riches and thou shalt go to giue account how thou camest by them How many things doth he implie whē he saith ye shall die this is a barre in their armes which makes the proudest peacocke lay downe his feathers so often as he thinks vpō it though he pricke them vp againe Whereby the holy Ghost would haue them learne that nothing will make them liue and rule and deale so well in their thrones as to remember that they shall die and shortly giue account for all Signifying that prosperity makes vs forgetfull of our ende and that these mortall gods liue as though they were immortall A hard thing for Princes to remember death when they haue no leisure to thinke of it but chop in the earth before they be ware Like a man which walketh ouer a field couered with snow sees not his way but when he thinkes to run on suddenly falls into a pit euen so they which haue all things at will and swim in pleasure which as snow couereth their way and dazeleth their sight while they think to liue on to reioyce still suddenly rush vpō death make shipwrack in the calme sea Therfore it is good for them to heare they ar gods so it is meet to know they shal dy Wherfore ye shall dy saith he in the next words as if he would preuent some conceipt that they would take of words which he cast out before he cools them quickly before they swel deferres not to another time but where he calles them gods there he calles them wormes meat lest they should crow betweene the praise and the checke I haue saide ye are gods but ye shall die But for this die manie would liue a merrie life and feast and sport and let the world slide but the remembrance of death is like a dampe which puts out all the lights of pleasure and makes him rub and frowne and whine which thinks vpon it as if a mote were in his eye O how heauie tidings is this to heare thou shalt dy from him which hath life and death in his owne hands when the messenger is sent to thē which raigne like gods as if he should say euen you which glister like Angels whom all the world admires and sues bows to which are called honorable mightie and gracious Lords I will tell you to what your honor shall come first yee shall wax old like other then yee shall fall sicke like other then yee shall die like other then yee shal be buried like other then yee shal be consumed like other then yee shal be iudged like other euen like the beggers which crie at your gate One sickens the other sickens one dies the other dies one rots the other rots Looke in the graue shew me which was Diues and which was Lazarus This is some cōfort to the poore that once he shall be like the rich one day he shall be as welthie as mightie as glorious as a king one houre of death will make thē al alike they which crowed ouer other and looked downe vpon them like oakes other shall walke vpon them like wormes and they shall be gone as if they had neuer bene Where is Alexander that conquered all the world and after sought for another because one would not satisfie him Where is Zerxes which could not number his armie for multitude Where is Nemrod which built his nest in the clouds Where is Sampson which slew an armie with the iaw of an asse Where is Constantine Nero Galigula Titus Vespatian Domicius thunderboltes in their kinds One hundred Princes of England are dead and but one aliue the rest are gone to giue account how they ruled here when they sustained the person of God VVho vvould haue thought saith Ieremy that the enimy should haue entered into Ierusalem and spoiled that faire Citie yet he brake into it and Ierusalem was ransackt like other Who would haue thoght that Herod which was honored like a God should haue bin deuoured with wormes and sauour that none could abide him yet while he was in his pomp sodainly he was strokē al his glorie eatē with worms Who wold haue thought that Iesabel that beautiful tēptation shold haue bin gnawn of dogs yet she was cast to dogs not an ear left to seasō the graue What wold he think that should haue seene Salomon in his roialty after see him in the clay O world vnworthie to be beloued who hath made this proud slaughter Age Sicknes Death the three sōmoners which haue no respect of persons made them pay the ransome thēselues bow to the earth whence they came there lie the men which were called gods How soone the flower of this world is faded Yesterday the tallest Cedar in Libanus to day like a broken sticke troden vnder foote yesterday the stateliest vpō earth to day shrowded in earth forsaken forgotten that the poorest wretch aliue would not be like vnto him which yesterday crouched bowed to his knees Then wo to them which had the names of God and the sinnes of men for the mightie saith Esay shal be mightily tormēted All their friends and subiects and seruants forsake them because they go to prison to trie the mercie of hell take what the spirite of darknesse will heape vpon them There lie the men which were called gods and thus ends the pilgrimage of kings princes and rulers this is our life while we enioy it we loose it like the sunne which flies swifter then an arrow and yet no man perceiues that it moues He which liued 900. yeers could not hold out one houre longer and what hath he now more then the child which liued but a yeare Where are they which founded this goodly Citie which possessed these faire houses which walked these pleasant fields which erected these stately tēples which kneeled in these seates which preached out of this place but 30. yeares ago Is not earth turned to earth and shall not our sunne set like theirs whē the night comes Yet we cannot beleeue that death wil deale with vs. as he hath dealt with them though all men die yet euerie man dreames I shall scape or at least I shal liue till I be old This is strange men cannot thinke that God will doe againe that which he doth dayly or that he will deale with them as he deales with other Tell vs that all other shall die and we beleeue it tell one of vs that we shall die and we beleeue it sooner of all then of one though we be sore though we be weak though we be sicke though we be elder then those whom we follow to the ground So they thought which lie in this mould vnder your feet as you do If wisedome or riches or fauour could haue entreated death these which liued before vs would haue kept our possessions frō vs but death would take no baile we are all tenants at will and we must leaue this cottage whensoeuer the
For so God doth humble them and disgrace them which dishonour their callings as he did Saul when the princely spirit departed from him his sons his daughters and his subiects did fauour Dauid more then him that he could do nothing with them because God did not loue him he would not let his seruants loue him but when Dauid came to the crowne because he had grace with God he prospered in all that he went about reformed what he would for the Lord as he saith subdewed the people to him that is made them incline to his will as we read of Saul in the beginning of his raigne before he had rebelled a band of mē did cleaue vnto him of whom it is said whose hearts God had touched as though while the rulers hearts do stand toward God the peoples harts should stand towards them they should carry thē like God to all their desires as it is said of Dauid whatsoeuer the king did pleased all the people Thus their name tels them how they should rule and by consequent teacheth vs how we shold obey God cals them gods therefore he which contemneth them contemneth God God cals them fathers therefore we must reuerence them like fathers God cals them Kings Princes Lords iudges powers rulers and gouernors which are all names of honour shall we dishonour whom God doth honor Our first lesson is Feare God the next is Honor the king 1. Pet. 2. 17. We may not put king before God nor any other before the king that is as Paul interpreteth We must obey for conscience sake not against cōscience for thē we put the king before God which Christ saith haue no power but from God therfore cannot make themselues magistrates no more thē they can make thēselues gods As none but God could giue this name so no man which exalteth himselfe can chalenge this honor no more thē Simon Magus was greater because he called himselfe a great mā but they to whō God saith I haue called you gods as though he had the naming appointing of thē Euery power is frō God for by nature no mā can chalēge power ouer other but by the word therfore euerie soule which is subiect to God must be subiect to them for he which cals them kings cals vs subiects this is their patent as the queene of Sheba said to Salomon that God hath chosen thē kings and set them vpon the throne As he said and all things were made so as he saith all things should be Therefore vnlesse I say that they haue their ordination from God though they be lords and Iudges Magistrates yet are no Lords no Iudges no Magistrats of God And therefore the Pope and his Cardinals to whom God neuer said Yee are Lords or Iudges or Magistrates are no Lords no Iudges no Magistrates of God but that which the Lord saith they are that they are no more thogh they put on a triple crown and as the Lord cals them so men should call them if they were worthy to be called as others were Watch men Pastors Doctors Teachers but seeing they be not worthie of these titles why should they haue higher They which giue them more then the Lord giues them make thē proud and insolent and tyrannous more then they which are Lords and Iudges and Magistrates in deede But for these titles and base borne honour which they haue incroched from men that puffe them trouble them like Sauls armor they would either intend the dutie of ministers and teach as the Apostles did or else forsake those offices and be ashamed of abiding in that calling which belongeth not vnto them as Zacharie speaketh whereas now they are so combred mingled as one saith of the Pope he is neither God nor man so may it be said of both him and his Cardinals that they are neither good ministers nor good magistrates but linsie wolsie a mingle mangle betweene both and like neither Seeking a superfluous title they haue forgotten all necessarie studies for they neuer preach nor write but to maintaine their kingdome which fals like the towre of Babel faster then they build Therefore as Naomi said call me no more Naomi which signifieth beautiful but cal me Mara which signifieth bitter So they may say call vs no more bishops or pastors or doctors which signifieth preachers but cal vs robbers sleepers and giants pharisies whom we succeed for they haue no other reasō why they shold be called bishops which do not watch or pastors which do not feed or doctors which do not teach but that the Idols were called gods though they were vnlike God If their bodies had growne as far out of square since Christs ascension as their titles pompe and honor they might stand in the maine sea and not drowne for their heads would be aboue the water It followeth But ye shal die as a man Here he distinguisheth betweene mortall gods and the immortall God Yee haue seene their glorie now behold their end They shall die like other It had bene a great Sessions for all other to die but for Magistrates for Princes for Kings for Emperors to die as they die what a battell is this which leaues no man aliue shall the gods die to He giues them their title but he tels them their lot Though their power though their welth thogh their honour though their titles though their tyrannie though their traine though their friends though their ease though their pleasure though their diet thogh their clothing be not like other yet their end shall be like other nay their ends are like to be more feareful thē other for God makes them examples of great mē as he did of Pharao therfore we see so manie strange and sodain deathes of Princes more then of other Therefore he spake with the least when he said Yee shall die like other for few of them escape the sword knife or poison which other neuer feare but if all your subiectes were your friends yet yee shall die like other for are ye not cold when winter comes are ye not withered whē age comes are yee not weake when sicknesse comes and shall yee not go whē death comes Therefore be not proud of thine honor as though it would last alwayes for thou shalt die and then all thine honor shall forsake thee and another shall rise in thy place as great as thou and when his glasse is run another shall follow him and so another till death haue all Be not cruell in thine authoritie as though it would last alwayes for thou shalt die and then thine authority shall die with thee they which remaine aliue shall send curses after thee because thy life was a scourge Be not secure for thy wealth as though it would last alwayes for thou shalt die then another shall take thy
landlord wil put another in our roome at a yeares at a monethes at a weeks at a dayes at an houres warning or lesse The cloth which we weare vpon our backes the graues which are vnder our feet the sunne which sets ouer our heads the meate which goes into our mouthes do cry vnto vs that we shall weare set die like the beasts and soules and fishes which now are dead in our dishes but euen now were liuing in their elements Our fathers haue sommoned vs and we must sōmon our children to the graue Euerie thing euerie day suffereth some eclipse nothing stands at a stay but one creature cals to another let vs leaue this world while we play our pageants vpon this stage of short continuance euerie man hath a part some longer some shorter while the actors are at it sodainly death steps vpon the stage like a haulke which separates one of the doues from the flight and shootes his dart where it lights ther fals one of the actors dead before them makes all the rest agast They muse and mourne bury him and then to the sport againe while they sing and play and daunce death comes againe and strikes another there he lies they mourne him and burie him as they did the former and play againe so one after another till the players be vanished like the accusers which came before Christ and death is the last vpon the stage So the figure of this word passeth away Manie which stand here may lie here or elsewhere within this tweluemoneth but thou thinkest it is not I and he thinketh it is not he but he which thinketh so commeth soonest to it if we should liue but a yeare we would prepare our selues to die and do all that God would haue vs that we might liue in heauen and scape the fierie lake where the glutton hath not a droppe of water to coole the tip of his tongue But now we know not whether we shall liue a week to an end we wil do nothing that he bids vs but abide the venture so one is taken after another and because we are not readie therefore we go against our will like Lots wife out of Sodom This is our fashion to set the best last vntill we cannot forsake our sinnes nor hope of mercie Thus I haue proclaimed to all Kings Princes Iudges Counsellers and Magistrates that which Esay did to one Set thy thinges in order for thou shalt die Yet 25. yeares were behind when the Prophet warned him to set all things in order yet I cannot promise you 25. yeares for many princes doe not raigne so long for one that doth That which Esay spake to one heere God pronounceth of all Yee shall die therefore take the message which is sent vnto you when you thinke of your honor think of your end These two remembrances to beare in mind that yee are gods and thinke that yee shall die The holy ghost thought enough to teach you how to liue and how to rule and for vs that haue not so much as the name of an immortall thing like them which are called gods that we may be like God hereafter let vs prepare before the accompt for none are in heauē but they which left the world before the world left them A GODLY PRAYER TO BE SAID AT all times BEcause I haue sinned O Lord and done wickedly in thy sight and prouoked thee to anger by my abhominable wickednes making my bodie which thou hast ordained a vessel for thine honor an instrument to most detestable filthines ô Lord be merciful vnto me pardon me this great wickednes looke not vpon me good father with the eies of iustice neither do thou draw against me the sword of iudgement for thē how shall I that am but dust stand in thy presence when thy wrathfull indignation commeth forth as a whirlewind and thy heauie displeasure as a mightie tempest seeing the earth trembleth the depthes are discouered and the verie heauens are shaken when thou art angrie Exercise not therfore thy furie against me that am but as chaffe before the wind and as stubble against a flaming fire though I haue sinned grieuouslie in thy sight preferring my wicked desire before thy holy commandement esteeming the pleasure of a moment before eternall and euerlasting ioyes nay which is worse making more account of vilenesse and vanitie and extreame folly and madnes then of the glory and maiestie of the most excellent wonderfull and blessed God nothing dreading his displeasure whose wrath maketh the diuels to quake and burneth vnquenchable vnto the bottomlesse pit of hell whose might is so great that by the breath of his nosthrils he is able in the twinkling of an eye to destroy a thousand worlds yet am I bold prostrating my selfe before the throne of thy maiestie heartely to beseech and humblie to entreat thee that thou wilt not deale with me according to my merites for I haue deserued that thou shouldst raine downe fire and brimstone from out of heauen vpon me to deuour me or to open the earth vnderneath me to swallow me vp quick vnto hell but thou art gracious and full of compassion and rich in mercies therefore do men put their trust vnder the shadow of thy wings I haue none in heauen to flie vnto but thee nor in earth of whom I may receiue any comfort but at thy fauourable hands which are stretched out day and night to receiue all that by earnest repentance turne vnto thee being readie to ease all those that are laden with the burthen of their sinne and to refresh their distressed consiences In the multitude of thy mercies I approch vnto thee O Lord desiring thee to looke downe from the height of thy sanctuarie vpon me poore and wretched sinner and to wipe away mine offences and to blot out my misdeedes especiallie this my vngracious vncleane and vngodly act that it may not come vp in remembrance with thee nor be imputed to me for euer for thy sonnes sake O Lord in whome thou art well pleased in whom thou wast fully satisfied vppon the crosse for my sinnes graunt me free pardon and remission of that I haue so foolishlie by my exceeding frailtie committed against thee in this shamefull deed But O thou my vncleane and vnthankfull soule my vngodly and rebellious heart what did I sinfull wretch and execrable caytife so blindly and desperatlie attempt How art thou become quite sencelesse that thou wast so readie to anger thy most louing God and to prouoke thy most mightie iudge that thou mightest satisfie thy filthie flesh suborned both by thine and Gods most malitious aduersarie to grieue and vex the spirit of the Lord and to damne thy self for euer Hath not God of his singular fauour made the heauens of old and placed the sun and moone in them two glorious lights with innumerable starres a wonderfull workmanship for thy vse and benefite Hath he not lifted vp the clouds by his strong