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	life_n	wage_n	6,981	5	11.0985	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42264	Profitable charity a sermon preached before the right honourable Sir Thomas Lane, Lord Mayor of London, and the honourable Court of Aldermen, &c. at the parish-church of St. Brides, on Easter-Monday, 1695 / by Robert Lord Bishop of Chichester.	Grove, Robert, 1634-1696.	1695 (1695)	Wing G2154; ESTC R16834	15,473	34

special Favour to accept of the little Services he inables us to do him and has incouraged them with the promise of eternal Life yet we cannot claim it as that which is in strictness due to our weak and imperfect performances The Reward is of Grace and not of Debt The Wages of Sin is Death indeed it is that which it has earned and most justly deserved but the Gift of God is eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord This is a Gift a Thing freely bestowed not purchased with Alms or any Works of ours but by the precious Blood of our blessed Redeemer And he that should exact it as in Justice due to any thing he had done would set-up a wrong Title and let fall that by which he held before The Case is much the same as if a Sovereign should not only Pardon one of his rebellious Subjects but besides that settle an Inheritance upon him of an inestimable Value and only require him to be kind to his Fellow Traytors and dispose of some small matter of what he had given him among them for his sake and not the hundredth part it may be of what he owed him neither Now if this insolent wretch upon the laying down such a pitiful trifle should imagine that he had made a real purchase and refuse to accept the Estate as it was conveyed to him by an act of mere Grace but insist upon it as his undoubted Right he would by that Plea totally quit his proper Claim and forfeit all and incur the highest displeasure of his Lord for the unsufferable arrogance of such a proud and groundless Demand It is dangerous pleading of Merit when the matter in question is a pure Favour 3. The third false End is near a kin to this and maintained in the same Church and that is a Conceit that Men by their Alms may make Satisfaction for their Sins When the Guilt that has been contracted lies as a heavy Burden upon the Conscience and Men are frighted with the dreadful apprehensions of what must be the necessary consequence of a lewd and vicious Life they will think nothing too dear to procure a Pardon The miserable Worlding will then be willing to part with some of his ill-gotten Goods to escape the Punishment he knows to be due to his Rapine and Injustice especially when the Terrors of Death are upon him and he cannot retain the Treasures of Unrighteousness any longer he will then gladly throw any thing or all that he has into the imaginary Bank of the Church for the hopes of an Indemnity This Fancy has erected many stately Monuments and given large Endowments to many rich Foundations And it must be confessed that when such things as these are done with an humble sense of our own unworthiness they are very good if not some of the best expressions of our Love to the Brethren and our Gratitude to the Almighty But then we must beware that they are not polluted with a fond Opinion as if they were able to take away the gilt of a Sin We must not to think expiate a Murder by building a Monastery nor to make an atonement for the wickedness of our whole Life by founding an Hospital when we are dead No We were not redeemed with corruptible things There is no such commuting in the Court of Heaven there is no bribing of Justice there nor buying off the Sentence with Money God will be merciful unto us and accept our Alms when they are given in the way of Acknowledgement and not of Satisfaction 4. There is one false End more which I shall name and that is when Men will give only for the support of a particular Party All mankind is the complete and adequate Object of our Charity common Humanity gives every one an Interest in our Affections and intitles him to a share of our Bounty It is the Apostle's command As we have opportunity let us do good unto all men Gal. vi 10. 't is true he immediately adds Especially to them who are of the houshold of faith And it will be readily granted that we may and ought to have a more peculiar regard to these but not to the total exclusion of others We should be more liberal where the Obligations of the same Religion are superadded to those of the same humane Nature or where it is not in our Power to Relieve both we may lawfully prefer a Relation before a Stranger a Christian before an Infidel one of our own before one of the Roman Church But no Christian of any denomination whatsoever no Jew no Turk no Heathen no Man whatever he be but should have some small Portion at least of the good Things we possess if his Necessities require it This is the true Christian Charity that extends it self over the whole World but it is nothing but peevish Bigotry to be kind to none but our own perswasion Like the Jews that could be Bountiful enough to their own Nation but had no manner of Bowels or Pity for a poor Samaritan This is a bitter Zeal that quickly runs out into down-right Cruelty as when some shall be content to give profusely to the good Catholicks as they call them only to animate and abet them in the extirpation of Hereticks This is a Love that is begotten of Hatred this is to be Charitable in Spight and to do some kind of Good for the sake of a greater Mischief At best he that restrains his kindness to a Party has indeed no kindness for any but his own dear self for he loves others only because they Act and Think as he does These are the things that will make our Alms-to profit us nothing When they are corrupted with Vain Glory or an Opinion of Merit or Satisfaction or when they are too much confined to one particular sort of Men. III. I proceed now to the third Thing to shew what are the Reasons that whatever we bestow upon the Necessities of our poor Brethren upon the Principle of true Charity shall through God's gracious acceptance be Profitable to us in the great Day of Accounts And that it shall be 1. Because Acts of Beneficence are necessary to preserve the Principle 2. Because they are the surest Evidence of our Love of God 3. Because they are the plainest demonstration of our Faith and Trust in Him 4. And because they do in a peculiar manner incline Him to be merciful unto us when we are thus merciful unto others These are the Reasons for which our Alms are profitable to us and pleasing to God 1. First Because Acts of Beneficence are necessary to preserve the Principle The Principle by which these are to be produced and which is the only thing that can make them accepted is Charity the true inward Charity of the Heart as I have shewed and which I have endeavoured to describe unto you tho' very imperfectly Now where this Principle has no other opportunity of exerting it self a sincere desire only of