Selected quad for the lemma: sense_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	faith_n	life_n	live_v	5,824	5	7.1409	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39690	A token for mourners, or, The advice of Christ to a distressed mother bewailing the death of her dear and only son wherein the boundaries of sorrow are duly fixed, excesses restrained, the common pleas answered, and divers rules for the support of Gods afflicted ones prescribed / by J.F.	Flavel, John, 1630?-1691.	1674 (1674)	Wing F1197; ESTC R26707	66,956	170

in one Hence it s noted in Scripture as the greatest of earthly Sorrows Jer. 6. 26. O daughter of my people gird thee with Sackcloth and wallow thy self in Ashes Make thee mourning as for an onely Son most bitter Lamentation Yea so deep and penetrating is this grief that the holy Ghost borrows it to express the deepest spritual troubles by it Zech. 12. 10 They shall mourn for him namely Christ whom they pierced as one mourneth for an only Son Fourthly And yet to heighten the afflliction it is super added ver 12. And she was a Widdow So that the staff of her age on whom she leaned was broken She had now none left to comfort or assist her in her helpless comfortless State of Widdowhood which is a condition not only void of comfort but exposed to oppression and contempt Yea and being a Widdow the whole burden lay upon her alone she had not an Husband to comfort her as Elkana did Hannah in 1 Sam. 1. 8. Why weepest thou and why is thy heart grieved ●m not I more to thee than ten Sons This would have been a great relief but her Husband was dead as well as her Son both gone and she only surviving to lament the loss of those comforts that once she had Her calamities came not single but one after another and this reviving and aggravating the former This was her case and condition when the Lord met her Secondly Let us consider the Councel which Christ gives her with respect to this hersad and sorrowful case And when the Lord saw her he had Compassion on her and said unto her Weep not Relieving and Supporting words wherein we shall consider The Occasion Motive Councel it self First The occasion of it and that was his seeing of her This meeting at the Gate of the City how accidental and occasional soever it seems yet without doubt it was providentially suited to the work intended to be wrought The eye of his Omniscience foresaw her and this meeting was by him designed as an oc●●sion of that famous Miracle which he wrought upon the young man Christ hath a quick eye to discern poor mourning and disconsolate Creatures and though he be now in Heaven and stands out of our sight so that we see him not yet he sees us and his eye which is upon all our troubles still affects his heart and moves his bowels for us Secondly The Motive stirring him up to give this relieving and comfortable Councel to her was his own Compassion She neither expected nor desired it from him but so full of tender pittty was the Lord towards her that he prevents her with unexpected consolation Her heart was nothing so full of compassion for her Son as Christ was for her He bore our infirmities even natural as well as moral ones in the dayes of his flesh and though he be now exalted to the highest glory yet still he continues as merciful as ever and as apt to be touched with the sense of our miseries Heb. 4. 15. Lastly The Councel it self Weep not herein fulfilling the office of a Comforter to them that mourn whereunto he was anointed Isa. 61. 1 2 3. Yet the words are not an absolute prohibition of tears and sorrow he doth not Condemn ●ll mourning as sinful or all expressions of grief for dead Relations as uncomely no Christ would not have his people stupid and insensate he only prohibits the excesses and extravagancies of our sorrows for the dead that it should not be such a mourning for the dead as is found among the Heathens who sorrow without measure because without hope being ignorant of that grand relief by the Resurrection which the Gospel reveals The Resurrection of her Son from the dead is the ground upon which Christ builds her consolation and reliefe Well might he say Weep not when he intended quickly to remove the cause of her tears by restoring him again to life Now though there be somewhat in this case extraordinary and peculiar for few or none that carry their dear children to the grave may expect to receive them again from the dead immediately by a special resurrection as she did I say this is not to be expected by any that now loose their Relations the occasion and reasons of such miraculous special resurrections being removed by a sufficient and full evidence and confirmation of Christs divine power and Godhead Yet those that now bury their Relations if they be such as dye in Christ have as good and sufficient reason to moderate their passions as this mourner had and do as truly come within the reach and compass of this Christs comfortable and supporting councel Weep not as the did For do but consider what of support or comfort can a particular and present Resurrection from the dead give us more than that it is and as it is a Specimen hansell or pledge of the general Resurrection It is not the returning of the soul to its body to live an Animal life again in this world of sin and sorrow and shortly after to undergo the agonies and pains of death again that is in it self any such priviledge as may afford much comfort to the person raised or his Relations It is no priviledge to the person raised for it returns him from rest to trouble from the harbour back again into the Ocean It is matter of trouble to many dying Saints to hear of the likelyhood of their returning again when they are got so nigh to Heaven It was once the case of a godly Minister of this Nation who was much troubled at his return and said I am like a sheep driven out of the storm almost to the fold and then driven back into the storm again or a weary Traveller that is come near his home and then must go back to fetch somewhat he had forgotten or an Apprentice whose time is almost expired and then must begin a new term But to die and then return again from the dead hath less of priviledge than to return only from the brink of the grave for the sick hath not yet felt the agonies and last struggles or pangs ofdeath but such have felt them once and must feel them again they must die twice before they can be happy once and besides during the little time they spend on earth betwixt the first and second dissolution there is a perfect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forgetfulness and insensibleness of all that which they saw or enjoyed in their state of separation It being necessary both for them and others that it should be so for themselves its necessary that they may be content to live and endure the time of separation from that blessed and ineffable state quietly and patiently and for others that they may live by faith and not by sense and build upon divine and not humane authority and report So that here you see their agonies and pangs are doubled and yet their life not sweetned by any sense

your case been But as long as your best mercies are all safe the things that have salvation in them remain and only the things that have vanity in them are removed you are not prejudiced or much hindred as to the attainment of your last end by the loss of these things Alas it was not Christs intent to purchase for you a sensual content in the enjoyment of these earthly comforts but to redeem you from all iniquity purge your corruptions sanctifie your natures wean your hearts from this vain world and so to dispose and order your present condition that finding no rest and content here you might the more ardently pant and sigh after the rest which remains for the people of God And are you not in as probable a way to attain this end now as you were before Do you think you are not as likely by these methods of providence to be weaned from the world as by more pleasant and prosperous ones Every wise man reckons that station and condition to be best for him which most promotes and secures his last end and great design Well then reckon you are as well without these things as with them yea and better too if they were but clogs and snares upon your affections you have really lost nothing if the things wherein your eternal happiness consisteth be yet safe Many of Gods dearest children have been denied such comforts as these and many have been deprived of them and yet never the farther from Christ and heaven for that 3. Consid. Alwaies remember that how soon and unexpected soever your parting with your Relations was yet your Lease was expired before you lost them and you enjoyed them every moment of the time that God intended them for you Before this Relation whose loss you lament was born the time of your enjoyment and separation was unalterably fixed and limited in heaven by the God of the spirits of all flesh and although it was a secret to you whilst your friend was with you yet now it is a plain and evident thing that this was the time of separation before appointed and that the life of your friend could by no means be protracted or abreviated but must keep you company just so far and then part with you This position wants not full and clear Scripture authority for its foundation how pregnant and full is that Text Job 24. 5 6. Seeing his dayes are determined the number of his moneths are with thee Thou hast appointed him his bounds which he cannot pass The time of our life as well as the place of our habitation was prefixed before we were born It will greatly conduce to your settlement and peace to be well established in this truth That the appointed time was fully come when you and your dear Relation parted for it will prevent and save a great deal of trouble which comes from our after Reflections O if this had been done or that omitted had it not been for such miscarriages and over-sights my dear husband wife or child had been alive at this day No no the Lords time was fully come and all things concurred and fell in together to bring about the pleasure of his will let that satisfie you had the ablest physitians in the world been there or had they that were there prescribed another course as it is now so it would have been when they had done all Only it must be precaution'd that the decree of God no way excuses any voluntary sinful neglects or miscarriages God over-rules these things to serve his own ends but no way approves them but it greatly relieves against all our involuntary and unavoydable oversights and mistakes about the use of means or the timing of them for it could not be otherwise than now it is Object But many things are alledged against this position and that with much seeming countenance from such Scriptures as these Psal. 54. 25. Blood thirsty men shall not live out half their dayes Eccles. 7. 18. Why shouldst thou dye before thy time Psal. 102. 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of my dayes Isa. 38. 10. I am deprived of the residue of my years And Prov. 10. 27. The fear of the Lord prolongeth dayes but the years of the wicked shall be shortened It is demanded what tollerable sense we can give these Scriptures whilest we assert an unalterable fixation of the term of death Sol. The sense of all these Scriptures will be clear'd up to full satisfaction by distinguishing death and the Terms of it First we must distinguish death into Natural and Violent The wicked and blood thirsty man shall not live out half his dayes i. e. half so long as he might live according to the course of nature or the vigour and soundness of his natural constitution for his wickedness either drowns nature in an excess of riot and luxury or exposes him to the hand of justice which cuts him off for his wickedness before he hath accomplished half his dayes Again we must distinguish of the Term or limit set for death which is either General or Special The general limit is now seventy or or eighty years Psal. 90. 10. The dayes of our years are threescore years and ten and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years yet is their strength labour and sorrow To this short limit the life of man is generally reduced since the flood and though there be some few exceptions yet the general rule is not thereby destroyed The special limit is that proportion of time which God by his own counsel and will hath alotted to every individual person and it is only known to us by the event This we affirm to be a fixed and unmovable term with it all things shall fall in and subserve the will of God in our dissolution at that time But because the general limit is known and this special limit is a secret hid in Gods own brest therefore man reckons by the former account and may be said when he dyes at thirty or forty years old to be cut off in the midst of his dayes for it is so reckoning by the general account though he be not cut off till the end of his dayes reckoning by his special limit Thus he that is wicked dies before his time i. e. the time he might attain to in an ordinary way but not before the time God had appointed And so in all the other objected Scripture It is not proper at all in a Subject of this nature to digress into a controversie Alas the poor Mourner overwhelmed with grief hath no pleasure in that it is not proper for him at this time and therefore I shall for present wave the controversie and wind up this consideration with an humble and serious motion to the afflicted that they will wisely consider the matter the Lords time was come Your Relations lived with you every moment that God intended them for you before you had them O Parents mind this

and convey to us what comfort God is pleased to communicate to them and if the Cistern be broken or the pipe cut off so that no more comfort can be conveyed to us that way he hath other waies and mediums to do it by which we think not of and if he please he can convey his comforts to his people without any of them and if he do it more immediately we shall be no losers by that for no comforts in the world are so delectable and ravishingly sweet as those that flow immediately from the fountain And it is the sensuality of our hearts that causes us to affect them so inordinately and grieve for the loss of them so immoderately as if we had not enough in God without these creature-supplements Is the fulness of the Fountain yours and yet do ye cast down your selves be-because the broken Cistern is removed The best Creatures are no better Jer. 2. 13. Cisterns have nothing but what they receive and broken ones cannot hold what is put into them Why then do ye mourn as if your life were bound up in the creature You have as free an access to the Fountain as you had before It is the advice of an Heathen and let them take the comfort of it to repair by a new earthly comfort what we have lost in the former Thou hast carried forth him whom thou lovedst saith Seneca seek one whom thou maist love in his stead it 's better to repair than bemoan thy loss But if God never repair your loss in things of the same kind you know he can abundantly repair it in himself Ah Christian Is not one kiss of his mouth one glimpse of his countenance one seal of his spirit a more sweet and substantial comfort than the sweetest Relation in this world can afford you If the stream fail repair to the Fountain there 's enough still God is where he was and what he was though the creature be not 19. Consid. Though you may want a little comfort in your life yet surely it may be recompensed to you by a more easie death The removal of your friends before you may turn to your great advantage when your hour is come that you must follow them Oh how have many good souls been clog'd and ensnared in their dying hour by the loves cares and fears they have had about those they must leave behind them in a sinful evil world Your love to them might have proved a snare to you and caused you to hang back as loath to go hence for these are the things that make men loth to dye And thus it might have been with you except God had removed them before hand or should give you in that day such sights of Heaven and tasts of Divine love as should master and mortifie all your earthly affections to these things I knew a gracious person now in heaven who for many weeks in her last sickness complained that she found it hard to part with a dear Relation and that there was nothing proved a greater clog to her soul than this 'T is much more easie to think of going to our friends who are in heaven before us than of parting with them and leaving our desireable and dear ones behind us And who knows what cares and distracting thoughts you may then be pestred and distracted with upon their account What shall become of these when I am gone I am now to leave them God knows to what wants miseries temptations and afflictions in the midst of a deceitful defiling dangerous world I know it s our duty to leave our fatherless children and friendless Relations with God to trust them with him that gave them to us And some have been enabled chearfully to do so when they were parting from them Luther could say Lord thou hast given me a wife and children I have little to leave them nourish teach and keep them O thou Father of the fatherless and Judge of widows But every Christian hath not a Luthers faith Some find it an hard thing to disentangle their affections at such a time but now if God have sent all yours before you you have so much the less to do Death may be easier to you than others 20. Consid. But if nothing that hath been yet said will stick with you then Lastly remember that you are near that state and place which admits no sorrows nor sad reflections upon any such accounts as these Yet a little while and you shall not miss them you shall not need them but you shall live as the Angels of God We now live partly by faith partly by sense partly upon God and partly upon the creature Our state is mixed therefore our comforts are so too but when God shall be all in all and we shall be as the Angels of God in the way and manner of our living How much will the case be altered with us then from what it is now Angels neither marry nor are given in mariage neither shall the children of the Resurrection when the days of our sinning are ended the days of our mourning shall be so too No graves were opened till sin enter'd and no more shall be open'd when sin is excluded Our glorified Relations shall live with us for ever they shall complain no more dye no more yea this is the happiness of that state to which you are passing on that your souls being in the nearest conjunction with God the fountain of Joy you shall have no concernment out of him You shall not be put upon these exercises of patience nor subjected to such sorrows as now you feel any more It is but a little while and the end of all these things will come Oh therefore bear up as persons that expect such a day of Jubilee at hand And thus I have finished the second general Head of this Discourse which is a disswasive from the sin of immoderate sorrow 3. I now proceed to the third thing proposed namely to remove the Pleas and excuses for this immoderate grief It s natural to men yea to good men to justifie their excesses or at least extenuate them by pleading for their passions as if they wanted not cause and reason enough to excuse them If these be fully answered and the soul once convinced and left without Apology for its sin it is then in a fair way for its cure which is the last thing designed in this Treatise My present business therefore is to satisfie those Objections and answer those Reasons which are commonly pleaded in this case to justifie our excessive grief for lost Relations And though I shall carry it in that line of Relation to which the Text directs yet it s equally applicable to all other 1. Plea You press me by many great considerations to meekness and quiet submission under this heavy stroke of God but you little know what stings my soul feels now in it This child was a child of many prayers it was a Samuel