Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	see_v	sin_n	soul_n	9,644	5	5.1376	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56628	Christs counsel to his church in two sermons preached at the two last fasts : one April xi. MDCLXXX, the other December xxi. MDCLXXX / by Symon Patrick ...	Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.	1681 (1681)	Wing P770; ESTC R22417	50,470	126

is uneasie and rugged putting him to a great deal of pain and costing him may a fall hath the Pit of Hell a bottomless Pit of destruction which burns with Fire and Brimstone set evidently before his eyes Nay is manifestly destroying his Body his Estate his Reputation and which is more is link'd in a wicked society with those that by their riot and luxury prophaneness and irreligion neglect of all things but their sottish pleasures are bringing the Countrey wherein they live to utter ruine putting as I may say an ancient Kingdom and famous Church into most lamentable confusion in the midst of which they are all like to perish It is a foolish thing for any of them to imagine they can avoid it because perhaps they sometimes dread it and shiver at the thoughts of it because they cry to Heaven when they see the danger to deliver them from it or at every step suppose fall down on their faces and humble themselves beseeching God to rescue them from this ruine nay put on Sackcloth though alas who is there now that is so religious and roll themselves in dust and ashes If when they get up again they still go on and will not forsake their evil way Heaven it self cannot preserve them from destruction having appointed that fearful end for such obstinate refractory Sinners who will not be saved unless he make the Fire not to burn and the Sea not to drown that is alter the very nature of things for the sake of those that deserve so ill of him Hoping therefore that every one of you being convinced of this the representation of the danger of impenitency will at least move you to design and begin a change of your lives I shall treat of that at this time which is the second part of my Text wherein our Blessed Lord threatens that unless the Church of Pergamus repented he would come quickly to her and fight against them with the sword of his mouth Which words contain in them these IV. Considerations to stir us up to repentance I. First That if men do not amend their lives especially after many warnings clear convictions and a change wrought in their minds and judgments it turns the greatest kindness of God into anger and displeasure II. That it wearies the very patience and long-suffering of God to which we are more indebted than we imagine and should it forsake us our condition is left very woful III. To such persons the most gracious God becomes an enemy IV. And accordingly they must expect nothing but the execution of all his threatnings against them How all these arise out of the words will appear in the handling of them I. First I say That not to amend after God hath often called and perswaded us to it nay convinced us of the necessity of it turns his greatest kindness into anger and displeasure If there be no change wrought in your lives you shall find a sad change in his proceedings and the methods of his Providence towards you This I gather from that Phrase I will come unto thee Come unto thee What better News can there be than this would one think if he read no further What more welcome Guest can we have than God himself who is wont in these terms to express his tender love and kindness towards Sinners This is the thing that we pray for and entreat That the Lord would be pleased to be so gracious as to come to our souls And it is very true this is the first signification of the Phrase which declares his Grace and favour whereby he is moved to begin a kind Treaty with us suing unto us and beseeching us that he may have our affections and that we will not dispose of them to any one else but him that loves us with so much tenderness But then behold what obstinate impenitency doth It puts a stop to these proceedings and turns the course of Divine Providence another way It changes all this love and good will into anger displeasure and jealousie His coming now signifies quite another thing His appearing is dreadful His presence is frightful and astonishing for He comes on another business not to bless but to curse not to bestow favours but to punish and execute vengeance There is a double coming of God our Saviour One with Offers and Tenders of Mercy the other with a Rod in his hand to chastise our contempt and abuse of the mercy offered They that will not receive him in the former way shall be forced to receive him in the latter Though they may refuse and reject his Grace they shall not be able to defend themselves from the effects of his heavy displeasure The very name of our Blessed Saviour if you observe it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that cometh xi Matt. 3. And what did he come for He himself tells you what his first business was x. John 10. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly But when as he complains men would not come unto him that they might have life v. John 40. when He came unto his own and his own received him not i. John 11. Then you hear of another sadder coming of his i. Revel 7. Behold he cometh with Clouds and every eye shall see him even they that shut their eyes before and in their blind rage pierced him and wounded him to death as a Malefactor and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him His coming at the first is to invite us to come unto him xi Matth. 28. where you may read how he expects that all those Souls which groan under their sins and complain of the heavy load of them all those who sigh that they have committed them should be weary of them and throw off the burthen take another course and come to submit themselves to the yoke of his holy Laws But if they will not be perswaded to this all their entreaties will never perswade him to save them His heart will be turned against them and He would have us mark how much he is displeased at them what a change and wonderful alteration there is in his design upon them For Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him Jude 14 15. And thus the word visit in Scripture is differently used Sometimes for Gods bringing his blessings to those to whom he is said to come and sometimes for his laying his stripes on the back of those Fools that were insensible of his love I need not name the places some of which I alledged the last Day of Fasting and Prayer And I make mention of all this only to this purpose That you may see what the effect of impenitency is If you will not

they innocent to have it thoroughly examined their strong Confederacies and stedfast Combinations their many Oaths of secrecy and obstinate resolution to stick to the Design and to each other it is a wonder that it hath not been effected and that sudden destruction hath not come upon us as pain upon a Woman in travail But let us not content our selves merely with admiration of his amazing Providence over us which hath prolonged a while we know not for how long or short a time the season of Grace unto us let us not presume to abuse this patience for so we are to esteem it not a perfect deliverance nor be so foolish as to imagine that it will last always but think with our selves rather that the Lord of the Vineyard may it is possible have resolved after this year or in some short space after this new Husbandry of his and such extraordinary pains and care to save us that we shall be cut down indeed if we will not bring forth fruit worthy of the Gospel And therefore looking upon this as the day wherein you may know and improve the things belonging to your peace be zealous as our Lord exhorts and repent be quick and speedy active and diligent in this weighty business now in this your day lest you never have such an opportunity again but miserably perish in your sins Consider I beseech you do you not pray to God continually if you have any sense of Religion that He would quickly dissipate all our fears by laying more and more open and then utterly defeating all the wicked contrivances of our enemies against us Do you not think that He stays very long before He bring to light the very bottom of the Plot and make their Treasons so visible to all the World that none may be able to gainsay it Do you not think there is reason to tremble when you seriously reflect upon it to see in what a lamentable unsettled and naked condition we are in danger to be over-run with Foreign Enemies should they make an attempt upon us Are you not all therefore ready to say Lord make hast to help us make no tarrying O our God! O my Beloved say the same to your selves for there is the stop Labour and prevail with your own Souls that they would make haste that they would make no tarrying but instantly turn to God in works meet for repentance that so both his present Judgments may be removed and worse prevented I know nothing that can hinder the entertainment of this reasonable motion unless it be this That men see there is not always such a speedy course taken with Sinners and therefore they presume God will still bear with them For they themselves have lived and sinned many years and have escaped many dangers and though they have been affrighted sometimes with such Sermons as this yet they were worse scared than hurt Still all things are as they were they are very well and prosperous they have all that their hearts desire and therefore there hearts grow hard and they suppose they are in no sudden danger In Answer to this I shall say nothing but what is contained in the Third Consideration here in my Text which is III. That all impenitent persons as they oppose God so they have God for their Enemy and He will set himself in opposition to them For He tells this Church That if they will not repent He will fight against them Which denotes that He would become their Adversary and look upon them as Rebels nay as irreconcileable Enemies who will never submit to His Divine Government which is concerned therefore to destroy them So that these impenitent Wretches who go on resolvedly in their sins notwithstanding all that He can do to reclaim them gain but little by the patience and lenity of God towards them and it is but a small comfort that He doth not presently strike them seeing it is certain as the Psalmist expresses it that He is bending his Bow whetting his Sword and preparing for them the instruments of death Of this I need not say much nor will the time permit it It is sufficient to know That sometimes the deferring of Execution is a piece of hostility and makes the blow heavier when it comes They are but treasuring and heaping up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath as the Apostle speaks ii Rom. 4 5. who will not be led by the goodness of God no nor His Judgments to repentance but proceed to adde sin to sin till a most terrible vengeance break out upon them Which may be deferred perhaps from time to time but with no other design than a great Prince hath who is so powerful that He can have the better of his Enemies when he will and therefore forbears to fall upon them not because he means to spare them but only because he waits for an opportunity when he may do the more terrible execution and take the severest revenge on those whom he intends to ruine What do sinful men mean then to provoke the Lord to jealousie Are they stronger than He Will you not fear Him because He doth not instantly smite Shall your hearts be set in you to do evil because Judgment is not always speedily executed against an evil work Will you dare to offend Him as if He could not or presume upon Him as if He would not punish Let me tell you He is the more to be feared and dreaded if you understood your selves for this forbearance He delays to strike not because He cannot but because He can when He pleases not because He will not but because He will do it at such a time when it will most serve the Wisdom of His Providence We are ignorant of all the reasons why God doth not do with all as He doth with some We know not for what causes they are that He doth not come so quickly to reckon with one wicked man as with another It is enough to affright us out of our wicked ways to know that He looks upon such persons as His Enemies and that He will take the fittest season to come and wound the head of his Enemies the scalp of him that goeth on still in his trespasses For that is the last Consideration IV. That such persons as will not repent being so often admonished so patiently born withal so lovingly chastised and corrected must expect nothing but the execution of all our Lords threatnings against obstinate Sinners So He saith I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth For the understanding of which Phrase you must look back to the first Chapter of this Book vers 16. where Christ is represented as having a sharp sword and that two-edged going out of his mouth The mouth it not the proper place for a sword to be in which uses to be girded to the thigh or when it is unsheathed to be taken into the hand By this Phrase therefore is described the gracious