Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	beauty_n	hear_v	zion_n	16	3	8.8722	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57579	Practical discourses on sickness & recovery in several sermons, as they were lately preached in a congregation in London / by Timothy Rogers, M.A. ; after his recovery from a sickness of near two years continuance.	Rogers, Timothy, 1658-1728.; Woodford, Samuel, 1636-1700.	1691 (1691)	Wing R1852; ESTC R21490	114,528	312

which we are now living under and to have the Bread of Life and their Ministers and their Gospel in the same manner they once had them Those poor Churches are not yet delivered their Beauty and their Glory is departed and their Sion is mourning in the dust but they send their Sighs over to us we have heard their Groans the Language of which is Come and help us with your Prayers Let us pray for them as we would for our selves in the like case who knows but God will hear our Prayers for them also And when England Scotland France and Ireland and Piedmont and all other places that have been in distress shall lift up their heads with joy and congratulate one another for the Salvations and Deliverances which God hath wrought for them what a glorious time will that be Happy shall be the day and the year that shall accomplish so great a Work happy shall the Messenger be that brings us such welcome tidings happy will be the Ears that hear so delightful a thing as this and happy the Eyes that see it and happy will those Countries be that shall flourish with Prosperity and Peace when these present Commotions and Wars that disturb the World are past and gone and happy yet again will be those Instruments whom God will honour to bring about so excellent a State of things Then shall it be said as in Isa. 66. 10 11. Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her all ye that love her rejoyce for joy with her all ye that mourn for her That ye may suck and be satisfied with the Breasts of her Consolations that ye may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her Glory May we not hope that so pleasant a day as this hath begun to dawn may we not hope and have we not encouragement to beg of God that the Light which is broken out in so wonderful a manner may shine more and more to a perfect day That we may still say with the delivered Israelites Who is like unto thee O Lord amongst the gods who is like unto thee glorious in Holyness fearful in Praises doing Wonders Exod. 15. 11. It will greatly heighten the Mercy of our being brought from the Grave if we should live to see such a sight as this But however it be the Mercies we have already receiv'd in our deliverance from Sickness contain Motives powerful enough to perswade us to love and praise God and the doing of this may procure us many more Mercies There are two things which after our Recovery we have cause always to remember First That we must live as those that know though we have escaped the Grave hitherto yet we must one day take up our dwelling there Tho we are repriev'd for a while yet the sentence of death that is past upon all Mankind will one day be executed upon us and we must die as well as others and if we improve this Consideration tho death it self be not past yet the bitterness of it will be so Secondly That we ought most earnestly to pray that if God please so to order it we may not have very long nor very sharp pains before we die and that when he calls us from the World he would give us an humble and a quiet Resignation to his Will that we may be found of him in peace and in a temper suitable to the greatness of our Change and that before he warn us to appear before him we may have all that work on Earth finished which he gave us to do and so being assured that the Mediator is our Friend we may every one of us say with Stephen Lord Jesus receive my Spirit The Song of HEZEKIAH Paraphrased by Dr. Woodford I. REVOLVING the sharp Sentence past And how an end e're thought was on me come How soon said I have I approacht my last And unawares reatcht Natures farthest Home Ah! now I to the Grave must go No more or Life or Pleasure know But a long doleful Night in darkness deep below II. No more my God shall I see Thee Nor the great Works of Thy Almighty Hand No more a Votary at Thy Altar be Nor in the crouds of them who praise Thee stand Mankind no more shall I behold Nor tell nor of Thy Love be told Eve'n mine to Thee shall like my ashes Lord be cold III. Lo as a Tent am I remov'd And my life's thread which I thought wondrous strong Too weak to bear the Looms extension prov'd i th' the midst broke off too sleasie to run long With Sickness I am pin'd away And feel each moment some decay All Night in Terrors and in Grief die all the Day IV. For as a Lion hasts to ' his Prey And having grip'd it breaks the yielding Bones So on me came th' Almighty whilst I lay In vain expecting help but from my Groans O take said I Thy Hand away See how I feel my Loins decay All Night in Terrors and in Grief die all the Day V. Then like a Swallow or a Crane I chatt'red o're my Fears his Heart to move The widow'd Turtle does not more complain When in the Woods sh 'as lost her faithful Love My Eyes O God with waiting fail Why shouldst Thou thus a Worm assail I 'm Thine O let for once th' Almighty not prevail VI. Yet do Thy Will I must confess Worse Plagues than these my Sins deserve from Thee The Sentence past is than my Crimes far less And only Hell a sit Reward can be Ah! let my Prayers that Doom prevent My age in Mournings shall be spent And all the Years Thou giv'st shall be but to repent VII On Thy great Pleasure all depend During which only I and Mandkind live To teach us this Thou dost Diseases send And daily claim'st the Life which Thou didst give Yet such is Thy resistless Power That when our age is quite past o're What Thou at first didst give Thou canst our Life restore VIII And thus with me Lord hast thou dealt Tho I for peace had only bitterness Th' effects of mighty Goodness thus have felt Beyond what words or numbers can express For from the Pit Thou drew'st me back And that I might no pleasures lack Upon Thy self the burden of my Sins didst take IX Triumphant Saviour the still Grave For so great Love Thy Name can never praise Nor in the Pit canst Thou Memorial have Thy Truth or hop'd for or ador'd Thy Ways The Living Lord the Living are The Men who must Thy Power declare And of them chiefly such whom Thou like me shalt spare X. They to their Children shall make known As I do now the Wonders of Thy Hand How when we ev'n to Hell did head-long run To stop our passage Thou i' th' way didst stand Lord since Thou hast thus delivr'd me Thus made me Thy Salvation see My Life and Harp and Song I 'll consecrate to Thee FINIS Books printed for and are to be sold by

cause to upbraid us as he did his Disciples Why are ye afraid O ye of little Faith But this will be most inexcusable in us whom God hath brought to the very grave and back again The remembrance and experience of so great a Mercy should for ever preserve us from the least distrust of our Benefactor Psal. 56. 13. Thou hast delivered my Soul from Death wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling that I may walk before thee in the Land of the Living Psal. 23. 6. Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my Life Psal. 63. 7. Because thou hast been my help therefore in the shadow of thy Wings will I rejoice Psal. 71. 20. Fifthly Preserve those serious Thoughts now which you then had when you were near unto the Grave What a cold damp did the sight of death bring upon all our former joys What a low and contemptible thing did this so much adored World seem to be when we were just about to leave it How little charming then were all its gayest Smiles and how little terrible all its frowning Threats There did not appear then to be any thing that was enticing in a great Name and Reputation in pompous Honours or in vast Treasures We saw then that all our fellow Creatures and all that we our selves are apt to doat upon was very vanity All the Contentments and Satisfactions of our Appetites and all the Pleasures that we had ever taken in eating or drinking in our Travels or in our Recreations did all pass away like a Vision in the night Then we saw indeed the great worth of Faith and Patience and Self-denial and a Conquest of this World Then we could heartily wish that instead of all the vain Books we read we had more delighted in the Book of God That instead of all our unprofitable knowledge we had known Christ and him crucified That instead of all our Contrivances for this Body and the present state we had spent all our strength and our whole vigor to get Heaven and Eternal Life Then we were apt to say Oh that we had heard his Word with more attention whilst we had our day and whilst the joyful voice was sounding in our ears Oh that we had prayed in our Closets with more fervour whilst God called us to seek his Face Oh that we had bewailed our Sins with a more sincere and hearty Sorrow when we were called to the Duties of Repentance and Humiliation Let us do all those things now which we then wisht we had done Let it for ever dash all our confident and foolish Projects for this World remembring how by a sudden stroak all our Purposes were broke asunder Let us not trust too much in mortal Men for we can remember the time when as to us all the help of Man was vain Let us now prize all those divine Truths embrace those Promises and fear those threats which we then saw to be very true What did we then think of time when our glass was even running out and our day covered with the shadows of the night There was nothing in all the World that did appear to be of so great a value let us now prize it at the rate we then did What Company was it which we then most admired Whom did we esteem the most excellent and happy People Were they those that trample on the Laws of God that prophane his Sabbaoths that scorn his Word that defie his Threats and dare venture to go to an Eternal Hell or those that are afraid to sin that season their Entertainments with Spiritual Discourse that are sober in their Lives fervent in their Prayers conscientious in all their Dealings and that are going to Sion with their faces thither Surely these were the Men that we call'd Blessed and these are the Persons to whom we should now joyn our selves and have the most delightful Conversation and the greatest Familiarity Sixthly Perform all those things now which in your Distress you you resolved to do if God would but bring you from the Grave Psal. 116 13 14. I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people When a Man seems to be just entring into Eternity then 't is a common thing to say If God would but give me another Trial if he will but save my Life and give me another year and another day of Grace I will amend my ways and serve him more and be better than ever I was When we have not enjoyed those opportunities that we now do have we not said within our selves If God will trust us again with his Gospel and the priviledges of his open Sanctuary we will acknowledge his Goodness and be more fruitful It concerns us to see that the Resolutions that were form'd in our Hearts in the day of our distress do not expire with our departing Trouble In Sickness and the Neighbourhood of Death Sin does appear to be quite another thing than we took it to be in the time of our careless Health its Aspect then is very formidable and its Wounds very deep In whatsoever disguise it may come to us hereafter let us in the fear of God and by his Grace couragiously resist it for it is the worst of Enemies and when it wraps it self in false and alluring colours let us remember what an hideous and frightful Look it had when Sickness took the mask away Let it still appear as an odious and abominable thing to us When we were near to Death what Seriousness what Zeal what Holiness did we then vow to God Was not this our Language If I may have but a few more Talents bestowed upon me I will emprove them better than I did before I will hear his Word with more Reverence and read it with more Care I will with more frequency and impartiality it search and try my own Soul Now the time is come that you wish'd for Let it appear that your serious resolutions were not the fruits of Fear but of Love Let not our sense of God and of Eternity decline as our Troubles wear away God will not be mockt He will observe and punish our hypocritical Intentions if all that we promise him in our Distresses prove but as Chaff before the Wind and as the Dew of Morning which is exhaled and scattered with the Rising Sun God has losed our Bonds but it is that we may be tied faster to himself Let us shine with as great a brightness as we hoped to do and said we would if God would but recruit our dying Lamp and pour in fresh Oyl again Oh let us now improve our Time as we then intended to improve it and let us among our other expences remember that we are then most prodigal when we waste this Treasure and that we give our Friends and Companions too much when we give them a great deal

much pain in this but this is not the common Lot You know that the poor Man at the Pool of Bethesda had an Infirmity thirty eight years Jahn 5. 5. You are told in Luke 13. 16. of a Woman that was a Daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen years and when so malicious and cruel a Spirit had the management of her Bonds no doubt but he made them very strong It was without doubt a painful Distemper as appears vers 11. she was bound down and could in no wise lift up her self If you enquire of those that usually attend the Dying or if you look upon the Weekly Bills you 'l find there by what painful Diseases Men go to the Grave By the Stone or the Gout raging Fevers or Cholick or which is of all others most formidable and which more generally die of every Week than of any other Distemper i. e. Convulsions Or if they die not by these yet by others that by their length are as grievous and as uneasie Your bodily Pains may be protracted to a very long duration for it is a most false Maxim that if your Pain be long it will not be sharp and that if it be sharp it will not be long It is a saying to which dayly Experience gives a Confutation For how many are there that are groaning under Pains both very long and very sharp Fevers burn us Agues shatter us Dropsies drown us Phrensies unman us the Gout tortures us Convulsions rack us Epilepsies fell us Collicks tear us and there is no considerable Disease which is not very troublesom in it self however Religion may sanctify and sweeten it Boyle occas Refl Sect. 2. Med. 3. What a vain thing is our Body and how vain are the Projects of Men for the preservation of it How many are their Cares and Designs about it It is for this that Commerce and Navigation is maintained to bring home Foreign Drugs for Physick and Sawces of other Countries to raise our Appetites Pearls and Jewels for Ornament and Splendor The greatest part of Men are imployed meerly for the service of the Body Physicians by profession are obliged to study what may repair its defects and contribute to our ease and health the Husbandman labours all the year that the Ground may yield us Corn and Bread and Fruit Some build us Houses others beautify and furnish them Butchers are employed to kill the Creatures for us and Cooks to dress them and yet these Bodies are lyable all the while to pains which none of all these can remove To sicknesses of which no Perfumes no costly Raiment no pleasant Relishes can make us to lose the bitter Sense and the Thoughts of them ought to lessen greatly all that inordinate Concern which we have for what is only mortal for its being so makes it to be very vain We must use our selves to hardship and relinquish our too great tenderness and delicacy For he is the wisest Man who knowing he is once to suffer as we all are does learn betimes to do it Let us therefore keep our Bodies pure and clean and chast First Let us use a great Moderation in all those Accommodations that relate only to them Such as Houses Gardens Estates or the like that they be not too expensive or take up too much of our time or of our delight That they be not designed as the Trophies of our Pride or the means of Vain-glory or to get a Name We that have Souls to save have something else to do than to follow needless Superfluities When we were sick we knew that we were too much unwilling to leave the World Let us not paint it with more alluring colours lest we be still more in love with it and more loath to leave it For shall we more easily part with things sumptuous and splendid than with things that are meaner and less suited to a fleshly Mind and Life We are Pilgrims and shall we be so industrious to plant and build and sow in a strange Country when we confess we are distant from our home What Man would set himself to adorn his Inn from which he may dislodge the next morning and it may be never see it any more Secondly Let us use a great Moderation in our Apparel When you dress your selves remember that you dress a Body that will shortly be a Carcass without Beauty Life and Motion Consider how soon all the Sprightliness of your Eyes all the Pleasure of your Looks will be gone the Cold of Death will quickly freeze that Blood which now circulates with so brisk a motion in your Veins and Sickness in a few days may so change you even you that are most curious about your Body that you will not desire even to look upon your self When pain and trouble has sunk your Eyes and hollowed your Cheeks and turned your once delightful red into a decaying pale how seldom then will you visit that Glass to which you now go so often and at which you stay so very long What will your softest Raiment and your finest Cloaths avail a decaying Body which God hath clothed with the Garment of Heaviness Let the Consideration of this be a powerful Motive to excite you not to go to the highest Excesses of a luxurious Age but after the Fashion of the grave the modest and the religious part of People that allow to themselves some large portions of their Time to adorn their Souls with those Graces that make them shine with real worth and do not spend it all to set the Body off What is this Body but a Lump of animated Clay a poor ruinous Habitation that has a thousand decays ready to come upon it and whilst we are contriving how to repair it for many years it may be we have not then a Month to live And what is it when the Soul that gave it all its pleasant sensations all its comlyness and lustre is fled away If we look but upon a Friend an hour after he is dead how is his Countenance changed There is nothing then to be seen in him that did attract our Eyes before You then no more see any Smiles in that Face where you have before seen the signs of Chearfulness and Joy Where is his former Comeliness and Beauty his ancient Grace or his lovely Features You can then take no delight in being with him you have then no mind to look upon that very person that it may be a while ago was the Delight of your Heart and the Comfort of your Life Will all the Finery in the World procure for us a sweeter slumber in the Dust Why should we set our selves with so much application to regard our Bodies Is it to much purpose to paint a little Dust and Ashes Those light impressions that we make upon it the next Wind blows away Think but how vain and short your Life is and this will greatly suppress your inclination to Vanity Look upon your Watches and