Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	aaron_n	house_n	place_n	17	3	3.7280	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A92710	Meanes to prevent perishing. Or, The usefulnesse of the saving knowledge of God. Discovered in these particulars; I. The blessed tendency the knowledg of God hath to bring men to salvation. II. The one-ness of the Father, Son, and Spirit. III. The excellency of Christs person. IV. The excellent nature of eternal life. By W.S. a servant of the Lord Jesus.	W. S.	1658 (1658)	Wing S198; Thomason E955_3; ESTC R207616	60,676	76

to me and hate not his father and mother wife and children brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my disciple Mark it beloved here you see how far you must exceed in your love to God above the love that you ought to bear to any even the dearest thing in the whole world unto you our Saviour you see gives us to know that when Parents or Children wife or life the which nothing can be dearer comes in competition with Christ we must be so far from loving any of them above the Lord that we must in comparison of the love we bear to him indeed hate them lesse cannot be in the words then this much if so be as if Christ should say freinds when it comes to that that you cannot enjoy the neer and dearest thing that you have in the world upon which your hearts are most set without doing something that will be contrary to my will and glory rather than you should sin against me or dishonour my holy Name you ought to forsake them and cast them away as if you did not love them at all but rather hate them and all this is to be done through that exceeding love that I look you should bear to me beyond what you ought to have for all those things that are most dear unto you and may in a measure be beloved of you Thus it ought to be but I pray you examine how it is whether you do thus love him or no or whether there be not some relation or else which is worse some vanity or sin that hath stolen the greatest part of your affiections from God look to your hearts I beseech you and take heed that you be not found amongst those men that are lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God or in some other such like sin nay suppose it be a child or some other dear relation that thou preferrest before the glory of God take heed thou pay not as dear for this sin as Eli did his sin was this that he preferred the honour of his Sons before the honour of God and therefore must both his Sons fall by the Sword in one day beside what fell both upon himself and upon his house for ever Mark also what Moses saith to Aaron his brother Levit. 19.3 upon the occasion of the death of his two sons this is it that the Lord hath said I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified Which is as much as if Moses should say thy sons have dishonour'd God and therefore for the glorifiying of his own Name he hath out them of and the text saith that Aaron held his place shewing thereby his great respect to the honour of God that if the dearest things he had were taken away if it did but make for the glory of God he had not then one word to say here is a very worthy example I pray you let us follow it and if we see at any time that any thing that is never so dear unto us must be taken away if it make for the honour and glory of God yeeld it up with all willingness and be sure that what ever you give him else give him the heart for with less then that he will not be pleased The next duty that I shall lay before you is the fear of God I pray you consider what a great deal of reason you have to fear this most glorious and only true God and to fear him only for he it is that can do you good or hurt he can do either and none in the World can hinder him if God undertake to be a mans defence all the world cannot hurt him although they put forth their utmost power for the Lord will find out a thousand wayes to deliver a man from the strongest Tyrant in the world likewise if the Lord set himself against a man there is no delivering of him forth of his hand all the power and wisdom in the world cannot do it therefore stand in awe of him and do not let the fear of man cause you to turn out of the way of the Lord it is much better for to make all the men in the world your enemies yea even your dearest Friends and all rather than God But I pray you fear him as God not slavishly but as it becomes Children let the fear and dread of his great Name awe your hearts continually and remember that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God but withall consider his love and compassions to sinners his wisdom and faithfulness as well as his righteousness and power that your fear of him may be mixed with love to him and confidence in him that so a child-like reverence and an humble awe may be continually upon your hearts and take heed that the fear of man do not snare you remember what Isaiah saith to this Isai 51 12.13 Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the Son of man that shall be made as grass and forgettest the Lord thy Maker that hath stretched forth the Heavens and laid the foundations of the earth here you see how the Prophet reasons us out of this sin First he asketh Who he is that fears man intimating that it is some strange Creature some coward or fool one that hath strangely forgot himself and he shews the Reason First the man shall dye that is feared and therefore a foolish thing to fear him that shall neither live to reward him nor to punish him Secondly he shall be made as grass and what wise man would fear so vain a thing as grass a powerless creature that can neither help nor hurt a man Thirdly and that which makes the sin very great is this that while a man fears man he forgets God Now there be three Considerations more in this thirteenth verse that should keep up the fear of God in the heart and should likewise keep down the fear of man First he is our Maker Secondly He stretcheth out the Heavens Thirdly He layeth the foundations of the earth As if the Prophet should say if a man would consider the workmanship of God when he looks to the Heavens or when he looks to the earth and considers the glorious works that God hath done in both or if a man did but look upon himself and consideringly mind how he is made and who is his Maker he would never be so foolish as to suffer the fear of man so to prevail to the eating out of the fear of God out of the heart but would walk alwayes in the fear of him who is alone to be feared and meet to be had in special reverence of all that comes about him But I shall proceed to the third duty and that is dependance upon this only true God Beloved there is no other that you can trust in but in him you may trust safely a

eternal life and hinder you from walking in the path that leades unto it and so deprive you of it as unavoidably as sin it self can do it and as you are to avoid these evils on the one hand so on the other it will be meet to wait on the Lord Jesus for the sweet tastes of his love the which when you have once experience of you wil by that earnest penny know something of the riches worth of eternal life now for that end I beseech you wait attentively for the Lord in the use of al his Ordinances for there he wil be found in them in the assemblies of his people you may expect to find him because it is his walk but take notice I pray you that a negligent formal overtly use of them I do not call for but be sure you make it your business to look for him and to injoy communion with him and to tast and see as David saith Psalm 348. how good the Lord is if you look for him with that intention and desire as the Church did Cant. 5.8 you will be sure to find him he will not long hide himself from such a soul but among all other duties I could wish that you would watch to meet with him alone and there open your hearts to him freely and tell him the very worst you know by your selves and that with an intent and an indeavour to shame and humble your selves before him and be you assured that he will exalt you in due time let him know what you would have and be sure to follow him dayly consider what counsel he gives you himself Mat. 7 7 8 9 10 11. Luke 11. from the 5. to 14. the 18. the 8 first verses and if you follow this counsel you may be sure that the Lord will graciously open his heart unto you at last and give you such a taste of the water of life that will set your souls a longing for your fill thereof and that wil make you both do and suffer for Christ with much chearfulness and willingness Vse 2. The second use is this if it be so that there is so rich a portion attainable as eternal life then be sure to take a speedy course for the getting a clear assurance of your own interest in that happy injoyment do not trifle your time away any longer but set upon the work without delay and to that end that you may make sure work observe the counsel of the Apostle Peter in his second Epistle 1.5 to the 12 you shall find two things minded by Peter in this text in order to the getting of a full assurance The first of these is to lay the foundation of Christianity in true beleeving that is clear in these words Add to your faith vertue implying that faith must needs be there for it is impossible to ad vertue to it else Now therefore in the first place although you be never so impenitent and wicked yet rest upon the grace of God in Christ yea if you think also that you have attained some vertue patience or love or other fruits of the Spirit yet do not as Saints but as sinnets rest upon the blood of Christ remember I pray you that neither works done nor grace received is to be rested on for Justification but we are justified in and through beleeving and resting upon the blood of Christ who freely justifieth men as they are sinners ungodly ones and therefore note it well neither their repentance nor love but faith is imputed for righteousness look Rom. 4. And by faith are we become the sons of God Galat. 3.26 I do not say but there are some promises made to the saints as they are saints such as are in Psal 34.10.17 19 many other like there be and with these the godly may comfort themselves and none but those that are saints can claim an interest in them yet notwithstanding that translating act as I may so call it in and through which a man is made of a child of wrath a child of light I say again that thing or means that maketh him a Son of God that was none before is this act of beleeving and resting on the blood of Christ as a man considereth himself a sinner and ungodly without the least degree of worth in himself and as a beleever resteth on the blood of Christ for justification so likewise he expecteth from the free grace of God in and through the same blood sanctification glory outward things and in a word all things appertaining to life and godlyness for true faith desireth and resteth upon the Lord for the accomplishment of all the promises that he hath made as well as for any of them The second means that Peter directs us to use for the getting assurance of eternal life is to add to our faith vertue knowledg temperance patience godliness brotherly kindness and charity under which heads are concluded all the graces and fruits of the Spirit of Christ these saith he you must add to your faith these you must abound in and as it is in the 3 chap. and last verse grow in and then if you grow in grace and persevere in well-doing and abound therein more and more you shall saith he never fall but have an abundant enterance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour ver 10 11. As if he should say by this means you shall be able to keep and injoy a clear and constant assurance of eternall life and this is to be done by giving dilligence ver 10. I pray you observe it my brethren dilligence must be used it is not a lazy formal profession and an overly careless performance of duties that will either give or keep assurance of salvation a man must be ready to open to the spirit when he knocketh and to hearken to his motions and take heed of rebelling against him and labour to avoid all those unworthy courses that tend to grieve and to quench the spirit and if you thus do you may be assured the spirit will not fail to do his office but he will give unto and maintain in the soul assurance of eternal life and that will be a most sweet injoyment the man that hath it may want friends riches health and outward contentments but he cannot want comfort joy and peace his soul shall be full of consolation however the world goes with him or against him and he shall be able in the worst of times to say that both life and death shall be to him advantage Vse 3. And in the last place this may serve to reprove the folly of all those that spend all their time and strength in the pursuit of the things of this present life with the neglect of the life that is eternal and therefore well might Solomon term wicked men fools for indeed their courses are madness and folly and indeed there is no folly to be compared to this of running after the trifles and empty