Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	death_n	great_a	see_v	3,023	5	3.5927	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07471	Epitaphs vpon the vntymelie death of that hopefull, learned, and religious youth, Mr VVilliam Michel sonne to a reverend pastor, Mr Thomas Michel, parson of Turreff, and minister of the Gospel there) [sic] who departed this lyfe the 6 of Ianuarie, 1634. in the 24 yeare of his age. Together with a consolatorie epistle, to the mother of the sayd young man; wherein his vertues and good carriage are mentioned.	Baron, Robert, 1593?-1639.	1634 (1634)	STC 17857; ESTC S113173	17,133	47

Wyfe to goe before the Husband whyles the Parentes to goe before the Children and whyles the Children to prevent the Parentes What cause of great sorrow is there here if men and women would rightlie consider this and firmlie belieue it Thirdlie seeing the happinesse of Parents consisteth much in the happinesse of their Children if death was to your sonne Advantage or Gayne as vndoubtedlie it is to all those who die in the LORD howe can yee thinke it so great a losse to you If hee hath gayned so much by the change howe can yee thinke your selfe so much hurt by it If an earthlie king had sent for your sonne promising to adopt him and make him his Heyre the sorrow which you would haue had for wanting his company would easily haue bene swallowed vp of the joye which yee would haue had for his advancement although yee had never looked to haue seene him agayne The application is easie and the comfort vnspeakeable if yee consider that GOD who hath sent His Messenger Death for your sonne hath given him that incorruptible Crowne in comparison 〈…〉 the glorie of earthlie Crownes and 〈…〉 Thrones is but basenesse Nowe to come to GOD'S dealing towardes him I hope it shall afford you great matter of joy if yee consider it as yee ought I will not speake of GOD'S dealing towardes him in bestowing naturall and morall giftes vpon him as desire of knowledge paynfull diligence in stryving to attayne thervnto sharpnesse of wit soliditie of judgement and an happie progresse farre aboue all his Condisciples in humane literature Philosophie and Theologie These were indeede great benefites of GOD But it was not the rememberance of these thinges which vphelde him at the tyme of his death Nor yet can the consideration of these thinges now afford you that joyfull assurance of the happinesse of his death and of his estate nowe after death which yee desire to haue Wherefore let vs consider GOD'S dealing towardes him in the worke of his Salvation And let all those who are exercysed with such Tryalls and Conflicts of Conscience as hee was learne at him to wayte patientlie vpon GOD vntill they get the victorie It is well knowne vnto you who are his Parentes howe carefullie hee remembered his Creator in the dayes of his youth and howe whyle hee was yet a Chylde GOD by His Spirit possessed his heart making him to finde heavenlie delight in all spirituall exercyses whereof hee was then capable vvhich appeared by his ordinarie and almost perpetuall frequenting of them to the great admiration of all who knewe him and to the great benefite of his Brethren and Sisters whom at all tymes hee was carefull partlie by his example and partlie by his pious conference to aedifie to draw with himselfe into the way of Godlinesse Hee found nothing then but sweetnesse and delight and heavenlie ravishmentes in serving of GOD for it pleaseth GOD often tymes so to allure young ones to His service but afterwardes GOD having furnished him with greater strength of Grace called him to harder and more vnpleasant but yet more glorious service that is to wrastle with manie temptations doubtinges and feares and for overcomming of these to seeke the LORD'S Face with extraordinarie humiliations prayers and fastinges which by frequent exercyse became so ordinarie vnto him that it was harder to him to desist from them than to abstayne from his bodilie and naturall food By these exercyses of devotion hee made singular progresse in that strayt way that leadeth to Lyfe yea I may boldlie say that hee did out-runne manie who had begun to runne therein long before him Yet so vnsatiable was his hunger after Righteousnesse that whereas others thought hee did too much especiallie in keeping his bodie vnder that his Soule might the more and more bee lifted vp vnto GOD hee himselfe thought hee did nothing ever most humblie esteeming himselfe an vnprofitable servant and with PAVL fortgeting the thinges that were behinde And because hee intended and moste vehementlie desired to serue GOD in the holie Ministerie GOD having fitted and furnished him with manie singular graces for that Calling to his frequent exercyses of devotion Hee added extraordinarie and invincible diligence in the studie of DIVINITIE especiallie in meditating vpon the holie SCRIPTVRES and reading the best Commentaries that he could get therevpon So that as Ierome sayd of his friend Nepotian who also died young hee made his breast CHRIST'S Bibliothece In a word then hee desired to know nothing but CHRIST and Him crucified neyther laboured hee for anie thing earnestlie but onelie to bee crucified with CHRIST and vnto the worlde This his earnest and industrious care to seeke GOD'S Face as it was to mee whom hee oft acquaynted with the secret estate of his conscience a matter of great joye so at last it procured to himselfe vnspeakeable contentment and tranquillitie of mynde together with a confident relying vpon the mercie of GOD and the powerfull intercession of IESUS CHRIST Happie yea thryse happie was his wrastling with GOD for thereby hee obtayned and inherited the Blessing Happie was his hungering and thirsting for Righteousnesse for in due tyme hee was satisfied and filled Happie was his seeking of GOD for the LORD heard him and delivered him from all his feares And therefore let all those who seeke the LORD with the lyke earnestnesse and diligence looke vnto him and to their owne comfort and encowragement saye as DAVID willed others to saye of himselfe This poore man cryed and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles To conclude then GOD'S dealing towardes him was as it vseth ordinarilie to bee towardes His owne Elect. For as GREGORIE the great and ISIDORE following him telleth vs GOD after Hee hath converted a man vnto Himselfe first maketh him to finde heavenlie delight and joye or as GREGORIE himselfe speaketh the allurementes of sweetnesse in His service to the effect hee may be the more enamoured with it and that hee may the more easilie with-drawe his heart from those carnall pleasures with which before his conversion hee was bewitched Thereafter when through continuance and encrease of grace hee is enabled and fitted to endure hardnesse as the good Souldier of IESVS CHRIST the LORD partly to keepe him from presumptuous confidence in his owne strength and partlie to exercyse his fayth patience and Christian fortitude withdraweth from him often tymes the sense or feeling of His gracious presence and so exposeth him to manie sorrowes feares and doubtinges yea often tymes Hee suffereth him to bee vexed with dangerous motions and strong inclinations to great and grievous sinnes all which GREGORIE comprehendeth in one generall calling them Conflictes or Fightinges with Temptations But in the ende that gracious and kynde LORD who will not suffer vs to hee tempted aboue that wee are able but with the temptation also maketh a way to escape He I say

Hee pleaseth did make them verie soone to spring vp both together in him yea also to bring foorth aboundant fruit so that even from his bairnlie age hee had the wit of a Mā the knowledge of a Scholler the carriage of a Christian and consequentlie was to you during all these yeares which interveaned betwixt his chyldhood and his deatth an argument or ground of great expectation and a matter of continuall joye Now when GOD hath removed him and taken him to Himselfe shall all these Favours of GOD towardes you bee buried in oblivion as his bones are buried in the earth Or if they remayne in the Register of your memorie shall they bee remembred without thankfulnesse Or if your soule magnifie the LORD for them ought not also your spirit to rejoyce in GOD your Saviour seeing Hee that is Mightie hath done great things to you Holie is His Name It is a grosse and fond errour that onelie such good thinges as wee doe actuallie enjoye or looke to enjoye are the matter or cause of rejoycing The verie Paganes sawe the absurditie of this errour and therefore Seneca comforting Polybius agaynst the death of his brother telleth him that hee ought not to thinke himselfe injured by losing such a brother but rather much benefited by vsing and enjoying his pietie so long And hee addeth that a man is vnjust and vnreasonable who is not content that hee who is the bestower of a benefite dispose of it according to his pleasure That hee is too greedie who thinketh it not gayne that hee once receaved such a benefite but rather losse that hee hath restored it or that hee now wanteth it That hee is vngrate who thinketh the ende of former delight an injurie And that hee is a foole who thinketh that hee hath no fruit of good thinges except when they are present And if an Ethnicke sayde so wee who are Christians ought much more to say and thinke so seeing wee know that all good thinges which doe befall vs as well by-past as present and to come doe flowe from one Fountayne even that Fountayne wich is the sourse of all our happinesse that is from the loue of GOD. Those who haue fared well at a Feast are not grieved when the dishes are removed because they know that they were appoynted for the vse of the guests onelie for a tyme. And if dishes bee removed before the Feast bee ended farre lesse are men grieved because they expect a newe service and other moe dayntie dishes to bee presented in their rowme So ought wee not to bee grieved when temporall benefites are removed First because wee knowe those thinges were onelie lent vs for a tyme. Secondlie because wee knowe those are not the best thinges which GOD hath appoynted for vs but wee looke for better even for such as eye hath not seene and eare hath not heard neyther haue entered into the heart of man The other sentence to wit The LORD hath taken away seemeth as I sayde before to importe reall miserie for the sweeter a benefite is the more bitter grievous is the removing therof and it is accounted worse to lose former happinesse than never to haue beene happie at all But first I know yee never placed your happinesse in anie worldlie thing but in the light of GODS Countenance who is onelie able to put singular joye in mens hearts even then when al worldly things do fayle GOD would never haue bidden vs rejoyce evermore if Hee had not given vs a permanent and vnchangeable cause of joye And therefore Chrysostome marketh well that whereas all men in their particular Trades and negotiations ayme at solide and permanent joye those onelie attayne to it who feare GOD because those onlie haue gayned the true roote of pleasure and the source or Fountayne of joye This Fountayne hee telleth vs is lyke the Ocean from whence all waters haue their originall and that because of the greatnesse thereof For sayeth hee as a sparke of fyre falling into the Sea is easilie extinguished so whatsoever evill commeth vpon vs it falling into a great Ocean of gladnesse is soone extinguished and evanisheth Secondlie that degree of temporall happinesse which yee had by your sonne stoode not so much in having a sonne as in having a good pious and vertuous sonne And this degree of happinesse is not removed but much augmented and so setled and established that nowe vnto all aeternitie yee shall haue such a sonne For his knowledge is now perfected Fayth beeing changed into Sight and Hope into Fruition and it is fred from all doubting inquyring searching from all that trouble and sorrow which here is encreased whyle knowledge is encreased Such lyke his holinesse is now perfected for all the defectes of charitie or the loue of GOD which were in him yea are in the best of GODS Sainctes whyle they liue heere are nowe removed together with all his temptations feares sorrowes blottes and infirmities So that that crying for mercie which whyle hee lived was in his mouth continuallie is nowe chaunged into a perpetuall Hallelujah And the Angels who before were delighted with his poenitentiall teares and groanes are nowe rejoyced to heare his Songes of Prayse and Thanks-giving which with the rest of those Heavenlie Quiristers hee singeth to the honour of his Maker But perhaps ye will say I know my son to be so as yee say but how shall I thinke that I haue nowe such a sonne seeing hee is separated from mee by Death I aunswere Your separation is but for a short tyme and therefore sorrowe not as those who when they are separated from their friendes haue no hope of meeting Paganes may heere make vs ashamed for even they could say of their departed friends We haue not lost them but haue sent them before vs. So Seneca wryting to Polybius concerning his brother's death sayde Hee hath not left vs but gone before vs. And wryting to Marcia in the lyke argument Wee haue sent them away yea beeing shortlie to follow wee haue sent them before vs. Indeede it is true they who are dead shall never returne to vs. If wee knewe no more but this wee might justlie giue way even to the verie excesse of griefe But blessed bee GOD who hath given vs this comfort that although they can not returne vnto vs yet wee shall goe to them Wherefore as when men are a-flitting from one place of habitation to another some persons of the familie goe before the rest to that newe dwelling place and others stay behinde intending shortlie to come thither also and therefore are not grieved for the separation from them whom they sent before them So wee and our families are vpon our flitting to that Citie having foundations whose builder and maker is GOD. It is not GODS will that all should flit at once but Hee will haue whyles the Husband to goe before the Wyfe and whyles the