The last sermon preached before his Maiesties funerals at Denmark house: on Tuesday the third of May. / By Phinees Hodson Dr of Diuinitie, one of his Maiesties chaplaines.

IOS. 1.2 .

Moses my Seruant is dead ; now therefore arise .

HEE that might not see GOD in the fiery bush , but he must put off his shooes , Exod. 3. might not see him as hee is , till hee had put off the sinfull body of his flesh , Coloss. 2. yea , and the flesh of his body too , the apparell of his soule ; his shooes must off then , because the place where hee stood was holy ground . No maruell if his body must off now , before hee enter into the Sanctum Sanctorum , the Kingdome of Heauen .

Numb. 20.12 . GOD told Moses and Aaron that for their vnbeleefe they should not bring the people into the Land which hee had promised them ; and shortly after , euen at the next remoue from Cades to mount Hor , Aaron must vp to the mount , and there die . Moses is repriued , till he come to the other side of Iordan , but not pardoned ; and GOD will let him see that Land , which he may not possesse . Nor is he therefore secure , he forgets not his summons , but finding himselfe by account to be an hundred and twenty yeares old , Deut. 31. and therefore hee could not liue long ; that he was come to the side of that Riuer , which he might not passe ; and therfore , in all likelihood , hee drew very neere , he prepares himselfe to welcome the good will of GOD. When Moses is readie , but not before , GOD calls again , and Deut. 32. Vp he must to mount Nebal , and there die . Deut. 34. Vp he goes , and when GOD had let him see the Land , he died , ver. 5. was buried , ver. 6. and the rest of the Chapter containes a Funerall Sermon , made by Ioshua in the commendation of Moses .

Now after Moses ' death and buriall , the LORD spake vnto Ioshua ( the verse before my text , & in my text ) Moses my seruant , &c. Moses is dead , buried by an Angel , mourned for by the children of Israel , panegyrically commended by Ioshua : and that which he said of him is recorded to posterity , that all ages may know , that none is like to Moses : Yet this is not enough , GOD vndertakes the matter himselfe ; for when an Angel beares the Coffin , and that by Gods owne appointment , and ( for ought we know ) made his Graue too : No wonder if the same GOD vouchsafe to reuiue his memory , and not so much as name Moses without honourable mention , Moses my seruant . Yea being dead , hee referres , and as it were appeales to Moses ; As I said vnto Moses , v. 3. and if he will comfort Ioshua , hee will be with him as he was with Moses , v. 5. for that will serue : yea hee cals his owne Law , the Law which Moses my seruant commanded , v. 7.

And surely much was it , that a man , ( but it was the man of GOD Moses , Deu. 33.1 . ) that a man ( I say ) should receiue such testimonie from his Maker . But wel it was for them , whom he left behind him , well it was for Ioshua , to whose charge they were left , & little enough it was , that he that was the Seruant of the Lord in Gods mouth , should be the seruant of the Lord in Ioshua's mouth , v. 13. And if GOD will call his own Law Moses ' Law , Ioshua would be bold to call Gods Land , Moses ' Land , vers. 14. And if GOD promised to be with Ioshua , as hee was with Moses , they will aske no more , they will pray for no more , but the Lord be with thee as hee was with Moses . So then , well it was with Ioshua , it got him authoritie ; well it was with the people , it taught them obedience : for if GOD will be with Ioshua as he was with Moses , they will obey him as they did Moses .

The words are deliuered by GOD to Ioshua , and haue two parts ; first , Gods testimony of Moses : secondly , his Commission to Ioshua . The testimony in these words , [ Moses my seruant is dead : ] the Commission , [ Now therefore arise . ] In the testimony are two generall parts considerable ; first , the Author , secondly , the Matter : the Author is expresly set downe in the first verse . Secondly , In the Matter are foure circumstances ; first , Servus , secondly , Meus , thirdly , Moses , fourthly , Mortuus . In the Commission are two things ; first , the connexion , [ Now therefore , ] secondly , the tenor of the Commission , [ Arise . ]

[ Now therefore , ] Not before thou receiue warning , till then lie still , take not vpon thee ; when I say the word , Arise . While hee liueth thou art his Minister , v. 1. and at his command , no rising then without his direction : with his life his power ceased , My people lacke an head , and I haue made choice of thee , [ Now therefore , Arise . ]

To returne . The Author of this Declaratorie Commemoration and honourable recognition is GOD himselfe : he commemorates him , for hee names Moses , though dead ; hee declares his worth , in calling him his Seruant . And a recognition it is , Ioshua had done it before , GOD now againe , by a postliminious solemnization of his Funerals . Nor may it seeme strange ; Funerall Sermons are ordinarily made by such as are neere to those that are deceased , and haue some interest in their memories : then who should rather doe this office to Moses then his gratious Master ? who had before testified of him , that he was faithfull in all his house , Numb . 12. Others heard GOD , Moses heard , and saw him , and talked with him , as a man talkes with his friend , Exod. 33. yea , face to face , Deut. 34.10 . Hence he continues to honor him dead , as he did aliue ; liuing he was his seruant , and being dead , from Gods owne mouth , he receiues the same testimony , Moses my seruant is dead . For his person was not ordinary , There arose not a Prophet like vnto Moses , Deut. 34.10 . His Buriall was not ordinary , other men had Sepulchers , as monuments of their mortality ; Moses had none , lest his body should haue beene abused to Idolatry . Others haue Sepulchers , to shew they haue beene ; Moses had none , lest he should haue beene thought that , which hee was not , and adored for a Diety . And more honorable it was for Moses he had none , then for others , when they are most sumptuous , as Tacitus obserued : Praefulgebant Iunius & Blaesus , eo ipso , quod effigies eorum non visebantur .

And though it bee true , which Saint Augustine sayes , that these solemnities at Funerals , are rather Solatia vivorum , then Subsidia mortuorum , yet whether we call it an act of civility , as from men to men ; or an act of loue , to prosecute with honor those that are dead , to whom we gaue respect , while they were liuing ; or an act of necessitie , to free the liuing from the contagion of the dead ; or an act of discretion , to remoue their bodies from our sight , and thereby sorrow from our hearts ; or an act tending to mortification , as being Remonstrances of our frailty and mortality ; or an act of hope , as implying their resurrection , whom with so much care and respect we interre ; or an act of faith and religion , as thereby teaching others , and leauing an impression in our own hearts of our faith in him , that is our Resurrection & our life ; whether any of these , or all , or others that I conceiue not , moue Gods spirit , sure it is , he commends the Buriall of the dead , as a godly and charitable worke , reports the circumstances of persons , place , pompe , care , cost of embalming the bodies of the Patriarkes , of their paines in transporting them to their owne Sepulchers ; yea the women in the Gospel are approued for their intended care to our Sauiours bodie . It is a blessing promised to the godly , that they shall goe to their graue in peace , 2 Kings 22. It is a curse threatned to the wicked , that they shall want buriall , so of Iehoiakim , They shall not lament for him , nor say , Ah my brother ! nor mourne for him , saying , Ah my Lord ! or , Ah his glorie ! but they shall burie him as an Asse , drawne and cast forth beyond the gates of Ierusalem . Ier. 22.

And though the place of Moses buriall bee conceal'd , that the Devill might not haue his body , yet the world shall haue his fame ; and if Moses die , All Israel shall mourne for him ; an Angel shall burie him ; Ioshua shall commend him ; and if all this be not yet enough , GOD himselfe shall giue him an honorable firname , that all posterities may take notice of his loue to his Seruant Moses . Thus much for the Author , the LORD .

In the Matter , I obserued foure things , Servus , Meus , Moses , Mortuus ; for they rise by degrees , and make seuerall parts . For first , that Servus should be Mortuus , it is no maruell : but why Servus Meus should die , may be enquired . And not only Servus Meus , but Servus Meus Moses will make a further Quare . And it's Gods owne Rhetorique , who makes Moses more than Servus Meus , when he said to Aaron and Miriam , Wherefore were yee not afraid to speake against my Seruant , euen against Moses ? Numb . 12.

First then for Servus .

Servi are Captivi , Emptitij , or Nativi ; the last are such as descend of the other two : and of all , One said , Primos servos bella fecerunt ; for when men were taken in warres , and jure belli occidi possent , quia servati Servi appellati . And hence likewise were they called Mancipia , quia manu capti . And of this another saith ; Of all euils warre is the worst ; in warre , seruitude , whereby personae become res , other mens Chattels ; which they doe as absolutely command and dispose of , as any thing they else possesse . We read of Vedius Pollio , who had many seruants , that caused one to be cast into a Fish-pond for breaking a glasse . Hence were seruants said , Habitare in mortalitate , to dwell in the very gates and shadow of death , because they were slaine vpon euery trifling occasion . Then that Servus should be Mortuus is no maruell .

Saint Augustine giues it another pettigree ; Servum vel adversitas , vel iniquitas fecit , Aduersity made all the former Seruants ; Iniquity made Cham a seruant . Now we commiserate those which are made seruants by aduersity ; wee abhorre Cham , made a seruant by iniquitie , and we our selues are in the same estate , and yet are secure . All our liues , and liberties were made forfeit in Adam , and by his transgression wee became slaues to sinne , death , and the Diuell . Herein Servus and Mortuus so well agree , that vnlesse wee had beene seruants to sinne , Death had not beene Lord ouer vs ; for , Mors non accessisset , nisi culpa praecessisset . Sinner and Slaue are now become Termini convertibiles : To whomsoeuer you giue your selues seruants to obey , his seruant you are , to whom you obey . Rom. 6. And the consequence of that seruice is death ; so it there followeth , whether it be of sinne vnto death . Yea the same Apostle more directly ; By one man sinne entred into the world , and death by sinne , and so sinne raigned ouer all , Rom. 5. Then Servus must die , and Servus and Mortuus doe so agree , that they cannot bee parted . But if Servus and Mortuus agree , may not Servus Meus be priuiledged ? Let vs examine Meus , so shall wee see how Mortuus doth challenge .

In a large sense Servi Dei , or Servi mei , are extranei , Transfuga , Domestici ; & all these three he feeds as he doth the Ravens ; cloathes as he doth the Lillies ; showers downe his blessings vpon them with an indifferent , or rather vnequall proportion : Many times suffering the first two to swimme in abundance , whilest his owne Domestici are busie in prouiding necessaries . Where 's the priuiledge then of Servus Meus ? Much euery way , for though iniquity and misery break in like Rivers , to the ouerflowing of all man-kinde , the first of Iniquitie preuailing by the Divell , the second of Misery , by the first of iniquitie ; whereby it 's true of all mankinde , Servum vel iniquitas , vel aduersitas fecit : yet here 's the difference betweene Servus , and Servus Meus , we were all by the Woman made seruants , but there 's another Seed that ouercame the Devill ; the Woman , conquered , lost vs all ; but the seed of the Woman by a new onset preuailed , and jure belli freed vs from that slauerie , wherein hee found vs ; and of vassals to sinne , made vs seruants to himselfe . And this he did by a mighty hand , whereby we are now made Mancipia to our Redeemer . The first two are servi , but onely Potestatis , and so are the Devills ; the last Domestici , are Servi gratiae . Now the question is not of the two former , but what shall become of Domestici . Shall Servi gratiae die too ? Yes , Christs victorie freed vs from the second death , the Curse of the Law ; not from the first , the effects of sinne . Nor is it therefore a small blessing to bee Servus Dei , it was a part of that blessing , ( as some Divines doe expound it ) which Isaac gaue to Esau , Servies fratri , Gen. 27.40 . Then what a stay , what an honour , what a comfort hath Servus meus ? that is , seruant to the most High . Psal. 119. If once we can come to this , to get our selues booked in this Checke-roll , such a man while hee liues shall want no manner of thing that is good , Ps. 34. that 's for this life ; and in the end he shall haue a reward , yea , an Exceeding great reward , as GOD promised to Abraham : for how should he forget his owne seruants ?

It 's sayd that GOD loues Adverbes in men better than Adjectiues ; Man , sure , loues this Pronoune possessiue , better than any other part of Speech : there being no good thing in this world , whereto hee would not haue Meum ioyn'd . Oh that hee would bee as carefull to get possession of GOD , that with confidence wee could say vnto him , Deus meus ! For if this reciprocall bond were once past , that wee could say to him , Deus meus , and hee to vs , Servi mei , it should neuer bee cancelled ; once His , and alwayes His , liuing and dead hee neuer forsakes vs ; My sheepe shall none plucke out of my hands , Iohn 10.28 . Here on earth wee sometimes lose our Seruices , sometimes our Lords and Masters , but Nullum tempus occurrit Deo , his tenure holds throughout all Generations . It s true , Nor Servus Meus , nor Amicus noster will serue for Priviledge in the case of death , but Servus Meus Mortuus , Amicus noster dormit : onely remember this , if Servus Meus , and Amicus noster , and hee whom Christ loued bee dead , Iohn 11.3 . why should any man bee afraid ? If death were a Scorpion , Servus Meus , and Amicus noster should not bee endangered by it : then let sinne raigne to death , so Grace also raigne vnto righteousnesse , thorow Iesus Christ vnto eternall life , Rom. 5. So then , nor Servus , nor Servus Meus exclude Mortuus .

But if Death bee not afraid , like Aaron and Miriam , to set vpon my Seruant , dare it aduenture vpon Moses ; may not hee bee priuiledged ? whose life was a booke not of Lamentations , and mournings , and woes , Ezek. 2. ( though euen of these it had reasonable store of marginall notes ) but a booke of Priuiledges and Miracles , and strange obseruations , such as ( set him aside ) the world neuer had among the Sons of men .

Begin at his birth . In the Edict against the male Children hee was priuiledged and preserued from death : When Pharaoh sought his life , for slaying the Egyptian , then was hee likewise priuiledged , Exod. 2. yea in those Wonders , which hee wrought in Pharaohs Court , hee was so priuiledged , that the wrath of the King was not onely no messenger of death , but he did fawne vpon Moses , as if he would licke the dust of his feet ; I haue sinned against GOD , and against you , and I pray you forgiue mee this once , Exod. 10.17 . Aaron was great , yet was Moses his God , Exod. 4. Pharaoh was a great King , yet was Moses his God , too ; Exod. 7. And as God , hee not onely receiued , but gaue priuiledges . Was it not a great priuiledge that hee gaue vnto the Israelites , that they should not wet their feet , where Pharaoh was drown'd and all his hoast ? Exod. 14. No maruell , if hee made the Sea a Wall to the Israelites , that drew water out of the Rocke for the Israelites . The Sea , nothing more fluid ; the Rocke , nothing more hard ; and the Rocke againe a Riuer : that still Moses life was a succession of priuiledges . Nor was his Power confined to the Earth , or Sea , it reached to Heauen , where it brought downe Manna , for their bread , and Quailes for their food . And may not this Man of priuiledges bee priuiledged to goe some other way ; but by the gates of death , euen Moses must passe to life ? Hee that had beene so long entertained by Angels food in the Mount , that when hee came downe his face did shine , as if hee had beene transfigured , so as they were afraid to looke vpon him ; may not He bee translated to heauen , body and soule together , but that skinne , once so bright must bee eaten with wormes ? GOD intreated Moses , Let mee alone , ( as if without his leaue hee could doe nothing ) that I may consume them ; hee offers him faire conditious , so indulgent was GOD to Moses , that hee would buy his consent , Let mee consume them , and I will make of thee a mighty people . Exod. 32.10 . And Moses preuailed with GOD , but GOD could not preuaile with Moses , for Moses prayed , and chid , verse 11 , Why doth the wrath of my Lord waxe hot against his people ? And pleads , verse 12. Lest the Aegyptians say , hee brought them malitiously out of Aegypt to destroy them : Yea in the same verse hee importunes GOD yet further ; Turne from thy fierce wrath : nay challenges GOD of his word , verse 13. Remember Abraham , Isaac , and Iacob : yea charges him with his oath , which thou swarest vnto them : Then after all this , the Lord changed his minde from the euill he meant to bring vpon them .

You see his Priviledges , and you see his power , but neuer a word on Gods part , that he shall not die ; neuer a word on his owne part that hee may not die . Hee that would not let GOD alone for his people , lets him alone for himselfe ; neuer opens his mouth ; but hearing of death , as a thing that neuer troubled him , hee addresseth himselfe to dispatch such businesse as was fit for a man of his qualitie and place . And being ready to depart out of the world , hee blessed the people , went vp to the mount , and there hee dyed . I said before , if Seruus Meus dye , why should any man feare ? Now if Moses bee dead , none shall escape . One example we haue before the Law , Gen. 5. Enoch was taken away , and was no more seene : and the same GOD , that dispensed with one before , priuiledged one other in the time of the Law , but long after , in the times of Iehoram King of Iuda , Elijah in a whirewinde was caried vp to Heauen , 2 King . 2. GOD vouchsafing to those seuerall ages of the world , demonstrations of our immortality But this was extraordinarie ; two there were , and but two , to shew that wee are bound , and hee is not , but hath a transcendent power ouer all the workes of his hands . Nor was hee frequent in making such grants , lest any man should challenge ; and those rather to good , than to great men .

And though in Elijahs time , when devotion grew cold , fifty sonnes of the Prophets were allowed to bee witnesses , it was not yeelded to in Enoch's time , none were then suffered to bee present ; yea , it is deliuered in obscure tearmes ; Enoch was taken away , not taken vp , so wary was GOD in passing such grants .

The best then must die ; Servus meus , and Amicus noster , GODS seruants , and friends all are dead , and the greatest cannot escape . For if Moses so great , and ( besides all ye haue heard ) so honored , that many ages after , GOD reviueth his memory , and saith , Though Moses stood before mee , I would not bee intreated , Ier. 15.1 . If Moses so famous to posterity , and whose memory is so frequent in the Scriptures , that it is mentioned aboue an hundred and twenty times in the old Testament after his death , and almost as often in the new , and that by many honourable testimonies euen from our Sauiour Christ himselfe , if hee might not be spared ; let all generations submit themselues to that condition , which the best and greatest haue vndergone . Then let not strength presume , hee whose eye was not dimme , nor naturall force abated , when hee was an hundred and twenty yeeres old , is dead , Deut. 34. Let not courage : he that so brauely slew the Egyptian in the defence of his Country-man , is himselfe dead : Let not beauty ; the glorious Countenance of Moses ( 2 Cor. 3.7 . ) is now become dust and ashes . Let not power magnifie it selfe ; hee that destroyed Pharaoh and all his people , euen Moses is laid downe , and cannot rise vp . Let not wisdome and learning boast ; his thoughts are perished , that was learned in all the knowledge of the Aegyptians , Acts 7. Let not authority and pre-eminence , Pharaohs God , and Aarons God , a man greater than the Pope wold be thought to be , aboue Prince , aboue Priest , is now dissolued into dust . Let not the fauor of the multitude , they can mourn thirty dayes for Moses ' death , they cannot fetch him againe , once dead . In a word , suppose a man's miracles and priviledges be neuer so many so as his life seem a continued miracle , a miraculous Funerall he may haue , but he must die , for Moses is dead .

And if present examples moue more , King IAMES is dead too , in whom many of these priuiledges met , and a number of other excellencies , which diuided giue honour to others : euen Gods seruant Moses , and our late Soueraigne King IAMES , both are dead . Then what may this Mortuus be that thus incroacheth ?

There is a threefold death , a death by sin , a death to sin , and a death for sin . The first is the death of the Soule : the second , the death of sin in the soule ; the third is the parting of the body and soule . The first is alwaies euill , the second alwayes good ; the third is somtimes euill , sometimes good , according to the quality of him whom it doth surprise . The first that cannot be good , and the last which may be euill , are both repayred by the second , which is euer good and not euill . The first is deserente Deo , when God forsakes a man's soule : the second subveniente gratiâ , when Gods grace sustaines a mans soule ; the third is recedente animâ , when the body is forsaken by the soule . The first is the cause of the last ; for , Mors mortem antecessit , voluntaria necessariam : One death vshered forth another ; the voluntarie death of sinne , the necessary death of the body . And this third is here meant , when hee saith Moses is dead . Plato said of death , that it was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : a loosing and separating of the soule from the body . Two friends haue long liued together , and now they must part , and goe seuerall wayes , the one to earth , the other to heauen : For wee are not destroyed by death , but dissolued to bee else-where placed . And this is cleare in this History of Moses death ; Thou shalt die ( saith God ) and sleepe with thy Fathers . Deut. 31.16 . And , Thou shalt bee gathered to thy people , Deut. 32.

So that death is our sleepe , and restitution to that place from whence wee descended . For when the soule leaues the body , GOD then gathers vs as ripe Corne into his Barne . And these considerations , that by death wee sleepe with our Fathers , and are gathered to the Saints , as they did prepare him , so should they satisfie vs , as carying in them secret reasons , and consolations against the terrours of death . So as now it is no strange thing , that Servus Meus , and Servus Meus Moses should dye , who thereby sleepeth , and is gathered to his people . Iust Simeon looked vpon death , and esteemed it , Nunc Dimittis : quasi necessitate teneretur in hac vitâ , non voluntate . Indeed death seemes not so to all , but that is not death's fault : for , Mors aut suae quietis bono vtitur , aut malo alieno laborat . The reason is , Mors mala non est , nisi vbi vita mala . Yea to such it is better to dye than to liue . It may seeme a Paradox , but it is none : for , quò vita diuturnior , culpa numerosior : and therefore to that comfort , which Seneca giues against death , Desinam aegrotare posse , alligari , &c. I shall no more be sicke , no more imprisoned , no more tormented ; wee may adde this as the principall , Desinam peccare posse : I shall no more sinne . And it is no small aduantage to be freed from Sinning . It troubled S. Paul , Wretched man that I am , who shall deliuer me from this body of death , Rom. 7.24 . where you see the Apostle as much troubled , that hee must liue , as others are , when they must dye . For , as S. Augustine obserues , some that would liue , yet cùm patientiâ moriuntur ; so others would dye , but cum patientiâ vivunt . For , Anima absolvitur , corpus resolvitur ; quae absolvitur gaudet , quod resolvitur nihil sentit . So that this is one comfort , wee haue by the sleepe of death ; we rest from sinne , wee rest from sorrow .

But this is not all : Hee that lyeth downe to sleepe , makes account to awake ; Vt cùm dormientes audimus evigilaturos , minimè desperemus . For as it is true , that per vitam fit ad mortem transitus ; so , per mortem fit ad vitam reditus . Then let vs not be dismayed with the maske and vizard of death , but rather joy , and comfort our selues , in so happy a passage vnto life . Bona vita , absoluto certamine : that is the life we should looke after ; wherein the law of our members rebelleth no more against the law of our minde : where we shall haue no more strife with this body of death , but shall haue victory ouer it . Thus slept and rested Moses , when hee was gathered to his people . For while wee are in this world , wee are scattered vp and downe as Pilgrims and strangers , death brings vs home . Wee reade of Socrates that hee thirsted after death , that hee might meet with those braue spirits , Orpheus and Hesiod , and Homer : let not vs be weake and irresolute , that shall bee gathered to the Patriarches , Prophets , and Apostles , troopes of Martyrs , and Confessors , yea Christ himselfe , in his flesh , in his glory , sitting at the right hand of God . It is true , to flesh and blood , the shell of death seemes hard ; but to him that hath the spirituall relish of the Apostle , it containes a sweet kernell . How shall wee doe then to get S. Pauls taste ? there is but one way , and that is to keepe S. Pauls dyet , by accustoming our selues to dye daily , and by bearing about in our bodies the death of the Lord Iesus , 2 Cor. 4. For then the life of the Lord Iesus should bee made manifest in our mortall flesh . If thus wee could frame our selues to welcome death , adeò mors non esset timenda , vt ejus beneficio nihil anteponendum .

So then it is well with Moses ; happy is hee that euer hee was borne , to dye in such a case . What shall become of the people ? who shall goe in and out before them ? they are as sheepe without a shepheard , who shall gather them , that they may heare and learne , and feare , and obserue the Commandements of GOD , and keepe the Law of the Lord , Deut. 31.12 . Moses is gone : who shall smite the rocke , that the people may drinke ? who shall bring downe Manna for them , when they are hungry ? who shall now hold vp his hands , that they may preuaile against their enemies ? nay , when the people shall haue made GOD himselfe their enemy , who shall stand in the gap betwixt GOD and them ? or if they be at peace with GOD , who shall sit in iudgement to make peace among them from the morning to the euening ? Exod. 18. Moses loued the people of GOD better then his owne soule , Spare them , or rase me out of thy booke . Who shall care for them now ? Moses offered his soule for their bodies , who will now offer his body for their soules ?

Yes , the same GOD that preserued Moses till hee came to the other side of Iordan , prouideth Ioshuah to bring them into the Land : for hee loueth his with an euerlasting loue , Ier. 31. No sooner Moses must dye , but Iosua must arise : yea hee prepareth before-hand , that Moses shall not heare of death , till Iosua be ready to take the charge : hee must prepare before-hand , but he must not take possession , till Moses be dead . Yea hee receiued this due commendation , Moses my seruant , which was not onely an honor to Moses , but an incouragement to Iosua : for if hee doe as Moses did , hee shall haue the honor which Moses had .

I will not say a greater than Moses is lately dead amongst vs , though euen for that purpose much might be said : for strip Moses of his Priuiledges and Extraordinaries , and though hee commanded much people and a great Army , yet had he no kingdome but a Wildernesse , that I know . That way King IAMES was greater than Moses . Thus farre we may be bold . None was like Moses among the Prophets ; none like King Iames among the Kings . Moses his priuiledges were many and great ; King Iames his priuiledges not few , nor small . None more miraculously preserued than Moses ; none more miraculously preserued than King Iames. And if Moses were a great Warrior ; King Iames was as great a Peace-maker . I would I had not cause to complaine , that the Israelites neuer murmured more against Moses for bringing them out of their thraldome of Aegypt , then Many of vs against his Majesty for labouring to keepe the Drum and Cannon from amongst vs . And though it be the duty of good Subiects , with Shem and Iapheth , so to couer their Soueraignes infirmities , as not to looke vpon them themselues , yet hath it euer beene the condition of the best Princes , euen to bee traduced for their vertues . Vnum crimen consiteor , Pacificus erat . Doubtlesse for wisedome and learning Moses and King Iames were both admirable . What the learning of the Egyptians was , I dispute not ; but surely all ages will confesse and wonder at the learning of King Iames : a walking Library hee was , an abstract of knowledge , an Oracle to resolue Quaestions and Mysteries , the mirrour of this , and miracle of the next age ; to which his abilities will seeme fabulous . All this hee had , and a large heart , and a large hand , and three great Kingdomes to attend his bounty , and supply it , but yet came short of it : yet all this was so tempered , as it could not puffe him vp , nor make him proud , and herein hee was Meeke as Moses was . And though I doubt not but he loued well to bee a King , and being carefull and jealous enough of his Prerogatiue , yet was hee euer best pleased , when hee was most like a priuate man . It was not for ●●…ght , that the Deuill in his temptation to our blessed Sauiour , offered not onely all the kingdomes of the earth , but the glory of them : his Maiesty tooke his right to his Kingdomes , the glory of them he did not regard .

This was much , and yet but little , to that Crowne of his Crowne , his resolution for Religion , and care of the Church , wherein hee represented Moses his Zeale . For his Resolution to religion , Consider his frequent Speeches publikely and priuately , his learned Writings , which shall liue with the world ; his continuall exercise and attendance vpon the duties of Religion : And this I am perswaded , that in two and twenty years ( whiles he raigned ouer vs ) he heard more Sermons , than all the Princes before him in two hundred . But if any malitiously shall impute this to a formality , or the outward obligation of his Vow , whereby hee had tyed himselfe to those weekely Exercises , for his preseruation from the Traiterous Conspiracy , ( though euen the religious performance of such vowes be not ordinary among Princes ) I appeale to all the three Kingdomes : First for England , neuer Prince more carefull for the Church , neuer King more indulgent to the Clergy : if no more , so many Bishops priuy Councellors , in an age , when such honours and fauours were out of date , doe sufficiently expresse it . If he had not laid the loue of religion neare his heart , he would not haue placed the Prelats , and Professor of it so neere his person .

For Scotland and Ireland wee shall speake miracles , but so much by mee more worthy to bee remembred , as they are by most men little obserued : in these , I say , hee restored one Church , and in effect new planted another ; hee restored Scotland , and how did he this ? by wresting from the possessours such titles as they had gotten to their reuennues ? no , but by restitution of what the Crowne had gotten ; by purchase and redemption vpon valuable consideration , out of his owne coffers , he restored and setled the torne Church of Scotland : so as now it beareth the goodly face of a glorious Church . And by new indowments , where the old could not bee recovered , hee founded many both Bishopricks and Churches in Ireland .

We talke of the charity of former ages , but let our Aduersaries bee silent and lay their hand vpon their mouth ; I dare say ( and I thinke I am not mistaken ) King IAMES hath testifyed his deuotion to the Church and Religion by more bounty & charge , than the superstition of any six Kings together since the Conquest haue broght vpon them . So many Bishopricks and Parish Churches in Scotland , so many in Ireland , and all raised out of his owne Coffers and inheritance , if the value were cast vp , ( which I wish might be done , for the Kings eternall honour ) would grow to such a summe , as report would hardly find credit . Then if a Tree may be knowne by his fruits , by these take knowledge of his Maiesties loue to Religion .

Yet is he dead , hee might not bee priuiledged in this point no more than Moses ; but this is our comfort and assurance , that GOD , would not bee wanting to so excellent an instrument of his honor , but to whom hee gaue graces , for the ornament and benefit of his Church , him he did furnish with all such graces as were necessary to the saluation of his owne soule ; and then death was his advantage : Regnum Dei intra nos est . Vpon which words St. Hierom notes , that As a man that is free of any City , trauell where he wil through the world , hee is still a Citizen and free of that place , so if we can once truly say , Regnum Dei intra nos est , though we walke on earth , Habemus municipatum in coelis . And then suppose , his late Maiesty lost not three Kingdoms , but thirty three Kingdomes , they are all well exchanged for One Kingdome in Heauen . Nor haue wee cause altogether to cry out with Saint Hierom , vpon the death of Nepotian , Cui jam meum sudabit ingenium ? cui literulae placere gestient ? quicquid dixero , quia ille non audit , mutum videtur . For though he be dead Ioshua is aliue , the most worthy sonne of an incomparable Father ; and happy we , seeing GOD hath taken such a Moses from vs , that he hath prouided such a Iosua for vs .

And obserue now therefore : for if Moses death enabled Iosua , he must not stir till hee dye , nay hee must attend Moses death and Gods call ; for so it was necessary , where there was no succession : but where the succession of a Kingdome is established in a line , the death of the Father calls the sonne ; a●… thereby GOD speakes to him as if in expresse tearmes he called , Arise . The last breath of the Predecessour giueth first title and possession to the Successor ; and though it be neuer so faint when it goes out , it cryeth aloud , Arise . Herein let vs magnifie Gods Providence for our Iosua , that as he preserued Moses till Iosua was ready ; so did he preserue our Moses till our Iosua was fit ; so fit , and so incomparably worthy , as if succession did not cast the Kingdome vpon him : vpon whom else should we affixe our eies & harts ? where should we choose such another ? we haue read of some that haue been so composed , as Ingentes virtutes , and ingentia vitia did striue whether should exceed : but so much vertue , without any exception , where shall wee finde ? Non semper errat Fatum , aliquando eligit .

And now that our gracious King comes to vs in the parallel of Iosua , I conceiue hope , and I cannot but conceiue it , that hee will likewise come to vs in the Power of Iosua : The greatest act of Iosuah's power appeared in this , that at his word the Sunne and Moone stood still till hee was auenged on his enemies . Amongst the Canons of the Church of Rome , wee find that they make the Pope the Sunne , and the Emperor the Moone ; this they , to magnifie the Pope so many degrees aboue the Emperor , as the Sunne exceedes the Moone . But the Sunne and the Moone they must be , & so let them be ; prouided , that at the mighty power of our Iosua , and his wor●…●he Sun & Moone stand still , or be not able to goe forward one degree , till hee bee auenged of the blood of those Saints , which hath beene so prodigally shed ; and till Those of his owne Royall blood be deliuered from the oppressions , which now they suffer , and bee restored to those Inheritances and honors , which haue so violently beene torne from them .

Now therefore Arise , yea let our Iosua arise , like the morning Sunne , and thrust the vsurper out of his seat . Let him Arise , and let his enemies be scattered ; but let his throne bee established from generation to generation : let the hand of God be established with him , and let his arme strengthen him : but Lord destroy his foes before his face , and plague those that hate him . Let thy Truth and Mercy euer be with him , and in thy name let his power be exalted : Make him thy first borne , higher than the Kings of the earth : make his seed to endure for euer , and his throne as the dayes of heauen ! And let all the people say , Amen .

AMEN .