and in it self Death is the separation of life from its subject Death is not only a cessation from action but a negation of existence for the soul may in a swooning fit cease to operate not to animate There may be a suspension of action where there is not a privation of its principle but death separateth the soul the fountaine of vital action from the body the subject thereof Secondly We will view death in what it is Accidentaliter ad aliud Accidentally and in reference to somthing without it self And that to 1 The Godly 2 The Wicked First To the Godly And so it is a rest from their labours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 51. de Sanct. Mar. Boren Proâ—â—â—c Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.13 They rest from 1 Sin 2 Sorrows Both which the holiest of men are exercised with and subject to whilst they live in the world they labour under the former in the latter whilst in this dying life But when they dye that which doth separate them from their bodies doth unite them closer unto God Their death is the Funeral of their sins the resurrection of their Graces that which doth unpinion them of mortality doth also translate them into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God So that Death is but a change to a holy Job Job 14.14 Act. 7.60 2 Cor. 5.10 a sleep to a blessed Steven a dissolution of the earthly house to a holy Paul whilst by it he accounteth not to be found naked but to be cloathed upon with his house which is from heaven to have mortality swallowed up of life and by the death of his body Rom. 7.24 to enjoy his wisht for deliverance from the body of death And this for the first Death to the godly is a rest from their sins 2. It is a rest from their sorrowes Josephs feet shal no longer be detained in the stocks neither shal he complain of the iron which entred into his soulâ— Nor any of the Saints and holy Martyrs shall at all complain of the incessant malice of their enemies Death shal give them a resting-place for in the grave the weary shall be at rest There the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressor Job 3.17 18 And all this shall not be the effect of a Stoical apathy or stupefactive cessation from sense and motion But by an introduction into real joy That soul which was before glewed unto the body shal therefore be dissolved that it may be with Christ and that which whilst it was in the world was but at best a prisoner of hope shall then be set at libertie and have eternity wherein to expatiate in the enjoyment of those mansions of glory which God hath provided for such whom he shall account worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vâ—ri Septu The righteous also are taken away from the evil to come Isai 57.1 and their graves are but beds wherein they rest in the evening of their dayes And thus you see that as to live is Christ so to die is gain to believers whilst by it they rest from sin and sorrow Our next work is to consider death in its reference to the Wicked And to them it is the beginning of evil the entry of their woe They are the men who have hope only in this life and therefore are of all men the most miserable That death which in its intention is to put out the candle of a good mans life doth but snuff it and make it burne the brighter whilst their life of grace is consummate by being swallowed up in a never-ending life of Glory This shall cause the candle of the wicked to go out in a stench their Sun to set in a cloud their flattering day of prosperity to end in a dismal night of black eternal horror whilst by it they shall at once be separated from their bodies and from the presence of God in whose favour is life and from his right hand where are pleasures for evermore And thus I have answered this Question Quid sit What death is Secondly Quotuplex sit Of how many sorts it is And Death in its complexe notion represents it self under a threefold respect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. 56. 1 Corporal 2 Spiritual 3 Eternal These three unnatural branches spring from one root to wit Sin The First is by sin The Second in sin The Third for sin The First is competent to both the Godly the wicked and hath been spoken to already Let us consider a little the second Spiritual Death and this also hatha double consideration 1. A Death in sin 2. A Death to sin The Apostle speaks of the former to the believing Colossians Col. 3.13 where he tells them that they being dead in sins and trespasses God hath quickned them together with Christ And thus the wicked are said to be dead whilst they live there being a separation between God the Author of Spiritual life and their souls the due subjects thereof by reason of their sins Psal 59.2 And this is the estate of every one of us until God saith unto us Live A Death to sin Secundum Spiritum â— mors est non credere vina quae câ—edebâ—t non jacere vana quae faciebat August Serm. 121. de Resurrect more And this is the estate of a lively Christian of one who is passed from death to life This is to be dead with Christ and is a testimony to him in whom it is that he shall live with him Rom. 6.8 This is not as the former the result of sin but the gift of God and of this death there is a twofold testimony First A death to the Law That is to say when we are brought by the threatnings in the Law to know that there is no salvation or life to be found by the Law but in Christ and this I doubt not to assert for the meaning of S. Paul Gal. 2.19 For I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God Secondly A dying to the World A deâ—pising all things therein or whatsoever it counteth admirable for the excellencie of the knowledg of Christ And thus to do is to be made conformable to the death of Christ Phil. 3.8 9 10. But I haste to passe over these which though fair fruit yet never grew on this tree profitable Doctrine but not arising from the present Text spoken to by transition rather then regular deduction from the subject I am upon I proceed to consider death in its third acception Eternal Death This is the in-let of Hell the sum of misery the second death which I suppose is not excluded yet not primarily intended in the words and hath power over none but such as have had
no part in the first Resurrection THIS is the dregs of the fury of the Lord the Cup of his sorest indignation which requireth eternity to drink it to the bottom This is the gnawing worm and unquenchable fire the sense whereof doth cause them on whom it is inflicted to meditate terror for ever THESE are the sparks which the wicked have kindled from the fire of their own lusts and wherein God will cause them to lye down in sorrow THIS is that Devouring fire who among us shall dwell with it Who among us shall dwell with these everlasting burnings Every one shal thus die for sin who is before dead in sin The next Question I am to resolve is Quare sit Wherefore it is which will be answered by inquiring Vnde sit Whence it is And there is a threefold rise of Death 1. Satan 2. Man 3. God The first by Temptation The second by Consent The third by Infliction 1. SATAN is the grand contriver of mans destruction and therefore is the Author of it not by a Physical but moral causality He is the Father of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam 1.15 Sin the parent of death He who is the Antient of daies tells us the Devil is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A murderer from the beginning And through mans cowardise in consenting to iniquity he who at the first did but usurp hath now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the power of death and is not to be overcome but by Christ who is stronger then he And blessed be God that the Author of Death is overcome by him who is the Prince of life Heb. 2.14 15. and the Author and finisher of that faith against which the gates of hel shal not prevail But 2. Man consenting This is another cause of death to prove this see that remarkable place Rom. 5.12 Hic enim duo concurrunt tentator et obtemperator Zeged loc◠commu As by one man sin entered into the world Death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned We were no sooner children of Adam but we were sons of Death Our first Father Adam we in him did eat of that apple the core whereof doth yet stick in our throats and will at length choak us one by one Sin is our own work death is the Wages of sin which brings me to the third cause God inflicting If man by his sin saith he will die God by his decree saith he shall die so that man shal have his will though it end in his woe If Adam will needs entaile an hereditary curse upon his posterity God will so ratifie it by his supreme Act in heaven that it shall never be cut off it shall be inevitable seeing he hath appointed for men once to die And thus we have the resolution of these three Questions I shall only answer an objection and so proceed to use Object But is this true It is appointed to men men indefinitely to all men to die What is the reason we read of some persons who did not of some who shall not taste of Death Answ I. Answer Particular exceptions destroy not the verity of general rules because some go out of the backdoor we doe not therefore cease to say that the gate is the ordinary way out of the house and because some hath not seen death or others shall not we need not cease to affirm It is appointed for men once to die for men are said to die either properly and really or by way of aequivalency when they ungergo a Change equal with death Thus did Enoch when he was translated Elijah when carried to heaven in a fiery Charriot and this shall they undergo who shall be found alive when Christ shal come to judgment The essence of Death or rather its nature not consisting in cinerefaction but as I have before affirmed in a separation of life from its subject which in Gods people is accompanied with a blessed dis-union of sin from their soul They are no longer subjects of sin when once vessels of eternal glory The next thing in order of method will be to make some inference from what hath been said and let me premise this it will be wisdom for us to look this King of Terror in the face and to consider whether we are able to encounter with him or no and what Nero did when he heard he was sentenced by the Senate as an enemy to the Publick Weale to be punished More majorum despairing to live he tried the points of the Ponyards wherewith he had resolved to dye to feel their sharpness before he sheathed them in his bowels So it would be wisdome in us by serious reflection upon our frailty to die daily that so the day of our death may not surprize us unawares Storms are most terrible when they surprize us suddenly and without a shelter Death will then be most unwelcome when it overtakes us unprepared or unresolved to grapple with it I shall now endeavor to apply this Doctrine If this be true That death is inevitable Vse 1 then let us live as such who are to die Because death is an evil to nature let us not hasten it because it is a necessary consequent of our sin Let us endeavour that though it separate our souls from our bodies yet it seize not on us in such an estate which will separate both from God Because by Christ it is overcome and proves a friend to Grace by hasting its consummation in Glory let us not be afraid to encounter with it But alas how few of us make this improvement of the necessity of death How many by intemperance and disorder do dig their graves with their own teeth How many are there whose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whilest they are Somno vinoque sepulti before their passing-bell hath tolled and even whilest their bones are full of marrow Job 20 11. their souls are replete with the sins of their youth These are such who put far from them the evil day They consider not the daies of darknesse neither think of them any more then as the Prophane proverb is Their dying day Their inward thought is that not only their houses Psalm 49.11 but they shall abide for ever not considering there is a God in whose hands are their life breath and all their waies that their breath is in their nostrils and their life ere long may be as water spilton the ground that it will lay the greatest Prince leveld with the poorest Peasant Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres Hor at lib. 1. Od. 4. that Death regards not the scepter of a mortal Prince nor compassionates the sad estate of any nor will be bribed to give a release from natures bonds that the grizly hand of death will cover many a naked brest which formerly hath been the looking-glasse of lust and pride with a
should be loth to decide what Infinite Wisdome hath left in doubt neither do I profess my self to understand what the Angels of heaven nor any man doth know but the Father onely Mat. 24.36 Proud desire of knowledge may do hurt where humble ignorance of what God is pleased to conceal doth not suppose a fault Let me leave this therefore irresolved as the former and apply what hath been already said It may inform us in the words of the Apostle Vse 1 Rom. 14.12 So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God for therefore is this Judgement appointed that God may exercise Distributive Justice in the World by rewarding the righteous punishing the wicked absolving the one condemning the other which actions suppose a scrutiny in mens lives And although God who knoweth all things might without further witness pass to give Sentence yet he will give the sinner leave to plead his own Cause and then out of his own mouth will condemn him or else so clear shall be the testimony of his own Conscience that it shall leave him speechless without excuse And thus the sinner shall justifi God when he speaketh and shall clear him when he judgeth Thus they who would not confess their sin here to give glory to God shall will they nill they then confess it to take shame unto themselves Neither is this account less strict than sure there are no shifts to avoid it we cannot blinde the eyes of this Judge with gifts nor scare him with our frowns nor appeal from his Tribunal to a higher Bench nor hide our selves from his Omniscience or fly any where from his Presence His Serjeant Conscience will Arrest the proudest Prince and bring him before the King of kings where devested of his Royal Pomp he shall equally stand to receive his Doom with the meanest Peasant and shall there exchange his Scepter for a Crown of Glory his Royal Ornaments for the White Robes of the Saints or else be environed with greater shame Each creature will own the Summons at that day which the last Trump shall proclaim The Earth shall give up its dead the Sea likewise it s that so each person contained in them may give an account of himself to God Secondly If God hath appointed a Day wherein to Judge the World Then learn that 1 Cor. 4.5 Therefore judge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart Let no man anticipate God or take his Office out of his hand by judging his brethren Exact knowledge is requisite in a Judge Si judicas cognosce Sen. Med. but the eyes of man are too dim to judge of the actions of others because they cannot see them in the heart their Root and Fountain for God alone searcheth hearts Hence it is that holy men in this life are oft judged as hypocrites when as on the contrary the glistring gloworm of Morality in this dark night of the world goeth under the notion of Holiness and Integrity Thus the righteous are condemned and the wicked are justified by those who judge after the sight of their eyes according to appearance and not righteous judgement To those God doth speak Who art thou that judgest another Iam. 4.12 And also Gods people say as to Moses was once retorted by the Israelite Who made thee a Prince Exo. 2.14 and a Judge over us Produce thy Commission thou that art so forward in censuring or condemning the rest of thy brethren If thou hast none what is thy plea for this inordinate practice Is it that in the Psalmist Psa 12.4 Our lips are our own who is Lord over us And therefore thy tongue walketh through the streets Hast thou not read that God is ready to judge both the quick and the dead to acquit whom thou condemnest to condemn whom thou approvest Or readest thou not that of the Apostle Jam. 5.9 Behold the Judge standeth before the door execute not then thy malice till God hath delivered his Sentence It is not hatred of sin but desire of revenge which doth inflame mens tongues with a love to blame and condemn not amend and correct the faults of others or rather as S. Austin doth notably observe De Serm. Dom. in Mont. lib. 2. cap. 18. in Mat. 7.1 Such do labour with Pride or Envy which cause their hearts to swell against the persons and names of their brethren Whilst I thus inveigh against judging another I do not say but we may say A sin is a sin Gal. 5.19 for the works of the flesh are manifest and therefore fall under our censure But in judging we must avoid these three things First We must not we may not judge our brethren about the use or abstinence from those things which in their own nature are indifferent In this case the Apostle puts the question Sunt quaeiam facta media quae ignoramus quo an mo siam qaia bono malo siâ—r possunt de quibu temerarium est judicare maxime ut condemnemus Aug. de Serm Dom. in Mont. l. 2. c. 18. Rom. 14.4 Who art thou that judgest another mans servant to his own Master he standeth or falleth And for the abstinence from such things the same Apostle saith Let no man judge you Calvin in loc and that is as one explains it make guilty of Judgement or Condemnation to wit for the omission of such Ceremonies as were abolished by Christ his death Secondly Our Suspicions must not serve us to condemn our brethren for those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those secret things of the heart it is Gods work to bring them to light 1 Cor. 4 3. Suspicions are no Proof and therefore not a sufficient foundation of a Legal Sentence No nor every Report is sufficient to raise a mist whereby to darken the reputation of our brethren for we know SI SATIS FVERIT ACCVSASSE NEMO ERIT INNOCENS If it were sufficient to accuse none should be innocent We must therefore in this case take Gods counsel and imitate his practice First We must take his counsel Deut. 13.14 They were not upon a bare report to destroy them who said Let us go and serve other gods But minde thou shalt inquire make search and ask diligently and behold if it be truth and the thing certain then do thus and thus Again see Gods Practice Gen. 18.21 There God who is Omniscient saw their sin the cry thereof came unto heaven yet speaking to our capacity and suggesting our duty I will go down now saith he and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know This is the second thing we must avoid then in judging we must not condemn our brother for what we suppose or suspect before sound search after and clear knowledge of the fact Thirdly and
from this expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they shall go away there is then terminus à quo from which they depart as well as terminus ad quem whither they go 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab à privativo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Etymologie which every School-boy is acquainted with and such indeed is the nature of Hell There is a twofold privation which I shall touch upon First A Privation of all outward enjoyments of whatsoever the world calls good Secondly and chiefly A privation of the Beatifical Vision And indeed if the former were all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ad Theod. laps Paraen Hell were something tolerable there being nothing without a man in the absence whereof he may not retain his happiness But yet that is not inconsiderable in this forlorn estate because whilst wicked men have their outward comforts about them they do somewhat stupifie Conscience and put far from them the evil day But in Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost ad Theod. laps Paraen Cain shall finde no Cities to build nor shall his Posterity invent to themselves instruments of Musick none among them will take the Timbrel and Harp or rejoyce at the sound of the Organ Belshazzar cannot there drink wine in bowls or eat the lambs out of the flock or the Calves out of the midst of the stall The rich man shall be deprived of his delicate dishes and that fine raiment wherewith he was clad every day There are no Dice whereby to cast care away nor Cellars wherein to drown his grief Jezebel her Paint shall there be melted off and burning shall be in stead of beauty Neither shall Judas his Bag afford him a crum of Comfort for in one hour so great delights are come to nought But this is the least part of their loss for these also shall be deprived of him in whose Presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Depart from me ver 41. is the first and worst of that dreadful Sentence which such shall hear How shall Amazement and Horror the pangs as of a woman in travail seize upon the Souls of these accursed Caitiffs when the Lamb of God shall utter his voice like a Lion in that terrible Sentence Depart from me each syllable whereof doth pronounce amazement accent grief and will cause their Souls to meditate Terror whom it doth concern Thus those who did forget the God that formed them shall be cut off from his hand and be remembred no more They who were the Servants of Sin shall be free amongst the dead They who were wise to do evil whilst they suffer the terrors of the Lord shall be distracted They who wearied themselves to commit iniquity shall finde that the wages of sin is death when they shall reap the fruit of their own doings and their backslidings shall correct them But I proceed to the Second to wit Position of Vnspeakable Misery And here were my Tongue as the Pen of a ready writer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost ad Theod. laps Paraen Psal 108.11 I should fail in speaking of those Torments which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive If we respect the Soul great is the misery inflicted on it Let us then judge of the Lion by his Paw and that Ocean of wrath by those * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ad Theod laps Paraen Drops thereof which fall sometimes upon men on this side the Infernal Pit If these do drown men in sorrow and sadness what will be the case of such when God shall afflict them with all his waves when the terrors of the Lord shall come round about a Soul Psa 88.17 and compass it about together when the Lord shall meet such a Soul as a Bear which is robbed of her whelps and shall rend the caul of his heart when he shall make the wicked as a fiery oven in the time of his anger Psa 29.9 and shall swallow them up in his wrath and the fire shall devour them Iob 7.15 when God shall hunt them as a fierce Lion and the Almighty shall set himself against a sinner in battel aray How would such a Soul choose strangling and death rather than life But this is not all though the chiefest of their sorrow for the Body hath sinned and must also suffer That flesh which hath swimmed in pleasures shall be drenched in rivers of Brimstone Those eyes which were sometimes the windows of vanity shall now be the inlets of ghastly spectacles Those ears which were delighted formerly with corrupt communication shall now be affrighted with hideous yellings of those damned creatures The curious smell stopped with the stench of that infernal place That nice palate shall want its curious fare when he who was mighty to drink wine and a man of strength to mingle strong drink shall feed upon wormwood and drink the water of gall The delicate touch shall no longer then be pleased when he who was accustomed to stretch himself upon Beds of Ivory shall have this at the hand of the Lord to lie down in sorrow This will silence each cursing Shimei who addeth grief to the sorrow of Gods people by reproachful taunts and tie the tongues of those railing Rabshekahs who love all devouring words For the tongue of the Slanderer shall not then be at liberty to walk up and down the earth when its imprisonment in Hell shall controll it The hands of the violent person shall be Manacled there and cease to oppress and the feet of him who was swift to shed blood shall be reserved in everlasting chains of darkness Rev. 18.17 And by how much the more such have glorified themselves and lived deliciously so much torment shall be given unto them Were their strength the strength of stones or their flesh of brass yet how could they harden themselves in this sorrow Can their hearts endure or can their hands be strong in the day that the Lord shall deal with them it's God 's own question Ezek. 22 14. Yet endure they must and that more than I have yet named And this leads me to the Third Consideration of these Torments Secundum Mensuram According to the Measure or Degree of them and this is exceeding great yet various according to the several demerits of the sinner for such as rebel against the light is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever LAESA PATIENTIA FIT FVROR Love slighted turns to irreconcileable hatred The Gulf between Heaven and Hell is made more wide by neglecting great Salvation It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of Judgement than for Chorazin and Bethsaida wherein Christ did his mighty works We poor Mortals until God do bring us from under the power of Satan to himself do live in the world as if Hell were not so hot or the Devil so black