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	sin_n	temporal_a	8,837	5	8.6794	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93740	The great, useful and blessed duty of a contentment, willingness and desire to die set forth upon true and assured grounds, in several discourses on these following scriptures. By Richard Stafford, A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Recommended as more proper and beneficial to be given at funerals than gloves or rings.	Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.	1700 (1700)	Wing S5119A; ESTC R223444	53,707	69

God the Lord belong the Issues from Death In saving us from Sin God doth save us from Death also inasmuch as Death is by reason of Sin And therefore Jesus Christ in whom was no sin he being the Holy one of God Therefore he should not see corruption and it was not possible that he should not be holden of Death as Peter doth truly averr it So that as God and Christ do save us from sin unto God do belong the Issues from Death for there is a flowing and rising and deliverance from that again As health is an holding together of Temporal Life so Holiness or freedom from sin is the Principle and beginning of Eternal Life It is an act of Salvation or saving to subdue And as to this also we have God speaking on this wise He will turn again he will have compression upon us he wi●… subdue our iniquities Micah 7. 19. which indeed is the greatest instance of compassion that can be shewed unto us Men for unless God did subdue our Iniquities we must die perish and be miserable for ever Now to Subdue our Iniquities is to conquer and subdue the reigning Nature and Power of them so that they shall not involve us into the Death of Sin here nor yet into the Damnation of Hell hereafter Having thus Explained what Salvation is in order that we may the better understand those true and assured grounds of a willingness to dye when we have seen the Salvation of God wrought and accomplished upon and within our Souls Proceed we to speak 〈◊〉 the Nature of Redemption which is also another tr●… and assured Ground of committing our Spirit into th● hand of God because thou hast Redeemed us O Lor● God of Truth The signification of which Redemption may be Understood from what is written Forasmu●… as ye know that ye were not Redeemed with Corruptib●… things as Silver and Gold from your vain Conversation receiv●… by tradition from your Fathers And as the same Apost●… doth elsewhere phrase it By these you might be part●kers of the Divine Nature which none can be un●… be is first Redeemed from the corrupt Nature a● from the Body of Sin which we carry about us having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through lust So that to be Redeemed from Corruption and from Lust both which are very much in the World this ●s Redemption Upon my Discoursing these things Examine your selves whoso shall hear or Read these Lines can ye thus find and witness Redemption in your own Souls That is do ye feel and Experience inwardly a Redemption in ye from that vain Conversation which is so much used and practised by other People and also a Redemption from Corruption and from Lust If it is so Indeed and in Truth then ye have purchased a good degree in the Faith and ye have made a considerable Advancement and Proficiency in the Christian-Life So that ye are in a readiness and willingness to Commit your Spirits into the hand of God because he hath Redeemed them And then in Psal 31. 5. He is called the Lord God of Truth Intimating thereby that he doth Redeem and Sanctifie them by his Truth There is another Scripture which doth clearly open the Nature of Redemption These were they which were ●…ot defiled with Women these were Redeemed observe that ●…rom among Men being the first Fruits unto God and to ●he Lamb. And in their Mouth was found no Guile for they were without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14. 4. 5. ●t is here to be taken notice of how the Scripture in ●his and many other places doth in a wonderful manner Instruct People in these things of Holiness per●ection and Innocency It is the Point or End which ●…ll Scripture doth drive at and lead unto But in this ●lace to be Redeemed doth import to be Redeemed ●…om among Men and not to be defiled with Women That is not to be Tainted or Touched with the Temptation of either to be freed from Lust Concupicence and from the motions of Sins in our Members and to have in our Mouth no Guile found and to be without fault before the Throne of God Such are his Redeemed and Sanctified ones And the Ransomed of the Lord elsewhere called the Redeemed of the Lord Isa 51. 11. shall return and com● to Zion with Songs and Everlasting joy upon their Head● They shall obtain joy and Gladness and Sorrow and Sigh●ing shall flee away Isa 35. 10. In truth none hav● such Reason to be joyful as these Redeemed of the Lord for nothing can possibly hurt them Not Me● nor Devils nor yet Death it self which is the mo●… Melancholy thing and of doubtful Expectation as t● other People for by Death they are received into God hand the place of Everlasting joy There is yet another Scripture which Explains th● Nature of Redemption Who gave himself for us that 〈◊〉 might Redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie unto him self a peculiar People zealous of good Works Titus 2. 1 The Scripture is all along consonant and agreeable to 〈◊〉 self for this Redeeming from all Iniquity and Purifyi●… answers exactly to that place aforementioned of bein● without Guile and to have no fault A state of Innocen●… is a state of Redemption for it is a state of Rede●ption from Sin Guilt and whatever may hurt or ma●… the Soul miserable It is a Redeeming from Captivit● Bondage and Thraldom from the Vassalage of S●…tan and the Imprisonment of Hell which as we 〈◊〉 come Obnoxious unto only by reason of Sin Iniqui●… and Transgression So as we are Redeemed from the●… we are consequently Redeemed and saved from t●… other also Besides these two Grounds of having seen the Salv●tion of God and his having Redeemed us there is anoth●… for our willingness and contentment to dye from wh●… is written I have Glorified thee on the Earth I ha●… finished the Work which thou gavest me to do And n●… come I to thee John 17. 4. 13. Now seeing that who●… God did foreknow He did also Predestinate to be conf●…med unto the Image of his Son that he might be t●… first Born amongst many Brethren So that we m●… assuredly Reason that every Servant of God may up●… true grounds be willing to dye and to come unto G●… when he hath before Glorified him on the Earth a●… finished the Work which God gave him to do A●… now come I to thee Words full of consolation and rejoycing Like as when a Servant is sent out to such a place about his Masters Business when he hath done it he returns to his Master with rejoycing and complacency of mind Even so God our Creator sent us Reasonable Creatures to do his Work and Business Wist ye not that I must be about my Fathers Business Luke 2. 49. Said Jesus Christ his beloved Son who herein left us an Example that we should follow his steps Now certainly it must be a Satisfaction to the Creature when he hath

THE Great Useful and Blessed DUTY OF A Contentment Willingness and Desire TO DIE Set forth upon true and assured Grounds in several Discourses on these following Scriptures Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy word For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Luke 2. 29 30. Into thine hand I commit my Spirit Thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of truth Psal 31. 5. I have glorified thee on the Earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do John 17. 4. By RICHARD STAFFORD A Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ Recommended as more proper and Beneficial to be given at Funerals than Gloves or Rings LONDON Printed and are to be sold by the Book-sellers of London and Westminster 1700. Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy Word For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Luke 2. 29 30. FRom these Words I shall treat through God's Assistance and according to the Knowledge given me O continue thy loving kindness to them that know thee and thy Righteousness to the upright in heart of our contentment and willingness to Die or depart from off this Earth Why Is there any need to perswade or exhort People to a Willingness and Desire to surrender back their Spirits unto the God who gave them This seems to be but what is Natural and Reasonable Yet still there is a reluctancy and backwardness in our Spirits to do this because the Spirit is conscious of having offended God and is afraid to meet with him Angry or as a God that ●aketh Vengeance And therefore until this same God is perfectly Reconciled unto and at Peace with her and he is sensible and assured thereof the Soul must needs be affraid and backward to come and appear before him A diversity is to be observed when it is written Into thine hand I commit my Spirit Thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth The Psalmist doth not here say Thou hast Created me O Lord God of Truth Though indeed this is true yet that is not altogether so satisfying 〈◊〉 Reason for him to willingly commit his Spirit into God's Hand as the consideration of his having Redeemed him is Because that by Nature we are the Children of Wrath as well as others and we are shapen in Iniquity and in Sin doth our Mother conceive us So that until this same Sin and Iniquity which is the Object of God's Hatred Displeasure and Punishment be done away and we are Redeemed from it for by his Redeeming us we are in a state of Reconcilation again as this is God's Act also as well as of Creating us we are not meet and consequently there cannot be a Willingness upon good and true Grounds to give up our Spirits unto God or to say with old Simeon in the Text Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace Even this old Simeon though he had already lived long on this Earth yet he would not have been so contented and desirous to have departed out of it unless he was to depart in Peace Not to depart generally as most People do in doubt fear and trouble but to depart in Peace If we could have our choice and it were so in our power as to be Immortal here and never to Die as for my part I should desire and pray unto God either to depart in Peace or not to depart at all Fo●… as it is said of the Son of Perdition It would have been good for him if he had never been Born so it may be here affirmed of those who do not depart in Peace It would be good for them not to depart or not to dye at all Not but that some may go off disturbedly and yet go off safely The Soul may be sometimes in a state of Peace and yet not be sensible thereof Who feareth th● Lord and obeyeth the voice of his Servant and yet walketh in darkness and have no light Isa 50. 10. But when one hath true and assured Grounds of Departing in Peace as Simeon here had there one may pray and appeal to God for him to let our Soul depart from the Body What were those true and assured Grounds which Simeon had of departing in Peace They are contained in the following Verse For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation From hence it appears that the true and assured Ground● for which any one is willing and contented to Dye is Because he hath seen the Salvation of God or for the committing our Spirit into the Hand of God is Because he hath Redeemed us Now to see the Salvation of God or for God to Redeem us do amount to near one and the same thing As it is written The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation in the Margent there it is with outward shew Neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for be●old the Kingdom of God is within you So here it may be reasoned and supposed The Salvation of God is not outward nor yet cometh with Observation but the Salvation of God is within us It is wrought and accomplished within us And thou shalt call his Name Je●us for he shall save his People from their Sins Mat. 1. 21. Who is a Prince and a Saviour and the Author of E●ernal Salvation to all that obey him and the Salvation of God As to all this Christ is no otherwise a Saviour ●r doth save us or is the Salvation of God than as he ●oth save us from our Sins and turn us from our ●aiquities For this is laying the Ax to the Root of ●…e Tree and digging to the very Ground-work and ●oundation because that only by reason of Sin we be●…me liable and obnoxious to Death Misery and Punishment So that by certain and necessary Consequence 〈◊〉 we are saved from Sin then also we are saved from ●eath Misery and Punishment Hence again appears that this is the Salvation of God to save us from our Sins ●nd to save us from the Guilt and Corruption of our ●ature from whence these same Sins do proceed forth and so in those many places of Scripture where Salvation belongeth unto our God and is ascribed unto him 〈◊〉 he is called the God of Salvation there it is meant of ●…ving us from our Sins Where he saves from our E●…mies Sin is the greatest Enemy for 't is Sin in such a ●…an or Woman which only makes him or her to be our ●nemy Thou hast led captivity captive Psal 68. 18. that 〈◊〉 God hath led Sin and Corruption which doth in●lve the Children of Men in Captivity Captive by 〈◊〉 having received gifts for Men. And then it follows ●lessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with Benefits and ●…imating thereby that to be saved from our Sins or to ●…d that Captive which before held us in Captivity is 〈◊〉 greatest Benefit And then it follows Even the God of our Salvation Selah He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto

took her unto his ●…n home Even so the eternal God takes such from that our of Death and Judgment unto his own home ●…at is he receives such up into the Habitation of his ●oliness and into the mansions of bliss In my Fathers ●ouse are many mansions And then truly it is that such 〈◊〉 us as are his elect and Servants are at our own Home 〈◊〉 when we are at home in the Body we are absent from ●…e Lord. Than only and never till then may we be truly ●…id to be at home when we come to be ever with the ●…rd Man goeth to his long home and the mourners go a●…t the streets Such again as God shall see know and ●…dge to be worthy of stripes who are appointed to ●eath or for Death will be assigned over unto it For by ●…e time God allots to each person upon this Earth he ●n as well and also doth actually prove and try them ●hether they will be fit for Heaven or Hell all one as they should live out to the period of Seventy Years ●or as the Scripture saith of Jesabel I gave her a space to ●pent of her Fornications and she repented not And again ●et favour be shewed to the wicked and he will not learn Righ●…usness in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly ●…d will not behold the Majesty of the Lord. And as hath ●…en observed by others that if the sinner were to live ●…ernally he would sin eternally So it is contrariwise 〈◊〉 the other better hand If the Godly were here to ●…ve longer or eternally they would serve God yet longer ●nd eternally The case of Infants and Children dying ●efore they come to the knowledge of good and evil is ●ard to be asserted aright But it is probable that God ●ill Judge and Recompence unto them according as ●…e doth see by his infallible foreknowledge they would ●e if they should live longer But for those who arrive ●nto years of Discretion whither they die in youth Man●ood declining years or old Age whither they live long ●r a little while by that space he gives them for Re●entance and accordingly as they repent or not so will ●e deal with and Recompence unto them throughout ●ll eternity According to their deeds accordingly he will ●epay He doth know and prove them by that allowance of time which rank and Denomination they wi● come under either of Come ye Blessed or go ye Curse● According as they have done Good or Evil so th● will rise up to the Resurrection of life or to the Resu● rection of Damnation Seeing that we know not how short a time God ma● give unto us to prove us and to render unto us for a● Eternity What manner of persons ought we to be in 〈◊〉 Holy Conversation and Godliness How ought● we 〈◊〉 serve the Lord with fear and trembling To stand in aw and 〈◊〉 not For we know not how short the time will 〈◊〉 before we are snatched and taken away from hence W● are always upon the brink of Eternity but we shou● so live whilst we are in time as we shall wish we ha● done when we come to enter into Eternity We ma● continued advances and approaches towards it w● do move step after step every Day and Night Fr● Day even to Night wilt thou make an end of me A● so from Day even to Night yea and from Night u● Day God is making an end of us severally as to th● World He is continually and always a doin● of it and never ceases Like as the Sun is always i● motion so when God hath once Created and gave 〈◊〉 being he is again continually bringing this being towards its end And when the Reasonable Creature 〈◊〉 brought to its end then he hath finished that wo● which God gave him on this Earth for to do For a● aforementioned God takes none from this Earth befo● he or she hath finished that work which he gave the● hereon for to do or he sees they would finish it or b● Idle therein And accordingly he doth proportion o● his Judgment and final Retribution to each of them For the method of God is before he proceeds to Rewa● or Punishment with the inhabitants of the Earth 〈◊〉 will go down now and see whither they have done altogeth● according to the cry which is come to me and if not I wi● know Gen. 18. 21. And so God will go down into th● Vally of Jehoshaphat to meet with and Judge all Nation● of every Generation and see whither they have done according to the report of their doings which came up 〈◊〉 the Ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth He will punish ●e World for their Evil and the Wicked for their Iniquity ●ut Glory Honour and Peace to every Man that worketh ●od to the Jew first and also to the Gentile Seeing than that these things are so that we must ●r all Eternity receive as we behave our selves during ●is short time And again knowing not how short ●is time will be in which God will prove us What ear●est care and diligent endeavour should this stir up 〈◊〉 us to approve our selves and be reconciled unto God ●his should not only influence all of us in the general ●t every Soul in particular It is I and thou and ●ch of ye calling ye severally by your Names that ●e so nearly concerned in this thing Suppose thy self 〈◊〉 be the very person whom God will call out next to ●eath and Judgment If thou wert sure and didst veri● thinke that thou wert the next person of all thy Neighbourhood and acquaintance whom God would call forth unto Judgment thou wouldst be another kind of Person in thy living even more Serious and Holy ●nd more Godlike and Heavenly minded more Spiritual and Pure in heart yea thou wouldst yet more stand 〈◊〉 aw and sin not Thou vvouldst make hast and de●ay not to set about to fill up and supply the things ●hat are vvanting and to do vvhat as yet thou leavest un●one Wherefore the rather Brethren give all diligence to make your calling and election sure Such a valuable and infinite good can never be made too sure of That ye be not slothful but followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the promises As it is vvritten Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Even so let us search and try our vvays and examine our selves vvhither vve have severally finished that vvork vvhich God gave us to do For now is our Salvation nearer than when we Believed But as vve dravv nearer in time so are vve fitter for Heaven And have vve done any thing more in finishing that vvork vvhich God gave us on this Earth for to do Are vve novv more meet than vve vvere such a time since to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Are vve become better as vve grovv older And as 〈◊〉 increase in years so do vve accordingly and agreeabl● grovv in