Three Sermons, Poem 2
To the ſame purpoſe.
JOHN NORTON. Anagr. INTO HONNOR.
FRom Honour into Honour go (the Lord thus calling thee)
To higher Honour, then there could on Earth obtained bee.
Heav'n is the Seat of Honour for thoſe whom he Crowns with Grace;
For the moſt honourable Crowns, Heav'n is the onelyonly place.
By men that are moſt ignorant of Gods revealed Will,
Thou may'ſt be miſerable thought; for ſo they conſtrue ſtill
(Like bruitiſh ones) the minde of God if Saints die in a ſwoon,
As if their Sun, all bright before, Were now gone down at Noon.
As if their caſe were now by farre the more to be deplor'd,
As that which doth but little hope (or none) of Bliſs afford.
Yea, holy Job his Friends to this did too-too much incline,
[That ſudden Changes, ſuch us his, do argue Wrath divine.]
But when the Saints do periſh thus (as fooliſh men conceive)
That is the time, and means whereby more Honour they receive,
As being Crown'd with Royal Crowns which are at Gods right hand.
Like Joſeph from his Dungeon rais'd by the Kings Command.
'Twas a tranſlation marvellous which did Enoch remove
From out this ſinful world, to be crown'd in the Heav'ns above,
Where now he lives, & reigns, with heaps of higheſt honour fill'd,
All his Predictions to be from time to time fulfill'd.
An unegnected death did ſaize on Jobs poſteritie,
But in the Heiv'ns a glorious Lot for them prepar'd did lie.
Moſes and Aaron when as they had ſuffer'd much, were bid
As 't were, before their time to die (as in their Mounts they did)
What if the Land of Canaan they might not viſit? yet
A place more glorious in the Heav'ns they, both of them, did get.
In flaming-fiery-Charet wrapt from earth Elijah was,
And by the ſame convey'd he was unto his bliſs-ful place.
Be it that good Joſiah were cut off with ſuddain ſtroke,
He dy'd in peace, and unto reſt eternal was he toke.
No funeral to Sion was as his ſo lamentable,
Yet was his death as well as life to him moſt honourable.
Theirs was the griefe, the joy was his., God highly honourd him,
Although his death to carnal eyes might miſerable ſeem.
The curſed executioner cut off John Baptiſt's head,
But how did Jeſus honour him both when alive, and dead.
The Crowned Martyr holy Stephen in cruel wiſe was ſton'd,
But by his bleſſed Saviour's moſt ſweet imbraces own'd.
Yea, Chriſt himſelf, Gods own dear Son, whoſe death more woeful was
Yet from his croſs how ſoon advanc'd to that moſt glorious place!
So God his Chriſt, with honour crown'd; So Chriſt doth honour his,
To whom Gods Honour, and his Chriſt's, moſt dear and precious is.
And ſuch an one our Norton was whoſe death we ſo lament,
Whoſe whole deſire was upon Chriſt and on his glory bent
None can deny it good nor bad, like as to Samuel
They all were forced to confeſs he had done all things well.
If any one ſhould have an heart. with envy fill'd ſo much
As unto him his honour due, malignantly to grutch
Yet this will adde unto the weight of his moſt glorious Crown,
And both in ſight of God and men increaſe his high renown.
Tis true: he was a man, and none himſelf abhorred more;
But none did more the Lords free grace in Jeſus Chriſt adore.
Nothing but this, to know, or preach, or ſhare in did he wiſh.
This was on Earth, as 'tis in Heav'n his bleſſed Paradice.
To Honour Chriſt, he was content as well by Sea, as Land,
His Life to venture, yea his. ALL, was All at Chriſt's Command.
The care of all His Churches-dear lay heavy on his heart,
As he did ever, but at laſt, moſt fully it impart.
His life was nothing but of death a daily meditation,
And to his happy end, at laſt, a ſolemn preparation.
He was a man (if any were) that loved truth, and peace,
Which to promote, in every kinde he ne're at all did ceaſe.
An Orthodox Divine he was (his writings all do ſhow,)
Both Englands, Holland, all the World, or do or may it know.
His Books do Antichriſt confute with all his viperous brood,
Eſpecially where they eclipſe the merits of Chriſts blood.
Church-holy-order he maintain'd againſt Morellianiſme,
Decrying every ſect, but moſt abhorring Quakeriſme.
His laſt both words, and works (like Davids) were the beſt
And as his death more neer approach'd more lively then the reſt.
Nothing, but things at Gods right hand, and heavenly Manſions
Was in his thoughts, at home, abroad, breath'd in's expreſſions.
Ipſwich was happy, Boſton more, (if it we had but known)
Whom two ſuch Johns ſucceſſively God gave to be their own.
But John and Paul, ſo much admir'd (and moſt deſervedly)
Muſt be content to be abaſ'd by ſome, before they dy:
And being dead, it will appeare ſuch Prophets once we had,
When God hath once abaſed us with changes very ſad.
The Lord, if his good pleaſure be, our miſeries prevent,
And of our great unthankfulneſs, grant that we may repent.
Then will the Lord this Widow-Church, that widows houſe relieve,
And make us all rejoyce again, whom now he makes to grieve.
We griev'd him firſt, and juſt it was that he ſhould grieve our hearts,
Though when at low'ſt we are, tis far beneath our juſt deſerts.
I ſpeak of all New-England, but chiefly of Boſton Church,
Oh! let us all impartially our wayes and ſpirits ſearch;
And ſay as the Diſciples did, Lord, is it I? is't I?
And thou, my ſoule, beyond the reſt It to thy ſelf applie.
Tis thou haſt ſinned: were there none, but thy unworthineſs
Well might the Lord both thee, and all, becauſe of thee, diſtreſs.
When ſuch green trees, as were thoſe Johns Gods hand thus ſpareth not,
Of ſuch a dry and withered one Lord what will be the lot?
However we muſt bleſs thy name (what ere of us become)
That thou takes up ſuch fruitful ones to thine eternal home.
Oh! that their rare Examples wee to follow had the grace!
That thou may'ſt count us worthy once of that moſt glorious place.
As for his Mary, let her ſay, [Rabboni] unto him,
Who calls her [Mary] by her Name, and did her Soul redeem.
Iohn Wilſon Sen.