is so that there is no light without God which lighteneth our night it is most certayne that the soule being buried in her darckenesses must needes be blinde And then is she domb seing she cannot confesse that vnto saluation which she beleued to righteousnesse Deafe also she is because she heareth not this liuely voyce Lame likewise she is and that which is worsse she is not able to stand vpright when as shee hath not to whome shee may say thou hast held me by the right hand and guided me according to thy will and finallye she doth nothing wherein is life For heare what the Prophet sayth Baruc. 3.14 whenas he will shew that the spring and fountayne of lyfe wholy resteth in God Learne where is wisedome where is strength where is vnderstanding that thou mayst also knowe from whence commeth long continuaunce life and where the light of the eyes and peace is What wouldest thou els more desire to come vnto death And to the end we shoulde not here stay in this godly way let vs consider with our selues what life it is that Iesus Christ hath brought vs and it will put vs in minde with what kinde of death he hath redeemed vs. Ephe. 5. S. Paule teacheth vs both the one and the other For thus he sayth Awake thou which sleapest and arise frō death Christ will enlighten thee He speaketh in this place vnto dust but yet vnto such as being wrapped vp in their sinnes cary with them both hell and death And in an other place he sayth Colo. 2. And you when you were deade through sinne he hath quickened you together with Christ forgeuing you all your sinnes And like as according to the saying of S. Paule Rom. we dye vnto sinne whenas lust is quenched in vs Euen so dye we vnto God whēas we subiect our selues vnto our lust which liueth in vs. But to speake all in a word in liuing we dye which thing S. Paul speaketh of the widdow which liueth in pleasures to wit 2. Tim. 5. we are immortal vnto death For although the soule keepeth her vnderstanding yet is a gilty conscience as it were a verye blockish and vnfeeling vnderstanding Nowe therefore whatsoeuer this death of the soule was yet for all that it is farre of that the death which Christ dyed for vs is such one For he hath accomplished by his death whatsoeuer the prophets haue promised of his victory agaynst death For thus haue the prophets sayd Isaiah 25. he will destroy death for euer It is likewise sayd I wil be thy death O death hel Oseah 13. I will be thy sting Also Hebr. 2. Death shal go before his face The Apostles likewise declare the things already done for thus it is sayde he hath ouercome death 2. Tim. 1. Rom. 5. But hath enlightened life by the Gospell For if by the offēce of one death raigned through one much more shall they which receiue the aboundance of grace and of the gifte of righteousnesse raigne in life through one that is Iesus Christ Let them now abide and withstand these lightenigs if they can For since they say that death came by Adam which we also confesse but not in such sort as they imagine but as we haue before said whereinto the soule fell we on the contrary part say that lyfe came by Christ which they are neuer able to denye so that the poynt of the whole controuersy cōsisteth betwene the comparison of Adam and of Iesus Christ And therefore they must first of all reconcile this with that saying of S. Paule that whatsoeuer was onely lost by Adam hath bene also restored by Iesus Christ But looke howe farre the power of grace hath surpassed sinne euen so of a more farre passing greater power hath Ie-Christ bene in making restitution thē Adam was in the losse For he playnely teacheth that the gift is farre greater then the sinne although not vpon many men yet most plentifully vpon those vpon whom it aboundeth And nowe let them aunswere if they will that it aboundeth not because it hath geuen life more aboundantly but because it hath blotted out many sinnes seing the onely sinne of Adam is it which hath brought vs to destruction And this is the thing which I demaund Moreouer seing he teacheth in another place that sinne is the sting of death what death is it that can sting vs since his sting is rebated yea altogether consumed And so he handleth none other thing in many Chapiters of the Epistle to the Rom. But playnely declareth that sinne is wholy abolished because it hath no longer dominiō ouer the faithfull Rom. 8.1 Wherefore if the lawe hath power ouer sinne what other thing then do our sleapers who kill those that liue in Iesus Christ but draw them into the cursse of the law which is cleane dead And therefore the Apostle boldly sayth that there is no condemnation with them that are in Iesus Christ who walke not after the flesh but after the spirite Surely they pronounce a fearefull sentence agaynst those whom S. Paule freely acquiteth of condemnation whenas they say ye shall dye the death What is then become of grace whenas death raigneth as yet amongest Gods chosen Nowe according to the saying of S. Paule sinne raigneth in deed to death but grace Rom. 6.7 vnto euerlasting life and therefore if grace surmounteth sinne there remaineth no place for death Wherefore as by Adam death entred raigned euen so doth life also now raigne by Iesus Christ Now then we know that Iesus Christ being raysed agayne from the dead dyeth no more neither hath death any more power ouer him For in that he dyed vnto sinne he dyed onely once for all But in that he lyueth he lyueth vnto God And hereby we may see that they themselues refute their error with their owne weapons For when as they say that death is the punishment of sinne they forthwith graunt that if man had not sinned he had bene Immortall For that which began to be was not sometymes and that cōmeth through punishmēt and not by nature Contrarywise S. Paul that sinne is swallowed vp of Grace so that it hath nothing to doe with the children of God And so we haue gotten this poynt of thē that Gods chosen are now such as Adam was before he sinned And as he was created incorruptible Euen so are they now who are by Iesus Christ framed a newe into a better nature And that saying of the Apostle is not agaynst this 1. Cor. 15.54 That the written word shall be accomplished death is swallowed vp into victory For if they say it is so that the word shall be made then can it not be denyed but that to be made must also be taken to be accomplished For whatsoeuer is now begonne in the soule shall be accomplished in the body or rather whatsoeuer is onely begone in the soule shal be accōplished together both in
filthynes of the fleshe and of the spirite For it very well appeareth that he maketh no difference there betwene the fleshe and the spirite as he is wont to doe els where when as he attributeth filthynes to the spirite by which title he meaneth in other places meere purity I wil yet bring in another place although I see that they which meane to wrest will forthwith fall to their gloses 1. Cor. 2.11 For when it is sayd what man knoweth the thinges that are in man but the spirite of man which is in him Agayne no man knoweth the thinges of God but the spirite of God It may well be sayd that man knoweth the thinges which are in himselfe but he meaneth in one word that part wherein the power of the thought and vnderstanding consisteth And also Rom. 8.16 when he sayeth that the spirite of God beareth witnes to our spirite that we are the children of God vseth he not the very same proper kinde of speach But what I coulde conuince them euen in a word For we know how many tymes Christ him selfe by his owne voyce condemneth the error of the Saduces Math. 22.23 a part of which error was that there was no spirite as S. Luke wryteth in the Actes The wordes are these The Saduces say that there is neither resurrection Angell nor spirite Acts. 23.8 but the Pharysies coÌ„fesse all these thinges I feare me that they will goe about to cauill and say that these thinges are to be vnderstood of the holy ghost or els of the Angels Which obiection is easely aunswered For he hath placed the Angells aparte by themselues and it is certayne that the Pharysies had skarcely any knowledge of the holy ghost And they which vnderstand the Greeke tonge know this best For S. Luke sayd spirite without putting to any Article which thing without doubt he would haue added if he had spoken of the holy ghost Now if this stop not their mouthes I know not by what meanes they may be drawne or ledd without it so fall out and say that the opinion of the Saducies is not condemned in that they deny a spirite nor the opinion of the Pharysies allowed which say the coÌ„trary Howbeit the very words of S Luke do mete which this Cauill For after he hath set downe the confessioÌ„ of S Paul that he was a Pharisy he addeth this opinion of the Pharisies We must then say either that S. Paul vsed a subtill and wicked dissimulation which ought not to be receiued in the confession of fayth or els that he was of the same opinioÌ„ with the Pharysies touching the spirite Now if we must beleue histories this was as certaine and sure emongest the Apostles Ecclesiast History 10. 4. c. 13. as the resurrection of the dead or any other Article of our faith I will not be ashamed to bring in here the words of Polycarpe a man who both in his words and doings in very deede looked for Martyrdome In the same c. 19. being also a disciple of the Apostles and so sincerely taught others that which he learned of them as that he would neuer suffer any Leauen to be mingled emongest it This holy man then amongest many excellent wordes which he spake in the middest of the fier sayd that the same day he should be present in spirite before the face of God In those dayes also Melito Byshop of Sardis a man of lyke sinceritye In the same c. 24. wrote a booke of the Body and of the Soule which if we had had at this day I needed not now to haue taken payne in this matter This opinion was so notably receiued in this blessed tyme In the same of the resurrection of the flesh that Tertullian put it euen emongest the common and chiefest conceites of the minde which nature commonly taketh hold of And although we haue already brought in many reasoÌ„s which are able as I think to conuince that which they straue about to witt that the Soule or spirite of man is a substance distinguished from the body yet that which we will add forthwith shall make the same a great deale more certayne For I come to that which I did set downe in the second place to witt that the soule lyueth after that the body is dead hauing both sence and vnderstanding Now whosoeuer thinketh that I doe heere affirme any other thing then the Immortalytie of the soule is greatly deceiued For they which confesse that the soule liueth and therewithall take from her all her senses doe imagine a soule which hath no parte at all of a soule or els deuise a soule of their owne heds considering that her nature without which she can no way stand is to moue her selfe to feele In the same of the flesh of Christ to haue streÌ„gth to vnderstaÌ„dt as Tertullian sayth that the sence is the soule of the soule Let vs therefore learne this Immortalytie of the soule out of the holy scriptures When our Sauior Christ exhorteth his disciples not to feare them which kill the body Math. 10.18 Luke 12.5 haue no power ouer the soule but to feare him who after he hath slayne the body is able also to send the soule into hell fier doth he not meane that the soule lyueth after that the dody is dead And truely God hath very louingly dealt with vs herein that he hath not suffred our soules to be at the disposition of those which would so soone kill them or at the least though they cannot yet doe their best The Tyrantes torment cut in peeces burne and hang but it is the body onely for God onely hath power ouer the soule to cast it into hell fier So then eyther the soule abideth after death or els this must needes be an vntrueth That Tyrantes haue no power ouer the soule Vnto this they auÌ„swere as I heare that the soule truely is slaine for the tyme when as the body is dead but that it pearâ—â—heth not because that in tyme to come iâ— shall ryse againe Now if they thinke to goe away with this they must and graunt that the body pearisheth not for somuch as it shall rise agayne And because that they are both reserued vntill the day of IudgemeÌ„t therefore neither of â—oth peâ—risheth And yet our Sauiour Christ confesseth that the body is slayne and testifieth that the soule abideth whole and sound Iohn 2.19 This maner of speach he vseth of his owne death when he sayth destroy ye this TeÌ„ple and in three dayes I will rayse it vp agayne But this he spake of the Temple of his body by which reason he tooke the soule out of their power which also as S. Luke wryteth and as Dauid foretold Luke 13.46 Psal 30.6 when he drewe neare vnto his death he commended into the handes of his Father S. Stephen lykewise after the same maner saith Actes 7.59 Lord Iesus Christ receiue my spirite Haue they
withall I would haue them to answere me simply and playnely what hope they haue of the resurrection Colo. 1.18 Apoc. 1.5 1. Cor. 13.20.21 without it be that Christ rose agayne For he is the first borne of the deade and the fyrst fruites of those that rise agayne For as he dyed and rose agayne so also must we dye and rise agayne in him For since it hath so fallen out that by death he hath ouercome death wherunto we were ordayned it is very certayne that he dyed of the same death as we dye and hath suffered in the same death whiche we doe suffer The trueth of the scripture maketh this manifest vnto vs whenas it calleth him the first borne of the dead and the first fruites of those which ryse agayne And it hath so taught vs that the faythfull might acknowledge him for their guide euen in the middest of death when they behold their death sāctified by his death they need not to feare the cursse thereof which is the thing that Saynt Paule meaneth when he sayth Phil. 3.10.11 that he is made like vnto his death vntil such time as he might come vnto the resurrection of the dead For this cōformity he prosecuted whiche he beganne in this world by the crosse vntill the time that he had by his death fulfilled it And now you my maisters the sleapers examine your harts awhile and consider with your selues how Christ Iesus dyed Do you in your cōscience think that he slept when as he waked for your saluation He speaketh not thus of himselfe Iohn 5.26 As the Father sayth he hath life in himselfe so also hath he geuen to hys sonne to haue life in himselfe And he that hath the power of life in himselfe how it is possible for him to lose it And I trust they wil not say that this belongeth to the deity For if it be geuen to him that hath it not it is then geuen to his humanity to haue life in it selfe and not to his deity For seing that Iesus Christ is the sonne of God and man that which is by nature as God the same is by grace as man to the end we might al receiue of his fulnesse grace for grace when men do heare that life is in God what hope may they conceiue thereof whenas they may also very well know that their sinnes do set a cloude betwixt God and them But here is the onely true great comfort that the Father hath annointed his Christ with the oyle of gladnes aboue all the rest of his fellowes That Iesus Christ as man hath receiued of his Father gyftes in mē to the end we might finde life in our nature And for this cause we read that the multitude glorifyed God after that the childe was raysed vp agayne forsomuch as he had geuē such power vnto men And this knew Cyrill right well who agreeth with vs in the explaning of this place Now whē we say that Iesus Christ hath life in himselfe in that he is man we doe not say that he is the cause of life to himselfe but onely this that the heauenly Father hath poured all fulnes of life in the manhood of his sonne Iesus Christ whiche thing might be geuen vs to vnderstād by a familiar similitude The fountayne from which all men do draw water and from which the small Creekes and Armes doe runne and flow is sayd to haue water of it selfe yet commeth not as of it selfe but from the spring which dayly feedeth it and from the flowing streames and is sufficient for all men to draw out of Euē so then Iesus Christ hath life in himselfe to wit the fulnes of life wherewith he lyueth and quickeneth his and yet hath he it not as of himselfe as he wytnesseth in an other place that he liueth because of hys Father And whenas he had life in in himselfe as God yet when he tooke vpon him the nature of man he receiued this gift of his Father that he might also haue life in that behalfe in hymselfe These thinges do most certainly assure vs that Christ could not be destroyed by death no not as he was man And although he was truely and naturally put to death whereof we must all dye yet held he alwayes this gift of his Father This was a true death and a true seperation of the Body and Soule yet the Soule neuer lost her life which being commended vnto his Father could not choose but be saued And this is the meaning of the wordes of S. Peter his sermon by which he affirmeth that it was impossible for Iesus Christ to bee holden downe with the panges of death Acte 2.24.27 that the scripture might be fulfilled saying Psal 16.10 Thou shalt not leaue my soule in graue nor yet suffer thine holy one to see corruption In which prophecie although we graunt that the soule is taken for lyfe Christ asketh and looketh for two thinges at his Fathers hand that he would not leaue his lyfe to destruction nor yet suffer him to come to corruption which was fulfilled For his soule was sustayned by an heauenly power that it should not be destroyed and his body was kept whole and sound vntill he rose agayne S. Peter hath knit vp all these thinges in a worde when he sayth that Christ could not be held downe by death to witt that he could not be subiect to the gouernement of death neither come vnder the power of death either yet be ouercome of death When as S. Peter in this sermon let the disputation of the soule alone and followed onely the incorruption of the body He did it because he would make the Iewes to see that they were vanquished euen by their owne testimony that this prophesie appertayned nothing at all to Dauid whose sepulcher was emongest them and they very well knew that his body was rotted neither could they deny the resurrection of our Lord Iesus Christ Ionas 2.12 We haue also another Argument of the Immortalitye of his soule when as he ordayned Ionas to be a figure of his death in that he was three daies within the Whales belly For so must he likewise be three dayes three nightes in the bowells of the earth Now Ionas cryed vnto the Lord out of the belly of the Fishe and was heard This belly is death his soule thē was saued in the middest of death Gene. 22.10 so that he might cry vnto the Lord. Isaack also who was a figure of the Lord and being saued from death Hebr. 12.17 19. was deliuered vnto his father openeth vnto vs as the Apostle witnesseth the trueth in a figure by the manner of the rising agayne For after he was layd vpō the Aultar as an oblation and sacrifice prepared for the purpose and bound vpon it he was soone after vnboūd by the commaundemēt of the Lord and the Ramme that was tyed by the hornes in the bushe was layd in Isaack his place What
is so quickened as that it causeth the spirituall body to consume al corruption and not to feare any separation To be short albeit I graunt vnto them all thinges concerning a liuing soule vpon which title as I haue before sayd I stand not yet that seat of the Image of God remayneth whole and sound be it that they terme it by the name of soule or spirit or by some other title Neither is it a harder matter to refell that saying which they bring out of the 37. Chapiter of Ezechiell where the Prophet describing the order of the resurrection calleth the spirite from the foure windes that it might blowe life into the dry boanes Whereupō they verily think it a very good consequent that the soule of man is none other thing but a mouing power without substaunce which power vanisheth away in death but is receiued agayne in the generall resurrection As if it were not likewise lawfull for me to inferre after the same manner to witt that the spirite of God is a winde or vanishing motion seing that Ezechiell in the first visiō nameth winde or breath in stead of the eternall spirite of God But it shall be an easye matter for any man without he be too too blockish to resolue this doubt which these Gallauntes can neither marke nor perceiue as learned and sharpewitted as they are For in both these places hath bene set downe the very same thing which the prophets very often haue set down who figure out spirituall thinges that are beyond mans reach and reason by corporall and visible signes And therefore Ezechiell entended liuely to set before our eyes as by a vision liuely pictured aswell the spirit of God as also the spirites of men and because the same was contrary to the spirituall nature he hath borrowed a similitude from corporall thinges which was as it were an Image or paterne thereof The second obiection whiche they make is this for although say they the soule was endued with immortallity yet notwithstanding because it sinned it hath through that sinne lost her immortality And this punishment was ordayned for sinne and denounced to our first Parents Gen. 2. where it is sayd You shall dye the death And S. Paule sayth Rom. 6. That death is the reward of sinne The prophet also cryeth out and sayth Eze. 18. That the Soule which sinneth shall dye And these and such other like places these drowsy sleapers alleadge for that purpose But in the first place I aske them was not the Deuill also payd with the same reward for sinne And yet for all that he is not so dead but that he waketh cōtinually compassing here and there seeking whom he may deuour still busiyng himselfe emongest the children of vnbelief Moreouer I aske them whether this death shall haue an end or not If there be no end thereof as in deede they must needes so confesse these then howsoeuer they are dead shall feele notwithstanding euerlasting hell fire and the worme whiche neuer dyeth These thinges therefore playnely shew vs that although the soule be dead yet it is immortall whiche wee graunt them and say that it feeleth both good and euil and that this death is an other manner of thing then that whiche they would haue to witt that it should turne to nothing Neither haue the scriptures forgotten this and that they should haue found if they had bestowed their minde and applied their wit vnto them rather then arogātly and after a proud maner to stand to that whiche their drunken sleapy brayn hath told them For when God pronounceth this sentence agaynst a sinneful man and sayth thou art dust and into dust shalt returne to wit sayth he any other thing but that that which is taken framed out of the earth shall returne vnto the earth And what becommeth then I beseech you of the soule Goeth it into the graue to become rotten stincking But we will handle these thinges hereafter a little more playnely Why doe they then goe thus about the bushe we haue already heard that that which is of the earth must goe agayne to the earth Nowe is there any reason that we should plunge the soule of mā vnder the earth It is not sayd that man shal returne vnto the earth But the thing which is dust shall return into dust And the thing that was made of the slime of the earth is thys dust It is that forsooth that shall returne into dust and not the soule which God gaue vnto man as a thing taken from els where thē from the earth After this sort we read in the booke of Iob Iob. 10.9.12 Remember O Lord that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou turne me into dust agayne He speaketh there of the Body and a litle after he speaketh of the soule and sayth thou hast geuē me life and grace and thy visytation hath preserued my spirit And therfore this life shall not turne into dust For the death of the soule is farre otherwise to wit Gods dreadfull iudgement the burden whereof the poore soule is no way able to beare but must be vtterly confounded and destroyed as by the scriptures we are taught as they whom God hath liuely touched haue by experience most fearefully felt And to the end we might beginne at Adam who first obtayned this gentle reward let vs somewhat consider what hart he had or to speake more properly what was in him at all whenas he heard this terrible voyce Adam where art thou This is a thing easelier thought of thē spoken Although in very deed a mā can not think of it except he eftsoonnes feeleth the same And like as the mightynesse and excellēcy of the Maiesty of God can not in wordes be expressed so also can not the terriblenes of his wrath be declared how greuous it is to those vpon whome it lighteth For they very wel see the anger of God and because they would auoyde it they are ready euen to plounge thēselues ouer head and eares in a thousand bottomlesse depthes and yet are no way able to escape it And who is he that will not graunt this to be a death in deede Agayne I say that a few wordes will serue them who haue bene seared with the hoate yron of conscience And therfore let them which haue not had experience thereof heare what the scriptures say whenas it is sayd Deut. 4. Our God is a consuming fier who whē he speaketh in iudgement killeth And such one knew they him to bee which sayde Exod. 20. Let not the Lorde speake vnto vs for feare we dye Wilt thou then knowe what the death of the soule is It is euen this whenas it is without God and that he forsaketh it leaueth it vnto her self For since God is the light thereof she loseth her life whenas she loseth his presence And to the end we might shewe that by particularityes whiche haue bene sayd in generall since it
displeasure of God so that it is sayd of them from whome God estrangeth himselfe and whome he throweth downe by his Iudgemētes and bruseth by his hand that they goe downe into hell or dwell in hell For to speake properly hell signifieth not the pit or graue Isaiah 5.14 but destruction or confusion as in this place Hell hath enlarged it selfe and swallowed vp many It is also sayd in another place Math. 11.25 And thou Capernaum which art lifted vp into heauen I tell thee truely thou shalt be brought downe into hell And although this figuratiue speach be found throughout all the holy scriptures yet is it most chiefly vsed in the psalmes as in this psalme Psal 55.15 Let death seze vpon them let them goe downe quicke into hell or into the graue Lykewise Psal 28.1 O my God be not deafe toward me least if thou aunswere me not I be lyke vnto them that goe downe into the pit Psal 30.3 And agayne O Lord thou hast brought vp my soule out of hell or out of the graue thou hast reuiued me from them that goe downe into the pit Psal 9.17 Also the wicked shall turne into hell and all nations that forget God Lykewise If the Lord had not holpen me I had almost dwelt in hell Psal 94.17 or in silēce Also our bones lye scattered at the graues mouth Psal 141.7 Item He hath smitten my lyfe downe to the earth Psal 143.3 he hath layd me in the darknes as they that haue bene dead long agoe It is also written in S. Luke Luke 16.23 speaking of the wicked rich man And lifting vp his eyes when he was in hell in tormentes c. Lykewise in S Mathew Math. 11.25 And thou Capernaum which art lifted vp into heauen thou shalt be brought downe to hell In all these places by this word Hell the place is not so greatly vnderstoode of as the state of those whome God hath condemned and adiudged to banishment And that is the confession which we make in our Creede That Iesus Christ descended into hell that is to say That his Father plunged him into all the sorrowes of death for our sakes that he suffred all the tormentes of death and all the afflictions terrors and feares thereof and was in very deede afflicted although it is sayd before that he was buried Contrarywise they that feele the mercy and louing kindenes of the Lord are sayd Psal 133.3 That they lyue and shall lyue For there the Lord appoynted the lyfe and blessing for euer Psal 33.19 Lykewise To the end he might deliuer their soules from death and to preserue them in famine Psal 52.5 Also God shall plucke thee out of the tabernacle and roote thee out of the lād of the liuing Lykewise Psal 56.13 That I mighr wallke before god in the light of the liuing Psal 116. Also I will geue thankes vnto the Lord in the land of the liuing But now that we may make an end let vs content our selues with one testimony which so naturally describeth both the one and the other as that although we should say neuer a word yet layeth it forth our meaning very notably The wordes are these Psal 49.6 7.9.10.14 Who trust in their Goods and boast themselues in the multitude of their riches Yet a man can by no meanes redeeme his brother he cannot geue his raunsome to God although he take neuer so great paynes and liue neuer so long Shall not he see the pitt whē as he seeth the wise do dy The foolishe and ignoraunt shal both pearish They are layd into the graue lyke sheepe and death deuoureth them And the righteous shall haue dominion ouer them in the morning their Glory also shall consume and the graue shall be their house But God shall deliuer my soule from the power of the graue when he hath receiued me The somme and effect hereof is this That they which put their trust in riches and in the strength of them in the end doe by and descend into the graue For the rich and the poore the foole and the wise doe all pearish But he which trusteth in the Lord shall be deliuered frō the power of hell Now I say and defend it that these wordes death and hell which they haue layd before vs in the verses of the psalmes aforesayd and in the song of Ezechiah can no otherwise be taken And I further say and affirme that this may very well be proued by certaine and sure Argumentes For be it that Iesus Christ the sonne of God who is the head of all the faythfull and be it that the Church which is the body of Iesus Christ speaketh in these verses wilt thou shewe miracles vnto the dead c. And lykewise what profite is in my bloud c. That death is to be abhorred as a detestable feareful thing she fleeth it as much as is possible and prayeth that it might not be layd vpon her Which thing also Ezechiah desiereth in his song Wherefore then feare they to heare onely the name of death if they are thus certayne that God is mercifull and fauorable vnto them Is it because they should be no more any thing But they would eskape out of this world that is full of troubles full of greuous temptations and of all disquietnes to come vnto a soueraigne and blessed reast And because they should be no more any thing they should feele no more any euill which is neither prolonged by their death nor yet set forward by their lyfe Let vs now turne our selues and looke vpon the examples of the rest of the Saintes and see if the lyke matter hath fallen so out vnto them First when Noah dyed he bewayled not his estate Gene. 49. Nei did Abraham once make any sorrow Iacob also reioyced amidst his last sithes in that he looked for the sauing health of the Lord. Iob wept not Moyses hearing his last houre to be at hand was no whit troubled And for any thing that may be seene they all embrased death very couragiously and willingly we also very oftē heare these aunsweres of the faythfull when the Lord called them Loe here I am Lord. And therefore it cannot be chosen but that there was some other thing which enforced Iesus Christ and his faythfull to make such complayntes Neither must me stand in doubt that when Iesus Christ offred himselfe to suffer punishmēt for vs but that he fought agaynst the power of the Deuill agaynst all the tormentes of hell and the sorrowes of death all which thinges should haue bene ouercome in our fleshe that they might haue lost that right which they had in vs. Seing then it is so that in this conflict he satisfied the rigour and seueritie of the Iustice of God and fought agaynst hell death and the Deuill he besought his Father that he would not forsake him in the middest of so great distresses
nor deliuer him into the power of death crauing none other thing at his Fathers hand but that our weakenes which he bare in his body might be deliuered from the power of the Deuill and death And this is the fayth whereupon we must now stay our selues that the punishmeÌ„t of sinne coÌ„mitted in our fleshe which was to be payd in the selfe same fleshe for the satiffying of the righteousnes of God hath bene discharged and payd in the fleshe of Iesus Christ which was ours And therefore Christ neuer fledd the death but this horrible feeling of the seueritie of God which required that he should be chastised with death for the sauing of vs. Wilt thou know from what affection and minde this voyce came I know not which way better to expresse it but euen by another speach comming from himselfe when as he sayd My God my God why hast thou forsaken me He calleth then these dead and buryed and those that were carryed into the land of forgetfulnes the forsaken people of God After this manner the saints who were taught by the spirite of God vsed not these speaches to dryue death away to thrust God back that called them but to the end they might â—schew the Iudgement wrath and seuerity of God by which they felt Gods chastisement with death And because they shall not thinke that I make this of mine owne head I aske this question to witt whether a â—aythfull man calleth a simple and naturall death the wrath and terror of God I thinke our sleapers are not so shameles as to dare to affirme this And yet the Prophet thus interpreteth this death in these places Psal 88.16 Thine indignations goe ouer me and thy feare hath troubled me He addeth besides many other thinges which apperteyne to the wrath of God Another place also there is which sayth For his anger lasteth but a while Psal 30.5 but in his fauour is lyfe But I exhort the Readers to run vnto the booke To the end they might haue a farre surer beliefe of these two whole psalmes and of the song of Ezechiah For by this meane they shall not be deceaued and I eftsoones shall get credite with those parties who reade them with a good and sound Iudgement And therefore thus I conclude thaâ— death in these places is to feel the wrath and horrible Iudgement of God and to be feareâ— and troubled with the feeling thereof Euen so Ezechiah seing that he must leaue the Realme tâ— be put out for a spoile to the enemies and that he leaft no children of whome might descenâ—… the hope of the Gentiles his soule was troubled with thesâ— thinges which were signes and tokens of Gods anger and punishment and no signes of the feare of death For in deede hâ— afterward dyed without desiering to be deliuered from death To be short I confesse thaâ— death of it selfe is euill because it is the curse and punishment for sinne For on the one side iâ— is of it selfe full of feare and desolation and on the other side it driueth those who feele that God sendeth it them in his anger for their punishment eueâ— to the very last cast of desperation And there is but one seasoning which is able to mittigate or ease this so great sharpnes of death and that is to know in the middest of the anguishes thereof that God is fauorable and a mercifull Father and hath Christ for his guide and companion Now as many as are not thus seasoned death is to them confusion and euerlasting destruction Wherefore it is impossible for them to prayse God in death And as for this verse The dead prayse thee not c. Is a conclusion of the prayses of the people geuing thankes vnto God because he defended them from daunger by his mighty power This is then the meaning If the Lord had suffered vs to be ouercome and that we had fallen vnder the power of ouer enemies They would then haue lifted themselues vp agaynst his Maiestie and gloryed in them selues that they had ouercome the God of Israell But now after the Lord had suppressed and abated their pride and after that he had deliuered vs from the cruelty of our enemies through a mighty hand and an outstretched arme the Gentiles could not say where is now their God who shewed himselfe in very deede to be the liuing God Neither can his mercy come euer in questioÌ„ which he so notably hath manifested And here they whome God hath forsaken and whose power and louing kindenes they haue not felt are called dead As if he had forsaken his people through the crueltie and vnmercifulnes of the wicked This saying is fully confirmed by the prayer that is set downe in the booke of the prophet Baruck There it is sayd O Lord open thine eyes Baruck 2.17.18 and behold for the dead that are in the graues and whose soules are out of their bodies geue vnto the Lord neither prayse nor righteousnes But the soule that is vexed with the greatnes of sinne and he that goeth crookedly and weake and the eyes that fayle and the hongry soule wil geue thee praise and righteousnes O Lord. In this place without doubt a man may very well see that vnder the name of the dead are comprehended all these which are afflicted and throwne downe by the hand of God and fallen into destruction and that a sorrowfull rent and torne soule is such a one as being voyde of her owne power and not staying it selfe vpon her owne confidence runneth vnto the Lord calleth vpon him and looketh for helpe at his handes If any man would take all these thinges as it were by the discribing of a person he may soone haue an easy order to come to the manifest laying of them opeÌ„ because that in persons the deed is taken and when we heare this saying of the dead in this sence is meant death For the Lord winneth no commendatioÌ„ for his mercy goodnes when as he afflicteth punisheth and destroyeth although the punishmentes be iust But euen then createth he a people vnto himselfe to sing and celebrate the prayse of his goodnes when he deliuereth those who are afflicted cast downe and fallen into despayre and lifteth them agayne into hope But because these sleapers might not wrangle and say that we runne into crooked figures I auÌ„swere that these thinges may also be taken without any figure In the second place I haue sayd that there might be a naughty and false conclusion of these places that the sayntes after they are dead are no body and doe no longer prayse the Lord. But I say agayne that they rather prayse him which is they tell fourth and declare the benefites of God vnto others who doe prayse him And these wordes doe not onely beare this sence but doe also requier it For to declare and tell fourth and that the father geueth his children knowledge is not to conceiue the glory of God in spirite and vnderstanding