with Christ and yet alive neverthelesse But why should wee thinke it strange to heare of a Man alive and dead at the same time Are not all Men living ever so Is not every Man alwayes dead and living so long as hee is a Man or living Alive naturally and dead spiritually or Qui luxuriatur vivens mortuuâ— est S. Hieron ad matr filiam dead mystically and alive spiritually Dead in sinne and alive in Nature or dead unto sin and alive in Grace When Paul was in the state of Nature hee was both dead and alive hee was alive Naturally but dead spiritually But when he changed the state of Nature for the state of Grace he changed the Natures of his life and death He was dead in sinne before but now dead unto sinne or sinne is dead in him Hee lived as a Naturall Man before but now as a Spirituall He lived in sin before but now Grace lives in him Hee is now dead to himselfe dead to his sinnes but alive to his Saviour living to the Lord of life Crucified with Christ and living to him alive in him Now this his mysticall death is very desirable It is rather to be wished then any kinde of Death that Augustus thought of It is a Death that may be lawfully sought for yea it is a Death that men must pull upon themselves as soon as they can with a holy kinde of violence and the more earnest any man is in doing of it the more he is to be praised for it and more worthy of praise is hee that thus killeth the old Man in himselfe then ever Cleombrotus was or Cato or Lucretia for Plato in Phaedone S. August de Civitate Dei l. 1. ca. 19. 23. killing as they did themselves yea hee deserves no praise that does not thus crucifie himselfe This is an Euthanasy indeed and there can be none without it They never can die well that doe not die thus whilst they live Nor can they ever live well that are not thus dead When Paul was crucified with Christ then hee reckoned himselfe to be alive indeed Christo confixus sum cruci vivo autem jam saith hee as the vulgar translation has it I am crucified with Christ and now I live Jam vivâ— now I live as if hee had not lived indeed till now that hee was thus crucified with Christ As hee liveth after his crucifixion so hee liveth by it Hee that layes downe a Duplex hic est miraculum quòd mortuum vitae restituit quòd per mortem Theophil in locum temporall life for Christs sake shall take up one eternall for it and hee that with Paul does part with an evill life does gaine a good one by it yea hee gaines two good ones by it one here and one hereafter for hee shall raigne with Christ that is crucified with him as well as hee that is crucified for him I am crucified with Christ saith our Apostle Christ was crucified and so was Paul but severall wayes Christ was crucified for Paul but so was not Paul for Christ Yet sanâ— sensu in some sense Paul was crucified for Christ but not so as Christ for Paul Paul was crucified for Christs sake and Christ for Pauls But Christ was crucified for Pauls sinnes so was not Paul for Christs Christ had no sinnes of his owne to demerit any crucifixion in himselfe or in any other for him but so had Paul And Pauls crucifixion was for himselfe rather then his Saviour yet it was of the sinnes in himselfe rather then of himselfe in his sinnes It was a crucifying of sinâ—â— in his mortall Body Not a crucifying of his mortall Body in sinne Christ was crucified for Paul in Body and Paul for Christ Per crucem Christi remotus est à me proprius affectus Aquin. Commenta in locum 1 Cor. 9. 27. in Minde Mente orucifixus sum As Theophilact expounds it In minde I am crucified with Christ In minde with him not in person for him It was not a corporall but a spirituall concrucifixion Yet it was in Body as well as Minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I beate my body downe saith hee and keepe in subjection And this subjection of the Body it selfe was spirituall It was not a crucifixion of flesh but of fleshly-mindednesse It was the suppressing of the Rebellions of Nature not the destroying of Nature it selfe The Nature of his life was altered by it But the Life of his Nature was not utterly abolished for still hee lived for all this kinde of Death This concrucifixion was not to Death but Life There are two kinds of concrucifixions 1. Corporall 2. Spirituall Those two Malefactours that dyed when Christ did upon Luke 23. 33. the Crosse were both crucified with Christ But not as Paul was in the Text for one of the two was never the better for that corporall concrucifixion Hee lost his temporall life upon the Crosse with Christ himselfe yet hee got not Life eternall for it from the Crosse of Christ Alas for him His was a Crosse indeed but none of Christs Hee suffered not for Christs sake but for his owne sinnes and there is seldome Life in such a Death A Crosse may be the Tree of Life unto a Penitent theefe But such Malefactours are seldome truely penitent Indeed the Crosse is vita justorum life to the Righteous but mors infidelium Death to the Wicked saith Cassiodorus The true Believer layes hold of an other a better Life then this present 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. Heb. 11. 35. as hee parts with this But the Infidell loseth this and gets no other for it The wretched and impenitent unbeliever by the Crosse of sufferings or by his sufferings upon the Crosse does lose even all his stock of Life and gaineth nothing The believing penitent loseth little and gaineth much hee parteth with a bad life and receives a better for it But our Apostle loseth nothing and gaineth all He gets a new life without giving the old away But his concrucifixion was of an other kinde It was not corporal but spiritual and such concrucifixions are twofold Primarie and Secondarie Now the first of these is that which every true Believer suffered in the Person of Christ when as Christ suffered in the Person of every true Believer For as all that fell by the sinne of the first Adam did sinne with that Adam in his person and Rom. 5. 12. fell in his Person with him So all that are saved by the sufferings of the second Adam did suffer with him in his person and are so saved with him Christiani omnes unà cum Christo tanquam illius membra in cruce pependerunt All Christians as the Musculus in locum members of Christ did suffer with him upon the Crosse The catholick Head of the Church was fastened to the Crosse and suffered for the whole Mysticall Body and all the mysticall Members that are fastened to the Body by
such Live ye ever so and so ye shall live for evâ—â— Living without Turning is impossible and Turning without Living is unprofitable Indeed there is no Living without Turning nor any Turning indeed without Livinâ— He that would live must turn himself And he that doâ— turn himself must live too And he shall live that so dâ—â— turn himself Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Reâ—â— facite vivetis saith Montanus Do your endeavours to be Ari. Mont. Bibl. secund Zantiâ— Pagnini interpretationem turned and ye shall live And so Montanus seems to part the Text into a Precept and a Promise First into a Precept of Turning Secondly into a Promise of Living Turn and Live As much as to say Repent and so be reprieved Forsake your sinnes and so save your souls Be but penitent and ye shall be pardoned The last is hinted as a Promise to perswade men to the Performance of the first The Promise commendeth the End the Precept commandeth the Means Life is offered in the Promise as the End and Repentance is required in the Precept as the Meanes He that would obtain the End must use the Means and he that doth use the Means shall obtain the End He that would live must turn himself and he that doth turn himself shall live Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Thus some have taken both parts of the Text as mandatory And others have taken onely the first part to be mandatory and the second to be promissory So that some have taken the last part as an Injunction and some have taken it as an Invitation Some as a Precept and some as a Promise Let us now take it as both As a Precept and as a Promise too As a Precept to live And As a Promise of Life First as a precept of Living after turning And secondly Dr. Donne Seâ—m 7. on the Nativity as a promise after both As a Precept enjoyning the Life of Grace and as a Promise of enjoying the Life of Glory As a Precept requiring a Spiritual life which is the life of life And as a Promise of requiting it with Life Eternal which is as One calls it the Exaltation of Life Spiritual Yea the Promise is not only of enjoying the Life of Glory with the Glory of Life hereafter But of enjoying the Life of Grace here with the Grace of Life here also Turn your selves and live here Turn your selves and live hereafter The promise is of the lesse saâ—vation as well as of the greater and no lesse of the greater then of the lesse Temporal life may be prolonged and Eternal life may be procured by that Turning here required Eternal judgments may be prevented and temporal judgments may be diverted or turned away by turning here according to the Text. Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Wherefore is a Note of Inference and it doth referre the Text to that which goes before it Now here to take in that before it which relateth chiefly to it we must take our rist at the Verse before it And in that we may note two things very considerable 1. An Exhortation 2. An Expostulation The Exhortation is very passionate The Expostulation very compassionate The first in these words Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed and make you a a new heart and a new spirit The second in these words For why will ye die O house of Israel The first is moving but the second urging Expostulatio pungit A zealous Exppostulation doth infuse the spirit of Compunction it hath the quickest touch of any kind of speech it often toucheth to the quick And God himself doth here expostulate the cause with dying Sinners to make them sensible of their dangers and to quicken them in their seeking of deliverance First he exhorts them to forsake their sinnes to save their soules And then seeing his Exhortation to work but little upon them though it were pathetical and paraenetical He falls to expostulate the reason with them For why will ye die As if he should have said If ye will but cast away your sinnes from you ye shall not be cast away for your sinnes But if ye will not ye must If ye will not leave them whilest ye live ye must die for them whether ye will or no and they must leave you when ye die Why will ye die Why will ye As much as to say I must needs demand the reason or ask the cause of you in whom the Provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands and I will doe you no hurt Jer. 25. 6. cause of dying is Ye die because ye will die Why will ye die As much as to say I would not have you die it is not meerly from my will that ye die but from your own Doe not say then that ye must needs die because I will have ye die and that I will have ye die because I will I have no such will I would have you live and therefore have exhorted you and intreated you again and again to turn from your evil wayes the wayes of sinne which are the wayes of death And I have promised to you that if ye will repent iniquity ver 30. shall not be your ruine And my meaning is very sincere and real I will be as good as my promise if ye will be but as good as I desire you And because I see mine Exhortation to be neglected of you therfore do I come thus home unto you with an Expostulation to make you sensible of your fault and folly and to make you see that the cause of death is in your selves in your own wills or rather in your wilfulnesse Ye will die Why will ye die Ye will do that for which ye must die Ye will needs sinne to die for it Ye will not avoid it by resisting the Temptation nor make it void by repenting of it and therefore ye must die for it For the wages of sinne is death I must needs say unto you Why will ye die Why will ye not return and live Why will ye not be perswaded why not intreated why not commanded Why can no means no mercies no promises no threatenings prevail with you Will ye sinne wilfully will ye die sinfully And yet will ye say that it is my will that ye should so doe and so die Ye do that which is quite against my mind against my Word which is my will If ye die then thank your selves for all your sufferings or rather blame your selves for all your sinnes Let this then serve as a Caveat to every Sinner to admonish him to take good heed that he doth not charge God foolishly and falsely with the impulsive and originall cause of his eternal death Nefas est Deo ascribere causas peccatorum ruinarum omnium saith S. Austine It is a funerious crime S. Aug. Resp. ad articulos sibi false impositos to fasten the cause of all evils upon
life in Christ and with him And hee that layes downe his life for Christ his Saviours sake shall take it up againe for his owne with immortality added to it Let no Man therefore either thinke or say that sufferings are the onely Salaries or the sole rewards that our Saviour Christ vouchsafeth to bestow upon his Souldiers and upon his Servants For never did any Souldier beare armes under the commands of a more Noble Captaine or more excellent Generall Nor can any man serve a better or more generous Master The Proto-Martyr was S. Steven Hee was the first that ever Dorotheus warred under the Banner of Christs Crosse to the losse of life The vaunt-gard was led on by him and hee himselfe did march in the very front to bid the enemy battell and was hee no way rewarded thinke yee Had hee nothing bestowed upon him but onely a volley of stones Did hee lose all salaries Acts 7. 59. with himselfe Oh no! Did hee not rather winne that life which is eternall by losing of his temporall life in that Bed of Honour And has hee not ever since beene invested with the Crowne of Martyrdome And has not that beene ever deemed As soone as he was ordained as though hee were appointed for this purpose stoned to death by them that slew the Lord and for this cause as the first triumphing Martyr of Christ according to his Name hee beareth a Crowne Eusebius l. 2. 1. Acts 7. 55 56. a Crowne of Glory Who ever called that first Brigade of holy Martyrs a forlorne-Hope that was carryed on by his Christian Gallantry and valiant Christianity Yet it was the first Party that faced the foe and gave the Onset Did not the very Heavens open to give Quarter to his Soule when it was beaten from the littler Garison of his Body by a charge of stones They are happy losers that are so beate into Heaven S. Paul was an other valiant Champion for the Lord of Hosts He fought with Beasts at Ephesus after the manner of Men and 1 Cor. 15. 32. Linus Epis de Passione Pauli Dorotheus Eusebius Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 22. overcame them And was there no reward bestowed upon him for fighting his good fight but onely the Romane Axe sharpened with Neronian cruelty Yes hee knew there was laid up for him a Crowne of Righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Judge would give unto him Or had Gods humble servant holy Job no better wages then a Dung-hill and a Pot-sheard for serving in such Paines to such Job 2. 7 8. Poverty with such Patience Pained hee was in his flesh till pined unto skin and bones And poore hee was to a very Proverb Job 2. 10. yet patient to a Miracle And had hee no remuneration Yee shall finde hee had and that a large one too if yee shall consult the vouchee of his sacred and authentick story towards the Job 42. 10 12. conclusion of it God was as free to him as hee had beene faithfull to God Job was not long in Misery before the Lord did manifest his bounty to him through the abundant riches of his Mercy The Crowne of Thornes was put upon our Saviours Head but was soone pulled off againe And his tender Limmes were fastened to the Crosse but could not be made so fast unto it but that they were soon loosed from it The Misery of the Crosse was quickly changed into the Majesty of a Crowne And the Paine of the Thornes into the Pleasure of a Throne The Soule of our Saviour was not left in the Hell of Sufferings Nor shall the Sufferings of Hell be left in any Soule that is our Saviours His Soule was soone translated with His Body unto Blisse and Acts 1. 9. Glory and so shall all the Soules and Bodies that belong to him Hee hath Coronets of Happinesse to Nobilitate the Heads of all his faithfull followers And hee hath Palmes of Victory to Honestate the Hands of all I doe not say the Martyred Army of Nobles But the Noble Army of Martyrs and hath stoles of Holinesse to compleate even all the Host of Heaven Cap aâ—pe The Saints on Earth are all but Viatores way-faring-Men wandering Pilgrims farre from home But the Saints in Heaven are Comprehensores safely arrived at the end of their journey All wee here present for the present are but meere strangers in the midst of danger wee are losing our selves and losing our lives in the Land of the dying But ere long wee may finde our lives and our selves againe in Heaven with the Lord of life being found of him in the Land of the Living If when wee die we be in the Lord of Life our soules are sure to be bound up in the bundle of Life that so when wee live againe we may be sure to finde them in the life of the Lord. Now we have but a dram but a scruple but a graine of happinesse to an ounce to a pound to a thousand weight of heavinesse Now wee have but a drop of joy to an Ocean of sorrow But a moment of ease to an Age of S. August l. solil cap. 35. Paine But then as S. Austine very sweetly in his Soliloquies wee shall have endlesse ease without any paine true happinesse without any heavinesse the greatest measure of felicity without the least of misery the fullest measure of joy that may be without any mixture of griefe Here therefore as S. Gregory the Nazianz. in funere patris Divine adviseth us let us ease our heaviest loads of sufferings and sweeten our bitterest cups of sorrows with the continuall Meditation and constant expectation of the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and of the pleasure at his right Hand for evermore And thus by this vast circumference of the Suburbs yee may easily gesse that this Text is a City of more then one whole dayes journey Yet can I make but halfe one Sabbath-dayes-journey into the Parts and thorow the Passages of the same And therefore I cannot stand as otherwise I should to shew you all the Remarkables in it I shall only point at the chiefest When that antient Pillar of the Church S. Augustine the Ornament of Hippo had enlarged his City of God into 22 Books hee then confest that all that he had written was but stilla de mari scintilla de fâ—co as a drop to the Ocean or the smallest sparkle to the heape of fire upon the Harth What an unequall proportion then must one Sermon needs hold with such a copious subject as this Ezechiel the Prophet drew forth a lively Portraiture Ezech. 4. 1. of the Earthly Jerusalem within the small compasse of a Tile But this Prophetick Swan of Jordan this unfabled Muse of Syon this Hebrew Syren holy David a Musicall Prophet a Propheticall Musician an inspired Songster the sweete singer of Israel yea Israels sweetest Orpheus hath both sung the Prayses and penned the Portraiture of the
are free from want so are they free from warres with all the mischieves that are concomitant and all the miseries that are consequent The Kingdome of glory can never be turned into an Aceldama The field of Blood Mat. 27. 8. John 6. 70 71. Mat. 26. 15. Mat. 26. 3 4. 27. 1. Numb 16. 1 2 3. No forraine enemy can invade it Nor home bred enemy infest the happinesse of it No bedevilled Judas can come there to betray his Lord and Master the King of Kings for halfe a Crowne Nor can any Jewish Elders assemble there to condemne him or conspire against him Moses and Aaron shall never be confronted there by any gain-saying Corahs or mutinous Abirams or complying Dathans or any of their confederates and good King David shall there be free from the 2 Sam. 15. 2 4 5 6 10 12. 16. 5 6 7 23. pride of all ambitious Absolons from the presumption of all seditious Shebas and from the wicked counsells of all contriving Achitophels No cursing Shimeis Nor railing Rabshakehs shall come there to belch infectious gorges forth to poyson the Hearts of any subjects in that Kingdome of glory to confound the glory of that Kingdome into an Anarchie No Polupragmaticall Machiavelians Nor crafty Boute-fewes shall interrupt that Kingdomes endlesse peace No bold Seianus can insinuate into that glorious Presence to corrupt it No malecontented Cataline can lurke there either to traduce the glorious Majesty of the King of Kings or to seduce inferiour Officers Nor is there any War-like Ammunition Magazined there No Civill Warrings can destroy that glorious Kingdome nor can any factious jarrings deface that glorious Church No New-fangled Athenians nor Schismaticall Corinthians can disturbe the unity or destroy the uniformity of that Church No over-mastering Pope nor under-mining Jesuite No New-Church-making Familist nor No-Church-making Atheist can gaine such favour or get such footing there as to eject the setled Saints and worke the ruine of all that Church No ravenous Wolves in Sheepes cloathing can creep by any Posternes gates into that fold to flea or fleece the flock and mistake feeding on them for feeding of them That ancient Hierarchie of Arch. Angels and Angels and other Ministring spirits can never be deemed so superstitious as to demerit an utter Extirpation The Militant Church may be infested with some of these destructive Pests at all times and with all of them at some times But the Church Triumphant is at all times freed from all these Nothing that worketh any abomination can come there and therefore every thing that tendeth towards the grand Abomination of Desolation must needs be for ever exiled thence The glory of all there must last for ever And all in that glory must live for ever Being free from sinne they shall be free from Death from Death spirituall in it from Death temporall by it and from Death eternall for it That presence of the Ever-living God doth set them free from all for ever Here we beginne to die so soone as we begin to live All here are borne to die and many are but borne and die Nascentes morimur finisque ab origine pendet Being born we die as saith Manilius the last of our days does pend upon the first Our Death does hang about us from our Birth We all are bound towards the Womb of ourgreat grandmother the Earth so soone as wee be loosed from our Mothers Wombe Hee that is borne to day is borne to die and is not sure to live an other day But in the glorious presence of God there is no dying they that are there are sure to live for ever free from the sting of Death and from the stroke free from all tendencies unto Death and from all feares of dying When the Naturall Body of a Saint comes there it does become a spirituall Body It is there spiritualized in the manner of subsistence though not in the Nature of the substance It is still a Body though it be spirituall and it is said to be spirituall saith S. Augustine because it there lives the life of a spirit For first like a spirit there it liveth without any hunger without any thirst without feeling pinching cold or parching heat It needs no meate it needs no drinke it needs no summers stuffe nor winters cloath Againe it liveth like a spirit there free from sicknesse free from Aches free from all sorts of Diseases It cannot bee distempered into a Fever nor dissolved into a Flux nor corrupted into Ulcers Againe like a spirit it liveth there without decaying by living long No time can dimme the Eyes or dull the Eares or lame the Legs or feeble the Hands or cripple the Feete or crooke the Back or furrow the Face or disfigure the feature Though it lives Mathusalems age a thousand times over yet it never growes crazie or decrepit or Shrinkes into a Skeleton And lastly like a spirit it is immortall Death can have no more Dominion over it This life it but the shaddow of that 〈◊〉 Suigâ—i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Psal This is but a dying Life a kinde of living Death but that is vera non interitura vita A Life indeed never to end in Death as Victorinus Strigelius very truely Now tell mee who would not gladly live in such a privileged place where that boldest Sargeant Death cannot come to arest such is the Sanctuary of Gods glorious Presence A Liberty indeed free from all kindes of Death and free from unkinde Devills too from Devills infernall and Devills incarnate â—ullus ibi Diaboli metus nullae inâ—idiâ— daemonum Terror gebennae procul Mors neque corporis neque animae sed immortalitatis munere uterque solutus S. Chrysost de reparatione lapsi too No evill Angels can ascend from the bottomelesse pit into that presence to tempt any there to sinne Nor hellish furyes to torment for sinning in times past No Devill of the lower Hell nor any of this wicked World above it can find any entrance thither There is indeed free quarter for Saints but none for Sinners The free Men of that City and all the Denizons of that Kingdome are allwayes freed from all unwellcome troublesome intruders The spirit of Debate and Strife can never thrust the Devills mysterious cloven foote into that presence to set Divisions to cause distractions to bring Seditionum popularium author est Diabolus Vedelius de pruden veter Ecc. lib. 1. c. 2. destruction No carnall pride can ever beget fond fashionists in the streetes of that most holy City Nor spirituall Pride breed up fantasticall factionists in the Houses No hiddeous Blasphemies nor filthy obscenities nor thumping Oaths nor hellish cursings nor peevish censurings are used by any in that presence All prophane and black-mouthed Monsters of Men are exiled for ever from that Society of Saints And so are all insinuating Sycophants and false hearted Pharisees The Devill is never more mischievous then when hee is most cunningly
transformed into an Angell of Light There is 2 Cor. 11. 14. none to the white Devill for malignant Devillismes The Honour of the Gospell hath ever beene more impeached by sinnefull Professours then by professed sinners And therefore hee who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Searcher of Hearts will never suffer Revel 2. 2◠any to come into his presence that practice impiety under the pretence of Piety That grand Devillisme of Hypocrisie can never deceive the All-seeing Eyes of God Omniscient No malignant designes can there be advanced by the seemes of Religion There are none but those that are truely religious Glory of the Times pag. 207. None but such as are as Ephrem Syrus desired to be That are indeed as they are in seeme and are in seeme even as they should It is one degree of Happinesse for a Man to be himselfe even as hee should be But an other a greater to be with none but such as hee is himselfe How happy then are they that can converse with none but those that are truely good And are truly good like those they converse with Who then can chuse but wish the enjoyment of that Presence of God where none but such have entertainement Who would not be there for ever were there no greater good to be found then this that no kinde of evill can there be found No evill company No evill by company No company of evill No Devills nor bedevilled Men No tempters No tormentours nor any other infernalls No Devills incarnate either white or black No kinde of Death either temporall or eternall No kinde of Warres No kinde of woes No kinde of sufferings No kinde of Sinne. Happy surely are the people that be in such case Yet let mee tell you that it is not the absence of evill alone that can make a Man truely and fully happy It may cause some joy but not the fulnesse of joy till the affluence of all good things be enjoyed with it Now in the glorious Presence of God there is not onely the absence of all evill but the presence of all good A perfect freedome from all evill There is abundantia cumulatissima saith Master Calvin A In locum full abundance or an abundant fulnesse of all delectables Omne genus jucunditatis omne laetitiarum genus saith he there are all kindes of joyes all sorts of Pleasures There are profitable pleasures and pleasurable profits Things inconsistent here are all coincident there Those Gifts that goe not here together are all united there Those comforts which are divided here in severall Streames doe meet all there as in their fountaine or rather in the Ocean No one here may ever looke to enjoy all good things but all there doe ever so There are the precious Merchandies of all Cities for that 's the City of all precious Merchandies There are the true delights of all Countries for that 's the true Country of all delights There are all the reall Honours of the Court that can never be lost And that 's the right Court of Honour that can never be put downe There are all the true pleasures of Paradice for that 's the true Paradice of all pleasures What does any of your soules take most delight in What doe you most of all desire There may you have it in the fullest measure and there enjoy it in the finest manner Doe you desire or delight in Gold Or precious Stones Or costly Gemms or stately Palaces There 's a City of pure Divitiae si diliguntur ibi serventur ubi perire non possunt Honor si diligi tur illic habcatur ubi nemo i dignus honoretur c. S. August Sup. Johan Gold cleare as Crystall walled and gated and garnished with Jaspers and Saphirs and all sots of Pearles and precious Stones as S. John describes it Revel 21. 18 19. Or doe you delight in glorious Triumphs and pompous shewes There are Triumphs Everlasting And the Glory of all Nations shall flow into that City in triumphant manner as saith Saint John Revel 21. 26. Or doe you delight as Massinissa did and Dioclesian too in curious Gardens In fruitfull Orchards In healthfull walkes In pleasant fountaines There is the Celestiall Paradice wherein a Man had he an hundred times as many Eyes as Argus might imploy them all at once with various Curiosities transcendent rarities All those admired Gardens of Adonis and Alcinous of Po and Tantalus and the Hesperides could never boast no not in any fiction of the Poets of such a living fountaine as that which floweth in the middle of this Garden of Heaven and affords the water of life Nor yet of such a Tree as that of life which beares twelve kindes of fruit and brings forth every month as S. John writeth of it Revel 22. 1 2. Or doe you delight in and desire Peace There can you never want it That new Hierusalem is the true Hierusalem the blessefull vision of Peace A City at Peace and Vnity in it selfe There endlesse Triumphs of Peace are solemnized by all the Citizens That 's the place of peace There 's the Prince of peace the Author of peace the maker the Creatour of it There 's the full enjoyment of that mother-Blessing and all other blessings with it The true God of peace is there and the true peace of God which passeth all understanding And doe you desire Truth with Peace There are both together The God of Peace is the God of Truth And the truth of God is there revealed fully The true worship of the most holy God is there established and the true God is worshiped there in the beauty of holinesse Or doe you delight in the melody of consort Musick There are soule-ravishing Anthems chanted and warbled by the sweetest of all the Heavenly Quire in that mother Church that Glorious Temple Christs Church Triumphant There are Choreall Doxologies Ecchoed forth by all sorts of Celestiall Songsters in Harmonious Diapasons Hosanna in the highest is here the highest straine that we can reach in any of the songs of Syon But in that Glorious presence of God every saint can rere his Halelujah above our Ela without hoarsing of his voice Or doe you delight in Ease and rest from wearisome labours Hoc accepimus ab antiquis Beatitudinis quictom sociam essc Jul. Caesar Scal. de subtilit exercit 358. There the true Christian Sabbath is kept holy Whereof our Sunday Sabbath is but an Adumbration or preparatory Evc. Jerusalem below hath six Dayes for working for one sabbath Day for rest But Jerusalem above is free to sanctifie an endlesse sabbath from all sinne and from all servile labour Or doe you delight in mirthfull feasts and palate-pleasing Banquets There the Marriage supper of the Lambe is celebrat with wine of gladnesse It was no small favour which our Gracious Saviour once vouchsafed to the Twelve when as he sent both Peter and John to make ready the guest-Chamber Luk. 22. 8
11. time but grievous And no time in affliction seemeth short but tedious unlesse with Paul we be perswaded that our light 2 Cor. 4. 17. affliction lasting but a moment shall worke for us a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glory The Lord does make the bitternes of this life of sorrowes to seeme the more imbittered to his servants that the sweetness of the life of joyes may seeme the sweeter to them when they come to the enjoyment of it Yet that the bitterest sorrowes of this life may be the better relished the sweetest joyes of life are promised to them that in their sorrowes wait for joyes with patience And to perswade to patience in the midst of sorrowes we must observe them to be common What Militant Saint did ever beare the Ensigne of a Mortall life without some Crosse or Crosselet in it Who could ever blazon the Escocheon of his Militancy or Mortality and not finde the Field of his life to be charged with Crosses Gules or Crosses Sable The first Adam could not nor could the second And who indeed can wish for the heaven of happinesse or the happinesse of heaven here where the King of heaven went through an hell of miseries There can be no greater unhappinesse Nihil infelicius co cui nihil unquam evenit adversi Seneca Fortuna quem nimium fovet stultum facit Prov. 1. 32. Vexatio dat intellectum in this life than never in this life to have unhappinesse Perpetuall prosperity does make a foole so sayes one that was no foole And Prosperity perpetuall does marre a foole so sayes another and he the wisest of wise men Prosperity may sometimes foole a wise man unto folly and Adversity may sometimes tutour a foole to wisdome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many instructions are taught by afflictions God sendeth Crosses in stead of Blessings unto those he hateth but he often blesseth those with crosses which he loveth It is well for them Psal 119. 67. 71 that they are afflicted It is very true that Oppression makes the wise man mad for so sayes the wise man himselfe in his Booke of the Preacher Eccles 7. 7. And it is as true if we Preach it that oppression makes some madd men wise But who is willing to be Schooled by so curst a Pedagoge But volenter nolenter whether men will or no it must sometimes be so and better so then worse for ever Too much it is for one man to enjoy two Heavens And as great pitty it is that any one should endure two Hells And therefore I may truly say that God of his goodnesse and his wisdome hath appointed one of each for every man There is not onely an Heaven or an Hell for any one but an Heaven and an Hell for every one This present world is both but unto severall Men It is the Sinners Heaven but Hell it is unto the Saints on Earth The sinfull worldling takes his pleasure here he hath all his happinesse here that he is ever like to have here are all his joyes and all his hopes of joy He wishes for no other Heaven he lookes not after any other He thinketh not of that to be enjoyed hereafter Here would he live for ever if he might But alas It may not be This world must not last alwayes and though it might yet might not his life in it his life is but of few dayes It soone must have an end What wise man then would wish to live his best life first seeing that it must so soone be lost Who would wish to have his heaven here where he can stay but a few dayes Yea where he cannot assure himselfe to stay one day or houre Againe this present world is a kind of Hell to others or in stead of Hell unto them It is a Place of Trouble a Place of Suffering But their stay here is short Now who would not rather endure the Hell of a few dayes miseries here and enjoy the Heaven of Eternall happinesse hereafter then enjoy the Heaven of a few dayes pleasure here and endure the Eternall miseries of Hell hereafter Temporall Pleasures are dearly bought with the losse of Eternall And temporall sufferings are well requited with eternall Pleasures That is a miserable happinesse that must end in such miseries as must never end And those are happie miseries that shall soone end in endlesse happinesse This life is but a journey towards Death and but a short one And Death is yet a shorter passage to a longer and a better life Indeed no Mortall Pilgrim can be wearie of the longest journey of life if by the way he does but well remember the endlesse joys that he shall enjoy at his journeys end But yet the shorter that his journey be the sooner shall he be at home possessed of those joyes And who would wish a long and tedious journey to himselfe to keepe him long from the enjoyment of them That life of joyes is worth the wishing that shall never have an End And that End of life is full as worthy of our wishes that shall begin the Joyes of that endlesse life And that end Theophra must be ere long for Vita brevis life is short Man that is borne of a woman is but of a few dayes and full of trouble saith holy Job Job 14. 1. He is of few dayes that he may not live too long in trouble And his dayes are full of trouble that he may not long for more of them then a few Mans dayes are full of trouble that a few may serve his turne and make him weary of them And his dayes of trouble are but few that he may not be too much wearied with them It is mans great Misery that his few dayes are full of trouble And it is Gods great Mercy that mans dayes of trouble are but few for if the Dayes of Mans life be full of trouble it is well for Man that his life of trouble is not full of Dayes It is ill for Man that the troubles of his few dayes are so many And it is well for Man that his dayes of trouble are so few The few dayes of Mans life are full of trouble that Man may dayly be minded of his duty in seeking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Chrysost Hom. 6. Corcydas for another life better then this present And Mans Dayes of Trouble are but few that Man may not be wearied so as to leave seeking for that other life before that this doth leave him Then let the Miseries which accompany Mortality weane us from all fondnesse towards this life present And let the felicity of life eternall win us to long after that The thoughts of the Elysian happinesse did so encourage a poore Grecian a meere Pagan at the instant of his death that he rejoyced much to think of going to Pythagoras and other learned Philosophers to Olympus and other skilfull Musicians to Hecataeus and other Hecataeus Misesius Historicus
was King of Cyprus Titulo Rex insulae animo autem pecuniae miserabile mancipium He was in title the King of the Cyprian-Isle but in truth he was a miserable Bondslave to his Pelf Now what profit is it to gain and increase that mony which begetteth and increaseth misery And if it be so little profit simply to gain the World certainly there is lesse profit in the gaining of it if a man must pay his own Soule for it And this brings us to the second Querie that Hypothetical Question that includes the whole Text What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soule And this Question sets us to consider of the second sort of Wares the Ware Exported concerning which three Circumstances were proposed to be considered 1. The Nature or Quality 2. The Number or Quantity 3. The Relation or Propriety First for the Nature or Quality we may observe that it See Nemesius of the Nature of Man is a Soul Yet not a Vegitative Soule such as is in the Plants Nor yet a Sensitive Soule such as is in Birds and Beasts But a Reasonable Soule such as is in Man such a Soule as makes him to be a Man It is is his Soule his owne Soule I shall It is the soule of man that makes him to be a man See Philip of Mornay's Trunesse of Christian Religion translated by St Phil. Sidney chap. 14. not tell you what Aristotle sayes of the Soule of Man nor yet how other Philosophers use to define it But let me tell you thus much of it that it is an Heavenly Jewell in a Câ—binet of Earth and a Jewel of that worth it is that not all the Diamonds in the World though never so curiously cut and never so artificially set in the richest Rings of the most refined gold may be valued with it though it be cabined in the most deformed lump of Red Earth There be many Reasons in it to raise the estimate of it I 'le name some of them As first it is the Medal of the Almighty The lively Image of the living God Or the Tablet upon which that King of Kings and Lord of Lords hath drawn his owne likenesse Now shall the Image of a Mortall King stamped on the substance of the Earth or the Earthly substance of Gold or Silver make man so to esteem it as to become an Idolater towards it and shall not the Image of the Immortal King of Kings imprinted in his own Workmanship upon the Heavenly substance of Mans soule perswade him far more highly to value that And a second reason why this Merchant Man should inhaunce Dei insignita imagine decorata similitudine St Bern. Medita de digniâ— animae Mens nostra Dei similis c. Gregor Nyss disputat de anima Resurr the price of his Soul may be this because it is a spirit an Immateriall substance It is indeed within the substance of the body but yet without a bodily substance And the more that any substance be spiritualized the more puâ— and precious it is and the more ennobled And the further that any substance be distanced from the nature of a body the nearer it drawes to the Nature of God For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is a Spirit And the spirituality of the Soule does far exalt it above the body as comming nearer to the purity of God who is a Spirit And therefore it is well asserted by St Bernard that the worst of soules in respect of substance is far more excellent then the best of bodies and ought to be valued far above them A third Reason to perswade this Merchant-man to value his Soul at a very dâ—ar rate may be the Immortality of it It is immortal as well as immaterial Indeed man dies at See the Immortality of the soul discoursed of largely and very learnedly by Philip of Mornay Lord of Plâ—ssie in the Truenesse of Christ Religion c. 14. 15. his appointed time but the soul of man does never die By death the whole man is dissolved but the whole of man is not destroyed by death The soul of man doth live when man is dead The soul is doomed at the instant of death either to enjoy everlasting felicity in Heaven or to endure everlasting misery in Hell And that endlesse misery is often called Mors secunda the second death Yet is it not so called that we should think that the Soul doth cease to live in hell but rather â—ecause it ceaseth to enjoy its life The damned Non enim quia solvitur compositum inde etiaÌ„ necessariò consequitur una cum composito dâ—ssolvi id quod compositum non est Greg. Nyssen disput de Anim. Resurr souls in Hell live not there to enjoy life but to endure grief And therefore their life there is said to be no life Simplex vita non est vivere sed valere meerly to live is no life but to live indeed is to enjoy life It is a kind of death for one to live in pain that hath lived at ease It is a kind of death for one to live in prison that hath lived at liberty A kind of death for one to live in penury that hath lived in plenty Those damned Souls that lie imprisoned in Hell do all live there in pain for living here in pleasure their joyes are turned into pains and their life now is worse then death Their Damnation in Hell is like to Death in four respects In damnatione novissima quaÌ„vis homo sentire non desinaâ— tamen quia sensus ipse nec voluptate suavis nec quiete salubris sed doâ—oâ—â— poenalis est non immeritò mors est potius appellaâ—a quam vita S. August and for its likenesse in each respect it is called Death First it is like it for Separation In temporal dâ—ath the Quamvis enim humana anima vâ—raciter immortalis perhibâ—tur habet tamen etiam ipsa mortem suam Soul which gave life to the Body is separated from it So in Damnation the Lord of life which gave life to the Soul is separated from that Mortâ—ae sunt animae hoc est à Deo desertâ— saith S. Austine The damned soules are dead that is forsaken of God For Sicut mors corporis est cum id deserit animâ— ita mors animae est cum eam deserit Deus As it is the death of S. Aug. de Civ Dei l. 13. c. 2. the body when it is forsaken of the soul so it is the death of the soul when it is forsaken of God Sicut enim anima discedente moritur corpus sic anima Deo dâ—sâ—rente mori credenda est Secondly Damnation is like to Death in respect of Place Hell is a place of Darknesse a place that is very disconsolate Primasius super Apocalyp cap. 18. so is the Grave And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sheol with the Hebrews signifiâ—s both Hell
God himselfe Let no man therefore say that he must needs sin unto death and die in sinne because it is Gods will and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or good Or had I not rather that he should be converted from his evil wayes and live Diodat pleasure that it should be so for God himself doth say the contrary and that with a kind of indignation For saith he have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die and not that he should return from his wayes and live v. 23. His Interrogation does import a vehement Negation In saying Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should dy He sayes as much as I have no pleasure at all that the wicked should die And so he saies very positively in the words before the Text. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth So far he is from taking Nolo mortem morientis quantum ut convertatur vivat Pamelius in Tertull. de Paeniten pleasure in the death of Penitent sinners that the death of Impenitent sinners is no pleasure to him He hath no pleasure in the death of such as dye naturally in their sinnes or for their not repenting of their sinnes before they die I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth If ye dy then the fault 's your own It is your wilfulnesse in sinning or your unwillingnesse to repent you of your sinning Ye will not be perswaded to forsake your sinnes before ye dye and therefore ye must needs die and suffer for their sakes Perditio tua ex te O Israel thy destruction is of thy self saith God Hos 13. 9. The same may be said to any damned soule or dying sinner The Lord is very desirous to clear himself from all aspersions in this particular and therefore does not onely say it but swear it too that he would not the death of the wicked As I live is an Oath and a great one too Yet God himself doth take it to attest this Truth As I live saith the â—cut verum est quod sum vita per essentiam it a verum est quod nolo mortem impii c. Nicho. de Lyra ad locum Psal 89. 35. Gen. 17. 1. Luke 1. 73. Numb 20. 12. Exod. 14. 11. Psal 50. 21. Ezek. 18. 25 29. Psal 78. 19 20 Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked But that the wicked turn from his evill way and live Ezek. 33. 11. For the Lord of life to say As I live is an oath by the life of the Lord. And that is as high an oath as can be invented Had he sworn by his Truth as he doth sometimes or by his Holinesse as he did to David or by his Omnipotencie as he did to Abraham his engagement had been very great But this by his Life is deemed greater for his Truth hath been questioned by divers and so hath his Holinesse and his Almighty Power hath been doubted of by as many But who did ever question his Life Now it is his very Life that he doth engage for the clearing of this Truth As I live saith the Lord c. He is the Living God And he is the God of the Living not of the Dead And therefore would not have the wicked Die Matth. 22. 32. Tertull. l. de Paenit but Live And this he sweareth by his Life that we might believe him Jurat Deus cupit sibi credi saith Tertullian When God doth swear we must believe him for he swears to be believed Ideirco jurat saith St. Hierome ut si non credimus Deo S. Hieron To. 2. Epist 46. promitteâ—â—i credamus saltem pro salute juranti God therefore swears that we may believe him upon his oath when we Magnum est loquâ— domâ—num quanto magis jurare Deum St. August in Psal 49. will not believe him upon his word It is much for God to speak but more to swear By speaking a word he made the World for he did but speak the word and it was made But he that could create the World with a Word could not be credited in the World upon his Word and therefore was forced to binde it with an Oath Now though we doe not believe him upon his Word yet let us believe him upon his Oath We may believe his bare Word for it is the God of Truth Deutr. 32. 4. Isai 65. 16. that speaketh in his Word and it is nothing but the Truth of God which is spoken We will believe an honest man upon his word and shall we not believe the most holy God Durum est It is very hard if we shall not give as much credit to God as we do to an honest man as saith Vincentius very divinely Gen. 3. 4. Durum est cum non tantum tribuamus Deo quantum diabolo Vincent An non hac ratione Deum in animo tuo perstringis mendacii qui verbo quidem dicat te velle servare c. interim tamen licet tu velis in Christum credere ipse tamen nolit Zanch. de natur Dei l. 5. Numb 23. 19. Rom. 3. 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Hebr. 6. 18. 1 John 3. 3. Our first Parents believed the father of lyes when he did but say ye shall not surely die And shall not we believe the father of mercies the God of Truth when he does not onely say it but swear it too that he would not have us die He swears that he would not the death of the wicked And shall we still say that he would their death Or that he would have them wicked that so they might die Absit absit God forbid that we should harbour such a thought of our most holy God! The truth is Gods Word in it self is as sure as his Oath for he is not a man that he should lie Let God be true and every man a lyar All his promises are yea and in him amen Heaven and Earth shall passe away but not one tittle of his word shall faile So that for the certainty of what he speaketh there needs no such religious Contestations Yet for our sakes the Oath of God is added to his Word that we might thereby have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strong consolation That we might believe a possibility of repenting And a probability yea an infallibility of Pardon upon our repentance That we might have hopes of life and purge our selves upon our hopes Debile fundamentum fallit opus A weak foundation Nemo potest bene agere paenitentiam nisi qui speraverit indulgentiam St. Ambr. de Paenit dist 1. cap. Nem. fails the building But here is a sure foundation for us to build our hopes upon as high as heaven Dei juramentum eâ—â— fideâ— nostrae fundamentum Gods oath may surely ground us in our holy faith Doth he swear it O then let us believe it O beatos nos quorum causa jurat Deus O miserrimos si nec