anguish for Christs sake Saint Paul is a notable example unto us of this kind and if thus wee dye dayly as Christians wee shall never be afraid to dye as men wee shall be ever ready for death and so farre from shrinking backe that wee shall boldly meet it it shall be no losse but gaine unto us no end of life but the beginning of a better while wee fly death we runne into sinne headlong yet is there no death so bad Oh that wee could once truely learne to dye that we might live for ever Many are dead which thinke themselves alive Many to avoid a temporall death do lose those things without which life is nothing worth the parting of the soule from the body is no death but the parting of God from the soule if the body without breath be but a carcasse what is a Christian without grace but a painted tombe Our first birth is the death of that life which the infant drawes from his mother and the body is borne into the world for sense and growth by our second birth which is the death of the body the soule is borne into the kingdome of heaven to live a new life from the body for there it understands without phantasie or common sense it seeth without eyes heareth without eares maketh it selfe understood without speech And as the birth of the body into the world is a better life than that which the Infant had in his mothers wombe so must the birth of the soule into heaven be a better life than that of the body by how much the faculties of the soule are more excellent than the bodily senses In our mothers wombe we lived as plants in the world wee lived as men in heaven wee shall live as the Angels neither are soule and body parted so as they shall never meet againe for the body no doubt doth naturally long for the soule and the soule beareth a love to the body Therefore by a holy ordinance of the Lord they abide one anothers absence for a while that they may come together againe as man and wife with the greater comfort the body is gone downe into the grave to leave there his shame of mortality of weakenesse of corruption necessity without all which after the resurrection it shall returne to the soule and the soule trimmed and tricked up in glory like a fresh spouse shall receive the body into the same glory and both shall be received into God and dwell with him for ever Death then is called so onely as it doth appoare unto us and others which live here but in very deed and by the benefit of Christ the state of the dead is the very true life everlasting neither is the birth of the child a greater hope of life in the world than is this of the soule in the death of the body of the life both of body and soule to be glorisied in the kingdome of heaven Many think on death to be more vicious as Epicures Let us eate and drinke for to morrow wee shall dye some will not thinke at all on death and they live neither the longer nor the better but are sure to die much the worse When wee thinke on death which are Christians it should make us live very justly and soberly because wee looke for a Kingdome after death where none enter but the righteous Oh my soule and body if wee must needs part how soone wee know not let us do it willingly to overcome necessity resistance is vaine obedience is profitable let us provide for that which else will prevent us let us make use of death as some do of money which else lyes dead let us die in the Lord to the Lord this is the best advantage Meditation 44. Last Judgement VVEe cannot avoide either judgment or death when sicknesse summous us to the one doth not our conscience to the other and in this life God hath his tryalls judgements executions so that men of times are forced to cry out Justus es Domine just a sunt judicia tua but because the wicked observe them not and God doth desire to appeare unto men rather as a mercifull father than a severe Judge therefore the Majesty the Authority the severity of his judgment is hid unto us so farre that wee are bound to beleeve that he will come to judge a thing which else we would never dream of Though then we see no examples of this judgement as yet neither can conceive the form therof yet do wee beleeve it and that there is a certaine time appointed for it they that looke not for it with joy shall abide it with sorrow that is that last and finall judgement wherein all causes shall be opened all persons censured all workes rewarded what hath hitherto beene suspended shall now be sentenced and never more altered Marke the preparation unto it the heavens shall passe away with noyse the elements shall melt with fervent heat the sea shall be dried up and the earth shall be burnt with all her workes then a summoning trumpet shall sound and awake up all those that sleepe in the silence of death and they together with the living shall be caught up then shall the Judge appeare visibly above in flaming fire compassed about with infinite thousands of Angels ready to do his will A strange judgement towards no doubt whether we respect the Judge or the parties which are to make their appearance or the sentence it selfe the wisdome of the Judge is such that hee cannot be deceived hee knoweth all causes without information things past are to him present and things to come hee made mans heart and findeth out every corner and turning thereof hee heares our words before wee speake them and knowes our thoughts before wee act them we do not will without his power though without his allowance nor worke without his privity though without his consent nay he knowes our purposes before wee are fully resolved and our thoughts before wee conceive them and our workes without producing any witnesse his justice is such that he cannot pervert judgment for favour or bribes his will is the rule of all righteousnesse and therefore hee can favour no cause but that which is right and if hee could be unrighteous what bribe might winne him which wanteth nothing his power is such that all must abide his decree here lyes no appeale no prohibition can be granted againstit no pardon obtained his jealousie shall take on harnesse and hee shall arme the creature to be avenged of his enemies hee shall put on righteousnesse for a breast-plate and take unfained judgement instead of an helmet equity shall be his shield and his fierce wrath as a sharpe sword and his troop are the whole compasse of the world Now what are the parties which are to appeare and abide tryall Adam and his posterity from the first man to the last that shall be borne here shall they be judged which have beene heretofore Judges
aske pardon for his offences or be beholding unto him for his mercy but doth still repine and grind the teeth against God as though hee did him great wrong Now how like unto him are men in these points which loving the faults they do commit hate the lawes which they breake and cannot abide any order or state under God which hindereth their wicked designments counting themselves better and more noble than others because they despise lawfull authority disgracing them that be good and having no goodnesse do boast of strength that the sway of the world is on their side which scorn to acknowledge their faults and thinke so well of themselves as though they needed not to have any favour which are as resolute in their evill purposes as though they had made a covenant with death and league with hell saying they had rather goe to hell with good fellowes than live with such peevish professors as know not how to laugh and be merry Our blessed Saviour the eternall Word which was in the fulnesse of time made flesh which dwelled amongst us and wee saw his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of God full of grace and truth as hee paid the price of our redemption by his death so hee left his life going before as an example to reforme us to the image of God decayed in us by sinne and amongst all his excellent vertues wee are specially to imitate these two which are opposite to the devils malice and pride his charity and humility his charity so great towards his heavenly Father and us men that because his Father would have it so and our misery might by this meanes be done away hee became obedient thus farre not onely to live amongst us a meane man and to endure our necessities but also to suffer a most painfull and shamefull death for us and to beare all our sorrowes and so much he loveth obedience that he accounteth all them his brethren which live in it and for them hath prepared his grace and glory yea hee rejoyceth in a little flocke which heareth his voyce and breaketh the nations in pieces with a rod of iron like a potters vessell which breake his bonds and cast his cords from them his humility so great that though there was never sinne or the least spot of uncleannesse which did cleave to him yet he became our surety taking on himselfe our sins and in our person doth acknowledge himselfe a grievous sinner and doth aske pardon and receive mercy for us to the forgivenesse of all our sinnes teaching us evermore to confesse our sinnes unto God and to seeke for grace and favour by him who is both willing and able to grant whatsoever wee need and if wee aske in faith no good thing will hee deny unto us and let the devill rage with his malice and pride let him set all his devises and instruments on worke to confound us if God be on our side we care not who be against us Meditation 43. Mortification OUr life must be a continuall meditation of death so the Philosopher but the Christians life is no other than a continuall death and that by the example of his Lord whose whole life was nothing else but a preparation to death and all they which are heires of promise with Christ have the title on this condition that their lives be made conformable unto his death that whosoever looketh on them may see the image of Christ dying in them neither may they looke to come otherwise unto his life than by dying first which is not either the first or second death spoken of by Saint John in his Revelation when a man liveth in this world without grace in sinne or else suffereth elsewhere eternall punishment for sinne but in a daily dying as the Christian ought we shall avoid both these and be made partakers of the first resurrection here and of the second in the life to come The continuall death of a Christian is that which in the Scripture is called mortification which maketh us conformable in all our life to the death of Christ for as Christ died to deliver us from the guilt of sin to bring us to God so the Christian dyeth in himselfe as the child of Adam that sinne may have no power over him but that hee may be led by grace to doe all things to the glory of God and this death is first inwardly and is called a crucifying the old man the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof the law of the members which rebell against the spirit the unregenerate part this must wee kill and sacrifice and in this respect a Christian must daily die for though he doe every day what hee can to destroy sinne hee shall find new monsters spring up out of those heades which hee hath cut off which will procure him more labour Paul saith indeed they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the lusts and affections thereof yet meaneth hee not that the flesh is utterly dead in any but that they keepe it so under awe and master it that it dyeth in them daily likewise hee saith they that live in the flesh cannot please God for in this part the Christian must be still dying that the spirit may live in him though a man die yet a constant man will be loath to deny himselfe Ttherefore this kind of mortification seemeth worse than death wee must deny our owne will our owne affections our owne reason we must be no greater adversaries to any than we are to our selves wee must rebuke our selves wee must barre our selves of many faire occasions of much liberty we must punish our selves this crucifying consisteth in a search and knowledge of our sinnes wee must not smother our sinnes or sooth up our selves but call a spade a spade we must be also sorry for our sinnes as sorry as ever we have beene for sicknesse shame or losse that ever lighted on us so sorry that nothing else be so sorrowfull unto us lastly we must hate sinne and cast it out as it were a serpent crept into our bosome and spet on it as wee would spet on a foule toade The second kind of mortification is outward is a submitting of our selves to dangers griefes and losses as poverty paine disgrace wrong for Christs sake and needs much patience for wee must have death still before our eyes and all deadly things this hath beene the portion of the Church at all times Wee are killed all the day long and are counted but sheepe for the slaughter saith the Psalmist and Saint Paul tels the Corinthians that he dies daily I dye daily he his owne words againe in the Acts to the brethren What doe yee weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not onely to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus And in another place the same Apostle I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in
carelesly and idlely bestow themselves on all occasions of sinne whence it is that the good man though he be many waies hardly tempted to sinne by the Devill and wicked men doth alwaies resist and becomes the better but the bad man having many faire occasions offered to amend doth prove the worse and lightly assaulted doth yeeld to vice to wish our selves such as wee ought to be to desire vertue and goodnesse to purpose well to adde to our purpose care and industry is not only a beginning but a going forward and procureth constancy in goodnesse If thou wilt not so much as wish to thy selfe the thing that good is if thou make not speciall choice therof above Gold and thine own appetite how canst thou labour for it and if thou wish the contrary how canst thou not chuse but hate it and in this cause who is in fault but thy selfe doe not ill and say I cannot doe better but rather I will not change thy purpose adde thy indeavours heartily beg and desire for it and hee which commands will give thee grace to turne and obey Meditation 35. Selfe deceit TWo motives there are why men sinne the more boldly because it will be longer as they thinke before they be called to account and when the account must be made amongst so many what hard matter is it for thee or one to escape scot free Thus use they to dally with their owne dangers which have made sinne their inheritance and seek shifts to avoid sounder causes wherin they are the lesse to bee pitied because they grosly deceive themselves Be it that it is long before we be called to account yet the length takes it not away but makes it the more heavy when it comes wee abusing the meane time unto sinne which God hath granted for our repentance so that wee should rather feare to sin because wee shall be called to account then be bold because of the delay for look how much scope the one giveth to our sinnes no lesse revenge doth the other take when they are growne to ripenesse and it is indeed as dangerous for the wilfull sinner that it is long before there be an account as that there is one Now what if that time which men count long bee very short to omit that no sinne is committed but the conscience doth call us forthwith to a reckoning though the act passe yet the guilt is eternally recorded in that booke as also that the life of man is but short after which every one hath his particular judgment and put it over as farre as may be to that generall Inqâ—…est and the latter end of the world what can be long which hath an end and is alwaies running to that end when the end is once come what is all that worth which past before whether they be 1000. or 2000. yeares and what is that continuance worth which is so full of ends that every part thereof passeth away whiles thou hast it minute after minute and houres after minutes daies after houres monthes after daies and yeares after moneths and after some few yeares which as they begin in a minute so end they in a minute perchance not a yeare not a moneth not a day not an houre in a moment comes death when most unlooked for Hast thou spent 7 yeares in sinne if thou be not a man past all shame thou art by this time much the sorier Why then should the hope of living so much longer make bold againe to sinne will not thy sorrow be doubled when thou commest to fourteen and what use returnes to thee of all these fourteen yeares are they not quite lost by following sinne and thou hast now more to doe if ever thou thinke to bee saved then when thou didst first hegin to say then I will sinne because the time of account is farre of as if one would say because I have much wealth I will spend all as though prodigality could find no bottome He that hath a long time by spending it in sinne doth barre himselfe from all time for if thou continue at all times in thy sinne what time can there be betweene sinne and the time of account and if not at first yet at last by a continuall course of sinne let the time of sinning be never so long sinne and judgment will come together and then thou wilt change thy voice and say Oh this long time is past and the account is at hand now that there will be much to doe at this time and where there are so many it is not likely but that some may escape without their triall though God doe teach us familiarly as men by such ordinary matters amongst us as wee may best understand his meaning as when he setteth downe unto us in his word the forme of a judgment yet must wee not tie him to these necessary circumstances whereunto mans judgment is subject for he executeth his judgment as God and not according unto mans weaknesse he is not bound to time or place or examination of witnesses all things are present before him which shall be our Judge as every mans conscience doth condemne him so shall he feele and know the sentence of the Judge neither shall one prevent or interrupt the other If thou canst not run from thy owne conseience how canst thou escape his judgment who is greater then thy conscience A sheep may stray from the flock amongst strangers but he beares a marke which tries him from the rest and discovers him to the owner in like manner the conscience hath its mark which wheresoever thou runne or thinkest to hide thy selfe will dog thee back to judgment and there lay open thy most secret crimes sins and enormities But these the former surmises of thine proceed not so much from ignorance as infidelity and impiety and doe sound in their true meaning this farre The day of account will never come therefore wee may well say it will bee long in comming it is impossible there should be such a generall judgment therefore some must needs escape This is that bitter root which springeth up now and then amongst carnall professors first to sinne and then to deny God against whose majesty wee sinne for if there be a God which were the greatest blaspemy to think otherwise there must needs be a judgment and his judgment cannot be just which were most wicked to imagine if he be partiall to any or not able to punish all and marke to this purpose the order of Gods workes first that is the creation then there followed the fall of man after a generall corruption of man and last of all the deluge and desolation of sinners the old world is a figure of succeeding ages the law was published by Moses betweene God and the people the covenants broken on the peoples part the punishment of the disobedient to the utter rooting our of that people and their Temple which was the visible signe of Gods presence amongst them the