Eighteen Choice and Useful Sermons, Sermon 5
The Fifth SERMON.
PSALM. 103.15.
As for man his dayes are as graſſe, as the flower of the field, ſo he flouriſheth.
Praeface. IT is the cuſtome of Painters, that when they would draw the Picture of Death, they make a ſceleton or bate Carcaſs of a man with a Sithe in his hands, as if he were mowing or cutting down graſs: to ſignifie thereby the frailty of our nature, that we are but as graſs, which is ſoone cut down, and ſoone withers. A ſimilitude which is uſual and ordinary in the Scripture, wherein we are more often reſembled to graſſe, and to the flower of the field, then to any thing elſe. The Prophet Eſay was willed to cry, All fleſh is graſſe, and all the goodlines thereof as the flower of the field, Eſay. 40.6.the graſſe withers, and the flower fades. St. Peter hath the ſame ſimilitude almoſt word for word. All fleſh is graſſe, and all the glory of man as the flower of graſſe, the graſſe withers, 1 Pet. 1.24.and the flower therethereof falles away.
So Job ſaith of man, that he comes forth as a flower, Job 1….2.and is cut down. St. James ſaith of him, that he ſhall paſſe away as the flower, James 1.10.of the graſſe.
And not to alledge any more places, David ſaith here, that mans dayes are as graſſe, and as the flower of the field, ſo he flowriſhes. Which ſimilitude, the Scripture the more often uſeth, as being taken from thoſe things which are daily in our way and continually before us, that whereas we are ſo prone to forget our mortality, the very graſſe and flowers of the field might be our remembrancers; that if wee ſtirre but out of doores, and ſee how ſoone they come up and how ſoon they are gone; they might put us in mind of our own condition.
In handling of which ſimilitude, I will firſt ſhew you briefly, how man is very fitly reſembled to the graſſe, and to the floures of the field, and then come to ſome Uſes that may be made of it.
Man therefore is fitly reſembled to theſe in three reſpects. In reſpect of their like beginning, in reſpect of their like progreſſe and continuance, and in reſpect of their like ending.
Firſt, In reſpect of the like beginning and Originall of them. Ye know that the graſſe and the flowers of the field do ſpring out of the earth, the earth as their mother, doth bear them in her womb and bring them forth. For God ſaid at the Creation, Let the earth bring forth fruite,Gen. 1.11. and the hearb yielding ſeed; and ſo thorough that powerfull word of God, the earth ſtill brings them forth. Though there be great difference between flowers, that ſome are more beautifull then others are, and make a fairer ſhew, ſome have a more fragrant ſent then others, and ſome more variety of delightfull colours, yet they are all alike in this, that the earth is the place from whence they ſprang & had their beginning. And in this regard man is reſembled very fitly to graſſe and to the floures of the field. For he had likewiſe his beginning from the earth, as the matter whereof he was firſt made.Gen. 2.7. Gen. 18.27. Job 4.19. 2 Cor. 4.7.
The Lord God, ſaith Moſes, formed man of the duſt of the ground. Therefore Abraham acknowledged, that he was but duſt and aſhes. Job ſaith, that we dwell in houſes of clay, and that our foundation is in the duſt: and St. Paul calls our bodies earthen veſſels. And this is the condition not of ſome, but of every one of us. Though ſome do greatly differ from others, and make a fairer ſhew then others do, either in regard of their birth and parentage, or for their place and office, or for their wealth and riches, their beauty, wiſdome wit or eloquence; yet they are all alike in this, that they had their originall from the earth and were made thereof. And ſo for their beginning all men are but as graſſe, and the flowers of the field which ſpring from the earth.
Secondly, They are alike fortheir progreſſe and continuance. Ye know that the graſſe and the flowers of the field are very tender when they firſt ſpring up; and when they are come to their full growth and ſtrength, that they have taken deeper root and have a ſtronger ſtalk; yet ſtill they are ſo weak, that the leaſt blaſt of wind will ſhake them up and down, and any little force will put them up, and cauſe them to wither before their time: or if they continue their full time; yet their time is very ſhort, they flouriſh but a while, and preſently wither. In the morning ſaith David, Pſa. 90.6.(ſpeaking of the graſſe in the 90. Pſalme) it is green and growth up; but in the evening it is cut down, dried up and withered, And in this reſpect, man is likewiſe very fitly reſembled to the graſſe and flowers of the field. He is weak and tender while he is growing up, and when he is come to his full growth and ſtrength; yet he is not ſo ſtrong, but the leaſt fit of an Ague you know will ſhake him, and any little ſickneſſe will ſoon pull him down, and bring him to his end before his time.
And though he eſcape all ſickneſſe and diſeaſes, and all other caſualties; yet his time is but ſhort, age will come upon him before it be long and bring him to his end. And ſo in regard of his progreſſe and continuance, he is well likened to the graſſe and flowers of the field.
Laſtly they are alike in regard of their end. Ye know when the graſſe and the flowers of the field do die and wither, they loſe their beauty, they loſe their colour, they loſe their ſent, and they loſe their name, and at laſt are ſo dryed to duſt and powder, that they are all alike, and cannot be known what flowers they were. In our Gardens and Fields we ſee many flowers, which while they are growing do greatly differ, inſomuch that we can very eaſily diſtinguiſh them, and tell what every one of them are: but after they are withered and dryed to duſt, they are alſo like, that we cannot diſtinguiſh the one from the other. And thus it is with us, as ſoone as men die they loſe their beauty, they loſe their pomp, they loſe their bravery, they loſe their very names, and in the end are conſumed to duſt and aſhes, and have nothing left them whereby they may be known. For the time that men are living there is great difference among thent; ſome are of high place, ſome of mean condition; ſome wiſe, ſome ſimple; ſome rich, ſome poore; ſome of one complextion, ſome of another; but being laid in their graves and conſumed to aſhes, Agamemnon cannot be known from Therſites; the rich glutton in the Goſpel, cannot be known from Lazarus; but all are ſo like that we can ſee no difference. Reſpice ſepulchra, ſaith St. Auguſtine, et diſcerne ſi potes Jrum a Rege, fortem a debili, pulorum a deformi, Look into mens Sepulchers, and diſtinguiſh if thou canſt between the King and the beggar; the ſtrong and the weak; the faire and the deformed.
Therefore we read of Diogenes the Philoſopher, that when Alexander the Great as he was paſſing by, ſaw him looking very wiſly into Tombs and Sepulchres, and demanded of him what he was looking for, Diogenes anſwered, That he was looking for the bones of King Philip, Alexanders Father, who had been the terrour of all Greece, and that he could not diſtinguiſh them from other mens bones, nor finde any difference: To note unto Alexander, that even he, notwithſtanding all his pomp and bravery, after all his conqueſts, muſt in the end be laid in the duſt, and then there would be no difference between him and others. We ſee then briefly, how man is like the graſſe and the flowers of the field; and wherein this reſemblance between them conſiſts, That they are like for their beginning, like for their continuance, and like for their end. But that which the Prophet David here ſpecially intends, is the ſecond of theſe, that they are like for their ſhort continuance. For he ſaith, That the dayes of man are as graſſe, not reckoning our life-time by years, or by moneths, but only by dayes, to ſignifie how ſoon our life paſſes, even as the graſſe, and the flower, which doth not continue from one year to another, but as it comes up ſoon, ſo it ſoon withers And he ſaith, That man ſlouriſheth as the flower of the field. Sient ſlos agri, non horti, As the flower of the field, not as the flower of the garden: for garden-flowers ye know are more carefully lookt to, the Gardiner keeps them ſtanding as long as he can, becauſe they make a faire ſhew, and are a grace to the gardens; but for field-flowers, they are ſubject, ye know, to many more dangers, they lie open to paſſengers that pull them up, and to the beaſts, that either crop them, or tread them under foot, and if they eſcape all dangers, yet the time they flouriſh is very ſhort; they come up later then the graſſe, and yet ſtand no longer, for when the graſſe is cut down, they are cut down together.
Here then in that we are reſembled to graſſe, and the flowers of the field, we may obſerve from hence two things, The certainty of our death, and the ſhortneſſe of our life.
Firſt, The certainty of our death, That we ſhall as certainly die, as we are ſure that the graſſe and flowers of the field ſhall fade and wither. Death indeed is uncertain in ſome reſpects, as in reſpect of the time, in reſpect of the place, and in reſpect of the m…ner thereof; becauſe we do not know, either when or where or how we ſhall die. Death is uncertain in regard of the time, for we do not know when death will arreſt us, whether by day or by night, whether in the morning, at noon, or in the evering, whether at the cock-crowing or in the dawning. For when we lie down, we do not know whether we ſhall riſe again, and when we are riſen, we do not know whether we ſhall lie down again. Death is uncertain in regard of the place, becauſe we do not know where death will arreſt us, whether when we are in company, or when we are alone, whether in the Field, or in the Town, whether abroad, or at home; for when we go forth we do not know whether we ſhall return again, and when we are returned, we do not know whether we ſhall go forth again. And death is uncertain in regard of the manner, becauſe we do not know how death will arreſt us, whether we ſhall die a naturall or a violent death, whether a painfull or an eaſie death, whether a lingring or a ſudden death. In theſe reſpects death is uncertain, yet nothing again more certain then death. For though we know not as I ſaid, either where, or when, or how we ſhall die, yet we know for certain, that either here or elſe-where, either ſooner or later, either by one means or other, we are ſure to die. Therefore David propounds this queſtion, What man is he that lives and ſhall not ſee death? Pſal. 89.48.becauſe death is common to all men, and no man by his greatneſſe, ſtrength, or wiſdome, or any other means can avoid the ſame. And this the Heathen knew very well, and therefore though they worſhipt the Sunne, the Moon, and all the Hoſt of heaven, though they offered ſacrifice to ſtocks, to ſtones, to men, to divels, and to all manner of creatures, whom they worſhipt as Gods; yet among all their ſacrifices, there was never any that offeted ſacrifice to death, as knowing that death will never be appeaſed, and therefore that their ſacrifices ſhould have been to no purpoſe, Contra omnia aliquid inveniri poteſt, contra mortem nihil. One remedy or other may be found againſt every thing, but no remedy can poſſibly be found againſt death, Galen, Hipocrates, and other skilfull Phyſicians have found out many remedies againſt the moſt diſeaſes, and have preſcribed many rules how to preſerve our health, and to keep us from ſickneſſe, but how to preſerve and keep us from death, there was never any that could invent any remedy. And though Paracelſus had ſuch conſidence in his knowledge, that he profeſſed himſelfe able, to keep a man by phyſick in ſo perfect a temperature, that he ſhould never die of any diſeaſe whatfoever, yet he could not preſcribe any phyſick againſt death. For though we diet our bodies, and uſe all preſervatives to keep us from ſiokneſſe, and though we live all our life time without any diſeaſe, yet either caſnality or age will bring us to our graves. Therefore the grave is called by Job, Job 30.23.the houſe appointed for all the living, I know (ſaith Job) that thou Wilt bring me to death, and to the houſe appointed for all the living: it is appointed, and therefore cannot be avoided, it is appointed for all the living, and therefore none are exempted, but all that live upon the face of the earth are ſubject unto it. In ſeverall Kingdoms there are ſeverall Lawes, whereunto they are not bound in other Kingdoms. Now in the whole world there are three Kingdoms, where the Laws concerning death are divers. In heaven they have a Law, that they ſhall live for ever, and never die.Mat. 19.17. Therefore heaven is called by the name of life, If (ſaith our Saviour) thou wilt enter into life, (that is into heaven) keep the Commandements. And heaven is called Pſal. 25. the land of the living, I ſhould (ſaith David) have utterly fainted, but that I believe verily to ſee the goodneſſe of the Lord in the land of the living: that is, in heaven, for there they live eternally, and never die. In hell there is a quite contrary law, that they die eternally. Therefore it is ſaid of the wicked, Pſal. 49. They lie in hell like ſheep, and death gnawes upon them, becauſe there they ſuffer the ſecond death, which is everlaſting. And here upon earth, there is a third law between them both,Heb. 9.27. That every one living ſhall once ſuffer death. Therefore ſaith the Apoſtle, Heb. 9. It is appointed unto all men that they ſhall once dye: not live here for ever, as they do in heaven, nor die for ever as they do in hell, but once they muſt die: and this is a law which all that live on the face of the earth are ſubject unto. God hath given great priviledges to many of his ſervants, and hath miraculouſly preſerved them from many dangers;Exed. 34.28. 1 King. 19.8. Dan. 3.25. Mat. 14.29. Joſh. 10.12.13. ſome he hath preſerved without any nouriſhment for many weeks together, as Moſes and Elius; ſome he hath preſerved in the midſt of fire, as the three children in the furnace: ſome he hath inabled to walk upon the waters, as Peter did; ſome he hath inabled to ſtay the courſe of the Sun, as Joſhuah did: but to ſtay and hinder the courſe of death, and to free men from the ſame, this is a priviledge which God never gave to any of his ſervants. Therefore even they that lived before the deluge, though ſome of them lived ſeven hundred years, ſome eight hundred, ſome nine hundred years, and upwards, yet they died in the end: nature delaying more and more in them, till it were quite ſpent, as a candle being lighted, waſtes by little and little, till it quite goes out.
Seeing then it is certain that we ſhall die, this may therefore teach us to fit and prepare our ſelves againſt the coming of death, by frequent meditation and remembrance thereof. The oftner a man bethinks him of death, the better he will be prepared for it: as a man that foreſees and expects a ſtorm, he will provide himſelf the better againſt it come. And herein the Heathen themſelves may be patterns unto us, who though they knew not God, nor the puniſhment of ſin in the world to come, yet knowing they ſhould die, they uſed many ſtrange and memorable deviſes, to put them in mind of their mortality. Ortelius writes of a Countrey in the World, where the people do uſe the bones of dead men in ſtead of their coin; which being continually before their eyes, they cannot but continually remember their ends. Plutarch writes of Ptolomie the King of Egypt, That alwayes when he made any ſumptuous feaſt, among the reſt of his diſhes, the skull and bones of a dead man were brought in a platter, and ſet before him, and one was appointed to ſay thus unto him,Plutarch in Conviv. Sept. Sapientum. Behold, O King, and conſider with thy ſelfe this preſident of death, that he whoſe skull and bones thou now ſeeſt, was once like thy ſelfe, and the time will come when thou ſhalt be like unto him, and thy skull and bones ſhall be brought hereafter to the Kings table, as now his are to thint. Iſodore writes. That it was a cuſtome in Conſtantinople, that alwayes at the time of the Emperours Coronation, among other Solemnities this was one, A free, Maſon preſented the Emperour with divers ſorts of marble, and asked him of which of them he ſhould make his Tomb, that ſo he might remember, even then when he was in the height of his glory, that he was but mortall. Dion writes of Severus a Roman Emperour, That while he lived he cauſed his Hearſe to be made, and was often wont to go in into it, adding theſe words, Thou O Herſe, as ſmall as thou art, muſt contain him, whom now the whole world is ſearce able to contain. If theſe who were Heathen were ſo mindfull of their ends, what ſhould we that are Chriſtians? We know that God hath made the end of our life, the manner of our death, and the place thereof to be unknown and uncertain, that we might alwayes have it in expectation. So ſaith Saint Auguſtine, Latet ultimus dies ut obſerventur omnes dies. Auguſtine Hom. 13.The laſt day of our lives is hidden from us, that that day might be expected all the dayes of our lives. And indeed the reaſon why we are not prepared for the comming of death, is becauſe we ſeldom or never think of dying; for who of us almoſt have any thought thereof, till either ſickneſſe, or age, the two Serjeants of death do come to arreſt us? or if at any other time we bethink us thereof, it is only then when we hear the Bell to ring out for any, or when we ſee ſome of our neighbours to lie upon their deathbed, and paſt recovery. Then it may be we think of our ends, and that it is high time for us to prepare our ſelves for death, that we may be in a readineſſe againſt God ſhall call us. But theſe meditations are but for a fit, and they preſently vaniſh. I have ſeen ſomtimes, when a Fowler coming to a Tree where there were ſtore of birds, and hath killed any one of them, all the reſt have immediately flown away, but preſently after, forgetting the danger wherein they were before, they have all of them returned to the ſame Tree. And do not we reſemble theſe ſilly birds? when death comes to our houſes, and takes away any one of us, we are all amazed, and we preſently think, that the next courſe may be ours, and therefore that it behooves us to reform our lives: but preſently after, when the remembrance of death is out of our minds, we return again to our former courſes. But he that will be provided againſt the coming of death, muſt alwayes have death in his remembrance. Tota vita ſapientis debet eſſe meditatio mortis, The whole life (ſaith Gregory) of a wiſe man, ought to be a meditation of death. That as the birth of ſin was the death of man, ſo the meditation of death may be the death of ſin.
And as David here by comparing us to graſſe, and the flowers of the field, implyeth thereby the certainty of our death, that we ſhall as certainly die, as we are ſure that theſe ſhall fade and wither. So he implyeth hereby the ſhortneſſe of our life, that we ſhall not live long, but ſhall die ſoon, as the graſſe and flowers do fade and decay in a ſhort time. Theodorus Gaza tels us of a father that had twelve ſons, and each of thoſe brethren had thirty children, yet every one of them expired ſoon. The father expired within the compaſſe of a year, never a one of his ſons but expired in a monethmonth, and never a one of their children but expired in a day.
Though this be ſpoken of the Year, which hath twelve months, and every month thirty dayes, yet their expiring ſo ſoone may well put us in mind of ours, ſeeing the ſhortneſs of our life is ſuch, that we are not ſure we ſhall live a year, no not a month; nay, though we be now wel for ought we know, yet for ought we know we may be dead before to morrow.
How many have we known, that have been well and lively in one houre, and yet dead the next? how many are there in this Land, that were alive this morning and dead before noon? Nay, how many are there in the World that are now alive, and ſince thou haſt read theſe words (are now alive) are now dead? who no doubt made reckoning, as many now do, that they ſhould have lived a long time.
But the Scripture teacheth us to make another account, by joyning together, as many times it doth, the day of our birth, and the day of our death,Eccleſ. 3.2. without making any mention of the time of our life, as if our lifetime were ſo ſhort, that it were not worth the naming. So Solomon, Eccles. 7.Eccleſ. 7.1. Job 14.2. The day of death is better then the day of mans birth. So Job. Man that is borne of a Woman is of few dayes, and full of trouble, he comes up like a flower and is cut down. Upon which words, Bernard ſaith thus, In ipſo ſtatim introitu, de exitu quo que admonemur. In the very beginning and entrance into life, we are put in mind of the end of our life: as if there were no diſtance between them both.
And hence it is, that we are often in the Scripture compared to thoſe things, which are of the ſhorteſt abode and continuance. So our bodies are compared to veſſells of earth; we have, 2 Cor. 4.7.ſaith the Apoſtle, this treaſure in earthen Veſſells. He compares them not to Veſſells of braſſe, or Iron, which will laſt long, but to earthen Veſſells which are ſoone broken.
In the Potters ſhop there are Veſſels ye know, of divers ſorts, ſome leſſe ſome greater, ſome made for one uſe and ſome for another, but all ſo brittle, that a little force will break any of them to peeces.
And ſuch is the frailty of our mortall bodies, ſome are ſtronger and more durable then other, but yet none ſo ſtrong, but that a little ſickneſs will ſoone pull him down, and bring him to nothing. Nay, earthen Veſſells, howſoever they be brittle, yet if we let them alone, if we ſet them up ſafe, and keep them from falling, they will continue the ſame for a longtime; but ſuch is our frailty, that we never continue in one ſtay, but though we look never ſo carefully to our ſelves, though we avoid all occaſions of coming into danger; yet before it be long, even age will conſume us.
So we are compared by St. James to a vapour, that appeares for a while, and preſently vaniſhes; ſo by Job to a Weavers ſhuttle, that makes no ſtay in the Webbe, but paſſeth in a trice from one ſide to the other. So to a Garment that is ſoon worne out, to a tale that is, ſoone told, to a ſpan which is ſoone meaſured, and here to the graſſe and flowers of the field which are ſoone withered.
The field we ſee hath variety of flowers, but none of them all do continue long but come up and are cut down, and others grow up in their roome. So it is likewiſe with the owners of thoſe fields, they are ſoon gone, and others ſucceed them. There is not any field, that hath had ſuch variety of flowers in it, as owners of it the ſame field which thou holdeſt, hath been held by thouſands before thee, who held it for a while one after another, and leſt it to thee, as thou muſt leave it to others after thee: and thou doſt not know, whether thy ſelf or the flowers which ſpring up in thy field ſhall be gone ſooneſt; for thy dayes are but as graſſe, and as the flowers of the field, ſo thou flouriſheſt.
If you aske why God hath made our life ſo ſhort, the anſwer is, that it is his goodneſs and mercy towards us, to ſhorten our dayes. For though Theophraſtus the Philoſopher complained at the time of his death, that nature had given to Harts and Ravens a long time of life, but a ſhort time to man, who could better have imployed the benefit of time; yet indeed it is his mercy towards us that we live not ſo long, becauſe he ſaw that a ſhort life would be better for us in divers reſpects.
Firſt, That we might the ſooner be freed from the miſeries of this life.Gen. 47.9. Few and evill, ſaith Jacob, have the dayes of the years of my life been. If the dayes of our life be evill, it is well they be few; for for if they were more, they would be more evill. Man (ſaith Job) that is borne of a Woman, Job 14.1.is of few dayes, and full of trouble. So full of trouble, that one of the wiſeſt among the Heathen could ſay, Nemo vitam acciperet ſi dare turſcientibus. Seneca.If life were not given us before we had knowledge of it, there is no man but would refuſe it.Herod. Tap. Therefore the Tracians as Herodotus writes, were wont according to the Cuſtome of their Country, to mourne and lament when their Children were borne, reckoning up the calamities which they were to undergoe, through the whole courſe of their lives, but when they died, they followed them to their graves, with mirth and rejoycing, becauſe they were freed from a World of miſeries. Our bodies are ſubject to labour and wearineſs, to ſickneſs and paine, and a thouſand Diſeaſes: our ſoules, beſides the grief and ſorrow which they are ſubject unto, they are continually aſſaulted with ſtrong temptations, and alwayes in danger of many powerfull enemies, for we wreſtle not, ſaith St. Paul, Epheſ. 6.12.againſt fleſh and blood, but againſt Principalities and powers, and the Prince of darkneſs; from all which we are not freed till this life be ended, and therefore God in mercy hath ſhortned our life, that we might the ſooner be freed from the miſeries thereof, and that in the mean time we might have this comfort, that though our life be miſerable, yet withall it is ſhort.
Secondly, God hath ſhortned our life, that we may the ſooner come into his preſence, and inherit the Kingdom he hath prepared for us. Ye know when Abſolon lived in exile, and was kept for a time from the ſight of his Father, it grieved him ſo much, that he wiſht rather to die if he had deſerved it, 2 Sam. 13.32then to be kept any longer from his Fathers preſence. God knowes how his Children, while they live here in this World, the place of their baniſhment, do long to be with him; ſaying with David, Pſal. 42.2. Phil. 1.23.when ſhall I come to appear before the preſence of God? and deſiring with Paul, to be diſſolved and to be with Chriſt: and therefore God in mercy hath ſhortned our dayes, that we may the ſooner come into his heavenly Kingdom and injoy his preſence.
And laſtly, God hath ſhortned our dayes, that we may be the leſſe carefull for the things of this life, conſidering we ſhall injoy them ſo ſhort a time. If a man be to travell into a farre Country, he will be the more carefull to provide the more, and to proportion his proviſion to the length of his journey, but if his journey be ſhort, he will provide the leſſe, and the nearer he comes to his journies end, the leſſe carefull he is what proviſion he hath. God knowes if we were to live long in this World, we would be the more carefull for the things of this life and would think we could never provide enough; and therefore he hath made our life to be ſhort; that we might be the leſſe carefull to provide for it.
To draw then to a concluſion of all, we have briefly heard, why we are here reſembled to the graſſe and flowers of the field; and from thence, both of the certainty of our death, and the ſhortneſs of our life, and the reaſons why God hath made our life ſo ſhort, all which may ſerve to teach us two leſſons.
1. Ʋſe. 1 Not to make account that we ſhall live long as many of us do, but that we ſhall ſoon die. That we ſhall die we all know, but the moſt of us deceive our ſelves in this, that we put off the day of our death ſtil further from us: vvhen we are young, we think we ſhal live til we come to be old, when we come to be old we think we may live longer, and ſo we put off the time of our death ſtill further and further. And hence it is, that we are ſo carefull for the things of this life, as if this World were the place where we ſhould live for ever. We read of Alexander, that to ſhew his affection to a certain Philoſopher, he willed him to aske what he would of him, and he would give it him. The Philoſopher deſired him to give him the fee-ſimple of his life, that he might be free from death. O ſaith Alexander, if I could do this, I would do it for my ſelf, why then it ſeemes (ſaith the Philoſopher) that you are mortall. True, ſaith Alexander. Indeed ſaith the Philoſopher, that you are mortall, I do not doubt, yet I greatly doubt whether you think that you are mortall, and ſhall ever die, becauſe you live ſo, as if you thought you were immortall, and ſhould never die. The like may be ſaid to many of us; for though we cannot deny, but muſt needes acknowledge that we ſhall ſurely die, yet man, live ſo, they ſeek ſo greedily after worldly goods, they ſo pamper their bodies, and are ſo ſumptuons in their buildings, as if they were immortall, and ſhould never die. The Patriarcks though they lived ſo many years, yet they lived in Tents and in poor Cabins; but we that live not the half of their dayes, do build our houſes ſo faire and ſo durable, as if we meant here to ſet up our reſt, and that we ſhould never depart from hence, which argues that though we know we ſhall die,Theatr. Hiſtor. ex Guid. yet we think we ſhall live a long time, whereas we ſhould daily look to die. Like Meſſodanus a holy old man, who being invited by his friend to dinner for the morrow after. Why, ſaith he, do you invite me to morrow to dinner? I have not looked to live till to morrow this many a year. For we no ſooner begin to live, but we begin to die, and look how many dayes of our life are paſt, ſo much of our life is already cut off, and the leſſe is remaining; as the more of an Houre-glaſſe is already run out, the leſſe it hath to runne.
And ſecondly, ſeeing we ſhall ſo ſoone die, it may therefore teach us ſo to live, as that death when it comes, may be welcome, and not fearfull unto us, and that is, by preparing our ſelves againſt the coming of death, by a godly life. For this is the comfort which a man can find when he lieth on his Death-bed, that he ſhall enter into a better life when this life is ended, and this comfort he cannot have at his death, unleſs he have lived a godly life: Death to the wicked may well be fearfull, becauſe as it is in it own nature, it is the wages of ſinne, and impoſed as a curſe and puniſhment upon man for his tranſgreſſion; but by virtue of Chriſts death to the godly it is otherwiſe, ceaſing to be a curſe unto them, nay, of a curſe it is made a bleſſing, even a paſſage out of a miſerable life into the Kingdom of Heaven. It was Sampſons Riddle,Judg. 14.14. out of the eater came meat, and out of the ſtrong came ſweetneſs. Which was meant of the honie which was found in the Lyon which Sampſon had ſlain; for ſo the Philiſtins ye know, expounded it, what is ſweeter (ſay they) then hony, and what is ſtronger then a Lyon? and it may not unfitly be applyed to death; for what is ſtronger then death that ſubdues the ſtrongeſt? yet after that Chriſt had vanquiſht death, as he did for the godly, out of the ſtrong came ſweetneſs; for vvhat can be more ſvveet or pleaſant unto us, then the paſſage out of a miſerable life into eternall happineſs? And ſuch is death to the godly: and therefore if we would find this comfort at the time of our death, we muſt prepare our ſelves againſt the coming thereof by a godly Life.
FINIS.