Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	commandment_n	law_n	moral_a	3,008	5	9.5759	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46799	Practical discourses upon the morality of the Gospel	Jenks, Sylvester, 1656?-1714.	1699 (1699)	Wing J630D; ESTC R220354	63,738	198

well known tho' now neglected and almost quite forgotten Then it was that the Law was written in their Tables says S. Austin because they did not read it in their Hearts The manner of its Delivery is very remarkable When the Children of Israel were gone out of the Land of Egypt they came into the Wilderness of Sinai and Camp'd before the Mount where the Ten Commandments were proclaim'd with Thunder and Lightning the Earth quaking and the People trembling at what they saw and heard The Morality of these Commandments was neither more nor less than the Law of Nature which as promulgated by Moses is called the Old Law and as confirm'd by Jesus Christ is call'd the New Not that the Law it self as to the Moral Part of it is different from what it was but that the Circumstances I mean the Motives and Advantages are New and infinitely surpassing those of the Old In the New Law the Motives which induce us to observe it are incomparably greater The Jews generally fear'd nothing but Temporal Punishments they hoped for nothing but Temporal Rewards their Self-love aim'd at nothing more than Earthly Happiness and even God himself who knew their Hearts were harder than the Stones on which he Engrav'd their Law propos'd no better Motives to them They were to be Train'd up by Degrees to fear and to obey the Author of their Nature before they could be well prepared to Entertain the Mysteries of Grace and Glory And thus we read in the Nineteenth Chapter of Exodus how God Commanded Moses to mind the People of what he had done to the Egyptians and that now having brought them to himself if they would obey his Voice he would take them into his particular Care above all other People and to Encourage them the more he would have them know that All the Earth was his They were to remember the Plagues of Egypt that they might not forget their Duty but that their fears might be awaken'd with expecting the like Severity in case of Disobedience And to maintain their hopes it was enough that All the Earth was his for this was All they wish'd for and therefore if they Obey'd he was able to Reward them to the utmost of their Hearts desire In the Twenty sixth of Leviticus he tells them If you keep my Commandments I will give you Rain in due Season and the Land shall yield her increase you shall eat your Bread to the full you shall Chase your Enemies and they shall fall before you and you shall dwell in your own Land safely And in the Twenty eighth of Deuteronomy he assures them All these Blessings shall come upon you if you will hearken to my Voice But if you will not hearken to it Then All the contrary Curses shall be sure to overtake you Poor Creatures And was This All Was This the utmost prospect of their Hopes and Fears These Little Earthly and Transitory Comforts are they worthy to compare with that inestimable Blessing promised by our Saviour Come ye Blessed of my Father Come and possess the great and everlasting Kingdom of Heaven which was prepared for you from the Foundation of the World Or are the Curses which deprive us of these Empty and Unsatisfying Pleasures are they comparable to that final Curse of our Redeemer Go ye Accursed into Everlasting Fire which was prepared for the Devil and his Angels No no. The Eternal Torments which no Tongue is able to express the Everlasting Joys of Heaven which never enter'd into the Heart of Man and the endearing Charms of God's prodigious Love by which he sent his Son not only to teach us these great Truths but to Assist us with his Conquering Grace and to Redeem us with his Precious Blood These these I say are new Advantages incomparably surpassing All that the Old Law ever could pretend to 'T is true there were many Prophets Patriarchs and Kings amongst them who were more Enlightned than the rest and tho' they had not received these glorious Promises yet they had some fore-knowledge of them afar off and languish'd with continual Expectations and Desires to see the Accomplishment of them And therefore 't is no wonder that we find it written in the beginning of this Gospel Jesus said to his Disciples Blessed are the Eyes which see the things that you see For I tell you that many Prophets and Kings have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them We see the Church of Christ Establish'd firmly and securely Blessed are the Eyes that see it We hear his Gospel Preach'd and faithfully Deliver'd to us Blessed are the Ears that hear it And Blessed indeed we are if we not only hear the Word of God but also keep it Alas These great Advantages of Christianity will little avail us They will only serve to rise in Judgment against us and to heap a greater Damnation upon us if we neglect the Duties of it II. We read in the Gospel how a certain Lawyer stood up and ask'd our Saviour What shall I do to possess Eternal Life He thought and with a great deal of reason that so vast a Purchase as Eternal Life was never to be had for nothing He knew that all this Momentary Life of ours is nothing to Eternity which swallows up all Time with a disproportion infinitely greater than a Drop of Water loses it self in the Ocean And therefore he justly suspected that perhaps his uttermost endeavours would fall short of it What shall I do says he to possess Eternal Life These words of his express an earnest and a sincere desire not only to know his Duty but to do it And truly unless we fully and absolutely resolve to do it we had better never know it Are we as heartily desirous as he seem'd to be Are we as much in earnest Are we as sincere If so Hear then what 's written in the Law Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength and with all thy Mind and thy Neighbour as thy self Consider this well and then attend to what our Saviour says Do this and you shall live Do but this and you shall certainly possess Eternal Life And is it hard to do so much as this He is infinitely lovely in himself and is it therefore a difficult thing to love him He infinitely deserves our Love and therefore we can never Love him so much as he deserves But must we therefore never Love him as much as we can Let us do our utmost we can never Love him so much as he Loves us and although we had each of us a Thousand Hearts entirely at his Service we should never be able to make a suitable return Since therefore we have only one Can we for shame refuse him any part of that 'T is All of it due and can we make abatements 'T is