their Enemies Is it not more truly honourable and glorious to serve that God who commandeth the whole World than to be a slave to those Passions and Lusts which put men upon continual hard service and torment them for it when they have done it Were there nothing else to commend Religion to the minds of men besides the tranquility and calmness of spirit that serene and peaceable temper which follows a good Conscience wheresover it dwells it were enough to make men welcom that Guest which brings such good entertainment with it Whereas the amazements horrors and anxieties of mind which at one time or other haunt such who prostitute their Consciences to a violation of the Laws of God and the Rules of rectified Reason may be enough to perswade any rational person that Impiety is the greatest folly and Irreligion the greatest madness The wisest and greatest of men in all Ages at or not long before their death when freest from worldly designs and sensual delights have owned that God and His Truth which they did not embrace and acknowledge as they ought to have done in their lives and the nearer death did approach to them the more serious were they in Religion and did disclaim and abandon those Atheistical and irreligious courses wherewith they or some of them had been formerly entangled Nimrod the Founder of the Assyrian Monarchy when carried away by Spirits at his death as Annius in his Berosus relates the Story cryed out Oh one year more Oh one year more before I go into the place from whence I shall not return Ninus that great King next from Nimrod save Belus at his Death left this Testimony Look on this Tomb and hear where Ninus is whether thou art an Assyrian a Mede or an Indian I speak to thee no frivolous nor vain matters Formerly I was Ninus and lived as thou doest I am now no more than a piece of earth All the Meat that I have like a Glutton devoured all the Pleasures that I like a Beast enjoyed all the beautiful Women that I so notoriously abused all the Riches and Glory that I so proudly possessed I am now deprived of And when I went into the invisible state I had neither Gold nor Horse nor Chariot I that wore the rich Crown of Gold am now poor Dust Cyrus the Persian left this Memento behind him to all Mankind as Plutarch and others tell us Whosoever thou art O O Man and whence-soever thou comest for I know thou wilt come to the same condition that I am in I am Cyrus who brought the Empire to the Persians Do not I beseech thee envy me this little piece of ground which covereth my Body Alexander the Great who conquered the World was at last as we find in Plutarch Curtius and others so possessed with the sense of Religion that he was under much trouble and anxiety of spirit and look'd upon every little matter as portentous and ominous so dreadful a thing saith Plutarch is the contempt of God which sooner or later filleth all mens minds with fears and terrors Julius Caesar who Conquered so many Nations and at last subdued and possessed the Roman Empire could not Conquer himself and his own Conscience which troubled him with Dreams and terrified him with Visions putting him upon Sacrificing and consulting all sorts of Priests and Augures though he found comfort from none in so much as a little before he died he was as heartless as the ominous Sacrifice was that he offered professing to his most intimate Friends That since he had made an end of the Wars abroad he had no Peace at home The like may be said of Tiberius Caesar Nero and other Roman Emperours Hadrian the Emperour celebrated his own Funerals carrying before him his Coffin in triumph when he lived and when he was a dying cried out lamentably Animula vagula blandula quae abibis in loca Ah poor Soul whither wilt thou go what will become of thee Thus the greatest Princes have especially near their latter end a deep sense of Religion of the Souls Immortality and their Eternal estate in another World Nor did ever any Prince Captain or Law-giver go about any great matter but at length he was glad to take in the assistance of a God as Numa Lycurgus Solon Scipio and others Titus and Nerva two Roman Emperours had such serious thoughts and were so sensible of a Deity in the Government of the World that neither of them as the Historian saith was ever seen to smile or play Septimius Severus that Victorious Roman Emperour having had experience of the vanity of this Worlds Riches and Greatness said at his Death I have been all things and it profiteth me nothing Charles the Fifth that Famous German Emperour after twenty three pitch'd Battels six Triumphs four Kingdoms won and eight Principalities added to his other Dominions resigned all these in his life time to his Son and betook himself to a retired life and to his private Devotions This great and wise Prince had his own Funeral Celebrated beforre his face and left this Testimony of the Christian Religion That the sincere profession of it had in it those sweets and joys which the Courts of Princes were strangers to grounding his hope and assurance of Salvation upon the sole Righteousness and Satisfaction of Christ his Mediator and not upon his own Works and to this purpose divers little Papers were written by him and found immediately after his Death as is Recorded by an Author who wrote the Life of Don Carlos his Grand-child Philip the Third King of Spain lying on his death-bed the last of March 1621 sent thrice at Midnight for Florentius his Confessor who gravely exhorting him patiently to submit to the will of God the King could not choose but weep saying Lo now my fatal hour is at hand but shall I obtain eternal felicity at which words great grief and trouble of mind seising on the King he said to his Confessor You have not hit upon the right way of healing Is there no other Remedy Which words when the Confessor understood of his Body the King replied Ah ah I am not solicitous for my Body or temporary Disease but for my Soul Cardinal Wolsey that Great Minister of State who for some years gave Law to England and to other Nations poured out his Soul in these sad words Had I been as diligent to serve my God as I have been to please my Prince He would not have forsaken me now in my gray Hairs Sir Francis Walsingham that great and wise Statesman towards the latter end of his Life grew very melancholy and wrote to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh to this purpose We have lived enough to our Countrey to our Fortunes and to our Sovereign it is now high time we begin to live to our selves and to our God In the multitude of Affairs which have passed through our Hands there must needs be great miscarriages for which a whole Kingdom cannot
Time performeth in one of the weaker Sex who is more subject to grief and passion Shall not Wisdom and Reason enable us to do more in this matter then ignorance and folly Perhaps we account our death a great matter as if all things here below did depend upon us and must suffer with us This is but a wild conceit and vain imagination for which there is no reason Thirdly By this cowardly slavish fear of death man shews himself unjust and irrational for if death be a good thing as the best and wisest Men conceive it is why then doth he fear it If it be an evil thing why doth he make it worse by adding one evil to another Fourthly For a man to fear death is to be an enemy to himself and to his own life for he can never live at ease and contentedly that feareth to dye That man only may be said to be a Freeman which feareth not death and truly life would be but a slavery if it were not made free by death for death is the only stay of our liberty and the common and ready receptacle of all evils 'T is then a misery and bondage and miserable are all they that do it to trouble our life with the fear of death and our death with the care of life What murmuring and repining would there be against Nature if death were not at all If we should still have continued here though never so much against our own wills and liking Would not a durable life accompanied with trouble and affliction be much more insupportable and painful then life with a condition to leave it If death were quite removed out of the World we should desire it more then now we fear it yea perhaps thirst after it more then life it self as being a remedy against many evils and a means to obtain much good and were not some bitterness mingled with death men would run unto it with exceeding great desire and indiscretion To keep therefore a moderation so that men may neither love life too much nor fly from it that they may neither fear death nor run after it both sweetness and bitterness are therein tempered together Fifthly The light of Reason will tell a man that death is a thing natural a part of the order of the whole Universe and very profitable for the succession and continuance of the works of Nature and wouldst thou have the order of Nature changed yea ruinated for thee Nay death is part of thy essence it being no less essential to thee to dye then to be born and to live in flying death thou flyest from thy self thy essence is equally parted into these two life and death this is the condition of thy creation this is the frame and constitution of thy nature if it grieve thee to dye why wast thou born Men come not into the world upon any other design but to go forth again after they have acted their part upon this Stage To be unwilling to dye is against nature 't is as if thou wert unwilling to be a man for all men are mortal and therefore a wise Heathen when news was brought him of the death of his Son said without passion I knew I begot a mortal man Children and Beasts fear not death yea many times they suffer it chearfully It is not then the light of Nature and Reason that teacheth us to fear death but rather to attend and receive it as being serviceable to Nature Sixthly Death is certain and inevitable and therefore a rational discreet man will not torment himself with the fear of it That which cannot be avoided should be endured with patience and magnanimity What is there more inevitable more inexorable then death And to what purpose should we importune or parley with him that will not be intreated In things uncertain we may fear and in things that are not past remedy we may do our endeavour to help and restore them but for that which is certain and inevitable as death is we must resolve couragiously to attend and endure it Here we should make of necessity a vertue and welcome and receive this Guest kindly for it is much better for us to go to death willingly and freely then that death should come to us and surprize us suddenly and unawares Seventhly To dye is a thing but reasonable and just for why shouldst not thou give place to others as others have given place to thee Why should not they as well succeed thee in this life as thou didst succeed others that went before thee If thou hast made thy advantage of this life 't is but reason that thou shouldst be satisfied with thy lot and be willing to go hence that others may come in thy stead and take thy place Death is a debt that must be paid whensoever it is demanded and it is against reason that thou shouldst refuse to dye and so to discharge that debt which lyes upon thee 'T is a thing general and common to all to dye and wilt thou stand alone by thy self and expect a priviledge and exemption which is granted to no other man in the World Wilt thou be shut out from the common lot of mankind which all others partake of Millions of men are already gone before us and millions of men will follow us when we are gone one generation passeth away and another generation cometh and as great a noise as we make in the World amongst our Neighbours there will be little notice taken of us when we are removed out of this life And why should we make so great account of our selves when others take so little notice of us Why should we think that the whole World is concern'd in us when so few that live near us do not at all remember us or speak a word of us Eighthly Such men as are led by Judgment and Reason should be so far from this slavish fear and pusilanimity that they should put on a generous undaunted Resolution to dye and even contemn death especially being required to dye in a good Cause for Truth and Righteousness and for the good and benefit of their Country which should be dearer to them then a thousand lives He that knows not how to contemn death shall never be able to perform any worthy Acts for God and his Country for whilst he goes about in a base cowardly manner to secure his life he exposeth himself to many dangers and hazardeth his Conscience Honour Vertue and Honesty The contempt of death is that which produceth the most valiant Acts and the most honourable Exploits He that fears not to dye needs not fear the face of any man be he never so great and potent in this World Elvidias Priscus a noble Roman being commanded by the Emperor not to come to the Senate or if he came then to speak as the Prince would have him and no otherwise made this gallant and noble Answer That as he was a Senator so it was fit he should come
Authority of the sacred Scriptures proved by Reason Page 97 1. Because no other or better Revelation of Gods Will can be produced 2. The Old Testament hath been throughout all Ages witnessed to and wonderfully preserved by the Jews 3. The whole universal Church of Christ have all along witnessed the Divine Authority of the Old and New Testament even to the death 4. God hath confirmed the Authority thereof by great and strange Miracles from Heaven 5. The Scriptures are the most antient and authentical of any writing 6. The stile order contexture and frame of the Scripture shew the Divine Authority thereof 7. Another Reason is taken from the wonderful powerful effects of the Doctrine of the Scriptures 8. From the admirable harmony and consent thereof 9. The matter treated of therein is divine and wonderful Here are mentioned five notes of a Divine Power 10. The end which the Scriptures aim at is divine and heavenly CHAP. XIII Of the use of Reason in the interpreting of Scripture and judging of Controversies Page 110 1. Here is a discovery of the unreasonableness of the Popish implicite Faith and blind Obedience 2. Their Doctrine of Transubstantiation is made apppear 1. To be against Sense 2. Against Reason 3. Against Faith 3. 'T is also shewed that there is a twofold Judgment in matters of Religion one in foro publico another in foro privato 4. That every private Christian ought to make use of his Reason and to exercise a Judgment of discretion in trying Spirits and Doctrines This is proved by six cogent Arguments Objections against this tenet and practise answered CHAP. XIV Of the Internal testimony of the Holy Ghost proving the Divine Authority of the Scriptures Page 123 1. It is here shewed that this Testimony is more satisfactory to the Conscience then all other proofs 2. That a Christians Faith should be ultimately and finally resolved into the Testimony of the Holy Ghost and not into the Testimony of the Church which is but humane 3. The Popish Circle is described and the Protestant Doctrine herein vindicated 4. Some Rules and Cautions concerning the Testimony of the Spirit are here propounded to prevent mistakes CHAP. XV. Shewing when Reason is rightly used and when abused to the prejudice of the Spirits Testimony in the Scriptures Page 133 1. Reason is the Organ which lets into the Soul the Light of Faith 2. It being overpowered by the Spirit of God sees the greatest reasonableness in the Truths and Wayes of Christ 3. Reason is exceeding useful in maintaining the Doctrine of Christ 4. Nevertheless we should not make Reason the Judge in Divine matters nor subject the Authority of the Scriptures to our Reason as Socinians do Three Arguments against it CHAP. XVI Of the difference betwixt the meer rational and spiritual man and their Acts about spiritual things Here is shewed Page 142 1. That the Spiritual man hath Christ formed in him and lives the life of Christ which the meer rational man doth not 2. That the divine Principle which acts the Spiritual man is more then the improvement of the most excellent natural and rational abilities 3. That man is passive in the new spiritual Birth and cannot by all his Reason discern how this spiritual life is wrought 4. How and wherein the spiritual Mans Acts and Operations do far transcend the meer rational Mans. 5. They differ in the nature and effects of their Faith in reference to Christ and the Promises in five Particulars CHAP. XVII Proving that none can be saved by the meer improvement of the Light of Reason Page 152 1. Divers of the Fathers and some modern Writers have err'd in this Point 2. Four things are laid down for the better opening of it God might reveal his Son if he so pleased in an extraordinary way to some Heathens 3. It is proved by nine Arguments that no rational moral Heathen can be saved without faith in Christ as Mediator One or two material Objections answered CHAP. XVIII Of rational and intellectual delights Here is shewed Page 16â— 1. That every being chuseth to it self some kind of pleasure As 1. God who is the chiefest Being 2. The Angels 3. Men that have rational Souls 4. The sensitive Creatures 2. In what particulars the delights of Reason and of the Mind do far excel the pleasures of the Body CHAP. XIX Shewing that Reason and much more Faith doth fortifie a man against the excessive fear of death Page 172 1. Here are eight Considerations drawn from Reason against the slavish fear of death 2. Seven Arguments are also drawn from Faith in the Word of God against the fear of death 3. The famous sayings of some dying Christians are mentioned CHAP. XX. That humane Reason and the due exercise thereof is a great mercy Page 187 1. This is opened in some particulars 2. It is here shewed that man who hath a reasonable Soul is wonderfully made like a curious piece of Embroydery 1. In respect of his Body and the members thereof 2. In respect of his rational Soul wherein Man far excels other Creatures Five things mentioned relating to the excellency of the reasonable Soul 3. In respect of his new spiritual Birth and participation of the Divine nature CHAP. XXI A Recapitulation of particulars touching the use of humane Reason and Knowledge in reference to the Christian Religion Page 195 1. Here are five Considerations premised 2. The excellency and use of humane Reason and Knowledge is particularly held forth As 1. Some that have been famous Instruments in the Church of God have abounded therein 2. The Penmen of the holy Scriptures make use of it 3. It helps us to understand the Grammatical literal sense and the Chronology and Prophesies of Scripture 4. It 's useful for convincing Heathens and Infidels 5. In trying Spirits and Doctrines comparing Scripture with Scripture 6. As a passive qualification of the subject for Faith and Repentance in which case there must be a Principle of Reason CHAP. XXII How and in what respects Reason comes short and is abused in Divine things Page 206 1. Reason cannot discover the mystery of the Trinity Incarnation of Christ c. 2. Nor the sinfulness and corruption of mans heart and nature 3. It cannot prescribe the true worship of God 4. Nor enable us perfectly to perform natural and civil Actions without the general assistance of God 5. Our assent to the Gospel should be the assent of Faith and not of meer Reason 6. The Scripture and not Reason is the Rule for a Christian to walk by in spiritual matters he must be crucified to his Reason Here is also shewed in six particulars when and wherein humane Reason and Knowledge is abused and so becomes dangerous to the Christian Religion