THE DAMP OF DEATH: BEATEN back with the glorious light and life of jesus Christ. In a Sermon Preached at Lancaster Assizes in Lent last, to the condemned Prisoners there, and before the Honourable judges, and Worshipful of that County. By William Leigh Bachelor in Divinity, and Pastor at Standish. 1. Cor. 15. v. 57 Thanks be to God, which hath given us victory through our Lord jesus Christ. LONDON Printed by Tho: Creed, for Arthur johnson, dwelling in Paul's Churchyard at the sign of the white Horse. 1613. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL THOmas Tildesley Esquire, his majesties Attorney general, within the County Palantine of Lancaster, and Vice Chancellor, of his highness Court of Chancery there: Grace be multiplied in this world, and blessedness in the world to come. Worshipful Syr. YOur love hath overawed me much in this business wherein it hath pleased God and you to put me, and for because your place, and praise, is in the Gospel, I durst not consult with fl●sh and blood, but have as you may see, most willingly obeyed the heavenly call. The Sermon being ended at Lancaster in Lent Assizes last, where I was enjoined by authority to preach to the prisoners then condemned to die, it was your desire to have a copy in private of that which was then delivered in public, at what time I truly told you, my Notes were scattered and undigested, rather carried in my heart, then in my hand, yet (would God assisting me) in convenient time bind them together ere they were too far fallen out of my mind and memory, which I have here done accordingly, and sent them to your worship, as a constat of my unfeigned love, yet with this Caution, you never think what was then delivered by voice, can be carried so powerfully in papers, as it was in speech. The words contained in the two tables which God gave to Moses, from the holy Mount, were first spoken by the mouth of God, ere they were written by the finger of God, and then carried into the valley to be heard and kept of all the people. So may I likewise say of the Gospel, Voices and Prophecies went of the blood of Christ, ere ever it dropped out of his veins. But if gracious words had not fallen from the mouth of Christ, Christians had never conceived either the power or virtue of his death. For as there is a blood of redemption, so there is a word of reconciliation, and surely where the word teacheth not, there the blood droppeth not: you are religiously wise to conceive whereat I aim. To wit, that reading, preaching, and practising of piety, may all go together, like Saul and jonathan, of whom it is said, that they were lovely in their lives, and at their deaths were not divided. Learned you are in your own laws, and therefore know better than I can tell, that though the body of your laws lie in your books, yet the soul thereof is in your moots and plead, as also that the bar and bench do more powerfully end, and profitably determine our causes, than the books in your chambers can do: I speak in no desperagement, either of your books, or our Bibles, which in themselves are learned, sacred and holy, but to intimate to all the world, that if you plead not, and we preach not, neither states can long stand, nor souls can be ordinarily saved. For though holy books be holy Oracles, and registers of God's truth, Malachi. 2. v. 7. Yet must the Priest's lips preserve knowledge, and the people must seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. Good Sir, take what I have written, in am of my love, may it pleasure you and benefit Souls, either living in this world, or dying to a better, it is all I wish in my heart, it is all I beg in my prayer, and what is in my power or Element to do, it shall be always yours, my pen is yours, my pains are yours, myself am yours, to be commanded in him, who commandeth all, with my daily prayer to God, for you and yours, ever to be kept under his holy and helping hand of providence and protection. And so I cease your further trouble, but never leave to love and honour you, as I am much bounden, Standish this seventeenth day of April. 1613. Your worships ever, and so assured in his love, William Leigh. THE DAMP OF DEATH, BEATEN back WITH THE glorious light and life of jesus Christ. Colloss. 3. verse. 3.4. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in good. When Christ which is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. WHen I last supplied this place in your honourable presence as now I do, and preached unto those poor delinquents then ready to die by the doom of justice; I was sharply censured of some, that I preached too much mercy, and too little judgement, and that like an unskilful Samaritan, I powered into the sores of those wounded souls and broken hearts over much oil, and too little vinegar. Which and if I did, I might well say with the Prophet jeremiah, in a cause not much different; jerem. 20.7. O my God, if I be deceived, thou hast deceived me, thou hast deceived me with the extent of thy mercy, which reacheth far, even from the nethermost hell, to the highest heavens: Thou hast deceived me with the height of thy mercy, which is above all thy works, for thy mercy O Lord stretcheth itself unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds: thou hast deceived me with the depth of thy mercy, for one depth calleth upon an other, but that of mercy swalloweth up all: Nay thou hast deceived me with thine holy offerings of mercy upon thine holy Altar, who hast said, I will have mercy and not sacrifice; But oh my God, thou art not deceived, neither can thy mercies be limited in thy bounty, and why shall they be straightened in my bowels? It may be Nature hath made me overmilde, and the sins of the world require I should be severe, yet this must I say withal, that neither my overmilde disposition, nor yet the world's transgression, shall ever make me cruel against the penitent. And such you are, whose salt tears this day, do well express your sorrowful hearts, who having been humbled, at the bar of God's justice, why should you not appeal to the bar of his mercy, to seek and sue for grace to help in time of need. For when is need if not now? when the fear of death is before your face, when the horror of your sins crieth vengeance against your souls, when your best friends fail you, and this whole world forsaketh you, when Satan winnoweth you like wheat, because he knoweth he hath but a short time, when is need, if not now? to pray that your faith fail you not, that the Lord would be propitious, and that no temptation fall upon you greater than you are able to bear, but that even in the midst of the temptation, the Lord would give you a gracious issue, and that so upon your dissolution which is at hand, you might be translated out of this miserable world, to live with God in the mercies of a better. Pardon me then again to pass by these turbulent waters of Iorden, I mean of judgement that run roughly upon the Rocks of your sin, and give me leave yet still to bathe in the sweet running waters of Shilo, I mean mercy, that go softly by Zion, and when jordan is driven back with the Ocean of God's mercies, you may more speedily make your passage into Canaan the land of your inheritance. Now therefore to you, be it spoken poor suppliants, over whom we pray with tears, and preach with passion, lift up your hearts above the height of all Sublimity: Settle your affections on things that are above, and not on things that are below. For thee ye be dead, what of that? yet your life is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ which is your life shall appear, then shall ye appear with him in glory. The Text is like the fiery Chariot that carried up Eliah into heaven, 2. Kings. 2. v. 11. which thee happily it might turn his body into Synders, yet it never left him, till it had brought his soul into solace. And it runs as you may hear see upon three wheels, the first is of death, the second of life, and the third, of glory. Death goeth before, Life followeth after, and glory perfecteth all: and so as I may say, there is blessedness in death, there is blessedness in life, and there is blessedness in glory, and with this three fold gable ye are halled up to heaven. Ye are dead, that is your blessed mortification; Your life is hid with Christ in God, that is your blessed regeneration: And when Christ which is your life shall appear, then shall ye appear with him in blessedness, that is your glory: Or thus, ye are dead, that is your blessed cross, but your life is hid in Christ, that is your blessed shade or cover, and when Christ shall appear, then shall ye appear with him in glory, that is your blessed crown and diadem of all heavenly delights. Gen. 27. v. 26.27. It is said of aged Isaac, that when his son jacob had prepared for him such savoury meat as his soul loved, cooked and seasoned with the cunning hand of Rebeckah his mother, Isaac called unto him, and said, Come hither my son, and let me kiss thee before I die, for me thinks the smell of thy garments is like unto the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Though most of you be young, yet are ye now aged & dead to this world, as Isaac was, and I hope the meat prepared for you, is such savoury meat as your soul loveth, Cooked with a more curious and cunning hand, then that of Rebeckah, for the spirit of God hath spoken it, by the mouth of Paul, and therefore come and kiss your Christ before ye die, sith the sweet smell and odour thereof, is like unto the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed; For now are ye blessed in death, blessed in life, and blessed in glory. First then my dear brethren, beloved and longed for, I say beloved in the best love which is of jesus Christ, and longed for, with a longing desire of your speedy salvation, even at the instant of your dissolution; let it not seem strange unto you, that there should be a blessedness in death. The truth hath spoken it, you may believe it. Revel. 14. v. 13. The dead that die in the Lord are fully blessed, Amodo, even now they rest from their labours, and their works follow them. This voice saith john fell down from heaven, that in the sweet air thereof, breathing life into our souls, our dead and dull, hearts might be comforted, and even here in the midst of death, never to despair of life. You have heard below in this valley of tears many fearful voices, when sin and shame run after you as it were with Hue and Cry, and when ye wear taken in your transgressions against God and the King, it was a fearful voice, when putting yourselves upon God and your country, ye were found guilty by the verdict of twelve just men, yet more were ye daunted, when ye were sentenced to die with this irrevocable doom, from the mouth of God's minister: ye shall go to the prison, from whence ye came, thence to the place of execution, there shall you hang, until you be dead, and Christ have mercy upon your souls: your hearts were shaken to hear that voice, and the merciful judge tendering dropped down tears to pronounce the judgement, the standers by were compassionate, and the whole Bench was moved with your misery, yet what of all this? Sith all these voices are beaten back, with a voice of greater Majesty: Even thus, The dead that die in the Lord are fully blessed. Or as it is in my Text, Ye are dead, but your life is hid with Christ, in God, etc. But happily it may seem a Paradox to your passionate hearts, that a man should whither, and yet flourish: that a man should be breathless, & yet breath: that a man should be senseless, and yet feel: that a man should be dead, and yet alive: Ye are dead, yet is your life hid in Christ, etc. Surely, Nature can never sound it, yet grace may apprehend it thus: It is possible to die to sin, and yet live to righteousness. It is possible to die to this world, and yet live to a better. It is possible (like a Dead man) to walk upon this Earth, and yet to have his conversation in Heaven. Nay, it is possible that heaven & earth should so blend in one, as that one, and the self same man, should be dead in himself, and yet live to his God. It was so with Saint Paul, when he said, Whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell, God he knoweth, but me thinks I see things that are inutterable: It was so with john, Revel. 1. V 10. & V 17. when Ravished in spirit, he fell down dead upon the sight, and at the feet of that heavenly vision. It was so with Daniel, when groveling upon the ground, Daniel. 8. V 16.17.18. he lay as dead: yet heard a voice between the Banks of Hula (which said) Gabriel, make this dead man to understand the Vision; It was so with Ezekiel, at the River Kebar, when he was carried between heaven & earth by the hairs of his head: And so both heard & saw the divine vision. Ezekiel. 8. V 3. All these were alive, and yet dead, they were ravished in spirit, and therefore lavish of their bodies: their thoughts were not mortal, whether in their bodies, or out of their bodies, they could not tell: Nor did they care, either for the crosses or comforts of this transitory world, so they might solace their souls in the joys of a better. The use is good, to make the burden of your death more tolerable, in the comforts of a better life. Oh bear it with patience: and let your Earthly passions be moulded with heavenly patience: Patientia vera, ipsum amat, quem portat: True patience loves it burden, and let the visions of God, & thoughts of immortality, Mortify your members, with your minds, let them kill your Earthly affections: So shall you pass without grievances, and say, Multi vident Punctiones, sed non vident Vnctiones: Many see our Afflictions, what they are outward, but they do not feel our consolations, what they are inward. We are dead, and what of that, Sith our life is hid with CHRIST in GOD? who will Crown us even upon the Cross, with glory and Immortality: Never to die any more, never to sin any more, never to sigh any more: For Tears shall be taken from our Eyes, sorrow from our souls, and sin from our Hands, we shall now walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Oh, but life is sweet, and death is fearful, how may I be prepared against that hour, to undergo it in a Christian patience, without earthly passions? I answer. There be three things that make Death tolerable to each Christian, The first is, the necessity of dying: The second is, the Fecilitie of dying: And the third is, the falicitie of dying. For the first, that which cannot be avoided by any power, it must be endured with all patience: The first Age had it, it may plead Antiquity. The second Age felt it, it may plead continuance. And this last Age hath it, it will plead property in all flesh, till Sin and Time shallbe no more; Call it then no new thing, that is so ancient: Call it no strange thing, that is so usual: and call it not an evil properly thine, which is so common with all the world. Wilt thou fear that done, which is always a doing? (I mean thy dying) and fearest thou to die in thy last day, when by little and little thou diest every day? Oh well said Saint Paul, by our rejoicing, which I have in Christ jesus our Lord, 1. Cor. 15. Vers. 31. I die daily: Why then I may well say, Ye are always a dying, and death is still a doing. Death is the Lady and Empress of all the world, it seizeth upon all Flesh, without surrender of any, till the day of restoration: No place, no Time, no presence, can back it. There is no privilege against the grave, there is no pity in the grave, there is no pleading with the grave: And therefore Antiquity, never made Altar to Death, or did devotion to it, because it was implacable: Ever found to be cruel, and never felt to be kind. But it may be you will say, I might yet live longer, for I am young, and in my blood: I answer, there is no time now to consult with flesh and blood, but readily to obey the Heavenly call: and for your few years, Seneca saith well, He that dieth when he is young, is like one that hath lost a die, wherewith he might rather have lost then won: More years might have ensnared you with more sins, and have hardened you in your impenitency, to the hazard of your lives in this world, and your souls in an other: And for the flower of your youth, if you compare it with Eternity, whither now you go, and long after, Ephes. 4. Vers. 15. all are equally young, and equally old, for the most extended Age of a man in this world is but as a point, or a Minute, & the most contracted can be no less. And here from the necessity of dying, come we to the facility of dying, which maketh it less fearful, and more tolerable: For that the Sense of Death is of no continuance, It is buried in it birth, it vanisheth in it thought, and the pain is no sooner begun, but it is ended. Though the Flesh be frail, yet the spirit is strong, to encounter the cruelty of death: and to make it rather a kind kiss, than a cruel Cross. Christ said at his death, Father, Now the hour is come, Io 17. V 1. glorify thy Son. Is there glory in Death? And is it but an hour? Non manet diu, quòd in horam tantum manet: It is of no long abode, that abides but an hour. And little do I doubt, but in that hour, the soul is more ravished with the sight of GOD, than the body is tormented with the sense of death. Nay, I am further persuaded, in the very soul of my soul, that in the hour of death, the passion of mortality is so beaten back, with the Impression of Eternity, as the flesh feeleth nothing, but what the soul offereth, and that is God from whom it came, and whither it would: as Saint Augustine saith, Eadem facilitate, qua felicitate; with as great haste, as happiness: And so I pass from the facility of dying, to the Felicity and blessedness, that cometh thereby. Of which I may say, as Samson did of his riddle, Out of the eater came meat, and out of the strong came sweetness: judg. 14. V 14. Now the meat that cometh out of this eater, and sweetness that proceedeth forth of this strong one, is a Sessation of all evil, and an endowment of all good: all evil both poenae & culpae, are swallowed up of death, and by that door, we have ready passage to all blessedness, where all good & God is. Man that is borne of a Woman, job. 7. V 6.7. & 14. V 1.2. hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery: Oh sweet Death that turneth time into Eternity, and misery into mercy. This made Saint Paul to say, I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. This made David to dance, in the midst of his Affliction, when he said, I should verily have fainted, but that I verily trust to see the goodness of God, in the land of the living. This hath supported the souls of God's Saints, in the Seas of their sorrows, when they thought upon the day of their dissolution, wherein they should be made glorious by deliverance. And therefore whether you please to define or divine of Death what it is, if it be rightly broken into it parts, and passages, the Elect of God shall find it, A going out of prison, a shaking off of gives, an end of banishment, a burster of Bands, a destruction of toil, an Arriving at the Haven, a journey finished, the laying away of a heavy burden, the lighting from a mad and furious horse, a deliverance from a ruinous house, and house of clay: The end of all griefs, the escape of all dangers, the destroyer of all evils, Natures due, countries joy, heavens bliss: And all this, for that by Death the door is open, and passage made to Blessedness, Rest, and Immortality: Luk. 24. V 26. According to that of him who died for all: Ought not Christ to have suffered, and so to have entered into his rest? You may not leap out of your mother's warm womb, into your father's hot joy, but you must a while endure death, that ye may be dignified, I had almost said deified, Phil. 3. v 21. Revel. 14. v. 4. and surely you shall be near it, for ye are borne of God, and ye shall be fashioned like unto Christ, and follow the lamb whither ever he goeth: And now tell me in lief of all I have said, if death do thus divide us from all evil, and put us into all good, if death be like the gathering Ost Dan, that cometh last to gather up the lost and forlorn hope in this world, that they may be found in a better, whether is it better to live in sorrow, or die with solace? Let Agamedes and Trophonius assoil the doubt, of whom it is written by Plato in his Axioco, that after they had built the Temple of Apollo Delphic, they begged of God, he would grant them that which would be most beneficial for them, whereupon they went to bed, and there took their last sleep, and the day after, they were found both dead, in token, that the day of death is better, than the day of life, this being the entrance, that the end of all misery. The use is good in preparing us to affliction, a continual current ever running over our backs, even from our birth, unto our burial, with a continual Archers shot, piercing our veins, and breaking our bones, & from which we are never delivered, but in the day of our death, Gen. 35. v. 18. when Bonony the son of my sorrow, is turned into Benjamin the son of my right hand, and rahel's Cross, is crowned with Ia●●s strength. And hear seasonably may I descend to the next part of my Text, and turn the second wheel, carrying you from death to life, wherein you are hid, for your life is hid in Christ, that is your comfort. Nay that is your Tower, and though death like a damp may seem to put out all the delights of pleasure, yet when it hath brought us to the door of life, it is beaten back with a more glorious light, for than is your life hid with Christ in God: there to be carefully kept in grace, that ye may be crowned with him in glory, Soul now, and body then, in that blessed union of faith, and day of restoration, when this mortality shall put one immortality. I say carefully kept in the bosom of thy Christ, Psal. 16.7. Isai. 32.2. as in a retiring camp after the day of battle, kept as in an hiding place from the wind, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, kept us in a sanctuary to shroud in, and as in one of the Cities of refuge to flee unto, when sin, hell, and death follow after with hue and Cry: kept as joseph was in the dry pit at Dothan, from the rage of his brethren; 1. Sam. 22.1. 1. King. 19.8.9. 1. King. 18.13. 2. King. 11.2. kept as David was in the Cave of Adullam, from the rage of Saul; kept as Elijah was at Hebron from the ire of jesabel; kept as the hundredth Prophets were by Obedea from the fury of Ahab; Nay kept as joas was in the loving lap of joram, from the bloody designs of Athalia. And thus is your life hid in Christ, and so kept as no violence can reach it, no treason can entrap it, no tyranny can betray it. No policy or puissance can fetch it out: My sheep saith Christ, joh. 10. v. 28. hear my voice and I know them, they follow me, and I give them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hands; where he doth not say any man, but any; That is to say, any sin, any death, or any devil. And therefore I may safely secure my soul in the sweet repose of my God and Christ, when all my friends flee from me, and all mine enemies fly upon me, as they did upon my Christ, when hanging upon the tree in greatest torments, yet found out an issue, & said, Father into thy hands I commend my spirit. Luke. 23. v. 46. Again, if all this be not sufficient to secure thee, yet know further, that Christ is the storehouse and treasury of all mercy, in whom are hid with thee as the Apostle saith, all the riches of wisdom and knowledge, of grace, mercy, and peace, of love, life, and salvation, never exhausted, but ever full and flowing in all abundance, yea, and far above all earthly treasures, in these several respects, Quia violentia non aufertur, Antiquitate non Corrumpitur, Communitate multiplicatur, paupertate acquiritur, iucunditate possidetur, ex spiritualibus Componitur. For the first, the treasure in this storehouse is such, as no violence can fetch it thence, no Moth can eat it, no Canker can corode it, no thieves can break through or steal, no fury, no combustion, no wind from the wilderness, no violence of the Sabeians, no Chaldean bands can burst in where thy God and Christ have treasured up thy life, and thy salvation. Nor is it ever altered with time, decayed, or exhausted. The Persian store is now emptied, and devouring time hath eaten out their rich treasure, the Assyrian wealth is worn out, and Babel's burse is broken down, the great Maguzin of the Medes is moulded to dust, and Rome's revenues are lestned since Caesar's time, the mighty monarchs of the world are either worn out, or weakened, in their wealth; in their wit, in their power, and in their puissance. The imperial city is shallow in store, because it is sunk in sin, and become a cage for all filthy birds. Lastly, it pitieth me to think upon salomon's store, when gold and silver wear as stones in the street, tract of time hath spent it, and now jerusalems' riches is in her ruins; All these are gone, and their pomp was in the pride of a days continuance, but the Author of days, our God and Christ, hath a treasure more permanent, and which abideth ever. Yea, and above all the treasures in this world, in a third respect, and that is, Quia Communitate multiplicatur: all earthly treasures are spent in bestowing, this heavenly wealth is multiplied in giving; Pro. 11. v. 24. There is that scattereth saith Solomon and is more increased, there is that spareth and cometh to poverty; And here is the difference betwixt God and us, the more he giveth, the more he hath; the more we scatter, the less we have; The Fountain of God's grace is always open, and the more that floweth from him, the fuller he is, one Depth calleth upon an other, but the Depth of his mercy is bottomless. Fourthly, this treasure excelleth others, Quod paupertate acquiritur, Christ his coffers are filled with pain and poverty, according to that, Math. 19 v. 21. If thou wilt be perfect, go sell that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. And again, whosoever shall forsake houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, wife or children, or lands, for my name sake, he shall receive an hundredth fold, and shall inherit everlasting life; Isay. 55.1. it is the call of thy God and Christ, ye that have no money to buy, come buy without penny or pennyworth. Behold I set a kingdom on sale, even that of heaven, where riches are bought with poverty, peace with persecution, glory with shame, mirth with moan, Solace with sorrow, & life with death, for ye must die once, that ye may live always, & always there, where true joys are to be found. Fiftly, though this treasure be purchased with pain, yet it is kept with comfort: Earthly riches we so greedily catched at, and gape after, they are sharp as a thorn, & they prick to the bone, for they prick in getting, they prick in keeping, and they prick in parting from them; Nay, Acquirendo, Retinendo, Erogando, in getting, keeping, and bestowing, there is nothing but much sin, with little solace, and great danger with small delight. But the treasure wherein our life is hid, Ecclus. 15. v. 8. hath in it gladness of heart (as Siracides saith) for men of truth haunt it, and shall prosper even to the beholding of God. Wave therefore all weariness in the wealth of this wicked world, and as the proverb is, Ito sicut canis per Nilum, drink by catches for fear of Crocodiles: taste of it pleasures, but soak not into them, lest in the sweetness thereof, thou be supped up, Amatores suos novit devorare non portare, it knoweth better how to cross, then crown it rivals. Lastly, ex spiritualibus Componitur: This treasury stands upon spiritural store, no orient pearl of Peru or Mexico, no gold of Havila, no Carbunkle, Topas or Chrisolit, with are nothing else, but Terrae maculae & immunditiae; Neither any of these, or all these, with an other world of greater wealth, can store the treasury we aim at, it is filled, it is filled, with the substance of a more heavenly being, spiritualibus, non mundanis gazis, not with transitory, but with eternal store. It is filled with righteousness, peace and joy of the holy Ghost, it is filled with mercy, grace, and glory: It is filled with long life, length of days, and all Eternity: It is filled with Imperial majesty, brightness, and immortality: It is filled with the presence of God, with the sight of the Lamb, and with the sweet breath, and perfume of the holy Ghost, proceeding from both: It is filled with Songs of Zion, Melodious Music: and praises of all Saints and Angels, sweeter than the harmony of the Heavens. Finally, It is filled with greater joy than man can think, or Angel can speak: & therefore I leave it with a Selah, to my soul, till I find in glory, what I feel in grace. And the Lord increase your Faith, till you come to this perfection. Pardon me a while, to follow this current, till I havee laid you a sleep, in the sweet Repose and Bosom of your CHRIST; And therefore say yet further to the solace of your saved souls, Christ, in whom your life is secured, is that hidden Mannah, tendered to the Church at Pergamus, and in them to you, and so to the conquering Saints all the World. To him that overcometh, Revel. 2. V 17. I will give to eat of the Mannah, that is hid. Prou. 25. V 1. It stands with the glory of God, to keep a thing secret. So saith Solomon, But the King's honour will find it out: Christ is a secret, a mystery, and a Mine, to be digged into, our heavenly food, our meat and hidden Mannah, which we may not find in the bark and rind, which often times seemeth fair to the silly Eye of flesh and blood, but we must search the Veins, and dig down to the Root, where Christ his sap and sweetness is. Reu. 10. V 10. The little book was sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the belly: The lower it went, the more passionate it was: It feeling was in it fall, and till it came to the entrails, it entered not. So is this hidden Mannah, swimming in the ear, & moulded in the mouth, it relisheth not to thy salvation. But when it searcheth the veins of thy heart and soul, then is thy life hid in Christ, then is the very soul of thy Soul, incorporated into thy Saviour, which made the Prophet cry out in Ravishment of spirit, Rasili, Rasili, My secret to myself, Isai. 24. V 6. My secret to myself. As if he should say, If none will feel, yet am I filled with the abundance of this angels food: yea, and though all the world lie in darkness, yet Christ my Love, my Life, my Light, and my Salvation, shineth unto myself, and I shall walk in the brightness thereof: even from grace to grace, till I come to glory. Yea, and in the mean time be fed and filled with that Heavenly Mannah, which in these respects, I may parallel with my CHRIST, and apply as a comfortive to your pensive souls, who are to die, and now hunger and thirst after righteousness, grace, and glory. 1. First, as Mannah fell from Heaven, So did Christ, when he bowed the Heavens, and came down and said, I am the bread of life that came down from Heaven, whereof who Eateth, shall never hunger any more! Now your Eating of CHRIST, Io. 6. V 35. is but your (steadfast Faith) & believing in CHRIST: For so saith Saint Augustine, Edere, est Credere: And therefore saith Christ, Io. 6. V 40. He that believeth in me hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Whereupon I may conclude, Quid paras dentem, & ventrem, Crede & manducasti: Why dost thou bring me thy tooth and thy belly? believe in me, and thou hast eaten me. Secondly, when the Mannah was fallen, some gathered more, and some gathered less, and yet so, As he that gathered little, Exod. 16. V 18. had no lack, and he that gathered much, had nothing over: So is CHRIST the food of our souls, he filleth all that gather, though not in like measure: And therefore let none judge of the quantity of Faith and Sanctity, how much or how little will save a soul: Since we are here taught, that if it be any, it is enough. For he that gathered little had no lack, and he that gathered much had nothing over. None may presume, have he never so much, None may despair, have he never so little: But he that hath none at all, is remediless of all mercy. You are here dejected at Christ his feet, your tears, prayers, and kisses, express your Faith and Feeling, both of Christ his mercies, and your own miseries. It may be you think, you are feeble in Faith, and wanting in works, and what of that? Tantum velis, & Deus praeoccurrit: Only be thou willing, and God will supply thy wants: he will meet thee in the way, Luk. 15. Vers. 17. as the loving Fatheer did his lost Child, and say, This my Son was dead, and is alive again: and he was lost, but is found. Thirdly, Mannah fell from Heaven, Exod. 15. Vers. 15. when they thought not on it, nor knew it not: and therefore upon the sight, they said, Manhu, quid hoc: what is this? Christ fell down from heaven, like a shower of Rain, upon a fleece of wool: in softness and in silence: his own knew him not, but said: Is not this the Carpenter's Son? Who is this, that both wind and Seas obey? Suddenly hath the Son of God rushed upon you, and hath violently taken you out of your sins, and it cannot be, but upon the sight and relish of his sweet mercies: Ye say to the astonishment of your saved souls, Manhu; who is this, that thus fills and feeds our souls, with unspeakable joy and dulcet love. Fourthly, Mannah fell from heaven, when Israel was furthest fallen from God, murmuring in the wilderness against Moses their governor, Exit. 16. v. 2.3. and Aaron their priest, and wishing they had died in Egypt, and had never heard of Canaan: Christ came into this world a Saviour from sin, when all the world was dead in sin, when the Sceptre was gone from judah, and there was never a Prophet left, when the sacrifices were ceased, and the holy lamps were put out, when the house of God was made a den of thieves, and the world was tired with traditions, I say he came when the Law was perished from the Priests, and the kingdom was in an Ataxy. Then, even than came Christ to repair our ruins, to redeem us from sin, death, and damnation, feeding us with heavenly food to life and immortality. And now tell me you that are to die, were ye not violently taken to grace, when ye were furthest fallen from God, when running on in sin, did he not repair your ruins? and did he not think upon you ere ye thought upon him? are not these his mercies pressing out your tears of repentance, are they not merciful preventions, meeting with your miseries? doth he not even now by this temporal death, deliver you from eternal destruction both of body and soul for ever? Surely the Lord hath found you out in an acceptable time, when you may redeem a bad life, with a blessed death, and in the waste and roaring wilderness of this world, wherein ye have wandered tedious ways, he hath filled you with Mannah, and brought you to Canaan, I mean to heaven the land of your inheritance. But me thinks I see you sigh in the silence of your souls, and say with grief of heart, notwithstanding all I have said of Christ in whom ye are hid and secured, alas and woe is me therefore, though I be hid in my Christ, yet I die in my sin, and then am I gone with those reprobate jews, Of whom Christ said, Ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins, & whither I go, can ye not come. Io. 8. V 21. Whereunto I answer, to break off sin by repentance, is a blessed thing: but to live in the solace of sinning, and so to die, is most woeful and miserable: And therefore I say; 1. That it if one thing to die in sin. 2. An other thing to die with sin. 3. And a third thing to die for sin. The Reprobate from God, they die in their sin, whiles they persevere in sin to the end, having neither sense nor feeling of their wickedness: but make shipwreck of a good conscience, without care to cure the malady of their souls, either by Faith in Christ, or Repentance towards God: And so one liveth in his Idolatry, and dieth in his Idolatry: another liveth in his Adultery, and dieth in his Adultery: a third liveth in his oppression, ad dieth in his oppression: a fourth liveth in his malice, and dieth in his malice: a fift liveth in his stealth, and dieth in his stealth. All in their impenitence against the Lord, and never breaking off their sin, till sin have lodged them in their graves, and buried them in their impiety. Absalon lived in sin, and died in sin: he lived in sin, when he lay with his father's concubines in the sight of the son: Absalon died in sin, when in the height of his ambition, pride, and rebellion, his own locks hanged him, and joabs spear pierced him, quaelis vita, finis ita, such a life, such a death: he sinned with solace, but he died with sorrow: So I may say, of Saul, judas, Pharaoh, julian, and of all the damned crew of desperate Epicures, who dare say in despite of God and Christ, of death, and doom, let us eat and drink, to morrow we shall die, and so an end. Nay then is no end, but a beginning of sorrow never to end. But to die with sin, is so to kill sin in this mortal body, as not to suffer it to rise, rule, and rebel like a tyrant, but to suppress it, with a continual fight and mortification, and though happily we cannot beat back the fume but it will smoke in us, yet must we strive to quench the flame, that it burn us not to cinders. And thus have the godly of all ages died with their sin, and so fought against sin, as they never died in their sin, always crying with the blessed Apostle, Miserable man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin. And with holy job, If I wash myself with Snow water, job. 9 v. 30.31. and purge mine hands most clean, yet shall thou plunge me in the pit, and mine own clothes shall make me filthy. These feel their sins, but withal they find a saviour: these sorrow for their sins, and yet rejoice in their Infirmities. They fear a danger, but they find a deliverance: yea, they know and are well assured, that though sin do abound, yet grace doth superabound, they wash their stoles in the blood of the lamb, and their red bloody sins, are made shim white in the tincture of his blood, every drop whereof is sufficient to redeem a thousand worlds. In a word, 2. Cor. 12. v. 9 these are they who rejoice in weakness, and take pleasure in their infirmities, that the power of God may dwell in them: these are they whom Satan often buffeteth, lest they should be exalted out of measure, with the abundance of revelations: these pray to be delivered, and though they prevail not, yet do they hear to the solace of their saved souls, even from him whose lips are powdered with much grace, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my power is made perfect through weakness, my grace hath prevented thee, my grace doth assist thee, my grace shall perfect thee, these are they who mince with no merit, but rely upon the mere mercy of their Christ, ever living in sin, and yet dying to sin, with an assured hope that their sins are purged, pardoned, forgotten, and not imputed, as and if their souls should thus solace themselves in the free remission of their sins, those sins which thou hast not purged o my Christ, those haste thou pardoned. Lastly, to die for sin is so sole and proper to Christ, as it can be said of none to have done it but himself, For he trod the winepress alone, and of all the world there was none to help him, he alone was the lamb of God that took away the sins of the world, and the glorious voice that came down from heaven, fell upon him and none other, This is my well-beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him. What should I say more? he died, he died, the Just for the unjust, the innocent for the delinquent, and he that knew no sin, died for all sin, all curse and execration lay upon him, who deserved none, that it might be laid off us, he matched all misery, that he might merit all mercy: Nay, he died for our sins a dolorous death, that he might gain for us an eternal and glorious life. Good Lord how much are we obliged to thee and to thy death, we sinned and thou smarted for us, we were in debt, and thou dischargedst it, we were even dropping down to hell, and in suffering thou hast made us sovereigns in heaven. No sacrifice, no salve, no electuary could cure the malady of our sins, but the death of the Physician must be the life of the Patient, and therefore in this I may say in some sense (as Tulli did to his wife Terentia in that his woeful exile) In hoc miserior sum quam tu quae es miserima, quod calamitas communis est utrisque nostrum culpa mea propria: herein might it well beseem me o my Christ to be more afflicted than thou whose afflictions are above all afflictions, that the fall is common to us both, but the fault is properly mine, for I have sinned, and thou hast smarted, the Just for the unjust. And here the rather to break your hearts with the balm of Christ, his love, who died for your sins, let me assure you in the faith, how diversly this his unspeakable love is confirmed and sealed unto you, both by bond, and bail, for he hath sworn to your salvation, and he hath put in himself body for body. Nay, soul for soul, to answer the rigour of his father, that you his children might be free. Psal. 9.10. For the first, true it is the Lord hath sworn, and it hath not repent him, thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizadecke: A Priest to pray, a Priest to bleed, a Priest to plead, never wanting to stand up in the gap for us most miserable sinners; Had it not been enough to have prayed for us upon Mount Olivet, but he must bleed for us upon Mount calvary? And had it not been sufficient there to have bled for us, but yet in the heaven of heavens to stand for us an advocate, even there to plead our cause? according to that of Saint john, If any man sin we have an advocate with the father, 1. joh. 2. even jesus Christ the righteous, etc. Now in this oath and covenant he hath made with us and for us, I observe, 1. Stability, In that it is from God, for so it is said, the Lord hath sworn, he hath sworn that it is much, and he hath sworn never to repent him of that he hath done: that is more, it repent God that he had made man, but it never repent him that he had redeemed man: so much more excellent than is the work of our Redemption, above that of our Creation: this of Creation grieved for, but that of Redemption, never repent of: and no marvel, sith the sins of the old water, were once washed away with old water, but these with new blood, strained out of the veins of Christ, every drop whereof was sufficient to redeem a thousand worlds: and therefore I may well say of this gift, above all that ever God gave to man, that these gifts of God are Ametamellonta without repentance. And this is the holy covenant the Lord made with us before the world was, for the safe keeping whereof he hath put in his Christ, to enter both bond and bail, Life for life, body for body, soul for soul, as the blessed Apostle saith, A Surety of a better Covenant, the worthiness whereof as I have said is, 1. In firmitudine, as confirmed by oath, for the Lord hath sworn: 2. in perpetuitate as abiding ever, for of his kingdom there is no end: 3. in pactionis modo ratified with blood, neither of Bulls nor Calves, but with the precious blood of jesus Christ: 4. In fine & virtute as purging our sins, purchasing our place, and pleading our cause, whereas Moses testament was established upon no such saving grounds, for it was confirmed without oath, and but for a time, with the blood of Bulls and Goats, with the ashes of an Heifer scattered in the air, nor with any promise of eternal salvation, but of a temporal rest and Canaan. And thus of the abundance of Christ his grace, we have all received grace for grace: A grace preventing, when he thought upon us, ere we thought upon him, and met our misery with his mercy: A grace assisting, supporting our frailty, and fashioning our faith and obedience to his holy will: and a grace perfecting, Never leaving us, till he have made us to appear before his Father in perfect beauty, thus saying, Oh Father here am I, and the Children which thou hast given me, and now pardon them because thou hast plagued me; Me me adsum qui feci in me, convertite ferrum o Rutuli nihil iste nec ausus nec potuit. It is I, that have been made sin for them, and paid the ransom for their deaths, thou (o my GOD) hast turned thy fury upon me, I have felt it: o turn it from them, that they fall not, who neither durst (nor could) endure my danger, or drink of my Cup: Shall not the judge of all the world do according to right? That which thou hast punished in me, thou mayest not punish in them again. Oh my GOD (hear my prayer,) forgive them, for they knew not what they did, and forgive them their sins, with the punishment of their sins, for me thy son, and their saviours sake. And here seasonable to you be it spoken, who are but lookers on and beholders of these woeful tragedies, these are now ready to be sacrificed, and to act the last and best part of their life, upon the Altar of their Cross, you stay behind, how long God he knoweth, and must endure the wars and woes of this wicked world, take heed you trample not under your feet the blood of that covenant which these penitent sinners have laid to their hearts, and treasured up in their dearest thoughts: Nor do you think that only they are sinners upon whom this Tower of Siloah is fallen, for and if ye do not repent, ye shall likewise perish: I dare not for my life secure you in your sins, there be different deaths for different sins, which must be repent for, otherwise ye shall die in your sins penitentiam dare possum securitatem non possum, upon your repentance I dare pronounce remission, but upon your rebellions, I dare give no security: Nusquam est securitas there is no safety where sin seizeth, if Angels sin in heaven out they must, if Adam sin in Paradise away he must, and if judas shrink at the side of Christ he must be gone, Malorum eiecto bonorum glorificatio, then are the good and godly glorified, when the wicked and wayward are mortified. There be two sins sensible in this dissolute age wherein we live, and they are written in so great and capital letters, that a man may read them running, the first is the fawning sin of presumption, the other is, the fearful sin of desperation: In our presumption we soar too high, and the fire upon the mount doth scorch us: In our despair, we hover too low, and the furies of hell do haunt us: In our presumption wear too much exaulted, and we dare to sin, notwithstanding God's judgements: In our despair, we are too much dejected, and we do not repent, notwithstanding his mercies: Medio Tutissimus ibis; A mean is best, and that is, to go by Christ, in whom mercy and Truth meet together, righteousness and peace, kiss each other. Surely we can go to no Pulpit, but Paul's passion doth pierce our hearts, to provoke our speech against the outrage of both, Many walk (of whom I have told you often) and now tell you weeping, they are enemies to the cross of Christ, their belly is their God, their glory is their shame, and they do but mind Earthly things. Nay, you are well worse in your unrepentant lives, than these poor sinners are in their penitent deaths: For they have their conversation in Heaven; From whence they look for the Saviour: Even the Lord jesus Christ, who shall change these our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself: Yea, that I may conclude with my Text, These have their lives so hidden in Christ, as they are well assured, that when Christ which is their life, shall appear, then shall they appear with him in glory. And so I pass to the last Wheel, turning and tending to that glory, which shall be even upon your dissolution in soul, and upon the restoration of your bodies, in the day of your Redemption, when Christ who is your life shall appear. Now in this Apparition what, shall I see? I shall see the second coming of my CHRIST attended upon, Not with twelve poor Fishermen, but with all the Powers of heaven. I shall see him come Ad Sententiandum, & ad Seperandum: when those that have done good, shall go into everlasting life, whither God bring you, and those that have done evil, into everlasting Condemnation, from which the Lord deliver you. But what shall ye see upon Christ his Apparition? Nay, rather what shall ye not see upon your dissolution? Words spoken in season as Solomon saith, are like apples of silver in pictures of gold, therefore fly out my voice, and be strong my spirit, evermore to express the glory of those unspeakable joys ye shall both see and feel within these few hours, when dead in body, but ravished in soul, ye shall see the heavens open to give you ready passage to eternal blessedness. 1 Where ye shall see God as he is face to face, I say God of so great Majesty, might, bounty, beauty, and love, as if a man were filled with all other blessings both temporal and eternal, and yet without that, as Plotinus saith, all were but misery and accursednes. 2 Ye shall see the comfortable face and countenance of jesus Christ, fairer than the sons of men, and whom the very Angels desire to behold. 3 Ye shall see the holy Ghost, proceeding from both, and breathing upon your saved souls, like a soft air upon a garden, and more sweet than all the trees of incense. 4 Ye shall see the bright court of Angels, Cherubins, and Zeraphines', attending the Deity, and ever pressing to do his will, faithfully, speedily, willingly, and never weary of watching, because they are never weary of well doing. 5 Ye shall see the fair assembly of the Saints of God, patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles, with Abraham Isaac and jacob, in that his glorious kingdom, ye shall be tied with them in the bundle of the living, never to be loosed any more, ye shall return as they have done into your rest, as into a retiring camp after the day of battle, there shall ye follow the lamb whither soever he goeth, and there shall ye walk before the Lord in the land of the living for evermore. 6 Ye shall see new jerusalem come down from heaven, as a Bride prepared for her husband, a City of solace whose ports are ever patent, whose streets are paved with gold, & garnished with all manner of precious stones, the jasper, the Saphir, the Chalcedonie, & the Emarod, the Sardonix, the Sardius, the Crisolite, and the Berill, the Topas, the Crisoparus, the jacinth, and the Amathist: ever splendent shall this City be, it shall need no Sun, for the Lamb is the light of the place, the people that are saved, shall walk in the Light of it, and the Kings of the Earth shall bring their glory and honour unto it: The Gates of it shall not be shut by day, August. in Epistol. joh. Tract. 4. for there shall be no night there: and the glory both of jew and gentle shall be brought unto it. What should I say more? Quomodo potuit, Lingua sonuit, Caetera cord cogitentur. As I could, so have I told, let the heart conceive the rest: and yet so, as Amoenissima Civitas: Amantissima Societas: jucundissima Foelicitas: A most pleasant place, A most joyful presence: And a most happy estate of blessedness, shall be your portion, in an endless glory. 7 I cannot speak as I would, and yet my heart is full, break it will, if it may not vent it, Pardon me therefore a while to beat back these fearful passions, of your mortality, with further impressions of your eternity: ye shall have Eyes without tears, hearts without sorrow, souls without sin, green youth without grievance of old age, health without sickness, fullness without satiety, freedom without bondage, beauty without blemish, glory without shame, and life without death, your knowledge shall be without either doubting, or discourse, for ye shall see God and all goodness, all at once, your love shall level at the highest, nor shall it fail to fall upon the lowest of his Saints. 8 Ye shall have what ye can desire, and ye shall desire nothing but what is good: Aug. lib. 13. de triniti. cap. 5. For as one hath truly said, Beatus non est nisi qui & habet omnia que vult & nihil vult male: He is not blessed who enjoyeth not all he will, and yet willeth nothing but what is good. 9 Ye shall hear Melodious Songs, even songs of Zion, Psalms, Hymns and praises, more sweet than the harmony of the heavens, when all that Celestial host, shall fill that holy vault with an Halaluiah to the Almighty, and say, Honour, Glory, Majesty, Power, dominion and might, be ascribed unto him that sitteth upon the throne both now and ever. Thus shall all Angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein, Cherubin and Seraphin continually shall cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth: Beati ergo qui habitant in domo tua, Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they shall always praise thee, and the praises of God shall be their daily practice. 10 Lastly, and to your endless comforts, all this, and all former joys shall be for ever, and without interruption, for of this kingdom shall be no end: Nec quoad Regem, nec quoad Legem, nec quoad Subditos, nec quoad fines Imperij: The King is Christ, the law is love, the subjects are Saints, and the bondaries of this empire are endless, all tied to no return, either of term or time, for time shall be no more. And for your speedy passage out of this world, into that endless glory, ye shall go, Nay ye shall fly, Eadem facilitate qua felicitate: as S. Augustine saith, with as great hast as happiness. This day saith Christ, Amodo saith john: Even now, and in Ictu oculi, in the twinkling of an eye, saith blessed Paul, all shall be changed at the day of doom. And why not in this day of death? For if Corpus erit ubi volet animus, If the body shall be where the mind will when it is glorified, why shall not the soul be where and when God will, when it is delivered? I say delivered out of the bondage wherein it is, to the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The silly eye of flesh and blood may happily demur upon the distance, and think how it is possible the soul should pass with such speed from this earthly house, and house of clay, to that high and heavenly habitation, the eight sphere as some writ, being distant from the earth every where, 20000. Semidiamiters, which calculated a right, and numbered with our miles, maketh a million of Germane miles, which is one thousand thousand. Surely I dare determine of no particular, but in the general say as Balaam did of Israel, Who can number the dust of Israel? So who can tell the distance of the heavens? Pro. 25.3. The heavens in height, and the earth in deepness, and the King's heart can no man search: Howbeit, be the distance never so great, yet speedy may be the soul's passage, when it is done by the power of God, which passeth all possibility of man, to conceive how. And so to conclude and close with your saved souls, who are now by death to make a speedy passage into all these joys, and so for a while to prevent us of that glory, Lift up your hearts above the height of all Sublimity, where true joys are to be found, Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning, joy, joy, joy, such as neither eye hath seen, nor tongue can tell, Angels feel it, they cannot speak it, and therefore I leave it as a Selah to my soul, till I see in glory, what I feel in grace. And when even in an instant, and less than a thought, I shall pass from the bowels of this earth, to the bosom of my Christ; Wither God bring both you and us, for his sons sake. To whom be glory, power, and praises, both now and ever. Amen, Amen. FINIS. Errata. Fol. 1. For good, read God, in the second line of the Text. Fol. 18. Line 12. for Bonony, read Benony.