Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	child_n	die_v	sin_n	5,554	5	5.1473	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20529	Foure godlie and fruitful sermons two preached at Draiton in Oxford-shire, at a fast, enioyned by authoritie, by occasion of the pestilence then dangerously dispearsed. Likewise two other sermons on the twelfth Psalme. VVhereunto is annexed a briefe tract of zeale. / By I. Dod. R. Cleauer.	Dod, John, 1549?-1645.; Cleaver, Robert, 1561 or 2-ca. 1625.; Winston, John, fl. 1614-1634.; Greenham, Richard.	1611 (1611)	STC 6938; ESTC S114261	70,793	120

when this is said to bee a fauourable stroke we must vnderstand that it is so only vnto Gods children not to the wicked concerning whose departure out of this world it is saide that Hell followeth death If they bee not reconciled vnto God but liue and die in their sinnes their case is fearefull And therefore is it a iust hand of God vpon impenitent sinners that they should bee horriblie afraid of that sicknes No sinne nor Sathan himselfe is so much feared of them as the pestilence nay nor Gods wrath it selfe and therefore they care not what foule sinne they commit whereby they are sure to incurre the Lords displeasure so their bodies may escape this plague of God But suppose they doe escape it if they be as full of impiety and iniustice and impurity as they were wont to be the Lord hath seuen times greater plagues behinde and his reuenging hand will be stretched out against them still Therefore let them labour to make a good vse of this to humble themselues and turne from their euill wayes otherwise assuredly some greater punishment will light on their soules or bodies or both Verse 15. So the Lord sent a pestilence in Israel c. and there died of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba seuenty thousand men Yee heard the cause of this before to wit because Dauid partly through pride and partly through vaine confidence had numbred the people whence this point may be gathered that God maketh his iudgements sutable to our sinnes Dauid was lifted vp because hee had so many strong and valient men therefore doth God lessen the number of them So Ioel 1. 5. it is said Weepe houle ye drinkers of wine for the new wine shal be pulled from your mouth This was a most iust correction that they should be punished with scarcitie of drinke seeing they had before time so wretchedly abused the same In like sort doth the Lord meete with proud men turning their glory into shame as wee may obserue in Tyrus Isa. 23. 8. where the question is made Who hath decreed this against Tyrus that crowneth men whose Merchants are Princes whose Chapmen are the Nobles of the world And the answere is made vers 9. The Lord of Hosts hath decreed this to staine the pride of all glorie and to bring to contempt all them that be glorious in the earth So for couetous men they are many times brought to beggarie according to that of the wise man Hee that maketh hast to be rich shall surely come to pouertie Albeit they vse wonderfull diligence and be exceeding painfull and haue an excellent capacitie and a deepe reach for worldly things seeme to want nothing that may make them prosper yet because God is displeased with them he brings them downe both stripping them of their wealth which they most affected and plaguing them with pouertie which they most detested And a cause heereof is that he giueth men thereby to vnderstand that he taketh knowledge of their waies to the end they should take knowledge of his iudgements when they see them directed so iust against their faults and affections And by this meanes as reprobates are left without excuse the elect are much furthered to repentance when their corrupt wils their vnlawfull desires and sinfull delights are crossed when they behold Gods visible hand and righteous hand when he sheweth them the nature and qualitie of their offences by the manner and proceeding of his corrections that was the true cause why the Lord laid this stroake on Dauid at this time rather than any other viz that he might more speedily and euidently see his fault and more soundly and heartily repent for the same Which maketh for our instruction if wee would haue comfort in any thing that we possesse let vs vse it well neither let our hearts deceine vs whether it be honour or goods or children if we dote vpon them and make Gods of them we are likely to be depriued of them the Lord can take from vs our power the ioy of our honour the pleasure of our eyes and the desire of our hearts euen our sonnes and our daughters When men loue to be commanders God can take their authoritie from them if they stand vpon their honour and reputation he can soone make it wither and vanish if the delights of their eyes doe content them he can quickly remoue those from them finally if they set their affections immoderately vpon their children and lift vp their soules vnto them as the words are in the originall that is make them the desire of their hearts God can suddenly bereaue them of their children or so bring it to passe that they shall haue little comfort in them Would we then haue our houses and our children free from Gods strokes and in particular from the pestilence as that many pretend that they are more carefull for their children then for themselues then let vs neuer commit any sinne to set them vp for that is the next way to depriue vs of them when we carry more affection to them then to the Lord himselfe we endanger our selues and them both The Lords will is that you should in the first place serue him and so doing you shall make your children not Lords but kings not of an earthly but of an heauenly kingdome The next thing heere briefly to be considered is the space in which these seuentie thousand men died namely in three daies Doctrine that When God sets in with his iudgements they shall be farre dispersed in a short time He can cause his plagues to flie fast and make great speed This is prooued in the Psalme where speaking of any decree of God it is said He sendeth forth his commandement vpon earth and his word runneth very swiftly What God determineth to doe he can doe it out of hand when it standeth with his good pleasure So we see how he could cause one Angell to goe thorow the whole land of Aegypt in one night and to slay the first borne in euery house and in this regard Gods curse is compared to a flying booke to note the swiftnesse of it that it commeth as it were with two wings but withall it is likened to a talent of lead that sticketh fast where it fals it maketh speed vnto the place that God appointeth and tarrieth there where once it lighteth Furthermore we see how quickly Gods curse was scattered ouer the whole earth when our first parents had sinned the deformitie came not vpon the creatures by degrees but it ouertooke them presently and out of hand And so at the last day Christ shall come in the twinckling of an eye as to call the godly forthwith vnto glory so to draw the wicked immediately before Gods iudgement seate to receiue present and euerlasting punishment and torment And the reason of this is because God at all times is in all places and of

where God dealeth with Dauid as a father with his owne sonne First letting him chuse his owne rod when of necessitie he must be corrected Secondly he giueth him warning before hand that the plague might not ouertake him on a sudden which would wonderfully haue discomforted him Thirdly he telleth him how long it should continue so that he was sure three daies would be the longest Which serueth first for singular comfort vnto Gods children that doe bewaile their sinnes and passe sentence vpon themselues as well as they can if they goe thorow with that worke the Lord wil giue them a comfortable and speedie deliuerance or if it be requisite that they should feele Gods hand vpon them or theirs in any more grieuous manner yet the Lord will deale with them in some sort as he did heere with Dauid for first they shall haue warning thereof before hand and so be better prepared and armed for it And further if they striue to humble their hearts before the Lord though they haue not the choyce of their particular scourge yet it shall be as well with them in effect for although at first they thinke the rod very smart and euery blow two yet when they are growne to be stronger men in Christ they shall be driuen to confesse that if they had chosen their owne rods there could haue beene none in the world so fit for them as those wherewith the Lord hath scourged them So that they shall be able not onely to say with the Prophet It is good for me that I haue beene afflicted but good for me that I was whipped with these and these rods yea and that I receiued thus many strokes from the Lords mercifull hand No crosse could haue beene inuented to doe me more good then pouerty or disgrace or ill neighbours or any the like according as Gods seruants are seuerally tried If God should haue put it to Abrahams and Iacobs choyse they would rather haue parted with any outward thing then with their children that were as deare vnto them as their life but when they saw Gods end in trying them that way when Isaac was spared and Ioseph aduanced and made an instrument of humbling his boisterous brethren and of releeuing his father and all his familie besides many others then they must needs acknowledge that it was fittest for them to be crossed in their children and that Cods waies are the best whatsoeuer we may iudge of them for a while Secondly heere is matter of terrour vnto all vngodly men that will not be perswaded to iudge themselues looke what iudgement will most vex and sting and torment and euen kill their soules that let them make account of If Haman might haue beene the chuser of all other miseries he would not haue chosen that which befell him to wit that Mordecai his enemie should be aduanced and honoured and that by himselfe who did beare him such deadly hatred for that he could not obtaine honour and reuerence from him what an horrible torment must this needs be vnto his heart that Mordecai now should ride and he goe by him on foot that now he must bow the knee to Mordecai that would so faine haue had Mordecai to doe it to him that the gallowes that was by him prepared for Mordecai must now serue for himselfe c. This must needs be an exceeding torture vnto him and this shall befall all impenitent sinners What they are most loth to vndergoe that shall light vpon them and that at vnawares when they least thinke of it and shall continue with them and neuer leaue them till it haue either turned them vnto God or brought them vnto hell the place of all such rebrobate sinners And that we may apply this to the present occasion are there not many that are horribly afraid of the pestilence yea farre more then they are of sinne which bringeth it in so much that they absent themselues from Sermons and from publike prayers lest they should be infected Are there not very many I say that are possessed with such feares Let them looke to it for of all other strokes the pestilence is likely to fall vpon them if it were a sword in the hand of the Pope or of Sathan then it stood them vpon to beware of Gods ordinances but seeing none but Atheists will denie but it is ordered by Gods ouer-ruling hand they take a bad course to escape his stroke for where can they hide themselues but he will finde them out And whither can they flee from his all-seeing presence He can take away the infection where it is and bring it euen in a moment where it is not and therefore goe where they can they goe in continuall danger for where is the sword of God most likely to smite but where he is most displeased and where there is most prophanenesse and greatest contempt of the meanes of saluation therefore if they would escape let them fall downe before the Lord and humble themselues as Dauid did and not be so much afraid of their neighbours that haue the plague as of sinne that brings the plague and runne not so much from the occasion of this sicknesse though all good care must be had that way as from the cause which if we can doe then either God will spare vs and exempt vs from this stroke or else giue vs comfort vnder it and deliuerance from it by life or death making it a meanes vtterly to kill originall sinne which all his ordinances could but onely weaken and who would be afraid of such a cure what child of God would not be more glad to sit on a throne in heauen though he be called thereto by a boysterous messenger than to be in a prison heere on earth to be where he shall be quite freed from sinne and sorrow and temptation and haue all happinesse aboue that which his heart can desire rather than to be continually turmoyled heere in the world and euery day to taste of new tribulations The end of the first Sermon The second Sermon 2. SAMVEL 24. 14. c. Verse 14 And Dauid said vnto Gad I am in a wonderfull strait let vs fall now into the hand of the Lorde for his mercies are great and let mee not fall into the hand of man Verse 15. So the Lord sent a Pestilence in Israell from the morning euen to the time appointed and there died of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba seuenty thousand men Verse 16. And when the Angell stretched out his hand vpon Ierusalem the Lord repented of the euill and said to the Angell that destroyed the people It is sufficient hold now thy hand c. Verse 17. And Dauid spake vnto the Lord c. YEE haue alreadie heard of Dauids sinne in numbring of the people of his humiliation confession and crauing of pardon for the same also of the message that was brought vnto him by Gad what offer the Lord made him Namely that hee should

they set vpon correction with best staiednesse doe want knowledge and discretion and therefore giue their children too little or too much but the Lord is of such infinite wisedome that hee euer proportioneth his chastisements to the neede of the partie and the nature of the fault Againe earthly parents when they haue layde on stripes cannot take them off againe when they see their children weeping and grieuing and humbling themselues in good earnest for their offences they wish but all in vaine that their paine were ouer the smart remooued but as the Lord woundeth so can he heale as hee cast Iob downe so could he raise him vpagaine and whatsoeuer our distresses be if wee can humble our selues and crie vnto the Lord hee is able and readie to relieue and to deliuervs In which regard wee should be most willing if we must needs he corrected to yeeld vp our selues into his hands For there is no comparison betwixt the compassions of men which are finite and of Gods who is infinite Which may serue to discouer vnto vs their folly that are so farre from submitting themselues to Gods chastisements that they cannot endure his rebukes Let any man of God admonish them and they are readie to flie in his face What hath he to doe with me say they let him meddle with his owne matters I will not take it at his hands with many bitter speeches of that kinde which argue in them great distemper and vexation of minde And let a man tell them in neuer so great loue that if they doe not amend their sinnes will abroad to their disgrace their friends will grieue at them their aduersaries will reproach them and all cry shame vpon them yet they will be no whit pacified but rather enraged against the admonisher not caring what be thought or spoken against them so Christians may not reprooue them Hence is it that men are so loath to be vnder any Christian gouernment where they must be instructed how to doe well and rebuked if they doe not well they will none of it to liue in such a family or congregation where they shall be catechized and restrained from the breach of the Sabbath and other leaud courses they will neuer endure it but will chuse rather to be vnder the gouernement of Antichrist and of Sathan himselfe then of Christ Iesus Let their maisters be Papists cruell oppressors as sauage tyrants as Pharaoh was they will rather dwell with them then with godly and religious gouernours that would vse them most kindly and reward them most liberally for their seruice Such were the Israelites Moses as the Lord testifieth of him was the meekest man vpon the earth and withall a most wise and couragious Ruler yet would they rather haue beene euery day vnder the whip in Egypt then vnder Gods gracious gouernment which was executed by Moses And as these are heere to be condemned of great want of wisedome that will not submit themselues to be admonished and ordered by the Lord so are they also which are vnwilling to come vnder Gods correcting hand which is indeed of al other most desireable And because the present occasion requireth it it will not be amisse to shew that the pestilence wherewith the Lord hath now visired this Nation is a fauourable and gentle correction and that this sword of the Lord is nothing so terrible as the sword of man would be if he should cause that to be drawne out against vs and that for these reasons First because heerein we may more immediately and cleerely behold Gods hand which is a meanes to draw vs to more speedy and earnest humiliation whereas if we were pursued by the sword of men we should be more distracted sometimes with feares of and greese for the enemies violence sometimes with hopes either of mercy from them or of aid from others all which do either vtterly withdraw vs from or much hinder vs in the worke of humiliation Secondly in the time of the pestilence the aduersaries of Religion haue not such matter of insultation as when warres are hote in the Land for then they would triumph in this or the like manner Now these forward men shall pay for it downe they shall all the sorte of them they were wont to brag that God would be their buckler and their shield their refuge and their strong tower of defence but what will become of them now thus would they insult ouer Gods chosen in the time of warre but in the time of this sicknes they themselues are exceedingly afraid euen at their wits ende knowing that hell and destruction gape for them whensoeuer death taketh hold of them whereas Christians are quiet and full of peace ioy in the holy Ghost knowing that if they die they shall go from earth to heauen from a place of miserie to a palace of glorie Thirdly this is a maruellous great mercie that there doth still remaine the face of a Church that the Gospell is preached the Sacraments administred the profession of the truth openly maintained whereas if there were a forraine inuasion or a ciuill mutinie insurrection the vsuall course of the minsterie and of the exercises of religion would be stopped which now is not onely tollerated but commanded Besides now there is a continuance of the state of the common-wealth whereas when the sword rageth in a land the face of the honourable is not respected the Magistrates authoritie is reckoned a matter of nothing and all lawes must giue place to the wills of violent men Againe in the times of warre there is an vtter subuersion of all meanes of maintenance and comfort we cannot enioy our possessions nor dwell in our houses nor reape the fruits of our labours which now through Gods mercie is farre otherwise And as for our estate so euen for our liues and for our soules the case is better with vs in the time of pestilence then in the time of warres for then all our families wiues children seruants and all may bee barbarously slaine or worse vsed before our eyes or we before theirs and if not so yet they must be left to Idolaters and in danger to be vassalls of sinne and Sathan but now if death come it is nothing so lamentable if life bee graunted it is nothing so dangerous for though we be taken away yet our friends shall remaine with the Saints seruants of God and they that haue bene our Christian friēds will be theirs at least there is very great hope of their happinesse both here and hereafter in regard of that liberty of the Gospell which through Gods goodnes is still maintained And therefore great cause haue wee to magnifie the name of God that when our late gracious Queene was taken away the Land must needs bee exercised with some heauie stroke or other that hee then miraculouslie deliuered vs from the violence of the sword of man and smote our Nation with his owne sword Now