Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	dead_a	quicken_v	trespass_n	3,621	5	10.4863	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20173	The new creature A sermon preached at Pauls Crosse, Ianuary 17. 1619. By Stephen Denison, minister of Gods word, at Katherine Kree Church, in the citie of London.	Denison, Stephen, d. 1649 or 50.	1619 (1619)	STC 6607; ESTC S120525	30,181	101

For as much as they that are in the flesh that is vnregenerate cannot please God as the blessed Apostle speaketh Vse Let euery man and woman lay to heart this necessitie let them not deceiue themselues with that fond conceit that if they liue ciuilly and pay euery man his owne and go to the Church as others do that then they shal surely be saued though they remaine as ignorant of regeneration as euer was Nicodemus I tell you nay for vnlesse you be regenerate and borne againe you remaine in danger of eternall condemnation you remaine the very slaues of Satan and the best things that you do or can do in your naturall condition are abhominable and odious to God Concerning the meanes whereby regeneration is wrought we are to note first that the efficient cause of it is not man nor Angel but Gods Spirit There is no creature in heauē nor earth that can conuert a soule by his owne power this worke belongs to God alone for we are borne not of bloud nor of the will of man nor of the will of the flesh but of God as S. Iohn speaketh in his first chap. and 13. verse And therefore the whole glory of the admirable worke of regeneration is due to God alone and is not to be ascribed to any creature Secondly the most ordinary instrumentall cause not to speake of the extraordinary meanes which God vseth for the conuersion of soules is the word of God especially preached as appeares by these places of Scripture Psalme 19. 7. The Law of the Lord is perfect conuerting the soule 1. Cor. 4. 15. For though you haue ten thousand instructors yet haue ye not many fathers for in Christ Iesus I haue begotten you through the Gospell Iames 1. 18. Of his owne will begat he vs by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruites of his creatures 1. Pet. 1. 23. Being borne anew not of mortall seed but of immortall by the word of God which liueth and endureth for euer By all which places and many more it is euident that the especiall instrumentall cause of regeneration is the holy word of God contained in the Canonicall Scriptures Whereby it appeareth what infinite wrong the Pope doth vnto the soules of the cōmon people by withholding from them the vse of the Scriptures and also what enemies they are vnto Christs kingdome and to mens saluation which labour to their power to suppresse and extinguish the powerfull preaching of Gods word Lastly this should teach vs to glorifie God for the plentie of preaching in this Land but especially in this Citie for hereby there is good hope of the conuersion of many soules And let vs alwayes as we haue all iust cause pray against Poperie and that not onely in respect of the bloudthirstinesse of that religion displayed in that most barbarous plot of the gunpowder treason but also because it seekes to depriue vs of the vse of Gods word the especiall instrument of mans saluation Concerning the degrees whereby regeneration is most commonly wrought they are these following First the holy Ghost quickens the soule which it doth conuert finding it dead in trespasses and sins Thus it quickened the prodigall son Luke 15. 32. This thy brother was dead and is aliue againe and thus he quickened the Ephesians in the fifth Chapter of that Epistle the eighth verse and in the second Chapter the first verse Where we are to note that the soule is not said to be dead by nature or to be quickened by regeneration because the soule is destitute of all life but because naturally it is an alien from the life of God as Paul speakes in Eph. 4. 18. God doth not exercise the life of grace in the soule of any vnregenerate person as he doth in the hearts of those that are regenerate And this first act of regeneration or spirituall quickening is termed in Scriptures the first resurrection First because as in the day of the generall resurrectiō Many that sleepe in the dust shall awake Dan. 12. 2 so by vertue of this first resurrection many that sleepe in sin shall awake to liue righteously 1. Cor. 15. 34. Secondly as in the generall resurrection the bodies of the Saints shall be made like vnto the glorious body of Christ himselfe Philip. 3. 21 so by vertue of this first resurrection the soules of the Saints come to beare the image and stampe of God himselfe being made holy as he is holy Eph. 4. 24. And hereby a man or woman may trie whether they be regenerate and quickened or no if they will but examine whether they be awake to liue righteously or no and whether they beare Gods image in true holinesse or no. If these things be in thee thou art vndoubtedly quickned if not thou remainest still but a dead man The second degree whereby regeneration is wrought is illumination for when we begin to stand vp from the dead then immediatly Christ giues vs light Ephes 5. 14. the God which commanded light to shine out of darknesse beginneth to shine in our hearts 2. Cor. 4. 6. Yea then the day of saluation beginneth to dawne and the day-starre of sauing knowledge to arise in our hearts 2. Pet. 1. 19. By vertue of this heauenly light a man or woman is brought to see in some measure the danger of their natural state and what need they haue of repentance and of Christ and of Gods mercy and of inward purging from their corruptions and what reason they haue of denying themselues carrying about with them such a masse of corruption whereof now they are aware Where it is to be noted that the reprobate may in some measure be enlightened also He may haue so much light as to leaue him without excuse This is manifest out of Heb. 6. 4. where it is said of the apostates and finall backsliders that they were once enlightened But the difference is first the child of God is enlightened and quickened but the reprobate is onely enlightened and not quickened for he remaines still an alien from the life of God Ephes 4. 18. Secondly the elect are enlightened to see their sinne as we see in the example of Paul Rom. 7. 27. I see another law in my members c. but the reprobate are enlightened especially to behold the danger of sin and the punishment of the same as we see in the example of Cain Gen. 4. 13. My punishment is greater then I can beare Thirdly the elect are enlightened to amendement as we see in the example of Iob in his 40 Chapter fift verse I haue spoken once but I will do so no more or I will not answer But the reprobate are enlightened to despaire and to desperate courses As we see in the example of Iudas Math. 27. 5. who so soone as he was enlightened to see the danger of his estate went immediatly and desperately hanged himselfe And hereby we may examine and try our selues whether