A CASKET OF IEVVELS and precious PEARLES. Set forth in a FVNERALL Sermon, Preached in Heckfield Church, at the Buriall of a Religious young Gentleman, Mr. Barnabas Creswell, Sonne of Mr. Thomas Creswell Esquire, By NATHANAEL CANNON, Batchelar in Diuinitie.
LONDON: Printed by T. S. for Nathanael Newbery, at the Starre vnder St. Peters Church in Cornehill, and in Popes-head Alley. 1625.
To the Worshipfull and Christian yoakefellowes, Mr. Iohn Stampe, and Mirs. Iane Stampe his Wife, Nathaniel Cannon wisheth true Comforts, externall, internall, and eternall.
TO you Both, as partners in losse, and lamentation, I tender this Treatise, and yet I am to speake vnto you two, who are but one, apart, [Page]concerning this businesse.
Sir, he called you Father, by a course of Law, and yet with conscience declared himselfe a very childe.
For if obedience, reuerence, and daily diligence might beget loue, then needs must he be a beloued Sonne, who was all this to you for conscience sake.
To you, (his deare Mother) hee was a right Barnabas; which is by signification, a Sonne of Consolation, of which you had no small measure, both from his life and death.
He honoured you, you loued him; he comforted you, [Page]you tendered him; and this was the mutuall intercourse betwixt you, vntill GOD tooke him from you.
As for my selfe, who at his Funerall read the Lecture of our mortality, besides the many bands of Christianity, wherewith all the faithfull are linked and conioyned together, there are other especiall motiues to make you and yours neare and deare to me.
For first you were a good Instrument vnder GOD, both to comfort and counsell mee in that calling whereunto the Lord hath [Page]appointed mee.
Secondly, you, and that worthy Gentleman, my Brother, Master Creswell, who is falne asleepe, were not wanting to mee and mine, but made your house vnto vs, as the house of Onesiphorus was vnto Paul, a place of great refreshing, 2 Tim. 1.16. Now as the Prophet saith vnto the Sunamyte, who had prouided a Chamber, a Table, a Stoole, and a Candlesticke for the man of God, 2 Kings 4.13. thou hast been careful for vs, but what may I do for thee? so say I, what shall [Page]be done for you by mee? Surely, vnlesse it be in the course of my calling, to pray with you, and for you, and sometimes as God offers occasion to present some part of my poore labours vnto you; loe this is all, I can doe nothing else.
Wherefore let mee pay my debts vnto you after this manner; and the rather, for that you both, with diuers others haue desired, that this Sermon, Preached at the Funerall of this faithfull seruant of God, and deere Son of yours might see the light.
Yet let mee not robbe you (louing Brother) of your desires in making this your especiall request, that hee whom you had imprinted in your heart, might be put in Print at your instance; which is done by way of Dedication to you, and her who is a part of you, my deere Sister.
Here shall you take a view of the Saints, and of their condition, who are the precious Iewels lockt vp in the Casket of this Scripture.
Doubtlesse your Childe was one of these, a rich [Page]Diamond, whose ground being Christ, must needes haue the light both of grace and glory.
Remember therefore, (Iobs giuer and taker) which Text hee quoteth in the case of Children, God giueth, saith he, and God taketh, blessed be the name of the Lord, Iob 1.21.
If you will blesse him, he will blesse you; our least submission, brings great consolation.
Yeeld Sister, yeeld; and God grant you the true comfort of those branches yet in being.
God blesse them, and make his face to shine vpon them, that they may liue to doe worthily in Ephrata, and be famous in Bethelem, Ruth 4.11.
Text.
THE whole world in her full age is but a Kalnder [...] of yeares and dayes, as for Man, [...], that little world, he brings his yeares to an end as it [Page 2]were a tale that is told; Nam vita nostra similes est Rotae, saith (Zanchius) vpon the fourth to the Philippians, our life, saith he, is like a wheele; modo in suprema, modo in infima parte versamur; sometimes saith he, we are rising, sometimes falling; now wee are at the very top and height of our comforts, & by and by, downe againe in the depth of our sorrowes; at length in the transition of this whirling wheele, that life that earst was all aloft, shall with one gaspe, lay it selfe all [Page 3]along: What shall we say to this? the Heauens doe many times grow blacke and cloudy, and yet cleere againe; the earth moues not at all, yet hath his being; the Seas, they ebbe & flowe, but haue returnes; yea, the very plants and trees let fall their lease, but keepe their life, for as Iob 14. obserues, There is hope of a tree though it be cut downe, yet by the scent of water it may bud and sprout forth againe; but as for man, the man of earth, for so he is rightly called, as (Chrysostome) [Page 4]obserues in his 12. Hom. in Gen. Homo rectè terra apellatur, quia prorsus est terrenus: he may well be called earth, that is so earthly. Alas, this man, as Iob notes, falles sicke and dyes; gone he is, with a nunquam rediturus, the eye that hath seene him, shall see him no more; Orimur & morimur, wee liue, wee dye, Sic transit gloria mundi.
Wee neede not turne our bookes to proue this point, for in Gods standing Library, which is the world, there are two Lieger Bookes, the one liber [Page 5]Creaturarum, the booke of the Creatures, the other, liber Scripturarum, the booke of the Scriptures, in both these volumes it is written, that Death hath a Habeas-Corpus for vs all: As for that of the Creatures, it speakes vnto vs in the matter of our mortality, as the Prophet Dauid doth in the 19. Psalme, touching Gods glory, One day tels another, and one night certifieth another and there is neither speech nor language vnder the heauens, but the voyce of Gods glory is heard amongst [Page 6]them; so verily, one day tels another, and one night certifies another, & there is neither speech nor language vnder the heauens, but the voyce of death is heard amongst them. As for that of the Scriptures, we know that all Scripture is giuen by inspiration from God, and is profitable to teach as the Apostle witnesseth, 2 Tim. 3.16. Each leafe doth reade a lecture to our life, teaching vs so to liue the life of the righteous, that wee may die the death of the righteous; yet notwithstanding [Page 7]wee may say of the Scriptures as the Apostle doth of the starres, 1 Cor. 15. one starre, saith hee, differeth from another in glory; so doubtlesse, one Scripture may giue more light vnto a matter then another, and one Scripture may yeeld more comfort against death then another; which being granted, then let me say for this Text, that it doth so prepare, or rather resolue the faithfull, so perfume their graues, which are, their beds, Esay 57.2. that they knowing themselues to [Page 8]bee the Saints and Seruants of God, and the spirit of God bearing witnesse vnto theirs, that they are his, Rom. 8.16. Yea, his deere darlings and precious Iewels, they then feele that comfort wherof the Apostle speaketh, Rom. 14.8. whether they liue or dye they are the Lords, and they apprehend their aduantage in Christ Iesus, who as the Apostle saith, is aduantage to him both in life and death, Phil. 1.21. This makes the Saints with old Simeon, ready to cry, Lord now lettest thou thy [Page 9]seruant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes haue seene thy saluation: Now the Saints haue the same obiect to looke vpon, and the same subiect to speake on; and must not they then bee precious, who shall bee heyres of saluation? Such honour haue all the Saints, of whose happy state and condition, my Text here speakes.
Let mee therefore say thus much of this portion of Scripture, that it is very seasonable for the occasion, and very sutable to his person that [Page 10]here lyes before vs, of whom I doubt not to pronounce him the faithfull St. & seruant of Iesus Christ; and therefore precious in the sight of God.
Now come wee to the worke wee haue in hand, that so wee may see how this Text takes place in point of Coherence with tha rest of the Psalme.
The voyce of Thankesgiuing doth with a spirituall trumpet soundforth the praise of God in this Psalme, wherein (Dauid who was the sweet Singer of Israell) hath many notes of thankful remembrance [Page 11]for the manifolde deliuerances that GOD had vouchsafed vnto him; but more particularly hee instances in that mercy that the Lord shewed in keeping him from Saul, who hunted after his life in the desart of Maon: And in the 3. verse, he tels vs that when the sorrowes of death had compassed him round about, then hee began to lay hold on God, assuring himselfe that neither Saul, nor any of his argents, should eyther catch or kill him without that diuine permission [Page 12]which did watch ouer him: and there fore hee will put his life into the hands of God, and vpon that very ground, he will set vp his rest: which hee doth in the 7. verse, Returne O my soule vnto thy rest; and because they are vnworthy of future blessings, who are not thankfull for former, hee therefore comes in the 12. & 13. verses with his quid retribuam Domino? what shal I render to the Lord for all his mercies? then the cup of saluation must bee mentioned, and the vowes must bee [Page 13]paide: making my Text the reason of all this; Because the Lord will take such care, both of the bodies and soules, of the liues and deaths of his Saints, that whether hee preserue them from the hands of Tyrants, or else suffer them to be euill intreated or persecuted, that so God may be glorified, this shall be surely imprinted in the hearts of the faithfull, that they are right deere and precious in the sight of God. And thus much shall suffice for the Analysis of the whole Psalme, and [Page 14]the particular sense and meaning of the Text it selfe.
Now it remaines, that wee take the Text asunder, and note vnto you the diuident Branches thereof:
1 Obserue the disp [...]sition of the Saints themselues, that so their corruption, may put on incorruption; and that in their earthly peregrination, they may passe from the Kingdome of Grace, to the Kingdome of Glory.
2 Obserue the Acceptation of the Saints [Page 15]with God: to earthly men, they are but meane, base, and contemptible, in the sight of this world; but in the sight of God, right deere and precious; and as they value Dauids life in the 2 of Sam. 18.3. thy life, say they, is worth tenne thousand of ours: So indeed, one faithfull Seruant of the Lord, is worth tenne thousand others in the sight of God, for they are precious in his sight.
1 Ratione praetij, by reason of the price that was paide to redeeme their soules withall, and [Page 16]that was, the precious bloud of Iesus Christ, as the Apostle witnesseth, 1 Pet. 1 Chap. Verse 19. Potens non perdet, saith a Father, quod pecunia emebat, A great man will not loose that which hee purchaseth with his money, Nec Christus perdet quod sanguine emebat, then may wee bee sure that Christ will not loose that which hee purchased with his bloud: that precious bloud.
2 Ratione tituli, they are precious by reason of their title that God hath giuen them, they are called [Page 17]the Saynts of God. What greater honor can there bee? Crownes and Scepters comes short of this, vnles they be within the compasse of this: Herauldry hath no such scutchions: Christianity hath the best Coate; the Crest or helme, it is saluation it selfe, Ephes. 6.17. & therefore no meruaile though Theodosius the Emperour did preferre his Christianity before his Crowne, Mallem me esse Christianum quàm Imperatorem.
3 Ratione proemij, precious they are by reason [Page 18]of the reward laide vp for them; they haue precious promises made to them, as Saint Peter saith, 2 Pet. 1.4. They labour not in vaine, as the men of this world doe: Doubtlesse man, saith Dauid, disquieteth himselfe in vaine, he heapeth vp riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them: But as for the Saints, when they haue finished their course, there is laide vp for them a crowne of glory; yea, for all them that loue the comming of the Lord Iesus Christ, 2 Tim. 4.8. Loe thus [Page 19]haue wee lookt vpon the Tree and the Branches, the Text and the parts; now let vs gather the fruit thereof, beginning first with our first Branch, which is the Dissolution of the Saints.
There is a hedge made about Iob the iust, which doth much trouble the Diuel, insomuch that Sathan cannot come at him, Iob 1.10. nor yet the gates of hell preuaile against him, what is this but Gods prouidence which watcheth ouer the righteous, and so protects that a hayre fals not from their [Page 20]heads without it; Wherevpon it is that Chrisostome cheares vp the hearts of the faithfull thus, Si sic custodiantur superflua tua in quanta securitate est anima tua? If saith hee, the haires of thy head and the least part of thy body be so kept, in what safety is thy soule preserued?
And yet notwithstanding this keeping out of Sathan, by the moundes of Gods mercy, yet wee haue no quare impedit against death, nothing keepes it out; for the very Saints who are so deare in the sight of God, euen [Page 21]they must dye: the sentence is irreuocable, all the children of Adam are within compasse of it, for in him, as the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 15. in Adam al men dye. Here then let vs erect our first pillar from this first poynt.
The very hieres of saluation, amongst others, Doct. 1 are subiect to dissolution: though they be the lords Iewels, and pretious in his sight, yet euen they must lay downe their earthly Tabernacles: thus saith the scriptures. Proofes of the Doctrine
There is a statute vpon the liues of all flesh, [Page 22] statutum est omnibus mori, saith the Apostle, Heb. 9.27. it is appointed for all men to dye and after comes the iudgement: Not onely Ahab, who sells himselfe to commit wickednesse, 1 Kin. 22.37. nor Ierobeam who makes Israel sin, 2 Kin. 14.20. nor Demas, who forsaketh God to follow the world, 2 Tim. 4 10. but faithfull Abraham, righteous Noah, iust Iob, Godly Dorcas, yea Lazarus the friend of Christ shall fall asleepe. We will looke somewhat particularly vpon some of these instances and begin with [Page 23] Dorcas, of whom we reade, Acts 9. verse 36. and 37. the holy Ghost reports the place where shee dwelt, Ioppa: this woman was by profession, a Disciple; that is, a follower and scholler of Christ Iesus: then looke into the fruits of her profession, which is all in all: the Text saith, that shee was full of good workes, she did abound in them, & yet this good & godly Matron falles sicke and dyes: Lazarus who is styled the friend of Christ, fals asleepe; a gentle and comfortable expression [Page 24]of our death, Iohn 11.11. Abraham, whom God will make a Secretary to his intentions, because he is so carefull to bring vp his family in the feare of God, Gen. 18.19. euen this Father of the faithfull shall fall asleepe, and yeeld vp the spirit in manus Domini, into the hands of that God that gaue it, Gen. 25.8. What shall I say of old Isaac, the Patriarches, of Moses, Aron, Ioshua, Samuel, Daniel, and the rest; all which are gone downe into the graue, notwithstanding their gifts and graces [Page 25]from aboue? Let not this seeme strange, whereby that any should take vpon them to dispute with God, and to aske, then what is the difference betwixt Saints, and sonnes of Belial, seeing all must dye? Perchance the question will arise, as sometimes the Spouse of Christ is put to it, Cant. 5.9. who when shee had spoken at large, concerning the royall dignities of her Bridegroome, the question is askt; What is thy beloued more then another beloued, that thou dost so extol him? So it may be [Page 26]said, what priuiledge haue the Saints aboue others, seeing they must dye as well as others? The Solution of this proposition will rather shew it selfe in Reasons, for the Saints dissolution, then in any other kinde of disputations.
The first Reason why they should be dissolued as well as others, is vt originalis corruptio destruatur; namely, that our sinfull nature and originall corruption might be destroyed, which cannot be so long as we liue vpon earth: wee shall haue [Page 27]those Reliquia peccati, those remnants of sinne about vs doe what wee can: velis nollis i [...]a fines, habitabit Iebuseus; doe what wee can, this Iebusite of corruption will dwell within vs: It is an Inmate which will not be remoued, vntill the house of our earthly body bee pulled downe, 2 Cor. 5.1.2.
Yea all those (Romish pennances) of scourgings or superstitious inflictions, giues no purgations for it, no not the strict and restrictiue course of the faithfull who by abstinence [Page 28]endeuour to bring downe their bodies, and by praier to raise vp their soules, yet notwithstanding whilst life lasteth, this sinfull nature of ours remaineth: I denie not, but with a magis and a minus these blessed meanes, will take away through Gods blessing the exuberancy of it, as a father wel obserues, Subiugari potest, exterminari non potest, and in this case wee may content our selues with the answere that God giues Rebecca in the 25. of Genes. she begs of God to know what is [Page 29]the reason of that extraordinary strugling and striuing in her body, and God tels her she hath two manner of people within her, for so she had Iacob and Esau, so haue we the flesh and spirit striuing within vs, Gala. 5.17. and will not giue ouer, till we giue ouer; and therefore it is expedient for the Saints to dye, that so they might be rid of this sinfull nature, which they shall neuer be whilst they liue.
A second Reason why they should dye as well as others, is, vt [Page 30]fides exerceatur, that our faith might be exercised in the apprehension and application of those spirituall and precious promises made ouer to the righteous; for the Definition of Faith tels vs of a great worke that faith hath to doe; Faith, saith the Apostle, is the substance of things hoped for, and the euidence of things not seene, Heb. 11.1. Now then that our Faith may at length haue the fruition of those things that it hath beleued, there shall be an end of the life of the beleeuer, that so possession [Page 31]may bee had of all those tenents that Faith formerly held: but shall wee alwaies beleeue, and not inioy what we haue beleeued? this then must be by the cessation of life; that is, of this life, that so we may inherite life euerlasting, and then our faith ceaseth, and we possesse what hath beene hoped for.
A third Reason why the Saints should dye, vt perfectio obtineatur, wee are in via, in the way to heauen, but wee are not yet in patria, wee looke for that house which is [Page 32]not made with hands, but eternall in the heauens, 2 Cor. 5.1. Now this we cannot haue on earth; for this cause the Saints shall dye in the Lord, which is a blessed thing; for then they rest from their labours, Reuel. 14. and then comes our perfection. Wee are now the Sons of God, saith the Apostle, but it appeares not what we shall be, 1 Ioh. 3. our knowledge, loue, and other fruitions being here but in part, 1 Cor. 13. but there we shall know perfectly, and obtaine perfection, when this corruption hath put on [Page 33]incorruption, and not before, 1 Cor. 15. Downe therefore must the earthly Tabernacles of the Saints, before wee come to that hauen, and heauen, prepared for vs, Math. 24.
These things then thus contracted, let the Doctrine be applied and inlarged in the Vses of it.
The 1. vse of this point, is as a voyce to call vpon the faithfull, that seeing they must bee dissolued, and yet not when, nor where, nor how, is known vnto vs; let them be such in their conuersation, [Page 34]that they may be ready for their dissolution; thus Iob, the iust waites for the day and houre, All the dayes of my appointed time, will I waite, vntill my changing shall come, Iob 14.14. and olde Iacob makes this his breathing-stoppe: And the 49. of Genesis hee blesseth, and blesseth his children, and growes fainter and fainter, and then like a swounding man, who takes something still to reuiue him; so doth hee, O Lord, saith hee, I haue waited for thy saluation; this fetcht life in him as [Page 35]it were, and reuiued, euen the remembrance of saluation: thus the righteous liue as not afraid to dye, as olde Pollicarpus tels his tormentors, according as Eusebius stories it vnto vs: I am this day, saith hee, fourescore yeares old, and I haue hitherto serued my God: O blessed age, and time well spent in the seruice of God: for, let vs not thinke to dye the death of the righteous, vnlesse wee liue the life of the righteous; our conuersation then must be in heauen, Phil. 3. and we must liue [Page 36]here in this world, euen as the Fishes doe in the Sea; who though they liue in the salt and brackish water, yet they are fresh; So though we liue in the middest of a wicked world, yet must wee be fresh and free from the common pollutions of this wicked world: Then shall we not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, as the vngodly doe, for they put too their whole strength, they draw sins together, and pull them as it were with cartropes, Esay. 5.18 Let the Saints make ready for [Page 37]the comming of the Lord Iesus Christ, and cry with them, Lord Iesus come quickly, Come quickly Lord Iesus.
The 2. vse belonging to this poynt limits our lamentations; I would not haue you ignorant, saith the Apostle, concerning those that fall asleepe, that the sorrow you take bee not like theirs that haue no hope 1. Thes. 4.13. no, this were to shew that we preferred earth before heauen, and the comfort and ioyes of earth, before heauen. We can tell directly what our meanes [Page 38]and sollaces are here on earth, but no eye hath seen, nor eare hath heard, nor tongue can tell the ioyes that God hath prepared for them that loue him 1. Cor. 2.9. Now this limitation for our mourning is not a prohibition to forbid all mourning, for not to be moued at all, is to shew a hard heart, lesse tender then the bruitish creatures, for they will bleate, and mone after one another; but it is the excesse of mourning that is condemned, as Bernard obserues, Non culpamus lachrymarum [Page 39]effectum, sed excessum, not the matter so much as the manner is sometimes to be reproued: and surely when Passion settles, then shall we see the euill of this violence; and when religion sends arguments after the dead, as Noah put forth the Doue vpon the abatement of the waters, then doe wee, or may wee find all that labour lost, for they are not lost that are gone before, Non sunt amissi, sed praemissi: and Iobs restaurations may confirme this vnto vs, for of all that the (Caldeans [Page 40]and Sabeans tooke from him he had it double restored, but for his children, iust so many as before; and why not children two-fold? because the children were not lost, but at the resurrection should then appeare. With this then I wil close vp this first point, and so come to the second.
2 Part of Diuision, The Saints acceptation; they are precious in the sight of God. When Samael was perswaded that amongst Ishaies sonnes the goodliest should haue had acceptation, and so [Page 41]bin King: God tels him, that he looks not as man doth, on the countenance, or person, but on the heart, 1 Sam. 16.7. thence comes our acceptation with God, and for that God will regard vs, and for nothing else; with him there is no respect of persons, Acts 10. vntill we come to feare him, loue, and obey him; O then he loues vs dearely, then are wee precious in the sight of God. And hence may we gather towards a second point of Doctrine, teaching vs, that the Lords regard toward vs [Page 42]is as our hearts are towards him: if we feare him, loue him, and delight in him, then will he delight in vs; we shall be precious and deere to him.
To this the Scriptures doe accord, and to begin with that of the 37. Psal. 37. Verse, Marke the vpright man, and behold the iust, the latter end of that man shall be peace: as who should say, such men are worth the marking. Againe, when God will declare whom he will grace or worship, Honorantes honorabo, they that honour [Page 43]mee, I will honour them, 1 Sam. 2.30. and as for them that despise him, hee regards them not, or as the last translation hath it, lightly esteemes them: the Lord regards our lowlinesse and humility, and will aduance the humble and meeke, as the blessed Virgin in her Magnificat, Luke 1.48. He regardeth the lowlinesse of his handmaid: these are the precious people in the sight of God, so precious, that if any shall hurt or iniure them, it is a battery against God himselfe; for [Page 44]so saith the Prophet, He that toucheth you, or hurteth you, toucheth the apple of Gods owne eye, Zach. 2.8. Hath not Saul who afterwards is Paul, the question, to the same purpose? Acts 9. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? as who should say, I feele the stripes, and beare the reproaches done against them. O that men thought vpon this as often as they are thornes in the sides of Gods seruants, as often as they play vpon them for their profession! Now in all these places wee see [Page 45]what tender care God taketh, how deere they are to the LORD; but of all places that of the 25. of Mathew 40. where the vsage of his Saints is recited; O come yee blessed of my Father, &c. when I was sicke you did visit mee; naked, clothe mee, hungry, feed me; O Lord, say they, we neuer saw thee thus; in as much as you haue done it to one of these little ones, you haue done it to mee.
Wee will stay here my Brethren, and make vse of this.
Shall these that are so precious in the sight of Vse. 1 [Page 46]God, be other wise in our eyes? All my delight is in the Saints, sayth Dauid: and surely it is one of the markes of the man that shall haue place in the holy mount, euen to make much of them that feare the Lord, Psal. 15. The contrary vnto this the Apostle reproues, Iam. 2. when hee would not haue vs to haue the graces of God in respect of persons; we honour riches, and make an Idoll of earthly pompe, but as for the Saints and Seruants of God, we rather expose them to reproach, [Page 47]then make them neere vnto vs: but because the subiect in hand points vnto the graue; I will returne vnto a Vse that shall speake the same language.
Are the righteous the onely men with God, Vse. 2 and so precious, that their very graues are perfumed, and their deaths so regarded? O then, this bids all the godly entertaine the consideration of a dissolution with good resolution: and many motiues will be ready for vs.
First, we dye not totally, [Page 48]it is but the body that is strooke downe, the soule is immortall; which like the Doue, could find no rest for the soale of her foote, vntill shee returned vnto the Arke againe, Gen. 8. so verily, there is no true rest for the soule of man, vntill it returne to that God that infused it.
Secondly, we dye not perpetually; we shall be put into the darke house for a time, but there is a day, a blessed day, euen the day of the resurrection, and then comes that coniunction, and re-vnion [Page 49]of both againe; now then death cannot preuent or alter that marriage day: for as the Apostle saith, What shall seperate vs from the loue of Christ Iesus? shall afflictions, shall Principalities, shall powers, shall things present or things to come, shall life or death? no, nothing shall remoue vs from the lone of Christ Iesus, Rom. 8.39.
Thirdly, the sting and poyson of death is taken away, (Christ Iesus) like a triumphant Conquerour, hath subdued: Consūmatum est, it is finished, [Page 50]and the debt paid, and the hand-writing that was against vs, fastened to his Crosse, Colos. 2.14. now then put it to the question, why shall wee feare to dye?
I deny not, but nature hath trembles in the very best of vs vntill we ouercome it by grace and diuine meditations: we doe at death as Moses did with his rod, who when hee saw it turned into a serpent, primo intuitu, he started from it, but afterwards goes neere vnto it, takes it vp, and makes vse of it; so wee indeede at [Page 51]the first, vntill wee see death disarmed, start from it, but afterwards finding that Christ hath gotten victorie ouer the graue, and that the sting is gone as the challing shewes Hosea 13. then with Moses we draw neer and surrender into the hands of the Lord beeing but tenents at will; then wee can take the rod and make good vse of it as he did. Exod. 9.4.
As for those that feare to dye notwithstanding these comforts, if wee should enter into their reasons they must needes [Page 52]be dreadfull, as
First, either they haue not tasted of the life to come, and so are lothe to change this present life; or else they haue not dyed aforehand, that is, considered of death before it came; or else thirdly, they haue carried their bane, euill consciences, about them. We will take view of these reasons by themselues.
For the first of them, their not tasting of the life to come; indeede their case is miserable, for they liue onely in body and cannot say with the Apostle, [Page 53] I liue by Faith in the Sonne of God, Galat. 2.20. These men must haue their soules beaten out or driuen out of them, as wee finde of the hypocrites estate in the 27. of Iob, What hope hath hee, saith the Text, when God shall beate out his soule? Indeede such men sing loath to depart; for here was their blisse, and to be taken from hence, being aliens and strangers from the life of God, Ephes. 4. alas, what shall they doe. As for those that haue not dyed afore hand, it must needes be as terrible to [Page 54]them: how many greets and re-greets passe betwixt God, and the soules of the faithfull? Paul desires to be dissolued and to be with God, which is best of all, Phil. 2. and the blessed Apostle tels vs, that by the reioycing that he hath in Christ, he dyes dayly, 1 Cor. 15. He numbers his dayes, and so, that he may apply his heart vnto wisedome, as Dauid prayes, Psalme 90. this spirituall Arithmeticke is a good knowledge, but the prophane and carnall men, desires to meete with no [Page 55]such reckoning: this not dying afore-hand, makes many so bebinde-hand with repentance; but let Hadrian the Emperour be an example vnto them; it is storied of him, that death comming, and he not expecting, and when the diuorce betwixt the body and soule was to be executed, hee cryes out, as amazed, O aminula, vagula, blandula, quae nunc abibis in loca? O my poore soule, whether art thou going? Doth hee aske of his hopes then, when the [Page 56]partition was to bee made? A poore soule indeed, for all his Empire: If therefore wee would not bee surprized, let vs bee prepared.
Now last of all, which is not least of all, but rather worst of all, comes they, who are loath to dye, because they carry their bane about them; and that is, an euill conscience, this puts them vpon the racke, and tortures all parts; this makes their case like vnto the strooke Deare, [Page 57]the arrow shee hath at her heart, and yet skips vp and downe, but carryes that about her, that will dispatch her: so is it with an euill conscience, well they may skippe vp and downe, but they haue that at the heart of them, that will make all vncomfortable: and no meruaile, for a wounded spirit, who can beare? saith Salomon: This gaue, as Folydore Virgill obserues, King Richard the third, more wounds in his dreame, the night before, then hee had the [Page 58]next day in the field: Well, let vs all labour, pray, and endeauour for good consciences, this makes a continuall feast; this sends vs with boldnesse to the throne of grace, Hebr. 4. In a word, this will make vs both in life and death, fit for CHRIST IESVS, whose wee are, and not our owne, and therefore ought to glorifie God both in our bodies and soules, which were redeemed with the precious bloud of IESVS CHRIST, [Page 59]through whom we haue redemption, euen the forgiuenesse of our sinnes, Ephes. 1.7. And thus much shall suffice to bee spoken for our instruction, who are in our way towards God, now a word or two of him who is already gone to GOD.
The Testimony of him that liued and dyed in the Faith of Christ Iesus.
VVEE doe reade of the Patriarches and others, that after their deaths, they were embalmed, Genes. 50.2. but this Gentleman embalmed himselfe aliue; I speake it according to the sense of Salomon, Eccles. 7.1. A good name, saith he, is as a precious oyntment; many sweete odours belongs vnto it, which [Page 61]time can neither wash nor waste away; Nam virtus post funera viuit. Thus did this hopefull young Gentleman follow the tracke of the Elders, who by Faith obtained a good report, Heb. 11.2. Demetrius like it was with him, of whom Saint Iohn speakes largely in his third Epistle: Demetrius, saith he, hath a good report of all men; yea, and of the truth it selfe. If any that knew not this person, would presse the reason of his commendation, [Page 62]answere will be made, that if sincerity in his Re [...]igion, industry in his Vocation, and affability in Conuersation might giue their voyces, it will be no sinne to say, this was a gracious youth.
And first for his Religion: He was not with Agrippa, almost a christian, nor yet with Laodicea luke-warme in his profession, but found in al true tenents of the faith, worshiping that one and onely God, from whence saluation comes to men.
As for his Vocation, with a diligent hand and faithfull heart hee went about it; his gaine therein was godlinesse, which the Apostle saith is great gaines, if men be content with that they haue, 1 Timoth. 6. Surely hee was content for peace-sake to passeby his profits many times, and to end matters at home, for the preuenting of further inconueniences that might arise in poynt of law.
If all that were towards the law had the same heart, surely that calling [Page 64]would haue a great part of that blessing which CHRIST pronounceth, Beati pacifici, Blessed are the peace-makers Mat. 5 For surely the law is good and surely [...], which comes of [...], to distribute, or dare suum cuique, to giue to euery one that which is his, had a good ordination: and therefore they shall doe well, who haue other mens causes to follow, to remember that one day, their owne cause shall come before the Iudge: This yong Lawyer did so, being [Page 65]tender in his conscience, and vpright in the causes he vndertooke.
As for his Conuersation, it was such that all that knew him did desire him: for hee had matter, and apprehended things with good iudgement, and then the manner of his conuerse was so affable as that hee found fauour wheresoeuer he came, which is the blessing promised, Pro. 16. When a mans wayes doe please the Lord, hee will make his enemies to be his friends: In a word hee [Page 66]was to his deare mother, a right Barnabas; that is, a Sonne of consolation, for so the word signifieth; he was gratiou, with men, and precious with God, he did liue the life of the righteous, and did dye the death of the righteous; he is gone before, and wee shall follow: In which progresse let vs end.