And without any more ado, you'll
get to know Dr. Ella more today, I trust, through
the fellowship and our other services as well, but I want
to give him plenty of time to deal with his subject. So, Dr.
Ella, you would come and we'd gladly hear you. Well, dear brethren,
it's not only a joy to be with you, for me it's a thrill because
I thought my journey in days would be over. I've been so ill
recently and had seven pieces of metal put into me to make
me stand up. And again I've been able to stand
up for Jesus. Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
you'll know the hymn. And Mike Rogers has awakened
me to new life in insisting that I should come over and serve
you. I don't know why he thought I'd
be of any use, but well, it's Mike's fault that I'm here, so
I'm innocent of that. Though, well, joking aside, I'm
on a real sentimental journey here, because I spent my childhood
in England and England of the 40s and early 50s seems so similar
to America. The ideas, the faith of the people
and their customs are so similar. And I was so overjoyed to hear
that him some from Herbert because I haven't heard that hymn sung
since my childhood. I left England for Scandinavia
and studied and worked there and then over 40 years ago I
left Sweden after 10 years and went down to live in Germany
so my English-speaking inheritance has grown sort of smaller and
smaller, and the older you get, the more, well, in my case, the
more you forget. And coming to America has just
wakened up my childhood for me, and I've become young again. I was born very near a river,
my mother used to say, so if a tear comes now and then, well,
blame the river for that. Now, to come to my subject, George
Herbert, 1593, 1633, those are his dates, and I call
him pastor and poet of God's temple. Now first a few remarks
about Herbert's witness through poetry. Whilst William Cooper
You know God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform,
the olden hymns, his friendship with John Newton. Well, whilst
William Cooper was being drawn to God as a young man, God nevertheless
seemed far from him, and Cooper lost the precious art of prayer
taught him by his parents. He then read what he called the
Gothic, and uncouth poetry of George Herbert. George Herbert
was already considered out of date and old-fashioned in the
18th century. People said, he's too old-fashioned
in his language, can't understand him, so they didn't read him.
But Cooper read him and became captivated by the pastoral practicability
of this saintly man's verse. Herbert published little during
his lifetime, but on his deathbed he gave a volume of pastoral
poems entitled The Temple to his friend Nicholas Ferrer, asking
him to publish it if he found it useful, otherwise burn it. Happily, Ferrer and Herbert's
university publishers found the work very useful. As you are
doing today, you've just sung a passage from that book. Through Herbert's poems such
as The Method, Cooper learned how God's ears are open even
to the sorrows of those who are at enmity with him." Remember,
God justifies the ungodly, not the pious believers in their
own good works. He justifies the ungodly. So there is hope for everyone
who wishes to pray, but is too frightened and faint to do so. As this is so very true, Herbert
tells such faint-hearted souls, and these were the words quite
depressed Cooper at the time read, then once more pray, down
with thy knees, up with thy voice, seek pardon first, and God will
say, Glad heart, rejoice. Now through Herbert's poem, The
Dawning, Cooper felt that God was speaking to his sad heart
personally, saying, Awake, sad heart, whom sorrow ever drowns. Take up thine eyes which feed
on earth. Unfold thy forehead, gathered
into frowns. Thy Saviour comes, and with Him
mirth. Awake, awake, and with a thankful
heart His comforts take. But thou dost still lament, and
pine, and cry, and feel His death, but not His victory. Cri was
pronounced Cree in those days and Vic-to-ry, so it does in
fact rhyme. Arise, said heart, if thou do
not withstand Christ's resurrection, thine may be. Do not by hanging
down break from the hand which as it riseth raises thee. Arise, arise, and with his burial
leaning dry thine eyes. Christ left his grave clothes
that we might, when grief draws tears or blood, not want a handkerchief."
Now through reading Herbert and experiencing a wonderful token
of God's grace shortly afterwards, Cooper became convinced that
God would not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. Thousands of Christians learn
to adore their Savior still today through Herbert's well-known
hymns, King of Glory, King of Peace, or Teach Me My God and
King, written for posterity, as we prove today. Sadly, Herbert's
poetry, as indeed any poetry, seems to be no longer taught
in schools today. So Herbert's verse appears more
uncouth or gothic than ever. State schools in Germany hardly
ever teach poetry. They say all poets are liars.
But they haven't been in touch with George Herbert's poetry,
or William Cooper's poetry, or John Milton's poetry. They preach the pure gospel in
verse. And so I hear that lots of you
are doing homeschooling, great. Don't leave poetry out, please. Now Christian example Herbert
always taught was more useful than law discipline. He hated
legalism because we are under grace and we serve the law through
serving Christ the lawgiver. Our subject was born on the 3rd
of April 1593 in Montgomery Castle the Herbert's family residence
for many generations. He was of fairly high nobility,
so his family all lived partly in the castle and partly at court. As the Herberts remained faithful
to the Church and King during the Great Rebellion, their great
ancestral home was levelled to the ground. Great Rebellion roughly
1640 to 1660 when Cromwell usurped power in England. George was the son of Sir Richard
Herbert and Lady Magdalene Newport. Magdalene's family were the biggest
landowners in Shropshire but they also lost most of their
estates during the rebellion. Magdalene's beauty and saintly
wisdom, even in later life, has been described in John Donne,
another Christian poet, in John Donne's famous poem, Autumnal
Beauty. The English say autumn, where
you would say the fall. Richard and Magdalene had seven
sons and three daughters, George being the fifth son to be born.
All the other sons became renowned as knights, scholars, military
men, and authors, but George was called to the ministry. The three daughters married into
well-situated, useful families. Now George's father died when
he was only four years old, and the family chaplain tutored George
and two of his brothers at his home. So they were homeschoolers. They were homeschooled until
their twelfth years. George was then placed at Westminster
School, the school all the nobility went to, and it was the school
where William Cooper, who was of royal line on both sides,
went to. He was placed under the headship
of Dr. Neill and the tutorship of Mr. Ireland, where he became most
proficient in the classical languages. In those days, they learnt all
Latin, a bit of Greek and not much else. At the time the Scotsman
Andrew Melville had behaved scandalous by pulling King James by the
arm and calling him God's silly vassal. A vassal is Old English
for a slave or a humble servant. But of course the word silly
still means what it does today. He had also caught Archbishop
Bancroft by his gown complaining of his Romish rags. Andrew Melville wore a black
flowing robe and Bishop Bancroft wore a white flowing robe. And I'm colorblind in this debate,
but somehow Melville thought black was beautiful but white
is ugly. James of course was a major instigator
of the Synod of Dort. He called it into being and of
course the Synod of Dort is where the five points of Calvinism
were worked out. So there wasn't very much Romish
about James I. Bancroft was one of the initiators with
Whittaker of the High Calvinist Lambeth Articles and pioneered
the authorised version. The Lambeth Articles were 11
points, not 5 points, they embroidered them a bit. I've just been recently reading
a book from Westminster Seminary, a very learned Presbyterian seminary,
and they say that the Lambeth articles were the best statement
of the Reformed faith ever. but this gentleman was called
a Roman Catholic by Melville because he wore a white shirt. When the so-called Puritans demanded
major reforms at Hampton Court, you remember the Hampton Court
and the millennial petition, Bancroft had already passed the
most urgent ones through convocation to church courts. Reformed history,
oddly enough, remembers the first, that they were insulted by Melville,
but not the latter, that they took the Puritan side in the
debates. The Puritans, I'm talking mainly
here then about the Scottish Puritans, however, wanted church
rule by secular government, not by the church herself. Parliament
should tell us what to do, not the church. This they gained
at the rebellion. So you have the state calling
the Westminster Assembly, not the churches. Melville lampooed
the Church of the Reformation for her ridiculous, absurd, I'm
quoting him, gore-bellied clergy, who preached like screeching
owls in magic circles performing magical incantations. He boasted that the Scottish
Presbyterians were the true successors of Whittaker, who was of course
a Church of England man, of Reynolds, who was, of course, a Church
of England man, of Buser, who helped write the Church of England
prayer book, and Peter Martyr, who trained Church of England
candidates in Britain. Beazer and Calvin, who were in
very intimate connections with the English Reformed Church.
So this man hadn't done his history. Melville seemed to have forgotten
that all these men wore vestments, and all except Reynolds, who
was no Presbyterian by any means, were great critics of the Presbyterian
system, and that Buser had authored the English Ordination Service,
which angered the Scotsmen so much. Buser said, you are not
ordained just to preach in your own church, in a church hierarchy. You are ordained for missionary
service to go out in all the world and preach the gospel. And I'm very pleased to say that
this was the view that the early Baptists took. They were ordained
to preach wherever God called them. Now wishing to mark themselves
off as being so much more holy than their Church of England
brethren, these proto-Presbyterians worked out a finicky and fastidious
list of allegedly sinful externals using this as a reason to attack
their brethren in the established church. They did not attack them
ever on doctrine. Thus Melville even criticized
the sober scholar's and pupil's black cap, which the clergy in
the Reformed churches throughout the Christian world used, forgetting
that the high silk hat bordered by a pointed crown of lace, which
the Puritans wore, was even more dandified. It was a battle, we
call it the vestment battle, when the Presbyterians, who had
received French fashions through being in exile under Bloody Mary,
excuse the word, but she was, they had taken these fashions
from Europe back to Britain. And this is all the vestment
controversy was about. who was wearing the latest French
fashion. And so the Puritans wore very
long hats with all sorts of lace around them, very tall hats.
And King Charles I, he thought, wow, I've been wearing an ugly
flat cap. I'll wear a Puritan hat. So he
wore a Puritan top hat. And if you look at his pictures,
he's proudly wearing a Puritan top hat. One can hardly imagine
nowadays that Melville and his fellow agitators attacked the
English Reformed Church because she allowed couples to pledge
their mutual troth before God by exchanging wedding rings in
church. Anybody here wearing a wedding
ring? Oh, Melvin wouldn't have liked you, Melville. Oh, my middle
name is Melvin, so I'm calling him Melvin now. No, Melvin wouldn't
have liked you. Melville wouldn't have liked
you at all. Once I get mixed up, I remain
mixed up. Now, they were against the congregation
taking part in the services. Even John Knox said, oh, no responses
from the laity in services. This is the pastor's job to do
all the talking. Well, we do not believe that. Most of us, I suppose, like me,
talk too much. And they were against hearing
the scriptures publicly read during the services. The Scottish
Presbyterians still held to the Popish idea that scripture must
be interpreted by a priest, and only priests with the correct
intention made the sacraments efficacious. John Wilson explained
to them that this was the very teaching of the Council of Trent. So he accused those Presbyterians
of letting in Romanism at the back door. The Lord's Supper,
they taught erroneously, must be taken standing, as the Apostles
did. But we don't read of the Apostles
standing at the Lord's Supper. In fact, they reclined And if
we wanted to get back to the very wording of scriptures, we
must all lay on the floor in the dust when we take the Lord's
Supper, but we take it sitting or standing as custom dictates,
but we don't think there's anything holy or unholy about either sitting
or standing. Now, why am I telling you all
this? Because little boy Herbert first
took up his pen to defend the doctrines of the Reformation,
and he was only about 12 when he started, and he wanted to
defend the doctrines of the Reformation, but denounced empty ceremonies,
which he couldn't stand. Isaiah prophesied that a little
child shall lead them, and young schoolboy George, wise beyond
his years, found all this too ignorant, too insulting, too
far-fetched, and too false to be considered Christian. So he
took up his Latin pen. Little boys in those days could,
if they were educated, could write Latin better than their
mother language. So he took up his Latin pen to
instruct Melville in his 40 epigrams in defense of the discipline
of our church. forty epigrams, not one. Whatever he did, Herbert did
it in bulk. Now, here George told Melville
that he would not use Melville's coarse language, but address
him politely and fairly, showing him his grave errors. This is a cheeky little twelve-year-old.
talking to what one would think was his superior. He explained
how all true sons of the English church revered the names of those
stalwarts he had mentioned. But Melville himself dropped
their names but was obviously not at all acquainted with them. Little Herbert had read their
works. He also taught Melville that
if Rome had abused and misused certain practices, it does not
mean that they had thus become wrong in themselves. Indeed,
he wrote, if all misused things were due to death, worthy of
death, tis time our souls and bodies were no more. In other
words, if God punished us for misusing things, As Melville
thought he ought, then we'd be all dead, nobody would be alive
because we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory
God intended us to have. Right, after this early encounter
with the actions of artificial discipline, rather than loving
Christian pastoral care, Herbert always resolved to place the
minister's good, practical example above any legal external precept. He said, by their fruits you
shall know them. Now the Christian academic. At the early age of 15, George
received a King's Scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. Who entered university here at
the age of 15? I was much older. He came under the care of Dr
Neville, friend of the family and Dean of Canterbury, who provided
him with a tutor. When you went to college in those
days and you were a gentleman, you took your own tutor with
you. Times have changed. Now George
began to write poetry in earnest. His first fruits being sonnets
sent to his mother. I like that. The teenager told
his mother that most poets consecrated their poems to Venus, the goddess
of love, it was the fashion then, and added, for my own part, my
meaning, dear mother, my intention, is in these sonnets to declare
my resolution to be that my core abilities in poetry shall be
all and ever consecrated to God's glory. The words of a 15 year
old. So George's mother now married
again and she married Sir John Danvers. Note that word because
the Danvers play quite a part in the history of the Baptist
movement. Not this one, but one that came
a little later and became a colonel in the Cromwellian army. Danvers was 20 years younger
than Herbert's mother, and he was the brother and heir of the
Earl of Danby, high royalty. The newlyweds moved to Oxford,
where George's brother Edward was studying. You haven't lived
until you go to Oxford and see that marvellous city. It's amazing. Sir John, a privy councillor,
turned, however, traitor to his church, king, and wife's family
and signed Charles' death warrant. George became minor fellow of
his college in 1609, he proceeded to Bachelor of Arts in 1611,
Master of Arts and major fellow in 1615, sub-lector, very high
position in the university, in 1617, but pre-lector even higher still, also in 1618, and then he became
university orator in 1619. University orator was a very,
very privileged position then, indeed. The latter office, though
the most privileged in the university, was hard work. entailing giving
speeches and writing letters to prominent people all over
the world in Italian, French, Latin, Spanish, Greek and English. So here we have Herbert, still
as a young man, writing letters in Italian, French, Latin, Spanish,
Greek and English. Some feat. Herbert had one leisure
activity above all others. and that was music, at which
his contemporaries said he was a great master. Isaac Walton, you know, the man that wrote the book The Complete
Angler, he was a great fisherman, Isaac Walton records Herbert
as saying that it relieved his drooping spirits composed his
distracted thoughts and raised his weary soul, giving him a
foretaste of the joys of heaven." Now, Herbert's major friends
at this time were Bishop Lancelot Andrews, who was one of the major
translators of the King James Bible, John Donne, he was the
most famous poet besides Herbert that England produced at that
time. He was called the mystical poet
because people had to work hard to understand his poetry. But
you can get more out of one word of John Donne's poetry than you
can get out of a whole book of William Wordsworth. And then
there was Francis Bacon, the famous scientist. They were Herbert's
best friends. Now when Andrews died, a letter
from Herbert in Greek was found next to his heart, kept there
for many years. That was how he treasured George
Herbert's fellowship. Equally famous Bacon would never
have a book published, and he was a scientist, remember, until
Herbert had checked it. When you read Bacon, you're reading
Bacon edited by George Herbert. When James I sent his Basilicon
Doran, that's a treatise in political theory, to Cambridge, George
Herbert was chosen to reply, so he was thought to be able
to in discussing political theories and politics. Impressed by Herbert's
letter, the King asked Lord Pembroke about the author. Pembroke explained
that Herbert was his kinsman, but he loved him more for his
learning and virtue than for his kinship. James smiled and
said, with the leave of Lord Pembroke, he would love Herbert
too, because he was the jewel of the university. James made
Herbert his occasional secretary, paying him £120 a year which would have been a good
salary for any senior pastor. It appears from the records that
the king was about to make Herbert Secretary of State, one of the
highest positions in the British government. But James' death
in 1625 ended these plans. In 1622, Herbert wrote to his
seriously ill mother, comforting her in the Lord. His letter reveals
how quickly he was growing in grace and a knowledge of the
truth. After committing his mother's
bodily ailments to the Savior with sound biblical and practical
help, Herbert continues Lastly, for those afflictions of the
soul, consider that God intends that to be the soul, to be a
sacred temple for himself to dwell in, and will not allow
any room there for such an inmate as grief, or allow that any sadness
shall be his competitor. And above all, if any care of
future things molests you, remember those admirable words of the
psalmist, cast thy care on the Lord, and he shall nourish thee. This was before the 1611 translation. To which joined that of St. Peter, casting all your care
on the Lord, for he careth for you. What, and he goes on, what
an admirable thing is this, that God puts his shoulder to our
burden and entertains our care for us, that we may the more
quietly intend, attend his service. Some of the words have changed
over the years. To conclude, let me commend only one place
more to you, Philippians 4.4. St. Paul said there, Rejoice
in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. He doubles it,
rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, rejoice. He doubles it
to take away the scruple of those that might say, What? Shall we
rejoice in afflictions? Yes, I say again, rejoice, so
that it is not left to us to rejoice or not rejoice, but whatsoever
befalls us, we must always at all times rejoice in the Lord
who taketh care of us. Who of us have ever written as
young people to our mothers in that pastoral way? Now, his call
to the ministry. Within a year of one another,
Herbert's greatest friends, James, the king, Andrews, the bishop,
and Bacon, the scientist, died. Herbert testified in verse that
he had become entangled now in his own academic gown. He wanted to be free of his academic
gown. He resolved to leave the comfort
of the lecture halls and court and become a pastor where he
could be nearer and more useful to God. His court friends told
him that such an office was below Herbert's high birth and qualifications. Pastors were meek and mild and
humble people in those days and at the bottom of the social ladder.
Herbert replied, it has been formally judged that the domestic
servants of the King of Heaven should be of the noblest families
on earth. And though the inequity of the
late times has made clergymen meanly valued, and the sacred
name of priest contemptible, yet I will labour to make it
honourable by concentrating all my learning and all my poor abilities
to advance the glory of that God who gave them. A pastor's
status is still despised by many in our present age. It is our
duty as ministers of the Word to make it again honourable. Now, choosing between Christ
and one's parent. I had to face this problem too. It's not always easy. Who are we to obey? God or our
parents when the two are in conflict with each other. So in 1626,
Herbert became lay deacon and prependery at Leighton Church
in the Lincoln Diocese. Notice he took over a parish
as a lay deacon, not as a bishop, and certainly not as a cardinal,
although he could have bribed somebody to get those titles. He said, no, I am going to be
a lay deacon. not even ordained. The building
was in ruins and the congregation, however, none existent. Herbert had the task of building
up both. His mother feared for her son's
health, believing he was being taken advantage of by the church,
which he was, of course. Though she had formerly encouraged
him to enter the ministry, she now ordered him to break his
vows to the church, as he was penniless, in bad health, and
the work was too hard. Had he not vowed to obey her
at all times? Herbert replied, if any vow was
to be kept, it must be his vow to God to become a minister and
shepherd a flock. Shortly after this incident in
1627, Herbert's mother died. John Donne, the poet and minister,
now Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, he'd gone up like a rocket, took
the funeral service but could not perform his duties without
weeping. The Leyton Church building was
completed by 1629 with the support of Herbert's friends, Nicholas
Ferrer and Arthur Woodnath, and his relatives helped him too,
financially. The work left Herbert ill, so
he was cared for by his brother, Sir Herbert. Becoming much worse,
he prayed, Lord, abate my great affliction, or increase my patience. But, Lord, I repine not. I do not repent for serving Thee. I am dumb, Lord, before Thee,
because Thou dost it. Whatever happened to Herbert,
he didn't worry at all. I'm in the Lord's plan and purpose. It's the Lord's will. So why
should I complain? Now, marriage and permanent living. Somebody told me that Americans
wouldn't understand the word living if you have a church and
a manse and a salary. That's called in English a living. You can live on it. Some pastors
can. Right. Herbert convalesced at
his stepfather's and met his kinsman, Charles Danvers, of
Bainton, who had nine daughters, his favorite being Jane. Danvers so took to Herbert that
he promised him his greatest treasure. That was, of course,
his daughter Jane. Danvers had told Jane so much
about Herbert's piety that she had fallen in love with him before
ever seeing him. A bit different to the things
that happen nowadays, isn't it? A formal meeting was hindered
by the sudden death of Danvers, but friends soon arranged a discreet
rendezvous for the two. 35-year-old Herbert, who had
never thought of marrying, immediately fell in love with Jane, and though
their contact throughout the next two days was through select
proxies, Herbert's decorum would not allow him to talk to the
young lady alone. He was invited these select proxies
to be there and either speak for him or just sort of control,
that he didn't get too enthusiastic in front of them. Although, he
spent two days like this. They were married on the third
day after their first meeting. Quick courtship. Three days.
Isaac Walton, who is renowned as the most famous fisherman
of all time, but was also a diligent fisher of men, commented, The
eternal lover of mankind made them happy in each other's mutual
and equal affections and compliance. Indeed, so happy that there was
never any opposition betwixt them, unless it were a contest
which should most incline to a compliance with the other's
desire." So the only time they disagreed was when the one wanted
to show his or her love more than the other. I read this to
my wife before I came here. So I didn't get her comments,
I'm looking forward to them when I get back. Soon after Herbert's
marriage, the Earl of Pembroke asked Charles I to present Herbert
with the derelict, non-resident living, no house, of Bemerton,
just outside Salisbury. They thought, this young fellow,
he did it once, he can do it again. The king, knowing how
Herbert could revive a dead work, agreed on condition that Herbert
voluntarily accepted it. After a month's fasting and prayer,
Herbert agreed, but refused non-residency. He wanted to live amongst his
people. But that meant he had to build
a house at his own expense. The church wasn't going to assist
him at all. He was still not ordained. I
do think that the church didn't ordain him because then they
needn't pay him. That was the way. He was inducted
by Bishop Davenant, one of the members of the Synod of Dort. though he was inducted only as
a deacon. Now Herbert dispensed with his
silken court clothing, his fancy wig, and his sword, and wore
the simple habit of a country parson, just a white smock, and
sometimes, to please the Presbyterians, even a black smock. because remember
they said black was beautiful and quoted the Song of Solomon
to prove it. He wrote now, I now look back
upon my aspiring thoughts and think myself more happy than
if I had attained what then I so ambitiously thirsted for. A poor pastor was better than
being the Secretary of State. I can now behold the court with
an impartial eye and see plainly that it is made up of fraud,
titles and flattery. and many other such empty, imaginary,
painted pleasures that are so empty as not to satisfy when
they are enjoyed. Many people think that of our
present governments. But in God and his service is
a fullness of all joy and pleasure and no satiety or satiety. German, English, Swedish pronunciation. For the second time, Herbert
had to rebuild a dilapidated church and also repair the sister
church at Fuggleston, which was within his parish. He also had to erect a house
for his wife and himself at his own cost. Suspecting that he
would be dealt with in Bemerton exactly as he had been hard used
in Leighton, and then be moved to build up another new work,
he engraved on the mantelpiece the words, knowing that he would
be moved soon, to my successor, If thou chance for to find a
new house to thy mind, this house, and built without thy cost. Be
good to the poor as God gives thee store, and then my labours
not lost." He won't have built the house in vain. At last the
church authorities decided to ordain Herbert as vicar, pastor. Perhaps they had feared hitherto
that such an eminent man would prefer the court to the church,
after all." Now, the country parson. Herbert wrote a book
called The Country Parson, and it's a beautiful little gem. As soon as the vicarage was built,
Herbert fetched his genteel wife, who had been staying with her
family at Bainton. This is a wife who only knew
comfort and leisure and pomp and circumstance. He was anxious
to know how Jane would cope with living a life of nigh poverty
as a country parson's wife. He thus told her, you are now
a minister's wife. and must now so far forget your
father's house as not to claim a precedence of any of your parishioners. You have now a status the same
as the poorest of your parishioners. For you are to know that a priest's
wife can challenge no precedence or place but that which she purchases
by her obliging humility. And I am sure places so purchased
do best become them. And let me tell you that I am
so good a herald as to assure you that this is the truth."
That was the only time Herbert went into a bit of boasting.
But we can forgive him that, because he was so good a herald
that he could assure her that this is the truth, and this is
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Jane of the same
mettle as her beloved husband answered, it was no vexing news
to her, and that he should see her observe it with a cheerful
willingness. They were good girls in those
days. Herbert was an ideal pastor. He soon realised that his parishioners
had no idea of the gospel or the Christian way of living,
so he resolved to be a teacher and admonisher as much as a pastor
and counsellor, opening his ministry with Proverbs 4.23, Keep thy
heart with all diligence. giving his parishioners sound
rules for discharging a good conscience before God and man. He viewed the English liturgy,
homilies, prayers, Bible readings, articles and catechism as ideal
textbooks of doctrine and holy living, and schooled his people
diligently in their right use and purpose. covering the whole
Bible and Christian doctrine each year. He organized Sunday
afternoon catechizing services and daily instruction for whomsoever
will in the faith, and his church was usually full. In spite of
poor health and frailty, Herbert held two public services every
day at ten and four o'clock. Pastors here, do you hold two
services every day? Do you preach daily several times
to your people? Well, I'm not saying you must
do, but I'm telling you George Herbert did. And all his family
always took part. Herbert would ring the church
bell to announce these meetings and those who could not get to
church, such as labourers in the fields, would down tools
and join in prayer with their pastor and brethren. Herbert
also walked the two miles to Salisbury Cathedral twice a week
to help with the services and church music. Stories are told,
many stories, of Herbert walking to the cathedral but meeting
up with farmers and carters on the way who needed help with
a load of hay or an upturned cart. And then arrived at church
covered from top to toe with mud and grubby all over with
the excuse that he must practice what he preached and prayed for. Herbert loved the church's seasons,
and by celebrating Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, Advent,
etc., he impressed his congregation with the fact that Jesus was
not just a spiritual figure, but an actual historical figure
who walked this earth as we do. And he still walks it. as our
guide and keeper. He also made daily missionary
walks within several miles radius of his home, visiting and helping
the poor. Assisted by his wife, and accosting
all strangers on the road with the word of God and a testimony
which brought many a wayward soul to attend his services."
Just think of this man preaching twice a day, helping the farmers, going out into the highways and
byways, accosting every stranger, giving him a little track, do
you love the Lord? And nowadays you'd say, oh, he
was a Pentecostal or something like that disparagingly. No,
he was a man of God and he was a member of the Bride of Christ. Now Herbert's small book, The
Country Parson, defines the pastor's duties regarding his life, his
knowledge, his prayer life, and his preaching. He gives advice
for the pastor's conduct at home, how he should behave before his
wife and children. In church, how he should pastor
the flock. in itinerant work, how he should
entertain strangers and invite strangers to come to know the
Lord, and in his library, how a pastor should study, and even
in his mirth and relaxation. He was a man of joy and if he
never heard a pastor laugh he would think that there was something
a bit too dismal about him. Now, the country parson, I've
recommended it now for the second time, is a cornucopia of excellent
advice. Now, obviously a man who lives
like that and is overpowered all the time, he doesn't live
long. but he does live long because
all he has accomplished is far greater than some who die at
99. Herbert's death age 39. George Herbert's successor in
that house remember did not have to wait long to occupy it. Four years after ordination Herbert
became extremely ill and could only minister in great pain. Mrs. Herbert persuaded her husband
to employ his friend and curate at Fuggleston, he was called
Mr. Bostock, to help. When Bostock
arrived the following day, Herbert told him that his mortality was
now becoming immortality. and he could minister no longer. Realising he was dying at 39,
he said to Mr Duncan, a friend whom Nicholas Ferrer had sent
to see him, how he was. He said to him, Sir, I pray you give my brother
Ferrer an account of the decaying condition of my body. and tell
him I beg him to continue his daily prayers for me and let
him know that I have considered that God only is what I would
be and that I am by his grace become now so like him and this
is the second time in his life. Herbert boasted a little, because
now, so like him, has to be pleased with what pleaseth him. I would like to make that boast
every day, and tell him that I do not repine, but am pleased
with my want of health, and tell him my heart is fixed on that
place where true joy is only to be found, and that I long
to be there and do wait for my appointed change with hope and
patience." May we all be able to pray that prayer when the
Lord calls us. He then took up his manuscript
copy of the temple and continued, Sir, this poetry book, Sir, I
pray deliver this little book to my dear brother, and tell
him he shall find in it a picture of the many spiritual conflicts
that have passed between God and my soul, before I could subject
mine to the will of Jesus, my master, in whose service I have
now found perfect freedom. Desire him to read it, and then,
if he can think it may turn to the advantage of any dejected
poor soul, let it be made public. If not, let him burn it. For
I and it are less than the least of God's mercies." Herbert's
friend Woodnoth stayed with Herbert until his home call, and he was
visited by Bishop Davenant and all the surrounding clergy who
prayed with him and listened to his last, blessed, edifying
words, such as My hope is that I shall shortly leave this valley
of tears and be free from all fevers and pain, and that will
be a more happy condition. I shall be, no, he said, and
what will be a more happy condition, I shall be free from sin. And all the temptations and anxieties
that attend it, and this being passed I shall dwell in the new
Jerusalem with just men made perfect, dwell where these eyes
shall see my Master and Saviour, Jesus, and with Him see my dear
mother and all my relations and friends. But I must die or not
come to that happy place and this is my content that I am
going daily towards it." In the hours before his death, Herbert
rebuked friends who spoke of all the blessings that Herbert
had been to others. He said, they be good actions
if sprinkled with the blood of Christ. but not otherwise. George Herbert believed like
Tobias Crisp, whom they called an antinomian because he said
this, that even in his most righteous thoughts, he remained a sinner
worthy of judgment. That God, in his mercy, gives
us the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not our own faith, we
have none. He gives us the faith of the
Lord Jesus Christ so that we might stand perfect before God. He then found difficulty in breathing
and was convulsed with pain. His wife asked him how he was
and he replied that he had just been in conflict with his last
enemy and had overcome him by the merits of his master Jesus. At this indication that Herbert
was about to die, the ladies began to weep and moan loudly,
the last thing a dying person wants. Herbert begged them to
go into another room and pray for him because their lamentations
were disturbing his going home. He wanted to enjoy it, and there
they were moaning. Herbert told Woodnoth where he
would find his will, and that he had made him his sole executor. Then Herbert said, I am now ready
to die, and prayed, Lord, forsake me not, now my strength faileth
me, but grant me mercy for the merits of my Jesus. And now,
and he began to stutter through weakness, and now, Lord, Lord,
excuse me, receive my soul. Then immediately Herbert breathed
his last and departed to be with the Lord. He was buried as he wished, under
the floor of his church with no inscription whatsoever. His
saintly life sacred poetry and devotion to the spread of the
gospel are inscriptions enough. Brethren, may we go and do likewise. Amen.