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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	law_n	sin_n	threaten_v	4,607	5	10.0030	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58177	A persuasive to a holy life, from the happiness that attends it both in this world and in the world to come by John Ray ...	Ray, John, 1627-1705.	1700 (1700)	Wing R401; ESTC R13690	51,693	134

among us at every meeting of Neighbour or Friends is this How do you that is are you in Health or no And the Answer Well or Ill that is in health or not As if Health were the chief or only good thing worth the enquiring after in the presence or enjoyment whereof we could not be miserable whatever else we wanted Nor in the absence happy or well whatever besides we possessed Indeed there is no taste or relish no comfort or delight in any worldly good where health is wanting and therefore it is by all Men highly valued and purchased at the dearest rate as Bishop Wilkins well observes Health is such a just temper and constitution of all the parts of the Body both solid and fluid as may inable the several Members and Faculties duly to perform their natural Functions from whence proceeds not only an indolency or freedom from Pain and Sickness but also vigor and activity alacrity and light-heartedness a pleasant and delicious sympathy in the Soul To this head I refer freedom from Bodily Pain the extremity whereof is altogether inconsistent with Happiness St. Augustine confesses That he was compelled to consent to Cornelius Celsus who affirmed Bodily Pain to be the greatest Evil. Neither saith he did his Reason seem to me absurd viz. That Man being compounded of two parts Soul and Body of which the first is the better the latter the worser the greatest good must be the best thing belonging to the better part that is Wisdom And the greatest Evil the worst thing belonging to the worser part that is Pain Whether this Reason be solid and conclusive let others judge but I fully agree with him in the Assertion That of all Evils we are sensible of in this World Bodily Pain is the sorest It drowning as I may so say and taking away the sense of all other Evils and wholly possessing the Soul It is such an afflictive and tormenting Passion such a Vultur or Tyger tearing and gnawing upon the Soul so abhorrent to Humane Nature that an excessive degree of it must needs make a Man miserable and unhappy unless we can reconcile and unite extremes the greatest Evil that Man is capable of suffering with the greatest good he can enjoy Hence the Torments of Hell are every where in Scripture set forth by consuming Fire unquenchable Fire everlasting Burnings and Hell it self called a Lake of Fire a Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone because Fire produceth the greatest Bodily Pain than which nothing is more terrible to Humane Nature and more likely to affright Men from Sin On the contrary St John in his Revelation considering the absolute inconsistency of Pain and Happiness tells us That in the New Jerusalem there shall be no sorrow nor any more Pain There is indeed a degree of Bodily Pain which may be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not exceeding the measure of Man's Patience and there is a degree which we are not able to bear which takes up the whole Mind not suffering it to divert its thoughts one Minute to any other Object Away then with the foolish vaunts of the proud Stoicks who boast that their Wise Man is happy in Phalaris his Bull whom * Epist 52. St. Augustine thus smartly and ingeniously checks and confutes If Life may be happy in extreme bodily torment why do they advise a man afflicted with the most grievous Pains to depart out of it Why does not their Wiseman rather continue in it that he may enjoy the happiness of it Is a happy life to be forsaken and fled from But if such a Life be really miserable what else but pride hinders them from confessing it to be so You will say Did not the holy Martyrs endure the greatest Bodily Torments with invincible patience yea some of them with joy and exultation I answer 'T is true indeed they did so but then I suppose that as their Temptations and Sufferings were extraordinary so they were extraordinarily supported under them and that God as the Apostle saith did not suffer them to be tempted above what he enabled them to bear It seems to me most likely that he did quite take away or very much mitigate the sense of pain possibly by obstructing those Nerves which convey that motion to the Brain which excites such a sense or how else it seemed best to his Divine Wisdom I proceed now to prove that this Blessing is the portion of those who lead a godly Life who keep God's Commandments and abide in his Love And that 1. From the Promises of God 2. From the natural consequence of several Vertues commanded by him Such are 1. Temperance and Sobriety 2. Labor and Industry 3. A due government and moderation of our Passions 1. Health and Long Life I put them together the one for the most part being the consequent of the other are in Scripture promised as rewards to the obedience of the Commandments of God Exod. 23.25 Thou shalt serve the Lord thy God And I will take away Sickness from the midst of thee Deut. 7.15 And the Lord will take away from thee all Sickness and will put none of the evil Diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee Prov. 3.7 8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil It shall be health to thy Navel and Marrow to thy Bones Prov. 3.16 It is said of Wisdom That length of days are in her right hand Psal 34.12 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips that thou speak no guile Depart from evil and do good c. repeated 1 Pet. 3.10 On the other side Sickness and grievous Diseases and premature Death are often threatned as Punishments of Sin and Disobedience Deut. 28.60 61. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law c. He will bring upon thee all the evil Diseases of Egypt c. also every Sickness and every Plague which is n●t written in this Law Prov. 2.22 The wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it Prov. 11.19 As righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own Death 2. Health and Long Life are the natural consequents of some Vertues commanded by God As 1. Temperance and Sobriety in the use of Meats and Drinks That this is a most effectual means to preserve Health I appeal to the general consent of Physicians who are the most competent Judges in this Case all unanimously prescribing a moderate Diet not only as a principal means to continue Health but also to cure many Diseases Hence Hipocrates saith 6 Epid. Sect. 4. Aph. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The exercise of preserving health is not to eat to satiety not to be slothful in labour That a very spare and ascetick Diet conduces much to Health and long Life may be confirmed by many eminent Examples St. Paul the first

Apostles and to all true Believers by laying down his Life fo● them The Apostle Paul carries this yet higher Rom 5.7 8. For scarce for a righteous man will o●e die yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to di● But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us This exceeds the highest degree of love Man ever attained to Ephes 5.2 As Christ also hath loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Philip. 2 6 7 8. Who being in the f●rm of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of man And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross That the Eternal Son of God equal with his Father should so highly advance our Nature as to unite it to the Divine in one Person that so he might be qualified by the Sacrifice of himself to expiate our Sins to make an atonement for us and to reconcile us unto God The greatness of this Love together with the freeness and unmeritedness of it there being not any the least Motive on our part to invi●e him to it is so matchless and stupendious that it challenges the highest degree of ●e●iprocal affection and gratitude Magnes amoris amor Love is the Loadstone of love We cannot chuse but love them again in whom we discern any Expressions of unfeigned love to us as I have before noted And our love for the degree of it must be in some measure answerable to the Dignity and to the merit of the Person who loveth us For Favours done us and Benefits bestowed upon us Gratitude is the most natural I might say necessary ebullition of the Mind of Man To this purpose Seneca Epist 81. In hoc fidei populi credamus Nihil esse grato animo honestius Omnes hoc urbes omnes etiam ex Barbaris regionibus gentes conclamabunt In hoc bonis malisque conveniet Erunt qui voluptates laudent erunt qui labores malint erunt qui dolorem maximum malum dicant erunt qui nè malum quidem appellent Divitias aliquis ad summum bonum admittet alius illas dicet humanae malo vitae repertas nihil esse eo locupletius cui quod donet Fortuna non invenit In tant● judici●rum diversitate referendam bene marentibus gratiam omnes uno tibi quod aiunt ore affirmabunt in hoc tam discors turba c●nsentiet In this let us believe what People generally agree in That there is nothing more honest and commendable than a grateful Mind All Cities all Nations even of Barbarous Countries all Men both good and bad consent in this There are some who commend Pleasures others prefer Labours Some there be who say that pain is the greatest Evil others who will not grant it to be any Evil at all One will admit Riches to be the chiefest good another affirms them to be the Mischief of human Life and that none can be richer than he upon whom Fortune cannot find any thing which she may bestow In such a diversity of Judgments about other things that thanks are to be returned to those who have deserv'd well of us all with one Mouth affirm In this these Dissenting Parties are all agreed We are by Nature inclined to requite kindnesses non docti sed facti non instituti sed imbuti sumus And if we cannot do that to retain at least a grateful sense and memory of them and upon all occasions to acknowledge our obligations to such Benefactors as we are not able to recompence to honour and love them and to do all we can to please and gratifie them Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris You cannot say worse of a man than that he is ungrateful Ingratitude being an unnatural Sin Seeing then we cannot requite this transcendent kindness of our Saviour's to us nor make him any amends for that great Salvation he hath wrought for us and those inestimable Benefits he hath bestowed on us let us not be wanting to do what in us lies to express our gratitude by acknowledging and celebrating his goodness to us and the great things he hath done for us singing with the holy Psalmist * Ps●l 103.1 Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits And by devoting our selves to his Service and doing always those things which are pleasing and acceptable to him L●t his love constrain us not to live any longer to our selves but unto him who hath died for us and rose again 1 Cor 5.16 Who hath redeemed us to God by his blood Revel 5.9 And made us Kings and Priests unto our God Let us have a care that we do not frustrate the Grace of God as to our selves and render this great undertaking of our Saviour in vain to us nay an aggravation of our Condemnation For how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation As the Ap●stle speaks Heb. 2.3 Let not the difficulty of obeying God's Commandments and leading a holy life deter or discourage us from endeavouring it We know that neither Learning nor Riches nor any thing that is excellent is to be obtained without pains-taking Now nothing so excellent so desirable so worthy our utmost endeavours as Eternal Life this will abudantly recompence all our labour and travel nay though we were put to suffer Persecution Imprisonment or even Death it self for Conscience sake and bearing witness to the Truth we should have no need to r●pent it Our Reward shall be answerable to nay far exceed our Work 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory To sum up all in brief Since then 1. A Holy Life and Conversation here secures to us an interest in a Future State of Eternal Bliss and Happiness Glory and Immortality in the World to come and thereby delivers us from the fear of Death that King of Terrors as it is denominated Job 1● 14 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as ●ristotle calls it The most terrible of all terribles Which the wisest Philosophers by all their Argumentations could never either arm others against or secure themselves from the fear of the very best of them even Socrates himself being doubtful of the immortality of the Soul our Saviour alone having brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel Of which Death wicked men cannot but have a dreadful apprehension because of that indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish which is threatned against those who obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness Rom. 2.8.9 2. Since also it conduceth much to the well being and happiness of the outward and inward Man in this present Life as I have endeavoured to demonstrate in this Discourse Moreover 3. Since this Holiness and Obedience is even in the judgment and by the confession of vicious Persons themselves better and more eligible than the life they lead And Lastly Since it is more facile easy and pleasant than the Slavery and Drudgery of Sin and Satan Since I say all this is true and certain surely it is the greatest folly and madness imaginable for a little false and transient Pleasure and to gratify some deceitful Lust as the Apostle justly calls them Ephes 4.22 to forego not only our hopes of that Eternal Life and Happiness which our Saviour hath purchased for us and upon our Obedience promised to us those sincere and solid Pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore Rev. 22.14 our right to the Tree of Life and of entring in through the Gates into the New Jerusalem which is their portion who keep God's Commandments but also that present comfort and satisfaction of mind that inward peace and joy which attends the Conscience of well doing here Mark what a * Seneca Epist 27. Heathen saith of these sensual Pleasures Dimitte istas voluptates turbidas magno luendas non venturae tantùm sed praeteritae nocent Quemadmodum scelera etiamsi non sint deprehensa cùm fierent solicitudo non cum ipsis abit it à voluptatum improbarum etiam post ipsas poenitentia est Non sunt solidae non sunt fideles etiamsi n●n nocent fugiunt Dismiss saith he these troubled or muddy and imp●re pleasures which you must pay dearly for they are hurtful not only when they are coming but when they are past As crimes though undiscovered when they are committed leave not the committers of them without sol●●tude so Repentance always attends unlawful Pleasures they are not solid they are false and deceitful and though they were not hurtful yet are they transient only in motion and suddainly gone As for Riches or Honours or any other worldly good they are also unsatisfactory We find our Expectations in the pursuit of them frustrated in the acquisition and enjoyment being presently full and weary of that which we did most eagerly and impotently desire and long after And yet were there never so much worth and goodness in them they are 1. Uncertain as the Apostle calls them 1 Tim. 6.17 they may be taken away from us before we die 2. They are of short continuance if they abide with us till death we must then necessarily part with them For as the same Apostle saith ver 7th of the same Chapter We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out FINIS