thoughts It grieueth vs also to looke vpon him for his life is not like other mens his wayes are of another fashion He counteth vs as bastards and he withdraweth himselfe from our wayes as from filthinesse he commendeth greatly the latter end of the iust and boasteth that God is his Father For if the righteous man be the sonne of God he will helpe him and deliuer him from the hands of his enemies Let vs examine him with rebukes and torments that wee may know his meekenesse and prooue his patience Let vs condemne him vnto a shameful death for he shall be preserued as he himselfe sayth Gen. 19.16,17 For the second because in the goodnesse of God wherewith he affecteth his children he taketh them from the euil of the plagues to come as Lot out of Sodome and as good king Iosiah 2. Kings 22.20 Therefore I will gather thee vnto thy fathers and thou shalt be gathered into thy graue in peace and thy eyes shall not see all the euill which I will bring vpon this place Esay 57.1 The righteous man perisheth saith the Prophet as we heard before and no man layeth it to heart and mercifull men are taken away and none consider that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come And though he saith he perisheth he meaneth not simply that they were perished but as Chrysostome saith of one He sleepeth he is not dead he resteth he is not perished For the Prophet speaketh according to the opinion of the wicked who were fixed in the world and therein had their felicitie and so iudged them to bee perished who were taken out of the world somewhat vntimely and vnseasonably as it seemed to their sence and iudgement But all this is in Gods mercy from the euils to come Wisd 4.7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 To this purpose Wisedome saith Though the righteous be preuented by death yet shall he be in rest For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time nor that is measured by number of yeeres but wisdome is the gray haire vnto men and vnspotted life is old age He pleased God and was beloued of him so that liuing amongst sinners he was translated yea speedily was he taken away lest that wickednesse should alter his vnderstanding or deceit beguile his soule For the bewitching of naughtinesse doth obscure things that are honest and the wandring of concupiscence doth vndermine the simple mind He being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a long time for his soule pleased the Lord and therefore hasted he to take him away from amongst the wicked This the people saw and vnderstood it not neither laid they vp this in their minds that his grace and mercie is with his Saints and that he hath respect vnto his chosen Thus the righteous that are dead shal condemne the vngodly that are liuing and youth that is soone perfected the many yeeres and old age of the vnrighteous Plotinus the Philosopher as S. Augustine hath it sawe in part this very thing that men are bodily mortal and thought it an appurtenance to the mercy of God the Father lest they should alwaies be tied to the misery of this life It is no lesse mercie to be taken sooner away that they may see and suffer lesse misery which the length of their daies would effect Therefore the godly man dies well whether he die in a good age or in the first flower of his youth By how much the more timely the heauenly Generall doth call thee backe out of the station of this life by so much the sooner doth he place thee in a place of rest peace and victorie Againe it may be you will obiect and say I am loth and vnwilling to die because then I must leaue my louing wife my deere children and kinsfolkes I answere howsoeuer we be left and forsaken or rather sequestred and separated from our wiues children kinsfolkes and friends by death yet are we not forsaken of God nor of his Sonne Iesus Christ But take heed that thou be not so carefull for the bodily safetie of wife children kinsfolkes and friends that in the meane time thou neglect the care of thy soule Behold he cals thee by death take heed thou doe not so loue thy wife and children that therefore thou refuse to follow God calling thee with a ready heart The loue of thy heauenly Father must bee preferred before the loue of children the loue of our bridegroome Christ Iesus before the loue of thy wife the benefit must not bee more loued then the benefactor And we must consider that we our wiues children kinsfolks and friends are all as it were trauellers going forth of this world in a maner we take our voyage together if wee goe a litle before 2. Gen. 24. Mat. 19.5 they shall follow shortly after Wherefore as at the beginning of our mariage and acquaintance God did appoint that we should leaue father and mother and cleaue to our wiues euen so now in this case it ought not to grieue vs to leaue them when God will haue it so and to returne vnto him who is better vnto vs then father mother wife children friends or any thing els yea he is worth ten thousand of them 2. Sam. 18.3 1. Cor. 15.28 as the people said of Dauid yea he then shal be all in all to vs. Therefore let the godly ones fetch comfort from hence that though by death they leaue the world wife children and friends and kinsfolkes yet they shall bee gathered to their fathers kinsfolkes and friends I reade of Socrates being but an heathen man that when Crito perswaded him that if he would not regard his life for his own sake yet for his wife children kinsfolks and friends sake which depended on him he answered God will care for my wife and children who first gaue them vnto me and for my kinsfolks and friends I shal find the like vnto them and farre better in the life to come neither shall I long want your companie for you also are going thither and shall shortly be in the same place and they are not lost but sent before vs Esay 26.19 neither are they dead but fallen asleepe hereafter they shall awake saith S. Cyprian and they shall rise againe and we shall see one another and reioyce and sing Againe another obiection Oh but my debt is great if I die now how can I be comforted at my death for after my death my creditors will come and seize on all that I haue so cruell are they and mercilesse and so shall my poore wife and children be vndone for euer and therefore I would to God I might liue to be out of debt and to leaue my wife and children free though I left them litle or nothing besides Alas how shall I doe nay how shal they doe This is it that tormenteth my heart when I thinke of it these carefull thoughts goe to bed with me lodge all night with
manner God hath made this generaltie of all things and hath set the same before mans mind to be considered and saith Seeke and search out the reasons and causes of all these things if thou canst when as indeed the truth of the thing is more secret and profound then the vnderstanding of man being placed in this prison of the bodie can reach and diue into Neither is the man of meanest capacitie and least vnderstanding free from miseries Wee are all like vnto sicke men which turmoile and tosse from one side of the bed vnto the other Ioh. 7.4 and yet neuer finde rest till we come to our eternall rest of which also the sinfull lusts of the flesh seeme to depriue vs. As touching the wil it is vnable till it be changed by grace to moue it selfe toward God and to will any good thing pleasing vnto him To will euill things is of nature but to will well is of grace or to will being free in respect of sinfull acts but bound in respect of good workes Ioh. 5.36 till it bee set free by Christ If he therefore shall make you free you shall bee free indeed For without me saith our Sauiour Christ Ioh. 15.3 yee can doe nothing As for the memorie Iob 13.12 Your remembrances saith Iob are like vnto ashes memorie enough for euill but not for good Heb. 2.1 to let God slip out of minde his word and benefits whereof followeth disobedience neglect of Gods worship and wicked contempt of God is a fruite and consequently of such forgetfulnesse Iudg. 3.7 Ier. 2.32 And the children of Israel did euill in the sight of the Lord and forgate the Lord their God My people haue forgotten me saith the Lord daies without number Thus men forget God the wicked wholly the godly in part Touching the earth which is the mother of vs all how many doth shee swallow vp with her downefa ls gulfes and graues Pro. 13.15.16 There are three things saith the Wiseman that are neuer satisfied yea foure say it is not enough The graue and the barren wombe the earth that is not filled with water and the fire that saith it is not enough And what doe the Seas How many doe they deuour Exod. 14.23 Act. 27.9.10 2 Cor. 11.25.26 they haue so many Rockes so many Flats and Sands so many Caribdes so many Reaches and perillous places that it is a most hard thing of all other to escape the danger of Shiprack Thrice saith the Apostle I suffered shipwracke a night and a day I haue beene in the depth in perils of waters in perils in the sea And they which are most safe in the shâ—p haue but the thicknesse of a plancke betweene them and death Anacharsis the Scithian speaking of those that sailed by sea and hearing that a shippe was but foure fingers thicke Then are there saith hee but foure fingers betweene them and death And at another time he being demanded who were more in number the liuing or the dead tell me first quoth hee among whether of them you reckon them that trauell by sea His meaning was that howsoeuer they seeme to liue to moue and to haue a being yet they might with good congruitie be accounted euen for dead For nothing is so full of casualties as the sea and that in the turning of a hand They saith the Psalmist that goe downe to the sea in ships Psal 107.23.24.25.26.27 that doe businesse in great waters These see the workes of the Lord and his wonders in the deepe For hee commandeth and raiseth the stormie windes which lift vp the waues therof They mount vp to the heauen they go down again to the depths their soule is melted because of trouble They reele to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end So as euery one of these that passeth to the sea may say as Dauid said to Ionathan concerning Saul 1. Sam. 20.3 There is but a steppe betweene me and death That same cleere brightnesse which we call the Sun which is a Captaine generall father to all liuing things Psal 19.5.6 which is as a Bridegrome comming out of his chamber and reioyceth as a strong man to runne a race His going forth is from the end of the heauen and his circuit vnto the ends of it and there is nothing hid from the heate thereof doth sometime so scorch with his beames that all things are parched and burnt vp with the heat thereof and at another time he taketh his course so farre from vs that all things die with cold And what shall wee say of the ayre Is it not many times corrupted and doth it not ingendâ—r and gather clouds thicke mists pestilent sicknesses and diseases the forerunners or rather the instruments of death As for bruite beasts they yeeld no reuerence to man their Prince And not onely the Lions Beares Tygers Dragons and other great wilde beasts but the very Flyes also Gnats Snakes Adders and others of the smallest sort of liuing creatures doe wonderfully vexe disquiet and annoy man euen to death as appeareth by the ten plagues of Egypt And what meaneth so much armour as Pikes Bores Bills Swords and Gunnes with diuers other instruments of mans malice Doe not these destroy and consume many times in as great measure as doe sicknesses and diseases Histories report that by Iulius Caesar who is said to haue beene a most curteous and gentle Emperour there were slaine in seuerall battels eleuen hundred thousand men And if a man of milde and meeke spirit did this what shall we expect at the hands of most cruell men Whose mercies saith the Wiseman Prou. 10.12 are cruell Neither lands nor seas nor desert places nor the woods for in that battaile in the wood of Ephraim where Absolon was slain it is said 2. Sam. 18.8 That the wood deuoured more people that day then the sword nor priuate houses nor open streets are safe from Ambushments conspiracies theeues pyrates and slaughterers Are there not vexations innumerable persecutions infinite spoyling of fields sacking of Townes preying on menâ— goods firing of houses imprisonments captiuities gally-slaueries many and infinite torments inforced besides death it selfe which men doe daily suffer at the hands of cruell men And this is that ciuill and sociable creature which is called humane which is borne without clawes or hornes in token of peace and loue which he ought to embrace Also friends and maintainers of peace and Iustice are necessary instruments of the death of man O man the very store-house of calamities and yet thou canst not be humble to think on these things Neither haue we only those foresaid corporall enemies which we may see and shun if we cannot make our part good enough with them but which is more perillous we haue also ghostly enemies which see vs and wee see not them For the Diuels which are most craftie most cruell mightie and innumerable practise nothing
or Milo 2. Sam. 23.8 or Dauids three Worthiest when thou commest to graple with Death hee will quickly crush thee and cast thee into the dust For hee will admit of no composition with thee for Death hath feete of wooll but armes of iron it commeth insensible but it hauing once taken hold neuer loseth her prize Is it for thy bewtie These eyes of thine which now are as bright as starres Death will make a horror to the beholders These cheekes of thine wherein now the lilly and the rose striue for the preheminence Death will make pale and earthly these corall lippes of thine will Death change to black and wanne this mouth of thine which in sweetnesse yeelds a cynamom breath will send forth the stinking sauour of a Sepulchre Therefore the Lord saith by his Prophet Isa 3.24 It shall come to passe that in stead of sweete smell there shall be a stinke and in stead of a girdle a rent and in stead of well set haire baldnesse and in stead of a stomacher a girding of sack-cloath and burning in stead of beautie The substance of bodily beauty consisteth in naught else but in phlegme bloud moisture and gall or melancholie which are maintained by the corruptible iuyces of meates hereby the apples of the eyes glister the cheekes are ruddie and the whole face is adorned And vnlesse they be daily moistened with such iuyce which ascendeth out of the liuer incontinent the skinne is dried vp the eyes waxe hollow all ruddinesse and bewtie depart from the visage Now if thou consider what is hidden vnder that skinne which thou iudgest so beautifull what is shut vp within the nostrils what in the iawes and belly thou wilt protest that this brauery of body is nothing but a painted sepulchre which without appeareth faire to men Math. 23.27 but within is full of filthinesse and vncleannesse And if thou see in a ragged cloath the phlegme and spitle that proceedeth from the bodie thou loathest it and wilt not touch it with the typ of thy finger looking askew thereon Therefore this cell and seat of phlegme this bewtiful body will be so much altered that a man may say O how much is he or she changed from that they were And hereof it is that the Wiseman saith Fauour is deceitfull Pro. 31.30 and beautie is vaine But to digresse a little dost thou make thy selfe beautiful and art not contented with that beautie which God thy Creator hath bestowed vpon thee Then hearken to that excellent saying of Saint Cyprian that weomen which aduance themselues in putting on of silke and purple cannot lightly put on Christ and they which colour their lockes with red and yellow do prognosticate of what colour their heads shall bee in hell and they which loue to paint themselues in this world otherwise then God hath created them let them feare lest when the day of the resurrection commeth the Creator will not know them And besides know thou that there be aches feauers impostumes swellings and mortalitie in that flesh thou so deckest and that skin which is so bepainted with artificial complexion shal lose the beautie and it selfe You that saile betweene heauen and earth in your foure sailed vessels as if the ground were not good enough to be the pauement to the soales of your feet know that one day the Earth shal set her feet on your faire neckes and the slime of it shall defile your sulphured bewties dust shall fill vp the wrinkled furrowes which age makes and paint supplies Your bodies were not made of the substance whereof the Angels were made nor of the nature of stones nor of the water whereof the fire ayre water and inferiour creatures Remember your tribe Esay 51.1 and your fathers poore house and the pit whereout you were hewed Hannibal is at the gates death standeth at your doores be not proud be not madde You must die and then your finenesse shall be turned into filthinesse your painted beautie and strength into putrifaction and rottennesse Let him make what shew he can with his glorious adornations let rich apparel and paintings disguise him liuing seare-clothes spices balmes enwrap him lead and stone immure him dead his originall mother will at last owne him for her naturall childe and triumph ouer him with this insultation Hee is my bowels Psal 146.4 hee returneth to his earth His bodie returneth not immediatly to heauen but to earth nor to earth as a stranger to him or an vnknowne place but to his earth as one of his most familier friends and of oldest acquaintance Powders Liquors Vnguents Odours Ornaments deriued from the liuing from the dead palpable instances and demonstratiue ensignes of pride and madnesse to make them seeme beautifull such translations and borrowing of formes that a silly country-man walking in the Citie can scarce say there goes a man or there a woman Is it for thy youth If thou thinke so thou reckonest without thine hoste Ier. 8.11 Iudg. 4.21 Psal 49.14 For thy folly therin may happily cause thee to say Peace peace till with Sisera thou fall into thy last sleepe of destruction and to goe from thy house to thy graue But who can bee ignorant that on the stage of this world some haue longer and some shorter parts to play and who knoweth not though some fruits fall from the tree by a full and naturall ripenesse that all doe not so nay that the more part are pulled from it and doe wither vpon it in the tender bud or yong fruit then are suffered to tarry till they come to their perfect ripenesse and mellowing The corne falles of it selfe sometime is bitten in the spring oft troden downe in the blade but neuer failes to be cut vp in the eare when it is ripe Some fruite is plucked violently from the tree some drop with ripenesse all must fall so doe not more without comparison fall from the tree of time yong eyther violently plucked from it by a hastie death or miserably withering vpon it by a lingring death perishing in the bud of childhood or bea en downe in the greene fruit of youth then come to their full age of ripenesse by a mellow and kindly death Further doth not God call from his worke some in the morning some at noone and some at night For as his labourers enter into his vineyard Matth. 20.1 so they goe out that is in such manner and at such houres some die in the dawning of their life who passe but from one graue to another some die in youth as in the third houre some at thirtie and some at fiftie as in the sixt and ninth and some very old as in the last houre of the day Yet more die yong then old and more before ten then after threescore Besides all this the fresh life which the yongest haue heere is cut off or continued by the same decree and finger of God that the oldest and most blasted life is
both man and tree fall into the bottom of that deepe pit This hungry Vnicorne is swift death the poore traueller that flyeth is euery sonne of Adam the pit ouer which he hangeth is hell the arme of the tree and slender twigge is his fraile and short life those two wormes are the wormes of conscience which day and night without intermission consume the same the hiue of hony is the pleasures of this world to which while men wholly deuote themselues not remembring their last end the roote of the tree that is the temporall life is spent and they fall without redemption into the pit and gulfe of hell If thou thus seriously ponder this thy vnstable estate I suppose thou wilt take little pleasure in ryot and dissolute liuing Giue those that are condemned to dy Nectar giue them Ambrosia giue them Manna the bread of Angells and will they tast it No they can neither eat drinke laugh or sleepe and wilt thou that art already condemned and guiltie of death perchance this very moment to be inflicted vpon thee securely addict thy selfe to drunkennesse gluttonie excesse and to al manner of riotous and intemperate liuing Remember rather the rich glutton in the Gospell Luke 16.23 who after he had pampered his body all the dayes of his life in the end Death made him a fat dish for the wormes his flesh and bones were consumed into dust but which was most terrible his soule was cast into hell the burning lake of brimstone and at this time calleth for one drop of cold water to coole his tongue which yet is denied him What adamantine and flinty heart can thinke vpon this without relenting I speake not here of the harmes and hurts that intemperance in meates and drinkes bringeth to the body for meate should be vsed as oyle put into a lampe to keepe it burning not to quench it And Galen the Prince of Physitians saith that abstinence is the whole summe or abridgement of Physicke How then can they liue long that liue by so many deaths whose bellies are sepulchers of lusts and very gulfes and sinckes of the shambles to their owne destruction For as he that allowes lesse to his body then he owes to his body kils his friend so hee that giues more to his body then he owes to his body nourisheth his enemie If the glutton did remember that God is able to come against him yea at the very disburdening of nature he would not make his kitchin his Church gurmandizing his Chamberlaine his Table his Alter his Cooke his Preacher the odours of his meate his sacrifice swearing his prayer quaffing his repentance and his whole life wanton fare Did the Drunkard but remember this that God is ready to come quickly against him yea euen in his drunkennesse he would not rise early to follow strong drink Esa 5.11 which doth trouble the head ouerthrow the sences cause the feete to reele the tongue to stammer the eyes to roule and the whole fabrick of his little world to be possest with this voluntarie madnes losse of many friends credit and time It would make too great a volume to insist vpon all other sinnes for the subduing wherof the meditation on Death is a most soueraigne remedy Are we strangers vpon earth and is our countrey in heauen and must we all dye Yea verily this necessitie thē should inforce vs to aspire to our heauenly countrey and let vs rather meete Death in our meditation thē carelesly attend it lest we be surprized by it at vnawares Before thy miserable spirit resigne ouer his borrowed mansion bethinke with thy selfe what thou art and whether thou goest the remembrance whereof will breede in thy heart sorrow sorrow remorse remorse repentance repentance humilty humility godly affection and loue to God-ward And here assure thy selfe that nothing in all the world can inforce a man sooner to liue soberly righteously and godly in this present euill life then the due consideration of his owne infirmities the certaine knowledge of his mortality and the often and continuall meditation and remembrance of his last gaspe death and dissolution when as a man then becommeth no man For when once he beginneth to wax sicke and still by sicknes groweth more sickly then doth a wretched man despaire of life hauing onely his paine griefe in remembrance His heart doth quake his minde is amazed with feare his sences vanish quite away his strength decayes his carefull brest doth pant his countenance is pale neither willing nor able to call for mercy his fauor out of fauor his eares deafe his nose loathsomely foule and sharp his tongue furred with phlegme and choller quite flattereth and faileth his mouth vnseemely froathing and foming his body dyeth and rots at length his flesh consumes his shape his beautie his delicacy leaue him and he returnes to ashes and in stead and place of these succeede filthy wormes as one sayth elegantly Next after man doe wormes succede then stincke in his degree So euery man to no man must returne by Gods decree Behold here a spectacle both strange and dreadfull and assure thy selfe that there is neither skill nor meanes of art nor any kinde of learning that can be more auaileable to quaile the pride of man conuince his malice confound his lusts and abate his worldly pompe and vaine-glorious vanity then the often remembring of these things For in all the world there is nothing so irksome nothing so loathsome and vile as the carcasse of a dead man whose sent is so tedious and infectious that it may not lodge and continue in a house fower dayes but must needs be cast out of doores as dung and deepely buried in the mould Ioh. 11.39 for feare of corrupting the ayre Then blush for shame thou proud peacocke who in death art so vile and wormes meat and shortly shall become most loathsome carrion Thinke therefore vpon these things and thou shalt receiue great profit thereby When the Peacocke doth behold that comely fanne and circle of the beautifull feathers of his taile hee jetteth vp and downe in pride beholding euery part thereof but when he looketh downe seeth his black feete with great misliking he vaileth his top-gallant and seemeth to sorrow Euen so many know by experience that when they see themselues to abound in wealth and honor they glory much are highly conceited of themselues they draw plots and appoynt much for themselues to performe for many yeares to come This yeare say they we will beare this office and the next yeare that afterward we shall haue the rule of such a prouince then wee will build a pallace in such a Citty whereunto wee will adioyne such gardens of pleasure and such vineyards and the like And thus they make a very large reckoning before hand with the rich man in the Gospell Who if they did but once behold their feete that is if they did but see how fast they stoope toward death Luk. 12.16
of all is in the pangs of death when friends riches pleasures the outward sences temporall life and all earthly helpes forsake vs. But put thy trust confidence faith in God which neither fadeth nor vanisheth Psal 118.8.9 but abideth continueth for euer Psal 146.3.4 For if thou bee in amity with God the night will bee short and thy sleepe sweete thy graue wil be to thee as a bed of doune there to rest till the day of resurrection thy prayers at that time wil smel as perfume and thy praises sound in thy soule as the harmonie of the heauens where thou shalt raigne for euer and euer And then true faith will make vs to goe wholly out of our selues and to despaire of comfort and saluation in respect of any earthly thing and to rest and rely wholly with all the power and strength of our heart vpon the pure loue and mercies of Iesus Christ When the Israelites in the wildernesse were stung with fiery Serpents and lay at the point of death they looked vp to the brasen Serpent Num. 21.8.9 which was erected for that purpose by Gods owne appointment and then were presently healed euen so when any man feeles death to approach and draw neere with a fiery sting to pierce his heart hee must then presently fixe the eyes of a true and liuely faith vpon Christ his Sauiour exalted lifted vp Iohn 3.14.15 and crucified vpon the Crosse which being done he shall by death enter into eternall life It is recorded by the Author to the Hebrewes Heb. 11.13 that the holy Fathers of the old Testament died in faith and so entred into glory And if wee will looke to be glorified with them then must we follow their steps in dying in the same faith with them And because true faith is no dead thing it must be expressed by speciall actions as namely by the last words which for the most part in them that haue sincerely and truly serued God are very excellent and comfortable and full of grace some choyce examples whereof I will rehearse for instructions sake and for imitation viz. The Last words of Iacob Gen. 49.18 O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation The last words of Moses his most excellent song set downe in Deuteronomy Deut. 32. The last words of Dauid 2. Sam. 23.1.2 The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue The last words of Zacharias the son of Iehoiada the Priest when he was stoned to death by King Ioash 2. Chro. 24.22 The Lord looke vpon it and require it The last words of the conuerted Theefe vpon the Crosse Luke 23.40.41.44 first rebuking his fellow for railing on Christ then confessing his and his fellowes guiltinesse thirdly his iustification of Christ that he had done nothing amisse and lastly his sweete prayer Lord remember me when thou commest into thy Kingdome The last words of our Sauiour Christ himselfe Luk. 23.34.43 when hee was dying vpon the Crosse are most admirable and stored with aboundance of spirituall graces First to his Father concerning his enemies hee saith Father forgiue them for they know not what they doe Secondly to the Theefe vpon the Crosse with him Iohn 19.26 I say vnto thee this day shalt thou bee with mee in Paradise Mat. 27.46 Thirdly to his Mother Woman behold thy Sonne and to Iohn his beloued Disciple Behold thy Mother Iohn 19.28.30 Fourthly in his agonie he said My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Luke 23.46 Fiftly he earnestly desiring our saluation said I thirst Sixtly when he had made perfect satisfaction for vs he said It is finished And seuenthly when his bodie and soule were parting hee said Father into thy hands I commend my spirit and hauing thus said hee gaue vp the ghost Act. 7.56.59.60 The last words of the Martyr Saint Stephen at his stoning First Behold I see the heauens open and the Sonne of Man standing at the right hand of God Secondly as they were stoning of him hee called vpon God and said Lord Iesus receiue my spirit And thirdly hee kneeled downe and cried with a loud voice saying Lord lay not this sinne to their charge and when he had said this he fell a sleepe By these and such like examples wee see what a blessed thing it is to learne to die well which is to die in faith at which end true wisdome wholly aymeth and he hath not spent his life ill that hath thus learned to die well For the conclusion of our life is the touch-stone of all the actions of our life which made Luther both to thinke and say that men were best Christians in death and Epamynandas one of the wise men of Greece being asked whom of the three he esteemed most viz. himselfe Chabrius or Ephicrates answered Wee must first see all die before we can answere that question for the act of dying well is the science of all sciences the way whereunto is to liue well contentedly and peaceably But what must we thinke if in the time of Death such excellent speeches bee wanting in some of Gods children and in stead thereof idle talke be vsed Answ We must consider the kind of sicknes whereof men dye whether it bee more easie or violent for violent sicknes is vsually accompanied with frenzies or vnseemely motions or gestures which wee are to take in good part in this regard because we our selues may be in the like case and we must not iudge of the estate of any man before God by his behauiour in death or in a troubled soule for there are many things in Death which are the effects of the sharp disease he dyeth of no impeachment of the faith he dyeth in and these may depriue his tongue of he of reason but cannot depriue his soule of eternall life One dyeth saith holy Iob in his full strength being whole Iob. 21.23.24.25.26 at ease and quiet his breasts are full of milke and his bones are full of marrow another dyeth in the bitternes of his soule and neuer eateth with pleasure they shall lye downe alike in the dust and the wormes shall couer them Wherefore in this case we must iudge none by the eye nor by their deathes but by their liues The second dutie is to dy in obedience otherwise our death cannot bee acceptable to God because else we seeme to come vnto God vpon feare and constraint as slaues to their Master and not of loue as children to their father And thus to dye in obedience is when a man is ready and willing to goe out of this world without murmuring grudging and repining when it shall please God to call him Death is the feare of rich men the desire of poore men but surely the end of all men to this step man commeth as slowly as hee can trembling at this passage and labouring to settle himselfe here the sole memory of Death
the loue of this world and worldly things and cause mee more and more to settle my conuersation and meditations on heauen and heauenly things And whether thou shalt recouer or not recouer thy former health againe by prayer that belongeth to thy God and resteth altogether in his good will and pleasure For God saith Wisedome hath power of life and death Wisd 16.13 And to God the Lord saith the Psalmist belong the issues of death Psal 68.20 And to speake truth God for the most part seemeth to sleepe that so he might be awakened by our intreaties For God as S. Augustine notes amat nimium vehementes and is so delighted with our prayers as that he doeth many times deny vs our suites that hee might heare vs continue earnest in our prayers And againe if he should vpon euery motion wee make vnto him grant our requests his benefits at last would come to be contemned of vs. For we know it an ordinarie practise amongst men citò data citò vilescunt we account it scarce worth the taking that is not twice worth the asking Therefore before he grant hee would haue vs earnest with him indeed and to awake him with our prayers if perchance he should seeme to vs to be asleepe For God loueth and is especially delighted with an earnest suter and therefore doth many times deny men their requests at the first that hee might find them more feruent and constant in their prayers to him afterwards But if God of his mercie be awakened by thy importunitie and hath at length heard thy prayer or the prayers of others for thee and hath restored thee to thy health againe For the Lord saith Hanna killeth and maketh aliue 1. Sam. 2.6 hee bringeth downe to the graue and bringeth vp And the Lord himselfe saith in Exodus I am the Lord that healeth thee Exod. 15.26 and againe I kill and giue life I wound and I make whole thou hast thy desire or rather perhaps not thy desire seeing the holiest and best men of all encline neither this way nor that way but wholy resigne themselues as in all other things so especially in this case to Gods good will and pleasure or if they determinately desire any thing it is for the most part with the Apostle to be dissolued and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 which is best of all But suppose thou desirest to recouer and doest recouer indeed consider then with thy selfe that thou hast now receiued from God as it were another life and know that it is but for a short time and therefore spend it to the honour and glory of God that restored it vnto thee and in newnesse of life let thy sinnes die with thy sicknesse but liue thou by grace to holinesse But then as thou obtainest thy desire thou must performe thy promise which thou madest when thy body was grieued with sicknesse and paine euen readie to die and when thy soule was oppressed with heauinesse pensiuenesse and sadnesse Isal 6.6 when thou with the Prophet diddest water thy couch with thy teares And what was that promise namely that if it pleased God to grant thee life and health and adde vnto thy daies some few yeeres more as he did to king Ezechiah 2. King 20.6 then thou wouldest loue him more sincerely serue him more obediently tender his glory more deerely pray vnto him more heartily repent more soundly follow thy calling more faithfully hate sinne more effectually and liue hereafter more warily and religiously then euer thou didst before And if thou hast offended him with pride to humble thy selfe hereafter if with dissolutones to be more sober if with swearing to leaue it if with prophaning of the Sabbaoths to make more conscience in sanctifying it if with vncleannesse to bee chaste and vnblameable it with conuersing with the wicked to abandon their societie and to say vnto them with the Prophet Dauid Depart from mee all yee workers of iniquity Psal 6.8.9 for the Lord hath heard the voyce of my weeping the Lord hath heard my supplication the Lord will receiue my prayer Psal 119.115 and againe Depart from me you euill doers for I will keepe the commandements of my God Remember that thou hast promised and vowed amendement and newnes of life deferre not to performe the same When thou vowest a vow vnto God saith the Preacher defer not to pay it Eccles 5.4.5 for he hath no pleasure in fooles pay that which thou hast vowed for better it is thou shouldest not vow then vow and not pay Againe When thou shalt vow a vow vnto the Lord thy God saith Moses Deut. 23.21 thou shalt not be slacke to pay it for thy Lord thy God will require it of thee and it would be sinne in thee Thus if these and such other like promises and vowes thou wilt most conscionably and constantly performe then in a good houre as we say and in a happy time thou didst recouer And be thou not then the more secure and carelesse in that thou art restored to health neither with the chiefe Butler be thou forgetfull of thy promises Gen. 40.23 nor insult in thy selfe that thou hast escaped death but call thy sinnes and faults to remembrance with the same chiefe Butler Gen. 41.9 and remember rather that God seeing how vnprepared thou wast hath of his infinit mercy spared thee and giuen thee some little longer time and space of breathing and respite that thou mayest performe thy vowes and promises in the amendement of thy sinfull life and in putting thy selfe in a better readines against another time and how soone thou knowest not for though thou hast escaped this dangerous sicknesse which many others haue not and then canst say with the Prophet The Lord hath chastened me sore Psal 118.18 but he hath not giuen me ouer vnto death yet it may be that thou shalt not escape the next It may bee when a ship is come to the mouth of the hauen a blâ—st driueth it backe againe but there it will arriue at the last so must thou at length at the gates of death though thou hast escaped this Too too many there are that when God visits them with sharpe diseases that wakens vp their consciences and then sicke sicke and then if God will repriue them vntill a longer day oh what Christians courses they vow to take God proues them they mend in bodies yeeres in manners no no more then Pharaoh after the plagues remoueall for many in their afflictions and sicknesses looking for death how liberall are they in their promises but afterward how basely niggardly are they in their performances they play childrens play with God they take away a thing assoone as they haue giuen it When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Ierusalem then the Iewes made a solemne couenant with the Lord to set free their seruants but no sooner had the king remooued his siege but they retracted and repealed their vow and
him to be released and if your selfe belong to God it is best for you also at this time to loose him best I say in the wisdome of God and to some end although not so in your owne reason which seeth not so farre and in all respects best Now thinke with your selfe thus much if you had done good to one and pleasured him much and all the friends he hath or any of them should crie out for it would it not grieue you surely it would grieue you so much the more by how much that vnthankefull dislike should be more vehement and last long So it is with God and therefore see what you doe and whom you moue to anger The Apostles words are plaine All things worke for the best vnto them that feare God if you beleue it and also thinke of your dead friend and your selfe God the holy Ghost who cannot lye concludeth that the same was best both for him and you which now is come to passe When good is done we should not grieue and when the best is done much lesse should we grieue for God calleth him out of this life when he is at his best if he be good that hee turne not to euill if euill that hee waxe not worse Away then with sorrow and sowre lookes and let the Lord for his mercie receiue your thankes from faithfull content and not murmuring and repining from vnbridled affections not onely good is done but the best euen the very best by the best that onely knowes what is best and it should appease and satisfie you God is no lyer neither can he be deceiued but if one houres life might haue been better either for him or you then is not the best done and then the Apostles words are not true but that were wicked once to imagine so Therefore no longer life would haue profited him or you but the very best is done blessed therefore be God for his goodnesse euer Fourthly I consider what the same Apostle saith in another place I desire to be loosed and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 which is best of all And I aske of you whether your selfe do not the like as you are able if you doe not you are yet ouer earthly and further in loue with this wicked and sinfull world then you should be If you doe it why then grieue you that your friend hath obtained that which you desire this will seeme rather enuie then loue in you to conceiue dislike for ones well doing What againe if your friend wish as the Apostle doth long before he obtained his request and now the Lord hath granted what he so heartily wished this is mercie to be reioyced for and not any miserie to bee wept for A true friend acknowledgeth a debt for the pleasuring of his friend and is not mooued with anger or griefe for the same stay then your teares if you will bee iudged a friend and neither grudge to God the companie of his child nor to the child the presence of his God because this is wicked Thinke of the glorie company immortalitie and ioy and comfort with the blessed Trinity and all the hoste of heauen that now your friend enioyeth thinke of the woes and miseries in this wretched vale of teares from which he is freed and then iudge you if the Apostle say not true that it is best to be loosed and to be with Christ If this best bee now at this instant fallen to your good friend by Gods good mercie blesse God for it and comfort your self that your friend enioyeth such endlesse ioy and comfort and thereby shall you shew your selfe a friend indeed and all that are godly and wise cannot but thinke well of you Againe the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 5.6.8 That we know that whilest wee are at home in the bodie we are absent from the Lord therefore we loue rather to remoue out of the bodie and to dwell with the Lord. From which absence from God your friend is freed and by presence and dwelling with God he is now blessed a true cause and a great cause as hath beene said of good content Then doe not you prouoke the Lord with vnthankfull teares sighes and groanes but stay that course which offendeth greatly and tread the steppes of all such as vpon the like occasion haue walked rightly by their discreet mourning Who are euer patient and moderate in sorrow repressing and ruling their affections and gaue them not a loose reine and so ought you Againe in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians it is said I would not haue you ignorant brethren concerning them that sleepe that yee sorrow not 1. Thess 4.13 as they which haue no hope Reade the place and examine your owne course whether you hope or no. First that your friend is well and then that Almightie God will supply his want to you some other way for both these are necessarie our friends are our comforts if they be good But if I tie God to them and thinke all is gone when they are gone where is my hope what pleasure to God so to trust in him that I trust more in my friends and cry out when they goe how shall I doe how shall I liue what ioy can I now haue Is this hope is this trust is this faith fie that euer affections and passions should carie any good child of God so far from his dutie and from true knowledge I say againe our friends are our comfort while the Lord lendeth them and when our friend returneth to his earth yet the Lord is in heauen where he euer was if I haue lost my father to be my father mother sister friend yea all in all to me whatsoeuer I want Therefore while he liueth which is and shall bee for euer I cannot be friendlesse though my friends die or depart from me but that either for one he will raise me vp another or himselfe supplie the place which is best of all Mourne not then I pray you as one without hope but hearken vnto the Apostle and shew foorth your faith hope and obedience vnto God to the glorie of God and your owne praise Againe wee read in the booke of Leuiticus Leuit. 10.3 that the sonnes of Aaron Nadab and Abihu were slaine by the Lord in his anger for their sinnefull presumption in offering vp strange fire which the Lord commanded them not which was a fearefull sight and spectacle to the fathers eyes to see two sonnes at once and in such sort dead Yet what did Aaron I pray you marke the text I will saith the Lord bee sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified And Aaron saith the holy Ghost there held his peace And what an example is this if any thing may mooue you to stay your affections for the death of your friends Againe it is said in the booke of the Reuelation And I heard a voyce from heauen Reu. 14.13
infinite number of acquaintance expect vs there our parents brethren sisters friends children kindred that are alreadie secure of their owne immortalitie but yet sollicitous for our safetie what ioy will it bee to see to embrace them Conclude then with your heart that you will bee strong against such losses and pray to the giuer of strength that you may be strong and leaue your losses to the Lord your God that hath gained them blessed for them blessed for you with many thankes for euer and euer The end of the sixt Diuision THE SEVENTH DIVISION OF THE CASES WHEREIN IT IS Vnlawfull and wherein Lawfull to desire DEATH TOuching the cases wherein it is vnlawful to desire death they may be reduced principally into three The first is if God can bee more honoured by our life then by our death then in such a case it is altogether vnlawfull to desie death but rather on the contrary we are to desire and pray for life For which purpose wee haue diuers examples in the holy Scriptures to warrant the same as of King Dauid and king Ezechiah Dauid bewayled himselfe in many of his Psalmes that If God tooke him away he should lacke occasion to honour prayse him as he was wont to doe whilest he was amongst men and therefore hee desired longer life that he might set forth the honour of God amongst the people Returne O Lord sayth he Psal 6.4.5 deliuer my Soule O saue mee for thy mercies sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall giue thee thank Againe Psa 30.8.9.10 I cryed vnto thee O Lord c. When I go down into the pitte shall the dust praise thee c Againe Psal 88 9 10 11 12. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction c. shall the dead rise and praise thee And againe Psal 118.17 I shall not dye but liue and declare the workes of the Lord. Ezechiah bewayled himselfe Esa 38.18.19.20 when hee heard the message of death and praied for longer life knowing therby that God should bee more honoured by his life then by his death And therefore sayth hee The graue cannot prayse thee c. And thus may euery godly Christian desire life and not death to this end onely that God thereby may be glorified But yet in this case although it be vnlawfull to desire death so long as God may bee glorified by our Life yet in praying for life to this end we must referre all to Gods good wil and pleasure Therfore if any wil obiect say I might in my place by mine endeauour such as it is for the time to come further profite the Church of God and greatly honour him for this end therefore I could wish that the space of a longer life might be graunted vnto me Answer As the Lord sayd vnto Dauid 1 King 8.18.19 Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house to my name thou didst well that it was in thine heart Neuerthelesse thou shalt not build the house but thy sonne which shall come forth of thy loynes he shall build the house vnto my name Euen so it may bee sayde to thee that whereas it is in thine heart to glorifie God and to profite his Church and therefore thou couldest wish that the space of a longer life might be granted vnto thee to that end thou doest well that it is in thine heart to doe so Neuerthelesse all this must bee commended to Gods disposing that is how long God wil haue thee to remaine in health and life for his glorie and for the good of his Church For hee that hath furnished thee with the giftes of teaching or exhortation or any other good gift for the glory of God and good of his Church he doth know how to furnish others also with the same when thou art gone and as God would not let Dauid build his Temple but did reserue it to be performed afterward by Salomon so God for some secret cause will not haue that good worke furnished by thee but reserueth it for some other time and some other person Therefore if thou art straightned with the Apostle Philip. 1.23 that thou doest not know which of these thou shouldest chuse hauing a desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ which is better for thee or to abide in the flesh which is more profitable for the church Know that to dye is aduantage vnto thee but to liue is aduantage to the Church No man of vs sayeth the Apostle Rom. 14.7.8 liueth to himselsf and no man dyeth to himselfe for whether we liue wee liue to the Lord to the end that wee may glorifie him and gaine more soules to him in the Church or whether we dye we dye to the Lord that we may obey his Fatherly will calling vs out of our Station Whether therefore we liue or dye we are the Lords that most mighty gentle and mercifull Lord From whose loue neyther life nor death can separate vs. Rom. 8.38.39 Thou hast hitherto obeyed the will of the Lord most faithfully spending thy seruices on the Church militant obey him further most readily embracing his will that calles thee to the society of the Church triumphant Thou art rightly carefull out of charity for the encrease of the church notwithstanding thou oughtest out of faith to commit the care of gouerning teaching and conseruing the same vnto God There is nothing heere more wholesome nothing better nor more conformable to pietie then for a man to resigne himselfe wholy to the will of God and to commend the full power of disposing our life and death to him with godlie prayers And one of these two thinges we may vndoubtedly hope for that eyther hee will giue vs that which wee aske or that which hee knoweth to be more profitable Delight thy selfe in the Lord sayeth the Psalmist Psal 37.4.5 and he shall giue thee the desires of thine heart commit thy way vnto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to passe Secondly it is altogether vnlawfull to desire death through impatience in that wee cannot haue our owne willes wishes and desires Gen. 31.1 In which case Rachell offended for seeing that shee bare Iacob no children shee enuied her sister Exo. 16.23 and sayde vnto Iacob Giue me children or â—lse I dye In like case also the children of Israel offended who murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wildernesse and said Would to God wee had dyed by the hand of the Lord in the Land of Egypt when we sate by the flesh pots did eate bread to the ful Numb 11.10 In this case Moses offeÌ„ded who said vnto the Lord Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy seruant and wherfore haue not I found fauor in thy sight that thou layest all the burden of this people vpon me Whence should I haue flesh to â—iue vnto all this people For they weepe vnto me saying giue vs flesh that
cherished so long Wilt thou make thy selfe hatefull by making opposition against his loue Wilt thou malitiously oppose thy selfe against the worke of his care while in fatherly loue he is desirous to keepe thee in safety Wilt thou striue more then all the World besides to worke thy owne decay The Angels in heauen vnderstanding the care of God for thee doe willingly pitch their tents about thee and refuse not for thy safety to beare thee in their hands and keepe thee in thy wayes the Diuels of Hell by Gods prouidence are kept off from thee as with a strong hedge which they can neyther clime ouer nor breake through whereby to impeach thy safety Iob. 5.23 And while the Creator of all things remayneth thy keeper the creatures are in league with thee and thou liuest in peace amongst them and while the worke of God that preserueth thy life hath this power amongst all Creatures that the creatures of heauen will not attempt thy hurt the creatures of the earth do not nor dare attempt it and the creatures of Hell cannot Wilt thou alone seeke vnmercifully to crosse the care of God in working thine owne woe Thou art then worthy whom the heauenly Creatures should abhorre whome the earthly creatures should forsake and the hellish Creatures embrace receyuing thee into their Company with this greeting This is he whom God would haue kept but against the loue of the Angels of heauen against the peace of the Creatures of the earth and beyond the power and malice of vs the Angels of darknesse hee hath destroyed himselfe Besides it is God that hath assigned to euery one of vs the measure of our time hee hath appointed to vs the number of our dayes our life did not beginne till hee appointed the first day of it and so long it must last vntill he say this is the last day of it No man did set downe for himselfe when hee would come into the world nor no man may set downe for himselfe when or how hee will leaue the vvorld The soule of man sayth the Orator before her departure from the body doth oftentimes diuine but then it destroyes not it selfe for God sent vs into the world giuing vs life and God must call vs out by taking our life It is the saying of Iob Is there not an appointed time to man vpon earth Iob. 7.1 and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling The beginning and end of mans time is appointed by God he cannot lengthen it when the end commeth nor ought to shorten it before the time come Saint Ambrose sayth we are bound to maintaine our bodies and forbidden to kill our soules and bodies they are married together by God himselfe and those whom God hath ioyned together let no man be so bold to put in sunder Cogimur diligere vt sponsus sponsam Adam Euam sayth S. Barnard Wee must bee so farre from hating our owne flesh as that wee are commaunded to cherish it to loue it entirely as the husband ought to loue his wife Adam his Eue. Wee may imploy it in labour but we must not slay it and the more wee shall imploy it the lesse hurtfull and dangerous it will proue vnto vs. His dayes are as the dayes of an Hireling an Hireling is entertained for so many dayes longer then his couenant he may not stay and a shorter time hee may not stay Such is the life of man he is Gods hireling for so many dayes years he hath hired him in this world as in Gods Vineyard to worke in some honest calling When wee haue serued out our time here wee may stay no longer and till wee haue serued out our time here we may not depart Thou wilt therefore be found to bee a fugitiue seruant from God if thou depart his seruice before the time be full out that belongeth to God and not to thee to set downe The Prophet Dauid sayeth of God in one of the Psalmes Psal 68.20 To the Lord God belong the issues of death To God it belongeth and not to man to set downe who shall dye when and by what meanes he shall dye Sometime he vseth the hand of the Magistrate sometime the hand of the violent and so endeth one mans life as wee thinke by the counsell and worke of another man But neuer did hee giue licence to any man to kill himselfe he hath forbidden murther by his commandement Thou shalt not kill Exod. 20,13 Hee condemned it in Cain from the beginning of the World to whom hauing slaine Abel he said Gen. 4,10 What hast thou done the voyce of thy brothers bloud cryes to mee from the ground Now therefore thou art cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receiue thy brothers bloud from thine hand And after the floud when he began again to replenish the earth with Inhabitants he made a Lawe against murder to restraine both man and beast from committing it saying Gen 9.5 I will surely require your bloud wherin your liues are at the hand of euery beast will I require it and at the hand of man euen at the handes of a mans brother will I require the life of man Who so sheddeth mans bloud by man shall his bloud bee shedde for in the Image of God hath he made man So offensiue unto God it is for a man without warrant and authority to kill any because man was made in the Image of God a creature of vnderstanding endued with excellent vertues of knowledge and righteousnesse with resemblance in these vertues vnto God himselfe in making of whom it pleased God to shew his excellent power his wisedome and his mercy Man is Microcosmos sayth one an abridgement of the world hee hath Heauen resembling his soule earth his heart placed in the middest as a Center the Lyuer is like the Sea whence flow the liuely springs of bloud the braine like the Sunne giues the light of vnderstanding and the sences are set round about like the Starres the heart in man is like the roote of a tree the Organe or Lung-pipe that comes of the left cell of the heart is like the stocke of the tree which diuides it selfe into two parts and thence spreades abroad as it were sprayes and boughes into all the bodie euen to the arteries of the head the head is called the Tower of the mind the throne of reason the house of vvisedome the treasure of memory the Capitoll of iudgement the shoppe of affections And concerning man sayeth another God hath made such diuers and contrary elements to meete together in one and the selfe same body and accord in one fire and water ayre and earth heate and colde and all in one and the selfe same place yet hath so tempered them together as that one is the defence and maintenance of another Nay more then this sayth Saint Bernard mirabilis societas in man hee hath made a wonderfull society for in him Heauen
vngodly wiues it is sayd that they were a griefe of mind vnto Isaack and her because they knew that God was greatly dishonoured thereby Gen. 27.46 therefore Rebecca sayde to Isaacke I am wearie of my life because of the daughters of Heth and if Iacob take a wife of them such as those that are of the daughters of the land what good shall my life doe mee In this case also the Prophet Eliah desired death for he seeing the Idolatrous practises of the Israelites and the strange cruelties of Ahab and Iezabel against the Prophets and seruants of the Lord and how they had forsaken the Lords couenants 1. Kin. 19.3.4 cast downe his Altars and slayne his Prophets with the sword and that they did also seeke his life to take it away therefore through the greate zeale which he had to the glorie of God that hee might not see these abominations wherewith the Lord was so much dishonoured by them It is sayde That hee requested for himselfe that hee might dye and said it is inough now O Lord 2 King 2.11,12 take away my life for I am not better then my Fathers And afterwards as we reade God graunted vnto him more then he did desire for the Lord tooke him away vp into Heauen in a whirlewinde which taking vp of Eliah after this sort into heauen was farre better and more easie for him then the ordinary common death of all men Who can expresse what a griefe it is to the childe of God to bee inclosed and compassed about with wicked and vngodly miscreants by whom God is all the day long blasphemed and dishonoured What a torture and torment it is to such as feare the Lord and are godly minded to liue in the midst of a froward peruerse and crooked generation continually prouoking Gods wrath by reason of their wicked liues and deedes It would make a mans heart to bleed to heare consider how swearing blaspheming cursed speaking rayling slandering quarrelling contending ieasting mocking scoffing flattering lying dissembling vaine corrupt filthy scolding scurrilous loose and idle talking that ouerflow in all places so that men that feare God had better bee any where then in the company of most men This made the Prophet Dauid to crie out and say Ps 120.5.6.7 Woe is mee that I soiourne in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar my soule hath too long dwelt with him that hateth peace I am for peace but when I speake they are for warre Lot was fore vexed and grieued with the vncleane conuersation of the wicked and therefore it is sayd that the Lord deliuered iust Lot vexed with the filthy conuersation of the wicked 2. Pet. 2.7.8 for that righteous man dwelling amongst them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soule from day to day with their vnlawfull deeds As the World in all ages heretofore hath not knowne the pure and straight paths of God so in these present euill dayes of ours the true and right Profession of Christianitie is counted of many Puritanisme and precisenesse phantasticall affectation of singularitie and popularitie and hipocrisie True it is indeede that as there are true Preachers and true Beleeuers so Sathan stirres vp counterfeits that haue an outward shew and resemblance of them but are not purged from their inwarde filthinesse Pro. 30.12 These are they that Worldlings stumble at concluding thus Euen so are they all therefore their profession is but a kind of Sect and to follow the common course practise of the world is the surest and safest way And here Sathan hath his desire Againe if any godly man that hath alwayes made conscience of his wayes shall offend although of meere infirmity or occasioned by some strong temptation but yet so as hee may iustly be taxed why then the matter is out of all doubt both he and all his ranke are hypocrites and none else Such is the blindnesse of the world and their preiudicate opinion of the children of God But to you that are of this vncharitable opinion giue mee leaue to speake thus much You boast your selues to bee the children of God and the true members of Christ though carelesse of your wayes but as for others who make conscience of their wayes you make mockes on them with your mouthes and you deuise termes for them to make them accounted factious sectaries hypocrites and I know not what they are your gazing stockes and taunting Prouerbes Concerning which sect Act. 28.22 we know that euery where it is spoken against but where is your deuotiō where is your zeale where is your repentance where is your feruency sobrietie prayer thanksgiuing humilitie What fruites of the Spirit appeare in you what loue of God in zealous exercises of Gods worshippe what contempt of the worlds pompe pride pleasure vanity in your moderate liuing conuersation What regard of the afflictions of Ioseph Yea your bodies are your Idols and your soules like drudges doe homage to your bodyes this appeareth in your excessiue fare costly apparrell varieties of fashions in your curiositie in the putting on thereof in your wanton sports daliances pleasures and such like But for a conclusion let me leaue this as a bone for you to gnaw on That stumbling blockes shall euer bee cast before the feet of the wicked yet shall the Lanthorn of Gods word shine vnto them to guide them without stumbling or erring notwithstanding stumble they will and fall downe euen to the breaking of their neckes for their owne wickednes blindeth them yea and they wilfully out of the hardnesse of their hearts close their eyes against the wayes of truth because the wayes of error death and destruction are more pleasant vnto them Furthermore woe shall bee to them that wrong by word or deede or writing the least of Gods little ones who are so deare to the Lord as the apple of his eye Zac. 2.8 Therefore let the scorners and enemies of good men remember That Israel is as a thing hallowed to the Lord Ier. 2.3 all they that eate it shall offend Euill shall come vpon them saith the Lord Men may dippe their tongues in venome Reu. 22.11 and their pennes in poyson and keepe the garments of such as stone Stephen but the Lord will auenge the cause of his poore ones he will not alwayes hold his peace nor hide his face Therefore in the meane time till wee can haue our desire in this case We must take great care that we delight not in their euill company and if it be our hap sometime to bee amongst them let vs take heede wee be not polluted and defiled by their company for it is a common and a true saying that hee that toucheth pitch shall bee defiled therewith so he that doth conuerse with them must looke to be defiled with their company If a man that had wallowed in the myre and tumbled in the filthie channell should offer to company with vs wee would loath