Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
death_n apostle_n sin_n sting_n 5,518 5 11.9612 5 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A02414 Pieties pillar: or, A sermon preached at the funerall of mistresse Elizabeth Gouge, late wife of Mr. William Gouge, of Black-friers, London With a true narration of her life and death. By Nicholas Guy, pastor of the church at Edge-ware in Middlesex. Guy, Nicholas, b. 1587 or 8. 1626 (1626) STC 12543; ESTC S103587 19,555 63

There are 3 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

exitus but transitus not obitus but abitus not a dying but a departing A transmigration and exodus out of our earthly pilgrimage vnto our heauenly home Fratres mortui saith Saint Augustine non sunt amissi sed praemissi Profectio est saith Tertullian quam putas mortem A passage from the valley of death to the land of the liuing That all true Beleeuers departing hence are still aliue is euident by the words of our Sauiour that God who is the God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob is not the God of the dead but of the liuing If the father of the faithfull be still aliue no doubt but so are all his children who departed hence in the faith of their father Death to them is but a sleepe So is it said of Dauid of Salomon and of other Kings of Israel and of Iuda that they slept with their fathers So in the New Testament such as are dead in the Lord are said to sleepe in Christ So great a resemblance is there between sleepe and death that sleepe is called by Ouid mortis imago by Virgil consanguineus Lethi Seneca cals it the brother Hesiode the Sister of death Sleepe is a kinde of death and death a kinde of sleepe I would not haue you to bee ignorant saith the Apostle brethren concerning them which are asleepe that yee sorrow not euen as others which haue no hope For if wee beleeue that Iesus died and rose againe euen so them also which sleepe in Iesus will God bring with him The Apostle saith that the Christ the Lord who giues life to all things is dead and mortall man saith he sleepeth which manner of speech at the first sight may seeme strange but there is good reason for it For wee therefore sleepe because Christ died His death made our death but a sleepe Christ by his bitter death made death sweet vnto vs made it I say but the very shadow of death so that death cannot hurt vs because Christ hath taken away sinne the sting thereof O death where is thy sting Lastly though their bodies sleepe in the graue yet their soules liue a glorified life in heauen So that the Saints departed are dead in their worst part onely but liuing in their best euen in that wherein they desire to liue most as Martial an Heathen Poet diuinely Sed lugere nefas nam quite Prisce reliquit Viuit qua voluit viuere parte magis Sith death then to the true Beleeuers in Christ is but a sleepe a passage from misery to eternall happinesse Let vs sing with old Simeon a nunc Dimittis and reioyce that our warfare all our combates and conflicts with the world the flesh and the diuell are ended So long as we are in this world wee must continually fight against those lusts which fight against our soules When we haue conquered couetousnesse lust riseth vp against vs when carnall concupiscence is suppressed ambition takes place when ambition and pride are foyled drunkennesse endeuours to draw vs on to eternall destruction I know that the men of this world count it their blisse to be caried away by the world the flesh and the Diuell and to doe seruice vnto them But the children of God account it their bane to bee in any the least subiection vnto them and therefore doe they continually band themselues against them Blame them not therefore though they reioyce when the combate is ended and all their enemies conquered and crowned What Souldier is not glad when the combate is ended and his enemie conquered who in a great tempest at Sea would not gladly be in a quiet and calme harbour and who in the sea of this tempestuous world would not giue this world to arriue at the hauen of eternall happinesse here is nothing but wailing and weeping Who would not bee there where all teares are wiped away Our Sauiour told his Apostles being sorrowfull for his departure If yee loued me yee would reioyce because I goe to my Father To me saith S. Paul to liue is Christ to dye is gaine Let him therefore dread death who is not borne againe of water and of the Holy Ghost but remaines enthralled to the flames of hell fire Let him feare to die who shall passe from the naturall death to eternall Let him I say be daunted when death drawes nigh who when hee shall passe out of this world shall eternally be tormented in the flames of hell fire but let all true Beleeuers in Christ Iesus whose home is heauen with the Traueller thinke the time long till they returne home to their owne countrey where after the wearisome trauell of this life they shall liue eternally in all rest and happinesse Thus much of my Text. GIue mee leaue to adde a few words about the particular occasion of this our meeting which is euident by the obiect here before our eyes and maketh vnto vs a visible Sermon of our mortalitie For it is a dead corps which was within these few dayes the receptacle of the euer-liuing soule of Mistris Elizabeth Gouge A soule which while it remained in that receptacle enabled the same thorow the good grace of God infused into it to doe much honour to God and good to man Which that I may the better demonstrate vnto you I will make bold to set before you a briefe iust and true view of the whole course of her life that though the substance of her soule bee now taken from among vs to be among those i●… spirits which are made perfect in heauen and her bodie to be couered from ou● sight in the earth in assured hope o● the Resurrection thereof to eternal life yet her graces may remaine fresh among vs for the greater consolation of her friends and imitation of vs all Shee was the daughter of such Parents as while they liued were of very good note and name Her father Mr Henry Calton was a Mercer and Citizen in London of good worth Her mother was of a good Gentlemans house Mr Cois of Stubbers in Essex Both her Parents died while she was yong and had not her Mothers owne brother Master William Coys taken vpon him the tuition of his Sisters children they had beene made a prey But he like a good Mordecai brought vp his said Sisters children which were three in number a sonne who was drowned in swimming while he was a youth and two daughters the eldest whereof was this Gentlewoman whose Funerall wee now solemnize The yonger still liueth being maried to the yonger brother of this Gentlewomans husband Such was the said Guardians care ouer these Orphanes as after he had trained them vp some while in his owne house for their better education hee put them forth to board in a pious painfull faithfull Ministers house Master Huckles by name of Hatfield-Broad-oake in Essex whose wife had a great name and that not without iust desert for skill and faithfull care in training vp yong
and sicknesse and death in this world Lazarus whom Christ loued was sicke 2. His Sisters therefore vse the best meanes they can whilst hee was sicke For his recouery they send to Christ to teach vs that we can sue and seeke to none in comparison of Christ in all our troubles For as hee was reputed in those dayes a great Phycitian for the body who cured all diseases so is he for the soule too to heale all our miseries 3. For Christs part though he loued Lazarus yet hee doth not presently come to cure him but suffers him to dye Hee abode two dayes in the place where hee was till Lazarus was dead from whence wee may note that Christ suffers the euill of affliction to come vpon his seruants whom hee loues rather then preuents it with grace and then also he doth not presently relieue them but suffers them to send and pray as these Sisters did here and as Iacob wrestled with God and Saint Paul prayed thrice And this he doth for diuers causes both to manifest our grace and his glory Our faith and loue to him by this meanes will expresse themselues the more and this also will more manifest his glory in bringing downe to Hell and the graue and then bringing againe to life If Christ had come at the first and healed his sicknesse an ordinary Physitian haply could haue done as much but though he tarry long yet at last hee comes and shewes the gracious light of his countenance vpon vs so that now you shall heare him with comfortable words speaking both to his Apostles in priuate and afterward to the Sisters when they come to meet him to his Apostles he saith Our friend Lazarus sleepeth so that if wee can get friendship with Christ our death shall bee but a sleepe and Christ will certainely awake vs from it at the resurrection of the iust So Christ goes forward to the house of mourning where the Iewes were comforting the Sisters for the death of their brother Lazarus But they were like Rachel mourning for her children they refused to bee comforted because their brother Lazarus was not When Martha heard that Christ was comming on the way she went forth to meete him few such Marthaes who meet Christ comming toward them we rather flye from him When shee was come to Christ shee tells him with a heauy heart of the death of her brother Lazarus which his presence might haue preuented Christ therefore in the words I haue read vnto you preacheth a comfortable Sermon to pacifie the friends of the deceased that they should not sorrow as those without hope and tells Martha that her brother Lazarus though he be dead shall rise againe And that she may not doubt of it hee addes That he will bring it to passe not onely for Lazarus but for all other deceased in the faith and therefore he sayes I am the resurrection and the life he that beleeueth in me though he were dead yet shall he liue and whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth in mee shall neuer dye So that the words of the Text which I haue read vnto you are a gracious and a large Charter or promise of Christs wherwith he comforts Martha for her particular and grants the same in generall to euery one of vs In which is comprehended no lesse then the summe or Epitome of the Gospell which is To beleeue in Christ and we shall be saued So it is said God so loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten Sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life All the Gospell can say no more and so much is said in these words that I haue read vnto you whosoeuer liueth c. The Law and the Gospell are as two lines tending to the same Center or as diuers Riuers leading to the same Ocean or as the Cherubins on each side of the Throne though they seemed opposite one to the other yet both of them looked with their faces towards the mercies Seat so the Law and the Gospell intend and aime at one and the same end which is to bring men to life but the difference is in the Author and in the tenure of the one and the other the Author of the Law was Moses Christ of the Gospell The Law was giuen by Moses but grace and truth came by Iesus Christ The tenure of the Law runnes thus Hoc fac viues Doe this and thou shalt liue But the Gospell goes another way Crede viues Beleeue and thou shalt liue And thus in this Text whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth in mee shall neuer dye In the words we will consider these foure particulars First the Author or Donour of this Charter Christ. Secondly the large extent of it next onely to some particular Nation or people but whosoeuer liueth Thirdly the Condition requisite on their parts which is faith Beleeueth in me Fourthly the Priuiledge it selfe exemption from death shall neuer dye First of the Author or Donour Hee that promiseth and intendeth to performe must haue both will and power to performe what hee promiseth or else wee cannot exspect that it will euercome to passe The willingnesse of the minde must bee first procured as the originall from whence hee must be moued to good but this ready minde or desire is not sufficient without power and ability to performe what the will desires From men sometime God accepts the will for the deed as hee did Abrahams intention to sacrifice his sonne as well as the action as if he had really sacrificed his sonne The reason is because God stands in need of nothing that is ours and all that hee exacts of vs is no more but the heart if there be not further strength to expresse a good desire by a good deede a man shall bee accepted according to that which hee hath not according to that which he hath not but when there is want and necessity and euen such is our want and necessity in respect of God there onely a willing minde or compassionate heart or good words Vox preterea nihil are sufficient for vs. Many promise more then they can performe Thus the Deuil in his temptation of Christ saith All these will I giue thee if thou wilt fall downe and worship me as if all the Kingdomes in the world and the glory of them had beene his to giue In like manner the Pope freely disposeth Kings and their Kingdomes as hee dealt with Henry the fourth the Emperour and Childerick of France But this is as we say to be free of another mans purse which is not in his power to giue Thus it were easie to giue large gifts to promise much and performe nothing so that both will and power in matter of grant or promise are as the two legs to support the body either without the other will goe lame or limping home but this is our comfort that in Christ there are both these Will and Power First for
his Will the Apostle tells vs that he would haue all men come to the knowledge of the truth that they may be saued And if we will not take him on his bare word wee haue his oath for it As I liue saith the Lord I haue no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked tuane from his way and liue So that we may bee sure for his willingnesse to doe hee would not that any man should dye then if we may see his power to doe it there remaines nothing more to adde to our comfort and for this wee shall easily be assured for hee is said to haue the keyes of hell and of death so that though a man should be lockt vp prisoner there hee hath the Keyes to open the doore and set vs free againe To him all power is giuen both in Heauen and in earth Power then hee hath sufficient as much as we can desire the power of the greatest Monarches and Emperours and wisest Artists in the world doth not extend thus farre to giue life to the silliest creature to the least Gnat or Emmot They that are stiled Gods in the world and sit in the seat of Iudgement as Pilate did haue power ouer life but onely priuitiuely not possitiuely onely to take away life but not to giue life vnlesse it be onely by way of sauing aliue they cannot make aliue or restore to life and therefore it was that the King of Israel answered Naaman with indignation Am I God to kill and make aliue This is a worke of God alone But this power is giuen to Christ who is therefore called Verbum Vitae Fountaine of Life From whence the diuers streames of all kinds of life doe flow both naturall spirituall and eternall in regard of the naturall life he is called The life who breathed the breath of life into vs and man became a liuing soule In whom wee still liue moue and haue our being In regard of our spirituall life he is our life So Christ liues in vs and hee which hath Christ hath life but hee which is without Christ hath not life In regard of our eternall life he is the life as appeares by the Verse immediately going before my Text I am the resurrection and the life Thus to his will he hath also power to both these what more can be added It may bee you will desire that he should bee as constant in his promise as he is ready and willing and hath power and ability Of this also wee may bee ascertained for euery good and perfect gift commeth from aboue from the Father of lights with whom is no variablenesse nor shadow of change The strength of Israel will not lye nor repent for he is not man that hee should repent So that if hee hath once promised wee need not feare he will goe back from his word Hath he said it and shall it not come to passe Let him be true and euery man a Lyar. So then you see in respect of the Author or Donour the Charter is as full and sure as we can desire it I come to the second particular the large extent of it whosoeuer liueth It is without limitation of time or place or condition of men It is not bounded within the compasse of some particular men liuing in such an age of the world nor vnto a certaine people inhabiting such a City or Land nor to particular estates or professions and conditions liuing in this world If we partake not of it the fault is ours because we doe not apply it nor lay hold on it it is promised and proffered to all men liuing whosoeuer liueth In what age of the world soeuer hee liueth in what place soeuer he liueth from what stocke soeuer hee is deriued and in what condition of life soeuer he liueth the rich and the poore saith Salomon meete together and God is the maker of them both so is Christ the Sauiour of both Of a truth saith Saint Peter I perceiue that God is no respecter of persons Not of the rich before the poore nor of the wise and Scribe and learned before the weake and vnlearned But in euery Nation hee that feareth him and worketh righteousnesse is accepted with him Scythian and Barbarian as well as Iew or Grecian bee hee of noble or base descent This is the large extent Whosoeuer I willingly passe by the secret purpose and prescience of God who sees all things at once omnia simul and so knowes who will embrace it and who refuse it I will not here dispute whether in those generall promises made vnto man in the Scripture by this forme in these words Whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth whether I say God intendeth them alike to euery one this is a secret lockt vp in the bosome of God of which wee may say as the Prophet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this is a secret reserued to God alone which some interpret Secretum meum mihi Secretum meum mihi This is a profundity at which we must stand amazed with the Apostle and cry Oaltitudo O the depth his wayes are past finding out But laying that aside for the Schooles this is that which is more fit to exhort and perswade withall in our Pulpits and which our Church hath taught vs that we should content ourselues with this we must receiue Gods promises in such wise as they he generally set forth vnto vs in holy Scripture not restraining them or determining them in particular to this or that man It is fit that we should so conceiue of God as delighting in no mans destruction nor desiring the death of any but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth that they may bee saued and if wee are not saued wee must not charge God with any ineuitable decree to the contrary as if wee perish vpon necessity but seeing hee hath set forth his gracious promise in Christ to all men whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth wee must ascribe the cause of our perishing to our selues Perditio tua ex te O Israel O Israel thou hast destroyed thy selfe because they wanted faith to beleeue as others that were saued or else they might haue beene saued as well as others It was a fauourable opinion of some which said That all mankind should bee saued effectually to which although we must not giue assent seeing such pregnant proofe to the contrary yet we doubt not but the reuealed Will of God would haue his Grace offered to all and therefore his charge to his Apostles was Goe and teach all Nations and preach the Gospell to euery creature the which as it seemes to vindicate God from all iniustice in the behalfe of those that dye and are damned eternally so it is a point of exceeding comfort to whomsoeuer this priuiledge shall bee offered At the hearing of it none should doubt or suppose that hee is exempted but should