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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	work_n	workman_n	write_v	30	3	4.6958	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29694	A heavenly cordial for all those servants of the Lord that have had the plague ... , or, Thirteen divine maximes, or conclusions, in respect of the pestilence which may be as so many supports, comforts and refreshing springs, both to the visited and preserved people of God in this present day : also ten arguments to prove that in times of common calamity the people of God do stand upon the advantage ground as to their outward preservation and protection ... : also eight reasons why some of the precious servants of the Lord have fallen by the pestilence in this day of the Lords anger / by Thomas Brooks.	Brooks, Thomas, 1608-1680.	1666 (1666)	Wing B4948; ESTC R29135	31,420	88

A HEAVENLY CORDIAL For all those Servants of the Lord that have had the PLAGVE and are recovered or that now have it also for those that have escaped it though their Relations and Friends have been either visited or swept away by it OR Thirteen DIVINE MAXIMES or CONCLVSIONS in respect of the PESTILENCE which may be as so many supports comforts and refreshing springs both to the visited and preserved people of God in this present day ALSO Ten Arguments to prove that in Times of Common Calamity the people of God do stand upon the advantage ground as to their outward preservation and protection above all other people under Heaven ALSO Eight Reasons why some of the precious Servants of the Lord have fallen by the Pestilence in this Day of the Lords Anger By THOMAS BROOKS late Minister of the Gospel in London LONDON Printed for and are to be sold by John Hancock at the first shop in Popes-head Alley next to Cornhill 1666. A HEAVENLY CORDIAL The First Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this Viz. When the Pestilence is among a People 't is the Lord alone that sends it 2 Sam. 24. 15. Deut. 32 39 Hyppocrates calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Divine Disease because it comes more immediately from God than other diseases do SO the Lord sent a Pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men Numb 16. 46. Wrath is gone out from the Lord the Plague is begun Numb 14. 12. I will smite them with the Pestilence and disinherit them Deut. 28. 21. The Lord shall make the Pestilence cleave unto thee until he hath consumed thee from off the Land whither thou goest to possess it Ezek. 14. 19. Or if I send a Pestilence into that Land and pour out my fury upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast Verse 21. For thus saith the Lord God how much more when I send my four sore judgements upon Jerusalem the sword and the famine and the noisome beast and the pestilence to cut off from it man and beast Amos 4 10. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt Hence 't is called Gods Arrow Psal 91. 5. and when God shoots these arrows into Kingdoms Cities Towns Families none can Psal 38. 2. pull them out but God himself The Plague is more immediately from God than any other Sicknesse or Disease is for it is the immediate stroke of God The Scribe is more properly said to write than the pen and he that maketh and keepeth the Clock is more properly said to make it go and strike than the wheels and poizes that hang upon it and every Workman to effect his work rather than the tools which he useth as instruments So the Lord of Hosts who is the chief Agent and Mover in all things and in all actions may more fitly and properly be said to effect and bring to pass all Judgements yea all things which are done in the Earth than any inferiour or subordinate causes seeing they are but his tools and instruments which he rules and guides according to his own Will Power and Providence I know some Physitians ascribe it to the heat of the Air and sometimes to the driness of the Air and sometimes to the corruption of the Air sometimes to the corruption of mens blood sometimes to Satan and sometimes to the malignancy of the Planets but certainly those are Physitians of no value that cannot look above second causes to the First Cause that cannot look to the wheel within the wheel The Ezek. 1. Plague is a hidden thing a secret thing it is a sickness a disease that more immediately comes from God than any other sickness or disease doth Behold the hand Exod. 9. 3. of the Lord is upon thy cattel which is in the field upon the horses upon the asses upon the camels upon the oxen and upon the sheep there shall be a very grievous murrain The word here translated murrain is in chap. 5. v. 3. termed pestilence and it is one and the same disease though when it is applied to cattel it be usually rendred by murrain yet when 't is applied to men as in the Scripture last cited it is commonly called the pestilence Behold the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattel c. That is the extraordinary immediate power and work of God without the intervening of any second cause or humane operation This open plague this plague without doors that principally fell upon the cattel was from the immediate hand of God 'T is God alone that singles out the Nation the City the Town the Parish the Family the Person that he will strike with the plague for all second causes are ordered by the first cause as every instrument is ruled or over-ruled by the will and hand of him that holdeth it When a man goes with his Axe to cut down Trees in the Wood there is an equal aptness in the Axe to cut down one Tree as well as another an Oake as well as an Ash c. but it is still ruled by the will of him that handles it So 't is here the noisome pestilence or the pestilence of griefs as the Hebrew runs in that Psal 91. 3. hath an equal aptness to cut down one man as well as another the rich as well as the poor the honourable as well as the base the strong as well as the weak the Prince as well as the peasant the Emperour as well as the Carter but it is still over-rul'd by the Lord himself who gives it a Commission to cut off such and such in this Kingdom and that in this City and that in this Town and that in this Family and that to spare save and passe by all the rest In Rev. 6. you shall read of four horses when the four seals were opened 1. A white horse 2. A red horse 3. A black horse 4. A pale horse After Christ had ridden upon the white horse propagating the Gospel then follows the red horse a Type of War then the black horse an hieroglyphick of Famine and then the pale horse the emblem of Pestilence Now all these horses these plagues were of Christs sending From those words Judges 3. 20. I have a message from God unto thee O King said Ehud Lo his ponyard was Gods message from whence one well observeth That not only Isa 26. 8 9 10. the vocal admonitions but the real judgements of God are his errands and instructions to the world 'T was a mad principle among the Manichees who referred all the judgments calamities and miseries that came upon them to the Devil for their Author as if there could be any evil in the Amos 3. 6. City and the Lord have no hand in it Now in that 't is the Lord alone that sends the pestilence amongst a people how should this comfort

all the counsels and combinations of wicked men against his Son and Psal 2. against his Saints and when they have done their worst the Counsel Prov. 19. 21. of the Lord shall stand and Christ shall reign in the midst of his enemies and that the stone cut out of the mountains without hands shall bring down the golden Image with a vengeance and make it Dan. 2. 35. like the chaffe of the Summer floor Some write of Lions that as they are mindful of courtesies received witness the Story of Androdus that fugitive servant of Rome so they will be sure to revenge injuries done to them they will prey on them that would make a prey of them When Juba King of the Moors march'd through the Desert of Africa a young man of his Company wounded a Lion but the year following when Juba returned the Lion again meets the Army and from among them all singles out the man that hurt him and tears him in pieces suffering the rest to pass by in peace and safety And thus the Lord Jesus who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is alwayes ready to revenge Rev. 5. 5. the cause of his people and to take vengeance on all that have wounded his people or made a prey of his people as you may clearly and fully see in Ezekiel chap. 25. and 35. Now by this argument as well as by all the rest 't is evident that the people of God stand upon the advantage ground as to their outward preservation and protection above all other people in the world Quest But if this be so How comes it to pass that in this time of great mortality many of the precious people of the Lord have been taken away as well as others the raging pestilence having carried many pious souls out of this world of whom the world was Heb. 11. 38. not worthy The Saint as well as the sinner hath fallen by the hand of the destroying Angel in this day we have seen that word made good viz. That all things come alike Eccl. 9. 2. to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath To this Question I shall give these eight short Answers First God hath smitten some good men of all perswasions that none might be proud secure or censorious and that all might take the alarme and prepare to meet Amos 4. 10 11 12. their God and that all may keep humble and tremble because of his righteous judgements Psal 119. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgements Secondly The number of those that feared the Lord that have been taken away by the pestilence are but few very few if compared with the many thousands of others that never knew what 't was to set up God as the main object of their fear and that never knew experimentally what a changed nature a sanctified frame of heart an interest in Christ or a title to heaven meant Oh that we had not cause to fear that hell hath had a very large harvest within these few last moneths Thirdly Sometimes Gods own people sin with others and therefore they smart with others when God takes the Rod into his own hand Thus Moses and Aaron sinned Numb 20. with others and therefore their Carkases fell in the Wilderness as well as others This may sometimes be the reason why some good men fall in a common calamity but I dare not say that 't is alwayes the reason why some good men fall in a common calamity I believe there are several choice Christians that have been swept away in this day of the Lords wrath who have not sinned with the wicked though they have fallen with the wicked Many have fallen by this dispensation who yet have kept their garments pure Revel 3. 4. and clean and are now walking with Christ in white I do not think that those Saints that have died by the plague were greater sinners than those that have escaped the plague yea I have several reasons to perswade me that several of those precious servants of the Lord that have died of the plague had more grace in their hearts and less sin in their lives than many other Saints that have been pitied and spared in this day of the Lords anger c. Fourthly No godly man dies in any common calamity till his Job 5. 26. Rev. 11. 6 7. Acts 13. 25 36. glass be run and his work done and he prepared and fitted for another world Job 14. 5. Seeing his dayes are determined the number of his moneths are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass God hath set every man both his time and his task In this Scripture as in a glasse you may see the true reason why some likely to live long die soon even whilest their bones are full of marrow and their breasts are full of milk and others that are more weak and infirm live long yea very long the reason is because God hath set bounds to every mans life to a very day I to a very hour vers 14. All the dayes of my appointed time or warfare will I wait till my change come i. e. till my death Job calls death a change Death is not an annihilation or extinction but a mutation 1. 'T is the last change that we shall meet with till the resurrection 2. 'T is a lasting yea an everlasting change it puts every man into an eternal condition of happiness or misery 3. 'T is an universal change and that 1. In respect of persons all must meet with it 't is appointed for all men once to die 2. In Heb. 9. 27. respect of the whole man body and soul Death lodges the body in the grave and puts the soul into heaven or hell 4. 'T is a different change according to the quality of the person changed 'T is terrible to a sinner For First It will put a full period to all his outward mercies comforts contentments and enjoyments Saladine Job 1. 21. a Turkish Emperour the first of that Nation that conquered Jerusalem lying at the point of death after many glorious victories commanded that a white sheet should be born before him to his grave upon the point of a spear with this proclamation These are the rich spoils which Saladine carrieth away with him of all his triumphs and victories of all the riches and realms that he had now nothing at all is left him but this sheet Secondly It will put a full period to all his hopes Now he shall never hope for mercy more nor never hope for pardon more nor never hope for heaven more Thirdly It will put a full period to all the means of grace Now he shall never

hear Sermon more nor never read the Word more nor never enjoy the prayers of the people of God more nor never taste any of the dainties of Gods House more c. Fourthly It will put a full period to the patience forbearance and long-suffering of God Rom. 2. 4 5. Fifthly It will put a full period to all the pleasures of sin Now the sinner shall never have one merry day more In Hell there is no singing but howling no musick but madness no sporting but sighing no dancing but wringing or hands and gnashing of teeth for evermore c. Sixthly It will put a full period to all gracious reprieves The sinner in his life time hath had many a reprieve from many executions of wrath and judgement Oh but now he shall never have one reprieve more Seventhly It will put a full period to all the strivings of the Holy Spirit Now the Spirit shall Gen. 6. 3. Rev. 3. 20. never strive with the sinner more now Christ will never knock at the sinners door at the sinners heart more c. Eighthly and lastly It will put a full period to all gracious examples Now the sinner shall never cast his eye upon one gracious example more The sinner in his life time hath had many gracious examples before his eyes which it may be at times have had an awakening convincing silenceing and restraining power in them Oh but now he shall never have his eye upon one pious example more All hell will not afford one good example In a word now the sinner shall find by woful experience that death will be an inlet to three dreadful things 1. To judgement Heb. 9. 27. 2. To an irreversible sentence of condemnation Matth. 25. 41. 3. To endless easeless and remediless sufferings Not many years since in the Town of Yarmouth there was a young man who being very weak and nigh to the grave and under the apprehensions of the wrath of God and supposing that he was presently going down to the Pit to Hell he cried out O that God would spare me but two dayes O that God would spare me but two dayes O that God would spare me but two dayes This poor creature trembled at the very thoughts of wrath to come O who can dwell with everlasting burning who can dwell with a devouring fire Isa 33. 14. And as death is terrible to the sinner so it is desirable comfortable and joyful to a Child of God Cant. 8. ult Luke 2. 27 28 29 30 31 32. 2 Cor. 5. 1 2 4 8. Phil. 1. 23. Rev. 22. 20 I desire death saith Melancthon that I may enjoy the desirable sight of Christ And When will that blessed hour come when shall I be dissolved when shall I be with Christ said holy Mr. Bolton when he lay on his dying bed Jewel was offended at one that in his sickness prayed for his life One whom I knew well a little before his death after a sharp conflict cryed out three times Victory Much more to this purpose you may find in my Saints Portion and in my String of Pearls Victory Victory he breathed out his soul his Doxology together Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ and so conquered Satan in his last encounter The dying words of my young Lord Harrington were these O my God when shall I be with thee Shall I die ever saith Austin yes or shall I die at all yes sayes he Lord if ever why not now When Modestus the Emperours Lieutenant threatned to kill Basil he answered If that be all I fear not yea your Master cannot more pleasure me than in sending of me unto my heavenly Father to whom I now live and to whom I desire to basten Mr. Deering a little before his death being raised up in his bed and seeing the Sun shine was desired to speak his mind upon which he said There is but one Sun that giveth light to the whole world but one righteousness one communion of saints as concerning death I see such joy of spirit that if I should have pardon of life on the one side and sentence of death on the other I had rather chuse a thousand times to die than to live So Mr. John Holland lying at the point of death said What brightness do I see and being told it was the sun-shine No saith he My Saviour shines now farewel world welcome heaven the day-star from on high hath visited me Preach at my funeral God dealeth comfortably and familiarly with man I feel his mercy I see his majesty whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell God he knoweth but I see things that are unutterable Mr. Knox found so much comfort from the Scriptures upon his death-bed that he would have risen and have gone into the Pulpit to tell others what he had felt in his soul And by that information that I have had from some good hands several precious Christians that have lately died of the plague have gone to heaven under as high a spirit of joy of comfort of assurance and of a holy triumph as any of the last mentioned worthies or as any other that ever I heard of or read of the remembrance of which hath been and still is a singular Cordial to all their relations and friends that yet survive them But as I was saying No godly man falls in any Common Calamity till his glasse be run and his work done so I say of all those dear servants of the Lord that have fallen by the pestilence in the midst of us their hour was come and John 7. 30. chap. 8. 19 20. 2 Tim. 4. 6 7. their course was finished Had God had any further doing work or suffering work or bearing work or witnessing work for them in this world 't was not all the Angels in heaven nor all the malignant diseases in the world that could ever have cut them off from the land of the living When Lazarus was dead his two sisters John 11. 21 32. Martha and Mary came to Christ with tears in their eyes and sad complaints in their mouths Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died said Martha and Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died said Mary And is not this the common language of many this day when such and such precious Christians have fallen by the pestilence Oh if such a Physitian had been here they had not died or if they had been let blood they had not died or if they had taken such a potion they had not died or if they had eat but of such or such meats they had not died or if they had not lived in such a foggy air they had not died or if they had not been shut up in such close narrow nasty rooms and places they had not died or had they been but so wise and happy as to have applyed such or such a remedy they might have been alive to this day Not