SOme take Lord, essentially for the whole Trinitie, Iehouah Elohim; some personally, for one of the Persons, for indeede the vvhole Trinitie, and euery Person in the Trinitie, is oft in the Scripture tearmed by this vvord Lord. Some appropriate it here to God the Father, some to Christ the Sonne, so In locum. Theophilact and Euthumius: some [...]o God the holy Ghost, so In Lucam. Athanasius.

Apply it vnto Christ, and then you haue to consider a great Mysterie, a great Mercy, God manifested in the flesh, iustified in the spirit, seene of Angels, preached vnto the Gentiles, 1 Tim. 3.16 beleeued on in the world, and receiued in­to glory; for that incarnate Babe, vvhich Simeon hath in his armes, in respect of his hu­manitie hee cals him Lord, in respect of his Diuinitie. From whence wee see demonstra­tiuely, what all Orthodoxe Antiquitie affirmes, the testimonie of Scriptures 1 Ioh. 1.14 Ephes. 4.10 Phil. 2.6.7.8., harmony of all reformed Churches Of Bohe­mia, Basill, France, Sweula, see harmo­nie of con­fessions., Generall and Pro­uinciall Concels, seuerall Creedes, both Apo­stolicall [Page 92] and Nicene, confirme, that Christ the Messias, the Sonne of God Mat. 3.17 Psal. 2.7., is both Ioh. 17.3. Iohn 1 1. God and Man Esay 7.14; Christus Deus de Patre, Homo de Matre, &c. God of his Father, Man of his Mother Mat. 10.18.23. Luke 1.27.31.34.: of his Fathers immortalitie of his Mothers virginitie: of his Mother without Father, of his Father without a Mother; a Priest for euer after the order of Melchise­dech Heb. 5.10.: without Father as hee was Man, with­out Mother as hee was GOD: of his Father without time, of his Mother without seede: not borne without eyther man or woman, as was Adam Gen. 1.27; nor of man without a woman, as was Eue Gen. 2.22.: nor of both man and woman, as are wee the posteritie of Adam and Eue; but of a woman without a man, Patrem habuit in Coelis, Matrem quesiuii in Terris August. de temp. hom. 9 vide hom. 13, hauing a Father in Heauen hee sought for a Mother in earth; yea, such a Mother as made the My­stery so miraculous, as all things in heauen and earth cannot paralell or patterne it: for these three things in this one are accompli­shed of GOD, admirably singular, and singu­larly to be admired; Deus & Homo, Mater & Virgo, Verbum & Caro; to wit, God and Man, a Mother and a Maide, the Word and Flesh, vnited in one. A Mystery neuer suffi­ciently to be admired; Ʋt propter nos veniret in mundum, per quem factus est mundus; a Mer­cy neuer enough to be magnified, of men [Page 93] and Angels; that for our sakes hee should come into the world, which made the world; that the Creator of Mary should be borne of Mary, that Dauids Lord should be Dauids Sonne; hee which was long before Abraham, the seede of Abraham; the Maker of the earth made of the earth; that as in the nonage of of the world man was made after the Image of God, so in the dotage of the world, God should come in the similitude of sinfull man; that God should be made man, that man should be as a God; that God should descend downe to the earth, that man should ascend vp to the heauen. Oh wonder at this you that wonder at nothing: for my part (saith Cyprian Cyprian) I doe not admire the beautie of the Sunne, the colours of the Raine-bow, the glory of the Moone, the motion of the Heauens, the fixed stabilitie of the earth, the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, the varietie of the Creatures, the alteration and succession of times and seasons, nor any thing else amongst all the Creatures, Celestiall and Sublunarie; but this I admire, and for euer will, Deum in vtero, Creatorem in creatura, &c. God made man, the Creator borne of the Creature, and for the Creature; yea, the mighty God before whom the heauens shake and the Mountaines tremble, a little Infant in the armes of a Virgin Mother, in the armes of old Simeon an aged Father: this [Page 94] is such a worke, such a wonder, that I say with S. Ierome Hierome., Quod natura non habuit, &c. that which Naure had not, which Vse knew not, which Reason was ignorant of, mans Minde vncapable of, which the Cherubins conceiued not; the Angels, till reuealed, vnderstood not, which all the Powers of created nature vvere amazed at, came to passe, when CHRIST by his Incarnation, did vnite the Humanitie to the Diuinitie, in a true, naturall, reall, and Hypostaticall Vide Zan­chium de incar. verbi. vnion.

Vse. Oh therefore let vs reape the fruit of this Vine, since he is come from heauen to earth, to marry vs in our owne nature Bern. ser. 2 in Cant., Nam vt Sponsus & Sponsa in Thalamo, &c. for as man and wife are one in the Bride-chamber, so God and man one Christ in the wombe of the Virgin. Oh let vs labour by faith to be vnited and marryed vnto him, to be made members of this Head, Branches of this Vine, Buildings vpon this Corner-stone, parts of his Body, Spouses of this Bridegrome, that with the vvise Virgins being contracted by faith vnto him here in grace, the Marriage may be so­lemnized in Glory. Then shall wee truely be kissed with the kisses of his loue Can· 1.1.: Oh foe­lix osculum Oh foelix osculum, in quo non os [...]ri, sed De­us homini vnitur., &c. Oh happy kisse, which is not a ioyning of lips, but a ioyning of loues betwixt God and man.

Secondly, was this Lord borne man, for vs, [Page 95] let vs labour to be borne againe to him in that spirituall new-birth and Regeneration, which the Scriptures call a new Creation Psal. 51.12, a holy turning Ioel 2.12., change Rom. 12.2., and conuersion Ier. 31.18 of the whole man, in the renouation of all the Powers and faculties of body and soule, supe­riour and inferiour, both in the intellectuall parts, as in memory, will, vnderstanding, &c. as also in the lower faculties, irascible and con­cupiscible: this new birth which the Prophets haue continually vrged Esa. 31.6. Ier. 3.12.14 Ezek. 18.30 Ose. 14.2., which Iohn Mat. 3.2. Baptist and the Disciples haue preached Lu. 24.47, which Paul Acts 26.17.18. and the Apostles haue continually pressed in their Sermons Act. 2.38. and writings, which our Sauiour Christ himselfe, both in his pub­lique preaching Mar. 1.15, and priuate conference with Nichodemus Ioh. 3.3.4., hath so doctrinally explained, and by application inforced to be performed of all, vnder paine of damnation Luke 13.3.5., it is so needfull, nay, of such absolute necessitie to be practised of all Christians chiefely, that till a man bring forth the fruits of it, worthy re­pentance and amendement of life Mat. 3.8, he is but like the barren Figge-tree Luke 23.7, corrupt and twise dead Iude v. 12., without either sap of Grace, or blos­some of goodnesse, fit to be hewen downe, and cast into the fire Mat. 3.10; nay, a beast and no man; a foxe, a Viper, a Dogge, Phil. 3.2. filthy and vncleane, as were Herod Lu. 13.32., the Iewes Luke 3.7, and the Tit. 1.12. Cretians: nay, a horse Ier. 5.8., and Oxe Pro. 7.22.; nay, worse then the [Page 96] Oxe and Asse Esay 1.4., then the Horse and Mule, without vnderstanding, vnwise, Rom. 1.29 30. Psal. 14. Rom. 3.12. disobedient, rebellious, fooles Psal. 53. Rom. 1.22., blinde men Iohn 9 31., naturall men, without God in Christ, aliants from God, and strangers from the Common-wealth of Eph. 2.12. Israel, miserable; naked, and wretched men Reu. 3.17: for whom is reserued Hell Psal. 9.17, and the second death, wrath Rom. 2.8 9 and vengeance, fire and Brimstone Reu. 21 8., storme and tempest: exclusion out of Reu. 22 15 heauen, and intrusion, and eternall inclusion in the bottomlesse pit, with the Diuell and his An­gels Mat. 25.41., insomuch that as Augustine well, Nasci, & non renasci, generati & non regenerari, for a man to be borne and not to be borne againe, to haue the nobilitie of the first birth without the new birth; be hee what hee will be, Prince or Potentate, King or Kesar: or the worlds Monarch, a second Alexander, if hee haue onely generation from Adam without regene­ration from the Spirit of Christ, the second Adam; if hee be not borne to him by water and the Spirit, that was borne and dyed for him, comming by water and by bloud 1 Ioh. 5.6, hee had better as the Scripture saith of Iudas, that hee had neuer beene borne Marke 14 21, nay, that a Mil­stone had beene hung about his necke, and hee throwne into the Sea the first houre hee was borne, for then he should haue bene dam­ned for his originall sinnes: but his damnati­on shall now be aggrauated for his actuall [Page 97] sinnes; chiefely, for this sinne of Omission, in liuing so long within the Church, without the life of grace, (like a rotten Bough, or wood­den Legge,) No part of the root of Iesse Esay 53.2, or body of Christ, without regeneration, in not beleeuing in, or liuing like that light which for that end came into the world Iohn 3.19 20.: those which before sate in darknesse, and in the shadow of death, being illuminated Luk. 2.29, should cast off the workes of darkenesse, and walke like the chil­dren of the light 1 Thes. 5.6., like Disciples of this Lord, who was made man, to redeeme Sathans slaues into the libertie of his owne Sonnes.

Secondly, in Simeons Compellation, Lord, let it rectifie our practise: wee vse or rather abuse this great and glorious Name in our mouthes at our pleasures, not onely in rash, vaine, and false swearing and forswearing, to which sinnes there belongs a swift curse Mal. 3.5., but without reuerence, respect, or regard in our ordinary and customary talke, which at euery word, and vpon euery triuiall and friuilous oc­casion, is stuffed out with foolish and vaine ad­miration, as oh God, oh Lord, oh Iesus, oh Christ See M ^r. Perkins his Gouerne­ment of the tongue, tossing like a Tennis ball this great and fearefull Name, the Lord our God, the mighty Iehouah, which the very Iewes feare and tremble to nominate at this day.

Others againe, in their Pharisaicall Ori­sons, Paganish Prayers, Heathenish Bablings, [Page 98] vse this word Lord, in their Tantologies and repetitions, as the Papists the word Iesus, euen like a Superstitious Popish charme, thinking to be heard for their much babling Mat. 6.7.; nay, imagining (which is the grosse and foggy ig­norance of our both vulgar and vicious com­mon and carnall people) that if euen in the houre of death, like the Theefe on the Luk. 23.41 crosse, or in their old age with Simeon, they cry, Lord, Lord; if they can haue time but to say Lord haue mercy vpon them, they are cocke­sure of heauen, it is no matter how they liue.

Ans. It is true indeede, if they had the Faith of Simeon and the penitent Theefe; if they had the Spirit of God, and zealous hearts, like them, they should be heard and helped: yea, inter Pontem & Fontem, crying betwixt the Bridge and the Riuer, betwixt the Axe and the necke; for, Ʋelox Spiritus san­cti gratia, the Spirit is nimble and speedy like the winde, in breathing grace: and, Pe­nitentia vera non sera, True Repentance is neuer too late, and hee that cals vpon the Lord shall be Ioel 2. Act. 2.21. saued: But alas, then thou must call vpon the LORD with such an heart as did Simeon: for, the Lord reiects and abhors all prayers that come not from the Esay 59.13 Esay 64.7. heart, as hee did Caines Sacrifice Gen 4., as execrable and abhominable 1 Sam. 25 37. But now, thou that hast liued in sinne, in health and in youth, in thy [Page 99] old age, and in sickenesse, by these sinnes, art likely to be depriued of Gods Spirit, and of thine owne heart. For, as Sinne quench­eth the Spirit, as vvater quencheth fire: so, it takes away the heart, Ose 4. verse 11. there­fore Nabal vvhen hee dyed, hee vvanted his heart: it vvas dead like a stone 1 Sam. 25 37. Now thou Nabal, thou foole, thou stony heart, what profit wilt thou haue in crying Lord, Lord? thou maist cry so till thy tongue cleaue to the roofe of thy mouth: thou maist howle vpon thy bed like a Wolfe Ose 7.14., and yet the Lord stoppe his eares from hearing, and folde vp his hands from helping. The foo­lish Virgins knocked and cryed, Lord open vnto vs, yet were shut out, so shalt thou, Mat. 25. For, not euery one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdome of Heauen, Math. 7.21. But hee that doth the will of God, as Simeon did: now, the will of the Lord is, that thou shouldest repent betimes, call vpon him, pray vnto him, and prayse him, but all from a touched heart.

THE second thing obseruable here is his Desires Limitation, in this word Now: which denotates the Time present. Which word, like all the rest in the Scripture, hath his weight; for, as S. Ierome once obserued, Nulla Littera, nulla Syllaba, &c, No Letter, no Syllable, nay, no Tittle, no Pricke wants his energie and force; or is vnsignificant in the originall. Here Simeons minde may be thus expressed; Lord it hath pleased thee of thy mercy, not my merit, to giue mee a reuela­tion, that I shall not see death, vntill I see the Annoynted of the Lord, verse 26. now by the motion of thy Spirit, comming into the Temple, verse 27. I perceiue that this Babe that is brought in hither to be done vnto ac­cording to the custome of the Law, by his Parents, is annoynted and appoynted to be the Prince, and Priest, and Prophet of his Church; therefore Lord, now I am willing, nay, desirous to depart in peace, since I haue in mine armes the Prince of peace, in my heart [Page 101] the spirit of peace, in my conscience inward peace: thou hast kept touch, and performed what thou hast promised: I haue my expecta­tion satisfied, my desires accomplished, there­fore I desire not to liue any longer. I am an aged man, and ready to be gathered to my Fathers; A ripe apple, fit to fall from the tree, I cannot liue long by the course of nature, I desire not to liue long by the instinct of grace: it is better for mee to remoue out of this Ta­bernacle, then to runne further in the Pilgri­mage of my few and euill dayes: better to de­part in peace, then continue in this worlds Prison. I know I must dye: neuer so well, ne­uer so willingly as now, euen now, when I haue in mine armes the conquerour of death, the Lord of life.

Wee see in Simeon, Obserue. that the godly haue of­tentimes diuers raptures and sweet ioyes, as in life, so chiefely in their dissolutions. So had Steuen, when about to be stoned, hee saw the Heauens open, and the Sonne of man stan­ding at the right hand of God, Acts 7.56. Such feelings diuers of the Martyres haue had at the Stake, nay, euen in the heate of flames and fires, so experimentally, that M ^r. Glouer knew as well when Gods Spirit came to him, as a cold body feeles externall heate or warmth: so comfortably, Mr. Foxe his Marti­rologie. that good Cran­mer indured the burning of his (once guilty) [Page 102] hand with lesse motion, then some abide the Goute or Tooth-ach. Many such rauishmentS and inward comforts diuers of the Saints haue felt, (how euer at other times with perplexed Iob, and penitent Dauid, so deiected, as though they were reiected of God,) that they haue desired the Lord a while to with-draw his pre­sence, the weake vessels of their fraile nature not being able to containe that fulnesse of the Spirit which they haue felt. Such an extasie was Paul in, when rapt vp into the third hea­uens, hee heard Ʋerba ineffabilia, words not to be vttered, himselfe transposed from himselfe; whether in the body, or without the body hee wist not: hee was more then in an ordi­nary rauishment, in his sure Sanctuary that he had against Principalities and Powers, life and death, &c. built vpon the sure anchor and Corner-stone of Gods loue to him in Christ: so in his annihilating and vilifying all things, as Pharisaicall learning, birth, knowledge, riches, and the like, as drosse and dongue in respect of the excellent knowledge of Christ IESVS, and him crucified: so when hee was ready not onely to goe to Ierusalem to bee bound, but to dye for Christ: so in his expe­ctation and assurance of that Crowne vvhich Christ, that righteous Iudge, would bestow vpon him, hauing fought a good fight, and finished the Faith, his affections were infla­med, [Page 103] his Spirit wondrously reioyced, his heart ouer-ioyed, and his desires transcendent. The like Iubilies haue many of Gods Children kept with their God, in such extasies of ioy, as haue shewed themselues (like the Sunne-beames through a cloud) through the vaile of the flesh, euen in outward alterations, and Symptomies.

Some in their Meditations, hauing their 1 thoughts so sequestrated, and their spirit so abstracted from all earthly things, that their corporall senses haue not perceiued outward obiects: no, not so much as the sound of Bels neare ringing.

Others haue forgot their repast and feeding, 2 the loue of Christ being better then wine, and the taste of the Spirit sweeter then honey, and the honey-combe: such things the Papists write of their Aquinas, Bonauenture, Katheran of Sienna, &c. and other their Monkes, Fri­ars, Virgins, vestall Votaries; but Surius is vn­sure in his reports, Lippomanus his lips are not freed from lies, and Marrulus makes and marres many Fables. It is more likely vvhat is writ of Augustine and Bernard in their So­liloquies in this kinde.

Others haue expressed their inward rap­tures, 3 in their very countenances, as Moses and Steuen, whose faces so shined, when the one had beene on the Mount with God, the [Page 104] other disputing for God, that they seemed like the faces of Angels, Acts 6.15.

4 Others haue beene so carryed away in such glimpses of glory as the Lord hath shewed them; they haue beene so inebriated and spi­ritually drunke with the wine of the Spirit, that they haue not knowne what they haue said, as Peter in Christs Transfiguration, Mat. 12.

5 Others haue neuer beene satisfied vvith commerse with God, in speaking with God, and speaking to God, by reading the Word and Prayer: some reading ouer the Bible foureteene times in a yeere, as Alphoxsus; others as constantly as Cyprian read Tertullian, or Alexander, Homer: others trauelling in their iourneyes, as Phillips Eunuch, Acts 8. Others at their Tables, as duely as their meate: others praying three times a day, with Daniel; thrice with Paul; frequently, yea at midnight, with Dauid and Silas; so long, so oft, till their knees were growne as hard as the earth they knee­led on, as Ierome in the Desart: others seauen houres together, (yet obseruing none canoni­cally) as Father Latimer: so haue they chawed their chud on that hidden Manna which God gaue them, hauing still a godly dropsie, (like the Worldlings golden dropsie) vnstanched.

6 Others haue fallen into bodily dead sownes by their heauenly visions, and rauishments of [Page 105] the inward man, as Iohn surnamed the Di­uine, Reuel. 1.10.17. such, Daniel, Dan. 8.16.17. when groueling on the ground, hee lay as dead; so Ezekiel by the Riuer Kebar, with many moe.

Now, Reasons why the godly haue oft extraordi­nary ra­uishments. the Reasons why God doth thus de­light, and oft, as it were, ouer-ioy his Chil­dren are:

First, to giue them some taste and feeling of his loue and fauour to them, euen as a Master will oft shew to his Seruant some argu­ment of his loue, and a Father declare to his 1 childe some testimonie of his fatherly affecti­on: so deales God with his.

Secondly, to incourage them against cros­ses: 2 the Marriners heart would breake, if he should alwayes be tossed in such stormes, as Ionas and Paul tryed, without euer any merry gales. The Traueller would be too much per­plexed with continuall showrings and tem­pests, without any intermission or interposi­tion of refreshing Sunnie beames: so were the world and worldly woes insufferable and in­tolerable to a weake and wearied Christian, if the holy Ghost the Comforter, should not wonderfully blow and breathe, and reflexe vpon vs.

Thirdly, that they may haue some good 3 relish and feeling of those better and more lasting and euerlasting ioyes, of which they [Page 106] shall haue ere long the fruition, of which these are certaine Images and Ideaes, sparkes and reflexions; for, euen as the wicked and the re­probate, in the rage and hell of their consci­ence, feele oft-times certaine flashings of hell­fire, which are as it were summoners to iudge­ment, Heraulds of their damnation, and Pro­logues of their Tragicall execution: so God distils into the hearts of the righteous hidden and holy heates, as it were drops of that foun­taine of life with which they shall be refresh­ed; and glimpses from the Sunne of Righte­ousnesse, with whose beames they shall be ra­uished.

Vse. 1 Of Redar­gution.This then, first, reformes their mindes, or refutes their madnesse, that thinke the estate of Grace to be most comfortlesse. Many mil­lions in the world thinke the Professors of the Word to be depriued of all inward and out­ward ioyes; men as retchlesse as richlesse, as forlorne in their soules as forworne in their bodies; they appeare to them as budlesse and beautilesse Trees, and withered branches: and why? because they cannot discerne any thing in them but sighing and sobbing, and wayling and weeping, and Melancholy, and solitari­nesse: they will not be sociable vvith their neighbours in gossipping and company-kee­ping, in walking abroad and talking, in prat­ling and prating at home, in meetings and [Page 107] merriments in Tauernes and Tipling-houses, in feasts and frolickes, in sports and pastimes, in dallyances and drinkings, in gurmundizing and gluttony; they neyther care for worldly play, as Carding or Dicing, &c. nor to see Playes, the Baudes of loose lust: therefore they maruell how they liue since they are ne­uer merry. Hence the Lords owne Simions, gracious and godly men, such as haue set their faces to Sion, framed aright their life, and fit­ted for death, are censured and derided, as da­stards and dotards, as silly and simple, as Mon­kish, Monasticall, Stoicall, and vnciuill men; nay, as fantastiques and fooles: hence comes the hellish Prouerb, Gods followers, Gods fooles; that, Gods Sheepe, Gods Geese, Gods Ganders, and such like Blasphemies: but alas poore de­luded Soules, they must know that as our Sa­uiour Christ had meate to eate vvhich the Iewes knew not of, and as he was to goe whi­ther his Disciples wist not of; so the true Christian and beleeuer hath comforts here, that the world knowes not of, and is to goe to endlesse and prizelesse comforts hereafter, such as worldlings wot not of: here they haue the testimony of a good conscience, as had Acts 24. The de­scription of a good consci­ence. Paul, which is a continuall feast, a continua­ted Christmas; alwayes Iubile yeere, the gol­den bed of Salomon, the beautifull Porch of the Temple, Fidus achates, a holy and a happy [Page 108] companion. Secondly, they haue the loue of God shed abroad in their hearts, by the Spirit of God. Thirdly, they haue those extraordi­nary ioyes, and sodaine extasies, chiefely in their Soliloquies and deuotions with God, the Sunne of his goodnesse shining vpon them, in the heate and light, in the comfort, and power of the Spirit, euen after they haue ray­ned, powred, and showred downe their teares into the Lords bosome, which they would not exchange for Crownes and Empires. Fourth­ly, like Steuen and Paul, and Simeon here, they are euen filled with the holy Ghost, tasting of such ioyes (which are but the first fruits of the Spirit, and the earnest of their inheri­tance in heauen) as none know, but those vvhich experimentally feele. For as none knowes the loue of a Parent to his Childe, but those that are Parents; nor of a good Shepheard to his Sheepe, a good Pastour to his people, but hee that is a good Shepheard indeed: so none knowes the comfortable con­dition of a good Christian, liuing and dying, but hee that is a Christian indeede; a common Christian, a naturall man, a wicked man, a ciuill honest man knowes it no more then a young childe doth Greeke and Hebrew; dis­cernes it no more, then a blinde man doth colours; feeles it no more, then a stocke, or a stone, or a dead man; esteemes it no more [Page 109] then Esau doth his Birth-right, or the Pro­digo his patrimonie; then Aesops Cocke, 1 Cor. 1.23: a Pearle: accounts of it (as the Iewes and Gen­tiles, and all profane men account of the Go­spell) euen meere foolishnesse; and therefore they so blatter and blaspheme, and like bruite beasts speake euill of those things, Iude v. 10. and those persons which they know not; but I will as­sure thee, how ere thou thinke the poore and penitent Christian, the sincere and zea­lous, to raue, as the Iewes thought of Ieremy, to be distract, or mad, or besides himselfe, as Festus thought Paul, Act. 26.24. as Christs Country-men thought of our Sauiour, to bee simple men, and fooles, &c. yet neuerthelesse they know, with Dauid, that it is better to be a doore-keeper in Gods house, nay, to suffer afflicti­on, with Moses and Gods people, then to in­ioy the pleasures of sinne, then to inioy all the priuiledges in Pharaohs Court, then to reioyce here for a while, with Diues, Luke 16. Eccles. 12. and Salomons young man, and then to quake in Iudgement and be damned in hell: yea, they euen in this vaile of teares haue more ioy in their fasting then thou in feasting; more in praying, then thou in playing; more in sighing, then thou in singing; for euen in the midst of mirth the heart of the vvicked is heauy, vvhen GOD strikes, and Conscience gnawes; but the godly are merry in prison, are comforted in persecu­tion, Act. 16.25. [Page 110] reioyce after stripes, Acts 5.41. Ionas 2.1.2 prayse God, in the deepe, and in the Whales belly, blesse GOD after hee hath smit them, and exult in Spirit in their old yeeres, as did Simeon. Besides, thy ioyes are vaine, vile, carnall, sensuall, like thy selfe (like the Horse and Oxe, that delights onely in a good fat pasture, Exhortat. though the Pin­fold, and the slaughter-house be the next dish: but theirs are pure, chaste, sincere, heauenly, eternall, like that God that sends them, like that Spirit that workes them: therefore get thine eyes opened to see thy miserie, and ioyne thy selfe to them whom now thou despisest, (as Rahab and Ruth did to the true Church) that thou maist finde mercy.

Secondly, whereas Simeon is now willing to depart, hauing seene Christ, and so reioyceth in this expected obiect: it is obseruable, that the Patriarkes all of them in their times and ages expected CHRIST, euer since the pro­mise of this Messias was made vnto our Pro­toplasts, Gen. 3.15. our first Parents, Adam and Eue: Simeon lookes for him here in his generation, so did the Church of Ierusalem, so did the rest in their generations. Eue thought he was then come when shee bore Caine, confessing that shee had receiued a man from the Lord, Gen. 4.1. Abraham desired to see his day. Iacob wayted for his saluation, Gen. 48.18. Gen. 48.18. Moses desired GOD to send him to deliuer [Page 111] Israel out of Aegypt, Exod. 4.13. Iob vvas comforted in this expected Redeemer, Iob 19.25. Yea, Mat. 13.17 many Prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which wee see, euen the Maiestie of God clothed with flesh, as a man is shod with Sandals on his feete. And sure the Ancients for this cause much exte­nuate the Polygamie and multiplicitie of wiues of the Patriarkes, as of Iacob, &c. as also in taking their Maides as Concubines; which they say was done, non propter libidinem, sed propter prolem, not for lust, but for multi­plying a holy seede: euery one in their dayes desiring to propagate the promised Seede of the woman.

In which wee see Gods great mercy to vs now vnder the Gospell, Vse. Of Consola­tion. more then to those vnder the Law: for, then came into the world the great Physitian of the world, to cure the great Patient, which was the world; which so long did languish; when we stood in most need of him. The former ages had but a glimpse of this light of the world; they saw him but darkely and obscurely, tanquam inspeculo, tan­quā in aenigmate, as it were in a cloud, in a glasse, in Leuiticall shadowes; but wee see him cleare­ly, euen fully, as the Sunne at noone day: per­spicuously in the Gospell, euen as the Wise­men saw him in the Stable, as Simeon and Anna in the Temple: Visio beati­fica. wee haue an happier [Page 112] vision of him then they, euen as the Angels more then wee, hee came indeede to the be­leeuers comfortably, powerfully, Typically; but wee receiue him, as Simeon did, personal­ly: hee came to Adam, with the promise, in the time of despayre: to Abraham, with sup­ply, in time of Sacrifice: to Isaac, with reliefe, in time of famine: in time of exile, with ho­nour, to Ioseph: in time of persecution, vvith comfort, to Elias: in time of battell, with an hand on Gideons hilt: with an eye, to the stone from Dauids sling: in time of inuasion, with triumph, to Ezekias: alwayes hopefully, help­fully to his Church. For which cause, hee is called, The Starre of Iacob, The Lyon of Iudah, The Rod of Isaack, &c. Typically hee came in Circumcision, Rom. 3. in the Paschall Lambe, Iohn 1. in Manna, Iohn 6. in the bra­zen Serpent, Iohn 3. in the Arke, and on the Altar, &c. Hee came figuratiuely, as our rest, in Noah; our increase, in Ioseph; our loue, in Dauid; our peace, in Salomon, our saluation, in Ioshuah, &c. But now hee is come to vs per­sonally, Vbi venit ple [...]itudo temporis ve­nit ille qui liberauit no [...] à tempore. in the assuming our nature, in the ful­unesse of time, saith Paul, Gal. 4.4. to free vs from all time, saith Bernard. Note his mercy, hee came to vs voluntarily, non compulsu Pa­tris, sed consensu sui, not by compulsion from his Father, but by his owne consent: Non ex necessitate mandantis, Chrysost. sedex voluntate venientis, [Page 113] saith Chrisostome. Yea, Ʋltro venit & sponte, Gregory. se videndum attulit, occidendum obtulit, Greg. Of his owne accord, yeelding himselfe to be seene of men, to be slaine for men. Yea, Basil. Pro­pria benignitas inuitatuit, misericordia traxit, veri­tas compulit; His benignitie to vs inuited him, his mercy drew him, his truth compelled him, Basil. Here is his Mercy for our Consolation.

Oh let vs walke worthy of this grace and Vse. 2 Mercy, for an vse of Instruction: Of Instru­ction. let vs runne after the sweetnesse of his odours; let vs fol­low his footings, since hee came to leade vs; let vs worke out our saluation with feare and trembling, since hee came to saue vs, 1 Tim. 4.9. Luke 19.10. Let vs returne to the Bi­shop of our soules, since hee came to finde vs, Luk. 19.10. as lost sheepe; let vs be no more the slaues of the Diuell, since hee came to dissolue the workes of the Diuell, 1 Iohn 3. let vs enter­taine him, as did Zacheus, and retayne him, Luke 11. Gen. 28. as did Iacob, when hee would not let him goe till hee blest him; let vs feast him, as did Ma­thew; wash his feete with our teares, Luke 7. as did his Mary; seeke him sorrowing, as did his Mo­ther; prepare for him an vpper lodging to eate his Passeouer in, as did his Disciples, 1 Cor. 6.16. euen our bodies and soules, the Temples of his Spi­rit; let vs walke nearer to Sion in this our light, since the Sun is come so neere vs, nay, euen to vs, then the Patriarkes did in their darkenesse [Page 114] vnder the vayle and cloud of the Law.

Vse. 3 Redargu­tion.Let vs now come to the tryall, and bring our practise to the Touch-stone; and wee shall be found as vnworthy of Christs reuelation to vs, as vnthankefull for his manifestation amongst vs, Luke 10. as the very Iewes themselues; nay, let vs compare our selues with them, and wee shall iustifie them, as they did Sodome. Euer since CHRIST dwelt amongst the sonnes of men, the kinde of his vsage hath beene too vnkinde; the course of his entertainment hath beene too course; the forme and manner of his welcome, deformed and vnmannerly: the world hath beene still so weake through igno­rance, as not to know; or so wicked through ingratitude, as not to acknowledge; or so cor­rupt by nature, as not to welcome the Word incarnate, the Lord of Nature. For, euen in his birth at Bethlem, howsoeuer hee had the hearts and admirations of some few, some handfuls; as of Anna, Simeon, Zachary, Eli­zabeth, &c. As also after, of his Disciples, of Nathaniel, Nicodemus, Ioseph, Mary, Mar­tha, Lazarus, some healed Patients, conuert sinners, penitent Publicanes, and such like; yet the grossest and the greatest part, despised and dispited him. Looke vpon him from the wombe to the earth, from the Cradle to the Crosse, from the Crosse to the Graue, and you shall see him still crossed by cursed instru­ments: [Page 115] so looke on him from Bethlem to Ae­gypt, from Aegypt to Nazareth, from Naza­reth to Capernaum, from Capernaum to Ie­rusalem, from Ierusalem to Golgotha; you shall see him tost from place to place, from post to pillar: Herod, the Diuell, the Iewes, the People, the Scribes, the Pharises, the Lawyers the Herodians, the Gentiles, the Ro­manes, the Souldiers; Dogs, and Foxes, and Diuels; Iudas, and Pilate, and Herod; Earth, and Hell, all opposed madly and maliciously euen against the Lords Annoynted; whose rage from the first houre of his birth, till the last of his death, could not be quenched without his bloud; Hee came vnto his owne, but his owne receiued him not, Iohn 1.11.20.

We surely are in the same predicament, Applica­tion. if not worse. Compare vs with the Patriarkes and we come as short of their faith in Christ, obedience and sanctification, as they of our knowledge and illumination; we come nearer vnto the in­fidelitie of prophane Esau, flowting Ismael, wicked Cham, cursed Canaan, and their seede, then wee doe to the Faith of Abraham, Isaack and Iacob, &c. to Noahs Obedience, and the holy liues of the rest. For the Iewes: wherein are wee inferiour in the highest measure of ingratitude against Simeons Lord? wee lodge him not at all, but cast him out of the Inne of our hearts, with the Bethlems: wee shut our [Page 116] gates against him with the Samaritanes, when wee reiect his Word and Ministers: wee bid him depart from vs, with the Gadarens when wee preferre our Swinish lusts before him: we crucifie him worse and oftner in his immor­tall body, then the Iewes in his mortall, when like mad dogs wee flye in his face, and by swearing and blaspheming wound his wounds, tearing and renting euery part of his huma­nitie; and yet wee will be Christians: But I know not how; vnlesse on the contrary, as the Cynick named his Man: as some say, Mons à mouendo, when it moues not; for wee moue not after the motion of Christ. We are like the Hare, running one way when wee looke ano­ther way. Appion. Christus ve­nit ad homi­nes, in ho­mines, & contra ho­mines. Well, let vs looke to it, Christ is come to vs, Iohn 1.14. but if wee come not vnto him by Prayer, and into him by Faith, and hee into vs by his Spirit, Iohn 14.18. he will come to vs, and against vs in Iudgement, to our ruine and destruction, Acts 7.31. Oh therefore Kisse the Sonne least hee be angry, Psal. 2.

Thirdly, in that Simeons desire of life was not simply for any loue of life, but onely to see, and proclaime, and prayse Christ the Mes­sias, to blesse God for this fountaine of bles­sings to his Church. It is worth our ani­maduersion, more worthy our Imitation, that wee ought not simply to desire life for it selfe, [Page 117] but that wee might liue to glorifie God, and to the good of his Church and Children. This point is plaine by the Apostles precept, Rom. 14.7.8. and by his practise, Phil. 2.23.24. For, as hee prescribes to others that none should liue or dye vnto himselfe, but vnto the Lord; that whether Christians liue or dye they should be the Lords: yea, that whether they liue in the body, or remoue out of the body they might be the Lords, 2 Cor. 5.8.9. So, hee himselfe being in a strait what to doe, whether to liue in the flesh, or to be loosed and be with CHRIST, is ouer-swayed with the loue of his brethren, to dwell vvith them still, onely for the furtherance and ioy of their Faith. So it must be with thee in that rancke wherein thou art.

Art thou a Minister? thy desire to liue must Vse 1 be onely to preach the Word, Of Instru­ction. for the gathe­ring of the Saints, for bringing home the wandering Sheepe, for planting and watering Gods Vineyard, for feeding his people vvith knowledge and vnderstanding, for propaga­tion of the Gospell, for conuersion of soules, and addition vnto his Church such as shall be saued: and for this end, thy life and thy liuings must not be deare to thee; that by Preaching or Printing, Disputing, Conferring, Writing, Praying and Meditating, (the things wherein that holy Augustine and zealous [Page 118] Bernard were constantly and continually im­ployed) thou mightst be beneficiall to the soules of thy brethren: yea, for the accom­plishment of these ends, as thou art called, A Light, Mat. 6. and Salt, it must not be grieuous vnto thee to consume and melt thy selfe in spen­ding thy spirits to giue light vnto, and to sea­son others. Thy ends in thy Ministery, must neyther be ambitious, 3 Ioh. v. 9. like Diotrephes his, that loued preheminence, nor to be exalted on the right hand or the left, Mat. 20.21 with Zebidee's Sonnes: not to sit onely in Moses his Chayre, vvith the Scribes and Pharisies: not couetous like Balaams and Iudasses; Numb. 22. Iohn 13. but Christian and con­scionable, like Paul's and Peter's, and Iames, who that they might feede the flocke, endu­red not onely labours, and stripes, and impri­sonments, but euen death it selfe.

Art thou a Magistrate? thy desire to liue must be the discharge of thy duety, the exe­cution of thy function, the decision of Con­trouersies, the cutting off of strifes, in their causes, courses, and euents; the iudging right­ly betwixt man and man, &c. to be a nursing Father to the Church; to stand for Gods Truth and Orthodoxe Religion; to be zealous for Gods glory, to defend the fatherlesse, right the oppressed, to let the cause of the Widow come before thee, to draw out and vse the sword committed vnto thee, for the defence [Page 119] of the righteous and the right; for the offence of the wicked and their wrongs: these are the ends thou must aime at in thy place, whether superiour or inferiour.

Art thou a gouernour, a Master of a Fa­milie? hast thou a charge committed to thee? thy desire to liue, must be rightly to discharge it, and thy duety in it: as namely, prouision for thy Wife, and Familie depending vpon thee, walking (like Zacharie) holily, Luk. 2. in respect of God; honestly and vnblameably, in respect of man; Christianly and conscionably in thy calling and vocation: for that end, as also that God may haue glory; in thy priuate duties of Religion, as reading, and praying, and in­structing of thy Family vvithin the bounds and limits of thy calling, together with a dis­creete gouerning of them that are vnder thy command, by correcting and encouraging as neede shall require; that thy house, like the houses of Abraham, Ioshuah, Crispus, Stepha­nus, and Cornelius, may be like vnto a little Church, wherein spirituall Sacrifices are offe­red vnto God daily and duely: that so thou maist heate and warme those that are within thee, and that thy light may breake out to in­lighten others outwardly.

So all other men, be they what they will be, from the Throne to the Plough, from the King to the drawer of water, from the head to [Page 120] the foote, Physitian, Lawyer, Courtier, Stu­dent, Tradesman, Artificer, Mechanicall man, Husbandman, Souldier, Seruant, must liue, and desire to liue, not to themselues, but that in their places, 1. by their Life; 2. their Labours; 3. Mat. 5. their Prouokements; 4. their Examples: their light should so shine here, that others seeing their good workes, might bring glory to him who is the Father of lights: to him which is the light of the Gentiles, and the glo­ry of his people, euen here Simeons LORD, whom Simeon prayseth, and to vvhom hee prayes.

Vse 2 Of Redar­gution.But sure the liues of most men, from the highest to the lowest, is as contrary to this light, and as irregular from this rule, as dark­nesse and irregularitie it selfe: for, if we should make a quere, and an inquisition here, as the Lord will make in Iudgement, for such Sime­ons; Ezek. 9. if they should now be marked in the fore­head like Ezekiels Mourners: where should we be inquisitiue for them? In the Court? per­haps there might be culled out some Ioseph, as in Pharohs: some Obediah, as in Achabs: some Daniel, as in Nabuchadnezzars. In great Houses? some Naaman, as in the house of Rimmon: some Iacob, in Labans: some Chuza and Iohanna, as in Herods. In the Campe? some Cornelius. In the Citie? some Lot. In the Country? some Boaz. Amongst great [Page 121] ones? some Nichodemus. Amongst priuate men? some Nathaniels, that desire to liue no longer, then God may be glorified of them, in them, and by them. But compare them to the multitudes that swarme in euery corner, of Court, Countries, and Cities, of all sexes and sorts, (like Aegyptian Locusts and Grasse­hoppers) that liue onely to themselues, and for themselues, that limit themselues in them­selues, in effecting their owne proud, coue­tous, vaine, ambitious, sinister ends, and car­nall desires, without any reference or relation to Gods glory, or the good of others? and they are very few: one of a Citie, and two of a Tribe, Ier. 3.14. like the after-Vintage, and the Haruest gleanings; like the few names vvritten in Sardi, Apoc. 3.4. as for example, in particulars, ah si fas dicere? sed fas.

In the Sonnes of Leui, how many there be that liue of the Altar and serue not at the Al­tar? that scumme away the fat, but pollute the the Sacrifice, like Elie's Sonnes? that seeke sua, non suos, their owne gaines, not the peo­ples good? Qui se pascunt, non oues; that feede themselues of the flocke, but not the flocke, ouer which the holy Ghost hath made them Ouer-seers? that seeke for nothing (as vvas once truely said of the ancient Abbots, Monkes and Cloysterers,) but a lazy life and carnall command, Otium cum honore; against vvhom [Page 122] these, and all such complaints as these, which Gregory and Bernard tooke vp in their times, might be well vsed and vrged? I say, how ma­ny there be of such, I rather leaue to the con­sideration and deploration of such as haue any eyes or hearts, then to the expostulation of this place: onely I say, whether such are Si­meons, or Simons, or Sinons; like Iude, or like Iudas, who sees not?

Secondly, for the Magistrates: what are the aymes and ends of most of them? To dis­charge those dueties that the Word inioynes them? which those worthy Lights, Moses, Phineas, Ioshuah, Samuel, Nehemiah, Salomon, haue by their president and practise laid before them? No verily: for, then wee should not haue the Sabbath, which aboue all dayes should be sanctified, so profaned; so much drunkennesse abounding, vncleannesse ouer­flowing, Oathes breaking forth, by Gods Law capitall and criminall, and by death penall, vn­reformed; nay, vnreprehended, vnremoued, yea, vnreproued: which shewes that many of them liue onely to the satisfying and seruing of their owne couetousnesse and vnconsciona­blenesse, like Ahab, Festus, and that infoelix Felix; or licentiousnesse, like Herod; but ney­ther vnto GOD, nor to doe good, vnlesse to themselues.

Thirdly, as wee see the motion of the head [Page 123] and Eye, Ecclesiasticall and Politicall, of Mi­nisters and Magistrates, meerely naturall, (like that of the Elements and Beasts) after vvhich the whole bulke of the body, of the people, moues: so in the heads Oeconomicall, wee shall see little spirituall. For, what is the aime of Masters and Mistresses in their housholds regiment? is it Gods glory? the good tempo­rall and eternall of those that are vnder them? doe they liue, or desire to liue that by their meanes their housholds might be the house­holds of Faith? their wiues Christs Spouses? their Children Gods Children, and Heyres of of Grace? their Seruants Gods Seruants, the Lords Free-men? their Kinsemen, of the spi­rituall affinitie and consanguinitie of Christ? that their strangers within their gates, vvith them might enter in at the Gates of Sion? Are these their ends? Caius contrarium verum est, the cleane contrary (or at least contradi­ctorie) is verified in most. Let experience speake: looke into their houses, into their re­giment, into their carriage and disportment; and yee shall see their exercises such as vvere vsed in the Siege of Thebes, couetous carding and dicing, or wanton and promiscuous daun­cing: you shall finde moe shewes of Religion in the vse of the Word, in the house of a Iew; more seeming prayers in the house of a Turke, Papist, or Pagan (who pray oftner to Saints [Page 124] and Idols then they) then in their houses, which are rather dens of Diuels, and cages of vncleane Birds, then Churches. What are the desires of such who sees not? What their de­serts who knowes not? who feares not?

In the same ranke are the rest: where is the Tradesman, (as Iob of the good Messen­ger) one of a thousand, let him stand forth, whose heart tels him, that truely and sincere­ly in his Trade and Calling hee aymes aright? and so all others, let their soules speake. Who in their traffique and commerce with men ayme at GOD, at the profit and emollument of others, and not wholy, or for the most part, at themselues? Who in seruing of man seekes directly and immediately to serue God and not rather himselfe? Who seekes grace and godlinesse, and not gaine? such an one erit mihi magnus Apollo: I would trauell farre on my feete to finde such a Phoenix.

For the other sort, that liue eyther in no calling, or in a sensuall sinfull calling, such as riotous Prodigoes, profane Esau's, vaine Gen­tlemen, gull Gallants, retchlesse Ruffians, li­centious Lechers, gracelesse Gamesters, filthy Brothellers, Queanes, Curtizans, and beastly Bawdes, with all the rest of that restlesse and retchlesse crew: alas, what good doe they in the world? what ayme they at, but like Swine to feede? like the rich Churle, to goe brauely [Page 125] and faire deliciously with the Sabarites and Sardanapalus, to inuent and wallow in pollu­ting pleasures, to feede their fancy, please their owne humours, content themselues, delight the flesh, and damne the soule? liuing to eate, eating to liue the life of sinne; doing as much good to others, as the Moath to the garment, the Caterpiller to the fruit, the Cantharides to the Oyntment, spoyling and infecting (like plaguy people) vvhom thy liue amongst. Therefore these and all these, Terrae in­vtile pon­dus. as they are vn­profitable burthens to the earth, they shall be swept away from the earth like Iabin and Si­sera, and the Sodomites, euen into hell, Psal. 9.17. As they glorifie not God, which was the end of their Creation and Redemption (which they forget) so God will neuer glorifie them. Therefore let vs all, both men, with Simeon, and women, with Lidia, Dorcas and Deborah, &c. doe good here in life, that wee may re­ceiue good in and after death: liue, and de­sire to liue onely to God, and for God here, that vvee may liue vvith God for euer here­after.

Fourthly, and lastly, here wee are to take notice of that which wee haue obserued in Moses before; namely, that Simeon is willing to dye: for the whole Text imports and car­ries it, that there was in him no vnwillingnes to dye; not so much as in show: but a great [Page 126] willingnesse, propensitie, and disposition to his dissolution, whether wee take his vvords here as Optatiue, Oh that thou wouldest let thy Seruant depart, as some doe: or Indicatiue, Now thou dost let, &c. or Precatory, Lord, now let, &c. or plainely, as they are here; all im­port perspicuously that hee dyed voluntarily.

From whence note, that a good Christian is willing to dye: wee may see this, as in Si­meon, so in Paul. Phil. 1.23. who desired to be dissolued, and to be with CHRIST. The like might be instanced in the death of Mo­ses, Deut. 34. who at Gods command, went as volunta­rily vp to the Mount to dye, and to be sacri­ficed himselfe, as Abraham went to sacrifice his Sonne. So, if wee consider the death of the Patriarkes, of Abraham himselfe, of Iacob, of Dauid, &c. that dyed naturally: as also of Saint Steuen, Mat. 27. Acts 7. [...] of our Sauiour Christ himselfe, in the Scripture: as also of blessed Martyres that were put to death violently, we shall finde that they went vnto their deaths, and into the Graue, as voluntarily as Noah into the Arke; taking Gods stroke vpon themselues as pati­ently as Aaron did, Leuit. 10. when God smote his two Sonnes, Nahab and Abihu; and as Eli did Sa­muels report of his houses ruine, 1 Sam. 3, The Saints very last words, being of the same straine and Dialect with Simeons, import so much, as wee may see Moses, Deut. 32. (with [Page 127] this good old man here) concluding his life with a Swan-like Song. So also Dauid. 2 Sam. 23. So Babilas the Martyr, feared not that his soule should returne vnto her rest: neyther did Ignatius care when hee dyed, Euseb. lib. 3 c. 30. Vide Grin. Apotheg. morien­tium. or of what kinde of death hee should dye; nay, though hee were grinded by the teeth of Lyons, be­cause hee was the Lords Manchet, and must be made cleane bread for Christ. So Melan­cthon, almost in the same words with Simeon, If it be the will of God I am willing to dye; and, I beseech him to grant mee a ioyfull departure. With many moe.

Now, the Reasons which make the childe of God so willing to die, are many, the princi­pall are these.

First, Si qua dies bona est, ve­locibus prae­terit horis. Innimica te­nacius hae­rent. because hee findes no good in this life, no ioy, no content, more then a Prisoner in his bonds, a bird in the snare, or a beast in the ginne: his ioyes being imperfect, and mixed with a thousand sorrowes, hauing for one Sunny day a hundred tempestuous stormes: his best dayes being like Iacobs, few and euill; his worst, many and miserable.

Secondly, Nil boni in vita, nil ma­li in morte. because there is nothing in this life, which giues true and sollid satisfaction to his soule, finding (with Salomon) all Sublu­narie things to be vanitie and vexation of spi­rit, as Honours, riches, wisedome, vvealth, knowledge, Babels building, Moses and [Page 128] Daniels Aegyptian and Caldean learning, Cres­sus and Crassus his wealth, Midas his gold, Policrates good successe, Ezekias his Treasure, Nero's Musicke; all other things which should doe good to the nature of man, or delight the minde of man, giuing him no more con­tent, then ayre and winde to an empty sto­macke: for, as a Quadrangle cannot fill a Triangle, but some corner will be capable of more; so the whole circuit of this round Orbe, this Quadrangular world, cannot content the heart of man, which Anatomists say is Trian­gular in the forme; God onely, Christ and his Spirit, the blessed Trinitie, that made the soule, can fill it with true delights, and fulfill the true desires. In which respect the Christian, to whom all things else are bitter, but Christ, is not quieted till hee inioy Christ, no more then the animate or inanimate creatures are at peace till they haue their rest in that centre whitherto they moue: his heart still trem­bling till it be with God, like the Needle tou­ched with an Adamant, still quiuering and sha­king, till it looke directly to the North Pole: and therefore as Noahs Doue, sent out of the Arke, found no rest to the sole of her foote, till shee returned into the Arke againe; so the true Christians, the Lords mournefull Doues, finde no resting place here, till their soules returne to the Arke of their strength, that [Page 129] God, that sent them out into their bodies, euen as the Iewish Tabernacle had no rest, but was carryed from place to place till it entred into Canaan. Exod. 26.1. & 33.7.

Thirdly, because of the crosses and afflicti­ons which are incident vnto him in this life: for, as the whole humane nature is subiected to the Crosse, so chiefely the Christian. The world which is a Paradise to the carnall, is a Purgatory to the Christian; Psal 34.1 [...] Act. 15.21. Many are the troubles of the righteous; all that will liue godly in Christ must suffer affliction; euery Disciple must take vp one crosse or other, if hee vvill follow Christ, which crosse-way is the way to heauen; euery childe of God is corrected ere hee be receiued: the purest Gold must be in the furnace; the Lords owne Wheate is thra­shed, winnowed, and grinded: and Gods trees must be pruned: Ʋt vnda vndam, as waue suc­ceedes waue, so crosse succeedes crosse, as Da­uids Lyon succeedes his Beare, 1 Sam. 17.37. and Goliah the Lyon, 1 Sam. 18.27. and the Philistines Goliah, and Saul the Philistines, 1 Sam. 21. Now the Christians death is most welcome, that changeth his Mara to Naomi, his bitternesse into beauty, which deliuers him from dangers and dolours, Gen. 19. as the Angell did Lot from the fire, Dan. 3. and the three Children from the flames, and Daniel from the Lions: Dan. 6. death (like Zerobabel) deliuers the Lords Israel out [Page 130] of Babilon, Zach. 4.6. therefore death must needs be welcomed like a day of deliuerance, a yeere of Iubilie which brings Ioseph out of Prison, Gen. 41. Gen. 31. Iob 41.12. Iacob out of seruitude, and Iob from the dung-hill. Mors enim malorum remedium, & portus humanis tempestatibus, Plutarch. de consol. ad Apol.

Fourthly, in respect of their sinnes which cleaue so fast on, which they cannot shake off; Sinne, with which they are at opposition and deadly feud, dogs them at the heeles, like a Serieant: waytes on them, like a Catchpole: insinuates into them, like a claw-backe: creepes into their bosomes, as a Serpent: stings them at the heart, like an Adder: followes them, as their shadow: stickes close to them, like their shirt vpon their skinne, their skinne vpon their flesh, and their flesh vpon their bones: insomuch that it burnes and frets them as Di­a [...]raes poysoned shirt did Hercules, and as the Ticke, vexeth the Oxe: which makes them crye out in the anguish of their soules, In me duo armati, A­mor & Odi­um, Iacob & Esau, Caro & Spi­ritus, &c. Hier. vvith Paul, and the faithfull, Rom. 7. Oh miserable man that I am! who shall deliuer mee from this body of sinne? They complaine of the strife of the Flesh and the Spirit, as Rebeccah of the strugling betwixt Iacob and Esau. Now death comes and rescues, and makes thy baile, and playes the Mid-wife, and ends the broyle, therefore welcome to the well disposed.

[Page 131]Fiftly, they are here Pilgrimes and stran­gers, 1 Pet. 2.11. as was Dauid, and the rest in their ages: they are here exuls and ba­nished men, as Children put forth to nurse from their Mothers, as Schollers and Pupils sent to forraine Schooles, and to farre Vniuer­sities: and therefore their returning home to their owne Country, their restitution to their prouided Kingdome, their fetching home to their Father and friends, their retyring to their Fathers house, though it be through the sha­dow of death, must needes be acceptable.

Sixtly, they know that the day of their death is better then the day of life, Eccles. 7.3. be­cause they dye prepared, their soules purged, their hearts by Faith purified. As they haue entered into the first degree of eternall life in this life, when they beleeued, and receiued the gifts of the Spirit, the earnest of their Salua­tion; so they enter into the second degree in death, August. in. Iob. Qui cupit dissolui, & essecum Christo, non patienter moritur, sed patienter viuit, & delectabi­liter mori­tur▪ when their soules are carryed into hea­uen, and they dye in assurance of the third de­gree, when body and soule shall be re-vnited to participate of happinesse, as they haue liued together in holinesse.

Seauenthly, they dye, as with a desire, so in an expectation to see and behold the face of Christ; of which, with Steuen, they haue some glimmering in their deaths: and there­fore death to the godly, so farre as regeneration [Page 132] rules, is no more burthensome then the strip­ping off the cloathes, vnto a louing Spouse, to goe into the Marriage-bed of her contracted Bridegrome. Hos. 2.19.

Eightly, they haue kept a good Conscience with God and man, like Paul, Acts 24. And therefore they feare not iudgement, no more then a true man feares to looke the Iudge in the face.

Ninthly, wherein they haue offended God, they haue their sinnes remitted, and therefore feare not to hold vp their hand at the barre, since they are quit before by Proclamation of all the promises in the Gospell, and haue the Kings Pardon sealed them in the Sacraments.

Iacula prae­uisa minus ferun [...].Tenthly, they haue oft in life invred them­selues to thinke, speake, record and meditate of death, euen as did Christ their head, and his Seruants, Iacob, Moses, and Paul, as appeares in the Word, and therefore Deaths dart fore­seene, Praemoniti, Praemuniti. wounds them lesse, being fore-warned of it, they are fore-armed for it. Euen as the Souldier that hath beene long trayned, and in many skirmishes, is more couragious in the maine Battell, and as hee that hath long ex­ercised himselfe in foyles, is more hardy to fight with sharpe: so the petty conflicts that the godly haue had in their owne breasts vvith Deaths feare, make them more hardy to encounter Deaths force.

[Page 133]Eleuenthly, they entertaine it as a reward for their worke, as a rest from their labour: as willingly as the hired labourer receiues his hire, and reposeth his wearied limbes, Dan, 12. Esay 57.2.

Twelfthly, they are perswaded, and haue their Faith grounded in an happy and bles­sed change, they expect a Metamorphosis, and an alteration, a comfortable transmuta­tion of Earth for Heauen, of the Sea for the Hauen, of Griefe for Glory, of the outward Court, for the Sanctum Sanctorum, of a Mortall for an Immortall body, of Enon for Salem, Sodome for Segor, Aegypt for Canaan, the Wildernesse of Sin for the Land of Promise, of a House of clay terrestriall, for a House ce­lestiall aboue the Clouds, 2 Cor. 5.1. And therefore they are as willing to make this ex­change, as a poore begger would be to ex­change his poore rags for some Princes robes, or some poore man to leaue his smoaky, rainy Cottage for a pompous Pauilion and decked Chamber in the Court.

To reape the Vintage of this discourse, Vse. the vse to vs, is first of examination, in that it is an argument of a good man to be willing to dye, as here was Simeon. Lay thou thy hand on thine heart, and search in thy soule what propensitie and disposition thou findest in thy selfe to dye. Many arguments there are in [Page 134] the Word and tryals both of a holy and a happy man, both affirmatiue, in shewing what hee doth: and negatiue, in shewing what he auoids, Dauid points at him in the first Psalme, as also in the 32. Psalme, verse 1.2. as also in the 15. Psalme. So doth our Sauiour Christ, in the first eight Verses of the fift of Mathew. So the Apostle Paul in the 2. of Cor. ch. 7. ver. 11. with other such places; as namely, de­lighting in the Word, meeknesse, mourning for sinne, hunger after righteousnesse, &c. care to please God, Feare, Zeale, Indignation against sinne, not letting Mony to Vsury, and the like: yet sure there is no greater euidence of an honest and holy heart, then so to walke vprightly with God in life, as alwayes to be willing to imbrace the strictest Summons of death; to be as ready to depart out of this world, as the Israelites were to depart out of Aegypt.

Againe, it is most vsually a note of a soule eyther altogether soyled in corruption, or in­dued with a smaller measure of Sanctification, to be violently possessed with a continuated feare of death: and therefore in this particu­lar finde out thy selfe, and trye in what case thou standest; for, the more vnwilling thou art to dye, commonly the more Nature rules in thee, the more earthly, fleshly, and carnall thou art: the more willing, commonly the [Page 135] more Grace raignes, the more thou art holy, heauenly, and spirituall: in which case you shall obserue, that the desire to liue or not to liue, to dye and not to dye, hath oftentimes ebbed and flowed, according to the measure of grace or corruption, of sinne or of sanctification. Euery man may finde this in his owne heart vsually, vpon the search.

Hence it was, Luke 8.33 that our Sauiour Christ ha­uing the greatest measure of grace, was most willing to dye, amongst all the sonnes of mor­tall men, as appeares in the Gospell, by his often speaking of his death, as desiring it, Mat. 10.38 So 16.21.17.22.23. by his hast­ning Iudas the actor in it, Iohn 13. in calling Peter Sathan that disswaded him from it, Mat. 13.23. yea, in accounting it his Bap­tisme, Luke 20.50 yea, his meate that he was to eate, Iohn 4 32. yea, his exaltation, ver. 28. yea, a thing that hee desired, Luke 22. And when hee came to act the bitter part in this dying Tragedy, how voluntarily did he send out his soule? Hee gaue vp the Ghost, saith the Euangelist: the spirit was not taken from him, (for no power could doe that) but hee gaue vp his Spirit into the hands of GOD his Father; Emisit, non amisit Spiritum, hee sent out his Spirit (as Noah sent the Doue out of the Arke) willingly, it was not taken from him compulsorily. Now, that which holds in [Page 136] the Head, Christ, in some proportion holds in the Saints, his Members, who are confor­med into the similitude both of his life and death; the nearer they come vnto Christ, by the vnion of Faith, the more they participate of the Spirit of Christ in life; the more wil­ling they are to goe to Christ, and to haue a further communion with him, in and after death.

Note 2.It is not so with the wicked, for the further they runne from God in life, the lesse ioy they haue to be fetcht before him by death; the lesse grace, the more griefe to dye; the more vile, sensuall, and sinfull their dayes, the more they desire to prolong them, being as vnwil­ling to dye, as the Beare to the stake, or the Bull to the ring.

The reasons are these:

Reasons why wic­ked men are vnwil­ling to die.First, because they haue their pleasures in this world: to which they are wedded, and with which they are intoxicated and bewitch­ed, as Vlisses and Diomedes companions with Circes charmes, and Calipsoes Cups, till they be turned into beasts. Now, what delight hath the beast, but in fayre feeding, and carnall companying, according to his kinde? neyther they, being as loath to leaue these pleasures, as the childe his bable, or the foole his folly.

Secondly, Death depriues them of their worldly promotions, Acts 12. it throwes Herod from [Page 137] his seate, and Baltazar from his Throne, Dan. 4. it expulseth Monarchs from their Countryes, and with as great a sway as that Antichristian man of Rome kickes off their Crownes, depo­sing Kings, disposing Kingdomes, laying their honours in the dust. And therefore no mar­uell that the proud Impes of Lucifer feare it, as hautie Hammon did the Gallowes.

Thirdly, it pluckes them from their profits; it takes Nabal from his Sheepe; Ahab from his vsurped Vineyard, and Midas from his Gold, which worldlings are as vvilling to leaue, as the dogge the Flesh-pot, as the hun­gry Kite the sauory carrion: to liue in the earth alwayes, it is their desire, as much as the water is desired of the fish, and the Ayre of the Bird, and the earth of the Moale: they are as content to build tabernacles here, as Peter was vpon the Mount, Mat. 17. but to goe into the earth, that is, darus sermo, a harsh vvord; they are as willing to leaue the world, as the Bird, the Beast, and the Fish, are, to forsake their nourishing Elements; as the starued childe is to part with the desired dugge. Oh Death, how bitter art thou to a man whose por­tion is in the world? saith the Wise-man. Oh mors mordens; bitter indeede as gall and worme-wood.

Fourthly, Death depriues the wicked not onely of their goods, but of their Gods, what [Page 138] euer they make their Idols, and giue their hearts vnto; which Idols they as vnwillingly leaue, Iudg. 17. Gen. 31.19 as Michay did his, and as the Papists their Idolatrous Masse; as Rachel did her Fa­thers Idols, vvhich shee concealed and co­uered.

Fiftly, Death takes them away from their pleasing companions, which they are as loath to part fro, as Elisha was to leaue Elias, as Ruth to leaue Naomi, but most vnwilling to exchange them for the company of Diuels and Hell-hounds.

Sixtly, they are vnfitted and vnprepared for Death: they haue not made their accounts straight; they haue not Oyle in their Lampes; they haue abused their Talents of gifts exter­nall and internall, and therefore they quake to be brought by Death to render an account of their Stewardship, with the wicked Steward: to meete the Bridegrome, with the foolish Virgins: to be called in coram, before their great Master, with the wicked Seruant that smote his fellow-seruants, and with the other vnprofita­ble Seruant.

Seauenthly, they haue no hope in death, except a vaine and wanne hope, such as perish­eth like the vntimely fruit of a woman. Death (like Michay to Ahab) neuer prophesieth any good to a wicked man, and therefore he is as vnwilling to dye, as a Theefe and Male­factor [Page 139] to be brought before the Iudge; as a bad debtor before his creditor; as a Swine to the slaughter: for, as the Swine by a naturall instinct, knowes that hee is good for nothing but the Shambles; so, the wicked, by the rage of his owne conscience, which is like the flash before hell fire; and by an Historicall Faith, whereby hee beleeues there is a hell, and euer­lasting fire for such as hee is; Fornicators, Esay 30.33 Mat. 25.41 Reuel. 21. [...]. 1 Cor. 6.9.10. Iude 4.13. Mat. 7.23. whoremongers, drunkards, wantons, theeues, couetous, impenitent, vnbeleeuers, and all other workers of iniquitie; hee knowes that hee is good for nothing but to be burned, and to be stubble and fuell for that flame. And therefore as the Swine shewes his dislike of the Shambles and his slaughterer, by whining and crying and repining; so the hoggish, Epicuri de grege por­cus. Epi­curish, carnall man, shewes his discontent and disobedience vnto God, and to his summons by death, by muttering, murmuring, barking against heauen, and blaspheming.

If wee apply this poynt by vse vnto our times, Vse. wee shall finde infinite millions and mul­titudes of carnall and wicked men, swarming like the Aegyptian Locusts and Grashoppers amongst vs; for alas, how many are there, which beare vp their heads high, and set vp their crests, exalt their hornes, and prancke vp their Peacockes plumes, lifting vp them­selues aboue others in the pride of their harts? [Page 140] boasting like Braggadochies, of their birth, valour, learning, wit, wealth, parts, and prowesse; shewing much drunken, and swag­gering, and irefull, and reuengefull valour, in their base and bruitish passions: and yet the same at the imagination and apprehension of death, shew themselues as arrand cowards, as the Arcadians Clineas or Dametas; altogether daunted and dismayed like Gorgon at the sight of Medusaes head: they quiuer and quake like an Aspen-leafe, shake and tremble like the Aguish sicke man: at the thought of it their heart trembles, their bloud is coniealed, and like Baltazar in the like case, their countenance is changed, and their knees smite together: the sound of death to them is the most harsh of all sounds, and puts them sometimes in a deadly sowne; the noise of the roaring Canon is not so fearefull to the fainting Souldier, nor the Lightning and Thunder was so terrible to Nero, as the summons of death to such na­turall men, whether by the Harbenger there­of, Sickenesse, or from the condemning voice of a Iudge, or by such meanes, for these rea­sons before mentioned. What doth this argue, but a guiltie conscience, a secure soule, a hard­ned heart, a carnall minde, and a maine mea­sure of infidelitie, incredulitie, and want of faith, in the remission of sinnes, the resurrection of the body, the immortalitie of the soule, and [Page 141] hope of a better life: which considerations, as they haue moued the ancient and moderne Martyres, Ignatius, Policarpus, Laurence, Cy­prian, and others in our precedent age, French, Germaine, and English, to subiect themselues to the mouthes of Lions, flames of fire, and all other tortures and torments, which Mad­nesse and Malice could inuent, &c. So the dif­fidence of these, the want of the perswasion of Gods loue, and expectation of wrath and ven­geance after this mortalitie, makes wicked men entertaine Death as Ahab did Elias, euen as their greatest enemie, as their Iaylor, their Serieant, their Butcherer, their Executioner, as the curber of their delights, and procurer of their curse. Yet that I be not mistaken, I doe not here condemne all feare of death, and make it such an essentiall note of Gods childe, as though euery one that feared God did not at any time, or in any respects, feare to dye: or that wicked men might not sometimes, and vpon some seruile respects, with some shew of alacritie vndergoe death: for, First, I know that there is in all men a naturall desire to liue, which caused Ezekias to mourne when hee was to dye, Esay 38.10. And Dauid to pray that his soule might liue, Psal. 6.4. and Psal. 119. As also our Sauiour Christ to desire the Passage of the cuppe from him, Luke 22. There being a naturall desire in the best of [Page 142] Gods Saints to liue Nature fearing her disso­lution, and the body and soule being as loath to part as two friends that a long time haue liued and loued together. Secondly, besides, I know Gods Children may be desirous to liue, as to glorifie God more: so, for some other good ends propounded, as for the bet­ter setting their estates to their successiue seed: for the establishing their houses, for to dis­pose of their Children in some religious cour­ses: which was the cause that Ezekias desired to liue, say Interpreters; because when the Prophet brought this message of death to him, hee was without issue, and left none to suceede him in his Kingdome, as Gods pro­mise was to his Father Dauid, 1 King. 8.15 [...]3. Thirdly, a godly man is sometimes in distresse and perplexitie of minde, as Dauid was vvhen hee made the sixt Psalme, at which time hee is vnwilling to depart, till GOD shine vpon him againe with his fauour. Fourthly, a godly man may pray sometimes against some kinde of death; as our Sauiour Christ did, praying not simply against death, but against that cursed death of the Crosse; fearing not death, but the curse of the Law that went with death. Fiftly, I know that euen naturall men haue made light account of death, such as the Decians and the Fabritians, Curtius and Co­drus, with others amongst the Romanes, and [Page 143] Athenians, that exposed and spent their liues for the good of their Country, I know euen of obstinate Heretiques▪ such as the Gno­stiques, and the Circumcellions: more lately Michael Sernetus; many moderne Papists; yea, the late Arrian burnt in Smithfield, haue some of them vndergone death more willing­ly and chearefully then those that haue had in them farre more grace and sanctification: Wicked men may dye wil­lingly for sinister re­spects. but some of these haue imbraced death so welcomly, out of a morall desire of doing good to their Country, or out of vaineglory, to be spoken of, like those Heathen; or out of obstinacie, or desperate madnesse, or per­uersenesse against the truth, or Diabolicall de­lusions, or erronious conceits, or Atheisme, or opinion of merit, or chiefely pride of heart, to be magnified and famoused of their fauou­rites, or some other sinister ends, not for Gods glory, or hope of any better condition after this life, as these Heretiques. So that my con­clusion▪ still holds, notwithstanding these doubts and scruples, that Grace kisseth Gods rod, though in the hand of Death▪ Nature barkes and bites at the hand that holds the rod: Gods Sheepe going quietly to their graues, like Lambes to be sacrificed; carnall men gruntling and complaining like Swine to be butchered.

Thirdly, since that Grace is willing, Nature Vse 3 [Page 144] vnwilling to her dissolution, all are to be ex­horted to vse the meanes to helpe forward their spirituall part, to be more willing to curbe their carnall part, Meanes to make vs dye wil­lingly. in it nilling. The meanes are two: first, priuatiue, for the remouall of the impediments which lye in the way: se­condly, positiue, in incouraging vs to enter the way of all flesh. What the causes are that cause the carnall man to sing Loath to depart, you haue heard; as namely, the losse of his pleasures, profits, preferments, promotions here, with the like; in all which things wee must looke to our hearts, and be watchfull Centurions ouer our affections, least they be carryed with too violent a course and torrent, in the prosecution and pursuite of these terre­striall and earthly things; wee must not be mad vpon the world as worldlings are: let vs not place our affections on things below, but on things aboue, where CHRIST sits at the right hand of GOD: let vs vse this World as though wee vsed it not; as wee vse Phy­sicke and wines, modice, medice, with modera­tion and mortification, as a Student vseth re­creations, for necessitie, not vanitie: let vs not fall downe and worship the Diuell▪ though hee would giue vs it all: let vs not bowe the knee to Baal, nor adore the golden Calfe, nor sell our soules for the trash and the dongue, the Siluer and Gold. white and red dust of it, as Iudas did: let [Page 145] vs touch riches tenderly, with our hands, not with our hearts, as wee doe Thornes, because they are Thornes: let vs not loue vaine plea­sures▪ least after their Beeish honie wee feele their Waspish sting: when these charmers charme to delude vs, let vs be as wise as Ser­pents, stopping both our eares (as shee doth) with the taile and the earth; remembrance of our ends (of which the taile is an embleame) and of our earth, whither wee shortly must. Thus must wee first learne to practise this hardest point of Christianitie, in dying to the world, ere euer wee can be willing out of faith and feeling to dye out of the world: for alas, what causeth men that they haue as little heart to goe into their Mother-earth, as the Moale hath to come out of the earth; but onely that they loue the earth too well? being desirous euer to liue vpon the earth, but neuer to lye in the earth. Why list not worldlings returne to their dust, but onely that (as true children of the old Serpent) the curse of the Serpent is vpon them to licke the dust, minding earth­ly things here, their end being damnation hereafter. Phil. 3.17.

Secondly, when this is performed, in brea­king off thy desires from the world, which is Terminus à quo, the place which thou leauest, then fixe thy eye vpon another world, Termi­nus ad quam, the place whither thou goest. [Page 146] Looke not too much at the grisly face of Death, which will agast thee; but at the end of it, where thou shalt see as many comforts as Elishaes Seruant saw, to encourage thee. Euen as hee that is to passe ouer some great and deepe Riuer, must not looke downe-ward to the water, but must cast his eye to the bancke on the further side: so looke ouer the waues of death, and fixe the eye of thy faith vpon eternall life. Looke not at Death in the glasse of the Law, in which it is set out, as a curse and the downe-fall to the gulph of destruction, but in the Christall Glasse of the Gospell, as it is changed and altered so by the death of CHRIST that it is a sweet sleepe, and resting coole harbour.

First, therefore consider, how there is a blessing accompanies and attends thy death, pronounced by the Spirit it selfe, Reu. 14 13. which is alone sufficient to stay the rage of thy affections in the ordinary feare of death: for, who feares blessings, since euen profane Esau sues for a blessing, and euen the very Heathens so much desired that blessednesse which their Philosophers, of all sorts, so much disputed, but neuer so soundly determined as God doth here?

Secondly, the same Spirit cals it, A resting from thy labour. Now euen the Oxe, Horse, and Asse, desire resting from labour, to be [Page 147] vntyed from their taskes, vnloden from their Burthens all the creatures and the Elements, which groane vnder vanitie, desire cessation from motion: euery thing aymes at his quies and rest and dost not thou? Now death, I pray thee what is it, but a buster of bonds; a destru­ction of toyle; an arriuing at the Hauen; a Iourney finished; thy consummatum est; thy quietus est; thy laying away of an heauy bur­then; euen sin it selfe, which (as Erasmus wittily) is heauier then Gold, Siluer, Lead, and Iron, in that the weight of it weighed and pressed downe the Angels of light into the pit of hell, and payned Christ our Sauiour our substitute, on the Crosse? What I say, is this death, but the shaking off of gyues, and an end of ba­nishment, a period of griefe, an escape of dan­gers, a destroyer of all euils; Natures due, Countryes ioy, Heauens blisse. Woes Hauen; the Key to ope the dore to Christians▪ as it did to CHRIST, Luke 24 26 of blessednes, rest, and immortalitie; dignifying, nay▪ almost Deifying whom God hath elected, Nil boni in vita, nil ma­li in morte. and called in grace, and called to the graue? this is the right partition of it into his parts and passages, as Antiquitie hath christned it, and our age hath called it, and the godly haue found it: Oh then, why shouldest thou boggle at it, since there is as little hurt in death to the good, as there is little good in life to the bad, as we [Page 148] shall further proue in some particulars here­after?

Thirdly, let this cogitation animate thee to sing Simeons Song, in being at least willing, if not desirous to depart, because God takes thy part in thy departing, if thou beest his: thou hast as the Promise, so the Performance of his comfortable presence. It hath beene the Lords constant and continuated custome to be with his Children, like a friend at neede, in their distresse, whose exigents and extremities haue beene his opportunities. Thus hee was present with Noah, in the Floud, Gen. 7. with Lot, in Sodomes flames, Gen. 19. with Iacob, in his flight from Esau, Gen. 33. with Ioseph, in Dodons pit, and Putiphars prison: vvith Moses, when hee went to Pharaoh, when he was with Pharaoh, and fled from Pharaoh: with Israel, in the Red Sea, Exod. 14. vvith Dauid, in Sauls pursuite, 1 Sam. 19. with Eliah, in the Desart, 1 Kings 19. with Elisha, vvhen the Syrians came against him, 2 Kings 6. with Hezekiah, in his sicke-bed, Esay 38. with the three Children, in the fire, Dan. 3. with Da­niel, in the denne of Lyons, Dan. 6. with Io­seph and Mary, and the wise Magi, flying from Herod, Mat. 2. with Christ, in his combat with Sathan, Mat. 4. and hee will be vvith thee in thy last conflict and tryall: for, this is his Promise, which he keepes more inuiolably [Page 149] then the Decrees of the Medes and Persians, to be with thee when thou passest through the waters, and through the riuers, & through the fire, that thou shalt neyther be ouerflowne nor ouerblowne in any temptation, Esay 43.2.3.4 5.6. &c.

Now God will manifest his presence with thee these three wayes, eyther in moderating or mitigating thy paines, as the words of that Propheticall promise doe import, making death no more dolorous to thee, then many ordinary crosses and afflictions which haue befallen thee in life, as some of the Saints haue tryed it.

Or, by the inward and ineffable comfort of the Spirit, which occasioned Paul to reioyce in tribulation, since euen then, the loue of God was shed abroad in his heart by the holy Ghost, Rom. 5.35. yea, euen in his grieuous sickenesse, it seemes when hee had receiued the sentence of death, as the suffrings of Christ did abound in him, so his consolations did abound through Christ, 2 Cor. 1.5. God is the chiefe Physitian, and chiefe visitor, when any of his Patients are afflicted, in his owne person ministring vnto them, staying them with flagons, & comforting them with apples; vvith his right hand holding vp their heads, and vvith his left imbracing them. Cant. 2.9.

Thirdly, he sends a victorious Host, a guard [Page 150] of Angels to be keepers, and Nurses vnto his Seruants, to hold them vp, and beare them in their armes, as Nurses doe young Children: and to be their champions and guards against the Diuell and his Angels, Psal. 30. All these comforts with many moe, going along vvith thee, like the Cloud and the fiery Pillar with the Israelites▪ should cause thee to march va­liantly, euen through the Pikes of death▪ to thy appointed Possession. And so wee passe in this passage of Sime [...]n, to the third Point.

IN which phrase obserue, that what euer comes to passe, is by the letting and permission of God, whether in life or death for there is nothing done in the world but that which the Almightie will haue done, ey­ther by permitting it to be done, or by doing it himselfe. Or as the same Augustine, All things are eyther done by Gods helpe, or suffered to be done by his permitting, Domino vel ad­iuuante, [Page 151] &c. yea, euen those things which are done contra voluntatem, against the will of GOD, yet are not done, praeter eius volunta­tem, besides his will: by which will, with Hugo, Euchir. cap. 101. I meane his good pleasure, his operation and permission; yea, euen in Sinne it selfe, the cause of death, God hee hath a worke. God workes in euery euill, but he workes not euill, nor euilly, Lib. de sac. c. 7. part. 4. as the Papists slander Caluin to teach. Agit in malo, &c. hee workes in the euill, first, by permitting; secondly, by dispo­sing: by permitting I say, not by prouoking. For, though God offer the sinner obiects (to vse Augustine and Bellarmines Similitudes) and leaues a man to himselfe, yet hee inclines not his will to euill, and therefore is not the cause of euill, no more then the Shepheard by setting hay or grasse before the Sheepe is the cause of the Sheepes feeding: or the Huntsman by shewing the Grey-hound the Hare or Deere, is the cause of his running, but onely the dispositions and inclinations of both to runne, and to feede.

Secondly, by ordering and disposing sin: for this is the propertie of the diuine vvisedome, saith Clemens, Vti vtiliter, Strom. l. 1. &c. to vse those things profitably, which are done peruersely. Aug. Euch. c. 101. De malo opere, &c. God out of euery worke that is euill workes that which is good; euen as in the first Creation he brought light out of darke­nesse, [Page 152] and as a wise Physitian out of poysoned Serpents and venemous beasts, extracts a pre­seruatiue against poyson. Thus hee disposed of the Treachery of Iosephs Brethren, and the Treason of Iudas against Christ, to his owne glory, and the good of his Church: in the preseruation of old Iacob and his Seede, and the saluation of his owne Elect Israel. There­fore as in one act of the death of Christ, 1. God; 2. Christ; 3. the Diuell; 4. the Iewes; and 5. Iudas wrought, but not from one cause: Aug. ep. ad Vincent. 38. the Diuell suggestingly, the Iewes maliciously▪ Iudas couetously, Christ execu­tiuely, in deliuering himselfe; God decretori­ly, in decreeing; and dispositiuely, in disposing the death of his Sonne to the sauing of the Elect, and condemning of the Reprobate, being the rising and falling of many in Israell. The like is seene in other sinnes, wherein there are diuers agents; Aug. de Gen. ad lit. imp. c. 5. De ciuitate Dei lib. 11. c. 17. Mors non naturae con­ditio, sed poena pecca­ti, de praed. & gratia. c. 11. some sinfull but GOD al­wayes sinlesse: for, Pecc [...]teres in quantum pec­catores, &c. God makes not sinners so farre forth as they be sinners, but onely ordereth and disposeth them: being as the best Crea­tor of those wils that are good, so a most righ­teous disposer and orderer of those wils which are euill. But as for Death, which is the pu­nishment of sinne, not the condition of Na­ture; God is not onely the permitter and pro­uident disposer, but the iust inflicter of it; yea, [Page 153] vitae necis (que) arbitrer, the author and ordayner, as of life, so of death: for, it is he that formes the light, and creates darkenesse; hee makes peace, and creates euill, Esay 45.7. What euill? Not the euill of sinne, Non mal [...] culpae, sed poenae. but the euill of sorrow, of sicknesse, of troubles, banishment, famine; yea, Death it selfe, Leuit. 26.

This poynt is worthy our further inlarge­ment: namely, that all death, for the Time of it, the Place of it, the Matter, the Manner, the Cause, the Occasion of it, is immediately from God, operatiuely, penarily, or permissiuely.

For the Time: Euery death is determi­ned by God. if death come in the mor­ning, or mid-day, in the euening, or Cocke­crow of life: in the Infancie, or childe-hood, or nonage, or youth, or adolescencie, or per­fect age, or decaying, declining, or decrepit old age of our yeeres: if it crop vs in the sprout, or the Spring, or the Summer, or the Au­tumne, or the Winter of our time, God that is Palm [...]ni, a secret numberer, hath numbered our dayes and measured our time: for the LORD makes our dayes as it were an hand­breadth, Psal. 39.5. eclipsing our lifes light as it pleaseth him, in the Sunne-rising, or in the meridian of our dayes, as hee did vvith good Iosias, the vertuous Prince Edward the 6. that worthy spirit Picus mirandula, our English Iosias, Prince Henry, with diuers others. Againe, sometimes hee addes vnto our dayes, as hee [Page 154] did fifteene yeeres to the raigne of Ezekias, Esay 38. extending and drawing out the thread of our life to a large extent, as hee did the yeeres of Abraham, Gen. 25.8. Iob 22.17. 2 Chron. 29.28. Iob, and Dauid, who dyed all in a good age, full of dayes, going to their graues, as a Ricke of Corne commeth in due season into the Barne, Iob 5.26.

For the Place, whether we dye in the fields with Saul and Ionathan; or in our beds, vvith old Iacob, Gen. 49.33. or on our beds, vvith Sisera and Ishbosheth, 2 Sam. 4.5. or in the wars, with the Amorites and Amalekites: or in time of peace, as did Salomon, or by land, or by sea, as did the Aegyptians, God hath appoynted that place for vs to lay downe our bodyes in, and no other, euen as hee appointed a dying place for Moses in the land of Moab, Deut. 34▪1.5.

So for the Manner of death, whether it be naturall, when wee fall from the Tree of life like ripe Apples: or if it be violent, when we are by force shaken downe like greene Apples: God gathers vs to our Fathers. God shewes himselfe in this act, not onely when immedi­ately hee strikes by himselfe, with his owne hands, Numb. 16.30.31.32. as hee did Dathan and Abiram, whom the earth receiued; Nadab and Abihu, whom the fire consumed, Leuit. 10.2. with others; for which cause the Lord is said to raine from the Lord, fire and Brimstone vpon Sodome, [Page 155] Gen. 19. As also to haue smit Naball for his churlishnesse towards Dauid; 1 Sam. 25. [...]8. but euen those that are cut off by an externall agent, whether by Sathan himselfe, as vvere Iobs Children, Iob 1.18.19 or by others▪ voluntarily or in­voluntarily, they are executed by the decree of the supreame essence.

Thus whether wee consider Children mur­thered by their Parents, (as was the Sonne of Constantine the great, of Antoninus Caracalla, of Brutus, of Darius, of Cambyses, and Me­dea, if wee beleeue Histories.) Or Parents slaine by their Children, as was Senacherib by his Sonnes, Esay 37.38. Fredericke by his Sonne Manfrede, Agrippina by Nero, Semi­ramis by Ninus, Ʋlisses by Thelegon, Phocas by his Sonne Heraclus, &c. Or the bloud of Brothers effused by Brethren, as Abels by Caine, Ammons by Absolon, Teocles by Poly­mies, Remus by Romulus, Argeus by his Bro­ther Ptolomie Philadelphus, &c. Or if vvee consider Husbands slaine by their Wiues, as the Husbands of the fiftie Daughters of Da­naus, so the Husbands of those thirtie Sisters of Albina, slaine by their wiues, Agamemnon by Clitemnestra, King Sarematar by Circes, Antoninus the Emperour by his Wife Luulla. Or if wee ponder Wiues butchered by their Husbands, as Poppea was by Nero, Queene Glo­sinda by Chilpericus, Fausta the Empresse by [Page 156] Constantine, as also the Wife of Mithridates the King of Pontus, of Egnatius, Calphurinus, Periander, and diuers others, who haue peri­shed by the mischiefe of their Mates. Or if wee reflexe vpon Seruants that haue murthe­red their Masters, as Zimri slew Elah his Lord, 1 Kings 16.9.10. Or apostate Subiects, vile Traytors, that haue effused the bloud of the Lords Annoynted, as Iaques Clements, and Rauallack in their assarsinations and massa­crings of the two renowned French Hen­ries, &c. Or lastly, one man killing another, eyther sodainely, as Ehud slew Eglon with his Dagger, Iudg. 3.21. or treacherously as Ioab did Abner and Amasa, as Rehab and Baanah did Ishbosheth, 2 Sam. 4.5.6. or combatingly in a Duellie in the field, or any other vvayes; in all these, with all the rest of this nature, wee must say as the Apostles said of Pilate, Herod, and the Iewes, concerning the death of Christ, that these murtherers haue done whatsoeuer the Lords hand and councell had determined before to be done, Acts 4.28. For, who is he that saith it commeth to passe, and the Lord commanded it not? Lamen. 3.37. For, euen all things that are, and that happen, Deus disponendo praesciuit, & praesciendo disposuit, saith Tertullian, God hath fore-knowne them, fore-seene them, and disposed of them. If of all things, then of the liues and deaths of men; yea, euen of murthered [Page 157] men: for though God prohibite and forbid murther, Exod. 20. yet hee decrees that act which in man is murther, but in God is but an act of Iustice. Againe, the very materiall part or subiect, is of God, I say the naked act of murther, as it is an act, as it is from the liuing soule, as it is from the motion of the hand, is from God, without whom neyther the hand nor any part could moue in any naturall mo­tion: but the formall part and deformitie of the act, vvhich makes it properly murther, that is from the Diuell and from corruption; yet not without Gods permission, by the sub­straction of his grace (which Hugo cals the cause of all sinne,) from the Agent, and for some righteous ends in respect of the Patient.

The life of this point, Of Redargu­tion. like the bloud in the Vse 1 veynes, lyes in the vse: if meetes with the cor­ruption of these that referre not death vnto his true cause and ground, erring, not know­ing the Scriptures: for, is any man strangely afflicted with wondrous and wofull diseases, Death comes not by fortune. as the Gout, Stone, Stranguillio, Sciatica? &c. Is any infected with the plague? smit with Le­prosie? wounded, or slaine by his enemie? brui­zed by falling from his Horse, or the like? but chiefely, is he taken away sodainely, in his full strength, in his ease and prosperitie, when his breasts are full of milke, and his bones full of marrow? Iob 22.24.25. Presently, we breake [Page 158] out into these tearmes; Sure he had ill lucke, hee had bad chance, hee had ill Fortune: or else wee shoote our fooles bolts, as the Listri­ans against Paul, when the Viper stucke to his hand, Acts 14. Sure this man was a great sin­ner, &c. or as the Iewes of those vpon whom the Tower of Silo fell, and vvhos bloud Pi­late mingled with their Sacrifices, Luke 13.2. Sure he was a greater sinner then the rest: or as others of the blinde man, Iohn 9. wee must needes know whether he or his Parents haue sinned, For the first: it is a pittifull thing, that Chri­stians liuing so long in the heate, and light, and Sunne-shine of the Gospell, should be so dar­kened in their vnderstandings, and so vaine in their imaginations, like the once vnconuer­ted Gentiles, as to turne the glory of the im­mortall God into a vile and abhominable Idoll; to attribute that which is proper and peculiar vnto God, vnto Heathenish Fortune; a word, which as Augustine and Lactantius in their dayes banished to the Pagans from whence it came; so I wonder that the light of Preaching hath no more discouered the blind­nesse of it, and no more reformed the errour of it, that it is no more rooted out of our hearts, and vnsetled out of our heads: but that wee must needes make it, as the Ephesians their Diana, some great Goddesse, as the Sor­cerer Simon made himselfe some great man. [Page 159] I wonder, that with the Romanes wee must build Temples, and sacrifice vnto it, in disgrace and despight of God, and disparagement of his prouidence, taking the Crowne from the Crea­tors head and placing it on an Idoll, vvhich is a meere Idaea, a fiction, and Chimera in na­ture: not knowing, or at least not acknowled­ging with the Scripture, with Antiquitie, with Ierome, Augustine, Ierom. in Ier. c. 12. Aug. de gent. cont. Manich. c. 2. and others (called now Fa­thers, as Iames and Iohn were called Pillers) that there is no euill in the Citie (that is euill of punishment, in which predicament Death is,) which the Lord hath not wrought: that nothing comes to passe, fortuito casu, sed iu­dicio Dei, by chance, but by choyse; nothing happens by hap-hazzard, but by the peculiar preuidence and prouidence of God; that the will of God is the supreame cause of all things that are.

Not a hayre falling from our heads, Mat. 10.29 30 not a Sparrow falling to the ground, much lesse a sickenesse or a disease growing vpon our bo­dies, much lesse a day, or an houre, or a mi­nute falling from our life, without the deter­mination and permission of him, that hath numbred our dayes, and set downe the period of our age.

Therefore let vs banish all thought and opi­nion of Fortune vnto the very Getes and Sau­romatanes. Exhortat. Let vs also suspend our thoughts [Page 160] and our opinions of our Brethren, when God doth sore afflict them in life, or sodainely in­flict vpon them some strange death: let vs not iudge least wee be iudged, let vs not enter into rash and precipitate censures of others: wee may be further deceiued in Gods mercies towards them, or his proceedings with them, then was Eliphaz, Iob 2.3.4. Bildad, and Z [...]phar, in the case of Iob: then the Disciples were in the case of the blinde man, Iohn 9.12. For it may be that this man whom thou seest lying sicke, a Lazar by the high-way, begging with those blinde men in the Gospell; him whom thou seest groaning in an Hospitall, rauing in Bed­lam, &c. nay, whom thou seest drowned in the waters, stabbed in his bowels, led to exe­cution, to be topt off like a fruitlesse Tree at Tyburne; is not a greater sinner then thou, neyther hee nor his Parents haue sinned more then thou and thine, but that the glory of God might be made manifest, that he might be an example vnto thee, that thou maist take warning by his harming, least thou also pe­rish: for Gods workes (as his Word) are for thy instruction, whether they be workes of Mercy or of Iustice.

Vse 2 Secondly, is it so, that death is by the per­mission of God? Nay, is it so, that thy death, and so the death of euery childe of GOD, is not onely fore-seene but fore-appointed of [Page 161] God? then the consideration of this speciall prouidence of God, must be a motiue amongst others which wee haue vsed, and are to vse to incheare vs against death. Oh how ought this to adde life and spirit vnto thy faintings, that God considers euery circumstance of thy death, as the time when, and the place where, and the manner how; the beginning of sicke­nesse, cause, originall, continuation, and end? that euery fit in thy sickenesse; nay, the very pangs of death are particulerly set downe in the counsell of God? Did God so (as hee did Dauid) when thou wast an Embrio, without forme, in thy mothers wombe, when thou wast made in a secret place, and fashioned be­neath in the earth? Psal. 139.15.16. and doth he not now thinkest thou behold thy trouble? Will he not strengthen thee in the bed of lan­guishing, and make all thy bed in thy sicke­nesse, Psal. 41.2.3. In the 56. Psalme, v. 8. Dauid prayes that the Lord would put his teares into his bottle. Now consider with thy selfe, hath God a bottle for the teares of his Seruants? much more hath hee bottles for their bloud: and much more doth he respect their paines and miseries, with all the circum­stances of sickenesse and death. How did this comfort the Church of Ierusalem in the death of Christ, in that nothing came to passe in it, but that which the fore-knowledge and [Page 162] eternall counsell of GOD had appoynted. Acts 4.28.

Thirdly, the Meditation of this point must teach thee to possesse thy soule in patience, to kisse Gods Rod, to subiect thy selfe like an obedient childe to his correcting hand, to couch downe like Issacar vnder thy burthen; what miserie soeuer in life, what manner of mortalitie in death doth befall thee, because it is the Lords doings: it is a message from thy King, an errand from thy Father, a summons from thy Iudge▪ a Loue-token from thy Bride­grome, a warning from thy Generall, there­fore to be receiued with all loue and loyaltie, submission and subiection: without mutte­ring and murmuring, belching and barking against God, as the manner of some is. Oh consider the practise of Dauid, Psal. 39.10. I held my tongue (saith hee) and said nothing: Why so? because thou Lord didst it. The same consideration sealed vp the lips of Aaron, when two of his owne Sonnes were consu­med with fire, Leuit. 10.3. So Eli, when hee considered it was the Lord that threatned him and his house, was content that he should doe what seemed him good, 1 Sam. 3.18. Io­seph thus reuiues his brethren when their harts failed them in a great perplexitie, Gen. 43. Feare not (saith hee) for it was the Lord that sent mee before you. Oh obserue how the very [Page 163] meditation of Gods permissiue prouidence armes him and his against griefe, impatience, and discontent: open thou the boxe and ap­ply thou these Cordials, and Mithridate to thy owne particular. I warrant you who euer had a window into Simeons Soule had seene no small Iubilie of ioy in his inward man, arising euen from these very thoughts, that it was the Lord that let him depart in peace, after hee had imbraced the Prince of peace: to whom that thou maist conforme thy selfe, let this one motiue moue thee, besides many moe. Namely, the greatnesse of this sinne of impa­tience; a sinne not onely condemned in the Word, Prou. 14 29. & 19. vers. 19. if it be but against man (much more if against God, as that of Iobs was, Iob 3.1.2.3. &c.) but also punished most seuerely in the Lords owne peo­ple, as yee may see at leasure in euery Chap­ter almost of Exodus and Numbers, Exo. 14.11 & 15.24. & 16.2.2.7. & 17.2.21. Numb. 11. & 14.2.1.26. & 21.5. it neuer scaping scot-free, but bringing a greater iudge­ment with it then that which did occasion it? As, doe the people murmure for Quailes, for Water, &c. against God, against Moses, and against Aaron? they shall be plagued vvith Pestilence, and Serpents, and Death, and Mur­raine and mortalitie. Oh then if thou wilt be angry, be angry with thine owne sins, the occa­sion of all crosses and of all curses; the causer of Terrours and Consumptions, and Burning [Page 164] Agues, and Biles, and Botches, and Plague­sores; yea, of Death it selfe, Leuit. 26.16.22. Wherefore is the liuing man sorrowfull? Man suffereth for his sinnes, Lament. 3. Sinne was the cause of Ezekias botch, of Gehesies and Mi­riams Leprosie, of the Philistines Emerods, of the Aegyptian plagues; and therefore Christ bids the blinde man sinne no more, least a worse thing befall him, Iohn 5.14. For, Death by Sinne entered into the world, Rom. 5.12. which Sinne still continueth Deaths sting▪ wee carry­ing that sting in our bosomes, that vvill kill vs: oh then plucke this sting out, drowne Sin in the salt Sea of repentant sorrow, as the Marriners cast Ionas into the Sea: and the cause being remoued, the effect will cease. The tempest shall turne to calme when thou tur­nest to Christ, though thou hast outward paine thou shalt haue inward peace, and shalt depart in peace.

Doctrine. Secondly, in that God limits, and lets, and permits our departure, it teacheth vs, that the dayes of man are so determined, as that no man, no meanes can protract them, or detract from them, beyond and besides their limits: for God which hath appoynted the seasons and times for euery thing, Acts 1.7. & ch. 17. hath determined also the dayes of euery mans life, as hee did Iobs, Iob 14.5. which life as it is like a weauers Lombe, Esay 38.10. so it must [Page 165] last till the last thread thereof be wouen, like an Houre-glasse running till the last minute of time be expired, before which time this thread cannot be cut by the power of men and An­gels, this Glasse cannot be broken: all exter­nall created power cannot cause the Lord to alter what hee hath written in the numbring of our dayes, no more then Pilate would change what hee had vvritten vpon Christs Crosse.

Obiect. 1. Obiect. But here a scruple may arise concer­ning Ezekias, who was told from God that hee should presently dye, Esay 38.1. yet after there were fifteene yeeres added to his dayes, 2 Kin. 20.1.

Answ. First, Gods will is alwayes one in it selfe, like God himselfe, how euer in respect of vs it may seeme contrary or contradictory, as it is secret and reuealed. Secondly, there was no change of will or decree in God, Mutatio non in Deo, sed in homine. but in Ezekias himselfe, who receiued the sentence of death like the Niniuites conditionally, as the Theefe may receiue the sentence of death from the Iudge, vnlesse hee carry himselfe af­ter, more carefully, or get the Kings Pardon presently. For, all Legall Threats, as also E­uangelicall Promises, haue their relation and reference vnto the condition of Faith or Infi­delitie, of Repentance or Impenitencie, by the performance or not performance vvhereof [Page 166] wee auoid or incurre the curses denounced: or are capable of, or not capable of the pro­mises propounded: therefore when God staid the execution, and as it were repriued this good King, hee did nothing but what hee de­termined, for hee decreed by this threatning to bring him to the sight of his sinnes, and so to repentance, that hee might liue.

Obiect. 2 Obiect. 2. Iob complaines that his breath is corrupt, that his dayes are extinct, and that the graue is ready for him, Iob 17.1. So Dauid complained that the Lord had weakened his strength in the way, that he had shortened his dayes; yea, hee feared that God would take him away in the midst of his dayes, Psal. 102. vers. 23.24. So Salomon tels vs, that the feare of the Lord prolongeth dayes, but the yeeres of the wicked shall be shortened, Prou. 10.27. then it seemes a man may dye before his limited time.

Answ. There are two ages or times of man: the one a ripe age, suppose seauenty or eighty yeeres; the other vnripe and greene. Now, all men naturally aspire and desire the first; which if they attaine not to in some measure and proportion, they are thought to dye before their time, but yet neuerthelesse they accom­plish their decreed date. And therefore though Iob and Dauid complayned of the shortning of their dayes, yet they deceiued themselues, [Page 167] for the one liued after that an hundred and forty yeeres, and saw his sonnes sonnes, euen foure generations, Iob 42.16. the other dyed old and well stricken in yeeres, 1 Kings 1.1. but both of them (not seeing the Sunne of Gods fauour through the cloud of the Crosse) remembred not that Gods power is seene in infirmitie, 2 Cor. 12.9.

Obiect. 3. Yet it is said that bloud thirsty men shall not liue out halfe their dayes, Psal. 55.23.

Answ. First, that is which they desire to liue; Secondly, or which in nature they might liue to, so Basil; Thirdly, In Psal. 55 God hastens iudgements vpon crying sinnes, such as that of Murther, and Sodomie, and vncleannesse, as hee did on Sodome, Onan and Ioab. For, when sinne once cryes like Cains sinne, or is ripe like the sinnes of the Amorites, God is prouoked and cuts off the workers of it, Secreta esse possunt iudi­cia Dei, nun­quam iniu­sta. sometimes sodaine­ly, sometimes secretly, neuer vniustly; Fourth­ly, good men as they participate of Gods bles­sing, long life, Exod. 20. ver. 12. or else of life eternall, if they be taken away with Iosias, in youth, which is better: so wicked men fea­ring death as a iudgement which they feare, it shall fall vpon them: for whatsoeuer a wic­ked man feares, in a slauish and seruile feare, that shall come vpon him, saith Salomon, Prou. 10.24. A proud man feares disgrace, he [Page 168] shall be disgraced; yea, proud Herod shall be eaten with Wormes, and that Ester and Mor­docheus, and those Iewes which Ammon fea­red shall bring him to the Gallowes. If A­chitophel feare that his counsell shall be re­iected, it shall be reiected. If the Theefe and the Seminarie feares Tyburne, they shall be top [...] there. The couetous man feares pouertie, it shall betide him or his, hee shall vomit vp his sweet morsels, his substance which he hath deuoured, Iob 20.15. some part of his ill gotten goods, like the coale in the Eagles nest, shall set all the rest on fire. If Ieroboam feare death, as Abijah threatneth him, the Lord will strike him that hee die, 2 Chron. 12. ver. 12. ver. 20. and so all other vvicked men.

Obiect. 4. But if our death be determined may carnall reason obiect, then we neede vse no meanes to prolong our life, as Physicke, re­creation, &c.

Answ. If God haue ordained thee to liue long, hee ordayned the meanes also to pro­long thy life; as hee sent Ioseph before to pro­uide the Land of Aegypt for old Iacob and his Sonnes to liue and to trade in, when the Fa­mine was in Aegypt, for their preseruation, Gen. 34.10. and as hee prouided a Whale to receiue Ionas that hee drowne not: so he hath ordayned meanes, as meates, drinkes, cloathes, [Page 169] dyet, Physicke, Musicke, exercise, carefull cir­cumspection in the vse of thy body, and the like, that thou perish not: to which meanes if thou beest not subordinate, thou art guilty of thine owne death, because thou with-drawes thy selfe from without those limits and bounds that God hath appointed thee to vvalke in; and so art found eyther a fighter against, or at least a tempter of God, Deut. 6.16. It is worthy considering, that though God had told Paul, Acts 27.24. that all that were in the ship with him in that Cretian tempest, should be safe, yet neuerthelesse when some would haue leapt out of the ship, hee tels the Centu­rion, v. 31. that except they abide in the Ship, they could not be saued; they must stay still and bestirre themselues (validis incumbendo renijs) if they will be safe; yea, they must eate meate to, for their healths sake, vers. 34. so what God hath decreed eyther concerning thy body or soule, thy temporall or spirituall estate, in life or death, thou must vse meanes, for the well being and preseruation of both.

Wee may out of this boxe, thus opened, Vse. draw out this Triacle, namely, to goe on con­stantly and couragiously in our callings and Christian courses in the performance of good duties, belonging to the first and second Ta­ble, to God or man, commanded in the word, commended in the practise of the Saints, not­withstanding, [Page 170] all not onely oppositions and calumniations by the scoffing tongues of Is­maels, but euen piercing persecutions of the worlds Nimrods, and the bloody Buls of Ba­san; what though they menace thy massa­cring, determine thy death, as those cursed crew of Ruffians did Pauls, Acts 23.14. yet they cannot hurt a hayre of thy head without Gods permission: no more then the Iewes could doe ought against Christ, but what God had before determined.

Thirdly, in that Simeon here appeales vnto Gods permission, in respect of his departure: it is plaine that hee tooke not leaue of him­selfe to depart; hee askes leaue you see, as a Souldier of his Generall, to depart out of the Campe; as a Scholler of his Master, to goe home; as an Attendant, to be dismissed of the Court. From whose particular we may extract this generall obseruance: that it is vnlawfull for any man to let out his owne life, or the life of another man (vnlesse the Sword of Magistracie be put in his hand) no man must lay violent hands vpon himselfe, or vpon an­other: Deus vitae necis (que) arbiter, God is onely the disposer of life and death. And therefore for the first, how euer the world pretend rea­sons and excuses, for to make this bastard­brat of selfe-murther (which comes from Sa­than and our corruption) legitimate, as [Page 171] proceeding from magnanimitie, greatnesse of courage, or the like; or at least would extenu­ate it, or make it tollerable, if not approue­ble and laudable, when it is a curer of all other crosses, as Cato Ʋticensis held it; or a preuen­ter of sinne, as in Rasis, in the Apocripha, and Lucrece in Histories, &c. yet neuerthelesse the practise is detestable, the sinne damnable, and therefore both in Reason and Religion auoid­able.

First, because it is against a double com­mandement, Legall and Euangelicall: it brea­keth the sixt Commandement: for if a man must not murther others, hee must not mur­ther himselfe, euen as if a man must not steale from another, hee must not steale from him selfe, his wife, his children (which I would haue all Carders, Dicers, Drunkards, &c. and selfe consumers of their substance to consider,) if hee must not doe the lesser sinne, he must not doe the greater.

Secondly, the Apostle saith, A man must not destroy his owne body, but nourish and cherish it, Ephes. 5.

Thirdly, it is against not onely the light of Grace, but euen of Nature; nay, of corrup­ted Nature: euery creature, from the Lyon to the Worme, from the Eagle to the Wrenne, (as Tully notes) seekes it owne preseruation, fugit (que) nociua, flies the contrary. Now the more [Page 172] vnnaturall that any sinne is, the greater, the grosser it is: Incest is a greater sinne then A­dulterie; Adultery, then Fornication; Beastia­litie, then all: wantonnesse with a mans owne body worse then actuall pollution with a wo­man, because more vnnaturall: so in murther, Fratricide, the murther of thine owne brother is worse then Homicide, Man-slaughter; Par­ricide, or Patricide, King killing, or the mur­ther of Parents, worse then eyther: but Semi­cide, or selfe-murther worst of all, because most abhorring and swaruing from the very sparke and instinct of nature.

Fourthly, a man sinnes not onely thus, 1. against God; 2. against Grace; 3. against Na­ture; 4. against his owne Body: but also hee sinnes, 1. against the State, 2. against the king, 3. his Country, 4. the Church, 5. the Com­mon-wealth, 6. his Friends, 7. his Familie: for euery man is par [...] Reipublic [...] & communita­tis, a part of the State both Politicall and Ec­clesiasticall, hee is a member of both bodies, and therefore hath not interest in himselfe, to be actiue in his owne death, he must be meerly passiue. Partem Patria, partem Parentes, &c. Besides, saith the Orator, his Parents, and his Friends (as his Country) for whose good hee was borne, as well as for his owne, challenge a great interest and prerogatiue in him: all whom hee frustrates, and so directly sinnes [Page 173] against all, by cutting off himselfe, euen as he sinnes against the head that cuts off the hand or foote in the body naturall.

Fiftly, this course is as curelesse as cursed, as fruitlesse as godlesse; for it preuents not mi­sery, but procures it; it redresseth it not, but a man runnes further into it, like the fish that leapes out of the Frying-panne into the fire: like him that goes from the English pillory to the Spanish Strippado, that they goe from the hell of Conscience into a reall Hell, is to be feared in selfe-murtherers, though God onely can determine it.

Sixtly, it argues Madnesse, Distraction, or Frenzie, and so the world censures.

Seauenthly, Impatiencie, that a man cannot attend and waite the leasure of God to release his crosse.

Eightly, Muttering, murmuring, and Israe­litish fretting against God, and so rebellion against the Almighty.

Ninthly, Cowardlinesse, and faint-harted­nesse, that a man will not endure that which might be inflicted on him.

Tenthly, Vnthankefulnesse, not to preserue this Iewell of life which is bestowed vpon him.

Eleuenthly, Selfe-killing is noted as a marke of Desperation, and brand of Reprobation, as in Saul, Iudas, &c.

Twelfthly, the practise of it causeth not [Page 174] onely the actors, but their actions, profession, posteritie, Country, nay, Christianitie it selfe to be euill spoken of: their names rot and stincke (as doe oft-times their bodyes.) Besides, they are denied Christian Buryall, being (like ex­communicate persons) cast out of the Church as vnsauory Salt.

Vse. Of Redargu­tion.All which Reasons (with many moe) be­ing so plaine and pregnant against this sinne, argue and demonstrate vnto mee, that many men are not onely irreligious but vnreasona­ble, that dare perpetrate, and commit this horrible ryot and outrage vpon their owne bodyes in selfe-murther. Neyther can I but deplore, as I doe wonder, to see how the Diuell doth daily get ground and aduantage on hu­mane nature, in this inhumane, vnnaturall, and belluine sinne, which euen the bruit Beasts de­test and abhorre. How many haue wee read of, how many haue wee heard of, how many haue wee seene culpable in this kinde? What weekes doe passe but our soules are made sad, and compassionately send out sighes at the Tragicall fals and fearefull ends of Semicidi­an selfe-slayers, the knowledge whereof wee receiue by the intelligence of our eyes or eares? How oft are our hearts made cold, and wee occasioned to smite vpon our breasts at the vndoubted relation, or our owne visible sight of many, not onely amongst the igno­rant, [Page 175] profane, irreligious, and impatient com­mon people, (that know not what belongs to God, or themselues, to their duties in life, or their estates after death:) but euen of Schollers, learned men, great men, that make away themselues, some by hanging, more by drowning, most of all by stabbing themselues, or by cutting their owne throates? The fre­quencie of which euents Crowners (who by Iuries finde out the principall indited causes of these murthers) well know: whose office Sathan and mans corruption hath made, as more painefull, so much more gainefull, then in former ages, wherein Christians liued and dyed more like Christians, at least more like men, or lesse like Pagans and naturall men, but chiefely lesse like vnnaturall and bruitish men then wee doe, in this and other sinnes, in these our curelesse corrupted times, dege­nerate and declining dayes, &c. For, let a man peruse all Histories, and looke at the car­riage of Christians in their lowest exigents, when they were most exposed to most mise­ries such as are particularized, Heb. 11. When the sword had the keenest edge against them, in the hands of the tenne first Romane Per­secutors, when some one weeke saw the slaugh­ter of more thousands then there be dayes therein, yet neuerthelesse we reade of few or none that were their owne slaughterers, but in [Page 176] rest and patience, they ranne through fires and waters, and burnings, and boylings, and bitings of beasts, euen into the mouth of ty­ranny it selfe in passiue suffering, rather then they would rid themselues of these exquisite torments▪ by more easie (though more vn­lawfull) selfe-killings: but alas▪ such are the impieties, such the impatience; nay, such the Atheisme of these our desperate dayes, that euery crosse (yea, though triuiall though but in imagination) must be remoued with some, by a reall curse of Selfe-murther. If wee can­not be our selfe-caruers, wee thinke thus to be our selfe-curers: if not selfe-brokers to haue what wee will, wee are selfe-butcherers against Gods will, like toyish children wee will take pet and dye. The losse of an office, the rising of an [...]mulated Corriuall in the Courts, the forfeiture of a Bond, the feeling or the feare of pouertie, the turning out of seruice, the frowne of a great man, the brawling of a Wife, the miscarrying of some, or the charge of many children, the ouer-throw in a suite at Law, the reiection of a suite in Loue, (to omit weigh­tier matters, distresse of minde, distraction of hart, rage of conscience, despaire of mercy, &c.) euen these are arguments sufficient (and effi­cient to) in the Diuels Diuinitie, whereby he pleades and preuailes with such whom the Lord hath left to him, and to themselues, to [Page 177] make their owne hands their owne executio­ners: which particular sinne if there were no moe in man (though it be accompanyed with Legions) as it strengtheneth my faith in those first poynts in all Christian Catechismes, See Vrsi [...]s and Bastin­gius Cate­chismes, in principio. of mans misery, whose nature being viciated and adulterate in the fall of Adam, is now growne monstrous and outragious, both in the quan­titie and qualitie of sinne: so it confirmes my hope in Christs second comming, concerning the propniqiutie and nearenesse of the last expected day of the worlds dissolution, seeing not onely Iniquitie doth abound, and Sinne (Sathans daughter) is more fruitfull then euer, euen in monstrous births; but the Diuell the Father rageth (Lion-like;) and (like Iehu) marcheth against man more vehemently with redoubled force and fury, knowing that his time to rauen in is but short.

These premisses pondered, Vse 2 because Sathan is as wilie as euer hee was, as powerfull, as po­tent, as politique, more malicious; as thou art more weake then those which hee hath assaulted and vanquished in this kinde (for Saul and Iudas in all outward respects▪ were in all probabilitie stronger then thou) as thy nature as wicked as theirs (for all branches that come from Adams stocke are naturally corrupted) and as it is most likely that thou shalt be tempted by this Serpent, euen to this [Page 178] very sinne of letting out thine owne bloud, which like other sinnes is in thine owne power; (for what man amongst many can say that he hath not had many thoughts and motions iniected and darted into his heart by Sathan for to perpetrate this sinne?) So in Gods feare let euery Christian arme himselfe against it, euen with a constant resolution, like good Iob, by whom Saint Iames patternes vs to trust in GOD, though hee kill him: to fall rather into the hands of God with Dauid, 2 Sam. 24.14. then to fall vpon his owne sword vvith Saul. 1 Sam. 31.4 1 Sam. 26.9.10. Discusse Dauids prohibiting argument, when he was prouoked to kill Saul▪ Shall I lay mine hand (saith hee) vpon the Lords Annoin­ted? Surely no, The Lords hand shall be vpon him, not mine, hee shall stay his day. Thou as a Christian art the Lords Annointed, what euer Sathan importune, the worlds crosses occa­sionedly vrge, yet lay not thine hand vpon the Lords Annoynted: it is more vnlawfull for thee to slay thy selfe, then for Dauid to kill apostate Saul: stay thy day, wayte the Lords leasure, in rest and confidence shall be thy strength, GOD will relieue thee in the crosse, Zach. 12.10 or release thee from the crosse. La­bour for the Spirit of Grace against the im­patiencie of Nature, and the Spirit of Prayer against Sathans Temptations, and the Spirit of Patience against the worlds crosses: learne [Page 179] out of Epictetus his Schoole, sustinendo, absti­nendo, by abstaining from the euill of sinne, by sustaining any crosse, the scourge of sinne, not to mutter against thy Creator, not to marre his Image in thee his chiefe creature.

Lastly, that thou maist preuent this sinne it selfe, as a point of instruction, neyther vn­pleasing nor vnprofitable, I thinke good to acquaint thee with the causes (at least the oc­casions) of this sinne, of Selfe-murther, so farre as I can gather them Historically, as matter of fact, euen from the very Heathens, from whose Candles wee must borrow a little light to see into this poynt: that so as is the Maxi­me both of Philosophie and Physicke, sublata causa, tollitur effectus; the cause being remoued, the effect may cease.

The first and chiefe cause of this crimson sinne of Selfe-murther, Vse 3. Of Instru­ction. (besides the Diuell tempting and triumphing ouer his conquered vassals) is rage of conscience: for some haue beene so stung with Hellish furies (as vvas Nero after hee had murthered his Mother Agrippina, Matricid [...] Nero pro­prij vim pertulit en­sis. Auson. slaine his Brother, his Friends, his Masters, as Suetonius reports) that they haue constrainedly attempted the quenching of this fire with the effusion of their owne bloud, chiefely when there is ioyned with it despayre of mercy, as in Pilate, whom Gregory Turo­nensis relates to haue killed himselfe after hee [Page 180] had condemned Christ. The like whereof Iosephus records of Herod, after hee had but­chered his three Sonnes, In nutricia. Alexander, Aristo­bulus and Antipater. The Scriptures instance in Saul after his Apostacie from God; and in Iudas, after he had betrayed CHRIST, &c.

2 Others some haue beene ouercome by madnesse or Frenzies: as Lucretius that Phi­losophicall Poet, about the forty yeere of his age, Statius lib. 12. The­baidos. saith Politian: Hercules, that burnt him­selfe, being madded with his inchanted shirt, that was dipt in the bloud of the Centaure: Aiax, Ouid. lib. 13. Met. that died inraged when Achilles armor was adiudged from him to Ʋlisses: to which are to be added such as being surprised vvith passions of loue or hatred, oppressed vvith Melancholy, ouer-heated in their spirits by studie or the like, haue beene madded and so murthered.

3 Others haue killed themselues in the vio­lencie of their diseases, Polit. ibid. Martial. lib. 1. as Silius the Poet: Festus the friend of Domitian, I [...]dignas preme­ret pestis, quum rabida fauces, &c. Messula Coruinus the Orator, that by reason of an vl­cer in his mouth, pined himselfe to death, as Celius testifies.

4 Others in pride of heart, and discon­tent, as Homer, because hee could not resolue the riddle of the Fishermen: Aristotle, because hee could not finde out the reason of the [Page 181] frequent ebbing and flowing of Euripus. So Brotheus that burnt himselfe because he was deformed:

5 Others to preuent the luxurious desires and designes of Lechers, Ouid. in Ibin. and to preserue their owne chastitie, as Sophronia, that Christian Lu­crece, as Eusebius cals her, that by killing her selfe freed her chastitie from the continuall as­saults of Decius: Damocles the beautifull Boy that escaped the Sodomie of Demetrius by Selfe-drowning.

6 Others being ashamed to liue, haue not beene ashamed by selfe inflicted death, to de­priue themselues of life: as chaste Lucrece after she was defiled by proud Tarquin, whose death not onely Claudian Stroza, Sabellicus, Lib. 1. in Eutrop. Lib. 1. Er [...] ­tic. and many of the Heathen bewayle, but euen some Christians speake and write of it, vvith remorse. So Cornelius Gallus, that excellent Poet, Ʋirgils friend, that for shame killed him­selfe, being accused, and it seemes guiltie, of misdemeanours in his gouernment, being Pre­sident of Aegypt, saith Ammianus; Lib. 17. re­rum gesta­rum. or as Tran­quillus writes, because hee was interdicted Cae­sars house, because he was too tongue-sawcy, saith Ouid, that makes it his blemish: ‘Se linguam nimio non tenuisse mero.’

7 Others to preuent that shame and fur­ther blame which their misdemeanours or the preuailing of their enemies had brought them [Page 182] too: thus Cleopatra when Anthony was ouer­come, least shee should be carryed captiue, ap­plyed Serpents to her breasts, Lib. 1. car. which Plutarch and Horace say shee kept for that purpose, whom her Maides, Neaera and Charmi [...], ac­companyed in the like death. So Dioclesian the Emperour fearing an ignominious death from the threates of Licinus and Constantine, dranke poyson, saith Aurelius. So Oppia, a vestall Virgin, defloured, kils her selfe for feare of further punishment. The like did Fanius Cepio when he was apprehended in a Conspiracie against Augustus. The like is re­lated of Cardinall Wolsey, to haue poysoned himselfe in the High-way betwixt Cawwood and London, when hee was sent for to answere such Articles as were against him: neyther was Achitophels wittie folly awanting in this kinde, who thought by hanging himselfe to be rid both of present shame, his counsell being despised, and future blame, from the fore-seene preuailing part of Dauid: 1 Sam. 31.4 and Saul pretends this as his best argument to kill him­selfe least the vncircumcised Philistines should fall vpon him and mocke him: and Abime­lech will be guilty of his owne death, rather then it be said that a woman slew him.

8 Others out of vaine-glory and desire of fame, as Empedocles the Scicilian Poet, vvho to be accounted immortall threw himselfe into [Page 183] Aetna, Deus immortalis haberi, Hor. in arte Poae­tica. dum cupit Em­pedocles, &c.

9 These that haue desired the immorta­litie of the soule after death, haue vpon false grounds vsed this vnequall meanes of killing themselues▪ as did Cleanthos, Crysippus, Zeno, and others besides Empedocles, as did Cleom­brotus also, after hee had read Platoes Phedo (the Booke which Cato read also before his death) all whom Lactantius for that cause of making away themselues, in his third Booke of False Wisedome, Cap. 8. recites and re­futes.

10 Some haue beene deceiued by the Diuels Delphicke Oracles, (as Codrus amongst the Athenians) to preserue their Countries by their owne voluntarie deaths.

11 Others haue beene so ouer-whelmed in the flouds of Passions, and so transported from themselues in the eager pursuit of their desires, that they haue sacrificed themselues to their beloued and adored Idols, suppose these be fictions, 1. of Didoes killing her selfe for the loue of Aentas: 2. Sappho, for the loue of Phao: 3. Phaedra, for Hippolitus: 4. Phillis, for Demophoon: 5. Hemon, for An­tigone: though they be all testified by Authors. The first instanced by In Ae­neid. Ʋirgil, Lib. 3. fast. Ouid, Lib. 2. & Lib. 8. Siluis, In Manto Politian, and all that haue followed Ʋirgil: the second by Lib. 5. Siluarum. Statius: the third by Ausonius: [Page 184] the fourth by Lib. 3. de stellis. Pontanus: the fift by Lib. 7. Pro­pertius, (to say nothing of those that haue cast themselues into flouds and riuers▪ and so drow­ned, at the command of their Mistresses, as Pontanus instanceth in Galeatius, Caelius in Ti­magoras,) we haue too many pittifull presidents euen in our times, of no small number of foo­lish Flies, and deluded doters, who are profuse of their bloud, which inconsiderately they ex­pose to effusion in single combats, or madly they let out with their owne hands, eyther when their supposed lawfull loue, or lawlesse lust is crossed by their corriuals, or reiected of their beloued ones.

Lastly, and most ordinarily (to omit him that killed himselfe, by the instinct of Gods Spirit, who also killed his enemies, that Typi­call Sampson, whose fact was particular and in­imitable) most make away themselues out of impatiencie vnder the Crosse, ioyned with In­fidelitie and Atheisme, neyther greatly belee­uing or regarding any future estate after death. And therefore as the crosses and miseries in­cident to this our mortalitie are diuers and manifold, so many snares hath Sathan not onely for the soules, but the bodies of vnbe­leeuers.

Some, in the extremities of warre haue war­red with themselues, and let out their owne bloud with their owne hands, ere they would [Page 185] fall into the hands of their enemies: vvhich was Sauls case when the Philistines pressed sore vpon him. So Cassius and Brutus, Se gladio fodit Bru­tus, Cato fodit & ille, quem timuit Caesar. Pamphi­lius Saxus. the murtherers of Caesar, murthered themselues, sath Plutarch, with the same weapons vvith which they stabbed Caesar, being ouercome by Anthony and Augustus at Philippos; for which Iouianus and others blame them. The like parts in the like Tragedies, acted Cato, when Pompey was ouercome of Caesar, who of the Citie Vtica, where he dispatched himselfe, was called Vticensis, saith Pliny and Geltius. So Dolobella, one of Caesars fauourites, when hee was vanquished by Cassius in his Sirian warres. So vsurping Fla. Fimbria in his conflicts with Sylla; as also Gnorban, Lib. 5. when hee was banished by the same Sylla. So Norbanus, Lib. 13. when hee was ouercome by Scipio. So Otho the Empe­rour, after one battell lost in his warres vvith Ʋitellius. So Petreius, Autore Liuio. one of Pompeis Cap­taines foyled by Caesar: Labio, by Octauius: with many moe. As Portia, Martial. Lib. 6. Catoes Daughters destroying dyet was hot coales after the death of her Husband Brutus: Plutarch. and as Aria accom­panied her Husband Petoes proscription, with her owne death; so diuers other Wiues haue voluntarily accompanied the dead ashes of their Husbands: as also Husbands of their Wiues, as Plantius of his Wife Erestilla: Valer. de amore coniugali. so Marke Anthony when hee heard but a false [Page 186] rumour of the death of Cleopatra, Eutropius Lib. 7. aggraua­ting his troubles with Augustus (saith Orosius) killed himselfe. Some haue taken to heart the crosses of their Children: as Boetus that killed himselfe at the Tombes of his daugh­ters Hippo and Miletia, L [...]b. 26. Sil [...]is lib. 2 who being defloured by some Spartan young men, were cast into a pit: so old Gordianus is by Marcellinus re­ported to haue hanged himselfe, when hee heard his Sonne was slaine in the warres: so Mopsus threw himselfe downe from a tower when hee saw his sonnes dead before him: Statius lib. 11. Theb. so Iocasta the Mother affrighted with the hor­rible spectacle of her two Sonnes Eteocles and Polinices, that had slaine one another, would liue no longer. So Children haue followed their Parents Funerals, as Erigone that hanged her selfe when her Father Icarus dyed. Sic Lib. 5. Sylu. So Brothers and Sisters haue sympathized in sor­rowes, and in Selfe-murthers, one with, and one for another; as I [...]t [...]r [...]a (Daunus his Daughter) that drowned her selfe after her Brother Turnus was ouer-turned by Ae [...]as, Paulus sed Diaconus. Others in a despayring repentance, for killing others, out of the horrour of conscience, and Gods remunerating vengeance, haue killed themselues: as Argobastes after he had caused Ʋalentinian the younger to be strangled at Vienna. So Ecelinus the Tyrant after innume­rable slaughter of others, made hauocke of [Page 187] himselfe. Lesser Crosses haue occasioned others selfe destruction, as the losse of friends, scandall of name, miscarrying of some things, which they ouer-weeningly loued in life: as Terence that drowned himselfe, because some hundred and seauen Comedies, which he had turned out of Greeke into Latine, perished by Sea: Hor. in Epod [...]. so Hipponax the Poet made Bubilas the Painter hang himselfe by his ierking Iam­bickes. In all which particulars, these despe­rate salues that they vsed, were worse then their sores. These were Heathens that knew not God, nor the soueraigne good, nor the true being or beatitude of man; the most of them they wanted illumination from the Sunne of Righteousnesse, and Sanctification from the Spirit of Grace; they were in the shadow of death both in life and death, and were vnder the power and Prince of darknesse, Acts 26.18 who ruled so powerfully in them and ouer them, that oft times they haue made away themselues for little or no cause, as haue also some in the rancke of Christians, (as Celius and Crinitus write of one Laurence a learned Florentine, who threw himselfe into a pit in the health and strength of body: as also of one Peter Leonius an excellent Philosopher, and a sin­gular wise man, that did the like, no probable cause being knowne or suspected in eyther:) Let vs feare the Fates and the vntimely fals of [Page 188] such Cedars whom God hath cut downe, with the Axe of death, put into their owne hands: let vs by faith in CHRIST, and repentance from dead workes, be reconciled to that God who by our prouoking sinnes may iustly deale with vs as he hath done with them: in giuing vs ouer to Sathan and our selues. But aboue all things let vs feare to commit sinnes, or liue in sinnes against conscience: for the rage of conscience (the effect of witting, willing, vnconscionable and customarie sinnes) is the blatrant beast that kils so many in selfe-mur­thers: The spirit of a man may beare his infirmi­tie, but a wounded conscience who can indure? saith hee that was once, Salomon. no doubt, touched in conscience for the sinnes with which his soule was soiled.

Lastly, let vs take heede of Cains sinne, de­spayre of mercy, least it worke that effect in vs that it did in him and Iudas; both who of­fended GOD more in this sinne, chiefely the last, in effusing his owne bloud, then in shed­ding the bloud of Abel or of Christ himselfe. Apply the promises to thy soule by faith, fons vincit fitienteus; Augustine. there is a fountaine of Grace, and a Well of the water of life, Mat. 5.6. Mat. 11.28 alwayes open to the thirsty sinner; which Fountaine is grea­ter then the puddle of sinne, and hath a stronger mundifying vertue, and abstersiue power to cleanse the soule, then Iordan to [Page 189] purge and purifie Naamans Leprous body.

I might prosecute another vse against those who by a continuated custome of sinne are in­directly and effectiuely, though not intentio­nally (for euery man in sinne, commits it, Omnia ap­petunt bo­num. Immo ma­lum sub spe­cie boni. sub specie boni, vnder the shew of some deluding good, as our first Parents did, a truth which euen Philosophers saw) but I say in respect of the effect, selfe-murtherers: for there is no sinne wherein a man practically and actually liues, but as it is damnable to the soule, so it is preiudiciall and dangerous to the body, the death of both: and that if wee consider it in his causes and effects, whether naturall or su­pernaturall. Naturall, instance in some: doth not fond lust cause dry bones? doth it not consume the moysture? dry vp that radicall humour which is the nurse and fountaine of life? doth it not inflame the bloud, cause bur­ning Feauers? &c. To speake no worse, in bringing such diseases, that euen modestie suf­fers me not to name, as that French (or Neo­politan) disease, that Anthonies fire, vvhich burnes to the consumption of the body and confusion of the soule. Doth not Drunken­nesse cause Dropsies? doth not strong drinkes ouer-heate the bloud? For to whom is woe? to whom is sorrow? to whom is strife? to whom is murmuring? to whom are wounds? and to whom is the rednesse of eyes? Euen to them that tarry [Page 190] long at the Wine, to them that seeke mixt Wine, which Wine though it be pleasant both in the co­lour and the taste, yet at last it bites like a Ser­pent, and hurts like a Cockatrice, Pro. 23. v. 29.30.31.32. The like may be said of all other intemperancies in meates: by the immoderate excessiue abuse whereof many haue laid their stall-fed pampered carkasses vntimely in the dust. Insomuch that Physitians considering the innumerable diseases that flow from that vncleane sincke of Epicurisme and gluttoni­zing, haue set it downe as an Axiome, Plures gula quam gladio: that the insatiable belly hath slaine moe then the Blade.

What should I speake of Auarice and Co­uetousnesse, which wastes and consumes the spirits by a mad and eager pursuit after the world; euery crosse and losse whereof goes to the hart of the wretched worldling like a dart or a dagger? Of Enuy, which frets the heart as the Moath the Garment, and eates into it, as the rust into the Iron? with the destroying and deadly effects of other such sinnes. I might be large in the causes supernaturall, in confir­ming that Diuinitie, which not onely Prote­stants commenting, Aret. in locum. Bernardin. de sena, art. 3. cap. 4 but Papists alledging that place in the Apocalypse, chap. 3. vers. 3. If thou watch not I will come on thee as a theefe, &c. haue taught and affirmed, that GOD accu­stometh for the punishment of carelesse and [Page 191] negligent sinners, to cut off time from them, and to shorten their liues, for their misim­ploying and mispending the same, in omitting all good duties, and committing outragious sinnes: God taking from them that which they haue, or at least seeme to haue Mat. 25.29. Tom. vlt. ser. 13. art. 3. & 4. & Tom. vlt. ser. 18. which is Time; a Iewell so precious, that as zealous Bernar­dine de sena, oft acknowledgeth, if the traf­fique and marchandize of it might be carryed to hell to be sold, for one onely halfe houre there would be giuen a thousand worlds, if the damned had them. Hence it is, that wee see many murtherers, riotous persons, malefa­ctors, swearers, swash-bucklers, cut off by the Sword of the Magistrate, or of the enemie, in warre, or priuate quarrels, or by Gods sword, the deuouring Plague, or such meanes, euen in their youth and strength, when by the course of Nature they might haue liued longer: ac­cording to the threat of the Psalmist, that bloudy and deceitfull men shall not liue out halfe their dayes. Psal. 55.23. And that Propheti­call threat of Iob, Iob 15.32. that the sinfull man shall die ere hee accomplish his dayes, and that his hand shall be cut off like a Vine in the bud, euen when hee is young and tender in the blade, ere hee come to any ripenesse or matu­ritie. To which God himselfe hath reference in the fift Commandement, which as it an­nexeth the promises of long life to children [Page 192] that are obedient to their Parents, (how euer some are taken away soone, as was Iosias, whose short life on earth is rewarded with life eter­nall in heauen) so it intimates the curse of abbreuiating and shortening the life of those that are immorigerous and refractory to their Parents and Fathers, vvhether natu­rall, ciuill, spirituall, or heauenly: illustra­ted in that vvhether fiction or true Historie, Pomerium de Sanctis. Bernardin Seuensis. vvhich the Papists relate of a young man in the Village of Catalunna, neare Valentia; who being disobedient to his Parents▪ and withall a theefe, being deseruedly hanged about the yeeres of eighteene, a prettie while after his death, hee hanging on the Gallowes, his beard beganne to sprout, his browes vvaxed wrinck­led, his hayres gray, like a man of nintie yeeres: at which all being astonished, it was reuealed to the Bishop of the place, how that same young man, after the course of Na­ture, might haue vndoubtedly liued nintie yeeres, and so should haue done, but for his disobedience and other sinnes the LORD by a violent death cut off from his life, so many yeeres as are from eighteene to nintie. Whereupon Saint Ierome well obserues, Hier. epi­stola 21. that as shortnesse of life is a punishment and iudge­ment against sinners, so from the beginning of the vvorld as sinne hath increased in seue­rall ages, God hath shortened the yeeres of [Page 193] sinners more and more. Which is plaine, if wee compare our dayes with former times.

Hence it is, Haimo, sic Hector Pintus in Esaiam 38. that (as Haimo and others note, if God had called Ezekias then vvhen hee threatned him, it had beene Sinnes de­sert, not Natures course: and vvhen at his teares and prayers, fifteene yeeres were added to his dayes, then his sinne vvas pardoned, and hee permitted to runne euen that vvhole naturall race which hee should haue runne, if hee had not sinned: Mollerus Wolphius in Psal. 102 ver. 24. Vide Mar­lor. in ex­pos. Eccl. in Psalmos. for vvhich cause Da­uid prayes that the Lord would not take him away in dimidio dierum, in the midst of his dayes; that is, say Expositors, he prayes that according to his demerits God would not as an inflicted punishment, vnseasonably cut him off, as hee vseth to doe and deale vvith profane men: but that hee would permit him to enioy and accomplish the residue of his yeeres, vvhich in his determination hee had appointed hee should liue, if hee had per­sisted obedient. All which may be a Spurre and motiue to stirre vp impenitent and vn­gratious wicked men to looke to themselues, and to breake off their sinnes by Repentance, least both from causes naturall and superna­turall, as the effect of their quelling and kil­ling sinnes, they be found Selfe-murtherers: being not onely actually euen whilest they liue, dead in their soules, like the vvanton [Page 194] widdowes Paul speakes of; 1 Tim. 5.6. and the Bishop of Sardis: Apoc. 3.1. but in proxima potentia, in the nearest probabilitie of the death of their bodies, euen as hee that hath eaten poyson is but a dead man though liuing, because potentially dead: and as a condemned malefactor is dead, though liuing, because Legally and Ciuilly dead: so, these are dead whilest they liue, like condemned Traytors, standing at the Kings mercy, when euer hee will take away their liues: the case standing with them as with Adam and Eue after they had eaten the for­bidden fruit. Feare and tremble yee wicked ones, least God take away life from you, life naturall and eternall: as hee threatned to take away the Kingdome of God from the Iewes, Mat, 21.43. giuing the abused treasure of your life to those that know better how to estimate it, and vse it to his glory, and to the working out of their owne saluation.

NOW wee come to the fourth part in this Song, in Simeons Compel­lation, intitling himselfe Gods Seruant, with a speciall applica­tion in this Pronoune Thy: In locum. Pis­ [...]ator giues a note of the significancie of the words in the Greeke, [...]; Seruum tuum: id est, Me: thy Seruant, by a Senech­doche: as the Virgin Mary vseth the phrase in the same Figure, Luke 1.48. by an elegan­cie of speech proper to the Hebrewes; testifi­ing their reuerence to him to whom they speake, as in the History of Iosephs Brethren wee heare them thus submissiuely speaking to Ioseph; Thy Seruants came to buy food, Gen. 42.10. They might haue said, We came, in briefe, but they expresse their reuerence. So for the same cause, Gehezi answeres his Master Eli­zeus, 2 Kings 5.25. and the woman of Tekoa, Dauid in the same tearmes, 2 Sam. 14. when they might haue vsed the Pronoune I, or Me, they haue expressed their reuerent respect [Page 196] to God or man, as also their humilitie; yea, and the account they made of the counte­nance and fauour of those they spoke to, as here Simeon did. For, if he would haue giuen titles to himselfe, hee might haue called him­selfe one of the Seniors and Elders of Israell, one of the Prophets, Vers. 30.31 32. here prophecying; or a Rabbi amongst the Iewes; a Teacher and Ex­planer of the Law; a Doctor in the Schooles of Ierusalem, being about the time, or succee­ding Iesus the Sonne of Sirack, that writ the Ecclesiasticus, An [...] ante Christum. 40. or Ionathan the Chaldean, that turned the Hebrew Bible into the Chaldean tongue. Hee might haue spoken of the num­ber and excellencie of his Schollers, such as Gamaliel, Simeon Hilleles c. de sacra Script. p. 359. vnder whom Paul was instituted, that was his Sonne, or his Auditor, as Zanchie thinkes: with other such priuiledges, in respect of his place, dignitie, age, profession, estima­tion, but hee singles out, and sequestrates this Epithite from the rest, and appropriates it to himselfe, Thy Seruant; counting it his chiefest dignitie to performe any dutie to his heauenly Master.

Doctrine. The chiefe delight & desire of a Christian is to be Gods ser­uant.This ought to be our chiefest practise: euery Christian should be of Simeons minde, striuing, studying, indeauouring to deserue, ioying, delighting, and reioycing in his con­scionable and constant desires to serue God.

First, wee haue not onely Simeons practise [Page 197] here, but many presidents, Reasons and Mo­tiues. which haue pre­ceded, and gone before vs in this particu­lar, men of most eminent greatnesse, excel­lent Reason. 1 graces, shining gifts, high places, Gods of the earth, temporall Sauiours, instrumentall conuerters of the Christian world; of the bloud Royall, allyed to CHRIST the Prince of Peace, Esay 9.6. both by birth naturall and supernaturall, yet haue as desiredly as deser­uedly passed by all other titles, in the ex­change of this▪ to be accounted and called the Seruants of God. Thus Moses, as by the Lord himselfe, hee is dignified with the title of Gods Seruant, Iosh. 1.2. yea, a faithfull Seruant in Gods house, by the Spirit of God, Heb. 3.2. So hee counted it greater glory to be a poore Shepheard, and keepe the Prince of Midians sheepe, that so hee might in his solitary Soliloquies meet with God on Mount Horeb, Exod. 2. and serue God with his affli­cted people in the Wildernesse, then to be cal­led the Sonne of Pharaohs Daughter, and in­ioy the pleasures of sinne for a season in a Heathenish Court, Heb. 11. So Dauid that pious and potent Prince, the sweet Singer of Israell, with greatest alacritie carrols out this in his holy Hymnes; Lord, I am thy Seruant, I am thy Seruant, and the Sonne of thine Hand­maid. So Paul, though an Hebrew of the Hebrewes, a Iew by Nation, a learned Pharisie [Page 198] by education, an Apostle by Profession, a piller of the Church by his Ministeriall Function, yet with all these Nationall and Apostolicall Priuiledges, hee ioynes this as the chiefe, A Seruant of Iesus Christ. Nay truely (that which the Antichristian Saul of Rome cals himselfe hypocritically) a Seruant of the seruants of the Lord for Christs sake, Ser [...] ser­uorum Do­mini. a Seruant to the Saints, to the Church, all things to all, to winne some. So holy Iude, the Brother of Iames, of Christs kindred according to the flesh, prefixeth this as the best branch of his Pedigree, A Ser­uant of Iesus Christ, Iude verse 1. That which was the chiefe grace of Simeon, Moses, Dauid, Paul, Iude, ought to be our glory, to serue him, who is Lord of Heauen and Earth.

Reason. 2 Secondly, God wonderously and worthily esteemes of his Seruants, as appeares by those honourable titles in the Scripture with vvhich he aduanceth them, for he doth not account them Seruants, 1 Iohn 3. Mat. 12.49.50. but Friends; yea, Sonnes; yea, Heyres; yea, Christs Fellow-heyres, Rom. 8. his Brethren, his Sisters, his Father, his Mo­ther, his Domestiques, and of his Houshold; yea, Citizens with the Saints, and Burgesses of the Heauenly Ierusalem, Ephes. 2.19. yea, his Members, 1 Cor. 6.15. The Temples of the holy Ghost, vers. 19. 2 Cor. 6.16. Spiri­tuall men, 1 Cor. 2.15. New Creatures, 2 Cor. 5. Free-men, Iohn 8. Holy men, 2 Cor. 6. The [Page 199] Lords annointed, 1 Iohn 3. True Israelites, Iohn 1. The Lords first borne, Heb. 12.23. Gods peculiar people, royall Priests, 1 Pet. 2.9. Elect of God, Col. 3.12. Vessels of Mercy, Rom. 9. Children of the Marriage-Chamber, and such as excell euen their neighbours, Mat. 9. yea, excellent ones, Psal. 16.3. with such other titles of eminencie, and dignitie, with which his Seruants are aduanced. Now, if it be a grace to be called the Sewer, the Chamberlaine, the Cup-bearer, &c. to an earth­ly Monarch, as Nehemiah was to Artaxerxes, then what luster and excellencie is their in such high and honourable places, which the atten­dants in Gods Courts doe daily inioy?

Thirdly, onely the Seruants of God are ac­ceptable vnto God here, and shall haue a glo­rious reward hereafter. Heb. 12.28.

Fourthly, the Church and Children of God esteeme and approue of such as serue Christ truely and sincerely, Rom. 14.18. as for others that are eyther strangers from the Common-wealth of Israell, without the Church; or seruants to their owne lusts and sinfull ends within the Church▪ that serue not the Lord in spirit and truth, they esteeme them as debashed and vile men, vnworthy of the common ayre, vncleane Birds, vnsauory salt, the earths burthen, the Churches bane, Sa­thans Impes, Natures shame, Heauens exiles, [Page 200] Hels Inheritance, and the Diuels due, in that case wherein they stand, till by the power of the Word and Spirit they be brought from darkenesse to light, and from the power of Sathan vnto God, from the seruice of vaine Idols, to the liuing God, Acts 26.18

Vse 1. Of Redargu­tion.If we, according to our vse▪ apply this by vse, wee shall finde Miriades and Millions of such as haue the faces of men, and the names of Christians, and goe vnder the common rancke of Gods Seruants, as farre from Simeons desires and delight in this poynt as the Diuell himselfe, that neuer since they were borne of their Mothers, did eyther know, or will, or af­fect, or practise, or thinke of the least mea­sure of the seruice of God. Examine their knowledge, and you shall finde them as igno­rant how God is truely to be serued as the Getes and Sauromatanes, and those Paganish people that neuer heard of God. Let thou­sands that might be culled out, both in the Citie and Country, that are vnder the meanes, and that haue dexteritie of wit, strength of in­tellectuall powers, soundnesse of iudgement, in attaining, discerning, and iudging the things of this life, that belong to their Callings and Functions. Tell mee the difference betwixt a ciuill, morall, temporarie, generall Faith, and sauing Faith, (without which God is not serued and pleased) with the markes, proprieties and [Page 201] effects of the same. Multitudes that liue vnder the meanes are ignorant hovv God should be serued. Let them distinguish vnto mee betwixt that godly and that worldly, that Christian and that carnall sorrow men­tioned 2 Cor. 7.10. Let them shew mee the true qualities and conditions of such a prayer as preuailes with God▪ and fetcheth a blessing from the Throne of Grace: the Notes and Adiuncts of that Confession of sinnes to which Remission is promised 1 Iohn 1.9. Pro. 28.13. Let them tell mee wherein the Euangelicall Repentance of the childe of God in his new birth, or after his fall, differs from the Legall Penitencie of Iudas, Esau, and the Papists; with other such like Misteries and Principles of Diuinitie: the knowledge of which is a good meanes both for honouring of God, and sa­uing of their owne soules: and I shall be very glad that my strong iealousie and vehement suspition of their blockish ignorance, is desi­redly remoued. I know many like the naughty Seruant, know the will of their Master, that doe it not, Luke 12.47. like the Athenians that know how to doe well and will not: that know how to speake well and to worke ill, like that carnall Cardinall that declaimed against whoredome, and practised ere hee slept, what hee inueighed against: such, like the Armenian Dragons, haue hot mouthes, and cold hearts: yet an hundred times moe we haue in this our marueilous light, that doe no more know how [Page 202] to beginne, prosecute, or finish any part of the seruice of God: then a new admitted Col­ledge-Student, a fresh-water Souldier, an vn­expert raw seruitor, a rude Prentise, know what belongs to their places, functions, professions, to the customes and conditions of their place, the first houre of their admittance: a fearefull case for such as haue had so good meanes, and haue profited nothing.

2 Part of the Vse.A second branch of this reprofe extends to those who want not onely the skill, but the will to serue and worship God, vnlesse in a will-worship, such as they themselues conceit and imagine is sufficient, though mixt vvith such filthy dregs and dung-hill of Ignorance, profanenesse, superstition, formalitie and hy­pocrisie, as makes God lothe and abhorre their offerings. How many are there in the common folde of Christianity amongst vs, that in this maine dutie of hearing the Word, and the voyce of the great Shepheard, in the Ministerie of vs the Vnder-shepheards? for one Sermon that they here lend their eares and hearts to, an hundred times to the voyces of strangers, whether Seminaries and Iesuites, the Popes Factors; or Stage-Players, the Di­uels Preachers; or other such Charmers, which infatuate and bewitch their soules, as the false Apostles did the Galathians, Gal. 3.1. I speake not of the manner of their hearing, without [Page 203] all preparation before, without all reuerent at­tention, submission, or faith in hearing, or me­ditation and examination of themselues and their families after hearing, whereby the word is made vnprofitable to them; yea, the sauour of death to death: But when doe they heare at all? or whom? where is their Dauids de­light in the Law and Statutes of God? where is their longing after the Congregations and Assemblies of the Saints? after Bethell? where is their soules sickenesse after the house of God? to come and worship in the holy Tem­ple? there were such men when Dauid, Eze­kias, Iosias, Anna, good Simeon, and the Pri­mitiue Saints were liuing, whom Augustine called the Lords Antes, that euery day would hast into the Lords Barne, to fetch corne, the bread of life, as the Israelites gathered Manna euery morning. But our age affords Drones, and Waspes, and Grashoppers in their stead: the neglect of Gods publike worship in the so­litarie seates of many vnfrequented Churches, in the thronged fields, and tippling-houses in many Parishes. In this our numerous people (wherein our Land like a full Bee-hiue, might cast many swarmes) shewes that most haue lesse will to serue God, then the Diuell, the world, or their bellie. But to leaue the Church-seruice, wherein man sees thy defects and de­faults better then thou thy selfe. Tell me vaine [Page 204] men, in the truth of their soules (if there be any truth in you) what sacrifices many of you, chiefely you the common and vulgar people haue offered vnto God in priuate? vvhere is the furrowes and wrinckles in thy face? thy bleared Leah-like eyes, that thy teares haue made, being occasionedly distilled from the Limbecke of a sorrowfull soule for thy sinnes? where was thy last Bochim, place of weeping? thy last Mispez, where like a true Israelite thou didst poure downe water before the Lord? When didst thou take vp Dauids course, in washing thy Couch with teares▪ and thy bed with weeping? Where didst thou mourne like Ezekias, 2 Kings 20.3. Alas thy dry eyes and stony heart, polluted soule and guiltie conscience tels thee this part of Gods Seruice is yet omitted. Moreouer, where didst thou volly out thy broken sighes for thy So­domitish and crying sinnes? What times, mor­ning, euening, day, or night? What place, what Chamber, Closet, Gallery, Garden, Groue, Wood, Field, can witnesse thee, smiting vpon thy breast with Ephraim, Ier. 31.19. ashamed of thy sinnes, with the Princes and Iudges of Israel, like a Theefe taken in the manner, Ier. 2.26. casting downe thine eyes, and knock­ing vpon thy breast with the penitent Publi­can, Luke 18.13. mourning like a Doue in the Desart, and a Pellican in the Wildernesse, for [Page 205] thy transgressions and enormities? this part of Gods seruice is pretermitted. When didst thou commune with thine owne heart in thy pri­uate Chamber, Psal. 4. searching the secret sinnes of thy soule, with the light of the word, finding out thy present corruptions, and recounting the by-past follies of thy youth, in the bitter­nesse of thy soule: confessing them vnto God with the repenting Prodigall, laying open the wounds, Leprosies, and ruptures of thy soule to Christ thy P [...]hsitian? I doubt this sacrifice of a wounded soule, a broken hart, and a contrite spirit, is eyther not at all, or very coursorily performed: this seruice and sacrifice pleaseth God too well, Psal. 51.17. for the Diuell to suffer it to passe without long delayes, many interruptions, and in too many, absolute omis­sions. But lastly, tell mee seriously, how oft hast thou poured out thy soule before the Lord in Prayer for the pardon and remission of sinnes, for a new heart, a renued soule, Psal. 51.1. v. 12.13.14 Ier. 31.18. Mat. 9.24 [...] for conuersion, and turning to God, for increase of Faith, for the holy Ghost, for the gifts of Grace, Wisedome, Chastitie, and the like, Luke 17. Psal. 119.76.77. Luke 23.42 2 Cor. 9. 1 Kings 3. as Dauid, the Apostles and Disciples of Christ, Paul; and other of the Saints haue done? hast thou done this? I aske thee not whether thou hast oft babbled or not, like the Heathen and our ignorant Papists, in pattring ouer thy Lords Prayer, as they doe their Pater Nosters [Page 206] and their Auees, without Faith or feeling, with­out heart and affection, with that lip-labour that Christ condemned in the Gentiles, Mat. 6.5. Esay 29.13 and God in the Iewes? Neither doe I aske thee, if Parrat-like thou hast said ouer thy Creed, and thy tenne Commandements, sometimes when thou didst rise and goe to bed; which are as far from being Prayers, as the Diuell is from truth, or as ignorance is from knowledge, that tels thee they are Prayers which are none. With these Heathenish and Idolatrous Seruices perhaps thou hast lodened the Lord, as the Iewes once ouer-wearied him with the like vanities, Esay 1.11.12.13. But I aske thee how oft thou hast indeede prayed? how oft indeede with a Sacrifice of Prayer, kindled with zeale, inflamed with the fire of the spirit, heated with feruency, directed with know­ledge, grounded on Faith in the Promises, prosecuted with Humilitie and Reuerence, at­tending with Constancie and Perseuerance, accompanyed with Repentance for sinne, and her hand-maides Contrition and Confession? how oft I say with such a qualified Prayer, hast thou approached the Throne of Grace? put vp thy petitions to heauen? knocked at the gate of Grace, for graces to be giuen, sinnes forgiuen? how oft with such Incense hast thou visited the Lords Altar? Seauen times a day, with Dauid? nay, three times with Daniel? [Page 207] nay, once? nay none in many dayes, vvill thy heart tell thee, if it continue not still hy­pocriticall, deceiuing thee as Sathan hath de­ceiued it? Well, and yet thou thinkest to be saued: But vpon what grounds? rotten God knowes. Indeede euery one that cals vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued: so saith the Prophet, so the Apostle, Ioel 2.32. but thou callest not on the name of the Lord, saith thy heart, at least not as thou oughtest to doe, which makes thy prayer an abhomina­ble sacrifice, therefore thou thus continuing shalt not be saued.

But let mee goe further with thee? Dost thou pray in priuate? that's well: but dost thou pray for, with, and amongst thy family, in thine owne house, as did Abraham, Ioshuah; and the faithfull in their dayes? here thou art mute: and thy heart giues the negatiue. It is apparent God is as frequently and as feruently serued in the Houses, Tents, Tabernacles and Campes of many sauage and Scythian Soul­diers, as in thy house. Mahomet hath better seruice in most families of the Turkes, and the Diuell of the Virginians, then God hath in thy house.

For, Prayer is such an excellent part of Gods worship, that it is oft vsed for the whole seruice of God, as Gen. 4.26. and else-where, being a dutie whereby as man is profited, so [Page 208] wherewith God is wonderfully pleased, and his name glorified, Psal. 50.15. euen in all his Attributes (both 1. in his Wisedome, in ac­knowledging that hee is infinitely vvise in knowing our wants: 2. in his Power, in that hee is able: 3. in his Mercy, in that he is wil­ling: 4. in his Omnipotencie, and his Om­nipresence, that hee is alwayes ready and pre­sent to heare and helpe his Church and chil­dren: 5. as also in his Knowledge, in that wee confesse him by Prayer to be the searcher of the hart, and the onely Intelligencer of the de­sires of man:) Now where this principall part of Gods Seruice and Worship is omitted, or but slubbered ouer, (as Elies Sonnes did the Sacrifices) in publike or priuate, how can a iealous and a zealous God indure it? When thou omittest, neglectest, despitest, or despi­sest this whole Seruice of God, how shall the Lord be pleased with thee? thou depriuing God of the principall part of his Glory, hee will frustrate thee of thy hoped glory: for, who euer are glorified of the Lord in heauen, must glorifie him in some measure on earth.

I might also examine in this Quere, how thou performest other parts of Gods seruice; namely, those which are Eucharisticall and Gratulatory, in praysing God for his blessings temporall and spirituall, as did Dauid in his Generation, with others, Psal. 100. Psal. 130. [Page 209] A dutie though commanded by God, Psal. 50.15. and as a part of his Seruice, so of his Glory, Psal. 50.23. yet neglected as frequent­ly as fouly, as it was of the nine cleansed Le­pers, Luke 17.17. and of Ezekias, 2 Chron. 22.25. vvhereby Gods vvrath is kindled against many a man, and his seede and poste­ritie, as it was against Iudah and Ierusalem. Secondly, they are both depriued of former blessings for their ingratitude, and Gods hand shut from pouring out any new mercies into the riuen dishes of such vnthankfull soules.

Many moe parts of Gods seruice omitted by an vngratious and vngratefull vvorld might be prosecuted: whereby it plainely ap­peares that there are great troupes and swarmes of profane and godlesse men amongst vs, that haue not God in all their thoughts, like the Hypocrites in Iob 27.10. that haue no delight in God, such Atheists as Dauid de­scribes in the Psalmist, Psal. 14. Psal. 53. and as Zephanie, Ieremie, Esay, Ezekiel, and the rest of the Prophets haue still cryed out against, that neuer seeke vnto God, that neuer call vpon him: Nay, which thinke it vaine, and a thing neither behouefull for them, nor beneficiall to them, to call vpon God, as the cursed Iewes did in Malachie, 3. v. 14. Nay alas, which is more, as many carnall and care­lesse Ideots amongst vs, discouer vvith their [Page 210] lewd tongues, the thoughts of their poysoned and peruerse hearts, they thinke it concernes not them to serue God, to heare, reade, pray, conferre, meditate, and doe such duties, (to which, 1. God, 2. their endangered soules, 3. their generall and speciall callings, 4. their vsurped name of Christians, 5. their vowes in Baptisme, doe obliege, binde them, and in­ioyne them:) but that these things are pro­per and peculiar to Cleargie-men, Church-men, learned men, Schollers, Preachers, holy-day-men, (as they vnholily call vs.) They are not booke-learned they say, (though they be hell-learned from a sophisticall Diuell, to di­spute against their owne saluation;) besides they haue other things to doe, Iohn 11. Marthaes part to play, to looke for the world, to prouide for wife and children: for such is their Atheisme and Infidelitie, they dare not trust God for a ragge, or a crust of bread, without their owne sinfull carke and worldly care, notwithstan­ding all his promises, Mat. 6.33. of giuing them earthly things, if they seeke and serue him: How few ayme at Gods Ser­uice in all their waies & workes.) Hence it is, as their actions declare their affections, many thinke no otherwise of their Creation, but that they were borne and brought into the world, euen to seeke and serue the world and themselues, not God: and so to goe to heauen in a string (as it were) as straight as a line when they are dead. Oh [Page 211] how many Husbandmen thinke this the end of their liuing, to delue, and digge, and plow, and sow, and reape, and eate, and drinke, and get his rents▪ and spend his pence in his Sun­day-pots: to serue his Cattle, Horse, Oxen, Kine, and Sheepe; himselfe seruing God no more then the very Beasts and Bullockes, amongst whom hee conuerseth? These are also the thoughts, this the life of many a daily Labourer and Hireling: thus also many vn­sanctified Tradesmen, Merchants, Mercers, Haberdashers, Shooe-makers, Taylors, &c. and other Shop-keepers, onely propound gold and gaine, as the end of their labours and tra­uels vnder the Sunne: how to load themselues with thicke clay; to bestow their Sonnes and Daughters in great matches and high places; to giue great portions to their Children, Virtus [...]ost Nummos. rather of goods then of grace, and to leaue their sub­stance to their babes: and to these ends the seruice of God, euen vpon his owne Sabbath, must be subordinate, his worship must be di­spensed with, in whole or in part, by them­selues and those whom they haue in charge, Iournymen, Seruants, or Prentises. Thus also some irreligious Seruing-man conceits no other end of his liuing, mouing, or being, of his yeeres, strength, and vigour, but to serue his Master at his Table or at his turnes; or his Horse, or his Hawke, at his appointment; [Page 212] besides his misspent time and meanes in the prosecution of his owne seruile and slauish lusts: as for the Seruice of God, to which me thinkes hee hath as many leasures and oppor­tunities in his vacancies from any needfull morrall imployment, as any of the sonnes of Adam: hee counts the thought of that ridicu­lous, the practise precisenesse, not worthy his generous spirit: his time is wholy spent and misspent, either in ciuill attendance, according to his place, Male agen­do, nihil a­gendo, aliter agendo. Seneca. or in idlenesse doing nothing, or in reading vaine Bookes, or seeing Playes, or friuolous discourses of Horses or Dogges, or worse subiects; in which things the heart, it seemes, is most imployed in priuate, else could it neuer so frequently, by the tongue, vent out such froath. In which remisnesse and neg­lect in and of Gods seruice, ioyn'd with that loose prophanenes which accompanies most of their professions. I thinke them much se­cured and hardened by the exemplary irreli­gious courses and discourses of their Masters for the most part, whose ordinary both words and workes, in, and about, eyther the world or their pleasures, and traded recreations (as their corrupt affections bend) vsually matched with a key-coldnesse, neglect, if not contempt (at least an indifferencie) in the publike and pri­uate worship of GOD, (seruing GOD no oftner nor no better, eyther in the Church [Page 213] or their domesticall Chappels, then will stand with ciuilitie) reades a preceptory and pra­cticall lecture to all the Seruants; that they should not be more forward and zealous in good duties then their Masters, neyther to out-strip them in Gods seruice if they meane to sleepe in a warme skinne, and not to ex­pose themselues to the censure of more pre­cise then wise, and to continue in their Ma­sters fauour.

So the mercenary hired Seruant, eyther for the Plough or Cart, or such like, generally throughout the Land, what doth hee more thinke vpon (besides sinne and vanitie) then euen to doe his dayes taskes like the hack­ney horse, his ease and Prouender, his bed and his victuals being the very God that hes sacrificeth vnto? Tell him of ought else to be done in Religion, you shall preuaile as much as Lot with his Sonnes-in-law, they thinke you scoffe. Hence it is that this clow­nish rout in most places, are so forgetfull of GOD, and blockish euen to admiration, that they neyther know, or vnderstand, or can repeate the Petitions of the Lords Prayer, the tenne Commandements, or the Articles of their Creed, or can other wayes prepare them­selues (as I know experimentally in too many Villages and Parishes) for the receiuing of the Lords Supper, which they vsually doe receiue [Page 214] (as Iudas did the Diuell and the sop together) then first, by putting on their cleane cloathes about Easter time: secondly, asking their Ma­sters blessing: thirdly, muttering ouer such imaginary Prayers as before I haue spoken of: fourthly, going to Church to receiue their Maker and that day to be Gods Seruants (as they say) and at afternoone to walke abroad in the fields, and drinke (sometimes to drun­kennesse) promiscuously young men and women together, in the Ale-house, and then GOD is stoutly serued that day: in vvhich predicament and height of sinne are their ig­norant and profane Country-Masters. Nay, such a crust of Atheisme & securitie is growne vpon the hearts of most Seruants, that in most Families I haue seene of Husbandmen, Plow-men, Grasse-men, yea, and of some Gentle­men to (in the North parts chiefely) I haue seldome obserued God serued at the tables, eyther of Masters or men, by saying Grace and Thankesgiuing, when like Hogges and Dogges they haue serued themselues with the vsurped Creatures.

This is the cold and crooked Seruice that our God gets of innumerable multitudes of Miscreants, that are as vnmindefull of him, as they are vnmercifull to their owne Soules.

I speake not of all, I know there are a rem­nant in Israell that forget not God nor bowe [Page 215] to Baal: neyther doe I disgrace or disparage any of those professions for the sinne of the persons, no more then I blame the Calling of the Apostles for that Iudas was a traitor: yet I cannot but bewayle the great forgetfulnesse of God, and neglect of his worship amongst vs, in this our outward prosperitie, beautified with the marueilous and miraculous continua­ted light of the Gospell. Thus did Israell as wee now, as appeares by the reiterated phrases in the Psalmist, and else-where, that in their prosperitie they forgat God. The Lord hath laboured to excite and waken vs as hee did them, by plague, pestilence and other Iudge­ments from the Heauens and all the Elements, yet our heads are still heauie, and our hearts are asleepe. Let vs feare the rod of Ashur, the inuasion of forraine powers: let vs not prouoke him to procure our cryes, and our seruice, by giuing vs ouer into the hands of Chaldeans and Assyrians. If euer Israell be car­ryed captiue (which God forbid) and be op­pressed with a Spanish or a Romish yoake, we shall then wish that wee had drawne neare vn­to God in the Sunnie day of peace, ere we had beene humbled like Manasses, Dauid, and Is­raell, by pressures and afflictions.

A third part of this vse extends it selfe to those, 3 Part of the Vse. that running into a further degree of sinne, and measure of iniquitie (as indeed sinne [Page 216] (like ill fame) still growes greater in his pro­gresse, Pires acqui­rit cundo. and swels more vast and poysonous, like the Dragon that hath eaten the Serpent, after once one sinne be retained) doe not one­ly in their owne particulars, and with those that depend vpon them, neglect, reiect, and refuse the seruice of God, though they weare the Liuery and Cognizance of their Master, being called Christians, but they maligne, ca­l [...]mniate, and storme at others that are more zealous and forward then themselues, aemu­lating (as it is said of the Grey [...]hound, that thinkes much that any thing should out-runne him) that any should outstrip them in the sin­ceritie or measure of grace, or out-runne them in the course of Christianitie, accounting with politique Gallio, Religion to be but Ceremo­nies and circumstances, quirkes and quiddities, so the Lords true Nathaniels that serue him in truth, in whose spirit is no guile, Psal. 32.2. to be but foolish and froathy fellowes, more precise then wise, Gods followers, Gods fooles, as Michel thought Dauid, 2 Sam. 6.20. nay, mad, distract­ed, rauing men, as the Iewes, Christs Kinsmen, and Festus esteemed CHRIST, Ieremie and Paul: yea, Gods faithfull Seruants, as they haue alwayes beene so still are, as signes and wonders in Israell in this our blinded age: Esay 8 18 Yea, monsters, euen to the great men of the world, as Dauid was, Psal. 71.7. [Page 217] Yea, a scorne, reproach, and dirision to them that are round about them, Psal. 79.4. accoun­ted as men of an odde fashion and carriage from all others, Wisd. 2.15. nicknamed Pre­cissians, singularists, humorists, factious, hy­pocriticall, and the like: which censures they vndergoe from naturall and carnall men, but chiefely from those that haue in them some morrall goodnesse (as Iulian himselfe had) for our ciuill, honest men, and formall hypocrits, Tripart. hist. lib 6. contenting themselues vvith meere externall showes and shadowes in the Seruice of GOD, Ciuill ho­nest men most ene­mies to Gods Ser­uants. without any sinceritie of heart, or life of Reli­gion, flattering and securing themselues in that dangerous and damnable estate wherein they feed their soules with a vaine & an ayrie hope, that they are as safe as the best, thinke what­soeuer is more in Gods Seruants, then they finde in themselues, to be precisenesse, and af­fected singularitie, as needlesse, as fruitlesse in their friuolous conceits.

And hence ariseth their Ismaelitish scoffes, and tongue-persecutions, against those that are more aeminent and transcendent then them­selues in many graces, because the consciona­ble carriage and gratious deportment of the Seruants of God, doth swart, censure, and condemne their outwardnesse and formalitie, at which they are as oft gauled and grieued, and fretted at the very hart, as they compare [Page 218] their tinckling Cymbals with the others ho­linesse.

4 Part of this Vse of Redargu­tion.But leauing those whited wals and painted Sepulchers, to his Iustice or Mercie, that sees their rottennesse and guilded rubbish: there are another sort of men, if I may call them men (forgetting what the very composure of their body, and the instinct of Nature tels them) which being void of all grace, and emptie of goodnesse; neyther knowing, nor willing, nor working what is pleasing and ac­ceptable to the Almightie, deriding and de­testing good men, and disliking good dutyes with the former sort: as neither fearing God, nor caring for his worship, nor furthering his seruice, nor fauouring his seruants: casting behinde their backes all thought of God, and their owne saluation: they serue themselues and their owne ends, their lusts, their darling sinnes, and consequently the Diuell, Gods and their mortall enemie. And of this sort there are not so few, but they may brag (as the Spirits in the Gospell) of their number, their name is Legion. Many that liue a­mongst Christians are the de­uils ser­uants. All places, professions, trades, callings, conditions, estates, sexes and sorts, and ages, from youth to gray hayres, af­ford trained Souldiers in these sinfull seruices, marching to hell vnder the conduct of the Prince of darknesse, the God of the world and worldlings, that rules in and ouer those chil­dren [Page 219] of disobedience. Alas, how many be there of couetous Mammonists, churlish Na­bals, that as truely as Dauid and Simeon pro­fessed and confessed to the Soueraigne Crea­tor, Lord, I am thy Seruant; so they say to Mammon, to the Wedge of Gold, to their Siluer Shrine, their Mettall-Idoll, Lord, I am thy Seruant? How many Epicures, Drunkards, and riotous persons, whose belly is their God, Phil. 3.17 and their end damnation, say to the deuouring gulph of their vnsatiable guts, I am thy Ser­uant? How many lustfull liuers and lasciuious louers, offering the sacrifice of their vncleane bodies to bewitching women, say to Asmo­dius, the vncleane Spirit, Lord, I am thy Ser­uant? How many proud aspiring spirits in Court and Country, flying in their thoughts faster then Pegasus or Mercurie vpon the wings of high hopes, plumed with the feathers of their selfe-conceited worth, making great­nesse, not goodnes, the marke of their moun­ting, may say to the high climbing Lucifer, Lord, I am thy Seruant? The Iewes How many such say­ing desperately (with that Nation which once was called stubborne and crooked) Surely we will walk [...] after our owne imaginations, Ier. 18.12 and doe euery man after the stubbornnesse of his owne wicked heart: Ier. 18.12. forsaking the Rocke of the field, and the Cedar of Lebanus for the cursed Thistle; the fountaine of waters for [Page 220] broken pits, the liuing for the dead the great Iehouah for Belzebub, and the God of Eckron: the God of Abraham for the Gods of Na­tions; the seruice of God for the seruice of Sinne and Sathan; the Diuell may iustly claime and challenge them in death▪ plead and pre­uaile to haue them in Iudgement, since they haue by an explicite or implicite couenant (as it were) sold themselues like Ahab and Iero­boam, to worke wickednesse in their life time, as wittingly and willingly dedicating and con­secrating themselues to his seruice, as did once desperate Ruffus, who (as is reported) vpon the two sides of his Shield painted God and the Diuell, Si tu nolis, iste r [...]gitat. with this Motto, If thou oh God, wilt none of mee, here is one will, offering him­selfe to him who was not a little glad of him, the vnkinde kinde Diuell, who retaines and giues Liueries to all commers; yea, and wages to, such as himselfe hath, the world in shew, but fire and brimstone in substance, Esa. 30.33.

Vse of Ex­hortation.Oh consider this, you that forget both God and your selues, his seruice & your owne soules, you that make your members weapons of vnrighteousnesse to fight against God, wound­ing him with his owne weapons, the strength of your bodies, and the powers of your soules, which you haue receiued from him: now at last offer vp your bodies a liuing sacrifice, Rom. 12.1. holy and acceptable vnto God, which is your reasonable [Page 221] seruing of him, Rom. 12.1. Giue vp your mem­bers as weapons of righteousnes vnto God, Rom. 6. vers. 12.

These eyes of yours that haue beene full of adultery, [...] 7 2 Pet. 2.14. hautie and proud, Sinnes of the eyes. P [...]. 6 17. mocking and scornefull, How all the mem­bers that haue ser­ued sinne must and may serue God, Pro. 30.7. wandering, Esay 3.16. Now let them be Doues eyes chaste eyes, like Dauids eyes, lowly and humble: Cast away the abhomination of your eyes, Ezek. 20 7. Let them not regard vanitie: Iob. 31.1. Shut them vp from seeing euill: Esay 33.15 Make a couenant with them as Iob did: Let them not looke vpon a woman, but let them looke vp to the Holy One of Is­raell, euen as a Seruant lookes to his Master: Psal. 123.2. Set no wicked thing before thine eyes, Psal. 101.1. but set the Lord alwayes before thine eyes to doe the thing that is right, Psal. 16.8.

That Tongue of thine which hath beene a principall seruitor of Sathans, Twelue Sinnes of the tongue being set on fire by Hell, Iames 3.6. the flame breaking out, by 1. lying, 2. swearing, 3. forswearing, 4. filthy, 5. cursed, 6. guilefull speaking, 7. vaine words, 8. idle babbling, 9. profane ieasting, 10. corrupt communication, 11. slan­ders, 12. reuilings; with such other enormi­ties in the whole course of thy life and con­uersation, to the dishonour of God and the pollution of the good name and chastitie of [Page 222] thy neighbour. Now let it forsake the old Ma­sters seruice, in these sinnes: set a watch be­fore thy mouth, and keepe the dore of thy lips, Psal. 14.3. Lye not, Iames 4.11. Let thy lips speake no guile, Psal. 34.13. but speake the truth to thy neighbour, Zach. 8.16. So thou shalt shew thy selfe a righteous man, Prou. 13.5. Sweare not, neyther by Heauen, nor by Earth, &c. Iames 5.15. but, Let thy communication be yea, yea; nay, nay; for what is more commeth of euill, Math. 5.17. Put away filthy speeches, Col. 3.8. Neyther name fornica­tion, nor filthinesse, nor foolish talking, nor ieast­ing, which are not comely, Ephes. 5.3. But cor­rupt good manners, 1 Cor. 15.33. Now also Put away from thee a froward mouth, Pro. 4.24. and cursed speaking, Col. 3.8. Auoid also idle and vaine words, for which thou must giue an account, Mat. 5. Be as slow to speake as swift to heare, Iames 1.19. (since thou hast two eares, but one tongue) for, in many words there cannot want sinne, Prou. 10.19. Therefore auoid vaine repetitions and babblings, Mat. 6.7. In speaking eyther to God or man, speake no vaine words, Esay 58.13. Thus keepe thy mouth hereafter brideled, that thou sinne not with thy tongue, Psal. 39.1. Neyther is it sufficient that thou now purpose that thy mouth shall not offend in these and such like sinnes, Psal. 17.3. But as thou hast beene [Page 223] tongue-tyed heretofore, and mute, in spea­king ought which was good, to Gods glory or thy neighbours good, now it is most conso­nant to that end and office, which thou hadst the vse of speech giuen thee, let thy tongue be a consonant to serue God, to sound out his prayses continually. Psal. 34. Sing to the Lord all thy life and prayse him whilst thou liuest. Ps. 104.33. Yea, if thou praise him before the morning-watch, as did that holy-hearted Dauid, Psal. 119.147. yea, if at mid-night thou rise to giue thankes vnto him, Psal. 119.12. If seauen times a day thou prayse him, v. 164. yea, if thy mouth daily rehearse his righteous­nesse and saluation, Psal. 7.15. yea, if all the dayes of thy life thou prayse thy God, Psal. 146.2. and make his Statutes thy Songs in the house of thy pilgrimage, Psal. 119.54. yea, not onely praising him, but praying to him earely in the morning, Psal. 5.3. Iob 8.6. yea, at euening, and at morning, and at noone day: so oft as thou eatest: thou dost but that seruice for which thy tongue was crea­ted: it is Gods due and thy dutie: so let thy tongue also serue man, Gods Image, in God and for God. Let thy words be good, and to the vse of edifying, that they may minister grace to the hearers. Let thy speech be alway gratious and poudered with Salt, Col. 4 6. Let thy tongue spread abroad knowledge, Pro. 15.7 [Page 224] that it may be as the well-spring of life: Prou. 10.11. Vtter the words of grace: Eccles. 10.12. that thy lips may feede many. Prou. 10.21. If God haue inriched thee with knowledge, mi­nister a word in season to him that is weary, Esay 50.4. confirming him that is ready to fall, and strengthening the weake knees, Iob 44. So thy tongue shall glorifie God, thus im­ployed, Psal. 50. be a testimonie of the since­ritie of thy heart, Mat. 16. and it shall asswage the sorrow of the afflicted. Iob 16.15.

Sinnes of the eares.So for the other members of thy body, thy Eares, if thou hast not serued thy God in and by them, now beginne: hast thou serued Sa­than with them, eyther in hearing what thou shouldest not haue heard, profane Enterludes and Stage-playes, filthy Songs, scurrulous talke, whereby thou hast opened those two dores to let in sinne into thy soule? or hast thou refused to heare what thou shouldest haue heard? hast thou turned away thine eare from hearing the Law? Prou 28. Hast thou had heauy and vncircumcised eares, Ier. 6.10. Psal. 40.8. Hast thou beene an Idoll with eares and heard not, Ezek. 13.2. A deafe Adder stopping thine eares at the voyce of the Char­mer, Psal. 58.4. now serue God with that little part of thy body: now stop thine eares at the hearing of sinne, Esay 33.15. and open them to heare what the Spirit saith, Reu. 2. Cause [Page 125] thine eare to heare wisedome, Prou. 2.2. Giue eare to vnderstanding, Prou. 14. Heare coun­sell, and receiue instruction, that thou maist be wise now in the latter end, Prou. 19.20. Be wise, and hearken to the corrections of life, Prou. 15.3. Heare the Word of God: Sit at Christs feete with Mary, Luke 10.39. Heare with heede taking, Luke 8.18. Heare with an honest heart, vers. 15. Heare and forget not, Iames 1.24. Heare and practise, vers. 22. so thou shalt serue God with thy hearing.

Moreouer, for thine Hands: Sinnes of the hands. if with them thou hast not serued God, working vvicked works to prouoke the eye of the Lords glory, Esay 3.8. eyther in committing euill, 1. stea­ling from thy neighbour, 2. taking Bribes in thy place, 3. Idlenesse in thy calling, or in omitting good duties, first, eyther of Pietie to God, in stretching out thy hands in Prayer: secondly, or of charitie to man, in closing them towards the poore. Now keepe thy hands from doing euill, and consecrate them vnto the Lord in doing good, so thou shalt be bles­sed, Esay 56.2. Exod. 32.29. If iniquitie be in thine hand, put it farre away, Iob 11.14. If thou hast stolne, steale no more, but worke with thine owne hands, Ephes. 4.28. Keepe them innocent and pure, Psal. 24 41. Shake thine hands from taking any gifts, Esay 33 15. Let no blot or stain cleaue vnto them. Iob 31.7 [Page 226] Strengthen them to doe good workes, Nehem. 2.18, Open thy hand to thy brother, to the poore, to the needy, Deut. 15.11. Stretch thy hand out, of the increase that God giues thee, Prou. 31. And stretch out thy hands also to the Lord. Psal. 143. yea, in euery place lift vp thy heart with the hand to God in heauen, 1 Tim. 2. Lament. 3.4. So shall thy hands serue God.

Sinnes of the feete.For thy Feete: if they haue declined and made haste to deceit, Iob 23.11. if they car­ryed thee with lewd company out of the way of Gods Commandements, to vanities or to vices, to filthinesse or to follies, to Playes or to Brothell-houses: now remoue thy foote from euill, Prou. 4.26. Make straight steps to thy feete, Heb. 12. Refraine thy feete from the pathes of the wicked, Prou. 1.15. And keepe the way of the righteous, Prou. 2.20. So shalt thou serue God and keepe thy soule. Prou. 16.17. Walke not in vanities, Iob 31.5. nor in the counsell of the wicked. Psal. 1.1. but run the wayes of Gods Commandements. Imploy them to carry thee to the house of God, to the holy Exercises of Religion, where God is serued: Delight to stand in the gates of Ieru­salem, Psal. 122.2. looking narrowly to thy foote when thou enterest into the house of God, Eccles. 4.17. Thus did those two good Anna's in Samuel and Luke, a mother and a [Page 227] widdow: as also good Dauid, and here old Simeon, rightly and religiously vse their feete in Gods seruice, in visiting so frequently, so constantly, so zealously the house of Prayer, where they met with God, with Christ, and with a blessing vpon their seeking and seruing God. And so must thou, if thou set thy selfe with thy heart and soule, and strength, and spirit, and minde, and body, to serue the Lord as they did, consecrating these and the rest of thy members, parts and powers, externall and internall, to Gods seruice, which that thou maist more willingly performe, let these Mo­tiues for conclusion of this Vse, adde Spurres vnto thee to runne along with old Simeon to the seruice of this best Master, to whom I re­commend thee.

First, thou wast created for Gods seruice: Motiues perswa­ding to Gods ser­uice. 1. From the end of our crea­tion. as the Apostle instanceth in one sinne, so I may in all: the body was not made for fornication, nor vncleannesse, nor adultery, nor drunken­nesse, nor for any other workes of the flesh, which are recited Gal. 5.19. but for the Lord, 1 Cor. 6.23. and the Lord for the body. There­fore Dauid makes this an argument, that wee should fall downe and worship the Lord, be­cause wee are the Sheepe of his pasture, and the worke of his hands, hee hath made vs, not we our selues. Doth any man keepe sheepe but hee will eate of the milke of the flocke, [Page 228] and be cloathed with the wooll? Doth any man build a Palace, a Castle, or a sumptuous house for his enemie to dwell in? Did the Lord thinkest thou oh vaine man, that seruest thy lusts, thy pleasures, the World, the Diuell, forme and frame this excellent Fabricke and composure of thy body, more sumptuous, ar­tificiall, magnificent, then the Aegyptian Pyra­mides, then Salomons Temple, then all splen­dent and glorious buildings vnder the Sunne, that are made of Lime, Stone, Lead, Wood; Glasse, Mettals, and the like, and did infuse (as it were inward proportionable furniture) such an vnderstanding spirit, an immortall soule, into this externall structure and building of the body, for the Diuell his mortall enemie to dwell in? to take possession and keepe habi­tation by his eldest Sonne, Sinne? Will any earthly Monarch suffer a Traitor, a Tyrant, an Vsurper, to intrude vpon his Territories, to dwell in his fortified Cities, to possesse his Crowne, and vsurpe his Throne? I trow not. And will the King of Kings suffer it? Can a meane man indure another man, which means to abuse him, to inioy his Table, his Bed, his Wife? chiefely that shee to whom hee is be­troathed and wedded, should prostitute her selfe to his enemie? And will the Lord that is as a zealous, so a iealous God, suffer thy spi­rituall whoredomes, and fornications, with the [Page 229] triple enemies of thy soule, the deceiuing Flesh, deluding World, and destroying Diuell? Will he endure his Sanctuary to be polluted; his Temple abused, the holy Vessels profaned? Thy body is the Temple of the holy Ghost, 2 Cor. 3.16. Ch. 6. v. 19. 2 Cor. 6.16. thy members called Vessels: now if thou suf­fer this great Temple-spoyler, this Dionisius, the Diuell, to abuse thy vessels, by offering them to him by vncleannesse, to pollute this Temple, this body of thine by sinne: he that thus destroyes the Temple of God, him will God destroy as hee threatneth seuerally twise together. Take heede therefore that thou suffer not any sinnes to take vp the best roomes in this earthly Tabernacle and Tem­ple, least by hardening thy heart, corrupting thy conscience, deprauing thy will, blinding thy minde, ecclipsing thy reason, dulling thy memory, disordering thy affections, spoyling and defiling thy whole man, giuing ouer that body of thine which God made for himselfe, to be sinnes Brothell-house, and the Diuels Play-house, wherein all sinnes are acted, least the Lord burne thee downe sticke and stower, eyther with fire from heauen, as hee did So­dome, or with fire in hell, as hee did Diues. Prepare thy body and soule therefore be­times: dresse it, and sweepe and garnish it, as a Chamber for Christ to keepe his Passe­ouer in, that the destroying Angell may [Page 230] passe ouer thee, vvhen hee comes in Iudge­ment.

Os homini sublime de­dit, &c.I might adde secondly, how fitly by Crea­tion thou art made in euery part, as an Or­gan and Instrument to Gods seruice: with a body vpwards to heauen (whereas all other Creatures looke low and groueling vpon the earth) with eyes to looke vp to the Hils, and to the heauens, from whence commeth thy helpe; Et refert quaelibet herba Deum. and downe vpon the fragrant and ver­dant earth, fit to behold how euery creature Celestiall and Sublunarie, in their kinde, as it were in a dumbe Oratorie, tels thee there is a God, and a God to be serued: beginning and continuing the Quire vnto thee, to sing and ring forth his prayses; thy tongue fitted to speake Magnaliae Dei, the wonderfull workes of God: and to confesse to Gods glory, as Ioshuah tels Achan, Iosh. 7. those numerous and haynous sinnes of thine wherewith thou hast offended God, more then all the vnrea­sonable creatures: how euer the ill Angell eyther strikes thee dumbe (as the good did Zachary) or if thou speakest, Sathan oyles the Clocke of thy tongue to strike after his set­ting, and moue after his motion. Thy head abounding with moisture more then the heads of many Birds, and Beasts, ready to di­still into thine eyes, that thou mightest weepe for thy sinnes more then the rest, as hauing [Page 231] moe and more monstrous sinnes to weepe for, then all the rest of the other Creatures: and so I might speake of all other parts of thy body, and faculties of thy soule, superiour and inferiour, as Will, Reason, Memory, Vn­derstanding, Phantasie, the Heart, with the Af­fections thereof, all fitted for Gods Seruice in the same symetrie and proportion.

From considering thy Creation, 2. Motiue from our Preserua­tion. thinke of Gods great largesse and bountie towards thee, in thy Preseruation: GOD hauing fed, fo­stered, educated, nourished, cloathed thee, from thy first forming in the wombe, till this present minute and moment of time, where­in thou liuest a rebellious sinner against thy God: of protecting thee euen in thy Infan­cie, Childe-hood, Youth; in the weakenesse of the first, forwardnesse of the second, and rashnesse of the third: from many eminent dangers, to which thou wast subiect; and re­seruing thee vntill this present houre in health and strength, from the fury and force of the Elements, Fire and Water, &c. From the might of the Creatures; the claw of the Lion, paw of the Beare, horne of the Bullocke, tuske of the Bore, tooth of the Dogge, venome of the Viper, sting of the Serpent; all which thy sinnes haue armed against thee, disarming thy selfe: as also from the malice of the Diuell, and his substitute infernall Spirits, who (with­out [Page 232] Gods restraint) would haue torne thee in pieces and carryed thy soule (as they will doe the sinners in Iudgement) in triumph to hell. Now doe not all these constant and continua­ted mercies of thy Protection, Preseruation, Reseruation, so long, so louing, so large, with the addition and multiplication of so many and manifold vndeserued positiue blessings? Doe not all these (I say) call for, vrge, re­quire, plead for, yea, preuaile for thy heart, thy obedience, thy seruice, to such, so good, so great a Maister? Sure, if thou giuest it not him now, franckly, freely, willingly, heartily, desi­ringly, thou art a monster of men, without grace or good nature: but especially if thou payest the Lord euill for good, sinnes for fa­uours, and seruest Sathan for him, thou art an vngratefull Viper, and condemned of the ve­ry Heathens. Neyther will God be so abu­sed. Make it thine owne case: thou takest a de­solate Infant (as Pharaohs Daughter did Mo­ses) and bringest him vp; or thou entertainest a Seruant, giuest him meate, drinke and cloath, wages, countenance, house and harbour, &c. wouldest thou take it well, if this thy adop­ted fostered childe, this thy so much fauoured Seruant, should reiect thee (thou still out of thy loue continuing his meanes and mainte­nance) and serue thy mortall enemie? Now make Application: thus thou dealest with [Page 233] God, in seruing (notwithstanding all his fa­uours to thee, temporall and spirituall) him who is the professed enemy of God, of Christ, of the Gospell, of the Church, of man, of thee, and of thy saluation, the Diuell.

Thirdly, consider thy Vocation, 3. Motiue, from our Vocation. thou art called from darknesse to light: The grace of God hath appeared vnto thee, teaching to de­ny vngodlinesse and worldly lusts, and to liue soberly, righteously, and godlily in this present world. Tit. 2.11. Therefore, as an obedient Childe to thy Father, as a dutifull Seruant to thy Master, fashion not thy selfe to the former lusts of thine ignorance, but as he that hath called thee is holy, be thou holy in all manner of conuersation. 1 Pet. 1.14. The night is past and the day is come, cast away therefore the workes of darknes, and put on the armour of light: Walke honestly as in the day, not in chambering and wantonnesse, not in gluttony or drunkennesse, not in strife and enuy, but putting off these (as a man puts off an old garment when hee puts on a new) put on the Lord Iesus Christ, and take no thought for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof, Rom. 13.12. I pray you let vs ponder, that what arguments the inspired Apostle Paul vseth to the Ro­manes, Philippians, Thessalonians, Ephesians, to incite them to the sincere seruice of GOD, the same may be vrged and pressed vpon vs in this Land; [...], vpon all the Christians in [Page 234] Europe, or else-where; for as wee now are pa­ralell with them in the knowledge of God and of Christ, by the preaching and reuelation of the Gospell of Christ, so wee were once nuz­led, and blinded with them, in the same cloud and mist of ignorance and vnbeleefe, sinners, of the Gentiles, without God in Christ. And therfore since God hath called vs (whether by the Ministerie of Paul, or of Ioseph of Arama­thea, or of Simon Zelotes, or who else, it skils not) to the knowledge of his truth, and to his seruice, by the voyce and sound of the Gospell, let our conuersation be such as be­commeth the Gospell, Phil. 1.27. God might haue placed thee oh sinfull secure man, a­mongst the Iewes, Turkes, or Pagans, or thou mightst haue continued with thy fore-fathers, wrapped and enueloped in the Aegyptian dark­nesse of Popery, where the light of his Truth should haue beene hid from thee: but now that his wayes are reuealed to Iacob, and his saluation to Israell; since thou hast heard his Word, if thou wilt not fall downe and worship him, and worke his will, CHRIST the obiect of the Gospell, as a stone which thou stum­blest at, and a rocke of offence, shall fall vpon thee, and dash thee to pieces: better thou hadst neuer heard of Christ, then now vvith Herod to mocke him, when with the Childe-murthering Herod thou prete [...]ding to worship [Page 235] and serue him, thou dost but serue thy selfe and thine owne ends, by all lewd courses, sin­full and sinister meanes whatsoeuer.

Fourthly, 4. From our Re­demption. this is the end of thy Redemp­tion from the slauery and bondage of thy spi­rituall enemies, from the power of darknesse, of Sinne, and sinnes punishment, the second death, euen to serue God: so runne all the streames of the waters of the Well of life: so Zachary prophesieth: Luke 1.74.75. so Paul perswades the Corinthians, that being bought with a price, they should glorifie God in their bodies and their spirits which were Gods. So Peter presseth the same vpon the dispersed Iewes, commenting, as it were, vpon, and in­larging Pauls price that was paid for mans re­demption, shewing first negatiuely what it was not; not any of these corruptible things, as gold and siluer, the earths redundance; not pearles & precious stones, the treasures of the Land and Sea, the Indians store, and the Fishes hidden vertues, &c. then affirmatiuely, it was a bloudy bootie that bought vs, and not eue­ry kinde of bloud; not the bloud of Goates or Bullockes, of Men or of Angels, but the pre­cious bloud of Christ, as of a Lambe vndefi­led and without spot: and the end of all this great Misterie, greater Mercy, in redeeming man from his greatest misery, what other was it, as also of our Vocation? Sure nothing else, [Page 236] but 1. holinesse, 2. and the feare of God (which is the ground of his seruice) 3. and renouncia­tion of a vaine conuersation, as appeares by the Contexts, 1 Pet. 1.14.15.16.17.18. So is Titus, a patterne of a good Preacher, taught to presse and preach this point; that the end why Christ gaue himselfe for his Church, re­deeming vs from all iniquitie, vvas that wee should be a peculiar people vnto him, zealous of good workes, Tit. 1.2.14. with infinite the like places, plainely demonstrating that as re­demption by Christ is not generall and vni­uersall; (for then Iudas, Herod, Pilate, Esau, and others, sonnes of perdition, ordayned to condemnation, should haue beene redeemed) but limited, proper and peculiar to his Elect, to his Church, to his People. Such as are his Sheepe heare his voyce, obey, and serue him; so those that continue still in their sinnes, fro­zen in their dregges, incredulous and vnbe­leeuing, impious in their liuing, impure in their conuersing, giuen ouer to strange lusts and vile affections, making their belly their God, and the like, are so farre from hauing any benefit by Christ, that hee is vnto them a rocke of ruine, a stumbling-blocke, and a stone of offence, the falling of many in Israell, like the word and Sacraments, and all things else, vnto the wicked contemners of his wor­ship, and condemners of his seruants; the sauor [Page 237] of death vnto death: they accounted enemies to his Crosse, such enemies as hee will slay, as hee hath threatened, their end being con­demnation.

Fiftly, our Profession, me thinkes, 5. From our profes­sion. should be a maine inducement to our practise in this point: for so reasons both the Prophet and A­postle, if we account God our Father, as we doe, Mal. 1.6. Luke 11. then where is his honor? if our Master, then where is his seruice? And sure if we call him Father which without respect of persons iudgeth euery man, then let vs passe the time of our dwelling here in feare: other­wise wee borrowing the same vizards vvhich the Pharisies long since cast off with their liues, wee should be branded with the same note of painted Sepulchers and whited wals, and adiudged to the same woes and Anathe­maes that they were, being in the same predi­cament of grosse and formall hypocrisie.

Sixtly, the Good procured, 6. From the reward of Gods seruice. and Reward promised, the Wages expected, should not a little wooe vs and winne vs to this seruice: for, all would retaine to such Masters who are most able and willing to worke their welfare; where they may haue the best present helps, and future hopes of preferment and promo­tion. Now, who is able to promote, if God doe not? 1. Wealth, 2. Worship, 3. Honour, 4. Peace, 5. Protection in danger, 6. Appro­bation, [Page 238] 7. Acceptation, 8. outward Blessings, 9. reward of Inheritance, 10. Curses remo­ued, Plagues escaped, all these are the Pedis­seques, the hand-maides, and Attendants, and Seruants, that attend and waite vpon, and serue those that serue the Lord, as may be instan­ced and inlarged in their particulars.

First re­ward, wealth and riches.For Riches, Wealth, and outward bles­sings, as they are promised, so they were giuen and exhibited vnto Abraham, Isaack, Iacob, Iob, Dauid, Salomon, &c. with in­finite others, as an incouragement to the Seruice of GOD, as the fruits of their Faith, as the reward of Religion: Godli­nesse is great gaine, and hath the promises both of this life and of the life to come, and who consent and obey must eate the good things of the Land. That this Position is no Paradoxe, that Grace is the way to gaine, and Pietie the meanes to prosperitie, as is Psal. 1. so let any (to stand vpon no moe places) read Exod. 23.25. and hee will confesse that this is as true, as God himselfe is true. If any man be troubled with that scruple which perplexed Iob, Ieremy and Dauid, in their time, that the slaues of Sathan are in outward peace and pompe, and seeming-prosperitie, when Gods Seruants are in the ebbe, and going downe the winde, the same Scriptures salue and satisfie the sore of this Obiection, where it was first [Page 239] made, to which place I referre you, Psal. 73. and Iob 21.

The second meede and reward of Gods ser­uants, is Honour, Secondly, Honour. that continuing as inuiola­ble, as the Decrees of the Meedes and Per­sians, which God auoucheth to Samuel of reie­cted Saul, Those that honour mee I will honour them, 1 Sam. 2.30. Them whosoeuer, what­soeuer, wheresoeuer they be, Quoscun (que) qualescun (que) vbicun (que) Kings and Ke­sars, poore and pesants, that performe homage and fealtie vnto God, holding their soules, their lands, and their liues in Capite from God, those the mightie Iehouah, who onely can set vp and pull downe, aduance and deiect, will honour, they shall be gracious in his eyes, dreaded of their enemies, as was Ioshuah and Dauid; and honoured of all those that are round about them.

This is Gods Law of Paritie, Lex Talio­nis. ratified in the high Court of Parliament in Heauen, and put in execution in earth, 1. Abraham, Gods friend, 2. Ioseph, 3. Moses, 4. Samuel, deuo­ted to Gods Seruice, proued the truth of this Promise, the first honoured in the presence of his friends, of his neighbours, of his ene­mies, Gen. 18.18. & Ch. 20.3. 23.6. The second found store of Honour where euer he came: in his Masters house, in the Prison, in the Palace, Gen. 39 & 40. & 41. The third honoured by working Miracles for deliue­rance [Page 240] of Gods people, for confusion of Gods and his enemies, Exod. 14. Ch. 16.32. The fourth increased in honour as in yeeres, grow­ing in fauour with God and man.

Infinite such examples might be recited, the time would be too short to shew how Ge­dion, Baarack, Iob, Dauid, &c. the faithfull Seruants of God, were exalted from the Threshing-floore, Iudg. 6.11. Iudg. 4.6. From the Sheepe-fold; yea, from the Dung­hill, Iob 42.12. to sit with Princes, yea, to be Princes of the people, Psal. 78.70. Psal. 113. vers. 7.8.

Sin brings shame and other iudge­ments.So that if it be so that all affect honour and eminencie, me thinkes, wee should take the right course to effect what we affect, euen by seruing God. Not to seeke it, as Mary sought Christ, where it is not, preposterously and carnally: eyther of the world, as the am­bitious Iewes did, Iohn 5.44. nor from the vaine breaths of men, as the hypocriticall Pharisies did, Iohn 12.43. Much lesse at the hands of the Diuell, as Balaam did. Num. 22. by Diuellish courses, and sinfull impieties, and horrid villanies, Nimrodians Nabuchad­nezzar. Erostratus. as those that built Babels Tower, and hee that built Babell, and he that burnt Dianaes Temple, did. Genes. 11.3. By Rebellions and Treasons, Rebellions and Trea­sons. as Absolon did, 2 Sam. 18.18. as the Papists by King killings, and Powder-plots: as our drunkards [Page 241] by their vnreasonable quaffings, by quarrel­ling, fighting and stabbing; as our vaine and vicious Gallants in their falsly supposed man­hoods: nor by any other horrid sinne what­soeuer; for the way of sinne is the way to shame and dishonour.

For, as wicked and vngodly men seruing the Diuell, whose Children they are, Ioh. 8.44. by seruing sinne, 1 Iohn 3.8. suffering it to raigne in their mortall bodies, Rom. 6 12. are called and accounted the enemies and haters of God, Rom. 1.30. Rom. 8.7. vnruly and vn­tamed Heffers, H [...]s. 4.16. Spurners against God, Deut. 32.15. A rebellious and a false seede, Esay 57.3.4. Conspirators, and such as stretch their hands out against God, as Iob and Ieremie call them, Ier. 11.9. Iob 15.25. Dispisers of the Spirit of Grace, Heb. 10.29. Stout against God in their words, Mal. 3.13. Contemners of his wayes, Iob 21.14. Setting their mouthes against heauen, Psal. 73.9. Dispising both the Word of God, vvith the Iewes, 2 Chron. 24.19. Psal, 50.17. and the Workes of God, as did the Gentiles, Rom. 1.21.22. And the Ministers of God, as the El­ders of Israell, and the People, did Moses and Samuel, Exod. 16.8. 1 Sam. 8.7. And the Iewes, CHRIST and his Disciples: 1 Kings 20.28. Dan. 3.15. 2 Kings 19. but euen the person of GOD himselfe, as did the Ara­mites, Nabuchadnezzar, Senacherib, Rabs [...]kah, [Page 242] and others: so the Lord hath threatned to de­spise such despisers, 1 Sam. 2.30. to deride such deriders, and to lay their honors in the dust, Psal. 2.4. Cursed are they of the Lord, like the inhabitants of Meros, Iudg. 5.23. euen with all the curses pronounced from Mount Eball, Deut. 27. Because they serue not the Lord, the Lord accounts basely and vilely of them, euen as of Oxen and Asses, Dogs and Swine, Esay 1.3. 2 Pet. 2.22. As drosse and dung, and vnsauory Salt, fit to be cast away: yea, though Coniah, the Sonne of Ieho [...]akim, were as the signet vpon the Lords right hand, yet if hee despise the Lord, hee shall be pluckt thence, accounted as a despised and broken Idoll, or as a filthy vessell, Ier. 22.24. & 28. Nay, though Saul be a King, if hee reiect and forsake the seruice of God, God will reiect and cast him away to, 1 Sam. 15.16. Yea, Ie­rusalem, if shee refuse to obey her God, shall be an habitation of Diuels, Reu. 18.2. The Iewes, though Ruhamah, shall be Lo-ruhamah, though Ammi, Gods people, yet if they for­sake the seruice of God, they shall be Lo-ammi, none of Gods people, Hos. 1.6.9. But (as at this day it is seene) a disgraced, despised, and contemptible Nation: and so will the LORD deale with all other wickedly wretched con­temners and despisers of his Glory, his Word, his Workes, his Ordinances: they shall be [Page 243] blamed and shamed, and come to an ignomi­nious and odious end.

Euery creature shall conspire their destru­ction that serue not their Lord and Master, Gods hand shall be vp­on his ene­mies in ma­ny iudge­ments. the Creator. The Angels shall smite them, as they did Pharaohs first borne, Zenacharibs Hoast, and Herod, Acts 12.23. Men shall laugh at them, and the righteous shall haue them in derision, Psal. 52.6 7. They shall not continue in honour, but be like the dumbe beasts that perish, Psal. The Diuell shall try­umph ouer them, and cry at their deserued Plagues; So, so, there goes the game. They hi­ding their sinnes, and not confessing them to Gods glory, shall not prosper, Prou. 28.13. Their soules shall be smit with feares like Pa­shur and Cain, Gen. 4. Ier. 10.3. There shall be no peace to them, but sonitus terroris, a sound of terrour round about, Esay 57. Iob 15.20. &c. For their good names: these shall rot and perish, Prou. 10.7. euen like their wealth and substance, vpon which Gods curse shall seaze, Deut. 28.16.17.18. They shall be made a wonder, a Prouerbe, and a reproach amongst all people, an astonishment; an his­sing, and continuall desolation, Deut. 18.37. Ier. 25.9. And for their seede, it shall not pro­sper: the sword shall destroy them, Iob 27.14. for, the Lord will root out the memoriall of the wicked from the earth, Psal. 34.16. Therefore [Page 244] as Dauid concludes to the comfort of Gods Seruants after the enumeration of many bles­sings, Thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord: so I may say in these particulars, and many moe plagues denounced from the mouth of GOD, as in Leuit. 26.16. Psal. 49.12. Psal. 107.10. Prou. 3.33. vpon the wicked in this life, besides those which they shall feele and finde in their death, Iob 13.26. Psal. 49.14. And in Iudgement, Dan. 12.2. Esay 2.11. Reu. 1.7. Reu. 6.15. Mat. 25. and 41. and in hell, Marke 9.43.44. Luke 13.28. Reuel. 9.6. Loe thus shall the man be plagued that serueth not God.

If any beleeue not these testimonies, let him looke his owne face in the glasse of the examples of Pharaoh, Herod, Nebuchadnezzar, Holofernes, of Iulian the Apostate, Ʋalerian, Antiochus, Nero, Domitian, Decius, Diocle­sian, Theod. lib. 3 c. 11. Euseb lib. 7. c. 30. Lib. 7.14. Ba [...]aze [...], with infinite others, from the Word, and Histories, as they are recorded by the Machabees, Tacitus, Suetonius, Dion, Oro­sius, &c. and they will speake, that from the beginning of the world till now, sinne alwayes brought shame, and that Gods dishonour brought Gods disfauour, death to the body, damnation to the soule: which considera­tions may be whips and goads to driue vs to the dutie vrged.

It is contrary with the godly, their seruice [Page 245] is the path way to honour: the people that hearken vnto Gods voyce, are a precious peo­ple vnto him, high aboue all Nations, in praise, in name, and honor, Deut. 26.17.18.19. Aske the verdict and censure of all the Pro­phets, and Apostles, and the Seruants of God, Esay, Micah, S. Paul, S. Iames, S. Peter; yea, of Christ himselfe: Holinesse is the way to Honor. and according as they were inspired by the Spirit of Truth and knew in their owne experience, they will say that the way to be great, is to be good: to rise, is to fall; to be exalted, is to be humbled vnder the mighty hand of God, 1 Pet. 5.6. The way to seeke glory, and honour, and immortalitie, is to continue in well doing, Rom. 2.7. to be fixed, established, and to indure for euer, is to be­leeue, and to fulfill the will of God, Esay 7.9. 1 Iohn 2.17. and that the onely thing that it good for man, is to walke with God, Mic. 6.8. Yea, Tully and Aristotle, that made Honour the subsequent and effect of Vertue and Goodnes: the Aegyptians that painted it betwixt Humi­litie and Labour: the Romanes that so com­posed their Temples, that a man must first passe by the Temple of Humilitie and Ver­tue, ere hee could touch the Shrine of Ho­nour; saw with the eyes of Nature, that the way to be great is to be good. Yea, to serue that goodnesse, which the Heathens onely coniectured, but Christianitie defined to be the [Page 246] soueraigne good, and that is God himselfe; who is both more willing to preferre his Ser­uants to earthly dignities here, if it be good for them to be exalted: yea, and infinitely more able then Assuerus was to honour Mor­docheus, Hest. 6.6. Nabuchadnezzar Daniel, Dan. 5.7. Pharaoh, Ioseph; yea, or Saul any of his Captaines or followers, for all his baosts of his Fields and Vineyards, 1 Sam. 22.7. since his alone is Greatnesse, and Power, and Glory, and Victory: since all that is in heauen and Earth is his, Riches and Honour, Power and Strength, &c. as Dauid acknowledgeth, Hannah singeth, and Cirus confesseth, 1 Chro. 29.11.12. 1 Sam. 2.7.8. Ezra 1.2.

God is most libe­rall of all Masters.For, I pray you, what was the most that any of those great Monarchs could doe for any of their Fauourites and Followers in their chie­fest graces, when they set their wits a-worke, what to doe for such a man whom the King will honour? Cloathing in Purple, and royall apparrell, setting on their heads a Princely Diadem, putting a Chaine of gold about their neckes, Rings vpon their fingers, mounting them on their Steedes, or setting them in a gorgeous Chariot, with Proclamations before them of the Kings fauours towards them, was the chiefe luster and eminencie that earthly Kesars could dignifie their chiefest Seruants withall, Gen. 41.42.43.44. Hest. 6.9.11. &c.

[Page 247]But what are all these Honours that the King of Aegypt, the King of the Medes, or of the Babilonians could profer in respect of that Honour which God bestowes vpon the meanest of his Saints and Seruants? Surely toyes and trifles: for in stead of these fine Linnens and royall Roabes that are exposed to the corrupting Moath and consuming Time, God will clothe his with the externall and internall Roabes of Grace, the righteous­nesse of Christ, Esay 49.16. Rom. 13.14. they shall not haue a fading but a flourishing, not a mortall but an immortall Crowne, not of Gold but of Glory; that is, they shall not haue a Chaine of Gold onely, Psal. 45.13. but of golden Graces knit together by Saint Peter, 1 Pet. 1.4.5.6. &c. In stead of a Ring they shall be placed as Signets on the Lords right hand, Ier. 22.24. I cannot say they shall ascend vp in a chariot (though Elias were so taken vp) but they shall be aduanced to choise man­sions in such a Kingdome as surpasseth all the Kingdomes of the earth, as much as the Sun the Clouds, or Salomons Throne Iobs Dung­hill, Ephes. 2.6. Iohn 14.2. Reu. 3.12. where they shall be Kings and Priests for euer, Reu. 1.6. Such honour haue all his Saints. Psal. 149.9.

If any man obiect that he sees no such ho­nour that Gods Saints haue: that they are [Page 248] rather made here a gazing stocke to men and Angels; despised, reuiled, and euill spoken of; yea, reputed as the filth of the world, 1 Cor. 4.9.12.13. and the off-scouring of all things.

Answ. It is true indeede: But of whom? Of such, whose neyther prayse nor disprayse is to be respected: of profane men, children of Beliall: of fooles and naturalists: (for so are all vngodly men tearmed, Psal. 14.1. Psal. 53.1. Luke 12.20. Ier. 4. &c.) Of such wee are reputed fooles for Christs sake, yet are wee wise in Christ; though weak, yet strong; though despised, yet honourable; 1 Cor. 4.10. Ho­nourable, though not with wicked men, yet wee shall be hereafter, when wee must sit in ioynt Commission with Christ, in Iudgement vpon them. In the meane space wee are ho­noured of God, and if he be with vs who can be against vs? Rom. 8.31.

Gods Ser­uants best regarded and rewar­ded.Besides, if this Motiue will not fixe vpon thee, yet let the greatnesse of reward, the ex­cellencie of the wages, the liberall allowance of Gods Seruants stirre thee vp at last to sing this best part of Simeons Song with heart and voyce, that thou wilt be Gods Seruant: It is a blasphemous scandall that the Iewish Atheists cast vpon God, that it is a vaine thing to serue God, and they had got no profit in keeping his Commandements. Mal. 3.14. For, sure there is a reward for the righteous: doubtlesse [Page 249] there is a God that iudgeth the earth, Psal. 58.10. A reward euen in this life, euen before the Sonnes of men, Psal. 31.19. Euen as Dauid was annoynted long before hee was crowned, 1 Sam. 16.13. 2 Sam. 2.4. So here the Lord annoynts vs with the oyle of Gladnesse in the Church militant, though wee haue not the Crowne (till Christs appearing) tryumphant, 2 Tim. 4.8.

Yea, euen here the Lord is a Sunne and a Shield to his Seruants, he giues grace and glo­ry, and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that liue vprightly: Psal. 84.11. For what good thing doth mans heart desire which God doth not promise, and performe to his league Subiects?

1 For their Wealth: he giues them wealthy wages; an hundred-fold, Marke 10.30. Hee builds the Hebrew Mid-wiues houses, Exod. 2. and giues his Seruant Dauid a great portion; for, he loueth the prosperitie of his Seruants.

2 For Health: the Lord will make their bed in their sicknesse Psal. 41.3. Yea, the voyce of ioy and health is in the habitations of the righteous, Psal. 110.1.

3 For Strength: the Lord himselfe is their strength, Psal. 27.8. and they shall be strong in the power of his might. Esay 6.10.

4 For Fame: their memoriall shall be bles­sed; Prou. 10.7. yea, their righteousnesse shall [Page 250] shine as the light, and their iudgement as the noone-day, Psal. 37 6. euen as Salomons did to the furthest South.

5 Yea, their Enemies, that haue traduced them, shall will they nill they, acquit them, and iustifie them, euen as Saul twise iustified Da­uids integritie, 1 Sam. 18. and Chap. 26. and Pilate, Pilates Wife, the Centurion, nay, euen Iudas himselfe, together with the Sunne, the Earth, and the Stones, acquitted CHRIST, (who is tearmed Gods righteous Seruant in Esay,) and proclaimed his innocencie.

6 Nay, rather then they should want their deserued commendations, God himselfe will prayse them liuing and dead: as hee did in Moses funerall Sermon, Iohn 1.

7 Nay, iustifying them euen against the accusations of the old accuser Sathan, as hee did, Iob, Iob 1. Hence wee haue these Enco­miums of Dauid, Ezekias, Asa, Iosias, Moses himselfe, with others in the old Testament, to be men after Gods owne heart; men of vp­right, perfect, and relenting hearts, and of meeke spirits.

Hence also Christ himselfe so famouseth the Centurion, the Canaanitish woman, the good Seruant, Nathaniel, Mary Magdalene, &c. Hence Paul so commends M [...]ason, Gaius, Phi­lemon, Appia, &c. Luke in the Acts, Steuen, Dorcas, the noble Baraeans, Bernabas, vvith [Page 251] others, for their Faith, their Sinceritie, Zeale, Almes deedes, Liberalitie, Hospitalitie, Loue to the Word, searching the Scriptures, Holi­nesse, with other Graces: so much doth God delight in the flourishing same of his Church and Children.

For Peace: True Peace. where righteousnesse flourish­eth, there is abundance of peace. Peace keepes her Throne amongst Gods Seruants, for though they be at warre with the black Prince of Hell, and his blacke Guard the wicked; and with the World, and chiefely with their owne corruptions; yet they haue peace with GOD, with Christ, with the Angels, with the Church, with her Children, with their Brethren, vvith the Creatures, with their owne Soules and Consciences, such as none knowes, saue those that inioy it.

For Fauour: GOD grants the suites of his Ser­uants. they are in wonderfull grace with their Masters: they haue freedome of ac­cesse to the throne of Grace, vpon all occasi­ons; the golden Scepter is alwayes stretcht out vnto them: they may haue easier accesse to the God of heauen, and more gratious wel­come, with obtayning of their Suites, and Pe­titions, and Prayers, then any Courtier with a temporall Prince: it being as truely verified of God towards his Seruants, (as it is recor­ded of Augustus Caesar and Traian, these mor­rally good Emperours) that hee neuer sent [Page 252] any discontented or empty away that was a su­tor to him. Witnesse thou Salomon when thou didst pray for Wisedome; thou Paul when for strength against Sathans buffets; thou Eze­kias and Dauid, when you called for deliue­rance from enemies; you Israelites, when you cryed in bondage; thou Moses, for preserua­tion at a dead lift; thou Prodigo, thou Publi­can, thou penitent Theefe, thou Manasses, thou mourning Mary, when you prayed, and sued with teares for mercy; thou Anna, thou Isaack, thou Zachary, with thy Wife Eliza­beth, intreating for Children: nay, lastly, let the experience of all Gods Seruants for this fiue thousand yeeres, speake; and speake thou mine owne Soule, in thy young yet true expe­rience, what thou hast found and felt, and de­clared in the great congregation: if euer petiti­on were put vp from a sorrowful soule, a belee­uing and a touched heart, a zealous spirit, that receiued not a gracious answere in euery re­quest concerning body or soule, that concer­ned eyther Gods glory to giue, or his seruants good to receiue. For thou Lord wilt blesse the righteous, thou wilt shine vpon him with the light of thy countenance, and with fauour wilt crowne and compasse him as with a shield. Psal. 6.12.

For Mirth: the Lords Seruants shall re­ioyce and sing for ioy of heart, Esay 65.14. [Page 253] they shall reioyce vvith ioy vnspeakeable, 1 Pet. 1.8. and their ioy shall no man take from them. Iohn 16.22.

For Pleasures: The godly haue a tast of heauen here. though they be not fatted with the carrion of the world, like the Diuels Crowes, nor taste not of this bitter Ratsbanes, sweet-sower poyson of Sinne, which at last stings like a Cockatrice, yet they haue pure and perfect pleasures, such as the worlds swine neuer tasted they are fed with hidden Manna, they keepe a constant Iubilie, and a perpetuall Christmas; feasting Christ, as feasted by him, in that communion they haue with him, in the Word, the Sacraments, Prayer, &c. In vvhich they are satisfied with the fatnesse of Gods House, and drinke abundantly out of the riuers of his pleasures, Psal. 36.9.

These wages with many moe, are as the ear­nest penny, and the Hirelings entring penny, (with vs called the Gods penny) which God giues as assurance and part of greater and bet­ter payment hereafter; being but a little por­tion and pittance of that which they shall haue hereafter? but as the Prologue to the Come­die, as a Beauer to a Banquet, as a Mite to a mountaine of Gold, as the Candle light to the Sunne. For hereafter indeede is the great re­ward, Mat. 5.12. so great, so shining, that as it hath dazeled the Aegles eyes of the dearest of Gods Seruants, when they haue set them­selues [Page 254] to behold it; Tom. 10. ser. 1. lib. Medit. c. 18 Dicere quā ­t [...]m v [...]lo, non v [...]le [...]. as of Augustine and others: so I can but shew it you a-farre off, as Moses was shewed Canaan, a type of Heauen.

Then, for the comfort of those that haue imployed their bodies and their soules in Gods seruice here, & to prouoke others now to sacri­fice their bodies to God as is most reason, as the Apostle cals it, a reasonable seruice, Rom. 12.1. let them know these bodies shall then be like the Angels in heauen, Mat. 22.30. they shall shine as Starres, Dan. 12.3. yea, as the Sunne in the Kingdome of the Father. Mat. 13.46. For their Soules, they shall be glorious, with­out spot or wrinckle, Ephes. 5.17. they shall behold the face of God in righteousnesse, and haue fulnesse of ioy in Gods presence. Psal. 16.11. For their estate, they shall be Kings, and raigne with God, and Priests to sing Ha­leluiahs vnto him, Reu. 1.6. (for as they haue serued Christ on earth, so they shall serue him in glory, Reu. 22.3.) yea, and they shall be Iudges to, to sit vpon thrones, and iudge the twelue Tribes of Israell, Mat. 19.28.

I could tell you further of their ioyes out of the Scripture, in their eminencie, excellen­cie, fulnesse, glorious greatnesse, and perpe­tuitie, Psal. 36.8. Mat. 25.21. Esay 21.11. 1 Cor. 2.20. how incorruptible the Crowne is, how stedfast the Kingdome, how constant the ioy, how euerlasting the feast, how secure the [Page 255] rest, how endlesse and infinite the pleasure is which is prouided for Gods seruants after their departure out of this vaile of misery, 1 Pet. 5.4. Reu. 21.6. 2 Thes. 3.7. Iohn 16.22. Heb. 12.28. &c. with all the accruments, and additions, and amplifications incident to this poynt: eyther in respect of the place, the highest heauens; or the company, innumera­ble Angels, the congregation of the first borne, God the Iudge, Christ the Redeemer, Heb. 12.22. &c. but I contract my sailes, and leaue the rest to your search and meditation, and to the spirit to make application; onely desiring euery soule that is as yet a slaue to his vsurping sinnes, to consider, as Hell that hee gaines, so the gaine that hee looseth, that is, Heauen: thinke of it seriously and betimes, least thou thinke of thy gaining losse thou getst by sinne, when thou must for euer stand to the bargaine, as the rich Diues did in Hell, when he saw Lazarus in Abrahams bosome, Luke 16. when his bad and base choise was re­pented, but not redressed.

Lastly, if these blessings, here and hereafter, God bles­seth the wicked oft for his Seruants cause. moue thee not, yet lend mee thy patience a while to peruse and ponder the curses, and plagues, and euils, that thou shalt auoid, by being Gods Seruant. Many a man thou know­est is exempted from many common calami­ties, by the countenance of some great man, [Page 256] to whom he retaines, as from being a common Souldiour in the time of warre, and the like: so in any common plague or iudgement the Lord knowes how to deliuer his; yea, though thousands fall on their right hand.

And surely this is a wondrous priuiledge that the Saints haue: first, that as God bles­seth oft the wicked for their sakes, as hee did Laban for Iacobs cause, and Potiphar and Pha­raoh for Iosephs cause: his blessings being not onely vpon the houses and families, but vpon whole Nations, Countries and Cities, for the cause of his Seruants (euen as heathenish Em­pyres, amongst the Babilonians, prospered for Daniels cause, and so Cyrus, Artaxerxes and Darius for the cause of Ezra, Nehemias, and other captiue Iewes that serued the true God: and the Heathenish Romanes for the persecu­ted Christians causes, as Histories manifest) and as it is a further priuiledge, that God oft not onely preserues from dangers, but saues from destruction, sinfull, Sodomitish, and pro­fane places and persons, for their cause to, as hee did those in the indangered ship for Pauls cause, and Noahs kindred for Noahs cause, and would haue spared Sodome for Abrahams and the righteous sake, if they could haue beene found: so it is a wonderfull prerogatiue to, that when the Lord by the prouocation of the vnrighteous, is minded to bring destruction [Page 257] vpon a Land or Country, hee first deliuers his Seruants; 1. eyther by death, as hee did Iosias, and good Augustine, before the sacking of Hippo by the Vandales. 2. Or by conueying them to some other place, as he did Lot, when Sodome was burned. 3. Or by prouiding some meanes for their escape, as the Arke for Noah, when the World was drowned. 4. Or by sa­uing them by his immediate Power and Mer­cy, as hee did Moses and the Israelites vvhen the wicked were drowned, euen Pharaoh and all the Aegyptians, 5. Or when his owne Ser­uants are by men appointed to the sword, hee rescues them with their enemies whom he sets in their stead, as he rescued Ester, Mordechai, the Iewes, Daniel, and the three Children, when wicked Haman and others their accusers, in their roomes, satisfied the Gallowes, the fla­ming fire, the mouthes of the Lyons, &c. sa­uing the Corne and burning the Tares. 6. Or if his Seruants fall into the same temporall punishments with others, as Ionathan that was slaine with Saul, and good Zwinglius that dyed in battell, which is vsuall: yet euen thereby the righteous are brought nearer heauen; and the more violent their death is, the sooner they are in ioy, vvhen the godlesse shall be throwne downe to Hell, euen as with the same Flaile is beaten chaffe to be burnt, and pure Corne to be preserued.

[Page 258] These ru­ling sinnes are dam­nable without re­pentance.I could draw out these Motiues ad infini­tum, and from the Estates, and Excellencies, and Priuiledges of Gods Seruants, in these and other peculiars, in which thou hast no part nor portion, so I might if the point were not too tedious and burthensome to thy memory, presse thee as much on the left side, from the consideration of thy fearefull estate, in the case wherein thou standest, being (as thine owne heart tels thee) the seruant to many a reigning and ruling sinne; and so consequently no ser­uant of God (vnlesse like the wicked Seruant, the false Steward, and traiterous Iudas) thy deserts being a Halter and Hell. For as Christ said it of Couetousnesse, so I say from Christs ground, Mat. 6.24. thou canst not serue God and Mammon, God and the World, God and the Diuell, God and thy Belly, God and thy Bagges, with the Vsurer; God and Herodias, God and Rimmon, God and Baal, Christ and Antichrist, God and Babels beast, God and the Pope: no more then one man can serue two Masters; no more then one Riuer, by one streame, can runne two wayes at once; no more then one man can moue vpwards and downe­wards at one time; no more then one woman can loue lawfully the bed of her Husband, and the bosome of a stranger; or one man his owne Wife and the body of an Harlot. For, God and Sinne are opposed ex diametro, and [Page 259] will no more mixe then oyle and water; nay, then fire and water, then Heauen and Hell.

Now then being a Seruant to sinne, thou consequently art none of Gods Seruant: for his seruant thou art to whom thou obeyest; yea, if it be of sinne vnto death, Rom. 6.16. and so by an immediate dependance and rela­tion, thou art the slaue of him, that is the basest slaue in the world, that is, the Diuell, for hee that commits sinne is his, 1 Iohn 3. vvho was the first, and still continues the author of sinne, of lyes, murthers, blasphemies, and the like.

Now then see thy danger: The case of Sathans captiues opened. as hee causeth thee to lye as hee did Ananias and Saphira, Acts 5. and to sweare, as hee did Senacharib, and to commit Adultery, as hee did Herod, with other sinnes, as he did Dauid and Peter, when hee sifted, tempted, and rose vp against them. So, so long as thou liuest in sinne, hee is entered into thee, as into Iudas, Iohn 13.27. and doth possesse thee; thou art in his power; Acts 28.18. He rules thee as the Horse-man doth the Horse; hee hath thee as a Beare by the snout, as a Dogge in a chaine; thou mo­ [...]est after his motion: oh thy fearefull subie­iection. Thou art vnder the most deceitfull Master, the most deluding Laban in the world, who for delight that hee pretends thee, will pay thee damnation that hee intends thee; [Page 260] as hee hath done to Laban himselfe, Caine, Esau, Iudas, and all that haue serued him. Be­sides thou art vnder the most massecrating mercilesse tyrant in the world: Phalaris, Bu­siris, Nero, Dionisius, Pharaoh, with all their buls, and their burnings, and their burthens, (of his inuention, as our Papists Powder-plot was) were mercifull men in respect of him: for he layes the heauiest burthen in the world vpon thee, euen that which prest himselfe out of Heauen into Hell, pusht Adam out of Pa­radise, and prest Christ himselfe vpon the Crosse; and that is Sinne. And after thou hast laid downe this bruitish body of thine in the dust, hee hath prepared intollerable and eternall burnings for thee in his owne Terri­tories; whose fires the burthen of thy sinnes must kindle and maintaine, and the Riuer of Gods wrath increase and make more violent. Oh therefore betimes cast off this more then Aegyptian yoke; forsake the seruice of thy old sophisticating Master, Sathan; and serue thy new and liuing Master, Christ Iesus, so shalt thou not onely auoid those plagues tem­porall and externall, which are threatned to those that disobey God, Exod. 23.33. Deut. 7.4. Deut. 28. Deut. 29.45.46.47. &c. Esay 1. Psal. 7. &c. which I pray thee ponder at leasure: as also those eternall hereafter. But thou shall be partaker of all those blessings [Page 261] and bounties which God hath reuealed and prepared for those that serue him.

I thought to haue added another vse, namely, as the matter, so to haue prescribed the manner and forme of Gods seruice, with the parts of it, vvith those seuerall carriages that those must vse for their actions, their af­fections, their speech and words, at home and abroad; what vse to make of all their time, with their seuerall stints and taskes in the per­formance of seuerall and successiue sacrifices and seruices. But I will not dull the Reader by this prolixe point. I referre thee vnto some of my Brethren that haue writ well and worthily of it: as M ^r. Rogers his Christian Directorie; M ^r. D. Hill, in his Tract how to liue well, by way of Questions and Answeres; M ^r. Cooper his Christian Sacrifice; which I wish not one­ly in the hands, but vvrit in the hearts of all that intend Gods seruice, and their owne sal­uation.

THE fift part, according to our Texts first diuision, now comes into our examination, and that is Simeons Departure or Dismission, the Latine compriseth this and that which wee called the Diuine Permission, in one word, Nunc dimittis, [...], Nunc est tempus vt dimittas, &c. è vinculis cor­poris, as Piscator renders it; Lord, now it is time that thou vnloose mee from the bonds of the body: from which reading, which I thinke warrantable and naturall, these Poynts arise. First that euen the Lords Simeons, godly men, and so consequently all men, must dye for the matter of death. Secondly, that death is onely to man a dissolution, for the nature and manner of death. Thirdly, that this life is but a short life, out of which wee are euery day ready to depart, like him that is about to take his leaue of his visited friends. Fourthly, that this life is but a miserable life, in vvhich wee are bound and fettered, death being our [Page 263] vnloosing. Fiftly, that our naturall death is but one, and once, which is our dismission from the earth. Sixtly, that the soule is immortall, not dying vvith the body, onely departing out of the body.

For the first point: it is plaine that godly men dye; sanctified Simeon that spoke this is dead: it needes no confirmation but experi­ence, as hee that will not beleeue that the fire is hot, let him put his finger to it; if any be­leeue not that the godly dye as well as the wicked, let him looke at their Sepulchres amongst vs, as Peter tels the Iewes, that the Patriarke Dauid was dead, and his Sepulchre was amongst them.

The Reasons why the godly dye are these: Why the godly dye. first, because they are inuolued and vvrapped in the common sincke of originall sinne, with the rest of Adams posteritie, and therefore they must participate of death, the common punishment; from which no persons, orders, or degrees are excepted or exempted, no not infants themselues, Eccles. 3.1. Psal. 49.10. Heb. 9.27. To explaine this.

It is confessed by all Diuines, that GOD which is called the God of the liuing, onely created life, and not death: which being a pri­uation of life, was neuer in the number of those Ideaes and formes which were from all eternitie in the minde of the Creator, but was [Page 264] brought in by sinne, for which it is now im­posed penarilie vpon all flesh, Rom. 5.12. so Ch. 6.23. 1 Cor. 15.21. From whence it is consequent, that if man had not sinned, man had not dyed. I say not man could not haue dyed; for his body being compounded of the foure Elements, and so of foure contrary qua­lities, heate, cold, moysture and drynesse, in themselues repugnant, was naturally mortall; yet hee should not haue dyed, if hee had not sinned: but should haue beene preserued and vpheld by a speciall, singular, and supernatu­rall grace. Which grace of originall Iustice being lost by originall sinne, man also lost the priuiledge of immortalitie, and became mortall.

Simile.Euen as (to vse the Schoole-mens Similies) a Ship vpon the Sea, her saile hoist, the winde blowing, & the waues working, must needs na­turally follow the motion and working of the Sea: but if this Ship be tyed to an Anchor, by some strong Cable, shee is held, fast and fixt, without any far fluctuation: but if this Cable be cut, shee goes whither the windes and the waues driue her. Or as a mans hand is subiect to be wounded by sword, dagger, or dart, but if he haue on a good Gantlet the hand is safe; which Gantlet being pluckt off or broken, the hand is exposed to danger: So, Man being naturally mortall, yet being armed with ori­ginall [Page 265] righteousnesse against the stroke of death, being tyed and chained with the golden chaine of speciall grace, should not haue mo­ued in the naturall course of death: but as soone as euer man by the instinct of Sathan, tyed himselfe with the cords of sinne, God tooke away that other chaine of Grace, dis­armed him of munition and armour, and ex­posed him to be carryed through the swift torrent of this present life, by the violence of the contrary qualities of the Elements, euen into the dead Sea, or Sea of Death. Mare mor­tuum.

Secondly, because of the reliques and re­mainders of their originall sinnes and corrup­tion, which are still resident and fixed in them, (howsoeuer pardoned by Christ) the godly must dye, that so these remnants may be quite taken away and abolished, and the root of old Adam absolutely stocked vp.

Thirdly, flesh and bloud (of which they partly consist) cannot inherit the Kingdome of God, but must first be changed. 1 Cor. 15, vers. 50.

Fourthly, that as by other crosses and af­flictions, so by dying they may in some sort be made conformable to their head Christ, in his death and sufferings, Rom. 8.29.

Sixtly, that the godly might haue experi­ence of Gods power, in the resuscitation and raising vp of their dead bodies.

[Page 266]Seauenthly, that the godly may haue sweet and comfortable experience of the difference betwixt this mortall life and that immortall glory in the life to come, which will be so much more ioyous, as they shall taste their prepared ioyes through the iawes of death, as Sampson did his Honie in the Lyons belly: for as it is a misery to haue beene happy, Miserum est fuisse f [...]elicem. so it sets a better edge and relish on any mercy, when it comes by an exemption from a for­mer experienced misery: euen as deliuerance was more gratefull to the Israelites after their Aegyptian yoke, and as hony is more sweet to him that hath beene dyeted with Aloes; so ioy in glory shall be more ioyous extracted out of the paines of life, and pangs of death vnto the godly.

Vse of Consola­lation.Hence let the Saints sing, clap their hands and reioyce; let the ioyfull shout of a King be amongst them, in the sweet contemplation of the vnlimitted mercies of God, towards them; that whereas in Adam as they were branches of his stocke, and so fruitfull in vnrighteous­nesse, in his sinne, so indammaged and indan­gered, by their originall corruptions, besides their actuall transgressions; that God might in iustice haue punished them both with the first and second death, according to that me­nace in Paradise, to our Protaplasts: In that day which you eate of the forbidden fruit, you shall [Page 267] dye the death, Aug. lib. 3. de ciu. Dei. Qua die me deserueritis per inobedi­entiam, ego vos deseram per iusti­tiam, &c. (as Augustine interprets it) in that day which you forsake me by rebellion, I will forsake you by my iust iudgements execu­tion: yet it hath pleased God so farre to mi­tigate both the guilt and the punishment of both, that in and by Christ they being redee­med from that second, that eternall, sempiter­nall death of the soule; the temporall death which is onely a change of a worse life for one infinitely better, is so farre inflicted, or rather imposed as makes for Gods glory, and their owne greater good.

Secondly, 2. Vse of Commi­nation. let this withall terrifie the wicked which are out of CHRIST, and as yet haue no more part in him then the Diuell and Iu­das (by reason of their witting and willing sins, by which voluntarily and frequently they cru­cifie him againe to themselues) that if the godly must haue their teeth set on edge in dy­ing the first death of the body, Phil. 3.17. for these sweet fruits which proued sower Grapes, that Adam and Eue tasted in the Garden, by reason of these remainders and reliques of corruption that are in them: how much more shall they, as they are threatned, as God hath decreed and denounced, drinke the dregs of Gods wrath, euen to the bottome, not onely in tast­ing the first death but the second; not onely that which is the separation of the soule from the body, but which separates both body and [Page 268] soule eternally from God, as they are corrupt and fruitlesse trees, twise dead: so if the godly which are trees of righteousnesse, planted by the riuers of Grace, Cum concu­titur Cedrus Paradisi, quid faciet Virga De­sar [...]i? be pluckt vp, that they may be transplanted in glory, much more shall they by stockt vp by the Axe of death, cut downe in wrath, like the barren Fig-tree, and throwne into Hell fire: yea, as they are called dead coales, Psal. 17. and God a con­suming fire, Deut. 9. Hebrewes the last, &c. so they are as sure to burne (vnlesse quenched by repentance) as they are fit to burne.

Neyther doth the Lord take such avvay ordinarily, by a naturall and peaceable death, as hee did Simeon here: but oft-times in the whirlewinde of his wrath, by some vnnaturall, and violent, and sodaine death, as the fruit of their prouoking sinnes. 1. Sometimes for their abuse of his worship, as hee did Nadab and Abihu: so Iudas that came from the Com­munion and hanged himselfe: as also the Co­rinthians who dyed for their vnworthy recei­uing the Sacrament. 2. Sometimes for rebel­lion against Magistrates, as Corah, Dathan, and Abiram. Numb. 16. 3. Sometimes for abusing the Seruants, Prophets, and Ministers of God, as the two and fortie Children whom the two shee Beeres slew: the two Captaines with their fifties, that came to lay hands on Elias. 4. So for murthering the Saints, as Achab and Iezabel. [Page 269] So the tenne persecutors, infamously famous for the abundance of Christian bloud which they shed, came all to fearefull ends, according to the curse threatned, Psal. 56. Psal. 139. & Math. 26. that Bloudy men shall not liue out halfe their dayes: and, They that smite with the Sword, shall perish by the Sword. 5. For gurmundizing, gluttonie, and drunkennesse, as Iobs Children, Iob 2. Baltazar, Dan. 5. and the Israelites slaine whilst the Quailes were in their mouthes, Numb. 11. 6. For couetous­nesse, as Ananias and Saphira, Acts 5. 7. For Lust and Luxury, as Cosbee and Zimri, and the vncleane Israelites, Numb. 25. 8. For Tyrannie and oppression as Pharaoh and his Hoast, Exod. 14. 9. For Pride against God, as Herod, Acts 12. 10. For the effect of pride and malice, Blasphemie against heauen, as Senacharib and his pestilent Parasite Rab­sekah, 2 Kings 19. as also for other sinnes.

But now wee are to hoist vp sailes into a Sea of matter, Doctrine. All must dye. which flowes eyther necessa­rily from the Text, or by consequence of this last proued point, and by argument from the greater to the lesser, from the better to the worse; that if Simeon and the Saints must dye, then vnsanctified sinners: and so from the specials, and by inductions from all particu­lars the generall may be concluded, that all must dye. So much the Text giues vs leaue [Page 270] to touch; for if we be here, as Tully intimates, Tanquam in diuerserio; as guests lodged in an Inne: or as those that come to a Mart, a Mar­ket, or a Faire; or as those that come to visite their friends, not to inhabite long here, but to depart, as Simeon here imports. Then hoc commune malum, this departure is the de­signed lot to all the worlds passengers: Wee here giue no reasons of the point, omitting or pretermitting them, till we come to distill some comforts against death: onely for ex­planation or further satisfaction. Ponder the premises, that since the godly which haue no sinne, Psal. 32.1.2. I meane (with Dauid and the Augu­stane Confession out of Augustine) Non vt non fit, sed vt non impu­tetur. no impu­ted sinne, must die; since children that haue no actuall sinne doe dye, because the staine of the roote is propagated to the branches, as Augustine, Anselme and Ambrose haue in moe phrases explained, De praed. c. 2. & lib. cont. For­tunatum. cap. 2. In Lucam.if Adam himselfe did dye, not so much as hee was a created man but as hee was a corrupted sinner. Then sure as life was the fruit of his obedience, if he had stood; à Deo donante, from Gods free giuing; so death is inflicted vpon his fall, à Deo vindicante, from God punishing.

Moriendum est omnibus. Tullie Tus. 9. lib. 1.And as now it is Gods Statute-Law enacted, that all Adams Sonnes partaking of Adams sinnes must die, so it must be executed: nay, wee see it is executed, Philosophers, and Poets, [Page 271] and the learned Heathens, who themselues, since their workes and writings haue felt the smart of deaths stroke, haue acknowledged it, Christians haue confessed it. Experience hath ratified it in the consumption and con­summation of all ages, all sects, all sorts, per­sons and professions, that all must dye: omnia peribunt, &c. I, thou, hee, they, and euery man besides, that are, were, shall be, this way slides. Wee haue Gods statutum est for it, that as in Heauen all liue, and none must or can dye; in Hell all dye an eternall death, and none must or can liue: so in earth all must dye, and none can for euer liue. This is an ineuitable yoke, imposed on all flesh, Nam rigidum ius est, &c. the Law is strict, vnaltera­ble; to striue against the streame vnauaileable:

Many meanes haue Galenists and Physiti­ans vsed for the preseruation of life: many Workes and elaborate Bookes are extant, of the conseruation of health; but neuer none writ, or disputed of the exemption from death, because it were in vaine. If any Physitian could administer such a simple that vvould perpe­tually [Page 272] prolong life: if any Lawyer could plead the case with Death, not to enter violently vpon their bodie (which is his tennant-right) and preuaile. If any Diuine did preach that sinners should not dye, and performe it: the first should haue moe Patients; the second, more Clyents; the third, moe Auditors, then euer had any of their fellowes in their functi­ons: But to teach, or plead, or practise this point, which the Diuell guld our first Parents with in Paradise, You shall not die, were to be a Lyar like him, it were to build Castles in the Ayre, Hom. lib. 2 ed. 3. sic od. 12. od. 28. &c. to sow the winde, and reape the whirle­winde: for, Omnes vna mane [...] nox, &c.

How many glorious Lights in the vvorld, Kings, Kesars, Emperours, Popes, Potentates, Dukes, Earles, Lords, Barons, &c. Learned, wise, prudent, potent, &c. haue already perish­ed, and vanished, like Comets and blazing Starres, leauing no more tract behinde them, then a Serpent that goes ouer a stone? of whom wee retaine nothing but the Images corporeall of their bodies, or mentall of their mindes; by the help of some Painters, or their owne or others pens, that haue onely shewed [Page 273] to posteritie, that such men there once were, but now are not. What haue wee sauing the Images of moe then an hundred famous Em­perours of the East and West, Christian and Heathen?

Amongst the rest, vvhere are the seauen Henries, the sixe Constantines, the fiue Ottoes, the fiue Charleses, the fiue Lodonicques, the foure Leo's, the three Theodosij, the three Fre­dericques, the three Tiburiusses, the two Clau­dij, the two Alberts, the two Anasta [...]ij, the two Martians, the two Rodulphs, the two famous Caesars for warre and peace, Iulius and Augu­stus, with the rest? Is not the lampe of their life extinct? Those whose voyces comman­ded the Nations, are they now able to speake? (as it was said of Alexander) those that vvere able once to deliuer others from death, could they free themselues?

Besides, where are now more then two hun­dred of Romaine Bishops, and triple Mitred Popes: some of whose roaring Buls made once all Christendome quake and shake? Where are now the twelue Gregories, the nine Bonifaces, eight nocently Innocents, the seauen Clements, the sixe Alexanders, sixe Vrbans, sixe Adrians, twelue Benidicts, the fiue Celestines, the fiue Nicholasses, the foure Sixtusses, the foure Sergij, the foure Anasta [...]ij, the foure Foe­lixes, the foure Eugenij, the three Siluesters, [Page 274] the three Victors, the three Lucij, the three Iulij's, with the rest? Doe they not all know now that which As Alex­ander 6. Iohn 11. Iob. 22. &c. some of them Atheistically in words, in writings, and in life, haue denyed? that their bodies were mortall, their soules immortall? that there is a Heauen for the god­ly, a Hell for the vvicked; but no Purgatory passage to eyther the one place or other, for eyther sort?

The deaths of the worlds Worthies of al kinds epitomi­zed.Besides, where shall wee seeke but amongst the dead, for all the Romane Caesars, the Ae­gyptian Ptolomies, the Latine Murrhanes, the Albane Siluies, the Syrian Antiochusses, the Arabian Arabarcques, the Argiue Abantiades, the Persian Achaminedes, the Theban Labda­cides, the Lybian Lybiarcques: and all the rest of those renowned Kings which had such di­uers denominations from their worthy Pre­decessors, and from those Countries ouer which they ruled?

Nay, to come nearer home: where are all our English Kings, that haue awfully swayed the Brittaine Scepter since the Conquest? Where are the two Conquering couragious Williams, our three Richards, our sixe Edwards, our eight Henries? Hath not Death made a Conquest of them? Haue we any remnants of them sauing their Westminster Monuments; their Ensignes, their Vertues? Could their Scepters, Crownes, Coulours, Honours, Miters, [Page 275] Power, or pompe of these Potentates, resist Deaths all-subduing, all-subiecting rod, which brings vnder moe, then Mercuries charming wand in the Poet? No verily.

So, if wee should continue in this Quere, and demand what is become of all those wor­thy Generals, Ioshuah, Gideon, &c. Achilles, Hector, Aiax, Melciades, the Gracchies, Ca­millies, Fabians, Asdrubal, Hannibal, &c. Or those tryumphing Conquerours, Cyrus, Alex­ander, Scylla, Marius, Cassius, Scipio, Metellius, Ʋalerius, Pompey, Caesars, Antonie, Octauian, Claudian, Aurelius? Death hath carryed them in tryumph, as they others. Abstulit, &c. For, Hor. lib. 8, cap. 16. speedy Death stopt stout Achilles breath.

So, where are those huge and vast Gyants, the Sonnes of Anack, the Nimrods of the world, Tipheus, Anteus, Enceladus, Titius, Po­lypheme, Atlas, Hercules, Cacus, Orestes, &c. as terrible in their times, as Goliah was to the Israelites? Now it is a wonder (no terrour) to see their ashes and their bones; now fearefull [Page 276] Hares leape ouer dead Lyons (as the Grecians scoft at dead Hector.)

So, if wee should reflexe vpon these lear­ned Lights and Lampes, in Diuinitie or Hu­mane Learning; the Fathers of the Greeke and Latine Church: graue Tertullian, learned Ori­gen, wittie Bernard, eloquent Chrysostome, zea­lous Augustine, iudicious Ierome, and the rest. Or vpon these wise Heathens, deepe Philo­sophers, Aristippus, Empedocles, Democles, Ze­nocrates, Anaxagoras, Pithagoras, Diogenes, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the seauen Grecian Sages, &c. Or vpon these famous Orators, Pericles, Isocrates, Alcibiades, Gorgias, Pollio, Lucius, Crassus, Zenophon, Hortensius, Demost­henes, Cato, Cicero, Quintillian. Or vpon these Laureate Poets, Eschilus, Pindar, Euri­pides, Aristarchus, Hesiod, Menander, Simo­nides, Sophocles, Anacraon, E [...]nius, Statius, Persius, Claudian, Ʋarro, Plautus, Lucan, Ho­mer, Terence, Ouid, Ʋirgil, &c. Or vpon these famous Legifers, and Law-giuers, Mer­curie amongst the Aegyptians, Licurgus a­mongst the Lacedemonians. Solon amongst the Athenians, Numa amongst the Romanes; as also vpon Androdamus, Philolaus, Boceo­rus, Carneades, &c. Or vpon these pro­found and famous Lawyers, Vlpian, Iason, Dru­sus, Bartolus, Baldus, Iustinian, Docius. Or vpon these expert Physitians, Hermogenes, [Page 277] Disippus, Celsus, Nicomachus, Eschulapius, Hip­pocrates, Auicen, Galen, &c. Skilfull Astro­nomers, Astrologers, and deepe Mathemati­cians, Thales, Manethes, Promethius, Eudo­sius, Protagoras, Berosus, Archites, Zoroaster, Ptolomie, Anaximander, &c. Or subtill Geo­metricians, Polemon, Pausanius, Marinus, Theo­dorus, Dicaearchus, Nicephorus, Euclides. Or these accurate, and faithfull Historiographers, Thucidedes, Iosephus, Herodotus, Diodorus, Egi­sippus, Isodore, Eutropius, Liuie, Salust, Plu­tarch, Appian, Plinie, Suetonius, Possidonius, Orosius, Eusebius, Tacitus, Iustin, &c. Or these exquisite Musitians, Zenophocles, Himenaeus, Amphion, Chiron, Arion, Linus, Philades, Orpheus, &c. Or these famous Painters and Caruers, Timantes, Aristarchus, Timagoras, Pirasius, Ze [...]xis, Apelles, Phidias, our English Michael and Raphael, with infinite moe, of worthy spirits, eyther inuenters, or perfecters of Arts and Sciences, whether Liberall or Me­chanicall; such as haue beene Eupaters, well-willers and Benefactors to humane Societies, which Antiquitie hath dignified, liuing as more then men, accounting them as Heroes and Semidians, and Deified as Gods; are they not all dead like men? Haue they not gone the way of all flesh, as Dauid saith of himselfe? 2 King. 2. Yea, though some of them were Metaphoricall and terrestiall Gods, (as Dauid [Page 278] prophesieth of all Princes) they are dead like men: their honour is laid in the dust: an Epi­taph writ vpon a marble stone, a Monument, or Statue erected to them, or for them, an Enchomiasticque Verse in the numericall lines of some Poet, or a narration vvhat they haue beene, or what they haue done, good or euill, in the workes of some Historian, is all which is left of them (euen as a linnen shirt was that remained of that victorious Saladine:) yea, these whom wee haue deseruedly called wor­thy spirits, as Alexander, Tamberlaine, Iulius Caesar, Prince Arthur, in former times: as also the rest of those nine Worthies amongst the Heathens, and those other nine amongst Christians in former times: as also that No­ble Sidney, that ingenious Picus Mirandula, that subtill Scaliger in our times; haue now their earthly tabernacles, (the lodges and or­gans of such purified spirits, and heauenly in­spired soules) dissolued; their bodies descen­ding as their better part ascending: and so it shall be with vs, and with all of vs.

[Page 279]That which was said to Adam, A true de [...] ­cant of death. is said to eue­ry one of vs, Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt returne, Gen. 3.19. Michael Glycas amplifies it thus, as hee is alledged by Bramamillerus the Germane; Puluis es, ex pulnere es, &c. Dust thou art, of dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt returne. As if one should say of the con­gealed Ice, Aqua es, ex aqua es, & in aquam re­dibis, water thou art, of water thou art, and in­to water thou shalt be resolued: (for the Ice is an excellent embleme of our bodies, which are more brittle then Ice.) Neyther is it any otherwayes vvith our terrestriall bodies, in some proportion, then with the celestiall. For as all the Starres, how euer glistering and glo­rious, arising in the East, moue to the West, some in a faster, some in a slower motion: so wee moue to our earth, as naturally downe­ward as stones and those heauy things: for, Omne graue deórsum; the earth is our proper center, to which wee moue and decline, some sooner, some later.

And as the Planets Saturne, Iupiter, Mars, Mercury, Sol, Venus, Luna, moue in their pro­per motions, some quickly within a short space, some slowly circkling the Heauens: as the Moone within a Moneth, the Sunne in twelue Moneths, &c. which their courses be­ing finished, they returne againe to the place from whence they had their first beginning of [Page 280] motion: so wee being fixt in our places and stations in this life, in our speciall callings, when wee haue finished our course and done our taske, wee moue directly into that place from whence we came, euen into the bowels of the earth, some in a quicker, some in a slower motion: some in their youth, some in their age; but all of vs now or then.

With Brutus, wee kisse our mother; vvee goe to lodge in this common Inne: our ge­nerall mother, the earth, receiues vs into her bowels againe, as the Fish Scylopendra swal­lowes her little frye, and some Bird her yong ones, in some common danger, vvhich they safely cast forth againe, as the Whale did Io­nas: vvith the little Silke-worme vvhen our vveb is spunne vvee dye, vvhich death vvee can no more auoid then the tall Cedar, or greene Popler can auoid the Axe of the hus­bandman; or the sayling ship the blustering vvinde, or cloud threatning waues: for of all things in the world it is most certaine we shall dye, all other things are exposed as much vn­to vncertaintie as to vanitie. A man knowes not how prosperous his iourney shall be by [Page 281] Sea or by Land: if hee make a bargaine it is casuall and vncertaine whether it will be thri­uing and sauing or no.

If a man marry a wife it is vncertaine whe­ther hee catch a Fish or a Frog, a Shrew or a Sheepe; a Rebeccha, or a Zan [...]ppe. If a man beget a childe, it is vncertaine whether hee proue a wise man or a foole; rich or poore, and so in all other humane things in this life there is casualitie and incertainetie, onely that we shall end this life and dye, we are most cer­taine. Euery thing in the world preacheth and proclaimeth this vnto vs. The Sunne that riseth and setteth daily ouer our heads, tels vs our lifes Sunne shall set: the cloaths vpon our backes, that weare and waste, are memorials to vs of the wearing and wasting of our bodies: the graues vnder our feete tell vs, that others must tread vpon vs as wee tread vpon others: the dust that blowes in our eyes tels vs, that we are but dust; yea, the bodies of Beasts, Birds, and Fishes, that we eate for meates, in our di­shes, tels vs, that our bodies shall be meate for Wormes: Intentant omnia mortem; All tell vs, death is as certaine, as the houre is vn­certaine.

The naturall causes of death (besides these causes that Diuinitie giues) proue our death. Naturall causes of death.

First, the Elements striuing and wrastling within our bodies in their discord, setting out [Page 282] of tune the Harpe of our Health, tels vs, that some malignant humour predominating, will ere long breake a sunder the strings of life.

Secondly, this Messalina, this vnchaste and vnsatiable woman, called Materia prima, the first matter, alwayes burning with lustfull ap­petites, and desires of new formes, still plots the corruption of her old subiect.

Thirdly, the radicall humour consumes af­ter it be come to his height of augmentation, like the Sea that recoyles and ebbes when shee is at full: which moysture though it be re­stored againe by dyet or Physicke for the quantitie, yet it is not so pure as the spent for qualitie, saith Fernellius.

Fourthly, the bloud, as it growes old, be­ginnes by little and little to condensate and waxe thicke, and so corrupts.

Fiftly, the Spirits waste by vse and labour, (which vveares euen Iron and hardest met­tals) the body and the minde by corporeall and mentall exercises, like two vnthriftie Heyres, spending them faster then the father and fosterer of them the Heart, can digest and gather them: all these say dye wee must; nay, that dye all must: Rich Diues as well as poore Lazarus, Salomon as well as Naball, the vvise as well as the foole, fayre Absolon as well as foule Thirsites, Musicall Nero as well as harsh Menius, tall Saul as well as little Zacheus, [Page 283] godly Ionathan as well as his vngodly Father; high and low, rich and poore, one with ano­ther, participate of the common condition of humane nature, once to dye. Yea, the Princes of the earth cannot with-draw their neckes from this yoke; Psal. 82.6. euen those that are Gods on earth shall dye like men; though mighty Po­tentates, like Nabuchadnezzars Image, be high and tall in birth and bloud; though their heads be of Gold, in wearing golden Crownes; though their breasts and armes of siluer; though they were as rich as Cressus or Crassus, and had siluer, with Salomon, like the Seas sand; though their bellies were of brasse, made as it were a caldron, wherein the stomackes heat boyles so many meates which the mouth as Caterer prouides, and the pallate as Sewer tastes; though their thighes be of Iron, in re­spect of potencie and power, yet their feete that props all this are of clay, their end is earth; the stone from the mountaine, the cor­ner stone crusheth them, sends some meanes or others of their mortalitie: which crushing cannot be preuented; there is no writ of priui­ledge to exempt any from it, no persons, no place, no perswasions can procure an immu­nitie from not dying. Death is as inflexible as vnresistable: inflexible, for eloquence which charmed Argus, will not charme Death. Tul­lies tongue could not saue Tullies life, vvhen [Page 284] Antonie sends for head and tongue and all; (no more then Iohns zeale could stop Here­dias malice to saue his head;) Achitophels po­licie, Aesops wit, Mithridates his being a good Linguist, Aristotles Philosophie, Philo Iudaeus his learning, Demosthenes Oratorie, Arions Harpe could not moue inexorable Death for an houres sparing, when their glasse was run. Nay, beautie vvhich is the best perswader (though a dumbe and silent Orator) can finde no more fauour with Death then Lais did with cold Anaxagoras. For sure, Rebeccha, Bathsheba, Ester, Helena, Irene, Absolon, Ioseph, with others moe, men and women, were good­ly Creatures, yet if a man could now see their Sepulchers, hee should see (that like that faire Ladie, which was found lying besides Prince Arthur in Glastenburie, vvhom M ^r. Speede mentions) all beautie is but dust: and as in­exorable, so vnresistable: Noblenesse and Royaltie are vnable to encounter it; Alexan­der, Iulius Caesar; and most victorious Princes, haue vailed their Bonnets, and done homage to it; yea, it hath preyed vpon Agamemnon, and Nabuchadnezzar, as a Theefe and Pirate vpon rich prizes. Old age is venerable, youth is lusty, but death reuerenceth not the gray hayres of the one; for though Adam, Enoch, Se [...], Methusalem, Malaleel, Iaired, Noah, He­ber, and others, in the primitiue times; as also [Page 285] Arganton, Nestor, Valerius, Coruinus, Silius lib. 3 de Argant. Ouid. lib. 14 de Syb. Propertius lib. 2. de Nestore. Sic Iuuen. Sat. 10. Epimine­des, Metellus, Terentia, Clodia, Hipocrates, Sy­bill, and infinite others amongst Christians and Heathens, liued so long, that the Hi­storians write, and Poets sing, that, Tercen­tum Messes, &c. That they liued their one, two and three hundreds, yet though their lifes day were very long, at last came Euening Song.

Neyther respecteth it the greene lockes of the young, but like an Eagle and Vultur sea­zeth on the flesh of Infants; as in the murther of Bethlems Infants, and in the death of ma­ny Children younger then Dauids Childe, that dyed. Experience saith, that Prima quae, &c. Seneca in Her. sur. Hor. carm. lib. 1. od. 28 Hor. carm. lib. 3. od. 11 The houre that gaue them breath, did end that houre in death, as Seneca saith of others: Yea, Mista &c. Both young and old, Deaths cruell armes infold. Et fugacem, &c. The man can neyther flie him, nor the youth passe by him.

Hazael was as swift as a Roe, and Atlanta was too swift for a woman, yet Death ouer­tooke them. Goliah was a great fellow, but Death was greater. Sampson was strong, Iudg. 15. but Death was stronger; it killed him that killed a thousand with the iaw-bone of an Asse; Enceladus Iaculator audax. Hor. lib. 3. od. 4. Dan. 8. it cut downe him that pluckt vp trees by the rootes. That Enceladus that great darter, could not shunne his darts, neyther can any: for it is like that Ramme which Daniel saw in his Vision, [Page 286] that shakes his hornes against the East and the West, the North and the South, and the beasts are not able to resist him. It is like a Haruester that with his Sickle cuts downe all, Corne and Tares, good and bad.

Mors à mordendo. Vel à morsu vetiti pomi.It is a mad Dog that bites all, as it hath his name (like the Vsurer) of biting, so Mors mordet omnes, &c. It bites all, yea, euen the biting Vsurers, and grindes those that grinde the faces of the poore. It is a fire vnsatiable, burning the greene Iuie and the cragged Oake; young and old. It is a Tyrant ouer Ty­rants, Iuuenal. Sat. 10. bringing them to their graues, cum eaede & vulnere, (as it did Nero and Domitian) with bloudy heads. It is like the Sea, terrible, not to be dramd, not to be turned out of his channell; carrying all away with it, by as ma­ny wayes as there be wayes to the Sea: all wa­ters runne to the Sea, and all men tend to their earth. Me vestigia terrent, om­nia te ad­uersum, spectantia nulla re­trorsum. Prou. 7. It is like the Lyon in the Fable, to whose denne many Beasts went, but none re­turned. It accepts as many as comes, like the Harlot in the Prouerbs, but none returnes, since (like those Oxe-like beastly, fooles that goe in to a whore) they goe into the [Page 287] chamber of death: like a couetous Niggard, it receiues all, but parts with none. Spaires none ne (que) moribus nec aetati: Nay, saith a Pa­pist, nec Matri vitae, nec vitae; neyther the Vir­gin Mary (which they say is the Mother of life) nor CHRIST the life it selfe: then much lesse will it spare vs: for, Pallidamors aquo pulsat pede; &c.

And that so indifferently, that as one saith, if hee should make choyse of a Iudge in the whole world, he would chuse Death: it is not corrupted like a corrupt Officer, but is as vn­partiall as imperiall. Thus much for the ne­cessitie of dying.

Now it is time by Vse and Application to bring home, vvhat hath beene said, Vse. vnto the heart of euery Reader.

First therefore, from the necessitie of death, let it teach vs not too much to be in loue with life, or with any thing in this life. What a folly is it for a man to set his heart vpon a strange woman, in a strange Country, whose face it is likely hee shall neuer see more? If Sampson had knowne how soone he should haue beene taken from his Dalilah, hee would neuer haue so doated on her: if Sichem had knowne how speedily his lusting loue to Dinah would haue [Page 288] occasioned his destruction, hee would rather haue loathed her before his folly with her (as Ammon did Thamar after) then haue loued her. If wee did but ponder how soone vvee are to leaue these perishing pleasures, and pro­fits, which will be our ruine, and irreuocable destruction, wee would cast them from vs, as a menstruous cloath, wee would hate them as wee doe a Toade, detest them as wee doe the Diuell, and flye from them as Moses from his rod when it turned into a Serpent. Oh the thought of death may moderate euen lawfull affections, and curbe them in their idolatrous exorbitancie, from being immeasurable, least by a violencie of desires they be carryed away after any outward thing that wee doe inioy, and may cause vs (as it did the holy Patriarks, Prophets, Apostles, primitiue Christians, an­cient and moderne Martyres,) to leaue father and mother, wife and childe, house and land, portion and pence, for Christs cause volunta­rily, as Moses did the pleasures of Pharaohs Court, since (as Horace hath it) Linquenda tellus, &c. Wee must leaue them, will we nill wee. Necessarily, and sure, if vvee ought to leaue in affection the good things that vvee liue by, much more vvee ought to leaue both in Affection and Action, the sinnes that vvee perish by, ere vvee leaue the vvorld; least wee dye as vvicked men haue [Page 289] dyed before vs, as wretchedly as vvickedly.

Secondly, since wee must all dye, 2. Vse of Instru­ction. and that as wee haue heard, because vvee haue sinned, then if wee loue life, (as all doe naturally) let vs hate sinne that depriues vs of life. Those that loue life must hate sinne, the cause of death. A man that loues his Wife dearely, cannot loue him that would make a breach betwixt them, or deuorce him from her: hee that loues his life, me thinkes, should not loue the intentiue mur­therer, that plots and contriues his death. This disturber, this destroyer, is Sinne: It is a right Faux, a plotter of thy perdition, a right Cate­line, a conspirator of thy calamitie: it watch­eth opportunities, as the Foxe doth the Hare, as the Lyon doth the Dogge, as Iael did Se­sera, as Iudith did Holofernes, and as Delilah did Sampson, when to deceiue thee, when to destroy thee: yea, euen when it fawnes vpon thee, and flatters thee, and playes with thee, then (like the Cats play with the Mouse) it purposeth to prey vpon thee. Thus it faw­ned and flattered vpon Adam and Eue, and offered them (as Witches and poysoners of­fer Children) an Apple to play withall, but by this Apple it killed them, so hath it done all mankinde besides, and wilt thou fauour it?

Zealous was his spirit that once expostula­ted with one, as I now with thee, Peccatum omnes maiores tuos occidit, & tu fouis? Sin (saith one) hath slaine all thy Predecessors, and An­cestors, [Page 290] and wilt thou make much of it? Woul­dest thou desire to looke vpon, and gloriously to sheathe that Sword or Knife that killed thy good Father, thy kinde Mother, thy speciall Friend, thine onely Childe? This, Sinne hath done, or will doe. Couldst thou finde in thy heart to bid those Varlets welcome that did kill the Kings of France? Now canst thou finde in thy heart to entertaine and retaine that sin in thy soule, which hath killed all the Kings in Christendome? then perish thou by it with the rest: if thou wilt not be warmed be har­med. But sure to loue that sinne that not one­ly hath killed thy Progenitors, but that la­bours to imbrew his hands in thy bloud to, that sweetens his temptations to poyson thee, that spreads his ginnes daily to trap thee, that bends his bow still ready to strike thee, that lyes in ambush still to surprize thee, and yet to trust it, and follow the lusts and commands of it, to obey it, is great folly: but to make it thy bosome-friend, to lodge it in thine owne bed, to set it at Table with thee (as Dauid did his treacherous Companion) to carry it about with thee, to suffer it to haue free accesse euery day to the Castle and best Chamber of thine heart, through the dores of thy eares, and the vvindowes of thy eyes, and the entrance of thy mouth, to acquaint it vvith all thy secrets; I say it is extreame madnesse. For the plea­sing [Page 291] of sinne, thou dost preiudice thine owne life, temporall, spirituall, and eternall, and dis­pleasest GOD; and wilt prouoke him to cut thee off; for vvhereas other Kings destroy onely the forraine Castles and Cities of their enemies, to establish their owne Crownes: so GOD for sinne destroyes the Citie and Ca­stle which himselfe hath built and made, the body and soule of sinfull man.

Thirdly, 3. Vse of Mitigation this consideration of Deaths com­maund ouer euery created nature consisting of body and soule, whereby all humane flesh is designed to the graue, serues notably to comfort and erect the poore deiected and re­iected vvormes of the world; and to deiect and cast downe the high lookes and eleuated thoughts of the proud and potent: for, if both the one and the other consider well, that as they had both one originall and beginning from the earth, their foundation being from the dust and clay, and that both of them ere long shall be paraleld and equalized in the graue, where they shall see corruption. Ney­ther shall the meane man too much distaste his owne estate, and emulate the mighty; ney­ther shall the proud Potentate exalt his Crest, and insult ouer the poorest Peasant.

Alphonsus in one word resolues what it is that equalizeth the poore man with the Prince, the Mechanicall with the Monarch, and that is the [Page 292] graue; some say, sleepe (in vvhich the poore man participates halfe his life time with the rich; nay, oft-times in the better share; the poore Labourer soundly sleeping when Aga­memnon and Assuerus are vvatching, when Ie­roboam and Nabuchadnezzar are troubled in their thoughts about golden Calfes, and such things, as they dreame and doate vpon; which made Caesar vvilling to buy the bed of the indebted poore man of Rome, who slept bet­ter then hee:) but vvhether that Deaths yon­ger brother Sleepe, Death onely makes the Prince & the Pea­sant equall. vvorke alwayes this effect or no, it is as little materiall as it is vncertaine. I am sure Death the elder Brother, brings all states and conditions to this paritie.

Hence the vvitty Painters pictured it (like Loues Cupid) blinde, and vvithout eyes, hit­ting and hurting at randome, Kings, Princes, Popes, Prelates, Lords, Lownes, &c. vvithout difference and distinction of degrees, Crownes, Diadems, Scepters, Miters, Pals, Roabes, Rot­chets, Ragges, Purples, and Leathren Pelts, being all Ensignes of his Trophies.

[Page 293]Yea, Mors Sceptra Ligonibus aequat.

This thought much possest Augustine and Bernard in their Meditations, and therefore they send vs to the graues and sepulchers of the deceased, Aspice diui­tum tumu­los, &c. to see if wee can finde any diffe­rence in their bones, and munmiamized earth, saue onely in the externall pompe, and superficiall vernish of their Monuments: nay, sure there is no difference at all, vnlesse (as once it was said wittilie) that the corrupted bones and putrified bodies of the rich, being more crammed and fatted with surfetting and drunkennesse, doe smell and sauour more strongly then the withered karkasse of the frugall and abstenious poore man.

This Consideration caused the wittie Cy­nicke, when hee was vpbraided by Alexander, Diogenes. what hee could finde him to doe amongst the sepulchers of the dead (for indeede there was his choyse study,) Oh (quoth hee) I am here searching for the bones of thy Father Phillip of Macedon, and I cannot discerne them from others. An answere as sound as Satyricall, as Dogmaticall as it was dogged: for, Seneca in Agamem­non. Victor ad Herculeas, &c. For, though a man could con­quer more then eyther Philip or Alexander in their times, and could extend his conquest [Page 294] beyond Hercules his Pillars, yet his portion of earth shall be but a few feete, no greater then the meanest of his vassals, when he shall mete it out with his owne dead body, as Alex­ander himselfe was forced to confesse, when by an occasioned fall hee was constrayned to imprint his body in the dust.

And sure if Alexander had rightly apply­ed to himselfe eyther Diogenes his girds at his ambition, or his inclining dying condition, he would neyther haue so soared ouer all the world besides, liuing; neyther should he haue subiected himselfe to the quipping censures of the wisest in the world, dying: for as it is recorded after hee was dead, and his bones were put in a vessell of Gold, diuers Philoso­phers meeting to see this dead and vnexpe­cted dumbe show. One quipt at him thus; Yesterday hee that treasured vp Gold, now Gold him. Another thus; Yesterday the world would not content him, now a Sepulcher of sixe feete must containe him. Another thus; Yesterday hee pressed the earth, now the earth presseth him. Another thus; Yesterday hee ruled the world, now Death ouer-rules him. Another thus; Ye­sterday all the liuing followed him, now hee fol­lowes all the dead: and euery one had the like diuersitie of Descant; the last knits vp all their censures thus, Heri multos habebat subditos, &c. Yesterday he had many subiects, now all are his [Page 295] equals. Thus did these liuing Hares insult ouer this dead Lyon: so will the meanest insult ouer thee in the like case, though thy loftie lookes now ouer-toppe thine equals; though thy pride trample vpon thine inferiours, as Pope Alexander did on the necke of Frede­ricke; and dare contest and contend with thy superiours: therefore leaue thy hautinesse, and learne humilitie; doe not magnifie thy selfe against those that are mightier, or aboue those that are meaner then thy selfe; scorne not to sit at table with him that must lye in the same bed with thee, I meane, in the earth: looke not at thy white feathers and proud plumes with the Swanne and the Peacocke, but at thy blacke feete, the earth, thy originall. Quid superbis puluis & cinis? Why art thou proud, dust and ashes? what art thou but dust? If Ho­nourable, Noble, Worshipfull, Witty, Wealthy, Learned, Beautifull; thou art but honourable dust, noble dust, worshipfull dust, witty dust, learned dust, beautifull dust. This is the pro­per adiunct to all the best and the rest of thy Epithites. What is one piece of dust, of sand, of slime, better then another? Why boasts thou of thy Babell, of any thing within thee, or without thee, thy best things being none of thine but Gods, thy worst the Diuels and thine owne, not worth a proud thought, thou thy selfe being the earths, and none of thine owne.

[Page 296]Neyther let the holy, humble, pious, poore man be too-too much deiected, eyther at his owne meannesse, or at the greatnesse of the insolent insulting debashed men of this world, who ouer-toppe them, and ouer-droppe them to, as the high Oakes doe the lowly shrubs: but let them haue patience a-while, and they shall euery way paralell them.

As men in the Scripture are compared to Trees, so the Comparison holds well. Goe into a Wood and Forrest, thou shalt see as great difference of Trees in their kinde, as of the Starres in their kinde; some Ash, some Oake, some Cedar; some tall, some small, some straight, some crooked, some young, some old: but now, marke these Trees cut downe and burnt in the Furnace, in the Iron-workes, or the like, and tell mee if thou canst distin­guish betwixt the ashes of one tree and ano­ther. Looke at the accounts of the Merchant, one Compter stands for an hundred pound, an­other for twentie pound, another for twelue-pence, another for a Cypher, this for more, this for lesse, but when the account is done shuffle them all together, and who can tell the difference betwixt this Compter and that, they are all but base mettall. So in this life there is difference betwixt man and man, in respect of inferioritie or Superioritie, Magistracie or Mi­nisterie, Prince and Subiect, Master and Ser­uant, [Page 297] one man is of more value, (as Dauids Souldiers said of him) then a thousand others: one spreads out his boughs like Nabuchadnez­zar, (as Daniel interprets his Vision) farre and neare: one is high in place, like a tall Cedar, another like a lowly shrub: one is a Figure, another a Cypher. But now when the Axe of Death cuts all downe, when like Compters we be all shuffled together, and put in the com­mon boxe, the Graue, then who can say, here are the ashes of Alexander, here of poore Irus?

Besides, Similes, il­lustrating Deaths ef­fect in ae­qualizing all. thou seest a Stage-play (as it is to be doubted thou seest too many) there thou obseruest one acts the part of a King, another of a Captaine, another of a Reueller, another of a Gentlemen, another of a Courtier, ano­ther of a Pander, a Knaue, a Clowne, a Foole; thou wouldest thinke some vaine fellow in his borrowed brauery to be a King, or in his acted knauery and folly (as is most likely) to be a very Knaue and a Foole: but when the Play is done, they are all alike, Rogues by Statute, if they wander; or silken Beggers howsoeuer.

In this our life wee act diuers parts, some Comicall, some Tragicall; some in this kinde, some in that, vpon the Stage of this world: in the time of acting, one is by his place and office a King, another a Baron, a third a Knight, a fourth a Squire, another a Physitian, [Page 298] Lawyer, &c. one a great man, another a poore Mechanicall Artificer, according to our seue­rall ranckes and callings. But now vvhen the Stage shall be dissolued; the world burned, our parts acted, wee shall be all alike in respect of our interred bodies: and wee shall be iudged all alike in our particular or generall iudge­ment, according to the workes which we haue done in the body, therefore since wee are all earth, as like as one Egge to another, since all of one mettall, and like Leaden pellets, cast in one mould; since all of one cloath, differing a little in the shape; since all must goe alike to the earth, and all be alike in the earth: let vs not be too much exalted with greatnesse, like the Horse which is proud of his trappings, which must be pulled off vs when wee are sta­bled in our Graues: nor let vs be too much deiected with our meannesse of place and con­dition, since Death will bring the two vnequall lines of the high and low estate to be paralell in the center of our earth: at which time Se­necaes Epitaph will fit the Tombes of both rich and poore:

[Page 299]Thirdly, since we must all dye, 3. Vse of Direction. it behooues all of vs, and euery one of vs, to meditate of Death, and to prepare our selues for Death, euen as hee that is to take a iourney, or to de­part into some forraigne coasts, thinkes of it, contriues it, and fits and furnisheth himselfe for it: especially if hee be vpon going, and that his voyage must presently be vndertaken. Thus the case stands with vs, our long Voy­age (called here our departing) must be vn­dergone; it is vnauoydable, vndisspensable, for the matter; vnlimited, vncertaine, where, when, and how, for the manner; yet hastning and approaching, for the time: therefore it stands vs in hand to prouide, wee must bestirre our selues to prepare our viaticum.

The fatall and imposed necessitie of this de­parting we haue manifested, and might further manifest the necessitie of dying, 1. From Gods Decree, which is immutable, Heb. 9.27. Esay 14.24. Mal. 3.6. 2. From mans sins de­seruing, Rom. 5.12. 3. From the change that GOD by Death vvill make in our bodies, Phil. 3.21. 1 Cor. 15.35. Iob 14.14. 4. That the godly may be rewarded, Esay 23.18. & Ch. 26. v. 19. and vengeance rendred on the wicked, Esay 24.8.26.21. 5. Because wee are formed onely of dust and clay, which can­not last, Gen. 3.19. Iob. 4.19. 6. From the nature of all flesh (yea, euen of the long kee­ping [Page 300] Peacocke) which will not keepe for any long time from rotting and corrupting. 7. From the defect of radicall moysture, Iob 8.11. Esay 7.10. All which are so strong inducements to warrant that we shall dye, that in respect of the premises, man aboue all o­ther creatures is said to be mortall, as both the Psalmist cals him, and Philosophie de­fines him. Homo est a­nimal rati­onale, mor­tale. An Epithite appropriated to him, aboue the rest of the creatures (though they dye as well as hee) to put him in minde of death, more then them, of which it seemes hee is forgetfull. But a great many moe Mo­tiues wee haue of our setled and serious pre­paration for this vnwelcome guest, Death, from the consideration as of his forcible, so of his speedy entrance: which will not, nor can­not long be deferred nor delayed: for, as rauening Time, this old deuouring Saturne, hath already swallowed downe all former ages; so he comes with as swift a foote to de­uoure vs, and all the earths children in his gurmundizing iawes. Swiftly indeede, for as an Arrow out of a Bow, as a ship on the Sea, as a Bird in the Ayre; nay, as our thoughts, so swift is our time: and how euer wee runne on in sinne, yet euery day runnes on with vs to our graues, marching vehemently with Iehu; our life sliding away, whether wee eate, drinke, walke, or talke, like the Ship that sailes, how [Page 301] euer the Passengers perceiue not: nay, Sen. Epist. 24. Tunc quo (que) cum crescimus, vita decrescit; euen when wee grow and increase, then our life doth de­crease. Yea, so mortall are wee, and so mo­mentanie our life, that euen whilst vvee liue wee may be said to be dead, not onely poten­tially dead, (as hee that is poysoned, or the theefe condemned, is said to be but a dead man) though the one be yet wrastling for life, and the other vnexecuted; because the one is potentially, the other ciuilly dead in Law, euen so wee are dead in Law, as Adam and Eue were, because wee haue sinned like them, but vve are for the greatest part euen actually dead.

For, let vs take the life of man as it is diui­ded into seauen parts, Infancie, Childe-hood, Adolescencie, Youth, Man-hood, Old age, and the Decrepit olde age. Now in these succes­siue ages, what is the latter alwayes saue the death of the former, De 4. No­uissimis. pag. 90. as both Inchinus and Se­neca haue wittily noted? What is Childe-hood but the abolition and death of Infancie? what Adolescencie but the death of Childe-hood? How in li­uing wee dye Nay are dead in part. Youth of Adolescencie; Man-hood of Youth; Old age of Man-hood; and Decrepit age of Old age, and of Decrepit age Death it selfe is the Death. Which truth though our eyes be blinde to see, and our hearts dead to ponder, yet our tongues (like Caiaphas his prophecy­ing [Page 302] against our wils) confesse it. For I pray you, when an old man, or a man of middle yeeres findes an vnaptnesse and vnablenesse in himselfe to performe that which in his youth he did and delighted to doe, what is his phrase? Oh, saith he, that whorld is past with me; intimating that he is dead and departed from the world, in respect of that age.

Oh then how had euen the very Childe neede to prepare for his finall departure, since one part of his life is dead already, his Infan­cie? how the youthfull Ephebus, that hath two parts dead, and but fiue at furthest to liue? how the youth, that hath three parts dead in him, and but foure to liue? how the lusty man that hath foure parts of time spent cer­tainely, and hath but three parts to liue and those vncertaine: how the old man chiefely, that hath acted fiue parts of his life already, and hath but two to act, vncertaine, by reason of his faultring tongue, and dryed braine, whe­ther hee can act these or no, before Death strike him non plus? But chiefely the Decre­pit gray-headed man, who is dead sixe times, and now hath but one age vpon his weake and wearyed backe, about to rest him in his graue? How should these premeditations excite our preparations? that as we are compared to fruit in the Scripture, being called the fruit of the [...]ombe, the fruit of the loynes, &c. so betimes [Page 303] to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, ere we fall, like mellow fruit, from the tree of life: If wee haue past some ages wee are dead to those, euen as in fruit, the flower is the death of the bud, and the fruit is the death of the flower. Therefore let vs be fruitfull in doing good, ere vvee be pluckt away, and be no more.

Oh how soone fruit perisheth? How soone doth it ripen, how soone rot? How doe the Wormes that breede of it, and in it, consume it? The North and East winde blasts it: the Mill-dew infects it, Caterpillers spoyle it: now by violence it is pluckt from the tree; now rotten-ripe it fals and so festers. So it is with all the seede of man, the fruit of woman, wee haue all one manner of grafting, and of grow­ing, but a thousand different wayes of decrea­sing and decaying:

Moe wayes lead to the Sepulcher then to any Princely Palace, Mille patent aditus, &c. Meanders Labyrinth had not so many win­dings as Death hath wayes.

By how many meanes we dye.As Seneca and Silius once sung, as pithily as Poetically. Histories of all times, places, and persons, Sacred and Humane, consort and con­firme this experienced truth. The old World wee know was drowned; so was Pharaoh with his Aegyptians. Sodome and Gomorrah, Zig­lah, the two Captaines and Companies of fif­ties, that came against Elias; Nadab and A­bihu, Achan, and his familie, burned. Herod eaten with wormes: Daniels accusers deuou­red with Lyons: the mocking children, vvith shee Beares: the Philistines smit with Eme­rods: the Israelites cut off many thousands in the dayes of Moses and Dauid by Plague and Pestilence. Bethlems Children and the Siche­mites, butchered by the Sword: Ierusalem and Samaria, by the sword and Famine: Er and Onan, killed by the Diuine power: Ananias and Saphira throwne downe dead by an Apo­stolicall Spirit: Simon Magus his necke broke by Peters Prayers: Iulian killed with a Dart by the Prayers of the Church.

If wee would wade into Heathenish Stories, vvee might adde to the Catalogue vvithout number, such as haue perished by vvater, as Hylas in his Colchos voyage, Orontes, Lucaspis, [Page 305] Palinurus, Icarus, Laeander, Sappho, Menan­der, &c. whom Virgil and Ouid so oft mention, by fire, as Sardanapalus, Empedocles, in Aetna: Phaeton, Dido, in the Poet. Some destroyed by wilde beasts, as many Martyres in the Pri­mitiue persecution; as Saturdinus by a Bull, Ig­natius, Policarpus, by a Lyon; Felicitas, by Leopards; Milo the wrastler, by a Wolfe; Ba­silius slaine by a Hart; Hatto the Bishop of Mentz, eaten with Mice; louely Adonis, cun­ning Dedalus, prophecying Idmon, torne in pieces by Bores. Some by Dogs as Euripides the Poet, dogged Diogenes, weeping Heracli­tus, Philosophers; apostate Lucian, &c.

How many haue beene strangled vpon the Crosse, not onely Martyres, as Andrew, Peter, Diuers ex­amples of seuerall sorts of deaths. Gorgonius, Simeon the Son of Cleophas, Peter, Aulanus, &c. following their head Christ: but euen many Kings as Policrates, the Spar­tan Leonides, Sindualdus, Arnulphus, Hanno of Carthage, &c. Besides Malefactors, such as Helen the Graecian Whore, Daphitas, the Grammarian, &c. and such as haue hanged themselues, as Iudas, Achitophell, Phillis, Eri­gane, Biblis. Some haue beene stoned to death by others, or shot with arrowes, as A­chillis by Paris, Procris by Cephalus, Acron by Romulus, Hyrent by Sisinnius; yea, a stone from a wall, as vpon Abemelech, out of a sling, as Dauids against Goliah, or throwne with the [Page 306] hand, as that which Patroclus threw vpon Co­brion in the Troyan warre (besides the fall of wals, such as that of the Tower of Shilo) hath beene the death of many. I cannot reckon all the meanes of our mortalitie, Hoc opus, hic la­bor. So many Creatures as I contemplate; nay, so many things inanimate as I see, me thinkes I see so many Actors in the Tragicke fall of man. The Thunder in the heauens hath slaine many in earth; if that which Virgil writes in the first, third, and sixt of his Aeneidos of Enceladus, and other Gyants, slaine by Iupiter, Aiax by Pallas, Ouid of Typheus, Propertius of Semele, be a fiction: yet the report receiued of the death of Anastatius the Emperour, Zo­roastres the Magitian, Plinie. Tullius Hostilius, by Thunder, and that which wee haue heard and seene in this kinde, is Authenticke: What heapes and hauocke the Sword hath made in warre, let these millions speake, that haue perished not onely in the vvarres, betwixt the Kings of Israell and Iudah, in which in one battell there fell fiftie thousand betwixt Ahas and Ieroboam, Iosephus lib. 8. ant. saith Iosephus: as also be­twixt the Iudges and Kings of Israell, vvith their enemies, when Achab slew an hundred thousand Syrians, Gideon an hundred and twentie thousand Midianites. But euen in these amongst Christians, when Charles Martill in one battell slew three hundred and fiftie thou­sand [Page 307] Gothes. In those amongst Pagans, Caesar bragging of an eleauen hundred and nintie thousand that had fallen vnder his conduct: besides those in ciuill warres betwixt him and Pompey, Scylla and Marius, &c. besides those that fell in Tamberlaines Trophies ouer the Medes, Albanes, Mesapotamians, Persians, Parthians, Armenians, Turkes, &c. In Sicinius Conquests in fortie fiue set battels: of Hanni­bals ouer Cornelius Scipio, Sempronius, Flam­minius, Aemillius, and Terentius, where there were slaine at once fortie Senators: of Alex­ander ouer Darius, slaughtering an eleauen hundred: of Crassus, killing twelue hundred of Spartacus Armie: Lucullus two thousand of Mithridates Troupes: Ptolomie fiftie thousand of Demetrius hoast. Others moe in many maine battels recorded by Sabellicus, Liuie, Plutarch, Volateran, testifie, how much hu­mane bloud the sword hath effused; how many Tragedies poyson hath acted; not onely the sodaine and frequent fals of so many Mitred Popes out of Peters supposed vsurped Seate, doth declare, but the dismall deaths of famous Emperours and Kings, as of Constantine the Sonne of Heraclius, Zimisces after one yeeres raigne, of Carolus Caluus, of Henry of Lucel­burge, Lothar of France, Lodouicus Balbus, Dioclesian of Dalmatia, Lucullus, of whom Pliny: nay, of Alexander himselfe, Lib. 23. c. 3 with infinite [Page 304] [...] [Page 305] [...] [Page 306] [...] [Page 307] [...] [Page 308] others, who were as certainly poysoned as So­crates and Pope Ʋictor.

Nay, so easily is the thread of our life cut, so soone our web vntwisted like Penelope's, or rather swept away with the Spiders, that euen in our meates and drinkes wee may suspect, that Mors in olla, Death is in the pot: haue we not the testimonie of Sextus Aurelius, that in­gurgitation of meate, and too much repletion not being concocted in the stomacke, occa­sioned the deaths of Septimius, Seuerus, and Valentinian Emperours? Doth not Ignatius ascribe the fall of Iouinian to the same cause, as also Gregory Turonensis imputes the sodaine death of Childericus the Saxon, being found dead in his bed, to the same crudities and suf­focations by intemperancie. The like censure giues Eusebius of Domitius Apher, that ouer­come of his meate, dyed at Supper. Neyther doth Hermippus indite any thing for the death of Archisilaus but his excessiue ingurgitating of Wine. As I my selfe once in Cambridge, saw a drunken dogge in forme of a man, vent out his soule, with disgorging his exonerated stomacke.

Neyther are wee onely subiected to our dis­solution by too much repletion, occasion of so many diseases; yea, of death it selfe, that plures gula quam gladio; the panch destroyes moe then the sword: but the defect of meate [Page 309] and drinke hath contracted the liues of many in all parts, and those no lesse mighty. Milli­ons haue tryed wofully the massacres of fa­mine in the siege of Ierusalem and Samaria, Narriners by Sea, Cities in siege, Souldiers in the Campe, and the poore in dearth: yea, this hath beene the cruellest death that Tyranny and Ielousie could inuent. Thus was Richard the second dispatcht of his Countrimen: thus was Boniface the eight plagued by Phillip: Bo­niface the sixt by one Cincius a Romane Citi­zen, Aristo the Poet by the Athenians: Earle Vgoline by his vngratefull Countrimen: thus were Orator, Fortunatus, Foelix, and Silinus Martyres, pinched at Alexandria, and pe­rished.

Nay, so soone wee are and are not, that God doth not onely sometimes with his owne stroke immediately from himselfe, cut vs short; sometimes mediately by man, for, and in the midst of our lawlesse lusts, as Cosbie and Zimbri were slaine of Phinees, Arcibiades of Lysander, saith Plutarch, Iohn the twelfth, by the Husband of a Whore, in the midst of their filth: (as it is reported by Tertullian, that Spen­sippus the Platonist: by Pontanus, that Belirand Herrerius: by Paulus Diaconus, that Rodoald King of the Longobards: by Cornelius Taci­tus, that Tigillinus the Ruler of the Watch: by Celius, that fayre Phaon: by Pliny, lib. 7. that [Page 310] Cornelius Gallus, and Heterius, Romane Gen­tlemen: and by other Authors, that others haue perished in their pollutions in the very venerious act:) but we perish sometimes euen in; and by our lawful affections, euen the ouer­much opening and dilating of the heart in ouer-ioying, and the too much contracting of the same againe by ouer-sorrowing, hath brought thousands to their graues without gray hayres.

How many Authors haue we to testifie that which seems more incredible, that an ouer-ioying may presently depriue vs for euer after inioying any of the ioyes of life. What vvas the reason that Sophocles and Dionisius, both of them being victorious in the censure of the Critticques, for their exquisite Tragedies, dyed sodainely, saith Plinie, lib. 7. c. 37. euen of an ouer-ioy, as Valerius and Volateran also think, how euer Lucian and Sotades alledged by Cri­nitus, thinke contrary? The like is reported of Chilo imbracing his Sonne, crowned at the Olympicke games: of a Romane woman at the safe returne of her son, which she thought was slaine in the wars at Canna: of Philippides, when his Laureat Poems were preferd: of Diagoras of Rhodes, when his three sonnes, saith Gellius, lib. 3. nott. at. or his two sons, saith Tullie, lib. 1. Tusc. were victorious in the pub­licke Wrastlings: of Philemon, when hee saw [Page 311] an Asse eate Figges prepared for the table: all who tell vs, that euen this affection of Ioy, with a sweet tickling (like that stinging of the Serpent Dipsas) may kill: much more may sorrow (as Iacob confesseth, and Iudah intima­teth in Genesis, hasten our heads to the graue, ere our haires be very gray: Griefe being to the heart (vnlesse it be godly griefe for sinne, which neuer hurts but heales, 2 Cor. 7.10.) that the Moath is to the garment, the Catter­piller to the fruit, eating the heart (like Pro­methius his Vultur) bringing death as the Apo­stle also saith, 2 Cor. 7.10. But if these things be able to ouercome this Microcosme, this little world of Man: if Fire, and Water, and Famine, and Fulnes, and Thunder, and Stones, be able to sunder vs from halfe our selues (our bodies) as the furnace can the Mettals; if all the Creatures, the Lyons paw, Bores tuske, Buls horne; nay, the least of the Lords hoast, the Gnat, the Flye, the Louse, the Mouse be armed against vs, as against Pharaoh and Hatto, be able to giue vs our parting-blow, to set vs packing hence; nay, if our owne affecti­ons be sufficient to infect vs: how much more are wee indammaged and indangered by diseases and sicknesses? to which as man is more subiected then any other Creature, as Galen and Hipocrates haue obserued, because hee hath sinned more then they, which sinne [Page 312] of his is the cause of all maladies in the out­ward man, Leuit. 26. Deut. 28. Iohn 5.14. So there is not the least sicknesse or disease, but it hath conquered where it hath assailed. How many hath the Feuer extinguished, men of fame, Emperours and Kings, as Antonius, An­tipater, Ʋespasian, Leo, Go [...]fred, Tacitus, &c. Antonie and Columbanus Monkes, were forced by it, the one sort to leaue their Crownes, the other their Cels. As others by other diseases, some by the Fluxe, as innumerable common Souldiers in seuerall Campes; yea, Traian the Emperour, saith Platina: some by the Gout, as Septimius Seuerus, and Iustin the yon­ger, &c. Some by vnknowne diseases running betwixt the flesh and the skin, as Heraclius, Michael Paphlago, &c. Some by Apoplexies, as Paul the second, Pope; Valentinian the Em­perour, saith Diaconus; Lucius Ami [...]us verus, saith Aurelius; as also Francis Petrarke: Some by aches in their bones and sides, as Crassus the Orator, Boniface the ninth, as Gregorie the eleauenth, by a paine in the belly: nay, vvhat member is there in man wherein Death rules not by the helpe of diseases: in the head, by Apoplexies; in the eares, by Wormes; in the eyes by Inflamations; in the nose, by Fluxe of bloud; in the mouth, by Cankers and Putrifa­ction; in the tongue, by Vlcers and Tumours; in the braine, by Frenzies; in the temples, by [Page 313] Contusions; in the brest by Stoppings, and Impostumes; in the hands and feete, by the Gout; in the legs, by Swellings; in the belly, by Collickes; in the reynes, by stony and gra­uelly matter; in the armes, by dolour of the Arteries; nay, in the heart it selfe, by Feares, Palpitations, Convulsions, Dilatations, and Contractions, by varietie of Passions. What shall I say more?

A Flye is able to choake vs, as it did Pope Adrian; a Pinne, or a Needle, or a pricke with a Knife to destroy vs, the fall from an horse to crush vs, as it did Selenchus the Syrian, Lego the French-man, Earle Fulke, Nipheus, Leuca­gus Remulus, Thymetes, Amicus in Virgil, Aeneid. 10. Agenor in Ouid. The sting of a Serpent is sufficient to kill vs, as it did Laocoon the Troyan, mad Orestes, desperate Cleopatra, Demetrius Ptolomies Librarie keeper, vvith others. Yea, as our life is but a breath and a vapour, so the very smoake and vapour is sufficient to choake vs, as it did Minos of Creet, Luctatius the Orator, Zoe the wife of Nico­stratus, yea, Thurinus that sold smoake, saith Erasmus in his Adage, perished by smoake.

[Page 314]If I should recite all the casualties incident vnto this dying life of ours, and amplifie out of Histories, how one hath beene killed vvith the fall of a stone vpon his pate, out of the clawes of an Eagle, as Eschilus the Poet: some by the fall of the house; others by the fall of their beds, as Eupolis the Poet: some by dust blowne into their throates, as Iohanna vvife to Andrew, Brother to the Sicilian King, and the like accidents. If I should but recite the multitudes that Gods hath swept away by the deuouring Plague and destroying Pestilence, which I thinke since the beginning of the world, hath killed moe then there be now in the world, or relate the late devastations that it hath made in Belgia, Italie, France, England and other places. Or if I should set downe how many haue dyed sodainely, euen in their see­ming health, as Fabius Maximus, Ʋolcacius the Senator, Alaricus the Emperour; some in their iourney, as Alphonsus of Spaine; some doing the worke of nature, as Arrius the He­retique, and Carbo the Romane; some in their superstitious Orizons and Deuotions, as A. Pompey, and M. Iuuencius, vvhen they were sacrificing; some in sacking the Tem­ples, as Gaudericus the Vandall; some in writing Letters, as Cardinall Orescence from the Councell of Trent, and Terentius Corax; some in the first day of their inuesting to Ho­nour, [Page 315] as Caninius the Consull; some in their mirths; some in their meates, as Manlius Tor­quatus, and Osilius the Actor; others in their Bathes, as Sauseius the Scribe; besides these that daily experience addes in this kinde, it would make the securest Soule meditate of his ineuitable dying, and prepare his soule for her speedy departing; especially considering that Quid cuiquam contigit, id cuiuis, that which happens to any one, may happen to euery one. All these recited examples of abbreuia­ted life and approching death, being glasses for vs now suruiuing, wherein to see the face of our mortalitie; euery mans graue shewing vs this Motto; Hodie mihi, cras tibi; To day to mee; tomorrow to thee: Death being pictu­red on euery Tombe to be seene with an vn­derstanding eye, in forme of an Archer, now shooting ouer vs, at our enemies; now short of vs, at our acquaintance; now on the right hand, at our friends and bloud; now on the left hand, on our Seruants and attendants, with his bow bent, and his arrowes drawne, and his ayme taken at our owne hearts; onely stay­ing till GOD bid him shoote; which how soone it will be GOD knowes,

[Page 316] Nonne fragiliores sumus, quam si vitrei essemus? Are wee not more brittle then glasse, saith Se­neca? nay, Ʋitrum etsi fragile, tamen seruatum diu durat, Epist. 23. Glasse if it be safely kept continues long; but all the dyet and keeping in the world, though wee should eate Pearles with Cleopatra, bathe daily in new milke with Poppea, fare daily deliciously with the rich Churle; consult with a Physitian in euery act wee did; yet wee could not long continue. All the meanes wee can vse will hardly draw out our life to that length that Birds and beasts liue; for Ousels, Eagles, Harts, &c. that fulfill their hundreds, occasioned Theophrastus to complaine of Nature as a step-dam to man, whose limits as Dauid notes, Ipse sene­ctus morbus The long liues of the Patriackes. are threescore yeeres and tenne (for the rest of his life is ey­ther a death or disease, in his decrepit dayes.) The Patriarkes liued their nine hundreds and aboue, as Adam and so Eue, their nine hun­dred and thirtie, Seth nine hundred & twelue, Enos nine hundred and fiue, Caynan his sonne nine hundred and tenne, Malalehel nine hun­dred sixtie and two, Iayred nine hundred sixtie and fiue, Methusalem nine hundred sixtie and nine, Noah nine hundred and fiue, &c. but wee hardly attaine to our nintie: but if a man liue past nintie, to nintie and seauen, or nintie and eight, with Liuia and Perpenna; or to nintie and nine, with Statilia; if hee passe his Cli­mactericall [Page 317] of sixtie and three, wee count him an old man; but if hee attaine to his hundred (as did Valerius Coruinus, and Metellus, Abbot Paconius, and Titus Pauls Scholler) wee ac­count him very aged: but if hee exceede his hundred, as Heroditus writes of some of the Aegyptians, and some of Masinissa the Nume­dian King, to an hundred and foure, as did Hi­pocrates; or an hundred and fiue, with Xeno­philus; or an hundred and seauen, with Teren­tia; or an hundred and eight with Homer; or an hundred and tenne, with Gnarinus, and Helias the Abbot; or an hundred and twelue, vvith Cyrus a Bishop; but chiefely to an hundred and twentie, with Romualdus the Hermite, we admire and wonder at him, as much as former times wondred at their Hermites. The short­nes of our present dayes de­monstra­ted. And vvell wee may, since our life seemes to be but the Epitome and Compendium of former yeeres: so short, so momentanie, that as the Scripture compares it, to a flower, to grasse, to smoake, to clay, to dust and chaffe which the vvinde scatters, to a bubble, a blast, a breath, a vapour, a dreame, a shadow, a Weauers shittle, and such fading things: so Antiquitie hath called it a winged woman, fruitfull of sinnes, yet swift. Ambrose saith it is like the glory of the world, In Lucam. which the Tempter shewed CHRIST in the twinckling of an eye; like the Vision which Esdras saw, vanishing in a moment, [Page 318] Esdras 1.8. like Ierusalems Temple, that was soone destroyed: for as one stone was not left vpon another in that materiall Temple: so shortly, one bone will not be left vpon ano­ther, in the temple of the best compacted bo­dy liuing, which (saith Inchinus) is nothing else but Carnea glacies, fleshie Ice, or Icie flesh, soone thawed and dissolued; a clayie frame (saith Pontanus) standing on the pillers of a little breath, ready euery day, it is so ruinous, to fall in manus Domini, into the Lords hands, of whom wee haue it as tennants at will. The largest limits of our Lease being but a day, for so Dauid and Moses, when they play the holy Geometricians and Arithmeticians, in measuring and numbring their time, goe not by yeeres and moneths, but by dayes: yea, and to some it is but a short Winters day; to the longest that liued, a Summers day; in which hee that hath the most prosperous Sunshine may be compared to those Flyes that breede in the Sunne neare the Riuer Hipanis, Aristot. de hist. ani­malium. which appeare in the Morne, are in their full strength at Noone, Hom [...] Ephi­meron. and dye at Night. Whence came the Prouerbe, Hominem esse Ephimeron, that man is a continuer for a day, beyond which deter­mined day hee cannot here abide. Foure cau­ses of the long con­tinuation of things.

Other things are continued long by extrin­secall meanes, or intrinsecall qualities vvithin themselues: some by their extreame cold, as [Page 319] all sorts of Mettals; some by their exceeding heate, as Pepper, Ginger, and the like; some by motion, as Water and Wine, that by mo­tion are kept from putrifaction; some by con­tinuation of the parts with the whole, as the Sea that corrupts not in the whole but in the parts, as may be seene and felt in the creekes in Essex that come from the Sea; but man be­ing made mortall, and so hauing that Epithite more fitly appropriated to him then any o­ther creature, neither by his naturall composi­tion can, nor in the wise Gods disposition must continue long vpon the earth, neyther can any Physicall meanes preserue him vnlesse a Meta­physicall power doe vphold him, and cause him to hold out to his old yeeres as Simeon here did.

Is Death so certaine, and Life so short? Vse. 4. Of Instru­ction. then let vs learne to bestow it well, so long as God lends it. Absolon after a long time knew not how to pacifie and appease his Father, we haue but a short time allotted to pacifie and appease our displeased GOD, therefore let vs speedi­ly labour our reconciliation; let vs worke out our saluation with feare and trembling. As Abigall speedily met Dauid and appeased his wrath, 1 Sam. 25. and as Dauid speedily met the Lord by repentance after his numbring the people, 2 Sam. 24.10. and as Peter went out presently, and wept bitterly, after the de­nying [Page 320] his Master, Mat. 26. So let vs who in the whole course of our life haue as much dis­pleased as wee haue dishonoured our GOD, instantly haue recourse to the throne of grace, that the Lord may smell the sweet sacrifice of our broken hearts, ere wrath goe from the Almightie to our destruction. Oh our dayes are few, and our sinnes many, wee haue beene barren in good, fruitfull in euill, plentifull in sinning, Our many sins are to be mour­ned for, and why. penurious in sorrowing. If Dauids sinnes were moe then the hayres of his head, ours are moe then the sands in the Sea: and if hee washt his couch vvith teares, vvee had neede wash our soules with flouds of vvaters, turning (like Niobe) into fountaines, and like that old conuert Pelagia, be Pelagus lachryma­rum, a Sea of sorrow, as wee haue beene vn­cleane sinckes of sinne; nay, if wee should now for euer shake hands with sinne, and haue no more commerce with the flesh and the world, but liue retyredly, mortifiedly, piously, and penitently, as the old Hermites pretended; and if we should liue Noahs and Nestors yeeres, and euery day weepe as much as Mary Magdalene did at her spirituall marriage vvith Christ, as much for our selues as the Daughters of Ie­rusalem did for Christ: nay, if we should weepe out our eyes, like some penitents that Cassia­nus mentions, remembring with Ezekias our former vanities in the bitternesse of our soules, [Page 321] it were not a sufficient recompence for our fore-past rebellions, nor a satisfactorie sacri­fice for our former sinnes.

But what shall wee say to those that in this short life make a long and a continuated cu­stome of sinne, neuer redeeming the time, Vse 5. Of Redargu­tion. or thinking of their few and euill dayes, or of the reckoning they must make when they are ex­pired, but passing their time in iollitie, sing­ing to the Tabret and the Harpe; letting the reynes loose to all licentiousnes, making their bellies their God, planting here their Turkish Heauen of Wine and Women, wallowing like Swine in all lusts, like Sardanapalus amongst his wantons, seruing no other God then Mam­mon, or Goddesses then Venus; making Dogs and Horses, or such base Creatures, their be­loued Idols? They thinke no more of death then the stiffe-necked Iewes, that made a league with the graue, and a Couenant vvith Hell (such as some lazy Pastors make vvith their people,) that if these will neuer trouble them, they would neuer thinke of these.

What is the estate of these that liue merrily as they say, like Pope Iohn, in corporeall and spirituall pollutions, like Pope Ioahn: these must trie experimentally, vvhat that cursed Pope once ieasted at Atheistically, that there are long paines in another life for these that misspend their golden dayes in gracelesse im­purities [Page 322] and impieties in this short life: The pro­fane mans practise. these they both make this their short life shorter by their sinnes: both as euery sinne wastes the body as it wounds the soule, as also in that they prouoke God to cut them off short, ey­ther by his owne hand, as hee did Absolon, Er, Onan, and the Sonnes of Heli, or else by the sword of the Magistrate. And they hasten and prolong their plagues and paines perpe­tuall; They leade their liues in ioy (saith Iob, Ch. 20.) and sodainly they goe downe to Hell: Oh they goe like theeues laughing to the Gal­lowes, and like traytors dancing to execution. Oh how sodainely is their candle put out▪

Exhortat.Let me speake to such in the conclusion of this Vse: in Gods feare let them consider that this life is called a valley of teares; here there­fore they must sow in teares, if they will reape in ioy; they must haue a wet Seede-time, if they expect a blessed Haruest. Let them ponder what Christ saith, Blessed are they that mourne, Mat. 5. As also, W [...]e be to you that laugh: let them thinke what Christ did; wept oft, laught neuer, his Prophets and Apostles seldome or neuer. Let them know further, that God cals to weeping and mourning, and baldnesse, and sack-cloath. Esay 22. which call they haue not yet answered: for behold, Ioy and exulta­tion, vpbrayding God, and brauing his com­mand, euen to his face, with their hellish Pro­uerbes, [Page 323] as, Hang sorrow; Cast away care; As long liues the merry man as the sory; Let vs be merry, wee know not how long wee haue to liue; like the scoffing Atheists amongst the Iewes, Let vs eate and drinke, to morrow wee shall dye: Oh thou knowest not how long thou hast to liue; therefore retort that temptation backe againe to Sathan thus: How vvee must sowe in teares in this short seede-time of life. Therefore I will be so­rie for my former sinnes; I will be (if at all) so­berly and mortifiedly merry; therefore I will set my soule in order, and the house of my heart in order, like Ezekias, otherwayes I shall be worse then Achitophel that set his house in order ere hee hanged himselfe; To morrow it may be I shall dye, therefore I will not eate and drinke inordinately, least I be taken away to hell, as was the rich Churle and Baltasser, in the midst of my cursed cates and drunken cups; I will not any more serue the Diuell and my belly in chambering and wantonnesse, in surfetting and drunkennesse, but I will put on the Lord Iesus Christ. It is now time that I should awake from the sleepe of sinne, ere I sleepe in death; I will arise vp that Christ may giue mee light. Oh alas, what fruit haue I had in the vnfruitfull workes of darknesse, whereof I am now ashamed.

Lastly, thinke with thy selfe how small cause thou hast of this thy irreligious profanenes, & carnall securitie, and besotting sensualitie. Hath [Page 324] a Traueller any cause to be merry when hee is farre out of his way, hath few friends, no­thing to spend, stormy weather aboue his head, Pyrates lying in waite to rob him, night approaching, and vncertaine whether euer he get to his iournyes end? Thou art in this world a pilgrime and a stranger: Heauen is thy country, (from thence came thy soule) thou art out of the way that leades thither, thou art in the broad way to hell; thou hast few friends, God, Angels, Diuels, Man, and the Creatures are against thee: thou hast little to spend, thy good Tallents and stocke of Grace is already gone and spent, like the Prodigoes, on thy lusts, Luke 15. thou hast no moe meanes to helpe thy selfe, then the wounded man that trauelled to Ierico, that had not two-pence: there is a storme ouer thy head, Gods wrath hangs ouer thee in a cloud of vengeance; Pi­rates, the infernall Spirits, lye in waite for thy soule: the night of thy death is neare: and thou art vncertaine of saluation; nay, the word excludes thee and such as thou from appre­hension of any comfort from that, since thou walkest in the shadow of death, in the way to damnation.

Consider againe what occasion of sports and merriments and sensuall sollaces a man can haue in prison, in colde irons. Did Man­lius and Regulus, and Musius Scaeuola take de­light [Page 325] in their prisons and pressures? Now here thou art as it were in prison, like Ioseph in the stockes, like Manasses in fetters▪ and in tribu­lation: the world it selfe is but a prison in re­spect of Heauens pallace, and thou in this prison liuing in securitie, like the old World­lings, art enthralled to thine owne lusts, and so a slaue to Sathan who plots thy destructi­on, as Achitophel did Dauids. What vse we are to make of our short time. Therefore heare counsell and receiue instruction, since thou art here in a strange Land, like Israel in Babel, sit downe by the Riuers of water and weepe, hang vp thy Harpes and Instruments; vse not car­nall company that cause thy carelesse securitie and thy forgetfulnesse of God and thine owne soule: remember whence thou art, where thou art, and whither thou art going; make that vse of thy time that Ioseph did of the seauen yeeres of plentie; prouide against famine; agree with thine aduersary whilst thou art in the way, ere thou come before the Iudge, as Cato counsels to doe something in youth worth thy relation and remembrance in age: and as tra­uellers vse to performe some exploit in their trauels worthy their thoughts and discourse when they come at home, so treasure vp those graces in life which may stand thee in stead after life; prouide against a rainy day; gather now honie from the flowers of vertuous acti­ons, into the Hiue of grace; worke whilst it is [Page 326] day, ere the night come; doe good to all whilst thou hast time, Gal. 6. waite at all times with Iob, vntill thy changing come, euen as thou wairest for the times and seasons, in Winter for the Spring, in the Spring for Summer, in Summer for Autumne: thou canst not enioy thy sinnes long, thou must leaue them, or they thee violently; therefore breake them off (as Daniel counselled Nabuchadnezzar) vo­luntarily by Repentance and Almes-deedes; get a certaintie to thy soule; conclude some­thing, like Ambassadours that goe to forraine Courts, and haue but a short abode allotted, that may make for thy eternall peace here­after, when thou commest before thy Prince; make something certaine here ere thou goest hence; in euery thing thou vndertakest thou louest a certaintie; if thou iourney, thou woul­dest rather goe by Land then Sea, because more certaine; dost thou purchase, thou woul­dest make sure worke of Lands or Tene­ments? dost thou walke on Ice, thou poysest euery foot-step ere thou set thy foote, ere thou venter thy body? so in euery thing thou wouldest be sure. Oh make sure worke for thy soule, that as Ezekias prayed for peace and righteousnesse all his dayes, so there may be peace to thy soule after thy dayes. Oh make vse of that precious time that is allotted thee; take it by the fore-top, it is bald behinde.

[Page 327]Goe to the Pismire thou sluggard: learne of the Beasts; the Ant sees it will not alway be Summer, the Crane and Storke thinke it will be another season, the Birds take the Spring prime to build their nests; store thou vp faith, with her fruits, chiefely Repentance from dead workes. Now beginne, Ars longa, vita breuis, Life is short, but the Art of well liuing and well dying, which is the Art of Arts (euen that vvhich the best Master taught in the best Chaire, Christ vpon the Crosse,) that is long: therefore Nulla dies sine linea, Euery day learne some line; take out some lesson in this Art: sing not out thy time here with the foolish Grashopper; loyter not with the idle men of B [...]lial, least thou incurre Christs checke; play not the fat bellyed Monke; and Epicurish Abbey-lubber, least thou smart for it (as the When the Abbies were visi­ted in king Henrie the 8. time. Cloysterers once did in this Land) in the day of the Lords visitation. Learne to liue the life of grace, that thy death may be gracious and precious in the sight of GOD, as one of his Saints, that so thou maist dye not onely natu­rally, like a man, as thou must, but Christianly, like a Christian man, as thou oughtest: which that thou maist the better doe, as in other things thou contriuest how to doe well, that which thou purposest to doe; (as thou fore­casts thy building, ere thou build; thy iourney, ere thou trauell,) So, oft remember how thou [Page 328] maist dye well, since thou must die; and that is by liuing well, whilest thou here runnest the short race of thy life.

A good man like a good Tree, brings forth fruit tempore suo, in his due time and season: this Life time is, tempus tuum, thy time; Death is tempus suum, Gods time: therefore begin to mend the ship of thy soule in the hauen, in thy health, not in the tempest of sickenesse, not in the Sea of death. I end my counsell as I be­gun; this life is as short as sinfull, therefore spend it well.

2 Point.Secondly, in that Simeon here desires his departing, Life is la­borious & Miserable. the nature of the word signifying a loosing, or an vnyoaking, being a Metaphor taken from Oxen loosed out of the yoke, after labour; or from Prisoners set at libertie; may well and warrantably administer vnto vs the consideration of the nature of that life which wee leade, to be as miserable as mortall, as la­borious to the body as dolorous to the minde; as also it may open our eyes to see something more clearely into the nature of death, vvith his bounties and benefits, in that it is not one­ly a curber of Sinne, but a curer of Crosses, an vnlooser from labours.

For the first, that whether you call it a curse or a command, which was imposed on the first man, that in the sweate of his browes hee should eate his bread, till hee returned to [Page 329] his earth, from whence hee came, Gen. 3.19. all mans seede since, in their seuerall generati­ons, haue beene exposed to. Doe wee not feele yet the smart of the forbidden fruit? Are not our teeth set on edge by it? Are not all things vnder the Sunne full of labour? Are not the workes of Grace, the workes of Nature painefull? the actions of the body, the actions of the minde, the operations of the soule and spirit laborious? Is it not a paine to pray, a paine to repent, a paine to study, to contem­plate, to discusse, to discourse, to number, to diuide? Is it not painefull to write, to indite, to preach, to counsell, to exhort, to perswade, disswade, vrge, moue? Let euery knowing man and experienced spirit speake.

Are not workes manuall and mechanicall painefull? (euen as the Arts liberall are?) Is it not paine to plow, delue, digge, sow, mow, to work in Coale works, & Mettall-mines, in brick and clay, is an Aegyptian bondage? Nay, is there not onus; as well as honos; a labour, as well as an honour in euery Calling? Are not Princes, and superiour Magistrates, Gouer­nours in houses, Colledges, and Corporations, (like the heauenly Bodies) as much in motion and labour, as in veneration? Vertues, vices, pleasures, profits, riches, pouertie, vvanton youth, couetous old age, all haue their bur­thens? What callings without their crosses, [Page 330] from the Scepter to the Sheepe-hooke? what sexe without his sorrow?

No place is priuiled­ged from foure things.Whither shall a man flye, 1. from Sathan tempting; 2. from the vanitie of his owne heart; 3. from the bitings of venemous tongues; 4. and from the crosses of the world? I haue oft thought, if there were any place in the foure parts of the world, to auoid these foure, thither to flye: but there is no Asilum, or Sanctuarie from them, or any of tnem, vn­der the Cope of Heauen. These alwayes fol­low, as the shadow the body; and (like proud Tarquin in Rome) challenge a perpetuall Di­ctatorship in the whole life of man. What day sets ouer our head without his euill, eyther of Sinne or Punishment? Adam must eate his bread in his browes sweate; Cunctis diebus, all his dayes, in hear and sweat, toyling and moy­ling; man must wearie his body and weaken his spirits, till hee keepe his eternall Sabbath in Heauen.

Bring me the man that hath not yet drunke of the common cup of humane calamities in­cident to life, and I shall more admire him, then the Graecians did Achilles that could not be wounded. I neuer read of any but Policra­tes, who was thought to be without the Gun-shotte of Fortune, by the deluded Heathens; yet his death was as dolorous as his life pro­sperous. I am sure, mitred Popes, crowned [Page 331] Kings, inuested Emperours, tryumphant Con­querours haue seene the turning of Sesostris wheele, and haue experienced so many mise­ries that they haue cryed out, some of them, Miserum est fuisse foelicem, it is a miserie to haue beene happy: others, solus viues, Vacia; that the priuate life of Vacia the Romane was farre safer then their publique, guilded, guile­full pompe: others, with Cyrus and Augustus, haue thought the Regall Crowne not vvorth stooping for: others, haue left voluntarily their Courts and Palaces for secure and peni­tent Cels.

If wee had no moe examples of the mise­ries of greatnesse eyther by birth, bloud, com­mand, Examples of humane calamities. or desart, then in Nabuchadnezzers de­iection amongst Beasts, being one of the grea­test of men; in Manasses his imprisonment; in Sampsons grinding in the Mill; in Agag hew­ed in peices; in Adonizebecks eating crummes, like a Dogge; vnder his enemies Table; in A­lexander poysoned, and left vnburied; in Caesar stabbed by his pretended friends; in Bel­lizarius, a blinde Beggar, after his Conquests; in Baiazets Iron Cage; in Socrates and Seneca's poysoning; in Cleopatra's, Iezabel's, Agrip­pina's, and other infamously famous Queenes and Queanes, perishing, to omit all the rest in this kinde, it might verifie the Paradoxe, that Humana vita non est vitae, sed calamitas, Mans [Page 332] life is no life: Vita vix vitalis, an imaginarie life, and a reall calamitie; in which anni pauci, aerumna multae, the yeeres are few, the griefes many: yea, so many, so manifold, so constant, so continuated by successiue crosses, which follow one another (like the waues of the sea) like the Messengers that came one after ano­ther, to Iob and Dauid, to bring ill newes of the death of their Children, euery day hauing suam & malitiam, & militiam, his wrath and his warre-fare; that euen the very childe en­tring the lists into this militarie world, as soone as it comes from the mother, cryes and weeps: the first note it sings is Lachrymae, taught one­ly by prouident Nature. The Males (saith a wittie Popish Postiller) from Adam cry a; and the Females from Eue cry e, e; which put together make a Note of sorrow. Nondum le­quitur, at tamen prophetat, (Augustine) Before it speakes, it prophesies, as though at the birth it had that prognosticating spirit, which Car­den saith some men haue at their death, as though it did see some euill present, fore-see and feare moe to come.

I might goe along (with Innocentius) in this subiect, and shew the seuerall maladies and mi­series incident to euery seuerall age, from In­fancie to Decrepit old age: how like seuerall Beasts wee carry our selues, till Death bring vs to the Shambles: how pittifully Childe-hood [Page 333] wallowes like a little Pigge, in dirtie places; and like Duckes and Geese, swattles and dab­bles in wet and filth? How Youth is a lasciui­ous Goat; Adolescencie, an vntaimed Heiffer; Man-hood, a sterne Lyon; Old age a sluggish Asse, that onely beares a more precious thing then Isis, euen that which beares it, an immor­tall soule.

I might anatomize man further in all his parts and weakened powers, shewing the seue­rall diseases that cease vpon euery member, where they challenge their seates and thrones. I might inlarge the crosses incident to euery Function and Vocation: but referring you to the Fathers, chiefely Bernard and Fulgentius, De condi­tione vitae humanae. De con­temptu mundi. and to zealous Papists, chiefly Innocentius and Stella, besides him that in English hath vvrit the miseries of mans life, leauing you to their vintage, I onely rest with the taste of these Clusters, vvhich we now further presse forth by vse.

Is it so that this life which wee liue is so la­borious (as the world wherein wee liue is wic­ked? Vse 1. Of Instructi­on.) then the lesse good that wee finde in the life naturall, wee must labour to counter­poyse it, by purchasing the life spirituall: the more discontent wee finde in the life of Na­ture, the more comfort and content wee must seeke and search for, in the life of Grace, which like Elishaes salt cast into Iordan seasons [Page 334] all the maladies of life. Now, if thou woul­dest liue the life of Grace, and haue peace and ioy, euen by a drie passage as it were in the red Sea of this World, then doe those things that concerne thy peace.

Twelue meanes of true peace.First, abstaine from sinne: for where it raignes there is no life of Grace. Sin quench­eth Grace, as water fire: Sinne vvill kindle a fire vvithin thy soule, to burne vvith secret flames; for, the wicked are like the raging Sea.

Secondly, as one of Christs true Disciples, subiect thy will and soule to Christ: it is his promise, thou shalt haue peace in him, and he will send thee the Comforter.

Thirdly, frequently confesse thy sinnes to God, more balme of inward ioy, thou shalt haue from the chiefe Physitian, the more thou dost lay open the vlcers of thy sicke and wounded soule.

Fourthly, vse frequent and feruent prayer, shut thy Chamber-dore, play not the Phari­saicall hypocrite, and Christ shall enter in and say Peace be to thee, as hee did to the Dis­ciples.

Fiftly, keepe the Lords day strictly, neyther doing thine owne works and will, nor Sathans, nor speaking thine owne wordes nor his, but Gods word and will in publique and priuate duties: this brings much familiaritie vvith [Page 335] God, and hath the answere of many hidden ioyes from his Spirit: It is a spirituall rest to euery Christian, as it was promised a rest to the Israelites.

Sixtly, reade and meditate in he Word of GOD: They shall haue much peace that delight in thy Law, saith the Psalmist.

Seauenthly, suffer iniuries patiently; sustaine and abstaine, and thou shalt feele within thine owne heart God taking thy part: for, Qui pa­titur est victor, &c. He that suffers ouercomes himselfe, the world, his enemies, and is Christs friend.

Eightly, contemne earthly vanities, they deuide and distract the heart.

Ninthly, be imployed in a Calling: the idle are tossed with a multitude of foolish fan­cies and fond desires.

Tenthly, be meeke, so shalt thou enioy the earth with ioy. Mat. 5.

Eleauenthly, get an humbled and a contrite heart, that is the seate of Grace, and throne of God. Esay 57.15.

Twelfthly, doe righteousnesse, the fruit whereof is peace and ioy. These things be­long to thy peace, which if thou practise, thy light shall shine to the darke world, and thou shalt haue a lightsome Goshen in the life of Grace, euen in the darkesome Aegypt of this wretched world.

[Page 336] Vse 2. Of Redargu­tion.Secondly, is life so laborious? are our dayes so dolorous? Then these come within the com­passe of a iust Redargution, that are so dren­ched and drowned in the things of this life, so besotted and bewitched with the painted beau­ties of this earthly Iezabel, the World, that they can neyther spirare nor sperare coelestia, that they haue as small hopes as they vse small helps for Heauen in a better life, but set­ting vp here their rests, & stinting their aimes at earth, they desire (as Peter vpon the Mount) to build tabernacles here in this vaile below, neuer caring for that building not made with hands, eternall in the Heauens▪ 2 Cor. 5.1. Alas, let such know that in their aerie hopes they feede but on the winde, with the Came­lion: they imbrace but a cloud, with Ixion, in stead of Iuno: they touch Sodomes Apples, and are deluded vvith beautifull dust: they imbrace shadowes for substances, and place their desires vpon such objects as are vnwor­thy of an immortall soule and a heauenly in­spired spirit.

The vani­tie of life with all the things in life truly discoue­red.For, I pray you, what is life it selfe, yea, long life, which they so doate vpon and long after, but a most irkesome and tedious pilgri­mage, enuironed with infinite perils, and vp­on most light occasions lost? or what is any thing in life worthy our liking and affections? What is the body it selfe which we so pamper, [Page 337] but coagulated dust, guilded ouer in the out couering with colours, and set vp with the props of proportion; the slaue of the minde, and prison of the soule: sperma fetidum, cibus vermium, mans excrement, wormes nutriment? What is the Beautie of the body but a well co­loured skinne, farre inferiour to the beauties of the Sunne and Moone, these heauenly bo­dies? Besides, if we could see within, we should see a filthy Golgotha, and rotten dung-hill.

What is Strength when Sampson is bound by a woman; since the greatest things and most worthy of a man are effected by the sinewes of wit, not by the strength of sinewes? are not both Strength and Beautie the flowers of the body, which one blast of a Feauer will deface and shake all to fitters? What are the Plea­sures of the body but (like the body it selfe) sensuall, sinfull, pecu [...]ine and vile; Diseases be­ing the Vsury that Pleasures pay, and perpe­tuall Sorrow the bond; as the Poets fayne of Iupiter, that hee ioyned Pleasure and Sorrow together in an Adamantine Chaine, when hee could not agree them in a difference that they brought before him. Besides, are not these corporall Pleasures inioyed of the Beasts more then of man, more strongly, vehemently and longer? Are they not the workes of darke­nesse, and vsed in the darke? is any man so im­pudent that dare vse them publikely for shame? [Page 338] Are not distempers, diseases, distractions, dis­credit to our good name, losse of substance to our estate (when they deuoure their Ido­latrous vsers of them, as Acte [...]n [...] Dogs did their Master) fruitlesse repentance to the mind, dulnesse of wit, corrupting of the heart dark­ning the vnderstanding, decaying the Soules Intellectuall powers; Impatiencie of a mans selfe, hatred of all vertues, inclination to all vices, their bad fruits and base effects? Are not nominie, ignobilitie, imprisonment, deformi­tie, sicknesse, imbeci [...]litie, blockishnesse, and Stupiditie, their Pages and Attendants?

For Riches (the vulgars God) what are they but the long expences and prouisions for a short iourney, oppressing the bearers, heauy burthens to sincke the Shippe of the Soule? For, Gold and Siluer, the Helena that the world doates on, the Lais that most are in­amoured vpon (as the beasts vpon the Pan­thers skinne, for his seeming luster) what are they but red and white dust, the base excre­ments of the earth, blowne away with the wind of euery casualtie? Pearles and precious Stones what are they but the spoyle of Fishes, good onely in the estimation of the Lapidarie, and in their owners imagination, not in their owne nature, nor in any helpfull effects?

Nobilitie, what is it but an opinion, or lot of birth, being our Ancestors not ours, also [Page 339] oft vvrongfully acquired by oppression and crueltie?

Glory, what is it but a puffe of winde, the vaine inflation of the earth, vncertaine, mo­mentanie, oft wicked, like his father the multi­tude, who this day haue Hosanna for a man; to morrow, Crucifie him: that in one houre will make one more then man, and then a mur­therer, as they did Christ and Paul?

Power, and a Kingdome, are but a spatious molestation; Pulchrum malum, a beautifull euill, a guilded poyson, a Crowne adorned with counterfeite Iemmes, a sea of euils? Ho­nour (if it come not from Vertue) a friuolous and peruerse conceit? Dignitie, if desert be­get it not, what is it but the bastard of an vn­certaine father, oft acquired by suite, craft, fraud, ambition, sinister meanes and vvicked Arts?

Lastly, to draw together the sailes of our speech; in one word, what is the World, with all her Iezabels paint and Peacockes plumes, with which shee deludes her louers? What is Life, and the best things in life, with which her Amorettoes and Idolatrous Adorers are so delighted? hath not Salomon by a diuinely in­spired spirit, giuen in his vnpartiall and infalli­ble verdict, as one that knew most in this kinde of all meere men, Vanitie of vanities, and all is but vanitie, saith the Preacher. And as [Page 340] there is little good in life to be loued, so there is nothing but euill in this life; Malum cul­pae, malum poenae. eyther in it owne nature, as is the euill of sinne; or penall, the fruit of sinne: eyther crosses, such as the godly trye; or curses, such as the wicked feele. The due meditation whereof hath caused ma­ny zealous spirits, Augustine, Ambrose, Chry­sostome; Bernard, Fulgentius, as also Pontanus and Stella, with many moe, to write seuerall Tractates, which I thinke (as the Spider drawes her webbe) they drew from themselues, and from the feeling of their owne hearts, concer­ning the contempt of the world, and the not louing this life: Vnicui (que) sua cupidi­tas est tem­pestas. some comparing it to a Sea, in which euery mans turbulent desires are a tempest: some to a darke and dangerous Wood, wherein are many wilde Beasts, Buls of Basan, deuouring Wolues, Herodian Foxes, poysoning Basiliskes, The world anatomi­zed by sun­dry Simi­lies. fiery Dragons: for, the Scripture giues the true mortall of Pithagoras and Ouids fictions in their Transmutations, men in shape are beasts in conditions, Tit. 2.12. Esay 1.4. &c. Some to a Net, that is spread for all, but catcheth and retaines onely foolish fishes. Others say it is an vngratefull Hoast, that entertaines and retaines, yet pils and spoyles all that trust it, still dislodging, dis­missing, forsaking, forgetting his old Guests, to retaine new. Some say, it is like the darke­some Aegypt, wherein is plague vpon plague, [Page 341] at last deuastation to all that are not the true Israell of GOD. Some compare it to the Fir­mament in continuall motion. Some to a so­litarie Desart, wherein is the roaring Lyon, the Diuell; the Scorpion and Dipsas, the old Ser­pent, wicked Spirits, Theeues, Thornes of sinnes, and barrennesse of grace. Some vn­to the Night: First, because of the blindnesse and ignorance that is in it: Secondly, the drowsie and secure sleepe of sinne: thirdly, the wilde beasts of the night, Heretiques, Schisma­tiques, &c. Bores of the Forrest, Foxes that spoyle the Vines; the night, the time of forra­ging, in which also the enemie sowes Tares of sinnes and Heresies, the one to corrupt the good Wheate of Sanctification in the heart, the other of Illumination of the braine. O­thers, with holy Iob, make it a place of warre­fare and combat, wherein wee are to fight with seuerall enemies of sundry natures, as Dauid did, with a Lyon, with a Beare, and with Go­liah: some being within vs, craftie Sinons, our owne lusts; some without vs, like armed Phili­stines, the lust of the world; some aboue vs, Sathan in the Ayre; some on the right hand, some on the left, as prosperitie and aduersitie; some before vs, as the forbidden fruit of Sin; some behind vs, the barking mouthes and bi­ting tongues of maleuolent men. Some to a prison, wherein though it feed the body, yet it [Page 342] fetters the soule, like that wherein Ioseph had fauour, yet hee was kept fast. Lastly, Ful­gentius compares it to a fayre Amazon Maide, with these Mottoes writ vpon her head, I haue wit and policie: vpon her browes, I haue come­linesse and beautie: vpon her brest, Here is strength and agilitie: on her right hand, Here are riches and prosperitie: yet vnder her feete, Haec omnia vanitas, All these are but vanitie: and so let vs account them. Loue not the world much lesse the lusts of it, concupiscence of the flesh, of the eye, and pride of life. Imi­tate CHRIST thy head, hee despised the pride and pompe of it, in refusing a King­dome, in washing his Disciples feete; Iohn 13. in preaching & practising humilitie, Mat. 11. in sustaining temptations and tryals, Mat. 4. in assuming our flesh, in chusing his fishing Disciples, in dying vpon the Crosse: hee cros­sed the couetousnesse of it, by possessing no­thing, not so much as Foxes and Birds; in commending the godly poore, Mat. 5. in dy­ing naked vpon the Crosse, hee crossed the lusts of it, in his innocent and spotlesse cha­stitie, in being borne also of a chaste Virgin: so thou, if thou be a right Christian after him, if one of his Church, despise these terrestriall things▪ seeke for celestiall, Col. 4.1.2.3. &c. trample the Moone, these momentanie things vnder thy feete: vse the world as though thou [Page 343] vsed it not: looke at it and the things of it, as at a Lyon in a grate, subiect not thy selfe to it, be not the slaue of it, come not within the reach of it, it will teare thee and (as the Pan­ther and Hiena deale with Beasts) by fawning deuoure thee: looke at it therefore, and like it, as a Pilgrime a strange Country, as a Tra­ueller his Inne, onely to lodge in it for a few dayes or nights: alwayes be in readidesse with old Simeon to depart as the Israelites were rea­dy in a trice to depart out of Aegypt: loue this life so, that thou wilt willingly lay it downe, as thou puttest off thy garments when thou goest to bed, when GOD cals thee to sleepe in thy graue.

Thirdly, both from these premisses, 3 Vse. vvee may gather an vse of Instruction; as also from the Text, wee may ground a doctrinall obser­uation; concerning the nature of death, com­fortable to the godly, to whom all things; yea, death it selfe happens for the best, chiefely if they grone vnder the Crosse: for, Rom. 8. if life be so burthensome, death must needes be beneficiall that vnlooseth our yoake, and takes the bur­then from our vveakened natures vvearyed shoulders. The bene­fits of death to a Christian vnder the crosse. Therfore death comes to the good man, to the crossed Christian, as Moses to the Israelites in Aegypt, to deliuer him: it comes to the godly, as Pharaohs Daughter to Mosos fluctuate on the waters, as the Arke to Noah, [Page 344] as Obediah to the persecuted Prophets, to pre­serue them; as the Angell to Lot in Sodome, as Abraham to Lot in captiuitie, as Dauid to his captiue Wiues to rescue them; as the An­gell to Peter in Prison to set them free; as the Angell to CHRIST in his Agonie; as Iona­than to Dauid, to comfort them in extremitie; as Iosephs Chariots to old Iacob, to reioyce them; nay, as Gods Chariot to Elias, to carry them into the place of ioy; as the Angels to Lazarus, to carry them into Abrahams bo­some. What shall I say more? as Ionas his Gourd to coole Ionas in his excessiue heat; like Saul to those of Mount Gilead, to help them in time of distresse; like the yeere of Iubilie to the Bond-man; like the long lookt for hus­band to a louing wife; like newes from a farre Country like meate to the hungry, and drinke to the thirstie; like a messenger from GOD, with this message, Affl [...]xite, non affli [...]am am­plius, I haue afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more, Aug. as God said in effect to Abraham, saith Augustine: thou hast had tentationem fi­dei, the tryall of thy Faith, now receiue bene­dictionem pro fide, a blessing for thy Faith; bles­sing vs, as the Angell did Iacob, after we haue wrastled with the worlds woes. Therefore the godly dead, as the Latine beares it (as is well obserued) are not so much said to be dead as deliuered, as remoued, as redeemed from the [Page 345] worlds warfare: Mortui id est emeriti, quia rude donati, & absoluti à militia. Therefore Plutarch cals death Malorum remedium, & portus humanis calami­tatibus, euils relieuer, and calamities calmer: vitae ianua, saith Bernard, & perpetua securita­tis ingressus, the gate of life, and ingresse to a sempiternall securitie: the onely Physitian that askes no fees (not so much as thankes) and yet cures all cares inward, all diseases out­ward, better then Homers Moli, then the Balme of Gilead, or that marueilous Linguists Mithridate: yea, it cures all.

And therefore God oft-times, as our Pro­uerbe is, takes them away soonest whom hee loues best: as many Parents know, that oft-times lose their Iosephs, euen that child, whom (by the appearance of graces in them) God and they loue the best, the rest being left them, whom they doe not so deseruedly loue. Hence it is, that when there were but foure in the world, Adam, Eue, Caine, Abel, God tooke away Abel the best of them (for hee permitted his death though Caine gaue the stroke) and hee suffered the worst of them to liue still (saith Ambrose) as the greatest bles­sing to the one, Lib. de Cain & Abel. and for a continuated plague [Page 346] and punishment to the other. Yea, Christ himselfe the spirituall Abel, whose bloud speakes better things for vs then Abels, was cut downe like a flower in the prime of his yeeres, at the age of three and thirtie, in the midst of his age, which hee might haue liued by na­ture, though hee was beloued of his Father aboue all creatures, Angels and Men. Laza­rus was not a little loued of Christ, as the Iewes noted, Iohn 11. in his resuscitation, yet hee dyed young; and though hee wept when hee raised him vp againe, to shew his power, hee wept (saith Grauatensis) because hee was redu­ced and brought backe againe to the miseries of life.

Hence it is not altogether a Fiction in He­rodotus (if his Workes, as they are By M ^r. Stephens in his World of wonders. defended, are no Fables) that when the Father of Leobis and Biton intreated the Gods for the grea­test blessing vpon these his two Sonnes, in the morning they were found both dead in their beds. The like Boone was graunted to Trophomius and Agamedes, that built the Del­phicke Temple to Apollo: the Morrall at least of all which, and such like, is this, that to ma­ny a speedy death is better then a prolonged miserable life: nay, that wee neuer beginne truely to liue till wee dye; Aug. de ciu. Dei. lib. 14. c. 25 Iustus non viuit, &c. The iust man neuer liues as hee would, till he come to that place where he cannot dye.

[Page 347]Therefore let the Meditation of these things comfort vs in death, and encourage vs against the terrors and feare of death.

I confesse (as wee haue already inlarged another poynt) that death is fearefull to all flesh, both man and beast, Exhortat. much more to a wicked man: stout stomacks haue beene agast and turned crauens at his griefly face, euen as all the Troopes of Israell were affrighted when they saw Pharaoh behinde them, and the red Sea before them, the two lawes of death, rea­dy to swallow them. And surely euen a resol­ued Christian cannot free his soule from relu­ctation when hee lookes onely at the corrup­tion of the flesh, the palenesse of the face, the dissolution of the members, the obscurenesse of the graue, the lodge with wormes, the so­litarinesse of the sepulcher; and lastly, the dis­sipation and annihilation of euery part: but when hee considers againe, Natures course, Gods Injunction, his disposing Prouidence, Christs Passion, the bodyes Resurrection, the freedome and exemption of the soule from her inclosing prison, the Iubilie of the body from all bondage and seruitude: Faith preuails and Feare flyes.

Euen as those that come from a Citie to a Country Village, Tradesmen, or the like, Hom. de Diuite & Lazaro. when their businesse is well dispatcht (saith Chriso­stome) returne into the Citie with ioy againe: [Page 348] so the Christian soule that comes from the new Ierusalem, the heauenly Citie, to traffique here in the low Countryes of this earth, by the Organs of the body, if it haue well executed the duties of Pietie, Charitie, and Christianitie, to GOD and man, may with ioy returne like a Ship Royall, loaden with precious Marchan­dize, from whence it came: for, such a man dyes not, but departs.

Death onely a de­parture out of life, not a finall de­stroyer.From whence we slide into the third point, briefely, concerning the Epithite which Si­meon here giues to death; hee cals it a Depar­ture. From whence we may see partly into the nature of that which wee call Death: it is one­ly a Departure, a going, or transmigration from one place to another. Therefore vvhen Abraham speakes of his barrennesse, he vseth this phrase, Ego vadā abs (que) liberis, I depart this life, Hom. 36. in Genes. or goe away without Children. Chryso­stome notes his phrase, and thereupon implies, Ecce iustus ille vt philosophatur, &c. That A­braham doth truely in that word, going away, philosophize and dispute of death: which Basil, Hom. de Martyrio. applying to the auncient Martyres, cals Migratio quaedam ad meliora, &c. A migration to a better habitation: Philosophy cals it, The priuation of all heate; Compar. aquae & ignis. so Plutarch: or, Pri­uatio vitae, the priuation of life; so Scaliger, Exercit. 307. Sect. 23. All which titles and tearmes may still hearten the Christian to [Page 349] confront it in the very face couragiously, ac­cording to Bernards counsell, Volo mortem, Epist. 105. si non effugere, &c. That since they cannot flye it, they should not feare it. Iustus mortem etsi non cauet, &c. since the iust man is not caute­lous to preuent it, let him not be too timerous to encounter it: nay, rather let him enter the lists (as the Persians went to battell) ioyfully, and with a shout, since it is but a Bugbeare, or a shadow without substance, a Serpent without a sting, a superficies, no positiue thing of it selfe, but the corruption of the subiect that God and Nature subiects vnto it: at the worst to the worst, an Executioner of a Rebell; Mors bona bonis, mala malis. good to the godly, a rewarder of a faithfull Seruant; Iosephs Chariot to bring good Iacob from the Land of penurie to the Land of plentie, Et quis non ad meliora festinet? saith Cyprian in his Sermon vpon death, Who will not hasten to exchange for the better?

Lastly, me thinkes, here is notably imply­ed the immortalitie of the Soule; for, what is it which departs but the soule out of the body, which flyes out when Death opens the doore that held it in, like a Bird out of the Cage, li­uing else-where, in pleasure or in paine, in actu seperato, in a seperated act: as also the Resur­rection of the body may not vnfitly be con­cluded; for, in a departure betwixt man and wife, friend and friend, there is a constant hope [Page 350] of meeting againe: so these two friends which liue and loue together (like Ionathan and Da­uid) the soule and body shall meete together at the Resurrection: both which poynts of Christianitie as Simeon beleeued, and taught his Schollers, (being a great Rabbi and a Ma­ster in Israel,) so hee seemes to mee, to allude here vnto both, and to professe his faith in both.

The body departing shall re­turne a­gaine at the Resur­rection.To beginne with the baser part, the body, that it shall rise againe; howeuer it be a Myste­rie scoffed at (because vnknowne) of the Iew­ish Saduces, scoffing Athenians, Braine-sicke Philosophers, stupid Stoickes, hoggish Epi­cures, disputing Peripaticians: howeuer de­nyed by all the rabblement of these Hereticall Valentinians, Simonians, Carpocratians, Cer­donians, Seuerians, Basilidians, Hierarchites, and all the Libertines: yet it was the faith of all the Patriarkes, Prophets, and Apostles, from the first houre that by reuelation of the Spirit, or by the Word, it was manifested to the Church of God: it was the faith of Psal. 17.16 Psal. 49.15. Dauid, of Dan. 12.2 Daniel, of Ezek. 37.10. Ezekiel, of Esa. 26.19 Esay, Iob 19.25.26. Iob, Act. 24.15 Acts 17 32 Paul, Iohn 11. Argu­ments to proue the Resurrecti­on of the body. Martha, Iohn the Diuine, of all the Saints, and so of Simeon.

Let these Arguments confirme thine: first, Christ thy head is risen; hee is the first fruits of them that sleepe, and the pawne that thou shalt rise, being a member of his, 1 Cor. 15.20. [Page 351] where my flesh and bloud is, there shall I be, (saith Cassiodorus) our Ioseph is in Aegypt be­fore vs.

Secondly, the redemption by Christ ex­tends to thy body, as to thy soule▪ vvhich body must rise againe, else Christs Passion were fruitlesse and forcelesse.

Thirdly, the body, which (like Simeon and Leui) was brother here in sinning, vvith the soule, must in Gods equall remunerating Iu­stice, be raised, to suffer in an equall measure and proportion, as it hath sinned.

Fourthly, Gods promises which hee hath signed with the finger of his Spirit sealed with the bloud of the Lambe, to the Elect of peace and Immortalitie, cannot be of vigour and vertue vnlesse their bodies rise.

Fiftly, the inseperable vnion twixt Christ and his Church should be disioyned, if the bo­dy rise not.

Sixtly, many absurdities vvould follow, which Paul addes 1 Cor. 15.14.15.16.17. whither I referre you, as that all preaching, professing, and practise of Christianitie vvere else in vaine.

Seauenthly, if in other cases witnesses be to be beleeued, then those fiue hundred Brethren mentioned 1 Cor. 15.5.6.7 8. Cephas and the twelue, Iames and the Apostles, Mary Mag­dalene & Paul, that testifie Christs resurrection, [Page 352] by necessary consequence confirme ours, Rom. 8.13. which depends vpon Christs.

Eightly, these that haue beene brought to life againe after their departure, eyther by the Prophets, as the widdow of Sarepta's Son, by Elias, 1 Kings 17.22. or the Shunamites Childe, by Elizeus, 2 Kings 4.35. And the dead Souldier by touching Elisha's bones, 2 Kings 13.21. or by the Apostles, as Dorcas by Peter, Acts 3.40. Eutichus by Paul, Acts 20.10. or by Christ himselfe, as the widdow of Naims Son, Luke 7.15. Iairus Daughter, Mat. 9.29. Lazarus the brother of Marthae and Mary, Iohn 11.44. and those which appeared in the holy Citie, when Christ rose, and ascended vp to heauen with him, Serm. de Passione. (as Augustine thinkes) are all Praeludia Resurrectionis, types and fi­gures of our resurrection.

Illustrati­ons from nature, that our bodies shall rise.Ninthly, we haue many resemblances both in the great Booke of Nature, and the little Booke of Grace; in the word, and in the world; Isaacks suruiuing in sacrificing, whom Abra­ham receiued in a figure, Heb. 11.19. Aarons dry Rod that budded and blossomed, Numb. 17.8. Ezekiels dry bones that came together, bone to bone, & flesh to flesh, Ezek. 37.8.9.10. Ionas deliuery out of the Whales belly, are in­stances in the Word. In Nature: the Summer, liuing of Trees, 1 Cor. 15 36 37.38. Hearbs, Plants, &c. yea, of Corne it selfe, in their seeming Winters death, [Page 354] when their sap is in the roote: these beasts, as some Beares, and Mice, &c. which sleepe all Winter, and seeme to reuiue in the Spring: Swallowes, Bats, Flyes, Gnats, &c. which by the Sunnes heate seeme to reuiue out of their cold sowne: the Arabian Phoenix, Pompon. Mela de situ orbis, lib. 3. c. 9. which by her selfe-burning, preserues the indiuiduum of her kinde: the Sea-Vrchin, that rejoynes after her rending in pieces, after she tastes the salt water: Serpents that are renued by casting their old skinnes; the Sea-Lobsters by cast­ing their old shels; the Eagle by casting her old bill: Mechanicall men that renue many things that are old; Image-makers that make againe their brassie pictures by marring them; Bell founders that mend their mettall-worke by melting; the Silke-worme, See the Book writ of the Silke worme. that liues in the preseruation of her kinde, by inclosing her selfe in her Clue, and dying: nay, man him­selfe, that in his generation receiues life into his flesh, bones, sinewes, and vitall powers, from a little liquid seede; that in his preseruation oft liues againe, out of sownes, and trances, see­mingly depriued of breath and life; that in his augmentation, eating, and by naturall heate concocting and digesting the dead flesh of Goates, Sheepe, and Bullockes, makes them his owne liuing flesh. All these speake vnto my vnderstanding, and confirme my Faith, that though Death swallow vs that are now [Page 354] liuing (as the Whale did Ionas) binde vs (as the Philistines did Sampson) lay vs in our se­pulchers, and roule a great stone vpon vs (as the Iewes did vpon Christ) yet we shall come to shore againe; breake these bonds (as the bird the snare.) and we shall be deliuered, vve shall flourish like Noahs Oliue tree, after wee haue beene vnder the water: yea, these bo­dyes of ours, subiect to diseases, crushed, cra­zed, bruized, distempered, payned; the head, with Megrim; the lungs, with suffocations; the ioynts, with Gouts; the stronger parts them­selues with shrinking in of the sinewes: Origen periarct. lib. 3. these bodyes which haue borne the burthen of the day shall once with the Angels sing Haleluiah; these bodies of ours, I say, shall rise, besides these mentioned, wee haue many grounds of it: as first, the will of God that will haue it so, Iohn 6.39.40. Secondly, the oath of God that it must needes be so, Heb. 6.13. Third­ly, we haue double Hostage for it; 1 the soules of the Saints, lodgers vnder the Altar, Reu. 6.9.10.11. 2. Their bodies, lodgers in the graues, as our pledges till all things be resto­red, when they and wee shall be perfected to­gether, Heb. 11.40. Fourthly, the pawne of the Spirit within vs, Rom. 8.11. All vvhich, are so many nayles in the Sanctuary to fasten our hope. Neyther shall wee onely rise, but rise the same bodies for substance, though [Page 355] altered for qualitie, to our further perfection. Wee shall come againe (I say) the same bo­dies in which wee haue departed hence: the same bones, bloud, arteries, skinne, flesh, veynes, sinewes, parts, members, Iob 19.25. Howeuer, I cannot say in the same age: for, there shall be neyther childe nor old man, saith the Prophet; that is, Esa 65.20. neyther weakenesse of youth, nor infirmitie of age, but all shall be flourishing and perfect, like Adam and Eue in their Creation, some say, from Ephes. 4.13.

The consideration of our returne after our departure, Vse Of Consola­tion. and of our resuscitation at the gene­rall Resurrection, for before that time none are, or shall be glorified in their bodyes; ney­ther the Virgin Mary, whose Assumption is but a fiction, nor Enoch, nor Elias, nor the body of Lazarus, nor of those that rose vvith CHRIST Mat. 27.52. In this Ser­mon called The Christi­ans Watch. (as M ^r. Leigh proues pithily against all Papists) It is a matter of sin­gular comfort; it is the Anchor of our hope; the life of our Religion (vvherein it differs from Paganisme and Turcisme;) the hand that holds vp our drooping soules in the A­gonies of death; Fiducia Christianorum, The Chri­stians com­fort in the Resurrecti­on. resur­rectio mortuorum (saith Tertullian.) This made the auncient Martyres goe to the stake, and burning place, as wee goe to our beds; this is that redemption of our bodies, vvhich Paul mentions, Rom. 8.23. the time of our re­freshing, [Page 356] which Peter magnifies, Acts 3.19. the time of our Iubilie and reioycing, vyhich Esay fore-sees in the Spirit, and exulteth, Esay 26.19. vvhen the hungry shall be satisfied, Mat. 5.6. when mourners shall be comfor­ted, Mat. 5.4. when there shall be no more griefe, nor sorrow, nor paine, when there shall be a yeere of Iubilie, an end of our iourney, an accomplishing of our warrefare, a cessation from labour, a wiping away of teares, Reu. 17. verse 17. Chap. 21.4. a putting off this mor­tall, and a putting on of this immortall, 1 Cor. 15.42. A change of our vile bodies, that they may be like his glorious body, Phil. 3.22. Oh be glad of this yee Saints, reioyce and sing euen as the little Birds are glad when Winter casts off her rugged mantle, and Summer brings his flowrie Spring; as Beggars vvould be glad to put off their ragges, and be clad with Regall Robes. Let these comfort them­selues in hope of this change and renouation, whose bodies are subiected to infirmities, weaknesses and maladies: De ciu. dei lib. 22. c. 20 for, then it shall cast away (neuer to resume) all infirmities, impu­rities, deformities, tardities, saith Augustine.

Asa shall not be gouty, nor Moses stam­mer, nor Mephibosheth lame, &c. let Cripples, Lazars, Beggars, Bedlams, lame Souldiers, Hospitall men, Spitlers, and all other impo­tent, distressed, diseased persons, apprehend [Page 357] this comfort, being conuerted Christians and beleeuers.

Let all weake and wearyed wights vse this Meditation of the Resurrection, as Iacobs staffe to rest and relye on, in their passage ouer this worlds Iordan; as the clifts of the rockes to the Doues, and the stonie rockes to the Conies, to shelter them from the feare of death, the hunting Nimrod of the world: for, here is Medicamentum vulneris, &c. a precious Cordiall in all thy crosses, whether publique or priuate, of body or minde: nay, Aqua vitae, to reuiue thee, when thou art dead sicke, or sicke to death, to know that the minute or the moment of thy afflictions here, shall be suc­ceeded (nay exceeded) with an eternall waight of glory hereafter, at the resurrection of the iust, 2 Cor. 4.17.18. Thus the godly, Da­uid, Iob, nay, Christ himselfe, the afflicted Pri­mitiue Christians, that vnder Antiochus were racked and tormented, sollaced their soules in the midst of their anxeties, with this melodi­ous Meditation of the Resurrection, Psal. 16.9. Iob 19.25. Acts 2.26. Heb. 11.35. Which onely apprehension puls off the vizard from Death, pluckes off his Lyon skinne, exposeth him as an Hobgoblin, or meere scarre-Crow, to the godlies dirision.

Let Atheists and Epicures feare him, that haue their portion in this life: let Infidels and [Page 358] vnbeleeuers feare him, vvhose hopes of any better estate are languishing, and faint, and perish with their soules: let his name be as ter­rible to carelesse impenitent worldlings (as the name of Tamberlaine and Zisca once to Cowards) which like guiltie fellons, feare the face of the Iudge: but let those that haue lear­ned Christ better, and know in whom they haue beleeued, entertaine it as Cornelius did Peter, as the Galathians did Paul, as Peter did the Angell that brought him out of Prison, as that which makes the happiest exchange of a Mansion terrestriall for a Citie coelestiall, a vaile of teares for mount Sion, a region of death, for the land of the liuing, an earthly ta­bernacle for an house eternall in the Heauens, 2 Cor. 5.1. For, who is so improuident or im­prudent, that desires to stay in an old smoakie decayed Cottage, ready euery day to fall on his head, when the Land-lord offers to reedifie it and to make it better (since euen Mise & Rats by Natures instinct, flye from an house that is inclining to fall.) Now this clayie Cottage of thy body, which is vpheld by the weake prop of breath and vapour, is euery day de­clining; blesse the prouidence of the Worlds great Architect, that when it fals, by resuscita­tion, will raise the frame and the fabricke a thousand times both fairer and firmer then the first.

[Page 359]Secondly, Vse 2. Of Direction. let the thought of the Resurrecti­on be, as a consolation to thy heart, so a di­rection to thy life. Must body and soule meete together, and eyther be blessed together, or else for euer burne together after their de­parture? and doth their euerlasting weale or woe, blisse or bane, depend vpon thy good or euill life here? Oh then, Let vs liue holily to rise ioy­fully. spinne the short thread of thy abridged life well and worthily, that so it may tye a blessed peace to thy soule: runne thy short race here well, that thou maist obtaine an eternall Crowne hereafter: passe the time of thy dwelling here with feare: think as once S. Ierome that zealous spirit thought; Quoties commedo, &c. as oft as I eate, or drinke, or walke, or talke, or rise vp, or lye downe, I alwayes heare the Trumpe sounding, Surgite mortui, &c. Arise yee dead, and come to Iudge­ment. Thinke of dying and liuing againe, of departing and returning, of reuiuing, and strict vnpartiall iudging; which thoughts let them not perish like abortiue fruit, but fixe them by these effects.

First, euery day awake out of the sleepe of some sinne, ere the darke night of death come, now in this lifes light that God lends thee.

Secondly, let it be a spurre to pricke thee to all good, and gratious actions.

Thirdly, a bridle to restraine thee from sin, both in the action and affection.

[Page 360]Fourthly, let them be meanes to rouze thee from the bed of securitie, and to set thee on thy feete (as the Angell did Elias) in thy iour­ney toward heauen.

Fiftly, as water poured out, to coole the furnace of thy furious affections, euen in thy youthfull and burning bloud.

Sixtly, a Diall or watch to direct thee how to spend thy time well.

Seauenthly, as a Fanne to winnow thee from the chaffe of sinne.

Eightly, as a winde to scatter and disperse thy inordinate passions,

Ninthly, as a paile or Parke to keepe thee within thy limits and bounds.

Tenthly, as a Counseller to redeeme thy time.

Lastly, a holy director (as it was to Paul himselfe) to cause thee in euery thing to ende­uour to keepe a good conscience towards God and man, Acts 24.15.16.

The im­mortall soule dyes not but departs.Thus wee haue seene that the body must re­turne to take part with the soule after the dis­solution: the same foundation vvill beare this truth, that the soule is dissolued, it dyes not: for which cause Paul cals his death a dis­solution, Phil. 1.23. it departs, it dyes not: therefore Simeon cals death onely a Depar­ting; and in the mouth of these two witnesses it is euicted that the soule is immortall: Death [Page 361] kils not the soule, but onely lets it out as Noahs Doue was let out of the Arke, as a man is let out of prison and fetters: for, Plato cals the body, Ergastulum animae, the Prison of the Soule; as Luther cals it the Asse of the Soule; Sómá i. Sémá. and Erasmus, Sepulchrum animae, the sepulcher of the Soule. Now, death onely breakes open this prison doore, vnties the fetters of the sen­ses, vnlooseth this Asse, roules away the stone from this Sepulcher, lets out the soule, sends graue deorsum, leue sursum, the grosse body downeward, the soaring soule vpward: the soule is put here in saccis vilibus, in a base sacke, as Ioseph put his golden Cup and siluer trea­sure in Beniamins sacke. Now, Death (like Io­sephs Steward) opens the sacke naturally, or rips it vp violently, takes out the treasure vn­toucht; if any thing perish the sacke is vnrip­ped, the body destroyed; the soule is as safe as Iosephs siluer: for, it cannot die, being vnmate­riall, and a forme abiding in it selfe; which forme cannot be taken away (like roundnesse or squarenesse from a Table) because it sub­sists not in the matter, but in it selfe.

Secondly, the soule is impenitrable, insuf­ferable, it suffers not of any externall agent, from the fires heate, or ayres coldnesse: it re­ceiues no hurt from the frozen Ice of Nor­way, or the scorching Sands of Affricke, therefore receiuing nothing whereby it should [Page 362] decay, it cannot corrupt, or marre, or dye, since nothing in the whole world is contrary to it.

Thirdly, man is desirous of immortalitie: Now, how could hee desire it, and discusse of it? how should man so labour and seeke for immortalitie, some by skill and policie, some by martiall exploits, as Hercules, Thesus, &c. some by Soueraigntie, as Alexander and Cae­sar; some by Bookes; nay, some by villanies, as the burners of Diana's Temple; vnlesse mans soule were immortall? for, Ignoti nulla cupid [...].

Fourthly, God by creation infusing it, or by infusing creating it, gaue vnto it in the first originall the gift of immortalitie.

Reasons prouing the soules immorta­litie.Fiftly, the rage of conscience in the wicked, their soules accusing them of secret sinnes, as Caine, and Nero, and Herod, of their murthers; Iudas of his Treason, &c. their inward hor­rour appearing by their pale faces, trembling ioynts, deiected lookes, as was seene in Bal­tazzar and Felix, Dan. 5.6. Acts 24.25. their consciences, like Magistrates, comman­ding them to execute themselues, shewes they are more then mortall.

Sixtly, the effects of the soule, in numbring, diuiding, discussing, discoursing remembring, affecting knowledge, desire of blessednesse, re­spect to glory, &c. shew it immortall.

[Page 363]Seauenthly, if the Soule were not immortall man should not resemble GOD, neyther in Creation or Regeneration haue any part or participation of the Image of God, or any re­uelations from God, or communications with the Spirit of God and our spirit.

Eightly, else there should be no difference betwixt vs and Beasts, whose soules are in their bloud, Gen. 9.4.6.

Ninthly, else there should be no vse of Iudgement, of the day of doome, or of Christs second comming.

Tenthly, else were the godly of all men most miserable, if their hope were onely in this life, 1 Cor. 15.19. the Sonnes of Belial whose portion is oft-greater in this world, then the Lords owne Saints (as Dauid, Iob, Ieremie, in their times haue complained) should else be in better case then they.

But since the Sunne of this truth shines clearely in the Scriptures, why should I giue any moe Reasons, which are infinite, both in Philosophy and Diuinitie: so adding light to the Sunne, and water to the Sea.

First, is not the argument that our Saui­our Christ vsed against the Sadduces, from Exod. 3.6. authentique against Atheisme? God is the God of Abraham, Isaack, and Iacob, there­fore the soules of Abraham, Isaack and Iacob are liuing stil though they be dead themselues.

[Page 364]Secondly, was not Enoch translated that he should not see death? Gen. 5.24. Heb. 11.17. then Enochs soule still liues.

Thirdly, had not Daniels prayer beene an ignorant and friuolous wish, as some note, praying for Nabuchadnezzar, D. Willet his Hexa­plae in Da­nielem. Oh King liue for euer, Dan. 2.4. If the life of his soule had not beene the obiect of his wish?

Fourthly, doth not Elias pray that the soule of his Hostesse Childe may returne againe into him? therefore it was not dead and ex­tinct: (it is no matter where it was, it is as ab­surd to say that it was in Limbo puerorum, as Papists doe, as that the soule of Lazarus and Lairus Daughter was in Purgatorie) suppose it were in heauen: Mat. 17. it was liuing where euer it was, euen as the soules of Moses and Elias were li­uing and gaue motion to their bodies being vpon the Mount with Christ.

Fiftly, Christ promiseth Paradise to the pe­nitent Theefe, Luke 23. the very day of his dissolution, of which hee had liuery and sea­sure, and present possession in his liuing soule, for his dead body hung all that day vpon the Crosse.

Sixtly, Lazarus dying was carryed into A­brahams bosome: what was carryed? his Soule, Luke 16.22. as the wicked Angels fetcht the soule of the secure Churle to Hell, Luke, 12. verse 20.

[Page 365]Seauenthly, Iohn saw the soules of those vn­der the Altar, that were killed for the Word of Christ, Reu. 5.6.9.

All which, with infinite moe, being so ma­ny Arrowes shot against Atheisme, doe euince that the soule is immortall, and that the spirits of the iust, here with old Simeons, after their departure from the body, returne to God that gaue them, Eccles. 12.7. A truth that the very Heathen saw by the light of Nature, as ap­peares by their Writings, by Antiochus his E­pistle to Lisius, wherein hee thinkes his dead Father translated to the Gods, 2 Mach. 11. ver. 23. Plato in his Timeo. Tully in his Diui­nations, and in his Booke of the sleepe of Saeipio: Pithagoras and the Pithagoreans: Tha­les Milesius, Hermes, Euripides in his Trage­dies: Plutarch in his Consolatory Epistles: Seneca in his Booke of immature death; yea, the Poets in their fictions of the Elizean fields, and the like, ayme all at this, more like Christi­ans at least Christian Philosophers and Poets, that the Heauens are aeterna animarū domicilia, the eternall mansions of good soules departed. Vse 5. Of Consola­tion. Chris. What death is to the godly. lib. 2. de morte.

Let vs beleeue this by the light of the Word, which they saw by the poore sparke of Na­ture; and let the thought of it still encourage thee (which is the Naile that I driue at in all this discourse) to looke Death boldly in the face, since to the godly it is but Titulus sine re, [Page 366] a bare title without any subsisting; a bare name, a blancke without a Seale: good (saith Ber­nard) to the good in regard of rest, better in regard of securitie, best of all as the way to life and immortalitie, being as Ambrose cals it, al­ledged by Pontanus, the birth day of thy eter­nitie, the repayrer of thy lifes ruines, not abo­lishing but establishing thy best being. There­fore Summum nec metuas diem, &c. Feare not thy last fate, rather desire it with Paul, because it is but thy dissolution; be thankfull for it with Simeon, because it is but thy departure; waite for it with Iob, because it is thy changing; then feare it, or fret at it, with the naturall and mor­rall men of the world. For, why should that eyther feare thee or fret thee, that cannot hurt the best, the greatest part of thee? If the gold be saued, who regards the losse of a rotten purse? If the Pearles within be preserued, who cares for the breaking of an old chest? If the costly Marchandize and loading of the ship be safe, what Marchant respects the ruines of a rotten Barge? If the liuing soules be not indan­gered, nor the best of the stuffe endammaged, wee care not so much for the burning of an old house: wee respect not the losse of the Cradle, if the childe be safe: the mangling of the cloaths, if the body be vnwounded. Now, that which the Gold is to the Purse, the Pearles to the Chest, the Wares to the Ship, the good [Page 367] Wines to the Caske, the Honie to the Hiue, the Housholder to the House, the Childe to the Cradle, the Body to the Garments; that is the Soule to the Body as much more eminent and excellent as the thing contained exceedes the continent. If death doe fetter the Body, and free the Soule, where is the losse? what is the crosse?

Secondly, Vse 3. Of Redargu­tion. is the Soule immortall and the Body mortall? then execrable is the folly of the multitude; and lamentable is the dotage of all sorts from the highest to the lowest, that spend & misspend their yeeres, dayes, strength, vvit, vvealth, and all their Tallents, in plea­sing, contenting, satisfying, and fulfilling the desires of the flesh, with the affections and lusts thereof; in decking, adorning, feeding and pampering this sluggish Asse, this rotten Car­rion, the body, which perhaps shall take vp his Inne in the earth to morrow, and be meate for wormes; in the meane space neglecting and not regarding the soule, which is to liue for euer.

Oh how many millions of men and women to, euen amongst common Christians, may be arraigned, accused and conuicted of this folly and dottage (that in other things are politique Gallio's and plotting Iezabel's) yet in this are witty fooles, in preferring the Purse before the Gold, the Caske before the Wine, the Hiue be­fore the Hony, the Body before the Soule?

[Page 368]How many spend yeeres, and moneths, nay, all their precious time in hawking, hunting, whoring, carding, dicing, &c. in scraping and gathering yealow dust together, in doing workes morrall or sinfull, their owne workes or the Diuels? how many in doing nothing, or doing euill, or as good as nothing? How many women spend many dayes and houres, in trick­ing and trimming the painted sepulchers of their soules, I meane their bodies, in a Glasse, who (neuer considering how the glasse of their time runnes) spend not a moneth in a yeere, a weeke in a moneth, a day in a weeke, an houre in a day, in the publique or priuate worship of GOD, in looking into the Glasse of Gods word, prayer, meditation? &c. How many Citizens, and Countrimen, of all sorts, spend the vvhole sixe dayes in catering and purueying for the body, who grudge God his Sabbaths, for the prouision of their soules? such men, eyther they thinke they haue no soules, or that their soules shal die with their bodies like the beasts, liuing like Libertines and Epicures: as their faith is like the Saduces, which denied any Spi­rit or Resurrection, or soules immortalitie, as Iosephus testifies of them. Iosephus antiq. lib. 8. c. 2. & de bello Iud. lib. 2. c. 7. Oh we had need cry to such deluded franticke men, and tell them, that they haue soules, and soules immortall, to raigne with GOD, or to be plagued with the Diuels, after their departing out of the body.

NOW followes the last part of this holy Hymne; Simeons Quietus est, or his Pacification, God suffe­ring him to depart in peace. Cal­uin and Bucer renders Simeons minde thus; Nunc libenter, sedato & quieto ani­mi moriar; Lord, now I depart willingly, with an appeased heart, and a setled soule, since I haue seene thy Christ.

From whence I gather, Doctrine. that a good man that liues piously, alwayes dyes peaceably. It appeares here in Simeon, so in the rest of the Saints; as in Abraham, to whom it was pro­mised, Gen. 15.15. that hee should goe vnto his Fathers in peace, Godly men al­wayes die in peace. and should be buryed in a good age: which promise was plentiously per­formed to Abraham, for he yeelded the spirit, dyed in a good age, an old man, and of great yeeres, Gen. 25.8. So Isaack the Sonne of Pro­mise, gaue vp the ghost, and dyed peaceably, being old and full of daies, Gen. 35.29. Neither [Page 370] was the death of good Iacob, that preuailing Israel, discrepant to his holy life; for he dyed quietly, making an end of his charge vnto his Sonnes, hee pluckt vp his feete into his bed, and gaue vp the ghost, Gen. 49.33. After the like manner was the death of chaste and mer­cifull Ioseph, Gen. 50.26. of penitent and pa­tient Iob, after hee had seene his sonnes and his sonnes sonnes, euen foure generations, Iob 42.16. Of zealous and sincere Dauid, 1 Kings 2. after hee had counselled and char­ged his Sonne Salomon to walke in the wayes and Statutes of the Almightie. Deut. 34. Of Moses the faithfull Seruant of the Lord, who dyed when his eye was not dimme, nor his naturall force abated, though he were an hundred and twen­tie yeeres old, God himselfe being present at his death and buriall. So Iosuah that coura­gious Leader of Israel, Iosh. 24.29. Aaron the Lords Priest, who dyed before the Lord in the Mount Hor, Numb. 20.28. Eleazar Aarons Sonne. Iosh. 24.33. Samuel the Lords Prophet, 1 Sam. 25.1. with all the rest of Gods Children, Patriarkes, Prophets, Iudges, Kings, Martyres, Confessors, the learned Lights of the Church, such as Ambrose, Augustine, &c. as they haue liued holily, they haue dyed hap­pily: of which in their seuerall Histories they haue giuen demonstrations, most of them, if not all, in these three particulars.

[Page 371]First, Three things de­monstrate that the godly dye in peace. that they were gathered to their Fa­thers in a mature and full age, full of yeeres; reaped like a Ricke of ripe Corne into the Lords Barne, taken like mellow Apples from the Tree of life: in which full age Abraham, Isaack, Iacob, Ioshuah, Iob, with the rest before mentioned: as also the Patriarkes before the Floud, which out-liued them, with others of the faithfull, did blessedly yeeld their spirits, and quietly slept in the Lord; which blessing of long life being the promise annexed to that fift Commandement of Obedience, is peculi­arly incident to the godly rather then the wicked, whose sinnes (as the Iuie kils the Oake) ordinarily abbreuiate their dayes: or if any of the faithfull dye young, or in their middle age, before they haue attained to the yeeres of their Fathers, eyther by a naturall dissolution, as Iosias; or by a violent death, as the auncient and moderne Martyres; eyther they are taken away from the euill to come, as Augustine was immediately before the siege of Hippo, by the Gothes and Vandals: or else because they are ripened already in grace, and come to that ma­turitie, which GOD, in his fore-seeing wise­dome knowes they would or could attaine to, and so are fitted for glory: or else they testifie the truth here to others confirmation, Gods glory, and their owne consolation.

Secondly, the Elect vsually haue their [Page 372] wishes, The godly oft haue their de­sires be­fore, at, and in their deaths. and the fruition of their desires ere their departure, to the great satisfaction of their soules; the contentation of their hearts: the corroberation of their faith, and the sca­ling pledge of Gods speciall loue vnto them: thus Simeon ere his death, had CHRIST in his armes, which was the desire and longing of his heart. So Abraham saw Christs day before his death, in the spirit, and reioyced: what did old Israel so long after in the whole world; (except the sight of Shiloh, the Mes­sias in the flesh,) as to see his darling Ioseph? which longing of his the Lord satisfied at the full ere his death for, his dying eyes did not onely see Iosephs face, but his seede, Ephraim and Manasses, Gen. 48.11. What did Moses desire more then the fruition of Canaan, the promised Land? Now, euen before the Lord shut his dying eyes, the Lord tooke him vp into a mount, and as a rellish and a taste of his fauour, gaue him a sight of Canaan, Deut. 34 ver. 1.4. In what could Dauids heart be more setled, then to see his Throne setled in Salomon his Sonne; which his desire was accordingly accomplished, for his eyes did see what his heart desired; for which hee blessed God 1 Kings 1.48. And the like ordinarily fals out, as many aged Christians at this very day can bring in their experienced probatum est (as ma­ny that are fallen a-sleepe before them could [Page 373] haue testified) how the Lord hath heard their requests, and granted the desires of their soules, in these and these particulars before their deaths.

Thirdly, the godly expresse the hidden ioy, The last words of holy men are holy. and inward peace which they finde within their soules, by their seasoned and sanctified words of grace, which they breathe out as a sweet Perfume, from holy hearts, to the re­freshing of others, vpon their sicke beds, with which they vsually winde vp the thread of their life: words so good, so gracious, that they are worthy to be writ in Letters of Gold, and for euer to be remembred, as they are recor­ded in the sacred Cannon, and collected by holy men, from the Saints of latter times.

For example, vvhat a sweet gratulatory speech is this of Simeons, in his farewell to the world? Lord, now lettest thou thy Seruant de­part in peace, &c. Euery word hauing his waight and Emphasis. Ponder the last Ser­mons that Moses, and Ioshuah, and Samu [...]l, these faithfull Seruants of the Lord made im­mediately before their deaths, vnto the Israe­lites, Gods chosen people: how zealously they perswade to the seruice of the true God, dis­swade from Idolatrie and false Gods; enume­rate Gods speciall mercies, exhort to obedi­ence, dehort from rebellion against God and their Superiours; proclaime the promises to [Page 374] the obedient, pronounce mercies to allure, de­nounce iudgements to terrifie the disobedient; blessing GOD by gratulatory Songs for his benefits, and blessing the people in their Tribes ( Deut. 32. & ch. 33. Iosh. 12. 1 Sam. 12.) and a man shall see the peace they had in their hearts, by the grace of their lips.

The last words of Iacob were blessings and prophecies. Of Ioseph, were admonitions and cautions: the one to his Sonnes, the other to his Brethren, See 1 Sam. 22. & 23.1 Gen. 49. Gen. 50. The last words of Dauid were his charge to Salomon his Son, concerning Gods worship, and the gouerne­ment of his Kingdome, 1 Kings 2. vers. 3.4.5.6. &c. The last words of Steuen, the first Martyr after CHRIST, were prayers for his Persecutors, Lord, lay not this sinne to their charge, Acts 7.60. Last words reuealed of the Theefe on the Crosse, Gregorie. that bonus Latro, good Theefe, that so happily stole Paradise, were; Lord, remember mee when thou commest into thy Kingdome, Luke 23. The seauen last words that Christ spoke vpon the Crosse, to the Daughters of Ierusalem, to his virgin Mo­ther, to his beloued Disciple Iohn, to God his Father, De Pas­sione. to the penitent Theefe, as recorded by the Euangelists, explained by Ferus Nabu­mius and Gueuarra: these, and all these of ho­ly men in the sacred Cannon, Mons Cal­uariae. and of Christ himselfe (as one speakes of Cyprians Epistles) [Page 375] referunt pectus ardore plenum; shew their deaths were full of peace as their liues were full of grace.

If I should instance in all the rest of this kinde, and set downe at large, What spee­ches the Saints haue vt­tered in their deaths. the gracious words, like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Sil­uer, that haue proceeded out of the mouthes of Saints, euen when they lay vpon their sicke couches, drawing their last breath (testifying their faith in Christ, their hope of Heauen, their zeale for Gods glory, their sorrow for sinne, their sealed pardon.) Or when they were to be martyred, and sacrificed by fire, as they are collected and recorded by Ecclesiasticall Authors, Eusebius, Nicephorus, Apotheg. morien­tium. the tripartite History, the Centuries, M ^r. Foxe his Martyro­logie, Grineus, M ^r. Perkins, and others; to whom I referre you; It would easily appeare that where the Premisses are Grace in Life, the Conclusion will be Peace in Death.

Let vs chew the cudde in the Meditation of some particulars. How to dye well. Euseb. lib. 3. cap. 30. Idem lib 4 c. 15. The last words of Peter in his crucifying death were thus to his wife; O Coniux, memento Domini, Oh Wife remem­ber the Lord Iesus. Of Polycarpus, were pray­ses and prayers. Of Cyprian, Salus mea, virtus mea Christus Dominus, Christ the Lord is my strength and my saluation. Of Ambrose, Nec pudet viuere, nec piget mori, &c. I neyther am ashamed to liue, nor grudge to dye, because I [Page 367] haue a good Iesus both in life and death. Of Augustine, Paulin. in eius vita. It is no great matter that wood and stones fall and ruine, or that mortall men dye, vsing that sentence of Dauids Psalmes; which also Mauritius the Emperour vsed, Possidon. in eius vita Oswaldus Miconius de Zwin­glio, anno 1536. when hee was slaine by Phocas his Centurion: Iust is the Lord, and righteous is his iudgement. Zwinglius thus, when hee was wounded in the wars mor­tally, Well goe to, they may kill my body, my soule they cannot. Erasmus dying in the house of Ierome Strobenius, breathed out his soule, cry­ing thus. Chare Deus, &c. Deare God, oh God my mercy, deliuer me; make an end, oh Christ, and saue mee. Peter Martyr, saith Sim­ler and Bullinger that were present at his depar­ture, confessed his faith, acknowledged Christ his Sauiour, expounded and applyed Scrip­tures, exhorted his Brethren, and in his death was wholy diuine. Obijt an [...] Christi. 1564. So was Oecolampad [...] that burning Lampe in Gods house, who supplyed with the oyle of grace, gaue a wondrous light, euen in his death, as appeares by Grineus his Epistles to Fabritius Capito, and others. Lu­thers death resounds ioyfull prayses for Gods reuelation of the truth vnto him, and victory ouer the Romish Antichrist. Caluin (as Beza reports that heard him) with Dauids heart dyes, not speaking, but sighing out Dauids Psalmes. See a little Book from the Marti­rologie ga­thered, cal­led, The deaths of holy Mar­tyres. Ridley, Latimer, Hooper, Saunders: with many moe constant Professors, dyed de­sirous [Page 377] of the fire saluting the Stake, professing their Faith, confirming their Brethren, and calling vpon God.

If I should ascend a little higher, How great men haue liued and dyed good men. and looke into the sicke Couches of Emperours, Kings, Queenes, Dukes, Earles, Nobles; which, like those Boreans, Acts 17. were truely noble in­deed, I should occasion you to magnifie Gods mercies, in calling some great ones, vvho by their workes and words, as liuing so dying, testified that their Graces did equalize their Greatnesse. I might instance in Charles the fift, in Theodosius the great, in Maximilian the second, in Stephen King of Poland, in Frede­ricks the third, Prince Elector; in Ferdinand; in Queene Anne Bullen; in Ioahn Gray, the Duke of Suffolks Daughter; with diuers of others. To omit the last words of Chrysostome dying in his exile, of deuout Bernard, of Ignatius the Martyr, of these Belgicke Lights, Phillip Me­lancthon, Tremellius. Musculus, &c. with ma­ [...]y moe: some whereof thankefully recor­ding the benefits they had receiued from God in life, spirituall and temporall; some, pouring, out their soules for the good of the Church; which they haue bequeathed vnto Christ; some discoursing of the vanities of this life of the fruits of sinne, of the miseries of man; some reioycing in the Spirit, for the mitiga­tion of their paines, the consolations vvhich [Page 378] they felt from the Spirit, their vnion vvith Christ, their happy passage into Paradise, their transmigration vnto their Sauiour; exulting at the ioyes of Heauen which then they haue seene, as Moses saw Canaan, and in part tasted▪ nay, some as it were by a Propheticall Spirit, illuminating them as it did Iacob and Ioseph, fore-seeing and fore-telling what should hap­pen after their deaths; as Iohn Husse and Ierome of Praige did, concerning the Papacie, haue all of them, here with Simeon, departed in peace.

And though some amongst the Heathens, as Cyrus, Caesar, Augustus, Titus, Trai [...], Se­nerus, Adrian, Pompey; as also some of their Philosophers and Poets, as Aratus, Socrates, Aristotle, Anacharsis, Antisthenes, Theophra­stus, with others, haue spoke, to admiration, concerning the necessitie of dying, the miseries of life, the exprobration of Tyranny, the soules immortalitie, the true God, which they called The thing of things, to whom they haue called and committed their Children; as their Apo­thegmes and speeches are recorded by Plu­tarch, Zen [...]ph [...], Laertius, and others, yet they haue come so farre short of Christians, eyther in their ciuill acts and morrall workes liuing, or their words dying, that it is as easie to dis­cerne betwixt them, the strength of Nature, and the fruits of the Spirit, as betwixt conduit water and Aqua vitae by the taste.

[Page 379]Now the Reasons why the godly depart in peace are these. Reasons why the godly de­part in peace.

First, the Promise of God, which must needes be acccomplished, that Peace shall come; that they shall rest in their beds euery one that 1 walketh before the Lord, Esay 57.2. which pro­mise as it was verified in Enoch and Elias, that vvalked vvith GOD, so it shall be in all the faithfull.

Secondly, they haue peace with God, with 2 whom they are reconciled by Christ, which is their peace; and therefore they must needes haue peace in God, going out of the world to God, who haue had peace with God in the world, from whom they haue beene absent in the body.

Thirdly, they haue that peace of God in 3 their owne conscience, which passeth all vn­derstanding, Phil. 4. which setteth them in an assured perswasion of the loue of God to them in his Christ, the Lord shining in their hearts with the beames of his Spirit, and the memory of all their well done deedes then reflexing vpon their vpright consciences, fill them euen full of hidden ioy, and inward peace.

These Reasons might be amplified, Cauils re­moued that ble­mish the deaths of the Saints. and many moe added, but I hasten to the Vses, being onely intercepted with some Obiecti­ons of carnall reason, vvhich must be re­moued.

[Page 380] Obiect. 1. The first is this; Death is the wages of sinne, Rom. 6.23. the curse of the Law, Gal. 3.10. the enemie of Christ and his chidren, 1 Cor. 15. How then can it be good?

Ans. I answere, the nature and propertie of death is altered by the death of CHRIST to the godly; to whom it is a short cut to hea­uen; it is onely a curse to the reprobates, whom it sends to hell; euen like the red Sea, that drowned onely the Aegyptians, but gaue a pas­sage vnto Gods people into the Land of Promise.

Obiect. 2. Christ, Ezekias and Dauid, pray­ed against death, therefore it brings no peace.

Answ. Wee haue shewed the reasons of E­zekias and Dauids prayer before: the first wan­ting Issue to succeede him, the second being afflicted with an issue of sinne, which was not healed, Mat. 26.39 which caused for the time, both their doubts and feares: for our Sauiour Christ, he prayed not against death simply, for he dyed willingly (else his death could not haue me­rited) hee prayed for the remouall of the cup of his Fathers wrath, being the curse of death.

Obiect. 3. The godly oft dye sodainely, therefore not peaceably: for, sodaine death is a Iudgement against which we pray.

Answ. Death is not euill because it is so­daine (for the last Iudgement shall come so­dainely, and yet not euill) but it is euill to the [Page 381] vnprepared, as to the wicked Mammonist, Luk. 12.20.21. Secondly, it is neuer sodaine to the Christian in respect of preparation, eyther more or lesse, generall or speciall; which pre­paration, if it be the shorter, God accepts in their intention, Heb. 11.17 as he did Abrahams sacrificing of Isaack, as hee did Dauids in building him a Temple: if they haue no more time then with the Theefe on the Crosse, to implore Christ to remember them; with the Publican to giue one knocke on their penitent brests, with Pe­ter to giue one shrike vnto Christ, crying, Helpe Master, who dare say but with that out­cry they awaken Christ? If Moses and the be­leeuing Israelites had beene cut off sodainely by Pharaohs Sword, or the surging waues, if Peter had sunke when hee walked on the wa­ters, if the Disciples had beene lost when they were tossed in the tempest, if Paul had beene drowned when hee suffered shipwracke, wee should haue thought their deaths sodaine in the execution; but who durst haue censured them in respect of preparation? no more then we censure Mephibosheth that was slaine in his bed, or Bethlems Children, or those that peri­shed in the French Parisian Massacre, by the di­uels meanes, & the Duke of Guize; or Ionathan that was slaine in Battell; or Abner that vvas killed by Ioab. Nay, I know none of iudgement that dare censure the soules of Iobs Children, [Page 382] and of Lots Wife, that were taken away in the act of seeming sinnes: Quest. ad Dulc. c. 24. I thinke with Augustine that God respects not, quo modo, after what manner, as quales morimur, what manner of ones wee dye, in Christ, or out of Christ. We came not together hither, but like the Labou­rers in the Vineyard, some at one houre, some at another; so must wee goe forth, some soo­ner, some later.

Obiect. 4. But some of the godly raue, rage, blaspheme, behaue themselues like frantique men; nay, seeme to despayre.

Answ. First, these are the effects of their Melancholy, or are to be imputed to burning Feauers, the Collique or other violent diseases, the fruits onely of their infirmities, or at the most the temptations of Sathan, which the di­uell must answere for, not they, being rather passiue in these sins then actiue: and therefore they not arguing any want of loue towards God, any deliberate purpose of sinning, but weakenesse of Nature, tendernesse of consci­ence for sinnes committed, they hinder not their peace.

Secondly, wee see ordinarily, and I can speake it by certaine experience, in the visiting of many, that these by Gods mercy recoue­ring againe the vse of Reason, they seriously repent of these infirmities, their faith appearing like the Sun from vnder the darkening cloud.

[Page 383]Thirdly, these and all other vnknowne sinnes, are pardoned and buryed in Christs death, to those that are in Christ, Rom. 8.1.

Fourthly, in the matter of saluation God oft workes by contraries, and by the gates of Hell brings his Seruants to Heauen. Therefore let vs not play the arrogant Crittiques in con­demning those that haue liued well, eyther of Impietie or Hypocrisie, by their deaths. Let vs looke into their former courses of life and conuersation: let vs iudge charitably and Christianly, as wee would be iudged in the like case.

Obiect. 5. But Gods Saints are at their deaths most of all molested, assaulted, and tempted by Sathan; some in one nature, some in another, as was the good M ^r. Knoxe, and M ^ri•. Katherin Stubbs, and others. How then can they dye in peace?

Answ. Many of the godly (God tying and chaining vp Sathan) dye, as here old Simeon, and others before recited, as a Torch or Fire-brand, without sense of paine or tryals, Esa. 57. vers. 1.2.

Secondly, Exercentur in praelio, vt maiori remunerantur praemio, they are exercised in the last combat, that they may receiue the more ioyfull Crowne of conquest.

Thirdly, by Faith, Prayer, and Gods Word they resist Sathan as Christ did, Mat. 4.4.7. [Page 384] and hee, like a Crocodile, pursued, flyes away, Iames 4.7. 1 Pet. 5.9. for, the godly, in that houre laying holde vpon the promises, flying vnto Christ, hee mannaging their cause, the holy Spirit assisting, vvhen Sathan lookes for the greatest victory, hee receiues the greatest foyle.

Obiect. 6. But some that goe in the rancke of the godly, haue dyed of the Plague and Pestilence, Numb 25. 2 Sam. 24. which hath beene vsually sent as a iudgement for the sinnes of disobedience, vn­cleannesse, diffidence, &c. vpon the Israelites and others, from which the godly are promi­sed to be preserued, Psal. 9.10. How then die such in peace that die of the plague?

Answ. First, that promise of preseruation from the Plague in the Psalmist, is to be vn­derstood of those Iewes that in Dauids time were vntouched with it.

Secondly, then the Plague came by Gods immediate hand; now by meanes.

Thirdly, the godly are preserued from it, as it is a curse, but not as it is a fatherly correcti­on: for, doe wee not thinke that many Chri­stians in Corinth, died of the Plague; 1 Cor. 11.30.31? Vide pag. 30. 38. 45. 54. 92. 36. Hinningi Grosij. In these great Plagues which Gro­sius hath mentioned in his Tragicall Histories, which haue swept away whole Countries, with these that haue raged in particular Cities, as in Venice, in Florence, the yeere of our Lord. 400. [Page 385] in which thirtie thousand: or in Constantino­ple, when Leo Isaurus ruled, wherein there dyed three hundred thousand Citizens (as both Volateran and Aegnatius testifie,) shall wee say that none of these dyed the Seruants of God? Shall wee censure Alphonsus the [...]lea­uenth King of Spaine, that good Lodouicke, with his Sonne Iohn, many zealous Diuines, as Beza and others, for bad men, because they haue dyed of the Plague? Suppose it be an ac­cursed death; did not Christ, the penitent Theefe, Peter and Paul which were crucified by Nero, with their heads downewards, dye an accursed death, euen the death of the Grosse.

Fourthly, besides, is it not Gods visitation like other diseases?

Fiftly, is it not oft-times sent, Lib. de Mortali­tate. as Cyprian well notes, as well for the sinnes of those that liue, as of those that dye, as appeares in the Plague sent vpon Dauids Sheepe, when he the Shepheard sinned in numbring of them.

Sixtly, is it not a disease, though sharpe, yet short, and more tollerable then the Stone, Dropsie, Gout, Palsie, or the French disease?

Seauenthly, did not Dauid desire this kinde of death, rather then eyther Famine or Warre?

Eightly, nay, haue not Gods Saints, as name­ly, Iob, for many moneths together beene troubled with a more grieuous maladie?

[Page 386]Ninthly, is not God very mercifull to ma­ny that dye of the Plague, that haue their sen­ses and memories, till the last houre? are not those blew spots which appeare, Gods tokens, as they are called, fore-warning them that haue them▪ as God did Ez [...]kias, to prepare themselues, for they must dye?

Lastly, is their any death, much lesse this, can hinder the soule after her departing from Gods present and immediate fellowship, or the body from a glorious Resurrection? and, what if none visit the afflicted in this sort? the fewer that gaze on them, the fitter they are to looke vp to God. And what if they dye and vvant solemne buriall? what preiudice is that to the bodies resurrection, or soules saluation?

Obiect. 7. But some of the godly dye of Fa­mine, as did Lazarus; from which God promi­seth to preserue them, Psal. 34.

Answ. First, it is vncertaine whether Laza­rus dyed for want of food, or the violence of his disease.

Secondly, this death is rare, and seldome fals out, God prouiding for his (as hee did for Iacob and Elias euen in Famine) but if this happen, God armes his with patience, and strengthens them with the assured hope of life eternall, as hee did the persecuted He­brewes, who were exposed to nakednesse and hunger. Heb. 11.38.

[Page 387]Thirdly, the Promise is conditionall, as all others are that concerne these outward things, which fall alike to all, Eccles. 9.

Fourthly, some vnderstand the place in the Psalmist, concerning the soules of Gods Saints, which are fed with the hidden and precious Manna of the Word, to life eternall, Iohn 6. Apoc. 2.17.

Obiect. 8. But some are slaine by their ene­mies; these dye not in peace.

Ans. Yes: for no death can seperate Gods Children from his loue, Rom 8.38.

Secondly, though they kill the body, as Cain did Abels, the Philistines Ionathans, y [...]t (as Zwinglius said in the like case, as you haue heard) they cannot kill the soule.

Thirdly, it is a priuiledge if they dye in Gods cause, and procures them a greater in­crease of glory. Apoc. 14.13. Mat. 5.8.

Obiect. 9. Lastly, it is obiected, that some of the godly, as Sampson and Rasis, haue killed themselues, others haue done the like in our dayes. How haue these dyed in peace?

Ans. For Rasis, it was a weakenesse in him, Vide Po­lani Syn [...]. de inter. Scrip. Lelius de expresso dei verbo. if hee were a good man, or a wickednesse if he were not. For Sampson, what hee did was typi­call, as he prefigured Christs death, that ouer­came dying.

Secondly, it was by a speciall instinct and motion of Gods Spirit inimitable: no more [Page 388] then Abrahams sacrificing his Sonne, for those which our experience instanceth in. I confesse it is a ticklish point, and the knot is hard to be loosed.

I know that Saul, Achitophel, and Iudas, that killed themselues, are noted in the Scrip­ture for reprobates. And it seemes that those which doe this inhumane deede, doe not for the instant thinke of hell torments, yet vvhat then? God neuer forsakes his chosen: Se­condly, his mercy is bottomlesse; from the Ocean of which mercy, hee may distill some drop of grace at the last point of time.

Thirdly, this act is done commonly in some Frenzie or predominant Melancholy, when they are not themselues.

Fourthly, Sathan is a wilie Serpent, that obserues his aduantages, and the Lord know­ing his malice and wickednesse, and mans frail­tie and weakenesse, punisheth this sinne, (as he did the first sinne, Adams sin in Paradise wherein this Serpent vvas chiefe actor) more in Sathan the agent, then in man the patient.

Fiftly many Selfe-murtherers liue after the selfe inflicted fatall stroke▪ and repent ere they dye. Let vs iudge the best of them, and pray to GOD to giue vs grace neuer to yeeld to the like temptations. Amen.

And now these Doubts discussed, these Ob­iections remoued, we come to the Vses.

[Page 389]The first is this: Vse 1. Of Instructi­on. is it so that the Seruants of the Lord doe dye in peace? wee must then if wee meane to dye well, as the Lord shall in­able vs, learne to liue well. Hee that would die well must liue well. If wee will dye in peace, wee must liue the life of grace: for, it is not tam vetus, quam verum, so prouerbiall as true; Qualis vita, finis ita, as is the life, so is the death. Instance in all particulars in the Scrip­ture, from the first line in Genesis, to the last Letter of the Reuelation, and wee shall neuer see otherwayes, excepting one example of the Theefe vpon the Crosse, which is particular, miraculous, vpon a speciall occasion, to mag­nifie the effect of Christs bloud, and the power of his Passion, to eternize his mercy that gaue life euen at his death; and to shew and demon­strate his Deitie, that at the lowest ebbe of his crucified Humanitie, was able to saue a soule, to strengthen the Disciples, and allure the vn­beleeuing Gentiles: I say, excepting him, which is an extraordinary example, and not to be propounded as a president by any presump­tuous soule; wee shall not finde any one that liued ill and dyed well; but that had the Pro­logue of their euill life shut vp with the Tra­gedie of a damned death. Gen. 4. Looke vpon Cain the murtherer, that desperate Runne-a-gate, Gen. 7. Gen. 4.24. Gen. 38.8. on the licentious Worldlings, on Lamech the seauentie times auenged Polygamist; on pol­luted Onan, and wicked Err; on vncleane [Page 390] Sodome, Those that haue liued wickedly died wret­chedly. with her Sister Gomorrha, Gen. 19.2 [...]. on rebelling Israel, hard-hearted Pharaoh, ob­durate, superstitious, and irreligious Aegypt, Exod. 6.7.8. & ch. 14. on disobedient Saul, 1 Sam. 15. on lving, Iesuitically aequiuocating Gehezi, Examples. 2 Kings 5. on theeuish Achan, trea­cherous Achitophel, traiterous Iudas, adulte­rous and murtherous Herod, bloudy Ioab, co­uetous Ahab, persecuting Iezabel, deluding Ananias, deceiuing Saphira, cruell Antiochus, proud H [...]mman, vsurping Athalia, rebelling Absolon, with millions moe: looke at their liues, obserue their deaths, peruse their Sto­ries paralell their doings with their sufferings, and tell mee if they haue not sealed vp and concluded sensuall and sinfull liues with cur­sed deaths: Amos 6.2. nay, as the Prophet saith, Goe yee to Calneh and see, and from thence goe you to Hamath the great; then goe to Gath of the Phi­listines: looke vpon I [...]ppa, behold Tharsus, won­der at Niniuie the pride of Assur, Esay 13.19 gaze vpon Ba­bilon the beautie of all the Chaldees honour. And as you passe by, cast your eye vpon Ierusalem, that virgin Daughter Sion. And if you please reflexe vpon proud Troy, renowned Car­thage, famous Constantinople, learned Athens, rich Thebes, warrelike Numantia, populous Samaria, ancient Rome, old Antwerpe; and when you haue viewed them all, in the Map of your retyred Meditations, tell these re­nowned [Page 391] places, these wonders of the vvorld, that sinne hath sackt them, that pride hath beene their period, that their faults haue cau­sed their fals; that they haue beene miserable because vnmindfull of God and of themselues; that they with their inhabitants, because they haue wanted grace, haue wanted peace.

But if these be to generall for thy applica­tion, descend into particulars; The feare­full ends of Heretiques and Perse­cuters, in euery age. runne ouer Hi­stories, read the Tragicke parts that wicked men haue acted vpon the Stage of this world, and marke their ends, when Death hath struck them Non-plus. Leaue all other sinnes and sinners; looke on these that eyther haue broa­ched errours Heretically, or resisted or perse­cuted the truth obstinately and cruelly; and you shall see them dying horribly: you shall see blasphemous▪ Cerinthus killed with the ruines of an house, Euseb. lib. 7. cap. 20. Theod. lib. 1. c. 14. as he was sitting in a Bath at Ephesus. Manes, the Father of the Mani­chees, exposed to the teeth of Dogs, with his skinne flaine off by the command of a Persian King. Arius, Sabellicus lib. 5. c. 4. that hellish patrone of the Ari­ans, Euagrius lib. 1. c. 7. voyding out his bowels with his excre­ments. Olimpius, strucke with Thunder, by a three-fold Dart from Heauen, for his blasphe­mies against the Trinitie. Anno 1553. Nestorius perished in Aegypt, by the rotting of that tongue of his which denyed Christs humanitie. Tandemus, Euseb lib. 10. c. 8. that Gygantean and profane contemner of [Page 392] the Word and Sacraments, clouen to the braine by a sailing Priest. Eus. lib. 3. c. 13. Oros lib. 7 c. 11. Michael Seruetus burned at Geneua. Maximinian the Tyrant, smit with a sodaine plague from GOD, his eyes swelling, his whole body burning, so dy­ed. Cruell Domitian, the next persecuter after Nero. slaine by his Wife and Seruants, and bu­ryed like a Dogge. Eus. lib. 9. Lucius Ʋerus cut off by an Apoplexie, the eleauenth yeere of his cruell raigne. Maximinus the Thracian, murthered by his Souldiers. Decius drowned in a puddle. Ʋalerian, King Sapors slaue, after his persecu­tions, had his skinne pluckt off his rotten car­kasse. Dioclesian with his Collenge, butche­ring seauenteene thousand Christians in thirty dayes, consumed miserably, in his Frenzie, by a lingring disease, and his fellow hanged him­selfe. Vide Zona­ram▪ anna­lium lib 2. Eus. lib. 8. Valeus the Arrian Emperour, burned in his Inne, by his pursuing enemies.

What neede I giue Coale-worts twice sod, and set before you againe those dishes that haue beene cooked by all authenticke Eccle­siasticall Authors that are of credit, concer­ning the miserable death of Iulian the apo­state, whose bloud his owne hands threw into the ayre: Cent. 1. c. 12. Hist. Eccles. of Aurelian smit with a Thunder­bolt: Commodus strangled: of Paulinus pos­sessed with a Diuell, after hee had martyred Martinian and Processus: with diuers others, in which the Antichristian Popes, as they haue [Page 393] acted the chiefe parts in filthinesse, blood-guiltinesse, and superstition, so if wee obserue their ends, as they are recorded by Platina, Onuphrius, &c. and their owne Writers, wee shall see they haue dyed fearefully and despe­rately, as they haue liued damnably: as may be instanced in Siluester the second, Alexander the sixt, Heldibrand, &c. and others: all which instances, with all other examples, that Iewes or Gentiles, the Christian or Pagan world af­ford vnto vs, are nothing else but comments vpon that Maxime which S. Augustine drawes from his owne experience, when hee saith, Nunquam memini male mortuum, &c. I neuer remembred any to haue dyed ill, that haue liued well, and hardly doth hee dye well, that hath liued ill.

Therefore to extract another Vse from these premisses. Vse 2. Of Redargu­tion. Is it so that onely the Seruants of God, the Lords Simeons dye in peace, and none else? then the madnesse of those men is to be mourned (as Samuel mourned for Saul) and their ignorance or obstinacie is to be pit­tied, that flatter their owne soules, and secure themselues they shall dye happily, when they haue no care nor conscience to liue holily. Faine would they, with Balaam, Numb. 22. dye the death of the righteous, but they will not liue the life of the righteous: they would act Simeons part in death, but they will not labour for Simeons [Page 394] Spirit: they would dye like Iude, but liue like Iudas: dye like the Sonnes of God, liue like the sonnes of Belial: dye like Saints, liue like sinners: dye like Dauid, but liue like Diues, in chambering and wantonnesse, in surfetting and drunkennesse, in delights and dalliance, in pleasures and pompe: they would be vvith Christ on Mount Sion, but they will not follow him to Mount Caluarie; they will not be cru­cified with him; nay, they will not crucifie one lust, nor sacrifice one sinne, nor mortifie one member, for the loue of Christ, for the loue of their owne soules: they will not plucke out their right eies, cut off their right hands, throw away those sinnes that are as deare to them, as eyther eyes or hands; for gaining of God, for purchase of Paradise, for conquest of a crowne: nay, they will rather carrie both their eyes, and both their feete, all their deare and dar­ling sinnes (whither Iudas carryed his Hypo­crisie, and Herod his Lust) euen to death with them, euen to the graue with them, euen to Iudgement with them; then cast them off (as the wilde Beast hunted, casts away his stones, for which hee is pursued) to saue their life by dying; nay, to saue their soules by dying to sinne. Doe these men beleeue the Scripture, that tels them, Gal. 6.6. as they sow so they shall reape? Nay, doe they beleeue Experience, that in eue­ry Garden, Field, and Seede-plat shewes it? [Page 395] Doe they credit the holy Oracles, that if they liue after the flesh, they shall dye; but if they mortifie the deedes of the flesh by the Spirit, they shall liue? Rom. 8.13. And doe they▪ (nay, dare they) then goe on in sinne and thinke notwithstanding to reape saluation? Are they but dead men all their life, euen dead in sinne and trespasses, without the quickning Spirit, Ephes. 2.1. ver. 5. and doe they thinke to be liuing men in death? Doe men vse to ga­ther grapes of Thornes, and figs of Thistle [...]? they know to the contrary: and thinke they that a good death will grow of a bad life? An ill life is the vsu­all Pro­logue to a Tragicall death. let them neuer hope it. I aske such men as Iezabel asked Iehu, 2 Kings 9.31. Iehu, Iehu, did Zimri prosper, that slew his Master? I trow no. So I aske euery licentious loose sinner; Did euer any sinner dye well without repenting, that of­fended God his heauenly Master, by treaso­nable sinning?

Apply all these precedent examples to thine owne soule, and make them thy presidents: read them ouer againe, and remember them; and paralell thy selfe with them. Art thou a Theefe? looke how Achan dyed, that was a Theefe, Iosh. 7. Art thou a Whore-master? looke how the Sodomites dyed; how Er and Onan dyed, Hophni and Phinees, that were vn­cleane. A Whore? looke how whorish Iezabel dyed. A Swearer? looke how blasphemous [Page 396] Rabsakeh and Senacharib dyed, 2 Kings 19. An Idolatrous Papist? looke how the Idolatrous Israelites dyed. A Drunkard? looke how drun­ken Nabal dyed, 1 Sam. 25. Art thou addi­cted to any other sinne? looke whether those that haue runne in the same race, in the same sinne, haue prospered or perished; haue dyed ill or well: if they haue prospered, follow them; good lucke haue thou in thy iourney: if perished (as they haue) then in Gods feare retyre, Faciant aliena pericula cautum, let their harmings be thy warnings; Praemonitus, praemu­nitus. Be not more insensible then Birds and Beasts: the Bird will not flye into the Net, or light on the Lime-bush, or runne into the Snare, where shee sees another Bird flacke­ring before her. Thy Horse, as thou art tra­uelling, will not follow the tract of another horse that stickes fast before him. Oh he not thou like the Horse and Mule, without vnder­standing: thou wouldest not follow another into a gulph, a Turne-poole, a pit, a Quag-mire; oh follow not Sinners (as the Beast the Droue to the slaughter) thorow the iawes of a despe­rate death, into the pit of damnation after death, that haue gone the very same vvay, in the very path of that sinne vvherein thou liuest. The vaine hopes of wicked men.

But thou thinkest perhaps to escape scot-free, or that GOD will be more mercifull to [Page 397] thee then to them. Nay, that cannot be, hee is the same GOD that hee was to iudge, if thou beest the same soule to sinne. What de­sert is there in thee to pleade sparing more then in them? nay, rather lesse. Si in Ierusa­lem scrutinium, quid faciet Babilon? If hee spa­red not Ierusalems sinne, he will not spare thee, a Sodomite, a Babilonian: if he spared not the sinnes of the Iewes his owne people; nay, of Iudas his owne Disciple, he will not spare thee, a sinner of the Gentiles, a slaue to Sathan: if hee spared not Cedars, great Kings, hee vvill cut downe Shrubs, such as thou: nay, thy case shall be worse then these fore-recited; because thou hast had more mannuring and watering then they, more Grace offered, more Gospell preached, now in the day of thy gracious visi­tation.

But thou hopest to recoyle and retyre out of the way of sinners. Indeed backe againe by repentance is the better way; to vnweaue againe (as once Penelope did) the webbe of thy sinnes. But when will this retyring be? Thou purposest in thine olde age. Oh foole! vvho hath giuen thee a Lease of thy life till thou beest old? The rich Churle saith. Soule, take thine ease, thou hast laid vp enough for many yeeres, when hee had not one night to liue: here was a short Epitomie: perhaps the cases stand so with thee.

Goe into a Golgotha, a Church-yard, thou shalt see as many young sculs as old; little as great: obserue Funerals, and thou shalt see the Fathers oftner mourning for their dead Children, then Children for their deceased Parents. Apply to thy selfe what hath beene spoke of this point.

It is hard to leaue the cu­stome of sinne.But thy carnall heart saith, that thou canst leaue thy sinne when thou wilst, and repent, and that GOD will accept thee. Art thou so perswaded? dost thou thinke the custome of sinne is so soone left? is not Custome another Nature? Can men that haue been accustomed, leaue to sweare by their Faith and their Troth (the Iewels that they pawne to Sathan and the World vpon euery triuiall occasion?) and canst thou leaue greater and grosser, more pleasing and more profitable sins when thou wilst? Canst thou not leaue such sinnes, which thou maist as well spare as the dirt from thy nayles; namely, thy vaine words, thy oathes and blasphemies? and canst thou leaue these that haue nearer allyance with thee, and stand thee in more stead? Is an inueterate sore, a long raigning Disease so soone cured? Is that [Page 399] Diuell that hath taken long possession, so soone cast out? Can the Aethyopian leaue his black­nesse, and the Leopard his skinne? then will it be easie for thee to doe well that still accu­stomest thy selfe to doe euill.

Besides, thou thinkest thou canst repent when thou wilst. Thou maist as well imagine that if thou wert dead thou couldst reuiue and liue againe when thou wilt (for a wicked man is a dead man liuing in the life naturall, dead in the life spirituall) thou maist as well thinke to worke a Miracle when thou wilt; for, it is no greater Miracle to raise a dead body (as Christ did Lazarus) then to raise a dead soule: None can repent when hee will. to turne stones into flesh, then a stony heart into a fleshie that can repent. Indeed if Repentance were in thine owne power, there were policie in it to deferre this fight with sinne (as Fa­britius lingred to fight with his enemies) and still to taste the sweet of sinne: but it is not in thy power to repent, it is the gift of God. Acts 5. ver. 31. from whom this grace and all other come, Iames 1.17.

I, but thou hast Scripture for thy purpose: so hath the Diuell his Scriptum est: is it not written, saith the ignorant Lay-man, or the carnall Cauiller (that remembers no other Text but this, which hee wisely vrgeth to his owne destruction) that, At what time soeuer a sinner repents from the bottome of his heart, the [Page 400] Lord will be mercifull, &c. It is true, that at what time the sinner repents, hee shall be par­doned, as Mary Magdalene, the Publican, and others were: but the Lord saith not, that at what time soeuer a sinner sinnes, hee will giue him Repentance: Aug. Qui dat poenitenti veniam, nescis an dabit▪ peccanti poenitentiam. Repen­tance is the gift of Grace, it comes not from Nature: a stone hath as much power to mount vp to the Church Steeple of it selfe, as a wic­ked man to repent of himselfe. Therefore dally not with sin; be not deceiued, God is not mocked. If thou couldst leaue the traffique and commerce with sinne when thou wouldest, and repent from thy heart, sinne might vvith greater shew be retained, and with lesse dan­ger: but since the longer thou continuest in it, the more thy heart is hardened; since (as the Prophet speakes of Wine and Women,) so euery other sinne takes away the heart, Ose 11. and makes it incapable of any Christian dutie; let it be thy wisedome (as Daniel coun­cels Nabuchadnezzar) to breake off thy sinnes betimes; leaue sinne ere it leaue thee; beginne at length to liue ere thou dye: for, (as Similis once said of himselfe) though thou seest ma­ny yeeres, thou liuest but those that are pi­ously and penitently spent.

Now redeeme the time which thou hast misspent: now is thy Haruest lead home: [Page 401] now prouide against the rainy day of thy last day; now in the calme of life, arme thy selfe against the tempest of death. Oh it will be too late to thinke of leading a good life when life is ended, too late to buy after the Market is done, too late to traffique after the Mart, too late to saile when the Tyde is past, and the Sea is rough: therefore prepare a medicine before the wound, Sero Medicina paratur. Heare not the voyce of the Serpent, Eritis si­cut Dij, you shall be like Gods, to puffe you vp with pride; but feare, and beleeue the voice of God, Moriemini, yee shall dye like men: for this death prepare betimes; now is the ac­ceptable time; now is thy time, thy day, thy houre, thy visitation; now the voyce cals, Christ knockes, the Angell moues the waters, Moses and the Prophets perswade; the short­nesse of thy life, multitude of thy sinne, diffi­cultie of repenting, thy Houre-glasse running, time spending, thy former fruitlesse liuing, danger of deferring, death approaching, all vrge, moue; pleade, for a conuerted soule, a holy heart, a renued life, that thou maist dye a blessed death, finde a ioyfull resurrection, and inioy a happy glorification.

Lastly, to conclude this Text, for this time, Doctrine. and so this Worke (hauing exceeded my pur­posed and proposed breuitie) let mee onely offer vnto your considerations this meditation, [Page 402] that there is a direct and a certaine method and rule as of liuing so of dying well, There is a way laid downe in the word, to a bles­sed death. so plaine, so perspicuous, that some haue vvrit vvhole Tractaites of this subiect; from whose Haruest I will not be ashamed to gleane something (as Ruth out of the field of Booz) and insert their eares into this Garland, borrowing some few grounds of him, whom I heard as a Ma­ster out of Moses Chaire, liuing M ^r. Per­kins. M ^r. Sutton in his Booke Learne to Dye., and reue­rence dying. If any therefore demaund in this great and maine poynt of all poynts, what course hee is to take, that with old Simeon he may die in peace; for Resolution of this case of Conscience, I say that to dye well, there are two things requisite, A preparation before death, and A right disposition in death. This Prepara­tion is two-folde; generall and speciall: generall, is that whereby a man prepares himselfe to dye throughout the whole course of his life: to this the Scripture continually exhorts, when it inioynes vs straitly to watch and pray, to awake from sleepe, to prepare to meete the Bridegroome, to be in a readinesse, euery day (like Souldiers that expect their Generall) against the second comming of CHRIST to Iudgement: not to haue our hearts oppres­sed with surfetting and drunkennesse, and the cares of the world, least that day come vpon vs vnprouided, as the theefe vpon the care­lesse housholder; as the snare vpon the Bird, [Page 403] as the Floud vpon the old world, as fire vpon Sodome, as desolation vpon Ierusalem: A thing that stands vs all much vpon, as a dutie not to be omitted. First, Death is certaine, yet vncer­taine. because of that vn­certaine certaintie that is in death, certaine for the matter, (as before we haue proued) vncer­taine both in respect of the Time when, which none knowes, whither morning, euening, mid­night, or Cocke crow: in Winter, Summer, Spring, or Autumne. Secondly, in respect of Place; for none knowes where, whether at home or abroad, by Sea or by Land, in his bed, or in the field. Dauid dyed in his bed, Io­nathan in the field; the deceiued Prophet, and Amasa, in the high-way; Abner at the Court; Icarus, Helle, Aegaeus, by Sea (from whom the Aegean, and Icarian Sea, and Hellespont were named:) three Popes, Iohn the first, Iohn the foureteenth, and Caelestine the fift, dyed in pri­son: nay, some haue dyed in the very Priuies, as Arius, and Lampri­drus. Heliogabalus, two Monsters, and there had Saul dyed had not Dauid spared. Therefore Mors omni loco te expectat, Seneca. tu ex­pecta eam, since Death expects thee in euery place, expect thou it. Thirdly, for the Man­ner, no man knowes how hee shall dye, whe­ther of a naturall or violent death: Iosias was shot by the Archers and dyed, Eglon was thrust in at the fift rib, so was Abner, so was the late French King: some sodainely, as Fabius the [Page 404] Romane, Gandericus the Vandall: some of a lingring disease, some of a burning Feauer, some of a colde Collique, some this way, some that, according to the phrase:

Therefore wee are speedily to prepare for this iourney of death, since it must be gone, and wee know not how soone we shall be in­forced to trauell: in other matters morrall, the Axiome may beseeme the most politique, Deliberandum est diu, quod perficiendum semel, that wee should determine that deede with deliberation, which wee purpose to put in exe­cution: but in this weightie worke, the lesse wee are in demurring, and the more in action and doing, the better it is: to learne to dye is Ars Artium, an Art of Arts, which all the Schooles of the Gentiles could not teach without Theologie; great Rabbies in huma­nitie, are meere Ideots in this heauenly Sci­ence. It stands vs in hand then euery day (as the Pythagoreans in Philosophy) to be profi­cients in this Mysterie: for therefore is the last day vnknowne, that wee should prepare our selues euery day: and the rather, because our last day is the inchoation of our perpetuated [Page 405] sorrow or solace: the day of our Marriage with the Lambe, or of our massacring vvith the roaring Lyon; Vt in illo die, Mors inueniet, Heb. 9.27. Dominus iudicabit, as the Tree fals, so it lies, as death at that day shall leaues vs, so shall Iudge­ment finde vs: The pains of hell are without remission or redemp­tion. Esay 30. many changes and conuersi­ons from euill to good, but at that day there is no change no conuersion, Nulla remissio, nulla redemptio, no remission, no redemption: If Death finde vs barren Trees, so it cuts vs downe, so Hell-fire burnes vs in that Tophet prepared of old. If death ceaze vpon vs im­penitent sinners, as it did on Cain and Iudas, so Iudgement findes vs, so Hell holds vs, so the vncleane Spirits torment vs: there wee shall continue more millions of yeeres, then be Atoim or moates in the Sunne, then Bees in Hybla, then there were Locusts in Aegypt; nay, moe then there be Sands on the Sea-shore, pyles of Grasse on the Ground, or Starres in the Heauens, in such exquisite torments, that Perillus his Bull, Diomedes his wilde Horses, Maxentius his tying the liuing to the dead, till they dye with stincke and Famine; the French Burning-Chamber, Spanish Inquisition, tearing with Lyons, boyling in Oyle, pinching vvith burning Pincers, and the like, are pleasing Baths, cooling Harbors, and refreshing recrea­tions in comparison: neuer to be relieued, ne­uer to be released, not to be ransomed vvith [Page 406] thousands of Goates and Rammes, with riuers of Oyles, not with all the Masses, Trentals, Dirges, &c. and trumpery of Romish Supersti­tion; nay, not with all the Prayers of the Saints in earth or heauen: nay, if Noah, Dauid and Daniel should intreate, if the Virgin Mary should mediate, if all the Angels should sup­plicate, eyther the remission of their sinnes, or intermission of their sorrowes and plagues, it were bootlesse and fruitlesse.

Oh then, how much doth this mature and preparatorie repentance concerne euery soule, that by it the vnion being made betwixt Christ and their soules, their sinnes being washt away in the bloud of the Lambe, the Lord at that day may freely accept them, and seeing no ini­quitie in Iacob. Numb. 22. Psal. 32.1. nor transgression in Israel, may couer their offences, and not impute their sinnes to their deserued condemnation? In omitting or pretermitting of which dutie, wee may iustly blame and exclaime against wicked and secure worldlings, Repen­tance is not to be deferd till sicknesse, or death. that neuer thinke of this waightie worke, till by sicknesse they be sum­moned to their dissolution: then, with the vn­righteous Steward, they beginne to shuffle and bussle a little, to make all straight, in some superficiall and hypocriticall Repentance; like Ahab. 1 Kings. 21. Which preparation of theirs, for their Passe-ouer out of this world, is at that time very preposterous, because then all the senses [Page 407] and powers of the body are occupyed about the paines and troubles of the disease. Besides, Physitians to be consulted with, Plurimis intensis mi­nor, ad sin­gula sensus. Friends to be conferred with, Houshold affayres to be set in order: a Will to be made; order taken how debts must be eyther paid or receiued: neigh­bours comming to visit; oh how doe they di­uide, how distract the sicke party! Is that a fit time of this preparation? When so many I­rons are in the fire, it is likely this great one will coole: much lesse is it conuenient to de­ferre it till the houre of death, as is the pra­ctise of carnall and carelesse men, imagining that if they haue but time to say, God forgiue me, Lord haue mercy on mee, with the Publican, but especially to runne ouer the Lords Prayer, and the Creede, which they vse in ignorance and superstition, as Popish Charmes, without any faith, feruencie, and feeling; they holde themselues cocke-sure of saluation, though their preparation be not so good, as the Iewes for their Passeouer, as a Christians is or ought to be, for his ordinary hearing the Word, and receiuing the Sacrament. Doe not these men presumptuously thinke (like blinde Bayards) that they haue God, and his Grace, and his Mercie at commaund; that they can repent when they list: the contrary experience where­of improues their folly, discouers their delu­sions, and shewes that they build on the sand, [Page 408] and rest on a broken staffe; The dan­ger of de­ferring dis­couered. for, was there not a time when Esau sought the blessing with teares and found it not? Would not Iudas faine haue repented, as appeares by his hypo­criticall confession, Mat. 27.3.4.5. and yet a Halter was all the comfort he got? Would not Antiochus Epiphanes had mercy, when not­withstanding his expired life ended in miserie? Would not the foolish Virgins haue entered the Bridegroomes Chamber, when it was past time, but were excluded? And doth not the Lord threaten that many shall seeke to enter in at the straite gate but shall not be able? Why so? Because they seeke too looke, when the time of grace is past. And indeede it is iust with God to reiect them in aduersitie, that haue reiected him in prosperitie; not to heare when they call, though they howle on their beds like Wolues, that would not heare when hee called by his Word, and the motions of his Spirit; to forget them in death, that would not remember him in life; to harden those that would not be softned.

Consider with thy selfe what reason there is to the contrary: is it reason that God should accept the Winter of thy life, thy barren and frozen soule, when thou hast offered vp the Spring, Summer, and Autumne of thy yeeres to Sathan? that he should receiue the euening Sacrifice, when Mammon, or Lust, hath had [Page 409] the morning? that he should be pleased with thy lees and dregs, when thou hast giuen the best wine of thy bloud to the Diuell? will hee pledge Sathan in such a cup? will he take the refuse, and off [...]ls, and leauings of Sinne? It is possible hee may, I doe not limit the vnboun­ded Ocean of his mercy, but it is not probable hee will.

Make it thine owne case: wouldest thou en­tertaine an old decrepit Seruant, that is able to doe thee little or no seruice, and giue him great wages, that hath spent his youth and strength in the seruice of thine enemie? I trow not. Will any Generall admit of a lame Souldier past seruice, that hath serued all his life against him, in his enemies Campe? will God admit thee into his seruice, entertaine thee into his Campe, receiue thee into his House, reward thee in his Kingdome, when thou hast spent the prime of thy yeeres in the seruice, nay, in the seruitude and slauery of Sathan? I say as Augustine said to such a deferrer as thou, Non dico saluabitur, non dico damnabitur, I will not say thou shalt be saued, I dare not determine thou shalt be damned: I leaue thee in the hands of God, that hath thee as the Potter hath the Clay, as the Smith his Iron, as the Carpenter his Wood, as the Creator his Creature, to harden or soften thee; to make thee a vessell of honour or dishonour; to glo­rifie [Page 410] himselfe in his Mercy, in thy conuersion; or in his Iustice, in thy confusion.

But thy heart tels thee, and Sathan tels thy heart, that thou maist repent at thy last houre. Thou maist indeed if God will, but (to driue thee from this false holde) it is not likely thou shalt repent truly and sincerely. It is said, Iudas repented in his death, so the Word is, Mat. 27. verse 3. hee had a Legall sorrow in him, yet hee is called a reprobate for all that: it is too true, that Poenitentia sera raro vera, late Repen­tance is seldome true Repentance. It is com­monly as sicke and weake as is the partie; it is not voluntarie and free, as that is which brings saluation, 2 Cor. 7.10. but vsually constrained and extorted, by the feare of hell and other Iudgements of God: for, crosses and afflicti­ons and sicknesse, will cause the grossest Hy­pocrite that euer was, to stoope and buckle vn­der the hand of God (as did Pharaoh twise) and to dissemble Faith and Repentance, and euery other Grace of God, as did Ahab; as though they had Gods graces, as fully as any of Gods Seruants, whereas they are altogether destitute of them, naked and blinde, like the Laodiceans. Reu. 3.18. And that such repenters com­monly counterfeite, it appeares by this demon­stration: True Repentance is a turning to God; so the Word cals it, Ioel 2.12. an auer­sion from sinne, which is his Terminus à guo: [Page 411] a conuersion to God, Terminus ad quem? so most Diuines hold it. Now where is the tur­ning from sinne in such repenters? They for­sake not sinne, but sinne forsakes them: they leaue their euill wayes, because they must leaue the world: they leaue sinne in action, but hugge it still in affection: if they had a new Lease of their liues, they would beginne new sinnes. Nay, Si nunquam morirentum, Gregorie. nun­quam peccare desinerent; If they should neuer dye, they would neuer desist from sinne, as appeares in the practise of these pretended re­penters: for, if God doe recouer them from their sicke-beds, and take his hand off them, doe they goe their wayes and sinne no more, Iohn 5.14? Nay, doe they not returne to their former bias; Canis ad vomitum, like Dogges to their vomit againe, and Swine to their wal­lowing? insomuch that though the world say they are mended, yet Christians can see no amendement in them, but they keepe their worst wine vnto the last, and their end is worse then their beginning?

Yet for all this which hath beene said, the Theefe on the Crosse stickes much on the stomackes of many? Why may not they liue as ill as hee did, and yet deferre their repen­tance till the last, and be saued as hee was? I haue vnloosed this knot before. But to giue still further satisfaction.

[Page 412] The theefes re­pentance vpon the Crosse ex­amined.First, it may be, (nay, it is likely) the Theefe was neuer called before that time, so much as outwardly: that, hee neuer heard Christs Ser­mons before then that hee saw him; which thou doest, or maist doe, in this light of the Gospell: therefore if hee had dyed impeni­tently, hee should haue beene more excused then thou.

Secondly, as his example is extraordinarie, so it is particular: now, particulars are not to be vrged for a generall practise.

Thirdly, his example is singular, wee haue no moe late repenters saued but hee. We haue him indeede (saith Augustine) that we should not despaire, if wee doe deferre; and yet wee haue but onely him, him and no moe in the whole Scripture, that we should not presume. You know his other fellow-theefe, that liued as hee did; dyed not as hee did, but impeni­tently, scoffingly, and desperately: so haue all other obdurate wicked ones dyed, as we haue proued out of the Word. If then Sathan, and Nature perswade thee still to liue in sinne, thou maist repent at last, with the good Theefe, and so be saued: thinke that it is more proba­ble thou shalt dye impenitently, with the bad Theefe, if thou continue thy courses, and so be damned.

Thou knowest, amongst many Traytors, the King pardons some; but for one that is [Page 413] pardoned, an hundred are deseruedly execu­ted: were it not folly to attempt treason vpon hope of pardon, because some one is pardoned amongst many? but it is greater folly to liue impenitently till death, because one Theefe was in that case saued, when as wee haue in­stanced in Cain, Iudas, Herod, &c. and an hun­dred moe, that as they liued in iniquitie, dyed in impenitence, and now are damned eter­nally.

Therefore to conclude, Exhortat. let mee heate thy heart a little, and inflame thy affections to pre­pare speedily for thy dissolution: to take time before thee, it is bald behinde; to worke whilst it is day, ere the night of death comes, harden not thy heart any longer, but to day heare his voyce, that cals thee, as it did Samuel and Da­uid, to awake and to seeke his face: Cry not with the Crow, Cras, Cras, to morrow, to mor­row, but this day with Noahs Doue, come into the Arke: yet Ionas cryes in the streetes, Ionas 3.4. yet the Angell stayes Sodomes flames, Gen. 19. yet the weather is fayre to build an Arke in, Gen. 7.5. yet the Prophet cryes. Oh Iudah, how shall I intreate thee? Hos. 6.4. yet the Bridegroome tarries and stayes the Virgins leasures, Mat. 25.7. yet the Apostle beseecheth for Christs sake, that thou wouldest be reconciled, 2 Cor. 5.20.

Oh therefore prepare oyle betimes, vvith [Page 414] the wise Virgins, enter whilest the gate is open, seeke the Lord whilest hee may be found, call vpon him whilest hee is nigh, waite for thy Masters comming with the good Seruant, build the Arke ere the Floud come, prepare thy soule ere Death come: this is thy time, thy day, tempus tuum: Death is Gods day, tempus suum, and his time. Now is the time to repaire the Ship of thy soule in the Hauen, but the tempestuous Sea of Death is no fit time: the breach is to be made vp in the time of peace, not in time of warre. Now make peace, in the day of peace, with the God of peace, that with old Simeon thou maist dye and rest in peace, and remaine in glory. Thus much for preparation.

Now the manner of this Preparation con­sists in some particulars, which wee meane to prosecute.

Medita­tion of death is a principall part of pre­paration to die in peaceThe first whereof is Meditation: Memento mori, must be euery mans Motto: a point that as the Scripture inioynes, so the Saints haue practised, and the Heathens haue approued this principle, that Tota hominis vita, mortis meditatio, the whole life of a man ought to be the meditation of death: the best Schollers that euer were in the Schoole of Christianitie, haue beene taken vp in this thought. Adam was no sooner created, but God his Schoole-master catechizeth him in this point of death: [Page 415] hee cals him Adam, rubra terra, red earth; hee casts him into a sleepe, the Image (nay, as the Cynicke cals it) the Brother of death: hee tels him, if hee sinne, hee shall dye the death. When hee had sinned, he fore-warnes him that hee shall returne to his dust from which hee came: hee makes him garments of Beasts skinnes, that had dyed for sacrifice, to shew him that hee was mortall, like those Beasts whose skinnes hee wore: hee sets him to dig and tyll the Earth, to put him in minde both of the dustie matter whereof hee vvas made, and into which hee and all his posteri­tie must be dissolued. Adam, it seemes, tooke out these Lessons, and taught them his Chil­dren; for though hee called his eldest Sonne Possession, yet hee called his Brother Abel, Ʋanitie, when hee had more experience of the vanities of life, and life it selfe.

In this Meditation the Patriarkes were won­derously taken vp, the very forme and fabricke of their Mansions, not dwelling in seiled houses, as wee doe (though they were both greater men and of greater meanes) but in Tents and Tabernacles, such as they vse in the warres, ready vpon all occasions to be remo­ued (euen like the Boothes in Sturbbish Faire) shew, that they did constantly ponder of their owne remouals; nay, their tongues expressed the abundant thoughts of their hearts in this [Page 416] kinde, Abraham confest himselfe but dust and ashes, Gen. 18.17. Iacob acknowledgeth his life a Pilgrimage. Ioseph giues order for the buriall of his bones, Gen. 50. The grea­test purchases which wee reade the Patriarkes made, or that euer they spoke of, was onely a place to bury their dead in. Moses so thought of his mortalitie, that hee makes a Psalme wherein he both acknowledgeth mans frailtie, and inferres this Petition pathetically, that the Lord would teach him, Psal. 90.12. and the Israelites, to number their dayes: which Psalme the aunci­ent Fathers vsed in forme of a Prayer. Iob waites till his changing come, Iob 10.14 Da­uid makes no other reckoning of himselfe then of a Pilgrime, Psal. 120.3. and Peter ac­counts his continuance here, but his abode in a tabernacle; 2 Pet. 1.3.

Oh that such thoughts did possesse vs! they would make vs more familiar with Death, and it more welcome vnto vs; for, Iaculaprae­uisa, minus faeriunt, Darts fore-seene doe the lesse harme. Oh, how many sinnes would they cut off, (as Hercules did the heads of Hydra,) which are the onely weakeners of our Faith, wounders of our soules, workers of our vvoes, and disturbers of our dying peace. Therefore saith the Wise-man, Remember thy end, and thou shalt neuer doe amisse. For, as the Bird directs her selfe by her taile flying, and the [Page 417] ship is directed by her stearne, sayling, to auoid the Rockes: so is a Christian conformed and confirmed in an happy course, preserued from the Soule-splitting Rockes of sinne, by the thought of death.

First, it mortifies from the world: Effects of deaths me­ditation. hee ea­sily contemnes all, that thinkes hee must dye, (saith an olde Hermite) for, what cares a con­demned malefactor, that fits himselfe for his euery houres expected execution, for thou­sands of Gold and Siluer.

Secondly, it curbes the pompe and glory of the world: for what cares old Berzillas for all the pleasures of Dauids Court, when the keepers of his house, his hands, tremble; Eccl. 12.3.4 his legs, these strong men bowe themselues; when his eyes, the windowes of his body, waxe darke; when his eares, the daughters of Mu­sicke, are abated; when the Grashoppers, or bended shoulders, are a burthen; and his teeth, the Grinders, cease? hee thinkes rather of re­turning to Gilead, and dying in his owne Country, then of Ierusalems Court, 2 Sam. 19.

Thirdly, it curbes pride: Quid superbis puluis & cinis? saith Bernard; Oh, how can dust and ashes be proud? meditatio mortis, &c. Augustine. the meditation of death is the nayle of the flesh, which fixeth all the proud lusts thereof to the wood of the Crosse. What Peacocke can be proud when hee lookes at his blacke [Page 418] feete, the earth from whence he is, and whither hee tends. Therefore euen amongst the Hea­thens, saith Caelius Rodiginus, when their Em­perours were crowned, as a counter-poyson against pride, they were carryed vnto the Se­pulchers of dead men, and there it was deman­ded of them, what one should be made for them. So Climachus reports of that good Basil, that the very day wherein with great ioy and applause he was propounded Doctor and Pastor to the people, as an Antidote against pride, hee made one to tell him thus; Pater, sepulchrum tuum nondum est perfectum; Father, thy sepulcher is not yet finished. The like thoughts, amongst others, Augustine vsed, when hee found himselfe tickled with secret pride, with the applauses of the people, for his exquisite Sermons.

Fourthly, it is a meanes of temperancie, and a restrainer of intemperancie, and a cur­ber of Carnalitie and Epicurisme. Hence it was that the auncient Aegyptians, Lib. 3. as Heroditus reports, in their Gemalia and Feasts of great and Noble-men, there was the portraiture of a dead man, in wood, which was round, like a Globe, had to euery guest to behold, with this Motto writ on it, In hanc intuens, pota & obli­ctate, talis post mortem futurus.

[Page 419]Hence it is that Augustine, as hee would haue a man alwayes to thinke vpon these qua­tuor nouissima, foure last things, Death, Iudge­ment, Heauen, Hell; so chiefely in their Fe­stiuals and meetings, wherein Sathan chiefely beguiles men; as hee did Adam and Eue by eating. And sure, amongst other things, this made that Ci [...]icke Philosopher so abstinent, because hee was continually amongst tombes and Sepulchers: but sure the meditation of their Tombes and Sepulchers, De orig. Monich. caused Paulus Symplex, Macariu [...] Pambo, and other Hermites in Hospinian, to be so abstenuous, euen to a maruell, if not to a miracle. I wish the Tricon­gij, Biberij, and Heliogabuli, I meane the Epi­cures and Belly-gods, that eate and drinke till there be as little Grace in their Soules, and Wit in their Pates, as their be Wines in their Pots, that they would drinke out of an earthen vessell, with Agathocles; or looking vpon a Deaths-head, as is the fashion in some Countryes; or that a dead mans skull were pre­sented vnto them the first dish at their Table, as it is in the Court of Prester-Iohn: or at least, that if the picture of Death which I haue seene in the bottome of some cups, will not, yet that the sight of the dead creatures before them▪ might call vnto them as Phillips Boy to Phillip, Memento te esse mortalem, Oh Epicurish Glut­ton, remember thou art mortall: or that they [Page 420] would ponder the voyce which S. Ierome al­wayes imagined, euen when hee was eating and drinking, Arise you dead, and come to Iudgement. Perhaps these thoughts vvould make them put their kniues to their throates as Salomon speakes, and damme vp the gulph of their inordinate appetites.

Fiftly, this thought would worke in vs con­tentation in euery estate, as it did in Iob, who in the midst of his afflictions, comforts him­selfe with this consideration, Naked came I out of my mothers wombe, and naked shall I re­turne. The thought of this, that wee shall carrie nought away with vs but a Coffin, or a winding sheete, should keepe vs within com­passe of too eager pursuite in purchasing, or impatiencie in parting with this vnrighteous Mammon.

Sixtly, this thought of death is a notable meanes and spurre to further our Repentance: it will cause vs, if any thing, not onely with Ezekias and Achitophel, to set our houses in order, but our hearts to: for, what so hast­ned the repentance of Niniuie as the beliefe and thought of Ionas his Sermon; it was time for them to bestirre themselues, when they had but forty dayes to liue. So when Elias tels Ahab that the Dogges shall eate him and Iezabel, hee makes some superficiall shew of repentance. So the third Companie of fiftie, [Page 421] with their Captaine, that came by violence to fetch Elias, when they saw the two other Cap­taines with their fifties, consumed with fire, they seeme to relent, and deale with the Pro­phet by intreatie.

If then meditation of death haue such force, both in the godly and wicked, both in Chri­stians and Pagans, to incite to vertue, restraine vice, curbe couetousnesse, cure pride, bridle lust, moderate murmuring, keepe in intem­perancie, procure repentance, cause mortifi­cation, and doe euery way so correct a vicious life, and so direct a happy death: since of all other Meditations this strengthens the minde, as of all other meates bread strengthens the body: since it is as needfull to a good life as wings for Birds, sailes for Marriners, tailes for Fishes to swimme, wheeles for Coaches to runne, as Climachus makes the comparisons: since you see the holy Patriarkes, Abraham, Iacob, Ioseph, Iob, Moses, Dauid; nay, I may adde our Sauiour CHRIST (who was most frequent in discourse with his Disciples of his death, his Passion, his houre, his crucifying; nay, euen then when hee was transfigured in glory, hauing two dead men with him, Mat. 17. Moses and Elias, and talking of his death when hee came from the Mount, (as appeares in the Euangelists) did so oft thinke of death: since the Saints after Christs death, Augustine, [Page 422] Ierome, Basil, Bernard; the deuout Hermites; nay, euen Ethnicke Kings and Philosophers, made such good vse of this Meditation; as we haue proued: then let the thought possesse vs that are now liuing, of our ineuitable dy­ing▪ that it may worke in vs the same effects that it did in them.

Exhortat.Oh let vs thinke of it in our prosperitie, in our pleasures; let vs meditate of it in our Or­chards, in our Gardens, as did Ioseph of Ara­mathia; who ( Iohn 19.41.) had his Sepulcher in his Garden, euen the place of his recrea­tions: let vs thinke of it in our beds (those Embleames of our graues▪) in our Closets, in our Cloisters, in our Walkes and Galleries, that so remembring it in euery place, expect­ing it at euery houre, it may not come vpon vs vnprouided, as the storme vpon the Marri­ner, as the enemie vpon the drowsie Centinel, as Dauids Companie vpon the drunken Ama­lekites, Inuadunt vrbem s [...]m­no vino (que) sepultum. as the politique Graecians vpon the se­cure Troyans. Death is like the Basiliske, it hurts not if it be spyed betimes: if Death spye vs first, it kils vs, as the Basiliske doth the Traueller; if wee spye it first, wee kill it, as the Traueller doth the Basiliske, as Ambrose makes the Application: and therefore as Ari­stotle writes of two Fountaines, the one where­of if a man drinke, it makes him laugh so much till he dye; if of the other, it both hinders [Page 423] laughter, and preuents death: Et risum impedit, & mortem. these two fountaines are the Remembrance and the Ob­liuion of death: the last is like poysoned water to kill vs, the first like strong distillatorie wa­ters to reuiue vs.

Yet alas, for all this who thinkes of death? Expostula­tion. there is such a generall crust of Securitie growne ouer this Land, that it is to be feared wee are exposed to the same dangers that Ie­rusalem was, the cause of all whose plagues was, shee knew not her visitation, she remem­bred not her end, Lament. 1.9. Oh how few number their dayes that they may apply their hearts vnto wisedome? How few thinke of their ends, till sicknesse end them, till Death say to them as GOD to Ezekias, Thou must dye: and as the Prophet to Ahaziah, Thou shalt not come downe from thy bed to which thou art gone vp? 2 Kings 1.4. How few looke in­to hell ere they leape into it? How many A­rithmeticians are in the world, that number all things but their dayes; their corne, cattle, sheepe, stocke, money, wares, and the like [...] that are as wise Serpents in euery thing, excep­ting in fore-seeing their death? How many, like carelesse debters, still runne into the debts and arrerages of former sinnes with GOD, their patient Creditor, neuer thinking of the day of account, the strictnesse of the Iudge, the closenesse of the Prison, the Serieant at [Page 424] their backes, Death ready to arrest them? How many sleepe out their time, like Salomons slug­gard? How many cry, Soule take thine ease, eate, drinke and be merry, singing to the Tabret and the Hharpe, stretching themselues vpon their Iuory Couches, saying (like these Epicures, which Tertullian blames in his Bookes of the Soule) Oh Death, what haue we to doe with thee? trouble not thou vs, and wee shall not trou­ble thee: yea, though wee haue so many Mo­nitors, euery day, in all the things of Nature: the Sunne setting ouer vs, the graues vnder vs, M [...]numen­tum▪ quasi [...]ens men­tem. though wee see many Tombes euen in our Churches and Monuments (as the word sig­nifies) to admonish vs; Crosses and Sicknesses, Deaths summons, that tell vs Death is appro­ching, vellicat haec aures, at (que) ait en venio; yet neuerthelesse, as the sight of one obiect or colour takes away the eye from beholding another: the thought of the world, and the lusts thereof, takes away the thought of death. And as Absolon carryed on his Mule, whilest hee hung by the haire of the head, was thrust through three times by Ioab; so our soules being carryed here vpon our flesh, (vvhich Augustine, Hugo, and Luther, call the Asse of the soule) whilst our thoughts are climing, and fixt vpon the high Tree of Honour, Pleasure, Preferment, Death, like Ioab, comes and kils vs with a triple Dart that wee see not, Time [Page 425] past, present, and to come: neuer thinking of these darts till wee feele them, no more then the fish of the hooke till it hold her; yea, though wee see daily, wiser, wealthier, holier, healthfuller, and younger then our selues, goe to their graues, yet this thought still raignes vs, that wee shall not dye till wee be old, as Se­neca notes, Non patemus ad mortem, &c. yea, Ad Mart. euen such as thinke they shall be happy after death, thinke little of the day of death; Lib. de gratia no [...] Test. Tan­tum vim habet carnis & animae dulce consortium, saith Augustine, such force hath that sweet consort betwixt the soule and the flesh. But it is more which Tully notes, that there is no man so old, but hee thinkes hee may liue one yeere longer, though hee vse his third foote when one of his other feete is in the graue al­ready: and this makes euen old so encline in their thoughts and desires vnto the Marri­age-bed, who in the course of Nature, haue but a few steps into their graues; yea, to asso­ciate themselues with such young yoake-fel­lowes, that if Sophocles were liuing, hee would blush once againe for shame to see them; and Cato should haue more matter to laugh at, then to see an Asse eate Thistles: in which we verifie Christs prophesie, that as in the dayes of Noah, wee marry and are marryed, neuer thinking of death till the Floud come. This makes such an invndation of sinne, as delights [Page 426] Sathan, who takes as great delight to steale away our hearts from the thought of Death, as Absolon did to steale away the hearts of the people from his Father Dauid: for, he knowes full well, that if wee should thinke of Death, wee should not practise sinne: hee knowes that as the Serpent, when shee stops the one eare with her taile, the other with the earth, shee will not harken to the voice of the Char­mer; so the Lords Doues, that are as wise as Serpents, laying their eares to the earth, re­membring their mortalitie, will not be delu­ded with the charmes of his temptations: he knowes that his hooke bayted with riches, will not be bit vpon if a man remember himselfe, breuis incerti (que) huius iteniris, of this his short and vncertaine iourney: hee knowes hee will not sinne, that knowes after death hee shall in­herit Serpents and Wormes. For which cause when hee would haue vs to sinne, hee hides the griesly head of Death, casting the scumme and mist of some deceiuing pleasure before our eyes, (as they say Iuglers doe in their trickes,) shewing vs onely sinnes pleasure, (as the Panther shewes his pleasing spots to the Beasts) to deceiue, hiding his head, that hee may deuoure vs.

Therefore to conclude this Part, as our Sa­uiour Christ said, De paup. amand. Remember Lots Wife: as Na­zianzen saith to oppressors, Remember Naboths [Page 427] Ʋineyard: so I bid those that are terrigenae & Brutigini, the sonnes of the earth, Remember their earth: nay, God wisheth thee to remem­ber thy earth, Oh that they were wise (saith God, of Israell) and would remember the latter things, Deut. 32.29. Oh that wee were wise euen in this particular! oh how should vvee auoid many snares of Sathan, that preuailes ouer vs, euen by our securitie in this kinde? And therefore Quos viuentes blanditijs deci­pit, &c. whom hee deceiues by fraud liuing, Greg. in Mor. hee deuoures by force dying. Oh how should wee be prepared for the second comming of CHRIST, if wee had but an eye to the pale Horse and him that sits thereon! Apoc. 6.8. Oh that wee had but the wisedome of the Cocke, that eating his meate, hath euer an eye vpwards, to looke at the Eagle or the Hawke! Oh that wee, as wee looke downewards with the eye of Reason, to the things of this life, would with the eye of Faith looke vp for the comming of Christ, who as hee rose like a Lion, is ascended like an Eagle, and will de­scend againe to iudge vs: then should wee be fitted, with the good Seruant, come when he will come, to entertaine our Master with ioy, Mat. 24.23.

But alas, woe be to the secure world, vvee neither thinke of Iudgement generall nor spe­ciall, after death or in death: sometimes in­deede [Page 428] wee can say, wee are all mortall, but (ex vsu [...]agis quam sensu) as some pray, it is a word rather of custome then feeling: wee seeme to be a little more moued when wee follow a Funerall, then wee weepe and waile, and cry out, This is the end of all flesh: but as soone as wee are at home, the most we doe is a carnall fruitlesse mourning for the dead; wee make no spirituall vse of it to dye to any sinne: in which, as some compares vs, wee are like to Swine, who when some one in the Heard is bit with a Dogge, all flocke about and gruntle, but presently it is forgot, they fall againe to wallowing and rooting: or, like little Turkies and Chickens, who if the Kite or Buzzard swap and catch one, all the rest with their dammes, are in an vprore, but instantly they fall againe to feeding: so when Death that de­uouring Dog, that rauening Kite, that preyes vpon all flesh, snatcheth away any of our Friends and Neighbours, wee complaine and exclaime of lifes breuitie, the worlds vanitie, wee mourne and pretend mortification; vvee lament and seeme to repent, but within few dayes all is drowned in the Leth of Obliuion: wee forget Death, as Nabuchadnezzar forgot his Dreame; wee fall againe to our former sinfull securitie, and so wee continue till vvee dye, exe [...]cati, insoporati, impraeparati; excecated, insoporated, vnprepared. God reforme this, [Page 429] and teach vs, as Dauid prayes, Psal. 38. the number of our dayes, and make vs vvise to saluation.

Besides this Meditation, which wee make a part of preparation, to the attaining of this peaceable departure, other duties are to be adioyned: some whereof are to be performed in health, some in sicknesse, some in the im­mediate summons of Death it selfe: of all which briefely in these subsequent directions.

First, let him that will die in peace, The life of Faith brings peace in Death. liue by Faith, Hab. 2.2. let him not content himselfe with an Historicall Faith, such as the Diuels haue, Iames 2.14. no [...] with a Ciuill Faith, such as morrall men haue, and as the Heathens haue; nor with an Implicite Generall Faith, See D. Mosse, his Sermon of the Faith of Diuels. which the Papists haue, euen the Coblers Faith, to beleeue as the Romish Church be­leeues: for alas, all these kindes of Faith bring no more peace and comfort to the soule, in any extremitie, then cold water to a man that is in a sowne. And therefore many men are de­ceiued, which thinke they shew themselues ex­quisite Christians, and haue enough to salua­tion, if to their Pastor or others, in their sick­nesse, they can repeate and render their Faith, according to Gods Word, and the Articles of the Creede; with a renunciation of all points of Poperie, of Heresies, and Superstitions: for alas, this generall illumination, this know­ing [Page 430] Faith, which onely swimmes in the braine, without a particular applying Iustifying Faith, which workes by Loue, and brings forth the fruits of Prayer, Repentance, godly Sorrow for sinne, Zeale, Sanctification, new Obedi­ence, &c. neuer heates the heart, nor comforts the conscience, nor hath the answere of any sound peace from God. Oh therefore labour for a Iustifying sauing Faith, for a speciall and an applying Faith; such as Paul preacht to the conuert Iaylor, Acts 16.31. Phillip to the bap­tized Eunuch, Acts 8.37. such a Faith as is commended in the auncient Patriarkes and Primitiue Worthies, Hebrewes the eleauenth Chapter; such as CHRIST commended in the Centurion, Mat. 8.10. and the Canaanitish woman; Mat. 15.28. such as Thomas had af­ter his incredulitie, calling Christ his Lord and his God; Iohn 20.28. such as Paul had, when hee profest that he liued euen by Faith in Iesus Christ, Gal. 2.20. such as Simeon here had. Oh get Christ into thy heart by Faith, as this good old man had him in his Armes and in his heart, and thy death shall be peaceable like his.

Repen­tance the meanes of peace with God.Secondly, if thou wilst die in peace, repent speedily of thy fore-past and present sinnes: for, sinne hinders all true peace; There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God, twise for sure­nesse in expresse words, Esay 48. verse 22. [Page 431] so Chap. 57.21. Iniquitie makes a diuision and seperation from God, Esay 59.2. euen in life, much more in death: for then the soules of the wicked goe to Hell, Psal. 9.16. much more in Iudgement, Mat. 7.23. Where there is plaine and palpable whoredome discouered there can be no peace betwixt man and wife: all sinne is whoredome, and sinners are called Adulterers and Adultresses, Iames 4. verse 4. they are spiritually and corporally polluted by the Flesh, the World, the Diuell; for which cause, rebellious Israel and Iudah are compa­red to Whores and Harlots, Ier. 3. v. 8.9. &c. Now, if any wicked soule should aske with a desire of resolution, as the two Messengers of Ieboram, and as Iehoram himselfe asked Iehu, Is it peace? Is it peace? 2 King 9.18.19. Is there peace or shall there be peace betwixt God and my soule? I resolue him roughly from God, as Iehu did Iehoram, verse 22. What peace? What hast thou to doe with peace, since thou wantest Grace, the inseparable companion of Peace? 2 Tim. 1.2. What hast thou to doe with peace, whilst the whoredomes of thy Mother Ie­zabel, and her witchcrafts are great in number? whilst the pollutions of that whorish Iezabel, thy vncleane soule, are daily increased? whilst thy Treasons and Rebellions against thy God (which, as Samuel tels Saul, are like the sinne of witchcraft, 1 Sam. 15.23.) are with an obdu­rate [Page 432] and obstinate heart continued? Was there any peace to Absolon, though a Sonne, when hee was a Traytor against his Father? Can there be any to thee, not a Sonne of God, but a slaue of Sathan, rebelling against the Father of Spirits? Had Zimri peace (saith Iezabel to Iehu) that slew his Master? 2 Kings 9.31. Zimri was a Traytor, and slew Elab, as hee was drinking till hee was drunke, in the house of Arza his Steward (an vsuall end for drunkards) 1 Kings 16.9.10. Iezabel argues well; Can Traitors haue peace? looke to it Iehu; thou art a Traytor against Ahab: sure Traytors seldome or neuer dye in peace. Wit­nesse, Absolon, Sheba, Adoniah, our English Traytors, Romanized Semenaries, treache­rous Conspirators, Lopus, Squire, T [...]chburne, Babington, Parry, &c. our late Powder-plot­ting Pioners, the French Rauillack, millions moe, which being like Ioab, men of bloud, haue come to their ends (as is said of Tyrants) cum caede & sanguine, with bloud and slaugh­ter. Oh then, how canst thou, a worme of the earth, a wretched man, because a vvicked man, liuing in treasonable sinnes, with a heart as hard as the neather-Milstone, rebelling against so great, so glorious, so potent, so powerfull a God, once hope that euer thy gray haires shall come to the graue in peace, or that thy soule after her flitting, shall rest in [Page 433] Abrahams bosome the place of peace. Can a man haue peace in Rome, and be opposed against the Pope, the vsurping Herod (that supposed earthly God, as his flattering Para­sites call him?) oh then, canst thou dust and ashes, be opposed on earth against the migh­tie Iehouah, the God of heauen?

Christ that opened the eyes of the blinde, open thine eyes to see, and thy heart to be­leeue, as hee did Lydia's, Acts 16.14. and giue thee, at last, a resolution to breake off thy sinnes by repentance, Dan. 4.84. the enemies of thy peace, least God breake thee like a Pot­ters vessell, and teare thee in pieces, whilst there is none to deliuer thee, Psal. 50.22. Oh, sue for pardon for thy sinnes, seeke for peace to him which is the Prince of peace, Esay 9.6. seeke for peace by him and his me­rits, which was ordained to be thy peace, and to worke thy reconciliation, Col. 1.20. so thou shalt shut vp the last period of thy life vvith inward peace, and goe to keepe an eternall Sabbath, with him, that is the God of peace.

Thirdly, that thou maist die peaceably, in­vre thy selfe to dye daily; and that after this manner.

First, euery day mortifie some sinne, nip some Serpent in the head; crucifie euery day some corruption, set vpon thy lesser sinnes, [Page 434] and so get ground of thy greater sinnes: Three wayes how to dye daily. as in particular, leaue thy dangerous and dam­nable custome of swearing and blaspheming, by these degrees: first, breake off thy Ciuill Oathes, First dye to sinne. as in swearing by thy Faith, Troth, Christendome, &c. Secondly, then set vpon thy Ridiculous and Childish Oathes, as by Fay, How to leaue the damnable custome of Swearing. Fakins▪ Trokins, Bodikins, Slid, Sounds, Cocke and Pye, with the like; whereby thou seekest to mocke and deceiue God, who will not be mocked: Gal. 6. Thirdly, then invre thy selfe to leaue thy Superstitious Oathes, as by the Masse, Rood, Crosse, by our Lady, and by Popish Saints: &c. Fourthly, so proceede against thy Heathenish and Idolatrous Oathes, in swearing by the Creatures, (as Laban and Iezabel by their Idols, Gen. 31, 53. 1 Kings 19. verse 2.) as by men, by S. Peter, and by S. Iohn, &c. by the Heauens, the Earth, by Fire, Sunne, the Light, Meate, Drinke, Money, &c. or by the parts of thy body, as Hands, or the like, or by thy Soule; all condemned, Mat. 5. ver. 34. Iames 5.12. And so with a courage set vpon thy impious, horrible, fearefull, damnable, blasphemous Oathes, as by the Lord by God; the eternall God, by Christ, by Iesus, and such like; or by the parts and ad­iuncts of Christ, by tearing his Humanitie (as the Iewes did his body; by diuiding him▪ as the Souldiers did his garments, Mat. 27.35.) [Page 435] in blasphemie, by his Death, Passion, Life, Soule, Bloud, Flesh, Heart▪ Wounds, Bones. Sides, Guts, Armes, Foote, Nayles, &c. of all which I tremble and quake to thinke, write, and speak [...], though thou makest no more scruple of such Hell-bred Oathes, then of thy ordinary words: so deale with all other sinnes (of which thy soule is as full as a Serpent is full of venome, and a Toade of poyson) Crucifie them by degrees, and dye to them daily, else thou dyest for euer if thou dye [...] in them.

By this course thou shalt take away the sting of Death, which is Sinne; for, the strength of Death is Sinne, 1 Cor. 15. euen as the strength of Sampson laid in his hayre, Iudg. 16.17. which sinne, when it is subdued, Death it selfe is as easily conquered as weakened Sampson was by the Philistines, verse 21. yea, it can doe thee no more harme, then a Dragon, Viper, or angry Waspe which haue lost their stings.

Secondly, dye daily to the world, Secondly, dye to the world. loue it not, nor the things of it, that so thou maist more happily dye out of the world, and more hopefully entertaine thoughts of a better world. And in this case doe as Runners vse who oft runne ouer the Race before they runne for the Wager, that so they may be better invred and acquainted, when they come to try their abilitie: or, as is said of Belney the [Page 436] Martyr, that being to suffer by fire, many dayes before, he would hold his hand a pretty while in the flame, so to prepare himselfe to sustaine the paines of Martyrdome, which he was to vnder-goe.

Thirdly, Beare cros­ses patient­ly.Thirdly, dye daily, by invting thy selfe to take Crosses and Afflictions patiently, as sicke­nesses in body, troubles in minde, losse of goods, of friends, and of good name, &c. which indeede are little deaths, euen pettie deaths, not onely Prologues of death, but Prepara­tiues to death: for which cause GOD sends them to his children more then to the wicked, euen to weane them from the world, and pre­pare them for death (as the Nurse weanes the Childe from the Teate by doing bitter Aloes vpon it) and sure he that beares Crosses most patiently, is well prepared to dye peaceably, as appeares by S. Paul, 1 Cor. 15.31. who by making good vse of afflictions, dyed daily: it holding commonly, that Mors post crucem mi­nor est; Death is lesse dolorous after the crosse.

Fourthly, Prayer oft preuailes for a peace­able depar­ture.Fourthly, pray seriously for a peaceable departure: it is confirmed by examples of all ages, and experience of all Gods Seruants, that hee that prayes well speedes well. Iacob and A­brahams Seruant had Gods blessings vpon their Iourneyes, as an effect of their Prayers, Gen. 24. Gen. 27. Thou shalt finde Gods pre­sence euen in that houre of the last iourneying [Page 437] of thy soule from her earthly Mansion to her heauenly Country, if thou pray for this grace particularly and effectually: therefore as thou oughtest to pray continually for other Lu. 18.1. Eph. 6.18. things, 18 Things to be pray­ed for, that death may be prospe­rous. so euen in health and prosperitie pray fre­quently and feruently: 1. That God would make this backeward, repugnant, and nilling nature of thine, willing to her dissolution: 2. Prepare thy vnprepared soule: 3. Subdue thy corruptions: 4. Purge out the drosse of thy sinnes: 5. Giue the patience to kisse his cor­recting Rod, when hee whips by sicknesse or diseases: 6. Succour thee in thy last and grea­test conflict: 7. Support thy weaknes: 8. Aide thee against Sathans force and fraud: 9. Streng­then thy Faith: 10. Renew thy decayed gra­ces: 11. Giue thee the power and comfort of his owne Spirit: 12. Not to visit thy sinnes in Iustice but in Mercy: 13. To preserue thy soule from the Hunter, and thy darling from the Lyon: 14. To giue his Angels charge ouer thee in thy extremitie: 15. To keepe thee from 1. Impatiencie, 2. Frenzie, 3. Di­straction, 4. Idle fancies, 5. Rauing, 6. Raging, 7. Blaspheming, &c. least thy death be scan­dalous: 16. To touch thy tongue with a coale from the Altar, that thou maist speake, 1. to Gods glory, 2. and to Edification: 17. To dye the death of the righteous: 18. Lastly, to receiue thy soule into that new Ierusalem [Page 438] which is aboue. Such Prayers we haue vpon record in holy Writ, as of Dauid, Psal. 39. and Moses, Psal. 90. true patternes of our Prayers in this kinde. And sure, who euer approach­eth oft to the throne of Grace, and supplicates to a pittifull God, from faith and feeling in these and the like petitions, he shall be sure to finde an answere from God, euen when hee lyes vpon his sicke-bed, as the fruit of his for­mer desires. Besides that his former acquain­tance with God, in speaking to him, and talk­ing, as it were, with him oft-times in life, by Prayer, will increase in the sicke Patient, euen a holy boldnesse, in a filiall feare, to come to that God, (as one friend to another in ex­tremitie) with whom he hath so oft conuersed and conferred with, by the Word and Prayer, in health and prosperitie.

Fiftly, that thou maist depart in peace, make sure to thy soule the inheritance of life eternall, euen here in this thy life naturall: for as worldlings are something at quiet vvhen they haue made sure such houses, lands, leases, and purchases, as they haue long gaped after; so, assurance of life eternall is the onely paci­fication to the spirituall man; this is the lot, the portion and inheritance that his soule longs after, the estate that hee preferres be­fore all the flesh-pots of Aegypt▪ or the Iewels of Aegypt. Now for the purchase of a fixed [Page 439] place in the heauenly Canaan, thou must pro­uide these treasures: 1. sauing Knowledge, 2. Faith, 3. Sanctification; of more price vvith God, then Gold, Pearle, and precious Stones, with men. For the first, there is no traffique with God, or purchase from heauen vvithout it, Iohn 17.3. This is life eternall, to know God, and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ. For Faith, the Truth affirmes it with asseueration; Verily verily, hee that heareth my word, and beleeueth in him that sent mee, hath eternall life, Iohn 5.24. Iohn 3.16. For Sanctification, whosoeuer sub­mits their hearts and liues to the regiment of the Spirit of Christ, they are the children of God, Rom. 8.14. Now God hath an heauenly inheritance for all his Children: get therefore these graces, and saluation instantly comes to thy heart, as it did to Zacheus house. Luke 19.

Sixtly, it will make much for thy dying peace, to doe all the good thou canst in life, to all men in generall, to the Church, the Saints, and houshold of Faith in special, by thy 1. Wit, 2. Wealth, 3. Power, 4. Place, 5. Authoritie, 6. Credit with great men, (as Nehemias and Mardocheus did to the Iewes) or by any other meanes whatsoeuer. Therefore hath God put it into thy heart to build an Hospitall for the distressed; to giue some annuall contribution to the poore; to mend some common wayes [Page 440] for a publike ease; to erect or repayre some Grammer-Schoole, for the trayning vp of youth; to found some Fellowships or Schol­lerships in some Colledge, as a furtherance to learning; to plant some Library, for a help to good Letters (like that famoused BODLEY, the Phoenix, in this kinde, of our time;) or to erect and maintaine in some barren place, a preaching Ministerie (the best worke of all, because conuersant about the best obiect, the sauing of soules;) or any the like: Oh then strike whilst the Iron is hot; goe about this worke speedily, euen as speedily as Dauid went about the building of Gods house, vvho would not haue giuen any rest to the temples of his head, till hee had finished what hee in­tended, had not God staid his resolution.

And here I cannot but take notice of the preposterous charitie of some, that doe little or no good liuing (vnlesse to themselues, and those to whom Nature tyes them) yet after their death they doe some good, by their De­puties, and Assignes, and Executors (which oft-times ayming at their owne ends, by some quirques and euasions, proue executioners of the desires of the deceased, rather then Execu­tors) yet suppose the Will be Legally perfor­med, what may be censured of thine intent, that hast beene close-handed in life, and now art seemingly open-hearted at thy death? [Page 441] First, that thou giuest what thou canst no lon­ger retaine: Secondly, or thou giuest to good vses, what thou hast got by ill meanes: or thirdly, that conscience accusing thee, thou wouldest stop the mouth of it, by this sop, cast to that barking Cerberus within thee, as Iu­das did, by casting away his thirtie pieces of siluer, the price of bloud, Mat. 27. Fourth­ly, or else from some opinion of satisfaction for by-past sinnes, or present merit, with our blinded Papists: but chiefely the censorious Criticall world will iudge, that if thou hadst not parted with the world, thou hadst not de­parted with thy bewitching wealth: therefore All that thine hand shall finde to doe, doe it with all thy power, Eccles. 9.10. For there is neyther worke, nor inuention, nor knowledge in the place whither thou goest: to Saelomons counsell I ioyne Pauls; Doe good to all whilst thou hast time, Gal. 6.10. Doe what seruice thou canst to Gods Church, to the Common-wealth, to euery par­ticular man, chiefely to the poore members of CHRIST.

Oh what a comfort will it be to thee, if thou hast beene bountifull and beneficiall to the distressed, when thou canst say on thy sicke Couch, with Nehemias in another case; Lord remember mee concerning this good worke, and concerning that good worke, Nehem. 13.22. Oh blessed is hee that iudgeth wisely of the poore, the [Page 442] Lord shall deliuer him in the time of trouble: the Lord will strengthen him [...]pon his bed of sorrow; thou hast turned all his bed in his sicknesse, saith the Psalmist, Psal. 41. ver. 1.3.

A good conscience in life, brings peace in death.Seauenthly, keepe a good conscience with God and man, that it may be a continuated comforter vnto thee, as in life, so in the agonies of death, as it was to Paul in all his pressures, Acts 24.16. and as it is to the Saints in all their sorrowes a continuall feast, Prou. 15.15. a perpetuall Christ-tide, a Iubilee in the iawes of death, a peace passing all vnderstanding, Phil. 2. For, as the want of this is the Racke and Gybbet vnto the wicked, the greatest hea­uinesse and plague, Sirach. 25.15. as the Wise­man tearmes it; a plague of plagues, an euill which goes beyond all euill that tongue can speake, as euen Seruus in Mustell. Plautus and Lib de moribus. Seneca haue thought it: the greatest wound and griefe that can be sustained, as Salomon determines it, Prou. 18.14. nay, the very flashes and Pro­logue to hell, as Iudas Latomus and Hoffmei­ster haue tryed it in their despayring deaths: so the inioying of a good conscience is the greatest ioy; Hugo lib. 2 de anima. cap. 9. Hugo cals it the Temple of Sa­lomon, the Field of Benediction, the Garden of delight, the treasurie of the King▪ the house of God, the habitation of the holy Ghost; the Booke sealed, and shut, to be opened in the day of Iudgement; the very thing (saith [Page 443] Ambrose Lib. 2. de officijs.,) that makes a blessed life, yea, and (I may adde withall) a blessed death: for, to vse the words of Bern. in Serm. Bernard, as hee prepares a good dwelling for God, whose Will hath not beene peruerted, nor Reason deceiued, nor Memory defiled, so God prepares a dwel­ling for him that is pure in heart and soule, Psal. 15.12. and in whose spirit there is no guile, Psal. 32.2. Of which blessed mansion they haue some taste euen in death, that keepe a good conscience in life.

Hence is it that the godly take there deaths patiently like sheepe, sing ioyfully like the Swanne, as Martyres haue done at the stake, and as did our good Simeon: when the wicked dye like Swine repiningly, like the Hiaena ra­gingly.

Naturalists Cicero lib. 1. Tus­cul. quaest. write, that the warme sweet bloud recoyling to the heart of the Swanne, tickleth her with such a secret delight, that it makes her sing euen in her death. Contrari­wise, when the Hiaena is in dying, the blacke and distempered bloud gathers to her heart, which makes her sad and mournefull. This is worth applying: the conscience of holy acti­ons so warmes the hearts of Gods Seruants, with that inward ioy, that they dye singing their Hosanna's, tryumphing and reioycing in spirit: but the consciousnesse of wicked wayes and workes of darknesse, oathes, vncleannesse, [Page 444] profanenes, &c. like streames of blacke bloud recoyles backe vpon, and clogs the hearts of the Sonnes of Belial, which makes them dye as wofully and cursedly, as they haue liued retchlesly and wickedly: oh therefore good Readers, who euer you are, Ministers or Lay­men, keepe a good conscience I intreate you, with God and with man, in all your wayes and walkings, in your courses, callings, functions and tradings; that in your deaths you may shew your selues the Lords Sheepe, the Lords Swannes, like Simeon; not the Diuels Swine and Hels Hiaena's.

Now thou art to be directed in some due­ties in thy sicknesse, the probable summoner of thy death: for, though God onely know when death is nearest, he hauing as the keyes of the heauens, and the keyes of the heart, so the keyes of the earth, and of the graue, of life and of death, 1 Sam. 2.6. yet it is proba­ble that life is nearest expiring, when sickenes is approaching; as the wals are nearest ruine, when the Cannon is laid to batter them. Now these Directions I referre to these three heads. First, respect God; secondly, thy selfe; thirdly, others.

In respect of God: first, renue thy former repentance, seeke earnestly to be reconciled to God in CHIRST; get more assurance of the Mercy, Fauour, and Loue of God towards [Page 445] thee; gather together all thy spirituall forces; striue and wrastle couragiously against Diffi­dence, Distrust, Infidelitie, and Despayre, like an actiue runner, shew some brunts as it were of inward strength, euen when thou seest the Goale, and art nearest the end of thy race. Now, for strengthening thy Faith, and renu­ing thy Repentance the better, take this course.

First, when Sickenesse or Infirmitie ceazeth on thee, consider that it ariseth not from 1. Chance, 2. Fortune, 3. Rawnesse of Wea­ther, 4. Ill Ayre, 5. Bad Dyet, 6. Catching of cold, or the like (which are eyther no causes at all, or else onely secondarie) but by an im­mediate prouidence.

Secondly, search out the cause for which God afflicts thee, and thou shalt by the light of the word and of thine owne conscience, find, that the cause is thy sin: other causes there may be, as CHRIST shewes in the case of the blinde man, who neyther sinned nor his Parents, Iohn 9.2. As 1. tryall of Faith; 2. of Patience, as in Iobs case; 3. exciting to Prayer and Re­pentance, as in Ezekias case, Esay 38.1. 4. to preuent sinne, to which Nature and corruption inclines; 5. the Humiliation of pride; 6. ma­nifestation of the workes of God oft cause the Lord to visit euen his owne sonnes with sick­nesses and diuers diseases, but in Gods reuea­led will, sinne is the ordinary cause, as appeares, [Page 446] Deut. 28.21. Leut 26. &c. Sixe causes of sickenes besides our sinnes. Sinne caused the Aegyptians Botches, Exod. 9.10. the Phili­stines Emerods, 1 Sam. 5.6. the Widdow of Sarepta's Sonnes sickenesse, 1 King. 17.18. and therefore when CHRIST cured the bodies of his Patients, hee first remits the sinnes of their soules, & so remoues the cause, Mat. 9.2. Iohn 5.14. as in the blinde man, and the sicke of the Palsie.

Fiue duties to be done in sicknes.Thirdly, when thou hast felt thine owne pulse, and laid the finger on the right cause, which is sinne; then by examination of thine owne hart find out what speciall sin causeth thy present scourge: oh search thy selfe thorowly, Zeph. 2.1. examine thy soule narrowly, Psal. 4.4. Play the selfe Constable, make priuie search in euery roome within the house of thy heart, for thy secret sinnes, as for priuie Traytors.

Fourthly, when thou hast found them out confesse them, bring them to the strict barre of Gods Iustice, arraigne them; nay, be thy selfe a Witnesse against them; yea, a Iudge to condemne them, as Paul prescribes the Co­rinthians, in the like case. 1 Cor. 11.30.31. and as Dauid practised in his owne particular, Psal. 32.5.

Fiftly, supplicate and intreate the supreame Iudge of Heauen (that may condemne thee, or repriue thee) to pittie thee, and pardon [Page 447] thee. Ieremy and Hosee will direct thee how to put vp thy supplications in forma pauperis, as a poore penitent, and what words to vse, that will plead and preuaile for pardon, Lam. 3.40.41. Hosee 6.1. Dauid sets thee an holy President, most beseeming thy imitation, who when hee was sicke, at least vpon the occasion of his sickenes, penned speciall Psalmes of repentance; as namely, Psal. 6. the 22. the 38. the 29. which I prescribe to be rea [...] of thee, repeated, and applyed with Da­uids heart: also, as spirituall Physicke, 1 to purge the ill humours of thine heart; 2. to quicken thy dulnesse, 3. to excite thy dead­nesse; 4. to inflame thy desires; 5. to comfort thy conscience; 6. to strengthen thy faith. 7. to prepare thee to Prayer: What Scriptures are fittest to be read of a sicke man. reade seriously the History of Christs Passion, recorded, Luke 22.23. Chap. the 29. Psalme, the 42. Psalme, the 51. Psalme, the 1▪43. Psalme, the 14. Chapter of Iob, the 11. the 14. the 17. Chapter of Saint Iohn Ecclesiastes Chap. 1. Dan Chap. 9. Ro­manes Chap 8. the 7. Chap. of the Apocalypse, 1 Cor. 15. Chap. these will giue thee some holy heate.

Thus thou hast the true preparatiues in thy sickenesse in respect of God: they are the more worthy remembrance because so few follow them; for alas, how many that haue li­ued long in the bosome of the Church, are so [Page 448] farre from renuing their [...] Faith and Repen­tance, that when they lye sicke and are draw­ing to their deaths, they must be catechized (as Christ did Nicodemus, and Philip the Eu­nuch) euen in the maine doctrines of Faith and Repentance; like as some new conuerted Pagans were in the Primitiue Church. There be few Ministers acquainted vvith visiting the sicke, but they shall finde that men that haue beene vnder the meanes, twentie, thirtie, or fortie yeeres; doe, at the end of all, beginne to inquire as the Iewes of Peter, Acts 2. and the Iaylor of Paul, Acts 16. what they should doe to be saued; not yet knowing the meanes and the way to saluation: which argues the great securitie of our age, and contempt of God: oh take thou heede betimes, vse all good meanes before-hand, that thou maist be able in sickenesse, to put in practise these spirituall exercises of Repentance and Inuocation.

The second branch of the sicke mans pre­paration concernes himselfe; and that eyther his soule or his body: for the soule.

D. Maxeys Sermon on the Agonie of Christ. Laboraui in gemitu meo­ [...]First, the sicke partie must arme himselfe against the feare of death, and feeling of sick­nesse. Death is very fearefull to all men, euen to the godly, as one obserues well in Dauid for all, who though hee were neyther daunted with Sauls malice, nor the Philistines hatred, nor Absolons Treason, nor Achitophels trea­chery, [Page 449] nor in grapling with a Lyon, nor in fighting with a Beare, nor incountring Goliah, yet when Death beganne to close vvith him, and lay holde on him, then hee cryes out; Oh I am troubled aboue measure. Oh spare mee a little, Psal. 6.3. & 39.13. Therefore, thus incourage thy present feeling, and greater feare.

First, that sicknesse, and so death, is the rod of a Father, not the whip of a Iudge, the cor­rection, not destruction of a Sonne, Heb. 12.6.

Secondly, since it is the Lord, say with Eli, Let him doe what seemes good, 1 Sam. 3.18. His will be done on mee, in mee, and by mee: on me, in suffering; in me, by his grace working; by me, in obeying.

Thirdly, Christ thy high Priest and Inter­cessor is euen touched with a fellow-feeling of all thine infirmities, Heb. 4.15.

Fourthly, against deaths feare, Short fur­nitures a­gainst the feeling of sickenesse and feare of death. 1. consider the estate of thy life, which life is but a vanish­ing Vapour, Iames 4.14. a Weather-cocke which turnes at euery blast, a Waue which sur­geth at euery storme, a Reede blowne vvith euery winde, a Warfare as doubtfull as dange­rous, feare not the vanishing of a Vapour, the turning of a Weather-cocke. 2. Consider thy body as a body of sinne, Rom. 7.24 the soules prison, the mindes iayle, the spirits cage: no Bocardo dungeon, sincke, puddle, pit, is so [Page 450] noysome to the body, as it selfe is to the hea­uenly inspired soule. Now since death is the leauing of this body of sinne, as Augustine cals it Super Iohan.: it is not to be eschewed, but imbra­ced, saith Chrisostome Super Mat. 11.. Other incouragements I leaue to their due places.

4. Reasons why the sicke man should set his soule in order.The second dutie which concernes the soule, is this; thou must set in order thy soule, reconciling and recommending vnto God this desolate darling of thine, after the manner afore-said: for, as the sickenesse of the body oft comes from the sinne of the soule; so, the curing of the one, oft procures the health of the other: but if thy sicknesse be to death, by this course: 1. thou shalt dye more quietly, 2. more comfortably, 3. giue good example to thy visitors, 4. leaue a comfort to thy sur­uiuing Friends.

Now, for the performance of these things the better, others ought to assist thee, as others brought the sicke of the Palsie to CHRIST, Marke 2. Iames tels thee that the Elders of the Church must be sent for, Iam. 5.14. which Elders were not onely Apostles, but auncient men endued with the spirit of Prayer, and gift of Miracles; a gift which not onely many Pa­rents had, but euen Christian Souldiers, saith Tertullian, de corona militis, c. 11. In these times S. Iames his rule still holds: though then those gifts cease, yet make thou choyse of such [Page 451] Christians, as haue the spirit of Admonition, Exhortation, Prayer, &c. for to their prayers for thee a blessing is promised, Iames 5.15. their prayers, if they be feruent, may preuaile for the restoring of thy spirituall life, or cor­porall health, as the prayers of 1 King. 17 17 Elias, 2 Kin. 4.31 Elizeus, Act. 20.10. Paul, and our Ioh. 11.14 Sauiour Christ, preuailed for whom they prayed; but chiefely, send for thy Minister, or some faithfull Preacher: for, hee will play the part of a spirituall Physitian; 1. hee can vnrip thy vlcers, 10. Rea­sons why the sicke must send for his Mi­nister. search thy sores better then thou thy selfe; 2. set before thee thy sinnes; 3. cast thee downe by the Law; 4. raise thee vp by the Gospell; 5. comfort, 6. direct, 7. instruct thee; 8. speake a word to thee in due season from God; 9. be thy mouth to speake, from thee, and for thee, to God; 10. pronounce thy pardon on earth, vvhich shall be ratified in heauen, vpon tryall of thy Repentance, Iohn 20.23. The practise of the world and worldlings is condemnable in this case: for alas, instead of sending for knowing and zealous men, which could comfort them with such consolations wherewith they them­selues haue beene comforted, 2 Cor. 1.4. and in some measure restore them, Gal. 6.1. they send for their carnall friends, entertaine and welcome profane men that come to visit them; from whom they receiue as much comfort as Iudas did of the Scribes and Pharisies, when [Page 452] hee was in despayre, Mat. 27.3.4. First, eyther they say nothing to them (like Iobs friends, that were silent seauen dayes, Iob 2.13.) and in silence looke vpon them (like a Deere at gaze. The small comfort that a sicke man gets from car­nall visi­tors.) Secondly, or else they speake to little or no purpose; saying to the sicke partie, they are sorry to see him in such a case, they would haue him take (that which themselues want) a good heart, and be of good courage and comfort, but wherein and by what meanes, they cannot tell. Others more vainely and profanely, that they doubt not but hee shall doe well enough, and recouer, and that they shall be merry and drinke and carouse together, as they haue done before, &c. and they will pray for them if they will, when alas, all their prayers are no­thing else, but the Apostles Creede, or the tenne Commandements, and the Lords Prayer vttered without Faith, Feeling, and Vnderstan­ding; and this is the common comfort that sicke men get of their neighbours and friends, when they come to visite them: alas, we may say (as Iob of his friends) miserable comfor­ters be they all.

Secondly, herein many men are also cul­pable, 1. that they eyther send not for a Mini­ster at all; 2. or else for such a one as is as good as none, a cloud without raine, a dry pit with­out water; such a one as wants the tongue of the learned, to speake to him, or the heart of [Page 453] the humble, to pray for him, vnlesse in saying (as they say) some set prayers; which good Sir Iohn is as farre from truely praying, as the sicke Patient is from profiting by them. Or thirdly, if they send for a Minister it is prepo­sterously, when it is too late, in some maine exigent, when they see no vvay but one; The Mini­ster is to be sent for before the Physitian. Oh then send for a Preacher, send for a Minister, as Pharaoh in his deepe distresses, knowing no meanes of euasion, sends for Moses, and sends for Aaron, Exod. 9.27. whom in his welfare hee both despised and despited. If Iannes and Iambres, Astronomers and Astrologers, could haue helpt Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron should neuer haue beene sought to, nor God by their meanes. If Physitians and Galens Art, Natures Simples (nay, with some, if Sorcerers, and white Witches and Sathans power) or the vertues of the waters, or ought else, could comfort their soules or cure their bodies, the Preacher should be vnsought to, or vnsent for of many, that in their health haue hated him and his doctrine, as much as Ahab hated Michay and his Ministery, 1 Kings 22.8. Vbi definit Theologus, ibi incipit Medic [...]. Oh what an vnequall course is this, that although till help be had for the soule, and sinne, which is the roote of sickenesse, be cured, Phisicke to the body seldome auailes? (for which cause the Physitian should beginne where the Di­uine ends;) yet vsually the Diuine beginnes [Page 454] when the Physitian makes an end; nay, oft when life is making an end: the Physitians are sent for in the beginning of sicknesse, wee in the end of life, when a man is halfe dead; yea, when he lyes drawing on, and gasping for breath, as though we were able then to worke Miracles, and recouer him.

If I knew not these things by experience, [...]f I had not beene present with some, of whose sickenesse I neuer heard, till I came to the clo­sing vp of their dying eyes; if I had not spent much spirits with some that were no more in­telligent what I prayed, or what I said, then stockes and stones, who for a good space be­fore, in their sicknesse, had strength of Memo­rie and naturall powers, I should not now so occasionedly haue giuen thee a caueat to pre­uent the like preposterous course, when God casts thee on thy sicke-bed.

Now followes such duties as concerne the body of the sicke man: they are two; 1. vsing, 2. right vsing the meanes. The meanes is, good and wholesome Physicke, which we must esteeme as an ordinance of God for our reco­uery in this case. For how euer many (chiefely the vulgar and common people) despise Phy­sicke as a thing needlesse and vnprofitable, ha­uing from blindnesse and ignorance a preiu­dicate opinion of it, yet the Scriptures ap­proue it, Mat. 9.13. the Saints of God haue [Page 455] practised it. Ezekias by the Prophets pre­scription, applyed to his boyle, a lumpe of dry Figges, 2 Kings 10.7. which Figges, Galen lib. 1. de arte curat. c. 6. euen Galen prescribes as an ordinary medicine to soften and ripen tumours in the flesh: there­fore the cure was not altogether miraculous, (as some thinke) but in part naturall. Besides, The law­full vse of Physicke plainely proued. did not the Samaritane, Luke 10.34. poure into the wounds of him that trauelled from Ie­rusalem to Iericho, Wine and Oyle; which Va­lesius makes a right Physicall practise; Wine seruing to clense the wound and ease the paine within; Oyle to supple the flesh, and asswage the paine without: to which kinde of curing it seemes Esay hath relation, Esay 1.6. Besides, as the phrase is, as there is no sore but there is a salue for it, so God hath giuen vnto some men, Art and Skill, how to apply the medici­nable vertues that are in Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Hearbes, Plants and Fruits, &c. to the cure of man: which who so neglects, neglects the meanes, and so directly tempts God; in which respect his death can neyther be so comforta­ble, nor conscionable, as if hee had submitted himselfe to this ordinance of God. Therefore since thou maist vse Physicke lawfully and commendably, let it be thy care in the second place, to make choise of such a Physitian, as is skilfull and conscionable.

I know there are some of great Forrest de vr [...]. Iu­dicijs lib. 3. Lang. lib. 2 Epist. [...]1. iudgement, [Page 456] that doe accept against the skill of those Phy­sitians that administer to their Patients vpon the bare inspect of their Vrine, without fur­ther knowledge of their estates; affirming this iudging by the vrine to be very deceitfull, since the water of him that hath the Plurisie, or the Inflamations of the Lungs, or the Squinancie, as also of him that hath a quartan, or any in­termitting Feauer (chiefely if they haue kept a good dyet from the beginning) lookes, for substance and colour, as the water of a vvhole man. Others take also exception against those which will administer no Physicke, nor vse Phlebotomie, without the direction of iudiciall Astrologie, a supposed Art, in which there is much superstition, little certainetie See Heidon against Iud. Astro. So Hai­word his preserua­tiue against the poyson of suppo­sed pro­phesies., whereas it is thought that it is a farre better course to consider the matter of the disease, with the dis­position and ripening of it, as also the courses, and Symptomes, and Crisis of it, then to mi­nister Purgations, and let bloud, no otherwaies then they are counselled by the constitutions of the Starres. But I meddle not with their Mysteries; I see but with others eies in this case; I know the Cobler is not to goe beyond his last, onely make thou choyse of a meete Phy­sitian for thy health, as thou art carefull of a good Lawyer for thine estate, and of a good Diuine for thy soule. Meddle not with Em­perickes, Quacksaluers, Women-Physitians, [Page 457] and the like, who oft doe more harme then good.

Now, in the third place, What to doe in ta­king Phy­sicke. vse this meanes of Physicke conscionably: 1. Let it be sanctified vnto thee (as thy meate and thy drinke) by the Word of God and Prayer, 1 Tim. 4.3. Commend it to Gods blessing for restoring of thy health, if it be the will of God. 5. Rules obseruable in the vse of physick. 2. Hum­ble thy soule, that God may heale thy body. 3. Perswade thy selfe that it can neyther pre­uent olde age nor death, but still prepare thy selfe for thy departure. 4. Relie not onely vpon the meanes, but waite Gods leasure in blessing the meanes. 5. If thou recouer, be thankefull to God: a dutie much neglected (as it was of Ezekias, as also of the nine clensed Lepers in the Gospell) so of many in our daies, for which the Lord is angry euen as hee vvas vvith them, 2 Chron. 32.24▪25. Luke 17.17. vvherein they are more vnthankefull vnto God then the Ephesians were to Esculaepius, that writ in Tables all the cures done by Phy­sicke, and hung it vp in Diana's Temple, where Hipocrates found it.

Thus thou hast the dutie to be performed in sickenesse both in respect of thy soule and body, for the furtherance of thy peaceable departure.

I should now conclude, but that the cursed custome of the world cals mee in conscience [Page 458] to condemne the practise of those, that con­trary to these prescriptions, from the Word, in their sicknesse, seeke for help from Sathan, (as Ahazia that sent to Baalzebub the God of Ekron) and that eyther directly, or secon­darily, when they runne to Coniurers, South­sayers, Charmers, Inchanters, Witches, Wi­zards, Wise-men, and Wise-women, (as the vn­wise deluded Country-people call them) who are in farre more respect with the common people (and some great ones too) and more sought after, then eyther God is sought to by prayer, or the Physitians for Physicke: for, if any of these simple soules be in any extremi­tie, by sicknesse or diseases, or their Wiues, Children, &c. euen as they doe also (like beasts) for their beasts and Cattell: such a Wise-man, such a Wise-woman, such an old Hag, such a white Witch, such a shee-Diuell must be sent to. Earnest in­uectiues a­gainst such as in extre­mities seek to Witches and Char­mers, with disswasiues from such Idolatry. Alas, what is this, but to runne from the God of Israel to the God of Ekron, from Sa­muel in Ramoth, to the Witch at Endor, from the Riuers of Samaria to the Waters of Da­mascus, from the liuing to the dead, from God to the Diuell? What is this but to fall downe and worship the Diuell, to sacrifice to him with the poore Virginians, and the Hea­thenish Sauages? Oh Atheisticall Sots, is there not a God in Israel?

Therefore take thou heede of this cursed [Page 459] course, and Satanicall practise in thy sicknesse: for alas, to runne a whoring after such, is not the way to cure thee, but to kill thee; for this haynous sinne vsually prouokes the Lord to plague the practisers of it, euen with death it selfe, as the Lord himselfe threatens, that hee vvill purposely set his face against those that worke with Spirits, &c. yea, and that he will cut them off to from amongst his people, Leuit. 20.6. So the Lord verified this threat in Ahazia: for, because hee did seeke to Baalzebub, and not to the God of Israell, in his sicknesse, God sends Elias directly to tell him, that for that cause, hee should not come downe from his bed, but should dye the death, as indeede hee did, 1 Kings 1.6. So Saul was slaine notwith­standing that he went to the Witch at Endor, 1 Sam. 31.

Oh that our common people would reade and remember this, Against seeking to Witches & Charmers, in sicknes. that in stead of getting helpe by such Satanicall meanes as thy vse, they prouoke the Lord (as Paul tels the Co­rinthians in another case, of receiuing the Sa­crament vnworthily, 1 Cor. 11.29.30.) to plague them eyther with further diseases, or else with death it selfe; as hee did Saul and Ahazia.

Secondly, suppose thou shouldest get help, it is by the Diuels meanes, and who vvould goe to such a filthy Physitian?

[Page 460]Thirdly, if by this meanes thou be relie­ued, thy soule is a thousand times more pre­iudiced; the cure of thy body is the curse of thy soule; thou procures the health of the one by the sicknesse of the other; so thy salue is worse then thy sore: therefore when Sathan and his Instruments can helpe thy health, so much as Superstition and Idolatrie in seeking to them, hinders thy saluation, then I shall say to thee (as Elizeus to Naaman (Goe in peace, euen to the house of Rimmon.

Others there be that vse other meanes, which haue no warrant: of which kinde are those that vse any manner of Charmes or Spels, or that hang about their neckes Chara­cters and Figures, eyther in Paper, Wood, or Waxe, &c. which are all vaine and superstitious, because neyther by creation, nor by any ordi­nance in Gods word they haue any power to cure diseases: for, words doe onely signifie, Figures can but onely represent.

Indeede I confesse, there are some things that haue some vertue in them, being hung about the necke, as white Galen. lib. 6. & 10 de simpl. Medic. Peonie in this kinde, is good against the Falling-sickenesse; and Wolfes-dung, tyed to the body, is good against the Collicke; so there are many the like, which haue not their operation by In­chantment, but from an inward vertue: but all Amulets and Ligatures, &c. which worke [Page 461] not by some virtuall contract, must needes haue their power from the Diuell.

The last dutie which must be done in sick­nesse, is relatiue, concerning others: of which briefely, euen as wee haue spoke of those that concerne God and our selues. Others I call eyther our Enemies or our Friends: those without vs, or our owne Families.

First, to thy enemie thou must be reconci­led; forgiue him, and desire to be forgiuen of him: thou art now about not to offer a Lambe or a Bullocke, as in the Leuiticall law, but thy selfe, thy body, thy soule a sacrifice to GOD, Rom. 12.1. Oh then first be recon­ciled to thy God ere thou offer thy gift, Mat. 5.23. Now, if the party whom thou hast iniured, eyther be absent, or present and vvill not relent; yet thou in seeking peace hast dis­charged thy conscience, and God will accept thy will for the deede.

Secondly, if thou hast wronged any man by any manner of Iniustice whatsoeuer, se­cretly or openly, thou must make restitution, euill gotten goods must be restored, be they gotten by Vsury, Oppression, Extortion, kee­ping the pawne, the pledge, or by any sinister meanes whatsoeuer: the LORD strictly inioynes it, Leuit. 6. vers. 1.2.3.4. Za­cheus practised it, Luke 14. The Law of Nations and of Nature approues it, and the [Page 462] very Law that is writ within vs doth presse and vrge it.

The practise of the world is against both these rules: for alas, are there not many whose malice is (like coales of Iuniper) vnquench­able? The throwing of dust amongst buzzing Bees, makes them quiet; but the summons to their dust, causeth not some to leaue their waspishnesse: they carry wrath boyling with­in their breasts, as in a Furnace, euen to To­phet, the fire and Furnace of Hell; neuer pur­posing to forget nor forgiue; nay, wishing that their very spirits could torture and torment their enemies after their dissolution. And for restitution, how few be there that once dreame of it, Reconcili­ation with enemies, & restitution in wrongs, in sicknesse to be pra­ctised. much lesse determine it? in which case they come farre short of Iudas, who at his de­sperate death would restore those thirtie pie­ces which hee got in life with the price of bloud, Mat. 27.4.5. In which those men doe not onely prejudice their owne soules, but their Children also and posteritie, euen in earthly things, in leauing to them riches wrongfully got, which bring deseruedly the curse of God vpon all the rest of that estate which they bequeath vnto them; according to the phrase:

[Page 463] like that coale of fire which the rauenous Ea­gle carryed to her nest, which set all the rest of the nest on fire.

Thirdly, thou must haue a speciall care to prouide for the peace, welfare, and prosperitie of those that are committed to thy charge, that it may goe well with them after thy death.

The Magistrate, after the example of Moses, Deut. 31.1. Iosh 25. 1 King. 2. Ioshua, and Dauid, must prouide for the godly and peaceable estate of that Towne, Citie, or Common-wealth, ouer which hee is set, Magi­strates, Mi­nisters and Masters must pro­uide for the good of their char­ges, euen after their death. that pure Religion may be maintained, outward Peace established, ciuill Iustice executed, &c.

The Minister, as much as he can, when he is in dying, must cast to prouide for the con­tinuance of the good estate of that Flocke, ouer which the holy Ghost hath made him Ouer-seer. Thus our Sauiour himselfe, the chiefe Shepheard, had a care of his Flocke, ere hee left them; hee moderates the mour­ning of the Daughters of Ierusalem; giues Commission to his Disciples to teach all Na­tions, Mat. 28.19. comforts them with the promised Comforter, Iohn 16.7. Thus Peter endeuoured, that those to whom hee writ and preached, should haue remembrance of what hee taught them, euen after his departure, 1 Peter 1.15. If Peters pretended Successors stood not so much on their personall succes­sion, as they should in the right of succession, [Page 464] labouring to imitate the doctrine of Peter, of the Prophets, and Apostles; nay, if this care of doctrinall succession were in the Ministers of the reformed Religion, wee should not haue here so much blindnesse and ignorance, where once was light; there so many Schismes, Er­rours and Heresies, where once was an vnitie in veritie, else-where so many Wolues come into the roomes of faithfull Pastors, Acts. 20 ver. 29.