Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	adam_n	sin_n	wage_n	4,026	5	11.2119	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23803	The whole duty of mourning and the great concern of preparing our selves for death, practically considered / written some years since by the author of The whole duty of man, and now published upon the sad occasion of the death of our Most Gracious Sovereign Lady Mary the II, Queen of England, &c. of blessed memory.	Allestree, Richard, 1619-1681.	1695 (1695)	Wing A1194; ESTC R33068	65,567	192

at all the present Time we enjoy tarries but a moment and then takes Wings and flys away and never returns again already we are dead to all the years we have liv'd and vain 't is to expect to live them over again But the longer we live here the shorter is our Life and in the end we become a Lump of Clay and a Feast for Worms CHAP. I. Several Notions of Death what it is its Author Name and Nature FIrst If we would know what Death is the Philosopher tells you To die is to be no more Vnhappy and if we consider Death according to the right Notion it is but a departed Breath from dead Clay enlivened at first by Breath cast upon it Now Job tells you Death is a Moth and as the Moth breeds out of the Garment so Death do's out of the Body The Heathens were of Opinion that Death was an Eternal Sleep the Fear of the Rich and the Desire of the Poor but Pious St. Augustine often breathed forth this heavenly Wish saying O that I could see Death not as it was but as thou O Lord hast now made it Death is the supremest Monarch in the World as he hath the Dominion over Sin and he is the antientest King whose Reign began from Adam yet St. Paul tells ye 1 Cor. 15.26 at last this King shall be vanquished the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death and Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life pronounces this Sentence O Death I will be thy Death II. Whoever was the Author and Father of Death Sin was the Mother for the Apostle tells ye 1 James 15. that Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death and Eve the Mother of all Living was delivered in Child-bed of Death Now Adam falling Sin follows him and Man being tempted Death assaults him and by Sin Death enters Every Parent is an Adam to his Child infusing Corruption in his Generation Since then Death by Sin crept in at the Window or rather at the Ear which is prone to listen to Evil Counsel let us cast it out by the Sense of Faith in hearkning to God's Word which will make us wise unto Salvation III. As for the Name of Death it is called a Sleep so St. John terms it Chap. 11.11 Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and of St. Stephen it is recorded in Holy Writ after he had done praying for his Persecutors When he had said this he fell asleep 7. Acts 60. it is likewise said of the Patriarchs and Kings of Judah that they slept with their Fathers and Job expresseth That man lieth down and riseth not he shall not be awaked out of sleep till the heavens shall be no more Likewise Saint Paul mentions in his Mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed 1 Cor. 15.51 The Night is the Emblem of Sleep and Mortality Now Sleep is but the Shadow of Death and where the Shadow is the Substance cannot be far off Lastly the Grave it self is but a withdrawing Room to retire in for a time it is going to Bed to take rest which is sweeter than Sleep and when it is time to awake and rise we shall as the Royal Psalmist says be satisfied IV. Next as to the Nature of Death few or none know it though all must sensibly feel it there is nothing after Death and therefore Death is nothing it is without Essence or Substance but a privation which kills he Creature therefore curiously to ●quest the Efficiency of it were but to employ the Eye to behold Darkness Salomon in his Book of Wisdom Chap. 1.13 mentions that God made not Death but created all things that were good this caused good St. Augustine to breathe forth this Supplication Lord thou hast not made Death wherefore I beseech thee suffer not that which thou hast not made to reign over that which thou hast made Now Death came into the World by Man only whose Soul was affected to know that which God never made which was the Evil of Death thinking it had been very good by desiring to know the worst of Evils But so Divine a thing is Knowledge that we see Innocency it self was ambitious of it from whence that Proverb is derived That Evil is not known but by good V. Pet no Learned Man knows so much but Ignorance may suffer him to commit Evil for none of a sound Judgment and right understanding can be guilty of Wickedness and there is no fear of knowing too much Good but there is much Fear of practising too little But since the Almighty has revealed in his word more than we can comprehend and enough to work out our Salvation let us attain to sober Knowledge and not repine but be content with our Ignorance Indeed Knowledge and Power are the Worldling's Idol but let every Man endeavour fully to know himself and then Pride and Ambition will soon vanish CHAP. II. That Death hath no respect of Persons but we are continually dying whilst we live ALthough Men cannot or are unwilling to pay those Worldly Obligations they lye under yet they must pay this Debt to Nature and it is a Favour afforded by Nature that what she hath made most vexatious she hath made Common that the Equality of Fate might mitigate the Cruelty of it and this Question the Psalmist asketh What Man is he that liveth and shall not see death II. Our Saviour told the Jews their Fathers did eat Manna in the Wilderness and are dead 6 John 49. and the Apostle tells ye Phil. 2.8 that Christ being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the death of the Cross. So that we see it is as natural to die as to be conceived and born yet it is improper for us to say Men die Naturally for Man dies not as a Beast by an Annihilation but by a Decree from Heaven it is appointed for all Men once to dye Heb. 9.27 III. Sickness the Messenger of Death respects not the best Complexion the Sores of Lazarus will make as good Dust as the Paint and Washes of Jezabel and like Jonas his Gourd we come up in a night and are gone in a moment we come naked into the World and no sooner we are born but the Grave waits for us but to continue in the Body is not the request of those which desire Heaven for the Apostle he desired to be dissolved and the Psalmist crys out As the hart pants after the Water-Brooks so longeth my Soul after thee O God Psal. 42.1 Death only shortens Time not Life and the Merit of Death is the Debt due to Sin both impos'd on Mankind for Sin IV. Now if we cast never so bright a Lustre in the World yet alas our brittle Bodies how quickly are they broken Man says Jeremiah fades like a leaf and sin like a wind takes him away Let a Man live never so long yet at last Death seizes him but to consider aright

exhorts 1 Cor. 15.58 Brethren be ye stedfast and unmoveable your hope being not in vain in the Lord we look for a City to come and that shall come which we look for I and not only come but ever shall continue the futurity speaks the permanence that while 't is present it shall be still to come this future knows not any Preter-perfect-tense Years eating up Days Ages swallowing up Years Time loosing his ne'er so much past yet ne'er the less to come not like our slender Joys here no sooner flow'd to us almost but ebbing from us but a Continuing City Stor'd with fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore Psal. 16.11 Evermore more perennious than the Gliding Stream or Constant Sun here the Sun may be one day Darkned and the Moon pay home her borrowed Light the fixed Stars may become Planets and wander headlong from their Spheres whole Nature may so forget her Office that Heaven and Earth may pass away but these Pleasures like the Right-hand they wait on remain for evermore and this is our expected City whose Inhabitants you 'l say by better title than they of Tarsus may be called Citizens of no mean City Act 21.29 XII And in this Royal City the days brightness there it knows no light no nor ever fears the least Eclipse whose chearful and smiling Brow no Moving Cloud o'recasts nor tempestuous Storm molests the passage of its Rays but still shines on Serene and clear and fills with splendors that Spacious City it needs not the declining lustre of our Golden Sun nor the borrow'd Silver of the Pale faced Moon the Radient Sun that appears there is the Lamb and the Light that shines is the Glory of God the Walls of this City are raised with precious Stones and every Gate is of one rich Pearl the Mansions are built with choicest Jewels and the Streets are paved with transparent Gold in the midst of this City runs a pure Crystal River perpetually flowing from the Heavenly Throne there all along those pleasant Banks deliciously grows the Tree of Life healing all Wounds with its balmy Leaves and making Immortal all that but taste its Fruit. XIII Thus is the holy City which we are too seek Built thus is the City of the New Jerusalem Adorn'd O thrice fortunate and most glorious City how free and happy are thy blest Inhabitants every Head there wears a Royal Crown and every Hand a Palm of Victory every Sparkling Eye o'reflows with Joy and every Silver Tongue with Psalms of Praise there we shall dwell perpetually in the view of God and be filled for ever with the sweetness of his Presence this is that Coelestial Sphere whose Zodiack is Felicity whose Constellations are degrees of Glory and whose Poles are Joy and Eternity THE Second Branch HOW To Fortifie our Selves against THE Fears of DEATH CHAP. I. That if we dedicate our Lives to Christ the advantage of Death will be to our Selves THe Apostle tells us Phil. 1.21 to me to live is Christ and to dye is Gain First St. Paul lived so do all Men so do all Animals what our Apostle saith of Bodies I may of Life there is a natural Body and there is a spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15.44 so there is a Natural and there is a Spiritual Life this is an hidden but that a manifest Life this an inclosure but that a common it is common to Heathens with Christians to Beasts with Men the little Ant the crawling Worms have a share in Life as well as we so that these may say as well as St. Paul to me to live why should we be so much in love with or dote upon this Life which we have no more Interest in than the meanest living Creature indeed it is a Mercy for which we ought to be thankful it is a Talent which we are to improve but it is no Priviledge wherein we should glory whereof we should boast or wherewith we should be too much affected II. Secondly as St. Paul lived so he made account of dying others live as well as he and he must dye as well as others and as certainly as we live we must die and Man is no less subject to perishing than the Beast yea the good man hath no more exemption than the bad for so the Prophet asserts Isa. 57.1 The Righteous perisheth indeed the Apostle elsewhere calls Righteousness a Brest-plate Eph. 6.14 but it is not Death proof and though it delivereth in yet not from Death it is true Death is the wages of Sin but still it is here the Lot of a Saint perfect Innocency should not have known Mortality but Grace in the best is mixed with that Sin which bringeth Death Christ I grant hath taken away Death but so as he hath taken away Sin for the present only in part not fully Sin is taken away by Death that is the Power and Guilt of it III. And indeed it is not without manifold Reason that divine Providence hath so ordered it first that the Members may be conformable to their Head and that we may follow Christ the same way of Death in which he hath gone before us to Glory secondly that by pulling down of the Wall the Moss may be fully plucked out and by the dissolution of the Body its Infirmity and Frailty wholly Purged away thirdly that the Power of God may appear the more Glorious in Raising us up after Death hath laid us in the Grave and the Grave turn'd us into Dust fourthly finally that the Strength of our Faith might appear the more in believing we shall live though we die for these Reasons the Wise God hath appointed his own Children to Walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death IV. To carry it yet one Step further and that in a few Words it is no other than St. Paul who was not only a Christian but an Apostle who taketh it for granted that he must die neither the Word nor the Work of Righteousness can secure from Death for Prophets Apostles Ministers as well as others are Mortal and must dye indeed they are according to our Saviour's Metaphor the Lights of the World but such as after a while may be blown out by a violent however must go out by a natural Death Clouds they are from whom the Rain of Instruction falls upon the People but at length they themselves vanish away finally Angels they are in Respect of their Office but still they are Men in regard of their Nature and must die like Men St. Paul himself hence supposeth it is a thing which sooner or later would befall him V. Now this blest Pattern of the Apostle might serve to shame us out of our inordinate living to our Selves and quicken us in our endeavour to live to Christ as Peter said in another case to Christ John 6.68 Lord whither should we go thou hast the Words of Eternall Life let us say in this Lord to whom should we live thou hast Command of our Natural

Body for hunger is a Worm gnawing the Intrails calling for Meat or threatning Death Jer. 11.22 Lam. 4.9 Men being hungry and thirsty their soul fainteth in them Psal. 107.5 and by this infirm condition whereunto God hath subjected our nature he calls us to think on Death IV. Our Table as oft as we come to it is the Memorial of our Mortality and our food before it enters the Body for nourishment is diversly prepared as Corn and the like are made to grow by the dung of beasts Luke 13.8 and from hence is the strength of our corruptible Life So that we may say with Holy Job to Corruption thou art my Father chap. 17.14 But this not all but we feed upon Death it self and that by the allowance of the Almighty Gen. 9.3 in taking away the lives of other Creatures to maintain our own this is seriously to be thought upon as a wonderful Work of God that our lives are preserved by the Death of the Creatures our living Bodies are sustained by their dead Carcasses in their Blood Swims our Life and from their pangs of Death spring the Pleasures of our Life our Feasts and daily Food Now if those that in part were maintained by Sin-Offerings were said to eat Sin Hos. 4.8 then those that in part were maintain'd by the death of Creatures may be said in the like Phrase to eat Death So often therefore as we eat the Flesh of the dead Creature and make our bodies to become their Graves So often are we called to remember our own Death and our own Grave in the body of the Earth V. Another Help to preserve our frail Bodies is our Apparel which God hath given us to cover and defend them from Cold to preserve Health and herein we have a double or treble memorial of Death considering that our Apparel was given us when by our Sin we came first into the World to the state of Death Gen. 2.25 and when God first gave us our Garments he took 'em out of Deaths Wardrobe they being made with the death of the Creatures from whence they were taken God made coats of skin for Adam and his Wife and his Posterity Gen. 3.21 Heb. 11.35 our Garments therefore being Badges of Mortality and Cognizances of Death so oft as we look upon them we are called of God to remember Death and so oft as we cloath our selves with them to be mindful that we put on the Livery of Death VI. As Food and Raiment are Means to preserve Life so Labour of Man in his Vocation is a means to get both Food and Rayment and therefore an Help of Helps to maintain Life and yet in and by this Labour also we are called to remember our Latter End and to think of Death for upon Labour attends Weariness and Faintness even a failing and decay of Life Painful Labour sometimes maketh Men weary of their Lives and to think of Death and wish for it as for hid Treasure Ex. 1.14 Job 3.17.22 considering that in Death Men rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 VII And above all consider the Labour Vigilancy and Care that is found in the highest Callings how many Thorns is there platted in every Crown Likewise in the Magistracy what Troubles is there in distributing Justice and in the painful Work of the Ministry who watch over Souls all these have through their indefatigable Weariness in Affairs of Church and State have thought it as the best Expedient to think of Death nay even to wish for it and consequently to prepare for it Numb 11.15 1 Kings 19.4 VIII And not only by the Weariness thereof but by the divers Kinds of Labour in several Vocations God takes occasion to shew the Vanity and Shortness of Life present and summons them by their Callings and by the Quality of their Works to think of Death For the Weaver by finishing every Web God teacheth him how his Days are cut off and the Web of his Life finished Isa. 38.12 yea before the Web is finished by the running of the Shuttle at every Stroke and every Thred added to the Web the Lord admonisheth how swiftly the days of his Life run away Job 7.6 Then the Shepherd in the Field by the removal of his Tent or Fold he is taught to think of the Removal of his Life IX The Travel that Men have by Land is appointed of the Almighty to put us in mind that our days are swifter than a Post Job 9.25 that we ride Post as on Dromedaries that run by the way in all hast to their Journeys end And the Voyages that Men have by Sea in the most swiftest sailing Ships is mention'd by the Almighty to represent the swiftness of our Time that carries us night and day sleeping or waking to the Haven of Death Job 9.26 and according to this Wisdom of God and his Example should Men make right use of their respective Callings Employments and Affairs of the World to see before their Eyes continually their Lawes End X. As Labour and Toil in the Day so Sleep and Rest in the Night-Season is also a necessary Help to preserve this Mortal Life and this Sleep is a lively Image of Death for in Sleep Men lye down as dead Men without Sense or Motion ceasing from their Works and taking no notice of the things that are done by others and therefore the Holy Scriptures describeth Death by the Name of Sleep or lying down to sleep Job 14.12 Psal. 76.5 Matth. 27.52 John 11.11 1 Cor. 11.30 1 Thes. 4.13 Now when Sleep assails us and like a Giant throws us down we ought to think of Death and by sight of our Bed to remember our Grave to look upon it as a Tomb or Sepulchre and every Night before we go into it to labour for reconciliation with God that so we may lie down and sleep safely IX Whenever Sleep seizes upon us let us seriously meditate and think how securely and sweetly do they sleep that take care to go to Bed with a just and quiet Conscience who after a toilsome day of Faithfull Diligence and Industry in a Course of prudent just and pious Living lay down their carefull and wearied Heads in Peace and Tranquillity and safely rest securely in the Bosom of the Almighties Providence if they awake at midnight their Conscience void of Offence comforts them in the dark and with Christian Courage bids them not tremble or be afraid at the Shadow of Death no nor even at the grim Majesty of Death it self but confidently and with good Assurance look up with the Eye of Faith and long for the Dawn of that Eternal Day this indeed should be our chiefest care to note and censure and correct our selves to strive for Mastery over our Passions and to dismiss from our Thoughts what no ways concern us CHAP. V. Of Sin the Means of Death of Sickness Youth and Old Age. OVR Sins the Works of the Flesh in Scripture are called dead Works Heb. 6.1 and 9.14