Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A64974
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A warning given to secure sinners to prepare for judgement, to flee from wrath to come, and turn from all sin but especially the sin which does most easily beset them / by Nathanael Vincent ...
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Vincent, Nathanael, 1639?-1697.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing V424; ESTC R5754
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48,160
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81
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pieces A mighty Lord Christ is at whose Command Death shall deliver again all that for so many years he had imprisoned in the Grave he has indeed the Key of Death and Hell too Rev. 1. 18. both are under his Power at his Command also the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works therein shall be burnt up There is no dealing with this Judge by way of resistance it concerns us all to be diligent that we may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless 2 Pet. 3. 10 14. 4. Christ the Judge will come with a most glorious Attendance How awakening to the World will the Voice of the Arch-Angel and the Trump of God be Christ will appear with a light far above the brightness of the Sun not a Member of his but shall shine like that glorious Luminary Mat. 13. 43. Then shall the righteous shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father And what a spectacle will all the Saints together be as so many millions of Suns shining at Once and their Lord in the heighth of Glory at the head of them He will be revealed also with his mighty Angels these excellent Spirits at his Command ministred unto his Members on Earth and they will wait upon the Head at the day of his appearing and his Kingdom There is much Work for the Angels to do at the Worlds end they are compared to Reapers that are safely to gather the Wheat and to bind the Tares in bundles for the fire Mat. 13. 41 42. The Son of Man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth The greatest Train of Nobility and Courtiers that attend at the Coronation of the highest Emperour on Earth are but a poor shew to an innumerable Company of Angels for all in Heaven will be with Christ at Judgment to do him honour who is indeed the Head of all Principality and Power Thus of the Judge In the second Place I am to speak of the Persons that are to be judged The Text takes in All therefore none shall be exempted and none in a vain and foolish imagination should exempt themselves It will be a general Assize at which all the Sons and Daughters of Adam shall appear 1. The highest and greatest of Men will be brought to Judgment Death makes bold with them as well as others and enters the stateliest Palaces the strongest Forts as well as the Cottages of the meanest The Rulers and Conquerors of the World that caused Terror in the land of the living yet they are made to bear the shame of their Weakness and Mortality they are brought down to the Pit their Swords are laid under their Heads their Hands being able to hold them no longer Ezek. 32. 27. And if Death is not afraid to seize them surely Christ will not be afraid to Judge them This mighty Lord regards not the persons of Princes nor the rich more than the poor Job 34. 19. I have said ye are Gods speaking to the great Ones of the World but ye shall dye like Men Psal 82. 7. Princes are greater Worms other Men are lesser but all must call Corruption Father and when they come to stand before Christs bar foregoing earthly Dignity will be insignificant all must stand upon even ground And truly those great Ones of the World that have abused their Power and by a bad example drawn many to Sin and to Hell after them their greatness will but Increase their Account and Misery 2. As the greatest so the Meanest must be brought to Judgment though there is never so vast a multitude God takes notice of them all now and none of them must think to ofcape in a crowd then The Apostle speaks plainly of Individuals Rom. 14. 12. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God Those that live most private and retired are under Gods continual Inspection they that are of the lowest rank and quality whom there are that disdain so much as to look upon yet God sees them The Sun shines upon a Mole-hill as well as upon a Mountain upon a Shrub as well as upon a Cedar upon a Fly as well as upon an Emperor and truly the All-seeing Eye of God beholds the low as well as the high and there is not any one of them all but shall be made to render an account of all his doings 3. Righteous Ones must stand before Christs Judgment-seat All his Members must appear before Him their Head but shall be dealt with after a different manner from others Grace and Love makes a difference now but how highly magnified will the Grace of Christ be in the difference it makes at that Day to find Mercy of the Lord in that day which the Apostle Prays Onesiphorus might find 2 Tim. 1. 18. when the greatest part of the World shall with a strong hand the Ear being deaf to all their cryes be turned into everlasting fire this is great Mercy indeed great as the Heaven is high above the Earth The Righteous shall appear but they shall be set at their Lords right hand to shew his peculiar Favour to them and they shall joyfully own what that Hand has done for them Christs Appearing will be glorious and so will be the appearing of his Saints then 't will be understood what 't is to be a Saint Col. 3. 4. When Christ who is our life shall appear than shall ye also appear with him in Glory A Question is here started by some Whether the Sins of the Righteous shall be then made known The Scripture plainly tells us That when the Sins of such come to be sought for there shall be none and that they shall not be found none of them shall be imputed or laid to their charge none shall be so discover'd in Judgment as to rise up in Judgment against them to Condemn them But since there will such a light shine at that day that will make all things manifest both good and evil suppose the Iniquities of the Righteous should be made known to the whole Creation such will be their Purity such will be their Blessedness and Joy that there will not be the least room for shame or sorrow at the discovery But when all the Sins that have been Forgiven and Purged shall be revealed others as well as themselves will be filled with Wonder at the Blood of Jesus and the powerful Grace of God. 4. As the Righteous so the Wicked must stand before Christs Bar they would fain not come thither but there is an irresistible Power to force them The Malefactor who is Condemned for Murther Rape or Treason would fain decline the Judges View he is Self-condemn'd and therefore fears the Judges Sentence but the Gaoler the
you whom you shall fear fear him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him Yes he is indeed worthy to be feared It was a saying of one Omnia supplicia graviorum suppliciorum vincuntur formiâ—ine all Punishments are overcome by the fear of greater Punishments When thou art called forth to bear Testimony to Christ and to his Truth before a sinful and an adulterous generation though thou seest Wracks and Wheels though thou seest Flames and Furnaces of scalding Lead be not affrighted at the matter the Grace and Comfort of the Spirit of Christ shall be sufficient to carry thee through these Pains and these are nothing compared with the Vengeance of eternal fire which will be inflicted upon those that draw back unto perdition VSE III. Of Direction How this whole Congregation may escape the Damnation of Hell. I hope every Eye is broad awake and should not every Ear be open and every Heart exceedingly attentive when Directions concerning this are given The Directions are these 1. If you would escape Hell think of Hell the effect of Sin so long 'till you utterly fall out with Sin the Cause Sin is the only way that leads to Hell shun that way and you are safe Depart from evil and though possibly you may become a Prey in this World ye Satan shall not make a Pery of you If Sin had never entred into the World none in the World would have been turned into Hell if neither Men nor Angels had sinn'd against God there would have been no such thing as Hell in being Oh! View the Flames that are so furious and that will last for ever and then consider Sin was that which kindled them and the demerit of Sin is so infinitely great that it hinders them from being ever quenched Does thy Pride expose thee to Damnation never be Proud more Will thy Earthly-mindedness bring thee to Hell Oh cease thy loving the World and the things that are in the World 1 Joh. 2. 15. Will any Sin that rules in thee and that thou art willingly subject to reign unto Death and ruine thee for ever Oh be unwilling that any Sin should reign any longer and if Sin be out of thy Will 't is out of the Throne Cry with David Psal 119. 133. Order my steps in thy Word and let no Iniquity have the dominion over me Weary you must be of Sins dominion as well as fear Hells Damnation You must not think to go to Heaven and carry your beloved Lusts along with you thither if you are resolved to hold fast these you and they will go to Hell together 2. If you would escape Hell take notice how the door of Hope is open to the very worst of you Those that are gone far in Hells road and are within a step of the burning Lake t is possible for them to be catched as firebrands out of the burning The door is open to day I advise you to enter presently I cannot assure you 't will stand open 'till tomorrow While it is called to day harden not your hearts Heb. 3. 8. Though you are fallen by your Iniquities yet if you will Now return to the Lord there is hope for the very worst of you past Sins shall all be buried if there be a present Conversion Redemption is plenteous and that should abundantly encourage all to Hope and Turn Psal 130. 7 8. Let I srael hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him there is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities 3. If you would escape Hell you must be sure to look unto Jesus Lord Jesus Turn every Eye to thee and cause every Heart to open and receive thee Those that were stung with the fiery Serpents liv'd notwithstanding if they lookt unto the brazen Serpent Those that are in danger of Hell and have very well deserved it shall be delivered from it if by Faith they look to Christ Isa 45. 22. Look unto me and be ye saved all ye ends of the Earth Look unto him for Pardon look unto him for Converting Cleansing and Renewing Grace look unto him to be the Author of true Faith in you and having been the Author to be the Finisher of your Faith also Heb. 12. 2. Christ was for saken that you might graciously be received by the Lord He was Condemn'd to dye and suffer'd Death upon the Cross that you might be deliver'd from eternal Death and Condemnation that this was his design is plain Joh. 3. 16. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should scape Hell and be brought safe to Heaven should not perish but have everlasting life HEB. 12. Part of v. 1. And the Sin that does so easily beset us IN the foregoing Chapter the Apostle discourses concerning Faith which is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen He declares at large the wonderful and glorious effects that this Faith produced in the Saints under the Old Testament By Faith these Believers denyed themselves by Faith they Conquered the whole World not fearing its siercest Persecutions despising all its Wealth all its Pleasures all its Glory and confessed they were strangers and sojourners on the Earth By Faith they saw Him that is invisible and looked for a City that that hath foundations whose builder and maker is God. Now in this Verse where my Text lies the Apostle applyes unto those believing Hebrews to whom he writes what he had spoken concerning their faithful Fore-fathers These are called a Cloud of Witnesses Witnesses they were concerning what truly concerning the Vanity of all things that are seen that are but temporal Witnesses concerning the excellency of those things that are not seen which are eternal They are styled a Cloud because of the greatness of their Number and perhaps there may be some allusion to the Cloud in the Wilderness that guided Israel into Canaan For though our Lord Jesus was typisied by that Cloud and he is the unerring Pattern and Example whom we are bound to follow yet in Scripture we are advised also to follow the foot-steps of the Flock and in this very Epistle to be followers of them who through Faith and Patience inher it the Promises The Course of a Christian in this World is compared to a Race this Race must be run that the Prize at the end of it may be obtained and that we may run it the better we are removere prohibens to remove Impediments to lay aside every Weight and the Sin that does so easily beset us In the Words I have read there are three things observable 1. Here is an Inimation of a Danger and that is from Sin Sin and Danger are inseparable how can it chuse but be prejudicial to him that 's guilty of it you may as well imagine Hell to be without Pain as Sin to be without Peril 2. The