Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	great_a	know_v	life_n	7,935	5	4.3038	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91431	A farewel sermon preached in VVake-Field, January 1, 1655 By Thomas Parker, Master of Arts, late minister of that church.	Parker, Thomas, Minister of Wake-Field.	1656 (1656)	Wing P476; ESTC R229920	24,920	28

disposition of Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 4.11 that being past feeling ye shall work all uncleannesse with greedinesse if wee shall thus out dare God in his threatnings and like that Behemoth esteem those iron weapons as straw or as they say of the old Italians shoot off our great Ordnance and Ring our bells to drown the noise of Heaven's thunder if wee thus presume Deut. 29.20 God will not spare us but the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoake against us c. remember that saying Eccl. 8.12 Though a Sinner do evil an hundred times and his dayes be prolonged yet surely it shall bee well with them that seare the Lord. This is a dangerous and common rock upon which many a poor soul splits it self and the more common it is the more let it bee your care to avoid it The other is in the excesse and that is a servile infernal fear of God as a Judge or Tyrant whence arise in the soul hard thoughts of God Quos mctacule odcrint hatred of him a secret rising up against him a wishing there were no God and the like This is that great Engine wherewith Satan labours to batter our faith when he cannot robb you of grace and make you wicked he will endeavour to robb you of comfort and bring you to despaire make you miserable Hee will assault you with doubts and feares touching your Election conversion adoption perseverance with the greatnesse and number of your sins with the Curse and horror of the Law the Majesty and Justice of an offended God who is a consuming fire In all these and such like temptations let your eyes ever be fixed upon Christ and his blood the satisfaction given to the Justice of God by his death that redemption from the Curse of the Law himself being made a curse for us then will your souls say Let the Lord live then will your desires be to the remembrance of his name then will your hearts love him and say I will sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me Psalm 23.6 This is the foundation against which the Gates of Hell shall not prevail when there is no light nor issue nor possibility to esdape here will a doo of deliverance flie open to you Remember this also I pray you if once you come to slight or undervalue this great mercy to tread under foot the Son of God there remains no more no other sacrifice for you you may as much offend God by despairing as by presuming of his mercy Heb. 10.29 both are destructive to the true fear of God lay these things up in your hearts the Lord of his mercy blesse them to you To all you that thus fear the Lord Mal. 4.2 shall the Sun of righteousnesse arise with healing under his wings joy in that day when all the Elect shall behold their King and Redeemer in his Majesty and Glory For all those that thus fear the Lord there is a book of remembrance written It is said of Tamerlane the Scythian that he had alwaies by him a Catalogue of the names and good deserts of his servants which he dayly perused and whom he duly rewarded Mal. 3.16 how much more shal the Lord who bottles up the tears of his people puts their Prayers as upon the File and records all their devotions All those that thus fear the Lord he will own in that day when he makes up his Jewels makes them up for himself and takes them away from the misusages and malignities of the World When one desired to see Alexanders Treasure shew him said he to his Servant not my Gold or Monies Plate or Jewels but my friends Henceforth says Christ I call you not servants but friends John 15.15 These are Gods Jewels his dearest friends his chief Treasure none can plunder or pluck them out of his hands They are called the dearly beloved of his Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jer. 12.7 the LXX read it his dearly beloved Soul noting Gods Saints to be as dear to him as a mans life or his Soul is All these and these only wil the Lord pity and spare at that day as a father spareth his own son that serveth him I have now done both with the Text and the Times I have presented you with a New-years-gift of an inestimable value and worth All I require from you is but this That I may see you wear it that as great Personages are known by their Rings and rich Jewels so you may be by the fear of the Lord This Ring truly worn will seal to your souls assurance of salvation in this life and be to every one of you at your death a wedding Ring to marry you to the Lamb for evermore Your tears at this time sufficiently witnesse how sadly you receive it from my hands God wil I hope put your tears into his bottle and that Fountain which he hath opened in your eys this day shall swell into Rivers of comfort and salvation at that day when God shall wipe away all tears from your eys All I can do is to pray for you since I must no longer Preach to you I pray God blesse his Church I pray God blesse you all and that God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepheard of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory and honour now and evermore FINIS

a high esteem upon this grace to look upon it as the most glorious Stone in the Ring The rest have their luster this is both resplendent and medicinal heals broken souls It is no wonder if St. Jude give it the preheminence since it is both the leading grace and brings the first glad tidings of salvation and also the Mother grace whence all others have their birth and original Without this what are all our works and duties but as we say of the vertues of Heathens Splendida peccata Where faith is not layd as the foundation all our devotions acts of piety charity observance of Sabbaths Ordinances nay that great performance of Prayer are but like that structure built on the sand Mat. 7.26 Without this we can no more appear before the Tribunal of Gods justice then stubble before a consuming fire In the word it is faith that must make us profitable in obedience it is faith that must make us cheerful in prayer it is faith that makes us successfull and in all performances it is faith that makes us acceptable This is that wisedome Job 28.16 17 18 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 1.8 the price whereof is above Rubies the Topaze of Ethiopia cannot equal it it cannot be valued with pure Gold This will give comfort joy and peace under all distractions make the soul skip like a Lambe leap and dance for joy Other divine qualifications may make you confident but it is faith only that must give you your assurance There cannot be such an abasement where faith will not lift up the head and render you victorious Justice gives every man his own temperance will restrain lusts magnanimity will bear and go through any hardship prudence is an excellent guide to our actions but it is faith that overcometh the world in this Paul insults and triumphs over men and Angels Heaven and Earth Rom. 8.38 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am confident or perswaded That neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You will have a better heart both to the price and the esteem of it if you seriously advise with these considerations The Author The Offices and the Effects of it First Look upon it as Gods gift from whom every good and perfect gift cometh as a fruit of his Spirit Gal. 5.22 This will make it excellent and lovely Let us a little view it in that great interest of our souls the high act of justification we shall there finde it to justifie Infundendo creat creando infundit not as mans faith but as the work of God in in the soul It is an excellent place Eph. 2.8 By grace ye are saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God faith may be in us but it is not of us that is not from any power of our own but it is a meer gift of God both in the habit and in the act of it Justification is is a free Act of and from eternity without any condition on our parts and that Evangelical righteousness by which we are justified is without us in Christ It is the finger of God that works faith in the soul and having wrought it puts it upon acting thereby to evidence justification to the soul As a father having layd up for his son a great Treasure in some secret place tells him of it and bestows it freely upon him but wanting the possession and enjoyment of it the son is no richer for it till the father lights a Torch guides his son to the hidden Treasure and puts him into the actual possession of it Thus is Faith Gods Instrument by which he discovers to our souls the unvaluable riches of Christ which in the minds and purpose of the Donor was ours from Eternity and evidenceth us to be freely justified lending us that light of faith whereby we apprehend enjoy and apply Christ to our souls It is called the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 Whose evidence Gods evidence given us by which he declareth and manifesteth to our consciences those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the invisible things of our justification and salvation and when given it is our evidence also by which we possess Christ and pleads our actual justification against all the accusations of the Law sin and Satan then we have the witnesse in our selves 1 Joh. 5.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gods witness so it is sometimes read witnessing to our spirits that we are the children of God we are justified freely by his grace Rom. 3.24 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there answering to the Hebrew Chinnam excluding all both hope of advantage on Gods part and preceding desert in man upon any account whether of faith or works excluding as well merit as rewards hereby intimating that all our works are the works of God in us yea faith it self in that great and high Act of justifying is Gods gift I have here made a little digression to acquaint you with the excellency of this grace that you may set a higher value upon it not only because it is Gods gift but so high and precious a gift of his right hand whereby he gives us an interest to Christ and all his promises and evidenceth eternal life to our souls 2. Consider the Offices of faith which besides union to and communion with Christ formerly named are these two First acceptance wherby we are made willing to receive Christ upon Christs own terms what his terms are he himself tells you Luke 9.23 If any man will come after me he must deny himself and take up his Crosse daily and follow me This is the receiving act of faith and is therfore called the hand of the Soul not for its working quality purifying the heart reviving the dead spirit working by love carrying the Soul through all discouragements these are indeed the works of faith but for its receiving and accepting quality accepting righteousnesse in Christ receiving him as a gift of his fathers love imbracing the promises afar off and laying hold on eternal life The working righteousnesse is Christs the Office or act of faith is accepting applying receiving yeelding consent to that righteousnesse The other Office or Act of Faith is resignation whereby we give our selves wholly up to Christ spirit soul and body to be guided and byassed by him this is that spiritual marriage Eph. 5.17 betwixt Christ and the Soul by which as the soul hath a propriety and right to the body name goods table possessions and purchase of Christ so she doth reciprocally become all his by an unconstrained resignation of her will ways and desires unto his guidance and government we become the servants of Christ to be ruled as well as to be aided and protected by him then doth Christ own us and he stands ingaged to watch over and care for us Then