to desire to haue a thing whereof we doubt for being demanded whither they be sure to be saued they answer they can haue no assurance for then how could they hope Thus they make hope a doubtfull desire of a thing they wish instead of a present feeling of the thing they long for But we are then indeede the children of God if we hold the reioycing of our hope stedfast and sure vnto the end section 4 Neither must Christians be discouraged though their hoped-for glory come not so soone as it is looked for for God giueth them the plastour of patience which shall suffice and support their hope for he is sure that hath promised but not to be prescribed a time by vs but he must take his own time our patience must preuent al distrust Faith is the foundation of our hope for what can we hope for except we beleeue it as the ground of faith is the word promise for why should we beleeue but in respect of Gods promise Faith telleth vs we beate not the ayre hope biddeth vs hold on our race finish the course fight the combat and then expect the crowne of glory yea Faith is fastened by hope that it doe not wander and is continued by hope that it doe not hasten but wait the time it is confirmed by hope that we may hold on the Faith Example we haue in the Cananitish woman who suffered three denials of Christ each of them doubled with seuerall reproaches yet her faith was relieued by her hope and she had her desire So Iacob wrestled with God by Faith and in an assured hope told him flatly to his face that he would not let him goe vntill he had blessed him Faith will not flye or yeeld a foot to her spirituall foes and hope will neuer be foyled It is the sure and certaine anchor of safety to keepe both ship and sailes from dangerous shipwracke The saile that maketh the Ship of our life to ride merily section 5 amidst the loftie surges of the Sea of this troublesome world is our apparant and stedfast profession of faith in Christ taking hold of the middle-mast of his promises and nestling it selfe in them as Doues in the holes of rocks hoysting vp rhe harts of the godly aboue al earthly things giuing them a safe thorow-fare and free passage through all the stormes and tempests of this wretched life The Apostle bringeth forth a cloud of examples of such who by the sailes of faith haue passed the pikes of this dangerous nauigation and haue happily arriued at the heauenly hauen of rest A faithfull heart is furnished like a Ship of warre with shot and powder and other strong munition which will surely make all hellish Pyrots and fleshly force either to pull in their heads or betake them to their heeles The Diuell and diuellish men can neuer sinke our Ship with all their subtilties so long as wee cast our faith and hope vpon Christ Iesus the corner-stone but if it dash vpon the rockes of sinne it is in danger Ionahs sin had welnigh sunke the Ship A Ship may more safely carry any Passenger then a fugitiue which is a vagrant and runaway from God so saith Epiphanius So long therefore as the rocke of sinne is in our way we can make no way towards heauen wherefore let vs cast away our sinnes into the Sea as Ionah was for with this sacrifice the Sea of Gods wrath was appeased section 6 Wee can haue no certaine knowledge of heauenly things but by faith for such is their nature that they can no otherwise be knowne for some of them are passed and some to come some in heauen some in hell Againe God whom our faith principally apprehendeth dwelleth in that light that none can attaine wee must therefore beleeue the Sonne speaking of his Father search to whom the Sonne hath reueiled him since wee cannot see him with our eyes God onely is to be beleeued touching himselfe who onely knoweth himselfe and he well beleeueth God who beleeueth his teachers in whom God speaketh Neither is it strange why wee should beleeue God alone concerning himselfe since we must credit a mortall man touching his owne secrets whose spirit next God knoweth best what is in him Humane vnderstanding in diuine things is as the sight of an Owle against the Sunne Such things are knowne by faith in Gods word Since God is the highest it is not possible to reach him by the ladder of our reason no more then a Dwarfe can reach so high as a huge and tall Gyant Now we cannot see Gods face but he is couered vnder something as with a vaile yea sometime in such things as are contrary to his nature As for vs to behold his mercy in his anger In bringing vs to hell Faith seeth him bringing vs to heauen in darkenesse it beholdeth his brightnesse in hyding his face it beholdeth his chearefull countenance section 7 And did not Iob see God as they say vnder Sathans cloake for who cast fire from heauen vpon his goods who ouerthrew his house and slew his children who stirred vp strangers to driue away his cattell but Sathan himselfe and yet Iob peirced with the sight of his faith through all these instruments and actions confessing plainely that as the Lord had giuen them so the Lord had taken them away and so praised his name And how often did holy Dauid amidst the shadowes of Death see life it selfe For Faith is of things absent of things hoped for of things desired and can wee desire any thing wee know not and is there of heauenly things any other true knowledge then by faith grounded vpon the word of God Let vs send then our faith in beleeuing and our hope in expecting as Iosuah sent messengers before to view that heauenly countrie that God hath promised to giue vs and these messengers will bring vs word that the eye hath not seene nor the eare heard nor heart of man conceiued the excellencie thereof which should moue all faithfull men to giue this world willing farewell He that is eternall hath promised these things and he is section 8 eternall through whom he hath promised them and the things that be promised are eternall bringing eternall felicitie to the beleeuers and euerlasting destruction to the infidels Againe the gifts and graces of God are not without delay no delay in the creation no delay in the redemption no delay in the comming of the holy Ghost for suddenly it fell and shall we surmise a delay after the desolution of our bodies by death when we haue fought a good fight finished our course and kept the faith No no Christ Iesus standeth ready with a crowne in his hand ouer the heads of all his Saints to put it on when they haue put off this flesh Our saluation in Christ is alwayes fresh and new If once I be within the
course To cure our owne stubbornnesse and rebellions we must not with the vnbeleeuing Israelites harden our hearts or tempt the Lord in our troubles neither lift vp our selues with Pharaoh in such variety of iudgements to haue our hearts harder and harder and so to striue against our Maker which is the high way to increase his plagues and bring vs to destruction but rather be humbled and tremble at his word with melting hearts and not still to exasperate the Lord and sharpen his face against vs but rather while it is called to day to heare his voyce and be reclaimed This also reproueth all such as are so mightily distracted vse 2 and distempered in their troubles and afflictions that grow so violent outragious in word and deed and fall to be desperate they say they are weary of their liues they cannot tell what to do they would pardon them that would ridde them out of the way most truely discerning Sathans censure which to holy Iob and Gods children is nothing but a slander they cease from blessing God and fall to blaspheme him to his face Therefore Gods children must be warie from yeelding to such infirmities to which they are also subiect and pray for true patience whereby they may possesse their soules and for a true and a liuely faith whereby they shall be able to ouercome the diuell the world and the flesh and get the conquest ouer themselues and such vnruly affections If they search the Scriptures they shall see a cloude of Witnesses who by the shield of faith and sword of the spirit haue fought the fight and got the conquest in their greatest feares and doubts Thus God hath comforted vs saith Paul of himselfe and the faithfull that we may be able to comfort them which are in any afflictions by the comfort wherewith we our selues are comforted of God Let vs remember the time past with Dauid and thinke vpon all his wondrous workes We must not bee carelesse and cast away the medicine when once weare healed for the time of our olde disease and sores may come againe but still write in our note-Bookes such soueraigne receipts and approoued remedies to remember afresh when our infirmities newly assaile vs At such a time I prayed and was deliuered from the pricks of the flesh from such and such buffetings of Sathan did the Lord defend me therefore will I pray againe being newly assaulted Such a day and yeare I humbled my soule by fasting and prayer and was saued from such a iudgement At another time in my melancholy moode and the strong temptations and delusions of Sathan I conferred with godly men and diligently resorted to holy assemblies and this relieued and restored me I will neuer therfore forget this comfortable meanes but will for euer remember them yea daily practise them vpon euery good occasion and iust respect Thus good things must be pondered with blessed Marie and not onely conceiued but readily brought forth against the time of neede Such treasure of heauenly store must heedfully be locked vp in the treasury of our soules I haue hid thy promise within my heart that I might not sinne against thee So wisedome counselleth to hide his commandements within vs and to keepe them in the middest of our heart And the Apostle exhorteth vs not to let them slippe out of our mindes or not to haue our soules as crazed vessels receiuing much and holding nothing Where the Prophet seemeth to distinguish betweene law and law precept and precept word and word saying Except thy law thy precepts and so in the rest of the Psalme thy word thy iudgements thy statutes thy ceremonies thy commaundements c. q. d. They and they onely doe this and that and euery thing They and none other haue this vertue and operation of comforting conuerting and sauing This may teach vs that Gods word alone and no other doctrine 6 ioyeth the heart in affliction reioyceth the soule in temptation and quickeneth and reuiueth vs in the greatest extremities and distresses Moses speaking but of the law and commandements deliuered from God inforceth obedience to the same in telling them that it is the word of Life that it setteth before them life and death life to the obeyers death to the breakers And Paul calleth the Gospell The word of life which indeed quickeneth vs by faith in beleeuing the promises when the law for want of obedience slayeth vs therefore he preferreth the righteousnesse of faith before the righteousnesse of the law which is a killing letter to vnregenerate men when the Gospell to all belieuers becomes a quickening spirit This is the word that is able to conuert our soules which is mighty in operation sharper then any sword The weapons of our warfare which we fetch from hence able through God to cast downe strong holds euery high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and to bring into captiuity euery thought to the obedience of Christ The powerfull preaching whereof is The power of God to saluation to all that beleiue This forceth the very infidell through the working of Gods spirit in the heart being rebuked in holy assemblies to fall downe on his face and worship God and plainely to acknowledge that God is in his messengers This powerfull word of Christ raised Lazarus from the graue of corruption and is able to reuiue vs being dead in our sinnes and to raise vs from the death of sinne to the life of righteousnesse The reasons why Gods word in the holy ministerie thereof is of such efficacy to quicken vs are the same with doctrine the second Besides Gods word is the speciall instrument by which he worketh and effecteth his purpose and decree By his word he created all things and by his word they are vpholden and preserued By and according to his word he saueth and condemneth disposeth and ordereth all persons and actions yea all creatures with their motions referring them to their ends appoynted and making them all to serue his glory God and his word are in a league vnseparable he neuer crosseth it being his good will and pleasure He that heareth it and the messengers thereof heareth him and he that despiseth it and them despiseth him where it is not receaued he accounteth himselfe reiected Which serueth first to teach vs to honour God in this vse 1 his high and incomparable ordinance to yeeld obedience to his will reuealed in his word if we will not be accounted as rebellious against him If we will not effectually heare in the holy ministery thereof we cannot beleeue if we beleeue not we cannot be saued If we contemne and despise it it shall be our iudge at the latter day Hee that resisteth it striueth with his Maker Without the comfort of Gods word we must needs perish in our afflictions if Gods precepts quicken vs not we
for euer and together eternally Oh saith a godly Father if a sinner damned in hell did know that hee had to suffer those torments there no more thousands of yeares then there be sands of the sea and piles of grasse on the ground or no more thousand millions of ages then there be creatures in heauen and in earth hee would greatly reioyce thereof and comfort himselfe with this poore cogitation that once yet his torments would haue an end but now saith hee this word Neuer breakes his heart when hee thinketh on it and that after a hundred thousand millions of worlds there suffered he hath as farre to his end as he had at the entrance for no water can quench this fire no time can end these torments Death in it selfe to the vnregenerate man is the very gate of hell and wicket-dore of damnation for whomsoeuer it findeth vnrenued by Gods Spirit lying still in the filth of sinne it sendeth them straight to Gods Iudgement seat for speedy vengeance such therefore cannot choose but loathe and abhorre it being the messenger of Gods wrath the wages for their sinne and the fearefull fore-runner of their eternall damnation to ensue For shall it hale them forward to hell like an executioner and they not dislike it Shall it arrest them as a Serjeant to appeare before their Iudge and they not regard it Fearefull no doubt are their fits and furies before their end and grieuous and vnspeakable are their pangs before they come to the full possession of their endlesse paines And what a sorrowfull day will death be to such when Iustice shall set such a fyne vpon their heads that will for euer decay their former wealthy estate in the world and leaue them in a desperate case It is no maruell therefore that wicked reprobates doe so shake and tremble at the remembrance of death for there is cause of more feare then they can feare For the power of Gods wrath which now in death the wicked and vngodly men presently expect to feele cannot be feared as it ought For who knoweth the power of thy wrath There is no feare no suspition no thought which may sufficiently expresse the terrour of it Horrendum est it is a horrible thing so saith the Author to the Hebrewes but how fearefull no creature can tell but they that feele it and lye vnder it in the flames of hell as Diues did Aske no question saith one concerning them that perish concerning the death of the vngodly seeke not neither enquire there is no comfort to be giuen vnto it CHAP. X. The fearefull condition of the reprobate and all wicked men without Christ WHen the wicked and vngodly men shall ponder with themselues vpon the knowledge of the former poynts how sinfull they are and how by meanes of their vnrepentant hearts they are holden in the cords of their sinne and as malefactors apprehended and found guilty are ready to be haled to deaths prison there to lye vntill their arraignment and appoynted time of iudgement speedily to be executed vpon them They cannot choose hauing the sentence of condemnation written in their consciences but tremble and quake at the remembrance thereof If the hand-writing against Balthasar once read vpon the wall caused his very heart to shake and his knees knock together when hee heard that God had numbred his dayes and weighed him in the Ballance how fearefully shall the vngodly be affected with the continuall expectation of the wrath and vengeance of God assuredly decreed sodainly and in a moment to fall vpon them And albeit they striue to put away the euill day from their thoughts and cogitations yet haue they many fits and feuers of feare euen in the middest of their delights When Pharaoh the proud Tyrant had hardened his heart and boasted exceedingly against the people of God yet he no sooner saw the death of the first borne but he feared and trembled as the leaues in the Wildernesse There is indeede a way as Solomon saith that a man thinketh straight and pleasant when yet the issues thereof lead to death but what pleasure is that and what delight Surely in that laughter the heart is sorrowfull and that mirth doth end in heauinesse True it is that such men strengthen themselues and striue to vanquish feare sometimes with one pleasure and sometimes with another but if they would violently cast it out as the Cannon doth her shot yet would it euermore returne againe and vexe their heart And though they would neuer so faine haue their conscience seared as with a glowing Iron to make them senslesse yet sometimes it awakeneth them as out of a sleep and then they see most fearefull sights of horrour and torment and when they feele it least their state is no better then that of the stalled Oxe not knowing being so fat that then he is the fittest for the slaughter All their life is a miserable bondage in feare and terrour of their iust condemnation to ensue They haue the spirit of slauery and feare being the children of the handmaid Hagar borne in the bondage of her wombe they dwell in the Desart of Ambia and are in mount Sinai where is the burning of fire and blacknesse and darknesse and tempest and sound of Trumpet at which they tremble for they are without Christ and therefore must needes be in the horrour and feare of death all their dayes And though through the custome of sinne they come to a slumbring spirit and are cast into a numbnesse of conscience brawned through a senslesse blockishnesse as men hewed out of hard Oakes or grauen out of Marble hauing flinty hearts and adamant soules altogether destitute of true feeling of their sinnes and feare of God yet when the Lord shall let loose the cord of their consciences and shall set their sinnes before their face some of them depart this life like bruitish Swine and others of them surcharged with sinne doe end their dayes like barking dogges The sting of an ill conscience is called a worme that neuer dyeth a searing with an hot iron a sea that alwayes rageth a violent fire to deuoure the aduersary An euill conscience is a heauy burden it will make the wicked grieue at the losse of that he neuer loued for vertue hath this triumph ouer vice that they which hate her most shall be grieued at her absence If a man languish in sicknesse so his heart be whole his sicknesse doth not so much grieue him if he be reproached so he be precious in the sight of God and his Angels what losse hath hee but if his soule be disquieted who dareth meete with the wrath of the Lord of hoasts Who can put to silence the voyce of desperation Who can make agreement with Hell and Diuels In all other afflictions a man may haue some comfort against sinne but this is euer accompanied with the accusation of sinne then a man suspecteth all
his wayes feareth all his sinnes hee knowes not what sinne to beginne with And where all other euils pursue men but to death an ill conscience not cured endeth not in death but becommeth eternall It is the profession of sinne although fayre spoken at the entrance to be a perpetuall make-bate betwixt God and man yea betwixt a man and himselfe and this enimitie though it doe not continually shew it selfe for that the conscience is not clamorous but somewhile is silent otherwhiles with still murmurings bewrayeth her mislikes yet it doth euermore worke secret vnquietnesse to the heart The guilty man may haue a seeming truce a true peace hee cannot haue The galled spirit doth after the manner of sicke Patients seeke refreshing in varietie and after many tossed and tumbled sides complaines of remedilesse vnabated torment Such a one may change his bed-chamber and remoue his place but not his paines his furies euer attend him are euer within him and as parts of himselfe And what auayles it to seeke outward reliefe when thou hast thy executioner within thee If thou couldest shift from thy selfe thou mightest haue hope of ease for thou shalt neuer want frettings so long as thou hast thy selfe yea what if thou wouldest run from thy selfe thy soule may flye from thy body thy conscience will not flye from thy soule nor sinne from thy conscience the conscience leaues not where the Fiends beginne but both ioyne together in torture Some are of so hard and obdurate fore-heads that in their resolution they can laugh their sinne out of countenance they haue so long and able gorges that in their conceit they can swallow and digest any manner of sinne without complaint But beleeuest thou that such a mans heart laughes with his face Will not hee dare to be an hypocrite that durst be a villaine These Glow-wormes when a night of sorrow comes make a lightsome and fiery shew of ioy when if thou vrge them thou findest nothing but a cold and crude moysture Such as count it no shame to sinne yet count it a shame to be checked with remorse especially to be espyed of others Repentance to them seemes base mindednesse vnworthy of him that professeth wisedome and valour Such a man yet can grieue when none sees it but himselfe can laugh when others see that himselfe feeles not but assure thy selfe that that mans heart bleedeth when his countenance smileth he weares out many waking houres when thou thinkest he resteth As his thoughts afford him no sleepe so his very sleepe affords him no rest but while his senses are tyed vp his sinne is loose vgliest shape and frighteth him with hellish dreames The fire of the conscience may lye for a time smothered with a pile of green wood that it cannot be discerned whose moysture when it hath once mastered sendeth out so much the greater flame by how much it had the greater resistance Hope not to stop the mouth of the conscience from exclaiming whiles thy sinne continues that endeuour is both vaine and hurtfull which is as one should stop the nosthrill in hope to stay the issue when the bloud hindered of the former course breaketh out of the mouth or findes a way downe into the stomacke farre more dangerous The conscience cannot be pacified when sinne is within to vexe it no more then an angry swelling can cease throbbing whiles the thorne of corrupt matter lyes rotting vnderneath Time that remedies all other euils of the minde encreaseth this which like to bodily diseases proues worse with continuance and groweth vpon vs vvith our age Thus wee see that the wicked are in hell liuing yet vpon the earth but what is this to their hell hereafter All their sufferings here are but as their summons to their euerlasting tortures after death all their troubles in this life but a taste of their endlesse torments in the life to come These be but the beginnings of their miseries the dregges of Gods wrath they shall drinke hereafter All their anguish here is but as the porch of hell after comes the maine sea of all their sorrowes for though they haue in this life wallowed in their delights which sometimes through a hardnesse of heart hath delayed their sorrowes yet then they must be turned off as Princes Mules are wont to be at their iourneyes end their treasure taken from them and their galled backes left vnto them For as wee see those Princely Mules goe day by day laden with treasure and couered with fayre cloathes but yet at night bereaued of coyne and couer are turned out into a sorry stable much wearyed bruised and galled so shall this glutted sort with galled consciences bereaued of worldly helpes be thrust to hell Man saith Bernard though thou hast lost all shame if thou feele no sorrow as carnall men doe not yet loose not feare also which is found in very beasts Wee vse to load an Asse and to weary him out with labour yet he careth not for it because he is an Asse but if thou wouldest thrust him into the fire or fling him into a ditch hee would auoid it as much as hee could for that hee loueth his life and feareth death Feare thou then and be not more senslesse then a beast feare Death feare Iudgement feare the endlesse paine of Hell Is it not a grieuous thing for a man beloued and of credit in the world and making merry with his friends and companions to be sodainly apprehended by a Serjeant or officer for a traitor theefe or murtherer and presently without bayle or main-prise to be taken from his companions to be carryed to the Gaole and from thence to the place of execution More grieuous and fearefull is it for a wicked man that liues in the pleasures of his sinne to be taken away by death which is the Lords Serjeant to apprehend and bring him to the prison of hell As his entrance into the world was euill and his continuance in the world worse so his taking away by Death is the worst of all Balaams wish is vsed by many Let me dye the death of the righteous yet they will not liue a righteous life but few of these obtaine their desire Such are taken from the practise of sinne to the punishment of sin from ease to torments from men to Diuels from death to hell At the houre of death Sathan will bring all the sinnes of a wicked man done in his former life like a squadron of enemies all ready set in battell-aray to assault him No Serpents sting doth so pricke and vexe a man as the dreadfull remembrance of his wicked life past shall doe at his latter end Therefore they feare Death as much as the malefactor the Gaoler that leades him with gyues vnto prison till the day of execution They are like the Gibeonites content with any condition to enioy their liues to be bondmen and slaues hewers of wood and drawers of water They are pulled from the
members being separated from the body So in Christ our head consisteth our life as we are true members of his body the Church vnited to him by a true and liuely Faith and so quickned by his Spirit and knit and ioyned one to another in a holy fellowship and communion by the bond of loue Christ is the Vine and the faithfull his branches without him they can doe nothing as they are of this tree they are fruitfull but broken off they are barren and liue no more but dye and wither away By his life alone wee liue and without his death we are but dead and damned for euer Therefore wee must know and learne our true vnion section 2 with Christ and try our selues whether wee be members of that body whereof hee is head For none I say are redeemed from death and freed from condemnation but those alone that are in Christ whom they cannot possibly apprehend but by a true and liuely Faith which is the spirituall hand to lay hold on Christs merits to eternall life Hereby we are interessed in all that eyther God hath promised or Christ hath performed hence haue we from God both forgiuenesse of sinnes and assurance of his fauour This is the ground of our happinesse and glory hence of enemies wee become more then friends euen the sonnes of God that may challenge not onely prouision and safe protection on earth but an euerlasting possession and inheritance in heauen The apprehension of Christs all-sufficient satisfaction by a true and a liuely Faith maketh it our owne and vpon our satisfaction wee haue remission vpon remission followeth reconciliation vpon our reconciliation the peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding When therefore our conscience like a sterne and sturdy Serjeant shall catch vs as it were by the throat and arrest vs for Gods debt our Plea must be it hath beene paid and so bring forth that bloudy acquittance sealed vs from heauen vpon our true and assured Faith So shall the cruell looke of our Conscience be changed into friendly smiles and that rough and violent hand ready to dragge vs downe to hell shall euen louingly embrace vs and fight for our righteous Crowne Oh heauenly peace and more then peace whereby alone we are in league with our selues and God with vs. section 3 Gods Spirit sheweth vs our pouerty and where to buy Gold that shall cost vs nothing It sheweth vs our wretchednesse that haue nothing but ragges to put on and withall the wardrobe of Christs righteousnesse where we shall haue garments fit for Gods Saints It sheweth vs our Apostacie how wee haue fallen and by our fall haue euen broken our necke and sends vs to Christ our Physitian who is onely good at such a desperate disease It sheweth vs our debt and our Serjeant the Diuell to arrest vs and then sends vs to the Lord-Treasurer of heauen in whose hands are sufficient to discharge whatsoeuer wee owe. Gods Children then must be knit vnto Christ the Son section 4 of God they liue in his life and stand in his strength whose right hand hath made all things and whose yeares endure for euermore who is heyre of all things and shall shew vs his glory and immortalitie when all these creatures shall haue a change There is no saluation nor sanctification for vs vnder heauen but as our nature is really vnited to the person of Christ the Sonne of God who hath sanctified and sacrificed himselfe for vs. Euen as our hands armes and other parts are not nourished but onely by the meate receiued of the head so our spirituall meate of life and righteousnesse can no where else be deriued to vs but from Christ our head And as the veynes are meanes by which nourishment is conueyed to euery part so Faith is the instrument by which we receiue from Christ all that is healthfull for our soules And as by ioynts and sinewes our members are really knit and made a compleat body vnto the head so really truely and indeed by one Spirit wee be knit vnto Christ and substantially made one with him as our naturall members are made one with our head This though wee cannot conceiue yet wee are bound section 5 to beleeue Wee now beleeue in the Lord our God and yet wee know not his countenance wee beleeue and apprehend by hope his glory yet neyther eye can see it no nor heart conceiue it wee beleeue the resurrection of the dead yet wee cannot vnderstand such excellent wisdome how our life should be renewed in the dissolued bones and scattered ashes Euen so wee beleeue that Christ and wee are one hee of vs and wee of him hee the head wee the body really substantially and truely knit together but not by ioynts and sinewes for that vniting we know but by his Spirit which all his Children haue and this coniunction indeed can wee neuer fully comprehend till wee know God as hee is and his holy Spirit which hath wrought this blessing The diuine nature vnited to the manhood of Christ hath giuen the participation of his office to him as man that as God is Mediator so is man as God hath deserued saluation so hath man and that hee as man shall iudge the quicke and the dead not that hee shall iudge by his manhood but Christ man shall iudge the world This Christ is not onely God with vs in nature but in person for the reprobate are of the same nature with him and he with them yet is he not God with them but against them But wee as the Apostle speaketh are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones euen as a man and wife which are not onely one in nature but in person by speciall couenant so are wee one with Christ by couenant of grace and being one with him wee are also one with the Trinitie I pray thee O Father saith Christ as I am one with thee so these may be one with vs both which bringeth great comfort to Gods Elect that through Christ haue the whole God-head reconciled vnto them and dwelling in them section 7 And as Christ is our person and Sauiour so his righteousnesse is ours since we haue him whose it is and this maintaineth Gods iustice to punish Christ in our person and to iustifie vs in his in respect hee is in vs and wee in him and so doth hee neyther punish the innocent nor iustifie the offender And in this respect when wee know that Christ is truely ours that God giueth life and this life is in the Sonne and this Sonne is in vs it followeth that wee are not saued by his righteousnesse but by our owne his person being made one person with vs. By regeneration wee are made partakers of his diuine nature and flesh that is our nature is renewed and sanctified and is made another flesh to wit the flesh of Christ For as the Sonne of God was so made man that by
new couenant it is an euerlasting couenant I was not taken vnder condition of time nor no time shall preuaile against mee Our Christian state and condition is not changeable as Adams was in Paradise but it is made sure in the body of Christ vnited with the person of the godhead so are the waies in which wee are led into it immutable Our faith is not extinguished our loue cannot be quenched our hope faileth not nor the holy spirit can euer be taken from vs but still they are new to vs to eternall life section 9 And as for the wicked they shall be as well able to saue themselues without God as to hurt vs hauing God and the worst they can doe is but to send vs to God And for Sathans darts cast out against vs they are turned aside in the armour of Christ his flouds can neuer drowne vs and his buffetings shall be as our preseruatiues against presumption Christ our head was wounded for our sins and is healed againe raigning and triumphing in heauen why then should we which beleeue in him haue our hearts heauie in earth as though the head had forgotten the body or any part thereof No let vs not doubt that he will suffer a haire thereof to perish which he so dearely purchased Michael I meane our captaine Christ hath conquered that dreadfull red dragon and subtill serpent with his leaders and liuetenants death and hell why should we be so much moued with any force of flesh and bloud or any mischiefe the world can worke vs section 10 Be of good cheare saith Christ I haue ouercome the world Seeing hee hath broken the head of our enemie what should his taile so much trouble vs Seeing hee hath taken away our sinnes what should any sorrow remaine amongst vs God doth not choose them worthy but in choosing them maketh them worthy He hath all in himselfe which hath himselfe and hee hath himselfe which hath God and he hath God who beleeueth and confesseth his creatour but he that hath lost his faith hath nothing else to loose Christ hath said it and it is a warrant to our wearied soules that those that his father hath giuen him may be where he is to behold his glory This is his will and who dare wrest it the head will haue his members the Bridegroome his spouse God his elect and Christ his redeemed and where will he haue them but where he is and that is in heauen So much what Death is in Christ Now followeth our preparation thereunto The end of the second Booke THE THIRD BOOKE Of preparation vnto DEATH CHAP. I. The necessitie of preparation with the motiues the remembrance of Death much auaileth thereunto to the godly and the carelesnesse of most men herein FOr as much as the best things are section 1 not easily attained vnto being so precious and excellent in themselues without the hardest labour and greatest attempt vile and easie things being vsually most common and these so rare Our most wise and prouident God to whet our affections and to sharpen our desires to heauen and heauenly things hath inioyned vs a taske to be performed before we can aspire to our happy perfection For hauing the sumptuous tower of our saluation to build we must first sit downe and reckon our costs it will stand vs in The crowne of glory being proposed wee must first fight the battaile of faith without being foyled And the garland of saluation being hung vp as it were before our eyes we must striue to run the race without tyring vntill we come to the goale where we must receiue the prize of our paines with endlesse profit section 2 The dominions of heauen I confesse are great and large but the way thither is narrow and straight and we must striue to enter in the wicket-doore is small and the throng great therefore we must vse a godly violence to thrust our selues in if we will be saued Now the way wee haue heard already and the doore of our entrance which is death hath sufficiently beene described It onely remaineth that we be christianly fitted and prepared for the entrance Constant therefore we must be in our course condition of life enioyned vs of God for what auaileth it the Sea-faring man to haue sailed safely through the surging Seas to haue escaped dangerous syrts and sands the craggie rockes and rough passages if yet he be sunke or sustaine Shipwrake in the hauen What profiteth it the Souldier or most corragious Captaine to haue giuen many on-sets in the battaile and foyles to his foes if yet he be killed before he ouercome It booteth not to run ourselues breathlesse in the race if we get not the goale and we shoote but at Rouers if wee misse the marke This world therefore being as a Sea a field a race and a marke to all Gods elect Let them so saile therein as they may come safely to the shoare so fight in this field that they may ouercome so runne that they may obtaine and so shoote that they misse not the marke that is that they may after this life come to the expectation of their hope end of their trauell euen the blessed immortalitie of euerlasting life section 3 We all with our lips confesse that we must die and that death is the gate either to heauen or hell and yet not one of vs amongst milions of men so religiously spend and passe their daies as hoping to goe to heauen or fearing the way to hell If we be once resolued that in extremitie of sicknesse we cannot escape with life there is none of vs that is not very sorry that euer he offended God liuing in drunkennesse adulterie deceit riot or in any such excesse or bad course of life without Gods feare then will euery one wish that he had better serued God c. Such are vaine mens complaints and late lamentations Yet now whiles God vouchsafeth meanes and time to liue why doe we not prepare our selues in time Why hasten wee not to liue in such sort as at the day of death wee wish we had For looke how Death leaueth a man so shall the last Iudgement finde him In this life there may be changes and conuersions from euill to good but after death there can be none at all for looke where the tree falleth there it lyeth whether towards the North or towards the South Neede wee haue ro gird vp our loynes and to get Oyle for our Lampes at all assayes for the sodaine and vncertaine comming of the Bridge-groome Our corrupt and cursed nature will still make vs carelesse section 4 of our end naturally wee are giuen to cocker our selues with fleshly dreames of continuall peace and securitie and there is none so olde but hee hopeth still to liue longer as though he were in league with Death and Graue But it is too late to beginne then to liue when wee must
forbidden tree to delight the eye fayre words to please the eare and driue all away Why You shall be as Gods when his drift is to make them all as Diuels What a dangerous Lethargie of the soule is this when so many spectacles of mans mortalitie before our eyes can nothing moue vs or at least our mouing with Agrappa is not much but somewhat which by and by is all forgot and gone and so wee thinke of our end by some running fits and haue done Wee will and wee will not and so with the Sluggard nothing is done Some count it death to meditate of death they like the remembrance of it as Ahab the presence of Eliah to be troublesome to them Let fooles as they doe make but a sport of sinne and section 10 say with the old Epicures What haue wee to doe with Death They shall one day finde that Death will haue to doe with them when hee shall strip them into their winding sheete binde them hand and foot and make their last bed to be the darke and slimy graue Ahab could not abide to heare Micheas speake for that hee neuer prophesied any good but euill vnto him hee would be wicked and yet could not endure to heare any other newes then good So wicked men cannot away to heare of death because they liue a sinfull life Balaam desires to dye the death of the righteous but hee will neuer vndergoe to liue the life of the righteous As Pharaoh said to Moses Depart from among my people so say the vngodly to Death Be banished from vs thy presence thy shadow and the very remembrance of thee is fearefull vnto vs. To muse of their end is the least of most mens thoughts To heare Saint Paul speake of Gods terrible iudgement to come is too trembling a doctrine for our delightfull dispositions to heare with Foelix wee are not at leasure for this is iarring Musicke which sounds not aright in the Consort of our worldly pleasures To thinke of Death is Acheldama saith one euen a field of bloud but wastfully to spend the time in the dangerous delights of sinne and so to be flattered with promise of peace and pleasure is a tuneable Dittie to most mens eares vntill their soules so sleepe in sinne as Sisera slept who neuer woke againe But if any Physitian would take vpon him to make men liue euer in this world what a multitude of Patients should he haue and how well would they reward him Alas poore fooles they are earth and will not know it But will the forgetfulnesse of death preserue them from dying But Plato said truely that there was no more honourable section 11 Philosophy for a mortall man then the daily meditation of his mortalitie and death for the remembrance of death through Gods blessing serues as a sounding Bell to awake vs from the sleepe of our sinnes and as a spurre to pricke vs on to vertue as a bridle to restraine our greedy desires as an oyntment for our eyes to make vs clearely see the foulnesse of our sinne whereof the Diuell is the father Death his fruit and Hell his dwelling place Remembrance of Death is as the match and tinder that nourisheth and inlighteneth the fire of all holy deuotion the Bellowes that kindle all godly affections it is as it were the Fanne that seuereth from our soules the dust and chaffe of all vanitie and sinne it serueth as a Pilot to gouerne the right course of our life who stands euer behinde in the ship to conduct it the better to the desired Port it is better Musicke then that of Dauids Harpe to Saul against all the raging fits and furies of all infernall Spirits section 12 Shew me a promise that you shall liue but to morrow or hauing this assurance that to morrow shall giue you light or if it appeare whether you shall see the light Shew mee I say the promise and liue to morrow But what doe I say It may be thou shalt liue long wilt thou liue a long life and a wicked together and be in danger to end thy life by a miserable and wretched death As the Husbandman is carefull to cast seede into the ground whilest faire weather lasteth and the Merchant to lay out his money whilest the Mart and good Market endureth so must Christians take the time and good opportunitie offered for the night will come when no man can worke We must vse Gods mercies to our gaine and not to our damnation When the third Captaine ouer fifty saw how his two fellow-Captaines were deuoured with fire it went so neare his heart that hee went vp and fell downe and besought the man of God that his life might be precious in his sight But how many thousands of our fellow-souldiers haue wee heard and seene to fall in this spirituall fight How many of our dearest friends haue taken their leaue and yet none or very few maketh supplication I say not to the man of God but to God himselfe that our liues and deaths may be precious in his sight Oftentimes hath God knocked at the doore of our hearts to put vs in minde of our mortalitie for who hath not had experience of his declining nature But yet for all this what little humbling of our selues is there before him whose dominion reacheth vnto the ends of the earth who bringeth to the graue and raiseth vp againe The perfection of knowledge is to know God and our section 13 selues aright and our selues then wee best know when wee haue throughly learned our mortall estate As men wee dye naturally as Christians wee dye religiously wee must first dye to the world that after wee may liue to God By our dying to the world Christ Iesus commeth and liueth in vs and by our dying in the world wee are sure to goe to liue with Christ Wee dye not saith one because wee are sicke but because wee liue so when wee recouer our sicknesse wee escape not from death but from the disease Let vs therefore make that voluntary which is necessary saith S. Chrisostome and yeeld it to God as a gift which wee stand bound to pay as a debt We must not saith Ambrose neyther loath to liue nor feare to dye because wee haue a good and gracious Lord. No good thing can be well and perfectly done at the first seeing therefore it is so great a matter to dye and so necessary to dye well it is expedient that in our life we learne to dye often that we may at last dye well at the very time of death The Souldiers that be appoynted to fight doe first practise themselues in the field to learne in time of peace what they must doe in time of warre The horse that must runne at the Tilt trauerseth all that ground before and tryeth all the steps thereof that when hee commeth to make his course he be not found new
wish they had better serued God but these things should be considered in time and here is time therefore take it before thou endurest a dying life and a liuing death full of endlesse woe O good life saith a holy Father what a ioy art thou section 6 in the time of death Thou makest men not ashamed to liue longer because they liue honestly nor afraid to dye departing religiously hauing serued a good Lord. But the wicked are ashamed to see him whom they haue dishonoured the one is quit by a ioyfull Proclamation the other found guilty at the bar of his owne conscience What a dangerous course is it neuer to awake Christ till the ship leake and be in danger of drowning neuer to beginne to liue well vntill wee be a dying neuer to call to minde that time of all times before we heare the Trumpet sounding the graues opening the earth flaming the heauens melting the Iudgement hastening and the Iudge with his Angels comming to denounce the last sentence and doome O consider this you that forget God lest hee take you away and there be none to deliuer you This present life is our market to make prouision for our soules against the life to come now is the time of running to get the prize now is the time to fight to winne the field now is the time of sowing for the plentifull crop of haruest comming on If we omit this time there is no more crowne no more booty no other Kingdome no other prize no more haruest to be looked for for Hee that will not sow in winter shall beg in Summer section 7 Marke well saith one what I say that a man which repenteth not but at his latter end shall be damned I doe not say so What then doe I say He shall be saued No. What then doe I say I say I know not I say I presume not I promise not Wilt thou then deliuer thy selfe out of this doubt Wilt thou escape this dangerous poynt Repent thou then whilest thou art whole for if thou repent whilest thou art in health whensoeuer the last day of all commeth vpon thee thou art safe for that thou didst repent in that time when thou mightest yet haue sinned But if thou wilt repent when thou canst sinne no longer thou leauest not sinne but sinne leaueth thee If men come without oyle in their Lampes then is there nothing for them to expect but Nescio vos I know you not And when they are knowne Ite maledicti Goe you cursed into euerlasting fire God hath giuen other things double vnto vs that if the one be hurt the other may stand vs in stead as eyes eares hands and feet double but hee hath giuen vs but one soule which if we destroy what is there in the world wherby wee may hope for any life The Sonne of God gaue himselfe a ransome for our soules that they might not be accounted vile but precious in our sight All that which thou hast meanes to doe saith the Preacher section 8 doe it according to thy power for in the graue whither thou goest there it neyther worke nor discourse nor knowledge nor wisedome Many then thinke of death When they cannot liue they pardon their enemies when they cannot reuenge they giue away their goods when they can no longer keepe them they forgiue their debters when they haue nothing to pay they leaue their whores when they can no longer keepe them they detest wine when they cannot drinke and defie the world when they can no longer inhabite it pride they loath when they are preparing of their winding-sheete sicke they are but their repentance is sicker c. Death is at our doores Iudgement ouer our heads Hell is at hand all horrible and yet without horrour We laugh we leape we dance we drinke we sing to the sound of the Violl vaine delights and we inuent to our selues Instruments of Musicke like Dauid as he to the seruice and honour of his God so we to please our vnsanctified affections and extrauagant lusts O Lord set thy feare before our face and so settle it in our hearts that we may readily obay thy heauenly call by flight from sinne for feare of Iudgement Let vs not be like to the vnwise Leuite who at the end of the day would goe on his iourney by reason whereof hee incurred perill and was the cause of his wiues heauy end Let vs rather rise earely and goe on our way whiles the light of life doth shine lest darknesse surprise vs. Old sores are hardly cured and hardly shall you bring old dogs to lead An old mans bones saith Zopher to Iob are filled with the sinnes of his youth and continue with him vnto the graue CHAP. III. Of the hinderances of our Preparation to death in generall and how carefully they must be auoyded section 1 LEt vs now proceede to remoue such impediments through the helpe of God as lye in our way to hinder our speedie passage in this our pilgrimage of death which is as wee haue heard the true hauen of life to all Gods children Great and manifold are Sathans assaults in this our iourney who still sheweth himselfe a professed aduersarie in all good proceedings And here he commeth not himselfe alone but with a huge hoast and army of enemies hauing the whole world our flesh and friends to fight against vs But of these things in this place let it suffice to poynt at in generall vntill wee come to a more particular discourse as occasion shall be offered And let vs first learne to arme our selues against these our deadly foes that so being harnessed as it were with the armour of proofe wee may strongly stand out when wee shall be assailed neuer yeelding to our foes but following fast our Captaine Christ to get the conquest in this our fight which already is begunne and shall most assuredly be gotten to all the faithfull section 2 Sathan first of all will thus be ready to assault vs. And art thou ready to dye O man Why then behold the swarme of thy sinnes the number of thy faults and monstrous rebellions against thy God both old and new of age and youth for which the wrath of God the graue and hell are ready to deuoure thee The Law is thy Iudge which doth condemne thee thy God is iust and cannot but accurse thee his sentence is passed and will not cleare thee c. So that here without Christ no comfort can be found hee onely must now protect vs or else wee perish his righteousnesse must be our roabe to hide our raggednesse his merits the onely meanes to cloath our nakednesse c. Which things wee cannot possesse without a true and liuely Faith which is the gift of God and therefore wee must pray to haue it wrought in our hearts by the holy Ghost and all good meanes This then as we haue heard already will get vs the victory ouer the Diuell
are our sinnes the cause let vs repent and amend Is it the loue of this world let vs hate it Is it for want of faith let vs pray Lord helpe our vnbeliefe section 4 But what speake I so much to true Christians concerning the feare of Death they hauing so many causes rather to imbrace the same First to shew their subiection and obedience to Gods will by the example of Christ Father not my will but thy will be done Secondly for as much as by death all sinne is abolished and wee for euer cease to offend our God any more Our bodies likewise are brought to a better condition then euer they were in our liues for by death they are made insensible and so freed from all the miseries of this life ceasing to be the instruments of sin any more Againe it giues the soule passage to rest life and heauenly glory in which we shall see our God as he is perfectly know him and praise his name keeping an eternall Saboath in the celestiall places And lastly it executeth Gods iudgement vpon the wicked and purgeth his Church from such filthy dung and drosse Let Pagans therefore saith Cyprian and Infidels feare Death who neuer feared God in their life but let Christians goe as trauellers vnto their natiue home and as children to their Father willingly gladly Balaam would faine haue comforted himselfe with riches honour which he esteemed so much yet was he not without feare which at last brake out and forced him to wish that his soule might die the death of the righteous and that his latter end might be like vnto theirs So I beleeue it is with all wicked reprobates they know it and euen as Iosuah saith withall their hearts and withall their soules they know it that the righteous mans life is better then theirs and tremble and quake at the remembrance of their owne death which is farre worse then theirs desiring to die the death of those who in their life and practise they vtterly detest True it is that wicked men in appearance die quietly section 5 in their beds hauing as Iob speaketh no bonds in their death But iudge such a one no more by his death then by his birth for many women may haue more easie trauell of a reprobate then some of an elect childe of God Hypocrisie it may be hath put the conscience to silence here that they may more suddenly and fearefully roare out in hell It may be a crust is growne vpon their hearts that they rot and fester within and feele it not whereas the elect haue the wound of their sinne kept alwaies open neither can they flye the least breach of the Lords displeasure but are anguished neither can they thinke that they euer feare inough which tender heart of a Christian is like the Adamant as it to draw the iron so this to draw the oyle of grace into his soule for his solace If a man die like a Lamb and passe out of the world like a bird in a shell the sottish sort say that certainly hee is saued although neither holinesse was in his life nor God in his mouth grace in his heart nor yet repentance faith or feeling at his death Such men saith one excepting their feather-beds and pillowes die liker beasts then Christians For they shall neuer haue their sinnes forgiuen which first or last doe not vndergoe a holy despaire for them acknowledging nothing to remaine in themselues but matter of iudgement and euerlasting death and comfort and eternall life to flow alone from Iesus Christ For thorow him we see our sinnes purged the diuell vanquished death and condemnation abolished our selues established and infranchised into the libertie and freedome of the Saints in heauen Are we ready to goe out of this world as the Israelites out of Egypt let vs sprinckle our hearts with the blood of the Lambe and the destroyer shall not enter nor haue power to hurt vs. Let vs call to minde Gods loue who spared not his Sonne but gaue him to death for vs and how shall he not giue vs all things with him section 6 The steps of Saints saith one and the state of sinners their liues I meane and deaths are here equally bound vp with the coards of corruption yet vnequally matched in the ioy of their seperation the one falling away like a flower transplanted to a better soyle the other rushing vpon the rocke of Gods wrath either shamefully deiected with the horrour of iudgement while they liue or else fearefully entangled with the feare of torment when they die Yet may we not in conscience censure any man simply for his manner of death or sudden departure for many sicknesses slay men suddenly euen while they haue meate in their mouthes and are full merry Many are sharpe and of long continuance as the Palsie Sciatica or Hipgoute as Physitions best doe know Some take away the vse of the tongue and other members as the Apoplexie and falling euill Some the wits as the Phrensie and burning feauer and other strange and vnknowne diseases as experience it selfe doth proue and therefore it is good to be prepared in our Christian estate But in all these strange assaults of our brethren we must iudge the best for there neuer can be an euill death where a constant good life hath gone before For as many amidst these torments doe suddenly passe to the Paradise of Gods Saints so many dying peaceably in their beds are swiftly translated from earth to hell yet still precious in Gods sight is the death of his Saints Elie was a Priest and a good man yet brake he his neck section 7 with falling backward from his seat Ionathan a godly man and a faithfull friend to Dauid yet was he slaine in battell by the vncircumcised Philistimes The Prophet that came from Iuda to Bethel to speake against Ieroboam and his Alter was a good man yet killed by a Lyon So was Iosiah slaine in the valley of Megiddoe Iobs children so well brought vp by their Godly Father were slaine by the ruine of a house in a violent winde Wee must not therefore iudge so much of men by their manner of death as by their life for though sometimes a good death may follow an euill life yet an euill death can neuer follow a constant good life Correct therefore thy euill life and feare not an euill death for he cannot die ill that liues well So that sudden death is onely euill to them which lead an euill life it finding them vnprepared carrieth them suddenly to hell But it cannot be euill to them which liue well for finding them prepared it freeth them from paine which others indure by long and lingring sicknesse and brings them forthwith to the place of happy rest Some pray against sodaine Death which yet can neuer come sodainely to Gods Saints whose whole life is a continuall meditation of Death We ought rather
resurrection And shall we so lament our death which is so gainefull The very Pagans in some places as it is recorded did celebrate the day of their death with mirth melodie and minstrelcie and shall wee that are Christians be so dismaid and cast downe should such a friend as it is be vnwelcome shall the foulenesse of his face feare vs from his good conditions shall the hardnesse of the huske hinder vs from the sweetnesse of the kirnell shall the roughnesse of the tide feare vs from the banke and shoare and so hazard our drowning rather then the desire of our home driue vs to the land with all expedition shall the hardnesse of the saddle set vs on foote to slacken our voyage rather then wee will leape vp and endure the same a little and so come swiftly to the place wee doe desire section 18 Lastly touching the heauenly life prepared for the faithfull after death if I should goe about to expresse it the more I should so doe the further I should be from it so farre exceeding the sight thought or conceit of man or any creature Behold saith Saint Iohn the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and he their God and he shall wipe away all teares from their eyes and there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor paine for the former things are past O most blessed tabernacle O most safe refuge O region most resplendant and glorious All thy inhabitants weare crownes of glory sit in thrones of maiestie liue in life eternall and possesse a paradise of infinite pleasures Which as Saint Bernard saith are so many that they cannot be numbred of such eternitie that they are endlesse so precious as they cannot be estimated and so great as they cannot be measured This Citie is made of pure gold the very wals of precious stones hauing twelue foundations made of twelue distinct precious stones hauing twelue gates set with pearles the very streetes paued with gold interlaied with precious stones The light of this citie is Christ in his shining brightnesse sitting in the midst thereof from whose seate proceedeth the water of life and there growes the tree of life bearing continuall fruit for the continuall refection of the Saints There is no night in that citie nor any defiled thing but they which are within shall raigne for euer in vnspeakeable glory who shine as the Sunne in the Kingdome of their Father If one Sunne can lighten and fill the whole world with section 19 his brightnes if the Maiestie glory of his beames be such and so great that some Ethnicks haue worshipt him for a God and haue called him the father of gladnes the eye of the world and the fountaine of light What shall so many glorified bodies of the blessed appeare that shall be as so many Sunnes so many Lampes and so many shining lights in heauen Then shall we be blessed indeede when we shall be like vnto God which by nature is blessed and we shall be like vnto God when we shall see him as hee is For this onely sight of God is our whole happinesse O what a ioy shall it be when at one view we shall behold the most high and hidden misterie of the inseparable trinitie and of the loue of God therein For what shall not he see who seeth him that seeth all things Then shall mans minde haue perpetuall rest and peace neither shall it desire any further vnderstanding when hee hath all before his eyes that may be vnderstood Then shall mans will be quiet when he enioyeth that felicitie wherein all other good things as in the fountaine of all happinesse are contained Then shall Faith haue her perfect worke Hope shall inioy that which she long desired but Charitie shall indure for euer Then shall be sung continuall praises vnto the Lambe the song although it be alwaies sung yet it shall be euer new The ioy mirth melodie pleasure power wealth riches honour beautie fellowship dainties odors glory wisedome knowledge treasures securities peace quietnesse and eternall felicitie is beyond all vnderstanding and comprehension of man which the faithfull shall haue and inioy world without end with God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost with Angels and Arkangels Patriarks and Prophets with the Apostles and Euangelists with the Martyrs and Confessors and with the Saints of God in the pallace of the Lord in heauen the kingdome of God the glory of the Father Where there shall be an euerlasting Saboath which no euening shall end section 20 There we shall rest and we shall see we shall see and we shall loue wee shall loue and wee shall praise Behold saith Augustine that which is in the end is without end for what other end is there ordained for the godly but to attaine to that kingdome which hath no end Wee call Paradise our Country and the Patriarks our Fathers and the Saints our brethren and friends Why runne we not then with all speede to enioy our Country and to salute our Parents A great number of our friends and kinsfolkes brethren and children already assured of their immortalitie and desirous of our good doe there attend wishing and expecting our comming What ioy will it be both to them and vs there to renew our acquaintance and meete one another What pleasures are there amongst the inhabitants of heauen which now feare death no more and are sure to liue for euer Woe to the blindnesse of our eyes that see not this woe to the hardnesse of our hearts that feele not this woe to the deafenesse of our eares that heare not this in such wise as we should do where through we might be so farre from fearing death that rather wee should wish it with old Simeon Now let thy seruant depart in peace and with Dauid when shall I come and appeare before thee section 21 If true knowledge and faith possest our hearts as they should feare and doubtfulnesse would vanish quite away For assurance of heauenly things maketh vs willing to part with earthly Hee cannot contemne this life that knoweth not the other If wee would dispise this world we must thinke of heauen If wee will make death easie we must thinke of the glorious life that followeth it And if we can endure paine for health much more should wee abide a few pangs for glory How foolish are wee to feare a vanquished enemie Christ hath triumphed ouer death it bleedeth as it were and gaspeth vnder vs and yet doe we tremble It is enough that Christ died neither would he haue died but that we might die with safetie and pleasure How truely may wee say of this our Dauid thou art worth ten thousand of vs yea worth a world of Angels yet he died and died for vs. Who would therefore liue that knowes his Sauiour died Who can be a Christian and would not
effectuall Ieremie perplexed in the dungeon called sighed and cryed vnto God Hearken O Lord vnto me saith Dauid and answere I mourne in my prayer and make a noyse It maketh men to cry as a woman in trauell Demaund now and behold if Man trauell with childe Wherefore doe I behold euery man with his hands on his loynes as a Woman in her trauell and all faces are turned into palenesse It forceth very infidels to humble themselues as Pharaoh Ahab c. See the variety of Gods punishments before he can make his people yeeld yet in the end their vncircumcised hearts shall be humbled and they shall pray for their sinne reason 1 Afflictions and troubles doe breake and tame the stoutnesse and pride of mans heart and nature maketh them to melt and relent who may know by woefull experience that God will not cease from punishing till they leaue their sinning God still addeth seauen plagues to seauen increasing the number and the greatnesse till his children be turned vnto him and be throughly humbled So in Amos he sends his iudgements successiuely because they returned not vnto him So he saith he will returne to his place and not be found vntill they seeke him and amend and God affirmeth that he will enter into iudgement with Ierusalem because she saith I haue not sinned reason 2 Secondly being blinded in our affections they make vs to see and know our selues before I was troubled I went wrong In my prosperity I said I shall neuer be moued Ephraim in presperitie was as an vntamed and wanton Calfe not wonted to the yoake but by chasticements afterwards repenting and being conuerted and instructed I smote my selfe saith Ephraim vpon my thigh I was ashamed and confounded because I did beare the reproach of my youth reason 3 Thirdly by afflictions wee may see the anger and vengeance of God against sinne flaming as an vnquenchable fire and burning to the bottome of hell and in them we proue our owne weakenesse not able to vndergoe or endure them Take away thy plague from me for I am consumed by the stroak of thy hand Therefore Dauid prayeth God not to rebuke him in his anger nor to chastise him in his wrath vse 1 The vse whereof is that wee heare the rod and who hath appointed it That we take notice of Gods iudgements in acknowledging the authour and the end thereof that we humble our selues and meete our God that wee pray for patience and strength to vndergoe trialls and seeing our weakenes to run to God for aide Againe it maketh much for our comfort that afflictions vse 2 are so good and profitable as the effects thereof declare When they are sanctified vnto vs they heale our sinfull nature as a good salue that is laide to the sore they recouer the sicknesse of our soules as good physicke cures the disease Thus they proue as wholsome medicines and fatherly chasticements to amend and reforme Gods elect They are meanes to make vs to know our selues and the corruption of our nature that needeth such violent remedies Wee are readie with Adam to hide our sinnes As malefactors on a racke and vnhappy Schollers in a Schoole are forced to acknowledge their faultes so God by affliction wresteth out a confession of sinne and resolution of amendment in his Children Thus God doth scowre and clense away the drosse and drowsinesse of our nature and so rowseth and raiseth vp our dead hearts to earnest and faithfull prayers that it turnes them to cryings sighings and groanings that cannot be expressed Calling vpon Gods name he heard his voyce doctrine 7 Gods children neuer pray in vaine but are heard and helped of God in their greatest afflictions I called vpon thy name O Lord out of the low dungeon thou hast heard my voyce I called vnto the Lord in my trouble and he heard me See the proofes and reasons hereof with the vses in doctrine the first c. Thou hast heard my voyce That is heretofore thou doctrine 8 hast regarded mee when I prayed therefore heare mee still The experience of Gods loue in our former deliuerances out of dangers ought still to encourage vs to resort vnto him when the like or greater troubles shall assaile vs. Thou hast set me at liberty when I was in distresse haue mercy vpon mee and hearken vnto my prayer That God had deliuered Dauid from the Lyon and the Beare was the speciall motiue and incouragement vnto him to incounter with Goliah and his best assurance to conquere and ouercome him So the church cheareth her selfe in her great ruins and afflictions hoping to be redeemed againe from the captiuity of Babilon O arme of the Lord rise vp as in old time in the generations of the world Art not thou the same that hast cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon Art not thou the same which hast dryed the Sea even the waters of the great deepe making the depth of the Sea a way for the redeemed to passe ouer Thus they speake of their deliuerance from Egipt which is called Rahab putting some part of the Land for the whole and the people therein contained meaning also by the Dragon that tyrant Pharaoh dwelling in the middest of the floudes as Ezekiell speaketh hyding himselfe in the Riuer Nylus and as Paul calleth Nero a Lyon so here is Pharaoh termed a Dragon to expresse the qualitie of Tyrants Thus with the remembrance of that eminent deliuerance out of Egipt they comfort their hearts and cherish their hopes to bee freed from the present captiuity for what shall hinder God from bringing them out of Babylon more then it did the freeing of their forefathers from the slauery of Egipt God is still the same without change or alteration his nature and condition is euer to bee gratious and ready to forgiue he is faithfull and will not deceiue his people his power and will are neuer weakened his truth and promise shall abide for euer Hath he said and shall not he doe it or hath hee done it and cannot hee doe the same againe Feare it not for GOD is constant and vnchangeable in his nature doctrine 7 Which doctrine serueth for the instruction of all Gods children in the variety and continuance of their tryals and afflictions being voyde of present comfort they must remember the times past and thinke of former deliuerances as the ancient Church of GOD hath vsed to doe who still called to minde what they had heard with their eares what their Fathers had tolde them of GODS workes in their dayes in the olde time how GOD had driuen out the heathen and planted them in how hee had destroyed the Nations and caused them to grow and so hee concludeth that they will praise God continually and confesse his name for euer This also reproueth the peruersenes of our nature and vse 2
weaknesse of faith who many times in our infirmities and sense of our tryals doe censure God amisse either of forgetfulnesse or want of power that hee cannot or will not heare and helpe vs in our troubles nor careth for our estate who yet hath numbred our haires and put our teares into his bottle Wee should indeed rather censure our selues for weakenesse of faith and thanke our owne sinnes which haue made a seperation and caused God to hide his face Wee haue angred the Lord and now there is a breach and his wrath is gone out against vs. The Spouse was sluggish and would not heare the voyce of her bride-groome knocking and standing without at the dore till his haire was full of dew and his lockes with the drops of the night but afterward she opened and her welbeloued was gone and past she sought him and could not presently finde him but is beaten and wounded of the watchmen and hath many crosses yet still wee must remember Gods former mercies and our olde deliuerances and so recouer our hope I called vpon thee and thou drewest neare and saidst feare not God is still ready and at hand to comfort his children doctrine 9 in their greatest dangers and to rid them of their feares God is our hope and strength and helpe in troubles ready to be found For further proofe and vse of this see doctrine 1. in the first Sermon Now God easeth them of their feares by shewing them his fauour in giuing them the spirit of adoption which remoueth the cause of feare and maketh them as bolde as Lyons because their sinnes are remoued and they reconciled to God through Christ yea made his children and heires annexed with Christ This spirit is the earnest of their safety and saluation The Lord is on their side and who can be against them All things now worke together for the best therfore what or who can seperate them from the loue of Christ surely such can neuer be mooued nor be afrayd of ill tydings their heart is fixed and beleeueth in the Lord they seeke to the Lord and he heareth them and deliuereth them out of all their feare Which must make vs diligently to seeke the Lord in our dangers If we would be soundly cured of our feares let vs goe to him by our faithfull prayers and this will free our hearts from vnnecessary doubts and keepe out despaire that wee shall neuer be dismaide In nothing be carefull saith the Apostles but in all things let your requests be made knowne vnto God and then the peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding shall keepe your hearts and mindes in Christ Iesus For this peace quieteth the heart and setleth the minde in the assurance of a happy issue from all difficulties and dangers This course tooke Dauid who is not afrayd to challenge tenne thousand enemies that compasse him round about nay so secure he was in the confidence of God whom he called vpon that hee layd him downe and slept and rose againe without any more adoe because the Lord sustained him O Lord thou hast maintained the cause of my soule and hast redeemed my life doctrine 10 God will alwaies vphold and maintaine the righteous cause of his children whatsoeuer bee their dangers and troubles he will haue a speciall care both of their persons and businesse they haue in hand He shall bring forth their righteousnesse as the light and their iudgements as the noone day Their righteous cause and holy conuersation he will make to be so euident as the Sunne when it riseth nay as at noone when it is the highest and shineth brightest He will stand by them and deliuer them and their cause from vnrighteous iudgement See the execution how he sitteth in the assembly of Gods to see and examine both them and their proceedings See further of this poynt Doctr. 1 and the first Sermon in the proofes It is his place and office so to doe Shall not the Iudge of all the world doe right It belongs to him to render vnto euery man according to his workes He must needs defend the truth being the God of truth yea truth it selfe and his seruants beare witnesse to the truth and are ready to seale the same with their liues And shall he not defend both it and them Yes assuredly for God hath promised protection of them both The truth of which doctrine ought to incourage and vse 1 confirme euery christian man in the defence of gods truth notwithstanding the great enemies and oppositions against the same We must not deny it in any case not in any sort forsake it Buy it me may but neuer sell it at any rate for this is Iudas merchandize We must labour to be rooted and established in the truth which may be blamed but neuer shamed nor yet forsaken of God and good men Likewise it reproueth and condemneth all such as are vse 2 wauering and vnconstant in the defence thereof Iohn Baptist was no shaken Reed A faithfull man is as the house built vpon the rocke no storme or showre can shake it much lesse ouerthrow it Great is the force of the truth and of the faithfull professours thereof which still preuaile and get a conquest ouer all things The cause of my soule That is the cause wherefore his life was in danger There is nothing more dangerous many times in the world then to defend and maintaine the truth of God This is the cause of Ieremies soule which called his very life into question The world hateth me saith Christ because I testifie that the works are euil therof Euery one that doth euill hateth the light Many times it hazardeth liberty life and goods Ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake It makes sometimes a seperation betweene the neerest and deerest friends Father and Sonne Mother and Daughter The poore blinde man once belieuing and defending the truth is not onely excommunicate of the Church but cast off by his parents they leaue him and the cause yea euery one that confesse Christ openly are cast out Paul became an enemy to the Galathians because he told them the truth reason 1 The reason hereof is Sathans rage against it it is the sword that slayeth him and the mighty weapons that cast downe his strong holds by it he is driuen out of possession and falleth from heauen like lightening he can haue no roome in the Church nor place in the harts of Gods chosen for the preaching of the truth reason 2 Another reason is the corruption and malice of mans heart which opposeth against it in maintaining things vnlawfull which the word of truth condemneth And here begin the warres euery one striueth for his lusts and to haue his owne will which it reproueth It is a sword a sacrificing knife a