As bodies that haue fewest bad humors are least shaken with agues so those that are freest from sinne though death assault them bitterly are least annoyed by the pains and terror of death Our Sauiour saith Ioh. 16.33 Be of good cheare I haue ouercome the world and I may say Bee of good cheare 2 Cor. 15.16 for Christ hath ouercome death 2 This may be an occasion to mitigate that extreme sorrow which many take vppon the death of their godly friends seeing their death yeeldeth rather cause of coÌ„fort then of sorrow of mirth then of mourning and of reioycing rather then of weeping and lamenting If you loued me you would reioyce saith our Sauiour to his disciples because I said Ioh. 14.28 I goe to the Father so those that loue their friends indeed haue cause to reioyce rather then to mourne for their death because they go to be glorified with their heauenly Father The little child that sees the mother cutting and bruising the sweet and pleasant hearbes and flowers is sorie because hee thinkes they are spoiled but the mother hath a purpose to preserue theÌ„ whereby they are made much better A simple bodie that should see the Gold-smith melting the pure mettals would bee discontent imagining that all were marred whereas the skilfull workeman hath a purpose to cast some excellent peece of plate thereof So wee silly men when the Lord cuts off some of our friends by death like the flower and lets others wither like the greene hearbe and when he melteth them in the fornace of the graue are ouercome with sorrowfull conceipts as though some euill thing were befallen our friendes whereas we should remember that the Lord hath a purpose by this meanes to preserue them and to transforme them into that glorious estate which the Angels enioy in heauen And this reason is first intimated and after plainely expressed by Saint Paule in his dehortation to the Thessalonians I would not brethren haue you ignorant concerning them which are asleepe 1. Thes 4.13 that you sorrow not as others which haue no hope Who would be sorrie to see his friend fall asleepe seeing that thereby he is made lightsome fresh and lustie Now death is to the godly nothing but a sleepe whereby they are refined and refreshed why should we then be offended therewith If thy friend which dieth bee wicked then hast thou iust cause of mourning but if thou knewest him to liue and die in the feare of God howsoeuer nature or affection may haue force to wring teares from thine eyes or sighes from thy heart yet hast thou reason to reioyce and be glad for his happie change as Augustine his example may teach Aug confe lib. 9. v. who bridled the infirmitie of Nature and suppressed his teares at his mothers death though he honoured and loued her dearely thinking it an vnfit thing to celebrate her funerals with weeping and wailing because she had liued religiously and died vertuously 3 To conclude this point me thinkes if there were no farther reason to perswade yet euen this meditation might mooue any one to the practise of godlinesse in that it yeeldeth this heauenly peace of conscience in the time of our life and eternall consolation at the day of our death Oh what a sweete comfort will it be to thee my Christian brother when friends honour wealth dignities and all other comfortes in the world become vaine and faile thee to haue the ioyfull peace of conscience to rest with thee When thou shalt bee able recounting thy sincere care in Gods seruice to pray with good Nehemiah Neh. 13.22 Remember me ô my God concerning this to say with godly Hezechiah vpon his death bed 2. King 20.3 I beseech thee ô Lord remember now how I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect hart and haue done that which is good in thy sight and with our blessed Sauiour before his passion Ioh. 17.4 Father I haue glorified thee on earth I haue finished the worke which thou gauest me to doe For then shall the vprght câ—nscience eccho a comfort to thy humble soule and either the Lord wil enlarge the lease of thy life with Hâ—zechiah or glorifie thee in the heauens with his beloued Sonne CHAP. 2. SECT 1. The first steppe into heauen at the day of iudgement namely A blessed Resurrection IF the godly in this life and at the day of their death haue a tast of those heauenly ioyes which cannot be expressed how much more shall they haue in the resurrection when body and soule shall both be reunited and indued with a blessed condition Therefore do the Scriptures describe the excellencie of the resurrection by sundry comfortable metaphors Ioh. 12. 1. Cor 15. Saint Paule compares it to the husbandmans haruest when reaping and receiuing the fruites of his labours his heart reioyceth and so shall it be to the godly for they which sowe in teares at the day of death shall reape in ioy at their resurrection Pro. 19.17 2. Salomon saith hee which hath pittie on the poore lendeth to the Lord and looke what he layeth out it shall bee payed him againe Now men that haue great debts desire earnestly the day of payment and behold our Sauiour calleth the day of resurrection Luk. 14.14 The day of payment because then hee hauing his reward with him Reu. 22.12 will come foorth of euerie ones debt and reward their goodâ—esse with glorie 3. Those that labor must needes haue a time to rest in that so they may be refreshed Our life is nothing but labour our death a sleepe and therefore the Apostle fitly calles the resurâ—ection Act. 3.19 Thâ— time of refreshing being as the gladsome morning to a siâ—ke man Psal 49.14 15. which hath tossed and turned vp and downe wearily all the night long The bird that hath bene kept a great while in a cage will chaunt it merrily when shee commeth foorth into the open aire the prisoner that hath lyen loÌ„g in the duÌ„geon reâ—oyceth exceedingly when he hath obtained libertie so shall the resurrection be ioyfull and comfortable to the godly when they are deliuered from the cage and prison of the graue and restored into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God Rom. 8.21 There is nothing that doth better râ—semble set foorth the excellencie of the Resurrection then the spring time for as we flourish in our childhood bring foorth fruite in our youth waxe ripe in our old age and wither at our death so wee spring fresh againe at our resurrection The trees in winter being despoiled of their leaues the garden of the flowers and the fields of the grasse do seeme vtterly to perish but when the Spring time comes they all waxe as fresh and flourishing as euer they were so the body which during the winter of many ages is depriued of her beautie and turned to rottennesse doth at the Spring time of the resurrection
A THREE-FOLD RESOLVTION verie necessarie to saluation Describing EARTHS VANITIE HELS HORROR HEAVENS FELICITIE PSAL. 107.43 Who so is wise will ponder these things By IOHN DENISON Batchelour in Diuinitie LONDON Printed by Richard Field for Iohn Norton 1608. ⧠To the right worshipfull Sir William Willoughby Knight the best blessings of this life and euerlasting blessednesse in the life to come ALthough right worshipfull my many employments well knowne vnto you might seeme a sufficient remora to my pen yet my desire by all meanes to do good hath more preuailed with me then those lets wherewith I haue conuersed These meditations a testimonie of my desires I make bold to present vnto you to whom if they be worthy of any respect they do belong in many respects as I might sufficiently manifest but that I hold it more expedient to remaine a thankfull silent debter then to become a publicke trumpeter of your priuate fauours If you iudge them worthie vouchsafe them I pray you your patronage if not your pardon at least your acceptance as a token of his thankefull minde who will euer rest Your Worships at commaundment in Christ Iesus I. D. 1 Let heauens powre downe their sweetest influence Let them inrich you with the earths best treasures Let them withall instill truths quintessence Heau'ns ioyes do far surmount all earthly pleasures 2 Let the celestiall powers you guard and guide And countermine when wicked powers conspire Let spotlesse bloud which ran from harmelesse side Quench vnto you the euer burning fire 3 And let the winged Posts voyd of delayes From glorious throne when great Iehoua sendeth Translate your soule when death shal end your daies To that celestiall blisse which neuer endeth To the Reader THe last period and principall Resolution of euery Christian is or should be to glorifie God in the fruition of eternall felicitie Wherein we must remember that remote ends haue subordinate meanes to produce their effects which ought in no case to be neglected And as the sea-man for the getting of his prize must haue care of three principall points first to ballance his ship discreetly secondly to shun the daungerous gulfes of the sea thirdly to get good landing in a safe hauen So euerie Christian that desireth the fruition of true felicitie must first so ballance his affections that they be not ouer-burdened with the loue of this world secondly hee must haue a care to shun the gulfe of hell and eternall destruction thirdly hee must labour to get the kingdome of heauen for his hauen Vpon these pointes good Christian must thy Resolution cast anker if euer thou resolue to be eternally happie Now to helpe forward thy resolution behold here the Worlds vanities deciphered Hels torments displayed and Heauens happines described Meditations in my conceit neuer more fit then in these wretched dayes wherein men are become too great louers of the world haue lost the dread of hell and the desire of heauen The Lord blesse them to thy comfort and saluation And if thou receiue any good by them recompence my paines with thy prayers 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 last iudgement 〈…〉 2. Society with the diuels the daâ— 3. Eternitie of the hellish torment 〈◊〉 3. Heauens felicitie 1. Before the day of iudgment 1. Sanctimonie of life 2. Peace of conscience 3. Comfort at the day of death 2. At the day of iudgment 1. Ioy at the resurrection 2. Comfort to meet and come before 3. Consolation vpon the sentence 〈◊〉 blessed 3. After the last iudgeâ—â—â—â— 1. Freedome from torments and mâ— 2. Fruition of celestiall glâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 The first part Of the Earths vanitie in generall AS it was in the dayes of Noah and Lot Luke 17.26.29 so shall the coÌ„ming of the sonne of man be saith our blessed Sauiour that Sonne of man For as in those times they did eate and drinke marrie build and plant that is exceedingly prosecute the vaine profites and pleasures of the world till the floud came and destroyed them so shall it be when the Sonne of man shall be reuealed Was the world euer more addicted and deuoted to these vanities then now it is and haue we not therefore iust cause to expect that refining fire 2. Pet. 3.10 which shall burne vp all the corruption vpon the face of the earth Almightie God hath giueÌ„ to men three mansions of a diuerse qualitie first the world wherein they liue 2. the graue wherein they corrupt 3. either heauen wherein they are crowned or hell wherein they are tormented In the world their companion is vanitie in the graue the worme in heauen the Angels and in hell the diuels Yet such is the folly of most men that they would haue perpetuall habitations and euerlasting happines in this vaine world to whoÌ„ Augustines speech is very fit August confess lib. 4. cap. 12. Seeke for that which you seek but not where you seeke it you seeke a blessed life in the region of death alas it is not there What extreme folly is this to seeke felicitie where nothing can be found worthy the affecting and following if all were weyed in the ballance of iudgement and discretion What is the world with the things of the world but enimitie against God euen pitch which defileth birdlime which intangleth and a snare which intrappeth Is not her coate misery her crest iniquitie and her motto vanitie Neither are these adiuncts lesse permanent then eminent both in the entrance continuance and conclusion of this life For we come into the world wailing and weeping we liue in it with toyling and moyling and we leaue it with grieuing and groning Iob. 1.21 Vide Praefa Plin. ad lib. 7. Naked came we out of our mothers wombe and naked must we returne againe Thus both the Orient and Occident the Prologue and the Epilogue of our life is nakednesse And if we view the sundry times places and courses of our life behold they yeeld nothing but vanitie and misery Infancie is weake and feeble youth is rash and dissolute old age froward and doting The pleading places yeeld contention the house cares the countrey labour the Court enuie the sea tempests and pirats the land theeues and robbers Pouertie is despised wealth is enuied wit is distrusted folly is derided yea which is most lamentable vice is aduanced and vertue disgraced Man is by many writers called a little world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not vnfitly in that he is a modell of the miseries of this greater world hauing within him sinne rebelling against him without the world to allure him before Satans snares to intangle him behind a wary conscience to dog him on the right hand prosperitie to inueigle him on the left hand aduersity to vexe him vâ—der his feet the graue open to swallow him and ouer his head the iudgements of God readie to fall vpon him So that a man in this life may verie well be compared to a sea-man in a dangerous and tempestuous nauigation if he
of iudgemen namely their amazednesse in the resurrection THe princely Prophet hauing deciphered the vaine indeuours of wicked and couetous carnall men labouring to establish perpetuall habitations to them and their posteritie concludeth thus of them Psa 49.14 They lye in the graue like sheepe and death gnaweth vpon them If this were all their miserie it were lesse to be maruelled at but behold whilest death is feeding vpon their bodies and turning them to rottennesse hell fire seizeth vpon their soules and vexeth theÌ„ with torments neither is this the finall conclusion of their wretchednesse For as it is appointed to all men once to dye Heb. 9 27. So after that commeth the iudgement wheÌ„ both soule and bodie must be reunited that they may bee tormented together Thus the life of the vngodly is spent in wickednesse their death is with horror â—oel 2.2 Zeph. 1.15 Diuerse mistake these places of the Prophets applying them to the day of â—udgement whereunto they cannot agree except â—y the way of illusion and their rising againe shall be with much terror The Prophets do describe the day of Gods vengeance vpon the Iewes and the terrors of their enemies insultings by diuerse dreadfull speeches calling it a day of darknesse and blacknesse a day of cloudes and obscurity a day of wrath and a day of trouble and heauinesse a day of destruction and desolation If the comming of the enemie and the Lords approching with temporall afflictions bee thus terrible blacke cloudy and desolate oh how dreadfull shall the comming of Christ and the day of spirituall vengeance bee to â—he wicked For they shall bee wonderfully amazed in their resurrection exceedingly terrified at their arraignement and dolefully astonied at the sentence of condemnation 1 Their resurrection shall be with much amazednesse by reason of the sodainnes The sodaine comming of the day of iudgement is set foorth by sundry similitudes in the holy Scriptures 1. Thes 5. Mat. 24. Luk. 21. Eccles 9. it shall come like an enemie a theefe and a snare it shall speedily assault like an enemie slily breake in like a theefe and suddenly entrap men like a snare If a man should suddenly wake forth of his sleepe and see his house on fire and his friends wailing and weeping about him wold it not amaze him Lo death is but a sleepe and the graue is the bedde when a wicked man awaketh and shall behold on the one side his sinnes accusing him and on the other side the hellish feends and furies readie to vexe him a troubled conscience burning within him the frame of the heauens the earth flaming without him vnder his feete the fearefull pit of hell readie to deuoure him ouer his head the axe of Gods iudgment lifted vp to strike him and many of his friends wailing and howling about him because of the instant desolation and destruction oh how do we thinke that this miserable man shall be amazed A sudden thunder-clappe awaking a man will make him start and quake and will not the sudden showt and sounding of the Archangell and trumpet of God cause men to tremble 1. Thes 4.16 When Adoniah heard the trumpets sounding at Salomons coronation he was much dismayed 1 King 1. and fearing the presence of Salomon arose and went and tooke hold on the hornes of the altar When the vngodly which now sleepe in the dust of the earth shall heare the Archangell and the trumpet ratling at our Sauiours coronation it must needes dismay them much and so much the more because they shall find no sanctuarie but must be brought before him that is greater then Salomon to receiue their fatall doome 2 As the sodainenesse of this dreadfull day rowzing them from death is terrible so the end thereof also is lamentable their resurrection being to destructioÌ„ Joh. 5.29 For they that haue done euill shall come foorth to the resurrection of condemnation yea they shall rise to perpetuall shame and contempt Dan. 12.2 The prisoner though he come forth of the filthie and darksome dungeon into the sweet and wholsome aire yet when he must goe to his triall in some desperate case had rather if he might remaine there still The graue is a prison of filthie rottennesse and darknesse yet happie were the wicked man if he might haue an eternall habitation therein and not be brought to iudgment WheÌ„ Dalilah cryed suddenly to Sampson Jud. 16.20 The Philistims are vpon thee Sampson he awaked thinking to shew his strength as at other times but the Lord was departed from him Therefore the Philistims tooke him put out his eyes brought him to Azzah bound him with fetters and made him to grind in the prison house Lo thus shall the wicked be awaked at the day of iudgement when because the Lord is not with them the eyes of consolation shall be put out they shall bee brought to the iudgement seate of Christ who shall cause them to bee bound in fetters and to bee cast into the prison house of hell there to bee tormented world without end Act. 23.8 Now shall the wicked Sadduces which say there is no resurrection nor spirit find that there is both a resurrection for their shame and contempt and spirites for their torments and confusion The Diuels said to our Sauiour that hee came to torment them before their time Mat. 8.29 so shall these wretched men thinke they are raised to iudgment before their time but it may be said to them in the Prophets words Wo be to them for their day is come Ier. 50.27 and the time of their visitatioÌ„ Seeing now my Christian brother that the day of Christs comming shall bee thus speedie and the resurrection of the vngodly so full of miserie and amazednesse let the remembraunce therof cause thee so to leade thy life that thou maiest bee fitly prepared for the one and happily escape the other Reu. 20.6 Blessed are they that haue part in the first resurrection for on such the second death hath no power Yea happie and thrise happie is he who by the power of Gods spirit is in this life raised from the death of sinne to the life of righteousnesse for behold he shall assuredly in the life to come enioy a resurrection to eternall life and saluation SECT 2. The second steppe of the wicked into hel at the day of iudgment namely their terror in beholding Christ and appearing before his throne of iudgment WHen Adam had takeÌ„ of the forbidden fruite Gen. 3.8 being naked he would faine haue hid himselfe from God walking in the garden in the coole of the day the poore sinner naked both in body and soule would faine hide himselfe from the presence of Christ comming to iudgement in the euening of the world but it may not be For as it is intollerable to abide his presence so is it impossible to auoid it Euery eye must see him Reu. 1.7 Mat. 25.32 and all the
law and feare you that So the end vse of all this is that the maiestie of Christ in his appearing and strictnesse in iudging might possesse our hearts with dread and cause vs to finish our saluatiō with feare and trembling This lesson Saint Paule teacheth 2. Cor. 5.10 We must all appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notes an exceeding great feare Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men And surely if men did consider that their works must all come to iudgement before such a strict and glorious Iudge it would make them tremble and stay them from those sinnes into the which they runne without feare What theefe is so desperate that being sure he cannnot escape the Iudges hands would yet continue his stealing Lo thou whosoeuer thou art canst not possibly auoide the appearing before Christ the dreadfull Iudge shall not the cogitation of this reclaime thy heart from wicked motions and thy life from vngodly actions But will Christ call euery man to an accompt for his body his soule his temporall benefites and spirituall blessings the spending of his time and conuersation in his calling for his sinnes of cōmission and omission Oh good God what an Audit haue many to make for their manifold impieties and mōstrous profanenesse for consuming the talents of grace and treasuring nothing but wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 and of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God Whē Ioseph said to his brethren Gen. 45.3 I am Ioseph your brother whom you sold into Aegypt his brethren could not answer him for they were astonied at his presence When our Sauiour shall shew that blessed head that was crowned with thornes those holy hands that were pierced with nailes that gracious side that was thrust thorough with the speare and say Behold I am be whom your sinnes caused to bee crucified and sold into the hands of Pontius Pilate and the malitious Iewes shall not the vngodly be vnable to answer him for astonishment like Iosephs brethren and bee speechlesse like the man that wanted a wedding garment Mat. 22. Then would the kings of the earth Reu. 6.15 and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe Captaines and the mightie men and euery bondman and euery freeman hide themselues in the dennes and rockes of the mountaines and say to the rockes and hils Fal on vs hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe but alas it will not be Seeing then that all things must be thus dissolued and the comming of Christ is so dreadful both for the end and manner of his appearing 2. Pet. 3.10 what manner of men ought we to be in holy conuersation and godlinesse If a man had some matter of waight wherein his whole estate were to be tried before an earthly Iudge how carefull would he be to consider his cause sollicite his Aduocate and get the fauour of the Iudge Behold at this time all lyes a bleeding euen our soules and bodies more deare vnto vs thē the whole world yea then tenne thousand worlds what care and industrie should we vse whilest there is time to examine our estate sollicite Christ Iesus our Aduocate and Iudge that we may be deliuered from the feare of conuiction in that great and dreadfull day of iudgement I will therefore conclude this meditation with our Sauiours exhortation Luk 21.36 Watch and pray continually that you may be counted worthie to escape all these things that shall come to passe and that ye may stand before the sonne of man when he commeth thus gloriously to iudgement SECT 3. The third steppe of the wicked into hell at the day of iudgement namely their exceeding astonishment vpon the sentence of condēnation THus haue we brought the vngodly man to the barre where being accused by the heauens and the earth with all the creatures therein conuicted by a iury impanelled of heauenly and earthly inhabitants the elect Angels and blessed Saints and hauing his conscience crying Guiltie in stead of a thousand witnesses what can be expected at the hands of a most iust Iudge in the day of vengeance but the sentence of condemnation and what that is out Sauiour himselfe hath shewed M◠25.24 Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his Angels Few words but full of bitternesse Depart from me those are words of separation you cursed words of obiurgation into euerlasting fire words of desolation prepared for the diuell and his angels a dolefull exemplification There are two reasons why these wordes should yeeld astonishment First because they are intollerable secondly because they are irreuocable Amos. 3.8 The Lyon hath roared who will not be affraid saith the Prophet but behold this thundering foorth the sentence of condemnation is a thousand times more fearefull When Baltazar in the midst of all his tolitie saw the fingers of a hand writing vpon the wall of his pallace Dan. 5.6 Thou art waighed in the ballance and art found too light thy kingdome is giuen to the Medes and Persians his countenance was chaunged his thoughts troubled him so that the ioyntes of his loynes were loosed and his knees smote one against another If the Lords temporall decree had this effect in Baltazar euen before he vnderstood the writing how shall this sentence of eternall death whereby the wicked are separated from the kingdome of heauen astonish those vpon whom it shall be pronounced Behold 1. Sam. 3.11 saith the Lord I will do a thing in Israel whereof whosoeuer heareth his eares shall tingle Shall the eares of men tingle which heare of the iudgment brought vpon Elies house onely and shall they not glow when they heare this dreadfull iudgement passed vpon so many millions of sinfull soules when that shall be fulfilled Ezek 5.8 I will execute iudgement in the sight of the nations so that those which heare it shall say Lo this is the man that neither regarded the Lords promises nor trembled at his threatnings and see now how hee quaketh at his iudgments When the Lord had deliuered the law in his dreadfull voice the Israelites desired Exod. 20.19 he would speake no more to them lest they shold dye so would the vngodly faine haue Christ be silent now Psal 2. but he will speak to them in his wrath and vexe them in his sore displeasure he will send foorth his glorious voice which shall make the Cedars of Libanus to shake the same shall be a sword piercing the hearts of all wretched miscreants We reade that the band of men and officers that came to apprehend Christ in the garden of Gethsemane were striken downe with the power of his words saying onely Ioh. 18.6 I am he how then shall they be striken dead thinke you which appearing before his dreadfull throne shall heare him vtter