Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	jesus_n	sin_n	sting_n	6,936	5	11.4570	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20169	The monument or tombe-stone: or, A sermon preached at Laurence Pountnies Church in London, Nouemb. 21. 1619 at the funerall of Mrs. Elizabeth Iuxon, the late wife of Mr. Iohn Iuxon. By Stephen Denison minister of Gods word, at Kree-Church in the honourable citie of London.	Denison, Stephen, d. 1649 or 50.	1620 (1620)	STC 6604; ESTC S116460	41,077	140

the sense of their paines My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Thirdly is it so that afflictions may be thus tedious vnto Gods children Therefore this must teach all Christians to endeuour and that betimes to lay the foundation of a comfortable death and for this end we must obserue these rules First we must take away the sting of death which is sinne There is nothing which makes death terrible or troublesome vnto Gods child but sinne as for the pangs many Christians haue comfortably endured them especially being assured of Gods fauour and also priuie to themselues of a well spent life But as for such which would not be ruled but would still retaine a felfewill their end hath bene cōmonly vncomfortable Therefore my deare brother and sister whosoeuer thou art let my counsell be auailable with thee cast away all thy transgressions whereby thou hast transgressed Spare not thy bosome sins For I say vnto thee euery sinne which thou keepest vnmortified doth threaten to make thy death vncomfortable Wherefore let vs euery day be lessening the sorrowes of death by our daily practise of mortification Hast thou mortified lust mortifie also couetousnesse hast thou mortified couetousnesse mortifie also pride hast thou mortified pride mortifie also rash anger in a word hast thou mortified some sinne striue to mortifie all sin For assure thy selfe if thou keepe any one sinne aliue it will be bitternesse in the end Secondly if we desire to make a comfortable end we must walke faithfully and labor to glorifie God in our particular calling How came Paul to finish his dayes with comfort but by this that he had finished his course 2. Tim. 4. that is he had bene carefull to accomplish the worke whereunto he was sent For it is not sufficient my welbeloued that we obserue with diligence the workes of pietie and that we walke faithfully in our generall calling as we are Christians but we must also walk faithfully in our particular callings It is not sufficient to seeme to be a good Christian but we must be good Magistrats or good maisters or good husbands or good wiues or good seruants or good children c. We must glorifie God in the ranke wherein God hath set vs if euer we meane to die with sound comfort Thirdly if we desire to make a comfortable end we must be carefull to thinke of our end betimes When sicknes and death come vnexpected they are the more vnwelcome they come as vnbidden guests but if we haue seriously thought of these things before hand and made them part of our daily meditation then they are the lesse troublesome and the more easily borne Euen as a heauie burden if it be throwne vpon a mans shoulders at vnawares it is ready to breake his backe but if he be aware of his burden and fit himselfe to receiue it i● is farre more tollerable So it is with death and sicknesse if thou thinke of these things before hand they will be farre more easie but if thou put this euil day farre from thee thou shalt find by wofull experience that vnexpected death is the most bitter and terrible Therefore let thy bed put thee dayly in minde of thy graue and thy sleepe of thy death let the putting off thy garments put thee in minde of laying downe this tabernacle of thy body yea let thy sheetes put thee in minde of thy winding sheete and the clothes which couer thee in thy bed put thee in minde of the earth which shall couer thee in thy graue Thus thou shalt imitate Iob who waited all the dayes of his appointed time vntil his changing came Iob 14. 14. And thus thou shalt imitate many deare children of God which are taught of God thus to thinke of their mortalitie Thus thou shalt be more and more mortified to the world and thus no doubt thou shalt make thy end comfortable Fourthly if we desire to make a comfortable end we must endeuour betimes to make our calling and election sure Thus Simeon departed in peace because his eyes had seene Gods saluation And indeed how can we expect to die with comfort while we are vnresolued what shall become of our soules in the world to come And that we may make our calling and election sure we must obserue these rules First we must be diligent hearers of Gods word for Faith comes by hearing as the Apostle speaketh What is the reason that so many wauer Is it not because they are idle and because they will not take the paines to heare so diligently as their case requireth Secondly that wee may make our calling and election sure we must frequently receiue the Lords Supper What experienced Christian is there but he is able to tell you that the Sacrament by Gods blessing hath a notable confirming and establishing power And therefore those negligent Ministers are guiltie of the weaknesse of the faith of the people in that they do not so frequently as they ought administer the holy Sacrament Thirdly if we desire our calling and election to be made sure then we must pray vnto God as the Apostles did that the Lord would increase our faith For vnlesse Gods Spirit do testifie together with our spirit we can neuer come to any full assurance Paul may plant and Apollos may water but it must be God alone which must giue the increase of sauing grace Fourthly if we would make our calling and election sure wee must meditate often of Gods promises and we must trie our estate by the ma●kes which are peculiar vnto Gods elect Fifthly if we would make our calling and election sure we must be plentifull in good workes For whom hath God promised to strengthen vpon the bed of languishing in Psal 41. 3. but such as consider wisely of the poore And who are they which lay vp for themselues a good foundation against the time to come laying hold of eternall life but such as are rich in good workes 1. Tim 6. 19. Thus we see the way to a comfortable departure God almightie giue euery one of vs grace to take this way that so by our death we may glorifie God bring comfort good example to our brethren and eternall benefit to our owne soules and that for the merits of Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with the blessed Father and the holy Spirit three most glorious persons and one God be ascribed as is most due all honour praise and glorie all true feare reuerence and obedience from this time forth for euermore Amen The occasion of this Sermon as you know was for the celebration of the funerall of that excellent seruant of God Mistris Elizabeth Iuxon the late faithful wife of Maister Iohn Iuxon Citizen of this famous Citie of London And the reason which moued me to make choice of this Text rather then of any other was the request of our deare sister deceassed who vpon her death-bed called for her Bible and turned to this portion

well to be angrie Yea he may come to curse the day of his birth with Iob and Ieremiah Yea he may come to haue his words swallowed vp that he cannot pray Iob 6. 3. Thirdly the very elect may possibly be comfortlesse in their affliction according to that in Esay 54. 11. O thou afflicted tossed with tempest and not comforted Yea they may die mourning their gray haires may go with mourning to the graue as Iac●b speakes of himselfe Gen. 42. 38. And there be great reasons why afflictions are thus irksome to Gods children as first because our nature is traile and weake our strength is not the strength of stones nor our flesh of brasse as Iob speaketh Iob 6. 12. but we are fl●shie bodies and therefore very sensible of the least paines Secondly the diuell doth especially tempt vnto impatiencie in the time of our affliction we haue then of all other times the strongest temptations When did Satan most tempt Iob to curse God but in the depth of his miserie and calamitie And therefore it is not much to be maruelled at if we descrie naturall frailtie and weaknesse in our brethren and sisters at such a time God deliuers his children to much frailtie that in their weaknesse his power might be seene For how admirable is the power of God in the preseruing of such a man or woman to eternall life which oftentimes neither know what they do nor what they say It is a great worke of God to bring any to heauen though they pray though they call for mercie though they giue euidences of faith and repentance but to bring such to heauen which for the present cannot pray it is a wo●ke rather to be admired then conceiued God also suffers his deare children to die vncomfortably for their cause which stand by as either for the warning of his Saints standing by to teach them to take heede of nourishing corruption lest it trouble them at the last and to forewarne them also to prepare great strength against the needfull time Or else the Lord doth it in his iustice to be a stumbling blocke to the wicked that stand by that they may depart and say Lo these are the Professours these are the holy people these are the runners to Sermons and yet you see what ends they make God blesse me from their profession c. A iust iudgment of God that forasmuch as the wicked will not receiue any good by Gods people in their life time either by their good counsell or good example that therefore they should receiue hurt and bane by their death But here some may possibly obiect Doth not Christ himselfe say that The Comforter shall remaine for euer with his Elect Iohn 14. 16. Yea doth he not say further that No man shall take away their ioy Iohn 16. 22. Which being true how can it possibly be that the child of God hauing had at any time sound ioy should die vncomfortably To this I answer that indeed it is true soundioy shall neuer vtterly be taken away from any elect vessell but it is not to be denied but the sense feeling of that ioy may be taken away Though Christ was alwaies the Sonne of Gods loue and remained for euer in his fauour yet he was not alwayes sensible of that loue which caused him to crie My God my God why hast thou forsaken me If any shall obiect further and say Do we not reade that the Apostles reioyced In that they were thought wothie to suffer rebuke for Christ Acts 5. 41. And do we not heare of those holy Martyrs in Hebr. 10. 34. who suffered with ioy the spoyling of their goods Yea do we not behold with our eyes many Christians which depart out of this life with much heauenly ioy Therefore it may seeme that the end of Gods children is a ioyfull end I answer it is true that many Christians yea I hope the most of Gods children depart with ioy But this is not the condition of all There be some that go weeping to heauen as well as there be others which go triumphing There be some that are carried in fiery chariots with Elias and as it were in a whirle-wind when others are carried in a more mild manner or as it were in a horselitter If any shall obiect yet and say Do we not reade in Psal 37. Marke the vpright man behold the iust the end of that man is peace Therefore how is it possible that the end of the child of God should be vncomfortable It is most true that the end of Gods children is peace but this peace is especially obtained in the world to come for so saith the Prophet Peace shall come and they shall rest in their beds Esay 57. 2. Yea what saith our blessed Sauiour In the world ye shall haue assliction but be of good comfort I haue ouercome the world Iohn 16. 33. But to come to the vse and application of this point Is it so that afflictions may be thus troublesome and tedious to the very children of God Then this must teach vs not rashly to censure all such as in whom we discouer much weakenesse and signes of impatiency For in so doing we might quickly come to condemne the generation of the righteous Shall we iudge Iob to be an hypocrite if we heare him cursing the day of his birth God forbid Theresore iudge not that ye be not iudged For with what iudgement ye iudge ye shall be iudged and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you againe Matth. 7. 2. In stead of iudging and censuring other in this case rather learne to iudge thy selfe thinke thus with thy selfe when thou seest signes of impatiencie in good people first that surely their pangs paines are exceeding great for otherwise they would not thus complaine and secondly suspect thy selfe that if thou were in their case and didst endure that which they endure thou thy selfe wouldst be farre more impatient Secondly is it so that afflictions may be thus tedious vnto the children of God Therefore this must teach vs to be thankfull to God when our brethren and sisters make a comfortable end How great cause had the sriends and kindred of holy Martyrs to praise God when they beheld with their eyes the stedfast faith the vndaunted courage the maruellous patience which appeared in those worthy se●uants of God And so when we behold our friends vpon their death-bed iustifying God condemning themselues laying hold of saluation by Christ giuing good instruction vnto others and commending their spirits into the hand of their Lord which hath bought them surely I lay in this case we haue great and iust cause to glorifie God And so much the rather are we bound to be thankfull for this because it is not giuen to all the Saints to haue this comfort at the last but some vpon their death-beds are cōstrained with Christ Iesus to cry in