Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
death_n flesh_n life_n spirit_n 9,701 5 5.4408 4 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A05379 A crucifixe: or, A meditation vpon repentance, and, the holie passion. Written by Christopher Lever Lever, Christopher, fl. 1627. 1607 (1607) STC 15535; ESTC S120020 15,889 44

There are 2 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

haue not their ending For when old men are stepping to their graue ●…n youthfull sinning strong desires they haue ●…ld age though colde can neuer quench the fire Of ●…full youth Though age be in thy flesh Yet in thy thoughts thou dost maintaine desire ●…hich in performance thou canst not expresse By reason of thy bodies ●…eeblenesse Yet know that when Desire is in thy hart It is as much as thou an Actor wert This thy Desire incends the noble parts Of reason and blunteth thy discretion Makes a combustion in obdurate harts Depraues the sence and blindeth thy election Dries vp repentant teares thy soules refection And sure that man eternallie shall die Whose hart will not giue water to his eye Thus O thou worst of Gods creation Thou dost reuerse the ordinance of Nature All other Beings keepe their ordination Obedience liues in euery other creature Only in him that hath the goodliest feature He that from God most blessings hath deriued He against God most treasons hath conspired Search the immence circumference of Earth The many wondrous mouers in the Sea The Element of Ayre wherein we breathe The regiment of Heauen and sympathy Of moouing orbs and starrie deitie In all the parts of this circumference No one like man in dis-obedience If God command the Seas to patience They still their noise and smooth their horred face Let him againe be mooued to offence The raging wind the swelling billowes chase Vnto the daring rockes that doe imbrace Their violence and there doth bound the Seas Vntill a calme their troubles do●… appease 〈◊〉 ●…ommand 〈◊〉 ●…owdes 〈◊〉 ●…eare the Avr●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the ●…lade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Time ●…o giue the yeare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…oures for her distinction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Time well ordered were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…nd Time to Ordination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnto Gods creation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…at Times ●…nconstant are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are more certaine farre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…he Sea-deuouring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…oore ●…onas to the shoare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eg●…pt doe auaile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 warre ●…ay more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 chamber ●…ore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 person of a mightie King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they had a warranting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his sacred breath on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 countervaile the Angels that erst fell ●…ing thy soule of his Eternitie Yet thrust thy betters for lesse sinne to hell Did God refuse those Spirits that excell In holy worship to partake thy nature He did for thy redemption this O Traytor If God command let this or that be done The little Creature that is bid to doe it Is wondrous quicke in execution Yet vnto man that hath the power of 〈◊〉 And in the verie place of God doth sit Is giuen a law the which was neuer kept By any one The sonne of God except Now to inlarge the huge proportion Of thy offence Traytor thou didst attempt That treason which exceedes comparison Whose horrour did bed imme the Element Both Heauen and Earth in wonders did consent To point it out for greatest admiration Which farre exceeds the power of all relation This little out of much God to redeeme The lost integritie of man his creature Did his defaced Image so esteeme As he inuested in thy humane nature The sonne of God the word that made each creature Eternall Christ who in his flesh did merit Eternall life for each beleeuing spirit See how thou dost returne him recompence Thou gau'st him pouertie that was a King Iustice it selfe yet blam'st his innocence Great majestie had but the poore attending Nor had thy treasons in these wrongs their ending But didst with wicked Iewes conspire his death That first did giue thy first fore-father breath And didst preuaile Thy tongue did sentence him Thy hands O wicked instruments of sinne Bound the most free and tortur'd euery lim Nor so content labour'd to vex within His sacred Spirit with most vile profaning And last to please the spirits of thine eye The Holy Lambe betweene two thieues must die Was this enough or art thou still more great In thy offence O still thou dost augment it Thou want'st not sinne but I wordes to repeate Thy infinites thy soule cannot repent it For thy delight is euer to augment it Witnes thy horred customary swearing Wherewith each day his body thou art tearing ●… Here let the Conscience make some little pause Whilst that the Diuell that intends the plea Produceth witnesses to prooue the cause Shewing large recordes of impietie And with a wondrous skill in Sophistrie Giues a proportion to his sinful state Hoping to make the Guiltie desperate Hoping to make the guiltie desperate He doth augment the Volume of our sinning Adding inlargements to exasperate The Iudge that stands to sentence our offending Euen from our birth to these our dayes of ending It hath and will be still his exercise Against our happy beings to deuise Witnes his enuy at our first creation That did deny our state of innocence A little breathing rest from his temptation But with the smoothed face of faire pretence Suggests into our natures his offence Witnesse againe this time of our repentance How he incites the Iudge to cruell sentence No one howeuer skilfull in his Art Can giue more fit expressing formes to sinne He makes a priuie search within the heart And laies that open that was hid within And with most curious workemanship doth limme The vgly formes of our impieties And then presents their Terror to our eyes This and much more this enemy of man And then the Conscience doth againe beginne Traitor how i st this thy accuser can Produce these certaine probats of thy sinne Speake canst thou cleare thy selfe of guilt heerein Thy cause will not finde help in thy deniall For in the court of Conscience is thy triall Like vnto him that in a mighty throng Labors to hasten to some businesse With heate and sweate doth vex himselfe among The moouing multitude that in their prease Arrest his haste and stoppe his forwardnesse So doe our sighes our teares and griefe within Arrest our words when gladly we beginne Alas what else but Guiltie in the weake Which he in broken accents would relate He puffes it out in sighes that cannot speake The sence of sinne doth so exanimate Those faculties that on our soules doe wa●…te As with a lawfull warrant may be said In this estate our verie Soules are dead Our Reason then demandes our guilty spirit What for our justice we can argument Whether our Iudgement correspond our merit Or if corruption in this parlament Heere in thy owne free holde we doe conuent The Iurie that doth sentence what thou art Are of thy Tenants dwelling in thy hart Nothing alas the Conscience can replie Nothing indeede nor no word to excuse vs Where all is Sinne ther 's no integrity All our cuasions in this case refuse vs Nothing in vs can comfort but accuse vs. For he that hath this sorrowe in his flesh Hath least of joy and most of heauinesse The judgement then for
judgement must be just Denounceth sentence of our condemnation Traytor thy flesh shall first returne to dust The matter of thy first formation Thy Soule transported to that strange vexation Whereas the soules of damned doe beginne To act the wofull parts of tragike Sinne. This is the law and thus we sentence thee Our power extends not for to moderate This court is Iustice Iustice we decree The seate of Mercie is predominate And liues in God he that did first create Thy Innocence To him thou must appeale If this our Condemnation thou repeale ¶ Thus farre the law Now to our worke of Grace To wash this Moore and giue him Innocence To reobtaine what ●…r'st he did deface Integritie To cancell his offence In lieu whereof to giue him excellence To make that glorious that before was base Doubt those that list It is a worke of Grace Of Grace me thinkes th'vngratious will replie I rob Gods Image of his worthinesse Because to sinfull man I doe denie Innatiue power to worke his holinesse Will you O men deceiued I confesse That God will share the glory of his name With men whose liues dishonour most the same Here is the world in great dispute and strife Whence doth arise this penitentiall fire That purgeth Sinne and rectifies the life Some will deriue it from their owne desire Others the blessed Angels doe inspire Some in their Friends and many in thei●… Priest In Errour all in God they place it least When God did giue a spirit vnto man He did but gently breathe it in his flesh But if he once call backe the same againe He speaketh loud and groanes with painefulnesse Adam and Lazarus doe well expresse That he that can determine sinfull strife Doth somewhat more than he that gaue vs life It were a well deseruing worke to set The kirnell that 's a prisoner in the shell Which when the Sunne doth warme and heauens wet Receiues a life yet doth it farre excell In curious Art to make that prosper well Which like a rotten member of a tree For fewell fit for Grace vnfit to be Me thinkes I heare the Mutinous repine And blame the hard construction of my verse And to the fire condemne this discipline Or wish my recantation to reuerse The doome I censure on this vniuerse Thus these repiners God should wrong our spirits To giue vs Lawes and take away our Mer●… Thus may your earthen vessels make dispute And aske how hap the Potter made them so Doe you not know that God is absolute Nor giues a reason for his doing so Shall God out of himselfe for wisedome goe How dar'st thou argument with God maintaine Being his vassaile he thy Soueraigne To make it best thus I compare thy state Like to a Candle wel prepar'd for light The reason why I thus doe estimate Is thy Discourse thy Reason and Delight To vnderstand each cause But the insight Of that which neerest doth concerne thy minde In this thou art not sighted but starke blinde Suppose ten thousand torches in the night They giue no light vnlesse thou giue them fire So is thy Reason and thy judgements sight Blind in it selfe if Grace giue not desire It is the God of Spirits doth inspire Thy soule with Grace For when it wants his light It is more blacke then is the darkest night And in this darknesse this our man of Griefe Whome we proportion is in darknesse placed Within himselfe he cannot finde reliefe What was diuine in him is now defaced The pride of his deseruings is disgraced And when a man in this dejection lyeth He wastes in sorrow and in teares he dyeth And die he must in his repentant teares Before his reformation can beginne The graine must die before the blade appeares New birth is gotten by the death of sinne When thus we die our spirit that 's within Respires a life that neuer will deceiue vs Whereof nor Time nor Enuie can berea●…e vs. The manner how This out of my report When man is ouer-charged with the cares Arising from the judgement of this Court. And when within himselfe he much despaires The holy Spirit then to him repaires And brings his Pardon testified good With this subscription IESVS writ in blood And thus this sacred instrument of life Poore man we adde not to thy heauinesse To speake in anger or contentious strife Mercie is only in our businesse We come to make thy much affliction lesse And offer to thy neere despairing spirit The Psalme of Mercie Mercie best can merit See here the booke of Life I do present thee Wherein thou maist Eternitie behold Thou canst not reade before thou first repent thee Thou must first know thy selfe and then vnfold This sacred volume The Spirit then doth hold Before the darkned spirits of his eye A Representment how his Christ did die Said I a representment and no more It is much more then in my wordes can be My soule conceits a verie Christ before Spreading his sacred bodie on the Tree Me thinkes his verie torments I doe see This Crucifix is that most sacred booke Wherein each happy Spirit needes must looke And this the holy Ghost presents the eye And bids vs reade our penitentiall verse If we can Clarkely reade this mystery He promiseth our judgement for to trauerse And all our condemnation to reuerse But Sinne alas so darkned hath the minde As in this holy learning we are blinde Like when th'vnlearned Fellon hath his booke Without a Prompter he no letter readeth Although with much desire he thereon looke Euen so our Soules as much vnlearned needeth The help of that sweete comfort that proceedeth For if that God assist vs not the better We vnderstand no sence no word nor letter In this condition this our man of sinne Cannot reade mercie in these misteries Before Gods holy spirit doe beginne To cleanse the soule of his impieties To moue the hart and cleere the darkned eyes When once this grace in vs hath but a being In holy secrets we haue perfect seeing The leaprous man to heale his filthinesse Must seauen times water his contagious skinne Is holy water of that worthinesse Then with repentant teares let vs beginne To wash the leaprous body of our sinne Seauen times is nothing multiply thy seauen We must wash cleane ere we can enter heauen This is our first degree of holinesse Which at the first as all beginnings are Little in trueth but large in hopefulnesse He that beginnes this sorrow with a teare Vnto a better worke doth but prepare And when in vs this grace hath but beginning We liue to hope and die vnto our sinning Take for an instance him whom we proport No more of sinne but now the childe of Grace As he wastes teares his benefits resort The bad thrust out the betters haue the place What was delightfull now he doth deface When thus he hath a new begotten minde His eyes are open that before were blinde No sooner open but with eagernesse They