Abode in the filent Chambers of Darknefs and Corruption. These are the things that make Men loth to die. And, indeed, thofe who have made them their Treafures, and their Good Things, will find it a very hard Task, to be willing to leave all behind them at the Mouth of the Grave. They can wait upon thee no farther. And, O! what a fad Parting Hour will it be to the poor Soul, when it must be compell'd to remove into another World, and leave all its good things be hind in this! How will it protract and linger! How loth will it be to enter upon fo great a Journey, and have nothing left to defray the Charge of it? How wiftly will it look back upon all thofe dear Vanities, that it had hoarded up together! What! cannot I carry this Poffeffion, and thofe Riches, this Eftate, and that Treasure, out of the World with me? Muft we then part for ever? Yes,

Soul, for ever. None of thefe things canft thou carry with thee. And, Oh! think, what a fad thing it will be for thy poor Soul to be fet on Shoar in a vast and difmal Eternity, all naked and deftitute, having nothing of all the Superfluities, and Abundance of Comforts, which here it made its chiefeft Good, to relieve and fupport it! Or, if Mens

Estate

Eftate be low and mean in the World, exposed to many Wants and Miferies; yet even to fuch, Death is terrible; nor can they be willingly brought to part with their Share of Enjoyments, though it be nothing but the common Air, and dear Light, and their own flattering Hopes, that yet they may live to polfefs more. For Hope of Better for the future, is a moft tenacious thing; and those who have nothing else to live upon, yet cannot look upon Death with content, becaufe, although it put an End and Period to their prefent Miseries, yet it likewife cuts off their Hopes, in which, at least, they are as Rich and Happy, as the Greatest.

3. ANOTHER thing, which is dread→ ful and stinging in Death, is that which truly and properly is Death itfelf: I mean, the Separation of those dear Companions, the Soul and Body. They are in Life knit together by an unintelligible Bond of Union and Friendship. There is a moft fecret and powerful Sympathy between them; and that which is the very Life of Friendship, a Communication of Paffions and Affections, They have spent many Years together in perfect Amity and Concord; and, therefore,

it may

well be dreadful to think of part

ing at the laft.

4.

And,

THE Confideration of those Disho nours, and Difgraces, that fhall befal the Body upon this Separation, is likewise very ftinging, and irksome unto Nature. That there it must lie, a fad, wan, and ghaftly Spectacle to thy Friends, and afterwards be lodged in the Bed of Silence, and Putrefaction. There, whole Heaps of Worms fhall crawl upon thee, and devour thee: And, the next Corps that wants room, may, perhaps, disturb thy Bones, and not allow thee fo much as the Quiet of Death, and the peaceable Poffeffion of thy Grave. Thy few Remains may lie fcattered about the Mouth of it: And thou, who art now refpected and honoured, mayft have thy only vifible Relicks rudely and irreverently dealt with. And, certainly, there is in us all fuch a natural Love to our Bodies, that who think all our Care and Pains too little in pampering and indulging them, cannot but look upon Death as a moft dreadful Enemy, that fhall bring upon them fo many Contumelies and Difhonours. And,

we,

5. THE moft fharp and ftinging Confideration of all, is, That Death delivers us over into Eternity, which we have ten thousand

thousand times deferved, fhould be infinitely wretched and miferable to us. Our Confciences do mifgive, and prefage very dreadful things against us; and often represent to our View all the Woes and Plagues that are ftor'd up in Hell, the Treasury and Magazine of all Plagues. And, though the former Confiderations render Death very frightful; as it is inAlicted upon us by Pains and Diseases; as it deprives us of all the Comforts of Life; as it is the Separation of Soul and Body; as it leaves the Body under the Dishonours and ghaftly Deformities of Rottennefs and Putrefaction: Yet, had Death nothing in it more dreadful than thefe, it might be fupportable. Yea, and we know,that many, who have been borne up by the Confolations of the Holy Spi rit, have opened their Arms to it, and embraced it, though with natural Relu tance, as it is Death, yet with Joy and Exultation, as it is to them an Admiffion into eternal Life. But when Death fhall fummon us to appear before the dreadful Tribunal of GOD, and suggest to us horrid Apprehenfions of Wo and Torments, that we shall by Him be adjudged unto; this is that Sting which is most fharp and piercing; that Sting, the Poi

N

fon

fon of which affects the Soul with most inexpreffible Anguish and Agonies.

II. AND this brings me to the Second Propofition, which is the very Words of the Text, The Sting of Death is Sin. For,

1. IT was only Sin that brought Death into the World. So the Apoftle exprefly, Rom. v. 12. By one Man Sin entered into the World, and Death by Sin: And fo Death palled upon all Men; for that all have finned. This Serpent owes his Being, as well as his Sting and Poison, unto Man's Tranfgreffion. Indeed, Adam was no more created immortal by Nature, than he was impeccable; but as he had Potentiam non peccandi, fo he had likewife Potentiam non moriendi, a Power neither to have finned, nor died; but might have prolonged his Days, either to a happy Eternity here upon Earth, or to a bleffed Tranflation into Heaven. But as foon as Sin had gotten Poffeffion of his Soul, Death lays in Claim to his Body, and fends a numerous Train of grim Attendants, Fear, Sadnefs, Decays, Trou bles, Pains, and Difeafes, to fecure him from making his Escape: And by these, we must all fooner or later fall into his Hands.

2. DEATH