Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	work_n	work_v	writer_n	25	3	7.7865	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93757	Six several sermons preached on Isaiah, 38. I. Wherein that great duty of setting our body and soul in order, for we shall die, is at large opened and explained Wherein also many divine truths are made known relating to the same matter; and now published, because of the exceeding importance and concernment of this subject unto all people whatsoever.	Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.	1696 (1696)	Wing S5135; ESTC R230779	115,810	178

unless to settle Temporal Affairs from the Example of Hezekiah in the Text which as it will by and by appear in the further prosecution of our Discourse the●eon hath a further Meaning and Intention herein there is little said concerning Preparation for Death The Holy Ghost thereby signifying that the only Preparation for Death is by an Obedient and Holy Life by ordering our Conversation aright Psal 50. 23. and as it becometh the Gospel of Christ Phil. 1. 27. according to the tenour and requiring of all the words contained in the Bible Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand Rev. 1. 3. But if thou wilt enter into life that is the Future and Eternal Life keep the Commandments Mat. 19. 17. which Commandments Statutes and Judgments we should observe to do in the Land which the Lord God of our Fathers giveth us to possess it all the days that we live upon the earth Deut. 12. 1. Besides this the Scriptures make mention of no other Preparation for Death I have read that it is a Proverbial Saying among the Jews and there is a great deal of Truth contained in those old Proverbs The Sacraments and Death require one and the same preparation that is in the Language and Direction of the Gospel to trim our Lamps Mat. 25. 7. that is to put them in a readiness and posture of little more Brightness and Burning for there was Oyl in them before for want whereof the Foolish Virgins were condemned and excluded from entring in with the Bridegroom even so we should not have Grace and Holiness for to get then but have them gotten before and only furbish up and make a little more Bright and Eminent the Graces and Gif●s of God that were long b●fore in us But now we are just ready to come forth to meet with our God they should be a little more furbished and made brighter than ordinary for to have the acceptation and well pleasing of God The fine Linnen the Righteousness of Saints Rev. 19. must be sure to be gotten and had long before yea and it is there said It should be kept clean and white But if it can be washed and made cleaner and whiter than ordinary just as we meet the Lord our Righteousness this will be comely and convenien● And so we should be sure to be cloathed with the G●rment of Salvation and with the Robe of Righteousness all along but because this Garment and Robe will be apt to gather some dust and filth whilst we are amidst the Corruption and Pollution in the World through Lust therefore it will be here meet and congruous to get them brushed up scoured and rubbed just as we appear before the Lord God who hath cloathed us with them And as a Souldier should always have his Arms by him but perhaps they may contract Rust or Foulness theref●re they are to be scoured up just as he goes forth to Exercise and Use them even so it should be as to our having and putting on the whole Armour of God A Christian should always have by him and on him the Breast pla●e of Righteousness and the Shield of Fa●●h and the Helmet of Salva●ion and the Sword of th● Spirit Eph. 6. 14 16 17. But then more especially is he to look to it that all this Armour be good and serviceable or at least it should be rendred so when he comes to withstand with it in the evil Day Truly this is a Point of great Weight and had need be very well observed and attended unto For the general Mistake among People is which hath destroyed Thousands and Ten Thousands just like that of the Foolish Virgins in Mat. 27. which take their Lamps but no Oil with them and whilst the Bridegroom tarries they all slumber and sleep and then they are awaked on a sudden by the Bridegroom 's coming and then they have their Oil to get And whilst they go to buy the Bridegroom comes and they that were ready wen● in with him to the Marriage and the door was shut Afterwards when it was too late came also the other Virgins saying Lord Lord open to us But he answered and said Verily I say unto you I know you not Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh And so is the common Errour of many People every one would ●ain be saved bu● then they would work out their own Salvation when they have not Time for it and when it is too late Whereas they might yea and they should have done it before I testifie unto all such see to it that ye be wise in time Whereas Jesus Christ saith I must work the works of him that sent me while it is called to day the night cometh when no man can work But these foolish and deceived People would contradict and reverse that for they neglect working whilst it is Day and put it off to that time when they cannot work In truth Satan who works with all deceivableness in them that perish doth suggest those false Thoughts and Imaginations in those mistaken and miserable Souls I am sure the words of our Text doth advise and direct them otherwise if they will give through heed and consideration thereto For besides that Heaven is very well worth labouring all the Days of our Life for and there can never be too much done to avoid Hell They might this know that when their strength is firm Psal 73. 4. they are sick unto Death And they must dye one time or another as sure as they now live And so they might have taken and done throughout all their foregoing Life according to the exhortation in the close of our Text Set thine House in order for thou shalt dye and not live To use a not much unlike Reafoning as is in Rom. 10. 6 7 8. Deut. 30. 11 12 13. The plain Doctrine and Instruction which is delivered here it is not hidden from thee neither is it afar off that there is need only of some extraordinary Prophet who can foretel future Unseen Unthought of Unexpected Events For such a message as this Thou shalt dye and not live the meanest Laick or most common Person knows altogether as well as well as the greatest Prophet or Preacher or to expr●ss it according to those titles wherein some are now a days dignified and distinguished as the greatest Bishop Dean or Doctor or as the most learned Person And as we sensibly find that things are apt to be in a confusion or some disorder upon the death or departure of any Person So the natural Inference or Thought arises yea common reason teacheth the same even to set them in order and prevent as much before-hand that disorder which otherwise would follow and ensue thereupon There is no great need of another immediate Revelation from Heaven for this for God hath already

Scripture way of writing is not so much liked of and received by the Wise and Disputer of this World or by those who would be thought ●earned according to Mode and Fashion Yet all other Books and Sermons whether they steal every Man his word from his Neighbour and borrow it from other Mens Writings or if it be the meer Product of their own Wit and Knowledge if it doth not arise from and is bottomed on this Pillar and Ground of Truth it is all but as so much Chaff in comparison to the Wheat I have more Vnderstanding than all my Teachers for thy Testimonies are my Meditation I understand more than the Antients because I keep thy Precepts Many People think that they have the least need of Books of any thing in the World but they must necessarily have Food and Raiment for the Body or Physick against or in the time of Sickness But if such had Faith and Knowledge they would apprehend that when the Commandment of God is Buy the Truth and sell it not also Wisdom and Instruction and Vnderstanding Prov. 23. 23. It was equally and alike necessary to buy such Books which contain Propositions of Truth and Wisdom and Instruction and Vnderstanding as to buy Food and Raiment for the Body or the things which Minister unto sensual Pleasure For the Incorruptible Seed of the Word doth all one feed up the Soul unto Eternal Life and is as necessary for her unto this end as Meat and Drink doth feed and nourish the Body and preserve it in Temporal Life The Word and Truth of God being that Bread which cometh down from Heaven and giveth Life unto the World So that it is the best way of laying out our Money for that which is Bread indeed As so it will appear when People must give account for every Talent received and how they used and expended the same Hereby also may be justified the Wisdom of our Nation in giving a settled and established Maintenance to such as Preach Sermons and also herein the Labourer is worthy of his Hire Luk. 10. 7. If they did divide the Word of Truth aright giving to every Man his Portion Tho' here again is need of a distinguishing Judgment which can separate between the Precious and the Vile But he that is Spiritual Judgeth all things To know and discern between what Books are really Good to the Use of Edifying and what are not so as to receive the one and reject the other He that hath my Word let him speak my Word faithfully What is the Chaff to the Wheat saith the Lord Jer. 23. 28. As all Scripture is profitable so all Divine Truth is profitable and such Books as contain most of this sort and affect the Heart and Conscience Instructing and Exhorting the Soul to the Things which belong to her Peace and how to make her Calling and Election sure these are to be preferred before all others and accordingly those People do think so who are renewed in the Spirit of their Mind and take delight in the Things of God I had rather be faithful to him that appointed yea and employed me in the Ministration of his Word as Moses was faithful in all his House As we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel even so we speak not as pleasing Men the but God who trieth the Hearts although for this cause my Books should be rejected by the Multitude of this Hypocritical and Corrupt World for the Time is now come when they will not endure sound Doctrine Then seek to please Men for if I yet pleased Men I should not be the Servant of Christ and so have my Writings received and approved off by them But I do not altogether so much Regard the Censure of Men for surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God Isa 49. 4. which Work may be nevertheless Good and Right and Acceptable in his sight although as to the outward and visible success thereof I have seemed to labour in vain I have spent my strength for nought and in vain It is one thing to be worldly wise but another to be wise unto Salvation As Balaam said Behold I have received Commandment to Bless and he hath blessed and I cann●t reverse it So we ought to assert the Commandments and Sayings of God in the very same manner as they stand Recorded in his Statute Book the Bible and not otherwise However too many do corrupt and handle the Word of God deceitfully by their Prophesying not right Things but smooth Things and Deceits Yet sti●l they cannot Rev●rse it So as to alter the Truth and Signification thereof nor yet to make one tit●le of the Law to fail T is not so much what true Prophets or Writers preach or make known not yet at all what false Prophets or Writers preach or pretend to make known but whom the Word of God who is judge himself Psal 50. 6. Blesseth they are Blessed and he or they whom the Word of God Curseth they are Cursed THE CONTENTS The Contents of the First Sermon ALL People in the midst of Health and Age are Sick unto Death Page 3. The true and right preparation for Death is by a constant course of Righteousness and Holiness all the Days of our Life p. 7. From that Branch of the Text Isaiah the Prophet the Son of Amos came unto him and said It is discoursed against the Non-hearers or Rejecters of the Word of God p. 12. Grace and Holiness are Principles of Immortality and Eternal Life abiding in us whilst we are in this dying Body p. 19. The Vse and Application of this Sermon is If we have served God a little in the foregoing part of our Life to serve him much towards the close and period thereof p. 21. The Contents of the Second Sermon To set our House in Order doth denote to set our Outward Estate in Order to set our Body in Order but chiefly to set our Soul in Order p. 25. The Resurrection clearly proved from those words of dying Joseph God shall surely visit you p. 29. To set the Body in Order is to have it ordered according to God's Word which requires directs and enables that it become free from sin and that Holiness be engrafted into it p. 36. A Digression wherein is shewed the very Reason why God Almighty is so often stiled the Lord of Hosts in the Old Testament especially The Greatness of God and of his Works of Creation is somewhat described p. 42 43. To set the Soul in an Order is that it be in a readiness and that nothing be wanting in her p. 46. The Contents of the Third Sermon Throughout which is Discoursed of that Principal and Essential Thing wanting in the Souls of Men that they do not lay aside every Weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset them and that they do not Resist unto Blood striving against Sin And that they do not strip themselves off from

Bed God shall surely Visit you it might at first seem an hard matter to make it out from thence Which notwithstanding will easily and clearly appear if we attend unto and consider throughly that Reasoning and Inference which lies as it were hidden within those very words For though indeed and in truth these words according to the intent and meaning of Joseph when he then spake them were a prophecy and foretelling that God would bring the Children of Israel from out of the Land of Egypt the House of Bondage unto that good Land the Land of Canaan which he had promised and Sworn unto Abram that begat them that he would do But as the Apostle saith by the Spirit concerning what befel the Sons of Jacob and Joseph All those things happened to them in a Figure So what God did and the several things Recorded of them they are a Shew and Representation to us they are a Type and Signification that as the Lord God the Creator and Preserver yea and the Restorer of Mankind did lead forth the Children of Israel from out of Egypt through the Wilderness into the Land of Promise So he did before that time and hath ever since and doth continue to do so at this Day to lead all the Generations yea and single Persons of Men and Women of every Nation Countrey and Language from and throughout this Earth unto the Land of Promise the Heavenly Canaan either to the New Heav●n and New Earth where dwelleth Righteousness or else to the Land of Darkness of Dragons and Scorpions where the Shadow of Death and no Light is the Inhabitation of Sin and Misery Where every Son and Daughter of Men and all the descendants from Adam and Eve shall be after that we shall Die and are removed from hence But now I come to that inward Reasoning and Inference which lies couched and included within those words of Joseph and Reader do thou observe it When we Die it is evidently seen that the Soul and Breath vanisheth and goes away and seems to be nothing at all And so the Body or House of Cl●y putrifies and turns into common Earth and undistinguishable Dust and consequently as good as nothing or as nothing as to a Reasonable and Living Creature Now what is absolutely nothing cannot be properly the Object of God's care and concern and what is not simply nothing or as it were nothing he doth not neither so much mind Because that as God is a Being or rather the Foundation Root Centre and Comprehensive of all Beings he containing all things that are in himself As the Divinely Inspired Psalmist saith His tender Mercy is over all his Works So of necessity it must be his work or being for to engage God's Conservation care and concern about it As we learn from Heb. 12. 26. Every least Word or Particle of Scripture is observable for from out of it may be gathered some Truth and Signification So that when we Read Therefore Sprang there even of one and him as good as Dead Heb. 11 12. From hence we may Reason and infer that when any one is Dead he is then as we commonly say as good as nothing And inasmuch as God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living therefore when Joseph spake thus by the Spirit God shall surely Visit you both himself included when he was just giving up the Ghost as also his Brethren who were to Die a little afterwards hereby must be meant and understood as the last End and Event of things will most fully prove and manifest it that God would both speak unto and also do somewhat for his Creatures after that they are Dead and gone and that is no other but to raise up to Life again what before was Dead and to give it a Being what before had no being or at least as good as no Being Our selves whilst here in life do not usually go into the Grave or into a Charnel House to Visit Dry Bone● for when our friends and acquaintance are once Dead if we are perhaps invited and go to their Funeral and accompany their Corps to the Ground there is an end of all Visits as to them And also unless we are Dumb or Mute or Ideots we n●ver make a visit to any one but we talk somewhat or another to him And also when we Read of a Duty implied of Visiting and Ministring unto those that are Sick or in Prison Mat. 25. 43 44. We may from thence learn that the end of all Visits unto People seeing that much time is Squandred away herein amongst Rich People to impertinent talk and impertinent purpos●s should be to be helpful one to another For they in Sickness or in Prison cannot so well help themselves or to edifie one another Either to ask or Minister help shoul● be the End of all Visits Though here again the Humour and manner of this Corrupt World is to say unto such as are in Want or Distress Depart in peace be you warm and filled But notwithstanding they give them not those things which are needful to the Body what doth it profit James 2. 16. What do all their good and pitiful words signify which cost them nothing People are very free of them and of their fruitless Wishes when they Visit People in Imprisonment or in Distress Or they spend their Time in some vain worldly Talk without dropping one Word of Godly and Divine Conversation But as God is infinitely greater and better than Man so his Visits do as much differ from and proportionably excel theirs in Help and Benefit For whereas Man says and doth not which is sometimes for want of Power and more commonly through Dissimulation or for want of Will God both says and doth Our Good and Gracious God doth most effectually answer the true end of all Visits For he never makes a Visit where it is understood in a way of Love and Friendship for the Scripture also makes mention of God's Visiting in a way of Anger and Punishment as Jer. 5. 9. Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord Shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this But either he doth some good thing or some helpful thing to those he visits With God to say and to do is one and the same thing For he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast For hath he said and shall it not come to pass Yes as surely as he ever s●id though most commonly the one may be according to his own Divine Method some Thousands of Years before the other From all which hath been aforesaid on this Argument put together it may be evidently concluded That whereas God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who ordered and decreed him to be put to death in the Fl●● but quickned by the Spirit by which also he went and preached to the Spirits in Prison 1 Pet. 3. 18 19. shall surely visit all the Children of Men who