are in Christ who are freed from the whole curse of the law And therefore the holy Ghost saith Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours whereby is signified that they which depart this life being members of Christ enter into euerlasting happines of what death so euer they die yea though it be sudden death Againe I say that sudden death is not euill in all respects for it is not euill because it is sudden but because it commonly takes men vnprepared and by that means makes the day of death a blacke day and as it were a very speedie downe-fall to the gulfe of hell Otherwise if a man be readie prepared to die sudden death is in effect no death but a quicke and speedie entrance to eternal life These obiections being thus answered it appeares to bee a manifest truth which Salomon saith that the day of death is better indeede then the day of birth Now I come to the third point in which the reasons respects are to be considered that make the day of death to surpasse the day of mans birth they may al be reduced to this one namely that the birth day is an entrance into al woe and miserie whereas the day of death ioyned with godly and reformed life is an entrance or degree to eternal life Which I make manifest thus Eternall life hath three degrees one in this life when a man can truely say that hee liues not but that Christ liues in him and this al men can say that repent and belieue and are iustified sanctified haue peace of conscience with other gifts of Gods spirit which are the earnest of their saluation The second degree is the ende of this life when the bodie goes to the earth the soule is carried by the angels into heauē the third is in the end of the world at the last iudgement whē body soule reunited do ioyntly enter into eternal happines in heauē Now of these three degrees death it selfe being ioyned with the feare of God is the second which also containeth in it two worthie steps to life The first is a freedome from all miseries which haue their ende in death For though men in this life are subiect to manifold dangers by sea and land as also to sundry aches paines aad diseases as feauers and consumptions c. yet when death comes there is an end of al. Again so long as men liue in this world whatsoeuer they be they doe in some part lie in bondage vnder originall corruption and the remnants thereof which are doubtings of Gods prouidence vnbeliefe pride of heart ignorance couetousnes ambition enuy hatred lust and such like sinnes which bring forth fruits vnto death And to bee in subiection to sin on this manner is a misery of al miseries Therfore Paul whē he was tempted vnto sinne by his corruptiō cals the very tēptation the buffets of Satan and as it were a pricke or thorne wounding his flesh and paining him at the very heart Againe in an other place wearied with his owne corruptions he cōplaines that he is sold vnder sinne and he cries out ô miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death Dauid saith that his eies gushed out with riuers of teares when other men sinned against God how much more then was he grieued for the sinnes wherewith he himselfe was ouertaken in this life And indeede it is a very hell for a man that hath but a sparke of grace to be exercised turmoyled and tempted with the inborne corruptions and rebellions of his owne heart and if a man would deuise a torment for such as feare God and desire to walke in newnes of life he can not deuise a greater then this For this cause blessed is the day of death which brings with it a freedome from all sinne whatsoeuer For when we die the corruption of nature is quite abolished sanctification is accomplished Lastly it is a great miserie that the people of God are constrained in this world to liue conuerse in the companie of the wicked as sheepe are mingled with goats which strike them annoy their pasture and muddie their water Hereupon Dauid cried out Woe is me that I remaine in Meshech and dwell in the tents of Kedar When Elias saw that Ahab and Iesabel had planted idolatrie in Israel and that they sought his life also he went apart into the wildernesse and desired to die But this misery also is ended in the day of death in as much as death is as it were the hand of God to sort and single out those that be the seruants of God from all vngodly men in this most wretched world Furthermore this exceeding benefite comes by death that it doth not only abolish the miseries which presently are vpō vs but also preuēt those which are to come The righteous saith the Prophet Esay perisheth and no man considereth it in his heart and mercifull men are taken away and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come Example of this we haue in Iosias Because saith the Lord thine heart did melt and thou hast humbled thy selfe before the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against this place c. beholde therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the euill which I will bring vpon this place And Paul saith that among the Corinthians some were a sleepe that is dead that they might not bee condemned with the world Thus much of freedome from miserie which is the first benefit that comes by death the first steppe to life now followes the second which is that death giues an entrance to the soule that it may come into the presence of the euerliuing God of Christ and of all the Angels and Saints in heauen The worthinesse of this benefite makes the death of the righteous to bee no death but rather a blessing to bee wished of all men The consideration of this made Paul to say I desire to be dissolued but what is the cause of this desire that followes in the next words namely that by his dissolution he might come to be with Christ. Whē the Queene of Sheba saw all Salomons wisdome the house that he had built and the meat of his table and the sitting of his seruants the order of his ministers and their apparel c. she said Happie are thy men happy are these thy seruants which stand euer before thee and heare thy wisdome much more then may wee say that they are ten thousand fold happie which stand not in the presence of an earthly king but before the King of kings the Lord of heauen and earth and at his right hand inioy pleasures for euermore Moses hath bin renowned in all ages for this that God vouchsafed
him but so much fauour as to see his hinder parts at his request ô then what happines is this to see the glory and maiestie of God face to face and to haue eternall fellowship with God our Father Christ our Redeemer and the holy Ghost our comforter and to liue with the blessed Saints Angels in heauen for euer Thus now the third point is manifest namely in what respects death is more excellent thē life It may be here the mind of mā vnsatisfied wil yet further reply say that howsoeuer in death the soules of men enter into heauen yet their bodies though they haue bin tenderly kept for meat drink apparel and haue slept many a night in beds of doune must lie in dark loathsome graues there be wasted cōsumed with worms Ans. All this is true indeede but all is nothing if so be it we will but cōsider aright of our graues as we ought We must not iudge of our graues as they appeare to the bodily eye but we must looke vpon them by the eye of faith and consider them as they are altered and changed by the death and burial of Christ who hauing vanquished death vpon the crosse pursued him afterward to his owne wen and foyled him there depriued him of his power and by this means Christ in his owne death hath buried our death and by the vertue of his buriall as with sweete incense hath sweetened and perfumed our graues and made thē of stinking loathsome cabbines to become princely pallaces and beddes of most sweete happie rest farre more excellent then beddes of doune And though the body rot in the graue or be eatē of worms or of fishes in the sea or burnt to ashes yet that will not be vnto vs a matter of discomfort if we do well consider the ground of all grace namely our coniunction with Christ. It is indeede a spirituall and yet a most reall coniunction And we must not imagine that our soules alone are ioyned to the body or soule of Christ but the whole person of man both in body and soule is ioyned and vnited to whole Christ. And when we are once ioyned to Christ in this mortall life by the bond of the spirit we shall remaine continue eternally ioyned with him and this vniō once truly made shal neuer be dissolued Hence it followes that although the body bee seuered from the soule in death yet neither body nor soule are seuered from Christ but the very bodie rotting in the graue drowned in the sea burned to ashes abides still vnited to him and is as truely a member of Christ thē as before This point we must remember as the foundation of all our comfort and hold it for euer as a truth For looke what was the condition of Christ in death the same or the like is the conditiō of all his members Now the condition of Christ was this though his bodie and soule were seuered each from other as far as heauen the graue yet neither of them were seuered from the godhead of the sone but both did in death subsist in his persō And therefore though our bodies and soules bee pulled asunder by natural or violent death yet neither of them no not the body it selfe shall be seuered disioyned from Christ. It wil be alleadged that if the body were then vnited to Christ it should liue and bee quickened in the graue Ans. Not so when a mans arme or legge is taken with the dead palsy it receiues litle or no heat life sense or motion from the body and yet notwithstanding it remaines still a member of the bodie because the flesh the bone of it remaine ioyned to the flesh and the bone of the body euen so may the body remaine a member of Christ though for some space of time it receiue neither sense nor motion nor life from the soule or from the spirit of Christ. Furthermore we must remēber that by the vertue of this cōiunction shal the dead body be it rotten burned deuoured or howsoeuer cōsumed at the day of iudgment rise to eternall glory In the winter season trees remaine without fruite or leaues and being beaten with winde weather appeare to the eie as if they were rotten trees yet when the spring-time comes againe they bring forth as before buds and blossomes leaues and fruit the reason is because the bodie graines armes of the tree are al ioyned to the root where lies the sap in the winter season and whence by means of this coniūction it is deriued to al the parts of the tree in the spring-time Euen so the bodies of men haue their winter also in which they are turned to dust so remaine for the space of many thousand yeares yet in the day of iudgement by means of that mistical coniunction with Christ shall diuine and quickening vertue streame thence to al the bodies of the elect to cause thē to liue againe and that to life eternall But some will say that the wicked also rise again Ans. They do so indeede but not by the same cause for they rise by the power of Christ as he is a iudge to cōdemn thē wheras the godly rise againe by the vertue of Christs resurrection whereof they are partakers by meanes of that blessed and indissoluble coniūction which they haue with Christ. And the bodies of the elect though they cōsume neuer so much in the graue yet are they still in Gods fauour and in the couenat of grace to which because they haue right beeing dead they shall not remaine so for euer but shal rise to glory at the last iudgement Therefore the rotting of the bodie is nothing in respect and the death of the body no death And therfore also death in the old new testament is made but a sleep the graue a bed wherof the like was neuer seene wherein a man may rest nothing at al troubled with dreames or fantasies and whence hee shall rise no more subiect to weakenes or sickenes but presently be translated to eternal glory By this thē which hath beene said it appeares that the death of the righteous is a second degree to euerlasting happinesse Now then considering our coniunction with Christ is the foundation of all our ioy cōfort in life and death wee are in the feare of God to learne this one lessō namely that while we haue time in this world we must labour to be vnited vnto Christ that we maybe bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh This very point is as it were a flaggon of wine to reuiue our soules when they be in a swowne at any instant And that we may be assured that we are certainly ioyned to Christ we must shew our selues to be members of his misticall body by the daily fruites of righteousnes and true repentance And being once certainly assured in conscience of our beeing in Christ let death come when it wil
themselues to beleeue bee able in the pang of death to rest vpon the mercie of God Againe he that would die in obedience must first of all leade his life in obedience hee that hath liued in disobedience can not willingly and in obedience appeare before the iudge when hee is cited by death the sergeant of the Lord he dies indeed but that is vpon necessitie because he must yeeld to the order and course of nature as other creatures doe Thirdly hee that would surrender his soule into the hands of God must bee resolued of two things the one is that god can the other is that God will receiue his soule into heauen and there preserue it till the last iudgement And none can be resolued of this except he haue the spirit of God to certifie his conscience that he is redeemed iustified sanctified by Christ and shall bee glorified Hee that is not thus perswaded dare not render vp and present his soule vnto God When Dauid said Lord into thy handes I commend my spirit what was the reason of this boldnesse in him surely nothing else but the perswasion of faith as the next wordes import for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth And thus it is manifest that no man ordinarily can performe these duties dying that hath not performed them liuing This beeing so I doe againe renew my former exhortation beseeching you that ye would practise the duties of preparation in the course of your liues leading them daily in faith and obedience and from time to time commending your selues into the hand of God and casting all your workes vpon his prouidence They which haue done this haue made most happie and blessed endes Enoch by faith walked with God as one that was alwaies in his presence leading an vpright and godly life and the Lord tooke him away that he should not see death And this which befell Enoch shall after a sort befall them also that liue in faith and obedience because death shal be no death but a sleepe vnto them and no enemie but a friend to bodie and soule On the contrary let vs consider the wretched miserable endes of them that haue spent their daies in their sinnes without keeping faith a good conscience The people of the old world were drowned in the flood the filthy Sodomites and Gomorrheans were destroyed with fire from heauen Dathan and Abiram with the company of Core were swallowed vp of the earth Core himselfe as it seemes by the text being burnt with fire wicked Saul and Achitophel and Iudas destroy themselues Herod is eaten vp of wormes and gaue vp the ghost Iulian the Apostata smitten with a dart in the field died casting vp his blood into the ayre blaspheming the name of Christ. Arius the hereticke died vpon the stoole scouring forth his very entralls And this very age affoards store of like examples Hoffemeister a great Papist as he was going to the councill of Ralisbone to dispute against the defēders of the Gospel was suddenly in his iourney preuented by the hand of God and miserably died with horrible roaring and crying out In the Vniuersitie of Louaine Guarlacus a learned Papist falling sicke when he perceiued no way with him but death he fell into miserable agonie and perturbation of spirit crying out of his sinnes how miserably he had liued and that hee was not able to abide the iudgement of God so casting out words of miserable desperation saide his sins were greater then they could be pardoned and in that desperation ended his daies Iacobus Latromus of the same vniuersitie of Louaine after that he had beene at Bruxels and there thinking to doe a great acte against Luther and his fellowes made an oration before the Emperour so foolishly and ridiculously that he was laughed to scorne almost of the whole court then returning frō thence to Louaine againe in his publike lecture he fell into open madnesse vttering such wordes of desperatiō and blasphemous impietie that other Diuines which were present were faine to carie him away as he was rauing and to shut him into a close chamber From that time to his very last breath he had neuer any thing else in his mouth but that he was damned and reiected of God and that there was no hope of saluation for him because that wittingly and against his knowledge he withstood the manifest truth of Gods word Crescentius the Popes Legat and Vicegerent in the councell of Trent was sitting all the day long vntill darke night in writing of letters to the Pope after his labour when night was come thinking to refresh himselfe he began to rise and at his rising behold there appeared to him a mightie blacke dogge of an huge bignesse his eyes flaming with fire his eares hanging low downe well neare to the grounde which beganne to enter in and straight to come towardes him and so to couch vnder the boord The Cardinall not a little amazed at the sight thereof somewhat recouering himselfe called immediately to his seruants which were in the outward chamber next by to bring in a candle and to seeke for the dogge But when the dogge could not be found there nor in any other chamber about the Cardinall thereupon stricken with a sudden conceit of minde immediately fel into such a sicknesse whereof his Physitians which he had about him could not with all their industrie and cunning cure him and thereupon he died Steuen Gardiner when a certaine Bishop came vnto him and put him in minde of Peter denying his master answered againe that he had denied with Peter but neuer repented with Peter and so to vse M. Foxes words stinkingly and vnrepentantly died More examples might be added but these shall suffice Againe that we may be further induced to the practise of these duties let vs call to minde the vncertentie of our daies though we now liue yet who can say that he shall be aliue the next day or the next houre No man hath a lease of his life Now marke as death leaues a man so shall the last iudgement finde him and therefore if death take him away vnprepared eternall damnation followes without recouerie If a thiefe be brought from prison either to the barre to bee arraigned before the iudge or to the place of execution he will bewaile his misdemeanour past and promise all reformation of life so be it he might be deliuered though he be the most arrant thiefe that euer was In this case we are as fellons or theeues for we are euery day going to the barre of Gods iudgement there is no stay or standing in the way euen as the ship in the sea continues on his course day night whether the marriners be sleeping or waking therefore let vs all prepare our selues and amende our liues betime that in death wee may make a blessed ende Ministers of the Gospel doe daily call for the performance of this dutie but where
and to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Secondly I answer the particulars which be alleadged on this manner And first of all touching dispaire it is true that not only wicked and loose persons despaire in death but also repentant sinners who oftentimes in their sickenesse testifie of themselues that beeing aliue and lying in their beddes they feele themselues as it were to be in hell and to apprehend the very pangs and torments thereof And I doubt not for all this but that the child of God most deare vnto him may through the gulfe of desperation attaine to euerlasting happinesse This appeares by the maner of gods dealing in the matter of our saluation All the workes of God are done in by their contraries In the creation all things were made not of some thing but of nothing cleane contrary to the course of nature In the worke of redemption God giues life not by life but by death and if we consider aright of Christ vpon the crosse we shall see our paradise out of paradise in the middest of hel Eor out of his owne cursed death doeth he bring vs life and eternall happinesse Likewise in effectuall vocation when it pleaseth God to conuert and turne men vnto him he doeth it by the meanes of the Gospel preached which in reason should driue all men from God For it is as contrarie to the nature of man as fire to water and light to darknesse and yet for al this though it bee thus against the disposition and heart of man it preuailes with him and turnes him to God Furthermore whē God will send his owne seruants to heauen he sends them a contrarie waie euen by the gates of hell and when it is his pleasure to make men depend on his fauour and prouidence hee makes them feele his anger and to bee nothing in themselues that they may wholly depend vpon him and bee whatsoeuer they are in him This point beeing well considered it is manifest that the childe of God may passe to heauen by the very gulfes of hel The loue of God is like a sea into which when a man is cast hee neither feeles bottome nor sees bank I conclude therfore that dispaire whether it arise of weakenesse of nature or of conscience of sinne though it fall out about the time of death cannot preiudice the saluation of them that are effectually called As for other straunge euents which fall out in death they are the effects of diseases Rauings and blasphemings arise of the disease of melancholy and of frensies which often happen at the end of burning feuers the choller shooting up to the braine The writhing of the lippes the turning of the necke the buckling of the ioints and the whole bodie proceede of crampes and convulsions which followe after much euacuatiō And wheras some in sicknesse are of that strength that three or foure mē cannot hold thē without bonds it comes not of witchcraft and possessions as people commonly thinke but of choller in the veines And wheras some when they are dead become as black as pitch as Bonner was it may arise by a bruise or an impostume or by the blacke iaundise or by the putrefactiō of the liuer it doth not alwaies argue some extraordinarie iudgement of God Nowe these and the like diseases with their simptomes strange effects though they shall depriue man of his health of the right vse of the parts of his bodie and of the vse of reason too yet they can not depriue his soule of eternal life And all sinnes procured by violent diseases and proceeding from repentant sinners are sins of infirmity for which if they know them and come againe to the vse of reason they will further repent if not they are pardoned and buried in the death of Christ. And we ought not so much to stand vpon the strāgenesse of any mans end when we know the goodnesse of his life for wee must iudge a man not by his death but by his life And if this be true that strange diseases and thereupon strange behauiours in death may befal the best man that is wee must learne to reforme our iudgements of such as lie at the point of death The common opiniō is that if a man lie quietly and goe away like a lambe which in some diseases as consumptions and such like any man may do then he goes straight to heauē but if the violēce of the disease stirre vp impatience and cause in the partie franticke behauiours then men vse to say there is a iudgement of God seruing either to discouer an hypocrite or to plague a wicked man But the truth is otherwise for indeed a mā may die like a lamb and yet goe to hell and one dying in exceeding torments and strange behauiours of the body may go to heauē by the outward conditiō of any mā either in life or death we are not to iudge of his estate before God The fourth obiection is this Whē a man is most nere death then the diuell is most busie in temptatiō the more men are assaulted by Satan the more dāgerous and troublesome is their case And therfore it may seeme that the day of death is the worst day of all Answ. The condition of Gods childrē in earth is twofold Some are not tempted some are Some I say are not tempted as Simeon who when he had seen Christ brake forth and saide Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace c. fore-signifying no doubt that hee should end his daies in all maner of peace As for them which are tēpted though their case bee very troublesome and perplexed yet their saluation is not further off by reasō of the violence extremity of temptation For God is then present by the vnspeakable comfort of his spirit when wee are most weake he is most strong in vs because his manner is to shewe his power in weakenes And for this cause euen in the time of death the diuell receiues the greatest foyle when he lookes for the greatest victorie The sixt obiection is this Violent sudden death is a grieuous curse of all euills which befal man in this life none is so terrible therefore it may seeme that the day of sudden death is most miserable Ans. It is true indeede that sudden death is a curse grieuous iudgement of God and therefore not without cause feared of mē in the world yet all things considered wee ought more to be afraid of an impenitent and euil life then of sudden death For though it be euill as death it selfe in his own nature is yet we must not think it to be simply euil because it is not euill to al men nor in all respects euill I say it is not euill to all men considering that no kinde of death is euill or a curse vnto them that
death and directly fixe the eye of his faith vpon eternall life The second practise is to looke vpon death in the glasse of the Gospel and not in the glasse of the Law that is we must consider death not as it is propounded in the Lawe and looke vpon that terrible face which the law giueth vnto it but as it is set forth in the Gospel Death in the law is a curse and the downe-fall to the pit of destruction in the Gospel it is the entrance into heauen the lawsets forth death as death the Gospel sets forth death as no death but as a sleepe onely because it speakes of death as it is altered changed by the death of Christ by the vertue whereof death is properly no death to the seruants of God Whē men shall haue care on this manner to consider of death it will be a notable meanes to strengthen and stablish them against al immoderate feares terrours that vsually rise in sicknesse The meditations which serue for this purpose are innumerable but I wil touch onely those which are the most principall and the grounds of the rest and they are foure in number The first is borrowed from the speciall prouidence of God namely that the death of euery man much more of euery childe of God is not onely foreseene but also foreappointed of God yea the death of euery man deserued and procured by his sins is laid vpon him by God who in that respect may be said to be the cause of euery mans death So saith Anna The Lord killeth and maketh aliue The Church of Hierusalem confessed that nothing came to passe in the death of Christ but that which the foreknowledge and eternal counsel of God had appointed And therfore the death also of euery member of Christ is foreseene and ordained by the speciall decree and prouidence of God I adde further that the very circūstances of death as the time when the place where the manner how the beginning of sickenes the continuance the end euery fitte in the sicknes the pangs of death are particularly set downe in the counsell of God The very haires of our heads are numbred saith our Sauiour Christ and a sparrowe lights not on the groūd without the will of our heauenly father Dauid faith excellētly My bones are not hid from thee though I was made in a secret place and fashioned beneath in the earth thine eyes did see me when I was without forme for in thy booke were al things written which in continuance were fashioned whē there was nine of them before And he praies to God to put his teares into his bottle Now if this be true that God hath bottles for the very teares of his seruants much more hath hee bottles for their blood much more doth he respect and regard their paines and miseries with all the circumstances of sicknesse and death The carefull meditation of this one point is a notable meanes to arme vs against feare and distrust impatience in the time of death as some examples in this case will easily manifest I held my tongue said nothing saith Dauid but what was it that caused this patience in him the cause followes in these words because thou Lord diddest it And Ioseph saith to his brethren Feare not for it was the Lord that sent me before you Marke here how Ioseph is armed against impatience and griefe discontentment by the very consideration of gods prouidence and so in the same māner shall we be cōfirmed against all feares and sorrowes and say with Dauid Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints if this perswasion be once setled in our hearts that all things in sicknes death come to passe vnto vs by the prouidence of god who turnes all things to the good of them that loue him The second meditation is to be borrowed from the excellent promise that God hath made to the death of the righteous which is Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them The author of truth that cannot lie hath spoken it Now then let a man but throughly consider this that death ioyned with a reformed life hath a promise of blessednes adioined vnto it and it alone will be a sufficient meanes to stay the rage of our affections and al inordinate feare of death and the rather if we marke wherein this blessednesse consists In death we are indeede thrust out of our olde dwelling places namely these houses of clay earthly tabernacles of our bodies wherein we haue made long abode but what is the ende surely that liuing dying in Christ we might haue a building giuen of God that is an house not made with hands but eternall in heauen which is vnspeakeable immortall glory If a poore man should bee commanded by a Prince to put off his torne and beggery garments and in stead thereof to put on royal and costly robes it would bee a great reioycing to his heart oh then what ioyfull newes must this bee vnto all repentant and sorrowfull sinners when the king of heauen and earth comes vnto thē by death and bids them lay downe their bodies as ragged and patched garments and prepare thēselues to put on the princely robe of immortalitie No tongue can be able to expresse the excellency of this most blessed and happy estate The third meditation is borrowed from the estate of all thē that are in Christ whether liuing or dying He that dieth beleeuing in Christ dieth not forth of Christ but in him hauing both his body and soule really coupled to Christ according to the tenour of the couenant of grace and though after death body soule be seuered one from another yet neither of thē are seuered or disioyned from Christ. The coniunction which is once begun in this life remaines eternally And therefore though the soule goe from the body the body it selfe rot in the graue yet both are still in Christ both in the couenant both in the fauour of god as before death both shal again be ioined togither the body by the vertu of the former cōiunctiō being raised to eternall life Indeed if this vniō with Christ were dissolued as the cōiunctiō of body soule is it might be sōe matter of discomfort and feare but the foundation and substance of our mysticall coniunction with Christ both in respect of our bodies and soules enduring for euer must needes be a matter of exceeding ioy and comfort The 4. meditation is that god hath promised his speciall blessed and comfortable presence vnto his seruants when they are sicke or dying or any way distressed When thou passest thorough the waters I will bee with thee saith the Lord and through the flouds that they doe not ouerflowe thee when thou walkest thorough the very fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the
leaned on the toppe of his staffe by reason of his feeblenes and praied vnto God which praier of his was an excellent fruite of his faith Iobs wife in the middest of his affliction said vnto him to very good purpose Blesse God and die I knowe and graunt that the words are commonly translated otherwise Curse God and die but as I take it the former is the best For it is not like that in so excellent a familie any one person much lesse a matrone and principall gouernour thereof would giue such lewde and wretched councell which the most wicked man vpon earth hauing no more but the light of nature would not once giue but rather much abhorre and condemne And though Iob call her a foolish woman yet he doth it not because shee went about to perswade him to blaspheme God but because shee was of the minde of Iobs friends and thought that he stood to much in a conceit of his owne righteousnes Now the effect meaning of her councell is this blesse God that is husband no doubt thou art by the extremitie of thine affliction at deaths doore therefore begin now at length to lay aside the great ouerweening which thou hast of thine owne righteousnesse acknowledge the hand of God vpon thee for thy sins confesse them vnto him giuing him the glorie pray for the pardon of them ende thy daies This counsell is very good and to bee followed of all though it may be the applying of it as Iob well perceiued is mixt with follie Here it may be alleadged that in the pangs of death men want their senses and conuenient vtterance and therefore that they are vnable to pray Ans. The very sighes sobs and grones of a repentant and beleeuing heart are praiers before God euen as effectuall as if they were vttered by the best voice in the world Praier stands in the affection of the heart the voice is but an outward messenger therof God lookes not vpon the speech but vpon the heart Dauid saith God heares the desire of the poore againe That he will fulfill the desires of them that heare him yea their very teares are loud and sounding praiers in his eares Againe faith may otherwise be expressed by the Last wordes which for the most part of them that haue truly serued God are very excellent and comfortable and full of grace some choise examples whereof I will rehearse for instructions sake and for imitation The last words of Iacob were those whereby as a Prophet he foretolde blessing and curses vpon his children and the principall among the rest were these The scepter shall not depart from Iuda and the lawgiuer from betweene his feete till Shilo come and O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation The last wordes of Moses are his most excellent song set downe Deut. chap. 32. and the last words of Dauid were these The spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue the God of Israel spake to me the strength of Israel said Beare rule ouer men c. The words of Zacharias the son of Iehoida when he was stoned were The Lord looke vpon it and require it The last words of our Sauiour Christ when he was dying vpon the crosse are most admirable and stored with aboundance of spiritual grace 1. To his father he saith Father forgiue them they know not what they doe 2. to the thiefe Verily I say vnto thee this night shalt thou be with mee in paradise 3. to his mother Mother behold thy son and to Iohn behold my mother 4. and in his agonie My God thy God why hast thou forsaken mee 5. and earnestly desiring our saluation I thirst 6. and when he had made perfect satisfaction It is finished 7. and when bodie and soule were parting Father into thy hands I commend my spirit The last words of Steuen were 1. Behold I see the heauens open and the sonne of man standing at the right hand of God 2. Lord Iesus receiue my spirit 3. Lord lay not this sinne to their charge Of Polycarpe Thou art a true God without lying therefore in all things I praise thee and blesse thee and glorifie thee by the eternall God high Priest Iesus Christ thine onely beloued Sonne by whome and with whome to thee and the holy spirit be all glorie now and for euer Of Ignatius I care not what kinde of death I die I am the bread of the Lord and must be grounde with the teeth of lyons that I may be cleane bread for Christ who is the bread of life for mee Of Ambrose I haue not so led my life among you as if I were ashamed to liue neither doe I feare death because we haue a good Lord. Of Augustine 1. He is no great man that thinkes it a great matter that trees and stones fall and mortall men die 2. Iust art thou O Lord righteous is thy iudgement Of Bernard 1. An admonition to his brethren that they would grounde the anchor of their faith and hope in the safe and sure port of Gods mercie 2. Because saith he as I suppose I cannot leaue vnto you any choise examples of religion I commend three to be imitated of you which I remember that I haue obserued in the race which I haue run as much as possibly I could 1. I gaue lesse heed to mine own sense reason then to the sense and reason of other men 2. When I was hurt I sought not reuenge on him that did the hurt 3. I had care to giue offence to no man and if it fell out otherwise I tooke it away as I could Of Zwinglius when in the field he was wounded vnder the chin with a speare O what hap is this go to they may kill my bodie but my soule they cannot Of Oecolampadius 1. An exhortation to the ministers of the Church to maintaine the puritie of doctrine to shewe forth an example of honest and godly conuersation to be constant patiēt vnder the crosse 2. Of himselfe Whereas I am charged to be a corrupter of the truth I weigh it not now I am going to the tribunall of Christ and that with good conscience by the grace of God and there it shall bee manifest that I haue not seduced the Church Of this my saying contestatiō I leaue you as witnesses and I confirme it with this my last breath 3. To his children Loue God the father turning himself to his kinsfolks I haue boūd you saith he with this contestation you which they heare and haue desired shall doe your indeauour that these my children may be godly and peaceable and true 4. to his friend comming vnto him What shall I say vnto you Newes I shall be shortly with Christ my Lord. 5. beeing asked whether the light did not trouble him touching his breast there is light enough saith he 6.
almost shal we finde the practise obedience of it in mens liues conuersations Alas alas to lend our eares for the space of an houre to heare the will of God is common but to giue heart hand to doe the same is rare And the reason hereof is athād we are al most grieuous sinners euery sinner in the tearmes of Scripture is a foole and a principall part of his folly is to care for the things of this world and to neglect the kingdome of heauen to prouide for the body not for the soule to cast and fore-cast howe we may liue in wealth and honour and ease and not to vse the least fore-cast to die well This folly our Sauiour Christ noted in the rich man that was carefull to inlarge his barnes but had no care at all for his ende or for the saluation of his soule Such a one was Achitophel who as the Scripture tearmes him was as the very oracle of God for councell being a mā of great wisedome forecast in the matters of the cōmon wealth and in his owne priuate worldly affaires and yet for all this he had not so much as common sense and reason to consider howe he might die the death of the righteous come to life euerlasting And this folly the holy ghost hath noted in him For the text saith when he saw that his counsell was despised he sadled his asse and arose went home into his cittie and put his houshold in order and went and hanged himselfe And the fiue foolish virgins contented themselues with the blasing lamps of a bare profession neuer seeking for the horne of lasting oyle of true and liuely faith that might furnish and trimme the lampe both in life and death But let vs in the feare of God cast off this damnable folly first of all seeking the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and leading our liues in faith and obedience that we may die accordingly And thus much of the first point of doctrine namely that there is a certen way whereby a man may die well now I come to the second Whereas therefore Salomon saith that the day of death is better then the day of birth we are furder taught that such as truly beleeue themselues to be the children of God are not to feare death ouermuch I say ouermuch because they must partly feare it and partly not Feare it they must for two causes the first because death is the destructiō of humane nature in a mans owne selfe others and in this respect Christ feared it without sinne and we must not feare it otherwise then we feare sicknes and pouertie and famine with other sorrows of body and minde which God will not haue vs to despise or lightly to regard but to feele with some paine because they are corrections punishments for sinne And he doth therfore lay vpon vs paines torments that they may be feared and eschewed and that by eschewing them we might further learne to eschewe the cause of them which is sin and by experience in feeling of paine acknowledge that God is a iudge and enemie of sinne and is exceeding angrie with it The second cause of the feare of death is the losse of the Church or Common-wealth when we or others are depriued of them which were indeede or might haue beene an helpe stay comfort to either of them and whose death hath procured some publike or priuate losse Againe we are not to feare death but to be glad of it and that for many causes First of al in it we haue occasion to shewe our subiection and obedience which we owe vnto God when he cals vs out of this world as Christ said Father not my will but thy will be done Secondly all sinne is abolished by death and we thē cease to offend God any more as we haue done Thirdly the dead body is brought into a better condition then euer it was in this life for by death it is made insensible and by that meanes it is freed from all the miseries and calamities of this life it ceaseth to be either an actiue or passiue instrument of sinne whereas in the life time it is both Fourthly it giues the soule passage to rest life and celestiall glorie in which wee shall see God as he is perfectly know him and praise his name for euer keeping without intermission an eternall sabboth therefore Paul saith I desire to bee dissolued and bee with Christ for that is best of all Fiftly God exequutes his iudgements vpon the wicked and purgeth his Church by death Nowe in all these respects godly men haue cause not to feare and sorrowe but to reioyce in their owne death and the death of others Thirdly if the day of death be so excellēt yea a day of happinesse then it is lawfull to desire death and men doe not alwaies sinne in wishing for death Paul saith I desire to be dissolueds and againe O miserable man who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death Yet this desire must not bee simple but restrained with certen respects which are these First death must bee desired so farre forth as it is a meanes to free vs from the corruption of our nature secondly as it is a meanes to bring vs to the immediate fellowship of Christ God himselfe in heauen Thirdly death may bee lawfully desired in respect of the troubles miseries of this life two caueats beeing obserued the first that this desire must not be immoderate the second it must bee ioyned with submission and subiection to the good pleasure of God If either of these bee wanting the desire is faulty therefore Iob and Ieremie and Ionas failed herein because they desired death beeing carried away with impatience On the contrarie also a man may desire a continuāce of life Ezechias praied and desired to liue when he heard the message of present death that hee might doe seruice to God And Paul desired to liue in regard of the Philippians that hee might further their faith though in regard of himselfe to die was aduantage to him Lastly if death ioyned with reformatiō of life be so blessed then the death of the vnbeleeuing and vnrepentant sinner is euery way cursed most horrible Reasons are these First it is the destruction of nature and the wages of their sins Secondly in it there is no comfort of the spirit to be found no mitigatiō of paine no good thing that may counteruaile the miseries thereof Thirdly that which is the most fearefull thing of al bodily death is the beginning of eternall death desperation and infernall torment without hope of deliuerance Therefore as I began so I ende haue care to liue well and die well FINIS An addition of things that came to my minde afterward THe last combate with the diuell in the pang of death it oftentimes most dangerous of all For then he will not vrge men to desperation knowing