A practical discourse concerning death by William Sherlock ...

CHAP. IV. Concerning the Fear of Death, and the Remedies against it. (Book 4)

DEath is commonly and very truly called the King of Terrors, as be∣ing the most formidable thing to Humane Nature; the love of Life, and the natu∣ral principle of Self-preservation, begets in all Men a natural Aversion against Death, and this is the natural Fear of Dy∣ing; this is very much encreased by a great fondness and passion for this World, which makes such Men, especially while they are happy and prosperous, very un∣willing to leave it; and this is still en∣creased by a sence of Guilt, and the fear of Punishment in the next World: All these are of a distinct nature, and re∣quire sutable Remedies, and therefore I shall distinctly consider them:

I. The natural Fear of Death results from Self-preservation, and the love of our own being; for light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is, for the eyes to behold

the sun, 11 Eccles. 7. All Men love Life, and the necessary consequence of that is to fear Death; though this is rather a natural Instinct, than the effect of Reason and Discourse.

There are great and wise Reasons why God should imprint this Aversion to Death on Humane Nature, because it o∣bliges us to take care of ourselves, and to avoid every thing which will destroy or shorten our lives; this in many cases is a great principle of Vertue, as it pre∣serves us from all fatal and destructive Vices; it is a great Instrument of Go∣vernment, and makes Men afraid of com∣mitting such Villanies, as the Laws of their Country have made capital; and therefore since the natural Fear of Death is of such great advantage to us, we must be contented with it, though it makes the thoughts of dying a little un∣easie; especially if we consider, that when this natural Fear of Death is not encreased by other causes, (of which more presently) it may be conquered or allayed by Reason and wise Conside∣ration: for this is not so strong an A∣version, but it may be conquered; the miseries and calamities of this Life very often reconcile Men to Death, and make

them passionately desire it: Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul? which long for death, but it cometh not, and digg for it more then for hid treasures: which re∣joyce exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave, 3 Job 20, 21, 22. My soul chuseth strangling, and death rather than life: I loath it, I would not live al∣way; let me alone, for my days are vani∣ty, 7 Job 15, 16. And if the sence of present Sufferings can conquer the fears of Death, there is no doubt but the hope of immortal Life may do it also: for the fear of Death is not an original and pri∣mitive Passion, but results from the love of ourselves, from the love of life, and our own being; and therefore when we can separate the fear of Death from Self∣love, it is easily conquered: when Men are sensible, that life is no kindness to them, but only serves to prolong their misery, they are so far from being afraid of Death, that they court it; and were they as thoroughly convinc'd, that when they die, Death will translate them to a more happy Life, it would be as easie a thing to put off these Bodies, as to change their Cloaths, or to leave an old and ruinous House for a more beautiful and convenient Habitation.

If we set aside the natural Aversion, and inquire into the reasons of this na∣tural Fear of Death, we can think of but these two; Either Men are afraid, that when they die they shall cease to be, or at least they know not what they shall be, and are unwilling to exchange this present life, which they like very well, for they know not what. But now both these reasons of Fear are taken away by the Revelation of the Gospel, which has brought Life and Immortality to light; and when the reasons of our Fear are gone, such an unaccountable Aversion and Reluctancy to Death, signifies little more than to make us patient of living, rather than unwilling to die; for a Man who has such a new glorious World, such a happy immortal Life in his view, could not very contentedly delay his removal thither, were not Death in the way, which he naturally startles at, and draws back from, though his reason sees no∣thing frightful or terrible in it.

The plain and short account then of this matter is this: We must not expect wholly to conquer our natural Aversion to Death; St. Paul himself did not de∣sire to be uncloathed, but cloathed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of

life, 2 Cor. 3, 4. Were there not some remaining aversions to Death mixed with our hopes and desires of Immortality, Martyrdom itself, excepting the patient enduring the shame and the torments of it, would be no Vertue; but though this natural aversion to Death cannot be whol∣ly conquered, it may be extreamly les∣sened, and brought next to nothing, by the certain belief and expectation of a glorious Immortality; and therefore the only way to arm ourselves against these natural fears of dying, is to confirm our selves in this belief, that Death does not put an end to us, that our Souls shall sur∣vive in a state of Bliss and Happiness, when our Bodies shall rot in their Graves, and that these mortal Bodies themselves shall at the sound of the last Trump rise again out of the dust immortal and glo∣rious. A Man who believes and expects this, can have no reason to be afraid of Death; nay he has great reason not to fear Death, and that will reconcile him to the thoughts of it, though he trembles a little under the weaknesses and aversi∣ons of Nature.

II. Besides the natural Aversions to Death, most Men have contracted a great

fondness and passion for this World, and that makes them so unwilling to leave it, whatever glorious things they hear of another World, they see what is to be had in this, and they like it so well, that they do not expect to mend themselves, but if they were at their choice, would stay where they are: and this is a double death to them to be snatched away from their admired enjoyments, and to leave whatever they love and delight in be∣hind them: and there is no remedy, that I know of, for these Men to cure their fears of Death, but only to rectifie their mistaken opinions of things, to o∣pen their eyes to see the Vanity of this World, and the brighter and more daz∣ling Glories of the next.

There are different degrees of this, and therefore this remedy must be dif∣ferently applied: some Men are whol∣ly sunk into flesh and sence, and have no tast at all of rational and manly Pleasures, much less of those which are purely intellectual and divine: they are Slaves to their lusts, lay no restraints on their bruitish appetites, the World is their God, and they dote on the riches, and pleasures, and honours of it, as the only real and substantial goods: Now

these Men have great reason to be afraid of Death; for when they go out of this World, they will find nothing that be∣longs to this World in the next; and thus their happiness and their lives must end together: It is fitting they should fear Death, for if the fear of Death will not cure their fondness for this World, nothing else can; you must not expect to perswade them, that the next World is a happier place than this; but the best way is to set before them the terrors of the next World; those Lakes of Fire and Brimstone prepared for the Devil and his Angels; to ask them our Saviour's question, What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and to lose his own soul: or what shall a man give in ex∣change for his soul? These Men ought to fear on, till the fear of Death cures their vicious passion and fondness for this World, and then the fear of Death will by degrees cure itself.

Others there are, who have a true re∣verence for God, and govern their incli∣nations and passions to the things of this World with regard to his Laws; they will not raise an Estate by Injustice, Op∣pression, or Perjury; they will not trans∣gress the Rules of Sobriety and Modesty

in the use of sensual Pleasures; they will not purchase the honours and preferments of this World at the price of their Souls; but yet they love this World very well, and are extreamly delighted in the en∣joyments of it; they have a plentiful Fortune, or a thriving Trade, or the Fa∣vour of their Prince; they live at ease, and think this World a very pleasant place, and are ready to cry, It is good for us to be here: Now it cannot be a∣voided, but that in proportion to Mens love of this World, though it be not an immoral and irregular passion, they will be more afraid, and more unwilling to leave it: when we are in the full enjoy∣ment of an earthly Felicity, it is diffi∣cult for very good Men to have such a strong and vigorous sence of the next World, as to make them willing and contented to leave this: they desire to go to Heaven, but they are not over∣hasty in their desires; they can be bet∣ter pleased, if God sees fit, to stay here a little longer, and when they find them∣selves a going, are apt to cast back their eyes upon this World, as those who are loth to part. This makes it so neces∣sary for God to exercise even good Men with afflictions and sufferings, to wean

them from this World, which is a Scene of Misery, and to raise their hearts to Heaven, where true and unmixt Happi∣ness dwells.

The only way then to cure this fear of Death, is to mortifie all remains of love and affection for this World; to withdraw ourselves as much as may be from the conversation of it, to use it ve∣ry sparingly, and with great indifferen∣cy, to supply the wants of Nature, ra∣ther than to enjoy the pleasures of it; to have our conversation in Heaven, to meditate on the glories of that blessed Place, to live in this World upon the hopes of unseen things; to accustom our selves to the work and to the pleasures of Heaven, to praise and adore the Great Maker and Redeemer of the World, to mingle ourselves with the heavenly Quire, and possess our very fancies and imagi∣nations with the glory and happiness of seeing GOD and the Blessed JESUS, of dwelling in his immediate Presence, of conversing with Saints and Angels; this is to live like Strangers in this World, and like Citizens of Heaven; and then it will be as easie to us to leave this World for Heaven, as it is for a Traveller to leave a foreign Coun∣try

to return home. This is the height and perfection of Christian Vertue; it is our mortifying the Flesh with its affe∣ctions and lusts, it is our dying to this World, and living to God; and when we are dead to this World, the fear of dy∣ing and leaving this World is over; For what should a Man do in this World, who is dead to it? When we are alive to God, nothing can be so desirable as to go to him; for here we live to God only by Faith and Hope, but that is the proper place for this divine Life, where God dwells: So that in short, a life of Faith, as it is our Victory over this World, so it is our Victory over Death too; it disarms it of all its fears and terrors, it raises our hearts so much a∣bove this World, that we are very well pleased to get rid of these Bodies, which keep us here, and to leave them in the Grave in hopes of a blessed Resurrection.

III. The most tormenting Fears of Death are owing to a sence of Guilt, which indeed are rather a fear of Judge∣ment than of Death, or a fear of Death as it sends us to Judgment; and here we must distinguish between three sorts of Men, whose Case is very different:

1. Those who are very good Men, who have made it the care of their lives to please GOD, and to save their Souls. 2. Those who have lived very ungodly Lives, and are now awakened by the ap∣proaches of Death, to see an angry and provoked Judge, an injured Saviour, a righteous Tribunal, and think they hear that fatal Doom and Sentence pronoun∣ced on them by their own Consciences, Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. 3. Those who are doubtful of their own conditi∣on, and are apt to fear the worst.

1. As for the first sort of these Men, who have sincerely endeavour'd to please GOD, and have the testimony of their Consciences, that in simplicity and god∣ly sincerity they have had their conver∣sation in this World, Christ has deliver∣ed them from all their fears by his death upon the Cross, and his Intercession for them at the right hand of God: The best Men dare not stand the trial of strict and impartial Justice; they are conscious to themselves of so many sins, or such great imperfections and defects, that their one∣ly hope is in the Mercy of GOD, thro' the Merits and Mediation of CHRIST; and in this hope they can triumph over

Death, as St. Paul does; O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy vi∣ctory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be* 1.1 to GOD, who hath given us the victory by our Lord Iesus Christ; who destroy∣ed Sin, and plucked out the sting of Death by his Death upon the Cross, who triumphed over Death by his Re∣surrection from the Dead, and is invest∣ed with Power to raise all his true Dis∣ciples from the Dead; Is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto* 1.2 GOD by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

This is the happy state of good Men, when they come to die, they can look into the other World without terrour, where they see, not a Court of Justice, but, a Throne of Grace; where they see a Father, not a Judge; a Saviour who died for them, and has redeemed them with his own Blood: What a blessed Calm and Serenity possesses their Souls! nay, what Joy and Triumph transports them! How do their souls magnifie the Lord, and their spirits rejoyce in GOD their Saviour! when they see him rea∣dy to pronounce them blessed, and to set the Crown upon their heads? Who

would not die the death of the righteous, and desire that his latter end may be like his! What wise Man would not live the life of the Righteous, that his latter end may be like his; that in the agonies of Death, and in the very jaws of the Grave, no disturbed thoughts may dis∣compose him; no guilty fears distract him, but he may go out of the World with all the joyful presages of eternal Rest and Peace.

2. As for wicked Men, who never concerned themselves with the thoughts of God and another World, while they were in health, many times a dangerous Sickness, which gives them a nearer view of Death and Judgment, awakens their Consciences, and overwhelms them with the unsupportable terrors of future Vengeance; then they begin to lament their ill-spent lives, to tremble before that just and righteous Judge, whom they have provoked by repeated Villa∣nies; whose Being they formerly deni∣ed, or whose Power and Justice they desied; now they cry passionately to Christ for Mercy, and will needs have him to be their Saviour, though they would not own him for their Lord, nor submit to his Laws and Government;

now these Men are mighty earnest for comfort, the Minister, who was the sub∣ject of their Drollery before, is sent for in great hast, and it is expected from him, that he should lull their Consciences asleep, and send them quietly into ano∣ther World, to receive their doom there.

Now it is very fitting to let these Men know, while they are well, that there is no comfort to be had, when they come to die: For there is no peace saith my GOD to the wicked; and no Man who knows them, can speak Peace to them, without making a new Gospel, or corrupting the old one.

What I have already discourst con∣cerning a Death-bed Repentance, is a plain proof of this; but though we set aside all that, and proceed upon the common principle, That a true Peni∣tent, whenever he sincerely repents, thô it be upon his Death-bed, after a long life of wickedness, shall be pardoned and rewarded by God; yet upon these prin∣ciples it is impossible that a wicked Man, when he comes to die, should have any Comfort without a vain and Enthusia∣stick Presumption, and the reason is ve∣ry plain, because it is impossible, either for himself or others to judge, whether

his Repentance be true and sincere; such a Repentance as, if he were to live long∣er, would reform his Life, and bring forth the fruits of an universal Righte∣ousness; and it is agreed on all hands, that no other Repentance but this can be accepted by God.

Now it is absolutely impossible, with∣out a Revelation, for any Man to know this, who begins his Repentance upon a Death-bed: he may feel indeed the bit∣ter pangs and agonies of Sorrow, and may be sincerely and heartily sorry that he has sinned: And this every dying Sin∣ner is, who is sorrowful, he is sincerely sorrowful, that is, he does not counterfeit a Sorrow, but really feels it: and I know nothing else to make Sorrow sincere, but that it is real and not counterfeited; and therefore to be sorrowful, and to be sin∣cerely sorrowful, is the same thing; And will any Man say, that whoever is sor∣ry for his sins when he comes to die, shall be saved? Then no Sinner can be damned, who does not die an Atheist, or stupid and distracted, or suddenly, without any warning; for it is impos∣sible for a Sinner, who is in his wits, and believes that wicked Men shall be eternally punished in the next World,

not to feel an amazing remorse and sor∣row of mind, when he sees himself just a falling into Hell.

A dying Sorrow then, though it may be sharp and severe, almost to the de∣gree of Amazement and Distraction (and it is hard, if such a Sorrow be not real and sincere) is not saving Repentance; and therefore though Sinners may feel themselves very heartily sorrowful, this does not prove them to be true Peni∣tents; and yet this is the only evidence they can have of their Repentance, and the only thing they rely on, that they are sure their Sorrow is very sincere; and I doubt not but it is, for all true Sor∣row is sincere; but Sinners who are ve∣ry sorry for their sins may be damned.

Since then sorrow for Sin is the one∣ly evidence such Men can have of the sincerity of their Repentance, let us con∣sider, whether the meer dying sorrows of Sinners be any evidence at all of this, or what kind of evidence it is:

True Repentance does at least include a change of Mind, a turning from our sins to God, a deep sence of the evil of Sin, and an abhorrance of ourselves for it, a great reverence for God and for his Laws, as well as a dread of his Judge∣ments,

and deliberate and serious reso∣lutions of changing our course of Life, and for the time to come, of living to God, and to the purposes of his Glory, never to return to our old Sins again, but diligently to exercise ourselves in all the Duties and Offices of a Christian Life.

Now suppose a Man, who has lived wickedly all his life, should be thus changed in a moment, and prove such a true Penitent, as I have now describ∣ed, and that God, who knows the hearts of Men, sees that his promises and vows are sincere, and that if he were to live any longer, he would be a good Man, and therefore will pardon and reward him, not according to what he has done, but according to what he foresees he would have done, had he lived any longer, (which is to judge Men not according to their Works, but according to his own Fore-knowledge, which the Scri∣pture never makes the Rule of future Judgment;) I say, suppose such Men may be true Penitents, and pardoned by God, who knows that they are so? yet they can never have the comfort of it before they die, because it is impossible for them to know it.

When Men see themselves a dying,

they are very sorrowful for their sins so they say, but the most likely account of it is, That they are very sorry they are a going to Hell, as a Malefactor is very sorrowful, when he is going to the Gibbet: This may be the whole of his Sorrow, and it is impossible to prove that there should be any thing more in it, and extreamly improbable that there is; for what likelihood is there, that Men who yesterday were very much in love with their sins, and as little thought of falling out with them, as they did of their dy∣ing day, should to day, as soon as ever they are arrested with a threatning Sick∣ness, be Penitents in good earnest, and abhor their Sins in a minute, and be quite other Men upon the view of the other World: This is the case of all Sinners, when they come to die, which makes it very suspicious, that there is nothing ex∣traordinary in it, no miraculous power of the divine Spirit to change their hearts in a moment, and make them new Men, but only the common effect of a great Fear, which makes Men sorry for their sins, when they come to suffer for them.

Now if such dying Sinners can never be sure that their sorrow for Sin is any thing more than a great Fright, they can

be sure of nothing else; for such a sor∣row as this, will counterfeit all the other acts of Repentance: Men who are ter∣ribly afraid of Punishment, are not only sorry for their Sins, but this very sorrow makes them ashamed of them, gives them a great indignation against themselves for them, makes them flatter their Judge, and vow and promise reformation, if they could escape this one time; and this is so very common and familiar, that in all other cases no Man regards it; a Judge, a Father, or a Master, will not spare upon such promises as these; and why should this be thought any thing more in a dying Sinner, than in other Malefa∣ctors? Why should that be thought a suf∣ficient reason for God to pardon, which we ourselves think no reason, in all other cases? All this may be no more than the fear of Hell; and I doubt the meer fear of Hell, when Men are a dying, tho' it may imitate all the scenes of Repentance, will not keep them out of Hell. It is so very probable, that this is the whole of a Death-bed Repentance, that no such dying Sinner can have any reasonable hope, that he does truly repent; and therefore, unless he flatters himself, when he dies with a false and counterfeit Repentance, as he

did, while he lived, with the hopes of re∣penting before he died, he must expire in all the terrors and agonies of guilty Fears. This is so miserable a condition, that tho' we should suppose such a Sinner may be a true Penitent, and go to Heaven at last, yet no wise Man would endure these dy∣ing Agonies for all the false and deceitful Pleasures of Sin: and yet there is no pos∣sible way of avoiding this, but by such a timely Repentance, while we are well, and Death at a distance, as may bring forth the actual fruits of Holiness, that when we come to die, we may have some bet∣ter evidence of the sincerity of our Re∣pentance, than meer dying sorrows.

3. Let us now consider the Case of those who are doubtful, what their condi∣tion is; who are neither so good, as to be out of all danger and fear, nor so bad, as to be out of hope; and I need not tell any Man, that this is a state between Hope and Fear, which is a very uneasie state, when eternal Happiness or Misery is the matter of the doubt: This is the case of those Men, who after all their good resolution, are ever and anon con∣quered by temptations; who as soon as their tears are dried up for their last fall, fall again, and then lament their sins, and

resolve again; and while they are thus interchangeably sinning, repenting, and resolving, before they have got a lasting Victory, or are arrived to a steady Ver∣tue, are summon'd by Death to Judge∣ment; or those who have a reverence for God, but are not so constant and frequent in their Devotions, or if they abstain from gross and scandalous Vices, yet they have not a due government of their Passions, or do very little good in the World, &c. Here is such a mixture of Good and Evil, that it is hard to know which is predo∣minant; while such Men are in health, they are very uneasie, and know not what to judge of themselves; but they fall into much greater perplexities when they are alarm'd with the near aproaches of Death and Judgment: And what a de∣plorable state is this, when we are a dy∣ing, to be uncertain and anxious, what will become of us to Eternity!

Now there is no possible way to pre∣vent these fears, when we come to die, but by giving all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure; by living such holy and innocent Lives, that our Con∣sciences may not condemn us; and then we shall have confidence towards God.* 1.3

But this is such a remedy, as few of

these Men like: they would be glad to be sure of Heaven, but yet would go as near Hell as they can without danger of falling into it; they will serve God, but must reserve a little favour and indul∣gence to their Lusts; though they dare not take full draughts of sensual Plea∣sures, yet they must be sipping now and then, as often as they can pacifie their Consciences, and get rid of the Fear of God, and of another World; and there∣fore they are very inquisitive after other Cures for an accusing and condemning Conscience: are mighty fond of such marks and signs of Grace as will secure them of Heaven without the severities of Mortification, or the constant and uni∣form practice of an universal Righteous∣ness: And a great many such Signs have been invented, which like strong Opiates asswage their pain and smart, till their Consciences awake, when it is too late, in the next World.

For all this is Cheat and Delusion, as St. Iohn assures us: Little children, Let no man deceive you: he that doth righte∣ousness is righteous, even as he is righte∣ous. He that committeth sin, is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the be∣ginning: for this purpose the Son of God

was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of GOD, doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin,* 1.4 because he is born of GOD. In this the children of GOD are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doth not righteousness, is not of GOD, neither he that loveth not his brother. This is the only sure Evidence for Heaven; and therefore every Sin Men commit, makes their state doubtful, and this must fill them with perplexities and fears: Men may cheat themselves with vain hopes and imaginations, when they come to die; but nothing can be a solid founda∣tion for Peace and Security, but an U∣niversal Righteousness.

Notes

• * 1.1

  1 Cor. 15. 55, 56, 57.
• * 1.2

  7 Heb. 25.
• * 1.3

  1 John 3. 20, 21.
• * 1.4

  1 John 3. 7, 8, 9, 10.