We scarce heare of any man preferred but wee thinke of our selues that wee might very well haue beene that Man Why might not I haue beene that Man that is carried to his graue now Could I â—it my selfe to stand or sit in any Mans place not to lie in any mans graue I may lacke much of the good parts of the meanest but I lâ—cke nothing of the mortality of the weakest Thâ—y may haue acquired better abilities than I but I was borne to as many infirmities as they To be an incumbent by lying down in a graue to be a Doctor by teaching Mortiâ—ication by Example by dying though I may haue seniors others may be elder than I yet I haue proceeded apace in a good Vniuersity and gone a great way in a little time by the furtherance of a vehement feuer and whomsoeuer these Bells bring to the ground to day if hee and I had beene compared yesterday perchance I should haue been thought likelier to come to this preferment then than he God hath kept the power of death in his owne hands lest any Man should bribe death If man knew the gaine of death the ease of death he would solicite he would prouoke death to assist him by any â—and which he might vse But as when men see many of their owne professions preferd it ministers a hope that that may light vpon them so when these hourely Bells tell me of so many funerals of men like me it presents if not a desire that it may yet a comfort whensoeuer mine shall come 16. EXPOSTVLATION MY God my God I doe not expostulate with thee but with them who dare doe that Who dare expostulate with thee when in the voice of thy Church thou giuest allowance to this Ceremony of Bells at funeralls Is it enough to refuse it because it was in vse amongst the Gentiles so were funeralls too Is it because some abuses may haue crept in amongst Christians Is that enough that their ringing hath been said to driue away euill spirits Truly that is so farre true as that the euill spirit is vehemently vexed in their ringing therefore because that action brings the Congregation together and vnites God and his people to the destruction of that Kingdome which the euill spirit vsurps In the first institution of thy Church in this world in the foundation of thy Militant Church amongst the Iewes thou didst appoint the calling of the assembly in to bee by Trumpet and when they were in then thou gauest them the sound of Bells in the garment of thy Priest â— In the Triumphant Church thou imploiest both too but in an inuerted Order we enter into the Triumphant Church by the sound of Bells for we enter when we die And then we receiue our further edification or consummation by the sound of Trumpets at the Resurrection The sound of thy Trumpets thou didst impart to secular aâ—d ciuill vses too but the sound of Bells onely to sacred Lord let not vs breake the Communion of Saints in that which was intended for the aduancement of it let not that pull vs asunder froÌ„ one another which was intended for the assembling of vs in the Militant and associating of vs to the Triumphant Church But he for whose funerall these Bells ring now was at home at his iournies end yesterday why ring they now A Man that is a world is all the things in the world Hee is an Army and when an Army marches the Vaunt may lodge to night where the Reare comes not till to morrow A man extends to his Act and to his example to that which he does and that which he teaches so doe those things that concerne him so doe these bells That which rung yesterday was to conuay him out of the world in his vaunt in his souleâ— that which rung to day was to bring him in his Reare in his body to the Church And this continuing of ringing after his entring is to bring him to mee in the application Where I lie I could heare the Psalme and did ioine with the Congregation in it but I could not heare the Sermon and these latter bells are a repetition Sermon to mee But O my God my God doe I that haue this feauer need other remembrances of my Mortalitie Is not mine owne hollow voice voice enough to pronounce that to me Need I looke vpon a Deaths-head in a Ring that haue one in my face or goe for death to my Neighbours house that haue him in my bosome We cannot wee cannot O my God take in too many helps for religious duties I know I cannot haue any better Image of thee than thy Sonne nor any better Image of him than his Gospell yet must not I with thanks confesse to thee that some historicall pictures of his haue sometimes put mee vpon better Meditations than otherwise I should haue fallen vpon I know thy Church needed not to haue taken in from Iew or Gentile any supplies for the exaltation of thy glory or our deuotion of absolute necessitie I know â—hee needed not But yet wee owe thee our thanks that thou hast giuen her leaue to doe so and that as in making vs Christians thou diddest not destroy that which wee were before naturall men so in the exalting of our religious deuotions noâ— we are Christians thou hast beene pleased to continue to vs those assistances which did worke vpon the affections of naturall men before for thou louest a good man as thou louest a good Christian and though Grace bee meerely from thee yet thou doest not plant Grace but in good natures 16. PRAYER O Eternall and most gracious God who hauing consecrated our liuing bodies to thine owne Spirit and made vs Temples of the holy Ghost doest also requirâ— a respect to bee giuen to these Temples euen when the Priest is gone out of them To these bodies when the soule is departed from them I blesse and glorifie thy Name that as thou takest care in our life of euery haire of our head so doest thou also of euery graine of ashes after our death Neither doest thou only doe good to vs all in life and death but also wouldest haue vs doe good to one another as in a holy life so in those things which accompanie our death In that Contemplation I make account that I heare this dead brother of ours who is now carried out to his buriall to speake to mee and to preach my funerall Sermon in the voice of these Bells In him O God thou hast accomplished to mee euen the request of Diues to Abraham Thou hast sent one from the dead to speake vnto mee He speakes to mee aloud from that steeple hee whispers to mee at these Curtaines and hee speaks thy words Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Let this praier therfore O my God be as my last gaspe my expiring my dying in thee That if this bee the houre of my transmigration I may die the
is but an iâ—lusion the goodliest man a fearefull ghost Shall wee O my God determine our thoughts shal we neuer determin our disputations vpon our Climaclericall yeares for particular men and periodical yeres for the life of states and kingdoms and neuer coÌ„sider these in our long life our interest in the euerlasting kingdome We haue exercisd our curiosity in obseruing that Adam â— the eldest of the eldest world died in his climactericall yere Sem the eldest son of the next world in his AbrahaÌ„ the father of the faithfull in his the blessed Virgin Mary the garden where the root of faith grew in hers But they whose Climacteriques wee obserue imployd their obseruation vpon their critical dayes the working of thy promise of a Messias vpoÌ„ them And shall we O my God make lesse vse of those dayes who haue more of theÌ„ Weâ— who haue not only the day of the Prophets the first dayes but the last daies in which thou hast spoken vnto vs by thy Son We are the children of the day for thou hast shind in as ful a Noone vpon vs as vpon the ThessaloniaÌ„s They who were of the night a Night which they had superinduc'd vpon theÌ„selues the Pharises pretended That if they had bin in their Fathers daies those indicatory and iudicatory those Criticall dayes they would not haue been partakers of the bloud of the Prophets And shal we who are in the day these Daies not of the Prophets but of the Son stone those Prophets againe and crucifie that Son againe for all those euident Indications and critical Iudicatures which are afforded vs Those opposd aduersaries of thy Son the pharises with the HerodiaÌ„s watch'd a Critical day Then wheÌ„ the State was incensd against him they came to tempt him in the daÌ„gerous question of Tribute They left him that day was the Critical day to the Saduces The same day saies thy Spirit in thy word the Saduces came to him to question him about the Resurrection and them hee silenc'd They left him this was the Criticall day for the Scribe expert in the Law who thoght himselfe learneder then the Herodian the Pharise or Saduce and he teÌ„pted him about the great CommaÌ„dement himâ— Christ left without power of replying When all was done that they weÌ„t about to begin their circle of vexation and tentation again Christ sileÌ„ces them so that as they had taken their Criticall dayes to come in That and in that day so Christ imposes a Criticall day vpon them From that day forth saies thy Spirit no man durst aske him any more questions This O my God my most blessed God is a fearefull Crisis a fearefull Indication when we will study and seeke and finde what dayes are fittest to forsake thee in To say Now Religion is in a Neutralitie in the world and this is my day the day of libertie Now I may make new friends by changing my old religioÌ„ and this is my day the day of aduancement But O my God with thy seruaÌ„t Iacobs holy boldnes who though thou lamedst him would not let thee goe till thou hadst giuen him a blessing Though thou haue laid me vpon my hearse yet thou shalt not depart from mee from this bed till thou haue giuen me a Crisis a Iudgment vpon my selfe this day Since a day is as a thousand yeres with thee Let O Lord a day be as a weeke to me and in this one let me coÌ„sider seuen daies seuen critical daies and iudge my selfe that I be not iudged by thee First this is the day of thy visitatioÌ„ thy comming to me and would I looke to be welcome to thee and not entertaine thee â—n thy comming to me We measure not the visitations of great persons by their apparel by their equipage by the solemnity of their coÌ„ming but by their very coÌ„ming and therefore howsoeuer thou come it is a Crisis to me that thou wouldest not loose me who seekst me by any means This leads me from my first day thy visitation by sicknes to a secoÌ„d to thâ— light and testimony of my Conscience There I haue an euening a morning a sad guiltinesse in my soule but yet a cheerfull rising of thy Son toâ— Thy Euenings and Mornings made dayes in the Creation and there is no mention of Nights My sadnesses for sins are euenings but they determin not in night but deliuer me ouer to the day the day of a Conscience deiected but then rectified accused but then â—cquitted by thee by him who speaks thy word who is thy word thy Son From this day the Crisis and examinatioÌ„ of my CoÌ„science breaks out my third day my day of preparing fitting my selfe for a more especial receiuing of thy Sonne in his institutioÌ„ of the Sacrament In which day though thâ—re be many dark passages slippry steps to them who wil entangle and endanger themselues in vnnecessary disputations yet there are light houres inough for any man â—o goe his whole iourney intended by thee to know that that Bread and Wine is not more really assimilated to my body to my blood then the Body and blood of thy Sonne is communicated to me in that action and participation of that bread and that wine And hauing O my God walkd with thee these three dayes The day of thy visitation the day of my Conscience The day of preparing for this seale of Reconciliation I am the lesse afraid of the clouds or storms of my fourth day the day of my dissolution traÌ„smigratioÌ„ froÌ„ hence Nothing deserues the name of happines that makes the remeÌ„braÌ„ce of death bitter And O death 〈◊〉 bitter is the remeÌ„brance of thee to a man that liues at rest in his possessions the Man that hath Nothing to vexe him yea vnto him that is able to receiue meat Therefore hast thou O my God made this sicknes in which I am not able to receiue meate my fasting day my Eue to this great festiual my dissolution And this day of death shall deliuer me ouer to my fift day the day of my Resurrection for how long a day soeuer thou make that day in the graue yet there is no day between that and the Resurrection Then wee shall all bee inuested reapparelled in our owne bodies but they who haue made iust vse of their former dayes be super-inuested with glorie wheras the others condemned to their olde clothes their sinfull bodies shall haue Nothing added but immortalitie to torment And this day of awaking me and reinuesting my Soule in my body and my body in the body of Christ shall present mee Bodie and Soule to my sixt day The day of Iudgement which is truely and most literally the Critical the Decretory day both because all Iudgement shall bee manifested to me then and I shall assist in iudging the world thenâ— and because then that Iudgement shall declare to me and possesse mee of my
Seuenth day my Euerlasting Saboth in thy rest thâ— glory thy ioy thy sight thy sâ—lfe and where I shall liue as long without reckning any more Dayes after as thy Sonne and thy Holy Spirit liued with thee before you three made any Dayes in the Creation 14. PRAYER O Eternall and most gracious God who though thou didst permit darknesse to be before light in the Creation yet in the making of light didst so multiplie that light as that it enlightned not the day only but the night too though thou haue suffered some dimnesse some clouds of sadnesse disconsolatenesse to shed themselues vpon my soule I humbly blesse and thankfully glorifie thy holy name that thou hast afforded mee the light of thy spirit against which the prince of darkenesse cannot preuaile nor hinder his illumination of our darkest nights of our saddest thoughts Euen the visitation of thy most blessed Spirit vpon the blessed Virgin is called an ouershadowing There waâ— the presence of the Holy Ghost the fountaine of all light and yet an ouershadowing Nay except there were some light there could bee no shadow Let thy mercifull prouidence so gouerne all in this sicknesse that I neuer fall into vtter darknesse ignorance of thee or inconsideration of my selfe and let those shadowes which doe fall vpon mee faintnesses of Spirit and condemnations of my selfe bee ouercome by the power of thine irresistible light the God of consolation that when those shadowes haue done their office vpon mee to let me see that of my selfe I should fall into irrecouerable darknesse thy spirit may doe his office vpon those shadowes and disperse them and establish mee in so bright a day here as may bee a Criticall day to me a day wherein and whereby I may giue thy Iudgement vpon my selfe and that the words of thy sonne spoken to his Apostles may reflect vpon me Bâ—hold I am with you alwaies euen to the end of the world Intereà insomnes noctes Ego duco Diesque I sleepe not day nor night 15. MEDITATION NAturall Men haue coÌ„ceiued a two fold vse of sleepe That it is a refreshing of the body in this life That it is a preparing of the soule for the next That it is a feast and it is the Grace at that feast That it is our recreation and cheeres vs and it is our Catechisme and instructs vs wee lie downe in a hope that wee shall rise the stronger and we lie downe in a knowledge that wee may rise no more Sleepe is an Opiate which giues vs rest but such an Opiate as perchance being vnder it we shall wake no more But though naturall men who haue induced secondary and figuratiue considerations haue found out this second this emblematicall vse of sleepe that it should be a representation of death God who wrought and perfected his worke before Nature began for Nature was but his apprentice to learne in the first seuen daies and now is his foreman and works next vnder him God I say intended sleepe onely for the refreshing of man by bodily rest and not for a figure of death for he intended not death it selfe then But Man hauing induced death vpon himselfe God hath taken Mans Creature death into his hand and mended it and whereas it hath in it selfe a fearefull forme and aspect so that Man is afraid of his own Creature God presents it to him in a familiar in an assiduous in an agreeable and acceptable forme in sleepe that so when hee awakes from sleepe and saies to himselfe shall I bee no otherwise when I am dead than I was euen now when I was asleep hee may bee ashamed of his waking dreames and of his Melancholique fancying out a horâ—id and an affrightfull figure of that death which is so like sleepe As then wee need sleepe to liue out our threescore and ten yeeres so we need death to liue that life which we cannot out-liue And as death being our enemie God allowes vs to defend our selues against it for wee victuall ouâ— selues against death twice euery day as often as we eat so God hauing so sweetned death vnto vs as hee hath in sleepe wee put our selues into our Enemies hands once euery day so farre as sleepe is death and sleepe is as much death as meat is life This then is the misery of my sicknesse That death as it is produced from mee and is mine owne Creature is now before mine Eies but in that forme in which God hath mollified it to vs and made it acceptable in sleepe I cannot see it how many prisoners who haue euen hollowed themselues their graues vpon that Earth on which they haue lion long vnder heauie fetters yet at this houre are â—sleepe though they bee yet working vpon their owne graues by their owne waight hee that hath seene his friend die to day or knowes hee shall see it to morrow yet will sinke into a sleepe betweene I cannot and oh if I be entring now into Eternitie where there shall bee no more distinction of houres why is it al my businesse now to tell Clocks why is none of the heauinesse of my heart dispensed into mine Eie-lids â—hat they might fall as my heart doth And why since I haue loâ—t my delight in all obiects cannot I discontinue tâ—e facultie of seeing them by closing mine Eiâ—s in sleepe But why rather being entring into that presence where I shall wake continually and neuer sleepe more doe I not interpret my continuall waking here to bee a pâ—rasceue and a preparation to that 15. EXPOSTVLATION MY God my God I know for thou hast said it That he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleepe But shall not that Israel ouer whom thou watchest sleepe I know for thou hast said it that there are Men whose damnation sleepeth not but shall not they to whom thou art Saluation sleepe or wilt thou take from them that euidence and that testimony that they are thy Israel or thou their saluation Thou giuest thy beloued sleepe Shall I lacke that seale of thy loue You shall lie downe and none shall make you afraid shal I bee outlawd from that protection Ionas slept in one dangerous storme and thy blessed Sonne in another Shall I haue no vse no benefit no application of those great Examples Lord if hee sleepe he shall doe well say thy Sonnes Disciples to him of Lazarus And shall there bee no roome for that Argument in me or shall I bee open to the contrary If I sleepe not shall I not bee well in their sense Let me not O my God take this too precisely too literally There is that neither day nor night seeth sleepe with his eies saies thy wise seruant Solomon and whether hee speake that of worldly Men or of Men that seeke wisdome whether in iustification or condemnation of their watchfulnesse we can not tell wee can tâ—ll That there are men that cannot sleepe till they haue done mischiefe
eyes to testifie my spiritual sicknes I stand in the way of tentations naturally necessarily all men doe so for there is a Snake in euery path tentations in euery vocation but I go I run I flie into the wayes of teÌ„tation which I might shun nay I breake into houses wher the plague is I presse into places of tentation and tempt the deuill himselfe and solicite importune them who had rather be left vnsolicited by me I fall sick of Sin and am bedded and bedrid buried and putrified in the practise of Sin and all this while haâ—e no presage no pulse no sense of my sicknesse O heighth O depth of misery where the first Symptome of the sicknes is Hell where I neuer fee the feuer of lust of enuy of ambition by any other light then the darknesse and horror of Hell it selfe â— where the first Messenger that speaks to me doth not sayâ— Thou mayst die no nor Thou must die but Thou art dead and where the first notice that my Soule hath of her sicknes is irrecouerablenes irremediablenes but O my God Iob did not charge thee foolishly in his temporall afflictions nor may I in my spirituall Thou hast imprinted a pulse in our Soule but we do not examine it a voice in our conscience but wee doe not hearken vnto it We talk it out we iest it out we drinke it out we sleepe it out and when wee wake we doe not say with Iacob Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not but though we might know it we do not we wil not But will God pretend to make a Watch and leaue out the springe to make so many various wheels in the faculties of the Soule and in the organs of the body and leaue out Grace that should moue them or wil God make a springe and not wind it vp Infuse his first grace not second it with more without which we can no more vse his first grace when we haue it then wee could dispose our selues by Nature to haue it But alas that is not our case we are all prodigall sonnes and not disinherited wee haue receiued our portion and mis-spent it not bin denied it We are Gods tenants heere and yet here he our Land-lord payes vs Rents not yearely nor quarterly but hourely and quarterly Euery minute he renewes his mercy but wee will not vnderstand least that we should be conuerted and he should heale vs. 1. PRAYER O Eternall and most gracious God who considered in thy selfe art a Circle first and last and altogether but considered in thy working vpon vs art a direct line and leadest vs from our beginning through all our wayes to our end enable me by thy grace to looke forward to mine end and to looke backward to to the coÌ„siderations of thy mercies afforded mee from the beginning that so by that practise of considering thy mercy in my beginning in this world when thou plaÌ„tedst me in the Christian Church and thy mercy in the beginning in the other world wheÌ„ thou writest me in the Booke of life in my Election I may come to a holy consideration of thy mercy in the beginning of all my actions hereâ— That in all the beginâ—nings in all the accesses and approches of spiriâ—tuall sicknesses of Sinn may heare and hearkeâ— to that voice O thou Maâ— of God there is death in thâ— pot and so refraine from that which I was so hungerly so greedily flying to A faithfull Amâ—bassador is health says thy wise seruant Solomon â— Thy voice receiued in the beginning of a sicknesse of a sinne is true health If I can see that light betimes and heare that voyce early Then shall my light breake forth as the morning and my health shall spriug foorth speedily Deliuer mee therefore O my God from these vaine imaginations that it is an ouercurious thing a dangerous thing to come to that tendernesse that rawnesse that scrupulousnesse to feare euery concupiscence euery offer of Sin that this suspicious iealous diligence will turne to an inordinate deiection of spirit and a diffidence in thy care prouidence buâ— keep me still establish'd both in a constant assurance that thou wilâ— speake to me at the beginning of euery such sicknes at the approach of euery such Sinne and that if I take knowledg of that voice then anâ— flye to thee thou wilâ— preserue mee from falling or raise me againe when by naturall infirmitieâ— I am fallen doâ— this O Lord for his sake who knowes our naturall infirmities for he had them and knowes the weight of our sinns for he paid a deare price for them thy Sonne our Sauiour Chr Iesus Amen 2. Actio Laesa The strength and the functioÌ„ of the Senses other faculties change and faile 2. MEDITATION THe Heauens are not the lesse constant because they moue continually because they moue continually one and the same way The Earth is not the more constant because it lyes stil continually because continually it changes and melts in al the parts thereof Man who is the noblest part of the Earth melts so away as if he were a statue not of Earth but of Snowe We see his owne Enuie melts him hee growes leane with that he will say anothers beautie melts him but he feeles that a Feuer doth not melt him like snow but powr him out like lead like yron like brasse melted in a furnace It doth not only melt him but Calcine him reduce him to Atomes and to ashes not to water but to lime And how quickly Sooner then thou canst receiue an answer sooner then thou canst conceiue the question Earth is the center of my body Heauen is the center of my Soule these two are the naturall place of these two but thoâ— goe not to these two iâ— an equall place My bâ—â—dy falls downe withouâ— pushing my Soule doâ—â— not go vp without puâ—ling Ascension is mâ— Soules pace measurâ— but precipitation my bâ—dies And euen Angellâ— whose home is Heaueâ— and who are wingeâ— too yet had a Ladder 〈◊〉 goe to Heauen by stepâ— The Sunne who goes 〈◊〉 many miles in a minuâ—â— The Starres of the Fiâ—â—mament which go so very many more goe not so fast as my body to the earth In the same instant that I feele the first attempt of the disease I feele the victory In the twinckling of an eye I can scarse see instantly the tast is insipid and fatuous instantly the appetite is dull and desirelesseâ— instantly the knees are sinking and strengthlesse and in an instant sleepe which is the picture the copy of death is taken away that the Originall Death it selfe may succeed and that so I might haue death to the life It was part of Adams punishment In the sweat of thy browes thou shalt eate thy bread â— it is multiplied to me I haue earned bread in the sweat of my browes in the labor of my calling and I haue itâ— and I sweat againe
thoâ— command me to speaâ—â— to thee and commaunâ— me to feare thee and dâ—â— these destroy one anoâ—ther There is no perâ—â—plexity in thee my God 〈◊〉 inextricablenes in theâ— my light my clearnâ—â— my Sun and my Moonâ— that directest me as 〈◊〉 in the night of aduersity and fear as in my day of prosperity confideÌ„ce I must theÌ„ speak to thee at all times but when must I feare thee At all times to WheÌ„ didst thou rebuke any petitioner with the name of Importunate Thou hast propoâ—d to vs a parable of a Iudge that did Iustice at last because the client was Importunate and troubled him But thou hast told vs plainely that thy vse in that parable was not that thou wast troubled with our importunities but as thou sayeâ—â— there That wee should aâ—â—wayes pray And to thâ—â— same purpose thou proâ—posest another that Isâ—â— presse my friend when heâ—â— is in bed at midnight 〈◊〉 lend mee bread though hâ—â— will not rise because I aâ— his friend yet becauseâ— mine importunitie he wilâ—â— God will do this whenâ—soeuer thon askest anâ— neuer call it importunitâ—e Pray in thy bed at midâ—night and God wil nâ—â— say I will heare thee tâ— moâ—row vpon thy knees at thy bed side pray vpon thy knees there then God will not say I will heare thee on Sunday at Church God is no dilatory God no froward God Praier is neuer vnseasonable God is neuer asleep nor absent But O my God can I doe this and feare thee come to thee and speak to thee in all places at all houres and feare thee Dare I aske this question There is more boldnesse in the question then in the comming I may doe itâ— though I feare thee â— cannot doe it except feare thee So well hasâ— thou prouided that wâ— should alwayes feaâ—â— thee as that thou haâ—â— prouided that we sholâ— fear no person but theâ— nothing but thee nâ— men No. Whom Thâ— Lord is my helpe and mâ— saluation whome shall feare Great enemies noâ— great enemies for no â—â—nemies are great to them that feare theeâ— Feare not the people of thâ— lâ—â—d for they are Bread to you They shall not onâ—y not eat vs not eat our bread but they shall bee our Bread Why should we feare them But for all this Metaphoricall Bread victory ouer enemies that thought to deuoure vs may we not feare that we may lack bread literally And feare famine though we feare not enemies Young Lyons do lacke and suffer Hunger but they that seeke the Lord shall not want any good thing Neuer Though it beâ— well with them at onâ— time may they not feaâ— that it may be worseâ— Wherfore should I feare 〈◊〉 the dayes of euill saies thâ— seruant Dauid Thougâ— his own sins had madâ— them euill he feared thâ—â— notâ— No not if this euilâ— determin in death Noâ— though in a deathâ— noâ— though in a death infliâ—ctâ—d by violence by maâ—lice by our own desâ—â—â— feare not the sentence 〈◊〉 death if thou feare God Thou art O my God so far from admitting vs that feare thee to feare others as that thou makest others to feare vs As Herod feared Iohn because hee was a holy and a iust man obserued him How fully then O my abundant God how gently O my sweet my easie God doest thou vnentangle mâ—e in any scruple arising out of the consideration of this thy feare Is not this that which thou intendest when thou sayst The secret of the Lord is with them that feare him The secret thâ— mistery of the right vâ—â— of feare Dost thou noâ— meane this when thoâ— sayest Wee shall vndeâ—â—stand the feare of the Lordâ— Haue it and haue benefâ—â— by it haue it and stanâ— vnder it be directed bâ— it and not bee deiecteâ— with it And dost thoâ— not propose that Churâ—â— for our example wheâ— thou sayest The Churcâ— of Iudea walked in tâ—â— feare of God they haâ— it but did not sit dowâ— lazily nor fall downâ— weakly nor sinke vnder it There is a feare which weakens men in the seruice of God Adam was afrayde because hee was naked They who haue put off thee are a prey to all They may feare for thou wilt laugh when their feare comes vpon them as thou hast tolde them more then once And thou wilt make them feare where no cause of feare is as thou hast told them more then once too There is a feare that is a punishment oâ— former wickednesses induces more Thougâ— some said of thy Sonne Christ Iesus that hee waâ— a good Man yet no Mâ—â— spake openly for feare 〈◊〉 the Iewes Ioseph was hâ—â— Disciple but secretly foâ— for feare of the Iewes Thâ— Disciples kept somâ— meetings but with dores shut for feare of the Iewes O my God thou giuest vs feare for ballast to cary vs stedily in all weathers But thou wouldst ballast vs witâ— such sand as should haue gold in it with that feare which is thy feare for tke feare of the Lord is his treasure Hee that hath that lacks nothing that Man can haue nothing that God does giue Timorous men thou rebukest Why are yee fearfull O yee of little faith Such thou dismissest from thy Seruice with scorne though of them there went from Gideons Army 22000. and remained but 10. Such thou sendest farther then so thitheâ— from whence they nâ—â—uer returne The fearefuâ—â— and the vnbeleeuing iâ—â—â— that burning lake which 〈◊〉 the second death There 〈◊〉 a feare there is a hope which are equall aboâ—minations to thee foâ— they were confounded bâ—â—cause they hoped saies thâ— seruant Iob because they had mis-placed mis-ceâ—tred their hopes they hoped and not in thee anâ— such shall feare and noâ— feare thee Buâ— in thâ— feare my God and my feare my God and my hope is hope and loue confidence and peace and euery limbe and ingredient of Happinesse enwrapped for Ioy includes all and feare and ioy consist together nay constitute one another The women dâ—parted from the sepulchre the women who were made supernumerary Apostles Apostles to the Apostles Mothers of the Church and of the Fathers Grandfathers of the Church the Apostles themselues tâ—e women Angels of the Resurrecâ—â—â—on went from the sepâ—â—â—chre with feare and iâ— they ran sayes the 〈◊〉 and they ran vpon thoâ—â— two legs feare ioy 〈◊〉 both was the right legâ— they ioy in thee O Lorâ— that feare thee and fearâ— thee only who feele thâ—â— ioy in thee Nay thy fearâ—â— and thy loue are inâ—eperable still we are called vpon in infinite places to feare God yet thâ— Commandement which 〈◊〉 the roote of all is Thoâ— shalt loue the Lord thy God â— Hee doeth neither that doth not both hee omits neither that does one Therfore when thy seruant Dauid had said that the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome And his Sonne had repeated it
death of a sinner drowned in my sinnes in the bloud of thy Sonne And if I liue longer yet I may now die the death of the righteous die to sinne which death is a resurrection to a new life Thou killest and thou giuest life which soeuer comes it comes from thee which way soeuer it comes let mee come to thee 17. Nunc lento sonitu dicunt Morieris Now this Bell tolling softly for another saies to me Thou must die 17. MEDITATION PErchance hee for whom this Bell tolls may bee so ill as that he knowes not it tolls for him And perchance I may thinke my selfe so much better than I am as that they who are about mee and see my state may haue caused it to toll for mee and I know not that The Church is Catholike vniuersall so are all her Actions All that she does belongs to all When she baptizes a child that action concernes mee for that child is thereby connected to that Head which is my Head too and engraffeâ— into that body whereof I am a member And when she buries a Man that action concernes me All mankinde is of one Author and is one volume when one Man dies one Chapter is not torne out of the booke but translated into a better language and euery Chapter must be so translated God emploies seuerall translators some peeces are translated by Age some by sicknesse some by warre some by iustice but Gods hand is in euery translation and his hand shall binde vp all our scattered leaues againe for that Librarie where euery booke shall lie open to one another As therefore the Bell that rings to a Sermon calls not vpon the Preacher onely but vpon the Congregation to come so this Bell calls vs all but how much more mee who am brought so neere the doore by this sicknesse There was a contention as farre as a suite in which both pietie and dignitie religion and estimation were minglâ—d which of the religious Orders should ring to praiers first in the Morning and it was determined that they should ring first that rose earliest If we vnderstand aright the dignitie of this Bell that rolls for our euening prayer wee would bee glad to make it ours by rising early in that application that it might bee ours as wel as his whose indeed it is The Bell doth toll for him that thinkes it doth and though it intermit againe yet from that minute that that occasion wrought vpon him hee is vnited to God Who casts not vp his Eie to the Sunne when it rises but who takes off his Eie from a Comâ—t when that breakes out who bends not his eare to any bell which vpon any occasion rings but who can remoue it from that bell which is passing a peece of himselfe out of this world No Man is an Iland intire of it selfe euery man is a peece of the Continent a part of the maine if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea Europe is the lâ—sse as well as if a Promontorie were as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were Any Mans death diminishes me because I am inuolued in Mankinde And therefore neuer send to know for whom the bell tolls It tolls for thee Neither can we call this a begging of Miserie or a borrowing of Miserie as though we were not miserable enough of our selues but must feâ—ch in more from the next house in taking vpon vs the Miserie of our Neighbours Truly it were an excusable couetousnesse if wee did for affliction is a treasure and â—carce any Man hath enough of it No Man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it and madâ—â—it for God by that affliction If a Man carry treasure in bullion or in a wedge of gold and haue none coined into currant Monies his treasure will not defray him as he trauells Tribulation is Treasure in the nature of it but it is not currant money in the vse of it except wee get nearer and nearer our home heauen by it Another Man may be sicke too and sicke to death and this afâ—liction may lie in his bowels as gold in a Mine and be of no vse to himâ— but this bell that tels mee of his afâ—liction digs out and applies that gold to mee â— if by this consideration of anothers danger I take minâ— owne into Contemplation and so secure my selfe by making my recourse to my God who is our onely securitie 17. EXPOSTVLATION MY God my God Is this one of thy waies of drawing light out of darknesse To make him for whom this bell tolls now in this dimnesse of his sight to become a superintendent an ouerseer a Bishop to as many as heare his voice in this bell and to giue vs a confirmation in this action Is this one of thy waies to raise strength out of weaknesse to make him who cannot rise from his bed nor stirre in his bed come home to me and in this sound giue mee the strength of healthy and vigorous instructions O my God my God what Thunder is not a well-tuned Cymball what hoarsenesse what harshnesse is not a cleare Organ if thou bee pleased to set thy voice to it and what Organ is not well plaied on if thy hand bee vpon it Thy voice thy hand is in this sound and in this one sound I heare this whole Consort I heare thy Iaacob call vnto his sonnes and â—ay Gather your selues together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last daies He saies That which I am now you must bee then I heare thy Moses telling mee and all within the compasse of this sound This is the blessing wherewith I blesse you before my death This that before your death you would consider your owne in mine I heare thy Prophet saying to Ezechias Set thy house in order for thou shalt die and not liue Hee makes vs of his familie and calls this a setting of his house in order to compose vs to the meditation of death I heare thy Apostle saying I thinke it meet to put â—ou in remembrance knowing that shortly I must goe out of this Tabernacle This is the publishing of his will this bell is our legacie the applying of his present condition to our vse I heare that which makes al sounds musique and all musique perfit I heare thy Sonne himselfe â—aying Let not your hearts be troubled â— Only I heare this change that whereas thy Sonne saies there I goe to prepare a place for you this man in thiâ— sound saies I send to prepare you for a place for a graue But O my God my God since heauen is glory and ioy why doe not glorious and ioyfull things leade vs induce vs to heauen Thy legacies in thy first will in thy old Testament were plentie and victorie Wine and Oile Milke and Honie alliances of friends ruine of enemies peacefull hearts cheerefull countenances and by these galleries thou broughtest them
bodies whole Churches what becomes of the soules of the righteous at the departing thereof from the body I shall bee told by some That they attend an expiation a purification in a place of torment By some that they attend the fruition of the sight of God in a place of rest but yet but of expectation By some that they passe to an immediate possession of the presence of God S. Augustine studied the Nature of the soule as much as any thing but the saluation of the soule and he sent an expresse Messenger to Saint Hierome to consult of some things concerning the soule But he satisfies himselfe with this Let the departure of my soule to saluation be euident to my faith and I care the lesse how darke the entrance of my soule into my body bee to my reason It is the going out more than the comming in that concernes vs. This soule this Bell tells me is gone out Whither Who shall tell mee that I know not who it is much lesse what he was The condition of the Man and the course of his life which should tell mee whither hee is gone I know not I was not there in his sicknesse nor at his death I saw not his way nor his end nor can aâ—ke themâ— who did thereby to conclude or argue whither he is gone But yet I haue one neerer mee than all these mine owne Charity I aske that that tels me He is gone to euerlasting rest and ioy and glory I owe him a good opinion it is but thankfull charity in mee because I receiued benefit and instruction from him when his Bell told and I being made the fitter to pray by that disposition wherein I was assisted by his occasion did pray for him and I pray not without faith so I doe charitably so I do faithfully beleeue that that soule is gone to euerlasting rest and ioy and glory But for the body How poore a wretched thing is that wee cannot expresse it so fast as it growes worse and worse That body which scarce three minutes since was such a house as that that soule which made but one step from thence to Heauen was scarse thorowly content to leaue that for Heauen that body hath lost the name of a dwelling house because none dwels in it and is making haste to lose the name of a body and dissolue to putrefaction Who would not bee affected to see a cleere sweet Riuer in the Morning grow a kennell of muddy land water by noone and condemned to the saltnesse of the Sea by night And how lame a Picture how faint a representation is that of the precipitatioÌ„ of mans body to dissolution Now all the parts built vp and knit by a louely soule now but a statue of clay and now these limbs melted off as if that clay were but snow â— and now the whole house is but a handfull of sand so much dust and but a pecke of Rubbidge so much bone If he who as this Bell tells mee is gone now were some excellent Artiâ—icer who comes to him for a clocke or for a garment now or for counsaile if hee were a Lawyer If a Magistrate for iustice Man before hee hath his immortall soule hath a soule of sense and a soule of vegitation before that This immortall soule did not forbid other soules to be in vs before but when this soule departs it carries all with it no more vegetation no more sense such a Mother in law is the Earth â— in respect of our naturall Mother in her wombe we grew and when she was deliuered of vs wee were planted in some place in some calling in the world In the wombe of the Earth wee diminish and when shee is deliuered of vs our graue opened for another wee are not transplanted but transported our dust blowne away with prophane dust with euery wind 18. EXPOSTVLATION MY God my God if Expostulation bee too bold a word doe thou mollifie it with another leâ— it be wonder in my selfe let it bee but probleme to others but let me aske why wouldest thou not suffer those that serue thee in holy seruices to doe any office about the dead nor assist at their funerall Thou hadst no Counsellor thou needest none thou hast no Controller thou admittest none Why doe I aske in Ceremoniall things as that was any conuenient reason is enough who can bee sure to propose that reason that moued thee in the institution thereof I satisfie my selfe with this that in those times the Gentiles were ouerfull of an ouer-reuerent respect to the memory of the dead a great part of the Idolatry of the Nations flowed from that an ouer-amorous deuotion an ouer-zealous celebrating and ouer-studious preseruing of the memories and the Pictures of some dead persons And by the vaine glory of men they entred into the world and their statues and pictures contracted an opinion of diuinity by age that which was at first but a picture of a friend grew a God in time as the wise man notes They called them Gods which were the worke of an ancient hand And some haue assigned a certaine time when a picture should come out of Minority and bee at age to bee a God in 60. yeeres after it is made Those Images of Men that had life and some Idols of other things which neuer had any being are by one common name called promiscuously dead and for that the wise man reprehends the Idolatrer for health he praies to that which is weake and for life he praies to that which is dead Should we doe so saies thy Prophet should we goe from the liuing to the dead So much ill then being occasioned by so much religious coÌ„plement exhibited to the dead thou ô God I think wouldest therefore inhibit thy principall holy seruants from contributing any thing at all to this dangerous intimation of Idolatry and that the people might say surely those dead men are not so much to bee magnified as men mistake since God will not suffer his holy officers so much as to touch them not to see them But those dangers being remoued thou O my God dost certainly allow that we should doe offices of piety to the dead and that we should draw instructions to piety from the dead Is not this O my God a holy kinde of raising vp â—eed to my dead brother if I by the meditation of his death produce a better life in my selfe It is the blessing vpon Reuben Let Reuben liue not die and let not his men be few let him propagate many And it is a Malediction That that dieth let it die let it doe no good in dying for Trees without fruit thou by thy Apostle callst twice dead It is a second death if none liue the better by me after my death by the manner of my death Therefore may I iustly thinke that thou madest that a way to conuay to the Aegyptians a feare of thee and a
feare of death that there was not a house where there was not one dead for therupon the Aegyptians said we are all deaâ— men the death of others should catechise vsâ— to death Thy Sonne Christ Iesus is the first begotten of the dead he rises first the eldest brother and he is my Master in this science of death but yet for mee I am a younger brother too to this Man who died now and to euery man whom I see or heare to die before mee and all they are vshers to mee in this schoole of death I take therefore that which thy seruant Dauids wife said to him to bee said to me If thou saue not thy life to night to morrow thou shalt bee slaine If the death of this man worke not vpon mee now I shall die worse than if thou hadst not afforded me this helpe for thou hast sent him in this bell to mee as thoâ— didst send to the Angelâ— of Sardis with commission to strengthen the things that remaine and that are ready to die that in this weaknes of body I mighâ— receiue spiritual strengâ—h by these occasions This is my strength that whether thou say to mee as thine Angell said to Gedeon Peace bee vnto thee feare not thou shalt not die or whether thou say as vnto Aaron Thou shalt die there yet thou wilâ— preserue that which is ready to die my soule from the worst death that of sinne Zimrie died for his sinnes saies thy Spirit which he sinned in doing euill and in his sinne which he did to make Israel sinne For his sinnes his many sinnes and then in his sinne his particular sinne for my sinnes I shall die whensoeuer I die for death is the wages of sinne but I shall die in my sinne in that particular sinne of resisting thy spirit if I apply not thy assistances Doth it not call vs to a particular consideration That thy blessed Sonne varies his forme of Commination and aggrauates it in the variation when hee saies to the Iewes because they refused the light offered you shall die in your sinne And then when they proceeded to farther disputations and vexations and tentations hee addes you shall die in your sinnes he multiplies the former expressing â—o a plurall In this sinne â— and in all your sinnes doth not the resisting of thy particular helps at last draw vpon vs the guiltinesse of all our former sinnes May not the neglecting of this sound ministred to mee in this mans death bring mee to that miserie as that I whom the Lord of life loued so as to die for me shall die and a Creature of mine owne shall be immortall â— that I shall die and the worme of mine owne conscience shall neuer die 18. PRAYER O Eternall and most gracious God I haue a new occasion of thanks and a new occasion of prayer to thee from the ringing of this bell Thou toldst me in the other voice that I was mortall and approaching to death In this I may heare thee say that I am dead in an irremediable in an irrecouerable state for bodily health If that bee thy language in this voice how infinitely am I bound to thy heauenly Maiestie for speaking so plainly vnto mee for euen that voice that I must die now is not the voice of a Iudge that speaks by way of condemnation but of a Physitian that presents health in that Thou presentest mee death as the cure of my disease not as the exaltation of it if I mistake thy voice herein if I ouer-runne thy pace and preuent thy hand and imagine death more instant vpon mee than thou hast bid him bee yet the voice belongs to me I am dead I was borne dead and from the first laying of these mud-walls in my conception they haue moldred away and the whole course of life is but an actiue death Whether this voice instruct mee that I am a dead man now or remember me that I haue been a dead man all this while I humbly thanke thee for speaking in this voice to my soule and I humâ—ly beseech thee also to â—ccept my prayers in his behalfe by whose occasion this voice this sound is come to mee â—or though hee bee by death transplanted to thee and so in possession of inexpressible happinesse there yet here vpon earth thou hast giuen vs such a portion of heauen as that though men dispute whether thy Saints in heauen doe know what we in earth in particular doe stand in need of yet without all disputation wee vpon earth doe know what thy Saints in heauen lacke yet for the consummation of their happinesse and therefore thou hast affoorded vs the dignitie that wee may pray for them That therefore this soule now newly departed to thy Kingdome may quickly returne to a ioâ—full reunion to that body which it hath left and that wee with it may soone enioy the full consummation of all in body and soule I humbly beg at thy hand O our most mercifull God for thy Sonne Christ Iesus sake That that blessed Sonne of thine may haue the comsummation of his dignitie by entring into his last office the office of a Iudge and may haue societie of humane bodies in heauen as well as hee hath had euer of soulesâ— And that as thou hatest sinne it selfe thy hate to sinne may bee expressed in the abolishing of all instruments of sinne The allurements of this world and the world it selfe and all the temporarie râ—uenges of sinne the stings of sicknesse and of death and all the castles and prisons and monuments of sinne in the graue That time may bee swallowed vp in Eternitie and hope swallowed in possession and ends swallowed in infinitenesse and all men ordained to saluation in body and soule bâ— one intire and euerlasting sacrifice to thee where thou mayest receiue delight from them and they glorie from thee for euermore Amen 19. Oceano tandem emenso aspicienda resurgit Terra vident iustis medici iam cocta mederi se posse indicijs At last the Physitians after a long and stormie voyage see land They haue so good signes of the conâ—oction of the disease as that they may safely proceed to purge 19. MEDITATION ALl this while the Physitians themselues haue beene patients patiently attending when they should see any land in this Sea any earth any cloud any indication of concoction in these waters Any disorder of mine any pretermission of theirs exalts the dâ—sease accelerates the rages of it no diligence accelerates the concoction the maturitie of the disease they must stay till the season of the sicknesse come and till it be ripened of it selfe and then they may put to their hand to gather it before it fall off but they cannot hasten the ripening Why should wee looke for it in a disease which is the disorder the discord the irregularitie the commotion and rebellion of the body It were scarce a disease if it could bee ordered and