Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	fear_v	lord_n	remembrance_n	1,962	5	9.9520	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26786	The four last things viz. death, judgment, heaven, hell, practically considered and applied in several discourses / by William Bates.	Bates, William, 1625-1699.	1691 (1691)	Wing B1105; ESTC R15956	218,835	562

which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him And all the good Works of the Saints shall then be remembred even to the least work of Piety the giving of two Mites to the Treasury of the Temple and the least work of Charity the giving a Cup of cold Water to a Disciple upon the account of his relation unto Christ. All their secret Graces and Duties shall then be rewarded The manner of this Judicial Evidence is set forth to us in Scripture by the opening the Books congruously to proceedings in humane Judgement wherein the Information and Charge is produc'd from Writings for the conviction of the Accused Thus it was represented to St. John in a Vision I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and the Dead were judged out of the things that were written in the Books according to their Works 1. The Books of the Law and Gospel shall then be open'd in all the Injunctions and Prohibitions and our Lives compar'd with them Our Saviour told the Jews Do not think that I will accuse you to my Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust not the Person but the Law of Moses And he denounced against those that reject the Gospel the Word that I have spoken the same shall judg them in the last Day The Law is the exact Transcript of God's Sacred Will the natural and immutable Rule of Righteousness 't is pure forbids all Sin and enjoins universal Holiness 't is spiritual requires not only a conformity in Words and Actions but inward Sanctity in Mind and Heart for the Soul is the principal part of Man entirely open to God's Eye the Maker and Judg of it And the most enlightned Saints have but an imperfect knowledg of it here This made holy David after his meditation upon its Purity and Perfection to cry out in an Agony Who can understand his Errors cleanse thou me from secret Sins This when opened in its spiritual and comprehensive Nature by a wise and zealous Preacher darts a Light into the Conscience and discovers many secret Sins that like so many Serpents were still and quiet in the dark but upon the sudden breaking in of the Light fly upon the Sinner and torment him with their mortal Stings But when the Law-giver himself shall expound the Law in its full extent and perfection with respect to all the Duties it commands and Sins it forbids how guilty will Men appear how unable to answer one Article of a thousand charg'd upon them 2. The Omniscience of God will give most convincing Evidence of all our Works All things are naked and open to his Eyes with whom we have to do in Judgment The Psalmist declares the infinite perspicacity of his sight The Darkness hides not from thee but the Night shines as the Day As his Light and transcendent Brightness is invisible to us so our thickest Darkness is visible to him We cannot see things in the Night because it hinders the reception of the Rays that insinuate into the Eye and causes sight but the Eyes of our Judg are like a flame of Fire dispelling all Darkness From his Throne in Heaven his piercing Eye sees thro' all the concealments of Mens Sins Thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret Sins in the Light of thy Countenance He discovered the Sacriledg of Achan the Lie of Gehazi the Deceit of Ananias Saul's Disobedience in sparing the Amalekites devoted to Destruction had the colourable pretence of Piety and as a Sacrifice was laid on the Altar And David's Murder of Vriah was imputed to the chance of War as a sufficient excuse But though they might have deceiv'd others they could not deceive God He is intimately present with the Souls of Men that are unsearchable to the most discerning Angels of Light and knows all their most secret Designs and Desires the deepest Seeds of their Actions He alone has exact Scales to weigh the Spirits of Men all the Principles Aims and Affections that are inseparable from their Works The Pharisees in whom Pride was the first Property and Hypocrisy a second Nature could not with all their Saintly shews impose on our Saviour for he knew what was in Man He discovered their Alms to be not the effect of Charity but Ostentation and their specious Acts of Devotion to be a train to surprize some rich Prey And this Divine knowledg of Men and their Actions is in order to Judgment Thus the wise King declares Doth not he that ponders the Heart consider it and he that keepeth thy Soul doth not he know it And shall not he render to every Man according to his Works And God himself testifies I the Lord search the Heart even to give to every Man according to his Works For this reason he is said to keep a Register of Mens Sins Thus he speaks of the impure Idolatries of the Jews Behold it is written before me to signify his exact and actual knowledg I will not keep silence but will recompense even recompense into their Bosoms And at the Day of Judgment he will declare his Knowledg of their Sins before all and the most secret shall be made evident as if written in their Foreheads in the most plain and legible Characters And all the Goodness of the Saints shall then be revealed by the Judg. Their greatest Excellencies are invisible to the Eyes of Men the Sanctity of their Aims and Affections which gives Life and Value to all the Acts of Obedience their secret Duties wherein the sincerity and ardency of their Souls is most express'd are only known to God And such is the excellent humility of the Saints that the more they are enrich'd and abound with the gracious Influences of the Spirit the less they discover to the World as the Celestial Bodies when in nearest conjunction with the Sun and most fill'd with his Light are least in appearance to the Inhabitants of the Earth But there is a Book of Remembrance before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in the Day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a Man spares his Son that serves him 3. The Conscience of every Man shall then be open'd and give an accusing or excusing Testimony of all things for these Acts of Conscience in the present Life have a final respect to God's Tribunal And though the Accounts are so vast there shall be an exact Agreement between the Books of God's Omniscience and of Conscience in the Day of Judgment Now indeed the Conscience of Man though never so inquisitive and diligent in examining and revising his Ways is unable to take a just account of his Sins As one that would tell the first appearing Stars in the Evening before he can reckon

of all but that those who have appeared zealous in Religion shall be at last rejected is contrary to universal expectation And not only the gross Hypocrite that deceives others but he that deceives himself by the external practice of holy Duties without correspondent lively Affections that prays with that coldness as if he had no desire to be heard and hears with that carelesness as if he had no desire to be sanctified by the Word and is conversant in other parts of divine Service in that slight manner as if he had no design to be saved shall by a convincing upbraiding Light see his Wickedness in dishonouring that God whom he pretended to worship and neglecting his Soul When the Upright as pure Gold shall be more radiant by the Fire the Insincere like reprobate Silver shall not endure that severe trial Thirdly The frequent discussion of Conscience and reviewing our Ways is necessary in order to our comfortable appearing before our Judg. This is a Duty of constant Revolution for while we are in Flesh the best Saints notwithstanding all their vigilance and diligence are overtaken by surprizal and sometimes overborn by strong temptations and 't is more necessary to beg for daily Pardon than for our daily Bread Under the Law if any one had by touching a dead Body contracted Uncleanness he was to wash his Clothes in the Evening and not to lie down in his Uncleanness This was typical of our Duty that we should wash away our sinful Defilements every day in the purifying Fountain of Christ's Blood that is set open for Sin and for Vncleanness And the Method of the Gospel to obtain the grant of Pardon and our comfortable Sense and the blessed Effects of it is this there must be a mournful Sight and serious Acknowledgment of our daily Sins and a judging our selves by the domestical Tribunal in our Breasts as worthy of Condemnation for though we cannot satisfy Divine Justice for the least Sin we must glorify it and with humility and fervency desire that God would graciously forgive our renewed Sins with unfeigned Resolutions and Care against them for the future Thus we are to sue out our Pardon for Sins committed every day And whereas many Errors in regard of our frailty and their fineness do slip from us we should with contrite Spirits implore the divine Majesty to cleanse us from our secret Sins such as through ignorance or inadvertency escape from our observation If we are obliged to be reconciled to an offended or offending Brother before the night and the Sun must not go down upon our Wrath much more to be reconciled to an offended God that his Displeasure may be atoned The Morning and Evening-Sacrifice was a Figure of the constant use of Christ's Merits and Mediation for us The secure neglect of renewing our Repentance for our renewed Sins deprives us of the Comforts of the Covenant and will make the thoughts of Judgment as heavy as Mountains upon the Conscience when 't is awakened out of its slumber But when the Soul's Accounts are kept clear with Heaven every day O what a blessed Rest does the penitent Believer enjoy in the Favour of God! O the divine Calm of Conscience when our Debts are cancell'd in the Book of God's Remembrance If we should be unexpectedly summoned to appear before the Judg of all the sight of our Sins will rather excite thankful Affections and joyful Praises of God for his Mercy that he hath pardoned them than fearful despairing thoughts of his Mercy that he will not pardon them And as this considering our ways leads to Repentance and is a Remedy for past Sins so 't is a powerful Preservative from Sins afterwards For as in War the greatest care is to fortify the weakest Part of a besieged Town and make it impregnable so a Christian by the experience of his infirmity and danger will be more wise and wary more circumspect and resolved against those Sins whereby he has often been foil'd to prevent the daily incursion and sudden surreption by them And according to the degrees of our Innocence we have confidence of Acceptance with God in Judgment Fourthly Let us improve with a wise and singular diligence the Talents committed to our Trust for in that day we shall be responsible for all that we have received All the Blessings we possess whether natural our Life our Faculties our Endowments our Health and Strength or Civil Honour and Dignity Riches and Reputation or Spiritual the Gospel in its Light and Power the Graces and Assistance of the Holy Ghost as they are Gifts from God's Love so they are Talents to be imployed for his Glory We are Stewards not Proprietaries for the Supream Lord does not relinquish his Right in our Blessings that we may dispose of them at our own pleasure but hath prescribed Rules for our using them in order to his Glory our own Good and the Benefit of others And 't is sad to consider that usually those who enjoy the greatest Gifts render the least Acknowledgments and the most abundant in Favours are most barren in Thankfulness Time that unvaluable Treasure that is due to God and the Soul the Price of which arises from the Work of Salvation to be done in it how is it squander'd away Conscience would blush at the serious reflection that every day so much is spent in the Business of the World or Pleasures and so little redeemed for Communion with the Holy God that as in the Prophetick Dream the lean Kine devoured the Fat so unconcerning Vanities take up that time that should be employed for our last and blessed End While Time is miserably wasted the Soul lies a bleeding to everlasting Death More particularly we shall be accountable for all the days of the Son of Man that we have seen all the special Seasons of Grace these we should improve for our Eternal Advantage to prepare us for the Divine Presence above But alas the Lord's Day that is consecrated for the immediate Service of God and should be entirely spent in it and in things that have a necessary subordination to it yet neither the enforcement of Duty nor incitations of Love prevail upon the most conscienciously to imploy it in spiritual Affairs If they afford their presence at the Publick Worship 't is thought enough and as if the rest of the Day was unsanctified Time they waste it either in Complemental Visits or Secular Business in Recreations or things impertinent to their Salvation Riches are an excellent Instrument of doing good Gold is the most precious and extensive Metal and by a marvellous Art an Ounce may be beaten out into some hundred Leaves but 't is a more happy Art by giving it to enrich our own Souls and supply the Necessities of many others But great Estates are often used to foment Mens vicious guilty Affections Pride and Sensuality and 't is called Greatness and Magnificence to waste them in sumptuous Vanities I instance