WISEMAN. "Die! she died bravely; full of comfort in the faith of her
interest in Christ, and by him in the world to come. She had many
brave expressions in her sickness, and gave to those that came to
visit her many signs of her salvation. The thoughts of the grave,
especially of her rising again, were sweet thoughts to her. She
would long for death, because she knew it would be her friend. She
expressed herself like one that was making herself ready to go to
meet her bridegroom. 'Now,' said she, 'I am going to rest from my
sorrows, my sighs, my tears, my mournings, and complaints: I have
heretofore longed to be among the saints, but might by no means be
suffered to go; but now I am going, and no man can stop me, to the
great meeting, 'to the general assembly and church of the first-born
which are written in heaven.' There I shall have my heart's desire;
there I shall worship without temptation or other impediment; there
I shall see the face of my Jesus whom I have loved, whom I have
served, and who now I know will save my soul. I have prayed often
for my husband that he might be converted, but there has been no
answer of God in that matter. Are my prayers lost; are they
forgotten; are they thrown over the bar? No; they are hanged upon
the horns of the golden altar, and I must have the benefit of them
myself that moment that I shall enter into the gates, in at which
the righteous nation that keepeth truth shall enter: I say, I shall
have the benefit of them. I can say as holy David--I say, I can say
of my husband as he could of his enemies, 'As for me, when they were
sick, my clothing was of sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting,
and my prayer returned into my bosom.' My prayers are not lost, my
tears are yet in God's bottle; I would have had a crown and glory
for my husband, and for those of my children that follow his steps;
but so far as I can see yet, I must rest in the hope of having all
myself.'
"When she drew near her end she called for her husband, and when he
was come to her, she told him that now he and she must part; and,
said she, 'God knows, and thou shalt know, that I have been a
loving, faithful wife unto thee; and as for all the abuses that I
have received at thy hand, those I freely and heartily forgive, and
still shall pray for thy conversion, even as long as I breathe in
this world. But, husband, I am going thither where no bad man shall
come; and if thou dost not turn, thou wilt never see me more with
comfort. Let not my plain words offend thee; I am thy dying wife,
and of my faithfulness to thee would leave this exhortation with
thee: Break off thy sins, fly to God for mercy while mercy's gate
stands open: remember that the day is coming when thou, though now
lusty and well, must lie at the gates of death, as I do; and what
wilt thou then do, if thou shalt be found with a naked soul to meet
the cherubims with their flaming swords? Yea, what wilt thou then do
if death and hell shall come to visit thee, and thou in thy sins and
under the curse of the law?'
"When she saw that she was not regarded, she fetched a deep sigh and
lay still. So he went down; and then she called for her children,
and began to talk to them. And first she spoke to those that were
rude, and told them the danger of dying before they had grace in
their hearts. She told them also, that death might be nearer than
they were aware of; and bid them look, when they went through the
churchyard again, if there were not little graves there. 'And ah,
children,' said she, 'will it not be dreadful to you, if we only
shall meet at the day of judgment, and then part again and never see
each other more?' And with that she wept; the children also wept. So
she held on her discourse: 'Children,' said she, 'I am going from
you. I am going to Jesus Christ; and with him there is neither
sorrow nor sighing, nor pain nor tears, nor death: thither would I
have you go also; but I can neither carry you nor fetch you thither.
But if you shall turn from your sins to God, and shall beg mercy at
his hands by Jesus Christ, you shall follow me, and shall, when you
die, come to the place where I am going, that blessed place of rest;
and then we shall be for ever together, beholding the face of our
Redeemer, to our mutual and eternal joy.' So she bade them remember
the words of a dying mother when she was cold in her grave, and
themselves were hot in their sins, if perhaps her words might put a
check to their vice, and they might remember and turn to God.
"Then they all went down but her darling, to wit, the child that she
had most love for, because it followed her ways. So she addressed
herself to that: 'Come to me,' said she, 'my sweet child, thou art
the child of my joy; I have lived to see thee a servant of God; thou
shalt have eternal life. I, my sweetheart, shall go before, and thou
shalt follow after, if thou shalt hold the beginning of thy
confidence steadfast to the end. When I am gone, do thou still
remember my words. Love thy Bible, follow my ministers, deny
ungodliness still, and if troublesome times shall come, set a higher
price upon Christ, his word and ways, and the testimony of a good
conscience, than upon all the world besides; carry it kindly and
dutifully to thy father, but chose none of his ways.
"'I would have thee also, my dear child, to love thy brothers and
sisters, but learn none of their naughty tricks; 'Have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.'
Thou hast grace; they have none. Do thou therefore beautify the way
of salvation before their eyes, by a godly life and conversation
conformable to the revealed will of God, that thy brothers and
sisters may see and be the more pleased with the good ways of the
Lord.'
"Thus she talked to her children and gave them counsel; and after
she had talked to this a little longer, she kissed it and bid it go
down.
"Well, in short, her time drew on, and the day that she must die. So
she died with a soul full of grace, a heart full of comfort, and by
her death ended a life of trouble."