Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	brethren_n	life_n	love_v	5,972	5	7.1555	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60326	Comforts against the fear of death. Being some short meditations, composed by that precious gentlewoman Mrs. Anne Skelton, late of Norwich Wherein are several evidences of the work of grace in her own soul, which were the stay of her heart, against the fear of death; from which may be discerned the name of a true Christian spirit. To which is added some short notes of a sermon preached at the burial of that choyce servant of God in St. Andrews in Norwich. By John Collings M.A. and one of the most unworthy embassadors of Jesus Christ for the preaching of the gospel in the late city.	Skelton, Anne.; Collinges, John, 1623-1690. aut.	1649 (1649)	Wing S3932A; ESTC R221500	38,402	100

the Law is spiritual but I am carnal sold under sin For that which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my minde and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death 2 Cor. 7. ●● Godly sorrow causeth repentance unto salvation not to be repented of Lord give me more of that sorrow Now God reckons not thy failings nor imputes thy corruptions to thee as thine as by his Apostle and his Spirit speaking in him he assures thee Rom. 7. 16 17. If then I do that which I would not I consent unto the Law that it is good Now then it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me But God accepts thy person and performances in his Son as he did Paul there though never so poor and imperfect he regardeth not so much what thou art or dost as what thou would●● be and do Another evidence of Saving Grace is thy hearty and true love to the children of God for Grace-sake meerly for the good thou seest and beleevest to be in them even those who otherwise thou couldst not love this the Apostle John makes to be a signe That we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren as 1 Joh. 3. 14. Therefore as it gives attestation for thee my Soul so take thou the comfort of it from Gods own Word and bless God with humble thankfulness for it so David Psa 119. 63. I am a companion to all them that fear thee and keep thy precepts Another signe of Grace is this Thy joy and hope and love is fixed and set not on things below but on things above in heaven this argues that thou art risen with Christ and is that which may well be a pledg and earnest to thee that thou shalt one day appear in and enjoy Glory with him See Col. 3. 1 2 3 4. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Set your affections on things above not on things on the earth for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory Yea thy present dis-esteem and undervaluing of all worldly honors profits preferments or greatness in the height of them accounting them vain and of small value to thee And indeed let worldlings hunt and scramble for them that have no better portion in heaven But thou my Soul I bless God seest better sweeter and more precious and durable riches spiritual things that last for ever that will satisfie the Soul The love and favor of God Heaven and Glory everlasting that shall never perish and peace of conscience and pardon of sin these indeed are well worth the desiring and laboring for Alas the other cannot afford one jot of comfort nor satisfie the conscience when troubled for sin or when death cometh Oh then nothing but Christ will serve the turn or stand in stead I Therefore now labor to get Christ to be thine and then he will not leave nor forsake thee no not when thou comest to dye and hast most need of him when friends and all creature-comforts will leave us And truly the greatness of the world doth oft steal away our hearts These are b●●●s and snares both worldly credit and profit I mean that take many a soul in their nets by means whereof many come to lose their souls ere they are aware of it because they have no 〈◊〉 or else no hearts to look after their precious Souls that must last for ever after these bodies with all the fading comforts here below are gone and perished We do or may see how fleeting and uncertain all creatures and all comforts here are every day sounds it in our ears and continually our eyes may see it in the corps dayly carryed to their graves and how riches take their wings f●●e away as Prov. 23. 5. I am sure within these few last years God hath abundantly shewed and fulfilled that Scripture How many thousands not only of the meaner sort but of the great ones of the world even now in these our days worth very many hundreds a year now have not bread for their families Men get goods that many times know not who shall enjoy them But I will seek the Lord for at his right hand are joys and pleasures for ever more that shall last to all eternity My Soul this thy setled resolution is a pregnant testimony of thy love and affection to God As also that God hath created a new heart and put a new spirit within thee and thou therefore art become a new creature Again That change which God hath wrought in thee is not always alike not at all times so lively Neither yet again at all times alike cold dead and dull not always dejected not always comforted because as there is something in thee spiritual so also there is a part of flesh in thee that wars against the Spirit so is it with Gods Saints with the Apostle Paul so with David and the rest and when thou confessest thy sins to God in secret thou bewailest thy sins of thought which never trouble Hypocrites or other sort of sinners Another signe of Gods love to thee is this Though thou hast had sore conflicts of long continuance yet hast thou not been overwhelmed nor overcome but upheld and that thou usest in them spiritual weapons arguments from the power of God and from the all-sufficiency and goodness of God and thine own experience of the same having found the presence of the Spirit of God in power so supporting thee that thou hast not fallen away nor sunk under them but resolved still to trust in God by his assistance though he should kill thee as Job did Job 13. 15. at that time when thou hast had no present comfort Another sign of true Grace is Thy searching and earnest inquiry for what sin God layeth his hand of affliction upon thee and thy mourning that thou art no more bettered by afflictions for that is Gods end in afflicting his yea that thou desirest to be draw'd nearer to God by them that thou mayst say that it was good for thee that thou wert afflicted And before I was afflicted I went astray but now I keep thy word As David Psalm 119. 67. Lord make good to me that promise That all things shall work together for good and therefore afflictions to them that love God to them who are called according to his purpose Rom. 8. 28. Lord I would fain love thee The desire of my Soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee With my

nothing of what he did was too little nor any thing too much there could have wanted nothing and there was nothing redundant if he had not dyed he had not merited deliverance from Spiritual Death if he had not risen he had not conquered Natural Death if he had not ascended he had not led all Captivity Captive Let every action of Christ comfort thee who did all that he did for thee Thirdly From hence we may be instructed why so many are afraid of death Temporal Death I mean The cause may be double either a want of Christ or a want of Faith 1. Wicked vil● wretches they are afraid to dye Oh that that cup might ever pass from them they know not how to think of that day and parting hour and truly no great marvel death with its sting in it will fear the stoutest man in the world For a poor wretch to be ready to dye and cry out Now goes out my poor soul to answer for all my oaths and blasphemies for all my Sabbath breaking and profaness now must I take my leave of all comforts friends wife children all adieu for ever If death be not kil'd it self it kills the heart of the stoutest the poor wretch cannot see that Christ hath redeemed him from the power of the grave 2. Gods own dear children may fear death through a want of faith not applying with such a confidence as they ought the merits and vertue of Christs death to their souls Those now that the Lord hath given a perswasion to that they have an Interest in Jesus Christ those dye without fear they know their Redeemer lives and this was the happiness of this precious Saint of God that he hath now taken from us She had comforted her self against the fear of Death that she could say O death where 's thy sting Therefore in a book she had composed and written for her own use to Her book ●s annexed to this Sermon comfort her against the fear of Death She makes it her work to prove her interest in Christ and did it by several marks which made her dye without giving death an ill word or countenance death came but he had lost his sting Christ had been its plague A second Use may be of Consolation to comfort the children of God against the fear of death Lift up your heads O ye righteous be glad ye upright in heart All your enemies are trodden under foot fear not sin death nor hell Death hath lost its sting Hell hath lost its victory 1. Fear not spiritual death Sin shall no longer have dominion over your mortal bodies for Christ hath died to free you from the guilt of it and to deliver you from the power of it It may live it shall not reign it may fight against it shall not conquer you 2. Fear not temporal death Consider the Wasp hath lost its sting What hurt can it do thy soul It is not thy ruine Christian It is thy perfection Luke 13 32. I do cures saith Christ to day and to morrow and the third day I shall be perfected Thou art not perfected here Christian there is a crown of glory that the Father will set on thy h●ad with the black hand of death Who fears the Serpent that hath lost its teeth the Bee that hath lost its sting O death Christ hath been thy death Though thou mightst be afraid to take up death when it was a Serpent yet see its turned into a rod. What is thy life Christian is it not full of frowns are not all thy days almost tears and sorrow Doth not the wicked world look a squint upon the Saints of God is not suffering an hereditary disease that runs in the blood of Mighty Jesus that every Saint is born to inherit the Cross and through Golgotha to take his way to glory what should wed thee to the world Christian not thy desire of life and sure it cannot be thy fear of death Death hath nothing formidable in it Say to it Christ is dead O death where is thy sting then Much less can they fear eternal death for they are passed from death to life and the second death hath no power over them I have but a word more and that is of Exhortation First To all to get an interest in Jesus Christ Thus prepare your selves for the day of dissolution It is a statute in the Records of Heaven That all men should once die and afterwards come to judgment Death is a bitter cup to those that know nothing to sweeten it Learn here to get a part in the Lord Jesus Christ a title to him an interest in him He hath taken out the sting of death he hath been its plag●e but not for all see therefore for thy interest in him Hic labor hoc opus est Christians here is your work you spend else your time for nothing and your labor for that which will not profit Work out your salvation give all diligence to make your calling and election sure This is your land-work Saints and while it is done you will never be prepared to go to Sea to set sail for eternity he will never be satisfied with time and days that hath not some grounds to hope for eternity O that you would labor to make this work your work You spend your days in labor and sorrow and when you die you will lie down in sorrow Believe it you that spend your strength for that which will not profit you will see the day when your souls will be troubled for the hours lost in dressing vanity in the following the lusts of the eye and of the flesh O make this your work to get a portion in Christ and believe him who though he knows but little knows that you will finde it a difficult work a work that will be enough for the time and for the strength you have to spend If you have Christ you are well if not you die a slave to death and will be a gally-slave to Satan in Hell for ever O that you would be wise and consider your latter end before you come down wonderfully This was the work and constant work of this precious Si●●er of ours whom God hath now taken from the evil to come It was her practice to hasten over the business of her family as a thing to be done yet not her great work and then to apply her self to the great work of making her calling and election sure In which her pains were as unweariable as others are in vanity That she hath lest behinde her several Books written which are as the C●ronicle and Annuals of her life collecting those promises on which her soul rested framing the objections of her own spirit and seeking out satisfaction from Gods Word If in any thing she doubted she ●nquired at the lips of them that should preserve knowledg and pens down their answers observes Gods ways with her self and her own frame towards him and from all gathers up a posie of such evidences of saving Grace as she could finde in her soul to comfort her in her latter hour And if any asks what profited this labor I could onely have wished that such persons had been as I was a witness to her dying happiness to have seen with what a peace of Spirit what a fulness of assurance what hope what joy she entertained her last affliction the messenger of death There they should have seen this promise made good the grave destroyed the Saint delivered hell troden under foot death desired conquered despised this song sung O death where is thy fling O hell where is thy victory Be exhorted O ye that have a portion in Christ be exhorted to tred under foot your conquered enemy What is there in death that is terrible or bitter to those that have a portion in the Lord Jesus Christ Why are you afraid to be made perfect there is no taste of hell in the cup. The prison doors shall not be lockt the bolts are broken off the bitterness of death is past O desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Love the winding-sheet that wrapt up your Saviour the stones and gravel of the grave have nothing in them that is hard or harsh Christ hath been the plague of death and the destruction of the grave I heard a voyce from henceforth saying Blessed are they that die in the Lord yea saith the Spirit for they rest from their labors Lastly From this Text may those that mourn for the dead in the Lord be comforted Hast thou lost a believing friend Weep not for her weep for thy self Not that she is gone but that thou art here Death hath our friend in his hands but not in his power It is Christ that hath said I will rede●m you from the power of the grave Is not Christ dead is not he risen again and ascended hath he not led captivity captive why mournest thou then for a Saints freedom is there any thing of bitterness in the cup that thy and her Father hath given her to drink Triumph because she triumpheth rejoyce because all tears are now wiped from her eyes shew a faith in Christs death Resurrection Ascension conquest over Sin Death and Hell The work of Righteousness is peace and the ●ffect of her Righteousness quietness peace and assurance for ever FINIS