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A94070 XXXI. select sermons, preached on special occasions; the titles and several texts, on which they were preached, follow. / By William Strong, that godly, able and faithful minister of Christ, lately of the Abby at Westminster. None of them being before made publique. Strong, William, d. 1654. 1656 (1656) Wing S6007_pt1; Thomason E874_1; ESTC R203660 309,248 523

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Ezek. 33.31 and after vain glory in prayer Mat. 6.5 for if ever grace have the advantage it is then when a man stands before the Lord and that sin bear it down at best duties it argues that lust is exceeding powerful in a man and he is exceedingly unclean Now for some rules to judge of the perfection of this work how a man comes neerer to it take these five First The more clearly a man discerns and the more fully his heart is affected with spiritual sins the more clearly he can discern them for as all sins proceed from darkness so every sin encreaseth darkness the more unclean any man is the more blind he is therefore Paul could not only see Satans pitched battles against him but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 2 11. the stratagems and ambushes that he used not only the temptation it self but Satans plots and purposes in tempting the depths of Satan Rev. 2.24 And the more he is affected with them the more bitterly he doth condemn them and mourn for them as David for his base dejection Psal 42.11 his carnal confidence in the creature Psal 30.6,7 his secret grudging at the prosperity of the wicked Psal 73.21,22 Agur for his brutishness in regard of spiritual things Prov. 30.2 Surely I am more brutish then any man and have not the understanding of a man Hezekiah for the pride of his heart 2 Chron. 32.26 for as a mans graces grow more and more in the new man inward in the old man so will his lusts and temptations be and therefore they that be still exercised about outward and bodily lusts it argues a small cleansing in them but the more a man considers that God is a Spirit and his eye is most upon the Spirits of men and that these defiling lusts before God make him most like unto the Devil who is spiritual wickedness and he saith My house and land and estate is worth so much but my heart is nothing worth Prov. 10.20 for consider if it were with me as with Maximenius and some of those Roman Emperours through their exceeding gluttony their bodies bred vermine continually how loathsom should it be for you to think and to have reason so to do but I am a man of a corrupt mind 1 Tim. 6.5 and that continually breeds vermine and will at last the worm that never dyes and this makes a man loath and abhorr himself it is a good sign of a clean heart Secondly The more a man hates and is afflicted and gos mourning for not only the raigning but the being of sin as it was with the Apostle that sin had never rebelled that it had never led him captive yet his body of death makes him miserable Rom. 7.24 the very being of it when it is with a man in regard of sin as it was with leprosie the Type Lev. 14.44,45 When they had scrapt about it and carried out the dust then they shall sweep it again then if it break forth again the house must be pluckt down So when a man hath done all he can by removing the dust and by carrying out the rubbish and yet lust will spread then to be contented and desire to have the house dissolved the house of nature that the building of sin might be destroyed 2 Cor. 5.2 it is an Argument of a great measure of purity Thirdly The more speedily a mans heart is awakned to turn to God after sinning it was a sign that Davids heart was in a clean frame when his heart smote him assoon as he had cut off the lap of Sauls garment 1 Sam. 24.5,6 and of Peter that immediately he went out and wept bitterly Math. 26. ult The first note was that a pure heart keeps it self that the wicked one toucheth him not but the second is speedily to return and cleanse a mans self after falling Davids heart was in a defiled frame that he could lie well nigh a year in the sins of Adultery and Murder without repentance the heart of a man is a fountain Mat. 12.35 that preserves it self pure and in its first glory as a fountain doth but if mudd do at any time enter into it it will be continually working of it out and it is as truly an argument of purity as the other and when a man repents that will also afflict him that God was forced to use so many means with him before he could be brought to repentance that Ephraim bemoans Ier. 31.18 Fourthly The more jealous a man is of himself upon every occasion Mat. 26.22 How far am I guilty in this sin Is it I Lord Fifthly The less a mans heart is affected and the less he is taken with worldly things Gen. 15.1 Rev. 12.1 Hem Germana illa Bestia and as Moses and Ioseph prefer the good of the people of God before any worldly advantage of their own Sixthly The more truly glad a man is and can bless the Lord that he hath been pleased to cross him in a way of sinning let God cross Ahab and he is in a rage better meet a Beare robbed of her whelps then meet a wicked man God hath crossed in a way of sinning Pro. 17.12 cross David in a way of sinning and he blesseth the Lord. And David said to Abigail Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with my own hand The Motives thereunto are these five First this fits a man for communion with the Lord and makes his communion more clear for what communion hath light with darkness Christ with Belial and though a man be godly and so hath fellowship with the Father and with his son Christ 1 Joh. 1.6 yet if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lye if therefore walking in darkness take away all fellowship then the more a man walks in darkness the less fellowship he hath therefore the promise to a clear communion is unto such as separate themselves for then God saith I will receive you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will dwell in you 2 Cor. 6.16,17 which notes clear and neer communion Secondly It is a special means to be imployed that God should use a man 2 Tim. 2.21 If a man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel to honour san●tified and meet for the Masters use c. and so Mal. 3.3 and Godly men be as happy in their services as in their rewards on the contrary it is a Judgement to be despised of God so as not to be used a vessel wherein he takes no pleasure Ier. 22.28 The earthen vessels leprous must be broken they are of no use Thirdly this will make a man ready and willing to do service for it is corruption that is the clog that hinders from service Heb. 12.1 Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily
The spirit of God came down in the likeness of a Dove A Dove as it is without guile so is it without gall also and a righteous man is not only thus within but in his conversation his light shines before men he is alwayes walking in his uprightness Secondly In his death and so he is said to perish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word in the Hebrew is either put for temporall or eternal death Iohn 3.16 that they should not perish but have everlas ting life but here it 's meant of temporal death the disunion between the Soul and the Body and so to perish is to dye Matth 8.25 Master save us else we perish And it 's said also they are taken away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in unum colligere They are gathered unto their Fathers here in this world they are scattered and some live in one place some in another but death is a gathering there is fasciculus viventium even a bundle of the living as the tares are bound in bundles so is the wheat also Thirdly After his death the Soul in this life is full of trouble here in this life but a little peace enters into him my peace I give unto you but then after this life he shall enter into peace here a little joy enters into him but then he shall enter into the Masters joy for ever and for their bodys they shall rest in their beds as the grave is commonly called it being the sweet sleeping place as 2 Chron. 16.14 it is said of Asa that he slept with his Fathers and they buried him in his own Sepulcher and laid him in a bed which was filled with sweet odors c. Secondly Here is a publick loss bewailed the righteous perish and there is no man that doth apponere cor Mich. 7.1 woe is me for I am as the Summer-gatherings the good man is perished out of the Earth the taking away of the godly is the great loss and matter of great mourning unto those that survive Thirdly Here is a publick and a common evil reproved the foolish and unthankful world is no whit affected with the loss of those of whom the Lord says the world was not worthy of and this want of affection is grounded upon the want of consideration no man lays it to heart no man understood that they were taken away from the evil to come Fourthly Here is a secret of providence discovered godly men are taken away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à faciebus mali from the evil to come there being a storm coming the Lord doth hasten to gather in the Corne into the barne before-hand That I should speak unto al these cannot be expected at this time there are only three points that I shall pick out of them all First Godly men dye not as other men doe it is peculiar unto them to enter into peace and rest in their bed c. Secondly Godly men are usually taken away in mercy before an evil come Thirdly When they are taken away it should be unto them that survive matter of serious Consideration Affliction and Lamentation First This is made the peculiar portion of the righteous and mercifull men at their death they shall enter into peace Doctrine Godly men dye not as others doe there 's a great difference between them and others in their death There is indeed a great deale of difference between men in their lives they are men of another spirit of another generation they walk by other principles they aim at other ends they live upon other comforts then others doe and therefore they are men of another value and esteem they are the excellent ones when the greatest amongst men if they be wicked are vile persons they are amongst men as gold amongst the dust of the Earth and as diamonds amongst the common pebles in the streets But the great and the grand difference between them is in their deaths there is something in a special maner in death peculiar to the Saints and this we are specially to observe Psal 37.37 the end of that man is peace this Balaam could observe Numb 23.10 There is a death peculi●r to the righteous Proverbs 14.32 The wicked shall be cast away in his wickedness but the righteous hath hope in his death The opposition shews the difference When a godly man shall be gathered a wicked man shal be destroyed cast away and when the godly man dyes he dyes in hope but the wicked man at death he breaths out his soul his life and hope together But seeing they do both dye the righteous man as well as the wicked we see also that wise men dye as well as those that are foolish and for the manner of their death to outward view there is a great resemblance Eccles. 2.16 as dyes the fool so also dies the wise man yet there is a great difference Ahab and Iosiah a wicked and a gracious King they both dyed for the manner of their deaths it was much alike they dyed both in War with the same words in their mouthes turn thy hand for I am wounded and yet it s said of the one he dyed and was gathered to his fathers in peace though he dyed in War What is therefore in death that is peculiar to the Saints how dyes the wise man this will be seen in three things First in respect of the persons dying Secondly in respect of death it self Thirdly in respect of the fruit and the consequence of death First In reference unto the person dying for a godly man dyes in the Lord. Rev. 14.13 he doth sleep in Iesus 1. Cor. 15.18 which implies two things First an union with him a being in him Secondly A dying in him by the power and efficacy of the same union now we doe not only reade in Scripture of our being in Christ but also living in him working in him bearing fruit in him c. Now a man doth live in Christ when by the Almighty working of the Spirit of Christ the Graces of Christ appeare in him and he lives no more according to Men in the Flesh but according to God in the Spirit so we are said to die in him when by the Power of the Spirit of Christ by vertue of our union with him we do exercise these dying graces that were in Christ for their be in him living and dying doing and suffering graces and when by vertue of our Union living by the faith of the son of God a man doth exercise these Graces then is a man said to dye in Christ work in him suffer in him live in him so that a godly man dies in the Lord he is one with him and even in death the Mystical union is not dissolved and the dying graces that were in Christ and which a Saint doth receive by vertue of union with him those graces he doth exercise as Christ doth for he dies in him Secondly He dies in Faith First in respect of himself
together for good by their Covenant all things are yours whether life or death c. 1 Cor. 3.22 Now this dealing of God with men living in the Church under the same Ordinances and enjoying the same priviledges being so different there can be no reason given of it but meerly the different Covenants under which they stand for God hath been and is alwaies mindful of his Covenant and according to it doth alwaies dispence himself to the creature Vse Let it awaken every natural man to seek for a translation Thy misery by sin stands in two things First that thou art under Adams Covenant Secondly that thou bearest his Image now we many times see our misery by the one the evil of our waies but few are sensible of the other the evil of our state and that is the greatest for this makes thee a bond-man whilest thou livest for the Covenant genders unto bondage and it cuts thee off from all hope of an inheritance hereafter for the bond-woman must be cast out with her children This is the translation which the Apostle speaks of being translated into the Kingdom of his dear son Col. 1.1 this is the passage from death to life Iohn 5.24 In this passage a of man there must be a double change First mutatio moralis a Relative change as when of a bond-man a man is made a free-man of a servant he becomes a son Secondly Physica a natural change that is when of a sick man he is made sound the first is the change of a mans Covenant and the second a change of his Image the one is done in Justification and the other in Sanctification and by both these old things are past away all things do become new 1 Cor 5.17 This translation all the people of God that ever went to heaven had experience of and this is that I desire all men in a natural state may be awakened to seek after But you will say who be the men that stand under this first Covenant I hope there be none such amongst us You may judge your selves by these two rules First he that is under the second Covenant hath an interest in him who is the prince of the Covenant he that was given as a Covenant to the Nations Isa 42.6 for we heard before that the two Covenants were made with two different heads and it is union with them that brings a man under either Covenant it is being in Adam that makes a man stand under the one and being in Christ that gives a man interest in the other for a man must be in Christ as he was in Adam that is in him legally standing under his Covenant and in him naturally that is bearing his Image Now if a man would know whether he hath an Interest in Christ or no let him take the Apostles rule and lay it unto his own soul impartially 2 Cor. 5.17 he that is in Christ is a new creature he is not barely new dressed or hath gotten a new out-side but he is within renewed in the Spirit of his mind he hath a new understanding new apprehensions of persons and things and those things which before he counted foolishness now he doth know them to be his only wisdom and those persons that he looked upon as the scum and off-scouring of all things these they judge to be the excellent ones of the earth and those dark and carnal apprehensions of the waies of God and the mysteries of Godliness that he had before they are now done and past away they have no affection to them for it is not enough for a man to have new words and new actions there is many a man abstains from the practise of many sins that their hearts love and many a man for some respects takes up the practise of some duties that his heart hates but such a man now loves that which before he hated and he now hates that which before he did love that which before was to him the only matter of his joy now becomes the only object of his sorrow thus he that is in Christ is a new creature If so then surely they cannot take themselves to be new creatures that have not so much as renewed their actions that were drunkards and so continue were Sabbath-breakers and Swearers and Userers and Scoffers and so continue still the comfort of whose lives comes in by evil it is their meat and drink they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence Prov. 4.27 It s their cloathing Pride compasseth them as a chain violence covers them as a Garment Psal 73.6 and it is their recreation it is a pastime for a fool to do wickedly Prov. 10.23 and there be no recreations that have any pleasure in them unless they be sweetned by sin surely thus walking in their old waies it is impossible they should be new creatures and not being new creatures they are not in Christ and not being in Christ the Prince of the Covenant they have no interest in the new Covenant Secondly he that is under the first Covenant is a bond-man as Ismael whereas he that is under the second Covenant is the son of the free-woman and receives from the Lord by that Covenant a free Spirit Psal 51.12 First he is in bondage by earthly engagements he can have no engagement but it is a snare to him The false Prophets were honoured by some of the Kings of Israel therefore they could not speak the truth to him neither to reprove his sin nor to discover the mind of God I must do such a thing though it be against my conscience to give such a man content I must not reprove such a sin because it will displease c. the Prophet Michaiah had a dis-engaged Spirit in this respect Secondly in bondage unto sin and under the power of their own lusts that though they may see many evils in themselves and confess it yet when occasion and opportunity serves and the lust represents it self they are no more their own thy cannot resist Eyes full of Adultery that cannot cease to sin 2 Pet. 2.14 and as men use to say they cannot choose c. Thirdly in bondage unto the creatures under the power of them 1 Cor. 6.12 one man cannot live without his honour another without his minion another without such an estate and all the thoughts of their hearts run out about such things and are wholly busied about meat and drink and cloathes and money and play and this wholly drinks up their spirits Fourthly in bondage under the guilt of sin and slavish and servile fears they go all their life long with a galled conscience filled with fearful apprehensions of death and Judgement for they all their life long for fear of death are subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 Consider seriously of these particulars and unto such men I speak as being as yet under the first Covenant and I exhort them to seek to be translated I speak not this to