Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	darkness_n	light_n	shadow_n	7,372	5	9.4624	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32857	The religion of Protestants a safe way to salvation, or, An answer to a book entituled, Mercy and truth, or, Charity maintain'd by Catholiques, which pretends to prove the contrary to which is added in this third impression The apostolical institution of episcopacy : as also IX sermons ... / by William Chillingworth ...	Chillingworth, William, 1602-1644.; Chillingworth, William, 1602-1644. Apostolical institution of episcopacy.; Chillingworth, William, 1602-1644. Sermons. Selections.	1664 (1664)	Wing C3890; Wing C3884A_PARTIAL; ESTC R20665	761,347	567

Stealing 45. I confess that some particular men for fear of this consequence Sol. have thought themselves oblig'd to dissent not only from St. Paul's distinction of counsels from Precepts in the Gospel but also from the General uniform consent of all Antiquity Whereas if we shall well consider it they have feared where no fear was For our Churches never condemned that distinction as if there were danger from thence of making way for Popery But this is that abomination of a more then Pharisaical self-justifying Pride in the Church of Rome that upon so weak a foundation they have most inartificially erected their Babel of Super-erogation whereby they teach that they cannot only through the whole course of their lives exactly perform all the Commandements of God without offending in any one mortal sin by this means challenging at Gods hands Remission of their Sins and everlasting Salvation for themselves But also by their voluntary unrequired obedience unto Evangelical Counsels leave God in arrearages unto them and make an extraordinary stock of merits which shall be left unto the Popes care and providence to mannage and dispense to any mans use for ready money This is that Doctrin which the Church of England in express words most worthily professeth a detestation unto in their 14th Article which hath been transcribed into the 45th of this Church And yet for all this neither of these Churches have any quarrel to that distinction of St. Paul when speaking of voluntary Chastity he saith I have received no such Commandement from the Lord 1 Cor. 7.25 yet I give my advice or counsel as hath been excellently discovered by the late incomparable Bishop of Winchester in his Resp ad Apologiam 46. And now though I have gone through and quite absolv'd my Text yet I can scarse think my Sermon finish'd till I have endeavoured to make it beneficial unto you by applying it to your Consciences and practise But when I should come to that I confess I find these times wherein we live so indisposed for such an Application that I know not which way to begin with you For shall I seriously enjoyn you as by a Precept from God that where you have unjustly oppress'd or cunningly and closely defrauded your Neighbour that you should as Zacchaeus did here restore unto him four-fold No I dare not adventure so farr I have received no such Commandement from the Lord and then I should be guilty of that which was an unjust accusation laid upon Moses and Aaron Ye take too much upon you ye sons of Levi. 47. Shall I then endeavour to perswade you to conform your selves to this pattern of Zacchaeus as to a Counsel Alas the times are such that well were we if as some have turn'd all Counsels into Precepts that the same men would not at least in their practice convert all Precepts into Counsel If they would not think that the Moral Legal Precepts were antiquated and dissolved by bringing in the New Covenant of Grace Or if not quite abrogated yet left so arbitrary that they should become matters of no necessary importance and consequence duties which if we shall perform we shall thereby approve our gratitude and thankfulness unto God our Saviour and yet if by chance they be left undone since they are esteem'd no necessary conditions of the New-Covenant there is no great danger as long as we can keep a spark of faith alive as long as we can perswade our selves that we have a firm perswasion of Gods mercy in Christ to our selves in particular which kind of newly invented faith an Adversary of our Church pleasantly and I fear too truly defines when he says Dr. Carrier in his Epistle to K. James It is nothing but a strong fancy 48. These things therefore considered I will leave the application of Zacchaeus his extraordinary Restitution to your own Consciences according as God and your own souls shall agree together Only I beseech you not to make a counsel of Restitution in general but to free your selves from the burden and weight of other mens Riches lest they over-leaven and swell you so unmeasurably that you shall not be able to press in at that straight gate which would lead you unto those blessed and glorious habitations which Christ hath purchased for you not with these corruptible things of silver and gold but with his own precious bloud Unto which habitations God of his infinite mercy bring us all for the same our Lord Jesus Christ his sake To whom with the Father c. The Eighth Sermon GAL. V. 5. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of Righteousness by Faith THis day the wisdome of the ancient Primitive and I think Apostolick Church hath dedicated to the memory of an Epiphany or Apparition of a miraculous Star which was sent to guide the Magi or Wisemen of the East to the place where our Saviour was born But suppose there were such a Star seen and three men of the East conducted by it must all the Christian world presently fall a rejoycing for it There was reason indeed that they should be exceeding glad but shall we therefore lose a whole day's labour by it To say the truth there is no reason for it therefore either better grounds must be found out for our rejoycing or it were well done to make Christ-mass a day shorter hereafter 2. But for all this if we well consider it we Gentiles might better spare any Holiday in the year than this for there is none besides this properly our own but the Jewes will challenge an equal interest in it The appearing of the Star then is the least part of the solemnity of this day For a greater and more glorious light than the Star this day arose unto us even that so long expected Light which was to lighten the Gentiles which was to give light to them which sate in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guid our feet in the way of peace This day as S. Paul saith Tit. 11.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There was an Epiphany likewise of the grace of God to wit the Gospel which now as on this day began to bring salvation not to the Jews only but to all men even to us sinners of the Gentiles of whom those three wise men were the first fruits And to say the truth the appearing of Christ himself unless he had brought with him this light to lighten the Gentiles in his hand had not been sufficient to make a Solemn day for us The Star then was not that light but it was sent to bear witness of that light namely the Gospel the glory whereof fills my text fuller than the Majesty of God ever fill'd the Temple For here we have the whole nature of the Gospel comprehended and straitned within the narrow compass of my Text yet no part of it left out yea we have not only the Gospel discovered by its own light as it is in