Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	death_n	sin_n	sin_v	6,726	5	9.1768	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57960	Two discourses; viz. A discourse of truth. By the late Reverend Dr. Rust, Lord Bishop of Dromore in the Kingdom of Ireland. The way of happiness and salvation. By Joseph Glanvil, chaplain in ordinary to His Majesty	Rust, George, d. 1670.; Glanvill, Joseph, 1636-1680. Way of happiness and salvation rescued from vulgar errours.	1677 (1677)	Wing R2368; Wing Q836; ESTC R218562	58,324	199

is far more acceptable to God who delights not in the exercises of meer Nature Psal. 147. 10. but is well pleased with the expressions of Grace in those that fear him So that a sincere and lowly-minded Christian that talks of no immediate incomes or communications and perhaps durst not out of reverence trust to his own present conceptions in a work so solemn but useth the help of some pious form of words sutable to his defires and wants who is duly sensible of his sins and the necessity of overcoming them and is truly and earnestly desirous of the Divine aids in order to it such a one as this Prays by the Spirit and will be assisted by it while the other doth all by meer Nature and Imitation and shall not have those spiritual aids which he never heartily desires nor intends to use This I think I may truly and safely say But for the Controversie between Forms and Conceived Prayers which of them is absolutely best I determine nothing of it here And indeed I suppose that in their own nature they are alike indifferent and are more or less accepted as they partake more or less of the Spirit of Prayer viz. of Faith Humility and holy desire of the good things we pray for and a man may have these that prays by a Form and he may want them that takes the other way and thinks himself in a dispensation much above it So that my business is not to set up one of these ways of Devotion against the other but to shew that the heights and vehemencies of many warm people in their unpremeditated Prayers have nothing in them supernatural or Divine and consequently of themselves they are no marks of Godliness which I hope no one thinks I speak to discredit those pious ardours that are felt by really devout Souls when a vigorous sense of God and Divine things doth even sometimes transport them Far be it from me to design any thing so impious my aim is only to note that there are complexional heats raised many times by fancy and self-admiration that look like these in persons who really have little of God in them and we should take care that we are not deceived by them Thus far also those may go that shall not enter I add III. A man may endeavour somewhat and strive in some degree and yet his work may miscarry and himself with it 1. There is no doubt but that an evil man may be convinced of his sin and vileness and that even to anguish and torment The Gentiles saith the Apostle Rom. 2. 14. which have not the Law shew the works of the Law written in their Hearts their thoughts in the mean time accusing or excusing one another Conscience often stings and disquiets the vilest sinners and sometimes extorts from them lamentable confessions of their sins and earnest declamations against them They may weep bitterly at their remembrance and be under great heaviness and dejection upon their occasion They may speak vehemently against sin themselves and love to have others to handle it severely All this bad men may do upon the score of natural fear and self love and the apprehension of a fature judgment And now such convictions will naturally beget some endeavours A convinced understanding will have some influence upon the will and affections The mind in the unregenerate may lust against the Flesh as that doth against it So that 2. such a meer animal man may promise and purpose and endeavour in some pretty considerable measure but then he goes not on with full Resolution but wavers and stops and turns about again and lets the law of the members that of death and sin to prevail over him His endeavour is remiss and consequently ineffectual it makes no conquests and will not signifie He sins on though with some regret and his very unwillingness to sin while he commits it is so far from lessening that it aggravates his fault It argues that he sins against conscience and conviction and that sin is strong and reigns 'T is true indeed St. Paul Rom. 7. makes such a description seemingly of himself as one might think concluded him under this state he saith vers 8. That sin wrought in him all manner of concupiscence vers 9. That sin revived and he died vers 14. That he was carnal and again sold under sin vers 20. That sin dwelt in him and wrought that which he would not vers 23. That the Law of his Members led him into captivity to the law of Sin and vers 25. That he obeyed the law of sin If this be so and St. Paul a regenerate man was in this state it will follow that seeking and feeble endeavour that overcometh no difficulty may yet procure an entrance and he that is come hitherto viz. to endeavour is safe enough though he do not conquer This objection presseth not only against this head but against my whole Discourse and the Text it self Therefore to answer it I say That the St. Paul here is not to be understood of himself He describes the state of a convinced but unregenerate man though he speaks in the first person a Figure that was ordinary with this Apostle and frequent enough in common speech Thus we say I am thus and thus and did so and so when we are describing a state or actions in which perhaps we in person are not concerned In this sense the best Expositors understand these expressions and those excellent Divines of our own Bishop Taylor and Dr. Hammond and others have noted to us That this description is directly contrary to all the Characters of a regenerate man given elsewhere by this and the other Apostles As he is said to be dead to sin Rom. 6. 11. Free from sin and the servant of Righteousness Rom. 6. 18. That he walks not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. That the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made him free from the Law of sin and death Rom. 8. 2. That he overcometh the world Joh. 5. 4. He sinneth not 1 Joh. 3. 6. He hath crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts Gal. 5. 24. Which Characters of a truly regenerate person if they be compared with those above-cited out of Rom. 7. it will appear that they are as contrary as 't is possible to speak and by this 't is evident that they describe the two contrary states For can the regenerate be full of all manner of concupiscence and at the same time be crucified to the Flesh and its affections and lusts one in whom sin revives while he dies and yet one that is dead to sin carnal and yet not walking after the flesh but after the Spirit sold under sin and yet free from sin Having sin dwelling in him and a captive to sin and obeying the Law of sin and yet free from the law of sin and death how can these things consist To tell us 'T is so and

came into the world with Rays about its Head Religion I say is clear and plain and what is not so may concern the Theatre or the Schools may entertain mens Wits and serve the Interests of Disputes but 't is nothing to Religion 't is nothing to the Interest of mens Souls Religion was once a Mystery but the Mystery is revealed And those things that we yet count Mysteries are plainly enough discover'd as to their being such as we believe them though we cannot understand the manner how and 't is no part of Religion to enquire into that but rather It injoyns us meekly to acquiesce in the plain declarations of Faith without bold scrutiny into hidden things In short I say the difficulties of Religion are not in the Vnderstanding In prompto Facili est aeternitas said the Father The affairs of eternity depend on things Easy and Familiar And I premise this to prevent dangerous mistakes But thoug Religion be so facile and plain a thing to be understood yet the way to Heaven is no broad or easie Path The Gate is straight enough for all that and I now come to shew what are the real difficulties of Religion and whence they arise 1. One great Difficulty ariseth from the depravity of our Natures The Scripture intimates That we are conceived in sin Psalm 55. 5. Transgressours from the Womb. Isaiah 48. 8. And Children of Wrath. Ephes. 2. 3. And we find by Experience that we bring vile Inclinations into the Wold with us Some are naturally Cruel and Injurious Proud and Imperious Lustful and Revengful Others Covetous and Unjust Humoursome and Discontented Treacherous and False And there is scarce an instance of habitual vice or villany but some or other are addicted to it by their partieular Make and Natures I say their Natures for certainly it is not true what some affirm to serve their Opinions in contradiction to Experience That Vices are not in Mens natural Propensions but instill'd by corrupt Education evil Customs and Examples For we see that those whose Education hath been the same do yet differ extreamly from each other in their inclinations And some whose Breeding hath been careless and loose who have seen almost nothing else but Examples of Vice and been instructed in little besides the arts of Vanity and Pleasure I say there are such who notwithstanding these their unhappy circumstances discover none of those vile Inclinations and Propensions that are in others whose Education hath been very strict and advantageous This I think is enough to shew that many of our evil habits are from Nature and not from Custom only And yet I cannot say that Humane Nature is so debaucht that every Man is inclin'd to every Evil by it For there are those who by their Tempers are averse to some kind of Vices and naturally disposed to the contrary Vertues some by their Constitutions are inclined to hate Cruelty Covetousness Lying Impudence and Injustice and are by Temper Merciful Liberal Modest True and Just. There are kinds of Vices which our Natures almost universally rise agaisnt as many Bestialities and some horrid Cruelties and all men except Monsters in Humane form are disposed to some Vertues such as Love to Children and Kindness to Friends and Benefactors All this P must confess and say because Experien̄ce constrains me and I do not know why Systematick Notions should sway more than that But notwithstanding these last concessions 't is evident enough that our Natures are much vitiated and depraved and this makes our business in the way of Religion difficult For our work is to cleanse our Natures and to destroy those Evil Inclinations to crucifie the Old Man Rom. 6. 6. and to purge out the old Leven 1 Cor. 5. 7. This is Religion and the Way of Happiness which must needs be very difficult and uneasie For the vices of Inclination are very dear and grateful to us They are our Right Hands and our Right Eyes and esteemed as our Selves So that to cut off and pluck out these and to bid defiance to and wage War against our selves to destroy the first born of our Natures and to lop off our own Limbs This cannot but be very Irksom and Displeasant Imployment and this is one chief business and a considerable thing that makes Religion difficult II. Another Difficulty ariseth from the Influence of the Senses We are Creatures of sense and sensible things do most powerfully move us we are born Children and live at first the life of Beasts That Age receives deep Impressions and those are made by the senses whose Interest grows strong and establisht in us before we come to the use of Reason and after we have arrived to the exercise of that sensible objects still possess our Affections and sway our Wills and fill our Imaginations and influence our Vnderstandings so that we love and hate we desire and choose we fancy and we discourse according to those Impressions and hence it is that we are enamour'd of Trifles and fly from our Happiness and pu●sue Vexation and embrace Misery and imagine Perversely and reason Childishly for the influence of the Body and its Senses are the chief Fountains of Sin and Folly and Temptation Upon which accounts it was that the Platonical Philosophers declaim'd so earnestly against the Body and ascrib'd all Evils and Michief to it calling vice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corpore● Pestes material Evils and bodily Plagues And the Apostle that understood it better calls Sin by the name of Flesh Gal. 5. 17. Works of the Flesh Gal. 5. 19. Law of the Members Rom. 7. 23. and cries out upon the Body of this Death Rom 7. 24. And now this is our natural Condition a state subject to the prevalent influences of Sense and by this means to Sin and Temptation and 't is our Work in Religion to mortifie the Body Rom. 8. 13. and to cease from mkaing provision for the Flesh Rom. 13. 14. and from fulfilling the Lusts thereof Gal. 5. 14. To render our selves dead to the prevalent life of Sense and Sin Rom. 6. 8. and 11. 5. and to arise to a new Life Rom. 6. 4. The Life of Righteousness and Faith Hab. 2 4. A Life that hath other Principles and other Pleasures other Objects and other Ends and such as neither Eye hath seen nor Ear heard nor any of the Senses perceived Yea this is a Life that is exercised in contradiction to the Judgments of sense It s Joy is Tribulation Jam. 1. 2. It s Glory Reproaches 2 Pet. 4. 14. It s Height is Lowness Luke 14. 11. It s Greatness in being Meanest Matth. 20. 27. And its Riches in having Nothing 2 Cor. 6. 10. To such a Life as this Religion is to raise us and it must needs be difficult to make us who are so much Brutes to be so much Angels us who seem to live by nothing else but sense to live by nothing less This with a witness is an hard and uneasie Work

than these and Men offer themselves to Martyrdom for it This one would think should be the greatest height and an argument that all the difficulties of the way are overcome by one that is so resolved and that the Gate cannot but be opened to him And so no doubt it is when all things else are sutable But otherwise these consequences by no means follow St. Paul supposeth that a man may give his Body to be burned and not have Charity without which his Martyrdom will not profit 1 Cor. 13. For one to deny his Religion or what he believes to be certain and of greatest consequence is dishonourable and base and some out of principles of meer natural bravery will die rather than they will do it and yet upon other accounts be far enough from being heroically vertuous Besides the desire of the glory of Martyrdom and Saintship after it may in some be stronger than the terrours of Death and we see frequently that men will sacrifice their lives to their Honour and Reputation yea to the most contemptible shadows of it And there is no passion in us so weak no lust so impotent but hath in many instances prevail'd over the fear of dying Every Appetite hath had its Martyrs and all Religions theirs and though a man give his Body to be burnt for the best and have not Charity viz. Prevalent love to God and Men it will not signifie So that Martyrdom is no infallible mark nor will it avail any thing except sincere endeavour to overcome the greater difficulties have gone before it Thus far Faith may go without effect and yet one step further 5. Men may confidently rely upon Christ for Salvation and be firmly perswaded that he hath justified and will make them happy They may appropriate him to themselves and be pleased mightily in the opinion of his being theirs And yet notwithstanding this confidence may be in the number of those seekers that shall not enter For Christ is the Author of Eternal life only to those that obey him Heb. 5. 9. and to obey him is to strive vigorously and constantly to overcome all our sinful Inclinations and Habits And those that trust he will save them though they have never seriously set about this work deceive themselves by vain presumption and in effect say that he will dissolve or dispense with his Laws in their favour For he requires us to deny our selves Mar. 8. 34. To mortifie the body Rom 8. 13. To love enemies Mat. 5. 44. To be meek Mat. 11. 29. and patient Jam. 5. 8. and humble 1 Pet. 5. 7. and just Mat. 7. 12. and charitable Heb. 13. 16. and Holy as he that called us is holy 1 Pet. 1. 15. And he hath promised to save upon no other terms For all these are included in Faith when 't is taken in the justifying sense and this is the Way of Happiness and Salvation If we walk not in this but in the paths of our own choosing our relying upon Christ is a mockery and will deceive us We may indeed be confident and we ought that he will save all those that so believe as to obey him but may not trust that he will save us except we are some of those To rely upon Christ for our Salvation must follow our sincere and obedient striving and not go before it The mistake of this is exceeding dangerous and I doubt hath been fatal to many The sum is to rely on Christ without a resolute and steady endeavour to overcome every sin and temptation will gain us nothing in the end but shame and dissappointment For 't is not every one that faith unto him Lord Lord shall enter into Heaven but he that doth the will of his Father which is in Heaven Mat. 7.21 The foolish Virgins relyed upon him and expected he should open to them Lord Lord open to us Mat. 25. 11. but he kept them out and would not know them v. 11. Thus of the First imperfect Mark of Godliness A man may upon the account of meer Nature arrive to all the mentioned degrees of Faith and yet if his endeavours in the practice of Christian vertues be not suitable he will certainly come short at last II. A man may be very devout given much to Prayer and be very frequent and earnest in it He may have the gift of expressing himself fluently without the help of Form or Meditation yea and so intent and taken up in these exercises that he may as it were be ravish't out of himself by the fervours of his Spirit so that he really kindles very high Affections as well in others as in himself And yet if he rests in this and such like things as Religion and reckons that he is accepted of God for it if he allow himself in any unmortified lusts and thinks to compound for them by his Prayers he is an evil man notwithstanding and one of those seekers that shall not be able to enter The Pharisees we know were much given to Prayer They were long in those Devotions and very earnest in them often repeating the same expressions out of vehemence Ignatius Loyola founder of the Jesuites was a man almost ecstatical in his Prayers and Hacket the Blasphemer executed in the days of Queen Elizabeth was a person of Seraphical Devotion and would pray those that heard him even into transports Basilides the cruel Duke of Mos●o is said to have his hands almost continually lifted up in Prayer except when they were imployed in some barbarous and bloody Execution And we have known and felt one not much unlike him There are infinite instances in our days of this dangerous sort of evil men And we may learn hence that the greatest gift of Prayer and earnestness and frequency in it is no good mark of Godliness except it be attended with sincere constant and vertuous endeavours For some men have a natural spice of Devotion in a Religious Melancholy which is their temper and such have commonly strong Imaginations and zealous affections which when they are heated flame forth into great heights and expressions of Devotion The warm Fancy furnisheth words and matter readily and unexpectedly which many times begets in the man a conceit that he is inspired and that his Prayers are the breathings of the Holy Ghost or at least that he is extraordinarily assisted by it which belief kindles his affections yet more and he is carryed beyond himself even into the third Heavens and Suburbs of Glory as he fancies and so he makes no doubt but that he is a Saint of the first rank and special favourite of Heaven when all this while he may be really a bad man full of Envy and Malice Pride and Covetousness Scorn and ill Nature contempt of his Betters and disobedience to his Governours And while it is so notwithstanding those glorious things he is no further than the Pharisee Hearty and humble desire though imperfectly exprest and without this pomp and those wonders