Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	believe_v	die_v	life_n	6,038	5	4.8496	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64681	The rights of primogeniture, or, The excellency of royall authority in a sermon preached before His Majesty in the Isle of Wight, upon the anniversary of his birth-day / by James, L. Bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland.	Ussher, James, 1581-1656.	1648 (1648)	Wing U221; ESTC R24650	6,297	14

THE Rights of Primogeniture OR THE EXCELLENCY OF ROYALL AUTHORITY IN A SERMON Preached before His MAJESTY in the Isle of Wight upon the Anniversary of His BIRTH-DAY By the R. R. Father in God JAMES L. Bishop of Armagh and Primate of IRELAND Nunquam libertas gratior extat Quam sub Rege pio LONDON Printed for R. LOWNDES 1648. THE RIGHTS OF PRIMOGENITURE c. GEN 49. 3. Reuben thou art my first borne my might and the beginning of my strength THis is the beginning of Jacobs blessing his Children which was an act and a principall act of his Faith as it is Heb. 11. 20. And in this we may see a difference betwixt the death of Jacob and his Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob were famous in their Generations God is not ashamed to be called their God And if we consider their lives and deaths we shall find this difference Abraham in his life was most glorious his Faith famous witnesse his offering his onely son to God with that strength of Faith that although he verily beleeved that in Jacob all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed yet was his Faith so strong as to be content to offer him up being perswaded that God was able to raise him from the dead Now although his life was thus glorious when ye come to his death This is all that is said of him Then Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age and was gathered unto his Fathers Commonly great things are expected from holy men at their death yet ye see Abraham was but ordinary in his death Concerning Isaac's life the Scripture saith but little and the selfe same words are used of him at his death as was at the death of Abraham Jacob as ordinary in his life as ye shall meet withall But his death was a Prophecy of Christ's comming into the World He begins with Reuben to whom though he had no mind at all to blesse him he gives his due shewes him that the right of Primogeniture belonged unto him if he had not forfeited it Thou art my first borne my might the beginning of my strength For this reason God commands that the first borne should have a double portion And so Reuben should have received but that he forfeited it Therefore saith he because thou art unstable as Water c. thy excellency is departed from thee and so he gave it to Joseph In repeating the Genealogie of Jacobs sonnes 1 Chron. 5. 1 2. Now saith the Text the sons of Reuben the first borne of Israel for he was the first borne but forasmuch as he defiled his Fathers bed his Birth-right was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel and the Genealogie is not to be reckoned after the Birth-right c. Ye see though he had forfeited his Birth-right he could not forfeit his Primogeniture but there was an escheate thereof to Joseph All the rest had a single Tribe set out to them but Joseph had two Tribes and so the right that should have gone to Reuben fell to Joseph Besides this had not Reuben forfeited his Birth-right he should have had more then this double portion for there was a promise made that Kings should proceed from him Now as in the former Joseph succeeded him so in this of Eminency and Power it fell to Judah for so it followes in 1 Chron. 5. before named Now to Explicate this The Regall power which comes by discent is described by a double Eminency The excellency of Dignity and the excellency of Power By Dignity you understand all outward glory by Power all Dominion and these are the two branches of Majesty The Greekes do therefore expresse it in the abstract In respect of Dignity the Supreame Magistrate is called Glory In respect of Soveraignty he is called Lordship The King is not only Glorious but Glory Not only Powerfull but Power Let every soule be subject to the higher powers Both are joyned in the Epistle to Jude and in the 8. Verse there is a wicked sort described that despise dominion and speake evill of Dignities They despise Dominion that make no conscience to blaspheme the foot-steps of the Lords Anointed These men dare do what Michael durst not doe Verse 9. He durst not bring against the Devill a railing accusation but these dare speake evill of Dignities And what is their Censure Verse 13. To whom is reserved the blacknesse of darknesse for ever We use to say that those that have Gods Tokens upon them are past hopes of like Here ye may plainly see Gods Tokens upon these men they are reserved to Everlasting Damnation Well let us now come to unfold these two parts of Majesty Dignity and Dominion The excellency of Dignity and the excellency of Power By Dignity is meant the outward Pompe and Glory annexed to the Scepter For it is Gods ordinance that there should be an extraordinary splendour in Majesty more then in any other And therefore the Scripture doth often describe the Courts of Princes their Splendour at home and in their Progresse abroad with dignity and state Acts 25. 23. When King Agrippa and Bernice went to heare Paul the Text saith They removed with great Pompe It was a thing beseemed the Regall power so to doe 1 King 10. 2. The Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to see Solomen with a great Traine but she came to a farre greater Court then her owne And this State in Courts is not Pride but it is a thing allowed by Gods ordinance as Christ saith Those that weare soft rayment are in Kings Courts And speaking of the Lillies of the Field I say to you saith he that Solomon in all his Glory was not like one of these If you see a man though in Russet attended upon by others in rich Clothes you will conclude that man though in Russet to be some great Personage The Queen of Sheba was astonished at what she saw in Solomon's Court for when she beheld the Meat of his Table he must not be served as other men the sitting of his Servants the attendance of his Ministers and his Cup-bearer c. the Text saith There was no more spirit in her She was as a man may say besides her self to see this State And so stately it was that Psal. 45. it is brought in as an Allegoricall description of the Glory of Christ and his Church I need not go to forraigne Princes to prove this the Scripture doth sufficiently evidence it In Ester 1. there is a description of Ahasuerus and his Feast the like to which you will not read of in any other Story it lasted one hundred and fourscore daies which was a full half yeare and with the greatest Glory that could be ver. 4. When he shewed the riches of his glorious Kingdome and the honour of his excellent Majesty c. So then this is the first part of Majesty namely outward Splendour which is lawfull and requisite to maintaine the dignity of

a Prince And as the Prince ought to have this in his owne Person and his Attendants so all Dignity and Glory rests in him as in the Fountaine and all Titles of Dignity are in him also Even as ye see in the Firmament 1 Cor. 15. There is one Glory of the Sunne another of the Moone and one Starre excelleth another in Glory In the Common-wealth there are some Knights some Lords some Earles c. but all these differences come from one Sun one Head the Prince There is no light in the Moone but what is derived from the Sunne even here is borrowed the Starres light is borrowed also and when the Sonne appeares they cease to shine The Starres at this time shine as much as at Midnight but that the Light of the Sunne doth darken them Even so in the presence of Majesty those other Excellent Dignities doe not shine at all 2. To come to the Eminency of Power For a King to have great State and to have no Power he were then but a poore King A Duke of Venice is served in as Great State as can be but he hath no Power at all There is a Subordination of Power in all Government which because it cannot go ad infinitum it must needs rest somewhere and that is in the King Let every Soule be subject to the Higher powers And the Apostle in 1 Pet. 2. 13. distinguisheth Whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by God for the punishment of evill doers c. and he adds that by so doing the Ignorance of foolish men may be put to silence If any Professour of Religion doe Rebell against the King this is a scandall to Religion Now the Apostle did foresee that such there would be and therefore Commands that they be put in mind to be Subject c. But if any that professe Religion doe Rebell as I said before it is the fault of the Professour and not of the Profession for the Church of England doth teach the Contrary But when men shall not onely practice but teach Rebellion for by their fruits ye shal know them this amounts to a very high Crime indeed The King as Saint Peter saith hath the Excellency of Power as sent by God But what need I say any more We all sweare that the King is the onely Supreame Governour in his Dominions A man would think that that word onely might be spared since nothing can be above a Supream but it is put there by way of Eminency There can be no Dominion in the World unlesse there be an Eminency of power in some one or other If a man be wronged in any Court he may lawfully appeale higher but then Appeales must not be Infinite there must be a supremacy of power somewhere to rest in The Philosopher saith it must be either in one or in all Where the Eminency of power is in one it is called a Monarchy The King must onely have the Supreme power for if any be joyned with him then it is no Monarchy If the Power be in a certaine number it is called an Aristocracy If the Power be in all a Democracy and all Power then is derived from the Body of the People and where you say so you destroy the Monarchy and erect a Democracy The Duke of Venice hath as I said before a marveilous great State and yet the State of Venice is no Monarchy because the Supremacy of power is not in him He cannot receive a Letter nor make an Edict without the States allowance Nay he may be called to accompt by them I read in Josephus that Herod having offended Cleopatra she be sought Antony who did not use to deny her any thing to call him to accompt but Antony refused so to doe Then saith he He will be no King Look upon the Common-wealth of Lacedemon They had Kings lineally descended from the race of Hercules but shall we say they had Regall power nothing lesse because there were Ephori in that State A certaine power in the People to call their Kings to accompt the Supremacy of power there was not in the Prince In Switzerland there is a Democracy and the onely Democraticall Government I know of They have their Magistrates that governe the people And yet though there be many Magistrates that governe in those Cantons this is no Aristocracy for at the Magistrates in Switzerland are accomptable to the people and all their power is limited by them The Supremacy of power is in the people there and thence it comes to be a Democracy Eminency of Power In the word of a King there is Power saith the Preacher Eccles. 8. 4. It was wont to be so and by the word of God you see it ought to be so But I will not enlarge upon this It may be some Ears will not indure sound Doctrine But the King we see must be acknowledged to be Supreame and no Superior to the King Farre be it from me being in Gods place to flatter any man I thanke God I fear no flesh but do deliver the truth Having now spoken of the two branches of Majesty Dignity and Power We shall speake of a Birth-right that descends to Kings It should have been Reulien's right here if God had not taken it from him for a fault This day is the Birth-day of our Soveraigne Lord Birth-dayes of Kings have been usually celebrated with great solemnity in former times Herod's Birth-day was celebrated many years after his death and the Herodians for the many mighty workes that Herod did bleeeved him to be the Messiah It pleaseth God that this day begins the 49. year of His life and let me call it the year of Jubile to His Majestie The Jewes had a custome that in the 49. year of any mans life he should be at liberty what ever his sufferings were before It must be the desire and prayer of every loyall heart that the King may have a Jubile indeed This is that which Loyalty bids us doe I will not stand too much upon this particular But this I will say O that we knew our happinesse To have a King that is the son of Nobles A King that is not a Child A King that is at full age to Governe by Wisdome and Prudence And truely as God gives us this blessing so he expects we should acknowledge it thankefully Eccles. 10 16. Woe be to thee O Land saith the Preacher when thy King is a Child And Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the son of Nobles that hath his breeding answerable To have him when his experience both riverted in him sound judgement and ability to governe The Lord threatned Jerusalem in Esay 3. 4. I will give Children to be their Princes and Babes shall rule over them Those that would have their owne wils could I warrant you be content that the youngest should Raigne To have a base man exalted is one of the things that