THE END OF THE PERFECT MAN.
A SERMON PREACHED AT the Buriall of the right Honourable Sir ROBERT SPENCER Knight Baron SPENCER of Wormeleighton, Novemb. 6. 1627. in Braynton Church in Northamptonshire,
BY RICHARD PARRE Bachelour in Divinity, and late Fellow of Brasen-nose Colledge in Oxford, now Rector of Ladbr [...]k in Warwickshire.
OXFORD, Printed by WILLIAM TVRNER Printer to the famous Vniversitie. An. Dom. 1628.
TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE, Sr WILLIAM SPENCER, Knight of the Bathe, Baron of Wormeleighton.
VOuchsafe to accept that which was both conceiued, and brought forth at Your Lordships Commaund; you haue giuen it a being, it now craues your protection; and the rather because it brings you at once a testimony both of my Obedience and weakenesse.
The Piety and Worth of our late noble Lord, Your worthy Father (now with Christ, deserued, (I confesse) a farre more learned Pen, though had not neede of any: t'is the Priviledge of Vertue and Religion, to bee their owne Pannegyrists, —habent opera suam linguam (saith S. Cyprian) & suam facundiam tacente linguâ,—they haue not onely tongues of their owne, but eloquence, and in a powerfull silence proclaime themselues.
[Page]'Tis therefore a superfluous labour to endeauour to preserue his memorie in these poore paper monuments, who still liues in those walking images of Himselfe, his religious and hopefull Children; still liues in the sad hearts of the poore and naked, whom his Charitie hath so often fed, and cloathed: in that neglected vertue of Hospitalitie, (for justly may it preserue that Name into eternitie by which it selfe liues; which in this cold dotage of the decrepit World, and perpetuall frost of Charitie, would be benumm'd or staru'd, were it not entertain'd and cherish'd by that honourable Name of Spencer and some few others:) but in this Your Honour will satisfie the world, who beleeues You as truely to succeed Him in his vertues, as possessions; and in his pious and religious Examples, which euer surviue their Authors Funerals, they haue a life of their owne, or rather an immortality, by which they not onely continue vnto posterity, but powerfully perswade to imitation.
But since it hath pleased the dead to appoint a Sermon, and the liuing to make choise of my selfe (the most vnworthy of Gods Ministers, none being more conscious of his owne defects, none more willing to serue this Honourable Family according to his weaknes) I haue studied to fit my Sermon, to his Funerals. He did not affect Pompam funeris, as Hierome speakes ad Paulam vpon the death of Blaesilla: nor I Pompam Sermonis; here's no Rhetoricke vs'd to moue the passions and affections, which are the stoppes and fretts of the Soule, to bee fingred by the Art of a powerfull Oratour: I know the times wee liue in to be criticall [Page]and touchy, and that our Funerallists frequently endeavour to teach sorrow to be eloquent, an age wherein an intemperate curiosity of style is become not onely a humour, but a disease; for my part I haue chosen (in a pious obseruāce of that plainesse he required) rather to satisfye the desire of the dead, then the curiositie of the liuing; and therefore I doe not (as the olde Romanes vsed) laudare defunctum pro rostris (to speake with Suetonius in his Iulius Caesar, Shindleru [...] ▪) nor haue I painted his Sepulchre (like those auncient Iewes;) no, I appeale vnto the world if I may not justly take vp that of Bernard, testimonium veritati praebeo, non affectioni.
If any accuse this poore Peece, as Lucilius did the writings of Fabianus Papirius; for to plaine, I must borrow that Apologie which Seneca made for him, mores ego, non verba composui, & animis scripsi illa, non auribus; Seneca ep. 100.
That diuine Moralist commaunds his yong Lucilius, that he should euer suppose Cato or some of the stricter Stoickes, a beholder of all his actions,Sen. ep. 11. thinking the conceite of such an awfull presence, a sufficient direction: Your Honour needes goe no further then the happy memory of your blessed Father either for direction or patterne. Suppose you him bespeaking his Children as Valerius Corvinus did his Souldiers, Facta mea vos imitari vellem, nec disciplinam modò, sed exemplum: take out the Lecture, and goe on (great Lord) in those vertuous and pious courses hee hath trode before you, and that God, with whom hee now raignes in glory, prosper and protect you in all your actions, guide and direct you [Page]in all your wayes, crowne you with the blessing of peace heere, and with a Crowne of glory hereafter: this shall euer bee the prayer of him who is, and professeth still to continue
The Preface.
IT was the great wisedome and care of our Honourable and religious Lord, now translated from Earth to Heauen,Made about three yeares before his death. in his last Will and Testament, to giue directions in seuerall passages vnto vs, who are the Actours in this last Sceane, of his decent and Christian Burialls.
First for his blessed soule, that he voluntarily resignes and bequeathes into the mighty hands of GOD his Creatour; into the gracious armes of GOD the Sonne, his Redeemer; and into the comfortable fellowship of GOD the Holy-Ghost his sanctifyer: Three persons, but one GOD, blessed for [...]uer.
His blessed soule thus bequeathed to be admitted into the Congregation of the sacred Trinity; into those celestiall and euerlasting habitations. Then hee commends the care and charge of his body to his surviuers with these ensuing directions in many circumstances.
First, for the Vbi or place, where it should rest, Secondly, for the manner (How) it should bee brought to its place of rest: And then, hee directs vs in this sacred businesse, or action, I meane, the preaching of this Sermon.
For the first circumstance, the Vbi, or place of rest, it is in the wombe of this holy ground;Braynton Church in Northamptonshire. and more punctually, in that honourable and rich Monument with his elect Lady, & beloued Wife; whose Christian death & dissolution divided their bodies, not their soules:He liued a Widovver 30 yeares. witnesse those many yeares he hath spent as a mourner of her Funerals; witnesse that individuall Monument for them both, to testifie to the world, that happie vnion, of which, neither life, nor death could cause a disiunction. Thus did the sparke of his neuer-dying loue, guided by a diuine providence, kindle and inflame his heart with a desire, not only of dying in the same bedde on [Page]earth, but also of lying in the same bed vnder earth: where they might dwell together againe, as in a house of safety and peace, vntill they rise jointly to a joyfull and glorious resurrection.
And as we are thus confin'd to the Vbi, or place of rest: so are we restrained in the manner (How) he would be brought thither, not in the pompous traine of Heraulds, and glorious Ensignes, nor in dumbe ceremonies, and superfluous shewes, but in a decent & Christian manner, without pompeThese are the vvords of the Will. or superfluitie.
And as we are thus confin'd in one Circumstance, and restrain'd in another: so are we prescrib'd in the third place for the preaching of this Sermon, in the face of this Congregation, whilst he wils a Sermon, not a Panegyrick cloath'd in the colours of Rhetoricke, nor yet a Funerall Oration, to blazen his Honours, to hyperbolize in his praises, or to draw a glorious line of Progenitours. No. Mallet precibus in coelum ferri, quàm plausibus; as his soule went vp to Heauen in praying: so he had rather his body should bee entomb'd in preaching, then in vniust and ouer-praising. Therefore he wills a Sermon for the advancing of Gods glory, a Sermon for the instruction of his Children, and friends in the feare of God, and to stirre them vp toThese are the vvords of the Will. liue wel, and dye well: which by the grace of God we shall doe, out of the
FInis coronat opus: It is the end that crowns the worke or action, & not that alone, but truely distinguisheth the persō: passe by the house of God a little, and walke vpon the stage of the world, there marke and behold the promiscuous actions of all persons, & wee shall finde little difference betwixt Ethiopians and true Israelites, betwixt true Christians, and counterfeit formalists, betwixt him that offers sweete incense in the Church of God, & him that sacrificeth bloud in the Divels Chappell; Looke vpon Cain and Abell for the outward action, both are sacrificing: Looke vpon Esau & Hezechia, both are weeping: Looke vpon Achab and Mordecai, both are in sackcloath mourning: Looke vpon Saul and Dauid, both are confessing: in a word look vpō the righteous & the wicked, both for a time (perhaps) are like greene bay-trees, flowrishing: but marke the end, that crownes the action, [Page 2]that, distinguisheth the person; The end of the vngodly is, what?2 Vers. 39. Hee shall bee rooted out at the last: but for the godly and vpright man his end is crowned with the blessing of Peace. Marke the perfect man, and behold the vpright, for the end of that man is peace.
The parts are 3.
- 1. An iniunction, Marke and behold.
- 2. The obiect or person, the perfect man and vpright man.
- 3. The motiue, or reason, for the end of that man is peace.
Resolue these 3. partes into these 3. Queries: 1 First, what this perfect man is, or how farre man in this life is capable of perfection?
Secondly,2 What the vpright, or just man is for our imitation?
Thirdly & lastly,3 what it is to end in peace for our great comfort and consolation?
Wee beginne with the first Querie, what [...] the perfect man is; or how farre a man in this life is capable of perfection? For the resoluing of this Querie,part. 1. in the first place, the Romane Doctours distinguish thus.Perfectio alia est praecepti ac meriti, alia consilij & supererogationis. vi. Aquin: 2.2. quae 184. Art. 2. & 3. There's a perfection of precept and merit, and a perfection of Counsell, and supererogation; the perfection of precept and merit, they determine to bee in omnibus iustificatis, & saluatis; but the perfection of counsell and supererogation agrees onely to some which aspire higher, not onely to saue themselues, but others, as monasticall votaries. Surely this is the generation of men, of whom Saint August. complaines, Sunt quidam inflati, Aug. de vcibis Apost. s [...]rm. 29. &c. there are some like vessells blowne vp with wind, fill'd with a haughty spirit, not solidely great, but swoll'n with the sickenesse of pride, who dare bee bold to say, that some men are without sinne, whereas there owne Caietans rule is most Catholicke: damnatum est peccatum, non extinctum: Sinne is condemn'd in some, in none extinguisht. And as Saint August: brands such men with the spirit of haughtines, and pride: so doth Saint Bernard [Page 3]bequeath vnto them a miserable woe,S. Bern. serm. contra vitium ingrati. Vae generationi huic miserae, woe to this miserable generation, to whom their owne insufficiencie seemes most sufficient. Would but the indulgent Rhemists learne from these auncient Fathers, they would not interpret our Sauiours (vade, Mat. 19.21. & vende) of a perfection both of merit & supererogation: both which kinds of perfection distilled from Roman braines, wee of the Church of reformation deny and reiect, distinguishing of perfection, thus. The perfection which in sacred Scriptures, and auncient Fathers, is attributed to holy men of God for their righteousnesse, and good workes is either
- Extrinsecall,Vid. Zanch. tom. 6. cōment. in cp. ad Phil. c. 3. v. 15.
- or Intrinsecall.
Perfection Extrinsecall, adventitious, or by way of condonation, is, when that which is imperfect in vs, is freely pardon'd by God, for Christs sake, according to that of S. Aug: S. Aug. lib. [...]. Retr. cap. 19. Omnia Dei mandata facta deputantur, Aug. 19. de ciu. Dei. c. 27. quando id qd non fit ignos [...]ur: all the commandements of God, are deputed perform'd, or done, when that is freely forgiuen which is vndone: And againe, such is our righteousnesse or perfection in this life, that it consists in remissione peccatorum potius quám in perfectione virtutum: rather in the remission of sinnes, then in the perfection of vertues.
Secondly Intrinseccall perfection, or perfection by way of inhesion, is either absolute, which is nothing else, but sincerity or simplicity of heart, oppos'd to hypocrisie, or double dealing with God; in which sense Iob is said (Chap. 1.1.) to be [...], a perfect man: or else it is comparatiue in a certaine respect, or by way of comparison with others, & so Noah is said to bee perfect: (Gen. 6.9.) but with this addition (in generationibus suis) that is,Gen. 6.9. he was very righteous and perfect in respect of others, that liued in those lewd, & godlesse times; so Saint Paul elegantly expresseth himselfe. Wee speake wisedome amongst those that are perfect. 1. Cor. 2.7. i. amongst them which haue a greater measure of grace,1. Cor. 2.7. & knowledge then most of you haue: for otherwise, if wee speake of absolute perfection, hee is absolutely against [Page 4]it,Phil. 1.12. and confesseth of himselfe,S. Aug. in Ps. 38. that he had not attained vnto it, (Phil. 3.12.) And Quis sibi arrogare id audeat, quod Paulus ipse fatetur se non comprehendisse? S. Bernard in Cant. serm. 49. S. Bern. super Cant. serm. 50. And as for that seeming contradiction rais'd out of the 15. verse. implying in himselfe,August. de tempore serm. 49. and exhorting others to Perfection, Saint August, wipes it away with this short distinction. S. Paul was perfect secundum intentionem, non secundum preuentionē: perfect, in regard of intention, & purpose, not in regard of prouention, and obeying his purpose: And Saint Bernard is no lesse plaine, & peremptorie in the case, Magnum illud electionis vas perfectum abnuit, profectum fatetur. That great chosen vessell of election graunts profection, that is, a going forward, but denies perfection. Well then doth Saint Augustine conclude the point. Perfectio hominis in hâc vit â est, invenisse, se non esse perfectum. The perfection of man in this life is, to finde, and acknowledge himselfe not to bee perfect.How the Law is possible or impossible to bee perfectly fulfilled. See the Protesarts Appeale by Thom. Morton, D. of Diuinity, and new Lor Bishop of Couentry & Lichfield. lib. 5. ca: 12. sect 2. And as for the cloud of witnesses which scemes to rise vppe against this trueth in sacred Scriptures:Gen. 17.1. Deut 18.13. Matth. 5: 48. 2: Cor. 13.11. Ephes. 1.4: 5: 27. 1: P [...]t: 1: 15: Saint August: supplies vs with seuerall answers which hee reduceth to these seuerall heads.
1 First, hee answereth, that some of these places are exhortations, and admonitions, whereby wee are stirred vppe so to runne the race which is set before vs,S. Aug: lib: de iustitia Christi contra Coelest tom: 7: S. [...]ugustins foure wayes of answering such Scriptures which seeme to plead for an absolute ob [...]dience to Gods will & Commandemen [...]s that wee faint not, though wee cannot attaine vnto it; for in lawes and admonitions that is not alwayes required. Vt tantum praestari possit quantum suadetur: that so much should bee perform'd by vs, as is enioyn'd to vs: but in them is shewed vnto vs Quousque conari oportet: how carnestly wee ought to striue and follow hard toward the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus.
2 Secondly, hee answers, that many of these places doe shew vnto vs, not what, we (now) are, but what we shall be at the end of our pilgrimage, for then, wee shall bee perfect when we arriue at that hauen whither wee bend our Christian course, or race.
[Page 5]3 Thirdly, when the Scripture mentions men that are perfect, and immaculate, we are to vnderstand by them such men, who haue not defil'd their garments, or polluted their consciences, with grosse and damnable enormities; in this sense, many of the Saintes of God are said to be perfect, not that they are without sinne, (which is impossible) but because, it raignes not in their mortall bodies, or because they haue not wallow'd with the swine in the mire, but kept themselues vnspotted of the world.
4 Lastly, the Saintes of God are said to bee perfect, and without blame, and reproofe; nay, innocent & blessed, because their sinnes are not imputed vnto them, but freely forgiuen in, and for Christ: for so it runnes. Blessed is the man whose wickednesse is forgiuen, and vnto whom the Lord imputeth no sinne. Psal, 32.1.Psal. 32.1: a S: Aug. in Loc: Which sweete passage Saint Augustine makes to excell all others read vnto vs in the Church militant, for the fitting, and preparing of a dying soule for the Church triumphant: and good reason for it; for, what the Lord forgiues, who can require? what he imputeth not, who shall bring it out, against vs, to iudgement? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen?Rom. 8.33. 'tis God that iustifieth: & how? not only by taking our vnrighteousnesse from vs, but by giuing vs his own righteousnes, for Christ Iesus is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnesse. 1. Cor. 1 30. This righteousnesse being ours by the free gift & imputation of God, is not now, alienased nostra iustitia. 1. Cor. 1.30. But not to loose the point on foot, i. how farre a man in this life is capable of perfection: There is (yee know) a perfection of partes, and a perfection of degrees:Perfectio Parti [...] & Graduum. The former is when a man hath respect to all the Commaundements of God, not allowing himselfe in the breach of any of them: the latter perfection, is, when a man performes all exactly, as the Law in rigour requires; hee that is perfect the first way may be resembled to a weake and feeble child, that hath all the integrall, & perfect parts of a man, but not perfectly, or (to speake with the Logicians) integralitèr, integrally; [Page 6]againe, hee that is perfect the latter way, may bee resembled to a strong growne-man that hath all his partes in perfect vigour. To apply then, we may be perfect the first way (i.) a man may haue perfection of partes,How a man in this life may bee said to be perfect said to [...]. because hee may loue euery good, and hate euery euill in some measure: but the second way wee are not perfect, (i.) a man cannot haue a perfection of degrees, because hee canne neither loue good, nor hate euill as be should; the first kind of perfection then, wee grant; the second, wee deny: neither that, as touching exact performance continually, but as touching constant resolution habitually. Neither is this al we vnderstand by perfection, or haue to say for the perfect man, by whom, in a second place, wee may safely vnderstand the innocent man, so the Septuagint reades it.The innocent man. Custodi innocentiam, keepe innocency, or marke the innocent man, the man that makes a covenant with his eyes, and whose hand is not imbrued in violence, the man▪ that is as innocent,Iob. 31.1. as a doue,Math. 10.16. that wrongs no man, oppresses no man, but as much as in him lies doeth good vnto all men.
The simple and plaine-dealing-man.Againe, by the perfect man, wee may safely vnderstand the simple and plaine-dealing-man, the man that is simple concerning euil, for so the vulgar reads it custodi simplicitatem; keepe simplicity,Rom. 15.19. or marke the simple and plaine-dealing-man, who in simplicity, and godly purenesse, not in fleshly wisedome hath had his conuersation in the world: this simple man dissembleth not betwixt God and man,2. Cor. 1.12. neither is he in the number of those, of whom the Poet complaines.
Not hee mindes the same thing, hee speakes the same thing, hee doth the same thing, without any respect of persons, though it be to his owne preiudice, or hinderance.
Lastly, by the perfect man wee may sarely vnderstand, the man who is, Integer vitae, scelerisque purus, a man of integrity of heart,The sincere man. & of a pure, and vpright conuersation, for [Page 7]so Iunius and Tremelius read it, Obserua integrum in the concrete, & the Chaldee paraphrase in the abstract, Obserua integritatem marke the integrity of the perfect man. This grace of integritie of the heart, and inward affections is exdiametro oppos'd to hypocrisie, dissimulation or double dealing with God: God loues trueth in the inward affections: and if God loue it, wee must loue it: and why? because, in a conformity with God, stands mans felicitie: In this integrity of heart and trueth in the inward affections are two things; holinesse and sincerity, opposite to sinne, and hypocrine: wee must write holinesse vnto the Lord, or else wee shall neuer see God: we must season all our actions with the grace of Sincerity else wee shall neuer please him: but the speculation of these two graces, holinesse and sincerity: will be more cleare in the view of their opposites, finne and hypocrisie.
Peccatum sinne, in the Schoole of God, is taught to be an exorbitancie, a swaruing from the rule of trueth,What sinne is. a transgression of the law: and sinne in the Schooles of men is taught to be mendacium, a lye, and to lye is to goe against the minde, or for the tongue te giue to the heart the lye; in shedding of blood, the hand onely lyes, or is false to the heart, and in a common lye, the tongue onely lyes against the heart: but in hypocrisie is a generall lye of the whole man: not the tongue onely, lyes to the heart, but the eye, the hand, the knee, and the foote also; the hand is lifted vppe to heauen, the eyes looke vp to God, the feete goe, the knees bend and bowe in the Temple of GOD, but where's the heart? doth that goe along with them? no! The heart of the couetous man. is where his treasure is; the heart of the ambitious man, is, where his honour is: and the heart of a voluptuous man, is, where his pleasure is, —Haec tria pro trino numine mundus habet, this is the trynitie which these worldlings worship: for although their feete goe, and their knees bowe in the Temple of God, though their eyes and handes be lifted vp to heauen, yet their hearts are groueling heer [Page 8]on earth; it is the pollicy of sin to imitate sincerity, and the guise of hypocrisie to follow the fashions of integrity: the heires of darkenesse transforme themselues into Angels of Light, and Bastard Christians can counterfeit perfect mens behauiours, yet those heires of darkenesse are not children of the light, nor these counterfeit, true Christians: and why? because they come short in this grace of sincetity, or integrity of heart: The painter can paint the colour of the fire, & the forme of the flame thereof, but cannot paint the heate of it: right so, the counterfeit cā resēble the perfect Christian in outward colours, formes & fashions, but not in his integrity of heart, or truth in the inward affections: Esau can weepe bitterly, like Hezechia: Achab can put on sack-cloth, like Mordecay; and Saul can confesse in word I haue sinned as well as Dauid: yet neither Esau, nor Achab, nor Saul was [...] a perfect man: and why? because none of their hearts were perfect in the sight of the Lord; such hypocrites are the greatest enemies to the Church, and truth, yet they will seeke protection both from truth and Church: Soe Celsus and Antiphon writing against the truth, entitle their treatise, the booke of truth. Soe Romes Proselites vnder the name of the Church,Origen contra Celsum. ouerthrow the Church: Leo tels them truly Bcclesiae nomine armamini, Leo, ep. 83. & contra eam dimicatis: Such men make conscience & iustice the greatest martyrs in the world; the greate man in doing mischiefe, pretendes justice, the meane man alwaies cōscience: God & a good cōscience are pretended on alsides: thus making good Luthers Prouerbe,Luther in 3. ad Coll. In nomine Domini incipit omne malum, In the name of God they Christen all their actions. But God is the God of truth, and loues trueth in the inward affections, therefore such hypocrisie must needes bee an abomination vnto him, it offends him, it grieues his spirit, and at last it shall grieue the soules of them who are the authors of it, for it shall spoyle them of inward joy, and peace of conscience here, and of eternall joy and peace in the kingdome of heauen hereafter.
[Page 9]It is storied of Constantinus, surnamed Copronymus, that he was neque Christianus, neque Iudaeus nec Paganus, sed Colluuies quaedam impietatis, that hee was neither Christian, Iewe nor Pagan, but a certaine masse or heape of impieties: and so (indeed) are all hypocrites: with the Iewes they salute Christ as their king, yet buffet him: they protect him with the Christian, yet persecute him with the Pagan: they are named Israelites, but liue like Aethiopians: they speake with the voyce of Iacob, but worke with the hands of Esau, and walke with the feete of Ioab, that any man may perceiue not by their coate, but their party-coloured conditions, that they are bastards and no Christians. But leaue we these Hypocrites to their bastard broode, to their vtter condemnation, to their vae, vae, vae, woe, woe, woe, in the Gospell, & come to our selues, whilest condemnation falls on their pates, would we haue the saluation of God shewed on vs? then must we with our perfect man in the text, order our conuersation aright, and endeauour to serue God in the grace of integrity, with cleane hands & pure hearts, for who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Psalm. 24.4.5. euen he that hath cleane hands and a pure heart, hee shall receiue the blessing from the Lord, and righteousnesse from the God of his saluation.
And is there any way or meanes to know whether wee our selues, or others, are such men of cleane hands and pure hearts? yes! Ex fructibus cognoscetis, by their fruites yee shall know them: for good and godly men are like trees planted by the riuer side, which bring forth their fruites in due season. I demand then? what are these seasonable fruits?Psalm. 1.3. doubtles, they are good works, & those good worksare of 3. sorts: of Piety towards God, of equity towards our neighbour, of sobriety towards our selues: & as the works, so the fruites are of 3. sorts: by the 1. God is glorified, by the 2. our neighbour is edified, & by the 3. our cōsciences are cōforted, & cōfirm'd in the assurance of saluatiō, For howsoeuer good work sare no meriting causes, yet they are witnessing, effects or assurances of saluatiō; Make your calling & election sure: [Page 10]('tis S. Peters exhortation; 2. Pet. 1.10.) but how? [...], by good workes, (Beza confesseth he saw two greeke Manuscripts with those expresse words of the text:) good works haue no place in the act of iustificatiō: for by good works (causatiue) shall not man liuing be iustified, without good workes (consequutiue) shall no man liuing bee saued: Oh that all disputing about good workes were turned into doing, and that euery Christian would take it into his higher consideration, that, although he is not now justified by good workes, yet at that great and notable day of the Lord, he shall be iudg'd according to his good workes. Oh that our fruitlesse professours would lay this close to their hearts tell me what haue they to witnesse for them, that they are Christians? Their tongues and lippes say they are soe: but, what say their liues and workes? Looke vpon their vncleane eyes, full of adulteries and lust: harken to their dislolute speeches, full of oathes and blasphemies: see their polluted hands, imbru'd in blood and full of violence: marke their feete how nimble, and swift, they are to shed innocent blood: do not these abominations proclaime them to be Pagans, rather then Christians? they feede not the hungry, they cloth not the naked, they visit not the fatherlesse and widdowes, they keepe not themselues vnspotted of the world, and yet these men, would haue the honour to bee reputed good Christians, (i.) perfect and absolute men in all good workes. But to conclude this point or Querie, concerning the perfect man: if we tender the great honour of being reputed such perfect and vpright men, then let vs bee zealous of good workes: and why? because they are the fruites of our perfection, of our integritie and trueth in inward affections: nay, they are the very high waies wherein God hath ordain'd vs to walke: wee are his worke-manship created in Christ Iesus vnto good workes, which God hath ordain'd that wee should walke in them.Ephes. 2.10. Eph. 2.10. Oh then let vs euen striue with a holy emulation, to go one before another in good workes, and to abound in them; ye know the Apostles exhortation. [Page 11]hortation. As long as wee haue time let vs do good, and why? because when all other things in this world, our pleasures, our honours, our lands, our liuings, our parents, our friends, and whatsoeuer else is vnder the cope of heauen, shall leaue and forsake vs, yet our good deedes (euen so saith the spirit) our good deedes shall follow vs, and sollicite for a blessing vpon the soules of all perfect men, when they returne to the chiefe sheepheard & Bishop of their soules, Christ Iesus; in whose gracious armes I leaue the perfect man,1. Pet. 2.25. and our first consideration of him, and in the next place craue your patience, whilest wee direct your thoughts and deuotions to the contemplation of the vpright man. Behold the vpright.
Marke the perfect man and behold the vpright.
For the vpright or iust man I finde it thus distinguisht to my hand: A man may be said just 4. waies.Pars. 2. [...]
- 1 [...].
- 2 [...].
- 3 [...].
- 4 [...].
The first way of being vpright, or iust, is [...], according to nature: and soe no man liuing was euer iust since the fall of Adam. This the Preacher proclaimes (as it were) on the house top, with an asseueration, Certè surely there is no man iust in the earth that doth good, & sinneth notIn our last translation the 20. verse. Eccles. 7.22.
The second way of being just: is [...], according to the opinion and iudgment of men: such were Moses and Samuel, whose O xe haue I taken &c. and they sayd thou hast not. 1. Sam. 12. verse 4.
The third way of beeing iust, is, [...], according to purpose and true endeauour, and thus Saint Paul was just, when hee tels vs, that hee forgets those things which are behind, and reaches forth to the thinges which are before. Phil. 3.13. And as S. Paul was thus just in practise,Phil. 3.13. soe was hee in precept, charging euery man to giue tribute to whom tribute is due,Rom. 17.7. custome to whom custome &c. just so the Moralists bring in their verdict, prescribing the just man to giue suum cuique, that vnto euery man which of [Page 12]right belongs vnto him: & this (suum) necessarily implies as peculiar distinction & propertie of things: neither doth the Politicians pen alone domonstrate this, but it is the tenour of diuine iustice. Achab a King may not take away the vineyard of Naboth his subiect,2. Kings 21. 2. Kings. 21. this is the rule or Canon of Scripture.
Where yet I finde a fourth way of being vpright or just, which is [...], by, or according to imputation. Thus Abraham was a just man, he beleeued and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse. Rom. 4.3. Here is the opening of the fountaine,Rom. 4.3. or Ocean of Gods ouer-flowing goodnesse, who in mercy accounts vs iust and righteous, in, and for the righteousnesse of Christ, which is made ours this way [...] by imputation: hee layd on him the iniquity of vs all: Esay 53.6. Our God accounts our sinne, his, and soe he is punished as a sinner,Esay 53.6. and then he accounts his righteousnesse ours, and so wee are rewarded as righteous. This is that royall exchange made betwixt Christ Iesus, and all beleeuing sinners: he becomes a curse for them, that they may be the heires of blessing through him. Thus wee see what the vpright man is euery way for our instruction. It now remaines, that we make him our owne by way of imitation: neyther is this left to our owne choyce or pleasure,Note. to do, or not to do. Noe, the text inioynes it, and by way of authority commands vs to marke the perfect man, and to behold the vpright: and the ingemination or doubling of the iniunction, marke and behold, giues way and cleare passage to this naturall obseruation. That it is the duty of all such, as desire to be vpright and perfect men, to propose to themselues the liues and deathes of such men, as patternes to encourage thē on in their Christian course and conuersation.
We haue here no abiding city, we are Pilgrimes and strangets: if we were not strāgers Non hinc emigraremus (saith S. Aug.) we should not passe hence:2 De verb. dom. serm. 32. but hence we must passe, wil we, nil we: & in this our passage, there are many obstacles which may hinder vs: many allurements which may diuert [Page 13]vs: it is therefore the goodnesse and wisedome of God, in this our pilgrimage, to leade vs by the light, and examples of perfect and vpright men: taenquám per statuas Mercuriales. that in the end of our pilgrimage on earth, wee may safely rest, where they doe, in the kingdome of heauen: to men of ingenuitie (much more of grace) good mens examples, and gracious carriages, are powerfull and winning meanes; thus Isaackes gracious carriage drew Abimelechs, and his friends affections vnto him.Gen. 26.28. Gen. 26.28. Thus Iacobs religious conuersation drew Laban, and put him vpon that earnest suite, I pray thee if I haue found fauour in thine eies, tarry: Gen. 30.27. Neither is it without good ground, that God would haue perfect, & vpright mens liues exemplary: for, they are powerful, not only to perswade imitatiō, but also to enforce approbatiō frō the conuicted consciences of the gain-saiers: No man is so badde, but would conforme himselfe to good courses, if they crossed not his priuate ends: and though hee speake sometimes against the life, yet would bee glad to die the death of the righteous. Againe, the very nature of man is more inclineable to be guided byLongum iter per praecepta, breue & efficax per exempla. Sence. example, then precept: Though precepts, and instructions be more reasonable, yet exampies preuaile sooner, because more obuious and familiar. With what courage and life doe souldiers goe on if they behold a Commaunder ingag'd in some noble attempt? his valour makes them couragious, and his example is a powerfull argument to prouoke their emulation, emulation puts them forwards to the imitation of excellent men, as wee see in Themistocles, Vale: Max: l. 8. ca, 15. & in Plau. Apoth: whom the trophees of Miltiades would not suffer to sleepe, vntill, by his like worthy acts, he had purchased to himself a like glorious name; & as it is thus in meere naturall men and Heathens: so should it bee amongst Christians in their Christian warfares. Saint Paul takes this to be a most winning course, and therefore hee cries, Bee yee followers of mee as I am of Christ: 1. Cor. 11.1. 1. Cor. 11.1. Besides these motiues, there are two weighty causes more, why the liues and deaths of perfect and vpright men [Page 14]should bee exemplarie vnto vs: the first is, for the glory of God; the second is, for the iustice of God: first, the proposing of such mens liues as examples to our selues doth aduance the glorie of God, because, wee seeing, or looking on their good workes, do thereby learne to glorifie our Father which is in heauen:
Secondly, the proposing of such mens deaths, or ends, makes for Gods iustice: Ne Deus putetur iniquus, (it is the glosse vpon the place) least God should be thought vniust whilest wee see the godly to suffer in paine, and the wicked surfet in pleasure. For which very cause Epicurus denieth Gods prouidence, not dreaming of that great day of reckoning, wherein the Lord shall come with 10000 Saintes to execute iudgement vpon all such men,Iude. 15. or, when the Lord Iesus shall bee reueal'd from heauen in flaming fire, to execute vengeance on all men, that would not know God,2. Thes. 1.7. nor obey the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ: not dreaming, that they who now surfet in pleasure, shall one day suffer in paine, and flames of hell fire: if wee haue our heauen here, wee must haue our hell hereafter, Nemo potest & in hâc vitâ & in futurâ gaudere: if our way in this world be pleasant and sweete, wee shall not much care for our heauenly Hierusalem Cui peregrinatio duleis est, non amat patriam. S. Aug. in Psal. 93. which is aboue; it is therefore the lot of the righteous, to sow in teares here, that they may reape in ioy hereafter: they must weep in this vale of teares, that they may sing and looke vp with joy vnto those hills from whence commeth saluation. God in sacred writ is said to wipe away all teares, and happie are they that canne shed them: hee is said to gather, and blessed are they that scatter them; oh then let all the Epicures of the world wallow themselues in their sinfull pleasures for a season: Let all inordinate persons put off the euill day and euen weary themselues in the wayes of wickednesse, & make a progresse in sinue, adding thirst vnto drunkennesse; but let all the Saintes and seruants of God runne in the wayes of vpright men, and in patience waite vntill the day shall come, wherein [Page 15]in they shall say, verily there is a reward for the righteous, doubtlesse there is a God that iudgeth the earth: let them (I say) in patience waite the Lords leasure, and in patience runne the race that is set before them, runne the race of the Perfect and vpright man, least their liues and deaths runne to rise vppe in iudgement against them: Let them so runne, that they may obtain:1. Cor. 9.24: and what? Coronam gloriae, a crowne of glorie in one1. Pet. 5.4. place: let them so runne, that they may obtaine, and what? Coronam vitae, a Crowne of life, in another placeReuel. 2.10.: let them so runne, that they may obtaine, and what? Coronam iustitiae, a Crown of righteousues, in a third place2. Tim. 4.8.; All these Crownes, a Crowne of glorie, a Crowne of life, a Crowne of righteousnesse, shall God (for his trueth and promise sake) as rewardes giue vnto them, if they propose, and proposing follow in all good conscience the liues and deaths of perfect and vpright men.
Yea, but such mens liues and deaths are rare examples, Ob. non cuiuis contingit, euery man cannot attaine to such perfection: what then? Est aliquid prodire tenus, Sol. especially towards God, who accepts the will for the deede: Nay, who stands at the doore, and knockes, beeing more willing to come to vs, then wee to him. Yea,Ob. but such mens liues are full of difficulties, anxieties, and dangers:Sol. true! but what's the issue? a gracious deliuerance, the blessing of Peace at the last: many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord deliuers them out of all. Who would haue thought, that when Ioseph was in the dungeon, hee should euer haue beene a Lord to his brethren, or a prouident Father to a whole Nation? Who would euer haue thought, that, when Iob was scraping his sores on the dung-hill, hauing lost all his children, al his cattel, all his houses & goods, he should haue bin richer then euer he was? Surely, this is the Lords doing, and it is marueilous in our eyes: many were the troubles of good old Abraham, but the Lord deliuer'd him out of all: many were the troubles of good Dauid, but the Lord deliuer'd him out of all. What shall I say more? many are the troubles [Page 16]of euery perfect and vpright man, but the Lord deliuers him out of all: all these troubles shall bring him peace at the last, for the end of that man is peace, our last querie or circumstance: Marke the perfect man, and behold the vpright, for the end of that man is Peace.
The Schooles in their laborinths doe winde and turne peace by many distinctions,Pars 3. Aquinas, 22. q. 29. acric. 1. and queries: Aquinas in foure Articles, makes 4 queries of Peace. 1. Whether it be the self same thing with concord. Secondly, whether Peace bee an effect of charity? Thirdly, whether Peace bee desired of all? And lastly, whether Peace be a vertue? For the first querie, the verdict is brought in negatiue; Peace is not the same with Concord, for there may bee a concord amongst the wicked; Simeon and Leui were fratres in malo, brethren in euill: Amongst the wicked then,Gen. 49.5. there may be concord, but there is no peace to the wicked (saith my God) Esay 48.22. The rest of the queries concerning peace will not bee so casily resolu'd,Esay 48.22. therefore I must referre him that desires a farther information, vnto Aquinas 22. quast. 29. art. 2.3.4. where also hee thus distinguisheth of Peace; Pax Perfecta, Imperfecta. There is a peace which is perfect, and a peace which is imperfect: The perfect peace consists in the fruition of the chiefest good, and is the vltimate end of the reasonable creature, according to that of the Psalmist, Qui posuit tuos sines pacem, and this kind of peace is not to bee had but in the world to come. The imperfect peace is that which may be had in this world & principally stands and rests in the contemplation of God and his goodnesse, yet not without some repugnancies both within, and without, which disturbe this peace.
Hugo de Sancto Victore tells vs of foure kindes of peace, Duas dat mundus, Hugo de San: Vict. annotat. elucida: in Psal. 62. & 84. & duas dat Deus; The world giues two, and God two: The first Peace which the world giues, is, the quiet enioying of temporall thinges: The second is, the health, or safety of our bodies: The first Peace that God giues, is, the sweete tranquility of the minde; & the second is, that great delight and ioy which wee take in the contemplation of God; That is in man, This aboue man: Againe, [Page 17]there is Pax temporis, which is nothing else but a temporall tranquillity: Secondly, there is Pax pectoris, Dionys. Ca [...] lib. de pace. which is nothing else, but a rest, or peace of the minde, according to that of our Sauiour, These thinges haue I spoken vnto you, that in me yee might haue peace: Lastly, there is Pax aeternitatis, which consists in the ioyes of heauen, which God hath prepared for those that loue him. All these ioyes howsoeuer multiplied in thēselues, yet they aime at an end in pace: For, finis ciuitatis huius (saith Saint August:) the end of the Saintes of God in the citty of God, is, either Peace in eternall life, or eternall life in Peace.
But all this while we haue not determin'd the Querie in the text, what it is to end, or die in peace: neither canne wee well conclude that, before wee haue taken speciall notice of two materiall circumstances.
- 1 First, of the necessity of dying.
- 2 Secondly, of the vniuersality of dying. There is Statute-law for both, which no mortall canne repeale,Heb. [...].Statutum est omnibus, it is appointed that all must once die: Statutum est, there's the necessity, omnibus, there's the vniuersality.
For the necessity of dying, as sure as wee are borne to liue, so sure are we borne to die: Nasci & denasci ordorerum est, to bee borne, and to die, is the order and course of all thinges: Many men haue liu'd long, long enioyed the blessing of length of dayes, but yet those dayes haue not out-lived death: no! The same spirit of trueth which tells vs that Adam liu'd so many hundred yeares, tels vs also,Gen 5.5. that hee (dyed.) Enos liu'd so many, and hee (died:) Cainan so many, and (died:) Methusalem so many, and (died:) These men liu'd many daies, and months, and yeares, nay, hundreds of yeares, yet these many dayes, months, yeares, and hundreds of yeares, could not out-date death, could not free them from the curse of a morte morieris, thou shalt die the death. Hoc singulis additur, Gen. 2.17. (The note which some interpreters, giue on this place is worth the taking vp:) Vt videas [Page 18]efficacem fuisse sententiam mortis á Deo latam in Adamum peccatum, Caluinus. Cornel: á Lapide, with others in 5, Geneseus. & posteros eius: (died) is added to euery one, that wee may see, the power and efficacie of that doome & sentence, which God gaue on Adam sinning, and on all the sinfull brood of Adam, which still lie soaking in the same lees of corruption, and so much the Hebrew phrase imports, [...] moriendo morieris: i. thou shalt surely die: I need not to trauell farre for any more examples: onely cast your eyes on this sad spectacle of mortality, and then conclude of a necessitie: for if art or learned industry of Physicke could haue continued him, if strength of man could haue deliuer'd him, if wisedome could haue sau'd him, if wealth of man could haue ransom'd him; deaths arrest had neuer attach't him, deaths serjeant had neuer imprison'd him; if greatnes of estate, if gifts of minde, if chastenesse of life, if sobernes in diet, if wishes of men, if prayers of the Church could haue preuail'd for him, if any thing could haue giuen any advantage against death, darkenesse and blackenesse had not at this time couer'd him.
And as nothing canne repeale that statute enacted in the court of heauen for the necessity of dying, so nothing canne alter the decree for the vniuersality of dying: Statutum est omnibus, all must die: All flesh is grasse, and all the glorie of man as the flowre of the field, Esay, 40.6. Loe the condition of all,Esay. 40.6. as well great ones, as meane ones, their glorie fades, these wither like grasse, but all meete in dust: The man liues not that shall not taste death: There is a common lot to all, all must goe the way of all flesh; nay! we are now a posting in the common barke of death, and our life is nothing else, but Iter ad mortem, a journing towards death; of all thinges death will not bee out-dared,Theogn. [...], impudent death, saith the Poet, because hee feares no colours, spares none, great nor good.
Wee therefore should be as impudent, as death to challenge that vnto our selues, which is denyed vnto all: where are the great Commaunders of the world? where are the [Page 19]rulers ouer thousands, and 10000: The Princes & Potentates of the earth; Are not Death, darknesse, and the Graue their lot, the portion of them all? why then in this vniversall necessitie of death should wee sue for a dispensation for our selues or friends? Oh then,Ferrequam sortem patiuntn [...] omnes, nemore cuset. lift vp your heads yee drooping soules, who hang them downe like bulrushes, & weepe, and will not be comforted, because your Lord, your Master, your Honourable friend is not, true he is (not) in a prison, but in freedome, he is (not) in a sea, but in the hauen, hee is (not) in the bondage of corruption, but in the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God; he is (not) in his way, but in his Countrey, hee is (not) in hope of Heauen, but in possession, & looke how farre Heauen excels earth, goods eternall momentary vanities, the joyes of the Saints of God, the delights of the sons of men, so much better is his case now, he is not then where he was: Oh then, Pereat contristatie ubiest tanta consolatie, forget your sadnesse in the midst of such ioyes, and if these Consolations (because vnseene) will not dry vp the Fountaine of your teares, nor cause you to lift vp your heads, then thinke vpon the great Comfort which you saw with your owne eyes, his death, his end, which was crown'd with the blessings of Peace, and now at length after much tediousnesse, giue me leaue to determine what it is to end or dye in Peace.What it is to end in Peace. Pax cogitationis,
To end in Peace with Euthymius, is to end in Pace Cogitationis, in peace of minde, as it is opposed to doubting.
To end in peace with S. Cyprian, Pax securitatis. is to end in Pace securitatis, in peace of security as it is opposed to finall falling.
To end in peace with Origen, Pax conscienti [...]. is to end in Pace conscientiae, in peace of conscience as it is opposed to despairing.
To end in peace witholde Iraeneus, Pax mortis. is to end in Pace mortis, in the peace of death as it is opposed to labouring.
Againe to end in peace, is to end in Pace Dei, Pax Dei. Proxim [...]. Sui. in the peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding (i.) farre beyond mens apprehensions. To end in peace, is to end in pace proximi, in peace with our neighbours (i.) when no out-cryes or [Page 20]exclamations follow vs: And lastly, to end in peace, is to end in pace sui, in peace with our selues, (i.) when no distractions or perturbations of minde molest vs. Let happier wits find out, or invent yet more wayes, let them take a Peacefull end or death, which way soeuer they will or can, yet a Peacefull death is still the consequence of a perfect life: and therefore in the next place be pleas'd to take speciall notice, what a necessary and infallible dependance there is betwixt an vpright life,Note. Qualis vita, finis us. and a happie and Peacefull death.
The day necessarily followes the rising of the Sunne, and the night is as necessary a consequence of the falling of the same; and the same reciprocall dependance there is betwixt. a good life, and a godly death: I haue liu'd perfectly (for so the Text argues) That is, I haue had (in some measure) a respect to the Commaundements of God; I haue liu'd vprightly, and kept my selfe vnspotted of the world, what then? why, then I shall haue peace at the last, and so S. Paul argues, I haue fought a good fight, I haue finished my course, I haue kept the faith, 2 Tim. 4.7.8 what then? why, henceforth there is laide vp for me a crowne of righteousnesse: Oh then, let vs fight a good fight with S. Paul, Let vs be followers of him, as hee was of Christ Iesus, that we with him may receiue a Crowne of righteousnesse;The different ends of good and bad liues Let vs keep the faith, and be constant vnto death, & then God for his promise sake shal giue vs a Crown of Life; Let vs dye vnto sinne, & wee shall liue vnto righteousnesse; Let our bodies be the instruments of Gods glory in this World, and they shall bee vessels of honour in the world to come: But if we liue heere without grace, then we must looke to dye without hope: if wee sell our selues to worke wickednesse euen with greedinesse, then we must expect to dye or end comfortlesse, voide of that great blessing in the Text, Peace: I conclude then with S. Bernards exhortation, Si vis in pace mori, sis servus Dei, hee that will end in peace, must serue the God of peace.
And thus Right Honourable, right worshipfull, and the rest heloued in our best beloued Christ Iesus, I haue indeavourd [Page 21]to fulfill the will of the dead, first in preaching (according to my small measure of knowledge) for the instruction of the liuing, & then in stirring them vp, (after my plaine manner) by proposing vnto their higher considerations, the patternes of perfect and vpright men, the fittest Champions for their imitation. For what man liues better then the vpright man, and what man dyes better then the man that dyes in Peace? which was the accomplishment of Abrahams blessing, Thou shalt goe to thy Fathers in Peace: Gen. 5.15. in peace of minde free from doubting, in Peace of security free from finall falling, in Peace of conscience free from despairing, in peace of death free from labouring, and (which is aboue all) in the Peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding.
The Sermon is done for the instruction of the liuing, it now beginnes for the honour and commemoration of the dead.
IT hath beene an Auncient custome in the Church of God for the Fathers to honour the deaths of Gods Saints, by giuing vnto them their iust and due praises, that the Liuing hearing of their good liues and deathes, may learne to glorifie their Father which is in Heauen for them: Thus was Theodosius honour'd by S. Ambrose; thus was Athanasius honor'd by Nazianzene; thus Marcella honour'd by S. Hierom, and Malachy & Gerrard by S. Bernard. And yet such hath beene the shameful abuse of this Auncient custome in the Church 06 by the glozing tongues of some Parasites rather then Preachers, that for vs it will be a matter of great difficultie without the scandall and aspersion of flattery, to speake of him, the history of whose Life and death cals for a Liuie rather then a Florus, and for a Demosthenes rather then for a Phocion: and yet I shall remember on what holy ground I stand, & in whose presence I stand; in the presence of men and Angels, & which is most of all, in the presence of the Almighty who searcheth the hearts & reines. If then in such a presence I [Page 22]willingly call euill good, & apparell Vice in the Liverie of Vertue, then let my tongue cleaue to the roof of my mouth: But If in such a presence I speake the truth, I lye not, my conscience bearing me witnesse in the Holy Ghost, then let such a presence witnesse with mee, that our Honourable and right Christian Lord was [...] and [...], The perfect and vpright man in euery sense and interpretation we haue made of him.
The perfect man in our first sense or interpretation, is the man who hath respect to all the Commaundements of God, not allowing himselfe in the breach of any one of them: And that hee had such a respect to the Commaundements of God
Appeares
- 1 In his loue to God.
- 2 In his loue to his Neighbour.
His loue to God appeared first by the exercise of his devotion and religious duties both in publique and priuate, morning & euening. Secondly, in the great incouragement & countenance he gaue to the Ministers of God, by hearing them with a great deale of attention, diligence & piety, by conferring with them with a great deale of devotion & humanity, & by his curteous vsage of them, & feeding them like good Obadiah alwayes at his owne table with his children. And lastly, by his building, beautifying and adorning the Houses of God where he liued: and his exemplar liberalitie towards the Houses of Learning, being one of the first that gaue his free will offering towards the building of the New Schooles in his Mother Vniversitie.Oxon, His loue to his Neighbour appeared in reiceuing the poore. He made his House an Hospitall, giuing euery Monday morning, bread, drinke, and money to 15 poore folkes of the neighbouring Townes, besides his charitable Almes at good Times, & his continuall reliefe of them at his gate, he was a good Land-Lord to his Tennants, insomuch that when one told him hee knew not how to lett his Land, setting it at so low a rate, his answer was, that hee had rather a hundred should gaine by him, then that one should cry out that hee had vndone him. [Page 23]Hee was a kinde Master to his seruants, providing for those that serued him faithfully, that they might liue plentifully in their old age, when they were not so well able to serue. In quieting & ending of differences among the richer, wherein he was happie, that none desired to appeale from, or went away discontented at his sentence. Diuerse of his friends trusted him with their whole estates, & with the education of their children, and he euer performed the trust reposed in him carefully and punctually.
In our second sense & interpretation, the perfect man was the innocent man, that wrongs no man, oppresseth no man, defraudes no man: and then whom hath our perfect man harmed, whose asse hath he taken? as Samuel's iustification runnes on; nay how many oxen hath he giuen at his gates?
Consider Our perfect man in our third sense or interpretation for the simple and plaine dealing man, and then with whom hath our perfect man dealt double? His plainesse & truth sought no corners, vsed no aequivocation, no mentall reservations, as starting holes, (that's a guise peculiar to Romane Proselites:) his plainesse feared no colours, nor hid it selfe vnder the coppy of a fained countenance: no, his rule was the olde & Proverbiall rule, Qui vadit planè, Prov. 28.18. vadit sanè, he that walkes plainely, walkes safely, and in the end shall dye (as our perfect man did) Peaceably.
Lastly, take our perfect man in our last sense or interpretation, for that man who is Integer vitae sceleris (que) purus, a man of integrity of heart, vprightnesse of life and conversation, & then what shall we say of him who endear oured rather to be good in deed before God, then to be taken onely, or thought to bee good before men? who iudged zeale by truth in's inward affections, desiring to approue himselfe to God in the witnesse of a good conscience. Now wee may iudge of the Conscience, of the truth of the trees by the fruites, & a good tree is a good man, which brings forth good fruites; & these good fruits are good workes, and then I dare, be bold to proclaime [Page 24]to the world that our perfect man was a good man because he was fruitfull and rich in good workes.
And as hee was thus and all these waies a perfect man, perfect in regard of innocencie, perfect in regard of harmelesse simplicity, perfect in regard of integrty, and perfect in regard of the mistery of godlinesse, and sauing points of diuinity. So likewise, was he a perfect man in regard of many arts & sciences, the hand-maides to that Queene and mistresse: And for his skill in Antiquities, armes, alliances it was singular. And for his perfection in Politicall and state affaires, that appeared to the world, as often as hee was called to the great Councell of the Kingdome, wherein hee laboured for the publique, imploying his best indeauours to aduance the good of the King and Kingdome, which he euer thought to haue so strict a relation, that the good of the one could not subsist without the good of the other: and it pleased God so to blesse him, that both the King and Kingdome had a good opinion of him. Our late Soueraigne King Iames of happy memory thought soe well of him that he imployed him in an honourable Embassage to a forraine Prince, wherein hee serued his M• with a great deale of loyall affection, and was well accepted on both sides.
And as he had a full measure of knowledge in these things, so did hee abound in understanding and perfection of Oeconomicall businesse, which first appeares vnto the world in the educations of his sonnes, which was like themselues very honourable in the Vniuersities, schooles of true learning, and sound religion, whose proficiencie there, both honoured themselues and fitted them for imployment in higher places.
Secondly, as his wisdome and vnderstanding appeared in their educations, so it likewise was conspicuous in their honourable marriages: for the son of his right hand which succeeds him in his chaire of honour. (and long may hee enioy it to Gods glory, the honour of his house and country [Page 25]it was his wisdome to plant and ingraffe him into a familie which is second to none in true honour and nobility;Earle of Southampton. Sir George Fane. Sir Richard Anderson Salust. ep. [...]. and for the rest of his honourable children, hee matched them with families that are euery way very honourable in birth, in blood, in education, in religion: Quae omnibus semper ornatibus ornamento est, which is an ornament to all the rest, I cannot name these religious families without some deuotion, and therefore my prayer for them all is, that they may continue long in honour, that they may liue in the seruice and feare of god, and dye in his fauour.
But to returne to their honourable Father and our right noble Lord, who as he wisely dispos'd of all things concerning their esse & bene esse in this life: so likewise in the same measure of wisdome hath he order'd all matters concerning them at his death, bequeathing vnto them his Sauiours Legacie Peace: my peace I giue vnto you, my peace I leaue with you, that yee may keepe the vnity of spirit in the bond of peace. Thus he liued among them a faireAboue 60. yeares. age of Peace. Thus hee dyed & left thē in peace. Sic illi visum est viuere, sicque mori.
Thirdly, his vnderstanding & perfections in Oeconomicall virtues appeares in the well managing of his great estate and menes, wherein God blessed him aboue his fellowes: It was his great wisdome to make a carefull frugality the fuell of his continuall hospitality, which hath honoured Spensers familie and race in many generations successiuely: it was a receiued rule in his Oeconomy, that a man might better keepe a constant good house, then an vnconstant vaine pleasure.
The last thing wherein his vnderstanding and perfection appeares in these matters, is the well ordering and gouerning of his household and families: hee kept a great house, & yet an orderly, his seruāts were all of the same religion he was of, neither would he keepe any that in some good measure did not liue answerably to their professiō: that as he was in trueth, and not in shew onely a perfect man: so they likewise might indeauour to attaine that perfection, recommended [Page 26]vnto vs by our Sauiour, Mat. 5, 48. Bee you pefect as your Father which is in heauen is perfect. And soe I leaue the consideration of him as a perfect man, and intreat you to cast your thoughts awhile vpon him in the consideration of an vpright man.
Behold the vpright.
Hee was an vpright or iust man many waies, and yet not the first way [...], according to nature, for soe no man was euer just since the fall of Adam: but hee was an vpright and iust man [...], according to the judgement and opinion of men, as was Samuel. Againe, he was an vpright and just man [...],1 Sam. 12. according to purpose and true endeuour: for with Saint Paul he forgot the things which were behind, and reacht forth to the things which are before, and pressed hard toward the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus.
Lastly, he was an vpright, or iust man [...] by the imputatiō of Christs righteousnes, which gaue him an interest to that royall blood which is in the person of Christ, and makes him both to be an heire of the earth, & to haue a title of inheritance vnto heauen.
Thus ye see wee haue found him to bee the vpright man many waies, and discouer'd him to bee the perfect man in seuerall constructions, according to which perfectnesse and vpright dealing, God for his trueth sake blessed him with a goodly inheritance and pleasant paradize, wherein in grew in abundance the Apples of Peace, which now we are to gather in the last place.
The end of that man is peace.
And the end of this perfect and vpright man was (soe) crown'd, euen with the blessing of peace: of peace which God giues, and of peace which the world giues. This consisted in the quiet enjoying of temporall things together with the health of his body for many yeares: That, in the sweete tranquility of his minde, and in the vnconceaueable joy which now he takes in the contemplation of Gods beatificall vision.
[Page 27]Againe, his end was in peace, in pace proximi, in peace with his neighbour, no outcries, no accursed acclamations of crueltie and oppression follow his vrne and ashes. Againe his end was in peace, in pace sui in peace with himselfe, free from distractions of minde, free from conuulsions of body, like a lambe he passeth through the gate of mortality into a house not made with hands immortall in the heauens.Mors janu [...] vitae. The pangs of death to him were so easie, that he seemed to find death rather then to feele it, a blessing which Augustus often wisht for Sibi & suis, Sueton: in vita ejus. that a glorious life might bee crown'd with a faire and easie death. This blessing hee obtained in full measure, because hee passed away in a premeditated kind of sleeping, rather then dying, which is to dye the death of the righteous, for so the Hebrewes say of wicked men that they dye, but of the righteous or Saints of God that they fall a sleepe as Lorinus obserues well on Leniticus. And yet the honour and comfort of his death stood not only in this, that hee went away in a sleepe gentlie, but principally in this, that as he liued in this presēt world, so he died godlily, for hauing set aside the trrafficke of this world which passeth away, hee trades for an inheritance which fadeth not reserued for him in the heauens. Insomuch that his gratious visitation towards the end seemed farre more comfortable, then in the beginning,Wormleighton. vvhich vvas clouded vvith some more sadnesse and deiection of spirit, not many daies before his end in peace, [...] macrob: in Som. Scip. lib. 10. cap. 11. God put a resolution into his heart to visit the place vvhich gaue him the honourable title of a Baron, that his soule might blesse the poore there also before it's loosing out of the body Ergastulum animae, the prison of the soule, and as in fine it happily proued, this journey vvas a setting forward towards the kingdome of heauen, for vvithin the space of foure dayes after his arriuall there, the earthly taberuacle of his body vvasOctob. 2 [...]. 1627. dissolued, and his soule translated from earth to heauen, vvhere our pennes and tongues shall let him rest, onely they craue leaue to make a short historie of his doings & sayings, in that short respite of life, after his comming to that place.
[Page 28]His very first act (his priuate acknowledgment of Gods great mercy for his safe arriuall there being made) was to send for a neighbouring minister, (hauing left his houshold Chaplain at his mansion-house to waite on's office with the most of his family) whom hee earnestly desires to continue with him during his abode ther, morning & euening to pray with him, & to praise God for him; that was indeed the behauiour, methode & guise of his deuotion, throughout the whole course of his sickenes, like good Hezekiah when hee was sicke, to pray vnto God, and when hee began to amend to praise God or giue thanke vnto him.
The next act of his (which doth preach to the world his religious end) was a gracious message hee sent to a neighbouring minister, an auncient acquaintance of his, whom notwithstanding his profession hee godlily exhorts to prepare himselfe, as he did for heauen, intreating him withall to remember him in his daily prayers, promising to doe the same for him in his continuall deuotions. And whilst his Catholicke charity and deuotion thus spread themselues on others, was he vnmindfull of his own cause? No; he powres forth his complaints and supplications for his Gods assistance against such passions as took most aduantage on him in his greatest weakenesse, disiring withall, his friends and seruants, to construe it not as an argument of displeasure against them, but rather of his great weakenesse when hee spoke passionately to them in his sickenesse.
And as his zeale and faith in Christ did still increase, and the inner man grew stronger and stronger, so his earthly tabernacle or outward man did sensibly languish & decrease; for indeed (as it appear'd by an ocular demonstration,) the stocke of Nature was quite spent, his glasse was runne, and beeing ripe for heauen, hee was gathered like a ripe apple from the tree, and as he was in his life, Lucerna ardens & lucens, a burning and a shining candle, so it burn'd to the snuffe: Nec extincta est tamen sed submota, which was not put out but set aside,In vitâ Malachiae. as Saint Bernard spake of his dead friend: his life was a candle which burn'd to the snuffe, a snuffe which [Page 29]needed not a socket to conceale the stench, no, at the very last, it was as a precious oyntment leauing a sweet persume behind it.
And whilest that our right Christian Lord was thus dying vnto the world, but liuing vnto God, it was my great honour (being sent for before his Christian conclusion,) to be an eye-witnesse to the vpshot of his happines.D. Clayton Reg. Profess. Med: Oxon. It was no sooner made knowne vnto him by his very learned and religious Physitian, that I was come (according to my bounden dutie) to doe the office of a minister vnto him, but hee speakes affectionately, let him come in, let him come in with all my heart; (and surely God was in his heart, when his minister was thus the last man in his mouth;) and at my admittance into his presence, my first posture was on the bended knees of my body, which with the bended knees of my soule did sollicite the God of mercy to bow the heauens & to looke downe vpon him with the eyes of mercy; and whil'st wee with devoted hearts and hands sent our prayers to heauen, not a dew, but a full shower of grace and heavenly benedictions fell downe vpon vs, for behold the heavens, and the heauen of heauens were opened, and the Saintes and Angels ready prepared to receiue his immortall soule with all ioyfulnesse into their mansions of blisse and happinesse. Thus shall the man bee blest at's death that feareth God in's life, hee shall bee gathered to his fathers in the words of Piety, in the words of Prayer, and in the words of Peace, Peace of minde, free from doubting; Peace of security, free from finall falling; Peace of conscience, free from despayring; Peace of death, free from labouring; and (which is aboue all) Peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding.
And what now remaines, but that wee deuote our prayers, that as hee rests in Peace, so yee may remaine in Peace, euen in Peace amongst your selues, in Peace amongst your neighbours, in Peace amongst earthly Saintes and heauenly Angels: Lastly in Peace with your God, which passeth all mens apprehensions: Now the God of Peace graunt this, & that for his deare sonnes sake Christ Iesus, to whom be all honour and glorie now and for euer.
Amen.