Selected quad for the lemma: life_n
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B20782
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A believers triumph over death exemplified in a relation of the last hours of Dr. Andrew Rivet and an account of divers other remarkable instances : being an history of the comfortable end and dying words of several eminent men, with other occasional passages, all tending to comfort Christians against the fear of death and prepare them for a like happy change.
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Coxe, Nehemiah.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing C6716
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62,568
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250
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Lord make thee a good and a Pious man that thou mayest fill up the place of thy Father and Grandfather He bess thee abundantly and make thy Studies prosperous unto his Glory which he will do if thou diligently call upon him and if thou Study to be Diligent Sober Modest and humbly Obedient unto God and thy Superiours thy Unkle in particular which will be instead of a Father to thee Give due Obedience and Honour unto thy Mother Love thy Brother and Sister and withdraw thy self from the Company of young Persons who will entice thee unto Vice And unto his Niece he thus spake Farewell my dear Niece the Lord bless thee We have a Kindred in the Heavens which will endure for ever § 17. Now when we thought this night would be his last the principal of his Friends were called to him and amongst them Mr. Hulsius and as they stood about his Bed he attentively beheld them and discoursed of his Departure at hand and his disposition to give up himself to the Will of God with a joyful and free Soul He exhorted each of them according to their respective Condition in regard of Age Sex or Quality and blessed each of them and their Families Then again speaking to his Son he said My Friend Thou losest at the same time both a Master and a Father but if the Fear of God bear rule in thee God will supply the place of both Far be it from me to distrust his Grace for the future I cast all my Cares upon him and give up my self and mine my Life and affairs into his hands Then he uttered in French Metre the words of the Psalmist to this sence Vnto whom shall I go for help O Lord and in whom is my hope truly in thee I am full of dayes I desire to be Dissolved and to be with Christ It is enough O Lord Receive now my Soul I commit this Body to the Earth but I commit my Spirit into the hands of God who gave it And in a Paroxysme of Pain he said My God I know this Tabernacle cannot be dissolved without pain yet my heart is lively and I have still strength to bear my pains O Lord help mine Infirmities depart not far from me in the day of my Sorrow Say unto my Soul I am become thy Salvation This last he rehearsed in the French Metre and then repeated in Hebrew from Psal 16. 5. The Lord is the Portion of my Inheritance § 18. From that Night forward it was observed when any one discoursed to him of Repentance and of the Grace of God in forgiving sins he was wont to answer As to this point I am assured that I am reconciled and cleansed from my sin by the precious blood of my Redeemer God hath spoken and made known to me already that my Sins are blotted out I now taste this blessedness Blessed is the man Psa 32. 1. to whom the Lord imputeth not Sin There is no Condemnation Rom. 8. 1. to them that are in Christ Jesus He is come unto me according to his great Mercies and draweth me and I willingly follow him He lessens my bodily Pains by increasing the joy of my Soul he satisfies my thirst for him with the dew of his Grace Behold I am satiated I am inriched Man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God The Kingdom of God is not Rom. 14. 17. Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy through the Holy Ghost I am fed by my Saviour whose Flesh is Meat indeed and his Blood is drink indeed and as he is the true quickening Bread which came down from Heaven so he that eateth him shall live by him And therefore I live It is now two dayes since I have lived not an Animal Life but I live that Life which I shall eternally Live in the Heavens That night he made a long and ardent Prayer the greatest part of which is slipt out of our Memory In general he Prayed for all men and bewailed the Corruption of Mankind Alas O Lord said he this is the last time there is scarce any Faith in the Earth Men of Veracity are hardly to be found One speaks to another yea to his Friend fraudulently and with a double heart Alas Wo is me that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar with those that hate Peace Thou hast made Peace in thy high places Thou givest Peace but not such as the World giveth Wherefore my Heart is not afraid The Spirit which thou hast given me is the Spirit of Power of Love and a sedate mind § 19. On the Wednesday Wednesday Jan. 4. morning he found himself much wearied and enfeebled partly by the Pains he had endured and partly by his much and earnest speaking Both we that were about him and himself were all of the mind that his last hour was approaching for which reason he spake as follows Again I bid you Farewell my Friends Observe me and continue to strengthen me with your Prayers and Exhortations when my speech shall fail I will endeavour by signs to let you know my Faith and Perseverance My mind cannot be shaken he that preserves me is in the Heavens When he had again blessed his Family and all that stood by him his Speech wholly failed him for a time so that we expected nothing less than to see him draw his last Breath but being recovered out of this sinking fit he began to speak again and when he saw the Chamber full of People he said How am I Tyred out will they allow me no time of repose wherefore is there such a Company about me have not I spoken enough why am I not allowed a little Relaxation and one moment o◠Solitude that I may Converse with my God Therefore every one withdrew according to his desire and we were afraid to com◠near to him lest we should molest him but when we heard his Groans his Niece went in softly to him and said Reverend Sir Would you be without my Company doth it not please you that I should any longer attend upon you Alas said he I desire nothing more do not go from me but be thou a Witness of my last hours continue with me even to the end It is a great comfort to me to enjoy quietness I cannot bear the sight of so great a Company especially of those that come out of meer Curiosity I have omitted nothing of what was incumbent on me to say or do I leave nothing behind me that is matter of regret to me I have Prayed for the Peace of mine after my departure and I believe Peace shall dwell among them and that thou wilt do thy endeavour that it may for I know thou art of a peaceable Spirit I am satisfied and at rest I have no more to do here below I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord. She asked if it would please him to have his Son come to
forsaken Behold thy Unkle which shall be to thee instead of a Father Be obedient to him and also to thy Grandmother and Mother whom I pray God abundantly to bless with her other Children that her little Posthumous Son that bears my Name may in time Represent me yea exceed me § 30. These holy speeches were sometimes interrupted by a short sleep and sometimes on occasion of the Prayers or Exhortations of the Ministers that came to him He received them all most Cordially and most willingly heard the Consolations that were suggested by them And he would also return Consolations to them He heard their prayers with attention and when they had done was wont alwayes to say That he found himself much relieved And then dismissed them with thanks giving his blessing to each of them as was proper to their Condition Towards Supper time he remembred the noble Virgin Anna Maria a Schurman and said She is a person to whom I have alwaies devoted my Affection and sincere Love she hath honoured me with her holy friendship and hath called me Father In testimony of my paternal Love I give her my little Bible without Points of Plantines Edition which you shall find in such a Place in my Study directing to the place If I had any strength left I would have written a Letter to her with my own hand whereby I would have testified to her how much I Honour her and esteem those admirable gifts of God wherewith he hath adorned her But you my Son shall supply this defect and inform her of my happy Departure and that I have prayed to God that he will Strengthen her in her supernatural Calling and bestow upon her the blessings of a long and prosperous Life What remains Have I not said all I have no more to do but to give up my Soul into the hands of God Is it not time O my God let it suffice Receive my Soul unto thy self O Lord I yield it into thy hands thou hast Redeemed it O God of Truth Thou art my hope and my Confidence from my youth No care afflicts me God hath removed from me the Opprobry which I feared meaning the Vomiting of his excrements a symptome usual in his Distemper He will perfect and that quickly whatsoever belongs to his Glory and my Eternal Salvation If he make any stay if he deferre my deliverance he doth it for your Edification and Salvation Let not my Sorrows be grievous to you but rather bless God who gives me a desirable plume and makes my heart joyful in the midst of my pains Rejoyce therefore and Pray with me § 31. When he had asked what a Clock it was he said to his Wife and his Son I pray you take some food I am not yet fully come to the end of my Work I want nothing and my Niece shall tarry with me and take something here to refresh her They withdrew therefore into the next Room and one brought an Egg to his Niece which he desired her to take As for me said he my Meat is to do the will of God and happily to run out the course of my life I am refreshed with holy and heavenly food My Father feeds me with that Food which he lately offered to me at his holy Table I did eat and was filled The true feeding is the feeding of the Soul that which sustains the true Life As for Corporal meats they are for the belly but God will destroy both it and them Then reaching out his hand to his Niece I Love thee said he with a Love wholly Spiritual a love of true Charity and Affection We will pass this Night together in holy Meditations and speaking to one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs Singing and making melody in our Hearts unto the Lord I feel my Swelling to ascend I fear that in a little time I shall be able to speak no more do not depart from me but continue speaking to me whatsoever God shall bring to thy Heart and Lips lest in my utmost weakness my Memory should fail me and I assure thee God will suggest those things to thee which which shall be for my help and Comfort in the time of need for out of the abundance of the Heart the mouth speaketh His Wife and Son being returned into the Chamber Pray ye said he for me what a joy is i◠to see these holy Souls with me § 32. Oft times through the bitterness of his pains he brake forth into Cryes or rather ardent Prayers unto God and that frequently in the words of the Psalms in the French Metre as Psal 141. 1. Jehovah upon thee I call O hasten unto me Lend to my Voice thy Gracious Ear When I cry unto thee Then adding from Psal 25. 18. Look upon mine Affliction and pardon all my sins And upon the mention of any Text that speaks of the Remission of sins he would immediately subjoyn It is done He hath caused mine iniquity to pass away from me O Lord abate and shorten my Miseries Now is thy time And then repeated from Psal 118. 24. This is a joyful day indeed Which God himself hath wrought We will be glad and joy therein With all our Heart and Thought How great is my anguish but how much greater is my refreshment An high place and a Refuge sure I find the Lord to me In day of my distress he me Relieves with rich bounty They continually suggested to him places of Scripture unto which he would return such answers as did abundantly manifest his Godly Ardor Faith and Patience as for instance when it was said to him God is nigh to all that call upon him in Truth Smiting upon his breast he replyed Here he is here he dwells in me and worketh powerfully according to his good pleasure Then that place was alledged 1 Cor. 15. Death is swallowed up in victory and he added the following words Thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Again from Rom. 8. 30. Moreover whom he did predistinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also Glorified Even so it is said he Grace upon Grace O lovely Chain This is a Golden Chain indeed there wants but the last link to compleat the whole in me O Lord make perfect and Crown thy work That I may dye the death of the righteous and see those good things which eye hath not seen neither have they entred into the mind of man Thou givest me a foretast of these sweetnesses and refreshings which no words can express § 33. Then Mr. Hulsius being present asked if it would be acceptable to him that he should go to Prayer Yea said he Pray The time requires it When he had ended his Prayer he gave him thanks saying You have helped me while you called upon God I found some ease of my infirmity Encourage me the Race is short I even touch the bound