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	soul_n	union_n	6,110	5	9.7698	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10933	A commentary vpon the vvhole booke of Iudges Preached first and deliuered in sundrie lectures; since collected, and diligently perused, and now published. For the benefit generally of all such as desire to grow in faith and repentance, and especially of them, who would more cleerely vnderstand and make vse of the worthie examples of the saints, recorded in diuine history. Penned by Richard Rogers preacher of Gods word at Wethersfield in Essex.	Rogers, Richard, 1550?-1618.	1615 (1615)	STC 21204; ESTC S116353	1,044,012	830

sottishly vnto them as hee was vexed almost to the death to heare her to tell him she must forsake him and could not loue him if his hart was no more toward her then she saw which yet she spake but in grosse dissembling All bondage is grieuous but what is greater then bondage to an whore when a man cannot but cling to her and be at her lure whose heart is false toward him and seeketh his destruction We must take heed that we rest not in the best things that are subiect to change but much more that wee hang not our securitie vpon deceitfull pleasures especially of all other vpon a wicked alluring woman whō rather then Samson would once thinke of forgoing behold he shameth not to abandon God conscience and all not to speake of the outward mischief that ensued And surely if this be true of Samson who sinned against conscience all this while what shall we say of them who commit secret filthines with greedines and yet without remorse What a death is it to them think we to be pluckt by violence from their old acquaintance which by custom is become as the poore mans lambe whom Nathan describes to Dauid euen as his sonne Therefore when men haue liued a long time in a lewd course without let how welcome is death to them that makes an vtter separation betweene them and their lusts which liued before in as streight league and vnion as the soule and body together Oh bondage vnspeakable to bee inwardly linked to the loue of that which can neither be enioied but with extreame miserie nor forgone but with intollerable vexation Let this be one motiue among others to humble the sinner before God and to shew him how out of measure sinfull his corrupt nature is as also to teach him not so eagerly to pursue his lusts except he will bring a world of sorrow vpon himselfe when the time of forsaking them is come For what though at the last cast many a man renounces the old courses of vngodlines and repents him yea and is ashamed of his doings this is when the conscience is terrified by some violent feare or griefe not while hee hath his will and prospereth in his euil And yet alas who seeth not that these terrors when they seaze vpon any for we must not think they seaze vpō al many dying sots as they liued without feeling for the most part vanish away and come to nothing so that those great penitents if they get vp and recouer their maladie how far doe they put from them the remembrance of the former trouble and shew that it was distastfull vnto them and forced them in the bitternes thereof to say any thing but now they are at libertie they returne againe as naturally to their byas as the stone falleth downward Oh therefore pray and labour that it may bee good which ye set your hearts on and delight in being accounted of you as most precious for the end else will be more bitter in the parting then euer the loue was in enioying Loue the best things and feare not to exceed measure for besides the vnspeakable and sound ioy they affoord this they also yeeld euen a perpetuitie they shall neuer bee pulled away as our Sauiour saith this ioy shall no man take from you Now he was so wrought on by her that as wise as hee thought himselfe in purposing that shee should neuer know that which shee sought at his hands yet because he gaue place to his wicked affections he was not onely snared and in danger as before but now told all vnto her to wit that there neuer came rasor on his head but if his lockes were cut off he should lose his strength which was as much as if he had told her how they might take his life from him and bring all shame and sorrow vpon him as they did in deed and yet more then this hee might though to small effect haue said to her to wit beside all this euill which I shall sustaine hereby I doe also set the Lord against me to depriue me of his grace and all this for thy sake for thus much doubtlesse he suffered for her By which so many good obseruations arise as a wise man may be to seek with which to begin first But briefly of two or three One is this that we shall not need to complaine of the hurt and wrong that other doe vnto vs which how common it is all places doe witnesse for none are greater enemies to vs then our selues Were hee not a monster of men that should offer but the one halfe of this vnto vs that Samson did to himselfe as here may be seene But behold all this and no lesse doe some nay very many offer to themselues We storme rage and crie out of other if they hold but a little of our due from vs and much more if wee sustaine greater hurt by them whereas we by our sinnes worke our owne woe and yet through blind self-loue we are neuer angrie with our selues when yet wee could finde in our hearts to pursue others vnto death Oh rend we our hearts for our sins and be deeply displeased with our selues for them All these Philistims could not haue done Samson the mischiefe which he did himselfe by his owne folly or rather madnesse But if they had attempted any such matter against him as to make him infamous as hee made himselfe would he not streight haue reuenged it Nay did hee not reuenge it in the sequell But to leaue him who sinned not in reuenging and come to our selues who is he that dare but iustly reproue vs for a fault be it neuer so grosse but he shall haue our badge and liuerie presently and we thinke him our enemie and watch our season to be euen with him as Esau dealt with his brother Iacob And yet so farre is a louing reproofe from hurting vs that if wee were the men wee should be it might keepe the hurt we speake of from lighting vpon vs and be as a precious balme vnto our heads Well then will a wise man say I see these men are i alous of themselues and their owne hurt if they can endure no other to touch them but they will flee in his face they will be long enough it is to be hoped ere they wrong themselues willingly Indeede the reason is sensible but the proofe is most preposterous For that man that will not take the losse of a penny at anothers hand without storming will spend many a pound to haue his wicked desire satisfied nay he will vndoe himselfe and strip himselfe of all he hath and yet thinke neuer the worse of himselfe when hee hath done nay no man may tell him of it neither Therefore if we will preuent outcries and late repentance for time to come for there is a time when such fooles crie out I am lost I haue vndone my selfe let vs

are wise to doe euill but to doe well they haue no knowledge The Lord himselfe bewaileth this brutishnes in men that like vnreasonable creatures they minde onely that which is present and before their eyes but oh saith hee that my people were wise and did consider their end For that is wisdome indeed which seeing the most doe want therefore they neuer enioy the thousand part of sweet liuing heere as they might doe Now the holy story hauing spoken of the workes which Ioshua and the people did in his life maketh mention of his death as that which followeth when all the actions of life are ended And therefore Dauid when hee was departing hence said I goe the way of all the world As wee haue therefore heard much of the actions of our life so let vs heare some what of death as the text giueth vs leaue and occasion And in that we heare that he died the seruant of the Lord as hee had long liued and had done so many worthie things in his life death and departure hence being so solemne a thing as it is we should bee much moued not onely to thinke vpon the end of all flesh but especially of our owne death and to prepare for it aboue all things and to learne to die that so wee might with him die the seruants of God Which though to a naturall man it be imposible yet the Lord maketh it tolerable yea easie and a welcome thing to all such as haue first learned to liue well heere or at least are fit to die For perseuerance in good life meeteth with a good death and ioyfully embraceth it in which respect Salomon saith that the day of death is better then the day of birth as being the entrance into life And therefore the text saith Ioshua the seruant of the Lord died noting that his death was not as the death of euery common man but a blessed death and a rest from the worke of the Lord in which hee had been faithfull in his life and therfore now looking for his reward from the Lord a bountifull paymaister death was welcome to him As it is reported of an ancient Father of the Church that being 80. yeeres old and being then to bid farewell to his friends said Thus long haue I serued the Lord and now it grieueth mee not to die for I haue a good master thereby meaning that death was far more welcome to him then life euen as that day is to a faithfull seruant wherein he is to receiue liberall wages for his long seruice then all the daies are that went before And thus S. Paul speaketh of Dauid that when he had serued his time he slept meaning that hee rested from his labours in body while his soule returned to God who gaue it And when we haue learned and fitted our selues to die then the hearing of death and the beholding it in other is a fit meane to quicken vs to the looking after it our selues and to further and confirme vs in readinesse to die well considering deepely of it and of our owne mortality with it And it much helpeth to thinke vpon the infinite thousands mentioned in the Scriptures who haue been taken hence by death and namely the rolles of Kings such as haue been more noble and memorable persons who seemed to haue an eternity heere by their dignity pompe and prerogatiues aboue other men as also among our selues more neerely to hearken after and thinke vpon the death of such as wee haue knowne or liued with oh it doth not a little helpe to cracke the pride of life in vs and to prepare for death All which in fit seasons and vpon good consideration being set before our eyes are singuler meanes to fasten this meditation vpon vs that wee also may willingly and readily giue place to death and this shall much easilier and the better bee while by our reioycing that we haue in Christ Iesus our Lord wee die daily before death doe come By meanes whereof as it is vncertaine when we see any to die among vs who shall bee next so euery one should put forward himselfe as the Apostle did in a case not vnlike being told by their master that one of them should betray him euery one asked for himselfe saying is it I master Euen so I say we ought to resolue euery one for himselfe that he may be the next that so death may the better be prouided for And let this serue by this occasion for a meditation of death His old age being an hundred and ten yeeres are reckoned as an honour to him that being so commended for his godlinesse hee liued so long To whom Moses and Caleb may bee added full of yeeres and grace Doubtlesse it is no lesse to a man seruing God so religiously so long a time For it is not an honour bestowed vpon all to become fathers and worthies in the Church for their long continuance in grace when we see the loue of so many to waxe cold and a farre greater number to bee reprochfull in their age But gray haires are a comely ornament when they are found in the way of righteousnesse For although it bee happinesse for the people of God to die betimes seeing to bee with Christ is best of all yet to liue long heere if God may be honoured by vs in our life is an high honour also another way euen by doing much good And so Dauid confessed saying If I may liue to keepe thy word for thereby God is glorified I shall count it a great bountie vnto me Which reason Dauid and Hezekiah vsed desiring life to this end saying The liuing the liuing shall praise thee Esa 38. 19. And in the Psal None can worship thee in the graue This a man would thinke should stir vp all that haue made good beginnings in Christian life to long after perseuerance therein yea though they liue vnto old age and that they may bee experienced and well seene in the waies of God that so they may declare them to others Which as it is rare and few mens cases to doe so it is their honour that doe it and their benefit who enioy it I speake this to the shame of such as doe by small occasions depart from good beginnings and in the pride of their hearts and contempt of other take conceits against their brethren who hold constantly the profession of their hope and breake off their fellowship with them directly contrary to the word of God or some other way depart from a good course so that few such doe hold out to the end in their good beginnings but lose that honour that Ioshua had who in his old age died as he had long liued to wit the seruant of the Almighty then the which title the Angels had no greater honour It is further added of Ioshua that he was buried in his owne inheritance which was

God heard the voyce of Manoah and the Angell of God came againe to the wife as she sate in the field but Manoah her husband was not with her 10. And the wife made haste and ranne and shewed her husband and said vnto him Behold the man hath appeared vnto me that came vnto me to day 11. And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said vnto him Art thou the man that spakest vnto the woman and he said Yea. 12. Then Manoah said Now let thy saying come to passe but how shall we order the childe and doe vnto him 13. And the Angell of the Lord said vnto Manoah The woman must beware of all that I said vnto her 14. She may eate of nothing that commeth of the vine tree she shall not drinke wine nor streng drinke nor eate any vncleane thing let her obserue all that I haue commanded her NOw it followeth how the Angell appeared the second time and that to them both to wit Manoah and his wife and that was thus She like a good wife went and told her husband that such an one some Prophet or man of God appeared to her and told her of such a thing and what she should doe but she said she answered nothing to him againe Then Manoah besought the Lord that he might come againe and hee appeared againe to the woman who immediatly went and called her husband who finding the man of God in the field asked of him both of the former message which he had brought to his wife and also what they should do to the child when it should be borne and he answered him euen as he had before said to his wife Here the woman in her telling her husband of the messenger describeth him thus The fauour of the man of God saith she that appeared to me was as an Angell of God fearefull for so the Hebrew word is translated which signifieth also wonderful and so it is like she said and meant though it be translated fearefull And to preuent all doubts and suspitions further she telleth him that neither she knew him nor from whence hee was neither did he tell her his name But this onely hee said to her that she should beare a sonne and she must abstaine from wine and eate no vncleane thing for the childe should be a Nazarite from his birth vnto his death But let vs now peruse these verses throughout more fully Touching that which she vttereth of the reuerend presence of the Angell I will not insist in it hauing elsewhere noted the substance thereof I begin with this sixth verse where first know we this that the woman by and by going to her husband simply to signifie the matter to him as soone as she receiued the message which equally concerned them both did as became a good wife For so it behoueth that married couples should communicate their mindes one to another matrimony being a societie betwixt two as if they were but one For they ought to haue their fellowship together in imparting heauenly things one with another and earthly also euen as there were both in this matter heauenly seeing the message came in the name of God and from heauen earthly seeing it was of and about a temporall comfort or blessing pertaining to this life to wit of the bearing of a sonne This example betwixt two godly couples doth commend to vs the sociable and kind agreement and liuing together in mariage that both be of one minde in good things and shew foorth their inward consent in affection by the tokens of communion in outward things concerning them both as Abraham and Sarah Isaac and Rebecca with many other did And as God hath commanded that it should be thus so in like manner it standeth with all sound reason that they who are so neerely linked together in cohabitation and fellowship should be neerely affected and agree together most kindly Therefore Salomon wisheth the husband to reioyce in his wife and that she should be as the louing Hinde and pleasant Roe before him And so we should see cause why mariage should bee counted a singular benefit as the Scripture calleth it Concerning the which though some couples voide of religion haue some shadow hereof seeing they agree in vpholding the familie and in gathering wealth one with the other yet they are out and in their loue is not constant but full of vnsoundnes dislikes dissimulation inconstancie and vnquietnes for they want the principall which is some true measure of the feare of God for that is the chiefe staier of debate and the nourisher of true loue betwixt them which should therefore be laid for at their first comming together or else will hardly be wrought in them after But this kinde agreement betwixt couples is so farre from the most that strangenes and wearines one of the other doth soone meete with them with other blemishes manifold which deface the beautie of mariage exceedingly And yet lest while I vrge this consent some couples should catch more libertie then I or the Lord allow them let me adde that their agreement must be in things warrantable or else they rather band themselues together against the Lord and abuse his ordinance For they are not yoked together that they may ioyne their wits wils to do mischief as Ahab and Iezabel Ananias and Saphira which is not to be helpers of each other as they come together to that end except it be to euill and to hell This I say because many couples are neuer at one but when they consent in euill then they are as close as barke and tree where they should differ and disswade each other but in good duties their mutuall affections are so farre from ioyning that they are repugnant and diuided each from other as farre as may bee By vertue of this holy concord great is the blessing and sweete is the fruite of this ordinance In all duties of the familie as education of children in all actions of Gods worship in the workes of loue to the Saints in the vse of their lawfull liberties c. with freedome of minde what ioy and contentment ariseth in this vnanimitie and amitie betweene them which otherwise is much impeached And the fruite of this accompanieth them in their inward troubles of mind and outward crosses of body and estate the one being strengthened comforted resolued and holpen by the wisedome knowledge and assistance of the other Yea surely the precious memorie of this agreement remaineth as a pledge in the bosome of the suruiuor when death hath made a breach betweene them But woe to him that is alone double woe to couples that are diuided where the one scorneth to communicate with the other and the wife chuseth any to breake her minde to rather then her husband But to returne as the woman is to bee commended for telling her husband so the more she deserueth it seeing that the partie that appeared to her