Time performeth in one of the weaker Sex who is more subject to grief and passion Shall not Wisdom and Reason enable us to do more in this matter then ignorance and folly Perhaps we account our death a great matter as if all things here below did depend upon us and must suffer with us This is but a wild conceit and vain imagination for which there is no reason Thirdly By this cowardly slavish fear of death man shews himself unjust and irrational for if death be a good thing as the best and wisest Men conceive it is why then doth he fear it If it be an evil thing why doth he make it worse by adding one evil to another Fourthly For a man to fear death is to be an enemy to himself and to his own life for he can never live at ease and contentedly that feareth to dye That man only may be said to be a Freeman which feareth not death and truly life would be but a slavery if it were not made free by death for death is the only stay of our liberty and the common and ready receptacle of all evils 'T is then a misery and bondage and miserable are all they that do it to trouble our life with the fear of death and our death with the care of life What murmuring and repining would there be against Nature if death were not at all If we should still have continued here though never so much against our own wills and liking Would not a durable life accompanied with trouble and affliction be much more insupportable and painful then life with a condition to leave it If death were quite removed out of the World we should desire it more then now we fear it yea perhaps thirst after it more then life it self as being a remedy against many evils and a means to obtain much good and were not some bitterness mingled with death men would run unto it with exceeding great desire and indiscretion To keep therefore a moderation so that men may neither love life too much nor fly from it that they may neither fear death nor run after it both sweetness and bitterness are therein tempered together Fifthly The light of Reason will tell a man that death is a thing natural a part of the order of the whole Universe and very profitable for the succession and continuance of the works of Nature and wouldst thou have the order of Nature changed yea ruinated for thee Nay death is part of thy essence it being no less essential to thee to dye then to be born and to live in flying death thou flyest from thy self thy essence is equally parted into these two life and death this is the condition of thy creation this is the frame and constitution of thy nature if it grieve thee to dye why wast thou born Men come not into the world upon any other design but to go forth again after they have acted their part upon this Stage To be unwilling to dye is against nature 't is as if thou wert unwilling to be a man for all men are mortal and therefore a wise Heathen when news was brought him of the death of his Son said without passion I knew I begot a mortal man Children and Beasts fear not death yea many times they suffer it chearfully It is not then the light of Nature and Reason that teacheth us to fear death but rather to attend and receive it as being serviceable to Nature Sixthly Death is certain and inevitable and therefore a rational discreet man will not torment himself with the fear of it That which cannot be avoided should be endured with patience and magnanimity What is there more inevitable more inexorable then death And to what purpose should we importune or parley with him that will not be intreated In things uncertain we may fear and in things that are not past remedy we may do our endeavour to help and restore them but for that which is certain and inevitable as death is we must resolve couragiously to attend and endure it Here we should make of necessity a vertue and welcome and receive this Guest kindly for it is much better for us to go to death willingly and freely then that death should come to us and surprize us suddenly and unawares Seventhly To dye is a thing but reasonable and just for why shouldst not thou give place to others as others have given place to thee Why should not they as well succeed thee in this life as thou didst succeed others that went before thee If thou hast made thy advantage of this life 't is but reason that thou shouldst be satisfied with thy lot and be willing to go hence that others may come in thy stead and take thy place Death is a debt that must be paid whensoever it is demanded and it is against reason that thou shouldst refuse to dye and so to discharge that debt which lyes upon thee 'T is a thing general and common to all to dye and wilt thou stand alone by thy self and expect a priviledge and exemption which is granted to no other man in the World Wilt thou be shut out from the common lot of mankind which all others partake of Millions of men are already gone before us and millions of men will follow us when we are gone one generation passeth away and another generation cometh and as great a noise as we make in the World amongst our Neighbours there will be little notice taken of us when we are removed out of this life And why should we make so great account of our selves when others take so little notice of us Why should we think that the whole World is concern'd in us when so few that live near us do not at all remember us or speak a word of us Eighthly Such men as are led by Judgment and Reason should be so far from this slavish fear and pusilanimity that they should put on a generous undaunted Resolution to dye and even contemn death especially being required to dye in a good Cause for Truth and Righteousness and for the good and benefit of their Country which should be dearer to them then a thousand lives He that knows not how to contemn death shall never be able to perform any worthy Acts for God and his Country for whilst he goes about in a base cowardly manner to secure his life he exposeth himself to many dangers and hazardeth his Conscience Honour Vertue and Honesty The contempt of death is that which produceth the most valiant Acts and the most honourable Exploits He that fears not to dye needs not fear the face of any man be he never so great and potent in this World Elvidias Priscus a noble Roman being commanded by the Emperor not to come to the Senate or if he came then to speak as the Prince would have him and no otherwise made this gallant and noble Answer That as he was a Senator so it was fit he should come
safe harbour it is to him a sweet sleep a bed of rest after all his toyl and labour in a vain and troublesome world Isai 57.2 1 Thes 4.14 Rev. 14.13 There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest and hear not the voice of the Oppressor Job 3.17 18. It is the day of a Christians reward and of receiving wages Then is the servant set free and the Heir at full age then shall the banished and strangers from a far Countrey shall enter into their Fathers house and shall be received into everlasting habitations Heb. 11.13 John 14.2 Luke 16.9 Death is the Birth-day of a Christian the funeral of all his vices and corruptions and the resurrection of his Graces Death was the daughter of Sin and in death shall that be fulfilled The Daughter shall destroy the Mother 'T is the dissolution of the Body but the absolution of the Soul Then is the immortal Soul delivered out of a dark prison and then doth she throw off her old ragged clothes and foul garments that she may be deck'd and adorn'd with the glorious Robes of Salvation Isa 52.1 2 Cor. 5.2 3. Then doth a Christian remove from an old rotten house ready to fall about his ears to a sumptuous Pallace Doth that Landlord think you wrong his Tennant or offer him hard measure that would have him remove out of a base Cottage into his own Mansion-house which he hath freely given him Shall the Believer be unwilling to come to the end of his race and receive the prize even an incorruptible Crown of glory 1 Cor. 9.24 This is the day of his Coronation for though now he be an Heir of the heavenly Kingdom yet he shall not be crowned till death with that Glory which is unutterable 2 Tim. 4.8 Seventhly The good man is taken away by death from much evil to come and hath he any cause to quarrel with such a freedom Truly the consideration hereof should make us love this life the less because the Clouds gather thick about us and we know not what fearful alterations may shortly befal us either in our outward estate or in matters of Religion either by domestick broyls or by forreign invasion Should not a Christian rejoyce exceedingly to be delivered from the continual malicious suggestions and stratagems of the evil Angels and from a vile wicked World that hates and persecutes the Image of Christ where-ever it is A World whose seeming felicities as Honours Riches Pleasures Trade Beauty Friends Children Relations and Acquaintance are but vanities full of labour and toyl accompanied with much vexation and affording no true rest or contentment to that man that enjoyes them neither can they help him in the least when death seizeth upon him All these things will be forgotten and there will be no remembrance of them with those that shall come after Eccles 1.11 What a priviledge is it therefore to be delivered from these vanities Yea which is more from that body of sin and corruption which a Christian groans under as his greatest burthen and is the more grievous and intollerable because it infects and spreads over the whole man soul and body and is an inseparable companion of this life causing a troublesome yea an irreconcilable war in the Soul and swarms of evil thoughts affections desires and actions besides innumerable diseases and distempers which attend the Body And should not death be welcome to us to set us free from all these evils and miseries Thus may a Christian reason and argue against the fear of death upon far higher and more spiritual Grounds and Considerations then a moral Heathen can and therefore he should not be afraid to dye Eighthly and Lastly That we may be the better fortified against the fear of death let us call to mind and improve the living speeches of dying Christians some of which shall be here mentioned The famous sayings of some dying Christians Good old Simeon Lord let thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Stephen the first Martyr Lord Jesus receive my Spirit and lay not this sin to their charge Polycarpus to the Proconsul urging him to deny Christ I have served him eighty-six years saith he and he hath not once hurt me and shall I now deny him Ignatius I am the Wheat or Grain to be ground with the teeth of Beasts that I may be pure bread for my Masters tooth let Fire Racks Pullies yea and all the torments of Hell come on me so I may win Christ Cyprian God Almighty be blessed for this Gaol-delivery Theodosius I thank God more for that I have been a Member of Christ then an Emperor of the World Hillarion Soul get thee out thou hast served Christ these seventy years and art thou now afraid of death and loth to dye Vincentius Rage and do the worst that the spirit of malignity can set thee on work to do Thou shalt see Gods Spirit strengthen the tormented more then the Devil can do the Tormentor Gorgius to the Tyrant offering him promotion Have you any thing equal saith he or more worthy then the Kingdom of Heaven King Edward the Sixth Lord bring me into thy Kingdom free this Kingdom from Antichrist and keep thine Elect in it Bishop Latimer to Bishop Ridley going before him to the Stake Have after as fast as I can follow we shall light such a Candle by Gods Grace in England this day as I trust shall never be put out again Bishop Hooper to one that prayed him to consider that life is sweet and death is bitter True saith he but the death to come is more bitter and the life to come is more sweet Oh Lord Christ I am Hell but thou art Heaven draw me to thy self with the cords of thy mercy Thomas Bilney I know by Sense and Philosophy that fire is hot and burning painful but by Faith I know it shall only waste the stubble of my Body and purge my Spirit of its corruption Glover to his Friend He is come oh he is come meaning the Comforter Gods Spirit John Bradford to his fellow Martyr Be of good comfort Brother for we shall have a merry Supper with the Lord this night If there be any way to Heaven on Horseback or in fiery Chariots this is it Lawrence Sanders I was in prison till I got into prison and now sayes he kissing the Stake welcome the Cross of Christ welcome everlasting life My Saviour began to me in a bitter Cup and shall I not pledge him John Lambert None but Christ none but Christ Baynam I feel no more pain in the fire then if I were on a Bed of Down it is as sweet to me as a Bed of Roses Priest's Wife to one that offered her money I am now going saith she to a Countrey where money bears no mastery And when the Sentence was read Now have I gotten that which many a day I have sought for Doctor Taylor when he came within two
begets knows not the making of him the Mother that conceives knows it not nor yet the Formative virtue whereby all is fashioned whereas there is no work of Art but it is known by the Artificer And if Man himself have his beginning of God then much more other things which are made for Man nor can they have their being from themselves for then they should be gods it being an inseparable property of God to have His being from Himself Besides if these things had no beginning why are there no Monuments of more antient time concerning them the antient'st humane Writers not reaching above four thousand years Reason as well as Scripture will tell us that the first Creature was made of nothing for otherwise it could not be subject to change and alteration All Creatures are finite compounded imperfect unable to make or sustain themselves no Creature can be the cause of it self for then it should be both the cause and the effect both before and after it self and therefore of necessity there must be a first supreme Cause in power infinite most perfect in and of it self which gives being and continuance unto all things Amongst things created we may observe a series of Causes and an Order in the things themselves but order is from one first and leads us unto one first Cause We may further add that all things even things without life sense and reason which cannot move voluntarily or intend an end are directed orderly to an end and therefore there is one good wise chief Director of all things which is God And indeed the greatness perfection multitude variety and concord of things existing the form and order and continual sustentation of the World and the Creatures therein do plainly shew to an Eye of Reason that all things depend upon some one wise and perfect Good from whom they have their Being and Preservation Thirdly The Reason of the Philosophers is manifest to prove that there is a God a first Mover or first Cause of All for if this were not so then there should be before every mover another mover and so in infinitum And if the Causes were infinite they should either have infinite motion and so infinite time or else infinite things should move infinite time both which were absurd Seeing also the inferiour thing moved doth not move without a superiour mover if there were not a supreme and first Mover of all there would not be at all any effect or motion of these inferiour things Pythagoras saith that there must needs be an infinite power or else our Reason should exceed the Maker thereof for what finite thing soever there is we can comprehend it and if the power be infinite the subject wherein the power is must needs be infinite and that is God Fourthly It appears that there is a God by the distinction of good and evil which takes place amongst all sorts of men not only the godly but the wicked for those that are evil and wicked would seem to be good and though they be evil and blame-worthy in themselves yet will they rebuke evil in others Now this is really to distinguish between good and evil and there must be some ground of this distinction which cannot be from man himself for then it would follow that every thing at man's appointment should be good or evil and therefore the ground of this distinction must be from a higher nature and that is God Fifthly God hath shewed forth His Eternal Power and Deity even in the view of the World and to an Eye of sense and reason by Signs and Wonders and by divers Miracles Now what are Miracles but God's visible works extraordinarily wrought not only above the ordinary course of Nature but simply above the power of Nature either in respect of the work it self or the manner of doing it which miraculous effects do evince that there is an Infinite glorious Power that is above all things and doth over-rule all things for every principal and primary Cause is more excellent than the effect thereof Sixthly That there is a God and supreme Being is evident to Reason by that gracious wise and plentiful Provision which is made for all the Creatures in the World A little Family cannot be well ordered but by a provident Housholder much less a Town or Commonwealth and least of all the Universe or whole World wherein are millions of men and other creatures to be daily fed sustained and governed which cannot be done and performed but by an infinite wise God who in his singular Providence doth so order and govern the Creatures that the weak ones go in Herds and Flocks together and the strong go alone and thereby are the less formidable hoofs horns and tusks are for defence and where these are wanting legs can carry the Creatures away or dens can hide them O how wise and excellent is this God in his government over the whole Creation What shall I say of those impressions of Skill and Workmanship that are upon the Creatures There is an excellency in Art but Nature goes far beyond Art and much more excellent is the God of Nature If it be a point of skill to set a Dial right that shall tell the Hours of the Day what skill hath he who made and guides the Heavens and the Earth and all the Creatures therein That power and skill which shines forth in the Creation doth plainly shew that it is of God And even those wise Naturalists whom Miracles would not move and perswade have been astonished at the admirable work of God in the least things and forc'd to acknowledge a divine and sovereign power Thus Pliny wonders at the Gnat so small a creature yet making so great a buzzing and so likewise he wonders at the Butterfly and Galen as great an Atheist as he was when he had prophanely written of the more excellent parts of Man and came to one of the least and meanest stood astonished and was compell'd to acknowledge God the Creator Seventhly The testimony of every man's Conscience which is God's deputy proves that there is a God Tell me thou Atheist why the wicked should be troubled in Conscience why Caligula should be terrified and run under the Bed when it thundred if there be not a God Let a wicked man do some heinous deed in the solitary Wilderness where none seeth him yet he cannot be quiet but his Conscience will whip and torment him so that he will either reveal the fact himself in his sleep or frenzy or at least he will be afraid that the Birds of the air as sometimes it hath happened will discover it The Conscience doth register and bear witness of the thoughts words and actions of all men either excusing and comforting them in well doing against the disgraces flanders and perscutions of the World or else accusing and terrifying them for Sin committed in secret which perhaps never did nor ever shall come to the knowledge of men in this
World Now this is a manifest token and proof as may be easily discern'd by the Light of Reason that there is a supreme Judge who hath given a Law that bindeth the Conscience and commandeth as well the inward thoughts as the words and actions of all men and who will call them to a strict account and reckoning Eighthly It appears that there is a God or supreme Being by the Soul of man which is a spiritual immortal substance as shall be evinc'd by Reason in the next Chapter and is endued with power to understand and will But now the Soul and the power thereof is not of and from it self but must proceed from a higher Cause which is Power Wisdom and Understanding it self and this is God In the Understanding of man there are certain principles whereby it discerneth truth and falshood good and evil this gift man hath not of himself nor from himself but it must needs spring from a supreme and most wise Understanding as an effect from its principal Cause which infinitely excels and transcends it Nor is the Mind of man satisfied with the knowledge nor his Will with the possession of all things in this Life but still they seek and earnestly thirst after some higher good And hence it is evident even to an Eye of Reason that there is a sovereign Truth and chief Good which being perfectly known and enjoyed will give full satisfaction to the Soul of man which seeing it is capable of happiness or the chief good this would be altogether in vain if there were not such a chief good to be possessed and enjoyed In our Immortal Souls there are principles of infallible and demonstrative Truth as to honour and obey our Parents to do as we would be done unto to defend our selves to perform our promises c. which Principles hold good in all men more or less unless they be horribly prophane and wicked Amongst which fundamental Principles this is one and the chiefest That there is a God and that this God ought to be Worshipped and though some other of these principles may fail in men yet this never faileth but they will Worship one thing or other as God unless they be downright and desperate Atheists Ninthly By the continual suggestions and assaults of the evil Spirit we conclude that there is a Devil and hence we may as certainly conclude that there is a God Doth not Satan by all means endeavour to extinguish the knowledge of God and the glorious Light of the Gospel and to lead men on in ways of Errour and Prophaneness and turn them out of the path of Truth and Holiness Now why should the Devil thus war against God His Word and Saints Why should he so earnestly seek the dishonour of God and the destruction of Men if there were not a God a Gospel and an Everlasting Life Why should he and his wicked Instruments with all their hellish power malice and policy labour to extirpate and root out all those that faithfully call upon the Name of God and are zealous for His Glory if there were not a God or Supreme Being Tenthly This great Truth is further made evident even to an Eye of Reason by the Lord 's miraculous hiding preserving and defending His Church and People from time to time How wonderfully hath he frustrated the Plots and Devices of the Enemies of His Church How hath His Church increased and flourished by the very same means which they designed and made use of to destroy Her How hath God fought from Heaven against the Persecutors of His Children Such dreadful Judgments did overtake many of them and such Horror fell upon some of them that they were forc'd to forsake their great places and power and betake themselves to a solitary and private life which plainly demonstrates that there is a sovereign God who is higher than the highest and greater than the greatest of them And as for His poor People whom they persecuted the Lord hath armed them with invincible Courage and Fortitude to endure disgrace contempt poverty imprisonment death and the most exquisite Torments that Men and Devils could invent Yea how hath God supported His People under their inward temptations conflicts desertions and troubles of Conscience and wonderfully refreshed them beyond their expectation with sweet Peace and Consolation and by the power strength and comforts of the Holy Ghost hath enabled them to sing and rejoice in Prison and even to exult and triumph in the midst of the flames Now this divine assistance this holy courage strength and consolation is a convincing demonstrative Argument of an Omnipotent Deity especially if we compare the Heavenly courage and comforts of the People of God in their sufferings with that fear faintness amazement unquietness vexation and deadness which seiseth on the wicked when they are under Affliction Well then if we reflect upon what hath been said with reference to Man himself and other Creatures in a way of Reason we may be fully convinced that there is an Eternal God If we look up to the Firmament the Spheres the Planets the Stars their greatness brightness swiftness their order courses motions and forcible effects if we behold the Sea so bounded with the Sand by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass its bounds though the Waves thereof rage yet can they not prevail though they roar never so much yet can they not pass their bounds if we behold the Earth so firm so round so fruitful so great yet hanging like a Ball in the Air and resting on a very small point If Man will behold himself a little World in his Body the several members with the harmony sympathy functions and uses thereof and in his Mind the inbred principles and seminaries of all Arts and Sciences and the difference of good and evil of honesty and dishonesty from which all Laws and Government do spring if we consider the just Punishment which commonly followeth evil doers and the sting of Conscience which tormenteth the greatest Princes that are out of danger in respect of the Laws as Alexander for killing his Friend Clitus and Nero for the murther of his Mother Agrippina If we behold the order progress and end of all Causes the harmony of the whole Universe where there are so many contraries and yet such a harmony amongst them Omnia ab uno omnia ad unum If we consider the Prediction of things future the strange Signs and Wonders that have fallen out with their events do not all these things proclaim aloud unto us That there is a Supreme Power that wisely Governs and Over-rules All Suppose a gallant well furnish'd Ship come safe to her Port through all the waves of the Sea we may well conclude that there was a skilful Pilot or Governour within that guided and directed her to the appointed Haven so we beholding this fair Universe this World wherein we live with all its Furniture and Ornaments and the regular Motions of the several
Creatures we may rationally conclude that there is a supreme Power and Governour thereof which is God What shall I say further on this subject if enough were not already said methinks this should convince and satisfie the Reason of any man living if he have but a spark of Reason left in him that all Nations generally in every Age time and place of the World have acknowledged that there is a God The Heathens themselves could not endure them that denied a supreme divine Power for this cause they put to death that great Philosopher Socrates and others as supposing them guilty of this horrid Crime The Nations that have no true knowledge of God do at this day adore Stocks Stones brute Beasts and the basest creatures rather than they will have no Deity no Religion at all They are zealous and forward in the Worship of their Idols which shews that though they acknowledge not the true God yet they understand by the Light of Nature and Reason that there is a Supreme Being to whom divine Worship is due And as for such as have even studied and endeavour'd to gratifie the Devil to the utmost by becoming meer Atheists they could never so blot this fundamental Truth and Principle out of their Consciences but that the Majesty of God hath affrighted them and been a terrour to them So then the universality of this perswasion in all places proveth that there is an Eternal Deity in as much as there is no History that sheweth the Manners and and Customs of any People or Countrey but it likewise sheweth their Religion yea all both new and antient Commonwealths had always something or other which they Worshipped and called in their Language GOD But as touching Atheism we can easily shew and would take the pains to shew it but that it is already done in the Writings of others the very time and place and persons when and where and by whom it was first forged which is a sufficient Argument against it such an Argument as may for ever silence the Atheists of our times which are as so many wild Beasts fit to be destroyed 'T is true there are some wicked wretches that do desperately harden their own Hearts and drown themselves over Head and Ears in sensual Delights and Pleasures but yet if God put His Bridle into their Mouths which he will do at one time or other those sparks and notions which God hath implanted in every man's Soul shall break forth and appear and the darkness shall not always obscure the light In these three Cases especially this Principle will shew it self even in those Atheistical spirits that have endeavoured to suppress and extinguish it First When they are surrounded and compassed about with difficulties and dangers and must needs fall into the hands of their Enemies unless they be preserved by a Divine power then though they were never so wicked and Atheistical before yet now as the Tragoedian observes they will fall down on their Knees and pray to a Deity they will cry peccavi and confess there is a God indeed There was a Controversie betwixt the Stoicks and Peripateticks the Stoicks held that Man had no Passions in him but the Peripateticks were of a contrary opinion Now it fell out upon a time that when a Stoick and a Peripatetick were sailing together in one Ship there arose upon a sudden a great Tempest the Stoick began to look pale and the Peripatetick observing it argues thus against him Thou look'st pale Stoick and therefore thou art not without Passions he could not free himself of fear when he was in danger to be cast away So although the Atheist in his jollity amongst his Companions belch forth sometimes that there is no God yet in his distress he is enforced to grant a Deity Secondly This Principle will manifest it self even in Atheists when they are opprest with Sickness and bodily distempers as there was an Atheist call'd Diogenes who being much afflicted with the pain of the Strangury detested his former Opinion And Thirdly When Old age comes upon them they grow more wise and sober So we read of one Cephalus in Plato who said to Socrates that whilst he was a young man he never thought that there was any Styx but now in his old age he came to doubt and question What if there be one This indeed may confute all Atheists as a manifest unanswerable Argument proving that there is a God because the greatest Atheists that denied him in their lives have acknowledged and approved him in their deaths Pherecydes an Assyrian being merrily disposed at a Banquet amongst his Friends bragg'd how long he had lived and had never done Sacrifice to any God but his end was miserable for he was devoured of Lice Diagoras for his damnable Opinion was the cause of the destruction of the whole Countrey Meles in revenge of his Atheism Lucian that scoffing Atheist going to Supper abroad and having left his Dogs fast bound as he went when he returned home having railed against God and His Word his Dogs broke loose fell upon him and tore him in pieces Machiavel rotted in the Prison at Florence as the Italians write Appian scoffing at Religion and chiefly at Circumcision had an Ulcer in the same part of his Body as Josephus reporteth Julian the Apostata being pierced in the Bowels with an Arrow from Heaven pull'd out the Arrow and receiving the Blood that came out of the wound cast it into the air saying Vicisti Galilaee and so died raging Many others besides these might be mentioned who though they acted like Atheists in their lives yet justified God in their deaths CHAP. X. The Immortality of the Soul of Man proved by Reason AS it hath been already demonstrated by the Light of Reason that there is an Eternal God or Supreme Being so it may be evinc'd by Reason that Man's Soul is Immortal and indeed the one of these depends upon and bears witness to the other The spiritualness and immortality of the Soul of Man and that it may and doth subsist without the Body is clearly held forth in the Sacred Scriptures Gen. 2.7 Eccles 12.7 Matth. 10.28 Luke 16.22 23. and 23.43 Rom. 8.10 11. 2 Cor. 5.6 7 8. Phil. 1.21 23. Heb 12.23 Rev. 6.9 10 11. into which the Faith of a Christian must be finally resolved But besides this Divine Testimony we have also the Testimony of the Light of Reason First then Let us consider that the Soul of Man when it understands any thing it abstracts from that which it understands all quantity quality place and time changing it into a more Immaterial and Intelligible nature As the Stomach when it receives meat changeth the outward accidents of the nourishment into its own nature whereby it becomes Flesh and Blood so the Soul when it conceives any thing separates it from the gross matter and conceives it universally in the Mind or Understanding If a Man looks on a Horse he sees him of
miles of Hadley where he was to be martyr'd Now sayes he lack I but two Stiles and I am even at my Fathers house John Ardeley If every hair of my head were a man it should suffer death for the Truth of Christ Alice Driver when the Chain was about her Neck Here is a goodly Hankerchief said she Julius Palmer To them that have the mind linked to the body as a Thieves foot to a pair of Stocks it is hard to dye indeed but if one be able to separate soul and body then by the help of Gods Spirit it is no more mastery for such a one to dye then for me to drink of this Cup. Elizabeth Folkes embracing the Stake Farewel all the World farewel Faith farewel Hope and welcome Love Picus Mirandula Death is welcome to me not as an end of trouble but of sin Martin Luther Thee O Christ have I taught thee have I trusted thee have I loved into thy hands I commend my spirit Phillip Melancton I desire to depart out of this World for two causes one that I may behold the face of Christ in the Church Triumphant the other that I may be freed from the bitter contentions of Brethren Tremelius a Christian Jew Let Christ live and Barrabas perish John Buisson I shall now have a double Gaol-delivery one out of my sinful flesh another from a loathsome dungeon Lewis Marsake Knight seeing his Brethren go to their execution with Halters about their necks which they offered not to him because of his dignity Why I pray you quoth he deny me not the badge and ornament of so excellent an Order is not my Cause the same with theirs Henry Voes If I had ten heads they should all off for Christ God forbid I should rejoyce in any thing save in his Cross CHAP. XX. Shewing that humane Reason and the due exercise of it is a great mercy THat God should make thee a Man and not a Beast a Toad a Serpent that he should bestow upon thee all the internal and external Senses the Reason and Intellectuals of a man and should preserve and continue the same notwithstanding all the foggy mists vapours and distempers which the head and brain of man is subject unto this is no small mercy if we consider withal how many in our dayes are born Ideots blind and lame wanting the use of their Senses and Members yea and others who formerly had the free and comfortable use thereof are now deprived of this mercy without which all the friends riches honours and pleasures of this World are a burthen rather than a blessing Is it not a wonderful thing that mans brain and the exercise of his reason and intellectuals should be preserved by the Power and Goodness of God though many times there are as it were floods of water inclosed within his head and brain when he thinks but little of it which if the great God who sets bounds to the raging Sea did not restrain would presently distract and overwhelm him The flegmatick humour in man which is of the nature of water ascends up to the Brain by reason of vapours arising out of the Stomach like the vapour of a Pot boyling on the fire with liquor in it and like to vapours that ascend up from the Earth into the Air Now when these vapours are come up to the Brain they turn into the nature of those humours of which they were bred as the vapours that ascend up into the Air turn again into the same nature of water of which they were ingendered Thus we carry about us and within us floods of water which if they should be suffered to run with violence would overflow and bear down all before them bodily health and strength and the use of reason and understanding would be quite overwhelmed by them If we had no Examples of other Floods and Inundations of Earthquakes and many other Judgments of God whereby he punisheth this wicked World yet these Water-floods which we carry about us should put us in mind of our sin and misery and should admonish and induce us to bless the Name of the Lord for preserving us and our reason and understanding in the midst of these water-floods whereby many men are destroyed We read of a great King that was driven from the society of men and his dwelling was with the beasts of the field he did eat grass as the Oxen and was wet with the dew of Heaven till he acknowledged that the most High ruleth in the Kingdoms of men and giveth them to whomsoever he will Dan. 4.25 32 33. This was a sore Judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar thus to be deprived of his reason and understanding as a man He was not really transform'd into a Beast as Bowin and others imagine but he was smitten by the Lord with frenzy and madness of mind and deprived for a time of the use of his reason for it is said that his understanding returned to him And besides this his body was much changed and altered in feeding and living among brute Beasts his hairs were grown like Eagles feathers and his nails like Birds claws As we may read in several Authors of some wild brutish Men taken in Forrests that went upon all four as Beasts do they were swifter then a Horse and did howl like a Wolf and were covered all over with hair And thus it was in a great measure with Nebuchadnezzar till the Lord had mercy on him and restored him What are we more then others that God should deal more graciously with us then with them in giving us better intellectuals and more reason and understanding as men and preserving to us the use and exercise thereof In this respect truly God hath put a great excellency upon man and upon us in particular so that we may well say with the Psalmist Lord what is man that thou art thus mindful of him Psal 8.4 Man by the wise contrivance of God is a little World a curious piece of Embroydery an excellent piece of Workmanship wherein the Wisdom and Power and Goodness of God doth wonderfully appear I will praise thee saith David Psal 139.14 15 16. for I am fearfully and wonderfully made Marvellous are thy workes and that my Soul knoweth right well my substance was not hid from thee when I was curiously wrought in the lowest part of the Earth 'T is a speech Borrowed from those that work Opus Phrygionicum the Phrygian or Arras work which is curiously wrought and contrived Man in respect of his frame and constitution is like a piece of curious Tapestry or Embroydery First In respect of his body and the parts and members thereof which are curiously wrought and put together by the wise contrivance of God The forming and composing the body of man of so many bones veins arteries sinews is a curious piece of workmanship God hath with infinite wisdom disposed and placed the several members of mans body some members are called radical members as the Liver