know that God both is and that he is iust and therefore hee will punish wicked sinners and by that meane declare his iust iudgement against vicious wretches The deseruing cause of death of sinne as ignorance of God disobedience of the truth especially of the Gospell of Christ Iesus and obedience of vnrighteousnesse as the Apostle sheweth as also want of charitie and charitable behauiour towardes the poore and needie members of Christ Iesus as hee himselfe doth teach vs. Neyther are these sins only meritorious of death but euen euery sinne though the smallest want of that which the law requireth is in it selfe odious and deadly For the wages of euery sinne is death The persons subiect to this death are all the Sons of Adam is as much as all are Sinners yet all of them shall not die this death namely they that are redeemed by the bloud of Christ who by his death hath deliuered them from this death by them through sinne deserued Those then shall die this death that were reprobated of God and who by their wickednesse and hardnesse of heart which could not repent haue treasured vp vnto themselues wrath against the day of wrath Depart from me ye cursed saith Christ into euerlasting fire The cursed then are they that must die this accursed death I neuer knew you saith Christ Depart from me ye workers of iniquitie They that shal die this death are such as Christ knew not owned not neuer acknowledged for his and such as whiles they liued were very hypocrites nourishing some sinne or other in their bosomes though they did many glorious and good works as preach baptise eiect diuels cure diseases and were perhaps of great account with men The Apostle saith that the Lord Iesus will render vengeance at his appearing vnto them that know not God and obey not the Gospell So that all which are ignorant of God and which disobey the Gospell of his Sonne shall die this death This then I say All impenitent sinners shall be damned all that beleeue not in Iesus Christ as Mahometaus incredulous Iewes and all other Infidels and all that professe Christ in name but denie him in example All these liuing and dying without sound repentance shall die this death And I proue it thus Except ye beleeue saith Christ that I am he you shall die in your sinnes but the Iewes beleeue not that Iesus the sonne of Mary was the Messias foretold therefore they shall die in their sinnes Hee that obeyes not the Sonne shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him but neyther Iewes nor Mahometans obey Christ Iesus Therefore neyther of them shall liue but die Peter being full of the holy Ghost said that Christ is the Stone euen the fundamentall stone of mans saluation Neyther is there quoth he saluation in any other for among men there is giuen none other Name vnder heauen whereby we must be saued All therefore that either denie him or beleeue not in him and do not know him whether Iew Turke Persian Moore Indian American or who else soeuer all such shall bee damned cannot bee saued For by his knowledge shall my righteous seruant Christ Iesus Instifie many And we which are Iews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles know that a man is not iustified by the works of the law but by the faith of Iesus Christ God saith Saint Iohn hath giuen vnto vs eternall life and this life is in that his Sonne Hee that hath that Sonne hath that life and hee that hath not that Sonne of God hath not that life But Mahometans Iewes and Infidels haue not that Son therefore they haue not eternall life in spe and shall not haue it In Re but so continuing shall vndoubtedly die the damned death of the wicked for ought that man can tell I say further that those which professe Christ in word and in shew but denie him by their deeds addicting themselues to wicked lusts as whoredome pride drunkennesse auarice idlenesse epicurisme those I say shall vndoubtedly perish without mature and true repentance Know ye not saith Saint Paul that the vnrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdome of God Be not deceiued neither fornicators nor Idolaters nor adulterers nor wantons nor buggerers nor theiues nor couetous nor drunkards nor raylers nor extortioners shall inherite the kingdome of God But among Christians there are offenders in all kinds of the sinnes aforesaid therefore if they shall die in them they cannot possibly scape damnation Our Lord saith that The fearefull and vnbeleening the abhominable and murtherers whoremongers sorcerers idolaters and all lyars wherewith the Christian world aboundeth shall haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And finally S. Iude speaking of sundrie wicked Epicures cept into the Church saith that for them is reserued the blacknesse of darknesse for euer Thirdly I say that all they which professing Christ doe notwithstanding adde vnto the faith of Christ and coyne articles which they doe propose as necessarily to be beleeued to saluation all such I say by this their presumption do cut themselus off from Christ and shall vndoubtedly perish except they shall repent In like manner they that doe take from the faith any essentiall point and needfull absolutely to saluation they also are subiect to damnation which without repentance they cannot scape Ye shall put nothing vnto the word which I command you neither shall ye take ought therefrom It was twise at least giuen in charge by Moses When Moses was now dead and the gouernment cast vpon Ioshuah God gaue him the same lesson in effect Thou shalt not turne away from it to the right hand nor to the left In like manner Agur saith Put nothing vnto his words least he reproue thee and thou be found a lyar I protest saith Christ to euery man that heareth the words of the prophecie of this booke If any man how precise how pure how holy how austere how sanctified soeuer he seeme or how learned soeuer he be and wit tie in the iudgement of men shall adde vnto these things God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this booke and if any man shall diminish of the words of the booke he meaneth the true sense and substance of the words of this prophecie God shall take away his part out of the booke of life and out of the holy Citie and from those things which are written in this booke If any subiect or subiects shall presume to repeale the lawes of the kingdome or to make new lawes and to vrge men to receiue and obey them the king in the mean time vnacquainted with their proceeding or disliking it they shew themselues busie bodies rebellious turblent and taking vpon them as kings they incurre the displeasure of
Hugo is his good pleasure his will is his operation and his will is his permission Sixtly doth not God will contrarie thinges if he doe will those things which he doth in his law forbid Yea saith Perkins if hee should will that the same thing should come to passe and not come to passe in the same respect and manner but God forbiddeth sin as it is an euill and doth will it should come to passe as it hath respect of good Here vpon Thomas Aquinas saith Deum velle mala sieri Deum velle mala non sieri non opponuntur contradictoriè cum vtrumque sit affirmatum this is no contradiction to say that God doth will that euills should bee done that God doth will that euils should not be done seeing both the propositions are affirmatiue Seuenthly doth God make men sinners or doth he onely order them Saint Austen saith God makes men iust and orders them peccatores autem in quantum peccatores non facit sed ordinat tantum but God makes not sinners so farre forth as they be sinners but onely orders and disposes them And againe as God is the best Creatour of good willes it a malarum voluntatum iustissimus ordinator so is he a most righteous orderer of euill willes Eightly is it iniurious to God to say that hee drawes good out of euill and vseth euills as a wise Phisitian doth poison vnto good Clemens Alexandrinus saith it is a point of diuine wisedome vertue and power not onely to doe good things but also to bring the deuises of the wicked to some good and profitable end vtiliter iss quaevidentur mala vtatur and to vse those things profitably which seeme euill Austen saith Deus quasdam voluntates suas vtique bonas implet per malorum hominum voluntates malas God doth accomplish certain good wils of his by the naughty wils of naughty men And Fulgentius saith De malo opere cuinslibet non desinit ipse bonum operari that God ceaseth not of euery mans euill worke to worke that which is good But tell me yet againe though God put no corruption into any mans heart yet doth hee not incline the will to sinne by offering a man obiects and by leauing him to himselfe as a Shepheard stirres vp his sheepe to eate by setting Hay or Grasse before it or as a Huntsman stirres vp his Greyhound to a course by shewing him the Hare and letting the slip goe Manifestum est c. It is manifest saith Saint Austen that God doth worke in the heartes of men Ad Inclinandas corum voluntates to incline their willes whither he pleaseth either to good things for his mercie or to euill things for their deserts sometimes verily with his open iudgement sometimes secret but alwaies iust And Bellarmine saith that by a figure God exciteth men to sinne As an Huntsman setteth the Dogge vpon the Hare by letting goe the Slip that held in the Dogge If these things then which are spoken of sinne in generall be applyed vnto the particular sinne of Murder it will appeare that euery Murderer doth as it is said of the Murtherers of our Sauiour Whatsoeuer the hand and counsell of God had fore-determined to be done and that God doth permit limit and order him as it seemeth best in his holy wisedome Now wee haue seene how God is the Ordainer and Inflicter of Death But further wee must know that death comes by Sinne as the Apostle sheweth and before sinne there was no death at all For death is the wages of sinne Quoniam mors non naturae conditio ised poena peccati sequatur necesse est poena peccatum Because death saith Saint Austen is not the condition of nature but the punishment of sinne it is necessary that the punishment should follow the sinne For it is most certaine that God hath not made death as though be were in loue with death for it self sake neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the liuing but vnrighteousnesse bringeth to death and man by forsaking God hath procured his owne death And although as saith Siracides Life and Death come of the Lord yet not vpon the same ground For vita is a donante Life is a gift of God that giues it but Mors is a vindicante Death is a punishment inflicted of God auenging as Saint Austen teacheth But let vs heare Saint Paul By one man saith he that is by Adaem sinne entred into the world and death by sinne And that wee may briefely dispatch the causes of Death we must vnderstand that as Death is of God For sinne so it comes by diuers meanes as hath beene toucht afore all which from the greatest to the smallestare determined ordered and directed by the Lord so as that none of them come to passe but according to his most holy prouidence And thus wee leaue the causes of death and come vnto the Subiects thereof Albeit Iesus Christ the Sonne of Mary dyed yet wee must know it was not by his owne desert for hee knew no sinne he was no Sinner but because it was his will to dye that by his death hee might deliuer vs from eternall death and sanctifie our death to be the doore of life vnto vs. And although Adam dyed yet it was not because hee was a man but because he was a Sinner For if Adam had neuer sinned Adam had neuer died because God had granted him this grace Vt posset non mori si eius mandatis obsequeretur as to bee able not to die if he did obey his precepts This then I say All the children of Adam by reason of sinne in which all but Christ are conceiued and borne are all without exception subiect vnto death By one man saith Saint Paul sinne entered into the world and death by sinne and so death went ouer All men The law of sinne saith Austen is that whosoeuer shall sinne must die The Law of death is whereby it is said to Man Thou art earth and vnto earth thou shalt returne Out of it we spring because wee are earth Et in terram ibimus propter meritum peccatiprimi hominis And to earth we shall returne for the first mans sinnes desert But you will say How is it that Infants of a day olde doe dye seeing that they commit no sinne I answere Sinne is either the corruption of nature or any euill which proceedes as the fruites thereof or thus sinne is either originall or actuall the former is in Infants though not the latter For euen Infants are conceiued and borne in sinne being naturally vncleane and guiltie of Adams first transgression The stame of the roote corrupted is so propagated diffused through all the branches which arise thereout that as Saint Austen truely speaketh Nec infans quidem
not shall be worse beaten then he that knowes ir not and doth it not Christ tells the Scribes and Pharisees that because vnder the cloke of Religion they preyed on Widdowes therefore they should Receiue the Greater damnation and sayes that they make their seduced proselytes Two fold more the children of Hell then themselues And speaking of them that contemne the Gospell offered them he saith It shall bee easier for them of the land of Sodome and Gomorrha in the day of iudgement then for that Citie As for the situation of Hell to say precisely where hell is it is not easie below it 's doubtlesse as may appeare by sundry places of the Scripture and farre from heauen but that there is an Hell to wit a place appointed for the tormenting of wicked Angels and vngodly men it is cleere ynough our chiefest care should bee so to demeane our selues that we may neuer come there And assuredly whosoeuer is in the state of grace shall neuer come into that horrid place prepared onely for gracelesse and wicked people He is in the state of grace which depends wholly on the grace of God which turnes not his grace into wantonnes which delights not in vngracious wretches which maketh much of those meanes of grace which God hath in his Church and finally who out of a gratefull spirit doth bestow himselfe his soule seruice vpon God labouring tooth and nayle with might and maine for the aduancement of his honour and the welfare of his house which is the Church being sorie at the heart that his seruice is so simple his weakenesses so many and his obedience so vnperfect as it is Certainely this man shall not dye but liue eternally not hell but heauen shall bee his habitation God doth honour him with his grace in this world and will crowne him with eternall glory in the world to come Trin-Vni Deo Gloria Because these few pages left vntouched should not bee lost I haue set downe some Positions which are not disagreeing from the matter handled The first Position Death is not the End of man if wee speake properly THE end is that properly to which a thing is ordained or for which it is But when God mad a man death was not the end he shot at dissolution is not the scope of Gods creation nor of Parents generation Againe the End by it selfe and of it owne natnre is only good but death of it selfe and in it owne nature is not good but the priuation of life which is a certaine good death came in by sinne is the fruit of sinne and is as the Apostle sheweth an Enemie which shall bee destroyed as an enemie and therefore death properly is not good but euill therefore properly death is not the end of man Furthermore Finis est quod maximè volumus that is the end which we doe chiefly desire but neither God nor man doth chiefly desire death A good Christian desires death not for it selfe but to bee with Christ to be unburdened of his concupiscence Many men out of distemper of minde and an ill-informed will doe couet death and kill themselues but yet it is not for death it selfe but for some respect besides as Cato Vticensis killed himselfe with his owne sword because he would not fall into the handes of Iulius Caesar Sophronia to keepe her chastitie from the lust of Decius the Emperour who daily assaulted it by her husbands consent slew her selfe Portia the wife of Brutus vnable to beare the newes of her husbands death killed her selfe with eating burning coales Labienus hearing his bookes were condemned to the fire killed himselfe because they should not die before him Siluius Italieus murdered himselfe to rid himselfe of the torments of his greuous and incurable disease Pontius Pilate being banished to Vienna and feeling the gripes of an accusing conscience and fearing punishment for his misdeeds to preuent all killed himselfe These and such like are the ends of Selfe-slayers and not death it selfe And albeit God doe appoint men to die yet it is not death hee aimes at but the manifestation of his iustice in punishing sinne of his power in raysing men dead to life and for such ends as are best knowne vnto himselfe To conclude then Death is not properly a mans end non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the highest scope of Gods creation nor a mans perfection or be atitude which is the full and finall fruition of Almightie God but it is a certaine Extreme or the end of priuation which end is the corruption and the dissolution of a thing The second Position It is iust with God to smite Sinners with death euen in the very act of their wickednesse and with that wherein they doe offend COrnelius Gallus and Quintus Elorius two Roman Knights died as Plinie lib. 7. recordeth in the very action of filthinesse Arichbertus eldest sonne to Lotharius King of France died as hee was embracing his whores Anacreon the Poet a notable Drunkard was choked with the huske of a grape A certaine African caled Donitius eate so much at a Supper that he died there with Philostrates being in the Bathes at Sinressa deuoured so much wine that hee fell downe the staires and almost broke his necke with the fall Alexander the sonne of Basilius and Brother of Leo the Emperour being a very belly-god one day hauing crammed himselfe too full as hee got vp his horse he burst a veine whereat flowed such store of bloud that hee died These and many more such are the iudgements of GOD vpon Sinners and are in him most iust For first his will is the rule of iustice but these punishments hee doth will and ordaine for there is no euill in the Citie no punishment which hee sendeth not therefore these must needes bee iust Secondly they are deserued for the wages of sinne is death and in that God doth not strike euerie Sinner alike the reason is because hee is tied to no Law but is a Law vnto himselfe and may doe what he will But sometimes he is pleased to smite suddenly to terrifie the wicked and to keepe his owne in obedience and to let all men know that there is a God that iudgeth the world and hateth wickednesse and wicked men The third Position A wicked man though wickedly and cruelly murthered is not not therefore discharged of his wickednesse vnrepented of and saued SEnacherib was murthered of his sonnes yet for that his owne Idolatry other sinnes were not forgiuen For men are not saued for any good thing either done by thē or for any euil sustained of them The Easterne Emperour Zeno was such a loathsome Belly-god that his wife Ariadne fell to loath bim and on a day as he lay senselesse as his manner was through gurmandizing she got him into a tombe and throwing a great stone vpon it pined him to
subtle readie to take all aduantages and because without repentance men may not looke for pardon and because as death doth leaue vs so the latter day shall finde vs therefore least we should be taken vnprepared it is fit and needfull for vs to pray that God would not take vs away vpon the sodaine or if it shall seeme good vnto him to remoue vs sodainly that hee would be pleased not to take vs away vnprepared for him but that whēsoeuer he doth remoue vs he woud pardon accept vs be pleased to smite vs whiles we be either in some holy worke of his seruice as preaching prayer meditation or the like or else in some honest worke of our honest calling or at the least in no euill plot nor about any euill act Now finally of sodaine deathes some are by the distemper of the passions as the death of such as die of feare sorrow or ioy Thus died that good old Poet Phileman who being neere an hundred years old and seeing as he lay an Asse eate figs fell into an extreme laughter and hauing called his seruants he bad them giue the Asse some drinke after his figges and laughing very earnestly so died Plutarch also writeth of one Polycrita who with ioy conceiued for that her life was granted whereof it seemes she was not a little fearefull fell downe sodainly and so died Againe some that die sodainly are taken away by the extraordinarie hand of God as Dathan and Abiram whom the earth opening her mouth by Gods command deuoured thus also two sonnes of Aaron Nadab Abihu sodainly were killed by fire sent out from God Nabal also the Lord sodainly smote and slue not long after his churlishnesse toward Dauid Others haue died by the special permission of God though by the meanes of the diuell himselfe as Iobs children who were sodainly slaine with the fall of the house vpon them which was blowne downe with a sodaine storme raised doubtlesse by the power of the diuell Others haue beene sodainly dispatcht with their owne hands as Lucretius the Poet some haue beene sodainly killed of others as Eglon whom Ehud slue with his dagger or as the Princes and people of the Philistins on whom Sampson with the sorce of his armes pulled downe the house in which they were assembled or also as Sisera whom Iael slue with a naile driuen into his head as he was sleeping in her Tent but all these perished without treason but some others haue been sodainly dispatcht by treason as Senacherib whom his owne sous slue as he was in his Idols temple as Elah whom his seruant Zimri kild as he was in his drunkennesse and thus with inhumane barbarity shold our noble king with many mo haue died in the Parliamēt house by the malice of wicked Iesuits and their bloudie schollers had not God from heauen deliuered them Whose name be praised for euermore Amen And thus from the kinds of death we passe vnto the causes The first and highest Ruling cause of death is Almightie God Dauid saith to the Lord Thou hast made my daies as an hand breadth Hezekiah saith Thou wilt make an end of mee to whom said God I will adde vnto thy daies fifteene yeares By which it appeareth that God is vitae necisque arbiter the Author and Ordainer of life and death Yea the Lord by that commination vnto Adam In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die doth plainely shew that in his hands is the power of life death Finally he saith I forme the light and create darkenesse the light of prosperitie the darknesse of aduersitie the light of life the darknesse of death I make peace and create euill the euill not of sinne but of sorrow of troubles bloudshed famine pestilence death To all things saith Salomon there is an appointed time a time to be borne a time to die who hath appointed this time but GOD who hath put times and seasons in his owne power as our Sauiour teacheth And surely if God number the verie haires of our head doubtlesse he hath numbred the daies and houres and minutes of our life and hath set downe the periode of our age And if a poore Sparrow cannot light on the ground without his will surely then no man can fall into the ground but by his will Euen the wiser heathen knew this therefore Hector saith in Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that God did call him vnto death Tertullian another Doctor saith Deus vniuersa vtique disponendo praescituit praesciendo disposuit that God hath foreknowne and disposed all things if all things then the liues and deathes of men Saint Ierome saith What good things or euill things soeuer be in the world Non absque prouidentia fortuito casu accidit sed Iudicio Dei not one of them comes to passe by chance and without prouidence but by the iudgement of God if nothing then not murthers manslaughters killing Finally Saint Austen saith Voluntas Deiomniū quae sunt ipsaest causa that the will of God is the verie cause of all things that are and to conclude with the Prophets speech Who is he that saith It commeth to passe and the Lord commandeth it not It will be thus perhaps obiected If God be the Author of death then it seemes hee delightes in the destruction of his creature for by death life is put out and the bodies of men are corrupted I answere thus Death is a punishment or at the best and to the best a triall a correction a passage to a better life now God ordaines and appointes death not simply as it is a destruction but eyther as it is a punishment of wicked men or a correction and triall of the godly and as a meanes of deliuerance to his elect from worldly and wicked miseries Euen as a wise potent and iust King appointeth places of execution executioners and the death of grieuous malefactors not as though hee delighted in them but for the maintenance of iustice the punishment of vice and for the good of the Commonwealth Or as a Father who maketh and vseth rods not because he taketh pleasure simply in whipping or in roddes but because hee desires the good of his children and that they might be afraid of euill Or finally as a Landlord that puls downe his Tenants house not because he delightes simply in pulling downe of houses but for that he purposeth to cure it of all rottennesse and ruines and to build it for him new and faire againe It may againe bee thus obiected If God appoint and ordaine euery mans death then if a man murther himselfe or if he be killed by another or be vniustly put to death by a Tyrant God you will say appointed and ordained that mans death which you will say is harsh I answere and let my words be well obserued
prey vnto her All is fish that comes vnto her net The Lambes skinne is common in the market as well as the old sheepes Mors fagacem persequitur virum nec paroit imbellis iuuentae poplit ibus timidoque tergo Death followes him that flies him and spateth not young folkes though fearefull of him Serius aut citius sedem properamus ad vnam First or last we must all die Yea but the beautifull peraduenture may finde better fauour No doubtlesse Rebecca Bathsheba Ester Helena Irene were goodly creatures Absalon and Achilles were gallants yet all these with many moe are dead and gone Asahel was as swift as a Roe yet death out-went him won him Goliah was a great fellow but death was the greater Achitophel was verie politicke and subtile Aristotle learned Aesop wittie Mithridates a good linguist but they bee dead all Rich and poore Craessus as well as Codrus wise and foolish high and low young and old bond and free all men must die Omnia peribunt sie ibimus ibitis ibunt All must away I thou and euerie man besides Intrasti vt exires we came all into the world to go out againe Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis No phisicke can preuent death no charme can let it no wile can catch it no bribe can blinde it no griefe can moue it no least can abash it no place no pleasure no man no meanes can stay it All goe to one place and all was of the dust and all shall returne to the dust Shall all men then die haue all men then in former ages died Surely Saint Paul directed by God doth tell the Corinthes that All meaning them that liue at the verie laste gaspe of the world shall not die but all must be changed by which sodaine change they shall be stript of all corruption and mortalitie And againe if euer any man in former daies haue not died or if any man shall be translated without death into heauen as Enok and Elias who are now in their glorified bodies with Christ in heauen it must be confessed that such a translation and assumption is of meere fauour by a singular priuiledge and not common for commonly all men do die and come not into heauen till they haue beene dead In like manner if any man haue beene or shall be smitten into hell aliue in bodie as Romulus who by a diuell was carried away in a mighty tempest of thunder lightning or peraduenture Abiram and Dathan this is to be counted to be by a singular and extraordinarie iudgement for ordinarily all wicked men doe die before they goe into hell Hauing spoken of the Subiects of death we come now to speake of the time and number thereof where we are to note these things First that God in his counsell hath determined the yeare the moneth the weeke the day yea the verie houre minute and moment of euery mans death that dieth He that denies this denies the prouidence of God Secondly this time prefined by God for death cannot be auoided by man or prorogued For the counsell of God shall stand saith Esay and his purpose shall be performed Euen Homer brings in his Iupiter affirming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that whatsoeuer he doth will shall irreuocably and vndoubtedly be fulfilled Seeing therefore the day of death is defined in the decree of God it is not to be imagined that any man can euer die sooner or tarrie longer then the time by God appointed Certa quidem finis vitae mortalibus adstat Nec deuitari lethum pete quin obeamus A certain terme of life to each there is appointed And die we must death cannot be avoided Lanificas nulli tres exorare puellas Contigit obseruant quem statuere diem The purpose of God doth stand vnalterable His day for our death he keepes vnchangeable For though it be true that the Scripture saith of Hezekiah that God added fifteene yeares vnto his daies yet it is not meant as if God did alter his eternal purpose cōcerning Hezekias his death but gaue strength vnto nature now decayed in him by reason of his grieuous disease so as he should be able by his grace to hold out fifteene yeares longer not longer then God had from eternitie determined but longer then he now had reason to looke for being wasted and worne with sicknesse and sorrow Thirdly the time of deathes comming is not to all alike or the same for one dieth old another in his full strength and from some Prima quae vitam dedit hora carpsit the houre that first gaue them life did also take away their life Fourthly no man can tell certainly how long he shall liue nor certainly foretell the verie time of his death vnlesse God doe teach him or vnlesse death be present and visible in his causes Quis est quamuis sit adolescens cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum esse victurum Who is there saith Tullie though he a youth who is certaine of his life till euening Fiftly death is a dayly attendant Mors quasi saxum Tantalo semper impendet It hangs and houers ouer vs alwaies There is not one moment of life without some motion vnto death We die daily saith Seneca for euerie day we loose some part of our life Et tunc quoque cum crescimus vita decrescit and euen then when we do increase our life doth decrease Hunc ipsum quem agimus diem cum morte diuidimus this verie day which now we liue in we diuide with death And as euerie man doth carrie death about him in his forerunnrs euen so also euery man the longer he carries it the nearer he is to it as a glasse the longer it runnes the sooner its runne out lesse sand remaining in it Sixtly death befalles one man ordinarily but once It is appointed to men that they shall once die saith the Apostle Et calcanda semel via lethi the way of death must once be trodden saith Horace Yet some we doubt not but that they haue died twise as Lazarus and the man that rose from death when the Prophets dead bodie toucht him as hee lay in his graue and some others also but this was extraordinarie Thus much for the time and number of death I will adde heere moreouer two things first that it is an easie thing for a man to be depriued of his life secondly that as death doth leaue vs so the iudgement of God in the latter day shal find vs. Of the easinesse of deaths comming we neede no long discourse experience shewes that men are many waies easily brought to death Our nature is verie fraile of it selfe and besides subiect to many exterior anuoyances Nonne fragiliores sumus quà m si vitrei essemus Are wee not more brittle saith Saint Austen then if we were of glasse Vitrum enim
and die most wickedly but theirs is counted most odious and infamous who either murder themselues or else die by Law for their outragious villanies Bias being asked What kinde of death was euill answered Quod legibus constitutum est That which the Lawes ordained meaning that which men haue deserued for their wickednesse as treason murther robberie In like manner hee in Plautus saith So I die not for my faults I care not much though I perish heere Qui per virtutem peritat non interit He that dies for well-doing doth not die 24. Why doe not men know the very time that is appointed for their deathes Saint Austen shall answere Latet vltimus dies vt obseruentur omnes dies A mans last day is kept secret that all daies might be obserued Ad hoc fortè nescis quando veniet vt semper paratus sis therefore it may be thou knowest not when he will come that thou mightest be alwaies prepared I suppose saith Plutarch that Nature knowing the confusion and shortnesse of our life would therefore haue the period of our life vnknowne to vs for it is cōmodious for vs. For if we should forknow it many would pine away with vntimely mourning would preuēt death with death he means the feare of death would kill thē wheras otherwise by course of nature they might haue liued longer 25. Whether is a man worse at his death or at his birth Peiores morimur quâm nascimur we die more euill then we are borne saith Seneca But this is our fault not natures if we consider it simply without relatiō to corruption Indeed we are borne in sinne but that sin is not acted of vs but by propagatiō deriued to vs but before we die if we liue the age of a man we die after the commission of many actuall transgressions Neuerthelesse by the grace of God in Christ a mans death may be better then his birth much more comfortable For to be borne is a worke of nature but to die with Christian faith fortitude either for Christ or in Christ is a work aboue nature I haue read of some that are said to die or to sleepe in Christ but I read of none that is borne in Christ re-borne and borne a new in Christ we may be said but not borne In briefe There is no man borne iustified and absolued But a man may die iustified and absolued Now it is better to die iustified then to bee borne a sinner It is better to die the child of Christ then to bee borne the sonne of Adam This then I say an old man dying if we regard him by himselfe is worse then an infant newly borne but if we consider an Infant without Christ an old man in Christ certainly it is much better for him to die with many sins forgiuen in Christ then fot the other to be born though but with one sin out of Christ so to die in that estate 26. Of all kindes of death considered simply without respect of grace or sinne which is the best Iulius Caesar said that sodaine death was best and a sodaine death befell himselfe But as I take it a sodaine death except it be by the course of nature without violence is not the best For that doubtlesse is the best which is most agreeable vnto nature now a naturall death is not simply sudden because it is not without messengers and signes foregoing yet sometimes it comes on the sodaine that is in a trice or before a man thinkes or while he thinks he may liue a while longer or when he thinkes not of it sometimes whiles he sleepes sometimes whilst he is awake as a mellow apple which drops of whilst a man sometimes is lookng on it 27. Whether is it lawfull for a man to pray that God would tell him directly when hee shall leaue the world and die I would not say it is altogether vnlawfull by reason of some extraordinarie occasions But vsually and ordinarily it is not expedient For reuealed things belong to vs but not the secrets of God such as are hidden seasons locked vp within Gods breast as the day of our death the day of Christs comming And as it is no way fit to pray to know the day of iudgement the verie time of the Iudges cōming so neither is it to pray to know the certain houre of death For though our end may be good yet that is not enough to make a prayer good but it must be made in faith according to the will of God But the curious inquiring into such things hath a checke in the Scriptures And though Dauid pray Lord let me know mine end and the measure of my daies what it is and let me know how long I haue to liue yet he meanes as I take it not to begge the knowledge of the verie point article of his death but desires God to giue him grace to acknowledge consider and duely to acquaint himselfe with the shortnesse and frailtie of his life as to me it seemeth by considering the words ensuing and by comparing it with Psal 92. 12. But howsoeuer it be we know Legibus viuitur non exemplis that good and obedient Christians must liue by lawes and not by ensamples But I demaund why wouldest thou know the verie moment of thy death That thou mightest prepare thy selfe the better for it Thy meaning may be good but this thine ayme is of litle moment Know this thou art a man die thou must this verie day may see thy death prepare thy selfe this day Thou maist die any day to day to morrow next day be therefore prepared euery day to day to morrow next day any day euerie day Miserable man why dost thou not prepare thy selfe euery houre Thinke of thy selfe as if thou werst now a dying for thou knowest thou must die It is not for thee to know the times or the seasons which God hath put in his owne power If God will not haue thee know them then desire not to know them It is enough for vs to know wee must die how soone or when it skils not it cannot be long to for we are but fome and fume 28. What honour ought the liuing to performe vnto the dead I answere they ought moderately to be touched with the losse of them they ought to giue them honest buriall they ought to commemorate and imitate their vertues they should praise God for his graces giuen them and for receiuing them to mercy out of a miserable mercilesse world they ought to maintaine their credits they ought not to misuse their bodies neither speake euill of them if the deafe ought not to be euill spoken of much lesse the dead for who deafer then a dead man who further off Who lesse able to answere for himselfe Hauing thus ended these questions concerning death and dead
men I come now to set down some principall vses of that which hath beene said before First seeing death destroyes not the soule though it dissolue the bodie we see that the soule is of a more noble nature then the bodie and therefore more to be esteemed and with greater care and loue to be kept and tended As God excelleth all soules or as the Ladie excels her handmaid so the soule excelleth all bodies What would a man haue euill Surely nothing not his wife not his sonne not his seruant not his horse not his ground not his fruite no not his coate and wilt thou haue an euill soule For shame take care of it that it be not euill Euill it is or good For Omnis anima aut Christisponsa aut Diaboli adultera est euery soule as Saint Austen speaketh is eyther the Spouse of Christ and then good or the diuels harlot and so is euill If euill then thy state is euill and if death finde it euill it leaues it euill and this soule which cannot die in respect of dissolution yet it doth die in regard of consolation being separated by euill as wel from God who is the soule and solace of the soule as from the bodie which in life it did enioy with ioy And forsomuch as the soule doth suruiue the bodie and liue when it is dead it should comfort mē against the dread that death brings with it For they shall not be Nothing nor No-where Death doth subdue but one part and that which is the baser of them Secondly seeing God inflioteth death without whose prouidence it could not come it teacheth vs in all patience quietnesse and humilitie to bee contented with his worke not opening our mouthes against him though he take vs away in the flower of our time or by the crueltie of wicked men And to them that truly serue God according to his will it cannot but be a comfort that whē they die they die not without the knowledge but by the will and disposement of their gracious aud louing Master who is able to saue them in death as he did Daniel in the Lions denne and the three Children in the fierie furnace Thirdly seeing death is the fruit of sinne it should teach vs to detest sinne Death is not very pleasing but rather odious to flesh and bloud How much more odious then should sinne bee counted by which death found entrance into the world and without which no man had euer died Diseases death and damnation come by sinne diseases hinder health death endeth life and damnation depriues man of the ioyes of saluation will any wise man then delight in sinne a thing so odious hurtfull and vnhappie Salomon being directed by the Spirit of God calles him a Foole that maketh a mocke of sinue and as a pastime to doe wickedly Doth any man loue the plague the gout the palsie the stone the crampe the canker or the dropsie I suppose no man All these diseases are the consequents of sinne the world had not knowne them had shee not beene acquainted with sinne and certainely these diseases are not more hurtful to the body then sinne is to the true health and life of the soule Sinne is a Tyger a Beare a Lyon an Aspe a Viper a destroyer both of bodie and of soule Fourthly the ineuitable necessitie of Death which lies vpon all the world condemnes the immoderate feare of Death in many men There is no man so ignorant but knowes hee must die yet when death is threatned what feare is there what fainting what tergiuersation what impatience is there to be seene in many Quid fles miser quid trepidas Eye wretch why doest thou weep why dost thou tremble This yoke is laid vpon euery necke thou goest the way that all mê go To this wast thou born this hath befallen thy Father thy Mother thine ancestors to all men before thee and to all that succeed thee Wilt thou not thinke to come thither at last whither thou hast beene a going alwaies Nullum sine exitu iter est there is no iourney without an end VVee make our life vnquiet with the feare of death and such is the madnesse of men that some by the feare of death are brought vnto death wee ought to fortifie our selues that wee loue not our life too well and that wee hate not death too much and when reason aduiseth vs to dye and not to feare Vir fortis strenuus non fugere debet de vita sed exire a man of courage and spirit should not flye out of life but goe out To dye is not glorious but to dye couragiously is glorious Finally seeing all men must dye and seeing Christ vvill finde them at the day of iudgement as the day of their Death doth leaue them it behooues all men to prepare themselues for Death that it may not hurt them but rather helpe them To this end these things are to bee considered and performed First hee that would haue comfort in his death must beleeue in God the Authour of life in Iesus Christ who saues vs from the power and euill of Death Verily verily I say vnto you saith Christ Hee that heareth my word and beleeueth him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life And to Martha speaking of himselfe hee saith I am the Resurrection and the life hee that beleeueth in mee though he were dead yet shall he liue and whosoeuer lineth and beleeueth in me shall neuer die meaning the death of the damned Now Christ who thus speaketh to vs is omnipotent and true Verbum eius ab intentione non dissentit quia Veritas est nec factum a Verbo quia Virtus est Hee is Trueth and therefore he speakes as he meanes and he is Might it selfe therefore he does as he speakes But he doth professe and promise that those that beleeue in him shall not perish by death but liue for euer therfore we may be bold vpon his word and should stir vp our selues to beleeue And let no man deceiue himselfe For hee onely doth aright beleeue in Christ who beleeues him in his word and Sacraments and in his Ministers speaking according to his word In vaine it is for men to say or thinke they beleeue in Christ who beleeue not his Lawe who regard not his Sacraments who beleeue not his Seruants declaring to them their Maisters minde This faith is not faith but fancie Secondly hee that would dye the Death of the Godly must repent of the sinnes of the wicked For without Repentance it is vnpossible to escape the damnation of vnrepentant Sinners Returne saith God and iniquitie shall not be your destruction Cast away all your transgressions For why will yee die Qui per poenitentiam peccata diluit angelica foelicitatis consorsin aeternum