all have sinned A worthy Divine of our own doth solidly though briefly state that question viz. Whether man had not died if he had not sinned Or whether death be natural or accidental and doth evidently prove that mans life should have lasted as long as his obedience that man had never fallen into his grave if he had never fallen into transgression Hâ— died not because his nature was subject to corruption but because sin had corrupted his nature If he had not turned from God he had not returned to dust Man was wholly a stranger to death till acquainted with sin If he had continued in a state of innocency he had continued in a state of immortality Though Adam died not actually assoon as he fell yet he presently became mortal and liable to death for immediately upon his fall sentence was passed upon q Gen. 3.19 him Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return according to that r Gen. 2.17 Some say the Pope hath a book called Taxa camerae Apostolicae shewing the rate of every sin At what rate one may be drunk or swear or keepe an Whore law In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die As the Malefactour is a dead man in Law when the sentence is pronounced upon him though there be some time between his Condemnation and Execution so was man dead both in the decree and threatning of God when the sentence of death was denounced against him This word death alone implyeth at what rate man may sâ—n Death temporal which is the separation of body and soul death spirituall which is the separation of God and the soul in part and for a time eternal which is everlasting and total perdition from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power are the rate of sin and the sad fruits that grow on this root of bitterness Sin is the father of death but death like Senacherib's issue will at last destroy its Parent Sin in the body is like the Leprosie in the house which will not out till it be pulled down but when the body of the Saint shall be dissolved that body of death shall be wholly destroyed though there was some respite between it and his actual dissolution Now Magistrates sin therefore must die If you perform but that duty of much difficulty yet of absolute necessity of communing with your own hearts looking somtimes back upon your lives without question you will find beside your original depravation a numberless number of actual provocations I believe the best of you are too like the Egyptian Temple without fair and beautiful but within full of Serpents and Crocodiles Your lives possibly may be unblameable as to the eye of man but are there not seven abominations in your hearts 2 Cause is Physical the corruptibility of mans body Contraria inter se pugnant mutuo se destruunt Gen. 3.19 The second Cause of death is the corruptibility of Magistrates bodies this is the natural cause your bodies are corruptible It s now common to all Creatures mixt of Elements to be resolved into that out of which they were made Contrary qualities will for a time contend and at last destroy each other In the third of Genesis we read mans exodus viz. that he was dust in regard of his original production and shall be dust in regard of his ultimate resolution As the finest garment breedeth a moth and that moth eateth up the garment Physitians have a rule Vltimus sanitatis gradus est morbo proximus As the strongest tree breedeth a Worm and that Worm devoureth the tree So the fairest and strongest bodies breed such diseases as will at last consume them Eliphaz speaking of the highest men assureth us that their foundation is in the dust Now the stability of a building dependeth on the strength of its foundation Job 4.19 The Church is therefore immoveable because Christ her foundation is invincible Matth. 16.18 but our natural foundation being in the dust we cannot hold out long The house of mans body is walled and roofed with Earth and founded upon no better then dust The bodies of Magistrates have the same foundation The Psalmist speaking of a Prince saith Psal 146.4 that he returneth to his Earth As if his body could challenge no alliance to or propriety in any thing but Earth L. Cur. and Plut. in vit It is His earth Alexander the Great being wounded at the siedge of an Indian City said I have been told I am the Son of God but I see now I am liable to wounds and death as well as others 3. The supernatural cause of death is the appointment of Heaven It is appointed for all men once to die Heb. 9 27. 3 The Metaphysical cause is God's decree Some men yea most in the World die twice the second death hath power over them but all must die once The exception of one or two that were translated and of them that shall be found alive at the comming of Christ The greatest Landlords are but Tenants at God's will in these houses of clay will not make void this general rule Magistrates that Execute the Statute-law of men die by a standing Law of God When God is pleased to give sickness a warrant under the great Seal of Heaven it quickly executeth its Office and turneth men into Earth It is thus ordered in God's high Court that Judges and Justices who now sit on the Bench shall die and appear at his Bar. The Turkish Historian observeth that when the great Bassaes are feasting oftentimes there commeth a Messenger by order from the great Sultan and casteth a black Mantle over them and they are presently forced to submit to strangling So the proudest Potentates in the midst of their mirth are often surprized by a sudden distemper commissionated by God and sent to their long homes Vse by way of Inference that nothing can free from death I shall now draw some Inferences from the Doctrine First If Magistrates are mortal observe hence deaths prevalency and power above all the Priviledges and Prerogatives of nature Lib. 5. in conclusion of cap. ult It is a memorable Speech of Sir Walter Rawleigh Though God who loveth men is not regarded yet death which hateth men is quickly obeyed O mighty death O eloquent death whom no man could advise or perswade thou canst prevail with Take notice from hence that nothing in this World can priviledge a man against the arrest of death 1. Strength cannot First strength cannot all the strength and power which the gods have cannot free them from death Magistrates have civil strength as they are Magistrates the Command of whole Counties Kingdoms yea Empires in this respect it is that Magistrates are called Å¿ Tiâ—us 3.1 Principalities and Powers yet death hath power over them that hath power over others Alexander and Cesar that Conquered Countries and Kingdomes were conquered by
Hell the higher their exalation is the greater and lower their damnation will be The words of the Prophet are Emphatical i Isa 30.33 Ingentia beneficia ingentia flagitia ingentia supplicia Kings saith one are fair marks for traytors to shoot at Tra. on Esth 2. Tophet is prepared of old yea for the King it is prepared The greater mens preferment is the greater their defilement and the greater their punishment 2. Others understand them of a fall by a violent death So many Princes fall In that bloody way Saul Abner Ahab and many other Princes mentioned in Scripture went to their long homes The Roman Historian observeth that the Cesars got little by their places nisi ut citius interficerentur Some mens honour hath been the Knife to cut their throats Horat. ad Licin Saepius ventis agitatur iugens Pinus celsae graviore casu Decidunt turres feriuntque summos Fulmina montes 3. A third sort Expound the words of falling as the Princes of other Nations Deodati in loc though ye are the Princes of God's people yet ye are not thereby priviledged from the arrest of death For as the sun of prosperity shineth as well on the briars in the Wildernesse as on the roses in the Garden so the frost of adversity falleth as well on the fruitfull corn as on the hurtful weeds The most notorious sinner liveth as well as the most gracious Saint and the most gracious Saint dyeth as well as the most notorious sinner Grace is an Antidote against the poyson of death but not a preservative from undergoing death 4. The words are construed thus Like the Princes that have been before you Ye know that your Ancestours who were as high in honour and as great in power as your selves yet submitted to death so must ye doe as they have done Etiam muta clamant cadavera Their graves amongst you do read a Lecture of mortality to you The term whereby the Spirit of God describeth death is considerable it s called a fall and fall like one of the Princes * Rom. 14.13 Sin is called a fall and so is death Death is the first-born of sin and therefore no wonder if the Child be called after the name of its Parent Death is to every man a fall from every thing but God and godliness Ye that are Magistrates fall more stairs yea more stories then others the higher your standing while ye live the lower your falling when ye die Death to some is a fall from Earth to Hell to all from the society of men to the company of worms To you that are great men it will be a fall from your richest treasures from your delightful pleasures from your stateliest possessions from your loveliest relations Job 7.7 from whatsoever is called the good of this world Your eyes shall no more see good Hor. ad Posth Linquenda tellus domus placens Vxor neque harum quas colis arborum Te praeter invisas cupressos Vlla brevem Dominum sequetur Death is called an uncloathing 2 Cor. 5.4 because it will strip you of all your places of honour of all the ornaments of nature As ye came naked into the World Job 1. ult so ye must go naked out of the World Nothing will follow you when ye die but your works Rev. 14.13 When the good Magistrate dyeth that hath been zealous for the Lord's honour and studious of his souls welfare his works follow him through free grace into an eternal weight of glory When the evil Magistrate dyeth who hath been careless of his Conscience and unfaithful in his calling his works follow him through divine severity into a boundless Ocean of endless misery Doctrine After this brief Explication of the words I proceed to the doctrinal Observation That Magistrates are mortal or they who live like gods must die like men the most potent Emperour must take his leave of this life as well as the poorest beggar Death is called * Josh 23.14 the way of all the Earth because all flesh on Earth go this way Is the greatest road in the World never without many travellers of all sorts ranks and degrees The grave is the Inn or resting place whither this way tendeth and Job telleth k Job 3.19 us that The small and the great are there The mortal sythe of death is Master of the royal Scepter and moweth down as well the Lillies of the Crown as the grasse of l Isa 40.6 7. the Field At one end of the Library in Dublin was a Globe at the other end a Skeliton to shew that though man were Lord of all the World yet he must die All flesh is grasse and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field The grasse withereth the flower fadeth As Athanasius speaketh of Julian so I may say of the greatest King in the World Nubecula est quae citò transibit Do we not find by experience that the greater Candles consume and burn out as well as the lesser And that the boysterous wind of sickness bloweth down and rooteth up as well the tall Cedars of Lebanon and the strong Oaks of Bashan as the lower shrubs and weaker trees of the Vallies We Ministers that preach the Word of life must ere long submit to m 2 Cor. 4.7 death ye have the Heavenly treasure in earthen vessels And you Magistrates that are the Bulwarks of the Countrey under God to preserve us from the shot of a violent death must necessarily your selves undergoe a natural death Ye are called n Psal 47.9 Scuta terrae sunt terrea scuta the shields of the Earth yet ye are but Earthen shields Ye are called the o Isa 44.18 As at a game at chess when done not only pawns but Kings Queens and Knights are tumbled into the bag so when the race of life is finished noble as well as ignoble are tumbled into their graves shepherds of the people but this Wolf of death will seise as well on the shepherd as on the sheep I shall not stand to prove it any further at this present there is not one of you either Judge or Justicâ—s that hear me this day but within a few days shall be the proof of the text I shall only give you the causes of the Doctrine and then make some Use of it But why do the gods die like men There are three Causes of it as they are men * Grounds of Doctrine 1 Ethicall cause of death is sin Rom. 5.12 Rom. 6. ult Stipendium peccati mors First the moral or meritorious cause of death is sin Sin and death like Jacob and Esau were brought forth at one birth they were twins and came into the World together As the thread followeth the Needle so death followeth sin Wherefore as p by one man sin entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that
death Magistrates have natural strength as they are men but death trippeth up the heels and layeth on their backs the most strong and valiant t Job 21.23 24. Plato saith that Marrow is not only the sourse of generation but the seat of life One dyeth in his full strength being wholly at ease and quiet His breasts are full of milk and his bones are moistned with marrow Put the case that a man be in the zâ—nith and height of his estate when his health is most pure and his strength is most perfect when he hath the choicest complexion in his face and soundest constitution in his body when there is most agility in his joynts and most appetite in his stomach yet even then sickness arresteth him at the suit of death haleth his body to the prison of the grave and sendeth his soul to his own place Man at his best estate yea u Psal 39.5 surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity 2. Riches cannot Luke 16.22 Secondly as the strength so the wealth of Magistrates is insufficient The holy Ghost telleth us that the â—iâ—h man also dyed Men may put riches into the grave with them The Irish have a Proverb What aileth a rich man to die but they will not keep them one moment out of the grave Death like jealousie will not regard any ransome not be content though men would give many gifts Job speaketh supposing that he had dyed Then I had been at rest with Princes that had Gold and filled their houses with Silver It s reported of Cardinal Beauford that when on his death-bed he should say Fie will not death be hired will Money doe nothing if the whole Realm would save my life I am able either by wealth to buy it or by wit to procure it but it could not help him die he did Money is the Monarch of this World but not of the next it can neither stave off sickness nor buy out death 3. Honours cannot Thirdly as neither strength nor wealth so neither can the honours of men help them against this last enemy How have the highest men on Earth been laid as low as the Earth by it Man in honour doth not abide Psal 49.12 His duration is sometimes the lesse because his reputation is so great Job speaketh excellently Where is the dwelling place of Princes who shall declare his way to his face Job 21.28.31 This person is so high that none dareth tell him of his wicked practices Luther complaâ—neth that in his time Magistraâ—es Elati superbia volebant esse ipso verbo superiores Kings saith one have Clouds in their brows as well as Crowns on their heads they would be adored like gods and not reproved like men Yet these men which are so high that none must speak to them death will be sure to speak with them Yet he shall be brought to the grave and remain among the Tombes Job 21.32 There is much weight in that word Yet i. e. though he be a Prince so proud that he scorneth to hear mens reproofs yet he shall be forced to listen to death's language though his dwelling place was stately amongst men yet he shall be brought to an homely one amongst Worms Yet he shall be brought to his grave and remain amongst the Tombes When Michael Paleologus Emperour of Constantinople sent for a present to Nugas the Scythian Prince certain royal Robes and rich Ornaments he set light by them saying Nunquid calamitates morbos aut mortem depellere possent It was a notable speech of the King of Persia who visiting Constantine at Rome was shewn the rare Edifices rich Coffers and great Honours of the Emperour Mira quidem haec sed video ut in Persia sic Romae hommes moriuntur If Magistrates are mortal 2. Vse by way of Inference of the Magistrates folly how much folly is in him that laboureth most for his body The truth is there is a secret conceit in the hearts of great persons who have the World at will that they shall not die it is not vox oris but it is vox cordis they still think of a longer life though they have lived never so long they can see death in other mens brows but not in their own bosomes w Psal 49.11 How many be too like that Duke d'Alva who bâ—ing asked whether he had observed a late eclipse of the sun answered That he had so much business to doe on earth that he he had no time to look up to Heaven so they spend so much time on their dyiâ—g bodies that they can spare none for their never dying souls Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever and their dwelling places to all generations Hence it commeth to passe that they work altogether for this world so they have Earth in their hands they care not though they have nothing of Heaven in their hearts Their endeavour is to live in the favour of great men and not to die in the feare of the great God How many great Persons spend their time as Seneca speaketh inter pectinem speculum occupati between the Comb and the Glasse and not between Scripture and Prayer their labour is to go finely to fare deliciously to live honourably to prosper outwardly but not to honour God fruitfully to discharge that trust which is committed to them faithfully or to work out their own Salvation diligently There is a story of a fat man riding through Rome on a lean horse it was demanded how it came to passe that he being so exceeding fat his horse was so lean he answereth Ego meipsum stabularius equum curat I mind my self but my Groom looketh after my Horse Too many God knoweth have fat bodies and lean souls their outward man is flourishing their inward man is perishing and the reason is they themselves regard their bodies but they say they trust God or more truly the Divel with their souls Prince Absalon is a fit resemblance of such persons whilst he lived he provided somewhat against the time he must die But what doth he provide only a place for his body to rest in The Spirit of God takes special notice how provident this ambitious youngster was for his body 2 Sam. 18.18 Now Absalon in his life time had reared up for himself a Pillar But he never thinketh of his precious soul where that might rest when it left his body How foolish and faulty are many Magistrates in this particular whilst they live they take special care that when they die their bodies be in such a vault interred with such a company of mourners attended that such a Monument be eâ—ected but take no care that when their bodies go to the house appointed for all the living their souls might go to that house which is not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens They little consider that when their Friends are weeping over
their bodies the Divels may be laughing over their souls O unspeakable folly to make much of the Cabinet and disesteem of the Jewel to trim the Scabbard and let the sword rust like Shimei to seek their servants and lose themselves Man in regard of his body claimeth kinred with the beasts of the field in regard of his soul with the Angels of Heaven and yet this beastial part is pampered whilst the Angelical is starved It is storied of Archimides that when Syracuse was taken by the Romans he was secure in his Closet Plut. in vit Marcell drawing circles with his Compasse in the dust and was then and there slain So these men ordinarily leave the Earth when they are most busie about it How did the fool in the Gospel promise himself a long and a comfortable life Soul take thine ease Luke 12.20 thou hast goods laid up for many years If he had said Soul take thine ease thou hast a treasure in Heaven or thou hast Christ who will doe thee good to eternity it had been somewhat like but thou hast goods saith he Alas how irrational is this you may assoon satiate or content corpus aura as animam auro the body with wind as the soul with wealth But I beseech you consider he that thought then to begin to take his ease is forced that night to make his end He was but a little before flourishing exceedingly his mind full of mirth his heart full of hope and his soul full of expected satisfaction But on a sudden he is departed and all his high hopes frustrated If you ask me whither he is gone his estate to men his body to the grave his soul to Hell Poor wretch little did he dream when he was asleep in sin How many die like those that are stung of the Tarantula a viper in Italy that even diâ— laughing though they are going to the place where is nothing but weeping of going from a bed of feathers to a bed of fire But too too many like him go from carnal pleasures to eternal pains Take notice how secure this rich fool was and yet his security was but the forerunner of his future calamity When the Wind lyeth then the great rain falleth When the Air is most quiet then commeth the great Earth-quake When Sisera was asleep then his Head was nailed to the ground Pharaoh in his Chariot Belshazzar in his bowls Haman at his banquet Herod in his robâ—s are secure but not safe when they least looked for it death surprized them When they cryed peace peace then sudden destruction seized on them as travail on a woman with child 1 Thes 5.3 which they could not escape Ambitious like the Jay They are pruning and priding themselves on the top of some high tree when suddenly a shot from a Fowler tumbleth it down dead to the Earth Covetous like Ants How busie are they like a company of Ants about white and yellow Earth when death like the feet of the next passenger crusheth them to pieces Voluptuous like the little Fish that swims merrily down the silver streams of Jordan till they empty themselves into the dead Sea and there perish The worlds greatest darlings are in no better condition then the Bull that goeth to be sacrificed with a Garland on his head and Musique before him when suddenly he feeleth the stroke of the murdering Axe and is knockt down dead Job 21. ver 7. to 13. They spend their days in wealth and end their days in endless wo. I shall conclude this Use with Job's Character of this rich sinner who flourishing for a time and perisheth to eternity The wicked live become old yea are mighty in power They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance They spend their days in wealth and in a moment go down to Hell Vse by way of advice Prepare for your dying hour Isa 38.6 Doe it speedily Exam. Are Magistrates mortall Let me then in the fear of the Lord beseech you that are Magistrates now presently to make preparation for the hour of your dissolutions My counsel shall be with a little alteration in the words of the Prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah Now set your house in order for you must die I must tell you all the time ye have is little enough for a work of this weight If Seneca can say all a mans life is little enough for Philosophy etiamsi a paeritia usque ad longissimos humani aeviterminos vita protendatur though the silver-wyre of life should be drawn out to the longest thread I am sure then that all your time is little enough for Christianity Ye have a great work to doe a great journey to go and a little time will not be sufficient Make much of time saith Aquinas especially in the weighty matters of Salvation O how much would he that now lyeth frying in Hell rejoyce if he might have the least moment to get God's favour in The sun of your lives Blessed be God is not yet let the gate of mercy is not yet shut I request you before the bridge of divine grace be drawn in this day of God's patience mind the things that concern your eternal peace Austin professeth he would not be an Atheist one quarter of an hour for a world because he did not know but in that time God might cut asunder his thread of life and so let him drop into Hell Let me perswade you and the good Lord prevail with your hearts to set your selves speedily about this necessary work Delays are dangerous especially in a business of infinite concernment Mat. 24.44 Ideo latet unus dies ut observentur omnes How earnestly doth our blessed Saviour exhort you to be always ready because ye know not at what hour your Master will call you Cesar would never acquaint his Souldiers with the time of removing his Campe that they might be always prepared to march Consider that on this moment dependeth eternity Petrach relateth an answer of one who being invited to dinner a day after said A mu tis annis crastinum non habui Quam serum est tunc vivere incipere cum desinendum est Sen. ad Paulin cap. 4. God hangeth heavy weights on weak wyers And how dolefully have many complained and mournfully lamented their losse of time when it hath been too late That story of a great Lady of our land which several speak of may awaken secure onâ—s when on her death-bed she dreadfully screeched out A World of Wealth for an inch of time A world of wealth for an inch of time And I have read of Chrysorius a man as full of wickedness as of wealth when he commeth to die cryeth out Inducâ—as usque ad mane Domine Truce Lord but till morning Truce Lord but till morning and with these words he breathed out his last Alterius perditio tua sit cautio Let that which was a murdering piece to