vnseemely in reason as nothing more and the inexcusable folly of age to bee so farre from a consideration of that which is seemely both before God and man Tully could say longe agoe of ciuill gouernemente amongest men Aptissima arma senum exercitationes virtutum Olde mens weapons what shoulde they els bee but exercises of vertue In Christianity more fitter wer it a great deale for them to be at their deuotions then to do often as they doe Isaack thoughte it tyme at these dayes to commune of blessing and of his ende My sonne let me blesse thee I am olde and know not the day of my departure They doe as much labour in effect and more that sit at the sterne and gouern as those that toyle and tosse otherwise but to mooue age to this consideration the very beholding of others that goe before them is in reason sufficient When the thirde gouernor ouer Fifty of whome mention is made in the seconde booke of Kings saw but his two fellow Captaines ouer Fifty deuoured before him it went so nere his hart that he came forth fell downe and besought the man of God that his life mighte bee pretious in his sight How many Fifties in late yeares of mortalitie and warre haue we seene or heard to haue beene deuoured by death How many of our fellow Souldiers in this spirituall conflict in which wee all fight haue wee seene die in the fielde How many of our deerest frends haue taken their leaue and gone before and yet for all this there is no comming to make humble supplication I say not to the man of God but to God himselfe that our liues and deathes may be pretious in his sight As is saith Dauid the death of hys saintes The Publicans but hearing the Axe to bee laide to the roote of the tree and that euery tree which did not bringe foorth fruit should be hewen down and cast into the fire it made them come to Iohn the Baptist wyth their Quid faciemus O what shall we doe to avoide these thinges The men of Niniueh hearing but once of their imininent ende it wrought such so great remorse in them as they all out of hand fasted put on sackecloth and sorrowed for their sinnes Often hath God knocked at the doore of our hartes to aduertise vs of our mortalitie For whe is there that hath not sometime experienced in himselfe by feeling the infirmity of his declining nature by auoidinge the perils of apparant daunger beesides the sondry warninges to this effecte whether we must And here wee may all wonder at the mercy and patience of God whoÌ„ by these motiues dooth admonish vs of our approaching ende But yet for all this how little humblinge of our selues is ther before him whose dominion reacheth vnto the endes of the earth whose power is aboue all powers from generation to generation worlde without ende who bringeth to the graue and rayseth vp agayne What a daungerous course is it neuer to awake Christ though the shippe leake and bee often in perrill of drowninge neuer to thinke of God vntill wee stand in neede of him neuer to begin to liue vntill wee are ready to die neuer to call to minde that Time of Times vntill we heare the Trumpe soundinge vntill we see the graues openinge the earth flaming the heauens melting the iudgement hastening the Iudge with all his Angels comming in the cloudes to denounce the last doome vppon all flesh which will bee vnto some wo wo when they shall crye vnto the mountaines to couer them and for shame of their sinnes hide themselues if it were possible in Hell fiâ—e If we haue any feare this shoulde mooue feare If any remembrance this shoulde cause a carefull remembrance of our ende O consider saith the Prophet you that forget God Least he take you away and there be none to deliuer you Saluation is a matter of great earnest Our Sauiour Christ by those parables of the Wise Virgins and Watchfull seruauntes what els doth he teach his Disciples vs all but in so weighty a cause to be carefull in deede Wee haue as much neede as any that euer liued vnder the cope of heauen considering these sinnefull dayes When God saide the wickednesse of men is great vppon earth it was time for Noah to prepare for an Arke to saue himselfe When once the crye of Sodome was ascended to Heauen it was time for Lot to thinke of his departure vnto the Hill countries When this world now after many strong fittes of great contentions beginnes to trifle idlely with euery fancy we may partlye gather by these sickly signes which may it is drawing and say God of Heauen helpe this worlde for it is a weake worlde indeede These bee no dayes to liue securely in but rather time and high time is it for euery one to amend one that God may haue mercy vppon vs all Haue wee not example by them that sleepe vntill the Bridegroomes comminge that euerye knocke will not bee sufficiente warrant to enter By him that wepte for a blessinge when it was too late that euery sigh will not be a satisfaction for our sins T is most sure and we had neede looke to it in time Where the tree falleth there it lyeth And as the last day saith S. Austen of our life leaueth vs so shall the day of Doome finde vs. To let all alone vntill it be too late was their folly who long since were drowned in the floud To cast onely for wealth and ease was his worldly wisedâ—m that made a suddaine farewell from both when that night his soule was taken from him and not yeelded of him To deferre all vnto the last push neuer entringe into a Religious remembraunce of our ende is an effete of that ill spirit called sensuall security which kinde of Spirite is not cast out but by Fasting and Prayer The Third Chapter How behoouefull it is for euery Christian man soberly to meditate of his ende IN the whole Tenure of a Christian life no parte more heauenly then that wee spende in Religious meditation for this Religious meditation no subiect more neerely concerneth the state of man then often to beate vpon a Remembrance of his ende wherin consisteth the Center of al his desireâ— the haruest of all his labours his sâ—re and most happy repose for euer How behoouefull then is it for euery one to sequester himselfe sometimes froÌ„ incombrances of this worlde vacare Deo to bee at leasure for God to call his best thoughts to counsel to this businesse of his soule the manyfold effectes of so good and practise will easily shewe and approoue as much For who is there that with Ezechias will not fall to set his householde his life his soule and all in order when once that of the Prophet mooues his very hart Ezechias moriere Ezechias now God bee
bended shoulders shal be a burden when the wheele shall be broken at the Cisterne that is the hart whence the head draweth the powers of life in a word when dust shall turne to dust againe the ioyntes stiffed the senses benâ—mmed the countenaunce pale the bloud colde the eyes closed the browes hardened the whole body all in fainte sweate wearied Heare O earth earth sayth the Prophet Almighty God clothed our first parentes with the shinnes of dead beasts that when they saw what was about theÌ„ they should remember by reason of sinne what shoulde become of them When Christ shewed at his transfiguration vpon the mount Peter and Iames a part of his glory he shewed them withall Moyses and Elyas two dead men are deâ—acted from men which might bee withall a remembraunce of their mortality When the Prophet Dauid spake of mans vncertaine condition and certayne enâ—e in the 49. Psalme because it is so long before the most glorious amongest men in the eye of the world will remember theÌ„selues to be but men First heâ— speaketh vnto all Heare all yee people And least any shoulde thinke themselues exempted theÌ„ vnto all of all estates High and Low Rich and Poore one with an other and because he would haue it knowne to be a matter of importaunce in deede hee sayth My mouth shall speake of wisedome my hart shall talke of vnderstanding vtter inge the selfe-same twise ouer as if wee might wonder what the Prophet had to say which is indeede his own wondering Seeinge that wise men die as well as fooles that death groweth vpon them that their beauty shall consume in the Sepulchre that they shall carry nothing away with them that all their pompe shall leaue them when they go and follow the generation of their Fathers yet for all this they thinke that they shall continue for euer and their dwelling places endure from one generation to another callinge their landes after their owne names this is their foolishnesse saith he And surely as in many other thinges the wisedome of man is foolishnesse with God so is it in this Ioseph of Aramathea a rich maÌ„ as we read in the Gospel had a Sepulcher in his garden Surely in places where we take felicity wee should not but haue a mention by some good thought at least of our mortal beeing In all other affaires wee are often vigilant but in this so remisse as if all wer but a game Did we watch death which in times of our chiefest delighted most watcheth vs and often taketh vs too then would we not liue as we liue and sinne as we sinne but giue a thousande dalliances a bill of diuorce as if for their baggage dealing we would haue no more to doe with them But so long as wee liue wee spend our dayes as if we had an estate of Feesimple or Patent at large to continue as we lift to commit sinne as easily as beasts drinke watâ—r without remorse without feare One of the greatest euils in the life of man is a carelesse neglecte of Gods woorship One of the greatest causes of this neglect is the forgetfullnesse of his ende Therfore saith Gregory doe so many cast off all care of Christian piecy beecause they neuer care at all to minde their present condition of humane frailty When the Prophet Ieremy woulde shewe the state of Ierusalem to haue become altogether irreligious without mentioning many causes hee expresseth the maine cause in briefe as thus Non est recordata finis She remembred not her end So by this wee see Sathan hath no more daungerous deuise to draw men from GOD like Absolom who stole away the hartes of the people when they were goyng downe to doe homage to Dauid their king then by stealing from their hartes this remembrance of their ende The Panther as is written of him knowinge howe beastes flie from him by reason of his oughly head which frayes theÌ„ thrusts onely his head in some secrete corner whilest they gazing on his goodly spotted hide nothinge suspectinge their approaching ende suddenly he breaketh out and prayeth vpon them So this foule headed Panther Sathan perceiuing well how much delight men take in worldly pleasures hideth his deformed head settinge out his fine coulored skinne that is the glory and vanitie of pleasaunt but daungerous delightes whilest in the meane time they neglecting their enemy their ende hee suddenly seeketh to entrappe and deuoure them Wherefore men had neede be prepared and vigilant in thys respect that they may bee euer prouided against his so subtle deceites and Remember their end before it end them that is beefore it be said as vnto Ahaziah Thou shalt not come downe from the bed vnto the which thou art gone vp And that which is chiefest of all beefore the soule by a consumption of sinne pyne to death Blessed Lord who were he not carelesse in the superlatiue degree would not sometimes retire himselfe from this combersome world and remember that which almost hee cannot forgett That he must one day die Why did God leaue saith S. Austen our last day of our life vnknowne to vs was it not because euery day should be prepared of vs which preparing wee may not neglecte vpon paine and perill of losse foreuer Wherefore let them take heede in time who passe ouer their dayes Pharao-like Atheist like sayinge who is the Lorde Wee haue sinned and what euill is happened vnto vs be they well assured that Death like a Sargeant sent from aboue vppon an action of Debt at the suite of Nature her selfe will sooner or later attache and arrest them all and make them aunsweare this high contempt where God himselfe is a party at the Courte of Heauen Let them know that all must yeelde bee they as strong as Sampson as glorious as Herode as mighty as Alexander this tyrant Time will sweepe them all away Moyses vpon the mount Abarim Aaron vpon the mount Hor Methusalath after so many yeares The holiest the healthiest where or when we know not all must downe when death commeth Wee dayly see it and will not sticke sometymes our selues to say as much and yet remember nothinge lesse as if it were onely some arbitrable matter and so wee bring our yeares to an ende as it were a tale that is tolde Of all other we cannot sufficiently maruelle that olde men when as now drooping nature putteth them in minde that their continuance is not long when bended backe makes them looke downe whether they will or no and biddes them thinke of their hearse or graue to see these either addicted to the insatiable desire of gaine or giuen vnto the lightest behauiour of youth shewes them to be far from this religious remembraunce of their ende Sophocles a heathen man would blush for shame to see the most vnseemely matches marriages of our time wherein age and youth are yoaked together a thing so contrary in nature so
prisons they should haue the holy Ghost their fellow prisoner howsoeuer the world did outwardly annoy them yet they should inwardly haue a comforter to make them reioyce in their sufferinges and after all to reioyce for euer Now therfore though the burden be heauie yet a lightsomenesse it is to remember the way is not long When the Apprentise cals to minde that his yeares of couenant will now shortly expire and that then hee shall haue his freedome confirmed the remembrance hereof maketh many laborsome workes seeme more light and lesse grieuous vnto him The poore Traueller in thinking of his Inne goes on more cheerefully in his painefull iourney The bondman in callinge to minde the yeare of Iubilee is wont with more patience to goe through the yeares of bondage Now then amidst the sondry afflictions that grieue the minde a Meditation of our ende may much mittigate if not altogether take away the greatest sorrowes of all Many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth them out of all And taketh either sorrowes from them or them from sorrowes Great are their trials but saluation wâ—ll one day make amendes when they shall haue all teares wiped from their eyes and their reward by so much the more ioyous by how much the more the course of their life hath beene grieuous vnto them Seeing therefore that on euery side wee haue such vrgent occasion to passe the dayes of this wearysome Pilgrimage in trouble and pensiuenesse of minde may wee not thinke them thrise blessed who are now landed on the shoare of perfect Securitie and deliuered from the burden of so toilesome a labour May wee not bee refreshed in calling to minde that this battaile will one day beat an ende and wee freed from the thorowes of all these bitter calainities well may we weepe and mourne as Iob and Ieremy in consideration of our entraunce into this vale of teares and often may wee muse with gladnesse of the time of our departure After all sorrowes and those threatning voyces A voyce wil come from the throane when the viall of the seauenth Aungell shall bee powred out and will say Factum est Now all is done though God doe beginne with Asslixi te I haue afflicted thee he would surely ende with non affligam te amplius I will afflicte thee no more The Eight Chapter That the griefes of body may also mooue vs to enter into this serious meditation of our ende WHen the Prophet Daniel saw what was and in all likelyhood vnlesse God set to his helâ—inge hand in time what still would bee the estate of the people while they were in the thraldome of Babilon hee thought more and more of his and their deliuerance and beesoughte God to looke vpon the desolation of his people and to shew mercy in ridding them from all When wee see and feele what is and still will bee the condition in this our Babilon griefes of body and afflictions of minde wee may in our highest deuotion to God call to 〈◊〉 the time of dismisâ—â—â—â— and our good deliuery from all Yea we may consider that there will come a day when theâ—e crased bodies subiect to seuerall infirmities as the Head to megrimmes the Lunges to suffocations the Iointes to gowtes the stronger partes themselues to convulsions when these bodies I say which haue holpen to beare the burthen of the day shall with the happy soule liue together and reioyce together In the meane season wee may remember in all these infirmities that of the Prophet The Lord will not faile his people neither will he forsake his inheritance Dauid knew it was Gods manner to trie his seruauntes c. therefore in his afflictions made this protestation of himselfe and them though all this come vpon vs yet will not wee forsake thee It is our Isaaks vse first to feele vs by tribulation and then to blesse vs by these infirmities of the body wee may consider Gods feeling Now after we haue suffered a little then Take a blessing my sonne Though the wind blow colde yet dooth it cleanse the good graine though the fire burne hoate yet it purifieth the best golde Afflictions as they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so are they also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both sufferings and instructions For these afflictions doe often cause an vtter contempt of all worldly pleasure humblenesse of minde penitency and sorrow of hart for sinnes passed In the hundreth and seauen and thirtieth Psalme the peoples captiuity is thus mentioned Super flumina Babilonis by the waters of Babilon wee sate downe and wept in the verse following As for our Harpes wee hanged them vp vpon the trees that are therenigh We sate downe a token of their humility and wept a signe of sorrow and penitency as for Harpes we hanged them vp which shewed they were now very farre from mirth and melody All the life of Salomon was full of prosperity and therefore wee finde that Salomon did much forget God but the whole life of Dauid hath much aduersity and therefore we see by his penitentiall Psalmes and others that Dauid did much remember God These chastiâ—ements of the body in particular as they are in the consequent meanes oftentimes of our good for the worser part of man faith S. Ierome is somtimes punished which is the body that the better parte of man to wit the Soule in the day of iudgement may bee saued so are they in the cause effectes of Gods loue For though he be at times a chasteninge father yet a father though a â—aunching Phisition yet a Phisition and therefore one that loues and that cures we neede no more but lay open our griefes and let him alone with the saluing who knowes better then our selues how best to ounce vs though the potion bee sharpe yet it is his whose intent is to do vs good whose loue in chasteninge wee may not refuse Chrisostome could say Magna tentatio non tentari A great temptation is it not to be tempted at all Iob was a righteous man by the testimony of him whose testimony was most true What saist thou to my seruant Iob an vpright man and iust man one that feareth God The next newes wee heare of him Iob is afflicted in body from the crowne of the head to the soule of the foote You haue heard saith S. Iames of the patience of Iob and what end God made with him The holy man was tempted that when wee are tried to teach vs what wee should doe S. Ierome hauing read the life and death of Hilarion who after hee had liued religiously died most Christianly said Well Hilarion shall be the champion whome I will follow If S. Ierome could say Hilarion should bee the champion whom he would follow If chaste men may say Ioseph shall be the champion whome we will follow Then may afflicted men say for true patience Iob shall be the champion whome we will follow Toby
his most great and ample reward wherein there is no ende of his goodnesse no number of his mercies no measure of his wisedome no depth of his bounty So Goâ— doth deale like God himselfe Si tanta in terris moraretur fides quantâ— merces expectatur in coelis if there were so great â—aith in earth as there is reward looked for in heauen saith Tertullian mercifull Lord what loue should wee haue to the life to come Pharao was content at last the people should goe to doe sacrifice but they must leaue their heades of cattell behinde No Moyseâ— will leaue a house in Egipt all our desires must goe with vs in beleeuing that high rewarde of blessednesse so farre aboue all humane desert that is or may be Seneca writeth that Alexander the great giuing a poore man two talentes the man was so astonished with the greatnesse of the gifte as he aunsweared the â—ing Most Princely Sir I am not woorthy to receiue so much to whome Alexander replied I doe not respect good man what thou art meete to receaue but what beseemes me so great a Potentate for to giue God doth not so much regard what we most vnâ—â—oorthy creatures are worthy to receiue as what becommeth him the God of all mercy and magnificence to bestow and giue Herod promised much when hee promised halfe his kingdome but Christ when he giues we finde him giuing an whole kingdome Venite benedicti patris mei accipitote regnum Come yee bessed of my father receiue the kingdome Men are sometimes liberall in promising but more niggardly in performing with God it is not so Againe amongst men the elder or one onely doeth inherite but with God all sonnes are heires all heires inherite and the inheritance too is a heauenly kingdome to raigne to reioyce euer The meditation of this happy ende of man if man did knowe his owne happinesse were inough to make him little respect a thousand worldes nay to say with the Prophet Like as the Hart desireth the water streames so is my soule a thirst for God Oh. when shall I enter those courts of ioy Demetrius Phalerius hearing the Philosophers dispute about the immortality of the soule wretched man that I am quoth he who haue so long liued in the perishing delightes of this crrruptible body â— Wee know not what we loose wheÌ„ we loose opportunity of seeking and buying that pretious pearle for which the prouident husband man should sell all that he hath When the people as wee reade in the two and thirtieth of the booke of Nombers were come to their entrance into the land of promise the children of Ruben and Gad regarding not the promise so often promised desired Moyses that they might stay on the hether 〈◊〉 of Iordan beecause it was a place meete for their droues of cattell which they more respected then their passage into the holy land Are there not some in the worlde not farre vnlike these children of Ruben and Gad. who desire to make their stay heere and would gâ—e no farther for that they esteeme the pleasures and profites of a life temporall more then they doe the incomprehensible ioyes in that life eternall but for the true Israelites all is wearynesse vntill they come vnto the land of rest whereas in other thinges saith Cyprian wee are wont to blame it yet in the expectation of so great a good wee may commend impaciency Woe is me saith Dauid That my pilgrimage is prolonged In thinges that are ordained vnto an ende the rule and measure of all actions is taken from the same which ende is first in the intention and last in the execution Now if blessednesse be mans ende then is it the marke we all shoote at and the scope of all our exâ—erprises whatsoeuer Euery thinge is required for blessednesse and onely blessednesse for it selfe Iacobs seauen yeares seruice seemed but light in regard of Rachell for whome he serued The labour and trauell not of seauen yeares but of all the yeares of our life is nothing in respect of Rachell the fairer the happier state to come And this doth aunsweare the prophane Atheist and meete with the obiection of Iobs frends What good hath thâ— righteousnesse brought thee Or as some would not blush to say in the time of the Prophet Malachy What profite is there by seruing God That most happy reward in the life to come doth strike theÌ„ all dumme that very assistance in the life present may make them amazed Doe but trie me saith the Lord if I will not powre out a blessing vpon you This blessing say the Auncient Fathers is both viae and patriae that is of the way and of the country That which God giueth in the way is spoken of by the Prophet Dauid in the first Psalme where mentioning the state of him that walketh not in the counsell of the vngodlâ— he shal be blessed saith the Prophet and how Looke whatsoeuer he doth it shall prosper So saith he of the man that feareth God hee shal be blessed and wherein For hee shall see his childrens children and peace vpon Israell The worlds manner is the Iewes manner who were wont to bring the best wine first Christ he obserues his olde manner and keepes the best vntill the last It is said of Isidot who being at a great banquet and there beholding a great signe of Gods bounty towardes the sonnes of men suddainely he brake out into aboundance of teares and being demaunded the cause why For that quoth he I heere feede on earthly creatures that am created to liue with Aungels as if the remembrance of the time to come did draw his affections as it should do the affections of vs all to a comfortable expectation of the same Our bodiâ—s walke on earth but our soules should bee in heauen by our heauenly desires and wee should frame our affections in forme of a ship thaâ— is close downeward but open vpward in a harty desire of a superâ—our condition The remembrance whereof is like the message of the Angell Gabriell which brought tydines of great ioy which may make the faithfull aunsweare with Ezechias and say The worde of God is good let there be peace and that to peace eternall In the meane tune saith S. Austen Let my minde muse of it let my tounge mention it let my hart loue it and my whole soule neuer ceasâ— to hunger and thirst after iâ— O Lord God of hostes blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee The Sixt Chapter That wee neede not feare Death much lesse to meditate thereof WHen Moses saw his rod turned into a Serpent it did at first somewhat affright him for hee began to step from it but when once God commanded him to take hold thereof hee found afterward by many effects it did him and the people of God much good At first sight Death doth fray our naturall
weakenesse and we beginne to shrinke from it but hauing confidence in God who hath willed vs not to feare we finde it a meane to â—iuide the waters of many tribulations to make vs a passage from the wildernesse of this world vnto a better land of rest T is strange we should make so nice of our selues as to count it a death to meditate of Death Nay to esteeme the very remembrance thereof as Ahab did the presents of the Prophet Elias to be troublesome vnto vs. Whereas Death is so farre from hurting them who put their trust in God as they shall rather finde it a gentle guide to bring them home to their owne Cittie where they would be to remaine for euer That which wee call life is a kinde of death because it makes vs to die but that which we count death is in the sequcle a very life for that indeede it makes vs to liue There is a death which some call mortall sinne and this is the death of the Soule which death wee should all feare There is also a moderate feare of the other death which is profitable to withdraw vs from the allurements of euill But so to feare it as if it were the vtter ruine and ouerthrow of all our beeing we neede not wee ought not When the Apostle S. Paule spake of the vnconquâ—rarable faith which was his stay and the stay of all them whose hope was in Christ Wee saith the Apostle know that if this earthly house of our Tabernacle be destroyed we haue a building not made with handes but giuen of God eternall in the Heauens As if he would tell the persecutors of his time that miseries for a moment could not disâ—â—ay them the perishing of the outward man could not daunt them nor present death could discourage them for they knew their habitation was in â—eauen and themselues incorporated Cittizens into that Ierusalem which is aboue A heathen man could say Degeneres animos timor arguit this â—biect feare is farre dissident from a generous ofspring Salomon saith The iust is as a Lion of whome the Naturalist writeth that hee is of such courage as beeing fiercely pursued he will neuer once alter his gate though he die for it With what constancy aunswered the second of those seauen brethren who all yeelded vp manfully themselues to torment for the mainetenance of the Law of God Thou O King takest these our liues from vs but the King of Heauen shall raise vs vp in the resurrection of euerlasting life The Philosopher might say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is of thinges terrible none more then Death But it is otherwise with Christians Tertullian told the persecutors of his time that their cruelty did but open a doore to Gods distressed people whereby they might enter the sooner into a state of glory and therefore death was very acceptable to them Why should I feare saith the Prophet in the euil day As if Dauid saw no cause of dreading death howsoeuer nature may begin to tremble at the mention thereof Hilaâ—ion could not but wonder his soule should be so loath to depart after hee had serued God and God him so many yeares Consider death as in it selfe and so naturally we seare it Consider death as a meane to bring vs vnto Christ willingly we may embrace it When Iacob saw the chariots of Egipt and thereby perceiued his sonne Ioseph was aliue his fainting spirites reuiued saying I will goe see him before I die When faith dooth bring vs many testimonies our Ioseph liueth the Christian soule may recomfort her selfe in her panges and say Moriâ—r vt vidoâ—â— In the name of God to see him let me die Now for these corruptible bodies they take no dammage at all by death T is no harme to the seede though it hath for the time a little earth raked ouer it it shall spring againe and flourish and bring foorth fruite in due season No hurt is it to these our bodies to be cast into the grounde beeing sowen in wealienesse they shall rise againe in power being sowen naturall bodies they rise againe bodies spirituall being sowne in dishonor they rise againe in glory The keeping greene of Noahs Oliue troo vnder the floud The budding againe of Aarons rod The deliuerance of Ionas from the depth of the Sea The voice that calleth come againe ye children of men The hope of Iob that he should see God with no other but with the selfe same eyes The Prophesie of Ezechiell vnto the dry bones that should come os ad os bone to bone may stirre in vs a ioyfull hope and cheere vs vp against all the feare and terror of death But the resurrection of our Sauiour Christ that is the comfort of all coinforts Vox Christi vox Christianorum The voice of Christ is by Christ the doyce of Christians saith S. Austen Death where is thy sting Hell where is thy victory As he was the cause efficient so was he also a figure of the Resurrection Hee risinge wee all arise Of a more powerfull cause there is a more powerfull effect If the sinne of Adam who was a liuing soule was the cause that death raigned ouer all much more the resurrection of Christ who was a quickening spirite shal be of power to raise vp all that beleeue to the hope of euerlasting life What greater ioy then to be able to know him as the Apostle speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the power of this resurrection Christ as in dying shewed what we should suffer so in risinge from death what we should hope To wit that all the bones in Golgatha shall rise and those that sleepe in the dust of the earth shall heare the voice of Lazarus come foorth Wherefore though Death doe swallow vs vp as the Whale did Ionas bind vs as the Philistines did Sampson yet wee shall come foorth and breake the bendes as the birde out of the snare The snare is broken and we are deliuered They may well feare death saith S. Cyprian that haue no saith in Christ but for those who are members of that head who vanquished the power of Hell and Death Death is to them aduantage and a gentle guide that bringes them home to euerlasting rest Hence is it that dying they are said since Christes resurrection to fall asleepe They that sleepe in Iesus saith the Apostle they lay them downe and take their rest and God it is that makes them dwell in euerlasting safety We should not then feare to fall a sleepe for sleepe is a refreshinge after wearysome labours The painefull labouring man after his dayes worke ended sleepes often more quietly then Diueâ— in his marble pallace on his bed of Iuory where hee tosseth and tumbleth hee sleepes not quietly either in life or death and of such is that verified O mors quam amara O death how bitter is thy remembrance Hauing wearied
blessed virgin Marie didst suffer wast dead vnried discendedst into hell the third day didst rise againe from the dead ascendedst into heaueÌ„ where thou sittest at the right hand of the father from whence thou shalt come at the day of iudgement to iudge all flesh I commend me vnto thee O holie Spirit which proccedest from the father aâ—d the sonne whom togither I adore and glorifie which doest quicken one Catholike and Apostolike church to which thou hast in mercie graunted remission of sinnes the resurrection of these mortall bodies and euerlasting life after death The same confession may be made of the sicke in maner of oblation As I offer my selfe vnto thee O holy Trinitie the father the sonne and the holy ghost c. Also in maner of an â—siblâ— supplication As I beseech thee O holy Trinitie the father the son and the holy ghost c. In which christian confession Gods seruants may stand constant vnto the end against all temptations Not vnlike yâ— people of Ciniensis who when the ambassadors of Brutus would haue theÌ„ deliuer ouer their city and freedome into his handes Ferrum nobis a maioribus c. Tel your Captaine Brutus our auncesters haue left vs weapons to defend our right with courage constancie vnto the end The holy Ghost by the Apostle S. Paul in the sâ—xt to the Ephesians sheweth what these weapons are as the brest plate of righteousnesse the shield of faith the Helmet of saluation the sword of the spirit their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospell where is spirituall furniture for all parts only the back or hinder part excepted to signifie that the Christian souldier should not turne his backe before his enemies The Eagle to trie her young is said to carrie them vp against the piercing beames of the Sunne which seeing them to endure she acknowledgeth them as her owne Christ knowes vs to be his by our constant suffering and therefore somtimes brings vs vnto the conflict Wee reade in the 2. Sam. 20. That Seba a rebellious Iew blew a trumpet and many of the people followed after him but the men of Iuda who were of the bloud royal they as good Isralites would liue and die with Dauid their king The olde Seba blowes many an entising blast to carrie vs away from our true allegiaunce of Christ Iesus our king All that are borne of water and the holy Ghost will liue and die in his faith Howsoeuer the world for a time frowne vpon them yet they are not as the Reede without pith or substance and so wauing with euerie winde but firme constant like Iohn Baptist that will holde his profession though he loose his head for it Wherefore considering that there is no crowne without a conquest and no conquest without courage and perseuerance the faithful like Iob say Though the Lord kill vs yet wil we put our trust in him The Fifteenth Chapter How they may be aduertised who seeme vnwilling to depart the world IF in this life only saieth the Apostle we haue hope in Christ then are we of al men most miserable to shew in effect that we haue not in this life the occomplishment of our hope Not here therefore we should expect it else where this is not our Paradise but a barren desert we may not looke for our heauen here our citie is aboue which wee all must inhabite to drawe backe when we are to goe most comfortablie to take possession of the same and the hope so long hoped for should most strengthen vs in the way is far from that Christian beliefe whereof wee make dayly profession OfteÌ„ haue we praied Thy kingdome come Nowe when God is leading vs vnto the same our vnwillingnesse to be gone cannot but argue great weakenes of faith Quid faceâ—emus si mori tantummodo fine resurrectione praeciperet Deus voluntas eius sufâ—iceret ad solatium What would we haue don if God saith Saint Ierome had commaunded vs to die without mentioning the resurrection his will ought to haue bin our comforâ—t but now hauing this stay why should we wauer Oftentimes haue we wished that we were once freed from this worlds captiuitie now God is going about to free vs indeede our desire is to continue our captiuitie still not vnlike children who crie out of painâ— and griefe and when thâ— Chirurgion comes that should ease them of all they chuse rather to remaine as they are There is no Marriner but after many sharpe stormes desireth the hauen and shal not we after so many tempests of this troublesome world accept of our deliuerance when the time is come We are giuen to loue the world too much and a great deale more then we should being onely straungers in the same Had we no farther expectation but onely to enioy a state temporall where wee might set vp our rest as hauing here attained our chiefest good then might our departure from this world bee very grieuous in deede because our being and happinesse should ende together But looking as we doe for a further condition so perinanent so blessed and death being the passage or entrie thereunto there is no cause why man if hee bethinke himselfe should vnwillingly set forwarde when his time of departure is at hande First remembring it is the ordinance of God the course of all flesh and as Iosuah calleth it the way of all the worlde What man is he saith the prophet that liueth and shall not see death It is not proper to any one which is commoÌ„ to all kings princes strong valiant take parte with them in this lot There is no reason that any should looke to bee priuiledged in that wherin all without exception must will they nill they subâ—â—t themselues Secondarily that it is a meane to bring vs from a prison with out ease from a pilgrimage without rest wee all see euidently and this made the Wise man praise the dead aboue them which are yet aliue and prefer the day of death before the day of birth surely for no other reaâ—son then for that in the one we come into a vale of misery in the other we depart from it departing in the farth of him by whom we looke for a better state to come Thirdly this being the way for the obtaining so high a reward we may steppe forth with confidence in his mercy who now calleth vs by death to the participation of yâ— same Why on Gods blessing should any bee loath that the soule should returne to him that gaue it When the louing mother sendeth forth her childe to nurse and the nurse hath kept it long enough if the mother take her owne child home againe hath this nurse anie cause to grudge or complaine How much lesse cause haue wee to shew any part of vnwillingnesse that God shoulde take home this departing soule the worke of his owne hands the plant of his owne grafting who first gaue it and will before