there be daies in the Year of the Sun was translated from Earth to Heaven next after Adams death seven Patriarchs remaining Witnesses of his Translation Elijah Elijah a strong Lord as the word signifies called also Elias who in prayer Jam. 5.17 18. 2 King 2.11 12. prayed so the Greek that it might not rain and it did not rain that it might rain and it did rain This Elijah had his Rapture and his Rapture was a Type of Christ's Ascension He went up by a whirlwind into Heaven Elisha seeing it cryed my Father my Father the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof All that do live shall die or be changed Behold I shew you a mystery we shall not all sleep That is 1 Cor. 15.51 52. we shall not all die Now that by sleep he means Death the whole Discourse of that Chapter makes evident What shall become of us then This is answered in the words following but we shall be changed There shall be a corporeal and numerical Resurrection if Job may be credited Though worms destroy his body Job 19.26 27. yet in the flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my reins be consumed within me Every man shall have a Resurection out of his own Dust The dead in Christ 1 Thes 4.16 1 Câ—â—â—5 53 54. shall rise first These shall be raised into a state of Incorruption This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality Now those then living having Christ for their Life shall not die but be changed into the same state of Incorruption Col. 3.4 and Immortality of those that shall have a numerical Resurrection given them by the power of God and the God of power SECT IV. Why Natural or Corporal Death is the Circumference of the Vniverse THat Man is Mortal and not a match for Death hath appeared why Man is mortal and not a match for Death will appear by these following Reasons Reasons Man hath sinned therefore man is mortal and must die Sin is that wretched womb wherein Death lay Rom. 6.23 The wages of sin is death All sorts and kinds of Death whether violent natural spiritual or eternal they are the stipend of sin Sin is the most mischievous thing in the world for it begins in turning the Heart from God and ends in turning God from the Heart Psal 9.17 now is not this man like to be turned into Hell Sin is that unhappy womb that have been productive of all the penal Judgments that have been in the world the first and the second Death Fire and Famine Poverty and Prison Plague and Pestilence the Rack and the Stake binding and banishing bleeding and burning they are the products of sin Oh my soul Nil nisi peccata timeo Chrysostom So Anselm all thy cares and crosses all thy fears and frowns all thy sorrows and sufferings all thy tears and troubles all thy tryals and travels they are the monstrous and prodigious Births and Effects of sin Wonder not that one said I fear nothing but sin Sin is the Mother Death is the Daughter Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in whom all have sinned Sin is like Pandora's box which being opened was full of all evils filling the Earth with Diseases and all other Calamities What is said of War Bellum est malum complexum may be said of Sin it is a complex and complicated Evil. Sin is Evil only Evil all Evil alway Evil altogether Evil. We cannot speak worse of Sin than it is nor of Man being a Sinner than he is As God is that Good in whom is all Good Bonum in quo omnia sunt bona and no Evil so Sin is that Evil wherein is all Evil and no Good Death is the product of Sin Let the great Doctor of the Gentiles speak who had a great command of Oratory 1 Cor. 15.21 Vorstius By Man Adam the first came death That is by the Sin of Man came the Death of man by the Sin of man came the first and the second death upon man By man came death Not only Mortality as one saith but also eternal Death When the Jews are under a severe stroke they say This is part of the Golden-Calf That is this suffering is for our sin The Mother of Nero concerning him and from our sin Is it not pity that any man should say of his sin as she did of her Son Let me die so He may live Dost thou say let my sin live though I die and be damned then I say thou seemest to me to be within a step of Death within a step of Damnation Dost thou say to thy sin as God did to Joshua I will not fail Thee Josh 1.5 nor forsake thee Then I say thou art in danger of Hell fire and it is mercy to a wonder yea mercy above wonder that thou art out of Hell All men that live must die and all that die are bound for the grave that is the next stage When sin came into the world and that came in by cating Death came in with it Well may we cry Ah Sin Sin Sin thou hast digged all the graves and made all the funerals that have been in the world It was once said of the goodly Buildings of Rome that the sins of the Germans meaning the money got by the Popes Factors for sin-pardons granted the Germans have built these Thus when we see those goodly Buildings the bodies of men cast unto the ground yea cast into the ground we may truly say the sins of men have unbuilt have pulled down their Bodies Man Reas 2. is formed out of the dust therefore man is mortal and must die As our Bodies dwell in houses of clay Job 4.19 the foundations whereof are laid in the dust so our Bodies are but Clay-builts and they cannot stand long We were reared at first our of the dust and we are making to our Center every moment Bodies are but Clay-builts though some be painted and decked and beautified more than others yet all are dust and that makes to its Center Soul as thy Original was so shall thy Conclusion be as thy beginning was so shall thy endiâ— be Though Man now seem to be somewhaâ— better than dust yet to dust shall he return Bodie alive are but living dust Man is dust while he lives returns to the Dust when he dies and 〈◊〉 turned into dust after Death It was said to Adam and in him to all Mankind not only as a curse but also as a command Gen. 3.19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou returnest to the ground that is until thou diest for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return Phil. 3.21 As thy Alpha was so shall thy Omega
at the Being of God Sin would not only un-saint a Saint Psa 137.7 but also unchrist a Christ if it were possible Remember Oh Lord the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem who said rase it rase it even to the Foundation thereof As it is true in a Physical so in a Metaphysical sense what would not Sinners do against the Fabrick and the Foundation too against the Christian and Christ too Sin would un-god a God if it were possible Is not this the Dialect of Sinners Cause the holy one of Israel to cease from before us Isa 30.11 If now we would prepare for death we must then imbitter Sin and if we would imbitter Sin we must then look upon Sin as a cursed Inmate and as a cursed Makebate Would ye imbitter Sin Look then upon Sin as a cursed Inmate Rom. 7.17 20. Reliquiae peccati Though Sin had not a Being from God yet it hath a Being in Man But Sin that dwelleth in me Though Sin for a Believer be perfectly covered yet Sin in a Believer is not perfectly cured there are still the remainders of Sin within which must be mourned over and turned from Would ye imbitter Sin Look also upon Sin as a cursed Makebate It is so between God and Man between Man and Man between Man and Himself Sin is a Makebate between God and Man God and Man at first were One but Sin hath made these Two Sin hath set God at an infinite distance from Man and Man at an infinite distance from God Isa 59.2 Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear Sin is a Makebate between Man and Man There was War between Jeroboam and Rehoboam all their daies From whence come all those animosities differences discords and distances among Men come they not from their Sin As Sin is the Makebate between the Men of the World Benhadad and Ahab were two 1 Kings 20.1 2. 1 Joh. 3.12 And as Sin is the Makebate between the Wicked and the Righteous Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous So Sin is the Makebate between the righteous themselves From whence come Wars and fightings among you Jam. 4.1 come they not hence even of your lusts which war in your members Sin is a Makebate between Man and Himself None can Sin at a cheap rate How dear do the dead who died out of Christ pay for Sin The damned pay dear for Sin How dear have Sin cost the living Yea those who had Christ for their Life witness Bilney Glover and Spira who for a time upon Earth were like living men in Hell Psal 6.6 Margent May David though dead speak I am weary of my groaning all the night or every night make I my bed to swim I water my couch with my teares Oh the fears and tears that Sin hath cost Psal 38.3 I have no soundness in my flesh why because of thine anger neither have I any peace for my bones why because of my Sin Oh the sorrows and sufferings the Tryals and Troubles that Sin hath cost Oh the wearisome Daies and Nights the Pains of Body and Pangs of Soul that Sin hath cost If now we would prepare for death we must imbitter this Sin which is such an Inmate and Makebate Would ye prepare for Death Endear then Grace and Glory Eternal life is made up of Grace and Glory but to these distinctly Endear through Christ Grace Grace is not a Pebble but a Pearl Oh set a greater Estimate upon Grace Lay up and lock up this Pearl in thy Cabinet for it is of great price The Toyaz of Ethiopia and the Riches of both the Indies are but a Pebble to this Pearl Grace in God Yea Grace from God is a Pearl Grace entitles Glory Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12.14 Joh. 4.14 Grace entails Glory The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life One dram of Grace is worth a world a thousand worlds tenthousand worlds if there were so many Grace is of such worth as that it cannot be valued to its worth Grace will go into Glory when Time goes into Eternity and is not this to be endeared If there be any Discourse in Heaven as there is upon Earth it is a discourse of free-grace not of free-will The two Poles will as soon meet as free-will and free-grace in the justification of a Sinner before God Grace is so pure that there is no sin in it As there is no Grace in Sin so there is no Sin in Grace The Heart that is the Soil Grace 1 Pet. 1.23 that is the Seed and this is incorruptible And as Grace from God is so pure that there is no Sin in it so Grace in God is so precious that the stress of salvation is laid upon it By grace ye are saved Is not this a blessed Parenthesis without which we cannot be blessed The whole Alphabet of Salvation from the Alpha to the Omega thereof is legible in free-grace By grace ye are saved The bottom-stone Gratia nòn est gratia ullo modo nisi sit gratuita omni modo Aug. 1 Cor. 15.10 coner-stone and top-stone of Salvation they are all laid in free-grace It is Grace saith one no way unless free every way Every step in Salvation from the Cell of Nature to the Chair in Glory is of free-grace now shall not this grace be endeared By the grace of God I am that I am By Sin I was what I was but by Grace I am that I am I am what I am May it not now be the wonder of the world if those who are gracious should not be found endearing of Grace Endear through Christ Glory As the more ye endear Grace so the more ye endear Glory the more ye prepare for Death The Life of Glory is the grace of Life Greenham There is saith one a huge and heavy weight of Glory Glory from God is the Object of Hope and Glory with God is the Object of Hope Tit. 1.2 In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began As the Person of Christ is the Object of Faith Rom. 3.26 Col. 1.4 That he might be just and the justifier of him that believ thin Jesus And as persons in Christ are the Objects of Love Since we heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints Rom. 5.2 So Heaven is the Object of Hope And rejoyce in hope of the Glory of God In hope of eternal life now eternal life is made up of Grace and Glory Life would be little better than Hell were it not for the hopes of Heaven I had rather saith one enjoy Christ in a Chimney-corner Bernard than to be in
Nothing then is the Age of one Man unto Eternity Some things created and finite are so great above others that they are nothing unto them What is the Ant unto the Elephant what is the Shrimp to the Whale what is the whole body of the Earth to the body of the Heavens It is but a point say Naturalists As one part of the Earth is but a point to the whole and the whole Earth but a point to the Heavens so one part of Time is but a moment to all Time and all Time is but a moment to Eternity especially to the Eternity of God What is Finite unto Infinite The Brevity of mans life will yet appear beyond all modest contradiction by the expressions wherewith it is cloathed by the metaphors wherein it is emblemed and by the Things whereunto it is compared For instance The Life of Man is compared to a Weavers Shuttle Job 7.6 My daies are swifter than a Weavers Shuttle A Weavers Shuttle is an Instrument of a very swift and sudden Motion this passeth the Loom or Web with such speed that it is grown to a Proverb for all things quick and transient The Life of Man is compared to an Hand-breadth Psal 39.5 Thou hast made my daies as an Hand-breadth That is not long which is no longer than the Breadth of an Hand not long in the largest Extent The Life of Man is compared to a Tale that is told Psal 90.9 We spend our daies as a tale that is told That is suddenly and swiftly A Discourse from the mouth especially in the mind out-runs the Sun as much as the Sun out-runs the Snail The Thoughts of a Man will travel the world over in a moment The Life of Man is compared to a Vapour What is our Life Jam. 4.14 it is even as a Vapour which for a while appeareth and then vanisheth away Though all a man hath is short of Life yet this Life of Man soon evaporates and expires SECT VI. The Certainty of Death OUR Bodies are but living Graves no sooner did we begin to live but we began to die and continue dying until we be swallowed up of Death As every Man had his Genesis his beginning or comming into this world so every Man shall have his Exodus his ending or going out of the world 1 Chr. 29.28 Oh soul flatter not thy self and thy soul with an undiable state David was a man after Gods own heart and yet concerning him it is said That he died Though he lived to a good old age full of daies riches and honour yet he died and Solomon his Son reigned in his stead Anaxagoras Scio me genuisse mortalem Deaths seisure is without surrender and from her sentence there is no Appeal When News arrived at one concerning the death of his only Son he seemed not to be over-concerned but to reply without Regret I know that he was begotten mortal I know the Son is mortal as well as the Father Gen. 5.5 8 11 14 17 20 27 31. Those long-livers recorded in the sacred Scripture and transmitted to posterity died They lived long but they did not out-live Death They lived long in the world but at last they left the world They lived long but a day came when they could not live a day longer Death is the obscurest thing in the world The Grave is a gloomy place and filled not only with natural but also with metaphorical Darkness SECT VII The Vncertainty of the Time of Death THough Death be certain yet the Time of Death is uncertain Death is certain but the Day or Hour of Death is uncertain Little did Julian think that Death had been at the Door before he was wounded by an unknown hand Vicisti Galilaee vieisti 1 Kings 22.27 1 Sam. 15.32 33. and blasphemed Thou hast overcome oh Galilaean Thou hast overcome Little did Ahab think that the day of Death had been so near dawning when he gave in charge concerning Micaiah Put this fellow in the Prison and feed him with the bread of Affliction and with the water of Affliction until I come in peace Little did Agag think of being hewed in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal when he said Surely the bitterness of death is past Pharoah stood upon even ground with God little thinking Exod. 5.2 Exod. 14.27 Isa 36.13 that the Sea should be his Sepulchre when he said Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Little did Sennacherib think that he stood upon the Brink of Eternity Isa 37.38 when these words were spoken by his servant Hear ye the words of the great King the King of Assyria when he seemed to stand upon higher ground than God Little also did Herod the Mount of Pride according to his name think Acts 12.21 22. that his Grave had been digging when he so charmed his Auditory with his Oratory that they gave a shout It is the voice of a God and not of man The Manner and Time of Death is uncertain Some indeed have predicted the Manner of their Death thus Ridley that he should be burned and not drowned Thus Jewel he long before his Sickness predicted the Approach of it And in his Sickness predicted the precise day of his Death But this is rare very rare What is prayable Object 1. is attainable but the knowledge of the length of life is prayable To pray for a Physical Sol. or Literal knowledge of our End that is what Year or Day our Lives shall end Caryl Vol. 1. p. 355. is a sinful Curiosity and presumptuous Intrusion into the secret Will of God but to pray for a metaphysical or spiritual knowledge of our End that is how we may end any day of the year or hour of the day in an holy Duty and humble submission of our selves to the revealed Will of God this is warrantable But Obj. 2. Isa 38.5 Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his daies and therefore he knew how long he should live and when he should die This Sol. is such a Favour as that we read not of the like indulged any other of Gods Servants though very high in Favour with him This Great and Good King is indulged and assured a Lease of his Life fifteen years longer well now may this be ushered in with a Note of Attention and serious Consideration Behold I will add unto his daies fifteen years It is sealed also being an unusual Grant with an unusual Miracle Behold I will bring again the shadow of the degrees Isa 38.8 which is gone down in the Sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward so the Sun returned ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down As we are to reflect the Brevity of Life the children of men being many times of as short a continuance as Jonahs Gourd which came up in a night and perished in a
that an ENOSH is deterred From dying Thoughts for Bildad hath averred That Death the King of Terrors is to thee If Christless dying and thus unto me Lend but an Ear to what the Romists say Rome unto Heaven is the onely way Ah but my Soul go not so far about A Papal-Toe may sometimes have the Gout Rome's Monster goeth wrong and will not suffer A going right this Candle wants a Snuffer Yea an Extinguisher that lighted may A better be and light a better way Ah needs must Hell a dismal Dung'on be Where Heavens Sun shall never shine to thee Sin hath no Mean but not at all to be Sin is the Means for to endanger thee Prepare for Death let this appear to thee Certain uncertain is the Time to me Death if no Children did a Rachel cry Ah crying be a Christ or else I dye Doth Death arrest and find thee without Grace With Judas then go to thy proper place If true Grace here shall not implanted be Then Woe Woe Woe hereafter unto thee III. Of Triumph A Scend my Soul on Mount Gerizim stand A taking Prospect is the Holy LAND 〈◊〉 joyous Saint no Corrosive to thee â—f stingless Death can a Memento be â—ot fuller is of light the Worlds bright eye â—or yet the Sea with water never dry â—i en that mans Heart with joy who truly see â—he Death of Christ the Death of Death to be â—ad Heaven Sin thus Anselm speaks about it â—uch rather would He be in Hell without it 〈◊〉 drop of Sin doth unto Mortals bring â—ore evil than a Sea of Suffering â—here may be Sorrow without Sin but can â—n without Sorrow be unto the man â—eath's an Eclipse to man this happen may 〈◊〉 in a clear so on a cloudy day â—one until Dearth were blest in Solon's eye â—hey blessed are that in a JESUS dye 〈◊〉 moment Man be winged like a Dove â—nd restless too till Arked with thy Love â—lace thy self with Loves If Christ be thine â—ALL into Honey WATER into Wine â—nverted are Now Marah tasteth sweet â—nd lovely will appear a winding sheet â—ake Death familiar this welcome thus â—ome Life come Death with good Ignatius â—he presence of all Good is Heaven and â—he absence of all Evil Here 's a Land 〈◊〉 then my Soul suck sweetly here and crave it 〈◊〉 Heaven 't is to hope it what to have it â—hus Time 's a Space lent from Eternity Globe that rolls with slie Celerity 〈◊〉 it is true Alpha it is that lends it 〈◊〉 is as true Omega 't is that ends it VI. The Epilogue FAith thorough Grace make now of Sacred Truth Must NESTOR dye so may the Shumem-Youth T is true Life is the Triumph of each Stature T is true Death is the Tribute due to Nature All Ages Statures Sexes Sifes must This payment make and bedded be in dust And he dyed this Epitaph must have Each individual upon his Grave Death ingress had by Sin this sadly woundeth Sin egress hath by Death this gladly soundeth Reader the Bodies-death doth perfectly From Deaths-body the Saint indempnifie Death a Dilemma is non-plust are All Who enter Lists and so resign the Wall The Fear of Deáth the Soul with Terror fill Death killeth once but Fear doth often kill A Creature with the Ephemera may Be as to Life a Creature of a Day Tears unto One the God of Nature gives Another not a Day in Nature lives View Nature now and in this Glass descry Art a Day old then old enough to dye The best of Men they are but Men at best The worst of Men dye sooner than the rest In hearing hear in saying also say In trying try in praying also pray In doing do in giving also give In living dye in dying also live Are grace-ful Veins found running thorough Thee All Glory then be given unto THREE FINIS