The Cure of the Fear of Death, Chapter 4

The Cure of the Fear of Death · Chapter 4

p. 28CHAP. IIII.

Shewing that a Christian is many waies happie in death.

NOW I come to the third point, which is the maine thing to bee attended; and that is the meanes how wee may be cured of the feare of p. 29Death: and in this we had neede all to attend vvith great carefulnesse. The disease is stubborne, and An exhortation to attend vponupon the meanes of cure.men are sluggish, and extremely loth to bee at the trouble of the cure, and Sathan by all meanes would keepe vsus from remembring our later end; and the world affoordes daily distractions to pluck vsus away from the schoole of Christ herein, and our owne hearts are deceitful, and our natures apt to bee wearie of the doctrine, before we put in practice any of the directions; and wee are apt to a thousand p. 30conceits, that it is either vnpossible, or vnnecessary to attend this doctrine, or the like. Yea, it may be, it will fare with many of vsus, as it doth with those that are troubled with the raging paine of the teeth, their paine wil cease, when the Barber comes to pull out the tooth: so it may be you may finde this deceit in your owne hearts, that you wil not feele the feare of Death, till the discourse of the medicine be ouer, and so let it bee as water spilt on the ground. But let vsus all awake, and in the power and strength of p. 31Christ, that died to deliuer vsus from the feare of death, let vsus al lay the plaisters close to the sore, and keepe them at it, till they be throughly whole.

There bee tvvo vvaies Two waies of curing the feare of death.then of curing this feare of Death: 1. The one is by contemplation: 2. The other is by practice. There be some things if we did chuse them out soundly to thinke of them, would heale vsus wonderfully.

There bee some things also to be done by vsus, to make the cure perfect. If contemplation bee not auailable, then practice will p. 32without faile finish the cure.

The cōtemplations are of two sorts: 1. For either The wayes of curing this feare by contē plation.they are such meditations, as breede desire of Death by way of motiue: 2. Or they are such, as remooue the obiections, which cause in mans mind the feare of Death. For the first, there bee tvvo things, which if they bee soundly thought on, will worke a strange alteration in our harts. 1. The one is the happinesse wee hauehave by Death. 2. The other, is the miseries wee are in by Life.

p. 33Can any man be afraid to be happy? If our heads & hearts were filled with arguments, that shew vsus our happinesse by Death, we would not be so sencelesse as to tremble at the thought of dying.

Our happines in Death may bee set out in many particulars, & illustrated by many similitudes, full of life and vertue, to heale this disease of feare.

1. Death makes an end of all the tempests & continual The happines of a Christian in death shewed 17. wayes.stormes, with which our life is tossed. It is the Hauen and Port of rest: and are wee so mad, as to p. 34desire the continuance of such dangerous tempests, rather then to bee in the hauen whither our iourney tends?

2. Death is a sleep. For so the dead are said to be asleep, 1. Thes. 4. 14. Look what a bed of rest & sleep is to the weary labourer, such is Death to the diligent Christian. In death they rest in their beds from the hard labours of this life, Esay 37. 2. Reu. 14. 13. And was euer the weary labourer afraid of the time, whē hee must lye downe, and take his rest?

3. The day of Death, p. 35is the day of receiuing wages, wherin God paies to eueryevery godly man his penny. And doth not the hireling long for the time, wherein hee shall receiue wages for his work? Iob. 7. 2. And the rather should we long for this time, because we shall receiue wages infinitely aboue our worke, such wages as was neuer giuen by man, nor can bee, if all this visible world were giuen vsus.

4. In death the seruant comes to his freedome, & the heire is at his full age and it is such a liberty as i… glorious: neuer such a freedome p. 36in the world, Rom. 8. 21. Shall the heire desire to be still vnderunder age, and so still vnderunder Tutors and Gouernors? or shall the seruant feare the day of his freedome?

5. In death, the banished returne, and the Pilgrims enter into their Fathers house. In this life wee are exiled men, banished frō Paradise, and Pilgrims & Strangers in a far Countrey, absent from God & heauen. In death wee are receiued to Paradise, and settled at home in those euerlasting habitations in our Fathers house, Luke p. 3717. Iohn 14. 2. Heb. 13. 11. And can we bee so senceless as to be afraid of this?

6. Death is our birthday; we say falsely, when we call Death the last day. For it is indeed the beginning of an euerlasting day: and is there any greeuance in that?

7. Death is the funerall of our vices, and the resurrection of our graces. Death was the daughter of Sinne, and in death shall that be fulfilled: The daughter shall destroy the mother. Wee shall neuer more be infected with sin, nor troubled with ill natures, p. 38nor be terrified for offending. Death shall The dissolution of the body, is the absolution of the soule.deliuer vsus perfectly whole of all our diseases, that were impossible to be cured in this life, and so shal there be at that day a glorious resurrection of graces: Our gifts shall shine, as the Starres in the Firmament; And can we be so sottish as stil to be afraid of Death?

8. In death the soule is deliuered out of prison: For the body in this life is but a loathsome, and darke prison of restraint. I say, the soule is restrained, as it were, in a prison, p. 39while it is in the body, because it cannot be free to the exercise of it selfe, either in naturall, or supernaturall things: For the body so rules by senses, and is so fiercely carried by appetites, that the soule is compelled to giuegive way to the satisfying of the body, and cannot freely follow the light either of Nature or Religion: The truth, as the Apostle saith, is with-held, or shut vp, through vnrighteousnesse, Rom. 1. 18. I say, it is a loathsome prison, because the soule is annoied with so many loathsome smels p. 40of sinne, and filthinesse, which by the body are committed. And it is a darke prison; For the soule looking through the body, can see but by little holes, or small casements. The body shuts vp the light of the soule, as a dark Cloude doth hide the light of the Sunne; or as the interposition of the earth doth make it night: Now death doth nothing, but as it were a strong wind dissolue this Cloud, that the Sunne may shine cleerely, and puls downe the walles of the prison, that the soule may come p. 41into the open light.

9. The liberty of the soule in death may be set out by another similitude. The world is the Sea: our liues are like so many Gallies at Sea, tost with continuall Tides, or Stormes: our bodies are Gally-slaues, put to hard seruice by the great Turke the deuill, who tyrannically, and by vsurpation, doth forcibly cōmand hard things. Now the soule within, like the heart of some ingenuous Gally-slaue, may bee free, so as to loathe that seruitude, and inwardly detest that tyrant; but yet p. 42so long as it is tyed to the body, it cannot get away. Now death comes like an vnresistable Gyant, and carries the Gallies to the shore, and dissolues them, and lets the prisoners free: And shall this glorious liberty of the soule bee a matter of terrour vntounto vsus? Had we rather be in captiuity still?

10. In this life wee are cloathed with rotten, ragged, foule garments: Now the Apostle shewes, that death doth nothing else but pull off those ragged garments, and cloath vsus with the glorious robes of p. 43saluation; more rich then the robes of the greatest Monarch, 2. Cor. Chap. 5. Vers. 2, 3. It is true, that the godly hauehave some kinde of desire to be cloathed vponupon: They would hauehave those new garments, without pulling off their old; But that is not decent: for a Prince to weare (without) gorgeous attire, and (vnderneath) base ragges. To desire to goe to heauen, and not to die, is to desire to put on our new cloaths without putting off our old: and is it any grieuance to shift vsus by laying aside our old cloathes, to p. 44put on such rich garments? We are iust like such slothfull persons, that louelove well to hauehave good cloaths, and cleane linnen: but they are so sluggish, they are loth to put off their old cloathes, or foule linnen.

11. In the same place the Apostle cōpares our bodies to an old mudwalled house, and to a rotten Tent: and our estate in heauen to a most glorious and Princely Palace, made by the most curious Workman that euer was; and it is such a building too, as wil neuer be out of p. 45repaire. Now for a godly man to die, is but to remoue from a rotten old house, ready to fall on his head, to a sumptuous Palace, 2. Cor. 5. 1. Doth that Land-lord do his Tenant wrong, or offer him hard measure, that will hauehave him out of his base Cottage, & bestow vponupon him his owne Mansion house? No other thing doth God to vsus, when by Death he remoues vsus out of this earthly Tabernacle of our bodies, to settle vsus in those euerlasting habitations, euen into that building made without hands, in p. 46heauen, Ioh. 14. 2. Luk. 17.

12. A man, that had neuer seene the experience of it, perhaps would hauehave thought, that the seed cast into the ground had beene spoyled, because it would rot there: but Nature hauing shewed the returne of that graine with aduantage, a man can easily bee cured of that folly: The Husbandman is neuer so simple, as to pitty himselfe, or his seed; he sayes not, Alas, is it not pitty to throw away and marre this good seed? Why brethren; what are our bodies, p. 47but like the best graine? The bodies of the Saints are Gods choisest corne. And what doth Death more vntounto Gods Graine, then cast it into the earth? Do we not beleeue, our bodies shall rise like the graine, better then euer they were sowed? and are we still afraid?

Paul saith, he would be dissolued, that hee might be with Christ, Phil. 1. 21. In which words hee imports two things in death. First, that there is a dissolution of the soule from the body: and secondly, that there is a coniunction of p. 48the soule with Christ. Now which is better for vsus, to hauehave the body, or to hauehave Christ? The same Apostle saith else-where, that they are confident in this, they had rather be absent from the body, and so to be present with the Lord: then to bee present with the body, and absent from the Lord: 2. Cor. 5. 7, 8.

Now the true reason why men feare death, is, because they looke vponupon the dissolution onelyonly, and not vponupon the coniunction with Christ.

14. In the 1. Cor. 9. 24. our life is compared to a p. 49race, and eternall life to a rich prize not corruptible, but an incorruptible Crowne: Now death is the end of the race, and to die is but to come to the goale, or race end. Was euer runner so foolish, as to bee sorry, that with victory hee was neere the end of the race? And are we afraid of death, that shall end the toile, and sweate, and danger of the running; and giuegive vsus with endlesse applause so glorious a recompence of reward?

15. In the Ceremoniall Law, there was a yeare p. 50they called the yeere of Iubilee; and this was accounted an acceptable yeare, because eueryevery man that had lost, or sold his Lands, vponupon the blowing of a Trumpet returned, and had possession of all againe; and so was recouered out of the extremities in which he liued before. In this life wee are like the poore men of Israel, that hauehave lost our inheritance, and liue in a manner and condition eueryevery way straightned: now Death is our Iubilee, and when the Trumpet of death blowes, we all, that p. 51die, returne, and enioy a better estate, then euer we sold, or lost: Shall the Iubilee be called an acceptable time? And shall not our Iubilee bee acceptable to vsus? Esay 61. 2.

16. Death is the day of our Coronation; wee are heires apparant to the Crowne in this life: yea, wee are Kings Elect, but cannot bee crowned, till death, 2. Tim. 4. 8. And shall not that make vsus louelove the appearing of Christ? Is a King afraid of the day of his Coronation?

To conclude this first part of Contemplation: p. 52If we did seriously set before our eyes the glory to come; could our eyes be so dazeled, as not to see, and admire, and haste to it? Aske Paul, that was in heauen, what he saw; and hee will tell you, Things that cannot hee vttered: Happinesse beyond all language of mortall man. If there were as much faith on earth, as there is glory in heauen: oh! how would our hearts bee on fire with feruent desires after it! But euen this faith is extremely wanting: It is our vnbeleefe that vndoes vsus, and filles vsus with p. 53these seruile and sottish feares.

And thus of the meditations, taken from the happinesse wee enioy by death: which should make vsus conclude with Salomon, Eccles. 7 1Eccl 7:1That the day of Death is better, then the day when one is borne.