and Prayer the forsaking of our sinnes which haue diuided vs from God for who can think with any reason that he truly desires to be with the Lord who neyther delights to hear the Lord in his word nor to speake to the Lord by prayer and is not carefull to remooue these impediments which may stay his peace and reconciliation with God An example of true desire we haue in Zacheus who being desirous to see CHRIST and finding himselfe impeded by the multitude ranne before and climed vp vppon a tree to supply the wants of his lowe stature and when hee was called vpon by IESVS hee obeyed the calling resoluing to parte from his euill gotten goods that hee might keepe still the Lorde Iesus So is it with eâ—eriâ— soule which earnestly longs to enioy the Lorde it runneth by all impediments vseth all lawfull meanes and refuses no required condition so that they are euen content to denie themselues take vp his crosse and follow him Wheras the men of this world if they haue any desire of Iesus Christ it is like vnto that which Merchants haue who hauing tasted wines like them very well but refuse to buy them for the greatnesse of the price so they hauing tasted of the powers of the life to come haue a desire to bee partakers of them but when they heare it cannot be but vpon this condition that they denie themselues mortifie their earthly lustes they refuse with that young man who being called by Christ to forsake all follow him did first craue license to goe and kisse his father thus are they deceiued with a vain hope that a man may ouertake both that is embrace the perishing pleasures of sin in this life and after be partakers of the enduring pleasures of the life to come Clothed with our house That state of glorie which before he compared to an house hee now compares to a garment for it is a customable thing to Gods spirit to shadow that glory to come vnder sundry similitudes The Apostle saies it is a glory to be reuealed Now it is shaddowed but now it is not reâ—ealed Whatsoeuer is spoken of it is as much lesse then it selfe as a shadowe is lesse then the body wee see the shadows by which it is figured and heare of them but the glorie it selfe is such as the eye hath not seene and the eare hath not heard it is pondus aeteruÌ„ gloriae an eternall weight of glory saith the Apostle Non enim gloriosa vestis aut gloriosa domus sed gloriaipsa promittitur siquid vero illoruÌ„ aut similiuÌ„ aliquando dicitur figura est it is neither a glorious garment nor a glorious house â—hat God promises to vs but glorie it selfe and if at any time mention bee made of any such thing as house or garment it is a figure And yet for our information the spirit of God is forced to vse such figures as are borrowâ—d from most delectable things and best knowne vnto vs some way to mak vs coÌ„ceiue that which fully wee cannot vnderstaÌ„d somtime calling it a buildding somtime a house somtime a City sometime a garmeÌ„t somtime an inheritance it is ay one thing which is promised but many maner of waies exprest To the Church of Ephesus is promised the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God to the Church of Smyrna is promised immunity from the second death to the Church of Pergamus is promised hidden Manna a white stone and a new name which no man knows but he who receiues it to the Church of Thyatira is promised the ruling Scepter and the morning Starre to the Church of Sardis is promised the writing of their name in the booke of life to the Church of Philadelphia is promised the honor of a Pillar in the Temple of God and to the Church of Laodicea is promised a place with Christ on his Throne That the spirite of God speakes of one thing vnder so many similitudes is to declare that the glory of that Kingdome and riches of that Inheritance is greater then that any similitude is able to expresse it And hitherto tends the manner of speech vsed here by the Apostle it is strangâ—to heare that a man should bee clothed with an house seeing in common speech men are said to bee clothed with garments and not with houses but wee must consider that no order of wordes can be kept in speaking of that which passes vnderstanding It is said of those three disciples who saw the glory of Christ on mount Tabor that being rauished there with they spake and knewe not what they said so doth the contemplation of the glorie to come transport Gods children that they beecome as the Psalmist sayes Inâ—briati ab vbertate domus dei so drunken with the pleasures of Gods house that they forget where they are they speake not looke not doe not after the cusâ—â—me of nature so long as their mindes are carried after heauenly things and these small beginnings may witnes vnto vs the excellency of that life which at length shall change vs wonderfully from that which now we are Ver. 3. If so be wee shall be found clothed and not naked Because in the former verse the Apostle had said he desired to be clothed vppon with his house which is from heauen that is hee desired not to lay aside his bodie but keeping it still hee wished to be clothed aboue it with immortalitie and glory he subioynes now a certaine correction of it I desire it saies he if so it may stand with the Lords dispensation that when I shall be receiued into that glory I be found Clothed to wit with my body which way Henoch and Elijah entred into glory and all the faithfull wâ—o shall bee found a hue at Christs second comming shal also the same way enter into glory for they shal not lay aside their bodies but keeping them still as garments and couerings to their soule shal vpon them be clothed with the garment of immortality and glory if this way saies the Apostle I bee found clothed and not Naked that is if I bee found without a body which way Adam Abraham and the rest of the Fathers Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles entred into glory they were indeede clothed with their house from Heauen but were not superuested or clothed vpon which here the Apostle protests he desired if it might stand with the Lords dispensation And of this condition which here the Apostle subioynes for correction of his former speach wee may learne how the godly in desiring of thinges not absolutly promised to all Gods children albeit giuen to some of them do so temper and moderate their desires that they submit their will to Gods most holy will whereor we are admonish'd how much more we ought to mortifie in our selues the vnlawfull desires of things absolutly prohibit as being against the will of God Since the Apostle
thee Let it therefore bee farre from vs to glorie eyther in the strength or beauty or stature of our mortall bodies they are but rotten and ruinous habitations nothing is there in them to puff vp our pride if we consider them aright but much matter to humble vs. It is written of Agathocles who of a Potter was made a King that he caused to furnish his table with vessels some of Golde and some of Loame that by the one he might be serued as a King and by the other admonished that hee was once a Potter and it much more becomes vs who now are called to the high dignity of the sonnes of God to remember what wee were before that so we may bee humbled in our selues be thankfull to our God Secondly the bodie is called an earthly houâ—e because by earthly meanes it is susteyned and vpholden so that the verie food by which we liue dooth warne vs of the fragility of our mortall bodiâ— the fowles of the ayre and beastes of the earth are slaine to feed vs they must quit the silly life they haue before they can bee conuenient foode for vs And I pray you what enduring life can they cause vnto vs which must die before they can helpe our life yea within short time if they bee let alone they corrupt and putrifie of their owne accord thus euerie creature that feedes vs testifies to vs in their kinde that our life is but a silly life the ende whereof is death and filthy rottennesse Of this Tabernacle the third generall point we marked heere is how our body is called a Tabernacle And that first for some similitude of the building a Tabernacle being such a soiourning place as Tectum habeat non fundamentum hath a couering but not a foundation to warne vs that how euer in this life wâ—e haue aboue vs the protection of God as a Couert for the storme and for the raine yet beneath there is heere no foundation whereon we may rest and settle our selues but we are with Abraham Isaac and Iacob to looke for that Citie aboue hauing a Foundation that is our Temples building in which without danger wee may lay vp our treasure hauing both a roofe a foundation fundamentum est stabilitas aeternae beatitudinis tectum consummatio perfectio ipsius Secondly our bodies care called Tabernacles in regard of the vse of them since our life is a warfare wee should soiourne in the body as souldiers in their Sconses Tents that out and in them wee may watch for vantage ouer our enemies to annoy them and defend our selues from them but it is to bee lamented that our bodies which should be vsed as Tabernacles for warre are turned in domicilia turpissimae captiuitatis in little houses of seruitude bondage And thirdly to shew their mortality they are compared to Tabernacles for they are moueable at the will and arbitrement of God who hath pitched them we haue here no continuing City but should liue in the body as ready euery houre to bee transported for wee know not when it shal please the Lord to pull vp the stakes of our Tabernacle to slake the cordes and folde vp the couering therof which shortly must bee done to euery one of vs but our comfort is that as the Arke of God which in the Wildernesse dwelt in a moueable Tabernacle was afterward placed in a fixed and stablished Temple in Canaan so our soules shall bee translated from this earthly Tabernacle to haue their dwelling in that Temple of God in heauen Great ioy was in Ierusalem when Salomon transported the Arke from the Tabernacle to the Temple but greater ioy shall be to our soules when God shall carrie them from this earthly Tent to that heauenly and eternall habitation Be dissolued Heere we see that in the Christian death dooth no more but dissolue his earthly Tabernacle It is demaunded by Augustine what kinde of death it was which God denouÌ„ced to man in paradise if he did eat of the forbidden tree Vtrum corporis an animae an totius hominis an illa quae dicitur secunda And he aunswers that into that death which is the proper punishment of sinne all kinds of death concurres for as the whole earth coÌ„sists sayes he of many earths the Catholike Church consists of many particular Churches so vniuersal death which is the proper punishmeÌ„t of sin consists of all sorts of death Now the Scripture makes mention chiefly of two sorts oâ— death the first and second the first death hath in it two deaths the one of the soule the other of the body the death of the soule is when the soule quickening the body is not quickened of God but is as the Apostle speakes a straÌ„ger froÌ„ the life of God by this death many are dead who in regard of their bodies seem to be liuing as is spokeÌ„ of the Ephesians before their calling of the waÌ„toÌ„ widows who liuing are dead of the Angel of Sardis the death of the body is the separatioÌ„ of the soule from the body So then the death of the whole maÌ„ is Cum anima sine deo corpore ad tempus paenas luit but the second death which is so called because by many degâ—ees it is greater then the other and there is not any other behinde it is Cum anima sine Deo cum corpore aeternas paenas luit Where that we may yet more cleerely distinguish the death of a Christian from the death of the wicked it is to be enquired seeing in the resurrection the wicked shall haue their soules and bodies vnited together how shall they be punished with death The aunswer is that this vnion of their soules and bodies shall be with such a fearfull diuision from God among themselues that they shall rather wish to be extinguished and turned into nothing then be vnited againe Ad augmentum tormenti hic de corporenolens educitur impius illic in corpore tenetur inuitus In this life the wicked is taken out of the body against his will and in the life to come hee is kept in the bodie against his will and by both of these his torment is encreased In the first creation God conioyned soule and body that they might be a mutuall comfort one to other but in the second death by the coÌ„trary they are vnited for the mutual punishment one of another so that the body shall bee for no other ende quickened by the soule but to make it feeling and sensible of horrible paine for if euen now in this life it bee come vpon man as a iust punishment of his rebellion against God that the body is not so seruiceable to the soule as it was in the beginning Anima quippe quia supâ—riorem DominuÌ„ suo arbitrio deseruit inferiorem famulum sibi subiectuÌ„ non habet how much
the Chaffe the Christian is seeking the Corne externall things cannot content him frumentum paâ—eis mensura minus est led natura pretio sius as Corne suppose it to be lesse iâ— measure then the Chaffe yet is it more pretious in Nature so doe they know that inward spirituall inuisible goods are the most excellent With me saies Wisedome are durable riches and honour this life is but a shaddow but Wisedome calles vs to the fellowsâ—ip of an euerlasting life all the honour that is from the worlds endes in shame but the honour which is from God is durable fugiamus ergo hinc vbi nihil est vbi inane est omne quod magnificum putatur vbi qui seputat aliquid esse nihil est let us therefore flie out of this world in the which there is nothing in the which that which is thoght to be most magnified is indeed but vanity and he who thinkes himselfe to bee something in very deed is nothing reliâ—quamus vmbram qui soleÌ„ querimus let vs forsake the shadow who seeke the Sun and follow those things which by true light are discouered to vs to bee best Againe we see here how religion takes not away from the ChristiaÌ„ naturall affections but only rectifies them the Lord who in the 1. creation made them in the regeneratioÌ„ doth renue them tempering theÌ„ in measure and setting â—heÌ„ vpon the right obiects for the affections so long as they are either distempered and out of measure or then diuerted from their own proper obiects they breed in vs manifolde restlesse perturbations euen as the strings of an instrumentpunc beeing distempered if ye touch them send out a very vngrateâ—ull sound where o her way being rightly set by the hand of the Musitian they end out most pleasant melodie so is it with the aâ—fections if they be temperedby the spirit of God and set vpon the right obiects they worke in vs a quiet meeke and peaceablâ— spirit and this is the great benefite wee haue by religion and godlines that our affections which are like to furious Beastes are tamed to our hand since by nature we are covetous of honour religion teaches how to câ—uet the best honour and where by nature we cannot be without care religion teaches vs how to bend our care to please God that godly care may cause coÌ„fort to vs where the carnal is thorny that doth but prick disquiet vs and so â—orth of the 〈◊〉 of the affections Now for this moderation of our affections because they are sooner commoued then water is with the winde Two things are most necessarie One is that we haue continually in our mind some short precepts of the word commanding vs how to temper them and next that with the precepts we bee instant in Prayer to God the whole nature of beasts hath beene tamed by the nature of man but the nature of man no man is able to tame what is spoken of the tongue is true of our whole nature it is an vnruly euill wee must therefore seeke it may be done by God which is not possible to bee done by man That both dwelling at home c. But now to returne The Apostle protests that both dwelling at home and remooving from home that is both in life and in death it was his greatest desire to bee acceptable to GOD. It is certaine that Ioab as prophane a man as hee was in his life yet when he was straited by death ranne to the hornes of the Aâ—tar so the most prophane and wicked men when they come to the point of Death would giue al the world if they had it for the favour of God then are they content to heare the Preacher then desire they some comfort of the word and that Prayers by the Church shold be made vnto God for them In a word those same meanes of reconciliation with God which they despised in their life they desiâ—â— them in death but here is wisedome in time to do that which we must bee faine to doe at the length I see no other difference betwene these wise and foolish Virgins in that Parable but that the one did that in time which the other would faine haue done out of time but in vaine And the Apostle here stands vnto vs for an example of this holy wisedome he offered vp himselfe in a whole burnt offering to GOD keeping nothing backe nor diuiding euill as the maner of foolish men is What greater folly then this that thy dying dayes thou resoluest to offer them vnto God and the dayes of thy life thou giuest them to the seruice of Satan and sin for euill diuiding Saule lost his Kingdome for euill diuiding Ananias and Saphira lost their liues but worse diuiders are they who will giue their young yeeres vnto Satan and their old and feeble age to the Lord this is to incurre that fearefull curse Cursed be he that hath a male in his flocke and vowes and Sacrifices a corrupt thing vnto the LORD Surely as the carelesse Husband-man whoe sowes nothing in spring time Reapes nothing in Haruest So he who in his life sowes not the seede of teares out of a penitent heart how shal hee gather in death the fruit oâ— ioy yea rather as the idolatrous Israelites when by many Apostasies they had prouoked the Lord to anger got this fearefull answere from him Goe to the gods whom yee haue chosen let them saue you in the time of your tribulation So may they looke for the like aunswere who in their life liue as Rebels vnto God and then in death wil pray the Lord to receiue them No goe your way to the Masters whome yee haue serued and let them receiue you Now all this delay of Repentance whereby men defer to doe that in their life which faine they would do in death comes to pâ—sse of Satans sinâ—gular Policie who craftily steales away from men the time of Grace he dare not be so impudent as to say plainely to the wicked man yee neede not repent at all he craues no more but a supersedere yee neede not to repent as yet euery day hee tempts thee with a new baite and so makes thee put off from day to day till the last day come wherein thou arT suddenly taken away before thou canst put order to thy thoughts for then a multitude of sins gathers against thee and confounds thee where if thou hadst fought against theÌ„ seuerally before thou mightst easilyhaue ouercome them As in bodily diseases protract of time makes them the more incureable so is it in the spirituall for no sinne ends there where it begins but if it bee suffered to continue makes a progresse alwayes to the worse It is written of Pharao that being plagued with Frogges that Moses offered to him Concerning me command when thou wilt that I shall pray for thee and the Frogges shall bee taken from thee and sent