Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	dead_a	live_v	sin_n	15,494	5	5.7006	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B36555	The spouses carriage in the wildernesse, in her leaning upon her welbeloved, opening the temper of the beleeving-soule in her severall wildernesses ... in a sermon formerly preacht in Andrewes Parish in Norwich, now reprinted, being corrected by the author / by John Collings ...	Collinges, John, 1623-1690.	1650 (1650)		43,153	109

and his lusts at the head then Christ should be as welcome as any thing to him but he is loath to sue a divorce from this Beloved he is loth to part with his old love for a new till he seeth how he can love him but at a venture he will take him in partem amoris O wretch flatter not thy selfe if Christ be thy Beloved he will endure no Polygamy you must leave your sinnes or be without Christ The true Spouse leanes upon her Beloved not upon her Beloveds upon her now Beloved she forsakes her old Lastly this may serve to reproove 1. Those that would leane upon Christ but they dare not trust their soules upon Christ alone Forsooth he will be the Spouse of Christ but he must leane upon Christ with one hand and his good works with the other The whore of Babylon commits adultery with her selfe 2. Under this lash comes a better ranke of people that when God hath shewed them their owne sinfull sad condition they doe not only performe duties pray and mourne and repent and be humbled all which they ought to doe but they are ready to rest in them and make them their Beloved It is naturall to the soule that God hath made to loath its sinnes to love its duties it finds duties almost as consentaneous to its nature as sinnes were before and it is too ready to thinke that its saving or damning depends upon such a quantity of teares and humiliation Hence you heare soules in this condition often complaining Oh! I could beleeve if I were humbled enough if I could but mourne enough This soule doth well to be sensible of the hardnesse of its owne heart and it is too true it can never mourne it can never be humbled enough But it doth ill to think that free grace stints its operation and blessed influence to such a quantity of teares if it be humbled enough to see its want of Christ The water runs through the river that is the way to the Sea but it doth not rest in the river but with a swift and continued motion runs betwixt the banks till it comes and is swallowed up in the Sea Even so the soul ought to run through duties but not to rest betwixt the banks of duties but to run through till it come to the Sea of free grace where it will be swallowed up of infinite mercy and our imperfections will be drowned in his infinite perfection we ought to take duties in our way to Christ but not to make duties our Jesus God hath ordained that they should sit us for him but it is written My glory will I not give to another The glory of the Lords free grace is his greatest glory he will not give that to any other None shall share with him in his Spouses love he is a jealous Saviour The Spouse leanes upon her Beloved not Beloveds Thus I have done with my use of reproofe The next use is for examination here may every one try himselfe whether he be the Spouse of the Lord Jesus Christ or no Even by what hath been already said I will reduce it all to three heads First Examine thy selfe whether thou beest out of the wildernesse of sinne yea or no. Secondly Whether thou wert or art in any other wildernesse yea or no. Thirdly What was or is thy demeanour in these wildernesses thou hast been or art in and how hast thou come or dost thou come out Examine whether thou beest not in the wildernesse of sinne yea or no It was given as the Character of the Spouse to come out of this wildernesse O but how shall I know that will the soule say I will name two or three notes by which thou mayst suspect thy selfe as from probabilities 1. The wildernesse it is an incult place a place where the soyle was never tilled it is hard almost as a milstone the over-growne Trees were never pruned the unruly boughs never lopt the bushes never cut or stubbed dost thou find thy heart in such a condition that it is as hard as ever neither judgement breaks it nor mercy melts it the fallow ground of it is not plowed nor the seed of righteousnesse sowne in it Thy unruly lusts are not tamed thy life is as much overgrowne with sinne as ever it was thy sinnes were never yet cut off from the body of thy life O friend suspect thy selfe Thou mayest justly feare yea and know too that thou art not the Spouse of Christ thou art in the wildernesse in thy naturall estate Secondly The wildernesse is a barren place it brings forth no corne for the sickle no wholsome fruit no grapes for mans pallat for can a man gather grapes of thistles or figgs of thornes No pastures wholsome for the beasts The fire hath devoured the pastures of the wildernesse Joel 1.19 And God complained that Nineveh was dry like a wildernesse Zeph. 2.13 Art thou a barren and unfruitfull creature that dost nothing for God thy heart is a barren heart no seeds of good are sown there thy tongue is a barren tongue no good words come out thence thy whole soule a barren soule not a good action upon the record of thy life Indeed no soule can be barren the soule is of a working nature but sinfull works are unfruitfull workes in the Apostles language The unfruitfull workes of darknesse and what fruits had ye of those things whereof you are now ashamed Gods Spouse is a fruitfull creature Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long-suffering c. A barren soule is alwayes a wildernesse-soule Those that are borne of God bring forth fruits unto God Thirdly thou mayest know whether thou beest in the wildernesse or no by the company thou delightest in It is a knowne rule Noscitur ex socio qui non dignoscitur ex se He that is a wildernesse-creature loves wildernesse-company the Wolves and Beares and Foxes but he that is out keeps the company of men dost thou love the wildernesse-company the swinish drunkard the politike Fox the malitious Lyon the venomous lyer and slanderer the lascivious wanton more than the Children of God Oh suspect thy selfe l By this we know saith John that we are translated from death to life if we love the Brethren Lazarus when he was raised from the grave we do not read he went to keep the dead men company againe those that God hath raised from the death of their sins live amongst living men and delight in living mens company Thus examine whether thou beest come out of the wildernesse of sin or no. Secondly As comming out of the wildernesse is a signe of the child of God so being in the wildernesse is likewise a note whereby thou mayest know thy selfe Gods Spouse comes out of one wildernesse into another out of the wildernesse of sinne into the wildernesse of sorrow and out of that to their Saviour Wouldest thou know whether thou art found or no Examine whether thou wert lost or

no Wouldest thou know whether ever thou wert a beleever examine whether ever thou wert a penitent or not This is Gods ordinary way thence he complaines of his people that they would not repent that they might beleeve in him Dost thou find God in another manner of working in thy soule blesse God for it and if thy title be good to heaven which will be knowne by thy walking with God beleeve me God hath used thee kindly heaven hath cost thee cheaper then it costs many a poore soule and walke humbly before God because he hath not humbled thee under his mighty hand as he hath done many another poore creatures And though I would not condemne those that plead their title to heaven this way for feare I should condemne the generation of the righteous yet beleeve me I should suspect it in my owne cause They that goe out weeping and carry precious seed shall returne rejoycing and bring their sheaves with them 2. Examine thy selfe What other wildernesses thou meetest with Afflictions temptations c. I would not give this as an infallible marke yet God sayes whom he loves he chasteneth and scourgeth every child whom he receiveth and thence the Father drew out his Conclusion Unicum Deus habuit filium sine peccato nullum sine flagello God had one Sonne without sinne but none without a rod. But I know even the wicked sometimes begin their hell upon the earth and though I would suspect my selfe if I met with no afflictions yet I would not be glad to have a life full of crosses and afflictions my best evidence for heaven I rather named this for a preface to the next note 3. Examine how thou carriest thy selfe in the wildernesse there is a different carriage betwixt the child of God and the child of the Devill in afflictions the one sinkes into the grave with despaire the other lifts up his head to Sion with hope the one is prest to death under crosses the other above all crosses Cain cries my punishment is too heavy for me to beare Job cries though he should kill me yet I will trust in him The Reprobate cryes Who is the Lord that I should wait for him The Saint sayes I will patiently wait for the Lords Salvation the wicked man dyes the Saint leanes the eyes of the sinners faile that day but the Saints look up to Sion from whence comes their helpe that day 4. Examine How thou hast come out of thy wildernesse of thine owne strength or leaning Canst thou say That God knew thee in the wildernesse in the land of great drought Hos 13.5 If thou thinkest thou camest out alone thou art there stil What gave thee comfort in the depths of sorrow what thy merry company did thy duties do it If any thing did it but thy Christ I feare thou art still in the Wildernesse when thou didst mourne as one that mourneth for his onely begotten sonne dist thou look upon him whom thou hadst pierced there is nothing but the blood of Christ can give a cordiall to a fainting soule nothing but the hand-kerchiefe of free grace that can wipe thine eyes nothing but the blotting out of the hand-writing which was written in Gods Booke and thy owne conscience against thee that can make thy heart leave trembling and thy knees leave beating together for terror Thou canst not come out alone if ever thou camest out it was leaning 5. Examine thy selfe How thou hast carried thy selfe since thou camest out How hast thou beene since thou wert humbled and lost in the wildernesse of sorrow What effects hath the wildernesse of sorrow wrought upon thee Hath thy sorrow beene like the sorrow of Achan that thou hast been onely sorry because thou hast been under an Attachment of wrath Or like Ahab renting his cloathes putting on his sack-cloth and going softly 2 Chron. 22. Or like Pharoah saying I have sinned Exod. Or like Balaam saying I have sinued I will returne back againe when he might have had more thanks for his labour and never have come there he had checks enough Art thou worse when thou commest out of the wildernesse of affliction that wee may brand thee with Ahaz his Brand This was that King Ahaz Or doest thou come out of thy Afflictions leaning with thy weak faith strengthened and thy strong faith confirmed Hast thou lost no graines but got in the fire Is thy gold as good weight now as before it is a good signe it is good then But I hasten to the next Use which may be to informe us First The sad condition that all unbeleevers are in Secondly The joyfull condition that all the Children of God are in Thirdly The great love of God that he would send Christ to seeke us up in the wildernesse and give his hand to poore creatures to lead them out And lastly If in every wildernesse wee must leane upon the Lord Jesus Christ It may informe us what need wee have at all times to walke close with the Lord Christ First here see the sad condition that all men and women by nature are in that have not the Lord Jesus Christ It consists in two things First They are in a wildernesse Sinne is a wildernesse Now which of you friends but would thinke himselfe as good as a dead man if he were in the midst of an Arabian desert that he could not see any possibilitie of getting out nor any comfort he could enjoy there terror on every side comfort on no side the Lyons and beasts of prey of every hand ready to devour him and it is well if he can keepe his flesh for food for himselfe for he can get no provision for his body nothing except he would eate the barke of trees or the parched grasse What man would not tremble to thinke of one that should be condemned to such an axile Doe not your hearts pittie as oft as you think of those poore men that were left but halfe a yeare in Greenland And yet O Lord How few pittie themselves O poore creatures Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur the Story is thy owne apply it therefore You that are in your sinnes are all in a sad wildernesse the judgements of God like the beasts of prey are ready to swallow you up on every hand 't is a miracle of mercy you are not in hell there is but a thread betwixt you and death the Sword of Gods wrath hangs over your head while you are at your Drunken Banquets of sinne Oh! what comfort what joy can can you have in the wildernesse friends that when you lye downe at night you know not but you may wake in the morning past Repentance even with Hell flames about you as the Lord lives there is but a haires breadth betwixt you and Hell 2. Consider That you have no one to helpe you out of any wildernesse if Christ be not yours nothing is yours what will you doe in a stormy day of Affliction when you shall