and having set thine Offences before thee confess them to him and in the bitterness of thy Soul repent thee be sorry for them and crave pardon for them and desire his grace that thou offend no more in the like 3. Pray to God to continue his care ever thee the night following and to defend thee from all perils and dangers So that going to thy rest with these good action and thoughts thou shalt do like to those which rake up Fire in the Embers over night that they may the more readily find it in the Morning In the Night VVHen thou awakest in the Night call upon God likewise for the Night was not made wholly for sleep praise him contemplate and meditate upon his works Sometimes weep for thy sins according to the practice of DAVID For as the nightly dew refresheth and tempereth the Earth so do our nightly tears asswage our Concupiscences And sometimes rejoyce in the Lord according to that of the Psalmist for the great benefits thou hast received from him By these means keeping thy self to one holy Exercise or other thou shalt be sure to avoid the Devils Tentations whose chief time of setting upon us fitteth best with his works which are usually stiled The works of darkness Evening Prayer The Lord hath granted his loving kindness in the ` Day therefore in the Night will I sing of him and make my Prayer to the God of my life O Lord God Father everlasting I yield thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast not only averted thy punishments from me which my grievous sins have deserved but instead thereof hast preserved me from all dangers and supplyed me with all necessaries of this life O Lord I confess that I have so highly offended thee this day that all the punishments which may be inflicted upon vile and miserable sinners are due to me I confess O Lord that I have offended thy Majesty in And not only these do I acknowledge but all the rest which I have committed from my infancy to this present hour wittingly or ignorantly in thought word or deed against Thee my Neighbour and my Self O Lord I confess my weakness I do not that which I should and would do but that which I should not and am unwilling to do I do Not regarding or fearing thy incomprehensible Glory venerable Presence terrible Power exquisite Iustice nor thy Goodness unspeakable for which if thou shouldest enter into judgement what would become of me But O Lord for as much as thou art a Father of mercies and dost not desire the death of a sinner if he return unto thee by unfeigned repentance I most humbly in the Name and Mediation of our blessed Saviour Christ Iesus crave pardon for them Lord I repent help my impenitency and hear my request Be merciful to me a sinner and pardon all my offences whereof thou O Lord knowest me to be guilty And I beseech thee O Lord for the time to come to mollifie my heart water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may not alwayes bring forth thornes and weeds fit for nothing but the fire Convert me O Lord and I shall be converted open my eyes direct my heart and wayes Draw me after thee and being converted suffer me not to return again with the Dog to his vomit And forasmuch O Lord as thou hast appointed the Night to refresh our bodies I humbly pray thee to defend me as well sleeping as waking from the snares of the Devil O Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit which thou hast redeemed by thy precious death and passion Suffer it not to sleep in sin and in it lye languishing unto death and so be buried in the grave of thy judgements but watch over it I beseech thee and defend it under the shadow of thy wings Let me not be oppressed with unnecessary sleep but raise me in due time to thy Service and Praise Thou knowest O Lord that of my self I have no strength waking much less when I sleep I humbly therefore pray thee to defend my Soul Body Goods and all things which thou hast bestowed upon me this Night from all evil and damage and so dispose of me that I be not troubled with any terrours terrified with any vain phantasies weakned by any sickness or impoverished with any casualties or crosses Keep me O Lord from all evil dreams and unclean thoughts and compass me with a wall of thy mercies that the Tempter approach not to my Bed so that being preserved by thy protection and refreshed with comfortable rest I may arise and offer unto thee my daily bounden duty and service even praise and thanks to thy most holy Name Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus Christ to whose inexhaustible bounty we owe all honour and praise I give thee all possible thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to keep me this day from all evil so that none of thy fearful judgements to which I was justly lyable have fallen upon me but of thy unspeakable mercy thou hast preserved me from them and hast also liberally and with a bountiful hand supplyed me with the necessaries of this life notwithstanding my great and manifold sins committed against thee O Lord I confess that I have wasted the time which thou hast given me for repentance altogether idlely vainly and unprofitably not so much as considering or taking notice that this day might have been the last of my life but have added and heaped up sin upon sin in thy All-seeing sight as if I had stood in no fear of thee at all daily renewing as much as in me lay thy torments and passions for which I have deserved that the Earth should open unto me and Hell devour me which that it is not come to pass I ascribe with all thankful acknowledgement to thy infinite mercy and goodness O Lord I acknowledge that it is of thy goodness alone that I am thus preserved from all thy judgements seeing that many calamities have befallen divers others who have less deserved them than my self That some have therefore perished by water some by fire some by sword others by sudden and violent death and that I live That some have been taken blind some lame some distracted in their senses That others have sustained much damage in their worldly estate and I have escaped and not been punished in any of these kinds To what shall I ascribe and attribute the cause surely to thy mercy alone for which I cannot give unto thee sufficient thanks But O sweet Saviour as thy mercy exceedeth so do our necessities increase thou canst not want matter for thy mercy to work upon by reason of our inabilities to help our selves Wherefore I further pray thee that this night following may be also safe and prosperous unto me that by a sweet sleep and comfortable refreshing I may be fitted when I awake to serve thee with a thankful
and sorrow encline thine ear of pity unto me and that right soon and speedily 3 For my dayes which I have mis-spent are consumed away like smoke which for want of substance dissolveth to nothing and my bones which by my broken spirit are dryed up are burnt up as a fire-brand 4 My heart is dejected and smitten with the thought of thy Justice and it is withered with remembrance of thy Judgements like grass without juyce or sap so that in this anguish of Soul I forget and loath to eat my bread 5 By reason of the grievous voice of my groaning sighs and tears I am so consumed away that my bones for want of flesh cleave to my skin and I am nothing but skin and bone 6 I am for shame that I have offended thee become in condition like a Pelican that liveth solitarily in the Wilderness and I am like an Owl not daring to be seen but that avoideth the light and is continually in the Desert shunning the company of other Birds 7 I watch and sleep not for the thought of my sins and am as a Sparrow that caring for no company sitteth alone making grievous lamentation in a mournful note upon the house-top 8 Mine Enemies seeing me thus penitent reproach me with opprobrious speeches all the day continually deriding me and they that while I was their companion in sin applauded me are upon my conversion mad against me and do combine and are sworn to do me mischief and to that end set themselves against me 9 For this cause taking no pleasure in this world I have eaten ashes and fed upon course meat like as it were fine bread and dainty fare and I have mingled my drink with tears weeping and lamenting for my sinnes 10 Because of thine indignation against me for them and thy wrath for my bad life past all this evil and more hath befallen me for thou hast lifted me up very high and from thence hast cast me down that my fall might be the greater 11 My dayes few and evil are passed like a shadow upon a Sun-Dyal that declineth toward the Evening and I that lately seemed to flourish am withered and dryed up like grass without sap for want of thy comfort 12 But thou O Lord which wert and art shalt continue immutable and shalt endure for ever while all transitory things pass and come to nothing and thy glorious works shall be had in remembrance unto all generations even unto the end of the world 13 Thou O Lord who seemest to men to sleep shalt arise in thy strength and have mercy and compassion upon Sion thy Church militant now oppressed with the tyranny of Antichrist for the time to look upon her and favour her is at hand yea the set time which thou hast decreed for her deliverance is or will not be long ere it come 14 For they which be thy true and faithfull Servants take pleasure and delight in her stones their fellow Servants and are glad when they see them prosper and favour and pity the very dust and ruines thereof when they see them under persecution 15 So that when they shall be delivered from their misery the very heathen shall fear and tremble at the Name of the Lord and be converted to him and all the Kings and Potentates on earth which now oppose the truth shall acknowledge thee O Lord to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and be afraid at the greatness of thy glory and Majesty 16 When the Lord by his almighty power shall build up Sion and repair the ruines of his Church he shall then to the confusion of his enemies appear in his glory which they shall not be able to endure 17 He will then in mercy regard and hearken to the prayer of his poor servants and the destitute of his help and not any longer seem to turn away his face from them nor despise their prayer and earnest supplications 18 This mercy of his shall then be recorded and written as a remembrance for the generations to come even to the end of the world which shall attempt the like against his Church and the people yet unborn that shall succeed and be created in ages to come shall praise and magnifie the Lord which only doth marvellous things 19 For he hath in mercy by sending his Son Christ Jesus looked down from the height of his Sanctuary his holy place even from Heaven his Fathers bosom did the Lord Jesus behold the Earth and had compassion upon all the Sons of men 20 To hear and pity the groaning of the Prisoners such as did groan under the burden of the Law and to loose and set at liberty by his passion and intercession those of the posterity of Adam that are appointed to suffer death for not fullfiling the same 21 To the end that they being so delivered may declare and shew the power and the Name of the Lord which is Jesus the Saviour in Sion his Church and magnifie and extol his praise in Ierusalem his holy habitation 22 When the faithful people which are yet dispersed over the face of the Earth are gathered together and made one Congregation and the Kingdoms of the Earth which are yet in darkness are instructed to serve thee the only Lord of Heaven and Earth 23 He even the Lord in the time of this expectation hath weakned and abated my strength so that I can do no good of my self in the way of this my earthly pilgrimage he hath shortned and cut off my dayes by afflicting me for my sin 24 I said yet in this weakness and anguish of my Soul O my God with-draw not now thy mercy from me and take me not away out of this world in the midst of my dayes the chief time of my strength as for thy years as they are from all eternity so shall they endure throughout all generations even for ever 25 Of old at the beginning of time hast thou of thine own power laid and created the Foundations of the Earth the visible World and all things in it and the Heavens and Firmament thereof are the only work of thy Almighty hands and power 26 They even Heaven and Earth and all things in them shall pass away and perish from the form they now have but thou O Lord the Creator of them shalt endure immutable Yea without all doubt all of them as thou hast decreed shall wax old and consume with age like a garment long worn and as a vesture or garment shalt thou by the sound of the last Trump change and dissolve them and they shall yield to thy power and be changed 27 But thou O Lord art the same alwayes unchangeable and thy years being from all Eternity shall have no end but continue for ever 28 The Children and posterity of thy faithful Servants begotten by the seeds-men of thy Word shall continue in grace in this life and their righteous seed shall stand fast and be established for ever together with
many infirmities and even the just Man falleth seven times a day and that Mans life by reason of sin is exposed to many dangers troubles and afflictions it therefore behoveth us much and concerneth us near to seek out some remedy as well to strengthen our selves from the assaults of our several enemies that as much as flesh and blood will permit we fall not as to raise us again when we are cast down and dejected either by the sight of our sins or the crosses and afflictions of this life And in this distress what course shall we think upon to relieve us or what means shall we find to aid and succour us Certainly none other better than that which GOD himself of his goodness hath prescribed and commended unto us and by his word hath commanded us to have recourse unto whensoever we shall be thus afflicted namely Prayer Call upon me saith he in the day of trouble Come unto me saith Christ all ye that labour and are heavy laden Seek ye the Lord saith the Prophet and call upon him Is any afflicted saith he by the Apostle let him pray Be instant in Prayer Continue in Prayer And the better to stir us to this duty God hath added to this Precept a Promise also that we shall not lose our labours or pray to him in vain for No sooner shall we ask but he will give No sooner call but he will answer and deliver Nay more for if God perceive but our inclination to pray to him he will prevent us and before the petition is gone out of our mouths Before we call he will answer and while we are speaking he will hear We may with confidence build upon it that either he will give what we ask or that which shall be more profitable to us And as we have this Precept and Promise to provoke us to pray to him So have we the Example not only of all the Saints of God but of Christ Iesus himself who while he was conversant in the flesh upon earth though he were wholly without spot or blemish wholly innocent immaculate and needing nothing yet often and earnestly prayed for our imitation Among all the Evangelical Precepts or Counsels there is not any one duty upon which our Saviour more earnestly beateth or to which with more fervency he inviteth his Apostles or Disciples than this of Prayer The necessity whereof he enforceth among other places of Scriptures by the Parable of the unjust Iudge and the poor importunate Widow And indeed Mans nature ever since the fall of Adam being become earthly carnal and wretched it cannot keep Gods Law which is spiritual Ego carnal is sum saith the Apostle Again as long as we live in this vale of misery we being compassed with cares tentations and afflictions have no other means to free our selves from them than to beg at the gates of Gods mercy Ego mendicus sum pauper I am poor and needy saith the Psalmist either for grace favour and remission of sins or the mortification of our affections spiritual comfort or lastly for supply of temporal blessings Neither can any so well conceive the necessity of this duty as they who by the illumination of Gods Spirit see the miserable condition they are brought into by reason of sin And what would become of miserable Man if this help were wanting but being carnal be wholly transformed into flesh The contrary effect whereto Prayer worketh in us for it elevateth us from earthly to heavenly thoughts whereby the heat and affections of the flesh are cooled and quenched Prayer being as the refreshing of the lungs to the heat of the heart without which Man could not subsist But admit there were no necessity imposed on us to pray yet the dignity and honour we receive by Prayer should incite us to it For Prayer as a Father well saith Is a familiar conference with God By it we talk with him as it were face to face By other of his Graces as in the Word and Sacraments he vouchsafeth to speak to us by this we have access and speak to him for what we stand in need of And what greater dignity what greater priviledge can be afforded to poor sinful creature dust and ashes as we are than familiarly to talk with so great and powerful a God and to have daily so free and easie admittance to his presence to manifest our necessities to him and to crave his supply and succour Nay more to become his houshold servants the Church being called his House a favour which King David esteemed the fruition of one day more than a thousand elsewhere Then if we consider the profit which ariseth by the performance of this duty we shall be the easilier perswaded to undertake it For if nothing else quicken us yet matter of benefit doth usually work with us And assuredly the benefit which ariseth by it is and ever hath been great for by Prayer we do not only obtain of God all good things pertaining to the sustentation of this life as the necessaries thereof and the life to come as the gifts and graces of the holy Spirit but we also prevent and remove by it all the dangers and evils of both lives as the losses and perils incident to this life and the punishment due to our sins hereafter Prayer enlightneth purgeth and comforteth maketh tribulations seem light breeds servency begets confidence in Gods mercy and overcometh all tentations Take it away and take the Sun out of the world for without we wander in darkness With what Medicines did the Saints heal incurable diseases cast out Devils raise the dead to life tame wild beasts quench the force of fire nay change the course of the Elements powers of Heaven but by Prayer What should I say more By it we may do all things without it nothing If you please you may take a short view of the wonderful effects which have been wrought and the benefits which have been obtained and the punishments which have been averted in former times when recourse was had to God by Prayer By it The Iews overcame the Amalekites Samuel overcame the Philistines Iudith overcame Holofernes The Reubenites overcame the Agarens Asa overcame the Ethiopians Iehosaphat overcame the Ammonites Ezechias overcame Sennacerib Manasses was restored to His Kingdom By it Hanna became fruitful Elias obtaned sire from Heaven as also rain and fair weather By it The rebellious Iews escaped Punishment The Ninivites escaped Destruction Ezechias escaped Death The three Children escaped the fiery Fornace Daniel escaped the Lyons Ionas escaped the Whale The Disciples escaped Drowning Peter escaped Bonds Paul and Silas escaped Imprisonment By it David stayed the Pestilence The Lepers were clensed The Centurions servant was healed The blind received sight The
us to pray that we continue and increase in it 4. It puts us in mind of our vow in Baptism to believe in the Trinity Lord I believe Help thou my unbelief In God the Father Wherein I consider First His personal Relation to his natural Son and gracious affection to us in him That in Christ we are all his Sons by grace and adoption As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God The Spirit beareth witness with out spirit that we are the Sons of God No more a Servant but a Son Having predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ. Almighty Secondly His Saving Power That as he is a Father willing to do us good so he is Omnipatent and able to do us good Even to your old age I am he c. I will bear I will carry and deliver you I am the Lord and none else He is Lord over all Upholding all things Almighty Able to subdue all things unto himself Maker of Heaven and Earth Thirdly His Providence in disposing preserving and governing all things 1. By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made He laid the Foundations of the Earth Thou Lord which hast made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is I form the Light and create the Darkness He layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters The Spirit of the Lord hath made me and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life 2. He provideth for the Raven his food c. Thou Lord shalt save both Man and Beast They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness c. Over Sparrows He careth for us In him we live move and have our being 3. He ordereth the world according to equity He judgeth the folk righteously and governeth the Nations upon the earth Thy providence O Father governeth all things He ordereth all things sweetly In Jesus A Saviour He shall save his people from their sins He that beleeveth not in him is condemned Neither is there Salvation in any other By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Christ. Annointed With the Oyl of gladness above his fellows The Lord hath annointed me His onely Son Of God the Father The only begotten of the Father His only begotten Son Our Lord. In right of 1 Creation 2 Redemption 1. By whom he made the World By him were all things created 2. In whom we have redemption Redeemed with his precious Blood Bought with a price Conceived by the Holy Ghost Without the help of Man to help the uncleanness of our conception She was found with Child of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee Angelo nunciante Spiritu adveniente mox verbum in utero mox intraverbum Caro. Upon the Annuntiation or message of an Angel and the Overshadowing of the Holy Ghost the word presently entred into the VVomb and with the word the flesh Born of the Virgin Mary Made the Sonne of Man that we might be the Sonnes of God To purge the uncleanness of our birth He did not abhor the Virgins womb A Virgin shall conceive She shall bring forth a Son And she brought forth her first born Son c. The word was made flesh And when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman c. S. Bernard saith That God in the assumption of our nature made three mixtures so wonderfull without comparison that never the like were or should be to the end of the world God and Man a Mother and a Virgin Faith and Mans heart Suffered under Pontius Pilate Those things which we should have suffered That we might not suffer them He powred out his soul unto death c. He bare our sins in his own body on the tree He once suffered for sins Was Crucified To take away the Curse of the Law Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree He humbled himself and became obedient to death even the death of the Cross. Dead To take away the sharpness and bondage of death To satisfie Gods justice for us The wages of sin is death That he by the grace of God should taste death for every one That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil And deliver them who through the fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage O Death where is thy sting Buried To take away the corruption of the grave that we might be assured of his death All agree that he was buried in a Sepulcher They took him from a Tree and laid him in a Sepulcher Descended into Hell Whither we ought to have gone that we might not go thither at all Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell Non immerito creditur It is not without cause that we believe saith Saint Augustine upon this Article And Christ according to his Soul was in Hell the Scripture is plain for it being foretold by the Prophet David and evidently expounded by the Apostles Application of that Text Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell And he concludeth peremptorily with this Question Quis ergo nisi infidelis negaverit fuisse apud inferos Christum Who therefore but an Infidel will deny that Christ was in Hell The third day he rose again from the dead That he might raise with him our nature being the first fruits of them which sleep He is risen He is not here Christ being raised from the dead c. And was raised again for our justification By the Trinity 1. By the Father Acts 2. 24. 3. 15. 4. 10. 5. 30. 10. 40. Ephes. â— 20. 1 Pet. 1. 21. 2. By the Son Joh. 10. 17 18. Rom. 14. 3. By the Spirit Rom. 8. 11. 1 Pet. 3. 18. He ascended into Heaven To prepare us a place whereto we had no right To assure us that our flesh is gone before To send us the Holy Spirit He was received up into Heaven He was parted from them and carried up to Heaven We have a High Priest that is Passed into the Heavens He that descended is the same which ascended far above all Heavens I go to prepare a place for you Having boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Iesus And hath raised us up together and made us sit in Heavenly places together I will pray the Father and he shall give you another
Seed For Performance of that Promise For sending his only Sonne out of his bosome to work the great work of our Redemption In being born in pure and humble manner In being conversant on earth in painfull manner In suffering Death in grievous manner For all that he did or suffered For us on Earth For all his comfortable Parables of mercy Of the Two Debtors Of the Publican and Pharisee Of the lost Sheep Of the lost Groat Of the Prodigal Son Of those that were called at the eleventh hour For his comfortable sayings of Mercy God sent not his Son into the world to condemn it I came not to judge the World but to save it The Son of Man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them I am not sent to call the righteous but sinners to repentance The Son of Man came to save and seek that which was lost Come unto me all ye that labour c. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Father forgive them c. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise For his Examples of Mercy The Woman of Canaan The Woman of Samaria The Woman with the Bloody Issue The Woman taken in Adultery Mary Magdalen Zacheus The Thief Peter Paul Sinners contradicting him That would have destroyed him That stoned him That reviled and blasphemed him That crucified him This man receiveth Sinners For the Holy Spirit In the Old Testament By moving on the waters By sending it into living creatures By inspiring it into man By descending on the Prophets In the New Testament visibly In the shape of a Dove at Christs Baptisme By the gift of Christ to the Apostles In the shape of fiery tongues to them Invisibly In the Virgins Conception of Christ. Upon the Congregation in prayer Cornelius and others The twelve Disciples at Ephesus For his care over us For the illumination of our understanding In our justification Our Regeneration Governing our actions Comforting us in Tentations Strengthning us in Tentations Bearing witness with us and assuring us that we are Gods Children Reproving us in evil actions Assisting us in good works Putting good things into our remembrance Interceding for us with groans unutterable Motives to Repentance NE erubescat poenitentiam agere qui non erubuit poenitenda committere BLush not thou to repent that wert not ashamed to commit things worthy to be repented of For as much as it is beyond the compass and out of the power of natural man not to sin at all but that we adde dayly sin to sin as a Fountain casting up her waters and that it hath pleased God of his mercy to mankind to promise forgiveness to those that shall truly and faithfully repent them of the same Therefore the duty of Repentance of all other parts of Devotion is most necessary for us seeing that by it God in Christ Iesus is reconciled to us His anger toward us is appeased We are restored to his favour Certainly it is a blessed act to confess our own wretchedness for whosoever humbleth himself and penitently bewaileth his sins shall be heard by God and by him be delivered from the punishment due for them A contrite heart suffereth no repulse Repentance is a bewailing for sins already committed and avoiding for the future the sins for which we grieve for he that mourns for his sins and leaves them not incurrs the greater punishment It consisteth not in the often repetition and confession of them without forsaking them for that is but a simple profession of them not a repenting for them But this is true Repentance when those things seem grievous and bitter to our souls which in the act were sweet and delightfull and when that ill which was formerly pleasing to us causeth a hearty and unfeigned grief in us and provoketh us to look more carefully to our wayes for the future Vera peccati confessio est sine intermissione temporis peonitere Peccati verò poenitentia est ab eo quod poenitendum intellexeris distitisse It is a true confession of sin when we repent without intermission But that is a true repentance of sin when we forsake that which we conceive we had cause to repent for And again Nultus id quod confessus est deinceps debet admittere quia confessio peccati est professio desinendi No man ought to commit again the same sin of which he confessed because there is no true confession of sin without a profession to leave the same And this is the fruit of Repentance as St. Iohn the Baptist calleth it to lament for sins past and utterly forsake them for the time to come Therefore saith one well Agere poenitentiam nihil aliud est quà m profiteri affirmare se non ulter us peccaturum To repent truly is nothing elle but to profess and promise never to offend again Seeing then what Repentance is let us take a view how necessary it is and for what respects 1. In regard of Gods hate to sin and of that God whom we offend who being infinite requireth infinite satisfaction 2. In regard of our Selves Hominos sumus ad poenitentiam nati We are Men and subject to fall and therefore upon the matter we are born to repent us of our sins that we may prevent Gods Iudgements in this world of all which hath formerly been treated to escape his Iudgement in the world to come Eternal Death For as Men we shall dye and as Christians we shall give an account To say somewhat of this Death for by it we shall pass to the other except Repentance and Gods mercies prevent it 1. Death is Certain it will come 2. It is Universal or General none shall escape it 3. It is Terrible especially to the wicked 1. It is appointed for all men to dye S. Hierome calleth it Irrecusabilis mort is necessitas The necessity of dying is not to be avoyded S. August saith That all things in this life are uncertain but death and Natus es certum est quia morieris Art thou born as certain it is thou shalt die It was the saying of the Heathen Philosopher Sciebam me genuisse mortalem I knew I had begotten no other than a mortal man hearing of his Sons death This point and the certainty of it is easily proved by experience of Former ages Our own time The longest liver Methusalah died The Patriarchs Prophets c. died and were gathered to their Fathers Where are the Princes of the Heathen become c. They are vanquished and gone down to the grave 2. And as it is certain so it is universal It is the house appointed for all the
living What man is he that liveth and shall not see death As well the Wise man as the Fool. All things that are of the Earth shall turn to Earth again Thou art dust saith God to Adam and in him to all Mankind and to dust shalt return It is the Ordinance of the Lord over all flesh But though it be certain in it self yet in respect of the time and manner it is uncertain For which cause our Saviour gave his Disciples counsel to be prepared for it Watch for ye know not the day nor hour Be prepared for the Son of Man will come at an hour when ye think not like a thief in the night The time of our departure is uncertain whether it shall happen in our infancy child-hood youth or age All men live not while they are old all men dye not while they are young And many times Death cometh unexpectedly suddenly in our greatest security Dies aderit cum vives manè vesperi autem non vives There will come a day when thou shalt be alive in the morning and dead before night God hath hid from us the certainty of our end lest we should promise to our selves any thing for the future And as the time so the manner is uncertain Some dye in their beds Others perish by fire sword water c. We have but one way to enter into this world divers to depart from it 3. In it self it is also terrible Omnium terribilium terribilissimum Mors. Of all terrible things Death is most dreadful Our Saviour Christ began to be heavy c. But to mankind in divers respects it is terrible All occasioned by the Devils malice Either he bringeth the parties dying 1. Into despair and fear for Gods Judgements 2. Into security for their own Merits 3. Into impatience by anguish of their sickness 4. Into infidelity by causing a mistrust in Gods mercies 5. Into worldy cogitations about leaving and disposing of their worldly estate Or 6. Vain hope to recover their former health Dura mente abesse mors longè creditur etiam dum sentitur To a heart that is hardned Death is thought to be farthest off even when it is felt to approach The Devil is come down to you which hath great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time Thus much for the temporal death the continual remembrance whereof is so necessary as nothing more Nemo memoriam mortis habens potest peccare He that thinketh continually that he must dye doth not easily sin 2. But to speak more properly Death in it self were not terrible nor evil but a passage from this life to a better a rest from our labours were it not for the Accompt which is to be given of our life past and the Iudgement which dependeth on it and followeth it For to fall into the hands of the living God in the worst sense that is to hear his heavy sentence pronounced against our sins is a fearful thing The thought of this made the holy man Iob himself to cry O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave that thou wouldest keep me secret until thy wrath be past The terror of it is so great that if we seriously consider it Our flesh would scarce cleave to our bones Quoties diem illum confidero tolo corpore contremisco sive enim comedo sive bibo sive aliquid aliud facio semper videtur mihi tuba illa terribilis insonare in auribus surgite mortui venite ad judicium As often as I seriously consider of the day of death I tremble all my body over for whether I eat or drink or whatsoever else I do me-thinks that terrible Trump sounds in mine ears Arise ye dead and come to judgement Gods judgements are fearful as they are sometimes executed in this world Our first Parents for their sin were expelled Paradise Deprived of Original Righteousness Made lyable to Condemnation and became Children of wrath Subject to divers miseries and labours He spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell c. How did he sweep away as it were the Sons of Men from the face of the Earth by the Deluge How did he destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Did not the Egyptians miserably perish in the Red Sea What Vengeance did he take on the Israelites for worshipping the Golden Calf and for murmuring against Moses The Scriptures are plentiful in this kind But yet these judgements are not to be paralleled with those after Death In respect of God Omnipotent Highly Offended Justly Punishing Iust Highly Offended Justly Punishing Wise Highly Offended Justly Punishing Good Highly Offended Justly Punishing In respect of Man Weak Offending his Creator Suffering just Punishment Sinful Offending his Creator Suffering just Punishment Wretched Offending his Creator Suffering just Punishment In respect of the Sentence it self which inflicts a punishment sensible for the pain and misery felt and prejudicious for the glory lost 1. He being Omnipotent will be able to execute his vengeance on his Enemies neither shall any deliver them from him He is mighty in strength who hath resisted him and prospered He is exalted by his power no Law-giver like him In making Laws just and holy In exacting the due execution of them In power to punish the breakers of them Fear ye not me will ye not tremble at my presence Fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul. If he whet his glittering sword and his hand take hold on judgement Who is able to abide it Though we be delivered from the judgement of Man yet we cannot escape the hand of the Almighty His Courts are so high so transcendent and his Iudgements so definitive that no appeal lyeth from them We must rest upon his doom and go no further 2. Being Iust he will punish the Breakers of his Commandements For though he be merciful in abundant measure to pardon the iniquities of penitent transgressors yet he is just also to punish the wickedness of obstinate Malefactors Multus ad ignoscendum multus ad ulcìscendum As he is plentiful in pardon and forgiveness so is he as plentiful in revenge He hateth sinners and will repay vengeance to the ungodly He neither perverteth Iudgement nor subverteth Iustice. Nullum bonum irreâ—â—u eratum nullum malum impunium Quanquam Sera tamen certa Numiuis vindicta Lento gradu ad vindictam sui divira proceditira tarditatem supplicii gravitate compensat Nemo impunè malus There shall no good act go unrewarded nor any evil unpunished For though God be slow yet he is sure in his revenge God ballanceth his slow proceeding in anger with the grievousness of his punishment We know that a Bow the farther drawn shoots farthest And this we must hold for a firm Maxime and Conclusion that Nemo impunè malus There shall no wicked