and in it self Death is the separation of life from its subject Death is not only a cessation from action but a negation of existence for the soul may in a swooning fit cease to operate not to animate There may be a suspension of action where there is not a privation of its principle but death separateth the soul the fountaine of vital action from the body the subject thereof Secondly We will view death in what it is Accidentaliter ad aliud Accidentally and in reference to somthing without it self And that to 1 The Godly 2 The Wicked First To the Godly And so it is a rest from their labours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 51. de Sanct. Mar. Boren Proâ—â—â—c Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.13 They rest from 1 Sin 2 Sorrows Both which the holiest of men are exercised with and subject to whilst they live in the world they labour under the former in the latter whilst in this dying life But when they dye that which doth separate them from their bodies doth unite them closer unto God Their death is the Funeral of their sins the resurrection of their Graces that which doth unpinion them of mortality doth also translate them into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God So that Death is but a change to a holy Job Job 14.14 Act. 7.60 2 Cor. 5.10 a sleep to a blessed Steven a dissolution of the earthly house to a holy Paul whilst by it he accounteth not to be found naked but to be cloathed upon with his house which is from heaven to have mortality swallowed up of life and by the death of his body Rom. 7.24 to enjoy his wisht for deliverance from the body of death And this for the first Death to the godly is a rest from their sins 2. It is a rest from their sorrowes Josephs feet shal no longer be detained in the stocks neither shal he complain of the iron which entred into his soulâ— Nor any of the Saints and holy Martyrs shall at all complain of the incessant malice of their enemies Death shal give them a resting-place for in the grave the weary shall be at rest There the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressor Job 3.17 18 And all this shall not be the effect of a Stoical apathy or stupefactive cessation from sense and motion But by an introduction into real joy That soul which was before glewed unto the body shal therefore be dissolved that it may be with Christ and that which whilst it was in the world was but at best a prisoner of hope shall then be set at libertie and have eternity wherein to expatiate in the enjoyment of those mansions of glory which God hath provided for such whom he shall account worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vâ—ri Septu The righteous also are taken away from the evil to come Isai 57.1 and their graves are but beds wherein they rest in the evening of their dayes And thus you see that as to live is Christ so to die is gain to believers whilst by it they rest from sin and sorrow Our next work is to consider death in its reference to the Wicked And to them it is the beginning of evil the entry of their woe They are the men who have hope only in this life and therefore are of all men the most miserable That death which in its intention is to put out the candle of a good mans life doth but snuff it and make it burne the brighter whilst their life of grace is consummate by being swallowed up in a never-ending life of Glory This shall cause the candle of the wicked to go out in a stench their Sun to set in a cloud their flattering day of prosperity to end in a dismal night of black eternal horror whilst by it they shall at once be separated from their bodies and from the presence of God in whose favour is life and from his right hand where are pleasures for evermore And thus I have answered this Question Quid sit What death is Secondly Quotuplex sit Of how many sorts it is And Death in its complexe notion represents it self under a threefold respect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. 56. 1 Corporal 2 Spiritual 3 Eternal These three unnatural branches spring from one root to wit Sin The First is by sin The Second in sin The Third for sin The First is competent to both the Godly the wicked and hath been spoken to already Let us consider a little the second Spiritual Death and this also hatha double consideration 1. A Death in sin 2. A Death to sin The Apostle speaks of the former to the believing Colossians Col. 3.13 where he tells them that they being dead in sins and trespasses God hath quickned them together with Christ And thus the wicked are said to be dead whilst they live there being a separation between God the Author of Spiritual life and their souls the due subjects thereof by reason of their sins Psal 59.2 And this is the estate of every one of us until God saith unto us Live A Death to sin Secundum Spiritum â— mors est non credere vina quae câ—edebâ—t non jacere vana quae faciebat August Serm. 121. de Resurrect more And this is the estate of a lively Christian of one who is passed from death to life This is to be dead with Christ and is a testimony to him in whom it is that he shall live with him Rom. 6.8 This is not as the former the result of sin but the gift of God and of this death there is a twofold testimony First A death to the Law That is to say when we are brought by the threatnings in the Law to know that there is no salvation or life to be found by the Law but in Christ and this I doubt not to assert for the meaning of S. Paul Gal. 2.19 For I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God Secondly A dying to the World A deâ—pising all things therein or whatsoever it counteth admirable for the excellencie of the knowledg of Christ And thus to do is to be made conformable to the death of Christ Phil. 3.8 9 10. But I haste to passe over these which though fair fruit yet never grew on this tree profitable Doctrine but not arising from the present Text spoken to by transition rather then regular deduction from the subject I am upon I proceed to consider death in its third acception Eternal Death This is the in-let of Hell the sum of misery the second death which I suppose is not excluded yet not primarily intended in the words and hath power over none but such as have had
Quatuor Novissima OR MEDITATIONS UPON The Four Last Things DELIVERED In four COMMON-PLACE DISCOURSES BY Thomas Longland M.A. and Fellow of S. JOHNS College in Cambridge O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Deut 32.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccles 7. Haec spirituatis est exercitii summa haec forma studii spiritualis ut sapientèr disponamus praesentia nostra recogitemus in amaritudine animae nostrae praeterita futura quoque solicitè provideamus Bern. in Solen Pet. Paul Ser. 2. London Printed by A. Maxey for J. Rothwell at the Fountain in Goldsmiths-Row Cheapside 1657. TO THE REVEREND AND LEARNED Anthony Tuckney D. D. Regius Professor And Master of S. JOHNS College in Cambridge Reverend SIR THese few Discourses which next to their being Gods Sacred Truth derive all their Worth from your vouchsafing an Acceptance of them had not seen the light unless you had cast a smiling Aspect upon them and their Author ⸪ Eccl. 1.7 The gratefull Rivers acknowledg their Homage by sending their Streams to the Ocean from whence they were received Dumb Creatures teach me to speak and thankfully to acknowledge That next to God you are One to whom I owe what I have or can do You have been the Conduit through which he hath conveyed much good to my outward many Mercies to my inward Man I desire to praise him to testifie my Thanks to you by Devoting these Meditations to His Honour your Patronage and Perusing Let others commend their Patrons desire of Praise implieth weakness in the Subject your Brighter Name stands not in need of such a shadow as mens Applause to make it more Renowned in the world Native Worth is ever more respected than Adventitious Glory Yet excuse me if I say you are one who in these last dayes delight to Meditate of the last things who in these worst dayes put not the evil day far from you or him who presents it to your view Your Acceptance of these Papers doth make them more welcome to those who are looking Sion-ward and doth encourage him in what may promote his own or their journey thither who is St. Johns Col Camb. March 30. 1657. Yours In all Obligations Christian and Civil Thomas Longland Christian READER SUch thou art or my desire is thou shouldst be into whose hands these Papers are fallen I did once think to have saved my self the pains in writing though not thee the trouble in the perusal of an Epistle But being most privy to my own thoughts in the publishing these Discourses to the World and also the best Judge of my own Intentions in their composure I thought it convenient to acquaint thee That these Meditations were the Result of some vacant hours the occasion of which was what I pray may be their effect upon thee namely A desire so to number my dayes that I might apply my heart to wisdome Which afterwards I did deliver in a Learned Auditory yet contrary to my first thoughts I since resolved to communicate them unto others not doubting but they may through Gods Blessing be useful in the World and may in some measure testifie my desire to acknowledge my Obligations to him who hath Honoured me in the Acceptance of them to his Patronage These and such like were the Reasons of adventuring this small Essay of my Studies to vulgar view If any ambiguity in the Expressions be taken notice of know The safest Interpretation was my intention If any obscurity appeareth in the Phrase consider They were not delivered much less suited Ad Populum To the Vulgar And should I have altered the phrase in some places the sense would have been inverted If any thing else want an Apologie let thy Charity finde an Excuse Psal 30.12 Remember thy Tongue is thy Glory and is better used in Praying for than Censaring of him who is Cambridge March 30. 1657. Thine To promote thy Eternal Welfare T. L. HEB. 9.27 It is appointed to men once to die but after this the Judgment COnsiderations of death to living men Charron of Wisdom lib. 2. c. 11. Sect. 2. though usually most unwelcome yet are the most profitable to promote the Duty of Preparation thereunto for which purpose I have made choise of these words And because I will not build without a Foundation lest I erect a tottering Structure I wil first speak something to the scope of these words and then deduce a Proposition which shall be the Basis of my future Discourse These words as a Learned man notes are alledged by the Author to the Hebrewes Paraeus in locum as an Argument to evince or reason to prove that Christ neither could nor should offer oftner then once which is clear if we consult the precedent and subsequent words of the Text. But it being not my intention to speak to them as they stand in relation to the Context but as they make an intire Proposition I shall not be solicitous after any inquiry of their relative connexion but as they are in Thesi they are the declaration of the Decree of Heaven concerning our latter end Statutum est c It is appointed to men once to die but after this the Judgement I shall speak to them in order 1. Death 2. Judgment I. Of DEATH Doct. FRom the First they suggest to our Meditations this Doctrine That Death is inevitable A short yet sure Truth as we shall see in the sequel of this Discourse Were it not that the daily spectacles of mortalitie which we see the deep groans of dying men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. de Fid. leg Naturali Immortalia ne speres monet annus almum quae rapit hora diem Horat lib. 4. Od. 7. which eccho again which was the usual Salutation of one to Philip of Macedon That he was a man I say If these did not convince us of the truth of this Doctrine I might appeal to those sudden fits and fainting distempers the most healthful body doth sometimes perceive in it self To the course of Nature which shewes us as the longest day hath its closure in the night even so the longest life must have its period by death But as I do believe there is not amongst us such an Epicure who believeth not a life to come after death so I in charity hope there is not such an Atheist as doth believe he shall not die I will passe this therefore and proceed to discover the nature of death which I shall endeavour in the resolution of these Questions 1. Quid sit What it is 2. Quot uplex sit Of how many sorts it is 3. Quare sit Wherefore it is For the First In the resolution of this Question What death is Because it is a privation I shall not curiously seek out a positive definition but speak to it as it may be considered 1. Formaliter in se 2. Accidentaliter ad aliud First What it is formally
no part in the first Resurrection THIS is the dregs of the fury of the Lord the Cup of his sorest indignation which requireth eternity to drink it to the bottom This is the gnawing worm and unquenchable fire the sense whereof doth cause them on whom it is inflicted to meditate terror for ever THESE are the sparks which the wicked have kindled from the fire of their own lusts and wherein God will cause them to lye down in sorrow THIS is that Devouring fire who among us shall dwell with it Who among us shall dwell with these everlasting burnings Every one shal thus die for sin who is before dead in sin The next Question I am to resolve is Quare sit Wherefore it is which will be answered by inquiring Vnde sit Whence it is And there is a threefold rise of Death 1. Satan 2. Man 3. God The first by Temptation The second by Consent The third by Infliction 1. SATAN is the grand contriver of mans destruction and therefore is the Author of it not by a Physical but moral causality He is the Father of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam 1.15 Sin the parent of death He who is the Antient of daies tells us the Devil is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A murderer from the beginning And through mans cowardise in consenting to iniquity he who at the first did but usurp hath now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the power of death and is not to be overcome but by Christ who is stronger then he And blessed be God that the Author of Death is overcome by him who is the Prince of life Heb. 2.14 15. and the Author and finisher of that faith against which the gates of hel shal not prevail But 2. Man consenting This is another cause of death to prove this see that remarkable place Rom. 5.12 Hic enim duo concurrunt tentator et obtemperator Zeged loc◠commu As by one man sin entered into the world Death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned We were no sooner children of Adam but we were sons of Death Our first Father Adam we in him did eat of that apple the core whereof doth yet stick in our throats and will at length choak us one by one Sin is our own work death is the Wages of sin which brings me to the third cause God inflicting If man by his sin saith he will die God by his decree saith he shall die so that man shal have his will though it end in his woe If Adam will needs entaile an hereditary curse upon his posterity God will so ratifie it by his supreme Act in heaven that it shall never be cut off it shall be inevitable seeing he hath appointed for men once to die And thus we have the resolution of these three Questions I shall only answer an objection and so proceed to use Object But is this true It is appointed to men men indefinitely to all men to die What is the reason we read of some persons who did not of some who shall not taste of Death Answ I. Answer Particular exceptions destroy not the verity of general rules because some go out of the backdoor we doe not therefore cease to say that the gate is the ordinary way out of the house and because some hath not seen death or others shall not we need not cease to affirm It is appointed for men once to die for men are said to die either properly and really or by way of aequivalency when they ungergo a Change equal with death Thus did Enoch when he was translated Elijah when carried to heaven in a fiery Charriot and this shall they undergo who shall be found alive when Christ shal come to judgment The essence of Death or rather its nature not consisting in cinerefaction but as I have before affirmed in a separation of life from its subject which in Gods people is accompanied with a blessed dis-union of sin from their soul They are no longer subjects of sin when once vessels of eternal glory The next thing in order of method will be to make some inference from what hath been said and let me premise this it will be wisdom for us to look this King of Terror in the face and to consider whether we are able to encounter with him or no and what Nero did when he heard he was sentenced by the Senate as an enemy to the Publick Weale to be punished More majorum despairing to live he tried the points of the Ponyards wherewith he had resolved to dye to feel their sharpness before he sheathed them in his bowels So it would be wisdome in us by serious reflection upon our frailty to die daily that so the day of our death may not surprize us unawares Storms are most terrible when they surprize us suddenly and without a shelter Death will then be most unwelcome when it overtakes us unprepared or unresolved to grapple with it I shall now endeavor to apply this Doctrine If this be true That death is inevitable Vse 1 then let us live as such who are to die Because death is an evil to nature let us not hasten it because it is a necessary consequent of our sin Let us endeavour that though it separate our souls from our bodies yet it seize not on us in such an estate which will separate both from God Because by Christ it is overcome and proves a friend to Grace by hasting its consummation in Glory let us not be afraid to encounter with it But alas how few of us make this improvement of the necessity of death How many by intemperance and disorder do dig their graves with their own teeth How many are there whose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whilest they are Somno vinoque sepulti before their passing-bell hath tolled and even whilest their bones are full of marrow Job 20 11. their souls are replete with the sins of their youth These are such who put far from them the evil day They consider not the daies of darknesse neither think of them any more then as the Prophane proverb is Their dying day Their inward thought is that not only their houses Psalm 49.11 but they shall abide for ever not considering there is a God in whose hands are their life breath and all their waies that their breath is in their nostrils and their life ere long may be as water spilton the ground that it will lay the greatest Prince leveld with the poorest Peasant Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres Hor at lib. 1. Od. 4. that Death regards not the scepter of a mortal Prince nor compassionates the sad estate of any nor will be bribed to give a release from natures bonds that the grizly hand of death will cover many a naked brest which formerly hath been the looking-glasse of lust and pride with a
Prophets but respect to their own praise which put them upon that Religious shew yet Hypocritical action they persecuting the Lords anointed whilst they pretend to do his Prophets no harm yea to reverence their memory after death whom their Parents not onely hated but attempted to kill when alive Notwithstanding this we finde it the practice of the Saints to bewail the loss of their friends and decently to interre them Even the Father of the faithful Gen. 23.2 when Sarah is dead cometh to mourn and to weep and with no less care than love doth provide a Burial-place for her Thus when Jacob had yielded up the ghost the youngest Joseph shews the strongest love and fell upon his fathers face and wept upon him and kissed him and commandeth his servants the Physicians to embalm him Gen. 50.1 2. and made a mourning for his father ver 10. There was his natural affection as a Son yet but seven dayes there his moderation as a Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eus Eccles hist l. 1. c. 4. who had hopes of a Resurrection which the Egyptians not expecting were more extravagant in their sorrow and mourned for him seventy dayes We finde it also promised as a blessing to Abijah the Son of Jeroboam that all Israel should mourn for him and bury him which was performed as to him so to good Josiah whom the Prophet Jeremiah lamented for and all the singing-men and the singing-women spake of and that not for once but made it an Ordinance in Israel to this day composing Elegies upon him when-as wicked Jehoiakim 2 Chron. 35.25 as a curse upon him had no other Monument but the burial of an Ass drawn forth and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem neither did any lament for him saying Jer. 22.18 19. Ah Lord or Ah his glory Not to multiply Examples let that of our Saviour be the last who was decently interr'd as for otehrs so this account Vid. Polan Syntag l. 6. c. 19. That we might be careful that our burials of the dead may be so comely that it may answer somewhat the hopes we have of a Resurrection unto life Fear of Superstition must not thrust us upon a certainty of Inhumanity the former is not to be allowed the latter must ever be avoided The Medium is A due respect to those after their deaths whom we have loved in their lives which will testifie to the world they liv'd desired whilst they die lamented We in the mean time moderating our grief with this Consideration It is appointed unto men once to die HEB. 9.27 But after this the Judgement II. Of JUDGEMENT HAving spoken of Death out of this place I now come to speak of what is after it to wit Judgement Although possibly by Judgement may be here meant the particular Judgement of every man to wit immediately after the separation of his Soul and Body by Death Yet where God hath not expresly set us bounds I suppose it is not necessary for us to confine our selves There being therefore no such necessity of that restriction I shall take my liberty to speak of the general Judgement at the end of the World In my ensuing Discourse I shall not attempt any Division in this intire Proposition but deduce this Doctrine Doct. That God hath appointed a Day in which he will Judge the World The express words of the Apostle Act. 17.31 I shall not heap up many Arguments either from Scripture or Reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost de Laz. Con 4. to prove the truth of this Proposition though upon due consideration many from both would crowd into my thoughts But I wave them for I suppose my self to speak to Christians who believe not to Infidels who may deny at least doubt of this truth But if I must needs prove it I will go no further than that usual expression of men to put an end to strife As God shall judge me The frequency of which in mens mouthes doth testifie to their faces that God hath appointed a day wherein to judge the world For the due understanding of which Truth let these particulars be considered 1 Judex The Judge 2 Judicandi The persons to be judged 3 Modus Judicii The manner of Judgement 4 Judicii Eventus The Event of the Judgement For the first we will consider who shall be the Judge We finde in Scripture this Title The Judge of the World attributed sometimes to God sometimes to Jesus Christ To God as Gen 18.23 Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right Eccles 3.17 I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked But I suppose those and the like places may be understood of Gods Providential Exercise of Judgement in the World as being the Moderator and Governour thereof and not of the Vltimate and Definitive Sentence at the last Day Ideo antem cum diem Judicii Dci dicimus addimus ultimum vcl novissimum quia nunc judicat ab humani generis initio judicavit August de Cir. Dei lib. 20. c. 1. for thus the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement unto the Son Joh. 5.22 not but that the whole Trinity do exercise this Work for Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa but in a more singular manner Christ as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that upon these Accounts 1 As it is a part of his Regal Office 2 As he is iDELEGATUS DEI to this Work FIRST As it is a part of his Kingly Office to judge others to absolve the Innocent to condemn the Nocent this is a Kingly Work And that Christ hath Authority to do this is evident for in the day of his Inauguration when the Diadem of Glory was first set upon his head to wit after his Resurrection he tells us All Power is given unto him both in Heaven and in Earth He drunk of the Brook in the way and here he did lift up his head But in the last Day he shall much more be higher than his enemies when they who in their popular fury cried out We have no King but Caesar Videbunt ergo Judaei Deum hominem semper regnantem quem negande desperaverunt morientem Aug. de Sym. ad Catech. tract 4. c. 8. and would not have him to rule over them shall be brought before him and slain before his face They who would not kiss the Scepter of his Grace shall be bruised like a potters vessel by the iron Rod of his Justice Secondly As he is DELEGATUS DEI to this Work as God hath assigned substituted appointed him to or committed to him the Judgement of the World See Act. 17.31 He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained And so Rom. 2.16 God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ Rom. 14.10 2. Cor. 3.10 And hence Gods Tribunal is called the Judgement-seat
winding-sheet That this which is called death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. de Fid. Leg Natur. Psal 49.14 shall cool the valour of all the hot-spurs in the world who in their life time could not put up an injury without a challenge That they shall roll in the dust who sometimes did wallow in pleasures like the swine in the mire when like sheep they are laid in the grave and death shall feed upon them And how few of the heirs of life do walk as if they were to pass to an inheritance but after death whilst some do either with persecuted Elijah or peevish Jonah seek after death exceedingly desirous of the penny but yet so delicate that they they are loth to work in the heat of the day Others of them though they have set their faces towards the new Jerusalem and are on their journey thither yet by the way they remember the flesh-pots of Egypt Num. 11.5 and their present enjoyments do make them the lesse active in the expectation of future felicity God is forced to cast wormwood upon the brests of the Creature that he may make them the more earnestly draw water out of the wells of Salvation Others of them conceive God may have honour by their lives and therefore they are loath they should be deprived of such an opportunity by their deaths For this cause possibly the Psalmist might say Psalm 102.24 O my God take me not away in the midst of my dayes And upright Hezekiah might beg for a reprieve after God had said unto him Thou shalt dye and not live All these though their intentions might plead an excuse yet their actions are not commendable Yet we know a found constitution is consistent with some qualmes and we ought to conclude that strength of grace is consistent with some weakness in this particular Gods people cease not to be men by becoming Christians as they are the former they may be afraid as the latter they do dare to dye Aaron upon Mount Hor can be stripped of his clothes Num. 20.18 and without repining go to bed Blessed Simeon wil depart in peace Luke 2.29 30. after his eyes have seen the Lords Salvation Act. 21.13 The holy Apostle is indifferent whether to live or dye but if it be for the name of the Lord Jesus he is ready not to be bound but to dye also Thus we see the Shepherd of Israel hath sheep as well as Lambs in his fold men of riper years as well as babes in Christianity Such as dare encounter the King of terrors as well as such who are afraid at his presence Vide Bullinger in 1 Thess 4.8 Morteâ—n mali vitant sancti in vitant quibus non tam vitae hujus interitus quam aeternae interitus est Heidfel Sphis Theo Phil. c. 38. p. 908. But all believers have this happinesse though few live in the comfort of it that death to them is but a sleep the grave an hiding place both a resting from their labours their passage from this vale of misery is but an entrance into their Masters joy This notwithstanding is not sufficient for a Christian to know that though he die yet his life is hid with Christ in God He must so dye that God may be glorified by his death the which that every one of us may do we must prepare our selves for so great a change The which preparation consists in three things 1. Dying unto sin 2. Living unto righteousness 3. Mortification to the world A word to each of these First Dying unto sin * The sting of death is sin 2 Cor. 15.56 he then that dyeth unto sin destroyeth death And frequent reflections upon death would prove an excellent meanes hereunto But oh how hard is it though we have daily Spectacles of others mortality to live under convictions of our owne we should live more in heaven if we did believe we were to die and so to goe from hence This would season our discourse lives and check the exorbitancy of our rising lusts to consider it is appointed for all men once to die and consequently alleviate the feare of death For that which maketh death terrible to a considerative mind is not so much the pain which is felt in the separation of soul body for I doubt not but men undergo more sharp agonies as to fense in a fit of the stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost expos Psal 116. or gout or such acute diseases then at the moment of their dissolution nor is it altogether that natural abhorrency of an annihilation or destruction of being which maketh death formidable but that which represents death sitting upon a pale horse as described Rev. 6.8 is conscience of sin and thereby obligation unto hell following after death but a beleever may use with a holy confidence what sometimes presuming Agag said 1 Sam. 15 32. Surely the bitternesse of death is past and with the blessed Apostle may close his eies in peace with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Rom. 8.83.39 I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers c. shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 2. Living unto righteousnesse Mala more putâ—nda non est quâ—m bona vita praecesserit August de civit Dei lib. 1. cap. 11. A holy life will usher in a happy death This is that which doth also evidence our dying unto sin and will make us die more peaceably in our beds We find that they who lived most up amongst the heathens to the principles of morality were least afraid to die when those who lived the most rudely were most unwilling to leave the world Seneca or Cate when about to die seem exceeding ready when a wicked Nero whose conscience told him what his mouth did utter Sueton in vita Neronis Vivo deformiter ac turpiter doth depart the world with an Vsque adeone mori miserum est and encourageth himself to his own ruine with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It becometh not It becometh not thee O Nero to be so daunted go to encourage thy selfe Upright Hezekiah had not such cause to weep when the Prophet brought those tydings to him Isai 38.1 2 that he should dye and not live seeing he was so well prepared for death that he could appeal to God that he had walked before him in truth and with a perfect heart and done that which was good in his sigh David his father also a man after Gods own heart did thus prepare for death and after he had served his own generation by the wil of God fell asleep Act. 13 35. Thirdly Mortification to the world this will prepare us for the stroke of death Those things which are glewed together are not without much difficulty dis-united and when our affections are set upon earthly things we shall not willingly
think of being covered up in dust A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and men are not easily perswaded to part with present delights for an expectation of future happinesse The man who fareth deliciously every day will not willingly hear of being meat for worms He who is gorgeously arrayed as the rich man in the Gospel will not easily strip himself to a winding-sheet or they that stretch themselves upon their couches will be willing to be laid in the grave Charies the Fifth Haec sunt que faciunt invitos mori These are the things which make us unwilling to die was a sober answer of that prudent Emperor to a magnificent Duke of Venice in the like case But now a child of God whose Treasure is in Heaven desireth to be there himself also leaving the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle his phrase is Phil. 1.23 having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ who by his death doth enable his to die to earthly things that their heart may soar a ofâ— and aspire to that place where he their treasure is where their souls being sequestred from earthly comforts they drink no longer at the broken cisterns of the Creature but derive all their happinesse from him with whom their springs are found Thus those precious Jewels their immortal souls shall there shine in their native lustre where not trampled upon by filthy sense they approach to God and are made more like to him from whom their essence was received And thus much shall serve for the first use Is Death inevitable Vse 2 then let this be a cordial to cheer us up under to strengthen us against the losse of friends we usually say patience perforce is small hearts ease but yet we may make a virtue 〈◊〉 this necessity of mortality imposed upon us to help our patience in this particular The wise heathen could comfort himself under the losse of his sons with this expression Scio me mortales genuisse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laert. Diog vita Anaxag I know I have begot such who are mortal But a holy Christian who knoweth that God hath appointed and not fate imposed a necessity of Death to all may with greater comfort support himself with a Scio Deum hoc decrevisse I know God hath appointed it and with the Psalmist hold his peace seeing the Lord hath done it David hath learned this lesson exceeding well and we see him take it out to the amazement of his Servants 2 Sam. 12.21 22 23. even to their saying with admiration What thing is this that thou hast done Much more may we comfort our selves if we know they did die in the Lord The doubt of which possibly might be one reason of the impatience and immoderate grief of the aforesaid holy man for the death of Absalon Were our relations holy in their lives they are happy after death They have left us we have not lost them but shall receive them or rather be received to them at the last day when death shall be swallowed up into victory 'T is the Apostle his comparison That which thou sowest is not quickned except it die neither is the body raised in glory except sown in dishonour 1 Cor. 15.36 43. This is rather envy than piety to bewail the death of such Charron of Wisdom lib. 3. c. 27. seeing their absence from us speaks their presence with their and our chiefest good Their death is but a departure to a better life Hence St. Paul when he speaketh of his death for the cause of his blessed Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Châ—ysost in Phil. 2.12 and the service of the Church Phil. 2.12 doth not call for their tears but rejoying The serious belief of a Resurrection and this life which is to come would be then a great support under our loss of friends for the present 1 Thess 4.14 or else the Apostle shewed himself no good Rhetorician when he maketh use of such an Argument to perswade believers from sorrowing as others which have no such hope But whilst I speak for this Humanitatis vero officia misericordiae opera quod alibi monuimus per hoc non damnantur c. Bulling in 1 Thess 4.13 14. I would not seem the least to countenance or insinuate the other extreme I mean that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is more common in the world Many men who would not be counted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men without hope yet are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without natural affection who never think they shall live till their relations die and follow them with less sorrow to their graves then they return with laughter to their Chests The which though they labour to conceal yet their neglect of Funeral Rites to their deceased friends doth give others occasion to suspect it If you ask them a reason of this omission their answer is at hand and because you shall know they speak not without the book you shall have the sense if not the words of the Father O mnis ista curatio funeris August de Civit. Dei lib. 2. c. 12. conditio sepulturae pompa exequiarum magis sunt vivorum solatia quam subsidia mortuorum Funeral soâ—â—mnities are rather for the comfort of the living than the advantage of the dead and therefore are with less trouble omitted than cost performed But I could wish such to look a little further and they shall soon perceive what ill use they make of that Doctrine Nec ideo tamen contemnenda August de Civit. Dei lib. 1. c. 13. abjicienda sunt corpora defunctorum c. We must not therefore cast those away from whom God hath withdrawn his breath especially those bodies which have been the organs of the Holy Spirit to every good work God will not be well pleased that men should respect those bodies that were the Temples of the Holy Spirit no more than dung which is cast forth into the open Air That the Stones of the Sanctuary should be poured forth in the top of every street that the precious Sons of Zion comparable to fine gold should be esteemed as earthen pitchers nor that the Body of a man should be buried as the Carcase of a dog The same God who hath commanded us not to sorrow as men without hope doth yet allow we should mourn as those in whose hearts resideth love That we weep Vid. Bullin optimè de hac re disserentem Dec. 3. Ser. 10. de Inst Eccles Mat. 23.27 29. will speak us men that in this case we grieve with moderation will shew us Christians Indeed our Saviour seems to chide such who did build the Tombs of the Prophets and garnish the Sepulchers of the righteous but take notice they were such who themselves were as graves that did not appear and like unto whited Sepulchers Luk. 11.44 47. seeing it was not affection to the persons of the