Body and the Arms of the Tree they are joyned to the Root where the Sap lies all the Winter and by means of this conjunction the Root it conveys life unto all the parts of the Tree And the Bodies of Believers they have the Winter to when as they are turned into the Dust but their Life it is hid with Christ at last they are revived and raised up into Glory Now here you may observe the great difference of Tempters according to the various Complexions of Mens Spirits the Atheist he dares not die for fear of being put out of his being and the prosane Person he dares not die for fear of exchanging his present bad being for a worse â—ut the Believer he earnestly desires to die that besides this present temporal being he might enjoy a future eternal well-being Indeed to a wicked Man the best had been not â—o have been and this next best were to live long â— was ill with him that ever he was born and worse A Carnal Mans continual cry is this Dum Spiro Spero I love to live for my present hope is my only help for indeed such an one hath only help in this Life but a Christians common Expression is this Dum Exspiro Spero Expiration is my Expectation for such an one hath hope in the Life to come when a wicked Man dies he thinks he shall live worse but a Christian when he dies he knows he shall live better he cries with the holy Apostle for one to live is Christ and to die is gain Job 19. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth and he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth and though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God Thirdly Death was never intended to be as a privation of good but as a priviledge for good to the Believer and it is attended with these several Priviledges First Corporal and Temporal Death it serves to set out the Beauty and Excellency of eternal Life It is Gods usual method to set out one contrary by another Contraria juxta se posita magis elucescurt In War God commends Peace to us In Adversity Prosperity in Sickness Health and in Death he commends eternal Life to us As the Limner lays the Foundation of a curioâ— Picture in a Dark Ground-work so God doth ofte times lay the foundation of our sweetest Mercies iâ— the greatest miseries and this he doth that â—â— Mercies may appear more lovely in our eyes aâ— thus he sets off the joys of Heaven by the troublâ— we meet with on the Earth It is said of Zeno thâ— he was wont to eat bitter things that he might tâ—â— better taste sweet and he would say sweet thinâ— were nothing worth if they were not so commenâ—ed to us And so bitter Death it is but an Eâ—gine devised by infinite Wisdom and for â—â— set out the Unspeakable sweetness of Everlasting Joys God could as easily have received all his redeemed ones into the immediate imbraces of Divine Love and Glory without letting them know what it was to be tempted to be afflicted or to die but only for the better sweetning and endearing fulness of Glory to them Secondly Deaths mortal Wound it is but preparatory to an immortal weight of Glory Death it is the midnight of all troubles and sorrows which is in Travel with a morning of everlasting Joy and Comfort Death it is the Saturday or last day of our Weekly labours which ushers in a Sabbath of eternal rest Rev. 14. 13. And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their Labours and their VVorks follow after them Here the Believer hath labour without rest but in Heaven he shall have rest without Labour Death tends indeed to a Believers perfect everlasting reign and rest The Believer Afflictions upon Earth they are fore-runners of Deliverances they are as throws to the Birth of future Comforts The Whale which swallowed up Jonah God appointed as the means of bringing himself to the Shore And so the trouble which we often times think may swallow us up it brings us to our harbour Death it lands us safely upon Glory One excellency sets out the state of a dying Christian in these Words Per Augusta ad Augusta per Spinas ad rosas per Procellas ad Portum per Mortem ad Vitam migramus Lastly Death it is as a Bridge that all Saints must walk over to the everlasting Hill of endless Peace to the perfection of Grace to the participation oâ— Glory to the full possession of Christ 1. Death it leads us to the perfection of Grace the believer would live that he might be more perfect but when he dies he is perfect indeed a dying life that is a dying to sin it frees us from a living Death well doing fits us for dying Holiness frames us for Happiness 2. Death it leads us to a participation of Glory the consummation of Grace is the incoation of Glory Grace that puts the Soul into a capacity of enjoying glimps of God as in a Glass darkly but glory brings the Soul ad visionem beaâ—ificam into an immediate converse with God face to face 1 Cor. 13. 12. For now we see through a Glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then I shall know even as I am known 3. Death it leads us into a full possession of Christ Luke 23 43 This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise so saith Paul Then shall we be ever with the Lord comfort comfort ye one another with these words to be always with Christ will be very comfortable indeed Death that deprives us of commerce with men yet it delivers us up into an immediate communion with God and Christ and the blessed Angels Saints in Heaven shall be as the Angels nay saith John now are we the Soâ—s of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be we know that when he shall appear we shall â—e like him for we shall see him as he is Death speaks the sad disjunction of the Soul from the Body and the sure and sweet Conjunction of the Soul with Christ and therefore saith Paul and every Christian when he is in a right temper I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is best of all And thus I have endeavoured to lay open before you those Soul supporting and Soul encouraging Arguments the consideration of which makes the believing Soul so willingly and so boldly to look Death in the Face to invade Death in its own Quarters which is indeed but as a Passage or Bridg whereby the Soul is carried over unto the Mountains of Mirrh and unto the Hill of Frankincense where it shall lie down with Christ on his Green Bed of Love which is perfumed all over with the fulness of increated Glory And thus having shewed you many Arguments the Consideration of
thus with Daniel when the World was against him and would have thrown him to the Lions to be devoured the Lions shut their mouths at him so that there was not that hurt befel to him as was desired by the Adversaries Dan. 6. But now let us consider the Third Part which is the Death of the Beggar It was so that the Beggar died Here is the adage fulfilled Mors optima rapit deterrima relinquit Now must I speak of Tragical matters of Funerals and Obsequies of Dissolution and Death This Beggar died that represents the Godly and the Rich Man died that represents the Ungodly From whence Observe neither Godly nor Ungodly must live always without a change either by Death or Judgment The good man died and the bad man died that Scripture doth also back this Truth that good and bad must die marvellous well where it is said And it is appointed to men once to die and after that the Judgment Heb. 9. 27. Now when it is said the Beggar died and the Rich man died part of the meaning is they ceased to be any more in this World I say partly the meaning is so but not altogether though it be altogether the meaning when some of the Creatures die yet it is but in part the meaning when it is said that Men Women or Children die for there is to them something else to be said more than a barely going out of the World for if when unregenerate Men and Women die there were an end of them not only in this World but also in the World to come they would be more happy than now for when ungodly men and women die there is that to come after Death that will be very terrible to them namely to be carryed by the Angels of Darkness from their Death-beds to Hell there to be reserved to the Judgment of the great day when both Body and Soul shall meet and be united together again and made capable to undergo the uttermost vengeance of the Almighty to all Eternity Ah Beloved if this great Truth that men must die and depart this World and either enter into Joy or else into Prison to be reserved to the Day of Judgment were believed we should not have so many Wantons walk up and down the streets as there do at least it would put a mighty check to their filthy Carriages so that they would not could not walk so basely and sinfully as they do Belshazzar notwithstanding he was so far from the fear of God as he was yet when he did but see that God was but offended and threatned him for his Wickedness it made him hang down his head and knock his knees together Dan. 5. 5 6. If you read the Verses before you will find he was careless and satisfying his Lusts in Drinking and playing the Wanton with his Concubines But so soon as he did perceive the Finger of an hand writing Then saith the Scripture the King's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joynts of his Loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another And when Paul told Felix of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come it made him tremble Further this is a certain truth that not only the Wicked but the Godly also must have a time to depart this Life And the Beggar died the Saints of the Lord they must be deprived of this Life also they must yield up the Ghost into the hands of the Lord their God they must also be separated from their Wives Children Husbands Friends Goods and all that they have in the World for God hath decreed it It is appointed namely by the Lord for Men once to die and we must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ as it is 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. But again in the Death of the Beggar First we noted what became of his Soul It was carried by Angels into Abrahams Bosom Whereby we learn the Immortality of the Soul Pythagoras was the first among the Grecians that taught the Soul was Immortal The Philosophers also and Heathen Poets do prove the Immortality of the Soul Cedit enim retro de terra quod fuit ante In terram sed quod missum est ex aetheris oris Id rursum coeli fulgentia templa receptant The part of Man that was made of Earth went to Earth and that part as came from Heaven went to Heaven again But leaving these we prove by Scripture the Immortality of the Soul Man was made a living Soul Therefore the Soul is Immortal And here in the Text Lazarus being dead his Soul was carried into Abraham ' s Bosom Here therefore is the damnable Opinion of the Atheists overthrown For if they deny God they must also deny that they have Souls and so consequently that they are not men But St. John teacheth them that all things were made by the Word of God and without it nothing was made therefore if they are made they are made by the Word of God and of a reasonable Soul which do acknowledge and believe in the Creator Anima est primum principium vitae per se subsistens incorporea aâ— incorruptibilis The Soul is the first beginning of Life subsisting of it self incorporeal and incorruptible St. Austin Anima est spiritus est substantia incorporea corporis sui vita sensibilis invisibilis rationalis immortalis The Soul of man is a spiritual or incorporeal substance sensible invisible reasonable immortal For as he also saith Soluâ— homo habet animam rationalem Only Man with an Immortal Soul Lazarus Soul was carried into Abraham's Bosom which is a quiet Haven which the faithful have gotten by the troublesom Navigation of this Life that is the Kingdom of Heaven Here therefore we note that the Souls of the Elect being separated from their Bodies are presently in Joys and are carried into Abraham's Bosom so called because it belongeth only to the Faithful Well then Lazarus Soul went to Heaven and Christ said to the Thief on the Cross This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Not to morrow or next Year but this day Therefore the Souls of the Elect being separated from their Bodies are in Joy and Rest As also on the other side the soul of the Rich man and the Damned after they be separated from their Bodies are in Hell Torments And thus much concerning the place whither Lazarus soul was carried being dead namely into Abraham's Bosom Lastly We noted by whom by Angels It was carried by Angels into Abraham ' s Bosom And here an Objection ariseth viz. If this be so that the Godly die as well as the Wicked and if the Saints must appear before the Judgment-seat as well as the sinners then what Advantage have the Godly more than the Ungodly and how can the Saints be in a better condition than the Wicked Answ Read the 22d Verse over again and you shall find a marvellous difference between them as much as is
her Life in wanton Ayres and Charms of Lust the treacherous Inticements to Destruction but when she dies she breathes out her Soul in Howlings Sighs and Sobs in Pangs and Horror The Swan who spends her days in Innocence as white as her Livery in pensive Notes of Sadness mournful and black as her Feet when she dies she expires in joyful Anthems the voice of joy and gladness So when Death calls the Aged Swan from Streams She dying sings her own glad Requiems Good People had you the Reversion of a Rich Living or Office would you weep because it is faln into your Possession Invidi non amantis 't were more of Envy than Love to bewail an Earthly Happiness I close as Jesus to the Daughters of Jerusalem Weep not for me â—ut weep for your selves not for me that am dying but for your selves that are living for your selves that have refused my Doctrine despised your Saviour condemned your Innocent and Righteous Prince For the Sins and Sufferings of the Living I confess there is weeping work enough for him who hath Jeremy's wish His Head a Fountain of Tears to weep day and night But for the dead that die in the Lord weep not Weep not she is not dead but sleepeth The Application Since the Faâ—e of Rest in the state of Separation and Happiness at meeting again of Soul and Body depends upon the Holiness at parting Let us be composed in both that neither the disorder of the Body nor multitude of Business either ill done or undone may disturb the quiet of the Soul Before Men go to Bed they put off their Cloaths or else they sleep both unhandsomely and uneasily So let your Souls divest those Habits which Sin and Custom hath too long made fashionable Lastly Good Men before they go to Bed they always pray St. Paul adviseth Pray always though not with the Lip yet with the Life When Survivors see a Soul that hath lived long in this Region of Holy Duty to ascend to Heaven as the Angel Judg. 13. 20. In the Flames of the Altar their Charity and Hopes are sufficiently instructed to say Nolite flere Weep not she is not dead but sleepeth The Character I have done with the Text that I brought hither to you and now apply my self and discourse to that Text that brought you hither to me from that I presented to your Ears to that presented to your Eyes I close the Book of Life and now open the Book of Death So St. Ambrose Interr'd Theodosius Nazianzen the Immortal Athanasius and St. Hierome the excellent Lady Marcella Nay St. John hath taken short Notes of a Sermon made by Christ at the Funeral of Lazarus John 11. 12 13 c. wherein are Discourses of Faith Resurrection and Glory raised from the Dead and applyed to the Living I need no other because I can follow no better precedent Therefore hear me or rather hear her speak for the Dead can speak Heb. 11. 4. Our dead Sister speaks first in the dignity of her Extraction fairly proclaim'd to you by the Herauldry of her Hearse but fairer far in the suitable Character of her Life the worthiness of her Birth had no other influence on her but to engage her to worthiness of Action which she so nobly improved that the Vertue of her Life dignified the Honour of her Descent so the Glory she received from her Father on Earth by the Acts of Humility and Charity she enhansed to the glorifying her Father which is in Heaven Her Beauty which was a depository from Heaven she beautified with so much Piety and adorned with so much Religion as if she had been intrusted to preserve both the Lustre and the Vertues of the Celestial Bodies in her Epiâ—ome But the Beauty of her Soul was a Sun to this Taper from whence her starry Actions received a mighty Splendor When she spake Wisdom dictated and Wit delivered she hung her Language at your Ears as Jewels much of worth in a small bulk and as Jewels her Speech was Rich both in Lustre and in Medicine the Conceits of her Mirth would raise a Smile but the Gravity of her Conveyance commanded Reverence Her Reproofs like Lightning quick but short such as would melt the Blade yet not singe the Scabbard kill the Sin but preserve the Sinner Her Promises were made in her Head but bept in her Hand as a Nail fastned in a sure place driven by Understanding and clenched by Affection Her Attire neither fordid nor curious nor too early in nor too late out of Fashion not like those Mushroom Gentry who declare their late rise from Peasantry and Poverty by the Herauldry of the Dirt and Rags on their Back Her Table was both wholesome and handsome enough to satisfie the Stomach of the hungry and well enough to fancy the Palate of the Curious yea when the Sword had Carved her Meat to the fifth part her good Chear was as much as ever Her Visits were like the Sun 's beneficial where-e're she came and treading in her Saviours steps She went up and down doing good Her Access was free but not loose her Door as her Heart was open to all Friends so that without much shifting the Scene she would easily make her House a Court an Almes-house a School and an Hospital all in a day She had Treatments for the Greatest who came as Agrippa and Bernice with great Pomp. She had Relief for the Poorest who as Lazarus lay at the Gateâ— Instructions for the Ignorant and Charitable Remedies for the Sick Christian Applications for all feeding the Hungry cooling the Thirsty cloathing the Naked visiting the Sick and harbouring the Traveller what God requires in acts of Neighbourhood here and Reward hereafter the whole Voyzenage can witness with me and for her that she was a great parallel to Dorcas Acts 9. 36. This Woman was full of good Works and Almes-deeds which she did Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report she did them therefore if there be any vertue or any praise let her have it Her Relation as a Wife shews her without disparagement a rare example and standard to her Sex Society is the most precious Comfort in Nature the richest Jewel in her Cabinet Adam not in perfect Paradise not happy without it of all Societies with Man that of a Wife is nearest being made of his own Rib and dearest lying in his own Bosom Her Affection was great as Jonathan's wonderful and passing the love of Women 2 Sam. 2. 26. Marriage made her Husband and her one Flesh but Love made them one Soul She Married not only his Person but his Interests and Concernments loved his Loves wished his Desire as inseparable as Ruth and her Mother-in-law Ruth 1. 16 17. not to be parted but by Death She owed him an Affection equal to her Life being often ready to lay
be perswaded that it is impossible that the Earth should hold down man God commanding it to cast up and therefore though the ship and the ship-master the Wagganer and the Waggan I mean the Soul the governour of the body and the body the receptable of the Soul may be severed and parted for a time by death yet they shall one day meet the one shall return to the other these whom the Almighty hath put assunder these can he joyn again at his pleasure For if he hath done the greater then need we not doubt but that he is able so do the less He which hath made the body of nothing doubtless is of power sufficient to raise it out of the dust at the last day To come then to some use Here then first of all is matrer of great consolation to the Children of God in that the Love will raise them up again to Glory at the last day The consideration whereof may comfort us exceedingly under the Cross For so many are the troubles and afflictions that the Children of God are subject unto in this life that if they did not call to mind and remember that there shall be a Resurrection that a time of refreshing shall come when they shall be freed of these miseries and these tears shall be wiped from their eyes they would never be able to hold out For if the Children of God had hope only in this Life they were of all men most miserable but here is there comfort that though they have their Hell in this life they shall have their Heaven hereafter all which is most lively set forth in this Text. When Rachel had born six sons to Jacob she said God hath endowed me now with an exccllent Dowry now will my husband dwell with me because I have born him six sons Beloved could we not be content to live yea to dye with this sentence which hath born and brought unto us these six places of consolation suerly it is a sentence much to be embraced for it offers exceedingly great comfort unto us Wherefore let us often meditate of it let us often have recourse unto it yea let it be as a Sanctuary or place of refuge for our troubled Souls to fly and resort unto when as we shall be pressed with any miserie or affliction whatsoever The EJACULATION Good Lord if it be true that at the last day the Earth shall Cast up all that ever it received into her cold imbraces and if it be likewise true that all the wicked shall then be doom'd down to Eternal Torment let us then be preparing our selves for that day that we may be able to receive it with joy when it comes and that we may hold up our heads with comfort to think that our Redemption draweth nigh Let not Death find us out of our way because such a surprize would be attended at last with a miserable Resurrection Let our conversation be in Heaven from whence we expect that our Saviour should come that he may change our vile Bodies into the likeness of his own most Glorious Body Good Lord let our hearts and souls be there now where we hope our Bodys and Souls shall be for ever hereafter and let our choicest Affection and chiefest Meditations be set early set and earnestly set upon that state which will be our Eternal State that so we may be everlastingly happy both in body and soul when our bodies shall arise to Judgment at the last day SERMON VII A Glorious Resurrection for them that sleep in Jesus ROM viii xi He that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you THese words Beloved are a most comfortable Conclusion shewing and declaring the certainty of the Resurrection of the Bodies of the Saints to an Immortal glorious happy life at the last day wherin we may more particularly note First The Action Quicken Secondly the Object or rather if ye will the Subject that shall be Quickned your mortal Bodis Thirthly the Author or Efficient Cause God deled by an effect the raising up of Christ Fourthly the means whereby God shall quicken them by his Spirit Lastly the Condition of the Persons whose mortal Bodies shall be quickened And they are such as have the Spirit of God dwelling in them as appear by the last words By his Spirit that dwelleth in you The Text thus opened and the sense thereof being made clear and manifest the main Point that offers it self to our considerations is this Doct. That there shall be a Resurrection of the Bodies of the Saints at the last day This for the general And this is a matter very comfortable to the people of God that there shall be a Resurrection Nulla consolatio tanta est quanta mortuorum Resurrectio saith Mr. Gualter There is no consolation of a Christian so great in this life as is the Resurrection of the Dead and therefore Tertullian calls it the Christian's hope and so it is indeed For if in this life only the Christian had hope he were of all Men most miserable 1 Cor. 15. 19. Tolle spem Resurrectionis c. resoluta erat observantia nimis pietatis Take away the hope of the Resurrection saith Chrysostome and you take away all care of Piety and Godliness out of the World And indeed what makes the Husbandman to take such pains in tilling manuring and sowing of his ground but the Hope of a joyfull harvest wherein he shall reap the fruits of his labours What makes the Labourer to subject himself to so much pains and labour all the day long but that he hopes for a time of rest wherein he may be refreshed What makes the liberal and charitable Man disperse his wealth unto the Poor but that he looks for a day of payment wherein he shall be sure that what he hath laid out shall be payed him again Prov. 19. 17. But all this is the Resurrection unto the Sants of God For first it is as the Christians Harvest For though he have Sowen in tears all his life time by reason of the continual afflictions thereof yet he shall be sure to reap in joy at the Resurrection And this did animate and encourage them to undergo any torture of the Body rather than they would be subject to the rack of an evil Conscience And this may serve as a strong ground of Comfort unto us if God at any time should call us to suffer for his Name for as yet we have not resisted unto bloud This is an honour that God doth not vouchsafe to all his Saints say this may serve as a notable means to support us in our sufferings that though Tyrants may rage never so much and Persecuters may wrack their malice upon the Bodies of the Saints as they did in the Primitive Church for they cast the Bodies of the Christians to be devoured of wild bests nay they threw them into Rodanus thinking thereby to hinder
their Resurrection yet I say let them do their worst and yet they can by no means disapoint the Christian of his hope of a glorious Resurrection So that a Christian in the midst of his sufferrings may say of his tormentor as once Socrates speak of his Accuser occidere me potest ledere vero non potest Well may he kill me but he shall never ill me For though Persecuters kill the body yet they cannot berieve a Christian of that Happiness and Glory that God hath given unto the Souls in the day of the Resurrection This is to be thought on as a means to support our languishing Spirit Then it will be unto him a day of sweet rest wherein he shall be refreshed after all his painful labours and travails taken in the service of God which will be no less comfortable unto him than the gladsome morning to a sick man which hath tossed and turned up and down wearily all the night long And it shall be the Christians pay day also so our Saviour calls it Luk. 14. 14. because then he having his reward with him will come forth of every ones debt and reward their goodness with glory And such a day Beloved there shall be unto all the Elect and dear Children of God As they have had a day of Death so shall they have a day of Resurrection All the people of God that have died from the beginning of the World or shall die to the end of it hereafter are but as the seed sowen in the ground they must endure rottenness for a while But being fowen in dishonour they shall rise in honour being sown in corruption they shall rise in glory All the mysteries they endured in this Life they were but mortis praeludia the tokens and forerunners of Death but let them hope yea let them know assuredly that there will come a day of Refreshing as St. Peter calls it Act. 3. 19. when God shall say unto these dry Bones I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live and will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh to grow upon you and will cover you with skin That there shall be a Resurrection even things in nature probably do shew it And therefore St. Paul sends the Atheist to learn this lesson from the seed that is sowen in the ground O Fool saith he that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die 1 Cor. 15. 36. And the Ancient Fathers send us to the Phoenix of Arabia out of whose Cinders when she is dead another bird springeth up to learn the self same thing And indeed the Phoenix is a notable Embleme of the Resurrection and we want not ressemblance thereof daily before our eyes considerer but the trees of the forrest the flowers of the garden and the Herbs of the field We see that the Tres in winter being despoiled of their Leaves the Garden of the Flowers and the Fields of the Grass do seem utterly to die and to perish But when the spring time comes they putting on their green Carpets and particoulered Garments like Joseph they all wax as fresh and flourishing as ever they were before So the Body which during the Winter of many Ages is deprived of her beauty and turned to rottenness doth at the Spring time of the Resurrection not only recover its former Beauty but obtaineth a far more excellent Glory Nay the mutual vicissitude and entercourse of things the setting and rising of one and the same Sun sleep and waking labour and rest night and day the day that dies into the night and yet revives again and is with his former brighteness revived to the whole World all these are probable Proofs of the Resurrection But besides these we have infallible testimonis and Arguments proving the certainty of it For first this was shadowed in holy Scripture by sundry Types and Figures So God shewed this in a vision to Ezechias when he saw a field full of dry Bones receiving at Gods Comandment Flesh and Nerves and Fire See Ezech. 37. to the 12. For this was not only a Prediction of the Deliverance of Israel out of Babel but also a typical confirmation of the Resurrection of our Bodies So Jonas being restored alive out of the Wales belly wherein he had lain three days and three nights was a type of the Resurrection Secondly that we should not doubt of the certainity of it God hath given us examples of many particular Persons raised already from Death to Life both in the Old and New Testament As of the Widows Son of Sarepta raised up by Elias 1 Kings 17. 22. Of the Shunamitish womans Son raised by Elisha 2 Kings 4 34 35. And of a certain man at the touching of Elishas bones lying in the Sepulchre 13. 21. These in the Old Testament And in the New Testament we find not only that our Saviour Christ did raise himself by his own power never to die any more but that he raised others also as the Rulers Daughter the Widow of Naim's Son and Lazarus of Bethania when he had lain four days putrifying in the Grave yea many also at his Death not that they might die any more as Lazarus and the rest But rather as some think that they might accompany him into Life eternal by whose power they had risen that they might be undoubted Testimonis of his quickning power and why then should any think it impossible for God to raise all the Bodies of the Saints to Life at the last day Thirdly we have divine Testimonies in in the Scripture proving the necessity of it Thy dead Men shall live saith the Prophet even with my Body shall they rise Awake and sing ye that dwell in Dust For thy deaw is as the deaw of hearbs and the earth shall cast out the Dead Isa 26. 9. See also concerning this matter Dan. 12. 2. Job 19. 25 26. So our Saviour also in the fifth of John 28. 29. speaks plainly to this purpose The hour shall come saith he in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice and they shall come forth that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life but they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of condemnation Fourthly the faith of the Resurrection is grounded on the power of God who is omnipotent with Whom is possible that which with Men is impossible Who calleth those things which are not as though they were Rom. 4. 17. With Whom nothing is impossible Luk. 1. 37. And the Argument drawn from Gods power it follows A majori ad minus from the greater unto the lesser For did God make our Bodies of the Dust and cannot he think you repair our Bodies again when they are turned into Dust which is a less matter Qui potuit id quod non erat producere ut aliquid esset id quod jam est cum ceciderit restituere non potuerit saith Cyril He that could bring out that which was not and make
sleep well relish my Meat and Drink well Fool that thou art Death minds none of these things We are in the way see where the Gibbet threatens thee But a little while and thou shalt expire and with thee all thy Pomp and Luxury dies All our Life is the way to Death Sect. 41. A most Compendious and the best Permeditation upon Death Happy to be in Death first learn to live That thou mayst happy live to dye first strive THis is the Sum of all this is the Art of Arts. To live well we must learn as long as we live and which some perhaps may more admire all our life long we must learn to dye So many great Men leaving all their lumber behind when they had renounced their Riches their Pleasures and their Offices have employed themselves in this one thing to the last that they might know how to live But many of these confessing they had not learnt their Lesson have departed this Life But how shall they know this that never endeavouted to learn Most Mortals care not for living well but for living long Some then begin to live when they are ready to leave the World Hence it is that we are empty of all those Comforts which we desire at the end of our Lives fearful of death and ignorant of living VVhoever then desires to learn the Art of living let him first learn the Art of dying Perhaps some may think that needless to be learnt which is but once to be made use of Therefore it is that we are with all diligence to apply our selves to this Study For that is always to be learnt of which whither we know it or no we can never make the Experiment The great matter is not to live the great matter is to dye Sect. 42. To day for me to morrow for thee FRancis the First King of France being tak'n by Charles the Fifth when he had read at Madrid Charles's Impress upon the Wall Plus ultra Farther yet added thereto To day for me to morrow for thee The Victor took it not ill but to shew that he understood it wrote underneath I am a Man there is no humane accident but may befal me Elegantly Gregory Nazianzene The Head quoth he grows gray the Summer of Life is at Hand The Sickle is sharpn'd against us and I fear least while we are asleep and lull'd in hopes the terrible Reaper come But thou wilt say old Men fear I am young Be not deceived Death is not perfixed to any Age. The same Bier to day carries an old Man to morrow beautiful Youth to day a strong lusty Man to morrow a Virgin or an old Woman Seneca speaks to the purpose Death saith he ought to be â—et before the Eyes of young as well as old Men For we are not summoned by the Censers Books wherein the Ages of every one are set down Such a Partial Citation might serve for War but not for Death The last Farewel and Admonishment of all dying Men is this To day I to morrow Thou But the Dead alter the Sentence and they crie I yesterday Thou to day Be mindful of Death be mindful of Eternity which I yesterday thou to day or to morrow shalt begin never to end with either Sect. 43. Therefore Live while thou hast NOT for thy Wit not for thy Body not for thy Pleasure not for thy Vertues sake but for Heaven and for Gods sake Live and Act as well suffering for God as acting and labouring For thou knowest not how long thou shalt subsist nor how soon thy maker will take thee away Most wisely admonishes the wisest of Preachers Whatever thou takest in Hand to do that do with all thy power for in the Grave that thou goest unto there iâ— neither Work Counsel Knowledg nor Wisdom Therefore as the Apostles exhorts us Let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not While we have therefore time let us do good unto all Men. Thou hast begun to Labour prosecute thy labour begun with a continual Industry Never cease nor intermit that Labour which may bring to Heaven For there is no moment of thy Life wherein thou mayst not gain and increase thy Heavenly Treasure In this manner therefore labour without ceasing The time of rest shall come which no labour shall ever interrupt The Life of Man is a Warfare upon Earth and like the days of a Bond-Servant are his Days A Hireling saith St. Gregory asswages the Pains of his Labour with the thoughts of his wages A Hireling is sollicitous least any day should pass him without work for he knows that the Night is for rest and that the Day is appointed for Labour Do thou therefore Labour while it is day while thou hast an opportunity to Work The Night cometh says the voice of Truth when no Man can work Therefore work while the Sun favours thee There is one that will pay thee for thy Labour Thou hast a perpetual and most accurate Overseer of thy work who is God who keeps the number of the Haires of thy Head so doth he keep an account of thy least Failings and of the smallest of thy Actions done in Honour of Him Never question it he numbers all thy steps With one leap yea with one step thou hast finished thy whole Journey to Eternity but take heed that thou fixest thy Feet right For such shalt thou be to Eternity as thou weâ—t at thy Death Sect. 43. If to Morrow why not to Day THere is but one and that a most ponderous Chain that holds us fast the Love of Life which as it is not always to be contemned so there is an allay to be allowed it so that nothing may hinder us but that we may be always prepared to do that presently which is at some time to be done Life is not imperfect so it be upright VVhere-ever thy end happen if thy Life be good thy end is safe St. Austin Bishop of Hippo went to visit another Bishop of his Familiar Acquaintance lying in Extremity to whom as he was lifting up his Hands to Heaven to signifie his Departure St. Austin replyed That he was a great support of the Church and worthy of a longer Life to whom the sick Person made this answer If never 't were another thing but if at any time why not now Death calls upon all Men alike Thither we must all come sooner or later of that we are certain we doubt not of that thing but of the time VVhat then Does not he seem to be the most fearful and imprudent Creature of all who with so much earnestness desires the delay of Death Would not he be the Laughing-stock of others who being Condemned among many should beg to be the last Executed Yet this is the Folly we are guilty of We think it a great happiness to die last The Capital Punishment is destined to all and by a most just determination Now
leans towards Death This it desires this it meditates upon covetous of higher Objects And how clear is that of Plato concerning a better Life He saith he that spends his Life in the study of Wisdom seems to be the person who will die with confidence full of good hope that he shall obtain great rewards if he die This the Ancients saw in the dark and thou canst not see it by the light of the Sun What then my sick Friend do the things of the Earth trouble thee Shortly thou shalt inhabit Heaven Thither aspire and whatever miseries thou feelest thou wilt feel them the less Sect. 30. True Hope is a Blessed Life I Do not for this make use of either Poets or Philosophers 'T is a serious thing I will drink to thee out of the Fountain of Divine Eloquence Therefore lay aside thy sadness and with a certain hope say with the Doctor of the World I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day Wherefore art thou afraid O Man of short hope hear the Son of Syras Who feareth the Lord standeth in awe of no Man and is not afraid for the Lord is his hope and strength Blessed is the Soul of him that feareth the Lord in whom putteth he his trust and who is his strength The Eyes of the Lord have respect unto them that love him he is their mighty protection and strong ground a defence for the health a refuge for the hot of noon day a succour for stumbling and a help for falling He setteth up the Soul and lightneth the Eyes he giveth health life and blessing The Kingly Prophet how Couragious is he how undaunted having a prospect of his own Funeral I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety What that safety is he expresses in another place For thou hast been my hope and a strong Tower for me against the Enemy I will dwell in thy Tabernacle for ever and my trust shall be under the covering of thy wings But thou wilt say my Impatience makes me hope ill Here I will help thee again Cry with David Thou art my hope even from my youth Frequently this King cry'd out God is my Salvation God is my Hope and also exhorts others to do the same Trust in him O ye people pour out your hearts before him Wherefore dost thou not follow him that goes crying so loudly before thee Say therefore from thy Soul O think upon thy Servant according to thy word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust The same is my Comfort in my Trouble And with Jeremy the Prophet I nevertheless obediently followed thee as a Shepherd and have not taken this Office upon me uncalled Thou knowest it well Be not thou terrible unto me O Lord. For thou art he in whom I hope when I am in peril Hear him in another place Leave off from weeping and crying with-hold thine Eyes from Tears for thy labour shall be rewarded c. Job is most confident in this Though he slay me I will trust in him The same he utters upon the brink of Death After darkness I hope for light Was there ever saith the Son of Syrach any one confounded that put his trust in the Lord Whoever continued in his fear and was forsaken Or whoever did he despise that called faithfully upon him For God is Gracious and Merciful He forgiveth sins in the time of Trouble and is a defender of all that seek him in the Truth And Hosea Therefore hope still in thy God for whoever put their trust in God are not overcome Besides That the Lord is good unto them that put their trust in him and to the Soul that seeketh after him The good Man with stilness and patience expecteth the health of the Lord. Truly saith Nahum the Lord is Gracious and a strong hold in the day of Tribulation and knoweth them that trust in him And we also know saith St. John that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is And every Man that has this hope in him purgeth himself even as he is also pure Hope therefore most firmly in the Goodness of God and thou shalt walk before the Lord in the Land of the Living Sect. 31. Tranquility proceeds from true Hope TVrn again O my Soul into thy rest for the Lord hath rewarded thee Art thou wearied with so many sorts of Labour behold the Lord is at hand and he will put an end to all thy Labours The beginning of thy rest is Sickness and Death Cease therefore O my Soul to be willing to be miserable and to consume thy self with so much turmoiling Painful Beginnings thou wilt say 'T is very true But thou knowst that no days are less quiet than those that are next to rest No days less Holidays than those that precede Festivals So it is with thee But thy rest shall be Eternal The preparation tires thee shortly the Paschal without end shall follow Go to then and expend a little Labour and Grief By and by thou shalt behold the Gate not that which leads out of this Life but that which leads to Eternity Then hadst thou but begun to labour it would prove sufficient if he for whom thou labourest think it so Therefore O my Soul dismiss vain things to vain people and turn thee to the Lord who hath rewarded thee His Mercies toward thee hath been innumerable thou maist sooner number the Sand of the Sea than them by which he designs to open thee the way to Heaven Bernardus Clarevallensis recommended this particularly to his Friends to cast the Anchor of their hope in the safe Bay of Divine Mercy Therefore let that Verse of the Psalmist In thee O Lord have I put my trust let me never be put to confusion Sect. 32. Comfort in Pain THen should I have some comfort yea I would desire him in my pain that he would not spare for I will not deny the words of the Holy One. With this Comfort therefore while my pains do burn me I will warm my Zeal and recollect my Courage when the Excess of my Torments shall bring me certain hope of Death For I know that while the pains as it were of Childbirth Crucifie me the Rest and Tranquility of another Life is preparing for me and that the Mercy of God shines over me either inflicting Death or defending my Life Therefore let not God be delayed through any commiseration of me For if I die I shall escape free and secure from my Sins nor shall I ever any more resist the will of God as one that has left this Life and the Inconstancy of Mortals Yet I am very much afraid of my weakness lest I should faint in the right road and in my holy
â—out and advised him to make use of his Physitiâ—ns To whom Charles replied the best Remedy â—n this Disease is Patience The compleat Armour â—f a Sick Man is Patience being so guarded he â—eed fear neither Sickness Pain nor Death He is â—roof against the blows of his Enemies and shall â—ertainly overcome for Patience overcomes all â—hings Sect. 40. We must go at last we are but Guests OUR Life is like an Inn. We live in a strange House by Sufferance We are no sooner entred in but we are sent packing again As the Remembrance of a Stranger that tarrieth but one day and then departeth We are all Strangers saith St. Austin He is a Christian that knows himself to be a Pilgrim in his own House and in his Country Our Country is above there we shall not be Strangers Here every one in his own House is a Stranger If he were no Stranger he were not to depart but he must depart therefore he is a Stranger but he leaves his House to his Children Thy Father made room for thee and thou must make room for thy Children Since we are thus transitory let us do something that may not be transitory that when we come thither whither we are to go we may find our good Works there Therefore since we are but Guests let us not refuse to go there is no more comfortable Journey to a Pilgrim than to return into his own Country Sect. 41. There is a certain limit of Life THE Number of his Months are known unto thee saith Job Thou hast appointed him his Boundâ— which he cannot go beyond What dost thou labour whâ— dost thou toyl for O Man Thy days are numbred tâ— thee Call the Physitians of the World about theâ— Podalyrius Plachaon Aescalapius Hippocrates Gallen they cannot all add one hour to thy Life beyond what God has appointed Thou mayst drink Medicines swallow Gold and Pearles to prolong thy Life yet thou canst not extend the Bounds which thou art not to go beyond Be as cautious as thou wilt decline all the dangers of Life take Remedies betimes thou canst not increase the number of thy Months which God hath determined Wish Vow Pray it signifies nothing The Limits of thy Life are set and thou canst not go beyond them do what thou canst Thou believest the Sands of the Sea to be Numberless yet he has the number of those who had the number of thy Years Months Days Hours and Moments from all Eternity What ever thy Art or Industry may promise thee they cannot add one Minute to thy Life Feed plentifully upon Dainties drink the choice of Wine exercise no more than Health requires take thy full rest yet thou art Mortal and when thou art come to the Goal of thy Life bid the World adieu prepare to give an account the Tribunal calls thee There is no delay no respit no prolonging go we must There is an account to be given and therefore make no Excuses This was not concealed from Seneca No Man faith he dies too soon in whose power it was not to live any longer than he lived Every one has his bounds set which will ever remain where-ever they are set neither can Art or Favour remove them Though a hundred Physitians five hundred Friends a thousand Kindred surround thy Bed none of them can help thee there is but one and that is God alone that can help thee Thou lâ—sest Eternity if at the moment of thy Death thou forsakest God Or if upon thy Departure before thou dost not return and art not received into Favour The last moment of thy Life pronounces Sentence upon thee as thou Diest and Fallest so shalt thou Rise Ah! begin to be Wise and to Live to God Whatever Employment or Business thou takest in hand remember Eternity Sect. 42. The first small Objection of the Sick I Could easily Comfort my self when I was sound and well I made nothing to defie absent Evils But now Eneas in his glittering Steel Cannot support the tedious pains I feel Alas I said one thing while I stood firm but now I feel another thing now I lie thrown upon my Bâ—d Abundance of Men contemn Death but 't is when they think themselves beyond the reach of his Dart but when a Man comes once to be penned up in the wrestling place with Death he begins then to dread the Enemy whom he despised What sayst thou my sick Friend Why dost thou complain against thy self Why dost thou change thy former good Resolutions As if it were the part of a Wrestler to brag and boast out of the hearing of his Enemy but when he comes into the wrestling Place to sink and grow faint-hearted Stand my Friend and hear Thou hast overcome if thou art willing to overcome and canst keep thy self from Despair Behold Christ not only the Spectator of the Combat but the Assistant and he that with his own hands reaches thee all the Weapons thou art to make use of But perhaps they are not fit for thee no more than Saul's Armour for David Dost thou refuse the Scourges the Thornes the Cross Take the shield of Patience that will cover thee and keep thee safe the rest commit to God Thou knowest that of Abraham to his Son God will provide Another Objection Behold I dye that might have liv'd longer certainly thou could'st not for if thou could'st most certainly thou would'st But thou would'st have said this I desired so to do or I hoped so to do And in that I believe thee as all men are Covetous of life I have liv'd but a little while thou criest Q What if thou hadst liv'd longer wouldst not thou have made the same complaint All the spaces of Life are unequal and uncertain yet all short Some perhaps have liv'd Fourscore Years What has he now more than he that liv'd but Eight unless we accompt Cares Troubles Pains Vexations and Sins for Advantages Or what would he have had more had he liv'd Eight Hundred Unless thou reckon the Vertues of the Person and not his Years What were the Nine Hundred Ninety Nine Years of Methuselah but a Vapour that appeareth but a little Let us live never so long â—we shall say we have lived but a little while If then we are so willing to Live let us seek that Life which will be perpetual which though it be not here to be found yet is here to be sought But I die sayst thou when I intended to do good There are some that are always intending to do good but can never find the way to begin Thou I believe art one of those But if thou once beginst to do well never doubt though thou dost not compleat thy Work but that the infailible valuer of all things will deduct nothing from thee the reward shall be entire not only of thy Deeds but Intentions Be of good Courage the direct and short way to reward is to die Sect. 45. Against other Complaints of the Sick THE Complaints
from his Childhood to his Infancy being afflicted with the Palsie so that he could not lift his Hand to his Mouth yet by hearing could remember all the Bible by Heart and while he lay all that time a dying continually had in his Mouth that one Sentence Thanks be to God To him all the Calamitous Days of his Sickness seemed nothing to Eternity The blessed Lydwick a Virgin of Schiedam lay sick eight and thirty Years contesting with â— strange variety of all sorts of Maladies In those eight and thirty Years she scarce eat so much Bread as would suffice as strong Man for three Days and hardly took the rest of three Nights Yet in this croud of Miseries her continual Prayer was O kind Jesu have mercy upon me Coleta another Virgin had sustained an incredible burthen of Pain and Misery for above fifty Years she hardly slept one Hour in eight Days Upon Festivals and Sundays her Pains augmented and sometimes she laboured under Distempers of Mind as well as Sickness of Body Yet in the midst of all she would still cry out I desire to be a Theatre and Stage for all sorts of Diseases to play their parts that so I may become a grateful Spectacle to God and Angels She might have said with St. Bernard My Labour is but the labour of one Hour in respect of Eternity yet if more I value it not through my extream love Therefore my sick Friend if thou numberest the Days and Years of thy Sickness call them a Moment If thy Patience and Constancy out-vye them hope for the Eternity of the blessed The Labour is small the Pain short the Recompence eternal Sect. 52. THat as well the Healthy as the Sick may put inpractice and bring forth what they have determined in their Minds we have added the following Prayers 1. Prayer To be said by the Healthy the Sick and them that lie a dying OH my sweetest Lord Jesu Christ in the Union of that Charity whereby thou didst offer thy self to the Father to die I offer thee my Heart that thy good Will and Pleasure may be satisfied upon me and by me Sweet Jesu I make choice of and desire thy good Pleasure though Adversity Sickness and Death press hard upon me and commit myself entirely to thy most faithful Providence and thy most holy Will For I hope and beseech thee that thou wilt direct me and what-ever belongs to me to thy Glory and the Salvation of my Soul 2. Prayer For the preservation of Conformity with the Divine Will LOrd Jesu Christ who for thy Glory and our Salvation dost intermix Joy and Sadness and permittest for our profits Prosperity and Adversity I return thanks to thy Goodness that thou wert mindful of me and hast visited thy unprofitable Servant with this small Affliction I implore thy Favour that I may reap the Fruit and Advantage of this Visitation of thine and that I may not be hindred by my Impatience or Ingratitude What thou art able to do I humbly beg of thee to remove this present bitter and troublesom Cup from me as thou didst listen to the Tears of King Hezechia and didst miraculously raise him from his Bed of Sickness Yet not my will but thine which is just and holy be done In thy Hands is all the Authority of Judging and Determining concerning thy Children Neither is there any one that better knows than thee what Physick is most convenient for the cure of our Diseases O my most loving Father Reprehend Chastise and Afflict me here that thou mayst spare me hereafter I know thy Rod doth profit many when thou dost Chastise thy beloved Children and that then dost purge and try thy Elect before thou dost Crown them My Heart is prepared O God my Heart is prepared when and how thou pleasest to submit to thy Paternal Rod and that my Patience should be tried by Affliction In thee have I put my trust O Lord let me never be confounded I submit and commit my self entirely to thy most holy Will Though thou slayest me yet will I not cease to hope in thee thou Fountain of Life My desire is in thy hands 3. Prayer For Patience MOst Omnipotent God thou knowest how vile and frail this work of thy Hands is how it is shaken by the least blast of Wind and vanishes again into dust so that there is nothing wherein I can trust to my own strength who in the Contest of the Flesh against the Spirit feel so many Commotions of Anger Impatience Pusillanimity Diffidence and Mistrust upon the slightest Assault of Sickness Therefore I implore thy Help most Heavenly Physician thy Divine Physick which is Patience For Patience is the chief of Consolation in the most bitter of Sicknesses Grant me I beseech thee O Lord with a present and contented Mind I may be able to endure Joy and Sorrow sweet and sowre as proceeding only from thy Paternal Providence because thou directest all things for the tryal and profit of thy Children Let thy Spirit I beseech thee teach me through whose Comfort and Assistance there is nothing too hard for us to perform that I may know how to possess my Soul in Patience till Death Thou art a God who considerest the stings of Affliction under which we labour Yet I though I have not yet resisted to the shedding of my Blood yet against my will I have had the Experience of the weakness of the Flesh and force of contending Nature Therefore Lord help my imperfection so much the more that both my strength may be perfected in Infirmity and that I may be able sincerely to testifie that thy Rod and thy Staff they have Comforted me 4. Prayer Containing a Resignation of a Mans Self to the Will of God OLove ineffable O most sweet Jesu my God and Christ shouldst promise me the best of worldly favours or what I my self would desire I would beg of thee the utmost of what I now suffer This I beg a thousand times over that thy will may be fulfilled and satisfied upon me and by me in all things 5. Prayer After Receiving of the Sacrament GLory be to thee O Christ who out of thy goodness hast been pleased to visit and refresh my sick Soul Now let thy Servant O Lord depart in peace according to thy Word Now I hold thee O Divine Love nor will I any more let thee go Now to the World and all worldly things I bid adieu Now rejoicing I come to thee O God Nothing O sweet Jesu nothing shall separate me from thee For I am united with thee O Christ In thee will I live in thee will I die and in thee if it be thy pleasure will I remain to all Eternity No more do I live now but Christ liveth in me My Soul is weary of this Life I desire to be dissolved and be with Christ and to die a Gainer Now will I fear no evil walking in the shadow of Life because thou O Lord art with me As
these costly Piles of VVood. The Custom of burning the dead Bodies continued among the Romans but until the time of the Antonine Emperors An. Dom. 200. or thereabouts then they began to Bury again in the Earth Manutius de leg Rom Fol. 125 126. They had at these Burials suborned counterseit hired Mourners which were VVomen of the loudest Voices who betimes in the Morning did meet at appointed places and then cried out mainly beating of their Breasts tearing their Hair their Faces and Garments joining therewith the Prayers of the defunct from the Hour of his Nativity unto the Hour of his Dissolution still keeping time with the Melancholick Musick This is a Custom observed at this day in some parts of Ireland but above all Nations the Jews are best skilled in these Lamentations being Fruitful in Tears Tears that still ready stand To sally forth and but expect command Amongst these VVomen there was ever an old aged Beldam called Praefica superintendent above all the rest of the Mourners who with a loud Voice did pronounce these words Ire licet as much to say He must needs depart and when the dead Corps were laid in the Grave and all Ceremonies finished she deliver'd the last Adieu in this manner Adieu Adieu Adieu we must follow thee according as the course of Nature shall permit us The manner of these lamentings saith George Sandys in his Journal may of old appear by this Ironical personating of a Father following the Exequies of his Son introducted by Lucian in these words O my sweet Son thou art lost thou art dead Dead before thy day and hast left me behind of Men the most miserable To Mourn after the Interment of our Friends is a Manifest Token of true Love by it we express that Natural Affection we had to the departed with a Christian-like Moderation of our Grief whereby our Faith to God-ward is demonstrated For as God has made us living so hath he made us loving Creatures to the end we should not be as Stocks and Stones void of all kind and natural Affection but that living and loving together the love of the one should not end with the life of the other Our all Perfect and Almighty Saviour Christ Jesus wept over the Grave of dead Lazarus whom he revived whereupon the standers by said among themselves Behold how he loved him The Ancient Romans before they were Christians mourned nine Months but being Christians they used mourning a whole year clothed in black for the most part for Women were clothed partly in white and partly in black according to the diversity of Nations These Examples considered I observe that we in these days do not weep and mourn at the departure of the dead so much nor so long as in Christian duty we ought For Husbands can buy their Wives and Wives their Husbands with a few counterfeit Tears and a soure Visage masked and painted over with dissimulation contracting second Marriages before they have worn out their Mourning Garments and sometimes before their Copemates be cold in their Graves AN ACCOUNT Of the Death and last Sayings Of the most Eminent Persons from the Crucifixion of our Blessed Saviour down to this present time FVneral Orations have been anciently used both within and without the Church without among the Heathens within among both Jews and Christians David 2 Sam. 1. 19. sets forth the Praise of Saul and Jonathan his Son The Beauty of Israel is slain upon his high places And memorable is that Funeral Oration of Saint Jerom for his Paula and her Daughter Eustâ—chium And good reason since not only Life but the Death of Saints is precious in God's sight let it be so in ours if both the one and the other be spoken of we ought not nor can without Injury to the Pious Souls deceased bury in silence those Verâ—ues and Graces of God which were Eminently visible in their last Exit not only for God's Glory who was Author but also for Example and Comâ—ort of the Survivers And how can we doubt â—hat the Sound of the Praises of the Godly will â—ause the most Dissolute one time or another to â—ish Oh that I might die the death of the righteous â—nd that my latter end may be like his For these holy Purposes I design here to give you an account of the Death and last Sayings of the most Eminent Persons from the Crucifixion of our Blessed Saviour down to this present time It was a Custom in the Primitive Times to Transmit to Posterity what would be most Remarkabe and Exemplary to present as well as to future Ages And I hope such Precedents will not appear unnecessary since Divine Authority informs our weak Judgment that St. Luke made one Treatise of all that Jesus began to do and to teach Acts 1. 1. Which blessed Pattern was fully delineated by that holy Apostle for our Imitation and whose Holy Example we must endeavour to follow if we expect to be his Disciples It was the Wish and earnest Desire even of Dives when in Flames That Abraham would send Lazarus to his Brethren to warn them of coming to that dismal place of Torment as we find it Luke 16. for he conceived a Message from the Dead would operate more powerfully than the Arguments or Perswasions of the Living And in this following Account we may be said to allow you that which was denied to this Man while we Treat you with a seasonable Banquet Served up by Repentance through the Grace and Mercy of God even upon the Brink of the Grave THE Death of Christ and his Apostles c. The Death of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST NO sooner had our First Parents by eating the Forbidden Fruit forfeited their State of Happiness but the All-wise Creator out of the Abundance of his Mercy and Goodness found a means to rescue them and their Posterity from the Power and Malice of Satan and gave them a Promise That the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpent's head Gen. 3. 15 All which was fulfilled by our blessed Lord and Saviour The Son of God and Second Person in the Trinity was born of the Virgin Mary and made Man whose Birth and Glorious Triumph over Death the Grave and Hell the Patriarchs and Prophets â—ll along had foreseen After our Blessed Saviour that Glorious Son of â—ighteousness had run his Course he undertook â—o satisfie his Father's Justice by making a Proâ—itiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of lost and undone â—an and suffered himself to be Tempted Beâ—â—ayed Scourged Spit upon Reviled Crowned â—ith Thorns and lastly submitting even unto the â—eath of the Cross all which had been exactly â—â—etold by the Prophets Though it happened not after the common manner but was attended with such dismal Darkness and terrible Earthquakes Insomuch that a Heathen Philosopher at that Instant declared That either the God of Nature suffered or the World was at an end But he could not long rest under the power of the
help I may bear and suffer this Ignominious Death whereunto I am Condemned for the preaching thy most Holy Gospel As they were binding him to the Stake with a Chain he said with a merry Countenance That he would embrace that Chain for Christ's sake who for his sake had been bound with a far worse When the Fire was kindled he began to sing with a loud Voice Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God have mercy upon me The which after he had repeated three times the flame stopped his Breath his Heart being afterwards found they roasted it upon a Stake and gathering up his Ashes they cast them into the Rhine He suffered Martyrdom Anno Christi 1415. The Death of Hierom of Prague HIS Enemies passed Sentence upon him after which they put a Paper about him painted with red Devils to make him odious to the People as likewise a Paper Mitre on his Head which he took very patiently saying Our Lord Jesus Christ when he suffered Death for me did wear a Crown of Thorns upon his Head and for his sake I will wear this Cap. As he went to the place of Execution he sung Psalms and coming to the place whâ—re John Huss was Burned he upon his Knees put up his Prayers to Heaven after a while they bound him to the Imáge of John Huss Carved in Wood which they had set up instead of a Stake and there with admirable patience he sustained the sury of the Flames when at the giving up the Ghost he with an Audible Voice said This Soul of mine in flames of Fire set free O! Christ my Saviour now I offer thee The Death of Martin Luther FAlling Sick he soon grew exceeding weak yet putting his trust in God he supported himself to Comfort his Friends beyond measure Insomuch that the day before his Death he dined and supped with Melancthene and the rest of his Accomplices But after Supper his Pain increasing he retired to pray and then went to Bed and slept till Midnight but being awakened by the Pain and perceiving his Life near at an end he called his Friends about him and said I pray God to preserve the Doctrine of the Gospel amongst us for the Pope and the Council of Trent have grievous things in hand After which he prayed and earnestly desired of God that he would defend his Church against the Pope and all his Adherents When he was about to die Justus Jonas and Caelius bid him be constant and persevere in the Faith he had taught and held to the last To which he answered Yea and soon after gave up the Ghost dying Anno Christi 1546. He was a Man of great Temperance and Abstenence oftentimes had the Papists hired Ruffians to kill him but they had never the power to do it the Devil one time appeared to him as he was walking in his Garden in the shape of a huge Boar but he so flouâ—ed him that he soon vauished He was wont to say God would give Peace to Germany during his Life but woe to them that should live after him The Death of Zuinglius ZVinglius being the soutâ—h time run in with a Spear he fell down upon his Knees and said Well they can kill the Body but cannot kill the Soul When the Soldiers came to strip the slain Zuinglius was fonnd alive lying upon his Back with his Eyes up to Heaven whereupon they asked him if he would have a Priest to Confess him to which he answered No they then bid him call upon the Virgin Mary which he refusing they thrust him in with a Sword and so expired without setching a Groan as soon as they knew it to be him they cut his Body in four pieces and burnt it the next day his Heart was sound unperished by the Fire tho' the rest of his Body was consumed Before this Battel a Comet appeared which he said Prognosticated his Death and declared it openly in his Sermons Fourteen days before he fell in Battel He was slain in the year 1531. The Death of Oecolampadius AN Ulcer broke cut in his Os Sacrum that he was forced to keep his Bed and though all means was used for his Cure he told 'em his Disease was Mortal and said I shall be presently with the Lord. Then putting his hand to his heart said Here is abundance of Light Next Morning he repeated the 51 Psalm and presently after said O Christ save me and so fell asleep in the Lord Anno 1531. aged 51. The Death of John Frith HE was condemned to be burnt as an Heretick When â—e came into Smithfield he with an undaunted Courage went to the Stake no sooner fastened but the fire was kindled He continued till the last with such Constancy and Patience thâ—t many were converted and began to pray to God to receive his Soul but Dr. Cook forbidding them saying They ought to pray for him no more than they would for a Dog which uncharitable Expression made many blame him He suffered Martyrdom Aano Christi 1531. He wrote many Treatises some were burnt during the Reigns of King Henry the Eight and Queen Mary and some were saved by Providence for on Midsummer-Eve Anno 1626. A Cod-Fish being brought into Cambridge Market when it was cut up these Writings of John Frith were found in its Belly wrapt in Canvas which were afterwards Printed to the rejoicing of all good Christians viz. A Preparation for Death A Preparation to the Cross The Treasure of Knowledge A Mirror to know your self A Brief Instruction to teach one willingly to die and not to fear Death Which Treatises preserved Providence have no doubt prâ— The Death of Thomas Bilney HE Preached the Gospel till the Bishop of Norwich imprisoned him who would have persuaded him from his stedfastness but upon refusal he received Sentence of Condemnation The day before his Execution eating heartily he said I imitate those who have a ruinous House to dwell in yet bestow cost as long as they may to hold it up Then discoursing about Fire he â—ut his Finger in the Candle and said I find by Experience that Fire is hot yet I believe though the Stubble of my Body be wasted my Soul will be purged At his Execution the fire being kindled he lift up his Hands crying Lord I believe â—o yielded up his Spirit unto God Anno 1531. The Death of William Tyndal THE English Merchants at Antwerp hearing of his Imprisonment became suitors for his Deliverance but Philips with his Money prevailed beyond their Entreaties Being at last brought to his Answer although his Enemies could lay nothing to his Charge yet the Attorney proceeded to condemn him and delivered him to the Magistrates to execute him When brought to the Stake he cried with an audible voice Lord open the Eyes of the King of England then being strangled fire was sâ—t to the Wood and he consumed to Ashes Anno Christi 1536. Within a short time after the Judgment of God overtook Phillips who betrayed