God saith Gregory in sinu Abrahae saith the Gospell Phil. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Paule they be with Christ Returne cannot be misery shall not bee vnto them Vse Whence I settle this observation Obs 3 that every man shall haue his passe in death but none his returne till the day of iudgement The Tearme of death hath no essoynes no returnes All must celebrat this Passover all must trusse vp their loines all must take vp their staues in their hands al must passe to their lower roomes all must lay forth their shrowds napkins to bind their heads annointings for their bodies to the burial I meane preparation meditation for their death that their names rot not but that their memories may remaine in the posterities that are to come None shal returne til the earths great Iayle delivery heavens great summons to the sessiōs A point that may be of much comfort to ease and mitigate the gripings of the pangs and fangs and iawes of death when our bodies lie vpō the altars of our beds for the sacrifice of our souls whē the Evening of our life is even at the ende and shutting vp this is a sweet smelling savour to remember that all our holy friends that we leaue behind vs shal follow vs all that are gone before shall meet with vs none faile for following none want for meeting Villand therefore not to feare death to be so horrid thinke thy sicknesse thy prison thy pangs of death thy last fits thou art vpō recovery thy Pantings be but the sem briefes the notes of division of the harmony that they ever haue in heauen the bells that call for thee be but to tole thee to the triūphant Church thy friends that weep greeue because they cannot go with thee Divels that gape vpon thee looke but for legacies leaue one thy pride another thy lust another thy ambition and so as sinne brought in death let death driue out sin Death is but a ferrey a boat a bridge to waft thee over into another place or a groome that lights a Taper into another Room thy soul like a Tritō lying in the water is presētly to be mounted vpon the waue Angels carry thee thou shalt hauing thy Nunc dimittis Chrys passe into Abrahams bosome Thus the Lord shall let his servants depart in peace according to his word and it will be their comfort that they haue run their race and fought their fight and finished their course and receaue the glory of the better life Conclus And now beloved for conclusion giue mee leaue to repeat the words of my Text and so end Our MASTER is dead wherefore should we now fast Can we bring him againe we shall go to him hee shall never returne to vs. But doe I aske wherefore should I now fast where fore should we now mourne shall I say there is no cause now of mourning for our Master I dare not say so Seneca Hectora flem us for his death is like an Ecclypse the event whereof appeareth many yeares after the future generations shall lament his losse and I feare out of the sides of their sorrow shall runne both water and blood I confesse it is in vaine to ad new showers to our late streames of teares the losse was such that if after all our sighes and groanes we should herein weepe out all the humours of our bodies and wast out all the marrow of our bones all were but vanity and vexation of spirit Yet there is a cause to draw the Cesternes of our sorrow dry and to make vs vow not superstitiously but religiously an everlasting lent of fasting and mourning and humbling our selues before God the reason is Cananeus non est occisus nec factus tributarius Greg. in Moral and this brought such plagues vpon Israel The Cananite is amongst vs the basphemous Traiterous Papist is neither exiled nor suppressed but hath more countenance and maintenance secretly then good men openly and more pleasure content in prisons then many holy men in their houses This snake lyeth close in the City this spider creepeth vp into the Court and hath feeding in our Church housing in our vniversities My thoughts be not bloody I shal hartily pray for them though they be our enimies though they reioice triumph at our present miseries though they haue evil wil at our Siō yet my wishes devotions shal be rather for their conuersiō thē confusion But for our selues let our praiers be daily howrely powred out that the Lord adde not so heavy and grievous a misery vnto this present so great an ecclipse of his glory and our good to this present clowde of both as that this his Church ever become an Egypt a Sodome a Rome a Babylon a prostituted stewes for all commers but that all good harts may be encouraged and all good lawes may be executed to bring al the people of this kingdom to the knowledge of the Lord. And for this purpose let vs fast and pray and weepe watch and cry betweene the porch the Altar Spare vs good Lord spare thy people and be not angry with thine inheritance Opē their eies that they may see the wondrous things of thy law Open thy hid treasures that we may receiue frō the hidden fountaines of thy loue Grace mercy and peace in our daies and the daies of our posterities from thee O God the father and from thy sonne Iesus Christ To whom both with the eternall spirit of thee holy Father bee all honour and glory in both worlds Amen FINIS SORROVV FOR THE SINNES OF THE TIME A SERMON PREACHED AT St. JAMES on the third Sunday after the PRINCE his death BY DANIEL PRICE then Chaplaine in Attendance EZEK 9.4 Go through the middest of the Citty through the middest of Ierusalem and set a marke vpon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the middest of her AT OXFORD Printed by Ioseph Barnes and are to be sold by Iohn Barnes dwelling neere Holborne Conduit 1613. TO THE RIGHTLY HONOVRABLE AND TRVELY RELIgious LADY the LADY CAREY wife to the Noble and worthy SIR ROBERT CAREY ELect Lady 2. Ioh. 1.2 for so S. Iohn styleth an Honourable Matrone to whom hee sent his second Epistle your holy sorrow for the losse of the former Illustrious and former service to the excellent gracious Prince CHARLES deserue much respect of all good harts VVith these another argument particularly doth incite me to offer this service a sacrifice of my sorrow to your worthy hands The grace and Countenance you afford Religion and her followers which will bring a blessing vpon you and your posterity as is already apparent in those fruitfull beautifull Oliue branches your sonnes of whom our ollege is much ioyfull because they are so truely hopefull adding to Nobility of birth Nobility of vertue Continue Noble Lady to bee a faithfull client for
come Rev. 20.6 That divine speech of Iohn in his revelation should rap vs vp into heaven with Paule Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrectiō for on such the second death hath no power The Godly only die once but rise twice they die only the death of the body but rise in soule and body the wicked they die twice rise but once they rise in body but die the death of soule and body a part they haue in the second death of the damned but no part in the second resurrection of the iust or if any part such a part as Iudas had in the Sacrament a sop that poisoned his soule or such a parte as Simeon and Levi had in their fathers legacy Beaux in Harm Partē habent nō redemptionis etiamsi resurrectionis a part not of redemption though of resurrection O then who wil cause his eies to be the Pander for his lust if with these eies he hope to behold God who wil cause his body to be the curse of his soule if hee hope in his soule and body to attend God for euer more When that all that haue beene kept fast and fettred in the chaines of death from al the ages of the world shal meete their bodies cursing their souls crying against them that either the soule should please the body that loathsome lumpe or the body should be the snare and prison for the soule either to abuse it or abase it to perdition by subiection What shal then be the comfort of the Godly who shal rise to ioy and immortality and be restored to glory I say to more glory then the bounds of imagination can containe that the Lord shal shew them the pathes of life and in his light they shall see light and shall bee filled with the ioy of his countenance for evermore That they shal rise to the resurrection of the iust to the everlasting length of daies Aquin. to the beholding of Gods glorious face in which blessed vision omnis sit a est beatitudo al blessednesse consisteth as the schooles determine al this ioy Christ hath purchased with his bloud and is gone to possesse in his body Heb. 12.1 Wherefore beloved to vse the exhortation of the Apostle to the Hebrewes lay aside every waight of sin the sinne which hangeth on run with patience the race which is set before you The holy Patriarches haue runne it now be with Christ whom they haue longer expected then yet enioyed the blessed Prophets haue run this race though through a sea of bloud the Apostles Martyrs Saints this race victoriously haue run in the sunnes course with more light then the sunne vp Vp then and the Lord shal be with you 1. Cor. 15. pray fast watch weepe endeavour labour and your labour will not be in vaine in the Lord. You shal laie downe your bodies in grace and peace resume them againe in ioy and glory You must goe this iourney the decree of this Taxe is come our it is as the lawe of the Medes and Persians not to be revoked Everie one of vs may say of our Master as David of his sonne I shal go to him he shall never returne to me which leadeth me to my third and last part the acknowledgement of the inevitable stroake of death I shall goe to him hee shall not returne to me In the 3. of Genesis Pars 3. Gen. 3. you may finde mans Exodus Thou shalt dye it is the first Text of mortality in Scripture al Comments doe concur to the exposition of this The caus of Adams death was the breach of dyet God forbad him fruit of one tree this he hungreth for and taste it he wil though it cost him his life S. Austin bringeth our first parents thus disputing in a dialogue concerning that fruit if this fruit be good Aug why may I not eat of it if it be not good why groweth it in Paradise Domine dedisti hortum negâsti pomum Lord haste thou given vs the garden and denied vs the apple therefore saith Austin God hath given thee the benefit of Paradise because thou maist know his favour and mercy and therefore hath hee denied this one fruit to thee because he may find thy obedience and dutie This duty and obedience neglected by our Grand-sire ever since death the lodge of all mens liues commeth with insensible degrees vpon the children of men no wisdome shall appease no policy prevent no riches correct it The impartial hand of death is ever destroying the insatiable throat of the earth ever devouring death the vsurper of Kingdomes and the intruder into Countries breaketh the studies of the learnedst interrupteth the enterprises of the wisest croppeth of the hopes of the fairest in a calme a tempest overtakes them and sinkes them delay may repriue them but death wil serue the execution of that sentence vpon them It is a statute statutum est omnibus semel mori It is appointed that all men must die David knewe this and therfore his words be I must goe to him he shall not reture to me It is the conceit of some Thalmudists that if ever any had escaped this fatall generall sentence Miscel Thalm. Moyses and Christ had beene freed Moses saw God spake with him asked him answered him beheld him and a kind of cōmunicatiō of some divine lustre was imparted to him his face did shine never face to face did man behold God as Moses did yet Moses must die hee must ascend the Mount and there expire The oracle of Israel Terror of Egypt discoverer of Canaan Prophet Priest Captaine Guider leader of his people must yeeld to death though hee lived to behold the God of life Though Moses died and yeelded to death yet Christ might haue beene freed hee was equal to the father touching his Godhead and concerning his manhood his body was not begot in sinne not conceaued in sinne yet the death of this sonne of God if ever any one was so sealed and ratified as farre as either the iustice of the father or the engins of Tyrannie of men could devise this Virgin sonne of the Virgin mother Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda lambe of God gaue vp the Ghost Every true Hebrewe must celebrate this Passover every man may say for his Master Father neighbour brother friend child as David here I must goe to him hee shall never returne to me They cannot come from that ioy and glory they are in a Cloud of witnesses giue testimony of the blessed state of their abode No returne no comming backe no passage from them as Abraham told Dives in the Parable they bee in refrigerio in that sweet refreshing saith Austin Aust de Sanctis Ambr. Chrys Hom. Greg. they bee in gaudio in ioyfull rest saith Ambrose they bee in atrio Domint saith Chrysostome in the Court of the Lordes house they be in manu Dei in the hand of
to visit some to provide necessaries in sicknesse others to lay out the dead others to embalme them others to carry them to buriall as Claudian witnesseth Portatur iuvenum cervicibus aurea sedes Vse Hence then the lawfulnesse of our Christian celebrities and solemnities in funerals is approved and hence wee may learne to performe those offices in the last obsequies of our deceased as knowing that before the Law vnder the law after the law yea even to heathens that knewe not the law this custome was with reverence and care observed But J draw to the end of this my service sermon Exod. 12. Numb 14. Those two speeches of Moses Crà s movete castra Crà s celebrate Pascha be fitted for vs To morrow wee must remoue our Tents to morrow we must celebrate a Passover There is a fourefold Pascha Pascha populi Pascha Christi Pascha in mundum Pascha è mundo I am sure we haue a Passeover and to be performed with bitternes and as at the Passeover the first borne was slaine so vnhappy are we that we see the first borne to lie slaine before vs. Shall I say Abner is slaine Abner was a Prince and a great man in Israel by Davids testimonie and David lamenteth him the more because being a Prince of the blood he was such a souldier For certainely the souldier how ever he paceth the same measure of miserie with the scholar yet in all ages hath beene ever in high esteeme til these daies The marchant cannot trade without him the Law cannot remaine vnviolated without him nor the Crowne stand stedfast without him The souldiour is the hart and arme of the state the vpholder of the King and the glory of the conquest the Captaine of the Navy and the father of the army and the most laudable improver of his CouÌ„try For alwaies the oliue garlands of Peace be not so glorious as the Laurell wreathes of victory seeing Peace only keepeth and often rusteth good spirits but victory imployeth and edgeth and encreaseth them The losse then of a souldier is much but especially of an Abner a Princely souldiour Lament then for Abner the fathers Candle is extinguished Abner the Champion of Israel is deceased Nay a greater then Abner is departed Prince Salomon for wisdome Prince Iosias so pietie Prince Alexander for chivalrie to say no more noble holy chast virtuous gracious Prince Henry lieth dead before vs. He He is dead who while he lived was a perpetuall Paradise every season that he shewd himselfe in a perpetuall spring every exercise wherein he was seene a speciall felicitie Hee He is dead before vs who while hee lived was so holy in his morning and evening publike and private devotions so gratious a Protector of truth so true an enimie to Popish falsehood so faithfull to God dutifull to Parents pious in his life patient in his death respectfull of his deserving servants and so respected of all the world Hee Hee is dead that blessed Modell of heaven his face is covered till the latter day those shining lamps his eies in whose light there was life to the beholders they bee 〈…〉 giue over shining Those 〈…〉 we haue kissed be closed and 〈…〉 shall open He He is dead and now 〈…〉 conclude with that Apostle Eamus 〈…〉 let vs goe and die with him 〈…〉 he shall not return to vs. 〈…〉 â—â—â—ourable Religious and every way 〈…〉 Fare yee well The 〈…〉 as I haue of sorrow 〈…〉 Apostles salutatioÌ„ to those 〈…〉 yee well bee perfit 〈…〉 one 〈…〉 of good comfort and 〈…〉 ever with you and so I commend 〈…〉 of power to establish you to him that 〈…〉 falling and sent you blamelesse 〈…〉 exceeding ioy To the 〈…〉 maiestie dominion 〈…〉 Amen FINIS
Prince Prince HENRY had beene his Patterne All this I confesse I confesse when I thinke on this my soule almost refuseth comfort because wee shall never enioy him againe Yet in our best ordered recollected thoughts who that duly honoured him can repine that he is freed from the world and now being enfranchised enioyes greater good in greater libertie when like a true Hebrewe he hath gon his Passouer from death to life where there is more grace and more capacity where a soule cannot be surbated with feares nor surfeited with ryots where earthly bodies shal be more celestiall then man in his Innocencie or Angels in their glory for they could fall He is there with those Patriarchs that haue expected Christ in earth longer then they haue enioyed him in heauen He is with those holy Pen-men of the holy spirit they be now his partners who were here his teachers He is with all the Elect Angels with the Congregation of the first borne In a word HE is with him by whose pretious blood his blessed soule is bathed and sealed by his death to the day of redemption Hee is in ioy though we in sorrow Shall wee bee in sorrow because he is in ioye No my Beloued be yee not deceaued so sure as yee haue sorrow so sure shall yee be comforted if yee can faithfully and feruently pray with Moses Comfort thou vs O Lord after thou hast plagued vs. And so I passe from the comforts desired to the persons afflicted my second aime Part. 2 Now after thou hast plagued vs. The life of a Christian hath no other Passage then Ionathan his armorhearer had a sharp rocke on the one side 1. Sam. 14.4 a sharp rock on the other side Bozez on the one side Seneh on the other an anfractuous dangerous passage that flintie stones vnder him briers and thornes on the side of him mountainous craggs and promontories ouer him sic petitur coelum so heaven is caught by paines by patience by violence affliction is the most inseparable associate Cor contritum humiliatum non despicies Ps 11.19 saith David a broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise The ancients haue obserued that Dauid offred no offring no sacrifice for that sinne which hee acknowledgeth in that 51. Psalme he had shed blood and knew that the blood shed of sacrifice would not serue to expiate Thou desirest no sacrifice Ps 51.18 thou delightest not in burnt offrings saith the Prophet Did not God delight in sacrifice not require burnt offrings when he had so precisely commanded them distinguished the diuers formes of them segregated especiall times for them beene so well pleased with them And yet Noluisti sacrificium Did not God delight in burnt offrings when the sonne of David at one time in one place offered a sacrifice of peace offring of twentie thousand oxen and an hundred and twentie thousand sheepe 1. King 8.62 the greatest sacrifice that ever was read of either in diuine or prophane in rude or polite story Yet you heare Noluisti sacrificium is Davids words Cass Noluisti holocaustum voluisti cor humiliatum saith one a burnt sacrifice will not serue but a brokē sacrifice thou requirest it is the speech of Christ to the Spouse the smell of thy ointments is better thē spices Cant. 4 10. Meliora vnguenta quà m aromata ointments better then spices which wordes Nyssenus expounds of this place Nyss Hom. 9. in Cant. broken hearts rather then burnt sacrifices are accepted of God Broken hearts whether they be broken moerore interno Greg. as Gregory expounds the place by inward greefe or broken humiliatione as Innocentius interpreteth Innocent by humiliation or broken by frequent tribulation as Cassiodore glosseth or broken by vehement greefe and anguish of spirit in repentance Cassiod as Thomas and the Schooles doe iudge the meaning of all is this that the heart that is softned and mollified the heart that hath beene the anvile for sorrowes afflictions is most fit to be consecrated to God Ioel mentions a rent heart Ioel 2.13 David a broken a contrite heart S. Chrysostome of both them speaketh fractum cor haud quaquā se in altū extulerit Hom. 4. l ◠2. ad Cor. hom in epist ad Hebr. contritum haud quaquam exurrexerit scissum non inflatur ad superbiam nō concitatur ad vindictam A broken heart is not exalted on high a contrite heart hath made no insurrection a rent hart is not inflamed by pride not incited to revēge The sacrifice of God is a broken and Contrite heart God in the old Testament would accept no sacrifice if it were maimed yet wil now admit no sacrifice vnlesse it be broken and bruised he that then commanded sacrifices of the Law to be offered by fire will now receiue no sacrifice of the gospell but offred by water The earth yeelds not corne till it be plowed the grape yeeldeth no wine vntill it be pressed gold is not pure till it be fined the stones of the Temple not brought into the Temple till they were polished Rev. 7.9 the Saints in the Revelation are not cloathed with white robes and haue palmes in their hāds before they haue passed through many tribulatiōs the Prophet Moses here expecteth not cōfort before affliction as in Ecclesiastes a time of weeping Eccl. 3.4 a time of reioicing no weeping no reioicing so here first affliction then consolation Comfort thou vs according as thou hast afflicted vs. It were impertinent I shoulde roaue so farre backe to Deuteronomy to shew how they were afflicted seeing the Psalme hath no other Tenor then the memory of mortalitie and Moses himselfe being the Prince of the people being himselfe presently to passe the way of all the world whether it were that his people might be comforted for his losse or whether for the liues of those many that had dyed in the desert You see that the manner of his praier yeeldeth vs this observation Observ That the comfortes of Gods spirit are not ministred by God nor can be expected by mā vntill man hath beene throughly seasoned with sorrowe None can come to Paradise but by the burning Seraphins of affliction none returne from Canaan but they must passe by the waters of Marah no passing backe to Ierusalem but by the vally of weeping no seeing of Mount Sion before we haue sit at the waters of Babylon Christ came only to comfort the mourners Esay 61.2 Esay 61.2 The second blessing that he pronounceth in his first sermon is to mourners Mat. 5.4 Mat. 5.4 appointeth none to be marked in Ierusalem to be preserved but mourners Ezech 9.4 Ezek. 9.4 Our Saviour then only promised comfort to his disciples when they were mourners Ioh. 16 22. Yee are now in sorrow but I will see you again you shall reioice your ioy shall no man take from you All the
K Richard 8 Arthur sonne to Hen. 8. No more created but those Ed. 6. not invested by Patent nor created For if the Romans called the heire apparant Princeps Inventutis Prince of the youth and Prince Edgar the last heire male of that blood royall was long after called Englands dearling and when Prince Arthur died the Poets then complained that Arcturus was vanished in the heavens what can we say of him that would haue beene subiect for all pens and obiect for all eies as if the worthines of all the eight created Princes of Walles of the English blood and of the eight Henries his Highnesse Royall Auncestors had met in him as in the Confluence I will say of him as S. Paule to the Hebrewes spake of those with whome our Master is nowe in Company Prince HENRY was hee of whom the world was not worthy Yet beloued let me still say as my Text God may Comfort vs even according to the greatnes of our losse his power is not weakned his arme is not shortned It was a blasphemous speech in the Governour in the daies of Elisha that doubted whether there might after that great dearth bee so great plenty though 2. Kings 7.3 saith he God would make windowes in heauen Hee is able to doe whatsoeuer in faith we are able to beleeue Wee haue yet the sunne and moone and starres of a Royal firmament and though we haue lost the morning starre yet we haue Charls-waine in our Horizon wee haue a Prince if starres be of any truth like to be of long life great learning most hopefull for his time most fruitful for his hopes we hope that God hath said to our Iacob Gen. as Iacob said of his Iudah sceptrum non auferetur à Iuda so the scepter shal not be taken from our Iacob til Shiloah come againe into the world Let this Comfort serue vs so long as wee are Gods servants so long hee will be our Lord. Send out Comfort in ambush against all feares al enimies and when she returneth with conquest Iudg. 5. say to thy soule as Debora did to hers thou hast marched valiantly O my soule Thinke not that our Master is dead Musa vetat mori saie as Christ said of Lazarus He is not dead but sleepeth Ioh. 11.3 In a word after all these Cloudes be past the sunshine will appeare or we shall appeare before God our selues sure I am this Text will be vncontrouled for ever Heauen and earth shall passe but no iot of this word shall passe Act. 1. After the Lord hath afflicted vs he will comfort vs. Let vs therefore with the Apostles who staid at Ierusalem expecting the Comforter continue in holy deuotions hearing praying fasting falling downe before his presence for he is holy And thou O Lord that seest all hearts vnto to thee let our crie come and let comfort descend vnto vs in this house of mourning and valley of teares Now like poore distressed sinners we beseech thee then with thy Saints and Angels we shall glorifie thee Lord grant this for thy promise for thy mercy for thy Zyon for thy sonnes sake CHRIST IESVS Amen 2. SAM 12.23 Now he is dead wherefore should I fast can I bring him againe I shall goe to him but he shall not returne to me THE story sheweth you David the king in a sorrowfull case weeping mourning crying for his sonne lying all day and night on the earth Hewept wept and would not be comforted S. Bernard mentioneth Bern. in Passione Dom. Heb domadam dolorum a week of sorrows David had no lesse the child died the seaventh day 2. Sam. 12.18 the 7 day David arose from his low lamentable lodging his meditation could be no other thē this O who shal deliver his soul from death His cause of mourning was non propter vitam sed propter animam Chrys non propter animam non propter filium sed propter adulterium not so much for the life as for the soule of his childe not so much for his sonne as for that sinne by which his mother conceived him The childe was messis in herba life was spes in messe but the soule of the childe was gloria messis the ioy and glorie of the harvest this is the cause that David mournes bitterly There is a strange sentence in the former verses Non Morieris thou shalt not die Davids sinne is acquitted sed Morietur filius but thy childe shall die the innocent babe is punished 2. Sam. 12.13 I need not to vncover the nakednes of this father further then scripture takes away the vaile from him he committed adultery heaven sees it God sends Nathan 2. Sam. 11 4. Nathan wounds David through the sides of one of his owne subiects David sentenceth himselfe in another thus He that hath done this shall die and pay fourefold At hoc iustum est iniustum iudicium This iudgement is both iust vniust The trespasse is but a lambe to pay fourefold is satisfaction enough for a lambe if it be the life of a man to die for it is the satisfactiō required enough for a Mans life but suppose it what it may bee to die and pay pay and pay fourefold is iniustice it is to much Therefore God tooke one part of Davids sentence against himselfe though Non morieris stood as God had promised 2. Sam. 28. yet David shal pay fourefold as himselfe had sentenced 1. Hee paid the life of Ammon his sonne 2. Sam. 18.9 by the sword of Absalon here is one satisfaction 2. he paid the life of Absalon hanging in the Oke by the sword of Ioab the 2 satisfactiō 3 the life of Adoniah by the sword of Iehoiada 1. King 2.25 the 3 satisfaction and fourthly the life of a childe here by the sword of God the fourth satisfaction For the life of one Vrias no lesse thē foure of his own children must die the death vers 14. The first of this Tragical Chorus is this childe sentenced in the 14 verse in the 15. ye find him sicke poore infant silly innocent after his panting and striuing for breath he is deceased in the 18. verse ver 15. vers 18. while he was sicke David did sorrow wept and fasted prayed and lay on the ground but being dead riseth apparelleth washeth worshippeth eateth herevpon his servāts expostulate What thing is this that thou dost ver 21. thou didst fast and weepe for the childe while it was aliue but when the childe was dead thou dost rise and eate David answereth and the best part of his answere is this my Text Being dead why should I now fast Can I bring him againe any more I shall go to him but he shall not returne to mee These two be points very remarkeable that vsher the meditations of my Text the first the punishment of the childe for the father David commits adultery the childe dies
for it as after David numbers the people 2. Sam. 24.14 the people die for it Secondly when the childe is sicke David sorroweth the childe being dead he riseth and eateth Hee wil bee no longer in paine then the childe is in perill Benoni is the sonne of sorrow at his birth this shal be no longer the subiect of sorrow then his death He is dead no hope no helpe no recovery it is impossible Revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras David cannot infuse life into him the childe is dead he is gone all the world cannot revine him David must follow the child must not returne Thus the wordes were occasioned thus opened thus they fall in sunder impart themselues vnto vs. Divisio Textus 1 Davids patient consideration in forbearing further sorrow Being dead why should I now fast 2. His wife resolution implying the impossibilitie of reviving him Can I bring him againe Thirdly his considerate acknowledgement of the inevitable stroake of death I shall goe to him he shall not returne to me I confesse there be many disproportions betweene this storie and our state our misery is without all paralell scripture doth nor yeeld a fitting example no king of Israel or Iuda had such a losse I had almost said nor such a sonne I am therefore constrained to choose not as I would but as I may though not so plentifully fitting the subiect yet sorrowfully fitting with our sable thoughts In these therefore I craue patient attentiō the rather because the 1. part offring it selfe to vs is Davids patient consideration in forbearing more mourning Some haue obserued that it was a custome in David to fast and pray 1. Part. Lor. in Ps Ps 35.13 and mourne for the sicknesse of his friend his owne words giue warrant Psal 35.13 when they were sicke 1 cloathed my selfe with sackcloath and humbled my soule with fasting And these both were vsed either in sorrow or repentance in sorrowe so the Orator testifieth sackeloath and fasting be moeroris insignia Tully the ensignes of sorrow in repentance so S. Hierome witnesseth they were Penitentiae arma the weapons of Repentance In this place by fasting David means all the Circumstances of mourning Aret. Flac. Illyr To mourne and weepe is common and commendable in sicknesse or death of friends profit there may be in it but you will thinke there is small pleasure yet saith the Poet Est quaedam flere voluptas There is pleasure in this paine of weeping to disburden the soule to open the sluces to discharge conchas in canales Bern. the Cesterns into conduit pipes to ecclipse the light of our etes with teares because those eies shall never behold those deere deceased friendes till we our selues passe into the Chambers of death This is naturall and common yet I may say Christian But to fast in these occasions is not so common as commendable and profitable for indeed in true sorrow there should be a neglect of all the offices of the body a sequestration of all contentment a forgetting and forsaking of ordinary food a shutting vp and imprisoning of the body from all pleasures of life thereby to pull downe the height and strength and pride of the soule that the soule heare not thinke not mind not mirth that the body see not touch not tast not meate such should be our sorrowes when we see Corporall punishments for spirituall iudgements Such was Davids diet it was a real hearty sorrow not coūtenanced with a heavie looke or with a solemne sigh blowne from the lips and lungs but it was a weeping watching fasting sorrow I hate excursions but seeing I meet in the words of my Text with so great a straunger as fasting giue me leaue to salute it It was the first precept that ever was given it is as ancient as Paradise Ieiuny canitiem sivelis Epise Lond. in Ion. perscrutare ieiunium prime homini coaevū The forbidding of that tree was the first rule of abstinēce The antiquity necessity perpetuity of it enforce it Nature law Gospel enioine it Divinity commands it Physicke commends it law prescribes it it is the life of the Saints and the food of the soule in the court of heaven there is no other dyet and in the Church on earth the children of the bridechamber must be acquainted with it as David was whose fasting daies I could easily cōiecture if I should looke but into the Galender of the Psalmes but my Text telleth me at this time hee did eate and drinke and therefore here he seemeth to bee as in the Psalme hee speaketh Psal 42.4 as amonge those that keepe holy-daie His fasting endeth the seaventh day and hee questioneth why should I now fast which words do bring forth this observation Obs 1 That as there is a time to sorrow so also a time to leaue of the act of sorrowing His example proveth this Nemo in lachrymis nemo in Cāticis no mā was more frequent in songs or sorrowes then David Lud. his meate were his Teares he mingled his drinke with Teares washt his bed and watered his couch with his teares you would scarce beleeue that he ever enioied good day that ever the sunne shined on him he is so full of anguish and care and feate sometimes biding some times flying Psalm 32 10. still almost lamenting Yet how frequent be his ioyfull acclamations in the Psalmes Reioice in the Lord Ps 103.1 Be glad ô yee righteous Be ioyfull all yee that are true of hart Praise the Lord O my soule all that is within me praise his holy name Praise the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits how sweetly doth he exalt his exultation of ioyful praise Ps 145. I will praise the Lord my God I will praise his name for ever and ever every day will I praise the Lord and praise his name for ever and ever and againe Praise the Lord O my soule while I liue wil I praise the Lord I will sing praises to my God while I haue any breathing Looke vpon this good King at other times you would scarsly thinke that ever he could haue had ioy to cast his cies vp to heauen Psal you may find him on a couch nay more on the cold earth crying out I am at the point to die from my youth vp thy Terrors haue I suffered with a troubled soule Yet after al this you shal find him reioicing triumphing singing harping dancing making melody vnto God and calling for his consort Trumpets Timbrels Psalteries Harpes Organs Cymbals Ps 150.3.4.5.6 Pipe and string low and lowd instrument nay heaven and earth must beare a part nay every thing that hath breath must praise the Lord. Heere bee the passages through fire and water here he is brought from the wildernesse into a wealthy place Here be his fits good bad daies crosses and comforts ioies and sorrowes Dolor volupt as invicē cedunt Brevior voluptas
Angels devils friends foes disciples strangers al shal beare witnesse that Christ did rise from the dead and is become the first fruits of them that sleepe And he only can by his power wherby he subdueth al things to himselfe raise vs againe from the dead no other power or meanes but his therefore every man may say with David here Can I bring him again which in some copies is read thus I cānot bring him againe and ministreth this observation 2. Obs That though it be not in the power of man to raise any from the dead yet there is a power whereby al shal be raised and revived Our Prophet proveth it before Christ came It is thou O Lord that shall raise me vp at the last This power shal change our vile bodies to be made like his glorious body our weake diseased naked mortal sickly earthly momentary bodies shal bee like his glorious body Iewes did knowe this Gentiles did confesse this The Iewes before Christs cōming had knowledg and made faith of this point how soever S. Chrysostome maketh doubt whether or no this mystery were revealed in the old Testament Chrys Hom. 1. de Lazaro Indeed it was not so generallie or so manifestly delivered till Christ came who was to be Oriens ex imo as Oriens ex alto Aug. the day sprong from an high and the truth budding out of the earth sprong from below But knowne it was and taught it was Esays testimony is this The dead men shall liue Esa 26.19 with my body they shall rise awake and sing yee that dwell in the dust Ezek 37.10 Ezekiel proueth it by the Embleme of the drie bones vnited together Daniel thus They that sleep in the dust shall arise Dan. 12.2 Hos 13.14 Hosea pronounceth this in the person of God I will redeeme them from the power of the graue Hier. in Ep. 61 101. Iob as S. Hierom collecteth hath most absolute proofe for this I know that my redeemer liueth and when wormes haue consumed this body I shal see God in my flesh yea I my selfe shall behold him and mine eies shall see him as if Iob had beene the Prophet of the resurrection Iob. 9.13 or the trumpet sounding to iudgement or the starre to lead to this mystery of Christian beleefe And Gentilisme was not without some notions of this Restauration and reparation of bodies Lor. in Act 24. and they among them that beleeued this were esteemed as worthy men and favourers of the good of the Common-wealth So that it being plaine that Iewes and Gentiles before Christ knewe professed it it is manifest that among the Iewes the sweet singer of Israel David the man after Gods owne heart the Type of Christ the Pen-man of the holy Ghost was not ignorant of the resurrection as not only in the Psalmes especially in the 15. it is plaine and by implication out of these wordes Can I bring him againe inforcing thus much Brought againe from death he may be but in my power it is not Before I land this point I must not omit one place for proofe of the resurrection Exod. 3.6 knowne even to the Israelites in their younger daies in Exodus It is the onely place of all scripture that our Saviour maketh shew of to conuince the Sadduces God is the God of Abraham the God of Isaac Mat. 22 32. the God of Iacob but God is not the God of the dead but of the living Therefore these holy Patriarchs they are not dead but in respect of the resurrection they sleepe in peace and to vse the phrase of David Psal 3. they laid them downe in peace and haue taken their rest but the Lord shall raise them vp at the last But this one question being resolued will make way to some fruitfull vse of that already spoken why could not David bring again the soule of his sonne Elias besides his many miracles in this kind could doe so much and Elisha did more then Elias for the spirit of Elias was doubled vpon Elisha that as hee receaued a mantle from Elias at the first time he saw him 1. King 19.9 and another mantle fell from Elias at the last time that Elisha beheld him when he was caught into heauē 2. King 2.13 So also a double spirit as appeared by his wonders was bestowed vpon Elisha For Elias caused that the oile in the widdowes one vessell 2. King 4.6 wasted not But Elisha caused the Pot of oile of another woman to encrease to the filling of many vessels 1. King 17.27 Elias revived the dying sonne of the woman of Sarepta Elisha by prayer did obtain a child to the barren Shunamite and obtaine life to this child being dead Elias in a great famine obtained raine 1. King 4 18. but Elisha in another famine obtained incredible plentie without raine 1. King 18.41 incredible victory without bloodshed 1. King 17. Elias raised but one from death in his life 2. King 13.20 but Elisha being dead his bones in his graue raised the dead Could Elias Elisha do so much and cannot David doe it Ludoloh No. Non est Davidi donum hoc concessum this gift was not granted to him David may kill the beare the lyon Goliah David may overcome the Philistins the Ammonites but cannot deliver a soule from death cannot bring backe a soule to life David by prayer may bring backe his soule from sorrow Bernard Hezekias by prayer raise himselfe from sickness Elias and Eliseus by prayer raise from death but alteros non seipsos others not themselues as Bernard noteth Only Christ by his power did raise himselfe others Aust Praedixit revixit as Austin noteth he foretold it by rising he performed it Tertul. Mori dignatus ex voluntate sed resurrexit ex potestate He died by his owne will was raised by his own power a gift never given to any of the sonnes of men S. Pauls speech to the Corinthians may serue to this purpose 1. Cor. 3. secundùm gratiam mihi concessam according to the grace given to him every mā may performe what Gods spirit doth enable him hee can go no farther he can do no more Gods spirit sayeth as Gods sonne Math. sine me nihil potestis facere without me ye can do nothing To life we may be revived and when these our bodies shal be laide low in the womb tombe of the earth we shal be raised Phil. 3. but it can only be by that power which is able to subdue all things to himselfe Vse And is it so let vs thē with acknowledgement of our owne weaknesse reioice in the power of our God who shal raise our vile bodies let vs so expresse the vertue power of the first resurrectiō in this life as that we may receiue the honour and ioy of the second resurrection in the life to
Prophet speaking of the deliveraunce of the Godly saith the iust man shall line by his faith Hab. 2 4. Ps. 118 15. Esay 61 3. Now the iust man is said to haue vocem laetitiae vestom laetitiae oleum letitiae the voice of gladnesse the garment of gladnesse and the oile of gladnesse here is no mourning taken notice of But S. Ambrose answereth Non solùm dolor sed laetitia habet suas lachrymas Ambros Not only sorrow but even the ioy of the iust hath private teares and groanes and sorrowes The ioyfullest feast that ever the Israelites had was the Passeover and yet the Rasseover must not be eaten without bitter hearbs Exod. 12.8 and the most content that ever this life can afford is but a bitter sweet Therfore as the Apostle warneth They that reioice must be as though they reioiced not for all the ioy that the godly haue in this world is but vva acerba a sowre grape The counsell of S. Gregory vpon the rainebow fitteth vs in it at one time there seemeth to be the representation of fire and water Gregâ—in Mor. not only thereby symbolum vtriusque iudicij a plaine manifestation that as the world was drowned by water so it shall bee burnt by fire but more properly in those colours of fire water is represented ioy and sorrow so interchangeably appearing as not to be devided a sorrowful ioy and a ioyful sorrow a showre in a sunshine a bright starre in a dark night So here these servants of the Lord doe mourne and therefore are marked and being marked reioice because they are preserved set a marke vpon them that mourne and cry Obs Whence this observation as out of a cleere fountaine is derived It is an vnseparable signe of the true children of God to bee sorrowfull concerning this world while they are in this life The reason is because we ought to conforme our selues not onely to the olde Saints vnder the Law but to our Saviour whose actions in this kind be our instructions he was never found resting or reioicing but solitary and sorrowing travelling you may behold him at a well solitary sitting at the graue of Lazarus weeping Luk. 2.3 in the Temple displeased and greeving in the garden sweating and sighing on the Crosse sorrowing and expiring Hee was not borne in the yeare of Iubile the yeare of reioicing but in the yeare of Augustus the first yeare Taxing of the world His seruants before had their markes and practises of mourning the ancient Prophets ofteÌ„ receaued their prophecies in sorrowful solitary places by the waters as heavenly doues vpon the floods of waters Ezekiel by Cohar Daniel by the river Tigris Ioseph the Prophet and more then a Prophet by the river Iordan and others though they receaued them not by the rivers yet they dissolved their messages into waters Ps 119. 1 Cor. mine eies gush out saith David I haue writ vnto you with many tears saith Paul Non atramento magis quà m lachrymis Chartas inficiebat Paulus saith an expositor vpon the Acts. Among all the fathers none more abundant in teares then S. Austin Lor. in Act. 22. v 19. Aust he wept in praying and prayed in weeping Da mihi lachrymarum fontem tum praeâ—ipuè cuÌ„ preces orationes tibi Domine offero O Lord saith he giue mee then a fountaine of teares especially then O Lord when I offer vp my prayers vnto thee Not to be able to weepe is hellish a Marke of infernall complices the furies are so descried by the Poets Horat. 2. Carm. 12. Ode and Bodinus affirmeth the same of witches and sorcerers Certaine it is that Gods servants are well acquainted with such sacrifices for with such sacrifices God is pleased I finde in Scripture 3 especiall times of marking 3. Times of marking in Scripture Exod. 12.22 the first in Goshen the houses to be preserved were marked yee shal take a bunch of Isop and dip it in blood that is in the bason and strike the Lintell the two side posts and the Lord wil passe over the doore wil not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you And the same Text saith there was a great cry in Egypt Exod. 12.29 for there was not a house wherein there was not one dead Rev. 7.3 The second marking is in the RevelatioÌ„ by an Angell ascending from the East having the seale of the living God and he cryed with a lowde voice to the foure Angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea The third marking is this of my Text set a marke vpon them that mourne cry for the abhominations WheÌ„ the Israelites were marked in Goshen the Aegyptians had sorrow but no markes when the servants of God are markt in the Reuelation they haue markes but no sorrow but in my Text here we find sorrow marks togither The sorrow in Egypt where there were no markes doth describe the estate of the wicked who drinke deepe of sorrow but are estranged from all priviledge of preservation The Saints in the Revelation who had markes but no sorrow describe the estate of the Godly whose sorrow is ended here in the life to come haue Palmes Lawrels white Garments the seales and signes of the Lords eternall loue These markes do designe the glory of Martyrs Roses of the field red by their death and the beauty of Saints Lilies of the valleyes white in the innocencie of their life these shal never hunger nor thirst nor sorrow for the Lambe is their light and Lord for evermore But the Saints marked in my Text doe designe the militant Church ever as the woman in the Revelation travelling ever like Rachell weeping and therefore marked to be preserved In the 1 of Chronicles the 4 and ninth 1. Chr. 4 9. Iabez the son of Ashur is said to be more honourable then al his brethren the reason is because his mother bare him in sorrow and his name is a name of sorrow In the next verse Iabez called vpon the God of Israel to bee delivered from evill 1. Chr. 4.10 and the Lord saith the Text heard him and granted it to him here is the fruit of sorrow Of all the Trees in the world we read of none remaining but the Oliue tree after the flood from this tree the Doue had the bough Many ancients do obserue much herevpon Gen. 7. attribute much to this Oliue tree as being most greene when it is most watred most fruitfull when it droppeth and distilleth David compareth himselfe to an Oliue tree Psal I am as a greene Oliue tree in the Temple in the house of the Lord Christ was more conversant in the Mount of Olivet then on any other place I inferre nothing vpon these places but onely this that after the flood of sorrow our Oliue branches shal be greene and flourishing Elisha cast salt into the bitter waters
and apparant ioy ecclypsed the expectation of such solemne and solid comfort in the cōiunction of that blessed starre with the religious Prince Palsgraue In the same Chapter in the 18. Ier. 13.18 verse the Prophet as if hee cried to the English Court vseth these words Say vnto the King Queene humble your seiues for your Principality is come down even the Crown of your heads And were the sun and moone of the firmament of this land I meane his Royall Maiestie and the Queene ever so distressed with sorrow as now that the glory of the Brittish Principality is ecclypsed In the 20 of the same Chapter the Prophet asketh where is the beautifull flocke that came from the North the flocke that was given him And may we not aske where now is the beautie and glory of this flocke of this family where be those worthy actiue rarely qualified Religious Noble and divinely tempred Gentlemen whom if another Queene of Sheba had beheld in the order of their service manner of their attendance shee had pronounced 1. King 10.8 Happy are these men happy are these servants In the 22. Ier. 23.10 of Ieremy there is a command to weepe bitterly the reason because of the death of the Prince Shallum the son of Iosiah for saith Ieremy He shall goe away and shall never returne to see his natiue Country O that the graue had opened her mouth vpon vs and that this had not beene sulfilled in our eies that a Million of our liues had served as an expiatory sacrifice for our blessed Prince In. Ezekiel there be many notable places that hee that rūneth may read how truely our history is pourtrayted in that Prophecy but this string wil grow harsh if it bee touched longer or lowder Yee may aske me wherein be any of these Prophecies fulfilled in our times in connivence of Idolatry But yee are wise yee haue harts iudgements and eyes to behold the increase of this desolation yee need not aske or if yee wil aske aske the father in Christs name for some redresse for did not the wakefull eye of heauen keep Centinell over vs and the divine hand protect vs from the furious battry of tempestuous Popery wee should bleed vnder the presence of their wished for desolation as now we ought to weepe for that continued abhomination Babylon hath beene described by Esay Ieremy Ezekiel and almost all the Prophets especially S. Iohn haue foretold her Papall Tyranny and farall and final misery If there were any life or spirit or any of our Ancestors iealous zealous courage in vs we would bee avenged of Gods enimies Is it not enough that they haue reaped of the best fruits of our land and blasted some of the fairest hopes crept into houses led women captiues laden with diverse lusts and haue their annuall sessions and customary officers for their subsidiarie collections among the hell borne brood of bastards enimies to our King and God and Church I knowe if there were no Popery in our land yet Abhominations might every where be found Oportet esse hareses Oportet esse abhominationes But I say it is impossible that all the world should afford so many high and horrid abhominations as be in these What greater pride then that a Priest shall so abase the mettall of the Crowne and lay the golden head of the picture vnder the earthy foot of the Pope what sensualitie more then to proclaime indulgence with liberty to all kinde of lust what Covetousnesse more then to sell soules the great marke of Romes market in the Revelatiō Rev. 18.13 A most notable place to prone the abhomination of Rome No place of the world selling soules but Rome Tully in Catil coniur Iob. A place so invincible to convince Rome of Antichristianisme as no quicksilvered Sulphurous Enginer among the Iesuits shall ever be able to countermine it Veniunt in senatum veniunt thy liue and come to Church and I would they came no neerer But come they as neere as they may he that sitteth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord still hath them in derision the sea is limited nay hell it selfe is bounded their Navies haue beene shipwrackt their fire workes prevented their weapons poisons Treasons ever hitherto descried and God will continue to bee our God their Dagon ever shall fall before our Arke if we continue his servants Acknowledge this Honourable Beloved let Gods protection if nothing else seale the certaintie of our Religion vnto vs you that haue any place of government and deriue any beames of authoritie from the sunshine of his Royall Maiestie looke to your oathes of allegeance to God and the King how soone you must giue account of your stewardship you knowe not be faithfull in the cause of the Lord. In some parts of this land by the countenance and furtherance of our late Renowned Prince authoritie hath kenneld vp some blood thirstie she-seminaries Banbury Castle and Religion that was sicke of a Consumption beginneth daily to recover There is no open Toleration for Popery I confesse better were it that the Eagles of the valley should pick out their eies but in eo quod superstitio non tollitur toleratur I never shall remember that remarkable place of S. Paule to the Galathians but my soule will abhorre the thoughts of blending or suffring two religions in one place The Gospell was planted in that Church and yet this desired to retaine some few of their ancient Iewish ceremonies if yee read the place Gal. 3.4 and 5. Chap. you will wonder that Paule should bee so vehement against the participation of some fewe reliques of their old religion You will find him more bitter if I may call his holy zeale the seale of his Apostleship bitternesse I say you wil find him more earnest and piercing then in all his Epistles Besides an ingeminated Anathema to those that preached Iewish doctrin among them Gal. 2.1 foolishnesse heaped on their heades because they did hereby frustrate the grace of God he protesteth vnto them in the 5. chapter and second verse Behold I Paule say vnto you that if yee be circumcised Christ profiteth you nothing Is Circumcision growne so odious Is the seale of the covenant Abrahams covenant of grace antiquated Is there no means that this and the gospell may stande togither Wil not Paule suffer a little leauen in the lumpe not agree that an agreement or reconcilement be made between Moyses and Christ I say between Moyses a type of Christ Christ between Moyses who was with God the father in mount Sinai Christ with him in moūt Tabor Not this Moyses and his law to be endured where Christ is his gospell How then if leauen bee not suffred is poyson mingled if Law and Gospell not to be togither how shal that be endured graced maintained and countenanced among vs which is derogatory to law and gospell Beloued be ye not deceived
by mourning doe not this â—là m but corà m not privatly but openly Put your garments on of lamentation non tanquam illi qui theatro vivuÌ„t not as though you did personate sorrow but as though greefe were as cloathes to your backes and as marrow to your bones And mourne you noÌ„ taÌ„quaÌ„ illi qui in funere plorant not as mercenary men among the HeatheÌ„s who were hired to mourne in their publike funerals but really let all the senses all the faculties of the soule be cloathed only with sorrow Weep and wait and watch the body while it is here water his couch with your teares attend the herse and beare it to the buriall and performe these last ceremonies of service and sorrowe to Abner Davids Chiefetaine Israels Captain whose presence was a heaven of delights whose departure seemeth to leaue an Ecclipse in all things Rent your cloathes and put on sackcloath mourne Abner lyeth dead before you The Parts of this iniunction of sorrowe are three Divis Text. 1. the required outward signes of sorrow rent your garments put on sackcloath 2. The inward signs mourning and lamentation Thirdly the cause of both Abner is the sad spectacle dead before them I forbeare descant plaine song best fitteth sorrows First of the first 1. The manner of the Easterne people was when they lost friend or child or in any common calamitie to rent their garments In the latter when the Israelites found want of the favour of God they put of their wonted garments Iob. 2. Ion 3. Amos. 8. as in the Prophets may be found Iob sat in ashes Niniveh in saccloath the Iews rent their cloathes J need not record the frequency of the Phrase in scripture The holy Patriarch Iacob was one of the first J find so passionat and it was when hee lost Ioseph his ioy Gen. 37. the light of his life Rachel never mourned for her children as Iacob for the sonne of Rachel he mourned and rent his cloathes saith the Text. Pardon the good Patriarch that hee was in such an extasie well might he rent his cloathes from his back when they had rent his bowels from his belly and taken his Ioseph from him Isaac his father was not more deare to Abraham then Ioseph his sonne to Isaacks son Iacob Wherein obserue that God tried these three Patriarchs in their three children Abraham by Isaac trying his faith by offering to offer Isaac Isaac by Iacob Iacob flyeth from his fathers house for feare Jacob by Joseph Ioseph is sold by his brethren and they bring old Iacob his bloody party coloured coat and Iacob seeing it accepit vnam vestem scindit alteram he receaued Iosephs garment but rent his owne Lud. herein manifesting how great his sorrow was for the losse of his sonne The losse of a sonne is the greatest losse vnder the sun Iob lost all last of all his sonnes when those fatall Nuntioes bring him newes of severall losses one waving after another any of them all readie to shipwrack al Iobs senses Iob 1.20 he answereth none of them till the death of his sonnes was presented to him then saith the Text Iob arose and rent his mantle But J will not rent my selfe from the Text. In holy scripture there is not almost any state or condition of life but yeeldeth an example of this Renting the garments Iacob the Patriarch Iosuah the Captain Gen. 37.10 Iosh 7.6 Iud. 11 15. 2 Sam. 15. 2. King 2. Ioseph the iudge Chusai the Counsellour Elisha the Prophet David and Ezekias Achab and Ahalia the Queen But of all other I find not many examples of the high Priest for in the law it was prohibited the high Priest Lev. 10.6 for Moses thus speaketh Rent not your cloathes least yee dy and least wrath come vpon all the people And therefore when the high Priest in the Gospell rent his cloathes hee rent his Priesthood saith Abulensis Abul Praesagium scissae pontificae dignitatis it was a presage and prodigy of his renting officium vestimentum simul This custome is not only mentioned in Scripture but in all monuments of history Poetry and Oratory Iuv. Satyr 10 that of Iuvenal of Polyxena Scissâque Polyxena Pallâ Herod lib. 9. Lucian dial de luctu Dion lib. 6. that also of Augusta in Seneca scindit vestes Augusta suas Herodotus records it of the Lacedemonians Lucian of the Grecians Dionysius Halicarnassaeus of the Romans though Tully in his Tusculans iest at these Ceremonies calling them Luctus Barbaricos yet these shewes and shaddowes haue much life in them and bee sensible provocations to sorrowfulnesse and solitarinesse For by renting of the rich roabes and apparelling themselues in sables sackcloath they manifest their mourning in body as in mind With renting of garments putting on of sackcloath is ever ioined Moeroris insignia tristitiae Emblemata And indeed the vse of sackcloath Rab. hath beene very ancient frequent the Arke vntill the Temple was built was covered with sackcloath and Iohn Baptist was cloathed in sackcloath Mat. 3.4 and Esay and the other Prophets were commonly apparelled in saccloath in the end of the world Enoch Esay 20.20 Apoc. 11.3 and Elias shall preach in sackcloath I can shewe you a whole Court thus arrayed in the time of Ahab a whole City in the daies of Ionas Niniveh But not to stray further vpon this renting of garments and cloathing with sackcloath Observ I obserue that the sadnesse and sorrow of the spirit draweth the body and all the habiliments of the body into the participation and manifestation of griefe Every worke of ours in ordine ad Deum hath many outward necessary ceremonies in the performing of it Prayer is a holy service and by this tenure we hold our temporall and spirituall blessings herein bowing of the knees bedewing of the eyes smiting of the breast bee not of the substance but of the circumstance of prayer Domer Non tà m opera quà m passiones neither commanded nor prohibited by God nor so properly workes as Passions yet when these attend prayer not mimically sought or vainely studied for or Hypocritically affected personated but come of themselues these holy perturbations proceeding from the spirit and power of prayer they never returne without a blessing In the repentance of Niniveh they vsed besides fasting the livery of my Text sackcloath and that so generally as that man and beast put it on and not only so but a forbearance of meate neither man woman or suckling neither rationall nor irrationall creatures had their feeding the infant crying for the dug and the dombe creatures crying in the Crib in the great solemne abstinence did add much life to the performance of the Ninivites repentance To let passe the guise of other Actions our own custome the habiliments that now are on vs now wee see all things are turned to mourning round about vs it hath a strange
tuum sanâsti eui vitio obstitisti quâ parte meliores and what custome sayth Seneca can be more commendable These beloued shall arise in iudgement with this generation and condemne it their practice was a kind of vailed Christianitie they did shame to doe that priuately which this age doth perpetrate daily and publikely Mourning is to be performed openly solemnitie expects it and antiquitie that constant wise and vnpainted Herauld prescribes it Coram Abner the last act of his obsequies the last tribute of duty Abner yet carrieth his names the earth yet carrieth his body it is not Cadaver nor Inane corpus anima it is Sacrarium vitae not a Carcase Athan. or empty corpse but as Athanasius well obserueth the dead body is the vestry and Chappell of life and haue their Camiteria sleeping places til the Resurrection of the dead They be as Kings houses not to be contemned when their Masters depart out of them because they are to returne againe life shall visit these desolate roomes all the offices in this Princely bodie of Abner shall be supplied the Court is but remoued Heaven is the standing house this body againe shall be the bedde chamber of the soule yet because life is gon out lament for Abner is Abner still let not your last act faile though your eies cannot see him yet let them send our Teares to sorrow for him and Mourne before Abner The sorrowfull presence of a sad stectacle calls sorrow before it commeth and often createth sorrowe where it is not It is no maruaile that Abruham wept when he saw Sara his wife dead or that Bethshebe wept for her husband or Eleazar for Aaron his father or Dauid for Absalon his sonne or Rebecea for Deborah her nurse or Christ for Lazarus his friend or Dauid for Abner his Captaine But that Alexander should so lament when he came to behold the Sepulcher of braue Achilles or those many in histories to deplore and fall out into teares vpon the first sight of spectacles of desolation may seeme strange Yet those spectacles some-times cause passions of diverse effects When our Sauiour beheld Ierusalem he wept ouer it but when the army of a worthy Conquerour aboue 1000. yeares after came to behould the ruines and rubbish of the same City Hist Ture p. 21 the deuout passions of diuers are very diuers somewith their eies and hands cast vnto heauen calling vpon the name of their Sauiour some prostrat vpon their faces kissed the ground as that wherevpon the Redeemer of the world had walked others ioifully saluted those holy places they had heard so much of then first beheld Our Sauiour in a holy as well pittiful as sorrowfull contemplation beheld the presage of their vtter dissolution and desolation by reason of that horrible contemptuous iniquity of theirs Quod nulla posteritas taceat sed nulla probet Sencea therefore vpon a more cause of griefe then these souldiers of ioy lamented the City and yet slept not till he came neere to the City the sight of the City was the seale of his sorrow Propter Ierusalem hath much more in it then this day can giue mee leaue to deliuer S Iohn in his Gospell doth deliuer the story of Christs raising vp of Lazarus and well may Iohn write Lazarus storie they were both almost in one line in Christs loue Iohannes dilectus Domini Lazarus amicus Domini Ioh. 11. Iohn the beloued of Christ Lazarus the friend of Christ The story is worthy obseruation V. 11. Iesus told his Disciples our friend Lazarus sleepeth they vnderstood him not the Text saith V. 13. Iesus vnderstood it of his death then said Iesus Lazarus is dead yet Iesus wept not in knowing or telling them this Our Sauiour then goeth on his tourney towards Lazarus hee discourseth all the way concerning Lazarus yet Iesus wept not hee meeteth by the way with Martha and communeth with her about her deare deceased brother Nondùm fleuit Iesus Iesus wept not yet At the length Mary commeth shee falleth downe and weepeth and cryeth out Master if thou hadst beene here my brother had not died then Iesus seeing her weepe and the Iewes weepe he groaned in spirit and was troubled yet he wept not At length he asked where haue yee laid him and in his passing thither the Text saith Iesus wept comming neere to the graue he could not containe Fleuit Iesus The Doctrinall obseruation of these words before Abner is that it is the duty of Gods seruants to lament ouer their deceased and carefully to prouide for their Christian funerals Honesta sepultura is much remembred among the fathers Aust and one of them hath writ a booke de cura pro mortuis If there were nothing to proue the Lawfulnesse hereof that one parcell of ground that Abraham bought to consecrate to burials may iustifie the antiquity and reuerend vse hereof How honourable were the sepulchers of the Kings of Israell and Iuda it is a grace to them that had this Epitaph he was buried with his fathers the Piles of Pyramides of Egypt be yet in part to bee seene Mat. they were made of that bricke as some record which the Israelites in the house of their bondage were constrained to make and so it might be that God suffred them to be the instrumēts of making Pharohes sepulcher who were the cause of his death In vita Ambr. In the New Testament wee want not examples of these solemne funerals that of Stephē may serue for all holy men carried him to buriall and made lamentation for him S. Ambrose as appeareth in the description of his life in this kind was very carefull those that were honourable in their places or profitable to the Church or Common-wealth or any way to be esteemed good holy men he would bewaild their death and attend their funerals But it may bee some such Scepticall Cynicall creatures may question whether such pompe as is vsed in funerals be lawfull or no for why should not I thinke that Iudas tribe is not vtterly extinct whose cry is ad quid perditio haec To answere all such that part of solemne seruice the last night being a portion of the 50 Chapter of Genesis may satisfie all such curious and querulous Inquisitors Gen. 50 Ioseph commands his Phisitians to embaulme old Israel forty daies the Embalming continued then they provided furniture for his funerall and all the house of Ioseph and his brethren and his fathers house all the servants of Pharaoh the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Egypt and Chariots and horsemen and a great company and they made great lamentation To this may bee added many examples sacred and prophane as also the Emperous constitutions Constantine that appointed 950. officers about funerals which order Arcadius and Theodosius confirmed and afterwards Anastasius increased to 1100 and a certaine pension allotted vnto them this also established by Leo and Iustinian some