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	part_n	5,356	5	4.4664	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45544	Cardvvs benedictvs, the advantage of affliction, or, The reward of patience unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of Mr. Thomas Bowyer, merchant, who died the 8th day of February 1659, and was buried the 22th of the same moneth, in the parish church of St. Olaves Jewry / by Nath. Hardy ...	Hardy, Nathaniel, 1618-1670.	1695 (1695)	Wing H712; ESTC R17381	22,241	42

shall receive a Crown of life If you enquire what is intended by this Crown of life the answer is easily returned it is no other then the estate of happiness which is enjoyed in Heaven That which would more particularly be inquired is why this state is called a Crown and why a Crown of life 1. The metaphore of a Crown serveth very fitly to illustrate that future estate in severall particulars 1. A Crown is set upon the head in token of honour for this reason Conquerours and especially Kings had Crowns put upon their heads There are severall Regalia insignia ornaments belong to Kings and Emperours a Throne a Robe a Scepter a Crown and amongst them this last is the chief When Ring Ahasuerus asked Haman What shall be done to the man the King delighteth to honour one part of the answer is Let the royall apparrell be brought forth which the King useth to wear and the Crown Royall which is set upon his head Such honour have all his Saints they are as so many Conquerours yea Kings What was said of Rome is much more true of Heaven it is Respublica Regum a society of Kings according to that of St Iohn He hath made us Kings That we may see how honourable that estate is it is not only here resembled to a Crown but by St Peter it is called a Crown of Glory as if whereas glory is an appendix to other Crowns it were the matter of this paralell to which it is that we read elswhere of a weight of glory And as a Crown encompasseth the whole head so shall this Crown the whole man soul and body whilest each shall have that glory which is sutable to it 2. A Crown especially a Royall Crown is made of Gold set with Iewels and Pearls by which is represented the wealth of that estate wherein there shall be no want but a fullness of all enjoyments To this purpose it is that it is elswhere compared to an inheritance and a Kingdom it is set forth by a City the streets whereof are of pure gold the gates were of pearls the building of the wall of jasper and the foundation garnished with all manner of pretious stones indeed the opulencie of that state is so great that it can not be measured so much that it can not be numbered and so precious that it can not be valued 3. A Crown is an embleme of joy dayes of Coronation are dayes of exaltation the day wherein King Solomons mother Crowned him is said to be the day of gladness of his heart yea at that time all the people piped with pipes and rejoyced with great joy so that the earth rent with the sound of them Sutable thereunto it is that St Paul puts these together my joy and my Crown speaking to the Philippians and that he calls the Thessalonians his Crown of rejoycing Such a Crown shall be set upon the heads of glorified Saints which shall fill them with joy and gladness of heart for this reason it is called by our blessed Saviour gaudium domini the joy of the Lord which because it cannot enter into us we shall enter into it Then it is those prophecies shall be fully accomplished The Lord God shall wipe away tears from off their faces that the ransomed of the Lord shall come to Zion with songs and joy upon their heads they shall have joy and gladness and sorrow and sighings shall flee away Thus whereas honour wealth and pleasure are the three grand objects of mens desires all of these meet together in that estate and are as it were encircled by this metaphor of a Crown 2. But our Apostle contents not himself only to assure a Crown for that would not have proved his Doctrine since many that receive Crowns are not blessed yea notwithstanding the honour wealth and joy of a Crown there is also envy care trouble which followeth that honour accompanieth that wealth and attends that joy Oh nobilem potius quam felicem pannum said he truly of the Royall Robe it is rather noble then happy and it is not seldom seen that Crowns are unfortunate to those who wear them That therefore we might not think that our Apostle intended an earthly Crown it is said to be a Crown of life by which it is distinguished from and far advanced above other Crowns By the Apostle Peter it is called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a Crown made as it were of the flower {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} which never fadeth and to this notion the phrase in the text may be referd it is a Crown of life that is such a Crown which can not die nor wither To this Crown that Motto refers of a Nobleman giving three Crowns in his Arms Quarta perennis erit the fourth shall never perish Indeed this is that which denominateth it a state of blessedness for were there never so great a confluence of pleasure riches honour yet if this were but only for a time it could not make a man happy The Crown of this Crown is that it is of an eternall duration and that not only in respect of it self but those that wear it for which reason I conceive it is especially called a Crown of life as being such a Crown which confers life so that they who enjoy it never die There is a fabulous story of a Sheepheard which having a Crown of thorns upon his head fought with a Basilisk and was not killed by it but it is a certain truth that the Saints having this Crown upon their heads are not longer subject to the poyson of death Earthly Crowns though they confer honour they cannot life nay sometimes they hasten death and occasion the ruin of their owners but this Crown maketh the possessors of it as long lived as eternity Nor is it barely a life but a Crown of life that is an honourable pleasant joyfull life a life attended with whatsoever may make it desireable which is here ascertained for that is the import of these two words joyned together and both these must concurre to make a man happy There is a kind of life which even the damned may be said to have but it is not a Crown of life a life attended with dignity and prosperity indeed neither the Crown without life nor life without the Crown but the Crown of life maketh the compleat happiness And as these words conjoyned best describe bliss so this description of bliss was most sutable in this place For where as the temptation which a man may be called to endure is such as toucheth him in his estate or credit or body or life and to bereave him of this last is the worst which any temptation can do here is abundant recompence for shame pain poverty yea death it self to wit a Crown of life Learn we therefore when we are called to endure to call to mind what we shall receive It is a

very apposite to this purpose if with some Expositors we construe it of our love to Christ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or disiress or persecution or famine or nakedness or perill or sword Whilest love to Christ will enable us to endure all these for Christs sake Hence it is that the holy Scriptures compare it to death not onely because it separateth as it were the soul from the body to joyn it with its beloved object but likewise as St Austin observeth because as there is no opposition to be made against death so neither against Love which overcometh all difficulties even death it self and in that respect is not only strong as but stronger then death 3. Once more Them that love him carrieth with it an enlargement of this remuneration as belonging not onely to them who actually endure but to all who love Christ All Christians are not called to endure temptation and if they be not called to it they ought not to put themselves upon it To you saith the Apostle it is given not only to beleeve but to suffer ability of suffering especially death is a gift not conferr'd on all Christians and this Lord onely calls them to suffer whom he fits for it But least those Christians who were not put upon such eminent service might think that therefore they had no part in the Crown the Apostle enlargeth the qualification to all who love Christ Indeed every Christian ought to have a minde in some measure ready to endure what Christ shall require and where there is this love of Christ there will be this readiness But if it please this Lord that thy Lott fall in halcyion dayes when the Church enjoyeth rest and prosperity or if in suffering times by his providence thou art not called to endure yet be not discouraged this Crown is promised by this Lord not onely to them that endure but to them that love him I end all therefore with that exhortation of the Psalmist Oh love the Lord all you his Saints Love him for his own sake that is amor amicitiae a love of friendship and most acceptable Indeed if you look upon him you cannot choose but love him for he is altogether lovely to a spirituall eye And shew the reality of your love by your sorrow for his absence and joy in his presence fear to offend him care to please him by avoiding what he forbids and performing what he requireth by your willingness to hate Father and Mother goods and lands to endure reproach and shame losses and crosses for his sake and then quid non speramus amantes what may not Christs friends hope for If you love him he will love you nay he loved you before you loved him and by that so much the more obligeth you to love him he loved you so as to doe nay so as to die not onely by acting but enduring let your love answer his and if nothing else will prevail love him for your own sakes for the Crownes sake which he hath promised to and will in due time confer on all them that love him And thus I have finished the Text wherein you have beheld the bliss of the man that endureth temptation and loveth the Lord But perhaps you will ask Where is this man to be found The truth is such an one like those Pearls called Unions because found one by one is very rare but yet such there have been in all ages and loe here the liveless dust of such a man Mr Thomas Bowyer Merchant of whom I can truly say whilest he lived he loved the Lord and endured temptation and now he is dead I justly hope he is blessed with a Crown of life If you peruse the sacred Writ you will finde the blessed man described by severall characters the Ladder which reacheth to Heaven consisting of many steps nor do I know any of them which might not in some measure be applied to him Indeed he was not onely a Starre but a Constellation or rather an Heaven bespangled with many Starres his life was not a single leaf but a book of many leaves and those filled with the lines of good works Finally he was not onely Flower but a Garden adorned with the choice flowers of many excellent Virtues To gather them all would ask more time then can be spared and therefore passing over his Temperance Iustice Prudence with many others I shall onely cull out four choice Flowers to strew upon his Herse and then I shall commit him to the ground and you to God 1. The first is the Marygold of Piety which is called in my Text the love of the Lord a grace whereof he gave manifest evidence by his due regard of Gods worship affectionate love to Christs Ministers constant adherence to the Truth and passionate sympathy with the Church 1. He was a man much given to Religious exercises and as he made choice of a single life so for some years before his death he sequestred himself from secular affairs that he might have more opportunity of conversing with God So long as he had ability of going and hearing he duly waited on the publique administrations where I have severall times been an eye witness of his reverend and devout attention Nor was he as I fear too many are negligent of family dutyes in praying with and giving instructions to them withall allotting much time to his closet devotions so that I may truly say of him in the words of David concerning the blessed man His delight was in the Law of the Lord and therein he did exercise himself day and night 2. He was an entire and cordiall friend to the Orthodox and faithfull dispensers of the Word of Christ he delighted to hear them joyed to see them desired their prayers their company and was never better then when he had them at his Table yea their very feet were beautifull in his eyes 3. The truly Reformed Religion of the Church of England in which he had been educated he stedfastly adhered to and according to his knowledge which was not small in Divine as well as other matters he zealously asserted her Doctrine and Discipline against hereticall and schismaticall Antagonists Finally He was one of the mourners in Sion for the heynous sins of the Nation and grievous calamities of the Church oftimes sending up cryes and groans to Heaven in secret for the forgiveness of the one and redress of the other Upon all which considerations I suppose none will deny him the title of Religious man 2. A second Flower is the Rose of Charity a Virtue which ever attendeth upon the former the Lov● of God and of our neighbour being inseperable The Charity of this our Brother was though extended to all yet especially directed towards the poor and needy whom according to another character of Davids blessed man he considered and that so as to relieve answerable to that estate wherewith God had