my spirit that Christ Jesus is mine and that through him heaven shall be mine hereafter And hereupon like the blessed virgin Her soul did magnifie the Lord and her spirit rejoyced in God her Saviour One thing more I desire to acquaint you with which in my judgement was most remarkable an argument that her soul was Angelized in her body and emparifed there before it could get out to heaven It was this Upon the Sunday before her departure towards the Evening of the day her spirit fainted and she fell into a swound or it may be some heavenly rapture in which for some space she continued but breath being perceived to be in her they who were about her did strive to revive her and by Gods blessing upon the means used by her learned Physician she not onely came to her selfe but some reasonable strength and vigour was added to her And having first praised God as her accustomed manner was upon every receipt of comfort from him she desired that all her children might be brought to her which done like a most gracious Mother she blessed them all saying The God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Iacob blesse you and bestow upon you not greatnesse but goodnesse not riches but righteousnesse and the Graces of his holy Spirit that every one of you may live in the feare of God in the faith of Christ in all dutie and obedience to your father and true love to one another all the dayes of your life These and many other gracious Exhortations she uttered to her children And having given a holy and heavenly farewell to them she commanded that all her servants might come before her And to every one of them she uttered gracious words Exhorting them to live godly righteously and soberly and warning them particularly to beware of those sins which she had observed them to be most addicted to And having made an end of blessing her children and servants and taught them how to live she then in a most gracious manner prepared her selfe to die Spending the time that remained behind in fervent prayer to God to enable her to resist the assaults of the Divell and to endure the pangs of death and that would send her a blessed departure and a mercifull admission of her soul into his heavenly Kingdome At length feeling her self at the very gates of death she desired a reverend Minister then with her once againe to pray for her His prayer being ended and her life almost ended too she thus commended her selfe to God The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ the love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with me to the end and in the end Amen And this prayer she repeated againe and againe till her breath grew so short that she was not able to repeat it any longer and then she sealed up her prayer and her life too with Amen Ingeminating of it till her soul departed A heavenly Conclusion of a holy life Sic mihi contingat vivere sicque mori God grant my life and my and my latter end may be like to hers And he perswade all your hearts to a gracious Imitation of her And so leaving her in happinesse in Heaven I desire you with feare reverence and attention to hearken to those instructions which by Gods assistance I shall deliver to you from the words of Saint Paul written as you have heard Act 17.31 ACTS 17.31 Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousnesse by the Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead IT is most pious and profitable counsell which the sonne of Sirach gives Ecclesiasticus 7.36 Remember the last things and thou shalt never doe amisse These last thus commended to our remembrance and meditation are foure Death which is most certaine Iudgement which is most strict Hell which is most fearefull Heaven which is most delightfull The daily meditation of these foure last things the Wise man presumes will breed in every one of us a due care so to live that we may be blessed in Death and after death may escape the severitie of Judgement the torments of Hell and obtaine the unspeakable joyes and happinesse of Heaven Now this portion of Scripture which I have read unto you containes in it the second of these four last things namely the day of Judgement The serious meditation whereof is a powerfull means to provoke us to timely and true repentance Sure I am Saint Paul thought it so and therefore he useth no other argument to turne the superstitious Athenians from their Idolatry and to perswade them and all men every where to repent but onely this Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousnesse by the Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance to all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Which words being taken in the whole lump together may very fitly be called Gods Statute for generall judgement by Christ the righteous Iudge More particularly they offer to our consideration these sixe points 1. The certaintie of the day of Judgement Because God hath appointed it and what God hath decreed shall certainly be accomplished 2. Who shall judge he will Iudge which hath reference to God mentioned in the verse immediately fore-going 3. Who shall be judged the world which comprehends Angels in Heaven Divels in Hell Men and unreasonable and Inanimate Creatures on earth 4. How God will judge in righteousnesse rewarding every man according to his works 5. By whom God will judge by the man whom he hath ordained that is by Jesus Christ He is the Man ordained to be Judge of quick and dead Acts 10.42 6. The warrant to assure us that Christ shall judge the world whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Thus within the narrow Compasse of this text we have a day for Judgement a God to judge a World to be judged a righteous Sentence to be pronounced Christ Jesus in Commission and his Resurrection for our assurance Of all which particulars in that order as I have ranked them and as the Text offers them to our consideration 1. The Certaintie of the Day of Judgement That there shall be a Day of Judgement is a truth of infallible certaintie 1. Scripture teacheth it 2. Conscience testifyeth it 3. Reason concludeth it 4. Particular judge ments premonstrate it 1. Scripture plainly and plentifully teaches it in which we often meet with these and the like sayings God will bring every worke to Iudgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evill Eccles 12.14 We must all appeare before the judgement seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 Adde to
GODS STATUTE FOR GENERALL IVDGEMENT BY THE MAN CHRIST IESVS OPENED IN A SERMON AT THE Funerall of the most religious Lady the Lady LVCIE IERVOICE Sometime wife TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL SIR THOMAS IERVOICE AT Herriot Aug. 26. 1641. By JOHN BROKETT Minister of ELSFEILD ECCLESIASTES 12.14 God shall bring every work to Iudgement with every secret thing whether it be good or evill Expavesco multum Iudicis severi vultum Quem latebit nil occultum Qui relinquet nil inultum LONDON Printed by I. L. for Richard Thraule at the signe of the Crosse-Keyes at the entrance into Pauls Church-yard 1642. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL SIR THOMAS IERVOICE my much honoured friend SIR I Doe here present to you that Sermon which the Lord enabled me to deliver at the funerall of your gracious Lady now a glorified Saint in Heaven Of right it belongs to you for your desire which the receipt of many favours obliged me to satisfie brought it first to the Pulpit now to the Presse The consciousnesse of my insufficiencie in the Worke of the Ministerie and of the weaknesse and unworthinesse of this Sermon so suddenly conceived made me for a time most unwilling to expose it to the publike sight and censure of this queasie and distempered time But your importunitie hath now drawn it from me and you have it in the same forme wherein it was deliverd And though it be a plain discourse according to my countrey course of Preaching yet as it did affect the Hearts and Consciences of the Hearers so I hope it will not be unpleasing or unprofitable to the Readers And may it by the good blessing of God affoord any comfort to your self or any other truly fearing God I have that which I expect and pray for Sir I am bold to inscribe it to your name as a testimonie of my Gratitude for your undeserved respect to me and a pledge of my true desire to further you in your journey towards Heaven by commending this Sermon to your Meditation this Saint to your Imitation These with all other means of grace the Lord so blesse to you that you may be sanctified throughout and I pray God your whole spirit and soule and bodie be preserved blamelesse unto the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ And with this Prayer I end resting Your Worships to command in the best of my poor service JOHN BROKETT THE TESTIMONIE GIVEN TO THE WORSHIPFULL AND and most Religious Ladie THE LADY LVCIE IERVOICE AT HER FVNERALL Aug. 26. 1641. WE are here assembled by the good providence of Almightie God to celebrate the Funerall of the right Worshipfull and most religious Lady the Lady Lucie Iervoice A dutie which Affection Reason and Religion doe impose upon us These three Heraulds doe enjoyne us justa persolvere so to give the dead their due that the memoriall of the just may be blessed and their names may be had in everlasting remembrance Now to the right performance of Christian Funerals two things have ever beene thought requisite 1. That the bodies of the Saints be decently laid up in the darke chamber of the grave ut molliter essa cubent there to sleep in peace with their fathers and to rest in hope of a joyfull and glorious resurrection at the last day 2. That we tender to the deceased such honour as the qualitie of their persons deserved For the graces and vertues of the Saints must not be raked up with their bodies in dust and ashes but receive their deserved commendation to the due praise of the grace of God then especially when the lives of the deceased may be set forth as examples and patternes of vertue to the living And such I am sure was the life and death of this most gracious Ladie She lived like a Saint and she dyed like a Saint Her life was full of grace her latter end was full of peace We finde in Scripture many women much commended for some speciall vertues wherein they excelled Sarah is commended for obedience Abigail for wisdome Mary for faith Martha for hospitalitie Anna for devotion Dorcas for charitie Eunice for the pious education of her sonne Timothie but of this Ladie whose dead body lyeth here before us I may say without falshood or flatterie in the words of Lemuels mother Many daughters have done vertuously but thou excellest them all Prov. 31.39 Her vertues were many more by many then I am able to relate to you If I could the whole time allotted for this exercise would faile me And therefore like a man in hast I will run over the garden of her life and here and there crop a flowre to make a Garland of praise to set upon her Hearse and a spirituall pofie for every one of you And when you have it part not with it carry it away in your bosomes with you and it will perfume your words and actions and make you as she was a sweet smelling sacrifice to God 1. Observe and imitate her Pietie which shined forth amongst us in the constant practice of a godly life It may be said of Men as Saint Paul doth of the creatures for meat they are sanctified by the word and prayer These are the principall means the Lord hath sanctified to sanctifie us And to both these this most pious Ladie did give diligent attendance both privately and publikely For her Private Devotion she was a rare and most singular patterne for our imitation For it was her constant course both Winter and Summer to rise very early from her Bed immediatly she repaired to her Closet and there for a time she gave her self to devout prayer and divine meditation having offered up this sacrifice to God then like Salomons vertuous woman she gave meat to her houshold and a portion to her maidens Having ordered the affaires of her Familie then she returned to her Closet againe where for the most part she spent divers houres in praying and reading the Scriptures and other good bookes tending to godly instruction Having thus trimmed up her soul then she dressed her body which done she addressed her selfe to prayer againe with her whole Familie before dinner And if occasions did permit she spent much of the afternoone in prayer studie and meditation never neglecting to pray with her Family in the Evening and before she lay down to take her rest her manner was in private prayer to recommend her selfe and all belonging to her to Gods gracious protection Thus this pious Ladie did dresse up her soul like the lamp in the Tabernacle every morning and every evening with the sweet oyle Olive of pure Devotion Now touching her publike Devotion in this she was most exemplarie With David she rejoyced to goe to the house of the Lord. With Mary she delighted to sit at the feet of Christ to heare him preaching to her in the Ministery of the word Her behaviour in Gods house was so decent so comely and full of humble reverence her Amen to the prayers of the
Church and all her answers appointed by the Liturgie were uttered so orderly so audibly so affectionately and so zealously that I must confesse I never observed in any more reverence attention and zeale in the publike service and worship of God Another instance of her Pietie was her love to the Ministers of God She respected all for their callings sake but did highly esteeme such as she observed to be faithfull in the worke of the Lord. An evident signe that she tooke much comfort and tasted much sweetnesse in the water of Life who so loved and respected that Pipe thorow which the Lord did conveigh the same into her Many other evidences of her Pietie I might instance in As her readinesse to offer and entertaine holy Conference Her delight in such as did excell in vertue Her encouraging and rewarding vertue in those that did belong to her Her hatred of vice in her self in those that were neere and deere to her and in all that did attend upon her She opposed nothing so much as sinne She was never offended with children or servants for any thing so much as for sin She desired and endeavoured nothing so much as to serve God with her whole houshold Now from these premises wee must needs inferre this Conclusion That she was a most Pious Lady 2. Observe and Imitate her Wisdome She was a Lady of excellent understanding In Huswiferie in Chirurgerie in Physick c. But principally in matters of Religion which concerned Gods worship and mans salvation She was wise to salvation By continuall study and meditation the word of God became so familiar to her dwelt so plentifully in her that she was able as occasion was offered to rehearse pertinent places of Scripture and much of her ordinary language was in Scripture phrase 3. Observe and Imitate her Charitie She loved the poore as the members of Christ in word and deed wishing well and doing well to all though enemies who stood in need of her reliefe and comfort She was a Chirurgion to such as were hurt and maymed And oftentimes dressed with her owne hand such putrified soares that some who waited on her did loath to looke upon She was a Physician to the sicke and diseased And as her skill this way was more then ordinarie so most ready and willing she was to be at much charge to bestow any paines to further their recovery She was also Christs Almoner to the poore and needy While she lived never did any hungry belly goe from her doore unfed As God had given plentifully to her so she gave plentifully to God againe in the poore members of Christ not only appointing food to be given them by the hands of servants but like Salomons vertuous woman She stretched forth her hand to the poore and reached out both her hands to the needie Prov. 31.20 4. Observe and Imitate her Humilitie Though many things whereof others be proud were not wanting in her as Birth Riches Reputation excellent parts of Art and Nature yet she alwayes continued the Lords humble handmaid Through humilitie she made her selfe equall to those that be of a low degree and was even a companion of poore ones that feared the Lord. She despised the ornaments of vanitie which other Ladies and Gentlewomen too much delight in and dote upon Her outward habite did shew the inward modestie lowlinesse and humilitie of her minde She was ever humble in the sight of her sins never in sicknesse or health flattering her selfe with any thing she had done but ever condemning her selfe and complaining of her owne sins and unworthinesse Now this which hath been said is enough to prove her a most gracious Lady But nothing so much as may be spoken in the praise of her Me thinks I heare her sorrowfull husband praise her saying that to him she was a wise humble loving loyall and most obedient Wife Me thinks I heare her children praise her saying that to them she was a most loving tender prudent provident and most pious Mother Me thinks I heare her servants praise her saying that to them she was a most meeke gentle loving and libetall Lady a zealous reprover of their vices but a bountifull rewarder of their true and faithfull service Me thinks I heare all both men and women praise her and saying that she was the ornament of her sex a great and light shining in a darke place Thus it pleased God to infuse into the heart of this Lady a measure more then ordinary of heavenly Grace which was not hid in her as a light under a bushell but it shined forth to all with whom she conversed so that by the shining of her light and the sight of her good works others were provoked and directed to glorifie God our heavenly father And as the Course of her Life was religious So the Conclusion of her life was most gracious witnesse her most Saintlike behaviour in her last sicknesse wherein these graces were visible to all about her 1. Patience which was admirable It pleased God to visit her with a long and sometimes most sharpe and painfull sicknesse which most piously she acknowledged to be the Lords visitation and apprehending the hand of the Lord in it most patiently she submitted her selfe to the Lords heavenly will and pleasure resting contented to live but willing to die yea so willing that ever and anon shee was uttering Saint Pauls wish I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Iesus To her patience adde her 2. Repentance which I am confidently assured was most sincere and heartie testified oft-times by most penitentiall confessions and most fervent supplications for grace and mercie To her repentance adde her 3. Pietie Wherein she profited much whilst she continued in the Schoole of affliction Her sicknesse was to her as the waters of the flood were to the Arke of Noah the longer it continued the more it encreased the higher it did beare up her thoughts and desires towards heaven Her whole time she spent in reading or hearing of others reade to her in praying by her selfe or with others in holy conference in heavenly meditations and ever and anon her soul was sending up some short and sweet ejaculations with such zeale and fervencie of spirit in words so full of divinitie and devotion with such elevation of hands and eyes that she afforded hereby much comfort and benefit to all that did visit her or attend upon her Adde to these her 4. Faith Which was firmely built upon the Rock Christ Jesus Him she acknowledged to be her onely and all-sufficient Redeemer and stedfastly relyed upon his merits for salvation And through him she made a sure peace with God and gained a full assurance of salvation as appeared by those words she spake to a deare friend one Mistris Reynolds O daughter he is come he is come To which she replying Who is come Madam she answered in words to this purpose The Spirit of comfort is come and hath testified to