eternall with out time for that they abuse the speciall benefit of time in this world Againe concerning those which post off their repentance til age sicknes or death of these there are specially two sorts viz. The first sort are such as plead the sweete promises of the Gospell Ezech. 18.21 Mat. 11.28 as namely these At what time soeuer a sinner doth repent c. Come vnto me all yee that labour and are heauie loaden and I will refresh you Answer True it is and most true but to whom are these promises made and to what sinners They are made to all repentant sinners that turne to the Lord with all their hearts but thou art an vnrepentant wretch and continuest in thy sinnes therefore those comfortable promises belong not vnto thee And what sinners doth he bid come vnto him Those that be weary and heauie laden that is whose sins pinch and wound them at the very heart and withall desire to be eased of the burthen of them Therefore take not occasion to presume of the promises of the Gospell for vnlesse thou turne from thy euill wayes and repent of thy sinnes they belong nothing at all vnto thee I know the Gospell is a booke of mercy I know that in the Prophets there are many aspersions of mercy I know that out of the eater comes meat and out of the strong comes sweetenesse and that in the ten commandements which be the administratiōs of death there is made expresse mention of mercy I will haue mercy vpon thousands yea the very first words of them are the couenant of grace I am the Lord thy God yet if euery leafe and euery line and euery word in the bible were nothing but mercy mercy yet nothing auailes the presumptuous sinner that lies rotting in his iniquities O but he is mercifull gratious slow to anger aboundant in goodnesse and truth reseruing mercy for thousands forgiuing iniquitie transgression and sinne is not here mercy mentioned nine or ten times together It is but read on the very next words and not making the wicked innocent visiting the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children and vpon childrens children vnto the third and fourth generation is not this the terrible voice of iustice But stay in the 136 Psal there is nothing but his mercy endureth for euer which is the foote of the Psal and is found six and twentie times in 26 verses yet harke what a ratling thunder-clappe is heere and ouerthrew Pharaoh and his host in the red sea and smote great Kinges and slew mighty Kings c. The second sort are such that by reading and hearing of the story of Lots drunkennes of Dauids adultery of Peters deniall doe thereby blesse themselues and strengthen and comfort their hearts yea they haue learned to alledge them as examples to extenuate their sinnes and to presume that they shall finde the like mercy Am I a Drunkard saith one so was that good man Lot Am I an Adulterer saith another so was Dauid a man after Gods owne heart Am I a swearer a forswearer a curser a denyer of Christ So was the holy Apostle Saint Peter Shall I despaire of saluatiō saith the wicked persister in sinne and I read that the theefe repented on the crosse and found mercy at the last houre O vile wretches who hath bewitched you to peruert Gods word to your destruction It is as much as to poyson the soule Look on their repentance Lot fell of infirmitie and no doubt repented with much griefe yet looke vpon Gods iudgment vpon that incestuous seede Looke vpon Dauid Psal 38. Read the 38 Psalme it made him grow crooked his sinnes were as fire in his bones he had not a good day to his death but the griefe of his sinnes made him to roare out thou wouldst be loath to buy thy sinne so deere as he did Looke vpon Peter who wept for his sinnes most bitterly Mat. 26.75 And as for the example of the theefe as wee haue heard already and cannot heare too often seeing it is so often obiected and vrged the Lord knocketh but once by one sermon and he repented but thou hast heard many sermons crying and calling vnto thee and yet thou hast not repented and this is as wee haue heard an extraordinary example and thereof not the like in all the scripture againe and the Lord hath set out but one and yet one that noe man should despaire and yet that noe man should presume by this one example for what man will spurre his Asse till he speake Num. 22.28 because Balaam did so and yet one that no man should despaire but to know that God is able to call home at the last houre And by this he did declare the riches of his mercy to all such as haue grace to turne vnto him where contrary we see many thousands of those who hauing deferred their repentance haue beene taken away in their sinnes and dyed impenitent But this example is for all penitent sinners who vpon their hearty repentance may assure themselues that the Lord will receiue them to mercy Now if thou canst promise to thy selfe the same repentance and faith in Christ that he had then maist thou promise thy selfe the same felicitie which he now enioyes S. Ambrose cals the history of this man pulcherrimum affectandae conuersionis exemplum a most goodly example to moue men to turne to God But looke thou on his fellow who had no grace to repent and who hangs as an example to all impenitent wretches to looke vpon that they despise not the mercie of God nor reiect his call by his messengers and Ministers lest it come to passe that when they would repent they cannot To thee then that art priuie thou hast had many calles many offers of grace yea that hast seene the painfull and faithfull Preachers of Gods holy Word Sacraments spend their wits their strength yea ouerspend themselues for thy good what diuell hath bewitched thee to post off all and willingly to cast away thy selfe To thee therefore that dost strengthen thy selfe in thy sinnes vpon presumption of mercie to others I referre thee to the words that the Lord himselfe speakes in Deuteronomie Deut. 29.19.20 He that when he heareth the words of this curse blesseth himselfe in his heart saying I shall haue peace though I walke according to the stubbornenesse of my owne heart thus adding drunkennesse to thirst the Lord will not spare him nor be mercifull vnto him but the wrath of the Lord and his iealousie shall smoake against that man and all the curses that are written in this booke shall light vpon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from vnder heauen Besides this place there are many others in the Scriptures against those that strengthen their hearts in their sinnes If you presume that a Lord Lord will serue the turne at the close of your life it is nothing else but Infidelis fiducia a faithlesse confidence as
Christ it ceaseth to bee a plague or punishment and of a curse is made vnto vs a blessing and become vnto vs a friend and a passage or middle way betweene this life and eternall life and is become as it were a little wicket entrance or doore whereby we passe out of this world into heauen And then in this respect this saying of the Preacher is most true for in the day of birth men are brought forth and borne into the vale of misery but afterward when the children of God goe hence hauing death altered vnto them by the death of Christ they enter into eternall life and happinesse The third obiection is taken from the example of most worthy men who as it should seeme haue made their prayers against death Mat. 26.39 as our Sauiour Christ We reade when our Sauiour Christ was borne it was a ioyfull time at whose birth there was great ioy and mirth Simeon and Anna Luke 2.10.13.28.38 Luke 19.41 Marke 16.10 Luke 23.28.45 Matth. 27.51 yea and the Angels of heauen did sing and they bid the Shepheards sing because they brought them glad tidings of great ioy which should be vnto all the people But when our Sauiour Christ suffered death then it seemed that it was a dolefull time for then there was as much lamentation and weeping Our Sauiour Christ himselfe wept whom we reade to haue wept three times at the destruction of Ierusalem Iohn 11.35 at the raising of Lazarus and in his agony the disciples wept the daughters of Ierusalem wept Heb. 5.7 the Sunne was darkened the vaile of the Temple was rent the stones were clouen in sunder Yea all these and all sencelesse creatures in their kind did weepe and lament the death and passion of their maker And so it should seeme that our Sauiour Christ prayed against death on this manner Psal 6.4.5 Father if it be thy will let this cup passe from me Wee reade also that the Prophet Dauid prayed against death Returne O Lord saith he deliuer my soule O saue me for thy mercies sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall giue thee thankes Againe Esay 38.1 wee reade that King Ezechiah prayed against death for when the Prophet brought him word from the Lord that hee should die and not liue this good king at this newes wept very sore and prayed for further life Now by the examples of these most worthy men yea by the example of the Sonne of God himselfe it should seeme that this should not be true which the Preacher doth heere auouch That the day of death should bee better then the day of birth but rather that the day of death should be the most dolefull and terrible day of all Answ We are heere to vnderstand that when our Sauiour Christ prayed in this sort as we haue heard he was in his agonie and he then as our Redeemer stood in our roome and stead to suffer and endure all things which wee our selues should haue suffered in our own persons for our sins if he himselfe had not vouchsafed to suffer for vs and therefore hee did not pray simply against the bodily or naturall death but against the cursed death of the Crosse for he feared not death it selfe which is the separating of soule and bodie but the curse of the Law which went with death as namely the vnspeakeable wrath and iudgement of God which was due for our sinnes The first death troubled him not but the first and second ioyned together Therefore the Author to the Hebrewes saith Heb. 5.7 That Christ in the daies of his flesh wheâ— he had offered vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death that he was heard in that he feared By which place it appeareth that Christ did not pray simply against the naturall death but against the cursed death of the Crosse which was the second death Concerning Dauids praying against death we are to vnderstand that when he made that sixt Psalme hee was not onely sicke in bodie but also perplexed with the greatest temptation of all in that hee wrastled in conscience against the wrath of God as appeares by his owne words For hee there saith Psal 6.1 O Lord rebuke me not in thy anger c. Wherein wee may see that he prayed not simply against death but against death at that instant when hee was in that grieuous temptation for at other times he had no such feare of death And therefore in another Psalme he saith Psal 23.4 Yea though I walke through the valley of the shadow of death I wil feare none ill c. Wherefore he prayed against death onely in that sixt Psalm as it was ioyned with apprehension of Gods wrath as our Sauiour Christ did Lastly touching king Hezekiah wee are to vnderstand that he prayed against death not onely because hee desired to liue and to doe seruice to God in his kingdome but also it was vpon a further and more special regard because when the Prophet brought him this message of death he was then without issue hauing none of his owne body to succeede him in his kingdome But then it wil be obiected What warrant he had to pray against death for this cause Answ His warrant was good for God had made a particular promise vnto Dauid and his posteritie after him 1. King 2.4 that as long as they feared him and walked in his commandements with all their heart and with all their soule there shal not faile thee saith he a man on the throne of Israel Now this good king Hezekiah at the time of the Prophets message of death remembring what promise God had made to Dauid and to his seed and how that he for his part in some poore and weake measure had kept the condition in that he had walked before God with an vpright heart and had done that which was well pleasing and acceptable in his sight as he himselfe saith in the same place Isay 38 3. therefore hee prayed against death not for that he feared it but he desired to haue issue of his own to succeed him according to the Lords promise to his seruant Dauid Which prayer of his was so well accepted of God that hee gaue him his request and added vnto his daies fifteene yeeres and three yeeres after God gaue him Manasses Isay 38.5 Againe beside these examples it will be further obiected that the godly haue feared death 1. Kings 19.30 or esse why did Eliah flie from it in the persecution of Iezabel and Christ teach his to flie it in the persecutions of men Mat. 10.23 and Christ himselfe as we haue alreadie heard did pray against the bitter cup of it in his agonie Mat. 26.39 and before his apprehension Answ Those Saints did not nor were to flie from death as it is the end of life and a most blessed end
Moses that they vnderstood this that they would consider their latter end or that wee did conceiue the happinesse and felicitie of our end and this we should doe if we would thus meditate in this sort on our end When Salomon hath spoken of all the vanities of man at last he opposeth this Memorandum as a coūterpoyse against them all Eccle. 11.9 Remember that for all these things thou shalt come to iudgement As if he should haue said men would neuer speak as they speake thinke as they thinke nor doe as they doe if they were perswaded that their thoughts words and deeds should come to iudgement For surely if a man could perswade himselfe that this day were his last day as God knoweth it may bee hee would not deferre this meditation on Death If he could thinke that the meate now in eating is his last meat or his drinke now in drinking his last drinke he would not surfet nor be drunke therewith If he could beleeue that the words which he speakes this day shall bee the last that euer he shall speake Psal 39.1 he would with the Prophet take heed to his wayes that he offend not with his tongue in lying swearing rayling and blaspheming Pambus one without learning came to a certaine man to be taught a Psalme who when he had heard this first verse of the 39. Psalme would not suffer the next verse to bee read saying this verse is enough if I could practise it and when his teacher blamed him because hee saw him not in sixe moneths after he answered that hee had not yet done that verse And one that knew him many yeeres after asked him whether he had yet learned the verse I am saith he fortie yeeres old and haue not yet learned to fulfill it Now then the harder it is to rule the tongue the more care is to be had therein especially seeing the words wee speake may be the last words for ought wee know that euer wee shall speake If he were or would be perswaded that this were the last lesson admonition or sermon that euer God would afford him for his conuersion hee would heare it with more care diligence and profit then euer he had done before Let vs therefore remember our selues whilest it is called to day Psal 95.7.8 lest our meditation on Death come too late For which of vs all can assure himselfe of life till to morrow or what if he should liue one two three foure or fiue yeeres longer or what if twentie yeeres longer who would not liue like a godly Christian so many yeeres for to liue in heauen with Christ for euer Wee can be content to liue seuen yeeres Apprentise with great labour and toile to bee instructed in some trade that we may liue the more easily the rest of our dayes and about this we spend our thoughts and meditations and cannot we then be well contented to labour a little while in the matters of our saluatiō spend our thoughts endeauours and meditations therein that we may rest from all our labours for euer after in heauen Matth. 26.40 Our Sauiour Christ said vnto his Disciples when he had found them sleeping What could yee not watch one houre And so I say vnto all men What can you not meditate on Death some few houres Which meditation on Death we must not make a naked discourse or bare reading onely but a vehement application of the minde to the thing it selfe with an inward sence and feeling of the heart all the distractions of our thoughts being abandoned For meditation is an action or worke of the soule bending it selfe often earnestly and orderly to think vpon a thing and it is either of Gods word or works and Death is one of Gods workes euen a worke of mercy to his elect and chosen children but a work of iustice to the vngodly and reprobate Therefore that thou mayest meditate profitably on Death whereby it may proue a worke of Gods mercie vnto thee put thy selfe humbly in the sight of God who beholdeth thee in all thy actions and thus present begge of him that all thy thoughts words and works yea and all thy meditations may wholly be guided and directed to his glory and thy owne saluation and intreate thy God with heartie affections to giue thee grace that thou mayest take profit by the consideration and the meditation of thy last end And let vs not imitate foolish men who looke and thinke vpon present things only but let vs meditate on things to come and so by the grace of God we shall bring to passe that the same houre which to others that are inconsiderate is the beginning of sorrowes and miseries to vs shall be the entrance into all ioy and happinesse The end of the second Diuision THE THIRD DIVISION OF THE PREPARATION FOR DEATH NOw by way of preparation vnto death let vs obserue that the greatest worke we haue to finish in this world is to die well they which die well die not to die but to liue eternally That man doth finish his daies in his best sort that euery day esteemeth the last day of his life to be present or neere at hand and that a man may die well Gods word requireth a preparation for Death The Preparation for death is an action of a repentant sinner whereby he makes himselfe fit and ready euery day to leaue this life and to die well And it is a dutie very necessarie and of great waight and importance to which we are tied and bound by Gods Commandement and therefore it can in no wise bee omitted of him that desires to make a happie and blessed end Wherefore this preparation is two-fold Generall and particular Generall preparation is that whereby a man prepares himselfe to die through the whole course of his life The reasons are these viz. First Death which is certaine is most vncertaine I say it is certaine because no man can auoid it and it is vncertaine three wayes First in regard of the time for no man doth know when he shall die Secondly in regard of the place because no man knoweth where he shall die and thirdly in regard of the kind of death for that no man knowes whether he shall die of an ordinary or extraordinary death whether of a lingring or sodaine death whether easie or violent Therefore from thence it followes that we should euery day and in all places prepare our selues for death Indeede if wee could know when where and how wee should dye the case were otherwise but seeing we know none of all these but are ignorant therof therfore it stands vs greatly in hand to looke about vs to prepare our selues for our latter end A second reason seruing further to perswade vs to the performing of this duety is this that the most dangerous thing in all the world to the hazard of our soules is to neglect this preparation It must not be put off till sicknesse for then it
not in the fadom of mans head to tell or heart to know how neere or farre off the day is onely God knoweth and Christ as God in what yeare month day and moment this frame shall goe downe In an age long since the day was neere now the houre is neere but curiositie is to be auoided in a coÌ„cealed matter in this forbidden tree of knowledge For secret things saith Moses Deut. 29.29 belong vnto the Lord our God Many men beate their heades about friuolous matters some saith Chrysostome being more busie to know where hell is then to auoide the paines of it others pleasing themselues in pelting and needlesse questions as this is to seeme singular amongst men neglecting in the meane time this dutie of their preparation for their end and such necessary things But when they come to their departing they shall finde that they haue beaten their braines about fruitlesse matters and wearied themselues in vaine It is sufficient for vs therefore to know that such a day will come and it shall bee wisdome in vs alwaies to bee readie for it that it come not vpon vs as the snare vpon the bird vnlooked for Therefore our Sauiour Christ saith Luk. 12.34.35 take heede to your selues lest at any time your hearts be ouercharged with surfetting and drunkennes and cares of this life and so that day come vpon you vnawares for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the earth Thirdly if wee knew the day houre or certaine time of our death wee would put off all tiâ—l the comming of that day and it would giue vs too great boldnes and incouragement to wallow in all manner of sinne till that time or houre came The whorish woman because shee knew the iust time when her husband would returne who went into a farre Countrey did the more liberally power out her soule to sinne and wantonnesse Pro. 7.19.20 For the good man saith shee is not at home hee is gone along iourney hee hath taken a bagge of money with him and will come home at the day appoynted Fourthly and lastly It is therefore vnknowne to vs when wee shall dye to the end that all the dayes of our appoynted time wee may waite for this day and all our time looke for this last time and prepare our selues for it Argus as is fained had his head inuironed with an hundred watching eies signifiing thus much vnto vs that he was euery way indued with great wisedome prouidence and singular discretion Therefore if a pagan and Heathen man so excelled in wisedome and prouidence how much rather ought a Christian man to be well furnished with wisedome circumspection for his latter end Be thou therfore an other Argus nay more wary then he more wise and prouident then he more watchfull circumspect then hee that thou mayst learne to know to vnderstand and finally to prouide for thy last end Gregory vpon the watches mentioned by our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell of Marke in these words Mark 13.35.36.37 Watch yee therefore for yee know not when the Master of the house commeth at euen or at midnight or at the cock-crowing or in the morning lest comming suddenly he finde you sleeping and what I say vnto you I say vnto all watch he saith that there be foure watches in a mans whole life wherein it behoueth him to be vigilant and carefull and as a wakefull and warie watchman to keepe his watch and so prepare himselfe for his end The first is childhood the second youth the third manhood the fourth old age In all which ages he must prepare himselfe for death but he which remissâ—ly passeth ouer his childhood without this preparation and watchfulnesse let him be more carefull of his watch in his youth and pray as it is in Ieremie Ier. 3.4 My father be thou the guide of my youth If he hath passed his youth dissolutely let him be more carefull of his watch in his manhood And if hee hath passed ouer his manhood carelessely let him in any case looke to his last watch of his old age Nay if we prepare not for death before we come to this last watch of old age to which verie few doe attaine it is so fraile weake and feeble and decayed by the custome of sinne that it is an age not so fit for this preparation and watchfulnesse For at such an age men for the most part are like to the Idols of the Heathen Psal 115.4.5.6.7 which haue mouthes but speake not eyes but see not eares but heare not c. Therefore put not off this preparation and watchfulnesse to thy old age which is thy dotage but be thou watchfull and prepared in thy childhood youth manhood Eccl. 12.1 Remember now thy Creator saith the Preacher in the daies of thy youth while the euill dayes come not nor the yeares draw nigh when thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them Wherfore not without cause our Sauiour Christ crieth so often in the Gospell Matth. 24.42 Mar. 13.32.33 Take yee heed watch and pray because yee know not the day nor the houre nor when the time is the which is as much as if he had more plainely said because yee know not that yeere watch every yeere because yee know not that moneth watch euery moneth because yee know not that day watch euery day and because yee know not that houre watch euery houre That is to say watch continually yeares moneths dayes houres yea all your life if you haue a care of euerlasting life And let your loynes saith our Sauiour Christ be girded about and your lights burning Luke 12 35.36.37.38 and yee your selues like vnto men that waite for their Lord when he will returne from the wedding that when he commeth and knocketh they may open to him immediately Blessed are those seruants whom the Lord when he commeth shall finde watching Verily I say vnto you that hee shall girde himselfe and make them to sit downe to meate and will come forth and serue them And if he shall come in the second watch or in the third and finde them so blessed are those seruants Prou. 19.20 Therefore heare my counsell and receiue instruction that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end The end of the third Diuision THE FOVRTH DIVISION OF THE RIGHT BEHAVIOVR IN DEATH THis behauiour is nothing else but a religious and holy behauiour especially toward God when we are in or neere the agonie and pangs of death Which behauiour containes foure especiall duties The first is to die in or by faith And to die by faith is when a man in the time of death doth with all his heart wholly rely himselfe on Gods especiall loue fauour mercie in Christ as it is reuealed in his holy word And though there be no part of mans life void of iust occasions whereby he may put faith in practise yet the speciall time
contempt and refusing the time of grace the Lord cast them off and reiect them I deny not but that in respect of vs till God hath manifested his will there is hope but in respect of Gods secret decree the time of Gods mercie may bee out euen during this life therefore when mercie is offered wee must take heed we wilfully cotemne it not lest we prouoke the Lord to be gone and vtterly to reiect vs. One of the most feareful signes of a Cast-away is to delay and put off the Lords gratious offer of mercy as we reade of Pharaoh who when Moses offered himselfe to pray to the Lord for him he put it off till the next morrow Exod. 8.9.10 so he that hath the mercies and graces of God offered him to day and puts them off from his youth to his age and from his old daies till his death-bed may iustly feare an vtter reiection euen then when he hopes for most comfort And as it is most certaine that after death teares are fruitlesse repentance vnprofitable as after death no mercie is to be expected nothing but miserie nothing but wrath so is it doubtfull and very dangerous that our sighes teares and groanes are of little force at the very neere approach of death whether by age extremitie of disease or otherwise For at that time when our powers are distracted or spent when no part is free eyther from the sence or feare of his cruell gripe we may well be said to be in death or at leastwise in such a condition or state that doth lesse participate of life then death And therefore at the least it is doubtfull that at that time we shall not remember God and that our repentance shall come too late What a shame is it that the children of this world are wiser in their kind then the children of light A good husband will repaire his house while the weather is faire and not deferre till winter doth rise A carefull Pilot will furnish his shippe whiles the Seas are calme and not stay vntill tempests doe rage The traveller will take his time in his iourney and will hasten when he sees night approach lest darknesse ouertake him The Smith will strike while the iron is hot lâ—st it coole vpon him and so hee lose his labour The Marriner will not let the tide passe him for as the common prouerbe is the time and tide tary for no man The Lawyer will take the terme because he knoweth that it being ended his clients will be gone So we ought to make euery day the day of our terme and a prouident man will repent him of his sinnes in the seasonable time of health and strength and not protract till hee bee in the very armes and the imbracement of death when many occasions may cut from him either his minde or power or time to repent For we haue iust cause to feare that if we would not when we might we shall not be able when we would and that by our will to do euill we may happily lose the power to doe well Thy very tongue will condemne thee in thy trade if thou trust a man with thy wares thou wilt require a bill or bond saying all men are mortall and at lesse then an houres warning But let the Preacher exhort thee to accept of the gratious time of the Lord and put thee in minde that thy life as a vapour is soone gone yet thou wilt not beleeue him but so lead thy life in sinne as if thou hadst the same in see farme And to thee that callest thy neighbours friends and companions to Cards Dice or any such pastime saying come let vs goe passe the time away Is time so slow that it must be driuen I tell thee there are at this day many thousands in hell who if they had many kingdoms would gladly giue them all for one houre of that time whereof thou hast many not to passe it away or driue it from them but in hope to recouer that which thou dost most gracelessely contemne Alas who dares trust to the broken reed of extreame sicknesse or age bruised by originall but altogether broken by our actuall sinnes We haue good cause not to trust to this deferring of time and late repentance For if Esau could not finde repentance albeit he sought it with teares Heb. 12.17 how may we with good reason suspect our extreame late seeking for repentance Not because true repentance can euer bee too late but because late repentance is seldome true as wee haue alreadie heard Et sera rarò seria that which is late is seldome liuely as proceeding rather from feare then from loue from necessitie then from willingnesse and desire rather outwardly pretended then with the heart intended We all of vs in our iolitie thinke we may doe what wee list and so long as God forbeares to punish we will neuer forbeare to sin but still deferre the time of repentance But God grant we may remember and lay to our hearts what that good Father Saint Augustine saith Nihil est infoelicius c. Nothing is more infortunate then the felicitie of sinners whereby there penall impietie is nourished and their malice strengthened and increased When God doth suffer sinners to prosper then his indignatioÌ„ is the greater toward them saith that Father and when hee leaueth them vnpunished then he punisheth them most of all For the further pressing of this doctrine on our consciences let vs obserue some places of Scripture And first let vs see what the Lord saith to such as despise wisdomes call being of three sorts viz. The first that like fooles content themselues with ignorance The second that scoffe at the Lords offer by his seruants The third which are carried away by their owne lusts Prou. 1.24.28 Because I haue called and yee refused I haue stretched out my hand and none would regard and then they shall call vpon mee but I will not answere they shall seeke me early but shall not finde me Noting to vs that as they did refuse the time in which he called so they should call in hope of mercy but finde none Esay 23.12.13 The like we reade how the Prophet Esay calling Ierusalem to repentance in sack-cloath and ashes for their sinnes shee fell to sporting and feasting despising the Lords message and offer of grace by his Prophet what came of it You may reade presently that their contempt comming to the Lords eares he doth answere Surely this iniquitie shall not bee purged from you till you die saith the Lord of Hostes giuing them to vnderstand that seeing they set so light by the admonitions of the Prophet there should bee left them no time to repent in till hee had destroyed them But of all the places of Scripture for this purpose let vs see what the Lord saith to Ierusalem by his Prophet Ezechiel Ezech. 24.13 Because saith hee I would haue purged thee and thou wast not purged thou
heard Yea God hath told thee as we haue said before Because I haue called and you refused you shall call vpon me Prou. 1.24.28 and I will not answere you A dolefull and heauie doome for a dying man It is too late to sow when thy fruite should be in and no time to leaue sinne when sin must leaue thee Luke 16.24 Heb. 12.17 Mat. 25.11.12 Diues prayed but was not heard Esau wept but was not pitied The foolish Virgins knocked but were denied By which fearefull examples it appeareth that it will be too late to call for mercie after this life when the gates of mercie will be shut vp and repentance comes too late For if wee through our negligence and carelessenesse ouerslip this opportunitie which the Lord in mercie offereth vs we cannot recouer it afterward although wee seeke it with teares which we find truely verified by the fore-alledged fearefull examples Esay 59.2 For your iniquities haue seperated betweene you and your God and your sinnes haue hid his face from you that hee will not heare It is therefore the surest and safest way and better by many degrees for the saluation of our soules to leaue our sinnes now in our youth and now to repent in our health then hereafter alas when it may be too late The holy Ghost in the Scriptures pointeth vs to the present time and exhorteth vs to make that the time of our repentance and vpon this Theme many of the holy men of God spent their Sermons Looke in Esay Ieremie and the rest and you shall euer finde that they beate vpon this present time Esay 55. Ier. 35. Heb. 3. Psal 95. Ioel. 2. Now turne vnto the Lord now whiles it is called to day to day if yee will heare his voice this is the accepted time and therefore wee may not come for it many yeeres hence being promised to day Iniquitie did then abound as now it doth and procrastination was euer dangerous and therefore they iudged no doctrine so fitte as often to vrge repentance without all delay So that now euen now is the time of repentance euen now whilst he calleth now whilest he speaketh now whilst hee knocketh now let vs take vp this day and make it the ioyfull day of our repentance For ioy shall be in heauen saith our Sauiour in the Gospell Luke 15.7 ouer one sinner that repenteth Therefore let vs now say this shal be my day of repentance I will deferre it no longer and so let vs repent from day to day euen to our dying day and then whosoeuer shall continue so repenting to the end hee shall surely and vndoubtedly be saued Mat. 24.13 Now for conclusion of this duetie of repentance marke heere how happily we fall vpon repentance God grant repentance to fall vpon vs. It is a grace when it fals vpon a sinfull soule that makes the Diuels murmure Luke 15. and vex themselues in hell and the good Angels reioyce in heauen This is that which makes the eternall Wisdome content to forget our iniquities and to remember them no more then if they had neuer beene and this is Magnaspongia as Saint Augustine calles it the great spunge that wipes them all away out of the sight of God this speakes to mercy to seperate our sinnes from the face of God to binde them vp in bundles and drowne them in the sea of obliuion this is that mourning Master that is neuer without good attendants teares of contrition prayers for remission and purposes of a mended life This makes Mary Magdalen of a sinner a Saint Zacheus of an extortioner charitable and of persecuting Saul a professing Paul Repentance is the Supersedeas that dischargeth all bonds of sinne Behold the office of repentance shee standeth at the doore and offers her louing seruice entertaine mee and I will vnloade thy heart of that euill poyson and returne it to thee emptie though it were full to the brimme Peccasti poenitere millies peccasti millies poenitere millies poenitet adhuc etiam poenitere Hast thou sinned repent hast thou a thousand times sinned why then a thousand times repent hast thou repented a thousand times I say despaire not but still betake thy selfe to repentance If you welcome repentance knocking at your dore from God it shall knocke at Gods doore of mercy for you It askes of you amendment of God forgiuenesse Receiue it therefore and imbrace it The fourth dutie is to die in prayer for when it shall please God in the weaknesse of our bodies to giue vs a remembrance of our mortality and our end let vs pray to God for grace that we may spend the time of our sicknesse in reading Gods word and comfortable bookes in godly conference in holy meditation and in feruent prayer to the Lord first for patience in thy sicknesse secondly for comfort in Christ Iesus thirdly for strength in his mercy and fourthly for deliuerance at his good pleasure yea endeuour as much as thou canst to die praying For when thou art in the depthes of miseries and at it were at the gates of death there is a depth of Gods mercie who is readie to heare and helpe thee for misery must call vpon mercie and Prayer is the chiefest thing that a man may present God withall For by prayer we are oftentimes in spirit with the blessed Apostle rapt vp into the third heauens 2. Cor. 12.2 where we that are otherwise but wormes walke with the blessed Angels and euen contâ—nually to our very end talke familiarly with our God And hence it is that holy men and women in former times could neuer haue enough of this exercise Nazianzen in his Epitaph for his sister Gorgonia writeth that shee was so giuen to prayer that her kneâ—s seemed to cleaue vnto the earth and to grow to the very ground by reason of her continuance in prayer Gregorie in his Dialogues writeth that his Aunt Trasilla being dead was found to haue her elbowes as hard as horne which hardnesse shee gate by leaning to a deske on which shee vsed to pray Eusebius in his Historie writeth that Iames the brother of our Lord had knees as hard as Camels knees benummed and bereaued of all sence and feeling by reason of his continuall kneeling in prayer Hierom in the life of Paul the Ermite writeth that he was found dead kneeling vpon his knees holding vp his hands lifting vp his eyes so that the very dead corps seemed yet to liue and by a kinde of religious gesture to pray still vnto God O how blessed was that soule without the body when as that bodie without the soule seemed so deuout O would to God that we likewise might be so happie so blessed as this holy man was that wee might depart hence in such sort as he did nay in such sort as our Sauiour Christ did who died in prayer Luke 23.46 Father saith he into thy hands I commend my spirit and in such sort as Stephen
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
saith the Wise man hath hope in his death Againe that sudden death is not euill in all respects is apparant For it is not euill because it is sudden but commonly it takes men vnprepared and therefore euill and so makes the day of death a blacke day and as it were a speedie downefall to the gulfe of hell otherwise if a man be readie and prepared to die as he ought alwaies to bee then sudden death is in effect no death but a quicke easie and speedie passage and entrance vnto eternall life and happinesse For why shouldest thou being the child of God vnwillingly suffer a short death that will bring thee to the fruition of life eternall and all happinesse Rather perswade thy selfe that if thou liue in the feare of God thou shalt doe well and so liuing though thou die neuer so suddenly thou shalt doe better and that the worst hurt that sudden death can doe thee if this may be called hurt is to send thee but a little sooner then peraduenture thy fraile flesh would be willing Ioh. 14.2.3 to thy Sauiour Iesus Christ who is gone but a little before thee through great and manifold dangers and temptations to prepare a place as he himselfe saith for thee and to receiue thee vnto himselfe that where he is there thou mayest be also and remember that that worst is thy best hope The worst therfore of sudden death is rather a helpe then a harme Now all these obiections being thus answered at large it doth appeare plainly to be a manifest truth which the Preacher here saith That the day of death is better then the day of ones birth Now I come to the third point in which the reasons and respects are to be considered that make the day of death to surpasse the day of ones birth and they may all be reduced to this one namely that the birth day is an entrance into all woe and miserie whereas the day of death ioyned and accompanied with a godly and reformed life is an entrance and degree to eternall life and glory Which appeareth thus viz. Eternall life hath three degrees one in this life and that is when a man can truly say with the Apostle Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ neuerthelesse I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in mee And this all such can say as truely repent and beleeue and that are iustified sanctified and haue the peace of a good conscience and are furnished with the giftes and graces of Gods holy Spirit which is the earnest of their saluation The second degree is in the end of this life when the bodie goes to the earth from whence it came and the soule returnes to God that gaue it The third degree is in the end of this world at the last iudgement when bodie and soule being re-vnited do ioyntly enter into the kingdome of heauen Now of these three degrees death it selfe being coupled with the feare of God is the second in as much as death is as it were the hand of God to sort and single out all those that are the seruants of God from amongst the wicked of this wretched world So that death is a freedome from all miseries which haue their end in death and which is the first benefit that comes by death and the first step to eternall life and glory And the second benefit that comes by death is that it giues an entrance to the soule and makes way for it and doth as it were vsher it into the glorious presence of the euerlasting God of Christ of the holy Angels and the rest of Gods Saints in heauen And this is a notable comfort against death for as all other euils of paine are to a godly Christian changed into another nature and of punishments are become fauours and benefits so is it also in this of death for now it is not a token of Gods wrath for sinne but an argument of his loue mercie and fauour to his children It is not properly death but as it were a bridge by which we passe to a better life from corruption to incorruption from mortalitie to immortalitie from earth to heauen that is in a word from vanity and miserie to perfect ioy and felicitie and a way thereby made for the resurrection Now who would not willingly passe ouer this bridge that is so easie whereby he goeth from all cares and sorrowes to all delight and pleasure leauing all miseries behind him and hauing all contentation and happinesse before him The gentiles taking it for granted that either after death we should be happie or not be at all concluded that at least death would free vs from all euill and miserie and thereupon did willingly embrace death as a rich treasure The Egyptians also builded gorgeous Sepulchres but meane houses because the one was to them but an Inne the other as they did thinke an eternall habitation which freed them from all misery And Seneca again exclaimes that our whole life is a penance which the Thracians confirmed by their practise celebrating their childrens birth with weeping and lamentation but their death with great ioy and mirth as diuers ancient Writers record whereby insinuating that our life is nothing but miserie and death the end of miserie But they haue beene all greatly mistaken therin for it is the godly Christian only which enioyeth these benefits by death as namely the exemption and freedome from all cares troubles and miseries For which cause the death of the godly is called in the Scriptures by the names of Bed and Peace Esay 57.2 He shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds saith the Prophet It is called by the name of Rest Reu. 14.13 They shall rest from their labours saith the Sonne of God And the Author to the Hebrewes saith Heb. 4.9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God Againe the Scripture entitles death by the name of sleep and speaketh of the dead as of such as are asleepe and therfore the Prophet Daniel saith Dan. 12.2 Many of them that sleepe in the dust of the earth shall awake some to euerlasting life and some to euerlasting shame and contempt And our Sauiour Christ speaking of Iairus daughter which was dead seeing all the people weepe and lament her said vnto them Weepe not Luke 8.52 shee is not dead but sleepeth Iohn 11.11.12.13 Act. 7.60 And touching Lazarus death our Sauiour saith Our friend Lazarus sleepeth And touching Stephens death it is said He fell asleepe For this cause our forefathers called the place allotted for the buriall of the dead Dormitorium a bed-chamber wherein their bodies rest expecting the ioyfull resurrection Homer calleth sleepe fratrem mortis the brother of death Diogenes awaked out of a deepe sleepe by the Physitian and asked how hee did answered Rectè nam frater fratrem amplectitur Well quoth he for one brother embraceth another The like is reported of Gorgias Leontinus and
will carry the snake in their bosomes without any feare Euen so although we cary death about vs in our mortall bodies yea in our bosomes and bowels yet sinne which was her sting being pulled out by the death of Christ shee can onely hisse and make a stirre and ordinarily looke blacke and grimme but can no wayes annoy vs. Which will be the more manifest if we well weigh how Christ our head and Captaine hath quelled and conquered this mightie Gyant for vs whereby none that are Christs members need stand in feare thereof Death saith the blessed Apostle is swallowed vp in victory and Christ was dead and now liueth 1. Cor. 15.54 Reu. 1.18 and that for euer And he hath the keyes of hell and death as he testifieth of himselfe in the booke of the Reuelation Now he that hath the keyes of a place hath the command of that place It is as much then as if it had been said he had the command of death and power to dispose of it at his pleasure And will Christ then that hath such an enemie at his mercie let him hurt and annoy his deare friends nay his owne members and so in effect himselfe Noe noe he conquered death for vs not for himselfe seeing death had no quarrell to him By his vniust death then hee hath vanquished our iust death as Saint Augustine very excellently saith Death could not be conquered but by death therefore Christ suffered death that an vniust death might ouercome a iust death and that he might deliuer the guiltie iustly by dying for them vniustly Whereunto agreeth that speech The vniust sinneth and the iust is punished the guiltie transgresseth and the innocent is beaten the wicked offendeth and the godly is condemned that which the euill deserueth the good suffereth that which the seruant oweth the master payeth that which man committeth God sustaineth For although because he was man he could die and did so yet because he was iust hee ought not to haue died and hee that had no cause to die for himselfe in reason and equitie should not die for others vnprofitably neither did he surely but to the greatest purpose that the Sonne of God dying for the sonnes of men the sonnes of men might thereby bee made the sonnes of God yea that they of bad seruants might bee made good sonnes And this glorious mystery of our Sauiours Incarnation and Passion must needs bring forth glorious effects this strange and vnspeakable loue of God that his onely Sonne should die for vs that the Lord should dye for disobedient seruants the Creator for the creature God for man this strange loue I say must needs bee of strange operation as it is euen to make of sinners iust men of slaues brethren of captiues fellow-heires and of banished persons Kings and to make of death as it were no death but a very easie passage to eternal life for the death of Christ is the death of our death sith hee died that wee might liue and how can it be but that they should liue for whom life it selfe died Surely Death by vsurping vpon the innocent forfeited her right to the guiltie and while shee deuoured wrongfully shee her selfe was deuoured Yea in that Christ hath vanquished death we may be truely said to vanquish it Rom. 8.37 Ephes 5.30 For in this saith the Apostle we are more then conquerours through him that loued vs he being our head and wee his members and where the head is conqueror the members cannot bee captiues Let vs then reioyce that wee haue alreadie seized on heauen in Christ who hath caried our flesh thither in his owne person as an earnest peny and pledge of the whole summe that in time shal be brought thither Wee may then boldly say that there is somewhat of ours aboue already yea the best part of vs as namely our head from which the members cannot be farre yea we may assure our selues that wee being members of such a head yea bodie to it we are in effect where our head is For S. Augustine saith This bodie cannot be beheaded but if the head triumph for euer the members also must needs triumph for euer And that we haue this benefit by Christs ascension into heauen aforehand for vs Bernard excellently sheweth Be it saith he that only Christ is entred into heauen yet I trow whole Christ must enter and if whole Christ then the body as well as the head yea euery particular member of the bodie For this head is not to be found in the kingdome of heauen without his members In a word the head being aboue water the bodie can neuer be drowned although it bee neuer so much beaten and tossed in this world with waues and tempests Oh but life is sweet and death is fearefull how then may I bee prepared against that houre to vndergoe it in a Christian patience without earthly passions I answer this is indeed the infirmitie of our flesh and the propertie of our corrupt nature that we are more desirous of this life fading then of the life to come that is not flitting and hence comes that feare and terror of death Iohn 10.28 Death in it selfe and out of Christ is as we haue heard very dreadfull and we haue reason to feare it as it is an effect of sinne But we speake not of death considered out of Christ or considered in it selfe but of death altered by the death of Christ for so it is no dreadful thing but much to be desired he is our Pastor we need not feare to be taken out of his hands our Aduocate 1. Iohn 2.1 1. Tim. 2.5 Iohn 8.12 Psal 91.1 Iohn 5.22 therefore we need not dread damnation our Mediator therfore we need not feare the wrath of God our light wee neede not feare darknesse our shadow wee need not feare the heat of hell fire our Iudge we need not feare that sentence shall be denounced against vs our life and therefore wee need not feare death Well may the brute beasts feare to die whose end of life is their end of being well may the Epicure feare and tremble at death who with his life looketh to loose his felicitie well may the faithlesse and impenitent sinner feare and quake whose death is the beginning of their damnation well may the voluptuous worldling whose felicitie consists wholy in the fruition of these transitorie things greatly feare death as that which depriueth him of his pomp and preferment of his honours and high calling robbeth him of his iewels and treasure spoileth him of his pastimes and pleasures exileth him from his friends and country and vtterly bereaueth him of all his expectations solace and delight Which Iesus the sonne of Sirach noting said Eccles 41.1 O death how bitter is thy remembrance to the man that liueth at rest in his possessions vnto the man that hath nothing to vexe him and that hath prosperitie in all things yea vnto him that is yet able to receiue
death is of no continuance it is buried in its own birth it vanisheth in its own thought and the paine is no sooner begunne but is presently ended Though the flesh bee weake and fraile yet the spirit is strong to encounter the crueltie of Death and to make it rather a kinde kisse 1. Cor. 4.16 then a cruell crosse We faint not saith the Apostle for though the outward man perish yet the inward man is renued day by day Our Sauiour Christ said at his death and last farewell Iohn 17.1 Father the houre is come glorifie thy Sonne that thy Sonne also may glorifie thee Is there glory in death and is death but an houre It is of no long abode that abideth but an houre and little doe I doubt but that in that houre the soule is more rauished with the sight of God then the bodie is tormented with the sence of death Nay I am further perswaded that in the houre of my death the passion of mortalitie is so beaten backe with impression of eternitie that the flesh feeleth nothing but what the soule offereth and that is God from whom it came and whither it would as Saint Augustine saith with as great hast as happinesse And therefore whether you please to define or diuine of death what it is if it bee rightly broken into parts and passages the elect of God shall finde it a very easie passage euen as it were but a going out of prison a shaking off of our giues an end of banishment a breaking off our bands a destruction of toile an arriuing at the hauen a iourney finished the casting off an heauie burthen the alighting from a madde and furious horse the going out of a tottering and ruinous house the end of all griefes the escape of all dangers the destroyer of all euels Natures due Countries ioy and heauens blisse And from hence doe flow those sweete appellations by which the holy Ghost which is the Spirit of truth doth describe the death of the godly in saying that they are gathered or congregated to their people that is to the company of the blessed and triumphing Church in heauen to come to those which haue deceased before them in the true faith or rather haue gone thither before them So that the holy Ghost vseth a most sweete Periphrasis of death as speaking of the death of Abraham Gen. 25.8 Then Abraham gaue vp the ghost and died in a good old age Gen. 35.29 Gen. 49 33. Numb 20.24 Num. 27.13 an old man and full of yeeres and was gathered to his people And of the death of Isaac And Isaac gaue vp the ghost and died and was gathered vnto his people and so likewise of Iacob of Moyses of Aaron c. It is but the taking of a iourney which we thinke to bee death it is not an end but a passage it is not so much an emigration as a transmigration from worse things to better a taking away of the soule and a most blessed conueying of it from one place to another not an abolishing for the soule is taken from hence and transposed into a place of eternall rest it is a passage and ascension to the true life it is an out-going because by it the godly passe out of the slauerie of sinne to true libertie euen as heretofore the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt into the promised land And as S. Peter termes it it is a laying downe of the tabernacle 2. Pet. 1.14 2. Cor. 5.4 for so he stiles our bodies And as S. Paul termes it it is an vnclothing or putting off of it and a remouing out of the bodie from a most filthie lodging to a most glorious dwelling They are said to be loosed from a port or from a prison and to come to Christ Phil. 1.23 seeing they are led out of the Inne of this present life to the heauenly Countrey and out of the dregs of wicked men to the most blessed societie of Christ and his Saints in heauen They are loosed by death out of the bonds of the bodie for euen as cattell when they haue discharged the labour of the whole day at last about the euening are set free and as they which are bound in prison are loosed from their fetters so the godly are led foorth by death from the yoke of their labours and sorrowes of this life and out of the filthie prison of sinne and by a wonderfull and most sweet translation are caried to a better life Out of all which it clearely appeareth Phil. 1.21 how truely the Apostle hath called the death of the godly aduantage seeing it is aduantage to haue escaped the increase of sinne aduantage by auoyding worse things to passe to better from labour and daunger to perfect rest and security and which is all in all to eternall blessednesse All which appellations of death doe teach vs to be so farre from beeing afraid of it that we ought willingly to welcome it as the easie and ioyfull messenger of our happy deliuerance and not sing loth to depart as all worldlings doe who tremble at the very name of it And thus I passe from the facility of dying to the felicitie of dying of which I may say as Sampson did of his riddle Out of the eater came meate Iudges 14.14 and out of the strong came sweetnesse Now the meat that commeth out of this eater and sweetnesse that proceedeth forth of this strong one is a cessation of all euill and an indowment of all good and by this doore we haue an easie and readie passage to all blessednesse and happinesse where God and with him all good is Man that is borne of a woman saith Iob hath but a short time to liue Iob 14.1 and is full of misery O sweet death that turneth time into eternity and misery into mercie so graciously hath our Sauiour done for vs making medicines of maladies cures of wounds and salues of sores and to his children producing health out of sicknesse light out of darknesse and life out of death Psal 27.13 This made Dauid to daunce in the midst of all his affliction and calamitie when he said I should verily haue fainted vnlesse I had beleeued to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the liuing This hath supported the soules of Gods Saints in the seas of their sorrowes when they thought vpon the day of their dissolution wherein they should be made glorious by their deliuerance For as our Sauiour Christ tooke his flight from the heauen to the Virgins wombe from her wombe to the world from the world to the crosse from the crosse to the graue from the graue vnto heauen againe Euen so from the womb wee must follow his steppes and tread the same path that he hath traced out for vs. Iohn 14.6 I am the way saith our Sauiour the truth and the life He is the way without wandring the truth without shadowing the life without