manifested in the Creatures Weakness From Vers 6. We may take notice it was ever in Christ's intention to manifest his Love and Goodness to Lazarus and yet he comes not near him for the present but rather goes away and leaves him upon his sick Bed and suffers him at last to give up the Ghost From Vers 14. We may observe that Christ his absence or the suspension of divine Grace and Love they are in infinite Wisdom ordered for the further advancing of Soul Comfort Had not Lazarus been sick had he not been dead and buryed the Wisdom Power and Goodness of Christ had never been so eminently discovered as it was towards him Martha and Mary cry out v. 21 32. Lord if thou hadst been here our Brother had not died It is true Christ might have recovered Lazarus upon his sick-bed but to fetch him out of the Grave after he had lain stinking four days was a higher demonstration of his Love Wisdom and Power There is not the like ground that Christ should shew forth his miraculous Power in raising up our dead Friends from the Grave as was then yet this special and useful conclusion may by way of Analogy be deduced from this instance namely That such Comforts and Mercies as are fetched out of the Grave as have had a sentence of Death pass'd upon them they are ever sweetest and tend most to Gods Glory Isaac had never been so precious to his Father Abraham had he not been so miraculously restored from dying as he was once But we shall hasten to see what is the cause of Christ his weeping and what the cause was you may see ver 32 33 34 35 36 when Christ saw Mary come weeping towards him having her heart running over with Grief for the departure of her Brother Christ groaned in Spirit and was troubled when they told him where dead Lazarus lay he wept as my Text expresseth Jesus Wept Oh Men and Angels stand and wonder to all Eternity When you read these two words Jesus wept What doth Mary's weeping set Jesus Christ a weeping Doth Mary and Martha shed Tears for the Death of Lazarus and doth Christ his Heart even bleed within him to see them troubled and mourning upon the same account so the word in the Greek seems to import 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he troubled himself his own heart stirred up his Affections to be troubled Doth Christ weep upon the consideration of Lazarus Death Then hence we may learn that a moderate sorrowing for Friends departed is lawful tho excessive Sorrow is very unsuitable to a Gospel Frame of Spirit Solomon tells us There is a time for Weeping and Paul tells us We should weep as though we wept not But to come to the thing I chiefly intend and that is the occasion of Christs weeping which was the death of Lazarus a good man whence I shall observe and prosecute this Doctrine That it is a Christ-like temper of mind to be deeply affected with and to weep over the death of such as are truly pious Here 's Lazarus a good man in his grave and Christ he weeps over him you have a weeping Christ over a dead Lazarus When old Jacob an eminent person was buried it 's said Gen. 50. 10. That they mourned with a great and sore lamentation and that for 7 days together And so when Moses died and was buried by a secret hand it 's said the Children of Israel mourned for him 30 days Deut. 34. 8. My dearly beloved you have lost a Moses one that was valiant for God in former times when the people of God in England were coming out of Egypt and he hath been an eminent leader to the saints in their wilderness state and God did often take him to the top of Pisgah and gave him there glorious visions and that not onely of heavenly Canaan but also of that glorious land of rest and righteousness that the Saints shall injoy in this world Now that such a Moses should be taken off in the Wilderness while the people of God are yet short of this good Land is matter of great humiliation Likewise you find the same spirit in those Christians Acts 20. that Paul the great Apostle of the Gentiles did there take his farewel of saying ver 25. And now behold I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God shall see my face no more It 's said 37 38 verses And they all wept sore and fell on Pauls neck and kissed him Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more Now by all this it appears that it is both the duty and property of a Christian such an one as hath been baptized into the spirit of Jesus to be deeply affected with and weep over the death of such as are truly pious especially when they are eminent for use and service to Christ and his people We shall now give you the reasons why it is so and cannot be otherwise but that gracious persons must needs weep over the death of good men First Because every stroke in this kind puts a serious heart in mind of its own mortality tells us that we are dying creatures and that 's a very serious consideration to every awakened soul The living the living will lay it to heart saith Solomon Eccl. 7. 2. Alas my Brethren 't is a serious thing to dye And the stroke of death upon others tells us that die we must and how soon we know not This Evening sun may see us dead it went out Early this morning to score us out this lodging of a Tomb. And oh happy thrice happy is that person that can die well Now such strokes as these put a serious soul in miâ—d of dying There 's none present knows who may go to the grave next That 's the First but then 2. It Springs from that Sympathy that is both in nature and grace first in nature when God takes away a husband a Father a Child c. this cuts deep and affects much Abraham he mourns over beloved Sarah David over Absolon though a rebellions son To be stupid and not to mind the hand of God when he smites our near and dear relations doth declare that we do not onely want grace but natural affection And then in Grace there is also a great sympathy if God smites one member of the Church the rest are affected with it If a Paul a Minister of Christ â—â—pâ—stor a spiritual Father comes to take his farewell of his people and tell them that they shall never see his face more Oh What weeping and mourning and lamenting is there at his departure 3. The perishing of good men is a just cause of weeping and that because they are a great blessing to the nations cities families c. where they are cast It fares either the better or the worse with such places for their sake When God destroyed the old world the family of Noah
Providence in the frequent Examples of Mortality before us continually and in our own sensible Approaches to the Gates of Death I say besides these and infinite more this Mourning-Ring by Gods blessing and our endeavours may prove no small furtherance in our Pilgrimage The whole Work being the most Comprehensive history of Death and Funeral Monuments yet extant each Sermon and Meditation therein is as a several Legacy bequeathed by those upon the Occasion of whose Deaths they were written as by so many Testators who themselves have made a real Experiment of Mortality and left these for our Instruction that surviveve them It is true the dayly Examples of Mortality are so many real Lectures that by a kind of Dumb Oratory perswade us to expect our End but as they are Transcient so our Thoughts of them Vanish Therefore it can be no small Advantage to have always before us this Mourning Ring which will abundantly furnish us with Meditations in this kind and be still constantly putting of us in Mind of our Departed Friend It was a Custom in former times for Great Men to make them Sepulchres in their Gardens to mind them of Death in the midst of the Pleasures of this Life This present Work may not unfitly be termed a Garden wherein whosoever takes a dayly walk will find that Titles of Honour are written in Dust and that Princes and Great Men must Die that their very Monuments are Mortal and will in time be found as Archemedes his Tomb by Cicero in vepretis overgrown with Thorns and Briars And that even Poor Men too who have no Comet Prodigy or Earthquake to Toll the Knell of their Departure But who do as it were steal into their silent Graves with no greater noise than can be made by a Branch of Rosemary Sprig of Lawrel or a Black Ribband have Precious and Immortal Souls to save as well as they with the Methods and Courses both should take to get Saving Grace and the Knowledge of Christ which will prove a Possession for them to Eternity In a word be thy Estate and Condition what it will be here thou maist have both Directions to guide thee and Comforts to support thee in thy Journey on Earth till thou arrive at thy Heavenly Countrey The Author of this Mourning-Ring spent a great part of his Time in Holy and Devout Contemplations upon the things of another Life as this Excellent Piece of his sufficiently shews Missenden gave him Breath And Cambridge Education His Studies are of Death Of Heaven his Meditation His great Care was so to fit and prepare himself for a Happy Death whilst in the World that after this Life ended he might enjoy Eternal Happiness in that which is to come Let us then imitate so great a pattern of Piety that so when we come to Die we may have nothing to do but to Die and willingly to resign up our Souls into the Hands of Almighty God And now being refreshed with these Fragrant Leaves what shall I say Blessed Author art thou yet Alive Breathe longer in this Fruitful Air and extract more out of this so Rich a Stock A Scribe so well Instructed cannot have spent all but must have new or old to bring out of his Treasury Do not hide but improve thy Talent be not only a good and wise but a faithful Steward and yield us more of thy pleasant Fruits Thou hast begun well who what shall hinder thee Thy present were there no succeeding Reward is Spur enough to future Work Religion is Recreation and Heaven is the way to Heaven Good Men are there on this side the Grave Thy longing Soul was still peeping into it and sending thy Thoughts as Spies to view this Promised Land But art thou at Rest from thy Labours This among others thy Work follows thee and hath here erected thy lasting Monument Where ever thou wer 't Buried Obscurity shall not swallow thee Every good Heart that knew thee is thy Tomb and every Tongue writes thee an Epitaph Good Men speak well of thee but above all God delights in thee Thy Thoughts were still fluttering upwards richly fraught with Divine Meditations and ever aspiring till unlading themselves in the Bosom of thy Beloved We are hugely thankful that a few dropt from thee for the Comfort and Example of fainting weeping Mortals below Thou lived'st in deed whilst others live only in shew and hast changed thy Place but not thy Company But my Paper is short and my time shorter I must therefore conclude for the Book is wholly Printed and stops only until I have told thee that I am Thy Friend and Servant till Death c. In Praise of the Author of the Mourning-Ring with the Explanation of the Frontispiece Annext to his Book WIth sighs and groans and plunged Eyes attend The doleful Map of every Mortals End Enter the Sable House of Weeping see The lively Scene of Humane Misery Our Reverend Author could not stop a stream Of tears when treating on so sâ—d a Theme Survey these pious Lines and there you 'l find The lively Pourtraict of the Authors Mind In tears he preacht with tears he seem'd to write And may be term'd the Christian Heraclite He wrote he spoke 'em thus whoever says Needs not another word to speak their praise Since all must follow him or soon or late His pattern let us strive to imitate Our Entrance and our Exit seem to meet Our Swadling Bands almost our Winding-sheet Poor Man from Mother Earth does just arise Then looks abroad returns again and dies Some forty years perhaps with much ado He has prolong'd his tedious Life unto Then under Griefs and Cares he sinks away His Carkass mouldring into native Clay See where his Friends surround the Sacred Urn Where all his fond Relations fondly Mourn And when the Solemn Bell does sadly call The drooping Pomp attends his Funeral How he from Fortunes store can only have A narrow Coffin and a scanty Grave Happy thrice happy they who had the Grace To fix their Treasures in a better place Who e're from hence they did their Lodgings move Were careful to lay in a Stock above Those Death may wound but never can destroy Their House of Weeping proves an House of Joy W. S. Another on the Frontispiece SEest thou frail Man the Emblem of thy State Th' exact Idea of thy hasting Fate The Figure 's drawn to th' Life yea ev'ry part Is grac'd and deckt with more than Zeuxian Art The first Scene shows when Man 's laid out for dead When th' sprightly Soul from the Body 's gone and fled His mournful Friends no longer can endure The lifeless Corps therefore they do immure And shut it close up in a Sable Hearse As totally unfit for all Commerce O're which they showre such store of tears that they Mourning exhaust their Moisture and decay With sorrow wounded Hearts they sob and cry Themselves to death they take their turns to die Because one's death from th'
and no wonder for it is not founded upon Honour Beauty wealth or any other sinister respect in the party beloved which is subject to Age or Mutability but only on the Grace and Piety in him which Foundation because it always lasteth the love which is built upon it is also perpetual Part thee and me Death is that which parteth one Friend from another Then the dear Father must part with his dutiful Child then the dutiful Child must forget his Dear Father then the kind Husband must leave his constant Wife then the constant Wife most lose her kind Husband then the careful Master must be sundred from his industrious Servant then the industrious Servant must be sundred from his careful Master Yet this may be some comfort to those whose Friends death hath taken away that as our Disciples Yet a little while and you shall not see me and yet a little while and you shall see me again So yet a little while and we shall not see our Friends and yet a little while and we shall see them again in the Kingdom of Heaven for not mittuntur sed praemittuntur we do not forego them but they go before us When thou art enter'd into the House of Weeping fall down on thy knees and say OH Lord our God in thee and by thee we live move and have our Being As thou didst at the first breath into Man the Breath of Life and he became a living Soul so when thou shalt be pleased to command that Breath again out of Mans Body then will he presently become a dead Carkass and so short is the Life of Man that many times he doth but cry and Die yea sometimes his Mothers Womb doth prove his Tomb so that he doth not once cry to tell the World that he did once Live Neither is the Thread of Mans Life at any time spun so strong but at one word of thy Mouth it is soon snapt in two Seeing therefore we do but Live to Die we beseech thee Oh blessed God let us Die to Live let us live well that so we may die well let Death never surprize us unlooked for or unprepared nor let it ever seize upon us in an unconverted unregenerate State Good Lord let us not so live as to be ashamed to live any longer or to be afraid to look grim Death in the Face when it comes to separate our Souls from our Bodies and to summon them to make their appearance before the great Judge of the Quick and Dead Let us with thy Servant Job wait all our appointed time untill our Change doth come Seeing it will be our greatest Wisdom to wait for Death which always waits for us and to expect that at all times which will come at some time and may come at any time Let us Pray and Preach and Hear and so spend our time as those who know and consider that all they do they do it for Eterninity and we shall never have but one Cast for Eternity Heaven and Glory is here to be won or lost for ever Blessed God thou hast taught us in thy Word that it is better to go to the House of Weeping than to the House of â—easting for that is the end of all men and thou hast said That the Living will lay it to heart Oh Lord we are this day come to the House of Mourning and Weeping and we have seen the end of one yea of many of our Friends and Acquaintance within a short space of time and in the Death of our Friends we may read our own Death and yet shall not we who are lest behind them in the Land of the Living lay these awakening instances of Mortality to heart shall we hear and see daily our nearest and dearest Relations giving up the Ghost and departing out of this into another World and yet shall we once think that we shall ever live to enjoy the Pleasures of this present evil World But seeing Lord this World is a dying World and all its glory is a dying Glory let our Minds and Hearts therefore be set upon the Glory of Heaven which is a never fading Glory Oh! did we believe and consider how much better â— Believers future Estate will be than his present State is then should we think that Timâ— is too long before we do and that Eternâ—â— will be too short when we shall enjoy our gracious Redeemer upon his Throne of Glory Let us ever live as those that have one Foot in thâ— Grave already Thousands and Millions yea innumerable Millions of Thousands are gone to their Graves before us and do we think thaâ— we that are but enlivened Dust animated Shadows dying Lumps of Clay can keep our Bodies from being a Feast for Worms or ouâ— Souls from seeking new Lodgings in another World Oh! let us therefore every day â—â— looking into our Graves and familiarize Death unto our Thoughts before it comes let us consider how many signal Admonitions thoâ— dost daily give us of our approaching end Iâ— not every Distemper and Sickness of Body as it were a little Death and a fair Warning to put us in mind of our last Change The Grey Hairs which are here and there upon our Heads the deep wrinkles which are engraven upon our Foreheads the loss of Teeth the Dimness oâ— Sight our Deafness in Hearing our Palsie hands our feeble trembling Limbs and the frequenâ— Sight of seeing Friends laid out in their Winding Sheets for Dead and carried to their Houses oâ— Clay the silent Grave are Circumstances anâ— Symptoms serving to remind us that the time draws near wherein we must die and that our departure is at hand Let us therefore live as dying Men and let us die as Living Christians let us set our House and our Heart in order remembring the Text It is appointed for all Men once to Die but after this the Judgment The Mourners being all come first sing the following Psalms and after that Read part of 1 Cor. Chap. 15. to bring your minds into a serious frame Psalm 39. I Said I will look to my ways for fear I should go wrong will take heed all times that I offend not with my Tongue As with a bit I will keep fast my mouth with fource and might Not once to whisper all the while the wicked are in â—ight I held my Tongue and spake no word but kept me close and still Yea from good talk I did refrain but sore against my will My Heart waxt hot within my breast with musing thought and doubt Which did increase and stir the fire at last these Words burst out Lord number out my Life and days which yet I have not past So that I may be certify'd how long my Life shall last Lord thou hast pointed out my Liâ—e in length much like a Span Mine age is nothing unto thee so vain is every Man Man walketh like a shade and doth in vain himself annoy In getting goods and cannot tell who shall
the same enjoy Now Lord sith things this wise do frame what help do I desire Of truth my help doth hang on thee I nothing else require The Second Part. From all the sins that I have done Lord quit me out of hand And make me not a scorn to Fools that nothing understand I was as dumb and to complain no trouble might me move Because I knew it was thy work my patience for to prove Lord take from me thy scourge and plague I can them not withstand I faint and pine away for fear of thy most heavy hand When thou for sin dost Man Rebuke he waxeth wo and wan As doth a Cloth that Moths have fret so vain a thing is Man Lord hear my suit and give good heed regard my Tears that fall I sojourn like a stranger here as did my Fathers all O spare a little give me space my strength for to restore Before I go away from hence and shall be seen no more Psalm 90. Ver. 3 4 5 6 10 11. THou grindest Man through grief and Pain to dust or clay and then And then thou say'st again Return again ye sons of Men. The lasting of a thousand years what is it in thy sight As yesterday it doth appear or as a watch by night So soon as thou dost scatter them then is their Life and Trade All as a sleep and like the grass whose beauty soon doth fade Which in the Morning shines full bright but fadeth by and by And is cut down ere it be night all withered dead and dry Our time is threescore years and ten that we do live on mold If one see fourscore surely then we count him wondrous old Yet of this time the strength and chief the which we count upon Is nothing else but painful grief and we as blasts are gone 1 Cor. 15. Ver. 19 20 21 22 26 50 51 52 53 54 55. IF in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept For since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive The lost enemy that shall be destroyed is death Now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption Bihold I shew you a mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy Victory THE HOUSE OF Weeping Sermon I. John 11. 35. Jesus Wept WE may learn from the Example of Our blessed Saviour how we are to behave our selves what we are to do in the Sickness and Death of Friends In this World we are all Bennonies the Sons of Sorrow The way to Heaven is by Weeping Cross The Kalender tells us we come not to Ascention Day till the Passion Week be past It is the great work of a Preacher to consider the state of the people to whom he preaches so to prepare his work before hand as that he may hit the mark The Preacher sought out acceptable words now generally those words are most acceptable to and best received by the hearers that are suited to their present condition I considering therefore the secret hand of God upon this Congregation in taking away an eminent Servant of Christ thought it incumbent upon me to speak something at this time that might be suitable to the present dispensation of of God towards you and in meditations this Scripture was cast in Jesus Wept The occasion of this text is known unto you in the beginning of this Chapter you read that Lazarus was sick and the news thereof immediatly sent to Jesus who notwithstanding he dearly loved him yet as the sequel of the story acquaints you he doth not presently go up to Bethany to visit sick Lazarus but maketh a stay for several days the reason wherof is at hand viz. That a sentence of death might pass upon beloved Lazarus and he be laid in the grave and a stone rouled upon him and all this in order to the manifestation of the glory and power of Christ in his resurrection After Lazarus had been in the grave four days Christ he comes up to Bethany and the sisters of Lazarus viz. Martha and Mary they come out to meet Jesus first Martha she cometh ver 20. and she saith Lord If thou hadst been here my brother had not died ver 21. After this comes Mary verâ— 32 and she falls down at Christs feet saying Lord If thou hadst been here my brother had not died When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews a so weeping which came with her he groaned in the Spirit and was troubled and said where have ye laid him They say unto him Lord come and see Jesus wept There is very much wrapt up in the bowels of this little Text Here we may take notice of the humanity of Christ it appears by Christs weeping that he is perfect man as well as perfect God That Christ wept is to be referred not to his Divinity but to his Humanity and so we shall find that Christ was subject as to this so to all natural infirmities as hunger thirst weariness c. which may comfort the Saints that groan under natural as well as sinful infirmities and that from the reason why Christ was made in all things like unto his brethren namely That he might be a merciful High-priest Hebr. 2. 17 18. And though Christ be now in glory yet he is touched with the feeling of the infirmities of his people here on earth Hebr. 4. 15. so touched as that he cannot but have compassion on them under all their pressures and grievances whatsoever Do'st thou then groan under natural weaknesses and infirmities Go boldly to the Throne of grace and Christ will enable thee to bear up under these weaknesses until mortality shall have put on immortality The Subject Matter of this Chapter is Lazarus redivivus it is a Relation of the miraculous raising up of Lazarus from the Dead From vers 1 3. we may observe thus much that a Believers interest in the distingnishing love of Christ doth not exempt him from outward Troubles or bodily Distempers He whom thou lovest is sick From vers 4. We may observe thus much that the darkest Difpensations of Providence they oftentimes usher in the brightest manifestations of God to the Soul or Gods Glory is most
2. We should not any more love the World nor its Enjoyments and Pleasures seeing they will vanish in the twinkling of an Eye and after all the poor satisfaction they have given us fall into the dead Sea The Passing-Bells of others loudly tell us that Man in his best Estate is altogether Vanity Psal 39. 5. And what they have undergone will in a few days or hours more be our own Lot Though they are gone before we must tread in their steps and go the same way When that hour is come all our Friends and Acquaintance cannot hold us for we that now hear and move and speak shall fly away into a vast Expanse and not behold Man with the Inhabitants of this World any more Isa 38. 11. As we have seen the pale Looks and have heard the last Voice of others so shall we our selves in the like manner be made Spectacles of Mortality to those that remain after us We and all our Companions must take a long Farewel of each other and not meet again till the day of the general Resurrection And is it too soon to remember our Creator when we have seen many as Young as we are breathe their last And we that now mourn for others know not how soon our Friends may do the same for us and celebrate our Funerals When God took away many others that we knew he might at the same time or before have taken away you or me and why do we survive their Death but that we may set our House in Order The time is coming when Riches and Honour Health and Beauty Credit and Reputation among men will be of no value nor will Gold and Silver the Idols of this be currant in the next World We should not therefore be like those young people that are only serious in the House of Mourning or when they see their Friends carried to the Grave but iâ— the next vain Company suffer the Impressions of their Mortality to wear off again We must be always sober in our Conversation as not knowing when we our selves shall be gone only this we may know that as the Years we have already lived are soon past so will those that are to come with the same swift motion pass away The longest Life here on Earth is but as a moment if compar'd with the future Eternity 'T is as a flash of Lightning to the whole Element of Fire just seen and then vanish'd The Last Sigh MY dearest Children ye whom I love in the tender and yerning Bowels of Affection draw near and attend to the words of your dying Mother who am now sighing out my last breath A weak Woman ye see I am but yet sinful I am which peradventure ye see not O weep not my pretty ones do not pierce and break my troubled heart with your sad laments I must die my little ones and go to a better place whither ye I hope shall one day follow me We came not together into the World nor shall we go together out of it In vain do ye shed those Tears of Sorrow for although Nature teacheth you to bewail my departure yet Grace will teach you to moderate your Mourning My Heart even bleeds to leave you behind me fearing lest ye will forget the Commandments of your God I should be sorry to have just cause to say unto you as Moses did to the Levites yet I will put you in mind of his words Behold said he while I am yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death Deut. 3â— 27. I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt your selves and turn aside from the way which I commanded you and evil will befall you in the latter days because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands vers 29. But I am persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation though I thus speak Heb. 6. 9. O my dear ones hearken unto the words which I shall say They must be my Legacy unto you Hear me with patience and treasure up in your memories the last Speech of your Fainting your dying Mother How dear ye cost me before ye had life and what Pangs and Torments I suffered for you before ye were heard or seen in the World ye cannot imagine nor I express Yet all was forgotten for joy that ye were born Joh. 16. 21. and hoping that ye would add unto the Quire of Saints To this purpose I have laboured and taken care for the nourishment both of your Souls and Bodies and for your sustentation so much as in me lay from the Breast to this instant O what sad and perplexed thoughts have I had for you in the day times and how many hours have I borrowed from my sleep in the nights to think what would become of you if ye should not be obedient to the Commandments of my God! To the same God they are best known O how often upon my knees have I prayed for your happiness and wept and mourned when ye have done what ye ought not To him is it best known to whom I now am going Sometimes when ye have offended I was enforced to correct you but each stripe which ye received did cut me into the heart In many things ye failed because ye were young and in many things I failed too because I am a weak and a sinful Woman If at any time ye thought that I did not my Duty take heed that hereafter ye remember it not to my dishonour Ponder in your minds that curse which wretched Ham the Father of Canaan received from Noah when he saw his Nakedness and told his Brethren Cursed said Noah be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be to his Brethren Gen. 9. 25. But because Shem and Japhet took a Garment and laid it upon their Shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their Father and their faces were backward and they saw not their Fathers nakedness vers 23. Therefore he said Blessed be the Lord God of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant vers 26. God shall enlarge Japhet and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his Servant v. 27. Consider with your selves that I am your mother Whatsoever imperfections ye have discovered in me do in some kind reflect even upon your selves for as your Bodies were mine so my Credit and good Name you must account to be yours But I cannot think that ye will need more Advice for this which even Nature it self should teach you to practise My time is but short my Speech beginneth to fail me I will not trouble you with much although something more I must say unto you which I hope ye will remember when I shall sleep in the Dust Your first and chiefest Duty must always be for the service of your God If ye will daily observe the benefits which
between Heaven and Hell everlasting Joy and everlasting Torment for you find when the Beggar died which represents the Godly he was carried by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom or into everlasting Joy Psal 1. But the Ungodly are not so but are hurried by the Devils into the Bottomless Pit drawn away in their Wickedness Prov. 14. 32. for he saith And in Hell he lift up his Eyes when the Ungodly do die their misery beginneth for then appear the Devils like so many Lions waiting every moment till the soul depart from the Body sometimes they are very visible to the dying Party but sometimes more invisible But always this is certain they never miss of the soul if it do die out of the Lord Jesus Christ but do hale it away to their Prison as I said before there to be tormented and reserved until the great and dreadful day of Judgment at which day they must Body and Soul receive a final Sentence from the Righteous Judge and from that time be shut out from the Presence of God into everlasting woe and distress But the Godly when the time of their departure is at hand then are also the Angels of the Lord at hand yea they are ready waiting on the â—oul to conduct it safely into Abraham's Bosom â— do not say but the Devils oft-times are very buâ—ie doubtless and attending the Saints in their â—ickness yes and no question but they would willingly deprive the soul of Glory But here â—s the comfort as the Devils come from Hell â—o devour the soul if it be possible at it's deâ—arture so the Angels of the Lord come from Heaven to watch over and conduct the soul in spight of the Devil safe into Abraham's boâ—om David had the comfort of this and speaks it â—orth for the comfort of his Brethren Psal 34. â— saying The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them Mark the Angel of the Lord encampeth round about his Children to deliver them From what From their Enemies of which the Devil is not the least This is an excellent comfort at any time to have the holy Angels of God to attend a Poor Man or Woman but especially â—it is comfortable in the time of distress at the time of Death when the Devils beset the Soul with all the Power that Hell can afford them â—ut now it may be that the glorious Angels of God do not appear at the first to the view of the Soul nay rather Hell stands before it and the Devils ready as if they would carry â—t thither but this is the comfort the Angels do always appear at the last and will not fail â—he soul but will carry it safe into Abraham's â—osom Ah! Friends consider here is an ungodâ—y man upon his Death-bed and he hath none â—o speak for him none to speak comfort unto â—im but it is not so with the Children of God â—or they have the spirit to comfort them Here â—s the ungodly and they have no Christ to pray for their safe Conduct to Glory but the Saints have an Intercessor John 17. 9 Here is the World when they die they have none of the Angels of God to attend upon them but the Saints have their Company In a word the unconverted person when he dieth he sinks into the bettomless Pit but the Saints when they die do ascend with and by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom or into unspeakable Glory Luke 23. 34. And so let us consider the fourth and last part which is the Death of the Rich Man The Rich Man died also c. Here â—…e may again see that Death is the way of all flesh Death shaketh Cedar and Shrub Death calleth away the Rich man from his pleasure and Lazarus from his Pain and all must obey when Death calleth It is not the Majesty of a Prince nor Holiness of a Priest strength of Body feature of Face Wisdom Beauty Riches Honour nor any such secular regard can plead against Death or priviledge a man from the Grave Statutum est omnibus semel mori The Decree is out all must die once all must taste of this distasteful cup of death Let us know then that the Pale Horse and he that sitteth thereon whose name is Death comes running on towards us fall that is within us and without us are Remembrancers of Death The Sun rising in the East and setting in the West sheweth our rising and alling our coming in and going out of this World All cry unto us we must away we must away we must hence as Christ said My Kingdom is not of this World Death is a separation of the Soul from the Body the Husband separated from the Wife of his youth the Father separated from his Children whom he dearly loved the Children from their Parents the Master from his Servant and the Servant from his Master thus Parents and Friends ' and all must part The first circumstance of the Rich man is to know what became of his Body It was honourably buried But here we see that honourable Burial doth not profit the damned soul Tares are sown as well as Wheat in all times if the one grow up for the fire the other for the barn Gather the Tares in bundles and burn them but gather â—â—e Wheat into my barn Matth. 1. 30. But let us lastly consider what became of his Soul And being in Hell Torments c. But because â—one can so well relate miseries and none can deâ—cribe the torments of Hell so well as he that hath â—elt the same let the Rich man himself speak and â—et us hear him what he saith he being in Hell torâ—ents he thus beginneth O wretch that I am why did I sâ—ffer Lazarus to starve at my Gate â—or which I am shut in the Gates of Hell Why did not give Lazarus a crumb of Bread for which â— cannot have here now one drop of Water to cooâ—â—y tongue Why did I shew Lazarus no mercy oâ—â—arth for which no mercy is shewed to me in Hell â—hat shall I do for I am tormented in this flame â— will cry unto Abraham Abraham have mercy â— me and send Lazarus that he may dip the â— of his finger in water to cool my tongue I â— tormented here Abraham I am torn in pieces â—e Abraham I am plagued and continually pained â—e Abraham here my purple Rayment is flames â—â—re my light is darkness my day night my comâ—ions are Devils O how they hale me O how â— pull me O how they vex and torment me â—e my feet are scorched my hands are seared my â—t is wounded my eyes are blinded my ears are â—d my senses confounded my tongue is hot it is very hot send Lazarus therefore Abraham with a drop of Water to comfort me one drop good Abraham one drop of Water But Abraham answered him Thou damned wretch once thou didst disdain Lazarus once thou didst refuse Lazarus once thou didst scorn Lazarus now Lazarus shall disdain refuse
and scorn thee once thou stoppedst thine ears from the cry of Lazarus now he â—lops his ears from thy cry once thou turnedst away thy face from Lazarus now he turneth away his face from thee once thou deniedst crumbs to Lazarus now he denieth water to thee not a spoonful not a drop of water Oh Abraham but now if I had my goods I would give Lazarus all for a drop of Water Now if I had a million of Gold I would give it all for a drop of water now if I had a world of wealth I would give iâ— all to Lazarus therefore good Abraham one droâ— But he answered No not a drop Not a drop Then cursed be the day wherein I wâ— born and cursed be the night wherein I was conceived cursed be my Father that begot me and cursed be â— Mother that bare me cursed be the place that kâ— me cursed be the delicate Robes that cloathed me curâ— be the delicate Meat that fed me let me be most accâ—sed of all creatures both in Heaven and Earth And â— leave we him cursing who indeed was most accused and learn that the souls of the damned bâ—ing separated from their bodies are in Hâ— Torments But to conclude all in one word and to appâ— all that hath been spoken to this present tâ— and place let us all in our vocations and placâ— follow the advice of a late Eminent â—â— viz. to learn to have mercy on Lazarus that iâ— on our poor Brethren that we may find merâ— and that mercy may rejoyce in Judgment aâ— you that are Magistrates of this City think apâ— Lazarus that lyeth in your Streets that pineth at your gates that starveth in your Prisons for want of Crumbs Heark how they cry Bread bread a loaf of bread for Jesus sake Who would not hear them who would not pity them who would not comfort them Also see that you chuse good and merciful Officers in your Spittles and Hospitals that may feed Lazarus and not fill their own Purses and Bellies as the rich man did And you that sit in the seat of Judgment and are Gods â—here on earth let the matter be rightly judged between the rich man and poor Lazarus let equiâ—ty be in your right hand and justice in your left consider that Lazarus is poor and that he is not aâ—le to wage Law against the rich man yet defend â—im and let him have right Defend the Fatherâ—ess and Widdow See that such as be in need â—nd necessity have their right then shall the â—ighteous God of Heaven bless you and bless the â—and for your sake then shall we be with Lazarus â— the blessed place of rest whilst wretched Dives â— tormented in Hell flames even in that burnâ—g prison where angry and enraged Devils shall â—e his Tormentors to Eternity where he will be â—r ever crying and groaning out in this kind of â—oleful manner following viz. â—h cursed cursed most accursed Soul â— Where am I now what Friends are those that howl â—ey seize upon me they torment me sore â— I Shreik with anguish they in fury roar Earths deep center dark and dreadful Cell Where only angry damned Spirits dwell grossest darkness yet my sight so clear Most hideous Visions to the same appear In Hell indeed where I endure that curse Which shall not cease but be hereafter worse In fire infernal out of measure hot Which ever burns and yet consumeth not I rave I curse and I accuse my fate As if such torments were unjust too great But Conscience nips me with not so I try To kill that worm but oh it will not die Most wretched I besides the Woes I have Methinks I hear my bones within my Grave As troubled with some fatal Trumpets sound Begin to shake and shiver in the ground Alas alas what shall of me become When wretched go ye cursed is my doom How shall my Soul and Body both affrighted Then curse the hour they were again united How shall the Devils then with fury driven Sieze me for Hell when sentenc'd out of Heaven And on me with much insultation rage As if my torments might their own asswage Then with the hideous howling heard of Hell I shall be thrown down to that dreadful Cell Where we in flames which never fail shall burn From whence we never never shall return The Winding-Sheet NOw where am I If I look behind me I see Death hastning after me nay that Death â—s at my Back If I look forward I see Heaven and Hell before me my self standing on the very brink of Time and my next step for ought I know may be into Eternity of joy or sorrow where I did but now by Faith see oâ—hers were there I my self must quickly really be there I shall rejoyce with them If I look a little before me I may see my self cast down upon a Bed of sickness my Friends weeping and fearing I shall die the Physicians are puzled and at a loss giving me over for the Grave and my self gasping for Life and breathing out my last If I look but a little before me I can as â—t were hear my Friends saying He is dead he is dead he is gone he is departed and then as it were I might see them haling me out of my bed and wrapping me in My Winding Sheet and nailing me up in my Coffin I might see my Grave a digging and men hired to carry me on their shoulders from my house to my Long Home Relations and Neighbours following after to see me lodged in the Dust to lye and rot among the Dead But before all this can be done to my Body my Soul hath taken it's flight into Eternity where it is without change or alteration for ever to be with God or Devils Oh that I â—ould then work it on my heart that I must quickly be either in Heaven or Hell that I have a long Race to run by a short breath if I enter Heaven a great way to go in a few hours The Sun who goes so many miles in a minute the stars of the firmament which go so very many more go not so fast as my body to the Earth In the same instant that I feel the first attempt of the disease I feel the victory In the twinkling of an eye I can scarce see instantly the tast is insipid and faâ—uous instantly the appetite is dull and desireless instantly the knees are sinking and strengthless and in an instant sleep which is the Picture the copy of Death is taken away that the original Death it self may succeed and that so I might have death to the life To return from the dead is impossible all my life then I will prepare for death They call death Charons boat I am sure it wafts the Soul from a material to an immaterial World I have but one step to Eternity it is from life to death I will be preparing this body of mine to win the garland of a blessed Immortality O the
serious thoughts while I live How I must die these do so make me run that I may obtain a Crown of glory The sound of the Passing Bell assures me there is some to day likely to die it is so â—igh Night it is high time then to work out my Salvation lest the Night of death put in and none can work I have a task set will take up all my time viz. to die well while I live then I will learn to die lest being found unprepared it be said Thou fool this night thy Soul shall be required of â—hee Maximilian the Emperor made his Coffin always to be carried along with him to this â—nd that his high Dignity might not make â—im forget his Mortality What was long since decreed in Heaven God hath sent Warrants to execute on Earth â—â—mel mori for us once to die Kings Xerxes standing on a Mountain and â—aving many hundred thousand of his Souldiers standing in the plain fell a weeping to think â—pon it how in a few years and all those galâ—ant valiant men must die Adam he lived 930 years and he died Enoch he lived 96â— years and he died Methusalem lived 967 years and he died O the longest 〈…〉 hath its night and in the â—nd â—man must die The Princes of the Nations pass sentence of death upon others Well it is not long but â—heir turn will come Semel mori once to die Many of us live where our parents lived and live of the same lands which they lived of It is not long and our Children shall do as much for us For we must go hence and be seen no more Some ride Post some Hackney pace at serius citius sooner later all arrive at the Common Inn the grave and die Some have the Palsie some the Apoplexy some a Feaver some an Ague some a Consumption some none of them yet the sick the sound they all meet in the end at the same Rendezvouz at the House of Death The Scholar thinks to delude Death with hiâ—s Fallacies The Lawyer puts in his Demur the Prince his plea is State affairs at aquo pulsat pede Death knocks at all doors alike and when he comes they all go hence from their houses to their graves Joseph the Jew in his best health made his Stone-Coffin be cut out in his Garden to put him in mind of his Ego abeo I go hence The Persians they buried their dead in their houses to put the whole houshold in mind of the same lot Semel mori once to die Simonides when commanded to give the most wholsom rule to live well willed the Laâ—edemonian Prince ever to bear in mind Se tempore brevi moriturum ere long and he must die I have read of a sort of people that used dead mens bones for money and the more they have they are counted the more rich Herein consists my richest treasure to bear that about me will make me all my lifâ—â—ember my end Great Sultan Saladan Loâ—â— of many Nations and Languages commanded upon his death-bed that one shall carry upon a Spears point through all his Camp the Flag of Death and to proclaim for all his wealth Saladan hath nought left but this winding-sheet An ensured Ensign of Death triumphing over all the Sons of Adam I uncloath my self every night I put off all but what may put me in mind of my winding-sheet Anaxagoras having word brought him his onely son was dead his answer was Scio me genuisse mortalem I know he was born to die Philip of Macedon gave a Boy a pension every morning to say to him Philippe memento â—e hominem esse Philip remember thou art a man and therefore must die We read of Philostrates how he lived seven years in his Tomb that he might be acquainted with it against the time he came to be put into it Oh an Apprentiship of years is time little enough to make us perfect in the Mystery of Mortality Divine Meditations arising from the Contemplation of these sad and serious Sentences 1. Med. IS it not high time to make fit to die considering thy Winding Sheet lies ready for thee and the Bell tolls thee away Say with thy self My want is great my time is almost run If I make not market to day I am not sure to do it to morrow O the uncertainty of Life shall be the Alarum-Bell to give me now notice to work out my Salvation with fear and trembling O I am never so nigh my God as when I think of my end FRIEND let Death be in thy thoughts and God will be in thy heart 2. Med. Meditate since man must die Lord what danger in dying unprepared this is Maxima miseria A misery of miseries and St. Augustine gives the reason For that look how a man goeth to that prison the Grave so he goeth to the Judgment-hall to be tryed But oh Death thou Common Butcherer of human Nature after thy great stroak be struck I am not dead but asleep Blessed be thou my God who hast made my grave my bed in which after I have taken some silent rest the noise of the Archangel with his Trumpet shall awake and raise me from a Death for sin to a life of glory Death is the way we must all walk to Life Some ancient Fathers and some late Writers says the Lord Manchester have fixed upon the Love of God Some upon the Passion of Christ Some upon the Joys of Heaven Some upon Contempt of the World several others upon divers other subjects All opening that some one is to be chosen For whoso will live to himself must be at leisure for God And a wise man saith Wisdom is to be written in time of leisure Whoever is lessen'd by work he cannot tend it I being in my accustomed retiredness disengaged from publick affairs which was but seldom found it useful fruitful and delightful To bestow my thoughts upon my latter end There be four last things say the Fathers Heaven Hell Death and Judgment All Subjects large enough But considering I had passed so much Employment so many Offices so long Practice in several professions I now thought it time to seize on Death before it seiz`d on me Lord teach me to number my days that I may apply my Heart to Wisdom After long meditation this I found that when Meditation had begotten Devotion then it applyed it self to Contemplation which required a settlement upon some Divine Object And what more heavenly than the thought of Immortality What so necessary as the thought of Death Herein therefore I complyed with my own desires and did so as it were weave my own windingsheet by making choice of Death for the Subject of my Contemplation We should not diffuse our thoughts into variety of Considerations but recollect them into one by Contemplation Herewith a man's soul being once affected hardly shall he obtain leave of his thoughts to return again to employments And lest I busied about many things
to live To die well is too busie a work to be done well on a sudden Deferring as well as presuming makes many men implicite Atheists It was a sweet Speech and might well have become an Elder Body which a young innocent Child of my own used in extremity of sickness Mother what shall I do I shall die before I know what death is I beseech you tell me what is Death and how I should die Now of the way to die well HE that would end his days well must spend them well 'T is no great matter to live all do as much but few die well But Death falls sad and heavy upon such Are little known at home abroad too much Man is ready to die before he lives but therefore he liveth a time in the world that he may die betime to the world His Years come to an end as a Tale that is told His days deceive him for they pass as a shadow by moon-shine then appearing longest when they draw nearest to an end Job saith My days are swifter than a Post they flee away and see no good The art of dying well is better learnt by Practice than by Precept Unto dying well three Things are most requisite First To be often meditating upon Death Secondly To be dying daily Thirdly To die by little and little The first step of dying well OFten meditation of Death brings a man to die in ease for it alleviates pains expels fear eases cares cures sins corrects death it self The very Thought of Eternity will make easie and pleasant all things we suffer in a miserable Life How can we be said not to die when we live among the dead We live with so many deaths about us as we cannot but often think of dying Every Humour in us engenders Diseases enough to kill us so that our Bodies are but living Graves and we die not because we are sick but because we live And when we recover from sickness we escape not sickness but the disease All this life is but a death of an hour Familiarity with Death a soveraign Cordial against Death THerefore be acquainted with Death betimes for through acquaintance death will lose his horror like unto an ill Face though it be as formidable as a monster yet often viewing will make it familiar and free it from distaste walk every day with Joseph a turn or two in thy Garden with death and thou shalt be well acquainted with the face of death but shalt never feel the sting of death Death is black but comely Philostrates lived seven years in his Tomb that he might be acquainted with it against his bones came to lye in it Some Philosophers have been so wrapt in this contemplation of Death and Immortality that they discourse so familiarly and pleasingly of it as if a fair death were to be preferred before a pleasant life This is well for Nature's part and Moralists think this enough for their part to conceive so But Christians must go farther and search deeper They must try where the power of death lyes They shall find that the power of every man's death lyes in his own sin That death never hurts a man but with his own weapons It always turns upon us some sin it finds in us The sting of Death is sin Pluck out the sting death cannot hurt us The way to die well is to die often Let a man often and seriously think of dying then let him sin if he can said Picus Mirandula In Sardis there grew an Herb called Appium Sardis that would make a Man lie laughing when he was deadly sick Such is the operation of sin Beware therefore of this Risus Sardonicus laughter of Sardis We count it a fearful thing for a man to be author of his own death but a sinful life slays the soul and so while we live we kill or lose our better life The Commandment that says Thou shalt not kill especially forbids the murthering of our own Souls And herein is our happiness though we live in sin yet we die without sin Therefore to me Death is welcome not as an end of troubles but of sin Into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth The Second Step To be dying daily THE second step to dying-well is to die daily Methinks O my Soul it is but yesterday since we met and now we are upon parting neither shall we I hope be unwilling to take our leaves for what advantage can it be to us to hold out longer together Are we not assured that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Why therefore O my Soul shouldst thou be loth to part upon fair terms Thou O my Soul to the possession of that happy Mansion which thy dear Saviour hath from all Eternity prepared for thee in his Father's house and thou O my body to that quiet repository of the grave till ye both shall happily meet in the blessed Resurrection of the Just I die that I may not die I die daily saith Saint Paul So many days as thou livest reckon so many lives for he that disposeth all his days as one life can neither wish nor fear to morrow The old saying is a good saying Do that every day which thou wouldst do the same day that thou diest 'T is an excellent thing to make all we can of life before Death To die by little and little the third step THE third step to dying well is to die by little and little Naturally we are every day dying by degrees the faculties of our minds the strength of our bodies our common senses are every day decaying by little and little every sin is more than a disease and a wicked life makes a continual death Impiè vivere est diu mori To live wickedly is to be long a dying Therefore saith the good Man We are killed all the day long He that useth this course every day To die by little and little to him let Death come when it will it can neither be terrible nor sudden If we keep a Courser to run a Race we lead him daily over the place to acquaint him by degrees with all things in the way that when he comes upon his speed he do not start or turn aside for any thing he sees So let us inure our souls and then we shall run with boldness the race that is set before us looking to Jesus the Author and finisher of our salvation To die by little and little is first to mortifie our lesser sins and not to say with Lot Is it not a little one There be also a sort of little deaths sickness of body loss of Friends and the like Use these in their kind and you may make them kindly helps to dying well Every change is a certain imitation of Death Let a man go out as he came into the World
are Surely I come quickly Our answer is Amen Even so come Lord Jesus c. I have but small acquaintance with the future State but this I 'm sure there will be no change that will be so surprizing to me as that By Death It is a thing of which I know but little and none of the millions of Souls that have past into the invisible World have come again to tell me how it is I. It must be done my Soul but 't is a strange A dismal and Mysterious change When thou shalt leave this Tenement of Clay And to an unknown somewhere wing away When Time shall be Eternity and thou Shalt be thou know'st not what and live thou know'st not how II. Amazing State no wonder that we dread To think of Death or view the Dead Thou' rt all wrapt up in the Clouds as if to thee Our very knowledge had Antipathy Death could not a more sad retinue find Sickness and pain before and darkness all behind III. Some courteous Ghost tell this great Secrecy What 't is you are and we must be You warn us of approaching Death and why May we not know from you what 't is to dye But you having shot the Gulph delight to see Succeeding Souls plunge in with like uncertainty IV. When Life 's close knot by writ from Destiny Disease shall cut or age unty When after some delays some dying strife The Soul stands shivering on the ridge of Life With what a dreadful Curiosity Does she launch out into the Sea of vast Eternity V. So when the spacious Globe was delug'd o're And lower holds could save no more On th' utmost Bough th' astonish'd Sinners stood And view'd th' Advances of th' encroaching Flood O're topp'd at length by th' Elements encrease With horror they resign'd to the untry`d Abyss It is very desirable to know in what condition our Souls will be when they leave the Body and what is the Nature of that abode into which we must go but which we never saw into and through what Regions we must then take our flight and after what manner this will be done 'T is certain my Soul will then preserve the faculties that are natural to it viz. to understand to will to remember as 't is represented to us under the Parable of Dives and Lazarus But alas we little know how the People of the disembodied Societies act and will and understand and communicate their thoughts to one another and therefore I long to know it What conception can I have of a separated Soul says a late Writer but that 't is all Thought I firmly think when a mans body is taken from him hy Death he is turned into all Thought and Spirit How great will be his Thought when it is without any hinderance from these material Organs that now obstruct its Operations In that Eternity as one expresses it the whole power of the Soul runs together one and the same way In Eternity the Soul is united in its Motions which way one faculty goes all go and the Thoughts are all concentred as in one whole Thought of Joy or Torment These things have occasioned great variety of Thoughts in me and my Soul when it looks towards the other World and thinks it self near it can no more cease to be inquisitive about it than it can cease to be a Soul Tears FOR A Dead Husband WHen Mary came where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying unto him Lord if thou hadst been here my Brother had not died Jo. 11. 32. She wept indeed yet it was but for a Brother and the Jews also wept vers 33. yet it was but for a common Friend But what was all that to the death of a Husband O my Husband my Husband That very name of Husband methinks would flatter me with comfort as if I might imagin that he could hear me But oh he is dead he is dead He cannot hear me he cannot behold me he cannot answer me His Ears are locked up his Eyes are closed his mouth is sealed his Soul is gone O what shall I do for my head my guide my heart my Husband Were my Saviour upon Earth again I could send one to him as Mary did who should say Lord behold he whom thou lovest is dead Dead say Iâ— O dead dead he is gone he is departed and can never be recalled But why Why can he not be called back again Did not my Jesus cause Lazarus to arise when he had been four days dead ver 39. Yes he did But what then I neither love my Saviour so well as Mary did nor I fear doth he love me so well as he did Mary or if both were so yet since Miracles are ceased I cannot so much as hope that he will call back the Spirit of my Lord my Husband Oh could he be wooed by the Tears of a sinful Woman never did any mourn so much as I would But nothing will perswade I seek but the disturbance of him whom I mourn for if I desire to call him from his eternal rest When Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba Abraham stood up from before his deceased Wife and spake unto the Sons of Heth saying I am a stranger and a Sojourner with you Give me a Possession and a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight Gen. 23. 3 4. Though he so tenderly affected her whilst she was living yet he would not look too long on her when she was dead It is a duty as full of humanity to interr with decency the Bodies of the dead as it is of Religion to love the Persons when they are alive Yet vain is man in this affection if he fixeth his love only on the beauty of the body This flesh which is so tender this skin which I strive to preserve both smooth and white must one day be a banquet for the loathed Worms No greater priviledge belongeth to me than did to my Husband for the time will come when I shall follow him to the Earth Had I loved only his outward form my love should now either be quite forgotten or else I should fondly desire to deny it interment But it was his body enlivened with a rich and excellent Soul which drew mine affection and commanded my desires Had that Soul and body continued their Society I had been freed from my laments but they have bid farewell till the general Resurrection and hence am I enforced to utter my complaints I weep for my loss because we are divorced But oh what conflicts then can I imagin that he had when he was not only to part from his indeared Wife but likewise his Soul was to leave this chillowed Earth Oh for him for him for my loss of him do I pay the tribute of these watering Eyes Yet these tears must not flow in too great abundance lest by them I should seem to envy his happiness Even when his body shall be
and since my God as I undoubtedly believe hath been pleased to crown my brother with glory I will beseech him to comfort me here with his grace I will not immoderately weep lest I injure my self I will not weep without hope lest I offend my Maker but that I may weep as I should and hope as I ought and live as I am required I will humble my self at the feet of him to whom my brother is gone Put on Mourning Apparel Sermon III. ECCLES 7. 2. It is better to go to the House of Mourning then to the House of feasting for that is the end of all Men and the living will lay it to his heart IT is evident that in this Verse that I have now read to you the Wise man speaks of such a mourning as is occasioned by the Death of friends And he saith of that Mourning that it is better than to be in the House of Feasting That he speaks of such a mourning appears by that which followeth First he saith that this is the end of all men he speaks therefore of such a mourning as is upon the end of men upon the departure of men out of this World And Secondly he saith the living will lay it to his heart He speaks of such an end of Men as is opposite to the life of Men. In a word By the House of mourning he meaneth a house wherein some one is dead which giveth occasion to the parties that dwell there of sorrow and mourning for their departed friend It is better to go to such a house By the House of feasting he meaneth not only such a house wherein there is feasting but also all manner of abundance As commonly Men shew their wealth in Feasting By the end of all men he meaneth such an end of a man as that he ceaseth to be as he was upon earth and ceaseth to do as he did upon Earth By laying to heart he meaneth such a serious considering and pondering and discussing of every thing as they may bring it to some use may draw some Fruit and benefit out of it to themselves So that the sum and substance of the words is thus much It is a better thing for a Man to be conversant about the thoughts of death and to take hold of all occasions that may bring the serious consideration thereof into his heart than to delight himself in those worldly pleasures and sensual delights wherein for the most part men spend their lives The words consist of a Proposition And a proof or confirmation of that Proposition The Proposition It is better to go to the House of Mourning than to go to the house of Feasting The Confirmation or proof of it is double First Because this is the end of all Men Secondly Because the living will lay it to his heart In the former he calleth the House wherein any one dies the House of Mourning It is better to go to the House of Mourning Where you see That the Death of Men with 〈…〉 live is a just occasion of Mourning to 〈…〉 〈…〉 holy Ghost would not have described 〈…〉 â—ouse wherein a man dies in this manner 〈…〉 were not some equity and justice in mâ—…ing upon such an occasion For he speaks nâ—â— here as I conceive â—nly with reference and â—espect to the common Custom of natural and worldly Men but with respect to the natural disposition and affection that is in the heart of man and the equity of the thing There should be visible signs of Mourning and there is in it a just occasion when men are taken away by death When Sarah died the text saith that Abraham came to Mourn for Sarah and to weep for her Gen. 23. 2. And Esau when he speaks of the death of his Father Isaac he calleth the time of his death the time of Mourning the days of Mourning for my Father are at hand Gen. 27. 41. So Joseph when his Father was dead it is said that he mourned for his Father seven days Gen. 50. 10. When Samuel was dead all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him 2 Sam. 25. 1. When Iosiah was dead there was such a great lamentation for him that it became a pattern of excessive mourning In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadadriâ—â—on in the Valley of Megiddon Zach. 12. 10 Our Saviour Christ when he looked upon Lazarus he wept because he was dead And those Ephesians this was it that broke their hearts they sorrowed most of all for the words which St. Pâ—â—l spake that they should see his face no more Acts 20 38 We come now to the proof of the point why going to the House of Mourning taking these occasions to affect our hearts is better than to go to the House of Feasting than to take occasions of delighting our selves in outward things What 's the reason It is double First This is the end of all men What is the end of all men The House of Mourning That which he meaneth by the House of Mourning here is that which he calleth the end of all men that which putteth an end to all men and to their actions upon earth and that is Death So that the main point that in this place the wise man intendeth is but thus much I will deliver it in the very words of the Text we need not vary from them at all Death is the end of all Men. But here it will be objected We find some men that did not die It is said of Enoch that he was translated that he should not see death Heb. 11. 5. And of Elijah that he went up by a whirl-wind into heaven in a chariot of fire 2 King 2. 11. These men did not die To this I answer briefly Particular and extraordinary examples do not frustrate general rules God may sometimes dispense with some particular men and yet the rule remain firm I say it may be so But secondly we answer They had that that was in stead of Death to them some change though they did not die after the manner of other men So at the end of the world it is said that those that are alive shall be caught up and changed in the twinkling of an eye there shall be a sudden and almost undiscernable unperceivable change which shall be to them in stead of death But it will be objected further There is a promise made in Joh. 11. That those that believe shall never die To this I answer with that common distinction There is a twofold death which the Scripture calleth the first and the second death The first death is the death of the body that ariseth from a disjunction and separation of the body from the soul And there is a second death that ariseth from the dis-junction and separation of the soul from God The first death is no death properly the second Death is that which is truly Death And so they shall not die A man may have
a body separated from the soul and yet not his soul separated from God nor himself from Christ Who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Neither life nor death nor principalities nor powers c. Rom. 8 38. This point also is of use to us in the death of others First to moderate the mourning of Christians for the Death of others Why It is the end of all men it is that that is the common condition of all men it should not be too grievous nor too doleful to any man We would not have our friends to be in another condition in their birth than others we would not have them have more fingers or more members than a man and would we have them have more days Let this serve as a brief touch upon that Secondly it teacheth us to make good use of our fellowship while we are together Not only we may die but those that are useful to us may die also let us make good use of one another while we live therefore It did smite the heart of those Ephesians that they should see the face of Paul no more specially above the rest it grieved them that they should see him no more how would it have grieved them think you if they had always hardned themselves against his ministry before Think with your selves seriously here is such a Minister such a Christian friend that husband and wife that parent and child a time of â—arting will come let us make it easie now â—y making good use of one another while we â—e that when friends are took away we may â—â—ve cause to thank God that we have had comâ—nion and comfort of their fellowship and â—â—ciety the benefit of their graces the fruit of â—â—eir lives and not sorrow for the want of them â— death Death separates a Man from his Friends For alas Death doth not only part a mans body and soul a mans self and his wealth but it parteth a man from his friends from all his worldly acquaintance from all those that he took delight in upon earth Death makes a separation between husband and wife see it in Abraham and Sarah though Abraham loved Sarah dearly yet Death parted them Let me have a place to bury my Dead out of my sight Gen. 23. It parteth Father and Child how unwilling soever they be see it in David and Absolom Oh Absolom my son would God I had died for thee and Rachel mourned for her Children and would not be comforted because they were not It parteth the Minister and the people see it in the case of the people of Israels lamenting the death of Samuel in the case of the Ephesians at the parting of S. Paul sorrowing especially when they heard they should see his face no more It parteth those friends who were so united together in love as if they had but one soul in two bodies see it in the separation that was made by death between David and Jonathan that were so knit together in their love that he bewaileth him Woe is me for my brother Jonathan 2 Sam. 1. 9. This is necessary consideration for us that live that we may learn to know how to carry our selve towards our worldly friends and how to moderate our selves in our enjoyment of these worldlâ— comforts Look upon every worldly thing as mortal as a dying comfort Look upon Childreâ— and friends as dying comforts Look upon yoâ— estates as that that hath wings and will be gone Look upon your bodies that now you make so much of as a thing that must be parted from the soul by death and that ere long See what advice the Apostle giveth 1 Cor. 7. 19. the time is short saith he therefore let those that marry be as if they married not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they pâ—ssessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away When thou accompaniest another to the grave dost thou conclude thus with thy self the very next time that any death is spoken of it may be mine or as Saint Peter speaks to Saphira after the death of Ananias The feet of those that have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out also Again this Doctrine serves to reprove that sinful laying to heart of the death of others that is too frequent and common in the world That is first when men with too much fondness and with too great excess and distemper of affection look upon their dead friends as if God could never repair the loss nor make amends for that he hath done in taking of them away Rachel mourneth and will not be comforted David mourneth and will scarce be comforted Oh Absolom my son my son would God I had and for thee What is all this but to look on friends â—ather as Gods than men as if all sufficiency â—ere included in them only Men look on their â—riends as Micah did upon his Idol when â—hey had bereaved him of it they took away â—ll his comfort and quiet You have taken away â—y Gods saith he and what have I more Judg. 8. â—4 This now is an ill taking to heart the death â—f friends to mourn as men without hope Secondly there is taking to heart and considering of the death of men but it is an unrighteous considering and unrighteous judging of the death of others If men see one die it may be a violent death then they conclude certainly there is some appearent token of Gods judgment on such a one If they see another die with some extremity of torment and vehement pains certainly there is some apparent evidence of Gods wrath upon this man If they see another in some great and violent tentation strugling against many tentations they conclude presently certainly such are in a worser case than others I may say to all these as Christ said once to those that told him of the eighteen men upon whom the Tower in Siloe fell think you that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Hierusalem Luke 13. 4. Or rather as Solomon saith All things come alike unto all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked Eccles 9. 2. Learn to judge righteous judgment to judge wisely of the death of others take heed of condemning the generation of the just But rather in the last place Make this use of the death of every one Doth such a maâ— die by an ordinary sickness having his understanding and memory continued to the end Doth such a man die in inward peace anâ— comfort with clear and evident apprehension of Gods love so that he can with Simeon say Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Luke 2. 29. What use shouldest thou that liveâ—â— make of this now Certainly let the sweetneâ— of their death make thee in love with the goodness of their lives That is the only way to a
happy death to a comfortable end indeed the leading of a fruitful and profitable life The main business that a man hath to do is to make sure of himself in this life It was the question that Saint Austin made to those that told him of a violent death that seized upon one But how did he live saith he He made no matter how he went out but how he carried himself in the world And truly this is the great Question that every man should put to his soul I must out of the world how have I lived when I was in the world had GOD any glory by me had men any good by me have I furthered my account against the day reckoning that I may give it up with joy But now he is Dead wherefore should I Fast Sermon IV. 2 SAM xii 23. But now he is dead wherefore should I fast can I bring him back again I shall go to him but he shall not return to me HEre you have a large Description of that incomparable Love which our princely Prophet David that good King of Israel did bear towards his Son who was no sooner visited with sickness but that his most loving tender and indulgent Father made earnest supplication and Prayer unto Almighty God the only Physician both of Soul and Body to restore him to his wonted Health again which when he saw how that it could not be gained like one in a trance presently fell down upon the ground where he so long as his innocent Child could move 〈…〉 lye both night and day ever fastinâ—â—…ng and crying out most lamentably as it is evident ver 16. saying O who who shall deliver this poor Soul from the cruel jaws of all-devouring Death Wherefore so soon as the Elders did behold him being moved to pity they came like good loving Neighbours unto him with wet-shot Eyes and desired him by all means possible to rise up from the ground and not to take it so much to heart But for all that they could not prevail he would not leave his low and lamentable Lodging so long as his poor sick Child was alive Niobe-like he wept still and would not be comforted He had as St. Bernard makes mention a Week of Sorrows When he saw his sweet Child that poor Infant still panting and striving for Death unto which he was so soon sentenced he could not refrain from Tears and leave off sorrowing as you may see by this his mournful Elegy But as soon as the Child was dead when it had paid that debt which we must all and we know not how soon being only certain in uncertainty then he could rise from the ground change his Cloaths wash his Hands and break his long Fast Whereupon his Servants as soon as it did arrive unto their knowledge ver 21. began to expostulate and say unto him What thing is this that thou dost Thou didst fast and weep for the sick Child so long as it was alive but now it being dead thou canst leave off all doleful Lamentations and rise and eat 'T is true saith he I could not do so before seeing it did strive so for death but now I can and this is my reason For now he is dead In these words as they distribute themselves you have these three following Circumstances regardable First A serious Consideration But now he is dead Secondly An acknowledgment of his own Imbecillity and weakness Can I bring him back again And then Thirdly and lastly His Confidence I shall go to him c. But now he is dead c. Now of these in their order severally And First of that serious Consideration which King David took when that his sweet Child was dead which every one ought to do and that was Why shall I fast any longer Why shall I weep and cry thus mournfully both day and night seeing he is dead and gone No I will not do it for if I should it would not bring him again it would not revive but still add more grief unto my sable thoughts which are too grievoâ—s and sorrowful for me a forlorn creature to endure But now for the better adavancement of your knowledge and the better managing of my discourse you may with me consider these four following particulars which as it is most requisite and necessary are to be treated of severally First The person fasting and mourning Secondly The person mourned for Thirdly The manner of his Mourning And then Fourthly and lastly The Reason which he gives why he doth not continue after the death of his dear Child any longer in that doleful condition Now the very first in this Tragical Chorus is King David that sweet Singer of Israel who was so loving and tender hearted that he could not forbear to sympathize condole and â—o have a natural compassion on all as his own words give warrant Psal 35. 13. For saith he â—here As soon as I perceived that my neighbours grew sick I could not refrain my self from mournâ—ng but cloathed my self with Sackcloath and humbled my soul with fasting which are the Ensigns of Sorrow or as some say the Weapons of Repentance To mourn for the Sick is both natural commendable and profitable and therefore says the Poet. Est quaedam flere Voluptas That there is much pleasure in Mourning â—t still disburdens the heart by opening its â—luces and dischargeth Conâ—hâ—s in canales Ciâ—terns into Conduit-pipes which run like Rivers of water Psal 119. 136. And therefore â—ays holy David Mine eyes gush out with rivers â—f water It was an usual custom in this good King to fast pray and mourn continually for â—ll persons under affliction whether of Mind Body or estate And therefore think you was â—t possible that his merciful eyes should not be eclipsed with tears when he took his Farewell of his sweet Babe which his eyes could â—ever behold again until that he himself did â—ass into the low Chambers of death Seven days like Job in his troubles he turned and â—ossed himself upon the ground still crying but most mournfully as one utterly undone â—or his Son expecting always that God almighty would be favourable and gracious unto him and grant his Son a longer life but when he saw that he would not be treated to prolong his days upon earth resolved fully with himself to leave off his sorrowing and to say with patient Job The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord Job 1. 21. The Lord gave me my Child and now hath he taken him away from me again therefore why should I any longer fast and mourn why should I weep and sigh thus bitterly yea and why should I even I feeble Creature whose Life is but a vapour a very moment lay it thus to heart and take on thus sadly Can I bring him back again No I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Job I say in all his cruel troubles could not be more patient than this
that was for his Son an innocent Babe who was no sooner born into this miserable World but visited with a mortal Disease and so cut off for the Life of Vrias in his Infancy The Life of his Son Ammon was not satisfaction sufficient nor of his dearly beloved Son Absalom nor yet the Life of his Son Adonijah but also this poor harmless Creature must suffer together with them now he is dead It is enacted by Almighty God in the high Court of Parliament in the Kingdom of Heaven unto all men that they shall once Die and therefore says David Psalm 89. 48. What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Shall he deliver his Soul from the Hand of the Grave There are two sorts of Deaths Corporal which is either natural or violent or Eternal Death which is called a Spiritual Death or the second Death The first being only a Separation of the Soul from the Body with all the evils that attend thereon this sweet Child suffered Death is like an Archer making man his Butt who when he shooteth pierceth in this manner following In shooting over us he wounds our Ancestors behind us our Servants on our right hand our Wives and Children on our left hand our Friends and in the midst our selves so that as St. Paul says Heb. 9. 27. No one can escape him So that you may see as Job saith man's time is appointed his months determined and his days which are but few upon Earth numbered yea and as our Saviour Christ says his very last hour is limited He was made of the mould of the Earth and therefore thither shall he return and as all have one entrance into Life the like going out shall they have to death Naked came we into this most miserable World and naked shall we return again If Adam had not eaten of the forbidden Fruit we had never known what Sin had been and so by consequence Death which is a thing that now cannot by any means be avoided before that we knew what sin was we had strong Houses But ever since God let 's us dwell in thatch'd Cottages and clay Walls every Disease like a storm is ready to totter us down In old time men us'd to live long but now many are thrust out of house and harbour at less than an hours warning yea and even in their infancy at their first coming into the world as this poor innocent Child was and not only for their own faults for their own transgressions but for their Parents In the Third of Gen. you may find mans Exodus and that is thou shalt die Ever since Old Adam our great great great Grandfather neglected his Duty towards God Death the lodge of all mens lives comes with insensible degrees upon the sons of men it 's impartial hand is always destroying no Wisdom can appease no Policy can prevent nor any earthly Riches redeem us from the Grave semel aâ—t bis morimur omnes some once some twice we must all die we have an old Statute for it that this earthly Tabernacle must suffer corruption and therefore the Poet sings sweetly Post hominem vermis post vermem foetor horror Sic in non hominem vertitur omnis hoâ—o As man came from the Earth so thither shall he return and become a habitation and food for Worms If any had been exempted from the fatal and general sentence of Death then without all question our most blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ had been who for our Sins and for our insufferable Iniquities suffer'd the sharpest death imaginable even to die upon the Cross who was equal to the Father touching his God-head Now seeing that this ever blessed Virgins Son Lion of the Tribe of Judah and harmless Lamb of God did suffer an ignominious Death to redeem us from Eternal Death let not us be unwilling for our own good to lay down our lives and to part without sorrow and grief with our dearest Friend or Relation but rather let us take up a full resolution when any of our Friends although never so near and dear unto us be departed and say with David now he is dead now he ceaseth to breath and now he hath taken a farewell of the Elements wherefore should I fast Can I bring him back again Good Christians can with patience embrace this Life yet in their best meditations they do commonly wish for Death they honour all that contemns it but cannot endure or heartily love any that is afraid of it this makes many naturally love a Souldier and honour those tattered and contemptible Regiments that will die at the command of a Sergeant For a Pagan there may be some motives to be in love with Life for a Christian to be amazed at Death I see not how he can escape this dilemma that is too sensible of this Life or careless of the Life to come If a Wife put forth her Child to Nurse and the Nurse having kept it long enough she taketh it home again can the Nurse or any other have any cause to complain so the cause stands between God and our Souls If God having inspired into these mortal Bodies of ours that which is immortal come and take it to himself lest it should come to harm can any one have any reason to Complain As seed unless sown in the Ground cannot bring forth so we until that Death come and we be laid in the Ground cannot expect our consummation and bliss with Gods Saints in his Kingdom of Glory Death freeth the godly from the Tyranny of Satan from Sin from the World from the Flesh and from eternal Damnation placing them with Christ for evermore in Heaven the Center of all good wishes where instead of Earthly Bodies they shall be cloathed with unspeakable Glory and all this holy David was not Ignorant of which made him as soon as his dearly beloved Son had taken his Farewell of this inferior Orb say Wherefore should I fast seeing my Child yea my precious Jewel has changed his Life out of a miserable world into a Kingdom where pleasures ineffable are to be had for evermore but now c. And this brings me now unto the Third thing considered in my Text which is the manner of his mourning and that was how he spun away his time in weeping fasting and praying for his dear child so long as he was alive he did not as Priamus did for his Son Hector Fast Weep and Pray after his Death or as many do now adays only in outward shew altering their Garments No his was far otherwise it was real true and hearty sorrow not countenanced in the least with a heavy look or with a solemn sigh blown from deceitful lungs No his was a Weeping Watching Mourning and Fasting Grief he was sequestered from all Worldly contentment imprisoning his Body from all the pleasures of this mortal Life ever making his bed to swim and watering his touch with tears He mourned as one
the next Hour be a Banquet for the Worm to feed upon Prepare to follow SERMON VIII ISAIAH 8. 38. Set thy House in order for thou shalt dye and not live Dearly Beloved I Am now about to speak of that which will shortly render me unable to speak and you are now about to hear of that which will also shortly make you uncapable of hearing any more and that is Death It will be but a little while before Death will cause both the Speaker to be Dumb and the Hearer to be Deaf Oh that I might therefore this day speak with that seriousness unto you as considering the time draws on apace when I shall be Silenced by Death and never more have an opportunity to speak one word unto you And Oh! that you might Hear this day with that diligence and reverence as considering that after you are once Nailed down in your Coffins and Covered with the Dust you will never hear one Sermon more or one Exhortation or one word more till you hear these words pronounced by the great Judge of the Quick and Dead Surgiâ—â— Mortui venite ad Judicium Arise ye Dead and come ye unto Judgment What is said in my Text as it is likely you have often heard it with your Ears so now you may ice it accomplished It is appointed unto all Men once to die Death hath long since come into our Nation and hath summoned many to make their appearance in another World yea you know that Death hath already entred into our Streets and hath not been afraid to step over our Threshold and to seize upon those that have been standing round about us yea it hath come into our very Bed-chambers and hath suddenly snatched away those that have been lying in our very Bosoms So that we have had warning enough of the near approaches of Death unto our selves and without doubt some of us have had the Sentence of Death within our selves as the Apostle speaketh and therefore it is high time for you and I seriously to consider what is said in my Text Set thy House in order c. Something we shall briefly speak now in order to the explanation of the words that so you may once more hear before you feel the meaning of them It is appointed or enacted by the Court of Heaven Statutum est it is a Statute or Law more firm and certain than the Laws of the Medes and Persians which is never to be repealed or abrogated We are not therefore telling you what may but of what must inevitably come to pass It is appointed unto Men that is as much as to say unto all Men once to die It is an indefinite Expression and so is to be understood of all the same kind without some special exception from this general Rule And indeed such an exception there is to be found in the Scripture for saith the Apostle We shall not all Die but some shall be Changed in a Moment in the twinkling of an Eye there shall be some at the end of the World who shall not pass under Death but yet they must pass under a Change which is thought will be equivalent unto Death But for the present time and according to the common Method and Course of Providence no Man or Woman hath any ground to expect that they shall escape the stroke of Death for it is appointed unto Men that is unto all Men once to Die Death will no more spare him that wears a Crown upon his Head than him that carries a Spade in his Hand as the Poet Elegantly expresses it Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede Pauperum tabernas Regumque Turres c. And the Scripture speaking of Kings useth this Expression I have said ye are Gods but ye shall die like Men. But what is the meaning of the Phrase to Die I can assure you if you know not yet it will not be long e're you will know the meaning of it The Philosopher describes Death thus Est privatio Vitae â—â— Anime separationem a Corpore As Spiritual Death is the Separation of God from the Soul so Temporal Death is the Separation of the Soul from the Body When those two the Soul and Body which have like Twins dwelt lovingly together under the same Roof must be parted asunder and enjoy no more sweet and intimate Communion one with another till the time of re-unition at the General Resurrection This is that which must once be done every one must here take their turn And though this happeneth to some at one time and to others at another time yet first or last it will happen to all The Greek word Thanatos which signifies Death is taken from a word which signifies extendere and indeed Death stretcheth out it self so far that no Man can live out of the reach of it As surely as thou wast once Born so surely shalt thou once Die Let me but ask you this one plain Question and your own Conscience shall be the Judge in the Case Couldest thou still remain a Drunkard or a Swearer if thou didst but once seriously consider that thou must once Die Or couldst thou so eagerly set thy Heart upon the empty lying and dying Vanities of this World didst thou but once seriously consider that thou must once and it may be before to Morrow be taken out of this World Or couldst thou neglect the means of Grace or Delight in Prophaneness didst thou but seriously consider that thou must once die and it may be before ever thou enjoyest another Praying or Preaching opportunity To die is much and as this must be once done so there is more to be done than this for after this cometh Judgment Whether the particular or general Day of Judgment is here to be understood needs no debate seeing both will certainly follow after Death As for the certainty of Death you need not look into your Bibles for a proof of that I shall only desire you to open your Weeping Eyes and let them but a little while be fastened upon the Dead Corps that now is before you and if afterwards you can question this Truth I shall say no more to you at present but that it will not be long e're others may say of thee as the Apostle Peter did to Saphira Acts 5. verse 5 6 7 compared with the 9 and 10. Verses And Ananias fell down and gave up the Ghost and the young Men arose wound him up and carried him out and buried him And his Wife not knowing what was done came in and Peter said unto her How is it that ye have agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord Behold the Feet of them which have buried thy Husband are at the door and shall carry thee out Then fell she down straightway and yielded up the Ghost and the young Men came in and found her dead and carrying her forth buried her by her Husband The same Bier and it may be the same Persons which have carried
Temples of the Holy Ghost ever clean and decent and still furnished with all sorts of Heavenly Graces to entertain such a Glorious Prince who hath writ on his Thigh King of Kings and Lord of Lords It will not be long ere he come for St. James said In his time behold the Judge standeth before the door and likewise it was St. John's the Baptist Text saying Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand he may come to day or he may come to morrow therefore make your selves ever ready and set your House in order for you shall die and not live First you must furnish your selves with love which is the complement of the Law and an earnest desire of interchangeable affection between Christ and the Soul Secondly you must furnish your selves with Charity which of all Virtues is still Chief for St. Paul the Bishop of the Gentiles comparing it with Faith and Hope tells you that it is the Chief for it ever Edifieth still suffereth never envieth yea and still continueth 1 Cor. 13. 8. Thirdly you must get your selves furnished with patience that with all alacrity and chearfulness of Heart you may endure all things for Christs sake Fourthly you must get your selves furnished with Humility Virtue which when the Lord of Heaven beholds it in you which caused him to sink into your Hearts Fifthly you must get your selves furnished with Hope of Everlasting Faith and Salvation And then sixthly and lastly with Faith which is an evidence of things not seen thus you must get your selves set in order c. And thus far of the matter of this Admonition and earnest Exhortation Now I should come to the Reason which is twofold affirmative and negative Affirmative thou shalt die and Negative and rot live Set thy House in order for thou shalt die and not live Now of these severally and first of the reason affirmative thou shalt die Now there are three kinds of Death First the Death of the Body which is a natural Death Secondly the Death of the Soul which is a Spiritual Death And then thirdly and lastly the Death both of Body and Soul which is Eternal Death But that which good King Hezekiah was warned of was but only the Death of the Body which according to the Statute Law Decreed in that High Court of Parliament of Heaven all Men shall once taste of no Man can escape it for so saith St. Paul it is appointed unto all Men that they shall once die to all once to many twice for there is a second Death and that is truly a Death because it is Mors Vitae the Death of Life the other rather a Life because it is Mors Mortis the Death of the Death after which there shall be no more Death Now as Job saith Mans time is appointed his Month determined and his day numbered yea and as Christ Jesus the Worlds Saviour saith his very last hour is limited he was made of the Mould of the Earth he shall return again to the Earth And as all have one Entrance into Life the like going out shall they have to Death Nothing we brought in nothing we shall carry out Naked come I out of my Mothers Womb and naked shall I return A Change then shall come which of the wicked is to be feared of the godly to be desired and of all people to be daily and hourly expected Remember them that have been before you and that shall come after you that this is the Judgment of the Lord over all Flesh to taste of Death All Men shall once die for as much as all have sinned and been disobedient unto the Laws of God This Death of the Body is not a dying but a departing a transmigration and Exodus of our Earthly Pilgrimage unto our Heavenly Home yea a passage from the Valley of Death unto the Land of the Living Although our Souls and Bodies are separated for a while yet shall they meet again in the receptacle of Blessed Saints and Angels with much joy and receive an incorruptible Crown The Body is a Priâ—on to the Soul and Death a Goal-delivery that frees the poor harmless Soul of those Grievances which formerly it did endure Length of days is nothing unto us but much grief and Age the durance of long Imprisonment wherefore if that you would but seriously consider this you might find Death to be rather a Friend than an Enemy and by consequence rather to be desired than shun'd as Simeon did as it is evident Luke 2. 29. saying Now Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy Word which by some is used thus Now Lord I hope that thou wilt suffer me to depart in peace and keep my poor Immortal Soul no longer within the small circumference of this Mortal Body The Thief upon the Cross laid down his Life most joyfully because he saw Christ and did stedfastly believe that he should pass from a place of pain and misery unto a Paradise of Pleasure and so did St. Stephen Acts 7. 56. The Royal Preacher King Solomon lest that his Son should be deprived of such Happiness doth by an Emphatical Irony disswade his Son from those youthful Lusts and sensual Pleasures whereunto he feared that he should naturally be addicted and that by the consideration of that dreadful account he was to give unto God at the great and terrible day of the Lord desiring him most earnestly not to let his House stand out of order but ever to remember his Creator in the days of his youth for old Age will come saith he and then thou shalt not be so fit by reason of much weakness and infirmities Or else Death may seize upon thee For Dust shall return unto the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it Eccles 12. 7. In a moment yea at the twinkling of an Eye when once this Tyrant Death comes it will sweep us all away It is the Custom among us here to let Leases one two or three Lives but God lets none for more than one and this once expired there is no hopes of getting the Lease renewed he suffers Man sometimes to dwell in his Tenement threescore Years and ten Psal 90. 10. Sometimes to fourscore but secures none far from home and that for several Reasons First to bridle our curiosity lest that we should search after things too high for quae supra nos nihil ad nos those things that are above us are nothing to us Secondly to try our patience whether that we will put our whole trust and confidence in him although we know not the time of our departure and dissolution and then thirdly to keep us in continual watchfulness for if that we should know when Death would come with a Habeas Corpus to remove us it would make many more careless than they are though indeed the best of us are careless enough Here Men do know the date of their Leases and the expiration
of the Years but Man is meerly a Tenant at will is put out of Possession at less than an Hours warning Wherefore now while it is said to day set your Houses in order seeing that you must die and not lâ—vâ— It is not sufficient at the last Hour of Death to say Lord have mercy on me or Lord into thy hands I commend my Soul But even in all our Life-time yea and especially in our youth we must strive ever to set our Houses in order for we shall die and not live Samson was very strong Solomon very wise and Methusalem lived many years yet at last they with many more were brought to Mother Earth If it seem pleasant unto you at the present to let your rotten and ruinous Houses stand out of order yet with all remember what the Prophet saith The day of Destruction is at hand and the times of perdition make haste to come on Art thou a young Man in the April of thine Age and hast thou thy Breasts full of Millâ— and doth thy Bones run full of Marrow as Job speaks and thereupon dost promise to thy self length of days yet thou must know also that a man even at the highest pitch of health when he hath that same Fencer-like kind of strength is nearest danger in the Judgment of the best Physicians remember with all that observation of Seneca Young Men saith he have Death behind them Old Men have Death before them and all men have Death not far from them we may in a manner complain already that the great God of Battle threatens an utter ruin to all the World the Earth hath trembled the Lights of Heaven have been often darkned Rebellions have been raised Treasons have not long since been practised Plagues of late have been dispersed Winds have blustered Waters have raged and what wants there now but those two Arrows of God even Sword and Fire from Heaven for us to be consumed Is it now think you a time to buy to sell to eat to drink and to live securely in sin as they did in the days of Noah and think of nothing else is it now a time to say unto Almighty God as the Nigard doth unto his Neighbour come again to me to morrow as that drousie Sluggard doth Prov. 6. 10. Yet a little sleep a little slumber a little foulding of the hands to sleep The foolish Virgins supposed that the Bridegroom would not have come like an Owl or a Batt in the night there is time enough said they what needs all this haste but poor Fools they were excluded Oh! I cannot forbear my very Heart even bleeds within me to think of it yea all the faculties of my Soul and Body are strucken with horrour and amazement while I declare unto you how that many Thousands now are doubtless in Hell who purposed in time to have set their Houses in order but being prevented by Death are for ever condemned O here I could heartily wish with Jeremy that I had in the Wilderness a Cottage Yeâ— I could wish with Job that I were a Brother to the Dragons and a Companion to the Ostriches whilst I think of that wish I am now uttering nay I could willingly desire with the Princely Prophet David that my Heart were full of Water and that mine Eyes were a Fountain of tears that I might weep Day and Night for the too too common Sins of this our Age in every kind Now you are in your preparations for Eternity and therefore had need to be very watchful over your selves to see that you set your Houses in order for you shall die and not live And this brings me now unto the very last thing observable in my Text and that is of the reason Negative and shalt not live set thy House c. Chrysostom prying into the base Nature of Man and finding him ever out of order teacheth him a seven-fold consideration of himself First What he is by nature what he is in himself Dust and Ashes Gen. 18. 2. Secondly What is within him much sin Thirdly What is before him a burning Lakâ— which is spoken of Isai 30. 33. Fourthly What is above him an offended Justice Deut. 32. 16. Fifthly What is against him Satan and Sin two notorious and deadly Eâ—… Sixthly What is before him 〈…〉 and worldly vanities And then seventhly and lastly He desires man seriously to consider what is behind him inâ—â—llable Death for semel aut bis morimur omnes Some once some twice we must all die and not live You cannot like Enocâ— Hâ—b 11. â—5 be translated but must suffer Death as well as other Men being common to all Whatsoever thou dost affect whatsoever thou dost project so do and so project all at once who for any thing thou knowest may at this very present depart out of this Life Hypocrates although he could not cure till Death came upon him Heraclitus who writ many natural Tracts concerning the last and general consolation of the World could not find out a Remedy or a Medicine for his Distemper but died out of hand Thus you may see how that God spares none but sends one thing or other to bring us to our long home And thus far concerning the Death of the Body shall suffice which was the Death good King Hezekiah was forewarned of Wherefore now I shall but only speak a word or two of the Soul and likewise of the Death of the Soul and Body and so conclude First as there is a Natural Death viz. the Death of the Body so likewise there is a Spiritual Death viz. of the Soul when it is deprived of those Graces which formerly God did bestow upon it for as the Soul is the light and life of the Body even so Almighty God is the light and life of the Soul When he takes his holy Spirit from us then we walk in the shadow of Death this Death is an ill Fruit of Sin therefore let us set our Houses in order But secondly As there is a natural Death and a spiritual Death so likewise there is an eternal Death called in the Ornament of Grace the second Death This Death as well as the Death of the poor Soul is lamented by God Esay 59. 2. As I live saith the Lord I desire not the Death of a Sinner but rather that he may turn from his Wickedness and live I might now likewise add a fourth Death and that is a civil Death an undoing of our Credit and honest Reputation which many Men die but this I shall leave to your consideration and so conclude O my dearly beloved Friends consider what you are all by nature What is within you What is above you What is below you What is against you What is before you What is behind you and that is infallible Death For here is not one here amongst you be he never so strong never so healthly but that within the Revolution of a few years shall be brought in spight of his
Bosom from this Vail of Tears to the Kingdom of Glory Moreover as Death helps us to our Rest so it is our Rest Why should we fear it The Scripture terms it but a taking away of the Soul to Peace a sweet Sleep of the Body Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and the Patriarchs are fallen asleep St. Stephen fell asleep Our Burying-places are but Dormitories Sleeping-places The Righteous is taken away from the Evil to come and he shall enter into Peace they shall rest in their Beds Such a Blessed Rest have the Righteous in Death as our Saviour wept because his Friend Lazarus was to be deprived of it it is both the Observation of an Ancient Father and the Resolution of an Ancient Council concerning Christs weeping over Lazarus John 11. 35. Doluit Lazarum non dormientem sed resurgentem Christ did not weep because Lazaras was dead and taken out of the World but because he was to return from the Grave into a Troublesome World after he was gone to his Rest It may be for the same Reason the Thracians of old used to lament at the Birth of their Children but rejoice at their Funeral The time will come that we must part with our Isaac's our Benjamin's nearest Friends and dearest Comforts Then remember my Text if they die in the Lord take no care for them they are Blessed they are at their Rest But some will say Shall we meet with our Friends again departed in the Faith Yes without peradventure if we walk in ways of Obedience to the end It was David's Comfort upon the death of his Child While the Child was living he fasted and wept and laâ— upon the Ground but when it was dead he arose and anointed himself aad eat Bread His Reason is very strong and convincing 1. An impossibility of Recovery He shall not come to me 2. An assured Hope of meeting again in Heaven But I shall go to him He shall not come to me that would be for his loss to part with his Rest in Heaven for a restless condition on Earth but I shall go to him I have not lost him for ever we shall meet again as comfortably as Jacob and Joseph met in Egypt meet again in Heaven and never part Now you know it never troubles us to see the Sun set because we know it will rise again in the Morning it never troubles us to part with a Friend when he goes to Bed because we hope to see him again in the Morning Beloved the Death of a Friend is but like the setting of the Sun or the uncloathing of a Man when he goes to Red there will be a glorious appearing in the Morning of the Resurrection and therefore St. Paul condemns immoderate sorrow for the dead I would not have you sorrow as those that have no hope Nature will be sorrowful but let Grace moderate the sorrow and keep it within the bounds of hope and the ground of hope is set down If ye believe that Jesus died and is risen again even so also them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 'T is true the Scripture mention some that shall not die as they that shall be found alive at the Coming of Christ to Judgment St. Paul tells us in plain terms we shall not all sleep but we shall be changed The meaning is they shall not so sleep as to continue in the state of the dead but be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an Eye yet such a change as they shall have a dissolution and in the same moment a redintegration a real Death and a real Resurrection though no sleeping in the Grave of Corruption You see one Generation passing and another Generation coming one Friend and Neighbour drops into the Grave after another and when your turn shall be you know not This you may be assured of Death will come certainly and it may be speedily it may be suddenly What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death Psal 89. 48. Now I beseech you embrace and improve these few directions in order to a Pious Life and a Peaceable Death First if you would live to the Lord and die in the Lord labour for exemplary purity of Life Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom but he that doth the Will of the Father Secondly If you would live to the Lord and die in the Lord give the World a Bill of Divorcement otherwise it will clip your Wings and clog your Souls and hinder your pursuit of Heaven there is nothing in all the World that is worthy of your Affections nothing but what is transitory and unsatisfactory and therefore look on it and pass away Gregory Nazianzen speaks of a Land which had abundance of Curious Flowers in it but no Corn for Bread to satisfie the Peoples Hunger the World is very like that Land here are many Flowers which may please our Sences and our Phantasies but here is no Corn for Bread no substantial satisfying Comforts As Death should be the Subject of your Meditation so Heaven the Center of your Affections Richard the First sometimes King of England gave charge that his Bowels should be Buried at Charron but his Heart at Roan the Faithful City the City of his Love Truely the World deserves but our waste parts we may Bury our Bowels in the Earth but our Hearts should be laid up in Heaven the Royal City the New Jerusalem That so after a troublesome Life we may have a peaceable Death and after Death a glorious Reward of Everlasting Rest in Heaven according to this voice from Heaven in the Text. Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their Labâ—urs and their Works follow them I have now done with the Text and now come to address my self unto that sad occasion which hath given my present Discourse this Mourning Suit The occasion of our present meeting is to Solemnize the Funeral of our deceased Neighbour and Friend to do our last office to her Body by affording it the benefit of a Christian and Comely Burial Concerning whom I might upon very good and warrantable Grounds enlarge my Discourse in the description of the blessedness both of her Life and Death but as the Orator said Quid opus est verbis What need is there of words when her deeds are so manifest She died the death of Moses he died leisurely God gave him notice of his Journey before-hand for his better preparation Go up to the Mount and die So departed she from the World not before she expected Death not before she provided for Death God was pleased in Mercy to give her warning before she flitted to ring her Passing-bell in her Soul many days before she died and whereas many are flattered with hopes of Life till the very Hour of Death yet she was upon a meditation of Death from the first beginning of her sickness Death was not sudden to her either in
Generations of Men Solomon puts the question Eccles 11. 5. Tell me how the Bones grow in the Womb of her that is with Child Can you tell how the Child is framed Thou canst not give an account of thy own Production nor find out the Work of God in forming the Body Therefore as to the manner how such things are done we must have recourse only to the Almighty power of God to the All-powerful God who is able to subdue all things to himself Mine Eye shall behold and not another Though my Reigns be consumed within me I touch upon the Interpretation of this Clause before as it suits with that passage vers 26. Though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body and though my Reins be consumed within me Though I be totally consumed Skin without and Reins within yet notwithstanding I believe that I shall rise and see God Thus it was joined with the first Words of the 26th Verse to shew the triumph of Faith over all Difficulties that lie in the way of the Resurrection The Yearly Mourner SERMON XIV JUDGES 11. ult And it was a Custom in Israel that the Daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the Daughter of Jeptha the Gileadite four Days in a Year TO a place appointed for their meeting to this end possibly to the place where she was Sacrificed to express their sorrow for her loss according to the manner or to discourse of so the Hebrew Lamed is sometimes used the Daughter of Jepthah to Celebrate her Praises who had so willingly yielded up her self for a Sacrifice We find our Saviour weeping over Lazarus's Grave insomuch as the people could infer thence See how much he loved him John 11. 35 36. I know no Divinity that excludes Humanity but delights always to plant it self in soft Breasts and either make or finds good Nature I find in the Catalogue and Spawn of highest Crimes which the dregs of these last times should bring forth want of natural Affection reckon'd 2 Tim. 33. So then 't is not only not unlawful but a Duty to Mourn with those that Mourn if you will receive the Apostles Prescription Rom. 12. 15. It is in the Scripture noted as an extream Judgment and Curse on the Wicked Job 17. 15 Psal 78. 64. his Widows shall not weep as either wanting leisure from other Sorrows or liberty from their Cruel Enemies Tears are the first Office we do for our selves and the last for others They may not please themselves that can with dryest Eyes behold the Sicknesses the Losses the Funerals of Friends as who had attained a greater measure of Religion or Discretion or the Spirit or who had subdued their Desires to a perfecter Resignation and submission to Gods Will. Let them question themselves whether this stoutness proceeds not from a Spirit void of Sense and Natural Affection and not from an humble Resignation to the Providence and Pleasure of God whether this Caâ—m arise not alike to that of the dead Sea from a Curse On the other side Though Religion forbids not Mourning yet it forbids us to Mourn as those that have no hopes though it excludes not all grief yea it moderates our Grief and teacheth us to turn our sadness to an holy sorrow Weep not She is not Dead but Sleepeth SERMON XV. LUKE 8. 52. And all wept and bewailed her But he said Weep not she is not dead but sleepeth OUR Life is divided into Labour and Rest which Nature wisely hath contrived into waking and sleeping in an admirable manner providing the preservation of our being by a seeming dissolution of it We must intermit it to continue it Die we must one half of the natural day that we may live the other Lye down and sleep as it were to die in the night that we may awake and arise to live on the Morrow so well acquainted is our Life with Death that our whole Age appears the Changes and Intercourse of both Nay this kind of Death is that which continueth Life such is the Frailty of the Creature that it immediately owes its being to a kind of not being to a privation though not simply of Life yet Tali to something very well like Death For tell me strongest Constitution How long canst thou labour without the relief of rest How long canst thou awake without refreshment of sleep But would not have you to be ignorant Brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not as others that have no bâ—pe For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them which sleep in Jesus God will bring with him as affirms St. Paul 1 Thess 4. 13. 14. John 11. 12. Whence it appears that if she sleep she shall do well and shall we take it ill that our Friends are well Shall we be troubled upon Earth because our Friends are at rest under it Forbid it Religion Pereaâ— contristatio uâ—iâ—anta est consolatio Be not ye sad because your Friend is gone to a state of Joy If Nature sadned at departure will let fall a Tear let Faith gladned with Hopes of meeting again wipe away that Tear Wrestle not with the Decrees of Heaven nor murmur at the procedures of its Providence 't was God that closed her Eyes in sleep that forbids your Eyes to weep Weep not for she is not dead â—ut sleepeth The Division of this Text is made to my hand s by the meeting of this Congregation three Parties are visible in the presence Which discover three parts legible in the words 1. The Dead She. 2. The Mourners All wept 3. The Preacher he said Weep not Weep not This I said is the Mourners Comfort to improve it into practice thereby to lessen the number or to lighten the weight of their Mourning I profess my self unfurnished of any other Argument than the numberless Felicities and weight of Glory which Crown those that are not Dead but Sleep Yet whilst we live in this Valley of Tears natural Affection will so far prevail upon our Reason that even the Father of the Faithful when he was to sow his nearest Relative in the Earth could not but Water it with a shower from his Eyes For Abraham came to Mourn for Sarah and to weep for her Gen. 23. 2. Attend the first words Christ spake to a Woman after his Resurrection was it not Whâ— weepest thou Joh. 20. 15. Indeed before Christ had opened the Gates of Death Marâ— nay the whole World had cause enough to weep But now Christ the Head was risen and had made way for all his Members to follow now Jesus had beaten Death at his own Weapon and kill'd it by dying since he hath changed the Grave into a Bed Death into Sleep and made the Land of Darkness the ready way to the place where Light dwelleth Tears are both unreasonable and unseasonable why weepest thou is as much as weep not Considerable are the Syren and the Swan whose different Fate is thus The Syren Sings away
of hearing any more and that is Death It will be but a little while before Death will cause both the Speaker to be Dumb and the Hearer to be Deaf Oh that I might therefore this day speak with that seriousness sensibleness and suitableness unto you as considering the time draws on apace when I shall be Silenced by Death and never more have an opportunity to speak one word unto you And Oh! that you might Hear this day with that diligence and reverence as considering that after you are once Nailed down in your Coffins and covered with the Dust you will never hear one Sermon more or one Exhortation or one word more till you hear these words pronounced by the great Judge of the Quick and Dead Surgite Morâ—ui vâ—nite â—d Judicium Arise ye Dead and come ye unto Judgment What is said in my Text as it is likely you have often heard it with your Ears so now you may see it accomplished It is appointed unto all men once to dye Death hath long since come into our Nation and hath summoned many to make their appearance in another World yea you know that Death hath already entred into our Streets and hath not been afraid to step over our Threshold and to seize upon those that have been standing round about us yea it hath come into our very Bed-Chambers and hath suddenly snatched away those that have been lying in our very Bosoms so that we have had warning enough of the near approaches of Death unto our selves and without doubt some of us have had the Sentence of Death within our selves as the Apostle speaketh and therefore it is high time for you and I seriously to consider what is said in my Text It is appointed c. Something we shall briefly speak now in order to the explanation of the words that so you may once more hear before you feel the meaning of them It is appointed or enacted by the Court of Heaven Statutum est it is a Statute or Law more firm and certain than the Laws of the Medes and Persians which is never to be repealed or abrogated We are not therefore telling you of what may but of what must inevitably come to pass It is appointed unto Men that is as much as to say unto all men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is an indefinite Expression and so is to be understood of all the same kind without some special exception from this general Rule And indeed such an exception there is to be found in the Scripture for saith the Apostle We shall not all Dye but some shall be Changed in a Moment in the twinkling of an Eye So that this general Rule in my Text is to be understood with an Exceptis excipiendis There shall be some at the end of the World who shall not pass under Death but yet they must pass under a Change which is thought will be equivalent unto Death But for the present time and according to the common Method and course of Providence no Man or Woman hath any ground to expect that they shall escape the Stroke of Death for it is appointed unto Men that is unto all Men once to Dye Death is a sure Striker it never misseth and is certain to have its blow and it will strike home it will hit the Nail on the Head and it will smite down every one that stands in its way whether Poor or Rich young or old it will no more spare him that wears a Crown upon his Head than him that carries a Spade in his Hand as the Poet elegantly expresses it Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pâ—de Pauperum tabernas Regumque Turres c. And the Scripture speaking of Kings useth this Expression I have said you are Gods but ye shall dye like Men So some have thought Kings to be no less than Gods when they have seen them sitting upon their Thrones yet it will appear that they are no more than men when they shall be seen lying in their Tombs But what is the meaning of the Phrase to Dye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I can assure you if you know not yet it will not be long e're you will know the meaning of it The Philosopher describes Death thus Est privatio Vitae ob Animae separationem à Corpore As Spiritual Death is the Separation of God from the Soul so Temporal Death is the Separation of the Soul from the Body When those two the Soul and Body which have like Twins dwelt lovingly together under the same Roof must be parted asunder and enjoy no more sweet and intimate Communion one with another till the time of re-unition at the General Resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is that which must once be done every one must here take their turn and that is indeed to be turned off from the Stage of this present Life into the bottom of the Grave And though this happeneth to some at one time and to others at another time yet first or last it will happen unto all once The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Death is taken from a word which signifies extendere and indeed Death stretcheth out it self so far that no Man can live out of the reach of it As surely as thou wast once Born so surely shalt thou once Dye and though this is but once to be done yet seeing it will be done to the purpose it should be more than once thought on beforehand yet one serious thought of once Dying and of what will come after will certainly deaden the Soul as to the Actings of Sin and quicken it unto the Actings of Grace Let me but ask you this one plain Question and your own Conscience shall be the Judge in the Case Couldest thou still remain a Drunkard or a Swearer if thou didst but once seriously consider that thou must once Dye or couldst thou so eagerly set thy Heart upon the empty lying and dying Vanities of this World didst thou but once seriously consider that thou must once and it may be before to morrow be taken out of this World or couldest thou neglect the means of Grace or delight in Profaness and slight Seriousness and Heavenly-mindedness didst thou but seriously consider that thou must once Dye and it may be before ever thou enjoyest another Praying or Preaching opportunity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To dye is much and as this must be once done so there is more to be done than this for after this cometh Judgment Whether the particular or general Day of Judgment is here to be understood needs no debate seeing both will certainly follow after Death I think there are none but are afraid to look grim Death in the Face and therefore Death is called Rex Terrorum the King of Fears But once to dye and after that is past that Judgment should pass upon every one this is indeed a terrible expression and may well be a dreadfull consideration unto every one who
tell the World that he did once Live Neither is the Thred of Mans Life at any time Spun so strong or drawn out so long but at one word of thy Mouth it is soon snapt in two Seeing therefore we do but Live to Dye we beseech thee Oh Blessed God let us Dye to Live let us live well that so we may dye well let Death never surprize us unlooked for or unprepared nor let it ever seize upon us in an unconverted unregenerate State while we live that so when we Dye Corporally we may live Spiritually and Eternally with thee in a State of Glory Good Lord let us not so live as to be ashamed to Live any longer or to be afraid to look grim Death in the Face when it comes to separate our Souls from our Bodies and to summon our Souls to make their appearance before the great Judge of the Quick and Dead Let us with thy Servant Job wait all our appointed time untill our Change doth come indeed it will be our greatest Wisdom to wait for Death which always waits for us and to expect that at all times which will come at some time and may come at any time Let us Pray and Preach and Hear and so spend our time as those who know and consider that all they do they do it for Eternity and we shall never have but one cast for Eternity Heaven and Glory is here to be won or lost for ever Blessed God thou hast taught us in thy Word that it is better to goe to The House of Weeping than to the House of Feasting for that is the end of all Men and thou hast said That the Living will lay it to Heart Oh Lord we have this day been at the House of Mourning and Weeping and we have seen the end of one yea of many of our Friends and Acquaintance within a short space of time and in the Death of our Friends we may read our own Death and yet shall not we who are left behind them in the Land of the Living lay these awakening Instances of Mortality to Heart shall we hear and see daily our nearest and dearest Relations giving up the Ghost and departing out of this World into another World and yet shall we once think that we shall ever live to enjoy the Treasures and Pleasures of this present evil World But seeing Lord this World is a dying World and all its glory is a dying glory let our Minds and Hearts therefore be set upon the Glory of Heaven which is a never fading Glory Oh did we believe and consider how much better a Believers future Estate will be than his present State is then should we think that Time is too long before we do and that Eternity will be too short when we shall enjoy our Gracious Redeemer upon his Throne of Glory Let us ever live as those that have one Foot in the Grave already Thousands and Millions yea innumerable Millions of Thousands are gone to their Graves before us and do we think that we that are but enlivened Dust animated Shadows dying lumps of Clay can keep our dying Bodies from being a Feast for Worms or keep our Souls from being turned out of their Tenements of Clay from seeking new Lodgings â—n another World Oh! let us therefore every day be looking into our Graves and familiarize Death unto our Thoughts before it comes let us consider how many signal admonitions thou dost daily give us of our approaching end Is not every Distemper and Sickness of Body as it were a little Death and a fair Warning to put us in mind of our last Change The Grey hairs which are here and there upon our Heads the deep wrinkles which are engraven upon our Foreheads the loss of Teeth the Dimness of Sight our Deafness in hearing our Palsie-hands our feeble trembling Limbs and the frequent Sight of seeing Friends laid out in their Winding Sheets for Dead and carried to their Houses of Clay the silent Grave are Circumstances and Symptoms serving to remind us that the time draws near wherein we must Dye and that our departure is at Hand Let us therefore live as dying Men and let us dye as Living Christians let us set our House and our Heart in order remembring the Text It is appointed for all Men once to Dye but after this the Judgment SERMON VI. All Men both good and bad shall arise to Judgment ISA. xxvi xix Thy dead Men shall live together with my dead Body shall they arise Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust for thy dâ—w is as the dew of herbs and the Earth shall cast out the dead I might spend an hours work in delivering unto you the several opinions of Men concerning the meaning of these words I find such difference among the Learned about the Interpretation thereof Some would have them to bear this sense That the Prophet by the earth raising up of her dead signifieth the delivering of Gods people the Jews who being trodden on and oppressed by their enemies as dead should have a resurrection that is a reparation of their decayed Estate they should have a time of refreshing even as the Dew makes the leaves to spring that is they should have a time of deliverance Many other Opinions I might recite unto you But I will not trouble you with them at this time But because there is not one word in my Text but may very well fall upon the common place of the Resurrection as Junius and Tremellius Hyeron August Lyra and all the most judicious Interpreters have well observed I reduce whatsoever may be spoken of them to these two heads either to the Resurrection of the dead in Christ or to the Resurrection of those which are contemners and despisers of God both which as the Nothern Rivers have many turnings yet they all meet in the main Ocean so the Elect and the Reprobate though there be main difference and discrepancy betwixt them yet they all meet in the general Resurrection all I say must arise The Godly unto everlasting glory to eternal bliss and happiness The Wicked to perpetual Torments and Condemnation Having thus set the letter of my Text in tune and shewed you the general drift and scope of the words I proceed now to the particular meaning and interpretation of them Thy dead Men shall live c. As there hath been a Death so there must be a Resurrection Gods people that have dyed from the beginning of the World or shall die to the end of it hereafter are but as the seed sowen in the Earth They must endure rottenness for a while but being â—owen in dishonour they shall rise in glory The miseries they endured in this life â—hey were but the tokens and forerunâ—ers of Death But let them hope yea â—et them know assuredly that there will â—ome a day of refreshing when God â—hall say unto these bones I will cause â—reath to enter into you and you shall â—ive and will
their Resurrection yet I say let them do their worst and yet they can by no means disapoint the Christian of his hope of a glorious Resurrection So that a Christian in the midst of his sufferrings may say of his tormentor as once Socrates speak of his Accuser occidere me potest ledere vero non potest Well may he kill me but he shall never ill me For though Persecuters kill the body yet they cannot berieve a Christian of that Happiness and Glory that God hath given unto the Souls in the day of the Resurrection This is to be thought on as a means to support our languishing Spirit Then it will be unto him a day of sweet rest wherein he shall be refreshed after all his painful labours and travails taken in the service of God which will be no less comfortable unto him than the gladsome morning to a sick man which hath tossed and turned up and down wearily all the night long And it shall be the Christians pay day also so our Saviour calls it Luk. 14. 14. because then he having his reward with him will come forth of every ones debt and reward their goodness with glory And such a day Beloved there shall be unto all the Elect and dear Children of God As they have had a day of Death so shall they have a day of Resurrection All the people of God that have died from the beginning of the World or shall die to the end of it hereafter are but as the seed sowen in the ground they must endure rottenness for a while But being fowen in dishonour they shall rise in honour being sown in corruption they shall rise in glory All the mysteries they endured in this Life they were but mortis praeludia the tokens and forerunners of Death but let them hope yea let them know assuredly that there will come a day of Refreshing as St. Peter calls it Act. 3. 19. when God shall say unto these dry Bones I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live and will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh to grow upon you and will cover you with skin That there shall be a Resurrection even things in nature probably do shew it And therefore St. Paul sends the Atheist to learn this lesson from the seed that is sowen in the ground O Fool saith he that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die 1 Cor. 15. 36. And the Ancient Fathers send us to the Phoenix of Arabia out of whose Cinders when she is dead another bird springeth up to learn the self same thing And indeed the Phoenix is a notable Embleme of the Resurrection and we want not ressemblance thereof daily before our eyes considerer but the trees of the forrest the flowers of the garden and the Herbs of the field We see that the Tres in winter being despoiled of their Leaves the Garden of the Flowers and the Fields of the Grass do seem utterly to die and to perish But when the spring time comes they putting on their green Carpets and particoulered Garments like Joseph they all wax as fresh and flourishing as ever they were before So the Body which during the Winter of many Ages is deprived of her beauty and turned to rottenness doth at the Spring time of the Resurrection not only recover its former Beauty but obtaineth a far more excellent Glory Nay the mutual vicissitude and entercourse of things the setting and rising of one and the same Sun sleep and waking labour and rest night and day the day that dies into the night and yet revives again and is with his former brighteness revived to the whole World all these are probable Proofs of the Resurrection But besides these we have infallible testimonis and Arguments proving the certainty of it For first this was shadowed in holy Scripture by sundry Types and Figures So God shewed this in a vision to Ezechias when he saw a field full of dry Bones receiving at Gods Comandment Flesh and Nerves and Fire See Ezech. 37. to the 12. For this was not only a Prediction of the Deliverance of Israel out of Babel but also a typical confirmation of the Resurrection of our Bodies So Jonas being restored alive out of the Wales belly wherein he had lain three days and three nights was a type of the Resurrection Secondly that we should not doubt of the certainity of it God hath given us examples of many particular Persons raised already from Death to Life both in the Old and New Testament As of the Widows Son of Sarepta raised up by Elias 1 Kings 17. 22. Of the Shunamitish womans Son raised by Elisha 2 Kings 4 34 35. And of a certain man at the touching of Elishas bones lying in the Sepulchre 13. 21. These in the Old Testament And in the New Testament we find not only that our Saviour Christ did raise himself by his own power never to die any more but that he raised others also as the Rulers Daughter the Widow of Naim's Son and Lazarus of Bethania when he had lain four days putrifying in the Grave yea many also at his Death not that they might die any more as Lazarus and the rest But rather as some think that they might accompany him into Life eternal by whose power they had risen that they might be undoubted Testimonis of his quickning power and why then should any think it impossible for God to raise all the Bodies of the Saints to Life at the last day Thirdly we have divine Testimonies in in the Scripture proving the necessity of it Thy dead Men shall live saith the Prophet even with my Body shall they rise Awake and sing ye that dwell in Dust For thy deaw is as the deaw of hearbs and the earth shall cast out the Dead Isa 26. 9. See also concerning this matter Dan. 12. 2. Job 19. 25 26. So our Saviour also in the fifth of John 28. 29. speaks plainly to this purpose The hour shall come saith he in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice and they shall come forth that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life but they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of condemnation Fourthly the faith of the Resurrection is grounded on the power of God who is omnipotent with Whom is possible that which with Men is impossible Who calleth those things which are not as though they were Rom. 4. 17. With Whom nothing is impossible Luk. 1. 37. And the Argument drawn from Gods power it follows A majori ad minus from the greater unto the lesser For did God make our Bodies of the Dust and cannot he think you repair our Bodies again when they are turned into Dust which is a less matter Qui potuit id quod non erat producere ut aliquid esset id quod jam est cum ceciderit restituere non potuerit saith Cyril He that could bring out that which was not and make
Night hold a Stone in one of their Feet which falling from them when they fall asleep accuses them of carelesness by the noise The same Birds when they cross the Sea carry Sand in their Throats The Grave-stone taxes Men of Vanity and the dust that covers them The Calf which the Hebrews worshipp'd was a Golden one but reduc'd into Powder Nebuchadnezzar's Image was terrible to behold but broken with the Fall of a Stone The Apples of Sodom are fair to sight but being broken they fall to dust Man swelling in his Pride boasts his Fortune and his Riches yet all his Vanity must be crumbled into Ashes This is the beginning of Humane Pomp and this the end Therefore do what is to be done Eternity is at hand Sect. 9. Man truly Miserable 'T IS hard to say whether Nature be a better Mother to Man or a more cruel Stepdame In the first place one Creature among all the rest she cloaths with the spoils of others The rest she covers variously with Shells Rinds Hides Thorns Wooll Bristles Hair Feathers Scales and Fleeces Frunch and Trees with Bark which sometimes proves a double safe guard against Cold and Heat Only Man she produces naked and throws him upon the bare ground to weep and wail while no other Animal is born to Tears in the very dawn of Life No sooner Man is Born but he becomes a Captive with all his Members ty'd and bound A crying Creature Lord of all the rest Yet there he lyes with Feet and Hands fast Chain'd He begins his Life with Capital punishment only for one fault for being Born What Madness is that in those who from such beginnings as these think themselves Born to Pride The first hope of strength and the first office of time makes him like a four-footed Beast When is Man able to go When to speak When are his Teeth prepar'd for Food How long remain these Symptoms that betray him weak beyond all other Creatures Now so many Diseases so many Remedies as often vanquish'd by new and unknown Diseases We find other Creatures how quickly they perceive their own Natures and presently some swim others walk some fly others creep But Man knows nothing without teaching not so much as to go to speak or feed himself Briefly he does nothing naturally of himself but cry Only to one Creature crying is natural to one Creature Luxury to one Ambition to one Avarice to one Superstition to one an Immense desire of Living Yet is the Life of no Creature more frail the Lust of no Creature is more the fear of none more confus'd nor the fury more vehement Lastly all other Creatures live quietly with their several kinds they congregate together and oppose their Enemies The Lions Fight not with Lions noâ— do Serpents Serpents bite Nor do the Monsters of the Sea prey but upon various kinds but Man's chiefest Mischiefs proceed from Man himself Sect. 10. VVhat then is Man IF we believe the Ancients Man is the Sport of Fortune the Image of Inconstancy the Mirror of Corruption the Spoil of Time the Slave of Death a walking Sepulcher the Figure of Frailty a thin Shadow a meer Dream a Breathing Carkass a living Death If thou askest Seneca What is Man He will answer A weak frail naked Body naturally unarmed needing the help of others liable to all the Injuries of Fortune the Food of every wild Beast a Victim to the Stronger â—â—c If you ask the Sacred Writers Man is the Bait of Worms a Skin full of Dung the Sport of Calamity a Pattern of Imbecility he is a flying Post a sailing Ship a Bird upon the Wing a vanishing Smoak a light Froth a scale of Envy the drop of a Bucket the turn of the Balance a drop of Dew before Morning the Guest of one day a Flower Grass altogether Vanity Dust and Ashes Emptiness and Nothing And yet we little Miserable Animals compile vast Nomenclators full of specious Tities we ambitiously desire great Names and without any prejudice to our Ears we hear the Titles of Magnificent most Illustrious Happy Pious most Potent most August most Invincible the Best the Greatest What can we do more unless we should imitate Sapor King of the Persians in an Epistle which he thus began to Constantine the Emperor Sapor King of Kings Companion of the Stars and Brother to the Sun and Moon to Constantine my Brother wishes Health Or rather let us borrow Names from the Bisnagentian King who was wont to be Saluted the Bridegroom of good Luck the God of great Provinces the King of most Potent Kings Lord of all the Armies of Horse The Master and Teacher of those that understand not how to speak Emperor over three Emperors Conqueror of whatever he saw Preserver of his Conquests whom Eight parts of the World sear a Knight to whom there is none to be compar'd a Vanquisher of every one that boasts in Strength the Hunter of Elephants Lord of the East South North West and Sea All this Peter Irricus relates Are here Titles enough If you please let us add a Series of Eulogies which the Soldan setâ— before his Epistles in this Order Omnipotent Salmander before Carthage Lord of Jordan Lord of the East Lord of Bethlehem Lord of Paradise Praefect of Hell Supreamest Emperor of Constantinople Lord of the Dry Fig the Lord by whom the Sun and Moon steer their Course Protector of John the first Priest Emperor King of Kings Lord of the Christians Jews Turks the God's Friend In a Style not much unlike to this Solyman wrote to our Caesar To Charles the Fifth always most August Emperor Solyman his Contemporary sprung from the Victorious and most Noble Family of the Ottomans Emperor of Trebizond and Constantinople Lord of the World and Conqueror of the Earth c. What would ye have more O truely Splendid Misery O Ashes and Nothing O Vanity of Vanity Most shameful is that Ignorance when Man forgets himself to be Man Sect. 11. To the Haters of Funerals HEnce therefore not Men but Kites which though most Rapacious and always hungry yet never taste any or prey upon Funeral Diet. You though most curious in other things will hardly be perswaded to touch any thing that smells of the Coffin or of Embalming More grateful to you is any Supper under any Tree than a Banquet under Yew or Cyprus All the Preparations of Libitina you perfectly hate desiring nothing more than utterly to abolish the remembrance of Death But here behold the Delirium that possesses ye when the Sacred Letters clearly admonish us that it is better to go into the House of Mourning than of Feasting But you had rather do any thing else than piously mourn and remember Death But beware that while ye dread a short mourning you are not forced to wait Eternally Sect. 12. Our Life is but a Life of Tears EVery one of us saith Cyprian when he is Born and receiv'd into the Inn of this World begins his Journey
in Tears Every one may say of himself As I began in Tears I end my Life For all my Life is but a Mourning strife Thus all begin thus all Men end their years When Born they weep and Die expending Tears Thus in those Tears as in a Shipwrack found In his own Waves each single Man lyes drown'd He 's only blest that so doth pass the Frith To have no cause of weeping after Death Wouldst thou have an Abstract an Epitome of all Humane Life Daniel the Archbishop and Elector of Mentz in Germany in a little Book of Prayers wrote with his own hand these Precepts of Living 1. Life short 2. Beauty deceitful 3. Money flies away 4. Empire envy'd 5. War pernicious 6. Victory doubtful 7. Friendship fallacious 8. Old Age miserable 9. Death happiness 10. Wisdom Fame Eternal That Heavenly Wisdom that brings us to Kingdoms never destitute never to be invaded eternal Sect. 13. God the Comfort of our Tears ACknowledge the voice as well of the Comforter as of the Promiser With him I am in Tribulation he shall deliver me and I will glorifie him And this truely for God is at hand to those that are afflicted in Mind and will save the humble in Heart Concerning these Promises St. Austin has been perspicuous Fear not saith he when thou art in Affliction lest God should not be with thee God is present with those that are afflicted in Mind He assists in the Conflict consider who proclaim'd the Conflict God does not so behold thee striving for the Race as the people look upon the Chariot Driver They can shout and bawl but know not how to help They can prepare the Crown but cannot afford strength For Man is but Man and no God And perhaps while he looks on he labours more as he sits than the other in the Contest God when he beholds his Wrastlers assists his Invokers For the voice of the Wrastler is in the Psalm If I said my foot was mov'd thy Mercy shall assist me Therefore when thou beginst to be afflicted summon up thy Faith and thou shalt know the Vertue of it for he will not forsake thee But thou therefore thinkst thy self forsaken because he does not deliver thee just when thou wouldst have him He deliver'd the Children out of the Fire He that deliver'd the three Children did he desert the Maccabees Far be any such thought He deliver'd both these and them Those Corporally that unbelievers might be confounded these Spiritually that the Faithful might imitate For the Lord is at hand to those that are afflicted in mind and shall deliver the humble in Spirit God is above the Christian beneath If he would that the high God should be near him let him be humble Great Mysteries my Brethren God is above all things Dost thou exalt thy self Thou dost not move him Dost thou humble thy self He will descend to thee Therefore invoke to thy Aid this most faithful Assistant he will be present at one sigh so it be serious And God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are pass'd away Most truely said the same St. Austin with how much sweetness does he bewail himself that prays More delightful are the Tears of those that pray than the pleasures of Theaters Sect. 14. Our Nativity our Death NOT the end of my Life says the dying Theban but a more ample and better beginning Foâ— now Fellow Soldiers your Epaminondas is Boâ—aâ— because he so dies For why should we indulgâ— to human Grief or envy the Gods since they divide their Immortality between us A Nation Bordering upon the Thracians and iâ— Customs agreeing with them has this one peculiaâ— to themselves That when an Infant is Born thâ— Relations sitting about it weeping and wailing enâ— merate the Miseries which the Child is to endurâ— On the other side when a Man dies they bury hiâ— with Joy and Exaltation recounting from hoâ— many miseries he is deliver'd Deservedly thâ— Notion claims to it self the Applause of Wisdoâ— who celebrate the Birth of Man with Tears aâ— his Funeral with Pomp and Gladness Therefoâ— disclaim the Natural Sweetness of Life that causes Men to act and suffer many shameful things and then the end of thy Life will be far more happy than the beginning Wholesom was the Doctrine of the second Pliny Therefore saith he many were of Opinion that thought it best never to be Born or immediately to die Thus Sitenus being tak'n by Midas and ask'd what was the best thing could happen to Man For a while stood silent At length being urg'd to speak he answer'd That the best thing was never to be Born the next to die the soonest that might be This I must not omit very wonderful unheard of and pleasant in the Relation Lodowic Cortusius a Lawyer of Padua forbid to his Relations all Tears and Lamentations by his will And desir'd that he might have Harpers Pipers and all sorts of Musick at his Funeral who should partly go before partly follow the Corps and leaving to every one a small Sum of Money His Bier he ordered to be carry'd by twelve Virgins that being clad in Green were to sing all the way such Songs as Mirth brought to their Remembrance leaving to each a certain Sum of Money instead of a Dowry Thus was he Buried in the Church of St. Sophia in Padua accompanied with a hundred Attendants together with all the Clergy of the City excepting those that were black For such by his Will he forbid his Funeral as it were turning his Funeral Rites into a Marriage Ceremony He died the 17th of July 1418. Admirable was the saying of St. Bernard Let them bewail their Dead who deny the Resurrection They are to be deplor'd who after Death are Buried in Hell by the Devils not they who are plac'd in Heaven by the Angels Precious is the Death of the Saints as being a Rest from their Labours the Consummation of Victory the Gate of Life and the entrance into perfect security Apparently said the wise Hebrew Better is the hour of Death than the day of our Nativity Sect. 15. Death every where SEveral miserable People who deem it more convenient to die than live torment themselves by what means to rid themselves out of the World Whether to whet their Knives temper their Poyson make use of Ropes or Precipices as if it requir'd so much Ceremony and Labour to dissolve and untye the weak knot that holds the Body and Soul together None of these did Coma the Brother of Diogenes need His Soul shut close up in his own Breast found out the way For a little study serves to retain that good the frail possession whereof is shaken with the least puff of Violence Death is every where and lyes lurking in all places and at all times Where-ever thou goest thou shalt find him prepar'd he is
never unprepar'd but meets thee at every turn But when only Death is enough for one Man to desire wherefore before the last Death do so many Deaths assassinate miserable Man so that the Question may not be ask'd in vain If all my Life makes but one little drop Why then so many Death 's my Course to stop Hear St. Bernard Let the continual Meditation of Death be thy chief Philosophy And therefore variety of Death disturbs thee Whatever happens to others saith St. Bernard may happen to thee because thou art a Man A Man of Earth Clay out of Clay Of Earth thou art by the Earth thou livest and out of the Earth shalt thoâ— return when that day comes that often comes and perhaps may come this day Certain it is because thou shalt die though it be uncertain when or how or where Because Death expects thee every where if thou beest wise expect that every where 'T is the saying of Annaeus Uncertain it is saith he in what place Death may expect thee therefore do thou expect Death in every place Sect. 16. Death is at home to every Man VVE trifle and at distance think the Ill While in our Bowels Death lyes lurking still For in the Moment of our Birth-day Morn That moment Life and Death conjoin'd were Born And of that Thread with which our Lives we measure Our Thievish hours still make a rapid seizure Insensibly we die so Lamps expire When wanting Oyl to feed the greedy Fire Though living still yet Death is then so nigh That oft-times as we speak we speaking die There is a Fish in the Northern Ocean near Muscovy which is called Mort. This Monster of the Sea has very great Teeth so that as Cardanus relates the Handles of Swords are made of the Teeth Every one of our Bodies is a Pond O Mortals wherein we nourish this Fish called Mort and therefore not to be sought at such a distance from us Every Mans Death is at home Sect. 17. Death Inexorable THough Rocks be deaf and blind be Tygers rage Though furious War'gainst Man the Billows wage Morsels will Tygers tame and the soft Gale Of Western Winds upon the Waves prevail But fier cer than the Waves or Tygers Rage Deaths untam'd Fury no Prayers can asswage The Parcae to whose Distaffs Spindles Shears the Ancients committed all the power of Life and Death are inexorable not to be mov'd by all the Supplication in the World For when The Parce in their Order come Beyond command there 's no delay No putting off th' Appointed Day There 's no beseeching those cruel Spinstresses So precisely do they observe their day prefixed According to this Conception Painters and other Artificers describe the Triumpher over all Human kind For they Picture him without Ears as not hearing the Prayers of any blind also as not moved with the Tears of any He is Painted without a Tongue or Lips that Men should not think to receive the least word of Comfort from him He is Painted without Flesh to shew that he wants all sense of Humanity Only his Nerve Arteries and Muscles his Bow and Arrows his Darts and Stings remain behind to strike poor miserable Mortals And surely then if ever he shewed his rage and insulted over the World when he assailed Christ himself the Son of God the Author of Life at what time the very Rocks wept the Earth trembled the Stars bewailed the Sun grew pale and Angels mourned acting a dismal Tragedy upon the Life of Life it self Whoever thou art if thou art a Man Death will be inexorable to thee Therefore be mindful of Death the Hour flies from thence my admonition Therefore is every day to be reckoned as thy last and as the first of Eternity Sect. 18. Most certain Death is most uncertain WHat more certain in Human things than Death St. Bernard exclaims What more uncertain than the Hour of Death It sits at the Doors of old Men and lyes in ambush for the young Therefore boast not of to Morrow not knowing what to Morrow will bring forth This the Venunian Lyrick was not ignorant of Who knows whether the Gods to this days sum Will add to Morrow though but just to come Most perspicuously saith St. James the Apostle Go too now ye that say to day or to morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a year â—nd buy and sell and get gain whereas ye know â—ot what shall be on the morrow For what is â—our Life It is even a Vapour that appeareth for â— little time and then vanisheth away Whereas â—e ought to say If the Lord will we shall live and â—o this or that We shall all go all all for we all die and â—â—k into the Earth like Water that never returns â—either canst thou be ignorant that thou art so beâ—tten as to remember that there is a Law set at â—e same time by the Nature of all things both for â—ceiving and restoring thy breach And as no â—an dies that has not lived so no man lives that â—ll not die Though when he shall die is uncerâ—â— And therefore Christ stirring us up by a â—st faithful Exhortation Take ye heed watch â—d pray for ye know not when the time is And â—n repeating the same again VVatch ye therefore â—h he for ye know not when the Master of the â—â—e cometâ— at evening or at midnighe or at the Cockcrowing or in the Morning lest coming suddenly he find you And what I say unto you I say unto you all VVatch. Sect. 19. Death to many sudden to all unlook't for VVHO will not stand upon his guard against the Efforts of Death that threatens us every Hour who has appointed no time when he intends to meets us He creeps flies leaps upon us with a tacit motion a stealing pace making no signs before hand without any cause without any caution in sickness in health in danger in security so that there is nothing sacred or safe from his clutches Sound and merry was Tarquin when he was choaked with a Fish-bone Healthy also was Fabius when a little Hair that he swallowed with his Milk cut the Thread of his Life A Weezel bit Aristides and in a moment of time he expired The Father of Caesar the Dictator rose well out of his Bed and while he was putting on his Shoes he breathed his last The Rhodian Ambassador had pleaded his Cause in the Senate even to admiration but expired going over the Threshold of the Court-house A Grape-stone killed Anacreon the Poet and if we may believe Luciar Sophocles also Lucia the Daughter of Marcus Aurelius died with a little prick of a Needle Cn. Brebius Pamphilus being iâ— his Pretorship when he asked the time of the day of a certain youth perceived thâ— to be the last Hour of his Life The Breath of many is in haste and unexpected Joy expels it Aâ— we find it happened to Chito the Lacedemoniâ—â— and Diagâ—ras of Rhodes who embracing
is Life IT is a Flower a Smoak a Shadow the Shadow of a Shadow A Bubble Dust Froth Dew a Drop It is Ice the Rainbow a wasted Torch a Bag with holes in it a ruinous House treacherous Ashes a Spring day a most inconstant April one twang of a Harp a broken Bucket the Wheel of a Well a Spiders VVeb a little drop of the Sea a slender Stalk a Solstitial Plant a short Fable a shooting Spark a little Cloud a Bladder full of VVind a Doves Neck glistering in the Sun Life is a thin Glass a tender Leaf a fine Silk Thread a Golden Apple rotten within If a shadow be nothing say whar is the Dream of a shadow A thousand such like things may Humane Life be compared to To me they seem to have spoken most truely who call Life the shortest Dream of a shadow VVe will abbreviate the Business Life is A Dream a Bubble Ice a Flower and Glass A Fable Ashes and the fading Grass A Shadow a small Point a Voice a Sound A blast of VVind at length 't is nothing found Poor miserable Mortals what Riches do we seem to heap what Honours do we invest our selves withal what Pleasures do we seem to enjoy yet all these are but a Dream how short and how vain They have slept out their sleep and all the Men whose hands were mighty have found nothing O Men you dreamt that you were happy and blessed but of all those things which ye had which ye hoped for what do ye retain These were the Dreams of those that waked and the meer Toys of Dreamers Now punishment opens your Eyes that Sin shut before Life therefore what is it I will tell ye in short The time of Humane Life is a Point Nature Inconstancy Sense Obscurity The whole Body a composure easily corrupted The Mind a Rover Honour Smoak Riches Thorns Pleasures Poyson And in a word all things pertaining to the Body a River all things belonging to the Mind a Dream Life is a warfare and the Habitation of a Stranger in a Forreign Land the Shop of innumerable Misâ—ries Fame after Death Oblivion According to Ausonius How wonder Men should die the Hours decay Ma ble and Fame it self to Death give way Before Death to compleat thy days in Vertue is the Noblest Designs Sect. 30. Life a Mimick ALL Life is a Comedy VVe are the Actors One plays a King another a Beggar One takes upon him the Person of a Priâ—ce another of a Physician another of a Husbandman VVhatever part God has imposed upon us that we ought decenâ—ly to perform Neither does the praise consist in this for thee to act an Emperor or a Duke VVhatever part thou acts thou shalt win applause so thou performedst it well VVhich is the seasonable admonition of Epictetus Remember saith he that the Actor is to be the Actor of such a part as the Composer pleases If he would have thee act a Beggaâ— be sure to represent that person ingeniously So do iâ— thou art to act a Lame person a Prince of a Plebeian This is thy Duty to play thy part well but it is the business of another to chuse it Augustus the Emperor the last day of his Life asked his Friends that were about him whether he seemed to them to have acted the play of Life well Adding this little Clause if so give me your applause Seneca most admirably concerning this Comedy of Life I must often saith he use this Example For this Mimicry of Life is by no Simile better Expressed which has assigned us those parts which through our fault and ignorance we act amiss Laertius in Leno faith that a wise Man is like a good Actor who whether he be to represent the Person of Thersites or Agamemnon doth both well Therefore we must not take notice what we now are but what we are to be when we have put off our Vizards and our Habits Nor matters it whether we take up the part of the first or last Actor so we act well Sect. 31. The Type of Humane Life OLD Balaam propounded to Jehosaphat the King the deceitful Joys of Humane Life A certain Person saith he flies from a Unicorn which is a fierce Creature in his flight he is ready to tumble into a deep Ditch but as he is tumbling catches â—old of a Tree which preserves him from the fall VVhile he clings to the Tree contemning his past danger he sees two Mice the one white the other black gnawing the Root of the Tree and now got as far as the very Pith. Then looking into the Ditch he spies at the bottom a terrible Dragon breathing Fire Lastly casting his Eyes about he spies the Heads of four Asps reaching out of the adjoyning Well At eâ—gth neglecting all these sights he perceives a small quantity of Honey distilling out of the Tree Wherefore now forgetful of the Unicorn the Mice the Dragon and the Serpents he falls to licking the sweet Honey And this said Bartaam is the Type of Humane Life The Unicorn represents Death that every where persecutes Mankind The Ditch is the World full of Calamities The Tree which we hold by is our Life confined within certain bounds The two Mice Night and Day which by little and little consume that Tree The four Asps the four Elements whose Repose being disturb presently follows a disunion of Soul and Body That Fiend and fierce Dragon represents the Jaws of Hell always open to devour us The drops of Honey signifie the filâ—hy Pleasures of this Life and the deadly sweetness of Vice Allur'd with this noxious Sweetness we neither fear Hell nor think of Heaven contented to die voluptuously Thus Barlaam to Jeâ—saphat O certain O most certain all these Sayings If we are wise we should believe every Hour the last Eternity hangs at every moment of Life Sect. 33. The Prologue of Life the Narration the Epilogue THE Prologue of Humane Life is To be Born The Narration To Grieve The Epilogue To Die The Explanations of this Oration are Moan and Tears or Joy which is worse than Weeping Most learnedly Seneca Behold saith he all Mortals There is ampâ—e and daily occasion of weeping one tedious Want calls to daily Labour another restless Ambition sollicites another is in contiâ—â—al fear for the Riches he enjoys and is tir'd with his own Wishes Another Care Another turmoiling Torments Another the continual throng of Clients This Man grieves that he has Children another that he has lost his a third that he never had any We shall want Tears before the occasion of shedding them Dost thou not see what a kind of Life Nature has promis'd us that has order'd Weeping to be the first Omen that attends our Biâ—th This is our beginning with this the Series of our Years agrees and thus we spend our Days This is that which most deserves our Tears and which they never can sufficiently wash away that none of us seriously considers that there is a
what matters it whether we go out first or last out of this Life as Men go out of a Theater We must depart iâ— then at any time why not now To day perhaps Death spares us That 's nothing to Morrow he will be with thee The Sword will seize thee a Stone waits for thee a Fever lyes in Ambush Thou art never nor in no place safe There 's a necessity of going If then to Morrow why not to Day If at any time why not now Sect. 44. Why Death is Terrible DEath is the same to all Men but the Wages by which it happens are various One expires while he is feeding another slumbering falls into an Eternal Sleep another in the act of Impiety extinguishes Here one drops by the Sword another Drowns in Water another Fires consumes Some by the sâ—ing of Serpents die while others are Buried in the sudden fall of Ruins Others by the Contraction of their Nerves are tortured to Death Others are cut off in their Youth others in their Cradles Sometimes an Infant comes into the World to take its farewel of Life The Exit of some is milder of others harsher But how mild and gentle Death may seem to be however it brings something of Horrour with it and that for this reason because it seems to deprive us of many Happinesses and to take us from that plenty to which we are accustomed This love of our selves and desire of self-preservation is the Chain that clogs us There is also a natural fear of darkness to which Death is thought to be our Conductor which has engaged the Wits of many to augment the Terrours of Death But that which most augments the fear of Death is this that present things we know whither we are to go we know not and therefore are afraid Therefore is the Mind to be enured by much Exercise that it may not be afraid of that Eternity into which we are to enter Eternity is that we are to think upon day and night as they that would bring themselves to endure hunger must enure themselves to fasting by little and little So the Soul that is to be translated from this inconstant World to a stable Kingdom must accustom it self to endure Eternity Let it every day salute the Gate of Eternity every Moment believe that it waits there Whatever it acts let it act for Eternities sake and only observe this one form of action I read I write I paint I meditate I watch I speak and all for the sake of Eternity Whoever aspires to Eternal Triumphs let him learn to Combat Eternity Sect. 45. Death is sudden but beautiful CHaeremon as Palladius Bishop of Helenopolis witnesses while he sits while he works while he acts as a healthy person dies So sitting so working he was found but dead Vertue can beautifie any sort of Death Philemon a Comedian contested with Menander perhaps not his Equal yet his Emulator This Person recited upon the Stage a play that he had newly made But when he was moving the more sprightly Affections in his third Act a sudden shower scattered the Auditory Thereupon he promised the rest the next day The next day a vast multitude met together in so much that the Theater was thronged but no Philomon came Some blam'd the slowness of the Poet others excused him But at last tyred with expectation and sending to seek him the Messengers found him dead in his Bed His Book was in his Hand and his Eyes fix'd upon his Book So that the Messengers stood a while astonished at so suddâ—n an Accident and the Miracle of so lovely a Death Returning to the people they related that they expected Philemon had finished his last act at Home leaving the World to give him their last farewel and plaudite to his Friends a sad occasion of Mourning and Lamentation For that now a Noble Poet having put off the Mask of Life his Bones and not his Verses where to be read If we look at this present Life the most wish'd for death is to die not fearing death But much more desireable is it to die in action and to be busie at our work that death it self may not prove idle It was the wish of Cyprian the Martyr to be slain for the sake of God while he was discoursing of God It is a high Encomium for any Man that not only the Devil but neither Death himself should find him idle Sect. 46. VVe must watch and pray BEcause ye know not at what Hour the Son of Man will come The Romans watched in their Arms yet sometimes without their Shields that they might have nothing to lean upon to invite them to slâ—ep It is thy duty to watch O Man and to watch armed Ardent Prayers to God are the true Arms of Christians The shield that encourages sleep is the vain hope of a longer Life The frequent Cries of the Roman Souldiers in their Watches were Wake wake Mars wake Thus they encouraged one another to constancy in watching The Heaven it self day and night waking and incessantly toyling admonishes thee to watch Dost thou grow deaf or art thou falling asleep Hear the voice of Christ watch and pray According to the relation of St. Mark Christ made a Sermon in the Conclusion whereof he thrice repeats these words first Take ye heed watch and pray Secondly Watch ye therefore for ye know not when the Master of the House cometh at even or at midnight whether at the Cock-crowing or at the dawning lest if he come suddenly he find ye asleep Lastly And that I say unto you I say unto ye all watch With the same Admonitions and by the Mouth of St. Matthew he cries to us Watch ye therefore for ye know not what hour the Lord doth come And again Watch ye therefore because ye know neither the day nor the hour The same he repeats upon Mount Olivet Watch and pray lest ye enter into Temptation Upon the same Text he preaches in St. Luke Watch ye therefore at all times praying The same watch ye how often doth St. Paul reiterate These claps Thunder upon us to shake off all sleepiness and drowsmess from us We are deaf yea dead indeed if these loud Exhortations will not wake us Whoever thou art that sleepest in Vice awake Thou knowest the Fate of the Egyptians The slaying Angel enter'd Egypt and made a vast slaughter Remember the Lot of the Ten Virgins There was a Call in the middle of the Night and they that were prepared were admitted to the Nuptials but the drowsie Sleepers were excluded Dost thou remember the Folly of the Gluttonous Servant His Lord came unlookt for and at an Hour when he least thought of him Hast thou considered the good Father of his Family He wakes at all Hours that at no time the House-breaker may get in Dost thou remember thy Saviour He was Born at Midnight And probable it is that he will come at Midnight to the last Judgment of
the Hart panteth after the Rivers of Water so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul hath thirsted after God the Fountain of Life when shall I come and appear before the Face of my God Bless me O Loving Jesu and dismiss me in peace because I am now truely thine and to all Eternity will I not forsake thee What have I now more to do with the World O my sweet Jesu Into thy Hands Lord Jesu I commend my Spirit Receive me O Celestial Love that I may be happy in thy Embraces to all Eternity and may for ever rest in thee A Conclusion of the Second Chapter To the Reader THese things I have therefore said for the comfort of the Healthy and the Sick that they may not be altogether without Comfort partly to stir them up to vigilancy partly to strengthen them that they may overcome prepared against all Assaults of Death An ill death is not only the worst but the most indeliable and inexpiable of all Errours in the Word Now I come to give some Precepts to the Dying not to see them read but to be read in health to profit them in that dreadful Hour CHAP. III. The Remembrance of Death is represented to Dying People Sect. 1. The Art of Dying well is briefly Taught NOT to know how to die is the most miserable piece of Ignorance in the World Therefore that we may learn that which we ought to learn all our Lives there are five things that conduce to good Death First A free and undaunted Mind This is that which is of chiefest moment and upon which the rest depend It is a great satisfaction for our offences so willingly to abandon'd what is most dear to us Therefore saith David an Offering of a Free-heart-will I give unto thee There is nothing so acceptable to God nor so profitable to Man as a free and ready Mind and a generous Trust in God Secondly A Will made and Debts discharged T is an Errour never to think of a Will till Death is at the Door Dispose of thy Goods while thou art well in thy Sences Moreover as to the giving away of such things as are at our disposal Sect. 2. Nine causes why we are to Diâ— with a contented Mind BEfore all things consider the death of thy Saviour and thou wilt fear thy own with a most contented Mind Compare I beseech thee thy Bed to his Cross thy Pillows to his Thorny Diadem thy Food with his Gall thy Drink with his Vinegar thy Pains with his Torments Thoâ— didst die in the midst of thy Friends and Comforters he in the midst of his Enemies and Revilers Thou among thy Helpers and Assistants he expir'd deserted by all For thy health so many Medicines are still prepar'd His extream thirst wanted the refreshment of cold Water Yet he the Lord and chief of all Thou a Servant most vilâ— and mean Him all these Miseries befel both Innocent and Undeserving thee for thy Deserts anâ— Impiety And therefore thou hast no reason â— complain 2. The chiefest Grace of the Supream King is â— Good Death To die well is to avoid the danger â— Living ill But he dies well who dies willingly Who does not readily rise from a hard Bed They only desire to lye long who cherish'd by the heaâ— are loth to leave a warm Nest If it be ill witâ— thee in this Life wherefore shouldst thou not willingly pass to a better If well 't is time for thâ—â— to make an end lest Prosperity cast thee as it doeâ— many into a late but fatal Ruin 'T is a hard thinâ— for the Fortunate to die How many Men aâ— Condemned to perpetual Torments who had theâ— dy'd Children or young had gone to Heaven 3. The Saints and all our dearest Friends inviâ—… us to them But saist thou we must leave oâ—… Friends and Companions Unadvisedly spoken â—hou art going to them Where are thy Parents Dost not thou hope in Heaven And that thou â—halt also go thither But these are things uncerâ—ain and only hoped for Very right there is no Man hopes for what he sees or is certain of And â—herefore God affords thee an occasion for that Verâ—ue He commanded thee to hope for Heaven he would never promise it thee certainly And yet â—hou art carried thither still with a certain hope â—hough to a thing to thee uncertain A Creditor â—as no reason to mistrust a Faithful Debtor God â—â— become thy Debtor Consider thou to whom â—hou art a Creditor Doth not St. Paul cry out â—ith joy I know whom I have believed 4. Consider O Man of little Soul the extraorâ—inary alacrity of Mind and the ardent desire to â—e of many Martyrs who contemn'd all the preâ—arations of Death and suffered the severest Torâ—ents with a smiling Countenance Certainly neiâ—â—er Death nor Labour is terrible but the fear of â—eath or Labour Therefore let us applaud the â—ying of him who said Death is no evil but to 〈…〉 shamefully Children are frighted with Hobâ—blins for want of knowledge What is Death Hobgoblin Turn the Argument and thou shalt â—d it so Yet neither Children nor Infants nor â—dmen fear Death and therefore 't is a most â—ameful thing that reason should not afford us that â—â—curity which reason produces Death is a Triâ—â—te and a Duty to be paid by all why then art â—ou troubled Why dost thou not pay the Debt â—â—u owest for Death allows no priviledges No 〈…〉 was ever exempted or shall be The World â—â—th St. Basil is Mortal and the Region of them 〈…〉 die 5. What is a long fear of Death but a long Torment Dost thou live long Thou art long in Torment Well said Tertullian That is not to be fear'd that frees us from all fear But thou wilt say 'T is a terrible thing in Sickness to foresee Death creeping on by degrees Worm of a Man what wouldst thou have Did not thy Saviour Christ foresee his Death and that a most sharp one for thirty years and more Art thou better than he But because thou dost not so much fear Death as the previous Inconveniences of Death hear Epietetus And shalt not thou saith he depart with a firm and constant mind but trembling and cowardly because of thy fine Cloaths or thy gaudy Silver Plate Unhappy Man Was it thus that hitherto thou hast lost all thy time What if I prove Sick Thou shalt be honestly Sick Who shall Cure thee God I shall lye hard But as a Man I shall not have a convenient House 'T is an inconvenience to be Sick What shall be the issue of the Disease Nothing but Death Therefore dost not thou believe that the Fountain of all Evil is the chief mark of a degenerate and dastardly Mind is not so much death it self as the fear of Death Therefore exercise thy self against it make use of whatever thou hearest or readest as weapons to Encounter it So shalt thou know there is no other way for Man to gain his own
Liberty 6. From how many Evils art thou freed by Death To die is to shut up the Shop of all Miseries Excellently well said Pliny That is the condition of Life that Death becomes the Haven for the best of Man and the chief benefit of Nature And therefore let every one provide himself of this as one of the principal Cures for his Mind that of all the Benefit which Nature affords Men there is none better than a seasonable Death Caesar in Salust affirmâ— Death to be a Cessation from Misery to the afflicted and no Torment Therefore the Wise Man always considers what manner of Life he led and not how long For Nature provided us a place to Lodge and Sojourn in but not to inhabit lends us the use of Life like that of Money are not payable at a certain day Why then dost thou complain if she call it in when she pleases since she lent it upon that condition 7. The Prison Doors are set open by Death and dost thou fear to go forth Rather rejoice Hitherto thou wert a Captive now thou shalt be free How foolish a thing it is to depend upon Hope or Happiness and be afraid to go at large to that which always remains and to change for a moment of dying a perpetual Immortality The Prison is open haste thee to a better place 8. Death is the way yea it is the Gate that leads us into our Countrey to Eternal Life to Immortal Joy For Death is not so much the end of Life as the beginning of Life Learnedly said St. Bernard The Just Man dies but securely whose death as it is the Exit out of this present Life is the Entry into a better But thou wilt say To live long how pleasant a thing it is but how uncertain is it whether Divine Grace will not forsake thee before thy Sin And who is there that has not often reason to be afraid for his perseverance which no holiness of Life can merit 'T is a Gift and given gratis Therefore he that desires this Gift let him reconcile himself to the Giver 9. But the Reason of Reasons is the Will of God whose Eternal pleasure it was that thou shouldst yield to Nature at this time in this place and through this Disease What wouldst thou more It was Gods will it so seem pleasing to God This is that will that can will no evil Therefore the Son of Syrack gives this advice Humble thy self afore thou beest sick and while thou maist sin shew thy Conversation But all these Reasons I do shortly sum up thus 1. The Death of Christ 2. The Grace of God 3. The Invitation of the Saints 4. Examples of those that were before us 5. The Things to be feared 6. The end of all Evils 7. Enlargement out of Prison 8. Entrance into Paradice 9. The will of God Sect. 3. Therefore Death is not to be fear'd THerefore do willingly O Christian which otherwise thou wouldst be forc'd to do unwillingly VVhat is done by a willing Mind becomes light and ceases to be necessity where the will takes place The wise Man is so instructed as to consent to what he cannot withstand Therefore I am secure and fear nothing Nature a most kind Parent never made any thing terrible 'T is only the Error of Men that makes Death formidable VVe are afraid of Death not because it is evil but because it is not known to Men. If thou art revolving any thing sublime in thy Mind if thou art rearing any high or lofty structure despise those low and poor mistakes of the Vulgar and admire those Precepts whose imitation leads thee the true way to Glory VVe have innumerable Examples of those that die happily and cheerfully Rather imitate him among the Ancients that made this Dialogue between himself and the Minister of Death Thou shalt die Since the Fall 't is the Nature noâ— so much the punishment of Man Thou shalt die Upon this condition I came into the VVorld Thou shalt die 'T is the Law of Nations to repay what has been borrow'd Thou shalt die Life is a Pilgrimage when thou hast travell'd as far as thou hast design'd thou must return home again Thou shalt die I thought thou wouldst have told me some News I came for this purpose As soon as I was Born Nature set me my Bounds VVhy should I be offended Thou shalt die 'T is a vain thing to fear what I cannot avoid He that stays the longest cannot fly it Thou shalt die I am not the first nor the last many went before and many shall follow Thou shalt die VVhat wise Man ever took it amiss to be set at Liberty VVhatever begins must end Thou shalt die It is not grievous because but once to be suffered They are Eternal Pains that torment Now is Death less to be fear'd than formerly For then the Gate of Heaven being not so open all Men bewail'd for this Noctes atque Dies c. Both day and night stands ope th' Infernal Gate Of swarthy Dis But now we can Sing Both day and night to Zealous Faith and Hope The splendid Gate of highest Heav'n stands ope So that it matters not how terrible and threatning Death appears 'T is the most inconsiderable what he desires of us He never thought of Death that liv'd well nor loses any thing who gains all things Sect. 4. How the Holy Men do desire yet fear Death LET us behold Paul saith Gregory how he loves what he seeks to avoid How he avoids what he loves He desires to die and yet sears to be spoil'd of his Flesh Why so because though the Eternal Victory over-joy him yet the present pain disturbs him And though the Love of the Recompence overcome him yet he cannot be unsensible of the twitches and pangs of Torment For as a Couragious Souldier just before the Battel palpitates trembles looks pale yet is still instigated by his Anger So a Holy Man seeing the approach of his Suffering is shaken by the weakness of his Nature fears the approach of Death and yet rejoices to die And because there is no passage but through Death therefore trusting he doubts and doubting trust rejoicing he fears and fearing rejoices Because he knows he shall not attain the Garden of Repose unless he get over the Hill that lyes between David shew'd his fear of Death when he cry'd out Lord take me not away in the midst of my Age. Neither was Abraham Jacob noâ— Elias free from that fear though it were but moderate Arsenius a Man of a Hundred and Twenty years of Age after he had served God Five and Fifty years being ready to depart the World began to be afraid and to shed Tears which his Friends admiring And dost thou Father cry'd they fear death To whom he Verily said he ever since I have taken upon me Religious Orders I have always been afraid of this Hour To which purpose Seneca spake very perspicuously Therefore saith he the stoutest Man
none or very few Signs of Safety or Security What do all these things Admonish us but only this Remember O man that thou art a man think upon Eternity to which thou art hastening Go to prepare thy self thou art called to that Tribunal of God as thou didst live shalt thou be judged Sect. â—o What Answer is to be given to the Messenger of Death SAint Ambrose having received the News of his Death when his Friends bewailed him and begg'd of God to grant him a longer space of Life I have not lived as to be ashamed to lieve among you neither do I fâ—â—r to die because we have a graciâ—us God Saint Austin nothing troubled at the News of his Death He never shall be great saith he who thinks it strange that Stones and Wood fall and that Mortals die Saint Chrysostom a little before his Death in Exile wrote to Innocentius We have been these three Years in Banishment exposed to Peâ—â—ilence Famine continual Iucursions unspeakable Solitude and continual Death But when he was ready to give up the ghost He cryed out aloud Glory be to thee â—O God â—or all things Let a dying Christian imitate these most holy Persons and repeat these Sayings often to himself Thanks be to God Glory be to thee O God for all things I have watcht long enough among thornâ— Labour'd long enough in Storms Now because I see the end of my Watching and my Labour Thanks be to God Glory be to God for all things For Life is tedious Death a certain gain Sect. 21. Death is better than a sorrowful Life IT is better once to Die than to be always Dying We daily Die we have lost â—â—â— Childhood our Youth is gone All our Time even to Yesterday is slid away These things Gregory Nazianzene comprehending in a few words There is no good among men with which there is not something of evil mixt Riches are a Snare Poverty a Fetter Honour a meer Dream Empire dangerous Subjection troublesom Youth is the Summer of Life Grey hairs the Sun-set of Life Matrimony a Bond Children the growing Crop of Care Fulness breeds Petulance Want begets Impatience Whatever we behold in this World is like the World in a perpetual motion Whatever seemed stable is now doubtful 〈…〉 with the perpetual volubility of Day-night 〈…〉 Diseases Sorrows Pleasures and Calamities Death is most certain Elegantly St. Austin Death saith he is only certain all things else uncertain A Child once Conceived perhaps is born perhaps not but perishes in Abortion If he be born perhaps he grows up perhaps not perhaps he grows old perhaps not Peradventure he shall be Rich peradventure Poor perhaps he shall attain to Honour peradventure live Contemned perhaps he shall have Children it may be not perhaps he shall die in his Bed it may be slain in the Field But who can say perhaps he shall die perhaps not The first Book of Maccabees thus describes the Death of Alexander Then he fell sick and when he perceived that he should die Alexander had wished for several Worlds in hopes of Victory and thought with himself that he had performed Atchievements that deserved Eternal Annals Nevertheless after so many and such great Victories overcome at length he fell not only into his Bed but into his Tomb contented with a small Coffin Peter Alfonsus reports That several Philosophers flockt together and variously descaâ—ted upon the King â— Death One there was that said Behold now four Yards of Ground is enough for him whom the spacious Earth could not comprehend before Another added Yesterday could Alexander save whom he pleas'd from Death to Day he cannot free himself Another viewing the Golden Coffin of the Deceased Yesterday said he Alexander heaped up a Treasure of Gold now Gold makes a Treasure of Alexander This was their Learned Contention yet all ended in this Then he fell sick and died Thus forgetful of our selves what Mountains do we raise to our selves in Thought We revolve in our Minds Immortal I wish they were Heavenly Things whilst Death surprizes us in the midst of our vast Undertakings and that which we call Old Age is but the Circuit of a few Years Wherefore do we trust to Death Behold through what slight Occasions we lose our Lives Our Food our Moisture our Watchings our Sleep are unwholesome to us without their due measure A small hurt of a Toe a light pain of the Ear a Worm in the Tooth make way for Death The little Body of Man is weak frail subject to Diseases this Air these Winds those Waters offend him therefore let us believe the Son of Syras Death is better than â— bitter Life and Eternal Rest better than continual Sickness So that it is much better to be an Inhabitant on Earth than a Pilgrim in Heaven Sect. 22. The Happiness of Death BLessed are the dead that die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit that they may rest from their â—â—bours and their works follow them To die in the â—â—rd is the same thing as to die a Servant of the â—â—rd as the Scripture speaks concerning Moses Moses my Servant is dead As if God had said saith Cajetan Though he were once a Sinner and was not then my Servant nevertheless he died my Servant He so died that whatever he was or whatever he did was mine for a Servant wholly belongs to the Master And let such a Servant of the Lord sing that Song of Simeon at his death Lord now let thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word Altogether in peace and that Eternal in the beginning whereof all the Warfare of good men is at an end never more to be rekindl'd For such Servants of God die in the Lord who dying rest in the Besom of God and so resting sweetly sleep in death Thus Stephen among so many Showers of Stones in such in the midst of the Tumult and Dinn of the Enraged Multitude slept in the Lord. Thus Moses the Servant of the Lord died by the command of God Thrice happy and blessed are such that never more shall be miserable The death of the Just faith St. Bernard is good because of its Rest better because of its Novelty best of all by reason of its Security Blessed and again thrice blessed are such for their Works follow them They follow them as Children follow their Parents as Servants follow their Masters as Scholars follow their Teacher and Souldiers their Captain They follow them to the Tribunal of God to the Court of Heaven as Peers follow their Prince whither these Noble Servants are only admitted Sect. 23. The Farewel of a dying Person to the living which are to go the same way THere are many things of which it behoves me to Repent of Vertue often neglected and Time ill spent How much did it become me to have been more patient more submissive more studious of daily Death How small a Spark of Divine Love did glow in me Pity me O God pity me
Sect. 26. The dying Man is encouraged WHen thou hast not the convenience of reading much behold a few Verses not a little useful to ease thy Troubles and confirm thy mind Consider that St. Cyprian whispers these Words into thy Ears When we die we pass to Immortality Nor can we attain to eternal Life unless we depart from hence Neither is this an Exit but a Passage and a flight to Eternity after the short Conclusion of a Temperate Race How preposterous how perverse a thing it is when we desire that the Will of God should be done when he calls us forth of this World that we should not streight be obedient to his Will We strive we struggle and like head-strong Servants we are haled into the presence of God with Sadness and Sorrow forc'd rather by Necessity than won by the tie of our Obedience and is it reasonable we should be honoured by him with Celestial rewards to whom we go unwillingly Wherefore do we desire and pray that the Heavenly Kingdom may come when our Earthly Captivity so much delighteth us Wherefore do we so earnestly wish for the fulfilling of Christs Kingdom when we had rather serve the Devil here then raign with Christ there Then shall the Servants of God injoy Peace and a calm and quiet Rest when freed from the troubles of this World when having vanquished Death we come to immortality When to see Christ it shall be our joy when we can have no joy but by seeing Christ What blindness of mind what madness is it to be in love with the Oppressions Pains and Tears of this World and not rather to make haste to that joy which can never be â—ak'n from us Death is therefore the Hav'n of all Mortals O happy Shore O secure Port wherein none but the obstinate can Shipwrack Sect. 27. Faith in the Resurrection THis Flesh of ours now lives though shortly to return to its Clay to its mouldring Dust to be the Food of Fish Locusts Ants and poysonous Vermin And yet after all this the same Flesh shall rise and the Butcheries of Executioners and the Coats of Martyrs shall be crown'd Neither â—â— thou dream of any Flesh than the former unless thou canst imagine God unjust to give the reward to any other than that which has won the Prize or that he should receive another to his Heavenly Rest than that which won the Prize The same Soul in all things which in this Flesh fought the good fight stood stedfast learnt God put on Christ sowed the hope of Salvation the same shall reap The same Flesh that with the Soul ran through the whole Order of Life endured bled with the same Soul its Companion shall reap the reward Lazarus was the same after he had been four days in the Sepulchre as before The same the Son after the Mothers Tears were tried up as before The same was Christ after his being entombed as before Neither does any aid of Sepulture deprive God of his Omnipotency or put a stop to his Goodness The sâ—me was the Tongue of the Rich Man that was fed with Banquets and that which was scorched in the Infernal Flames and begg'd to be relieved by the Finger of the more happy Begger the same Flesh shall be rewarded or punished according to its Merits Is not God able to enliv'n the Clay with the same breathing of his Spirit as formerly He that formed the Muscles the Bones the Nerves the Veins the Marrow out of the same Clay Can he not form the same out of the same again Is there a necessity that what perishes once should always Perish By what Law Behold that I may not stumble thee with any higher Philosophy behold thy Universal returning Order of all things that is a testimony and argument of returning Man Summers and Winters revolve Springs and Autums have their turns The light of Sun and Stars return with the morning Splendor or the natural Darkness had obscured Thou wouldst think the 〈…〉 dead and the Branches only fit for the Fiâ—e yet we see them revive again and thicker clad than before and what the cold Kills the heat of Summer restores more Beautiful as if decay it self paid use Not that these things in all things prove the Reparation of Human Life but lead us to it Wouldst thou have more signal Arguments We have a pledge in Christ in whom we Usurp Heaven and the Kingdom of God Wouldst thou have it in Man The mortified and putrified Flesh of Lazarus wise Flesh Moses and Elias made known to the Apostles demonstrated that the same Habit and Condition of Body is still preserv'd in Glory And the departed Souls delivered out of the Prisons of this Flesh and returned to their own pure Light and Substance yet desire nothing more than to be clad with this refin'd Clay and in the former Matrimonial Society to continue a Life with the same Flesh never to be dissolved that they which endured together may injoy the same equality of Glory like Christ their Captain who ascended Flesh and Bone into Heaven a Pledge and Argument of our future Purity Therefore let us not be sad When the old House falls a fairer will rise in the stead He not only believed without a Cause but lived for no Cause that thought himself born to Perish Sect. 28. The hope of Resurrection our greatest Comfort JOB almost buried in the Grave of innumerable Calamities yet with a vast alacrity of Mind I know saith he that my Redeemer Lives and that I shall rise out of the Earth at the latter day and shall be covered again with my Skin and shall see God in my Flesh when I my self shall see and mine Eyes shall behold and none other for me This my hope is laid up in my Bosome Christ also as it were returning an Answer to Job I am the Resurrection and Life saith he whoever believeth in me though he be dead shall live There will most certainly come a day that will restore us to Light and therefore ought to depart contentedly 'T is reported that there is a Bird in the East Indies called Semenda which being sensible of her approaching Death fetches Wood into her Nest sings sweetly and by the clapping of her Wings sets it a Fire where being consumed out of the Ashes grows a Worm which afterwards comes to be a Bird of the same Nature A plain Symbolum of the Resurrection Mirmeius the Roman Orator a great Antagonist of the Christians see saith he how for our comfort all nature points out our Resurrection The Sun sets and rises the Stars fall and return Flowers decay and refluorish the withered Trees recover their Vendure Seeds return their several species Thus the Body deceased like Trees in Winter cover their Vigour with a feigned dryness We are also to expect the Spring of the Body I know that my Redeemer Lives and that I shall rise again at the last day Sect. 29. The hope of Heaven WHat wouldst thou What
him insomuch that he was eaten up with Lice Death of Bertholdus Halerus HE was born in Helvetia 1502. and from his Child-hood much addicted to Learning Several Disputations he held with the Helvetians especially with Eccius the Pope's Champion In his time Popery was extinguished in many places and shâ—rly after he died with an immature Death Anno 1536. aged 44. The Death of Urbanus Regis ON Sunday in the Evening he complained of a pain his Head yet was chearful and went to Bed early in the morning rising out of his Bed he â—â—ll upon the Floor and seeing his Wife and Friends mourning he comforted them and commended himself to his Maker and within three hours he died May 23. Anno 1541. He often desired God he might die an easie and sudden Death wherein God answered his Desires He wrote several Treatisss which his Son Ernest digested together and Printed at Norenburg The Death of Caralostadius HE underwent great Afflictions by Printing some of his Books concerning the Lord's Supper the Senate of Zurick forbidding their People to read them but Zuinglius exhorted them first to read and then to pass judgment on them saying Caralostadius knew the Truth but had not well expressed it He went to Basil where he taught ten years and there died of the Plague Anno 1541. The Death of Capito HE went to several places as Strâ—â—burg where he met with Bucer whose Fame spread so far that the Queen of Navarre sent for 'em so that France oweth the beginning of her Reformation to Capito and Bucer He was prudent eloquent and â—…dious of Peace the better part of his time he employed in Preaching and giving wholsome Advice to the Churches at length returning home in a general Infection he dyed of the Plague Anno 1541. aged 63. The Death of Leo Judae HE Translated part of the Old Testament out of the Hebrew but the work being so Laborious and being Aged he dyed before he had finished it Anno. 1542. aged 60. Four days before his Death sending for the Pastors of Zurick he made a Confession of his Faith concerning God the Scriptures the Person and Offices of Christ concluding To this my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ my hope and my salvation I wholly offer up my Soul and Body I cast my self wholly upon his mercy and grace c. And so recommended to God the Senate and People of Zurick The Death of George Spaladius HE was born at Noricum and brought up in Learning especially in the knowledge of Humane Atrs wherein he profited so much that the Elector of Saxony made him one of his Privy Council He continned in his Office till the time of his Death which fell out Anno. 1545. aged 63. He wrote many Treatises but especially a Chronicle from the beginning of the World to his time The Death of Myconius IN several Countries he preached the Gospel sincerely and purely though to the hazard of his Life at last he fell into a Consumption and wrote to Lutber That he was sick not to Death but to Life He dyed Anno 1546. aged 55. The Death of John Diazius FInding he could not pervert his Brother Diazius from the Truth he acted the Hypocrite and told him he was in love with his Doctrine then he would have persuaded him to go into Italy Spain Rome and Naples and there privately spread his Doctrine but John Diazius refusing his Brother then took leave of him in order to his Journey but privately he and the Cut. Throat stayed at a Village and purchased a Hatchet of a Carpenter then going disguised the Villain pretended to bring Letters from his Brother which whilst John was reading the Executioner struck the Hatchet into his Temples upon whicb he died immediately The Murtherers were afterwards apprehended but by the practice of Papists who highly applauded the Fact and to hinder the current of Justice they pretended the Emperor would have the hearing of the Cause himself Six years â—fter Alphonsus hanged himself about the Neck of â—is own Mule a fair reward for so foul a Fratriâ—ide The Death of Gasper Cruciger HE was a Man of great Learning very Religious and delighted much in Luther's Books and Doâ—…rine He often contemplated the Foot-steps of God in â—ature saying with St. Paul That God was so near â—…to us that he might almost be felt with our Hands â—onsidering the Vicissitude of Earthly Things he â—…ten repeated this Verse Besides God's love nothing is sure And that forever doth endure In his sickness he caused his young Daughters to repeat their Prayers before him and then himself prayed fervently for the Church and those his Orphans concluding I call upon thee with a weak yet with a true Faith I believe thy Promises which thou hast sealed to me with thy Blood and Resurrection c. He spent the few days which remained in prayer and Repentance and so quietly ended his days November the 16th Anno 1548. aged 45. The Death of Matthias Zellius HE was not only famous for Learning but for other Christian Vertues especially Modesty Temperance and Charity having a special care of the Poor for being invited to Supper by one of his Colleagues and seeing much Plate was offended and went his way without eating but afterward so far prevailed with him that he sold his Plate and was more open-handed to the poor he dyed 1548. aged 71. The Death of Vitus Theodorus HE often disputed with his Papistical Adversaries and overthrew all their Arguments at lengâ—â— he was called to be a Pastor at Norimberg his owâ— Country where he preached the Gospel with greaâ— Zeal and Eloquence to the great Advantage of hâ—â— Auditors he dyed Anno. 1549. The Death of Paul Fagius FAgius died of a burning Feaver or as some say was poysoned by the Papists so that Anno 1550. he was intombed at Cambridge from whence in the Reign of Q. Mary the Papists having condemned him for a Heretick took his Bones and burnt them The Death of Martin Bucer IN his Sickness Learned Men came to visit him especially Doctor Bradford who one day taking leave of him to go preach told him he would remember him in his Prayers whereupon Bucer with tears in his eyes said Cast me not off O Lord now in my old Age when strength faileth me A while after he said He bath afflicted me sore but he will never never cast me off Being desired to arm himself with faith and a stedfast hope in God's Mercies against the Temptations of Satan He said I am wholly Christ's and the Devil has nothing to do with me and God forbid that I should not now have experience of the sweet Consolation in Christ Then with a smiling Countenance gave up the Ghost and was interred nobly by the King's Commandment But in Q. Mary's time his Bowels being taken up â—hey were burnt with Fagius's He died Anno Chriâ—…i 1550. The Death of Gasper Hedio HE preached vigorously against Masses Indulgences and Auricular Confession
visit him He surviv'd Calvin one year and odd months and died aged 76 years Anno 1553. The Death of Vergerius THE Devil stirred up many Adversaries against him especially the Friers who accused him to the Inquisiâ—ors but to avoid their Rage he went to Padua where he was a Spectator of rhe miserable Estate of Francis Spira which so wrought upon him that he resolved to go into Exile and accordingly he went into Rhetia where he preached the Gospel of Christ sincerely till he was called from theâ—ce to Tubing where he ended his days Annâ— 1565. his Brother being dead before him â—ot without the suspition of Poyson The Death of Strigelius AFter his going through many Troubles` he fell sick and said He hoped his Life was at an end whereby he should be delivered from the Frauds and Miseries of this evil World and enjoy the blessed Presence of God and his Saints to all Eternity He died Anno 1569 aged 44. The Death of John Brentius FAlling sick of a Fever he was endued with Patience saying That he longed for a better even an eternal Life He died Anno 1570. aged 71. was buried with much honour and had this Epitaph With Voice Stile Piety Faith and Candor grac'd In outward Shape John Brentius was thus fac'd The Death of Peter Viretus HE went to several places and carried on the Work of Reformation with Vigour and Success but Popish Malice lurked in Corners insomuch that they attempted to poyson him and laid wait for his Life He was very learned eloquent and of a sweet Disposition He died Anno 1571. aged 60. The Death of John Jewel IN his Sickness going to Preach he was desired by a Gentleman to return home the Gentleman alledging that one Sermon was better lost than by Impairng his Health to lose so good a Pastor But his reply was That it best became a Bishop to die preaching in a Pulpit That his great Master the Lord Jesus's Words might be fulfilled who says Happy art thou my Servant if when I come I find thee so doing And thus continued this good Man till his Sickness encreasing and Nature visibly decaying in him he was obliged to take his Bed and so far was he from fearing Death that he rather desired as longing to enter his Masters Joy often repeating the Words of old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation One standing by prayed for his Recovery which he hearing said I have not so lived that I am ashamed to live longer neither do I fear to die because we have a merciful Lord a Crown of Righteousnes is laid up for me Christ is my Righteousness Father let thy Will be done thy VVill I say and not mine which is depraved and imperfect this day let me quickly see the Lord Jesus And so in a certain and assured hope of everlasting Happiness he resigned his Spirit into the Hands of his Redeemer dying Anno Christi 1571. and of his Age Fifty The Death of Zegedine HE was driven by Popish Cruelty from several Places but where ever he went he took so much delight in breeding up Youth in Religion and Learning that he called it his Recreation Many hardships he endured in his Travel for being taken Prisoner by the Turks he was made an Object of their Fury for refusing to abjure the Christian Religion yet God delivered him out of all his Trouble and he died in Peace Anno 1572. aged 67. The Death of John Knox. FAlling Sick he gave order for his Coffin and being asked whether his pains were great he answered That he did not esteem that a pain which would be to him the end of all Troubles and the beginning of Eternal Joys Often after some deep Meditation he used to say Oh serve the Lord in fear and Death shall not be troublesome to you Blessed is the Death of those that have part in the Death of Jesus One praying by his Bed-side asked him if he heard the Prayer Yea said he and would to God that all present had heard it with such an Ear and Heart as I have done adding Lord Jesus receive my Spirit He ended this Life 1572 Aged 62. The Death of Peter Ramus HIS Fame grew so great that he was chose Dean of the University and Studied the Mathematicks wherein he grew exquisite The Civil Wars now breaking out he left Paris and fled to Fountain-bleau but not being safe there he went to the Camp of the Prince of Conde and from thence into Germany When the Civil Wars was ended he returned to Paris and remained the King's Professor in Logick till that horrible Massacre happened on St. Bartholomew's day wherein Thousands were slain by the bloody Papists He was then Lock'd in his own House till those furious Villains brake open his Doors and in his Study ran him thorow and being half dead threw him out of the Window so that his Bowels issued out on the Stones then they cut off his Head and dragged his Body about the Streets in the Channels at last they threw it into the River Sein Anno 1572. Aged 57. The Death of Henry Bullinger MR. Bullinger fell Sick and his Disease encreasing many Godly Ministers came to Visit him but some Months after he recovered and preached as formerly but soon Relapsed when finding his Vital Spirits wasted and Nature much decayed in him he concluded his Death was at hand and thereupon said as followeth If the Lord will make any farther use of me and my Ministry in his Church I will willingly obey him but if he pleases as I much desire to take me out of this miserable Life I shall exceedingly rejoice that he will be so pleased to take me out of this miserable and corrupt Age to go to my Saviour Christ Socrates said he was glad when his Death approached because he thought he should go to Hesiod Homer and other Learned Men deceased and whom he expected to meet in the other World then how much more do I joy who am sure that I shall see my Saviour Christ the Saints Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and all Holy Men which have lived from the beginning of the World These I say I am sure to see and to partake with them in Joy why then should not I be willing to dye to enjoy their perpetual Society in Glory And then with Tears told them That he was not unwilling to leave them for his own sake but for the sake of the Church Then having written his Farewel to the Senate and therein admonished them to take Care of the Churches and Schools and by their Permission chose one Ralph Gualter his Successor he patiently resigned up his Spirit into the Hands of his Redeemer dying Anno Christi 1575. and of his Age 71. The Death of Edward Deering DRawing near his end his Friends requested something from him for their Comfort and Edification The Sun shining in his Face he replyed There is but one
Sun in the World nor but one Righteousness and one Communion of Saints if I were the most excellent of all Creatures in the World if I were equal in Righteousness to Abraham Isaac and Jacob yet had I reason to consess my self to be a Sinner and that I could expect no Salvation but in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ for we all stand in need of the Grace of God and as for my Death I bless God I feel and find so much inward Joy and Comfort in my Soul that if I were put to my Choice whether to die or live I would a thousand times rather chuse Death than Life if it may stand with the Holy Will of God He dyed Anno 1576. The Death of Peter Boquinus THE Popish Party being incensed against him sought all means to destroy him so that he was forced to fly to Heidelberg where upon a Lord's Day visiting of a Sick Friend he found his Spirits fail and said Lord receive my Soul and so quietly departed Anno 1582. The Death of Abraham Bucholtzer HE was full of Self denial Humble and an Enemy to Contentions He used often to meditate upon Death and used this Expression it hath always formerly been my Care in what Corner soever I have been to be ready when God called to say with Abraham Behold my Lord here I am but now above all other things I should be most willing so to answer if he would please to call me out of this miserable Life into his Glorious Kingdom for truely I desire nothing so much as the happy and blessed Hour of Death He dyed Anno 1584. Aged Fifty Five The Death of Gasper Olevian AMortal Sickness seized upon him and preparing himself for Death he expressed to a Friend That by that Sickness he had learned to know the greatness of Sin and the greatness of God's Majesty more than ever he did before The next Day he told John Piscator That the day before for four Hours together he was filled with ineffable Joy so that he wondered why his Wife should ask him whether he were not something better whereas indeed he could never be better For said he I thought I was in a most pleasant Meadow in which as I walked up and down me thought that I was besprinkled with a Heavenly Dew and that not sparingly but plentifully poured down whereby both my Body and Soul were filled with ineffable Joy To whom Piscator said That good Shepherd Jesus Christ led thee into fresh Pastures Yea said Olevian to the Springs of Living Waters Then repeating some Sentences out of Psalm 42. Isa 9. Matth. 11. c. he said I would not have my Journey to God long deferred I desire to be dissolved and to be with my Christ In his Agony of Death Alstedius asked him Whether he was sure of his Salvation in Christ c. He answered Most sure and so gave up the Ghost Anno 1587. Aged 51. The Death of John Wigandus HIS strength decaying he fell sick and preparing for Death he made his own Epitaph In Christ I liv'd and dy'd through him I live again What 's bad to Death I give my Soul with Christ shall reign So praying he resigned up his Spirit to God who gave it Anno 1587. Aged 64. The Death of John Fox MR. Fox together with his Wife and some others went to Antwerp and so to Basil which was then a place of free reception of poor distressed Fugitives who were forced to leave their Countreys for the sake of the Lord Jesus and his Everlasting Gospel And here he undertook to correct the Press and at such leisure times as he could spare he wrote part of the Acts and Monuments of the Church a Work Famous to all Posterity And in this station he continued till the death of Queen MARY whose death he had a little before foretold Upon certain notice of which he with several Pious and Learned Men returned into England and were kindly received by Queen Elizabeth where Mr. Fox prosecuted his Work begun at Basil and so laboured therein that he soon brought it to a period He finishing this great Work in Eleven years space searching all the Records himself He now growing in years and by reason of his former Hardships his great Study Travel and Labour he was reduced to a very weak Condition he laid down the troublesome Cares of the World to prepare himself for Death He resigned up his Spirit into the Hands of the Father of all Spirits dying Anno Christi 1587. in the 70th year of his Age. The Death of George Sohnius HE was full of Humility Piety and Patience falling sick he bore it with much Patience and with fervent Prayer often repeated O Christ thou art my Redeemer and I know that thou hast redeemed me I wholly depend upon thy Providence and Mercy from the very bottom of my Heart I commend my Spirit into thy hands and so dyed Anno 1589. Aged 38. The Death of James Andreas THE year before his death he would say He should not live long That he was weary of â—his Life and much desired to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ which was best of all Falling sick he sent for James Heerbrand saying I expect that after my death many Adversaries will rise up to asperse me and therefore I sent for thee to hear the Confession of my Faith that so thou mayest testifie for me when I am dead and gone that I dyed in the true Faith The night before he dyed he slept partly in his Bed and partly in his Chair The Clock striking Six in the Morning he said My Hour draws near When he was ready to depart he said Lord into by hands I commend my Spirit He dyed Anno 1590. Aged 61. The Death of Hierom Zanchius ZAnchy being grown old had a liberal Stipend setled upon him by Prince Cassimir and â—oing to Heidleberg to visit his Friends he fell sick â—nd quietly departed in the Lord Anno 1590. â—ged 75. The Death of Anthony Sadeel HE sell Sick of a Plâ—urisie which he Prophetically said would be Mortal and withdrawing himself from the World he wholly conversed with â—od He dyed Anno 1591. Aged 57. The Death of William Whitaker FAlling Sick of a Fever a Friend asking him how he did he replyed O happy â—ight I have not taken so sweet a sleep since my disease seizâ—… upon me But being in a cold Sweat his Frieâ—… told him That Symptoms of Death appeared 〈…〉 him to whom he answered Life or Death is wâ—… come to me which God pleaseth for Death shall bâ—… advantage to me for I desire not to live but only far as I may do God and his Church Service He dâ—…d Anno 1595. Aged 47. The Death of Robert Rollock HE said I bless God I have all my Senses entiâ—… but my Heart is in Heaven and Lord Jesâ—… Why should'st thou not have it It hath been my Câ—… all my life long to dedicate it to thee I pray
and the Streams of that Jordan between us and our Canaan run furiously but they stand still when the Ark comes Let your Anchor be cast within the Veil and fastned on the Rock Jesus let the End of the Threefold Cord be buckled to the Heart so shall you go through He died Anno 1619. The Death of Andrew Willet GOing from London his Horse threw him and by the Fall broke his Leg which was presently set by a Bone-setter and being confined to his Bed he would meditate upon Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery Isaiah 38. especially on the 9 10 13 and 15 Verses Hearing a Bell Toll he peradventure had apprehensiors of Death which oceasioned him to discourse with his Wise concerning Death and our blessed Hopes after Death and the mutual Knowledge the Saints have of one another in Glory Then he repeated the first Verse of the 146 Psalm and said it was a most sweet Psalm but stirring to ease himself he fell into a Trance his Wise crying out he looked up and used these last words Let me alone I shall do well Lord Jesus and so departed Anno 1621. Aged 59. The Death of David Pareus AT Aâ—villa he wrote his Body of Divinity which having Finished he said Lora now let thy Servant depart in peace because he hath Finished that which he desired He earnestly besought God that he might lay his Bones at Heidleberg which not long after he returned thither safely where he was received with much joy but his former Disease of a Catarrh returning upon him being sensible of approaching Death he frequently opened his Mind to Henry Alting and others and so quietly departed Anno 162â— Aged 73. His Works are in 3 Volumes The Death of Robert Bolton MR. Bolton falling sick of a Quartane-Ague and finding himself weaker and weaker he Contemplated upon the four last things Death Judgment Heaven and Hell and being asked if he could be content to live if God would permit him He said I grant that Life is a great Blessing of God neither will I neglect any means that may preserve it and do heartily desire to submit to God's Will but of the two I infinitely more desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ When the Pangs of Death were upon him he breathed out I am now drawing on apace to my dissolution hold out Faith and Patience your Work wiâ—l quickly be at an end He died Anno 1631. Aged Threescore The Death of William Whately IN his Sickness he comforted himself with that Promise Psalm 41. 1 2. Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in the tâ—me of trouble the Lord will strengthen him upon the Bed of languishing c. A little before his death a Friend prâ—ying with him That God wold be pleased if his Time were not expired either to restore him or put an end to his Pains He lifting up his Eyes towards Heaven one of his Hands in the close of that Prayer gave up the ghost shutting his Eyes as if he was fallen into a soft Slumber Anno 1639. Aged 56. The Death of Anthony Wallaeus HE was much troubled with the Stone in the Kidneys and Hypocondraical Wind which still encreasing upon him he called his Family and exhorted them to fear God then taking his leave of them he fell asleep out of which he never awaked only strived a little when his Pains came upon him so on the Sabbath-day at a Eleven of the Clock he resigned up his Spirit to his Maker Anno 1639. Aged 66. The Death of Henry Alting HE sell fick at Groning of a Catarth and Feaver accompanied with great Pains in his Back and Loins which caused often Faintings The day before his death he sang the 130th Psalm with great Fervency In the Evening he blessed his Children and exhorted them to fear God and to persevere in the Truth of the Gospel Being sensible of the time of his Departure by his Prophetick Spirit he accordingly died about Three of the Clock August 25. Anno 1644. Aged 57. The Death of Frederick Spanhemius HIS last Sermon he preached aâ— Easter upon Phil. 3. 24. Who shall change our vile Body that it may be like his glorious Body c. He prayed earnestly to God to continue his Blessings to his Family and never suffer them to be seduced to Popery he prayed likewise that in the Pains of Death he might with all his Soul breath after God and migh before-hand have some taste of the Glory of Heaven Having ended his Prayers his Voice and Strength failed him and so about Sun-setting he quietly departed and slept in the Lord 1649. Aged 49. The Death of Sir John Oldcastle HE was sent for before the Council when the Bishop proffered to absolve him he replied He had never trespassed against him and therefore had no need of his Absolution When they told him unless he would recant they would condemn him as a Heretick He bid them do as they thought best for said he I am at a Point that which I have written I will stand to it to the death Then kneeling down he lifted up his Hands towards Heaven and said I shrive me here unto thee O Eternal and Ever-living God in my frail Youth I offended thee O Lord by Pride Covetousness Wrath Vncleanness and many Men have I hurt in my Anger and committed many other horrible Sins for which good Lord I ask thee forgiveness And so with Tears in his Eyes he stood up and turning to the People he said Lo good People for breaking God's Laws and his holy Commandments they never yet accused me but for their own Laws and Traditions they bandle me most cruelly and therefore they and their Laws by God's promise should be utterly destroyed Then they proceeded farther to examine him but he returned such Answers to their Questions as made many wonder at his Wisdom yet they proceeded to read the Bill of Condemnation against him as a Heretick After which he lifting up his Eyes towards Heaven said Lord God Eternal I beseech thee of thy Infinite Mercy to forgive my Persecutors After that he was sent to the Tower The Sentence against him was That like a Traytor he should be drawn through the Streets of London to the Gallows in St. Giles in the Fields and there hanged and afterwards burnt upon the Gallows as he hung The Death of Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex HIS Enemies durst not bring him to a Tryal but procured an Act of Attainder whereby he was Condemned before he was Heard yet the King after his death repented this Haste and wished he had his Cromwell alive again Being mounted the Scaffold he made an humble Confession and begged the Prayers of all those which were present then in a pious Prayer he recommended himself into the Hanâ—s of the Almighty and at one Blow his Head was severed from his Body Anno 1541. The Death of the Lady Jane Grey THE Morning before her Exit from this World her Husband
the Lord Guilford Dudley was conveyed to a Scaffold on Tower-Hill where he penitently ended his Life his Head and Body being laid in a Cart all bloody was brought to the Chappel and exposed to the Sight of this sorrowful Lady a Spectacle more dismal than the kneenest Axe of her Death And now her own part is to be acted upon a Scaffold erected upon the Green within the Tower where being mounted with a chearful Countenance she looked upon the People and with great Constancy directed her self after this manner That she was come thither to die for an Offence which was committed by a Device not of her own seeking then wringing her Hands and protesting her Innocency she desired them to take notice that she died a good Christian and requested their Prayers Then kneeling down she repeated in English the 51 Psalm after which her Gentle woman helped her off with her Gown and the Hangman on his Knees asked her forgiveness which she forgave him freely and prayed him to dispatch her quickly Looking upon the Block and knecling she said Will you take it off before I lay it down No Madam replied the Executioner then she tied a Handkerchief before her Eyes and feeling for the Block said What shall I do Where is it Where is it Being guided she laid her Head upon the Block and giving the Sign she said Lord into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Then receiving the Fatal Blow she ended this Life Anno 1554. Aged 16. Her Death was much lamented but did not gâ— unpunished for the Judge which passed her Sentence shortly after fell distracted crying out continually Take away the Lady Jane from me The Lady Jane Grey had a curious Vein in Pâ—etry In her Troubles she composed these Lines Think nothing strange which Man cannot decline My Lot's to Day to Morrow it may be thine If God protect me Malice cannot end me If not all I can do will not defend me After dark Night I hope for Light This Epitaph was also made on her My Race was Royal sad was my short Raign Now in a better Kingdom I remain The Death of Sir Philip Sidney SIR Philip lay for the space of 25 Days enduring his Pains with admirable Patience and at length resign'd up his Spirit into the hands of his Redeemer October 16. Anno 1586. Upon him was made this Epitaph Apollo made him wise Mars made him stout Death made him leave the World Before his Youth was out The Death of Galeacius Carracciolus SIckness the Harbinger of Death seizing upon him which proceeded from abundance of â—…heum this was produced by his long and weariâ—ome Journeys which he had formerly taken by â—and and Sea for his Conscience sake His Phyâ—â—cians despairing of his Cure he wholly sequestred â—imself from all Worldly Cogitarions and taking â—is Farewell of his Wife and Friends saying He â—ould lead them the way to Heaven Then he desiâ—…ed God to receive him and acknowledge him â—or his own and so quieâ—ly departed 1592. Aâ—ed 74. The Death of Katherine Bretterg ONce she took the Bible in her hand and joyfully kissing it said O Lord 't is good for me to be afflicted that I may learn thy Statutes The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver Then she desired her Husband to beware of Popery and to let her little Girl be brought up in the Fear of God saying So shall I meet her in Heaven whâ—m I must now leave behind me on Earth Once she was very dull in Prayer and when she came to Lead us not into Temptation she said I may not pray I may not pray for Satan interrupts me yet her Friends left her not till she had gained the Conquest She repeated often We have not received the Spirit of Bondage to fear again but the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Verse of Psalm 13. ult she often repeated chearfully Many Pious Meditations she used but the last was this My Flesh and my Heart faileth but God is the Strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever He that preserveth Jacob and defendeth his Israel he is my God and will guide me unto Death Then she departed this life without any motion of Body May ult Anno 1601. Aged 22. The Death of John Lord Harrington Baron of Exton FRom the First Day of his last Sickness he apprehended the approach of Death and so readily prepared himself for it he made Confession of his Sins and oft confessed his Faith and undoubted hope of Salvation in Christ and when Death approached he breathed out O my God when shall I be with thee And in the midst of these longing Desires he departed Anno 1613. Aged 22. The Death of Phillip de Mornay Lord of Plessis Marley BEing displaced from his Government of Samur he betook himself to a Private Life and made his Will for the peace and good of his Family being seiz'd upon by a continual Fever and no hopes of Recovery he would often say I fly I fly to Heaven and the Angels are carrying me into the bosome of my Saviour then would he repeat the words of Job I know that my Redeemer liveth I shall see him with mine eyes and I feel I fell what I now speak He dyed in the 74th Year of his Age. The Death of John Bruen of Bruen Stapleford in the County of Chester Esquire FAlling Sick the morning before his Death divers Friends took their leaves of him and hearing some make motion of Blacks he said I will have no Blacks I love no Proud nor Pompous Funeral neither is there any cause of Mourning but of rejoicing rather in my particular Immediately before his Death lifting up his hands he said The Lord is `my portion my help and my trust his blessed Son Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Redeemer Amen Even so saith the Spirit unto my Spirit therefore come Lord Jesus and kiss me with the kisses of thy mouth and embrace me with the Arms of thy Love into thy hands do I commend my Spirit O come now and take me to thy own self O come Lord Jesus come quickly O come O come O come So his Spirit fainting he yielded up the Ghost in January Anno 1625. Aged 65. The Deaths of the KINGS and QUEENS of England since the Reformation to this present The Death of King Henry the VIII KING Henry being grown Fat fell into a languishing Fever and by Will appointed his Successor and Council did on the 28th of January 1547. in the 56 Year of his Age and 38 of his Reign leaving Issue by Queen Jane Prince Edward by his first Wife Katherine of Spain the Lady Mary and by Ann of Bullen the Lady Elizabeth who all Successively came to the Crown The Death of King Edward VI. ABout three hours before his Death his Eyes being closed thinking that none heard him he made this Godly Prayer Lord God deliver me out of this miserable and wretched Life
and take me amongst thy Câ—osen howbeit not my VVill but thy VVill be done Lord I commit my Soul to thee O Lord thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee yet for thy Chosen sake send me Life and Health that I may truly serve thee O my Lord God bless thy People and save thine Inheritance O Lord God save thy Chosen People of England O my Lord God defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and my People may praise thy Holy Name for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake Then turning his Face and seeing some by he said Are you so nigh I thought you had been further off Many servent Prayers he made but his last Words were these I am faint Lord have Mercy upon me and take my Spirit and so committed his Pious Soul into the hands of his Heavenly Father He died July 6. 1553. in the Seventeenth Year of his Age. He Reigned Six Years Five Months and Eight Days he was the one and Fortieth Sole Monarch of England and was Buried at VVestminster The Death of Queen Mary HER Husbands absence and the disappointment of proving with Child brought her into a Sickness whereof she died November 17. 1558. having Reigneâ—â— 5 Years and 4 Months Cardinal Pool dying the day before but sometime before she declared to him That if when she were dead they would look into her Heart rhey would find Callis her great Distemper In her Reign there suffered 5 Bishops 21 Divines and in all 277 Persons The Death of Queen Elizabeth Lopez a Jew Physitian to the Queen was Executed for attempting to Poyson her In 1600. the Earl of Essex having incurr'd the Queens Displeasure in Ireland and more by scandalous Speeches and a kind of open Rebellion at his House in London being condemned by his Peers is Beheaded On the 24th of March 1602. died Queen Elizabeth having Reigned above 44 Years in as Troublesome times as any yet full of Honour and most happy in the Love of her People She was Interred in Henry the Seventh's Chappel at VVestminister The Death of King James the First THis King was Interred at VVestminster with great Solemnity his Queen was Ann Daughter of Frederick the Second King of Denmark by whom he had two Sons Henry and Charles and three Daughters Elizabeth Mary and Sophia the two last dyed young The Death of King Charles the First HE was led through the Park to the Scaffold before VVhite-Hall where having declared that he died a Martyr for the Laws and Liberties of his People he made a Confession of his Faith asserting that he died a true Son of the Church of England then he betook himself to his private Devotions and so patiently submitted his Royal Head to Martyrdom from the hand of a disguised Executioner His Body was put into a Black Velvet Coffin and afterwards wrapt in Lead was on the 7th of Feb. following Interred at St. George's Chappel at VVindsor in the same Vault with King Henry the 8th in presence of the Duke of Richmond Dr. Juxon and others but the manner appointed in the Liturgy could not be obtained to be used nor had he any Epitaph affixed but only on the Sheet of Lead on a thin Plate fastned on the Breast this plain Inscription King Chaâ—les 1648. The Death of King Charles the Second ON Monday Feb. 2. 1684. the King was seiz'd with a violent Fit of an Apoplexy which deprived him of his Senses but upon speedy Application of Remedies he returned to such a Condition as gave some Symptoms of his Recovery till VVednesday Night and then the Disease was so violent that he lay in a languishing Condition until Friday Feb. 6. and then expired He had Reigned Thirty six Years and Seven Days and was in the 55th Year of his Age. He was Interred in Henry the Seventh's Chappel being the Forty-sixth Sole Monarch of England The Death of Old Mr. Eliot of New-England WHILE he was making his Retreat ouâ— of this evil World his Discourses from time to time ran upon The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ It was the Theme which he still had Recourse unto and we were sure to have something of this whatever other Subject he were upon On this he talk'd of this he pray'd for this he long'd and especially when any bad News arriv'd his usual Reflection thereupon would be Behold some of the Clouds in which we must look for the coming of the Son of Man At last his Lord sor whom he had been long wishing Lord come I have been a great while ready for thy coming At last I say his Lord came and fetched him away into the Joy of his Lord. He fell into some Languishments attended with a Fever which in a few days brought him into the Pangs may I say or Joys of Death And while he lay in these Mr. Walter coming to him he said unto him Brother Thou art welcome to my very Soul Pray retire to my Study for me and give me leave to be gone meaning thar he should not by Petitions to Heaven for his Life detain him here It was in these Languishments that speaking about the work of the Gospel among the Indians he did after this Heavenly manner express himself There is a Cloud said he a dark Cloud upon the Work of the Gospel among the poor Indians The Lord revive and prosper that Work and grant it may live when I am dead It is a work which I have been Doing much and long about But what was the word I spoke last I recal that word My Doings Alas they have been poor and small and lean Doings and I 'll be the Man that shall throw the first Stone at them all It has been observed that they who have spoke many considerable things in their Lives usually speak few at their Deaths But it was otherwise with our Eliot who after much Speech of and for God in his Life-time uttered some things little short of Oracles on his Death-bed which 't is a thousand pities they were not more exactly regarded and recorded Those Authors that have taken the pains to Collect Apophthegmata Morentium have not therein been unserviceable to the Living but the Apophthegms of a Dying Eliot must have had in them a Grace and a Strain truly extraordinary and indeed the vulgar Error of the signal sweetness in the Song of a Dying Swan was a very Truth in our expiring Eliot his last Breath smelt strong of Heaven and was Articled into none but very gracious Notes one of the last whereof was Welcome Joy And at last it went away calling upon the standers by to Pray pray pray which was the thing in which so vast a portion of it had been before Employ'd This was the peace in the end of this Perfect and Vpright Man thus was there anoâ—her Star ferched away to be placed among the rest that the third Heaven is now enriched with He had once I think a pleasant Fear that
or as others will have it 64. The manner of his Death is uncertain though Dorotheus reports he was Martyr'd at Sebestople near the Temple of the Sun past doubt for reproving their Idolatrous Worship in Adoring the Creature instead of the Creator and was buried there Another account we have that he was seized by the Jews as a Blasphemer and after being stoned was beheaded When as the Greek Offices seconded by several Breviaries relate that he was hanged upon a Cross And farther 't is said that his Body was for a long time kept at Jerusalem and conveyed thence to Rome by Aelen Mother to Constantine the Great where some Bones said to be his are shewed with great Veneration to this day The Death of St. MARK WHilst St. Mark was intent at Divine Worship the barbarous Multitude broke in upon him and fastning Cords about his Feet dragged him through the Streets in a most inhumane manner so that his Flesh was torn off by the Cragginess of the way not being satisfied with this they cast him into a Prison near the Sea where he was comforted in his Agony by a Divine Apparition The next Morning they drew him forth till by the extream effusion of Blood his Spirits failed and he gave up the Ghost after which as Metaprastus adds they kindled a large Fire and burnt his Body the remains of which being preserved by such as he had Converted to the Christian Faith were deposited in the place where he was wont to Preach and such part of him as remained was afterward carried to Venice and there kept in a Church built to the Honour of that Evangelist being one of the stateliest Piles now extant in Europe The Death of St. LUKE SOme there are that say he died a Natural Death but Nasianzen and Polinus Bishop of Nola with some others affirm that he received the Crown of Martyrdom Nicephorus gives us this following account viz That Saint Luke coming into Greece successfully Preached the Gospel Baptizing many Converts into the Christian Faith and working many Miracles till at last a party of Infidels encouraged by their Priests whose Idolatrous Worship the Evangelist sharply reproved fell at unawares upon him and sorcibly dragged him to the place of Execution where not having a Cross in readiness they hanged him upon an Olive-Tree in the 80th Year of his Age. But certain it is that he was put to Death some affirm that his Body was at the Command of Constanâ—ine the Great or his Son Constantius brought to Constantinople and there solemnly Interred in the great Church Founded there to the Honour of the Apostles THE DEATHS OF THE Primitive Fathers The Death of IGNATIUS IGnatius was born Twelve Years before the Crucifixion of our Saviour having with his Eyes beheld him in the Flesh he being as many think one of those little Ones that our Saviour commanded his Disciples to suffer to come unto him Nay some affirm that it was he whom our Blessed Lord set in the midst of his Disciples when they contended about Superiority However he was indued with a more than ordinary Portion of the Divine Spirit and succeeded St. Peter in the Pastorship of the Church of Antioch where he laboured diligently in the Ministry of the Gospel Converting and Confirming many to the Christian Faith being a great opposer of the Heresies or Erroneous Opinions that had sprung up in the Church When the day of his Martyrdom came he chearfully said I am Gods Corn when the wild Beasts have ground me to powder with their Teeth I shall be his white Bread He suffered Martyrdom the 11th year of Trajan being as many of the Ancients affirm Torn to pieces by wild Beasts in the Theatre to make the Tyrant sport And thus ended the Life of this good Man who upon many occasions was wont to say My Love is Crucified meaning either Christ the Object of his Love or that his darling Sins and Affections to the World were Crucified and in another place he declares that he beheld the Lord after his Resurrection before he Ascended He used to say That there is nothing better than the peace of a good Conscience Of Patience Other Graces are but parts of a Christians Armour as the Shield of Faith the Sword of the Spirit c. But Patience is the Panoply or whole Armour of the Man of God The Death of POLYCARP HIS Enemies thirsted after his Blood and there upon desired the Proconsul that he might be thrown to the Beasts but he alledging the time for the Game of Beasts was past they prayed that he might be exposed to the Flames to which last he consented and thereupon the multitude led him away crying This is the Doctor of Asia the Father of the Christians the Overthrower of our Gods who hath taught many that our Gods are not to be Adored Every one of them fetching Wood from their Shops and Houses When the Pile was reared the Holy Man put off his Apparel being assisted therein by the Faithful Christians that came to take their last Farewel of him striving to touch his Body as accounting it no small Honour VVhen he was naked the Infidels offered to nail him to the Stake but he desired them to forbear saying Suffer me even as I am for he that has given me strength to come to this Fire will give me patience likewise to persevere therein without your fastening me with Nails He died Anno Christi 170. In the midst of the Fire he said this Prayer O God the Father of thy beloved Son Jesus Christ through whom we have received the Knowledge of thee O God the Creator of all things upon thee I call thee I confess to be the true God Thee I glorifie O Lord receive me and make me a Companion of the Resurrection of thy Saints through the Merits of our great High-Priest thy beloved Son Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and God the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for ever Amen The Death of DIONYSIUS AREOPAGITA HE was Condemned to be Beheaded the which to put him to greater Torment was done with a blunted Sword on the top of the Mount without the City where kneeling he said with an Audible Voice O Lord God almighty thou only begotten Son and Holy Spirit O Sacred Trinity which art without beginning and in whom there is no division receive the Soul of thy Servant in peace who is put to death for thy Cause and Gospel After which he submitted his Head to the stroaks of the Executioner Suffering Anno Christi 96 and of his Age 110. The Death of JUSTIN Martyr AFter his having painfully preached the Gospel in many Countreys he came to Rome where he had many Contests with the Philosophers and Sages and was at last by the procurement of one Crescens Condemned and accordingly Beheaded Anno Christi 139. and as Epipharius has it under the Reign of Adrian some time before he Prognosticated his death So sell this Faithful
Labourer in Christ's Vineyard He used to say That which the Soul is in the Body that are Christians in the World For as the Soul is in and not of the Body so Christians are in but no part of the World And also It is best of all not to sin and next to that to amend upon the Punishment Furthermore That it is the greatest slavery in the VVorld to be subject to ones Passions The Death of IRENAEUS THis Holy Man being taken with several of his chief Friends they were led to the top of a Hill on which were placed Crosses on one Hand and Idols on the other and they put to their Choice either to embrace the Idols and Live or be Crucified Upon which they joyfully chose the latter suffering Martyrdom Anno Christi 182. and of Irenaeus his Age 60 oâ— as some will have it 90. He compared the Hereticks and Schismaticks to Aesop's Dog that lost tbe Substance of Religion whilst they gaped too earnestly after the Shadow Concerning the Vanity of Earthly things he said VVhat profit is there in that Honour which is so short-lived as that perchance it was not Yesterday neither will be to Morrow And such Men as labour so much for it are but like Froth which though it be uppermost yet it is unprofitablest The death of TERTULLIAN HE died Anno Christi 202. and of his Age 63. He used to say of Repentance If thou beâ—st backward in thoughts of Repentance be forwards in thoughts of Hell the burning flames whereof only the tears of a penitent Eye can extinguish Of Satans Power If the Devils without Christ leave had no power over the Gadarens Swine much less have they power over Gods own Sheep Of Faith We should not try Mens Faith by their Persons but their Persons by their Faith Of forgiving Offences It 's in vain to come to the God of peace without peace or to pray for the remission of our Sins without forgiving others We must not come to make an Atonement with God at his Altar before we have made an Atonement with our Brother in our Hearts The Last Sayings of CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS AFter the death of Pontenus Clemens succeeded him in that Office from whence he received the Name of Alexandrinus He was Famous for all manner of Learning and was ordained Presbyter in Alexandria where he propagated the Christian Faith His Sayings were these Such as adorn themselves with Gold and think themselves bettered thereby are worse than Gold and not Lords oâ— it as all that have it ought to be Out of the depth and bowels of the Earth hath God discovered and shewed Gold unto Men and they have made it the occasion of all Mischief and Wickedness Gold to many Men is much dearer than their Faith and Honesty And the love of it makes Man so Covetous as if they were to live here for ever The Death of ORIGEN HE died in the Reigns of Gallus and Volusianus Anno Christi 220. and of his Age 69. Concerning Gods Providence he used to say That Gods Providence hath ordained all things for some end and purpose He made not Malice and though he can restrain it yet he will not for if Malice were not Vertue would not have â— Contâ—aâ—â— and so could not shine so clear Foâ— the Malice of Joseph's Brethren was the Meanâ— whereby God brought about many admirable works of his Providence The death of St. CYPRIAN CYprian said to his Executioner Do whatever shall be in thy power and thereupon he putting off his Cloaths delivering them to his Deacons bidding them give â—is Executioner five Twentypieces of Gold for the kindness he was to do him to express he freely forgave him Then pulling a Vail over his Eyes he kneeled down and had his Head smitten off with a Sword suffering Martyrdom for the Testimony of his Lord and Master Anno 259. and in the 70 year of his Age as some have it He used to say of Charity Let noâ— that sleep in thy Treasury that may be profitable â—o the Poor Of the Heart and Tongue Two things never wax old in Man The Heart ever imagining new Cogitations the Tongue ever uttering the vain Conceptions of the Heart Of Resignation That which a Man must necessarily part with it 's Wisdom for a Man to distribute it fo that God may Everlastingly reward him Of Pride Women that Pride themselves in putting on Silk and Purple cannot lightly puâ— on the Lord Jesus Christ Again They which Colour their Locks with Yellow and Red begin betimes to Prognosticate of what Colour their Hair shall be in Hell Again They which love to paint themselves in this World otherwise than God Created them may justly fear that at the Resurrection their Creator will know them Of Alms-deeds He that gives an Alms to the Poor offers a sweet-smelling Sacrifice unto God Of Injuries All Injury of Evils present is to be neglected for the hope of good things to come Twelve Attributes he said was in the Life of Man viz. A Wise Man without good works an Old Man without Religion a Young Man without Obedience a Rich Man without Alms a Woman without shamefac'dness a Guide without Vertue a Contentious Christian a Poor Man that is Proud a King that is Unjust a Bishop that is Negligent People without Discipline Subjects without Law The Last Sayings of ARNOBIUS HE was a Famous Professor of Rhetorick in Sicca a City in Africa after his Conversion he applied himself to some Bishops with great earnestness to be Baptized and admitted into the Church When he was Master to Lactantius he used this Expression That Persecution brings Death in one hand and Life in the other for while it Kills the Body it Crowns the Soul He lived under Dioclesian between 300 and 330. The Death of EUSEBIUS HE lived to a good old Age. for the most part in Peace and Tranquility Dying Anno Christi 340. He used to say That Moses wrote the Old Law in dead Tables of Stone But Christ writ the perfect Documents of the New Testament in Living Souls The Death of LACTANTIUS HE was a Man of great Parts both Morally and Divinely Wise he was always Liberal for whatsoever he received he again distributed it to such as were in want insomuch that notwithstanding the many Rich Presents he received at the hands of the Emperor he died very Poor He used to say of Piety That Godliness always enriches the Possessor The Death of ATHANASIUS AFter all the Storms that were raised up against him he died in peace at Alexandria Anno Christi 375 having been Bishop of that See 46 years during which time he had been in many great Perils and Hazards of his Life for not only Bishops but Emperors and Nations sought his Destrustion But God delivered him out of their hands to the Glory of his Name for his only trust was in God alone which caused him often to say Though Armies should Encamp aâ—out me yet I would 〈…〉 fear The