Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	wonder_n	work_n	wrought_v	55	3	7.4432	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09970	The golden scepter held forth to the humble VVith the Churches dignitie by her marriage. And the Churches dutie in her carriage. In three treatises. The former delivered in sundry sermons in Cambridge, for the weekely fasts, 1625. The two latter in Lincolnes Inne. By the late learned and reverend divine, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in ordinary to His Maiesty, Mr. of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and somtime preacher at Lincolnes Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.; Glover, George, b. ca. 1618, engraver.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.; Ball, Thomas, 1589 or 90-1659.	1638 (1638)	STC 20227; ESTC S112474	187,142	312

goe and humble my selfe I will goe home to God and change my course and give up my selfe to him and serve him and this we shall finde in these examples mentioned before especially of the Prodigall Luk. 15. he came to this conclusion If I stay here I dye for hunger but in my fathers house there is bread enough here was hope that bred this resolution I will goe home and say to my father I have sinned against heaven and against thee c. here was that true humiliation we speake of So Manasses hee humbled himselfe greatly out of an hope of mercy for a man comes not to this active humiliation wherein he kindly humbleth himselfe unlesse hee hath hope of mercy and the beginning of faith is with a hope of mercy which sets a man a worke to goe to God and say Lord I have committed such and such sinnes but I will returne to them no more I am worthy of nothing Now there are foure severall compositions or foure paires of ingredients that have influence into this second kind of humiliation to cause us to humble our selves 1 Payr an hope of mercy as wel as a sence of misery that whereas before wee did looke upon God as a severe Judge we looke now on him as one willing to receive us both are requisite Sence of misery onely brings a man but to himselfe as the Prodigall first is said to come to himselfe but hope of mercy joyned with it drives a man home to God as it did also him without which sence of misery drives us from the LORD but hope of mercy being added to it causeth this active humiliation wee speake of whereby wee say I will goe and humble my selfe 2 Payre of ingredients are the sence of our own emptinesse together with an apprehension of that Alsufficiency that is in God which we also may see in the Prodigall when he said I shall starve and die if I stay here but in my fathers house is bread enough he lookt to that alsufficient fulnesse that was in God to supply his wants The creature whilst it findeth any thing in it selfe it will stand upon its owne bottome and not bee humbled but when it finds nothing in its selfe but emptinesse then it beginneth to seeke out for a bottome which it seeing to be in God alone it goes out to him for men will not be drawne off from their owne bottome till they see another bottome to stand upon 3 There must bee a sence of a mans owne sinfulnesse and the LORD JESUS his righteousnesse and so a light comes in that discovereth both thus when S. Paul was humbled there was a light shone about him which was an outward symbole of that new light which shone within him of Christ and his owne sinfulnesse A sence of the love of God and Christ joyned with the sence of a mans unkindnesse unto God whereby wee looke upon sinnes as injuries done to God and an unkindnesse shewne therein And now let us see the difference betwixt these two works or parts of humiliation that wee may further understand what it is to humble our selves And first they differ in the matter they are conversant about in that first a man is humbled properly but for the punishment a man indeed is humbled for sinne yet principally as it hath relation to punishment it is guilt works on him he is not humbled for sin as it is contrary to God and his holinesse but as contrary to himself and his own good and thus we are not humbled till we come to love God and to have a light discovering the holines and purity of his nature which one that is savingly humbled hath wrought in him They differ in their grounds and principles whence they arise The first ariseth but from selfe-love and is but a worke of nature though thus farre a worke of God to stirre up self-love by the sence of misery and to awaken it but so as any unreasonable creature if in danger useth to be sensible of it and what wonder then is it for a man when hee begins to have some sence of hel and death let into his conscience to be wounded and apprehensive of it but the other ariseth from the love of God kindled in the heart by hope of grace and mercy They differ in the instrumental causes that work them the one is wrought by the spirit of bondage by an enlightning meerly to see his bondage and the soule is as one that is in bondage fearing God as a master and he hath no further light than thus to see God as a Judge but this other is wrought by the spirit of adoption making the Gospell also effectuall discovering God as a father They differ in their effects as The one driveth a man from GOD but this latter causeth a man to goe to GOD and to seeke Christ it workes that affection to Christ that the Church in the Canticles had to him who would not give over seeking him till she had found him whom her soule did love Though there bee twenty obstacles in the way yet the soule hath no rest as a stone hath no rest till it bee in its owne center so nor this soule thus humbled but in God and therfore gives not over seeking him though it hath never so many denyalls The first breeds death an acedia a deadnesse and listlesnesse it makes a man as a log that moves not to God in prayer So it wrought in Nabal and Achitophel it breeds such discouragement as often ends in death Of worldly sorrow and such is all sorrow whereof God is not the end commeth death but when it is right and true and kindly sorrow for sinne it doth that which an affection should doe it quickneth him to doe that which he ought to do so feare when it is right worketh and so all other affections which were put into the soule for that end that it might bee stirred up by them to that which it should doe for GOD and its owne good and therefore this affection of sorrow for sinne quickens a man to seeke out to God when it is right The first breeds a fiercenesse and turbulency in a mans spirit as we see often in men whose consciences are awakned to see their sinnes they are fiercer then they were before for guilt of sin vexeth their spirits and where there is no sence of mercy from God there is none to men but hee that is broken for sinne spends his anger upon himselfe frets chiefly for his owne vilenesse and unworthinesse and the Peace of God which his heart hath a sence of makes his spirit gentle and peaceable and easie to be entreated and perswaded bring him Scripture and a child may lead him and perswade him The rough wayes are made smooth the rough and froward dispositions of the heart and every Mountaine-like affection cast downe as it is said they were by Saint

not the greatest joy that discovers it selfe in laughter that is not the greatest sorrow which workes the most violent commotion in the heart there is a sad silent quiet sorrow that sinketh deeper and wets more slowly and sokes into the heart and makes the heart more fruitful in the issue which ariseth out of a more spirituall conviction of Judgement of the evill of sin though lesse passion accompanies it yet a stronger and deeper affection of sorrow is wrought I call it deeper because it is more constant and lasting more to purpose the one being as a land-floud the other as a spring Put the case such a violent sorrow should bee greater yet it is not alwayes alike necessary neither on Gods part nor mans Not on mans part as some disease doth not need so sharpe and quick a medicine as an other as some mens flesh is harder to heale than others so some mens hearts have more stubbornnes in them than others some have made themselves children of the Divell by their wicked courses worse then they were at first others in comparison are but as the children of Adam still as they were borne and therefore the same work may be wrought in them with much lesse adoe On Gods part it is not alwayes so necessary but is proportioned to Gods ends and God differs and is various in his ends concerning men He meanes to bestow a greater measure of grace upon one then upon an other and where he meanes to set a greater building there he digges a lower foundation hee meanes to use some as a meanes to comfort others and therefore letteth them see and feele more the bitternesse of sinne that they may be able to comfort others with the same comfort wherwith they have beene comforted Hee differs in the meanes to attaine his ends if hee meanes to bring them to the same measure of grace yet hee will not goe alwayes the same way to worke as hee often doth that without affliction which sometimes hee doth with it as a man is brought to the same Haven divers wayes some in a calme is tided in others are driven in with a storme but it is no matter how they come so they come in the promise is made to those that come A third consideration is that it is not for want of this greatnesse of humiliation that divers have not so violent a sorrow but from some circumstance in the worke it selfe as First because the light of comfort comes in sooner to some than to others they have the salve presently after the wound is given God having broken the heart bindeth it up presently againe a man may have as deepe a wound which a mitigated medicine comming neare to the bottome of the disease and soone applyed may sooner heale than another lesse deepe to which the remedie is not applyed a long time after which therefore askes longer So also it is in joy suddainnesse increaseth it for a fit for example put case a man is condemned for high treason and brought to the blocke and verily expects death and his pardon on the suddaine comes there is such a great sensible change wrought in him and our natures are sensible of great changes and therefore how excessively doth hee rejoyce but take one who is guilty of the same fault who knows that if he have not his pardon hee should lose his life but hath his pardon presently after the sentence passed hee will prize his pardon as much as the other though happily hee is not so turbulently affected as the other It falls out thus by reason of the ignorance some have lived in before who therefore are enlightened to know their estates all on the suddaine whereas an other hath beene brought up in knowledge and the knowledg of his misery being let in by degrees then the case doth also differ as betweene two men who were to goe through a wood whereof one is set upon by theeves not suspecting any and is put into a feare of his life and knowes not how to escape but one comes on the suddaine and rescues him and gives him his life but another is warned before knowes hee must goe through such a passage and that unlesse hee hath a strong guard to goe along with him hee shall certainely perish this man apprehends the danger as great as the other and the benefit as great and the love of him that should goe with him as great onely his passion either of feare or joy is not so violent as the others though hee truly rejoyceth in the deliverance as much as the other and thinkes himselfe as much bound to the man that delivered him I have spoken these things because some are scrupulous in the point and thinke they may not safely apply the Promise because they have not had that measure of sorrow that others have had But let no man suffer his assurance to hee weakned for want of this for a man may have as high an esteeme of CHRIST and bee as throughly convinced of sinne though hee want that violent worke which GOD workes in some even a great sence of his wrath and letting them lie there and then speakes peace so as these are wrought by distinct acts and causes in a great distance one from the other so that as their sorrow was evident so their joy was evident in another he workes so that as soone as hee sees sinne hee sees God also pardoning And in those that have that violent shyning of affection in their first Humiliation looke how much of it is violent will vanish and what is substantiall will hold so that even they in the end come to this solid conviction of Judgement at last which onely is constant and abideth with them And therefore let not thy assurance bee weakend for the want of this for faith unites to Christ and establisheth us in well doing But you will say is it not good to get that sensible stirring sence and sight of sinne I answer yes for to that end GOD leades through crosses and suffers thee to fall into sinnes that thou mayest see the vanity of the creature and the sinfulnesse of thy nature that when thou commest to heaven thou mayest say by thine own experience it was not by my owne righteousnesse that I came hither And therefore though it be good to get it yet let GOD goe his owne way and use his owne manner of working whether by Legal terror or otherwise what he sees good for thee he will do to humble thee but doe thou use meanes to understand the Law thy owne heart and actions and as thou art fallen into new sinnes labour to see what a case thou shouldest be in if Christ had not delivered thee But let not thy assurance bee weakened for you must know there are but two maine ends of humiliation which if they bee attained in thee thou needest not call in question thy estate Now first

difficulty of it ●heir readinesse to offer sacrifice was alwayes acknowledged by God when their backwardnesse to this was still complained of Again we see it in experience Let a man who hath an evill and a wicked heart let him bee broken in a Morter lay affliction on affliction let him bee brought to deaths doore yet al this will not change him nay let God worke miracles not onely in his sight but upon him yet all is not enough to turne him As wee see in Ieroboam there was a miracle wrought upon him though he had his hand withered up and was by the Prophet reproved and his Kingdome was threatned to bee taken away from him yet this would not worke upon him he would not turne from his evil wayes he found such sweetnesse in that evill way whereby he kept his Kingdome and without which he thought he could not hold it if he left that So all the great wonders in Egypt would not soften Pharaoh his heart nor make him let the children of Israel goe because he thought it was for his profit to keepe them still The grounds of it are Because these evill wayes are so pleasant to us so suitable to all men according as mens severall fancies do pitch Now it is a rule in morality that those things are most difficult about which joyes and griefes are conversant and therfore the chief imployment and end and use of vertue is to order them and guide them a right Because they are rooted in nature and are agreeable to a mans naturall disposition and it is hard to stop the current of nature which way soever it takes especially running downe the hill And then besides education addes to nature and custome as another nature addeth strength to sinne and Sathan addes to all these For when lusts lie as sparkes under embers hee blowes them up And to all these ad the joyning of wicked men among whom we live and who live with us in the same courses Therefore in Ephes. 2. The course of the world and the Prince that rules in the children of disobedience are made there strong and potent and efficacious workers in us there is nothing so weake as water yet let much water be joyned together and nothing is stronger so though sin were weake of it selfe as yet it is not yet when multitudes joyne custome Sathan c. wee are carried with the streame and croud Because every evill way in us is backt by an inward Law of the members in us that makes it also hard Rom. 7. 23. where the Apostle considering of the reason why sinne should so prevaile and leade him captive gives this I see sayes he another Law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde c. this is given as the reason why hee cannot do the good hee would and why he doth the sonne he hates And the reason why he had so much to do with it was because it was a law and it is called a law the law of sinne because it commands powerfully as a law A law implies a strong commanding inclination Lawes extort obedience and will have it done they come with authority and will not be denyed and so doth sin and therefore it is hard to resist it and forbids good to be done and a man cannot doe it So 2 Pet. 2. 14. We have it expressed eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sinne because as a law it is armed with punishments and rewards this being the definition of the law Praeceptum minus commixtum a naked Praeceptum is not called a law because it barely teacheth but when threatnings are joyned with it then it is called a law and such lawes are our lusts if we do resist them they threaten with some evill as when Ahab would have Naboths Vineyard his lust being not answered casts him upon his sicke bed as if it meant to be revenged on him till it were satisfied So did Aman his lust also And as it threatneth and punisheth so it promiseth rewards profit and pleasure if we will obey it Both which argue the difficulty to resist it As also that it is called the law of the members argues as much for it is so called First because it inclines not in a morall manner onely as when a man is perswaded by reason or motives to doe any thing that is evill but because it inclines us Physically as nature enclines us to meate and drinke A law so radicated in the soule if it inclines by way of nature as plummets hang upon wheeles and makes them goe as we say whether they will or no and reason may be put off and denyed but not a strong inclination of nature that will not be got off so easily Because it discovers it selfe though it be seated in the whole man and is most operative in the sensuall part as on the contrary the law of the minde is most exercised in the superior part though it sanctifies the whole man The meaning is this it appeares in the faculties of the minde when they are set about any action that is good and in the relation is called the law of the members because it is discerned in the use of the members as a man that hath the palsie it lyes undiscerned in the hand but when he comes to use it he findes it so the gout or sorenesse or lamenesse in the leg though it be there yet it is most discerned when a man goes to walke such a lamenesse or difficulty in our faculties appeares when we goe about any thing that is good In the last place this law of the members is said to rebell against the law of the mind and if we will consider its forces in this warre we shall find it difficult to resist and turne from them For first there is a strong faction of evill many members many lusts legions of lusts warring so the word implyes it is not a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a single fight but of many there is never a good motion comes into the soule but they give their suffrage against it their voice against whatsoever is good no good intention but they are ready to gainesay it nor doe they meerely say it and tell us they dislike it but they will reason it out with many arguments and they are not able onely to give a voyce against what is good but likewise to doe somthing what is active They dampe and clogge and prohibite the spirit when it is about any good and therefore it is called flesh because the nature of it is to dampe the spirit as in the doings and proceedings of men there often comes a prohibition from Chauncery to stay the proceedings at the Common law so from the law of the members comes a prohibition often hindring us when we would pray and conferre c. As it is our part in warre to stop passages to take up the bridges to hinder the enemy from going whither they would so doe