giveth us this not as a common observation but as a thing notable and very remarkeable above most things in his experience the benefit and yet the neglect in the world of this godly wisedome which is our righteousnesse or the feare of the Lord It is great unto we And it deserves no lesse than a serious note marke we but the opposition I here was a little City and a great King came against it c. this no small disproportion againe there were but a few men within it and yet he built great bulwarks against it this was greater and little hope could the City have to subsist long upon such unequall tearmes yet now in this great improbability of safety there was found in the City 〈◊〉 poore righteous godly wise man and hee defeateth this great king and his great bulwarkes he delivered the City not by weapons of warre but by his wisedome or righteousnes therefore however the world esteem of it the wise Preacher concludes wisedome is better then strength or it is the strongest defence of all this hath its undeniable truth whether we reade it as a parable or an acted history In the map which the Prophet draweth of Iudah Gods holy place hee thus deciphers the strength of it Isa 26 112 3 4 We have a strong City salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarkes and what surer defence than Safety it selfe its Canon-proofe and a wall impregnable but who the inhabitants Surely the righteous nation which keepeth truths entreth in and dwelleth there and their Iehovah is their rocks of ages or everlasting strength This is very strange and who almost beleeveth it may a man aske where lyeth this strength of Sampson in the righteous their faces promise as little or lesse than other men Reason It will not betray them to discover it it standeth mainly in their union with God through Christ which 〈◊〉 it were possible for the world to 〈◊〉 they would become weake 〈…〉 other men but whilest this lasteth 〈…〉 theirs heaven is theirs they have 〈…〉 of angells for their assistance and to 〈◊〉 more punctually their strength is 〈…〉 in these particulars First in the power and wisedome of their Captaine their reconciled God his counsell shall stand though all the â—â—â—phels in the eaâ—â—h conspire against him and his power is irresistible though all the kings of the earth bandy themselves to fight with him and how safe must the holy ones be Prov. 18.10 when hee is their Sanctuary The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous runneth into it and is safe or set aloft free from gun shot where they may sit and laugh and the enemy cannot hurt them This tower goeth with them whithersoever they move where they abide the very name of that place is Iehovah ShaÌ„mab Ezek 48.33 The Lord is there and in whomsoever the strength of Israel is they must needs be a strong defence and guard to their City their Church and state Secondly in the spirituality of all their forces and munition whereby they offend and grieve the enemy yet are not discerned that they should bee avoided or repelled Their Captaine is a Spirit and therefore mocketh his enemies in his intermination of the perfidious Iewes Wee unto them that goe downe to Egypt for help Isa 31.1.2 3. and stay on horses and trust in charets because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong but they looke not to the holy one of Israel neither seeke the Lord yet hee also is wise and will bring evill and will not call backe his word but will arise against the house of evill doers and against the help of them that worke iniquity Now the Egyptians are men and not God and their horses flesh and not spirit when the Lord shall stretch forth his hand he that helpeth shall fall and he that is holpen shall fall downe and they all shall faile together For there can be no resistance a spirit fighteth against them and alas they cannot see either to offend him or defend themselves Againe their souldiers and ministers are spirits Heb. 1.7.14 the Angels which serve them 2 Kin. 19 â—5 and are for guard about 〈◊〉 one of them went out in a night and 〈◊〉 in the camp of the Assyrians an hundrâ—â— foure score and five thousand men 〈◊〉 was never perceived It is a pittifull 〈◊〉 to be smitten and never know whence the blow commeth help or defence cannot bee had against such an adversary Once more their weapons are spirituall and therefore cannot bee warded off faith and prayer powerfull instruments wherby the weakest women have beene the greatest conquerours Heb. 11.34 Through faith the Apostle witnesseth the righteous haue put to flight the armies of the aliens or forreiâ—â— enemies this is a sure weapon which they were never able to strike out of the beleevers hand and this was his victory or conquering peece Ezod 17.11 12â— 13 14 15. By prayer also Moses kept off the blowes of Amalek from Israel and gave them a fatall overthrow so that God commands him to write it for a memoriall in a booke not onely the conquest but the meanes and weapon which Moses doth and erecteth also an altar whose name he called Iehovah 〈◊〉 â—he Lord my banner as a pillar for the eternall memory of faithfull prayer In this the Paraphrast put the strength of Elisha Thou art better by thy prayer to Israel than charet or horsemen Melior erat Isratioratione sua c. Cald. Paraph Spirituall forces are thus irresistible therefore they are very strong and such is the strength of the righteous Lastly 3. in their unexhausted provision which continually maintaineth their strength that they need not feare a decay thereof The righteous alwayes pitch by that little river whose streames make glad the City of God of which Psal 46.4 though they bee faint and weary if they doe but drinke their strength returnes as Sampsons Iudg. 15.19 and they grow mighty and strong againe This river is no other but the water of life the word and Gospel of Iesus Christ it is meate and drinke to the beleeving soule and if he chance to faint hee getteth strength from thence to his faith and if his hands grow feeble he drinketh and stretcheth them forth againe mightily in prayer and so long as he is able to winde his weapons his strength will bee unresistable Happy that City that nation that Church that hath such mighty men 〈◊〉 champions their strength is admirable and they shal not be ashamed to 〈◊〉 the enemy in the gate Such souldiers such champions such walls such bulwarks are the righteous to their places our conclusion then is necessary their losse must be very grievous and their lamentation deservedly very bitter I have now but three words to speak to Ioash to Israel and to Elisha to the wicked to the Church and to the righteous and I close with the text
Oh how doth the fire of the Lord burne within me and the zeale of the Almighty kindle against these wicked wretches Woe unto you ye viperous generation of hypocrites what make ye at the righteous mans sepulchrâ—â— what aileth you to rent your cloathâ— to walke in sackecloath to weepe and lament before his biere Doe ye loath dislike and hate his life and yet 〈◊〉 him at his death Doe ye honour hove and desire his end yet his life and graces discommend Doe ye build and paint and guild his tombe and yet your hands imbrued in his righteous bloud ye are witnesses against yourselves Mat. 23.17.33 Ye serpents ye generation of vipers how can ye escape the damnation of hell For ye well deserve it that hate the God of righteousnesse and his righteous servants notwithstanding ye are convinced that ye should glorifie him and honour them ye are your owne iudges that your condemnation is iust Secondly verse 2. I have an errand to Elishas also the dying Saint and the righteous soule Isa 3.10 Psal 37.37 Phil. 1.21 and it is a message of peace Say unto the righteous it shal be well with him his end is peace and as his life was Christ so now his death is his gaine Comfore your selues then ye people of righteousnesse ye holy nation what though for a while Balaam conspire against you Shimei curse you Num. 31.16 2 Sam. 16.5 1 Sam. 22.9 Act. 26.24 Ioh. 15.19 Doeg accuse you slander you Festus think you mad meÌ„ because ye are Christians and the world iudge you to death as the worst of men not worthy to live yet wait but a little Balaam shall wish your happinesse Shimei shall blesse you Doeg shall iustifie you Festus shall bee convinced of your wisedome Heb. 11.38 and the world shall desire you againe of whom it shall not be worthy Onely expose not your selves to Balaams conspiracie by sinning and forsaking the God of righteousnesse stand not still neither goe backe for Shimeis cursing Feare not to walk with thy God for all Doegs slanders Thinke not worse of your selves for Festus his rash iudgement and fall not down before the wicked though the world condemne you Patience and Resolution now become the Saints Armed with these ye shall stand stedfast glorifie your God and honour your selves in the face of all Israel The eye which seeeth you shall blesse you and the eare which heareth you shall give witnesse unto you nay yet farther that very mouth that curseth you shall blesse you that heart which hated you surviving dying shall lament you and that soule which abhorred you shal desire you again 〈◊〉 my brother or as Ioash here cryeth after 〈◊〉 lisha O my father my father This is the honour of Gods Saints whose losso 〈◊〉 lamentation now follow O my father my father I have done with Ioash this lamentation is none of his by right his heart did never beget it though his tongue had learned to speake it the is indeed Elisha's owne which he 〈◊〉 heavily at the parting with his father Eâ—â—â—iah and is here taken up by Ioash 〈◊〉 himselfe but sounds more harshly from such a iarring instrument Heâ—â—e wee â— then from the Authours mouth and 〈◊〉 how he acts it we shall see the lively embleme of a perplexed soule though we heare the voyce onely it is enough to make us conceive the dolefull gesture of the Actour though we see no body such distracted outcries oh my father my father and then to stop O the charet and the horsemen and to say no more can present no other shape unto us than torne cloathes wringing hands swollen eyes besmeared face and sobbing heart a man full of sorrow and overburdened with griefe unspeakeable It is a woefull spectacle to looke upon and enough to moove a flint that would but view it seriously to weepe for company and I confesse it is not easie to forbeare while I relate it That we misse nothing which may concerne us to make us fellow-mourners with this distressed soule the lamentation implyeth 2. things remarkable 1 The manner of it It is doubled distracted and broken the naturall symptomes of a soule overcharged with griefe 2 The matter of it about which it was a double losse 1 The losse of a father O my c. 2 The losse of strength charet and horsemen The manner is the doubling Repetitivest deloris oftensie desâ—paratione Carthus in 2 Reg. 2. distraction and abruptnesse of these cryes all undoubted notes of an unexpressible griefe and in relation to the matter 〈◊〉 ground expressed it readeth us this â—â—â—son Doctrine 2 The losse of the righteous is very grievous and their lamentations very bitter The ioy of the City is not so great when it goeth well with the righteous and they prosper but their griefe surpasseth when they are cut off and taken away Prov. 11.10 It is true that when the wicked perish there is shouting but when the righteous man falleth there is bitter weeping doubled cryes and pitifull exclamations Alas our father or our brother we are sorely distressed for thee It may be 〈◊〉 cast in Eliiah and Elisha were famous Prophets in Israel and this bewailing seemeth rather to be for such than for righteous men To cast this out againe as easily It is confessed indeed that the Prophets were accounted fathers in Israel yet denyed that they were thus lamented because Prophets Righteousnesse onely addeth this honour that the losse of them should be so bewailed whilest many other Prophets die both undesired and â—â—lamented Dignities may command â— forced service and a formall honour from inferiours yet all this while they are a burden under which they groane and die they may yet be never missed and not a mourner for them unles in a gowne or cloake It is neither king nor Prophet but righteousnesse that maketh the losse so heavy and the mourning so bitter onely these bring their additions to the lamentation the losse of a righteous man the City doth bewaile as a mother the deceased child who yet is comforted by her husband that is better then ten children unto her but at the losse of a righteous King or a righteous Prophet she sits as a widow or as an orphan rents her cloathes teareth her haire and cryeth over them as a wife over her husband or a poore child after its dearest father that cannot be comforted It is true 1 Kin. 14.19 1 Kin. 1.22.37 Ierem. 22 18. when Ieroboam Ahab or Iehoiakim wicked Kings were cut off we see no great losse and therefore we have no great lamentation the City is quiet and no whit mooved none cryeth so much as alas my brother 1 Kin. 14 13.1â— But Abâ—ah Ieroboams son though a child is lamented of all Israel because 〈…〉 found some good thing towards the Lord 〈◊〉 when good Josiah falleth Ierusalem â—â—â—teth wringing her hands like a 〈◊〉 widow and Ieremiah and al 〈…〉 bitterly after him 2 Chr â—
O Ioash thou art a mourner at Elishâ—â— death Vse 1. but who thinkst thou will lament at thine The righteous indeed fall and the City is mooved all cry after him and the streets ring with their lamentations but the wicked are cut off and all is still they are neither missed nor desired nor lamented We will not crosse he proverb yet may we limit it Eccl. 2.15 So dyeth the wise man even as the foole so dieth he indeed for the nature of his death his soule is separated from his body but not so for the manner issue and consequents of his death hee dyeth a wise man but this a foole he like a Saint expecting to rise againe gloriously but this as a beast which perisheth for ever he dieth and is lost as a pearl this and is never missed like carrion he is taken away and bitterly lamented but this is cut off and not so much as desired Will ye see how they use him when he is gone It was Iehoiakims case sonne to Iosiah king of Iudah a wicked wretch whom God thus cursed when he was dead Ier. 22.18 19 Non plangent eum vae ob fratrem meum vae ob sororem non plangent eum vae ob regem vae ob regnum eius Sicut proiiciunt cadaver asini sic proiicient cadaver eius lacerabitur proiicietur ultra portas Ierusalem Calv. paraph. They shall not lament for him saying Ah my brother or ah sister they shall not lament for him saying Ah Lord or ah his glory He shall he buried with the buriall of an asse drawne and cast forth beyond the gates of Ierusalem Reade here and see your doome ye generation of evil doers though ye be the sonnes of kings and children of Princes yet your iniquities make you stinke ye die and are dragged and tumbled out like carrion this is your sentence from heauen It is the curse of folly to be buried like an asse Secondly Vse 2. O Israel how art thou beholding to Elisha Thy child indeed yet thy father thy guide thy counsellour thy charet and thy horsemen thy sinewes thy very strength and safety and 〈◊〉 this why doest thou not love him oh how would I weepe over thee with Ierusalems lamentation O Israel Israel thou that keepest the oracles of God and callest thy selfe by the name of his Church why art thou weary of thy righteous Princes thy righteous Prophets thy righteous soldiers and righteous people thou seemest not to regard though they be persecuted killed and stoned oh that thou wouldst consider in this thy day the things which concerne thy peace before they bee taken from thine eyes thy peace thy safety thy strength is in thy righteous members doest thou so slight them while thou now inioyest them Woe is thee thou wilt be feeble when they are gone then shalt thou weepe bitterly and they will not be How is it that thou art become unnaturall thou forsakest thine owne and thou harbourest strange children can salvation be thy walls when unrighteousnes and oppression are among thy rulers profanenes among thy Prophets strange altars in thy temples and idolatry in thy habitatations Alas thy leannesse thy leannesse thou art become weake and feeble and thy destructions are now upon thee Were I worthy to counsell thee yet I may call to thy remembrance Gods counsell unto thee O that righteousnes might abide rule in thy habitations that thou wouldest ingrave it on thy Nobles on thy Iudges on thy Prophets on thy Captaines and on thy Souldiers that in thee might dwell only a people of righteousnes then shouldst thou be as the strong City which the Lord hath founded salvation should be thy wals the name of Iehovah thy tower thy rereward and thine everlasting strength thou shouldest be built as on a rocke that can never be shaken and be established as mount Sion Gods holy place which shall never be remooved Lastly is Elisha among the sicke Vse 3. and maimed and cripples and feeble what doest thou heere Elisha How commest thou thus tyred and weak and faint thou righteous soule thou strength of Israel hast thou bin dallying playing the waÌ„ton in the harlots lap are thy locks shoâ—â— oh Sampson and hast thou betrayed thy strength into the hands of thine enemies Hast thou lost thy Captain thy Assistance thy weapons where is faith now where is that Almighty praier that openeth and shuts heaven that calleth for legions of Angels Alas thou hast sinned thy God is hidden from thee and thy confederates dare not come neere thee thou canst not hand before the enemy nor wind a weapon for thy defence thy strength is become weaknes and thou hast made thy selfe a scorne to the adversaries whom thou hast sometimes wounded Shouldst thou thus tempt God and fall this is thy rebuke yet let me advise thee too Come shelter thy selfe a little under the wing of thy redeemer stay there while thy locks are growne thy Captaine will come that way then lay hold on him thy forces goe along with him gather them together draw out thy weapons again and begin to use them let faith pitch it selfe upon thy God through thy Christ tell him thou wilt throw thy selfe upon his power and faithfulnes to preserve thee let thy prayer set upon him mightily and give him no rest untill hee come againe and renew tsty strength like the Eagles Then comfort thy selfe oh thou charet of Israel and the horsemen thereof the eyes of all Israel are upon thee for their strength thou mighty man of God they weepe with bitter lamentation when thou art taken from them and shouldest thou quaile for any adverse power Consider thy strength thou hast power to combat with hell and overthrow it to grapple with death and to defeat it to make the grave tremble and open unto thee that thou maist arise againe come forth a conquerour Death may humme about but it is a drone it hath no sting sinne may make a bluster but it hath no strength hell may belch foorth great words but it is already vanquished to thy hand and the grave may threaten much but it can doe nothing against such a mighty man as thou art thou hast now nothing to doe but resting in Jehovah thine everlasting strength sit downe and sing Death is swallowed up in victory 〈◊〉 death where is thy sting oh grave or 〈◊〉 where is thy victory The sting of death is 〈◊〉 and the strength of sinne is the law But thâ—nkâ— be to God who hath given me victory through our Lord Iesus Christ I have now done with my Text. I mistooke I have not yet done I must have one cursory more over it for this heavy and sad occasion then I close up indeed yet the corrupt custome of our dayes maketh mee almost afraid when men of corrupt minds enemies to godlines and children of their father the divell must bee made Saints at their funeralls and though all their life time they
THE SAINTS LOSSE AND Lamentation A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FVNERAL of the VVorshipfull Captaine HENRY WALLER the Worthy Commander of the Renowned Martial Band of the Honourable City of London To the Right VVorshipfull the President Captaines and Gentlemen exercising Armes in the Artillerie Garden of LONDON Righteousnes Strength and Peace Renowned Worthies THe honour which I beare you next my God my King my Church by the intreaty of some of you hath now forced this rude peece into publike view I 'le censure it to save others the labour farre unworthy of so many eares and eyes that it had and is like to have and by my owne â—udgement once having the censure of the eare it should never have come to the second of the eye but others have passed it and thus much I dare say for it it is truth The end of its comming to you is twofold 1. To minde you of your weaknes death hath made a shrewd breach among you and set upon you in the very front nor in the reare and stroâ—ke as the very body not at the flanks your chart is unwheeled and your horsemen throwne 〈◊〉 your Captaine is taken off your â—eads O◠〈◊〉 soule is heavy while I speake it 2. To repaâ—â—â— your strength and there is but need of it Mee thinkes I see Micaiahs vision the host of Israel scattered as sheep that have no shepheard Should the host of the Lord 〈◊〉 thus Come and let me counsell you Profanenes Pride and Discension are enoughâ—â— scatter an army that lie as thicke at grashoppers as dust into the wind when Holines Humility and Love set 〈◊〉 as walls about them that they feare 〈◊〉 force I 〈…〉 accuse you but as my beloâ—ed brâ—thâ—â—â— I 〈◊〉 you Take heed that the unholy thing 〈◊〉 not found among you walke humbly towards God and man be not all Captaines and love as brethren keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Then aske ioyntly of God a Captaine and aske in faith hee will appoint a man to goe before you in righteousnes courage and the feare of the Lord. having thus to you I would also were I worthy send a word about this matter t our Honoured Senators Be sure ye iudge for God in this great busines and account it not your smallest Honour if yee something deny your selves for the glory of God your Cities flower and your countries good al which lie ingaged in this designe These might I see effected your Captaine and your strength revived my God in both glorified I should have content enough though many censures For this I come forth though I die yet if the name of that Honoured head may live whose praise with God is farre more glorious though I suffer yet if ye may be the better and the stronger for it it is my great reward The care of this your strength I shall ever commend to the Lord of Hosts he strengthen you in righteousnes guard you with salvation make you victorious by faith and triumphant conquerors in his glory In him I râ—st Your hearty Orator and fellow-Souldier in Christs Artillery GEORGE HVGHES THE SAINTS LOSSE AND LAMENTATION 2. King cap. 13. ver 14. O my Father my father the charet of Israel and the horsemen thereof THis dolefull cry I heare but twice repeated in these sacred histories and both times at funeralls First this dying Elisha himselfe singeth this burden of lamentation at the funerall of his father Elijah for it was his funerall an heavy parting from his son and from the earth though with a more glorious transportation in a fiery charet by fiery horses and through a whiâ—â—e-wind into heaven his sonne can doe no lesse at this sudden and admired change than lament him O my father my father the charet of Israel and the horsemen thereof 2 Kin. 2.12 Secondly this honour had the same Elisha at his change when he was now sicke unto death from the mouth of Ioash an idolater indeed but yet a King who acknowledgeth himselfe a sonne also to the dying Prophet and now comming to visit his father in his sicknesse and perceiving that death was sent for him and he must loose him hee weepeth over his face and cryeth bitterly O my father my father the charet of Jsrael and the horsemen thereof Heare it once more and it is the burden of this dayes lamentation neither untimely I hope nor unseemely not untimely for it 's at a funerall nor unseemly it being the funeral of so honored an head by whose death I dare speake it I would we might not feele it there is a charet unwheeled and an horseman throwne this day in Israel It is true here is neither King nor Prophet to be lamented yet a father of many sonnes in as great a right as Eliah of Elisha or Elisha of Ioash such as a fatherly respect hath made children and want of this father hath made lamenting orphans yet a man of God a righteous soule zealous for the Lord of Hosts in whom God had placed not a small part of the Strength of Israel blame us not then if we take up this lamentation and cry O my father my father c. The words are the naturall notes of a burdened soule and the bitter expressions of a mind oppressed laid out by griefes peculiar a Aposiopesis Rhetoricke outcries and broken distracted speeches O my father my father and there he stops O the charet of Israel and the horse men thereof and then he stayes the mind doubtlesse had something else to vent but griefe smothers it and the weeping passion will not let it out My defence is from my text if Iâ—be broken and confused griefe cannot speake otherwise and mournes like such sermons best whose companion and preacher I am at this time Yet if yâ— desire a fuller sense of these distracted outcryes and a more perfect resolution of these broken speeches thinke my soule now to be in their soules stead and let me personate a while Elâ—shah to Eâ—â—ah or Iâ—ash to Elisha not in his wickednesse but his lamentation and me thinkes if geiese would suffer me I could tell you what they would have spoken O my father woo is me my soule is sorely troubled for thee Alas what shall I doe oh my heart my heart aketh and my soules even ready to be powred out I can have no rest for my staffe is broken and my father is quite taken away from me O my father What doe I stay behind for a poore forsaken orphan O how happy should I be if death would doe me that favour as to bring mee now after thee O my father my father or I would I onely had lost a father and were a mourner alone that I might yet finde others to comfort me but on which side soever I looke I see none but mourners oh my heart is almost broken All Israel laments and cryeth bitterly after thee for their charets and horsemen are fallen because thou art departed