but we our selues by our wicked mindes of our owne accord we haue drawne it on our selues which God did not at all forbid lest it should keepe in vs an immortall disease For he that made heauen and earth ayre and fire Sun and Moone all elements all creatures good surely would not make him euill for whom all these good things were made How comes he then thus bad The words of our royall Preacher teach vs to say This onely haue I found Eccl. 7.29 that God hath made man vpright but hee hath sought out many inuentions Man was created happie but he found out trickes to make himselfe miserable Theophrastus Aristotle wrangled with Nature her selfe as if in a malignant humor shee brought forth men borne to great affaires to be snatched away in a moment whereas to Rauens and Harts shee granteth many ages which can neither prize nor vse their time But the truth is our selues doe shorten our liues with ryot idlenesse dissolutenesse and excesse Kingly treasures committed to euill husbands are quickly wasted Life is short onely to the prodigall of good houres For to speake as the truth is and as the matter deserueth we liue not but linger out a few dolorous daies So much time only wee doe liue as is vertuously bestowed and no more And as Epiphanius brings in Methodius disputing with Produs the Originist saith God as the true Physitian hath appointed Death to be a physical purgation for the vtter rooting out and putting away of sinne that wee may be made faultlesse and innocent and that as a goodly golden image saith he sightly and seemely in all things and all parts if it be broken and defaced must bee new cast and framed againe for the taking away of the blemishes and disgraces of it euen so man the Image of God being maimed and disgraced by sinne for the putting away of the disgraces and repairing his ruines and decayes must by the meditation on death be renewed by weakning of sinne which is the cause of death in vs. As for example if the couetous man would seriously take a view of himselfe in this glasse of the meditation on Death then would hâ—e not so miserably torment himselfe with carking and caring moiling and toiling in the world by falshood deceit and oppression grinding the faces of the poor and all to get a handful of feathers or to catch at a little smoake of vanitie being euery houre in danger to heare this voice of the Lord. Luke 12.20 Thou foole this night they will fetch away thy soule from thee then whose shall these things be which thou hast thus scraped and gathered together Then would they consider that death will depriue them of all their treasures their houses which they haue builded by fraud their rents for which they haue made shipwracke of their soules their fields which they haue gotten by deceit their siluer and gold which they haue gotten by vsury and oppression their life which they haue so lewdly and vnprofitably spent making their pleasures their Paradise and their gold their god Then shall they perceiue their error that they haue chosen drosse for gold grasse for grace rust for siluer losse for gain shame for honor paine for rest yea for heauen hell Come also to this schoole of the meditation on Death you drunkards swearers whore-mongers blasphemers swaggerers prophaners of Gods Sabbathes and all carnall riotous and vngodly liuers small pleasures would you take in these vices nay soone would yee leaue and forsake them if you would giue your selues to this meditation The ancient Egyptians well knew the force of this medicine who in the middest of their mirth at their solemne Feasts were wont to haue the image of Death brought in and laid before them with these words Hoc intuens epulare beholding this Image eate and drinke but within the bounds of temperance for you must all be as this dead carcasse is wheresoeuer yee goe But if we carry not with vs the vglie picture of Death yet let vs carry in our hearts the true picture of our Death and then this meditation will correct and amend these vices in vs. It is written of those Philosophers called Brackmani that they were so much giuen to thinke vpon their end that they had their graues alwaies open before their gates that both going out and comming in they might alwaies be mindfull of their Death and latter end Dionysius the tyrant caused his notable flatterer Damocles who affirmed the life of a King to be most happie to be set in his regall Throne in stately robes and all Princely cheere and dainty fare before him and a naked sword tyed but with a horse-haire to hang ouer his head menacing him Death Could this Parasite thinke you take any delight in this princely fare and pompe No verily but as if he had sat amongst the greatest hagges of hell he durst not once touch the dainty dishes before him and shall not the meditation on Death either present or hard at hand and the sword of the wrathfull Iudge drawne and hanging ouer thine head restraine thee from immoderate and superfluous eating and drinking It is recorded also of a certaine King whose minde was so fixed in the deepe meditation on Death that thereby hee became more sober and modest in all his actions who being incited by his Iester or Parasite to be merry banquet and carowse hee commanded his Parasite to be set on a seate made with rotten wood fire to be put vnder and a sword to hang ouer his head and also princely dishes to be set before him and willed him to eate drinke and be merry but this stomacke would not serue him so much as to tast one of thefe dainty dishes and wilt thou O drunkard or glutton sinne in excesse and make thy belly thy God who sittest vpon a rotten body with the fire of naturall heat continually deuouring within it which the fire of the elementarie qualities on euery side disturbeth hauing the Etna of hell beneath and the sword of Gods wrath aboue Euen thus standeth our case a certaine diuine writer vseth this comparison A poore traueller pursued by an Vnicorne by chance in his flight slippes or falles into the side of a deepe pit or dungeon which is full of cruell serpents and in his fall catcheth hold by one small twig of the arme of a tree As hee thus hangeth looking downeward hee seeth two wormes gnawing at the roote of the tree and looking vpward he sees an hiue of sweete hony which makes him to climbe vp vnto it and to sit and feede vpon it While he thus feedeth himselfe and becommeth secure and carelesse of what may come the Vnicorne being hunger-bitten and byting and brusing on other boughes is each moment ready to crop of the twigge whereon this wretched man sitteth Now in what wofull plight is this distressed creature Then after this the two wormes gnawe in sunder the roote of the tree which falling downe
of Death against them that are aboue vs that is against our ancestors elders and betters and now one while he shooteth at them that be right against vs that is at our equals another while hee hitteth such as be very neere vs as our neerest and deerest friends on the right hand hee woundeth our friends on the left hand our enemies and vnder vs such as are our inferiors and yongers And if among so many arrowes of death wee in the meane time shall become secure and carelesse and neuer prouide nor prepare for our end as though we should euer escape who would not say that we were worse then lunatike O then let vs vnderstand thus much that wee are fast bound to the stake of mortalitie and that it is not possible for vs to escape Gods arrowes and darts of Death but that at one time or other wee shall be as deadly wounded therewith as others that so by the right vnderstanding of these things we may prepare our selues against the time that it shall happen vnto vs Psal 91.5.6.7 and then thou shalt not as the Pslmist saith be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrowe that flyeth by day nor for the pestilence that walketh in the darknesse nor for the destruction that wasteth at noone-day a thousand shall fall at thy side and â—en thouâ—and at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee Let vs therefore be wise but in what Moses in another place telleth vs in what Psal 90.12.10 Lord saith he teach vs so to number our daies that we may apply our hearts to wisdome So that this wisdome consisteth principally in numbring of our daies which may be done foure waies First the account which Moses maketh the dayes of our life are threescore yeares and ten and though some be so strong that they come to fourescore yeares yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow for it is soone cut off and we fly away Therefore the summe of our yeares whereunto neuerthelesse all doe not attaine is threscore yeares and ten But this number euery childe can tell Secondly by comparison of three times first past which being â—…ee gone and past is nothing now it is past were it a thousand yeares it is but as a thought secondly future which being to come is but vncertaine whether it will be to vs or no thirdly present and know that the same is onely ours which is but a moment or instant Thirdly deduction or abstraction as thus take from threescore and ten yeares thirty fiue spent in sleepe and fifteene yeeres for our childhood the time of our vanitie for this part of a mans life is spent before hee knowes what time is and ten yeares allowed for eating and drinking tricking and trimming moiling and toyling recreating and sporting idle talking and complementing such like then there will bee found but ten yeares remaining to bee well spent whereof Lord how little is spent in thy seruice these three waies of numbring may be taught vs of men The fourth way God onely can teach vs by a Christian and heauenly Arithmaticke that is so to number as wee may by due consideration of the shortnesse and vncertaintie of our life applie our hearts vnto wisdome And so wee should learne to prouide what To prouide with Ioseph for the dearth to come and imitate the Ant who prouideth her meate in the sommer and gathereth her food in the haruest for the winter to come As the wise man saith Gen. 41.33 Goe to the pismire O sluggard behold her wayes and be wise For she hauing no guide gouerner nor ruler prepareth her meat in the summer and gathereth her foode in haruest Prouer. 6.8 Saint Austine saith that in this our pilgrimage wee must thinke of nothing else but that wee shall not bee euer here that here we should prepare for our selues that place from whence we shal neuer depart Damascene reporteth an excellent historie touching this purpose There was a certaine countrey saith he where they chose their King of the poorest and basest sort of people and vpon any dislike taken they would depose him from his throne and exile him into an Island where he should be starued to death Now one more wise theÌ„ the rest considering hereof sent mony before hand into that Island into which hee should be banished which comming to passe to him as to others before him he went and was receiued into that Island with great ioy triumph Euen so against thou be banished by Death from this world Iob 1.21 without pennie or farthing for naked thou camest and naked thou shalt returne thou must prouide and prepare for it whilest thou art in this life whereby thou maist bee receiued into Heauen heereafter with great ioy and triumph And as a Merchant being to trauell into a farre countrey doth first deliuer here his money vpon the exchange that so hee may bee sure to receiue it againe at his arriuall in that countrey euen so for as much as we must passe from hence hauing here no abiding nor continuing Cittie being out of our owne Countrey Hebr. 13.14 but wee seeke one to come let it therefore be our care wisdome and prouidence to passe by these things which will passe from vs and to lay vp something that may serue vs beyond the graue against our arriuall there Matth. 6.19.20.21 Luke 12.33 which is heauen To which purpose tendeth that exhortation of our Sauiour Christ in the Gospels of Saint Matthew and Luke Lay not vp for your selues treasures vpon earth where moth and rust doe corrupt and where theeues breake through and steale but lay vp for your selues treasures in heauen Sell that yea haue and giue almes prouide your selues bagges which wax not old a treasure in the heauens that faileth not c. For wheâ—e your treasure is there will your heart be also So that we must send our substance our treasures before hand to our standing house and to our continuing countrey as Chrysostome speakes and our Sauiour Christ doth aduise vs here For we loose them if we lay them vp here where we must leaue them and can neither tarry with them nor carry them hence but we keepe them if we send them to heauen as it were by bils of exchange by the hands of Christs poore member where wee shall receiue interrest for them of the Lord himself Pro 19.17 He that hath pitty on the poore saith the wiseman lendeth vnto the Lord and that which he hath giuen will he pay to him againe So that the godâ—y prouident man like wise Bias either carries all with him or rather hath sent them before him to his heauenly habitation Therefore I say vnto you saith our Sauiour make to your selues friends of MaÌ„mon of vnrighteousnesse that when yee faile Luke 16.9 they may receiue you into euerlasting habitations So that wee may say when the world is on a fire I haue left
the world vnited together if it were possible into one and that which the Apostle calleth the glory which shall bee shewed hereafter Better it is with a kinde of silent astonishment to admire it then to take on vs eyther to discribe it or to comprehend it in particular Yet giue me leaue to set before you for the furtherance of your priuate meditations a little shadow or glympse thereof euen as it were but the backe-parts thereof which Moses was permitted to see betwixt which and it notwithstanding there is as much difference Exod. 33.23 as betweene one droppe of water and the maine Ocean sea A word fitly spoken sayth the Wiseman is like apples of gold and pictures of siluer Prou. 25.11 Wee reade in the booke of Deutronomy that when Moses went vp from the playnes of Moab vnto the mountaine of Nebo Deut. 34.1.2.3.4 to the toppe of Pisgah that is ouer against Iericho that there the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead vnto Dan and all Nepthacy and all the land of Ephraim and Manasses and all the land of Iudah vnto the vtmost sea and the South and the playne of the land of Iericho the Citie of Palme trees vnto Zoar. And this is the land which I sware sayth the Lord vnto Abraham and vnto Isaacke and vnto Iacob saying I will giue vnto thy seed and I haue caused thee to see it with thine eyes And this was that earthly Canaan euen that promised land which is so much commended in the holy Scriptures Euen so if we will take a little paines to goe vp to the mountaine of the Lorde which the Prophet Esay speaketh of Esa 2.2 then there in in some small measure may we take a sight and view not of the glory of the earthly Canaan but of the glory of the heauenly Canaan and where the Deuill as it is sayd in the Gospell tooke Iesus vp into an exceeding high mountaine Mat. 4.8 and shewed him all the Kingdomes of the world and the glory of them Here vpon this mountaine of the Lord there is shewed vnto vs the Kingdome of God and the glory of the same All which the Lord will giue vs being the right owner thereof if we feare serue and worship him and wee neede not with Moses to clime vp to any earthly mountaine to see and behold the Kingdom of God and the glory therof Deut. 30.12.13.14 It is not in heauen sayth Moses in another case that thou shouldest say Who shall goe vp to heauen for vs and bring it vnto vs that wee may heare it and doe it neyther is it beyond the sea that thou shouldest say Who shall goe ouer the Sea for vs and bring it vnto vs that we may heare it and doe it But the word is verie nigh vnto thee in thy mouth and in thine heart and there we may behold this glory Search the Scriptures sayth our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell of Saint Iohn for in them yee thinke to haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of mee Iohn 5.39 And we may adde further also that they are they which testifie of this glorious estate of the children of God after death Ioseph gaue his brethren prouision for the way but the full sackes were kept in store vntill they came to their Fathers house God giues vs here a taste and assay of his goodnesse but the maine sea of his bounty and store is hoorded vp in the kingdom of heauen It is an vsuall thing in the Scripture to represent spirituall and heauenly things by bodily and earthly things that therein as in glasses we may behold heauenly thinges although obscurely which notwithstanding we cannot otherwise perceiue and see immediatly being too glorious and vehement obiects for our eyes Therefore as we can not behold the light of the Sunne in the Sunne but by reflection thereof in the Moone in the Starres in the water or other bright body or else by refraction thereof in the mistie ayre so the soule while it is in the body heareth seeth vnderstandeth imagineth with the body and in a bodily manner and therefore is not capable of such hearing seeing vnderstanding imagining as it shall bee when it is separate from the body hence it is that the Apostle sayth 1. Cor. 13.12 Wee now see through a glasse darkely Wee conceyue of heauen by a Citty whose walles pauements and mansions are of gold pearle Christall Emeralds as it is described in the booke of the Reuelation Reuel 21.10 which wee shall afterwards heare more at large And to beginne first of all with the comfortes and benefites of this life euen they although miserable doe argue that a far better estate is reserued for vs in heauen We see that God euen here vpon earth notwithstanding our manifold sinnes wherby we dayly offend him and which may iustly cause him as the Prophet speaketh Ier. 5.25 to withhold good things from vs yet he in great mercy vouchsafeth vs many pleasures and furnisheth vs not onely with matters of necessity who dayly sayeth the Psalmist Psal 68.19 loadeth vs with benefites but also of delights There is a whole Psalme spent onely in this matter which is the 104. Psalme Psal 104. a Psalme worthy to bee written in letters of gold and as Moses speaketh in Deuteronomy Deut. 11.20 vpon the dore postes of thine house and vpon the gates yea vpon the Table of thine heart as the Wise-man speaketh Pro. 7.3 for the admirable excellency thereof God causeth sayth Saint Ciprian the Sunne to rise and set in order the seasons to obey vs the elements to serue vs the windes to blow the spring to flow the corn to grow Ps 147.18 the fruites to shew the gardens and orchardes to fructifie the woods to rastle with leaues the meadowes to shine with varietie of grasse and flowers And Chrysostowe very excellently handling the same point with Cyprian further shewes that God hath in a sorte made the night more beautifull then the day by infinite varietie of bright and glittering starres and that hee hath beene more mindfull and mercifull then man would haue bin of himselfe who through the greedinesse of the World would haue ouertoyled himselfe but that God made the night of purpose for his repose and rest In a word hee sayes and that truly euen of these earthly benefites and commodities that although we were neuer so vertuous nay if wee should dye a thousand deathes wee should not be worthie of them And the very heathen Poet considering this could not choose but breake out into an admiration saying O how many things hath God created for mans delight heaped ioyes vpon him with a bountifull hand Nay the Prophet Dauid considering this could not chuse but breake out into this wonderful admiration Psal 144.3 Lord what is man that thou takest knowledge of him or the son of man that thou makest accoūt of him And al this hath
there is respect had amongst them and that worthily but when as the comedy shal be ended that is when the day of doome shall come when as the stage of this world shal be pulled downe that is when the earth shal be changed for the earth shal neuer be brought ad non-ens to nothing but onely the corruptiue qualities shal be consumed then there shal be no such respect of persons amongst men Yea it may be that the poore man shal be of greater respect before God then the great rich and mighty Thou camest lately into the world and hast found much that was thy good hap he came lately into the world and found little and yet his hap was not ill nay it may be better then thine And what were it to haue a purple Coate and a polluted conscience a gay gowne and a sicke heart a bed of gold and a diseased minde a full chest and an empty soule a faire face and foule affections to glister in iewels and to be filthy in manners to be in grace with men and in disgrace with God Luk. 16.15 He that hath much worlds wealth and dignity and but a small measure of grace is inferiour to him that hath a great measure of grace and but little or no worlds wealth For spirituall things among themselues admit comparison but betweene things spirituall and earthly there is none at all But tarry a while and nature will take away this ods Iob 1.21 Naked camest thou out of thy mothers wombe and naked shalt thou returne againe to the earth our common mother thou knowest not how soone If thou wert this day as faire as Absolon as sweete and louely as Ionathan as strong as Samson as glorious as Salomon in lesse then an hower Death will reprooue all these things of vanitie Eccl. 1.2 Vanitie of Vanities saith the Preacher all is vanitie A little sicknes a little head-ache one fit of an ague two spoonefull of phlegme distilling out of thy head into thy throate turneth all vpside downe and maketh a strange alteration in thee yea God in a peece of an houre can make as strange an alteration in thee 2 King 9.30 as was in Iesabel that proud painted-faced Queene of Israel who euen now looked out at the window in much brauery painted frizled and curled to please the eyes of Iehu and by and by she became as dung vpon the ground and the dogs did eate her vp And as was Goliah that mighty Giant 1 Sam. 17.51 who hauing challenged and reuiled the host of the liuing God straightway was laid vpon the ground groueling without a head There is nothing that can free any one from Death no not length of daies nor wisdome strength riches beautie nor talnesse of stature For if length of daies could then the auntient Fathers and Patriarches before the floud who liued some seuen some eight some nine hundred yeares and more as before could not haue dyed of all whom the conclusion is still after he had liued so many yeares he dyed If wisdome could then King Salomon the wisest that euer was who knew the nature of all simples from the very hysop to the cedar and therefore if any he surely could haue preserued himselfe from death And yet of him it is said in the end he dyed Iud. 15.15 If strength then Sampson who being indued with extraordinary strength at one time slew a thousand with the Iawe-bone of an Asse had not dyed If talnes of stature Saul higher then any of the people from the shoulders vpward had not dyed 1 Sam. 10.23 If riches Dines if beauty Absolon had not dyed Take a man in all his abundance of riches treasures greatnesse and pleasures flourishing in his greatest felicity brauery and prosperity yea let him be if he will another Policrates of this world what is he of himselfe but a carkasse a caitife a prey to death reioycing and laughing in this world but yet as one that laugheth in his dreame and waketh in his sorrow fraught full of feares and cares of minde not knowing to day what will happen to morrow mortall mutable miserable whose beginning is in trauell standing vncertaine his end corruption his body subiect to sicknesse his soule to temptations his good name to reproaches his honor to blastnesse his goods to losse and his flesh to rottennesse Nabuchadnezzar is but dust Alexander ashes Whereof should we be proud Certaine Philosophers earnestly beholding the Tombe of Alexander said one alas yesterday he did treasure vp gold and to day gold doth treasure vp him Another said Yesterday the world did not suffice him to day ten cubits are too much A third said Yesterday he did command others to day others command him A fourth said Yesterday he deliuered many from the graue to day he cannot free himselfe from Death A fift said Yesterday he led an armie to day an armie conducts him A sixt said Yesterday he did ouer-presse the earth to day the earth suppresseth him A seuenth said Yesterday he made many stand in awe to day not many repute of him The eight said Yesterday he was an enemie to his enemies and a friend to his friends to day he is equall yea all alike to all Then if Monarches be so momentary why should mortalls bee so proud It is true that one writeth wittily of the Grammarian of euery sonne of Adam that being able to decline all other nownes in euery case hee could decline Death in no case There was neuer Orator so eloquent that could perswade Death to spare him neuer Monarch so potent that could withstand him Nexus the faire Thersites the foule Zelyus the cruell Solyman the magnificent Crassus the rich Irus the poore Dametas the pleasant Agamemnon the Prince all fall downe at Deaths feet If he command we must away no teares no prayers no threatnings no intreatings will serue the turne so stiffe so deafe so inexorable is Death There are meanes to tame the most fierce and sauage beasts to breake the hard marble and mollifie the Adamant but not any one thing to mitigate Deathes rage Fire water the sword may bee resisted saith Saint Augustine and Kings and kingdomes may be resisted but when Death commeth who can resist it Death saith Saint Bernard pitieth not the poore regardeth not the rich feareth not the mightie spareth not any It is in mans power indeed to say vnto Death as sometime King Canutus said vnto the Sea when it began to flow Sea I command thee that thou touch not my feete but his command was bootlesse for hee had no sooner spoken the word but the surging waues dashed him so may many say vnto Death when it approacheth I command thee not to come neere mee but Death wil strike him notwithstanding And no more power hath man to keepe backe Death that it strike not then the mightiest King on earth to keepe backe the Sea that it flow not The Sea will haue his fluxe and Death
eternall with out time for that they abuse the speciall benefit of time in this world Againe concerning those which post off their repentance til age sicknes or death of these there are specially two sorts viz. The first sort are such as plead the sweete promises of the Gospell Ezech. 18.21 Mat. 11.28 as namely these At what time soeuer a sinner doth repent c. Come vnto me all yee that labour and are heauie loaden and I will refresh you Answer True it is and most true but to whom are these promises made and to what sinners They are made to all repentant sinners that turne to the Lord with all their hearts but thou art an vnrepentant wretch and continuest in thy sinnes therefore those comfortable promises belong not vnto thee And what sinners doth he bid come vnto him Those that be weary and heauie laden that is whose sins pinch and wound them at the very heart and withall desire to be eased of the burthen of them Therefore take not occasion to presume of the promises of the Gospell for vnlesse thou turne from thy euill wayes and repent of thy sinnes they belong nothing at all vnto thee I know the Gospell is a booke of mercy I know that in the Prophets there are many aspersions of mercy I know that out of the eater comes meat and out of the strong comes sweetenesse and that in the ten commandements which be the administratiōs of death there is made expresse mention of mercy I will haue mercy vpon thousands yea the very first words of them are the couenant of grace I am the Lord thy God yet if euery leafe and euery line and euery word in the bible were nothing but mercy mercy yet nothing auailes the presumptuous sinner that lies rotting in his iniquities O but he is mercifull gratious slow to anger aboundant in goodnesse and truth reseruing mercy for thousands forgiuing iniquitie transgression and sinne is not here mercy mentioned nine or ten times together It is but read on the very next words and not making the wicked innocent visiting the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children and vpon childrens children vnto the third and fourth generation is not this the terrible voice of iustice But stay in the 136 Psal there is nothing but his mercy endureth for euer which is the foote of the Psal and is found six and twentie times in 26 verses yet harke what a ratling thunder-clappe is heere and ouerthrew Pharaoh and his host in the red sea and smote great Kinges and slew mighty Kings c. The second sort are such that by reading and hearing of the story of Lots drunkennes of Dauids adultery of Peters deniall doe thereby blesse themselues and strengthen and comfort their hearts yea they haue learned to alledge them as examples to extenuate their sinnes and to presume that they shall finde the like mercy Am I a Drunkard saith one so was that good man Lot Am I an Adulterer saith another so was Dauid a man after Gods owne heart Am I a swearer a forswearer a curser a denyer of Christ So was the holy Apostle Saint Peter Shall I despaire of saluatiō saith the wicked persister in sinne and I read that the theefe repented on the crosse and found mercy at the last houre O vile wretches who hath bewitched you to peruert Gods word to your destruction It is as much as to poyson the soule Look on their repentance Lot fell of infirmitie and no doubt repented with much griefe yet looke vpon Gods iudgment vpon that incestuous seede Looke vpon Dauid Psal 38. Read the 38 Psalme it made him grow crooked his sinnes were as fire in his bones he had not a good day to his death but the griefe of his sinnes made him to roare out thou wouldst be loath to buy thy sinne so deere as he did Looke vpon Peter who wept for his sinnes most bitterly Mat. 26.75 And as for the example of the theefe as wee haue heard already and cannot heare too often seeing it is so often obiected and vrged the Lord knocketh but once by one sermon and he repented but thou hast heard many sermons crying and calling vnto thee and yet thou hast not repented and this is as wee haue heard an extraordinary example and thereof not the like in all the scripture againe and the Lord hath set out but one and yet one that noe man should despaire and yet that noe man should presume by this one example for what man will spurre his Asse till he speake Num. 22.28 because Balaam did so and yet one that no man should despaire but to know that God is able to call home at the last houre And by this he did declare the riches of his mercy to all such as haue grace to turne vnto him where contrary we see many thousands of those who hauing deferred their repentance haue beene taken away in their sinnes and dyed impenitent But this example is for all penitent sinners who vpon their hearty repentance may assure themselues that the Lord will receiue them to mercy Now if thou canst promise to thy selfe the same repentance and faith in Christ that he had then maist thou promise thy selfe the same felicitie which he now enioyes S. Ambrose cals the history of this man pulcherrimum affectandae conuersionis exemplum a most goodly example to moue men to turne to God But looke thou on his fellow who had no grace to repent and who hangs as an example to all impenitent wretches to looke vpon that they despise not the mercie of God nor reiect his call by his messengers and Ministers lest it come to passe that when they would repent they cannot To thee then that art priuie thou hast had many calles many offers of grace yea that hast seene the painfull and faithfull Preachers of Gods holy Word Sacraments spend their wits their strength yea ouerspend themselues for thy good what diuell hath bewitched thee to post off all and willingly to cast away thy selfe To thee therefore that dost strengthen thy selfe in thy sinnes vpon presumption of mercie to others I referre thee to the words that the Lord himselfe speakes in Deuteronomie Deut. 29.19.20 He that when he heareth the words of this curse blesseth himselfe in his heart saying I shall haue peace though I walke according to the stubbornenesse of my owne heart thus adding drunkennesse to thirst the Lord will not spare him nor be mercifull vnto him but the wrath of the Lord and his iealousie shall smoake against that man and all the curses that are written in this booke shall light vpon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from vnder heauen Besides this place there are many others in the Scriptures against those that strengthen their hearts in their sinnes If you presume that a Lord Lord will serue the turne at the close of your life it is nothing else but Infidelis fiducia a faithlesse confidence as
Christ it ceaseth to bee a plague or punishment and of a curse is made vnto vs a blessing and become vnto vs a friend and a passage or middle way betweene this life and eternall life and is become as it were a little wicket entrance or doore whereby we passe out of this world into heauen And then in this respect this saying of the Preacher is most true for in the day of birth men are brought forth and borne into the vale of misery but afterward when the children of God goe hence hauing death altered vnto them by the death of Christ they enter into eternall life and happinesse The third obiection is taken from the example of most worthy men who as it should seeme haue made their prayers against death Mat. 26.39 as our Sauiour Christ We reade when our Sauiour Christ was borne it was a ioyfull time at whose birth there was great ioy and mirth Simeon and Anna Luke 2.10.13.28.38 Luke 19.41 Marke 16.10 Luke 23.28.45 Matth. 27.51 yea and the Angels of heauen did sing and they bid the Shepheards sing because they brought them glad tidings of great ioy which should be vnto all the people But when our Sauiour Christ suffered death then it seemed that it was a dolefull time for then there was as much lamentation and weeping Our Sauiour Christ himselfe wept whom we reade to haue wept three times at the destruction of Ierusalem Iohn 11.35 at the raising of Lazarus and in his agony the disciples wept the daughters of Ierusalem wept Heb. 5.7 the Sunne was darkened the vaile of the Temple was rent the stones were clouen in sunder Yea all these and all sencelesse creatures in their kind did weepe and lament the death and passion of their maker And so it should seeme that our Sauiour Christ prayed against death on this manner Psal 6.4.5 Father if it be thy will let this cup passe from me Wee reade also that the Prophet Dauid prayed against death Returne O Lord saith he deliuer my soule O saue me for thy mercies sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall giue thee thankes Againe Esay 38.1 wee reade that King Ezechiah prayed against death for when the Prophet brought him word from the Lord that hee should die and not liue this good king at this newes wept very sore and prayed for further life Now by the examples of these most worthy men yea by the example of the Sonne of God himselfe it should seeme that this should not be true which the Preacher doth heere auouch That the day of death should bee better then the day of birth but rather that the day of death should be the most dolefull and terrible day of all Answ We are heere to vnderstand that when our Sauiour Christ prayed in this sort as we haue heard he was in his agonie and he then as our Redeemer stood in our roome and stead to suffer and endure all things which wee our selues should haue suffered in our own persons for our sins if he himselfe had not vouchsafed to suffer for vs and therefore hee did not pray simply against the bodily or naturall death but against the cursed death of the Crosse for he feared not death it selfe which is the separating of soule and bodie but the curse of the Law which went with death as namely the vnspeakeable wrath and iudgement of God which was due for our sinnes The first death troubled him not but the first and second ioyned together Therefore the Author to the Hebrewes saith Heb. 5.7 That Christ in the daies of his flesh wheâ— he had offered vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death that he was heard in that he feared By which place it appeareth that Christ did not pray simply against the naturall death but against the cursed death of the Crosse which was the second death Concerning Dauids praying against death we are to vnderstand that when he made that sixt Psalme hee was not onely sicke in bodie but also perplexed with the greatest temptation of all in that hee wrastled in conscience against the wrath of God as appeares by his owne words For hee there saith Psal 6.1 O Lord rebuke me not in thy anger c. Wherein wee may see that he prayed not simply against death but against death at that instant when hee was in that grieuous temptation for at other times he had no such feare of death And therefore in another Psalme he saith Psal 23.4 Yea though I walke through the valley of the shadow of death I wil feare none ill c. Wherefore he prayed against death onely in that sixt Psalm as it was ioyned with apprehension of Gods wrath as our Sauiour Christ did Lastly touching king Hezekiah wee are to vnderstand that he prayed against death not onely because hee desired to liue and to doe seruice to God in his kingdome but also it was vpon a further and more special regard because when the Prophet brought him this message of death he was then without issue hauing none of his owne body to succeede him in his kingdome But then it wil be obiected What warrant he had to pray against death for this cause Answ His warrant was good for God had made a particular promise vnto Dauid and his posteritie after him 1. King 2.4 that as long as they feared him and walked in his commandements with all their heart and with all their soule there shal not faile thee saith he a man on the throne of Israel Now this good king Hezekiah at the time of the Prophets message of death remembring what promise God had made to Dauid and to his seed and how that he for his part in some poore and weake measure had kept the condition in that he had walked before God with an vpright heart and had done that which was well pleasing and acceptable in his sight as he himselfe saith in the same place Isay 38 3. therefore hee prayed against death not for that he feared it but he desired to haue issue of his own to succeed him according to the Lords promise to his seruant Dauid Which prayer of his was so well accepted of God that hee gaue him his request and added vnto his daies fifteene yeeres and three yeeres after God gaue him Manasses Isay 38.5 Againe beside these examples it will be further obiected that the godly haue feared death 1. Kings 19.30 or esse why did Eliah flie from it in the persecution of Iezabel and Christ teach his to flie it in the persecutions of men Mat. 10.23 and Christ himselfe as we haue alreadie heard did pray against the bitter cup of it in his agonie Mat. 26.39 and before his apprehension Answ Those Saints did not nor were to flie from death as it is the end of life and a most blessed end
ending he is the way in our peregrination truth in deliberation life in remuneration the way whereby our pathes are directed the truth whereby our errours are corrected and the life whereby our fraile mortalitie is eternized Therefore you may not looke to leape out of your mothers warme wombe into your fathers hot ioy Matt. 10.24.25 For the disciple saith our Sauiour is not aboue his master nor the seruant aboue his Lord you must for a while endure death that you may be dignified I had almost said deified and surely you shall be neere it Iohn 1.13 For we are borne of God saith the Euangelist and we shall be fashioned like vnto the glorious bodie of Christ for hee shall change our vile bodie Phil. 3.21 that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie and we shal follow the Lambe saith the holy Ghost Reuel 14.4 whithersoeuer hee goeth And now tell me in lieu of all I haue said if death doeth thus diuide vs from all euill and bring vs into all good if death bee like vnto the gathering hoste of Dan Numbers 2.31 Numb 10.25 Ioshua 6.9 that commeth last to gather vp the loste and forlorne hope of this world that they may bee found in a better whether is it better to liue in sorrow or to die in solace Let Agamades and Trophonius assoile the doubt of whom it is writen by Plato in his Axiaco that after they had builded the temple of Apollo-Delphick they begged of God that he would grant to them that which would bee most beneficiall for them who after this suite made went to bed and there tooke their last sleepe being both found dead the day after in token that the day of death is better then the day of life this being the entrance into all misery and that the end of all misery yea our dissolution is nothing else but aeterni natalis the birth day of eternitie as Seneca calles it more truly then he was aware For this dissolution giues to our soules an entrance and admission into the most blessed societie of eternall glorie with God himselfe for what other thing is death to the faithfull but the funerall of their vices and the resurrection of their vertues Christians therefore one would thinke need not as pagans consolations against death but death should serue them as a consolation against all miserie But you will here obiect and say me thinkes I am called backe too timely out of this life Psal 102.24 God snatcheth me a way in the midst of my dayes I might yet liue longer for I am young and in my blood I feare therefore lest this be a signe of the wrath of God Psal 55.23 seeing it is written Bloudie and deceitfull men shall not liue out halfe their dayes I answere there is no time now to consult with flesh and blood but readily to obey the heauenly call And for your few yeeres Seneca saith well He that dieth when he is young is like him that hath lost a dye wherewith hee might rather haue lost then wonne more yeeres might haue ensnared you with more sinnes and haue hardened you in your impenitencie to the hazard of your life in this world and your soule in another And for the flower of your youth if you compare it with eternitie whether now you are going and ought to long after it indeed all are equally young and equally old For the most extended age of a man in this world is but as a point or minute and the most contracted can bee no lesse And Iesus the sonne of Sirach saith Eccl. 41.13 A good life hath but few dayes nothing is too timely with God which is ripe Long life truly is the gift of God and the hoarie head a crowne of glory saith the Wiseman if it be found in the way of righteousnesse Pro. 16.31 Yet short life is not alwaies a token of the wrath of God seeing God sometime commands the godly also and those that are beloued of him to depart timely out of the house of this world that beeing freed from the danger of sinning they may be setled in the securitie of not sinning neither be constrained to haue experience of publike calamities more grieuous oftentimes then death it selfe An immature and vntimely death for a man to be taken away before he be come to the full period of his life that by the course of nature and in the eye of reason he might haue attained vnto is a thing that may betide good men and not be a curse to them Esay 57.1 The righteous man perisheth and no man layeth it to his heart saith the Prophet the mercifull man is taken away namely vntimely For if they died in a full age it were not blame-worthy for a man not to consider it in his heart Iacob knew this full well that vntimely death belongeth to Gods children for when Iosephes party-coloured coat was brought to him all bloudie it is said that he knew it Gen. 37.33 It is my sonnes coate saith hee some euill beast hath deuoured him Ioseph is without doubt rent in pieces So Abiah Gen. 44.28 the sonne of Ieroboam falling sicke Ieroboam sending his wife to the Prophet Abiiah with presents 1. Kings 14.1.2.3.6.12.13.17.18 to tell her what should become of the childe when shee was come the Prophet told her that he was sent to her with heauie tidings Arise thou therefore saith he get thee to thine owne house and when thy feete enter into the Citie the childe shall die and all Israel shall mourne for him bury him for he only of Ieroboam shall come to the graue because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Ieroboam Now this truth is confirmed vnto vs by two arguments the one drawne from the malice of the wicked against the godly the other from the mercie of God to the godly For the first the wicked through their malice seeke by all meanes to cut off the godly because their wickednesse and sinfull life is reproued by their godly conuersation neither can they follow their sins so freely as they would nor quietly without detection or checke The Apostle saith Cain 1. Iohn 3.12 that wicked one cut off and slew his brother Abel and wherefore slew he him because his owne workes were euill Gen. 37.2 and his brothers good The Patriarches sold Ioseph their brother and sent him out of the house of his Father because hee was a meanes that they were checked for their euill sayings And this is that we haue in the booke of Wisdome Therefore the vngodly men say let vs lye in wait for the righteous Wisd 2.12.14.15.16.18.19.20 because he is not for our turne but is cleane contrary to our doings he vpbraideth vs with our offending the law and obiecteth to our infamie in the transgression of our education Hee was made to reproue our
vniust and vnequall if any of lesse merit yea of no merit in comparison of such men shall grieue for themselues or any friend of theirs to indure that which these indured Surely not onely to grieue but not most willingly to welcome what all these men imbraced is tendernesse intolerable folly vnfitting and a fault no way to bee excused Yea the fault is so much the greater by how much either you or your friend are inferiour to these men in seruice and vse vnto the common state Thus did the heathens seek to salue the sore which grew by death of any and to this end many things of like perswasion they heaped vp which I passe ouer as hastening to the word of God without all comparison the fountaine of all comfort This onely I say and pray you to obserue concerning the mention made of the heathen that it is meant only to shew that they were ashamed to feare death in themselues or immoderately bewaile it in any friend and will you faile of the strength of an heathen shall they fight better against foolish affections by the light of nature then you by the power of grace and the most bright Sunshine of Gods word God forbid and as you tender your credit to be iudged truly a souldier that answereth the promise made in baptisme that you would fight manfully vnder Christes banner and not yeeld to your foe and Gods enemy and yours let not Sathan ouercome you in this to make you worse then an heathhen more passionate more impatient more subiect to wil and lesse subiect to reason nay more disobedient to God and of lesse reputation before men for gouernment of your mind then they were You know more performe not lesse then they did you haue seene a light that they neuer saw nor many other worthy men Luke 10.23.24 Blessed are the eyes saith our Sauiour which see the things which ye see for I tell you that many Prophets and Kings haue desired to see those things which ye see and haue not seene them and to heare those things which ye heare and haue not heard them Walk therfore in that light as a child of light that you may bee more comforted for the death of your friends then the very heathen were Seneca saith He that laments that a man is dead laments that he was a man And now to come to the word of God to the Law Isay 8.20 and to the testimony saith the Prophet euen to the sweet fountaine of Israel that cooles indeede the scorching heat of all sorrowes and by name of this when God taketh away any of our friends by death if Moyses and the Prophets will not comfort vs in this case then as Abraham told Diues in another case nothing can perswade Luke 16.31 nor preuaile with vs. Many are the places of holy Scriptures when comfort arise and flow if they be wel and duly considered but meaning onely to giue you a taste some few shall serue at this time to which may be added by your owne diligence some more at your best leisure Iob 1.21.22 The Lord gaue saith Iob and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. Where I pray you consider well what Iob lost when he said thus and consider what you haue lost now at this time and you shall finde your caâ—es farre differing Iob had his Oxen and Asses taken away by strangers and his seruants slaine with the edge of the sword This was his first newes The fire of God fell downe from heauen and burnt vp his sheepe and his seruants and consumed them This was the second newes His Camels were taken by the Chaldeans and his seruants slaine This the third newes all of them bitter and grieuous to happen at once You will confesse this was sore and any one of them falling by it selfe alone vpoÌ„ many of vs in these daies would plunge vs very sore Yet see farre greater his fourth and last newes was that his sonnes and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brothers house and there came a great winde from the wildernesse and smote the foure corners of the house and the house fell vpon them and they all died yea all and all at once by this sudden meanes to the vtter amazing and astonishing of all that should see or think of it Yet for all this saith the holy Ghost Iob did not sin to wit by rauing and railing impatiently nor did he charge God foolishly as dealing vniustly or cruelly with him but considered with himselfe who had giuen and who had taken and weighed with himselfe that they were Gods and not his and should he forbid the Lord to doe with his owne what was his good pleasure Is it not lawfull saith our Sauiour Christ in another case for me to doe what I will with mine owne Mat. 20.15 Therefore sweetly and meekely patiently and peaceably he cast vp his eyes his heart his soule his minde his affections and all vnto the Lord and said Blessed be the name of the Lord of which Lord surely of this Lord that had thus dealt with him and taken away all that euer he had God hath not dealt thus with you by many and many degrees with you at this time and will you then take on and as it were bid battell to the Lord by weepings and wailings by sobbings and sighings by groanings and crying by mutterings and murmurings and by such like testimonies of a discontented and offended minde aboue that which can stand with a dutifull childes behauiour to his heauenly Father If your losses were as great as Iobs was yet you see what he did and this was Gods Spirit in him much more in a farre lesse losse must you doe it if you bee endued with the same spirit Thinke with your selfe as you see Iob did what estate you had in this friend of yours that now you haue lost you held him not in fee but for a terme and what terme no certaine terme but during the Lords good will and pleasure Now your terme is out and the Lord will haue his owne againe Grieue not for the losse then but be thankfull for the loane so long Againe I warrant you Iob did carefully ponder with himselfe what the Heathen and strangers to religion about him would say If he should be impatient and outragious they would say see euen thus the man that feared God and was so religious that he taught others and rebuked many when they did offend that spake so much of the Lord and had his will so euer in his mouth that gaue such testimonies sundry wayes to the shew of man of a reformed life now where is all become Now see this mans practise how it answereth his speeches before he was tried what doe we see now in him more then in many others that made not halfe the shew Is there but so much in him as in many Heathen that knew not his religion Haue they not
taken patiently losse of fathers mothers husbands wiues children and friends c. and neuer started at it in comparison of this man O vaine fable then of religion that yeelds no more patience nor quiet content of need Wee will no such religion for our parts neither will wee hereafter regard this man as in former time c. What a fearefull fruite had this beene of Iobs impatience how could the Lord haue indured it at his hands if he had in this sort opened the mouthes of the wicked against his holy feare Therefore Iob laid his hand vpon his mouth and submitted himselfe wholly with all his affections to the Lords good wil and pleasure without causing any one to speake euill by his meanes to his praise and Gods good liking as a memoriall for all posterity For as our Sauiour Christ told the Disciples touching the commendation of the woman that annointed him with a very pretious and costly oyntment to his buriall saying Matth. 26.13 Verily I say vnto you wheresoeuer this Gospel shal be preached in the whole world there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memoriall of her Euen so it may be said touching the commendation of the patience of Iob in this case That wheresoeuer this storie of Iob shall be read and preached there shall also this that he hath performed be told for a memoriall of him And therefore to this purpose the Apostle Saint Iames saith Yee haue heard of the patience of Iob Iam. 5.11 and haue seene the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitifull and of tender mercy The case is yours at this time in some sort and measure you haue lost a losse and mens eyes are vpon you you haue loued the truth and spoken of the Lords feare before diuers now they looke for the power of it in your selfe and as they see you now to gouerne your affections according to the same so happily will they thinke both of Religion and of your selfe while they liue Therefore plucke vp your heart in Gods name and shew patience and comfort and cause not the name of God to be blasphemed among the wicked and irreligious Rom. 2 24. through your impatience but honor the Lord by blessing his name as Iob did honor his truth which you professe by a godly gouernment and stay of a weake nature and as the Lord liueth he will honor you againe as he did Iob with mercie and compassion that shall counteruaile this losse and farre exceed it for all is the Lords that you enioy and this friend of yours was his also He hath not taken all but part and left you much more then he hath taken Both now and euer be content with his holy will he gaue and none but he he hath taken and none but he not mine but his own my time was out and the right returneth to the true owner I may not grudge a mortall man his owne when my time is out much lesse God my deare God my most mercifull Father that yet sendeth mee many mercies and comforts though this be gone Secondly to your comfort consider what this holy man Iob saith againe to his impatient wife shee rageth and stormeth not onely like a weake woman but like an vngodly woman and comming to her husband in his greatest affliction increased now much more by Satans malice vpon his body shee said vnto him Dost thou still retaine thy integrity Iob 2.9.10 curse God and die To whom this sweet and meeke spirited man made this answere vnto her Thou speakest like a foolish woman shall we receiue good at the hand of God and not receiue euill also Not sinning yet for all this with his lips as the holy Ghost there saith but bridling his affectiōs that his tongue through intemperancie did not once murmure against the Lord. Now marke I pray you Iobs reasons to his wife He telleth her that both hee and shee had receiued many good things at Gods hand and therfore they were bound to welcome such woe as the Lord should send without any wayward grudging or repining at the change because by good things wee are bound to take worse things in good part if the Lord doe send them As for himselfe he followeth this rule and for the manifold mercies which he had receiued he will now endure with willing heart and quiet minde the misery which was present Blessed Iob thou man of God for thy thus doing how sweet was this argument in Gods eares that preuailed so little with thy wayward wife Apply this now to your owne estate and tell me as you tender the truth whether God hath not beene so good to you many waies as vnto Iob Cast vp the bils of your receits and call your selues to a Christian audit and I warrant you the summa totalis will amount very high and yet you can neuer remember the one halfe Thinke then what Iob said for his part that he tooke himselfe bound by the good to endure the euill and so if your case be not all one you may not gain-say it and therefore vnlesse you will wilfully fight against the Lords good will and pleasure you must yeeld as hee did and in effect of words say with him O my deare God and blessed Father God of all comfort and consolation how many haue thy mercies beene vpon me and to me How deepe a draught haue I drunke of this sweete cup of thine Now thou hast taken one comfort from me shall I set the one against the other as thy seruant Iob did Shall I receiue good things of thine hand and not euill Shall I prescribe vnto thee what I will haue O farre be it from me I thanke thee my deare God for thine infinit and manifold mercies and in this change I humbly cast downe my selfe at the foot of thy Maiestie and let thy will bee done and not mine Lord make me content and I am content as a weak wretch may be content By my losse thou hast gained and I doubt not but that this friend of mine is remoued from mee to dwell with thee at the which I may not grudge many mercies I enioy still and they shall content and please mee Thus if you reason you shall please God resemble Iob heere before your eyes and that eye of God that spied him and was glorified by the patience of his seruant he shall doe the like to you to your great ioy and comfort Comfort your selfe in the Lord then after this sort and remember this speech of Iob to his wife Iob receiued good things so haue you Iob receiued euill and so must you yet Iob was patient so ought you to be which the God of patience grant vnto you Rom. 8.28 Thirdly I think in this case of the blessed Apostles words which are these We know that all things worke together for the best to them that loue God If the dead belonged then to God this was best for
and earth Maiestie and basenesse Excellency and pouerty hee hath matched together What is higher then the Spirit of life what baser then the slime of the earth his soule it was infused into him the Spirit of life his body was made of the dust of the earth This was that which made Gregorie Nazianzen to breake into that exclamation of himselfe What great and wonderfull Miracle was within himselfe I am little sayeth he and yet I am great I am humble and yet exalted I am mortall and yet immortall I am earthly and yet heauenly little in body but great in soule humble as being earth and yet exalted aboue the earth mortal as hee that must dye and immortall as he that shall rise againe earthly as whose body was taken from the earth heauenly as whose soule was breathed from aboue Nay more then this sayeth the Prophet Dauid in one of his Psalmes Ps 8.4.5 6.7.8.9 What is man that thou art mindfull of him and the sonne of man that thou visitest him for thou hast made him a little lower then the Angels and hast crowned him with glorie and honour thou madest him to haue dominion ouer the workes of thy hands c. Therfore no man no beast can destroy this excellent Creature in this fashion framed and bee innocent before God It belongeth onely to him that gaue life to take it away Where hee takes it away none can restore it nor ought to take it away being giuen but only by him that gaue it So that the whole rule of life must remaine in the hands of the Lord of Life who of himselfe sayth I kill and giue life except thou canst doe both Deut. 32.39 doe not attempt to doe eyther First make a liuing man if thou canst and then kill him to whom thou gauest life thou shalt then herein hurt no worke but the worke of thine owne hands but if thou canst not giue life presume not to take away life thou shalt therein violate the worke of another And if thou mayest not kill another thou mayest much lesse kill thy selfe One God made thee them and if thou shalt bee guilty of bloud in killing thy neighbour thou shalt bee guilty of bloud in killing thy neerest neighbour thy selfe When Elias was weary of his life being persecuted by Iezabel he sayde vnto God It is inough O Lord take my Soule for I am no better then my Fathers 1 King 19,4 He was wearie of his trauels and dangers and desired to be out of this vvorld but hee did not lay violent hands vpon himselfe or let out his owne Soule Hee remembreth that God had placed his soule in this earthly Tabernacle and he intreateth God to set his Soule at liberty He held his hands howsoeuer his heart was affected So hold thou thy hands from any fact of violence lifting them vp with thy heart vnto God in heauen desiring him to take thy soule when he thinks good When Saint Paul was in a straight betweene two Phil. 1 23. and vvist not vvhether he should desire life or death because his life should bee profitable to the Church but death gainefull to himselfe he expressed the inclination of his heart to death for his owne aduantage in these vvordes desiring to bee loosed and to bee with Christ which is best of all His reward was in heauen vvhich he desired to obtaine his Redeemer in Heauen with vvhom hee vvished to be And because he could not come to enioy the same except by death he should passe out of this world hee was vvilling to depart and for that end to bee loosed and set at liberty from his flesh but did hee encline to set himselfe at liberty to loose the bondes of his owne life by which his soule was tyed and fast bound to the fellowshippe of his body No hee desired to bee a Patient not an Agent a Sufferer not a Doer in this businesse his vvords are desiring to be loosed not desiring to loose my selfe this he longed for and in time obtained it In these men behold and see how to craue and how to demeane thy selfe Learne of Eliah and Paul to feare God and not of Saul and â—udas Learne not of wicked men that went astray in their doings And tell mee if at any time thy life were so vile in thy sight and the glorie of God so deare vnto thee that thou wert desirous or content to giue thy life vnto God and to put it in hazard for his name and for his truthes sake Where hast thou despised the threatnings of Tyrants Where hast thou contemned the sword the fire or any other death hast thou been cast into the fierie furnace or into the Lyons denne or imprisoned or stoned or suffered rebuke or losse of goods for the name of Christ as diuers the Saintes of God haue done before thee In these cases if thy life had been vile in thy sight it had beene honourable and Christian-like because thou dost not take it thy selfe but yeeld it vp for his sake that gaue it Wherein thou hast the Prophets of God and Apostles of Iesus Christ to bee thy Paterne who were euer ready and willing to lay down and loose their liues in the seruice of God but did not kill themselues to bee deliuered from the furie of Tyrants but they yeelded themselus to the cruell will of Tyrants as Ieremie tolde them that went about to kill him for preaching Ierem. 26.14 as God had commaÌ„ded him As for mee behold I am in your hand doe with mee as you thinke good and right It was all one to him and equally welcome to dye or liue so that hee might faithfully doe his office Of the like mind was Saint Paul saying to the Elders of Ephesus Act. 20.22 Behold I goe bound in the spirit to Ierusalem and know not what things shal come vnto me there saue that the Holy Ghost witnesseth that in euery City bondes and afflictions abide mee but I passe not at all neyther is my life deere vnto me so that I may fulfill my course with ioy c. Heere was a most godly contempt of frayle life If thou hadst resolution in any like quarrell to yeeld thy life when there should bee any attempt to take it thou hast the Prophets of God and the Apostles of Christ thine example and thou hast also the promise of the Lord Iesus to recompence that losse of life with the gaine of eternal life saying Hee that will saue his life shall loose it Math. 10.39 and hee that looseth his life for my sake shall saue it That is if any shall to saue his life deny to confesse mee before men his life shall be taken from him by some such iudgement of God as that hee shall haue no comfort in the losse of it but shall dye eternally but if any constantly confesse me putting his life in danger eyther God shall most miraculously deliuer him and saue his life in this