A Golden Chain

The fourth objection is this, that those which have been reputed to be of the better sort of men oftentimes have miserable ends: for some end their days despairing, some raving and blaspheming, some strangely tormented: it may seem therefore that the day of death is the day of greatest woe and misery. To this I answer first of all generally, that we must not judge of the estate of any man before God by outward things, whether they be blessings or judgements, whether they fall in life or death. For (as Solomon saith) all things come alike to all: and the same condition is to the just and the wicked, to the good & to the pure & to the polluted, & to him that sacrificeth, & to him that ⟨p. 778⟩sacrificeth not: as is the good so is the sinner, he that sweareth as he that feareth a• oath. Secondly I answer the particulars which be alleged on this manner: And first of all touching despair, it is true that not only wicked and loose persons despair in death, but also repentant sinners, who oftentimes in their sickness, testify of themselves, that being alive and lying in their beds, they feel themselves as it were to be in hell, and to apprehend the very pangs and torments thereof. And I doubt not for all this, but that the child of God most dear unto him, may through the gulf of desperation attain to everlasting happiness. This appears by the manner of Gods dealing in the matter of our salvation. All the works of God are done in and by their contraries. In the creation, all things were made, not of something, but of nothing, clean contrary to the course of nature. In the work of Redemption, God gives life, not by life, but by death: and if we consider aright of Christ upon the cross, we shall see our paradise out of paradise in the midst of hell. For out of his own cursed death, doth he bring us life and eternal happiness. Likewise in effectual vocation, when it pleaseth God to convert and turn men unto him, he doeth it by the means of the Gospel preached, which in reason should drive all men from God. For it is as contrary to the nature of man as fire to water, and light to darkness: and yet for all this, though it be thus against the disposition and heart of man, it prevails with him and turns him to God. Furthermore, when God will send his own servants to heaven, he sends them a contrary way, even by the gates of hell:

The fourth obiection is this, that those which haue beene reputed to bee of the better sort of men oftentimes haue miserable endes: for some end their daies despairing, some rauing and blaspheming, some strangely tormented: it may seeme therefore that the daie of death is the daie of greatest woe and miserie. To this I answere first of all generally, that we must not iudge of the estate of any man before God by outward things, whether they bee blessings or iudgements, whether they fall in life or death. For (as Salomon saith) all things come alike to all: and the same condition is to the iust and the wicked, to the good & to the pure & to the polluted, & to him that sacrificeth, & to him that