The sermons of Master Henry Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…The sermons of Maister Henrie Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…

The necessity of sin is so irksome to him which knoweth the vileness of sin, that the faithful man, but to do good, would not live out of heaven, no not one hour. This made the Martyrs so willing to abide any kind of death that tyranny could devise, to be rid of their sinful bands, and this corruptible burden, which presseth down the soul, that looks after Christ like his disciples when he ascended to heaven.¹ All is trouble and weariness, and vanity to the godly mind, whether he eat or drink, or sleep, he counteth it a servitude unto the flesh, and wisheth with David to be rid from these necessities: so the knowledge and love of God maketh a man forget his own flesh, maketh him despise the whole world, taketh away the difference from life and death, changeth his nature which he could never overcome, ⟨p. 526⟩and teacheth him to renounce his deer self, and say, though he should die, Not my will but thy will be done. All this appeareth in this example, what operation is in the knowledge and love of Christ: it made the world irksome unto Paul, which all men naturally desire: it made death pleasant unto him, which all men naturally abhor: although they be weary of their life, and have no pleasure from morning to night; yet it will not please them to change, which they needs must, they never loath but love their miseries, I will not dye one hour to live for ever. Do not the wicked themselves prophesy by their fear of death a worse condition of some dreadful judgement after this life prepared for sinners, and all that contemn GOD, when none but they stand in such fear of death? Why doth one wish for it, and another tremble to hear of it? If it were but a sleep, no man would fear it at all: for who feareth to take his rest when the night approacheth? If it did take away sense and feeling, and make men trees or stones, no man would fear it at all, for who would fear strokes if he could feel no more then a stone? or who would care for any thing if he had no sense of anything? would any man tremble so to be as the dead creatures which have no ⟨p. 527⟩sense of evil? They must needs be in better case than the happiest man in this life, which is not without the sense of evil. Therefore this fear of death which you see in all but the faithful, doth presage some strange torment, some heavy change and sharp punishment to those men: