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A19413 A very soueraigne oyle to restore debtors; being rightly and seasonably vsed Extracted out of that most tried and quintessensed oyle, by the prophet Elisha. By vertue whereof the vviddovv indebted, (mentioned in the second booke of the Kings) was restored out of debt, and her children released of the bondage whereof they were in danger. Written by Samuel Cotesford, late minister at Stepney: and now newly published by W. Crashavve ... Cottesford, Samuel.; Crashaw, William, 1572-1626. 1622 (1622) STC 5841; ESTC S108836 64,803 115

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so many then as are contented to stoope downe to the holy Word of God in the Ministery of men and to learne thereby soberly to be wise know of a surety that howsoeuer God did limit the times and seasons past wherein those persons whom he had also more specially giuen power vnto as the Prophets and Apostles to worke strangely in and about the things of this life for the confirmation of that Doctrine which they brought vnto the World whereof men being more earthly minded did also take a greater view then thereby to be ledde to the apprehension of the truth in Christ Iesus for euerlasting life yet is not the power of God in his Word any whit abated the more now but rather aduanced to a further and a more eminent working in and about the turning of mens hearts from gazing or looking vpon the things of this life vnto the longing lusting and thirsting after the righteousnesse of God in Christ Iesus to their euerlasting comfort in the Kingdome of Heauen And yet giue mee leaue his care is no lesse for vs now if we feare him then it was in former times and according to his care ouer vs so his power and will yea in prouiding for vs in our wants indeede we are blinde and see it not because wee doe not continually referre our selues in the things we haue or in the things whereby hee hath relieued vs beyond expectation in our distresses we doe not I say referre our selues to Gods prouidence for the beholding of it as we ought for truly howsoeuer he doe not encrease our Pitcher of Oyle so miraculously as we see here he did to the poore indebted Widdow and in that manner yet when he worketh mens hearts towards thee for thy reliefe yea to make thine aduersaries thy friends is it not worth the obseruation He is the same God to vs that he was in Iobs dayes who speaking of the wicked faith Though he should heape vp siluer as the dust and prepare rayment as the clay he may prepare it but the iust shall put it on and the innocent shall diuide the siluer and againe where Salomon saith The riches of the sinner is laid vp for the iust and this he hath done and doth daily performe onely our vnbeliefe our vnthankfulnesse our deadnesse of faith keepes vs from seeing it to our shames But to end this point ordinarily the worke of the Ministery of the Gospell is a greater worke then healing or curing the bodily diseases of men by speaking the word whither from Peter or from Paul or by whomsoeuer although it be indeed miraculous yea as much as the soule is beyond the body in excellency by so much is the holy worke of the Gospell of Christ conuersant wholly in the restoring of the dead soules of men from death to life more excellent for loe now the dead soules of men and women that haue long slept in sinne and haue beene dead as doubtlesse all are vntill by the power of the Word of God they haue life put into them euen the life of the Spirit whereof Paul speaketh when he saith Thus I liue yet not I now but Christ liueth in me and in that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith in the Sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen himselfe for me Of this life speakes our Sauiour himselfe Verily verily I say vnto you the houre shall come and now is when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue The Vse to be made of these last and former doctrines is this that whensoeuer the word of Faith hath entred the possession of Iesus Christ into our soules whensoeuer you thinke of him meditate vpon him seeke him in your prayers follow after him in the publike preachings of that his most glorious comfortable Gospel be sure so to think of him as of your Sauiour and deliuerer not from bodi●l sicknesses or other perills or dangers of this life but as he is indeed by God his father appointed to saue thee and deliuer thee from hell death and eternall condemnation as a Sauiour of thee from thy sinnes and a deliuerer of thee from those miseries whereinto thou hast ouer-plunged thy selfe in soule and body by thy sinne as Paul the Apostle teacheth thee in these words concerning Christ lesus and the working by the Gospel in all those that beleeue Who saith he hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality vnto light through the Gospell And as againe he saith Iesus Christ came into the World to saue sinners of whom I am chiefe Let the thought of his very name be comfortable to thee from the remembrance of his being first named by the Angel at his entrance into the World as is written And thou shalt call his name Iesus for hee shall saue his people from their sinnes Finally thinke and meditate vpon him as vpon an heauenly not an earthly King hee is come for thy good euery way but especially to deliuer thee so as that after the fulnesse of thy deliuerance thou mightest neuer be in danger after his deliuerance being spirituall not corporall heauenly not earthly as he is further described where it is said First vnto you meaning the Iewes hath God raised vp his Sonne Iesus and him he hath sent to blesse you in turning euery one of you from your iniquities Seeke then to him as to one in whom you are begotten againe and in him cast as in a new mould to become new creatures as the Apostle Peter saith Blessed be God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercie hath begotten vs againe vnto a liuely hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance immortall vndefiled and that fadeth not away c. For to this end is his comming into the world first to take the burthen of thy sinne lying heauie vpon thee vpon himselfe secondly to discharge thee from the guilt of sinne thirdly to take away the power and strength of sin that after once thou art a true member of that his body the Church whereof he is Head sinne may no longer haue that dominion ouer thee as before Now it followeth in the Text. 5. So shee departed from him and shut the doore vpon her two sonnes and they brought to her and she poured out 6. And when the vessels were full shee said vnto her sonne bring yet a Vessell and he said vnto her There are no more Vessels And the Oyle ceased Now we are come to the third point which is the issue of the meanes consisting vpon the words or command of the Prophet in the obedience of the Widdow This issue of the meanes beeing two-fold the increase of the Oyle and the paying of the debt from that the obedience of the Widdow in these words So she departed from him and shut the doore c. As the
Sareptha and his mightie protection which neuer shews it selfe more then when his people are in the greatest danger as in the time when the people of Israel were in the Red-Sea as also whilest in the change of their condition and estates from wealth to pouerty he againe of poore makes them rich by restoring them to their first or former estate as hee did Iob. Thirdly for the taming or restrayning of some one or other sinne God oftentimes meetes with his children after their long security and carelesse regard of the Word calling them to repentance they not repenting by the rod of affliction Whereupon he hauing as Elihu saith set to his seale ordaining it as the pruining-knife to the cutting off the superfluous branches for the causing of them to bring forth fruit the better he faith Then he openeth the eyes of men euen by their corrections which he had sealed Whereby he hauing as the Prouerbe is strooke the nayle to the head the heart and the affections once renewed and changed then hee brings vnder obedience all those wandring lusts which before-time went astray from Gods holy Commandements to the which purpose the Prophet Dauid confesseth as is 119. Psalme Before I was afflicted I went astray as for that of the good man to be mercifull and to lend it rather describeth the true propertie of a good man already inriched for the disposing of his riches to the good of others then otherwise in any vngodly care to get or increase his wealth which by occasion of the next place viz. The wicked man borroweth and payeth not againe as afore is more fitly met withall which words of the Prophet doe not concere those who ordinarily being poore and needy are inforced to borrow directly for the supply of their present wants being also godlily minded vpon good fore-sight and hope of meanes in like manner to make restitution by But it concernes all sorts and degrees both of rich and poore who any way vniustly minded doe take into their hands the goods of other men for their present vse without any purpose of restoring of whom those monsters amongst men who immediately borrowing without need vpon purpose to breake doe by the spoyle of other their creditors inforced to stand at their courtesie for present payment hastily become rich vpon other mens goods Some other there are who vnder the name of a more strict course of godlinesse in the profession of the Gospel then others hauing yet a mind that they liue but are dead being indeed ashamed to acknowledge their mother in whose wombe they had their first conception vnto life these in like manner omitting their honest and lawfull callings being weary of well-doing as busie-bodies whilest they will become planters and reformers of Churches strayning beyond their Last till all cracke againe hauing run themselues out of breath are brought to borrow and this also they hold they may doe not purposing euer to make restitution accounting in their Anabaptisticall community as a speciall point of Diuinitie with them the goods of them of whom they make thus bold with euen the goods of the Church the spoyle of Babel as they tearme it as if they had by some Oracle from Heauen with the Israelites receiued a warrant from God so to doe To omit all other needlesse borrowers for the cunning ingrossement of commodities of all sorts into their hands by way of Monopolie not caring what become of the Common-wealth so they alone may liue to omit all other borrowers vpon vsury to the end they may to a further and greater exacting againe vpon vsury lend All these ioyne them in one are of the number of those and may well so be reckoned of whom Dauid speaketh The wicked borroweth and payeth not againe Out of this which hath beene spoken euery true member of the Church is to learne first for his setled course of conuersing and making trafficke with men That if he desire to haue the report of one that feareth God and that in singlenesse of heart he must take heede as the Apostle Paul teacheth that he oppresse not nor defraude his brother in any matter And then that he trie and examine himselfe by the two looking-glasses of the Law and the Gospel the two parts of the Word of God wherein hee may finde out whether he truly feare God or no a point very necessary to be stood vpon Doubtlesse in the one and first which is the Law he shall find out in himselfe nothing but sin and iniquity and thereby that he stands in the seuerity of Gods extreame iustice in and vnder the danger of eternall death and condemnation In the other he shall find that God according to his owne goodnesse will looke vpon him with an amiable and chearefull countenance and discouer vnto him Iesus Christ his Sonne as the onely washer purger and cleanser of him from his sinne not onely by forgiuenesse but also by his sanctifying Spirit taking away the power of sinne that it shall not rule or raigne any longer in his mortall body to obey it in the lusts thereof And because there is iust occasion offered to speake of this point in these words And thou knowest thy seruant did feare God it is not from the purpose that I set downe thus much more vpon it before euery one that reades it viz. that according as God did worke formerly in men a true care of performance of the duties whatsoeuer of equity honesty or charity between themselues so he measured his owne loue to them-ward by an assurance of faith vnto eternall life accordingly For men are reputed no further to haue profited in the sound knowledge of God according to the rules of the first Table of the Law then they are ready to expresse the same by doing the duties of the second For by this rule did both the holy Prophets and Apostles measure out the assurance of the loue of God to themselues and the people Micah the Prophet expostulating this point with the people of Israel in his dayes who satisfied themselues as they doe now with an outward shew of seruing of God by their sacrifices when in the meane time they were full of cruelty and oppression voide of all mercy to their Neighbours Will the Lord saith he be pleased with thousands of Rammes or with ten thousand Riuers of Oyle shall I giue my first borne for my transgression euen the fruite of my body for the sinne of my soule And thereto he answereth 8. He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what the Lord requireth of thee surely to doe iustly and to loue mercy and to humble thy selfe to walke with thy God And thus must euery debtor yea and creditor also trie himselfe whether he feare God or no euen by the Offices of borrowing and lending according to good and pure loue laide downe in the Word For saith the Apostle Iohn Whosoeuer doth not righteousnesse is not of God
Widdowes Husband haue faith in God and shrinke not behold his loue to thee in Christ and be of good cheare although thou hast liued in the wayes of the World without regard of God and his Law heretofore yet vpon this thy faith fruitfull in repentance be comforted with Paul It is not thou but sinne in thee as is said It is no more I for now thou beleeuest thou art another person in Christ Iesus before God thy sinne is not looked vpon but saith he It is sinne that dwelleth in me For I allow not saith he that which I doe for what I would that doe I not but what I hate that doe I. It is that naturall corruption which doubtlesse cleaueth to them who are regenerate and although daily in conquering yet not cleane conquered But in this triall of thy selfe as concerning the true feare of God to be in thee if thou feelest that thou hast thus farre profited goe on still with the blessed Apostle as one wearied with these miserable conflicts of Sathan and shew thy faith more and more by still going to God as thy onely helper and crie aloud with groanes and sighes Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death And againe to despite Sathan to his teeth as if thou hadst already gotten the victory for Faith whose obiect is Christ with all the graces of his Spirit giueth to each beleeuer things absent as already present be bold to out-face him and say as Dauid to Saul Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall but the Lord he hath holpen me To the end then that all iust suspitions of deceitfull shifts in borrowing may be taken from thee and that thy name may be free from all iust slander pray with Dauid to God and giue not ouer Remoue from me shame and contempt and againe in the 39. verse Take away my rebuke that I feare c. And in thus doing and preuailing thou shalt reape vnto thee for thy comfort both liuing and dead this report that thou haft feared God Now to proceede to that which followeth concerning the Creditor in these words of her complaint And the Creditor is come to take my two Sonnes to be his bond-men The Law of bondage as appeareth both by the Scriptures as also by the Law of Nations hath been ancient which also may be found to haue beene amongst vs as by certaine Instruments of Manumission for the release of bond-men or villaines and this before the time of the Gospell may euidently appeare By the Law of Nations it appeares so to haue beene It was decreed saith Aulus Gellius by the Iudge that after the Debtor was demaunded by the Creditor his debt hee not hauing to pay at the instant that then hee should haue thirtie dayes more giuen him and if within that time he could not make satisfaction then the poore man was fettered by the feete and further being fast bound with a cord or long line was so deliuered ouer to the Creditor who leading him home as an Oxe or an Asse hee put him to what seruile worke soeuer vntill that by his most slauish and more perhaps then Egyptian-like bondage he had by all toylesome labour wrought out vnto his Master ful satisfaction of his debt and thus for the time of their bondage were they bought and sold from one to another as beasts are sold in a market For proofe wherof vnder the law of Moses we read If thou buy an Hebrew seruant hee shall serue sixe yeares and in the seauenth he shall goe out free for nothing Before the Law written we read of Ioseph who was twice sold once by his brethren to the Ishmaelites and then after by them to Potiphar an Eunuch of King Pharaohs In the Booke of the Psalmes the Prophet Dauid setting downe as by way of bewayling the miserie of Gods people to God himselfe vnder the hard seruitude wherewith they were oppressed Thou sellest thy people for nought saith hee and thou doest not increase their price And in the Prophesie of Esay saith the Prophet as in the person of God who is the creditor to whom I sold you Behold for your iniquities are yee sold c. As if he should say You are indeed vnder bondage but your selues haue made slaues of your selues by your owne vngodlinesse Likewise vnder the New Testament where our Sauiour likeneth the Kingdome of Heauen to a certaine King which would take account of his seruants and when hee had begun to reckon one was brought vnto him which ought him 10000. talents and because he had nothing to pay he commaunded him to be sold and his wife and his children and all that hee had and the debt to be paid c. So that the creditor did the widdow no wrong shee being insufficient to take her two sonnes to be his Bond-men and yet shee complaines to the Prophet I will not say of the cruelty of the Creditor the Law then so requiring it but rather of her owne distressed estate who was in danger of the losse of so great comforts the losse whereof how great it was may appeare by the example of a poore man of whom Saint Basil writes who hauing many children in a heauie time of Famine was with all of them euen at the point of a famishment ready to starue for want of food for the relieuing of whom one of them must be sold to buy corne and victuals withall to saue all the rest aliue The father cals his wife and causes her to call all his children together they aduise each with other which of them they should depart from and so not without teares the father beholding the eldest the beginning of his strength the excellencie of his dignitie the first that called him father the second too young the third like the father the fourth the mothers darling the fift the expresse image of the grand-father the sixt well made and like to proue a souldier the last wittie ingenious and very fit to make a Schollar so tender-hearted was this kinde and naturall father as that he could not find any one amongst them from whom he might depart chusing rather to redeeme all their liues with his owne perill and danger then to suffer any one of them to depart vpon so hard conditions Blame not then this poore woman although shee complaine for this her losse of the hope of her comfort in both her sonnes at once considering that the sodainenesse of her change vpon the death of her husband together with the hastinesse of the Creditor to see his owne perhaps was such as it could not but moue her greatly to labour euery way for her release But on the other side to this of debts to be payed by the taking of the debtor his wife and children to be as bond-men to the Creditors behoofe by their labours and trauailes so to be imployed vntill the debt be satisfied