vnder the burthen therof account that bondage more intollerable and worse subiection then can bee to the most barbarous and cruell tyrant in the world from whose tyrannie hee that should set vs free must needs bee welcome Which death and onely death can doe What great cause haue we then with all willingnesse to embrace death and be greatly comforted when it appproacheth But death doâ—h yet much more for vs then all this for it not onely frees vs from all euills euen sinne but puts vs also into actuall and peaceable possession of all good things and bringeth vs to that good place where if there were any place for any passion we would be offended with Death for not bringing vs thither long before And though the bodie rotte in the graue or bee eaten of wormes or deuoured by beasts or swallowed vp by fishes or burnt to ashes yet that will not be to vs a matter of discomfort not-onely because as wee haue heard before they are at rest and doe sleepe in peace in their beddes till the last day but also if wee doe well consider the ground of all grace as namely our vnion and coniunction with Christ our head it is indeede a spirituall and yet most real coniunction and vnion For we must not imagine that our soules alone are ioyned and vnited to the body or soule of Christ but the whole parson of man both body and soule is vnited and conioyned to whole Christ For we are vnited wholy to whole Christ who is not deuided euen according to both natures 1. Cor. 1.13 1. Cor. 3.21 by which hee is wholy oure but after this good order as first to be vnited to the manhood and then by the manhood vnto the Godhead of Christ And when we are once ioyned and vnited to whole Christ in this mortall life by the bond of the Spirit we shal so abide and remaine eternally ioyned and vnited vnto him And this coniunction and vnion being once truly made can never afterward be dissolued Hence it followes that although the bodie bee seuered from the soule by death yet neither the soule nor body are seuered or sundred from Christ but the very bodie rotting in the graue or howsoeuer else consumed abide still ioyned and vnited vnto Christ and is then as truly a member of Christ as it was before death For looke what was the condition of Christ in death the same or the like is the condition of all his members Now the condition of Christ was this though his body and soule were seuered and sundered for the time the one from the other as farre as heauen and the graue yet neither of them were sundered from the God-head of the Sonne but both did in his Death subsist in his person Euen so though our bodies and soules bee pulled in sunder by naturall or violent death yet neither of them no not the body it selfe shal be pulled or disioyned from Christ the head but by the vertue of this coniunction and vnion shall the dead body howsoeuer it bee wasted and consumed arise at the last day to eternall glory For although the dead bodies of Gods Saints are often mingled with the bodies of beasts foules fishes or other creatures that deuoure them yet as the Goldsmith by his art can feuer mettals and extract one mettall out of another euen so God can and will distinguish these dusts of his Saints at the last day of the glorious resurrection In the winter season the trees remaine without fruit or leaues and being beaten with the winde and weather they appeare to the eye and view of all men as if they were withered and rotten dead trees yet when the spring time comes they become aliue againe and as before doe bring forth their buds blossoms leaues and fruits the reason is because the body grayne and armes of the tree are all ioyned and fastened to the roote where all the sappe and moisture lies in the winter time and from thence by reason of this coniunction it is deriued in the spring to all the parts of the tree Euen so the bodies of men haue their winter also and this iâ— in death in which time they are turned into dust and so remaine for a time dead and rotten Yet in the spring time that is at the last day at the resurrection by meanes of the misticall coniunction and vnion with Christ his diuine quickning vertue shall streame and flow from thence to all the bodies of his elect and chosen members and cause them to liue againe and that to life eternall For the bodies of Gods elect being the members of Christ though they be neuer so much rotten putrified and consumed yet are they still in Gods fauour and in the couenant of grace to which because they haue right being dead they shall not remaine so for euer in their graues but shall arise againe at the last day vnto glory And by reason of this vnion and coniunction with Christ we gaine the prayers of the Saints yet liuing with vs the loue of the Saints glorified before vs the ministrie of Angels working for vs grace in earth and glory in heauen And in Christ our gaine is such as that we shall haue all losses recompenced all wants supplied all curses remoued all crosses sanctified all graces increased all hopes confirmed all promises performed all blessednesse procured Satan conquered death destroyed the graue sweetened corruption abolished sanctification perfected and heauen opened for our happy entrance And as for death it selfe we are to consider that it is chiefely sinne that makes it so terrible vnto vs for in it selfe and by it selfe it is the wages of sinne and the reuenging scourge of the angry God but vnto those that beleeue in Christ it is changed into a most sweete sleepe For although the regenerate those that beleeue in Christ doe as yet carry about the reliques of sinne in their flesh from whence also the bodie is dead that is to say subiect to death Rom. 8.10 for the sinne that dwelleth in it yet the spirit is life for righteousnesse that is because they are iustified from sinne by true faith in Christ and resist the lusts of the flesh through the Spirit therefore that sinne which yet remaineth in the flesh is not imputed vnto them but is couered with the shadow of the grace of God Therefore by death the true and spiritual life of the soule doth not die in them but doth rather begin to which death is constrained to doe as it were the office of a midwife So that now we are deliuered from sinne in Christ that it cannot hurt vs nay it is conuerted to our owne profit and therfore death hauing her strength from sinne is not to bee feared sith sinne the sting of death is ouercome What need wee feare the snake that hath lost her sting shee can only hisse and make a noyse but cannot hurt and therefore wee see that many hauing taken out the sting
how well would they reward him But the children of God reioyce at the newes of Death to shew their obedience to it and their ioy is according to the ioy of haruest as the Prophet speaketh and as men reioyce when they deuide the spoyle Isa 9.3 And they may say of Death when it commeth as the people triumphantly somtime spoke of the day of King Dauids coronation Psal 118.24 This is the day which the Lord hath made we will reioyce and be glad in it And they may call Death as Iacob did the place where he came Mahanaim because there the Angels of God met him when hee was to meete with his cruell brother Esau Gen. 32.1.2 euen so when the children of God are to meete with cruell Death the Lord will send his holy Angels Hebr. 1.14 who are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heires of saluation to carrie them into Abrahams bosome Tell one of our gallants in his sicknesse that Death is come for him 2. King 9.20 and that his driuing is like the driuing of Iehu comming furiously toward him he hath the Athenian question presently ready What will this babler say Acts 17.18 But this newes comming to the childe of God in his sicknesse hee may be talked withall for he hath learned with Samuel to say Speake Lord for thy seruant heareth 1. Sam. 3.10.18 and to say with Ely It is the Lord let him doe as seemeth good to him and with Dauid to say Heere am I let him doe to mee 2. Sam. 15.26 as seemeth good to him Now the reason of this great difference betwixt the wicked and the godly why they are thus diuersly affected vnto Death is this the wicked enioy their haue-best in this life but the godly looke for their good and are walking toward it And if it should be demanded when a wicked man is at his best the answere is the best is euill enough and that his best is when he comes first into the world for then his sins are fewest his iudgements easiest they goe astray as soone as they are borne saith the Psalmist Psal 58.3 It had beene good for him therefore that the knees had not preuented him but that he had died in the birth Nay it had beene good for him Iob 3.11.12 as our Sauiour Christ said of Iudas which betrayed him if he had neuer beene borne Mat. 26.24 For as a Riuer which is smallest at the beginning increaseth as it proceeds by the accession of other waters into it till at length it be swallowed vp in the deepe So the wicked the longer he liueth he waxeth euer worse and worse 2. Tim. 3.13 deceiuing and being deceiued saith the Apostle proceeding from euill to worse saith Ieremy till at length he be swallowed vp in that lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Ierem. 9.3 Reuel 19.20 And this the Apostle expresseth most significantly when he compares the wicked men to one gathering treasure wherein he heapes and treasureth vp wrath to himselfe against the day of wrath and the reuelation of the righteous iudgement of God For euen as the worldling who euery day casteth in a peece of money into his treasure in few yeeres multiplies such a summe the particulers wherof he himselfe is not able to keepe in minde but when hee breaks vp his chest then he finds it in sundry sorts of coyne whereof he had no remembrance Euen so and worse it is with thee O impenitent sinner who not only euery day but euery houre and minute of time multiplyest thy transgressions and defilest thy conscience hoording vp one euill work vpon another To what a reckoning thinkest thou shall thy sins amount in the end though thou forgettest them as thou dost cōmit them Rom. 2.5 yet the Apostle telleth thee that thou hast laid them vp in a treasury and not only so but that with euery sinne thou hast gathered a portion of wrath proportionable to thy sinne which thou shal◠perfectly know in that day Psal 50.21 wherein the Lord shall breake vp thy treasure and open the booke of thy conscience and set thy sinnes in order before thee But if you wil aske when the children of God are at their best I answere praised be God our worst is away our good is begun Iohn 7.6 our best is at hand As our Sauiour said to his kinsmen so may we say to the worldlings Your time is alwayes but my time is not yet come the children of God are not at their best now it is in the working onely wee were at our worst before our conuersion For our whole life till then was a walking with the children of disobedience in the broad way that leads to damnation and then were wee at the worst when wee had proceeded furthest in the way of vnrighteousnesse because then we were furthest from God Our best began in the day of our recalling wherin the Lord by his word and holy Spirit called vpon vs and made vs turne our backes vpon Satan and our face toward the Lord and caused vs to part company with the children of disobedience amongst whom wee had our conuersation before then we came home with the penitent forlorne to our Fathers family but they went forward in their sins to iudgement That was a day of diuision betwixt vs and our sinnes in that day with Israel we entred into the borders of Canaan into Gilgal and there we were circumcised Iosua 5.9 and the shame of Egypt was taken from us euen our sinne which is our shame indeed and which we haue borne from our mothers wombe The Lord grant that wee may keepe it for euer in thankfull remembrance and that we may count it a double shame to returne againe to the bondage of Egypt to serue the Prince of darknesse in bricke and clay that is to haue fellowship any more with the vnfruitful workes of darknes but that like the redeemed of the Lord Psal 84.7 we may walke from strength to strength till wee appeare before the face of our God in Sion For heere wee are not at our best but our best is to come Now our life is hid with the Lord and wee know not yet what we shall be 1. Iohn 3.2 but wee know when hee shall appeare we shall be like him the Lord shall carry vs by his mercy and bring vs in his strength to his holy habitation hee shall plant vs in the mountaine of his inheritance Exod. 15.13 euen the place which he hath prepared Isa 35.10 and the Sanctuary which he hath established Then euerlasting ioy shall be vpon our heads and sorrow and mourning shall fly away from vs for euer Therefore for this cause we must first indeuour that our death be voluntary for to die well is to die willingly Secondly we must labour that our sinnes die before vs. And thirdly that wee bee alwayes
miseries incident to the seueral ages of man are from the first comming vp vpon the stage of this world to the last act of going downe Eccles 1.14 in al parts of the life full of vanitie and vexation of spirit For the first entrance is our infancie when wee are in our nurses armes and doth not that begin with teares and feares And is not all that time vnhappie sauing that we want reason that is the vse thereof to apprehend that happinesse When we come out of our nurses armes to goe in their hands or to goe by our selues in our next age doe we not weepe long vnder the rod falling into the subiection of a teacher Amongst the ancient Romanes this was their manner and custome for their youth They let their children suck vntill they were two yeers old till they were foure yeeres old they let them play till sixe they taught them to reade till eight to write till ten they learne the Grammer When a boy was once ten yeeres old he was set straight way to some good trade and occupation or else sent to the warres which was a thing the Romanes gloried in most to bee good souldiers In all which ages they sustained great miseries being all this time vnder Tutors and Gouernours When we come out of the prison of boyes and girles and are set at some more libertie in a yong mans life are wee not tossed as vpon a sea of vnquietnesse sailing betweene reason and passion as between two contrary waters and crosse winds Then commeth perfect age or mans age and what haue wee heere but blastes and stormes of greater vnrest then in any age before From one trauaile we passe to another neuer ending but changing our miseries And when we come to old age and haue liued so long that we are come to dotage is there any thing in these ages exempt from miserie and trauaile that is vnder the Sunne Surely our infirmities do then come vpon vs in multitudes yea so loade vs with their waight and number that they make vs to bowe and goe double vnder them vnto the earth And can there be any comfort in these diseases as I may call them and dayes of euill wherein doe meete and flocke together so many vultures of life the weakenesse of infancie the seruitude of childehood the sicknesse of youth the cares of mans age All which come againe and come all together as many stormes vpon one poore old ruinous house that is sore shaken alreadie by death violently to ouerthrow it for euer Heere the excesse and ryot of youth is exercised with gouts palsies and sundrie fearefull aches the watching and cares of manhood are punished with losse of sight of hearing and of sence except the sence of paine There is no part of man which death in that age of yeares doth not take in hope to be assured of him as of a bad pay-master which greatly feareth and would gladly put off his dayes of payment And therefore it bringeth him low in all parts that he may haue power in none to auoid his Creditor and end so neere And touching the miseries incident to the seuerall ages of man the Prophet Ieremie crieth out How is it that I came out of the wombe to see labour and sorrow Ier. 20.18 that my dayes should be consumed with shame How much more cause haue we miserable creatures to crie out of our calamities and miseries who were conceiued and borne in sinne seeing the Prophet complained so much 51.5 Ier. 1.5 being sanctified in his mothers wombe O vaine miserable and vnhappie men before we sinne we are straite fastened to sinne and before we can offend wee are fast bound with offence Consider O man from whence thou camest blush whither thou goest and feare where thou liuest We are begotten in vncleannesse brought foorth with paines and throwes and nourished in darknesse Wee begin our tragedie with nakednesse and weeping we continue with paine and vexation and take our farewell with sorrow and miserie Our beginning is lamentable our continuance wretched and our departure grieuous The whole life of man is beset and incountred with three capitall enemies Paine Care and Sorrow Paine pincheth vs Care consumeth vs and Sorrow endeth vs. There is no age of man free from affliction calamitie and miserie And to begin againe with the miseries of infancie behold in his birth intollerable is his mothers paine and infinite are the infants calamities who commeth into the world crying and weeping poore and naked weake and miserable without speech without knowledge or strength no sooner is the babe borne but straight is hee bound hand and foote and cast into a cradle as into a prison prefiguring the seruitude hee is to suffer In his childhood he beginneth to warre with the lacke of reason and to fight against his owne folly not knowing what hee is where hee is whence nor for what hee came into the world Now must he be kept vnder the feare of the rod and learne some Liberall Science or some Mechanicall Arte or Trade whereby to maintaine his fraile life hereafter if hee continue it Then commeth youth rash head-strong voluptuous ventrous foolish prodigall passionate In this age he commeth into great dangers fighting against the desires of the flesh against fond affections and vaine imaginations which cause the minde to wauer and bee inconstant and to bee carried away with sundrie phantasies In this age hee becommeth a drunkard a gamester a quarreller a loose liuer and oftentimes to be cast into prison to bee hanged and to lose all that hee hath and to be a great griefe vnto his parents Gen. 42.38 in causing them thereby to end their dayes in sorrow in the sence and feeling whereof the Prophet crieth vnto God saying Psal 25.7 Remember not the sinnes of my youth Afterward as he hath to encounter with manhood to which age is incident the charge of wife children the maintenance of family and care of posterity He that is maried saith the Apostle careth for the things that are of the world 1. Cor. 7.33 how he may please his wife Sometimes he is besieged with a desire and carking care and couetousnesse somtime with feare to lose his goods and other infinite such vanities and afflictions Then lastly commeth old age stealing on vnperceiued yea gray haires saith the Prophet are heere and there vpon him Hos 7.9 Ioel 1.2 yet hee knoweth it not In this age man receiues many incurable wounds as baldnesse bleared eyes deafe cares wrinckled browes stinking breath trembling hands faint spirits leane cheekes corruption of stomacke with like miseries innumerable which neuer leaue to wound the bodie disquiet the minde and torment the conscience And thus are wee tossed all the dayes of our life with griefe compassed with cares and ouerwhelmed with miseries and calamities And therefore Plato well obserued that a man is Arbor inuersa a tree turned vpward his haire of his head the root the
insist the longer vpon it And therefore to conclude with my Statute It is appointed c. It is therefore a care that euery one ought to haue viz. to know that they must die and that they cannot auoid it The decree is gone out against them from the highest court of Parliament of the most High What contempt were it not to take notice of it Euery one therfore ought to labour to number his daies and truely to know his mortalitie the greatest as well as the meanest the wisest as the simplest For if any one then all and if any more then other then the greatest for the greatest are most subiect to death As they challenge themselues to be the finest of the common mould so they must know that by that they are not exempted from the common law of Nature and force of Gods decree But as the finer the mettall or the purer the matter of any glasse or earthen vessell is the more subiect it is to breaking and so the daintiest bodies the soonest gone It behoueth vs all therefore to seeke for spirituall Arithmeticke thereby to number our dayes in a religious meditation of the incertainties of the time and the certaintie that that time will come Let vs therefore liue to die yea liue the life of grace that wee may liue the life of glory And then though we must go to the dead yet we shall rise from the dead and from thenceforth liue with our God out of the reach of Death for euermore The end of the first Diuision THE SECOND DIVISION ON THE MEDITATION OF DEATH THen if Death be thus certaine in the next place the law of reason aduiseth vs to thinke of the worlds vanitie to contemne it of death to expect it of iudgement to auoid it of hell to escape it and of heauen to desire it And thinke it not needlesse or superfluous to bee exhorted to this Meditation that the ignorant may learne the carelesse consider and the forgetfull remember that they all must die For as Saint Augustine saith nothing so recalleth a man from sinne as the frequent remembrance of death For the error of all men for the most part taketh his originall from hence that they forget the end of their life which they ought alwayes to haue before their eyes And of the want of this commeth pride ambition vaine-glory too much carefulnesse of the body too much carking and caring after the things of this life Hence also it commeth that we build Towers vpon the sand For if wee did consider what we shall be after a few dayes our manner of liuing would perhaps bee more humble temperate and godly for who would haue a high looke Psal 131.1 and a proud stomacke if hee did with the eyes of his minde behold what manner of one he shortly after shall be in his graue who would then worship his belly for a god Phil. 3.19 when he waigheth with himselfe that the same must in short time be wormes meate who would be so in loue with money that he would runne like a mad-man by sea and land as it were through fire and water if he vnderstood that he must leaue all behinde him If this were well thought vpon our errors would soone be corrected and our liues bettered Wish therefore rather for a good then a long life It is a thing doubtlesse worthy of euery mans best thoughts and intentions For seeing euery man must die and hath a course to finish which being finished hee must away It is speciall wisdome to learne to know the length of his dayes as it were the length of his lease for as he hath vsed himselfe in his farme he shall enter at the expiration of his time vpon a better or a worse 1. Sam. 13.14 Dauid for his learning a Prophet for his acceptation a man after Gods owne heart for his authority a King was then very studious in this knowledge when after fasting and watching he besought God to be instructed in it Lord let me know my end Psal 39.4 and the measure of my dayes what it is let me know how long I haue to liue Act. 7.22 So Moses wise in all the wisdome of Egypt and Israel accounted faithfull in the house of God Heb. 3.2 prayed yet for this point of wisdome to be informed in it Psal 90.12 and as well for himselfe as others Teach vs so to number our daies saith he that we may apply our hearts vnto wisdome like carefull schollers who forsake their meat and drinke and breake their sleepe and are often in meditation when they beate vpon some serious subiect What thinke you it will profit a man if by his skill in Arithmetike hee be able to deale with euery number and to diuide the least fractions and neuer to thinke on the numbering of his daies with the men of God and yet his dayes are few and euill What will it profit him if by Geometrie hee bee able to take the longitude of most spatious prospects and not be able to measure that which the Prophet hath measured with his spanne Psal 39.51 What will it auaile him if with the astronomer he be able to obserue and know the motions of the heauens and yet haue his heart so buried in the earth that hee cannot thinke of that which passeth away as swiftly as any motion of them all What profiteth it I say If he be able with the Philosopher to search out the causes of many effects and to know the causes of many changes as of the ebbing and flowing of the seas the increasing and wayning of the Moone and the like and be not able to know his owne changes and the causes of them Doubtlesse all this wil profit them nothing all this knowledge will be to little purpose in the end And vnlesse they think vpon death they cannot apply and fashion themselues to a godly life Yea we finde daily by experience that the forgetfulnesse of death maketh vs applie our hearts to all kinde of folly and vanity The holy men in old time were wont to keepe such an account of their dayes and so to think on death that aboue all things they might apply their hearts vnto wisdome So mindfull of these things was Saint Ierome who saith of himselfe that whether he did eate or drinke or whatsoeuer else he did he thought alwaies this sound of the last trumpet did euer ring in his eares Arise yee dead and come to iudgement Which when I consider saith he it makes me shake and quake and not dare to commit sinne which otherwise I should haue committed Likewise that ancient and reuerend father Innocentius the fourth was so carefull to auoid the vengeance to come that to stirre vp all the powers and faculties of his minde with due consideration of the vanitie of this world the vilenesse of his nature the shortnesse of his time the causes of sinne and the punishment for the same he still imagined to
contempt and refusing the time of grace the Lord cast them off and reiect them I deny not but that in respect of vs till God hath manifested his will there is hope but in respect of Gods secret decree the time of Gods mercie may bee out euen during this life therefore when mercie is offered wee must take heed we wilfully cotemne it not lest we prouoke the Lord to be gone and vtterly to reiect vs. One of the most feareful signes of a Cast-away is to delay and put off the Lords gratious offer of mercy as we reade of Pharaoh who when Moses offered himselfe to pray to the Lord for him he put it off till the next morrow Exod. 8.9.10 so he that hath the mercies and graces of God offered him to day and puts them off from his youth to his age and from his old daies till his death-bed may iustly feare an vtter reiection euen then when he hopes for most comfort And as it is most certaine that after death teares are fruitlesse repentance vnprofitable as after death no mercie is to be expected nothing but miserie nothing but wrath so is it doubtfull and very dangerous that our sighes teares and groanes are of little force at the very neere approach of death whether by age extremitie of disease or otherwise For at that time when our powers are distracted or spent when no part is free eyther from the sence or feare of his cruell gripe we may well be said to be in death or at leastwise in such a condition or state that doth lesse participate of life then death And therefore at the least it is doubtfull that at that time we shall not remember God and that our repentance shall come too late What a shame is it that the children of this world are wiser in their kind then the children of light A good husband will repaire his house while the weather is faire and not deferre till winter doth rise A carefull Pilot will furnish his shippe whiles the Seas are calme and not stay vntill tempests doe rage The traveller will take his time in his iourney and will hasten when he sees night approach lest darknesse ouertake him The Smith will strike while the iron is hot lâ—st it coole vpon him and so hee lose his labour The Marriner will not let the tide passe him for as the common prouerbe is the time and tide tary for no man The Lawyer will take the terme because he knoweth that it being ended his clients will be gone So we ought to make euery day the day of our terme and a prouident man will repent him of his sinnes in the seasonable time of health and strength and not protract till hee bee in the very armes and the imbracement of death when many occasions may cut from him either his minde or power or time to repent For we haue iust cause to feare that if we would not when we might we shall not be able when we would and that by our will to do euill we may happily lose the power to doe well Thy very tongue will condemne thee in thy trade if thou trust a man with thy wares thou wilt require a bill or bond saying all men are mortall and at lesse then an houres warning But let the Preacher exhort thee to accept of the gratious time of the Lord and put thee in minde that thy life as a vapour is soone gone yet thou wilt not beleeue him but so lead thy life in sinne as if thou hadst the same in see farme And to thee that callest thy neighbours friends and companions to Cards Dice or any such pastime saying come let vs goe passe the time away Is time so slow that it must be driuen I tell thee there are at this day many thousands in hell who if they had many kingdoms would gladly giue them all for one houre of that time whereof thou hast many not to passe it away or driue it from them but in hope to recouer that which thou dost most gracelessely contemne Alas who dares trust to the broken reed of extreame sicknesse or age bruised by originall but altogether broken by our actuall sinnes We haue good cause not to trust to this deferring of time and late repentance For if Esau could not finde repentance albeit he sought it with teares Heb. 12.17 how may we with good reason suspect our extreame late seeking for repentance Not because true repentance can euer bee too late but because late repentance is seldome true as wee haue alreadie heard Et sera rarò seria that which is late is seldome liuely as proceeding rather from feare then from loue from necessitie then from willingnesse and desire rather outwardly pretended then with the heart intended We all of vs in our iolitie thinke we may doe what wee list and so long as God forbeares to punish we will neuer forbeare to sin but still deferre the time of repentance But God grant we may remember and lay to our hearts what that good Father Saint Augustine saith Nihil est infoelicius c. Nothing is more infortunate then the felicitie of sinners whereby there penall impietie is nourished and their malice strengthened and increased When God doth suffer sinners to prosper then his indignatioÌ„ is the greater toward them saith that Father and when hee leaueth them vnpunished then he punisheth them most of all For the further pressing of this doctrine on our consciences let vs obserue some places of Scripture And first let vs see what the Lord saith to such as despise wisdomes call being of three sorts viz. The first that like fooles content themselues with ignorance The second that scoffe at the Lords offer by his seruants The third which are carried away by their owne lusts Prou. 1.24.28 Because I haue called and yee refused I haue stretched out my hand and none would regard and then they shall call vpon mee but I will not answere they shall seeke me early but shall not finde me Noting to vs that as they did refuse the time in which he called so they should call in hope of mercy but finde none Esay 23.12.13 The like we reade how the Prophet Esay calling Ierusalem to repentance in sack-cloath and ashes for their sinnes shee fell to sporting and feasting despising the Lords message and offer of grace by his Prophet what came of it You may reade presently that their contempt comming to the Lords eares he doth answere Surely this iniquitie shall not bee purged from you till you die saith the Lord of Hostes giuing them to vnderstand that seeing they set so light by the admonitions of the Prophet there should bee left them no time to repent in till hee had destroyed them But of all the places of Scripture for this purpose let vs see what the Lord saith to Ierusalem by his Prophet Ezechiel Ezech. 24.13 Because saith hee I would haue purged thee and thou wast not purged thou
of the wicked Barbarians as we may reade in the Acts of the Apostles Act. 28.3 4.5.6 This rash censuring and iudging was also the sinne of the wicked Iewes as we may reade in the Gospell of Saint Luke Luke 13.1.2.3.4.5 wherein they did vtter a secret corruption naturally ingendered in all men that is very sharpely to see into the sinnes of others and seuerely to censure them but in the meane time to flatter themselues and be blind-fold in seeing their owne for these men thought because the like iudgements did not fall on themselues that therefore they were safe enough and not so great sinners but rather highly in the fauour of God euen as many in the world doe now adaies falsely imagine and suppose that they are alwayes the worst sort of people whom God doth most strike and presse with his punishing hand hauing forgotten that God doth not keepe an ordinary rate heere below to punish euery man as he is worst or to cocker and fauour him as he is best but onely taketh some example as hee thinketh good for the instruction and aduertisement of others and to be as it were looking-glasses wherein euery man may see his owne face yea and his owne cause handled and that God is a seuere reuenger of sinne that all men may learne by the example of some to tremble and beware lest they bee constrained in their owne turnes to know and feele the punishment they haue deserued Whereupon our Sauiour Christ is iustly occasioned to correct their erroneous and sinister iudgement and to teach them that they must not reioyce at the iust punishment of others For this is the propertie of the wicked as appeareth in the book of the Lamentations where it is said All mine enemies haue heard of my trouble Lam. 1.21 they are glad that thou hast done it but he that is glad saith the Wise-man at calamities Prou. 17.5 shall not be vnpunished but he should rather be instructed thereby to repent And to all such barbarous vnchristian and vncharitable censurers of the children of God the Lord by his Prophet saith Loe I begin to bring euill vpon the Citie which is called by my name Ier. 25.29 and should yee be vtterly vnpunished Ier. 49.12 Yee shall not be vnpunished And againe Behold they whose iudgement was not to drinke of the cup haue assuredly drunken and art thou he thou he that shalt goe altogether vnpunished Thou shalt not goe vnpunished 1. Pet. 4.17.18 but shalt surely drinke of it And the Apostle saith The time is come that iudgement must begin at the house of God And if it first begin at vs what shall the end be of them that obay not the Gospell of God Therefore iudge not thus rashly of those that are thus grieuously handled in this manner but think thy selfe as bad a sinner if not worse and that the like defects may befall thee and thinke some great temptation befell them and that thy selfe shouldest be worse if the like temptation should befall thee and giue God thankes that as yet the like hath not happened vnto thee The fift obiection is this When a man is most neere death then the deuill is most busie in temptation and the more man is assaulted by Sathan the more dangerous is his case and therefore it may seeme that the day of death is the worst day of all Answ The condition of Gods children in earth is twofold some are not tempted and othersome are Some are not tempted I say as Simeon Luk. 2.29,30 who as we read in the Gospel of S. Luke when he had seene his Sauiour Christ brake foorth into these words Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes haue seene thy saluation foresignifying no doubt that hee should end his dayes in all maner of peace And as Abraham Gen. 15.15 For thou shalt goe as God said vnto him vnto thy fathers in peace and be buried in a good old age And as Iosiah that good king Behold therefore saith the Lord vnto him I wil gather thee vnto thy fathers 2. Kings 22.20 and thou shalt be gathered vnto thy graue in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the euill which I will bring vpon this place And as for them that are tempted as diuers of Gods children are subiect thereunto though their case be very troublesome yet their saluation is not the further off for God is then more specially present by the vnspeakable comfort of his holy Spirit and when we are most weake he is most strong in vs because his maner is to shew his power in our weaknesse An example whereof we haue in the Apostle S. Paul who was greatly assaulted and tempted by Sathan And lest I should saith he be exalted aboue measure 2. Cor. 12.7,8,9 through the abundance of the reuelation there was giuen to me a thorne in the flesh the messenger of Sathan to buffet me lest I should bee exalted aboue measure For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me and hee said vnto mee my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weaknesse And for this cause euen in the time of death the deuill receiueth the greatest foile when he lookes for the greatest victory The sixt and last obiection is this that violent and sudden death is a grieuous curse and of all euils which befall in this life none is so terrible therefore it may seeme that the day of such a kind of death is most miserable I answere It is true indeed that such death as is sudden is a curse and grieuous iudgement of God and therfore not without good cause feared of men in this world Yet all things considered we ought to be more afraid of an impenitent and euill life then of sudden death For though it be euill as death it selfe in it owne nature is yet wee must not thinke it to be simply euill because it is not euill to all men nor in all respects euill I say it is not euill to all men considering that no kind of death is euill or a cursâ— vnto them that are ingrafted in Christ for that they are free in him from the whole curse of the lawe Reu. 14.13 Blessed are they saith the Sonne of God that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Whereby it is signified that they which depart this life being members of Christ Iesus of what death soeuer they die yea though their death be neuer so sudden and violent doe enter into euerlasting ioy and felicitie Psal 116.15 Againe Precious in the sight of the Lord saith the Psalmist is the death of his Saints Their death therefore be it neuer so sudden or otherwise must needes be precious yea though death commeth vpon the children of God neuer so sharpely Prou. 14.32 and suddenly yet the righteous
his seruants a new and strange kind of Philosophie that he shold mourn in the danger of death and yet reioice or at least comfort himselfe with any content in death And therefore his seruants said vnto him What thing is this that thou hast done 2. Sam. 12.21 thou diddest fast and weepe for the child while it was aliue but now he is dead thou doest arise and eate meat And what reason had hee for this strange and vnwonted behauiour He said While the child was aliue I fasted and wept for I sayd Who can tell whether God will haue mercie on me that the child may liue but now being dead wherefore shall I fast Can I bring him againe any more I shall goe to him but hee shall not returne to mee any more Behold the same thing that maketh thee to mourne namely that thy dead shall not returne to thee the very same consideration Dauid made the ground of his quiet and content And thereupon he comforted his heart and would not continue in heauinsse for that which could not bee helped So that it is to a right vnderstanding man ground inough to build content and quietnesse of heart vpon that God hath done his worke which thy sorrow cannot reuoke But peraduenture it will be here obiected that afterward when Dauid heard of his sonne Absolons death hee did so greatly lament and bewaile the same that hee would in no sort bee comforted quite contrarie to that which before hee practized for it is said that he was much mooued 2. Sam. 18.33 and went vp to the chamber ouer the gate and wept as he went saying O my sonne Absolon my sonne my sonne Absolon would God I had died for thee O Absolon my sonne my sonne For the answering of this obiection and your better satisfaction herein wee are to vnderstand that Dauid knew that he had a wicked and rebellious sonne of the estate of whose saluation he had great cause to doubt because he died in rebellion which indeed may seeme to bee the principall cause of his exceeding sorrow and lamentation and not so much for the death of his sonne as for that cause But of his childe he beleeued that he died in the state of grace and so was made partaker of saluation which was the cause that he was comforted presently after his death saying that his son should not returne but that he himselfe should goe to him Euen so in like manner if we feare the estate of our childe or friend that is dead then indeed haue wee great cause to weepe mourne and lament for him as Dauid did heere for Absolon but if we haue no such feare and do hope well and the best of the estate of our childe or friend then must wee with Dauid comfort our selues and say But now he is dead wherefore should I fast and weepe can I bring him back againe I shall goe to him but he shall not returne to me Let them mourne for their dead that know not the hope of the dead and suppose them extinct that are departed But let them that in the Schoole of Christ haue learned what is the condition hope of the dead how their soules doe presently liue with Christ and that their bodies shall be raised vp in glorie at the last day let them reioyce on the behalfe of their dead Amos 8.10 and throw off that burden of sorrow which is so heauie vnto them But you will say he was my onely childe and therefore his death must needs be grieuous Zach. 12.10 Indeed the death of an onely childe is very great and grieuous to parents and a cause of great heauinesse and lamentation yet remember that Abraham was readie to haue sacrificed his only sonne Isaak Gen. 22.3.10 the promised seede at Gods commandement Iohn 3.26 And God gaue his only Sonne Christ Iesus to death for our saluation And to comfort you to the full as Elkanah said to Anna so also much more may the Lord say to vs 1. Sam. 1.18 Am not I better to you then ten sonnes Then though hee bee your only childe and all that you haue there is no iust cause of complaint and griefe seeing the Lord hath taken but his owne and also seeing in his taking of him you giue him but as your pledge and earnest to binde vnto you the right of that inheritance that you expect or as your feoffee in trust gone before to take possession and keepe a place for you in heauen Trust me now or else the time will come when you shall trust me that you haue cause and cause againe to lament and mourne not for them who dying in the Lord are happie with the Lord and rest from all their labours and miseries but as Christ said in the Gospell to the woman that followed him Weepe not for me but weepe for your selues and your children Luke 23.28 so we for our selues and our children for hauing been safe by them and strengthned through them they are taken away from the plague wee lye open to it and it commeth the faster because they which kept it from vs are remoued And the greater our losse is the greater is their gaine and the more cause haue we to sorrow for our selues although to reioyce on their behalfe and to lament for our sinnes that haue depriued vs of their graces goodnesse prayers and holy company and let vs follow them in their faith vertue pietie godlinesse and good workes And yet if for all this their losse the want of their presence be grieuous vnto you and that you still desire their presence and would see them let me speake to you as Chrysostome did to some that were so affected Doe you desire to see them then liue a like vnto them and so you shall soone enioy their holy and comfortable presence but if you refuse so to doe neuer looke to enioy or see them againe It is written of Ierome that when he had read the life and death of Hillarion and saw that after he had liued religiously he died most comfortably and happily said Well Hillarion shall be the champion whom I will imitate euen so let vs say with Ierome Well this godly friend of ours which is deceased shall be our champion whom we will imitate we will follow his chastitie iustice pietie and godlinesse And so if you endeauour and doe say and performe you shall be sure to enioy that in future time which hee possesseth in the present that is heauenly and eternall blisse and happinesse What Pilgrime doth not make speed to returne home into his owne countrie Who hasting to saile homewards doth not wish for a prosperous winde that he may speedily embrace his long desired friends and parents and what are we but pilgrimes on earth what is our country but Paradise who are our parents but the Patriarkes Why make we not hast to runne vnto them that we may see our countrie salute our parents an
and shunne him because he would else soone make his filth cleaue vnto vs. So wicked and vngodly persons do set their sinnes as markes vpon those with whom they company and disperse and scatter their filth where they come and leaue a print or badge of their prophanesse behind them and shall wee sit so close vnto them who haue so plunged themselues in the myre of sin who should rather labour eyther to draw them out of filthinesse or withdraw our selues that we proue not as loathsome and filthy as they are Should we not rather say If any will be filthie let him be filthy still by himselfe If any will bee vniust let him be vniust still by himselfe If any will be beastly let him be beastly alone The filthie person and beastly man shall not haue me for a companion Heb. 10.38 My soule shall haue no pleasure in him And as saith the Prouerbes of the Ancients Wickednesse proceedeth of the wicked 1 Sam. 24.13 but mine hand shall not be vpon thee We cannot alwayes withdraw our selues and auoyde those that bee such yet we must in affection separate from them when we cannot in place but not delight to sitte downe with them on one stoole that is wee must not bee as they are Dauid had an eye to this blessed hope of being one of Christs attendants hereafter and therefore would not bee for all companies but professed himselfe to bee a companion onely of such as feared God Psal 119.63 I am a compani sayth he of all such as feare thee and of them that keepe thy precepts Hee would not hazard his fraile potsheard vpon the rocke of euill company for any thing And wherefore did Dauid say in one of his Psalmes Psal 26.4.5 I haue not sitten with vaine persons neyther will I goe in with dissemblers I haue hated the congregation of euill doers and will not sit with the wicked but because hauing fellowship with God he feared to haue any fellowship with the contemners of God and was perswaded that as God will not take the vngodly by the hand as Iob speaketh so none of Gods company should Iob. 8.20 Also he was loath to make them his companions on earth of whom he could haue no hope that they should bee his companions in heauen Wee are more inclinable to vice then to vertue so vice is more strong in the wicked then vertue in the good whereby it followeth that the societie of euil men is dangerous to the good and that as a hundred sound men shall sooner catch the plague from one infected person then hee recouer his health by them so the good are more often peruerted by the wicked then the wicked conuerted by the good and for this cause GOD loueth not to see his children amongst the wicked for this cause hee commanded his people to destroy the Inhabitants of the Countrey which they were to possesse Numb 16.26 lest by their societie they should bee drawne into their sinnes as afterwards they were indeede He commaunded also not to touch any creature that was vncleane and that whosoeuer toucheth a dead body should bee vncleane but no Creature is so vncleane as a sinner no death like to the death of sinne And therefore I will avoyde wicked men as the most vncleane of all liuing creatures and as the most loathsome of those which are dead I speake to the faithfull whom I would not haue to go out of the world to auoide the wicked that are in it 1 Cor. 5 9.10 11. but intreat by the tender mercies of â—od and of Christ to bee as carefull as they can to auoide them and their wicked assemblie and if they must vse them for necessity not to vse them as companions neyther to draw with them in any yoake of affection but rather to draw backe when the wicked are in place that they may not bee eye or eare-witnesses of their dayly dishonouring of God We are commaunded in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ 2. Thess 3.6 to withdraw our selues from euery brother that walketh disorderly All this may be done when we loue the men and hate the vices when we suffer them to haue no quietnesse in their sinnes and yet liue quietly and offer quietnesse to themselues Hee that will wholy abandon the company of them that are euill must as the Apostle sayth get himselfe out of the world 1 Cor. 5.10 and therefore Saint Ambrose sayeth fitlie to this purpose Wee ought to flie the company of wicked men in respect of priuate fellowshippe and not in respect of publike communion and that rather with our hearts and affections then with our bodies and outward actions wee may not hate our brother but loue him yet if we loue the Lord Leuit. 19.17 Psal 97.16 Rom. 12.18 wee must hate that which is euill where the Apostle sayth If it be possible as much as lyeth in you liue peaceably with all men We may haue no peace with the manners yet we must liue peaceably with the men Thus then in a word out of the words of the Apostle the controuersie may be decided If it bee possible so farre forth as may stand with our faith and profession as much as lyeth in you let vs doe our part and performe our best endeauour to liue peaceably if we cannot haue peace yet let vs liue peaceably with all men with the bad to reforme them with the good to conform our selues vnto them with our enemies to shunne them with our friends to keepe them And here is comfort for the children of God whom the wicked thrust out of their company and would if they could thrust out of the world because of their conscience to God Psal 38.20 and because they follow the thing that good is And hereof it is that the Wiseman saieth that Hee that is vpright in the way Prou. 29.27 is abomination to the wicked And hence it is also that the Prophet sayeth Hee that departeth from euill maketh himselfe a prey and the Lord saw it and it displeased him Esay 59.15 And though they bee not accepted where euill men beare sway which is no disparagement to them but glorie nor losse but gaine yet they are esteemed of the good and admired of the euill though not followed of them Doe the wicked hate them they shall loose nothing by such hatred for God and good men will loue them Will not the vnrighteous haue any fellowshippe with them It is so much the better for them for they are in lesse daunger of corruption and in more possibility of grace goodnes And where meÌ„ that be euil auoid them Christ his thousands of Angels wil stick close vnto theÌ„ Heb. 11.38 Those Worthies of whom wee reade in the Epistle to the Hebrewes were most cruelly dealt with all and persecuted in the World Of whom the world was not worthy for the wicked did driue them out of their companies by sharpe