Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	wood_n	world_n	worthy_a	28	3	6.7906	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A00945	Certaine very proper, and most profitable similies wherein sundrie, and very many, most foule vices, and dangerous sinnes, of all sorts, are so plainly laid open, and displaied in their kindes, and so pointed at with the finger of God, ... Collected by Anthonie Fletcher, minister of the word of God, ... This present yeere of our happines 1595.	Fletcher, Anthonie.	1595 (1595)	STC 11053; ESTC S116009	166,265	184

poore can haue no releefe at their hands whiles they liue they will do no charitable déedes nor works of mercie onely at the point of death in their last testament they will perhaps leaue some legacies to be giuen when they be dead but death must be sure of them before the poore be sure of a penny It were better done by much to releeue the poore with their owne hands in their life time it is not amisse that they do good then but it were better done before It is to be wished that man would consider whence he hath his name homo and finding that he hath it of humus the earth which yéeldeth to euerie man more than it receiueth at his hands and bringeth foorth and ministreth all maner of fruits to all men with great aduantage he would surely be afeard and ashamed that the earth should condemne him in bountifulnes and liberalitie The Lord doth very earnestly condemne the couetousnes and crueltie of the Iewes towards the poore in Ezechiel the prophet saying They did not stretch out their hands to the poore and néedie And Salomon saith He shall be blessed that hath pitie vpon the poore And indéede what a great blessing is it for things of no valure to receiue great and heauenly riches for dead things matters of life for things transitorie things eternall and to haue the Lord himselfe to be pay maister of all these things And the same Salomon saith that he laieth in banke vnto the Lord that hath pitie vpon the poore and also He that stoppeth his eares at the crie of the poore shall crie himselfe and not be heard And the Apostle calleth couetousnes worshipping of idols and affirmeth that the couetous man hath no inheritance in the kingdome of God He that loueth not his brother whom he seeth how can he loue God whom he seeth not Blessed are the mercifull saith Christ for they shall receiue mercie That man that vnmercifully kéepeth his gold monie meate cloth harbour or other comfort whatsoeuer and séeth his brother or sister want as he hath no loue of God in him so can he not by Christ be saued What then shall become of them which being rich do not onely not succour and comfort the poore but also dismay discomfort and dispoile them of that they haue surely such m●st néedes perish For the● are fettered and holden in the snares of sathan and wo wo is their reward It is a world to sée how the houses wals chambers bedstéeds and garments of rich men glitter and florish with gold and infinite poore soules that Christ suffered his death for are readie to perish in euerie place for want of foode and necessaries They enrich stocks and stones and suffer the seruants of God to be déepely distressed Whiles they hunt after worldly wealth they let slip the kingdome of heauen O miserable men what get they what haue they what possesse they surely nothing of any valure and yet they lose themselues They haue a vaile before their eies birde lime in their wings and fetters about their féete that they cannot sée the kingdome of God they cannot moo●e one feather of a wing towards heauen nor set one foote before another to go towards euerlasting saluation yet such men are merie now but their sorrow is not far off nor long to come AS feathers do lift vp and carrie on high the foules and birdes of the aire So the riches and dignities of this world are woont to extol and carrie men into the aire and clouds of vanitie And as haukes trusting to their wings will flie excéeding high as though they woulde pearce the clouds themselues for their too high flieng are oftentimes lost So men depending vpon the wings of prosperitie being puffed vp and swelled with pride the higher they clime the more mischéeuous is their fall and with the greater disgrace are they hurled downe headlong These be those feathers of vanitie which God commanded to pull out and to cast them into the dust The remembrance of death is a place of dust where we ought continuallie to reuolue in our minds those things which the men of this world do déeme and iudge to be most excellent considering how they all in the twinckling of an eie do vanish away and are consumed and we with them are turned into dust TRées growing in the woode are knowne some by the difference of their truncks or bodies some by the propertie of their boughes branches leaues flowers and fruits but this knowledge is had of them whiles they stande growe and are not consumed but if they be committed to the fire and turned into ashes they cannot be knowne for how is it possible that when the ashes of diuers kinds of trées are mingled togither the tall pine trée should be discerned from the great and huge oke or the mightie popler from a little lowe shrub or anie one tree from another Euen so men whiles they liue in the wood of this world are knowne some by the stocke of auncetors some by the florishing leaues of their words and eloquence some in the floures of beautie and some in the fruits of honestie manie by their sauage barbarousnes and some by their milde lenitie and kindnes But when death doth bring them into dust and hath mixed and mingled them all togither who can by their ashes earth and dust discerne and know them when the ashes and dust of all are mingled togither what difference is there then betwéene the mightie princes of the worlde and the séelie poore soules that are no account made of into the remembrance of such dust and ashes we ought to cast the beautifull and faire feathers of this world least being puffed vp with our owne conceites and with an ouer well wéening of our selues we vtterlie lose all temperance and measure kéeping and plunge our selues into intollerable errors For it is a plaine case that where vaine glory doth dominéere and beare the rule there is no place for temperance neither can vertue be suffered to be resident in the kingdome of vanitie HAukes of the best kind whiles they liue are highlie estéemed and much made of and are daintily fed and tenderly looked vnto and are caried vpon the fists of great and mightie men but when they be dead they are throwne out vpon the dunghill And on the other side the partridge when she liueth is troubled afflicted pursued of al euery cartar ploughman is readie to fall vpon hir to do hir violence and to kill hir But when she is dead she is brought to the tables of princes and is very honorably set before them So very many that in this life are counted very famous and notable men and do lead their liues in great prosperitie and worldly wealth and haue all things at their wils and pleasures when they remooue hence and go out of this life they shall be hurled vpon that most foule and filthie dung hill of

and repining is sadder than they that went downe into Trophonius his den and in enuie passeth Zoilus enuying those especially that in any gift or qualitie are before him Iust men and they that be wel garded with vertues on euery side and are of a noble and excellent courage can ouercome and subdue their enimies but their enuy they can neuer ouercome for it will not be tamed nor subdued It is a fire that consumeth the harts of them whom it possesseth with a continuall burning Salomon his counsell is that thou eate not with an enuious man nor desire his meate And the Apostle willeth the Galathians that they be not desirous of vaine glorie prouoking one another and enuying one another Hieronymus in an epistle to Demetriades saith What pleasure I pray thée doth enuie to that man whom fretting and wrath doth teare and rend in péeces in the secret corners of his conscience and maketh the felicitie of other men his owne torment A wicked man taketh pleasure in his owne wickednes but the enuious man is tortured with the good of others Quintus Curtius in his eight booke De gestis Alexandri reporteth that Alexander was woont to say that enuious men are nothing else but torments and tormentors of their owne selues Chrysostom calleth enuie an vnquenchable fire And Isidore saith that it doth deuoure all good things in man with a most pestilent burning heate And in my opinion it is a very image of hell that tormenteth without profite or pleasure A Father which giueth vnto his sonne whom he loueth déerly a breast plate or stomacher very costly and curiouslye wrought of silke siluer or gold to weare vnder some other garment doth suffer his vppermost garment as doublet or cote to be pinkt and cut in diuers places that the vnder costly worke may outwardly appéere and be séene of all Euen so our heauenly father a God of compassion and mercie yea the God of all comfort doth somtimes suffer that man whom he most déerely loueth to be wounded of the wicked and to be smitten with calamities and miseries to the end that the precious and golden brest plate of patience wherewith the Lord hath inwardly indued him should outwardly appéere and be séene of all Héerehence is that which the Apostle saith to the Hebrewes Whom the Lord loueth him he doth chasten and he scourgeth euerie sonne whom he receiueth And in the Reuelation the Lord in the person of Iohn saith Whom I loue those do I reprooue and chasten And in the mouth of Matthew he saith Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousnes sake True it is that patience is an heauenly gift and a very blessed thing for as the Apostle saith it worketh a triall in man and that triall worketh an hope and that hope doth neuer confound nor shame him that hath it And the same Apostle willeth the Colossians as the elect of God to put on patience as if he should say there is no vesture nor vertue whatsoeuer doth better beséeme the seruants of God than patience vnder crosses and in the midst of a thousand afflictions And therefore the holy Ghost doth aduertise vs to run with patience vnto the battell or fight that is set before vs and euer to looke vpon the author and finisher of our faith euen Iesus who hauing vnspeakable ioy set before him did vndergo and indure the crosse not regarding but euen despising the confusion and shame thereof It behooueth vs when we are beset on euerie side with afflictions and troubles to flie vnto God and to beséech him that with his aide and helpe as with the cléere shine of his most bright sunne he will scatter abroad the cloudes and darknes of our calamities and great miseries least that if they increase and multiplie we fall into despaire and so slumber in sin and sléepe in death that the enimie of our soules and saluation may say I haue preuailed against them For if we will imbrace the Lord with all our harts we shall no doubt be in most sure and certaine safegarde And although the wicked and vngodly sort which are more barbarous and sauage than brute beasts shall afflict the saints and seruants of God and beare and behaue themselues insolently and shall abuse their power and authoritie to the hurt and harme of such as feare the Lord in singlenes of hart and are readie with all patience to beare whatsoeuer crosse shall be laid vpon them yet at the length the Lords elect shall preuaile one way or other to their great comfort and shall be aduanced to eternall life and glorie that neuer shall haue end For as the prophet saith The patient abiding of the poore shall not alwaies be forgotten for although for a time God suffereth his seruants to be strangely afflicted that vertue in them may growe to some perfection yet not the lesse in his due time he doth deliuer them out of all the tempests and stormes of the world and doth make them partakers of his kingdome in glorie euerlasting We are woont to call those men martyrs which suffer death by fire or sword for Christs sake and indeede so they be but that man also in my opinion may rightly be called a martyr which kéepeth truly in his hart and minde an vnfained patience without grudging or repining at any troubles whatsoeuer thinking himselfe happie that he is thought woorthie to beare some crosse or other after his Lord and sauiour Christ such a man no doubt is a martyr euen liuing though he lose not his life by fire nor sword EVen as those shéepe which in the presence of their shepheards do vomit and cast out againe the grasse which they haue eaten do not profitably shew how much how well they haue fed but those rather which do inwardly digest and concoct their meate and do giue abundance of mylke and do beare the softiest weightiest and finest wooll and do shew themselues to be fat faire and well liking For by those things they shew plainly prooue that their pasture is excéeding good Euen so not those pastors ministers and preachers of the word which do deliuer words and stuffe their sermons with eloquence and braue phrases do fruitfully and throughly declare vnto the people that vertues pasture is excellent good and wholsome and to be desired of all but they rather which do inwardly concoct vertue and do obserue it and bending themselues to the actions and performance therof do flow with the swéet milke of mercy and do cloth themselues others with the fine fléeces of christian loue and charitie such I say do euidently declare how much they haue profited in the doctrine of Christ and how much also others ought to profite in the same and do stir vp the harts and minds of their hearers to vertue and godlines both with their doctrine and liuing Words of doctrine are very profitable but when they are séene to worke holines and

out that men seeing their constancie in the loue of God may glorifie their father which as in heauen S. 79. P. 34. The good agreement and well hanging togither of the in 〈…〉 creatures of God in this world though differing in natures and the apt placing of the whole may very well teach vs that there is a mightie creator a great gouernor and a wise preseruer of all these things S. 80. P. 34. 35. The cause of the sinnes and iniquities which man committeth is in himselfe euen as the tree is in the kernell and the herbe in the seede Self loue is a perilous and common theefe ranging and robbing in euerie place it maketh men fooles and doth put out their eies and yet is welcome to all S. 81. Pag. 35. They that be godly are most easily moued to do good vpon any occasion offered the troubles and afflictions of their brethren are to them as if they were their owne if they do but heare of anie distressed they by and by cast with themselues how to do them good such be good though few S. 82. P. 36. A good christian though he be heere vpon the earth in bodie in affect and desire he is in heauen S. 83. P. 36. Gods children despise those things which vnto the worldlings seeme very precious not earth but heauen hath their harts S. 84. P. 36. As he that walketh vpon coards fastened on high had need to looke to his footing so it behooueth vs to be very carefull where we place our affections For there be two that daily striue for them God calleth and sathan allureth Sathan doth keepe a continual siege against all vertue to kill it if he can euen when it is a hatching in the hart of man S. 85. P. 36. 37. Many men haue calling but they answere it not knowledge but they practise it not words but they worke not such are compared to the ostridge that hath wings and flyeth not S. 86 P. 38. All that be aduanced into places of high dignitie are not the best men though some be very good yet some seeke more their own praise and profit than gods glory but that is not to follow Christ S. 87. P. 38. 39. The greatest highest and best seruice that man can do vnto God for the comfort of his ownesoule and his happines in the world to come is his due obedience vnto the word of God S. 88. P. 39. 40. That man perisheth for euer and goeth to hell is mans owne fault not the Lords the Lord is no more to be blamed for mans destruction then the smith that made for thee som instrument of iron or steele is to be blamed if thou wilt suffer it to growe rustie and cankered the smith made not rustines neither God thee to sinne S. 89. P. 40. The children of God vnderstāding by the word that this world and all that is in it is meere vanitie they haue their felicitie ioie and comfort in knowing of the word and doing of the will of God S. 90. P. 40. The Indian adamant which in hardnes doth excell all other stones is said to be mollified with the warme bloud of a goate But the hart of man hardned with continuance and custome of sinne will not be mollified with the bloude of the immaculate lambe Christ Iesus S. 91. P. 41. Though the world intreat vs vnkindly and be daily harming vs yet we must no more giue ouer doing good then the sunne giueth ouer shining though many clouds do continually couer it S. 92. P. 42. Vertues lot is to be enuied to finde very colde intertainment if any at all with the men of this world and yet for all that the seruants of God will neuer be wearie of well doing S 93 P. 42. Mans hart being quiet and not troubled with horrors nor distempered with feares wil plainly shew a man what he is so that he may easily know himselfe but being tossed with terrors and ouerwhelmed with feares it cannot do so S. 94. P. 42. A flatterer to see to is honest Cato but in experience cruell Nero and therefore verie fitly compared to a scorpion S 95. P. 43. There be many dissemblers and smooth tongued flatterers in the world that will euen stroke as it were mens humors and dispositions with words as soft as oyle and so sweet as honie and al to creepe within them that at the length they may worke their wo and destruction S. 96. P. 43. As a candle that it may giue light to others is consumed it selfe and salt that it may draw corruptiō out of flesh keepe it sweet and wholesome for mans body is all to brused broken and wasted it selfe So euerie christian man and especially teachers of others ought to spare no labour to do good to others and to win some soules to God if it please him to blesse their labours S. 97. P. 43. The saylers g●o●on called the mar●iners needle lockt shut vp or kept in a ●offer of gold siluer wood or whatsoeuer will euer stil looke towards the north pole So right christians which are throughly resolued concerning their saluation and euerlasting life will neuer turne from Christ but haue their harts and minds still fixed in him come wealth or want sicknes or health libertie or imprisonment life or death S. 98. P. 43. 44. A christian will not haue two loues one for himselfe and an other for his neighbour but will loue his neighbour with one the same loue wherewith he loueth himselfe S. 99. P. 44. 45. The soule of man so long as it is in bondage vnto the bodie it seeketh onelie the bodies pleasures and delights but hauing once recouered that seruitude and brought the bodie to be subiect vnto it then it seeketh no longer the peace pleasure ease and rest of the bodie but now being freed from that bondage and restored to it selfe it seeketh it owne peace rest health and happines for euer S. 99. P. 44. 45. That man is in a wofull case that hath his head vnder the girdle of this world he shal neuer find any rest peace or quietnes Put no trust in the world if thou dost it will deceaue thee and giue thee quid pro quo that is a mischiefe in stead of a pleasure promised The going out of this world to a christian is like a safe sure hauē to a man that hath bin very long and dangerously tossed in a most troublesome and perilous sea S. 100. P. 45. 46. A corrupted iusticer or iudge by the vertue of a precious stone or some other rich iewell bestowed vpon him freely will make a bad matter go for good and a very iust cause go for nought Yea for a good round sum of money though it be in an old leather purse he will now and then sell iudgement break the necke of iustice Where this corruption and abuse is it breedeth this slaunderous report of the law which is good Par●is cornis