Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	bear_v	sin_n	world_n	4,338	5	4.9247	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43351	Miscellanea, or, A mixture of choyce observations and institutions, moral, and divine, composed for private use being the product of spare hours, and the meditations of J.H.	Henshaw, Joseph, 1603-1679.	1669 (1669)	Wing H1480; ESTC R4644	40,398	215

content which is the greatest riches Are we Sin sick here 's a shop of Soul medicines Are we fainting here 's a Cabinet of cordialls Are we Christ-less here 's the Star that leadeth unto Christ Are we Christians here 's the band that keeps us in Christ Are we afflicted here 's our solace Are we persecuted here 's our Protection Are we deserted here 's our recovery Are we tempted here 's our Sword and Victory Are we young here 's our beauty Are we old here 's our wisdom while we live here 's the rule of our Conversation when we dye here 's the hope of our Glorification Oh blessed Scriptures Who can know them and not love them who can love them and not delight to meditate in them day and night who can meditate in them and not desire to love them love to desire them and both desire and love to understand them The Sacred Scripture is the Book of Books the book of Life whose original is eternal whose essence is incorporeal whose knowledg is life whose writing is indelible whose respect is desirable whose doctrine is easie whose depth is unsearchable whose words are innumerable and only one word All. To conclude take one instance of the experience of Mrs. Katharine Bretergh of Bretergholt in Lancashire Who was wont to task her self to read eight Chapters a day at least who in her sickness before her death fell into great distress of Soul through an apprehension of the severity of Gods Justice the greatness of her Sins wa●… of Faith in and love to God sometimes she would cast he● Bible from her and say It was indeed the book of Life but she had read the same unprofitably and it was become to her the book of Death Sometimes she would say Her sins had made her a prey to Satan a spectacle to the World a disgrace to Religion and a shame to her Husband Kindred and all to true Christians and here she would weep bitterly she wished she had never been born or that she had been any other Creature then a Woman she cryed out oftentimes Wo wo wo a weak a woful a wretched a forsaken woman and such like pitiful complaints against her self with tears trickling down her cheeks but at last she was restored to joys and comforts unspeakable by means of the holy Scriptures Oh said she My Soul hath been compassed about with terrours of death fear within and fear without the sorrows of Hell were upon me knots and knors were upon my Soul a roaring Wilderness of wo was within me but Blessed blessed blessed be the Lord my God who hath not left me comfortless One time she took Bible in her hand and joyfully kissing it and looking up towards Heaven she said Oh Lord it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy Statutes the law of thy mouth is better to me then thousands of Gold and Silver She desired her Husband to read some part of Scripture he read the 17 of John as he read vers 9. I pray not for the World but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine She interrupted him saying Oh Lord Jesus dost thou pray for me Oh blessed and sweet Saviour dost thou pray for me Oh how wonderful how wonderful how wonderful are thy mercies read on said she the blessedst reading that ever I heard the comfort whereof doth sweeten my Soul When he came to ver 34. Father I will that they whom thou hast given me be one with me Stay said she and let me meditate on the goodness of the Lord for now I perceive and feel the countenance of my Redeemer Christ is turned towards me and the bright shining beams of his mercy are spread over me Oh! happy am I that ever I was born to see this blessed day Praise praise Oh praise the Lord for his mercies he hath brought me out of darkness and the shadow of death Oh sweet Saviour shall I be one with thee as thou art one with thy Father and wilt thou glorifie me with that glory which thou hadst with the Father before the World was And dost thou so love me who am but dust and ashes to make me partaker of thy own glory What am I poor wretch that thou art so mindfull of me Oh how wonderful is thy love c. Thus she continued ravished in Spirit and triumphing in Gods prayses till her last At last with a sweet countenance and still voice she said my warfare is accomplished and mine iniquities are pardoned Lord whom have I in Heaven but thee and I have none on Earth but thee my flesh faileth and mine heart also but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever He that preserveth Jacob and defendeth Israel he is my God and he will guide me unto Death guide me O Lord my God and suffer me not to faint but keep my Soul in safety And with that she presently departed this life Thus we see how useful the holy Scripture is to every Christian Soul and how God thereby gives comfort to those who are his when all other comforts fail them make it ever therefore thy delight and thy daily companion for take all the rarest writings now extant in the world none of them all can thus raise up a drooping Spirit or disconsolate Soul from the depth of wo and horror none of them can fill the heart thus brimful of sweetest peace none of them all can thus enlarge and entranse the Spirit to extasies of Heavenly Joy and ravishments through apprehensions of Gods love and mercy above grief above temptation above sin above all fear of Death that King of Terrours as this blessed word of God can who would not now labour to understand the Scriptures who would not treasure up and kiss and embrace and greedily swallow down these Soul-reviving Cordials CHAP. XLVII IN Civil things follow the most in matters of Religion the fewest in all things follow the best so shall thy ways be pleasing to God so shall thy behaviour be plausible with men but follow not a multitude in the evil of Sin lest thou share with the multitude in the evil of punishment the number of the offendors diminisheth not the quality of the offence As the multitude of suiters draws more favour to the suit so the multitude of sinners draws more punishment upon the sin the number of Fagots encreaseth the fury of the fire CHAP. XLVIII HAth any wounded thee with injuries meet them with patience hasty words rankle the wound soft language dresses it forgiveness cures it and oblivion takes away the scar It is more noble by silence to avoid an injurie then by Argument to overcome it CHAP. XLIX LEt not mirth be thy profession lest thou become a make-sport he that hath but gained the Title of a Gester let him assure himself the fool is not far off wrinckle not thy face with too much laughter lest thou become ridiculous The Suburbs of

comforter prove thy tormenter and if thy conscience condemn thee God who is greater then thy conscience shall much more condemn thee be assured there is no action though never so secret though never so small that can escape the pen of this ready Scribe but all thou dost shall be recorded and that so clear and evident that go where thou wilt and do what thou canst the characters thereof shall never be cancell'd or raced out till God appear in Judgment And as there is no greater peace on this side Heaven then the peace of Conscience so there is no greater torment on this side Hell then a wounded Conscience Though the World should rattle about thine ears and the waves of affliction beat never so hard upon thee yet thou may'st sit merry at the feast of a good Conscience as secure as that child which in a Ship-wrack was with his Mother upon a planck securely sleeping whom when she awaked with his pretty countenance sweetly smiling asked a stroake to beat the naughty waves as if they had been his play-fellows Oh that sweet harmonious melody when this Bird in the bosome sings clear Oh the Peace and Comfort of innocency the tranquility of a spotless mind Oh the serenity No Spanish skie so clear as a good Conscience On the contrary Philo Judaeus reporteth that Flaccus play'd all the parts of cruelty that he could invent against the Jews for their Religion but when the doom of Calligula fell upon him and he was banished to Andros an Island near Greece he was so tormented with the memory of his bloody iniquity and the fear of suffering for it that if he saw any man walking softly near unto him he would say to himself this man deviseth to work my destruction if he saw any go hastily surely this is not for nothing he maketh speed to kill me if any man spake him fair he suspected that he would cozen him and sought to entrap him if any talked roughly to him then he thought that he contemned him if meat were given him in ample manner this is but to fat me as an Ox for the slaughter thus his Conscience that he had so often abused did ever mind him that some vengeance was to follow either from God or Man or both If thou sin often against thy Conscience at length it will remember thee and all the consorts of Musick in the World cannot stop its cry that nothing but destruction waiteth on thee if thou walk abroad Sonus excitat omnis suspensum thou wilt be afraid of every leaf that shakes if thou stay at home nothing but horrour attends thee in the day thou art struck with variety of sad apprehensions in the night thou art troubled with fearful dreams and strange apparitions Such is the Hell of a guilty Conscience CHAP. LXXVIII BE neither too much affected with the vaine applause of the multitude nor too confident in their uncertain opinion for whom to day they cry up they will cry down to morrow None ever more careful in Gods house then Moses none deeper in his favour none more graced with Miracles none more careful of the peoples good or more honoured by them yet if they be once distressed and straightned in their provisions they will stone Moses to death and set up a new Governour How did the people at first entertain Paul even as an Angel of Light and were ready to pull out their eyes for him not long after hearkning to Seducers St. Paul was accounted their enemy and they ready to pull out his eyes and give them to their false Apostles Our Saviour Christ shall have Hosannah to day and the next day they cry out Crucifie him Nothing more unconstant then the Multitude thou canst not tell where to find them nor when thou hast them nothing more ungrateful thou canst make no account of any recompence from them in short therefore be as far from desiring their love as fearful to deserve their hatred ruine lies in both the one will hugg thee to death the other will crush thee to destruction to escape the first be not ambitious to avoid the second be not seditious CHAP. LXXIX LEt the providence of the Ant and the prudence of the worldly wise instruct thee for thy Souls health the Ant by Natures instinct layeth up her store for winter the wise provide a cloak for the wet a staff for old age a scrip for the Journey and a banck of money to flye to when occasion serveth see thou lay up for thy self treasures in heaven which cannot be spoyled by hostile invasion nor wrung from thee by power nor won by law nor mortgaged by debt nor impaired by publick calamity nor changed by Kings or Parliaments nor violated by death it self get assurance of Gods favour by the lively exercise of unfeigned faith the daily practice of serious Repentance and the frequent use of fervent Prayer whereby thou mayst be enabled to stand in the evil Day and bear up with joy and peace in the worst of times the hour of Death and the day of Judgment CHAP. LXXX SEe thou promise not to thy self more felicity peace or comfort from this world then it can give A Velvet slipper cannot cure the Gout neither can a down bed give ease in an Ague fitt all second causes move in a subserviency to the cause of Causes whatsoever is here below is but a pipe of conveyance from God the fountain of all good and there be many wayes whereby these pipes become stopt many interruptions crosses and disappointments attend us in our best estate Jonah's condition was but bad at best to be tossed too and fro in a dangerful Ship the bones whereof aked with the violence of every surge that assayled it the Anchors Cables and Rudders either thrown away or torn in pieces at length he is cast into the Sea a merciless and implacable Sea roaring for his life more then ever Lyon roared for his prey the bottom whereof seemed as low to him as the bottomless pit and no hope left to escape by Ship or Boat no Tabula naufragii no plank or piece of board appearing whereby to recover the Land beside all these to fill the measure of his sorrow up to the brim the burning of Gods anger against his sin like a river of Brimstone this is our case in this vail of misery we are tumbled and tossed in a vessel as frail as Jonah's Ship which every stream of calamity is ready to dash in pieces every storm of disease able to split where oftentimes neither Anchor nor Rudder is left neither head nor heart nor hand in case to give any comfort where though we have the kindness of Friends the duty of Children the obedience of Servants the convenience of wealth and the advice of Physicians we cannot use their service where we have a grave before us greedy to receive but never to return us till Worm's have consumed us But if the anger of God for our sins