living spirits the one Angelicall which is neither covered nor perisheth with the body the second bestiall which is both covered and perisheth with the body the third humane which is covered but doth not perish with the body but goeth forth Where our blessed Saviour saith Fear not them who kill the body but cannot kill the soul What doth he but clearly intimate that when the body dyeth the soul dyeth not for else they who kill the body would kill the soul too and where he faith again of Abraham Isaac and Jacob that they live to God and therefore God is not the God of the dead but of the living it plainly implyeth that though their bodies are dead their souls still live I end this with the gloss of Cajetan upon my Text who conceiveth that this title of spirit is here given to the soul in respect of its going forth As it is joyned with and giveth life to the body it is a soul and as it goeth forth and exists apart from the body it is a spirit since in this partaking with other spirituall substances which have a subsistence without any matter 2. Having given you this account of the egress of the soul pass we on to take a view of the regress of the body He turneth to his earth Had he only said he returneth it might be understood of the spirit which as it gooth forth so returneth and accordingly this very word is by Salomon applied to the spirit Had the Psalmist spoke of the Resurrection these words He returneth to his earth might have admitted a faire gloss in reference to the soul it returneth ad terram corporis sui to the earth of its body to which it shall then be united but it is manifest that these words are a periphrasis of dying And therefore with St. Jerome and Theodoret the sense is best given that the soul or spirit going forth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} caro the body the flesh returneth to its earth Sutable hereunto is that note of the learned Muis who observeth that in the Hebrew whereas the Verb goeth forth is faeminine answering with the Noun spirit which is for the most part of that gender the Verb returneth is Masculine and so not to be referd to spirit but the son of man who in respect of his body returneth to his earth Returning in its proper notion is a going back to that place from whence we came so that in this clause here is a threefold truth implyed expressed inferd 1. That which is implyed in this phrase of returning is that man in respect of his body came from the earth and as it is here implyed so it is expressed concerning the first man by Moses The Lord God formed Man that is the body of man of the dust or according to the Hebrew dust of the ground and by St. Paul where he saith the first man is of the earth earthly True it is we are formed in our Mothers womb but yet inasmuch as we all came from the first man we are truly said to come from the earth only with this difference that he immediately we mediately are framed out of the earth This truth was engraven in full Characters upon the name of the first man who is called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Adam from a word that signifieth red earth and that very word is here used perhaps to mind us of that earth whereof man was first made yea according to the usuall Etymologie the name homo which in the Latins is a common name to both Sexes is derived ab humo from the ground For this reason it is that the earth is called by the Poet magna parens the great Parent of mankind and in the answer of the Oracle our mother and in this respect we are said by Eliphaz To dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust 2. That which is exprest is That Man when he dyeth returneth to the earth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} saith the Poet We are all dust when dissolved As the white snow when melted is black water eso flesh and blood when bereaved of the soul becom the dust and ashes in which respect St. Paul giveth this Epithet of vile to our bodies Indeed mans originall being from the earth he had a naturall propensity to earth according to that Maxime Omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum every thing hath an aptitude of returning to the Principle whence it cometh but yet had he not turned away from God he had never actually returned thither It is sin which hath brought upon man a necessity of dying and that dying brings a necessity of returning to the earth in which respect it is observable that the threat thou shalt dye the death which was denounced against man before his fall being afterwards renewed is explained as to temporall death by those words to dust thou shalt return â—o that now the motion of the little world man is like that of the great Circulare ab eodem punctâ— ad idem from the same to the same and that as in his soul from God to God so in his body from the earth to earth The Rivers come from the Sea and they return thither The Sun ariseth out of the East and thither it returneth Man is formed of the earth and into earth he is again transformed with which agreeth that of the Poet Cedit item retro de terra quod fuit ante 3. That which is inferd in the emphaticall Pronoune his which is annexed to the Noun earth is that the earth to which man returneth is his this being that which ariseth out of both the former conclusions since it is therefore his earth because he cometh from and returneth to it Earth is mans Genesis and Analysis his composition and resolution his Alpha and Omega his first and last Ortus pulvis finis cinis earth is his both originally and finally So that our bodies can challenge no alliance with or property in any thing so much as earth For if we call those things ours which have only an externall relation to us as our friends our houses our goods our lands much more may we call that our earth whereof we are made and into which we shall moulder no wonder if as here it is said to be his so elsewhere he is said to be earth as being called by that name By this time you see how fitly death is described by the spirits going forth of the body and the bodies returning to his earth both which are the immediate consequents of death and informe us what becometh of either part when the whole is divided of the soul and body when the man dyeth It would be further observed that this is here affirmed of Princes and Great men as well as others Aequâ lance necessitas sortitur insignes imos said the Poet
to his two constitutive and essentiall parts soul and body the egresse of the one His soul goeth forth and the regresse of the other he returneth to his Earth the one whereof is verified In ipso articulo mortis in the very point of death and the other is most evident in sepultura corporis at the time of his Buriall Both which when I have handled by themselves I shall discuss with reference to the quality of the person of whom especially they are spoken and then close up this first and main part of the Text with a sutable of Application 1. Begin we with Mans egress in those words His Breath goeth forth The Hebrew word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} being derived from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as also the Greek {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and the Latin spiritus from spiro most properly signifieth breath In this notion the Targum and our Translators here render it nor is it incongruous to the Psalmists design which is to give us a Character of death yea Calvin inclineth to this as the most genuine meaning of the word in this place And thus it is a most evident truth that when a man dyeth his Breath goeth forth Indeed it is not true that when a mans Breath goeth forth he dyeth Since life is maintained inspirando respirando by taking in and letting forth Breath but when we can no longer take in breath we are said expirare to breath forth our last and so dye In this respect man is fitly resembled to a bladder puffed up with wind which being by any prick let forth the bladder shrivels up when we cease to Breath we cease to live Upon how slender a thred doth our life hang it is but a puffe and we are gone we carry our lives in our hands or rather in our nostrils that is the Prophet Isaiahs Character Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils How easily how speedily is a mans breath beaten out of his body so quickly is he deprived of life our life doth not depend upon the soundness of our parts strength of our joynts one dyeth saith Job in his full strength but only upon our breath which how soon are we bereaved of no wonder if one Philosopher being asked what life was turned himself about and so went out and another resembles it by oculus clausus and apertus an eye shut and open or rather open and shut we dye in the twinkling of an eye and St. James putting the Question What is your life returneth this answer It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away Oh that as we continually live by breathing so we would be thereby put in mind of dying when our breath shal go forth But though this construction be true yet I rather adhere to Theodorets and Hieromes gloss upon the place who by spirit understand the soul partly because when this word is applyed to man in holy writ it is most frequently so to be understood and where the sense will bear it is best to take words in their usuall acception partly because the next clause is generally referd to the other part of man his body and therefore it is most congruous to refer this to his soul chiefly because in that place of Salomon the Son which may very well be looked upon as fetched from and parallel to this of David the Father by spirit can be meant no other then the soul of man If you ask why the soul of man is called by this name of a spirit the answer is given both from the Etymology of the word and the nature of the thing 1. The word as you have already heard signifieth breath and the soul of a man is a breath both Passively and Actively 1. Passively Quia spiratur because it is breathed into us according to that of Moses in the Creation of Man God breathed into him the breath of life and however it be a controverted Question whither the rationall soul be propagated and infused generated or breathed yet it suiteth best as with the dignity of the soul so with the current of Scripture to affirme that the soul of man is still breathed into the body immediately by God himself 2. Actively Quia spirat because it is the fountain and originall of our breath which begins with the ingresse and ceaseth with the egresse of the soul upon which consideration the former sense appeareth to be included in this latter since together with the soul the breath goeth forth 2. The thing which this word spirit is used for the most part to signifie is an invisible immortall incorporeall immateriall substance upon which account God is said to be a Spirit and Angels are called spirits and in this respect the soul of man is a spirit as being not an accident but a substance and that void of gross corruptible matter This spirit when a man dyeth goeth forth for the further explication whereof it will be needfull to inquire the double term of this motion whence and whither it goeth 1. If you inquire whence the spirit goeth forth the answer is out of the body Conceive the body as an house or Tabernacle or rather with St. Paul to put both together the house of our Tabernacle the soul as an Inhabitant or sojourner in this house into which when it enters we begin to live and out of which when it goeth we dye The second death saith St. Austin Animam nolentem tenet in corpore detains the soul against its will in the body and the first Animam dâ—lentem pellitâ—e corpore driveth the sorrowfull soul out of the body when this bold Serpeant cometh with a Writt from the divine Majesty he entreth in and turneth this Tenant out of doores 2. If you would know whither the spirit goeth the Wise man giveth you the Answer where he saith the spirit of a man goeth upward and again where he saith it returneth to God that gave it as it goeth forth so it ascendith upward Sursum eam vocant initia sua saith Seneca it goeth whence it came To God it goeth and that for this end to receive its doome which being past it accordingly remaineth in a state of weal or woe to the day of the Resurrection By this it appeareth how dissonant both the Epicucuraean and the Pythagorean Philosophers are to truth the one whereof affirmeth that the spirit of a man goeth forth that is vanisheth away as the soul of a Beast doth and the other that his spirit goeth forth from one body to another whereas in truth the spirit of man goeth forth so as to subsist and that by it self till it be reunited with the body Tres vitales spiritus creavit omnipotens saith St. Gregory to this purpose very appositely The Almighty hath created three
death knocks at Palaces as well as Cottages and cuts down the Lillies of the garden as well as the grass of the Field It is not unfitly taken notice of That the sacred Historian mentioning the Kings and Dukes of Esau's race only nameth the Dukes but concerning every one of the Kings it is said he died indeed it was needless to affirme it of the Dukes who may well be conceived mortall when Kings are so Even they who are Rulers over men must be subject to death and though they have power to inflict it upon others they are no way able to preserve themselves from it It is reported of Cardinall Woolesy that he expostulated with himself what might prevent death â—f money could do it he had enough to buy a Crown if weapons he had as many as would defend a Kingdome if power he had sufficient to conquer a Nation but alas there is no weapon against death it cannot be bribed by the richest nor conquered by the greatest dye they must and when they dye their breath their soul goeth forth and their bodies returne to the earth The souls of the greatest Landlords are but Tenants at will to their bodies and that not their own but Gods who many times against their wils turneth them out according to that of the Psalmist He cutteth off the spirit of Princes In which respect St. Austin thus glosseth upon the Text Numquid quando vult exibit spiritus expirat quando non vult Shall his spirit go forth when he will I and when he will not The bodies of the highest when the breath and soul is gone out of them are but rotten Carcasses and must be laid in the earth If you look upon their extraction it is from no better an originall then the meanest though their immediate descent be noble yet the first progenitor of them as well as others was the earthly Adam The Prince and the Peazant are of the same earth only the one a little better mould of the same wooll only the one of a little finer thred out of the same Quarry only the one a little smoother stone so justly may great men take up those words in Nehemiah Our flesh is as the flesh of our Brethren There is common dust and Saw dust Pin dust Golden dust and the pouder of Diamons and all is but dust The Beggar the Labourer the Tradesman the Noble man the King are all but earth If you look upon their end it is the grave the house of all living like Nebuchadnezzars Image notwithstanding their gold and silver their feet are clay The rich and the poore saith Solomon meet together sometimes at one board in one bed certainly in one Grave The Noblest are but as flowers which peepe out of the earth and flourish for a time and when the Winter of death cometh they return thither they are but as dust which is raised up in the aire for a while but a few drops of rain lay it presently It is the language of the French King in his Epitaph Terra fui quondam rursus sum terra nihil sum I am again what once I was earth And among the spices of which the ointment for annointing the Kings as well as Priests was compounded one was Cinamon and that is cinericii coloris of the colour of ashes perhaps to tell them what they must one day be The Meditation of this doctrine may be of excellent use to Superiours and Inferiours and to all sorts 1. Oh that great men would in the midst of all their enjoyments entertain these thoughts That custome of presenting the Emperour on the day of his Inauguration with severall Marble stones desiring him to choose one of them for his Monument was designed no doubt for this end and for the same reason Johannes Eleemosynarius and King Philip had their Monitors to tell the one that his Monument was not yet finished and bid the other Remember he was a Man I have read that in Biscay there are old ruinous places which they to whom they belong often visit though they have else where stately Palaces Oh that they who dwell in sumptuous buildings would frequently visit the ruinous Graves It was a curse upon the Serpent that he should creep on his belly and eat dust all the daies of his life but surely it were a blessing to the highest in this world if they would learne to do it in a spirituall sense by the consideration of that dust to which they must return Happy is that Prince Qui non minus se hominem esse quam hominibus praeesse meminerit who no less mindeth that he himself is a man then that he ruleth over men More particularly it is that which would be pondered by them for a double end that it may both quell their pride and curb their voluptuousnesse 1. There is no sinne to which men are more prone then that of Pride It is like our shirt that sin we put on first and put off lost Nor have any greater temptations to this sinne then great ones In alto situm non altum sapere difficile Usually men of high estates are high-minded Nor is any thing more common then for the bunch of Pride to grow upon the back of Honour Among the many Antidotes against this sinne none more effectuall then this to consider that whilest they live they are but enlivened clay breathing dust moving ashes and that when their breath goeth forth they must return to the earth They say that the tympany is cured by stroaking the part with a dead mans hand Sure I am the serious thought of death is an excellent means to allay the swelling of Pride If you put fire to Gun-powder which is made of earth it will blow up Towers The fire of Meditation put to our earthy Original and end will blow up the turret of Pride It is well observed that one of the signes which Samuel gave Saul after he had anointed him King was that he should find two men by Rachels Sepulchre For this end perhaps that whereas the being anointed King might puff him up the sight of Rachels Sepulchre might humble him Oh that you who enjoy the Honours and Dignities of this world would often think with your selves I must die and when death comes I must exchange my Palace for a Grave my Robes for Dust I that am now atteded on by men must have wormes for my Companions I that am now so high must ere long be laid low that so you may be meek and lowly in heart That which may so much the more advance the efficacy of this thought in subduing the pride of great men is that when once they are returned to the earth and this dunghill element hath set its foot upon their face there is no difference between them and others There saith Job of the Grave are the great and small Nor can we tell which is the dust of the great which of
the small To this tended that surcasme of Diogenes when he told Alexander that he had been seeking his Father Philips bones but could not distinguish between them and others And for this reason Alphonsus putting the Question what it was that did make high and low equall answered Death Pliny writeth of a River in Spaine wherein all the fish that are pnt are of a golden colour but being taken out of it they are of the same colour with other fishes They who whilest they live in this world glitter with gold and silver when taken out of it return to the same earth with the rest of mankind Whilest the Counters are upon the Table one stands for five another for ten while the Chasemen are upon the Board one is a King another a Queen a third a Bishop a fourth a Knight and those have their several walks but when put into the bag they are all alike Thus is it with men who though upon the earth they are of different orders and degrees are alike when they are cast into it And as the several kinds of herbs which are thrown into the Limbeck being distilled make one water so they but one earth Epictetus when asked What was common to the King with the Begger answered to be born and to die they come into and go out of the world one as well as the other Nor is there any difference between them in the womb and the tomb Let not those that are above insult over others since this grand Leveller Death will one day put them in the same condition with others 2. This Meditation of the going forth of the soul and return of the body is a no lesse powerfull disswasive from a voluptuous life then an haughty mind Oh that you who have vivendi voluptatem the pleasure of life would contemplate moriendi necessitatem the necessity of death That you who have the world at will would remember you have not death at command I die said Esau and what good will my Birth-right do me Oh that the voluptuous Epicure would say I die and what good will my vain and sensual pleasures do me Agathocles when a King having been a Potters Sonne drank in earthen Vessels It were not possible men should surfeit at their Tables carouse it in their Cups would they eat and drink as it were in earthen vessels in the midst of their delicacyes remember that they are earth Consider this you who spend your doyer in eating and drinking in playing and sleeping whose whole design is to pamper and feed to deck and adorn your bedies to gratifie your senses and glut your selves with the delights of the flesh Dic mihi ubi sunt amatores mundi Nihil ex eis remanet nisi cineres vermes Tell me what is become of those lovers of pleasures of whom nothing remaineth but wormes and ashes What will become of that body of thine which is so full fed and richly clod when it shall be laid in the grave They say of Bees that when they are buzzing and humming about our ears making a great and angry noise if you throw a little dust upon them they are quiet and hive again presently Surely it would still the roaring Gallant in the midst of his joviall revellings were the thoughts of dust frequently suggested to and seriously pondered on by him And yet were this all that the body returneth to the earth the Epicures plea might be good enough Let us eat and drink for to morrow we die But if we die to morrow as our body returneth to earth so our soul goeth forth to God to give an account to rereceive a sentence either of absolution or condemnation And oh think what fear will possesse thy spirit when it apprehends it self going forth to be arraigned at the Barre of Divine Justice yea how dismall the account will be of that time and strength and health and wealth which hath been expended upon carnal and sensual pleasures 2. Let those who are in the lower ranke of men learn to look upon great ones as subject to death and the grave and that for a double end so as not to fear them distrustfully nor trust in them presumptuously 1. Their breath goeth forth they return to their earth fear them not Indeed there is a fear which is due from Inferiours to Superiours God and the King are set down by the Wiseman as the joynt Objects of our fear and they will at last be found fooles who divide them When God saith If I be a Master where is my fear he intimateth that fear is due from the Servant to the Master whilst they live they are above and over us and therefore ought to be feared by us but with a fear of reverence not diffidence and that because their power and Honour is soon laid in the dust Have we not sometimes observed a Ball tossed up and down in the aire eyed and observed by every one which way it moveth least it should hit them yea and when it passeth by they ofttimes stoope to it and yet it is nothing but the skin of a dead beast filled with wind which is easily let out A fit embleme of Tyrants who are so observed and of whom we stand in so much awe when yet they are but mortal men whose breath quickly goeth forth Put them in fear oh Lord is the Prayer of the Psalmist that they may know themselves to be but men Indeed this consideration That the greatest enemies of the Church are but men may put them in fear and us out of fear no wonder if God bespake his Church in that vehement Interrogation Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the son of man which shall be made as Grasse and therefore as David resolves I will not feare what flesh can do unto me so let us not fear what earth can do against us 2. Their breath goeth forth they return to their earth trust them not This is the principall intendment of the Psalmist as appeareth by the former Dehortation Put not your trust in Princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help to presse which this is annexed as a reason namely their mortall condition Excellently doth St. Chrysostome here enlarge He that cannot defend himself how shall he deliver another Do not say he is a Prince for in this he hath no greater priviledge then the meanest but is subject to the same uncertainty of life nay that I may at once speak what is true and yet strange {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} for this reason especially he is not to be trusted because he is a Prince for these earthly powers are slippery great men are subject to more casualities and dangers then private and when they fall they that trust to them are ruined with them as the body of the Church is beaten down with the fall of the Steeple How often