Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	death_n	life_n	sin_n	9,880	5	5.5192	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77498	The drinking of the bitter cup: or, The hardest lesson in Christ's school, learned and taught by himself, passive obedience. Wherein, besides divers doctrinall truths of great importance, many practicall directions are held forth, for the teaching of Christians how to submit to their heavenly father in suffering his will, both in life and death, patiently, obediently, willingly. / As it was lately presented to the church of God at Great Yarmouth, by John Brinsley, minister of the Gospel there.	Brinsley, John, 1600-1665.	1660 (1660)	Wing B4713; Thomason E1838_1; ESTC R210133	201,893	311

it a Conqueror but made it a Conqueror in them and over them Such was Christ and that even upon the Crosse Having spoyled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it saith the Apostle Col. 2.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In and upon his Crosse that being to him as a Chariot of Triumph where he conquered and triumphed over all the powers of Hell This did he by the power of his Godhead Which was to his Manhood as one maketh the comparison even as the hook is to the Bait R●●●ous in Synibol 〈◊〉 Cyp●●anum which not only keepeth it from being devoured by the Fish but taketh the Fish which swalloweth it Such a bait was the Flesh the humane nature of Christ a Worm as David saith of himself Psal 22.6 I am a Worm frail weak flesh and this bait was exposed to those Levi●thans Satan Hell Death all which bite at it ready to devour it Hell opened her mouth upon him the Grave swallowed him up so as he seemed now for ever lost I but there was a hook within this bait the divine nature which was as it were cloathed and covered over with this Flesh and by the power hereof this Infirmity of Christ as the Apostle there calleth it in that Text forenamed his humane nature though in it self weak and frail was made not only able to suffer but to overcome in suffering So as to lead Captivitie captive even as the Fish is taken by the Hook which it had swallowed down 5. Efficaciam dedit The Divine nature gave efficacy to the sufferings of the Humane Giving efficacy to those sufferings making them effectuall for the ends intended for the satisfying of divine Justice and the meriting salvation for his Elect people which without the concurrence of the divine nature they could never have been So Damascene rightly Patienti carni conjuncta est divinitas Patienti carni conjuncta erat Divin●●● menens imp●ssiblis 〈◊〉 u● 〈◊〉 essent sal●●● Dama●c O●thod Fid. 3. c. 15. To the Humanity of Christ suffering was joyned the Divinity which in it self remained Impassible yet gave vertue and efficacy to those sufferings making them meritorious and saving As for the humane nature alone that could have merited nothing at least not for others Though it had sulfilled the Law as it did yet could there not have been any super-erogation in that due obedience so as the merit thereof should extend beyond it self And whatever it had suffered yet being in it self but finite it could not have made an infinite satisfaction such as the Justice of God required for the sins of the world It was the divine nature concurring which made this Obedience of his both Active and Passive so meritorious which gave such vertue to these his sufferings causing the merit thereof thus to overflow the banks to extend to the whole world of his Elect. This it was which made this satisfaction in the value of it infinite inasmuch as though it was made in a finite nature yet by an infinite person God shedding his blood that Person who was so The divine nature being personally united to the humane whilest it suffered it gave efficacy to those sufferings Thus did this our High-priest the Lord Jesus as the Apostle telleth us Heb. 9.14 through the eternall spirit offer up himself unto God His divinity offering up his humanity as Aaron did the sacrifices who was therein a figure of Christ as God and giving efficacy to that sacrifice making it to be of an infinite value and vertue for satisfying and sanctifying Here have you an enumeration of five particulars wherein the Godhead of Christ concurred with his Manhood in suffering But I shall no longer insist upon this Thus you have the first of these Queries resolved How this Cup was given to Christ how he was the subject of this Passion The Second is yet behinde of which briefly Why did God the Father thus give this Cup to his Son Christ Q. 2 Why God ●ave this Cup to his Son Why to him And Why only to him So we may divide the Question into two Q. Q. 1 1. Why did God the Father give this Cup unto him Why to him A. This he did not for his own sake A. not that he deserved any such thing Not for his own sake not that there was any fault in him As to this we have his Judge for his Compurgator Pilate having throughly examined him though questionlesse he sought matter against him before he passeth sentence upon him acquits him declaring to his Accusers that he found no fault in him I finde in him no fault at all vers 33. of this Chapter whereof the Text is part which he inculcates once and again in the Chapter following Cap. 19. v. 4. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no cause at all why they should proceed against him in such a manner as they desired nothing worthy of death Man could finde no fault in him nor yet did God his father finde any who by a voyce from heaven gave this testimony to him at his Baptisme This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased Mat. 3.17 He was then well-pleased with him Neither had he any cause to be afterwards displeased with him he being obedient to his Father in all things So he was throughout his whole course not being guilty of any sin whether in his nature or life He was that immaculate lamb of God as St. Peter calls him 1 Pet. 1.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lamb without blemish and without spot Without blemish free from Originall corruption That holy thing which shall be born of thee saith the Angel to Mary speaking of her Son Luk. 1.35 And without spot Free from all actual sins and transgressions He did no sin neither was there guile found in his mouth 1 Pet. 2.22 Thus was he as the Apostle describeth him Heb. 7.26 Holy Harmlesse undefiled separate from sinners So as there was no desert in him why his Father should give this Cup to him why he should afflict and put him to grief in this manner that he did This was not for his own sake But it was for our lake But ours He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all Rom. 8 32. Even as Joseph was sold into Egypt that he might save much people alive and Jonas was cast over-board that the rest which were in the Ship might not perish Thus was this bitter deadly Cup given unto Christ that it mgiht be a wholesome Cup a Cup of salvation unto others He suffered for us So the Prophet sets it forth most fully in that known Text Isa 53. Surely he hath born our griefs and carryed ou● sorrowes vers 4. He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him vers 5 all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own

of Approbation but Permission Ordination Alsted Pos●m p. 465. Here we must distinguish There is a twofold will in God Voluntas approbationis complacentiae and Voluntas Decreti Permissionis Ordinationis A will of approbation whereby he willeth that a thing should be done as well-pleasing to himself And a will of Permission and Ordination whereby he willeth to permit a thing to be done and to order it in the doing and when it is done Now in this latter way did God will this wicked act of the Jewes not by way of approbation giving them any allowance for what they did but only by way of permission and and Ordination he willed to permit them to doe it and then to order what they did making use of it for those righteous and gracious ends which he had propounded to himself Fourthly and lastly He did conour in the very act it self as in delivering his Son into their hands Gods concurring in this Act not sinful so in powering them for the executing of what he had d●creed Quest But how could this be without sin Bellarmine left to his shifts To this Bellarmin and some of the later Jesuites return Answere Deus non efficit actionem illam quae homini est peccatum ut causa particularis sed ut causa universalis praebens vim influxum quendam indifferentem communem ad illam actionem ad contrariam qui à concursu secundae causae Innita●ur Bellarm. ●ubi suprà That God doth concurre with the Creature in finfull actions not as a particular but as a generall an universal cause affording to it only a kinde of generall influence and assistance which in it self is indifferent to carry it this way or that way to the doing of this action or the contrary to it good or evill the determining whereof is left to the Creature it self to the liberty of mans own will But as for this new device of theirs Gods concurrence in humane Actions more then generall Vid. Alvarez Disp 21. we finde it justly rejected by others of their own who look upon it as well they may as not a little derogating from the wise Providence of God making it to be confused and imperfect and altogether uncertain which it must needs be whilest it dependeth wholly upon the Creature for the determining of the event of it Absit quod Deus quicquam velit in universali consuse illud nolit in particulari distincte Bradward l. 1. c. 34. For a man to spur and put on his Horse leaving him to choose his own way all would conclude it to be no wisdome in the Rider And for God thus to leave the Creature to it self for the determining of its own actions whilest he only affords such a generall concurrence A. it derogates not a little from his Wisdome In every sinful Action two things the Act it self and the Deficiency in it And therefore to leave them More soundly for the resolving hereos take we notice that in every sinfull Action there are two things the Materiale and the Formale as some call them there is the Act it self and the Inordination or Deficiency in that Act. A known Distinction usually explained and cleared up to vulgar capacities by those plainer and obvious similitudes In a horse that halteth there is his going and his halting the one is the act it self the other is the deficiency in that act So in a crackt Bell when it is struck there is the sound and the jarring Even so in every sinfull actien in sins of Commission for in sins of Omission there is nothing but deficiency there is the Act it self and the inordination in that act Instance in the case in hand the Jewes putting Christ to death there was the Act their crucifying of him and the inordination in that act the evilnesse of the action which was their doing it without a warrant and with such evil intents and purposes as they did Now to apply the distinction As for the Act it self God the Author of the one not of the other that action in the doing whereof the Creature sinneth God hath a hand in it and that not only in the ordering and disposing of it but concurring in it he being the principal Agent and the Creature only his Instrument in acting of it But for the deficiency the inordination wherein properly lyeth the evil of the Action and so the sin that is the Creatures own God is not the Author of that nor any cause of it at all This is a mans own work the fruit of his own Corruption which is properly the Mother of all sin as Satan is the Father of it How this may be those forenamed similitudes do very fitly illustrate A man that spurreth a lame horse or strikes a cracked Bell he is the cause of the motion of the one and of the sounding of the other but not of the halting or jarring that is from themselves So here the motion or action is from God without whom as I told you the Creature cannot move but the deficiency therein is from man himself Siene aer sole Iucente per vitrum coloratum lumen habet a sole colorem a vitro sic hominum actiones malae habent a Deo ut sint ab hominibus ut malae sint Alsted Theol. Polem p. 402. And so that other made use of by some later Divines expresseth it well The Sun shining through a coloured glasse it is the cause of the light but not of the colour that is from the glasse it self Thus doth God make use of man as his Instrument in doing of this or that action in acting whereof the man sinneth the action here is Gods the sin is the mans own So is it with all sinfull Actions they have their existence their being from God their evilnesse from man Now apply this generall to the particular case in hand Applyed to the present c●se God did concur with Judas and the High-priests and the rest in all those acts which they did in putting Christ to death They were herein but his Instruments it was God that acted in them and by them Thus the Act was his but the sin was theirs So it is No action in it self is simply evill as it is an action To put a man to death is not evill in it self The Judge pronounceth sentence against a Malefactor and the Executioner exeutes it and it is evil in neither But to put a man to death without Authority or without cause to do it wrongfully or cruelly there is the evill That Christ was put to death by the Jewes it was Gods action and in him as I have shown you not unjust but that they did it without warrant without cause maliciously and cruelly that was their sin How Gods Providence reacheth to the evill of sinfull actions which God had no hand in Q. But what then doth the Providence of God reach only to

must needs reflect upon their profession What doth the Christian profess which he doth to look upon this World as a troublesome and tempestuous Sea and upon Heaven as his harbour which he is continually bending his course to and shall he yet be unwilling to leave the one and put in for the other when providence cals him to it Such practise doth not answer the Christians Profession 2. A disparagement to Gods Religion Neither is it a small disparagement to Gods Religion What shall Pagans and Heathens who have nothing but false principles to ground their resolution upon viz. that there is no life after death or some airye fances as that by dying in an honourable cause for their Country or the like they shall merit eternall honour to themselves so living when they are dead or some vain dreames such as those Poeticall fictions of the Elysian fields or of Mahomets Paradise an imaginary happiness after death shall these I say upon such grounds be able to incounter this Enemy to look death in the face nay to make a mock and a scorn of it as some of them have done And shall Christians tremble at the thoughts of it What a dishonour is this to Gods Religion As also unto Jesus Christ the Captain of their salvation whose Souldiers they professe themselves to be Which taking notice of let all those who professe themselves the Disciples of Christ labour to work their hearts to such a well grounded Resolution that they may be not unwilling to lay down their body and yeild up their Soules when God shall call for them Q I but you will say how shall a Christian attain hereunto Q. How shall a Christian attain hereunto It is a thing indeed to be much desired that the heart might be thus setled and stablished against the fear of death I but how shall it be brought to this frame this temper thus to look this last enemy in the face with such an unapalled countenance thus to drink this bitter Cup as our blessed Saviour here did with such Resolution such Willingnesse A. A point of great importance A. being of a general an universal concernment Helps prescrib●d well worthy of my paines in speaking and your attention in hearing Were it so that the heart of a Christian were once brought to such a frame that he might stand upon such tearms with death as not to be afraid of it how happy should he be both in life and in death Life would be sweet to him and death would not be bitter To help you therefore and my self therein give me leave to present unto you some brief directions which may be usefull in this way Of these we may meet with many there being no one there more copious then this I shall only gleane as Ruth is said to have done among the sheaves which others have gathered taking up some of those handfuls which they have let fall selecting some which are obvious and usefull These for the help of your memories I shall as in the former point reduce to those two heads of Contemplation By way of contemplation and Practise and Practise Begin with the former 1. Contemplation Where we shall find many useful truths Contemplations which being wrought upon the heart Seriously pondered and considered may serve as so many Antidotes for the preventing or expelling of that slavish and inordinate fear which hinders this resolution Of these some are Morall others Divine 1. Morall Morall or Naturall Considerations such as Sense and Reason hold forth Of this kind are those two obvious ones touching the Commonness of death and the Inevitablenesse of it 1. The Commonnesse of it This is a Common Cup which all our Fore-Fathers have drunk of Death a common Cup. A suffering which daily experience tels us that all sorts and conditions of persons are alike subject unto Be they young or old rich or poore Prince or Peasant Wise or simple How dieth the Wiseman Even as the fool Eccle. 2.16 In this no difference Do not all go to one place Eccles 6.6 And shal we see such crouds going before us and yet be afraid to follow after them Have those who have been before us gone off from the stage of this world to make room for us And shall we be unwilling to do the like for those that are to come after us 2. The Inevitablenesse unavoidablenesse of it Al must drink of it As this is a common Cup so all must drink it As all sorts so all individuals every particular person What man is he that liveth and shall not see death and shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the grave Psa 89.48 I know that thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living Job 30.23 Now as the Moralist reasoneth Stultum est timere quod vitari non potest A vain and foolish thing it is to fear what we cannot shun Whereunto may be added two other of the like kind viz. The Vanity and Misery of Life 3. The Vanity of this life there being nothing upon earth that can give any true contentment to the Soul Vanity of Vanities saith the Preacher The Vanity of life Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity that is the Tekel which the wisest of men out of his own experience sets upon the world and all things in it Eccl. 1.2 He had tryed all things as he there telleth us what ever might promise any contentment but he could never find what he sought for But the contrary So he informs us verse 14. I have seen all the works that are done under the Sun and behold all is vanity and vexation of Spirit Not only not giving any true contentment but creating a great deal of trouble and disquietment to the Soul which is inordinately addicted to them or afflicted with them So as there is nothing which this life affords which being weighed in a right ballance should make a man so in love with it as not to be willing to part with it 4. Nay there is enough in it to wean the soul from it The misery of it viz. the misery of it This Job renders as a Reason why he himself was not desirous to live but rather to dye I am made saith he to possesse months of Vanity and wearisome nights are appointed to me Job 7.3 He found not only no delight and contentment in his condition but a great deal of trouble and misery which made him even weary of his life And the like troubles in some kind or other are all men here subject to Man is born to trouble as the sparks flye upward saith Eliphaz Job 5.7 Man that is born of a woman is of few dayes and full of trouble saith Job Job 14.1 Few and evill have the dayes of the years of my life been saith the Patriarch Jacob Gen. 47.9 Few in comparison with many of his fore-fathers and evill in regard of the manifold

it is day Joh. 9.4 And the like do we whilest the day of life lasteth be we working the works of God that so we may have finished our work before the night of death cometh The labourer having wrought hard in the day and finished his work this maketh the night welcome to him and his rest sweet and comfortable And so will the night of death be to the soul that hath been working for God it will now be to it a quiet rest This made our blessed Saviour so willing now to dye he had finished his Fathers work I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Joh. 17.4 And this made the Apostle so confident as not to fear his departure when he apprehended it at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith 2 Tim 4.7 He had been faithful to his Lord and M●ster in doing the work which he had committed unto him And thence he concludes that he should now receive his Crown that Crown of righteousnesse as he there cals it an ample reward which the righteous God would give him for all his service Whereupon he is not unwilling to think of his departure O that every of us may indeavour thus to approve our selves to God and Jesus Christ thus to work his work whilest our day lasteth Then when the evening of death cometh we shall be sure to have our Peny Which being assured of it will make us not unwilling to go to receive it 4. Be frequent in casting up our accounts Dir. 4 Be frequent in casting up our accounts betwixt God and our souls The day of death is the reckoning day wherein every one must give up his account unto God Give an account of thy Stewardship for thou mayest be no longer Steward saith the Master ' in the parable to his Servant Luk. 16.2 In this life we are all Gods Stewards being betrusted by him with many Talents which we are to improve for him And hereof at the day of death we must give an account to him O that the thought of that day may not be terible to us make up our account aforehand And this do we often They who are frequent in casting up their accounts are not unwilling to be called to a general reckoning which they who have bin remiss careless herein would be Surely this is one thing which maketh men so unwilling to hear of death when it cometh they have then all their accounts to cast up Take heed it be not so with us Be we strict and constant observers of our own hearts and lives Often calling our selves to an account making it our daily work Every night reflecting upon the day past call we to mind according to that trite direction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. wherein we have transgressed what evil we have committed what good we have done or left undone So making even betwixt God and our souls by suing forth our discharge in the name and upon the account of Jesus Christ This exercise being conscientiously performed it will be of speciall use to make this great reckoning day not unwelcome to us when it shall come 5. Dir. 5 That we may not be unwilling to depart hence Lay up a stock in heaven and to leave this world send somewhat afore us into that other world Laying up a stock in heaven 1. A stock for our selves That is our Saviours counsel For our selves a flock of good works Matth. 6.2 Laye up for your selves treasures in Heaven This do we by doing of good works as works of Piety so of Charity Sell that you have and give almes provide for your selves bags which wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not saith that parallel Text Luk. 12 33. A man that hath his chief estate in another Country which he hath made over by bils of exchange or put into the banck there he will not be unwilling upon a just occasion to follow it Now such are acts of charity and mercy being done for Gods sake they are as so many bils of exchange made over for heaven a stock put into the banck where he who hath so put it out shal at his coming thither receive it again with abundant increase He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord and that which he hath given he will pay him again Prov. 19.17 O that rich men to whom God hath given abundance of this worlds goods and whose care it is to make the best improvement of what they have would but take this Course thus to make themselves friends of their Mammon as our Saviour adviseth them Luk. 16.9 that so when they fail when they dye they may receive them into everlasting habitations This would make them not so unwilling to dye as for the most part they are and that upon this account because they must leave what they have in this world and have no stock layed up in another 2. For others a stock of prayers And thus laying up a stock in heaven for our selves do the like also for others laying up a Stock a Stock of prayer for them Which whilest we do for all Gods people whom we leave behind us do it in a special manner for our near and dear Relations So did our heavenly pattern here The Lord Jesus whom in the Chapter before the text we find upon his knees putting up a devout prayer unto God his Father as for his Church in general so for his Apostles in speciall I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me Joh. 17.9 And the like let them do who are to leave near and dear Relations behind them Wives Husbands Children kinred friends lay up a stock of prayers for them in Heaven whereof they may reap the benefit when themselves have left them This will make them the lesse unwilling to leave those whom they have thus provided for In the sixth place Dir. 6 having thus laid up our best treasure in heaven Set the house in order now set we our houses in order upon earth That is the Counsel and charge which the Lord giveth to Hezekiah when he sent him those tidings that he must dye he bids him set his house in order Isai 38.2 Set thine house in order for thou must dye and not live A thing of great use as in reference to the living who shal be left behind so also to him who is to depart hence who having thus setled his temporal concernments in this world will be more ready for his removal into another when God shall call him to it And therefore let not this be neglected by those who have ought to dispose of Let them be careful to make their Wills and Testaments before hand So also did this our heavenly pattern the Lord Jesus who at his last Supper having ordered other things before he then finished his Will and Testament setting his Seal to it Of such use was that Sacrament then and there instituted the Sacrament of the Lords Supper being as a seal set by Christ to his Testament for the confirming of all his former grants and assuring of whatever he had promised Now what he did as to Spirituals let those who would be ready to dye when God will have them doe as to Temporals Setling them aforehand Not putting off this work as too many do to the death bed which as it is attended with many other inconveniences so it often proves no small disquietment to the spirit of the dying person making him loath to leave this world in so unsetled a condition as through this his former neglect in reference to his own relations and concernments he is like to do Set thy house in order Which being done Dir. 7 now in the last place to close up all what remains but to commit the Soul unto God Commit the soul to God Which that we may do quietly and comfortably in death as our blessed Saviour did who breathed out his Soul in those words Father into thy hands I commend my spirit Luk. 23.46 do we it before do it in Life So did David Psal 31.4 Into thy hands I commit my spirit So did the Apostle who making a confession of his faith to his Son Timothy 2 Tim 1.12 there tels him I know saith he whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day His precious soul this was his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Depositum that which he had committed to the custody of God and Jesus Christ And the like do we that we may be willing to depart hence as he was commit we our souls unto God aforehand Which do we first by Faith believing on him which the Apostle there saith he did casting our selves into the armes of his free grace and mercy through Jesus Christ Then by obedience committing the keeping of our souls unto him in well doing as unto a faithful Creatour as St. Peter exhorts 1 Pet. 4. last indevouring carefully and conscientiously to walk before him in all wel-pleasing all the daies of our life So doing now as we shall have comfort in life so when death cometh we shall have no cause to be afraid of it And thus have I now through a gracious assistance preached this doctrine unto you which I look upon as the hardest lesson in Christs school Now what remaineth but that we all beg it of our great Lord Master that he would so effectually teach it us that as occasion is we may practise what we have heard shewing our selves conformable to this our heavenly Pattern as in his Active so in his Passive Obedience being obedient to our heavenly Father as in doing so in suffering his Will even Obedient to death For which let us now pray FINIS

crosses which he met with And the like more or less must every one make account to meet with upon earth even a succession of troubles like waves of the Sea where depth calleth unto deep one Crosse following upon the neck of another So as the more daies the more sorrows All which serve to wean the heart from this world as the infant is from the brest by laying bitter things upon it 2. Divine But I shall not any longer insist upon these or any other Arguments of the like nature The Resolution of a Christian must be built upon better grounds then these If God shall please to open the eyes of a naturall man to see death as it is it is not any or all of these or whatever other Arguments Reason can suggest that will bear up the soul against the terrors of it They must be Cordials of a higher extraction that will strengthen the heart in this last conflict divine Considerations such as the word holdeth forth Of these take a few among many 1. In the First place Look upon God who hath appointed and determined Let our eye be upon God our Father whose Cup this is So was our Saviours here The Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it And so must theirs who would drink this Cup as he did submit unto the stroke of death patiently and willingly they must see God in the ordering and disposing of it looking upon it as his appointment Which it is he having 1. Appointed that men shall die It is appointed to men once to die Heb. 9.27 Appointed viz. That men shall dye by God who as he is the Lord of life so he is the appointer of death Having passed a generall law for it Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. Which Law also he executeth upon particular persons bringing them to death I know that thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living Job 30 23. So it is however secondary Causes concur in bringing men to their Graves yet God himself hath the principall stroke in it Death being his Messenger sent by him He hath appointed that men shall dye Which taking notice of look we upon it as our duty to submit hereunto when he calleth us to it 2. As he hath appointed that men shall dye so when they shall dye The time when Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth viz. how long he shall-live Job 7.1 His dayes are determined the number of his Moneths are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot passe Job 14.5 So certain are Gods decrees concerning the time of mans life that he cannot go beyond the term limited the Year the Moneth the Day the Hour set down Father the hour is come saith our Saviour speaking of the time appointed for his suffering of death Joh. 17.1 3. As the time so the place As the time when so the place where The place where that is also determined by God Goe up into Mount Nebo and die there saith the Lord to Moses Deut. 32.50 Our Saviour must goe up to Jerusalem and there suffer many things and be killed so he tells his Disciples Matth. 16.21 4. And appointing the time and place he also appointeth the manner The manner how how men shall dye what kinde of death whether naturall or violent So it was determined concerning our Saviour that he should die upon the Crosse be crucified which he acquaints his Disciples with Math. 20.19 And so concerning Peter to whom our Saviour foretells by what death he should glorifie God Joh. 21.19 And so is it determined concerning every of the sons of men as when and where so how they shall dye None of these are left to Chance and Fortune Time place manner all appointed by God Which being seriously considered and believed it will be of great use to bring the heart to a quiet and willing submission to the will of God in suffering what he hath so appointed Thus look at God In the Second place look we upon Jesus Christ Look upon Jesus the Captain of our Salvation as the Apostle calleth him Heb. 2.10 Where behold we him 1. Drinking of this Cup before us Suffering death And shall not we then pledge him Shall the Captain goe before and shall not the Souldiers follow after Malus miles qui Imperatorem gemens sequitur He is but an ill Souldier that weeps when he is to march after his Generall Shall our Joshua go before us over this Jordan and shall not we go after him It was a good Resolution in that man that Scribe had he held to it who said to our Saviour Master I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest Mat. 8.19 Such should be the Resolution of every Christian to follow Christ when he cals him to go after him though it be to Mount Calvary or Golgotha the place of a skull as both those words signifie and the latter of them is expounded Joh. 19 17. and Mat. 27.33 the Caemeterie or Church-yard as we call it 2. And whilest we behold him suffering of death behold we also the issues of this his suffering Conquering it as St James saith of Job Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord Jam. 5.11 What Issue God was pleased to give him which was very joyfull and comfortable So here looking upon Christ submitting to his Father in suffering of death behold we the end of the Lord the issue of this his suffering which was victorious and glorious Victorious Even as David cut off the head of the Philistine with his own sword so did this our David by dying he conquered death which he manifested in his Resurrection Where he brake the bands of death rising again by his own power and so became the first born from the dead as the Apostle calleth him Col. 1.18 Now the first born openeth the womb for those that come after him And so hath Christ opened the grave for all true believers so as it shall be no more able to hold them then it was him Thus was the issue of this his conflict with this his last enemy victorious And as victorious so Glorious we see Jesus who was made a little lower then the Angels for or through 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour He. 2.9 In this way he entred into his glory Luk. 24.26 Through this dark entry he went into his heavenly palace And so shall they who do herein follow his steps being obedient as he was Obedient to the death 3. Look we upon death it self But here look upon it in Look upon death it self Not in the glass of the Lawe but gospell and through a right glass Not that of the Law but of the Gospell The glasse of the Lawe presents the face of it as ghastly and terrible holding it forth as a