dissolued into dust Let not the fauor of the multitude they can mourn thirty dayes for Moses ' death they cannot fetch him againe once dead In a word suppose a man's miracles and priviledges be neuer so many so as his life seem a continued miracle a miraculous Funerall he may haue but he must die for Moses is dead And if present examples moue more King IAMES is dead too in whom many of these priuiledges met and a number of other excellencies which diuided giue honour to others euen Gods seruant Moses and our late Soueraigne King IAMES both are dead Then what may this Mortuus be that thus incroacheth There is a threefold death a death by sin a death to sin and a death for sin The first is the death of the Soule the second the death of sin in the soule the third is the parting of the body and soule The first is alwaies euill the second alwayes good the third is somtimes euill sometimes good according to the quality of him whom it doth surprise The first that cannot be good and the last which may be euill are both repayred by the second which is euer good and not euill The first is deserente Deo when God forsakes a man's soule the second subveniente gratiâ when Gods grace sustaines a mans soule the third is recedente animâ when the body is forsaken by the soule The first is the cause of the last for Mors mortem antecessit voluntaria necessariam One death vshered forth another the voluntarie death of sinne the necessary death of the body And this third is here meant when hee saith Moses is dead Plato said of death that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a loosing and separating of the soule from the body Two friends haue long liued together and now they must part and goe seuerall wayes the one to earth the other to heauen For wee are not destroyed by death but dissolued to bee else-where placed And this is cleare in this History of Moses death Thou shalt die saith God and sleepe with thy Fathers Deut. 31.16 And Thou shalt bee gathered to thy people Deut. 32. So that death is our sleepe and restitution to that place from whence wee descended For when the soule leaues the body GOD then gathers vs as ripe Corne into his Barne And these considerations that by death wee sleepe with our Fathers and are gathered to the Saints as they did prepare him so should they satisfie vs as carying in them secret reasons and consolations against the terrours of death So as now it is no strange thing that Servus Meus and Servus Meus Moses should dye who thereby sleepeth and is gathered to his people Iust Simeon looked vpon death and esteemed it Nunc Dimittis quasi necessitate teneretur in hac vitâ non voluntate Indeed death seemes not so to all but that is not death's fault for Mors aut suae quietis bono vtitur aut malo alieno laborat The reason is Mors mala non est nisi vbi vita mala Yea to such it is better to dye than to liue It may seeme a Paradox but it is none for quò vita diuturnior culpa numerosior and therefore to that comfort which Seneca giues against death Desinam aegrotare posse alligari c. I shall no more be sicke no more imprisoned no more tormented wee may adde this as the principall Desinam peccare posse I shall no more sinne And it is no small aduantage to be freed from Sinning It troubled S. Paul Wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death Rom. 7.24 where you see the Apostle as much troubled that hee must liue as others are when they must dye For as S. Augustine obserues some that would liue yet cùm patientiâ moriuntur so others would dye but cum patientiâ vivunt For Anima absolvitur corpus resolvitur quae absolvitur gaudet quod resolvitur nihil sentit So that this is one comfort wee haue by the sleepe of death we rest from sinne wee rest from sorrow But this is not all Hee that lyeth downe to sleepe makes account to awake Vt cùm dormientes audimus evigilaturos minimè desperemus For as it is true that per vitam fit ad mortem transitus so per mortem fit ad vitam reditus Then let vs not be dismayed with the maske and vizard of death but rather joy and comfort our selues in so happy a passage vnto life Bona vita absoluto certamine that is the life we should looke after wherein the law of our members rebelleth no more against the law of our minde where we shall haue no more strife with this body of death but shall haue victory ouer it Thus slept and rested Moses when hee was gathered to his people For while wee are in this world wee are scattered vp and downe as Pilgrims and strangers death brings vs home Wee reade of Socrates that hee thirsted after death that hee might meet with those braue spirits Orpheus and Hesiod and Homer let not vs be weake and irresolute that shall bee gathered to the Patriarches Prophets and Apostles troopes of Martyrs and Confessors yea Christ himselfe in his flesh in his glory sitting at the right hand of God It is true to flesh and blood the shell of death seemes hard but to him that hath the spirituall relish of the Apostle it containes a sweet kernell How shall wee doe then to get S. Pauls taste there is but one way and that is to keepe S. Pauls dyet by accustoming our selues to dye daily and by bearing about in our bodies the death of the Lord Iesus 2 Cor. 4. For then the life of the Lord Iesus should bee made manifest in our mortall flesh If thus wee could frame our selues to welcome death adeò mors non esset timenda vt ejus beneficio nihil anteponendum So then it is well with Moses happy is hee that euer hee was borne to dye in such a case What shall become of the people who shall goe in and out before them they are as sheepe without a shepheard who shall gather them that they may heare and learne and feare and obserue the Commandements of GOD and keepe the Law of the Lord Deut. 31.12 Moses is gone who shall smite the rocke that the people may drinke who shall bring downe Manna for them when they are hungry who shall now hold vp his hands that they may preuaile against their enemies nay when the people shall haue made GOD himselfe their enemy who shall stand in the gap betwixt GOD and them or if they be at peace with GOD who shall sit in iudgement to make peace among them from the morning to the euening Exod. 18. Moses loued the people of GOD better then his owne soule Spare them or rase me out of thy booke Who shall care for them now Moses offered his soule for their bodies who will now offer his body for their soules
THE LAST SERMON PREACHED BEFORE HIS MAIESTIES Funerals at Denmark house On Tuesday the third of May. BY PHINEES HODSON Dr of Diuinitie one of his Maiesties Chaplaines LONDON Printed by M. F. for Hannah Barret 1625. IOS 1.2 Moses my Seruant is dead now therefore arise HEE that might not see GOD in the fiery bush but he must put off his shooes Exod. 3. might not see him as hee is till hee had put off the sinfull body of his flesh Coloss 2. yea and the flesh of his body too the apparell of his soule his shooes must off then because the place where hee stood was holy ground No maruell if his body must off now before hee enter into the Sanctum Sanctorum the Kingdome of Heauen Numb 20.12 GOD told Moses and Aaron that for their vnbeleefe they should not bring the people into the Land which hee had promised them and shortly after euen at the next remoue from Cades to mount Hor Aaron must vp to the mount and there die Moses is repriued till he come to the other side of Iordan but not pardoned and GOD will let him see that Land which he may not possesse Nor is he therefore secure he forgets not his summons but finding himselfe by account to be an hundred and twenty yeares old Deut. 31. and therefore hee could not liue long that he was come to the side of that Riuer which he might not passe and therfore in all likelihood hee drew very neere he prepares himselfe to welcome the good will of GOD. When Moses is readie but not before GOD calls again and Deut. 32. Vp he must to mount Nebal and there die Deut. 34. Vp he goes and when GOD had let him see the Land he died ver 5. was buried ver 6. and the rest of the Chapter containes a Funerall Sermon made by Ioshua in the commendation of Moses Now after Moses ' death and buriall the LORD spake vnto Ioshua the verse before my text in my text Moses my seruant c. Moses is dead buried by an Angel mourned for by the children of Israel panegyrically commended by Ioshua and that which he said of him is recorded to posterity that all ages may know that none is like to Moses Yet this is not enough GOD vndertakes the matter himselfe for when an Angel beares the Coffin and that by Gods owne appointment and for ought we know made his Graue too No wonder if the same GOD vouchsafe to reuiue his memory and not so much as name Moses without honourable mention Moses my seruant Yea being dead hee referres and as it were appeales to Moses As I said vnto Moses v. 3. and if he will comfort Ioshua hee will be with him as he was with Moses v. 5. for that will serue yea hee cals his owne Law the Law which Moses my seruant commanded v. 7. And surely much was it that a man but it was the man of GOD Moses Deu. 33.1 that a man I say should receiue such testimonie from his Maker But wel it was for them whom he left behind him well it was for Ioshua to whose charge they were left little enough it was that he that was the Seruant of the Lord in Gods mouth should be the seruant of the Lord in Ioshua's mouth v. 13. And if GOD will call his own Law Moses ' Law Ioshua would be bold to call Gods Land Moses ' Land vers 14. And if GOD promised to be with Ioshua as hee was with Moses they will aske no more they will pray for no more but the Lord be with thee as hee was with Moses So then well it was with Ioshua it got him authoritie well it was with the people it taught them obedience for if GOD will be with Ioshua as he was with Moses they will obey him as they did Moses The words are deliuered by GOD to Ioshua and haue two parts first Gods testimony of Moses secondly his Commission to Ioshua The testimony in these words Moses my seruant is dead the Commission Now therefore arise In the testimony are two generall parts considerable first the Author secondly the Matter the Author is expresly set downe in the first verse Secondly In the Matter are foure circumstances first Servus secondly Meus thirdly Moses fourthly Mortuus In the Commission are two things first the connexion Now therefore secondly the tenor of the Commission Arise Now therefore Not before thou receiue warning till then lie still take not vpon thee when I say the word Arise While hee liueth thou art his Minister v. 1. and at his command no rising then without his direction with his life his power ceased My people lacke an head and I haue made choice of thee Now therefore Arise To returne The Author of this Declaratorie Commemoration and honourable recognition is GOD himselfe he commemorates him for hee names Moses though dead hee declares his worth in calling him his Seruant And a recognition it is Ioshua had done it before GOD now againe by a postliminious solemnization of his Funerals Nor may it seeme strange Funerall Sermons are ordinarily made by such as are neere to those that are deceased and haue some interest in their memories then who should rather doe this office to Moses then his gratious Master who had before testified of him that he was faithfull in all his house Numb 12. Others heard GOD Moses heard and saw him and talked with him as a man talkes with his friend Exod. 33. yea face to face Deut. 34.10 Hence he continues to honor him dead as he did aliue liuing he was his seruant and being dead from Gods owne mouth he receiues the same testimony Moses my seruant is dead For his person was not ordinary There arose not a Prophet like vnto Moses Deut. 34.10 His Buriall was not ordinary other men had Sepulchers as monuments of their mortality Moses had none lest his body should haue beene abused to Idolatry Others haue Sepulchers to shew they haue beene Moses had none lest he should haue beene thought that which hee was not and adored for a Diety And more honorable it was for Moses he had none then for others when they are most sumptuous as Tacitus obserued Praefulgebant Iunius Blaesus eo ipso quod effigies eorum non visebantur And though it bee true which Saint Augustine sayes that these solemnities at Funerals are rather Solatia vivorum then Subsidia mortuorum yet whether we call it an act of civility as from men to mē or an act of loue to prosecute with honor those that are dead to whom we gaue respect while they were liuing or an act of necessitie to free the liuing from the contagion of the dead or an act of discretion to remoue their bodies from our sight and thereby sorrow from our hearts or an act tending to mortification as being Remonstrances of our frailty and mortality or an act of hope as implying their resurrection whom with so much care and respect we
interre or an act of faith and religion as thereby teaching others and leauing an impression in our own hearts of our faith in him that is our Resurrection our life whether any of these or all or others that I conceiue not moue Gods spirit sure it is he commends the Buriall of the dead as a godly and charitable worke reports the circumstances of persons place pompe care cost of embalming the bodies of the Patriarkes of their paines in transporting them to their owne Sepulchers yea the women in the Gospel are approued for their intended care to our Sauiours bodie It is a blessing promised to the godly that they shall goe to their graue in peace 2 Kings 22. It is a curse threatned to the wicked that they shall want buriall so of Iehoiakim They shall not lament for him nor say Ah my brother nor mourne for him saying Ah my Lord or Ah his glorie but they shall burie him as an Asse drawne and cast forth beyond the gates of Ierusalem Ier. 22. And though the place of Moses buriall bee conceal'd that the Devill might not haue his body yet the world shall haue his fame and if Moses die All Israel shall mourne for him an Angel shall burie him Ioshua shall commend him and if all this be not yet enough GOD himselfe shall giue him an honorable firname that all posterities may take notice of his loue to his Seruant Moses Thus much for the Author the LORD In the Matter I obserued foure things Servus Meus Moses Mortuus for they rise by degrees and make seuerall parts For first that Servus should be Mortuus it is no maruell but why Servus Meus should die may be enquired And not only Servus Meus but Servus Meus Moses will make a further Quare And it's Gods owne Rhetorique who makes Moses more than Servus Meus when he said to Aaron and Miriam Wherefore were yee not afraid to speake against my Seruant euen against Moses Numb 12. First then for Servus Servi are Captivi Emptitij or Nativi the last are such as descend of the other two and of all One said Primos servos bella fecerunt for when men were taken in warres and jure belli occidi possent quia servati Servi appellati And hence likewise were they called Mancipia quia manu capti And of this another saith Of all euils warre is the worst in warre seruitude whereby personae become res other mens Chattels which they doe as absolutely command and dispose of as any thing they else possesse We read of Vedius Pollio who had many seruants that caused one to be cast into a Fish-pond for breaking a glasse Hence were seruants said Habitare in mortalitate to dwell in the very gates and shadow of death because they were slaine vpon euery trifling occasion Then that Servus should be Mortuus is no maruell Saint Augustine giues it another pettigree Servum vel adversitas vel iniquitas fecit Aduersity made all the former Seruants Iniquity made Cham a seruant Now we commiserate those which are made seruants by aduersity wee abhorre Cham made a seruant by iniquitie and we our selues are in the same estate and yet are secure All our liues and liberties were made forfeit in Adam and by his transgression wee became slaues to sinne death and the Diuell Herein Servus and Mortuus so well agree that vnlesse wee had beene seruants to sinne Death had not beene Lord ouer vs for Mors non accessisset nisi culpa praecessisset Sinner and Slaue are now become Termini convertibiles To whomsoeuer you giue your selues seruants to obey his seruant you are to whom you obey Rom. 6. And the consequence of that seruice is death so it there followeth whether it be of sinne vnto death Yea the same Apostle more directly By one man sinne entred into the world and death by sinne and so sinne raigned ouer all Rom. 5. Then Servus must die and Servus and Mortuus doe so agree that they cannot bee parted But if Servus and Mortuus agree may not Servus Meus be priuiledged Let vs examine Meus so shall wee see how Mortuus doth challenge In a large sense Servi Dei or Servi mei are extranei Transfuga Domestici all these three he feeds as he doth the Ravens cloathes as he doth the Lillies showers downe his blessings vpon them with an indifferent or rather vnequall proportion Many times suffering the first two to swimme in abundance whilest his owne Domestici are busie in prouiding necessaries Where 's the priuiledge then of Servus Meus Much euery way for though iniquity and misery break in like Rivers to the ouerflowing of all man-kinde the first of Iniquitie preuailing by the Divell the second of Misery by the first of iniquitie whereby it 's true of all mankinde Servum vel iniquitas vel aduersitas fecit yet here 's the difference betweene Servus and Servus Meus we were all by the Woman made seruants but there 's another Seed that ouercame the Devill the Woman conquered lost vs all but the seed of the Woman by a new onset preuailed and jure belli freed vs from that slauerie wherein hee found vs and of vassals to sinne made vs seruants to himselfe And this he did by a mighty hand whereby we are now made Mancipia to our Redeemer The first two are servi but onely Potestatis and so are the Devills the last Domestici are Servi gratiae Now the question is not of the two former but what shall become of Domestici Shall Servi gratiae die too Yes Christs victorie freed vs from the second death the Curse of the Law not from the first the effects of sinne Nor is it therefore a small blessing to bee Servus Dei it was a part of that blessing as some Divines doe expound it which Isaac gaue to Esau Servies fratri Gen. 27.40 Then what a stay what an honour what a comfort hath Servus meus that is seruant to the most High Psal 119. If once we can come to this to get our selues booked in this Checke-roll such a man while hee liues shall want no manner of thing that is good Ps 34. that 's for this life and in the end he shall haue a reward yea an Exceeding great reward as GOD promised to Abraham for how should he forget his owne seruants It 's sayd that GOD loues Adverbes in men better than Adjectiues Man sure loues this Pronoune possessiue better than any other part of Speech there being no good thing in this world whereto hee would not haue Meum ioyn'd Oh that hee would bee as carefull to get possession of GOD that with confidence wee could say vnto him Deus meus For if this reciprocall bond were once past that wee could say to him Deus meus and hee to vs Servi mei it should neuer bee cancelled once His and alwayes His liuing and dead hee neuer forsakes vs My sheepe shall none plucke out of my hands Iohn 10.28 Here on