Son and Holy Spirit O Sacred Trinity which art without beginning and in whom there is no division receive the Soul of thy Servant in peace who is put to death for thy Cause and Gospel After which he submitted his Head to the stroaks of the Executioner Suffering Anno Christi 96 and of his Age 110. The Death of JUSTIN Martyr AFter his having painfully preached the Gospel in many Countreys he came to Rome where he had many Contests with the Philosophers and Sages and was at last by the procurement of one Crescens Condemned and accordingly Beheaded Anno Christi 139. and as Epiphanius has it under the Reign of Adrian some time before he Prognosticated his death So fell this Faithful Labourer in Christ's Vineyard He used to say Thaet which the Soul is in the Body that are Christians in the World For as the Soul is in and not of the Body so Christians are in but no part of the World And also It is best of all not to sin and next to that to amend upon the Punishment Furthermore Tâ—…t it is the greatest slavery in the VVorld to be subject to ones Passions The Death of IRENAEUS THis Holy Man being taken with several of his chief Friends they were led to the top of a Hill on which were placed Crosses on one Hand and Idols on the other and they put to their Choice either to embrace the Idols and Live or be Crucified Upon which they joyfully chose the latter suffering Martyrdom Anno Christi 182. and of Irenaeus his Age 60 or as some will have it 90. He compared the Hereticks and Schismaticks to Aesop's Dog that lost the Substance of Religion whilst they gaped too earnestly after the Shadow Concerning the Vanity of Earthly things he said VVhat profit is there in that Honour which is so short-lived as that perchance it was not Yesterday neither will be to Morrow And such Men as labour so much for it are but like Froth which though it be uppermost yet it is unprofitablest The death of TERTULLIAN HE died Anno Christi 202. and of his Age 63. He used to say of Repentance If thou beest backward in thoughts of Repentance be forwards in thoughts of Hell the burning flames whereof only the tears of a penitent Eye can extinguish Of Satans Power If the Devils without Christs leave had no power over the Gadarens Swine much less have they power over Gods own Sheep Of Faith We should not try Mens Faith by their Persons but their Persons by their Faith Of forgiving Offences It 's in vain to come to the God of peace without peace or to pray for the remission of our Sins without forgiving others We must not come to make an Atonement with God at his Altar before we have made an Atonement with our Brother in our Hearts The Last Sayings of CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS AFter the death of Pontenus Clemens succeeded him in that Office from whence he received the Name of Alexandrinus He was Famous for all manner of Learning and was ordained Presbyter in Alexandria where he propagated the Christian Faith His Sayings were these Such as adorn themselves with Gold and think themselves bettered thereby are worse than Gold and not Lords of it as all that have it ought to be Out of the depth and bowels of the Earth hath God discovered and shewed Gold unto Men and they have made it the occasion of all Mischief and Wickedness Gold to many Men is much dearer than their Faith and Honesty And the love of it makes Man so Covetous as if they were to live here for ever The Death of ORIGEN HE died in the Reigns of Galluâ—… and Volusianus Anno Christi 220. â—…nd of his Age 69. Concerning Gods Providence he used to say That Gods Providence hath ordained all things for some end and purpose He made not Malice and though he can restrain it yet he will not for if Malice were not Vertue would not have a Contrary and so could not shine so clear For the Malice of Joseph's Brethren was the Means whereby God brought about many admirable works of his Providence The death of St. CYPRIAN CYprian said to his Exocutioner Do whatever 〈◊〉 shall be in thy power and thereupon he putting 〈◊〉 his Cloaths delivering them to his Deacons â—…idding them give his Executioner five Twentyâ—…ces of Gold for the kindness he was to do him â—…express he freely forgave him Then pulling a â—…il over his Eyes he kneeled down and had his â—…d sâ—…itten off with a Sword suffering Martyrâ—…m for the Testimony of his Lord and Master â—…o 259. and in the 70 year of his Age as some â—…e it He used to say of Charity Let not that sleep â—…n thy Treasury that may be profitable to the Poor â—…of the Heart and Tongue Two things never wax old in Man The Heart ever imagining new Cogitations the Tongue ever uttering the vain Conceptions of the Heart Of Resignation That which a Man must necessarily part with it 's Wisdom for a Man to distribute it so that God may Everlastingly reward him Of Pride Women that Pride themselves in putting on Silk and Purple cannot lightly put on the Lord Jesus Christ. â—…gain They which Colour their Locks with Yellow and Red begin betimes to Prognosticate of what Colour their Hair shall be in Hell Again They which love to paint themselves in this World otherwise than God Created them may justly fear that at the Resurrection their Creator will know them Of Alms-deeds He that gives an Alms to the Poor offers a sweet-smelling Sacrifice unto God Of Injuries All Injury of Evils present is to be neglected for the hope of good things to come Twelve Attributes he said was in the Life of Man viz. A Wise Man without good works an Old Man without Religion a Young Man without Obedience a Rich Man without Alms a Woman without shamefac'dness a Guide without Vertue a Contentious Christian a Poor Man that is Proud a King that is Unjust a Bishop that is Negligent People without Discipline Subjects without Law The Last Sayings of ARNOBIUS HE was a Famous Professor of Rhetorick in Sicca a City in Africa after his Conversion he applied himself to some Bishops with great earnestness to be Baptized and admitted into the Church When he was Master to Lactantius he used this Expression That Persecution brings Death in one hand and Life in the other for while it Kills the Body it Crowns the Soul He lived under Dioclesian between 300 and 330. The Death of EUSEBIUS HE lived to a good old Age. for the most part in Peace and Tranquility Dying Anno Christi 340. He used to say That Moses wrote the Old Law in dead Tables of Stone But Christ writ the perfect Documents of the New Testament in Living Souls The Death of LACTANTIUS HE was a Man of great Parts both Morally and Divinely Wise he was always Liberal for â—…hatsoever he received he again distributed it to â—…ch as were in want
Disciples who had indignation at the Act and therefore said To what purpose is this waste Yea he reproved them and said unto them Why trouble ye the Woman For she hath wrought a good work upon me For in that she hath poured this Ointment on my Body she did it for my Burial Mat. 26. 8 10 12. She hath done what she could she is come aforehand to anoint my Body to the burying Mar. 14. 8. Here I find was Ointment to embalm him and here were also Tears at his Funeral And yet so far was Christ from blaming her for her Tears that he not only decreed the publishing of this Act through the World where the Gospel should be preached and that for a Memorial of her Mat. 26. 13. but he likewise upbraided Simon with the tears of the sinner and said unto him I entred into thine house and thou gavest me no water for my feet but she hath washed my feet with Tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head c. Wherefore her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much Luke 7. 44 47. Weep then I may upon this sad occasion yea and weep may my Friends too Tears are as proper at a Funeral as Smiles at a Wedding We have two Marriages the first whereof is to living Dust the last to the cold and silent Earth At the former we rejoyce for it was an institution of God before Man had sinned Gen. 2. 24. At the latter we weep for it is the effect of sin We cloath our selves in delightful Colours when we celebrate the former But our Blacks at the latter are our Wedding Garments The Rosemary is served about at each The Gloves and the Favours attend at each The Wine and the other accustomed Entertainments are given at each We go to the Church for the consummation of each Only here is the difference that at the one we rejoice but at the other we mourn Every Guest that is willing to comply with the present occasion must as well be sad at this as be merry at the other Weep we may and weep we must especially my self who have lost my self But yet let me take heed that I offend not in my Tears lest that which is my Duty be turned into a Crime I must especially take heed that I err not in the cause of these Laments for if I grieve at the happiness of him that is departed I discover an Envy rather than Affection If I grieve for the loss which my self sustaineth I must take heed that I wrong not my confidence in God I may not offend in the number of my Tears for if I weep too much I may forfeit my hope or at least I may occasion those that behold me to think that I doubt of the salvation of the Dead Weep I may and weep I must but for fear lest I offend in these my Tears in my earnest Prayers I will beg that they may be sanctified To my God will I go for his Direction and Assistance And in this storm of my Tears I will shelter my self under his Protection The Dying Knell Or Tears for the Death of a beloved Brother and may likewise serve at the Decease of any other faithful Friend A Friend saith King Solomon loveth at all times and a Brother is born for adversity Prov. 17. 17. Friendship which is begotten by the outward form or any other sinister and by-respect liveth no longer than that ground of affection but nature is stronger than our election can be and Religion obligeth far more than both O how great then is my loss of my dearest Brother in whom both excellency of Feature nearness of blood and a gracious conversation conspired together to render him matchless To me he was a Friend but now to the Grave and what loss can be greater than the loss of a Friend To me he was a Brother but now to the Worms And what loss can be more deplorable than the loss of a Brother But to me he was yet more he was a Friend in his Love and courtesies a Brother by his blood yea and an instructer a teacher of Religion and goodness And yet nor love nor blood nor Religion could preserve him mine O what Sorrows do accompany all things transitory His love could not die but his body could And so I am deprived of the Society of my Brother because my Brother was subject to Corruption But is this the adversity for which he was born according to King Solomon Did the Wise Man intend that a Brother is born to bring Adversity Or rather to comfort us in the time of Adversity Had he been a cause of my least disturbance while he was living he would have eased my grief by grieving himself He would have comforted me in the time of trouble had he lived to see my grievous mourning But now alas I am left to lament alone and so much the more for the want of his comfort I now must grieve for him who was my joy and my laments and my griefs increase the higher because for his sake they arise who cannot allay them Had we lived in hatred his death peradventure might have been my Comfort Had we loved but slightly a tear or two I might have thought enough to pay at his Funeral But our Love was firm it was strong yea strong as death and who then can blame me if my sorrows in some measure keep pace with my love O what tie can be so great as that of affection What love so great as of a Brother and Sister And yet so vain is Man so frail are Mortals that either our affection or our persons must have a divorce Had my deceased Brother forgotten the tie and bond of nature and in his life had he turned his love into hatred yet his fault ought not to have lessened my Love to which both Nature and Religion did strongly oblige me Had he loved me but coldly and faintly as divers do yet I ought to have warmed his affection with the fervency of mine But oh he dearly loved he cordially affected me and yet his love and his affection could not prolong his life Had my Brother and I been Idolaters together I might have believed that that sin had slain my Brother But as our Love was constant so our Religion was undefiled yea the strength of our Love was founded on the purity of our Religion and yet he hath payed his debt to Nature The Lord did threaten to set the Egyptians against the Egyptians and that they should fight every one against his Brother Is. 19. 2. Those Egyptians were heathens and Enemies to the Church but my Brother and I were united both in the Profession and the Love of Christianity and yet through our sins I fear that even we destroy each other My sins are partly punished in his death and his death hath given me so deep a wound that peradventure I shall not long survive him Our love was so
of Judah who brake down the brazen Serpent 2 Kings 18. 4. Who did receive presents from the King of Babel 2 Kings 20. 12. Who restored all things that his Predecessors had taken out of the Temple and established pure Religion among his People 2. Chron. 29. 2. And lastly who ordained Priests and Levites to serve in the Temple and also who appointed for their maintenance 2 Chron. 31. 2. This yea even then was he unto whom Almighty God who hath no delight in the Death of a Sinner but rather that he may turn from his Wickedness and Live sent the good Prophet Isaiah saying set thy House in Order for thou shalt die and not live Hereupon I might insist longer but that I shall demonstrate unto you as occasion is offered and now proceed unto the third particular Circumstance regardable in my Text the matter of this Exhortation and that was to set his House in order which is the scope of my Sermon and the main thing Set thy c. Now by this word House you may understand even every Humane Body which although at its first Creation was a most solid sound and incorruptible Substance yet by the entrance in of sin became capable of all sorts of Maladies 't is true before that we knew what a damnable thing sin was we had strong Houses but ever since God Almighty lets us dwell in Paper thatched Cottages and clay Walls every Disease like a tempestuous storm totters us and is ever and anon ready to overwhelm us Now this ruinous House and all decaying Tabernacle which by the corruption of sin is become as a Pest-house fetide filthy and unclean before it can be set in order must be swept clean and throughly rinced of all sins infective dregs First it must be throughly purged from the guilt of blood which leaves such a stain behind it that the whole Land could not be cleansed but by the blood of the shedder for even so did holy David who although he was a renowned and glorious King and holy Prophet of God a Man justified even of his Enemies thou aâ—…t more Righteous than I esteemed of his Subjects thou art worthy of ten thousand of us a Man more learned than his Teachers Yea a Man even after Gods own Heart yet no way respecting the name or applause of Men but is content to shame himself for evermore to record his Sins to his own shame so that he may procure Gods Glory and the good of his Church set thy House in order and not shroud in his head nor run into a Bush as Adam did but writing his fault even in his Brow and pointing at it even with his finger casteth his Crown down at the Lambs feet with the 24 Elders with the poor Publican falls groveling to the Earth thumps his breast strikes upon his thigh wrings his hands and ever pours out his poor soul before the Lord of Hosts and thus humbling himself unto the Dust of Death at length from the bottom of his heart with grief shame and fear cries out most bitterly and betakes himself unto a Psalm of mercy saying Deliver me from blood-guiltiress O God thou art the God of my health and my tongue shall sing of thy Righteousness make my House clean by cleansing me from the guilt of blood and then shall I set fâ—…rth thy praise Ever get your Houses throughly purged from that Sin which is an high offence against Almighty God who hath given it in command saying Thou shalt not kill and if not another much less thy self for thou must love thy Neighbour as thy self first thy self and then thy Neighbour as thy self the nearer the dearer I kill and give life again saith the Lord of Hosts we are not masters of our own lives but only stewards and therefore may not spend them or end them when and how we please but even as God Almighty who bestowed them lest that we come and defile our Bodies which ought ever to be kept clean and set in order As murderers are enemies against God whose image they deface against their Neighbours who are all members with them of one Common-weal and politick Body so are the most cruel Enemies against themselves because by natural instinct every Creature labours to preserve it self the Fire stâ—…iveth with the Water the Water fighteth with the Fire the most filly Worm doth contend with the most strong Man to preserve it self and therefore we are not to butcher our Neighbours or our selves but to expect Gods pleasure and leisure to let us depart in peace seeing that we must all die and not live That bloody Tyrant Nero had his hands so stained with the guilt of innocent blood that when God saw that he would not repent and set his House in order caused him to die both a sudden and a shameful Death and thus God dealt with many more whom I shall leave to your consideration wherefore that you may not taste of the same sauce while it is said to day set your House in order get them throughly cleansed from all guilt and especially from the guilt of Blood and then when you die you shall receive incorruptible Crowns you shall be like Kings and Princes all Co-heirs in the Kingdom of Heaven which for excellency is far beyond thought and glorious beyond report Secondly As the Body before it can be set in Order must be throughly cleansed from the guilt of blood so must it likewise be purged throughout and scoured well of all the Pollutions and Corruptive Dregs which Adultery leaves behind it they are not a few it is a Quotidian Fever to the Corps a Canker to the Mind a Corrosive to the Conscience and a mortal Bone to all the Body It is an efficient cause of more cruel Maladies in the Body than any thing beside First it sets the Body on fire which ever after consumes away by an incurable Consumption Secondly it brings the Body into a Dropsie which by no skilful Physitian with all his cunning Medicines and drawing Issues can be once cured till that Tyrant and all-devouring Death come with its sharp stinging Arrows and execute its office Concupiscence is like a fire and our Bodies unto seething pots which cannot be cooled but either by taking away the fuel by keeping it in continual motion by casting in of cold water or lastly by taking it altogether from the fire Therefore let every man in the fear of God use these means prescribed for the cooling of intemperate Lust boiling in his flesh First I say let him take away the fuel let him refrain himself from eating and drinking too much lest at last Lust command like a Tyrant for saturity is the father of wantonness and uncleanness the Daughter of surfeiting sine Cerere Libero friget Venus without Nectar and Ambrosia Concupiscence cannot long continue for Lady Venus dwells still at the sign of the Ivy-bush where there is cleanness of Teeth usually there is no filthiness of
the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Body according to that he hath doae whether it be good or bad ISAIAH xxxviii Set thy House in Order for thou shalt Die and not Live MANS Body before that dismal Conquest we all deplore as well as the Poor Soul was conditionally Immortal and so to this very day had ever continued if it had not been for the damnable Sin of Disobedience committed by Adam and Eve our First Parents But this was no sooner Gained than Lost and the time of Mans Life ever since hath been as a Point the Substance of it ever flowing the Sense obscure and the Whole Composition of the Body tending to Corruption If that you should live three hundred years or as many thousand of years yet with all remember this that at the last you shall be compelled by Death Gods all-resting Bailiff to lay down these rotten ruinous and clay-decaying Tabernacles of yours for Dust you are and unto Dust you shall return and peradventure you shall not have a good warning before hand as the good King Hezekiah had here but be thrust out of House and Harbour in less than an hours warning For Death which will put a period to every Mans days 2 Tim. 4. 7. is like a Sergeant sent from above upon Action of Debt at the Suit of Nature mounted upon his Pale Horse will come on unawares rap at your Doors Alight Arrest you all and carry you bound Hand and Foot into a Land as dark as Darkness it self from whence you shall be summoned at the last dreadful Audit to the Bar of Justice in the high Court of Heaven when your Bill shall be brought in how that you have ever Rebelled and most notoriously transgressed against the Lord of Hosts both in Thought Word and Deed and have ever spun away our time as tho' that Death which is the end of all flesh would never follow wherefore to the intent that Hezekiah that good King might be made more certain of his fatal Destiny occasioned by our first Parents and have the less account to make at the great and terrible day of Doom when Christ Jesus the Worlds Saviour shall descend from Heaven which is the center of all good wishes with his Heavenly Host of blessed Angels riding in Pomp and great Majesty upon the Wings of the Wind with the loud sounding Trumpet of God and the all tearing Voice of the Arch-Angel to judge both the quick and Dead God sent unto him the good Prophet Isaiah to incounter with him and to put him in mind of his mortal Song The whole verse runs thus In those days was King Hezekiah sick unto Death and Isaiah the Prophet the Son of Amoz came unto him and said unto him thus saith the Lord. Set thy House in order for thou shalt die and not live These words as they distribute themselves do consist of 〈◊〉 Principal and Essential Parts First of an Admonition or earnest Exhortation Set thy House in Order And then secondly of a sound and undeniable Reason which is threefold Affirmative and Negative First Affirmative for thou shalt Die and the Negative and not Live Set thy House c. Now of these in their due order severally and first of the Admonition or earnest Exhortation Set thy House in Order in which you have these three things regardable First the Reason warning which was Almighty â—…od by the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah as is made manifest in express termes in the former part of the Verse And Isaiah the Prophet the Son of Amoz came unto him and said unto him thus saith the Lord. Secondly the Person warned or exhorted which was none other but even good King Hezekiah and by him all other And then thirdly and lastly the matter of the Exhortation and that was to Set thy House in Order Now of these which shall have the first place in my Discourse shall be of the Person exhorting and that was God Adam who had attained unto the state of Perfection in his Life and Conversation relying wholly upon Natures first intentions never so much as once dream'd of Death which is a Separation of Soul and Body or any Alteration until Almighty God unto whom all hearts are open no secrets hid seeing his corrupt and base nature came unto him and told him plainly and roundly to his face how that he was but Dust and Ashes and thither should return again Gen. 3. 19. Thus Almighty God by the mouth of Moses the Faithful was ever warning the Israelites being ever a most stiff-necked and rebellious Generation of their Mortality Deut. 32. 21. saving They have moved me to Jealousie with that which is not God they have provoked me to Anger with their Vanities And I will move them to Jealousie with those which are not a People I will provoke them to Anger with a foolish Nation for a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn unto the lowest Hell and shall consume the Earth with her encrease and set on fire the Foundation of the Mountains I will heap mischief upon them I will spend my Arrows upon them they shall be burnt with hunger and devour'd with burning heat and with bitter Destruction I will also send the Teeth of Beasts upon them with the poyson of Serpents of the Dust and to raise this Blister the higher the Sword without and Terrour within shall destroy both the Young Man and the Virgin the suckling also with the Mâ—…n of Gray Hairs vers 25. Thus Almighty God did threaten them if that they would not set their House in Order and repent that he would bring them to the Dust again wherefore Moses being a true Mirror of pity out of his most tender Love and boundless Affection towards them all in general lest that Almighty God should send forth his sharp piercing Arrows and give them mortal Wounds in his heavy Wrath and cruel Anger cries out most bitterly by way of Exclamation saying O that they were wise then would they understand this and consider their latter end Thus the Father of Spirits and Lives having out of a Chaos or nothing created all and fashioned Man after his own Image seeing his corrupt and base Nature too inclinable unto all sorts of Wickedness by a sudden Metamorphosis transforms him into what he was again just like the Cat in the Fable which when she would not change her manners having all her members made after the form of a Woman according to hearts desire was turned into a Cat again Thus fâ—… concerning the first particular Circumstance the Son warning even Almighty God by the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet wherefore now to breviate my Discourse in fewer Words lest that I should be too prolix in the prosecution I shall proceed unto the second thing subservient to this Explication and that is the person warned or here to set his House in Order which was none other but even Hezekiah that good King