A SERMON PREACHED At FLITTON in the Countie of Bedford At the Funerall of the Right Honourable HENRIE Earle of Kent the sixteenth of March 1614. By I. B. D. D. LONDON Printed by William Stansby for Richard Woodroffe and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Golden Key neere the great North dore 1615. A SERMON PREACHED AT FLITTON IN THE COVNTIE OF BEDFORD AT THE FVNERALL OF THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE HENRIE Earle of KENT the sixteenth of March 1614. LVKE 2. 29. Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace according to thy Word THe first words of S. Iohns Gospell ARE that in the beginning was the Word Iohn 1. 1. The beginning of Saint Markes Gospell Is that a voice went before the Word Marke 1. 3. Iesus was the Word Iohn was the voyce From Iohns preparing and Iesus comming the Fathers haue obserued that Christ the Word of God was in the dispensation of his Incarnation accompanied with the voyces of man When he was two yeares old voce lamentantis with the voyce of lamentation A voyce of Ramah Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted Matth. 2. At his Baptisme voce proclamantis with the voyce of proclamation And behold a voyce from Heauen saying This is my welbeloued Sonne c. Matth. 3. In his Preaching Voce acclamantis with the voyce of acclamation They that went before that followed after cryed Hosanna c. Math. 21. At his Death Voce exclamantis with the voyce of exclamation The Centurion was afraid said Truly this was the Sonne of God But of all the voyces which accompanied the Word Foure haue a prerogatiue which are not simple voyces but settled songs The first the Angels song as in Luke the second Chapter and fourteenth verse The second blessed Maries song Luke 1. 46. The third Zacharies song Luke 1. 68. The fourth Simeons song the text of this Scripture All of them remarkeable For the Angels they were messengers of HeaueÌ„ Maries song she was the mother of our Sauiour Zacharies song hee an anointed Priest Simeons song he an inspired Prophet But aboue ALL Simeons hath the Prerogatiue For the Angels song was in the fields Maries song was in a Chamber betwixt her and Elizabeth Zacharies song was at a feast but a priuate feast of a few mountaine people But Simeons song was in Hierusalem the great Citie and in the Temple the most publike and most sacred place of Ierusalem The text then is a voyce attendant vpon the Word Is a song which is a comfortable voyce Is a publike song A solemne song A Church song A song in the Temple All which might haue beene sufficient motiues to warrant the choice of this Scripture at this mournefull time to comfort the liuing at this solemne time to honour the dead But these are common Inducements For the text is yet more fit It is Cantus funebris A funeral song Cantatur Cygnus funeris ipse sui A white Swanne whose Almond tree is blossomed sings his owne Epitaph And of these songs we haue but two in Scripture One of Moses in the old Testament And this of Simeon in the new Testament Both Old men Moses one hundreth and twentie Simeon sayth Nicâ—phorus Ad tantum senium prouectus continued to a great age that hee might see Christ. Both Great men Moses Ruler of the People fortie yeares And Simeon saith Galatinus Master of Gamaliel an Honourable man among the people Both Good men Moses Gods seruant and Simeon Gods seruant Both Fit to honour the memoriall of an olde Honourable Religious Peere But Simeon the fitter For Moyses eyes only beheld Canaan But Simeons eyes beheld Christ And that it may appeare that the text is fit not onely in the body and bulke but in euery branch It is like one of Dauids Psalmes which are intitled CaÌ„tica graduum Psalmes of Degrees Arising like Iacobs Ladder step by step till you come to peace Which peace the Scripture noteth expressely to bee the Complement of Abrahams blessing And thou shalt goe to thy fathers in peace thou shalt be buried in a good old age Peace which Saint Austen doth determine to be the perfection of happinesse Finis ciuitatis huius in quo summum habebit bonum vel pax in vita aeterna vel vita aeterna in pace dicendus est The end of the Saints in the Citie of God is either peace in life eternall or eternall life in peace THe first step is the time I follow the Greeke Originall Nunc now The second is the pasport Dimittis let depart The third is the subiect Seruum tuum thy seruant The fourth is the Prince Domine O Lord. The fifth is the promise Secundum Verbum according to thy Word The sixth is the Condition In pace in peace 1 The time present 2 The desire feruent 3 The seruant dutifull 4 The master powerfull 5 The promise infallible 6 The condition comfortable Are like the Throne of Salomon with six steps of Ivorie ouer laid with gold A Throne fit for Salomon the Prince of Peace Nunc. THe first steppe is the Time Now And Now it was that Christ was in the Armes of Simeon Neuer a better Now to die then with Christ in our armes Now Simeon prayes for death before Simeon prayed for life Now let me depart Therefore before let me not depart This is probable by collection but apparant by relation verse 26. It was reuealed vnto him that he should not see death before hee had seene the Lord Christ. Simeon then was promised to see Christ in the flesh Simeon therefore desired life till hee had seene Christ in the flesh So long as he expected the consolation of Israel so long hee desired life in Israel But when his first desire was accomplished his second desire was to bee dissolued Both the desires of Simeon both in life and death are lawfull if lawfully desired Hezekiah may desire life with mourning and chattering Esay 38. 14 if his desire be to plant Religion Saint Paul may desire death with groaning Phil. 3. 23. If it bee to haue Christ in fruition As Simeon desired life to haue Christ in Contemplation as Simeon desired death to haue Christ in possession But euerie man doth not so desire life doth not so desire death There is a Nabal that desires to liue to sheare his sheepe and to make a feast like a King though the next day his heart die within him he become like a stone There is a foole Luk. 12. that desires long life to build barnes to gather goods to lay vp fruits to take ease to eat to drink to be merrie to be mad Vt Ebrij ructantes intrent in paradisum That reeling and belching saith Ierome they may fall into an Epicures Paradise There is a Nebuchadnezar that desires to
liue to mount vp his piles of wondermeÌ„t his turrets of Babel thogh in the midst of his pride he be turned into an Oxe There is an Absolon who desires to liue that he may weare a Crowne vpon his head though he be hanged by the haire of the head and hee bee stricken with three Darts through the liuer There is an Achab that desires to liue to take possession of Naboths vineyard though in the place where the Dogs licked the bloud of Naboth Dogges shall licke the bloud of Achab. There is an Haman that desires to liue till hee may bee reuenged on Mardoche his enemie although a gallowes of fiftie foot high an eminent place for execution bee the end of a mischieuous Courtiers promotion All such desires of life whose ends are our corrupt passions are vnlawfull desires And although they haue as Tertullian cals it Volaticum gaudium a winged pleasure in their liues yet they shal haue Talentum plumbi as the Prophet speaketh a Talent of lead an intolerable pressure of their conscience in their death But as life may be vnlawfully desired so likewise death may be desired vnlawfully It cannot bee denied but Elias prayd for death in a wrong Nunc. In the 1. King 19. verse 3. Elias fled from Iezabel fled in the morning fled for his life Yet in the fourth verse at euening when he was a little wearie with flying hee prayes for death Now O Lord take away my life A very strange passion that one dayes iournie should make such an alteration It cannot bee denied but Ionas had a wrong Nunc. In the second Chapter of Ionas and the second verse he cryes out of the Whales belly hee cals it the belly of hell hee cries and calles for life But in the â—ourth Chapter of Ionas and the third verse some three or foure daies after he begs and sues for death Now O Lord take my life What was the reason of this sudden alteration It was not reason but passion because the Niniuites did not die therefore hee would not liue But Elias did not well to call for death for a little affliction Ionas did not well to be angrie with God and to desire to die to despite Gods great affection No affliction in our selues no enuie at others are warrantable motiues to desire death We must not bee like Elias to die fainting wee must not bee like Ionas to die chasing They that desire death in passion doe desire death only for fashion It being long since obserued by Saint Austen that when sickenesse comes the harbenger of death Medici adducuntur manera promittuntur Phisitians are requested rewardes are promised prayers are conceiued vowes are offered that death may bee deferred Would you haue a sanctified rule to know a sanctified Nunc when to desire life when to desire death take Simeon for both In Life DEsire so long to liue till you may see Christ otherwise the first death will be terrible the second death will be intolerable It is the contemplation of Bernard Tu quomodo exibis anima misera quae ducem itineris Iesum non nôsti O miserable soule with what horrour wilt thou goe from a bodie of earth which knowest not thy Iesus the Lord of life and the way to Heauen If a man should liue as long as Methusalem though his head were as white as siluer and his skinne as writheled as parchment yet if he knew not Christ he is not fit to die It is a miserable comfort to haue liued long and to haue liued little Diu fuit sed non diu vixit Such a man was a great while liued a little while Better it had beene for such a man to haue beene strangled in the wombe then to haue dyed an Embrio in Religion Let vs therefore then desire to leaue the earth when wee know the way to Heauen In Death VVHen you haue knowne Christ then desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ. Then imagine all the honours of earth to bee but Anselmus his Butterflyes which children follow from bush to bush from flower to flower at which they catch with childish passion the Butterflyes sometimes flying before them sometimes behind them sometimes close by their eyes sometimes through their fingers and if they catch them they are but Butterflyes So light a thing is Honour so slight a thing is glorie such a vanitie such a Butterflye Then conceiue all earthly pleasure to bee but Boetius his gloriosa pericula glorious perils Then vnderstand all worldly riches to bee but Cyprian his speciosa supplicia glittering punishments Then suppose all things vnder the Moone to bee but Saint Pauls Retrimenta Stercora retriment and dung in comparison of the fruition of Iesus Christ in Heauen In Summe DEsire to liue till you are inspired with grace desire to die when you are assured of glorie This was the time wherein Simeon desired to depart And with which time it is time for mee to depart and to come to Simeons departing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LEt depart Is the word in English whose originall importeth three sences First to depart out of Prison Acts 5. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they let the Apostles depart out of Prison Secondly to depart from a place of exile into our natiue Countrie Matth. 14. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vntill hee let the people depart from the Wildernesse to their owne Houses Thirdly to depart from an Office in which we were placed by Superiour Authoritie Act. 13. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they let Paul and Barnabas depart when they had fulfilled their Ministerie In all these three senses Saint Ambrose doth interprete it In the first sence our soule is supposed to bee in prison and desires to depart Psal. 116. 16. Dirupisti vincula mea Thou hast loosed my bonds In the fifteenth verse Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints Death and Bonds but Death doth loose the Soule from the Bonds of the Bodie Psalme 142. 7. It is the prayer of Dauid Deduc è custodia animam meam Bring my soule out of Prison that I may praise thy name 2. Cor. 5. 1. Wee haue sayth Saint Paul Domum subterraneam It is translated an earthly house but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth a house vnder earth a verie dungeon By all which Scriptures the soule seemeth to bee manacled imprisoned and cast into the dungeon of the bodie Not that any man should communicate in the errour of Origen to conceiue that our soules were created in Heauen and for their demerits were tumbled into houses of Clay but to expresse what Saint Paul lamenteth Luke 7. 23. That he saw another Law in his members warring against the Law of his minde and bringing him into captiuitie to the Law of sinne But to expresse the complaint of Cyprian Quae clementia est amare pressuras poenas
lachrimas mundi What a madnes is it for men to dote vpon their golden fetters their guilded prison their painted dungeon for euery man to bee his owne Suffâ—nus and like Narcissus to bee enamored of Earth of Dust of Slime of our Bodies of rottennesse and Corruption When the silliest Bird that flyes is not content with a cage of Ivorie In the second sense our life is supposed an exile and we desire to goe into our Countrie Psalme 39. 12. I am a stranger with thee saith Dauid and a Soiourner as all my Fathers were Et ideo tanquam peregrinus ad illam Sanctorum omnium Patriam â—estinabat And therefore sayth Saint Ambrose Dauid made hast to be indenized possessed of the Kingdome of Heauen Why doth the fire moue vpward Why do the stones fal downward Why do the waters glide through rocks of Flint to pay their natural tribute to the Ocean Why doth the Ayre flye froÌ„ the bowels of the earth with shaking of the Worlds foundation But that euery thing moueth impetuously to the Center from whence it was takeÌ„ It is the speculation of Philosophie that Lapis cum stat amouetur That a stone lying stone-still hath notwithstanding a secret motion to the Center It is the subtiltie of the Schoole Aquinas was the Author that whilest wee are in this life wee turne and change as the Moone Quiescimus in desideriis We rest in the desire of rest and yet we haue restlesse desires But in Heauen there is Desideriorum quies the verie Center and quiet of desiring where our desires shall not be satiated but they shall bee satisfied It is the sweete contemplation of Saint Austen Fecisti nos Domine à te inquietum est Cor nostrum donec reuertatur ad te Lord our soules they came from thee and neuer are quiet till they returne vnto thee In the third sense Our life is supposed an Office and place of charge and we must not depart without the leaue of our Superiour Militia est vita hominis super terram Our life saith Iob is a warfare God placed some in the foreward some in the rerâ—ward some in the wings some in the battaile euerie man hath a station and no man must depart without his Dimittis without his Pasport Neyther the light of Nature nor the light of Grace directeth a man in anie case to put out the light of life In the monuments of Heathen History Lucrecia Cato Cleombrotus are honored for their owne dishonor for if Lucrecia was vnchast why is she honored If she were chast why was she murdred Si noÌ„ est illa impudicitia qua inuita comprimitur non est haec iustitia qua casta punitur If it were not want of Chastitie in her that was forced vnwillingly it was want of iustice in her that was slaine vniustly If Cato did well to teare out his owne bowels why did he commaund his sonne his owne bowels to begge his life of Caesar Tantum gloriae ipsius Caesaris invidit hee so much enuied Caesars glorie that hee was transported to vnreasonable furie Cleoâ—brotus read Platos Phoedo vnaduisedly else would he not haue destroyed his bodie to obtaine the soules immortalitie Maiori supplicio afficiendus est desertor vitae quà m desertor militiae hee is more to bee punished that voluntarily forsaketh his life then hee that flyeth from his Captaine and Leader The very light of Nature teacheth that there is more valour to endure a miserable life then to imbrace a wretched death But the light of grace commaunds vs not to kill others much lesse to violate our selues Sampson cannot be excused except by God hee was secretly inspired Nisi quia Spiritus latenter hoc iusserat qui per illum miracula faciebat Except the Spirit of God did secretly inspire him who did miraculously vpon his prayer at his death strengthen him Those sacred Virgins who in the sack of Rome sought to preuent the barbarous Adulterer by a voluntarie murder of themselues committed a certaine sinne to preuent an vncertaine shame Non sit tedio vobis vita vestra siludibrio fuit hostibus castitas vestra O blessed Soules saith Saint Augustine Why should you bee weary of life when your Chastitie was a prey to your enemies How could you endure the shame of the Crosse of Christ that cannot endure the rumours of Pagans There is no shame no sorrow no miserie that should force a Christian to a desperate prevention Consider what Saint Paul Phil. 1. ballanced together I am in a streight betwixt two hauing a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is farre better neuerthelesse to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you Quasi sapiens amplectitur mortis lucrum Quasi seruus non refugit vitae obsequium As a wiseman hee desireth death as a seruant he endureth life Will you haue another rule for the act of departing as you had for the time of departing Behold Simeon patient in life patient in death Hee would not liue without a permittis a promise to see Christ hee would not die without a dimittis without a licence to enjoy Christ. Saint Augustine speakes plainely and yet acutely Some men that are crowned with Roses and enioy the Worlds Paradise they desire to liue Some men who are wasted with sorrowes they desire to die Now sayth the Father Si habes vitam in desiderio habe mortem in patientia Habes vitam in patientia si habes mortem in desiderio If you haue life in desire yet die patiently If you haue death in desire yet liue contentedly In summe WHen God will be not troubled to die Till God will be not troubled to liue To be thus prepared Simeon thought it his dutie for he confesses that he is a seruant And you know a seruant comes when his master bids come goes when his master bids goe and therefore it is not Dimitte me let mee depart nor let Simeon depart But let thy seruant depart Speake Lord for thy seruant heareth giue leaue O Lord for thy seruant obeyeth Seruum tuum I Find this title of Seruant giuen to them by God which I am sure neuer intended to serue God Ier. 25. verse 9. Ier. 27. verse 6. Nebuchadnezzar my Seruant Esay 44. verse 28. Cyrus my Shepheard and a Shepheard is a Seruant I find on the contrary that the best Saints of God haue no better title Iosu. 1. 2. Moyses my Seruant is dead Iob 1. 8. Hast thou not considered my Seruant Iob This Contrarietie implie some difficultie If Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus be Gods Seruants what priuiledge is it for Moyses and Iob to bee the Seruants of God One plaine distinction makes a perfect resolution It is one thing to serue God actiuely and another thing to serue God passiuely All the world are Gods Flailes Gods Mallets Gods Scepters of Iron to breake in pieces his enemies as a Potters vessell but some few in
soule God fashioned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the outward man of the bodie And God ioyned soule and bodie together with an incomprehensible vnion Fire and Water are not so contrarie as flesh and spirit Tell me then what are the strings what the buckles what are the cords of loue what slime of Euphrates what Gumme of Arabia what Cement and Glue doe ioyne an immortall incorporeall insensible soule in a house of Clay in a bodie of earth the most grosse most base most solid element Surely wee are wonderfully made None but God did cōpose vs none but God can preserue vs none but God by his permission or direction ordinarie or extraordinarie administration of second causes can dissolue vs. He with a breath gaue vs breath he with a word takes away our breath and all our thoughts perish Let no Asa trust in his Phisitian no Naamans trust to the Riuers of Damascus no Absolon to the lustre of Beautie no Maximus to the strength of an Elephant no Herod to the flattering clamour of Idolizing People that wee are not men but Gods Those who in regard of their constitutions communicate in the sanguine of the Rose and in the snowie beautie of the Lilly their bodies are sayth Saint Chrysostome but nidus hirundinum A Swallowes nest composed of durt and straw they are no fairer then Ionas Goord a Worme strooke it at the root and the Goord withered The greatest Lord that liues may make King Philips Fable his Motto and Morall Menippus the Satyricall Philosopher meeting Mercurie in the Elizian fields amongst all the ghosts would needs know which was Philip the great King of Macedon Hee quoth Mercurie is Philip of Macedon that hath the bald head Menippus I know him not by this for all their skuls are bald Mercurie Hee which hath a flat nose is Philip of Macedon Menippus Why all haue flat noses Mercurie Hee with the hollow eyes is King Philip of Macedon Menippus Why all haue hollow eyes bare teeth naked ribs open pores disiointed members all are carkasses Mercurie Why then Menippus in death there is no difference betwixt a King and a Beggar We must say that he that was Lord of Salomon the Prince he was Lord of Simeon the Prophet Wee must say with Iob the Lord giueth and the Lord taketh away The ballance of life and death in which the highest and lowest are weighed is onely turned by the imperiall hand of God Simeon therefore as in the rest so in this hee is curious to die hee asketh death of him who only hath the power of life and death So absolute a power that as the Psalmist speaketh Dixit facta sunt hee spake the word and all things were made So Dicat non sunt let him speake but a word and all things will bee marde Therefore Simeon to the dutie of a seruant and the power of a Lord addeth Secundum Verbum tuum according to thy Word Knowing that it is the dutie of a seruant to depart at the least word of his Master Secundum Verbum tuum THis clause is plainely interpreted vers 26. Simeon had a reuelation by the holy Ghost that hee should not see death till he had seene Christ. This was Gods word and this was a certaine word but yet looke into this word and for one certainety you shall finde two vncertainties First the Text saith Expectabat consolationem hee expected the consolation of Israel To see Christ he was certaine but when to see Christ hee was vncertaine Againe he was to liue till Christ came that was certaine but whether hee should then immediately die that also was vncertaine Nicephorus saith he dyed presently at that instant But the Scriptures and Apostolicall Fathers are altogether silent therefore it is dangerous to be confident Simeon therefore had an absolute certainty of life no absolute certainty of death No more had Moses and Aaron they were certaine to die and neuer to enter into Canaan but they were not certaine when they should see Canaan from the Mount and so die Hezekiah that was promised fifteene yeeres life must so be vnderstood as he was threatned a present death both condicionall and limited to the order of second causes which haue not in them an absolute necessitie but a voluble contingencie God did not make Hezekiahs body impassible against externall violence nor incorruptible against internall corruption But thus saith the Lord I haue heard thy prayer I haue seene thy teares I will adde fifteene yeares of strength I will repaire the defects of nature and extend them to a possibilitie of fifteene yeeres with an implicite condition of thy repentance and so of thy liues continuance Yea to goe a little farther that which Christ said of the day of Iudgement is applyed by the Fathers to the day of death that neither the Angels nor Christ the Lord of Angels doth know that day and houre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hee knoweth that saith Nazian as God but as Man he doth not know it I am not ignorant that the Schoole and some of the Fathers doe interpret those wordes in another sense But Bernard Ambrose and Chrysostome doe concurre with Nazian affirming that Christ as man did not know it not because he could not but because he would not Ne eam ignorantiam feramus molestius quaecum Christo Angelis nobis est communis that wee may beare that ignorance patiently which is common to vs with Christ and his Angels Many men I confesse are sicke of lingring consumptions the infallible harbingers of death and yet they are not certaine of the moment of their consumption Many at the beginning of their sicknesse feele in their hearts a presage of their death and yet they languish in hope and know not the certaine houre of their dissolution The generall rule remayneth that Simeon knew not that no man knoweth the place the manner the moment of death First not the place and it is no great matter since Rachel dyed in the high-way aswell as Iezabel in the streets since Iosias and Achab both dyed in the field since Saul and Ionathan dyed both in one battell and their carkases were hung vp as Trophees of a bloudie Victorie in a barbarous Citie Will you heare a Philosophicall comfort Earth you know is the Cēter heauen is the worlds circumference If any man shall draw a Circle with his pen with a point in the middest of the Circle the Circle is equally distant from all points of the Circle vnto the point of the Center There is therefore from all parts of the point and Center of the earth an equall distance to the Circle and Circumference of Heauen What matter therfore though the bodies of the Martyrs were intombed in the entrailes of wilde beasts though their ashes were scattered vpon Rhodanus though their carkases were made a prey to the fowles of heauen What glorie was it to Martials flie though it were buryed in concreted Christall what shame to Naboth though
in the 15. of Luke of a prodigall sonne in the 16. of Luke of a prodigall seruant and prodigalitie brought both to beggery the one with shame came crying to his father the other said he was driuen to cozen his Master Our honourable Earle therefore professeth in his Will and Testament that hee did not build yonder Monument of stone for any vaine glory but as an Emblem to his posteritie that their house was ruinated by Richards prodigalitie was restored by Henries frugalitie Such a curse followeth Absolon Such a blessing followeth Ioseph I call not euill good I apparell not vice with the Liuery of vertue It was not basenesse but prouidence that laid the foundation It was not oppression but time that finished this building You of this Parish know his voluntary contribution to publike charges whereof hee was freed by Law You of the Country know his perpetual hous-keeping his relieuing of the poore his feasting of whole Townes at publike times and solemnities He knew full well that a man may better cheape keepe a constant and good house then an vnconstant and wicked harlot In one word Iacob prouided and God prospered But all these Heroicall politicall Oeconomicall vertues are common vnto Traian aswell as to a Christian all these things without grace are not a naturall but a painted floure of glory Except wee can find that he was as good a seruant of God as he was a Lord of men omnis humana Iustitia similâ—s est corpori caput non habenti All humane Iustice saith Lactantius is but like a body without a head Is but the shadow Is not the substance of vertue Let vs leaue him therefore as a Lord of men and consider him as a seruant of God To expresse which attribute of a seruant I find two other words in the Text the first doth expresse the duty of life the second doth afford securitie in death I Secundum verbum according to Gods word in liuing 2. In pace according to Gods will in dying His life was secundum verbum according to Gods word whether you consider his publike or his priuate deuotions His publike deuotions in fauouring and honouring the Lords Prophets like another Obadiah he fed them at his owne Table hee vsed them with all respect of their calling he accounted them as the Angels of Gods Church and not as many politikes doe the basest of Ieroboams Priests Hee knew that those that serued at Gods Altar were not to bee accounted as the retriment of the people It being an infallible consequence that he who despiseth Gods Ministers doth contemne God in his Ministers If Christ be Christ Christians will honour the Ambassadours of Christ. Atheisme is the mother and contempt the daughter of prophanenesse Next his deuotion appeared in the doctrine and discipline of truth against superstitious Idolatrie and ignorant noueltie Let me record what I know what he knew and professed For although Iuy cling about the Oake yet is not the fruit of the Oake It cannot be denied but that some that had more zeale then knowledge and I feare notwithstanding their frequent lip-labor more knowledge then conscience I am sure more sacrifice then obedience shrowded themselues vnder his protection which through the defect of his hearing hee could not auoid being compelled to entertaine such as the partialitie of some about him did commend vnto him but for his owne iudgement he euer desired men of religion void of ostentation men of conscience free from faction accounting the established Apostolicall discipline of the Church of England to be preferred before the lunacies and Fansies of Consistorian confusion Lastly his publike frequenting of Gods Temple not his priuate Chappell where through want of hearing he was rather a Spectator then an Actor gaue so good example to his houshold to the Inhabitants of the Towne and Country as the good that came thereby did testifie to all the world how much it concernes euery great person to bee either a Michael a Leader of Angels or a Lucifer a Captaine of Deuils I expresse my selfe Truth and Religion seeke no corners no woods no chambers no places no persons of darkenesse God doth giue that blessing to the publike Temple that he doth not giue to a priuate Chappell Indeede they are Chappels of ease more for their ease then their honor As though we cannot adore the God of heauen except we be attended like Beronice with pomp on earth If at the day of Iudgement we shall all stand in the Valley of Iehosaphat If the foure and twentie Elders doe cast their Crownes at the feet of the Lambe I beseech you must we for flate contemne the publique assemblies Our most noble most humble Earle knew that in respect of our sinnes the bloud of the poore Virgins Sonne doth equally wash the soule of a Lazar aswell as of Caesar. Therefore as there is but one common saluation so there ought to bee a common and a publique and a ioynt humble Inuocation His priuate deuotions were performed without a Trumpet I will not make them more by Arte then they were in heart Pray hee did pray hee did euery morning and euening pray hee did in his owne person pray he did in his Chamber without any other witnesse then the witnesse of a broken spirit to God Some one necessarily saw and obserued him as Daniel was obserued to pray towards Ierusalem but he did not pray to bee seene though hee was seene when he prayed As Christ went vp to Mount Oliuet which mountaine he chose for solitarinesse not for greatnesse His prayers ended his bodie refreshed his minde quieted the rest of the day he spent in reading the Scriptures and the Commentaries of holy writers in reuoluing the Histories of Church and State In few words the vanities of the world did not draw him from a constant and continuall course of Pietie So that the latter part of his life was like the daily reuolution of the Sunne in a seasonable and infallible and a certaine Spheare of Vertues His death was the last Sceane of all his labours which as I was informed was like to Simeons in the comfortable peace of his soule Great is Gods mercie when the earthly Tabernacle of the bodie doth so sensibly decay that wee finde our deaths before we feele it His body you know was ploughed with furrowes of age which caused him to keepe his bed before any but himselfe saw his period A Phisitian was sent for whose presence is mixed with feare and comfort but to him who was prepared his Phisitian brought neither coÌ„fort nor feare He reioyced that hee trusted not with Asa in his Phisitian but in his God And according to that confidence hee exhorted his affectionate brother with words of grace and pietie He put his house in order like Hezekiah and with great patience expected the howre of his dissolution His want of hearing excluded all possibilitie of externall comfort but he felt a Comforter within which none can tell
the World are his Trumpettors are his Labourers are his Ambassadors his Messengers of fire are his Angels his ministring Spirits Beares and Lions and Catterpillers and Wormes are the Executioners of his Iustice But Lambes and Doues are the voluntarie instruments of his mercie Nebuchadnezzar burnt the Temple Cyrus did build the Temple Both did the will of God Neyther intended to doe the will of God Both were Gods Seruants in execution neither of both were Gods Seruants in affection Both serued him with the hand neyther with the heart But to be Gods Seruants in affection to God and in protection from God is a singular prerogatiue For if the Seruants of Salomon were happie much more happie are they who serue a greater then Salomon If the Angell in the Reuelation acknowledgeth himselfe to bee the Apostles fellow-Seruant how great an honour is that to bee entertained into such a seruice where the Angels are our fellowes You call me Master saith Christ and you doe well for surely hee doth very ill that hath not Christ for his Master verie Ill indeed since it is mans necessitaled condition to be a Seruant Yee were the Seruants of sinne Rom. 6. 20. Yee are the Seruants of righteousnesse Rom. 6. 22. In both estates still Seruants Yee cannot serue God Mammon two Masters but you must serue God or Mammon one Master We must not halt betwixt God Baal but we must adhere to God or Baal We must eyther serue the Deuill as Simon Magus or wee must serue Christ as Simon Peter It is the percing contemplation of Basil that he enuied the Deuils happinesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who neyther made vs nor dyed for vs but seekes our bodies destruction and our soules perdition yet hee hath more Seruants then Iesus Christ that came downe from Heauen to redeeme vs and offered vp his bloud to saue vs. It is S. Augustines experience that to serue God is libertie to serue sin is slauery Seruus tot Dominorum quot vitiorum saith the Father a man is a slaue to so many Masters as hee is subiect to vices Many a great man endures Chams Curse he is Seruus Seruorum A Slaue of his Slaues Many a wiseman could not be abused as Herod was by Blastus his Chamberlaine Acts 12. Verse 20. if their owne guiltinesse did not make them feare their owne Seruants He that will not be the Slaue of men let him be the Seruant of God A good conscience is farre richer farre safer then the Brestplate of Aaron or the golden shield of Salomon To draw to a conclusion Will you haue a third rule to know when you are Gods Seruants Behold Simeon earnestly desiring to be with his Lord. Simeon had a patterne of Abrahams seruant Genesis 24. He went along iournie to fetch a Wife for Isaak he laded tenne Camels hee came at euening to the house of Bethuel he would not eate till he had told his errand the next morning hee would goe to his Master Send mee away verse 54. hinder me not verse 56. Send mee away that I may goe to my Master I will not stay tenne dayes for the Damsell not one day to refresh my wearie Camels I came in the euening I will returne the next morning Here is a true Seruant as soone as hee had Rebecca nothing pleased him but to returne to Abraham Here is a Simeon as soone as he had Christ nothing can content him but to returne to God Excellent is the meditation of Cyprian Eius est mortem timere quinon vult ad Christumire That man feares death that feâ—res to come to the Tribunall of Christ. You say you are Gods Seruants you boast of your faith you talke of Heauen let mee see the Caracter of Gods Seruants shew mee the power of your faith Expresse the desire of Heauen There is a secret infidelitie our tongues and hearts are contrarie to feare death and to desire eternall life are things incompatible Volumus ab eo praemijs honorari ad quem venimus inuiti How can we sayth Cyprian hope for Heauens happinesse when we are dragged thither with a fearefull vnwillingnesse God is not bound to make euerie Saul a King that only seekes for his Fathers Asses To conclude if we be Gods Seruants why doe wee feare to goe to God If wee feare to goe to God how are we Gods Seruants Simeon desired to be gone and we will leaue him and so passe from the Seruants condition to the Lords Dominion The Seruant was dutifull and the Lord is powerfull Lord IS the chiefe word in the Text and the chiefe word for the time For we see the Hearse of a dead Lord and we heare the power of a liuing Lord. There are many in earth who are called Lords but they are Lords of earth and those Lords are earth and those Lords must returne to earth as you see this day fulfilled in your eyes He who is the sonne of Ioseph Lord of Egypt the sonne of Iacob Lord of Caaaan who is the sonne of Isaak who is the sonne of Abraham who is the sonne of Nachor who is the sonne of Sem who is the sonne of Noah the sonne of Adam He is the sonne of Dust. There is a Lord of Lords who hath the power of life and death who rayseth out of the dust and setteth with Princes who powreth contempt vpon Princes and layeth their honour in the dust For none of vs saith the Apostle liueth to himselfe and no man dyeth vnto himselfe For whether wee liue wee liue to the Lord and whether we die we die to the Lord whether wee liue therefore or die we are the Lords The very word which Simeon vseth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord sayth Varinus hath reference to a Freeman Master to a Bondman Intimating in the very proprietie of sillables that man is a verie Bondman vnder the despoticall power of God Which principle of Religion the light of Nature seeth In a storme at Sea euery Idolatrous Mariner calls vpon his God In a drought at Land euerie Churle howles vpon his bed euen those who neuer thinke on God in their life will call vnto the Lord for feare of death But by the light of grace Elias in his agonie Ionas in his furie Lord take my life death they desired but death by God permitted The Apostles in their feare Lord saue vs wee perish The thiefe in his paine vpon the Crosse Lord remember me when thou commest into thy Kingdome Stephen vnder the stones Lord Iesu receiue my spirit Saul cast downe from his Horse but cast downe lower in his soule Lord what wilt thou haue me to doe Lord Lord is the Eccho of miserie is the suppliant for mercie Saint Basil giues the reason GOD created 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inward man of the
had determined his right and title his owne heart was Chaunceler to quench the fire of contention Iust hee was to keepe the Countrey free from the sonnes of Belial A peace-maker hee was to compromise and to end vnchristian controuersies Iust he was and feared not the gratest Louing he was and contemned not the least I can remember that when I was brought vp at the feete of this Gamaliel that euery Thursday which is now by Gods direction contrary to your first resolution the day of his memoriall hee rode to a neighbour-Towne of Amptill where he first frequented Gods Temple to heare a Sermon and to offer vp a sacrifice to God and then consulted with the Iustices and Officers of trust for the peace of the Countrie There might you see euery Thursday as at the Poole of Bethesda the Orphant and the widdow the poore and afflicted seeking and finding of comfort There the Recâ—sant and ill-affected subiect were conuented examined perswaded and if all would not serue restrained from infecting the credulous multitude So that Gods Religion was countenanced the oppressed were succoured the darnell was seuered the peace and ciuilitie of the Country by such a solemne and ordinarie meeting was maintained If I speake false accuse me If I speake truth testifie with me for many of you know the substance when I remember onely the shadow For his Oeconomicall vertues as he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Lord of a Family three things are obserued by the Philosopher First the choise of a wife Next the entertainment of seruants The third the care of our estate that wee bee not hurtfull but helpefull vnto others The Wife is the first for she either is our helper or our tempter our good or our euill Angell But before I can speake a word of her of whom I learned first to speake I must make Saint Austens confession Pudet me illius aetatis in qua me vixisse non memini I am ashamed of my infancy amongst you in which I doe not remember that euer I liued But could I remember what some of you haue told me whom I am bound to beleeue I should heere giue publike thanks to God that hath called me to his Ministery vpon this occasion Collater ally to honour her memory who for her recreation vouchsafed to instruct me in the Alphabet and elements of learning I beseech you giue way a little to my affectionate thankfulnesse if I interueyne our Earles honours with his wiues vertues Her first lifes blood was deriued from ancient Gentrie but her seruice in Court her excellence of body and graces of mind transplanted her into the stock of more ancient Nobilitie Our Earle found her the Widow of that great Earle Edward of Derby found and a while kept her a most beloued louing gracious compassionate religious and noble Lady whose vntimely death without issue deuided a paire of honourable Turtles deuided their bodies but not their soules 34. yeeres hee spent as a mourner of her Funerals deuided their bodies but not their loues for though her body lyes buryed at great Gaddesden which necessitie did enforce yet all that Iacob could doe for Rachel he hath done for her in ioyning her piller vpon his owne sepulchre making one indiuiduall monument for them both in this Chappell to testifie to all the world that happy vnion of which neither life nor death could make a disiunction Such was his Lady such was their loue I would to God the discontentments of great Lords and Ladies did not make it remarkeable What a shame is it when our honourable mariages are like that of Pompey with Iulia of Anthony with Octauia which are not made to vnite hearts but houses nor to ioyne affections but factions the issue being as fatall as the beginning was vnfaithfull But I had rather powre foorth prayers to God for reformation then spend vnregarded words of reprehension Let it suffice that they there lye together in one graue of whom you cannot iudge whether their honour were greater or their loue The next thing in a family is the entertainement of seruants which this Honourable person knew best to chuse because himselfe had been a seruant Though hee was borne of a most Noble family yet being a younger brother as the vniust yet vsuall custome of our Country is hee was compelled by necessitie to serue in a Noble Familie but after was preferred to the seruice of the late Queene of happy memory In both which he gained such experienâ—e that hee knew with Iacob how to reforme his houshold that no Idolatrous Baalite no Idle-bellied Cretian no prophane Esau no Ruffian Lamech no blasphemous Rabsache no inordinate persen should by his will and knowledge shrowd their abominable vices vnder his Honourable vertues Hee well knew the sharpe speech of Aristippus who replied to a wonderer of a great traine of seruants At plures muscas in culina hee had not saith the Philosopher so many seruants in his Hall as he had flies in his Kitchen Seruants who are fed like great horses onely for pompe and shew are vsually irreligious and vnprofitable creatures But those seruants whom hee intertained those he trusted accounting it a French lightnesse to intertaine a few Pyes and to change them as often as their Liueries His ancient seruants fit for a setled and an Honorable house sufficient for their number and extraordinarie for their qualities whereof some had continued with him tenne yeeres some twentie some thirtie some fortie yeeres those according to the meanes and measure of his estate he rewarded at his death Others who serued him lesse time hee honoured either with a Ring of remembrance or comforted with halfe a yeeres wages for their present maintenance Generally he commended them all to his Honourable Brother that howsoeuer they had lost a louing Lord yet they might find a Noble Master It was a great part of his care at death that his seruants might be prouided for the meanes of life I must not forget to conclude this point with the remembrance of another Legacy Our Noble Earle did so remember his owne seruants as he did not forget Gods poore seruants 50. pounds he allotted by his will to be distributed to Christs brethren to feed them to clothe them or in such manner to comfort them as their necessitie required and his brothers iudgement should order that as his soule was to bee comforted by the blood of the Lambe So as Iob speaketh the loynes of the poore might bee warmed with the fleece of his sheepe The third point was the care of his estate which as he publisheth in the Record of his Will and Testament he found almost ruinated by the vaine prodigalitie of Richard Earle of Kent He knowing therefore that Honour without meanes is but a glorious burden but the Tower of Babel the seminary of confusion he made a carefull frugalitie the fuell of his continuall hospitalitie Great things by prouidence are attained by prodigalitie ruinated You reade