not in the fadom of mans head to tell or heart to know how neere or farre off the day is onely God knoweth and Christ as God in what yeare month day and moment this frame shall goe downe In an age long since the day was neere now the houre is neere but curiositie is to be auoided in a coÌ„cealed matter in this forbidden tree of knowledge For secret things saith Moses Deut. 29.29 belong vnto the Lord our God Many men beate their heades about friuolous matters some saith Chrysostome being more busie to know where hell is then to auoide the paines of it others pleasing themselues in pelting and needlesse questions as this is to seeme singular amongst men neglecting in the meane time this dutie of their preparation for their end and such necessary things But when they come to their departing they shall finde that they haue beaten their braines about fruitlesse matters and wearied themselues in vaine It is sufficient for vs therefore to know that such a day will come and it shall bee wisdome in vs alwaies to bee readie for it that it come not vpon vs as the snare vpon the bird vnlooked for Therefore our Sauiour Christ saith Luk. 12.34.35 take heede to your selues lest at any time your hearts be ouercharged with surfetting and drunkennes and cares of this life and so that day come vpon you vnawares for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the earth Thirdly if wee knew the day houre or certaine time of our death wee would put off all tiâ—l the comming of that day and it would giue vs too great boldnes and incouragement to wallow in all manner of sinne till that time or houre came The whorish woman because shee knew the iust time when her husband would returne who went into a farre Countrey did the more liberally power out her soule to sinne and wantonnesse Pro. 7.19.20 For the good man saith shee is not at home hee is gone along iourney hee hath taken a bagge of money with him and will come home at the day appoynted Fourthly and lastly It is therefore vnknowne to vs when wee shall dye to the end that all the dayes of our appoynted time wee may waite for this day and all our time looke for this last time and prepare our selues for it Argus as is fained had his head inuironed with an hundred watching eies signifiing thus much vnto vs that he was euery way indued with great wisedome prouidence and singular discretion Therefore if a pagan and Heathen man so excelled in wisedome and prouidence how much rather ought a Christian man to be well furnished with wisedome circumspection for his latter end Be thou therfore an other Argus nay more wary then he more wise and prouident then he more watchfull circumspect then hee that thou mayst learne to know to vnderstand and finally to prouide for thy last end Gregory vpon the watches mentioned by our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell of Marke in these words Mark 13.35.36.37 Watch yee therefore for yee know not when the Master of the house commeth at euen or at midnight or at the cock-crowing or in the morning lest comming suddenly he finde you sleeping and what I say vnto you I say vnto all watch he saith that there be foure watches in a mans whole life wherein it behoueth him to be vigilant and carefull and as a wakefull and warie watchman to keepe his watch and so prepare himselfe for his end The first is childhood the second youth the third manhood the fourth old age In all which ages he must prepare himselfe for death but he which remissâ—ly passeth ouer his childhood without this preparation and watchfulnesse let him be more carefull of his watch in his youth and pray as it is in Ieremie Ier. 3.4 My father be thou the guide of my youth If he hath passed his youth dissolutely let him be more carefull of his watch in his manhood And if hee hath passed ouer his manhood carelessely let him in any case looke to his last watch of his old age Nay if we prepare not for death before we come to this last watch of old age to which verie few doe attaine it is so fraile weake and feeble and decayed by the custome of sinne that it is an age not so fit for this preparation and watchfulnesse For at such an age men for the most part are like to the Idols of the Heathen Psal 115.4.5.6.7 which haue mouthes but speake not eyes but see not eares but heare not c. Therefore put not off this preparation and watchfulnesse to thy old age which is thy dotage but be thou watchfull and prepared in thy childhood youth manhood Eccl. 12.1 Remember now thy Creator saith the Preacher in the daies of thy youth while the euill dayes come not nor the yeares draw nigh when thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them Wherfore not without cause our Sauiour Christ crieth so often in the Gospell Matth. 24.42 Mar. 13.32.33 Take yee heed watch and pray because yee know not the day nor the houre nor when the time is the which is as much as if he had more plainely said because yee know not that yeere watch every yeere because yee know not that moneth watch euery moneth because yee know not that day watch euery day and because yee know not that houre watch euery houre That is to say watch continually yeares moneths dayes houres yea all your life if you haue a care of euerlasting life And let your loynes saith our Sauiour Christ be girded about and your lights burning Luke 12 35.36.37.38 and yee your selues like vnto men that waite for their Lord when he will returne from the wedding that when he commeth and knocketh they may open to him immediately Blessed are those seruants whom the Lord when he commeth shall finde watching Verily I say vnto you that hee shall girde himselfe and make them to sit downe to meate and will come forth and serue them And if he shall come in the second watch or in the third and finde them so blessed are those seruants Prou. 19.20 Therefore heare my counsell and receiue instruction that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end The end of the third Diuision THE FOVRTH DIVISION OF THE RIGHT BEHAVIOVR IN DEATH THis behauiour is nothing else but a religious and holy behauiour especially toward God when we are in or neere the agonie and pangs of death Which behauiour containes foure especiall duties The first is to die in or by faith And to die by faith is when a man in the time of death doth with all his heart wholly rely himselfe on Gods especiall loue fauour mercie in Christ as it is reuealed in his holy word And though there be no part of mans life void of iust occasions whereby he may put faith in practise yet the speciall time
shalt not be purged till I haue caused my wrath to light vpon thee Marke this Place well which may terrifie our hearts if we carry not the hearts of Tygers in which the Lord testifies not onely to them but to vs then when by all kinde meanes and louing allurements hee offereth his fauour and we obstinately refuse it let vs be sure then when wee would haue mercy and fauour from him though wee begge it crying and howling he will deny vs. For there is a time set in which we may repent but being despised and outrun there is after no houre to obtaine mercy The reasons whereof are speciallly three viz. The first taken from God who because it proceedes from his loue to offer mercy it must needs stand with his iustice to punish the wilfull contempt of it with a perpetuall deniall of mercy The second from Sathan who by contemning and neglecting the Lords gratious offer of mercy gets great aduantage of vs and hereby makes a way for such sinnes as hardly in time we can repent vs of The third is from the nature of this sinne which hatcheth three horrible sinnes for delay breeds custome custome breeds securitie and security breedes impenitencie A drunkard wee see is more easily reclaymed from that sinne at the first then when hee hath gotten the custome of it and so it is of all other sinnes And hence it is that the Lord by his Prophet doth note it a thing impossible in respect of humane power to leaue those sinnes which are customably committed saying Can the black-more change his skin Ierem. 13.23 or the Leopard his spots then may yee also doe good that are accustomed to doe euill Oh beloued let vs take heede of despising the Lords kind offer of mercy lest hee bee angry Psal 2.13 and so wee perish in his wrath For which cause let vs call to remembrāce these foure motiues to mooue vs to accept of the time of grace 2. Cor. 6.2 this acceptable day of saluation viz. First how mercifull the Lord hath beene to vs who might haue cut off our time in our youth in which it may be wee were vnthriftie or in the midst of some grieuous sinne that we commited heretofore or of late daies and so haue sent vs to hell Secondly consider how many good motions of his holy spirit wee haue let slip and made light accompt of and sent him away from vs with griefe which it may be we shall neuer enioy againe Thirdly call to thy minde how hee hath this day offered thee his Maiesties gratious pardon vpon thy willing accepting of it which for ought that either I or thou know he will neuer offer againe vnto thee Fourthly consider that at the Lord hath giuen thee a time so he hath giuen thee thy sences thy wittes thy memory which hee hath depriued others of and may thee also for ought thou knowest because thou hast made no better vse of them for his glory and thy owne saluation Therefore say Lord turne mee vnto thee and deliuer my soule enlighten my vnderstanding from this grosse darkenesse free my desires from these iron chaines from these massie fetters of sin that I may turne vnto thee in the seasonable time of health and strength and not deferre the great and waightie worke of my repentance vntill either by long custome of sin or by debility of body or minde or both I shall not be able to think vpon thee But some will obiect what is there no hope of saluation for him that repenteth at the last houre Answer I will not say saith Saint Augustine he shall be saued I will not say he shall be dāned You wil say the theefe was saued at the very last cast of life Luke 23.43 or some short time before he departed from the crosse to paradise Answer I confesse that the scripture speaketh of such a one crucified at the right hand of the son of God who crauing with faith mercy to saluation receiued this answer to day shalt thou be with me in paradise Hee was called at the eleuenth houre at the poynt of the twelfe when hee was now dying and drawing on and therefore his conuersion was altogether miraculous and extraordinary And there was a speciall reason why our Sauiour Christ would haue him to be then called that while he was in suffering he might shew forth the vertue of his passion that all which saw the one might also acknowledge the other Now it is not good for any man to make an ordinary rule of an extraordinary example and besides the scripture speakes but of one that was so saued and it speakes of another in that very place and at that very instant that was damned And herevpon a father saith we reade of one that no man should despaire and but of one that no man should presume And vpon this also Origen writeth thus there is no man hath cause to despaire of pardon seeing Christ said vnto the theefe verily this day thou shalt be with me in paradise and yet may not too much presume of pardon because Christ said not verely this day shall yee be with me in paradize This example therefore is a medicine onely against desperation and no cloake for sinne And therefore let vs remember before we sinne that Christ pardoned not the multitude and thereby feare his iustice and after wee haue sinned let vs remember that Christ pardoned the theefe and so hope for mercy Etsi poenitentia est sera tamen indulgentia non est fera Saith Lombard Gods mercy is aboue our misery and an euening sacrifice is accepted by him yet on the other side we neuer reade that Christ cured one blind man often that hee healed the same leapers diuers times that he raised Lazarus twice Marke well saith one what I say that a man which repenteth not but at his latter end shall be damned I doe not say so what then doe I say He shall be saued No. What then doe I say I say I know not I say I presume not I promise not will thou then deliuer thy selfe out of this doubt Wilt thou escape this dangerous poynt Repent thou then whilst thou art whole for if thou repent whilst thou art in health whensoeuer the last day of all commeth vpon thee thou art safe for that thou didst repent in that time when thou mightest yet haue sinned but if thou wilt repent when thou canst sinne no longer thou leauest not sinne but sinne leaueth thee One being demaunded when it was time to repent answered one day before our Death but when it was replyed that no man knew that day he said begin then to day for feare of fayling and boast not of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth many pretend to mend all in time and this time is so deferred from day to day vntill God in whose hands onely all times consist doth shut them out of all time and send them to paines
will carry the snake in their bosomes without any feare Euen so although we cary death about vs in our mortall bodies yea in our bosomes and bowels yet sinne which was her sting being pulled out by the death of Christ shee can onely hisse and make a stirre and ordinarily looke blacke and grimme but can no wayes annoy vs. Which will be the more manifest if we well weigh how Christ our head and Captaine hath quelled and conquered this mightie Gyant for vs whereby none that are Christs members need stand in feare thereof Death saith the blessed Apostle is swallowed vp in victory and Christ was dead and now liueth 1. Cor. 15.54 Reu. 1.18 and that for euer And he hath the keyes of hell and death as he testifieth of himselfe in the booke of the Reuelation Now he that hath the keyes of a place hath the command of that place It is as much then as if it had been said he had the command of death and power to dispose of it at his pleasure And will Christ then that hath such an enemie at his mercie let him hurt and annoy his deare friends nay his owne members and so in effect himselfe Noe noe he conquered death for vs not for himselfe seeing death had no quarrell to him By his vniust death then hee hath vanquished our iust death as Saint Augustine very excellently saith Death could not be conquered but by death therefore Christ suffered death that an vniust death might ouercome a iust death and that he might deliuer the guiltie iustly by dying for them vniustly Whereunto agreeth that speech The vniust sinneth and the iust is punished the guiltie transgresseth and the innocent is beaten the wicked offendeth and the godly is condemned that which the euill deserueth the good suffereth that which the seruant oweth the master payeth that which man committeth God sustaineth For although because he was man he could die and did so yet because he was iust hee ought not to haue died and hee that had no cause to die for himselfe in reason and equitie should not die for others vnprofitably neither did he surely but to the greatest purpose that the Sonne of God dying for the sonnes of men the sonnes of men might thereby bee made the sonnes of God yea that they of bad seruants might bee made good sonnes And this glorious mystery of our Sauiours Incarnation and Passion must needs bring forth glorious effects this strange and vnspeakable loue of God that his onely Sonne should die for vs that the Lord should dye for disobedient seruants the Creator for the creature God for man this strange loue I say must needs bee of strange operation as it is euen to make of sinners iust men of slaues brethren of captiues fellow-heires and of banished persons Kings and to make of death as it were no death but a very easie passage to eternal life for the death of Christ is the death of our death sith hee died that wee might liue and how can it be but that they should liue for whom life it selfe died Surely Death by vsurping vpon the innocent forfeited her right to the guiltie and while shee deuoured wrongfully shee her selfe was deuoured Yea in that Christ hath vanquished death we may be truely said to vanquish it Rom. 8.37 Ephes 5.30 For in this saith the Apostle we are more then conquerours through him that loued vs he being our head and wee his members and where the head is conqueror the members cannot bee captiues Let vs then reioyce that wee haue alreadie seized on heauen in Christ who hath caried our flesh thither in his owne person as an earnest peny and pledge of the whole summe that in time shal be brought thither Wee may then boldly say that there is somewhat of ours aboue already yea the best part of vs as namely our head from which the members cannot be farre yea we may assure our selues that wee being members of such a head yea bodie to it we are in effect where our head is For S. Augustine saith This bodie cannot be beheaded but if the head triumph for euer the members also must needs triumph for euer And that we haue this benefit by Christs ascension into heauen aforehand for vs Bernard excellently sheweth Be it saith he that only Christ is entred into heauen yet I trow whole Christ must enter and if whole Christ then the body as well as the head yea euery particular member of the bodie For this head is not to be found in the kingdome of heauen without his members In a word the head being aboue water the bodie can neuer be drowned although it bee neuer so much beaten and tossed in this world with waues and tempests Oh but life is sweet and death is fearefull how then may I bee prepared against that houre to vndergoe it in a Christian patience without earthly passions I answer this is indeed the infirmitie of our flesh and the propertie of our corrupt nature that we are more desirous of this life fading then of the life to come that is not flitting and hence comes that feare and terror of death Iohn 10.28 Death in it selfe and out of Christ is as we haue heard very dreadfull and we haue reason to feare it as it is an effect of sinne But we speake not of death considered out of Christ or considered in it selfe but of death altered by the death of Christ for so it is no dreadful thing but much to be desired he is our Pastor we need not feare to be taken out of his hands our Aduocate 1. Iohn 2.1 1. Tim. 2.5 Iohn 8.12 Psal 91.1 Iohn 5.22 therefore we need not dread damnation our Mediator therfore we need not feare the wrath of God our light wee neede not feare darknesse our shadow wee need not feare the heat of hell fire our Iudge we need not feare that sentence shall be denounced against vs our life and therefore wee need not feare death Well may the brute beasts feare to die whose end of life is their end of being well may the Epicure feare and tremble at death who with his life looketh to loose his felicitie well may the faithlesse and impenitent sinner feare and quake whose death is the beginning of their damnation well may the voluptuous worldling whose felicitie consists wholy in the fruition of these transitorie things greatly feare death as that which depriueth him of his pomp and preferment of his honours and high calling robbeth him of his iewels and treasure spoileth him of his pastimes and pleasures exileth him from his friends and country and vtterly bereaueth him of all his expectations solace and delight Which Iesus the sonne of Sirach noting said Eccles 41.1 O death how bitter is thy remembrance to the man that liueth at rest in his possessions vnto the man that hath nothing to vexe him and that hath prosperitie in all things yea vnto him that is yet able to receiue
infinite number of acquaintance expect vs there our parents brethren sisters friends children kindred that are alreadie secure of their owne immortalitie but yet sollicitous for our safetie what ioy will it bee to see to embrace them Conclude then with your heart that you will bee strong against such losses and pray to the giuer of strength that you may be strong and leaue your losses to the Lord your God that hath gained them blessed for them blessed for you with many thankes for euer and euer The end of the sixt Diuision THE SEVENTH DIVISION OF THE CASES WHEREIN IT IS Vnlawfull and wherein Lawfull to desire DEATH TOuching the cases wherein it is vnlawful to desire death they may be reduced principally into three The first is if God can bee more honoured by our life then by our death then in such a case it is altogether vnlawfull to desie death but rather on the contrary we are to desire and pray for life For which purpose wee haue diuers examples in the holy Scriptures to warrant the same as of King Dauid and king Ezechiah Dauid bewayled himselfe in many of his Psalmes that If God tooke him away he should lacke occasion to honour prayse him as he was wont to doe whilest he was amongst men and therefore hee desired longer life that he might set forth the honour of God amongst the people Returne O Lord sayth he Psal 6.4.5 deliuer my Soule O saue mee for thy mercies sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall giue thee thank Againe Psa 30.8.9.10 I cryed vnto thee O Lord c. When I go down into the pitte shall the dust praise thee c Againe Psal 88 9 10 11 12. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction c. shall the dead rise and praise thee And againe Psal 118.17 I shall not dye but liue and declare the workes of the Lord. Ezechiah bewayled himselfe Esa 38.18.19.20 when hee heard the message of death and praied for longer life knowing therby that God should bee more honoured by his life then by his death And therefore sayth hee The graue cannot prayse thee c. And thus may euery godly Christian desire life and not death to this end onely that God thereby may be glorified But yet in this case although it be vnlawfull to desire death so long as God may bee glorified by our Life yet in praying for life to this end we must referre all to Gods good wil and pleasure Therfore if any wil obiect say I might in my place by mine endeauour such as it is for the time to come further profite the Church of God and greatly honour him for this end therefore I could wish that the space of a longer life might be graunted vnto me Answer As the Lord sayd vnto Dauid 1 King 8.18.19 Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house to my name thou didst well that it was in thine heart Neuerthelesse thou shalt not build the house but thy sonne which shall come forth of thy loynes he shall build the house vnto my name Euen so it may bee sayde to thee that whereas it is in thine heart to glorifie God and to profite his Church and therefore thou couldest wish that the space of a longer life might be granted vnto thee to that end thou doest well that it is in thine heart to doe so Neuerthelesse all this must bee commended to Gods disposing that is how long God wil haue thee to remaine in health and life for his glorie and for the good of his Church For hee that hath furnished thee with the giftes of teaching or exhortation or any other good gift for the glory of God and good of his Church he doth know how to furnish others also with the same when thou art gone and as God would not let Dauid build his Temple but did reserue it to be performed afterward by Salomon so God for some secret cause will not haue that good worke furnished by thee but reserueth it for some other time and some other person Therefore if thou art straightned with the Apostle Philip. 1.23 that thou doest not know which of these thou shouldest chuse hauing a desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ which is better for thee or to abide in the flesh which is more profitable for the church Know that to dye is aduantage vnto thee but to liue is aduantage to the Church No man of vs sayeth the Apostle Rom. 14.7.8 liueth to himselsf and no man dyeth to himselfe for whether we liue wee liue to the Lord to the end that wee may glorifie him and gaine more soules to him in the Church or whether we dye we dye to the Lord that we may obey his Fatherly will calling vs out of our Station Whether therefore we liue or dye we are the Lords that most mighty gentle and mercifull Lord From whose loue neyther life nor death can separate vs. Rom. 8.38.39 Thou hast hitherto obeyed the will of the Lord most faithfully spending thy seruices on the Church militant obey him further most readily embracing his will that calles thee to the society of the Church triumphant Thou art rightly carefull out of charity for the encrease of the church notwithstanding thou oughtest out of faith to commit the care of gouerning teaching and conseruing the same vnto God There is nothing heere more wholesome nothing better nor more conformable to pietie then for a man to resigne himselfe wholy to the will of God and to commend the full power of disposing our life and death to him with godlie prayers And one of these two thinges we may vndoubtedly hope for that eyther hee will giue vs that which wee aske or that which hee knoweth to be more profitable Delight thy selfe in the Lord sayeth the Psalmist Psal 37.4.5 and he shall giue thee the desires of thine heart commit thy way vnto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to passe Secondly it is altogether vnlawfull to desire death through impatience in that wee cannot haue our owne willes wishes and desires Gen. 31.1 In which case Rachell offended for seeing that shee bare Iacob no children shee enuied her sister Exo. 16.23 and sayde vnto Iacob Giue me children or â—lse I dye In like case also the children of Israel offended who murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wildernesse and said Would to God wee had dyed by the hand of the Lord in the Land of Egypt when we sate by the flesh pots did eate bread to the ful Numb 11.10 In this case Moses offeÌ„ded who said vnto the Lord Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy seruant and wherfore haue not I found fauor in thy sight that thou layest all the burden of this people vpon me Whence should I haue flesh to â—iue vnto all this people For they weepe vnto me saying giue vs flesh that
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
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
of Canaan not through the Land of the Philistims Exod. 13.17.18 although that were neere For God siad lest peraduenture the people repent when they see warre and returne to Egypt but God led the people about thorow the way of the wildernesse of the red sea So God for many causes best knowne to himselfe doth bring his children out of this Egyptian world vnto the spiriutall Canaan which is the kingdome of heauen not the neerest way but by many windings and turnings and the furthest way about euen as it were thorow the red sea of miseries and afflictions that all Gods waues and billowes may goe ouer them Psal 42.7 The Lord can if he please bring them as he doth many other of his children the neerest way to heauen but this further way about is for Gods owne glorie and for his childrens owne good And God as a most wise Father is not euer kissing his childe but many times correcting him and the same God that doth mercifully exalt vs by giuing vs a sweete taste and liuely feeling of his grace and the efficacie of it in vs doth in much loue many times for our health humble vs when hee leaues vs without that sence and feeling in our selues and then doth he cure vs of the most dangerous disease of pride and confidence in our selues settle in vs a true foundation of humilitie cause vs to deny our selues and depend wholly vpon him to cast our selues into the armes of his mercie to hunger for his grace to pray more zealously and with greater feeling of our wants and to set an high price vpon the sence of Gods fauour to make more esteeme of it when we haue it againe and to kill and mortifie some special sinne for which before we had not seriously and heartily repented For when it is his good will and pleasure to make men depend on his fauour and prouidence hee maketh them first to feele his anger and displeasure and to be nothing in themselues to the end they might value and prize their vocation and calling at an higher rate and estimate and wholly and altogether rely and depend vpon him and be whatsoeuer they are in him only This point being then well weighed and considered it is more then manifest that the child of God may passe to heauen euen thorow the very depth and gulfe of hell For the loue fauour and mercie of God is like to a sea into which when a man is cast he neither feeles bottom nor sees banke For thy mercy saith the Psalmist is great aboue the heauens Psal 108.4 and thy truth reacheth vnto the clouds So that touching despaire whether it ariseth of the weaknesse of nature or of the conscience of sinne though it fall out about the time of death it can be but the voice and opinion of their sicknesse and a sicke-mans iudgement of himselfe at such time is not to be regarded and besides it cannot preiudize the saluation of their soules that are effectually called For the gifts and calling of God saith the Apostle are without repentance Rom. 11.29 and those whom God loueth hee loueth to the end and world without end And as for other strange euents which fall out in death they are the effects of diseases Rauings blasphemies and idle speeches arise of the disease of melancholy and phrensies which often happen at the end of hot burning feauers the choler shooting vp to the braine the writhing of the lips turning of the necke and buckling of the ioynts and the whole body proceed of crampes and convulsions which follow after much euacuation and whereas some in sicknesse are of that strength that three or foure can hardly hold them without bonds it comes not alwayes of witchcraft as people commonly thinke but of choler in the veines and whereas some when they are dead become as blacke as pitch it may rise by a bruise or impostume or by the blacke Iaundise or the putrefaction of the liuer and doth not alwayes argue some extraordinary iudgement of God in the wicked it doth but in the godly not Now these and the like diseases with their symptomes and strange effects though they doe depriue man of his health and of the right vse of the parts of his bodie and the vse of reason and vnderstanding yet they cannot depriue his soule of eternal life and happinesse which with the soule of Dauid is bound vp in the bundle of life 1. Sam. 25.29 with the Lord his God in eternall peace and blessednesse And all sins procured by these violent and sharpe diseases proceeding from repentant sinners are sins only of infirmity and weaknesse for which if they knew them and came againe to the vse of reason and vnderstanding they will further repent if not yet they are pardoned and buried in the bloud of Christ and in his death who is their Sauiour and great Bishoppe of their soules 1. Pet. 2.24.25 for he that forgiueth the greater sinnes will also in his children forgiue the lesse And againe wee ought not to stand so much vpon the strangenesse of any mans end when we knew before the goodnesse of his conuersation and life For wee must iudge a man in this case not by his vnquiet death but by his former quiet godly life And if this bee true that strange diseases and thereupon very strange behauiour in death may befall the best childe of God we must then learne to reforme our iudgements of such as lye thus at the point of death The common opinion is if a man lye quietly in his sicknesse and goe away like a lambe which in some diseases as in consumptions and such like lingring diseases any man may doe that then he goes straight-way to heauen though he haue liued neuer so wickedly But if the violence of the disease stirre vp impatiencie and cause in the partie frantick and vnseemely behauiour then men vse to say though hee be neuer so godly that there is a iudgement of God seruing either to discouer an Hypocrite or to plague a wicked man But the truth is farre otherwise for in truth one may die like a lambe and yet goe to hell For the Psalmist saith Psal 7 3.4.5 There are no bonds in their death but their strength is firme they are not in trouble as other men neither are they plagued as other men And againe another dying in exceeding torments and strange behauiour of the body may goe to heauen examples whereof we haue in that holy and iust man Iob as may appeare throughout his whole booke and in diuers others Gods deare Saints and children Therefore by these strange and violent kinds of sicknesse and death which doe many times happen to the deare Saints of God wee must take great heed that wee iudge not rashly of them in condemning them to be wicked and notorious Hypocrites and offenders for it may be our owne cafe for ought wee know This rash censuring and iudging was the sinne
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