people lie vpon the King Rex non modò peccat sed peccare facit a King doth not onely sinne himselfe but also makes the people to sin either by sufferance as Aaron did or by example as Salomon did or by tyrannous compulsion as Jeroboam did of whom it is said seuenteene times in the bookes of the Kings that he sinned and made Jsrael to sin how then why then as when the people first began the making of the golden Calfe yet Aaron was first called in question about it Exod. 32.21 VVhy hast thou brought so great a sinne vpon the people so Kings Princes must account to God not onely for their owne sinnes but also for the sins of the people and were there no other trouble then this yet this very point of accounting to God is a troublesome and fearefull thing to thinke of Besides what art and great labour haue Kings in the very act of gouernment It is an art of all arts saith Gregory Nazianzen to gouerne man who is so wild a beast and vntamed of himselfe Exod. 18. Moses sat from morning to euening to heare and determine causes that Jethro pitied much to see him so wearie and so tired and it was truly said of Maximinus one of the Romane Emperours Quo maior fuero eo magis laborabo The greater I am the greater labours I see will stil befall and lie vpon me and the Lion which is king of the beasts is said to sleepe with his eyes open to shew that it is no sleepie life to be a king Besides what perturbations of feare are in the mindes of Kings more then of other men who may feare euery cup and euery bit and euery gift who feare their enemies and feare their friends because they know not their enemies from their friends for neither the habit be it neuer so religious nor behauiour of men be it neuer so humble can promise security to Princes witnesse the last but one of France Henry 3. slaine by a Frier Iacobine euen crouching and kneeling on his knee yea are not Kings more subiect to violent death then the common sort of men Of the Kings of Judah from Rehoboam down to Zedekiah there were in number twentie and six of them that is almost a third part slaine Againe of the Kings of Israel from Jeroboam downe to Oshea there were also in number twentie and tenne of them that is a iust halfe slaine Yea looke into our owne stories and our English Chronicles are all bloody from the Conquest downeward which is better known of three and twentie deceased Princes eight that is more then a third part slaine besides the Tragicall reports of France other countries Now sure it were a most fearefull thing amongst the common sort of men if one in euery three were subiect to violent death And whether shall a man turne but the higher still the more troublesome and more infortunate Oh therefore value nothing too high which death doth abolish dote not too much on death and troubles and golden misery Let not men set their hearts on that which cannot profit them or if it please a little yet it will not long stand by them If here wee seeke for peace it wil be answered as the Angels said of Christ Resurrexit non est hic Indeed it is often promised heere the world the flesh make promise of it and wee like false Prophets cry Peace peace and promise it to our selues but the true peace is gone vp with Christ and is not here Mat. 28. and Saint John was commanded to write it for assurance Write◠from hence forth blessed are the dead for they rest from their labours Reuel 14.13 they rest hence forth but they rest not here and therefore since wee haue no rest but sorrowes and warres and troubles here let vs not seeke our rest here lest if we spend our time in seeking where it is not wee faile to finde it where it is God of his mercy draw our mindes from the deceit of this vaine miserable and sinfull world and lift vp both our hearts vnto the hope and our endeauours vnto the pursuit of eternity euen for Iesus Christ his sake To whom with the father c. THE KINGS HIGH WAY TO IMmortalitie A SERMON PREACHED this present yeere Ann. Do. 1614. Ian. 16. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY Prince CHARLES at his house and Chapell of S. Iames. PRO. 4.3.4 For I was my fathers sonne Tender and deare in the sight of my mother When he taught me and said vnto me Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and liue MOst renowned and excellent But that sorrowes make short times seeme long it is not long since at vnawares and not knowing what I did I made vnto your deceased and now immortall brother a Sermon of Mortality or of death It is now fallen out by Gods prouidence and which God himselfe being witnesse I did not thinke of when I chose the text that I must make vnto your Highnesse a Sermon of life but as I had then no special illumination or prophecy that death was so neare to him so haue I now no absolute promise of life to you but vpon the conditions heere annexed Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and thou shalt lieu which are the words of Dauid the speech of a King and therefore of weight and moment and it is a speech made to Salomon the sonne of a King and therefore pertinent and it is a speech taken from the mouth of the King the father by the pen of the King his sonne and therefore not lost or let fall to the ground as good counsell oft times is but recorded as a thing for euer permanent And wee may distinguish in it two things which diuide it into two parts for first Salomon sheweth what tender loue his parents bare vnto him He was his fathers son Tender and deare in the sight of his mother and then hee sheweth next by what testimonie they expressed their loue vnto him They taught him and said vnto him Let thy heart hold fast c. For the first that Salomon was to his father thus and to his mother thus and thus it is a tale vndoubtedly true but how agreeth it with Salomons wisedome to tell it They say a chiefe point of wisedome is to keepe counsell especialiy to conceale the secrets of a King but most especially to keepe secret what Kings and Queenes doe in their chambers and among their children It may bee that Dauid loued Salomon exceeding much how then It may be likewise that his mother loued him exceedingly more and what of that perhaps when he was swadled in clouts and lapt vp in a mantle shee might take him in her armes and talke like a mother to him perhaps when he was able to goe vpon his feet yet shee might set him on her knee and dance him yea and it may bee too that when hee was able to
tender and deare vnto my mother yet they did not coker mee but taught me and said vnto me There is a loue in parents a doting loue which teacheth nothing and there is a gouernment in parents which looseneth all the raines and suffereth to riot and for biddeth nothing and there is a pitie in parents a foolish pitie which pardoneth all and punisheth nothing till God come with the sword as hee did to the sons of Eli and kill where the father leaues vncorrected a strange loue in parents to kill their children with too much kindnesse but Salomons father loued him to proue his loue hee taught him as thinking him much better vnborne then vntaught If it be demanded heere how Dauid taught his sonne the text it selfe sheweth that sometime he spake vnto him himselfe He taught mee and said vnto mee hee taught him by word of mouth as the Eagle teacheth her young to flie Deut. 32.10.11 And as Plutarch saith the Nightingale teacheth her young to sing and God knew that Abraham would teach his sonnes Genes 18 And carefull parents are euer whetting the law vpon their children Beside it is also like that Dauid taught him by an instructor by Abiathar by Zadok by Nathan or some other and it is a chiefe prerogatiue of Kings that they may chuse their Tutors and instructours throughout their kingdomes The father of the great Alexander professed that hee was not more glad that hee had a son then that he had such a schoolemaster as Aristotle to teach him And Alexander himselfe confessed that he had his naturall life from his father but to liue well and vertuously hee had it from his master And it is strange to tell what honour Theodosius the Emperour gaue to Arsenius his sonnes schoolemaster And thus did Dauid teach And consider on the passiue part that as none is so carefull to teach the sonne as the father so hath none of the sonnes so much neede of teaching as he who succecdeth in the kingdome of the father Bee wise ye Kings saith Dauid and bee learnedye that be Judges of the earth Psalm 2. It is true that Kings are Gods annointed yet not annointed onely with oyle but with speciall graces but what grace before wisdome and learning which leades the way to all other grace as Kings are leaders to all other men Let the Lord appoint a man ouer the congregation who may leade them out and in saith Moses Numb 27. But it was neuer intended by God that they should be blind and ignorant themselues who were appointed as leaders and lights to other men And what was Salomon admired for but chiefly for his learning and for his wisdome The Queene of Sheba came of purpose to heare and proue his wisedome And 1. King 4.34 There came of all people to heare his wisedome as commonly when the people enquire after the King they doe not listen so much whether hee bee rich for they thinke he may be too rich as Julian the Emperor said that a couetous king was like the Splen in a mans body which when it swelleth and groweth great all the rest of the members are in a consumption by it Nor doe they listen so much if he be a man of warre they like it well that hee bee martially minded and readie to encounter when the enemie giues cause but they like it not that hee haue Animum auersum a pace A minde hating peace or delighting in warre Psal â—8 30 yea cursed are the people which delight in warre saith Dauid himselfe euen one of the greatest souldiers that euer was in the world but the chief thing enquired of the subiects is if the King bee learned or wise for then they know that he wil carrie himselfe the state well in warre in peace in want in abundance in all conditions safely and well And that Salomon was thus wise it was not only his fathers teaching for men can but plant and water but first he had helpes from nature which had exceedingly fitted him besides he was studious and industrious of himselfe for as it is Eccles 1. Hee gaue his heart to search out wisedome and which is more then all humane helps when God appeared vnto him gaue him leaue to aske what he would 1. King 3. he asked not riches long life nor honour but hee asked wisedome and God gaue it him in great abundance for hee was seene in all wisedome yea he had considered all the workes that were done vnder the sunne Eccles 1. euen as Moses the gouernour of Israel was seene in all he wisedome of the Egyptians Act. 7. He spake three thousand Sentences or Prouerbs his Ethikes or morall Philosophy hee wrote Songs Psalmes or Poems a Poet among other learning He spake of trees plants euen from the Cedar to the Hysop his Physiques or naturall Phylosophie yea he spake euen of the beasts and creeping things A wonder to see a King come from his Throne an Iuorie Throne ouerlaid with gold mounted vpon steps for Maiesty and euery step with Lions on each side a wonder I say to see a King to come from thence to looke into the bowels vaines of a beast yea of a vermine the lowest steps of naturall learning what thought hee of learning which sought it thus And therefore they are deceiued which thinke learning to bee but a meere ornament to a King It is true there is facultie of ornament as playing singing dancing for as this learned Salomon saith There is a time to dance Eccles 3. and there is faculty of good vse as tilting running riding promised to the Kings of Judah Ierem. 22. If ye doe these things ye shall ride vpon Chariots and horses but learning and wisedome are essentiall to gouernment he was no mere scholer nor vulgar man but hee was a King which said it that Rex illiteratus est asinus coronatus Henry 1. King of England that a King without learning was an asse with a Crowne for to what end sits he vpon the iudgement seate which when hee comes there may sit and see and heare but hath no wit to iudge This Salomon himselfe sat in iudgement vpon the two harlots 1. King 3. and gaue such a sentence as all the kingdome applauded to heare it besides for knowledge of religion he was Ecclesiastes a professed Preacher as Eccl. 1. J the Preacher haue bin King ouer Jsrael c. and that knowledge is also needfull for a King for if a schisme or schismaticall fellow arise in the Church hee is a kinde of persecutor that onely punisheth him it is more kinde and kingly first by learning to controll him Constantine sat oft himselfe in iudgement and gaue sentence in causes Ecclesiastical especially in the faction and quarrels of the Donatists And I could speak of a King now vpon the stage which speaks and disputes and writes that Rome it selfe is enraged to reade it for the Romane Clergie doe with their kings as the late Queene
and tongue and then this immortall honour dies and is as mortall as your selues But come we to the life of mankind the age of the world Indeed of all the rest that may seeme the longest but as to the longest day at last comes night so is the world bounded within the termes of Creation and dissolution it had a beginning though wee began not with it and it shall haue an end though wee liue not to see it and all time is short when it commeth to his end Wee are borne into the world as some come to a play yea rather as many come to a Sermon which came not to the beginning and happily stayed not the end yet had it both beginning and end and so hath the world to vs yea the world it selfe is but A sea of glasse Reuel 4. and glasse is no mettall of long endurance but a time shall come when the Almighty shal but blow vpon it and it shal breake in pieces and as Saint Peter saith it selfe and all therin shall be consumed with fire 2. Pet. Now if any man aske the causes of this short life sure it is that life and death are in the hands of God and haue their date and destinie set by him yet instrumentally this vanity and shortnesse of our daies proceedeth from our selues our life being not onely short in nature but also shortened by our selues Indeed wee are not made of the lasting mettals there is found in our mixture no ingredience of iron brasse or steele but wee are made of flesh which is as grasse and all the glory of it as the flower of grasse so soone it fades and wee are gone but as if nature of it selfe were not fraile enough wee post on to death by disorder of our life for sometime wrath and enuie fret gnawes vs that while we seek to kill other men we kill our selues sometime drunkennesse and gluttony consume and deuoure vs body and goods yea our very meats eate vp our strength as we our selues eate vp our meates and sometime incontinence and fleshly lusts doe wast and rot the bodies of men that as Martha said of Lazarus Lord hee stinkes Ioh. 1 â— for hee hath been foure daies dead so it may bee said of some that they stinke and putrifie halfe their daies yet they liue not halfe their daies And thus as Babylon made her selfe a lease of eternity A Lady sure for euer Esa 47.7 and did eate and drinke in the cups of the Temple and with her concubines euen to the night of their destruction Dan. 5. â— 30 So doe we glory in vanity and triumph in intemperance and do not only suffer mortality but also hasten it vpon vs by our sinne Now for the causes of this error How comes it to passe that our daies being so short and so few yet they seeme to vs to be so many much like to him who standing in his gallery takes a perspectiue glasse and looketh down into his garden there sees alleyes and walkes which seeme so many miles in length as they are scarce discerned at their length and yet when hee comes downe to walke those many seeming miles make but short turnes and are measured by a few paces Sure the causes of this errour in the computation of our life are chiefly two first for that wee neuer thinke how the time goes till wee see it bee gone but as the Sunne though it mooue most swiftly yet because we see not how it moues it seemeth to stand still so our daies though they passe away speedilie yet because wee marke them not in the passage they seeme to continue still therfore happie is that man which euery night can say to himselfe A day is gone a part is cut off so much lesse haue I left of a short and miserable life wee are in the world as Merchants in a ship who whether they stand or sit or lie or sleepe yet are carried on by the motion of the ship so we whether we eate or drinke or wake or sleepe yet grow on in age and wax old before wee bee aware and when our time is once gone then euerie man can say to himselfe oh how short is this life how soone is it gone and then it is all one to him who hath liued out his ful fourescore as to him who hath liued but foureteene onely this is the oddes as Saint Hierome saith Quod senior peccatis onustior decedat That the elder man and the longer liuer hath still more sinnes to answere to God The other cause of this errour is for that men consider the time onely in it selfe and not compared with eternity which the diuell himselfe is not so foolish to doe for the diuell knoweth saith Saint John that hee hath but a short time Reuel 12.12 A strange point of wisedome in the diuell and of follie in vs sixteene hundred yeeres agoe the diuell thought that hee had but a short time and we thinke a lease of three liues to bee a matter of eternitie Now what is the reason of this because we thinke of no other life then that which is present whereas the diuell hath an eye to the world to come the life that shall be in respect whereof a thousand yeers is as nothing yea what is ten thousand to eternity The world passeth away saith Saint John and the lusts thereof 1. Iohn 2.17 The world it selfe passeth the very frame of heauen and earth shall turne to vanity and therefore the lust of it that is whatsoeuer is desired admired or loued in it shall passe away with it and happie is hee that hath not perisht in these vaine desires Now as the perfection of wisedome is to draw good out of euill so shall we come at last to be immortall if we can make true vse of our mortality We see heere a short time limited and yet wee haue a long way to go euen as far as it is from earth to heauen and had wee not then need to pray to haue our life in some measure prolonged It is an old and a true saying Vita breuis ars longa wee haue a short time to liue and a long Art to learne euen the Art of repentance and a few daies wherein to learne it The basest Art hath full seuen yeeres the tithe or tenth part of our life allowed to learne it wherein the Master takes great paines to teach the Apprentice takes great pains to learne and yet happily after much instructing often beating early rising and late downe lying he proues a Non proficient too and are not we ashamed to thinke that where seuen yeeres are deuoted to a mechanicall craft or trade we of all our life time put together can scarce account of so many daies to learne Repentance which is of such necessity of so much difficulty and so much better or doe wee thinke repentance to bee but the worke of an houre faith but a fancy and all religion to bee of