Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	die_v	let_v	sin_n	8,430	5	5.2365	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23767	A sermon preached in St. Peter's Westminster on Sunday, Jan. 6, 1660 at the consecration of the Right Reverend Fathers in God, Gilbert, Lord Bishop of Bristoll, Edward, Lord Bishop of Norwich, Nicholas, Lord Bishop of Hereford, William, Lord Bishop of Glocester by Richard Allestry ...	Allestree, Richard, 1619-1681.	1660 (1660)	Wing A1163; ESTC R8500	24,735	46

these diviner offices may be stil'd Angels well when they are call'd from all regards or notices of any body that belongs to them their gifts and graces set them above the consideration of flesh In the entertainment of these qualifications the Soul is swallowed up so that it cannot take cognizance whether it have a body of its own and is not sensible of that deer partner of it self it is so onely sensible of this Employment 'T is not for an Apostle or for his Successor to think of things below with much complacency When these have all their Uses all their glories on they but make pomp to dress the body which an Apostle does not designe for nor knowes whether he be concern'd at all in He becomes something without a body and above the Earth who for a preparative must be taken up to Paradise and call'd from all commerce and all intelligence with his own body Saint Paul was call'd from heaven to preach the Gospel but he was call'd to heaven to qualifie him for this higher separation to an Apostle and Church-Governour And now you see your calling Holy Fathers and to pass by such obvious unconcerning observations as at first sight follow that those who are not qualified are not call'd I shall onely take notice hence of the counter-part of this call the charge God takes upon him when he cals to this charge and that is he owns and will protect whom himself cals 'T was that he promised to the Founder and God of your Order I the Lord have call'd thee and I will hold thine hand and I will keep thee Isai. 42. 6. And when he said of Cyrus I have call'd him he said also he shall make his way prosperous Isai. 48. 15. And so he shall be the way what it will for thus he said to Jacob I have call'd thee when thou goest through the water I am with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee Isai. 43. 1 2. There was Experience of all this in one of the chief Princes of your Order when the Apostles were scarce safe within their ship they were so toss'd with waves and fears yet if our Lord will call him Peter is confident he shall be safe even in the sea Lord if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the Water saith he and the Lord did but call him and he went down and walked on the water safely as if the swelling billows did onely lift themselves to meet his steps and raise him up from sinking And when his own doubts which alone could were neer drowning him and he but call'd the Lord immediately he stretch'd out his hand and caught him He answers his call if we answer ours if we obey when he sayes come then will he come and save when we call to him And so Peter receiv'd no hurt but a rebuke O thou of little faith why didst thou doubt couldst thou imagine I would not sustein stein thee in the doing what I bid thee do in answering my call But why seek we experience of so old a date There is a more encouraging miracle in these late calls themselves Had God sustein'd the Order in its offices and dignities amidst those waves that wrack'd the Church of late it had been prodigy of undeserved Compassion to our Nation but whenas all was sunk to bid the sea give up what it had swallowed and consumed this is more then to catch a sinking Peter or to save a falling Church The work of Resurrection is emphatically call'd the working of God's mighty power and does out-sound that of his ordinary conservation And truely 't was almost as easie to imagination how the scattered Atomes of mens dust should order themselves and reunite and close into one flesh as that the parcels of our Discipline and Service that were lost in such a wild confusion and the Offices buried in the rubbish of the demolisht Churches should rise again in so much order and beauty Stantia non poterant tecta probare Deum This calling of the Spirit is like that when the Spirit moved upon the face of the abyss and call'd all things out of their no seeds there or like the call of the last Trump Thus by the miraculous mercies of these calls God hath provided for our hopes and warranted our faith of his protections yet he hath also sent us more security hath given us a Constantine if his own be not a greater Name and more deserving of the Church for which it is well known to some he did contrive and order when he could neither plot nor hope for his own Kingdome did with passion labour a succession in your Order when he did not know how to lay designes for the succession of himself or any of his Fathers house to his own Crown and dignity Nor is the Secular arme all your security God himself hath set yet more guards about his consecrated ones he hath severe things for the violaters of them Moses the meekest man upon the Earth that in his life was never angry but once at the rebellious seemes very passionate in calling Vengeance on those that stir against these holy Offices Smite through the loines of all that rise against them and of them that hate them that they rise not again the loines 〈◊〉 we know are the nest of posterity so that 〈◊〉 through the loines is stab the succession 〈◊〉 at once all the posterity of them that we ●●●ut off this Tribe and hinder its successior Nor was this Legal Spirit Gospel is as severe Those in 〈◊〉 Jude that despise these Governours tha● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Corah and his Complices did who g●●●ered themselves against Moses and Aaron and said You take too much upon you ye sons of Levi since all the Congregation is holy every one of them and the Lord is among them wherefore then lift you up your selves above the Congregation of the Lord words these that we are well acquainted with and which it seems St. Jude looks on as sins under the Gospel these perish in the gainsaying of Core whom God would not prepare for punishment by death but he and his accomplices went quick into it He would not let them stay to dy but the Lord made a new thing to shew his detestation of this sin and the Earth swallow'd it in the Commission and all that were alli'd and appertain'd to them that had an hand in it And truely they may well expect strange recompences who do attempt so strange a Sacriledge as to pull stars out of Christ's own right hand from whence we have his word that no man shall be able to pluck any but if they shine thence on their Orbs below and convert many to Righteousness their light shall blaze out into glory and they shall ever dwell at his right hand To which right hand He that brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus that great Shepheard and

forth in fury to destroy and did commit a violence upon the Lord such as he could not grapple with but seems to deprecate and would fain avoid and sayes Let me alone that I may destroy them Exod. 32. 10. If thou wilt permit me my fury shall prevail upon them faith the Arabick but if thou pray it cannot therefore let goe thy prayer saith the Chald. and let me alone And they who shall confider also that His prayer did maintain a breach against the Lord when He had made one and was coming to enter in a storm of indignation then this made head against him and repuls't him Psal. 106. 23. They that consider these effects will certainly desire the Prayers and Benedictions of those Gods chiefest Officers of blessing those that are consecrated to bless in the Name of the Lord and will have them in love for this works sake Their Third work is Government which may be some do look upon as priviledge and not as work the expectation and delight of their ambitions and not the fear and burthen of their shoulders But ambition may as rationally fly at Miracles as Government and as hopefully gape after diversity of Tongues as at presiding in the Church the powers of each did come alike from Heaven and were the mere gifts of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12. 28. It was so in the Law when God went to divide part of Moses burthen of Government amongst the Lxx he came down and took of the Spirit that was upon him and gave it to the Lxx Num. 11. 25. A work this that may have reason to supersede much of that which I first mentioned For notwithstanding all Saint Paul's assistances of Spirit he does reckon that care that came upon him daily from the Churches amongst his persecutions and it summes up his Catalogue of sufferings 2 Cor. 11. Such various Necessities there are by which Government is distracted and knows not how to temper it self to them For sometimes it must condescend Paul notwithstanding Apostolical decrees made in full Council that abrogated Circumcision as the Holy Ghost had declared it void before yet is fain to comport so far with the violent humors of a party as to Circumcise Timothy at the very same time when he delivered those decrees to the Churches to keep Act. 16. 3 4 yet asterwards when Circumcision was lookt on as Engagement to the whole Law and to grant them that one thing was but to teach them to ask more and to be able to deny them nothing then he suffers not Titus to be circumcised nor gave place to them by submission no not for an hour Gal. 2. 3 5. Thus the Spirit of Government is sometimes a Spirit of meekness does its work by soft yieldings and breaks the Adamant with Cushions which Anvils would not do The Ocean with daily billows and tides helpt on with storms of violence and hurried by tempests of roaring fury assaults a rock for many ages and yet makes not the least impression on it but is beat back and made retire in empty fome in insignificant passion when a few single drops that distill gently down upon a rock though of Marble or a small trickle of water that onely wets and glides over the stone insinuate themselves into it and soften it so as to steal themselves a passage through it And yet Government hath a rod too which like Moses's can break the rock and fetch a stream out of the heart of quarre and which must be used also the Holy Spirit himself breathed tempest when he came blew in a mighty boisterous wind nor does he alwayes whisper soft things he came down first in a sound from heaven and spoke thunder nor did it want lightning the tongue was double flame Of some we know we must have a Compassion but others must be saved with terror Jude 22 23. which drives me on to the last piece of their work The Censures of the Church the burthen of the Keyes which passing by the private use of them in voluntary penitences and discipline upon the sick as they signifie publick exclusion out of the Church for scandalous Enormities and re-admission into it upon repentance have been sufficiently evinc'd to belong to the Governours of the Church The Exercise of these is so much their work that Saint Paul calls them the Weapons of their spiritual Warfare by which they do cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the Knowledg of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10. 4 5 a blessed victory even for the Conquered and these the onely Weapons to atchieve it with If those who sin scandalously and will not hear the admonitions of the Church were cast out of the Church if not Religion Reputation would restrain them somewhat not to be thought fit company for Christians would surely make them proud against their Vices Shame the design'd Effect of these Censures hath great pungencies the fear of it does goad men into actions of the greatest hazard and the most unacceptable such as have nothing lovely in them but are wholy distastful There is a Sin whose face is bloody dismal and yet because t is countenanc'd by the Roysting Ruffian part of the world men will defie Reason and Conscience Man's and God's Law venture the ruine of all that is belov'd and dear to them in this world and assault death and charge and take Hell by violence rather then be asham'd before those valiant sinners Satans Hectors and they must never come into such Company if they do not go boldly on upon the sin is of more force with them then all the indearments of this world then all their fear of God and death and that which follows Now if Religion could but get such Countenance by the Censures of the Church and every open sinner had this certain fear I shall be turn'd out of all Christian company shall be avoided as unfit for Conversation would it not have in some degree the like effect and if the motive be as much exactly would not men be chast or sober or obedient for that very reason for which they will now be kil'd and be damn'd Without all question Saint Peter's Censure on the intemperate 1 Cor. 5. must needs be reformation to him T is such a sentence to the drunkard Not to company with him whose vice is nothing but the sauce of Company and who does sin against his body and against his faculties and against his Conscience is sick and is a Sott and goes to Hell meerly for Societies sake Now the infliction of these Censures is so much the work to which Church-governours are call'd by the Holy Ghost that they are equally call'd by him to it and to Himself both are alike bestow'd upon them Receive the Holy Ghost whose sins ye retain they are retained John 20. 22. And in the first derivations of this office it was performed