XVI.

gence of others, but take the Blame entirely S ER M. But let us, I beseech you,

upon ourselves.
prevent all Repinings and Complaints what-
ever. Let us retrieve Adam's Lofs, and pre-
vent our own. And then we shall have no-
thing to fear or dread. The Paffage indeed
through which we must pass to come at this
Tree, is more dark and gloomy now, than it
was originally Now, to reach the Tree of
Life, we must firft pafs the Gates of Death:
But good Chriftians fhall have enough to chear
them, fo that Death itself should not abate
their Courage. For to fpeak in the Words
of the fame pious Author, I cited before,
"Death is a Paffage that was always short;
"and by our Saviour's Cross, it is made a
"fafe one.
By the Practice of his Saints,
"it is grown familiar; and by their happy
"Succefs become defirable. For who would
"fhun to tread a Path, which all our An-
"ceftors have gone before us. Adam, the
"firft of Men; and Abraham, the Friend of
"God; David, the Man after God's own

Heart, and the bleffed Mary, Virgin Mo"ther of our Lord; all these have paid their "Debt to Nature and fubfcribed the Law "of univerfal Mortality. Nay Jefus him

felf, the eternal Son of God, went to his
VOL. II.

A a

Glory

SERM.

XVI.

Glory through the Gates of Death. Why "then should our fond Self-love fo blindly "flatter us, as to wifh an Exemption from "fo general a Decree? Why should we not "rather rejoice at the Sight of it, fince as "things ftand now it is neceffary and defir"able? Being thus relieved our Bodies shall "tremble no more with the Palfie, nor burn "with the Flames of a fcorching Fever:

They fhall cry out no more for want of

Sleep, nor roll up and down their uneafy "Beds: But quietly reft in their filent Graves, "till they rife again to immortal Glory : Till they rife to partake, without Control, of the Tree of Life, and be permitted to enter into the Gates of the City: Which God of his Mercy grant to us all, for the fake of Jefus Christ our Lord, &c.

SER

SERMON XVI.

All Men to die.

355

HEB. ix. 27.

It is appointed unto Men once to die,

my laft Difcourfe I divided thefe Words S ERM. into three Particulars: viz.

IN

I. FIRST, That it is appointed unto all Men to die;

II. SECONDLY, That it is appointed unto them to die but once. And,

III. THIRDLY, That That Once is at a Time undetermined.

The first of these Heads I have already gone through; and in the Profecution of it have fhewed that Death, or a Change Equivalent to it, is the inevitable Fate of all Mankind. [That from the Creation to this Day, there have been but two Men in the World who never died, meaning Enoch and Elias, A a 2

and

XVI.

XVI.

SER M. and that it may be inferred from feveral probable Arguments, that even these are reserved to a further Miniftration, when they shall again appear in this lower World, and die at laft like other Men.]- And the Certainty of Death being thus confirmed, I next proceeded to enquire into the Reasons of this common Fatality, and to examine how Men came to be left in this Condition. And upon this Head I fhewed that Death is what we were once not defigned for, but what we were fubjected to by the firft Man's Sin. And becaufe a Handle is often taken from hence to arraign the Justice and Goodness of God, in leaving all Men fubject to fuch a State for the Sin of one; I went on to vindicate the Proceedings of God with relation to this Point, and to fhew from Arguments which I hope were convincing, that these Proceedings were intirely confiftent, not only with his Justice, but with his Wisdom and Goodness: With his Justice, because the State we are reduced to by Adam's Sin, is no worfe, with Regard to the Laws of Mortality, than what we must all of us have been subject to, even though Adam had not tranfgreffed, provided he had never been put into Paradife With his Widom and Goodness, because after the Fall, an

XVI.

immortal State was not only rendered natu- S ERM. rally impoffible, but alfo confidering our fallen Condition, was no longer defirable. A proper Enlargement upon these feveral Points, with fome practical Inferences from the whole at laft, made the Subject of my former Difcourfe.

In my present one I defign to take my other two Heads under Confideration. The former of which leads me to fhew that Men are to die but once: And this may as certain

be deduced from the Text, as that we are once to die. For unless it is certain that Men can die but once, the Text is very impertinent to the Holy Penman's Defign and Argument. He was fhewing to the Hebrews the Excellency of our Saviour's Sacrifice from its Singularity; and to illuftrate his Doctrine, draws a Parallel between that and the common Fate of Men. As (faith he) it is appointed unto Men once to die; fo Chrift was ONCE offered to bear the Sins of many. Now if Men could die any more than once; it would be very abfurd to prove that Chrift could be but once offered, from an Argument that is no ways fuitable to the Cafe. But fince the Holy Penman makes ufe of this Argument to prove that Chrift was but once offered; we may af