sealed and shutte and to be opened in the day of iudgement But inough for this if not too much for I had almost forgotten my selfe and now if I looke not backe it may be euery one will not looke right the third grace therefore of the three I told you of is the regiment of the spirite by which the heart and life of man is ordered according to the word of God For Paul saith that They which are the children of God Rom. 8.14 are led by the spirit of God But if any man hath not the spirit of Christ the same is not his 8.9 that is not Christs By these three as I tolde you shall a man come to be able to say with Paul I liue not now but Christ liueth in mee for why to haue Christ in him is to haue Christ by his spirit to guide and gouerne him Q. But when may Christ be said to doe that R. When the thoughts wil and affections of man together with all the powers of bodie and soule are ordered by the worde of God For then is man guided by the spirit of Christ when these things forenamed are all directed by the worde of Christ Q. So may it well be because the word is the rule after which a man must direct his goings R. And so is it for that cause for when Dauid asked the question whereby A young man should cleanse his wayes Psal 119.9 he streight waye returned this answere euen by ruling himselfe according to thy worde Q. So much I acknowletdge to make no more wordes therefore about this when a man hath attained to this grace by these graces which you haue spoken of what must he nexte doe that hee maye bee so much the better prepared against death R. Hee must inure himselfe by little and little to die before euer hee comes in deede to die For the more a man in health inures himselfe to die the lesse vnwilling in sickenes hee shal be to die for death after affliction is lesser than before hence is it that Paule saith in his first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 15.31 By the reioycing which I haue in Christ Iesus our Lord I die dayly dayly because he was often in danger of death by reason of his calling and dayly because in all his dangers he inured himselfe to die from this example should all that woulde well die learne dayly to die this dayly dying is the right way to well dying for he that dies dayly when he dyes dyes happily hee neuer puts death farre from him hee neuer makes death a stranger to him he neuer thinks death altogether against him oh that men would more inure themselues to die then woulde they be more religious and lesse superstitious more vertuous and lesse vitious more bounteous and lesse couetous more appliable to good and lesse inclinable to euill and to say at once then would they haue lesser affection to liue and greater delight and desire to dye their not acquainting themselues with death makes them seldome when well prepared for death Of another minde than many and of a better then was that good man and Martyr the Martir Bilney in the daies of Queene Marie for he to the ende he might well suffer did often ere hee suffered inure himselfe to suffer oft before he was burned did he put his finger into the flame of a candle not onely to make tryal of his ability in suffering but also to arme himselfe against greater torments in death Of the like minde before death should others bee in life that so they might neuer be vnprouided against death Q. I acknowledge as much as you affirme Men should bee thus minded in life that they might neuer bee ouertaken by death But how should a man inure himselfe to dye that so hee might not be ouertaken R. How many wayes By thinking of his owne death by calling to minde his friends death by preparing of things necessarie for death by frequenting the funeralles of those that haue yeelded to death by viewing the faces of those that are at the gate of death For by all these and many more hee may gather and conclude that necessarily he must dye Q. And what then R. That asmuch as he may he is to inure himselfe thereto For who doth not buckle himselfe to that he must needs doe Q. I thinke there is none which doth not R. Neither should there bee any which should not inure himselfe to death Q. Neither doe I denie that For the duetie of all is one But when should a man inure himselfe to dye R. When not daylie hourlie continually Q. Why that R. Because death is euer vncertaine vnto him vncertaine in regard of time vncertaine in regarde of place vncertaine in regard of manner for no man knoweth either the time when he shall dye or the place where he shall dye or the manner how he shall dye The time of his death is as vncertaine as the place the place as vncertaine as the time the manner as vncertaine as either place or time He may be taken to night before to morrow at his board aswell as in his bed with that that should preserue him as with that which will destroy him He is void of securitie at each time in euery place after all sorts No time can warrant him no place can priuiledge him Nothing can preserue him Q. But what must he do nothing in the time present but inure himselfe to dye that well he may dye R. Yes Whatsoeuer good thing else hee doth he must do it in the time present he must not delay till the time to come For why this is the aduise of Salomon Eccl. 9.10 Eccl. 9.10 All that thine hand shall finde to doe doe it with all thy power That is with all speede assoone as thou canst without delay This also is the counsaile of Paul Gal. 6.10 Gal. 6.10 While we haue time let vs doe good vnto all men arguing thereby that euer we shall not haue time And as good is the counsaile of the one as the aduise of the other For as he giues twice which giues quickly so he doth a thing twice which doth it quickly Twentie to one it is but he that taketh not time while he may haue time shal misse of time when he would haue time For occasiō is bald behind The foolish virgins that would not enter when they might could not when they would Syr. 5. 6. The watch word of Syrach therefore fits one man aswell as another and each conuert asmuch as one Make no tarying to turne vnto the Lord and put not of from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord breake forth and in thy securitie thou shalt be destroyed and thou shalt perish in the time of vengeance If it may fitte you and me and him you cause me to speake of I shall bee glad Q. If it doth not I pray God it may R. Euen so doe I.
shall he that is sicke and that mortally bring it to be so R. By meanes Q. What meanes R. These two practises and meditations Q. By practises how R. Fower waies First by considering himselfe Secondly by considering his life Thirdly by regarding more the benefits of God that are to be enioyed after death than death it selfe Fourthly by looking vpon death in the glasse of the Gospell and not in the glasse of the law For she is not comfortable to looke vpon in the first how terrible soeuer she shewes her selfe in the last And terrible she is in the last though comfortable she be in the first Q. But will the consideration of each of these serue to arme the soule of him that is sicke against the immoderate feare of death R. I thinke no lesse I teach no lesse I know not how to perswade you lesse Q. Shew me the reason of each and I shall the better beleeue you R. Will you not beleeue else Q. I did not yet say so I speake comparatiuely not simply R. That comparatiuely then you may beleeue me if simply you will not I will endeuour to doe as much as you desire Q. So doe and I will beleeue you simply and comparatiuely R. To the purpose intended then may the consideration of the first of the fower well serue for consider he himselfe that is sick and he shall finde that his body is but a prison to his soule and his soule a prisoner in his body And why should not this arme him against all immoderate feare of death for what should he feare the breaking of his prison the freeing of his prisoner Dauid desirous of life eternall and the sight of his master cryed out Oh how long shall I liue in this prison Psal 142.7 And Paul reuoluing with himselfe the miseries that infested him in this prison cryed out Rom. 7.24 Oh wretch that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of sinne Dauid and Pauls practise should be the sickemans president His body to him is no better then Pauls and Dauids body was to them His body therefore is but a body of sinne a prison of the soule a burthen to the minde and spirit As a man of God hath said no bocardo no dungeon no sinke no puddle no pit is in any respect so euill a prison for the body as the body is of the soule For it is such a cage as stinketh in the sight of God a body of sinne is this cage of the soule And therefore he that is sicke should feare no more to goe out of it than out of a prison To feare the deliuery of the soule from prison is meere folly It is to wish a stinking lodging and a filthy cage to dwell in and euer to cary it about which is extreame misery It is to wish continuall banishment from the ioyfull realme of heauen his naturall country which is extreame madnes What man would be so foolish wretched careles mad as to wish any such matter none wise sober and in his right witts The sicke therefore vnles he will be counted foolish wretched careles and mad must neuer feare immoderately the opening of his prison and the loosening of his prisoner Now if the consideration of this first practise doth thus well serue to the fencing of the soule against al immoderate feare of death what shall wee thinke any of the rest that follow to bee of much lesse value Truly no. For going from the consideration of himselfe to the consideration of his life shall he there finde any lesse force than before Iam. 4.14 surely no for what is his life It is but a vapour that appeareth for a little time then vanisheth away What is the certaintie that he hath either of it or in it it is a meere vncertaintie Syr. 18. 8. For as Syrach saith No man hath certaine knowledge of his death His life is like the weathercocke which turneth at euery blast the waue which mounteth at euery storme the reed which boweth at euery winde but his death is like a theefe which commeth at vnwares What is the peace hee hath all his daies little or none His life is but a warfare full of continuall labour and sorrow And now what should he feare inordinarily the vanishing of a vapour the turning of a weathercocke the breaking vp of a warfare the Saints in the Apocalips say Apoc. 22.20 Come Lorde Iesu come Shorten these latter daies for thine elects sake and saue vs. Their saying should teach others what to say For as Paul saith Heb. 13.1 We haue not heere an abiding city but we seeke one to come Merily therefore should he wish and willingly cry O father of heauen Matt. 6.10 Apo. 22 20 thy kingdome come Come Lord Iesus come And not inordinately or immoderately feare the comming of that which certainly will come and necessarily must come Seneca enterpre For as Seneca saith It is but folly to feare that which connot be eschewed It may be saith he thou wilt say thou shalt dye and what matter is that saith he vpon this condition thou camest into the world that thou mightest goe out But thou shalt dye It is the law of nations that thou must restore againe what thou hast receiued Againe thou shalt dye What then thy life is but a pilgrimage When thou hast walked much and long thou must returne once againe thou shalt dye neither the first nor the last All that are dead haue gone before thee all that are liuing shall follow thee But thou shalt dye young It is the best thing that cā be to dy before thou wishest to dy While life is pleasantest death is profitablest It is then best to dye when it delighteth most to liue But once more thou shalt dye young It may be fortune takes thee from some euill if none other yet surely she takes thee from old age And what a good that is Augustine sheweth when he saith August de Catechizandis rudi When men wish vnto themselues olde age what other thing wish they but a long infirmitie Thus as you see doth Seneca harten a man against death and the feare of death And thus may any wise sicke man harten himselfe For what is death that hee should immoderately feare it August super Ioh. Saith Augustine Death is the leauing of the body and the laying downe of a grieuous burden Saith Chrysostome Death is a necessary gift of nature now corrupted Chrysost super Matt. cap. 10. which is not to be eschewed but rather embraced Saith Secundus the Philosopher to Adrian the emperour asking him what death is Death is the rich mens feare the poore mens desire And saith Chrysostom againe Chrysost homil 5. ad popul Antioch Brandm pag. 567. Eccl. 9.12 Death is a sleepe somewhat longer than vsuall For the like things happen to those that dye that doe to those that sleepe He that sleepes knowes not when hee begines
Wherefore cryest thou vnto me Exod. 14.15 When death therefore assailes me all sences external failes so as the sicke bee vtterly vnable to pray with tongue yet if through the instigation of others he be willing thereto that his will to praier is as good as if he did pray for as Dauid saith Psal 10.17 145.19 God heares the desires of the poore and he will fulfill the desires of them that feare him he also will heare their cry and will saue them And this he speakes as if the sighes sobs and grones of a repentant and beleeuing heart were praiers before God as well as the supplicatory words of a loud and mournfull crying tongue but to stay further speech of this though I might make much more you see many speake and vnderstand well to their last gaspe and they I think may vse their tongues in praier aswel as their hearts Q. There are but a few that doe so and seldome when it is that any doe so R. Yes vndoubtedly they are many that doe so and such times fall out often and neither is greatly to bee marueiled at for why As good words either of God and godlines or to God and his goodnes are sighes of a true and timely faith so often doth God enable many to the last point of their liues both to speake and to vse many good words to his glory their owne comfort and others great good If you will looke either into the Scriptures or into other histories you shall find there many good men to haue spoken to the last and to haue vsed merueilous good words at the last In the nine and fourtieth of Genesis the last words of Iaâ—kob were prophecies of blessings and curses vpon his children the duration of gouernement in Israel and ardent praier for his owne good Amongst all and other things by him there said these are neither least nor last Gen. 49.10 The Scepter shall not depart from Iudah and the Law-giuer from betweene his feete till Shilo come And againe O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation In the two and three and thirteth of Deuteronomie Deu 32.35 the last words of Moses were his most excelleÌ„t song conteining the benefites of God toward his people and their ingratitude towards him and Moses his blessing wherewith he blessed the children of Israel before his death the words are better for you there to reade then forme heere to repeat referring you thither therefore there to reade them heere for this time I willingly omit them In the second of Samuel and the three and twentieth Chapter the last words of Dauid were The spirit of the Lord spake by mee 2. Sam. 23.1 and his word was in my tongue the God of Israel spake vnto mee the strength of Israel said Beare rule ouer me c. In the foure and twentieth of the second booke of Chronicles the last wordes of Zacharias the sonne of Iehoiada 2. Chro. 24.22 when he was stoned were these The Lord looke vpon it and require it the last words of our Sauiour Christ when he was dying vpon the crosse as they were many admirable so they were full of spirituall grace and comfortable Mat. 27.46 First speaking to his Father he said 1. Eli Eli Luk. 23.34 Luk. 23.43 lamasabachtani My God my God why hast thou forsaken me 2. Father forgiue them they know not what they doe 2. to the theefe he said Ioh. 19.26.27 c. Verilie I say vnto thee to day shalt thou be with mee in Paradise 3. to his mother he said Woman behold thy Sonne and to Iohn Behold thy mother 4. Earnestly desiring our saluation he said I thirst 5. Hauing made perfect satisfaction vnto God for mans offence he said Luk. 23.48 It is finished Lastly when body and soule were parting hee said againe vnto God Father into thine haÌ„ds I commend my spirit Act. 7.56.59.60 the last words of Steuen were these 1. Behold I see the heauens open and the Sonne of man standing at the right hand of God 2. Lord Iesu receiue my spirit 3. Lord lay not this sinne to their charge In other writers you may see the last words of others and those very good all spoken at the last cast of life Euseb lib. 4 cap. 15. At the last and as the last thus spake Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna Thou art a true God without lying therefore in all things I praise thee and blesse thee and glorifie thee by the eternall God and high Priest Iesus Christ thine only sonne by whom and with whome to thee and the holy spirit be all glory now and for euer And thus Ignatius Bishop of Antioch Id. lib. 3. c. 30. I care not what kinde of death I die I am the bread of the Lord must be grounde with the teeth of Lions that I may be cleane bread for Christ who is the bread of life for me And thus Ambrose Bishop of Millaine Paulinus in vita eius I haue not so lead my life among you as if I were ashamed to liue Neither doe I feare death because we haue a good Lord. Possidonius in vita Augustini And thus Augustine Bishop of Hippo. 1. He is no great man that thinkes it no great matter that trees and stones fall and mortall men die 2. Iust art thou ô Lord and righteous is thy iudgement Foxe preface to Luthers Comment vpon the Psalmes of degrees And thus Luther comparable to the chiefest as Master Foxe once said My heauenly father God and father of our Lord Iesus Christ and God of all comfort I giue thee thanks that thou hast reuealed vnto me thy sonne Iesus Christ whome I haue beleeued whome I haue professed whome I haue loued whome I haue praised whome the Bishop of Rome and the whole company of the wicked persecuteth and reuileth I pray thee my Lord Iesus Christ receiue my poore soule my heauenly Father though I be taken from this life and this bodie of mine is to be laide downe yet I know certainely that I shall remaine with thee for euer neither shall any be able to pull me out of thy hands And thus Bishop Hooper O Lord Iesus sonne of Dauid haue mercie on me and receiue my soule And thus Annas Burgius Forsake mee not O Lord least I forsake thee And thus Melancthon if it be the will of God I am willing to die and I beseech him that he will graunt me a ioyfull departure and to the like effect many others But to speake of them al were too much the examples of those good men that at the last end of their liues haue expressed their notable faith in God and his Christ are infinite and therefore too many as well for me to recite as for you to remember As these which I haue mentioned may suffice to shew what many haue done so may they well serue to signifie what all should do for good words by the good are
to the bodie this whether an hedge or a wall doth vphold it it little skils Know yee this men are as well couered with gale as with golde Contemne ye the rest which superfluous labour makes as an ornament remember yee that there is nothing merueilous but the soule to which being great there is nothing great 2. There are fiue or sixe things which may or should draw the founders of them and dwellers in them frō so much loue vnto them as should make thee vnwilling to depart from them 2. The curse that is denounced against those that loue them Esa 5.8 and Iere. 22.13 2. The hatred that God beareth against the houses that are so loued Amos 6.8 The Lord God hath sworne by himselfe saith the Lord God of hostes I abhor the excellencie of Iacob and hate his palaces 3. The examples of sundry good ones whose steps we should follow who neither much loued them nor any thing esteemed them In his birth our Sauiour Christ for his house had but an Inne Luk. 2.7 and at his death a tombe Matth. 27.60 all his life he had not where to rest his head Matth. 8.20 For Abraham the father of the faithfull Rom. 4.11 the Apostle saith Heb. 11.9 By faith he abode in the land of promise as in a strange countrey as one that dwelt in the tents with Isaac and Iacob heires with him of the same promise for he looked for a citie hauing a foundation whose builder and maker is God For others he saith Heb. 11.37 38. They wandred vp and downe in sheepes skins and in goates skins being destitute afflicted and tormented whom the world was not worthy of they wandred in wildernesses and mountaines and dens and caues of the earth great faire costly and sumptuous buildings strong stout and stately habitations huge high and honourable houses for some one other amongst many It is reported of him that he had his house in the maner of his sepulchre And when the Emperour that then was asked him why he fitted his house to his body hee answered him this is sufficient for a man that must dye and thereto he added It is better leapt into heauen out of a cottage than out of a pallace 4. The iniurie that is offered others in the making of them For there often the builders lay which at will they should haue giuen to the poore and therefore Paul of whom Hierome writes would not lay out his money vpon such stones as should perish with the world but vpon liuing stones which are tumbled vpon the ground and of which the citie of the great king is builded 5. The accusation that the stones often in such houses make vnto God against those that there layde them and being layde too to much loued and esteemed them for as the Prophet Habakuk saith Hab. 2.11 The stone shall crie out of the wall and the beame out of the timber shall answer it 12. Woe vnto him that buildeth a towne with blood and erecteth a citie by iniquitie 6. The follie that is shewed in building of fine houses and committed in louing them when they are builded For first mens liues are shorter now than euer they were and yet now they must haue brauer houses than euer they had and what wise man thinkes not that a follie Secondly mens soules are as pretious now as euer they were yet now they will haue better houses for their bodies than for them and what religious man knowes not that a follie The care for the soule should not be lesse than the care for the bodie he that saith for the bodie Care not for the bodie saith for the soule Keepe thy soule diligently Matth. 6.25 Deut. 4.9 and he that will be worshipped in Spirit because he is a spirit wil be glorified with the body because the spirit remaines in the bodie as the Apostle therefore saith in one place 1. Cor. 6.13 The bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the bodie So againe hee saith in another Therefore glorifie God in your bodie and in your spirit for they are Gods And betweene both Knowe yee not that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid and againe Know ye not that your bodie is the temple of the holy Ghost which is in you whom ye haue of God And ye are not your owne Thirdly the Apostle saith Col. 3.2 Set your affections on things which are aboue and not on things which are on the earth yet now they haue such loue to their houses as for their houses they are loath to goe to God loath to yeelde to nature vnwilling to goe the way of all earth and what good man deemes not this a folly Howsoeuer men loue their houses here yet for loue of them they should not bee careles of the houses they should seeke otherwhere 2. Cor. 5.2 We sigh saith the Apostle desiring to be cloathed with our house which is from heauen and they sigh because they must forgoe their house which they haue on earth and yet the Apostle by his speech sheweth what house their loue should bee most to their house from heauen their house eternall in the heauens How much soeuer they loue their houses yet will not their houses here continue neither shall they euer get any thing by the loue they beare them Fourthly their houses shall and will decay the temple of Ierusalem was a fine house a finer house I guesse than the finest they haue yet as fine as it was Matt. 24.2 Iesus said of it when his Disciples shewed him the building of it there shall not be left a stone vpon a stone which shall not bee cast downe If that might not stand which was built at Gods appoyntment and for his seruice they may well thinke theirs shall not which are built at their owne assignement and for their owne pleasure and delight theirs haue no such priuiledges as that had What the Lord spake against the houses of Iaakob Amos 3. they may well thinke spoken against theirs Amos. 3 1◠Surely in the day that I shall visite the transgressions of Israel vpon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel and the horne of the altar shall be broken off and fall to the ground And I will smite the winter house with the sommer house and the houses of iuorie shall perish and the great houses shall bee consumed saith the Lord. And thereupon conclude that what betided them will also in time betide theirs for among the signes which shall goe before the day of iudgement Hierome recites this as one that all buildings shall fall and therfore theirs too because els al shal not for none is exempted where all are expressed Secondly though they should or could stand yet they should get nothing by their loue towardes them For our Sauiour Christ sayth Whosoeeuer shall forsake houses or
gotten themselues an immortall name If thus these heathens were perswaded of this matter as they tooke a truth without any question that they which in this world liued godlie iustlie righteouslie and soberlie should goe into a ioyfull place of rest where hauing the blessed company of the immortall gods they should see one another know one another talke and reioyce one with another what should christiās be which haue not only the grounds that heathens had but better greater far away then euer heathēs either had or could haue should not they think you to be more credulous cōfident beleeuing then euer heathens were Q. Yes surelie for as it was a checke to the Scribes and Pharisees that the Publicans and harlots did goe into the kingdome of heauen before them so it is to christians that heathens herein should be more beleeuing then they but what if christians grounds faile them more then heathens conceits R. Oh fie on such a question damnable is such an assertion are heathens conceites comparable with christians grounds What grosse absurdities should you fall into if you shold auouch any such thing first you should accuse the Scriptures of vntruth Secōdly you should preferre heathenish groundes before christian principles Thirdly you should iniurie the heathens in accounting that their conceit which is gods truth Q. God forbid that I should fall into any of these the last is naught the second worse the first of all I did but aske the question I will not auouch any such assertion R. But why aske you such a question Q. Because of that I haue heard obiected against that which all this while by you hath bin proued and confirmed R. What is that I pray you Q. That which is thus written in the ninth of Ecclesiastes commonly called the booke of the Preacher The liuing know that they shal die Eccl. 9.5 but the dead know nothing at all neither haue they any more reward for their remembrance is forgotten and againe there is neither worke nor inuētion nor knowledge nor wisedome in the graue whither thou goest R. Alas alas by either of those sayinges the doctrine before deliuered is nothing at all crossed or disproued For first the dead know nothing at al as they are dead yet it followeth not therefore but that they know something as they liue Secondly in the graue where the bodie must lie when it is dead there is no knowledge yet it thereupon followes not that in heauen where the soule doth liue there is no knowledge Moreouer the dead know nothing at all as they are dead so lōg as they are dead but shall they therefore know nothing when they shall liue againe they know nothing in the bodie so long as the bodie is in the graue and shall they therefore know nothing in the bodie when the body is raised vp out of the graue they know nothing in the bodie betweene the day of their death and the day of doome and shall they therefore know nothing at all after the generall resurrectiō or do they therfore now in the soule know nothing betweene the day of their dissolution and the generall day of restauration there is a non sequitur in all these so is there also in that which should be concluded out of the places obiected for they speake of the dead as they are dead they speake of the the dead while they are dead they speak neither of the dead as they doe liue nor as they shall liue And the doctrine before deliuered speakes wholly of the dead as they shal liue in soule in the time present and as they shal liue in bodie soule in the time to come Againe they speake of knowledge earthlie for it followeth in the next verse And they haue no more portion for euer Eccl. 9.6 in all that is done vnder the Sunne But this doctrine now lately deliuered speakes of knowledge heauenly for it speakes of knowledge from the day of death to the day of iudgement and from thenceforth to all eternity Q. Still then you hold what you held R. What should I else doe this that you haue said cannot withhold mee a man must stand to the truth til he die yea though it be for the truth that he doth die and other then a truth I know not this to be that I haue said for they that depart hence in the Lord shall after their departure know those their friends that were gone before them and those also that shall follow after them Q. But this one thing further touching that point how shall they know them R. Euen as the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 13.12 As they are knowne now I know in part but then shall I know euen as I am knowne Q. Shall the Father know the Sonne and the Sonne the Father the husband the wife and the wife the husband c. R. Yea no doubt though I thinke not that either the father shall know the sonne or the sonne the father as here the father knewe the sonne and the sonne the father For all earthlie and polluted knowledge shall bee abolished and done away and I am moued to be of this minde partly by the saying of Christ Mat. 22.28 Mathew the two and twentieth where being demanded whose wife of the seauen in the resurrection that woman that had had seauen husbands should be he gaue this answere In the resurrection they neither marrie wiues neither are wiues bestowed in mariage but are as the Angels of God in heauen and partlie by the saying of another a learned and godlie writer who in the tenth of his sermons saith thus In heauen where there shall be no more place of miserie Brandmil serm 10. conc funer or time of mercie and so no affection of mercie as Barnard saith in the 11. of his Epistles we shal be no more so affected as heere vpon earth we are For our will shal be one and the same with Gods will whome he will haue to bee with him in his heauenlie kingdome him shall we also willingly haue with vs but whom the Lord will not haue to be with him him shall wee haue no minde to be with vs whatsoeuer a one he shal be yea as the Psalmist saith Psal 58.10 Ausbertus lib. 6. in 14. cap. Apoca. The righteous shall reioyce when he seeth the vengeance for as Ausbertus saith The torment of the wicked shal make for the increase of the praise of the elect Q. Why but shall not the father knowe the sonne to haue been his sonne and the sonne the father to haue been his father R. To that as I dare not say definitiuely yea so do I not say resolutely no. What maner of knowledge there shall be in particular betweene one and another my knowledge heere doth not serue me to describe Yet thus much I dare say because God by his word hath emboldened mee so much to say that Peter in the transfiguration of Christ his master knew Moses
scripture you reade of no more that were accepted which so repented Q. But that moe are accepted may thereof be collected R. But that all shall can no waies be concluded There is reason more why hee was than there is that others shall As Christ that was crucified was crucified that man might be saued so while he suffered he would needs shew the vertue of his suffring that all which saw the one with their eyes might acknowledge the other in their heartes And therefore the theefe was then called which in former times did seeme to haue been despised There is no such reason now For why Christ hath suffred and the vertue of his suffering is perceiued Q. I inferre not that all shall but I enforce that some may And herein doe I amisse for may not a man finde grace at the last if hee repent R. Neither say I that herein you doe amisse for I deny not but a man may finde grace at last I auouch not that he shall He may for Chrysostome saith Châ—yâ—â—st 〈◊〉 7. sup â—â—n The theefe on the Crosse needed not so much as one day to repent himselfe what speake I of one day no hee needed not one houre so great is the mercie of God toward vs. And againe Iâ—â—◠〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉 â—â—pâ— that theefe that hung vpon the crosse needed not any length and prolixitie of time that hee might winne entrance into paradise so much time serued his turne as he might be dispatched in whilest he might vtter one speech so that within one moment of time being freed from the offences of his whole life he gatte fauour to goe before the Apostles into paradise Cyprian also saith Câ—â—â—â—◠〈…〉 Although thou dost at thy verie departing out of this world and going downe of this temporall life pray vnto God for thy sinnes who is the true and onely God calling vpon him with a faythfull confession and an acknowledging both of thine offences and of his trueth thus confessing and beleeuing thou hast free pardon and forgiuenes giuen and graunted vnto thee of the meer goodnes and mercy of God And in the verie death assoone as thou hast giuen vp the ghost Ibid. thou passest vnto immortalitie And againe no man is letted either by sinnes or by yeares to come to the obtayning of saluation as long as a man is yet abiding or remayning in this world no repentance is too late the gate is open vnto pardon and forgiuenes and they that seeke the truth shal haue an easie accesse vnto it c. As before In another place Idem in ser de cena dom Heb. 12.17 Gen. 25.33 In that very moment of time euen when the soule is readie to depart from the bodie and is euen at the lippes of the party to yeeld vp the spirite the goodnes of our most mercifull God refuseth not repentance And whatsoeuer is truly done is neuer too late done But all this notwithstanding I say not that he shall for he that will not when he may when hee would sayth reason shall haue nay Yee knowe sayth the Apostle to the Hebrewes How that afterwards to witte when Esau had sold his birth right for a messe of pottage when Esau would haue inherited the blessing August serm 36. he was reiected For hee found no place to repentance though he sought the blessing with teares Augustine of this very matter in hand saith thus If any man set in the extreame necessitie of his sickenes would take repentance and doth take it and is by and by reconciled and so departeth hence Whether he went well hence or no I know not repentance we may graunt him but securitie we cannot giue him I say not truely that he shall be condemned neither doe I yet say that he shal be saued Wilt thou therefore be freed from the doubt hold that which is certaine let goe that which is vncertaine Worke thou repentaÌ„ce whiles thou art whole and sound If thou doest so I say vnto thee that thou art safe because in that time thou repentedst in which thou mightst haue sinned If thou wilt then repent when thou canst sin no more thy sinnes haue then forsaken thee and not thou thy sins And by this is made manifest what I desired to manifest But if I must further manifest it Ibid. Augustine againe saith He whome sickenes and paine scarreth rarely to true repentance commeth for latewarde repentance vseth to deceiue many Experience also testifieth that there was one theefe reiected aswell as one receiued one damned aswell as one saued one punished aswell as one pardoned Q. Presently then it seemes you would haue a man to prepare for death R. I would so and in so willing I hope I would nothing but what I may well will and should willingly wish For the scripture in many places both willeth and wisheth To day sayth Dauid if ye will heare his voyce harden not your hearts Psal 95.7.8 Eccles 9.10 All that thine hand shall finde to doe doe it with all thy power In the morning sow thy seed and in the euening let not thine hand rest for thou knowest not whether shall prosper this or that or whether both shall bee alike good Eccles 12.1 And againe Remember now thy creatour in the dayes of thy youth whiles the euill dayes come not nor the yeares approach wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them Syr. 5. 7. Make no tarying sayth Syrach to turne vnto the Lord and put not off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lorde breake forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed and thou shalt perish in the time of vengeance And againe 18.20 Humble thy selfe before thou bee sicke and whilest thou maiest yet sinne shew thy conuersion Quae fecisse voles hoc tempore quo morieris Haec facias quando corpore sanus eris Saith an olde Poet What thou would'st haue done at such time as thou shalt dye Those things doe in such time as thy health shall be hye Q. But if I may aske why doe you and the scripture will thus much R. The reasons thereof and for are many If I shall recount some of them vnto you I will Q. Doe so I beseech you For this talke is more wholesome than yrkesome R. The scripture therefore doth perswade a man in the present time to prepare himselfe to death and not to delaye till the future first because the present time is certaine and ours the future is vncertaine and none of ours For who can assure himselfe of one day to liue that hath alreadie many dayes liued surely no man As Seneca saith Seneca Young men haue death behinde their backes olde men before their faces This therefore is the saying of Christ our sauiour Be ye therefore prepared Wherefore because the sonne of man will come in an houre when ye thinke not Luk. 12.40 This also is the saying of Seneca whom I mentioned euen now
to sleepe hee that dyes knowes not when he beginnes to dye Man knowes not his end He that sleepes rests from al the care and labour he had while he waked he that dyes resteth from all the care and trouble he had while he liued Apoc. 14.13 He that sleeps liues while he sleepes Mat. 22.32 he that dyes when he is dead For the soule is immortall And God is not the God of the dead but of the liuing Yet when Abraham and Isaac and Iacob were dead God said I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac Exod. 3 6. and the God of Iacob He that sleepes dreames either of things pleasant or things pestilent he that dyes and is dead Luk. 16.22.23 enioyes either things ioyfull as the ioyes of heauen or things painefull as the paines of hell he that sleepes Iob. 19.25 sleepes in hope to awake againe he that dies dies in hope to rise againe And therefore the Iewes call the churchyarde the house of the liuing because they which there sleepe shall thence in the last daies rise He that sleepes is stronger when he awakes than before he that dies is better when he rises againe than euer he was before He rises in incorruption he rises in power 1. Cor. 15.42 43. Mat. 19.26 1. Cor. 15.25 He that sleepes may easily be waked he that dies may easily be raised The trumpet shal blow and the dead shall be raised vp incorruptible To come to some point now what should a man feare either the laying downe of a burthen or the taking vp of a sleepe being weary hee desires both the one and the other Being wearied with the cares and crosses of this life what should he then feare death no man feares to be cast into a sleepe neither should a sicke man feare much to die As Seneca saith Senec. in prouer Epist It is a foolish thing to be delighted with sleepe and yet to abhor death when as a continuall sleepe is the imitation of death againe Through the feare of death we make vnto our selues an vnquiet life and so great is the madnes of men that some are driuen to die by the feare of death We are to be strengthened least we too well loue our life too much hate our death And we must be perswaded when reason thereto perswades to ende our life but not to feare death A valiant and couragious man ought not to flie but to goe out of his life For himselfe and of himselfe he saith otherwhere It repenteth me not to haue liued because I haue not so liued Senec. lib. de senectyte that I should thinke my selfe borne in vaine And so depart I out of this life as if I departed out of an Inne not as if I departed out of an house for nature hath giuen vs an Inne to stay in but not an house to dwell in Thus by his example he shewed what he himselfe did and by his reason what others after his example should doe if either his example be worth the following or his reason worthie the beleeuing for his reasons sake and after his example he that is sicke and therefore not farre from death should neither immoderatly feare death nor negligently expect death How fearefull soeuer death is if it be looked vpon in the glasse of the law yet is it not so being looked on in the glasse of the Gospell In the one it hath a sting and that a sharpe one in the other it wants a sting and therefore it is no wondrous fearefull one Saith Gregory What is this mortall life but away and consider my brethren what a thing is it in the way to be wearied and to nill that the way should be ended He that trauailes desires to be at his iourneies ende what should he that liues be afraide to die death is the ende of his â—ourney Euery thing reioyces in the ende What should the sicke man feare death death vnder the Gospell to him that beleeues â—s The passage to life not to destruction For be which beleeueth in Christ dieth not Ioh. 5.24 death hath no power ouer him but he passeth from death to life The death of those that beleeue hath another Epitheton than hath the death of those that beleeue not Pretious in the sight of the Lord saith Dauid is the death of his Saints Psal 116.15 Sap. 3.19 Bern. in quadam epâ—â—co but horrible saith Salomon is the end of the wicked generation Pretious is the death of the Saints pretious truely as the end of their labours as the finishing of their victorie as the gate of life and the entrance to perfect securitie And againe in the same place saith he The death of the righteous is good for the rest that followes it better for the newenes of that rest best of all for the securitie that is in that rest that both followes it and is new For as the same Bernard otherwhere saith Bern. ser 25. paru serm Three things there are which makes the death of the Saints pretious 1. Rest from labour 2. Ioy of the newenes of that rest 3. Securitie of the eternitie of the same rest But on the contrary part the death of the wicked is most vile It is euill truely in the loosing of the world for without griefe they cannot be seuered from that which they loue it is worse in the seuering of the flesh For their soules are puld from their bodies by wicked spirits it is worst of all in the double suffering of the wormes and the fire For the worme euer stingeth and the fire alwaies burneth neither euer cease to torment Much what to the like effect doth Chrysostome write of the death of the one and the other Although they die at home Chrysost hom 66. in Genes de morte peccator both wife and children being present familiars and acquaintance standing by if yet they want vertue their death is but euill So although he be in a strange countrey though he lies vpon the pauement and what say I though he be in a straunge countrey although he falles into the hands of theeues although he be deuoured of beasts yet if he be indued with vertue his death shall be pretious As Anselmus writeth Anselm It hurts not those which are good whether they be murthered or taken away by sodaine death For they neuer die sodeinly which euer thought they were to die Whether therefore they be slaine with the sword or torne in peeces of beastes or burned with fire or drowned by water or hanged on a tree or haue their legges broken or die by some other misfortune yet euer is the death of his Saints pretious in the sight of the Lord according as it is At what time soeuer the righteous dieth his righteousnes shall not be taken from him And so death hurteth not but profiteth much If therefore he that is sicke or any other doth beleeue he needes not ouermuch to
feare death For what should a man feare that which doth good and not hurte brings profit and not disprofite is beneficial and commodious not vnprofitable and noxious Q. Nothing at all in my minde But what is death so R. Why else say I so Q. Because it pleaseth you to say so R. What must I speake what pleaseth mee Q. You should not R. Neither will I so neere as I can but that will I speake which may please God and pleasure man Q. Because you say then Death doth good and not hurt brings profite and not disprofite is commodious and not noxious to whome is it commodious R. To whom not It is commodious to him that suffers it and it is commodious to him that sees it suffered Q. But not to euerie one of those that suffer it or see it suffered R. Neither did I yet say so It is commodious to euerie one that suffers it either in faith or for faith or both It is commodious also to euerie one that sees it suffered so hee makes right vse of the seeing it suffered For the first these sayings of Scripture make som what 2. Cor. 4.12 Tob. 3.6 Ro◠8.28 Syr. 41.2 Rom. 8.38 Death worketh in vs. It t s better for ◠to dye then to liue to them that loue God a thinges worke together for the best O Dear how acceptable is thy Iudgement vnto the need full and vnto him whose strength fayleth and that is now in the last age and is vexed with a◠things Gregor super Mat. 10. in testimo illis For the other this of Gregory makes much The Death of the righteous to the good is an helpe to the euill a testimonie that thence the wicked may perish without excuse whence the godlie doe take example that they may liue Q. What good brings Death to him that suffers it as you haue sayd R. The goods thereof they are vnspeakeable for multitude they exceede number for greatnes they passe vnderstanding for goodnes they excell all that men heere enioy or may enioy Q. I would I might heare somwhat of thē that so both I others might be benefited by them R. Sith so you will I say so you shall First Death killes his familiar enemie Gal. 5. 1. P◠12.11 Rom. 6.7 to witte his bodie or fleshe with all her lustes fighting against the soule For be that is dead is freed from sinne And what a benefite this is that saying of a learned writer sheweth which thus soundeth Seneca There is no pestilence more forceable to doe an hurt then a familiar enemie A familiar enemie betrayeth Christ into the hands of sinners Secondly Death opens a doore to his poore prisoner out of a filthie prison in which he was held bound and captiue that is Death giues libertie to his Soule to depart from the bodie in which it was deteyned from the presence of God as in a prison For many haue thought the body of man to be as a prison to the Soule of man Pythagoras seeing one of his schollers verie busie about trimming vp of his bodie said this man ceases not to make vnto himself a more troublesome prison What a benefite this is it may appeare by Dauids praier Psal 142.7 and our experience Dauids praier Psal 142.1 Bring my soule out of prison that I may praise thy name Our experience is that prisoners hate little more then lockes and boltes because they must stay them from going out Thirdlie Death deliuers him from the carryage of a coffin full of filthines and vncleannes that is his bodie Plato in Cratylo sayeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Corpus a bodye Plato in Cratylo dicitur quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is said to be ac 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Sepulchrum A graue Sepulchro quid faedius and what more vncleane then a graue Mat. 23.27 Whited tombes sayeth Christ appeare beautifull outward but are within full of dead mens bones of all filthines such like are the fine and faire bodies of men A corruptible bodie sayth Salomon is heauie vnto the soule Sap. 9 1◠the earthlie mansion keepeth downe the mind that is full of cares And what a benefite this is it may appeare not onelie by Paules speach in one place but also by his great outcry in another For thus he saith in one place Whiles we are at home in the bodie we are absent from the Lord 2. Cor. 5.6 And thus he crieth out in another O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death And a miserable thing it is to be absent from the Lord Rom. 7.4 and to be troubled with the bodie of Death When Paul sayth the Ephesians were without God in the world he reckened vp one of the euils the Ephesians were infected with Ephe. 2.12 ere euer the bright light of the glorious Gospell of Christ Iesus did shine vnto them and vpon them but when he said If God be with vs who can be against vs he spake of one of the greatest blessings that is Rom. 8.31 writing therefore to the Philippians he not onelie desireth to bee with Christ but also sayth that so to be is best of all I am greatlie in doubt on both sides desiring to be loosed and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 which is best of all This therfore was Dauids complaint As the Hart brayeth for the riuers of waters Psal 42.1 so panteth my Soule after thee ô God my Soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing God Psal 42.2 when shall I come and appere before the presence of God And this otherwhere the saying of the Psalmist It is good for me to drawe neere vnto God 73.28 What shoulde be others thereupon I leaue it to others to discerne My meaning is to proceed to another cōmodity that death brings with it to whom it comes and that is this It puts an end to the painefull Pilgrimage he was going on in this world For what is this mortall life but a way Basil hom 1. in psal 1. and that for the hast that euerie thing generate makes to the end What a commoditie this is may many waies appeare but especiallie by that of Salomon Eccl. 7.3 The day of Death is better then the day that one is borne And that of Syrach Death is better then a bitter life If it were requisite Syr. 30. 17. that eyther of these were better proued proofe might soone be produced For the first there is one that sayeth For two causes the day of death is better to the seruants of God then the day of byrth Perald tom 1. pag. 134. One is because Death is the egresse from miserie whereas the birth is the ingresse to miserie sayeth a wise man though Death be not good yet is it the end of all euils Seneca saith Death is the remedy of all euils The second is because Death is the gate
of glorie to the seruants of God It is the beginning of a blessed life For the other there is another that saieth Syr. 40. 25. 41. 2. It is better to dye then to begge O death how acceptable is thy Iudgement vnto the needefull and vnto him whose strength fayleth and that is nowe in the last age and is vexed with all things and to him that despayreth and hath lost patience To like purpose saide olde Tobit in the anguish of his Soule Tob. 3.6 It is better for me to dye then to liue because I haue heard false reproches and am verie sorowful For the maine point we driue at there is one that saieth Philip. 1.2 Cor. 5 he which dieth is freed from the miseries of the world he goeth to the Lord from whom he went on pilgrimage so long as he abode in the bodye Also in Death he leaueth sinne labour affliction the slime of the earth the matter of continuall conflict against the spirit of God And that bodie made of the dust of the grounde which he leaues in Death he shall receiue againe in the day of the restoring of all things in farre better case then euer it was in this worlde For then it shal be made like the glorious bodie of Christ Whether therefore you respect the Soule of him that dies or you regarde the bodie yet euer is that sure which I saie that death is commodious to him that dies If you respect the Soule It is freed from the bandes of the bodie to be with Christ It is translated to immortalitie It is conducted to the heauenlie countrey from which it was a stranger If you regarde the bodie it is freed from all miserie It is committed to a most safe and sweete sleepe it is prepared to the glorie of the resurrection the flesh resteth in hope whatsoeuer you respect or regarde yet this at length you must come to Raban lib. 9. in eccl cap. 2. The iudgement of present death is good to those that worship Christ because by it they passe to eternall life Sanctus Idiota By a good death a man chaunges his feare into securitie his labour into tranquilitie his want into sacietie his sorrow into iocunditie by a good death he escapeth all daunger of loosing the grace of God his estate comes to be better then euer it was before While he liued Lazarus was contemned Luk. 26.21 neither Master nor Man would regarde him more compassion was had of him by dogges then by men The dogges came licked his sores but no man gaue him the crummes which fell from the rich mans table but when he was dead Lazarus was esteemed the Angels came and carried him into Abrahams bosome of Christ himselfe Myconius saieth While Christ liued Myconi in euang Mar expos he might see nothing but humilitie and many things horrible and dreadfull but being dead see how honorable his burial was great good men burie him there is a magnificent preparation a new Sepulchre in the gardein in which yet neuer man lay As it fared with these so often fareth it with others by these then may others see what commodities drawes towards them when death comes vpon them some I haue shewed mo at pleasure may be conceiued so good so pleasant so profitable there are as Bassus an olde man once said Ser. 30. episto If there be any discommoditie in death it is the fault of those that die and not the fault of death it selfe In his book of the contempt of death saith Seneca Seneca lib. de contem mortis for the paine that is in death It is light if I can beare it It is but short if I cannot endure it for the commodities that are therein they are many I shal leaue of all possibility then to be sick any more I shall leaue of all possibility to be bouÌ„d any more I shall leaue of all possibilitie to dye any more Sickenes shall haue no more to do with me bondage shall haue no more to doe with me Death shall haue no more to doe with me the power of the one the other and all of them shall be taken from them what in this point Seneca thought was to betide him is surely to betyde others As Seneca therefore contemned death because of the commodities of Death so may they for the same cause stand in lesse feare of Death then otherwise for therefore is it said that there are many commodities in Death that those which are to dye should be well armed against the immoderate feare of Death For it is but follie to feare that which will come and vpon all come and vpon many verie profitably come when it doth come Manie makes a vertue of necessitie and most wonderouslie loue that which brings commoditie saieth Seneca again Seneca lib. de senectu In death there is no greater solace against Death then mortalitie it selfe I see not therefore howe any shoulde ouer foolishlie feare Death it bringing commodities as it doth not only to them that suffer it but also to those that see it by others suffered Q. No more doe I neither should I if there were asmuch prooued as was erewhile propounded R. Why do you make an if what is there wanting Q. The latter part of your saying R. What is that Q. Doe not you know R. Whether I do or do not I would know of you Q. And that I can tell you R. Doe it then Q. So I meane but I doe but quicken your wit a little with this being by other things fully resolued of your will R. I can but commend your wit for so doing But I would heare what is wanting to be prooued of that which was propounded Q. That you shall that death brings commoditie to those that see it suffered is the thing which I speake of R. And that 's the thing you need not much speake of or at the least not so as you haue spoken For that thing is not now vnprooued Remember you not that out of that auncient and learned doctour Gregory I tolde you that The death of the righteous was an helpe to the good thâ—â— saw it and a testimonie to the euill Q. Yes indeede doe I. R. Be not so hastie then heereafter to accuse before you haue iust cause For that saying of Gregorie is proofe sufficient for that in controuersie Q. It is so I can it not deny but I would haue had more R. Why more than enough is too much and the prouerb is enough is as good as a feast Though more should be said yet would it all come to this issue For euer the death of the righteous is either an helpe to the good or a testimonie to the bad or both to either Q. But how the one to the one and the other to the other R. The one to the one by making them to remember their owne ends to wish the like ends and to prepare against their ends The other to
to be a liuing man for so Christ feared it when he sweat water and blood in the garden herevpon said My soule is heauie vnto death Mat. 26.38 Secondly as it is an hurt to the church or common wealth for often by death the church and commonwealth are depriued of those which either were then indeed or might haue been in time a great help stay and comfort to either Q. Otherwise than thus would you not haue him to feare it R. No. Q. And why R. For many causes First because it is vnto him an abolishing of sinne For he that is dead Rom. 6.7 is freed from sinne he then ceaseth to offend God any more as hee hath done Secondly because it is a bettring of his bodies condition for whereas before it was sensible and so perplexed with many miseries it is by death made insensible and therefore freed from all calamities whereas before in life it was both an actiue and passiue instrument for sinne it is then after death neither of both Thirdlie because it is the way for his soule to come to rest life and glorie For they that die in the Lord rest from their labours enioy life and remaine in glory Rest from their labors Apoc. 14.13 Enioy life Mat. 22.32 remaine in glorie Rom. 2.7.10 Dan. 12.3 And they that come to these things must die ere they come at them As one saith There is no other way to come to heauen by but death Q. And what conclude you thereupon R. That which I should viz. that hee which hath faith in Christ should not so feare death as therefore he should be vnwilling to leaue this life Cyprian in serm de mortalitate For as Cyprian saith It is his part to feare death which hath no will to goe to Christ It is his to haue no will to goe to Christ which beleeueth not he shall beginne to raigne with Christ God saith he hath promised to thee departing out of this world immortalitie and eternitie and doest thou doubt this is not to haue known God at al this is with the sinne of incredulitie to offend Christ the maister of all beleeuers this is being set in the Church not to haue faith in the house of faith Let him bee afraide to die who not being borne anew by water and the spirit is mancipated to the fire of hell let him be afraide to die which is not marked with the crosse and passion of Christ let him bee afraide to die which from this death must passe to the second death let him be afraide to die whom the eternall flame shall torment with euerlasting paine so soone as hee departes this world let him be afraide to die vpon whom this by his long stay heere is bestowed that during his abode heere his punishment is deferred but let him neuer bee afraide to die that knowes himselfe to be heere a Pilgrime and stranger that beleeues the resurrection of the bodie and the life euerlasting that loues the Lord with all his heart As the forenamed writer saith What stranger is he that hastens not to returne into his countrey Wee make account that Paradise is our countrey now we haue begun to haue the Patriarkes our Parents Why do we not make hast and runne that wee may both see our countrey and salute our parents A great number of our deare friendes doth there expect vs a mightie traine and troupe of parēts brethren and children now sure of their owne immortalitie and yet carefull for our safety doth wish vs to come vnto their sight and companie what ioy is it in common both to them and to vs What pleasure there without feare of dying and with certaintie of liuing How great and perpetuall felicitie Againe who would be afraide to dye that beleeues the resurrection of the dead For as one saith The most sure trust of christians is the promised resurrection of the dead from aboue And no meruaile when Christ himselfe saith This is the will of him that sent me Ioh. 6.40 that euery man which seeth the Sonne and beleeueth in him should haue euerlasting life and I will raise him vp at the last day And againe I am the resurrection and the life he that beleeueth in me although he were dead yet shall he liue and whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth in me shall neuer dye Lastly who would be afraide to dye that loues God sincerely For it is the propertie of him that loues to adioyne himselfe to the thing he loues and to wish that he might enioy it and to grieue at that which doth hinder his enioying of it It is a token therefore that he loues not God as he should that is either afraide or vnwilling to dye for other way to come to God to heauen to immortalitie than by death there is none he that dyeth not commeth to neither And who if hee might would not come to all Except the wheat corne fall into the ground and dye it bideth alone so except a man fall into the earth and dye he bideth alone Eccl. 4.10 and woe saith Salomon to him that is alone but if the wheate corne die it bringeth forth much fruite so if a faithful man dye he attaineth to much fruite He commeth as I said to God to heauen to immortalitie And who would not if he might come to all these None surely that is wise that is godly that is faithfull and beleeuing for to come to God is to come to the fountaine of liuing waters which who so commeth to shall neuer more thirst to come to heauen is to come to the hauen of euerlasting happines which who so commeth to shall neuer more faint to come to immortalitie is to come to eternall life which who so commeth to shall neuer more dye none therefore that is wise that is godly that is faithful that is beleeuing should be afraide and vnwilling to dye for dye any when he wil that is so qualified death shall not hurt him death shall haue no power ouer him death shal be game not losse vnto him Q. I but whensoeuer he shal dye death will be painefull vnto him R. And what then Let him be neuer the more vnwilling to die for that for why the Apostle saith Act. 14.20 By many tribulations we must enter into the kingdome of God By many and therefore he must be willing to haue the paines of death some we must enter into the kingdome of God and therefore neuer be vnwilling to die for the paines of death for as the same Apostle saith Rom. 8.18 All the afflictions of this life are not worthie of the glorie which shal be shewed vnto vs and therefore the few afflictions in death are vnworthie thereof The paines that are suffered are but temporal but the ioyes which are to bee enioyed are eternall and who wil not be content to suffer a short paine for a long pleasure He is not worthie of any sweete which came away with
as manie as they were they were all pardoned forgiuen and remitted Why then should any doubt or despaire of mercie because his sinnes are great as his sins are great so let his repentance bee good and let him not feare Esa 1.18 Though his sinnes were as crimsin they shall bee made white as snow though they were red like skarlet they shal be as wooll Aug. in lib. â—e â—litoâ—e â—gâ—â—d penâ— Let no man despaire saith Augustine the wickednes which he committed did not so much cause Iudas the traitour vtterlie to perish as his despaire of mercy to the same effect saith Ambrose Let no man distrust let no man being guilty of his old sinnes Amb. super Luâ— lib. 2. despaire of the diuine rewardes the Lord knoweth how to chaunge his sentence if thou knowest how to chaunge thine offence Q. I if he changes it in time but he this hath delaied till death and now he feares it comes too late R. If it comes in life and comes then in truth when it comes it comes not too late as one saith It is neuer too late if euer it be true for the Lord himselfe testifieth that at what time soeuer a sinner doth repent him of his sinnes he will put them all out of his remembrance and what is he that dares distrust him whom will he beleeue that will not beleeue him it is an hard thing not to beleeue a man when he speakes the truth but it is an harder not to beleeue God when hee sweares to the truth Now saith the Lord as I liue Ezek. 33.11 I desire not the death of the wicked but that the wicked turne from his waie and liue Tertullia in hunc loc He inuiteth by reward he promiseth saluation he desireth to bee beleeued swearing O blessâ—d they for whose cause God doth sweare O most wretched we if we do not beleeue the Lord swearing Hee that beleeueth not God saith Iohn 1. Ioh. 5.10 hath made him a liar If hee will not make God a liar which is the truth it selfe and hath sworne by himselfe that that is true which is spoken by himselfe let him beleeue God that his repentance will not come too late if it comes at all that he might not doubt God hath confirmed asmuch by deed as he hath affirmed by word he pardoneth the theefe repenting at the last gaspe when he was vpon the crosse readie to yeeld vp the ghost hee did but say Luc. 23.42.43 Lord remember me wheÌ„ thou comest into thy kingdome and immediatly againe Iesus said vnto him verilie I say vnto thee to day shalt thou be with me in paradise as Chrysostome saith he needed not so much as one day to repent himselfe Chrysost homil 27. vpon Genesis Cyprian in his first treatise against Demetrian what speake I of one day no he needed not one houre so great is the mercie of God toward vs. VVhat Cyprian therefore writeth to another let him take as spoken to himselfe Although thou doest at thy verie departing out of this worlde and going downe of this temporall life pray vnto God for the sinnes who is the true and only God calling vpon him with a faithfull confession and acknowledging both of thine offences and of his truth thus confessing and beleeuing thou hast free pardon and forgiuenesse giuen and granted vnto thee of the meere goodnesse and mercie of God And in the verie death euen assoone as thou hast giuen vp the ghost thou passest vnto immortalitie For as the same Cyprian againe other where writeth Cyprian in his sermon of the Lords Supper In that verie moment of time euen when the soule is readie to depart away from the bodie and is euen at the lippes of the partie to yeeld vp the Spirit the goodnesse of our most mercifull God refuseth not repentance and whatsoeuer is trulie done is neuer too late done August ser 59. de verbis domini and as Augustine saith Whensoeuer anie man turneth himselfe vnto God all things vtterlie are forgiuen him let no man be doubtfull least any thing happily be not forgiuen As Isidore saith Isid de summo bono lib. 2. Let no man despaire of pardon although he turnes not to repentance till the end of his life For God iudges euery man according to his end and not according to his life bypast and againe In the life of maÌ„ the end is to be sought Ibidem because God respects not what kind of ones before wee liued but what kind of ones we were about the end of our life So then it repents him at length of his sins that hath liued long in his sins let him not thinke his repentance comes too late For it is better to repent late then neuer Late workes good as you haue heard neuer brings death as you may reade Luk. 13.5 Except ye repent ye shall perish Neither let him be euer the more vnwilling to die because his repentance comes late For well he dies that dies repenting and what should he be vnwilling to die that shall die well when hee doth die to that a man should neuer be vnwilling which either he knowes he can or hee is sure he shall doe well either ignorance to doe a thing or assurance that he shall not do it wel is that which makes a man vnwilling to doe it at all Insomuch therefore as he knowes hee must die because he is mortall and that hee may die well if he repents let him neuer bee vnwilling to die that is willing to repent but let him repent earnestlie because he repents late that he may die blessedlie because he repents at all Apoc. 14.13 For blessed are they which die in the Lord and die in the Lord do they which by repentance turne vnto the Lord. Q. Your counsaile is good commend it hee must obey it he would but as yet he thinkes not himselfe fitted thereto R. VVat lackes he yet Q. The trimming of his tombe the making of his graue the getting of things necessarie for the celebrating of his funeral R. And is he for these things vnwilling to dye The further hee goes the simpler hee is did he know or consider what it is to be with Christ in heauen he would neuer be desirous for a graue to stay from him here on earth If he neuer hath any at all it is little to him The losse of a sepulture is nothing Hee is couered with heauen which is not couered with earth He that is sure to be couered with that what neede he care whether he be couered with the other There shall no other thing betide him if hee bee so serued than hath betided many other both better and greater than hee And what should that trouble him when hee hath many in the same miserie to accompany him The prouerbe is The miserie of many sweetens the misery of any If he lookes well about him he shall finde many in this predicament Pompey the great