come Rev. 20.6 That divine speech of Iohn in his revelation should rap vs vp into heaven with Paule Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrectiō for on such the second death hath no power The Godly only die once but rise twice they die only the death of the body but rise in soule and body the wicked they die twice rise but once they rise in body but die the death of soule and body a part they haue in the second death of the damned but no part in the second resurrection of the iust or if any part such a part as Iudas had in the Sacrament a sop that poisoned his soule or such a parte as Simeon and Levi had in their fathers legacy Beaux in Harm Partē habent nō redemptionis etiamsi resurrectionis a part not of redemption though of resurrection O then who wil cause his eies to be the Pander for his lust if with these eies he hope to behold God who wil cause his body to be the curse of his soule if hee hope in his soule and body to attend God for euer more When that all that haue beene kept fast and fettred in the chaines of death from al the ages of the world shal meete their bodies cursing their souls crying against them that either the soule should please the body that loathsome lumpe or the body should be the snare and prison for the soule either to abuse it or abase it to perdition by subiection What shal then be the comfort of the Godly who shal rise to ioy and immortality and be restored to glory I say to more glory then the bounds of imagination can containe that the Lord shal shew them the pathes of life and in his light they shall see light and shall bee filled with the ioy of his countenance for evermore That they shal rise to the resurrection of the iust to the everlasting length of daies Aquin. to the beholding of Gods glorious face in which blessed vision omnis sit a est beatitudo al blessednesse consisteth as the schooles determine al this ioy Christ hath purchased with his bloud and is gone to possesse in his body Heb. 12.1 Wherefore beloved to vse the exhortation of the Apostle to the Hebrewes lay aside every waight of sin the sinne which hangeth on run with patience the race which is set before you The holy Patriarches haue runne it now be with Christ whom they haue longer expected then yet enioyed the blessed Prophets haue run this race though through a sea of bloud the Apostles Martyrs Saints this race victoriously haue run in the sunnes course with more light then the sunne vp Vp then and the Lord shal be with you 1. Cor. 15. pray fast watch weepe endeavour labour and your labour will not be in vaine in the Lord. You shal laie downe your bodies in grace and peace resume them againe in ioy and glory You must goe this iourney the decree of this Taxe is come our it is as the lawe of the Medes and Persians not to be revoked Everie one of vs may say of our Master as David of his sonne I shal go to him he shall never returne to me which leadeth me to my third and last part the acknowledgement of the inevitable stroake of death I shall goe to him hee shall not returne to me In the 3. of Genesis Pars 3. Gen. 3. you may finde mans Exodus Thou shalt dye it is the first Text of mortality in Scripture al Comments doe concur to the exposition of this The caus of Adams death was the breach of dyet God forbad him fruit of one tree this he hungreth for and taste it he wil though it cost him his life S. Austin bringeth our first parents thus disputing in a dialogue concerning that fruit if this fruit be good Aug why may I not eat of it if it be not good why groweth it in Paradise Domine dedisti hortum negâsti pomum Lord haste thou given vs the garden and denied vs the apple therefore saith Austin God hath given thee the benefit of Paradise because thou maist know his favour and mercy and therefore hath hee denied this one fruit to thee because he may find thy obedience and dutie This duty and obedience neglected by our Grand-sire ever since death the lodge of all mens liues commeth with insensible degrees vpon the children of men no wisdome shall appease no policy prevent no riches correct it The impartial hand of death is ever destroying the insatiable throat of the earth ever devouring death the vsurper of Kingdomes and the intruder into Countries breaketh the studies of the learnedst interrupteth the enterprises of the wisest croppeth of the hopes of the fairest in a calme a tempest overtakes them and sinkes them delay may repriue them but death wil serue the execution of that sentence vpon them It is a statute statutum est omnibus semel mori It is appointed that all men must die David knewe this and therfore his words be I must goe to him he shall not reture to me It is the conceit of some Thalmudists that if ever any had escaped this fatall generall sentence Miscel Thalm. Moyses and Christ had beene freed Moses saw God spake with him asked him answered him beheld him and a kind of cōmunicatiō of some divine lustre was imparted to him his face did shine never face to face did man behold God as Moses did yet Moses must die hee must ascend the Mount and there expire The oracle of Israel Terror of Egypt discoverer of Canaan Prophet Priest Captaine Guider leader of his people must yeeld to death though hee lived to behold the God of life Though Moses died and yeelded to death yet Christ might haue beene freed hee was equal to the father touching his Godhead and concerning his manhood his body was not begot in sinne not conceaued in sinne yet the death of this sonne of God if ever any one was so sealed and ratified as farre as either the iustice of the father or the engins of Tyrannie of men could devise this Virgin sonne of the Virgin mother Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda lambe of God gaue vp the Ghost Every true Hebrewe must celebrate this Passover every man may say for his Master Father neighbour brother friend child as David here I must goe to him hee shall never returne to me They cannot come from that ioy and glory they are in a Cloud of witnesses giue testimony of the blessed state of their abode No returne no comming backe no passage from them as Abraham told Dives in the Parable they bee in refrigerio in that sweet refreshing saith Austin Aust de Sanctis Ambr. Chrys Hom. Greg. they bee in gaudio in ioyfull rest saith Ambrose they bee in atrio Domint saith Chrysostome in the Court of the Lordes house they be in manu Dei in the hand of
whether you haue so mourned as yee ought in this our last losse Alas where now be our Teares It s a Prodigie that fountains be dried vp in winter Heathēs in their ritual books deliver their order of Lamentation for common men to be 30 daies the Hebrewes lamented Moses and Aaron and Iacob 40 daies the Egyptians went beyond both and mourned for Iacob 70 daies Gen 50 3. and I knowe in this company some will goe farre beyond these Egyptians making their whole liues remembrances of their Masters death and entertaining no guest into their soule but sorrow Yet herein also others haue gone further then any of you intend Amorits by laming their bodies Grecians shaving their heads Tibracians by howling and roaring for the dead so many other Countries by horrid and vnnaturall Geromonies But in all this causes rather then effects are to be lamented Ratio docet trahit affectio Bern. saith Bernard Reason doth informe and affection doth inforce this former manner of lamentation but grace doth commēd and God doth command another mourning mourning for abhominations as it followeth in my Text for the Abhominations When Rahel wept 2. Part God by his prohibition crieth Noliflere weep not Our Saviour in the Gospell beheld none weeping but prohibiteth them Ier 31.16 Luk. 8.15 Tairus wept for his daughter and Christ saith Noliflere weepe not The poore widdow following them that bate her sonne to the buriall is forbidden in the same words Noliflere Our Saviour ready to go to his passion Luk. 7.13 the daughters of Ierusalem wept for him hee for biddeth thē Nolite flere weep yee not Luc. 23.28 Doth God forbid weeping and doth the Prophet promise a reward for weeping yes saith Rabanus non ideo vt nonlugeant temporalia sed ne negligerent suiritualia Nature doth teach vs to weepe for Naturall causes but grace for spirituall such is this mourning to bee rewarded Mourne for the abhominations Common sinnes are to be lamented they be the vnfruitfull thornes that choake the good seed of vertue and grace the corrupters of iudgement the seducers of will the betrayers of vertue the flatterers of vice vnderminers of Courage slaues to weaknes infection of youth madnesse of age the curse of life and the reproach of death the least of our bosome sinnes is fire in the hand and a serpent in the heart a Canker a spider an evill spirit and the fruit hereof is death But the worde wickednesse is a degree that farre exceedeth common sinnes The Hebrewes obserue that the word wickednesse in the originall is transcendent It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a small fault nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iniquitie nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 simply evil but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as importing the all sufficient Tearme for all manner of impetuous impiety nor restrained to any one branch of the breach of the Commandements but outstretching al degrees that whatsoever exceedeth modesty is contrary to reason nature grace or scripture settled into dregges frozen into ice hauing forced captiuated the soul to impious servility with a whorish forehead that cannot be ashamed aspiring crying climing towring filling and defiling the earth poisoning the aire lifting it selfe aboue the stars yet in this exuberancy transcēdēcy Abhominatiō like the whore of Babylon striueth to sit higher Rev. 13.1 shee is the beast that rose out of the sea hauing seauen heads 10 hornes and vpon her hornes ten crownes and on her heads the name of Blasphemy Abhomination is the abstract the Lucifer Rev. 17.5 the Dragon the Babylon the great mother of all whoredomes all witchcrafts and to say no more it is Idolatrie survey the former Chapter you will find it The great abhominations mentioned there be foure first the Idoll of indignation or as others read it the image of ielousie Pint. in loc quatuor abom genera secondly the Auncients or Nobles committing Idolatrie and one especially named among the rest Thirdly women weeping over an Idoll women not of the meanest Lastly betweene the porch and the altar the place of the Priests Villapand and therefore collected hence that these were Priests they are committing Idolatry And after the Prophet had seen every one of them the Lord by a gradatiō leadeth every degree every vision to a higher elevation of their abhomination for when he had seene every one of them he saith but behold greater abhominations The first is that Idoll of indignation or image of iealonsie Luth. Lamb. Villalpand Pint. in Ezek. which what it was is not generally concluded but as the most and best it was the image of Baal which was the first occasion of the heathens and Iewes Idolatrie Every Idoll in scripture is called vanitas mendatium for nicatio abominatio but this especially Villalp this is the abomination of desolation in high places some referre this Idoll to that which Manasses made 2. Chr. 34.4 but Iosias tooke that away for he brake downe the alters of Baalim that were before him Others expoūd this of those made in the time of Zedekias an Idoll it was and the cause of indignatiō The second was greater Ancients cōmitting Idolatry worshipping burning incense to the formes and pictures of creeping things Ezek. 9. v. 16. abominable beasts privatly in their chambers and to all the Idols of the house of Israell These seaventy the Sanidrim the Councell of Israel the elders of Israell Num. 11. as they be called by God at their first institution they that should haue taken care for Gods service they commit abomination But the third abhomination was greater at the doore of the Lords house there sate women weeping and mourning for Tammuz Lascivi daemonis simulachrum saith an interpreter the Idoll of a lascivious Devill whether of Adonis or Osiris or Saturne or whatsoever it was devilish it was R. Moses apud pint in Ezek. Rabbi Moyses the Aegyptian saith this Tammuz was the Idolatrous statue of one so called who was a great worshipper of Idols and he dying desired to be so adored it was an horrid abominatiō But the fourth is greater then al betweene the porch the altar some Priests say all Interpreters turning their backes to the Temple and their faces to the sun worship towardes the East this was the most abhorred of al others Obserue the transcendency and priority of these in their dagrees first the Idoll of Iealousie this was but at the gate at the entry there it might haue stood as a by-word to those that passe by a contemptible thing a Mehushtan a ruin ous Skeleton time eaten weather beaten Monument no it stood there to be adored worshipped publikely Behold saith the Lord the abhominatiō that the house of Israell committeth herein yet beholde greater abhominations the Nobles and Ancients worship not one Idoll only but the formes of creeping things abhominable beastes all the Idols of the house of Israell
SPIRITVALL ODOVRS TO THE MEMORY OF PRINCE HENRY IN FOVRE OF THE LAST SERmons preached in St JAMES after his Highnesse death the last being the Sermon before the body the day before the Funerall BY DANIEL PRICE then Chaplaine in Attendance ECCLVS 49.1 The remembrance of Iosias is like the composition of the perfume made by the Apothecary AT OXFORD Printed by Ioseph Barnes and are to be sold by Iohn Barnes dwelling neere Holborne Conduit 1613. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY VERTVOVS AND GRATIOVS PRINCE PRINCE CHARLES THE BEAVTY OF THE COVRT AND THE BLESSING OF THIS COVNTREY DANIEL PRICE VVITH HIS MOST DEVOTED OBSERVANCE OFFERETH THESE HIS LAST SERVICES TO BLESSED PRINCE HENRY PSAL. 90.15 Comfort vs now according as thou hast afflicted vs. HONOVRABLE mournefull worthy Auditory I stande heere as that amazed servaunt of Elias crying lamenting for my MASTER feeling the paine fearing the perill of his losse Ps 19.5 ô what a thunderbolt of astonishment is it to vs all that the sunne comming forth as a bridegroome out of his chamber and reioicng as a Gyant to runne his course should set even before the Meridian and mid-day it is a thought that beates the breath out of my body and makes my soule ready to fly from mee yet seeing it is your owne desire and expectation that wee should frequently gather to these sad and solemne exercises in this holy place of this house of mourning though my worthy Colleagues sicknesse and mine owne weakenesse might be Apologies I forbeare rather the excuse then the exercise seeing Apologies be as obvious as odious not only Heralds to blaunch but vshers to blame such delinquencie You haue heard how our Saviour his servants his disciples dayly waiters were scattered Mat. 26.13 in the same chapter I finde smal argument of comfort for these distressed dispersed soules but at the same time as may be collected out of S. Iohn our Saviour comforteth his servants thus Ioh. 16.22 Yee are now in sorrow but I will see you againe and your harts shall reioice which meditation now hath moved me Gen. 8. to bring you an Oliue braunch in these waues and waters of sorrow not thereby to wish an end to your mourning but to season it that it may be better and stronger Gen. 8 8. Mat. 3.16 and hereafter more for your pleasure more for your profit when the Arke was on the waters the Doue was sent out when Christ was in the waters the Doue was sent downe Greg. in Moral Columba est spiritus consolationis saith Gregory the Doue representeth the spirit of comfort and when the flood is come to full tide the Doue shall be sent that the waters may cease when sorrow is at full age sweet wood must be cast into the bitter waters Psal 85.8 peace shall come saith the Prophet Comfort shall haue a time worldly contentments may end in bitternesse Ioseph Antiq. Iordan may runne a long race sweetly and pleasantly and afterwardes fall into the dead sea and never recover it selfe againe but the ioy and comfort of Gods servants notwithstanding all ecclipses shall finally never be obscured Chrysost times twins day and night shal be changed the foure colours of the vaile of mans Tēple the Elements shal be consumed the soule and body of the world Heaven and earth shal be destroyed but the comforts of Gods children shal never be extinguished you may beleeue him without an oath but I haue sworne by my holynes saith the Lord Psal 89.25 1. Kings 19.12 I wil never forsake Dauid As he dealt by Elias to send first the whirlewind then the Earthquake then the fire but then the small still voice so hath he dealt with all his Prophets after all the threatnings and thundrings he sends messages of Consolation by Esay thus Comfort yee Comfort yee Esay 40.1 Ier. 31.13 my people will God say By Ieremy thus I will comfort them giue them ioies for sorrowes By Ezechiel thus Ezek 14 22. yee shall be comforted concerning all the evill I haue brought vpon you By Zachary thus The Lord will yet comfort Syon Zech. 1.17 as Christ spake so may COMFORT say of me all the Prophets bare witnes but among al Prophecies none so cōfortable none so watred with the dew of heaven as the booke of Psalmes this is the Spowses garden Cant. 4.12.13 here be the lilies and roses here be Apples and Pomegranats and sweet fruits here be the mirre aloes Cassia and sweet spices here be the fountains of the gardē wels of living water the springs of Lebanon sweet waters every Psalm is as the foūt of Bethel Basil in 1. Ps as Basil by experience speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every Psalme is a message of Peace embassage of mercy Hence had the servāts of God in all ages the balme of Gilead to apply to their soares sorrows Euseb lib. 12. prep cap. 13. I need not tell you how many Prophets and Apostles in the old and new Testament haue vsed authorities hence Euseb or how Plato is by Eusebius reported to receaue instruction from this booke or howe Babilas the Bishop or Mauritius the Emperour seasoned the misery of their Martyrdome with a Cāticle of a Psalm or how many holy Martyrs all the ancient Fathers all the Saints of God haue made blessed vse of this book that begins with blessednesse In Maz. Cōcord and containes nothing but blessednesse being repeated in the Concreat 27. times in this one book which like the tree that beareth fruit every month twelue times a yeare Reu. 21. so the Church hath appointed every month that this booke bring forth fruit in due season Ps 1. and among all vses of Comfort our blessed Saviour hence commended his soule sent vp in a Psalme vnto his father Father into thy handes I commend my spirit This Psalme I haue taken vp for your vse in this sad and sable time it is the first of all the Psalmes in order though not in number it was made 300. years before David or this booke were extant for when Moyses the man of God Deut. 32. had passed the Meridian of his life Mart. in Is being now in the after-noone of his age seeing foreseeing the night of death approaching Gods heavy indignation encreasing Israell stil disobeying he entreth into the consideration of mans transitory station shewing how many waves are ready to devour this little I le of man how he is turned to destruction scattered and consumed cut downe Psal 90. dryed vp and withered our misdeeds saith Moses are before thee our sins are in the fight of thy countenance our yeares are a tale that is told our strength is but labour and losse so farre you see mans sunne is in the Ecclipse here is nothing but lachrymae suspiria teares sighes sobs sorrows deploration lamentation fit meditations for our soules But behold what
followeth Amb. O turne thee vnto vs againe O be gratious O teach vs O satisfie vs O comfort vs O shew vs the light of thy countenance O prosper thou the workes of our hands vnto vs O prosper thou our handy workes Here be preces vota praiers and Consolations amulets of comfort the Sunshine in brightest lustre and splendor Our of those fiue stones that David tooke out of the brooke he vsed but one 1 Sam. 17.40 so out of all these I haue singled this singular petition for consolation Comfort vs now according as thou hast afflicted vs. And my harty desire is as that of S. Austin in the like kinde Deus faciet hunc textum tam commodum Aust quam accommodatum God grant it may be as fruitfull and profitable as it is fit and commendable for these sorrowfull seasons The text it selfe is a praier and a praier you know is a present helpe in trouble it is the language of heaven it is a messenger as speedy as happy faithfull for speed fruitfull for successe and partaketh much of omnipotencie no hinderance of the way no difficulty of the passage can hinder Praier dispatches in a minute all the way betwixt heaven and earth and as a fiery chariot mounteth into the presence of the Almighty to seeke his assistance Si in terrore mentis si in agone mortis if in any anxiety of mind if in any agony of mortality Chrys thou fly to this Tower here bee the armes and Armory of the strong men it is the incense of the Church it is the spikenard of the Tabernacle it was Moses rod Can. 5 5. Exod. 30.34 Exod 17 5. Iam 5.17 it was Elias key it was to Iacob his sword and bow it was to Dauid his sling and speare so is Praier in generall and this one text in particular to make no more excursions is as the Angell that came down into the poole of Shiloa it is a healing praier a praier never is more necessary then now especially this kind of praier Comfort thou vs now according as thou hast afflicted vs. Comfort thou thou hast plagued as in the former verse Thou turnest man to destruction turne thou therefore vnto vs againe it is the same God vulnus opemque tulit he casteth downe and raiseth killeth and quickneth scattereth gathereth plagueth and comforteth Comfort thou God is Lord of the soile as well of the waters of Mara as the waters of Shiloa Comfort thou vs now The eies of vs all looke vp and trust in thee thou givest vs meate in due season O giue vs comfort in due season in this needfull time of trouble Divisio now that sorrow cloathes vs and mourning clowdes vs. I might devide this fountaine into many streames God plaging Moses praying the time when he praied the cause why he praied the manner how he praied but I remēber that positiō to devide a litle into many parts is to make every part lesse then it should and the whole lesse then it selfe 2 ae Partes My meditations shall only bee fixed vpon these 2. The Comforts desired and persons afflicted and of these in that order Comfort is the soule of a Christians soule the sweetest Companion that ever accompanied mā in this vale of mortality never did the dew of Hermon so sweetly fall vpon the hil of Sion as comfort when it is distilled into the distressed soule of a Christian In our travaile through the wildernesse of SIN hatefull for the name harmefull for the nature of the place comfort is the fiery piller to lead vs through this wildernes of our wils it is the brooke in the way to refresh vs the Manna of the desert to feed vs the Angell of the Lord to cōduct vs Psal 121. I may truely say as David in the Psalme It is our defence vpon our right hand so that the sunne shal not burne vs by day nor the moone by night it is even this that shall keepe our soule The names of mercy loue and grace and Peace be pretious and glorious Zeged sweeter then hony and the hony combe Ps 19. more to bee desired then golde yea then fine gold and where these bee there is truelie The family of Loue But I may saie that Comfort is as much as all these Greg. in Mor. in Iob. for as Gregory writing vpon that Manna habuit omne delectamentum saith that no variety of delicacy in the touch rellish of the tast was wanting in that Angels food and as the Opall resembleth in it selfe the firie lustre of the Carbuncle the fieldy greenesse of the Emerauld the heavēly cleerenesse of the Diamond the aierie azure of the Saphire so Comfort containeth in her regiment the effects of peace the comforted soule is reconciled to God it conteineth the adiuncts of grace the soule is endowed with heauenly gifts it containeth the protection of mercy the soule is compassed with defence on every side In a word it containeth in it the affections of loue the comforted soule loueth others as friends God as a father loueth his enimies for Gods sake loueth affliction for hits owne sake remission of sinnes communion of Saints protection of Angels faith hope charitie repentance fasting praying obaying all blessed spirits all Tutelar powers dwel in such a comforted sanctified soule the soule is then like the Kings daughter all glorious within her clothing is then of wrought gold Shee shall be brought vnto the King in raiment of needle work Ps 45.13 the virgins that be her fellowes shall keepe her company so that soule that is blessed with these fiue Comfort and Peace and Grace and mercy and loue is attended as Abigail when she went to meet David shee was followed by her fiue virgins 1. King 25.42 In the Canticles I finde that there is hortus conclusus and fons signatus a garden inclosed a fountaine sealed in the Gospell I finde that there is Thesaurus absconditus Chrys Aug. Greg. a hidden treasure I want not testimonies of some ancients applying there both the fountaine sealed and the Treasure concealed vnto comfort for as the Lord only knoweth who are his so they only that are his knowe what his comfort is To all others comfort is hortus conclusus a Paradise closed vp kept with the brandishing swords of two heavenly souldiers These seeke and find not because they seeke amisse Mat. 7. they knock and it is not opened because they knocke being not prepared Aust Non nisi post pluviam sequitur serenitas sunshines be never so pleasant and seasonable as after showres Such as are not acquainted with sorrow neuer knew the mysterie of godly holy comfort which is the Christians heauen vpon earth ioy in life hope in death prosperitie in aduersitie staffe in affliction anker in desperation brestplate of preservation golden Chaine of glorification in the heavens Which we hope to possesse in ioy as the Saints doe
K Richard 8 Arthur sonne to Hen. 8. No more created but those Ed. 6. not invested by Patent nor created For if the Romans called the heire apparant Princeps Inventutis Prince of the youth and Prince Edgar the last heire male of that blood royall was long after called Englands dearling and when Prince Arthur died the Poets then complained that Arcturus was vanished in the heavens what can we say of him that would haue beene subiect for all pens and obiect for all eies as if the worthines of all the eight created Princes of Walles of the English blood and of the eight Henries his Highnesse Royall Auncestors had met in him as in the Confluence I will say of him as S. Paule to the Hebrewes spake of those with whome our Master is nowe in Company Prince HENRY was hee of whom the world was not worthy Yet beloued let me still say as my Text God may Comfort vs even according to the greatnes of our losse his power is not weakned his arme is not shortned It was a blasphemous speech in the Governour in the daies of Elisha that doubted whether there might after that great dearth bee so great plenty though 2. Kings 7.3 saith he God would make windowes in heauen Hee is able to doe whatsoeuer in faith we are able to beleeue Wee haue yet the sunne and moone and starres of a Royal firmament and though we haue lost the morning starre yet we haue Charls-waine in our Horizon wee haue a Prince if starres be of any truth like to be of long life great learning most hopefull for his time most fruitful for his hopes we hope that God hath said to our Iacob Gen. as Iacob said of his Iudah sceptrum non auferetur à Iuda so the scepter shal not be taken from our Iacob til Shiloah come againe into the world Let this Comfort serue vs so long as wee are Gods servants so long hee will be our Lord. Send out Comfort in ambush against all feares al enimies and when she returneth with conquest Iudg. 5. say to thy soule as Debora did to hers thou hast marched valiantly O my soule Thinke not that our Master is dead Musa vetat mori saie as Christ said of Lazarus He is not dead but sleepeth Ioh. 11.3 In a word after all these Cloudes be past the sunshine will appeare or we shall appeare before God our selues sure I am this Text will be vncontrouled for ever Heauen and earth shall passe but no iot of this word shall passe Act. 1. After the Lord hath afflicted vs he will comfort vs. Let vs therefore with the Apostles who staid at Ierusalem expecting the Comforter continue in holy deuotions hearing praying fasting falling downe before his presence for he is holy And thou O Lord that seest all hearts vnto to thee let our crie come and let comfort descend vnto vs in this house of mourning and valley of teares Now like poore distressed sinners we beseech thee then with thy Saints and Angels we shall glorifie thee Lord grant this for thy promise for thy mercy for thy Zyon for thy sonnes sake CHRIST IESVS Amen 2. SAM 12.23 Now he is dead wherefore should I fast can I bring him againe I shall goe to him but he shall not returne to me THE story sheweth you David the king in a sorrowfull case weeping mourning crying for his sonne lying all day and night on the earth Hewept wept and would not be comforted S. Bernard mentioneth Bern. in Passione Dom. Heb domadam dolorum a week of sorrows David had no lesse the child died the seaventh day 2. Sam. 12.18 the 7 day David arose from his low lamentable lodging his meditation could be no other thē this O who shal deliver his soul from death His cause of mourning was non propter vitam sed propter animam Chrys non propter animam non propter filium sed propter adulterium not so much for the life as for the soule of his childe not so much for his sonne as for that sinne by which his mother conceived him The childe was messis in herba life was spes in messe but the soule of the childe was gloria messis the ioy and glorie of the harvest this is the cause that David mournes bitterly There is a strange sentence in the former verses Non Morieris thou shalt not die Davids sinne is acquitted sed Morietur filius but thy childe shall die the innocent babe is punished 2. Sam. 12.13 I need not to vncover the nakednes of this father further then scripture takes away the vaile from him he committed adultery heaven sees it God sends Nathan 2. Sam. 11 4. Nathan wounds David through the sides of one of his owne subiects David sentenceth himselfe in another thus He that hath done this shall die and pay fourefold At hoc iustum est iniustum iudicium This iudgement is both iust vniust The trespasse is but a lambe to pay fourefold is satisfaction enough for a lambe if it be the life of a man to die for it is the satisfactiō required enough for a Mans life but suppose it what it may bee to die and pay pay and pay fourefold is iniustice it is to much Therefore God tooke one part of Davids sentence against himselfe though Non morieris stood as God had promised 2. Sam. 28. yet David shal pay fourefold as himselfe had sentenced 1. Hee paid the life of Ammon his sonne 2. Sam. 18.9 by the sword of Absalon here is one satisfaction 2. he paid the life of Absalon hanging in the Oke by the sword of Ioab the 2 satisfactiō 3 the life of Adoniah by the sword of Iehoiada 1. King 2.25 the 3 satisfaction and fourthly the life of a childe here by the sword of God the fourth satisfaction For the life of one Vrias no lesse thē foure of his own children must die the death vers 14. The first of this Tragical Chorus is this childe sentenced in the 14 verse in the 15. ye find him sicke poore infant silly innocent after his panting and striuing for breath he is deceased in the 18. verse ver 15. vers 18. while he was sicke David did sorrow wept and fasted prayed and lay on the ground but being dead riseth apparelleth washeth worshippeth eateth herevpon his servāts expostulate What thing is this that thou dost ver 21. thou didst fast and weepe for the childe while it was aliue but when the childe was dead thou dost rise and eate David answereth and the best part of his answere is this my Text Being dead why should I now fast Can I bring him againe any more I shall go to him but he shall not returne to mee These two be points very remarkeable that vsher the meditations of my Text the first the punishment of the childe for the father David commits adultery the childe dies
for it as after David numbers the people 2. Sam. 24.14 the people die for it Secondly when the childe is sicke David sorroweth the childe being dead he riseth and eateth Hee wil bee no longer in paine then the childe is in perill Benoni is the sonne of sorrow at his birth this shal be no longer the subiect of sorrow then his death He is dead no hope no helpe no recovery it is impossible Revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras David cannot infuse life into him the childe is dead he is gone all the world cannot revine him David must follow the child must not returne Thus the wordes were occasioned thus opened thus they fall in sunder impart themselues vnto vs. Divisio Textus 1 Davids patient consideration in forbearing further sorrow Being dead why should I now fast 2. His wife resolution implying the impossibilitie of reviving him Can I bring him againe Thirdly his considerate acknowledgement of the inevitable stroake of death I shall goe to him he shall not returne to me I confesse there be many disproportions betweene this storie and our state our misery is without all paralell scripture doth nor yeeld a fitting example no king of Israel or Iuda had such a losse I had almost said nor such a sonne I am therefore constrained to choose not as I would but as I may though not so plentifully fitting the subiect yet sorrowfully fitting with our sable thoughts In these therefore I craue patient attentiō the rather because the 1. part offring it selfe to vs is Davids patient consideration in forbearing more mourning Some haue obserued that it was a custome in David to fast and pray 1. Part. Lor. in Ps Ps 35.13 and mourne for the sicknesse of his friend his owne words giue warrant Psal 35.13 when they were sicke 1 cloathed my selfe with sackcloath and humbled my soule with fasting And these both were vsed either in sorrow or repentance in sorrowe so the Orator testifieth sackeloath and fasting be moeroris insignia Tully the ensignes of sorrow in repentance so S. Hierome witnesseth they were Penitentiae arma the weapons of Repentance In this place by fasting David means all the Circumstances of mourning Aret. Flac. Illyr To mourne and weepe is common and commendable in sicknesse or death of friends profit there may be in it but you will thinke there is small pleasure yet saith the Poet Est quaedam flere voluptas There is pleasure in this paine of weeping to disburden the soule to open the sluces to discharge conchas in canales Bern. the Cesterns into conduit pipes to ecclipse the light of our etes with teares because those eies shall never behold those deere deceased friendes till we our selues passe into the Chambers of death This is naturall and common yet I may say Christian But to fast in these occasions is not so common as commendable and profitable for indeed in true sorrow there should be a neglect of all the offices of the body a sequestration of all contentment a forgetting and forsaking of ordinary food a shutting vp and imprisoning of the body from all pleasures of life thereby to pull downe the height and strength and pride of the soule that the soule heare not thinke not mind not mirth that the body see not touch not tast not meate such should be our sorrowes when we see Corporall punishments for spirituall iudgements Such was Davids diet it was a real hearty sorrow not coūtenanced with a heavie looke or with a solemne sigh blowne from the lips and lungs but it was a weeping watching fasting sorrow I hate excursions but seeing I meet in the words of my Text with so great a straunger as fasting giue me leaue to salute it It was the first precept that ever was given it is as ancient as Paradise Ieiuny canitiem sivelis Epise Lond. in Ion. perscrutare ieiunium prime homini coaevū The forbidding of that tree was the first rule of abstinēce The antiquity necessity perpetuity of it enforce it Nature law Gospel enioine it Divinity commands it Physicke commends it law prescribes it it is the life of the Saints and the food of the soule in the court of heaven there is no other dyet and in the Church on earth the children of the bridechamber must be acquainted with it as David was whose fasting daies I could easily cōiecture if I should looke but into the Galender of the Psalmes but my Text telleth me at this time hee did eate and drinke and therefore here he seemeth to bee as in the Psalme hee speaketh Psal 42.4 as amonge those that keepe holy-daie His fasting endeth the seaventh day and hee questioneth why should I now fast which words do bring forth this observation Obs 1 That as there is a time to sorrow so also a time to leaue of the act of sorrowing His example proveth this Nemo in lachrymis nemo in Cāticis no mā was more frequent in songs or sorrowes then David Lud. his meate were his Teares he mingled his drinke with Teares washt his bed and watered his couch with his teares you would scarce beleeue that he ever enioied good day that ever the sunne shined on him he is so full of anguish and care and feate sometimes biding some times flying Psalm 32 10. still almost lamenting Yet how frequent be his ioyfull acclamations in the Psalmes Reioice in the Lord Ps 103.1 Be glad ô yee righteous Be ioyfull all yee that are true of hart Praise the Lord O my soule all that is within me praise his holy name Praise the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits how sweetly doth he exalt his exultation of ioyful praise Ps 145. I will praise the Lord my God I will praise his name for ever and ever every day will I praise the Lord and praise his name for ever and ever and againe Praise the Lord O my soule while I liue wil I praise the Lord I will sing praises to my God while I haue any breathing Looke vpon this good King at other times you would scarsly thinke that ever he could haue had ioy to cast his cies vp to heauen Psal you may find him on a couch nay more on the cold earth crying out I am at the point to die from my youth vp thy Terrors haue I suffered with a troubled soule Yet after al this you shal find him reioicing triumphing singing harping dancing making melody vnto God and calling for his consort Trumpets Timbrels Psalteries Harpes Organs Cymbals Ps 150.3.4.5.6 Pipe and string low and lowd instrument nay heaven and earth must beare a part nay every thing that hath breath must praise the Lord. Heere bee the passages through fire and water here he is brought from the wildernesse into a wealthy place Here be his fits good bad daies crosses and comforts ioies and sorrowes Dolor volupt as invicē cedunt Brevior voluptas
infirmity in some others of them wee ought to craue the assistant power of Gods spirit in all sorrowes so to season and sweeten them and to direct them to right ends that we looke not only vpon the power of God herein as to forget his favour we so much consider not the greatnesse of the afflictioÌ„ as the goodnesse of his affection that hath laid it on vs for our good and therefore so to cast anchor in al stormes of our life Pet. Martyr Common places as that this Passion of sorrow as Peter Martyr coÌ„pareth it may direct our sailes as a prosperous wind to the hauen not rend our souls and sinke our ships that the masts of our faith be shaken the anchors of our hopes broken that we shew our selues wise men not mad men not distracting our spirits not distrusting our God but with David here temper our soules or rather tune them to that song of his Ps 121.1 I will lift vp mine eies vnto the hils from whence commeth my helpe Helpe shall come from the Lord which hath made heauen and earth Hence also we may learne to stay our carnall and to encrease our spirituall sorrow bodily labour availeth not bodily sorrow profiteth not Fasting spoken of in the Text of it selfe is but an outward ceremony Externum signum saccus ieiunium Hier. true abstinence consisteth in holynesse of life mistake me not as if I derogated from fasting that venerable daughter of repentance one of the best mothers in Israel I would we might imitate either Patriarchs or Prophets herein or even at this time the French and Dutch Churches in this citty who in consideration of Gods iudgment vpon vs lament with fasting and praying as may be seene in their congregations weekely But I say fasting is but the outward countenance it is the inward motions that God is pleased with And in them none more acceptable vnto him then an humble obedience to his wil when his hand hath given the stroake the Lord hath done what pleased him Ion. 2. a sweet and comfortable carriage of our afflictions wil be pleasing vnto him and a blessing to vs. Priamus in Homer bewailing his sonne Hector Homer fasteth and mourneth after his death Dauid doth this before his sonnes death when it is past he riseth washeth eateth worshippeth doth coÌ„fort himselfe How did the Patriach Iacob carry al those pressures laid vpoÌ„ him with a holy calme disposition Gen. yee never finde him tempestuous yet who ever endured so successiue storms In al the daies of his pilgrimage scarse any faire weather he is rent from his fathers family flyeth for the feare of his brother he is cheated by his vnckle his place vile and servile Gen. 31.40 in the day the drought consumed him in the night the frost the sleepe departs from his eies serues for Rahel seauen years and a bleere eied Leah is given him serues seauen more for Rahel and shee is barreÌ„ at length a childe shee shal haue but the childes life is the mothers death when his children increase his sorrowes increase not Beniamin alone but almost every one of them is Benoni the sonne of sorrow Incestuous Reuben Adulterous Iuda Levi that is to be consecrated to God in his Church is bloody Er and Onan strook dead before him Ioseph lost Simeon imprisoned BeÌ„iamin endangered his only daughter young Dinah his dearling ravished by an alien from Israell Yet you never finde in all these perils among his owne that he staggereth These meditations be best fitting the practise and imitation of these examples wil be fruitfull And as the Apostle speaketh giue no place to wrath so say I giue not place to sorrow especially to worldly sorrow 2. Cor. 7.10 for Godly sorrow worketh repentance to saluation not to be repented of but the sorrow of the world worketh death yet cannot redeeme from death as it followeth in Davids words Can I bring him againe His wise resolution implying the impossibility of his reviving him Part. 2 The first speech was drawne ab invtili there is no profit no hope no helpe no means by fasting to recover him Being dead why should I fast this second is ab impossibili from the improbability and impossibility of recalling him Can I bring him againe David was not ignorant of the reduction restitution resurrection of the body there bee no lesse then 13. places that may bee collected out of the Psalms to this purpose Thou shalt not leaue my soule in hell Abâ—lens nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption Thou O Lord shalt raise me vp at the last I shall see the Lord in the land of the living c. These other frequent places be commonly noted to this purpose The Resurrection as it is most certaine so also most coÌ„fortable Iob had nothing to sweeten his dunghill but the hope of the resurrection Iob. 11. and Paule had no other doctrine to preach to the devout Greekes at Thessalonica Act. 17.3 Act. 17.32 Act 23 6. Act. 26.23 to the Stoickes at Athens to the Pharisies at Ierusalem to Festus the Governour at Cesarea nay almost in every place he preacheth the resurrection of the deade and our blessed Saviour of all other mysteries of our redemption maketh none more plaine then this points and though it seeme a doctrine so far beyond al sense yet he hath so sensibly proved it to all the senses by his owne rising that al the world may with S. Paule confesse 1. Cor. 15. Christ is risen froÌ„ the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleepe Christ is risen and wee shal rise and this is the manner how He manifested himselfe by sight C. proueth his resurrection by the 5. senses when he shewed his wounds by hearing in his salutation Peace be vnto you by tasting he did eate of the broiled fish with them by touching Thomas put his fingers into the print of the nailes by smelling for he breathed vpon theÌ„ Here be the senses They that haue seene this haue beleeued and blessed saith Christ are they that haue not seene and yet beleeued But because our Saviour foresaw that vpon his resurrection the ground of this point would for ever be setled He as Luke speaketh shewed himselfe to be aliue by many infallible arguments by necessary true evideÌ„t proofes such as the Philosopher calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act 1. Arislot in Rhet. c. 2. He left no circumstance of time place persons vnmanifested that this might bee beleeued he appeareth after his resurrectioÌ„ earely in the morning late at night in both the times of the day to the disciples abroad and gathered togither in the house in both the places to the souldiers Apostles both conditions of men to the Iewes and Gentiles both religions of men to men and women both the sexes to the liuing in the world to the dead in the graue both states to
Angels devils friends foes disciples strangers al shal beare witnesse that Christ did rise from the dead and is become the first fruits of them that sleepe And he only can by his power wherby he subdueth al things to himselfe raise vs againe from the dead no other power or meanes but his therefore every man may say with David here Can I bring him again which in some copies is read thus I cānot bring him againe and ministreth this observation 2. Obs That though it be not in the power of man to raise any from the dead yet there is a power whereby al shal be raised and revived Our Prophet proveth it before Christ came It is thou O Lord that shall raise me vp at the last This power shal change our vile bodies to be made like his glorious body our weake diseased naked mortal sickly earthly momentary bodies shal bee like his glorious body Iewes did knowe this Gentiles did confesse this The Iewes before Christs cōming had knowledg and made faith of this point how soever S. Chrysostome maketh doubt whether or no this mystery were revealed in the old Testament Chrys Hom. 1. de Lazaro Indeed it was not so generallie or so manifestly delivered till Christ came who was to be Oriens ex imo as Oriens ex alto Aug. the day sprong from an high and the truth budding out of the earth sprong from below But knowne it was and taught it was Esays testimony is this The dead men shall liue Esa 26.19 with my body they shall rise awake and sing yee that dwell in the dust Ezek 37.10 Ezekiel proueth it by the Embleme of the drie bones vnited together Daniel thus They that sleep in the dust shall arise Dan. 12.2 Hos 13.14 Hosea pronounceth this in the person of God I will redeeme them from the power of the graue Hier. in Ep. 61 101. Iob as S. Hierom collecteth hath most absolute proofe for this I know that my redeemer liueth and when wormes haue consumed this body I shal see God in my flesh yea I my selfe shall behold him and mine eies shall see him as if Iob had beene the Prophet of the resurrection Iob. 9.13 or the trumpet sounding to iudgement or the starre to lead to this mystery of Christian beleefe And Gentilisme was not without some notions of this Restauration and reparation of bodies Lor. in Act 24. and they among them that beleeued this were esteemed as worthy men and favourers of the good of the Common-wealth So that it being plaine that Iewes and Gentiles before Christ knewe professed it it is manifest that among the Iewes the sweet singer of Israel David the man after Gods owne heart the Type of Christ the Pen-man of the holy Ghost was not ignorant of the resurrection as not only in the Psalmes especially in the 15. it is plaine and by implication out of these wordes Can I bring him againe inforcing thus much Brought againe from death he may be but in my power it is not Before I land this point I must not omit one place for proofe of the resurrection Exod. 3.6 knowne even to the Israelites in their younger daies in Exodus It is the onely place of all scripture that our Saviour maketh shew of to conuince the Sadduces God is the God of Abraham the God of Isaac Mat. 22 32. the God of Iacob but God is not the God of the dead but of the living Therefore these holy Patriarchs they are not dead but in respect of the resurrection they sleepe in peace and to vse the phrase of David Psal 3. they laid them downe in peace and haue taken their rest but the Lord shall raise them vp at the last But this one question being resolued will make way to some fruitfull vse of that already spoken why could not David bring again the soule of his sonne Elias besides his many miracles in this kind could doe so much and Elisha did more then Elias for the spirit of Elias was doubled vpon Elisha that as hee receaued a mantle from Elias at the first time he saw him 1. King 19.9 and another mantle fell from Elias at the last time that Elisha beheld him when he was caught into heauē 2. King 2.13 So also a double spirit as appeared by his wonders was bestowed vpon Elisha For Elias caused that the oile in the widdowes one vessell 2. King 4.6 wasted not But Elisha caused the Pot of oile of another woman to encrease to the filling of many vessels 1. King 17.27 Elias revived the dying sonne of the woman of Sarepta Elisha by prayer did obtain a child to the barren Shunamite and obtaine life to this child being dead Elias in a great famine obtained raine 1. King 4 18. but Elisha in another famine obtained incredible plentie without raine 1. King 18.41 incredible victory without bloodshed 1. King 17. Elias raised but one from death in his life 2. King 13.20 but Elisha being dead his bones in his graue raised the dead Could Elias Elisha do so much and cannot David doe it Ludoloh No. Non est Davidi donum hoc concessum this gift was not granted to him David may kill the beare the lyon Goliah David may overcome the Philistins the Ammonites but cannot deliver a soule from death cannot bring backe a soule to life David by prayer may bring backe his soule from sorrow Bernard Hezekias by prayer raise himselfe from sickness Elias and Eliseus by prayer raise from death but alteros non seipsos others not themselues as Bernard noteth Only Christ by his power did raise himselfe others Aust Praedixit revixit as Austin noteth he foretold it by rising he performed it Tertul. Mori dignatus ex voluntate sed resurrexit ex potestate He died by his owne will was raised by his own power a gift never given to any of the sonnes of men S. Pauls speech to the Corinthians may serue to this purpose 1. Cor. 3. secundùm gratiam mihi concessam according to the grace given to him every mā may performe what Gods spirit doth enable him hee can go no farther he can do no more Gods spirit sayeth as Gods sonne Math. sine me nihil potestis facere without me ye can do nothing To life we may be revived and when these our bodies shal be laide low in the womb tombe of the earth we shal be raised Phil. 3. but it can only be by that power which is able to subdue all things to himselfe Vse And is it so let vs thē with acknowledgement of our owne weaknesse reioice in the power of our God who shal raise our vile bodies let vs so expresse the vertue power of the first resurrectiō in this life as that we may receiue the honour and ioy of the second resurrection in the life to
these people when they saw this day of their visitation comming vpon them O who shall bring Salvation vnto Israell out of Syon They had heard the feareful denunciation of God in the last verse of the former Chapter Ezek. 8.18 I wil deale in my fury mine eie shall not spare neither will I haue any pitty though they cry in my eares with a lowd voice yet I will not heare them this word was a sword able to devide betweene the bones and the marrow They had heard of fettring scattring consuming banishing that their Virgins Nazorites Priests Prophets and Princely Citizens should be diuoured by the sword and other plagues the bitter blasts of the breath of Gods displeasure they could expect no better yet he Aust who had nomina membra in whose roll were their names and in whose booke were all their members wrtiten sendeth to comfort them he had them in his hand none could take them from him his eies were set vpon them Psal and with his eie-lids he considereth these children of men no evill shall come neere their dwelling though they were deiected in their owne eies despised of their neighbours and their enimies laugh them to scorne to see them go mourning all the day long yet these mourners shall without any perill goe about in the street every one of them might haue said Posui Deum adiutorem meum In God is my helpe in the Lord will I reioice he hath regarded the lowly estate of his servants Luk. 1.41 he hath put down the mighty from their seats and hath remembred the humble and meeke mourners God could not forget to be gratious but wil visit this his vine Habet ille vineas semper lachrymantes suas Magis frugifeferae sunt lachry mantes vincae hee hath vine-trees dropping of Teares in the winter of this world that they may flourish in the summer of a better life Pined 2 de Salom c. 4 num 4. Virga tua baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt Thy rod staffe doe comfort me Pineda hath a strange interpretation hereof that hereby the kingly Prophet meaneth his Lictors or the Chelethites and Petethites who were his guard And as this is forced so be there many fained various others wresting this holy speech to ridiculous senses Some interpret this rod to be Moses rod wherby he did miracles Exod 4.2 Zeno veronens ser de Iud. some the Rod of Aaron which only rod flourished among the Roddes of the Tribes Some this Rod to be the roote of Iesse as Iustin Martyr and Eusebius In Triphon But the better opintons doe sentence it of afflictions and humiliations these doe comfort these incourage Ps 23. these do strengthen the godly There by affliction David is strengthned and encouraged here by afflaction these sorrowfull soules are preserved It was with them as with Mordecai one day hee walketh through the middest of the City with rent cloathes Ester 4 1. and put on sackcloath and cryed with a lowd and bitter cry on another day the royall apparell that the king vseth to weare he is apparelled with Ester 6.8 and the horse that the king rideth on fitted for Mordecai and the Crowne Royall which is set vpon the kings head is put vpon Mordecai and one of the noblest Princes do leade him through the same citty where Mordecai mourned No man imagined such an alteration Could any man thinke that God would so remember and provide for these pitiful sorrowful souls whose teares were their meat day and night their heads aking their eies streaming sitting as the Doues in the holes of the Rockes their soules weeping in secret Cant. 2. and their eies dropping downe day and night Lam 2. that in this great destruction when neither the aged haue reverence for their gray haires nor the suckling reliefe for innocencie of his tender age nor the Virgin nor Matrone priviledged for their Modesty nor the Priest or Senator respected for their dignity yet these marked for preservatiō and honoured to posterity brought out of their privat cels out of their darke loathsome fulsome fuliginous dwellings into the light vbi non lux sed luctus luceat where not only their light shall shine before men but even very darknes shal be turned into light Chrys and as Esay speaketh they shal haue beauty for ashes the oile of ioy for mourning Esay 61.3 the garment of gladnes for the spirit of heavines David may fly frō Country to Countrey frō Samuel in Ramah to Abimelech in Nob then to Achish in Gath sometimes be in a Caue sometimes in the fields sometimes in the Rockes sometimes in the Wildernesse but an eye shall behold him whom no eye can perceaue a hand shall lead him that he dash not his foot Ionas the most admirable patterne of misery that ever humane vnderstāding cōceaved the most absolute Model of miserie seeke as a Reverend father of ours worthily saith frō the Cēter to the Circle no Paralel being only mā to Ionas of whom the interpreters deliver miranda ed vix oredēda were we nor bound to the word by the obligatiō of faith Ionas I say cast out of the ship into another vessell the bowels of a whale the very belly of hel being so imbarkt worse thē shipwrackt Ovid. Trist that he might truely haue said Mors mihi munus erit Epis Lond. in I on he is wafted a long the bottome of the sea and promonteries of the earth from sea to sea through the Syriacke sea thence to the Egean thence through the Hellespont where Asia and Europe be devided thence through Propontis from thence to Thracius Bosphorus betwixt Constantinople and Natolia and from thence to the Euxine sea where he was vomited out of the Guts and Garhadge of the fish In all this time the Deepe drowned him not the stomacke of the Whale digested him not al his misery devoured him not al the surges al the waues cannot wash away his marke his character but preservation shal ever follow him and bring him vnto the havē where he would be There is a roote that keepeth life in the winter of misery there is a good Angell that leadeth the Saints through fire and water a guid there is that leadeth them through the chambers of death breaketh the bonds of yron in peeces Psal 1. Cor. The foundation of the Lord is sure saith Paul and hath this seal the Lord knoweth who are his he hath signed and sealed thē with a marke sometimes invisible alwaies indelible never to be expunged never removed You may aske why this priviledge is given to mourners For if the Righteous only be Gods servants and that of S. Austin bee true vbi Iustitia ibi laetitia where there is righteousnes there is gladnesse then what place hath sorrow in the assembly of the Iust againe in Habacuc in the great preservation the
Prophet speaking of the deliveraunce of the Godly saith the iust man shall line by his faith Hab. 2 4. Ps. 118 15. Esay 61 3. Now the iust man is said to haue vocem laetitiae vestom laetitiae oleum letitiae the voice of gladnesse the garment of gladnesse and the oile of gladnesse here is no mourning taken notice of But S. Ambrose answereth Non solùm dolor sed laetitia habet suas lachrymas Ambros Not only sorrow but even the ioy of the iust hath private teares and groanes and sorrowes The ioyfullest feast that ever the Israelites had was the Passeover and yet the Rasseover must not be eaten without bitter hearbs Exod. 12.8 and the most content that ever this life can afford is but a bitter sweet Therfore as the Apostle warneth They that reioice must be as though they reioiced not for all the ioy that the godly haue in this world is but vva acerba a sowre grape The counsell of S. Gregory vpon the rainebow fitteth vs in it at one time there seemeth to be the representation of fire and water Gregâ—in Mor. not only thereby symbolum vtriusque iudicij a plaine manifestation that as the world was drowned by water so it shall bee burnt by fire but more properly in those colours of fire water is represented ioy and sorrow so interchangeably appearing as not to be devided a sorrowful ioy and a ioyful sorrow a showre in a sunshine a bright starre in a dark night So here these servants of the Lord doe mourne and therefore are marked and being marked reioice because they are preserved set a marke vpon them that mourne and cry Obs Whence this observation as out of a cleere fountaine is derived It is an vnseparable signe of the true children of God to bee sorrowfull concerning this world while they are in this life The reason is because we ought to conforme our selues not onely to the olde Saints vnder the Law but to our Saviour whose actions in this kind be our instructions he was never found resting or reioicing but solitary and sorrowing travelling you may behold him at a well solitary sitting at the graue of Lazarus weeping Luk. 2.3 in the Temple displeased and greeving in the garden sweating and sighing on the Crosse sorrowing and expiring Hee was not borne in the yeare of Iubile the yeare of reioicing but in the yeare of Augustus the first yeare Taxing of the world His seruants before had their markes and practises of mourning the ancient Prophets ofteÌ„ receaued their prophecies in sorrowful solitary places by the waters as heavenly doues vpon the floods of waters Ezekiel by Cohar Daniel by the river Tigris Ioseph the Prophet and more then a Prophet by the river Iordan and others though they receaued them not by the rivers yet they dissolved their messages into waters Ps 119. 1 Cor. mine eies gush out saith David I haue writ vnto you with many tears saith Paul Non atramento magis quà m lachrymis Chartas inficiebat Paulus saith an expositor vpon the Acts. Among all the fathers none more abundant in teares then S. Austin Lor. in Act. 22. v 19. Aust he wept in praying and prayed in weeping Da mihi lachrymarum fontem tum praeâ—ipuè cuÌ„ preces orationes tibi Domine offero O Lord saith he giue mee then a fountaine of teares especially then O Lord when I offer vp my prayers vnto thee Not to be able to weepe is hellish a Marke of infernall complices the furies are so descried by the Poets Horat. 2. Carm. 12. Ode and Bodinus affirmeth the same of witches and sorcerers Certaine it is that Gods servants are well acquainted with such sacrifices for with such sacrifices God is pleased I finde in Scripture 3 especiall times of marking 3. Times of marking in Scripture Exod. 12.22 the first in Goshen the houses to be preserved were marked yee shal take a bunch of Isop and dip it in blood that is in the bason and strike the Lintell the two side posts and the Lord wil passe over the doore wil not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you And the same Text saith there was a great cry in Egypt Exod. 12.29 for there was not a house wherein there was not one dead Rev. 7.3 The second marking is in the RevelatioÌ„ by an Angell ascending from the East having the seale of the living God and he cryed with a lowde voice to the foure Angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea The third marking is this of my Text set a marke vpon them that mourne cry for the abhominations WheÌ„ the Israelites were marked in Goshen the Aegyptians had sorrow but no markes when the servants of God are markt in the Reuelation they haue markes but no sorrow but in my Text here we find sorrow marks togither The sorrow in Egypt where there were no markes doth describe the estate of the wicked who drinke deepe of sorrow but are estranged from all priviledge of preservation The Saints in the Revelation who had markes but no sorrow describe the estate of the Godly whose sorrow is ended here in the life to come haue Palmes Lawrels white Garments the seales and signes of the Lords eternall loue These markes do designe the glory of Martyrs Roses of the field red by their death and the beauty of Saints Lilies of the valleyes white in the innocencie of their life these shal never hunger nor thirst nor sorrow for the Lambe is their light and Lord for evermore But the Saints marked in my Text doe designe the militant Church ever as the woman in the Revelation travelling ever like Rachell weeping and therefore marked to be preserved In the 1 of Chronicles the 4 and ninth 1. Chr. 4 9. Iabez the son of Ashur is said to be more honourable then al his brethren the reason is because his mother bare him in sorrow and his name is a name of sorrow In the next verse Iabez called vpon the God of Israel to bee delivered from evill 1. Chr. 4.10 and the Lord saith the Text heard him and granted it to him here is the fruit of sorrow Of all the Trees in the world we read of none remaining but the Oliue tree after the flood from this tree the Doue had the bough Many ancients do obserue much herevpon Gen. 7. attribute much to this Oliue tree as being most greene when it is most watred most fruitfull when it droppeth and distilleth David compareth himselfe to an Oliue tree Psal I am as a greene Oliue tree in the Temple in the house of the Lord Christ was more conversant in the Mount of Olivet then on any other place I inferre nothing vpon these places but onely this that after the flood of sorrow our Oliue branches shal be greene and flourishing Elisha cast salt into the bitter waters
good holy iust godly men But in this kind also these blessed seruāts of God are not without example Dauid shall speake for all in his Elegies for Saul Ionathan Absolon Abner c. Nay our Sauiour as before I mentioned wept for his friend I find that name bestowed onely vpon his friend Lazarus and I find our Sauiour weeping onely for Lazaru for no one particular but his friend Lazarus and that was so obserued by the Iewes as that their speech was behold how hee loued him Ioh. 11. Our Sautour raised vp as S. Austin noteth Aust three especially and particularly inhis life but he wept only at one of them The circumstances of his raising these differ much the first was dead but an houre the second dead a day the third dead foure dates the 1. dead but not taken out of the bed the 2. dead and laid in the coffin but not in the graue the 3. dead and laid in the graue dead 4. daies and began to sauour he touched the hand of the first the coffin of the second but the third he touched not at all At the first few persons were present and Christ charged them not to speake of it at the second many were present and it was noised farre abroad at the third a number of Iewes present and they obserued it At the first there was no publike weeping Ioh. 11. at the raising of the second the mother wept at the raising of Lazarus the friends and sisters and Iewes wept fleuit Iesus fremuit turbauit seipsum Iesus wept and groaned in the spirit and was troubled and againe hee groaned and was troubled and cried with a lowd voice thē said the Iewes behold how he loued him Et quare fleuit Iesus nisi hominem flere docuit and why did Christ so weepe but that hee hereby taught man to weepe he opened 2. fountaines of passion and compassion and therefore those that carry his name are to conforme themselues in some measure and though there bee no proportion betweene finite iufinite yet in the best manner we may precept and example and promise doe enforce this blessed practice It was a strange lawe that the Athenians made an edict to prohibit mourning at funcials fit for heathen not Christians to imitate For they that haue been honourable commendable in their liues are to be followed with the best testimony of affection that the iust may be had in euerlasting remembrance yet with this warning in mourning that as we proue not without charitie in not lamenting their deaths so also not without hope to forget the good estate of their soules when we so ouermuch lament the death of their bodies In the 9. of Numbers when the cloud was taken vp Num. 9 the children of Israel iournied when it abode the children of Israel pitched so when sorrow commeth sit downe with sorrow and mourn when ioy commeth returne and reioice yet neuer to bewray a want of faith when we would manifest an abundance of loue Vse Hence then wee see our warrant for bewailing the irrecouerable losse that the Church Common-wealth and Protestant world hath now sustained by the sad spectacle before vs we may rent garments and put on sackcloath and mourne Mourne then ye children of the bride-chamber the bride-groome is taken from you Mourne ye sonnes of Eli Nebility and Gentry the Arke of God is gon from among you Mourne ye Priests of the Lord betweene the porch and the Altar Iosias is dead and slaine among you Howle yee poore fir trees your shelter is downe the Cedar is fallen and lieth here before yee Let the house of Dauid mourne lugeat Domus Iacobi let S. Iames mourne Zach. let the inhabitanes of Ierusalem mourne and to vse the words of Zacharie let them mourne as for their only sonne and lament as for their first borne In that day shall be a great mourning in Ierusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo and the land shall bewayle euery family apart mourning shall bee in all the ends of the land complaining in the streets of euery City crying in the chambers of euery house Alas for the day of the Lord is come it is come all the orders and Companies I say not of this house only but of all this Realme from the honourable Counsellour to him that draweth water from the man of gray yeeres to the young child shall plentifully water their cheekes and giue iust occasion to the Chronicles and Prouerbes of our posterities to be remembred And we especially of this Collegiate society that shall this night end our watching shall to morrow haue a new occasion not only of increasing but renewing our weeping Hitherto we haue mourned for the departing of his soule out of his body now vvee must lament for the departing of his bodie out of this place so long as his herse his vrne remained we had a Master though wee could not inioy him aliue yet it was some solace in sorrow to attend him dead though we heard not his words so full of grace nor enioyed his presence so full of glory yet his ashes his effigies gaue a glimse to vs sitting in darknesse and now wee must loose this and this vnhappinesse will admit no helpe Gen. 50.10 When Iacob was carried from Goshen to Canaan the Egyptians mourned with a great and very sore lamentation and that mourning was so wondred at by the Canaanits that they call the place Abal-Mizraim to this day Egyptians gaue the cause of the name Canaanits gaue the name of the place mourning the cause of both both these strangers nay in themselues infestuous enimies to the Israelites If Egyptians and Canaanits strangers haue done this for Iacob what shall the seruaunts doe and attendants in familia Iacobi pro filie Iacobi let vs crie mightily vnto heauen that after our bodies lie buried in the dust our lamentation may be remembred Ah the Prince ah our glory ahlas for the day of the Lord is come for Abner lyeth dead before vs My last part Mourne before Abner Coram not Claà m not priuately but openly Math. Many acts of deuotion are to bee performed priuatly when thou giuest almes saith our Sauiour doe it priuately when thou prayest enter into thy chamber doe it priuately when thou repentest saith Dauid commune with thine owne heart and in thy chamber Psal 4 and be priuat Priuacy is a speciall circumstance in all these and sure if many would but vndergoe the catechising of their soules in priuate Laer. tit 3. de Jra they would not be obserued so much for their sinnes in publike Laertius mentioneth Pyrrbus Eliensis which was wont to consult himselfe daily in some secret place and being obserued to talk to himselfe hereupon being questioned the cause hee answered Meditor bonus vt sim And Seneca mentioneth Sextius in this kinde who euery night would priuatly examine himselfe Quod bodiê maesum
tuum sanâsti eui vitio obstitisti quâ parte meliores and what custome sayth Seneca can be more commendable These beloued shall arise in iudgement with this generation and condemne it their practice was a kind of vailed Christianitie they did shame to doe that priuately which this age doth perpetrate daily and publikely Mourning is to be performed openly solemnitie expects it and antiquitie that constant wise and vnpainted Herauld prescribes it Coram Abner the last act of his obsequies the last tribute of duty Abner yet carrieth his names the earth yet carrieth his body it is not Cadaver nor Inane corpus anima it is Sacrarium vitae not a Carcase Athan. or empty corpse but as Athanasius well obserueth the dead body is the vestry and Chappell of life and haue their Camiteria sleeping places til the Resurrection of the dead They be as Kings houses not to be contemned when their Masters depart out of them because they are to returne againe life shall visit these desolate roomes all the offices in this Princely bodie of Abner shall be supplied the Court is but remoued Heaven is the standing house this body againe shall be the bedde chamber of the soule yet because life is gon out lament for Abner is Abner still let not your last act faile though your eies cannot see him yet let them send our Teares to sorrow for him and Mourne before Abner The sorrowfull presence of a sad stectacle calls sorrow before it commeth and often createth sorrowe where it is not It is no maruaile that Abruham wept when he saw Sara his wife dead or that Bethshebe wept for her husband or Eleazar for Aaron his father or Dauid for Absalon his sonne or Rebecea for Deborah her nurse or Christ for Lazarus his friend or Dauid for Abner his Captaine But that Alexander should so lament when he came to behold the Sepulcher of braue Achilles or those many in histories to deplore and fall out into teares vpon the first sight of spectacles of desolation may seeme strange Yet those spectacles some-times cause passions of diverse effects When our Sauiour beheld Ierusalem he wept ouer it but when the army of a worthy Conquerour aboue 1000. yeares after came to behould the ruines and rubbish of the same City Hist Ture p. 21 the deuout passions of diuers are very diuers somewith their eies and hands cast vnto heauen calling vpon the name of their Sauiour some prostrat vpon their faces kissed the ground as that wherevpon the Redeemer of the world had walked others ioifully saluted those holy places they had heard so much of then first beheld Our Sauiour in a holy as well pittiful as sorrowfull contemplation beheld the presage of their vtter dissolution and desolation by reason of that horrible contemptuous iniquity of theirs Quod nulla posteritas taceat sed nulla probet Sencea therefore vpon a more cause of griefe then these souldiers of ioy lamented the City and yet slept not till he came neere to the City the sight of the City was the seale of his sorrow Propter Ierusalem hath much more in it then this day can giue mee leaue to deliuer S Iohn in his Gospell doth deliuer the story of Christs raising vp of Lazarus and well may Iohn write Lazarus storie they were both almost in one line in Christs loue Iohannes dilectus Domini Lazarus amicus Domini Ioh. 11. Iohn the beloued of Christ Lazarus the friend of Christ The story is worthy obseruation V. 11. Iesus told his Disciples our friend Lazarus sleepeth they vnderstood him not the Text saith V. 13. Iesus vnderstood it of his death then said Iesus Lazarus is dead yet Iesus wept not in knowing or telling them this Our Sauiour then goeth on his tourney towards Lazarus hee discourseth all the way concerning Lazarus yet Iesus wept not hee meeteth by the way with Martha and communeth with her about her deare deceased brother Nondùm fleuit Iesus Iesus wept not yet At the length Mary commeth shee falleth downe and weepeth and cryeth out Master if thou hadst beene here my brother had not died then Iesus seeing her weepe and the Iewes weepe he groaned in spirit and was troubled yet he wept not At length he asked where haue yee laid him and in his passing thither the Text saith Iesus wept comming neere to the graue he could not containe Fleuit Iesus The Doctrinall obseruation of these words before Abner is that it is the duty of Gods seruants to lament ouer their deceased and carefully to prouide for their Christian funerals Honesta sepultura is much remembred among the fathers Aust and one of them hath writ a booke de cura pro mortuis If there were nothing to proue the Lawfulnesse hereof that one parcell of ground that Abraham bought to consecrate to burials may iustifie the antiquity and reuerend vse hereof How honourable were the sepulchers of the Kings of Israell and Iuda it is a grace to them that had this Epitaph he was buried with his fathers the Piles of Pyramides of Egypt be yet in part to bee seene Mat. they were made of that bricke as some record which the Israelites in the house of their bondage were constrained to make and so it might be that God suffred them to be the instrumēts of making Pharohes sepulcher who were the cause of his death In vita Ambr. In the New Testament wee want not examples of these solemne funerals that of Stephē may serue for all holy men carried him to buriall and made lamentation for him S. Ambrose as appeareth in the description of his life in this kind was very carefull those that were honourable in their places or profitable to the Church or Common-wealth or any way to be esteemed good holy men he would bewaild their death and attend their funerals But it may bee some such Scepticall Cynicall creatures may question whether such pompe as is vsed in funerals be lawfull or no for why should not I thinke that Iudas tribe is not vtterly extinct whose cry is ad quid perditio haec To answere all such that part of solemne seruice the last night being a portion of the 50 Chapter of Genesis may satisfie all such curious and querulous Inquisitors Gen. 50 Ioseph commands his Phisitians to embaulme old Israel forty daies the Embalming continued then they provided furniture for his funerall and all the house of Ioseph and his brethren and his fathers house all the servants of Pharaoh the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Egypt and Chariots and horsemen and a great company and they made great lamentation To this may bee added many examples sacred and prophane as also the Emperous constitutions Constantine that appointed 950. officers about funerals which order Arcadius and Theodosius confirmed and afterwards Anastasius increased to 1100 and a certaine pension allotted vnto them this also established by Leo and Iustinian some
to visit some to provide necessaries in sicknesse others to lay out the dead others to embalme them others to carry them to buriall as Claudian witnesseth Portatur iuvenum cervicibus aurea sedes Vse Hence then the lawfulnesse of our Christian celebrities and solemnities in funerals is approved and hence wee may learne to performe those offices in the last obsequies of our deceased as knowing that before the Law vnder the law after the law yea even to heathens that knewe not the law this custome was with reverence and care observed But J draw to the end of this my service sermon Exod. 12. Numb 14. Those two speeches of Moses Crà s movete castra Crà s celebrate Pascha be fitted for vs To morrow wee must remoue our Tents to morrow we must celebrate a Passover There is a fourefold Pascha Pascha populi Pascha Christi Pascha in mundum Pascha è mundo I am sure we haue a Passeover and to be performed with bitternes and as at the Passeover the first borne was slaine so vnhappy are we that we see the first borne to lie slaine before vs. Shall I say Abner is slaine Abner was a Prince and a great man in Israel by Davids testimonie and David lamenteth him the more because being a Prince of the blood he was such a souldier For certainely the souldier how ever he paceth the same measure of miserie with the scholar yet in all ages hath beene ever in high esteeme til these daies The marchant cannot trade without him the Law cannot remaine vnviolated without him nor the Crowne stand stedfast without him The souldiour is the hart and arme of the state the vpholder of the King and the glory of the conquest the Captaine of the Navy and the father of the army and the most laudable improver of his CouÌ„try For alwaies the oliue garlands of Peace be not so glorious as the Laurell wreathes of victory seeing Peace only keepeth and often rusteth good spirits but victory imployeth and edgeth and encreaseth them The losse then of a souldier is much but especially of an Abner a Princely souldiour Lament then for Abner the fathers Candle is extinguished Abner the Champion of Israel is deceased Nay a greater then Abner is departed Prince Salomon for wisdome Prince Iosias so pietie Prince Alexander for chivalrie to say no more noble holy chast virtuous gracious Prince Henry lieth dead before vs. He He is dead who while he lived was a perpetuall Paradise every season that he shewd himselfe in a perpetuall spring every exercise wherein he was seene a speciall felicitie Hee He is dead before vs who while hee lived was so holy in his morning and evening publike and private devotions so gratious a Protector of truth so true an enimie to Popish falsehood so faithfull to God dutifull to Parents pious in his life patient in his death respectfull of his deserving servants and so respected of all the world Hee Hee is dead that blessed Modell of heaven his face is covered till the latter day those shining lamps his eies in whose light there was life to the beholders they bee 〈…〉 giue over shining Those 〈…〉 we haue kissed be closed and 〈…〉 shall open He He is dead and now 〈…〉 conclude with that Apostle Eamus 〈…〉 let vs goe and die with him 〈…〉 he shall not return to vs. 〈…〉 â—â—â—ourable Religious and every way 〈…〉 Fare yee well The 〈…〉 as I haue of sorrow 〈…〉 Apostles salutatioÌ„ to those 〈…〉 yee well bee perfit 〈…〉 one 〈…〉 of good comfort and 〈…〉 ever with you and so I commend 〈…〉 of power to establish you to him that 〈…〉 falling and sent you blamelesse 〈…〉 exceeding ioy To the 〈…〉 maiestie dominion 〈…〉 Amen FINIS