Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	body_n	death_n	sting_n	3,690	5	11.8999	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39658	The balm of the covenant applied to the bleeding wounds of afflicted saints First composed for the relief of a pious and worthy family, mourning over the deaths of their hopeful children; and now made publick for the support of all Christians, sorrowing on the same or any other account. To which is added, A sermon preached for the funeral of that excellent and religious gentleman John Upton of Lupton esq; by John Flavell, preacher of the gospel at Dartmouth in Devon.	Flavel, John, 1630?-1691.	1688 (1688)	Wing F1157; ESTC R222662	58,144	192

they were deprived of those comforts other men have in their Posterity yet he would not have them look upon themselves as dry Trees a Covenant-interest would answer all and recompence abundantly the want of Children or any other earthly comfort Certainly therefore David was at the right door of relief and comfort when he repairs to the Covenant as here in the Text Yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant There or nowhere the Relief of Gods Afflicted is to be found Now to make any thing become a compleat any perfect relief to an afflicted Spirit these three Properties must concur and meet in it else it can never effectually relieve any man. I. It must be able to remove all the causes and grounds of troubles II. It must be able to do so at all times III. It must be capable of a good personal security to us For if it only divert our troubles as Creature-comforts use to do and do not remove the ground and cause of our trouble 't is but an Anodine not a Cure or Remedy And if it can remove the very ground and cause of our trouble for a time but not for ever then 't is but a temporary relief our troubles may return again and we left in as bad case as we were before And if it be in it self able to remove all the causes and grounds of our trouble and that at all times but not capable of a personal security to us or our well-established interest in it all signifies nothing to our relief But open your eyes and behold O ye afflicted Saints all these Properties of a compleat relief meeting together in the Covenant as it is display'd in the Text. Here is a Covenant able to remove all the grounds and causes of your trouble for it is ORDER'D i● all things or aptly disposed by the wisdom and contrivance of God to answer every cause and ground of trouble and sorrow in our hearts It is able to do this at all times as well in our day as in David's or Abraham's day for it is an Everlasting Covenant its vertue and efficacy is not decay'd by time And lastly it is capable of a good personal security or assurance to all Gods afflicted people for it is a Sure Covenant The concurrence of these three Properties in the Covenant makes it a complea● Relief a perfect Remedy to which nothing is wanting in the kind and nature of a Remedy These three glorious Properties of the Covenant are my proper Province to open and confirm for your support and comfort in this Day of Trouble I. That the Covenant of Grace is able to remove all the causes and grounds of a Believers trouble be they never so great or many This I doubt not will be convinceingly evidenced and demonstrated by the following Arguments or undeniable Reasons Argument I. Whatsoever disarms Afflictions of the only sting whereby they wound us must needs be a compleat Relief and Remedy to the afflicted Soul. But so doth the Covenant of Grace it disarms Afflictions of the only sting by which they wound us Therefore the Covenant of Grace must needs be a compleat Relief and Remedy to the afflicted Soul. The sting of all Afflictions is the guilt of sin when God smites Conscience usually smites too and this is it that causes all that pain and anguish in the afflicted 'T is plainly so in the Example of the Widow of Zarephath when her son her only son and probably her only child died how did that stroke of God revive guilt in her Conscience and made the affliction piercing and intolerable as appears by her passionate Expostulation with Elijah who then sojourned in her house What have I to do with thee O thou man of God art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son Q. d. What injury have I done thee Didst thou come hither to observe my sins and pray down this Judgment upon my Child for them The death of her son revived her guilt and so it generally doth even in the most holy men When Iob looked upon his wasted body under Afflictions every wrinkle he saw upon it seemed to him like a witness rising up to testifie against him Thou hast filled me with wrinkles which is a witness against me and my leaness rising up in me beareth witness to my face Affliction is like a Hue and Cry after sin in the ears of Conscience and this is the envenom'd poysonous sting and Affliction pluck out this and the afflicted man is presently eased though the matter of the affliction still abide with him and lie upon him He is afflicted still but not cast down by affliction the anguish and burden is gone though the matter of trouble remain This is plain both in Scripture and in Experience Suitable hereunto is that strange but sweet Expression The inhabitant shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities It 's not to be imagined these people had found such a fortunate Island o● happy Climate where no Disease could touch or invade their Bodies no sickness will find o● the Bodies of the best men where ever they live wherever sin ha●● been sickness and death will fo●●low it Heaven is the only pr●●viledg'd place from these miseries but the meaning is though the● be sick they shall not feel th● pains and burdens of sickness they shall not say they are sick An● why so because their iniquitie● are forgiven Plainly confirmin● what was before asserted that the anguish of an Affliction is gone as soon as ever the sting of guil● is plucked out And hence par●doning of the Soul and healing o● the Body are put together as co●●jugate mercies Bless the Lord O my soul who forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases When the soul is at ease the pains of the body are next to nothing sick●ness can cloud all natural joys but not the joy of a Pardon Nay which is yet more pluck out but the sting of sin and there is no horrour in Death the King of Terrours and worst of all outward Evils See how the pardoned Believer triumphs over it O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sin They are words of defiance as men use to deride and scorn a boasting insulting Enemy when they see him cast upon his back and his sword broken over his head Heus uhi nunc fastus altaque verba jacent Where are your boasts and menaces now O Death thou hast lost thy sting and terrour together Thus the pardoned Believer with an holy gallantry of spirit derides and contemns his disarmed Enemy Death so then 't is manifest that whatever plucks out the poysonous sting of Affliction must needs be an effectual Remedy and Cure to the afflicted person But this the Covenant of Grace doth it reveals and applies Gospel-remission to them that are

in them this is a choice priviledge to them in the day of affliction for hereby they are instructed and taught the meaning of the Rod. Psal. 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest him out of thy law O 't is a blessed thing to be taught so many Lessons by the Rod as the Spirit teacheth them Surely they reckon it an abundant recompence of all that they suffer It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes Yea he refreshes as well as teaches and no Cordials revive like his In the multitude of the thoughts I had within me thy comforts delight my soul. Yea by the presence and blessing of his Spirit our Afflictions are sanctified to subdue and purge out our corruptions By this shall the iniquity of Iacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away sin Now if a man be instructed in the ends and designs of the Rod refreshed and comforted under every stripe of the Rod and have his sins mortified and purged by the sanctification of the Spirit upon his Afflictions then both the burthensomness and bitterness of his Afflictions are removed and healed by the internal presence of the Spirit of God with his afflicted ones But 2. Besides this God is providentially present with his People in all their troubles in a more external way ordering all the circumstances of their troubles to their advantage He orders the degree and extent of our Afflictions still leaving us some mercies and comforts to support and refresh us when others are cut off In measure doth he debate with his Covenant People staying the rough wind in the day of the East wind He might justly smite all our outward Comforts at once so that Affliction should not rise up the second time for what comfort soever hath been abused by sin is thereby forfeited into the hand of Judgment But the Lord knows our inability to sustain such strokes and therefore proportions them to our strength We have some living Relations to minister comfort to us when mourning over our dead He makes not a full end of all at once Yea and his Providence supports our frail Bodies enabling them to endure the shocks and storms of so many Afflictions without ruine Surely there is as much of the care of Providence manifested in this as there is in preserving poor crazy leaking Barks and weather-beaten Vessels at Sea when the Waves not only cover them but break into them and they are ready to founder in the midst of them O what a singular mercy is the gracious presence of God with men even the special presence of that God who is above all and through all and in you all as the Apostle speaks Above all in Majesty and Dominion through all in his most efficacious Providence and in you all by his Grace and Spirit As he is above all so he is able to command any Mercy you want with a word of his mouth as he is through all so he must be intimately acquainted with all your wants straights and fears and as he is in you all so he is engaged for your support and supply as you are the dear Members of Christ's mystical Body Object But methinks I hear Gideon's Objection rolled into the way of this soveraign Consolation If God be with us why is all this Evil befallen us Sol. All what If it had been all this rebellion and rage against God all this apostacy and revolting more and more all this contumacy and hardness of heart under the Rod then it had been a weighty and stumbling Objection indeed but to say If God be with us why are all these chastening corrections and temporal crosses befallen us why doth he smite our Bodies Children or Estates is an Objection no way fit to be urged by any that are acquainted with the Scriptures or the nature and tenour of the Covenant of Grace Is afflicting and forsaking all one with you must God needs hate because he scourgeth you I question whether Satan himself hath impudence enough to set such a Note or Comment upon Heb. 12.6 For Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth No no Christian 't is not a chastening Rod but the denying of such a favour and suffering men to sin with impunity and go on prosperously in the way of their own hearts that speaks a rejected man as the next words ver 7. informs you As he never loved you the better for your prosperity so you may be confident he loves you never the less for your adversity and will not this close and heal the wounds made by Affliction What not such a Promise as this I will be with him in trouble Psal. 91.15 Will not such a presence revive thee What then can do it Moses reckoned that a Wilderness with God was better than a Canaan without him If thy presence go not with me saith he then carry us not hence And if there be the Spirit of a Christian in thee and God should give thee thine own choice thou wouldst rather chuse to be in the midst of all these Afflictions with thy God than back again in all thy prosperity and among thy Children and former Comforts without him Argument V. As this Covenant assures you of Gods gracious and special presence so it fully secures all the Essentials and Substantials of your Happiness against all hazards and contingencies in which security lies your full Relief and compleat Remedy against all your troubles for the loss of other things There be two sorts of things belonging to all God's People viz. 1. Essentials 2. Accidentals 1. They have somethings which are essential to their Happiness such are the loving kindness of God the pardon of sin union with Christ and eternal salvation And they have other things which are Accidentals that come and go live and die without affecting or altering their Happiness such are Health Estates Children and all sorts of Relations and earthly Comforts These are to our Happiness as Leaves are to the Tree which fade and fall away without endangering the Tree but the other as the vital Sap without which it withers and dies at the very root Now if it can be made out that the Covenant fully secures the former then it will strongly follow that it therein abundantly relieves us under all our sorrows for the latter and that it doth so will evidently appear by reviewing the Covenant wherein you shall find all these substantial and essential Mercies of Believers fully secured against all hazards and contingencies whatsoever There the loving kindness of God is secured to their Souls whatever Afflictions he lays upon their Bodies Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not take away And their pardon is as safe as the favour of God is 't is safely locks up in that Promise I will remember their sins no more Yea Heaven together with our perseverance in the way

or no-where our redress is to be found Why seek we the living among the dead comfort from things that cannot yield it The Covenant can discover two things which are able to pacifie the most discomposed heart viz. 1. The good of Affliction 2. The end of Affliction 1. It will discover to us the good of Affliction and so rectifie our mistaken judgments about it God is not undoing but consulting our interest and happiness in all these dispensations It will satisfie us that in all these things he doth no more than what we our selves allow and approve in other cases It is not meerly from his pleasure but for our profit that these breaches are made upon our Families and Comforts Heb. 12.10 Who blames the Marriner for casting the Goods over board to save Ship and life in a storm or the Chirurgeon for lancing yea or cutting off a Leg or Arm to preserve the life of his Patient or Souldiers for burning or beating down the Suburbs to save the City in a siege And why must God only be censured for cutting off those things from us which he knows will hazard us in the 〈◊〉 of temptation he sees the less● have of entanglement the m●● promptness and fitness we 〈◊〉 have to go through the tryals 〈◊〉 are coming upon us and that the comforts he cuts off from 〈◊〉 Bodies goes to the profit and 〈◊〉 vantage of our Souls 2. Here you gain a sight 〈◊〉 only of the good of Affliction 〈◊〉 also of the comfortable end 〈◊〉 issue of Affliction This clou● and stormy morning will wind 〈◊〉 in a serene and pleasant evenin● There 's a vast difference betw●● our meeting with Afflictions 〈◊〉 our parting from them You ha●● heard of the patience of Iob and 〈◊〉 seen the end of the Lord. O get 〈◊〉 Iob's Spirit under Affliction an● you may see as happy an end 〈◊〉 them as he did Had Naomy seen the end of 〈◊〉 Lord in taking away her Husband and starving her out of Moab 〈◊〉 would not have changed her name or said the Lord had dealt bitter with her in grafting her Daughte● by that Providence into the Noble Line out of which the Saviour of the World was to rise and could you but see that good in order to which all this train of troubles is ●aid you would not murmur or ●espond as you do Object 1. O but this is a grievous Stroke God hath smitten ●e in the apple of mine Eye and written bitter things against me No sorrow is like my sorrow 't is a mourning for an onely Son I have lost all in one Sol. 1. You can never lose all in one except that one be Christ and he being yours in Covenant can never be lost But your meaning is you have lost all of that kind in one no more Sons to build up your House and continue your Name 2. But yet Religion will not allow you to say that your dead Children are a lost Generation Praemittuntur non amittuntur They are sent before but not lost For they are a Covenant-seed by you dedicated to the Lord They were Children of many Prayers a great stock of Prayers was lai● up for them in them also yo● and all that knew them discerne● a teachable Spirit pious inclina●tions and Conscience of secret du●ties some good things toward the Lord God of Israel as was sai● of young Abijah 1 King. 14 1● So that you parted from them u● on far easier terms than good D●●vid parted from his Amnon Abs●●lom or Adonijah who died in the●● sins and open rebellions Ther● was a sting in his troubles whic● you feel not and if he comforte himself notwithstanding in th● Covenant of his God in this r●●spect may you much more Object 2. O but my Son w● cut off in the very Bud just wh●● the Fruits of Education were re●●dy to disclose and open Sol. Let not that consideratio● so incense your sorrows Go● knows the fittest time both to giv● and to take our comforts an● seeing you have good grounds 〈◊〉 hope your Child died interest●● in the Covenant of God you have the less reason to insist upon that afflicting circumstance of an immature death He that dies in Christ hath lived long enough both for himself and us That Marriner hath sailed long enough that hath gained his Port and that Souldier fought long enough that hath won the Victory and that Child lived long enough that hath won Heaven how early soever he died Beside the sooner he died the less sin he hath committed and the less misery he saw and felt in this wretched World which we are left to behold and feel And it is but a vanity to imagine that the parting pull with him would have been easier if the enjoyment of him had been longer for the long enjoyment of desirable Comforts doth not use to weaken but abundantly to strengthen and fasten the tyes of affection Submit your Reason therefore as is meet to the Wisdom of God who certainly chose the fittest season for this Affliction O but No more Buts and Objections I beseech you Enough hath been offer'd from the Covenant of your God to silence all your Objections and to give you the ease and pleasure of a resigned Will. And what are all our Buts and Objections but a spurning at Divine Soveraignty and the thrusting in the Affliction deeper into your own hearts which are wounded but too deep already I perswade you not to put off but to regulate natural Affections To be without them would deservedly rank us among the worst of Heathens but rightly to bound and manage them would set you among the best of Christians I cannot imagine what ease or advantage holy Basil gained by such a particular and heart piercing account as he gave of a like Affliction with this nor to what purpose it can be to you to recal and recount those things which only incense and aggravate your troubles Doubtless your better way were to turn your thoughts from such subjects as these to your God in Covenant as David in the Text did and to recount the many great and inestimable mercies that are secured to you therein which death shall never smite or cut off from you as it doth your other enjoyments Quest. But yet unless we can in some measure clear our Covenant-interest all these excellent Cordials prepared will signifie no more to our relief than water spilt upon the ground help us therefore to do that or else all that hath been said is in vain How may a person discern his Covenant-right and interest Answ. This indeed is worthy of all consideration and deserves a serious answer forasmuch as it is fundamental to your comfort and all actual refreshment in times of trouble and will bring us to the next Use which is for tryal of our Covenant-interest VSE III. The great Question to be decided is Whether God be our Covenant-God and we his People A Question of the most solemn nature