Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	heaven_n	life_n	live_v	8,611	5	5.4859	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34789	Life & death offered to the choice of the sons and daughters of Adam, or, A doctrinal essay towards the discovery of the broad way that leadeth to destruction, and also the narrow path that leadeth unto life being the substance of several sermons preach'd on Matth. 7, 13, 14 : in the entrance of which discourse you have something spoken occasionally touching judging of others, and also touching the giving of holy things to dogs, and casting pearls before swine.	Carter, R., 17th cent.	1662 (1662)	Wing C663; ESTC R5924	50,195	64

then wilt thou cleave Why I 'le cleave it may be thou mayest answer to that party that hath most power to impose their judgments upon me I confess that 's a good shift to keep thee from sufferings but if thou hast no better thou wilt hardly keep thy self out of hell 2. At the great day of Christ thou maist then answer for thy self There is none of those upon whose sleeves thou doest now pin thy faith will then appear to plead for thee it 's well if they can plead their own cause When God shall say Who required those things at thy hand it will not be enough for thee to answer I had such a mans command and such a mans judgment for it for God will say Did I ever require it Thou shouldst have made me and not thy fellow-Creature the Lord of thy conscience 3. It 's a duty incumbent upon every of you to search the Scriptures Joh. 5. 39. Col. 3. 16. And it 's the great work of a Minister of the Gospel to endeavour so to enlighten his people that in the performance of all religious duties they may walk by Scripture light doing all in judgment To be able as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 14. 15 to pray and sing with the spirit and with understanding also 4. Without knowledg understanding in the wil of God thy heart cannot be good neither canst thou be sincere in thy Worship minde that Scripture Phil. 1. 9 10 11. neither canst thou perform any duty that shall be well pleasing in the sight of God See for that Col. 1. 9 10. Finally Art thou got a step above all the former Dost thou not onely plead for a Worship but a pure Worship a Worship according to Scripture a Virgin-Worship Why then examine Art thou not in the way of Hypocrisie Is thy heart right with God Is Christ thy all and in all For know that by so much the more glorious thy profession is and the greater thy light is by so much the greater will thy condemnation be if thy heart shall not be found to be right with God And thus much for the first direction about Self-examination Again secondly In the handling of the second Doctrine we have opened those terms whereby Christ offereth himself unto the sons and daughters of Adam now examine thy self whether thou hast to this day cordially and heartily received Christ upon those terms Received Christ so as to deny and abhorr thy self so as to take up the Cross and so as to follow him in his Commands Examples and Providences 3. And chiefly if thou wouldest go thorow with this work beg of God that he would pour forth of his spirit up●● thee it being the great Office of this Spirit to discover ●nto the Seed of Jacob their own vileness and Christs excellency their own sinfulness and Christs righteousness their own wants and Christs fulness their own guilt and Christs satisfaction The misery of their estate as the children of the first Adam and the happiness of their estate by virtue of union with the Lord Christ the second Adam Joh. 16. 8 9 10 11. 1 Cor. 2 9. to the end Eph. 1. 16 17 18 19 20. Be faithfull in the making use of these directions and by the blessing of the Lord upon thee thou mayest come to know the state of thy soul whether thou art in the broad way to destruction or in the narrow streight path to life and glory The fourth and last Use is of Exhortation and that first A Use of Exhortation to those who upon examination shall be found in the broad way that leadeth to ruine shall be found walking in the path of Ignorance Profaness Disobedience Will-Worship or Hypocrisie them I exhort being in some measure sensible of the terrours of the Almighty with David to consider their waies and turn to the Lord Psal 119. 59. I thought on my waies and turned my feet unto thy testimonies Consider O Soul what it is to be in this broad way if thou knowest not give me leave a little to acquaint thee To be in this broad way as all unregenerate persons are is to be without God in the world without interest in him or communion with him to be a stranger to the covenants of promise to be without any true hope of Salvation If thou knowest not I 'le tell thee It 's to be a filthy loathsome noisome creature more abominable to God then a Toad to be an enemy of God a childe of the Devil in the kingdom and under the power of Darkness If thou knowest not I 'le tell thee It 's to be a childe of wrath and an heir of hell This and a thousand-fold more then I can express is thy condition at present and as for thy future estate if thou dyest unchanged let it suffice that I tell thee thou shalt be damned and punished by an Almighty hand All Gods works are like himself if he loves a poor creature he loves him like a God if he hates a poor sinner it 's the hatred of a God if he saves a soul he saves him like a God and so if he damnes thy soul and torments thee in hell it will be the damnation and torment of a God Hear this Sinners and hasten out of this Sodom before God rains down fire and brimstone upon you Arise depart for this is not your rest it 's polluted and take Christs counsel Strive to enter in at this streight gate to walk in this narrow path whatever it cost thee and that this may stick minde these two arguments 1. There 's no life but in this narrow way all that ever went to heaven went through this strait gate there 's no salvation without Christ and no Christ without believing and no believing without holiness 2. Ere long Striving time will be over Life and Death are now offered to your choice you are now told If that yee live after the flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the spirit mortifie Rom. 8. 13. the deeds of the flesh ye shall live You have as yet a may be for salvation which if you neglect you will most certainly be damned This is the day of Christs patience the golden Scepter is yet held forth Mercy is yet upon the bare knee to poor sinners but when once the Master of Luke 13. 25. the house be risen up and hath shut to the door then striving will be in vain It will then be in vain to say ye were baptized in his Name and that you have eat and drank at his Table Christ will then say Depart ye workers of iniquity I know you not What! you baptized in my Name you eat and drink in my presence What! and blaspheme my Name and contemn my people and profane my Sabbaths and swear and be drunk c. Away saith Christ depart I know not whence you are since you would not in the day of my Patience give me entertainment into your heart neither

bearing of the image of the Cross is a place of great honor among the Papists who do greatly adore and reverence the same And so also they do the Sign of the Cross giving the Signe no less honor then the Image but herein they are certainly as Paul said of the Athenians too superstitious there being no rule in the Word of God for such Adoration 2. Christ in propounding this term doth as it seemeth to me secretly inhibite his people the making creating a Cross to themselves As wicked men are apt to say Peace Peace when there is no Peace so Gods own people are apt to fear when no fear is and to create trouble and sorrow to themselves For the Devil if he can't intice the soul from the waies of God then will he endeavour to discourage it by perswading it that there is a Lion in the way That it will never be able to hold out and hold on in heavens way there is such vallies of death and mountains of difficulties to pass thorow go over Now though Christ would have the Soul to persevere in his commands whatever the difficulty be he meets withall yet he would not have it give heed to such amazing and perplexing suggestions but by faith to live above them And thus by way of Negation For the Affirmative I shall answer it in these four particulars 2. Affirmatively To take up the Cross is 1. For the Soul deliberately after serious debates in the heart about this matter to resolve in the strength of God to hold on in heavens-way let what will come Disgrace Poverty Imprisonment Fire and Fagot c. with Job to resolve Though he kill mee yet I 'le trust him * Iob 13. 15. A Hypocrite may resolve high but his resolves are usually sudden and passionate resolves and so come to little but now a Christians resolves when he acts like himself are deliberate and sincere resolves depending not upon his own but the strength of God and these resolves hold and though a Christian that hath so resolved may live and dye in a calm season and suffer little comparatively yet God who knoweth the heart accepteth the will for the deed and taketh it as kindely as if he had suffered abundantly more for his name and glory 2. It is to acquiesce in Gods pleasure to have our wills resolved into the will of God quietly to submit under all his dispensations and providences though seemingly they may contradict his promises and our expectations with the Church Micah 7. 9 to resolve the bearing his indignation untill he plead our cause c. That soul doth truly rightly bear his Cross that doth quietly submit himself to God under all afflictions being in Davids sense dumb not opening his mouth because it is the Lords doings * Psal 39. 9. 3. To take up this Cross is to do it cheerfully to do it upon choice for so Christ propoundeth this term that whosoever will choose him to be his Lord and Saviour must choose the Cross also will choose to reign with him must also choose to suffer with him A hypocrite may suffer much upon the account of Religion but he suffers not upon choice could he preserve his name or bring about some such sinister end he would never suffer his suffering for truth is not out of love to truth but upon some other base and low account But now Moses he suffered much and that upon choice he chose rather to suffer with Gods people then to enjoy sinfull pleasures * Heb. 11. 25. Christs yoke is not put on per force we are to take his yoke and burthen upon us Math. 11. 4. The last particular which acquainteth us rather with the manner then the matter of the duty is that to take up this Cross is to persevere to hold out to the end He must deny himself and take up his Cross daily We must not be weary of suffering for Christ or Truth but after we have suffered reproach and scorn then we must be willing to suffer confiscation of Goods after that Imprisonment and after that Banishment and after that cruel Death Math. 10. 22. And ye shall be hated of all men for my Names sake but he that endureth to the end shall be saved And thus I have dispatched the second term viz. The taking up the Cross The third and last is to follow Christ Now we are to follow We are to follow Christ Christ 1. In his Commands 2. Examples and 3. Providences 1. In his Commands to follow Christ is to obey him 1. In his Commands Joh. 10. 4 5 27. The true Sheep follow the true Shepherd and will not follow strangers that is they hear and obey the voice of Christ and his onely they will not hear neither obey the voice of Strangers In this term is required then that the soul do heartily and sincerely own Christ for it's Lord and K●ng to be ruled and governed by him owning him alone for the Lord of it's conscience and obeying him at le●st in desire and affection in all his commands so farr as they are revealed and discovered unto the soul 2. We are to follow Christ in his Examples Christ was 2. In his Examples not in all things our Example for some things he did by the power of his God-head and therein he was not an Example to us and something he did as Mediator viz. satisfie his Fathers wrath and purchase eternal life for his people and herein he was not an Example Heb. 1. 3. When he had by himself purged our sins sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high but in that holiness and righteousness that did appear in him therein he was our Example Math. 11. 29. Learn of me What is it we should learn Not to raise the Dead open the eyes of the Blinde c. but to be meek and lowly Every true Christian was predestinated to be conformable to this Pattern Rom. 8. 29. and called unto it 1 Pet. 2. 21 22 23. For even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps Who did no sin c. And therefore Whosoever saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked 1 Joh. 2. 6. A true Christian is then to take Christ for its great high Example to consider how Christ carried it first with respect to the world and all the enjoyments thereof how he debased and humbled himself and then secondly how he carryed it with respect to Satan when under his temptations how he defended Satan not with this or that notion nor yet with this or that experience but with a scriptum est Math. 4. It is written The sword of the Spirit is the best Weapon to fight the Devil with And then thirdly how Christ carried it towards men both Saints and Sinners how loving and meek and graciously disposed he was to