a Tragedy of transitory shewes and disguised persones Sometimes to a birds nest made of straw and dung that the winter soone dissolueth There is another calleth it a childs game that buildeth houses of sand on the shore where euery waue washeth them away Is our life so short then it is better to die then to liue and the day of death is better then the day of birth Eccles. 7. 3. The day of death is not a perishing but a parting The soule is not lost to the body but onely sent before it to ioy If the soule bee painefully laid off it is ioyfully laid vp Through our natiuity wee come to the race through death to the reward through birth to the floud through death to the hauen through birth to the fight through death to the victory through birth to labour through death to rest by birth to sorrow by death to ioy by birth to life which is full of all sorrowes and troubles by death to life eternall which is free from all sorrows Death is rather the flight of sinne then the detriment of man dying because to the iust death is not the end of nature but of sinne as a Father saith To leaue this world and inherite a better should seeme nothing Death is a passage from sinne and corruption to glory and immortality from this earth to heauen from the company of sinners to the company of Saints from sorrow to solace from paine to peace from sicknesse to safety from persecution to triumph from the bondage of Pharoah to the liberty of the sons of God The consideration heereof made Salomon who for wisedome might seeme a God for gouernement deseruedly might be King and for learning might bee a Prophet to say All things vnder the Sunne are vanity and vexation of spirit Eccl. 2. 11. Seeing all things in the world are vanity better is a good death then a bad life and the day of death better then the day of birth When we are borne wee are mortall but when wee shall rise againe wee shall bee immortall wee are aliue in the wombe to die in the world but dead in the graue to liue in heauen Our life is not compared to an ell or yard to a pace or to a cubite to a mile or to a furlong to a fathome or to a foote but to an hand bredth a very short measure Man that is borne of woman is of short continuance Iob. 14. 1. Few and euill haue the daies of my life bene Gen. 47. 9. The time of our life is three score yeares and ten if a man come to foure score then there is nothing but weaknesse As Ionah his gourd was soone come and soone vanished Ionah 4. 6. so man is soone borne and soone dead This world is as a Stage and man as an Actor when he hath plaid his part hee is gone Our liues shorten as if the booke of our daies were by the pen-knife of Gods iudgement cut lesse Before the Floud they were in Folio they liued almost a thousand yeares Methushelah liued nine hundred sixty and nine yeares Gen. 5. 27. the whole chapter will shew vs how long the men liued before the Floud After the Floud in Quarto then they liued an hundred and twenty and an hundred and seuenty Gen. 25. 7. In Dauids time in Octauo three score and foure score yeares but with vs in the daies of the Gospell in Decimo sexto in the least volume now at forty fifty or sixty yeares old men and so we are dying almost so soone as we beginne to liue The Elements are more mixed drossie and confused our new sins call for new plagues the aire is more infected and contagious and our sinnes of drunkennesse and surfeiting do not want to second all the rest we may obserue that neither planers aboue nor plants below yeeld vs expected comfort So God for our sinnes doth cause the heauen to be as Brasse and the earth as Iron and the aire with the winds to bee tempestuous and so almost euery thing which was created for mans vse is become his enemy and all because wee turne all things to vices corruption which were giuen for natures protection and therefore what wee haue diuerted to wickednesse God hath reuerted to our reuenge Wee are sicke of sinne and therefore the world is sicke of vs. How soone doth the sand runne downe in the houre-glasse how quickely doth the Sunne beginne to set so speedily doth our time passe away Future things are alwaies beginning present things alwaies ending and things past are dead and gone while wee liue we die and then we leaue dying when we leaue liuing Better it is therefore to die to life then to liue to death because our mortall life is nothing but a liuing death and life continually flyeth from vs and cannot be with-held and death hourely commeth vpon vs and cannot be with-stood No armour resisteth no threatning preuaileth nor no entreaty profiteth against deaths assault If all perils spare our life yet time and age in the end will consume it As a riuer that riseth in the Forrest passeth by many rockes runneth and tumbleth and maketh a noise yet in the end entreth into the sea so fareth it with mans life he commeth into the world with paine and beginneth his course with pittifull cries and is daily molested with sicknesses and neuer ceaseth running till in the end he fall into the sea of death As euery man hath his Genesis so hee must haue his Exodus and as we are borne to liue so we are borne to die Our dying on earth is but the taking of our iourney to heauen Why are we vnwilling to loose that which cannot be kept The good Pilot sitteth at the sterne to guide his ship and so a good Christian to direct his life must thinke on death death is the dore whereby we must go out of bondage and therefore as he that is in prison taketh great comfort to sit vpon the threshold that when the doore is opened he may the sooner get out so we must alwayes haue our mindes fixed vpon death for passe wee must but how or when wee know not Emosinarius hauing his Tombe in building commaunded that it should bee left imperfect and that his seruants euery day should put him in minde to finish the same that so hee might prepare to dye The vse of this doctrine is forasmuch as our life is short and nothing almost shorter let vs prepare for death for we must dye Bee yee prepared for the sonne of man will come at an houre when yee thinke not Luk. 12. 40. All estates of men are exhorted to prepare old and young rich and poore Prince and Peasant the danger is great if men be found vnprepared as death leaueth men so the day of iudgement shall finde them If the tree fall toward the South or toward the North in the place that the tree falleth there it
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FVNERALL OF Mr. IOSIAH REYNEL Esquire the 13. of August 1614. in East-Ogwell in DEVON By Iohn Preston Minister of Gods word in East-Ogwell LONDON Printed by Nicholas Okes for Richard Boulton and are to be sold at his shop in Chancery-lane 1615. TO THE RIGHT WORSIPFVL SIR THOMAS REYNEL SIR GEORGE REYNEL SIR CAREW REYNEL KNIGHTS Mr. RICHARD REYNEL Esquire Grace Mercy and Peace in the blessed LORD IESVS RIGHT WORSHIPFVL IT may seeme strange that I haue ioyned you all together in one Inscription when euery one of you seuerally are worthy of a better gift then here is exhibited or by me can be giuen yet herein I haue done no more then nature brotherly affection and Christianity hath done That I haue clothed this in the liuery of your Patronages I might haue giuen many reasons First for that you are louers of true religion and fauourers of all true professors Secondly because it was preached at the interring of your deere brother Thirdly because I had rtaher the whole world shold condemne me as vniust the curious and captious carpe at me then you should so much as thinke me vnthankfull I owe vnto you all a double debt of Loue and of Seruice Of loue the more I pay the more I owe though a debt once paid be no more due yet loue being paid is still due Seruice I will bee ready to pay to the vttermost though it come short of your great deserts and of my manifold desires I that yeeld to all in learning will yeeld to none in loue and seruice to you But to you right worshipful and worthy Patron I owe a treble debt of Loue of Seruice and Thankfulnesse Of loue for your extraordinary kindnesse in preferring me and for that countenance you haue continually giuen to my weake Ministerie Of seruice such as I can performe I will not faile daily beseeching God for the increase of his spirituall graces here and eternal glory hereafter both to your selfe and al such as are dâ—ere vnto you Of thankfulnesse in patronizing me being absent kindly entreating me present and for affecting me long before I was by you preferred Of some I shall be hardly censured of others thought ambitious in seeking mens fauours For this I care not so the well-affected Christian may think of the shortnesse of his life and thereby prepare to dye and being ready to bee willing to dye and you be pleasd to procure a quiet passage vnder your patronages for those few indigested meditations which were by Gods permission and his assisting Spirit first preached and now published I ascribe the patronage to you the vse to the godly and the successe to God The God of peace giue you the peace of God which passeth all humane vnderstanding and affoord you many comforts and ioyes in this life to the end and in the next his ioy without end Your worships in all faithfull seruice IOHN PRESTON A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FVNERALL OF Mr. IOSIAH REYNEL Esquire the 13. of Aprill 1614. in East-Ogwell in Deuon PSAL. 39. 5. Behold thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth and mine age is nothing in respect of thee surely euery man in his best state is altogether vanity THE Princely Prophet Dauid who was a man after Gods owne heart 1. Sam. 13. 14. The chosen of God Psa. 78. 70. A man gratious with God Act. 7. 46 The seruant of God Ps 89. 20. The type of Christ. Acts 2. 25. Nay Christ is called the son of Dauid Math. 1. 1. The sweet singer of Israel a man that had tasted the full cup of Gods mercies and had beene plunged in many troubles insomuch as hee said Great are the troubles of the righteous Psa. 34. 19. Hee doth often complaine of his troubles and that with great griefe and bitternesse of minde and chiefly in this place This Psalme is partly narratiue partly precatiue In the first part Dauid declareth how hee had purposed with himselfe to take need of murmuring against God which might arise through the iniuries of men In the second part he desireth that God would certifie him of the vanitie of this life and therefore he saith Lord let me know my â—â—d and the measure of my dayes what it is let mee know how long I haue to liue Psal. 39. 4. In another place hee saith Teach vs so to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts vnto wisdome Psa. 90. 12. Dauid in these words doth not desire death but he requesteth that he may be brought to a serious consideration of his mortality as is euident by the words Let me know my end that is the end of my naturall life of my daies which by thy decree I must liue in this world and then he saith Behold thou hast made my dayes as an hand breadth and mine age is nothing in respect of thee surely euery man in his best estate is altogether vanity Here note 4 things 1 A note of attention Behold 2 A confession thou hast made my dayes as an hand bredth 3 An asseueration surely 4 An amplification euery man in his best estate is altogether vanitie It is as much as if the Prophet had said Behold I will shew and declare vnto you by a twofold comparison that the Lord hath made my dayes short for they are but as an hand bredth which is one of the shortest measures and the time of my life is as nothing or like to nothing and surely euery man not onely such as are of base condition but the mighty and the noble are vanity Behold This word behold consisteth of few letters lesse sillables yet very significant Sometimes it is a badge of admiration as Behold a Virgine shall conceiue and beare a sonne and thou shalt call his name Immanuel Esay 7. 14. Sometimes a signe of alteration as Behold I will make all things new Reu. 21. 5. Sometimes a token of gladnesse Behold I bring you tydings of great ioy that shall be to all people Luke 2. 10. Sometimes a point of demonstration Behold the place where they haue laid him Mark 16. 6. Sometimes it shewes a thing vnknowne Behold I will send you Eliah the Prophet Mal. 4. 5. Sometimes it is taken scornefully Behold the man that tooke not God for his strength but trusted in the multitude of his riches and put his strength in his malice Psalm 52. 7. Sometimes it is a note of attention Behold I stand at the dore and knocke c. Reu. 3. 20. Declaring his loue to the Laodiceans In this one word behold here is comfort for such as faint and Gods loue is shewed towards such as repent In this place it is a note of attention to put vs in minde of the breuity and shortnesse of our liues Here obserue that euery word in the Scripture is remarkeable and this word behold is not a word of course but a note to
sting of death As the brazen serpent in the wildernesse had the forme and shape of a serpent but not the life a serpent nor the sting of a serpent Num. 21. 9. So death hath the likenesse and semblance of death but it hath no sting it hath no venome it hath no poyson If a Bee sting a dead carkasse she looseth not her sting but if she sting a liuing man she looseth her sting so death stinging vs which were as dead flesh did not loose his sting but stinging Christ he hath lost his sting therefore we may now say O death where is thy sting 1. Cor. 15. 55. Thy sting is no sting vnto vs but a crowne of reioycing 1. Thess. 2. 19. It is a Midwife to bring vs out of the wombe of this world into the land of the liuing Psa. 27. 13. Death is as a ship wherby we faile from earth to heauen Do not feare the graue for thou sowest but a carnall and corruptible body to reape an incorruptible and spirituall in the resurrection Be willing to change drosse for gold and corruption for incorruption If one enemy finde fauour at another enemies hand why should a dutiful child feare to go home to his heauenly father a penitent soule to his sweete Sauiour and an obedient member to be ioyned with his head If he came into this world to redeeme vs why should we doubt but at our death he will receiue vs. He that accepteth his enemies will hee reiect his friends He that bought vs so deere will he refuse his penyworth If he affected our company so much on earth as that hee sayd My delight is to be with the children of men Pro. 8. 31. Hath he now so forgotten his old loue as not to admit vs into his company in heauen Hee came hither to buy vs an inheritance and hee went from hence to prepare it for vs. Ioh. 14. 2. And when wee are to enter into possession will he exclude vs No no The eyes of the Lord are vpon them that feare him to deliuer their soules from death Psa. 32. 18. 19. Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Psal. 116. 15. Pretious as the end of labours as the consummation of victory as the gate of life and the ingresse of perfect security Let vs remember his loue in adopting his truth in promising and his power in performing and our feare of death wil soone be altered into a desire of the same He come to open heauen gates and what meant he but that wee should enter in He came to vs on earth to innite vs to him and why departed he from the earth but to haue vs follow him He abandoneth none but abandoned by them Hee is easily found where hee hath been carefully sought Well death to the good is counted a quiet hauen and to the bad it is counted shipwracke The wayfaring man doth willingly demand where his mansion and stay shall be The seruant doth often account when his yeare is ended the husbandman doth alway expect haruest and a woman with childe doth wait for her time of deliuery so the seruants of God do thinke of their death so looke where their treasure is there will their heart be also Math. 6. 21. If a Prince should command a Beggar to cast off all his ragges and bid him prepare himselfe to come into his presence and liue daily in his company would the beggar delay or be sorry because hee shall enioy the company of a Prince Much lesse should wee delay or bee sorry when God the Prince of Princes calleth vs by death into his priuy chamber of heauen Therefore let beasts and heathen adulterers and murtherers feare death because they thinke and it is certaine that all their ioy ends with their death and let not Gods children feare death because it is an entrance into ioy and eternall felicity in heauen And my age is nothing in respect of thee Some read it age some substance some life in the originall My time is nothing in respect of thee nor this life nothing in respect of the life to come It is some thing in the eyes of men which see onely things present but before God which seeth things to come which is eternity which wanteth all measure it is altogether nothing This teacheth vs that our life how long soeuer it be being compared with the eternity of God is as nothing and worldly prosperity beeing compared with eternall felicity is as nothing God is infinite and our life is finite it were a most vnequall valuation to compare and much more to preferre things which are in no proportion of goodnesse to the things which are vnder-valued for betweene temporall and eternall heauenly and earthly things can be no proportion One day with the Lord is as a thousand yeares and a thousand yeares as one day 2. Pet. 3. 8. I am Alpha and Omega saith God Reu. 1. 11. the first and the last without beginning and without end But man had beginning for hee was made of the dust of the earth Gen. 2. 7. and man shall haue an end of his time for hee shall returne to dust Gen. 3. 19. What proportion is there betweene God and man God is the Creator man the creature God is Immortall man mortall God the Maker man made by God God the Potter man the vessell of earth God is mighty man is weake If persecution happen saint not God is mighty if pouerty shrinke not God is wealthy if thy conscience grieue thee runne to God hee is mercifull if thy ignorance dismay thee run to God hee is wisedome Worldly prosperity is of short continuance but heauenly happinesse shall continue for euer This serues to instruct vs to preferre the life to come before this life for in the world to come there is life without death rest without labour health without griefe light without darkenesse day without night and happinesse without end The eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard neither came into mans heart what God hath prepared for them that loue him 1. Cor. 2. 9. In heauen there is no sickenesse nor sorrow no crying out nor complainig There is no neede of the Sunne neither of the Moone to shine in it for the glory of God did light it and the Lambe is the light of it And the people which are saued shall walke in the light of it and the Kings of the earth shall bring their honour and glory vnto it And the gates of it shall not be shut by day for there shall be no night there Reu. 21. 23. 24. 25. As God is our light heere so hee will be in heauen Hee is the Sun which borroweth not light from another Hee is the Way Ioh. 14. 6. The Dore Ioh. 10. 9. The Vine Ioh. 15. 1. The liuing Bread Ioh. 6. 51. Hee is the light by