Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	law_n	moses_n	sin_n	8,417	5	5.8287	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A82320	The stumbling-stone, or, A discourse touching that offence which the world and worldly church do take against 1. Christ himself. 2. His true word. 3. His true worship. 4. His true church. 5. His true government. 6. His true ministry. Wherein the University is reproved by the Word of God. Delivered partly to the University-congregation in Cambridge, partly to another in the same town. Together with a brief touch in the epistle (for the present) on the late quarrelsom, weak, and erroneous Animadversions of one Mr. Chambers, called Doctor in Divinity, and Pastor of Pewsy in Wiltshire. By William Dell minister of the Gospel, and Master of Gonvil and Cains Colledge in Cambridge.	Dell, William, d. 1664.	1653 (1653)	Wing D930; Thomason E692_1; ESTC R206987	41,191	48

sweet Saviour that in him is nothing but love and mercy and goodness and compassion and kindness to such as are in distress and in grievous fears and agonies from the sense of sin and wrath and from the presence of Death and Hell working in them And we must believe Christ to be such an one as the Gospel represents him that we may come to him with comfort and put our whole trust in him in all times of sin and sorrow and in all hours of darkness and temptation and let us never entertain any other thoughts of Christ then these but let us hold him unchangeably for such an one as the Gospel reveals him what ever the Law or our evil consciences or the Devil shall suggest to the contrary and then in all our distresses we shall not be affraid of Christ as of a severe Lawgiver and an unexorable Iudge but may run to him as to our mercifull and powerfull Saviour whose proper Office is among the afflicted And thus we see that Christ is known by his Works and what kinde of works they are Secondly Christ would be known by his Word 2. Christ known by his Word And as Christ is known by his Works so also by his Word and therefore he saith Go shew Iohn the things you see and hear and the things you hear as well as the things you see and that is that the poor have the Gospel preached to them For Christs works and Christs Word do alwayes go together Christs works and word go always together Christs Life is alwayes accompanied with Christs Doctrine and his works with his Word The best works that any man can do without the word of the Gospel accompanying them are not Christs Works and the most glorius word that any man can hold forth without the works of Christ accompanying it is not Christs word but Christs works and Christs word go alwayes together both in himself the Head and in the true Church his body Wherefore Christ saith Go shew to Iohn the things you see and hear the things you see the blind receive their sight c. the things you hear and the poor have the Gospel preached to them Now the Gospel is the free promise of God in which nothing The Gospel what it is but meer love mercy and grace is offered in Iesus Christ to them that believe though they be never so great and grievous Sinners in themselves And nothing is more joyfull then this to the soul that is under the sense of Sin and wrath and he that receives this Word of Grace by true faith doth not weigh a feather all the terrors of the Law Sin Death and Hell So that all the outward works of Christ are a small matter if compared to the Gospel Now this Gospel is preached to the Poor that is to the Poor in It is preached to the poor Spirit and these are such who do not love nor desire nor delight in present things but are so afflicted and oppressed in their heart consciences with the sense of sin and wrath that they regard not the world nor the Riches Pleasures and Honors of it but all they mind or care for is Iesus Christ and in Him the love of God and the Remission of sin and the gift of the Spirit These are the Poor to whom Christ Preaches the Gospel and they only regard and entertain the Gospel whil'st the Lovers of this world and the Lovers of themselves and this present life care not for it And thus is Christ known by preaching the Gospel to the poor Christ known by the Gospel as Moses by the Law Moses his Ministry was full of wrath terror and death to sinners but Christs ministry holds forth nothing to the greatest sinners in the world that are sensible of sin but the free Grace and Mercy of God to them even to them in pardoning their sin and Christ known by the Word in the Church his body aswel as in himself the Head giving them righteousness and by this word Christ is well known to the whole true Church of God And as Christ is known by his Word in himself the Head so also in the Church his Body for whereever Christ is present there is his Word aswell as his works and where Christs true Word is not neither is his presence there Wherefore all the faithfull as they have received the Gospel themselves so they hold forth the same Gospel to others upon all opportunities according to the Covenant which God made with Christ touching his Seed which is mentioned Isa 51. ver 21. As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my Spirit which is upon thee and the words which I have put into thy mouth that is the Gospel shall never depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed from henceforth and for ever By which Scripture we may learn that the Ministry of the New-Testament is a common Ministry belonging equally and alike to all the seed of Christ that is to all true believers for when Christ dwells in their hearts by faith who shall hinder Christ in them from speaking the Word of God by them For God doth not consider men as the World doth to wit as they are Tradesmen or Gentlemen or Schollars or Clergy-men but God considers men either as Believers or Unbelievers he considers men as Believers or Vnbelievers And if they be Vnbelievers then are they destitute of the true presence of Christ and of the true Word of Christ what ever their outward condition be in the World yea though they be Schollars and Clergy-men and if they are Believers then have they Christs true presence and word with them what ever their outward condition is in the world yea though they be Gentlemen or Tradesmen and every one of them saith with David and with Paul I believed therefore have I spoken So that we are not to conceive of the spiritual Church according The true Ministry is only of Believers to any outward state or condition in the world but according to Faith through which Christ dwells in the hearts of believers and if Christ the living word of God dwel in them he will not keep silence And this confession of the word before the world Christ requires of all believers alike saying He that confesseth me before men him will I confess before my father and before his Angels and there is no true and right confessing Christ without holding forth the word and Doctrine of the Gospel So then every one that is of God speaks Gods word and he that speaks it not is not of God for in all the true children of God the Spirit of their father speaks in them And thus the true presence of Christ is known by the word of the Gospel in the Church his body and in every one of his Members aswell as in himself the head This

there is no Town or City under the whole Kingdom of Antichrist which hath not such Doctors and Masters as are Created in the Vniversities For the whole world saith he is of this Opinion that the Vniversities are the fountains whence they should flow who ought to teach the People Now this saith he is a most horrible and abominable error so that nothing hath proceeded in all the world out of any thing so much to be opposed as out of Vniversities wherefore saith he Peter saith that all these are false Masters and false Doctors Thus Luther Now if any say This Doctrine being commonly taught and received will throw down the Vniversities I answer If th● Vniversities will stand upon an Humane and Answer Civil account as Schools of good Learning for the instructing and educating Youth in the knowledge of the Tongues and of the liberal Arts and and Sciences thereby to make them usefull and serviceable to the Commonwealth if they will stand upon this account which is the surest and safest Account they can stand on and will be content to shake hands with their Ecclesiastical and Antichristian Interest then let them stand during the good Pleasure of God but if they will still exalt themselves above themselves and place themselves on Christs very Throne as if they had ascended up on high to lead captivity captive and to give gifts to men for the work of the Ministry and so will presume to darken the Glory of Jesus Christ and his true Ministry which He sends forth as his Father sent Him then let them in the Name of Christ descend into that darkness out of which they first sprang that the Glory of Christ may fill the World And thus have I declared how the World and worldly Church are offended at Christ and his Word and Worship and Church and Government and Ministry and so consequently at all his things And now I proceed to the third General I propounded to wit to shew 3. Point How great an evil it is to be thus offended at Christ and his Things The third General To be offended at Christ 1. It s a sign men are ignorant of Christ And this appears in many particulars 1. One Evil is That to be offended at Christ and his Things is a certain Evidence that men are wholly Ignorant of Christ and of God though they be called Christians and have the Name of God alwayes in their mouths For if men knew Christ aright and God in Christ it were impossible they should be offended at Him and inasmuch as they are offended it is certain they do not know Him by any revelation from the Father Wherefore Christ tells his Disciples Joh. 16. 3. that the chief ground of that offence which the World and worldly Church should take against them who are his true Members and have received the same Word and Spirit with him through true faith is because they have not known the Father nor Him For he that knows Christ in Christians is not offended at them and he that knows God in Christ is not offended at Him But they that are offended at Christians know not Christ and they that are offended at Christ know not God 2. When men are offended at Christ and his things it is a sign 2. That they are Unbelievers they are real Vnbelievers what ever forms of Godliness they may live under and though it may be they have been old Professors for Peter saith Christ is precious to them that believe wherefore they that are offended are destitute of Faith 3. They that are offended at Christ lose all that spiritual and eternal advantage that comes by Christ to true believers and so 3. They loose all advantage by Christ fall short of the Love of God in Christ of Reconciliation with God in Christ of the Righteousness Wisdom and Power and of all the fulness of God in Christ of eternal Redemption from the Law Sin Death and Hell by Christ and of all that great Salvation that is in and by Him And Jesus Christ is wholly in vain to them 4. When men are fully and irreconcileably offended at Christ 4. Are manifest Reprobates and his things it is a Sign they are of the wicked one of the seed of the Serpent and very Reprobates as Christ told such offended Iews Ye are of your Father the Devil and my sheep hear my voice but you hear it not but are offended and therefore you are none of my sheep that is none of the Elect And again saith Christ all that my Father giveth me shall come to me Wherefore they that come not to Christ but are offended at him are not given to him of God and consequently are Reprobates 5. They that are offended at Christ are utterly ruined through 5. Are utterly ruined such offence Wherefore Christ is called a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to them that are disobedient and stumble at the Word And he is said to be set for the fall and ruine of many in Israel and Mat. 21. 44. Christ saith Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken but on whosoever it shall fall it shall grinde him to pouder For whoever stumbles or dashes against this Stone dashes against God himself in the nature of Man He dashes against the Councel and Decree of God against the Wisdom and Vnderstanding of God against the Love Mercy Righteousness Truth and Power of God against the eternal Word and Spirit of God and no man perishes like that man For he incurrs all that Wrath Vengeance Destruction Damnation which the Lord God himself in all his infinite VVisdom Knowledge Righteousness Justice and Power can inflict on him to all eternity and so he is indeed ground to pouder Yea farther that man that stumbles against Christ is not only Ruined without remedy ruined by such offence but ruined without all means or hope of Recovery They that are broken against Him and by Him are broken in pieces like a potters vessel which can never be made up again They that fall against Him never rise again they that are ruined by him are never repaired again If a man were dashed in pieces by Moses he might be repaired again by Christ but he that is destroyed by the Saviour by whom shall he be saved He that was condemned by the Justice of God for Sin might recover again by the Love and Mercy of God in Christ But he that is destroyed by the Love and Mercy of God is past all Hope and Remedy Wherefore I intreat you to consider this thing with all your hearts For nothing makes such ruines in the world as this Sin Mens being offended against Christ and his Gospel This is the sin that ruined Ierusalem of old and Germany of late and if any thing undo this Commonwealth this will undo it the offence that is taken by mean men and by men in Place and Authority against Christ and his Gospel And this is the