Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A69500
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A sermon preached before Her Majesty the Queen Dowager in her chappel at Sommerset House, upon the second Sunday after Easter, April 10, 1687 / by F. James Ayray ... chaplain and preacher in ordinary to His Excellency the Spanish Ambassador.
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Ayray, James.
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1687
(1687)
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Wing A4297B; ESTC R208680
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13,322
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35
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Job Job 4.12 declares He felt the Effects of this Voice in his own Person Ad me dictum est Verbum absconditum quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri ejus quasi vocem aurae lenis audivi To me was spoken a Secret Word and as it were by stealth my Ears received the Whisperings thereof like the Pleasant Murmurs of some purling Stream or like a Gentle Breeze against the Leaves Some are of Opinion That Eliphas did only boast and Liranus saith It is a pure Mistake because saith he God seldom if ever reveals his Secrets to wicked Men such as Eliphas was However were it so or were it otherwise l. 5. c. 20. the Great Saint Gregory takes an Occasion from these Words of his to make us acquainted with the Loving Conduct of our God towards his Favourites He Explicates the Inspirations of the Almighty by a Metaphor drawn from the Pure Rivulets softly gliding through the Woods or upon a Gravel whose little grumbling Murmur and pleasant Noise is so still a Man must press his Ears to hear it it is so delicate The Inspirations of our God slide so easily into the Heart of Man and pass away so gently they be often gone before we feel them our Mind being divided about the little Affairs of Life and our dull Spirits unfit for the Maxims of a Spiritual Conduct Yet the Manner the very Method of this Interior Voice is admirable Love and Fear do interchangeably play their Part St. Greg. ut supra they do each solicite and terrify the Heart of Man Aliquando amore aliquando nos terrore compungit The Voice of Love is full of Consolations it doth charm us sometimes in Prayer and regals our Appetites with Delights that are wholly Spiritual in our Communions This is that Voice the Spouse doth mention in the Canticles with so much Reverence Cant. 2.14 Sonet vox tua in auribus meis vox enim tua dulcis Beloved of my Soul speak unto me let your Voice but reach the Ears of my Heart it is charming to a Miracle it is all Divine as all devout Souls do testifie that have heard it Saint Gregory compares it to that Kiss Cant. 1.1 the Chaste-Lover did covet with so much Ardor Osculetur me osculo oris sui c. 1. de dev Nom. and St. Denys calls it Stimulos dulces divini amoris The sweet Incentives of Divine Love they awake your drowsie Souls and push them forward and make them walk with large Steps in the Service of their God they effectually thrust them on and yet its Force is Sweet and full of Comfort it moderates whatever is harsh in the Rule of Vertue Aliquando amore aliquando nos terrore compungit Those stiff-neckt Souls whom Love and Sweetness cannot gain upon terrore compungit He hath his Terrors in Store and where Love cannot compass Menaces and Threats do gain the Point and make their hard Hearts supple and comply The Thoughts of Death the Dread of Hell the Rigours of a Divine Justice the Sting of Conscience the gastly Shapes which Sin alwayes leaves behind terrifies a miserable Soul instills in him a horror for his Sin makes him hear and at length love his God. I find in the Book of Job a certain Passage fit to our present Purpose Job 33.15 Per somnum in visione Nocturna quando irruit sopor super homines Fear and Apprehension seize upon a Man in the Night whilst asleep and in his Dreams suddenly do reach the Ears of his Heart surprise his Soul and in a Language above what 's common lays before his Eyes the miserable Condition wherein he languisheth and instructs him how to get free So that these Nightly Horrors are often the Inspirations of the Almighty Job 15.21 Sonitus terroris semper in auribus impii Almighty God is so solicitous to save Man that he raiseth a frightful Noise in the Ears of the Impious which doth terrifie them continually St. Paul deciphers this Voice of God as he doth all things else in a most wonderful manner and saith That whensoever and whomsoever it calls upon it is still in order for their greater Good it Remonstrates the Dangers that surround them it shews the Means of Evasion and declares the Advantages of a better State. You Worldly Man who fondly and even foolishly ingage your Heart to these things below Are you not truly sensible that the Acquisition of what you covet is both dangerous and painful How many do sell their Souls for those very things which afterward do vex and torment them A little Riches for example unjustly gotten bring along with them a thousand Troubles and Disquiets the Care of keeping them is fenc't with Fears and Apprehensions and Chagrin Vexation of Mind and a Grief unspeakable do attend and wait upon their Loss O! were it not much better saith the Loving Spouse of our Souls to abandon all these which will infallibly leave us Their Friendship is false and their deceitful Amity the certain Cause of many Crosses Cares and Crimes If you must still be getting seek and purchase the Goods of Heaven which are only true Goods and can only satisfie the Heart of Man and make him happy It is strange to see how this Interior Voice familiarly converseth with and pressingly solicits the Heart of a Sinner Few here I am apt to believe that have not at some time experienc'd what I am now about to say How often hath God spoken to your evil-disposed Heart in the midd'st of your Wickedness while you were actually offending him How often hath he suggested to you the Severity of his Decrees and the Vanity of your Presumption in letting you see that a sudden Death would frustrate you of that long-expected Moment which you reserved till the last to cry Peccavi and for your final Repentance Do you not fear the Devil who is ready to seize upon you who should your Soul depart in flagranti delicto when in the height of Wickedness would infallibly carry you to Eternal tormenting-Flames O wretched Man Think upon your End and reflect that the time which now is lent you are dies acceptabiles Dayes of Mercy and these once let slip in vain Eternal Death and Horror closely waits upon their Train The Children of the Jews were earnest heretofore in their Suit to Moyses that they might never-more hear their God to speak because his Words were generally delivered in Threats and Thunder Exod. 20.9 Non loquatur nobis Dominus ne forte moriamur We shall certainly die if He but speak But this Interior Voice is of another Temper Loquetur pacem in plebem suam Psal 84.9 It is a Voice of Peace of Comfort and Consolation dissipateth the Clouds of Ignorance and calls the Wandering Sheep home to Fold and consequently all that are or would be good are bound to hear it Oves meae vocem meam audient And if any are so stupid