Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A19490
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A conduit of comfort Preached at Sainct Iames before the Commissioners of the Vnion of the Realmes. By W. Couper, Minister of Gods word.
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Cowper, William, 1568-1619.
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1606
(1606)
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STC 5916; ESTC S114683
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33,427
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48
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not ordayned to mercie Now that this Calling flowing from Election may be yet made sure to our consciences for our greater comfort let vs marke the maner of the Lordes proceeding into it and so gather vp some tokens wherby we may discerne it As in the first Creation the Lord began at the light so in the second Creation he begins at the illumination of the minde For we can neither know the Lord to feare and loue him neither yet our selues and our sinnes âright till the Lord who commaunded light to shine out of darknesse shine also into our hearts to giue vs the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ and this light of God discouers to vs so many workes of darknesse wherewith in ignoraunce we defiled our consciences that we begin to be ashamed of our selues in the sight of God yeâ our very flesh trembleth for feare of his Iudgements and we cry out with Iob Now my eye hath seene the Lord therefore I abhorre my selfe And thus the Lord proceedes from the minde to the heart working into it such a contrition and godly sorrow as causeth repentance vnto saluation whereby the heart that was senselesse before being dead in sinne and trespasses begins now to stirre and moue as the heart of Iosiah melted at the reading of the Law and the hearts of those penitent Iewes which were pricked at the sharpe Sermon of Peter then feeling our selues vnder death through sinne we begin to bethinke vs of the way of life and to aske with the Iaylor What shall we do that we may be saued These motions meltings and prickinges of the heart wrought in the elect by the hearing of Gods word are the very pluckes of the hand of God translating thee out of Nature into Grace yet must we not rest heere for Felix may tremble while Paul is preaching and many for a while may receaue this word with ioy and yet afterward fall away in the time of temptation We must therefore consider if there be in the heart a respondence and answering vnto the Lord So oft as he calleth doe we present our selues before him ready to follow him saying with Abraham Heere I am Lord and with Samuel after he knew the Lords voyce Speake on Lord thy seruant heareth thââ This answering and following of the Lord are vndoubted tokens of effectuall Calling So oft as the Lord calleth the Christian answereth When thou saydst Seeke yee my ãâã my heart answered O Lord I will seeke thy ãâã If the Lord commaund the Christian answereth O Lord quicken mee according to thy louing kindnesse that I may apply my heart to keepe thy Statutes alwayes to the end Iâ the Lord promise Mercie the Christian answers Stablâsh O Lord thy promise to thy seruânt and let it be to mee accordiâg to thy word for I beleeuâ in thee but Lord helpe my vnbeleife And thus in the heart of one effectually called there is a continuall respondance to the voyce of God awayting on the Lord a walking with him and a following of him where euer he goe If the Lord haue called thee sure it is thou wilt follow him and no power of the Diuell of the World or the Flesh shall hold thee backe from him When Eliah touched Elisha with his Cloake he left his Oxen and came after him When Iesus called on Andrew and Peter they left their Nets their Ship and their Father and followed him When he called on Matthew he left all his gainefull trade of the receit of Custome and followed him When he called on Mary Magdelen she forsooke her sinfull life and followed him Heere is the finest touchstone to try an inward calling If the Lord hath called thee thou wilt follow him but if yet thou be wandring after vanity walking on in the course of thy sinne turning thy backe and not thy face vnto the Lord deceaue not thy selfe partaker of this heauenly Calling wherein sâandes the onely comfort of a Christian hast thou neuer been That loue God And last of all to returne to the wordes againe the whole effectes of our Inward Calling the Apostle compriseth vnder one to wit The loue of God and that most properly for Louâ compriseth al the rest vâder it Loue is the cognoscence of Christs Disciples sayes our Sauiour It is the Band of perfection sayth the Apostle and accomplishment of the Law Loue speakes with the tongue of euery Vertue Pittie biddes thee helpe the Indigent Iustice biddes thee giue euery man his owne Mercy biddes forgiue Patience biddes suffer but the voyce of Christian loue commaundes all these Holy loue is the oldest Daughter of a Iustifying Fayth that is the first affection that Fayth procreateth and sanctifieth and whereby she workes in the sanctification of the rest Lâue is the strongest most impeâious affection in the whole nature of man all the rest of the affections giues place vnto it which we may see euen in the man naturall and vnregenerate Where Loue is kindled Feare is banished Couetousnesse coucheth Ambition is silent A Coward iâflamed with Loue becomes valiaât and a Couetous man is oft times commaunded by Loue to be prodigall yea the Proud ambitious man who otherwise giues place to no man for obtaining that which he loues cares not to prostrate his honour to the dust If Carnall louâ be so forcible what shall we say of the Spiritual lâue how much more doth it draw the whole powers of soule and body after the Lord neither is it possible to do otherwayes for euery thing returnes to his owne originâll as the waters go downe to the deepe from whence they came and Fire tendes vpward to the owne place and region euen so holy Lââe being a spârke of the heauenly Fire kindled in our heartes by the âoly Ghost doth rauish vs alwayes vpâard towarâe the Lord ârom whom it came and ãâã vs neuer to rest while we enâoy him then we begin to lâue when we begin to Loue. As no Creature can liue out of the owne ãâã so the Soule is but ãâã in sinne ãâ¦ã of the loue of God No feare to oââend him no ãâã âo please him no obedience to his Commandements can be giuen by the heart that loues him not 't were longsome to speake of all the properties of Loue we make choyce of a few as chiefe tryalles of our Loue. The firââ propertie oâ Lâue is a burâing desire to obâaine that which is bâloued as a Woman that loueth her Husband vnlargnedly can not be content with any Loue token she receiueth from him in his absence but longeth more and more till she receiue ãâã So the Soule which is wounded with the Loue of Iâsus her immortall Husband hath a continuall desire to be at him I graunt euery âoken sent from him bringes comfort but no contentment till she enioyes him whereof comes these and such like complaintes As the Hart brayes for the
are not meete for Pallace worke except they be pollished and squared by hamering no more is it possible that we can be vessels of Honour in the houres of our God except first we be fined melted in the fire of affliction neither can we be as liuing Stones to be placed in the Wall of the heauenly Ierusalem except so long as we are heere the hând of God beat from vs our prouâ lumpes by the hammer of Affliction As standing Waters puâââsies and rottes so the wicked feares not God sayth the Psaânist because they haue no changes And Moaâ keyes is sent sayth the Prophet because he was not powred from vessell to vessell but hath been at rest euer since âis youth And therefore O Lord rather then we should keepe the old sent of our naturall corruption and liue in a carelesse securitie without the âeaâe of thy holy name and so become sitfasts in our sinnes no rather O Lord change thou vs from estate to estate waken vs widâ the presence of thy hand purge vi O Lord with thy fire and chastice vs with thy roddes alway Lord with a protestation that thou stand to thy promise made to the Sonnes of Dauid I will visit them with my roddes if they sinne against mee but my mercie wili I neuer take from them So be it Lord euen So be it The same comfort haue we also against Death that now in Christ Iesus it is not a punishment of our sinnes but a full accomplishment of the mortification of sinne both in soule and body for by it all the conduites of sinne are stopped the weapons of vnrighteousnesse broken and though our bodyes seeme to be consumed yet are they but sowen like graines of Wheate into the âielde and husbandââe of the Lord which must die before they be quickness but in the day of haruest shall spring vp againe most glorious and shal be restored by the same holy Spiâââe who now dwelâs in them and as to our soules they are relieued out of this house of seruitude and that they may depart and returne to ãâã from whom they came therfore haue I compared Death to the Redde Sea wherein Pharaâh and his Aegyptians were drowned and sanke like a Stone to the bottome but the Israelites of God went through to their promised Canaan So shall Death be vnto you O miserable Infidels whose eyes the God of this world hath blinded that no more then the blind Aegiptians can you see the light of God that shineth in Gâshan that is his Church although yee be in it to you I say your Death shal be a Sea of Gods vengeuce wherein yee shal be drowned and shall sinke with your sinnes heauier then a Milstone about the necke of your soule to presse you downe to the lowest Helleâ But as to you that are the Israelites of God yee shall walke through the valley of Death and not need to be aârayde because the Lord is with you His Staffe and his Rodde shall comfort you Albert the terrours of Hell the horrour of the Graue the guiltinesse of Sinne stand about thee like Mountaines threatning to ouerwhelme thee yet shalt thou go safe through to the land of thine inheritance where with Moses and Mertam and all the children of God euen the congregation of the first borne Thou shalt sing prayses ioyfully to the God of thy saluation And thus wee see how that not onely our present Afflictions but Satan Sinne and Death are made to worke for the best to them that loue the Lord. Now in the last roome concerning the imaginations of men against vs we shall haue cause to say of them in the end as Ioseph sayd to his brethren You did it vnto mee for euill but the Lord turned it vnto good The whole Historie of Gods Booke is as a cloude of maniâold witnesses concurring altogether to confime this trueth I content my selle therefore for all to bring one When Dauid was going forward in the Battaâle against Israel with Achish King of Gath vnder whom he soiourned for a while in the time of his baniâhment the remanent Princes of the Philistines commâunded him to goe backe and this they did for the worse to disgrace him because they distrusted him but the Lord turned it to him for the best Consider Dauids estate now and yee shall see him set betwixt two great extremities If he had gone backe of his owne accord the Philâstines might haue blamed him and hanâled him as an enemie if hee had come forwarde hee should haue been guiltie of the blood of Israel and especially of Sâul the Lordes annoyted who was slaine in that Battaile In this straite the wit of man can finde him no outgate but the prouident mercie of God deliuers him in such sort that no occasion of oâfence is giuen to Sâul his people because Dauid came not against them neither yet could the Philistines condemne him because he went backe by their commaunde So notable a benefite did Dauid receiue euen by that same deed wherein his enemies thought they had done him notable a shame and it should learne vs in our straightest extremities whereunto men can driue vs to depende on the Lord and euer then to hope for an outgate when we see none For such is thy prouidence O Lord whereby in mercy thou watchest ouer those that loue thee that these euilles that are intended against them by thee are turned into good to them And heere we haue further to consider that seeing this is the priuiledge of euery one that loues the Lord much more must it appertaine to the whole Church of God It is the portion of Abraham alberâ the Father of the Faythfull yet one of Gods Children I will blesse them that blesse thee end cursse them that cârsie thee And shall it not belong thinke wee to all the congregation of the first borne Will not the Lord be a Wall of fire rounde about Ierusalem and the glory in the middest of her Will bee not keepe her as the apple of his eye Shall not Ierusalem be as a Cuppe of Poyson vnto all her enemies and a heauie Stone Yea surely all that lift it vp shall be torne though all the people of the earth be gathered togeather against it the weapons made against her shall not prosper and euery tongne that shall rise against her in iudgement shall be condemned This is the heritage of the Lordes seruantes and the portion of them who loue him For the Church is that Arke of God which may mount vp higher as the Waters increaseth but can not be ouerwhelmed the Bush which may burne but can not be consumed the House built on a Rocke which may be beaten with wind and raine but can not be ouerthrowen The Lord who changeth times and seasons who takes away Kinges and settes vp Kinges hath reprooued Kinges for his Churches sake and hee gouerneth all the