Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A46817
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The life & death of S. Luke delivered in a sermon on S. Lukes day, before the University at Great S. Maries in Cambridge / by David Jenner ...
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Jenner, David, d. 1691.
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1676
(1676)
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Wing J660; ESTC R1625
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10,725
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44
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THE LIFE DEATH OF S. LUKE Delivered in A SERMON ON S. LVKES DAY BEFORE The University at Great S. Maries IN CAMBRIDGE By David Jenner B. D. and Fellow of Sidney-Sussex Colledge LONDON Printed for J. williams in Cross-keys Court in Little Britains 1676. THE LIFE DEATH OF S. LUKE 2 TIM 4.11 Only Luke is with me IT is the great praise and perfection of the Sun who is the prime and glory of all the Celestial Bodies that by his constant and indefatigable motion he does illuminate and refresh the several corners of the inferior Earth with his glorious Rays and Beams of Light and that he never like the fickle and inconstant Moon puts on divers Faces It is Recorded by the Poets for the perpetual honor and everlasting renown of Theseus That he uncessantly attended Hercules in all his Travels Nor may we forget that no misfortune nor disaster whatsoever could unty the Gordian Knot of Amity once knit between Aeneas and his Faithful Achates Not unlike the Holy Ghost hath in honor to S. Luke whose acts and deeds this day is by the Church wisely set apart to commemorate The Holy Ghost I say hath in an honorable remembrance of his name erected this Sacred Monument even the Text in which his Christian Valor his Vnparallel'd Constancy his Mutual Correspondency with S. Paul whose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continual Associate he was are all ingraven in such Characters as that neither Time nor Envy will be ever able to obliterate for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Only Luke is with me In the words we have Damon and Pythias two Pythagorean Lovers Luke and Paul both cemented together by the Vnion of the Spirit by the Bond of Peace or rather if you please the words are an intire Proposition whereof S. Luke is The Subject S. Paul who is understood in the Pronoun Me The Predicate The Copula that unites both is Constancy included in the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only Luke is with me We shall begin with the subject S. Luke as being most proper for this days solemnity And here the things most material and worthy our observation are two 1. His Life 2. His Death As for his Life we cannot but in the Map of his History set down 1. His Native Countrey 2. Give some account of his ominous Name 3. Take notice of his honorable Education 4. Of his laudable Profession 5. Of his happy Conversion from Heathenism unto Christianity with the various occurrences in that his new Evangelical Life As to the first Isidorus confidently calculates the place of his Nativity to be Syria in Asia when he writes that Lucas Evangelista Natione fuit Syrus Luke the Evangelist was a Syrian c. But he is altogether silent in what City or Town this our Evangelist did first breathe whereas Dorotheus quoted by Theophylact reports him to be born at Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and to this Opinion Theophylact himself is pleased to subscribe in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And to the same does S. Jerome give his Judgment Nor does Irenaeus deny it when speaking of S. Luke he thus expresseth himself Ex Antiochiâ oriundus fuit medicus c. By all which we may safely conclude that Saint Luke was born at Antioch a City very eminently famous for many things but especially for three As 1. Famous for their Loyalty constantly paying their tribute of respect reverence and homage justly due by the Laws of God Nature and Men unto their Supream Governors always ascribing unto their Chief Magistrate whether Emperor or King all his titles of Honor which Divine Providence had conferred upon him as Johannes Antiochenus acquaints us out of his History concerning Augustus Caesar who says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. at Antioch was thus stiled Caesar Octavian Trophaeal Augustus the Mighty Emperor c. A president sufficient one would think for ever to silence and convince those Sectarists who dare rebelliously deny unto our Dread Soveraign those honorable Titles which the Virtues and Prowess of His Noble Ancestors have merited in the Field and the which God of his special Grace hath bestowed upon Him and affixed as so many radiant Diamonds on His Royal Crown 2. Famous for that Christs Coronation Day on Earth was first of all celebrated at Antioch Acts 11.26 the Disciples were first called Christians at Antioch whereas before Christs Proselytes were commonly known by the appellation of Nazareans and Galileans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as Suidas and others c. But afterwards when the Gospel of Christ began to spred very much and daily thousands were added to the Church then that Believers might the better be discriminated from Jews and Infidels and that the World might plainly know who and what they were they did at Antioch very solemnly and in a kind of State publickly assume unto themselves the glorious name of Christians for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 11.26 which we translate Called is usually taken in a State sense even as Kings at their Coronations do use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in State to be called and proclaimed Kings by their Champions and Heralds at Arms with all their Titles Not unlike at Antioch Christ the King of Heaven and Earth was solemnly and magnificently proclaimed Supream Head and Governor of the Christian Church by Euodius then Bishop of that place 3. Famous in that Antioch was as by History does appear the Second City Jerusalem being the First which received the happy Government of Episcopacy the Constitution of which Government is so highly commended and all due obedience thereunto so necessarily and strongly urged by holy Ignatius in almost all his Epistles as that he does little less than Anathematise all those who by their Schisms and Factions plot to throw off the Yoke of that kind of Primitive Government which certainly must be Jure Divino if any thing that hath an Apostolical and Primitive Sanction and Practice for its Foundation can be so Hitherto we have travelled in our Discourse to find out S. Lukes Native Countrey 2. In the next place we are to take cognisance of his Name the which if well considered would afford had we time sufficient matter for a large Oration especially if we call to remembrance that Names are Either for Indexes to declare the Nature and Essential properties of things as the three Names of God Jehovah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adonai and Elohim and so Adam taken from Adamah his Mother Earth Or else other while Names are imposed to be as so many Remembrancers of eminent Mercies and Deliverances already obtained Thus Moses so called from Mashah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying his being drawn out of the Water by Pharaohs Daughter Or thirdly Names do oft-times prognosticate the future eminency and worth of the person and that something extraordinarily remarkable is to be accomplished by him in the course of his
Mark before his Ordination Nor secondly may we without injury to his pious memory pass by his uncessant pains-taking and diligence in the Ministery For after once his clouds of fear were dissipated his doubts resolved and his spirit animated and steeled with courage he enters the list he fights the Lords Battles more Romano undauntedly and overlooking all worldly concerns as of less moment he makes the Preaching of the Gospel to be his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his chiefest concernment And thirdly most remarkable is his constancy Neither the frowns of adversity nor the smiles of fortune nor any Syrenical charms or allurements of prosperity could ever draw or court him off from his duty He is not like Lots Wife that he should look back nor to Demas that he should through an inordinate love of the World forsake Paul whose Son he was in the Faith No though all had forsaken him yet not Luke for Only Luke is with me In the Verses antecedent to the Text is laid down the apostasie and back-sliding of some who professed Christianity and in particular of Demas who had forsaken Paul being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 More a lover of Money than of God And as for Titus the necessitous affairs of the Church had caused him to hoise Sail and steer his Course unto Dalmatia The like Summons had Crescens into Galatia or rather Gallia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Epiphanius supposeth So that only Luke is Pauls constant associate and companion forsaking all others he adheres close to Paul Omnia postponens Apostolum semper secutus est saith S. Ambrose And the Translator of Saint Jerome into Greek affirms That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke attended Paul in all his voyages until they both safely arrived at Rome the then Metropolis of the World and whilest Paul sojourned at Rome being detained there as a prisoner it is very probable as may be gathered out of Epiphanius that S. Luke left him there for a while and travelled with Crescens into France where our Author says he did make his chief residence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and there Preached the Gospel But Gregory Nazianzen allotting unto every Apostle and Evangelist his several and proper Diocess gives unto Luke Achaia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But these things are disputable and therefore let us return back to Rome where whilest S. Luke was resident he spends part of his time in Writing for being commanded either by Peter or Paul or rather as Chemnitius believes by both he compiles the History of our Saviour which is called The Gospel of Luke and another Book intituled The Acts of the Holy Apostles Both he wrote in opposition unto those two grand Hereticks and Forgers of Falsities scil Merinthus and Cerinthus which latter held Christs Kingdom to be Earthly and full of carnal pleasures consisting in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meats Drinks and the like after the mode of the Turkish and Mahometan Terrestrial Kingdom yea he was so notoriously wicked as that S. John seeing him come into the Bath when he was bathing hastily ran out fearing lest he should tempt Providence to cause the Roof to fall down upon him or the Earth to open and swallow him up in case he should presume to stay and be in the same place with such an Heretick and Blasphemer as then Cerinthus was accounted Against these two Cerinthus and Merinthus it is said that Saint Luke wrote that so the Gospel in its purity and verity might be transmitted down to posterity whereas had Saint Luke lived in silence the Christian World would have been imposed upon and a false Gospel ushered in by these Hereticks instead of the true one as appears by a story S. Jerome quotes out of Tertullian in his Catalogue of Ecclesiastick Writers which is too long to be repeated here Moreover it is worth our noting that if S. Luke had desisted from writing then many excellent truths necessary to be known would have been concealed such as Peters miraculous Releasment out of Prison by the assistance of an Angel As also the Generation of John the Baptist the Angels Advent unto the Virgin Mary Elizabeths and Saint Maries Hymns the Angels appearing to the Shepherds the Doxology of the Heavenly Host Anna and Symeons Testimony of Christ the Parable of Dives and Lazarus of the Publican Zacheus the Crooked Woman of the Ten Lepers As also of the Pharisee and Publican going up to pray and of the unjust Judge who feared neither God nor Man Et alia multa sunt quae inveniri possunt à solo Lucâ dieta esse c. Irenaeus adversus Haereses Nor is this the only commendation of S. Luke That he hath thus communicated more to Posterity than the rest of the Evangelists but also we may add one Flower more to the Garland of his praise to wit this That he hath not only done all well but also all so excellently as that Res gestas non narrare quà m suis coloribus depictas omnium oculis praeponere videtur he hath so exactly delineated and as it were to the life painted out the History of our Saviour and the Acts of the Apostles as that Apud multos Pictoris nomen obtinuit by many he was called The Painter From whence some did phancy that the Images of our Blessed Saviour and of the Virgin Mary were by S. Luke first Limned and Painted out the which two said Images some superstitious persons pretend to have kept unto the days of Irenaeus Hitherto we have beheld this Bright Planet running his race thorough the Christian Orb illuminating the dark corners of the Heathen World with those Beams of Evangelical Light which he had borrowed from the great Luminary of Heaven and Earth even from Jesus Christ the Fountain of Light Hitherto we have seen him shine gloriously even as the Sun in his full Meridian But now to show the mutability of all created Beings this shining Planet is at length totally eclipsed by the interposition of the Opace Dark Body of Death And no wonder for when a Man hath labored hard all day and finished his work it is but reasonable that at night he should go to rest And this leads us to speak a word of his Death which was 1. Timely 2. Natural 1. Timely for when the Sun had run his Annual course Fourscore and four times over his hoary-head as S. Jerome reports he then and not before is mowed down by the impartial Sythe of Death and as a Sheaf of Corn fully ripened richly laden he is carried by the Harvest-Men the Good Angels into Christs Barn 2. Secondly As his Death was timely in good old age so it was kindly and natural not violent Nothing but the multitude of years a burden too heavy for spent and fainting Nature bows down his aged head He is not carried up to Heaven in the Fiery Chariot of Martyrdom but rather the old cracked Vessel of his Body springing a Leak suffers Shipwrack and is lost in the midst of an Ocean of Humors incident unto Old Age where as his ever Blessed Soul the Passenger within swims safe through the Waves and Billows of this troublesome VVorld unto the happy Land of Canaan and is lodged in Abrahams bosome for evermore And what now remains but that we attend the Corps of this deceased Saint unto his Grave which is in Ephesus for there he was buried 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Theophylact informs us But S. Jerome makes Achaia and Isidorus Bythinia to be the Stage on which Death acted this Tragedy and cut asunder the Thred of his Life Whether this or that opinion be truest we will no longer dispute only in this we are assured that they all agree to wit That S. Luke was twice Interred and had two honorable Funerals The first was immediately after his Death the second was in the time of Constantine who in the twentieth year of His Reign did out of honor to S. Luke take up his Bones together with the Bones of the Apostle S. Andrew and Timothy and caused them to be carried as were Josephs unto Canaan so theirs unto Constantinople 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Where 〈…〉 nobly Interred them and then left them to rest until the last Trumpet shall sound and summon all Flesh to appear at Gods Tribunal where shall be rendred unto every Man according unto the works of his own hands And now that we may be healed of all our Spiritual Diseases and so live on Earth as that we may hereafter live in Glory and there with S. Luke and the whole Quire of Heaven sing forth to all Eternity the Hallelujahs and Praises of our Creator let us devoutly pray in the words of our Church and say Almighty God! who calledst S. Luke the Physitian whose praise is in the Gospel to be a Physitian of the Soul May it please Thee by the wholesome Medicines of his Doctriâ—◠〈…〉 of our Souls through thâ—… 〈…〉 Christ our Lord. Amen Gloria Deo FINIS