sure I am Religion teacheth no such thing well may such a desperate position be maintained in Schools and by heathen Philosophers but never in Pulpits and by Christian Divines That Law in the Decalogue Non occides Thou shalt not Exod. 20. kill reflecteth first upon a mans selfe and then upon his neighbour To kill a mans selfe is forbidden in the first place his neighbour but in the second this is but a breach of the law of charity but that of the law of nature so that according to that solid speech of Saint Augustine Exceptis iis quos just a lex generaliter c. excepting those whom a just Law in generall or God the fountaine of justice in speciall commandeth to be slaine Whosoever killeth himselfe or any other he is guilty of murther and a transgressour of the Law If the life of man were his owne then indeed it were somewhat he might be the more lavish of it and use it at his pleasure but it is the gift of God and man must not dispose of Gods gift without the minde of God the giver 1 Sam. 2.6 Or if man were sui juris his owne man then it were another case but he is pars Communitâ—tis as Aristotle speaks a part of the state a member of the body politick and if one member suffer all the members suffer with it â— Coâ— 12.26 If one man dye an untimely death all the whole Commonwealth is supposed to be damnisâ—ed by it and therefore it is as I conceive that the King doth take so procise an account of the death of the meanest Subject because both he himselfe and the whole Kingdome had interest in him That some have made away themselves as former Ages doe witnesse and this our age too is no warrant for us or any one to doe the like We are all set in this world as souldiers in battell array and must not breake our ranks without order from our Captain As Prisoners in a Gaole must not seeke our liberty without the Jaylors keyes to let us out As Subjects in a Kingdome and must not out of the Land without the leave and past-port of our Soveraigne And therefore Balaam craves leave Numb 23.10 to depart Let me dye and Jonah though weary of his 〈◊〉 would not quench the light of it himselfe but makes petition Ionah 4.3 to God Take away my life And old Sâ—meon begs his release Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Luke â— 29 We must not projicere animas as he speaks desperately throw away our soules but fairely resigne them nor quit our charge heâ—e upon â—erth but wait upon God according to Jobs example All the dayes of my appointed time will I Iob 14.14 wait till my change come Man must wait for his change not worke it not appoint his owne death for it is appointed by God And so I have done with the first part the Statute enacted in the first word of my text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is appointed Appointed by whom my text shall answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to men that 's the second part of text the concernant parties for whom this Law 2. The concernant party was enacted and to whom it was appointed namely to men And indeed of all the creatures under the cope of heaven there is none of them all can so properly be said to dye as men for of them some have onely being as the Planetary bodies the Stars the Stones and the like Some again have being and vegetation as the Trees and Plants some have being in vegetation and sence as the bruit Beasts and some have being vigetaâ—â— on sence and a soule too as reasonable men Now death being a seperation of the soule from the body cannot in right reason nor in a genuine true sence be ascribed to any creature but such as hath a soule as well as a body To speak properly then it is mankinde that suffers the sentence of death and it is men that dye for to them it is that death is allotted is apoointed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that not to some one man or to some few men but to all men for though the particle of universality be not expressed yet sure it is included and so intended an indefinite proposition we say in the Schooles is equivalent to an universall When Iob saith Man that is borne of a woman is of few dayes he means every man so here when the Apostle saith it is appointed to Iob 14. â— men to dye he meanes all men all without exemption without exception Death is a debt that every man must pay qui vult excipere creatur decipere he be he what he will that thinkes to goe free is fouly deceived and shall finde it otherwise David puts the question what man is he that liveth and shall not see death but the question is without all Psal 89. 48. question every man living shall see death Kings and Princes and Dukes and Earles and Barons and Baronets and Knights and gentlemen and Tradesmen and Husbandmen and all there is neither sex nor age nor Nation nor condition that shall be priviledged Absalon for all his beauty Sampson for al his strength Salomon for al his wisdom Achitopel for all his craft is dead and so is rich Dives courtly Haman valarous Ioab all dead and which is more so is righteous Noah faithfull Abraham zealous Lot meeke Moses religious David innocent Iob painfull Paul penitent Zacheus and he that was the center of all perfection Christ the Lord. If any power or greatnesse or piety or integrity or vertue or grace or any thing in the world had been any muniment or defence against death surely Christ of all other had never dyed nor made his bed in the darke as Iob seaks Iob 17.13 This Statute of death takes hold of all that enjoy the benefit of life Paracelsus that great Phisition though he cured many others and promised immortality to himselfe yet was he cut off in the prime of his yeeres Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis there is no antidote for death never yet was it seen or known or heard that any drug was so soveraigne as to preserve a man from dying of the longest liver it hath been said in the end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his life is past or vixit he had his time or mortuus est he dyed Before I quit this point I will resolve a doubt or two but briefly and as it were in two words the first this The Apostle S. Paul saith that Christ hath destroyed death Dub. how comes it then to seize upon the Saints of God whence 〈…〉 1.10 is it that the righteous dye seeing Christ hath dyed for theâ— This doubt may be assoyled thus first the most righteous man upon the face of the earth besides his originall hath many Solut. 1. actuall sins which make him liable to
death Secondly Christ by dying did not take away the stroke but the sting of death not the being of it but the curse tollitur mors non est sit sed ne obsit men are still mortall but the tyranny of death which makes it penall is taken away Thirdly the nature of death is changed it is now in a manner no death of a curse it is become a blessing of a punishment a benefit of the gate of hell the portall of heaven thus the first doubt is resolved The second doubt is this Enoch was translated that he Dub. 2. should not see death Heb. 11.5 and Elias was carried up by 2 Kings 2. a whirlewinde into heaven therefore all men dye not I answer the translation of Enoch and the rapture of Eliah Solut. are two intrigate and subtile questions and such as have troubled I will not say pusled the heads of many Divines my meaning is not to trouble either you or my selfe with any exact discusment of these questions onely to satisfie for the present and to assoile the doubt proposed this I say That Enochs translation and Eliah his rapture and the change of all those that are alive at Christs second coming in the end of the world were and shall be a kinde of death loco mortis saith Aretius in the stead of death instar mortis saith Bosquter like death But because this change neither did nor shall seperate the soule from the body nor dissolve the compositum therefore it is not a true proper real death Againe let it be supposed that Enoch and Eliah did not dye it will not infring this common Statute that all shall dye It is enough that all the posterity of Adam be obnoxious to death though some be dispensed withall and dye not for as privilegia paucorum legem nor faciunt to use the words of the Canonist the priviledges of a few doe not constitute or make a law so neither anull or infringe a law What though some have been priviledged and exempted from death I say with Saint Augustine alia naturalitas alâ—a mirabiliter fiant some things are done naturally some miraculously an ordinary course is one thing an extraordinary another but take it ordinarily and according to the common course of nature and it is as true as truth it selfe that it is appointed unto all men once to dye And so I come to the third part of my Text touching what this Statute was enacted and appointed unto men and that 's exprest here in two branches Death and Iudgement 3. Touching what once to dye that 's one branch but afâ—er this the judgement The former branch of this Statute is touching Death it is appointed unto men saith the text once to dye semel once Death not twice quod casus in Diabolo id in homine mors that which the fall in the Divell the same is death in man he fell but once and we dye but once Men that are dead are phrased by the holy Ghost as waters spilt upon the ground 2 Sam. 14. 14. which cannot be gathered up againe waters once spilt sinke into the dust and are not gathered up againe nor cannot be spilt againe What is said of the death of Christ may be saâ—d of the death of all other men in an ordinary regular way he died but once no more doe they one corporall death sufficeth If any now shall object unto me and say that some have Object died twice as the widdow of Sareptaes sonne the Shunamites son 2 Kings 4. the dead man that was cast into the grave of Elisha As also Jairus daughter and Tabitha and Euâ—ichus and â— Kings 17. 2 King 13. Lazarus and some others these all were raised up to live and lived to die again I answer that all or the summe of all that can be said is Answer that it was an extraordinary act And besideâ— the common Road of Gods usuall way for ordinarily and without some speciall dispensation and priviledge all men die and die but once I am the more confident in because my text is cleare for it Statutum est c. It is appointed unto all men once to die 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to die that is the maine matter of the statute death There is a three fold death 1. A Naturall the death of the body 2. A Spirituall the death of the soule 3. An Eternall the death of the whole man both body and soule The first of these three seperates the soul from the flesh The second the spirit from grace The third the whole man from the Beatificall vision and presence of God and that for ever The first of these three kindes of death as I take it is only meant in this place not the spirituall death of the soule nor the eternall death of the whole man but the naturall death of the body that 's the death appointed unto men without discrimination to all men without exception The death of the body and the dissolution of nature is that the remembrance whereof is so bitter whereof the wiseman speakes Ecclesiasticus 41. 1. That which the heathen Philosopher called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most terrible of all tetribles That which Job call the King of feares That Cup which Iob. 18. 14. our Saviour Christ himself was afraid to drink off Matthew 26. 39. Et fortior non est miles quam imperator and usualâ— the Souldier is not more valarous then his Leader then his Captaine If the apprehension and scentiment of death was so terrible to him that was more then a man how much more to us that are but men but meere men And yet death is of the nature of those things that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bitter sweet Bitter in respect of it self or being the destroyer of nature but sweet in respect of the consequence as being a passage to a better life I dare say there is not a soule of discretion amongst you all but could wish the terrours of death taken away and the bitternesse of it abated and allayed Now that you may have that you wish for and be able to encounter with death as a friend not as a furie let me commend unto you these specialls First to meditate often upon death Secondly to make preparation for death Thirdly to consider the benifits that come by death These three well practised and put in use by a Christian will like that wood that Moses threw into the waters of Exod. 15. 25. Mara sweeten the bitternesse of death and make it more pleasing For first the frequent meditation of death and the often inculcating and commenting upon it will make it more familiar and lesse terrible Tela proevisa minus Loedunt he that sees or thinks upon a bullett or blow a coming 2 Kings 6. 22. starts not at it as he that is hitt upon a sudden and unawares It s wisdome for a man to acquaint himselfe with death before it come
but after this the judgement FVnera'l Obsequies and solemnities of this nature they are to use the words of Saint Augustine Magis vivoruns solatia quam mortuorum subsidia more for the solace comfort of the living then any wise subsidiary or helpfull to the dead well may those that are alive reape some advantage and benefit by seeing such spectacles of mortality and by hearing commemorations of death but for those that are dead these Ceremonies are of little or no availe in the world for neither are the wicked any whit bettered by thâ—â— nor the godly prejudiced in the want of them Sepelit natura relictos saith the Poet Nature makes a grave for those that have none Et coelo tegitur qut non habit vrnam and heaven covers that corps that hath no othercoffâ—â— And yet I must tell you that Christian buriall is a great blessing for a man to come to the grave in peace is a singular happinesse This was promised to good King Josiah as a recompence 2 King 22 27 for his consternation and humiliation when the rest of the people of the Land committed Idolatry and provoked the Lord to wrath That he for his part should be gathered unto his Fathers and into his grave in peace this was both commended and blest of David that the men of Jabosh Gâ—lead shewed kindnesse unto Saul and Jonathan his 2 〈…〉 Sonne and buried them It is no lesse then a part and point of piety to respect those bodies on earth and to let them have all the due rights of comely Buriall whose soules are glorious in heaven How justly doe we take care of the honourable interring of our friends when as God himselfe gives us a vive example he when the soule of Moses was expired and conveyed into glory caused his body to be conveyed into the valley of Moab Deut 34 6. to be buried Answerable hereunto was Sara buried in Hebron Gen. 23. Deborah in Bethel Gen. 35. Rachel in Bethleem Gen. 48. Christ in a new tombe hewen out of a rocke I might be infinite Mat. 27. in particulars but this is a most certain truth that though the dead body be insensible of any position yet Christian buriall is a blessing And the contrary hereunto is a curse at least a punishment which the Lord threatens to revolters and rebels Jehoakam that wicked King for his violence oppression and other his vicious courses had this message sent him and it was a cutting one that he should be buried with the buriall Ier. 22. 19. of an Asse drawn out and cast beyond the gates of Ierusalem Amongst those many judgements that God threatned to bring upon the Iewes this was one and a maine one too that they should not be lamented neither be buried but should be as dung upon the face of the earth their carcases should be meat for the fowles of the heaven and for the beasts of the Ier. 16.14 earth I could with ease inlarge my selfe upon this theame but I consider where I am to whom I speak and what I have to do and therefore without any further Prefacing I addresse my selfe to my Text. It is appointed unto men once to dyâ— but after this the â—udgment These words whether you take them Text. joyntly or separate in coherence with the Context or a part by themselves they are a Statute Law enacted by God himselfe in the grand Parliament of heaven touching mans death and his judgement after death So that in telling you what the words are I have told you withall in a manner what the parts be namely these three First a Statute enacted in the first word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 's one part Appointed to whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 to men that 's another part to men touching what touching their dying and their coming to judgement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 once to dye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but after this to judgement that the last part these be the parts Of these in order A Statute enacted is our first point Statutum est It is appointed 1. A Sâ—â— enacted All Statutes are not of the same constitution and enactment for some are constituted and enacted by men as those in the Parliament of State concerning theft murther rape robbery with a thousand more of that nature Some againe are constituted and enacted by God as those in the high Court and Consistory of heaven concerning sinne death judgment and the like and such is this Statute here in my text a Statute of Death and that not of mans ordination or appointment but of Gods Statutum est it is appointed and appointed by God hence it is that holy Iob ascribes the day of his departure unto God I know saith he that he will bring Iob 30.23 me to death and to the house appointed for all the living and hence it is that the Lord in the rejection and extirpation of the Iews arrogates to himselfe both their death and the manner of it I will appoint over them foure kindes saith the Lord the Sword to slay the Dogges to tearâ—â— and the Fowles of the Ier. 15.3 heaven and the Beasts of the earth to devoure and destroy the slaying sword the tearing Dog the devouring Fowles the destroying Beasts all from the Lord and of his appointment It s well observed that there be five keyes which the Lord keepes in his owne custody and reserves in his owne power the Key of Raine The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure Deut. 28.12 sure the heaven to give thee raine to thy land in its season that 's the first key the key of Food Thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good that 's the second key the key of the Psal 104.28 heart God opened the heart of Lydia that she attended unto the Acts 16. things that were spoken of Paul that 's the third key The key of the wombe God remembred Rachel and harkned unto her Gen 30. and opened her wombe that 's the fourth key The key of the Grave And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have Ezech. 37.13 opened your graves that 's the fift and last key Now as none can forgive sinne but God onely so none can open the grave dissolve these tabernacles of our flesh bring to the dust of death but onely the Lord for man not armed with authority from above but meerly out of spleene or revenge or coller or a bravado or wearinesse of the world or the like to open the passage out of the world and to bring death either upon himselfe or others is to intrench upon Gods right snatch the key out of his hand and both peevishly and perilously to transgres that Law which he hath enacted which he hath appointed Now of things appointed by God some are absolute some occasionall some Lege naturae institutae by the law of nature in its perfection and integrity