Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	day_n	king_n	son_n	5,432	5	5.0214	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78440	Balaam's wish: a sermon Wherein the vanity of desires without endeavours, in order to the obtaining the death of the upright, and their last end, is opened and applyed. First occasionally preached, and now at the request of some published. By an unworthy messenger of Christ.	Cawton, Thomas, 1637-1677.	1670 (1670)	Wing C1652; ESTC R225053	24,897	113

without some preface of Honour as King David my Lord the King c. and so he is about forty times called King David and my Lord the King David in one Chapter but now see what an alteration there is in the first verse of the next Chapter When the dayes of David drew nigh that he should dye He that was my Lord the King so often a little before now he comes to dye is plain David so that you see death maketh all equal Do you then desire to dye the death of a Great man Surely it is not so good as to dye in the fear of the great God and therefore Hezekiah a potent and noble Prince when he had a message of death pleads not Remember Lord that I have been a King that I have worn the Crown and swayed the Scepter Isa 38.3 but Remember Lord that I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart and have done that which is right in thy sight it s a poor thing in death to have been saluted Your Lordship and Your Ladyship Your Honour and Your Grace Your Highness and Your Majesty at every word if we cannot see our selves to be the persons whom the King of Heaven delights to honour Fourthly another had rather dye the death of the Wealthy many persons we see in the World they toyle and labour and sweat and if you ask them the reason it must needs be this that they might leave something behind them when they dye Christians that is not our own which we cannot carry with us into another World the rich man in this respect is like a poor man that is invited to a great mans Table whilst he is there he makes use of the Plate and Silver Spoons and other things but he must pocket up none of these but leave them behind him when he goes thence so God gives him a great many things here to use but he must leave them all at death Or just as it is with Travellers who make use of the movables of an Inne for that night they lodge there but the next morning they leave them and go onward in their journey Job 21.13 They spend their dayes in wealth and in a moment they go down to the grave Who would not choose to dye the death of the righteous rather than of Nabal or the rich man in the Gospel What a vain thing is man to desire to dye rich To leave a portion of Goods behind him and not to have a good portion in Heaven Surely the wealth and accommodations of the World do not make any person the more fit or willing to dye I remember a story that when the Duke of Venice shewed Charles the 5th at Venice his Earthly Paradice stately Palace Haec sunt quae faciunt invitos mori 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabb Gardens Riches Furniture Plate and Jewels and asked the Emperor what he thought of them he doth in a most Christian manner make no other answer but this These are the things that make men unwilling to dye Another shewing a private Christian the like sight expecting to be admired for it drew this speech from the Christian Sir you had need make sure of heaven or else you will be a great loser when you dye He that has set his heart on these things while he possesses them they will go to his heart when he is torn from them he will be unwilling to dye Fifthly let us compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Valiant some would choose this what large renown have many that have dyed upon the place in an engagement against the Enemies of their Country How doth their fame shine in History and the Chronicles of Nations embalm their Names to posterity Such as that glorious King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus Killed but not Conquered and that noble Captain Consalvo who being counselled to retire a little backwards from the Enemy made this answer Essendo egli consigliato a voler retirarsi alquanto indietro rispose desiderare d'haver piu tosto al presente la sua sepoltura un palmo di terrerro piu avanti che col ' retirarsi indietro poche braccia allungar la vita cento anni Guicciard That he had rather at that time get a span of ground forwards though he were sure to find his grave there then retreat a few yards to lengthen out his life a hundred years But though this may seem to be a brave and noble thing to dye so yet how poor comfort is it to their souls if they be not Souldiers of the Lamb called chosen and faithfull What does it avail them to be praised where they are not and be tormented where they are All their courage and resolution all their valour and magnanimity what is it to their Salvation without grace and piety They are laudable Virtues but not saving Graces 'T is true it is very honourable for a man to dye for his Country but let me dye the death of the righteous Sixthly let us compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Learned if some men were to choose what death they would dye they would choose to dye the death of a Philosopher when they have read of Seneca Plato Socrates and others with how much constancy and courage they looked death in the face they think it brave to dye like one of these but one spark of Grace is a better Lanthorn to lead you to happiness than all the reason and wisdom those men had they were wise to admiration and yet not wise to salvation It was the speech of St. Austin in his time Surgunt indocti rapiunt coelum c. Vnlearned men arise and snatch Heaven away whilst we with all our Learning go loaden to Hell Therefore what will it profit to dye the death of the Learned I tell you Solomons repentance was better to dye with than all Solomons wisdom Learning is a poor cordial to a dying man Scholarship is a rare Ornament but a miserable Comforter when you come to dye a good Handmaid to Godliness but a bad supplyer of the place of it when Godliness is wanting Therefore what will it profit a man to dye the death of the greatest Philosopher that ever was if that be all Seventhly another it may be would choose to dye the death of the Antient some say if they might choose what death they would dye they would wish to dye in a good old age to spin out the thread of their lives to a great length and to go away at last like a Lamp for want of oyl gradually to spend the radical moisture of the body and then without pain to yield unto nature But unless you dye the death of the righteous the longer your death is deferred the greater will be the misery that will be inflicted the longer a sinner lives the more wrath he layes up for himself and therefore excellent is that expression of the

bosom there is a sweet calm from the storms of the world a blessed silence from the clamous of the world an absence of all evil Sorrow shall depart and sighing flee away Esay 35.10 saith the Prophet and tears shall be wiped away God my friends cannot so much as afflict a godly man in the other world I will speak a great word that God that can do all things cannot do this thing as he cannot destroy his People in this life so he cannot so much as aflict them in the other It is much with Gods people as with the stones that built the Temple they were hewed and squared at the Quarry-side before they were brought to it and there was no noise of Axes and Hammers in the Temple So there is no disturbance in the Kingdom of God but a perfect rest after our painful walking Now this being upon the hearts of all men to know there is such a rest the wickedest of men cannot but desire it Secondly at the death of a righteous man he obtaynes a perfect degree of sanctity a consummation of holiness you know the greatest perfection we can here attaine unto is this an humble acknowledgment of the imperfections we have and endeavouring after the perfection we want but now though there be never so much imperfection in our state of grace here yet the death of the body is the death of the body of death the funeral of all our corruptions This exprerience teacheth that whilst the soul dwels in the body sinne will dwell in the soul the Saints may cast it down but they cannot cast it out Dejicere possunt non ejicere they may hinder it from having a throne in their hearts but they cannot hinder it from having a room there doe what they can there is no full seperation between sinne and the soul before a Seperation between the body and the soul there it is that that which is imperfect shall be done away as it is with a man that hath been under a long fit of sicknesse though he be truly recovered from his disease yet he is a long while before he can come to his full strength before he pick up his crummes so it s with the Saints here though they are delivered from sicknesse of sin that it shall not be to death yet not from sins of weaknesse until death Or as it is with one that hath layn a long time in prison though he be now really set at large yet he may go limping all his dayes by the hurt he received from thelrons when he was in prison so Gods people have so many corruptions as to make them go halting to their very graves in the new man there is enough of the old man to make them continually greive and mourne whilst they are here and God suffers this that his people may depend more upon justifying grace and be quickned to look more after sanctifying grace and be longing after consummating grace Thirdly there is this in the death of a righteous man that it is to him an immediate passage to heaven 1 It is a passage it is that which brings us to a happy journeys end death is the ship that waft's us over to the shoar of a blessed eternity 't is that boat that is sent to bring us to the landing stairs of our fathers house Gen. 24.57 Much like Abrahams servant that went to fetch Rebecca to be married to the son of the promise when they enquired at the mouth of the damsel shee willingly and presently gives her consent to go with him So when death comes with his pale horse for a Saint of God Gen. 45.27.28 he willingly gets up behind him or as one death is like the waggons Joseph sent to his father Jacob out of Egypt when he saw the waggons t' is said the good Old-mans heart revived within him and he cryed out Is Joseph my son yet alive I will go down and see him before I dye so when the Saints see the waggons of death their hearts revive Jesus is alive I will go to Jesus 2 And as it is a passage so an immediate passage that is there is no such thing as a Purgatory any place between Earth and Heaven where they are lodged Luk. 16.22 as soon as Lazarus was dead he was directly carried from dives his gate to Abrahams bosom as soon as the penitent thief was dead he was carried from the crosse on which he was crucifyed to the Kingdom where he is glorified This day thou shalt be with me in Paradice Luk. 23.23 As soon as the soul is breathed out of the body it is with God there is no temporal punishment held forth in the Scripture after this life and therefore there is no Purgatory Purgatory derogates from the blood of Christ which purgeth us from all iniquity 1 John 1.7 If there be any such thing as Purgatory as the Papists dream you must say one of these two things Either Christs blood doth not cleanse from all sins or not perfectly from some sins but both these are false therefore it follows there is no such thing Yea what would become of those that shall be alive at the day of Judgement surely they will have as much need of Purgatory as others before they get to Heaven Purgatorii dolores cum nec subiisse nec tolerasse legatur Christus qui tamen omne genus dolorum pro nobis pertulit cos fictitios esse consequitur nulli credentium pertimescendos sequeretur enim aliquos dolores Christum non tulisse nostra causa quod absurdum Bucan loc com Besides our Lord Christ bare all that misery and punishment which the Elect were else to have suffered but he never bore the dolours of Purgatory therefore its evident they are but feigned sorrows and not to be dreaded by Believers 3. It s an immediate passage to HEAVEN it lets the Godly into the Kingdom of glorious bliss it is janitor coelorum the Porter that opens Heavens gate to the Saints that they may enter into the joy of their Lord a joy so great that it cannot all enter into them therefore they are said to enter into it a joy so great that nothing shall be found in it but what is desirable and nothing can be desired in it but is shall be found I may say of Heaven the portion of the Godly what was said by the Queen of the South when she arrived at Solomons Court when she saw the magnificence of his Palace the Liveries of his Servants the state of his Attendance there was no more Spirit left in her but she breaks forth the one half was not told me in my own Country thus when the righteous come to Heaven when they behold the Palace of Eternity bespangled with Sun-beams of light and glory when they view the Robes of Immortality when they see ten thousands that stand at Gods Throne and ten thousand times ten thousands that Minister

Apostle Rom. 2.5 According to thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath What is the meaning of the phrase 'T is just like a covetous Miser that is making of a hoard he is every day adding something to it till it come to a great sum So thou treasurest up wrath the longer God continues thee the greater the wrath will be at last which thou must suffer Or as a man that every day is carrying a stick to a pile of wood with which at last he is to be burned the longer he lives the greater the pile and the more formidable the fire will be the longer God forbears thee the more interest thou must pay he will be thy sorer enemy because he was no sooner thine enemy If thou livest to be an Old man and not a Babe in Christ thy case is most dreadfull Old age in it self is not desirable an Old man is an animated grave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sepulchre with a little life in it it is the refuge and anvil for diseases to meet in and beat upon and therefore they are called evil dayes in which there is no pleasure Eccles 12.1 'T is true the hoary head when nature has snowed Gray hairs upon a man is a Crown of Glory Prov. 16.31 but it is no Crown to thee unless found in the way of righteousness Therefore the Text is thus read in the Holy tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in fut niphal The hoary head is a Crown of Glory of ornament or comeliness in the way of righteousness let it be found or it shall be found it is either to be understood as a promise thus in the way of righteousness the Crown of Glory shall be found by the hoary head or as a command thus that the Gray head may be a becoming ornament to the antient let it be found in the way of righteousness it is necessary it should be found in that way What do Old men that are not good so long in the World What is the advantage they get Surely only this They live to see more evil and to do more evil and to deserve more evil than others do that is all the happiness of an Old man that is not gracious for it is not the venerable face that will commend to God nor the snowy head of the Antient that will make way for him before the Ancient of dayes but to dye the death of the righteous To name one more Eightly compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Martyrs all that dye for such are not saved but all that dye righteous they are saved there are many persons that may give their bodies to be burned 1 Cor. 13.3 and yet their souls shall burn in Hell many persons that may be Martyrs in our account who are but Malefactors in the account of God If we dye the death of a Martyr and not of a Godly one it will be no profit for it is not the death nor the cause only but the heart that makes a Martyr Three things make a Martyr there must not only be suffering but a good cause to suffer in and a good conscience to suffer with some Martyrs that seemed nothing else to us may really be nothing less when as no righteous persons but they are happy There are some persons that may seem to us to dye for the Lord and yet do not dye in the Lord but all upright men dye in the Lord and therefore you see if we make the comparison here the death of the righteous is much to be preferred And thus you have the first thing the reasons why wicked men when they come to dye desire to dye the death and have the last end of the righteous The second thing is How it comes to pass that though they desire it yet they do not obtain it I would not speak now concerning the sins of wicked men by which they forfeit this desired happiness if a man should never so much desire health and yet go immediately and drink off a cup of poison death would be his portion before health if a Water-man should never so much desire to be at Westminster and yet row towards London-bridge his desires would be but in vain Thus it is with sinfull men they contradict their desires in their pratices therefore their desires further them nothing in the way to happiness their practices carry them faster to Hell than their desires can to Heaven But if you ask me Why do those that desire it not obtain it My answer is Because they do but desire it they have nothing but faint velleities which is too sloathfull full a way to get these great things by there are many means conscientiously to be used that this last end of the upright may be enjoyed the Lepers in the Gospel were cured not sitting still but walking Luke 17● 14 as they went they were cleansed we must be up and doing we must be at the charges and expences not only of many an earnest wish but of many a salt tear and many a bitter sigh and many a deep groan and many a hard pull before we can obtain this blessing an happy estate in death and a glorious life after it are commodities not to be had at so cheap a rate as for a wish we can gain but a little of the Earth though we take a great deal of pains for it and do we think to obtain Heaven with no pains It was the saying of an antient Rabbin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabb If thou canst obtain but a little of this World which thou pursuest so much how canst thou look for any thing of the other World which thou followest not at all We must then be working as well as wishing Lam. 3. 41. Oratione operatio operatione fulciatur oratio Hieron therefore 't is said Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the Heavens our hearts in praying and wishing our hands in acting and doing We ought to support our praying with our working and our working with our praying both these should go together we must be as well in the operative way as in the optative mood I remember the Fable of the Country man whose Cart stuck fast in the mire he falls a praying to Jupiter to help it out but doth nothing else and Jupiter bids him set his shoulder to the wheel and then cry to Jupiter so we must set our hands to the work and then desire to dye the death of the righteous Solomons advice is good Prov. 2.3 4. if thou shalt cry after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding if thou shall seek for her as for silver and search for her as for hid treasure c. not only cry and lift up the voice but seek and search so the Apostle counsels Col. 3.1 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to seek the things