Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	abel_n	blood_n	cry_v	2,397	5	9.4770	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58046	Practical discourses concerning death and Heaven discovering the great necessity of a speedy preparation for death : with the danger of neglecting or delaying such preparations : also the excellency, glory, and happiness of Heaven opened and explained as the portion of all true believers after death / by Nathanael Ranew.	Ranew, Nathanael, 1602?-1678.	1694 (1694)	Wing R247; ESTC R26914	143,487	222

difficult Work Death continually hastning towards us yet few consider how suddenly themselves or others may Die. Death comes violently to Wicked Men yet no Man dies before his time however in Scripture some are said so to do An Exhortation to prepare for Death with Motives to quicken Christians thereunto and Directions to help them therein HAving spoken something of the Life of Man as it hath Relation unto the Subject I am speaking to which by Reason of Sin is become short frail and uncertain I shall now consider the State of Man under Death which is the end of his Temporal but the beginning and entrance upon his Everlasting State which that Christians may with the more profit and advantage meditate upon I shall reduce all that I have to say of it unto three particulars The State of Man under Death is a State that admits of no returning unto Life a State that admits of no amendments and a State that is fixed and determined First The State of Man under Death is a State that admits of no returning unto Life again When once the Sun of this Life is set it will arise no more upon thee for ever Are not my Days few says Job Cease from me that I may take comfort a little before I go whence I shall not return And Job 10.20 When a few Days are come says he I shall go whence I shall not return Job 16.22 That 's a strange Journey indeed that admits of no return That which pleaseth us while we live is the hopes of returning to our Homes again but when we die we take a Journey whence there is no returning for there is no recovery out of the Grave when once we are Dead Indeed it is a fundamental Article of the Christian Faith to believe the Resurrection of the Dead for the Scripture tells us that all Men shall stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive according to what they have done in the Body Now if there be not a Resurrection of the Dead how can this be therefore our Lord tells us plainly John 5.28 that the hour is coming when all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth but this time is not yet come and till this time comes the sentence of Death is irreversible upon all And though God hath already stretched sorth his hand to the Grave for the raising of some Persons from the Dead miraculously yet as those few that have escaped Death make no breach upon this general Truth that all must Die so it doth not at all infringe this general Truth that God will not now by the manifestation of the same miraculous Power raise any from the Grave because some have been raised and recovered out of it Secondly The State of Man under Death admits of no amendments or alterations Life is the Time of Working in Death we receive the Reward of our Work Our Lord tells us of himself I must Work the Works of him that sent me while it is Day for the Night comes wherein no Man can Work Joh. 9.4 Death puts an end to all Works whether they be Natural Civil or Religious There is no eating or drinking nor any pleasure to be taken in any outward enjoyments in the State of Death there is no buying or selling or getting gain when we are Dead nay Death puts an end to all Spiritual Works those Duties that upon Earth were the Saints exercise in the Grave there is an end of them there is a dying and perishing for ever in respect of Faith and Repentance in respect of praying and hearing the Word these are Heavenly Works but the Time for the performance of them is while we are here upon Earth None of these Labours are in Heaven or in Hell no nor in the Grave whither we are all going In Heaven there is nothing but rest in Hell though there be no rest yet there is no labour In Hell there is nothing but Wages in Heaven there is nothing but Reward our whole Work lies in the few Days that are on this side both What we do for the obtaining of Heaven or for the avoiding of Hell it must be done now for there is no Work no Device in the Grave whither we are all going Thirdly The State of Man under Death is a State that is fixed and determined He that dies under the Guilt of Sin shall never have it forgiven him The Blood of Christ that was appointed for the Pardon of Sin and for the Justification of a Sinner shall never make God propitious to a Soul that dies under the Guilt of Sin though that Blood now speaks better things than the Blood of Abel and crying aloud to Heaven nay in Heaven for Mercy hath obtained Pardon and forgiveness for thousands of Souls now in Glory yet hath it no virtue in it that shall be applicable to any Sinner for the remission of his Sins when once the Sentence of Death is executed upon him There is a Sacrifice appointed by God to take away Sin in this Life even the Blood of Christ that cleanseth from all Sin and now he intreats and beseecheth Sinners to come unto him that they may have Life by him but those that will not now accept of his Gracious offer but continue in Sin and Disobedience all their days and die under the Guilt thereof there remains no more Sacrifice for them and it is impossible they should ever be Pardoned because the Sufferings of Christ were never Ordained as an Expiatory Sacrifice for their Sins His bleeding and dying upon the Cross will do them no good at all now the Time and Season of Mercy and Grace with them is gone and past for ever Nay let me add a dreadful word unto all such instead of any Benefit and Advantage that will come to them by the Blood of Christ it is that which cries loudly against them for the Wrath and Vengeance of God to fall upon them to Eternity Besides he that dies under the guilt of Sin dies also under the filth and pollution of Sin from whence he shall never be cleansed We read in Scripture of a Refiner's Fire but Hell Fire is not of this Nature it enrageth the Sinner but it doth not Refine him No that Sin or Holiness that accompanies Men out of this World shall abide with them for ever he that dies in a State of Sin his guilt remains upon him for ever there are no Seasons of Grace to be enjoyed in another World nor are there any Operations of the Spirit of God vouchsafed to Renew and Change Men hereafter Whilst we are in this World though the Law Condemns us for our sin and guilt and the Gospel disowns us for our filth and pollution yet even such as we have been Washed have been Justified have been Sanctified and so may we for the Blood of Christ is still a Fountain open to wash in for Sin and for uncleanness and the Infinite though Provoked