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truth_n believe_v great_a world_n 2,360 5 4.4184 4 true
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A34429 An exhortation to firmness and constancy in true religion in a sermon preached at St. Mary Islington, Feb. 2, 1689/90 / by Shadrach Cooke ... Cooke, Shadrach, 1655?-1724? 1689 (1689) Wing C6037; ESTC R20683 19,785 32

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call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me For that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel They despised all my reproof Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices Whence we proceed to consider Fifthly A consequence of most dreadful Ruin and Destruction for the great End and Design of that his most Solemn coming to Judgment is to pass an irrevocable Sentence of Happiness or Misery on all Mankind and so accordingly this here before us must signify or imply the most dreadful Case or Condemnation of such Sinners at that Day This then shall be their Sentence Depart ye Cursed into the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And the very worst place in this shall be assigned them They shall have their Portion with Hypocrites for such they are in the highest Nature and Degree They who believe in God and do thus shamefully Dissemble with him or deny him in an Adulterous and Sinful Generation when it may be most Glorious or Necessary to own or attest his Truth strictly to maintain Faith and a good Conscience are the most Guilty and shall be the most Miserable of all Men in another World Of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with the holy Angels And having thus as briefly and as plainly as I could set forth the dreadful Punishment of such Men especially as here intimated or represented by our Saviour I think it may be very needfull and requisite to propound in the Fifth and Last place The means to avoid this so very Great and Dangerous Evil. In order whereunto I shall lay down these following Rules or Directions 1. Let us consider The shortness and great uncertainty of this present Life This being a most likely means to prevent all Temptations to this Evil which are occasioned through Mens overmuch Concern or Fondness for this present World This as we before observed doth too often make us withdraw our Thoughts from God and become Treacherous against him Wherefore if Men would learn to set a due Estimate on Things here below and consider these Worldly Pleasures and Enjoyments as they are in themselves mean and transitory and that as Solomon saith All is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit We should be less desirous or inclined to purchase them at so high a Price Is a little temporal Interest that may soon come to nothing Is a vain blast of Honour or Ambition or any thing that we can aim at in this World Satisfactory and Lasting Why then should they any wise dissettle us in the great Concerns of Faith and Religion Can any Thing in this World be worth the buying at so dear a Rate The fashion of this World saith the Apostle passeth away And would we but esteem of it accordingly it would induce us to have meaner thoughts of Things here below and set them upon Things above And hereupon we should be fully convinc'd That Truth and Religion were the only solid and lasting Comforts and that we have nothing here so valuable as Faith and a good Conscience But if we are still resolved to make Mammon our God and to prefer the Pleasure or Interest of this World before all Things it is to be expected and not wondered at that Men should be ashamed of Christ and his Words in this Adulterous and Sinful Generation 2. Let us duly consider and reflect-upon The great Concern and Interest of our Soul Which seems to be the very means or remedy here propounded by our Saviour himself for the prevention of so great an Evil Ver. 36. For what shall it profit a Man if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul Wh●soever therefore shall be c. Suppose we could promote the highest Interest here in this World yet this is not able to preponderate or make amends for the Loss or Damage we sustain thereby or undergo for it Our Souls or Spirits are of a most durable and lasting Nature Now Religion promotes their great and highest Interest by adhearing closely to Faith and a good Conscience We procure the Love and Favour of God which is better than Life it self We lay up an incorruptable Treasure in Heaven We secure our best part That which is indeed only and properly our selves Let us then but value these our Souls at a due and reasonable Rate and we shall not be apt to be seduced by unworthy Compliances to renounce or be ashamed of our highest Interest and to cast away our selves for ever Would we thus frequently think of and deeply consider the great Value and Interest of our immortal Souls it would happily secure our falling into so great an Evil and most effectually subdue all kind of Temptations to it unless Men were disposed to run themselves upon the most apparent Ruin and Destruction And this will bring me to a 3. Thing requisite thereunto A due and frequent Examination of our present Faith and Religion 'T is a duty plainly laid down and strictly injoyned by the Apostle 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates A firmness in Faith doth necessary imply a precious Knowledge and Understanding of it for we cannot be said to be withdrawn from what we do not first own and understand Now 't is much to be feared and suspected That too many who seem to be very Resolute and make a very great Noise about Faith and Religion do not rightly if at all conceive or apprehend what they mean by them For Men are apt to take up with Hear-say Education or the like Whereas that Faith is only and properly ours which we embrace upon our own Knowledge or Approbation And now to prevent or avoid the Evil before us let us duly weigh and consider how we are disposed and qualified in the great and weighty Matters of Religion There is much talk and a great noise made about it in the World But doth my Soul rightly apprehend or consider what is meant by it or what is the design of it Do I believe the Word of God and those great and mysterious Truths he hath discovered to me Am I afraid of his Judgments assured of his Promises and convinced of his Veracity in all Things Do I trust upon his Power Mercy and Goodness And am I assured of his just Anger and Severity Am I convinced and perswaded in the Truth and Excellency of those Things I profess to believe And is all this firmly fixed and rooted in my Soul Not in Word or in Tongue but in Deed and in Truth And do I believe with all my Heart with all my Soul and with all my Mind Hereupon