Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	word_n	world_n	yoke_n	16	3	8.9791	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14992	A care-cloth: or a treatise of the cumbers and troubles of marriage intended to aduise them that may, to shun them; that may not, well and patiently to beare them. By William Whately, preacher of the word of God in Banbury, in Oxfordshire.	Whately, William, 1583-1639.	1624 (1624)	STC 25299; ESTC S107622	140,887	282

hereafter He that hath begun the worke of mortification so farre as I told you before in speaking of the first degree of it that now those sinnes which once raigned in him are put downe from their regencie and those corruptions that once have was a slaue vnto are now deposed from their throne as it were and doe cease to command in his members as once they did hath much cause to reioyce in the saluation of GOD although hee find these lusts still striuing and labouring to recouer their ancient soueraigntie 2. It is certaine that the Spirit of GOD doth rule in him in whom sinne hath ceased to rule Euerie man is vnder the command of the flesh or of the Spirit euerie man is subiect to the Lord ruling in him by Grace or to the Deuill ruling in him by lust Satan is a verie strong man and our owne lusts are his weapons none can bind this man and cast him out but the Spirit of strength of which Saint Iohn saith Stronger is he that is in vs 1. Iohn 4.4 then hee that is in the world Wherefore if any man that was once vnder the yoke of wrath lust reuenge couetousnesse or any other vile affection doe find now that by feruent prayers to God by the power of the Word in holy meditations applied to him and by vertue of the death of Christ and other like spirituall meanes by him vsed the Lord hath pleased to pull this yoke from off his necke so as now in stead of taking delight in the euill motions of sinne hee is grieued in his soule when such thoughts doe stirre in his soule and ceaseth not to crie to Heauen till he find them beaten backe againe and doth not now yeeld vp himselfe to follow these things with greedinesse but is vsually able to forbeare the palpable practice of sinne and if hee be ouertaken in any grosse manner hee is greatly humbled and abased and recouers himselfe with speedie confession and lamentation and renewing of his resolutions If any man I say doe find the case to stand thus with him hee hath in some measure fought and preuailed and now blessed bee hee of the Lord let him looke vpon the dead bodies of his lusts with much comfort and let him triumph in God that hath conquered for him and let him encourage himselfe still to continue fighting that still his soule may increase in strength as the House of Dauid is said to haue done and his sinnes may grow weaker and weaker as it was said of the House of Saul 3. My Brethren this warre whereinto you are entred must last for terme of life The flesh and Spirit can neuer bee reconciled there is no thinking of any peace but that which will bee worse then dishonourable euen damnable and a sure warre is much rather to be chosen then an vnsure peace much more then a peace which will be surely mischieuous Now by how much the warre will prooue of longer continuance by so much had you need to put on more strength that you may endure and a great part of your strength must grow from your comforts in your good beginnings Wherfore now let euerie true mortified man according to the riddle that Samson once propounded to his companions fetch sweetnesse out of the strong and meate out of the eater let them find an Honie-combe in the carcasse of the Lyon which they haue slaine and goe eating let them I meane take great consolation in the sight of their happie proceedings in this heauenly worke 4. There bee some Worthies of Israel that haue lifted vp their speares against many hundreds as it were and left them all dead in the place the hearts of such doe nto much need to bee wished to take comfort The content they find in perceiuing the strength of sinne so much abated in them is vnspeakeable Dauid was no more full of ioy when hee saw Goliah come tumbling to the ground then are their soules when they looke vpon this slaughter that God hath inabled them to make among their lusts No man is able to set forth in words the ioy that growes to a man who is hard set to by a cruell enemie of whom hee lookes for nothing but death vnlesse hee preuent it by giuing death when hee sees him fall downe wounded and gasping for breath O with what a countenance and cheere did Iael runne to meete Barak and to bring him to the sight of dead Sisera Surely the content of a spirituall man in his spirituall victories when now his sinnes are euen breathing their last as I may so speake is no whit lesse yea it is much more solid then that of such a conquerour Those that haue happily passed the brunt of this battaile and haue their enemies in the flight rather then the conflict are and haue cause to bee the chearefullest of all men they bee like souldiers pursuing their foes with that ioyfull shoute of victorie victorie in their mouthes and they enioy the comfort of their former labour with much thankefulnesse 5. But there are other some that haue not yet attained so much strength nor gotten so much ground against their foes They are now as it were in the verie hottest of the skirmish the bullets flie about their eares as I may so speake and their corruptions are violent within them and doe often with great strength hale them and draw them captiue to the law of sinne which is in their members They do sometimes get the better and beate back euill desires and find themselues mightily resolued to sinne no more at other times euill desires doe mightily afflict them and they are well-neere readie to faint and fall scarce able to retaine their purpose of goodnesse scarcely able to hold out in their resolution of not sinning yea it may bee contrarie to their resolutions pulled by the flesh to do the euill that they hate but then feeling themselues wounded they smart and bleed and struggle with their foe and get vp againe and againe betake themselues to their weapons of prayer and meditation which were almost wrested out of their hands for a time and come crying and mourning before the Throne of Grace begging pardon begging helpe and so againe confirme their Faith and renew their repentance and make vp the breaches of their new obedience These poore Saints like souldiers whose enemies doe yet hold their owne and make strong resistance are often full of feare and care and doubt their hearts often droope and they mistrust sometimes lest they shall bee vanquished rather then ouercome Let mee therefore apply my speech to he encouragement of those that need encouragement I say vnto thee whosoeuer that art in this case that thy case is good and happy and that thou hast much cause of reioycing in God notwithstanding all the trouble and cumber that thou findest with thy sinnes It is a blessed thing and a great and vnspeakeable fauour of God that to what lusts thou didst once do seruice

if I be married to this husband hee may leaue me the mother of some children and nwo great with another and sending his soule to heauen giue me alone his cold corpse to put into the earth How shall I doe to see the breath goe out of that beloued body How shall I endure to see those eyes clozed and all those lims and ioynts now vnder the arrest of death How should I beare the desolate name of a widdow of one that had an husband where the crosse is aggrauated by the goodnesse of him whom I haue lost So must the husband thinke What if either in trauaile or otherwise the Lord do take away my deare wife from my side What if she liue with me but a few dayes and then death come and make an irrecouerable separation How shall I behold those cheekes wan those lips black those hands cold that body breathles and liuelesse and fit for none other habitation but that of wormes the darke graue the Kingdome of corruption the territorie of rottennes How shall I lay that beloued body forsaken of the more beloued soule into the bowels and entrals of the all deuouring sepulchre Indeed brethren so farre as I see now adayes men and women can well enough answer to these questions for they can burie and marrie and all in a moneth an hastinesse deseruing to bee deepely censured But if thou loue thine husband if thouloue thy wife how canst thou brooke this finall separation But we goe forward to shew you the troubles you may meete with in respect of children Sometimes barrennesse doth cloze vp the wombe and suffers not the married persons to become parents Sometimes the fruit of the bodie is granted indeed but blasted with sicknesse and with speedy death Sometimes they liue but a few dayes or a few yeeres and then leaue the parent more sorrie for the lesse then glad at the receiuing of them Sometimes they liue to mans age and out-liue the parents but onely to be their parents tormentors and murderers by their euill and lewd conditions so disquieting their hearts that they would count it an aduantage to haue been barren and doe often wish they had laid them in thier graues before euer they had vsed a tongue to speake Many a child puts his mother to after-throes more terrible then those with which shee brought him into the world at first Many a father is in trauaile of his old child that knew not the labour of his first bringing forth Sometimes they proue stubburne sometimes riotous sometimes vncleane sometimes false and sometimes bring themselues to infamous punishments and vntimely deaths Sometimes they belewd before marriage and vexe the parents with beholding a bastard of their names Sometimes they be wilfull inmarriage and wil make their owne foolish choyce against the knowledge or consent of parents Set them to learning they learne nothing but vanitie set them to labour they labour for nothing but to vndoe themselues running away from their Masters it may be also robbing them and hauing runne themselues out of breath come home ragged and miserable but not penitent ready to doe as bad againe and put their parents to extremitie of care so that they are euen distraced and at their wits ends not knowing what course in the world to take with them because both faire meanes and foule meanes haue been vsed and none will auaile Sometimes againe a child seeming towardly so wins away the parents affection that hee giues him almost his whole estate and is content to be at his finding and then loe the monstrous Viper begrudgeth his parents food and attire is wearie of his old age and counts his weakenesse ouer-cumbrous and sticketh not to shew by words and deeds that hee wisheth his death with all his heart then which I think no crosse in a child can be more stinging Thinke of these things you that are or would be married What if you prooue drie Kyes and beare no fruite How could you brooke a life wanting issue the most desireable fruit of marriage Or What if God giue thee children to looke vpon for a weeke or two or to play with for a yeere or two or to be charged withall for a doozen or a score of yeeres and then send death to fetch them to himselfe againe With what quietnese of mind couldst thoui resigne these gifts into the hand of him that gaue them How couldest thou endure to see the sicknesse of thy sonnes or daughters to see them burne toffe tumble waste consume languish and pine away to heare them grone sigh complaine crie out and roare and scritch and fill thine eares with rufull lamentations How canst thou frame thy selfe to see thy branches as it were withering halfe cut off and ready to fall from the body of thy family What shift couldst thou make to burie two three foure halfe a dozen halfe a score sonnes or daughters some at a day some at a weeke some at a yeere some at a dozen some at twentie or more yeeres old Or if thou scape these petit crosses in thy children how couldst thou brooke a stubburne rebellious son or daughter that will interchange words with thee and snap thee vp short and chide faster then thy selfe that will cast vpon thee a leering horse-like contemptuous eye and will stab thy soule with a lowring pouting scornefull looke with a dogged barking answere yea that will steale thy goods from thee and consume it in ill company whores and drunkennesse that wastes all that thou hast gotten and giuen to him and takes such vntamed courses as doe deeply threaten thine heart and eyes with that worse then deadly spectacle to see him one day preaching vpon a ladder with a rope about his necke because such a life can hardly conclude in a better death How wilt thou suffer this corzie of a wicked riotous vngracious vngratefull Viper in thine house who doth nothing else but striue with abominable words and deeds as it were with poysonfull teeth to gnaw out thy verie heart and deuoure thy bowels and entrals for whom thou canst neither eate or sleepe in quiet nor be at home nor abroad in peace a very Absalom that would kill his father to get his Kingdome With what resolution could you parents vnder-goe the burying of a good child or the liuing of a bad But let it be granted that a mans children shall proue at least indifferent and tolerable there is yet another necessarie member of a family which may make the hear of the family ake exceedingly these are seruants of both sexes men and maides Some seruants be idle and slothfull and will doe little some be hollow and deceitefull and will doe nothing but when the gouernours eye is vpon them some be rude and rebellious and will doe what they lust themselues for all their gouernours speeches some bee false and vntrustie and will purloyne their goods if they can some be carelesse and forgetfull and procure exceeding losse by their negligence some

not without some little successe tho farre short of what I ought and but for mine owne carelesnesse might haue attained Another because I conceiued that as a man which hauing but a small stocke can himselfe make but small gaines of its returne may yet giue husband like directions to him that hath a larger stocke by which he may improue his ten talents to more aduantage then else he could doe so a man that hauing but a small quantity of grace can doe little himselfe may yet giue sound directions to those that haue receiued a greater measure of Grace to further them much in their spirituall thrift And as he that by some disease or wound is halfe lame and can goe but a slow pace in the knowne right way may yet direct others to the right way and quicken their pace by calling vpon them so may he whose corruptions suffer him to proceed but slowly in the wayes of holinesse shew that way to others and hasten them therein In a word he may be a good Drummer or Trumpeter in the warre that hath but a weake body and feeble lims to fight Hinder not thy selfe therefore from profiting by this Work by looking on the weakenesses of him that wrote it striue thou to run apace in this path I will either follow after thee or beare thee company or if I can goe before thee as fast as I can Fight thou valiantly at the sound of this Trumpet and I will also striue to vse the hand aswell as the mouth and the Sword aswell as the Trumpet So committing my selfe and thee to the good fauour and grace of our common Father and requiring a few of thy prayers for my selfe in speciall I rest A wel-willer to thy victory against thy spirituall foes William Whately Banbury Feb. 17. 1622. MORTIFICATION Coloss 3.5 Mortifie your members which are vpon the earth CHAP. I. Opening the Text and shewing the Doctrine IN this briefe precept to omit all speech of the coherence because the meaning is plaine enough without it the Apostle deliuers a most necessary point of Christian doctrine Three things obseruable in the Text. For the better explanation of his words we must in them consider three things An action to be done The obiect of this action and the persons to whom the action appertaineth The action is Mortifie or to speake in plaine English Put to death First an action to be done Put to death In this phrase the holy Ghost seemeth to allude vnto the ancient sacrifices whereof so many as consisted of things hauing life were appointed to be slaine by the Priest afore they were offered vp vpon the Altar as a type of our killing the old man before wee can become an acceptable sacrifice vnto God Now to slay sinne is nothing else but to labour with all our might vtterly to subdue it that it may haue no command vigor working no nor being in vs. It is a constant endeauour of causing our corruptions to cease to stirre to moue or to abide in our hearts as a dead man is no longer a man nor can performe the actions of a man and is said no longer to bee amongst men Wee must not surcease striuing against sinne till wee haue vtterly abolished it our desire and endeauour must bee to vse it as a venimous creature euen to knock it on the head and make a cleane riddance of it Wee must not account it sufficient to fine our corruptions as it were or to confine them or to imprison or to bind them or to hurt or to maime them as some kind of inferiour offenders are chasticed but as a capitall offender a mortall enemie an irreclaimeable traytor wee must see execution done vpon it and make a finall and an vtter dispatch of it 2. 2. The obiect of the action Your members on earth This is the action inioyned The obiect of the action is your members that are vpon earth By these earthly members hee meaneth our manisold corrupt and sinfull dispositions according as himselfe doth make manifest by instancing in some for all saying Fornication vncleannesse c. There are in euery mans soule an innumerable company of disordered inclinations contrarie to the will of God and our dutie as ignorance vnbeliefe pride folly worldlinesse silthinesse and all that rabble of euils which we commonly call vices Now all and each of these must be pursued with a mortall hatred and assailed with the same earnestnesse and furie as wee would doe an enemie in the fields euen with an intention of slaughtering him if we can It will not be amisse to consider of some reasons why our corupt lusts should be called members and why members vpon earth There seemeth to bee a threefold reason of this name 3. First the whole corruption of our euill nature Why Lusts are called Members is in Scripture compared to a mans body and called The body of death wherefore the seuerall corruptions are fitly termed members or parts concurring to the full constitution of the whole body You know that Nature hath prepared for man head shoulders armes brest belly thighes legs feete and the rest in the fit and apt ioyning together of which the beeing of the humane body doth consist So doth our wickednes consist in many particular disorders pride vnbeliefe rebellion impatiency hypocrisie carnall sorrow carnall confidence wrath vncleannes earthly-mindednes and diuers others as bad as these the ioyning of which together doth make vp the vniuersall sinfulnesse of our nature called The flesh the old man Againe they are called members vpon the same consideration wherein our Sauiour inioyning the same dutie that here the Apostle is pleased to vse this figuratiue kind of speech Mark 9.43 c. If thy eye offend thee pull it out and cast it from thee if thy foote offend thee cut if off and cast it from thee and if thine hand offend hee cut it off and fling it from thee Because to a man now corrupted his corruptions are as naturall as his members hee brings them into the world with him together with his hands eyes feete they begin and grow in him with the beginning and growing of his lims and in his account they are as necessarie vsefull pleasing and as deare and tender to him as his armes or his legs or his very eyes yea the apple of his eye Nothing in the world is more precious to the vnsanctified and vnregenerate man then his lusts he could as easily part with the ioynts of his body as with them yea with his whole hart he would be content to redeeme the libertie of following them by the losse of his eye Well are they termed members because to the carnall man they are as welbeloued as his members and hee will as lothly part with them and as il spare them as his members yea a man already in part sanctified finds it as much to doe to wrestle against them till they be not thorowly mastered as it were