Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A19123
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Of death a true description and against it a good preparation: together with a sweet consolation, for the suruiung mourners. By Iames Cole merchant.
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Cole, James.; Hoste, Dierick.
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1629
(1629)
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STC 5533; ESTC S105012
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59,139
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225
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wiser sort knowing that the Physitian thereby doth endeauour to recouer their health swallowe them without tasting them and let them worke in their body Euen so the Reprobates consider in their diseases nothing but the externall troubles and onely take care how they may be deliuered from them They are alwayes impatient murmuring against God if they looke so high at least or against them onely which God doth vse as instruments of their punishment Neither are they mollified hereby that they may returne vnto their God Though you should bray a foole in a Morter Pro. 27.22 yet will not his foolishnesse depart from him sayes the wise King And this was apparenâ— in the hard punished yet stil hard hearted Pharaoh Exâ—d â— 32 And Ahaz sayes the Scripture in his troubles trespassed yet more against the Lord. 2 Chro. 28 23. But the children of God on the contrary receiue thâ— blowe as from the hand of their Father and blame nothing more then their sinnes that deserue punishments as the cause thereof They know that God doth all things for their best and so haue their eyes fixed on the heavenly blisse promised to the patient that they thereby endure or swallow downe their paines much the easier And therefore they rather turne themselues to their God for the same King saith When the wise is rebuked he receiueth knowledge Pro. 21.11 Hee perceiueth that hee must part from his misdeedes Ion 2.2 Hee cryes vnto the Lord with Ionah in his affliction 2 Chro. 35.12 He beseecheth the Lord his God with Manasses in his distresse and humbleth himselfe greatly and his supplication is heard I haue sinned saith he with Dauid 2 Sam. 24.17 in his pestilence or in any other sicknesse And with the same Dauid hee is not ashamed afterwards to confesse that before hee was afflicted he went astray Psal 119 64. but now hee keepes GODS word To be short the visitations of the Lord be oft one and the same both to the good and to the bad but the euent is cleane contrary and may well be resembled vnto the accursed water which the Priest vpon occasion of the husbands iealousie gaue the women sometime to drinke This water was bitter in the mouth vnto all but being taken sayes the Scripture the defiled did swell of it Num. 5.27.28 but it could not hurt those that were cleane Yea the chaste ones gaue their husbands occasion by this triall to loue them better then before Wee reade in one selfe-same Chapter Act. 12.7 23 that the Angell of the Lord smote Peter and the Angell of the Lord smote Herode But the one was thereby raised vp and deliuered from death and the other gaue vp the ghost Euen so are the better sort by the hand of God raised vp out of the sleepe of sinne to be deliuered from eternall death and the wicked are consumed by their endlesse grudgings euen till their dying day This is then the difference Gods enemies endure the crosse indeede but reape no benefit thereby but paine and domage whereas Gods friends take their crosse from him and so beare it that these bodily paines turne to their good Rom 8.28 Now concerning the soule though we speake of it last Preparation of the soule yet ought we in our sicknesse first to begin with it following the example of the afore-named King Hee in his weakenesse did not first consult with the Physitians but turned his face from the people to the wall Esa 38.2 and there betweene God himselfe began to pray and ro rip vp his offences and to bewayle them And after that hee committed him to bee cured Dauid also first prayeth Deliuer me from my transgressions Psal 39 8.11 and afterwards remooue thy stroke away from me This order doth the sonne of Syrach fitly set before vs in foure parts Pray vnto the Lord. Cease to sinne Ecclus. 38.9 12. Make a fat offering and then giue place to the Physitian St. Iames the Apostle saith also Iam. 5.16 Confesse your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed Wee ought therefore in the first place yea before we can offer vnto God with a good conscience the calues of our lips as Christ by St. Mathew teacheth vs to endeauour to be reconciled to our brother who hath ought against vs. Math. 5.24 And to be ready to forgiue our neighbours all offences committed against vs. Secondly wee must also openly confesse our manifold transgressions as occasions of all sicknesses and say with Paul Rom. 7.15 What I would that doe I not but what I hate that doe I. And with Dauid wee must pray vnto God continually Psal 38. and promise with Ezechias vprightnesse of life Esay 38.10 Concerning the sacrifice Dauid confirmes it saying Blessed is hee that considereth the poore Psal 41.1 the Lord will deliuer him in the day of trouble This must the soule ruminate when man is surprized with sicknesse Moses knew well enough how much it behooued well to prepare the soule against death when hee said So teach vs to number our dayes Psal 90.12 that we may apply our hearts vnto wisedome That hee must dye and that his dayes were numerable nature taught him but considerately to meditate on death or day by day euen numbring them to prepare himselfe against the same that God must teach him of whom he requested it by prayer Our Lord Iesus Christ knowing how needfull this meditation would be vnto vs Necessity of speedy repentance and considering that many times we are so suddainly snatcht out of this world that wee haue no time once to thinke on ought ceaseth not to admonish vs that wee should be continually busied hereabout Teaching vs sometime by fore-warning vs as where he sayes Be yee ready Math. 24.44 for in such an houre as you thinke not the sonne of man commeth Sometimes by way of instruction Be yee your selues saith hee like vnto them that waite for their Lord Luk. 12.36 that when he commeth and knocketh yee may open vnto him immediatly And sometimes by similitudes as that of the fiue foolish Virgins Math. 25.10 that neuer went about to fuâ—nish their Lampes with oyle before they heard that the Bridegroome was comming And finally by fearefull examples of the dayes of Noah and Lot In which sayes the Scripture men were so busied with eating and drinking Luk. 17.26.28 marrying of wiues buying and selling planting and building that they did not thinke on their end vntill that first the flood of water and after that the fire rained downe from heauen and destroyed them all Which admonitions though they haue an eye to the suddaine comming of the day of Iudgement yet seeing that the temporall deaâ—h bringeth vs to that estate wherein the Iudge at the last day shall finde and confirme vs we are warned by Christ to be so well prepared against the
And follow thus through death his fore-runne trace Then shall our end be happy for they will Direct vs through this dale to Sions bill Vt terror Mortis tibi sit victoria larvam Aspicias intus Moâ—s fera vita placens Abr. Bush Art Mag. A DESCRIPTION OF DEATH TO euery thing there is a set time Eccle. 3.1 a time to bee borne and a time to die saith Salomon And betweene the time of birth and of death there passed in the first ages sixe eight or perhaps ten hundreth yeares But since the time that mans sinne drew the deluge ouer the whole world Man borne of a woman hath but a short time saith Iob. Iob 14.1 Iacob said that his dayes were an hundreth and thirty yeares Gen. 47.9 and that hee had not attained to the dayes of his Fathers But our dayes saith Moses comming after him Psal 90.10 are but threescore yeares and tenne and at the highest fourescore Yet not one among fourescore times fourescore attaine vnto that age 2 Sam. 12.18 Dauids beloued childe neuer saw the eight day yea the life of some is ended before they bee borne But how well so euer we are deliuered out of our mothers wombe yet hauing taken shipping in this world we still sayle towards our end And whether wee be fewe or many dayes by the way death is our last port vnto it we are all bound and at it must euery one arriue Now what man doth euer commit himselfe to Sea and doth not first furnish himselfe with necessary prouision against all vnexpected tempests How much the more then ought we to furnish our selues against the stormes of death which euery one of vs must certainly looke for hee that intends but a iourney by land enquires for the most commodious way And doe wee thinke to performe our iourney from Heauen to earth without any trouble or forecast at all This is a lamentable carelesnesse For whosoeuer doth then first goe about to prepare himselfe to dye well when he feeles sicknesse vpon him or seeth death before his eyes is like to a Souldier that beginneth then to forge his weapons when hee beholds his enemies on the wall Wee ought to spend the whole course of our life on the meditation of death for hee certainly hath liued well who hath learned well to dye Prouident Ioseph gathered in the seauen yeares of plenty that which fed him and those that were with him in the seauen yeares of famine Gen. 41.43 In like manner ought wee in our youth and health to make prouision of that Spirituall foode that may cherish vs towards our end when wee may chance to bee weake both in body and in minde Hee that is Lord of life and death open the eyes of our vnderstandings and endue vs with his Holy Spirit that hee may lighten and conduct our soules in and thorow the darknesse of death Hee I say that hath by dying ouercome death graunt that we may know it throughly to withstand it valiantly and hereafter as Souldiers vnder his banner happily vanquish it To treate hereof orderly The originall of Death we are first to know that God created not death Hee created the first man immortall in soule and body Zanch de Var. qual 4.1 so that hee might haue liued eternally had hee but obserued the will of his Creator Yet neuerthelesse hee also created him mortall so that hee might dye whensoeuer hee should transgresse the law of his Creator This appeares vnto vs by the words wherein GOD threatneth him on this manner In the day that thou eatest thereof Gen. 2.17 thou shalt surely die speaking of the forbidden tree of knowledge Wherefore Iesus the sonne of Sirach sayes that God himselfe made man from the beginning and left him in the hand of his owne counsell Eccl. 1â— 14.17 He set before him life and death sayes he and which hee liketh shall bee giuen him Now when Adam through the Serpents subtilty slighted this diuine warning hee straightwayes became lyable to death both in respect of his body which was dust Gen. 3.19 and shall returne to dust againe as also of his soule for through this sinne was hee adiudged to condemnation Rom. 5.16 And not hee onely but also all his posterity who all died in Adam 1 Cor. 15.22 as the Apostle teacheth So then this death as we may say was begot of the deuill brought into the world by sinne borne in Paradise the Mid-wife Eue the Nurse Adam It hath an abominable mother that mainely doth resist God It is lamentable of it selfe in respect that it is the fruit of our transgression It is ignominious because it is vnto vs as a brand of Gods wrath Yet is it not so abominable as the mother of it sinne it selfe because it doth execute Gods iust iudgement on vs slaying vs three manner of wayes whence it also may bee termed three-fold Death threefold First it killeth the body in separating the same from the spirit which is the life of it for the body without the spirit is dead saith Iames. This kinde of death is common vnto all men It assailes vs out of our owne nature or may be inflicted on vs by others And from this shall all men be freed at the generall resurrection Secondly it slayeth the soule by with-drawing the same from God her Creator Psal 36.9 who is the fountaine of life and from God her Redeemer Pro. 3.22 who is the life of our soule and the word of life This manner of death is also common vnto all those that walke as yet in Vanity and Blindnesse of heart Ioh. 1.11 It befalleth vs by meanes of our sinnes and trespasses Ephes 4.17 Ephes 2.1 And from this in this present life as many are freed Col. 2.13 as Christ hath quickned together with him and hath forgiuen them all their trespasses as the Apostle speaketh And this it is that Saint Iohn termes the first resurrection Thirdly it kills soule and body both together by excluding them both from the blisse of eternall life And of this kinde of death Christ saith If a man keepe my saying Ioh. 8.31 hee shall neuer see death Whereby the contrary is proued to wit that vnto them that do reiect the word of God this death shall befall and will come vpon them by the iust sentence which at the last day God shall pronounce against them Nor shall any of those whom it befalleth euer be released neither in this nor in the world to come These three sorts of dying are all comprehended by Christ in a speech of his where he saith Feare not them which kill the body Iohn 10.28 but are not able to kill the soule but feare him rather who is able to destroy both soule and body in hell Death twofold This hell Saint Iohn in his Reuelation at the last sees throwne into a lake of fire Reu. 20.15 and calls it