Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	heaven_n	life_n	name_n	2,965	5	5.6454	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26872	A call to the unconverted to turn and live and accept of mercy while mercy may be had as ever they would find mercy in the day of their extremity from the living God / by his unworthy servant, Richard Baxter ; to be read in families where any are unconverted.	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1658 (1658)	Wing B1196; ESTC R2096	107,933	375

when the civiler sort do delude themselves by thinking that they are Converted already when they be not O Sirs Conversion is another kind of work then most are ware of It s not a small matter to bring an Earthly mind to Heaven and to shew man the amiable excellencies of God till he be taken up in such Love to him that never can be quenched to break the heart for sin and make him flie forrefuge unto Christ and thankfully embrace him as the l●fe of his soul to have the very drift and bent of the heart and life to be changed so that a man renounceth that which he took for his felicity and placeth his felicity where he never did before and liveth not to the same end and driveth not on the same design in the world as formerly he did in a word he that is in Christ is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 He hath a new understanding a new will and resolution new sorrows and desires and love and delight new thoughts new speeches new company if possible and a new conversation Sin that before was a jesting matter with him is now so odious and terrible to him that he flies from it as from death The world that was so lovely in his eyes doth now appear but as vanity and vexation God that was before neglected is now the only Happiness of his soul before he was forgotten and every lust preferred before him but now he is set next the heart and all things must give place to him and the heart is taken up in the attendance and observance of him and is grieved when he hides his face and never thinks it self well without him Christ himself that was wont to be slightly thought of is now his only hope and refuge and he liveth upon him as on his daily bread he cannot pray without him nor rejoyce without him nor think nor speak nor live without him Heaven it self that before was lookt upon but as a tolerable reserve which he hoped might serve turn as better then hell when he could not stay any longer in the world is now taken for his home the place of his only Hope and Rest where he shall See and Love and Praise that God that hath his heart already Hell that before did seem but as a bugbear to frighten men from sin doth now appear to be a real misery that is not to be ventured on nor jested with The works of holiness which before he was weary of and seemed to be more ado then needs are now both his recreation and his business and the trade that he lives upon The Bible which was before to him but almost as a common book is now as the Law of God as a Letter written to him from heaven and subscribed with the name of the Eternal Majesty it is the Rule of his thoughts and words and deeds the commands are binding the threats are dreadful and the promises of it speak life to his soul. The godly that seemed to him but like other men are now the excellentest and happyest on earth And the wicked that were his play-fellows are now his grief and he that could laugh at their sin is readyer now to weep for their sin and misery Psalm 16.3 15.4 Phil. 3.18 In short he hath a New End in his thoughts and a New Way in his endeavours and therefore his Heart and life is New Before his Carnal Self was his End and his pleasure and worldly Profits and Credit were his Way and now God and everlasting Glory is his End and Christ and the Spirit and Word and Ordinances Holiness to God and Righteousness and Mercy to men these are his Way Before Self was the chief Ruler to which the matters of God and Conscience must stoop and give place and now God in Christ by the Spirit Word and Ministry is the chief Ruler to whom both Self and all the matters of Self must give place So that this is not a change in one or two or twenty points but in the whole soul and the very end and Bent of the Conversation A man may step out of one path into another and yet have his face the same way and be still going towards the same place but t is another matter to turn quite back again and take his journey the clean contrary way to a contrary place So it is here A man may turn from drunkenness to thriftiness and forsake his good fellowship and other gross disgraceful sins and set upon some duties of Religion and yet be going still to the same End as before intending his carnal Self above all and giving it still the Government of his soul. But when he is Converted this Self is denyed and taken down and God is set up and his face is turned the contrary way and he that before was addicted to himself and lived to himself is now by Sanctification devoted to God and liveth unto God before he asketh himself what he should do with his time his parts and his estate and for himself he used them but now he asketh God what he shall do with them and he useth them for him Before he would Please God so far as might stand with the Pleasure of his flesh and Carnal Self but not to any great displeasure of them But now he will please God let Flesh and Self be never so much displeasd This is the great change that God will make upon all that shall be saved You can say that the Holy-Ghost is your Sanctifier but do you know what Sanctification is Why this is it that I have now opened to you and every man and woman in the world must have this or be condemned to everlasting misery They must Turn or Dye Do you believe all this Sirs or do you not Surely you dare not say you do not For t is past doubt or denyal These are not Controversies where one learned pious man is of one mind and another of another where one party saith this and the other saith that Papists and Aanbaptists and every Sect among us that deserve to be called Christians are all agreed in this that I have said and if you will not believe the God of Truth and that in a case where every sect and party do believe him you are utterly unexcusable But if you do believe this how comes it to pass that you live so quietly in an unconverted state Do you know that you are Converted and can you find this wonderful change upon your souls Have you been thus born again and made anew Be not these strange matters to many of you and such as you never felt upon your selves If you cannot tell the day or the week of your change or the very Sermon that Converted you yet do you find that the work is done and such a change indeed there is and that you have such hearts as are before described Alas the most do follow

an executive power But when the Memorial Book of God is opened which is written for them that fear the Lord and think upon his name and when the Lord shall say of them These are mine as he is making up his Iewels and spareth them as ● man spareth his Son that serveth him then shall those Infidels ●●turn to their wits and the righteous shall return from their fears and sufferings and shall discern between the Righteous and the Wicked between those that served God and those that served him not Mal. 3.16 17 18. Another Objection I find most common in the mouths of the ungodly especially of late years They say We can do nothing without God We cannot have grace if God will not give it us and if he will we shall quickly Turn If he have not predestinated us and will not Turn us how can we Turn our selves or be saved It is not in him that wills nor in h●m that runs And thus they think they are excused I have answered this formerly and in this book but let me now say this much 1. Though you cannot cure your selves you can hurt and poison your selves It s God that must sanctifie your hearts but who corrupted them Will you wilfully take Poison because you cannot cure your selves Me think you should the more forbear it You should the more take heed of sinning if you cannot mend what sin doth marr 2. Though you cannot be converted without the special Grace of God yet you must know that God giveth this Grace in the use of his holy means which he hath appointed to that end and common grace may enable you to forbear your gross sinning as to the outward act and to use those means Can you truly say that you do as much as you are able to do Are you not able to go by an Ale-house door or to shut your mouths and keep out the drink or to forbear the company that hardneth you in sin Are you not able to go to hear the word and think of what you heard when you come home and to consider with your selves of your own condition and of everlasting things Are you not able to read good Books from day to day at least on the Lords day and to convers● with those that fear the Lord You cannot say that you have done what you were able 3. And therefore you must know that you can forfeit the Grace and help of God by your wilful sinning or negligence though you cannot without Grace turn to God If you will not do what you can its just with God to deny you that grace by which you might do more 4. And for Gods Decrees you must know that they separate not the end and means but tie them together God never decreed to save any but the sanctified nor to damn any but the unsanctified God doth as truly Decree from everlasting whether your Land this year shall be barren or fruitful and just how long you shall live in the world as he hath Decreed whether you shall be saved or not And yet you would think that man but a fool that would forbear plowing and sowing and say If God have Decreed that my ground shall bear corn it will bear it whether I plough and sow or not If God have decreed that I shall live I shall live whether I eat or not but if he have not it is not eating that will keep me alive Do you know how to answer such a man or do you not If you do then you know how to answer your selves for the case is alike Gods Decree is as peremptory about your bodies as your souls If you do not then try first these conclusions upon your bodies before you venture to try them on your souls see first whether God will keep you alive without food or rayment and whether he will give you corn without tillage and labour and whether he will bring you to your journeys and without your travel or carriage and if you speed well in this then try whether he will bring you to heaven without your diligent use of means and sit down and say we cannot sanctifie our selves And for the point of Free-will which you harp so long upon Divines are not so much disagreed about it as you imagine Augustine as well as Pelagius Calvin as well as Arminius the Dominicans as well as the Iesuits all do generally maintain that man hath Free-will but the Orthodox say that Free-will is corrupted and disposed to evil Epiphanius condemned Origen for saying that man had lost the image of God and makes it a point of Heresie And yet one may truly say that man hath lost Gods image and another may truly say that he hath not lost it For there is a twofold image of God on man the one is Natural and that is Our Reason and Free-will and this is not lost The other is Qualitative and Ethical and this is our Holiness and this is lost and by Grace restored No man of brains denyeth that man hath a will that 's Naturally free It s free from violence and its a self determining Principle But it is not free from evil Dispositions It is Habitually averse to God and Holiness and enclined to earthly fleshly things It is enslaved by a sinful byas This no man me thinks that it a Christian should deny and of the Aged I see not how an Infidel can deny it Alas we easily confess to you that you have not this Spiritual Moral-Free will which is but your right Inclination and your Habitual Willingness it self If you had a will that were freed from wicked Inclinations I had no need to write such Books a● this to perswade you to be willing in a case which your own salvation lyeth on To the grief of our souls we perceive after all our preaching and perswasions that the ungodly have not this spiritual free wil. But this is nothing but your willingness it self inclination to be willing and therefore the want of it is so far from excusing you that the more you want it that is the more you are wilful in sin the worse you are and the sorer will be your punishment And our preaching and perswasion and your Hearing and Considering are the appointed means it get this Moral power or Freedom that is to make you truly willing Well Sirs I have but three requests to you and I have done First that you will seriously read over this small Treatise and if you have such as need it in your Families that you would read it over and over to them and if those that fear God would go now and then to their ignorant neighbours and read ●his or some other Book to them of ●his subject they might be a mean● of winning of souls If we cannot intreate so small a Labour of men for their own salvation as to read such short Instructions as these they set little by themselves and will most justly perish Secondly when you have