Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	know_v	life_n	love_v	8,582	5	6.6638	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A92851	Elisha his lamentation, upon the suddain translation of Elijah. Opened in a sermon at the funeral of Mr. VVilliam Strong, that eminently faithful servant and minister of Christ. By Obadiah Sedgwick, B.D. and preacher of the Gospel in Covent Garden.	Sedgwick, Obadiah, 1600?-1658.	1654 (1654)	Wing S2371; Thomason E745_14; ESTC R203519	19,678	40

Elisha his Lamentation Upon the suddain Translation of ELIJAH Opened in a SERMON At the Funeral of Mr. VVilliam Strong That Eminently Faithful Servant and Minister of CHRIST By Obadiah Sedgwick B. D. and Preacher of the Gospel in Covent Garden ZACHARY 1. 5. And the Prophets do they live for ever HEBREVVS 3. 7. To day if ye will hear his Voice LONDON Printed by R. W. for Francis Tyton at the Sign of the three Daggers in Fleet-street near the Inner-Temple Gate 1654. To the Right VVorshipful Colonel Boswell Henry Scobel Esq Mr. Thomas Rushall and to all the rest of the Congregation lately pertaining unto the care of that Faithful Pastor Mr. WILLIAM STRONG Preacher of the Gospel at Westminster ABBEY YOu were pleased to put me upon that sad service of Preaching at the Funeral of your worthy and dear Pastor And shortly after that upon another service of Printing what I then had publikely Preached I confess that I never Preached a Sermon in this kind with more grief of heart and never did I discern a Sermon heard and attended with more weeping eyes certainly God had given in unto him the affections of many persons who loved him in his life and bitterly lamented him at his death I was almost fallen out with the thoughts of publishing any occasional Sermons as being most proper for scope and use and working to the present Auditory But your generall desire hath prevailed upon me to deny my own judgement and since it must be so here you have those sudden and weak fruits such as they are and the blessing of the Lord go with them Of what other advantage they may be besides the keeping up a while the name and memory of so pretious a servant of Christ I know not but yet I trust that God may intend them and now doth send them abroad for the good of the living Of this I am sure that every personal change in the world is an effect of his providence and that there is a doctrinal will for the living in every providential will of God concerning the dead and the greater that any person is in his relation of usefulness and serviceableness to Christ and his Church the more emphatical Selah doth the Lord in the removal of him print out for the children of men There was honey found by Sampson in the carcase of the dead Lyon so are there many sweet instructions and lessons to be gathered not onely out of the lives but also out of the deaths of the Ministers of Christ The last Sermon which a people are to study and diligently to peruse is the death of their Godly Pastor for in this God himself doth immediatly preach unto them As when Ministers do live it is but hypocrisie to give them onely a few good words so when they dye it is but a formality onely to shed over them a few sad tears O that you your selves the many other Congregations who of late have carried their Faithful and laborious Ministers to the grave would seriously remember that you must answer God for the quick and for the dead for your living Ministers for your dead Ministers there are living uses to be made out of dead instances Live and live the better live up to the power of Truth and Godliness live like such as are even parting with life and in hazzard about a season Live like such who did enjoy and who again would enjoy a choice servant to your Minister Though Minsters dye yet Christ lives and he is present with you he observes all your heart ways therfore as you formerly have so now especially strive to abound much more in heavenly wisdom in sound Iudgement in Faith and Love to our Lord Iesus in meekness and gentleness and profitableness one towards another and in all exactness of holy walking before your God hereupon shall you find your late great loss gratiously supplied in the answer of your fervent prayers hereupon shall you find the testimony of a good conscience hereupon shall you find peace in death and after that the Crown of life which God will give to all that love him And for other People let them Repent of the evil handling of their Faithful Ministers and beseech the Lord to give them hearts in their day of Grace yet to know the things which do concern their Peace which that we all may do shall be the prayer of Your Servant in the Faith of Christ Obadiah Sedgwick A SERMON LATELY PREACHED In the Abbey of Westminster July 4th 1654. At the Funeral of Mr. VVilliam Strong Preacher of the Gospel there 2 KINGS 2. 12. And Elisha saw it and he cryed My Father My Father The Charet of Israel and the Horsemen thereof and he saw him no more and he took hold of his own Clothes and Rent them in two pieces IN the Former Verse Elijah and Elisha are passing on and discoursing together What that Discourse was it is not Expressed Some do presume to tell us particularly what it was but very probable it is that the discourse As Lyra and others of the Papists was altogether suitable unto so great and Holy a Prophet as Elijah was It was very profitable and very Heavenly he being presently to be taken up into Heaven Whiles they were thus discoursing on a suddain there appeared a Charet of fire and Horses of fire and parted Verse 11. them both asunder and Elijah went up by a Whirlwind into heaven By the Charet and horses of fire Peter Martyr P. Martyr In Locum understands the Angels of God who at this time did put on the species or appearance of fire And with this fiery Apparition God was pleased to honor Elijah at his departure who in his life time had so much honored his God with the fire of Zeal for his Truth and Worship And he went up by a Whirlwind into heaven Some do read it that he went up by a Whirlwind of heaven or by an heavenly Whirlwind which denotes the manner of his Ascension but our General Translation and Reading is best which doth more significantly denote the place unto which he was then carried Namely Heaven Therefore that Opinion of the Papists is very fond who do Affirm that Elijah was carried into Paradise there to stay with Enoch untill towards the end of the world and then both of them are to come forth and to Preach against Antichrist But this is a meer fancy all along the Text saith plainly Elijah went up by a Whirlwind Contra perfidium Antichristi into heaven But what heaven he went into is somewhat argued especially by the Papists who it A three-fold Heaven seems will by no means have that Zealous enemy to Idolatry to be carried into the heaven of the blessed There is indeed Coelum Aerium the Aiery Heaven where the Fowls of Heaven do flee and there is Coelum Astriferum where the Stars of heaven are and there is Coelum Beatorum the

how long was he sick and whereof did he dye and what hath he left his poor wife and children It is great pitty the man was an honest man and preacht well and here is all Now to such careless and cold and dull persons especially if any such have had any reference unto faithful and laborious Ministers who can thus slightly pass over the death of their Pastors I have four things to say 1. It is a sign that you never truly loved their persons No no for all your complements and for all your pretences yet you never truly loved them of all affections love is most apprehensive and sensible If it enjoyes there is much delight If it looseth there is much sorrow love is very sensible of what it enjoyes and of what it looses 2. It is a sign that you never prized them in their Ministry if you make no more of them being dead certainly you made little of them being living Affections do most appear and discover themselves upon death absence and difficulties and oppositions and death these are tryals and discoveries of true love and therefore if you can so slightly bear the loss of your faithful Ministers assuredly you never knew the worth and use of them as Ministers of Christ 3. It is a sign that you never received any Spiritual good by them at all If you had done so your hearts would have been knit unto them in life and at least have shed a tear for them in death Their death would presently call up all those heavenly counsels and all those seasonable directions and all those spiritual satisfactions and all those sweet comforts of God which you by them did receive At such a time I remember how he thus spake and at such a Sermon and at such a meeting and in such a conference and now I shall never see him more nor confer with him more The heart would melt to think of these things 4. It is a sign that God hath in Judgement taken away your faithful Ministers from you even for your want of love to the Truth and for your slighting and neglecting the means of Grace for which you must give a severe account unto God And let me tell you that so many faithful Ministers as you have heard and so many heavenly Sermons as you have heard or should have heard the more heavy will the account be unto God and the more dreadful will Gods Judgements be upon you for your unthankfulness and unprofitableness I grant that the Prophets dye but remember that a peoples accounts for the pains and labours of those Prophets never die but do remain upon Record as a witness against you The next use shall be an Item unto all of us here this Use 2. day and more especially to them who are particularly interessed in our great loss That they would in a singular manner lay to heart this great breach which God hath made and this great loss which hath suddenly and unexpectedly befallen us Ah Sirs Who that saw and heard that precious Minister of Christ the beginning of the last week did think to hear of his death towards the latter end of the same week who that heard him preaching of laying up Treasure in heaven did imagine that such a treasure should be taken away from earth and himself so suddenly be laid up in heaven Alas For me to speak of this Prophet and of one common loss of the many losses in this one loss truly I am not fit I am not able because I knew him much and honored him much and loved him much only this I will say of him That one so plain in heart so deep in judgement so painful in studies so frequent and powerful and exact in preaching so laborious with and useful to his Congregation so able to convince the Gain sayer so zealous in contending for the truths of Christ so fit for all Ministerial services besides his Personal and Domestical course of Godliness of his time I have not known the like Really he was another Elijah let me a little compare them How zealous was Elijah against the false Prophets of Baal How laborious was Elijah to bring back the people of Israel to the true God and to the true worship of God How stout and resolute was Elijah in delivering the Message of God even to the face of King Ahab How quick was he with Ahaziah for sending messengers unto Baalzebub the God of Ekron How fervent and potent in prayer How diligently laborious to his dying day How suddain was his remove and departute All this Spirit and much more then this of the Spirit of Elijah was found in him Now if you do but consider what eminent Gifts and Graces appeared in him and how seriously and humbly and dexteriously these were laid out for the glory of Christ and for the service and benefit of the Church of Christ we have cause in the loss of such a Prophet to cry out My Father my Father The Charet of Israel and the Horsemen thereof But I will speak no more of him nor to you of him his death I see hath made a general and deep Impression Use 3. upon your hearts All that remains to be spoken shall be unto you his Hearers and especially unto you his late Congregation there are four things which I would briefly offer unto you 1. Grieve in a Spiritual way and upon Spiritual considerations that God hath deprived you of such a Spiritual Pastor and Helper and Comforter 2. Remember and lay up those soul-saving Truths which you have so often heard from him and wisely improve them in all your occasions when Elijah was wrapt up to heaven Elisha took up the cloak which fell from him and made use thereof O take up all those gracious Instructions which fell from him in his life and make use of them now after his death keep them alive and so you shall find him still living 3. Hold fast that form of wholsom words by him from Christ delivered unto you and as you have received so walk in them let not your stedfastness dye now he is dead 4. Most humbly and earnestly strive with the Lord by Fasting and Prayer that seeing it is his will to take away Elijah from you that he would be pleased in his love and mercy to give unto you an Elisha in his room FINIS

The second is a prudent reflexion upon our selves what there is in our selves which hath contributed unto so great a loss For not onely diseases in a Minister but also sins in a people may have a great hand to take away the life of their Minister and therefore there is reason for us to reflect and search In every ordinary loss that befals us we should search our hearts and try our ways and say Why is this evil come upon us much more should this be done when a Spiritual loss befals us When the Lord takes away from us the staffe and the stay the Iudge and the Prophet Isa 3. 1 2. When he smites the Shepherd and the Sheep are like to be scattered when he removes his Angels from his Churches Now is it a time to stand still and to gather our selves together and to say what have we been and what have we done how have we walked what hath been our deportment under the Gospel what our answerableness thereunto hath not our unthankfulness hath not our barrenness hath not our disregard hath not our disobedience caused the Lord to make this breach to take away the light from us 3. The third is a mournful Lamentation we should be very sensible of such a loss yea in some proportion unto the kind and greatness of it For as the enjoyment of an eminently faithful Prophet or Pastor is an exceeding blessing it is promised amongst the chiefest of mercies I will give them Pastors after mine own heart and thine eyes shall see thy Teacher So the death of such a Isa 30. 20. one is an exceeding loss and consequently requires exceeding Grief and Lamentation There are six great losses and do you judge whether Six great losses they be not so 1. The first is the loss of a soul how great is that loss all is lost if that be lost 2. The second is the loss of true Religion and the glory is departed from Israel when that is gone 3. The third is the loss of Gods smiling favour and presence when that withdraws then the Sun is set and it is night and darkness and fear and trouble with the soul 4. The fourth is the loss of peace in conscience Now beginns the Wars and Tumuls and the bones are broken 5. The fifth is the loss of the Gospel Now the gates of Heaven are shut up and the worst of famines seizeth our souls 6. The sixth is the loss of faithful Prophets and Ministers of God Now the stones are fallen and the shields of the earth are fallen and the interpreters the men of thousands and the watch-men set upon the Towers and Bull-works are cut off and the Ambassadors of Christ and of peace are called home and the servants and furtherers of our salvation are discharged Now the more that any loss borders upon souls and upon salvation the more heavy and sharp is that loss and with that loss we should be much afflicted and troubled Q. But may some say why all this Ado Why such a crying out such a laying to heart such a grieving and mourning and taking on and troubling of our selves upon the loss and death of faithful and zealous Prophets What are they more then other men For place for use for service that there must be such a stir for them They are a company of busie and troublesome Fellows the troublers of Israel Sol. So indeed did Ahab speak of gracious and zealous Elijah Ahab who sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord. He said thus unto Elijah Art thou he that troubleth Israel But to let railers go there are two Reasons to be found in the Text for a mournful lamentation upon the death of the faithful Ministers or Prophets of God whereof one respects the people of God who stood in relation unto them as children unto a father and the Prophets stood in relation to them as fathers unto children and the other Reason respects the publike civil State 1. In respect of the Relation between Faithful Ministers and a People Their Relation is that of Father and Children my Father my Father cries Elisha here and truly this Relation hath in it more of Love and more of Grief then any other Relation When Joseph buried Jacob his Father They mourned with a great and a very sore Lamentation Gen. 50. 10. Now every faithful Prophet or Minister of God is a Father unto the Saints or people of God 1. For Spiritual Generation under God he is a Spiritual Father and begets them again by the Gospel this the Apostle expr●sly delivers in several places 1 Cor. 4. 15. Though you have ten thousand Instructers in Christ yet have ye not many Fathers For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel He was an Instrument or means used by God for their New-Birth So Philimon ver 10. speaking unto him of Onesimus whom saith Paul there I have begotten in my Bonds 2. For loving and tender affection A Father doth not more love his Natural child then the faithful Minister doth those whom he hath begotten unto Christ Take thine only Son Isaac whom thou lovest said God to Abraham Gen. 22. 2. The Elder unto the Elect Lady and her children whom I love in the Truth 2 Joh. 1. So Paul to the Corinthians Apologizing for himself in not being burdensome unto them 2 Cor. 11 11. Wherefore saith he because I love you not q. d. Do you think that the want of love in me unto you is the reason of that forbearance God knoweth q. d. God himself who knows all hearts he doth know that I love you Nay so great is the love of benevolence in a faithful Minister unto his people That he is contented for a while to delay his own eternal Salvation and Happiness that he may be a little more helpful and useful unto his people This prevalent affection you may read expresly in the Apostle Paul Philippians 1. 23. I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better i. e. For my self Verse 24. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you Verse 25. And having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith The Apostles difficulty and streight was about his own personal interest and their common spiritual good If I die I shall gain by death I shall be with Christ But then you will loose I must no more be with you to serve and further your Faith and Joy well saith he I am content I am willing to live a little longer for the beneficial service of your souls rather then presently to depart and enjoy my happiness with Christ O what a love was this 3. For care and watchfulness How careful is the Father for his Children Children are the uncertain comforts and the certain cares of their parents and how watchful is the Father for