A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle general, writtenA commentary or, exposition vpon the diuine second epistle generall, written

Sudden destruction seizeth on the wicked. There are judgements that creep on a man by degrees, every pull of pain being a warning of dissolution. These are easier. 1. Because preparation is rendered, and so the mind begins to be fortified against them. The first seen Cockatrice is less noxious. Either we may hide our selves, Prov. 22.3. The prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself. Where? Psalm 9.6. The Lord is a Refuge in the time of trouble. Under the wings of mercy, he hideth himself in the Lord, from the Lord. Or, by a well furnished and resolute opposition; Pugnent arma armis: put•ing it to a courageous venture for the victory. Or, by a well-tempered patience to sustain; as woo• meets iron, and turns the stern violences to soft embraces. 2. Because the mind is the better inured to bear or encounter those evils, to which it hath been exercised; as with wooden weapons men learn to fight at the sharp. Lam. 3.27. It […] good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. In the Fable, when the new and old Ca• went together, the new made a creaking noise under the lode, and wondered at the silence of the old: which answered; I am accustomed to these burdens, therefore bear them and am quiet. This is the benefit of sustaining crosses in youth, such a one knows how to bear them still. Thus death becomes welcome to us, because we are acquainted with his messengers. For when life which is held a friend, becomes an enemy; then death which is an enemy becomes a friend. It was promised to o•• Israelite, that he should beat ten enemies: now he that conquered the odds, will […] cowardly shrink at the equality. 3. Because the sense is weakened by much ••• fearing: usual beating makes the child less to fear the rod. The faithful are […] well acquainted with Gods gentle chastisements, that they know it is the same h••• that strikes still: perhaps now in death a little smarter at once, that it may ne••• strike them more. Thus a consumption doth so by degrees spend up the choleric mours, exhaust the spirits, and weaken the sense; that the tyranny of death is […] in the want of our feeling. Some of the martyrs that were tumbled down from exceeding high rocks, left the bitterness of the pangs of death in the mid-way […] their journey; and their souls went up to heaven, before their bodies came down to earth. 4.