,
*• Behold I  come quickly."  O that like the  cold and
wearied night-watch, I  may be looking out for the ap-
pearing of the morning-ftar,  and the breaking of the eatt-
ern fky ;  aad may be ftill crying, " Even  fo come Lord
Jefu-i, come quickly."
  Thou haft Said,  " Light is fown for the righteois, and
gladnefs for the upright in  heart."  Surely God's  feed
Shall not lie always beneath the clods ; the time is at hand,
when it fhall fpring ;  and joyful will the crop be at  la>_. .
O that, like David in affliaion,  I would encourage my-
felf in the Lord my God, and fav, " the Lord livethJ,,
                        K2 
193      Afflicted Marts  Companion.

bleffed be my rock!" why fhould I droop while »y Lorti
Ihreth, and n.y rock ftandeth ?  My hopes  may die,  my
comforts may die, my gifts die, my riches die, my rela-
tions  die, and my body die ; but good  news,  " The
Lord liveth, bleffed be my rock !" The difciples had a
melancholy time  while Chrift was dead, and laying in  the
gravej  but that  fad time is over, he is now rifen, and
will die no more.   Nay,  he hath  proclaimed it for  my
comfort, faying,  " Fear not,  I am the  firft an J the laft.
I  am he that liveth and was dead ; and behold I am a-
live forevermore, amen ;  and have the  keys of hell and
death."
   When my foul is caft down within me,  let me remem-
ber God from the land of  Jordan, and the hill Mizar;
that I  may reafon  myfelf out of all my  fears and  dif-
couragements ; for yet, "  the Lord will command his
loving kindnefs in the day time, and in the  night kis Song
Shall be with me, and my prayer to the God of my life."
   "Why then art thou caft down, O my foul, and why
art thou difquieted within me ? hope thou in God, for I
fhall yet praife him,  who is the health of my countenance,
and my God."
   Now, when death is at hand,  let not my Saviour be
far off.  He who remembered the dying thief, and fpoke
comfortably to him, let him now remember me when he
isfeated in his kingdom, and fay to my  foul, " This  day
thou fhalt be with me in paradife."   When it is abfent
from the body, let it be  prefent with  the Lord.   Let
the angels now be ready to do their office, to carry my
departing foul into  Abraham's bofom.  Let me now de-
part, that I may  be with Chrift ; yea, be forever with
the Lord, that I may fee his face.  Let me dwell there,
where they  have no night,  need no  candle, nor light of
the fun forever;  where  God fhall wipe away all tear*
from  their eyes and there fhall be no more death, neithte
forrow nor crying.
   Father,  into thy hands I commit my fpirit.   By the
hands of him who hath redeemed it, let it he prefentctf
to thee without fpot or wrinkle, or any  fuch thing. 
        Afflicted Marts Companion.        19S

An addition of fome further  Meditations, proper for any
           fick perfon in the view of death.

     THE  Lord  is pleafed fometimes to  caft men down
      on beds of ficknefs, and  draw the curtain betwixt
the world and them, that they may take a view of their
by-paft life, and future  ftate.   Now is it time for me to
look into my foul, and examine my ftate.   Oh, how ma-
ny do mifs falvation, when they think themfelves fure of
it ! They miftake a form of godlinefs for the power of
it, and thereby deceive themfelves, thinking  themfelves
fomething, when they are nothing.
  Some come the length as to fhed tears,  as  Efaudid^;
profefs fair,  yea,  fight   for the Lord,  as Saul and Jehu
did ;  wifh for the end of the righteous, as Baalam did.j
defire God's people to  pray for them, as Pharaoh and
Simon Magus did;  walk foftly,  and mourn for fear of
judgments, aa Ahab did ; joy in gofpel ordinances, and
reform  in. many  things, as Herod did ; prophefy and
fpeak well of  Chrift, as Caiaphas and Judas  did ; be
convinced  and  tremble  at  hearing a  fermon,  as Felix
did ;  yea, tafte the good word of  God, and the powers
of the world to come, as apoftates have done : and yet
for all thefe attainments, remain Strangers to the faving
work of the Spirit on the heart.
  O  that the  confideration of hypocrites attainments
might alarm me out of my fccurity, and make me reftlefs
till I find the diftinguifhing  marks of true grace, and
fincere faith in my foul I O that I could fay, there is a
principle in me, that will not  fuffer me to build on any
foundation in the world but Chrift and his righteoufnefs j
that makes me content with Chrift, with  all his offices,
with all his precepts, and with  his  very  crofs for  his
fake ! Doth the love of  Chrift  keep  me back  from fin,
more than the law,  or fear of hell ?  Have  I  aimed at
God's honour in all my  aaions, civil,  natural,  and reli-
gious ?  Am I humbled, and denied to mine own will,
wit, credit, eafe,  and honour, and to all the enjoyments
bf the world? Am I acquainted with the throne of grace,
and defirous to keep up a conftant correfpondence with 
200        Afflicted Marts Companion.

it ? 0 let me not reft till  I perceive  thefe things in my
foul which accompany falvation.
   O how comfortable would it be to me now, if I could
fay with good  Hezekiah  in  his fickne-fs, " Remember
now,  O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth,
and with a  perfea heart, and have done that which is
good in thy fight."  O that I could pray, and fay,  with
Jefus my Saviour, when in the view of death, " Father,
I have glorified  thee on the earth ;  I have finifhed the
work which thou gaveft me to  do :  and now, O Father,
glorify thou me with  thine  own felf,  with the glory
which  thou hadft  ordained  for  me before the world
was !"
   Alas,  Lord, Imuft confefs my iniquities have  gone
up above mine  head ; my  miffpent time, my unfruitful-
nefs under the  means of grace, and  waterings of  ordi-
nances,  may caufe me to cry out, Woe  is me for the
leannefs of my  foul, and barrennefs of my heart!  I  have
been an empty  vine, bringing, forth fruit  only to myfelf,
I have hid my  Lord's money, and therefore deferve the
doom  of the wicked and Slothful Servant.   But  my relief
is in my  Surety's righteoufnefs.  Bleffed  be the Li.rd,
who hath fent  his Son to  blefs thofe who by nature lie
under the curfe, and to intercede for  thofe that  cannot
fpeak  for themfelves.  O  how fuitable is he to my foul's
cafe !  I have indeed a multitude of fins,  but he hath a
multitude of tender  mercies;  I have deep and heinous
guilt,  but he hath'a deep fountain for walking it out ; I
am fold under fin, but he  hath a ranfom to buy me  back
again ; my  fore is broad,  but his plaifter is anfwerable ;
my wound is great, but his balm is excellent.   Surely it
is my wifdom to go to Chrift with all  my grievances,
and always to lie and cry at my Redeemer's door.
   O that now, when the fun of my life is fitting^ the
bleffed Sun of righteoufnefs may arife and fhine upon my
foul !   Goodnefs and  mercy hath followed me  whi'e I
lived ;  O that Chrift and glory may meet me when I die!
I  muft acknowledge  thy  goodnefs ; were this the laft
hour I  had to live, and this the laft word I had to fpeak
in the  world,- J behoved to fay, Lord thou  baft been a 
         Afflicted Man's Companion.       201

 merciful and gracious God to me ;  my whole life hath
 been a continued tra& of mercy ;  Lord,1 crown the end
 of it with mercy alfo.  Surely the fei fis ndt fo  full of
 water, nor'the  fun fo full  of light,  as thou art full of
 grace and mercy.   O let not my fins  flop the current of
 thy tender mercies at this  time.  Lord,' drown-  all my
 fins in the fea of  Chrift's blood,  that my foul may not
 be funk  by them in the ocean of divine wrath.  Lord
 Jefu9, embrace my perifhing  foul in thy arms: let thy
 crofs be my fecurity, and thy wounds my refuge.
   0 thou that heareft the  young ravens  which ciy, be
 not lilent to me at this time, left if thou be filent  to me,
 I be like them to go down to the pit.
   Lord,  I am now called to the work I never did ;  give
 me the  ftrength I  never had!   Surely it is an important
 matter to die, and my eternal ftate dependeth upon dy-
 ing aright.  What I do amifs in my life one day,  I  may
 amend it  in the  next : but not fo here,  I can die but
 once : if I mar this  piece of work, I cannot come back
 to mend it again ;  if I forget any  thing neceffary for my
journey, I cannot return to fetch it.   Oh, a wrong ftep
 in going out of  this life  is  highly dangerous.   In one
 refpea it is like the fin againft the Holy Ghoft, and can
 never be forgiven ; for I cannot come back to mourn for
 it.   Of  all the bufinefs I  ever undertook,  I have moft
 need to take care of my dying.
   Oh, is death coming to take down this earthly taber-
 nacle, and to put  the one half of  me in  the dark grave,
 and the  other half of me  in heaven or in  hell ;  and  fhaW
 1 givifleep to mine  eyes, or flumber to mine eye-lids,
 till I find  myfelf in that cafe,  that I dare look  death in
 the face, and dare hazard -my  foul upon eternity ?:
   O to have right impreffiors of the  certainty  of death,
 and the uncertainty of life  ! What is my life bin a va-
 pour, a fand glafs of fixty  or  feventy years, which will
 foon run  out ? Eternity and a judgment-feat are now
 hard upon  me.   The blaft of the laft  trumpet is at hand.
 Tlurc will fhortly be a proclamation  by  one {landing in
 the clouds, that time  fhall be no more. The world looks
 big in men's eyes in time  of health ;  but  when the eye- 
2QQ        Afflicted Marts Companion.

firings break, the breath turns oold, and the unprifoned  -
foul looks out. at the windows of  the  clay-houfe, readj
to leap out into eternity»  can the world give any fatisfac-
tion r* No,  no;  a lamp full of oil  wilt be valued the*
more  than a houfe full o£ gold.  The fine ft things oa
earth will  then  appear nothing but a piece of painted j*
duft*  and gilded clay.  How gladly would the greateft %
worldling,  then, give*all his  gold and Silver,  riches and  1
honours, for one fight of Chrift's fair face,  onefmile of  '
his countenance  ?  Q. wherefore  fhould men in  health
neglea the market of grace, and Slight the pearl of great
price I  Why Should  they  fpend their  money for tha$
which is not bread, and their labour for that which fatj-
isfieth not  ?
   Lord, fave me from the hypocrite's cafe at  death,
whofe candle of profefiion  and of hope burns and  blazes
£air. all the way with him, but  goeth out in the dark
trance of death ;  and there he ftumbles and falls,  and
Shall rife no more.   O that my  profefiion and hope may
be-of  God's creating.!.  If God fight my  candle, then
Shall my feet be enlightened through the dark valley, and
death nor hell (hall not be able to put it out.
   Lord, fubdue fin in me, and let it  be continually dy-
ing now,  that it may certainly he dead before me. God
forbid that my fins fhould furvive me.
   O that, when the Stroke of death diffolves my body,
nay foul may efcape as a bird out of the fnare of the fow-
ler,  and may aScend  to  the heavenly  regions to enjoy
God  himfel£
   O let me look through the grates  of mortality, and
long for the jailor's coming tq fet  me at liberty.   God
help me to overcome  the love of life, and fears of  death*
If my neighbour lend me any thing, I pay  it again with
thanks;  and  Shall  I  not reflore  my  life; to God with
thanks, who  hath  been pleafed to lead me it (o long ?
Arife, and let me depart, for this is not my reft ; heav-
en is my home, Lord, bring me to it ; the joys of it are
too great to enter into me,  Q make me fit to enter into
them. 
            jdfflicteti Marts Comptmim.      fc©3

i.   Wh3e lite on a fick bed, Lord, help me to «patien€e
  in my ficknefs without murmuring.
     How willingly would the damned in hell  endure my
  pains a thoufand years, if they had my hopes of being
\* faved at laft ! Bleffed  be God,  that my  fickoefs is not
llhell, that.my pains are not eternal.
V   O that I may look on my affliaion as coming from the
i hand of him that is the Lord of health and of ficknefs, of
■ life and of death; who killeth and maketh alive, bringeth
I down to the grave, and raifeth up again ! That Sovereign
» and  wife  Lord hath  determined  the time when my af-
f fliaion fhall end,  as well as the time  when it began.—
t Thirty-eight  years  were appointed the fick man at Be-
 I theSdapool ;  eighteen years the woman that Satan kept
 i bound ; twelve years  to  the woman with the bloody if-
 r fue ;  ten days tribulation to thofe of Smyrna ; three days
 r plague to David.   The number of the godly man's tears
 ' is regiftered in  God's  book ;  yea, the hairs  of his head
| are numbered.
 i    When David got his choice  of his own chaftifement,
 1 he chofe rather to be correaed  by the hand of God, than
  by any other means, faying, •'Let me fall  into the hands
  of the Lord, for  his mercies are great."   I was dumb,
 ' and opened not my  mouth, becaufe thou didft it.   Glory
 i 4o God,  that I am fallen into his merciful hand.  Hath
 ' God appointed  that  man's coming into the world fhall
," be attended with pain and crying, and his going  out of
, it with grief and trouble; and fhall 1 quarrel at it ?  No,
h I defire humbly tounderly the correaion of mine iniqui-
  ty, and to bear the indignation of the Lord, becaufe I
  have finned againft him.  O that the ficknefs of my body
K  may be a  means-of  health  to my foul  !  May I be chaf-
I tened of the Lord, fo that I may not be condemned with
  the world 1
     It i? good for the believer that he  is  affliaed, why!
'  'it fprings from divine love,  and it works for his foul's
  good.  Affliaion is a feal of his adoption, and no fign of
  •reprobation.   The pureft gold is ofteft tried,  the Sweet-
  eft grape is  hardeft preffed, and  the  trueft chriftian is
y  heayieft croffed.   But O how foon will the chriftian for- 
 204       Afflicted Marts Companion.

 get all his groans  when  he comes to heaven ! As foon
 as Stephen faw Chrift, though at a diftance, he forgot all
 his wounds and bruifes;  he minded no more the terror of
 the ftones about  his ears, but fweetly yielded his foul
 into his Redeemer's hands.
    I read  of many in the gofpel,  that by fickneffes and I
. difeafes were  driven unto Chrift, who,  if they had en- \
 joyed health and profperity,  would have negleaed, like
 many others, to come to  him.  O bleffed  is  that crofs,
 that draweth a finner to Chrift, to lay open  his own mife-
 ry, and  implore Chrift's mercy.   And  bleffed be that
 Chrilt, who never refufeth the finner.that corneth to him,
 though driven by  affliaion and mifery.  To whom fhall
 fuch a diftreffed creature as I go, but to him who is the
 only phyfician, that can both  cure my foul from fin, and
 my bidy from ficknefs ?
    Lord, th -u never deniedft thy mercy to any finner that
 afked it with a penitent  heart.   There were many foru
 of fick finners that came to thee in the days of thy flefh^
 the blind, the deaf, the lame,  the lepers ; thofe that were
 fick of pnlfies, drrpfies fevers, fluxes, and were poffeffed
 with devils ; and yet  never one of them came crying for
 mercy, -that went away  without his errand, were his fin
 »ever fo great,  his difeafe never  fo grievous.  'Nay,  fo
 merciful is my i edeemcr,  that  he offered and gave his
•mercy to many  that  never afked  it, being moved with
 the bowels of his own compaffion, and the fight of their
 mifery ;  fo dealt  he  with the  woman of  Samaria,  the
 widow ofNain,  and the  man  that  lay thirty-eight years
at,the pool of Bethefda.   Oh,  if he gave his mercy fo
 willingly  to them  that did  not afk it, and  was found of
.them that fought him  ne>t, will he deny mercy to my foul
 that is crying for it ?
   There i6 but a Step betwixt me and death ;  Lord, feal
•my pardon to  me, before  I go hence, and be no more.—-
 O draw nigh to  me, and  fave me ; for my foul is full of"
 trouble, and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  Thy
. loving kindnefs  is better than life ; O make me fure of
,that,  and I will willingly part with this mortal life.
   O thou wuo  willeft not that any Should  pcrifh, but 
           Afflicted Marts Companion.       205

,   that all fhould come to repentance ; be pleafed to make
   »fe of the chaftifement of my  body, as a  medicine to
   cure my foul, and bring me to  a true and fincere repen-
   tance.   One day is with thee  as a thoufand  years; O
   work in me in this,  which may  be my laft day,  whatfo-
(  ever thou  Seeft  wanting in me.  Enable me to prefent
■  unto thee the facrifice of a  broken and  contrite heart,
'   which thou haft promifed not  to defpife.  Give a true
   and lively faith in the bleffed Jefus,  who is the propitia-
   tion for our fin's !   He  was wounded foryour tranfgref-
   fions,  he was bruifed tor our iniquities, the chaftifement
   of our peace wa* upon him ;  O heal me by his Stripes.
   Let the-cry of his blood drown the clamor of my fins.   I
)   am indeed a child of wrath, but Chrift is  the S>.;n of thy
   love ;  O pity  me for his fake, and let my foul find fanc-
   tuary in his wounds.
     O Lord, the waters of affliaion are come in even up-
   on my foul ; O let the  fpirit of God mo e  on thefe wa-
'■   ters,  that,  like the pool of Bethefda, they may cure
}   whatever  fpiritual  difeafes thou feeft in me.  O  Lord,
   confider my affiiaion, accept my tears, affuage my pain,
   increafe my patience, and  finiTh my troubles.   Correa
   me with the chaftifement of a father, and  not with the
   wounds of an enemy ; and though thou take not off thy
   rod,  Lord, take away thine anger.
      Lord, the prince of this world Cometh, O let him
   have  nothing in me ; but, as  he accufeth,  do thou ab-
   folve.    I  have  nothing to fay  for  myfelf,  but  be thou
   my advocate, Lord ; and do thou anfwer for me.   I am
   clothed  with filthy garments,  and  Satan  Hands at my
   right  hand to refill me ;  O Lord, rebuke him, and pluck
   me as a  brand out of the  fire.   Caufe mine iniquities to
   pafs from  me,  and clothe me with  the righteoufnefs of
   thy dear Son.   I know, O Lord, that no unclean thing
   can enter into thy kingdom, and thou feeft I am nothing
   but pollution,  yea, my very righteotifnefs is filthy rags;
   O'wafhme, and make roe white ia the blood of the
   Lamb,  that I may be fit to ftand before thy throne.  O
   take me from the  tents of Kedar,  to the manfions of
   light and purity.   When rr.y earthly houfe of this Uber- 
206        Afflicted Marts Companion.

nacle is diffolved,  O let me have  a bailding of God,  an
houfe not made with hands,  eternal in the heavens.  0
bring  my foul out of prifon, that  I may eternally give
thanks unto thy name.  Amen.



                 CHAPTER VIII.

Containing dircaions  to the  friends  and  neighbours ot
   the fick, who are themfelves in health for the time.

       HEN the Lord fends ficknefs and affliaion  to
        our neighbours, we  ought not to be idle and un-
concerned fpeaators of his difpenfations j  but we fhould
harken to the  voice of God's rod upon others, and con-
fider what it is that the Lord is calling for at  our hands.
Thefe  following direaions may  be ufeful  to  thofe that
are in health.
Direct, i.  Be very thankful to  God for the great mercy
    of health and fir ength, and improve it to his glory.

    SURELY an  healthful perfon hath ftill great caufa
     to be a thankful perfon.  Health is a  mercy that
doth feafon and fweeten every other temporal mercy  ;
without it the greateft wealth and honours, nay, a king's
crown, can give no  fatisfaaion.  It  is far more eligible
to be a healthy beggar, than  a fickly king. What cam-
fort could it afford Us-,  under toffing  ficknefs, and tor-
turing  pains, to have the greateft heaps of mOney to look
to, or  thoufands coming to  pay  us homage  ; alas, for
our unthankfulnefs to hhn who is the God  of our health'1
How little do  we prise his goodnefs  in continuing with
us fuch a longtraa of health and-ftrength, together with
the ufe of our reafon  and  fenfes, when many others are
deprived of them.  Surely God were righteous, fliould
he teach us to value the worth of thefe mercies by the
Want of them.
   Let  us confider how many miferable perfons there art
in the world, and  who it is that raaketh us to  differ from
w 
         Afflicted Marts Companion*        20?

them; how many difeafed, diftraaed, deformed, lame,
blind, deaf, and dumb people, there are ; and how eafy
it had been for God to have put us in their condition, and
them in  ours ! The difference is not owing to any thing
in us :  their fins are not greater than ours.   Had we a
due fenfe of our fins and ill defervings, we could acknowl-
edge ourfelves unworthy of theleaft of all God's mercies;
we would reckon every common mercy a fpecial bleffing,
and  unmerited favour to us.   Again, let us take a view
of the fainting ficknefs, racking pains, and reftlefs nights
of others.  Let us look upon our fick friends fweating
and burning under fevers; let us hear them groaning and
moaftiflg under ftrong pain.   ** Their foul abhors all
manner  of meat,  and they draw near  unto the gates of
death."   Sometimes we fee them panting and fainting,
and not able to fpeak a word to us.   And what is the
language  of all this to us ? Is it not, that we fhould
thankfully adore our gracious God, and blefi and magni-
fy him,  for his diftinguilhing  goodnefs to us ?  O how
much are we bound to the Lord, that it is not fo with us
as with  others I  While weariforne nights are appointed
to them, and their bones are full of toffing ;  all the com-
forts, of this life are taftelefs to them, their friends are
weeping about them,  but cannot help them : "  It is far
otherwife with me, (may  you Say)  my mercies and rela-
tions are  comfortable  and helpful to me,  1 relifh my
food, my bed gives me eafe,  my fleep k refrefhing :  I
have freedom to read and pray, meditate and attend the
public ordinances. Praife the  Lord} O my foul 5 and
all that is within me,  blefs his holy name.   Forget not
this benefit of health,  that is the chief of all my outward
bleffings.   Some would part with all  their  worldly
wealth, to have fo much bodily health as  I have.  Long
have  I  undervalued  and abufed  this choice mercy of
health ;   O that  I could mourn for my neglea, and re-
folve in  God's ftrength to improve my remaining health,
for the praife and fervice of that merciful God who is the
author and preferver of it !  let me fpend, and be fpent
for God, that gives me all my health and ftrength for his
glory.   Let  mc abhor the ingratitude of thofe  who em- 
5:08       Afflicted Marts Companion.

ploy the health which-God  giveth, in the fervice of his
enemies ; and  make a facrifice of it  to  the devil, the
world, and the flefh.  O what prodigious folly  are thefe
guilty of, who, for Satisfying their fenfual appetite, do
often  deprive themfelves  of  health, which is in itfelf a
thoufand times of more value than all their brutifh pleaf-
ures ; God help me to prize this mercy, that can never
be prized enough."

Direct,  ii.   Make confcience of vifitingyourfich friends
   and neighbours,  believing that it is your duty and intereft
  fo to do.
     VISITING of the fick is not only the duty of the
      minifters of Chrift, but likewife of all the  members
of Chrift ; for we are all enjoined to remember them  that
are in adverfity, and to fympathize with the affliaed,  as
being ourfelves alfo  in the body.  "To him that is af-
fliaed, pity fhould be Shewn by his friend?," faith Job.
And our Lord  gives it as a charader of thofe whom  he
will own and  acquit at  the great day, Matt. xxv. 36.
44  I was fick, and ye vifited mc."   This is the way to  be
like him, who is the Father of mercies, and  whofe foul
was grieved  for the miferies of Ifrael, Judges  x. 16.—
We read how tenderly David Sympathised with his ene-
mies when they were fick, Pfal. xxxv.  13, 14. and much-
more  ou^ht we to vifit  and fympathize with our  fick
friends.  '"To vifit the  profperous, and healthy,  isanaa
of courtefy and civility ; but to vifit  the  affliaed  and
Sickly, is an a'c"t of charity and chriflianity.
   And as it is your duty, fo it is your intereft and ad-
vantage to vifit the fick.  The wife man tells you, Ecclef.
vii. 2. "It is better to  go  to the houfe of mourning,
than to the houfe e>f feafting."  King Joafh  went to fie
Elifha in his ficknefs, and  wept over  him ;  and he loft
nothing by fi> doing,  2 Kings xiii 14. for he  obtained
thereby three famous viaories over the Syrians.  Tho'
it be not warrantable to inquire at  the dead, Deut. xriii,
n. yet we may learn many wholefome leffons from the
dying, and even though they be fpeechlefs.  As for  in-
ftance, we may hereby be inftruaed how to prize health, 
          Afflicted Marts Companion^.       209

 mind our own frailty, and provide for the time  of fick-
 nefs.  When we behold their ftrength languifhing, their
 tongues  faultering, their eyes failing,  their countenance
 pale ; we fhould think with ourfelves,  " This will be my
 cafe ere long ;  the next  arrow that death  fhoots, may be
 levelled at me ;  how much  is it my concern to prepare
 for it !"   Alfo  we may think, what a bitter thing fin is,
 that is the caufe of all thefe pains and diftreffcs,  aud how
 mad they are who love fin and take pleafure in it.   Wc
• may feelikewife, the great folly of courting and trufting
 the world, which leaves  the fick and  dying man in  the
 time of the greateft extremity.v And we  may obferve,
 how happy the  man is,  that hath an  intereft in Chrift,
 the  peace of a good confcience, and a well grounded
 hope of heaven  ; to yiel 1 fupport and confidence to him
 under lu6 ftrugglings with ficknefs and death.   When we
 hear the  dying  man's complaints of  his fins,  and his la-
 menting his neglea of duty, and mifpending of precious
 time, we  may learn repentaoce and reformation.   When
 we obferve their profeflions  of love to Chrift, -and their
 hope in him to the laft, it doth contribute to  the  quick-
 ening and ftrengthening of our  faith.  A right fight of
 dying perfons,  is  a good mean to  increafe the fpirit of
 grace and fupplication in us.  We may fitly allude here
 to the anfwer  which  Elijah  gave  to Elifha, when he
 fought a  double portion of his fpirit, 2 Kings ii,  10.
 " If thou feeft n« when  I am taken from thee, it fhall be
 fo unto thee."   A double portion of  the  fpirit fhall be
 the allowance of thefe who make confcience of this duty.

 Direct, hi. Let the friends of the fick,  and thofe  who
   vifit them, deal faithfully with them about their fouls.

     CONSIDER,  this may be  the laft opportunity you
      may have of doing any thing for your friend's foul.
 If he die,  he is  fixed in  his everlafting ftate, fo that all
 advices and coonfels then will be fruitlefs.   It is now, or
 never, you muft exert yourfelf  for your friend's advan-
 tage ; there is no knowledge nor wifdom in the grave,
 to which  he is going, " God's loving kindnefs cannot be
 declared in the grave, nor his faithfulnefs in defti uaion,"
                         S 2 
-: 10        Afflicted Man's Co •; >pan ion.

Pfal.  lxxxviii. ii.  Now is the  proper time fe.r doing  /
good  to  your neighbour's foul.   When affliaion  opens
the ear to difcipline, be  careful to drop in  wholefome
inftraaions into it; and  when  the heart is brade tender
by ficknefs, it is a fit feafon for  good counfel  to make
imprefiions on it   Let the  opportunity then be impro-
ved  with faithfulnefs  and prudence.  And, in  order
thereto,  ob^nrve the following advices.
   I.  Labour  to know the fick  man's fpiritual condition,
that your applications  may be fuitable thereunto.   The
knowledge of the difeafe  is previoufly requifite unto the
cure: as the  miftake of  a phyfician about a man's dif-
eafe,  may be as dangerous  as the difeafe itfelf ; fo here
it is  highly dangerous to miftake  the cafe cf  the fick
man's foul; for  then  lenitives may  be applied,  when
corrofives are  needful;  promifes  may be  admi.iiltered,
when threatnings are more proper.
   II. Beware of flattering the  fick with vain hopes of
life, when  he is more  likely to die ;  left he be  thereby
tempted to  delay or flack-en  his preparation for another
world.   It is  fit that  plainnefs be ufed with refpeft to
his danger,  that he may be quickened  to his work.
   III.  The fick perfon   is to be admonifhed and told,
that ficknefs comes not by chance, nor by  fecond eaufes
merely ; but by the wife  direaion and  Special providence
of God : that Sometimes  God fmites,  out of  difpleafure
for fin,  and for the Sinner's correaion and amendment  ;
and Sometimes for the  trial  and exercife of his people's .
graces ;  that  the  Sharpeft affliaions fhall work  together
for good to them .that love God, and are rightly exer-
cifed  under God's hand : that  it is a great mercy to a
finner, when  God by his rod gives  him warning and
fpace to repent, and flee to the blood of fprinkling, and
to cry to God for pardon ; and doth not fnatch him out
of the world by a fudden  death.  Upon which  account
the voice of the rod Should be carefully harkened to, and
thankfully obeyed.
   IV. If the  fick perfon be ignorant,  he is to be cate-
chifed and inftruited  in the principles of  religion,  espe-
cially  concerning his  faith and  repentance, and his up- 
           Afflicted Man'$ Companion.       211

*  taking of the covenant of garce, and the method of par-
   don and falvation through the righteoufnefs  of Chrift
   apprehended by faith.  And it  may be proper to demand
   his affent vtj fome of the fundamental truths of chriftian-
   ty, or his  anfwer to fuch queftions as thefe :  lft, Do
   you believe in God the  Father,  Son and Holy Ghoft,
   one God in three pSrfons, the maker and governorof the
   world? idly, Do you believe that Jefus Chrift,  who zf'-
   Sumed our nature, obeyed the law,  died  on the crofs,
   rofe from the dead, and affcended to heaven,  is the eter-
   nal Son of God, and the only Saviour of finners ? $dlyi
   Are you fenfible  that you are a loft finner  by  Adam's
   fall, and, befides that, guilty of innumerable aaual fins;;
>.  and that you have broken God's holy commandments in
   thoughts,  word?, and deeds, and for fo doing, do deferve
   God's wrath both in this life and that which  is to come ?
   Afthly,  Are you  truly grieved and forry  for breaking
   God's  law,  negleaing his  worfhip,  mifpending your
 ,  time, and  purSuing  the  vanities  of the world ?  And
   would you do as you have done, or live otherwife, if you
   were to begin your life again ?  $thly, How do you think
   to get your guilt removed, your fins pardoned, and your
   peace made up with God ?• Are you defirous from your
   heart to be reconciled to God.through Jefus Chrift, the
j  bleffcd peace maker ? 6thlyi  Do you heartily approve  of
•  the gofpel  method of reconciliation, by the righteoufnefs
i  and facrifice offered up by the Lord JeSus Chrift as your
   Surety,  in  your name and ftcad  ?• And is your foul defir-
   ous to choofe and accept of Chrift for your mediator and
   Saviour, in all his offices, of prophet, prieft, and king ?
   Ithly,  Do you renounce all  confidence in any other, all
   dependence on your own duties and  righteoufnefs,  and
   put  your whole truft and confidence in Chrift,  and the
   merits of his blood, faying,  " Whom have  1 in heaven
   hut thee ?  and there is none on earth that I defire befides
   thee."  Do you believe that there is no Salvation in any
   Other;  and that  there is no name under heaven whereby
   you can be Saved, but Jefus Chrift only ?  Sth/y,  Do yow-.
   defire to  be wholly renewed and fanaified by virtue c£
   Chrift's blood, and to (hew forth the reality of.your faith* 
212        Afflicted Marts Companion.

by good works and a holy life  for the time you have to
five in the world  1 And, as an evidence thereof, are you
▼filling to reftore what you have taken  wrongfully from
any, and to forgive all wrongs done to you by* any, and
to caft out all malice or hatred you have borne to any,
and afk forgivenefs of any you have injured ?  yikly, Do
you believe that Chrift is coming at the  laft day to judge
all the world* both  the quick and  the  dead, whom he
fliall then  raife from the grave, and that your  dead body
fhall rife  with the reft ?  lothty, Do you  believe the im-
mortality of the  foul, and its living in a feparate ftate  af-
ter death, and that the fouls of believers do immediately
pafs into glory,  where they fliall be ever with  the Lord I
   V.  In dealing with the fick you  are  to  feparate be-
twixt the precious  and the vile,  and make a  difference
betwixt the converted and the unconverted.  And feeing
different  applications are requisite, you are, according to
your knowledge, to  ftudy to  Suit your counfcls,  admo-
nitions and  prayers, to their  ftate  and condition ; not
ufing the  fame words to  the ungodly as you  ufe  to the
godly, left you flatter them with ill-grounded  hopes that
their Slate is fafe, while they are Strangers to  a work of
regeneration.  That great truth is to be declared  to all,
that  " unlefs a  man be born again, he cannot  fee the
kingdom of God."   O it is dangerous to fpeak  peace,
where God fpeaks war.
   VI. If the  fick perfon feem to be fecure, or have not
a due fenfe of his fins, endeavours muft be ufed to con-
vince  him of the guilt, pollution,  and danger of them, in
order to his humiliation.   Prefumptuous finners are not
to be flattered, left we betray their fouls into  eternal ru-
in, and fo their blood be required at our hand.  No fond
love, no SlaviSh fear,  muft keep us from telling them the
hazard of their  prefent ftate.  The fecure  confcience
muft be awakened to fee the demerit  of fin, and the ter-
riblenefs  of the  juftice of a fin-revenging God, before
whom no Chriftlefs impenitent  firmer can ftand :  this is
neceffary in  order to a Sinner's difcovering his loft cafe in
himfelf, and his fleeing to Chrift for refuge.  It is God's
method,  firft to caft down the  foul before  he  lift ic up ; 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.        213

* to plow the heart by conviaion, before he caft in the
 feed of confolation.
    VII. If the fick perfon hath fludied to walk upright-
 ly, but  is at prefent difcouaraged upon account of the
 fharpnefs of the rod,  Satan's temptations, the guilt of fin,
 fear of death,  or the like ; then fuitable counfels, resolu-
 tions, and comforts,  are to  be tendered, in  order to his
 fettlement  and fupport.   Particularly he may  be told,'
 that Sharp rods are no wife inconfiftent with divine love ;
 nay, frequently, they are a  fign of it:  for  as Standing
 waters turn corrupt,  becaufe they have no current ; and
 thefe who are not poured from veffel to veffcl,  their tafte
 remains and their fcent is not changed ; therefore, God,
 in order to take away the  fcent of  th: corrupt nature
 from us, is pleafed to change us from ftate to ftate, by
 croffes and ficknefs, to falvation.   And as Noah's Ark,
• the  higher it was toffed with the  flood,  the nearer it
 mounted towards heaven ; fo the fanaified foul, the more
■ it is exercifed with affliaion,  the nearer it is lifted towards
 God.   Again, it is proper to fet before him the freenefs
 and fulneSs of God's grace,  the fufficiency of  right eouf*
 r .Ts in Chrift, and his rich and gracious offers in the gof-
 pel, by  which we are allured, that all who repent and be-
 lieve with all their  heart in God's mercy through Chrift,
[; renouncing  their own righteoufnefs, fhall not perifh in
i Iheir fins, but have life  and falvation in  him ; and  that
 believers in Chrift are affured of viaory over Satan, death,
 a:id all  their  enemies, becaufe Chrift their head hath by
 bis crofs conquered the devil, unftinged death, triumphed
 over the grave, and obtained viaory for all his members«
 So that neither life nor death, principalities nor powers,
 fhall be  able to feparate them from God's love in Chrift.
    VLI.  If a  fick  man be fo tempted and troubled in
 confcience, that he is in  hazard of dcfpaiiing of God s
 mercy ; it is neceflary to inform him  of the greatneCs and
 inf.niteuefs of God's mercy ; that  the  moft  notorious
 Sinners have been pardoned and faved by it, and it is ftill
 offered in the gofpel to the  vileft  of finners..   Though
 God forefaw all the fins which the world would commit,
 yet thefe  di*i  not hinder him from loving the world fo, 
214       Afflicted Marts  Companion.

that he gave his only begotten Son to death, fo fave at
many as would believe and repent; fo that the fine of one
man can never hinder God from loving his foul, and for-
giving  his fins, when he Sincerely defires to repent and
believe.   The cry of the moft grievous fins  that are re-
corded (fuch as thofe of Sodom) could never reach high-
er than unto heaven,  Gen. xix.  13.   But David affures
us, Pfal. cviii. 4. that the mercy of God is great, and
reaches higher than the heavens, fo that it  overtoppeth
the greateft of all our fins.   If the mercy of God be
greater than all his works, it muft furely be greater than
all our fin9.   Again, lay before him the infinite virtue of
Chrift's blood : why ?  it is not the blood of a mere man,
but the blood of God, Aas xx. 28.   And are there any
fins fo great, or tniilt fo henious, but the blood  of God
can wafh away ? This was godly Cranmer's fupport that
day he fuffercd martyrdom, when his fin of renouncing
the Proteftant doarine flared him  in the face : " Surely
(faid he) God was made flefh,  and fhed his blood, not
for leffer fins only, but  for greater fins alfo."  He was
fadly difcouraged, and  wept abundantly, till he  eyed
this meritorious blood j  and then he took heart and died
with courage.   O.this price  was fo great, that it could
have merited pardon  for the  fins of all the devils in hell,
as well as of all the men on earth,  though every one of
them had been red as crimfon.  Yea,  the leafl drop of
this blood is of mpre merit to procure the mercy of God
for our falvation, than all our fins can be of force to pro-
voke  the wrath of God for our  damnation j why, the
greateft of our fins are but the fins of a man, but the leafl
drop of Chrift's blood is the blood of God.
   Moreover, Let him  be put in mind of the willingnefs
and readinefs of our Redeemer to receive all finners that
came to him in the days of his flefh, through driven to
him by ficknefs and affliaion  ; fo that he never put any
of them away without their errand, that came crying for
mercy.  Nay, he many times  fought out objeas for his
mercy,, that were not  thinking of coming to him, as
Shewed before.  Obferve  the gentlenefs of our Lord's
carriage to Judas himfelf, in calling him Friend, after hi* 
          Afflkted Marts Companion.       215

I. jnoft  treacherous dealing,  Matt.  xxvi. 50.  " Friend,
 {faid he) wherefore  art  thou  come ?"  Had wretched
 Jvdas laid hold  on  the word Friend, but of the mouth
 pf Chrift,  as  Benhadad did  the word Brother from the
 mouth of Ahab ; doubtlefs Judas fhould have found the
 God of Ifrael more merciful than Benhadad found the
■ king of Ifrael.
   Lafily,  Let him  confider, that to defpair of God's
 mercy, cafts the greateft difhonour upon  the divine Majef*
 ty,  and is a fin more henious than all the fins whUh we
 have before committed :  why,  it  doth  charge the great
 God  i'.s  guilty  of  perjury,  who hath  folemnly fworn,
 jhat he defires not the death of a finner, but rather that
 he Should repent and live, Ezek. xx xiii :j.   God was
 more  difpleafed  with Cain for defpairing of his mercy,
| .than  for  murdering  his brother ; and with  Judas for
 hanging himfelf, than for betraying  his Mafter :  why,
 becaufe that by their defpair they would make the fins of
 mortal men greater  than the infinite mercy  of the eternal
 God.
 Direct, iv. Be earncfiin prayer to God for your friend*
     when fick or dying.   Pray with them and for them.

I T7 REQJJENTLY fick perfons are fo difquieted with
I JL   pain and trouble, that they are out of cafe to pray
| for themfelves, and therefore they have the more need of
 the prayers of others.  David  failed and prayed for his
 enemies when they  were lick, Pfal. xxx. 13. much more
 I ought we to pray for our friends in that cafe.  Never did*
 they need our prayers-fo much, as when they are called to
  ester  upon an  unchangeable  condition, to go to their
1 long home, even that place wherein they muft abide for-
ty -ever   Nowthey are  in  jhe land of prayer, and it is now
 or never that you muft pray and beg mercy for them.—
 When their life is gone, they go from the land of prayer,
 , .-and are fixed in that place whence they fhall never  re-
 move :  then all  your prayers and cries for them will he
 in vain.  If your friend be a Stranger to Chrift,  he is oh
 ^the briiik of  hell,  and  knows  it not ; and will you not
 /cry to God to open his eyes; and fave  him from falling 
216       Afflicted Marts Companion.

into that devouring pit, out of which there is no redemp. '
tion ? You would  be willing to fit up a whole night for
the rehef of his body, and will you not fpend a part of a
night for the good of his foul,  that is  a thoufand  times
more  valuable ? Now the queftion is, whether this pre-
cious  foul fhall be Chrift's or the devil's for ever ?  And
when will you  wreftle for your friend, if you do it not
now ? If the fick perfon be a child of God, you may pray
with him " ith the  more  comfort,  and  expeaatifen  to be
heard.  Ynu may, in that cafe,  fend the fame meSTage
by prayer to Chrift, that the fitter of fick Lazarus did,
John, xi. 3.  " Lord, behold, he whom thou  loveft is
fick. '  Lord pity him, comfort him, abate his diftem-
per, and relieve him from it if it be  thy will ; if not,
grant him thy gracious  prefence and fafe condua thro'
the Jordan of death, and a happy landing in the Canaan
of glory.
   We are  tola, that  the prayers of the righteous, in
fuch  cafes, doth avail  much,  James  v. 16.  And this
to encourage us to pray one for another.  Whatever be
the fick perfon's condition, fuch confeffions and petitions
as thefe following may be made ufe in  prayer for him,

         PETITIONS FOR THE SICK.

    LOUD,  thou firft breathed ft  into man the breath of
      life >' and when thou takelt away that breath, he
dies,  a:id returns again  to his duft.   May  we  be duly
■fenfible of our dependence on  thee for all that we enjoy.
'We acknowledge, that our great abufe of the many days
of health and welfare thou affordeft lis, doth juftly de-
ferve  the -visitation of  ficknefs and dilieaSes.   Wo's u»,
we lie under a  burden  of fin,  both original and aaual;
we are all children of wrath  by nature, aad under the
curfe of a broken law ; and  all  other miferies temporal
and Spiritual, diftempers, pains, death,  and hell itfelf* are
the iffues thereof.  Be merciful to the fick perfon  under
thy hand ;  difcover to him his fin?, and the caufe why
thou contendeft with him.  Make him fee that he  is loft
i^ himfelf, and  wholly  unable to Satisfy the demands of. 
           Afflicted  Marts Companion.       217

k -offended juftice ; and do thou  reveal Chrift.  to his foul
   for righteoufnefs and life.   O give him thy holy Spirit
   to create and ftrengthen faith, that he may  lay hold on
   Chrift as offered in  the gofpel ;  work in him the grace
   of true  repentance.   Enable him  to  fearch his heart,
   and try his  ways, fo as he may difcover every aecurfed
   thing, every Achan  in the camp, that hath provoked the
   Lord againft him.   When  thou putteft him  in the fur-
   nace, be pleafed to ftand by it,  and overfee the metal
   while it is melting in it.   Try him as filver is tried,  and
   • bring him out purified, and let him loofe nothing in the
   furnace but his drofs.   Remove  his fins from thy pref-
   . ence as far as eaft is from the weft,  that they  may  never
 ['  trouble his confcience, nor rife in  judgmsnt againft hia
 i  (foul.   However bitter the cup may be, let it be medici-
   nal to cure all the difeafes of his foul.  O that thefe af-
   • fliaions, which are but for a moment, may work for him
   a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, thro'
   ■Jefus Chrift the purchafer.
      Look down from heaven, the habitation  of thy holi-
   r nefs, behold his affliaion and his pain, and forgive all his
   fin.  Shew  fuch pity to him as a fatherdoth to his child,
   and lay no  more upon him, than he is able to bear.—
 [  Lord,  give  patience and ftrength  anfwerable to the bur-
   • den of  trouble thou haft laid on  him.   In  time of his
   weaknefs, uphold  him by thy ftrength.   Relieve his
   wants  out of thy infinite fulnefs.   Lord,  thou knoweit
 >  his frame, and remembereft that  he  is dull ;  fave him
 *  from extremhy of trouble ;  either  abate his pain, or in-
   creafe his patience to endure what  thou meafureft out to
   him.   Give him the evidences of all  the graces of thy
 ■ri;-Spirit.   Arm and defend him againft all the fuggeftions
 ^ and temptations of Satan.  Take his heart wholly oft
 i  the world, and fet his affeaions on  things above.  Lord,
   make ufe of this chaftifement of his body as   a medicine
   to cure his foul, by drawing his foul,  that is fick of fin,
i"  to thyfelf.  O enable him  in a penitent believing man-
[   ner to come by repentance to Chrift hi* foul-phyiician, to
C  get  it healed of all its maladies.   Sauftify Lis  ficknefs
F  and let the fruit of  it be to purge away his fia.
                             T 
218        Afflicted Man's Companion.

   If God Shall be pleafed to add to his days,  blefs all
means  of his recovery.  Remove the difeafe ;  renew his
ftrength both outward and inward; heal his Soul as well
as his body.   And enable  him to  walk tenderly before
God, and carefully to remember and perform  fuch vows
and promifes of obedience  as  men are apt to make in
time of ficknefs.
   If God hath determined to finifh his days by the pref-
ent vifitation ; let him find Such evidence of the pardon
of his  fins,  of  his intereft in Chrift,  and eternal life, as
may caufe his in ward.man to be renewed, while his out-
ward man decayeth ;  that  he  may meet death without
fear, caS£ himfelf wholly  on Chrift without doubting,
and defire to be diffolved, that he may for ever be with
Jefus  Chrift.   Lord,  make his  laft  works better than
his firft, and the day of his death  better than the day of
his birth.   Make his  laft words his beft words, his laft
thoughts his beft thoughts, and  his laft hour  his beft
hour;.   O let him die the death of the righteous, and let
his laft end be like his.  Let the eyes  of his foul be
opened to fee his fins and his Saviour, before the eyes of
his body be Shut  by  death.  Take  away the fting of
death,  the  guilt of fin, that he  may walk through the
valley  of the fliadow of death, and fear no evil.   Open
thou his lips,  that  his'mouth may fhew forth thy praife,
before  he go  to the place  of filence.  And when his
ftrength doth  fail, and his tongue  is not able to  utter
words, let the blood of Chrift fpeak for him in heaven :
and let thy  holy Spirit within him make requefts for him
with  fighs  and groans that cannot be uttered.  When
the fight of his eyes doth fail him,  let the eyes of his
faith be ftrengthened, that his  foul (with Stephen at his
death) may  behold Jefus  Chrift  in heaven ready to re-
ceive him.   Lord, ftand by him in his laft onflia with
his enemicf,  Satan  ard death, that  he  may  overcome
both, a id be  nr>re than  n conqueror through  Chrift
that hath loved him.   Into thy  hands we commend his
fpirit.
   L:>-d, teach us who do furvive, by this and other like
daily ftx-fl^cles of our mortality, to fee \ow frail and un- 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.       219

certain our condition is, and fo to number our days, tha£
we may ferioufly apply  our hearts to heavenly wifdom,
through Jefus Chrift.   Amen.


Direct, v.  Be careful to furnijh your friends with fuit-
   able company x and fpiritual converfe, when they are fick
   or dying.

     AS worldly  company and converfe are great hindran-
      ces, fo fpiritual company and  converfe are fpecial
helps to the fick and  dying.   Now,   that the friends of
the fick may prevent the one," and provide the other, let
the following advices  be remembered.
   if, Mind your friends  timeoufly  to make their wills,.
and difpatch the fettlementof their worldly affairs,  that
fo they may  not  be difturbed at  the  laft, nor any wife
diverted from their main work, by thoughts or difcour-
fes about the world.  A mind abftraaed from the world
is a  moft  fuitable difpeifition  for a  dying man.   You
cannot carry the things of this world  with you when you
go hence ; and it is not  fit you Should carry the thoughts
of them.
   idly. Keep  carnal company from them as much as
pofiible,  and all thefe that would divert them by idle or
worldly difcourfe.  It  ii  both impertinent and cruel, to
throw in fuch impedi.nems in the  way of thofe that are
going fpeedily to their e'ndle-fs ftate.
   $d/y, D >  what you can to get  faithful minifters and
godly Christians to be much about them, who are  fit to
inftrua and counfel them  about their foul's matters, and
alfo  to pray with them and for them.
   \thly,  Be often minding your fick friends of their chief
work, and  thofe things which belong unto their peace.
Whatever  be their ftate, whether gracious or gracelefs,
it is proper to be minding  them,  I.  Of the vanity and
emptinefs of the world, that can neither give eafe to the
body, nor comfort to the foul, when either of them is in
trouble.   2. Of the finfulnefs of fin, which is the fpring
of all difeafes  and miferies whatever.   3. Of the prc-
cioufncfj  and ufefulnefs of Chrift to  a finner in all cafes, 
-*2Q        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

;<nd efpecially at a dying hour.  4. Of the inexpruhblc
felicity of believers in Chrift after death, Sec.
   Laflly, If you .think yourfeives not able to inftnia 01
advife your fick friends as they ftand in need,  then read
fome  good  book to them, that may be fuitable to the
condition of their fouls ; and if you have  not a fitter at
hand, read fome chapters or diveaions of this book to
them, as you may fee moft proper for them.  But above
all books, read to the fick the holy fcriptures,  particular
chapters and Pfalms there, fuch as the three laft chapters
-of Gen. the laft chapter of Deuteronomy, the 17th chap-
ter of the iftbook of Kings, and 2d chapter of the 2d
book of Kings, the 14th and ii,th chapters of Job, the
 Pfalms  of David ; and particularly  the  6th,  the 23d,
 25th, 30th, 38th, 41ft, 42d, 49th, 51ft, 71ft, 73d, 77»h,
 88th, 89th,  90th,  io3d,n6th,  118th, 130th,  143d,
 143d, and  feveral other  Pfalms—the 12th chapter of
 Ecclefiaftes;  the 38th, 53d, 54th, and 55th Ifaiah ; the
 three laft chapters of Luke; the 14th, 15th, 16th,  17th,
 and  20th chapters of John ; the 18th chapter of the
 Romans; the 15th chapter of the  1 ft Cor.  the 5th of
 the 2d Cor.  the 4th of  ift Theff. the nth and 12th of
 Heb. the three laft chapters of the Revelation, and the
 like.
 DrRECT. yi.  Be tikewife fuitably concerned for the bodies
   of your friends, when they arefek.
   IF  you would evidence  a  fuitable  concern for them,
     then you muft deal tenderly and compaffionately with
 them in their ficknefs, bear with their impatience and
 fretting, weary not of them, nor grudge at the trouble
 they put you to ; for Shortly you yourfeives may be in
. the like cafe, when you Shall be as great a trouble to oth-
 ers, as your friends are now to you.
   Again, it is .Beceffary to employ  phyficians, and ufe
 the beft  means for the recovery of your friend's health.
 The means indeed muft not be trufted to inftead of God,
 but ufed in fubferviency to  him, who  hath  appointed
 them, and can only give fuccefs to them.  Wc muft be-
 ware of  Afa's &a, that fought to the  phyficians, and not 
              Afflicted Marts  Companion.      22'1

   to the  Lord.  Let us neither take food nor phyfic with-
   out prayer to God for his bleffing thereupon.

   Direct,  vii.  When the ficknefs of your relations or neigh-
    ■  bours doth iffue in death, fudy a  Chriftian  and fuitable
      behaviour under fush a difpenfation.

          WHEN a parent  loofeth a promifing  child,  or a
          child loofeth a loving parent, or when death de-
   prives  us of any near.relation, it is a  fpeaking and trying
   providence ; and  we have much need of grace and coun-
   fel from Gou to carry a rijht under  it.   Let us obferve
   thefe advices.
      I. It is neceffary in  fuch  a cafe, that we have a ten-
   der fenfe  and feeling of  God's affliaing hand.   There
   are two extremes which we muft equally avoid, viz. to
   make light of the death of relations ; and to be exceffive-
   ly grieved on that account.   God will have us neither to
   defpife his rod, nor to  faint  under it, Heb. xii. 5.  God
   Ldifpleafed with  thofe  that are ftupid and  infenfible un-
   der Such affliaion".  Why ? They defpife his rod,  and
*. make  light of his correaions.  Hence he complains of
   thefe,  Jer. v. 3. "I have fmitten  them, but they have
   pot-grieved."  God  will have us  to feel his hand, to
   inquire into the meaning of the rod,  and fearclvfor thefe
   fins  that have provoked  God  to fmite us.   It is a  Sign
   of a naughty, SelfiSh, and unchriftian fpirit, to be  uncon-
   cerned for the death of friends ; and it is much more fo
   in children, who  have a fecret  fatisfaaion in the death
   of parents, becaufe of the worldly richfs or liberty which
   they get  thereby.   God ufeth to  follow this  wicked
   temper with his heavy judgments even i:i this  life.
      II.  Confider, that God is calling you,  by the death
   of others,  to keep  up  lively and lafting impreffions of
   death  and  eternity upon your fpirits.  God knoweth
   how advantageous  it would be for  men fo to do;  and
   therefore  he fets frequent fpeaacles of mortality before
   their eyes for this  end.   But fuch is the corruption  and
   earthlinefs of our minds, that we foon forget the thoughts
   of death.  When  we  fee our friends in the pangs'of
   deaJi, or  laid  ia the grave, it ftrikes  uj wijh fome  fear 
222       Afflicted Man's  Companion.

and concern, to think, that one day this will be our ow/i
cafe; but no Sooner is the dead interred, and the grave
filled up again, than all  thefe ferious thoughts begin to
vanifh, and men Teturn  to their fins and pleafures as be-
fore.   Ah, what folly is this !  Should not men always
keep alive the ferious  thoughts  of death and  a future
ftate ? Are  we  not always alike mortal ? Are we not as
liable to death'* arreft at other times,  as when examples
are before our eyes ?
   III. When God takes away yourchildren or relations,
let it draw your hearts and affeaions more towards God
and things above.   As when a fhepherd taketh up in his
arms a lamb of  the flock,  the ewe followeth him of her
own accord,- and will not  leave him ;  fo when the great
 Shepherd of the Sheep taketh a child or friend from you,
it fhould caufe you to follow after him, and defire to be
 with him.  But one may  fay,  that is not the cafe with
 me ;  I fear the wolf hath  got the ftraying fheep, and de-
 voured it.  Then  even that fufpicion fhould make you
 run to the good fhepherd, abide with him, and keep
 clofe by the footfteps of the flock, and beware of ftray-  <
ing in thefe paths wherein  deftroyers go.  When God
 taketh from you thefe relations  whom you  dearly loved,
 he calls  you  to take your  love off the fading creature,
 and fet it on the eternal Creator; when the weak branch
 is lopt off, then clafp to the body of the tree, which will
not fail you.
    IV. In fuch  trials, ftudy a humble and patient fub-
miffion to the will of God, who in his fovereign wifdom
and pleafure hath  taken your child or friend  from you.
 Remember who hath done it, even he, who gave all men
their lives, and hath the abfolute  power and right to dif-
pofe of  men's lives as he thinks beft.  If your fellow-
creature do any thing that  difpleafeth you, you may both
afk who did  it, and why he  did fo  ?  But when God
doth any thing to you, you muft remember  he is  the
Potter, and you are the clay; and that he may  make or
mar his  clay veffels, yea,  break  them in  pieces at his
pleafure ; and " there is none can flay his hand, or fay
to him, what doft thou ? be ftill; aad know that I  a» 
          Afflicted Marts  Companion.      223

God," Pfal  xlvi.  10.   The mafter of a family gathers at
his pleafure the flowers and fruits of  his garden ; Some-
times he cuts off the buds, fometimes he fuffers them to
bloflbm ;  fometimes he gathers  the  green  fruit, fome-
times he ftays till they be ripe,  and every body thinks he
may do with his own what he pleafeth ; and fhall not the
almighty God have liberty much  more to difpofe of all
that grows in his  own  territories  at his pleafure ?  The
mafter of the family hath  not created the trees and plants
of his garden, but God hath made and fafhioned all the
children of men with his almighty hand.
   It is the fenfe of this fovereign right and dominion of
God over his creatures, that hath made his  people to be
filent under  the greateft  loffes.  Hence Aaron when he
loft  his two  fons hy a Sudden and extraordinary Stroke, it
is Said of him, Lev. x. 3. " And Aaron held his peace."
He  opened  not his mouth, becaufe it was a  fovereign
God that did it.   So  holy Job, when he loft all his chil-
dren by  one blow, patiently  fubmits to  this abfolute
Lord,  Job i. z 1. " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away ;  bleffed be the name of the Lord."   Job
 knew that  God's relation  to  them was far nearer than
 his, and his right to difpofe of them was indisputable.—
 It was a holy and  excellent fpeech of that honourable
perfon, Lord Dupleflis,  at the  death of his only fon ;
 " I  could not have borne this from a man, but I can from
 God."
   V.  Guard againft immoderate grief aad exceffive for-
row for the death of children or near relations ;  for this is
 finful and offenfive to God.  Now, grief is finful and im-
 moderate, when it makes you-grudge at God's difpenfa.-
 tion, murmur at his will, t*rn unthankful to him for the
 mercies you enjoy, overlook all  by paft favours, and la-
 ment a temporal more than a fpiritual lofs.  Alas 1  there
 are  maay who can bewail a dead friend far more than.a
 dead heart, and the lofs of a child more than the lofs of
 God's countenance.   Now, for preventing this exceSfive
 forrow, cfinfider thefe things.
   xf.  If you be Chriftlefs and impenitent,  you have rea»
£09. .to bkfs God that the Stroke was not at your own life, 
224      Afflicted  Marts Companion.

for then ym had been eternally  miScrable, and without'
hope.  What is the temporal lofs of a child, to the eter-
nal L fs of thine own foul ? O it is far better to be child-
lefs and friendlefs  on  earth, than to be  hopelefs and
remedilefs i:i hell.
   idly. Confider how little ground you have to complain
of any lofs or ftroke you meet with on earth.   I. If you
eye  God's  fovereignty and  power over you,  you have
caufe to  be  thankful  that  he  hath not annihilated you
and your-relations  both long ere now,  feeing he hath as
full a  dominion to  reduce you to nothing, as to bring
you  from nothing.  Though God  fhould dafh us againft
the walls  as a potter doth  his  veffel,  no man could have
reafon to fay, What  doft thou ? or why doft thou ufe
me fo  ? Jer.  xvii. 6. " O houfe of Ifrael,  cannot I do
with you as  this  potter ? faith the  Lord."  Nay, he
hath a greater right to deal fo  with us, than a potter
with his veffel, for God hath contributed all to his crea-
ture  that it hath ; but the potter never made the ckry
which is the fubftance of the veffel, nor the water that is
needful to make it  traaable.  All that the potter doth,
is only to mould the clay into fuch a fhape ; befides  the
potter's  lody  is no  better than the  clay he makes his
veffel of; nay, perhaps that very clay might once have
been fome part of the body of a man as good as the pot-
ter himfelf.   Now, fhall the potter  have fuch jmfolute
power over  that which is fo near alike to him ;  and fhall
not God have it over that .which is infinitely diftant from
him  ?  That word,  Dan. iv. 34, 35. " The Moft  High
doth according to  his will,"  is  enough to filence  the
murmuriags of all men under ftrokes and loffcs.
   2.  If you eye the hand of God, as moft juft and  right-
eous in what  you  have  met  with,  you- have  no good
ground to complain.   " Have you not procured all this
to yourfelf ?"  Is not God moft juft in all rhat hath come
upon you ?  Nay, if you confider  your fins, and God's
ahfolute  dominion  over you,  you  muft own  he  might
have dealt with you in a Smarter way than he hath  done ;
inftead of one affliaion, you might  have had a thoufand.
   3. Look  to the mercy that ik mixed with the rod— 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.       22$

ft is a wonder that this great Sovereign,  wbj> is fo pro-
voked  by us, fliould allow us any mercy  at all,  and yet
ac receive innumerable benefits from him.   Whatever be
our affliaions,  furely they are far lefs than our iniquities
deferve.   Hath he  caft your child  into the grave ? he
might juftly hawe thrown your foul into helL  It is of the
Lord's mercies  you are  not confumed.  Why  fhould a
living man complain i a man out of a grave, and out »f
hell too, hath furely no reafon.
   4. If you  compare  your affliaion with the trials of
other's of God's people, yea, and thefe faints who have
been moft eminent, you have no reafon to grudge at your
1c£j.  You bawe  one child dead, but Aaron  (who is
called the faiat of the Lord, Pfal. cvi.  1$)  had  two at a
Stroke ; nay,  Job„ whom God commends  above all the
faints in his day, had all his children flain by one blow,
and  both thefe eminent  feints had their loffes by an im-
mediate  and extraordinary  ftroke from  God.  Some
godly parents have feen tltejr children live to proye fcan-
,dals to religion* and a grief of mind to themfelves, and
would  have thought it a merey if Godhad taken them
away when young.  Say not then,  there is no forrow
like yam* forrow j for the cup which  many others ba»e
drunk, hath bad more bitter ingredients in it than ynurt.
   ylty, Confider that exoeffive grief cannot better your
caSc, it may well make it  worfe.  If  you ftrugglc and
contend under God's hand, you aft  a fooliih part; as a
bullock unaccuftomed  to  the yoke, that  by his Strug-
gling galls his neck,  and makes the yoke the more unea-
Yy : or hke a bird fluttering in a  net, that, iffftead of
freeing, doth the more entangle itfelf.  Thus by immod-
erate forrow and fretting under the ftroke, yQu fin the
more againft Gad,  and  make  your burden the more
heavy.
   4#it/v, Remember the traafaaioss of thy foul with
God in the day thou enteredft into covenant with him.
When  thou  faweft  thyfelf on the brink of hell, and a
burden of fin preffing thee down, and  no hope for thee
but in  Chrift; then your cry was, "none but Chrift:.
take childresi  relations, ridies, and  all  things in the- 
226      Afflicted Marts  Companion.
                                                     i
wor!d.from me,  and give me Chrift.   I give up mySelf,
and all I  have, to be difpofed  at thy pteafure ; thy will,
Lord, fhall be my will,'  &c.  Now,  God is taking thee
at thy word,  and trying thy fincerity in what thou faidfl
and profeffedft to him fo folemnly.   He hath difpofed of
thy dear relation as pleafed him : O believer doft thon
rue the bargain ?  wouldft  thou take thy word again ?
where is -thy covenanted fubmiffiun to the will of God>
and thy promifed contentment with all his  difpofals?
   $thly, Doft thou not believe that  a covenanted God
is better to thee than :-ni the friends in  the world ? cannot
 God foon make up the greateft lofs to thee,  if thou turn
 to him by prayer, and pour out thy heart and furrows in
 his bofom ?  what are the world's comforts to God's com-
 forts ? a fmile cf God's face ia prayer, can foon fweeten
 thy  bitter  cup, and  make thee forget all thy forrows,
 Pfal. xciv. rcr.  " In the multitude of my  thoughts with-
 in me, thy comforts delight  rsy foul."   The author of
 the fulfilling of  the  fcriptures tells us of one Patrick
 Macilwrae,  an  eminent  faint, in the weft of Scotland,
 who having  loft his dear and only fon, got to his closet,
 and  there poured  out his  foul to the Lord.   When he
 came out to his friends at length, who  were waiting to
 comfort him, and fearing how he would take fuch a heavy
 ftroke, he returned from prayer with a cheerful counte-
 nance, and  told fome of his  friends who afked him the
 reafon of his cheerfulnefs,  " that he had got that in his
 retirement with the Lord, that to have it afterwards re-
 newed,  he would be content to lofe  a fon every day."
   6thlyy Serioufly confider that you are but a few days
journey behind him for whom you mourn, and that you
 will quickly overtake him, and be with him again.  This
 allayed David's forrow for his child,  2 Sam. xii. 23. "I
 fliall go  to him."  It  is-our  expeaing,  to live here, to
 enjoy the comforts .of relations,  that commonly makes us
 grieve fo much for their death ;  for if we  looked on our-
 felves as men th3t were to die in  a few days we would  not
 be fo troubled  for our friends that are gone bHt a little
fpace before us.
   Ithly, If  your friends are  gone to heaven you have 
         Afflicted Man's Companion.       227

more reafon to rejoice with them than to mourn for th -era ;
feeing they are unfpeakably happier where they now are,
than they could  have been  with you.  It is the moft
fervent  defire and wifh of every  true  chriftian to be  in
heaven : and will you grieve,  becaufe God hath taken
your relations thither,  where you  defire to be yourfelf
above all things ? As Chrift faid to his difcipk-s before
his death, John xiv. 28.  " If ye loved me you would
rejoice becaufe I go unto  the Father :" fo, if your de-
parted friend could fpeak  to you from heaven, he would
fay, " If ye foved me with a pure fpiritual love, ye would
rejoice  that I am  gone to my Father, where  I am more
happy than you can poffi'oly conceive of me."
   Object. &' Had I  ground to  think that any friend is
gone to heaven,  it would eafe me ; but, alas,  I  fear it is
otherwife."
   Anfw. I. It doth not belong to us to dive into the
eternal ftate and condition of thefe that are gone off the
ftage.   Thefe fecret things belong to  God, who exer-
ciSeth  his mercy or juftice towards finners according to
his fovereign will.
   2. Suppofing the worft,  you ought to fubrrvit to the
incontrolable  fovereignty of God  who hath mercy on
v, horn he will have mercy, and whom he will he harden-
eth.   " He is of one mind, and who can turn him ?"—
The Lord cut off Aaron's two fons in the very aa of fin
and rebellion againft him, and yet Aaron held his peaee,
 and fo  ought you.
   3. Whatever be the lot of others hereafter,  you have
rcafon to be thankful to God, for his distinguishing mer-
cy, in Saving you  from thefe flames that others  fall into,
 and giving you good hope through grace  of glorifying
God above forever.

Direct, vim.  Let the ficknefs and death of others be a
   warning to you in time of health, to make due preparaticn
   for  the time of ficknefs and of dying, which is before your
   hands.
        HEN you fee your friends and neighbours in a
         Sickly, weak,  or dying condition, the language
w 
 223       Afflktfd Marts Companion.

 «f the difpenfation to you that are in  health is, prepare '
 for fickiu iV, alfo.  Nay, the feeble voice of the fick doth
 proclaim this warning as loudly, as if they Should lift up
 their veice like a trumpet, and fay to you, " Remember
 that  you muft lie  in the fame cafe ere long ; you muft
 alfo groan under pain, loofe your ftrength and beauty,
 leave your mirth and company, bid adieu to all the world,
 and look  out for  the grim meffenger death,  that is a
 coming to diffolve the earthly tabernacle, fend the body
 to lie in a putrifying grave, -and the foul to ftand before
 God's tribunal, to  be fentenced to an  endlefs ftate."__
 This will be thy cafe, O young man, ftrong man, health-
 ful man,  as really in a little, as it is of thefe now before
 your eyes.   O how foon will it come ! what thoughts
 will you then have of the world, of fin, and vain compa-
 ny ? Will any thing comfort you  then but the favour of
 God, the love of Chrift, and the review of a holy well
'fpent life ? Wherefore do with all thy might now what
 thy hand finds to do,  employ the time of health well  in
 preparing  for ficknefs, and leave nothing to do in time
 of ficknefs, which is a moft unfit feafon • for a  man to do
 foul work,  and falvation work in.
   I. I fhall  begin with thofe of the family where the
 harbingers  of  death  do prefently refide.  Surely the
 warnings of ficknefs and death ought to be louder in your
 ears than others, and moft  diligently harkened  unto by
 you, that lodge under the fame roof with  the meffengers
^of the kmg of terrors.  . if, Remember that word,  I
 Pet.  v. r6.  " Humble yourfeives  therefore  under the
 mighty hand  of God."  It well becomes guilty finners,
 all the members of the family to be humble before a holy
 God, when he  is fruiting  any of them.  Humbly ac-
 knowledge his fovereignty  and abfolute  dominion over
 you,  faying,  "Lord, thou  art the author and founder
 of families, and thou mayft  afflia  and puaifli them  a;
 thou thinkeft fit.  Thou fetteft the folitary  in families,
 and multiplieft their number ; and thou mayeft diminifh  .J
 them, yea, lay them defolate according to thy pleafure.
 Thou mighteft have made all the members of the family
 fick,  as well as one ; thou mighteft have given a deadly 
        Afflicted Marts Companion.        229

blow-to- parents,  children,  and fervant?,  at once, yea,
have made the houfe in which we live  a common grave,
and buried us all  together  in its ruins."   Humbly ac-
knowledge  the juftice and mercy of God  in the prefent
viiitation.   *■ Lord,  inftead of  one, we all deferved to
ha c been thrown on  fick beds,  and all  of  us  to have
been fmitten by death.   Thou punifheft us lefs than our
iniquities deferve."  Acknowledge alfo  God's wifdom
and love in the prefent affliaion, and humbly fubmit to
take  the  cup which he hath mingled for you.   " The
cup  which our  heavenly  Father hath  ordered  for this
family, ■ fliall we not drink it ?  It is a gracious and wifo
God that doth  what is done .in the family ; therefore it
is our part to be dumb, and not to open our mouths to
quarrel it."
   idly, The command which the king of Ninevah gave
to all his fubjeas,  when threatened with ruin, Jonah iii.
8. is very proper for a mafter of a family to give to all
under his charge,  when ficknefs doth rage among them %
"Faft, and cry mightily to  God, and turn everyone
from his evil way—-Who can tell if God' will turn away
from his fierce anger,  that we perifli not ?'  When the
destroying angel gets a commiffion to fmite families with
mortal and infeaious difeafes, which fometimes  go front
houfe to houfe like a plague,  fweeping  many old anel
young off the ftage ; then  efpecially it fhould be a lime
of mighty crying  and  pleading with  God for mercy.—
And fince  our  pleading is  wholly ineffeaual without'art
atoning facrifice  to incenfed juftice, let us not forget lc>
bring the all-fufHcient facrifice  of  Chrift's blood along
with us,  and plead it with God for averting his wrath
from our houfes and families.  As  Mofes faid to Aarou
in a time of common calamity,  Num. xiv. 46.  So may I
fay to you that are heads of families, " Take a cenfer
and incenfe, and go quickly and make  an atonement for
them ; for there  is wrath gone  out from the Lord ; the
plague is begun."  Bring the  incenfe of Chrift's fatis-
faaion,  that  great atonement  to d™ine juftice, which
was typified by the legal facrifices and oblations. Hum-
bly  and earneftly  plead that great  facrifice with God, 
230       Afflicted Man's  Companion.

for turning away  the fiercenefs  of his wrath.   Get the
bunch of hyffop, faith, in order to the fprinkling of
your  houfe* with  that  atoning blood,  that fo you and
your  families  may be among the prcferved i;i Chrift Je-
fus.".
   Laftly, Let all the family where ficknefs is,  and  t Spe-
cially the head of it, remember that word, Job xxii. 23.
" Thou  fhalt  not put away iniquity  far from thy taber-
nacles."   God hath  fent  ficknefs with this meffage to
you,  " Search out family fins, whether of omiffion or
eommiffion ; mourn over them, turn from them, banifh
them far away.   Let no vice lodge under your roof.—
Let family worfhip be  no  more negleaed,  nor Slightly
performed.   Let God have both the morning and eve-
ning facrifice."   Now,  if the members  of thefe families
 vifited with ficknefs,  who are in health for the prefent,
would thus  humble themfelves, cry to  God,  plead the
blood of Chrift,  and reform what is amifs among them 5
 the  prefent  affliaion would  be  fanaified, and they in
 fome meafure prepared for the like trial, when God fhall
 be pleafed to put the cup in their hands.
   II. In the next place, let me warn all the friends and
 neighbours of the fick,  whether they be in the family or
 not, torimprove the day of health, in making ready for
 the time of ficknefs.  Be much in the exercife of Self-
 examination,  humiliation for  fin,  believing in Chrift,
 renewing covenant with  God, mortifying of fin,  trim-
 rrHflg'the  lamp, meditating of heaven, living  by  faith,
 deniednefs to  the world, Studying to overcome the lov«
 of life, and fears of death.   Concerning all which I have
 given direaiona in the  foregoing chapters of this book,
when fpeaking to the fick and.diftreffed.   Thefe exercifes
are  not  only proper for the f:ck, but  alfo  for tbefe in
health ;  and  are  fwitable preparations  for  ficknefs and
death, to be ftudied by all men in every  condition.   But
there are fome things further moft neceflary to be minded
l.v ru-ople in time of  their health, in order to prepare
them r'or the time of ficknefs  and .of dying,  before it

   if, Make your  latter-will, and keep ft by you, tha,t 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.     m   2S1

you may not be encumbered with your worldly affairs, in
time of ficknefs, or at a dying hour.   Surely it is great
wifdom to put this by-hand in time of health.   But I
have fpoken largely of this, Chap. I. Dir. 6.
   idly, Take heed in time of health,  that you lay not
up fad  provifion  againft the  day of ficknefs,  by your
carelcfs and untender walk.   As it is fin that brings cm
ficknefs upon us, fo it is fin that embitters it unto us.  O
beware of all known fin, and particularly the fin of earth-
Jy-mindednefs, unthanfuluefs for mercies, lnke-warmneU
in religion, neglea to improve Chrift, neglea of prayer,
and formality in it, quenching of the fpirit, falling from
your firft love, breach of vows, mifcarrying under Signal
mercies, fianing after  affliaions,  turning to old fins.—
Guard  againft thefe evils now in- time  of health, other-
Wife they  will put thorns in  your pillow when ficknefs
cometh.  Dare not to live in-fuch a courfe as you would
not adventure to  die in.  How do you know but your
next ftep may be  into the grave ?  and would yoa be wil-
ling to lie down there in your fins, with earthly,  dead,
formal, wanderi.ig, and unbelieving hearts ?
   ^dly, Sit loofe from the  world, and live as firangen
in it, that you may be able  to pack and be gone from it
upon  fhort warning.  Let  death  find  you dead before
hand,  dead to the world.   If your affeaions be glewed
to the world, it will be a violent rending and fad parting
yon will have with it when the dying hour cometh.  You
will be ready, like Lot's wife, to linger,  hanker, and look
greedily back again;
   $thly, Keep fhort reckonings with God and confcience,
that you may not have old fcores  to reckon upon  when
you come to the death bed.   O what flinging pain and
torment may one  fin unmourned for  coft- you at that
time !  Let confcience then bring in the accounts of eve-
ry day  before you fleep,  and fpeedily take up every con-
troverfy that may fall out betwixt God and thy foul.
   $thly. Dwell much upon the thoughts of death, that
you may learn to be acquainted and familiar with it ;  as
Job was, "who faid,  before-hand, " to corruption, thou
art my father ; ar.d to  the worm, thou art my mother 
232        Afflicted Marts Companion.

and my fifter," Job xvii. 14.  Fortius caufe the Egyp.
tians ufed to place a dead man's fcull in fome confpicuous
place of their rooms; likewife the Jews had their Sepul-
chres in their gardens of pleafure,  that  fo in  midft of
their delights they might  think on their  dying time.—
We read of Philip king of Macedon, that ordered a page
every morning to rouge him from flcep with thefe words,
" O king,  remember thou art a mortal man."   By this
often repeated leffon,  he  laboured to  humble his lofty
mind, and make his acquaintance with  death, that  it
might not  feem  ftrange or furprifing to  him when it
Should aaually come and fnatch him away.
   6th/y, Study to fpend every day as it were to be your
laft, and perform every duty as it  were the laft, ftill look-
ing on  ficknefs and  death  as  very near.   That which
makes moft men fo  unconcerned about fickoefs, death,
and eternity, is,  they  yiew them as things afar off, at
thirty or forty yeai&  diftance.  "They think their time
will be  long here : why, they are healthy, of  a ftrong
couftitutiop, and their  fathers lived fo  long;"  which
furely are falfe rules  to judge by.    It was the expeaa-
tion of many years that helped on the ruin of that rich
fool in the gofpel.   It were far better for every man to
look ou  himfelf as Standing every  day and night at the
very door of eternity ; and hundreds  of difeafes ready
to open the door and let him in.  When you lie down at
night, leave your heart with Chrift, and  compofe your
fpirits fo, as if you were notfto awake till the heavens are
no  more ; for certainly that night cometh, of which you
vrill never  fee the morning, or that morning," of which
you will never fee the night.   But which of your morn-
ings, or nights thefe will be, you know not, feeing your
times are not in your own hands.
  7(hly,  Set apart fome time,  daily, for thinking,  in  a
retired way, on your  time that is paft,  and upon eternity
that is to come.   The neglea of this duty of meditation,
and retired thinking,  is very prejudicial,  both to the
godly and  ungodly.   It was David's praaice to think,
and  to  think  upon  his ways ; which engaged him to
reform whatever  he found amifs in  them, Pfal. cxix. 59. 
         Afflicted Man's Companion.       233

Oh 1 it is the ruin of many a foul,  they are utter  ftran-
gers to this way of thinking.  I  have  read of  a father,
who on his death-bed, left it as a folemn charge upon his
only fon, who was a prodigal,  that he fliould fpend a
quarter of an hour every day in retired thinking, and let
him chufe any fubjea  he pleafed.   The fon thinks this
an eafy talk,  undertakes it,  and  after  his father's  death
fet himfelf to perform his promife.   Oae day  he thinks
upon his  by-paft  pleafures ;  another day  he contrives his
future delights ;  after a while he begins to think feriouf-
ly what might be Lis father's defign in laying this talk
upon him:  at length he thinks,  his father was a wife and
good man,  therefore furely he  intended and hoped that
among the reft of his meditations,  he  would fome time
or other think of religion.   When this had  truly pof-
feffed his thoughts, one thought and queftion comes up-
on the back of another, about  his by-paft life and future
ftate, that he could not contain himfelf in fo fhort a con-'
finement, but was that night without fleep ; yea, arid
afterwards could have no reft till he become ferioufly re-
ligious.  O that  1 could perfuade all carelefs and  un-
thinking fouls to go and do likewife !  Ah ! how  many
fpend  their days in a hurry about  their woildiy affairs,'
and perifh for want of thinking !
  'Sihty,  Among other fubje-as of your retired thoughts,
fpend  fome time in thinking,  how awful and terrible a"
thing it  muft be  for a poor Chriftlefs foul to  make it*-
appearance  before an  angry God after death.   " For'
v/ho (faith the prophet) can dwell with devouring fire ?
who can abide with everlafting burnings?"' 1 have read of
a certain  king of  Hungary,  who being on  a  time mar-'
velloufly  fad'and heavy,  his brother, who was a brifk and*
gallant man,  would needs know  the rcafon-: "'O broth-..
er, (fays  he)  1 have been a great finner againft God, and
I know not how I fhall  appear before his judgment-Scat."
—His brother anfwered,  " thefe are but melancholy
thoughts ;"  and  fo made light  of them,  as moft cour--
tiers ufe to do-  The king replied nothing at that time  ; '
but the cuftom of that country was, (the government''
bring abfohtte) if the executioner founded A trumpet ac ■
                        U 2 
•234       Afflicted Man's  Companion.

a man's door, he  was prefently to be led to execution.
The king feot  the executioner  in the dead time of the
pight, and cSufedhim. to found his trumpet at his broth-
er's door, who hearing and feeing the meffenger of death,
Sprang in trembling into his brother's prefence, falls down
Upon his knees, and befeeches the king to let him. know
wherein he had offended  him.  " O  brother, (Said the
king) ypu never  offended me, but loved me ;  but is the
jfcght of an earthly executioner fo terrible  to thee ; and
ihal-not I,  who  am fo  great a finner, fear much more
tfi be brought to  the judgment-feat of  an ano-ry God  ?"
   gthly, Think often  how  religioufly men  ufe to wifh
threy had lived, when  they  come, to  the fick and dying
tjme.   Thefe who have fpent their time moft carclefJy,
begin to have other notions of religion, when they fee the
grim meffenger  approaching.  Go  to their bed-fides,
 and afk them,  whether floth. or  diligence,  formality  or
 fervency, drinking or  praying, loving  the world or,lov-
 ing Chrift, be  the bsft ?  would they not  tell you that
 there  is. none, fo wife as.they that are moft religious?
 Think,* O man, in.health, with thyfelf, if thou waft juft
 now upon thy death-bed, and faweft thy friends ftanding
 ipourning round  about, thee, but unable to help thee,
 what would  be thy  thoughts and difcourfe at that time ?
 Q then, let fome of the fame thoughts and difcourfe  fill
 up every day  and  hour of thy life. now.   Why thou
 knoweft  not DUt tn'8 moment thou mayft be as near
 dpath,  as if thy friends and phyficians  too  were defpair-
 ing of thy life, and had given you over for dead.
    igthly,  Be employed  now in fighting the good fight
 of faith-   You have  many enemies to  deal with, and
 dgath,is the  laft of them.   Would you obtain the viao-
 ry over them?  Then  get on the Chriftian armour, and
 make much ufe of the Shield of faith.  We read in  the
 book of Efther,  that  king  Ahafuerus  would not  rccal
 the proclamation  he had emitted againft the Jews ; but
 h?  gave, them foil  liberty to take up arms to defend
 themfelves, and attack their  enemies ; fo  here,  God will
 not recal the fentence  of death he hath  paft  upon  all
 meni$ the  .garden ;  but  nevertheless he  allows, yea 
        Afflicted Man's  Companion.       255

commiflionates all true lfraehtes to take up arms againft
death, to conquer and trample it under foot by faith.
  Laflly, Be bufy how in health,  providing  and laying
up a flock  againft the time  of  ficknefs  and affliction ;
which may contribute to your comfortable living then,
when the world'6 good  things will  be taftelefs and com-
fortlefs to you.   As thefe who have a voyage to go,  do
viaual the Ship ;  and  thefe who have a fiege to hold out,
take in provifions ; even fo do ye.
  i.  Get a Stock of graces againft that time, efpecially
a flock of faith, of patience, of humility,  felf-denial, 5cc
There will be ufe for all thefe then.  A little grace, of
a little faith, is not enough ;  for this will faint under af-
flittionn.  We read,  Matt. xiv. that,  when  the winds
began to blow fiercely, Peter's little faith began to fail.
You have need of a  great meafure of patience againft
that time, that you may wait quietly on  God, till he
come to your relief.   You know not but he may length-
en out your  trials and tarry till the fourth watch of the
wight before he come with deliverance.
  2. Provide a ftock  of evidences or marks of grace, and
of the love of God, that you may be able to  affert your
i.'.tereft  in him as your portion  in-  Chrift, and  maybe
perfuaded,  that neither death nor life will ever feparate
you from him.
  3. Get a ftock of divine experiences.   Lay up all the
experiences you  have had of God's loving kindnefs, and
thefe will give great relief and encouragement to the foul
in the day of diftrefs.
  4. Lay  up a  ftock of Sermons.  Treafure up the
counfels and cordials  which they bring you from God's
wordj that  fo you may,  according to Ifaiah xhi. 23;
" Hear for the time to  come;" and efpecially for fick-
beds, when you cannot get fermons to hear.   Then it is,
that you ought to live and feed upon -the fermons you
have heard. v
  5. Lay ■up a ftock of prayers.  Be much in wreftling'
with God for help and.through bearing in the day of af-:
fliaion* andfo  you may expea the gracious returns
thereof In-thc day of calamity. 
236        Afflicted Man's Gompanion.

  6. Provide a ftock of promifes.   Be now gathering
thefe  fweet cordials from God's word, lay them up h
your heart  and memory, and they will be very refreftung
and Supporting to you in the day of affliaion.

Di R.ECT. IX. Let thefe who are in I e alt h fet about the wort
  of repentance, and turning to God in Chrifi timeoufly and
  quickly ; and beware of delaying this wort until the time
  of ficknefs and of dying,

     GOD's command'to you is, to fet about the wark
      prefenlly, without any delay, Htb. iii. 15" To-
day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."—
Matt. xxi. 28.  " Go  work  to-day in my vineyard."—
Ecclef. xii. 1. " Remember now thy Creator in the days
of thy youth."  Well,  God's voice to you,  O man in
health,  is to-day.  But the devil's voice to you is to-mor-
row.   And which of the two will you harken to ? Sure-
ly it is your wifdom to obey the voice of your Creator
and friend, and' not of your enemy and deftroyer.  Whyr
to-day  thou art in health, to-morrow thou mayft be in
ficknefs;   to-day thou  art  on  earth, to-morrow  thou
mayeft be in hell',  to-day Chrift is inviting you to come
to him, to-morrow  he may be Sentencing you to  depart
from him.   And confider, that the devil, who tempts
you to delay this day,  wiil be as ready to tempt  yon to
the fame to-morrow ;  and fo the devil's to-morrow will
never come,  It will ftill be to-morrow with him. till the
laft hour,  that fo he  may get you cheated out of your
whole time and falvation together.  .
  Here I Shall  endeavour two things;  1. Bring argu-
ments toperfuade you to repent and clofe with the offers-
of Chrift prefentfy,  without any delay, as God requires.
2. Shew the evil and idanger of delaying; till the time of
ficknefs and of dying.   As to the firft, vi%. Arguments
for prefent  repentance, and againft delaying the work.
  iff, Confider the  uncertainty of  your life and time to.
repent.  Your life if but a vapour,  a little warm breath
that is going out and  ia at your noftrila, which may be
ftopped'by  death ere you be aware ;  thou  knoweft not
what will  be to-morrow, Trov. a;;vii. 1,  Jit was the 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.        23?

faying of a godly man, when invited to  a feaft upon the
morrow, " I  have not had a  morrow, for  thefe many
years."   It was a bad ufe thefe Epicures made of tlris
uncertainty, Ifa. xxii. 13, " Let  us eat arid drink, for
to-morrow we fhall die."   It is much wiferto fay, "Let
us pray,  and  turn to the Lord, for to-morrow we fhall
die."  Nay,  you have not fecurity for one hour to re-'
pent in ; for God hath a thoufand difeafes and accidents
ready to flop your breath, and  end'your days,  whenever
he pleafeth  to give them orders    There are many fecure
finners,  who  prefume on long life, but  there are none
nearer deftruaion than fuch ; for God loves to .difappoint
thefe that promife themfelves a long life  in fin andimpen-
itency, as he did that rich man who was laying up for
many years, Luke xii 19. " This night fhall thy foul be
required of thee."  And O what  a  dark  and difmal
night will it be, if  death comes before thy repentance l-
O man, thou never didft  lie down  one  night with affur-
ance of rifing again ; thou never heardft oncfermon with
affurance of heating another ; thou never didft draw one
breath with affurance of  drawing another.  What mad-
nefs is it then to delay falvation work one day or hour
longer,  and fo to leave the weightieft matter in the world
at the greateft uncertainty !
   idly, Confider, that though God in his  wonderful
mercy and patience fhould prolong your days, yet the
longeft life 1*6 fhort enough for the work you  have to do,
fuppofe you begin it prcfently.   Nay,  had you Methu-
falem's years to fpend, they would be no more than fuf-
ficient to repent and mourn  for the fins  and  guilt which
you have been fo long contraaing ;  to reform and amend
the many things that have been araift*; to perform all the
duties incumbent  on you ;   to make fure your  calling
and efeaion, and  put your fouls in a good pofture and
preparation for  an eternal ftate, and get  them made meet
to be pai takers  of the inheritance of the  faints in light.
Now, do ye think that all this work can be done in an ift-
ftanr, orinatime of ficknefs, or old age, when ye are
hardly fit to do any thing?  When a man's fpirit is una-
ble to bear the infirmities of nature,  how will he  be able 
233       Afflicted Man's Companion.

to bear the lafhes of a guilty confcience,  or a wounds
fpirit ? When the understanding is weak, the memory
frail, the will obftinstely bent the wrong way, by a long
cuftom of Shining,  and -negk-aing of duty ; will that he
a fit time to begin  the work of repentance and converfion
to God ?  When nature is decayed, and the candle of life
juft finking in the  Socket, will you begin then to adt for
God, and make your light fhine before men to his glory ?
O remember, your work  is long, yonr time is fhort ; and
though you b^gin this very hour, ycu will have no time
to Spare.
   $dly, Delay  not this  work', becaufe it is not in yonr
 power to  do  it when you pleafe   It  is a delufion of the
 devil,  to  imagine  you may repent when you will.  No,
 no ; it is God only that  giveth repentance, and he gives
 it when, and to  whom  he pleafeth, Aas v. 13.  And it
 is a mere pcradventure, if ever he give  it to a delaying  '
 finner,  2 Tim. ii.  25.   When is it  that you may have
 hopes he  will give  repentance,  but when he calls you to  '[
 it, and prefcribes  means to be ufed  for that  end  ? Now
 that is to-day. j^. To-day, if ye will hear  his voice:
 now is the accepted time, now is the  day of Salvation."—
 To-day,  when God is calling, and the Spirit Striving,  is
 the time  of finding  the Lord,  and getting repentance
 from him.   To-morrow it may be too.late ; the Loid's
 hand may be clofed,  and the door  of mercy Shut.  If
 you refufe the  Spirit  when he ftrives with you,  he may
 leave you, and never put another ferious thought in your
 heart of turning to the  Lord.   O-defer not feeking- re-
 pentance till it  be too lafe : for  there is a time when the
 Lord will not be found, and then repentance will not be
 found,  though you feek it  with tears.  Indeed, God
 hath promifed mercy to penitent finners : but he hath no
 where promifed the aids  of his grace and Spirit  to them
 that  put  off their repentance:  and  he  hath no where
 promifed  acceptance   to mere grief and forrow for fin
 without faith, and fruits meet for repentance :  he hath
 no where promifed to pardon thefe, who only promife to
 leave their fins,  when  they can keep them no longer.
   4'Z>A', The longer repentance ar.d  clofing with Cbnft 
         Afflicted Man's Companion.       239

\i delayed,  the difficulty thereof is every day increafed.
 Why,  i.  Becaufe of the deceitful nature of fin, which
 doth daily bewitch and harden the heart more and more
 in the praaice of  it.  2. Cuftom in any  thing hath a
 ftrong influence on us, and becomes a kind of fecond na-
 ture, and breeds an almoft invincible  inclination to what-
 foever we have long addiaed ourfelves  unto,  whether it
 be in aaions natural or  moral.   Hence Ovid gives that
 good advice,

     Sedpropera,  nee te ventttras differ in horas t
     Qui non eft hodie, eras minus aptus erit.

 " Be fpeedy, piit not off till another time ;
 " He who is not prepared to-day, will be more unpre-
        pared to-morrow."


   He that goes on from day to day  in fin,  will find his
 indifpofition to repent daily increafed,  the habits of fin
 Strengthened, and himfelf brought at  length under the
 power  of  an inveterate  cuftom.   And if it be hard to
 break any cuftom, much more acuftom  in finning, which
1 i.i fo  agreeable  to  depraved nature.   Hence  faith the
1 Spirit of God, Jer. xiii. 23.  " Can the  Ethiopian change
 his fkin, or the leopard his Spots ?  Then may ye alfo do
.'good,  that are accuftomed to do evil."  3.  The longer
 Satan keeps poffefiioii, the more difficult will his ejtaion
 prove.   The devils  that poffeffed  the man  from  th«
 womb up, could not be cait  out but by fome extraordi-
 nary  way. * 4. Delays bring on fpiritualjudgments from
 God, fuch as judicial hardnefs on the  heart, which will
 make  repentance impoflible, according to that terrible
 place, ISa.  vi. 9, 16. "Make the heart  of this people
 fat," &c.  which is quoted no lefs than fix times in the
 New Teftarnent, as  if it belonged only to them that lin-
 ger and fit impenitent under gofpel calls.
   Laft/y, Wc would reckon fuch delays madnefs in earth-
 ly affairs, which are but  trifles when compared to  falva-
 tion work.   If  a man's houfe were on fire, we would
k.count him  mad, if he fhould fay, it is time enough to
 
240       Afflicted Marts Companion.

quench  it  to-morrow ; or, if he were fturrg with a ven-
omous ferpent, he would be mad that neglected to feek a
prefent cure : or, if he had got poifon in his ftomach, he
would never think he could foon enough vomit it up.  If
a malefaaor were condemned to a cruel death to-morrow,
but had a promife of a  remiffion if he fliould look after it
to-day ;  would.he be  fo foolifh as delay it till next morn-
ing ? But how much greater madnefs is it to delay repent-
ing and fleeing to Chrift, when God's calls and promifci
relate to the prefent time, and our danger  in delaying ii
infinitely greater than in any of the forefaid cafes ? Surely
there is no fting fodangerous, no poifon fo deadly as fin ;
and can  we too  foon  feek after the balm of Gilead, the
•blood of Chrift for its cure ? There is  no  death like the
fecond  death, no fire fo dreadful as the eternal fire  of
God's wrath : Now,  this fire is already kindljd againft
your fouls ; and if it be not timeoufly quenched, it will
burn to the loweft hell.  Lofe no time to. get it extin-
guished, by fleeing to the blood of Jefus.
   II. The next thing is to Shew the evil and danger  of
delaying'this work until the time of ficknefs and of dying.
Alas, it is the common praaice of the moft part !  But
confider,  ifl, What wretched ingratitude and bafenef*
there is in it.  Whether is it fit ye fhould give the beft  of
your time to God that made you, or to  the devil  that
fecks your deftruaion ? Is it reafonable thkt the devil
Should, feaft on the flower and prime of your youth and
ftrength, and your Creator have no other  but the frag-
ments of the devil's table? When the-dregK of your rime
are  come, your  ftrength gone, your fenfes failed, .your
tinderftanding and memory weak, your affeaions fpent
upon the creature, yea, when you are good for nothing
rife ; will ye be  fo bafe  as think,  you arc then  good
enough for God, and for-falvation-work,  which requires
all your ftrength  and might ? But remember, if you be  fo
bafe as referve the drege of your time for God, you  may
€Xpea he will be So juft as referve the dregs of his wrath
for.ycu, according to  that word, Mai. i.  14.  "Curfed
be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and Sac-
rifice th us to the  Lord a corrupt thing."   Your youth. 
          Afflicted Marts Companion.       241

 Strength, health, gifts, and talents, are the males of the
♦'flock ; if you give thefe to the devil, and referve the
 weaknefs of ficknefs and old age for God, you draw
 down his curfe upon your heads ; and how long will you
 be  able to bear up under the -weight ©f God's curfe ?
 Now, O delaying finners, why fhould you be fo ungrate-
 ful  to God,  and injurious to yourfeives ? God had early
 thoughts of mercy to  you ;  and  will  you have nothing
 but fate thoughts  of duty to him ? Chrift did not defer
 his  dying for us till he was old ;  and fhall we defer living
 to him, till we be old ? Oh,  we do not deal with God as
 we   would have him to  deal with us.  When  we need
 help  in  trouble, we cry, as Pfal. cii.  2. " Lord,  hear
 me ; in the  day when I call, anfwer me  fpeedily."   To-
 day we ftill make  the feafon of mercy, but to-morrow
 the feafon for duty.   When mercy is delayed, we impa-
 tiently cry,  How  long ? how long ? We  will not  waic
 God's holy  leifure.  But alas !   we would have God to
  wait our finful leifure.   Oh, let us be afhamed of  fnch
 difingenuous dealings with our Creator.
    $dly,  Death  may get a commiffion to  take you off
  Suddenly, without giving you any time to repent.   You
 are not fure to fee  the evening ftar of ficknefs, before the
  night of death overtakes you, or that you will  have any
 warning*given  you before the  fatal Stroke.   For how
 many are there who projea  long lives, and look for time
 before death to repent,  that get a furprifing call to flit
 from the earthly tabernacle, and have not one minute to
 provide another lodging ?  How many are drowned by a
 Hidden ftorm at fea ? And how many killed by outward
 accidents on  land ?  Some  drop dowa fuddenly in the
 ftreets ;  fome  die fitting in their chairs ; fome go well to
 bed at  night  and  never fee the morning; fome die as
 quickly by a fit of an epilepfy,  or apoplexy, as if Shot
 with a gun.   Thus thoufands are hurried into eternity,
 and prefented before a tribunal, without being allowed fo
 much time as to think one ferious thought, or fpeak one
 word ? not  one  moment to  confider where they are go-
 ing,  or  to cry to God for mercy.  And how know you
 but this may be your cafe at death ? Muft  it not be the 
 242        Afflicted Marts  Companion.

 greateft folly then  to delay your repentance to c dj-jn*
 time, when it may  not be one minute long ?
    ^dly, Though you may have fome time to lie on fick-
 beds, how know ye but your ficknefs may be fuch as fhall t
 incapacitate you for fpiritual work ? Some  we fee are fo
 ©ppreffed  with continual  flumbewng rfhd Sleeping, even
 when  death is neareft, that they  are in no  cafe to think
 or fpeak of thefe things that belong to their eternal State.
 Others, in high fevers, are troubled with rovings ; and
 have no ufe of their reafon, fb that they are not capable
 to fettle  their worldly affairs ;  and  how much  lefs are
 they fit to fecure  their foul's eternal concerns, at that
  rime ? Some again are fo racked with pains and agonies,
 impatient frettings, and bitter uncafinefs, that they can-
  not get one fettled thought about their foul's prefent or
  future ftate.  Others are fo filled With terror and amaze-
  ment at the view of approaching death and eternity, that
  they cannot compofe their thoughts to  examine  them-
  felves, confefs their Sins, aa faith in a Saviour, or fol-
•  low any  direaion  that  is given them  ; but  go off the
  Stage in a confufion, being incapable to do any thing to
  purpofe  for their fouls.   "Some  their  diftemper is fuch,
  that they are brought to a great  ftrait betwixt the word
  of God and the phyfician.  The word  of God and his
  minifters tell them  if they do not mourn for their fins,
  and wreftle for mercy, they cannot be faved :  but faith
  the phyfician, if you  trouble yourfelf with fad and mel-
  ancholy thoughts,  you  prejudice your body and hazard
  your life.  Oh .' is this a  fit time then to  begin your
  preparation for another world ?                        '
    ^thly,  The Spirit of God being long refilled and vex-
  ed by many in the day of health, he is provoked to leave
  them on  death-beds to the hardnefs of  their own heaits J
  And fo they remain like flocks and ftones,  dead and fU-
  pid to the laft.-
    $thly,  The devil, that was bufy all your lives to keepj
 you from repentance,  will not be idle at this time ; nay,
 he will be more  aaive then than ever to ruin you, either
 by caufing you to fplit on the rock of piefumption or of!
 defpair.   Sometimes he will tell finners  then, " You need 
         Afflicted Marts Companion.       243

not trouble yourfeives  abotit your fouls :  God is more
merciful  than to  damn you ; the repentance you have
already will ferve the turn."   But if this  will not quiet
them,  he will ftudy to  drive  them to defpair, by telling
them,  " They have loft the feafon of repentance and clo-
sing with Chrift ; and  now there is no remedy,  no hope
for them, and it is in vain to ufe any further means."  O
then, do not harken to Satan now, when he tempts you
to. delay your repentance.
   6thty,  Whatever appearance of repentance fome dying
perfons may have, let that be no  encouragement to put
off till  that time.  Why, there lieth a juft fufpicion upon
a late repentance, that it  is feldom found and fincere.
It is no found work, that arifeth more from fears of hell,
than from any real hatred  of fin ;  more from love to felf,
than love to God.   And it is to be feared, that death-bed
repentance is moftry of  this fort, feeing ordinarily it con-
fifteth more in grief and fear, prayers and promifes, than
in a hearty loathing, of fin, love to holinefs  or willingnefs
to accept of Jefus Chrift : for have we not feen many of
thefe penitents, who, in the  view  of death, have profeff-
ed great forrow for their wicked lives,  and made Solemn
promifes of amendment ; yet when they have happened
to  recover, all their  righteoufnefs hath  vanifhed, and
they have returned  to their former fins as greedily as ev-
er ? And, O delaying  finner, what ground have you to
think  that your death  bed repentance wi 1 be any better
than theirs ?  Be wife then in time, fet heartily about fal-
vation work in the  day of ycur health, and do not leave
the weightiest work to the weakeft time.
   Object. I.  " But hath not God promifed mercy to them
that repent of their fins at any time ?"
   Anfiyf? Yes, to them that repent truly  and Sincerely :
but do not think that it is in your power to repent fo, at
any time you  plcafe :  no, it  is impoffible you can do it
without  the influence and  affiftar.ee ,of the  Spirit <-i God.
And God hath nowhere promiCed this  to  thefe who pr.:
qIF their repentance to a death-bed.   There  is a great
difference betwixt a fick mau'a howling upon his bed, and
.fincere gofpel  repenting.   I  grant, true repentance is 
214       Affliaed Man's Companion.

never too late ; but O !   late repentance is Seldom true.
True repentance is that which hath a care to walk holiiy,
or hath works meet for repentance joined with it.  Ilenee
repentance is  not only  called metanoia,  a change of
mind; but alfo metameleia, an after care.  Now for a
death-bed repentance, that hath no  fuch holy care or
good works,  I know no promife in the bible that annex-
eth falvation unto it.
   Object. II. " Do not  we read in  Chrift's parable of
the  labourers,  Matth. xx.  that fome were hired and
brought into the vineyard at the eleventh hour,  and got
the fame reward with thofe that were hired at  the third
and fixth hour ?"
   Anfw.  i. Thefe that  were brought  in fo late could
fay for themfelves, verfe 6."that no man  had hired them,"
or had offered to hire them before ;  they did no fooner
hear the  gofpel-call,  and  offers  of falvation  through
Chrift tendered to them.   But O ! this will ftand you in
no ftead, who have had many a call and offer made you
at the third, fixth, and ninth hour,  and  have refiftcd and
refufedthem ; you will not have it to fay at the elcveath
hour as thefe had, " No man hath hired ur."
   idly,-Thefe men, though they came in  but  at the
eleventh hour, and not being fooner hired, yet they were
'labourers-in the vineyard, and wrought one hour therein
faithfully, in obedience to their Lord's command, and fo
brought forth fome fruits meet for  repentance,  and were
accepted.  But this  is no encouragement to any to ex-
pea  to be brought in at the twelfth hour, when there is
no time to work, nor  bring forth any fruits  to teftify
the fiacerity of their repentance ;  we have no promife of
acceptance made to fuch.                   '*■
   ObjeS. III. " The penitent thief on  the crofs fought
mercy from Chrift at the  laft hour and got it."
   Anfw.  That  is a fingular inftance,  and  gives no en-
couragement to delaying finners.   The fcriptures con-
tain a hiftory of more thzn\ four thoufand years, and yet
during all the time we haze but one example of a  man
that  truly and fincerely  repented when he came to die.
 \nd  in this man's cafe there  was fuch  an extraordinary
conjunaion of circumftanrjfc, as never  happened before,  I 
        Afflicted Marts  Companion.       245

and can never fall out again to the end of the world___
This man had the  happinefs  to die clofe  by the newly
 ierced and  bleeding wounds of  a crucified Jefus,  when
 e was lifted up from the earth in the height of his love,
drawing finners to falvation ; which was a junaure that
can never have a parallel.  Again,  the  man never had
any offer of Chrift nor day of grace before now ; he fu -
rendered himfelf  upon  the very firft call : and his faith
in Chrift at this time was truly fingular and miraculous.
He was defigned by heaven to be  made a  rare monument
of the power of Chrift's grace, and  a fpecial trophy of
his viaory over the devils  and wicked  men, at a time
when they feemed to triumph  over him, as one crucified
through weaknefs.
   From all which we may fee, that this example was ex-
traordinary;  and affords no  ground for the prefumption
of delaying finners.  You may as well caft yourfeives into
the fea in hopes of prefervation by a whale, from the
example of Jonah,  as defer repentance now, in hopes of
repenting on a death-bed, from the example of the thief
on the crofs.   Befides,  your way of finning differs vaftly
from his.   He was  not guilty of prefumption,  as you
are ; he did  not flight Chrift's calls and offers in  the day
of his health, and delay his  repenting and clofing with
Chrift, in hopes of an opportunity for them at the hour
of death, ajj yon-do.  Do you  know what God deter-
mines concerning  prcfumptuous finriing ? You  may fee
itv Numb- xv. 28,. 30,  31. " And the priefts mail make
an atonement for the foul  that  finneth ignorantly, &c.
But the foul  that doth ought ptcfirmptuoufly, (whether
he be born in the land,-or a Stranger) the fame reproaeh-
eth the Lord : and that foul  ShaU be cut off from among
his people ;  becaufe he  hath defpifed the word of tins
Lord.''   O pr-efumptuoua delaying finner, let this word
pf the Lord  awaken you to a fpeedy and prefent refolu-
tion to obey his voice.   " Return ye now every one from
his evil way, and make your ways a^d-your doings good,"
Ter. xviii.  11. Now is the acceptea time:  if ye will hear
his voice it muft be to-day.   dwd, fave  us from harden-
ing our hearts.  Amen.       \k
I
 
                       SOWLI.
            1)  V I \T G  WORDS
              OF <THE L.i-7'C nEYERESD

       Mr.   JOHN WILLISON,

                      TO HIS

            WIFE AXD CHILD REX,

Found among his papers after his death,  dated the I Oth of
                   November 1749.
                   TO  MY  WIFE.
  My Dear,
      MY diftrers calls  me to think of parting with you ;.
       the will of the Lord be done.   I thank you for
your tender care of me ;  may the Lord blefs and reward
vou  for it, and fanaify your own tendernefs, and  fup-
port you under it.   As you have ftudied to live a life of
faith and prayer all your  days, fo I  hope and believe
you will continue to the end.  ki all your difficulties and
fears encourage yourfelf in the Lord your  God.  Com-
mit your ways to him ; truft him that is faithful and true.
1 refign  you,  my  dear, to the Husbakd of hufbands*
our deareft Lord Jefus Chrift.

                 TO  MY  CHILDREN.

     DEAR children, your earthly father muft leave you;
      your heavenly Father is  immortal.  O ! cleave
faft to  him:    Trifle  not  about  your fouls' concerns in
time of health ; mind thefe things as the one thing need-
ful ; this you will not repent of when  you  come within »
near view of death, and endlefs eternity. O Sirs ! pref*
for clear viewrf"of yonrintereft in Chrift, the only Surety
and Saviour of finners.  *\A.mong other evidences of it,
live by faith on him, endaudy holinefs in heart and life.
Dear Sirs; think how you will be able to Stand before


                       \ 
         .  Some Dying- Words,  &V.       247

Chrift your judge at the laft day, unlefs you have Chrift's *
image on you, and be made new creatures.   Lord make
you all fuch, and blefs  you with his beft bleffing !  My
bleffing be upon you all.   What means God gave me, I
have bellowed them on you, or left them to you.  Be
kind and careful of your mother while you have her.—
And let  none of you forget, that though I go before you
to the duft, you muft all quickly follow me.   O ! that
we may all meet together at  the right hand of our bleff-
ed Redeemer,  to fee his face, and fing his praife.  The
time is near, be ye therefore alfo ready.
   Now, my dear wife and children,  remember what is
above as the words of your affeaionate hufband and Icv-
ing father,  who being dead, yet hereby fpeaketh to you
for your eternal good and happinefs ; may they fink into
your heart  ! So prayeth,
                               John Willison.
/ 
CONTENTS.
                                             P*gt.
To the Reader,                                   3
Comfortable texts for dying believer*,              14
Some of the Author's dying Ejaculations,           18
The Introduaion,                               24
Chap. I. Containing general direaions to all families
   and perfons when under ficknefs,                25
Direa.  I. Inquire into the ends and defings for which
   God  fends ficknefs and affliaion,                25
Direa.  II.  Search for the Achac, or caufe of God's
   controverfy with you,-                         30
Direa.  III.  Think ferioufly upon death,  and make
   diligent preparation for it,                      34
Direa.  IV. Be not anxious for recovery, but leave
   the iffue  of thy ficknefs to God,                 38
Direa.  V.  Bind yourfeives with purpofes to improve
   health better, if God  fhall recover you,           35
Direa.  VI. Timeoufly  make your wills,  and fettle
   your worldly affairs, •                           41
Chap. II. Containing particular direaions to thofe
   who  are affliaed wkh fore and long affliaion,     44.
Direa.  I. Juftify God tn the greateft affliftions,     44
Direa.  II.  Be fenfibfe of God5s band, and beware of
   Stupidity under heavy afffiaionB,                 47
Direa.  III.  Beware  of mifconftrofting God's deal-
   ings,  or charging him foolifhly,                  49
Direa.  IV. Labour to exercife a ftrong;faith,      50
Direa.  V.  Labour to bear up with patience,        52
Direa.  VI.  Do not envy the wicked, when you fee
   them  in health and profperity,                   $6
Direa.  VII. Guasd^againft  rcpinings and murmur-
   ings againft the provrtimce of God,              j8
Chap. III.  Containing Special direaionsto the chil-
  dren of God under fickofefo or any afSiaion.       66- 
CONTENTS.              249
                                              Page
Direct. I.  Guard againft fainting or defponding un-
  der God's affliaing hand,                       66
Direa. II.  Study to be  examplary  in  patience and
  fubmiffion to God under affliaion,                73
Direa. III. B»2 much in the exercife of praife,      79
Direa. IV.  Set about aaual preparation for death,  83
Direa. V.  Study  to glorify  God,  and edify thofe
  about you by your fpeech and behaviour, *       90
Direa. VI. Shew  your concern  for advancing the
  kingdom of Chrift in  the rifing  age,              95
Direa. VII.  Labour to be fortified againft Satan's
  temptations in time of ficknefs,                  97
Chap. IV.  Containing fpecial direaions to the unre-
  generate,  when under ficknefs and affliaion,      102
Direa. I.  Confider the miferable  condition of a
  Chriftlefs perfon under fore ficknefs,             102
Direa.  II. Improve ficknefs  as means of conver-
  fion,                                         *°4-
Direa. III. Beware of flighting God1* voice in the
  rod,                                         *°6
Direa. IV. Reflea upon  the  fins  of  your by-paft
  life, and be deeply humbled for them,           107
Direa. V. Flee prefently to Chrift by  a true faith, 108
Direa. VI. Call the elders of the  Church to pray
   for you,                                     I09 •
Chap. V.  Containing  direaions  to  God's- people
   when recovered from ficknefs and diftrefs,        110
Direa I.  Try if affliaion hath  been fanaified  to
   vou                                         lX0 '
Direa. II.  Offer to God the facrifice  of  thankfgiv-.
                                                112
 Direa.' III. Beware of forgetting the Lord's kind-
     r                                          I IO
   neis,                                 .      r
 Direa. IV  Inquire after thefe  fruits of nghteoul-
  nefsi which are the genuine effoas of fanaified af-
  fliaion,               f                    117
Direa. V. Be careful to pdpbrm thofe engagements
  which you-come under in time of ficknefs,       *■'? 
250
CONTENTS*
                                              Pag*
Chap. VI.  Containing  direaions to  the  uaregene-
  rate,  when they are recovered from ficknefs,     12 2
Direa. I.  Examine what are the fruits of your afflic-
  tion,  and if  it hath not the marks of that which
  is fanaified,                                  122
Direa.  II.  Confider the danger of not being better-
  ed by ficknefs,                               123
Direa.  III.  Admire-God's fparing mercy  to  Such
  hell-deferving finners, and be thankful for it,     125
Direa.  IV. Improve fparing mercy in a right man-
   ner,                                         127
Chap. VII. Containing direaions to thofe fick per-
   fons who are apparently in a dying condition,    131
Direa.  I.  Exert your utmoft aaivity in preparing to
   meet with death,                             132
Direa II.  Continue in the exercife of repentance  to
   the laft,                                     135
Direa. III. Be mindful  of the aas  of juftice and
   charity incumbent on you at this time,          136
Direa.  IV. Labour to overcome the love of life and
   fears of death, that you may get willingnefs to die, 139
 Direa. V. Imitate the ancient Worthies,  by flying in
   faith,                                       146
Direa. VI. Set the example of other dying faints be-
   fore  you, and ftudy to imitate them in their Shining
   piety and heavenly fpeeches  at their death,       149*
Direa. VII. Let dying perfons be carneft in prayer
   to God,                                     187
Some meditations and ejaculations proper for fick and
   dying perfons, and efpecially for a dying believer, 188
Some meditations for drooping believers when death
   is near,                                      194
An addition of fome further meditations  proper for
   any fick perfon in  the view of death,            199
Chap. VIII. Containing direaions to the friends and
   neighbours of the  ficky-»who are at  prefent  in
  health,                  y                    206
Direa.  I.  Be thankful to God for health,  ar.d im-
  prove it to his glory,                          Zd5 
                  contents.               251

                                              Page
Direa. II. Make confcience of vifiting the fick,    208
Direa. HI.  Deal faithfully with the fick about their
  fouls,                                       209
Direa. IV.  Pray with and for the fick,
Petitions for the fick,                           216
Direa. V.  Let your fick friends have fuitable com-
  pany and converfe,                           2'9
Dxrcdi. VI.  Be duly concerned alfo for the bodies ot
  the fick,                                    -«Q
Dii«a. VII. When their ficknefs doth iffue in death,
   behave chriftianly under the difpenfation,        221
Direa. VIII. Let the ficknefs and death of others
   be a warning to you in time of health, to make due
   preparation for the  time of ficknefs and of dyin^
   which is before your hand,                     227
 Direa. IX. Let thofe who'ate in health fet about the
   work of repentance, and turning to God in Chrift
   timeoufly  and quickly;  and  beware of delaying
   this work untilthe time of ficknefs and of dying,  236
 Dying words of John Willifon,                 ■  846
  e. /IV. .•            -^0i^

          *^              ■ -v
* 1. i. 1'*; / // \' ^-
 
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                BOOK-SELLER,
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