Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	church_n	die_v	zion_n	26	3	8.7583	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17397	The marrovv of the oracles of God. Or, diuers treatises containing directions about sixe of the waightiest things can concerne a Christian in this life. by N. Bifield, late preacher of Gods Word at Isleworth in Middlesex.	Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622.; Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622. Beginning of the doctrine of Christ. aut; Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622. Spirituall touchstone. aut; Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622. Signes of the wicked man. aut; Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622. Promises. aut; Rules of a holy life. aut; Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622. Cure of the feare of death. aut	1630 (1630)	STC 4222; ESTC S120511	234,877	800

shewes in those words of being absent from the body and present with the Lord verse 8. Thirdly the prophesies haue runne on this point For it was long since fore-told that Christians knowing the victory of Christ ouer death should bee so farre from fearing death that they should tread vpon him and insult ouer him O death where is thy sting c. Esay 25. 8. Hosea 13. 14. 2 Corinthians 15. 54 55. Fourthly it is a condition that Christ puts in when he first admits Disciples that they must deny their owne liues and not only be content to take vp their crosse in other things but their liues must not bee deare vnto them when he calls for it Luke 14. 26. Fifthly We are taught in the Lords Prayer to pray That Gods kingdome may come And by this kingdome he meanes the kingdome of Glory as well as the kingdome of Grace Now in that wee are taught to pray for the kingdome it shewes wee should desire it and that by praier we should be more and more heated in our desires Sixtly wee are borne againe to a liuely hope of our inheritance Now if we be afraid of the time of our translation thither how doe we hope for it after a liuely manner A desire of going to heauen is a part of that Seed cast into our hearts in our regeneration 1 Pet. 1. 3 4. Seuenthly we haue the example of diuers men in particular who haue desired to die were out of feare in that respect Gen. 49. 18. Iacob waited for Gods saluation and Paul resolues that to dy and to be with Christ is best of all for him Phil. 1. 21 23. yea in Romans 7. 24. hee is vehement O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this body of Death Sim●…on prayes God to let him dye Luke 2 29. And the Prophet in the name of the godly said long before Christ O that the saluation of Israel were come out of Sion Psalme 14. 7. And we haue the example of the Martyrs in all ages that accounted it a singular glory to die And in 2. Corinth 5. 2 7. the godly are said to fight for it that they might be absent from his body and present with the Lord and so doe the first fruits of the holy Ghost those eminent Christians mentioned Rom. 8. 23. Lastly not onely some particular godly men haue attained to this but the whole Church is brought in in the 12. Chapter of Reuelation praying for the comming of Christ and desiring too that hee would come quickely And 2. Timothy 4. 8. The loue of the appearing of Christ is the Periphrasis of the childe of God Thus of the first point CHAP. III. Shewing how vncomely it is to feare Death FOr the second how vncomely a thing it is in Christians to feare death may appeare many waies 1. By the feare of death we shame our Religion while we professe it in our words we deny it in our workes Let Papists tremble at death who are taught that no man ordinarily can be sure he shall go to heauen when he dies But for vs that professe the knowledge of saluation to bee astonished at the passage to it shewes at least a great weakenesse of faith and doth outwardly giue occasion of disgrace to our Religion 2. By that which went before we may see how vncomely it is to be afraid of death For thereby we disable the death of Christ wee frustrate the end of Gods workemanship we stop the execution of the Prophesies we renounce our first agreement with Christ we mocke God in praying that his kingdome may come we obscure the euidence of our owne regeneration and wee transgresse against the example of the godly in all ages 3. Many of the Pagans greatly settled their hearts against the feare of death by this very reason because there was no being after death and therefore they could no more feele misery then then before they were borne And shall wee Christians that heare euery day of the glorious saluation we haue by Christ be more fearefull then they were Let them feare death that know not a better life Shall we be like wicked men Their death is compelled shall ours be so too They by their good wils would not lose their bodies in this life nor haue their bodies in the next life but since God hath made vs vnlike them in the issues of death shall wee make our selues like them in the lothnesse to dye Let Felix tremble at the doctrine of death and iudgement Acts 24. 25. but let all the godly hold vp their heads because the day of their redemption draweth nigh Mathew 24. c. 5. Shall we be afraid of a shadow The separation of the soule frō God that is death if we speake exactly but the separation of the soule from the body is but the shaddow of death When see we men trembling for feare of spirituall death which is called the First Death and yet this is farre more woefull then that we call the bodily death But as if the death of the body were nothing the Scripture cals damnation The second death neuer putting the other into the number 6. This feare is called a bondage here in this text And shall wee voluntarily make our selues vassals Or shall we be like slaues that dare not come in our Masters sight 7. If we loue long life why are wee not much more in loue with eternall life where the duration is longer and the estate happier Are wee not extremely insatuated that when God will doe better for vs then wee desire yet wee will be afraid of him 8. Shall wee bee worse then children or mad men Neither of them feare death and shall simplicity or Ideotisme doe more with them then reason or Religion can doe with vs 9. Do not all that reade the storie of the Israelites in their passion desiring to bee againe in Egypt and violently murmuring at the promise of going into the Land of Canaan condemne them of vile ingratitude to God and folly in respect of themselues For what was it for them to liue in Egypt but to serue cruell Taske-masters about bricke and clay And was not Canaan the place of their rest and a Land that floweth with milke and hony Euen such is the condition of all that wish life and are afraid to dye What is this world but Aegypt and what is to liue in this world but to serue about bricke and clay Yea the Church that is separate from the world can find it no better then a barren wildernesse And what is Heauen but a spirituall Canaan And what can death bee more then to passe ouer Iordan and victoriously ouercomming all enemies to bee possessed of a place of matchlesse rest of more pleasures then Milke or Hony can shadow out 10. Adam might haue had more reason to feare Death that neuer saw a man die an

age or absence in a place so far remote for my earnest trust is that God will adde yet many yeres to your happy life on earth and besides I haue had heretofore occasion to know how little you were afraid to dye when the Lord did seeme to summon you by sicknes That GOD which hath ennobled your heart with heauenly gifts and so made you an instrument of so much good and contentment vnto that most excellent Princesse with whom you now liue and towards whom you haue shewed so much faithfull obseruance and dearenesse of affection and carefulnesse of attendance euen the Father of mercie and God of all consolations encrease in you all spirituall blessings and multiply the ioy of your heart and make you still to grow in acceptation and all well-doing Humbly crauing pardon for my boldnesse herein I commit your Honor to God and to the Word of his Grace which will build you vp to eternall life resting Your Honors in all humble obseruance N. BIFIELD Isleworth July 14. 1618. The chiefe Contents of this Booke THE drift is to shew how wee may be freed from the feare of Death pag. 6. 35 First it is prooued by eight apparent Arguments that it may be attained to pag. 655. to 660 Secondly it is shewed by fifteene Considerations how shamefull and vncomely a thing it is for a Christian to be afraid to die pag. 660. to 670. Thirdly the way how this feare may be remooued is shewed where may be noted An exhortation to regard the directions p. 670 671 Two wayes of Cure the one by Meditation the other by Practice p. 671. 1. The Contemplations either serue to make vs to like Death or else to bee lesse in loue with life pag. 672. Seuenteene Priuiledges of a Christian in death pag. 670. to 685. The contemplations that shew vs the misery of life are of two sorts for either they shew vs the miseries of the life of nature or else the miseries that doe vnauoidably accompanie the very life of grace p. 685. c. The miseries of the life of nature from p. 8●… to 693. The mi●…eries of a godly mans life are two-fold which appeares both in the things he wants and in the things hee hath while he lives pag. 693. c. Sixe things which euery godly man wants while he liues p. 694. to 698. What should make a godly man wearie of life in respect of God pag. 698. to 704. And what in respect of euill angels p. 704. c. And what in respect of the World p. 706. c. And what in respect of himselfe p. 721. c. Eight aggrauations of Gods corrections in this life p. 702. Eight apparent miseries from the world p. 706. c. Fifteene manifest defects and blemishes in the greatest seeming felicities of the world p. 712. to 721. Many aggrauations of our miserie in respect of corruption of nature in this life p. 721. c. The remainders of the first punishments yet vpon vs. p. 725. The remoouall of the Obiections men make about death from whence their feare ariseth and these Obiections are answered p. 7●…7 1. About the paine of dying where are ten answers p. 721. c. 2. About the condition of the body in death p. 733. 3. About the desire to liue longer yet p. 736. 4. About the pretence of desire to liue long to doe good p. 740. 5. About casting away of ones selfe p. 472. 6. About parting with friends p. 745. c. 7. About parting with wife and children p. 747. 8. About leauing the pleasures of life p. 748. 9. About leauing their honours of life p. 750. 10. About leauing their riches p. 753. c. 11. About the kind of death p. 756. The second way of curing the feare of death is by practice where seuen directions are giuen from p. 757. to the end THE CVRE OF THE FEARE OF DEATH CHAP. I. Shewing the Scope and parts of this Treatise THat which I intend in this Treatise is to shew how a godly man might order himselfe against the feare of Death or what course hee should take to liue so as not to be afraid to die This is a maine point and exceeding necessary Life is throughly sweet when death is not feared A mans heart is then like Mount Sion that cannot be moued He can feare no enemie that doth not feare death As death is the last enemy so it workes the longest and last feares and to dye happily is to dye willingly The maine worke of preparation is effected when our hearts are perswaded to be willing to dye Now in the explication of this point I would distinctly handle three things First I will proue that to liue without feare of death is a thing may bee obtained one may be deliuered from it as certainly as a sicke man may be cured of an ordinary disease S●…condly I will shew how vncomely a thing it is for a Christian to be afraid of death that so wee may be stirred vp the more to seeke the cure for this disease Thirdly I will shew by what m●…anes wee may bee deliuered from the feare of death if we vse them Of the two first more briefly and of the last at large CHAP. II. Prouing that we may be cured of the feare of Death FOr the first That the feare of death may be remoued and that we may attaine to that resolution to be willing to dye without lothnesse is apparent diuers wayes First it is euident Christ dyed to deliuer vs not onely from the hurt of death and from the diuell as the executioner but also from the feare of death too Now Christ may attaine to the end of his death vnlesse we will deny the vertue of Christ and his death and thinke that notwithstanding it cannot be obtained Heb. 2. 14 15. And the more apparent in this because in that place he shews that there is vertue in the death of Christ to cure this feare of death in any of the Elect if they wil vse the meanes For as our sins will not be mortified though there be power in the death of Christ to kill them vnlesse we vse the meanes to extract this vertue out of the death of Christ so is it true that the feare of death may be in some of Gods elect but it is not because Christ cannot deliuer them but because they are sluggish and will not take the course to bee rid of those feares The Physician is able to cure them and vsually doth cure the same disease but they will not take his Receipts Secondly the Apostle intreating of the desire of death saith That God hath wrought vs vnto the selfe same thing 2 Cor. 5. 5. We are againe created of God that we might in our selues aspire vnto immortality and are set in such an estate as if we answered the end of his workmanship we should neuer be well till we be possessed of the happinesse in another world which hee

Passion 5. The temptations of thy calling 7 Profanenesse How wee must carry our selues in a●…liction 8. Things to be auoided 1 Dissembling 2. Shame 3. Impatience 4 Discouragement 5 Trust not in carnall friends 6 Perplexed cares 7. Sudden feares 8. Carelesnesse of thy wates 5 Thi●…gs to be done in the time of affliction The drift of the whole Treatise The pr●… followin●… these dir●… ctions The parts of the treatise Eight arguments to prooue we may be helped against the feare of death Christ died to this end 2. It was intended in our regeneration 3 This cure hath bin foretold 4 We were bound to it when we were admitted to be Christs Disciples 5 It is taught in the Lords Prayer Liuely hope doth include it Examples of such as haue attained to it 8. The whole Church taught to seeke F●…ene R●…asons why it is an vncomely thing to be afraid to dye 1 Wee shame our religion 3. We are worse then some Pagans 4 Wicked men dye vnwillingly 5 Death is but a shadow 6. It is a bondage to feare 7. If wee loue this life why not eternal life 8. Are wee worse then children mad men 9. Wee make our selues like the Israelites or rather more absurd then they 10. Is not death ordinary 11. The example of Moses 12 The example of al creatures 13. It is better we goe to death then that death shuld come to vs 1●… It is vncomely to feare that which is common ce●…taine 15. Shal we be afraid of an enemy that hath bin soossen vanquished An exhorta●…ion to attend vpon the mean●…s of cure 2. Wayes of curing the feare of Death 1. By contemplation 2 By practice Th●… wayes of curing this feare by contemplation The happines of a Christian 〈◊〉 death shewed 17. waies 1. Death i●… the hauen 2 It is but a sleepe Iob 14. 12. 3. It is the day of receiuing wages 4 Then the seruant is free and the heire at full age 5 Then the banished returne 6. It is our birth-day 7. It is the funerall of our vices c. The dissolution of the body is the absolution of the soule 8. Then the soule is deliuered out of prison 9. Shewed by another similitude 10. It is but to put off our old clothes 11. it is but to remoue out of an old house 12. The seed cast into the ground is not spoiled 13. Then we shall be in Christ. 14 It is but to come to the ●…nd of the Race and receiue the prize 15. It is our Iubilee 16 I●… is the day of our Coronation 17. Consider the glory to come E●…l 71. The miseries of life two wayes considered The miseries of a naturall life shewed thr●…e waves Three dreadfull considerations about sin 1. Thou art guilty of Adams sin 2. Thou wast conceiued in sin which is like a Leprosie hard to cure Spread ouer thy whole soule or in thy minde An●… in thy Conscience And in thy Affections 3 Innumerable Actuall sins The punishments inflicted vpon wicked men 1. They are banished from Paradise 2. The earth cursed 3. Their soules in wofull distresse 4 And so the●…r bodies 5. And so their estates in foure respects 1. Commō plagues 2. Particula●… crosses 3. Neglected of God 4 Their blessings cursed Fearefull things that may befall them A go●…ly man hath great cause to be weary of life if he consider 1. What he wants 2. What he cannot auoid 6. Thing●… euery go●…ly man wants while hee liues h●…re in th●…s 〈◊〉 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…f God 2 Fellowship with his best friends 3 The perfection of his nature 4. Liberty 5. Contentment 6. Th●… Crowne Life bitter in r●…spect of God di●…ers wayes Eight aggrauations of the miseries of li●…e in respect o●… the co●…ctions of God 1. The world full of diuels 2. Our conflict with diuels 3. Their subtilty cruelty 9 Apparent miseries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this world 1. Like a wildern 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like Egypt 3. Like Sodom 4. Like a P●…st-house 5. Like a very Golgotha In this world the dead bury the dead 6 It hates VI 7 It wil not helpe vs if wee be in miserie 8 Euery Christian hath some speciall miserie What th●… seeming feli●…ties of the world are Fifteene arguments to proue the vanity of the best worldly things 1 All full of labour 2. A small portion that is attained 3. Men cannot agree about the good ●…hat i●… i●… them which should be best 4. Nothing 1. The desire after these things will not last 6 Their ●…re is va●…e 7. Th●… am●…y of the world is ●…he enm●…ty with God 8. All sub●…ect to van●…ty or violence Ma. 6. 19 1●… They may be lost at t●…e very seate of i●…●…gement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…6 1●… 4 1 2 9 T●…y w●…●…ot helpe v●…●…n the 〈◊〉 day 10. The loue of them is ●…amnable 11. One condition to all 12 God wi●… dispose 13. A man may want an heart to vse them 14. The euils of life euer ●…ingled with them 15. Thou art mortall Our mor tality aggrauated by 4 considerations 1 All ●…hou ha●…t 〈◊〉 but the prouision of a Pilgrim 2 Thy death is vncertaine 3. When thou diest all will bee forgotten 4 Thy case in death whether thou die with or without issue The causes in our selues why we should not be in loue with life as 1. The remainders of corruption of nature Which is the more grieuous 1 Because it is spred all ouer vs. 2 Because in vs v●…curable 3. 4 Effects of 〈◊〉 of nature in vs. 1. Ciuil war within vs. 2. Insufficiencie for our calling 〈◊〉 A stirring kinde of madnesse 4. Swarms of euill thoughts and actions 2. In respect of the remainders of the pu nishment of sinne 3 If wee respect the condition of our bodies Ob. 1. Sol. Teareasons to shew the folly of men in pretending the feare of the paine of death 4. 5. 9. 10. 1. 2. 3. Ob. 2. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ob. 3. Nine argu ments to shew the van●…y of men in desiring to liue long 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Ob. 4. Six reasons against their pretence that would liue long to do good as they ●…ay 2. 3. Ob. 5. 1. 2. Against selfe murder Ob. 6 4. 6 Reasons about parting with our friends in death 5. 6. Ob. 7. Sol. 1. Ob. 8. Sol. Fiue arguments against the 〈◊〉 of life 1. 2. 3. 4. Ob. 9. Sol. 1. Fiue obseruations abo●… the honours of this world 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ob. 10. Sol. 1. 1. Seuen mo●…ues to leaue the loue of riches 2. 3. 4. 5. 6 7 Ob. 11. Sol. 1. 2. 7 Things tha●… cu●…e the feare of death in practice 〈◊〉 The contempt of the Word How the contempt of the world may ●…ee wrought in vs. 2. The mortification of beloued sins How wee may know when sin is mortified 3. Assurance 4 The setting of our houses in order 5 To make fri●…nds with riches 6. A frequent meditation of death 7. Heartie prayer for this thing

ordinary death but for vs to bee affrighted with death that see thousands die at our right hand and ten thousand at our left and that daily is an inexcusable distemper The gate of Death is continually open and wee see a prease of people that daily throng into it 11. When Moses had cast downe his Rod it turned into a Serpent and the Text noting Moses weakenesse saith He fled from it But the Lord commanded him to take it by the Taile and behold it became a Rod againe Euen so death at the first sight is terrible like a new-made Serpent and the godly themselues through inconsideration flye from it but if at Gods commandement without feare they would lay hold vpon this seeming Serpent it will be turned into a Rod againe yea into a golden Scepter in our hands made much better by the change Neither doe we reade that euer at any time after Moses had any feare of this Serpent when he had once known the experience of it And haue we offen by the eyes of faith seene the experience of this great work of God and shall we still be running away 12. It is said Rom. 8. 12. that all creatures groane wayting for the libertie of the sonnes of God and shall wee bee worse then bruit beasts Doth the whole frame of nature as it were call for this time of change and shall man be so stupid or carried with such senslesse feares as to shun his owne felicity 13. Consider whether it bee more commodious for vs that Death come to vs or that we go to Death For one thing is certaine it is vaine to shunne that which cannot bee auoided For it is appointed vnto all men once to die Heb. 9. 27. What man is hee that liueth and shall not see death Psal. 89. 48. Death is the way of all flesh Iosh. 24. Now this being granted let vs consider of it Death is like an armed man with whom we must once fight Now if we be aduised and will goe to Death we must get on our armour beforehand and so the encounter will be without danger to vs because the weapons of our warfare are mighty through God we are assured of victory through Iesus Christ. On the other side to tarry till Death come vnto vs is as if a man that knowes he must fight with a sore aduersary would through slothfulnesse goe vp and downe vnarmed till he fall into the hands of his enemy and must then fight with him at such disaduantage 14. It is most vncomely to feare that which is both common and certaine Death of all afflictions is most common For from other afflictions it is possible some might bee free but from death can no man be deliuered and God of purpose hath made that most common which is most grieuous that thereby he might abate the terrour of it It is monstrous foolishnes to striue in vaine to auoid that which neuer man could escape And to teach men their vnauoydable mortality the Lord clothed our first Parents with the skinnes of dead beasts and feeds vs with dead flesh that as often as wee eate of slaine beasts we might remember our owne end and shall we be euer learning and neuer come to the knowledge of this truth Is this such a lesson as cannot be learned Shall we be so stupid as daily to passe by the graues of the dead and heare their knels and yet be vntaught and vnarmed 15. Lastly shall we be afraid of such an enemie as hath beene ouercome hand to hand and beaten by Christ and thousands of the Saints especially if wee consider the assurance wee haue of victory In this combate euery Christian may triumph before the victory 〈◊〉 Corinth 15. 55. And thus much of the two first points CHAP. IIII. Shewing that a Christian is many wayes happy in death NOw I come to the third point which is the maine thing here intended and that is the meanes how we may be cured of the feare of Death and in this we had need all to attend with great carefulnesse The disease is stubburne and men are sluggish and extremely loth to be at the trouble of the cure and Satan by all meanes would keepe vs from remembring our latter end the world affoords daily distractions to plucke vs away from the schoole of Christ herein and our owne hearts are deceitfull and our natures apt to be weary of the doctrine before wee put in practice any of the directions and we are apt to a thousand conceits that it is either vnpossible or vnnecessary to attend this doctrine or the like Yea it may be it will fare with many of vs as it doth with those that are troubled with the raging paine of the teeth their paine will cease when the Barber comes to pull out the tooth so it may be you may finde this deceit in your hearts that you will not feel the feare of death till the discourse of the medicine be ouer and so let it be as water spilt on the ground But let vs all awake and in the power and strength of Christ that died to deliuer vs from the feare of death let vs lay all the plaisters close to the sore and keepe them at it till it bee throughly whole There be two wayes then of curing this feare of Death The one is by contemplation The other is by practi●… There be some things if we did chuse them out soundly to thinke of them would heale vs wonderfully There be some things also to bee done by vs to make the c●…re perfect If contemplation be not auaileable then practice will without faile finish the cure The contemplations are of two sorts For either they are such meditations as breed desire of Death by way of motiue or they are such as remoue the obiections which cause in mans mind the feare of Death For the first there bee two things which if they be soundly thought on will worke a strange alteration in our hearts The one is the happinesse wee haue by death The other is the miseries we are in by life Can any man be afraid to bee happy If our heads and hearts were filled with arguments that shew vs our happines by death we would not be so senslesse as to tremble at the thought of dying Our happinesse in death may bee set out in many particulars and illustrated by many similitudes full of life and vertue to heale this disease of feare 1. Death makes an end of all the tempests and continuall stormes with which our life is tossed it is the Hauen and Port of rest and are we so mad as to desire the continuance of such dangerous tempests rather then to be in the Hauen whither our iourney tends 2. Death is a sleepe For so the dead are said to to be asleepe 1 Thess. 4. 14. Looke what a bed of rest and sleepe is to the weary labourer such is Death to