Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	life_n	righteousness_n	sin_n	20,387	5	5.1345	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29101	The excellency of the Christian revelation, as it promiseth assistance, and compleat salvation to sinners a sermon preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, November the 6th, 1699, being the eighth, for this year, of the lecture founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq. / by Samuel Bradford ...	Bradford, Samuel, 1652-1731.	1699 (1699)	Wing B4111; ESTC R19744	15,243	31

Good together with strong Habits of Sin The Spirit having once given way to the Flesh lost its Authority and Government which it cannot easily reassume In order therefore to a recovery from this state to effect which is the great design of Christianity there must be a supply of new strength some extraordinary influences from the Divine Spirit to reduce the Soul into good Order and to preserve it when so reduc'd And for this we are beholden to the Undertaking of our great Mediator 'T is true good Men in all Ages of the World such I mean as have had a becoming sense of God and of natural Religion have profess'd their reliance upon God and there hopes of his assistance and I question not but they have in some measure partaken of what they thus hoped for which was in truth though not clearly understood by them the effect of God's Mercy and Grace through Jesus Christ whose Undertaking as we Christians believe had its effect for the benefit of Mankind ever since the first Promise made to Adam after his Fall But as the greater part of Man were left to the suggestions of Nature and the conjectures of Reason in this case having no express Declaration or Promise which they knew of upon which they might depend so the Pious and good Men amongst the Jews themselves who enjoyed the Divine Oracles yet believ'd and hop'd for the assistance of the Divine Spirit rather upon the grounds of natural Religion than of their own Law the Promises of which as I before observ'd were chiefly of the good things of this life what was beyond this being rather obscurely hinted to them than plainly express'd For which reason St. Paul who very well understood the Jewish Law and was thoroughly acquainted with the sense in which his Countrymen generally understood it says Rom. 7 8 10. That sin taking occasion by the Commandment wrought all manner of Concupiscence and again That the Commandment which was ordain'd unto Life was found to be unto Death and again That the Law ch 8.3 4. in that it was weak through the Flesh could not effect that Righteousness in us which it aimed at By all which he plainly asserts that the Law of Moses as such only declared Mens Duty but brought no assistance along with it to enable them to perform it and consequently left them in a worse state than it found them without the addition of Gospel Grace The Prophets indeed utter'd many Predictions of a plentiful Effusion of the Divine Spirit Is 44.3 Ezek. 36.26 27. Joel 2.28 But this was to be in the Days of the Messiah as the Jews did and we Christians now do understand those Prophecies to import And they were accordingly fulfilled in the days of our Blessed Saviour there having been a very plentiful Effusion of the Divine Spirit upon the Apostles and first Preachers and Professors of Christianity to enable them to do extraordinary Works and to capacitate them to discharge and undergo their Employments and their Sufferings And not only so but we have moreover both from our Lord and his Apostles express and clear Promises of the Communication of the same Spirit to enlighten and assist the Minds of Christians in every succeeding Age. Our Lord to this purpose did in general declare the readiness of Almighty God to give his Holy Spirit to all those who should ask it of him Luke 11.13 arguing from the goodness of God and his fatherly care of Men infinitely exceeding that of any earthly Parent More particularly our Lord hath given a promise of the Divine Spirit to all such as shall come to him and believe in him At a Solemn Festival of the Jews John 7.37 38 39. Jesus stood and cryed saying If any Man thirst let him come unto me and drink He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said Out of his belly shall flow Rivers of living Water And this as the Evangelists adds He spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive For the Holy Ghost was not yet given not in that plentiful manner as afterwards because that Jesus was not yet Glorified And indeed it was after the glorification of Jesus that this Spirit was given first in so wonderful a manner as on the day of Pentecost as a pledge of his being thenceforward to direct and assist the Church of Christ in all succeeding Ages a Promise to that purpose being given to all the Members of the Christian Body For so St. Peter discoursing to the Jews upon that occasion Acts 2.38 39. solemnly declares Repent says he and be Baptiz'd every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost For the Promise is unto you and to your Children and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call 'T is upon this account that St. Paul declares so amply the Power which Christians receiv'd by the Gospel to enable them to do what neither by the Abilities of Nature nor by the Assistance of the Law of Moses they could have done When in the place before-cited he had complain'd of the Law in the Members whereby Men are Captivated Rom. 7.23 24. and thereupon express'd very pathetically his Sense of the Wretchedness of Men by reason of the Body of Death which they carry about with them he concludes with triumphing in the Grace of the Gospel v. 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord farther explaining himself in the following Words ch 8.1 2 3 4. There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and as a Sacrifice for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit as much as to say that by embracing the Gospel of Christ he was not only freed from Condemnation on account either of his past Faults or his present unavoidable Infirmities but moreover received strength through the assistance of the Spirit of Christ which would enable him sincerely though not without all impersection to obey the Laws of God and to attain to that Righteousness which through the inordinacy of the Flesh and the weakness of the Mosaical Institution he could not attain to before For the same reason elsewhere comparing the Law with the Gospel he gives the preference to the latter in very significant terms The Law he stiles the Ministration of the Letter 2 Cor. 3.3 6 7 8 9. which killeth the Gospel the Ministration of the Spirit which giveth Life One

were design'd And if we will yet farther look into the design of them we shall find that they are moreover appointed by our Lord as means of deriving and conveying the Grace of his Holy Spirit to our Souls Thus Matth. 28.19 20. when our Lord commission'd his Apostles to make Disciples out of all Nations baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them he immediately subjoyns And lo I am with you always even unto the end of the World which can import no less than his assisting and blessing them and their Successors in the faithful discharge of their Ministry He else-where declares in general Matth. 18.20 that where two or three are gathered together in his Name there is he in the midst of them viz. by the presence and assistance of his Holy Spirit As to the Sacrament of Baptism St. Peter is very express in the place before cited where exhorting his Hearers to Repent and be Baptized Acts 2.38 39. he encourages them by proposing the Benefits which they should receive thereby namely remission of Sins and the Gift of the Holy Ghost the promise of which he says was not to that Generation only but to their Children and to all that were afar off even as many as God should call John 3.5 For which reason our Saviour himself in his discourse with Nicodemus joyn'd together Regeneration by Water and by the Spirit and St. Paul speaking of the same Rite says that Christians were sav'd Tit. 3.5 6. according to the Mercy of God by the laver of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost which was shed upon them abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour implying that Baptism with Water was the way of entitling Christians to that Divine Gift and a means of conveying it to them And so likewise as to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper it is intended not only to exhibit to Christians the Elements of Bread and Wine in Memory of our Saviour's Passion 1 Cor. 10.16 but according to St. Paul's Expression the Cup of Blessing then blessed is the Communion of the Blood of Christ the Bread then broken is the Communion of the Body of Christ viz. a Communion or Participation of all the Benefits purchas'd by breaking the Body and shedding the Blood of Jesus of which a principal one is the Grace of the Divine Spirit to strengthen our Souls To conclude this particular The Gospel is styl'd Rom. 8.2 as I before observ'd the Law of the Spirit of Life 2 Cor. 3.6 the Ministers of the New Testament are said to be Ministers not of the Letter but of the Spirit When they perform the Offices of their Function one is said to Plant and another to Water 1 Cor. 3.5 6. whilst God giveth the increase viz. by the Operation of his Holy Spirit accompanying these external Ministrations and finally the Church is said to be the Temple of God forasmuch as the Spirit of God dwelleth amongst and in the Members of it all which passages do evidently import that the external Ministrations of Religion in the Christian Church are design'd as so many means of deriving the internal Grace of the good Spirit to those who faithfully make use of them And as to this I may presume that it will not be pretended that any other institution of Religion hath afforded the like means The Jews indeed abounded in external Ordinances which they were commanded to observe as the Prophets themselves intimate and the Apostles more fully assure us not as good in themselves but as suited to their temper and present circumstances which to free and generous Minds were indeed unpleasant and burdensome Nor were they attended with that Promise of internal Grace and Assistance which is annexed to the Christian Institutions For as the Author to the Hebrews at large Discourses Heb. 9.10 The Jewish service stood only in Meats and Drinks and divers Washings and carnal Ordinances impos'd on them until the time of Reformation all which were only Examples and Shadows of heavenly things ch 8.5.6.10 But Jesus hath obtain'd a more excellent Ministry by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which was establish'd upon better Promises viz. such as these that God would put his Laws into their Mind and write them in their Hearts and that he would be to them a God and they should be to him a People Every other Profession of Religion had likewise its external Rites and Ordinances belonging to it but I think I may fairly leave it to the Judgment of any serious Deist whether the Christian Institutions already mentioned are not much more rational decent easy and every way better adapted to the ends for which they are design'd than those of any other Religion and consequently whether in this instance also our Blessed Saviour hath not made the best Provision for us There remains yet one farther Difficulty which fallen Men lay under which I am to consider in the last place and to shew that our Lord hath in that instance likewise made due Provision for us viz. Fourthly An incapacity of removing those other evil and mischievous consequences to which their Sins had expos'd them and of obtaining for themselves that compleat Salvation which they stood in need of The remaining Consequences of our Apostacy from God which I took notice of in a former Lecture Lect. ij p. 21 22. are all the Calamities of this present life concluded at last with a Seperation of Soul and Body by Death and followed in a future state with all those Evils to which an immortal Soul seperated from its Body is there liable which are more than we are able to enumerate or so much as to conceive in the state in which we now are That Men were of themselves altogether unable either to avoid these Evils or to deliver themselves from them is evident No humane Wit or Power as Experience proves can ward off abundance of those Calamities to which all Men are obnoxious from the present state of things in this lower World nor can the wealth of the richest Man upon Earth purchase an Exemption from them The wise Man must die as certainly as the Fool the Prince as the Peasant and the Rich Man as the Beggar Nor have any of these the least power to dispose of their Souls when they are dismis'd into the World of Spirits Much less are they able to obtain for themselves that Salvation which will compleat their Happiness All that is done for us in this life even by our Blessed Saviour himself is but the beginning of our Salvation we are by him put into a sttate of Salvation and guided in the way which leads directly and surely to the completion of it But we cannot be said to be saved till every evil disposition be perfectly rooted out of our Souls till our Spirits are restor'd to their perfect Health and all the Habits of Piety and

the Ministration of Death and of Condemnation written and engraven in Stone the other the Ministration of Righteousness written in fleshly Tables of the Heart with the Spirit of the living God But 't is needless to recite more Passages the New Testament is full of them this being the great Promise of the Gospel declar'd throughout the Sacred Writings that the Divine Spirit should be imparted in a free and plentiful manner to those who should embrace the Christian Religion And this certainly is a sufficient Provision against the indisposition and inability of Men's Minds to comply with the Divine Will when reveal'd to them Rom. 7.12 14. The Law of God as St. Paul expresses it is Holy and the Commandment Holy Just and Good the Precepts of the Gospel are Spiritual and Divine whereas we are Carnal and sold under Sin But the Spirit of God can rescue us from this Slavery by enlightning our Minds fixing our Thoughts inclining our Hearts and spiritualizing our Affections making us not only to delight in the Law of God after the inner Man but to walk also not after the Flesh but after the Spirit The Example of our Lord was exact and altogether perfect and we must not hope in this life to attain to the same exactness and perfection But as it was upon account of its Perfection fit to be propos'd to our imitation so the same Spirit which dwelt in our Lord without measure can form us by degrees after his likeness and make us in our measure to resemble him both in our Tempers and Practices If it be objected that we want instances amongst the Professors of Christianity to verify this Doctrine that the Divine Spirit is thus imparted by the Gospel the Answer is easy The primitive times of Christianity abounded with instances of this kind Such were the Apostles who could every one of them have said as St. Paul did Be ye followers of me 1 Cor. 11.2 even as I also am of Christ. And such were abundance of the Members of the Christian Body which liv'd in and near those times Nay such thanks be to God even since the degeneracy of the Christian Church there have been and are to be met with in every Age though God knows too few to the great scandal of Unbelievers who are not willing to consider this matter thoroughly but are forward to catch at any seeming advantage for justifying their Insidelity In a word we might all of us be instances of this kind to the honour of our Lord and to the credit of our Holy Profession if we would diligently use the means appointed for the attaining this Divine Spirit and faithfully improve all his kindly motions upon our Minds which brings me to the next particular I nam'd viz. III. That our Blessed Saviour hath made farther Provision in this Case by settling such Institutions to be constantly observ'd and us'd in his Church as are both in their own Nature proper to excite us and are moreover design'd as Means of conveying the Grace of the Holy Spirit to us The excellency of the Precepts and Example of our Lord will not engage us to Obedience and Imitation unless we have them much in our view The powerful Motives of the Gospel will not affect us unless they be seriously and frequently consider'd by us And the Grace of the Divine Spirit it self though freely offered yet will prove ineffectual unless it be thankfully and carefully entertain'd and improv'd Now as the indisposition of Mens minds is great so experience teacheth that either the Business or the Pleasures of Life are moreover apt to employ or divert them to that degree that unless some farther course be taken to turn the Stream of their Thoughts the right way all that we have hitherto mention'd may be lost upon them Besides that the Spirit of God being invisible and his influences suitable to his Nature secret and indiscernible to sensual and worldly Men which is the reason our Saviour assigns why the World cannot receive him viz. John 14.17 because it seeth him not neither knoweth him it may therefore be very fit nay necessary for us who are us'd so much to converse with sensible Objects to have some stated external and sensible Means for the deriving his internal Grace to our Spirits Our blessed Saviour therefore knowing this to be our Case hath kindly and bountifully provided for us in this instance also To this purpose he hath not only caus'd his Word to be Written by those who Conversed with him and were Commission'd and Inspir'd by him which we may at all times have free recourse to our selves but he hath farthermore appointed certain Institutions to be constantly observ'd in his Church and settled an Order of Men as his Ministers to see them observ'd and to perform their part in the observance of them Thus he order'd the Apostles and their Successors in the work of the Ministry to receive into the number of his Disciples all such as should profess their Repentance and Faith in him by the external Rite of washing them with Water in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost thereby listing and enrolling them as Servants of the Blessed Trinity and engaging them by a solemn and publick Profession to declare themselves such He hath farther ordain'd That all his Disciples thus initiated shall not only perform acts of Christian Devotion by themselves but moreover that they shall frequently meet together to joyn in the more publick Worship of God through Jesus Christ and mutually to exhort and encourage each other particularly that on a certain Day every Week besides other occasional Assemblies they shall meet in most solemn manner to offer up the sacrifice of Praise and Prayer to the great Father of all in the Name of his only begotten Son and that at the same time his Word shall be Read and Preach'd amongst them in order to the improving their Understandings and the awakening their Consciences and the causing them to remember and consider the great Truths which they profess to believe He hath farther appointed That in these solemn Assemblies they shall frequently commemorate the great Sacrifice which he made of himself upon the Cross by partaking of that Entertainment which he hath assign'd them at his own Table thereby not only professing themselves all Members of the same Body but at the same time also representing to God to themselves and to one another the infinite love of God to Sinners through a Mediator and solemnly engaging themselves afresh to continue the Disciples of Jesus Christ Now these Institutions howsoever they may be despised by the prophane unthinking or supercilious sort of Infidels whosoever seriously considers them cannot but see that they have a natural and strong tendency to engage the Thoughts and awaken the Minds of those that use them and thereby to render both the Precepts and the Example and the Motives of the Gospel useful to the ends for which they