THere is a season, saith Salomon, for Fecles. 3. 1. all things vnder the sunne; but of all other things a word in due sea­sō Prov. 25. 11. is like apples of gold with pictures of silver, pleasant and profitable. If any word, me thinks a word of comfort from the mouth of Gods messenger should alwaies meet with a good sea­son; especially seeing it is a principall part of their of­fice, to appoint vnto them that mourne in Sion, to giue Isay. 61. 3. vnto them beauty for ashes, the oyle of ioy for mourning, & the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse. Yet in this case, I finde the saying of a sage Divine to bee most true, that it is not so hard to giue comfortable coun­sell to the sorrowfull, as to find a fit season when to giue it. For while the streame of sorrow runnes fresh and full it is vaine and to small purpose to oppose counsell; passions must haue leasure to disgest; time doth as much moderate them as wisdome doth. At the first thē it is best to mourne with such as mourne for the losse of friends, and when our teares and theirs are drie to giue counsell. And yet in this case I doubt what is [Page 2] best; for as before men haue digested griefe, advise comes too early, so it is too late to advise when they haue digested it; as before it was vnseasonable, so after it would be superfluous; as before it cannot benefit, so af­ter it may hurt by rubbing a skinned sore afresh. This honourable, but heavy and sad solemnitie then must beare the blame, if now that sorrow seemes to haue wearied her selfe having wept like David & his cōpa­ny, till she can weep no more, & with wearines is fallen a­sleep, 1. Sam. 30. 4. I awake (notwithout true griefe) the remēbrāce of our great, our commō losse. When our Saviour was to suffer, certaine women well affected, followed him weeping, to whom he said, weepe not for mee but weepe Luk. 23. 28. for yourselues, and for your children. Let mee with some inversion of our Saviours words sollicite you, which both in habit and heart beare the greatest part of this sads [...]e, weepe not for your selues, though you haue lost an honourable husband, a tender hearted father, a faithfull friend, a kind master, a mercifull landlord, as most he hath left behind; but put of these privat passi­ons of sorrow, and put on the sorrow of compassion, & come and bewaile with vs our common losle: The Church, the Church hath lost a choice patrone, the Com­mon wealth a chiefe pillar. But because this passion hin­ders our attention, & takes vp our heart before hand, and makes men vnfit to heare, as the people of Israel for anguish of spirit could not harken to Moses: therefore Exod. 6. 9. you shall giue me leaue a little, to cast a vaile over our sorrow, till wee haue heard what God hath to say vnto vs by the mouth of me his vnworthy minister, from [Page 3] these words of Moses, ‘Moses the servant of the Lord died, &c.’

The providence of God, (which like a well drawne picture, eies every particular persō in this great house of the whole world, and is as inward and familiar to every action therein, as our spirit is to our raines) did most plainely manifest itselfe, in the birth and life, in the death and buriall of this man of God. For to say no­thing of his birth and life, wherein both the wisdome and the power of God were deepely printed, these words you see call vs to a consideration of his death described in the fifth verse: wherein you m [...]y see, wee may obserue, first the person, Moses, secondly his praise, The Division the servant of the Lord, thirdly his period and end, he di­ed, fourthly the place, in the land of Moab, and lastly the cause, according to the word of the Lord. Had it beene but a privat person, yet being so rarely qualified as he was who could haue commanded his passion so much as to bid sorrow be silent [...] but behold it is Moses a guid, a governour, a prince among the people: or had he bin a governour that had proved either a traitour to his Prince, or a tyrant to his people, both Prince and peo­ple might haue beene glad, but it is Moses the servant of the Lord; or had he beene but gon into the mount to talke with God, we need not so haue grieved, but hee is dead; or had it beene in his owne country the land of Ca­naan, (which God had giuen him and his people for inheritāce,) or at home in his owne house; but it is there in Mount Nebo vpon the top of Pisgah in the land of Moab where he was withinken of that sweet country. [Page 4] And yet that you may not be cast downe with all these crosse accidents, or cry out vpon badfortune, or con­demne the fates, or father these crosses vpon some maligne aspect of the planets and constellations; knowe that nothing hath come to passe in all this but by the wise guidance and direction of Gods alseeing provi­dence. Moses a great man, Moses a good mā is dead & that in a strange land but according to the word of the Lord. In the words thē the person comes in the first place to be cōsidered; & the consideratiō thereof that Moses a go­vernour a great mā is dead affords vs this doctrine; that Doct. 1. A great go­venour quick ly gone. the most carefull & conscionable Magistrates cānot look to liue longer, yea oftentimes diesooner then other mē. Wise Salomon, godly David, religious Iosiah, are all gathered to their fathers, and the most wise godly and religious must follow them, assoone as those persecutors of his church and children. 1 For first they are but men and therefore mortal. Gods in calling but men in condition. I haue said, yee are Gods and you are all the children of the Psal, 82. 6, 7. most high; but you shall dy like men, & you princes shall fall like others. 2 Secondly, the sinnes of the people doth of­tentimes provoke God thus to punish them by depri­ving them of such benefit which they set so light of. This punishment God denounceth by his Prophet. The Lord God of Israell will take away from Ierusalem and from Iuda hthe stay & the strength, even all the stay of bread & I say. &c. all the strength of water, the strong man and the man of warre, the iudge, and the Prophet, the prudent & the aged, the captaine of fifty, and the honourable, and the counseller; and I will appoint children to be their princes, and babes to [Page 5] rule over them; the people shalbe oppressed one of another, and every one by his neighbour; the children shall presume against the ancient, and the vile against the honourable. 3 Thirdly, the Lord doth sometimes suddainely cut thē off that they may not see the misery which hee sends vpon the church or common wealth; this God pro­miseth as a special blessing vnto that good king Iosiah; because thine heart did melt & thou hast humbled thy selfe 2 King 22. 19. 20. before the Lord, whē thou hardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants of the same, & hast rent thy clothes and wept before me: behold therefore, I will ga­ther thee to thy fathers, and thoushalt be put in thy graue in peace and thine eies shall not see all the evill that I will bring vpon this place. Thus the righteous perish and no man considereth that they are taken away from the evill to I say. 57. 1. come.

See then, beloved, what cause we haue to pray for Vse. the life and perseruation of godly governours as the A­postle exhorts, to prevent their death to our power: as 1. Tim. 2. 1. the Israelites praied David that he would not goe forth 2. Sam. 21. 17. to battle least he should quench the light of Israel; to bee thankeful for them when we haue them, and to be sor­rowfull when we see them taken away. I know not whether it be our coldnesse in praying or our careles­nesse in praising God for such gracious governours as he hath given vs, or whether God be but preparing some heavie iudgement against this whole land, (his iudgements are secret, and I leaue them to himselfe:) but sure we are senselesse if we cannot see how deeply the Lord hath wounded vs in the head, and heart, and [Page 6] whole body of this land, the remembrance whereof is yet fresh and bleeding. He hath wounded the whole kingdome by the vntimely death of a most worthie Prince, he hath wounded the court by the suddaine cutting off of a most wise counseller, and now he hath wounded the country by depriving it of so honorable a maintainer of peace by righteous iustice. If then a king thought he had cause enough to lament the sick­nesse of a Prophet, & not only kindly to visite him but compassionately to weepe over him; then giue mee leaue as a Prophet to bewaile the death of a great prince, a wise counsellour, a worthy pillar of the cōmon wealth in the same words; O my father my father the 2. King. 13. 14. chariots of Israell and the horsemen of the same; or as Da­vid lamented the death of Saul: Yee daughters of Israel weepe for Saul which cloathed you in scarlet, with pleasures 2. Sam. 1. 24. and hanged ornaments of gold vpon your apparell. In re­spect of themselues we haue more cause to ioy and saie as Hierome, of his sinnefull time; Foelix Nepotianus qui haec non videt; Nepotian is a happy man that liues not to see the wicked world: and as Saint Ambrose speaketh of such a one, he was not so much taken from vs, as from dā ­gers. But for our selues and sinnes which haue provo­ked God, we cannot sorrow enough. When God ships his Noahs, it is a signe there is a floud not farre behind; Gen. 7. 16. 17. when God sends his Angels to fetch his Lots out of Sodome, it is a signe there is punishment for that sinneful Gen 19. 23. 24 citty shortly to insue.

From the party, I proceede to the second part his praise, [Moses the servant of the Lord.] Behold here [Page 7] Moses funerall sermon sent after him and perserved for posterity; And it teacheth vs that sanctity is the highest honor, and greatest commendations, that can bee given a Sanctitie is the highest honour and greatest com­mendation that can bee given to a mā Heb. 11. 24. Eccles. 12. 13. man. He that refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter, reioiceth here to be called the servant of the Lord. The end of all, saith Salomon, is this, feare God and keepe his commandement for this is the whole duty of man. There is nothing else that makes a man to bee a man, without which we are below the brute beasts. And a­mongst all titles of countries and kingdomes, David had this as the highest honor afforded him, that hee was a man after Gods owne heart. If the name of a ser­vant 1. Sam. 13. 14. seeme to imply some meanenesse and misery, yet the name Iehovah Lord of heaven and earth whose servants they are, wipes away this blot. How earnest are we to sue and seek to be in some service about the King? & there is no service we say vnto such. And yet when we haue spent our selues in great mens service, either they cannot giue vs all they would▪ or they will not alwaies giue vs what they can, or if they both would & could they knowe not what is best for them to giue or vs to haue: But if wee serue God wee are sure to lacke nothing that is good. We may want golde Psal 34. 10. and goods, and health and wealth, but then wee may assure our selues that God sees these are not good for vs, else he would not keepe them from vs. For how­soever men make difference of servants and sonnes & friends; to seruants they commend their busines, to our friends we commit our counsell, but for our sonnes we keepe our choisest gold, our choisest Iewels, yea the [Page 8] whole inheritance; Yet these are all one to God. His servants are his friends, his friends are▪ his sonnes, and his sonnes are both his friends and servants. It is great favour in God, great honor to vs that he wil vouchsafe vs to be his seruants: but for our service to make vs his sonnes and friends, what honor and dignity on earth if cast in ballance of comparison herein would not bee found to light? Therfore David though a king counts this his greatest credit; I had rather be a dore keeper in Ps. 84. 10. the house of my God, then to dwell in the tents of vngodly­nesse. For whether we consider the worke or the wages both will proue this service to surpasse all earthly things. For what is the service of God but sanctity? & what is sanctitie but the renuing of that decaied image of God according to which we were created, and the quieting of our clamorous conscience, which will not be friends with vs, vnlesse we be friends with God, and dare not proue so kinde to vs, as proue false to our master. Now what worke so worthy vpon earth as to pray vnto God, to praise his name, to feed the poore & hungry, to cloath the naked, to comfort the comfort­lesse, to do good to al, especially our owne soules? & this is such service as we are set about, the worst work that in Gods house his basest servant sets his hand vn­to. Secondly [...], the wages wherewith God of his mercie not our merit crowns our worke makes it much more glorious. Blessings are vpon the head of the righteous but iniquity shall cover the mouth of the wicked. And salvati­on Prov 10. 6. saith David, belongeth vnto the Lord and thy blessing is vpon thy people. Salvation which is the greatest bles­sing Psal. 3 8. [Page 9] is peculiarly appropriated to such as serue God, as the greatest prerogatiue God can giue; none are blessed but such as are saved, & none are either blessed or saved but such as serue him; and if we respect either this life not only while they liue on the earth which is their inheritance, (the righteous man shall inherite the earth and dwell therein for ever,) but even when they Psal. 37. 29. are gone their name and memory is blessed, they grow in credit when the glory of sinners shall ende in shame. Therefore, saith Salomon, the memoriall of the iust shall be blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot; though Prov. 10 7. sinful mē are magnified by sinners, yet they are made abhominable to Saints: you shall leaue your name as a curse to my chosen, for the Lord God shall slay yor, and call Isa. 65. 15. his servants by a new name. But if they liue never so meanely here, yet the glory they shall haue hereafter, will recompence all. For if either life, or glory, or a kingdome, or inheritance, will giue content, wee shall haue them in abundance. What more desired among men then life? What life more desired then a life of glory? What glory compared to the glory of a king­dome? What more glorious kingdome then that that is had by inheritance? What inheritāc [...]gdome like to that which cannot be shaken? When the Apo­stles were little lesse thē proud that divels were subdu­ed vnto thē in his name whom they serued: true, saith Christ, I saw Satanfall down frōheaven like lightning; ne­verthelesse reioice not that spirits obey you, but reioice that Luk 18. 18, 20 your names are writtē in heauē. Reioice not in your eno­bled bloods, admired with living praises, & preserved [Page 10] the iawes of oblivion by sumptuous sepulchers, anci­ent coates and armes, large revenews; alas it is theleast matter of ioy that the name liues in bright honour on earth, when the soule lies in the rusting restlesse mise­ries of hell: to haue all the kingdomes in the earth to command, and not to haue the lowest place in the kingdome of heaven; to quarter our armes with kings, and to want the armes of Christianitie, to haue no part in the red crosse of our crucified Saviour. These latter only behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. with open face, and are changed by the same image frō glory to glory: from glory here, for the spirit of glory re­steth 1. Pet. 4. 14. Psal. 149. 9. vpon vs, vnto glory hereafter, such honour haue all his saints.

Let this then pull downe the pride of all wicked men: be they never so high and honourable here in Vse. 1. this world, they are worthlesse and base if this testi­mony of Moses may not worthely be sent after them, that they are the servants of the Lord. For howsoever generous and noble spirits, are ready to spit at the name of slaue and basenesse, yet their sinfull carriage proues them plainely to be such. Knowe you not, saith Rom. 6 16. the Apostle, that to whomesoever you giue your selues as servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether it be of sinne vnto death, or of obedience vnto righteousnesse? Yea, saith S ^t Austine, Quot vitiorum servus tot dominorum, & quot dominorum tot daemonio­rum: so many sinnes thou servest, so many masters, and so many masters in this matter, so many divels. For what is it but the powerfull command of sinne, which like Mark 9 22. [Page 11] the divell in the man possessed, casts vs sometimes in­to the fire, where we burne and boile with lust; some­times into the water, where either we swim in vaine de­lights, or are drowned in the drunken pleasures of this flattering world; sometimes it blowes vs vp into the aire, with a giddy desire to hunt and hauke after the ho­nours and preferments of the world; and anon againe throwes vs down groueling vpon the ground, nayling our affectiōs to this earth with the covetous desires of worldly goods? In choosing a master one wisely ad­monisheth vs to beware of three sorts of men, thy enimy, thy servant, thy fellow servant. Hee serues his greatest enimie that serues the divell, hee serues his fel­low servant that serues the flesh, and hee serues his ser­vant that serues the world. It is base then to serue the world, for that is to become a vassall to our servant: it is an vncertaine service to serue the flesh so way­ward, so weake, so fraile, so fickle, that we may feare e­very hower to be turned out of dores: it is an vnthrif­tie service to serue the divell, the more worke wee doe him, the worse wages, and the more stripes, and the wa­ges of the least worke we doe him is death. It is follie Rom. 6. 23. then to forgoe Gods service, and serue any of them, for they will bring shame at the last. Where then is the glory of our gray haires? where is the honor of our hou­ses and blood? where the credit of our politicke heads, when we suffer our selues to be ensnared with sin? we know it is evill, and we know it is of the divell, and al the world knowes that wee are wise enough to know it; we hate the name of it, and we are ashamed of the [Page 12] sunne when we commit it, we know that the end of it is death, and the fruit of it shame to our honor & hou­ses, and yet we wil not forsake it. Looke but back vp­on your sinnefull liues you that liue still in the same; & tel me what comfort take you now in the pleasure of those sinnes which you haue committed? What profit in those Rom. 6. 21. things whereof you are ashamed? as the Apostle speakes. Nay where is your reason & vnderstanding that suf­fers you not to see that by your sinnes, you are no bet­ter then beasts, & in a faire forwardnes to degenerate into divels? I will conclude this vse with the words of S. Bernard, verily, if the beasts could speake they would call wicked men beasts.

A second vse is for instructiō, that as we desire that Vse, 2. praise which is perpetuall, and that honour which will both hold out here on earth, and helpe vs to heaven, we will make the service of God our chiefest and grea­test care. Many courses there are to compasse seeming honor, but all of them are quickly blasted and will wi­ther away. Nay, they are all accursed and will bring shame in the end, but he that honoureth me him wil I ho­nor, 1. Sam. 2 30. saith the man of God vnto old Ely. Diverse men propose divers ends vnto their liues and actions, and therefore vse divers meanes; One runnes to the court, another to the campe, a third to the schooles, all in hope of honor. Would you know the safest course in this case? Let the honor and service of God be your chiefe aime, so shall you be sure, your end cannot be disho­nourable. For els what wil you do? Whither will you go to get you a great name? To the court? This glorie [Page 13] is like glasse, bright but brittle, and courtiers, saith one, Plutarch. are like counters which sometime in account goe for a thousand pound, & presently before the count be cast, but for a single penny. But for true commendations, when all the glory of court & kingdoms shalbe dasht, and dampt, and the lustre of their honor bee wrapt vp in darknes or covered in the dust, the memory of our Moses shall ever be blessed; who being in great credit in Pharaohs court, and accounted the sonne of Phara­ohs daughter, chose rather to indure affliction with the children of God, then enioy the pleasures of sinne for a sea­son, Heb▪ 11. 25. esteeming the rebukes of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt. Wilt thou shew thy wisdome in deepe plots and politique imployments, in church or common wealth? Beleeue it, no wisdome that is not from heaven and hath ground out of Gods word will hold out long. Whatsoever is repugnant vnto it, or is not sanctified by it, will end in shame: labor rather for a sanctified heart then a politique head. Achitophel was as wise as the most, and yet who ever plaid the foole so 2. Sam. 16. 23. much as he? The shame of his fact like Naamans lepro sic cleaues vnto his name; he saw his counsell contem­ned, 2. Sam. 17. 23. and therefore goes home, sets his house in order, and wisely hangs himselfe. Yea the diuell as deepe a polititian as all the men in the world, yet the foolishest creature that ever God made to worke his owne wo. It is not policie then that can praise thee. What is it a sweet & fluent tongue, whereby thou canst tie the eares of those that heare thee, and ravish them with admi­ration of thy eloquence? Herod had this & yet hee could Act. 12. 23. [Page 14] not perswade the wormes to pitty him, nor preserue his name from everlasting infamy. Is it gay & gorge­ous apparel wil grace thee? No: if every silken coat had care to saue his soule, & all that glister with gold with­out had grace within, what a happy world were we in? But all the pompe of apparel, in silkes and velvets gold and silver, cheines and ornaments, wil never haue that honorable commendations, that the holy Ghost giues to those poore persecuted Christians, which wandred vp and downe in sheepes skinnes and in goats skins, who notwithstanding through their faith and pati­ence, obtained a good report. Will you build vp your Heb. 11. 39. names by some glorious buildings? Looke you lay the groundworke in sanctitie and the true service of God; else building you may build, but nothing but a Babel, a to­wer of confusion which will fall downe and crush you to peeces. Where is now the praise of Nabuchadnez­zers pompe? The very rubbish & ruines of it, are long since ruinated, but his shame for his prowde boasting, is not this great Babell, &c, and his punishment to feede Dan. 4. 30, Ibid. 28. with the beasts of the field, shall never bee blotted out. Builde vp your selues, your sonnes and families, in the feare of God, and then your houses and honors shal cō ­tinue longer then those that build them castles and cal their lands and livings after their owne names. Els feare the curse which the Prophet hath pronounced. Wo vn­to Psal. 49. 11. Jer. 22. 13. him that buildeth his house by vnrighteousnes, and his chambers without equity, and vseth his neighbor without wages, and giueth him not for his worke; hee saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, so he will make [Page 15] himselfe large windowes and seeling with cedar, & paint them with vermilion; shalt thou raigne because thou clo­sest thy selfe in Cedar? Did not thy father eate and drinke and prosper when he executed iudgement? Will you con­tinue you name by your numerous progenie and mul­titude of children descended from your loines? So might Ahab haue hoped, if his sinnes had not beene a cause to cut of his seed and posterity. But we knowe how his seventy sonnes had all their heads laid in a bas­ket 2 King. 10. 6, 7 2. King. 9. 33. on one day, his wife Iezabell eaten vp with dogs & all his posterity rooted out as the Prophet had pro­nounced. To conclude this point then; let the glory of God, and his service be your chiefest aime, speake for it, stand for it, fight for it, die for it. Sound it in your mouthes, manifest it in your liues, defend it with your swords, and if need be seale it with your blood, and so your names shalbe blessed when your flesh & bones shalbee consumed, yea both body & soule hap­py when your names shalbe buried in oblivion. The court you see cannot truely commend you, your po­litique heads will no way profit you, your moving e­loquence cannot better you, your gay clothes cannot grace you, your stately house litle helpe you, nor your multitude of children maintaine your honour heare on earth, or procure your happynesse in heaven: this only title given by the spirit of God vnto Moses to be the servant of the Lord is worth all the rest and will last for ever.

From the person, Moses, and his praise, the servant of the Lord, I proceed to his end or period, death; Mo­ses 3. Part. [Page 16] the servant of the Lord died. His period, or end. Doct. Neither great nes nor good nes is a good pleate against death.

It is neither his greatnesse you see nor his goodnesse that can purchase him a supersedeas against the arrest of death; he that had fed many when they were readie to starue for hunger, and refreshed many when their soules fainted within them for want of drinke, hee at whose commande came frogges and lice, and haile and darknesse and blood and blisters, hath not his breath in his owne hand. But I haue heretofore spent much time in pressing this point of mans mortalitie, how death without difference of degree or condition summons all sorts of men. Prince and Priest, & people the captaine and the common iouldier, the master & the man, the mistresse & her maid, haue the same end; they may die of diverse diseases, at diverse times, in di­vers places, but they all die; death hath the sole sove­raignty of all the worlde, and knockes assone at the great mans castle, as at the poore mans cottage.

Would to God we were wise to apply this to our Vse. owne selues: for doth it not iustly reproue, such as sel­dome so much as mind their mortalitie, but liue here as though they thought verily they should never die? If these men had no religion, yet reason would teach them, that their strength is not the strength of stone, & yet this the very drops of water weareth; nor our si­newes of brasse or iron, and yet this the rust and canker consumeth; but a vapour, but a smoake▪ which the sunne soone drieth, or the wind driveth away. It was wittily said of Epictetus the Philosopher, who going forth one day and seeing a woman weeping that had brokē [Page 17] her pitcher, and the next day meeting another woman weeping that had lost her sonne; heri vidi fragilem fran▪ ­gi, hodie video mortalem mori: Yesterday, saith he, I saw a brittle thing broken, and to day I see a mortall man die. And what difference betwixt these two? Much one manner of way: for take a glasse, saith S ^t Austine, (which as it is bright so is it much more brittle then an earthen pitcher) keepe it fafe in a cupboord, where it may be free from the violence of outward wrong, and it may continue many thousand yeares: but take a man of the most pure complexion, of the strongest constitution, and keepe him as safe as thou canst, hee hath that in his bosome, and within his owne bones that will bring him to his end. Nay, I heare some say (saith the same Father, as I remember) that such a one hath the plague or the plurisie, and therefore sure he will dy, but we may rather say such a one liueth, and therefore sure he will die; for diverse haue had those diseases, & did not die of them, but never any man lived that did not die. The consumption of the liver is a messenger of death, the consumption of the lungs the minister of death, the consumption of the marrow is the very mo­ther of death, and yet many haue had these disea­ses and not died of them: but there is another kinde of consumption which could never yet be cured. It is the consumption of the daies, the common disease of all mankind, and whereof all must die: David spake of it, my daies are consumed like smoake. Let mee then warne Psal. 102. 3. you, and stirre vp your meditations of your mortasity with the words of our Moses, who hath walked that [Page 18] way before vs, Deut. 32. 29. O that men were wise then would they vnderstand this, then would they consider their Deu. 32. 29. latter end. Wee are vnwise that wee consider not the times past, the evill we haue committed, the good we haue omitted, the benefits of God we haue abused, the time we haue mispent; and yet we grieue not, because we thinke not yet whether we shall die. More vnwise are we not to consider things present, as the shortnes of life, the difficultie of salvation, the small number of such as shall be saved; and yet wee shame not, because we thinke we shal not yet die. But most vnwise that we consider not things to come, death, iudgement, hell, al to come; and yet we feare not, because (I feare) wee thinke we shall never die. O that we were wise, then would we consider our latter end. Wise Princes vse to prepare tenne yeares before hand for a field of one day; belo­ved, let vs lay vp something every day for the last▪ When we shall wrastle with death, if wee winne that skirmish we haue enough, and when or where wee shall come to the conflict who can tell? For Moses when hee was now ready to set foot in the promised land, liues not to enioy it, but when he comes within kenne of it, it pleaseth God to prevent him by death, & to take him away in the land of Moab. Which is the fourth particular that I proposed to be handled, name ly the place where Moses died.

In the land of Moab.] See after all the care & paines that Moses hath taken with this people, to bring them 4, Pa [...]t. The place to the promised land, now that he was come neere the confines and borders of it, & God had set him in such [Page 19] a place where he might see it, hee suddenly here calls him out of this life. Whence wee might well obserue the fickle state and condition of all worldly things. Mo­ses greatest comfort, I imagine, both against the tedi­ousnesse of the way, and weiwardnesse of this people, and the perplexities of his owne soule, was to consi­der how happy he should bee, when after all this hee should come to liue quietly in the land of Canaan: and now behold that he is ready to come into it, he is sud­denly Doct. All worldly hopes quick­ly vanish. cut of. O the vncertainty of these worldly things, O the vanitie of those men that vex themselues with hope of such things as they shall never haue! Great mens favours, and old mens shooes, thou maist looke for, perhaps hope for, but never trust to. And yet how many Cameleons are there that liue onely by the aire and breath of hope (not of heavenly, but) of earth­ly things, which when a man should put forth his hand to lay hold vpon, vanisheth away and is seen no more? One hopes to growe rich, & suddenly his trade failes him; another hopes for his fathers, or some o­ther old mans living, and the old man outliues him; a third hopes to rise to honour, and his meanes are ta­ken from him. The hope that is deferred, saith Solomon, Prou. 13. 12. maketh the heart sicke; If then the hope be defeated, mee thinks it should die. Moses had as much reason to hope to come to this happy land, as any man living of any earthly thing: and yet how is his hope quite dasht, whē a mā would not haue dreamed how his comfort could haue beene crost? It is wisdome then to hope for such things as we may haue, and to ground our hope vpon [Page 20] such a foundation as cannot faile. Let the word of God be the ground of thy Christian perswasion, and so thou maist boldly hope for heaven.

A second point which from the consideration of the place I will propose and lightly passe by, is the vn­certaintie of the place where wee shall die. As death spares not any persons, so it respects not any place. When thou art walking peaceably with thy brother in the fieldes thou maist bee murthered as Cain was; Gen. 4. 8. when thou art sitting quietly in thy chaire, thou maist fall backward and breake thy necke, as old Eli did: whē thou art at thy devotions in the Temple, thou maist 1. Sam. 4. 18. dy there as Zenacherib did: yea at the very altar, as Ioab: Isay, 37. 37. 1. King. 2. 34. Iob 1. 19. 2. King. 2. 24. while Iobs sonnes were feasting, the house falls vpon them; while the scoffing boyes are mocking, beares come from the wildernesse and devoure them; while Chore and his company are contending, the earth o­pens Num. 16. 31. and swallows them: while the captaines & their fifties are fetching the Prophet perforce to the King, 2. King. 1. 10. fire falls from heauen and consumes them. Thus death dogges vs wheresoever wee goe, and hath his darts ready wheresoever we are.

Let this then teach vs to take heed that wee bee al­waies Vse. prepared for death, seeing it is so vncertaine where it will meet vs. Go to now, you that say to day or to morrow, we will goe into such a city, and continue there a Jam. 4. 13. 14, 15. yeare, and buy and sell and get gaine, and yet cannot tell what shall be to morrow; for what is your life? it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and afterward va­nisheth away; for that you ought to say if the Lord will, and [Page 21] if we liue, wē will doe this or that. Nay go to you, that by play & pastime, driue away the remembrance of death, nay by surfeiting and drunkennesse, hasten your owne death, and yet never thinke of dying. How will you dare to looke death in the face, whom you would not vouchsafe the least roome in your hearts, nay whom eftsoones you did in your daring humours scorne & defie? Let experience tell whether many do not meet with death in places of greatest mirth, now merry and presently mourned for: whether a bone in our meate may not choak vs, or a haire in our milk strangle vs, or a stone in a raisin stop our breath, as it did Anacreōs. O thē let vs whersoever we are, whithersoever we walk, make the meditatiō of our end, our vade mecum & best companion! least, like vnthrifty servāts in great mens houses, having their allowance of light & mispending the same in dicing or dancing, or drunkennesse; at last are faine or rather forced to goe to bed darkling; so while we neglect the time of light in this life which God hath granted, the night of our death do suddainely surprize vs when we do litle dreame of it. To him that is to walke through some darke and dangerous place, one light carried before, will do more good then many that are brought behinde: so the serious preparation for death before it come, armes vs both with more confidence against it and comfort in it▪ then that which comes not till death call. I will conclude this point with our Saviours words; Take heed to your selues least at any time your hearts be oppressed with surfetting & drū ­kennesse, Luk. 21 34. 35 26. and cares of this life and least that day come vpon [Page 22] you at vnawares, for as a snare shall it come on all thē that dwell vpon the face of the earth; watch therefore and pray continually that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe, and that you may stand before the sonne of man.

Giue me leaue now, I beseech you, to apply these things to our present occasion before I proceede to the last particular in my text.

When our Saviour, Luk. 4. 20. light vpon a place of Luk 4 20. the prophet Isaias, & had red it in the audience of the people, hee closed the booke, & gaue it againe to the Mi­nister, and sate downe & said; this day is this scripture ful­filled in your eares, and all bare him witnesse. I doubt not, beloved, but you wil all witnes with me this daie, that what you haue hard, the same you haue seene, and the words which I haue handled, are fulfilled in your hea­ring. Moses a great man, and our Moses the servant of the Lord, is dead, and hee died in the land of Moab from his owne house and home, but it is according to the word and the will of the Lord. That he is dead, I wish, (if it had bin the will of the supremest,) that we had cause to doubt. That he was a Moses, and the ser­vant of the Lord, lend me but your patience a little lō ­ger and you shall heare.

Moses is as much as drawne out, Ex. 2. 10. And might Moses in name. not he say with David, Psal. 18. 16. He hath sent downe from aboue and saved me, he hath drawne me out of many waters?

Moses pittied, the distressed and oppressed estate of his poore country in their misery: and when he could In nature 1▪ His pitty. [Page 23] do no more, he looked vpon them, no doubt, with a heavy countenance and a sorrowfull heart, yea with hazard of his owne life hee was ready to redresse their wrong, Exod. 2. 11. 12. And was not our Moses the one­ly man that would step forth and stand vp to free his country from all such taxes & toules, as cunning catch­poles & prouling officers could haue been content to haue imposed vpon the people? And when they were such as could not be helped, yet I know he did heartily grieue at them, & heavily looke vpon them that were oppressed.

Moses was a man of peace, not a peace keeper only 2 His peace­making. but a peace- maker. When he saw two Hebrewes striue togither, he said, Sirs, you are brethren, why do you wrong one another? Act. 7. 26. And who knows not what care he had, what comfort he took, what paines he indured, to compose controversies, to prevent law suits, to per­swade peace, to procure loue among neighbours?

Moses was content to leaue the court, where hee might haue lived in great credit and account, and to 3. His pietie. imploy his paines for the good of his country, Heb. 11. 24. 25. And who knowes not that it was neither want of wit, or wisdome to commende him, nor want of friends to countenance him, nor want of meanes to mainetaine him, that kept our Moses from the court; but a godly desire to do his country good, wherein nei­ther his purse nor his paines were at any time wāting? for did he not many times as Moses did, Exo. 18. 14 Sit from morning till even to heare the matters of the people 4. His paines. and to iudge amongst them? Till of late either his owne [Page 24] experience taught him, or his friends advised him, as Iethro did Moses. Thou weariest thy selfe greatly and the Ex. 18. 18, &c. people with thee, for the thing is too heavy for thee, thou art not able to do it thy selfe alone; prepare thee helpers and let them iudge the people at all seasons, but every great mat­ter let them bring vnto thee and let them iudge all small causes; so shall it be easier for thee, when they shall beare the burden with thee.

In the executing of which works of iustice howso­ever His iust dea­ling in pub­like. feare, or favor, or gaine makes many faile, or faint, or deale vnfaithfully: yet surely, saith God, my servant Moses is not so, who is faithfull in all my house, Num. 12. 7. And who ever could say of our Moses that in matters of iustice, or such causes as concerned the good of the common wealth, either feare of great men, or favour of friends could stoppe his mouth, or bribes blinde his eies, or his owne private passion or profit prevaile so far, as to moue him to speake or do any thing, against the knowne truth of the cause? but as he was singular in searching out of the truth, so was he sincere in iudg­ing. I know not whether ever hee did see that table of Ptolome Arsacides which the Emperour Marcus Aure­lius found at Thebes, & was by the same Marcus left as a singular treasure to his sonne Commodus; but sure me thought I could plainely in his life & cariage of mat­ters in the course of iustice, read the summe and sentē ­ces which were written in that table, which were these: I never preferred the prowde man though he were rich, nor hindred the poore if he were iust: I never denied iustice to the poore for his poverty, nor pardoned the rich because hee [Page 25] was wealthy: I never gaue reward for affection, nor punish­ed vpon passion: I never suffered evill to scape vnpunish­ed, nor goodnesse to go vnrewarded: I never committed the execution of manifest iustice to another, neither deter­mined that which was difficult by my selfe: I never denied iustice to him that desired it, nor mercy to him that deser­ved it: I neuer opened my gate to the flatterer, nor my eare to the backbiter: I alwaies sought to be loued of the good, & feared of the wicked: Lastly, I alwaies fauored the poore that was able to do little, and God who was able to do much al­waies fauoured me. This was his faithfulnes in publique. Neither did it in his priuate carriage lesse appeare. For In Private. which of his neighbours hath he causelesly vexed? nay whom did he ever vexe? which of his tenants hath he cruelly oppressed? which of his creditors hath he craf­tily defeated? whom that ever dealt with him hath he deceived? Surely in this faithlesse age cum annulis Senee. magis creditur quam animis, as Seneca speakes, wherein a mans hand or signet is better to be trusted, then his faith and soule, he was not fit to liue. He trusted everie one, and every one (shall I say) deceived him? no, not e­very one. He had those with whom he might, with whom he durst haue trusted his own soule, who may now sit downe, and sorrow as David did, for the death of his deare Ionathan, 2. Sam. 1, 26. Wo is me for thee my brother Ionathan: very kinde hast thou beene vnto me, thy loue to mee was wonderfull, passing the loue of wo­men.

Another singular cōmendation the holy Ghost hath 6. His meek­nesse. given to Moses, Num. 12. 3 Moses was a very meeke mā [Page 26] aboue all the mē that were vpon the earth. And surely such as heard the conference, or heeded the commō talke, or In his confe­rence. observed the carriage of our noble Moses, knowe that not many men wil be found more meek then he. In cō ­ference who hath ever hard him clamorous and con­tentious? or seeking as some do rather the victory and last word, then the truth and verity? yea hee would ra­ther meekely yeeld, then multiply words so that with whomsoever he did confer, his mildnes made it sweet or profitable. For where two meeke men meete togither, their conference, saith S. Bernard, is sweete and profitable: where one man is meeke, it is profitable; where neither, it proues pernicious. And therfore it was S. Bernards mā ­ner, (and our Moses had learned it,) because he would be sure to retaine this modesty, on the one side, to be very vrgent vpon those that in their meeknes woulde yeeld much, and to yeeld another time to him that vr­ged. And as his graver conference, so his cōmon talke In his cōmon talke. did taste and rellish much more of meekenesse. I haue often been vouchsafed his company, yet I never hard him speake evill of others, or good of himselfe. But his carriage was the map of meeknes. For besides his low ly In his cariage and loving carriage even to the poorest, would hee not quietly rather indure two wrongs; then complaine of one? rather suffer many wrongs, then returne one? rather put vp al wrongs, then revenge one? And had he not the happy reward of meekenes attending him, e­ven sweet content of minde, and a quiet passage of such crosses as accompany this life: whereby he did enioy both his rest and sleepe more soundly, & received his [Page 27] meate and drinke more merrily and thankefully then most men do. So in him we might see it true: that, that which will breake a proud and angry mans heart, will not breake an humble, and meek mans sleepe. I proceed. Moses was learned in al the knowledge of the Aegyptians; Act. 7. 22. In this indeed Moses did overmatch our Moses: but herein our Moses did overmatch the most that I haue knowne, that hauing no greater depth of learning, he could in any point both conceiue so quickly, and obiect so acutely, and speake so iudiciously, and to purpose as he did. Thus you see that Moses is dead; Moses for his place of governement, Moses for his pittie, Moses for his peacemaking, Moses for his pietie, Moses for his pain fulnesse in his place of iustice, Moses for his faithfulnes in publike, & his true heartednes to his private friends, Moses for his meeknesse; & in what one thing hee came short of Moses; it was not so much as most of his ranke came short of him.

But that which commends all these former com­mendations, 7. His zeale. is the praise of Moses in this place, the servant of the Lord. And was not our Moses such? For his soundnesse and sinceritie in the true religion & service of God, and perfect hatred of Popery, and super­stition, all the country can witnesse with mee. Who hath been more ready to put in execution those good lawes of our land, against our wilfull Recusants? Who was so great or deare vnto him that he would winke at, in this case which concernes Gods glory, and the ad­vancement of religion? And though in other matters of iustice he was as mercifull as any man living, yet in [Page 28] the service of God, and punishing of Idolaters, his zeal hath beene hot like Moses, who when hee saw the peo­ple Exod. 32. 19. fall to Idolatrie dancing about the calfe; his wrath waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands and brake them in peeces, and burned the calfe in the fire, and ground it to powder, and made the people of Isra­el to drinke of it, Exod. 32. 19. which godly zeal of this our Moses made him oftē say, (& me thinks I see with what feeling and fervencie he spake it, when there was none present but my selfe alone,) that til we might see them hansomely shipt, and the sea betwixt vs & such as haue a Pope in their heart, neither can wee bee safe, nor the service of God pure and sincere. Neither can the country only witnesse, but the King and Councell cō ­firme their assured perswasion of our Moses his zeale: when in those disastrous, and dangerous times of the powderplot, they pleased to appoint him to that highe & most honourable office the command of the whole Country, though hee had not long before borne the burden of that office. What shall I say of his particu­lar carriage in the service of God? I haue often seene him at publike Sermons and service: sometime in pri­vate we hane prayed together, and praised God toge­ther. And sure his diligent attention in the one, as vn­willing that a word should passe him, and his devout carriage in the other, gaue good signes of a sincere heart, not willingly sinning, but willingly sorrowing when he had sinned. What shall I say more? You see now, and cannot but say, that he was a Moses, and the servant of the Lord; yet Moses was a man, else hee had [Page 29] not died; and subiect to his personall sinnes, his faults, his frailties, which God doth punish, else he had not di­ed in the land of Moab. For if you would knowe the cause why Moses must not come into the land of Ca­naan, but die in the land of Moab, when hee is now within kenne of that pleasant country: the holy Ghost hath expressed it, Deut. 32. 51. Because you haue trespassed Deut. 32. 51. 52. against me among the children of Israel in Kadesh, in the wildernesse of Zin; for you sanctified me not among the children of Israel: Thou shalt therefore see the land before thee, but shalt not goe thither.

See then, and obserue hence another point of Doc­trine, which in my passage I purposely omitted, but The best men are subiect to their frailties and faults. now comes fitly to be handled, namely; The best men are subiect to their frailties and falls. Even Moses though a rare man, yet cannot bee free from infirmities; yea sometime fals into such sinnes, as God doth severely punish. In many things, saith S ^t Iames, wee sinne all, as Iam. 3. 2. might be made plaine by particular instances in the best servants of God. But I take no comfort to vncover the nakednesse of worthie Patriarches & Prophets, who when God but for a time did leaue thē to themseiues, did stumble and fall and lie along vnder their sinnes. Optimus ille qui minimis vrgetur; he is happy, could the heathen say, that hath fewest faults, and those the least; for there is none so happy as to haue none. Which as Vse. it serues for a iust reproofe for all such as are ready to condemne their brethren, and cast of their Christian company and kindnesse, for some one fault they finde in him, and never looke to commend those good gra­ces, [Page 30] which they might see; so it serues

Secondly, for instruction vnto the best, willingly to submit themselues to the word of God to godly instru ctions, Christian admonitions, and wholsome repre­hensions. For none so good but something the word of God will find amisle in them which they cannot a­mend till they see, nor well see till the word of God shew it vnto them. Will not the best garments grow dustie; if they be not brushed? the finest lane and linnē grow loathsome, if it be not washed? the sweetest gar­den overgrown with netles or worse, if it be not wee­ded? and the best man, worse if he will not bee admoni­shed?

3 Lastly, all should learne hence to run to the mercie of God, and lay hold vpon the hornes of that altar. Cō ­missum at (que) conscriptum est, (saith S. Austine vpon the 51. Psalme, concerning the adultery and murther of Dauid;) It is committed by him, & by him committed to writing, for our learning, that those who yet stande fall not, and those that fall lie not still but may rise a­gaine. Stand not vpon the perfection of thy purity. Patriarches haue fallen, Prophets haue fallen, Apostles haue fallen, starres haue not beene so fixed but they haue fallen, Angels not so firme but they haue fallen. Trust not then in the righteousnes of thy workes; for they are but polluted; trust not in the integrity of thy nature, for even it is defiled: but rely vpon the mercy of God, for that only is absolute, & in the merits of Christ, for they and they only are alsufficient. And say with David: If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to marke what is Ps. 130. 3, 4. [Page 31] done amisse, O Lord who may abide? but there is mercy with thee that thou mayst be feared.

Thus you haue seene both the party, Moses, & his praise, the seruant of the Lord, and his end, he is dead, and the place where, in the land of Moab. And as in their liues you haue seene how like they were, so were they in many particulars like in the manner of their death. I will only point at them. Both died in a strange place, where they were but within view, & were now come to take the comfort of that pleasant country, that God had promised and provided for their posterity. Both di­ed when they were in outward appearancelike to liue long. For of Moses it is said here, that his eies were not Deut 34. 37. dim, nor his naturall force abated. And may we not saie so of this second Moses, whose vnderstanding & sight and hearing, & other sences, might easily be observed to haue beene more sharpe and quicke then many that haue not past halfe his yeares? was it not much that a man of his yeares, and of so much imployment should haue at his dying day neither gray haire nor vnsound tooth? Yea, I may say it was little lesse then a miracle, that his vitall and naturall powers should continue evē vntill his dying day in that perfection; when all his vi­tall parts as appeared afterwards were so strāgely cor­rupted, as that if the most learned Physitions had knowne the state of his body as they imagine it hath beene these many yeares, they could not haue hoped nor conceived how he should cōtinue so long in that health and strength as continually he did. His sicknesse was but short, and (saving some fits) not very sharpe: [Page 32] his carriage therein (I dare speake it vpon the word of those that were continually with him) very quiet and patient. When the Minister of God came to him, to fit him with comfort and confidence against the terrours of death, having prepared himselfe for this purpose, he entertained him kindly, hard him attentiuely, pro­fessed he received much comfort by him, made a wor­thy confession of his faith with his owne mouth, and intreated his company & comfort againe assoone as conveniently he could resort vnto him. In the meane time how his minde was busied, we may imagine by that worthy acknowledgement of Gods loue vnto him, when he thanked God, that in all that time of his sicknesse hee had neither a bad thought, nor a bad dreame. But death is now at his doores, and as he liued quietly and peaceably, so he layes him downe like a lambe: ne­ver opened his mouth to murmure, nor moved anie part of his body to striue and struggle with death: but with a deepe groane, as from a sorrowfull & repentāt soul, sends his soule into the hand of his Savior, where now, no doubt, he rests in ioy.

There followes now Moses his funerall, which (as appeares in the next verse) was performed as honou­rably Ver 6. as ever was hard of, euen by God himselfe; yet so secretly, as his sepulcher could never be seene vnto this day. And haue not the godly friends of our honoura­ble Moses, herein shewed their loue and care, by as ho­norable a solemnity, as (I thinke) most of our eies haue seene? The last thing is the mourning & sorrow which followed vpon his death. The children of Israel wept for Ver. 8. [Page 33] him in the plaine of Moab thirty daies, and haue not we as great cause to sorrow in respect of our selues? And yet that our sorrowe may not exceede, knowe that though Moses a great man, and Moses a good man, the servant of the Lord, be dead, & in the land of Moab: yet nothing hath hapned in all this, but by Gods appoint­ment, according to the will of the Lord, which was the last point I proposed out of the words of my text, and which I can onely touch now.

The point of doctrine which wee may obserue frō Doct. All crosses commeth frō God. Amos, 3. 5. hence is this: What soeuer crosses and calamities doe befall vs here, they come not by fortune or hap-hazard, but at Gods appointment and his all-ruling providence. Can a bird fall into a snare where no fowler is? Amos, 3. 5. Men that lie vnder Gods punishing hand or some heauie crosse, are like a bird in a net whereinto we often fall, before we see the fowler; and being caught, the more we striue & struggle to get out, the more we intāgle our selues therein. Now it were a strange thing to see nets and snares set themselues to catch birds without a fowler; and no lesse strange it is that crosses and cala­mities should befall any man at hap-hazard without a guide and governour. Which the Prophet plainly pro­poseth, Ibid. v. 6. ver. 6. Shall there be any evill in the citty and the Lord hath not done it? Who gaue Iacob for a spoile and Isra­el Isay, 42. 24. to the robbers? Did not the Lord because we haue sinned against him? Isa. 42. 24. Howsoever men may attribute the plague of pestilence, to the infection of the aire, or party about vs; the calamity of the sword, to the malue of the enimy; the desolation of famine to fowle wether, [Page] [...] [Page 35] [...] [Page 34] consumptions vnto want of exercise, feuers and burning agues to the malignitie of some dish of meate or draught of drinke, (& rightly too, as to the second cau­ses:) yet the holy Ghost wold haue vs to look to a high­er hand in all these: for it is God that sends both pesti­lence Deut 28. 21. 22. and famine, and the sword, and consumptions & fe­vers and burning agues, Deut. 28. 21. 22.

Let this then (for this present) perswade vs to pati­ence Vse. vnder al crosses. Thou hast lost thy father or friend or childe by vntimely death as thou dost imagine, and therefore criest out either of want of care in their kee­per, or want of skill in the Physitian, or absence of friends, and sayest as Mary did to our Saviour, if thou hadst beene here my brother had not beene dead, or thou Ioh 11. 32. condemnest thy hard hap, and considerest not, that it is Gods hand. Thus haue the children of God begunne their serious consultations in the day of affliction, and hereby beckned as it were to themselues for silence, Dominus est, it is the Lord. When that heavie newes came to old Elies eares, which whosoever should hear his two eares should tingle: hee imposeth silence to himselfe, and armes himselfe with this resolution, it is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good. It is the Lord, 1. Sam. 3, 18. who hath more right to my soule, then I haue to my selfe, more power over my body, then I hane over a thought in my soule; and shall I not be silent when he sends for one of them, and saies they shall be sundred? What other shield was it wherewith Iob repelled all those venemous darts, which either in the death of his children, or losse of his substance, or the running of his [Page 35] sores, or the cursed perswasion of his wife, or the misera­ble comforts of his friends, or the malitious and im­portunate accusations of Satan were cast vpon him, when in all this nothing came from his mouth, but thanked be God? The divell made no doubt, I thinke, but he would haue blasphemed, and his wife a more dan­gerous divell in his bosome perswaded him to curse, and his flesh and fraikie no doubt was forward e­nough; but what kept him backe? even this resolution; The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh away, even as it Iob. 1. 21. pleaseth the Lord so come things to passe. I conclude with Tertullian: Totūlicet seculum pereat, dum patientiam lu­crifaciam; I care not though the whole world perish so I may gaine patience. But our Moses is not perished, his soule liues in heaven, and himselfe liues still on earth in that noble slemme, that hath sprung from his stocke, & is now risē vp in his stead. Whom I wil humbly sollicit in the same words that God speakes vnto Ioshua: Moses my servant is dead, now therefore arise. It is now no lon­ger Ioshua, 1. 2. time for you to pinne vp your selfe within your private walls, no time now to sleepe vpon the bed of pleasure and delight. Arise, the Common-wealth calls for you to stand vp in the roome of your honourable Father; the eies of all are cast vpon you, frō their harts wishing you would be pleased, to set before your eies your fathers footsteps, and to walke therein. Doubt not of Gods blessing vpon you in such courses: but what God speakes to Ioshua in the same Chap. v. 5. you may imagine even spoken to you: As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee, I will not leaue thee, neither for sake Ver. 5. [Page 36] thee, be strong and of a good courage. And againe, vers. 7. Only be thou strong and of a most valiant courage. And a­gaine, V. 7. ver. 8. Haue I not commanded thee saying, be strong V. 8. and of a good courage? feare not nor be discouraged, for I the Lord thy God will be with thee whither soeuer▪ thou goest. Behold a threefold exhertation, let it arme you against a threefold temptation: the world, the flesh, and the diuel; all which are linked in a hellish conspiracie, to hinder and discourage every one in any good course, especi­ally such as are set in high place, or are imployed for the publike good. Hee had need therefore both of a sound head, and a sanctified heart that should hold out in a high place. Wherein consider, I beseech you, that your care of religious cariage should bee so much the greater, as Gods loue hath beene the more in raising you aboue many in the world. The goodnesse of a pri­vate man is his owne, and his sinnes seldome hurt any but himselfe, but the goodnesse of a principall man is the whole countries, and his sinnes infectious vnto many. The common meanes which both the world, the flesh, and the diuell, vse in this wanton age of the world, is the contagiō of bad company, which you haue cause to curse and avoid, because the canker common ly eates into the goodliest flowers in the garden, sel­dome settles vpon netles and such worthlesse weeds. And surely such as our company is, such either wee are, or such we will be shortly, or such wee would bee thought to be, or at least the world will iudge vs to be such. Let mee therefore beseech you even for the glory of God, the honour of your house, the good of [Page 37] your country, the comfort of your friends, the peace of your owne conscience, and the salvation of your owne soule, take heed of bad company. Out of good and godly minded men chuse your acquaintance, out of your acquaintance cull out some fewe for your friends, out of your friends some one familiar, whom you may trust with your selfe; herein, I doubt not, you shall find more sollid comfort and content, then in varietie of company, which will be bold enough to thrust in vpon you, then in great multitudes which will be ready enough to flatter you. In a word (for you are wise) vse those good talents of wisdome, and wealth, and honour (which God hath given you) so, as Gods glory may gaine by them, and you shall be sure not to loose at the last. Nay, you may assuredly look to heare both on earth, and in heaven, It is well done good servant and faithfull: thou hast beene faithfull in much, I will make thee ruler over more, enter into thy masters ioy.