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	life_n	world_n	8,295	5	4.5590	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45544	Cardvvs benedictvs, the advantage of affliction, or, The reward of patience unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of Mr. Thomas Bowyer, merchant, who died the 8th day of February 1659, and was buried the 22th of the same moneth, in the parish church of St. Olaves Jewry / by Nath. Hardy ...	Hardy, Nathaniel, 1618-1670.	1695 (1695)	Wing H712; ESTC R17381	22,241	42

So long as we are in this world we are under tryall nor are we tryed and approved till we go out of it and then we receive the Crown The whole day of life is the time of labouring in the vineyard untill the evening of death when we receive our wages we are not fully tryed in the Christian race till we come to the goal of death and then if we be found worthy we shall obtain the prize There are too many who endure for a time and then fall away thereby manifesting themselves to be not gold but dross which melts away in the heat of the fire and therefore it is our Saviours counsell to the Angell of the Church of Smyrna Be thou faithfull unto the death and I will give thee a Crown of life 2. When we are sufficiently tryed we shall be called out of this world to the fruition of our Crown This world is the field wherein the good corn stands so long till it be ripe and then it is cut down by death to be carried into the barn of glory It is the school of the Cross wherein it pleaseth God to train us and then by death he taketh us to the Academy of Heaven our heavenly Physition will keep us no longer in physick but till we are throughly purged our mercifull refiner will no longer detain us in the furnace but till we are sufficiently purified when once by enduring temptation we are tryed and fitted for Heaven death doth come to put an end to all our troubles and put us into a partiall possession of that Crown which in the day of Iudgment the Righteous Iudg shall plenarily confer upon us Let then the Christian endurer be content to wait and not repine at the delay of his reward The thing is certain he shall receive I and the time is set too when he is tryed nor can it be long since it is only during the short time of life It may perhaps seem long to thee and so much the longer because of the temptations which befall thee but surely a Crown and especially a Crown of life is worth the waiting for and when it is received thou wilt acknowledg thy self abundantly recompenced for the greatness and length of thy sufferings And if at any time distrustfull thoughts arise in thy mind concerning this Crown whether it shall be conferd fix thy eyes on the last clause of the Text which now remaineth to be discussed it is the Crown of life 2. Which the Lord hath promised to them that love him it is that which I call the collaterall confirmation as being a strong argument assuring the reception of that Crown which denominateth the suffering Christian blessed Wherein more particularly there are two things observable The means of conveiance in those words which the Lord hath promised The subject of reception in those to them that love him 1. The Crown of life is that which the Lord hath promised The title of Lord here used is very frequently throughout the new Testament given to Christ and that upon a double account 1. Quatenus Deus Inasmuch as he is God the Lordship belongs to him Iure naturali by naturall right He is the Son of God by eternall generation and being so he is equall with the Father and God over all blessed for ever 2. Quatenus Mediator Inasmuch as he is God man this Lordship belongs to him Iure donativo by deed of gift All power saith our blessed Saviour is committed to him in Heaven and earth namely by God the Father to him as Mediator And thus 1. He is Lord of the whole world having power ad dominandum to rule over all his creatures 2. He is Lord of his enemies ad domandum to subdue and vanquish them 3. He is Lord of his Church ad donandum to confer gifts upon her especially this Crown● And knowing to how manifold temptations she would be subject in this life he is pleased to vouchsafe the promise of this Grown to be as it were a bit to stay her stomach till the full meal It were easie to multiply instances how this Lord promised this reward vivâ voce to his Disciples whilest he was on earth and that though not expresly as we read under this very metaphor of a Crown yet frequently under the resemblance of a Kingdom to which a Crown relateth Indeed though this bliss was promised before to wit in the old Testament by Moses and the Prophets yet it was not so clearly and fully revealed by them as it was afterwards by this Lord and his Apostles so that now we have to allude to St Peters phrase a more sure or at least a more plain word of promise to which we shall do well to take heed as to a light shining in a dark place to revive our hearts with a confident expectation even when we are involved in the darkness of affliction That which may the more excite our faith encourage our hope and thereby strengthen our patience in enduring is the consideration of this Lord who hath promised this Crown Inasmuch as 1. In generall this Lord never faileth in whatsoever he promiseth St Paul faith All the promises are in him yea and Amen surely then all his promises are yea and Amen and as they are made so they are made good In the preface of the Epistle to the Angell of the Philadelphians he is called the Amen the faithfull witness as being true in all his sayings and more especially in his promises The words of the Lord saith David are pure words as silver tryed in the fire purified seaven times It is true of all but principally meant of the words of promise which are said to be as silver purified seaven times because they are free from the least dross of deceit This Lord never promiseth but what he really intends and effectually performeth 2. In speciall as to this promise he who promiseth is fully able and willing to fulfill it He is called by this Apostle the Lord of glory and therefore can confer the glory of a Crown by St Paul the Lord of life and therefore can bestow a Crown of life There cannot be a clearer title to any thing then that which a man hath by a lawfull purchase from the right owner This Lord hath purchased this Crown of his Father at a dear rate not with corruptible gold and silver but his own most pretious bloud yea he is gone into Heaven to take possession of his purchase whereby it is now fully in his hands to bestow nay which is yet more he hath purchased it in our name and possesseth it in our behalf no wonder if he hath promised it to us nor need we doubt at all of his power or will to confer it on us The Devill once took our blessed Lord up to an exceeding high mountain and shewed him all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them yea not only shewed

true saying of St Gregory Mala vitae praesentis tanto durius sentimus quanto bonum quod sequitur pensare negligimus the true reason why we so unwillingly endure present evils is because we neglect to consider the future good All who endure chastisings saith the Apostle are sons and being sons are heirs of this Crown Noli attendere quam poenam habes à flagello sed quem locum in Testamento Consider not so much what strokes thou hast from thy fathers rod as what place in his will which bequeatheth to thee no less then a Crown The first Christian sufferer Stephen had a Crown in his name and every one that endureth though not to that extremity which he did shall have a Crown upon his head Vertue saith Seneca divinely quo tendit non quid passura est recogitat recounts not what it now suffereth but what it shall enjoy While a Crown of thorns is put into thy hand let a Crown of life be in thy eye Indeed this Crown of life duly pondered will serve on the one hand to darken the glories and on the other to lessen the miseries of this present life and accordingly cannot but enable us to contemn the one and endure the other 1. What is the glimmering of the candle to the shining of the Sun the value of brass and iron to the worth of gold and silver Infinitely far less is the highest dignity here below to the glory above The woman in the Revelation having a Crown upon her head hath the Moon under her feet terram despicit qui coelum aspicit he who beholds the Stars of Heaven despiseth the flowers of the earth all the excellencies of this world are so far from being desirable that-they are contemptible to him who expects this Crown of life 2. Nor is there less efficacy in this Crown to render this worlds miseries tollerable then its delights despicable The sufferings of this present life saith St Paul are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed How light is a dram of reproach to a weight of glory how short is a minute of pain to an eternity of pleasure no wonder if upon this account the Apostle calls them light afflictions which are but for a moment Bene fertur calumnia cum acquiritur corona he need not be weary of the Cross who is sure of the Crown We faint not saith St Paul in that very place whilest we look not on the things that are seen but on the things that are not seen meaning the things of glory which are not seen by the eye of sense and yet being looked on by the eye of faith preserves us from fainting in the greatest trials Moses having respect to the recompence of reward made choice of afflictions well may we be contented to endure them This joy being set before Christ caused him to endure the Cross and despise the shame and therefore having this price in our eye let us run with patience the race which is set before us So much the rather considering 1. The usuall priority of enduring in order to this Crown St Austin long since said and truly tota vita humana tentatio mans life on earth is a continued temptation There are temptations we must resist and there are temptations we must endure and who almost more or less in some kind or other doth not experience both these The way to Heaven is sometimes bloudy frequently watery per angust a pervenitur ad augusta the way to bliss is straight no passing through with our sins and seldom without suffering This Crown is not for any but conquerours nor is there any conquest without fighting and that many times a sharp fight of affliction He who is the Captain of our salvation obtained his Crown by this means and surely those that are the souldiers must not think to have theirs upon other tearms 2. The probable proportionality of this Crown to our enduring Amongst the Romans there were severall sorts of Crowns appointed according to the severall services which had been done and Divines generally affirm different degrees of glory according to what we do or suffer in this world as one Star so one Crown differeth from another in glory indeed communis laetitia the joy is common but dispar gloria the glory is different It is St Pauls assertion As the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation aboundeth by Christ and it is probably true that as our afflictions abound so shall our remuneration abound also The same Apostle saith If we suffer with him we shall raign with him I and the more we suffer for him the more glory we shall receive from him whilest that every new cross addeth a new pearl to this Crown of life which is conferred on the Christian endurer I end this It is storied of Alexander that having invited many of his Courtiers to supper he provided a Crown of neer 200lb value which was to be given to him who drank most upon which severall of them drank so long till in stead of gaining the Crown they lost their lives Lo here my brethren a Crown of life tendered to all who willingly drink the cup of affliction let us not refuse although we lose our lives since we shall be sure to win the Crown Pericula non respicit Martyr sed Coronam plagas non horret praemium numerat saith Chrysologus excellently Whensoever thou art called to suffer look off from the danger to the Crovn and numbring the riches of the one thou wilt not fear the other That was but a foolish mother who would not let her sonne put off his night cap to put on a Crown and he is a foolish Christian whom this Crown cannot perswade to part with these worldly comforts and to endure worldly crosses Oh let us ask that wisedom of God whereby we may learn to set a true aestimate on this benefit and then we shall know that however whilest we endure temptation we seem to be miserable when we receive this Crown we shall be really blessed And if you desire to know when this Crown shall be received the answer is 2. When he is tryed which is the next particular to be handled The Greek words are {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and may best be rendred being found approved Look as the gold when upon tryall it is approved is then imployed for some vessell of honour the Schollar when upon examination he is approved is advanced to some preferment the wrestler or runner when having performed his service he is adjudged conquerour obtaineth the prize so the Christian having been tryed by temptation and being approved for his enduring receiveth the Crown That which would be more particularly inquired is when the Christian that endureth is tryed and approved The answer to which is returned when he hath endured to the end of his life The truth is 1.