Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	jesus_n	law_n	life_n	8,423	5	5.1521	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44932	The spirit of prophecy a treatise to prove, by the wayes formerly in use among the Jews, in the tryal of pretenders to a prophetic spirit, that Christ and his Apostles were prophets : together with the divine authority of christian religion and the Holy Scriptures, the insufficiency of human reason, and the reasonableness of the christian faith, hope, and practice, deduced therefrom, and asserted against Mr. Hobbs, and the Treatise of Hvmane Reason / by W.H.	Hughes, William, b. 1624 or 5.	1679 (1679)	Wing H3346; ESTC R19799	183,906	298

as makes us with David to have respect to All Gods Commandments and careful to keep them as well as we can Although for the Glory of God and Honour of his Laws for the patefaction of his most Holy Nature and most Just Dominion over us I say that although for these and such like great ends the Gospel hath made the most perfect unsinning Obedience to be our Duty yet not that but only sincere Obedience is indispensably necessary in order to our Salvation For Thirdly Those Sins which are really inavoidable the Gospel doth not impute to us for our Condemnation I would not be mistaken that that I say is that though according to the Rigour and Severity of the Law as a Covenant of Works the wages of every Sin be death yet such is the Mercy of God in the Gospel of Christ as that those Sins which to us are really and truly inavoidable shall not be imputed to us for our Condemnation Hereof one Reason is because the Gospel puts us into a state of Trial and Probation in this Life in reference to another after it Surely therefore there is no inavoidable guilt thereby charged upon us to our eternal Condemnation it is not imaginable it should so Tantali●e us with hopes of Heaven in the Confines and Power of Hell However evident it is Fourthly That the Gospel doth promise that our known Sins as well as others how heinous soever they be either in their Nature or their Aggravations yet if they are timely retracted by true Repentance and Humiliation Contrition and Confession change of Mind and amendment of Life they shall be forgiven us No mans Sins are either so many in Number or so heinous in their Quality but on these terms they may be forgiven insomuch that to me it seems most probable that the Sin against the Holy Ghost is impardonable not for want of Grace in the Gospel but for want of repentance in the Sinner Let then our modern Scoffers add these things as they ought to that against which they level their Objection and then let them tell us what Impossibility there is in obeying the Gospel so far forth as is necessary to Salvation Is it impossible to do what we can or to repent when we have done amiss I suppose not esp●cially while we have those Motives and Assist●nces which the Gospel gives us to keep the Commandments Since the nature of reasonable Crea●ures is to be drawn by the Alliciency of those Pro●it●r●icks that present themselves to it we may well wond●r at our own Disobedience For so many and so great are the Motives the Gospel gives to keep its Commandments as that there is no active Vertue in us but may receive the highest Incitement therefrom What entertainment so fit for the Mind as Truth and what Truth so sweet as that that is eternal What so desireable to the Will as Goodness And what Goodness so great as that that is Infinite And where can you find Eternal Truth and Infinite Goodness so clearly revealed as they are in the Gospel Where can the Affections have the like Motives to set us a doing Hath not the Rule of our Life the highest Majesty and Authority instamped on it Are we not promised the greatest Reward that can be desired in case we walk by it And are we not threatened with the greatest evil that can be feared in case we neglect it Are we not assured of a su●●iciency of Temporal Blessings and Spiritual Graces in this World if we will seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness i. e for Glory and Honour and Immortality in the other Is it not then strange that being thus besieged with Motives to do well we should be so prone to do ill Although we know very well the Commandments are such as that it is not more our Duty than our Interest to do them we promote our own Good as much as Gods Glory by Obedience to them for they are apt not only to enlighten our Minds and perfect our Understandings to refine our Natures and sublimate our gross Affections to amend our Lives and purifie our Conversations but also to pr●serve our Estates and advance our Fortunes to secure our Reputation and promote our Honour and that in all Conditions and Capacities whatever insomuch that their own Goodness might be their own Eternal obligation How admirable then are that Wisdom Justice and Goodness which impose them on us and require Obedience of us Especially considering the Assistance provided for us to have in well-doing and truly 't is more than a little we do or should receive in our Childhood by being brought up in the nurture and admo●ition of the Lord for a Child being led by little of it self but a Chain of Imaginations Education hath the force of a Natural Agent rather than a Moral hence it is that Children of the same Parents are sometimes like Lycurgus his Whelps of the same litter whereas one ran to his dish the other after the Hare because he had brought them up so to do which Experiment he made in the sight of his Subjects on purpose to teach them to train their Children in the way they should go and that when they were old they would not depart from it But if they do the Gospel hath sufficiently provided for their reduction for it doth not only encourage brotherly Admonition and oblige us to pray for each other but it hath also ordained a Sacred Function for the per●ecting of the S●ints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Now not only Men on Earth but also the Angels of Heaven are obliged to afford us their assistance Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation And besides the assistance of Angels we may have that of the Eternal Spirit also to help us For the Fathers of Flesh here on Earth are not so ready to give good Gifts unto their Children as our Heavenly Father is to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him and this it seems he doth so abundantly in the dayes of the Gospel as that it is called by his Name and the ministration of the Spirit and the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which makes men free from the Law of Sin and Death Whereby it seems that though the History and Outward Communicatio●s of the Gospel be to us in Scriptis yet we are not to look upon it as a meer piece of Book-learning but as a Vital quickening thing able to give Life to those that are Dead in Trespasses and Sins to beget them again in Christ Jesus and to form divine Goodness in the Souls of Men and by so doing to help their

detect the Forgery in such a case the silence of Adversaries seems more demonstrative than the Testimony of Friends Especially considering they had not only the advantages of time and place but also provocations to have done it if they could for such was the Confidence and noble Magnanimity of those that first avouched it as that though they were stript of all Succour and Support from other men and exposed to Contempt and Scorn Curses and Execrations Persecutions and Afflictions Stripes and Imprisonments in short to all manner of hardships and Death it self in giving this Testimony yet were they not moved with fear or diverted from it but they did constantly avouch it and often appeal to the Consciences of their implacable Enemies concerning the Truth of it Thus St. Peter as it were in the name of all the Apostles tells the men of Israel That Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God among them by Miracles Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of them as saith he you your selves also know The Jews therefore could not and Arnobius tells the Gentiles that they dare not attempt to convince it of Falshood the reason I suppose was because as Origen tells Celsus it was not possible to deny that the Miracles reported of Christ and his Apostles were done In this case wherein the Christians had all imaginable motives to be silent and their Enemies to speak yet that none of them either Jews or Gentiles should be able to contradict their Testimony how strange is it how clearly and plainly doth it speak the truth of their Testimony and vindicate them from all shadow of Suspicion they had a design to cheat the World into belief of Lies how evidently doth it shew the triumphant force of Truth and Energy of Conviction that Christ and his Apostles wrought Miracles Which Energy of Conviction discovered it self by Concessions as well as by forced Silence for so apparently true was the Churches Tradition in this particular as that some of his Enemies have added their suffrages to hers that Christ and his Apostles wrought Miracles The Jews it seems do openly confess it in their Jerusalem-Talmud and their Midras Cohele where they tell us that the Grandson of R. Jehosua the Son of Levi having swallowed Poyson was recovered from danger of death thereby through the Invocation of the Name of Jesus but the Father understanding by what means his son was cured was so maliciously ungrateful as to say it had been better for him to have died than to be so cured whereupon his ingratitude was presently avenged by the Death of his Son To this Story they add another the sum whereof is that R. Elazar the Son of Duma being bit with a Serpent was healed by St. James Among the Gentiles the very bitterest of the Christians Adversaries did acknowledge as much for Celsus protested himself to believe the Stories of Christs miraculous Cures o● the Sick and raising the Dead and feeding the Multitudes with a few Loaves and the Fragments that remained all these things and whatever else the Disciples reported as he thought to amplifie the greatness of his Miracles he professeth to believe were true and grants we may believe they were done It seems also that Iulian did acknowledge the Lame and the Blind were healed and those that were possessed with Devils received help in Bethsaida and Bethanie and to enrage others against Christ and his followers Porphyrius undertook to tell them the reason why the City was so long afflicted with sickness and that in his judgement was because neither Aesculapius nor any other of the gods could have access unto it for saith he since the time that Iesus was worshipped no man can get any publick help from the gods And from that Gallimalfry of non-sense and errors viz. the Alcoran we may gather this Truth that Messias Iesus the Son of Mary gave sight to the Blind healed the Leprous raised the Dead and taught the Living and that the Apostles did the same in his absence If then Reason or Tradition the testimony of Friends or the Writings of Enemies will satisfie we have one would think enough of all sorts and that when some were vomiting Lyes and belching Blasphemies against Christ his Person and his Doctrine yet even then they confess that He and his Apostles did those things which we take to be Mir●cles Obj. But here perhaps it will be said that we are mistaken it was of old objected they were not real and true Miracles but lying Wonders Delusions of Satan and Effects of Magick thus the Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews and thus also many among the Gentiles and this was thought so apparent as that Celsus himself although he had formerly written many books against Magick was yet in a sort constrained to retract his Opinion and confess that it had a Being in the things that were done by Christ and his Followers for having granted the Truth of the Report that such and such Wonders were indeed done by them he immediately subjoyns a comparison between them and the sleights of Juglers who promise greater matters and more wonderful yet are they but such as they learned from the Aegyptians and for a few Farthings will shew in the midst of Markets boasting that by their Arts they can cast out Devils heal Diseases recall the Souls of the Dead prepare Tables sumptuously furnish'd with all manner of Dainties and raise Ghosts that seem to move though in truth they are void of all motion Ans And so is this odious comparison of all Truth and Probability for what communion hath Substance with Shadows What agreement have substantial Changes with bare Appearances Could Celsus have proved that the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were meerly Phaenomena of Fancy as he calls these impostures of Juglers which he basely compares therewith he had said something to the Purpose but he had not the imp●dence to affirm that nor so little wit as to attempt the Proo●●f it this therefore as Origen justly tells him is not the part of a Disputant but of the unlearned Vulgar an effect of Passion unworthy of a Philosopher whom it becomes not impertinently to rail at but candidly to examine a matter that lyes b●fore him which if Celsus had done impartially he would without doubt have found that swe●t Wa●●r and bitter might be sent forth from the same Fountain as well as the Miracles of Christ and the Delusions of Inchanters from the same Cause viz. the Devils Malice For so evident it is to the Reason of all men as that it was almost a Proverb among the Greeks and Romans as well as Jews that every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to Desolation and every City or House divided against it self shall not stand and manifest it is that if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself how then shall his Kingdom stand 'T is true

Cause liable to be put to death this Law then was severely Penal and known it is sufficiently that Law-Givers on earth much more may the Supreme one in Heaven admit of a Relaxation of their Laws and accordingly so hath God done in divers Cases as for instance in case the high Priest or the Congregation or a Ruler of the People sinned through ignorance although according to the Rigour and utmost severity of that Law the Sinn●r ought to be put to death yet God accepted of a Sacrifice Concerning which Sacrifice we shall do well to observe three things viz. First that the thing Sacrificed whatsover it was was substituted in the place of the offender and this its Surrogation was usually signified by the imposition of his hands upon it and then secondly the Bullock or Kid of the Goats thus substituted in the stead or room of the offender was killed and offered in Sacrifice unto God and hereupon thirdly Gods Wrath was appeased by the Offering or oblation of this Sacrifice the Offender obtained pardon for his fault and his life was to be spared for the Priest thereby made an attonement for him concerning his Sin and it was forgiven him The suffering of a viol nt death was remitted he was no longer bound over to it he had no cause to fear it from the hand either of God or of the Magistrate Now know that the Law having but the Shadow of good things to come these things were Types of our state by Nature and deliverance therefrom by our Blessed Saviour a violent temporal death the penalty of transgressing the Ceremonial Law did Typifie or at least not Inelegantly adumbrate Eternal death the Sanction and Curse of the moral Law whereunto both by Nature and Practice we are all obnoxious but it pleased God to admit a Relaxation even of this Law and thereupon to send his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins i. e. to be a Sin-offering a Propitiatory Sacrifice or Sacrifice of Atonement and Exp●ation for them and this he was in his sufferings especially his Bloody Death and Crucifixion for the three essential parts of such a Sacrifice but now m●ntioned were all evidently contained therein as first his Surrogation in ●ur stead this is very plain to be seen in his Death for He gave his life a ransome for many his Body was given and his Blood was shed for you Christ dyed for the ungodly i. e. for all He did tast Death for every Man He suffered for us i. e. for our Sins the Just for the Unjust From any much more from all these Texts of Scripture the Surrogation of Christ in his sufferings is so plain and evident as that the Socinians with all their Criticisms and distinctions will never be able wi h any Probability to gain say it The like also we may observe concerning the second thing in a Sin-offering under the Law namely the Oblation thereof unto God this likewise is evident in our Saviours sufferings for through the Eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God And that this Oblation of himself to God was not made as some would have it by his entrance into Heaven but by his sufferings on the Cross appears if not from the Apostles making it the same or almost all one thing therewith by calling his offering of Himself in one verse his suffering in the next yet from the Comparison he makes between the condition of Christ and other Men it is appointed unto Men once to die so saith he Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many so that Christ in dying w●s offered and in being offered he dyed so that 〈◊〉 are sa●ctified thro●gh the Offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all and this offering of his b●dy to God was antecedent to his Glory in Heaven for after he had offer●d one Sacrifice for Sin for ever he sat down on the right hand of G d it is n●t therefore to be doubted but our Saviour upon the Cross offered Himself a Sacrifice to satisfie divine Justice and so to appease the Wrath of God against us For lastly his Sufferings had the Effect that was natural and necessary to a Sin-offering namely the Atonement and Reconciliation of God to Sinners for when we were enemies we were Reconciled unto God by the death of his Son and you that were enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death hereby then methinks it is so plain as that nothing can be plainer unless it be to those that can see knots in a Bull-rush than that Reconciliation and Atonement was made to God for us in and by the death of his Son Thus fully do we see that our Blessed Saviour in his Temptations and Sufferings hath redeemed us from the power of Satan and the Curse of the Law or the Wrath of God against us But these things I confess are not sufficient for to any one that shall consider the imbecillity of humane Nature now in its state of Mortality and imperfection it must needs methinks be evident that after this great Salvation thus far wrought out for us and revealed unto us we still shall want Grace and Mercy to help in time of need Grace to help our Infirmities and to enable us acceptably to perform our Duty And Mercy to forgive us our Sins and to succour us in our Miseries Both these it is manifest that we want Know therefore lastly that both these Christ is enabled to give unto us by his Temptations and Sufferings for us for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted But was not he able to succour us before he suffered and was tempted Yes doubtless that he was as he is God over all blessed for ever but Infinite Wisdome and Goodness condescending to our infirmities were pleased to constitute another way of shewing mercy and affording Succour to us in miseries and temptations When we consider the Infinite distance between God and us together with our manifold sins and odious miscarriages against him we may well be afraid to approach him or else void of confidence in our approaches To the end therefore that we might have the highest assurance that may be both of Grace and Mercy and of their accommodation to our Nature under its abasing reflections on it self it seemed good to Infinite Wisdome so to order the matter as that the Divine Grace and Mercy should in some sort be made Humane for being conveyed to us through the Heart of our Lord Jesus the Mercy of God is so assimilated unto and made the Mercy of a man as that though we cannot conceive how the Divine Nature is disposed to shew Mercy yet by the familiar experience of our own hearts towards others we may conceive how Christ will be merciful unto us viz. by way of Pity

he hath acquired a right of Dominion over us and therefore his Commands lay an Obligation upon us N●ither is that all but besides this Obligation of Dominion there is an other that ariseth from the Goodness and B●neficence of Redemption Such is our Nature as that by Reason of a benefit received there ariseth upon the R●ceiver an Obligation ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to make returns of the like or greater kindness to the Giver and this is so fixed and natural unto Man as that as by Nature we are in some sort driven to defend our selves against the injuries of force and violence so also are we compelled by Nature to requite one Kindness with another or in case of Inability to reckon our selves so deeply Obliged to the Giver as to be willing to serve him according to what we are able or at least to acknowledg the benefit received this our own Nature will force us to do if not openly yet behind the Curtains of our own Conscience which will chide us for doing no more or being no more regardful and Obs●quious to them that have been so good to us this is so commonly known and believ●d among us as that it is almost a Proverb one good turn d●s●rves another therefore also the Poet saith Quisquis magna dedit voluit sibi magnar●mitti Not that the liberal Mans Design in giving is to get as much or more again than he gives but since Nature prompts us to make Returns of Gifts he that will give great things by consequence Wills that great things may be returned to him again this then it seems our Nature hath made to be the Law of Gratitude In so much that those who walked not by it the Athenians and Macedonians made a Law against whereby it was provided that they might be dealt with as Theives or other grievous Malefactors the Persians also did the same and though it may be all Nations were not so serve yet all have looked upon them as transgressours of the Law of Nature unworthy of any help or assistance from Man uncapable of being called worse than they are viz. Vngrateful him therefore on whom a bene●it is freely conferred the Law of Nature doth bind and oblige to make Returns either in the like or some other kind according to what he is able Hence then it follows that if we have any advantage as undoubtedly we have much every way by the Redemption of Chris● then are we thereby obliged to keep h●s ●ommandments because it is impossible for us otherwise ●o make any credible Re●urns of Gratitude for words we know without Works when and where Works are required and may be especially when with advantage performed are but blasts of a putrefied breath that stinks of flattery and smels rank in distinguishing Nostrils of Affront and Mockery unless therefore we will mock our Saviour insteed of thanking him for our Redemption we must do what He requires us And no Man can think our Obedience too great a Return for it if he doth but consider the benefits which we receive by it the ease and satisfaction which our Souls may find in it and the incouragement we have from it 1. The benefits which we receive thereby and here ask not what they are but rather what are they not for besides our Sins there is nothing which we either are have or hope for but is given us on the account of his Redemption we our selves were dead in Law without it our possessions forfeited and our Hope 's not only dash'd but turning into Despair or a certain fearful looking for Judgment and fiery Indignation to d●vour us but blessed be God who by sending his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins made him in all things like unto his ●r●thr●n that he might be a Merciful and fait●ful High Priest to make Reconciliation for the Sins of the people not only bythe Sacrifice of atonement which he suffered here on Earth but also by his Intercession for us in Heaven so that the people notwithstanding their Sins do now find God Propitious and Gracious unto them as it is evident that we do not only by the free Proffer of acceptance in case of Repentance but also by the Series of Providence which either Crown●th our years with Goodness and its paths drop Fatness or else it clothes us with Sables makes us go mourning some part of our dayes one way it leads us and the other it drives us to Repentance and Repentance we know is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a secure care of our selves or a care of our selves to be secure and this was at all times very reasonable but never so much as since Christ was made Redemption unto us for there are now no Cherubims or Flaming Sword to keep the way to the Tree of Life against us but God being Reconciled unto us by the Atonement which Christ hath made for us there is none of his Attributes but now speak kindly to us and invite us to take of its Fruits and eat them We have therefore now no Just cause from God either of Despair or of servile Fear neither the pr●parations that he hath made for the Punishment of the Impenitent in the other World nor the afflictions that his Providence brings on us in this do give us any cause to think as the Superstitious seem to do viz. that there is some soure despight or envy lodged in his Nature or little but Evil in his purpose towards us For if when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life For he ever liveth not only to make Intercession for us but also to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance to Israel and forgiveness of Sins so that That Gracè which he requireth of us and those Benefits which by his Atonement he hath purchased for us he is exalted to give unto us evident therefore it is that now we have such sufficient ground of cheerful dependance on God and of such ingenuous affiance in him as that there is much Reason for us out of a Principle not of Fear and dismal dread of his Greatness but of Love and Thanksgiving Joy and Gratitude for his Goodness to serve him all our dayes 2. Whereunto also we are yet farther obliged by the Satisfaction which our Redemption by Christ affords us Such is the Nature of our Souls as that the difference of Man from other living Creatures may as well perhaps better be expressed in his definition by the word Religious than Rational the Reason is because other Creatures seem in some measure to partake of Reason but not at all of Religion That there are some Footsteps of Reason some strictures and emissions of Ratiocination in the Actions of some Brutes is too Vulgarly known and too commonly granted to be doubted it seems then that not Reason in general but