earth wee sometimes lose our Seruices sometimes our Lords and Masters but Nullum tempus occurrit Deo his tenure holds throughout all Generations It s true Nor Servus Meus nor Amicus noster will serue for Priviledge in the case of death but Servus Meus Mortuus Amicus noster dormit onely remember this if Servus Meus and Amicus noster and hee whom Christ loued bee dead Iohn 11.3 why should any man bee afraid If death were a Scorpion Servus Meus and Amicus noster should not bee endangered by it then let sinne raigne to death so Grace also raigne vnto righteousnesse thorow Iesus Christ vnto eternall life Rom. 5. So then nor Servus nor Servus Meus exclude Mortuus But if Death bee not afraid like Aaron and Miriam to set vpon my Seruant dare it aduenture vpon Moses may not hee bee priuiledged whose life was a booke not of Lamentations and mournings and woes Ezek. 2. though euen of these it had reasonable store of marginall notes but a booke of Priuiledges and Miracles and strange obseruations such as set him aside the world neuer had among the Sons of men Begin at his birth In the Edict against the male Children hee was priuiledged and preserued from death When Pharaoh sought his life for slaying the Egyptian then was hee likewise priuiledged Exod. 2. yea in those Wonders which hee wrought in Pharaohs Court hee was so priuiledged that the wrath of the King was not onely no messenger of death but he did fawne vpon Moses as if he would licke the dust of his feet I haue sinned against GOD and against you and I pray you forgiue mee this once Exod. 10.17 Aaron was great yet was Moses his God Exod. 4. Pharaoh was a great King yet was Moses his God too Exod. 7. And as God hee not onely receiued but gaue priuiledges Was it not a great priuiledge that hee gaue vnto the Israelites that they should not wet their feet where Pharaoh was drown'd and all his hoast Exod. 14. No maruell if hee made the Sea a Wall to the Israelites that drew water out of the Rocke for the Israelites The Sea nothing more fluid the Rocke nothing more hard and the Rocke againe a Riuer that still Moses life was a succession of priuiledges Nor was his Power confined to the Earth or Sea it reached to Heauen where it brought downe Manna for their bread and Quailes for their food And may not this Man of priuiledges bee priuiledged to goe some other way but by the gates of death euen Moses must passe to life Hee that had beene so long entertained by Angels food in the Mount that when hee came downe his face did shine as if hee had beene transfigured so as they were afraid to looke vpon him may not He bee translated to heauen body and soule together but that skinne once so bright must bee eaten with wormes GOD intreated Moses Let mee alone as if without his leaue hee could doe nothing that I may consume them hee offers him faire conditious so indulgent was GOD to Moses that hee would buy his consent Let mee consume them and I will make of thee a mighty people Exod. 32.10 And Moses preuailed with GOD but GOD could not preuaile with Moses for Moses prayed and chid verse 11 Why doth the wrath of my Lord waxe hot against his people And pleads verse 12. Lest the Aegyptians say hee brought them malitiously out of Aegypt to destroy thē Yea in the same verse hee importunes GOD yet further Turne from thy fierce wrath nay challenges GOD of his word verse 13. Remember Abraham Isaac and Iacob yea charges him with his oath which thou swarest vnto them Then after all this the Lord changed his minde from the euill he meant to bring vpon them You see his Priviledges and you see his power but neuer a word on Gods part that he shall not die neuer a word on his owne part that hee may not die Hee that would not let GOD alone for his people lets him alone for himselfe neuer opens his mouth but hearing of death as a thing that neuer troubled him hee addresseth himselfe to dispatch such businesse as was fit for a man of his qualitie and place And being ready to depart out of the world hee blessed the people went vp to the mount and there hee dyed I said before if Seruus Meus dye why should any man feare Now if Moses bee dead none shall escape One example we haue before the Law Gen. 5. Enoch was taken away and was no more seene and the same GOD that dispensed with one before priuiledged one other in the time of the Law but long after in the times of Iehoram King of Iuda Elijah in a whirewinde was caried vp to Heauen 2 King 2. GOD vouchsafing to those seuerall ages of the world demonstrations of our immortality But this was extraordinarie two there were and but two to shew that wee are bound and hee is not but hath a transcendent power ouer all the workes of his hands Nor was hee frequent in making such grants lest any man should challenge and those rather to good than to great men And though in Elijahs time when devotion grew cold fifty sonnes of the Prophets were allowed to bee witnesses it was not yeelded to in Enoch's time none were then suffered to bee present yea it is deliuered in obscure tearmes Enoch was taken away not taken vp so wary was GOD in passing such grants The best then must die Servus meus and Amicus noster GODS seruants and friends all are dead and the greatest cannot escape For if Moses so great and besides all ye haue heard so honored that many ages after GOD reviueth his memory and saith Though Moses stood before mee I would not bee intreated Ier. 15.1 If Moses so famous to posterity and whose memory is so frequent in the Scriptures that it is mentioned aboue an hundred and twenty times in the old Testament after his death and almost as often in the new and that by many honourable testimonies euen from our Sauiour Christ himselfe if hee might not be spared let all generations submit themselues to that condition which the best and greatest haue vndergone Then let not strength presume hee whose eye was not dimme nor naturall force abated when hee was an hundred and twenty yeeres old is dead Deut. 34. Let not courage he that so brauely slew the Egyptian in the defence of his Country-man is himselfe dead Let not beauty the glorious Countenance of Moses 2 Cor. 3.7 is now become dust and ashes Let not power magnifie it selfe hee that destroyed Pharaoh and all his people euen Moses is laid downe and cannot rise vp Let not wisdome and learning boast his thoughts are perished that was learned in all the knowledge of the Aegyptians Acts 7. Let not authority and pre-eminence Pharaohs God and Aarons God a man greater thē the Pope wold be thought to be aboue Prince aboue Priest is now
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
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