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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	diligence_n	godliness_n	temperance_n	1,810	5	11.3377	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34575	The great necessity of preparation for death and judgment a sermon preached in the parochial chappel of Macclesfield, in the county palatine of Chester, at the funeral of Mr. John Corker, als Cor Cor, of Hurdesfield, on the eleventh day of November, 1693, and since revised and enlarg'd at the request of the relations of the deceased / by Samuel Corker, als Cor Cor ...	Corker, Samuel, 1645 or 6-1713.	1695 (1695)	Wing C6307; ESTC R9062	80,354	95

the most sweet and melodious Voices and all other delightful things as Musical Instruments of all sorts he denied not himself any thing that was pleasing to his Eyes or grateful to his Senses or that his heart desired neither was he hindred from the free and comfortable Enjoyment of all his Labours either by Wars abroad or Tumults at home or personal Afflictions or any outward Calamity or imbittering Occurrents and he had a heart to use and taste the sweetness of all his labours which the eager covetousness of wretched Misers will not suffer them to do who reap no more benefit by their Riches than to look upon them and to say the property thereof is Mine So true is that of the Royal Preacher He that loveth Silver Eccl. 5.10 11. shall not be satisfied with Silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase When Goods increase they are increased that eat them and what good is there to the Owners thereof saving the beholding them with their Eyes Which is a poor benefit indeed unable to make the Worldling compensation for his cares of getting and fears of losing them a Priviledge which is common to all others who may every day see more goodly sights the radiant lustre of the Sun adorned with Light as with a beautiful Garment and smiling upon the Earth with a most pleasant and amiable Countenance the sparkling Glories of the heavenly Bodies in their Constellations the lovely and fragrant Flowers of the Field the Rarities and Treasures of Nature and all the Pomp and Gallantry of Princes and Nobles all which are more pleasing sights to the Beholders But mark what Character he gives of all outward things after that he had taken a serious Review of all his Wealth and Labour and found himself disappointed in them Eccles 2.11 I looked saith he on all the labours that my hands had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit a disappointment of all my hopes and desires of satisfaction This was my portion of all my labour Alas all things here below are of too narrow an extent to satisfie the vast and capacious Desires of our Souls which are enlarged with enjoying and therefore the inspired Pen men of the holy Scripture have advis'd us That we labour not to be rich Prov. 23.4 Mat. 6.19 Colos 3.2 nor lay up for our selves Treasures upon Earth but that we set our affections upon things above 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace and Glory and the Inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us and not on things on the Earth the Pleasures Honours and Profits of this World which we are prone to desire inordinately and to pursue immoderately tho' we are charged to the contrary Love not the World 1 John 2.15 neither the things that are in the World if any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him Know ye not that the Friendship of the World is enmity with God James 4.4 whosoever will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God in open hostility with him and unfit to see his Face in Death or Judgment therefore our Saviour warned his Disciples to take heed and beware of Covetousness Lake 12.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or an inordinate desire of earthly things a Mans Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth he may live as easily and comfortably without it Nature is content with little and Grace with less Abundance is not necessary to render our Lives happy the Poor are as merry and chearful as vigorous and healthy as well satisfied and contented with a small pittance as the Wealthy and Opulent with their Superfluity which serves only to administer to Pride and Vanity Prov. 23.11 to make them wise in their own conceit to puff them up with Haughtiness and Arrogancy Insolency and Imperiousness of Spirit and to betray them to sin and solly They that will be rich fall into temptations and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts 1 Tim. 6.9 which drown men in destruction and perdition which take up their time and fill their heads with solicitous Cares and Fears engross their Affections encumber their Lives with toilsome Labours about them expose them to a great many Sorrows which pierce their Souls and render Death and Judgment exceeding formidable to them Therefore since the love of this World is so dangerous a thing let us not with Martha be careful and troubled about many things and leave Mary's Vnum Necessarium wholly unregarded but rather spend our Days and Years in this mortal state in adorning our Souls with Evangelical Graces and Vertues to fit us for Heaven for if we had the Riches of both the Indies we can take nothing away with us when we depart hence Job 1.21 Naked came we out of our Mothers Womb and naked shall we return We must everlastingly part with all that we have when we dye and leave it as Solomon saith to the Man that shall come after us and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise Man or a Fool Ecoles 2.18 19. yet shall he have rule over all our labour and gather all that we have heaped up but works of Righteousness will accompany us into the other World and now is the time for us to be rich in good Works to grow in Grace and Holiness To give all diligence to add to our Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge to Knowledge Temperance to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and Charity for if these things be in us and abound and our Minds fit loose to the Affairs of this Life we shall be ready and willing to leave them whensoever our Lord shall please to call us hence 3. This Readiness and Preparation for Death and Judgment does confist in making our Peace and Reconciliation with God and Men. 1. With God which is a thing of infinite moment for so long as we continue in enmity with him and maintain a Rebellion against his Crown and Dignity he is engaged for the Vindication of his own Soveraign Power and Justice to be our Enemy and to execute his severe Judgments upon us and we have no Security that he will not do it speedily without giving us farther time to consider our ways and throw down our Arms of Hostility against him For the Psalmist assures us Psal 7.11 12 13 That God is angry with the wicked every day even while his Providence seems to smile upon them and they think themselves most secure and confident If he turn not he will whet his Sword he hath bent his Bow and made it ready he hath prepared for him the Instruments of Death God is loth for the Glory of his Patience and Long suffering forthwith to proceed against us For my Names sake Isa 48.9 will I defer mine

by forgiving injuries are very considerable such are freedom from all those unreasonable Passions of envy hatred malice and desire of Revenge which are continually fretting and vexatious to our Spirits and eat out the peace and comfort of our Lives whensoever we do cordially forgive a Trespass we find a great Calm on a sudden in our Bosoms our Souls are at ease and our Thoughts are no longer disturbed with meditating of Revenge the offence is to us as if it had never been committed Envyings Strife and Contentions cease together with the sources of them anger malice pride emulation in the room whereof springs up charity kindness gentleness meekness humility long sufferings patience and other God like Vertues which are the Riches and Beauty the Glory and Ornament of a Christian and render him lovely and amiable in the Eyes of his Enemies and Venerable in the esteem of all good Men and all his Duties and Services pleasing and acceptable to God and greatly contribute to the obtaining remission of his sins with God as our Saviour himself certifies us Mat. 6.14 If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you not that our forgiving our Brethren without the concurrence of other divine Graces and holy Duties is alone sufficient to entitle us to the remission of our Sins but to shew us that without this forgiving of our Brethren Almighty God will not forgive us as also to represent the excellency and necessity of this Duty which is very grateful to him and of great Power in order to the commending us to his Grace and favourable acceptance and a principal part of that Obedience which we owe to him Psal 32.1 2. and which he will reward with eternal Blessedness Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven whose Sin is covered blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no guile 2 The inconveniencies which do attend the neglect of this Duty are very dangerous and hurtful the implacable and irreconcilable Person encreaseth his own sorrows vexeth and cruciateth his own Soul makes his anguish more sharp and piercing To use the words of a great and good Man Arch Bp. Tillotson's Sermon on Mat 5.44 The very design of Revenge is troublesom and puts the Spirits into an unnatural fermentation and tumult the Man that meditates it is always restless his very Soul is stung swells and boiles is in pain and anguish hath no ease no enjoyment of it self so long as this passion reigns It entails enmitie and mischief upon him that is guilty of it from his Adversaries who will not fail to add weight unto his shoulders and multiply fresh injuries and affronts upon him which will gall his very Soul and make his Life painful and uneasie to him and which is most of all afflictive and deplorable he puts a bar to the remission of his own sins If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses Mat. 6.15 neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses one Man beareth hatred to another and doth he seek pardon of the Lord Ecclus. 28.3 4. he sheweth no mercy to a Man which is like himself and doth he ask forgivness of the Lord God will surely keep his sins in remembrance Mat. 7.2 and repay him in his own kind and measure he that is pitiful and merciful to his offending Brother shall find mercy from God he that will not forgive shall not be forgiven but shall be judged with impartial justice according to the severity of the Law without the least mixture of Mercy he shall have Judgment without mercy J●m 2.13 that hath shewed no mercy God will deal with him according to the demerit of his sins and appoint him his portion with the reprobate Angels whose example he imitated in implacable malice and revenge this will be the dreadful sentence of malediction Mat. 25.41 depart from me thou cursed Sinner into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels miserable companions for distressed Souls but their condemnation is just and agreeable to their own requests for as oft as they said the Lords Prayer they in effect prayed for their own Damnation and besought God to forgive them their Debts as they forgave their Debtors i. e. that he would not forgive them because they will not forgive their offending Brethren Upon the whole then it does appear that as abiding anger malice and uncharitableness renders us unfit to die and to appear in Judgment so forgiveness and mercy dispose and prepare us for the coming of our Lord let us therefore take the Wise-Mans advice Ecclus 28.6 7. Remember our End and let enmity cease remember Corruption and Death and abide in the Commandments and bear no malice to our Neighbour tho' our Blood flows now warmly in our veins and our spirits are brisk and we enjoy a perfect state of Health and therefore delay and put off many things that are necessary to fit us for our final change yet it will not be long but we must put off this tabernacle and put on corruption when Death approacheth us we shall then with Balaam desire to die the death of the Righteous and that our latter End may be like his peaceable and happy that we may see the Felicity of Gods chosen and the glory of his Saints in Heaven the which we shall never attain unto unless we quit our selves of all uncharitableness and root out the malignant distemper of mind and all those bad dispositions those keen and tumultuous passions which hitherto have rufled us and disturbed the tranquility and repose of our Souls therefore the great Men of the World who have been prone to remember affronts and injuries with the highest resentments when they come to Die look upon Forgivness and Charity as necessary preparations for their change do give their general Amnesty to all that have offended them either out of Fear or Obedience to him who is the fountain of Love and Goodness who passeth by innumerable indignities and poureth down showers of bounty and mercy upon them that provoke him to wrath and indignation against them every day A chief part of our readiness and preparation to meet our Lord consists in doing all the good we can while we live with unwearied diligence and expedition For there is no work Eccles 9.10 nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave Now is the season for us to lay up for our selves Treasures in Heaven for if once Death put a period to our Lives the time of our preparation for Eternity is at an end our Souls will be for ever what they are when they leave the Body so that it ought to be our chiefest care to improve the present seasons of Grace and to secure to our selves a right and title to that exceeding great and eternal weight of Glory which is reserved in Heaven for all those that are rich in works of Piety Justice and Charity

is a laborious exercise of many good works it consists in the performance of several kind Offices The Christian must exert that labour of love mentioned by the Apostle 1 Thes 1.3 Temperance is a vertue not easily attained it requires presence of mind and great wisdom to regulate unruly Appetites and to govern unnatural Lusts which are fired by a small spark of temptations and to withstand the allurements of pleasure to refuse the courtships and solicitations of jolly Companions to shun the snares of their wild examples and to bear with evenness and equanimity of mind the scoffs and sarcasms of those patrons and encouragers of Vice and Vanity who can have no kindness for those that will not run with them the same risk of madness and extravagance The like might be shewed concerning meekness humility self-denial and resignation to the Divine Will patience contentedness and all other Divine Graces which are from above from the Father of Lights who is the giver of Grace and Glory and hath placed them out of our reach that we might take pains to acquire them by fervent Prayer and Devotion and exert great diligence in the practice of them For since it is appointed for Men to die but once we should do all we can to prepare our selves to die happily and as St. John saith in the Lord that we may live for ever with the Lord. iii. The time allowed us to prepare for Eternity is precious for it is very short if we measure time according to the largest extention of it for all that space of this present life which is allowed us to do the works of our Callings in is exceeding short but if we take it for the opportunity of time or the proper season for the making our Calling and Election sure and securing our everlasting state 't is much shorter Of all the outward blessings and comforts which God is pleased to bestow upon us in this life he is not so frugal and provident in any of them as he is in the distribution of our time He confers upon us the comfortable accommodation of this world in great abundance but Time he proportions to us in a continual succession of days and hours and minutes so that we never enjoy two of them together but as one passeth away he gives us another and yet how profuse and lavish are we in the expence of them A considerable part of our time we have wasted in childish vanities and when we came to maturity of years and consistency of reason we spent no small part of it in gratifying inordinate appetites and in sensual pleasures So that before we seriously consider the end for which we were created the major part of our time is elapsed beyond revocation and we croud up this solemn work of preparation for Eternity into a narrow compass It concerns us therefore to redouble our diligence to redeem the time and to encrease in all Graces adding to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge c. 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. To reach forth with the blessed St Paul unto those things that are before Phil. 3.13 14 to stretch as hard as we can after that measure of holiness which we have not yet attained to press toward the mark that we may win the prize of eternal Glory and the rather should we exert the greatest vigour because we have but little time to do the work of him that sent us 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. in The time is short furled like Sails when the Mariner hath finished his Voyage and is come into the Haven so that we should be careful to improve it to our best advantage which is a special point of wisdom commendable avarice as Seneca saith Nulla nisi temporis honesta est avaritia We are allowed to covet earnestly the best things amongst which this precious jewel of time may be reckoned and therefore not to be wasted in fruitless pastimes and carnal contentments in earthly pleasures and overmuch secular negotiations of this life much less in wicked projects or sinful practices but in adorning our Souls with such virtuous dispositions as will fit us for the presence of God and the society of the Saints in the future state of Glory When we come to die one of those days or hours which we have vainly wasted will be of more value to us then all this world It is scarce possible for us in the day of health and prosperity to conceive how valuable Time will then appear to us We shall sadly repent that we have spent any part of it in worldliness ambition idleness sensual gratifications or sinful lusts We shall heartily wish that we had improved every minute of it in the spiritual and everlasting concernments of our Souls and to be sure if we have any presence of Mind and the use of our Reason we shall then imploy every minute of it which is free from disturbances and interruptions in finishing our last preparatory work on Earth in order to our appearing before our great Judge It will be our wisdom to do that now with all our might which we shall then be so intent upon because a few sands more will bring us to that state in which we shall remain for ever and leave us in Eternity iv The urgent necessity of such a solemn preparation as I have described will farther appear if we consider that life it self which is the most valuable treasure the richest Jewel in this World is very short and uncertain and Death inevitable 1. Life is very short The most fading and vanishing things in Nature are made use of by the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures to set forth the brevity of the life of man 'T is represented by a Dream which for a little while affects the Fancy Job 20.8 but when the man awakes if not before it vanisheth away By a Flower of the Field or the Grass of the Earth Ps 73.20.90.6.103.15 which in the Morning is green and flourishing but in the Evening is cut down dried up and withered As for man his days are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth Job 14.2 he cometh up like a flower and is cut down he fleeth as a shadow and continueth not His life slips away suddenly like a Tale that is told his beauty strength and all his excellencies consume away like a Moth Ch. 13.28.7.6.9.25 26. which by eating and fretting a Garment spoils the glory of it Sometimes the life of man is compared to a Weavers Shuttle which is an Instrument of a very swift motion and passeth the Loomb or Web speedily Sometimes it is compared to a swift Post which rideth upon fleet Horses and hasten his speed by land To swift Ships of Ebeh a River in the East where Job lived which by the force and strength of its Current added swiftness to the Vessels which sailed fast upon it And forasmuch as an Eagle of all the Fowls of the Air is

expected that he should communicate it to any of the Sons of men because it is not at all necessary that they should know it but believe it and walk by Faith and Works and labour in the Vineyard till the Son of man cometh Of that day and hour knoweth no man 〈◊〉 13.32 ●● c. no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son as man only but the Father Take ye heed watch and pray for ye know not when the time is c. Verses 35 36. When ever he cometh Rev. 3.3 it will be by way of surprize to many So he told the Church of Sardis If thou wilt not watch I will come on thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know when I will come upon thee The Thief comes when the Master of the House least expects him in the dead and solitary time of the night when all the Inhabitants are asleep Such will be the coming of the Son of Man who a little before my Text represents it by the coming of the great Deluge in the days of Noah or as the Fire and Brimstone came upon the Cities of Sodom and Gemorrah as Thro's and Pangs come upon a Woman with Child As a Snare shall it come upon all that dwell upon the face of the Earth Now when a Fowler layeth a Snare to take a Bird he gives no warning but surprizeth it suddenly even so will the Judge of all the world come upon the generality of men when they promise themselves peace and security and walk at ease and think of nothing but plenty and pleasure of laying House to House and Field to Field of Mansions and Manors of reigning as Kings on the Earth and of Lording it over their fellow servants Behold the Judge standeth at the door ready to surprize them when they are most secure And this may be our case if we keep not up our watch If therefore the Kingdom of Heaven be worth securing and the salvation of your souls be dear and precious to you 't is both your wisdom and your interest speedily and without delays to set upon this necessary and glorious work For it is no easy matter to obtain Heaven and Happiness neither is it the work of a few spare minutes to shake off evil habits and to attire the Soul with divine Graces and Vertues that it may appear without spot or wrinkle in the Bridegrooms presence Be not deceived it is not a few penitential tears in the time of Sickness and last Visitation that can purge the soul from the pollution of Sin which it hath been contracting many years or change its temper and in a moment put it into a readiness for a future state It is not safe for us to run so great a hazard we are not sure that we shall dye deliberately and by slow degrees But suppose that a fore going Sickness should by little and little weaken the powers of Nature the Devil will then be very busy in tempting us and the Flesh unable to bear the burden of Sickness and sink under the groans of expiring Nature If we have then our great work to do our Oyl to get and our Lamps to trim when the Bridegroom comes the door will be shut upon us and we shall bewail to all eternity the folly of slipping a season which can never be regained Let me therefore bespeak you dear Christians in words of love and tenderness and beseech you by all the obligations that your holy profession lays upon you by all the kindness which you bear to your immortal souls and the desire which you have to be eternally happy seriously to prepare to meet your Lord. Go hence from the House of God with fixed resolutions from this time forth to depart from all iniquity and to live righteously soberly and godly in this present World looking for the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself To whom with the Father and Holy Spirit three Persons but one Eternal God be Glory Honour and Power now and for ever The CHARACTER I Have now performed my duty to the Living by shewing them both generally and particularly that a good life is the best preparation for Eternity and that the way to dye happily is to live holily It remains that I do now in some measure discharge my respects to the Dead whose memory will be precious among all good Christians for his many personal Excellencies and usefulness in his Generation 'T is a sad and mournful occasion that we are met upon to Solemnize the Funeral Rites and Obsequies of so dear a Friend and Relation But this is our comfort that his whole life was an excellent Comment upon this Text for tho his Visitation was short as for the most part is usual in such Apoplectical Distempers as carried him off and his Death sudden and surprizing to us from whom he was snatched away in a little time yet it could not be so to him who by the infirmities of a crazy body and by many sensible decays of Nature was put in mind of his approaching change and no doubt but his preparations for Eternity were answerable to his frequent and almost daily warnings For as in his youthful days he was by the mercy of God a well disposed Nature and a vertuous Education preserved from all gross Sins and Vices so in his riper years he lived a life of strict Vertue I am no great Favourer of Funeral Elogies because they look like mercenary Flattery if there be not some extraordinary merit to lay a just foundation for them but the Righteous ought to be had in perpetual remembrance and the memorial of the Just shall be praised 'T is justice to give every man his due praise and to commend those whose vertuous lives are bright and illustrious to others and it is kindness to the living to hold before their eyes a shining light a glorious pattern of Vertue to guide and direct them to walk in the paths of Holiness and Peace and to beget in them the like Goodness and Charity Thus our deceased Friend in his life and practice did shine as a burning Lamp and adorn'd his holy Profession by a good Conversation His divine Soul was inflamed with a fervent love and zeal for God and possessed with a holy fear and awe of his glorious Majesty whom he served with Reverence and filial Obedience His Piety did consist more in the vital and substantial parts of Religion than in Circumstantials He had a sincere love for the Preaching of the Word which he waited upon with diligence to the end that he might learn his duty and grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ whom to know and in whom to believe is life eternal His attendance upon the Word was with constancy if his infirm body would give him leave and he heard it with reverence as the word of Life and Salvation Great was his regard for the Lord's Day not only to keep it holy himself but to see that his whole Family did strictly observe and sanctify it not only by resting from their worldly labours and putting on finer Clothes c. but by performing religious Exercises and improving the present Vacation from the works of their Callings unto a more diligent attendance on God in the publick and private Duties of Religion and in the spiritual concernments of their Souls The Government of his Family was very decent and regular his House was an Oratory of Devotion wherein Morning and Evening Sacrifice was dayly offered to God and some portion of Holy Scripture was read with seriousness and devotion with love and delight and Prayer was the beginning and ending of every day And this I assure you is the duty of all Masters of Families which they ought to see performed in their Families for the care and charge of Souls is committed to them There they are Kings to rule Prophets to teach and Priests to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices for themselves and for those under their roof They their Children and Servants ought to serve the Lord and their neglect thereof is one chief cause of all that Atheism and Irreligion which too much abounds in the Age we live in To this may I add his secret Devotion in private which was most constantly and diligently performed by him The spirit of Religion eminently dwelt in this good man His Devotions were fervent and serious his affections and desires were in a great measure crucified to the world and all the delights and pleasures of it He was cloathed with Humility as with a Garment and beautified with the goodly ornament of a calm meek and quiet Spirit which in the sight of God is of great price His Mind was exquisitely tender and compassionate His kindness and charity truly admirable for he loved relieved and assisted all necessitous Objects according to his ability In company he was pleasant cheerful and facetiously witty His behaviour was modest and affable kind and courteous to all sorts of people By the evenness of his temper and sweet disposition and friendly deportment he gained the love and respect of good men His Servants speak him to be a kind respective Master and we all know that he was a true Friend a good Neighbour a very useful and serviceable person in his Generation a Patron to several Fatherless Children and Orphans a true lover of his King and Country sober and temperate in every thing in his Diet in his Apparel in his Words and Behaviour prudent in the management of his own and others Affairs wherein he was much employed a good Housekeeper according to his degree and ability and a great support to many indigent and needy persons In a word his many vertuous Qualities and praise-worthy Deeds deserve to be commemorated and recommended to your practice But he is gone to his unchangeable state God grant that we who survive may all of us tread in the steps of his exemplary Piety and Vertue of his unwearied diligence and patient continuance in well doing May the Eccho of his Praises tend to the setting forth of God's Glory to whom be ascribed by us and the whole company of his Saints as is most due eternal praises Amen Amen FINIS