Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	life_n	lord_n	9,542	5	3.7489	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43699	A sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable the lord mayor and court of aldermen at the Guild-hall chapel, Nov. 21, 1686 by Charles Hickman.	Hickman, Charles, 1648-1713.	1687 (1687)	Wing H1897; ESTC R27428	12,624	30

of rest where there shall be no distinction between the Dust of the Rich and Poor neither his Pomp shall attend him nor thy Poverty haunt thee to the Grave O Death how acceptable is thy sentence unto the needy when all our cares shall be laid aside in the dust and the remembrance of our sorrows shall be blotted out This is the birth-day of joy and pleasure unto those that mourn and 't is not the least advantage of Poverty that it puts us in mind of out latter end and makes us in love with that state which must of necessity happen to us And as for the Burthen of Want it self how easie is it to a Man that has remov'd far from him vanity and lies 't is the disappointment that makes it troublesome to the vain designing Man who promis'd himself great and glorious advantages of his Wealth but to the humble 't is welcome as being the Message of Heaven and he makes no reply but I am thy servant be it unto me according to thy will O God! Therefore he studies to conform himself to the pleasure of the Almighty and if he cannot raise his Fortunes up to his Mind yet he will certainly level his Mind to his present Fortune If God has not allow'd him so large a Field wherein to exercise his Gifts he will make the best use of his narrow confin'd estate and by the prudent management of his single Talent he shall receive his reward with those on whom ten Talents were bestow'd For God has given every one the means to grow happy though not the opportunity of growing rich The Honesty and Industry the Patience and Contentment of the poor Man are as acceptable Vertues unto God as the Bounty and Charity the Humility and Thankfulness of Kings and Princes And now Who shall separate the poor Man from the love of God shall Tribulation and Anguish No certainly for this is the Gift of God unto him for good to exercise his Patience and recommend his Vertues Shall Poverty and Distress this is a Gospel-promise and not to be rejected by any that profess an esteem for the Doctrine of Christ and the example which he has set before us Shall shame and contempt this indeed is the greatest burthen of Poverty and all but this a prudent Heathen boasted that he could endure but even this does not exceed a Christians strength for either we have or should have learnt from St. Paul to approve our selves in all things as the servants of God in afflictions in necessities in distresses by honour and dishonour by good report and evil report And if neither the Anguish Distress nor Shame of Poverty can make this condition unsupportable to an humble faithfull Believer he will never fly to unlawfull means for his redress but rather perish in his necessities than steal or take the name of his God in vain Death comes alike both to the rich Man and the poor and since 't is appointed for all men once to die what matter is it to the Body whether it be by Hunger or a Surfeit but for our Souls sake 't is not onely more meritorious but more glorious too to depart this Life for want of the necessary supports thereof than either to cram our selves to Death by the superfluities of Riches or to prolong our Life and advance our Fortunes by impious and dishonourable means If we can bear our Poverty with content and freely enjoy the exercise of our Vertue and Religion what greater advantages can we desire by being rich Who would exchange an honest and vertuous though mean Estate for a turbulent dangerous and unprofitable greatness Who would not rather chuse to be a door-keeper in the house of God than to dwell in the Tents or feast in the Palaces of ungodliness And if we can frame our Minds to this vertuous compliance with our Fortunes then is Poverty truly the Gift of God and a real Blessing But if we find our selves uneasie and groaning under the burthen of our Want if we murmur against God and repine at the Plenty of others then indeed is Poverty a Curse but 't is a Curse of our own making 'T is the punishment of our sins and the hand of God upon us for our Reformation Therefore we must still give him thanks for he is still the help of our countenance and our God. He bringeth Good out of this Evil and though the Clouds of Adversity should seem to shut us out from his presence yet he visits us when we are in the darkest Regions of despair If we down into Hell he is there also he still retains a peculiar title to our gratitude and in the Wiseman's words though I should be poor yet still he is my God and I will not take the name of my God in vain But lastly Though it be possible to escape the temptations of Riches and overcome the perplexities of Want yet still the safest and most desireable course of life is a middle state between Poverty and Riches Give me neither poverty nor riches says the Wise-man but feed me with food convenient for me He would not willingly either bring a burthen upon himself by multiplying Riches to provide for other men nor be himself a burthen unto others by seeking a support from their hands He would neither have his thoughts rack'd and distracted for want of necessary food nor yet slacken'd and dull'd for want of a convenient imployment but he would chuse such a condition of life as should qualify him for the performance of his duty both towards God and Man and divide his time between the cares of this World and the next Such an Estate as should oblige him to work with his hands the things for his good and yet afford him time and opportunity to pay his duty unto God and beg his blessing upon the works of his hands that the favour and countenance of God may encourage him in his Calling and a faithfull diligence in his Calling may enliven his Devotion and increase the sense of his gratitude unto God. Thus while some labour under the burthen of Riches and Honours and scarce enjoy the fruits of either whilst others are oppressed with want and with difficulty bear up and maintain their vertue against the tide of adversity he alone enjoys himself in a peacefull calm And as God has plac'd him above the contempt of the Rich and below the envy of the poor so he neither envies the Riches of the one nor contemns the Poverty of the other Having food and raiment he is therewith content and there is nothing in the World which he wants because there is nothing more which he desires As he places not his happiness in the possession of Riches so neither does he disquiet himself for their loss but with chearfulness he submits to the will of God and undergoes the change of his Estate with the same indifference as he does the changing of his Garment though the new at present be not altogether so fit and suitable to his Body yet a little use and industry will make it so In all things and at all times he is thankfull and content and therefore manages no secret plots no treacherous designs to advance his Fortune with the disturbing of his ease impairing of his health wrecking of his conscience and denying of his God. No murmurings are heard in his Tent and no disappointments break his rest for vertue is his security God his defence and under the shadow of his wings he lays him down in peace and rises up with comfort So many and so great are the advantages of his private retir'd condition so sweet and refreshing are his enjoyments so easie and comfortable is his business so sincere is his piety and so exalted his devotion that it is for the interest as well as for the ease of every man to frame his mind according to this standard and say with the Wise-man in my Text Give me neither poverty nor riches but feed me with food convenient for me THE END

Unhappy Man that no estate or condition can reconcile us to our present Fortunes but the want of our desires breeds murmurings in us and the very enjoyment of them yields us no satisfaction We have learnt just contrary to St. Paul in whatsoever state we are therewith to be discontent we neither know how to be abased nor how to abound but when we are hungry we repine at God and when we are full we are a burthen to our selves 'T is strange that the minds of Men should so servilely depend upon this World as not to maintain a steady course for one moment but be biass'd by every petty chance and chang'd by every turn of Fortune This is too evident a sign that our Souls have no communication with Heaven where all things continue fix'd and settled no dependence upon God who is one and the same for ever since we put such confidence in these outward worldly goods that with them our minds are so exalted and without them so much debased And yet we find by sad experience that few men can bear up against the strokes of fortune though they are inflicted by the hand of God But when Poverty comes upon them they think themselves oppress'd as if they were to prescribe to the Almighty in the dispensation of his blessings and their own desires were the onely measures of their right without considering their own sins as the cause of their calamities or their own amendment as the end thereof they wrongfully accuse both God and Man as the Authours and Instruments of that unhappiness which they owe chiefly to themselves Sometimes they look upon their Neighbour's plenty as the occasion of their distress and so steal from them to supply their own wants thus starving their Conscience to relieve their Carcase and sacrificing their Religion to the Belly their God. Sometimes they imagine the superfluity of another's fortune is a reproach to the penury of theirs with envy they behold the affluence and ease of the rich and not content with the emptiness of their bodies they put leanness withall into their Souls Thus to an evil eye all Objects are offensive and even the goodness of God it self increases the offence Then they repine at Heaven for the unequal distribution of its gifts curse the Lord in their hearts though they die for it and doe even worse than take the name of their God in vain With very good reason therefore did the Wise-man in my Text pray give me not poverty And certainly every wise man alive will join prayers with him lest shame contempt and want the onely attendents of that uncomfortable state should tempt us to mistrust the assistence of our God and so betray us through the frailty of our flesh to relieve our selves by wicked means And therefore no prudent no religious man can make real poverty his choice For though 't is possible he may stem the tide of adversity and bear up gloriously against all its waves yet 't is possible too that he may be carry'd away with the stream and saint under the temptation and the conflict Though as the Devil truly said a man may fall from the pinacle of a Temple without dashing his foot against a stone yet the wisest man that ever liv'd thought this no warrant for him to try the experiment he is happy that outlives the fall but he that is wise avoids the danger 'T is sufficient for us that God does not lead us into temptation why then should we voluntarily tempt the Lord our God And the same reason holds also in the other extreme For riches too have their precipices as well as poverty and therefore are equally to be avoided Prosperity has its dangerous trials and is expos'd to manifold temptations and 't is ill trusting to our own vertue when we have put our selves into the midst of all the opportunities of vice On one hand the temptations of the world beset us and if that smiles upon us we are too apt to be flatter'd and pleas'd our selves 'T is natural for a man to rejoice in the works of his own hands and when he has dedicated his youth to worldly cares and courted Mammon in his riper years he will adore it in his old age and at length it will become his God. Here he places all his confidence and to convince us that covetousness is truly idolatry like the Heathen Idolater he bows down to an image of his own making he worships it and prays to it and says deliver me for thou art my God. On the other hand our riches expose us to the assaults of the Flesh which always gains ground upon us when we are full And therefore the Apostle exhorts us not to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof 'T is this plenty that nourishes us in our vice and feeds us in our lusts it adds fuel to the flame within us and whilst we yield a constant supply to our greedy desires the fire never goeth out Fulness inclines us to ease and luxury luxury begets sin and sin brings us to death Thus we multiply our transgressions together with our stores and he that with Solomon will take occasion from his riches to prove the mirth the pleasures and follies of sense like him also will find his wisedom overborn by his vice and so come at last to deny his God. For when the vanities of the World and the lusts of the Flesh have taken possession of the heart of man then comes the Devil and finds an easie conquest He that denies the providence of God by trusting in his own strength and denies the power of God by following his own devices has no way left to vindicate his honour and quiet his conscience but by denying the very being of God and saying with Pharaoh Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice Thus proceeding by degrees from mistrust to disobedience and from disobedience to infidelity the foolish man delivers himself up to the power of Satan and renounces the living God. Then he disclaims the benefit of his creation and rather than acknowledge a power above him will absurdly impute his being to chance He denies the goodness of God in his constant preservation and rather than give God the glory and thanks ascribes all his happiness to the works of his own hands He denies the justice of God in his judgments afflictions diseases and death he looks upon as the necessities of his nature and not the punishment of his sins So perverse is he in all his ways that Moses and the Prophets cannot reclaim him nothing but one from the dead is a demonstration that can please a riotous sinner and even that cannot convince him And yet can his riches redeem him from death or from the terrours after death though in the hardness of his heart he deny'd the power of God whilst he lived yet at length he must feel his vengeance and the fury of the Lord will convince his errour