Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A69012
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A treatise of the Beatitudes. Or Christs happy men. By James Buck Bachelor of Divinitie, and vicar of Stradbrooke in Suffolke
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Buck, James.
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1637
(1637)
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STC 3998; ESTC S117005
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201,269
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350
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amici dolorem peccati lachrìmis non ostendiâ Hee may kâow himselfe vitiously hard that weepes for temporall losses or the death of friends and utters not his griefe for sinne in teares It is reported of St. PETER that he wept so often as he heard a Cocke crow and that by continuall running of his teares as it were Channels came to bee made in his blessed face And of St. ARSENIUS f In vit Patâââ par 2. Sect. ââ 3. Pâât conloraâ ejus ãâã jugi fletu ceciderunt That by perpetuall weeping the haires fell from his eyes and that all his life long sitting at worke ãâã had a cloth in his bosome because âf the teares thaâ powred downe out of his eyes Lam. 3.48 49.51 The Prophets eyes affected his heart foâââunâing in a manner the sorrow thereof and streaming teares till the heart melted in griefe such tendernesse ãâ¦ã by Prayers g âatheââ ãâã thââgh by any ãâ¦ã after windes comes raine invoke we then the South winde to blow upon us the spirit to descend into our harts as a mighty wind to raise showers and floods of teares Cassian collat 9. cap. 29.30 no violence is to be used here h but God to be wayted on that with the influence of his gracious looke he would thaw our frozen hearts All consciences witnesse with St. BERNARD i De modo bene vivendi c 10. Omnis Peccator tunc se cognoscit visitari a domino quando compungitur in lachrymas uam Petrus tunc flevit quando in eam Christus respexit Every sinner knowes himselfe to bee then visited of God when he is strucke with compunction that teares follow And though Thunder inferre Raine the threats of judgments wring teares from beleevers eyes yet the soule is more easily melted into such expressions k So S. Gregor Amoris flamma succensi ordeamus in lachrymis cum odore virtutum in Ezechibom 22. p. 1222. by consideration of Gods innumerable mercies then by any representation of torments and the sweetest way of distilling teares is by vehement and burning love which is full of soft and tender affects Which to have at command and be baptized and will as the Fathers speake with holy teares is an advantage of a contemplative l Qui provecti sunt in arcem contemplationis fletum habent in virtute potestatis S. Gregor in 1. Reg. l. 4. c. 5 p. 339. person that oft retyres himselfe from the world and warmes his heart in meditation in resemblance whereof wee see MARY the devotianall sister that sate alone she was the weeper But to them that would weepe because they cannot weepe I say with St. ANASTAâIUS m Sinaita serm de saââa synaxi p. 108. If thou caust not weepe at least sigh and hee sad And truly if there be a good man which cannot possibly weepe how can hee possibly but mourne when he takes to heart how his sinnes are increased over his head mee in number than the haires thereof yea passing all Arithmeticks and is neare to infinity as number can make them Now God be mercifull to us and soften our obdurate hearts if there be no blisse for any that mourn not for sin Where shal they appeare who Pro. 2.14 rejoyce to do evill and delight in the frowardnes of the wicked Are so hungry that they cannot be satisfied with their owne sinnes but they must be glutting themselves also with the Reprobate acts of others applauding and taking pleasure in them Rom. 1.32 You may conceive how few are blessed so few mourne now a dayes it is as it was to DAVID a reproch to weepe Psal 69.10 Men can mention their sinnes with dry eyes and light hearts yea make themselves and others merry with them I glory in them Hinc est quod lachrymaram causas tripudââtes peragunt hinc est quod mortis sua negotium ridentes exequurtur B. Gregor in Iob. l. 20. c. 15. and act causes of teares with triumph and dispatch the businesse of their death laughing Fooles make a pastime of sinne Pro. 14 9 As if it were but a laughing matter which the blessed Apostle could not tell men of without weeping Phil. 3.18.19 What that the world hath brought us forth Roarers instead of Weepers a generation of men so abandoning all sorrow for sinne that they often bely themselves and faine to have committed the sinnes they never did to advance their credit as they take it with evill companioÌs as St. AUG confesses of himselfe before his conversion n Confess l. 2. c. 3. Vbi non suberat qua assso aquarer perditis fingebam ãâã furcisse quae non secânem ne viderer abjuctior quo eram inââcention Many make no burthen of grievous and mortall sinnes but goe light away crying is this such a matter Which matter neverthelesse cost the LORD CHRIST his dearest blood and would appeare to ãâã where they âââkened out of their dead sleepe and securitie CHAP. 3. enough to sinke all creatures into the bottomlesse pit A few soft words wee are all sinners God helpe us bee they never so coldly spoken and on the by suffice the most to bewaile sinne but whether that bee the broken and contrite heart that God dâspiseth not whether it be the mourning here blessed I leave to the common sense of experienced Christians and proceed to the second head of mourning for the sinne of others CHAP. III. How Christians are tyed to mourne for the sinnes of others HEre I must intreat you to looke backe a little and observe that none can religiously mourne for the sinnes of another that is not first heartily sorrowfull for his owne a publick mourner must beginne at home acknowledging with Nehemiah Chap. 1.6 I and my fathers house have sinned and with Daniel chap. 9.20 confessing his sinne and so the sinne of his people a S. Aug. ep 122. Vide queâadmodaââ sua peccata priùs dixit postea populi sui How bold is the profane multitude that never tooke upon them so much as a sad countenance for their sinnes and yet make as if they were heavy and presume to cast forth words of discontent at the times There are abundance that finde much to mourne for in the Church much in the common-wealth either in their owne houses CHAP. 2. nothing in their owne hearts that ascribe all evill to the faults of others that turne their mourning for sinne into censuring Hypocrite first cast out the beame out of thy owne eye that thou mayest see the sinne that is in thy right hand leave thy usury thy sacriledge thy hard fradulent dealing and then we will be patient to hear thee charitably lameÌting some scaÌdalâ it may be in the Church abuses in the State Of a truth if these people could be perswaded to keep within and note their owne deficiency they would not have the tythe of the leasure forwardnesse that now they have to usurpe
no one without a beape of graces and mercies in it therefore esteeme variety of sufferings a subject deserving not some measure but the whole affect and faculty of joy St. BASIL rehearsing that Hebr. 11.36 37 38 they were scourged bound imprison'd ston'd sawne a sunder tempted slaine addes a these are the braveries of Saints ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thus the Primitive Christians were affected Act. 16.25 Magis damnati quèm absoluti gauââus Tertul ad Scapulam blessed is he that is held worthy of sufferings for CHRIST more blessed he that abounds in such sufferings Martyrs joyed in a sentence of condemnation as offendours in 2 sentence of absolution 2. Cor. 15.31 The Apostles joy in dayly subjection to death and other passions and continuall expectance and preparation for them was so great cleere and undoubted that he sweares by it by our reioycing in Christ Iesus I die dayly The holy Abbot IOHANNICIUS b Non solum laââbatur probris pro Christo affectââ sed etiam ââplebat majora pâti reâââ scient quia per âa majora cause queretur Evitâ ejââ c. 49. Nov. 4. not onely rejoyced being reproched and persecuted for Christ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but also wished that he might suffer more well knowing that thereby he should reape more fruit 2. Cor. 12.10 I take pleasure in infirmities in reproch in necessities in persecutions in distresses for CHRISTS sake Which PAUL did as purely loving himselfe in God and therefore most pleased with what profited most to his purgation proficiencie perfection And this may wee take for a proofe of our spiritualitie if tribulation bee savourie to us and we finde upon earth a paradise iâ passion 2. Cor. 1.5 As the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation abounds by Christ Aegidius Minorita askes c In Vita ejus c. 40. Quid causae est quodâ aegrè forimus afflictiones Non concupiscimus medullitus spiritales consolatto âes what ãâã the cause that we take afflictions heavily and answeres we doe not heartily covet spirituall consolations It is meere carnalitie to aspire after an exception from the crosse and to be alwayes treading upon roses to wish this beatitude to any rather then our selves and ours Faith moves in its own orbe when it renders exceeding glad notwithstanding the heavines through manifold temptations 1. Pet. 1 6. Thus St. VALERIAN d Hom. 16. Perfectae fidei est lucrativis locum dare suppliciis it is the exercise of perfect faith to give way to gainfull penalties At any rate to take up where wee are strangers those disgraces which in our Country will passe for the highest dignities That ARNOBIUS IUNIOR repeating these words who âââân say all manner of evill of you falsely for my sake rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven might for cause presse them in this sort e Si recti estis fide nolite quaerare laudes hominum in terris quia habehitis Angelorum in coelis In Ps if yee be right in Faith seeke not the praises of men upon earth when ye shall have the applause of Angels in heaven And this hath brought us to the cause why we should bee joyfully glad in the happinesse of suffering for great is your reward in heaven they purchase a great degree in glory CHAP. IV. CHAP. 4. Of the speciall glory comming to Sufferers BEsides the reward of heaven which is equall in all the saved there is a reward in heaven diversified according to our actions and passions for CHRIST This makes the Apostles straine so hyperbolicall as it is in the originall 2. Cor. 4.17 and the reward for persecution is the greatest which therefore for its latitude is not specified but stiled simply great as above all the degrees of comparison and exceeding all the hyperboles of our speech 2. Tim. 2.11 12. If wee suffer wee shall reigne CHRISTS pâââ may lose their lives not their rewards Hee that tooke off âaulâ head could not take away his crowne a In his Preface ad asueâ fâââ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Follow Christ and conquer as St. BASIL admonishes for thou followest 4 victorious King who will have thee partaker of his victorie and if thaâ ãâã killed thou shalt more then conqueââ Wee hold our selves more bound to them that suffer for us then to them that any other wayes minister to us CHRISTS specially acknowledges them in heaven that were confessors on earth Matth. 10.32 The Martyrs field brings for the ãâ¦ã fold the glorified bodies ãâã most glorious in their skars every Saint hath his ãâã the sufferer aureolam an additionall flourish of triumph b Qui volânt detrahit famae mea nolens addit mercedi meae S. Aug. cont lit Petilian l. 3. c. 7. 12. De bono viduitatis c. 22. He that with his will detracts from thy reputation shall against his will adde to thy retribution In all the universe there is not a worthier sight then a Martyr suffering 1. Cor. 4.9 Wee are made a spectacle to the world to Angels and to men The Lord lookes downe from heaven and sees no sight so meriting his aspect as Minutius Faelix sayth c In Octavio p. 10. Quam pulchrum spectaculum Deo cum Christianus cum dolore congreditur How goodly a spectacle for God is a Christian encountring with paine Therefore CHRIST that fits at the right hand of God as judge of quick and dead at the passion of Stephen stands to behold the good fight of faith stands as Advocate for his d S. Ambr. de fide l. 2. 7. Christus sedot ad dextram Dei quasi judex vivorum mortuorum stat quasi advocatus suorum sâabat ergo quasi sacerdos quândo patri hostiam boni martyris offerebat stubat quasi loââ iuââatori braviam tanti prasul certaminis redditurââ stands as Priest offering to the Father the sacrifice of a prime Martyr stands as supervisor and ready to render the prize to the valiant Champion Our Lord remembring the persecuted of rewards allowes the time of persecution for a season to meditate recompences and retaliation Heb. 11.24.25 MOSES chose afflictions with the people of God rather then the pleasures of sinne and esteemed the reproch of CHRIST greater riches thââ the treasures of Aegypt because he had respect to the recompence of reward So in dammages indignities Christians may support themselves with contemplation of future advantages and honours and in place have an eye at glory and prelation therein to be thereby the more incouraged in the Lord and the better to subdue the unwillingnesse of the flesh to conflicts and hard services in Christ Iam. 5.11 Behold we count them blessed that have suffered invites vs to reflect our judgments on our consciences and seeing wee count and call the Martyrs and Confessours blessed whensoever we mention them and thinke their noble armie the supreme of all orders in the Church militant and