Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	acknowledge_v	act_n	admit_v	19	3	6.7795	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38026	Polpoikilos sophia, a compleat history or survey of all the dispensations and methods of religion, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things, as represented in the Old and New Testament shewing the several reasons and designs of those different administrations, and the wisdom and goodness of God in the government of His church, through all the ages of it : in which also, the opinion of Dr. Spencer concerning the Jewish rites and sacrifices is examin'd, and the certainty of the Christian religion demonstrated against the cavils of the Deists, &c. / by John Edwards ...	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1699 (1699)	Wing E210; ESTC R17845	511,766	792

was accepted And this passes for a general Opinion with us and not without a great shew of Reason for it seems to be founded on the Mosaick Law it self there we see that Idolatry Murder Blasphemy c. were always punish'd with Death unless the special Favour of God interposed There was no Sacrifice permitted to expiate the pro●anation of the Sabbath for it is expresly said Everyone that defileth the Sabbath shall surely be put to death Exod. 31. 14. Nor could he that eat the Sacrifice whilst he was in his Vncleanness be pardon'd for this is his Doom That Soul shall be cut off from his People Levit. 7. 20 21. There was no Sacrifice admitted for Adultery or for disobeying of Parents In short Sins of Ignorance only were expiated by the Mosaick Sacrifices but all Sins of Presumption remain'd unatoned which they prove from Numb 15. 28 30. The Priest shall make an atonement for the Soul that sinneth ignorantly But the Soul that doth ought presumptuously shall be cut off from among his People So that Sins of Obstinacy and Malice had no Sacrifice allow'd the Offenders were either put to death by the Magistrate or cut off by God But notwithstanding all this that is alledged it seems to me very evident that the guilt of all Sins whatsoever if they were heartily repented of was atoned by the Mosaick Sacrifices For when those of the other Opinion say there was no Expiation for greater Sins it must be meant either of Internal or External Sins Now it is generally confess'd that God appointed Sacrifices and Expiations for the greatest Sins of the Heart and Mind as Unbelief blasphemous Thoughts idolatrous Imaginations desires of Murder uncleanness of the Heart c. for even some of the best Men it is likely were not free from these mental Pollutions Who can imagine that there was no atonement for these under the Law Can we think that all perish'd who were at any time guilty of these No certainly they were pardon'd through God's Mercy upon Repentance and the appointed means of sacrificing And as for visible and outward gross Enormities tho there may seem to be no provision made in the Mosaick Law for their Expiation because the Offenders were presently punish'd with Death yet it doth not follow thence that there was no Expiation for those notorious Crimes for they might be expiated tho it was fitting and necessary that they should be animadverted upon by a severe Penalty le●t Impunity should encourage Men in Sin and Vice When we find then in Moses's Law that such as were guilty of Adultery Murder Incest c. were not exempted from Capital Punishment we cannot thence infer that Sacrifices purg'd none from the guilt of these Enormities and that the Legal Offerings were design'd only to expiate for smaller Aberrations for the reason why those great Offenders were punish'd was not because there were no Sacrifices and Oblations to clear them of their Guilt but because it was requisite Death should be the Recompence of those Crimes lest the Common-wealth should be endamaged and ruined by suffering such to go unpunish'd But even the guilt of these heinous Sins if those that committed them sincerely repented of them was expiated by those daily Offerings which were made for the Sins of the People and by the frequent Trespass-Offerings notwithstanding the infliction of the corporal Punishment The Propitiatory Sacrifices were available even to those who suffer'd for their Sins They were able through God's Appointment to remove the Guilt the not the Punishment Is it not acknowledg'd and that because it is manifest from several Instances that the Crimes of Persons have been forgiven and pardon'd tho they themselves were not exempted from the Penalty Moses's Death was the Recompence of his Unbelief tho none doubts of his expiring in the Divine Favour David was punish'd with the Death of his Child tho we read that his Sin was pardon'd Iosiah was justly snatch'd away in Battel because he ingag'd in it against the Divine Will and Command but yet he died in peace i. e. in the Favour of God and was transmitted to the place of Everlasting Peace and Happiness Wherefore I gather hence that tho Death was made by Moses's Law the penal Consequence of Adultery Disobedience to Parents Violation of the Sabbath Day c. yet whoever among such Criminals as these turn'd unto God by an unfeign'd detestation of the Sins they committed had without doubt the benefit of the Legal Sacrifices which expiated the Offences of all true Penitents tho they were never so great And the reason is this because this Institution or Ordinance of Sacrificing was the standing means of Salvation in the Jewish Dispensation and therefore it was requisite that the influence of it should extend to all Sinners that were heartily sorry for their Offences and abhorr'd their past Crimes yea and themselves for being guilty of them This we must grant unless we will say that no heinous Sinners under the Law were ever pardon'd and receiv'd to Mercy which is an assertion that is easily baffled by a great many Instances which the Old Testament records It was in the was of Sacrifices that these Persons had their Guilt remitted and expiated for there was no other Expedient or Remedy at that time as we are assured not only from the End and Design of instituting the Sacrifices which was to take away Sin but from those express words of the Apostle which refer to this manner of Expiation without shedding of Blood there is no Remission Heb. 9. 22. This then being the only way of Remission and Pardon of Sin it was certainly efficacious and even those who were cut off from their People tho this Doom doth not always signify immature Death and therefore can't be absolutely made use of here or were cut off from the Land of the Living and their Sins atoned by the Law of Sacrifices supposing as hath been said before that they repented from their Hearts of their vile and flagitious Miscarriages And this may be further made good from that plain distinction of Chattah and Asham the Sin Offering and the Trespass Offering the one being design'd to remove the Guilt of petty Declensions the other to make satisfaction for gross and enormous Crimes And moreover this is plain from Levit. 5. 4 15. where Sacrifices are commanded to be offer'd for great Crimes as unlawful swearing and sacrilege And the A●niversary Oblation in Levit. 16. 16 c. was not only for their Vncleannesses but for for their Transgressions in all their Sins But as for the sin of Presumption or sinning with a high hand as 't is in the Hebrew Numb 15. 30. it includes in this place Impenitence and final Obstinacy and therefore it is no wonder that there was no Atonement for it for even the Alsufficient Merit of Christ Jesus doth not expiate for this Sin but all other Sins were atoned by Sacrifices I see no reason to the contrary and therefore I

they the Negative Paracelsus philosophically attributes this Resuscitation to the mixture of a certain heat in the corrupted dead Matter as Frogs saith he are generated of Slime by the heat of the Sun This is his Blasphemous Nonsense which all Men of sober Reason deride and unanimously acknowledg that the restoring of the dead to Life is an Act of Supernatural and Divine Power and that the Key of the Grave as the Jews say belongs to God only And now to approach towards our Saviours Death a little before which he repeated that Act which he had once before done i. ● the driving the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple which may be justly reckoned amongst his Miracles for he could not have expell'd so many Men out of that place which they had made the place of their Merchandize and Gain without an extraordinary and omnipotent Arm. And by the same Almighty Power he struck to the Ground those that came to apprehend him Afterwards when he was on the Cross he converted one of the Thieves even just before his leaving the World which was a Miracle and a great one At the same time he caused a miraculous Eclips● for it must be reckon'd as such because it happen'd not after the natural and usual way which is by the Moons interposing between the Sun and the Earth which falls out only in the New M●on whereas when Christ suffered it was F●ll Moon viz. the 15 th Day of the Month Nisan the Passover-day And at his Death the Earth quaked the Veil of the Temple was rent asunder the Graves ●ere open'd and the dead arose which was the forerunner of our Saviour's Resurrection which followed soon after He that raised others raised himself from the dead the third Day which was a Confirmation of all his former Miracles And after he had visibly convers'd with his Disciples for a time he ascended up to Heaven and convey'd himself through all the Regions of the upper World even to the Mansions of Glory These were some of the Miracles of our Saviour But there were innumerable more which are not recorded which occasioned that great Hyperbole used in Iohn 21. ult Indeed Christ did so many and so great Miracles that the Unbelief and Obstinacy of the Iews notwithstanding all of them may seem to be as great a Wonder and Prodigy as any thing that happen'd Secondly the Apostles as well as our Saviour himself exerted many Miracles the holy Spirit being sent to them according to Christ's Promise to inable them to do them ●hey cured all manner of diseased Persons that were brought before them yea they could cure at a distance and by proxy By St. Peter's Shadow and St. Paul's Handkerchief a sanative Virtue was conveyed to the Sick and their Diseases departed from them Acts 15. 15. Acts 19. 12. This was a Gift which was equally wonderful and useful by virtue whereof Maladies were cured without any cost and the poor Patient needed not to fear a Relapse soon after from the sight of an Apothecary's Bill If it be objected that St. Paul left Trophimus at Miletum sick 2 Tim. 4. 20. and he cured not Timothy of his weak Stomach without drinking Wine 1 Tim. 5. 23. Therefore the Apostles had no absolute Gift of healing I answer 1. The Gift of healing was for the Confirmation of the Truth and for the Conversion of Heathens rather than for the recovering of Christians and therefore it is no wonder that they could not work this Miracle always and that some were heal'd not all 2. Miracles were not designed to make Men immortal on Earth Sicknesses and Diseases were not always to be cured for then none should die But it was sufficient that sometimes the Power of Healing was exerted that thereby it might be seen that the Apostles were inabled from Heaven and that a divine Power went along with them But it pleased God that at ordinary times Diseases should be cured by the use of Means and that an extraordinary Power should not be made use of 3. Those very Instances or any the like are a great Proof that God bore witness to the Apostles for hence it appeared that this Power was at Gods pleasure and disposal and not at their own they could not do what they pleased there was a certain Limitation which shews it was absolutely a divine and supernatural Power by which they healed Diseases Again another miracul●u● and extraordinary Gift confer'd on the Primitive Church to corroborate the Truth of Christianity and to convince the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles was speaking with diverse Tongues which was more especially serviceable to this end because hereby they could be understood by Persons of diverse Countries and Languages and so by this Means the Propagation of the Gospel was further'd Thus by the same way by which the building of the Tower of B●b●l was hindred did the Apostles afterwards pull down the strong Holds of Satan and build up the Christian Church Of this extraordinary Gratuity the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 12. 10. To another saith he 〈◊〉 given diverse kinds of Tongues to another the interpretation of Tongues i. e. one had the Ability to speak strange Languages and another was enabled to interpret them and make them intelligible So that it seems these two Gifts did not always concur in the same Person at least at this time in the C●rint●ian Church But however they were both of them the effects of a supernatural Power And by this Miraculous way the Apostles frequently dispossessed Devils who in those days tormented the Bodies as well as Souls of Men. They had power also to raise the dead which was seen in St. Peter's raising of Dorcas Nay the Miracles which the Apostles did were greater than Christ's and so he himself had promised Iohn 14. 12. He that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater Works then these shall he do The Apostles were able to speak strange Languages which they never learn'd a Miracu●ous Gift which our Saviour never exerted th● he could But this is the main Reason why the Wonders which the Apostles wrought are said to be greater than those of our Saviour because they were more large and extensive they were done in all parts of the World where the Apostles preach'd Besides the Fruit and E●●ect of them were greater their Converts were more numerous they won by them far greater Multitudes of Souls to the Christian Faith Thus you have a sho●t account of the various Miracles both of Christ and his Apostles 2. ● am to shew that these Miracles of our Saviour and his Apostles were really true and not counterfeit Miracles Here I have two things to do 1. To shew you what are true Miracles and how they differ from ralse ones 2. To prove that the Miracles of our Saviour and his Followers were such First Let us enquire into the true Nature of a Miracle These are the five grand Properties of it 1. It is

that were Beheaded for the Witness of Iesus we are to understand all Martyrs that were put to Death for Professing Christianity the same that are mentioned Rev. 6. 9. they that were slain for the Word of God and the Testimony which they held This particular manner of Death B●heading is specified because it was most in use at that Time This was the capital Punishment that was frequent both among Iews and Romans as Dr. Lightfoot hath observ'd and proved and we read that Iohn the Baptist the first Martyr for Christ underwent it And not only those that suffer'd Death but all other holy Men that had any other Punishment of a lesser sort inflicted on them are here intended for one kind of corporal Punishment is mentioned here to denote all the rest which is a way of speaking very usual not only in the Holy Scriptures but in other Writings They who had not worshipped the Beast nor ●is Image nor received his Mark upon their Foreheads or in their Hands are those Religious and Holy Persons who keep themselves unspotted from the Pollutions of Antichrist and do not in any kind whatsoever comply with them or allow of them These St. Iohn saw as well as the others before mentioned And they lived which may refer to this latter sort of Persons only and not to the former that is to those who had not worshipped the Beast not to the Souls of them that were Beheaded For you may observe that it is expressed thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and whosoever which shews these are a distinct Company from the others mentioned before Therefore to the latter must be applied those Words they lived i. e. these Persons were free'd from Persecution under the happy Reign of Christ which was now come Thus it is not absolutely necessary that we should interpret this concerning the deceased Martyrs the Souls of them that were Beheaded but only concerning the Saints then in being those that worship not the Beast and consequently here is no ground for the Resurrection of the Martyrs before the Last and General Resurrection as a Recompense of their former Sufferings as some Persons imagine Or suppose that they lived refers here to these Martyrs yet still we cannot conclude thence their rising from the Dead for it is only barely said they lived not they revived or rose from the Dead What then was this Living here spoken of which is the Introduction to the Thousand Years No other certainly than this that whereas many of the Faithful Servants of Christ had been put to Death for the Testimony of Iesus and other Religious and Holy Men had been as it were kill'd in former Times in the same Sence that 't is said we are killed all the Day long Psal. 44. 22. i. e. they were persecuted injured and abused now they shall live now they shall flourish now they shall be free'd from Persecution and enjoy Peace and Rest. Not that the individual Persons that really lost their Lives shall thus live upon the Earth but the Church is here considered as a successive Body as is usual in this Book of the Revelation and elsewhere The Meaning then is this though the Christians in the preceeding Ages were cruelly and inhumanly treated by their merciless Persecutors though the Church in those Times labour'd under great and unspeakable Miseries yet upon the Entrance of the joyful Millennium for there shall be on Earth such a Millennium though not of that Nature which the Ancient Chiliasts asserted all these troublesome and afflictive Things shall cease and the Faithful shall be put into the Possession of an undisturbed Repose and Serenity But because not living again is mentioned in the next Clause some may think that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here is of the same import with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there and therefore they lived must be equivalent with they revived which is as much as they rose from the Dead Granting this it doth not follow that it is to be understood Literally and Strictly i. e. of a Real living again after Death or of the rising of their dead Bodies out of the Grave It is a Figurative way of speaking and it is probable is an Allusion to Ezek. 37. 11 14. Behold O my People I will open your Graves and cause you to come up out of your Graves And I will put my Spitit or breath into you and you shall live Which Words speak not of a Bodily Resurrection as at the first Hearing they may seem to do but of Israel's rising out of a low captivated Condition in Babylon Your Graves shall be open'd and ye shall live i. e. you shall be restored to your own Land again and there live in Plenty and Prosperity There is no Expositor of any Account but interprets the Words thus And indeed there are several other Texts which back this Interpretation for in Psal. 71. 20. 80. 18. Isa. 26. 19. Hos. 6. 2. Reviving and Rising again are used to express a comfortable and prosperous Condition So that one would a little wonder how it comes to pass that some Writers who have made enquiry into the future State of the Christian Church take this Place in the Revelation in a Literal Sense and perswade themselves that it speaks of a Bodily Resurrection of the Saints when it may so conveniently be taken in a Metaphorical and Mystical Sence nay when they themselves at other Times are so delighted with this latter One of them acknowledges that the killing of the Witnesses Rev. 11. 7. and their Bodies lying dead is not meant of a Literal Death and with great Diligence he labours to prove it and indeed performs that task very laudably and in many other Places in this Book he flies to a Mystical Meaning Why then may not the Living or Living again of the Saints be understood here in the same manner The other is known to be a great Asserter of an Improper and Figurative Sence in Scripture But see the Unhappiness of his placing it he that expounds the Third Chapter of Genesis which is a plain downright History in a Mystical and Allegorical way to the enervating of a great part of Revealed Religion interprets this Passage in the Revelation where Mysteries and Figures are so common in a Literal Sence But I think I have shew'd from the Tenour of this Place that a Real Corporeal Resurrection i. e. a returning of departed Souls into their Bodies again is not here meant but that a Political or Civil Resurrection is the Thing here spoken of that is the Christian Church after its great Troubles and Mortifications shall revive shall as it were rise out of its Grave and as the Excellent Dr. Hammond Paraphrases on the Place there shall be such an universal Profession of Christianity as if all the departed good Christians had been alive again and were come upon the Stage of this World once more Or the Reader may make use of the Apostle's Words in Gal.