themselues reckon a fewe yeares and daies that are able by arte to measure the globe of the earth and the spheres of heauen the quantities of the starres with their longitudes latitudes altitudes motions distances from the earth No verily For howesoeuer by a generall speculation we thinke something of our ends yet vnlesse the spirit of God be our schoole-master to teach vs our dutie wee shall neuer bee able soundly to resolue our selues of the presence and speedinesse of death And therfore let vs pray with Dauid and Moses that God would inlighten our minds with knowledge and fil our hearts with his grace that we might rightly consider of death and esteeme of euery day an houre as it were the day and houre of death The second dutie in this generall preparation is that euery man must daily indeauour to take away from his owne death the power and strength thereof And I pray you marke this point The Philistims sawe by experience that Sampson was of great strength therfore they vsed meanes to knowe in what part of his bodie it lay when they found it to be in the haire of his head they ceased not vntil it was cut off In like manner the time wil come whē we must encoūter hand to hand with tyranous and cruel death the best therefore is before-hand now while wee haue time to search where the strēgth of death lies which beeing once knowne we must with speed cut off his Sāpsons lockes and bereaue him of his power disarme him make him altogether vnable to preuaile against vs. Now to find out this matter we neede not to vse the councel of any Dalilah for wee haue the word of God which teacheth vs plaīly where the strength of death consists namly in our sins as Paul saith The sting of death is sinne Well then we knowing certenly that the power and force of euery mans partirular death lies in his owne sinnes must spend our time and studie in vsing good meanes that our sinnes may be remooued and pardoned And therefore we must daily inure our selues in the practise of two duties One is to humble our selues for al our sins past partly cōfessing thē against our selues partly in praier crying to heauē for the pardon of them The other is for time to come to turn vnto God and to carrie a purpose resolution indeauour in all things to reforme both hart life according to gods word These are the very principall proper duties wherby the power of death is much rebated he is made of a mighty bloody enemie so far forth friendly and tractable that we may with comfort incounter with him preuaile too Therefore I commend these duties to your christian considerations carefull practise desiring that ye would spend your daies euer hereafter in doing of them If a man were to deale with a mighty dragon or serpent hand to hand in such wise as he must either kill or be killed the best thing were to bereaue him of his sting or of that part of the body where his poison lies now death it selfe is a serpent dragon or scorpion sinne is the sting and poison whereby he wounds kils vs. Wherefore without any more delay see that ye pull out his sting the practise of the foresaid duties is as it were a fit worthy instrument to do the deed Hast thou beene a person ignorant of Gods will a contemner of his word and worship a blasphemer of his name a breaker of his Sabbaths disobedient to parents and magistrates a murderer a fornicatour a rayler a slanderer a couetous persō c. reforme these thy sinnes and all other like to them pull thē out by the rootes from thy heart cast them off So many sinnes as be in thee so many stings of death be also in thee to wound thy soule to eternal death therfore let no one sin remaine for which thou hast not humbled thy selfe and repented seriously When death hurts any man it takes the weapons whereby he is hurt from his owne hand It cannot do vs the least hurt but by the force of our owne sins Wherefore I say againe and againe lay this point to your hearts spend your strength life and health that ye may before ye die abolish the strength of death A man may put a serpent in his bosome when the sting is out we may let death creepe into our bosomes and gripe vs with his legs and stab vs at the heart so long as he brings not his venime and poison with him And because the former duties are so necessary as none can be more I wil vse some reasons yet furder to inforce thē Whatsoeuer a man would doe when he is dying the same he ought to doe euery day while he is liuing now the most notorious and wicked person that euer was when he is dying will pray and desire others to pray for him promise amendment of life protesting that if he might liue he would become a practitioner in all the good duties of faith repentance reformation of life Oh therfore be careful to do this euery day Again the saying is true he that would liue when he is dead must die while he is aliue namely to his sins Wouldest thou then liue eternally sue to heauen for thy pardon and see that now in thy life-time thou die to thine own sinnes Lastly wicked Balaam would faine die the death of the righteous but alas it was to small purpose for he would by no means liue the life of the righteous For his cōtinual purpose and meaning was to follow his olde waies in sorceries couetousnesse Now the life of a righteous man standes in the humbling of himself for his sinnes past and in a carefull reformatiō of life to come Wouldest thou then die the death of the righteous then looke vnto it that thy life be the life of the righteous if ye will needes liue the life of the vnrighteous yee must looke to die the death of the vnrighteous Remēber this and content not your selues to heare the word but be doers of it for ye learn no more indeed what measure of knowledge soeuer ye haue then ye practice The third dutie in our generall preparation is in this life to enter into the first degree of life eternal For as I haue said there be three degrees of life euerlasting and the first of them is in this present life for hee that would liue in eternall happines for euer must beginne in this world to rise out of the graue of his owne sinnes in which by nature he lies buried and liue in newnesse of life as it is said in the Reuelation He that will escape the second death must be made partaker of the first resurrection And Paul saith to the Colossians that they were in this life deliuered from the power of darkenesse and translated into the kingdom of Christ. And Christ saith to the
are in Christ who are freed from the whole curse of the law And therefore the holy Ghost saith Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours whereby is signified that they which depart this life being members of Christ enter into euerlasting happines of what death so euer they die yea though it be sudden death Againe I say that sudden death is not euill in all respects for it is not euill because it is sudden but because it commonly takes men vnprepared and by that means makes the day of death a blacke day and as it were a very speedie downe-fall to the gulfe of hell Otherwise if a man be readie prepared to die sudden death is in effect no death but a quicke and speedie entrance to eternal life These obiections being thus answered it appeares to bee a manifest truth which Salomon saith that the day of death is better indeede then the day of birth Now I come to the third point in which the reasons respects are to be considered that make the day of death to surpasse the day of mans birth they may al be reduced to this one namely that the birth day is an entrance into al woe and miserie whereas the day of death ioyned with godly and reformed life is an entrance or degree to eternal life Which I make manifest thus Eternall life hath three degrees one in this life when a man can truely say that hee liues not but that Christ liues in him and this al men can say that repent and belieue and are iustified sanctified haue peace of conscience with other gifts of Gods spirit which are the earnest of their saluation The second degree is the ende of this life when the bodie goes to the earth the soule is carried by the angels into heauē the third is in the end of the world at the last iudgement whē body soule reunited do ioyntly enter into eternal happines in heauē Now of these three degrees death it selfe being ioyned with the feare of God is the second which also containeth in it two worthie steps to life The first is a freedome from all miseries which haue their ende in death For though men in this life are subiect to manifold dangers by sea and land as also to sundry aches paines aad diseases as feauers and consumptions c. yet when death comes there is an end of al. Again so long as men liue in this world whatsoeuer they be they doe in some part lie in bondage vnder originall corruption and the remnants thereof which are doubtings of Gods prouidence vnbeliefe pride of heart ignorance couetousnes ambition enuy hatred lust and such like sinnes which bring forth fruits vnto death And to bee in subiection to sin on this manner is a misery of al miseries Therfore Paul whē he was tempted vnto sinne by his corruptiō cals the very tēptation the buffets of Satan and as it were a pricke or thorne wounding his flesh and paining him at the very heart Againe in an other place wearied with his owne corruptions he cōplaines that he is sold vnder sinne and he cries out ô miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death Dauid saith that his eies gushed out with riuers of teares when other men sinned against God how much more then was he grieued for the sinnes wherewith he himselfe was ouertaken in this life And indeede it is a very hell for a man that hath but a sparke of grace to be exercised turmoyled and tempted with the inborne corruptions and rebellions of his owne heart and if a man would deuise a torment for such as feare God and desire to walke in newnes of life he can not deuise a greater then this For this cause blessed is the day of death which brings with it a freedome from all sinne whatsoeuer For when we die the corruption of nature is quite abolished sanctification is accomplished Lastly it is a great miserie that the people of God are constrained in this world to liue conuerse in the companie of the wicked as sheepe are mingled with goats which strike them annoy their pasture and muddie their water Hereupon Dauid cried out Woe is me that I remaine in Meshech and dwell in the tents of Kedar When Elias saw that Ahab and Iesabel had planted idolatrie in Israel and that they sought his life also he went apart into the wildernesse and desired to die But this misery also is ended in the day of death in as much as death is as it were the hand of God to sort and single out those that be the seruants of God from all vngodly men in this most wretched world Furthermore this exceeding benefite comes by death that it doth not only abolish the miseries which presently are vpō vs but also preuēt those which are to come The righteous saith the Prophet Esay perisheth and no man considereth it in his heart and mercifull men are taken away and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come Example of this we haue in Iosias Because saith the Lord thine heart did melt and thou hast humbled thy selfe before the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against this place c. beholde therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the euill which I will bring vpon this place And Paul saith that among the Corinthians some were a sleepe that is dead that they might not bee condemned with the world Thus much of freedome from miserie which is the first benefit that comes by death the first steppe to life now followes the second which is that death giues an entrance to the soule that it may come into the presence of the euerliuing God of Christ and of all the Angels and Saints in heauen The worthinesse of this benefite makes the death of the righteous to bee no death but rather a blessing to bee wished of all men The consideration of this made Paul to say I desire to be dissolued but what is the cause of this desire that followes in the next words namely that by his dissolution he might come to be with Christ. Whē the Queene of Sheba saw all Salomons wisdome the house that he had built and the meat of his table and the sitting of his seruants the order of his ministers and their apparel c. she said Happie are thy men happy are these thy seruants which stand euer before thee and heare thy wisdome much more then may wee say that they are ten thousand fold happie which stand not in the presence of an earthly king but before the King of kings the Lord of heauen and earth and at his right hand inioy pleasures for euermore Moses hath bin renowned in all ages for this that God vouchsafed
themselues to beleeue bee able in the pang of death to rest vpon the mercie of God Againe he that would die in obedience must first of all leade his life in obedience hee that hath liued in disobedience can not willingly and in obedience appeare before the iudge when hee is cited by death the sergeant of the Lord he dies indeed but that is vpon necessitie because he must yeeld to the order and course of nature as other creatures doe Thirdly hee that would surrender his soule into the hands of God must bee resolued of two things the one is that god can the other is that God will receiue his soule into heauen and there preserue it till the last iudgement And none can be resolued of this except he haue the spirit of God to certifie his conscience that he is redeemed iustified sanctified by Christ and shall bee glorified Hee that is not thus perswaded dare not render vp and present his soule vnto God When Dauid said Lord into thy handes I commend my spirit what was the reason of this boldnesse in him surely nothing else but the perswasion of faith as the next wordes import for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth And thus it is manifest that no man ordinarily can performe these duties dying that hath not performed them liuing This beeing so I doe againe renew my former exhortation beseeching you that ye would practise the duties of preparation in the course of your liues leading them daily in faith and obedience and from time to time commending your selues into the hand of God and casting all your workes vpon his prouidence They which haue done this haue made most happie and blessed endes Enoch by faith walked with God as one that was alwaies in his presence leading an vpright and godly life and the Lord tooke him away that he should not see death And this which befell Enoch shall after a sort befall them also that liue in faith and obedience because death shal be no death but a sleepe vnto them and no enemie but a friend to bodie and soule On the contrary let vs consider the wretched miserable endes of them that haue spent their daies in their sinnes without keeping faith a good conscience The people of the old world were drowned in the flood the filthy Sodomites and Gomorrheans were destroyed with fire from heauen Dathan and Abiram with the company of Core were swallowed vp of the earth Core himselfe as it seemes by the text being burnt with fire wicked Saul and Achitophel and Iudas destroy themselues Herod is eaten vp of wormes and gaue vp the ghost Iulian the Apostata smitten with a dart in the field died casting vp his blood into the ayre blaspheming the name of Christ. Arius the hereticke died vpon the stoole scouring forth his very entralls And this very age affoards store of like examples Hoffemeister a great Papist as he was going to the councill of Ralisbone to dispute against the defēders of the Gospel was suddenly in his iourney preuented by the hand of God and miserably died with horrible roaring and crying out In the Vniuersitie of Louaine Guarlacus a learned Papist falling sicke when he perceiued no way with him but death he fell into miserable agonie and perturbation of spirit crying out of his sinnes how miserably he had liued and that hee was not able to abide the iudgement of God so casting out words of miserable desperation saide his sins were greater then they could be pardoned and in that desperation ended his daies Iacobus Latromus of the same vniuersitie of Louaine after that he had beene at Bruxels and there thinking to doe a great acte against Luther and his fellowes made an oration before the Emperour so foolishly and ridiculously that he was laughed to scorne almost of the whole court then returning frō thence to Louaine againe in his publike lecture he fell into open madnesse vttering such wordes of desperatiō and blasphemous impietie that other Diuines which were present were faine to carie him away as he was rauing and to shut him into a close chamber From that time to his very last breath he had neuer any thing else in his mouth but that he was damned and reiected of God and that there was no hope of saluation for him because that wittingly and against his knowledge he withstood the manifest truth of Gods word Crescentius the Popes Legat and Vicegerent in the councell of Trent was sitting all the day long vntill darke night in writing of letters to the Pope after his labour when night was come thinking to refresh himselfe he began to rise and at his rising behold there appeared to him a mightie blacke dogge of an huge bignesse his eyes flaming with fire his eares hanging low downe well neare to the grounde which beganne to enter in and straight to come towardes him and so to couch vnder the boord The Cardinall not a little amazed at the sight thereof somewhat recouering himselfe called immediately to his seruants which were in the outward chamber next by to bring in a candle and to seeke for the dogge But when the dogge could not be found there nor in any other chamber about the Cardinall thereupon stricken with a sudden conceit of minde immediately fel into such a sicknesse whereof his Physitians which he had about him could not with all their industrie and cunning cure him and thereupon he died Steuen Gardiner when a certaine Bishop came vnto him and put him in minde of Peter denying his master answered againe that he had denied with Peter but neuer repented with Peter and so to vse M. Foxes words stinkingly and vnrepentantly died More examples might be added but these shall suffice Againe that we may be further induced to the practise of these duties let vs call to minde the vncertentie of our daies though we now liue yet who can say that he shall be aliue the next day or the next houre No man hath a lease of his life Now marke as death leaues a man so shall the last iudgement finde him and therefore if death take him away vnprepared eternall damnation followes without recouerie If a thiefe be brought from prison either to the barre to bee arraigned before the iudge or to the place of execution he will bewaile his misdemeanour past and promise all reformation of life so be it he might be deliuered though he be the most arrant thiefe that euer was In this case we are as fellons or theeues for we are euery day going to the barre of Gods iudgement there is no stay or standing in the way euen as the ship in the sea continues on his course day night whether the marriners be sleeping or waking therefore let vs all prepare our selues and amende our liues betime that in death wee may make a blessed ende Ministers of the Gospel doe daily call for the performance of this dutie but where
almost shal we finde the practise obedience of it in mens liues conuersations Alas alas to lend our eares for the space of an houre to heare the will of God is common but to giue heart hand to doe the same is rare And the reason hereof is athād we are al most grieuous sinners euery sinner in the tearmes of Scripture is a foole and a principall part of his folly is to care for the things of this world and to neglect the kingdome of heauen to prouide for the body not for the soule to cast and fore-cast howe we may liue in wealth and honour and ease and not to vse the least fore-cast to die well This folly our Sauiour Christ noted in the rich man that was carefull to inlarge his barnes but had no care at all for his ende or for the saluation of his soule Such a one was Achitophel who as the Scripture tearmes him was as the very oracle of God for councell being a mā of great wisedome forecast in the matters of the cōmon wealth and in his owne priuate worldly affaires and yet for all this he had not so much as common sense and reason to consider howe he might die the death of the righteous come to life euerlasting And this folly the holy ghost hath noted in him For the text saith when he saw that his counsell was despised he sadled his asse and arose went home into his cittie and put his houshold in order and went and hanged himselfe And the fiue foolish virgins contented themselues with the blasing lamps of a bare profession neuer seeking for the horne of lasting oyle of true and liuely faith that might furnish and trimme the lampe both in life and death But let vs in the feare of God cast off this damnable folly first of all seeking the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and leading our liues in faith and obedience that we may die accordingly And thus much of the first point of doctrine namely that there is a certen way whereby a man may die well now I come to the second Whereas therefore Salomon saith that the day of death is better then the day of birth we are furder taught that such as truly beleeue themselues to be the children of God are not to feare death ouermuch I say ouermuch because they must partly feare it and partly not Feare it they must for two causes the first because death is the destructiō of humane nature in a mans owne selfe others and in this respect Christ feared it without sinne and we must not feare it otherwise then we feare sicknes and pouertie and famine with other sorrows of body and minde which God will not haue vs to despise or lightly to regard but to feele with some paine because they are corrections punishments for sinne And he doth therfore lay vpon vs paines torments that they may be feared and eschewed and that by eschewing them we might further learne to eschewe the cause of them which is sin and by experience in feeling of paine acknowledge that God is a iudge and enemie of sinne and is exceeding angrie with it The second cause of the feare of death is the losse of the Church or Common-wealth when we or others are depriued of them which were indeede or might haue beene an helpe stay comfort to either of them and whose death hath procured some publike or priuate losse Againe we are not to feare death but to be glad of it and that for many causes First of al in it we haue occasion to shewe our subiection and obedience which we owe vnto God when he cals vs out of this world as Christ said Father not my will but thy will be done Secondly all sinne is abolished by death and we thē cease to offend God any more as we haue done Thirdly the dead body is brought into a better condition then euer it was in this life for by death it is made insensible and by that meanes it is freed from all the miseries and calamities of this life it ceaseth to be either an actiue or passiue instrument of sinne whereas in the life time it is both Fourthly it giues the soule passage to rest life and celestiall glorie in which wee shall see God as he is perfectly know him and praise his name for euer keeping without intermission an eternall sabboth therefore Paul saith I desire to bee dissolued and bee with Christ for that is best of all Fiftly God exequutes his iudgements vpon the wicked and purgeth his Church by death Nowe in all these respects godly men haue cause not to feare and sorrowe but to reioyce in their owne death and the death of others Thirdly if the day of death be so excellēt yea a day of happinesse then it is lawfull to desire death and men doe not alwaies sinne in wishing for death Paul saith I desire to be dissolueds and againe O miserable man who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death Yet this desire must not bee simple but restrained with certen respects which are these First death must bee desired so farre forth as it is a meanes to free vs from the corruption of our nature secondly as it is a meanes to bring vs to the immediate fellowship of Christ God himselfe in heauen Thirdly death may bee lawfully desired in respect of the troubles miseries of this life two caueats beeing obserued the first that this desire must not be immoderate the second it must bee ioyned with submission and subiection to the good pleasure of God If either of these bee wanting the desire is faulty therefore Iob and Ieremie and Ionas failed herein because they desired death beeing carried away with impatience On the contrarie also a man may desire a continuāce of life Ezechias praied and desired to liue when he heard the message of present death that hee might doe seruice to God And Paul desired to liue in regard of the Philippians that hee might further their faith though in regard of himselfe to die was aduantage to him Lastly if death ioyned with reformatiō of life be so blessed then the death of the vnbeleeuing and vnrepentant sinner is euery way cursed most horrible Reasons are these First it is the destruction of nature and the wages of their sins Secondly in it there is no comfort of the spirit to be found no mitigatiō of paine no good thing that may counteruaile the miseries thereof Thirdly that which is the most fearefull thing of al bodily death is the beginning of eternall death desperation and infernall torment without hope of deliuerance Therefore as I began so I ende haue care to liue well and die well FINIS An addition of things that came to my minde afterward THe last combate with the diuell in the pang of death it oftentimes most dangerous of all For then he will not vrge men to desperation knowing
and to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Secondly I answer the particulars which be alleadged on this manner And first of all touching dispaire it is true that not only wicked and loose persons despaire in death but also repentant sinners who oftentimes in their sickenesse testifie of themselues that beeing aliue and lying in their beddes they feele themselues as it were to be in hell and to apprehend the very pangs and torments thereof And I doubt not for all this but that the child of God most deare vnto him may through the gulfe of desperation attaine to euerlasting happinesse This appeares by the maner of gods dealing in the matter of our saluation All the workes of God are done in by their contraries In the creation all things were made not of some thing but of nothing cleane contrary to the course of nature In the worke of redemption God giues life not by life but by death and if we consider aright of Christ vpon the crosse we shall see our paradise out of paradise in the middest of hel Eor out of his owne cursed death doeth he bring vs life and eternall happinesse Likewise in effectuall vocation when it pleaseth God to conuert and turne men vnto him he doeth it by the meanes of the Gospel preached which in reason should driue all men from God For it is as contrarie to the nature of man as fire to water and light to darknesse and yet for al this though it bee thus against the disposition and heart of man it preuailes with him and turnes him to God Furthermore whē God will send his owne seruants to heauen he sends them a contrarie waie euen by the gates of hell and when it is his pleasure to make men depend on his fauour and prouidence hee makes them feele his anger and to bee nothing in themselues that they may wholly depend vpon him and bee whatsoeuer they are in him This point beeing well considered it is manifest that the childe of God may passe to heauen by the very gulfes of hel The loue of God is like a sea into which when a man is cast hee neither feeles bottome nor sees bank I conclude therfore that dispaire whether it arise of weakenesse of nature or of conscience of sinne though it fall out about the time of death cannot preiudice the saluation of them that are effectually called As for other straunge euents which fall out in death they are the effects of diseases Rauings and blasphemings arise of the disease of melancholy and of frensies which often happen at the end of burning feuers the choller shooting up to the braine The writhing of the lippes the turning of the necke the buckling of the ioints and the whole bodie proceede of crampes and convulsions which followe after much euacuatiō And wheras some in sicknesse are of that strength that three or foure mē cannot hold thē without bonds it comes not of witchcraft and possessions as people commonly thinke but of choller in the veines And wheras some when they are dead become as black as pitch as Bonner was it may arise by a bruise or an impostume or by the blacke iaundise or by the putrefactiō of the liuer it doth not alwaies argue some extraordinarie iudgement of God Nowe these and the like diseases with their simptomes strange effects though they shall depriue man of his health of the right vse of the parts of his bodie and of the vse of reason too yet they can not depriue his soule of eternal life And all sinnes procured by violent diseases and proceeding from repentant sinners are sins of infirmity for which if they know them and come againe to the vse of reason they will further repent if not they are pardoned and buried in the death of Christ. And we ought not so much to stand vpon the strāgenesse of any mans end when we know the goodnesse of his life for wee must iudge a man not by his death but by his life And if this be true that strange diseases and thereupon strange behauiours in death may befal the best man that is wee must learne to reforme our iudgements of such as lie at the point of death The common opiniō is that if a man lie quietly and goe away like a lambe which in some diseases as consumptions and such like any man may do then he goes straight to heauē but if the violēce of the disease stirre vp impatience and cause in the partie franticke behauiours then men vse to say there is a iudgement of God seruing either to discouer an hypocrite or to plague a wicked man But the truth is otherwise for indeed a mā may die like a lamb and yet goe to hell and one dying in exceeding torments and strange behauiours of the body may go to heauē by the outward conditiō of any mā either in life or death we are not to iudge of his estate before God The fourth obiection is this Whē a man is most nere death then the diuell is most busie in temptatiō the more men are assaulted by Satan the more dāgerous and troublesome is their case And therfore it may seeme that the day of death is the worst day of all Answ. The condition of Gods childrē in earth is twofold Some are not tempted some are Some I say are not tempted as Simeon who when he had seen Christ brake forth and saide Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace c. fore-signifying no doubt that hee should end his daies in all maner of peace As for them which are tēpted though their case bee very troublesome and perplexed yet their saluation is not further off by reasō of the violence extremity of temptation For God is then present by the vnspeakable comfort of his spirit when wee are most weake he is most strong in vs because his manner is to shewe his power in weakenes And for this cause euen in the time of death the diuell receiues the greatest foyle when he lookes for the greatest victorie The sixt obiection is this Violent sudden death is a grieuous curse of all euills which befal man in this life none is so terrible therefore it may seeme that the day of sudden death is most miserable Ans. It is true indeede that sudden death is a curse grieuous iudgement of God and therefore not without cause feared of mē in the world yet all things considered wee ought more to be afraid of an impenitent and euil life then of sudden death For though it be euill as death it selfe in his own nature is yet we must not think it to be simply euil because it is not euill to al men nor in all respects euill I say it is not euill to all men considering that no kinde of death is euill or a curse vnto them that
church of the Iews the kingdome of heauen is amongst you Now this first degree of life is when a man can say with Paul I liue not but Christ liues in me that is I finde partly by the testimonie of my sanctified conscience and partly by experirience that Christ my redeemer by his spirit guideth and gouerneth my thoughts will affections and all the powers of bodie soule according to the blessed direction of his holy will Now that we may bee able truely to say this we must haue three gifts and graces of God wherein especially this first degree of life consists The first is sauing knowledge whereby wee do truly resolue our selues that God the father of Christ is our father Christ his sonne our redeemer the holy Ghost our coÌ„forter That this knowledge is one part of life eternall it appeares by the saying of Christ in Iohn This is life eternall that is the beginning and entrance to life eternall to knowe thee the onely God and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ. The second grace is peace of conscience which passeth al vnderstanding and therefore Paul saith that the kingdome of heauen is righteousnesse peace of conscience and ioy in the holy Ghost The horrour of a guiltie conscience is the beginning of death destruction therefore peace of conscieÌ„ce deriued froÌ„ the death of Christ is life and happinesse The third is the regimeÌ„t of the spirit whereby the heart and life of maÌ„ is ordered according to the word of God For Paul saith that they that are the children of God are led by the spirit of Christ. Now seeing this is so that if we would liue eternally we must begin to liue that blessed and eternall life before wee die here we must be carefull to reforme two common errours The first is that a maÌ„ enters into eternall life when he dies and not before which is a flatte vntrueth Our Sauiour Christ said to Zacheus This day is saluation come to thy house giuing vs to vnderstand that a man theÌ„ begins to be saued when God doth effectually call him by the ministery of his Gospel Whosoeuer then will be saued when he is dying dead must begin to be saued while he is now liuing His saluation must beginne in this life that would come to saluation after this life Verily verily saith Christ he that heareth my word and beleeueth in him that sent me hath eternall life namely in this present life The second error is that howsoeuer a man liue if when he is dying he can lift vp his his eies say Lord haue mercie vpon me he is certainely saued Behold a very fond foolish conceit that deceiues many a maÌ„ It is al one as if an arrand thiefe should thus reason with himselfe and say I will spend my daies in robbing and stealing I feare neither arraignment nor execution For at the very time wheÌ„ I am to be turned off from the ladder if I doe but call vpon the iudge I know I shall haue my pardon Behold a most daungerous and desperate course and the very â—ame is the practise of carelesse men in the matter of their saluation For a man may die with Lord haue mercy in his mouth perish eternally except in this world he enter into the first degree of eternall life For not euery one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into heauen but he that doth the will of the father which is in heauen The fourth dutie is to exercise and inure our selues in dying by little and little so long as we liue here vpon earth before we come to die indeede And as meÌ„ that are appointed to run a race exercise themselues before in running that they may get the victory so should we begin to die now while wee are liuing that we might dywel in the end But some may say how should this be done Paul giues vs direction in his own example when he saith By the reioycing which I haue in Christ I die daily And he died daily not onely because he was often in danger of death by reasoÌ„ of his calling but also because in all his dangers troubles hee inured himselfe to die For when men doe make the right vse of their afflictioÌ„s whether they be in bodie or minde or both and doe with all their might indeauour to beare them patiently humbling themselues as vnder the correction of god then they begin to die wel And to doe this indeede is ro take an excellent course He that would mortifie his greatest sins must begin to do it with small sinnes which when they are once reformed a maÌ„ shal be able more easily to ouercome his master-sins So likewise he that would be able to beare the crosse of all crosses namely death it selfe must first of all learne to beare smal crosses as sicknesses in bodie and troubles in minde with losses of goods and of friends and of good name which I may fitly tearme little deaths the beginnings of death it selfe and we must first of all acquaint our selues with these litle deaths before we can be able to beare the great death of all Again the afflictions and calamities of this life are as it were the harbingers and puruiers of death and we are first to learne how to entertaine these messengers that when death the Lord himselfe shall come wee may in better manner entertaine him This point Bilney the martyr well coÌ„sidered who oftentimes before he was burned put his finger into the flame of the candle not onely to make trial of his abilitie in suffering but also to arme and strengthen himself against greater tormeÌ„ts in death Thus ye see the fourth duty which ye must in any wise learne and remember because we cannot be able to beare the pangs of death well vnles we be first well schooled and nurtured by sundrie trialls in this life The fifth and last dutie is set downe by Salomon All that thine hand shall finde to doe doe it with all thy power And marke the reason For there is neither worke nor inuention nor knowledge nor wisedome in the graue whither thou goest To the same purpose Paul saith Doe good to all men while ye haue time Therfore if any man be able to doe any good seruice either to gods Church or to the Common-wealth or to any priuate man let him doe it with all speede with all his might lest death it selfe preuent him He that hath care thus to spend his daies shal with much comfort and peace of conscience end his life Thus much of generall preparation Now followeth the particular which is in the time of sicknes And here first of all I will shew what is the doctrine of the Papists and then afterward the truth By the popish order and practise when a man is about to die he is enioyned three things First to make sacramentall confession specially if it be in any mortall sinne secondly to
receiue the eucharist thirdly to require his annoyling that is the sacrament as they call it of extreame vnction Sacramentall confession they tearme a rehearsal or enumeration of all mans sinnes to a priest that he may receiue absolution But against this kind of confession sundry reasons may be alleadged First of all it hath no warrant either by commandemēt or example in the whole word of God They say yes and they indeauour to prooue it thus He which lies in any mortall sinne is by Gods law bound to doe penance and to seeke reconciliation with God now the necessary means after baptisme to obtaine reconciliatiō is confession of all our sins to a priest Because Christ hath appointed Priests to be iudges vpon earth with such measure of authority that no man falling after baptisme can without their sentēce and determination be reconciled and they can not rightly iudge vnlesse they know all a mans sinnes therefore all that fal after baptisme are bound by Gods word to open all their sins to the priest Ans. It is false which they say that priests are iudges hauing power to examine and take knowledge of mens sinnes and iurisdiction whereby they can properly absolue pardon or retaine thē For Gods word hath giuen no more to man but a ministerie of reconciliation whereby in the name of God and according to his word he doth preach declare and pronounce that God doth pardon or not pardon his sins Againe pardon may truly be pronounced right iudgement of the estate of any man without a particular rehearsall of all his sinnes For he which soundly truly repents of one or some fewe sinnes repents of all Secondly this confession is ouerturned by the practise of the Prophets Apostles who not onely absolued particular persons but also whole Churches without exaction of an auricular confession When Nathan the Prophet had rebuked Dauid for his two great horrible crimes Dauid touched with remors said I haue sinned Nathā presētly without further examinatiō declared vnto him in the name of God that his sins were forgiuen him Thirdly it can not be prooued by any good sufficient proofes that this confession was vsed in the Church of God til after fiue or sixe hundred yeares were expired For the confession which was then in vse was either publike before the Church or the opening of a publike fault to some priuate person in secret Therfore to vrge sicke men vnto it lying at the point of death is to lay more burdens on thē then euer God appointed And whereas they make it a necessarie thing to receiue the Eucharist in the time of sicknes toward death and that priuatly of the sicke partie alone they haue no warrant for their practise and opinion For in the want of the sacrament there is no danger but in the contempt and the very contempt it self is a sin which may be pardoned if wee repent And there is no reason why wee should thinke that sicke men should be depriued of the cōfort of the Lords supper if they receiue it not in death because the fruit and efficacie of the Sacrament once receiued is not to be restrained to the time of receiuing but it extends it self to the whole time of mans life afterward Againe the supper of the Lord is no priuate action but meerely Ecclesiasticall and therfore to be celebrated in the meeting assembly of Gods people as our Sauiour Christ prescribeth when hee saith Do ye this and Paul in saying When ye come together But it is alleadged that the Israelites did eat the Pascal lamb in their houses whē they were in Egypt Ans. The Israelites had then no libertie to make any publicke meeting for that end and God commanded that the Paschall Lamb should be eaten in al the houses of the Israelites at one the same instant that in effect was as much as if it had bin publike Againe they alleadge a Canon of the Councell of Nice which decreeth that men being about to die must receiue the Eucharist not be depriued of the prouision of food necessarie for their iourney Ans. The Councell made no decree touching the administration of the Sacrament to all men that die but to such only as fal away frō the faith in persequution or fell into any other notorious crime and were thereupon excommunicate so remained till death either then or somewhat before testified their repentance for their offences And the Canon was made for this end that such persons might be assured that they were againe receiued into the church by this means depart with more cōfort Thirdly it is obiected that in the primitiue Church part of the Eucharist was carried by a lad to Serapion an aged man lying sicke in his bedde Ans. It was indeed the custome of the auncient Church from the very beginning that the elements of bread and wine should be sent by some of the Deacons to the sicke which were absent from the assēbly And yet neuerthelesse here is no footing for priuate communions For the Eucharist was only then sent when the rest of the church did openly cōmunicate such as were thē absēt only by reasō of sicknes desired to be partakers of that blessed communion were to be reputed as present Lastly it is obiected that it was the māner of men women in former times to cary part of the sacramēt home to their houses and to reserue it till the time of necessitie as the time of sicknes and such like Ans. The reseruation of the sacrament was but a superstitious practise though it be ancient For out of the administratiō that is before it begin after it is ended the sacramēt ceaseth to be a sacrament the elements to be elements As for the practise of thē that vsed to cramme the Eucharist into the mouth of them that were diseased it is not onely superstitious but also very aburd As for the Annoying of the sicke that is the annointing of the bodie specially the organes or instrumēts of the senses that the party may obtain the remission of his sinnes and comfort against all the temptatiōs of the diuell in the houre of death and strēgth more easily to beare the paines of sicknes and the pangs of death and be againe restored to his corporall health if it bee expedient for the saluatiō of his soule it is but a dotage of mans braine and hath not so much as a shew of reason to iustifie it The fift of Iames is commonly alledged to this purpose but the annointing there mentioned is not of the same kinde with this greasie sacramēt of the Papists For that anointing of the body was a ceremony vsed by the Apostles and others when they put in practise the miraculous gift of healing which gift is now ceased Secōdly that anointing had a promise that the party annointed should recouer his health but this popish annointing hath no such
promise because for the most part the persons thus annointed die afterward without recouerie wheras those which were annointed in the primitiue Church alwaies recouered Thirdly the ancient annointing serued onely for the procuring of health but this tēds further to the procuring of remission of sins and strength in tēptation Thus hauing seene the doctrine of the Papists I come now to speake of the true and right manner of making particular preparation before death which containes three sorts of duties one concerning god the other cōcerning a mās own selfe the third concerning our neighbour The first cōcerning God is to seeke to be recōciled vnto him in Christ though we haue bin long assured of his fauour All other duties must come after in the second place they are of no effect without this Now this recōciliatiō must be sought for is obtained by a renuing of our former faith repentance and they must be renued on this māner So soone as a man shal feele any maner of sicknes to seaze vpon his bodie he must consider with himselfe whēnce it ariseth after serious consideration he shall finde that it comes not by chance or fortune but by the prouidence of God This done he must go yet furder cōsider for what cause the Lord should afflict his body with any sicknes or disease And he shal find by gods word that sicknes comes ordinarily and vsually of sinne Wherefore is the liuing man sorrowfull man suffereth for his sinne It is true indeed ther be other causes of the wāts of the body of sicknes beside sinne and though they be not known to vs yet they ar known to the Lord. Hereupon Christ when he saw a certaine blinde man and was demaunded what was the cause of the blindnesse answered neither hath this man sinned nor his parents but that the workes of God should be shewed on him Yet we for our parts who are to goe not by the secret but by the reuealed will of God must make this vse of our sicknes that it is sent vnto vs for our sinnes When Christ healed the man sicke of the palsy he saith Be of good comfort thy sinnes are forgiuen thee and when he had healed the man by the poole of Bethesda that had bin sicke 38. yers he bids him sin no more least a worse thing happen vnto him giuing them both to vnderstand that their sicknes came by reasō of their sinnes And thus should euery sick man resolue himself Now when we haue proceeded thus farre haue as it were laid our finger vpon the right and proper cause of our sicknesse three things cōcerning our sins must bee performed of vs in sicknes First we must make a new examination of our hearts and liues say as the Israelites said in affliction Let vs search try our waies and turne againe to the Lord. Secondly we must make a new confession to God of our new particular sinnes as God sends new corrections and chastisment When Dauid had the hād of God very heauy vpon him for his sins so as his very bones moisture consumed within him he made confession of them vnto God and therupon obtained his pardon was healed The third thing is to make new praier more earnest then euer before with sighes grones of the spirit that for pardon of the same sins for reconciliation with God in christ In the exercise of these 3. duties standes the renouation of our faith repentance wherby they are increased quickned reuiued And the more sicknes preuailes and takes place in the bodie the more should wee be careful to put thē in vre that spirituall life might increase as temporal life is decaied When king Ezechias lay sicke as he thought vpon his death-bedde he wept as for some other causes so also for his sinnes and withal he praied God to cast them behind his back Dauid made certain Psalmes when he was sick or at the least vpon the occasiō of his sicknes as namely the 6. the 32. the 38. the 39. c. and they are al psalmes of repētāce in which we may see how in distresse of the body and mind he renewed his faith repentāce heartily bewailing his sinnes intreating the Lord for the pardon of them Manasses one that fell from God and gaue himselfe to many horrible sins when he was taken captiue and imprisoned in Babylon Hee prayed to the Lord his God and humbled himselfe greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed vnto him and God was intreated of him and heard his prayer and brought him againe to Ierusalem into his kingdome and then Manasses knew that the Lord was God Now looke what Manasses did in this tribulatiō the same thing must we doe in the time of our bodily sicknesse Here I haue occasion to mention a notorious fault that is very common in this age euen amōg such as haue long liued in the bosome of the Church and that is this Men now adaies are so far from renuing their faith and repentance that when they lie sick and are drawing toward death they must bee catechised in the doctrine of faith and repentance as if they had beene but of late receiued into the Church Whosoeuer wil but as occasion is offered visit the sick shall finde this to be true which I say What a shame is this that whē a man hath spent his life daies in the church for the space of 20. or 30. or 40. yeares hee should at the very ende of all not before begin to enquire what faith what repentance is and how his soule might bee saued This one sin argues the great securitie of this age the great contempt of God and his word Wel let al men hereafter in time to come bee warned to take heede of this exceeding negligence in matters of saluation and to vse all good means before-hand that they may be able in sicknesse and in the time of death to put in practise the spirituall exercises of inuocation and repentance Now if so be it fall out that the sicke partie cannot of himselfe renue his owne faith and repentance he must seeke the help of others When the man that was sicke of the dead palsie could not go to Christ himself he got others to bear him in his bedde when they could not come neere for the multitude they vncouered the roofe of the house and let the bed down before Christ euen so when sicke men cannot alone by thēselues doe the good duties to which they are bound they must borrow helpe from their fellowe members who are partly by their counsell to put to their helping hand partly by their prayers to present them vnto God and to bring them into the presence of Christ. And touching helpe in this case sundry duties are to be performed Saint Iames sets downe foure two whereof concerne the sicke patient and other two
it a small matter to make experiments of their deuised medicines vpon the bodies of their patients wherby the health which they hoped for is either hindered or much decayed Thirdly there be others which minister no physick at any time or vse phlebotomie without the direction of iudiciall Astrologie but if they shall follow this course alwaies they must needs kill many a man Put the case that a man full bodied is taken with a pleurisie the moone being in Lâ—one what must be done The learned in this art say he must presently be let blood but by Astrologie a stay must be made till the moone be remooued from Leo to the house of the sunne but by that time the impostume wil be so much encreased by the gathering togither of the humors that it can neither be dissolued nor ripened and by this meanes the sicke partie wanting helpe in time shall die either by inflammation or by the consumption of the lungs Againe when a man is sicke of the Squinancie or of the feauer called Synaichus the moone then being in malignant aspects with any of the infortunate planets as Astrologers vse to speake if letting of blood be deferred till the moone be freed from the foresaid aspects the partie dies in the meane season Therefore they are farre wide that minister purgations and let blood no otherwise then they are counselled by the constitution of the starres whereas it is a farre better course to consider the matter of the disease with the disposition ripening of it as also the courses and simptomes and crisis thereof This beeing so there is good cause that sicke men should as well be carefull to make choise of meete Phisitians to whom they might commend the care of their health as they are carefull to make choise of Lawyers for their worldly suites and Diuines for cases of conscience Furthermore all men must here be warned to take heede that they vse not such meanes as haue no warrant Of this kinde are all charmes or spels of what words soeuer they consist characters and figures either in paper wood or waxe all amulets and ligatures which serue to hang about the necke or other parts of the bodie except they be grounded vpon some good naturall reason as white peonie hung about the necke is good against the falling sicknes and woolfe dung tied to the bodie is good against the cholicke not by any inchantment but by inward vertue Otherwise they are all vaine and superstitious because neither by creation nor by any ordinaÌ„ce in Gods word haue they any power to cure a bodily disease For words can doe no more but signifie and figures can doe no more but represent And yet neuerthelesse these vnlawfull and absurde meanes are more vsed sought for of common people then good physicke But it stands all men greatly in hand in no wise to seeke forth to inchanters and sorcerers which indeede are but witches and wizzards though they are commonly called cunning or wise men and women It were better for a man to die of his sicknes then to seeke recouery by such wicked persons For if any turne after such as worke with spirits and after soothsayers to goe an whoring after them the Lord will set his face against them and cut them off from among his people When Ahazia was sicke he sent to Baalzebub to the god of Ekron to know whether he should recouer or no as the messengers were going the Prophet Elias met them and saide Goe and returne to the King which sent you and say vnto him Thus saith the Lord Is it not because there is no God in Israel that thou sendest to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron therefore thou shalt not come downe from thy bed on which thog art gone vp but shalt die the death Therefore such kinde of helpe is so farre from curing any paine or sicknes that it rather doubleth them and fasteneth them vpon vs. Thus much of the meanes of health now followes the maner of vsing the meanes concerning which three rules must be followed First of all he that is to take physicke must not onely prepare his body as physitians doe prescribe but he must also prepare his soule by humbling himselfe vnder the hand of god in his sicknesse for his sinnes and make earnest praier to God for the pardon of them before any medicine come in his body Nowe that this order ought to be vsed appeares plainely in this that sicknes springs from our sinnes as from a root which should first of all be stocked vp that the braunches might more easily die And therefore Afa commended for many other things is blamed for this by the holy Ghost that he sought not to the Lord but to the Physitians put his trust in them Oftentimes it comes to passe that diseases curable in themselues are made incurable by the sins and the impeniteÌ„cie of the partie and therefore the best way is for them that would haue ease wheÌ„ god begins to correct them by sicknes then also to begin to humble themselues for all their sinnes and turne vnto God The second rule is that when we haue prepared our selues and are about to vse physicke we must sanctifie it by the word of God and praier as we do our meate and drinke For by the word we must haue our warrant that the medicines prescribed are lawfull and good and by praier wee must intreate the Lord for a blessing vpon them in restoring of health if it be the good will of God The third rule is that wee must carrie in mind the right proper ende of physicke least we deceiue our selues We must not therefore thinke that physicke serues to preuent olde age or death it selfe For that is not possible because God hath set downe that all men shal die and be changed And life consists in a temperature and proportion of natural heat and radical moisture which moisture beeing once consumed by the former heat is by arte vnrepairable and therefore death must needs follow But the true ende of physicke is to continue and lengthen the life of man to his naturall period which is when nature that hath bin long preserued by all possible meanes is now wholly spent Now this period though it can not be lengthened by any skill of man yet may it easily be shortned by intemperance in diet by drunkennes and by violent diseases But care must be had to auoide al such euils that the little lamp of corporall life may burne till it goe out of it selfe For this very space of time is the very day of grace and saluation whereas god in iustice might haue cut vs off and haue vtterly destroyed vs yet in great mercie he giues vs thus much time that we might prepare our selues to his kingdome which time when it is once spent if a man would redeeme it with the price of ten thousand worlds he cannot haue it And to