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…

Fourthly, the aptness of man to forget death rather then any thing else, and therefore Moses prayeth the Lord to teach him to number his days, as though they were still slipping out of his mind. Lastly, that to remember how short a time we have to live, will make us apply our harts to that which is good. The first point is, that as every one had a day to come into this world: so he shall have a day to go out of this world. When Moses ⟨p. 552⟩had spoken of some which lived 700. years, and other which lived 800. years, and other which lived 900. years, showing that some had a longer time, and some a shorter, yet he speaks this of all, mortuus est, at last comes in mortuus est, that is, he died, which is the Epitaph of every man. We are not lodged in a castle, but in an Inn, where we are but guests, and therefore Peter calls us strangers. ¹We are not Citizens of the earth, but Citizens of Heaven, and therefore the Apostle saith,² we have here no abiding City, but we look for one to come. As Christ saith,³ my kingdom is not of this world: so we may say, My dwelling is not in this world, but the soul soareth upward whence she came, & the body stoopeth downward whence it came:⁴ as the tabernacles of the Jews were made to remove,⁵ so our tabernacles are made to remove.⁶ Every man is a tenant at will, & there is nothing sure in life, but death: as he which wrote this is gone, so I which preach it, & you which hear it, one coming in, & one going out is to all. Although this is daily seen, yet it had need be proved, nay every man had need to die, to make him believe that he shall die. When Adam & Eve became subject to death because of their sin to teach them to think on death, so soon as they were thrust out of paradise, God clothed them with the skins of dead beasts, ⟨p. 553⟩