as for the time of death and the warning that God giueth vs of it we must refer it wholy to his heauenly disposition Q. Is it lawfull for a Christian to pray against sudden death A. Yes when he hath liberty so to doe or whiles hee hath time and memory Q. But sudden death cannot preiudice his saluation there is no expresse forme of prayer against sudden death in all the scripture why then should any Christian man pray against it A. First because sudden death more often befalleth to the wicked then to the good Secondly because fewnes of daies and suddennes of death is wished to the wicked in way of imprecation and therfore we may pray for some warning of death approching that the wicked and prophane doe not rashly censure iudge and condemn vs as though wee died accursed and out of Gods fauour Thirdly wee cannot otherwise by our good confession and prayer glorifie God before men in our death nor giue at all a good example of dying well to our family or others Lastly if we being of ability die intestate and without making a will the poore may be defrâ—uded of all comfort and much contention may possibly arise about the distribution and disposall of our lands and worldly goods amongst our wiues children and kinsfolke Q. What shall wee iudge of Gods children that doe perish by the enemies sword and by consequence are this way cruelly and suddenly massacred A. It hath beene the lotte of Gods Saints in the old and new Testament and in all ages sithence thus to end their liues and they blessed yea blessed with a further addition of glory because they died for Gods cause Secondly this kind of death cannot kill the soule nor separate soule or body from Gods fauour and loue Thirdly they had no special promise to die quietly in their beds or in their friends hands and as for their enemies they haue preuented themselus froÌ„ hauing any further power ouer Gods children for they haue done their worst Finally non nocet bonis si subito occidantur vel si subita morte pereunt NoÌ„ enim subito moriuntur qui semper cogitauerunt se morituros that is It disparageth not good men if they be suddenly slain or if they suddenly die For they die not suddenly who alwaies thought that they should die Lastly right many haue béene by the sword not knighted in earth but martyred here and crowned in heauen this besides the pregnant testimonies of sacred scriptures the experience of all times and ages euinceth and verifieth Q. How shall wee arme and resolue our selues against the feare of perishing by the enemies sword or any such kind of violent death A. First it skilleth and mattereth not whether a burning feauer the pestilence or the sword kill vs or whether the prison be set or broken open Secondly we are not so much to feare the hand as the wound but death doth not so much wound as cure and salue the godly from their sinnes and miseries Thirdly wee may hereby bee preuented of a more lingring and fearefull death as to die by famine and by râ—cking flaying c. Lastly wee must remember that it is the lot of Gods children oftentimes this way to die and that no kind of death naturall or violent can separate them or vs from the loue wherewith God loueth vs in Christ. CHAP. XI The third supposed euill of death in that it depriueth vs of most worthy and excellently deseruing Princes Magistrates Ministers patrons friends kinsfolks c. Question HOw shall wee comfort our selues against the vntimely death of any worthâ— Christian whether Magistrate Minister kinsman speciall friend or any priuate Christian A. By marking and meditating vpon these or the like propositions and grounds following First no man dieth before his time for it is appointed for all men once to die and this time not man but God hath in his eternall certainty appointed Secondly they are loosed from the bonds of sinne and this earthly misery and how can this be out of time Thirdly they as well as any others owed a death vnto God and were at Gods call to make present paiment now this death is due euery day how then demanded before the day Fourthly these worthy instruments in Church and commonwealth these pillars in Gods house these noble Cedars in Libanon these starres in the firmament these Phenâ—ces and déere saints and seruants of God were fitter for heauen then earth and therefore partly because we were vnworthy of them and vnthankfull to God for them partly because they should not see the euils to come and partly that they should not be changed and infected with the worlds wickednes God hath iustly depriued vs of them but crowned them with the crowne of euerlasting glory Fifthly a long life is a long labour and a suspension as it were of their life from immortality and hee that liueth long what hath he but increase of sins manifold cares griping griefes and distastefull discontentments and will he count these his gaines gettings winnings and aduantages Sixthly they die not suddenly that soone haue growne old and haue spéedily sailed ouer the troublesome and tempestuous sea of this world into the blessed Canaan Lastly if God sée vs truly humbled for the losse of these glorious lights and earnestly to sorrow for our sinnes and vnthankfulnes that haue bereaued vs of them God can and wil raise vp a new succession in their stead he can cause Iosua to succéed Moses and Iehoshaphat to succéed Aza Salomon to follow next after Dauid Elizeus to execute the office of Elias his predecessor can as he did cause very many worthy and vigilant Bishops and faithful Pastors to succéed the Apostles and therefore in this though we ought to be humbled yet we must hope well and know that Gods arme is not shortned nor his power abridged Q. What vse are we to make of vntimely death either in regard of others or else in respect of our selues A. First in regard of others we must lament and bewaile our sinnes and vnworthinesse whereby we haue depriued our selues of them and that we did not more praise God nor better serue him when we enioyed them Secondly we must not enuie at but congratulate their aduancement and euerlasting happinesse sed eodem animo ferenda mors quo nostram expectamus that is we must so take their death as our owne Thirdly it is our duty to pray vnto God to raise vp new in their place and if their equals or those that doe in some good measure resemble them doe succéed it is our duty more to esteeme them and haue them in the higher account nam bona nostra carendo magis quam fruendo cognosâ—imus that is we know good things more by wanting of them then by enioying of them Fourthly in regard of our selues if we as we ought purpose to doe well let vs doe it quickly lest we be preuented and if
we haue begun to doe some worthy acts as Dauid did when he made preparation for the building of the Temple c. God the righteous Iudge will regard and reward not onely our action but our affection and our desire as well as our déed Lastly let vs laying aside all other works intend and study this one thing which is to die well for this is instar omnium that is this instead of all for according to the antient Prouerbe All is well that ends well Q. How shall we comfort our selues when death hath depriued vs of very good benefactors friends fauorites A First you haue not lost them but sent them before to God for death hath not consumed them but eternity shall receiue them Secondly they liue in their better part for though death hath taken away his body yet not his friendship past nor our friends who are forth comming and whom we shall see know and conuerse with after the day of iudgement 1. Cor. 13.12 Thirdly their vertues are immortall and for thy practise and imitation and the remembrance of them is swéete delightsome and comfortable vnto vs. Fourthly it may be when we enioied them we did not as our duty required honour reuerence and esteeme or them Fifthly if our friends be remooued hence and translated into heauen we must labour by our godlinesse humility and weldoing to gain get new friends Lastly if all our chiefe friends and benofactors on earth be flowen vp into heauen it must abundantly suffice and content vs that the whole holy and vndiuideable Trinity God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost are our friends fauorites benefactors vpholders for they are all in all and therefore let vs as well trust in God when our friends faile as when they abound CHAP. XII Particular comforts for them that haue sustained particular losses by the death of kinsfolks c. Question HOw shall a Christian man comfort and resolue himselfe that hath by death parted with a vertuous and kind wife A. Indéed thy losse is great and it is as it were the cutting away of one halfe of thée but thou must remember that she was borne mortal and that frō Adam to the worlds end all must die and therefore thou must take it patiently Secondly all things come to passe by Gods prouidence and appointment who turneth all things to the best to them that loue him Thirdly God will hereby either correct thy vnthankfulnesse or try thy patience Fourthly if she had liued longer she might perhaps haue growne worse and haue béen a crosse and vexation vnto thée Fifthly thou art hereby fréed from ielosie suspition to which good women are sometimes subiect Sixthly God can make thée a gainer by thy losse and procure thee a second as good as shee as when Michal was taken away from Dauid God afterwards prouided for him faire and wise Abigail Seuenthly if thou vnder God wast an instrument to make her good thou maiest make the second good by thy instruction and holy example for though thy wife be gone yet thou the workman art aliue Eighthly thanke God that thou so long time and to thy great contentment didst inioy so good a wife and therefore now thou must be content to receiue some chastisement from God as well as good things in former times Lastly preserue and honour her memory after her death and speake well of her and if thou bee inclined to match againe pray vnto God that thy second choice may bee matchable to thy first and God will heare thy praier Q What comfortable meditations and directions can you bring forth for a Christian wife that hath lost a good and a godly husband A. First she is wedded to Christ and therefore she is no widow nor can want any necessary help and protection Apoc. 12.1 Apoc. 19 7. Secondly death hath not parted husband and wife for euer but for a time for they shall one day if they both feared God sée and know one the other albeit all respects of marriage shall then wholly cease Thirdly God hath a speciall care of widowes as may appeare by miracles done in their behalfe and for their reléefe in the old and new Testament and he laieth a strait charge vpon Magistrates Rulers and Iudges to sée them righted and prouided for Fourthly if she truly feare God and intend a second marriage he that prouided her a good husband before can prouide her a second as good as he prouided faire vertuous and wise Abigail for Dauid Lastly it may be either she did not respect him according to his worth and therefore God hath iustly corrected her vnthankfulnes or else she too much doated vpon him and was too fond of him and therefore God by his death will heale this sinne in her and cause her to depend vpon him onely when the staffe of her outward state is taken away Q. Let vs heare some comforts for parents that by death are bereaued of godly and dutifull children A. First we must alwaies remember that sinne hath deserued death and that God hereupon in the time appointed inposeth death vpon young as well as the aged and his decrée cannot bee preuented or resisted Secondly herein the Saints of God beare their parts with thée and therefore thou must endure these common euils with the greater patience Thirdly children and young men are but as flowers in God his garden and we must suffer God the soueraigne Lord of it and them to crop and gather them when he will Fourthly the yonger that they died they were the lesse defiled with corruption and they departed being not laden with the burthen of many sinnes which longer continuance of time would haue drawne them into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fifthly if there be a decay mortality and change in Okes and Cedars much more in man that hath rebelled against his Creator Sixthly it may be that when wee inioyed them that either wee were too tender and fond ouer them and so would haue corrupted them or else were not contented with them nor thankfull to God for them and therefore God to remedy and correct both these extremities hath bereaued vs of them Seuenthly if our children led a godly life and so died then they are in safetie and forth comming their life is not vanished but changed and though we haue lost them yet God hath found them and at the generall resurrection we shall finde them know and acknowledge them wherefore let vs in the meane time rest content and comfort our selues in this blessed expectation and therefore wee must be so farre from murmuring and repining against God for depriuing vs of them that we must blesse and praise God for their perfection and glorification Lastly by their death wee are fréed from infinite feares of their mis-doing and from many carking cares of prouiding for their outward estate and maintenance but if our children proue vntoward and vngodly then our losse is the lesse to
repent vs of our sinnes before we go to war and vndertake the iust defence of our selues in humility and not in presumption of mind Secondly though once or the second time we bee ouerthrowne in warre yet wee must not bee daunted and discouraged but onely repent of sinne and séeke helpe at Gods hand and God will goe with vs and fight for vs. Thirdly Gods children may for their correction and triall as well be foiled in fighting in defence of a iust cause and quarrell as haue ill successe and be crossed in other matters Fourthly the experience of our ouerthrowes in battaile will make vs more expert and aduised for the time to come Fiftly though for the time we haue lost the day yet we must comfort our selues in this that we haue not lost our faith our cause our wisedome our vertue our noble resolution and fortitude therefore we must against the next encounter entreat the Lord to go out with our armies and to guide and prosper vs. Sixtly it is better for vs sometimes to haue the ouerthrow in warre then to triumph ouer our enemies for if all things fall out according to our desires wée would soone put out of our hearts all feare of God and grow secure proud and arrogant ascribing all the glory of the victory not to God the onely cause the only author of it for he alone is the Lord of hostes but to the instrumentall causes and to our selues onely and therefore God will by some foile and ouerthrow preuent this erroneous arrogancy Seuenthly though we loose the day receiue the ouerthrow in battell yet we haue not lost the conscience of our good seruice the liberty of our mind nor the glory of our skill Lastly as the barrennes of the earth teacheth the husbandman skill the often arising of stormes add tempests maketh the Pilot and Mariner wise to decline the annoiance of them and frequent fals maketh the rider wary So sundry foiles ouerthrows in battel make Gods children more politicke and prouident yea much more to humble themselues before God and to implore and entreat his hand and helpe Q What duties must we performe in the time of warre and hostility A. First we are to be expert and old beaten souldiers in the spirituall battell against the world and wickednesse and against the Diuell and death and if herein wee putting on the whole armour of God quit our selues like meÌ„ other wars shall neither terrifie nor trouble vs. Secondly we must search the Scripâ—tures and by theÌ„ examine the lawfulnes of our defiance or resistance and if ouâ— quarrell and conscience be good the issue cannot be euill Thirdly we must not be carelesse and secure in the greatest peace and prosperity seeing that wars come many times when they are least dreaded or doubted Fourthly the Captaines and souldiers must bee trained vp in the feates of warre and in all policies stratagemes they must bee valorous the Ministers must exhort them to bee couragious in Gods cause and they must call vpon God and depend vpon his power and promise for successe and then al shall go well with them And what if their bodies bee slaine yet the truth still remaineth and their soules shall liue for euer Lastly the Princes Ministers and people at home must renue their faith and repentance and their couenant with God and then the enemies shall fall before them Q. How shall the seruants of God comfort themselues against ciuill warre A. First that this euill commeth from God in his iustice for when the greater sort refuse to make their peace with God and to reconcile themselues to Christ and when they despise the doctrine of saluation God doth so forsake them that they by vprores and mutuall dissensions deuoure and destroy one another Secondly it is a common euill and therefore the more patiently to be endured Thirdly God hath defined and determined the beginning maner and end of it and doth trie and exercise onely those that are his children by it Fourthly as all worldly thinges are mortall and mutable so haue Cities and great States and Kingdoms their maladies and diseases créeping and growing vpon them wherefore priuate grudges and ciuill warres often befall them Fiftly in what places now are goodly and faire townes and cities there haue beene in times past woods forrests wildernesses and so may and will be hereafter Lastly a resolued Christian that séeth ciuill warres in their true face and hue putteth away childish feare and is no more broken at them then the house top is with the haile dashing against it Q. What duties are wee to performe in time of ciuill warre A. First let vs not abuse our present peace and prosperity when we enioy it Secondly it behoueth vs to bewaile and forsake our sinnes that bring all these euils into the world Thirdly we must bee wary and prouident that wee bee not so many firebrands to nourish the flame of ciuill contention lest we smart for our folly anâ— when it is once begun wee must endeauour by supplication rebukes admonitions threatnings and promises to suppresse and quench it Fourthly if wée must or néeds will take parts then it is our wisedome and iustice to take part with the best cause persons and to pray vnto God for counsell and assistance and then God can will giue victorie when it pleaseth him as well by a few as by many Fiftly let vs beséech the almighty to grant repentance to the authors of it and to saue our country Lastly for as much as ciuill warres procéede from the ignorance of Christ from the contempt and disobedience of the Gospell we must for the ceasing and remoouall of this euill make our peace with God and entertaine his word with more delight and deuotion CHAP. VI. Of the Plague or Pestilence Question IS the plague and pestilence of our time contagious infections A. Yes questionlesse for first as the leprosie amongst the Iewes infected not onely mens persons but also their garments and their very habitations so doth the plague as experience proueth it Secondly although the plague bee Gods speciall hand and his destroying Angell yet it commeth not immediately by the sensible touch of an heauenly Angell for if it did so come it were extreame vanity and madnes it selfe to shunne the infected persons and places but ordinarily by outward means and occasions this to bee true experience teacheth that very many by declining the infected places and persons haue béen saued and preserued Thirdly sundry persons not infected haue béene so kept by physicke preseruatiues and many infected persons haue béene cured by medicines and plasters but if God had immediately strucken theÌ„ from heauen as he did 70000. of Dauids people they had all died without recouery Q. But why are not all tainted and infected that liue amongst the visited parties and persons A. First all persons are not by reason of their
whose seruice is perfect fréedome Secondly this bondage is greatly mitigated yea sugred and swéetned to Gods children for God doth not onely restraine and moderate the enemies malice but also sometimes greatly honour preferre and exalt them examples whereof we haue in Ioseph Jeremie Daniel Sidrack Mesheck Abednego in Hester Mardocheus and diuers others Thirdly death putteth a terme and end to this bondage if wee find not deliuerance long before and why cannot we a while expect this yeare of our absolute fréedome and euerlasting Iubiley Lastly Gods children are Christs fréemen being redeemed and ransomed by his bloud and they are free Denizens of heauen hauing euerlasting life in beginning and being by faith secured of the full possession of it and therefore though for a time they bee plunged in many euils yet they can neuer perish for they are afflicted but not forsaken tried but not tired out Q. What is the quintessence or speciall vse of all these propositions and conclusions A. First hence wee may take notice of the miserable estate of wicked worldlings and vngodly men who though they enioy outward wealth ease and liberty yet are they drudges to the world vassals and slaues vnto sinne cursed caitiffes for they are locked in golden fetters and shut vp in the prison of their own sinnefull desires which is the worst kind of bondage Secondly let vs serue the Lord our God and not Satan Sinne nor Antichrist and then we are Gods frée men no bondage can impeach or hinder our spirituall liberty and happines Thirdly farre bee it from vs to contemne or misiudge any of Gods children for their outward seruitude and bondage vnto which tyranny and iniquity of times doe or may enwrappe them but let vs pray to God to furnish them with ioy and the spirit of long suffering and in his good time to ridde and deliuer them wee must also by occasion freely and franckly contribute to their necessities for they are our owne flesh and bloud borne of the same both naturall and spirituall seede breathing of the same aire and seruants to the same God Lastly when we are thus restrained and distressed it behoueth vs timely and truely to repent vs of our sinnes for otherwise we are to expect no mitigation much lesse a spéedy deliuerance out of our misery Q. What comforts against violent nakednesse caused by flight or the enemies vnmercifulnesse A. First Christ our blessed Sauiour was stript of his raiment and hath sanctified this euill vnto vs and hath turned the shame of it into glory Secondly very many of Gods excellent seruants haue béene thus shamefully misused by their enemies Basil saith that forty Martyres were turned out naked to bee starued in the cold of the night and afterwards to bee burned Thirdly they must count it for some benefit and blessing that the enemy doth onely spoile them of their garments and not of their liues Fourthly though they endure shame and reproch of the world yet it maketh them not vnhappy for Christ suffered the shame of the crosse to make them honourable Fifthly the enemie cannot possibly disrobe dismantle and despoile them of the garments of Christ his holines and righteousnesse wherewith they are clothed and wherewith their deformities are couered Sixthly this is but a temporary and fatherly correction and can neuer separate any of Gods children from his loue Lastly it is not the gay garments but godlines not outward pompe but piety that maketh men honourable as for the proud mans honour it is in his garment and not in his person Q. What vse are we to make hereof A. First let it be a shame to vs to be called naughty rather then naked Secondly though Gods enemies rob his children of their garments let vs in our charity cloath them Lastly let vs by faith put on the Lord Iesu and then we shall neuer bee found naked for he onely is naked who hath lost Christ. Q. Why doth God suffer so many of his best beloued Saints and seruants to be massacred and murdered by the enemies sword A. First we herein must rather reuerence and admire Gods secret yet iust procéedings then curiously to diue and enquire into the ground and reason of them and wée must assure our selues that the end is good albeit our dulnes cannot so well apprehend it For Gods purposes and decrees attaine vnto their holy and appointed ends no otherwise then certaine riualets though they vanish out of our sight and are hidden vnder the earth are carried and conuey themselues into the sea Secondly by the effusion and spilling of their innocent bloud the number of true professors is both manifested multiplied and the bloudy butchers and Bonners either conuerted albeit most rarely or else conuinced and left vnexcusable Thirdly though the enemies thinke to root out the Church and the name and memory of true Christians yet God doth and will crosse and curse their designes for contrary to their expectation the Gospell is more published and proclaimed the innocency of Gods children more cléered and testified and their madnes and badnes made known vnto all the world Lastly the sufferings of the Martyrs doth procure vnto them a greater measure of glorie in heauen but tyrants heretikes persecutors runne themselues out of breath and draw vpon themselues the greater damnation Q. How are we to arme and comfort our selues against this kind of death A. First they are blessed that die in the Lord and for the Lord they are glorious in Gods sight and are arayed in long white robes Secondly they do not lose their liues but find them and incomparably better them Luk. 9. Thirdly the sword toucheth the garment of the bodie but not the soule nor their faith for God herein dealeth with his children as the Persians in punishing some noble Personage for they take away his garment and his hat and hang them vp in some place and all to beat them as though they were the man himselfe so they by Gods ouer-ruling hand doe not touch our soules and our faith but beate onely the garment of our persons Fourthly they that die for Christ receiue some what of death that it beâ—al not wholâ— vnto them Lastly their innocent bloud which the persecutors haue shed and sucked crieth like the bloud of Abel to the Heauens for vengeance against them and they with the soules in the Apocalypse that were killed for the word of God crie with a lowd voice saying How long Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth and this their crie the iust Lord doth néeds must heare and regard Q What vse are we to make hereof A. First we must neuer promise to our selues long prosperity or immunitie from persecution but wee must prepare and strengthen our selues against the time of triall and martyrdome and though it bee not our lot alwaies to die for the Lord Iesu and his