Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 26
The 26 Sermon.Serm. 26.
Pſa. 68.20.
And unto God, the Lord, belong the iſſues of Death. (from Death)
BUildings ſtand by the benefit of their foundations that ſuſtain them, ſupport them; and of their buttreſſes that comprehend them, embrace them; and of their contignations that knit and unite them. The foundation ſuffers them not to ſink; the buttreſſes ſuffer them not to ſwerve; the contignation and knitting, ſuffer them not to cleave. The body of our building is in the former part of this verſe; it is this; He that is our God, is the God of ſalvation; ad ſalutes, of ſalvations in the plural, ſo it is in the original; the God that gives us ſpiritual and temporal ſalvation too. But of this building, the foundation, the buttreſſes, the contignation are in this part of the verſe, which conſtitutes our text, and in the three diverſe acceptations of the words amongſt our expoſitors, Unto God the Lord belong the iſſues of death. For, firſt the foundation of this building, (that our God is the God of all ſalvations) is laid in this, That unto this God the Lord belongs the iſſues of death; that is, it is his power to give us an iſſue and deliverance, even then when we are brought to the jaws and teeth of death, and to the lips of that whirl-pool, the grave; and ſo in this acceptation, this exitus mortis, this iſſue of death is liberatio a morie, a deliverance from death; & this is the moſt obvious, and moſt ordinary acceptation of theſe words, and that upon which, our tranſlation laies hold, The iſſues from death. And then, Secondly, the buttreſſes, that comprehend and ſettle this building; that He that is our God is the God of ſalvation are thus raiſed; Unto God the Lord belong the iſſues of death, that is, the diſpoſition and manner of our death, what kind of iſſue, and tranſmigration we ſhall have out of this world, whether prepared or ſodain, whether violent or natural, whether in our perfect ſenſes, or ſhak'd and diſordered by ſickneſs; there is no condemnation to be argued out of that, no judgment to be made upon that, for howſoever they dye; precious in his ſight, is the death of his Saints, and with him are the iſſues of death, the way of our departing out of this life, are in his hands; and ſo, in this ſenſe of the words, this Exitus mortis, the iſſue of death, is liberatio in morte, a deliverance in death; not that God will deliver us from dying, but that he will have a care of us in the hour of death, of what kind ſoever our paſſage be; and this ſenſe, and acceptation of the words, the natural frame & contexture doth well and pregnantly adminiſter unto us. And then laſtly, the contignation and knitting of this building, that he that is our God, is the God of all ſalvation, conſiſts in this, Unto this God the Lord belong the iſſues of death, that is, that this God the Lord having united and knit both natures in one, and being God, having alſo come into this world, in our fleſh, he could have no other means to ſave us, he could have no other iſſue out of this world, nor return to his former glory, but by death. And ſo in this ſenſe, this exitus mortis, the iſſue of death, is liberatio per mortem, a deliverance by death, by the death of this God our Lord, Chriſt Jeſus; and this is St. Auguſtines acceptation of the words, and thoſe many and great perſons, that have adhered to him. In all theſe three lines then, we ſhall look upon theſe words; firſt, as the God of power, the Almighty Father, reſcues his ſervants from the jaws of death; and then, as the God of mercy, the glorious Son, reſcued us, by taking upon himſelf the iſſue of death; and then, (between theſe two,) as the God of comfort, the holy Ghoſt reſcues us from all diſcomfort by his bleſſed impreſſions before hand, that what manner of death ſoever be ordained for us, yet this exitus mortis, ſhall be introitus in vitam, our iſſue in death, ſhall be an entrance into everlaſting life. And theſe three conſiderations, our deliverance a morte, in morte, per mortem, from death, in death, and by death, will abundantly do all the offices of the foundation, of the buttreſſes, of the contignation of this our building, that He that is our God, is the God of all ſalvation, becauſe Unto this God the Lord belong the iſſues of death.
Firſt Part. A m…e.Firſt then, we conſider this exitus mortis, to be liberatio a morte; that with God the Lord are the iſſues of death, & therefore in all our deaths, and deadly calamities of this life, we may juſtly hope of a good iſſue from him; and all our periods and tranſitions in this life, are ſo many paſſages from death to death.Exitus a morte uteri. Our very birth, and entrance into this life, is exitus a morte, an iſſue from death; for in our mothers womb, we are dead ſo, as that we do not know we live; not ſo much as we do in our ſleep; neither is there any grave ſo cloſe, or ſo putrid a priſon, as the womb would be to us, if we ſtai'd in it beyond our time, or died there, before our time. In the grave the worms do not kil us: We breed and feed, and then kill thoſe worms, which we our ſelves produc'd. In the womb the dead child kils the mother that conceiv'd it, and is a murderer, nay a Parricide, even after it is dead. And if we be not dead ſo in the womb, ſo, as that being dead, we kill her that gave us our firſt life, our life of vegetation, yet we are dead ſo as Davids Idols are dead;Pſa. 115.6. in the womb, we have eyes and ſee not, ears and hear not. There in the womb we are fitted for works of darkneſs, all the while deprived of light; and there, in the womb, we are taught cruelty, by being fed with blood; and may be damned though we be never born. Of our very making in the womb, David ſaies,139. 14. I am wonderfully and fearfully made, and, Such knowledg is too excellent for me; for, Even that is the Lords doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes. 118. 23.Ipſe fecit nos, It is he that hath made us, and not we our ſelves, no,200. 3. nor our Parents neither. Thy hands have made me, and faſhioned me round about, ſaies Job; and,10. 8. (as the original word is) Thou haſt taken pains about me; and yet ſaies he, Thou doeſt deſtroy me: though I be the maſter-peice of the greateſt Maſter, (man is ſo) yet if thou do no more for me, if thou leave me where thou mad'ſt me, deſtruction will follow. The womb which ſhould be the houſe of life, becomes death it ſelf, if God leave us there. That which God threatens ſo often, the ſhutting of the womb, is not ſo heavy nor ſo diſcomfortable a curſe, in the firſt as in the latter ſhutting; not in the ſhutting of barrenneſs, as in the ſhutting of weakneſs,Eſa. 37 3. when Children are come to the birth, and there is not ſtrength to bring forth. It is the exaltation of miſery, to fall from a near hope of happineſs. And in that vehement imprecation the Prophet expreſſes the highth of Gods anger Give them O Lord; what wilt thou give them? Oſc. 9 14.give them a miſ-carrying womb. Therefore as ſoon as we are men, (that is, inanimated; quickned in the womb) though we cannot our ſelves, our Parents have reaſon to ſay in our behalves, Wretched man that he is, who ſhall deliver him from this body of death? for,Ro. 7.24. even the womb is the body of death, if there be no deliverer. It muſt be he that ſaid to Jeremy, 1. 5.Before I formed thee I knew thee, and before thou cameſt out of the womb I ſanctified thee. We are not ſure that there was no kind of ſhip nor boat to fiſh in, nor to paſs by, till God preſcribed Noah that abſolute forme of the Ark; that word which the holy Ghoſt by Moſes, uſes for the Ark, is common to all kinds of boats, Thebah; and is the ſame word that Moſes uſes for the boat that he was expoſed in, that his mother laid him in an Ark of bullruſhes.Exo 2.3. But we are ſure that Eve had no Midwife when ſhe was delivered of Cain; therefore ſhe might well ſay, Poſſedi virum a Domino, Gen. 4.1.I have gotten a man from the Lord; wholly, intirely from the Lord: it is the Lord that hath enabled me to conceive, the Lord hath infus'd a quickning ſoul into that conception, the Lord hath brought into the world that which himſelf had quickned; without all this might Eve ſay, my body had been but the houſe of death, and Domini Domini ſunt exitus mortis, To God the Lord belong the iſſues of death.
But then this Exitus a morte, is but Introitus in mortem, this iſſue,Exitus a moribus mundi. this deliverance from that death, the death of the womb, is an entrance, a delivering over to another death, the manifold deaths of this world. We have a winding ſheet in our Mothers womb, that grows with us from our conception, and we come into the world wound up in that winding ſheet; for we come to ſeek a grave. And, as priſoners, diſcharged of actions, may lie for fees, ſo when the womb hath diſcharged us, yet we are bound to it by cords of fleſh, by ſuch a ſtring, as that we cannot go thence, nor ſtay there. We celebrate our own funeral with cries, even at our birth, as though our threeſcore, and ten years of life were ſpent in our Mothers labor, and our Circle made up in the firſt point thereof. We beg one Baptiſm with another, a ſacrament of tears; and we come into a world that laſts many ages, but we laſt not. In domo patris, (ſaies our bleſſed Saviour, ſpeaking of heaven) multae manſiones, Jo. 14.2.there are many, and manſions, divers and durable; ſo that if a man cannot poſſeſs a martyrs houſe, (he hath ſhed no blood for Chriſt) yet he may have a confeſſors, he hath been ready to glorifie God, in the ſhedding of his blood. And if a woman cannot poſſeſs a virgins houſe (ſhe hath embrac'd the holy ſtate of marriage) yet ſhe may have a matrons houſe, ſhe hath brought forth, and brought up children in the fear of God. In domo patris, In my Fathers houſe, in heaven, there are many manſions, but here upon earth,Mat. 8 20. The Son of man hath not where to lay his head, ſaies he himſelf, No? terram dedit filiis hominum. How then hath God given this earth to the Sons of men? He hath given them earth for their materials, to be made of earth; and he hath given them earth for their grave and ſepulture, to return and reſolve to earth; but not for their poſſeſſion.Heb. 13.14. Here we havh no continuing City; nay no Cottage that continues; nay, no we, no perſons, no bodies that continue. Whatſoever moved St. Hierome to call the journies of the Iſraelites in the wilderneſs,Exo. 17.1. Manſions, the word, (the word is naſang) ſignifies but a journie, but a peregrination: even the Iſrael of God hath no manſions,Gen. 47 9. but journies, pilgrimages in this life. By that meaſure did Jacob meaſure his life to Pharaoh, The daies of the years of my pilgrimage. And though the Apoſtle would not ſay, morimer, that whilſt we are in the body, we are dead, yet he ſaies, peregrinamur, 2 Cor. 5 6.whilſt we are in the body, we are but in a pilgrimage, and we are abſent from the Lord. He might have ſaid dead; for this whole world is but an univerſal Church-yard, but one common grave; and the life and motion, that the greateſt perſons have in it, is but as the ſhaking of buried bodies in their graves by an earthquake. That which we call life, is but Hebdomada mortium, a week of deaths, ſeaven daies, ſeaven periods of our life ſpent in dying; a dying ſeaven times over, and ther's an end. Our birth dies in Infancy, and our infancy dies in youth, and youth, and the reſt die in age; and age alſo dies, and determines all. Nor do all theſe, youth out of infancy, or age out of youth, ariſe ſo, as a Phenix out of the aſhes of another Phenix formerly dead, but as a waſp, or a ſerpent out of carrion, or as a ſnake out of dung; our youth is worſe then our infancy, and our age worſe then our youth; our youth is hungry and thirſty after thoſe ſins which our infancy knew not, and our age is ſorry and angry that it cannot purſue thoſe ſins which our youth did. And beſides, all the way ſo many deaths, that is, ſo many deadly calamities accompany every condition, and every period of this life, as that death it ſelf would be an eaſe to them that ſuffer them. Upon this ſenſe does Job wiſh,10. 18. that God had not given him an iſſue from the firſt death, from the womb; Wherefore haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb? O that I had given up the Ghoſt, and no eye had ſeen me; I ſhould have been, as though I had not been.
And not only the impatient Iſraelites in their murmuring, (would to God we had died by the hands of the Lord, Ex. 16.3.in the land of Egypt) but Eliah himſelf, when he fled from Jezabel, and went for his life, as that Text ſaies, under the juniper tree requeſted that he might die, and ſaid, It is enough, now O Lord take away my life. 1 Reg. 19.4.So Jonah juſtifies his impatience, nay his anger towards God himſelf; Now O Lord take I beſeech thee my life from me, for it is better for me to die, then to live. And when God ask'd him, doſt thou well to be angry for this, 4. 3.and after, (about the Gourd) doſt thou well to be angry for that, he replies, I do well to be angry even unto death. How much worſe a death, then death is this life, which ſo good men would ſo often change for death? But if my caſe be St. Pauls caſe, Quotidie morior, 1 Cor. 15.31.that I die dayly, that ſomething heavier then death fall upon me every day; If my caſe be Davids caſe, Tota die mortificamur, pſa. 44.22.all the day long we are killed, that not only every day, but every hour of the day, ſomething heavier then death fals upon me: though that be true of me, conceptus in peccatis, I was ſhapen in iniquity, and in ſin did my mother conceive me,51. 5. (There I died one death) though that be true of me, natus filius irae, I was born, not only the child of ſin, but the child of the wrath of God for ſin, which is a heavier death, yet Domini Domini ſunt exitus mortis, with God the Lord are the iſſues of death; and after a Job, and a Joſeph, and a Jeremy, and a Daniel, I cannot doubt of a deliverance; and if no other deliverance conduce more to his glory, and my good, yet, He hath the keyes of death; Apo. 1.18.and he can let me out at that dore, that is, deliver me from the manifold deaths of this world, the omni die, and the tota die, the every daies death, and every hours death, by that one death, the final diſolution of body and ſoul, the end of all.
But then, is that the end of all?Exitus a morte Incinerationis. is that diſſolution of body and ſoul, the laſt death that the body ſhall ſuffer? (for of ſpiritual deaths we ſpeak not now;) it is not. Though this be exitus a morte, it is introitus in mortem, though it be an iſſue from the manifold deaths of this world, yet it is an entrance into the death of corruption, and putrifaction, and vermiculation, and incineration, and diſperſion, in, and from the grave, in which every dead man dies over again. It was a prerogative peculiar to Chriſt, not to die this death, not to ſee corruption. What gave him this privilege? not Joſephs great proportions of gums and ſpices, that might have preſerved his body from corruption and incineration, longer then he needed it, longer then three daies; but yet would not have done it for ever. What preſerv'd him then? did his exemption, and freedome from original ſin, preſerve him from this corruption and incineration. 'Tis true, that original ſin hath induc'd this corruption and incineration upon us.1 C…. 15.33. If we had not ſinn'd in Adam, mortality had not put on immortality, (as the Apoſtle ſpeaks) nor corruption had not put on incorruption, but we had had our tranſmigration from this to the other world, without any mortality, any corruption at all. But yet ſince Chriſt took ſin upon him, ſo far as made him mortal, he had it ſo far too, as might have made him ſee this corruption and incineration, though he had no original ſin in himſelf. What preſerv'd him then? did the hypoſtatical union of both natures, God and man, preſerve his fleſh from this corruption, this incineration? 'tis true that this was a moſt powerful embalming: To be embalm'd with the divine nature it ſelf, to be embalm'd with eternity, was able to preſerve him from corruption and incineration for ever: And he was embalm'd ſo, embalm'd with the divine nature, even in his body, as well as in his ſoul; for the Godhead, the divine nature, did not depart, but remain ſtill united to his dead body in the grave. But yet for all this powerful imbalming, this hypoſtatical union of both natures, we ſee, Chriſt did die; and for all this union which made him God and man, he became no man,) for, the union of body and ſoul makes the man, and he, whoſe ſoul and body are ſeperated by death, (as long as that ſtate laſts) is, (properly) no man.) And therefore as in him, the diſſolution of body and ſoul was no diſſolution of the hypoſtatical union, ſo is there nothing that conſtrains us to ſay, that though the fleſh of Chriſt had ſeen corruption and incineration in the grave, this had been any diſſolving of the hypoſtatical union; for the divine nature, the Godhead might have remain'd with all the elements and principles of Chriſts body, as well as it did with the two conſtitutive parts of his perſon, his body and ſoul. This incorruption then was not in Joſephs gums and ſpices; nor was it in Chriſts innocency and exemption from original ſin; nor was it, (that is, it is not neceſſary to ſay it was) in the Hypoſtatical union. But this incorruptibleneſs of his fleſh,Pſa. 16 10. is moſt conveniently plac,d in that, non dabis, Thou wilt not ſuffer thy holy one to ſee corruption. We look no farther for cauſes or reaſons in the myſteries of our religion, but to the will and pleaſure of God.Mat. 11.26. Chriſt himſelf limited his inquiſition in that; Ita eſt, even ſo, father, for ſo it ſeemed good in thy ſight. Chriſts body did not ſee corruption, therefore, becauſe God had decreed that it ſhould not. The humble ſoul, (and only the humble ſoul is the religions ſoul) reſts himſelf upon Gods purpoſes, and his decrees; but then, it is upon thoſe purpoſes, and decrees of God, which he hath declared and manifeſted; not ſuch as are conceiv'd and imagin'd in our ſelves, though upon ſome probability, ſome veriſimilitude. So, in our preſent caſe,Act. 2.31.13.35. Peter proceeded in his ſermon at Jeruſalem, and ſo Paul in his at Antioch; they preached Chriſt to be riſen without having ſeen corruption, not only becauſe God had decreed it, but becauſe he had manifeſted that decree in his Prophet. Therefore does St. Paul cite by ſpecial number the ſecond Pſalme for that decree, and therefore both St. Peter and St. Paul cite for that place in the 16. Pſal. for,v. 10. when God declares his decree and purpoſe in the expreſs word of his Prophet, or when he declares it in the real execution of the decree, then he makes it ours, then he manifeſts it to us. And therefore as the myſteries of our religion are not the objects of our reaſon, but by faith we reſt in Gods decree and purpoſe, (it is ſo, O God, becauſe it is thy will it ſhould be ſo) ſo Gods decrees are ever to be conſidered in the manifeſtation thereof. All manifeſtation is either in the word of God, or in the execution of the decree; and when theſe two concur and meet, it is the ſtrongeſt demonſtration that can be: when therefore I find thoſe marks of Adoption, and ſpiritual filiation, which are delivered in the word of God, to be upon me; when I find that real execution of his good purpoſe upon me, as that actually I do live under the obedience, and under the conditions which are evidences of adoption and ſpiritual filiation, then, and ſo long as I ſee theſe marks, and live ſo, I may ſafely comfort my ſelf in a holy certitude, & a modeſt infallibility of my adoption. Chriſt determins himſelf in that, the purpoſe of God; becauſe the purpoſe of God was manifeſt to him: S. Pet. & S. Paul, determine themſelves in thoſe two waies of knowing the purpoſe of God, the word of God before, the execution of the Decree in the fulneſs of time. It was prophecied before, ſaid they, & it is perform'd now; Chriſt is riſen without ſeeing corruption.
Now this which is ſo ſingularly peculiar to him, that his fleſh ſhould not ſee corruption, at his ſecond coming, his coming to Judgment, ſhall be extended to all that are then alive, their fleſh ſhall not ſee corruption; becauſe (as the Apoſtle ſaies, and ſaies as a ſecret, as a myſtery, behold I ſhew you a myſtery) we ſhall not all ſleep, 1 Cor. 15.51.(that is, not continue in the ſtate of the dead in the grave) but we ſhall all be changed. In an inſtant we ſhall have a diſſolution, and in the ſame inſtant a redintegration, a recompacting of body and ſoul; and that ſhall be truly a death, and truly a reſurrection, but no ſleeping no corruption. But for us, who dy now, and ſleep in the ſtate of the dead, we muſt all paſs this poſthume death, this death after death, nay this death after burial, this diſſolution after diſſolution, this death of corruption and putrefaction, of virmiculation and incineration of diſſolution and diſperſion, in, and from the grave. When thoſe bodies which have been the children of royal Parents, and the Parents of royal Children, muſt ſay with Job, 17.14.to corruption thou art my Father, & to the worm thou art my Mother & my Siſter. Miſerable riddle, when the ſame worm muſt be my mother, & my ſiſter, & my ſelf. Miſerable inceſt, when I muſt be married to mine own mother and ſiſter, and be both Father and Mother, to mine one mother and ſiſter beget and bear that worm, which is all that miſerable penury, when my mouth ſhall be ſilled with duſt, and the worm ſhall feed, and feed ſweetly upon me.24.20. When the ambitious man ſhall have no ſatisfaction if the pooreſt a live tread upon him, nor the pooreſt receive any contentment, in being made equal to Princes, for they ſhall be equal but in duſt.23.24. One dyeth at his full ſtrength, being wholly at eaſe, and in quiet, and another dies in the bitterneſs of his ſoul, and never eats with pleaſure; but they ly down alike in the duſt, and the worm cover them.24.11. The worm covers them in Job, and in Eſai, it covers them, & is ſpread under them, (the worm is ſpread under thee, and the worm covers thee. There is the mats and the carpet that lie under; and there is the ſtate and the canopy that hangs over the greateſt of the Sons of men. Even thoſe bodies that were the Temples of the holy Ghoſt, come to this dilapidation, to ruine, to rubbiſh, to duſt: Even the Iſrael of the Lord, and Jacob himſelf had no other ſpecification,Eſa. 41.14. no other denomination but that, vermis Jacob, thou worm of Jacob. Truly, the conſideration of this poſthume death, this death after burial, that after God, with whom are the iſſues of death, hath delivered me from the death of the womb, by bringing me into the world, and from the manifold deaths of the world, by laying me in the grave. I muſt die again, in an incineration of this fleſh, and in a diſperſion of that duſt, that all that monarch that ſpread over many nations alive, muſt in his duſt lie in a corner of that ſheet of lead, and there but ſo long as the lead will laſt: and that private and retired man, that thought himſelf his own for ever, and never came forth, muſt in his duſt of the grave be publiſhed, and, (ſuch are the revolutions of graves) be mingled in his duſt, with the duſt of every high way, and of every dunghil, and ſwallowed in every puddle and pond; this is the moſt inglorious and contemptible villification, the moſt deadly and peromptory nullification of man, that we can conſider. God ſeems to have carried the declaration of his power to a great heighth, when he ſets the Prophet Ezechiel, in the vally of dry bones,37. 1. and ſaies, Son of man can theſe dry bones live? as though it had been impoſſible; and yet they did; the Lord laid ſinews upon them, and fleſh, and breathed into them, and they did live. But in that caſe there were bones to be ſeen; ſomething viſible, of which it might be ſaid, can this, this live? but in this death of incineration and diſperſion of duſt, we ſee nothing that we can call that mans. If we ſay can this duſt live? perchance it cannot. It may be the meer duſt of the earth which never did live, nor never ſhall; it may be the duſt of that mans worms which did live, but ſhall no more; it may be the duſt of another man that concerns not him of whom it is asked. This death of incineration and diſperſion is to natural reaſon the moſt irrecoverable death of all; and yet Domini Domini ſunt exitus mortis, unto God the Lord belong the iſſues of death, and by recompacting this duſt into the ſame body, and re-inanimating the ſame body with the ſame ſoul, be ſhall in a bleſſed and glorious Reſurrection, give me ſuch an iſſue from this Death, as ſhall never paſſe into any other death, but eſtabliſh me in a Life, that ſhall laſt as long as the Lord of Life himſelf. And ſo have you that that belongs to the firſt acceptation of theſe words (unto God the Lord belong the iſſues of Death) That though from the womb to the grave, and in the grave it ſelf, we paſſe from Death to Death, yet, as Daniel ſpeaks, The Lord our God is able to deliver us, and he will deliver us. And ſo we paſſe to our ſecond accomodation of theſe words (Unto God the Lord belong the iſſues of Death) That it belongs to God, and not to Man, to paſſe a Judgement upon us at our Death, or to conclude a dereliction on God's part, upon the manner thereof.
Thoſe Indications which Phyſitians receive,Part. 2. Liberatio in morte. and thoſe praeſagitions which they give for death or recovery in the Patient, they receive, and they give out of the grounds and rules of their Art: But we have no ſuch rule or art to ground a preſagition of ſpiritual death, and damnation upon any ſuch Indication as we ſee in any dying man: we ſee often enough to be ſorry, but not to deſpayr; for the mercies of God work momentanely, in minuts; and many times inſenſibly to by-ſtanders, or any other then the party departing, and we may be deceived both wayes: we uſe to comfort our ſelves in the death of a friend, if it be teſtifyed that he went away like a Lamb, that is, but with any reluctation; But God knows, that may have been accompanied with a dangerous damp and ſtupefaction, and inſenſibility of his preſent ſtate. Our bleſſed Saviour admitted colluctations with Death, and a ſadneſſe even in his Soul to death, and an agony even to a bloody ſweat in his body, and expoſtulations with God, and exclamations upon the Croſſe. He was a devout man, who upon his death-bed, or death-turſe (for he was an Hermit) ſaid Septuaginta annis domino ſerviviſti, & mori times? Haſt thou ſerv'd a good Maſter threeſcore and ten yeeres,Hilarion. and now art thou loth to goe into his preſence? yet Hilarion was loath. He was a devoure man (an Hermite) that ſaid that day that he died, Cogitate hodie coepiſſe ſervire Domino, Barlaam.& hodie finiturum. Conſider this to be the firſt days ſervice that ever thou didſt thy Maſter to gloryfie him in a chriſtianly and conſtant death; and, if thy firſt day be thy laſt day too, how ſoone doſt thou come to receive thy wages; yet Barlaam could have beene content to have ſtayed longer for it; Make no ill concluſion upon any man's lothneſſe to die. And then, upon violent deaths inflicted, as upon malefactors, Chriſt himſelf hath forbidden us by his own death to make any ill concluſion; for, his own death had thoſe impreſſions in it; he was reputed, he was executed as a Malefactor, and no doubt many of them who concurred to his death, did beleeve him to be ſo. Of ſodain deaths, there are ſcarce examples; to be found in the Scriptures, upon good men; for, death in battail cannot be called ſodain death: But God governs not by examples, but by rules; and therefore make no ill concluſions upon ſodain-Death; nor upon diſtempers neyther, though perchance accompanied with ſome words of diffidence and diſtruſt in the mercies of God. The Tree lies as it falls; 'Tis true; but yet it is not the laſt ſtroke that fells the Tree; nor the laſt word, nor laſt gaſpe that qualifies the Soule. Still pray we for a peaceable life, againſt violent deaths, and for time of Repentance againſt ſodaine Deaths, and for ſober and modeſt aſſurance againſt d…ſtemper'd and diffident Deaths, but never make ill concluſ…ion upon perſons overtaken with ſuch Deaths. Domini, Domini ſunt exitus Mortis, To God the Lord belong the iſſues of Death, and he received Samſon, who went out of this world in ſuch a manner (conſider it actively, conſider it paſſively; in his own death, and in thoſe whom he ſlew with himſelf) as was ſubject to interpretation hard enough; yet the holy-Ghoſt hath mov'd Sa…nt Paul to celebrate Samſon, in his great Catalogue, and ſo doth all the Church.Heb. 11. Our Criticall day is not the very day of our death, but the whole courſe of our life: I thank him, that prayes for me when my bell tolls; but I thank him much more, that Carechiſes me, or preaches to me, or inſtructs me how to live, fac hoc & vives, There's my ſecurity; The mouth of the Lord hath ſpoken it, Doe this and thou ſhalt live. But though I doe it yet I ſhall die too, dy a bodily, a naturall death; but God never mentions, never ſeems to conſider that death, the bodily, the naturall death. God doth not ſay Live well, and thou ſhalt die well; well, that is, an eaſy, a quiet death; but live well here, and thou ſhalt live well for ever. As the firſt part of a Sentence peeces well with the laſt, and never reſpects, never hearkens after the parentheſis that comes between, ſo doth a good life here, flow into an eternall life, without any conſideration what manner of death we die. But whether the gate of my priſon be opened with an oyl'd key (by a gentle and preparing ſickneſſe) or the gate be hew'd down, by a violent death, or the gate be burnt down by a rageing and frantick feaver; a gate into Heaven I ſhall have; for, from the Lord is the courſe of my life, and with God the Lord are the iſſues of death; And farther we carry not this ſecond acceptation of the words, as this iſſue of death is liberatio in morte, God's care that the Soule be ſafe, what agonie ſoever the body ſuffer in the houre of death; but paſſe to our third and laſt Part; as this iſſue of death is liberatio per mortem, a deliverance by the death of another, by the death of Chriſt.
Part. 3. Liberatio per mortem.Sufferentiā Job audi…ſtis & judiſtis finē Domini, ſaies S. Ja. 5.11. You have heard of the patience of Job, ſaies he; All this while you have done that; for in every man, calamitous, miſerable man a Job ſpeaks; Now ſee the end of the Lord, ſaith that Apoſtle, which is not that end which the Lord propoſed to himſelf (Salvation to us) nor the end which he propoſes to us (conformity to him) but, See the end of the Lord ſaies he, the end that the Lord himſelf came to, Death, and a painfull, and a ſhamefull death. But why did he die? and why die ſo? Quia Domini Domini ſunt exitus Mortis (as Saint Auguſtine interpreting this Text,De Civit. Dei l. 17. c. 18. anſwers that queſtion) becauſe to this God our Lord belong'd theſe iſſues of Death; Quid apertius diceretur? ſayes he there; what can be more obvious, more manifeſt, then this ſenſe of theſe words? In the former part of the verſe it is ſaid, He that is our God is the God of Salvation; Deus ſalvos faciendi, ſo he reads it, The God that muſt ſave us; Who can that be, ſaith he, but Jeſus? For therefore that name was given him, becauſe he was to ſave us: And to this Jeſus, ſaith he,Mat. 1.21. this Saviour, belongs the iſſues of Death, Nec oportuit cum de hac vita alios exitus habere, quam mortis, Being come into this life in our mortall nature, he could not goe out of it any other way then by Death. Ideo dictum (ſaith he) therefore is it ſaid, To God the Lord belong the iſſues of Death; Ut oſtenderetur moriendo nos ſalvos facturum, to ſhew that his way to ſave us, was to die. And from this Text doth Saint Iſiodore prove, that Chriſt was truly man (which, as many Sects of Hereticks denied, as that he was truly God) becauſe to him, though he were Dominus Dominus (as the Text doubles it) God the Lord, yet to him, to God the Lord belong'd the iſſues of Death. Oportuit cum pati, more cannot be ſaid, then Chriſt himſelf ſaith of himſelf, Theſe, Luk. 24.26.things Chriſt ought to ſuffer; He had no other way but by Death. So then, this part of our Sermon muſt neceſſarily be a Paſſion Sermon, ſince all his life was a continuall Paſſion, all our Lent may well be a continual good-Friday; Chriſt's painfull Life took off none of the pains of his Death; he felt not the leſſe then, for having felt ſo much before; nor will any thing that ſhall be ſaid before, leſſen, but rather enlarge your devotion to that which ſhall be ſaid of his Paſſion, at the time of the due ſolemnization thereof. Chriſt bled not a drop the leſſe at laſt, for having bled at his Circumciſion before, nor will you ſhed a teare the leſſe then, if you ſhed ſome now. And therefore be now content to conſider with me, how to this God the Lord belong'd the iſſues of Death.
That God the Lord, The Lord of Life could die, is a ſtrange contemplation; That the red-Sea could be dry;Potuiſſe Mori. Exod. 14.21. That the Sun could ſtand ſtill;Joſ. 10.12. That an Oven could be ſeven times heat and not burn; That Lyons could be hungry and not bite, is ſtrange, miraculouſly ſtrange; But ſuper-miraculous, That God could die: But that God would die, is an exaltation of that; But, even of that alſo, it is a ſuper-exaltation, that God ſhould die, muſt die; and non exitus (ſaith Saint Auguſtin) God the Lord had no iſſue but by death, and oportuit pati (ſaith Chriſt himſelf) all this Chriſt ought to ſuffer, was bound to ſuffer.Pſal. 94.1. Voluiſſe Mori. Deus ultionum Deus, ſaith David, God is the God of Revenges; He would not paſſe over the ſin of man unrevenged, unpuniſhed. But then, Deus ultionum libere egit (ſayes that place) The God of Revenges works freely; he puniſhes, he ſpares whom he will; and would he not ſpare himſelf? He would not. Dilectio fortis ut Mors, Can. 8.6.Love is as ſtrong as Death; ſtronger; it drew in Death, that naturally was not welcome. Si poſsibile (ſaith Chriſt) If it be poſsible let this Cup paſſe, when his Love, expreſſed in a former Decree with his Father, had made it impoſſible. Many waters quench not Love; Chriſt tryed many; He was baptized out of his Love,v. 7. and his love determin'd not there; He wept over Jeruſalem out of his love, and his love determined not there; He mingled blood with water in his Agony and that determined not his love; He wept pure blood, all his blood, at all his eyes, at all his pores; in his flagellations, and thornes; (to the Lord our God) belonged the iſſues of blood.) and theſe expreſſed, but theſe did not quench his love.
Oportuiſſe MoriHe would not ſpare, nay, he would not ſpare himſelf; There was nothing more free, more voluntary, more ſpontaneous then the death of Chriſt; 'Tis true, libere egit, he died voluntarily; But yet, when we conſider the contract that had paſſed between his Father and him, there was an Oportuit, a kinde of neceſſity upon him, All this Chriſt ought to ſuffer; And when ſhall we date this obligation, this Oportuit, this neceſſity, when ſhall we ſay it begun? Certainly this Decree by which Chriſt was to ſuffer all this, was an eternall Decree; and was there any thing before that that was eternall? Infi…ite love, eternall love; be pleaſed to follow this home, and to conſider it ſeriouſly, that what liberty ſoever we can conceive in Chriſt, to dy, or not to dy, this neceſſity of dying, this Decree is as eternall as that Liberty, and yet how ſmall a matter made he of this Neceſſity, and this dying?Gen. 3.15. His Father calls it but a Bruiſe, and but a bruiſing of his heele (The Serpent ſhall bruiſe his heele) and yet that was, that the Serpent ſhould practiſe and compaſſe his death. Himſelf calls it but a Baptiſm, as though he were to be the better for it; I have a Baptiſm to be baptized with; Luk. 12.50.and he was in paine till it was accompliſhed; and yet this Baptiſm was his death. The holy-Ghoſt calls it Joy (For the joy which was ſet before him, he endured the Croſſe) which was not a joy of his reward after his paſſion,Heb. 12.2. but a joy that filled him even in the middeſt of thoſe torments, and aroſe from them. When Chriſt cals his paſſion Calicem, a cup, and no worſe, (Can ye drink of my cup;) He ſpeaks not odiouſly, not with deteſtation of it; indeed it was a cup; ſalus mundo, Mat. 20.22.A health to all the world; and quid retribuem, ſaies David, Pſal. 116.12.What ſhall I render unto the Lord? Anſwer you with David, Accipiam Calicom, I will take the cup of ſalvation. Take that, that cup of ſalvation his paſſion, if not into your preſent imitation, yet into your preſent contemplation, and behold how that Lord who was God yet could die, would die, muſt die for your ſalvation.
That Moſes and Elias talked with Chriſt in the transfiguration both St. Matthew, and St. Mark tel us; but what they talked of,Mat 17.3. Mat. 9.4. Luc. 9.31. only St. Luke; Dicebant exceſſum ejus, ſaies he; they talked of his deceaſe, of his death, which was to be accompliſhed at Jeruſalem. The word is of his Exodus, the very word of our Text, Exitus, his iſſue by death. Moſes, who in his Exodus had prefigured this iſſue of our Lord, and in paſſing Iſrael out of Egypt through the red ſea, had foretold in that actual prophecy Chriſts paſſing of mankind through the ſea of his blood, and Elias, whoſe Exodus, and iſſue out of this world, was a figure of Chriſts aſcenſion, had no doubt a great ſatisfaction, in talking with our bleſſed Lord, De exceſſu ejus, of the full conſummation of all this in his death, which was to be accompliſhed at Jeruſalem. Our meditation of his death ſhould be more viſeral, and affect us more, becauſe it is of a thing already done. The ancient Romans had a certain tenderneſs, and deteſtation of the name of death; they would not name death, no not in their wils; there they would not ſay, Si mori contingat, but Si quid humanitas contingat, not if or when I die, but when the courſe of nature is accompliſhed upon me. To us, that ſpeak daily of the death of Chriſt, (He was crucified, dead and buried) can the memory or the mention of our death be irkſome or bitter? There are in theſe latter times amongſt us, that name death freely enough, and the death of God, but in blaſphemous oaths and execrations. Miſerable men, who ſhall therefore be ſaid never to have named Jeſus, becauſe they have named him too often; and therefore hear Jeſus ſay, Neſcive vos I never knew you; becauſe they made themſelves too familiar with him. Moſes and Elias talked with Chriſt of his death only in a holy and joyful ſence of the benefit which they and all the world were to receive by it. Diſcourſes of religion ſhould not be out of curioſity, but edification. And then they talked with Chriſt of his death, at that time when he was at the greateſt heighth of glory, that ever he admitted in this world; that is, his transfiguration. And we are afraid to ſpeak to the great men of this world of their death, but nouriſh in them a vain imagination of immortallity and immutability. But bonum eſt nobis eſſe hic, (as St. Peter ſaid there) It is good to dwell here, in this conſideration of his death, and therefore transfer we our Tabernacle, (our devotion) through ſome of theſe ſteps, which God the Lord made to his iſſue of death, that day.
Take in his whole day, from the hour that Chriſt eat the paſſover upon Thurſday, to the hour in which he died the next day. Make this preſent day,Conformitas that day in thy devotion, and conſider what he did, and remember what you have done. Before he inſtituted and celebrated the ſacrament, (which was after the eating of the paſſover) he proceeded to the act of humility, to waſh his Diſciples feet; even Peters, who for a while reſiſted him. In thy preparation to the holy and bleſſed ſacrament, haſt thou with a ſincere humilty ſought a reconciliation with all the world, even with thoſe who have been averſe from it, and refuſed that reconciliation from thee? If ſo, (and not elſe) thou haſt ſpent that firſt part, of this his laſt day, in a conformity with him. After the ſacrament, he ſpent the time til night in prayer, in preaching, in Pſalms. Haſt thou conſidered that a worthy receiving of the ſacrament conſiſts in a continuation of holineſs after, as wel as in a preparation before? If ſo, thou haſt therein alſo conformed thy ſelf to him: ſo Chriſt ſpent his time till night. At night he went into the garden to pray, and he prayed prolixius; He ſpent much time in prayer.Luc. 22.24. How much? becauſe it is literally expreſſed that he praied there three ſeveral times, and that returning to his Diſciples after his firſt prayer, and finding them aſleep, ſaid, could ye not watch with me one hour; Mat. 26.40.it is collected that he ſpent three houres in prayer. I dare ſcarce ask thee whither thou wentſt, or how thou diſpoſedſt of thy ſelf, when it grew dark and after laſt night. If that time were ſpent in a holy recommendation of thy ſelf to God, and a ſubmiſſion of thy will to his; that it was ſpent in a conformity to him. In that time, and in thoſe prayers was his agony and bloody ſweat. I will hope that thou didſt pray; but not every ordinary and cuſtomary prayer, but prayer actually accompanied with ſhedding of tears, and diſpoſitively, in a readineſs to ſhed blood for his glory in neceſſary caſes, puts thee into a corformity with him. About midnight he was taken and bound with a kiſs. Art thou not too conformable to him in that? Is not that too literally, too exactly thy caſe? At midnight to have been taken, and bound with a kiſs? from thence he was carried back to Jeruſalem; firſt to Annas, then to Caiphas, and, (as late as it was) there he was examined, and buffeted, and delivered over to the cuſtody of thoſe officers, from whom he received all thoſe irr…ſions, and violences, the covering of his face, the ſpitting upon his face, the blaſphemies of words, and the ſmartneſs of blows which that Goſpel mentions. In which compaſs fell that Gallicinium, that crowing of the Cock, which called up Peter to his repentance. How thou paſſedſt all that time laſt night, thou knoweſt. If thou didſt any thing then that needed Peters tears, and haſt not ſhed them, let me be thy Cock, do it now; now thy Maſter, (in the unworthyeſt of his ſervants) looks back upon thee, Do it now. Betimes in the morning, as ſoon as it was day, the Jews held a Councel in the high Prieſts houſe, and agreed upon their evidence againſt him, & then carried him to Pilate, who was to be his Judg. Didſt thou accuſe thy ſelf when thou wak'dſt this morning, & waſt thou content to admit even falſ accuſations, that is, rather to ſuſpect actions to have been ſin which were not, then to ſmother & juſtifie ſuch as were truly ſins? then thou ſpendſt that hour in conformity to him. Pilat found no evidence againſt him; & therefore to eaſe himſelf, & to paſs a complement upon Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, who was at that time at Jeruſalem, (becauſe Chriſt being a Galilean was of Herods juriſdiction) Pilat ſent him to Herod; & rather as a mad man, then a malefactor, Herod remanded him with ſcorns to Pilat to proceed againſt him; & this was about 8 of the Clock. Haſt thou been content to come to this inquiſition, this examination, this agitation, this cribration, this purſuit of thy conſcience, to ſift it, to follow it from the ſins of thy youth to thy preſent ſins, from the ſins of thy bed to the ſins of thy board, and from the ſubſtance to the circumſtance of thy ſins; that's time ſpent like thy Saviours, Pilat would have ſav'd Chriſt by uſing the priviledg of the day in his behalf, becauſe that day one priſoner was to be delivered; but they choſe Barrabas. He would have ſav'd him from death, by ſatisfying their fury, with inflicting other torments upon him, ſcourging, and crowning with thorns, & loading him with many ſcornful & ignominious contumelies; but this redeem'd him not; they preſs'd a crucifying. Haſt thou gone about to redeem thy ſin, by faſting, by alms, by diſciplines, & mortifications, in the way of ſatisfaction to the juſtice of God; that will not ſerve, that's not the right way. We preſs an utter crucifying of that ſin that governs thee, and that conforms thee to Chriſt. Towards noon Pilat gave Judgment; and they made ſuch haſt to execution, as that by noon he was upon the Croſs. There now hangs that ſacred body upon the croſs, re-baptiz'd in his own tears & ſweat, and embalm'd in his own blood alive. There are thoſe bowels of compaſſion, which are ſo conſpicuous, ſo manifeſted, as that you may ſee them through his wounds. There thoſe glorious eyes grew faint in their light, ſo, as the Sun aſham'd to ſurvive them, departed with his light too. And there that Son of God, who was never from us, & yet had now come a new way unto us, in aſſuming our nature, delivers that ſoul which was never out of his Fathers hands, into his Fathers hands, by a new way, a voluntary emiſſion thereof; for though to this God our Lord belong theſe iſſues of death, ſo that, conſidered in his own contract, he muſt neceſſarily dy, yet at no breach, nor battery which they had made upon his ſacred body iſſues his ſoul, but emiſit, he gave up the Ghoſt: & as God breath'd a ſoul into the firſt Adam, ſo this ſecond Adam breath'd his ſoul into God, into the hands of God. There we leave you, in that bleſſed dependancy, to hang upon him, that hangs upon the croſs. There bath in his tears, there ſuck at his wounds, & lie down in peace in his grave, till he vouchſafe you a Reſurrection, & an aſcenſion into that Kingdome which he hath purchas'd for you, with the ineſtimable price of his incorruptible blood.
Amen.
FINIS
End of the text · John Donne, Twenty-Six Sermons (1661)