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	sinful_a	4,258	5	10.1705	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58047	Solitude improved by divine meditation, or, A treatise proving the duty and demonstrating the necessity, excellency, usefulness, natures, kinds and requisites of divine meditation first intended for a person of honour, and now published for general use by Nathanael Ranew.	Ranew, Nathanael, 1602?-1678.	1670 (1670)	Wing R248; ESTC R30539	209,120	405

1. Let me first begin with the meritorious cause of it That which Heathens knew not Nature saw not Philosophy and Learning could not find out nor reach only holy Scripture tells me and shews it to be that most black inlet sin Rom. 5.12 Death entred into the world by sin and v. 17. By one mans offence death reigned not only entred but reigned hath mastered and will master all sinners Sin that greatest evil in the world sin the only contrariety to the living God that gave life to man at first and ever since sin that only injury to the blessed God bred and brought death the greatest misery to man here sin that provoked God to pass the sentence sin occasioning the vindictive cause the Justice of God to let in death death with the consequences of it that would follow without a Mediator that Adam knew not of Death so considered is the way of the very deepest revenge a God can take But then this black part of it bodily death without that blacker Train of Hell and Eternity in it is that which must challenge a very great proportion of ponderings 2. Let me look at not only the rise of it and the bare wrath occasioning the inflicting it but that so fixt and irreversible sentence that like the Law of the Medes and Persians cannot be broken Heb. 9.27 It 's appointed for all the universality of sin hath given death an universal sting and the Statute of Heaven hath impowered Death's Extensiveness over all and set a seal of irrevocableness to it as to all men Therefore it is appointed I must think particularly for me whatever I am or do or can in utmost possibility do I must not once think of making an escape from it Yea let me consider as I must die so the very Year Moneth Day Hour and Moment is immutably fixt and can never be altered Job 14.5 the place also where the means whereby the manner how all circumstances about it are unchangeably determined 3. But how material is that particular of the uncertainty of the time and manner to me that 's a reservation and secret kept in the Lord 's own breast not possibly to be exactly known before without it be revealed as Christ of the Great Day of Judgment saith Mat. 24.36 Of that day and hour knoweth no man And Verse 42. Ye know not what hour your Lord will come And 44. In such an hour you think not your Lord comes so the two latter may be applyed to this of death when he calls for an accompt of our Stewardships and Talents and passes particular and personal Judgment 3. Let me pass next to the Meditation serious pondering of the nature of it and that great dreadfulness of that most terrible of terribles that King of terrours Job 18.14 Here that I may duly look on it let me look up for a God to teach me as to number my days Ps 90. so to be wise to consider my latter end to do that hard work overcome that difficulty of looking Death-watd Nature abhors the thinking of it Corruption all it can opposes it but Grace must bring and fix earnestly and often the Eye upon it familiarize death to me let me then Eye my dissolution the parting of the two nearest dearest friends the Soul 's taking its sad farewel of its former dwelling it s going going in an instant out of the Body and then that which Death doth as an Enemy to all former Life concerns and as an entrance upon an Eternal Condition 1. As an Enemy to all enjoyments how sweet soever Pleasures all now quenched Honours now all dasht Riches and Estate now all lost Power now utterly ceast 2. An Enemy to all Relations Friends Acquaintance now must I shake hands with all nearest and dearest the sweetest and most helpful Relations 3. An Enemy to all Imployments necessary or pleasurable no Work no Business no Invention after it 4. An Enemy to all Opportunities and Means of Grace never to read the Bible more never to hear one Sermon more never to receive the Lords Supper more never to make one Prayer the shortest of one of the fewest words more and then also when thou art just launching into the length of vast Eternity But now must be Prayerless and totally helpless yea now thy Souls condition becomes becalmed and thou canst not obtain one gale of the Holy Spirit to blow upon thee and help move thee in any measure 5. It s an Enemy quickly to the curious frame and so exquisite building of thy body with all its parts and members made with such adaptations and sutableness whatever with all the Tempers Qualities Offices Abilities and Actings of it An Enemy likewise to all the senses seeing hearing the two disciplinary with feeling tasting smelling the so likewise necessary 6. It is an Enemy and Destroyer of all comliness and beauty form and shape And all these former by being the Enemy and Destroyer of that thy so sweet and precious life by making that Jewel drop out of the Cabinet of the Body or rather driving forth thy immortal and invaluable soul bringing with it a Writ of forcible entrance coming with an Execution to turn out that old inhabitant of the body securing it from regaining possession making it stand empty and thence exposing the body to rot ruine turn to dust and expose it to Oblivion as if it had never been But then upon thy Souls thus leaving thy Body immediately and instantly it is cast upon a state of Eternity of Misery if thou wert not in Christ or felicity if found and dying in him When Life ends Eternity begins O this all amazing Eternity this so vast and inconceivable Eternity no way to be exprest or set forth no way to be understood or known a Glass that is ever running a Chain that is ever lengthening who can number the Sands of this Glass who can reckon the links of this Chain of Eternity without stop or period bound or end O let me be ever musing of this Ever have it so full in my Eye while I have time this moment of time here that it may wind up and leave me in possession of most happy Eternity But to affect my spirit aright and be wise in the due managing of this Meditation of dreadful Death let me look to and ponder the Scripture Commands for remembring and considering my latter end and the Arguments strongly inducing to it How frequently and earnestly is it urged upon all O let me lay the weight and stress of them close to my heart not suffering it to put by the thoughts of death how awk and averse soever my carnal spirit is towards it Let me therefore not only muse on the sentence the peremptory and irrevocable sentence passed upon all in general and so upon my self in particular but on it as ready to be executed this hour yea this moment for ought I or any in the world can tell Ah let me say to my self the

more When a soul comes to look and search into himself sees what little grace he hath what abundance of corruptions and in what power they shew themselves When he finds how he is assaulted by Satan and ensnared by the world and things of it he sees how necessary it is to consider what in this case he is to do This therefore after assurance in some degree obtained and how to keep and increase it may well be the matter of Meditation Meditate then of thy grace received the weakness and imperfection of it and how to help and strengthen it especially thy Faith that great fundamental Grace that serves as the eye to see Christ the foot to come to him and hand to take him lean upon and to take and receive from him In the case of weakness of grace thy Meditation must be upon that purposely conferred fulness Cor. 1.19 that fountain-fulness which is in Christ 〈◊〉 whom by faith thou art united engraffed into 〈◊〉 to partake of the sweetness of this Vine Joh. 〈◊〉 of the fatness of this Olive 1 Cor. 1. ●● 〈◊〉 made to us wisdom righteousness sanctification 1. Meritoriously so he hath purchased these 2. Efficaciously he imparts and communicates these Joh. 15.5 Without me ye can do nothing without first a real ingraffing into Christ Joh. 15.4 without a vital influence from him and without a new continual acting trust and recumbency on him But Phil. 4.13 I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me Consider thou must that he will help thee If Christ did first help thee when thou wert a stranger and enemy to him now much more will he help thee being reconciled If when thou hadst no union wert no member of his he made thee a member much more being a member will he supply life strength and growth to make thee a perfect member he must make his body in all the members perfect at last They must grow therefore that he may be a head perfected in all his members perfection The way Christ will teach thee seeking to him The work Christ will work for thee trusting in him 2. Then as thy Meditation must be of Christ the Well of living waters and his fulness so because the Well though a living Spring yet it is deep how to come at it how to draw The next Meditation therefore must be of our means vouchsafed us to draw and of particularly that by which all the Saints in all Ages have drawn out of this Well of Salvation and received grace for grace Therefore this Meditation must be of that precious powerful Faith whereby Christ is received initially by our first union and communion with him and received also gradually daily and for our building up to perfection in him Meditation must be as of Faith to fetch supply from Christ 3. So of the way Faith hath to act namely by the precious Promises of Sanctification in which Christ assures thee he will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax Matth. 12.20 That the Kingdom of Heaven at first is as a grain of mustard-seed but it becomes as a great tree Matth. 13.31 32. That the good work in any heart God will finish to the day of Christ Phil. 1.6 Thou must repair to the rich Treasury of the Gospel gather up the Pearls of Promises scattered all over it string them up in Meditation and ponder their infallible Truth abundant Goodness and most transcendent Freeness 4. Next thou must meditate duely of the way for the full Breasts of the Promises to give down into thy longing spirit their sweetness and help This is by Christs appointed Ordinances praying and the rest wherein thy Faith must act upon the Promises and by them upon Jesus Christ and so though that Well be deep Faith is thy Bucket the Promises the Chain the Ordinances the Hands to let it down and draw it up filled with living water for thy thirsty soul to drink CHAP. XIII Of Meditation of Corruptions stirring and oft prevailing THis Meditation must proceed upon the Promises of sin-subduing and mortifying Mich. 7.19 He will subdue our iniquities Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law but under grace A man under the Law it gives no strength against sin Rom. 3.20 It discovers sin and irritates sin Rom. 7.8 9. but gives no strength to subdue it But being under Gospel-grace that gives power to mortifie sin Those that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 They are dead to sin Rom. 6.2 by Christ purchasing the total mortification and dead by an Initial and begun sanctification that from being implanted into Christs death and his sin-killing grace sin receives its deaths wound and shall bleed to death upon it But this by applying frequently the promises of mortification exercising Faith by them exciting Faith to rest on them Let us therefore as for other cases so for this gather up variety of promises of sin-subduing Let thy eye in Meditation go from promise to promise First set one promise before thee and dwell upon that look to Christ in that and thence draw help from him resting on him for making it good to thy souls case and then go to and dwell upon another ponder that and rest again upon Christ in that promise and so successively upon others Thou hast great varieties of Promises that thy eye in Meditation might be more delighted in walking in this Garden of Christ among these pleasant sweet flowers and that Faith might by the variety feed more to the full upon them In the case of a particular corruption sometimes yea it may be often too hard for thee Thy now Meditation must pass in a more particular manner In great pondering of the sinfulness of this sin as the Scripture in the divers passages of it sets it forth in the kind and nature in the degrees aggravations and abounding sinfulness of it 1. In the terrible threatnings denounced against it which discover Gods not dealing tenderly and handling it as it were gently What David said of Absalom in his rebellion warring against him openly Deal for my sake gently with the young man Absalom 2 Sam. 18.5 that we are ready to do with applying the Threatnings to our corruptions loth to apply him too hot and too home and let these Corrosives continue their time because of their smart and pain But we should both get store of threatnings give them all the edge we can apply them close and let them stick fast and stay their just time to issue in due fear and awakning and make thee more willing to forego thy sin The Threatnings of the Law and Word of Christ are of great necessity and use for godly spirits so God and the Saints in Scripture used them for humblings awaknings and reformings 2. This sins sinfulness in Examples In the Examples of severity recorded both of wicked and godly persons Gods severity to them yea

relating to those things Meditation is to be upon gather the varieties of Scripture-passages about that particular subject you mean to meditate on The Scripture in the diversities of passages about particular subjects is like a rich banquet where are set before thee great varieties of rarities There are all manner of subjects All the credenda and facienda all things to be believed and practised in order to salvation There are great varieties of heavenly Truths for knowledge and wisdom and right believing Great varieties of Precepts Rules and Directions for due practice Many Promises and many Threatnings to back the Precepts sundry Patterns and Precedents to assist them and make them and thereby the Precepts more effectual on us Oft in Scripture the same things are expressed in a various manner in a different a new mode and fashion in new trimmings as it were and new dressings to both edifie and also please us Variety in expression carries oft variety of Notion holds forth something more to be learnt and affords something that may gratifie our spirits as to pleasure and delight So the lame thing hath it may be varieties of Arguments and Reasons for conviction and demonstration Inducements to perswade and lead Arguments and Inducements with the highest Art of Reasoning with the best improvement of Rhetorick and Perswasion Thus if thou meanest to meditate upon God or Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit upon Faith or Love or any Grace upon any duty any sin any affliction Thy way is to see what the Scripture hath and holds forth in the several passages of it as concerning Faith of the Nature of it of the effects and properties of it priviledges coming by it reasons to perswade to believe to live by Faith in all conditions how great variety of expressions have you for all things relating to Faith so of other particular subjects By this variety taking up one expression after another at such times as you can best how may thy Meditation be carried on with great delight and to great advantage This is one excellent way to order and improve thy Meditation take varieties of Scripture-passages about any particular subject thou wilt meditate on 1. For Scripture expression hath a bottom and foundation of sure and infallible truth which comes from God that cannot lye your Meditation goes on sure ground 2. Scripture-expressions are suited for us by the so infinite wisdom of a God who knows how best to declare his own mind and how best to convey and teach it to our capacity and condition None can speak so to me as God in the Scripture doth 3. Yea Scripture-expressions are sanctified by God to enable us to sanctifie him in this and all other duties This therefore is our best way to feed on these rarities this rich banquet of so great varieties when we are to meditate Hereby we may ever have matter abundantly to meditate never be to seek and for the manner perform it with great delight and pleasure which will otherwise be a weariness This certainly was the way of the highest Artists in Meditation David and other holy persons upon Record in Scripture They could not but see the same things to be repeated yet oft in a various way of expression therefore must conclude that the holy Inditer had his wise intendment in so various expressions Therefore their godly wisdom must teach them when they meditated to go in that way the Spirits condescending intent led them So let it be thy Rule for thy help for to make thy Meditation pleasurable and profitable together I will mention some Instances The Grace of Faith is thus variously exprest By trusting in God Prov. 3.5 Trust in the Lord with all thy heart Isa 26.4 Trust in the Lord Jehovah and in other places Psal 37.5 By rowling our way on God By taking hold of Gods strength Isa 27.5 and divers others In reference to Christ by seeing the Son Joh. 6.40 Coming to Christ Matth. 11.28 And believing on and in Christ often Love of God Deut. 30.6 Love thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul Deut. 6.5 Love thy God with all thy heart and soul and a third is added With all thy might Mark 12.10 Christ adds to the three former With all thy mind Certainly these varyings had their intent were that when we meditate of these or other graces we should furnish our Meditation and improve by them Thus things cited in Deuteronomy are variously exprest from those very passages and particulars in the former Books So the Chronicles express differently things in the Kings and the Four Evangelists vary the expressions of the same things both the matters historical and doctrinal and all the Scripture over this is practised Variety of expression calls for observation and holds forth oft some peculiar Notion and Instruction Let this therefore be thy Rule in Meditation 2. Be sure frequently and earnestly to meditate both of thy supreme and chief end and of the proper and proportionate means thereto conducing But do daily something more to purpose in that great Meditation of the supreme end as wisdom teaches and being that in its nature which deserves the highest and first things that also which gives Rules to all thy other actings and endeavours that glorifying exalting God above all Do very much in collecting together spreading before thee well considering acting the most vigorous and intense Meditation of all such things which may reduce thee to higher apprehensions warmer affections firmer resolutions and more earnest and even contendings for glorifying him that is God and there is none beside him for him that only gave thee thy all body soul life and only preserves thy all That gave his only Son to death to save thy souls life His Spirit to draw thee to Christ or thou hadst never come To dwell and work in thee and do all for thee as to applying Christ and all fellowship in Christ and with him and hath so infinitely obliged thee Therefore how sinful how unworthy to not honour and glorifie him how unkindly he takes it and how it grieves him Let Meditation gather up and indusstriously strive to improve all it possibly can Ah! how that holy Apostle was looking and striving this way how near was this glorifying God to his heart how much in his eye and endeavour how oft is he speaking of it How earnestly doth he provoke all he had to do with to it 1 Cor. 10.31 Whatsoever ye do if eat or drink do all to the glory of God acting all to it must imply an always minding of it 3. Lay sound stress likewise in Meditation as to that thy next chief end self-saving to have more serious thoughts and industrious pressings on hard to work it out and make thy calling and election sure To work it out against all difficulties and oppositions look more earnestly up to Heaven and into Heaven And it is good when thou thinkest of Heaven be then so bold with thy self