to the Joy of the Children of god Unto the Thief it was said This Day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luk. 23. Joh. 5.6 which cannot be understood of the Body but shews that the faithful Dying makes the passage from Death to Life The which ought only to be understood of the Soul seeing that the Body must first be brought to Earth and that it must put off all Corruption for to rise at the last Day Incorruptible and in Glory Mat. 22. Thus Jesus Christ against the Saduces who denied the Immortality of Souls shews that forasmuch as God calls himself the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacob Exod. 3. infallibly the Souls departed do live for he is not the God of those that are dead in such sort that they are no more but he is the God of those that are and that live and doth good to the Posterity of those that are and not of those that are not which cannot be understood but of their Souls seeing their Bodies were returned to the Earth Whereby we see that they deceive themselves greatly that say that their Souls die and vanish with the Body where they Sleep also those likewise who think that they enter into other Bodies Mak 6. Luk. 9. Even the Pagans by natural Apprehensions have believe that the Souls were Immortal a we see that Euripides in the Tragedy which he intituled Hecuba doth declare it when he brings in Polixen speaking to Hecuba and dying saying to her What shall I say to Hectâ— thy Husband who was dead she aâ— swered her tell him that I am the most wretched in the World And in that which he entituled The Supplicant he says The Spirit shall return to Heaven Likewise Pholicides says That the Soul is immortal and living always waxeth not old Pythagoras in his Golden Verses said If when thou hast left the Body thou comest into Heaven thou shalt be as God living always and being no more Mortal Cicero likewise Writes of it in his Book of Friendship and in that which he writ of Age in some sort comforting himself in the hope which he had of the immortality of his Soul We see then that it is a thing most assured that the Soul is immortal as the Lord by his Word which is the Infallible Truth of Heaven doth shew it us And likewise the Pagans how Ignorant soever they were of the true Religion have well understood it Wherefore those that deny the Immortality of Souls accuse God of lying and make themselves in worse estate than the Pagans This Knowledge is a great Consolation to the Faithful in all their Afflictions and doth take from them the fears of Death knowing that their Souls being separated from their Bodies live in Heaven 1 John 2 in which they are admonished not to settle themselves upon the transitory things of this Life and not to load their Souls with the burthen of Sin to the end that dying they may be raised up towards God our Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour unto whom we ought with a stedfast faith to recommend them Now even as the faithful do rejoice at it the unfaithful on the other side knowing the Souls to be immortal are so much the more fearful of Death seeing the eternal pains and torments to be prepared for them at their going forth of this World James 1. 1 Pet. 1.4 So that which serveth to the Elect for Joy and Instruction is unto the wicked nothing but Sorrow and occasion of Despair The Second Point TOuching the Body it is all apparant that it is subject to die as well because that we know that those that were in times past are dead and that we see that those of our time die one after another as principally because that the Lord declares to Adam that by reason of his Sin he with his posterity shall be subject to return into the Earth from whence he was taken Gen. 3. The Apostle says Rom. 5.8.6 That by Man Sin came into the World and by Sin Death and so Death came unto all Men by reason that all have sinned â—nd the reward of Sin is Death whereof the hour is uncertain unto us â—uke 12. Although we are certain â—hat it is the Journey that every man must go by reason that unto them â—ll it is ordained to die once Jos 12. 1 Kings 2 The Scripture is full of Testimonies upon this matter although it be well enough known of all by every days Experience Heb. 9. Job 14. The Pagans themselves without Instruction of the Word of God have well understood that unto Man it is a thing that cannot be avoided as Euripedes shews it in the Tragedie of the Supplicants saying That every part of Man must return from whence it came the Spirit into Heaven the Body into the â—â—â—ih which is the Mother and Nurse thereof Wherefore it is a thing known to all that we must die but now by how much it is easie to believe that necessity to die is imposed upon us by so much is iâ— more difficult to believe that our bodies being returned to dust shall risâ— again And indeed the sensual Maâ—â— cannot comprehend any thing there in neither hath any thought of it as we see that the Pagans never thought of it although that they have disputed of the immortality oâ— Souls But the Man that is regenerate by the Spirit of God doubt not but that the Lord can raise the dead seeing he will have it so and that nothing can hinder his Will Psal 115. For as sayth the Prophet he doth what he will Apoc. 4. We must then fee how the Scripture dotâ— assure us that the Bodies as well oâ— the good as of the wicked shall rise again the first â—o be crowned with Glory the other with perpetual Infamy Dan. 12. For to teach us thâ— Resurrection it compares Death to a â—leep as hath been already said to â—he end we may be certain that as the bodies after they have laboured shall rest by Sleep that they being awaked may with so much more alacrity return to work so when we shall have made an end of this present Life our Bodies shall be brought to the Tomb as in a Bed of rest for to rise again from thence at the latter day and be put into their place Job prophecying of the Resurrection the which he did firmly believe says I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he will stand up at the latter day upon the Earth and although after my Skin this Body shall be devoured by Worms yet with my Flesh shall I see God I shall behold him and my Eyes shall look upon him and none other for me although my Reins are consumed within me Job 14. 19. David foretels the Resurrection of Christ by whom we shall rise again the which was figured by this that Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales Belly as Jesus Christ himself declares it Johu 2. Mat. 12. The Prophet Isay
Christian Exortation against the fearc of Death For since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead Corin 15 Ch. p 21. TWO DISCOURSES The FIRST A CHRISTIAN'S EXHORTATION Against the FEARS OF DEATH The SECOND A brief and clear Declaration of the Resurrection of the Dead With suitable Meditations and Prayers touching LIFE and DEATH Recommended as proper to be given at Funerals By W. S. LONDON Printed for Tho. Bever at the Hand and Star next to the Middle Temple-Gate near Temple Bar 1690. Price bound 1 Shilling A DISCOURSE Against the Fears of DEATH PLATO said That the Philosophy wherein Man living in this World should principally exercise himself is the Meditation of Death That is to say of his condition in the World frail diseased and mortal of the divers accidents of this humane Life and of the Hour of Death so uncertain and unknown to the end that considering these things he might withdraw his affection and trust from this World that he might despise it and all temporal things wherein he sees and discovers so much inconstancy and such suddain and frequent mutations or changes and that by such a despising of uncertain and casual things he should stir up himself unto a contemplation of those that are Divine and Heavenly and forsaking that which is here perishing and transitory he should choose his part in Heaven and should stay himself at that which is permanent and eternal For the like reason Philip the Father of Alexander the Great a man of good understanding and of very great consideration to the end that in the midst of his great prosperity he should not forget himself in his Duty gave order that one of his Gentlemen should every day at his waking come and speak these words unto him King have in remembrance that thou art a mortal Man Jesus Christ also our Saviour and Master intending the same doth exhort us to Watch and to lay up Treasures in Heaven and not on Earth where all things are uncertain and changeable We see by this that during our Life we cannot do better then to think upon Death and our Body being upon the Earth to accustom our selves to have always our Spirit and Heart in Heaven Now because that the remembrance of Death is a fearful thing to many I have bethought my self to pass away my Griefs and to recreate my self from my other Studies and also to give you a testimony of the Obligation which I think I have towards you as well for the good which you have done unto me as for the Friendship which you bear me to write unto you and to present this small Treatise wherein I have briefly touched certain Points wherewith the Faithful may Arm themselves against Death which he ought to do in time and prepare himself to receive it with assurance at such time as it shall please God to send it for that which doth astonish many is that the coming thereof is suddain unto them and that they are surprized unlooked for We see by experience in a frontier Town that when it is well Victualled and provided of all things necessary to with-stand a long Siege those within are a great deal the more assured and bold whereas if it were unprovided they would stand amazed and tremble with fear if they should chance to see the approaching of the Siege It is easie to judge by that of what importance it is to have prevented a danger and to be prepared for it To provide therefore and arm the Faithful Man against Death we must note that there are two sorts of it the one is temporal of the body which Christians ought to desire the other is eternal of body and Soul which they ought not to fear persevering in the Faith of our Lord. That it is so all Fear pre-supposeth evil and danger we do not fear that which is good but long after desire and pursue it and when it offers it self we receive it joyfully but an evil we apprehend and fear we fly from it and when it happens unto us we sorrow and do complain If then it doth appear by good and evident Proofs that the Faithful Man is not in danger of this second Death may we not then conclude that if we fear it it is foolish and without occasion And surely if we had judgment and never so little Faith it were sufficient presently to take away the fear of it from us For first the proper nature of faith is to animate and quicken our heart so soon as it is received in us The Just saith the Prophet shall live by Faith Now even so as the Body whiles the Soul is in it liveth and dieth not until such time as it be separated from it no more doth the Faithful Man persevering in the Faith which hath been inspired and put into his Heart by the Grace of God Although saith David I should walk in the midst of the shadow of Death I will not fear for Thou art with me O Lord What was the cause of this assurance was it not Faith Armed wherewith we ought no more to fear Death then we do Sickness when we are in perfect health well disposed and in good liking or Poverty when we have plenty and abundance of all good things Secondly By Faith we have remission and an abolition of all the faults which we have done Why do we then fear Death There is no Death where there is no Sin 〈…〉 Death 〈…〉 Paul and elsewhere The Reward of Sin is Death Sin causeth God to be angry with us and that in His Anger He condemneth us to Death Now all Seeds doth bring forth according to their sort and quality The Wheat bringeth forth Wheat and the Rye Rye and we must not hope for any Fruit if there be not Seed before hand This being true and witnessed in a thovsand places of the Scripture that unto a Christian all his Sins and debts are acquitted by the Grace and Mercy of God that they are forgotten that they are covered that they are not imputed and that they are remitted and pardoned that they are cast as far from us as the East from the West provided that there be no more Seed thereof we need not look for any Fruit That is to say if there be no more Sin there is no more anger of God nor of death and by consequent that also there ought to be no more fear Thirdly By Faith we have the Word and the Promises of GOD whereupon it is grounded Among others this Whoso Believeth shall not Die but is passed from Death to Life Now this promise can no more fail than He that gave it us It is Eternal and all that God saith is as sure and permanent as Heaven and Earth For this cause when we look into them we ought in them to consider the vertue and power of this Word by the which they were once Created and ever since preserved and maintained in that estate wherein
saith St. Paul are mortal then let us not marvel if in winter there be rain frost and snow for the season brings it Let us not marvel that the night follows the day and that man at night after his labour goeth to sleep for all that is natural Also ought not we for the the same reason to be astonish'd when a man dyety no more saith St. Basil then when he is born and commeth into the world for the one and the other is Ordinary And want of considering it is cause oftentimes that at the death of our Friend we are so amazed as if it were a thing prodigious and not accustomed When news was brought to Anaxagoras that his son was dead it moved him not at all only he said that it was not a new and unusual thing that a mortal man should die and that when he begot him he did not beget him immortal What made him so constant but that before hand he had foreseen and often considered that it ought so to come to pass being a natural thing Moreover we must consider than death is a tribute which we owe and are bound to pay unto nature Thou art dust and earth and to earth thou shalt return saith God speaking to man after he had sinned Then when one of our Friends dieth why are we discontented Because he hath quitted himself and payed what he ought If he had payed his King the tribute and ordinary Tax we would approve of that as most right and an obedience and duty towards his Prince and if he hath done as much to nature what reason is there to grieve at it Again that in it God heareth us for we ask of God that his Kingdom come and that his will be done what do we jest with God asking him that which we would not have and fear to obtain and do vex our selves and murmur instead of giving him thanks when he hath granted our requests We shew well that we think little on the prayers which we make for if we thought upon them either we would not pray so or else in praying so if God grant our request we would not be sory for it Again that when our Friends die we lose them not for our Lord whose they are both before and after death is not the God of the dead but of the living Cirus speaking to his friends before his death to comfort them said Do not think when I shall be dead that I am lost or shall come to nothing When we sow a land the grains of corn are not lost they rot therein but it is the better to fructifie so are our bodies in the earth for to revive one day and to rise again in incorruption immortality and vertue When also a man goeth along and tedious journey do we think him lost When any one of our friends is at the Court with his Prince who will not suffer him to depart out of his Company raised to honour and provided of great offices are we sorry for it Why then are we sorry for a Friend whom we know assuredly to be in the House of God in honour and credit and so well at ease that he would not change for all the felicity of this world Again that it is a very unhonest and unseemly thing in a faithful man to grieve so immoderately and as if he were desperate A Christian ought to have a strength and courage which should be invincible against all adversities and even against the gates of Hell He should be like a building grounded upon a firm Rock that may hold firm against all the stormes waves and winds and all the inconveniences wherewith he may be assayled he must not be soft and yield presently to Adversity melting in Tears and therein drowning as David said his Bed The Lucians in time past had a Law by the which it was ordained that whosoever would weep for the Death of his Friend should put on Womens Cloaths to shew that it is more answering to a cowardly and esseminate Heat than to manly Courage And as it happens in Mens Bodies that when they are tender and delicate they cannot endure the cold in Winter nor yet the heat in Summer so may we judge of such Courages that if they cannot bear Adversity without Impatience no more can they prosperity without Insolency We must finally consider that by the Tears and Complaints which we use at death of our Friends we do not remedy our selves no more than doth the sick Man his Disease by his Sighs but rather doth encrease his Misery And we may say that even as by common Experience and the reports of Physicians we see in Cholerick Folks that the more they anger themselves their Rage and Choler doth augment also in the mournful and heavy People that continuing in their Tears and Lamentations their Sorrow doth grow and strengthen So said an ancient Philosopher to Arcinoe to comfort her If said he thou lovest Tears they will love thee reciprocally and as Friends will always frequent and accompany thee What then doth this great Mourning profit us if not to make us more miserable I but will some say in excusing themselves it is a natural thing to weep at such an accident I agree to it neither will I condemn a moderate Sorrow As I certain Man saw an ancient Philosopher weeping for the Death of his Son and did reprove his inconstaney he answered him very well saying Good Friend suffer me to be a Man We must not be like Barbarians or savage Beasts without Humanity without Affection without Pity nor Feeling I wish saith Pinder not to be Sick but if I am I would not be without feeling for it is an evil sign when in our Sickness we are dull and feel nothing Then when in our Mourning we shall keep the mean and shall avoid the two Extreams which St. Basil doth condemn as vitious which is that we be not Stoiks that is to say without affection nor soft on the other side to suffer our selves to be won and overcome with sorrow I do approve that if we shew our selves Men in Weeping let us also shew that we are Christians furnished with Hope in correcting and moderating our Sorrows Others say I loved them so dearly If thou lovedst him so dearly as thou sayest shew it and rejoice at his happiness and rest I rather believe that which causeth in us this great Mourning is the love which we have of our selves which is the cause that we grieve at the loss of our Friends not for the respect which we have to them but to our selves being discontens to be deprived of the Pleasure and Consolations which they gave us Which Jesus Christ said unto his Disciples Seeing that they grieved that he had told them that in short time he should be put to Death It is not for love of me that you are so heavy for if you loved me you would be glad for as much as it is my good or
Jesus Christ and we are by the means of this adoption certain once to come unto Life unto the rest and unto the glory wherein we shall Reign Eternally with his Father Moreover being Children of God we are of his Houshold and it is not in his House where Death dwelleth it is in Hell in the Devil's House in Heaven and the Place where God abides there is an unspeakable Light so great a Beatitude and Happiness that in the Contemplation thereof David crying out said O how they are happy that do inhabit and dwell in thy House And elsewhere In this consists all my good Lord that I may be near unto thee Again being Children we are at Liberty free from Sin free from Death free from the Condemnation and Rigour of the Law freed from Service and Force of the Devil what do we fear being then Children of God and consequently Brothers of Jesus Christ Is it possible that he can ever deny or abandon his Flesh and Blood or suffer them to die having Power to save them Therefore being the Children of God our Father he loveth us with a Love unseigned and Fatherly And if as saith St. Paul during the time that we were his Enemies he had such a care over us that not sparing his only begotten Son he hath delivered him over to Death to preserve us from it and to reconcile us unto himself now that we are his Friends and in his Favour will he not save us Who is that Man who considering these Reasons will not presently assure himself and cast away all fear which he had of Death That which also ought to assure us against Death and take away all fear which we have of it and of the Horrour and Anguish prepared for the reprobate and damned is our Calling that God of his Grace hath vouchsafed to withdraw us out of the Darkness wherein we were and to illuminate us by his Holy Spirit teaching us by his Holy Word wherein we ought to trust and wherein lyeth our Salvation and so what we ought to do to please and obey him to the end that walking in his Law and serving him in all Justice and Holiness we might after we have a little suffered in this World be faithfully glorified with him in the end for that which God beginneth he will accomplish and when he hath determined to call any one to him and to save him he never changeth his Counsel neither doth repent himself of the good that he will do unto him He us Unchangeable and so stedfast in his Purpose and Determination that that which he once Wills and Ordains he doth execute without being turned from it If then we feel in our selves that God hath given us the Grace to hear to believe and to love his Word and to fly from and reject all that which is contrary to it and to have an Affection to observe that which he commandeth us and a dislike if haply by infirmity or otherwise we chrnce to commit any thing against his Law Let us not doubt but we are regenerate elected and predestinated to Eternal Life and consequently out of danger of Death Let us then take away all fear and let us say with St. Paul What shall separate us from the Love and Charity of God What shall make us to think that he hath not a will to save us It shall not be Pain Affliction Hunger Persecution nor Adversity nor Death nor any Creature whatsoever shall make us to doubt that he doth not love us in the favour of Jesus Christ and that having chosen called and justified us in him but that finally he will also glorify us by him The Sacraments which Jesus Christ hath left us for the Confirmation of our Faith ought likewise to assure and strengthen us against the Fear of Death First Baptism by the which we are buried and die with Christ that we may rise again with him in the which we are washed from all our sins and clothed with his Innocency to the end that presenting our selves to the Father so adorned and covered with the Robe of our Elder Brother we may receive his Holy Blessing and be saved from the Deluge wherein all the Infidels perish as Noah was in his time by the Ark. Having then the Promises of God as we have said before and over and above his Sign and Seal by the which he has bound himself to render that Life to us which we havelost by our Sin wherefore then do we fear Death doe we think that he will revoke or that he will deny and disavow his own Sign and Seal Secondly The Lord's Supper where we take the Bread and the Wine for to be received into the Communion and Participation of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and by Consequent into the Fruits of them that is to have part in his Obedience in his Justice in his Satisfaction and Redemption in the Testament and new Alliance and generally in all the promises of God the which by his Death have been ratified It remaineth now to conclude our purpose and to infer upon the precedent things that if we fear Death it is for want of considering them or if we do consider them it is for want of believing them for there is no man so timerous being firmly perswaded of that which is spoken but will take away all fear of Death and will say with David I shall not die but always live to declare perpetually the Works of the Lord and praise him And who will not scorn at it with St. Paul and insult upon it saying O Death where is thy Victory Where is thy Sting Where is thy Strength Where is thy Terrour and Fear which Men had of thee Jesus Christ our Saviour perceiving the time of his Death draw near said that in short time he should pass from this World to go to his Father calling Death a Passage which should greatly comfort us We have almost all this opinion rooted in us and it is that which doth so Discourage us that it is a dangerous passage and uneasie Now for to take it from us and to stir up our Hearts he would needs pass it before us and as it were sound the depth to the end that we seeing that he did not stick at it should take Courage As also we see before and after him the Prophets Apostles Martyrs and other Holy Persons have done it who having passed it without any apprehension of Danger and being escaped safe and well do now rejoice with God that they are gotten to the Land and to the Port where they did aspire Shall we then be such Cowards shall we be so faint hearted and of such tender and effeminate Courage as to fear to go by a place so frequent and a way so great and beaten that Men go it as said some of the Ancients Blindfold Likewise we see that not one alone of those that trusted in God calling upon his aid that put themselves
to pass it did ever miscarry when the Children of Israel did fear at the passage of the Red-Sea Moses did shew unto them that if they would trust in God they should see his Glory and Power which they did see passing safely through the midst of the danger where their Enemies did perish So shall all the Faithful through the straights of Death provided that they commend themselves to God and do only set their trust upon him They being in the Desarts although they were bitten by the Serpents yet were they preserved from the danger in looking upon him that Mofes had caused to be erected So also although the cursed and envious Serpent hath tainted us with his Venom yet shall we not die if by faith we look upon Jesus Christ Crucisied Let Death come let it take us let it bind us yet shall we break the bonds as easily as did Sampson those of the Philistines his Enemies let it swallow and devour us as the Whale did Jonas yet shall it fain to disgorge and cast us up again if in the midst of the depth we do remember God and call upon him Let it bury us as it once did Jesus Christ yet shall we rise again as he did and it shall be impossible for this Tyrant to retain us under his Power After having shewed how we should arm our selves against the apprehensions of Eternal Death Let us also shew that we ought not only not to fear the temporal but also desire it and when it pleaseth God to send it unto us to thank him for it to rejoice at it to embrace it and to sing for Joy whether it be that we behold the Misery the Mishaps and evils of this Life from which it doth deliver us or else the joy and contentment of eternal Life whereto it doth bring us As for the poverties miseries incertitudes accidents and mutabilities of this Life not only the Scripture but also diverse wise and great Philosophers doth shew them unto us And there is one amongst them who declaring the Original of the Greek Phrase signifying Life sayeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is that Life hath been so called of the Greeks because of the violence of the assaults excess pains and out-rages which therein we suffer which are innumerable both in Body and Soul Our Bodies are subject to cold to heat to hunger to thirst to time to age and to so many Diseases that there is no part but hath his particular infirmity The feet are subject unto the gouts the belly unto gripings the sides to pleurisies the stomach to rawness the lungs to the cough the head to a thousand Diseases we need but a spider or other little worm to kill us we need but a hair or a crum to strangle us in sum the flesh with all its strength is nothing else but grass Is it to day green and pleasant let but the Sithe pass it will cut down a thousand leaves at once which in an hour will be drie and withered The Greeks do call the body of Man in their Language Soma and Demas whereof the one is taken from a phrase which signifieth to bind and the other comes near to that which signifieth Sepulchre for to shew unto us in what estate and disposition soever he be he doth represent rather Death unto us than Life and Servitude than Liberty As for the Soul it is first subject to all the evils and diseases of the body for it is unpossible if that be ill but that for the conjunction and amity which is between them it must endure and feel pain Moreover she hath her own distempers as ignorance sin mistrust suspicion jealousie hatred envy love lust ambition and passions the which as tormentors do hale her the one one way the other another as if they would pull it to pieces I leave a million of importunities which she hath and which man taketh to attain to his purposes to live in rest and at ease to be in honour to maintain his alliances and friendships to beware of his Enemies to encrease his House to amintain and keep it in its greatness the which do torment us oft-times in such sort that we can neither eat or sleep at ease And we must not think that there is any estate exempt from this misery begin at the highest Prince or Emperour that ever was in the World and so discoursing descend to the poorest begger that ever the Earth did bear and you shall not find one content neither the Artificer nor the Merchant nor the Advocate nor the Gentleman nor the Duke nor the King enter into their closets there you shall often find them as said Menander laid upon their Beds with a mournful Voice and pitiful crying Alas alas Valeri IX speaketh of a King unto whom the Scepter and Diadem were offered before he put it on his head he took it in his hands then having looked long upon it he cryed out O Diadem if one knew the miseries and incumbrances which thou doest bring there is no man that finding thee upon the ground would once take thee up shewing by that exclamation that the Life of Kings is less happy than that of private Persons Tyberius Caesar under whom Christ was crucified and who commanded that he should be worshipped as a God also as Tertullian records it after the Death of Augustus his Predecessour who by will had left him Heir as well of his Goods as of the Empire which being offered him by the Senate according to custom doubted a great while whether he might accept of it by reason of the fear that he had of the weight of this charge and of the pain that he was to suffer in the undergoing of it Dioclesian after he had held the Empire some twenty years left it of his own accord and chose for the rest of his time to live a peaceable and domestical Life wherein after the great agitations and storms of trouble which he had during the time of his Government he found the rest to be so sweet and pleasing and his mind so contented and freed that many times amongst his familiars he did witness that the time had never seemed so good to him nor his Sun-shine days so pleasant shewing by these words how he did abhor the Imperial Life although that few Emperors before or after him had had such Honours in Victories and other prosperities as he had These Examples do sufficiently shew that the Life of Kings is not so happy as some men sometimes esteem them more by errour than by reason and they are far from being at quiet and without trouble For by how much a Tree is planted and seated in a higher place by so much the more is it subject to the wind so also are the great men more than the commons to divers fortunes and accidents the Thunder-bolts and the Tempests fall ordinarily in high places so do the greatest misfortunes upon Men of state and renown And if in this
in the desert that they had lost the Quails and Flesh pots of Egypt But we in Heaven at the first taste of the meats which there shall be served us shall loose then all appetite to the Pleasures of this World We have hear eaten of the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil against the Command of the Physitian Whereupon followed the Sickness and Death of all But in the Kingdom of God and of Paradise we shall eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Life which shall always keep us young and fresh and which is more will make us incorruptible and immortal This is that which we shall taste what then shall we smell A Hall of Perfumes the Garments of the Bride and the Bridegroom perfumed with all odoriferous and fragrant things It shall be then that he Church shall Triumph and that the Vine being blossom'd shall give such a pleasant odour that the whole Heavens shall be filled with it There shall be no stink for there shall be no Corruption we shall there plainly smell the sweetness of the Sacrifice which Jesus Christ made for us on Earth so great and pleasant that the Father for the Pleasure which he took in it was reconciled with the world and his anger towards us hath been appeased What a pleasant Sacrifice and precious Incense is also the praises of the Saints who with one accord do glorifie God and sanctifie his holy Name More over what an odour gives that fair flower sprung from the root and sap of Jess now that it is in its force and strength To conclude we cannot miss then to smell good odours for our Winter shall then be past and we shall be in a perpetual spring time where in all things shall grow and flourish for the Delectation and Pleasures 〈◊〉 the Church For to satisfie our dâ—sire and content all our affection we shall touch no more neither shat we be touched of any thing that mâ— hurt us We shall be gathered up by Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour who will come at the entrance to receive us saying Come hither faithful Servant thou hast served me faithfully in the World while thou hast been in the World enter now into the Joy and rest of the Lord. He will kiss and embrace us and will keep us near to his Person without suffering us to depart or go far from it Now if the greatest good and that unto the which all others are referred be this felicity which doth consist in a possession and enjoying of all good to the contentment of our Will and of all our senses with what a desire should we wait for Death by the which we attain it Moreover Death doth deliver us out of all dangers In this World night and day within and without we are always in fear of peril Our Life is a cruel and bloody War we have a great many Enemies that invade us continually and do assay by all means to destroy us The Devils Watch for us and cease not compassing about like devouring Lyons and as ravening Wolves to see whether they cannot surprize us and carry us away the World sometimes by enticings and allurements some time by threats and violence endeavours to try and turn us out of the right way Our Flesh on the other side doth flatter us and the better to undermine us with great cunning doth propound and lay before us things wherein we have most delight It weepeth also sometimes to stir us up to pity it all to the intent towin us and cause us in all points to yield unto it and that it may master us Now if we consider our infirmity our stupidity and negligence the little wariness and watchfulness that is in us we may judge in what danger we live It is impossible that we should live in this World among so many that are infected and that with so great a Contagion without falling often into Sickness Is it possible that we should so often grapple with such strong and mighty Enemies without being sometimes staggered and over-thrown Is it possible that we should go in such durty and muddy ways without being defiled We see it in good Saints of old time who could not govern themselves so well but the serpent who always dogs us at the heels hath reached them with his venom but that they have fallen in divers faults some in incredulity others in idolatry others in adultery others in excess and drunkenness others in murthers there is none of them but hath his fall yea sometimes so great and heavy that they had been altogether bruised if God had not upheld them with his hand Ought not we then follow the example of St. Paul and as he did cry Who shall deliver us from these dangers wherein wherein we live while our Soul is in this miserable and mortal body Let us confess that it is our gain and profit for to die that by death we may be fully delivered from all mortal things Again death put us in full possession of all the promises of God and of those good things which Jesus Christ hath purchased for us and that we hope for him He in dying hath freed us and purchased our liberty and nevertheless we see our selves still in great scrvitude We are Kings Lords Judges hers of God co-heirs with Jesus Christ the Prince of Heaven and Earth yet it seems not so while we live this World for there we are beaten and used like servants like children under age we have as yet no use nor managing of our goods Kings and great Lords tho' we be we are often in such necessity that we have neither Bread to eat nor Water to drink nor Wool to cover us Moreover Jesus Christ hath purchased for us the Grace of God a perfect Justice life Eternal an immortal Incorruption glory and vertue to our Bodies and to our Souls an assured peace and quietness a joy and a contentment but this good hath not yet been delivered unto us for oftentimes we experiment the Wrath and Judgment of God we seel the concupiscences and vicious desires of our flesh In our bodies their is Corruption Mortality and Weakness and in our spirit Troubles Anguish and as it were a studious and intestine war between our good and bad desires which fight the one against the other and because these evils are more grievous so are the abovesaid goods more great and more to be desired If then altho' they be already purchased for us and that they be ours we nevertheless cannot come to the possession of them but by death are not we for this reason much bound unto it Ought not we to love and desire it The children of Israel being arrived at the River of Jordan seeing on the other side thereof the fruitful Land which god had promised them and that being passed they should begin to enjoy it and to rest had they not great cause to rejoyce and to pass the River with great alacrity And why
never took a Medicine of such great force nor which wrought better It is a great shame that these Pagans in their Ignorance and Infidelity seem to be better instructed and more vertuous then we are for we fear Death and flie from it as an evil thing and they hold and esteem it as an incomperable good Epaminondas at the hour of his Death perceiving his Friends about his Bed weeping comforted them saying Rejoice O my Friends for your Friend Epaminondas is going to begin to Live Is Death then an Evil which hath nothing else of that which we esteem Death but the Name and Reputation for indeed it is a Life Also is this life a good which hath but the Name of it for in effect it is a very Death Both the one and the other as saith Saint John Chrysostom is masked and have both false Faces Life which is so evil favoured hath the fair which maketh it to be feared and hated When it presents it self unto us so mask'd at the first it seems fearful but if we put up the mask we shall find it underneath so fair and Beautiful that presently we shall be inflamed with the Love of it Let us then take away this vain fear of Death let us believe that which is true that it is the greatest good that can happen unto us That which anciently Apollo answered to Pindar being questioned what thing he did esteem the most healthful and profitable to Man To die answered he It is said of Cleobis and Biton that God would recompence them for their piety and obedience and respect which they had born towards their Mother Now having given them leave to demand what they would they referred themselves to his Judgment as knowing best what is most profitable and necessary for us then our selves What came of it The same day they died Whereby did appear that there is nothing more profitable unto man than Death by the which we are led into a place of pleasure where we begin to live In the Old Time the Sepulchres were built in Gardens which was done not only for to bring into our minds our end in taking off our Pleasures and Delights and by that means to moderate them but also for to instruct us that Death is a Guide to Pleasure and Paradise and is as a passage for to enter into a pleasant Orchard it is the reason for the which at Athens when they buried the dead Bodies they turned their Faces towards the East and not towards the West to shew that in death our Life and Light begins Why do we put our Bodies in Sepulchres as in Chests if it be not to shew that they are not lost but layed up as precious Vessels of the Holy Ghost and that in time they shall be taken forth and shall be put into Light for the Decoration of the House of their Lord. These things considered let us take away all fear and apprehension of Death let us rejoice and sing as do the Swans when they are near their Death Let us say with David Lord I have been glad when it hath been said unto me Go to let us go into the House of our Lord. It remains now before we end this present Treatise to shew how we should behave our selves at the death of our Friends and how to mittigate the Sorrows which we conceive for them which to do we must consider that which followeth First the unavoidable necessity of all Men the which cannot be remedied neither by Counsel nor any other means David having a regard thereunto did comfort himself after the death of his little Child for whom he had we pt and prayed so much during his Sickness when there was yet some hope to impetrate of God by humble Prayers that he would restore him to Health but when he saw that it was too late that all Tears were now vain and unprofitable he left his Mourning and began to rejoice Jesus Christ saith that every day hath Afflictions enough o it self to trouble us without heaping on those of others either of those that are gone renuing it by the remembrance of them or of those which are to come anticipating by Fear and Cunjecture This is an Instruction most necessary and which we ought all to take for the rest and tranquility of our Minds Secondly we must consider when our Friends die that it is the Will of God which doth nor ordaineth nothing but for the good of his Children as saith St. Paul to those that are loved of God all things succeed and turn to their Profit If we do not believe that we are Unbelievers if we believe it we ought not to grieve for any thing that befals us for all is profitable to us Now there is no great reason that we should hide us from our Profit The Soveraign Wisdom of God is the Cause that there is nothing better done than that which he doth and his Goodness that there is nothing better If there be nothing better nor better done than that which he ordaineth and disposeth and he disposeth of us and of our Affairs and generally of all that which happeneth unto us why do we sorrow why do we desire any thing else For we cannot have any thing that is better why do we complain For all is well and cannot be better done We must thirdly think that to dye is a thing general and common to all We pass and fly away as doth the water of a Brook and it is an act and stature of our God that we must dye all if then that happen unto us which is common to all is it not a great Folly and Pride in us to desire to be exempt from the common condition and to wish for a Particular What are we the vvorse that our Friends are Dead so do those of our Neighbours die Menander Writing to a Friend of his to comfort him alleadged this reason unto him Thou shouldst have saith he just occasion to grieve if thy fortune and destiny were worse than other Mens but if it be alike why dost thou complain There are more that if we would diligently consider and make an entire comparison between us and others we should find there are an iufinite many worse fortuned than we are And that is true which Anaxagoras said as reporteth Valerius That if it were possible to assemble all the Miseries of the World on a heap and afterwards to part them by equal Portions there is not he but would rather chuse his own than his part of the whole Heap Seeing that we are not alone losing our Friends and that if we will look into it we shall find that there are enough more ill at Ease than we Let us content our selves that so it pleaseth God and let us not desire Immortal Friends where we see those of others to be but Mortal Again let us think that it is a natural thing to die as it is for winter to be cold and summer hot Our bodies
happiness to die Others say he was so honest a Man therefore is it that God took him as he did Enock for fear lest by the Malice and Corruption of this Age he should change When the Fruit is ripe must it not be gathered for fear lest it should rot on the Tree Others say be died in the prime of his Age by so much the happier is he for as said Anacharsis That Ship is happiest which arriveth first at the Port. Moreover there is no certain time determined for all Men to die But as we see in Fruit time some are gathered sooner than the others so is it amongst Men. There are some also that say we must honour the Dead by mourning for them falling into the superstition of the Jews who holding his opinion did hire certain Singers and Musitians to sing pitiful and funeral Songs for the Death of their Friends which Jesus Christ did reprove in the House of the Prince of the Synagogue and not without cause for it is not good in praise o a Body to mourn for it Complaints and Tears are rather signs of Misery than any thing else We do not now weep for the holy Martyrs which yet we should do if in Tears there did consist any Honour but we honour them by a remembrance of them with blessing and thanksgiving and by Pain and Study we endeavour to follow them If likewise we have a Friend whom we will honour after his Death it must not be with Tears and Lamentations but rather by an honourable mansion which we are to make of him and of his Vertues and by a desire which we have to imitate and follow his good and laudable course of Life It is time to conclude this present Treatise and to resolve on the precedent Reasons that we must neither fear nor fly Death but rather love and desire it more than Life and prefer the day of our Death before the day of our Birth for by our Birth we come to Pain and Affliction and dying we go to God and to perpetual rest Let us then strictly examine them and judge of them that we may take away the fear of the one and the excessive love of the other God through his holy Spirit give us the Grace to do it So be it A Clear Declaration Of the RESURRECTION Of the DEAD FOrasmuch as in all times there have been some who have mocked at the Resurrection and have utterly denied it Mat. 12. Acts 17. 1 Cor. 15. It is not without good Cause that the Apostle St. Paul doth so carefully teach us that the Dead shall rise again for even as the Knowledge doth bring unto us a Soveraign Joy and Consolation and doth give us a Will and Affection to follow unto the end JESUS CHRIST our Head and Spouse to be Crowned with him with that Eternal Beatitude which God hath prepared for his Children Mat. 25. So also those that are not assured of the Resurrection which is the Foundation of our Religion are less affectionate to follow the Lord and to give themselves to Piety and Justice And we must not doubt but the wicked who abandon themselves to all impiety against God and who without remorse of Conscience do exercise all sorts of Wickedness against their Neighbours they do it so much the more freely as to perswade themselves that if they escape the Judgment and Punishment of Men they shall hear nothing of it after this Life For seeing that to avoid only the vengeance of the Magistrate in this World they hide as much as they can their iniquities and give such good Colours to their mis-deeds as possibly they can that they may not be convicted Wicked how much more do you think they would be bridled from doing Evil if they were perswaded that although their Bodies die yet their Souls shall remain Immortal and shall endure the Judgment of God which it hath deserved and that one day their Bodies shall rise again that both Body and Soul may be Eternally tormented in Hell Heb. 10. by the Judgement of God so horrible and fearful Heb. 10. whereupon we may see how necessary it is to know that the Dead shall rise again this Doctrine being the principal upholder of Christian Religion of which if a Man be not altogether perswaded all is nothing And it is impossible to persevere amongst so many Difficulties and Afflictions which are daily present at the serving of the Lord For if the hope of the Resurrection were not we should be the most miserable of the Earth Cor. 15. seeing that in this World the Faithful are ordinarily more afflicted than the Infidels but our Consolation is the Promise of Jesus Christ that although the World shall rejoice for a time and that we shall weep Joh. 16. Rom. 8. Psal 37. and 73. the time will come that our Head will visit us and rejoice our Hearts with a Joy that shall never be taken from us Now for to understand this Article of Faith we must well consider these three Points First we must know whether the Soul now dieth with the Body or no. Secondly Whether the Body returns so to the Earth that it cannot â—ise again Thirdly If it doth rise who is â—t doth raise it and in what estate it shall be when risen The first Point AS for the first Part. The Lord for to declare unto us the Immortality of Souls compares Death â—o the Sleep of Man and saith that those that are dead sleep assuring us that even so as when the Body doth sleep the Soul doth not sleep as appears by so many Dreams which Men have that also although the Body shall be put into the Sepulcher as in a place of Sleep nevertheless the Immortal Soul shall be gathered and assembled in its place from whence it shall come again at the day of Judgment to put on her Body that therein she may enjoy the happy Life or suffer Eternal Punishment Rom. 2. Mat. 25. Luk. 8. The Apostle speaking of the Daughter of Icairus whom the Lord did raise again saith That the Spirit did return into her shewing that it was not dead like the Body but only that she was gone to the Place from the which by the Commandment of Jesus Christ she came again to re-enter into her Body as also that of Lazarus of Bethleem Joh. 11. For ever so as the Body doth return to the Earth from whence it was taken so the Spirit doth return to God who gave it The same Evangelist declares that the Soul of Lazarus lives in Heaven and that of the evil Rich Man in Hell Luc. 16. And the Lord dying to shew that the Soul was not subject to Death as the Body did recommend his Soul to his Father Luk. 22. Act. 7. Saint Steven the first Martyr recommended his to Christ Saint Paul desired to be dissolved and to be with Jesus Phil. 1. knowing that after his Soul should be delivered out of the Prison of his Body it should go
world joyfully and according to God For if it be so that in the transfiguration of our Lord which was but a little demonstration as well of the Glory of the Body of Jesus as of the estate and condition in the which the Children of God shall be in Heaven for their meanness and infirmity could not have been able to see the incomprehensible Majesty of the Lord without being destroyed The Apostles although they had never seen the body of Elias and of Moses nevertheless they knew them How much sooner shall the Elect know one another when they shall be endued with this perfect knowledge and intelligence of the Image of God which shall be in them And if Adam in his first estate which was a great deal less glorious then that of the sanctified by Christ 1 Cor. 13. did know the beasts which God brought before him 1 Cor. 1. and did properly impose a Name to each one and even knewn Eve to be bone of his bones and flesh of his Flesh although that the Lord took the rib from him without his feeling it shall not we in this admirable glory have more wisdom to know each other Luc. 16. Now this knowledge shall be disrobed of all carnal and corrupt affection for the Elect shall not be known for loving the one more then the other or hating one reprobate more then another or in calling to mind the injuries and displeasures which they may have received in this world But they shall love directly without respect of persons those which God loveth and shall hold in abomination those which God shall detest For then all Paternity brotherhood and Mariage shall be abolished and there shall be but God alone Father of all whose Children we shall be and Brothers and Sisters one to another the Children of God shall be made Partakers of the divine Nature Marc. 12. for God shall be glorified in his Saints Eph. 4. and shall be made admirable to those that have believed 2 Cor. 6. 1 Pet. 1. Wherefore seeing God will communicate his Glory Vertue and Justice to his Elect imparting himself unto them let us know that this benefit contains the soveraign good of man which all desire and which the wisdom of man could never comprehend And indeed when by all the similitudes which the Scripture doth teach us we shall have said and learned much of the excellency of the children of God it is almost nothing in comparison of that which shall then appear surely then the Apostle with the Prophet hath good reason 1 John 3. having tasted in spirit the inestimable glory of the Elect in the heavenly life to say the things which Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard and which is not come into the heart of man are those which God hath prepared for them which loveth him which are unspeakable and it is not impossible for man to tell them 1 Cor. 2. For although Adam was created in a very noble estate Isai 64. yet so it is that if the Elect were to re-assume that estate 2 Cor. 12. they should be miserable in regard of the soveraign excellency in the which they shall be set For First he had an earthly and sensual body Gen. 2. the Elect shall have Spiritual and Coelestial bodies 1 Cor. 14. 2. He had a living soul they shall have a quickning spirit 3. He could fail and render himself subject to death they shall not be able to fail nor fall in danger of death 1 Cor. 15. the which then shall be abolished 4. Satan had power both to tempt him and to make him to fall but he shall not have power of either to them 5. He was husbanding in an earthly Paradise they shall be in rest and enjoy the Heavenly Paradise 6. He had command over the birds of the Air the fishes of the Sea the beasts of the Earth Gen. 2. they being in greater power shall condemn Satan and all the wicked and the holy Angels shall be their companions Mat. 22. and shall have power in the Kingdom of their Father 7. Adam had such great wisdom that he named every beast according to their property 1 Cor. 9. they shall be endued with such wisdom all filled with such a perfect knowledge Rom. 2.3.5 that they shall be ignorant of nothing 1 Pet. 3 Surely then we ought to be much moved and stirred up to worship and serve God 2 Cor. 1. who without any desert of ours Rom. 15. Rom. 3.4 will for the love of his well-beloved Son so admirably unfold his incomprehensible goodness unto us Mat. 3.17 The Estate of the reprobate NOW this day shall surprize the wicked and reprobates which are in darkness Rom. 2.2 whom the Lord hath borne and suffered with great patience to the end to bring them to repentance as the Thief by night stealeth upon the Master of the family while he sleepeth and they shall be found without cloaths and shall walk naked Rev. 3. and their shame shall be seen Rev. 16. for when they shall say peace and security 1 Cor. 4. then shall sudden destruction come upon them like to a woman in travel 1 Thes 5. and they shall not escape but shall be marvelously affraid by reason that it shall be a day of darkness unto them Amos 5. and not of light an obscure and not a clear day and then they shall be condemned by their own consciences like unto Cain giving praise to God seeing the Lord with his Saints come which are by millions for to give judgment against those that have not had the fear of God before their eyes and to the end to convince all the wicked of all the evil works which they have wickedly done Sap. 4.5 and of the rude speeches which the wicked have preferred against him Gen. 4. then for to weigh down the Wine-press of the anger and wrath of Almighty God Rom. 14. because they have persecuted Jesus Christ in his members Jude Rom. 3. which are bones of his bones and flesh of his flesh Rev. 19. Eph. 5. so that they shall be in such great Agonies and Afflictions feeling the terrible judgment of God to come upon them Heb. 10. that they shall hide themselves in holes and between the stones of the Mountains Rom. 2. and shall say to the Mountains and stones fall upon us and hide us from the Face of him who is set upon the throne Rev. 6. and from the wrath of the Lamb Rev. 9. for the great day of his wrath is come and who is it shall be able to subsist They shall seek for Death and not find it and shall desire to die but Death shall fly from them they shall strike themselves with despair and shall be as dead for fear by reason of the expectation which they have of those things which shall suddenly come upon them Luk. 21. they shall lament before the Lord who shall have a flame of fire to do Vengeance and Judgment according to Truth and Justice upon those which
this true Life even in this World thou dost quicken by thy Truth us that are poor wretched and dead in Sin thou dost augment that life by the Ministry and Efficacy of thy holy Gospel and dost confirm it by the use of the Sacraments which thou hast established to confirm the Faith of those that are thine until that our Corruption and what we have in mortality in us being abolished by the Resurrection we shall be and live everlastingly with thee both in Body and Soul when thou shalt be all in all Life Everlasting is to know the true God and thee his Son which wert sent unto us Now we see thee by Faith in a Glass and in Obscurity but one day we shall behold thee face to face and shall be transformed into thy Glory nd wholly reformed unto thy Image I do beseech thee merciful Saviour to increase my Faith that I may be so well grounded in the Doctrine of my Salvation that nothing may turn me from it Increase in my Heart the Reverence which I owe thee that I may never turn from thy Obedience Strengthen me in such sort that the allurements nor threatnings do neither intrap nor astonish me but that constantly I may cleave unto thee who art my Life till Death Cause that in vertue of thy holy Promises and of thy Spirit I may increase more and more in thy Love and leaving behind me the things of this World I may tend to that which is firm and perfect Increase thy Grace in me that every day I may dye in my self for to be quickned and guided by thy Favour fearing no other but thou God Almighty loving nothing but thee as there is nothing but thee to be beloved boasting my self in nothing but in thy only Grace and Mercy which is the Glory of all thy Servants seeking no other good but thee nor desiring any thing but thee who art the full and entire felicity of all the Faithful Amen Another LOrd Jesus who art always merciful who dost not stick to be my Saviour as well in Adversity as in Prosperity Give me the Grace in all humble obedience to yield unto thy will when it shall please thee to mingle bitterness amongst so many sweet things which thou causest me to taste in living under thy Protection Thou art admirable and most good in the time of Afflictions In that by such means thou dost heal spiritual Diseases and in visiting of us in this World thou disposest us to meditate of a better Life having thy self shewed us the Example thereof True it is that I find it very hard to digest but thou hast been brought to a more strange condition when for to draw me out of Hell thou wentest down into it thy self and for to reconcile me to thy heavenly Father thou hast undergone his Curse by reason of my Sins I have so often deserved Hell and the fiery Torment and thou deliveredst me assuring me that I have part in the merits of thy Death and thy Obedience and that I am one of thy Co-heirs for to reign one day with thee in thy Kingdom and at this present in the midst of so many Afflictions to be nevertheless set in the heavenly Places Having part in so many good things why shall I vex my self for a little endurance by the means whereof thou wilt awaken me and make me better and draw me so much the more to thee But seeing thou knowest me better then I know my self if it be thy pleasure to put me to any tryal give me necessary force and patience to glorifie thee converting all the evil that may happen unto me to good and Salvation And if in supporting my weakness thy goodness is pleased to advertise me by some light affliction cause that this thy well-willing may draw me more and more to love and honour thee to give thee thanks for the care which thou hast of thy poor Servant and by that means to dispose me to weight for thee at my Death that after it I may find the Life which thou hast purchased for me by thy Death and therein with thee to have part in Joy and Rest for Ever Amen Another Lord God Heavenly Father when I consider in how many sorts I have sinned before thy Face and against thy high Majesty I have horrour in my self in thinking that I have so often turned from thee Propitious and favourable Father I detest my ingratitude seeing in what servitude of sin I have been too often precipitate selling as much as in my lay of the precious Liberty which thy Son had purchased for me I condemn my folly I altogether dislike of my self I see nothing but Death and mishap hanging over my head and my Conscience rising for a Judge and Witness of my Iniquities But when on the other side I enter into a Contemplation of thy infinite mercy the which surmounteth all thy works and in the which if so I dare to speak thou surmountest thy self my soul is comforted And indeed why should I make my self believe that I cannot find grace before him that summons and so often and gently calls the sinner to repentance protesting expresly that he desires not the death of a sinner but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live Moreover thy only Son hath so well assured us that we shall find favour in thy sight by the sweet words which himself had uttered as that of the lost sheep and of the prodigal Son the image of whom I acknowledg'd my self to be that I should be most unthankful incredulous and wicked to go back and to be ashamed of thy presence although I am wretched seeing thou dost so stretch forth thy hand unto me and draw me to thee with such wonderful affection I have very vildly forsaken thee O merciful Father I have unhappily let slip thy Graces and adhering to desires of my flesh and straying from thy Obedience I have wrapped my self in the base servitude of sin I am fallen into extream misery I know not whether to retire unless it be towards thee whom I have abandoned Let thy mercy receive this poor supplication whom thou hast supported during his errors I am unworthy to lift up mine Eyes unto thee or to call thee Father But I pray thee bow down thine Eyes to me seeing thou wilt have it so being without that in the power of thine Enemies The sight of thy Face will revive me and bring me again to thee Seeing I have some displeasure in my self I know thou lookest upon me that thou hast given me Eyes to see the danger wherein I was thou hast sought and found me in death and in the world and hast through thy mercy given me a desire to enter into thy house I dare not desire that thou shouldst kiss and embrace me nor that hou shouldst weep for joy that thou hast found thy poor Servant and Slave I do not demand the precious Ornaments wherewith thou doest honour thy great servants
and most affectionate Children It is enough for me to be among of the least of thy House amidst the greatest sinners that have obtained pardon of thee and that have some shelter in thy Palace where there are so many Dwellings That even in thy House I may be as little as thou shalt please provided that thou wilt preserve me thine for ever O Merciful Father I beseech thee that for the love of thy well beloved Son my only Saviour thou wouldst give me thy holy Spirit which may puriâ—â—e my heart and strengthen me in such sort that I may always dwell in thy House there to serve thee in Holiness and Justice all the days of my Life Amen Prayers WHat do we in this world but heap sins upon sins So that the morrow is always worse then the day before and we do not cease drawing thy indignation upon us But being out of this world in thy heritage we shall be altogether assured of our perfect and eternal felicity the miseries of the bodies shall be abolished the vices and filthiness of the Soul shall be done away O Heavenly Father increase our Faith in us for fear lest we should doubt of things so certain Imprint thy Grace and thy Love in our Hearts which may lift us up to thee and strengthen us in thy fear And because thou hast lodged us in this World there for to remain as long as it shall please thee without declaring unto us the day of our departure the which thou alone knowest I do beseech thee to take me out of it when thou in thy mercy pleasest and then to do me that good that I may acknowledge the same that in the mean while I may fit my self thereuuto as thou hast appointed by thy holy Name through Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour and Redeemer Amen Another THis body is the Prison of the Soul yea a dark Prison narrow and fearful we are as it were banished men in this world our life is but woe and misery on the contrary Lord it is in thy heavenly Kingdom that we find our Liberty our Country and our perfect Contentment A wake our Sould by thy word to the remembrance and apprehension of such a good imprint in our Hearts the love and the desire of the Everlasting good things and only to be wished for give unto our Consciences some taste of that joy wherewith the happy Souls which are in Heaven are filled that I may hold as dung and filth all that which the Worldlings find so fair and covet so much which so obstinately they retain and do adore with such fervency Cause that finding taste but in thy verity and grace I may wait for calling upon thee the day of my perfect deliverance thro' Jesus Christ thy Son to whom with thee and the holy Spirit be glory Everlasting Amen Another O Lord Jesus the only Salvation of the Living Life everlasting of the dead I submit my self to thy holy Will whether it be thy pleasure yet to suffer my Soul to be some space within this body for to serve thee or that it please thee to take it out of prison being assured that what thou keepest cannot perish I am content with all my heart that my Body return into the Earth from whence it was taken believing the last Resurrection which shall make it immortal incorruptible and full of Glory I do beseech thee to fortifie my Sould against all temptation environ me with the buckler of thy Mercy to beat back the darts of Satan As for me I am weakness it self but I rely upon thy strength and goodness I cannot alledge any good thing before thee whereof to boast on the contrary alas my sins infinite in number accuse and torment me but thy merit assures me that I shall be saved for I hold for certain that thou wert born for me that thou wert tempted that thou hast obeyed to God thy Father that thou hast taught and brought Life Everlasting for me seeing thou hast given thy self to me with all these good things let not such a gift be unprofitable let thy blood wipe out the filth of my faults thy Justice cover my Iniquities thy Merits make me to find Grace before the heavenly Throne If my Evils do increase augment thy Grace in me so that Faith Hope and Charity may not dye but rather wax strong in me that the apprehension of Death do not daunt me but that even after this body shall be as it were dead cause that the Eyes of my Soul may lift themselves up to Heaven that the Heart may then cry fervently unto thee Lord I commend my Soul into thy Hands fulfil thy work for thou hast bought me I am thine by the Gift of thy Father to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be Everlasting Glory Amen The Humble Suit of a Sinner for the Pardon of his Sins O Most just and dreadful God equitable in all thy Judgments who sufferest no Sin to pass unpunished either in this Life or in the Life to come Let me have with Job this Consolation That afflicting me thou wouldst not spare me here to punish me hereafter Here rather burn here cut that hereafter thou mayest spare me That Union O God which thou didst put at my Creation betwixt my Soul and my Body I have not employed for to serve thee therefore I will that henceforth it be dissolved For too great affection I had to Riches and for my ill employing of them I will deny my self of all things under the Sun and will have no more but a Sheet Coffin and an hole to lye in and wait for thy Coming For the too great love I carried to my Husband Wife Children Parents Friends Companions Conversation and Company I will now willingly abandon them all and their Embracements and kindly Usage I will also have an end put to all my Senses that henceforth I neither See Hear Touch Taste nor Smell any thing for not having ruled them nor shut them up by mortification when the Devil was seeking entry into my Soul From henceforth Lord I will put silence to this wicked Tongue of mine which hath been so great an Instrument of Impiety swearing lying cursing defaming backbiting detracting and breaking forth so often in impure dishonest and injurious Speeches against thee and my Neighbour For the too great mind I had to run go and walk in the ways of the wicked For the too frequent impure postures gestures and motions of my Body I will lye dead in the Grave and desire that henceforth none do so much as name me or speak a word of me by reason I was too desirous to be in every ones mouth and to be praised and conserved in their Memories and because I did so much affect Honour Dignity and the things of the Earth and did so much search after delicate fare soft bedding and good cloathing and did nourish and pamper this flesh of mine with too great care for honour I will lye in abjection and for that I aspired to have others bowing their heads to me and to be lifted above them I will have them to trample over me For my love to the Earth I will return to it for my Food I will have the Worms to crawl in and out at my Mouth for my Bed I will have a Grave for my Garments a Sheet and for thy dainty usage of my Body I will henceforth turn all my Beauty into Corruption Receive then O just God all these things in Punishment of my many Offences for so this being thy just Will it is also mine Only O god of Justice let my Punishment be here in this Life that I may find thee to be a God of Mercy in the Life to come for thou hast declared by thy Servant David that thy Mercies are above all thy Works Grant this O Lord for the Merits of thy only Son my Saviour Jesus Christ Amen FINIS