Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A60139
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A new-years-gift: containing serious reflections on time, and eternity And some other subjects moral and divine. With an appendix concerning the first day of the year, how observed by the Jews, and may best be employed by a serious Christian.
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Shower, John, 1657-1715.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing S3675; ESTC R219104
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105,675
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262
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by the Year passed and the Covenant of Grace or the Gospel state by the New Year then begun and that by the Sound of Trumpets was prefigured the future Preaching of the Gospel according to that of the Apostle Their sound went forth unto all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World And so the Feast of Trumpets is abrogated by the Preaching of the Gospel if that were typically signified by it The Publication of the Gospel is the joyful sound Psal 89.15 And Ministers are to lift up their Voice like a Trumpet Isai 58.1 the discharge of their Office as Watchmen is express'd by setting the Trumpet to their mouth Hos 8.1 Ezek. 33. When the Jews shall be converted to the Faith of Christ it is said in that day the great Trumpet shall be blown and they shall come who are ready to perish Isa 27. ult 'T was the Office of the Priests to sound these Trumpets Numb 10.8 The publick Dispensation of the Gospel is committed to Ministers set a-part for that Work as the Sons of Aaron for theirs We read but of two Trumpets at first for Eleazar and Ithamar the two Sons of Aaron Numb 3.4 But David added many Musical Instruments And in Solomon's time at the Dedication of the Temple we read of One hundred and twenty Priests who sounded with Trumpets 2 Chron. 5.12 Without supposing any Type here in a strict and proper sense we may yet farther consider the Parallel and observe how the Joy and Gratitude these Trumpets did excite is exceeded by that greater Rejoycing promised and foretold by the Prophets when the glad Tidings of the Gospel of Salvation by the Messiah should be publish'd to the World Isa 54.1 Luk. 2.11 Gal. 4.27 Which hath been in part accomplish'd and will be more compleat in that Kingdom of Peace and Purity which Christ will establish upon Earth toward the end of the World And shall be finally perfected at the end of Time when Days and Years and Time thus measured shall be no more When the Messiah our B. Saviour having finished his Mediatory Undertaking as to what concerns Earth shall come again from Heaven with the Trump of God to raise the Dead and summon all the World to their final Judgment Then shall he deliver up the Kingdom to his Father And the Faithful shall enter into the Joy of their Lord and be forever with him There is a Tradition among the Jews mention'd by Maimonides Canones de Poenit. cap. 3. can 5. That on the First Day of the New Year God enters into Judgment for the Sins of the Year and Life past That every one's Faults are weighed against his good Works He that is found Righteous is sealed unto Life And he that is found Wicked is sealed unto Death And 't is a general Custom that hath obtained among the Jews for the ten first Days of the New Year to rise out of their Beds in the Night and to continue in their Synagogues praying and worshipping until break of Day The superstitious and ridiculous Ceremonies of the Vid. Ceremon Cout parmi les Juifs d'aujourdhay par 2. c. 5. modern Jews on this Day I shall not repeat However vain and groundless superstitious and absurd many of their Customs and Practices are on this Day Yet this blind Devotion of the Jews may justly shame and condemn the Christians of our Age Who commonly spend the Beginnings of every Year worse than any other parts of them and instead of any solemn Retirement for Prayer and Meditation which might assist them to number their Days and prepare for Eternity instead I say of such seasonable Exercises how do vain and hurtful Sports and Pastimes or trifling and unedifying Mirth and fruitless Conversations consume the greatest part of the Days and Nights too of the Beginning of the Year And thus when the first fruits of the Year are offer'd up to Sin and Vanity 't is no wonder if the following parts of it are employ'd to no better purpose without any due concern for the Soul and an Everlasting State To endeavour some Remedy to these Disorders and give some Assistance to such as desire seriously to make Religion their Principal Business is the end of publishing the foregoing Reflections I most heartily beseech the God of all Grace to influence by his Holy Spirit the Conscience of every Reader that some such good Effect may be attained Having found the Practice recommended to be of some use to my self and my own Heart warmed in composing the Substance of these Papers though without any Intention at that Time of exposing them to the World 't is not unreasonable to hope That what hath been beneficial to one may be helpful to another It cannot certainly be improper to Begin the Year with God with whom we should begin every Day 'T is decorous and becoming to Dedicate our selves to Him in a more solemn manner than ordinary at such a Time Thankfully to acknowledge the Favours and Blessings we have particularly received the Year Past And to recollect the Sins we have been guilty of to confess and aggravate 'em with Humility Contrition and deep Remorse to renew our Covenant with God to repeat and fortifie our Resolutions of living better imploring his Grace to assist us in it to reflect seriously on the Mutability Frailty and Brevity of our present Life to consider the Swiftness Uncertainty Irrecoverableness and consequent Value of our Time to look forward to a Blessed or Miserable Eternity one of which we must every one share in And to confirm our Faith in the Certainty thereof considering our near Approach to such an unchangeable State To think what Improvement we should make of the Death of others especially of Relations and Friends who have lately been called home To make the Supposition in good earnest that we may follow them This Year and die before another New-Year's-Day To impress such a Thought on our Hearts and the Inferences that may naturally be deduced from it To beg of God to enable us to Redeem our Time and discharge the duty of our particular Places and prepare us for all the Events of the following Year And so effectually Teach us to number our days that we may apply our Hearts unto true Wisdom Lest we be surprized by an Vnexpected Death before the Period of another Year And lastly to pray for our Relations and Friends Families and Neighbours and our Enemies too and plead with God on the behalf of Sion and the afflicted and deformed state of the Protestant Churches To some of these and the like Purposes I hope what is here offered may be subservient if considered with Seriousness and Application after humble Invocation of the Blessing of God and the Aids of his Spirit composing our Minds and Thoughts as in his most Awful and Holy Presence I have only this to request That if Any Reader shall find any real Benefit in this kind he would so far requite my
glorified in his Saints and admired in and by all them that believe * 2 Thess chap. 1. He was put to shame in the days of his Flesh made himself of no Reputation and accounted unworthy to live But when he comes again he will put on a Garment of Vengeance to repay Fury to the Enemies of his Cross and make his wicked Despisers rise again to shame and everlasting contempt They that once bowed the knee to him in mockery and shaked their heads at him in derision shall then see every knee how before him of things in Heaven things in Earth and under the Earth Angels Men and Devils in subjection to him as Lord and King Pilate who condem'd him as his Prisoner shall appear before him as his rightful Judge and know that he was another-guess King and Monarch than the Roman Emperor The false Witnesses who accused him of Blasphemy shall be impeach'd by one another and their own guilty Consciences before his Bar with the other Jews who once drag'd him before their Tribunal and be confounded to stand before his Judgment-Seat His Crucifiers shall behold him on a Throne of Glory whom they Nailed to an infamous Cross They shall be astonish'd to behold him sitting at the Right Hand of God whose Hands they bound whose Body they scourg'd whose Side they pierc'd They who Crown'd him with Thorns shall with all the World behold him with a Crown of Glory They that spit on him and smote him on the face with the fist of wickedness shall have their own faces covered with Confusion They that approved his Condemnation to Death as a Criminal shall be sentenced from His mouth as their Judge to Everlasting Destruction They that scourged him as a Malefactor shall be beaten with many stripes They that made him stagger under the weight of his Cross shall sink under the guilt and punishment of despising it They that Nailed him to the accursed Tree between Thieves and Robbers shall be sentenc'd to endless Punishment in much worse Company They who gave him Gall and Vinegar to drink shall not be able to get a drop of water to cool their own Tongues Where then shall the Wicked and Ungodly of the Christian World appear who Crucifie the Son of God afresh since he hath declared himself to be so by his Resurrection and the Mission of the Holy Ghost and fulfilling his threatned Vengeance on the Nation of the Jews c. If the Jews shall have a sorer Condemnation than ignorant Heathens who never heard of Christ never saw his Miracles or were inform'd of his Doctrine How shall we escape For he will come again as a Conqueror and Judge and not as a Sufferer and a Surety as he came at first and tho' he was numbred with Transgressors and made his Grave with the Wicked at his first Appearance he shall hereafter be attended with the shouts of Angels who excell in strength and the joyful Acclamations of his Saints glittering as the Light and paying Homage to Him as the Judge of Quick and Dead He whom we have despised shall then be encompass'd with a dezling Glory that will confound us He whom we have affronted will be cloathed with a Majesty that shall astonish us He whom we have offended shall be armed with Power and with Wrath to punish us and all that continue to lift up the Heel against him shall then be made his Footstool all that refuse to kiss the Sceptre of his Grace shall be broken in pieces by his Iron Rod. The Holy Scripture doth frequently and expresly assure us that he will thus come again and for these ends He is exalted and gone to Heaven as the Head of his Church and the King of Glory and when he foretold his Ascension he gave a promise of his Return The Heavens are to contain him till the Restitution of all things By his Providence and by his holy Spirit he now carries on the Designs of his Death and when these are accomplish'd he will appear to the Joy of Believers and the Confusion of the Wicked He is entred as our * Heb. c. 6.19 20. c. 10.20 Foerunner within the Veil to prepare Mansions and to take possession for us and will not always leave us in this dark and defiling World He knoweth our Sorrows and heareth our Prayers and bottles our Tears takes notice of our Groans and in all our Afflictions he is afflicted Being reconciled by his Death at his first coming we shall be saved by his Life since he lives to make good his word of coming again How comfortable is the News of it how joyful will be the Meeting to such as expect and prepare to see him when the Sea and the Graves shall yield up their Dead and all the Prisoners of Hope lift up their heads arise go up and meet the Lord in the Air and ascend with him to the Heavenly Glory But who can express how dismal a Sight this will be to the Secure and the Impenitent to all who die in their sins to behold their Judge who formerly offered to be their Saviour upon a glorious Throne and all the Children of Adam summon'd before his Tribunal to have nothing to answer against his Charge and no way to escape his condemning Sentence They despised him as a Lamb offer'd his Sacrifice to take away the Sins of the World but shall no longer do so when he comes as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to devour and destroy the Enemies of his Cross Now they will not own him for their Lord but shall then find he is so by the Vengeance he will execute As a Jesus as a Saviour they rejected him making light of his Salvation despising his Mercy refusing his Grace but the neglected Gospel will then be a more killing Letter than the Law He who by his Embassadors doth now intreat Sinners to be reconciled will then be as deaf to their Intreaties as they have been to His. Because they would not turn at his Reproof hearken to the Call of his Word and obey its Voice they must hear the Sentence of Condemnation and feel the Execution of it whether they will or no yea the Blood of his Cross will upbraid accuse and plead against them And whatsoever foolish Evasions they now make to continue in security they shall then be Speechless and Self-condemned Nothing will be able to hide them from the amazing Presence of their Judge or from the Wrath of the Lamb. He then will inflict an intolerable and righteous Vengeance an Everlasting Destruction upon all the ignorant and ungodly World The Greatest the Stoutest the Boldest of them shall then be humbled and stand before Christ's Tribunal upon an equal Level with the Meanest seized with horror filled with guilt anguish and despair and find to their eternal Confusion that the Judge is no respecter of Persons but every man shall receive according to his works The Mighty shall not be spared for his Greatness