An exposition with practical observations continued upon the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters…

Then take perishing in the second sense, as perishing is put for dying and going out of the land of the living, thus all righteous and innocent persons perish and are cut off, namely, by the sword and sith of death: we may say all, God indeed hath made some few exceptions out of the general rule, but the Statute is plain, It is appointed unto all men once to dye; Enoch was translated, ⟨p. 39⟩and so was Elijah, and many shall be found alive when Christ cometh to judgement, who shall not die; they shall be but changed, and have a metaphorical, not a proper death; This makes some small abatement from, but doth not cross the general rule, that all must die.

Then take perishing in the second sense, as perishing is put for dying and going out of the land of the living, thus all righteous and innocent persons perish and are cut off, namely, by the sword and sithe of death: we may say all, God indeed hath made some few exceptions out of the generall rule, but the Statute is plaine, It is appointed unto all men once to dye; Enoch was translated, ⟨p. 39⟩and so was Elijah, and many shall be found alive when Christ commeth to judgement, who shall not die; they shall be but changed, and have a metaphoricall, not a proper death; This makes some small abatement from, but doth not crosse the generall rule, that all must die.

Take perishing in the third sense, for some temporal outward suffering in the world, either from the hand of God immediately, or mediately from the hand of man. Thus righteous and innocent persons may perish too, that is, they may fall under fore and great afflictions: thus righteous Abel perished, and thus Jacob was a Syrian ready to perish, and thus the godly party among the Jews, in the time of the captivity perished, they perished from off the Land, as it was threatened, Josh. 23.) with the rest of the wicked; of which the two baskets of figs, one bad, and the other good, were a famous type,