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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	dead_a	glory_n	life_n	4,264	5	4.4572	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04931	A sermon preached by Iohn Knox minister of Christ Iesus in the publique audience of the Church of Edenbrough, within the realme of Scotland, vpon Sonday, the. 19. of August. 1565 For the which the said Iohn Knoxe was inhibite preaching for a season. To this is adioyned an exhortation vnto all the faythfull within the sayde realme, for the reliefe of suche as faythfully trauayle in the preaching of Gods worde. Written by the same Iohn Knoxe, at the commaundement of the ministerie aforesayd.	Knox, John, ca. 1514-1572.	1566 (1566)	STC 15075; ESTC S108139	37,230	132

cryme aboue all others abhominable For to what ende is it that God erecteth his throne among vs but for that we shoulde feare him Why doth he reueale his holy will vnto vs but that we shoulde obey it Why doth he deliuer vs from trouble but that we shuld be witnesses vnto the world that he is gracious and mercifull Nowe when that men hearing their duety knowing what God requireth of them doe malepertly fight against al equitie and iustice what I pray you doe they else but make manifest warre against God yea when they haue receiued from God suche deliuerance that they cannot deny but that God himselfe hath in his great mercye visited them and yet that they continew wicked euen as before What deserue they but effectually to be giuen ouer into a reprobate sence that hedlong they may runne to ruine both of body and soule It is almost incredible that man should be so enraged against God that neyther his plagues nor yet his mercy shewed should moue them to repentaunce but bicause the scriptures beareth witnesse of the one and the other Let vs cease to meruell and let vs firmely beleue that such things as haue bene are euen presently before our eyes albeit manye blinded by affection can not see them Ahab as in the boke of the kings is written receyued many notable benefits of the hande of God who did visit him in diuers sortes some tymes by his plagues sometimes by his worde and sometymes by his merciful deliuerance He made him King and for the Idolatry vsed by him and by his wife he plagued whole Israell by famyne He reuealed to him his will and true religion by the Prophet Helias he gaue vnto him sundry deliuerances but one moste speciall when proude Benhadab came to besiege Samaria and was not content to receiue Ahabs gold siluer sonnes daughters and wyues but also required that his seruaunts shoulde haue at their pleasure whatsoeuer was delectable in Samaria true it is that his elders and people willed him not to heare the proude tirant But who made vnto him the promise of deliuerance and who appointed and put his armye in order who assured him of victorie The Prophet of God onely who assured him that by the seruantes of the Princes of the prouinces who in number were onely 232 he should deface that great armie in the which there were .32 Kings with all their forces As the Prophete of God promised so it came to passe Victorie was obtained not once only but twice and that by the mercifull visitation of the Lorde But howe did Ahab visite God againe ▪ for his great benefit receyued Did he remoue his Idolatry did he correct his Idolatrous wife Iesabel No we find no such thing but the one and the other we find to haue continued increased informer impietie But what was the ende hereof The last visitation of God was that dogges licked the bloud of the one and did eate the flesh of the other In fewe wordes then we may vnderstand what difference there is betwixt the visitation of God vpō the reprobate and his visitation vpō his chosen The reprobate are visited but neuer truly humbled nor yet amended The chosē being visited they sobbe and they cry vnto God for mercy which obtained they magnifie Gods name and after declare the fruites of repentaunce Let vs ●herefore that heare these iudge●ents of our God call for the assistance of his holy spirit that how soeuer it pleaseth him to visite vs that we may stoupe vnder his merciful hands and vnfainedly cry to him when he correcteth vs. And so shall we knowe in experience that our cryes complaintes were not in vayne but let vs heare what the Prophet sayth further Lyke as a woman sayth he with childe that draweth neere to the trauayle is in sorow and cryeth in her paines so haue we bene in thy sight O Lorde we haue conceyued we haue borne in vayne as thoughe we shoulde haue brought forth the winde Saluations were not made to the earth neyther did the Inhabitants of the earth fal This is the seconde parte of the Prophets complaint in the which he in the person of Gods people complayneth that of their great affliction there appeared no ende This same similitude is vsed by our master Iesus Christ for when he speaketh of the troubles of hys church he compareth them to the paynes of a woman trauayling in her childe birth But it is to another ende For there he promiseth exceding and permanent ioy after a sort thoughe it appeare trouble But here is the trouble long vehement albeit the fruite of it was not sodainely espied He speaketh no doubt of that long dolorous tyme of their captiuitie in the which they continually trauayled for delyuerance but obtained it not before the compleate ende of 70 yeares During the which time the earth that is the land of Iuda which sometymes was sanctified vnto God but was then giuen to be prophaned by wicked people gat no helpe Nor perceyued any deliuerance For the Inhabitants of the world fell not that is the tirantes and oppressors of gods people were not taken away but still remayned and continued blasphemers of God an troublers of his church But bicause I perceiue the houres to passe more swiftly then they haue done at other tymes I mind to cōtract that which resteth of this text into certayne points The Prophet first fighteth against the present desperation After be introduceth God himselfe calling vpon his people And last of all he assureth his afflicted that God will come and require accompt of all the bloude thirstie tirants of the earth First fighting against the present desperation he sayth thy dead shall liue euen my bodye or with my body shall they arise awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust For thy dew is as the dew of herbes The Prophere here pierseth throughe all impedimentes that nature coulde obiect And by the victorie of faith he ouercōmeth not onely the common enimies but the great and last enimie of al to wit death it self For this would he say Lorde I see nothing to thy chosen but miserie to follow miserie and one affliction to succede another yea in the ende I see that death shal deuour thy dearest children But yet O Lorde I see thy promise to be true and thy loue to remaine towards thy chosen euen when death appeareth to haue deuoured them For thy deade shall liue yea not onely shall they liue but my verie dead careasse shall arise And so I see honor and glory to succede this temporall shame I see ioye permanent to come after trouble order to spring out of this terrible confusion and finallye I see that lyfe shal deuoure death so that death shall be destroyed and so thy seruauntes shall haue lyfe This I say is the victorie of faith when in the middest of deathe throughout the light of Goddes worde the afflicted see lyfe Hipocrites

in the tyme of quietnesse prosperitie can generally confesse that God is true in his promises but bring them to the extremitie and there ceasseth the hipocrite further to trust in God than he seeth naturall meanes whereby God vseth to worke But the true faithfull when all hope of naturall meanes fayleth then flye they to God himselfe and to the truth of his promise who is aboue nature yea whose workes are not so subiect to the ordinarie course of nature that when nature fayloth his power and promise fayle also therwith Let vs further observe that the Prophete here speaketh not of all deade in generall but sayth thy dead O Lorde shall liue In which wordes he maketh difference betwixt those that dye in the Lorde and those that dye in their naturall corruption and in olde Adam Die in the Lord can none except those that liue in him I meane of those that attaine to the yeares of discretion and none liue in him except those that with the Apostle can say I liue not I but Christ Iesus liueth in me The lyfe that now I liue I haue by the faith of the sonne of God Not that I meane that the faithfull haue at all houres suche sense of the lyfe euerlasting that they feare not the deathe and the troubles of this lyfe no not so for the faith of all Goddes children is weake yea and in manye thinges imperfect But I meane that such as in death and after death shall liue muste communicate in this lyfe with Iesus Christ and must be regenerate by the sede of lyfe That is by the worde of the liuing and euerlasting God which whosoeuer dispiseth refuseth lyfe and ioye euerlasting The Prophet transferreth all the promises of God to him selfe saying Euen my dead body shal arise and imediately after giueth commaundemēt charge to the dwellers in the dust that is to the dead carcasses of those that were departed for the spirit and soule of man dwelleth not in the dust that they should awake they should sing and reioyce For they should arise and spring vp from the earth euen as the herbes doe after they haue receyued the dew from aboue Tyme will not suffer that these particulars be so largely intreated as they merit as I gladly would And therefore let vs first consider that the Prophet in trāsferring the power and promise of God to him self doth not vendicate to himself any perticular prerogatiue aboue the people of God as that he alone should liue and arise and not they also But he doth it to let them vnderstande that he taught a doctrine whereof he was certayne yea and whereof they shoulde haue experience after his death As he should say my words appeare to you now to be incredible but the daye shall come that I shal be taken frō you my carcas shall be inclosed in the bosome of the earth and therfore shall ye be ledde away captiues to Babylon where ye shall remayne many dayes and yeares as it were buryed in your sepulchres But then cal to minde that I sayd vnto you before hand that my body shall arise Euen so shall ye rise from your graues out of Babylon and be restored to your owne cuntry and citie of Ierusalem This I doubt not is the true meaning of the Prophet The charge that he giueth to the dwellers in the dust is to expresse the power of Goddes worde Whereby he not onely giueth life where death appa●antly had preuayled but also by it he calleth things that are not euen as if they were Ture it is that the Prophete Isaiah sawe not the destruction of Ierusalem much lesse could he se the restitutiō of it with his corporall eyes but he leaueth this as it were in testament with them that when they were in the extremitie of all bondage they should call to minde what the Prophet of God had before spoken And lest that his doctrine and this promise of God made vnto them by his mouth shoulde haue bene forgottē as we are euer prone and ready to forget Gods promises when we are pressed with anye sorrow God raysed vp vnto thē in the midst of calamitie his Prophet Ezechiell vnto whome among manye other visions he gaue this The hande of the Lorde first ledde him in a place which was ful of dry and dispersed bones The question was demaunded of the Prophet if these bones being wonderous dry shuld lyue The Prophet answered● the knowledge thereof appertained vnto God Charge was giuen vnto him that he shoulde speake vnto the dry bones and saye thus sayth the Lorde God to these bones beholde I shall giue you breath and ye shall liue I shall giue vnto you sinewes fleshe and skinne and ye shall liue And while the Prophete spake as he was commaunded he heard a voyce and he sawe euery bone ioyne in his marowe He saw them couered with flesh and skin albeit there was no spirit of lyfe in them he was commaunded againe to speake and to say thus sayth the Lorde God come O spirite from the foure quarters blow in these that are slayne that they may lyue And as he prophecied the spirit of lyfe came They liued and stoode vpon their feete Nowe doth the Lorde interprete what this vision ment saying Sonne of man these bones are the whole house of Israell Behold they say our bones are dryed our hope is perished we are playnely cut of but beholde sayth the Lord I will open your graues I will bring you forth of them ye shall liue and come vnto the lande of Israell and ye shall knowe that I am the Lorde This vision I say giuen to the Prophete and by the Prophete preached to the people when they thought that God had vtterly forgoten them compelled them more diligently to aduert what the former Prophetes had spoken It is no doubt but they caryed with them both the prophecie of Isaiah and Ieremie so that the Prophete Ezechiel is a commentarie to these wordes of Isaiah where he sayth thy dead O Lorde shall liue with my body they shall arise The Prophet bringeth in this similitude of the deawe to aunswere vnto that part of their fidelitie who can beleue no further of Gods promises than they are able to apprehende by naturall iudgemēt As he wold say think ye this impossible that God shall giue lyfe vnto you and bring you to an estate of a commō wealth agayne after that ye be dead and as it were rased from the face of the earth But why doe ye not consider what God worketh from yeare to yeare in the order of nature sometimes ye see the face of the earth decked and beautified with herbes floures grasse and fruites Againe ye see the same vtterlye taken awaye by stormes and vehemencie of the winter What doth God to replenishe the earth againe and to restore the beauty thereof He sendeth downe his small and soft dewe the droppes whereof in their descending are neyther great nor visible

that this sentence is true they shoulde not so furiouslye come to their owne destruction For what man can be so enraged that he woulde willingly doe euen before the eyes of God that which might prouoke his maiestie to anger Yea prouoke him to becōe his enimy for euer if that he vnderstode how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the liuing God The cause then of this blind furie of the world is the ignorance of God and that men thinke that God is but an Idoll and that there is no knowledge aboue that beholdeth their tirannie neither yet iustice that will nor power that maye represse their impietie But yet the spirite of truth doth witnesse the contrary affirming that as the eyes of the Lorde are vpon the iust and as his eares are ready to receiue their sobbing prayers so is his angry visage against such as worke iniquitie He hateth and holdeth in abhomination euerye disceitful and bloud thirstie man Whereof he hath giuen sufficient document from age to age in preseruing the one or at the lest in reuenging of their cause and in punishing of the other Where it is sayde that the Lorde will come frō his place and that he wil visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vppon them and that the earth shall disclose her bloude We haue to consider what moste commonly hath beene and what shal be the condition of the church of God to wit that it is not onelye hated mocked and dispised but that it is exposed as it were in a pray vnto the furie of the wicked so that the bloud of the children of God is spilt like water vpon the face of the earth The vnderstanding whereof albeit it be vnpleasaunt to the flesh Yet to vs it is most profitable least that we seing the cruel entreatings of Gods seruauntes beginne to misknowe the spouse of Iesus Christ bicause that she is not intreated in this vnthankfull worlde as that the iust and vpright dealing of Gods children doth deserue But contrarywise for mercy they receyue crueltie for doing good to manye of al the reprobate they receyue euil And this is decreed in Gods eternal councell that the members maye follow the trace of the head to the ende that God in his iust iudgements should finally condempne the wicked For howe shoulde he punish the inhabitāts of the earth if their iniquitie deserued it not ▪ How should the earth disclose our bloude if it should not be vniustly spilt We must then commit our selues into the handes of our God and laye downe our neckes yea pacientlye suffer our bloude to be shed that the righteous iudge may require accompt as most assuredly he shall of all the bloude that hath bene shed from the bloud of Abell the iust till the day that the earth shall disclose the same I say euery one that sheddeth or consenteth to shed the bloude of Gods children shal be giltie of the whole So that all the bloude of Goddes children shall crye vengeance not onely in general but also in particuler vpon euerye one that hath shed the bloude of anye that vniustly suffered And if any thinke it strange that such as liue this daye can be giltie of the bloude that was shed in the dayes of the Apostles Let them cōsider that the veritie it selfe pronounced that all the bloude that was shedde from the dayes of Abel vnto the dayes of Zacharie should come vpon that vnthankefull generation that heard his doctrine and refused it The reason is euident for as there is two heads and and captaines that rule vpon the whole worlde to wit Iesus Christ the Prince of iustice and peace Sathan called the Prince of the worlde so are they but two armies that hath continued battaile from the beginning and shall fight vnto the ende The quarell is one which the armie of Iesus Christ susteine which the reprobate doe persecute to wit the eternal truth of the eternall God and the image of Iesus Christ printed in his elect so that whosoeuer in any age persecuteth any one member of Iesus Christ for his truth sake subscribeth as it were with his hande the persecution of all that haue passed before him And this ought the tirantes of this age deepely to consider for they shal be giltye not only of the bloud shed by themselues but of al as saide is that hath bene shed for the cause of Iesus Christ from the beginning of the worlde Let the faithfull not be discouraged although they be appointed as shepe to the slaughter house for he for whose sake they suffer shal not forget to reuenge their cause I am not ignoraunt that fleshe and bloude will thinke that kinde of suporte too too late For we had rather be preserued stil aliue than to haue our bloud to be reuenged after our death And truely if our felicitie stoode in this lyfe or if death temporall should bring vnto vs anye damage our desire in that behalfe were not to be dampned But seeing that death is common to al and that this temporall lyfe is nothing but miserie that death doth fully ioyne vs with our God and giueth vnto vs the possession of our inheritaunce why shuld we think it straunge to leaue this worlde and goe to our head soueraigne captayne Iesus Christ Now last we haue to obserue this maner of speaking where that the Prophet sayth The earth shall disclose her bloud In which wordes the Prophet would accuse the crueltie of those that dare so vnmercifully ryue from the breastes of the earth the dearest children of God and cruelly cut their throts in her bosome who is by God appointed the common mother of mankinde so that she vnwillingly is compelled led to open her mouth receyue their bloud If such tirannie were vsed against any naturall woman as violently to pull her infant frō her breastes cut the throte of it in her own bosome and compell here to receyue the bloude of her deare childe in her owne mouth al nations would holde the fact so abhominable that the like had neuer beene done in the course of nature And no lesse wickednesse cōmit they that shedde the bloud of Gods children vpon the face as I haue saide of their common mother the earth But be of good courage O little dispised flocke of Christ Iesus for he that seeth your griefe hath power to reuenge it He that will not suffer one teare of yours to fal but that shall be kept and reserued in his bottle till the fulnesse thereof be poured downe from heauen vpon th●se that caused you to weepe and mourne this your mercifull God I saye will not suffer your bloud for euer to be couered with the earth naye the flaming fiers that haue licked vp the bloude of any of our brethren the earth that hath beene defiled with it I saye with the bloude of Gods children for otherwise to shed the bloud of the cruel bloudshedders