Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
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A51816
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A sermon at the funeral of Sir John Norton, Bar. lately deceased prech'd at the Parish-Church of East-Tysted in Hantshire by Thomas Mannyngham.
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Manningham, Thomas, 1651?-1722.
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1687
(1687)
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Wing M498; ESTC R30510
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11,241
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40
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A SERMON AT THE FUNERAL OF Sir JOHN NORTON Bar. Lately deceased Preach'd in the Parish-Church of East-Tysted in HANTSHIRE By Thomas Mannyngham Rector of that Parish and Preacher at the Rolls LONDON Printed for William Crooke at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar 1687. Imprimatur Hen. Maurice R. P. D. Wilhelmo Archiepisc Cant. a Sacris Feb. 7. 1687. To the much Honoured Lady THE Lady DOROTHY NORTON Relict of Sir JOHN NORTON Lately deceas'd Honoured Madam IT was my Proposal that if there were any thing acceptable in this Sermon Your Ladyship might have it first transcrib'd for your own use and in that manner communicate it to what Friends You pleas'd But since Your Ladyship is of another Judgment as that the Character of one who was every way so worthy and so universally known and belov'd deserves to be made more publick I humbly submit Only I have one thing to request that if at any time I should be accused of Flattery in the management of this Subject and if I should it can be by such Persons only as envy all Commendations that are given to others or were very ignorant of the Worth of Sir John Norton Your Ladyship would be ready to vindicate me from that Aspersion and to witness that as my Pastoral Behaviour towards my Honoured Patron both in the time of his Health and of his Illness had never that Guilt upon it so now likewise though it be less dangerous I have not bestowed upon Him any undeserved Praise But though some parts of His Character may seem warmly and very affectionately represented yet there are none of them above the Truth Madam I shall not here attempt any Consolatory Discourse neither shall I undertake either to describe or to renew Your Grief but I shall rather chuse to draw a Vail over it at present or leave You to declare it Yourself not by fruitless Lamentations and dark Retirements as if You were discontented at Providence and the World but what is a clearer Argument of Your Wisdom and Your Love by doing all things in Honour of the deceased the whole remainder of Your days And as You have hitherto been not only a Companion with Him in all his commendable Actions but an Encourager too so I doubt not but Your Ladyship will continue the same Acts of Charity keep up the same decent Hospitality improve the same Friendships respect the Clergy which He so truly lov'd maintain the same Constancy in attending on the publick Worship of God and persevere in the same Faith Then the Almighty will bless Your Ladyship with the Prosperity of this Life and afterwards admit You to the same Place of Joy and Rest whither Your Dearest Husband is gone before Which that he may do is the hearty Prayer of Madam Your most Faithful and most Obedient Servant Tho. Mannyngham PSALM XV. v. 1 2. Lord who shall abide in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy Hill He that walketh uprightly and worketh Righteousness and speaketh the truth in his Heart THIS Psalm may be called a Description of a Citizen of Sion of one that God will admit unto all the Priviledges of his Sanctuary here and reward with eternal Happiness hereafter For whosoever so orders his Conversation in this World as to live and die a true Member of the Church of God shall never fall shall never be moved but shall stand in the Congregation of the righteous for ever Or though in some sense he fall by Death yet shall he rise again by a glorious Resurrection tho' he be moved yet it is but from one Church to another from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant In the Words we have a most important Question proposed by the Prophet David to God himself Lord who shall abide in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy Hill and God presently returns an Answer as it were by a voice out of the Clouds He that walketh uprightly and worketh Righteousness and speaketh the truth in his Heart These being the chief distinguishing Marks of a true Israelite for whatever Particulars are contained in the following part of this Psalm may be reduced to these general Heads of Integrity Justice and Truth Here therefore we see what are the principal and substantial things that God requires to fit us for his Communion and so make us capable of the peculiar Blessings of his Covenant and Promise viz. such Moral Duties as evidence the Truth and Simplicity of our Hearts and declare the Uprightness of our Conversation with Men for by these he measures the sincerity of all those who come to worship him Nothing was more liable to the abuses of Hypocrisie than the Ceremonial or Tabernacle Service of the Jews which is proportionably true of all other outward Worship whatever and therefore God tries the Truth of their most solemn Acts of Worship by their Conformity to the plainest Duties of Human Society For what does the Lord require of thee saies the Prophet Micha Mich. 6.8 but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God And St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans tells them Chap. 14.17 18. that the Kingdom of God consists in Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men 'T is not my Business at present to enlarge upon any Point of Divinity but only to declare what are the Qualifications which the Prophet David here gives of his true Citizen of Sion and then to consider how near a Resemblance the Life of the Honourable Person whose Funeral Rites we are now performing had to the Description laid down in this Psalm So that when we shall find Him to have maintain'd a great Integrity Righteousness and Truth through the whole Course of his days and also to have been a constant and devout Worshipper of God in his holy Tabernacle we may have good Christian Hope and Comfort and Confidence to conclude that he is now praising and glorifying the Almighty in a more excellent manner in the New Jerusalem I. Therefore I shall endeavour to make it evident that in the main Actions of his Life He duly practis'd the great Moral and Political Duties laid down in this Psalm both as a private Person and as a publick Magistrate II. That as in Conformity to the Rules of this Psalm He was rightly qualified to abide in the holy Tabernacle so accordingly he liv'd and dy'd a devout Worshipper of God. And therefore III. We have reason to conclude that his Soul is now at rest upon the spiritual Sion the holy Mount of God. I. I shall endeavour to make it evident That in the main Actions of his Life He duly practis'd the great Moral and Political Duties laid down in this Psalm both as a private Person and as a publick Magistrate But before I proceed to his Character it may be worth our Observation to consider what a proper Place and