all one as if we were vnarmed Neither can wee bee sound and sincere of heart nor follow righteousnesse to the full nor haue the whole comfort of our knowledge hope and faith nor well manage the sword of the spirit that is GODS word to quell our spirituall foes if wee doe not ioyne to these much and often prayer For Prayer is as a whetstone to sharpen the edge of this sword to make it cut vnto the quicke and goe home and the furnace wherein the other pieces of this armour must bee wrought to their right temper that they may bee of proofe and impenetrable And if then wee bee thus armed Death can at no time set on vs to our hurt And what need hee feare the approch of death that being conscious to himselfe that his heart is voide of guile and vpright toward GOD and being daily imployed in doing Gods will and exercising himselfe to all righteousnesse doth vnderstand by the Gospell as a message sent from heauen that God is at peace with him is by faith perswaded of his interest in IESVS CHRIST and all his merits for the pardon of his sinnes and to set him free from Gods vengeance and hell fire hath an assured hope after death to enioy that incorruptible Crowne of glory which is reserued for him in the heauens and while hee waiteth for it doth walke vnder the safegard and in the light of Gods word trembling at the iudgements taking direction from the precepts reioycing in the diuine mysteries and receiuing comfort from the promises thereof and can pray with sighes and grones vnutterable vnto GOD euen in the agony of death for his mercy and ayde which at no time shall faile to succour him and much lesse in that last conflict and bickering The hills may sooner fall and the pillars of the Earth bee shaken then the estate of this man can be ouerthrowne euen by death it selfe It is so indeed that vntill wee be thus armed wee shall not bee hardy enough to encounter Death Wee cannot but tremble at the thought much more at the presence of that grimme King of feare For wee are in death to grapple with most gastly enemies much to strong for vs and breathing nothing but bloud and destruction namely sinne Sathan all the powers of Hell and the curse of GOD. It would daunt the stoutest heart to be thrown into the middest of many rauening Beares and roaring Lyons all naked without any weapon to defend himselfe or offend them And where is hee that hath the courage to encounter sinne accusing him Sathan and Hell gaping for him and GODS wrath like Lightning flashing at him if hee be not well prouided of this spirituall armour which onely can secure him in this conflict and keepe him that hee be not swallowed vp of them But as a faint heart would dare to enter the field against most furious foes that were furnished with such armour of proofe as no blow or shotte could pierce So get wee on this armour of GOD and we shall haue heart enough to looke Death in the face nor shall at that time our sinnes Sathans fury or GODS wrath appall vs being so thorowly fenced and armed that none of these can hurt vs who vnderstands that GOD is become our friend our sinnes are pardoned and that Sathan is as a Lyon chained vp stamping and roaring at vs but not able to hurt vs. With what a constant and magnanimous spirit doth holy DAVID expect the approch of Death I will not saith hee Psal 23. feare any euill though J should walke thorow the vally of the shadow of death And whence doth this his courage grow but from faith which made him see God present with him to conduct him safe thorow that darke and gloomy vally for thou art with mee saith hee Nay whom hee felt to be present with him in restoring his soule and leading him in the pathes of righteousnesse How cheerefully was blessed PAVL also affected toward death When hee saw it to draw nigh 2 Tim. 4 6. c. I am euen now ready to bee offered and the time of my departing is at hand c. And what is it that maketh him thus cheerefull and confident in this case First a good conscience that did beare him witnesse of his sincerity in seruing God in all his course and then his faith which he had kept sure and inuiolable as Verse 7. I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Next an assured hope of saluation which did spring from these From hencefoorth is laid vp for me the Crowne of righteousnesse which in that day the Lord that righteous Judge shall giue mee Verse 8. And in like sort whosoeuer hee be that is thus armed hee shall be able with equall confidence to stand against Death yea to bid defiance thereto with the same PAVL saying as in 1 Cor. 15.55 c. Death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory It is beleeue me onely sinne and vnbeliefe that doth strip vs naked and maketh our soules penetrable by the venemous sting of Death Procure wee to our selues faith and a good conscience to take away the guilt of sinne and quell the power of it wee shall bee so solide and firme that Death may hisse at vs but not sting vs nibble vs but not bite vs and as it was told the Viper gnawing at a File that shee should sooner weare and break her owne teeth then fret the File So shall Death blunt her venemous sting and breake her viperous teeth but not fasten them vpon vs to doe vs any hurt The last thing that I would aduise vnto in this businesse is euer to keepe an euen and just reckoning with GOD. What was it that made the vniust Steward Luke 16. to heare of giuing vp an account with so ill a will but because it was not euen nor could hee render a good reckoning If a debtor be farre behinde hand with his Creditor and bee much on the score hee doth hang backe from comming to an account but if matters stand euen betweene them the one is not more forward to cal for a reckoning then the other is to giue one And what is it that doth more daunt and appall vs at our death then that wee see that our account with GOD doth not stand euen and that we are infinitely indebted and runne behinde hand with him thorow our extreame carelesnesse and ill husbandry It is a common prouerbe among vs that euen reckoning doth make long friends and wee dare walke openly and shew our face boldly before men when wee are cleere with them and owe them nothing It is then a singular course to make and continue friendship betweene the LORD and our selues to keepe euen with him whereby wee shall also obtaine a spirituall boldnesse to come and at any time shew our selues before him To this end wee are to imitate good husbands of this world who in their generation
there haue beene set vpon at vnawares and taken away vnprepared as they were It is then extreame folly for vs in any place or time to promise to our selues securitie from the stroke of Death an Enemy that like the Iewes against PAVL hath vowed our destruction that will make no league or take no truce with vs that no brazen Tower can exclude no Guifts winne no Prayer intreat an Enemy that doth chase vs continually sometime in visible forme of open danger and sicknesse sometime in an inuisible figure of secret perils and diseases that hath a thousand wayes to assault and as many weapons to kill vs being neuer farre from vs and oft neerer then we thinke of whose mortall stroke no fence can ward off nor armour resist What then can wee doe other if wee will doe wisely but euer meditate of our Death and expect it alwayes Euen as well in the Prime of our yeares as the Winter of our age in Health as Sicknesse at a Banquet and in the middest of our mirth as in a Battaile and amongst the carkasses of dead and cryes of dying men Yea but you will say this will marre all our mirth For who can laugh and bee merry if his heart bee euer taken vp with the sad memory of Death and such a ghastly Image bee still before his eyes It may bee that this meditation will indeed quell and coole our Carnall mirth which wee take in laughing gaming dauncing and such outward things And if it doe so farewell such mirth Some affirme of Oxymel a syrupe pleasantly tart compounded of Water Honey and wine Vineger boyled together that where Flegme doth abound it auayleth prettily to extenuate and cleanse it away but if that bee wanting it preyeth on the substance and strength it selfe of Nature and the frequent vse of it rotteth the Teeth dulleth the Sight hurteth not seldome the Stomacke alwayes the Sinewes It may bee then wholesome as a medicine to them that are circumspect in the vse of it but it is ineuitably hurtfull to them that turne it into a vsuall food Euen so this worldly mirth is highly prized and praised as a soueraigne medicine to preserue our bodily health and to put ouer sorrowes and qualmes off the heart wherein also perhaps it may doe somewhat wisely and warily vsed but it is perillous yea pernicious to the sound state of our better part our Soule I meane chiefely if it bee followed as a Trade and taken vp as a dayly Diet. For what doth it but steale our hearts from GOD our time from his seruice make the Diuell a faire way to ensnare vs and giue Death an opportunitie to seaze vpon vs at vnawares And then what commeth of all our merriment and sport but euerlasting woe and lamentation As CHRIST hath it in Luke 6.25 Woe bee vnto you that laugh for you shall mourne and lament No good seed doth prosper in ground that is too ranke and rich Nor is there any place in an heart disposed onely to this Carnall mirth for godly sorrow true repentance feruent and frequent prayer serious meditation of GODS Word nor finally for this serious Spirituall wisedome in making ready for Death of which the heart carnally merry cannot endure the sight or thought Anger or griefe saith SALOMON Eccles 7.5 is better then laughter for by a sad Countenance the heart is made better Our Children learne not most where they laugh most and haue most sport and play The best Schoole for learning is a place of sober and moderate Discipline to restraine Children from wanton liberty and sometime to make them smart for it and other faults So the schoole of CHRIST where wee are to learne true wisedome is not the House of mirth and feasting but of godly sorrow and mourning Wee shall then sustaine no losse if by this meditation of Death wee leese and abate any thing of this worldly mirth which is the bane of our soules health But for our true spirituall Ioy in GOD it will further that making vs so much the more to minde and seeke heauenly things to solace our hearts in the hope of them to hasten our repentance and labour for the assurance of a life more stable and certayne by how much the more wee minde the vncertainty and end of this our Mortall life and all the comforts of it And as for lawfull and Christian solace in outward blessings it will not hinder that but direct and keepe it within compasse that it bring not an obliuion of GOD and better things on vs and a securitie in the neglect of our saluation and the meanes thereof It is not briefely the Christian expectation of Death that will marre our good and honest mirth but a seruile feare thereof and vnreadinesse for it The more that wee shall in a Christian sort expect Death the more ready shall wee bee for it and the lesse shall wee stand in feare of it As a man forewarned is thereby also well fore-armed so a godly expectation of Death is a good degree of preparation thereunto In the third place this wee must take heed of that wee bee not farre engaged into the world nor deepely plunged into the affaires of it if wee will bee in a readinesse for Death The approach of the Enemy and the allarme vnto the Battaile is vnwelcome and heauy newes vnto a Souldier who is turned Merchant that hath great Trade by Land and Sea hath got his houses full of Merchandize and Coffers of money or is become a iolly Farmer hauing about him a great stocke of Corne or Cattle And so will Death bee vnto vs if wee keepe our hands full of worldly businesse and haue our hearts set on the cares and pleasures thereof No man sayth PAVL 2. Timoth. 2.4 that goeth on Warre-fare is intangled with the businesses of this Life that hee may please him which hath chosen him for a Souldier It is a speciall point of a good Souldier to bee alway ready at his Captaynes call bee it neuer so sodaine Such a one will therefore keepe himselfe free from other imployments that all times hee may attend his Captaynes pleasure in going whether hee shall send him and doing what hee shall Command What are wee but GODS Souldiers vnder IESVS CHRIST our Generall whom to please ought to bee our speciall care and to that end must wee keepe our hearts and hands free from the intanglements of this worlds affaires and delights that wee may at all times bee ready for whatsoeuer seruice hee shall put vs to bee it to hazard our liberty credit or wealth for his names sake or at his call though very suddaine to lay downe and giue vp our liues Surely to meddle farre with worldly matters and hamper our selues with them must needes bee a maine impediment to this readinesse For these cares and pleasures if once they insinuate into vs will so intrench themselues in our heart that it will not bee easie to expell them Nay they will justle
out of place or much hinder this most speciall and greatest care to make ready for Death drowning all thought thereof by their continuall buzzing in our hearts and eares and taking away our time by worldly employments which they will one after another without rest put vpon vs. Good-fellowes as they are misnamed and Ruffians cannot brooke the presence of sober and ciuill men nor will they admit of such into their Chamber where they intend to bee frolike and merrie or at least will not rest till they haue thrust them out of doores if by chance they bee amongst them As ill can worldly cares and pleasures consist and agree with spirituall and religious which they will eyther greatly disturbe or vtterly put out of place as whose fellowship is vnpleasing to them Nay to say truth godly thoughts and purposes cannot thriue and grow vp to their maturitie among worldly cares and pleasures Which as Thornes and Bryers ouershadow and choake vp the good seed of GODS Word sowen in the Hearts of men Luk. 8.14 Besides this vnspeakeable mischiefe how vnwilling doe they make vs to depart this Life when our time approacheth O Death saith one how bitter is thy remembrance to a man that hath pleasure in his Riches But how much more terrible is the presence it selfe of Death to such a one Did not the backwardnesse of the Guests which were inuited to the Kings wedding Feast come from hence euen from their worldly cares pleasures and businesse One had a Farme which hee must needes goe out and see Another had a yoake of Oxen to proue A third had married a Wife whom hee must Wayte on and a Family growing on him which hee must care for Luk. 14.18 c. Thus for one thing or other none could finde leasure or get their goodwils to come vnto the Feast that is to embrace the Gospell of IESVS CHRIST From the sound profession whereof if worldly profits and pleasures doe keepe vs when yet it doth permit vs soberly to vse and enioy the same much more will they make vs vnwilling to dye when wee must leaue all such things and appeare before our Iudge Almightie GOD to giue account how wee haue gotten and vsed them Is it not an ordinary complaint of men that Death doth come too soone vpon them And whence growes it but hereof that they are too much ensnared and entangled with the World For what doth the Young-man complaine of but that hee is taken away in the flowre of his yeares before hee doth know the world and haue thoroughly tasted the pleasures of it And what doth the Elder alledge but that hee dyes in the middest of much businesse and hottest pursuite of his game The one could bee content hee thinkes to dye if hee had well satisfied himselfe with the delights and pleasures of the world and the other if hee had brought about the world to his minde for his Wife and Children It is then a great let vnto our readinesse to remoue hence when wee step too farre into the world and hamper our selues with the affaires thereof Wherein also wee are deceiued by a vaine confidence that wee can at our pleasure and on short warning vnwinde our selues from these intanglements and rid our hands of them But how alas was poore SAMPSON beguiled with this conceit When suffering DALILAH to shaue off his lockes against his vow and to fetter him hee thought as at other times the Philistims assailing him to breake all and free himselfe but the Lord beside his expectation being gone from him he was not able so to doe but was taken prisoner by them and his eyes being put out he became a drudge to grinde in prison and a May-game vnto his enemies No lesse feare is there that they who suffer themselues to bee intangled and fettered with worldly occasions shall finde it much harder to cleere themselues then they imagined For earthly cares and pleasures are very heauy stuffe and presse downe yea oppresse such soules as vndertake them Luk 21.34 And they doe further beside their weight beset vs with such cunning and hang so fast vpon vs as it is Heb. 12.1 that wee cannot escape from them and shake them off at pleasure If wee haue made them our familiars in our health they will not in sicknesse be cast off but like importunate companions will then hang about vs presse vpon vs hinder our best consultations about our last passage distract our thoughts to thinke and dispose of them and dull our spirits that wee shall not be able to pray to receiue and apprehend any spirituall instructions and comforts or constantly and cheerefully to meditate on the future life As a poore bird caught in a snare at vnawares feedeth securely not mistrusting her owne freedome vntill vpon the sight of the Fowler shee assailing to flye away findeth her selfe to hang fast and that the more shee struggleth and fluttereth to get loose the more she doth intangle her selfe and so beating her selfe to extreme wearinesse shee at length falleth into the Fowlers hands Euen so our soules being entangled with cares and pleasures as it were snares wee all the time of our health nothing doubt but that wee are free enough vntill that vpon the approach of Death when wee would get loose wee finde our soules so fast hung and fettered that with all their struggling and contention they cannot escape but vnlesse God of singular mercy set them free they become a prey to death and to him that hath the power of death that is the Deuill The Lord therefore giue vs wisedome to keepe our hearts free from these snares to haue our conuersation without couetousnesse and to be content with things present The Lord teach vs to keepe within compasse that wee doe not ouerload our hearts and heads with worldly cares nor out of an inordinate loue of the world thrust and ingage our selues further thereinto then that with ease and at the first call wee may retire It were an happy thing for vs I am sure if wee would imbrace that good aduise of St. Paul 1 Cor. 7. that is hauing wife and children to bee as if wee had none Hauing bought or otherwise gotten large reuenewes to be as if wee possessed no such thing and to vse the world as those that did not vse it or would not abuse it Whatsoeuer comforts as wife children wealth credit dignity GOD shall beslow vpon vs there is no doubt but that hee doth allow vs to vse them as some solace to vs in this land of our Pilgrimage occasions of honest labour and trauaile and furtherances of doing good and our better seruing him But such a loose affection ought wee alway to carry toward them that the inordinate loue of them doe neyther cause vs to make any breach in our Conscience to get or keepe them nor to encumber our selues with worldly businesse while wee heere sojourne nor at GODS summons to bee vnwilling eyther to hazard them all for the
and as a Bird from the hand of the Fowler If a man bee indebted to another and haue not to satisfie or bee loth to pay another mans debt his way is to humble himselfe vnto his Creditour to begge his fauour to sollicite his Friends that they would pay or at least intreat for him And this businesse hee must follow not coldly but earnestly not giuing rest vnto himselfe nor his friends till hee bee free and then for afterward hee must play the good husband looking to it that by vnthrifty courses or rash surety hee fall not againe into the like case Now it is certaine that wee shall not any day or time of the day looke ouer matters betweene GOD and vs but wee shall finde our selues further in arrerages with GOD then wee are able to satisfie It is not then safe or wisedome for vs carelesly to passe it ouer but ere wee sleepe or take our rest let vs get the booke crost and our debts cancelled For which intent wee must humble our selues to GOD confesse our sins accuse our selues vnto him acknowledge our vnsufficiency to satisfie bewayle our wofull case into which we haue brought our selues implore and bee earnest with the LORD for his mercy to pardon and forgiue our sins and to giue vs Grace that wee may be more wary and better husbands for our Soules in time to come Wee must try our friends of whom in this case we haue onely one who can doe vs good that is Iesus Christ whom we must by Prayers sollicite and beseech to vndertake the matter and intercede for vs with his Father nay whom by Faith in Prayer wee must take and present to Almighty GOD desiring him to take CHRIST surety for vs and to accept in our behalfe of that full payment and satisfaction which hee hath made in his Death and Sufferings And this beeing done wee must renew our Couenant with GOD and take new and vnfained purposes to leaue all our vnthrifty courses to bee good husbands for our Soules to keepe out of debt at least not wilfully and carelesly to runne behind hand with GOD strongly crying for his Grace without which wee can doe nothing to worke in vs a faithfull performance of these our purposes and desires If wee shall thus doe day by day it cannot bee said what peace wee shall haue in our soules with what boldnesse and confidence wee shall walke before GOD and with what comfortable resolutions expect Death As a man out of debt walketh boldly before men and is not afraid of a Bayliff though hee see him come toward him but if a man be greatly in debt hee walketh by night and whensoeuer hee goeth abroad hee goeth in great feare and if hee see a Bayliffe come toward him taketh him to his heeles mistrusting that he commeth to arrest him and haue him to Prison Nay feareth almost euery stranger I may say euery bush to bee a Bayliffe that watcheth to catch him So is it here If wee thus keepe euen with the LORD we shall haue great boldnesse and not shrinke at the approch of Death as if it should doe vs any hurt But if we neglect this course and abide securely in the LORDS debt as we shall haue little quietnesse all our life so the thought and approch of Death will bee most gastly whom we cānot otherwise apprehend of but as a Purseuant to carry vs away to Hell I will conclude all this with that of ZOPHAR Job 11.13 14.15 If thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine hands toward him If iniquitie bee found in thine hand put it farre away and let no wickednesse dwell in thy tabernacle Then truly shalt thou lift vp thy face without spot and shalt be stable and shalt not feare Your affectionately louing brother and most carefull of your eternall welfares I. E. IN CONCLVSION OF THIS Worke. A Winding Sheet is here sent from a Friend To warne three Sisters for their latter end Shewing them how to be prepar'd for death Before hee come to stop their vitall breath A worke so great that who so findeth this Shall haue great glory with eternall blisse That tongues of Angells nor of men can tell The Ioyes so great the freedome is from Hell This Winding-sheete was onely sent to Three Neuer intending it should Printed bee But that which then was pointed but for them Must now perused be of many men Now God grant grace to them and many more That in reading this they may haue such store Of faith repentance and a sound conuersion To withstand sinne and all hellish temptation Then they may say to Death where is thy sting And to the Graue which is a cruell thing Wee conquered haue you all through Christ our head And so our Grau's become the sweetest bed There shall wee rest and lye without all paine Till the last Trumpe doth sound Then rise againe And then shall meet our Sauiour in the Ayre And so sit downe with him as in a Chaire Judging the Twelue tribes with all other men And after that ascend with Christ in heauen And there behold the glory which hee had With God the Father e're the world was made D. W. FINIS