more shall it bee so in the last recoÌ„pense that either of themshal become a griefe and burden to others Here is then to bee taken vp that greate difference which is between the death of the Christian and of the worldling in the death of the wicked all sorts of deathes concurres â—hereas the Christian suffers but Aliquid mortis a peece of death to wit the dissolution of his earthly house the Serpent can doe no more to him but manducare terram eius fasten his teeth vpon his earthly parte as to the heauenly soule it falles not vnder the danger of death So that the vantage is greate which the Christian hath ouer his enemies in that the death which the wicked shall die the Christian is exempted from it but that parte of death which hee shall suffer and they are able to inflict vpon him they themselues shall shall not escape it Iezabel may make her vow to haue the head of Elijah but how little effect there is in such furie of flesh is manifest in that same example for God preserued his seruant safe and her own head was giuen in a prey to the dogges and they like the Burrios of the Lord deuoured her leauing nothing but the skull of her head and palms of her hands why then shall we bee affraid of them who are not exempted from that doome which in their greatest anger they giue vpon vs when it was tolde Anaxagoras the Philosopher that by his enemies meanes he was condemned to die he neuer troubled himself for the matter but made this answere Iam olim istam sententiam tulit natura in illos aeque ac in me that long since nature had giuen out the sentence of death vppon them as well as vppon him If such strength was in any Ethnik what should there bee in any Christian But beside this the excellent benefits wee receiue by death should confirme vs against all the terrors and paines thereof for first it relieues vs of much euill for by it our dayes of sinne are finished and wee are deliuered from the miseries of this life If wee had beene immortall in this this miserable mortality our estate had been most lamentable euen the Ethniks by the light of â—ature vnderstood that it was a great benefite that the bodie was but Mortale vinculuÌ„ animae a temporal or mortall band of the soule and they gaue the reason Ne semper huius vitae miserijs anima tener etur least the soule should be for euer deteyned vnder the miseries of this wretched life but praised bee God this comfort is made sure to vs by a clearer light that our soules shall not for euer be deteyned in the bodie as in a house of bondage but that shortly they shall bee deliuered and that in so wonderfull a manner that death which is the daughter of sinne shall become the destroyer of her owne mother for vnto the Christian death is a perfite mortification of all his earthly members Neither are we by it onely deliuered from euill but also entred to the fruition of our greatest good for as a cloud dissolued giues vs cleare sight of the Sun which before was obscured froÌ„ vs or as the doors of the prison being opened by the Angel made a faire way to Peter to come out and enter into IerusaleÌ„ so is it dissolutio corporis absolutio est animae the dissolution of the body is the absolution of the soule as the snare being broken the bird escapeth so the body being dissolued Euadit reclusa intus columba hoc est anima the soule hath a readie way to the face of God There is wrought by death as saith the Apostle both a dissolution and a coniunction The cause why death seemes terrible to many is for that they look to the dissolution and not to the coÌ„iunction the dissolution is of the soule froÌ„ the body the coniunction is of the soule with Christ if theÌ„ we be affraid when wee looke to the dissolution let vs also looke to the coniunction and be comforted I desire to bee dissolued there the dissolution and to be with Christ there the coniunction VVe vse commonly to call death a departure and so it is a departure from them who are deere vnto vs but to them who are more deere and therefore should we not so much be grieued at our departure from that company we leaue behinde vs as reioyced by thinking of that blessed fellowship which is before vs for we returne to our father from whom we came to our eldest brother whom we haue not yet seene but long to see him because we loue him to the company of innumerable Angels to the Congregation of the first borne and to the Spirits of iust and perfite men But here two things must bee remooued which impaire this comfort and makes death seeme much more terrible then it is indeede The first is the fear of punishment after death but in verie deede quid hoc ad mortem quod post mortem est Why shall death bee blamed for that which falles out after death Acerbitas non mortis est sed culpae the bitternesse is not in death but in sinne let a man therefore purge his conscience and death shall neither bee fearefull nor bitter vnto him As a Serpent wanting the sting may be put in our bosom without perrill so if sinne which is the sting of death be taken away wee may boldly welcome death yea embrace it without feare it cannot hurt vs. The other cause is that men apprehend death to be the destruction of man but in very truth it is not so but rather as I said the absolution of man it is neyther totall for it onely dissolues the bodie nor yet perpetuall Some Ethnikes falsly called it Aeternus Somnus it is a sleepe indeed but not eternall for in the resurrection the body shall bee wakened and raised vp againe so then Non mors ipsa sed opinio de morte est terribilis it is not death it selfe but an opinion of death which is terrible for since it translates vs from this present euill world vnto euerlasting life I know not said Nazianzen how it can be called death it being Nomine magis quaÌ„ re sormidabilis fearefull in name rather then in deede The separation of the soule from God that is death the separation of the soule from the body Vmbra tantummodo est mortis is onely the shaddow of death and therefore such as are dead not in â—he soule but in the flesh non vera morte sed vmbra tantum mortis oâ—eriri dicuntur are not said to be truely dead but only couered with the shaddow of death VVe are not then to looke vpon death in the glasse of the lawe but in the mirrour of the Gospel life looked vpon with the eyes of nature seemes a better thing then it is couered as it
shame and confusion should be vpon vs and if wee preuent it not we may certainly looke for it Quo enim diutius expectat Deus eo districtius indâ—cabit The second reason that hath mooued the godly sometime to desire a prolongation of their daies is that they might doe the greater good in the body and therefore Dauid considering that they who are gone to the graue cannot praise God to witâ—punc as we doe who are clad with our bodies on earth â—e praies God to releeâ—e him of the heauie sicknesse vndeâ— which he lay And this same also made the holy Apostle to doubt what he should chuse whether to liue in thâ— flesh or to bee loosed from the body thâ— one beeing best foâ— himselfe the othâ—r better for the Church oâ— God And herein alsâ— we are admonished to embrace the Apostleâ— counsell while ye haue time be doing good to all men eâ—pecially to them who are of the family of faith and our Sauiours warning that wee should worke so long as the twelue howers of the day laste But this conuinces thâ— blockish stupiditie of many whom God hath suffred to liue but they do no more praise him nor if they were dead and buried And the thiâ—d motiue is the loue of the body Ineffahilis enim est animi ad corpus affectus And no maruell is it that the soul be loath to sunder from the owne body consâ—dering that the body was created in the greate wisedome and goodnesse of God to bee a companion to the soul and this reason the Apostle touches heere in the subsequent words while he saith because wee would not bee vnclothed for heerein hee declares that the cause why with sighing hee desired to bee clothed with his hoâ—se which is from heauen was not any mislâ—king hee had of the body for hee protests now if it might please the Lord he desired not to want it And this desire in it selfe is not euill otherway it could not bee in those soules which are glorified in heauen for euen they long for their bodies as beeing imperfect without them for by the first creation â—s I said they were made companions and therefore the one of them without the other cannot rest in contentment the body without the soule it is as we see but a dead stocke or carrion of flesh whatsoeuer thing is pleasant in the body be it quicknesse of sense agilitie colour or beauty it hath it all of the presence of the soul in it the soule againe suppose glorified in heauen yet rests not in full contentment till it bee revnitâ—d againe with the body declaring therby that without it it cannot be perfited Consortium enim carnis spiritus non requireret si absque illa consummaretur The soule would not desire the fellowship of flesh if without it it could be perfited but God hath so prouided that souls without their bodies nec velint nec valeant consummari neither will nor can be consummat And therefore is it that the souls while they haue their bodies desire not to want them and while they want them are not content till againe they receaue them And of al this we are warned what great neede wee haue to prepare our selues in time with willingnesse to remoue out of the body for since the Apostle protests that it was greuous to him to suffer the want of his body wee may easily thinke that in regarde of our greater infirmities it wil be much more greeuous vnto vs and therefore are wee to endeuour by grace to make our selues willing to die since by nature we are so vnwilling to it And to this end let vs reuerence the working of our God who seasons the pleasures of our life with many paines and giues vs much bitternesse as Nahomi spake of herselfe to abate the comfort of our beauty while as by heauy troubles crosses hee makes our life vnpleasant and our bodies a burden to our selues This the Lord doth for no other ende but that wee may bee made coÌ„tent willingly to quit our bodies for a time whereas other way if they continued in their vigour and health we wold be loath to want them That mortality might be swallowed vp The Apostle makes cleare in these words that which he hath spoken before obscurely hee wishes so to enter into life if it might please the Lord that he went not to it by the way of mortality but so that mortality might be swallowed vp of that life hee desires not then to keepe still the body and sinne and death in the body this were to put on a garment of immortality vpon the rotten ragges of mortall flesh this were to desire to be glorious without while in the meane time filthy rottennesse and corruption is within the Apostle craues no such thing neither indeede can any such thing be but his desire is so to haue his body preserued and translated into that life that sinne in the body and mortality flowing from sinne were swallowed vp in such sort that no footestep neither of the one nor of the other were â—emaining in the body And this desire also at the length wil be performed in all the children of God when â—his triumphant song shall bee put in their mouthes O Death where is thy Sting O' Graue where is thy victory The Sting of Death is Sinne the strength of Sinne is the Law But thankes bee to God who hath giuen vs victory through our Lord Iesus Againe wee are to marke here the excellencie of that life whereunto wee are begotten againe that it is such a life as shall swallow vp all mortality and not suffer so much as any antecedent or consequent of death to remaine in vs The Apostle saieth that death hath raigned from the dayes of Adam like a tyrant swallowing vp in the wide mouth gulfe of mortalitie al generations that haue beene sensyne like the great depth of the Ocean supping vp in her bosome al the riuers of the earth but there wil be a chaÌ„ge for that life for which we hope shal at length swallow vp Mortality death in her bosome all the paines and dolors that goes before it all the rottennesse and corruption that followes after it yea not so much as a teare shall be left in the face of Gods children far les shall any remanents of that poyson wherewith Satan infected our nature bee left in it the Lord shall so illuminate vs with his light that no darkenesse shall be left in vs he shal so reuiue and quicken vs with his life that death shall vtterly bee abolished and he shall so refresh vs with the ioy of his countenance that all sorrow shall flye away yea so wonderfull shall the change be that as a drop of water powred into a great quantity of Wine doth lose the vâ—ry nature of it dum saporem vini inauit colorem and
except they bee sent I will not so be content with preaching that I neglect prayer because the ministrie is of men but the grace is from God neither will I so depend on prayer that I despise preaching for hee can neuer receaue grace froÌ„ God who despises the means by which it pleases God to giue it Now as to the fourth whereof wee promised to speake it is a point most necessary to bee knowne for our comfort how we may know whether if or not wee haue receiued this spirit there are many in this age who haue heard the Testimony of God in his Gospell who as yet haue not receiued the seale and Testimony A very lamentable thing indeed for albeit the Gospell be a doctrine of ioyful tydings yet what comfort can it bring to theÌ„ who are not assured they belong vnto theÌ„ The Apostle writing to the Corinthians thaÌ„ks God not onely for that they had hard the word but because the testimony of God was confirmed vnto theÌ„ suchlâ—ke to the â— phefiaÌ„s he thaÌ„ks God not onely for that they heard the word of truth which is the Gospel of saluation but álso for that after they had beleeued they were sealed with the holy spirit of promise but truly as the disciples at Ephesus being asked if they had receiued the holy Ghost answered we know not if there be such a thing as an holy Ghost so is it with many in this age who haue heard the gospel which is the testimonie of Gods loue if they bee asked whether if or not they haue receaued the earnest of the Spirit which is the seale and confirmation of the testimonie shall bee found not to knowe what the earnest of the Spirit is But now to shew in one worde how it may be knowne wheâ—her if or not wee haue receaued him let vs remember that the same holy Spirit which is heere called the earnest of God is also called the seale of God Now the nature and vse of a seale is that it leaues behinde it in that which is stamped by it and impression of that same forme which it hath in it selfe Euen so also the Spirit of God imprints the very image of God in the hearts of so many as are sealed by him in which sense the Apostle sayes that the Romanes were deliuered vnto a forme of doctrine whereunto from the heart they had been obedient thereby declaring that euen as wax is made conforme to the print of the seale vnto which it is deâ—iuered so the hearts of the Godly are made conforme to the Image of God so soone as they are stamped with his holy spirit So that they who liue licenâ—iously after the lusts of the flesh declare themselues to be of their father the deuill because as our Sauiour said to the carnall Iewes they doe his workes and it is but a lying presumption when the like to these men dare say that they haue receiued the earnest of the spirit VER 6. Therefore we are bold FOllowes now the 2. conclusioÌ„ which the certain knowledge of that glory to come wrought in the Apostle to wiâ—te a contentment with boldnes to remooue out of the body that hee might dwel with the Lord and this hath in it more tâ—en is in the former for where in the 1. he protested only he had a desire to that glory yet so that he had no wil to want the body but now hee goes further considering that hee was not able to enioy them both together he protests he was gladly conteÌ„t to remoue out of the body that hee might dwell with the Lorde This meaning of the wordes shall bee cleare if after the sixt verse wee reade the eight passing by the parenthesis which is in the seuenth verse The word the Apostle vses heere signifies such a boldnes as stout-hearted men vse to set against great daungers for where there is no cause of feare where can the praise of boldnesse be there is then will the Apostle say matter of great feare in death I see before mee a terrible deepe and gulfe of mortality through which I must goe many fearefull enemies with whom I must fight before I wonne to my Lord yet am I not affraid to encounter with them Against me is Satan with his principalities powers and spirituall wickednesse but I know that the seede of the woman hath brused the head of the Serpent Against mee are a greate multitude of my sinnes â—nd the terrors of a gilty conscience but I know that Christ hath once suffered for sinnes the iust for the vniust that â—ee might bring vs to God so that now there is no condemnation to tâ—em which are in him Against me stands in my way dreadfull death with the horrors of the graue but I know my Lord hath taken away the sting of death and spoiled the graue of victorie Shall I then bee afraide No certainely but through the vally of death will I walke with boldnâ—s â—ill I come to the Lord my God And this boldnesse against death in the godly proceedes not onely from the sure knowledgâ— of a better life but from the present sense and feeling of the same life begunne in them which they know cannot be extinguished by death Notable examples haue we therof in all ages to proue that it is no vaine content but the effectuall power of God working in his children Ignatius Bishop of Antioch beiâ—g brought to Rome in the third persecution which was vnder Traian gaue a proofe of his boldnesse for being condemned to be cast to the beasts to bee deuoured by them hee gaue this answere nihil visibilium nihil inuisibilium moror modo Christum acquiram I stand sayes hee vpon nothing visible nothing inuisible so that I may finde and obtaine the Lord Iesus let fire come let the crosse let beasts let the breaking of my bones the convulsion of my members the grinding of my body yea let all the torments of Satan come vpon me I care not for them so that I may inioy the Lord Iesus And Policarpe who suffered in the fourth persecution vnder Aurelius Antoninus beeing brought to the place of execution and desired by the Emperours Deputy to blaspheme Christ and he would let him goe answered these fourescore and sixe yeares haue I serued Christ and haue found him a good Master to mee how then can I curse my king who hath saued me But if ye will not saide the deputy I will cast thee to wilde Beasts who shall teare thee Call them when thou wilt said the Martyr it is fixed and determinat with mee that from good thinges by repentance I will neuer goe back vnto worse But if ye feare not beasts said the Deputy I shall bridle and danton you with fire thou boasts me said the Martyr with a fire that burnes for an houre and shortly after will be extinguished but knowes not that fire of the iudgement to