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	sin_n	sin_v	8,157	5	9.6294	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90389	An eccho from the great deep: containing further inward openings, concerning divers other things, upon some whereof the principles and practises of the mad folks do much depend. As also the life, hope, safety and happiness of the seed of God, is pointed at; which through many dark, dismall, untrodden paths and passages (as particularly through an unthought of death and captivity) they shall at length be led unto. / Through Isaac Pennington (junior) Esq;.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1650 (1650)	Wing P1163; Thomason E618_1; ESTC R206346	113,201	142

his Love doth not go about to undermine it but to satisfie it by paying the whole price that it requires and hereby it maketh Justice its friend and as ready to seal the discharge of the prisoner as Love can be to desire it To illustrate this a little because it seemeth to some so impossible Suppose a King making a Law of Death after the manner of the Medes and Persians irreversible One whom he exceedingly loves transgresseth this Law Suppose this King could by his great understanding and skill fairly according to exact Rules of Justice transfer this fault upon his son and should out of love to the offender so do giving up his own son to death for him Here is the King himself paying the price to himself of the transgression of his own Law And yet God is more exact in the case in hand for with him the same person or that which offended in the person dyeth It was not simply a man but the manhood that sinned and he sent his Son not barely to offer up himself but the Manhood He slew and offered up the man in himself the nature that offended He gave up that principle of life in himself that had gone astray in man not to have it spared in the rest but to have it offered up in them also so that there is no more living henceforth by it but the life now to be had is a new life after the death of this I mean not the body but the spirit which must as certainly dye in us before we live as Christs did And surely this death must needs be acceptable to God and of true worth and value in his eye seeing by it all dyes that he would not have live He offereth up his own unspotted Life and puts to death all that is polluted and all that he desires is that he and his may live after this death a life that cannot dye nor be defiled He would have that Principle of Life live only where it was and as it was before it miscarried in their hand The great Work of Christ is first to bring all forth from God by a weak fading Life and then to bring all back again to God by a strong violent Death And as he receiveth life first and so communicateth it unto them so he enters into death first he begins the cup of death destruction to them also And as they could not but live when he let out life upon them so they cānot but dye when he administers death unto them He did not dye that any might escape death but that they might pass through it to life that they might be redeemed from death that they might live again that was it he gave his life for and that is the fruit of his death And it is another-ghess death we have by Christ and suffer with Christ then that which fell upon us from sin and the Law By the Law we dye in sin we enter into and lie under condemnation By Christ that principle of life dyeth in us that sinned so that we can sin no more nor be no more obnoxious unto death after once we come to live in him O sweet Price O excellent Purchase The Life which Christ hath bought for us was worth the buying it is Life indeed and the Price he gave was of value also both in it self and in the eyes of him who could not but accept it He out of whose hands he redeemeth us is the Devil who is the great Lord and Tyrant over us until then until Redemption be perfected He doth not pay to him the Price but to his own Justice and then taketh us from him by force for there is no dealing with him by Justice but only by Power yet God will shew himself just in putting forth his Power to recover any thing from him therefore first he clears his right to us and then tugs with him for us who unjustly detaineth us from him That which he redeemeth us from is that slavery misery and vanity which we are in subjection unto by lying under the Devil by being in the hands of the Devil That which he redeemeth us unto is the enjoyment of himself of life and blessedness in himself and the end the intent he hath in redeeming us is that he might enjoy us and that we might be happy in him and with him O God How excellent are thy Works How excellent art thou in Creation in Desolation in Redemption and Salvation and in the Circle and Circumference of them all Of Faith FAith is the divine Instinct of the new Nature in the new Creature whereby it naturally knoweth and goeth forth towards God as its Center Faith is not an acquired thing but sown in nature humane Faith in the nature of man spiritual Faith in the nature of the spiritual man Indeed outward occurrences and experiences may occasion its growing and thriving but they cannot sow the seed of it Things from without may draw it out and strengthen it but not beget it And yet to speak properly they cannot encrease it neither but rather the same life flowing from the Fountain through them into it And so life can at any time reach it either immediately from it self or through any other conveyance it shall please to chuse In Faith there are two things 1. The knowledg of God Faith it is the eye wherewith we see God and spiritual things We see nothing that is spiritual by our nature by our reason but only by Faith We see indeed with those eyes that which we think to be and call the same thing but not that which is the same thing We have a kind of sight a natural sight a rational sight yea a beleeving sight of these things without this Faith for there is Faith in nature and this Faith will act towards every thing that nature or any revelation or discovery to the eye of Nature can point out as a proper object for it but this sight is not the spiritual sight This light is but darkness not light and that sight which is in and by this light is but blindness not sight This light cannot comprehend any thing that is spiritual nor can this eye see any thing that is spiritual The light is too thick and the eye is too weak Man hath ever been searching after God making no question but if he were discovered once he could see him not perceiving in himself the want of that eye which alone can see him which is this eye of Faith which alone is sown and grows up in the new nature And where this Faith is sown though there were never any outward means the knowledg of God could not but spring up for it is sown in Faith in the very nature of Faith and doth as naturally spring up and grow as any thing in the ordinary course of common nature doth The knowledg this child hath of his Parent is by its nature by feeling the nature of his Parent in him by

them I will shew forth mercy I will hear no voyce of sin but what calls for mercy There 's not one of their sins shall stand before me if I have mercy enough to blot it out If ever sin prejudice them any more let the blame lie upon my mercy I will be merciful to their unrighteousness And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more There are two sorts of sin two ways of sinning one of commission the other of omission There is a direct spurning against the Law and a falling short of the Law There is a doing things contrary to the Will of God and a neglecting to do the Will of God There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they are here expressed This is the great charge God hath against all men under all his several Dispensations the not doing what he in righteousnes requires of them and the doing otherwise or contrary thereunto the slipping aside from his Rule or the clashing against his Rule by motions contrary to it I will remember no more They shall be so far from feeling any prejudice by reason of sin any more that I will not so much as remember that they have sinned Not any Transgression against the Law not any falling short of the Law will I ever remember again I will think never the worse of them for it I will carry my self not one whit the more unkindly to them because of it there shall be no strangeness between me and them in any such respect I will not onely pity them and be merciful to them but my mercy shall carry me to do the utmost act against sin that can be done to keep it from prejudicing them I will not onely pity them in their sins and under their miseries shewing mercy to them in respect of both but I will heal them perfectly I will cure them for ever I will take away the root of their sickness and all the sap that can feed that root I will not onely forgive sin but I will forget it too I will blot it out of mine own minde that it may never be by me to stir up the least jealousie or harsh thoughts in me concerning them Their sins shall be so far from ever working upon my heart that I will not keep them in my minde I will not think of them again I will set my self to forget them I will not suffer the remembrance of them to enter into me or come any more before me I will never henceforth look upon them as persons that ever did any such thing but what they have offended in I will so discharge them of that the offence shall for ever be forgotten even by my self I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more O sweet Covenant O certain way of emptying God into his people and of letting in his people into his fulness Surely they can never miss of any thing they desire who lie under the direct influence of this Covenant But when shall these things be when shall this Covenant be set up There was a sweet taste of it once given out in the Primitive Times The Spirit was then given out there was then enjoying of God living in and towards God rejoycing in tribulation triumphing over sin Law Death Hell c. the yoke of the Cross was then easie sweet delightful c. but it was but a taste but a shadow of the thing it self it was weak while it was in Being it was quickly swallowed up The sweetness of the intercourse and communion between God and his people was low and liable to frequent interruptions in the midst of its enjoyment Sin was not conquered though sorely strook at and wounded but in conflict and after a while gathered up its strength and overcame that appearance of God in the world Since which time there hath been much quietness much rest much peace in the world in the Kingdom of the Devil all being at his dispose he reigning and commanding in open wickedness in moral righteousness in the several ways and paths of Religion and the holy seed being in such bondage and captivity under him so shut up in his dark prison that they see not where they are nor what they are nor have either heart or strength to oppose him Things being thus the Devil lieth still Sin is quiet the Law is silent they are where they would be they have what they would they do what they would God and Christ overlook this time of ignorance take as it were no notice what the Devil does do not so much as offer to disturb him But when God shall once stir to set up his Kingdom when Christ ariseth to recover his own out of the Devils hands then it will be a quick sharp time then Satan Sin and the Law will put forth their strength and will not let Israel go while they have any power to detain them and O how dreadful will the breaking of their power be and how fierce their tyranny over Israel while it is in breaking Then shal Israel feel the bitterness of bondage and of captivity then shall Israel know what Sin is what the Law is and what the Devil is O how terrible will their death-pangs be O how will they rent and teer at their casting out when they fall Sampson-like they will make the very house fall with them And indeed the leprosie of Sin hath so overspred and is so interwoven that there is no purging of it out without breaking the vessel all in peeces and melting those broken peeces over and over again and again Corruption will never be purged out of this old man but this old man must be destroyed and a new one made God also will be very sharp very severe against all manner of sin and unrighteousness according to the Law while the Law remains in force to exact it from him yea Christ himself will be a sore Minister of Justice until his own righteousness come to conquer and take place He will not pardon your iniquities for my name is in him Alass what a dream are we in We have a kinde of sense of sin and a kinde of sight of Christ and Salvation and a kinde of going forth by that which we call Faith for Salvation from him and thus we think to pass over unto rest No no we must feel our captivity we must come under and feel the force of the Ministration of Condemnation we must taste the death-pangs of Sin and the Law and we must fetch every step of our journey or travel through the wilderness to the promised Land as in the type there was not one of the Israel of God exempted from so doing And when this is in agitation then ye shall know the meaning of so many carkasses of the Israelites falling in the wilderness and how those to whom a promise is made of entering into Rest may fall short by

unbelief and then ye shall finde the whole mystery of Salvation both in the type and in the substance to be another-ghess manner of thing then man by his understanding and reason or by that which he calls the assistance of the Spirit of God hath interpreted it to be Hasten thy work O God Let thy counsel stand Fulfil all thy pleasure and do it as speedily as thou wilt Let forth that destruction that desolation which must necessarily precede and make way for Salvation Let the old Covenant devour and bury in her own bowels the fruit of her own womb that the new seed may be conceived formed quickened brought forth and hang upon the brests of the new Covenant whence nothing but the sweetness purity and power of Life can be sucked Live O God live in thy seed quicken thy seed let them cause them to live in thee according to the law and by the vertue of thine own life Finish imperfection weakness sin vanity death dash it out and write thine own perfection and life in the stead and room of it Blot out the name of the foolish vain empty creature and write thine own name every where then shall those that desire and love thee be satisfied with thee when they shall meet none but thee and meet thee every where The way to Life which is through the death of that which we account and press after as life and through the captivity of the Life it self FROM 2 COR. 12.7 8 9 10. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn to the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me And he said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake for when I am weak then am I strong IN these words there are divers remarkable passages which he is very likely to meet with who pursueth the purity and height of the life of his spirit 1. There is the excellency of a Christians life the top of it which lieth in Visions and Revelations in Gods opening of himself and spiritual things to the eye of his spirit letting him in to the other world to behold God himself and the state of things there Ye are come to mount Sion to the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first born to God the Judg of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect c. Here is life indeed here is true sight true enjoyment here is the possession of strength he feels nothing fears nothing that may affright or trouble him who is here being wrapt up safe in the bosom of Eternity where mortality cannot seize upon him And the greater the fuller the deeper the more frequent and abundant these Visions are the quicker and stronger is the life by them the more is the spirit elevated through them 2. The danger of this life the danger of these enjoyments they tend to over-exalt him his flesh cannot bear them he is puffed up by them and forgets himself because of them Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations Paul was in great danger of being lift up beyond all bounds by reason of these his strength though it was great and much more then ordinary yet it was no way proportionable to his Revelations God can bear the weight of all his glory he is not at all lifted up with the sight and possession of his own strength and fulness but flesh cannot do so it is lifted up with any thing with every thing that is a little more then ordinary a little above it self and if its life and enjoyments be over-vigorous be much more then ordinary they over-exalt it This is the foolishness of the creature it desires the highest life the best the purest the strongest food but is not able to bear any thing beyond it self nothing but what is suitable to its proportion of life and it onely enjoyeth it self while by eternal Wisdom and Power it is guided and kept within its own bounds The Plants cannot live the life of Sensitives Sensitives cannot live the life of Man Man cannot live the life of God he cannot know as he knows he cannot comprehend as he comprehends he cannot live as he lives We think if we had abundance of sights and enjoyments of God we should live abundantly Alass poor fools Behold the experiment it almost overturned Paul lifted up his flesh so high that it cost him very dear to have it brought down again Exaltation is the worst posture of spirit of the worst nature the most prejudicial to the Creature that can be It is the most unbeseeming posture the most dishonorable to God and that which sets the Creature at the greatest distance from him It is the most unbeseeming posture for what is the Creature Nothing emptiness vanity a lye that which appears but is not a puff of wind that maketh a noise but passeth away and cometh not again Now for this to be lifted up as if it were somewhat as if it were substance nay as if it were all as if it knew all as if it alone were and none besides it what more uncomely thing And yet such is the foolishness of the creature that let God but open himself a little to it it presently conceits it self to be as himself let him but open himself in it it in himself and it presently is God as truly as fully as himself let him but open a little of his bosom a little beyond what it hath formerly seen and it presently sees as himself and so certainly that things cannot possibly be otherwise then as it now sees O uncomely Spectacle O how my Soul loaths the creature lifted up O how sordid is the creature aspiring to assuming and clothing himself with that greatness state and majesty which belongs not to him and which he can in no wise manage O God thou must needs destroy and prepare a grave to bury this uncomeliness in It is the most dishonourable to God intrenching most upon his Glory who is all who fills all who can endure nothing to be or appear where he is in his own Life and Fulness The creature never lifts up it self but it throws down God as much as in it lies it robs him and prides it self with what it hath stollen as if it were its own it defloureth his Beauties his Excellencies by making them appear unlike his and as if they were not his it raseth his Name out of that wherein he hath written in

sweet but beyond those limits it is very bitter And O how sweetly things go between God and his people within the bounds of his Covenant but he who passes those limits shall finde it an evil and a very bitter thing God hath two seeds to sow and cause to grow up two earths or wives to conceive and bring forth children to him from the seeds sown in their wombs and he hath two Covenants wherein are his terms of agreement and theirs too for each sort readily by their very nature desire and cannot but assent to the terms of each Covenant how far in what respect and upon what ground he will own them as his be with them be what they desire unto them Now as these seeds were in several seasons to be brought forth and appear So were these wives to be taken and owned and accordingly were the Covenants to appear in which respect the one is said to be old the other new vers 13. When God speaks to us he speaks in a language suitable to us and suitable to so much of his minde as he intends to express whereas those very things he speaks to us he can represent open and call otherwise He can call that old which he tells us is new and that new which he tells us is old yea and he can confound this language also and bring them both to an equality in this respect There never was any deep any wise understanding of God nor ever can be till the great depths of the Godhead are broken up till then God can and may hide himself in his whole Being in every motion in every thought of his heart in every word of his mouth He may speak what he pleaseth He may speak one thing now and in the very next breath speak clean contrary to what he spake before and make both good and yet make him a lyar that spake either from him or pretended to understand him in either He can call the same thing old that he calls new and the same thing new that he calls old He can call this a new Covenant and if thou thinkest to understand him and speak the same thing with him he can tell thee thou art a lyar and call it an old Covenant If thou wilt fall in with him here and say with him 't is old he can confound thee here also and say 't is both new and old If thou thinkest thou canst comprehend him in this he can confound thee yet again and say 't is neither new nor old If thou wilt yet be wise and understand both how 't is new and how 't is old and how neither new nor old he can and will confound thee again and shew thee that thou art now the greatest fool of all That very understanding which was made by the Lord enlightened by him made wise to know him must be darkened and confounded again A deep wise man can order his words so as others shall think they know him by them yet shall not but he alone understand and comprehend himself When he will he can open himself to the understanding of the meanest and when he will he can hide himself from the understanding of the deepest He can open himself in his deepest mysteries and he can hide himself in his plainest conceptions of things and this is an excellent peece of skill to be able to open and hide as one pleases Wilt thou deny to God this skill O Man Or if he have it wilt thou deny him liberty to make use of it Wilt thou say that if he speak to thee he must speak to thee so as thou mayst understand him Or if he speak that which seemeth plain to thy Reason wilt thou presently conclude that thou dost see and understand him O the boldness of man who will be measuring the minde of God in his words and say thus far must his meaning go and no further To what an height doth every sort of men raise their own Babylon some out of the Scriptures some out of inward Revelations comprehending God Christ Life Blessedness within their line But the building doth no where come to perfection nor ever shall for before it doth or can confusion shall overtake it and the City alone shall stand whose builder and maker is God That which God speaks shall stand for Truth onely as he opens and onely so far as he opens it and man shall one day see let him be as confident now as he will that he never understood one jot or tittle of God in the plainest thing that ever he did or spake Vers 10. For this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord There is a Covenant to be made to be established between God and his People which hath not been as yet I will make but I have not yet made The seed are to be brought forth but they have not as yet been brought forth and the Covenant is to be made and set up but hath not as yet been made and set up There is a Covenant that hath been already made an old Covenant a Covenant of works of labor and toyl of bondage slavery misery wrath death And there is a Covenant to be made a new Covenant a Covenant of Rest of Liberty of Love of Life and Peace evermore God hath his several sorts of things to bring forth and set in an excellent order one by another And this is it it contains this in it this is the description of it which here follows this is the Covenant that I will make With the house of Israel What is here meant by the house of Israel whether the natural seed of Abraham which were so in one sence or the spiritual seed of Christ which were so in another sence or both for though they have hitherto been separated yet the shadow and the substance may one day be gathered into one I shall not now declare After those days saith the Lord. After the days of their visitation destruction and desolation shall be ended after he hath plucked up both the natural seed and the spiritual seed and hath done breaking down destroying and afflicting them after that then will he begin to raise them up to build and to plant them Jer. 31.28 And when the time of restitution when the time of refreshing when the time of this seeds springing up anew with its new-purified life comes then shall this new Covenant appear then will I make this Covenant with them saith the Lord. I will put my Laws into their minde Their minde The minde is the inward part of the man the understanding part wherein the light of the man lies it is that wherein the principles of light or darkness of life or death are sown The constitution of man the state of man is according to his minde the changes wrought in man one way or other is by an efficacy upon his minde the minde being changed the man is changed otherwise