Short Instructions for the Sick

Short Instructions for the SICK: Especially who by Contagion, or otherwise, are deprived of the Presence of a Faithful PASTOR. By RICHARD BAXTER. THose happy persons who have made it the chief care and business of their lives, to be always ready for a dying hour, have least need of my present counsel: It is therefore those unhappy souls, who are yet unprepared, whom I shall now instruct. And, O that the Lord would bless these words; and persuade them yet, ere Time be gone! If sin had not bewitched men, and made them Monsters of senslesness and unbelief, it could not be, that an Endless Life, so sure, so near, could be so sottishly made light of, all their lives, as it is by most, till they perceive that Death is ready to surprise them. But, poor sinner, if this have been thy case, supposing yet that thou art unwilling to be damned, I earnestly entreat thee in the Name of Christ, for the sake of thy immortal soul, that thou will presently lay to heart these short Instructions, before Time and Hope are gone for ever. Deuteronomy. 6.5. and 10.12. and 11.1, 13. I. At last bethink thee what thou art? and for what End and Work thou came into the world? Thou art a Man of Reason, and not a Brute, and have a Soul which was made to Know, and Love, and Serve thy Maker; and that not in the second place, with the leavings of the flesh; but in the first place, and with all thy Heart and Might. If this had been indeed thy life, God would have been thy Portion, thy Father, and thy Defense, and thou might have lived and died in peace and comfort, and then have lived with God for ever. And should not a Creature live to the Ends and Uses which it was made for? Must God give thee all thy powers for Himself, and will thou turn them from him, to the service of the flesh, and that when thou had vowed the contrary in thy Baptism? How will thou answer for such treacherous ungodliness? II. It is time for thee now to have serious thoughts of the Life which thou art going to: Deuteronomy. 32.29. Matthew. 6.19, 20, 33. Matthew. 25. Romans 2. 2 Cor. 4.18. and 5.1, 7, 8, 9. Phil. 3.18, 20. 2 These. 1.9, 10. 1 Pet. 4.18. If thou could sleepily forget it all the way; it is time to awake when thou art almost there. When thy friends are burying that flesh in the earth, which thou did more regard than God and thy Salvation, thy Soul must appear in an endless world; and see those things which God foretold thee of, and thou would not believe, or set thy heart upon: As soon as Death has opened the curtains, O what a sight must thou presently behold! A world of Angels and of holy Souls adoring, and praising, and admiring that God, whom thou did refuse to mind, and love, and serve: A world of Devils and damned souls, in torment and despair, bewailing their contempt of Christ and Grace, their neglect of God, and their Salvation, their serving the flesh, and loving the world, and wilfully losing the time of mercy, and all the means which God vouchsafed them. Believe it, sinner, there is an Endless Joy and Glory for the Saints, and an Endless Misery for all the ungodly; and one of these must quickly be thy case. Thy state is changeable while thou art in the flesh: If thy Soul be miserable, there is yet a Remedy: Its possible Christ may renew and pardon it: But as soon as thou go hence, thou enterest into a State of Joy or Torment, which must never change: No not when millions of years are past. And do thou not think now in thy conscience, that such an Endless Misery should have been prevented with greater care and diligence, than all the sufferings of this life? And that the attaining of such an Endless Glory, had been worth thy greatest care and labor? And that it is far better to see the Glory of God, and be filled with his Love, and joyfully praise him with his Saints and Angels, for evermore, and by a Holy life to have prepared for this; than to please the flesh, and follow the world a little while, and be undone for ever! Have thou got more by the world and sin, than Heaven is worth? Thou art almost at the end of worldly pleasures, and have all that ever they will do for thee? But if God had had thy heart and service, he would not thus have cast thee off; and his Rewards and Joys would have had no end. O how much happier are the blessed Souls in Heaven, than we?

1 Cor. 11.31. 2 Cor. 13.5. Pet. 1.10. III. And seeing you are so near to the Judgment of God, where your Soul must receive its final sentence, it is high time now to judge your self, and know what state your Soul is in? whether in a state of Justification, or of Damnation. For this may be certainly known if you are willing. And first you must know who they be whom Christ will justify, and whom he will condemn: And this the Word of God will tell you: For he will judge them by that Word. John 3.3, 5. 2 Cor. 5.17. Ephesians. 1.18. Joh. 3.16, 19. Gal. 5.24. Romans 8.9. Mat. 6.21, 33. Mat. 28.20. Heb. 12.14. …