A SALVE FOR A SICKE MAN or A treatise containing the nature differences and kindes of death as also the right manner of dying well And it may serue for spirituall instructruction to 1. Mariners when they goe to sea 2. Souldiers when they goe to battell 3. Women when they trauell of child Printed at London by IOHN LEGAT Printer to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge 1611. And are to be sold in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Crovvne by Simon Waterson To the right Honourable and vertuous Lady the Lady Lucie Countesse of Bedford THe death of the righteous that is of euery beleeuing repentāt sinner is a most excellent blessing of God and brings with it many worthy benefits which thing I prooue on this manner I. God both in the beginning and in the continuance of his grace doth greater things vnto his seruants then they doe commonly aske or thinke and because he hath promised ayd strength vnto thē therefore in wonderfull wisedome hee casteth vp them this heauie burden of death that they might make experience what is the exceeding might and power of his grace in their weaknes II. Iudgement beginnes at Gods house and the righteous are laden with afflictions and temptations in this life therfore in this world they haue their deaths and hells that in death they might not feele the torments of hell and death III. When Lazarus was dead Christ said He is not dead but sleepeth hence it followeth that the Christian man can say My graue is my bed my death is my sleepe in death I die not but onely sleepe It is thought that of all terrible things death is most terrible but it is false to them that be in Christ to whome many things happen farre more heauie and bitter then death IV. Death at the first brought forth sinne but death in the righteous by meanes of Christs death abolisheth sinne because it is the accomplishment of mortification And death is so farre from destroying such as are in Christ that there can be no better refuge for them against death for presently after the death of the body followes the perfect freedome of the spirit and the resurrection of the bodie V. Lastly death is a meanes of a Christian mans perfection as Christ in his owne example sheweth saying Behold I will cast out diuels and will heale still to day and to morrow and the third I will be perfected Now this perfection in the members of Christ is nothing else but the blessing of God the author of peace sanctifying them throughout that their whole spirits and soules and bodies may be preserued without blame to the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ. Now hauing often thus considered with my selfe of the excellencie of death I thought good to draw the summe and chiefe heads thereof into this small treatise the protection and consideration whereof I commend to your Ladiship desiring you to accept of it and read it at your leisure If I bee blamed for Writing vnto you of death whereas by the course of nature you are not yet neere death Salomon wil excuse me who saith that wee must remember our Creatour in the daies of our youth Thus hoping of your H. good acceptance I pray God to blesse this my litle labour to your comfort and saluation Septemb. 7. 1595. Your H. in the Lord W. Perkins Eeclesiastes 7.3 The day of death is better then the day that one is borne THese words are a rule or precept laid down by Salomon for weightie causes For in the Chapters going before he sets forth the vanity of all creatures vnder heauen that at large in the very particulars Now men hereupon might take occasion of discontentment in respect of their estate in this life therefore Salomō in great wisdome here takes a new course in this chapter begins to lay downe certaine rules of direction and comfort that men might haue somwhat wherewith to arme themselues against the troubles and the miseries of this life The first rule is in this third verse that a good name is better then a pretious ointment that is a name gotten and maintained by godly conuersatiō is a speciall blessing of God which in the middest of the vanities of this life ministreth greater matter of reioicing and cōfort to the heart of man then the most pretious ointment can doe to the outward senses Now some man hauing heard this first rule concerning good name might obiect say that renowne good report in this life affoardes slender comfort cōsidering that after it followes death which is the miserable end of all men But this obiection the Wise man remooueth by a second rule in the wordes which I haue in hand saying that the day of death is better then the day that one is borne That wee may come to the true proper sense of this precept or rule three points are to be cōsidered First what is death here mentioned secondly how it can be truly said that the day of death is better then the day of birth thirdly in what respect it is better For the first death is a depriuation of life as a punishment ordained of God and imposed on man for his sinne First I say it is a depriuatiō of life because the very nature of death is the absence or defect of that life which God vouchsafed man by his creation I adde further that death is a punishment more especially to intimate the nature and qualitie of death and to shewe that it was ordained as a meanes of the execution of Gods iustice iudgment And that death is a punishment Paul plainely auoucheth when he saith that by one man sinne entred into the world and death by sinne And againe that death is the stipend wages or allowance of sinne Furthermore in euery punishment there bee three workers the ordainer of it the procurer and the executioner The ordainer of this punishment is God in the estate of mans innocency by a solemne law then made in these very words In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Gen. 2.17 But it may be alleadged to the contrary that the Lord saith by the Prophet Ezechiel that hee will not the death of a sinner therefore that hee is no ordainer of death The answer may easily be made that sundry waies First the Lord speakes not this to all men or of all men but to his owne people the Church of the Iewes as appeares by the clause prefixed Sonne of man say vnto the house of Israel c. Againe the words are not spoken absolutelu but onely in way of comparisoy in that of the twaine he rather wills the conuersion and repentance of a sinner then his death and destruction Thirdly the very proper meaning of the words import thus much that God doth take no delight or pleasure in the death of a sinner as it is the ruine and destruction of the creature And yet al this hinders not
truth it selfe but I doe it for this ende that we might without wauering be resolued of the truth of this which Salomon auoucheth For there may be sundrie reasons brought to the contrarie Therfore let vs now haÌ„dle the question the reasons or obiections which may be alleadged to the contrarie may all bee reduced to sixe heads The first is taken from the opinion of wise men who think it the best thing of all neuer to bee borne the next best to die quickly Now if it be the best thing in the world not to bee borne at all then it is the worst thing that can bee to die after a man is borne Answ. There be two sorts of men one that liue and die in their sinnes without repentance the other which vnfainedly repent beleeue in Christ. Now this sentence maybe truly auouched of the first of whome wee may say as Christ said of Iudas It had bin good for him that he had neuer bin borne But the saying applied to the second sort of men is false For to them that in this life turne to God by repentance the best thing of all is to bee borne because their birth is a degree of preparation to happinesse and the next best is to die quickly because by death they enter into possessioÌ„ of the same their happinesse For this cause Balaam desired to die the death of the righteous and Salomon in this place prefers the day of death before the day of birth vnderstaÌ„ding that death which is ioyned with godly life or the death of the righteous The second obiection is taken from the testimonies of Scripture Death is ths wages of sinne Rom. 6.23 it is an enemy of Christ 1. Cor. 15. and the curse of the lawe Hence it seemes to followe that in and by death men receiue their wages paiment for their sinnes that the day of death is the dolefull day in which the enemie preuailes against vs that he which dieth is cursed Answ. We must distinguish of death it must be considered two waies first as it is by it selfe in his own nature secoÌ„dly as it is altered changed by Christ. Now death by it selfe considered is indeed the wages of sinne an enemie of Christ of all his members the curse of the law yea the very suburbs and the gates of hell yet in the second respect it is not so For by the vertue of the death of Christ it ceaseth to be a plague or punishment and of a curse it is made a blessing and is become vnto vs a passage or middle-way betweene this life and eternall life and as it were a litle wicket or doore whereby wee passe out of this world and enter into heauen And in this respect the saying of Salomon is most true For in the day of birth men are borne brought forth into the vale of misery but afterward when they goe hence hauing death altered vnto theÌ„ by the death of Christ they enter into eternall ioy and happinesse with al the Saints of God for euer The third obiection is taken from the exaÌ„ples of most worthie men who haue made their prayers against death As our Sauiour Christ who praied on this manner Father if it bee thy will let this cup passe from mee yet not my will but thy will bee done And Dauid praied Returne O Lord dâ—liuer my soule saue me for thy mercies sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall praise thee And Ezechiah when the Prophet Esay bade him set his house in order and told him that he must die wept sore that in respect of death Now by the examples of these most worthy men yea by the example of the sonne of God himself it may seeme that the day of death is the most terrible doleful day of all Ans. WheÌ„ our Sauiour Christ praied thus to his father he was in his agonie and he then as our Redeemer stood in our roome and stead to suffer all things that we should haue suffered in our own persons for our sinnes and therefore hee praied not simply agaiÌ„st death but against the cursed death of the crosse and he feared not death it selfe which is the separation of body and soule but the curse of the lawe which went with death namely the vnspeakable wrath and indignation of God The first death troubled him not but the first and second ioyned togither Touching Dauid wheÌ„ he made the sixt Psalme he was not onely sicke in body but also perplexed with the greatest temptation of all in that hee wrestled in conscience with the wrath of God as appeares by the words of the text where hee saith Lord rebuke me not in thy wrath And by this we see that hee praied not simply against death but against death at that instant wheÌ„ he was in that grieuous temptation for at other times hee had no such feare of death as hee himselfe testifieth saying Though I should walke thorough the valley of the shadowe of death I will feare no euill Therefore he praied against death only as it was ioyned with the appreheÌ„sion of Gods wrath Lastly Ezechiah prayed against death not onely because he desired to liue and doe seruice to God in his kingdome but vpon a further and more speciall regard because when the Prophet brought the message of death hee was without issue and had none of his owne bodie to succeede him in his kingdome It will be said what warrant had Ezechiah to pray against death for this cause Ans. His warrant was good for God had made a particular promise to Dauid his posteritie after him that so long as they feared God walked in his commandemeÌ„ts they should not want issue to sit vpon the throne of the kingdome after them Now Ezechiah at the time of the Prophets message remembring what promise God had made and how he for his part had kept the coÌ„dition thereof in that hee had walked before God with an vpright heart and had done that which was acceptable in his sight hee praied against death not so much because hee feared the danger of it but because he wanted issue This praier God accepted and heard and he added fifteene yeares vnto his daies two yeares after gaue him Manasses The fourth obiection is that those which haue been reputed to be of the better sort of men ofteÌ„times haue miserable ends for some end their daies despairing some rauing and blaspheming some straungely tormented it may seeme therefore that the day of death is the day of greatest woe miserie To this I answer first of all generally that we must not iudge of the estate of any man before God by outward things whether they be blessings or iudgements whether they fal in life or death For as Salomon saith all things come like to all and the same condition is to the iust and the wicked to the good and to the pure and to the polluted
and to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Secondly I answer the particulars which be alleadged on this manner And first of all touching dispaire it is true that not only wicked and loose persons despaire in death but also repentant sinners who oftentimes in their sickenesse testifie of themselues that beeing aliue and lying in their beddes they feele themselues as it were to be in hell and to apprehend the very pangs and torments thereof And I doubt not for all this but that the child of God most deare vnto him may through the gulfe of desperation attaine to euerlasting happinesse This appeares by the maner of gods dealing in the matter of our saluation All the workes of God are done in by their contraries In the creation all things were made not of some thing but of nothing cleane contrary to the course of nature In the worke of redemption God giues life not by life but by death and if we consider aright of Christ vpon the crosse we shall see our paradise out of paradise in the middest of hel Eor out of his owne cursed death doeth he bring vs life and eternall happinesse Likewise in effectuall vocation when it pleaseth God to conuert and turne men vnto him he doeth it by the meanes of the Gospel preached which in reason should driue all men from God For it is as contrarie to the nature of man as fire to water and light to darknesse and yet for al this though it bee thus against the disposition and heart of man it preuailes with him and turnes him to God Furthermore whē God will send his owne seruants to heauen he sends them a contrarie waie euen by the gates of hell and when it is his pleasure to make men depend on his fauour and prouidence hee makes them feele his anger and to bee nothing in themselues that they may wholly depend vpon him and bee whatsoeuer they are in him This point beeing well considered it is manifest that the childe of God may passe to heauen by the very gulfes of hel The loue of God is like a sea into which when a man is cast hee neither feeles bottome nor sees bank I conclude therfore that dispaire whether it arise of weakenesse of nature or of conscience of sinne though it fall out about the time of death cannot preiudice the saluation of them that are effectually called As for other straunge euents which fall out in death they are the effects of diseases Rauings and blasphemings arise of the disease of melancholy and of frensies which often happen at the end of burning feuers the choller shooting up to the braine The writhing of the lippes the turning of the necke the buckling of the ioints and the whole bodie proceede of crampes and convulsions which followe after much euacuatiō And wheras some in sicknesse are of that strength that three or foure mē cannot hold thē without bonds it comes not of witchcraft and possessions as people commonly thinke but of choller in the veines And wheras some when they are dead become as black as pitch as Bonner was it may arise by a bruise or an impostume or by the blacke iaundise or by the putrefactiō of the liuer it doth not alwaies argue some extraordinarie iudgement of God Nowe these and the like diseases with their simptomes strange effects though they shall depriue man of his health of the right vse of the parts of his bodie and of the vse of reason too yet they can not depriue his soule of eternal life And all sinnes procured by violent diseases and proceeding from repentant sinners are sins of infirmity for which if they know them and come againe to the vse of reason they will further repent if not they are pardoned and buried in the death of Christ. And we ought not so much to stand vpon the strāgenesse of any mans end when we know the goodnesse of his life for wee must iudge a man not by his death but by his life And if this be true that strange diseases and thereupon strange behauiours in death may befal the best man that is wee must learne to reforme our iudgements of such as lie at the point of death The common opiniō is that if a man lie quietly and goe away like a lambe which in some diseases as consumptions and such like any man may do then he goes straight to heauē but if the violēce of the disease stirre vp impatience and cause in the partie franticke behauiours then men vse to say there is a iudgement of God seruing either to discouer an hypocrite or to plague a wicked man But the truth is otherwise for indeed a mā may die like a lamb and yet goe to hell and one dying in exceeding torments and strange behauiours of the body may go to heauē by the outward conditiō of any mā either in life or death we are not to iudge of his estate before God The fourth obiection is this Whē a man is most nere death then the diuell is most busie in temptatiō the more men are assaulted by Satan the more dāgerous and troublesome is their case And therfore it may seeme that the day of death is the worst day of all Answ. The condition of Gods childrē in earth is twofold Some are not tempted some are Some I say are not tempted as Simeon who when he had seen Christ brake forth and saide Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace c. fore-signifying no doubt that hee should end his daies in all maner of peace As for them which are tēpted though their case bee very troublesome and perplexed yet their saluation is not further off by reasō of the violence extremity of temptation For God is then present by the vnspeakable comfort of his spirit when wee are most weake he is most strong in vs because his manner is to shewe his power in weakenes And for this cause euen in the time of death the diuell receiues the greatest foyle when he lookes for the greatest victorie The sixt obiection is this Violent sudden death is a grieuous curse of all euills which befal man in this life none is so terrible therefore it may seeme that the day of sudden death is most miserable Ans. It is true indeede that sudden death is a curse grieuous iudgement of God and therefore not without cause feared of mē in the world yet all things considered wee ought more to be afraid of an impenitent and euil life then of sudden death For though it be euill as death it selfe in his own nature is yet we must not think it to be simply euil because it is not euill to al men nor in all respects euill I say it is not euill to all men considering that no kinde of death is euill or a curse vnto them that
themselues reckon a fewe yeares and daies that are able by arte to measure the globe of the earth and the spheres of heauen the quantities of the starres with their longitudes latitudes altitudes motions distances from the earth No verily For howesoeuer by a generall speculation we thinke something of our ends yet vnlesse the spirit of God be our schoole-master to teach vs our dutie wee shall neuer bee able soundly to resolue our selues of the presence and speedinesse of death And therfore let vs pray with Dauid and Moses that God would inlighten our minds with knowledge and fil our hearts with his grace that we might rightly consider of death and esteeme of euery day an houre as it were the day and houre of death The second dutie in this generall preparation is that euery man must daily indeauour to take away from his owne death the power and strength thereof And I pray you marke this point The Philistims sawe by experience that Sampson was of great strength therfore they vsed meanes to knowe in what part of his bodie it lay when they found it to be in the haire of his head they ceased not vntil it was cut off In like manner the time wil come whē we must encoūter hand to hand with tyranous and cruel death the best therefore is before-hand now while wee haue time to search where the strēgth of death lies which beeing once knowne we must with speed cut off his Sāpsons lockes and bereaue him of his power disarme him make him altogether vnable to preuaile against vs. Now to find out this matter we neede not to vse the councel of any Dalilah for wee haue the word of God which teacheth vs plaīly where the strength of death consists namly in our sins as Paul saith The sting of death is sinne Well then we knowing certenly that the power and force of euery mans partirular death lies in his owne sinnes must spend our time and studie in vsing good meanes that our sinnes may be remooued and pardoned And therefore we must daily inure our selues in the practise of two duties One is to humble our selues for al our sins past partly cōfessing thē against our selues partly in praier crying to heauē for the pardon of them The other is for time to come to turn vnto God and to carrie a purpose resolution indeauour in all things to reforme both hart life according to gods word These are the very principall proper duties wherby the power of death is much rebated he is made of a mighty bloody enemie so far forth friendly and tractable that we may with comfort incounter with him preuaile too Therefore I commend these duties to your christian considerations carefull practise desiring that ye would spend your daies euer hereafter in doing of them If a man were to deale with a mighty dragon or serpent hand to hand in such wise as he must either kill or be killed the best thing were to bereaue him of his sting or of that part of the body where his poison lies now death it selfe is a serpent dragon or scorpion sinne is the sting and poison whereby he wounds kils vs. Wherefore without any more delay see that ye pull out his sting the practise of the foresaid duties is as it were a fit worthy instrument to do the deed Hast thou beene a person ignorant of Gods will a contemner of his word and worship a blasphemer of his name a breaker of his Sabbaths disobedient to parents and magistrates a murderer a fornicatour a rayler a slanderer a couetous persō c. reforme these thy sinnes and all other like to them pull thē out by the rootes from thy heart cast them off So many sinnes as be in thee so many stings of death be also in thee to wound thy soule to eternal death therfore let no one sin remaine for which thou hast not humbled thy selfe and repented seriously When death hurts any man it takes the weapons whereby he is hurt from his owne hand It cannot do vs the least hurt but by the force of our owne sins Wherefore I say againe and againe lay this point to your hearts spend your strength life and health that ye may before ye die abolish the strength of death A man may put a serpent in his bosome when the sting is out we may let death creepe into our bosomes and gripe vs with his legs and stab vs at the heart so long as he brings not his venime and poison with him And because the former duties are so necessary as none can be more I wil vse some reasons yet furder to inforce thē Whatsoeuer a man would doe when he is dying the same he ought to doe euery day while he is liuing now the most notorious and wicked person that euer was when he is dying will pray and desire others to pray for him promise amendment of life protesting that if he might liue he would become a practitioner in all the good duties of faith repentance reformation of life Oh therfore be careful to do this euery day Again the saying is true he that would liue when he is dead must die while he is aliue namely to his sins Wouldest thou then liue eternally sue to heauen for thy pardon and see that now in thy life-time thou die to thine own sinnes Lastly wicked Balaam would faine die the death of the righteous but alas it was to small purpose for he would by no means liue the life of the righteous For his cōtinual purpose and meaning was to follow his olde waies in sorceries couetousnesse Now the life of a righteous man standes in the humbling of himself for his sinnes past and in a carefull reformatiō of life to come Wouldest thou then die the death of the righteous then looke vnto it that thy life be the life of the righteous if ye will needes liue the life of the vnrighteous yee must looke to die the death of the vnrighteous Remēber this and content not your selues to heare the word but be doers of it for ye learn no more indeed what measure of knowledge soeuer ye haue then ye practice The third dutie in our generall preparation is in this life to enter into the first degree of life eternal For as I haue said there be three degrees of life euerlasting and the first of them is in this present life for hee that would liue in eternall happines for euer must beginne in this world to rise out of the graue of his owne sinnes in which by nature he lies buried and liue in newnesse of life as it is said in the Reuelation He that will escape the second death must be made partaker of the first resurrection And Paul saith to the Colossians that they were in this life deliuered from the power of darkenesse and translated into the kingdom of Christ. And Christ saith to the
are in Christ who are freed from the whole curse of the law And therefore the holy Ghost saith Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours whereby is signified that they which depart this life being members of Christ enter into euerlasting happines of what death so euer they die yea though it be sudden death Againe I say that sudden death is not euill in all respects for it is not euill because it is sudden but because it commonly takes men vnprepared and by that means makes the day of death a blacke day and as it were a very speedie downe-fall to the gulfe of hell Otherwise if a man be readie prepared to die sudden death is in effect no death but a quicke and speedie entrance to eternal life These obiections being thus answered it appeares to bee a manifest truth which Salomon saith that the day of death is better indeede then the day of birth Now I come to the third point in which the reasons respects are to be considered that make the day of death to surpasse the day of mans birth they may al be reduced to this one namely that the birth day is an entrance into al woe and miserie whereas the day of death ioyned with godly and reformed life is an entrance or degree to eternal life Which I make manifest thus Eternall life hath three degrees one in this life when a man can truely say that hee liues not but that Christ liues in him and this al men can say that repent and belieue and are iustified sanctified haue peace of conscience with other gifts of Gods spirit which are the earnest of their saluation The second degree is the ende of this life when the bodie goes to the earth the soule is carried by the angels into heauē the third is in the end of the world at the last iudgement whē body soule reunited do ioyntly enter into eternal happines in heauē Now of these three degrees death it selfe being ioyned with the feare of God is the second which also containeth in it two worthie steps to life The first is a freedome from all miseries which haue their ende in death For though men in this life are subiect to manifold dangers by sea and land as also to sundry aches paines aad diseases as feauers and consumptions c. yet when death comes there is an end of al. Again so long as men liue in this world whatsoeuer they be they doe in some part lie in bondage vnder originall corruption and the remnants thereof which are doubtings of Gods prouidence vnbeliefe pride of heart ignorance couetousnes ambition enuy hatred lust and such like sinnes which bring forth fruits vnto death And to bee in subiection to sin on this manner is a misery of al miseries Therfore Paul whē he was tempted vnto sinne by his corruptiō cals the very tēptation the buffets of Satan and as it were a pricke or thorne wounding his flesh and paining him at the very heart Againe in an other place wearied with his owne corruptions he cōplaines that he is sold vnder sinne and he cries out ô miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death Dauid saith that his eies gushed out with riuers of teares when other men sinned against God how much more then was he grieued for the sinnes wherewith he himselfe was ouertaken in this life And indeede it is a very hell for a man that hath but a sparke of grace to be exercised turmoyled and tempted with the inborne corruptions and rebellions of his owne heart and if a man would deuise a torment for such as feare God and desire to walke in newnes of life he can not deuise a greater then this For this cause blessed is the day of death which brings with it a freedome from all sinne whatsoeuer For when we die the corruption of nature is quite abolished sanctification is accomplished Lastly it is a great miserie that the people of God are constrained in this world to liue conuerse in the companie of the wicked as sheepe are mingled with goats which strike them annoy their pasture and muddie their water Hereupon Dauid cried out Woe is me that I remaine in Meshech and dwell in the tents of Kedar When Elias saw that Ahab and Iesabel had planted idolatrie in Israel and that they sought his life also he went apart into the wildernesse and desired to die But this misery also is ended in the day of death in as much as death is as it were the hand of God to sort and single out those that be the seruants of God from all vngodly men in this most wretched world Furthermore this exceeding benefite comes by death that it doth not only abolish the miseries which presently are vpō vs but also preuēt those which are to come The righteous saith the Prophet Esay perisheth and no man considereth it in his heart and mercifull men are taken away and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come Example of this we haue in Iosias Because saith the Lord thine heart did melt and thou hast humbled thy selfe before the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against this place c. beholde therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the euill which I will bring vpon this place And Paul saith that among the Corinthians some were a sleepe that is dead that they might not bee condemned with the world Thus much of freedome from miserie which is the first benefit that comes by death the first steppe to life now followes the second which is that death giues an entrance to the soule that it may come into the presence of the euerliuing God of Christ and of all the Angels and Saints in heauen The worthinesse of this benefite makes the death of the righteous to bee no death but rather a blessing to bee wished of all men The consideration of this made Paul to say I desire to be dissolued but what is the cause of this desire that followes in the next words namely that by his dissolution he might come to be with Christ. Whē the Queene of Sheba saw all Salomons wisdome the house that he had built and the meat of his table and the sitting of his seruants the order of his ministers and their apparel c. she said Happie are thy men happy are these thy seruants which stand euer before thee and heare thy wisdome much more then may wee say that they are ten thousand fold happie which stand not in the presence of an earthly king but before the King of kings the Lord of heauen and earth and at his right hand inioy pleasures for euermore Moses hath bin renowned in all ages for this that God vouchsafed
let it cruelly part asunder both body soule yet shall they both remaine in the couenant and by meanes thereof be reunited and taken vp to life eternall Whereas on the contrary if men be out of the couenant and die out of Christ their soules goe to hell and their bodies rot for a time in the graue but afterward they rise to endlesse perdition Wherefore I say againe and againe labour that your consciences by the holy ghost may testifie that ye are liuing stones in the temple of God branches bearing fruite in the true vine then ye shall feele by experience that the pangs of death shall be a further degree of happinesse then euer ye found in your liues euen then when ye are gasping and panting for breath Thus much of the meaning of the text now followes the vses they are manifold The first principall is this In that Salomon preferres the day of death before the day of birth he doth therein giue vs to vnderstand that there is a direct certain way wherby a man may die well and if it had beene otherwise he could not haue said that the day of death is better And wheras he auoucheth this he shewes withal that there is an infallible way whereby a man may make a blessed end Therefore let vs now come to search out this way the knowledge and true vnderstanding wherof must not be fetched from the writings of men but from the word of God who hath the power of life and death in his owne hand Now that a man may die well Gods word requires 2. things a preparation before death and a right behauiour and disposition in death The preparation vnto death is an action of a repentant sinner whereby he makes himself fit and ready to die and it is a dutie very necessary to which we are bound by Gods commādement For there bee sundrie places of Scripture which doe straightly inioyn vs to watch pray to make our selues readie euery way against the secōd comming of Christ to iudgement Now the same places doe withall bind vs to make preparation against death at which time God comes to iudgement vnto vs particularly Againe look as death leaueth a man so shall the last iudgement finde him and so shall hee abide eternally there may bee changes conuersions from euill to good in this life but after death there is no change at all Therefore a preparation to death can in no wise be omitted of him that desires to make an happie blessed end This preparation is twofold generall particular Generall preparation is that whereby a man prepares himselfe to die through the whole course of his life A duty most needefull that must in no wise be omitted The reasons are these First of all death which is certaine is most vncertaine I say it is certain because no man can eschew death And it is vncerten 3. waies first in regard of time for no man knoweth when hee shall die secondly in regard of place for no man knowes where he shall die whether in his bedde or in the field whether by sea or by land thirdly in respect of the kind of death for no mā knows whether he shal dy of a lingring or sudden of a violent or naturall death Hence it follows that men should euery day prepare themselues to death Indeede if wee could know when where and how we should die the case were otherwise but seeing wee know none of these it stands vs in hand to looke about vs. A second reason seruing further to perswade vs is this The most daungerous thing of all in this world is to neglect all preparation To make this point more manifest I will vse this comparison A certaine man pursued by an Vnicorne in his flight fals into a dungeon in his fall takes hold and hangs by the arme of a tree now as hee thus hangs looking downeward he sees two wormes gnawing at the root of the tree and as he looks vpward he sees an hiue of most sweet hony wherupō he climes vp vnto it and sitting by it he feeds theron In the meane season while he is thus sitting the two wormes gnaw in pieces the root of the tree which don tree and man all fal into the bottome of the dungeon Now this Vnicorn is death the man that flieth is euery one of vs and euery liuing man the pit ouer which he hangeth is hell the arme of the tree is life it self the two wormes are day and night the continuance whereof is the whole life of man the hiue of honie is the pleasures and profits and honours of this world to which when men wholly giue thēselues not considering their ends til the tree root that is this temporall life be cut off which beeing once done they plunge thēselues quite into the gulfe of hell By this we see that there is good cause that men should not deferre their preparation till the time of sicknes but rather euery day make themselues readie against the day of death But some will say it shall suffice if I prepare my selfe to pray when I begin to be sicke Answ. These men greatly deceiue thēselues for the time thē is most vnfit to begin a preparation because all the senses powers of the body are occupied about the pains and troubles of the disease and the sicke party is exercised partly in conference with the Physitian partly with the minister about his soules health and matters of conscience and partly with friends that come to visit Therfore there must some preparation goe before in the time of health when the whole man with all the powers of body and soule are at liberty Again there be some others which imagine and say that a man may repent when he wil euen in the time of death and that such repentance is sufficiēt Ans. It is false which they say for it is not in the power of man to repēt when he himselfe will when God will he may It is not in him that willeth or runneth but in God that hath mercy And Christ saith that many shal seek to enter into heauen and shal not be able But why so because they seeke when it is too late namly when the time of grace is past Therefore it is exceeding follie for men so much as once to dream that they may haue repentance at cōmand nay it is a iust iudgement that they should be condemned of God in death that did cōdemne God in their life and that they should quite be forgotten of God in sicknesse and did forget God in their health Again I answer that this late repētance is seldome or neuer true repentance It is sicke like the party himselfe cōmonly languishing and dying together with him Repentance should be voluntary as all obedience to God ought but repētance taken vp in sicknes is vsually constrained extorted by the feare of hell other iudgements of God for crosses afflictions and
may be spoken here as the holy Ghost hath vttered in the word and that I wil reduce to certaine rules The first is that the will must be made according to the law of nature and the written word of God and the good and wholesome positiue lawes of that kingdom or cuntry wherof a man is a member The will of God must be the rule of mans will And therefore the will that is made against any of these is faultie The second is that if goods euill gotten be not restored before they must euen then be restored by will or by some other way It is the practise of couetous mē to bequeath their soules when they die to God withall to bequeath their goods euill gotten to their children friends which in all equitie should bee restored to them to whom they belong Quest. Howe if a mans conscience tell him that his goods be euill gotten and he knowes not where or to whome to make restitution Ans. The case is common the answer is this When he is known whom thou hast wronged restore to him particularly if the partie be vnknown or dead restore to his executors or assignes or to his next kin if there be none yet keepe not goods euill gotten to thy selfe but restore to God that is in way of recompence and ciuil satisfaction bestow them on the Church or common-wealth The third rule is that heads of families must principally bestowe their goods on their owne children and them that be of their kindred This man saith God to Abraham of Eleazar a straunger shall not be thine heire but the son which shal come of thy loynes And this was Gods commaundemēt to the Israelites that when any man dies his sonne should be his heire if he haue no sonne then his daughter if he haue no daughter then his brethren and if he haue no brethren then his fathers brethren and if that there be none then the next of the kinne whosoeuer And Paul saith If ye be sonnes then also heires and againe He that prouides not for his owne and namely for them of his houshold is worse then an infidell Therefore it is a fault of any man to alienate his goods or lands wholly finally from his blood and posteritie It is a thing which the very law of nature it selfe hath condemned Againe it is a fault to giue all to the eldest and nothing in respect to the rest as though the eldest were borne to be gentlemen yonger brethren borne to beare the wallet Yet in equitie the eldest must haue more then any euen because he is the eldest because stocks and families in their persons are to be maintained and because there must alwaies be some that must be fitte to doe speciall seruice in the peace of the common weale or in the time of warre which could not be if goods should be equally parted to al. The fourth and last rule is that no Will is of force till the testatour be dead for so long as he is aliue he may alter and change it These rules must be remembred because they are recorded in Scripture the opening of other points circumstances belongeth to the profession of the law The second dutie of the master of the familie concerneth the soules of such as be vnder his gouernment and that is to giue charge to them that they learne beleeue and obey the true religion that is the doctrine of Saluation set downe in the writings of the Prophets Apostles The Lord himselfe cōmends Abraham for this I knowe Abraham saith he that he will command his sonnes and his houshold after him that they keepe the way of the Lord to doe righteousnes and iudgement And Dauid giues Salomon on his death-bed a most notable solemne charge the summe and substance whereof is to know the God of his fathers and to serue him which beeing done he further commends him to God by prayer for which purpose the 72. psal was made This practise of his is to be followed of all Thus gouernours when they shall carefully dispose of their goods and giue charge to their posteritie touching the worship of God shall greatly honour God dying as well as liuing Hitherto I haue intreated of the two-fold preparatiō which is to goe before death now follows the second part of Dying-well namely the disposition in death This disposition is nothing els but a religious and holy behauiour specially towards God when we are in or neare the agonie and pang of death This behauiour containes three speciall duties The first is to die in or by faith To die by faith is whē a man in the time of death doth with all his heart rely himselfe wholly on Gods speciall loue and fauoure and mercie in Christ as it is reuealed in the word And though there be no part of mans life void of iust occasions whereby we may put faith in practise yet the speciall time of all is the pang of death when friends and riches and pleasures and the outward senses temporall life all earthly helpes forsake vs. For then true faith maketh vs to go wholly out of our selues and to despaire of comfort and saluation in respect of an earthly thing with all the power strength of the heart to rest on the pure mercie of God This made Luther both thinke and say that men were best Christians in death An example of this faith we haue in Dauid who when he sawe nothing before his eies but present death the people intending to stone him comforted him at that very instant as the text saith in the Lord his God And this comfort he reaped in that by faith he applied vnto his own soule the mercifull promises of God as he testifieth of himselfe Remember saith he the promise made to thy seruant wherein thou hast caused me to trust It is my comfort in trouble for thy promise hath quickned me Againe My flesh failed and my heart also but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for euer Now looke what Dauid here did the same must euery one of vs do in the like case When the Israelites in the wildernes were stung with fierie serpents and lay at the point of death they looked vp to the brasen serpent which was erected by the appointment of God and were presently healed euen so when any man feeles death to drawe neere his fierie sting to pierce the heart he must fixe the eye of a true and liuely faith vpon Christ exalted and crucified on the crosse which beeing done he shal by death enter into eternall life Now because true faith is no dead thing it must be expressed by especiall actions the principall whereof is inuocation wherby either praier or thanksgiuing is directed vnto God When death had seazed vpon the body of Iacob he raised vp himselfe and turning his face towards the beddes head