The Marrow of the Oracles of God, Chapter 4
CHAP. IIII.
Shewing that a Christian is many wayes happy in death.
NOw I come to the third point, which is the maine thing here intended; and that is the meanes how we may be cured of the feare of Death: and in this we had need all to attend with great carefulnesse. The disease is stubburne, and men are sluggish, and extremely loth to An exhorta…ion to attend vponupon the mean…s of cure.be at the trouble of the cure; and Satan by all meanes would keepe vsus from remembring our latter end: & the world affoords daily distractions to plucke vsus away from the schoole of Christ herein, and our owne hearts are deceitfull, and our natures apt to be weary of the doctrine, before wee put in practice any of the directions; and we are apt to a thousand conceits, 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 will cease when the Barber comes to pull out the tooth: so it may be you may finde this deceit in your hearts, that you will not feel. the feare of death, till the discourse of the medicine be ouer; and so let it be as water spilt on the ground. But let vsus all awake, and in the power and strength of Christ, that died to deliuer vsus from the feare of death, let vsus lay all the plaisters close to the sore, and keepe them at it, till it bee throughly whole.
There be two wayes then of curing this feare of Death: The 2. Wayes of curing the feare of Death. 1. By contemplation 2 By practice.one is by contemplation: The other is by practi…. There be some things if we did chuse them out, soundly to thinke of them, would heale vsus wonderfully.
There be some things also to bee done by vsus, to make the c…re perfect. If contemplation be not auaileable, then practice will without faile finish the cure.
The contemplations are of two sorts: For either they are such Th… wayes of curing this feare by contemplation.meditations as breed desire of Death, by way of motiue, or they are such as remoue the obiections, which cause in mans mind the feare of Death. For the first, there bee two things, which if they be soundly thought on, will worke a strange alteration in our hearts. The one is, the happinesse wee hauehave by death. The other is, the miseries we are in by life.
Can any man be afraid to bee happy? If our heads and hearts were filled with arguments, that shew vsus our happines by death, we would not be so senslesse as to tremble at the thought of dying.
Our happinesse in death, may bee set out in many particulars, The happines of a Christian … death, shewed 17. waies. 1. Death i… the hauen.and illustrated by many similitudes, full of life and vertue to heale this disease of feare.
1. Death makes an end of all the tempests and continuall stormes, with which our life is tossed: it is the Hauen and Port of rest: and are we so mad as to desire the continuance of such dangerous tempests, rather then to be in the Hauen whither our iourney tends?
2. Death is a sleepe: For so 2 It is but a sleepe.the dead are said to to be asleepe, 1 Thess. 4. 14. Looke what a bed of rest and sleepe is to the weary labourer, such is Death to the diligent Christian. In death they rest in their beds from Iob 14. 12.the hand labours of this life, Esay 38. Reuel. 14. 13. And was euer the wearie labourer afraid of the time when hee must lie downe and take his rest?
3. The day of Death is the day 3. It is the day of receiuing wages.of receiuing wages, wherin God payes to eueryevery godly man his penny. And doth not the hireling long for the time wherein hee shall receiue wages for his worke? Iob 7. 2. And the rather should wee long for this time, because we shall receiue wages infinitely aboue our worke; such wages as was neuer giuen by man, nor can be, if all this visible world were giuen vsus.
4. In death the seruant comes to his freedome, and the heire is 4 Then the seruant is free, and the heire at full age.at his full age; and it is such a liberty as is glorious: neuer such a freedome in the world, Rom. 8. 21. Shall the heire desire to bee still vnderunder age, and so still vnderunder Tutors and Gouernours? or shall the seruant feare the day of his freedome?
5. In death, the banished returne, 5 Then the banished returne.and the Pilgrims enter into their Fathers house. In this life we are exiled men, banished from Paradise, and Pilgrims and Strangers in a farre countrey, absent from God and heauen. In death wee are receiued to Paradise, and settled at home in those euerlasting habitations in our Fathers house, Luk. 17. Ioh. 14. 2. Hebrewes 11. 13. And can we be so senslesse, as to bee afraid of this?
6. Death is our birth-day; we 6. It is our birth-day.say falsly, when wee call Death the last day. For it is indeed the beginning of an euerlasting day: and is there any grieuance in that?
7. Death is the funerall of our 7. It is the funerall of our vices, &c.vices, & the resurrection of our graces. Death was the daughter of Sinne, and in death shall that be fulfilled: The daughter shall destroy the mother. We shall neuer The dissolution of the body.more be infected with sinne, nor troubled with ill natures, nor be terrified for offending: Death shall deliuer vsus perfectly whole of all our diseases, that were impossible to bee cured in this is the absolution of the soule.life, and so shall there bee at that day a glorious resurrection of graces: Our gifts shall shine as the Stars in the firmament; And can wee bee so sottish, as still to bee afraid of death?
8. In death the soule is deliuered 8. Then the soule is deliuered out of prison.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, while it is in the body, because it cannot bee free to the exercise of it selfe either in naturall or supernaturall things: For the body so rules by senses, and it is so fiercely carried by appetites, that the soule is compelled to giuegive a 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, Romanes 1. 28. I say, it is a loathsome prison, because the soule is annoyed with so many loathsome smels of sin and filthinesse, which by the body are committed. And it is a darke prison; For the soule looking through the bodie, can see but by little holes, or small casements. The body shuts vp the light of the soule, as a darke Cloud 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 clearely, and puls downe the walles of the prison, that the soule may come into the open light.
9. The liberty of the soule in 9. Shewed by another similitude.death may be set out by another similitude. The world is the Sea; our liues are like to many Gallies at Sea, tost with continuall Tides or Stormes: our bodies are Gally-slaues, put to hard seruice by the great Turke the Diuell, who tyrannically, and by vsurpation, doth forcibly command hard things. Now the soule within, like the heart of some ingenious Gally-slaue, may be free, so as to loath that seruitude, and inwardly de…est that tyran… but yet so 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 sets the prisoners free: And shall this glorious libertie of the soule be a matter of terror vntounto vsus? Had we rather be in captiuitie still?
10. In this life wee are cloathed 10. It is but to put off our old clothes.with rotten, ragged, foule garments: Now the Apostle shewes, that death doth nothing else but pull off those ragged garments, & cloath vsus with the glorious robes of saluation, more rich then the robes of the greatest Monarch, 2. Cor. 5. 2, 3. It is true, that the godly hauehave some kinde of desire to bee cloathed vponupon: They would hauehave those new garments, without putting 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 cloathes, without putting off our old. And is it any grieuance to shift vsus, by laying aside our old cloathes, to put on such rich garments? We are iust like such slothfull persons, that louelove well to hauehave good cloathes, 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 11. it is but to remoue out of an old house.compares our bodies to an old mud-walled house, and to a rotten tent; and our estate and 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 will neuer bee out of repaire. 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 Landlord doe his Tenant wrong, or offer him hard measure, that will hauehave him out of his base cottage, and bestow vponupon him his own 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 heauen, Ioh. 14. 2. Luk. 17.
12. A man that had neuer 12. The seed cast into the ground, is not spoiled.seene the experience of it, perhaps would hauehave thought, that the seed cast into the ground, had beene spoiled, because it would rot there; but Nature hauing shewed the returne of that graine with aduantage, a man can easily be cured of that folly. The Husbandman is neuer so simple, as to pitty himselfe or his seede; he saies not, Alas, is it not pitty to throw away and marre this good seed? Why, brethren, what are your bodies, but like the best graine? The bodies of the Saints are Gods choisest corne. And what doth death m… vntounto Gods graine, then cast it into the earth? Doe we not beleeue our bodies shall rise like the graine, better then euer they were sowed? and are we still afraid?
13. Paul saith, he would be 13. Then we shall be in Christ.dissolued, that hee might bee with Christ, Philip. 1. 2…. In which words he 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 the 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 bee 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 …oniunction with Christ.
14. In the 1. Cor. 9. 24. our 14 It is but to come to the …nd of the Race, and receiue the prize.life is compared to a race, and eternall life to a rich prize; not a corruptible, but an incorruptible Crowne. Now death is the end of the race; and to dye, is but to come to the goale or race end. Was euer Runner so foolish, as to be sorrie, that with victorie he was neere the end of the race? And are we afraid of death, that shall end the toyle and sweate and danger of the running; and giuegive vsus, with endlesse applause, so glorious a recompence of reward.
15. In the Ceremoniall Law, 15. It is our Iubilee.there was a yeere they called the yeere of Iubilee: and this was accounted an acceptable yeere; 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 extremitie in …hich hee liued before. In this life we are like the poore men of Israel, that hauehave lost our inheritance, and liue in a manner and condition eueryevery way straitned: now death is our Iubilee, and when the trumpet of death blowes, we all, that die, 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 be acceptable to vsus? Esay 61. 2.
16. Death is the day of our 16 I… is the day of our Coronation.Coronation: we are Heires apparent to the Crowne in this life; yea, we 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?
17. To conclude this first part 17. Consider the glory to come.of Contemplation: If 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 hee saw; and he will tell you, Things that cannot be vttered; Happinesse beyond all language of mortall man. If there were as much faith on Earth, as there is glorie in Heauen; Oh how would our hearts bee on fire with feruent desire after it! But euen this faith is extremely wanting: it is our vnbeleefe that vndoes vsus, and fils vsus with these seruile and sottish feares.
And thus of the Meditations taken from the happinesse wee enioy by death: which should make vsus conclude with Salomon▪ That the day of Death is better then the day when one is E…l. 71.borne.