to him when we imagine he is so severe and righteous that he can not or will not pardon our sinnes when we confesse them and are hartely sory for them whereas hee even delighteth to doe it and takes pleasure in it a Psal 51. v. 18. according to that in the Psalmist that a bruised spirit and a contrite heart are a sacrifice to God Thus God drawes arguments both from our imperfection and his owne perfection to perswade vs of his readinesse to pardon and to let vs see how easily it may be done 6 To conclude looking backe to the foundation of his mercy namely the incomprehensible misterie of the incarnation and passion of his sonne Iesus Christ * Chap. 8. throughout before declared wee must needes see that his loue towards mankinde is infinit and because infinite therefore greater then our greatest sinnes b Cyprian sermon de patientia Christs bloud washed even them that shed it vpon their repentance and whom then can it not wash God would haue his owne and only sonne to dy that maÌ„ might liue was content that his bloud should be our ransome Doubtlesle theÌ„ saith c Augustin Ieâ—m 10â— Augustine hee that bought vs with so great a price will not haue vs cast away Let vs then haue refuge to this infinit mercy of God and our sinnes will vanish away as a bubble Our sinnes saith d Basil in regul contract quaest â—3 Basil may both be measured numbred but it is impossible that Gods goodnes should be measured or his mercies numbred Let vs then resolue e Anselm in Meditat. that although our offenses haue deserved damnation our repentance bee not sufficient for satisfaction yet Gods mercy is greater then all transgression yea that as far as God is superiour to man so farre is our wickednesse inferiour to his goodnesse Wee may then with f Bernard feria 4. hebdom poenosae Bernard reason thus What shall misâ—rie overcome mercy shall not mercy rather conquer miserie Yes sure g Chrysost proaem in Eâ—ai our sicknesse hath measure but the medicine is without measure and shal not vnlimited goodnesse prevaile against limited wickednesse or shal not a salue of infinit vertue cure a soare of finite malignity Gods mercy is a huge yea a boundlesse and bottomlesse sea and our sinnes compared therevnto are but as a little sparkle now saith Chrysostome suppose that a little sparkle should fall into the maine sea could it abide there would it not instantly be extinguished and never appeare more Doubtlesse so great a water must needes out of hand quench so small a fire yea a sparkle onely of fire Away then with despaire and let vs assure our selues h Gregor Moral lib. 3â— cap. 11. as Gregorie well saith that despaire for sinne is worse then sinne it seâ—fe CHAP. 11. The Christians peculiar comfories against death and the terrours thereof 1 DEath beeing the greatest temporall punishment for sinne it may seeme to some that I should haue spoken thereof * Chap. 7. sect 2. seâ— before when I hanled the remedies against all temporarie evils which wee suffer in this life NotwithstaÌ„ding I haue purposely reserved the handling thereof vnto this place because it may bee obiected against our deliverance from sinne by Christ declared in the Chapter next before going that for al that the faith full die as well as other men and cannot not possibly escape death but must be and are subiect to the vniversall lawe of inevitable mortalitie Besides the chiefe and soveraigne remedy against this evill namely death is our deliverance from sin therefore I thought good to speake of that before that so I might be the briefer here referring the Reader to the former chapter for particularity and coÌ„tenting my selfe heere with a generall repetition and application thereof 2 First then as for death we are to consider that it is chiefly sinne that makes it so terrible vnto vs therefore a 1 Corinth 15. vers 56. the Apostle saith that sin is the sling of death Now as wee haue seene at large * 8.9.10 in some former chapters we are so delivered from sin in Christ that it cannot hurt vs nay is converted to our benefit and profit therefore Death having her strength from sinne is not to be feared sith sinne which is her sting is overcome What need we feare the snake that hath lost her sting Surely the snake that hath lost her sting can only hisse and keep a noise but cannot hurt therefore we see that many having takeÌ„ out the sting will carry the snake in their very bosomes without any feare Even so although we carry death in our bodies yea in our bosomes and bowels yet sinne which was her sting being pulled out she can only hisse and stirre shee may and ordinarily doeth looke black and grimme but yet cannot any way annoy vs. 3 Which will bee the more manifest if we weigh that Christ our head hath conquered and quelled this Gyant so that none that bee his neede stand in feare thereof Death b 1. Corinth 15. v. 55 saith S. Paul is swallowed vp in victorie c Revelat. 1. v. 18. Christ was dead but now he liveth and that forever and hath the keyes of hell and death as he himselfe testifieth of himselfe Now he that hath the keyes of a place hath the coÌ„mand of it it is as much then as if it had been said he had the coÌ„mand of death power to dispose of death at his pleasure And will Christ that hath such an enemie at his mercy let him annoy his deare friends nay his owne members and so in effect himselfe No no he conquered death for vs not for himselfe sith death had no quarrell to him by his vniust death then hee hath vanquished our iust death as we heard * Chap. 8. Sect. 5. before out of Augustin d Bernard ad miâ—iâ—es Templi sermon 4. The death of Christ is the death of our death sith he dyed that we might liue and how can it bee but that they should liue for whom life it selfe dyed Surely death by vsurping vpon the innocent forsâ—â—ted her right to the guilty e Hieron ad Heliodor While shee devoured wrongfully was her selfe devoured 4 Yea in that Christ hath vanquished death we also may be truely said to haue vanquished it hee beeing our head and wee his members for where the head is a conquerour the members cannot be captiues f Tertul de resurreâ—t carms â— â—1 Let vs then reioice we haue already seyzed vpoÌ„ heaven in Christ who hath carried our flesh thither in his owne person as an earnest pennie and pledge of the whole summe that in time shall be brought thither We may then boldly say g Augustin in Psal 148. there is somewhat of ours aboue already yea the best part of vs namely our head and are the members farre from
given very good counsell to others Whose poore excuse of such his weakenesse was that it was one thing to advise others and another to comfort our selues when the case was our owne But most memorable to this purpose is the behaviour of g Cie Tuse quaest lib 2. Heracleotes Dionysius Zenoes own scholler by whome having beene taught this stout contempt of paine as being no evill afterwards having a bitter and extreame fit of the stone hee recanted his error and cried out that all which his master had maintained touching that point was false that hee now found and felt the contrary namely that paine was an evill 3 A second supposed remedy against these evils of pain both taught and practised by carnall men is voluÌ„tary death or selfe murther whereby men at their pleasure might free theÌ„selues from all these evills of paine Herevpon h Oedipus apud Sence Theâ—ai act 1. Sen. 1. he cries out in the Tragedy that death is to be fouÌ„d every where and that God in this hath provided wonderous well for mankinde that whereas any man may take our life from vs none can take death from vs meaning that none can let vs from dying having power to kill our selues when we please And least we should thinke this to bee but a Poeticall fiction whereby men are made to speake what the Poet pleaseth let vs heare the wisest and worthiest of the Gentiles speaking in good earnest of this matter i Quintil. instit or at liâ— â—â—n proâ—emio Quintilian affirmes that no man is long in paine or sorrow vnlesse it bee through his owne fault meaning that by killing himself he may be rid of it when he pleaseth Yea even Seneca himselfe apprâ—â—ues of this selfe-murther or killing our selues to ende all paine Are we in distresse and miserie Why k Sen ep 12 saith hee there are many and short and easie waies to free our selues Let vs giue thankes to God that no man can be compelled to liue whether he will or no. And i IdeÌ„ ep 70. againe If thou wilt follow my counsell so prepare thy selfe that thou maist entertaine death nay if need be that thou maist send for it For it makes no matter whether death come to vs or wee goe to death Yea m Sen. ep 71 hee mockes and derides those that made any scruple thereof And n Idem de ira lib. 3. c. 15 in another place saith he Which way soever thou lookest there is an ende of all evils to bee found Dost thou see an high and steepe place by falling down from it thou shalt fall into liberty feest thou such a sea such a river or such a pitte liberty lies in the bottome of them if thou haue the loart to cast thy selfe into them Dost thou see a tree whereon others haue beene hanged there hangs liberty if thou wilt hang thy selfe Dost thou see thy owne necke throate heart c they are all places of escape to flie away from bondage Are these too hard and painfull meanes to get out and wouldst thou yet knowe the way to liberty Every vaine in thy body is a way to it o Sen. ep 89. Againe he tels vs that if sicknesse bee incurable and disable the soule to execute her proper actions shee may as well goe out of such a body at her pleasure as a maÌ„ may out of a rotten and ruinous tenement or dwelling house So p Epict. dissertat lib. 2. cap. 16. Epictetus himselfe the wonder of humane both wisdome and piety saies that as they are fooles who wheÌ„ they haue sufficiently refreshed themselus at a feast yet will sit longer yea even vntill they loath their meate and are ready to vomitte so they are fooles that having had their fill of this present life yet will liue longer And in q Epict. lib. 1 dissert c. 24 another place Even as quoth hee boyes when they are wearie of any player sport vse to say I will play no longer so men when they are weary of living must say I will liue no longer And therefore in r Idem lib. 1. cap. sen dissertat 9. an other place hee laughes at their simplicity that complaine of poverty want What fooles saith hee are they that when they haue filled their bellies to day sit weeping and pensiue bethinking what they shall eate to morrow Base slaue if thou haue meate thou hast it if thou hast it not thou maist be packing out of the world the dore is open So Å¿ Sen. ep 12. Seneca highly commends that speech of Epicurus that indeed it was a misery to liue in necessitie but that there was no necessity for a man to liue in necessitie Meaning that every man by killing himselfe might free himselfe from it Yea which is strange t Plato de legibus l. 9. Plato himselfe that approached so neere to Christian truth in many points although he appoint some publike infamy in the maner of burial for those that kill themselues yet it is with divers exceptions and amongst others this is one if a man so doe by meanes of povertie and want And to coÌ„clude u Plin. nat hist lib. 2. cap. 63. Plinie would haue vs beleeue that our mother the earth having pitty vpon vs doth bring forth poysoÌ„s that we may dispatch our selues out of this wretched world when there shall be due occasioÌ„ And this was practised by those that were counted very worthy men x Plutarch in vita Caton Do Cassius â—ist Roman lib. 43. as by Cato when Pompey whose part hee had taken was overthrowne by Caesar killing himselfe as it was conceived principally because he would not be beholding to Caesar for his life or at least would not be put to death at his pleasure y Cornel. Nepoâ— in vita Titâ— Pompon Attici Likewise by Pomponius Atticus who being impatient of a cruell diseale that tooke him in his olde age willingly famished himselfe to death and could not bee dissuaded from so doing by the prayers and teares of his nearest and dearest allies and friends But particulars of this nature are infinite and therefore let these suffise 4 Now howe poore a remedie this is for a man to kill himselfe when he is in misery may sufficiently appeare by that which hath already beene spoken touching the wofull state of man after this life dying out of Gods favour as they that thus make away themselues needs must So that this is not to avoid misery but to change misery yea to change the lesser miseries for the greater and as wee vse to speak to leap out of the frying pan into the fire Yea the Gentils themselues saw at last the vanitie absurdity of this remedy deriding those that because they would not be put to death by others put themselues to death z Sen. ep 71 Seneca who as wee haue seene so much favoured this prophane conceipt yet in some places forgetting himselfe truely saies that it
benefite to be delivered from a loathsome disease of the body by an vnlawfull and wicked death we haue reason to think it a benefite yea a singular benefite to be ridde of a loathsome and incurable disease of the soule namely sinne by a lawful death which it pleaseth God to send vnto vs. 8 But death doth more for vs than all this For it doth not only free vs from all evils and from that evil of evils sinne but puts vs into actual possession of all good things yea of such good thinges as our eies haue not seene our eares haue not heard neither are our harts able to conceiue brings vs to that place where if there were place for any passion we should be angry with death for not bringing vs thither sooner But I reserue a more particular declaration of that point vnto the thirteenth and last chapter CHAP. 12. Consolations against the terrours of the generall iudgement 1 THERE is yet an other thing which considered in it selfe is a greater branch and part of mans misery in regard of passiue evils than all the rest namely the last and generall iudgement where all flesh shal be arraigned before Gods Tribunall bar to giue an account of all they haue done to receiue their recompense accordingly The terror wherof I had rather expresse in a Anselm in libro medita tionum Anselmes wordes than in mine own O hard distresse saith he on one side wil be our sinnes accusing vs on the other side iustice terrifying vs vnder vs the gulfe of hell gaping aboue vs the iudg frowning within vs a conscience stinging without vs the world burning Which way then shall the sianer thus surprised turne himselfe To hide our selues will be impossible to appeare will be intolerable Wherewithal then shal miserable man arme himselfe against this so great terrour danger Surely our Christian profession affordeth munitioÌ„ against this assault also 2 And first that which hath beene spoken against the feare of death in the former chapter serveth also here against the feare of the last iudgmeÌ„t For that which made the first death so terrible and dangerous the same maketh the second death also so to bee namely sinne and as deliverance froÌ„ sinne doth as we there heard free vs from al annoyance by the first death so doth it also from all annoyance by the second death that is eternal condeÌ„nation at the last iudgement They that in Christ are coÌ„querers over the first death shall not nor cannot bee conquered by the second death and b Rev. 2c 6. on those that haue their part in the first resurrection the second death shall haue no power saith the spirit That is condemnation caÌ„not take hold on those whom God hath gratiously called to the knowledge and love of his saving truth reveiled by the Gospell 3 But to come to more peculiar comforts against this matter of terrour and amazement let vs farther consider that Christ had mercy on vs wheÌ„ we were meere strangers to him nay even when we were his enemies as c Rom. 5. v. 8.9.10 S. Paul well vrgeth God herein saith he commended his loue towards vs that when we were sinners Christ dyed for vs being theÌ„ now iustified by his bloud much more shall we be saved by him from that wrath Note that he saith from that wrath that is froÌ„ the wrath of the last iudgemeÌ„t For if saith he when we were enemies we were reconciled vnto God by the death of his sonne much more being reconciled wee shall be saved by his life Wee may easilie perceiue the force of the Apostles comfortable reasoning to wit that sith Christ died for vs when wee were sinners that is nothing but sin surely hee will saue vs being now righteous in him if wee were pardoned through his death when we were enimies wee shall much more bee saved by his life now that we are friendes For how incredible is it nay rather how impossible that he which pardoneth an enemy should condemne a friend He loved vs when wee bare the image of the devill and will hee not much more loue vs now since he hath in parte repaired his fathers image in vs and confirmed vs to himselfe We were deare to him when there was no iot of goodnesse in vs can hee reiect vs nowe that wee haue some good things in vs although but weake specially hee himselfe being the author and former of them by the grace of his holy spirit And so d Bernard epist 190. Bernard reasons For having spoken of our calling vnto the grace of the Gospell he inferres this beeing thus puld out of the power of darknesse I will not now feare to be reiected by the father of light being iustified freely in the bloude of his sonne Why it is he that iustifieth who is it that shall condemne Surely hee will not condemne the iust that had mercie on a sinner c. Thus wee see he reasoneth from that which GOD hath done for vs already to that which he will doe yea in a sort must doe for vs here after And we must all reason after the same manner and saie everie one to his owne soule with e Augustin in Psal 96. Saint Augustine Thou wast wicked and hee dyed for thee thou art now iustified and will hee forsake thâ—e 4 Moreover to take away the terrour of the last iudgement consider who shall be the Iudge even Christ himself that was thy redeemer And hovve canne wee feare such a iudge How happy in our case that hee must be our iudge that was himself iudged for vs He is our husband and wee his wife by whoÌ„ would the wife chuse to be iudged but by the husband specially by so kinde a husbande as wee haue * Chapt. 10. Sect. 2. marginal letter d. before heard him to be who sheweth that favour that no husband doth yea he is our head we are his meÌ„bers wil the head giue sentence of condeÌ„natioÌ„ against his own meÌ„bers This in effect were to giue senteÌ„ce against himself He is our advocat and Proctor how happy would we think our selues if in causes touching this life our own atturney might be our iudg He is now thine advocate f August in Psal 51. saith Augustine that hereafter shall be thy iudge Let vs then assure our selues he vvill not coÌ„demne vs that hath already been coÌ„demned for vs. 5 Yea so farre of is it that the last and generall iudgement shoulde be terrible vnto vs that it should rather minister matter of great ioy and comfort vnto vs. And therefore our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ having set downe the chiefe signes and tokens that should go before the day of iudgment saith to the faithful g Luc. 21.28 When yee see these things begin to come to passe looke vp and lift vp your heads for your redemption draweth neere So that by Christes owne exhortation in this place when wee thinke vpon the