Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	dead_a	sin_n	work_n	4,709	5	6.1251	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27364	Abrahams interment, or, The good old-mans buriall in a good old age opened in a sermon at Bartholomews Exchange, July 24, 1655, at the funerall of the worshipfull John Lamotte, Esq., sometimes alderman of the city of London / by Fulk Bellers ... ; unto which is added a short narrative of his life and death.	Bellers, Fulk, b. 1605 or 6.; La Motte, John, 1570?-1655.	1656 (1656)	Wing B1826; ESTC R18215	32,052	49

the God of peace sanctifie you throughout to whom God speaks peace he is always a Sanctifier a purifier of the heart and life from sin Q. It may be some may say how may we get into such an estate that we may be sure to dye in peace S. If thy heart be toucht with what thou sayest 1 Presently fall upon the duty of repentance bewailing sins of Nature of Practice against the light of the Law and Gospel crying mightily for pardon this ushered in true peace to Davids Soul and brought him in ease in the setting of his bones and making him to rejoyce after their breaking So that heart-smitten Publican crys out Lord be merciful to me a sinner and then goes away in a justified condition Till Sin be removed by Repentance what peace can there be What peace so long as the Whoredoms of thy Mother Jezabel and her Witchcrafts are so many What peace so long as iniquities remain unrepented of So long as Wind remains shut up in the bowels of the earth that can get no vent an Earthquake daily is to be feared so here an Heart quake is to be expected until you have repented 2 Labour by faith to take hold of Jesus Christ whose Bloud alone is able to cleanse our Consciences from dead works i. e. from sin when wee look up to him with the eye of faith whom we have peirced and be in heaviness for him as a man is in heaviness for the death of his first born this brings peace Faith devolves all our guilt upon our Suerty Christ and then takes hold of his Meritorious Righteousness which becoming ours by application we are justified in Gods sight and thereby acquitted from sin 3 Walk up unto the Gospel the promise of peace is made alone to them that walk according to this rule not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit this brings peace Mark the perfect man and behold the upright in heart and life for the end of that man is peace 4 Keep a good Conscience this is as a continual Feast not only in Life but when Death stares thee in the face as we see in Hezekiah Remember O Lord now I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight And upon this account Paul was so careful to exercise himself in keeping a good Conscience free from offence both towards God and man A polluted corrupt Conscience will sting a man in the end as we see in Spyra and many Apostates whereas an undefiled Conscience will chear us in the worst of times 5 Dye daily to sin make it thy work every day to drag thy corruptions to the Cross of Jesus Christ never leaving till thou hast fastned them there and gotten them Crucified even thy beloved sins mortified within thee and dye daily unto the World get into Christ by whom the World may bee crucified unto thee and thou unto the World and carry thy self as a Crucified man in respect of it not heeding minding or regarding of it and if thou doest thus thou mayest expect an interest in this common Mercy among all Saints to dye in peace whether ever thou share in the later part of the Promise or no to be buried in a good old age Which leads me now to the second Branch in this Promise Thou shalt be buried in a good old age Whence we may take notice of this last observation Doct. That burial in a good old age is afforded unto some Saints by Gods special indulgence For the prosecution of this truth I shall labour to shew 1 What is meant by Burial 2 What by a good old Age. 3 How it may be made out that for a Saint to bee buried in a good old age is an evidence of Gods indulgence Q. 1. What is meant by Burial Sol. Burial speaks nothing but the covering of the dead body of man with earth or the interring of it Now touching Burial I have nothing to say for any thing that savours of the least of Superstition in it I neither look upon it if denied by cruel men as any badge of Gods Curse to Beleevers though sometimes he gives way to some such stupendious dispensations which was the ground of that sad complaint of old The dead bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat unto the Fowls of the Heaven and the flesh of thy Saints unto the beasts of the earth their bloud have they shed like water round about Jerusalem and there was none to bury them Men indeed have discovered much inhumanity this way especially Papists against Protestants by prohibiting their Burial or digging up their bones again as they did of Bucer Fagius c. such acts savour of wrath in men but none in God towards them that were in Covenant with him So neither do I construe it if afforded or permitted as any help to heaven because upon the dissolution of the body the Spirit returns to God that gave it the Soul is admitted immediatly into the embraces of God though the body be kept above ground divers daies together yet this I may say upon a Scripture account concerning Burial that the decent interment of the bodies of Saints when death hath divorced those old companions the Soul and Body speaks 1 Mercy in the Interrers which David acknowledged in burying the body the trunck of Saul though we know he was a bad man yet he so farre resented this act of the men of Bethshemesh that he sends unto them this Message and with it this benediction Blessed are yee of the Lord that have shewed this kindness to Saul and have buried him and he adds this prayer for them The Lord shew kindness and truth to you and passed this Promise unto them I also will requite this kindness because yee have done this thing 2 Justice in them that discharge this office when the Soul is returned to God that gave it it is a part of justice that the Body should return to the earth whence it was taken the Earth indeed is the common Mother of all who receives all that came from her as the Mother the Childe into her lap God I know laid this in justice upon man for sin at the first Thou shalt return to the earth for dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return 3 It speaks hope that the interrers have of the happy Resurrection of those bodies which now they commit to the ground they having been Instruments of Righteousness Members of Christ and being still united to him shall certainly be raised by him unto glory and upon these accounts I deem the care of Saints to have been to see their friends decently interr'd as Isaac Abram Joseph his Father Jacob and those devout men that stoned Massacred Martyrd Body of that Proto-martyr Stephen as knowing

own nature from within so it is in wicked men though they have no outward causes of trouble yet still they have causes of inward trouble upon point of Conscience than which what more exquisite torture or tormenter can there be The Heathens tell us of the Furies lashing wicked miscreants and these were only the lashes of an inraged Conscience every mans own sin creating Soul-racking trouble to each impenitent sinner But 2 For Beleevers it is unto them promised they being the persons alone that love the Law Psal. 119.165 Great peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them The Law of God it is the picture of the mind of God which a Beleever loves no less than a loving loyal Wife the Letters of her indeared Husband yea infinitely more they being the persons that alone are righteous being justified by faith they have peace with God and they alone shall enter into peace they had peace entring into them living and they enter into peace when dying it is they and they alone that are able to say when Death approacheth Lord now letest thou thy servant depart in peace c. 2 I will make out that to dye in peace is a transcendent priviledge Sol. 1. That Logicians call Transcendent that exceeds in Nobility Eminency Sublimity all Aristotles Categories besides to dye in peace in true Gospel peace was a thing he knew not of and we shall not trouble our selves to labour to reduce it to any of them this peace is the peace of God that passeth all understanding it is that peace of God whereof he is the Author and Conferror that keeps our hearts staid in peace as in an impregnable Garison this peace is prayed for as a priviledge of greatest worth Peter praies not only that Grace but that Peace might be multiplied to those to whom he wrote And so Paul Let the peace of God rule in your hearts as a Judge deciding all Controversies between them that are contending for Masteries nay this was conferred by Christ as the greatest mercy that wee might receive on this side Heaven witness that Golden bequest of his My peace I give to you Princes in power seldom promise toys or trifles but things of moment and greatest worth It was a great favour of Jesus Christ to his Disciples at sea to allay the Winds and the Storms that were up against them what is it to allay the storms of Conscience that are upon them Christ among other titles is dignified with this that he is the Prince of peace yea our peace who hath taken away the enmity between us and our God having purchased peace for us by no meaner price than the bloud of his Cross that priviledge must needs be transcendent that was purchased at such a transcendent rate 2 Besides if we do but look unto the nature of this peace it is that peace that doth transcend all the Ken of Nature Nature may take notice of peace with man but for that peace with God and peace with Conscience it is out of Natures Horizon He that hath peace with God shall always have peace in God he will speak peace unto his people If we have peace with him he can make our enemies to be at peace with us The Prince that hath peace with any State hath peace with all the Forces belonging to it we having peace with him he can make all his Creatures to be at peace with us not only the Beasts but the very stones in the Feild to be in an amicable League with us and when peace rules in Conscience having tranquillity within we need not care what storms are without When Christ speaks peace to Conscience as once to the raging Sea peace and be still who then can create trouble And if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God so that triumphantly we may break out The Lord is neere that justifies me who shall contend with me When a man hath been arraigned for his life and after is acquitted how is he inwardly comforted it was this inward peace that inabled the Martyrs with serenity of soul and undauntedness of spirit to pass through the fiery Trial and for Confessors though surrounded with many troubles yet hear their acknowledgements the Father loveth me the Son hath redeemed me the Spirit comforteth me how then can I be sorrowful in the most racking pain of the Stone crys out another one asking him what he felt he answered I have peace within though in my flesh I am sensible of most exquisite torments it is this peace that is Heaven upon earth while we live and rendereth us undaunted even in the jaws of death Vse Now for the improvement of this truth be perswaded to get an interest in this priviledge I mean to get well-grounded peace that when Death comes you may go to your Fathers in peace It may bee some may quere Q. Do all that dye peaceably dye in peace R. Yes all that dye in an estate of true real Gospel peace I confess there is as much difference between true and false Peace as between true and counterfeit Gold Silver or Jewels yet this observe that then peace is well grounded according to the tenor of the Gospel when 1 It flows in after the convincing sight of sin when a man beholding his face in the glass of the Law and the Curse of it hath been brought to cry out Sirs what must I do to be saved False peace springs out of a senseless benumbed sleepy or seared Conscience that never met with any trouble at all according to that of Christ When the strong man armed with strong corruption keeps possession of his palace i. e. his heart his goods are in peace all goes well all is at peace but when the Spirit comes in and convinces of sin he ejecteth the strong man out of his Dominion Christ spake not peace and be still to the Sea until the storms had been upon it So neither speaks he to Conscience 2 It comes from heaven even from the God of peace who is in heaven and speaketh peace upon the sense of their Justification unto his people who are a willing people to serve him in all duties that he requires yea an obedient and holy people before him false peace is altogether from Satan who promiseth peace though men go on to adde drunkenness to thirst and strikes a Covenant with the sinner which makes him fondly conclude that he hath made a Covenant with Death and with Hell he is at an agreement this sinful peace God sooner or later will dissolve it shall not stand But as for that true peace begun here when we are made sensible of the bloud of Sprinkling and have our Consciences purged from dead works it will indure unto eternity 3 It is attended with Sanctity and that 's the ground of Pauls conjunction of them Now

in a word when the Soul of man is once bathed in that Fountain that is set open for the cure of Sin he comes out as Naaman out of Jordan when his flesh was restored as the flesh of a little Childe and hee became clean Man washed in this Fountain becomes a new Creature having a new nature i. e. a Divine Principle of good infused into him and this makes him good good at all times good in age especially 2 When men do good in old age as the Lord hath rejoyced over them to do them good so they make it their work even with joy to do all the good they may that makes them in age more holily fruitful than ever in youth I mean in all the fruits meet for repentance in all the fruits of the Spirit as in love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance with all the expressions of them wherewith they abound in old age in this trees planted by Christ in his Church differ from trees planted by men in their Gardens the former are alwaies most fruitful in age as the Psalmist avers such as are planted in the House of the Lord i. e. such are implanted into Christ they shall flourish in the Courts of our God they shall still bring forth fruit in old age viz. The fruits of Piety Purity Mercy being desirous cordially to Consecrate as their time and strength so their estates to God saying as David of thine own Lord have I given thee A good old man looks upon himself only as a Steward of all outward injoyments and as a Steward he will be careful to dispose of all according to his Masters minde he puts down his Imprimis for the maintenance of the Worship of God and his Items for the poor the sick the lame the blinde and in a word he doth endeavour to do good to all men but especially to those that are of the houshold of faith he doth desire to be rich in good works ready he is to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for himself a good foundation against the time to come that he may lay hold upon eternal life 1 Tim. 6.18 In a word he makes it his end to honour God with his substance and with the first fruits of his increase as knowing this to be the most thriving way 3 When a man grows up to be an old Disciple then old age is good when a man is grown old in the sincere profession of the Gospel as we read of Mnason dignified with this title because he had been a Disciple of long standing in the Church of God whether he were of the Seventy two first sent abroad by Christ or one that came in to Christ long before others an old Disciple he was and Spiritual seniority carries Spiritual dignity along with it and upon this account Paul gives preheminence to A●dronicus and Junia because they were in Christ before him an old Disciple as an old friend should be valued at a far higher rate than old gold 4 When a man is adorned with those Graces that are the ornaments of old age what though his face be withered or furrowed with wrinckles without yet the hid man of his heart is deckt with grace within especially with those reckoned up by Saint Paul as sobriety in Opinions in conversation in meat and drink which sometimes prove a snare to men in age as they did to Noah and Lot 2 Gravity consisting in a seemly modest yea venerable deportment in Gesture Speech Apparrel Countenance 3 Temperance which speaks the moderating of themselves in respect of their desires but above all with 4. Soundness in the 1. Faith not as Reeds blown up and down with every wind of Doctrin but built upon the Rock Jesus Christ they remain unmoveable yea when moved to renounce Christ or his Truth they reply with Policarpus This fourscore and six years have I served him and he never did me hurt and shall I now defie him c. 2 Soundness in Charity in love to God to Christ to his Church his Ministers his Members where he sees any thing of Jesus Christ. 3. Soundnes in patience willing to do or suffer any thing for Christ counting all things but loss or dung that so he may win him Phil. 3. To conclude when a man is gray in years and gray in all sanctifying Graces that beautifie old age old age is good then to him and for him 5 When a man is every day more and more built up in all the old experiences of Gods Love and goodness towards him as David I have been young and now am old yet never saw I the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread What though others of his intellectuals do decay with age yet he is careful to keep his memory for to bee a Store-house a Treasury of all Gods Mercies as we see in old Abraham what a Recognition do we read of Gods old loving kindnesses Gen. 24.7 The Lord which took mee from my Fathers house and from the land of my Kindred and which spake unto mee and sware unto mee saying unto thy seed will I give this land So in old Jacob what a mercy-admiring man was hee the God that fed mee all my life long to this day the Angel that redeemed mee from all evill c. as the Remembrance of old sins is loathsome to a gracious old man so of old mercies exceeding gratefull c. 6 When a man in his old age makes it his business to finish that work that God bath given him to do A man came not into the World to eat drink sleep take his ease or heap up Riches but God sent every man into the World upon some speciall account or other whether as a Magistrate a Minister or a private Christian among other ends as private persons God sent us into the World that wee should work out our Salvation with fear and trembling to make our calling and election sure i. e. sure to our selves when a man makes it his work to work the works of him that sent him while it is called to day because hee knows the night comes in which no man can work or walk when a man can say with Christ not long before his death I have finished the works thou gavest mee to do or with aged Paul The time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for mee a Crown of Righteousnesse when a man with David hath served God in his Generation then death becomes welcome Seventhly and lastly Old age is then good when a man makes it in old age his only work to make provision for death his passage to happy eternity as knowing with Peter shortly he must put off this Tabernacle of his he saith as Isaack behold I am old