Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	deliver_v	good_a	lord_n	8,077	5	5.2704	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54843	The law and equity of the gospel, or, The goodness of our Lord as a legislator delivered first from the pulpit in two plain sermons, and now repeated from the press with others tending to the same end ... by Thomas Pierce ...	Pierce, Thomas, 1622-1691.	1686 (1686)	Wing P2185; ESTC R38205	304,742	736

of such as serve him Who cannot say that the Tempter does irresistibly debauch them though with the Vanities of the World he does assault them from without and with the Treacheries of the Flesh he does surprise them from within For the Devil 's very utmost is but to tempt us And let the matter of Temptation be what it will whether Honour or Disgrace whether Pain or Pleasure whether Frights or Flatteries whether want or superfluity or even the same in the Text wherewith he tempted our Blessed Saviour All the Kingdoms of the Earth and the Glory of them Yet because by all These he can but solicite and intice us we cannot say he does ravish but court our Wills 'T is true the Devil is represented by many terrible Appellations throughout the Scriptures as that of Abaddon and Apollyon a Murderer from the Beginning a Lyon and a Red Dragon a Roaring Lyon and a Serpent And in one respect or other he is indeed each of These But yet he carrys away the Wills and Assents of men not as a Lyon only by Strength nor as a Roaring one by Rapacity but rather as a Serpent by Circumvention § 3. Now then let us return to see how the Argument will go on having seen enough already upon what foot it stands and put a Block out of the way too at which too many are wont to stumble can we imagin it to be likely that the old experienced Serpent the subtlest Creature under Heaven could be so stupid and obtuse in the Art of Mischief as to employ his chief strength upon a Design of less importance and to reserve his weakest force for his very last Onset or Assault At first he tempted our Blessed Saviour to nothing else but Distrust and therefore only made use of his being hungry v. 3. Next he tempted him to Praesumption which is the opposite Provocation and thought it enough for that Effect to put him in mind of his Praerogative v. 6. But now at last he runs higher and seeks to bribe the most righteous Iudge to the greatest unworthiness in the World an Idolizing the unworthiest of all his Creatures He knew that Christ was the Son of God because he heard him so declared by God the Father Chap. 3. v. 17. He also knew the Son of God to be God the Son too And he knew that God the Son was even the Wisdom of the Father And when he would tempt Wisdom it self to Idolize the very Tempter he could not but know he was to use the highest Allective to be imagin'd Which by what other means should he hope to do than by taking up our Lord to an exceeding high Mountain shewing him there as in a Synopsis All the Kingdoms of the World with the Glory of them and then by making this lusty Proffer All These will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me § 4. This then does lead us to see the reason why 't is said by St. Paul That the love of mony is the Root of all Evil. And why by St. Iames Go to now ye rich men weep and howl for the Miseries that shall come upon you And why 't is said by our Saviour of whom we believe that he shall come to be our Judge Wo to you that are Rich for ye have received your Consolation Wo to you that are full for ye shall hunger Wo to you that laugh for ye shall mourn and weep And why 't was said by the Spanish Friar That Few Potentates go to Hell because comparatively speaking they All are but Few And why we vowed in our Baptism to fight manfully under Christ's Banner as well against the World as the Flesh and the Devil And why we pray in our publick Litany not only In all Time of our Tribulation of Lightning and Tempest of Plague Pestilence and Famine of Battle and Murder and suddain Death But as a Danger if not a Mischief as great as either In all Time of our WEALTH Good Lord deliver us Nor can we render a better reason as long as Charity sits as Iudge why so many who have been placed upon exceeding high Mountains a great deal higher even than That on which the Devil here placed our Blessed Saviour from whence they could not only see but injoy the Kingdoms of the Earth and the Glory of them have gladly laid down those Kingdoms and divorc'd themselves from those Glories as having known them by sad experience to be but exquisite Temptations and pleasant Snares § 5. But here I would not be so mistaken as our Lord was by his Disciples when he pronounced it impossible for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God For when I say that worldly Greatness is one of the Devil 's most cogent Engines whereby to batter down the Castle or Soul of Man I am far from implying 't is irresistible Though I argue that the Devil is then the greatest Poliorxetick as Soldiers word it when he lays Siege to a man's Soul with All the Kingdoms of the Earth yet can it not therefore be deny'd but that we may beat him out of his Trenches through him that strengthneth us and that as He did with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 get thee hence Satan Honour and Riches are but Temptations and Temptations in Themselves are but Things Indifferent which accordingly as they are us'd do administer a Nourishment to Vice or Vertue Just as the very same Sword is of it self apt to serve to the most contrary Effects as well to punish as to protect the Guilty and either to defend or to kill the Innocent And thus the same Meat and Drink as it meets with an immoderate or sober Appetite serves for the Mischief of a Surfeit or for a necessary Refection The strength of a Temptation as it does in part lessen the Sinner's Guilt when yielded to and comply'd with so does it heighten the vertue too when victoriously resisted And as the Angels who fell from a state of Innocence and Bliss were the less capable of rising in that they fell without a Tempter so the Angels who never fell are the less capable of the Coronets which Virgins and Martyrs shall wear in Heaven because they are pure and impassive and so exempted by God Almighty from the Dignity and Privilege of suffering for him This then we must confess is the great Benefit of Temptations to give our Enemies their Due that by resisting them to the end we manfully fight under Christ's Banner conform our selves to his Example and suffer for his sake as He for ours In which respect no doubt it was as before I noted that St. Iames began his Epistle with this remarkable Exhortation Brethren count it all Ioy when ye fall into divers Temptations Some may wonder at the Expression and think it impious that at the instant in which we pray lead us not into Temptation we should be glad of those things we daily deprecate But St. Iames

good propos'd but we an Intellectual They as 't were an Apple but we an Inheritance They a transitory Kingdom but we a Kingdom not to be moved They were promis'd a Redemption indeed from Egypt but we from Hell They to be fed with milk and hony but we never to hunger or thirst They a long life but we an Eternal one They a Canaan but we a Heaven And that God will exact the most strict accompt of our wanderings to whom he hath held the greatest light for the better clearing of our ways we may infer from our Saviour's words in the eleventh Chapter of St. Matthew where Tyre and Sidon are more excusable than Corazin and Bethsaida because the later had been obliged with greater Means of Conviction but all in vain This affords a Lesson for our Humiliation That however our Reward is extremely Great even a Kingdom which cannot be moved a Kingdom of Grace and of Glory too yet God hath placed it very high and the way to it is very steep We must not flatter our selves therefore that we are able to fall upwards that with a yawning Relyance we can ever climb up the Hill of Sion and drop as 't were into Heaven with a drowzy Confidence We have no incouragement from our Apostle to believe we shall go thither by meerly believing we are Regenerate and cannot fail of our being there He does not here press on his Hebrew Christians to receive their Salvation with Faith but to serve for it with Reverence Not to expect it only with confidence but strictly to endeavour it with godly Fear For our God is a Consuming Fire To Him be Glory for ever and ever HOW A Man is to work out HIS OWN SALVATION PHILIP II. 12. Work out your own Salvation with Fear and Trembling THe words in general are a Command delivered by St. Paul in the Name of God the Great Master to the Servants of God in the Church at Philippi In which there are chiefly four things to be consider'd First the quality of the Servants Next the wages which they expected Thirdly the work with which the wages was to be earn'd And lastly the manner or qualification with which the working was to be cloath'd First for the Quality of the Servants They were such as had been diligent in the performance of their Duty They had not only been sometimes dutiful they had not only been good by fits but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they had always obeyed They had evermore liv'd in the fear of God Next for the Wages which they expected That is expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be Salvation both as it signifies a deliverance from the tremendous Pains of Hell and as importing an Advancement to the ravishing Ioys of Heaven Then Thirdly for the Work with which the Wages was to be earn'd That is evidently obedience to the Lord Iesus Christ Very significantly implyed in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as that looks back upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As ye have always obey'd so now much more obey the Gospel Continue the Course of your obedience Go on to finish the work which ye have begun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 work and work out your own Salvation Last of all for the Manner or Qualification of the working whereby to make it become effectual for the receiving of the Reward There must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Salvation is to be wrought for with Fear and Trembling And that according to the threefold Signification of this expression First with Meekness and Humility We must not put the least Trust in the greatest Performances of our own nor must we be puff't or lifted up with the Gifts and Graces which God hath given us Next with Diligence and Solicitude That we may not for want of Perseverance finally miss of the Prize that is set before us and for which we have hitherto as it were contended by our obedience Thirdly with Awefulness and Horror or holy Dread Because as God is in one Cafe a quickning Light so he is in another a consuming Fire He who purposely created us to do him service is He who will turn us to Destruction unless we serve him as he Requires And now to anticipate an Inquiry how Humility and Solicitude as well as Awefulness and Dread are comprehended under the notion of Fear and Trembling I think it is easy to make it clear from the consideration of the Context without recourse to those other Scriptures wherein we meet with the same expression For First in vain should we indeavour the working out of our Salvation but that it is God who worketh in us both to will and to do And therefore we must do it with all Humility of Mind because in our selves as of our selves there dwelleth no good thing no not so much as Inclination to any thing that is good no not so much as Aversation from any thing that is evil But every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights If we can triumph over the Law as the strength of Sin by treading Sin under our Feet as the sting of Death All the Thanks must be to God who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Iesus Christ. And yet Secondly Although it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do yet the Apostle makes it a Reason why we our selves are to work out our own Salvation And therefore we must do it with Care and Diligence lest whilst God by his Grace is not wanting unto us we finally miss of his Glory by having been wanting unto our selves Thus we see there is pregnant Reason for the Double Importance of the Phrase as 't is meerly rational And of the literal Signification I suppose there cannot be any Doubt For We must work out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling in as much as that signifies the greatest Awefulness and Dread because of the Dreadfulness of our Doom in case we work not at all or not at all to that purpose that God requires And thus I hope I have so divided as withal to have explained and clear'd the Text. The first three Parts of the whole Division may well be thrust up together into this Doctrinal Proposition That our Salvation is not attainable by a meer Orthodoxy of Iudgment in point of Faith or a bare Rectitude of Opinions concerning God But by obedience to the Gospel or Law of Christ. For what is expressed by obedience in the former part of this Verse is also expressed in the later by the working out of our own Salvation And as Salvation is a Thing which requires our working So 't is not any kind of working will serve our Turn For The last Particular of the four affords us a second Proposition which is as apt to defend us from Carnal Security as the First To wit That however Unavoidable our State of Bliss may seem to us by our having with the Philippians obeyed