mourning and a firm ground of consolation and rejoycing 1. The present subject of lamentation and mourning A cropping off the tender top-branch of a Goodly Cedar the takeing away by death the hopeful young Heire of a worthy and ancient Family so sayes God by his Prophet in the Moral I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one 2. The firm Ground of consolation and rejoycing the happy transplanting this tender Branch into the Heavenly Paradise the Mountain of Sion high in Eternity and eminent in Glory thus I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent Method Explication and Application 1. Explication The Present Subject of lamentation and mourning I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one Here observe we have a Branch a top-Branch of the tree one and a tender one not withered or broken de medulla Cedri Vulg. evertice Cordis Arab. Interp. but in its full sap cropt off and taken away this the ascent of degrees in the letter of the Parable and Allegorical representation which gives us this accent of sorrow in the meaning of the Morall and Tropological interpretation viz. That a Son and Heir the last born of the Family and first born of his Mother a Childe and an only Childe in the blossom of his youth and vigour of his strength not wasted with some lingring Consumption nor lamed with some dismal Disaster but suddainly cut off by a most Acute disease is taken away by the hand of God from the Land of the living But what said I taken away from the land of the Living Ay as to an Earhly and Mortal life and that 's our Grief but yet with correction not quite taken away onely transplanted into a better Soile that of an Heavenly and life-giving Immortality which is our Comfort Now in Funeral Solemnities which receive their birth from our Death and had their rise from Mans fall Pleading their Antiquity from Abels Burial For if we will believe the Rabbins Adam and Eve were chief Mourners for the Death of Abel an 100. years Ay and his Panegyrick too that still remaines in the lasting records of Sacred Scripture where the Holy Ghost tells us in a Ludatory Commemoration of his Sacrifice Righteousnesse that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though he be dead he yet speaketh Heb. 11.4 Now I say in these Funeral Solemnities whether attending the eastern Pyle or the western Coffin the dolfullest mourning is in the obsequies of a deceased Son such a Son as is the Fathers hope and the Mothers joy primogenitus unigenitus the first born and the onely born Thus thus the Prophet Zachary to set forth more lively the sorrows Poènitential he does it most Pathetically most Emphatically by the sorrows of a Funeral when the humbled sinner shall mourn Zech. 12.10 as one mourneth for her onely Son and shall be in bitternesse of Soul as one that is in bitternesse of sorrow for his first born and here then retreat we into our own bosomes and let Conscience speak how much or rather how little we have been acquainted with true Penitence seeing the moanes of Penitence must be like the mournings for a Son even a Funeral sorrow yea like the mournings for an onely Son and first born which is the saddest sorrow of all Funerals And hinc illae lacrymae this oh this is the black cloud of mourning which dissolves it self into so many showres of tears in the present Exequies Whosoever they be then Beloved that either now do or hereafter shall mourn for the loss of a Son let them consider what mournings may be sufficient for the loss of a Soul especially seeing by the devout Teares of prayer and Penitence the lost soul may be recovered but the lost Son cannot be recalled Sophocles in Scyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sayes the Grecian Sophocles If we could with cry's recall or moans recover the dead O how precious were our tears more rich then pearles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. more desirable then gold more Soveraignly restorative then Elixar it self Wherefore let those Parents whom Gods hand hath made Childless especially in the loss of a first born son and hopeful Heire let them make this holy use of their heavy affliction even a penitent Humiliation So shall their sons death further their Souls life and a spiritual Communion repaire the breach of a temporal separation and whom they have lost for a while as to an earthly presence they shall enjoy for ever in an Heavenly fellowship Father and Son Mother and Child all through an Obedience of Faith being made joynt heirs with Christ of the everlasting inheritance which Inheritance Christ hath purchased by his righteousness promis'd in his Gospel and gives full possession of it at his second coming in Glory Which is that very thing administers comfort here in sorrow to dry up the Tears of mourning even the firm ground of consolation in the Text that though God hath cropt off the Top-branch of the Family a Son and Heir tender and young Yet he hath planted him in Paradise the mountain of Sion high in dignity and eminent in glory For so says God of Zerubbabel in the Allegory appli'd by us to the deceased in the Moral I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent This then our second particular 2. Part. The firm Ground of Consolation and Rejoycing I will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent In which high mountain of Heavenly Sion the transplanted branch enjoys a perpetual Spring without any return of Autumn's falling leafe or Winters nipping frost Neither does the Moon 's motion measure out its moneths or the Suns course determin its years nor does the night press upon the day to mask its light but to keep this Plant fresh and flourishing the bright beams and sweet influence of the Sun of Righteousness are continually upon it Malach. 4.2 in the souls Beatifical Vision of God in Christ It was of the earthly Sion that David said it and therefore much more to be said of the Heavenly Psal 87.3 Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of God! some of those Glorious things are spoken by S. Augustine S. Aug. de Civit. Dei that in this City of Heavenly Sion Rex est Veritas Lex charitas pax felicitas vita aeternitas the King thereof is truth it self the law thereof is love it selfe the Peace thereof is felicity it self and the life thereof is Aeternity it selfe The whole blessedness and glory is such as Eye mortal Eye hath not seen 1 Cor. 2.9 nor ear heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive In cor hominis non ascendit so the Vulgar Latine and that according
A PLANT OF PARADISE Being A Sermon Preached at St. Martin's in the Fields at the Funeral of JOHN-GOODHAND HOLT The young Son onely Child and Hopefull Heir of THOMAS HOLT of Gristlehurst in the County of Lancaster Esq March the 19th 1659. By R. M. Minister of S. Pet. P.W. Lond. Non amitti sed praemitti videntur quos non absumptura mors sed aeternitas receptura est S. Ambr. l. de excis frut LONDON Printed by R. N. 1660. To the much Honour'd THOMAS HOLT Esq and M rs ANNE HOLT The mournfull Parents of the deceased Heire Worthy Friends HE best administers words of Comfort * Ordo consolationis est moerendo prius luclui concordare emolliri debet animus ut afflicto congruat congruens inhaereat inhaerens trahat nec ferrum ferro conjungitur si non utrinqúe â—ccustione ignâ—s liquetur Greg. Mor. who first entertains a Sympathy of sorrow there being much of Consolation in Compassion And therefore †Rom 12 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O quà m brevi sermunculo totius religionis depinxit insigne his uberibus mater Ecclesia loctat proficientes nutrit perfectos haec est mammilla compassionis illa congratulationis Bern. Serm. de B. Magd. to weep with them that weep is not to encrease the Stream but cut the Channel and so not heighten but lessen the floods of grief What comforts then are administred you from the Pulpit accept them commixt with tears over the Hearse a sympathy in affliction being the surest testimony of affection And what affection I have for the surviving Parents to say it may seem insinuation and flattery but what affection I had for the deceased Son not to say it were to wrong his merit and his memory Indeed my just esteems of both have made me yield to your pressing importunity for the Impression of these Funeral Meditations which I here Dedicate as a Memoriae sacrum to perpetuate the honour of his vertuous hopes and your Parental loves Your Parental loves not as to those indulgentiae blandimenta those fond blandishments of a softning indulgence which degenerate the spirits and effeminate the tempers of very many otherwise most generous plants no for though I like not a Lucius Brutus's austere severity of whom it is said that * Valer Max. l. 5 c 8. Exuit patrem ut consulem ageret he put off the bowels of a Father when he put on the gown of a Consull as if a good Patriote and a loving Father were inconsistent Though I like not this too austere severity yet I cannot but condemn that too * Mollis illa educatio quam indulgentiam vocemus nervos omnes meniis corporis frangit Quintil. Vna janua aditus est ad omne scelus Lips ep 7. Cent. 1. soft indulgence which hath laid the first ground to this Ages debauchery and dissolutenesse so infamously famous for those monstrous Births of Church and State Apostacy's But this is the commendation of your parental love that it was accompany'd with the desire and endeavour of adorning your son with what was most lovely the principles of a Christian the Institutions of a Scholler and the Accomplishments of a Gentleman Wherefore this sprouting Branch being cropt in the blossom of his age it will remain Cedro dignum a record of Honourable fame that you were the careful Parents of so hopeful a son and he the hopeful son of so careful Parents And to stop the current of your tears look up to Paradise raise your devotion to the Mountaine of Sion and there behold flourishing in life what you bewail as cropt by death even the blossoming Branch planted in Heaven who by how much he was the better son to you by so much he is the fitter soul for God whose blessed communion of grace and blisful communion of glory is the Divine object of his hearty prayers whose Devotions answer his affections in which he is Dear and Honoured Your faithfully devoted servant in Christ R. MOSSOM A PLANT of PARADISE A Sermon preached at St. Martins in the Fields at the Funeral of John-Goodhand Holt the young Son onely Child and hopeful Heir of Thomas Holt of Gristlehurst in the County of Lancaster Esq March the 19. 1659. Honourable and Beloved IN Conformity to that ancient practice of the Primitive Saints and the continued custome of Christs Church we are here met in this present Congregation to perform the Funeral Rites due to the Body and the Memory of a Christian Brother * viz. March 12. 1659. lately deceased even the young Heir and top-Branch of an Ancient Family cropt by death in the blossom of his age not exceeding the number of 12. years Here in a just Eulogy and Laudatory Commemoration of the Dead I might speak much to a vertuous Emulation of the Living much of him who was but little for that indeed little in him was much even Scintillae gratiae his sparks were more then others flames His seeds then other's fruits And therefore as Valerius justifies the honour done by the Roman Senate to Aemilius Lepidus when a boy saying * Valer. Max. lib. 3. c. 1. Injustum esset cum Honori nondum Tempestiuum videri qui jam Virtuti maturus fuisset It had been unjust if he who was ripe for Vertue should have been thought untimely for Honour the like I may plead concerning the Deceased it were injustice done Him â—â—ould he not receive what is Honourable having done what is Vertuous True it is Dignity of Birth with basenesse of minde is like * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epichar a Looking-glasse to him who hath lost his sight the noble worth of Ancient Progenitours is presented to Posterity as a pattern of imitation but ignoble mindes do not see it being sullied with their Demerit Valer Max. l. 3. c. 5. But this hopeful youth was none of those Nobilia Portenta those Monsters of Nobility and Gentry whose degenerate spirits disgrace their Families No he was right of the number of those Prospera Parentum Vota Those happy pledges of Parental loves * Quae efficiunt ut genuisse juvet generare libeat Id. l. 5. c. 4. who make their birth a Joy and their Number a delight Yet I must Remember I am not here an Oratour but a Preacher and my business is not a Panegyrick but a Sermon and I may not chuse his Memory for my Text. Only thus far then that I may bring some flowers to adorn his Hearse Let me present you the Blossoms this Branch did bear And know the fair blossoms of this hopefull branch were from the Endowments of Nature and the Gifts of Grace the endowments of Nature in a pliable disposition and a tractable ingeny fit Metal for good Molds fit Wax for good Impressions The gifts of Grace in a submissive observance and modest humility not otherwise compatible with his sprightly Genius but as given him by the spirit of Grace
non sentiam my very bowels are rent from me and shall I not feel it Thus not to be sensibly affected with the loss of a Son and such a son as is here lost it were to put off the bowels and love of a Parent and yet to be dejectedly afflicted with the loss when so great is his Gain is to cast off the heart and faith of a Christian Wherefore know that Love is but carnal whose sorrow is immoderate at a Funeral for whom we loose in deaths dissolution we yet retain in the Churches Communion and so the breach of nature is repaired by Grace and what grace repaires Glory consummates Let not oh let not then your teares of immoderate grief so blinde the eyes of your holy faith as not to see in the Comfort what you believe in the Article of your Creed the Communion of Saints 2. Exhortation That considering what we have heard of the Mountain of Sion and State of the blessed what we have heard spoken in praise Christ hath given in promise and shall be hereafter made good in reward St. Aug. de civit Dei considering this Vilescant omnia quae habentur in terris Let these earthly things be the objects of our holy contempt not our hearty delight Center we our souls upon Heaven six we our aimes upon what is everlasting and will outlive the triumphs of Death See the Emperour Justinian's Funeral and that will tutour us to this instruction see his Royal Pall a rare piece of Phrygian Arras Baron ad Ann. Justin 39. richly wrought with the lively Representations of vanquish't armies conquered Kings Ruined Cities captived people all these the Tropheys of his Triumphs he delivers up as a Spoil to Death Wherefore most certainly he hath but a mean soul who mounts no higher in his affections then to what is mortal Look we up then Groveling Mortals look we up in our desires and in our devotions to Heaven our Countrey Heb. 11.10.16 to Jerusalem our abiding City There there is the society of Saints the Communion of the Blessed Dull souls why do we not hasten to that Home Know we not that a glorious company of Patriarchs and Prophets of Kings and Priests of Apostles and Evangelists an whole army of valiant Martyrs constant Confessors and devoted Virgins yea a numberless multitude of Parents and Kindred and Friends and other holy Saints all desire and long for our coming S. Cypr. tract de mortal de sua incolumitate securi de nostra salute soliciti secure as to their own safety but solicitous as to our salvation Why do we not then speed our pace in a quickned zeal of Holy Devotions and devout affections Why do not we thus * 1 Pet. 1.13 gird up the Loyns of our mind and hasten †Ibid. ad horum conspectum complexum venire to come into their sight and into their society their Presence and their Embraces And this to communicate in those joys and in that inheritance which is common to all Here we are troubled to get Heirs for our inheritances and to get inheritances for our Heirs but in Heaven there is one inheritance and all Heirs and yet non minuitur copiâ Possessorum S. Aug. in Psal 49. nec fit angustior numerositate Cohaeredum the number of Heirs does not lessen the Inheritance nor the multitude of Possessours straiten the bounds of our Possession Ibid. No Tanta est multis quanta est paucis Colloss 1.12 Gen. 3.24 tanta singulis quanta omnibus The Inheritance of life is an Inheritance of light and therefore as is the light of the Sun so is the life of Christ as great to many as to few and as much to each one as to all To close 3. Consolation O what comfort then must this needs be in the thoughts of the deceased That he hath left us but we have not lost him unless we first lose our selves our Souls For in the Mountain of Sion it is that we shall find him in the Paradise of God it is that we shall meet him unless like guilty Adam Gen. 3.24 the Cherubims flaming sword do keep us out even Gods fiery wrath of avenging Justice exclude us from the society of the blessed To shut up all then This hopeful Branch the deceased Heire was not cropt to be wither'd away but to be Planted anew and planted in the Mountain of Sion high in dignity and eminent in Glory and this this is the great comfort in his mournfull Solemnity which seasonable Consolation is administred from the Text in its Morall Interpretation the Letter whereof is this I will crop off from the top of his young twiggs a tender one and will plant it upon an high Mountain and eminent Hallelujah FINIS