Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	live_v	young_a	youth_n	255	4	8.1569	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49258	A treatise of effectual calling and election In XVI. sermons, on 2 Peter 1.10. Wherein a Christian may discern, whether yet he be effectually called and elected. And what course he ought to take that he may attain the assurance thereof. Preached by that faithfull servant of Christ, Mr. Christopher Love, late minister of Laurence Jury, London.	Love, Christopher, 1618-1651.; Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.	1655 (1655)	Wing L3179; ESTC R217684	182,116	237

or embrace the call of Jesus Christ unto grace and glory And in answer to this I shal lay down onely four suggestions of the Devil wherewith he entangles a man that he should not yeild to the cal of Jesus Christ And as I lay them down I shal labour to take them a way As 1. The first temptation the Devil wil suggest is to you that are young men and to you he wil suggest that you are yet too young to embrace the call of Jesus Christ 't wil be time enough hereafter and you may do it soon enough hereafter you are two young now to be abridg'd of your pleasure and to mortifie your lusts and to betake your selves unto so serious a course as Christ cals you to and by this temptation the Devil prevails with young men more especially And I remember Austine saith that this temptation of the Devil made him keep off for seven years together from embracing the cal of Jesus Christ the Devil would stil tel him in his heart thou art too young to leave thy Drunkennesse and too young to leave thy Harlots til at last he cryed out How long shal I say it is too soon Why may I not repent to day This temptation I say it hath fastened upon many before you that they were too young to come in to Jesus Christ and to this end the Devil wil suggest to you that old and false Proverb A young Saint and an old Devil Whereas indeed if you are young Devils you wil be old Beelzebubs And therefore this being a suggestion prevailing wit● many hearts I shal lay down six considerations to take off this temptation that it may not prevail with you First If the Devil tempt you that you are too young to hearken to Christs cal consider That the Devil cannot give you a Lease of your lives if the Devil could give you a Lease of your lives and tell you you should live til old age you might then with more safety harken to his temptation but your lives are not at the Devils disposal God is the Author of your life the issues of life and death are in his hands you may die in youth uncalled you may be damned as wel as dead You may be as these men Job 36.14 that shall die in their youth and their lives shall be among the unclean And therefore though the Devil tempt you that you are too young seeing he canno● assure you of your lives you have no reason to hearken to his temptation Secondly Suppose the Devil could assure you you should live til old age yet take this consideration that in putting off your calling and the work of conversion from your youth this may so provoke God that he may harden your hearts in your old daies that you shal have no heart to think of and embrace the call and invitation of Jesus Christ Jer. 22.21 I spake to thee in thy prosperity but thou wouldst not hear and this hath been thy manner fr●m thy youth Thou wouldst not obey my voyce God spake but they would not hear and it was from their youth that they did thus therefore God would never speak more God hardened their hearts that they should never receive or embrace the cal of Jesus Christ So Isa 6.9 10. Seeing the Jewes from their youth were obstinate against the word of God Go saith God make their ears heavy and their hearts fat and their eyes blind that they should not be called and converted and I should save them Let this therefore be a second consideration that the putting off your cal til your old age may so provoke God as never to give you hearts to embrace his cal Thirdly Suppose al this that you could have a Lease of your lives and you could be assured that when you come to old age your hearts should not be hardened yet consider this that the more sinful and evil the daies of your youth have been the more disquietnesse of minde and horror of conscience will this breed in you when you are old though you shal be called and converted by Jesus Christ Job 13.24.25 26. Thou ●idest thy face thou holdest me as thy Enemy Thou dost drive me as a leaf to and fro and thou dost pursue me like dry stubb●e Now why doth Job complain thus Mark the next words For th●u writest bitter things against me and makest me to possesse the iniquities of my youth Job when he was a young man it seem● he was a wicked man and had many sins in his youth and this in his old age made him cry out and say that God took him for his Enemy and that God brake him like a leafe driven with the wind O beloved the sins of your youth though you should be Jobs converted yet they wil bring great disquietnesse and great horro● when you come to age the lusts of youth and the vanities of youth and the sensual pleasures of your youthful daies they wil lay a foundation of sorrow when you come to gray hairs to be neare your graves so Job 20.11 And therefore put the case you should repent and should be called when you are old you have no cause to put off the cal of Jesus Christ seeing sins of youth wil fill you with horror and disquietnesse of minde Hence it is that David after he was call'd by the power of the word cries out Psal 25. Lord remember not the sins of my youth that gravelled and gall'd his conscience the sins of his youth before his cal It is the speech of an Author that to look on the pleasurable vanities and contents of youth this wil become an heavy burden and bitter vexation to old age Beloved the more evil you run out into in your youthful daies the greater and deeper foundation of disquietnesse and sorrow you lay in your souls in your latter daies though you should be called by Jesus Christ 4. If the Devil suggest that you are too young to embrace the invitation of Christ consider That Jesus Christ wll take it most kindly at your hands if while you are young you wil give entertainment to his cal Jer. 2.2 I remember thee saith the Lord and the kindnesse of thy youth that thou wouldst follow me in the Wildernesse in a land that was not sown Mark how the Lord speaks and how kindly he takes it that they would in their youth follow God the Lord wil remember it and take it acceptable from you if while you are young while the Marrow is in your bones and strength in your joynts you wil embrace the waies of Jesus Christ It is an observation that some have concerning the Beloved Disciple John John 20. He is called the Disciple whom Christ loved and that leaned upon his brest of al the other eleven Disciples Christ did love John above the rest and Divines give this reason of it John was the youngest of al the Disciples he was converted and called by Christ when he was a young

Christ for his election and yet Christs sufferings were so full as if men were not bound to God for their election Thus they are pleased to expresse it And the reason why the Scripture speaks thus that we are onely chosen in Christ not for Christ is to give God the Father his due in electing men to life that God did it meerly of his own grace and therei● Gods love and favour is apparent to all the world that he did elect man without Christ as the motive of his election and yet Jesus Christ being come into the world he carries on our salvation and he is the cause of it though he was not the cause of Gods first thoughts in electing man to life Sixthly All men that are elected by God to life and salvation shall sooner or later before they die be called into a state of conversion and believing Rom. 8.30 whom he did predestinate them be also called and Acts 13.48 As many as were ordained to eternal life believed So that God the father in ordaining man to life hath ordained this also that before they die they shall be a converted and believing people and therefore men remaining unconverted uncalled unbelieving they are not the obiects of Gods election Seventhly that God in chusing or electing men to life doth let his election runne ordinarily unto the meanest and unto the worst sort of men in the world ●en that have least natural endowments least moral excellencies least worldly gallantry ordinarily election runs that way God hath chosen the poor things of this world and things dispised and things that are not hath be chosen 1 Cor. 1.27 Jam. 2.5 Hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith Ordinarily the Lord chuse●h poor and mean men that have no natural or moral excellencies Hence it was that when Christ left the learned Pharisees and Doctors among the Jewes the ignorant and poor people they flocked after Jesus Christ they looked after Jesus Christ when the rich and great men of the world had no sh●re in him Eightly that a man may be an elect childe of God and yet not expresse the fruit of his election in many years here in the world and this is a very comfortable point An instance you have of this in Paul It is observable of Paul the Scripture tells us he was a chosen vessel Acts 9.15 and yet Paul lived many years before the fruit of his election appeared in him Some Historians say Paul lived 37. the least say 30 years before the fruit of election appeared in him for he was converted the very year after Christs death and all the while before he did expresse fruit that was seemingly repugnant to an elect estate as if a man could not be an elect vessel that was so vile as he he was a blasphemer a persecuter injurious to the Church ●aled men to prison mad with rage against the professors of Jesus Christ Nay he was a man that had a hand in putting Steven the first Martyr to death So long he lived in a course of iniquity for 30. years together and yet this man was an elect vessel then So the Thiefe upon th● Crosse an elect childe of God yet did not expresse the fruit of his election in repentance and conversion until the last hour of his life So that I say a man may be an elect childe of God and yet not expresse the fruit of his election in his life for many years Ninthly that God for the great love he beares to his elect that are in the world lets Reprobates and wicked men enjoy many mercies and outward deliverances for their sakes Mark 13.19 20. There shall be tribulation saith Christ such as was not from the beginning of the world nor shall be the end thereof but for the elect sake those daies shall be shortned For his elect sake God did mitigate did shorten God did take away that trouble from them So Esa 1.9 Had not God left us a small remnant we had been like Sodome yea like unto Gomorrah Had not God left a handful of his elect and godly men amongst them all the rest had been destroyed So Esa 65.8 And the Lord said destroy not the people for a blessing is among them That is my people is among them and my elect is among them therefore destroy them not God did not destroy the Nation of the Jewes because God had his own people mixed among them Lo Job 22.30 And this conclusion administers matter of thankfulnesse to all men upon earth to make you blesse God that he keeps his people alive among you for it is for the elects sake you have all the outward blessings and mercies you do enjoy Tenthly and lastly take in this conclusion That this world shall continue no longer then till the number of Gods elect be accomplished when God hath accomplished and brought in to Christ the number of his elect the world shall not stand one minute longer after this work is done God doth but uphold the world till the full numbers of Jewes and Gentiles be come in If the number were filled Jesus Christ would surrender up the Kingdome to his Father The Heavens should gather together like a scrowle and the Elements should melt with fervent heat and this world should come to a dissolution It is the elect in the world that keep up the world that it doth not fall about our ears And thus having spent these 16 Sermons touching mans Effectual calling and eternal Election I have now brought all unto a conclusion And I earnestly intreat you let it be your work to put forth your diligence to make this sure to your own soules that you are effectually called and that you are eternally elected to obtain life and salvation by Jesus Christ FINIS The Table A WE must give diligence to gain Assurance of our calling p. 21. and why p. 22. seq Whether Assurance of our calling be attainable in this life p. 93. seq Two extreams about this p. 17. Hindrances to be removed in getting Assurance of our Calling p. 115. seq Means to be used to get Assurance p. 119. seq At what time God fils his people with most Assurance p. 128. seq Difference between Assurance and groundless presumption p. 121. seq Directio●n to such as have Assurance p. 144 How to use Assurance p. 145. seq How to preserve Assurance p. 152. seq what must be done ibid. what avoided p. 154. seq How to improve Assurance p. 157. seq How to recover Assurance when t is lost p. 166. seq What sins chiefly forfeit our Assurance p. 161 Comforts to those that want Assurance p. 180 We should use diligence to get Assurance of Election p. 165 whether it be attainable in this life p. 166. seq objections against it answered p. 167 Not to be gotten by ascending into Gods decree but descending into our own hearts p. ●73 Afflictions no argument that we are