ofdying, well. z cure andcalf his eyeto the banke on the furthur fide : and fo mull he thai drawesnearedeath,as it were, looke ouerthewanesofdeath& dire6tly fixe theeyeofhis faith upon eternal! life. The fecond pró1ifeis to looke upon death in the glaf coftheGGofpcll,andnor in the glaffcofthe lawe:thatis,we mull confiderdeathnot as it is propounded in the law,& looke upon thàt terrible face vvhich thelavv giueth unto it;but as it is let forth intheGofpel. Death in the fairy is a curie and thedorvnfallto thepitofdeffruetion.in the Gofpell it is theentrance toheauen:thelavv fecs.forth death as:deátk,ähe Gofpell fitsdeath a no death,but as a fleepe only: becaufeit fp:eaketit o death as it is altered and changed by the deathof Chrifi:; by the vertue vvhereofdeath isproperlyno death to the feruants of God, When men. fhall have care on this manner to confider ofdeath ,it rvill bea notable: meanes to f}rengthen and ftablifh them againft all immoderate fearesande terrours that ufu ally rifein ficknes. The meditations which lerne for this purpofe are innumerable, butI will touch onely thole whichare the.moa principal! and the groundsofthereft; and they arefourein number. The firft is borrowed from the fpeciall proui+ dcnceofGod; namely that the death ofeuery man, muchmore ofeuery childofGod,isnot onely forefeene,but alto foreappointed ofGod:yea the deathofeuerymandeferued and procured byhis Cannes, islaide pòn him byGod , who in that refpe& may be fáide tobe the caufe ofeu:erymans death. So faithAnna,The Lordkilleth andmakethalae.TheChuroh.ofdiertr+ r.Sam.2.6. falent confeffed thatnothing came to paf ein the death ofChrift, but:that which the foreknowledge and eternall counfellofGod had appointed,And therefore the death alto ofeucry memberof Chrift is forefeeneand ordai: nodby the fpecialldecree and prouidence of Cod. I addefurther, thatthe very circumltances ofdeath, as the time when, the placewhere, the tanner how,the beginnings offacknes,the continuance,and theende, euery fitte in the ficknes and the pangs ofdeath, are particularly let downe in the count- fell ofGod. thevery haires afoul- headsarenumbered(as our Sauiour Chrifi faith)andaffiarrow lghtsnot ou the ground without the willy7our heartenyfa- ther. Dauid faith excellently, Mybones an' Plat hid(rota.,thee,tbough !was Pfal.33935,1, mane to a recretplace, andfirfhronedbeneath in theearth : thineever didfieme when Iwas withoutforme,forin thybooks a'ert all r hingswritten, which incon. tirmance werefafhicned, when therewasnone of them before, And heproles tovv. g g g. God toput his teares into his hots/è.Nowifthisbetrue ,thatGod hathbottles for thevery teamsofhis feruáts, much more bath hebottlesfor their blood, and much moredoth he rclpect and regard their paines and miferies with all thecircumflances officknes and death. The carefull meditation ofthis onepoint isa notablemeanes toarmevs againft feareandcliftruft, and im. patience in thetimeofdeath; as Tome examples in this cafe wrilleafilyma- nifeft, Iheldmy tongue.andfaid nothing, faith Dauid : butwhat was it that caufed this patience in him?thecaufe follows in thenestwords:becatife thou 3:121`39:To. Lord 4sddell it. And. Iofeph faith to hisbrethren:. harenet ,forit woe the Gen.4 . Lord
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=