Selected quad for the lemma: life_n
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A26805
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Sermons upon death and eternal judgment by William Bates.
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Bates, William, 1625-1699.
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1683
(1683)
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Wing B1123; ESTC R29022
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96,846
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349
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judged according to his Works the tenor of good Works and the desert of bad The Apostle assures us That whatsoever a Man sows that shall he reap He that soweth to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting The Harvest shall be according to the Seed both in kind and measure 1. Those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Imortality shall obtain eternal Life Indeed eternal Life is the Gift of infinite bounty nay of pure Mercy and Mercy excludes Merit 'T is said of the Blessed Martyrs who contended for the Truth and Purity of the Gospel to the Death that their Robes were wash'd white in the Blood of the Lamb not in their own Blood Their right to Heaven was from the application of his Merits to them But the Reward is dispens'd from God according to the Evangelical Law not only as a Magnificent Prince but as a Righteous Judge All those whom the Gospel ordains to Eternal Life shall infallibly obtain it and none that the Gospel excludes Those who were sensible of their Sins and cordially forsaking them did humbly and entirely depend upon the Grace of God through the Blessed Reconciler and Saviour shall be justified and glorified Then the Judg will discern between unfeigned Faith and vain Presumption and will justify the Faith of the Saints by the genuine Fruits of it the Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety of their Lives and a victorious perseverance in their Duty notwithstanding all the pleasing Temptations or Tortures to withdraw them from it Thus the Apostle expresses his humble confidence I have fought the good Fight I have finish'd my Course henceforth there is laid up for me the Crown of Righteousness which God the Righteous Judg will give me at that day and not only to me but to all that love his appearance We read in the Description of the Last Judgment That the Book of Life was opened the Names of all that were written in Heaven shall then be declared that it may appear they are saved by Grace For it was his most free pleasure to select some from the common Mass of Perdition who were naturally as guilty and corrupted as others and to predestinate them to Eternal Glory and effectual persevering Grace to prepare them for it The Saints are created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them And the New Creation is as undeserved and entire an Effect of God's Love as the first was But 't is said That every Man was judged according to his Works For Eternal Election does not entitle a Person immediately to Heaven but according to the order establish'd in the Gospel Thus the King at the last Day speaks to the Elect Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the World for I was hungry and ye fed me naked and ye clothed me And according as the Saints have excell'd in Fidelity and Zeal in God's Service they shall be rewarded with a more excellent Glory The Stars of Paradise are of a different brightness and greatness as the Stars of the Firmament Indeed all are perfectly happy without jealousie that any is equal or superior to them in that Kingdom But God will crown his own Graces as the Saints have improved them Our Saviour valued the Widows two Mites as transcending all the magnificent Gifts of others because of the degrees of Love in the giver There was a richer Mine of affection in her Heart Gold of a more noble Vein more pure and precious than all their Riches This was of greater price in God's account who weighs the Spirits in his Ballance God will accept and reward according to what a Man has and not according to what he has not He that improves but two Talents with his best skill and diligence shall have a greater Reward than another that had ten Talents and was remiss and less careful to employ them for his Masters profit The Rule will be exactly observed He that sows bountifully shall reap bountifully and he that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly And if God will be thus impartial in rewarding the Saints much more in punishing the Wicked For the renumeration of our Duty is the effect of his most free Favour but the recompences of Sin are due and decreed by Justice in Number Weight and Measure The severity of the sence will be in proportion as Mens Sins have been more numerous and heinous Altho ' all the Damned shall be equally miserable in dispair all broken on an endless Wheel yet the degrees of their Torment are different Sins of Ignorance are extenuated in comparison of Rebellious Sins against knowledge The first are like a Servant's dashing against his Master in the dark the other like the insolent striking of him in the light And as they incur greater Guilt will expose to greater Punishment Accordingly our Saviour predicts that the Servant which knew his Lord's Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his Will shall be beaten with many stripes But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes Unactive Knowledge is worse than Igâ—orance For this reason the case of Heathens wil be more tolerable than of the Jews for tho' some natural Principles were strong and quick in their minds that made them sensible of their duty and danger yet they were not so clear and perfect as the Law delivered by Moses Those Sins that were infirmities in a Pagan were presumptuous in a Jew And the case of the Jews will be more tolerable than of disobedient Christians who enjoy the Gospel less charged with Ceremonies and more abundant in Grace than the Mosaical Dispensation Those that have set before them the Life of Christ the Model of all Perfection that are excited by such lowd Calls to flee from the Wrath to come and yet are deaf and regardless to the Commands nay to the melting Invitations and precious Promises of the Gospel shall have a more intolerable Judgment than the most guilty Sinners even the Sodomites and Sidonians that were strangers to it The precious Blood of the Son of God despised induces a Crimson Guilt And as Sins are committed with pride and pleasure with eager appetite and obstinacy the revenge of Justice will be more heavy upon Persons More particularly Sins of consequence whereby others are drawn to Sin will heighten the Guilt and the retribution of Justice will be to every Man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings This will principally concern Superiours in eminency of place whose dignity has always a concomitant proportion of Duty Their vicious Actions are Examples and their Examples more powerful Rules than their Laws and give countenance to others to sin licentiously They sin
most zealous and active to accomplish his pleasure But the Son is God not by Analogy and Deputation as Princes are nor with a limitation and diminution as Moses was made a God to Pharaoh but absolutely and really as subsisting in the Divine Nature And consequently he is the Supreme King and to him the Ensigns of Majesty divinely Royal are ascribed But unto the Son he saith Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever a Scepter of Righteousness is the Scepter of thy Kingdom Whereas the Scepters of Earthly Kings are often unrighteously manag'd and their Thrones ruinously fall There is a further Confirmation from his Works that are divinely great and glorious wherein no Creature has any share of Efficiency The making of the World is ascrib'd to him Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the Foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thy Hands The Divine Attributes the peculiar Character of the Deity belong to him Eternity and Immutability The most solid parts of the visible Creation shall perish and be changed but thou remainest and art the same His Life is an intire uniform unchangable Perfection His Glory and Felicity are in the same invariable Tenor for ever possest by him Lastly The Son sits in that quality at the right Hand of the Father in the Society of Empire as equal to him in Power and Honour commanding all in the visible and invisible World most easily and irresistibly tho' gradually subduing his Enemies to a consummate Victory But the Angels so numerous and powerful are ministring Spirits employed for the defence and benefit of the Church From this summary account we may understand how firmly the Divinity of Christ is establish'd in the Scripture For those Passages of the Prophets that speak of the God of Israel as Creator and the sole object of Adoration are directly referr'd to Jesus Christ. And the Name Jehovah the Majesty of which consists in its being incommunicable is attributed to him This is the Foundation upon which that whole Fabrick of the Gospel is built The Office of Mediator in the prophetical priestly and regal administration is necessarily join'd with the Divinity of his Person And the revelation of it from Heaven is as clear as the Sun is visible in the Firmament All the Difficulties in our conceiving this great Mystery of Godliness are but like the shadows that attend the Light And all the heretial subtilties to pervert the sence of such plain and positive Texts are as impertinent as impious This being establish'd the Apople proceeds to give an account of the Son of God's assuming the Humane Nature and submitting to Sufferings and Death This is a Divine Secret so miraculously strange that the Contrivance was without the Compass of the Angelical Minds and the discovery of it is only by supernatural Revelation but when revealed the account of it is so open and consentaneous to reason as being the most congruous Means for the illustration of God's Glory in the saving lost Men that the humane Mind if not deeply corrupted with the tincture of Prejudice must consent to it as worthy of all acceptation The substance of his reasoning is this That it was the product of the most wise merciful and righteous Counsel of God that the Saviour of Men should have communion with them in their Nature that he might have a right to redeem them by his Alliance and Propinquity for he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all one and that he should undergo sufferings even to death for the price of their Redemption and the remedy of their Infirmities Forasmuch as the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he also likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil And deliver them who through fear of Death were all their Lives subject to Bondage The Devil is said to have the Power of Death 1. Because he induces men to commit sin that meritoriously renders them liable to Death He tempted the first Man cum effectu and was a Murderer from the beginning 2. In that he inspires them with furious thoughts and inflames their Passions from whence proceed Strifes and Wars that efficiently cause Death He is supreme in all the Arts of Mischief and always intent upon Evil 'T is by his instigation that Men become like raging Beasts animated and bent on mutual slaughter 3. Because he is many times the Executioner of God's Wrath and inflicts Death upon rebellious and incorrigible Sinners 'T is recorded by the Psalmist That God cast upon the Egyptians the fierceness of his anger wrath indignation and trouble by sending evil Angels those Princes of the Air the Instruments of the Thunder and fiery storm of Hail that destroyed them 4. Because he makes Death more formidable to sinners by heightning their guilty Fears of God's TribunaI The false Spirit in tempting Men to sin puts on blandishments but afterward he is a severe accuser of them to God and to themselves Lastly This Title may signify his tormenting sinners with unrelenting cruelty in Hell which is the second Death Now these Evils being the penal Consequence of sin our Saviour by his Death appeas'd the injur'd Justice of God and thereby destroyed the cruel tyranny of the Devil As the Lamb of God in the Notion of a Sacrifice he overcomes our spiritual Enemies Sin Satan and Death lie vanquisht at the foot of his Cross. Besides our Saviour having felt such sorrows and infirmities as are usual to his People by that correspondence and resemblance between them is compassionately inclin'd to relieve them I shall now insist upon the blessed Privilege of Believers set down in the Text viz. That Jesus Christ by his Death frees his People from the servile tormenting fear of Death In prosecuting the Point I shall 1. consider the account the Scripture gives of Death's entrance into the World 2. Shew what the fear of Death includes and the Bondage consequent to it 3. How the Death of Christ frees us from the thraldom of that fear 4. Who are partakers of this blessed Privilege And then apply it I. The Scripture gives an account of Death's entrance into the World in a three-fold respect 1. As the desertt of Sin 2. As the Effect of the divine Decree 3. As the Sentence of the Law 1. As the Desert of Sin The first design of the Creator was his own Glory in conjunction with the happiness of Man He was made accordingly Holy in perfection placed in Paradise and his state contained all the Ingredients of Felicity proper to his Nature He was capable of dying as sad experience proves yet no Accident from without no Distemper from within had impair'd his vigour and made him actually subject to Death without sin Whilst innocent he was immortal not from everlasting Principles of Nature but by Divine Preservation of which the Tree of Life was the