righteous God the Law-giuer is infinit eternall and so his Iustice offended therefore his death by transgressing must be endlesse and euerlasting God is iust and cannot deny himselfe Hee hath said that if man breake his Law he should dye the death and therefore death shall hold him God is perfect and pure and therefore the satisfaction must be answerable to his nature His righteous Law bindes both soule and body to obedience euen euery mans thoughts words and workes and therefore let euery man performe this and hee shall liue section 8 These and many moe are the darts of the Diuel which hee casteth against our soules to wound vs to death the least of which assuredly would peirce vs through were it not that the strength of Iesus Christ rebounds them back and blunts them Hee alone is our shield and buckler our helmet of saluation our Castle and house of defence hee couereth vs with his wings and wee are safe vnder his feathers his faithfulnesse and his truth shall still preserue vs. For all these dangerous darts and a thousand moe are nothing to his power their force is lesse and their violence weaker then straw or stubble to the furnace But to hasten the answere Gods Iustice indeede is section 9 gone out it cannot be reuersed Man must keepe his Law or man must dye eternall death Whereupon it pleased the onely Sonne of God to become the sonne of man for our sakes and so as man to satisfie the Law of God for our sinnes that Gods truth might not be altered No Angell nor Saint could be our Sauiour in this case but man who had offended God Now man of himselfe being too weake to beare this heauy weight Christ being God became also man as we haue heard that so hee might suffer as man and saue as God Our Mediator was God and man Man and God were foes and therefore being God and man hee reconciled man to God And as the first Adam by transgressing brought death vpon all men so Christ the second Adam by obaying brought life to all beleeuers Gods purest Iustice could not exact the thing which he fulfilled not It required the performance of the Law this hee accomplished being the end of the Law and the Prophets Hee was the substance of all the old Ceremonies and the very body of all the shadowes of the Law Hee was circumcised and baptised and so fulfilled all righteousnesse hee paid tribute and was obedient in all things and was vnder the Law so his comming was not to breake the Law but to fulfill the Law As it required perfect holinesse in man so hee was a man without sinne conceiued by the holy Ghost therefore hee was not afraid to say to the faces of his foes Which of you can rebuke mee of sinne Yea the Iudge himselfe that condemned him washed his hands as a witnesse of his cleannesse I finde no fault in this iust man True therefore is the saying of the Apostle that hee was made sinne for vs which knew no sinne that wee might be made the righteousnesse of God through him He is truely called the Paschall Lambe most pure and vnspotted which taketh away the sinnes of the world To him all the Prophets beare witnesse that iustly through his name is preached remission of sinne and that there is no other name vnder heauen by which we can be saued Thus hee fulfilled the Law for man which had broke section 10 the Law being man himselfe His obedience was most perfect he left nothing vnfulfilled And as hee kept the Law which man had broken so likewise did he beare the punishment which hee deserued The breach of the Law was the curse of God and eternall death He therefore became accursed and sustained death euen the death of the Crosse accursed of God and so by death ouercame death and by his curse brought the blessing of God vpon vs. Hee cancelled the hand-writing that the Diuell had against vs hee nayled it to his Crosse and made it void so that now the faithfull may triumph through Christ Death being swallowed vp in victory they may boldly exclaime and say O Death where is thy sting O Graue where is thy victory for the sting of Death being Sinne and the strength of Sin being the Law and both Sin and Law being abolished through Christ there is now no condemnation that remaineth and therefore thankes be to God who hath giuen vs the victory through Iesus Christ for hee hath taken our sinnes vpon his backe hee hath satisfied the Law of God not for himselfe but for vs hee dyed that wee might liue hee was accursed that wee might be blessed he was buryed and rose againe that wee might rise from our graues and liue for euer hee descended into hell that wee might ascend to heauen his righteousnesse is our righteousnesse and our sinnes are his this exchange did hee make for our sakes And therefore through Faith by him wee are reuiued quickened and strengthened All his merits are imputed vnto vs as though they were our owne and our sinnes are truely his for which he suffered and satisfied to the vtmost section 11 Christ Iesus I say is our onely satisfaction and sacrifice the fountaine of grace and vertue the portion of our inheritance our righteousnesse wisedome sanctification and redemption our hope of glory our doore to heauen the way the truth and the light our attonement vnto God our Shepheard Master Lord and King To be short hee is all in all to vs that are nothing This our Sauiour Christ hath abrogated the Law and hath redeemed those that were vnder the Law and hee himselfe is the end of the Law and that which the Law could not doe hee hath accomplished in his person And therefore O Diuell let Gods people goe for the Law cannot hold them And therefore O death resigne thy power thy sting and strength is nothing the Law being fulfilled and Sinne remoued The seede of the woman hath bruised the Serpents head Christ hath ledde captiuitie captiue and giuen gifts vnto men He hath reconciled and made as one all things both in heauen and earth Hee hath quite plucked downe the partition wall in abrogating through his flesh the hatred that remayned There is now neyther Iew nor Gentile bond nor free Scythian nor Barbarian man nor woman all that beleeue are one in Christ Hee hath made the Wolfe to dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard to lye with the Kid he hath made the Calfe the fat beasts and the Lyon so tame that a little childe may lead them the Cow and the Beare with their young ones not onely feede but lye together the sucking childe doth play vpon the hole of the Aspe yea euen the weaned childe most safely putteth his hand into the hole of the Cockatrice Christ hath now dissolued the workes of the Diuell and broken his snares asunder that all beleeuing sinners might
a man vpon easie conditions should gaine an high estate to him and his for euer and yet should wittingly and wilfully forfeite it againe to the owner who would either moane the heire or blame the giuer Euen so God hauing made the soule of man good righteous and faire as from himselfe yet knitting it to the body to make the man which man is Adams heire he may iustly withdraw his graces from it as his owne being forfeited and lost by traiterous man Thus Gods grace most iustly fayling the soule it falleth to sinne and declineth to naught which pronenesse of euill is our naturall sicknesse which we call Originall sinne So that the soule of man is not now created with that strength to perseuere in goodnesse and resistance of euill and other excellent graces which it should haue had if Adam had not sinned and albeit it be pure and vnspotted as it proceedeth from God yet is it no sooner ioyned to the body but it is presently polluted euen as the purest wine and best quintessence when it is powred into a filthy pot poysoned and vnsauory doth in a moment loose their naturall taste and tallage so doth the sweet soule loose her fragrant smell of grace and goodnesse so soone as it is sent into this filthy vessell the body of sinne Neither is the soule of man subiect onely to weakenesses and infirmities in resisting of corruptions but hath many other defects both of minde and will being destitute of spirituall life and light blinde by nature and not so much as inclinable to holy desires and sanctified workes as God her Creatour by his law requireth And although in the iust iudgement of God as we haue already heard mens soules be now made in such sort as that of necessitie they must be defiled being ioyned to these bodies of sinne yet are they not thereby to be excused from the guilt of sinne for though it be of a iust necessitie yet is it not of any compulsion that they should sinne as we see by experience Iron and Stones and such like graue and heauie substances though neuer so softly let downe into a brooke doe of necessitie yet not by any violence sinke downe to the bottome thereof Bodies depriued of foode and flesh in time doe putrifie of necessity yet neither the one nor the other by any compulsion God of necessitie is good and the Diuell is euill yet can we not say that either goodnes in God or iniquity in the Diuell doe proceede of compulsion So our soules being ioyned to our bodies are of necessitie sinfull yet willingly also and of their owne accord Neither yet is it or can be otherwise now with the best regenerate and holiest men renewed in Christ towards their children then it was in Adam at the first touching the propagation of originall sinne they can conuey no more vnto their posteritie but that which by nature they are possessed of for grace comes from heauen and our new birth is not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God If we winnow any Wheate or graine neuer so perfectly and purge it neuer so throughly by the fanne from the chaffe and dust yet when it is sowne againe it will not bring forth cleansed corne but with the graine yeelde huskes and hawnes which also must it selfe be threshed with the flayle and cleansed with the fanne vpon the floore As this clensed Corne I say can giue no more but what it had by nature and looke what it had by the art industry of man the same meanes must be vsed to it againe before it be cleane and fit for our vse Euen so the faithfull though they be washed iustified and sanctified by Gods spirit and the blood of Christ yet can they giue no more to their children then what themselues haue had by nature being the children of wrath and as for any grace or goodnesse it must come from the same Author and by the same meanes which their parents had to worke it in them or else it can neuer be effected God doth worke in the hearts of men to incline their wills which way hee pleaseth either to good things according to his mercy or to euill according to their owne desert and that by his iudgement sometime manifest sometime secret but alwayes iust A worke-house must needes decline and also fall when the vnder-proppes are remoued Darkenesse must needes ensue when the Sunne and light is departed away Those bright beames of all light and happy life which were giuen to our first parents are remoued and other excellent gifts and graces of God are in his iust iudgement so long withholden from our soules vntill by his holy spirit as the worker and by his holy word as the instrument God in his good time doe againe enlighten our mindes and purifie our hearts by faith and confirme and strengthen vs in euery good word and worke Sinne to mankinde will alwaies be a Iebusite a false borderer yea a ranke traitour rebelling against the spirit which makes the life of man to be saith Chrisostome a debt as it were owne and due to death for the diuell is the father of sinne and sinne is the mother of death Hereupon saith S. Iames that Sinne being finished trauaileth in childe-birth like a mother to bring forth Death and Dauid calleth sinne the gate of death because as a man commeth into a house by the dore or gate so death came into the world by sinne The corruption of our flesh did not make our soule sinfull but the sinne of our soule did make the flesh corruptible Whereupon Lactantius calleth sinne the reliefe or foode of death and as a fire goeth out when all the fuell is spent but burneth as long as it lasteth so death dieth when sinne ceaseth but where sin aboundeth there death raigneth CHAP. V. Of the Nature of Death what it is and how manifold and whence Deuines haue deriued it DEath thus iustly deriued from Adam as the stocke to all and euery one of vs his line and race as to the boughes and branches the leprosie of his sin cleauing fast to all his seede we are further to consider the nature thereof for our better humbling which cannot more plainely appeare then by the true describing and diuiding of the same by and into his seuerall parts properties and effects as they are laid out vnto vs and gathered from the Scriptures As man therefore in his nature consisteth of two principall parts a humane body and a diuine soule which vnited together make but one person so there is a Death of the body and a Death of the soule and a death that is common both to body and soule Death then in it selfe is not onely a killing of the body but also a slaying as it were of the soule not onely a separation of the soule from the body but a diuision and cutting off both of
earth with as great violence as Ioab from the hornes of the altar whither he fled for a refuge to saue his life What will the wicked doe in the extremity of Gods iudgement whither will they turne them whose helpe will they craue when all things shall cause them to feare and proclaime open vengeance against them Aboue them shall be their Iudge offended with their sinnes beneath hell gaping to deuoure them on their right hand shall be their sinnes accusing them on the left hand the Diuels as tormentours ready to receiue them within them their conscience grieuing without them infinite damned soules wailing weeping and gnashing their teeth Good Lord what will wretched sinners doe inuironed with all these miseries how will their hearts sustaine these anguishes what way will they take to goe backe is impossible to goe forward is intollerable What then shall they doe but as Christ foretold desperately seeke for Death and shall not finde it cry to the Mountaines to couer them who yet shall not stirre to hide them they shall stand forlorne as miserable caitifes to their dreadfull and deadly doome Goe yee cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his Angels For in that man offendeth the Lord and creatour of all things he offendeth also all the creatures together in him whither therefore may he goe for as much as he hath made all things become enemies vnto him There is nothing now left to take his part euen so much as his owne conscience within him barketh out against him yea it is the duetie also of the faithfull to reioyce in the damnation of the wicked as well as to be glad for the saluation of Gods elect and howsoeuer to magnifie the righteousnesse of God The Rauens must haue Hogges garbages Partridges must be set vpon the board before Lords and great men A Murtherer must be laid vpon a Hurdle And it is as meete for Iudas to sit in Hell as for Saint Peter to sit in Heauen And vessels of dishonour are as necessarie for the glory of Gods house as precious vessels of gold for the honour of his seruice Yet this is the height of their horrour when the wicked had rather be tormented in hell then to see the face of Christ their fearefull Iudge wishing the very Mountaines to hide them and the Hils and Rockes to couer them from the glory of his presence Hitherto what Death is in it selfe Now it followeth to shew what it is through Christ to the faithfull The end of the first Booke THE SECOND BOOKE What DEATH is in Christ CHAP. I. Christ alone and none other can and doth redeeme vs from death and damnation WHat our fearefull estate is without Christ we haue heard before being holden in the shadow of death by the chaines of our sins the weight and burthen whereof is the law of God laid vpon vs Hell is our prison and Death is our Gaolor to hold vs. See how fast we are locked from God and his Saints in the dungeon of Death by the meanes of sinne which is a sword to the heart a serpent in the bosome poyson in the stomacke a thiefe in the house It woundeth Nature stingeth the conscience killeth charitie and depriueth vs of Gods fauour which is the worst of all Now in this distresse Christ came to visite vs in his due time euen God and man a right redeemer for vs he tooke our cause vpon him and wrestled with the Diuell that held vs by our sinnes in Death This mighty Sauiour tooke flesh and blood to take our part none could be our Mediatour but he alone none amongst the Angels for they are no men not any amongst the Saints for they were all sinners neither any amongst the other creatures for they were all corruptible so that we can neither giue gold nor siluer for the redemption of our soules neither can wee trust in the merits of Angels and Saints who all want vertue for this worke but onely in Christ the Sonne of God and man a meete redeemer for vs who is our Priest alone abiding for euer because he liueth for euer neither can his Priesthood be translated to another and as the sacrifice is his owne so hee is Priest alone to offer it to his Father which he did once for all vpon the Crosse for all belieuers All promise and hope of life is in Christ alone who hath alone the word of life who is alone the bread of life the water of life the author of life yea life it selfe he that beleeueth in him hath euerlasting life and hee that dwelleth not in him shall neuer see life but abideth still in death Take hold of Christ and take hold of life if thou reach out thy hand to any other thing thou catchest for the winde Looke not for life but where it dwelleth in the flesh of Christ alone there it resteth Death hath reigned in all the world beside and ledde euery creature into bondage If thou lookest to the heauens there is but clouds and darknes if to the earth there is but sorrow and sadnesse If thou callest to Abraham he knoweth thee not if thou cry to Angels they cannot comfort thee if thou looke into thy workes they are vncleane if thou trust in thy prayers the Lord hath no pleasure in them call for the helpe of all creatures they are subiect to vanitie there is no life nor rest but in Christ alone The elders and Angels the beasts and all creatures they giue this honour vnto Christ alone Saluation is to him that sitteth vpon the throne and of the Lambe and they all shoute together and say Amen He that would not wander and goe astray should know both whither and which way to goe Now both of those we haue in Christ alone very God and very man for in that he is God and consequently life to him wee must goe and in that he is man by him wee must come vnto God and be vnited with him that we may obtaine euerlasting life and be freed from death If he be the life then is he the place to whom we must goe if he be the way by him we must trauell to attaine eternall life and if he be the truth that is the accomplishment of the law and Prophets concerning both the shadowes and substance of Gods promises then also is he the onely meanes of our redemption God was so gracious and mercifull vnto mankinde that he bestowed not onely his goods but himselfe to redeeme vs and that not so much for his owne sake as for mans behoofe That man might be borne of God God was first borne of Man Who can hate man whose nature and likenesse hee beholdeth in the humanity of God Doubtlesse who so loueth not man hateth God and so abideth in death God became man for mans sake that he might be a redeemer as he was before a creatour that men not
A MAPPE OF MANS MORTALITIE Clearely manifesting the originall of DEATH with the Nature Fruits and Effects thereof both to the Vnregenerate and Elect Children of GOD. Diuided into three Bookes and published for the furtherance of the wise in practise the humbling of the strong in conceit and for the comfort and confirmation of weake Christians against the combat of DEATH that they may wisely and seasonably be prepared against the same Whereunto are annexed two Consolatory SERMONS for afflicted Christians in their greatest Conflicts BY IOHN MOORE Minister of the Word of God at Shearsbie in LEICESTER-SHIRE HEBR. 9.27 Booke 1. It is appoynted vnto men that they shall once dye and after that commeth the Iudgement REVEL 4.13 2. Then I heard a voyce from heauen saying vnto mee Write the dead which dye in the Lord are fully blessed euen so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them ECCLES 9.10 3 All that thy hand shall finde to doe doe it with all thy power for there is neyther worke nor inuention nor knowledge nor wisedome in the graue whither thou goest LONDON Printed by T.S. for GEORGE EDVVARDS and are to be sold at the signe of the Greyhound in Paules Church-yard 1617. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE Sr. FOVLKE GREVILL Knight Chancelor of his Highnesse Court of Exchequer and one of his Maiesties most Honourable Priuie Councell the assurance of Gods loue in all outward blesings of this life with the vndoubted euidence of Gods Spirit for the fruition of Heauen and happinesse in the life to come be daily more and more increased and confirmed through Iesus Christ c. Right Honourable SVch is the force of Vertue and of the very shadow of Godlinesse that as it were naturally it draweth mens loue and affection and after a speciall manner vniteth mindes together farre distant and different in calling and condition The very Heathen hauing experience hereof both by their writing confessed and also practised the same one towards another who for the loue of morall vertues embraced those whom they neuer saw How much more then should Gods Children rightly informed by Gods Word and reformed by his Spirit most highly value the incomparable worth of sincere Religion and the holy profession thereof by the meanes and ministery whereof men are as it were newly created and restored to the Image of the eternall God which maketh them most amiable in the sight of God and honourable in the account of his children who doe know that they are translated from death to life by louing the brethren For as God in himselfe the very fountaine of all goodnesse is loue and properly to be loued of all being the very obiect and subiect of all Christian affection as hauing in himselfe all the causes both motiue and attractiue to draw them vnto him So they whosoeuer of Gods elect which most resemble him in grace and goodnesse doe next deserue our loue not that we should diuide the same from God the very Ocean of goodnesse but rather to make it knowne that we truly loue the Lord our God in them who cannot possibly loue God whom wee haue not seene except wee loue his Children which represent his person and in whom hee will proue our loue towards himselfe Hence arise so many good occasions to make Gods children acquainted which otherwise would be strangers many poore Christians and despised Ministers in the world to write and speake seeke and sue for the countenance and acquaintance of eminent personages sincerely professing and patronizing Gods truth and with Luke to looke for some noble Theophilus and with S. Iohn some honourable and Elect Lady vnto whom they may consecrate their labours The consideration of which premises Honourable Sir may somewhat qualifie my present boldnesse in this my seeming rash attempt Neyther is it strange indeede that poore men in the valley looke to the Beacon on the hill and that such spreading fruitfull trees should be in view and knowne for shelter and reliefe against a storme Hee which seeketh fonsuch friends seeketh to God his assignes for are they not his Deputies to doe good to his Church and Children Are they not eyes to the blinde and feet to the lame Are they not fathers to the poore and in so being procure their blessing I minde not here to blaze out your iustly deserued praises but rather in dutie be earnest in my prayers to God for the increase and continuance of Gods graces bestowed vpon your Honour for the good of our Church and Common-wealth And I hope you haue learned that continuance in well-doing getteth the greatest praise and prize with God and all good men And my particular prayer shall be that still you may exceede your selfe in the performance of all Christian duties to God our Prince and Countrey euer tending to that perfection which leadeth to eternall life Moreouer let your Honour be throughly perswaded that God will haue all his children humbled here before they can aspire to the top of the highest glory which they hope for hereafter and that the way hereunto is rightly to know our selues by our fraile condition and mortall estate May it please you therefore with other sorts and rancks of Gods people to take some view thereof in this Discourse Feare not Honourable Sir to read some lines thereof at your leasure the receipt whereof I doubt not will proue more wholsome then toothsome to the flesh which still would make vs play the Gyants against our God yet mortified it must be in some measure For as raw flesh is not fit for the stomacke no more are vnmortified men for God Euen Nichodemus himselfe must be borne againe if he will come to an assured hope of that heauenly inheritance I prescribe here no Lawes nor Rules to be obserued with the Franciscans Dominicks and other Fryers to this or that sect or sort of men I say with the Apostle There is one Law for all men enacted in heauen without repeale that they must dye And for as much as God hath sanctified this Physicke for the saluation of our soules let the wholesomnesse thereof qualifie the bitternesse And since the death of the faithfull hath lost her sting in Christ his death let vs neuer feare the humbing of this Bee nor being able to hurt vs. But for these Cordials of Comfort with many moe soueraigne Antidotes against Deaths poyson and dangerous Symptomes I leaue your Honour to a larger discourse thereof in the proper place Now for offering to your Honour such mournfull matter of humiliation and as it may seeme distastfull to Courtly senses let these few words suffice That as there is a communitie of flesh and bloud and a generall infection of sin in all Adams heires that so likewise Death which is the wages thereof is and must needes be common vnto all without exception of any And so long as the godly and wicked liue together in this
in the condemnation of the reprobate and an entrance for his mercy in the saluation of his elect for if there had beene no fall of man God should haue manifested himselfe neither iust in condemning some nor mercifull in sauing others which very much would haue obscured his glory and altogether depriued him of his praises amongst the sonnes of men c. Man was subiect to death by nature yet not of necessitie as though he saw no way to shunne it and now I goe no further then mans knowledge reuealed in the word setting Gods decree and secret counsell aside for he had sufficient power giuen him of God in his creation to auoide it Gods law was written in his heart agreeable to his nature he thought it no yoake or burthen to obserue it his shoulders or backe being bigge enough to sustaine it Sinne therefore wee may see hath diminished our strength and altered our nature that now we are forced to be slaues to those who before were our subiects Gods law now written is the same which before was engrauen in our nature yet now it is such a huge weight and heauie yoake which neither we nor our fathers were euer able to beare CHAP. III. Of the greatnesse of Adams sinne and his grieuous fall with the fearefull effects and fruites thereof MAn being thus created in so glorious an estate raigning and ruling not onely as a Prince but as it were a petty God vpon the earth all things being put in subiection vnder his feete Sathan that olde serpent and enuious aduersary of mankinde hauing fallen himselfe and his associates by his and their owne transgression into a most cursed and wretched estate enuying at the blessednesse of our first parents so happily planted vpon the earth and placed in Paradise possessing the body of the Serpent and abusing his forme drew Enah by his wiles to heare her God accused of vnkindnesse and from hearing to suspition and from suspition to plaine rebellion against his law and so Sathan not contented she was made his snare to catch her husband also But marke I pray you this diuels proceeding and see what hookes this Fisher hid vnder his fine and pleasant baites First he bewitcheth her sences with a faire sight and pleasant shew of the forbidden fruit then he assaileth her with infidelity and doubtfulnesse of Gods word namely that they should die the death thirdly he opposeth himselfe against the vndoubted truth of Gods word setting downe the contrary Ye shall not die lastly he pricketh them forward to pride and selfe-loue Ye shall be as Gods euen as cunning as the highest in good and euill So they poore creatures not resting vpon God nor asking counsell at his word but trusting to themselues deceiued by his strange delusions yeelded and in yeelding were seduced and so shackled with the wards of their owne sinne and fetters of their owne finding out and as he solde himselfe to sinne and Sathan by this his fall so iustly did God ordaine the meanes to hamper him to wit Death and Destruction Neither was this action contrary to his iustice except he should haue denied himselfe nor yet repugnant to his vnchangeable word pronounced for in the beginning as we haue heard God created man holy and righteous euen like to himselfe and so long as he kept this forme he enioyed Gods presence his protection and prouidence ruled ouer him he wanted nothing that was needefull for him all the creatures were his seruants they came at his call and bowed at his becke he wanted nothing that heart could wish he was placed in Paradise amidst all passing pleasures the ground of it selfe yeelded forth her encrease without toyle or trauell he was made subiect to no creature but was Lord ouer all him onely excepted that had thus preferred him Now this his gracious God and bountifull Lord for all these his graces and blessings vnspeakeable required no great seruice or homage at his hands he exacted no great rent he did not ouercharge him but onely this to shew his soueraigne power he gaue him a Commandement no weighty thing to be obserued but a small matter and easie to be performed to wit that he hauing such choise and aboundance of all things besides should abstaine for his pleasure from tasting of the tree of the knowledge of good and euill and all this he did to try his obedience And now behold this vnkinde creature this vngratefull wretch and wicked man forgetting God and his duetie casting aside his blessings and graces wherewith he abounded most traiterously villainously and shamefully rebelling against his Lord contemneth his Creatour and setteth his God at naught he listneth to the Diuell and beleeueth his lies and followeth like a beast his sensuall appetite and euen in that one thing forbidden spiteth his God regardeth not his word feareth not death that was threatned but eateth of the forbidden tree maugre the beard of God and his iudgements And here let vs throughly consider not so much the matter and meanes which was but the eating of an Apple as the manner and measure of this rebellion and sinne which manifested it selfe by these degrees first a doubtfulnesse of Gods word which made him to stagger secondly a losse of faith not beleeuing Gods threatning thirdly a nise curiositie in departing from Gods word and seeking other wisedome fourthly a pride in desiring to be greater then God had made him fiftly a contempt of God breaking his law against his conscience sixtly an apostasie in falling from the counsell of God to beleeue the Diuell seuenthly an ingratitude and hellish vnkindenesse in driuing away and expelling Gods holy spirit dwelling in them eightly a murthering of himselfe and his whole posteritie for this fall of his was the first opening of the gate to all sinne and misery to all mankinde This sinne therefore can no way be lessened consisting of so many most monstrous and horrible impieties Could any punishment possible be sharpe enough for such a monstrous fact that whereas God had giuen them such liberty and freedome of all things yet would not so much as obey him in this one Againe God did not onely binde him to obedience but threatned his rebellion if thou eate thereof thou shalt die the death Notwithstanding Gods commanding and his threatning he is most carelesse and swiftly runnes headlong to sinne and wickednesse and so entred into such a maze of miseries from whence neither himselfe nor his posteritie were euer able to vnwinde themselues for so abusing his owne free will he lost it and was made a slaue to Sathan and himselfe Gods image being by his fall defaced he became like the diuell and contemning life he found out death euen death eternall This was the wages of his sinne this was the hire of his labour this profit reaped he for his paines God thrust him out of Paradise and being expelled he was kept out by the Cherubins so
the flesh the law of the members the nourishment of sinne the feeblenesse of nature and the food of death Oh grieuous necessitie and fearefull state of man before wee can sinne wee are lincked to sinne and before we offend we are bound with offence By one man sinne entered into the world and through sinne death hath gone ouer all Did not our Fathers eate the sowre grapes and are not the teeth of their children set on edge CHAP. IIII. Of the originall and entrance of Death and how iustly it was imposed vpon Adam and all his brood by the propagation of Sinne deriued vnto them THE Nature of man being thus wholly corrupted by Adams sinne Death presently followed him at the heeles to pay him his hyre As Death at first was threatned so speedily vpon his fall was it executed both vpon him and his Yet touching the originall of Death though the cause thereof be iust it seemeth doubtfull from whence it came and what author it had For although the issues thereof be in the hand of God and that it is his handmaide to execute his will as hee also fetters the very Diuels themselues who can doe nothing without him yet all the creatures that God did make were very good and as he is the very goodnesse it selfe so nothing but good proceedes from God Since therefore Death and the Diuell be enemies to God and goodnesse destroyers and corrupters of Nature which he hath made they are none of his creatures hee is neyther their author nor they of his off-spring All things which were made were made by the word and all things which were made by the word were exceeding good Euill then in generall and Death in particular which is euill in it selfe were not made of God and nothing can be good without the soueraigne goodnesse which is God himselfe And whereas good is not there is euill which in effect is nothing else but the priuation of good as death is the want of life and blindnesse the want of sight Lord saith Augustine thou hast not made death neyther hast thou pleasure in the destruction of the liuing therefore suffer not that which thou hast not made to haue dominion ouer me whom thou hast made God made not Death but man after hee fell to sinne receiued the sentence of his disloyaltie and reuolt that he should returne to dust of which he was framed The Diuell hath the power of Death that is hee is the author of Death who by his malicious nature brought it into the world for God made it not neyther hath any delight therein neyther is it good in his eyes nor euer mentioned amongst his workes but from the Diuell and of the Diuell and in the Diuell it beganne and is and abideth and therefore his name is rightly giuen him Abaddon that is a destroyer And as death is of him so for this cause also hee is said to haue the power of it because through his manifold temptations hee maketh men sinne by which Death raigneth For so saith S. Paul of Adam seduced by the Diuell Christ then vanquished him that had the power of Death that is hee abolished sinne and the condemnation of sinne which was the Kingdome of the Diuell and thereby triumphed ouer him For this cause saith S. Iohn the Sonne of God appeared that he might loose the workes of the Deuill that is Sinne and Death which are both of the Diuell for Sinne God condemneth and of Death hee saith I will be thy destruction protesting thereby that hee is author of neyther If God had made Death why did Christ weepe for Lazarus his death for he ought not to mourne for that himselfe had made but by this sorrow hee shewed that those that God had made to liue the Diuell by sinne had made to dye and therefore he raised him from the graue that Sathan might know he should little gaine by mans death I will not the death of a sinner saith the Lord. If God were the author of Death how could hee but be the willer of the same Not God then but the Diuell is the author of Death God made Adam without corruption and created him after his owne Image yet thorow enuy of the Diuell came Death and they that hold of his side proue it so that the Father of Death is the Diuell and as he is euill by nature so likewise is Death in it selfe issuing and proceeding from such a fountaine The Diuell is the author of Sinne and consequently of Death for by Sinne Death entered and Death is the wages thereof Hee that committeth sinne is of the Diuell for the Diuell sinneth from the beginning hee is a murtherer from the beginning hee is both a lyer and the father thereof not by creation but by corruption God made him an Angell hee made himselfe a Diuell so falling from God hee fell from goodnesse and became the father of sinne and wickednes Non stetit in veritate he stood not in the truth Hee that caused Sin caused Death for sinne The third part of the waters became Wormewood and many men dyed of the waters because they were made bitter Bitternes caused death but whence came the bitternesse from the Starre that fell into the waters called by the name of Wormewood And albeit that Death proceeded of the Diuell as wee haue heard yet is it also attributed vnto man himselfe to leaue him inexcusable as plainely appeareth by Paul his comparison betweene Christ and Adam As by the offence of one man saith hee death raigned ouer all and sinne came ouer all to condemnation so by Christ which is one the benefit of grace abounded towards all men to Iustification of life In which Antithesis wee may see Death seazing vpon all men through Adam and that very iustly so that Man and Diuell are partners in sinne and so in death Here two things concurre together the tempter and the obeyer Sathan tempted and man consented He tempted and perswaded of enuy intermingling the matter with belying and slandering of the truth to haue man breake Gods commandement notwithstanding all this Sathan had nothing preuailed had man resisted and not consented to his temptation Therefore wee may conclude that in respect of Sathans enuy lying and other euill attempts tending all to mans destruction hee may be called as hee is indeede the author of death yet in regard of mans consent in transgressing Gods Law Death may duely be imputed to himselfe although there were none other cause for that he was created to the likenesse of God himselfe and flourished with Free-will which as then hee possessed The Diuell then is not the proper and absolute cause of sin because that the nature of the absolute proper cause is such that it going before the effect cannot choose but follow after But it falleth not out so alwayes in man prouoked of the Diuell who
body and soule from God Hence it appeareth that Death is threefold first corporall secondly spirituall and thirdly a death common both to body and soule and all these kindes due to all men without exception for all haue sinned and are destitute of the grace of God This corporall Death which I said to be a seperation of the soule from the body is likewise called the first Death And spirituall Death which is a renting of the soule from God who is the life thereof is also called the second Death Both corporall and spirituall or the Death that is common both to body and soule which is an euerlasting diuorce both of body and soule from the vnion and fellowship of God is also called eternall death which is inchoatiue in this life for they that beleeue not are condemned already and compleate in the life to come when after the resurrection of the body both body and soule shall euerlastingly be seperated from the Lord of life which is also common to all by reason of sinne yet not preuailing ouer Gods elect iustified and freed from it by faith in Christ Death therefore in a word is nothing else but a departing from life the life of the body is the soule therefore the separation of the soule from the body is Death And as the soule is the life of the body so the life of the soule is God therefore the going and departing of the soule from God to cleaue to sinne and Sathan is the death also of the soule The sinfull soule dies not because she turnes to nothing but in that she dies to God and liues to sinne for how can the substance thereof perish seeing it is the soule that giueth life he that receaueth the soule receaueth life and when the soule departeth life flyeth away The soule therefore is life and how can it die which is opposite so directly to death it selfe For as Snow can endure no heate but presently it melteth and as the Sun in his brightnesse can receaue no obscuritie but dissipates and dispels all darkenes by his cleare and christall beames and as the coldest and hardest Ice at the approach of the fire is turned into water so the soule which is the fountaine of life and authour of mouing is not capable properly of death nor can possibly die Therefore the soule of man being immortall ought to be well ordered and heeded least the Immortality to ioy should turne to Immortality of sorrow The death of the body is not the death of the soule but onely a seuering or parting of the same from the body As in taking of a Candle out of a Lanthorne we may take the light out and not put out the Candle and the Lanthorne is full of darkenesse by reason of the light remoued yet the Candle casteth her light more cleare and bright euen so the soule departing from this body of clay liueth and moueth afterward more freshly and blessedly The soule then dies not because it is vtterly abolished but because it is as though it were not it ceaseth to be in respect of righteousnes and fellowship with God for this is the death of all deaths when the creature hath subsisting and being still in it selfe and yet for all that is depriued of all happy and heauenly societie with God The soule in the body is the life of the flesh but God which quickneth all things is the life of our soules so saith Gregorie As the body dieth when it sendeth out the soule so doth the soule die when it looseth God The seperation from God is the death of the soule euen as the departing of the soule is the death of the body so saith Augustine Sinne begat the last and the punishment of sinne brought forth the first so saith Bernard The nature then of death in effect is the absence or depriuation of that life which God bestowed on man in his creation It is an execution of Gods iustice and iudgement vpon man for sinne God ordained it in iustice but man procured it by his sinne whose stipend it is euen the ouerthrower of mankinde an enemy to nature the dissolution of Gods worke the power of the diuell the strength of Gods wrath and the very kingdome of hell The death of the soule is to cease from righteousnesse and quite to be sequestred from the life of God This is called the first death in respect of time going as I said before the second which is the compleate death indeede for as the soule as we haue heard is the life of the body so God is the life of the soule and his spirit is as it were the soule of our soules the want of which communion brings nothing else but endlesse and eternall death Without God there is no life therefore Adam and Euah departing from God departed from their life and although their soules were not presently seperated from their bodies yet being gone from God their life they lay as it were buried in their bodies as dead carkases in the graues as also their bodies themselues euery moment were mortall Sinne saith Bernard went before and Death followed at the heeles which if Man had preuented death had not entred He would not be ruled by God and so was made vnable to rule his body Thus by sinne he lost his life found out death As his soule could not be diuided from God his life but by sinning no more could his body be seperated from his soule but by dying and nothing was more agreeable to Gods iustice then that a spirituall death should beget a corporall a guilty death that which is penall and a voluntary death an ineuitable and fatall So soone as man through sinne had turned himselfe from God so soone and as sodainely was he destitute of his grace and so soone did the huge hoast of death ceaze vpon him and besiege him as hunger thirst and nakednesse sicknesse sorrow and all kinde of miseries So soone as euer they had sinned saith Chrisostome euen so soone did the Lord pronounce sentence of death against them and euen as those that are condemned of an earthly Iudge although for a while perhaps they may be reserued a liue in prison and be repriued yet in effect they are but dead men Euen so our first parents though through the exceeding great mercy of God after sentence pronounced they did long enioy their liues yet forthwith in effect they were as good as dead for no day houre or moment did afterwards ensue in which they had assurance of their life Whereby we may learne that the life of sinners is no life indeede but a death being estranged from the life of God and none haue life in God which want beliefe in Christ for onely Christ who is eternall life through faith doth quicken vs So that truely to acknowledge Christ and thorough faith to possesse him is to be freed from death and to haue eternall
would haue lurked in secret And as the beames in the Sunne are not euill though they descry and lay open things deformed or filthy which the wicked desire and as the knowledge of Physicke is not to be condemned which acquainteth vs with poyson and venemous things that are in themselues dangerous and abused by some to their owne destruction So the law is not euill in it selfe though it be abused as an occasion of euill to corrupt and wicked men Without the law sinne is dead not as though there was no sinne in the world before the publishing of the law for euen the Gentiles themselues which had not the law written shewed the effect of the law in their hearts the conscience also bearing witnesse and their thoughts accusing one another or excusing and therefore being conuinced in their soules of sinne without the Law written are a law vnto themselues and sinning without law shall perish without the law written by the law of nature that was grafted in their hearts This is confirmed by many Morall vertues which they naturally followed and by many vices which they naturally hated This knowledge of the light of Nature though vnperfect yet is sufficient to confound them albeit sinne indeede was then hidden in respect which is the meaning of the Apostle and their best knowledge of the Law ouer-shadowed and well-nigh blotted out that sinne could not appeare in his nature But when the Law was renewed sinne that seemed to be dead reuiued and shewed it selfe All the spots did then appeare which before were darkened by the ignorance of Gods Law which Man gained by his fall The Law then conuinced vs of sinne and reuealed our nakednesse which our figge leaues had hidden it opened the inward man with all his concupiscence it shewed vs our shame and confusion our vglesome shape most monstrous to beholde how wee were transformed from the image of God to the similitude of the Diuell It put vs in remembrance of our diuine nature which we had lost it shewed vs hell and the wrath of God nothing but condemnation appeared by it It let vs vnderstand how farre we were led from God how all things within vs and without vs were corrupted and out of course It painted our God in his nature according to his most pure holinesse and iustice how he requireth all our hearts all our soules all our mindes all our strength that is to say the whole man and euery part of him in his seruice The least sinne could not so shroude it selfe but the law discouer it not condemning onely all our outward acts but giuing sentence against all our wicked thoughts yea all our idle motions without consent And therefore since all flesh created of God is corrupted so that all the imaginations of mans heart are onely euill continually since all men by the law are conuinced of sinne all included vnder sinne and subiect vnto the same guilt of condemnation since by the Law commeth the knowledge of sinne which leaueth euery man without excuse since it was added because of transgression and that our sins might more appeare and abound therefore it is called to the vnregenerate man an importable yoke the occasion of sinne the law of sinne and of wrath the administration of condemnation the oldnesse of the letter which cannot giue life but pronounce all our workes accursed The law is a hammer not only to bruise the conscience but to breake it into powder which if it be not done we shall neuer haue the spirit of adoption to seize vpon vs The law commandeth but giueth no power to obey It is but a dead letter and hath but a dolefull and dreadfull sound vntill the spirit come and arme vs with power to performe what the law requireth And now behold the strength and sting of Death How did Death enter by sinne How did sin appeare and what is the strength of the same euen the law of God which giueth sentence of condemation against all flesh and leaueth not one iustified in Gods sight And yet notwithstanding all this the law of God is holy iust and good opening vnto vs his very will which is goodnesse it selfe setting a blessing before our eyes as well as a curse It was not contrary to our nature before it was corrupted but agreeable to the image of man in which hee was first created it sheweth the very perfect patterne of true obedience what is agreeable to God and his nature how much he hateth sinne and delighteth in goodnesse it offereth both life and death life to the obayers death to the breakers Therefore let vs all glorifie God in this behalfe let euery mans mouth be stopt from accusing God or his law let vs confesse against our selues our manifold sinnes and say vnto him Shame and confusion appertaineth vnto vs Death and condemnation are our due Thy heauy anger wrath and hell be our deserts and thou O blessed God art iust righteous good and gracious in all thy doings for euer Let vs thus I say giue sentence against our selues that God may be iustified and praised euen before the most wickedest men when he is iudged Well then let vs beare in minde that God is not rigorous in punishing sinfull man with euerlasting Death by reason of his innumerable sinnes conuinced by his Law and that Gods infinite iustice thus broken and disobeyed could not otherwise be answered of man but by the infinite sustaining of eternall Death And now I pray you marke the whole power of Sathan and kingdome of the Diuell first hee fighteth and warreth with temptations which are as darts to wound our soules to Death which if we resist not being so tempted but yeeld to sinne then comes the Law against vs with his force and by vertue of the Law Death entreth and triumpheth for the sting of Death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law for it sheweth vs hell which is the pallace of Death and leaueth vs in perdition See I say what Prince Death hath and what strong souldiers to keepe his kingdome to wit the Diuell himselfe sinne law wrath of God and all to vphold it Wherefore it is no maruell if the remembrance of Death be bitter vnto many and that they abhorre and hate it I say it is no wonder if all their ioynts doe quake and tremble yea and shake a sunder since the horrour thereof made the sonne of God to pray against it to sweate drops of blood for the agony of it and to cry out to his father as a man forlorne why hast thou forsaken me Neither was this so strange a wonder to see the sonne of God so amased at Death for it set both Diuell law sinne hell graue and wrath of God against him All these were armed to ouerthrow him and any or the least of these without this our Captaine Christ will quite destroy vs. CHAP. IX Of
for euer and together eternally Oh saith a godly Father if a sinner damned in hell did know that hee had to suffer those torments there no more thousands of yeares then there be sands of the sea and piles of grasse on the ground or no more thousand millions of ages then there be creatures in heauen and in earth hee would greatly reioyce thereof and comfort himselfe with this poore cogitation that once yet his torments would haue an end but now saith hee this word Neuer breakes his heart when hee thinketh on it and that after a hundred thousand millions of worlds there suffered he hath as farre to his end as he had at the entrance for no water can quench this fire no time can end these torments Death in it selfe to the vnregenerate man is the very gate of hell and wicket-dore of damnation for whomsoeuer it findeth vnrenued by Gods Spirit lying still in the filth of sinne it sendeth them straight to Gods Iudgement seat for speedy vengeance such therefore cannot choose but loathe and abhorre it being the messenger of Gods wrath the wages for their sinne and the fearefull fore-runner of their eternall damnation to ensue For shall it hale them forward to hell like an executioner and they not dislike it Shall it arrest them as a Serjeant to appeare before their Iudge and they not regard it Fearefull no doubt are their fits and furies before their end and grieuous and vnspeakable are their pangs before they come to the full possession of their endlesse paines And what a sorrowfull day will death be to such when Iustice shall set such a fyne vpon their heads that will for euer decay their former wealthy estate in the world and leaue them in a desperate case It is no maruell therefore that wicked reprobates doe so shake and tremble at the remembrance of death for there is cause of more feare then they can feare For the power of Gods wrath which now in death the wicked and vngodly men presently expect to feele cannot be feared as it ought For who knoweth the power of thy wrath There is no feare no suspition no thought which may sufficiently expresse the terrour of it Horrendum est it is a horrible thing so saith the Author to the Hebrewes but how fearefull no creature can tell but they that feele it and lye vnder it in the flames of hell as Diues did Aske no question saith one concerning them that perish concerning the death of the vngodly seeke not neither enquire there is no comfort to be giuen vnto it CHAP. X. The fearefull condition of the reprobate and all wicked men without Christ WHen the wicked and vngodly men shall ponder with themselues vpon the knowledge of the former poynts how sinfull they are and how by meanes of their vnrepentant hearts they are holden in the cords of their sinne and as malefactors apprehended and found guilty are ready to be haled to deaths prison there to lye vntill their arraignment and appoynted time of iudgement speedily to be executed vpon them They cannot choose hauing the sentence of condemnation written in their consciences but tremble and quake at the remembrance thereof If the hand-writing against Balthasar once read vpon the wall caused his very heart to shake and his knees knock together when hee heard that God had numbred his dayes and weighed him in the Ballance how fearefully shall the vngodly be affected with the continuall expectation of the wrath and vengeance of God assuredly decreed sodainly and in a moment to fall vpon them And albeit they striue to put away the euill day from their thoughts and cogitations yet haue they many fits and feuers of feare euen in the middest of their delights When Pharaoh the proud Tyrant had hardened his heart and boasted exceedingly against the people of God yet he no sooner saw the death of the first borne but he feared and trembled as the leaues in the Wildernesse There is indeede a way as Solomon saith that a man thinketh straight and pleasant when yet the issues thereof lead to death but what pleasure is that and what delight Surely in that laughter the heart is sorrowfull and that mirth doth end in heauinesse True it is that such men strengthen themselues and striue to vanquish feare sometimes with one pleasure and sometimes with another but if they would violently cast it out as the Cannon doth her shot yet would it euermore returne againe and vexe their heart And though they would neuer so faine haue their conscience seared as with a glowing Iron to make them senslesse yet sometimes it awakeneth them as out of a sleep and then they see most fearefull sights of horrour and torment and when they feele it least their state is no better then that of the stalled Oxe not knowing being so fat that then he is the fittest for the slaughter All their life is a miserable bondage in feare and terrour of their iust condemnation to ensue They haue the spirit of slauery and feare being the children of the handmaid Hagar borne in the bondage of her wombe they dwell in the Desart of Ambia and are in mount Sinai where is the burning of fire and blacknesse and darknesse and tempest and sound of Trumpet at which they tremble for they are without Christ and therefore must needes be in the horrour and feare of death all their dayes And though through the custome of sinne they come to a slumbring spirit and are cast into a numbnesse of conscience brawned through a senslesse blockishnesse as men hewed out of hard Oakes or grauen out of Marble hauing flinty hearts and adamant soules altogether destitute of true feeling of their sinnes and feare of God yet when the Lord shall let loose the cord of their consciences and shall set their sinnes before their face some of them depart this life like bruitish Swine and others of them surcharged with sinne doe end their dayes like barking dogges The sting of an ill conscience is called a worme that neuer dyeth a searing with an hot iron a sea that alwayes rageth a violent fire to deuoure the aduersary An euill conscience is a heauy burden it will make the wicked grieue at the losse of that he neuer loued for vertue hath this triumph ouer vice that they which hate her most shall be grieued at her absence If a man languish in sicknesse so his heart be whole his sicknesse doth not so much grieue him if he be reproached so he be precious in the sight of God and his Angels what losse hath hee but if his soule be disquieted who dareth meete with the wrath of the Lord of hoasts Who can put to silence the voyce of desperation Who can make agreement with Hell and Diuels In all other afflictions a man may haue some comfort against sinne but this is euer accompanied with the accusation of sinne then a man suspecteth all
the Iewels and ornaments of her husband Christ because as Augustine saith he is a spunge which wipeth and clenseth vs from all our filthinesse which he taketh in exchange for his beautie and righteousnesse Christ is said to keepe the key of life and Death the one to make fast and shut to the gates of Hell which alwaies stood open to swallow vs vp and the other to vnlocke the kingdome of heauen which alwayes was shut and barred against vs By meanes whereof at the time of his death the vaile rent asunder that kept the entrance into the most holy place What is more filthy then a man conceiued and borne in sinne and what is more cleane and beautifull then our Sauiour Christ conceiued by the holy Ghost My welbeloued is white and ruddy the choysest of tenne thousand This sweet and louing Lord that was so fayre and cleane was content to beare the blemishes of our sinnes and filthinesse of our soules to make vs beautifull in Gods sight It was a worke of great patience and humilitie saith Cyprian that so high and excellent a Maiestie would vouchsafe to come downe from heauen to earth and all to cloath himselfe with this our house of clay and dirt and that hee would so hide the glory of his immortalitie to become mortall for sinfull man that being himselfe innocent and faultlesse yet should be so punished for vs that are guilty that hee that came to pardon sinnes would be content to be washed with the water of sinners that hee that feedeth all creatures should fast himselfe and be hungry that hee might fill sinners with his grace and satisfie hungry soules with his righteousnesse c. How was hee spoyled of his earthly garments that apparelleth the Saints with the royall roabes of immortalitie and glory How was hee proffered most bitter gall that offereth to vs the heauenly Manna and food of our soules How did his enemies giue him vinegar to drinke that reacheth out vnto vs the wine and Nectar of life and saluation Hee that was iust and innocent or rather Iustice and Innocencie it selfe was iudged and executed among theeues and murtherers the euerlasting Truth was accused of falshood the righteous Iudge of the world was condemned himselfe and that Word of God the very fountaine of eternall life receiued the sentence and doome of death with silence c. Innocencie was tyed with bands Vertue apprehended Wisdome flouted Honour contemned Glory defaced the well-spring of all vertue troubled Christ as the true Isaack and sonne of promise bare the wood vpon his owne shoulder to the place of sacrifice this carriage was diuided betweene two the sonne carryed the wood and the body that should be sacrificed and the father carryed the fire and the knife wherewith the sacrifice should be accomplished It was the fire of Loue which God bare to mankinde and the sharpe knife of diuine Iustice that put the Sonne of God to death These two vertues in God our heauenly Father contended together Loue requested him to pardon mankinde and his Iustice required that sinners might be punished Wherefore that man might be pardoned and sinne punished a meanes was found that Christ an innocent man might dye and by his death redeeme all sinfull men that doe beleeue Christ is our true Sampson that for the loue of his Spouse the Church suffered himselfe to be bound hand and foote to be shaued of his lockes and spoyled of his force and so to be mocked and scorned of all his enemies for our sakes Christ in his death is the golden propitiatorie the Rainebow of diuers colours placed among the clouds of heauen with the sight whereof Almighty God is pacified with this were his eyes fed his iustice satisfied and his fauour restored Yee that be a thirst come yee to the waters Christ is the mysticall Rocke that Moses stroke with the rod whence springeth the abundance of water to satisfie the thirst of poore afflicted soules Hee is that cluster of grapes brought out of the Land of Promise out of the which was pressed that ioyfull wine to fill the cup of our saluation Hee is the oyle of grace wherewith wee must repay our debts Wee must not looke so much to the quantitie as to the vertue thereof which is so great and good that so long as there be faithfull soules as vessels to be filled therewith so long will the veyne of this sacred liquour runne and neuer cease The bloud of Christ cryeth better things then that of Abel for his bloud cryed for vengeance against the murtherer but this his precious bloud cryeth and craueth for pardon of our sinnes O Lord saith Augustine thou wilt not the death of a sinner nor reioycest in the destruction of the damned but that the dead might liue thou dyedst and thy death hath killed the death of sinners And if they through thy death were againe brought to life Oh grant I beseech thee that I may not dye now thou art aliue CHAP. II. That Christ by his death and merits alone without any meanes of man or other creature redeemeth vs from death and damnation NO Creature but Iesus Christ alone as hath beene declared could possibly rescue vs from death and restore vs to euerlasting life Now followeth in order the manner and meanes of our redemption for as our deliuerance proceeded onely from Christ himselfe so all the meanes and compleate worke thereof was performed by himselfe alone without supply He tooke our nature vpon him to take our part that so hee might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is to say the Diuill and that hee might deliuer all them which for feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage Hee suffered for our sinnes the iust for the vniust that he might bring vs to God and was put to death concerning the flesh but was quickned in the spirit that hee might be our ransome God is iust and we hauing smitten his Maiestie by our sinne must be smitten againe by his punishment for hee is so to be mercifull as that hee disanull not his Iustice and so to be iust as that hee forget not his Mercy Now to make a way to both to appease his wrath that his Iustice may be satisfied and yet so to appease it as his Mercy may be magnified in forgiuing sinne it was necessary that there should be a mediation For if all the world should be offered vnto God for satisfaction it is nothing for it is his owne euen the worke of his hands for infinite sinnes there must be infinite sufferings and infinite satisfaction and therefore he that must redeeme vs must be an infinite Sauiour euen God himselfe as wee haue heard yet man also he must be euen a true Immanuel God with man For how can there be satisfaction for our apostacie but by our humilitie or
of Gods elect to know the bottomlesse loue of Christ beyond all knowledge indeed who was accursed for our sakes and suffered for vs not onely the torments of his body but the anguish and horrour of his soule and the wrath of his Father which wounded his flesh and spirit vnto death and would haue held him in that condemnation for euer if hee had beene no stronger then wee that had deserued it But being also the Sonne of God in whom the fulnesse of the God-head dwelleth bodily the eternall spirit that was with him did loose the chaines of Sathan Death and Hell and so hee mightily arose from the power of the Diuell of which it was impossible hee should be holden and hath left those his enemies euen Diuell Death and Hell in ignominie and darknesse and hath abolished them for euer and euer not to hurt vs any more As a Bee saith one stinging a dead body takes no hurt but stinging a liue body many times looseth both sting and life together in like manner Death so long as it stung mortall men onely which were dead in sinne was neuer a whit the worse but when it went about to sting Christ which is life it selfe by and by it lost both sting and strength Hee that felleth a tree vpon which the Sunne shineth may well cut the tree but cannot hurt the Sunne Hee that poureth water vpon iron which is red hot may well quench the heate but he cannot hurt the iron but rather makes it harder so Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse did driue away the shadow of death and as glowing iron hee was too hot and hard a morsell for Death to digest As the while Adam did eate any other fruit which God gaue him leaue to eate hee was nourished by it but when hee had tasted of the forbidden tree hee perished euen so Death had leaue to deuoure any other man Christ onely excepted but when it went about to destroy Christ then it was destroyed it selfe Death indeed did taste of Christ but could not swallow him vp nor digest him Contrariwise Christ as soone as euer hee had but a little tasted of death eft-soones he did deuoure it and swallow it vp in victory Death as a rauenous beast deuouring all men snatched at our Sauiour Christ but hauing caught him could not hold him in her iawes but perceiuing the worthinesse of the prey trembling for feare let him goe free for although Death seemed to swallow him when hee was dead yet finding him farre from the infection of sinne shee could not retaine him in her house As the life of Christ is the life of life so the death of Christ is the death of death Long before his death hee challenged Death and threatned his death O Death I will be thy death and after his death he scorned Death as a Drone without a sting It is reported that the Dragon killeth the Elephant yet so as the Elephant falling downe killeth the Dragon with him As an Elephant as the story saith killed Eleazar yet so as Eleazar falling downe killed the Elephant with him So the Diuell and Death by killing Christ were killed themselues The Elephant liued not after he had killed the Dragon nor Eleazar after he had slaine the Elephant But Christ liued and doth foreuer liue after the full destruction of the diuell and death Though Christ in his graue was neuer like to rise againe yet he died not but mortalitie died in him and immortalitie so liued in his person that euen in his sepulchre he did most liue when hee seemed most to be dead as the Lawrill it greenest in the foulest winter and the Lime is hottest in the coldest water and the Glow-worme lightest when the night is darkest Christ by Death was wounded but his enemies and ours Death and Diuell vtterly spoyled his buckler which was his god-head was whole and vntouched So that his death was no death indeede but an exaltation vnto greater glory He was led saith Esay as a sheepe before the Shearer Shorne he was saith one by Death but not for euer depriued of life But as a Lambe is much more nimble and liuely by shearing so this shearing by Death was a kinde of quickning to Christ Christ is that louing Rahel which dieth her selfe that her Son may liue He is that painefull Adam who by the sweate of his browes hath earned for vs the bread of life He is that iust Noah which shutting vp himselfe in his Arke as a Sepulchre saueth all that come to him aliue He is that tender Pellican which wounding his owne brest doth with his blood restore his faithfull broode to life And as honie being found in a dead Lion was the sustenance of Sampson So Christs gall is our honie and his bitter Death by reason of his righteousnesse is the sweete life of all beleeuers Now the remembrance of Christ crucified must serue to crucifie sin for then Christ doth sleepe in thee when thou forgettest his passion and the readiest way and directest path to goe to heauen is to swimme through the riuer of Christs blood the drops whereof rayning from the cloudes of his mercy commonly quench the fiery flames of Gods burning wrath which cannot be extinguished by the vertuous water of any mans merit It is the oyle of grace which must purge our defiled hearts It is the dew of heauen which will make vs flourish Christs death alone therefore is the welspring of our saluation Oh loue this good thing in which all good things are it is enough for thee Where is safe and stedfast rest and assurednesse for the weake and wounded soule but in the wounds of our Sauiour Christ and so much the surer I dwell therein as he is mightier to saue me The world rageth the body burdeneth the Diuell like a deuouring Lyon roareth yet the faithfull fall not because they are builded vpon Christ the rocke I haue sinned a grieuous sinne my conscience is troubled but it is not distressed because I remember the wounds of my Iesus Our safe sanctuarie in all distresse is Iesus Christ who wholly gaue himselfe and spent his soule in suffering for our sinnes still remaining our Aduocate to his Father and crying alwayes vnto vs to come to him for rest In the caue of this rocke wee may safely hide our selues his death is the secret den for our deliuerance from eternall death and hell Vnder the wings of this Hen may the poore and naked chickens hide themselues be sure and safe from all hellish Kites There is nothing so soueraigne a remedie against the stinging of that infernall serpent as to fasten the eye of our faith vpon Iesus Christ heaued vp and exalted vpon the Crosse The venemous by tings of those hellish spirits of damnation cannot once annoy vs if wee fully repose our trust in Christ alone that was crucified His Crosse and passion is the triumphant ensigne
same Thus are the bodies of the Mariners hardened vnto the Sea thus come knobs in the poore labourers hands so are the souldiers armes strengthened for the Speares and Darts and the members of those that runne made nimble for the race And in very deed that part in any man is the stronggest that most is exercised by paines and toyle There is none so firme and solid a tree as that which the windes oftnest beate vpon for being thus beaten and ballasted it knitteth together and spreadeth the rootes more firmely in the ground The fire tryes the gold and misery men of courage There is no peace without war no rest without toyle no crowne without crosses no raigning without suffering no glory without shame and shaking in this wofull world section 16 Many would feed vpon manchet and alwayes tread vpon Roses I meane in seruing God they would be freed from all afflictions They loue Canaan with the Israelites but they loath the wildernesse The running waters of Shilo they would taste but the rough streame of Iordane they cannot tallage Iames and Iohn would haue the seate of honour but they would not drinke of the bitter cup. But wee must know that the way to heauen is not strewed with flowers but set with thorns yet is it both the straight and the right path to immortall glory The persecutions and troubles of Gods Children shall neuer cease till the World be without hatred the Diuell without enuy and our Nature without corruption Euen the sweetest of all flowers hath his thornes and who can determine whether the scent be more delectable or the pricks more perillous It is enough for heauen to haue absolute pleasures which if they could be found here below certainly that heauen of heauens which is now not enough desired would then by such meanes be altogether feared God here compoundeth our pleasures to the fashion of our selues so as the best delights we haue may still sauour of the earth thus God doth weary vs in the world to weane vs from it section 17 And for Death it selfe which by nature wee so much abhorre God hath mitigated and broken the sorrowes thereof that though they tyre the flesh and amaze it for a season yet they cannot extinguish the hope of a Christian for what can Sinne the sting of Death preuaile against vs being pardoned in Christ The abundance thereof causeth abundance of grace and the greater remission of sinne procureth the greater loue of God What therefore can Sathan gaine by his assaults but to multiply the reward and make the Crowne of Gods Saints farre more glorious by their sufferings Death may put out our carnall eyes yet Sathan hath not whereof to reioyce so long as Faith inlighteneth the minde neuer remouing her eyes from Christ Iesus crucified So forcible and effectuall is the spirituall contemplation and insight of Christ crucified that it turneth despayre into hope and hope into ioy most glorious and vnspeakable The humbing Bee hauing lost her sting in another section 18 doth still notwithstanding make a grieuous noyse by her often buzzing about our eares yet wee know she cannot hurt vs So Sinne and Death hauing lost their sting in Christ doe not as yet leaue their murmuring but with furious stormes of temptations seeke still to terrifie our soules though not able to wound vs to euerlasting death Indeede Death may fray vs at the first sight as Moses rod turned into a Serpent made him flye from it for the present but through confidence in God who hath willed vs not to feare wee shall finde it a blessed meanes to diuide the waters of many tribulations to make vs a passage from the Wildernesse of this world vnto the heauenly Land of eternall rest Neyther can Death separate vs from God though it be fearefull to the flesh to see his prefixed end nay nothing hath greater power to ioyne vs to God through the death of him that conquered Death And must it not needes be ioyfull to a Christian to be freed from this wicked life wherein euery day is the messenger of fresh sorrowes and wherein hee findeth his corruption so burdensome and therefore he is ready most chearefully to imbrace it as the Souldier that commeth after his valour shewed in the field to be made a Knight or the King that goeth to his Coronation for then they shall not haue Reeds but Palmes in their hands to shew their triumph and not to be crowned with thornes as Christ in this world with his members are in mocking but with immortall glory with God and his Angels in the highest heauens section 19 To conclude Death is the key of the King of heauen which in mercy he sendeth to deliuer those that loue him from the irkesome prison of this body of sinne It is the gate through which Gods friends escape from whole troupes and swarmes of euils This whole wretched life rightly considered is nothing else but a continuall crosse and death of the olde man that being once mortified in all our members hee may most gloriously be transformed into the Image of God For like as there can be no generation without corruption for so much as that thing which is must perish that that thing may be made which is not so this spirituall regeneration and transformation of man into God cannot be effected vnlesse the old man be first destroyed by death CHAP. VI. Gods Children in this world as strangers and Pilgrims haue hard entertainment their true heauen and happinesse commeth hereafter section 1 BVt for as much as the faithfull while they liue in this world are as poore strangers in their voyage and passengers by the way in their iourney they must fit themselues for all assayes regarding neyther the winde nor the weather foule nor faire Such as they finde they must take in good part There is small prouision for strangers vnlooked for as they come they must be accounted of Happy sometime they thinke themselues if they may haue any lodging in their Inne if it be but bare house-roome it must serue their turne for the tlme The best lodgings are here taken vp for great States Christ and his Mother must be glad of a Stable The dainties and delicates are prouided for the Nobles and great men the bread of aduersitie and water of affliction are commonly the diet of Gods dearest children vntill the time of their refreshing come in a better life Here for a little they shall weepe and mourne till hereafter God send them such exceeding ioy that none can take away And when Gods children are well vsed in their hosteries section 2 yet no allurements can make them stay long but that after their baite they haste on their iourney Neither will they much be discouraged with their lets and impediments but still comfort themselues hoping this day that to morrow will be better howsoeuer they still lagge on that they were at home And because the
the word and therefore still continue in waxing and waining let such I say feede still their fancies with shewes and shadowes all which shall end in a moment but let vs that are Christians liue the life of the righteous that so we may die a righteous death and liue in peace and happinesse both here and hereafter If we liue in the spirit then let vs walke in the spirit Our walking and behauiour is a sure and certaine signe whether wee be aliue or dead If our walking and working be spirituall then doe we liue in the spirit but if our workes be carnall we are dead in the spirit neither haue we any thing to doe with Christ and his kingdome As there is a resurrection to the life of glory so is there also a resurrection to the life of grace As the death of the soule went before the death of the body so must the resurrection of the soule from the death of sinne be first and then in due time will come the resurrection of the body Sinne is a kinde of death this my sonne was dead and is now aliue holy conuersation is a rising againe and blessed are those that haue their part in this resurrection The prodigall Sonne by repentance found himselfe who first by riot had lost himselfe and therefore let vs giue him our life who gaue vs life section 7 Christians must be as birds who for necessitie sake are faine to stay vpon the earth yet still for the most part are soaring in the skie where they tune many a pleasant note so should our thoughts be imployed in things beneath but our chiefe delights must still climbe higher where true ioyes dwell where no distracting thoughts can once disturbe them Raise vp thy selfe O soule saith Augustine and thinke of that good which containeth all good Our deuotion must not be as the Morning dewe which vanisheth with the Sunne nor like the leaues of Autumne that fall from the tree but our goodnesse must abide so long as wee liue yea wee must rather yeelde vp our breath and being then our faith and deuotion section 8 Euery one feareth the death of the body but few are affraide of the death of the soule That which possibly cannot be auoyded men seeke to shun but to auoide sin that they may liue for euer few or none doe care To labour not to die is but trauell in vaine this is to defer not to auoide Death but if we would take heede we sinne not then neede we not be doubtfull after death to liue for euer Simply to liue is not so good except a man liue well and in Gods feare for the Diuels and the damned liue but better it were if they had no being The soule without grace is as the ground without moysture which turneth to dust and vanisheth and like the barren earth accursed It is as an vnarmed man and one that is naked amongst the pykes and darts of his aduersaries And since the earth was cursed for our sinnes in Adam and our soules are saued by faith in Christ let the direction of our thoughts to him be the messenger to our hearts that our affections are in heauen for we are not placed that wee should be planted here but being bought from this earth by bloud we should clense our selues in this world with water that since some inferiour affections must needes be found here below yet the dust onely may cleaue to our feete and our head and hands lift vp to God So shall we haue comfort in our death being thus sanctified section 9 in our life and it shall serue vs as a barge to bring vs to the hauen of happy rest which now is made through Iesus Christ the issue of all miserie and an entrance to true safetie to all Gods elect Christians therefore one would thinke neede not as Pagans consolations against death but death should serue them as a consolation against all afflictions So that wee should not onely strengthen our selues not to feare it but accustome our selues to hope for it for vnto vs it is not onely a departing from paine and euill but an accesse and possession-taking of all happinesse and good not the end of life but the end of death and beginning of life because it is not to vs a last day but the dawning of an euerlasting day Death now is the way to recouer our former estate being lost by our first parens It is the meanes to translate vs from our mortall condition to euerlasting immortalitie and happinesse in Christ Who therefore will not be glad to exchange for the better Let them desire to liue in the world whom it loueth and affecteth but all true Christians it hateth euermore and despiseth What man being farre from home would not hasten to section 10 returne into his country and though he saile vpon the dangerous seas would hee not hoyst vp the sailes of his Ship and hasten his iourney with some hazard to come to the hauen of rest where he would be Now this world is a forraine Countrie to all Christians where they wander for a while our home is the Paradise of God heauen it selfe is the hauen whither Gods children must saile to land and the way and passage both by sea and land is death decreed of God which to the godly as hath beene said is not an end of their liues but an end of their sinnes It destroyeth not nature but reformes it It cutteth off our corruption and restoreth vs to immortalitie Whilst I remaine vpon earth I am as it were in my wardship but hereafter I shall haue the full managing of all my goods O happy dying and blessed death which art made so gainefull vnto me why should I feare thee which bringest all sorrowes and feares to an end Thy name is fearefull but thy effect full of consolation especially when I behold thee vnder his feete which hath pulled out thy sting taken from hell his command and spoyled the diuell of his power section 11 The iudgement of God cannot afflict me for that the Iudge is my aduocate Sathan my accuser is condemned the Angels of the Lord are my defenders against him The graue though it gape wide yet can it not deuoure me for although I must rot in it yet was it my Sauiours bed who was laid therein to sanctifie it for me by his sweet funerall and to prepare me there a chamber of rest But O Lord suffer me not to die before I begin to liue nor to rot in the graue before I be assured of my immortall inheritance in heauen wound my hart with a holy sorrow wash my soule with thy precious blood Let other men desire to liue many yeares vpon earth my longing is to aspire to the dayes of heauen whereas one day consumes not another but are endlesse and eternall The reward of life the ioy of euerlasting saluation and perpetuall blisse the possession of Paradise
course To cure our owne stubbornnesse and rebellions we must not with the vnbeleeuing Israelites harden our hearts or tempt the Lord in our troubles neither lift vp our selues with Pharaoh in such variety of iudgements to haue our hearts harder and harder and so to striue against our Maker which is the high way to increase his plagues and bring vs to destruction but rather be humbled and tremble at his word with melting hearts and not still to exasperate the Lord and sharpen his face against vs but rather while it is called to day to heare his voyce and be reclaimed This also reproueth all such as are so mightily distracted vse 2 and distempered in their troubles and afflictions that grow so violent outragious in word and deed and fall to be desperate they say they are weary of their liues they cannot tell what to do they would pardon them that would ridde them out of the way most truely discerning Sathans censure which to holy Iob and Gods children is nothing but a slander they cease from blessing God and fall to blaspheme him to his face Therefore Gods children must be warie from yeelding to such infirmities to which they are also subiect and pray for true patience whereby they may possesse their soules and for a true and a liuely faith whereby they shall be able to ouercome the diuell the world and the flesh and get the conquest ouer themselues and such vnruly affections If they search the Scriptures they shall see a cloude of Witnesses who by the shield of faith and sword of the spirit haue fought the fight and got the conquest in their greatest feares and doubts Thus God hath comforted vs saith Paul of himselfe and the faithfull that we may be able to comfort them which are in any afflictions by the comfort wherewith we our selues are comforted of God Let vs remember the time past with Dauid and thinke vpon all his wondrous workes We must not bee carelesse and cast away the medicine when once weare healed for the time of our olde disease and sores may come againe but still write in our note-Bookes such soueraigne receipts and approoued remedies to remember afresh when our infirmities newly assaile vs At such a time I prayed and was deliuered from the pricks of the flesh from such and such buffetings of Sathan did the Lord defend me therefore will I pray againe being newly assaulted Such a day and yeare I humbled my soule by fasting and prayer and was saued from such a iudgement At another time in my melancholy moode and the strong temptations and delusions of Sathan I conferred with godly men and diligently resorted to holy assemblies and this relieued and restored me I will neuer therfore forget this comfortable meanes but will for euer remember them yea daily practise them vpon euery good occasion and iust respect Thus good things must be pondered with blessed Marie and not onely conceiued but readily brought forth against the time of neede Such treasure of heauenly store must heedfully be locked vp in the treasury of our soules I haue hid thy promise within my heart that I might not sinne against thee So wisedome counselleth to hide his commandements within vs and to keepe them in the middest of our heart And the Apostle exhorteth vs not to let them slippe out of our mindes or not to haue our soules as crazed vessels receiuing much and holding nothing Where the Prophet seemeth to distinguish betweene law and law precept and precept word and word saying Except thy law thy precepts and so in the rest of the Psalme thy word thy iudgements thy statutes thy ceremonies thy commaundements c. q. d. They and they onely doe this and that and euery thing They and none other haue this vertue and operation of comforting conuerting and sauing This may teach vs that Gods word alone and no other doctrine 6 ioyeth the heart in affliction reioyceth the soule in temptation and quickeneth and reuiueth vs in the greatest extremities and distresses Moses speaking but of the law and commandements deliuered from God inforceth obedience to the same in telling them that it is the word of Life that it setteth before them life and death life to the obeyers death to the breakers And Paul calleth the Gospell The word of life which indeed quickeneth vs by faith in beleeuing the promises when the law for want of obedience slayeth vs therefore he preferreth the righteousnesse of faith before the righteousnesse of the law which is a killing letter to vnregenerate men when the Gospell to all belieuers becomes a quickening spirit This is the word that is able to conuert our soules which is mighty in operation sharper then any sword The weapons of our warfare which we fetch from hence able through God to cast downe strong holds euery high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and to bring into captiuity euery thought to the obedience of Christ The powerfull preaching whereof is The power of God to saluation to all that beleiue This forceth the very infidell through the working of Gods spirit in the heart being rebuked in holy assemblies to fall downe on his face and worship God and plainely to acknowledge that God is in his messengers This powerfull word of Christ raised Lazarus from the graue of corruption and is able to reuiue vs being dead in our sinnes and to raise vs from the death of sinne to the life of righteousnesse The reasons why Gods word in the holy ministerie thereof is of such efficacy to quicken vs are the same with doctrine the second Besides Gods word is the speciall instrument by which he worketh and effecteth his purpose and decree By his word he created all things and by his word they are vpholden and preserued By and according to his word he saueth and condemneth disposeth and ordereth all persons and actions yea all creatures with their motions referring them to their ends appoynted and making them all to serue his glory God and his word are in a league vnseparable he neuer crosseth it being his good will and pleasure He that heareth it and the messengers thereof heareth him and he that despiseth it and them despiseth him where it is not receaued he accounteth himselfe reiected Which serueth first to teach vs to honour God in this vse 1 his high and incomparable ordinance to yeeld obedience to his will reuealed in his word if we will not be accounted as rebellious against him If we will not effectually heare in the holy ministery thereof we cannot beleeue if we beleeue not we cannot be saued If we contemne and despise it it shall be our iudge at the latter day Hee that resisteth it striueth with his Maker Without the comfort of Gods word we must needs perish in our afflictions if Gods precepts quicken vs not we