Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	eternal_a	grace_n	life_n	9,446	5	4.9473	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A28288	The love of God manifested in giving our Saviour for the redemption of mankind a sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen on Nov. the 29th, 1696, being the first Sunday in Advent / by L. Blackburne ...	Blackburne, Lancelot, 1658-1743.	1697 (1697)	Wing B3067; ESTC R11620	10,822	27

had sold himself to Sin and given himself up to Vanity his ways were perverse before the Lord Paradise it self cou'd not tempt him to be honest a little while but he wou'd needs serve the Devil as soon as God had made him This was the condition of lost Man when yet God so lov'd the World that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life 2. An End truly worthy of God! Worthy his Infinite and Almighty Beneficence Men in Prison are sometimes unexpectedly set free but often free only to starve abroad in the open Air. Men sunk in Debt have their bonds often cancell'd by the Compassion of Government but are many times only by that Means at liberty to contract new ones without any probable condition of support But Man by this Gift was not only rescu'd from perishing Everlastingly but Eternal Glory and Happiness was purchas'd for him For the End God propos'd in giving his Son was not narrow and short according to the weak measures and imperfect Projects of humane Benefactors It was not limited barely to the freeing us from Punishment it extended to the enstating us in Life Everlasting and however these two are commonly mistaken or confounded one for or with another yet they are distinct Effects in different regards depending equally on the same Gift and both together making up the great End of it the Salvation of our Souls The Pardon of our sins and deliverance from Death was due to our Blessed Saviour's Infinite Satisfaction But our claim to Eternal Life depends wholly on his Merit as all those Gifts and Graces do which conduce to our obtaining it For to frame an exact Notion of the Essential Parts of the Causes and Principles of our Salvation the Sacrifice of Christ is to be consider'd in two respects either as a punishment inflicted by divine Justice on that Victim which was offer'd in our stead or as a Voluntary Oblation which Christ made of himself to purchase for us an inheritance in the highest Heavens by Vertue of that Covenant which he made with the Father as Mediator between God and Man it is his satisfaction which respects the Guilt of our sins and the Divine Justice naturally and necessarily demanding their Punishment and the consequence of that can reach no farther than putting us in a state of Impunity But it is the Merit of our Blessed Saviour which respects our Natural want and incapacity of Eternal Happiness and the Formal Effect of that is not the Delivering us from Hell which the satisfaction has perform'd already but the acquisition of Heaven for us which is an End above and beyond what that satisfaction was determin'd to Not that the Merit or Satisfaction in the Sacrifice of Christ can any way be separated or divided from it it cou'd not satisfy if it were not Meritorious it cou'd not Merit if it did not satisfy but still when we speak properly and clearly they are two distinct and different things and produce distinct and different effects For though God having made Man at first Just and Innocent and put him in Possession of that Happiness which he lost by Sin it may seem probable that the Satisfaction made for that Sin shou'd of it self re-instate him in that Happiness and supersede by that means all manner of necessity of any farther purchace to be made for him Yet if we consider well the nature of the Happiness which the Gospel directs us to aim at and expect it will be found to be such as Man cou'd lay no claim to from any natural right and therefore such as cou'd not any way be due to him upon and from his restitution to his natural State For his natural State consisted in the enjoyment of an Earthly Paradise and depended as to its duration on his continuance in Innocence But the Life Eternal of the Gospel is a supernatural Gift not an animal felicity in its own Nature capable of change however conditionally lasting 'T is a happiness which will make us like the Angels of God in a state unchangeable and indefeasible giving Immortality to our Bodies and impeccability to our Souls and requiring therefore a new right beyond the simple pardoning of our Sins on account of the ransom paid for us beyond the restoring us to the State from which we were fallen which might acquire to us an Everlasting Inheritance in the Kingdom of God by the infinite Merits of the voluntary oblation which our Blessed Saviour made of himself unconstrain'd by any Power unoblig'd by any Law unengag'd by any Merit of ours that cou'd deserve it 3. Which leads us to the consideration of the Principle upon which God was pleas'd to bestow this Gift his Infinite and unbounded Love and Compassion Infinite and Vnbounded indeed had that Goodness need to be which cou'd extend it self to the World in that condition which it was sunk into For Sin is a State of Rebellion and Defiance against God and he that has once put off and renounc'd his Allegiance cannot rationally expect or hope for the benefits of that Government which he refuses to submit to how mild and compassionate soever the nature of the Power may be or however good and beneficent the Sovereign Administration of it A Love only without limits cou'd pursue us so far as effectually to overtake us when we were set at a wider distance from him by our Sins than we were by our Nature when all the Characters of his Perfections in us were blotted or eras'd all the Faculties of our Souls disorder'd and revers'd and the whole Body of Sin reign'd in triumph over us But though his Almighty Love reach'd us in this State of Sin and Wickedness it was not under this consideration that it did so Such an imagination wou'd be abusive and unworthy of God inconsistent with his Infinite Holiness and Purity and irreconcileable to his Justice which demanded their Vindication It was the Misery of Man alone which mov'd the Divine Compassion a Misery too great for any Natural Powers to redeem him from too intense for any Creatures Pity to abate or relieve For no Man can by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a ransom for him for it cost more to redeem their Souls so that they must let that alone for ever And Misery indeed is the proper object of Pity and helpless Misery of a Divine Beneficence a Misery hopelesly such of an Almighty one On this account notwithstanding we were dead in our trespasses and on that score the wretched Objects of Divine Justice it was not inconsistent with the inviolable Majesty of God's Laws and his immutable Decree of punishing Sin that God shou'd have inclinations of rendring himself placable to Mankind that he shou'd be mov'd with compassion to such a degree as to procure us the means of Reconciliation since even those means by the satisfaction given serv'd but yet more to raise the Glory

and Honour of his Government as well as to purchase for us Everlasting Happiness and Communion with him by the most exalted flight of inestimable Love A Love worthy our warmest attention to all the endearing circumstances of it worthy our utmost acknowledgments and gratitude for so infinite an Obligation To make us out of nothing was an Act of kindness to which God had on him no antecedent Obligation but to redeem us from what was worse than nothing out of Eternal Slavery to Sin and Death how wonderfully does it increase and indear the Benefaction Life it self was a favour which we had no title to it cou'd not be our due when we had not a being to claim it in we cou'd not expect it when we were not so much as even in expectation How enlarg'd then and unexhausted is that bounty which gives us Life Eternal in Happiness Everlasting The Infinite Majesty of God and our own Vnworthiness had set him at a distance from us wholly insurmountable his brightness forbad all approach and his anger all hopes of access yet he gave his Son his only begotten to take upon him our Nature that he might draw it into an intimate an endless and inseparable Union with his own He gave the Son of his Love for Rebels and Enemies from the Throne of his Glory above the Heavens to be born among Beasts and to die among Thieves He gave him for Vs when he pass'd by the fall'n Angels Those once Blessed Spirits that fill'd his Presence and left 'em banisht for ever from the Joys of it bound up in Chains of Everlasting Darkness For verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham Heb. 2.16 That in him all the Nations of the earth might be blessed So universal and unconfin'd was the goodness of God as unlimited in the reach of it as intense in degree It was not restrain'd to one Family or People within the private Enclosure of the House of Judah or the narrow bounds of the Land of Canaan It spread it self wide among the Nations The Inhabitants of the Isles may be glad thereof It took in all Kindred Tongues and People it extended to the uttermost parts of the Earth For God is no narrow selfish Being with partial regards and contracted Bounty no Arbitrary Dispenser of a groundless Choice but an absolutely Free and general Benefactor The World which God so lov'd comprehends all Mankind and the value of the ransom he gave for it is sufficient to satisfy for as many Worlds as the wantonest Philosopher can imagine or the gayest Conquerour can wish for He wou'd that all Men shou'd be sav'd and come to the knowledge of the truth 'T is Infidelity alone which frustrates and makes useless to us all the gracious offers of Infinite Compassion For God so lov'd the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shou'd not perish but have Everlasting Life 4. Which brings me to the condition appointed for making this Gift of any use or advantage to us even Our faith in Christ without which it is impossible for us to attain to that Salvation which he came to purchase For we must not dream of a Covenant without a condition or expect the benefit of the one without performing the other God did not so love the world as to send his Son to carry Men to Heaven against their wills But he sent him to make Men capable of going thither and to enable 'em to perform what he requires of 'em in order to it And he requires nothing but what was fit for him to propose nothing but what is necessary for us to perform Shou'd God have propos'd severe and arbitrary Terms to us in order to our Deliverance from the Misery we were fallen into we must have had very shallow apprehensions of that Misery to have been capable of thinking any possible means of escaping it insupportable but when the condition he enjoins is suitable to his Nature and to ours agreeable to his Divine Perfections and in its own Nature necessary to our Happiness we have reason with Joy to accept the gracious offer and with a grateful alacrity to perform the Condition Now it is very suitable to God's Nature that he should make our Faith in his Son this Condition for it is an acknowledgment of many of his Divine Perfections and a homage naturally due to 'em when they are once discover'd to our Minds Men may attempt to perswade our Belief but God alone has a right to command it He has an absolute Authority over our Souls and all their Faculties over our Thoughts and Understandings to pull down strong holds and cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and to bring into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ So that we are to believe what he teaches us of himself and what he promises to us without demanding other proofs or farther reasons our judgments are no longer at our own command we have no right to examine and canvass the natural grounds or modes of those Mysteries he requires us to believe but our Minds are led Captive and given absolutely up to the Power and Force of his Authority alone It is an acknowledgment of his Goodness which assures us he will withhold nothing from us that he in his Wisdom sees necessary or even fit for our knowledge and an acknowledgment of his Infallibility as well as of his Truth that he is as uncapable of deceiving us as of designing to do so Thus our Faith gives to our Blessed Saviour the due Honour of these Perfections in the Godhead and whatever action of ours contributes most to the setting out the Glory of the Divine Attributes it is most suitable to the Divine Nature to require it of us But it is not only agreeable to the Nature of God it is farther in its own Nature that is by the natural tendency of the act it self absolutely necessary to our Happiness For it is a mistake to think this an Arbitrary condition or means of applying to us the Fruit of this Gift which God might indifferently have chosen or left for any other and that it is only necessary because God was pleas'd to make it so It was necessary to the very nature of the transaction by which our Saviour was to become our Pledge and our Ransom and to represent our Persons in satisfying for our Sins For our Saviour taking upon him the Office of a Mediator between God and Man to make up the great difference between our Maker and his Creatures by bearing the punishment of our Sins in his own Person It was not only necessary that he shou'd be authoriz'd on God's part whose consent was requir'd to the Translation of the Punishment from our Persons to his but that we also on our part by our Faith shou'd accept him as our Mediator that by that consent of ours to his acting for us we might have some Title to the Divine Mercy and Favour from the satisfaction and Merit of that Mediation with the Father It is a vain Mediation between Two where the consent of one Party is wanting and there is no possible way of expressing ours but by resigning our Faith our Trust and Confidence by giving our selves up intirely to the Direction and Obedience of the Son of God who had the goodness for our sakes to submit himself to that Office and Employment And what has he not done to establish that Faith And what has he left unattempted to engage our affections If Objects of sense alone can gain our attention he made himself so to the World in the Veil of his Flesh If signs from Heaven and astonishing Miracles can assert the Divinity of his Person and of his Doctrine his Life was full of such arguments and assurances and his resurrection from the Dead was an evidence as undeniable in the Fact as convincing in the Proof If dark and obscure Mysteries seem to shock this Faith the Evidence of their Truth is founded upon Facts as uncontestable as the commands for receiving 'em are positive and express If Reason or Interest can incline our Belief it is by its own proper tendency and by the Law of the New Covenant a necessary Condition of our Happiness And when our Faith in Christ is thus enliven'd and actuated when it is enforc'd with such Tyes and supported with such Evidence we must be utterly lost to all that is tender or sensible to all that is honest or gratefull in human Nature if we are able to resist such amazing instances of the Love of God and of our Blessed Saviour as have flame enough in 'em to raise and to transport the most degenerate and obdurate Natures At the returns of a generous Deliverer from our Temporal Enemies an universal Joy and acknowledgement justly spreads it self through his People it breaks through the wise Mans firmest compos'dness for a Joy that is sensible will be seen it transports the full Crouds into loud Acclamations for acknowledgments that are real will be heard even the rumours of fresh Enemies disturb not their chearfulness so full are they of his Presence and secure in his Conduct What bounds then can confine the excess of our transports at the coming of this Conquerour of our spiritual Adversaries At the coming of a Conquerour assur'd of his Victory over Principalities over Powers over the Rulers of the darkness of this World over spiritual Wickednesses in high Places The very Angels themselves will join in the tuneful consort and break out into Heavenly Songs and Hallelujahs Glory be to God on High on Earth Peace Good will towards Men For God so lov'd the World that he gave his Only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shou'd not perish but have Everlasting Life To Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit Three Persons and one God be all Glory Honour Power Might Majesty and Dominion from this time forth for evermore Amen FINIS