Selected quad for the lemma: end_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
end_n	green_a	grow_v	leaf_n	1,241	5	9.4794	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07686	A liuely anatomie of death wherein you may see from whence it came, what it is by nature, and what by Christ. Togeather with the power, strength, and sting thereof: as also a preparatiue against the same. Tending to teach men to lyue, and die well to the Lord. By Iohn More, preacher of the Gospel.	More, John, d. 1592.	1596 (1596)	STC 18073; ESTC S120562	24,364	78

our enemies that we might serue him without feare Now then all we which beleeue are freed from the slauerie of sinne kingdome of the deuill gulfe of hell and chaynes of death So that hencefoorth death is no death to Gods chyldren through Christ but great aduantage and appoynted for a passage to a better lyfe And therefore though wicked reprobates tremble at the name of death to whom they are in thraldome yet Gods chyldren being conquerours through Christ may well triumph for now through him we haue an entrance made to heauen and death is the very doore to life a passage out of this world to the Father from the prison of this body to goe to Christ It is a returning to our heauenly countrey from which we were exiled And this is the cause why the godly sigh and sorrow to be loosed and to be with Christ being subiect to sinne And heere let vs note that whereas death is a dissolution of the soule from the body that therefore the body is nothing els but a prison in which our soules are bound And he that desireth to liue is like a madde Prisoner that is delighted in his giues that may be free from his fetters and cares not that may go out of the Iayle and will not Wherefore we must consider of Death not as it seemes in it selfe but as it is Christ naturally we couet to be and consequently we shunne Death which depriues vs of our being Death is horrible to the best for a while because it is repugnant to their nature but on the other side we see how we are held as in a prison so long as this body of sinne compasseth vs about Therefore wee ought to long for the euerlasting life which is promised vs after death for when wee drawe towards death then come we nigh vnto it and Death is the very gate of life assuring our selues that for asmuch as Iesus Christ hath passed the same way we neede not be afraide that Death shall ouercome vs for it is through him a reba●ed and blunted sword whose point is broken whose edge is taken off so that it cannot hurt vs and although it drawe some bloud of vs yet notwithstanding the same shall be but to purge vs and rid vs of all our diseases Since therefore wee haue learned what Death is in it selfe and what in Christ and knowe the worste since Death is aduantage to the faithfull and the very high waye to heauen let vs learne how to prepare our selues there to which is the last thing which I promised to performe First therefore in this our preparation let vs arme our selues against these temptations with which both diuell world and flesh will mightily assaile vs. What man saith the deuill wilt thou dye why then beholde the company of thy sinnes the wrath of God the graue and hell are ready to deuoure thee the Law is thy Iudge which doth condemne thee To these temptations of the deuill we must oppose Christes righteousnesse satisfactions and merits in which God holdeth himselfe fullye appeased The world it setteth abroche his baites What wilt thou dy O man why see thy goodly buildings thy bags of golde thy landes and liuings thy rents and reuenues thy pastime and thy pleasures thy Iewels and thy treasures thy delights and all that thy heart desireth In deed O worlde this felicitie is good but yet no otherwise then it standeth with the fauour of God it is to be kept but yet so farre foorth as by the keeping of it we loose not God and yet we see the vanitie of thy pleasures the frailtie of thy glory and the ficklenesse of thy goods are therefore nothing in respect of the ioyes of heauen and happy lyfe which after death I am sure to haue Wherefore I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of God who is the keeper of our life For this our life which now we lead is no life in deed but a death for wee are dead and our lyfe is hid with God in Christ we walke by faith and not by sight yea so long as we are at home in this our body we wander and go astray from God our Lorde And O thou worlde which allurest me so to loue this life What is thy wages If I should serue thee I am sure to be a foe to Christ who loues thee not who prayeth not for thee whose kingdome is not of thee and therefore to loue thee is to hate my God which to doe is worse then death Thy rewarde I knowe is nothing but nakednesse for naked I came vnto thee and naked I shall goe from thee And therefore I am willing to forsake thee and desire to be losed and to be with Christ who will couer my nakednesse with the robes of his righteousnesse lastlye comes the flesh with trembling and quaking And wilt thou die O man why see thy friends and thy family thy wife and thy children thy father and thy mother weepe and wayle crye and call vnto thee and wilte thou depart thus wilte thou needs go from them But O thou flesh fight not thus against my soule it is good in deede to tarry still amongst our friends yet so that wee abide not there in Gods displeasure and hereafter to dwell in hell with the diuels in fyre euerlasting There is nothing vnder God but it may be kept so that God being aboue all thinges which wee haue be not lost He that loues father or mother wife or children c. better then Christ is not worthy of his presence And therefore though they lament the losse of my life yet can they not redeeme it for what man is he that liueth and shall not see death And shall hedeliuer his soule from hell No no neither riches nor strength neither power nor pollicie can preuaile in this point for whether we sleepe or whether we wake we drawe towards death God hath set vs our bounds which we cannot passe and as the greene leaues in a thicke tree some fall and some growe so is the generation of fleshe and bloud one commeth to his ende and another is borne wee came not altogether neither must wee returne altogether Therefore O flesh be content O my friends be quiet for needes vvee must departe yet to meete againe vvee are sure And in going from you my fleshly friends I goe to the Saintes of heauen to the mounte Sion and to the cittie of the liuing God the celestiall Ierusalem to the companie of innumerable Angels to the assemblye and congregation of the first borne and to God the Iudge of all and to the spirites of iust and perfect men I know that so long as I am in this flesh I cannot please God and therefore I desire to be losed and to be with Christ We haue heere no continuing cittie wee looke for one of God And I know if this my earthly house of this tabernacle be once destroyed I shall haue

a building giuen me of God a house not made with handes but eternall with God in heauen Marke our bodyes be earthly houses Dust thou art and into dust thou shalt returne againe They are as Innes wherein wee soiourne for a season they are as tabernacles set vp for a time and quicklye to be remooued being without foundation our bodies are like an olde ruinous cottage still in danger to fall Dauid counted himselfe a stranger vpon the earth and a soiournour as all his fathers were Hereof Abraham obeyed God to go whither hee would hee abode in the lande of Promise as in a strange countric as one that dwelte in Tents For hee looked for a cittie hauing a foundation whose builder and maker is God Iob called this our body a house of claye therefore the godly grone in this tabernacle being loded with corruption that this mortalitie may bee swallowed vp of lyfe flesh and bloud cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Gods children therefore are greeued not because they beare about their bodies for it is a greefe to them to lay them downe no they sigh for this to be clensed from their sinnes Wretched man that I am saith Paul who shall deliuer me from this bodye of sinne And therefore we ought not to long for this present lyfe which indeed is but an Image of Death but rather loathe it that wee may bee vnloden of our sinnes This preparation to dye perteyneth vnto all for neither riche nor poore olde nor yonge Prince nor people Death lets escape It respecteth no person no sexe no age no condition no estate whatsoeuer no power no riches no learning no pollicie can resist it There is no remedie for this sicknesse no phisicke to be found against it It is the way of all the worlde it is an Axe that heweth downe not onely the low shrubs and Osiers but also the great Elmes and Okes yea all the high and tall trees of Lebanon The dayes of man are but as Grasse and as a flower of the fielde in the morning it is greene and flourisheth but in the euening it is cut downe dryed vp and withered Wee bring our yeares to an end as a tale that is tolde Our life is like a stage on which men play theyr partes and passe away Man is like a thing of naught his dayes are lyke a shadowe God biddeth Esay to crye that all flesh is grasse and all the grace and goodlinesse thereof is but as a flower of the field O that the Lorde would open the eyes of all to see themselues in this bright Glasse What are we all but grasse and shall we wither as Haye alas wee cannot so perswade our selues for if we could it would plucke downe our pride and set our loftie lookes aside It woulde then shorten soone our ruffes so long and make our monstrous attire more modest It would mittigate our madnesse and make vs humble mynded we would then throwe downe our selues with Abraham and say to God We are but dust and ashes this is a common case that all flesh is dust Now for auoyding extreame sorrowe vvhich at the houre of death will mightily assayle vs Let vs against that time bee euen with the vvorlde at agreement with our brethren especially with our owne conscience which then most straightly will accuse vs. The consience is lyke a Chrystall Glasse wherein if vve vvill vvee may lyuely viewe our selues It vvill shewe euery thing that is amisse in soule and body Let vs therefore take our spundg in hand to clense our spots to wit true faith in Christ and good fruites that followe it that so being at one vvith the vvorlde in charitie with our brethren and cleane in our conscience through Christ vve may be ready to goe the waye of all the vvorlde And that this our iourney may bee more easie and this rough waye as it seemeth to the flesh more plaine let vs arme our selues with these contemplations vvhich shall followe let vs saye vnto our soule Why art thou so sad and why art thou so disquieted within mee Put thy trust in God which is the helpe of my countenance and my God Why should a Christian man so feare the force of Death whose sting is quite destroyed Can Death depriue him of Christe which is all his comforte ioye and lyfe No but Death shall delyuer him from this mortall bodye full of sinne and wickednesse which beateth downe the spirite Faine would this fleshe make strange of that which the spirite doth imbrace O saith a godly martyr how lothe is this loytering sluggard to passe forth and goe forwarde in Gods pathe to heauen So that were it not through the force of faith plucking it forward and the bridle of Gods most sweete promises and of hope pricking on behinde great aduenture there were of fainting by the way Who would bee sorry to forsake this lyfe which cannot but bee most certaine of eternall lyse Who loueth the shadowe better then the body Who can loue this lyfe but they that regarde not the life to come Who can desire the drosse of this worlde but such as be ignorant of the treasures of euerlasting ioy in heauen I meane who is afraide to die but such as hope not to liue eternally A greater token next faith in Christ there is not of our election then not to stand in feare of Death which lyke a Tayler putteth off our ragges and arayeth vs with the royall robes of immortallitie incorruption and glorye Shall the brute beastes and sencelesse creatures being subiect to vanitie grone in their kinde for the redemption of the sonnes of God at what time they shall be freed from their slauerie and shall wee which are indued with reason yea and aboue reason inlightened with Gods holy spirite especially when it standeth vpon a ioyfull being and euerlasting dwelling with God in heauen shall wee not I say lift vp our mindes beyond this rottennesse of earth And therefore that these thinges may pearce the deeper let vs brieflye consider for a conclusion of all what this lyfe is that we so loue what death is that we so feare and vvhat is prepared for vs after death vvhich vvee so little regarde Which three considerations for the most part I haue rather partly collected out of others then added of mine owne for that they are so ready at hand and fit for my purpose yea and so exquisite in themselues as that my paines should be but superfluous to trouble my selfe with studying any further for this conclusion First therefore concerning this life you know it is full of misery vanitie vexation and vvoe It is a plaine exile from God for if heauen be our countrie vvhat is this earth but a place of banishment If the departing out of this vvorld bee an entring into lyfe vvhat is this worlde but a graue wherein wee are buried vvhat is it else but to bee drowned in Death If to bee deliuered out of this body is to be