Selected quad for the lemma: act_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	believe_v	faith_n	justification_n	5,240	5	9.4416	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60326	Comforts against the fear of death. Being some short meditations, composed by that precious gentlewoman Mrs. Anne Skelton, late of Norwich Wherein are several evidences of the work of grace in her own soul, which were the stay of her heart, against the fear of death; from which may be discerned the name of a true Christian spirit. To which is added some short notes of a sermon preached at the burial of that choyce servant of God in St. Andrews in Norwich. By John Collings M.A. and one of the most unworthy embassadors of Jesus Christ for the preaching of the gospel in the late city.	Skelton, Anne.; Collinges, John, 1623-1690. aut.	1649 (1649)	Wing S3932A; ESTC R221500	38,402	100

say not that Faith as my act doth justifie me but it is instrumental as it 's hand to receive Christ and unite thee to him those righteousness alone is the meritorious cause of thy Justification Now here is a promise for thee to rest on John 3. 16 36. Whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish but have everlasting life And he that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life Now my Soul exercise thy Faith apply this promise to thy self I beleeve and therefore I shall have everlasting life Labor for that reflect act of thy Soul to know more that thou dost beleeve The sincerity whereof in thee is in some measure approved by thy resigning and giving up thy self wholly to him as the Apostle Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and th● life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Desiring as well to be ruled and guided by him as saved by him purged as pardoned freed from the power as the punishment of sin cleansed from the filth as discharged of the guilt of sin What though thou art not able wholly to put it in practise but lost full of and come short in performance thereof was not this the Apostle Paul his own case which he so ●●●gely deploreth Rom. 7. 15. 23. I allow not that which I do for what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I. I see another Law in my members rebelling against the Law of my mind and leaving me Captive to the Law of sin which is in my members It sufficeth to warrant the sincerity of thee my Soul and Spirit in this case that with the same Apostle in the same place Thou takest notice of thy failings art grived for them there is in thee a nature or part that abhors them thou watchest against them endeavorest what thou canst to reclaim thy self upon discovery of falling laborest by carnest prayer to God against them and continuest constant in the use of the means sanctified by him for spiritual strength and abillity and restest on Christ and expectest from him power to overcome thy corruptions Therefore comfort thy self herein O my Soul and apply this to thy self for thou art but in the same case that Apostle Paul was then in who at that very time had truth of grace and was even then in a most happy and blessed condition Therefore fear not though thou findest many temptations either to despair or to think all thy hope but presumption none of the Saints or Servants of God was ever heard praying to be rid utterly of their corruptions forthwith and at once Suffice them and thee it may and must that he will one day rid them utterly of all and mean while to support thee Know that thy corruptions shall never so prevail against thee as to reduce thee again to the sway and soveraignty it once had in thee when it had its throne in thee these shew that there is a part in thee that is regenerated as Paul had Now to such as these are the promises of God made good Malla 3. 16 17. A book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his name And they shall be to me saith the Lord of H●sts in thee day a flock and I will spare them and man spareth his own son that serveth him 2 Chron. 30. 18 19 20. Hezekiah prayeth to the Lord to be merciful to him that prepareth his whole heart to seek the Lord God though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people Psal 33. 18 19. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him and upon them that trust in his mercy to deliver their Souls from death and to preserve them in famine Psal 37. 40. The Lord shall help them and deliver them from the wicked and shall save them because they trust in him Psal 34. 22. The Lord redeemeth the Souls of his Servants and none that trust in him shall perish Oh my Soul set thy Faith a work lo here are promises for it to rest on apply them to thy self for they are precious Another Sign or Evidence of Grace is thy constant desire of and love to the Ordinances of God whereby these may be attained and that for this very end that thou mayst know what God requires of thee and be enabled to practise it and get strength against thy corruptions endeavouring to apply thy self thereto with delight in the use of them This evidently testifies the sincerity of thy desire love and affection to God as David urget●● oft and presseth the like for himself Psa 119. 11. I have hid thy promise in my heart that I might not sin against thee Also Vers 24. Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors And Ver. 33. Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes and I will keep it even to the and. Also Vers 40. Behold I desire thy commandments quicken me in thy righteousness Hypocrites desire the and only delight in them for by and sinister ends not enduring them where they find they cross their corruptions But the closer they come home to thee and most strike at thy corruptions the better thou likest and more lovest them thou dost not spare any sin I have sworn that I will Psa 119. 106 keep thy righteous judgments Another evidence of Saving Grace is thy hatred of every false way desiring God to discover to thee thine iniquity that thou art most prone or aptest to fall into by natural inclination custom or company This was made an argument of Davids integrity Therefore O my Soul make thou the same application to thy self also to uphold and comfort thee And dost thou not groan under the ●urthen of thy inward corruptions and thoughes as well as actual transgressions Wouldst not thou fain be rid of them Is it not thy greatest grief that thou dost dayly so sin against God who is so good so loving and merciful to thee Thou darest not deny it Oh that I might and could so live as never to commit any one sin more so long as I live to offend so good a God as he is to me not no more grieve nor quench his holy Spirit in the motions of it ● I resolve so to do Oh that I could do so Another sign of true Grace Hast thou not respect unto all Gods Commandments desiring universality of sincere obedience to all alike not shunning any one nor reserving any sin to thy self So David Psa 119. 5 6. O that my ways were directed to keep thy Statutes Then should I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments And when fallen dost thou not loath thy self the more for that and renew thy faith in Christ and repentance as sin is renewed

Yea dost thou not abhor thy self judg and pass on thy self the sentance of condemnatior to be thy due desert and that it were just with God if he had cast thee into hell long ago No no hypocrite ever was willing to have this filthy sink of his wholly laid open to God as thou my Soul art But did God leave thee in this miserable wretched desperate and damnable condition thou art in by nature since the fall of Adam whose 〈◊〉 thou wert then in and so guilty of his sin and not only so but deprived of that Image of God that there is in thee nothing that is good no● a strange averseness and unp●ness to all good and a pronness and readiness to all evil No no for ever blessed praised and magnified be my good God that out of his own free and unspeakable love infinite mercy and abundant goodness he hath found out a way and shewed thee a way and means to free thee from this misery save and make thee eternally happy that neither Angels not men could do no way whereby no ●●eature no means in Heaven or Earth 〈◊〉 do it as Acts 4. 12. Neither is there salvatiō in any other for there is no other name under Heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved Even then God manifested his superabundant surpassing unsearchable unexpressable incomprehensible love to the utmost to give his only begotten and deerly beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ the second Person in the Trinity God to take upon him our nature and dye and shed his most pretious blood for sinners of whom thou art chief and in the Gospel God offereth his Son Christ freely to all that will come and drink of this water of Life freely as Rev. 22. 17. therefore as freely to thee as any other Yet further to heighten this wonderful Love of God consider the time when he did this even then when thou desiredst it nor nor soughtst it nay when thou wert an enemy and traytor to him and then for God so infinite in Majesty so to condescend to poor wretched sinful man that had so fal● and plunged himself into such a woful sinful and damnable condition Oh how great is the riches of his mercy and love Yet God 〈◊〉 not there but behold more in the Gospel he opens the worth Excellency All sufficiency and Fitness of Christ to save thee in particular and he helps thee with grounds and incouragements to beleeve in Christ though but weakly and he doth in some measure strengthen thee to rest and cast thy self on his mercy in Christ because of his promises yea at such times as there is a sense of the wa●● of him so David Psalm 42. 5 8 9 11. And now my Soul ●ast thou not not accepted of and imbraced this free offers or render of Christ made to thee by God thy Father in as much as the Gospel is preached to thee and that upon his own terms in all his offices applying him to thy self to be thy King and Soveraign Lord to rule and govern thee by his Laws his Word and his Spirit to be thy Prophet to discover the Coun●ile of God to thee and reveal himself to thee in his Gospel and to guide and instruct thee in his Baths Dost thee not as much and heartily desire to have Christ rule thee as to love thee or ●o●he a Priest to offer up himself a Sacrifice for thee Thou darest not thou canst not deny it A second Sign or Evidence of Saving Grace ●o thy earnest and unsatisfied restless desire of Christ Nothing but Christ can satisfie my Soul I thrist after him my hearts pants for him as the Hart after the rivers of water so panteth my Soul for thee O Lord and I will never give thee rest but will wrastle with thee as thy Servant Jacob once did I will never let thee go thou that hast promised to give Christ to them that ask till thou give me Christ and make me to know that he is mine and I am his I can in truth say so for as I can search and know mine own heart if it do not deceive me as the Apostle saith Phil. 3. 7 8. The things that wer● advantage to me I now account loss for Christs sake yea I esteem all things but as dung incomparison of Christ Dost not thou my Soul prize Christ sat afore all outward contentments Even in the height of them they are but as withered flowers to thee no pleasure not sweetness in them without Christ Nay no inward corruption but thou art right willing to part with for him It 's not the manner of Hypocrites to be thus willing to relinquish all outward contentments much less to ●a●don all inward corruptions for Christ but in them is still some private Reservation But the earnest desire of my Soul is to have all sin subdued in me Lord Lord by the power of thy holy Spirit mortifie and kill every sin Oh! let not any one sin rule in me that I should obey it in the lust of it though sin doe well in me yet let me overcome it truly it is my heavy burden that I am in yoked with sin therefore long I to go out of my self for in me is nothing that is good But in Christ is all ability to duty and against sin all life and profit from the Ordinances and Christ conveys all especially to his Members by their resting on him for it which we call beleeving Now Gods gracious invitations to come to Christ thou my Soul dost imbrace and upon the serious consideration of the all-sufficiency fitness and willingness of Christ to save thee and the infinite love of the Father to give his Son for thee and the unspeakable love of Christ in his condesc●ntion to the Father so to dye and undergo all the wrath of God and all for thee and the freeness of the mercy of God offering Christ in the Gospel and his Commandment to beleeve as 1 John 3. 23. And this is his Commandment that we should beleeve in the name of his Son Jesus Christ Also the sweetness and freeness of his promises to them that beleeve Now in obedience to the one and confidence of the other thou my Soul are at length thereby imboldened and incouraged to repair to Christ● and by the freeness of the promises art incouraged to apply them to thy self not daring to exclude thy self but dost beleeve though but weakly A third Sign or Evidence of Saving Grace is thy Faith thy full purpose of heart and setled resolutions and endevors still ever to rest and 〈◊〉 upon the Lord Jesus and his merits alone for the discharge of thy sins thy Sanctification Justification thy Souls safety and salvation this indeed is the very act of justifying Faith to which life and salvation is so oft in the word promised and shall unsailably be made good well therefore mayst thou rest satisfied in it yet I rest on him to strengthen my weak faith I