THE CVRE OF THE FEARE OF DEATH Shewing the course Christians may take to bee deliuered from these feares about death which are found in the hearts of the most A Treatise of singular vse for all sorts By NICHOLAS BIFEILD Preacher of Gods Word at Isleworth in Middelsex HEB. 2. 15. He died that hee might deliuer them who through the feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage LONDON Printed by G. P. for Ralph Rounthwaite at the Flower de-Luce and Crowne in Pauls Church-yard 1618. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE AND NOBLE LADY THE LADY ANNE HARRINGTON Grace and comfort from God the Father and the LORD IESVS CHRIST bee multiplyed MADAME WHen I had seriously bethought my selfe in what doctrine especially to imply my Ministery in the place in which the Lord had by so strong and strange a prouidence settled me Amongst other things I was vehemently inclined to study the Cure of the Feare of Death both because it may be vsually obserued that the most men are in bondage by reason of these feares as also because I am assured that ourliues wil become more sweet yea and more holy too when the feare of death is remoued And the rather was I incited hereunto because I haue obserued some defect about this point in the most that haue written about Death I am not ignorant of the censure which many may giue of this proiect as accounting it an impossible thing to be effected but my trust is that godly and discreet Christians will restraine censure when they haue throughly viewed my reasons My vnsaigned desire to do seruice vnto GODS Church in releeuing such Christians herein as are not furnished with better helps hath emboldned me to offer this Treatise also to the publike view I haue presumed in your Honours absence to thrust forth this Treatise vnder the protection of your Honours name and withall I desire heartily to testifie my thankefulnesse for the many fauours shewed vnto me and mine while your Honour was pleased to be my Hearer I should also much reioyce if my testimony concerning the singular graces God hath bestowed vpon you and the many good works in which you haue abounded in the places of your aboad might adde any thing either vnto your Honours praises in the Churches of Christ or vnto the establishment of the comfort of your owne heart in God and his Son Iesus Christ. I haue not made choise of your Honour in this Dedication for any speciall fitnesse in this Treatise for your Honours condition in respect of your age or absence in a place so farre remote For my earnest trust is that God will adde yet many yeares to your happy life on earth and besides I haue had heeretofore occasion to know how little you were afraid to die when the Lord did seeme to summon you by sicknes That God which hath ennobled your heart with heauenly gifts so made you an instrument of so much good and contentment vnto that most excellent Princesse with whom you now liue and towards whom you haue shewed so much faithfull obseruance and dearenes of affection and carefulnesse of attendance Euen the Father of mercy and God of all consolations increase in you all spirituall blessings and multiply the ioy of your heart and make you still to grow in acceptation and all well-doing Humbly crauing pardon for my boldnesse heerein I commit your Honour to God and to the word of his Grace which will build you vp to eternall life resting Your Honours in all humble obseruance N. BIFEILD Isleworth Iuly 14. 1618. The chiefe Contents of this Booke THE drift is to shew how wee may bee freed from the feare of death Pag. 1. 2. First it is proued by eight apparant Argumēts that it may bee attained to Page 4. to the 12. Secondly it is shewed by fifteene considerations how shamefull and vncomely a thing it is for a Christian to bee afraid to die Page 12. to 28. Thirdly the way how this feare may bee remoued is shewed where may bee noted An exhortation to regard the directions p. 29. 30. Two waies of Cure 1. The one by Meditation 2. The other by practice p. 31. The contemplations either serue to make vs to like death or else to be lesse in loue with life p. 32. Seuenteene Priuiledges of a Christian in death pag. 33. to the 52. The Contemplations that shew vs the miserie of life are of two sorts for either they shew vs the miseries of the life of nature or else the miseries that do vnauoidably accompany the very life of grace p. 53 c. The miseries of the life of nature from pag. 54. to pag. 67. The miseries of a godly mans life are two-fold 1. which appeares both in the things hee wants 2. and in the things hee hath while hee liues p. 67. c. Sixe things which euery godly man wants while he liues p. 68. to 75. What should make a godly man weary of life in respect of God p. 75. to 85. And what in respect of euill Angels p. 85 c. And what in respect of the world p. 88 c. And what in respect of himselfe p. 113 c. Eight aggrauations of Gods corrections in this life p. 78. Eight apparant miseries from the world p. 89 c. Fifteen manifest defects and blemishes in the greatest seeming felicities of the world p. 98. to 113. Many aggrauations of our misery in respect of corruption of nature in this life p. 113 c. The remainders of the first punishment yet vpon vs. Pag. 121. The remouall of the obiections men make about death from whence their feare riseth and these obiections are answered 1. About the paine of dying where are ten answers pag. 125. c. 2. About the condition of the body in death p. 133. 3. About the desire to liue longer yet p. 139. 4. About the pretence of desire to liue long to do good p. 145. 5. About casting away of ones selfe p. 149. 6. About parting with friends p. 153. c. 7. About leauing the pleasures of life p. 159 c. 8. About leauing the honors of life p. 162. 9. About leauing their riches p. 168. c. 10. About the kind of death p. 171. The second way of curing the feare of death is by practice where seuen directions are giuen From page 173. to the end THE CVRE OF THE FEARE OF DEATH CHAP. I. Shewing the Scope and Parts of this Treatise THAT which I intend in this Treatise is to shew how a godly man might order himselfe against the feare of death or what course hee should take to liue so as not to be afraid to die This is a maine point and exceeding necessary Life is throughly sweet when death is not feared a mans heart is then like Mount Zion that cannot be moued Hee can feare no enemy that doth not feare death As death is the last enemy so it works the longest and last feares and to die
happily is to die willingly The maine worke of Preparation is effected when our hearts are perswaded to bee willing to die Now in the explication of this point I would distinctly handle three things First I will proue that to liue without feare of death is a thing may bee obtained one may be deliuered from it as certainly as a sick man may bee cured of an ordinary disease Secondly I will shew how vncomely a thing it is for a Christian to bee afraid of death that so we may bee stirred vp the more to seeke the cure for this disease Thirdly I will shew by what meanes we may bee deliuered from the feare of death if we vse them Of the two first more briefly and of the last at large CHAP. II. Prouing that we may be cured of the feare of death FOR the first that the feare of death may be remoued and that we may attaine to that resolution to be willing to die without lothnesse is apparant diuers waies First it is euident Christ died to deliuer vs not onely from the hurt of death and from the deuill as the executioner but also from the feare of death too Now Christ may attaine to the end of his death vnlesse we will deny the vertue of Christ and his death and think that notwithstanding it cannot be obtained Heb. 2. 14 15. And the more apparant is this because in that place hee shewes that there is vertue in the death of Christ to cure this feare of death in any of the Elect if they will vse the meanes For as our sinnes will not bee mortified though there be power in the death of Christ to kill them vnlesse wee vse the meanes to extract this vertue out of the death of Christ so is it true that the feare of death may be in some of Gods Elect but it is not because Christ cannot deliuer them but because they are sluggish and will not take the course to bee rid of those feares The Physician is able to cure them and vsually doth cure the same disease but they will not take his Receipts 2. The Apostle intreating of the desire of death saith That God hath wrought vs vnto the selfe-same thing 2. Cor. 5. 5. We are againe created of God that wee might in our selues aspire vnto immortality and are set in such an estate as if we answered the end of his workemanship we should neuer be well till wee be possessed of the happinesse in another world which hee shewes in those words of being absent from the body and present with the Lord ver 8. 3. The Prophesies haue run on this point For it was long since fore-told that Christians knowing the victory of Christ ouer death should be so farre from fearing death that they should treade vpon him and insult ouer him O Death Where is thy sting c. Isay 25. 8. Hos. 13. 14. 2. Cor. 15. 54 55. 4. It is a condition that Christ puts in when he first admits Disciples that they must deny their owneliues and not onely be content to take vp their crosse in other things but their liues must not bee deare vnto them when hee cals for it Luk. 14. 26. 5. Wee are taught in the Lords Prayer to pray That Gods Kingdome may come And by his Kingdom he meanes the Kingdom of Glory as well as the Kingdome of Grace Now in that wee are taught to pray for the Kingdome it shewes wee should desire it and that by prayer wee should bee more and more heated in our desires 6. Wee are borne againe to a liuely hope of our inheritance Now if wee bee afraid of the time of our translation thither how do we hope for it after a liuely manner A desire of going to heauen is a part of that seed cast into our hearts in our regeneration 1. Pet. 1. 3 4. 7. Wee haue the example of diuers men in particular who haue desired to die and were out of feare in that respect Gen. 49. 18. Iacob wayted for Gods saluation and Paul resolues that to die and to be with Christ is best of all for him Phil. 1. 21. Yea in Rom. 7. 23. hee is vehement O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this body of death Simeon praies God to let him die Luk. 2. 29. And the Prophet in the name of the godly said long before Christ O that the saluation of Israel were come out of Syon Psal. 14. 7. And we haue the example of the Martyrs in all Ages that accounted it a singular glory to die And in 2. Cor. 5. 2 7. the godly are said to sigh for it that they might bee absent from the body and present with the Lord and so do the first fruites of the Holy Ghost those eminent Christians mentioned Rom. 8. 21. Lastly not onely some particular godly men haue attained to this but the whole Church is brought in in the 22. Ch. of the Reu. praying for the comming of Iesus Christ and desiring too that hee would come quickly And 2. Tim. 4. 8. The loue of the appearing of Christ is the Periphrasis of the childe of God Thus of the first point CHAP. III. Shewing how vncomely it is to feare death FOR the second how vncomely a thing it is in Christians to feare death may appeare many waies 1. By the feare of death wee shame our Religion while we professe it in our words wee deny it in our workes Let Papists tremble at death who are taught that no man ordinarily can be sure he shall go to heauen when he dies But for vs that professe the knowledge of saluation to be astonished at the passage to it shews at least a great weaknesse of faith and doth outwardly giue occasion of disgrace to our Religion 2 By that which went before we may see how vncomely it is to bee afraid of death For thereby we disable the death of Christ wee frustrate the end of Gods workemanship we stop the execution of the Prophesies we renounce our first agreement with Christ wee mocke God in praying that his Kingdome may come we obscure the euidence of our owne regeneration and we transgresse against the example of the godly in all ages 3 Many of the Pagans greatly setled their hearts against the feare of death by this very reason Because there was no being after death and therefore they could no more feele misery then then before they were borne And shall we Christians that heare euery day of the glorious saluation we haue by Christ be more fearefull then they were Let them feare death that know not a better life Shall we be like wicked men Their death is compelled Shall ours bee so too They by their good wils would not lose their bodies in this life nor haue their bodies in the next life But since God hath made vs vnlike them in the issues of death Shal we make our selues like them in the lothnesse to die Let Foelix tremble
at the doctrine of death and iudgement Act. 24. 25. But let all the godly hold vp their heads because the day of their redemption draweth nigh Math. 24 c. 5. Shall wee bee afraid of a shadow The separation of the soule from God that is death if wee speake exactly but the separation of the soule from the body is but the shadow of death VVhen see wee men trembling for feare of spirituall death which is called the First Death and yet this is farre more wofull then that wee call the bodily death But as if the death of the body were nothing the Scripture cals Damnation The second death neuer putting the other into the number 6. This feare is called a bondage here in this text And shall wee voluntarily make our selues Vassailes Or shall we be like slaues that dare not come in our Masters sight 7. If we loue long life VVhy are wee not much more in loue with eternall life where the duration is longer and the estate happier Are not wee extremely infatuated that when God will do better for vs then wee desire yet we wil be afraid of him 8. Shall we bee worse then children or mad-men neither of them feare death And shall simplicity or Ideotisme doe more with them then reason or Religion can doe with vs 9. Do not all that reade the Story of the Israelites in their passion desiring to be againe in Egypt and violently murmuring at the promise of going into the Land of Canaan condemne them of vile ingratitude to God and folly in respect of themselues For what was it for them to liue in Egypt but to serue cruell Taske-masters about bricke and clay And was not Canaan the place of their rest and a Land that flowed with milke and hony Euen such is the condition of all those that wish Life and are afraid to Die What is this world but Egypt and what is it to Liue in this world but to serue about bricke and clay Yea the Church that is separate from the world can finde it no better then a Barren Wildernesse And what is Heauen but a Spirituall Canaan And what can Death be more then to passe ouer Iordan and victoriously ouercōming all enemies to bee possessed of a place of matchlesse rest of more pleasures then Milk or Hony can shadow out 10. Adam might haue had more reason to feare Death that neuer saw a man die an ordinary Death but for vs to bee afrighted with Death that see thousands die at our right hand and ten thousand at our left and that daily is an inexcusable distemper The gate of Death is cōtinually open and wee see a prease of people that daily throng into it 11. When Moses had cast downe his Rod it turned into a Serpent and the Text noting Moses weaknesse saith Hee fled from it But the Lord commanded him to take it by the Taile and behold it became a Rod againe Euen so Death at the first sight is terrible like a new-made Serpent and the godly themselues through inconsideration flye from it But if at Gods commandment without feare they would lay hold vpon this seeming Serpent it will be turned into a Rod againe yea into a golden Scepter in our hands made much better by the change Neither do wee reade that euer at any after Moses had any feare of this Serpent when hee had once knowne the experience of it And haue wee often by the eyes of faith seene the experience of this great worke of God and shall we still be running away 12. It is said Rom. 8. 20. that all creatures groane waiting for the liberty of the sonnes of God And shall wee bee worse then bruite beasts Doth the whole frame of nature as it were call for this time of change and shall man bee so stupide or carried with such senselesse feares as to shunne his owne felicity 13. Consider whether it bee more commodious for vs that Death come to vs or that wee goe to Death For one thing is certaine It is in vaine to shun that which cannot bee auoided For it is appointed vnto all men once to die Heb. 9. 24. What man is he that liueth and shall not see death Psal. 89. Death is the way of all flesh Iosh. 24. Now this being granted let vs consider of it Death is like an armed man with whom we must once fight Now if we be aduised wil go to death wee may get on our armour beforehand and so the encounter wil be without danger to vs because the weapons of our warfare are mighty through God wee are assured of victorie through Iesus Christ. Now on the other side to tarry till Death come vnto vs is as if a man that knowes he must fight with a sore Aduersary would through slothfulness goe vp and downe vnarmed till hee fall into the hands of his enemy must thou fight with him at such disaduantage 14. It is most vncomly to feare that which is both common and certaine death of all afflictions is most common For from other afflictions it is possible some might bee free but from Death can no man be deliuered and GOD of purpose hath made that most common which is most grieuous that thereby hee might abate of the vigor and terror of it It is monstrous foolishnesse to striue in vaine to auoid that which neuer man could scape And to teach men their vnauoidable mortalitie the Lord clothed our first Parents with the skinnes of dead beastes and feeds vs with dead flesh that as often as wee eate of slaine beasts we might remember our owne end shall we be euer learning and neuer come to the knowledge of this truth Is this such a lesson as cannot be learned shall wee bee so stupide as daily to passe by the graues of the dead and heare their knells and yet bee vntaught and vnarmed 15. Lastly shall we be afraid of such an enemy as hath been ouercome hand to hand beaten by Christ and thousands of the Saints especially if we consider the assurance wee haue of victory In this combate euery Christian may triumph before the victory 1. Cor. 15. 55. And thus much of the two first points CHAP. IIII. Shewing that a Christian is many waies happie in death NOW I come to the third point which is the maine thing to bee attended and that is the meanes how wee may be cured of the feare of Death and in this we had neede all to attend vvith great carefulnesse The disease is stubborne and men are sluggish and extremely loth to bee at the trouble of the cure and Sathan by all meanes would keepe vs from remembring our later end and the world affoordes daily distractions to pluck vs away from the schoole of Christ herein and our owne hearts are deceitful and our natures apt to bee wearie of the doctrine before we put in practice any of the directions and wee are apt to a thousand conceits that it is either
vnpossible or vnnecessary to attend this doctrine or the like Yea it may be it will fare with many of vs as it doth with those that are troubled with the raging paine of the teeth their paine wil cease when the Barber comes to pull out the tooth so it may be you may finde this deceit in your owne hearts that you wil not feele the feare of Death till the discourse of the medicine be ouer and so let it bee as water spilt on the ground But let vs all awake and in the power and strength of Christ that died to deliuer vs from the feare of death let vs al lay the plaisters close to the sore and keepe them at it till they be throughly whole There bee tvvo vvaies then of curing this feare of Death 1. The one is by contemplation 2. The other is by practice There be some things if we did chuse them out soundly to thinke of them would heale vs wonderfully There bee some things also to be done by vs to make the cure perfect If contemplation bee not auailable then practice will without faile finish the cure The cōtemplations are of two sorts 1. For either they are such meditations as breede desire of Death by way of motiue 2. Or they are such as remooue the obiections which cause in mans mind the feare of Death For the first there bee tvvo things which if they bee soundly thought on will worke a strange alteration in our harts 1. The one is the happinesse wee haue by Death 2. The other is the miseries wee are in by Life Can any man be afraid to be happy If our heads hearts were filled with arguments that shew vs our happinesse by Death we would not be so sencelesse as to tremble at the thought of dying Our happines in Death may bee set out in many particulars illustrated by many similitudes full of life and vertue to heale this disease of feare 1. Death makes an end of all the tempests continual stormes with which our life is tossed It is the Hauen and Port of rest and are wee so mad as to desire the continuance of such dangerous tempests rather then to bee in the hauen whither our iourney tends 2. Death is a sleep For so the dead are said to be asleep 1. Thes. 4. 14. Look what a bed of rest sleep is to the weary labourer such is Death to the diligent Christian. In death they rest in their beds from the hard labours of this life Esay 37. 2. Reu. 14. 13. And was euer the weary labourer afraid of the time whē hee must lye downe and take his rest 3. The day of Death is the day of receiuing wages wherin God paies to euery godly man his penny And doth not the hireling long for the time wherein hee shall receiue wages for his work Iob. 7. 2. And the rather should we long for this time because we shall receiue wages infinitely aboue our worke such wages as was neuer giuen by man nor can bee if all this visible world were giuen vs. 4. In death the seruant comes to his freedome the heire is at his full age and it is such a liberty as i◠glorious neuer such a freedome in the world Rom. 8. 21. Shall the heire desire to be still vnder age and so still vnder Tutors and Gouernors or shall the seruant feare the day of his freedome 5. In death the banished returne and the Pilgrims enter into their Fathers house In this life wee are exiled men banished frō Paradise and Pilgrims Strangers in a far Countrey absent from God heauen In death wee are receiued to Paradise and settled at home in those euerlasting habitations in our Fathers house Luke 17. Iohn 14. 2. Heb. 13. 11. And can we bee so senceless as to be afraid of this 6. Death is our birth-day we say falsely when we call Death the last day For it is indeed the beginning of an euerlasting day and is there any greeuance in that 7. Death is the funerall of our vices and the resurrection of our graces Death was the daughter of Sinne and in death shall that be fulfilled The daughter shall destroy the mother Wee shall neuer more be infected with sin nor troubled with ill natures nor be terrified for offending Death shall deliuer vs perfectly whole of all our diseases that were impossible to be cured in this life and so shal there be at that day a glorious resurrection of graces Our gifts shall shine as the Starres in the Firmament And can we be so sottish as stil to be afraid of Death 8. In death the soule is deliuered out of prison For the body in this life is but a loathsome and darke prison of restraint I say the soule is restrained as it were in a prison while it is in the body because it cannot be free to the exercise of it selfe either in naturall or supernaturall things For the body so rules by senses and is so fiercely carried by appetites that the soule is compelled to giue way to the satisfying of the body and cannot freely follow the light either of Nature or Religion The truth as the Apostle saith is with-held or shut vp through vnrighteousnesse Rom. 1. 18. I say it is a loathsome prison because the soule is annoied with so many loathsome smels of sinne and filthinesse which by the body are committed And it is a darke prison For the soule looking through the body can see but by little holes or small casements The body shuts vp the light of the soule as a dark Cloude doth hide the light of the Sunne or as the interposition of the earth doth make it night Now death doth nothing but as it were a strong wind dissolue this Cloud that the Sunne may shine cleerely and puls downe the walles of the prison that the soule may come into the open light 9. The liberty of the soule in death may be set out by another similitude The world is the Sea our liues are like so many Gallies at Sea tost with continuall Tides or Stormes our bodies are Gally-slaues put to hard seruice by the great Turke the deuill who tyrannically and by vsurpation doth forcibly cōmand hard things Now the soule within like the heart of some ingenuous Gally-slaue may bee free so as to loathe that seruitude and inwardly detest that tyrant but yet so long as it is tyed to the body it cannot get away Now death comes like an vnresistable Gyant and carries the Gallies to the shore and dissolues them and lets the prisoners free And shall this glorious liberty of the soule bee a matter of terrour vnto vs Had we rather be in captiuity still 10. In this life wee are cloathed with rotten ragged foule garments Now the Apostle shewes that death doth nothing else but pull off those ragged garments and cloath vs with the glorious robes of saluation more rich then the robes of the greatest
Monarch 2. Cor. Chap. 5. Vers. 2 3. It is true that the godly haue some kinde of desire to be cloathed vpon They would haue those new garments without pulling off their old But that is not decent for a Prince to weare without gorgeous attire and vnderneath base ragges To desire to goe to heauen and not to die is to desire to put on our new cloaths without putting off our old and is it any grieuance to shift vs by laying aside our old cloathes to put on such rich garments We are iust like such slothfull persons that loue well to haue good cloaths and cleane linnen but they are so sluggish they are loth to put off their old cloathes or foule linnen 11. In the same place the Apostle cōpares our bodies to an old mud-walled house and to a rotten Tent and our estate in heauen to a most glorious and Princely Palace made by the most curious Workman that euer was and it is such a building too as wil neuer be out of repaire Now for a godly man to die is but to remoue from a rotten old house ready to fall on his head to a sumptuous Palace 2. Cor. 5. 1. Doth that Land-lord do his Tenant wrong or offer him hard measure that will haue him out of his base Cottage bestow vpon him his owne Mansion house No other thing doth God to vs when by Death he remoues vs out of this earthly Tabernacle of our bodies to settle vs in those euerlasting habitations euen into that building made without hands in heauen Ioh. 14. 2. Luk. 17. 12. A man that had neuer seene the experience of it perhaps would haue thought that the seed cast into the ground had beene spoyled because it would rot there but Nature hauing shewed the returne of that graine with aduantage a man can easily bee cured of that folly The Husbandman is neuer so simple as to pitty himselfe or his seed he sayes not Alas is it not pitty to throw away and marre this good seed Why brethren what are our bodies but like the best graine The bodies of the Saints are Gods choisest corne And what doth Death more vnto Gods Graine then cast it into the earth Do we not beleeue our bodies shall rise like the graine better then euer they were sowed and are we still afraid Paul saith he would be dissolued that hee might be with Christ Phil. 1. 21. In which words hee imports two things in death First that there is a dissolution of the soule from the body and secondly that there is a coniunction of the soule with Christ. Now which is better for vs to haue the body or to haue Christ The same Apostle saith else-where that they are confident in this they had rather be absent from the body and so to be present with the Lord then to bee present with the body and absent from the Lord 2. Cor. 5. 7 8. Now the true reason why men feare death is because they looke vpon the dissolution onely and not vpon the coniunction with Christ. 14. In the 1. Cor. 9. 24. our life is compared to a race and eternall life to a rich prize not corruptible but an incorruptible Crowne Now death is the end of the race and to die is but to come to the goale or race end Was euer runner so foolish as to bee sorry that with victory hee was neere the end of the race And are we afraid of death that shall end the toile and sweate and danger of the running and giue vs with endlesse applause so glorious a recompence of reward 15. In the Ceremoniall Law there was a yeare they called the yeere of Iubilee and this was accounted an acceptable yeare because euery man that had lost or sold his Lands vpon the blowing of a Trumpet returned and had possession of all againe and so was recouered out of the extremities in which he liued before In this life wee are like the poore men of Israel that haue lost our inheritance and liue in a manner and condition euery way straightned now Death is our Iubilee and when the Trumpet of death blowes we all that die returne and enioy a better estate then euer we sold or lost Shall the Iubilee be called an acceptable time And shall not our Iubilee bee acceptable to vs Esay 61. 2. 16. Death is the day of our Coronation wee are heires apparant to the Crowne in this life yea wee are Kings Elect but cannot bee crowned till death 2. Tim. 4. 8. And shall not that make vs loue the appearing of Christ Is a King afraid of the day of his Coronation To conclude this first part of Contemplation If we did seriously set before our eyes the glory to come could our eyes be so dazeled as not to see and admire and haste to it Aske Paul that was in heauen what he saw and hee will tell you Things that cannot hee vttered Happinesse beyond all language of mortall man If there were as much faith on earth as there is glory in heauen oh how would our hearts bee on fire with feruent desires after it But euen this faith is extremely wanting It is our vnbeleefe that vndoes vs and filles vs with these seruile and sottish feares And thus of the meditations taken from the happinesse wee enioy by death which should make vs conclude with Salomon That the day of Death is better then the day when one is borne CHAP. V. Shewing the miseries of life in wicked men NOW it followes that I should breake open the miseries of life the consideration whereof should abate in vs this wretched loue of life The miseries of life may bee two waies considered for they are of two sorts First either such miseries as loade the life of Nature secondly or such miseries as do molest the very life of Grace The miseries that accompany the naturall life of man while hee remaines in the state of Nature onely who can recount I will giue but a briefe touch of some heads of them First thinke of thy sins and so three dreadfull things may amaze thy thoughts For first thou art guilty of Adams sinne For by that man sinne came in vpon all men euen the guilt of his sinne Rom. 5. 12. Secondly thy nature is altogether vile and abominable from thy birth thou wast conceiued in sinne Psal. 51. 4. And this staine and leprosie hangs on fast vpon thy nature and cannot bee cured but by the bloud of Christ onely Heb. 12. 1. And this is seated in all the faculties of thy soule For in thy mind there is ignorance and impotency to receiue knowledge and a naturall approuing of euill and errour rather then the truth and sound doctrine Those waies seeme good in thine eyes which tend vnto death 1. Cor. 2. 14. Rom. 8. 7. 2. Cor. 3. 5. Prou. 14. 12. And this thou maist perceiue by this that thou art not able to thinke a good thought but canst go free for daies and
and Saints shall be glad of vs and entertaine vs with vnwearied delight If we had but the eies of faith to consider of this we would thinke euery houre a yeare till wee were with them Thirdly in this world we want the perfection of our owne Natures we are but maimed and deformed creatures heere we shall neuer haue the sound vnderstanding of men in vs till we be in heauen our holinesse of nature and gifts wil neuer be consummate till we be dead Fourthly in this world we want liberty Our glorious liberty will not be had here A thing which the Spirits of the best men haue with much sighing longed after Rom. 8. 21. 22. O who would liue in a prison a dungeon rather then a Palace of royall freedome It hath beene implyedly shewed before that we are many waies in bondage here Fiftly we shal euer want heere fulnesse of contentment If a man liue many yeeres so that the dayes of his yeeres bee many if his soule be not filled with good Salomon saith an vntimely birth is better then hee And it is certain if a man liue a thousand yeers twise told hee shall neuer see sollid good to fill his hart his appetite will neuer be filled Eccles. 6. 3 6 7. There is nothing in this life can giue a man sollid and durable contentment but a man finds by experience vanity and vexation of spirit in what hee admires orloues most and shall we be so sottish as to forget those riuers of pleasures that are at Gods right hand Psal. 6. vlt. 6. The sixt thing vvee want in this world is our crowne and the immortall and incorruptible inheritance bought for vs with the bloud of Christ and shall not our hearts burn within vs in longing after possession Can we desire still to liue in wants to be vnder age What shall mooue vs if such an incomparable crown cannot moue vs Wee that sweat with so much sore labour for the possession of some small portion of the earth shall wee I say bee so sluggish as not to desire that this kingdom which our Father hath giuen vs might come quickly vpon vs or are wee so transported with spirituall madnes as to be afraid to passe through the gate of death to attain such a life What Prince would liue vncrowned if hee could helpe it and might possess it without wrong or danger and what great heire would bee grieued at the tidings that all his Lands were falne vnto him CHAP. VII The miseries of a Christian in respect of God in this life THus of what he wants in this life Secondly he ought to bee as much troubled to think what he hath and cannot auoide while hee liues and thus his life is distressed and made vnlouely either if he respect God or the euill Angels or the world or himselfe For first if hee respect God there are two things should marre the taste of life and make it out of liking The first is the danger of displeasing of God who would liue to offend God or grieue his Spirit or any way to make him angry Though this reason will moue little in the hearts of wicked men Yet it is of singular force in the heart of an humble Christian who as hee accounts Gods louing kindnesse better then life so finds nothing more bitter then that he should displease God that God I say who is so great in Maiesty and hath shewed himselfe so aboundant in mercy to him It would lye as a heauy load vpon our hearts to think of the displeasing of our best friend specially if he were a great person or a Prince How much more should we desire to be rid of that condition wherein we may displease our good God and to be there where we are sure neuer to anger him more The second thing that should make vs looke with lesse affection vpon life is that God doth continually crosse vs in the things of this life The Lord doth of purpose watch vs that when hee sees vs settle any contentment in life hee drops in some thing that makes all extremely bitter And those corrections of God should bee the more noted if we consider but diuers aggrauations about them as 1. That God will correct euery sonne whom hee loueth none can escape Heb. 12. 4. 2. That a man is vsually most opposed crossed in that hee loues best 3. That a man shall euer want what he wisheth euen in such things as other men do not want There is a secret vexation cleaues vnto mans estate that their hearts run vpon such things which cannot be had but in the Callings of other men The Countriman prayseth the Citizens life and the Citizen is full of the praises of the Country And so is there in all men a liking of the Callings of other men with a dislike of their own Eccles. 6. 4. That there is no discharge in that warre but that a man must euery day looke for crosses Euery day hath his griefe Eccles. 8. 8. Luk. 9. 24. Math. 6. vlt. 5. That God will not let vs know the times of our corrections but executeth them according to the vnchangeable purpose of his owne counsell so as they come vpon vs as a snare vpon a Bird. For this reason Salomon saith That the misery of man is great vpon him because there is a time for euery purpose which cannot bee auoided nor can man know beforehand that which shall be for who can tell him when it shall be Eccl. 8. 6 7 8. 9. 12. 6. That no man knoweth either loue or hatred by all that is before him A godly man can haue no such blessings outwardly but a wicked man may haue them in as great aboundance as hee nor doth there any misery fall vpon the wicked in outward crosses but the like may befall the godly All things come alike to all there is one euent to the righteous and to the vvicked to the cleane and vncleane to him that sweareth to him that feareth an oath as is the good so is the sinner This saith Salomon is an euill among all things that are done vnder the Sunne that there is one euent vnto all Eccle. 9. 1 2 3. 7. This bitternesse is increased because GOD will not dispose of things according to the meanes or likelihoods of mans estate The race is not to the swift nor the battell to the strong nor yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of vnderstanding nor yet fauour to men of skill but time and chance hapneth to them all Eccles. 9. 11. 8. That besides the present miseries there are many miseries to come so as it is an argument to proue the happines of the dead that they are taken away from the miseries to come Esay 57. 1 2. vvhich should likewise mooue vs to loue life the lesse because we know not what fearefull alterations may come either in our outward estate or in matters of Religion What case were wee
8. If thou die and leaue issue thou maist be frighted and amazed with one of these things For either thou maist bee despised while thou liuest of those for whom thou endurest sore trauaile so as they that shall come after thee doe not reioyce in thee Eccles. 4. 15 16. Or else thou maist leaue the fruite of thy labours to a foole or a wicked wretch For who knoweth whether he that shall rule ouer thy labours shal be a wise man or a foole This very consideration made Salomon hate all his labour which he had taken vnder the Sunne and he went about to make his heart despaire of all his labours that hee should vse all his wisedome and knowledge for attaining of great things and yet might be in danger to leaue all for a portion to him that hath not laboured in wisedom and all this is vexation of spirit Eccles. a. 18. to 24. Or else thou maist beget children thy riches perish before thy death then there is nothing in thine hand to leaue them Eccles. 5. 14. CHAP. XI The miseries of life in respect of our selues THus haue we cause to be weary of life in respect of GOD the euill Angels and the World Now if there were none of these to molest vs yet man hath enough in himselfe to marre the liking of this present life For 1 The remainders of corruption of nature still lye like a poyson a leprosie a pestilence in thee thou art vnder cure indeed but thou art not sound from thy sore thou art Lazarus still This very consideration made Paul weary of his life when he cried out O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death Rom. 7. And if in this respect wee bee not of Pauls minde it is because wee want of Pauls goodnes grace And this corruption of nature is the more greeuous if wee consider either the generality of the spreading the infection or the incurablenes of it or the ill effects of it 1. For the first this is a Leprosy that spreads all ouer There is no souÌ„d part in vs our mindes our memories our wills and affections yea our very coÌ„sciences are still impure within vs there is no good nature in vs in any one faculty of our soules but there is a miserable mixture of vile infection 2. Secondly this is the worse because this is incurable There lyeth vpon vs a very necessity of sinning wee cannot but offend Of the flesh it vvas wel said I can neither liue with thee nor without thee The flesh is an inseparable ill companion of our liues we can goe no whether to auoide it c. Thirdly if we consider but some of the effects of this corruption in vs as 1. The ciuill warre it causeth in our soules there is no businesse can be dispatched that concernes our happinesse without a mutiny in our own hearts The flesh is a domesticall Rebel that daily lusts against the Spirit as the Spirit hath reason to lust against the flesh Gal. 5. 17. 2. Secondly the insufficiency it breeds in vs for our callings The greatest Apostle must in this respect cryout Who is sufficient for these things Though Gods worke bee all faire worke yet we see that euery maÌ„ is extreamly burthened with the defects and mistakings and insufficiencies which befall him in his course of life 3. It workes a perpetuall madnesse in the heart of a man in some respects worse then that of some lunatickes For they are mad at some times of the yeare onely or chiefly but man is seldome or neuer free from this inward madnesse of heart Salomon saith The heart of the sonnes of men is full of euil and madnesse is in their hearts while they liue and after that they goe to the dead Now this madnesse appeares in this that men can neuer bring their harts to a settled contentment in the things they inioy but Death comes vpon them before they know how to improue the ioy of their hearts in the blessings they enioy whether Temporall or Spirituall This vile corruption of nature diffuseth gall into althat a man possesseth so as it marreth the taste of euery thing 4. It fils our hearts and liues with innumerable euils it ingenders breeds infinitely swarmes of euill thoughts and desires and aboundance of sinnes in mens liues and conuersations so as godly Dauid cries out Innumerable euils hauc compassed mee about and I am not able to looke vp They were more then the haires of his head therefore his heart failed him Ps. 40. 12. 5. It is continually mad to betray vs to Sathan and the world in all the occasions of our life 6. It will play the Tyrant if it get any head and leade vs 〈◊〉 and giue wretched Lawes to the members yea euery sinne which is the brat bred of this corruption is like a fury to fright and amaze vs there is a very race of deuâ—s brâ—â— in vs when Sathan and the Flesh ingender together in vs. 2. And as we are thus miserable in respect of the remainders of corruption so are we in respect of the remainders of the punishment of sinne vpon our spirits Our hearts were neuer fully free since the first transgression our minds are yet full of darknesse that euen godly men do seriously cry out They are but as beasts they haue not the vnderstanding of men in them And in many passages of life they carry theÌ„selues like beasts Prou. 3. 3. Ps. 139. Eccl. 3. 18. The ioyes of Gods presence are for the greatest part kept from vs our consciences are still but in a kinde of prison when they go to the seat of iudgement to giue sentence in any cause they come forth with fetters vpon their legs as prisoners themselues besides the many personall scourges light vpon our soules in this life 3. Lastly the very condition of our bodies should not be ouer-pleasing to vs our deformities and infirmities and the danger of further diseases should tire vs out and make vs account it no louely thing to be present in the body while we are absent from the LORD And thus of the miseries of our liues also Now it remaines that I should proceed to the second sort of contemplations that is those that are remouals namely such meditations as take off the obiections which are in the hearts of men CHAP. XII Comforts against the Paine of death THere are in the minds of all men certaine Obiections which if they could be remoued this feare of Death would be stocked vp by the very rootes I will instance in some of the chiefe of theÌ„ and set downe the answers to them 1. Ob. Some men say they should not be afraid of death considering the gaine of it the happines after death but that they are afraid of the paine of dying It is the difficulty of the passage troubles them Sol. For answere heereunto diuers things would be considered of to shew men the folly of
this feare First thou lik'st not death because of the paine of it Why there is paine in the curing of a wound yet men will endure it And shall death do so great a cure as to make thee whole of all thy wounds and diseases and art thou so loth to come to the cure Secondly There is difficulty in getting into a Hauen Hadst thou rather be in the Tempest stil then put into the Hauen Thirdly thou likest not Death thou saiest for the paine of it Why then likest thou life which puts thee to worse paine Men obiect not at the paines of life which they endure without death There is almost no man but hee hath endured worse pains in life then he can endure in death and yet we are content to loue life still Yea such is our folly that whereas in some paines of life wee call for death to come to our succours yet when we are well againe wee loue life and loath Death Fourthly we are manifestly mistaken concerning death For the last gaspe is not death To liue is to die For how much wee liue so much we die euery step of life is a step of death He that hath liued halfe his daies is dead the halfe of himselfe Death gets first our infancie then our youth and so forwards All that thou hast liued is dead Fifthly it is further euident that in death there is no paine it is our life that goeth out with paine We deale herein as if a man after sicknesse should accuse his health of the last pains What is it to be dead but not to be in the world and is it any paine to be out of the world Were we in any paine before we were borne Why then accuse we death for the paines our life giues vs at the parting Is not sleepe a resemblance of Death Sixthly if our comming into the world bee with teares Is it any wonder if our going out be so too Seuenthly Besides it is euident that wee make the passage more difficult by bringing vnto death a troubled and irresolute minde It is long of our selues there is terrour in parting Eighthly Consider yet more the Humors of the most men Men will suffer infinite paines for a small liuing or preferment here in this world Yea we see souldiers for a small price will put themselues into vnspeakeable dangers and that many times at the pleasures of others that command them without certaine hope of aduantage to themselnes Will men kill themselues for things of no valew and yet be afraid of a litle pain to be endured when such a glorious estate is immediately to be enioyed in heauen Ninthly Let not men pretend the paines of death that is but a figge leafe to couer their little faith For they will languish of the Gowte or Stone a long time rather then die one sweet death with the easiest conditions possible Tenthly if none of these will perswade yet attend I will shew thee a Mysterie Feare not the paines of death For first Death is terrible when it is inflicted by the Law but it is easie when it is inflicted by the Gospell The curse is taken off frō thee thou art not vnder the Law but vnder Grace And besides for this cause did Christ die a terrible and a cursed death that euery death might be blessed to vs. And further God that hath greatly loued thee in life will not neglect thee in death Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his Saints What shall I say against the terrour of death but this Text of the Apostle Thankes be to God that hath giuen vs victory through Iesus Christ. Hee hath pul'd the sting out of death O Death where is thy sting 1. Cor. 15. 55. Lastly thou hast the Spirit of Christ in thee which will succour and strengthen and ease thee and abide with thee all the time of the combate Why should we doubt of it but that the godly die more easily then the wicked Neither may wee gesse at their paine but the pangs vpon the body for the body may bee in grieuous panges when the man feeles nothing and the soule is at sweete ease in preparing it selfe to come immediately to the sight of God CHAP. XIII Comforts against the losse of the body in death 2. Ob. OH but in death a man is destroied he loseth his body and it must bee rotted in the earth Sol. 1. It hath bin shewed before that the separation of the soule frō God is properly death but the separation of the soule frō the body is but the shadow of death wee haue no reason to be afraid of a shadow 2. The body is not the man the man remaines still though he be without the body Abraham Isaac and Iacab are prooued to be liuing still by our Sauiour Christ though their bodies were consumed in the earth and GOD was their God still It is true Death seazeth on the body but a Christian at the most suffers but aliquid mortis a little of death Death is like a Serpent the Serpent must eat dust now death therefore can feede vpon no more but our dust which is the body it cannot touch the soule wheras wicked men suffer the whole power of death because it seazeth both vpon body and soule too and in their case onely it is true that death destroyes a man 3. Grant that wee lose the body in death yet that ought not to be terrible for what the body is it hath been before shewed It is but a prison to the soule an old rotten house or a ragged garment It is but as the barke of a tree or the shell or such like now what great losse can there be in any of these 4. This separation is but for a time neither we doe not for euer lose the body wee shall haue our bodies again they are kept safe for vs till the day of Christ. Our graues are Gods chests hee makes a precious account of the bodies of his Saints they shall bee raised vp againe at the last day GOD will giue a charge to the earth to bring forth her dead make a true account to him Reue. 20. And God hath giuē vs the assurance of this not onely in his Word by promising it but in his Sonne whom hee hath raised from the dead If any say What is that to vs that Christs body is raised I answere It is a full assurance of the safety and of the resurrection of our bodies For Christ is our head Now cast a man into a Riuer though all the body bee vnder water yet the man is safe if the head bee aboue water For the head will bring out all the body after it So it is in the body of Christ though all wee sinke in the riuer of death yet our Head is risen and is aboue water and therefore the whole body is safe 5. It should yet more satisfie vs if we throughly cōsider that we shall haue our
haue belieued and that hee is able to keepe that which I haue committed to him 2. Tim. 1. 12. Besides we should labour to get a particular knowledge and assurance of our happines in death and of our saluation We should study to this end the Arguments that shews our felicity in death And to this purpose it is of excellent vse to receiue the Sacraments often For Christ by his Will bequeathed Heauen to vs Ioh. 17. and by the death of the Testator this Will is of force and is further daily sealed vnto vs as internally by the Spirit so externally by the Sacraments Now if we get our Charter sealed and confirmed to vs how can we be afraid of the time of possession Hee is fearelesse of death that can say with the Apostle Whether I liue or die I am the Lords Rom. 14. 8. 4. That charge giuen to Hezekiah concerning the setting of his house in order Esay 38. is of singular vse for this Cure Men should with sound aduice settle their outward estates and dispose of their worldly affaires and according to their meanes prouide for their wife and children A great part of the feare and trouble of mens hearts is ouer when their Wils are discreetely made but men are loth to die so long as their outward estates are vnsettled and vndisposed It is a most preposterous course for men to leaue the making of their Wils to their sicknesse For besides their disabilities of memories or vnderstanding which may befall them the trouble of it breeds vnrest to their minds and besides they liue all the time in neglect of their duty of preparation for death 5. We may much help our selues by making vs friends with the riches of iniquity we should learne that of the vniust Steward as our Sauiour Christ sheweth since we shall be put out of the Stewardship we should so dispose of them while wee haue them that when wee die they may receiue vs into euerlasting habitations Luke 16. An vnprofitable life is attended with a seruile feare of death 6. It would master this feare but to force our selues to a frequent meditation of death To learne to die daily will lessen yea remoue the feare of dying Oh this remembring of our latter end and learning to number our daies is an admirable rule of practices It is the forgetfulnesse of death that makes life sinfull death terrible Deut. 32. 19. Psal. 90. 12. Lam. 1. 9. And wee should beginne this exercise of meditation betimes Remember thy Creator in the daies of thy youth Eccl. 12. 1. This is that is called for when our Sauiour Christ requires vs and all men so to watch and heerein lay the praise of the fiue wise Virgines Math. 25. 3. Thus Iob will waite till the time of his change come Iob 10. 14. And of purpose hath the Lord left the last day vncertain that we might euery day prepare It were an admirable methode if we could make euery day a life to beginne and end as the day begins and ends 7. Lastly because yet wee may finde this feare combersome and our natures extremely deceitfull there is one thing left which can neuer faile to preuaile as far as is fit for vs and that is hearty prayer to God for this very thing Thus Dauid praies Psal. 39. 4. and Moses Psal. 90. 12. and Simeon Luk. 2. 32. And in as much as Christ died for this end to deliuer vs from this feare we may sue out the priuiledge and by prayer striue with God to get it framed in vs It is a suite God will not deny them that aske in the name of Christ because it is a thing that Christ especially aimed at in his owne death To conclude then wee haue proued that it is possible to be had and most vncomely to want it and likewise the way hath beene shewed how both by meditation practise this Cure may bee effected If then it bee not wrought in any of vs we may heere finde out the cause in our selues For if wee would hereby bee soundly aduised and ruled we might attaine to it all the daies of our life to sing with the Saints that triumphant song mentioned both in the Old and New Testament Oh death where is thy sting Oh hell where is thy victory Death is swallowed vp into victory so as we are now the conquerours through him that loued vs and gaue himselfe to death for vs euen Iesus Christ the righteous To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost bee all praise in the Churches throughout all ages for euer Amen FINIS The drift of the whole Treatise The profit of following these directions The parts of the Treatise 1 2 3 Eight Arguments to proue we may be helped against the feare of death Fifteeene Reasons why it is an vncomely thing to be afraid to die An exhortation to attend vpon the meanes of cure Two waies of curing the feare of death The wayes of curing this feare by conteÌ„plation The happines of a Christian in death shewed 17. wayes The dissolution of the body is the absolution of the soule Eccles. 7 1 The miseries of life two waies considered The miseries of a naturall life shewed three waies Three dreadfull considerations about sin Six things euery godly maÌ„ wants while hee liues here in this world Life bitter in respect of God diuers waies Eight aggrauations of the miseries of life in respect of the corrections of God The world full of diuels Our conflict with diuels 9. Apparant miseries of life in this vvorld In this world the dead bury the dead What the seeming felicities of the world are Fifteene ArgumeÌ„ts to proue the vanity of the best worldly things The amity of the world is the enmity with God All subiect to vanity or violence Mat. 6. 19 20. They may be lost at the very seate of iudgemeÌ„t Eccl. 3. 16 18. 4. 1 2 Our mortality aggrauated by 4. considerations The causes in our selues why wee should not be in loue with life 4. Effects of corruption of nature in vs. Ten reasons to shew the folly of meÌ„ in pre tending the feare of the pain of death 9. Arguments to shew the vanity of men in desiring to liue long Sixe reasons against their pretence that would liue long to do good as they say Against selfe murther 6. Reasons about parting with our frieÌ„ds in death Fiue Arguments against the pleasures of life Fiue obseruations about the honors of this world Seuen mo â—ue to leaue the loue of riches 7. Things that cure the feare of death in practice