Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	work_n	work_v	wrong_a	15	3	9.4324	5	false

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 theâ—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 Gifâ—s of God that were long bâ—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 convenienâ— And so we should be sure to be cloathed with the Gâ—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 therefâ—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 plaâ—e of Righteousness and the Shield of Faâ—â—h and the Helmet of Salvaâ—ion and the Sword of thâ— 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 wenâ— 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 â—ain be saved buâ— 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 exprâ—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

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 Heavâ—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 Clâ—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 Boneâ— 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 nâ—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 purposâ—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 shoulâ— 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 sâ—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 Flâ—â— 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

Hearts and Consciences of such as are unconcerned and not partakers of the wrong here is the same Law For as God hath made the Hearts of the Inhabitants of the Earth alike Psalm 33. 14. So their Consciences are near alike until they become byassed and dipt in the same Sin and Guilt He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much Luke 16. 10. So it may be truly reasoned what is unjust in a less Matter is unjust also in a greater Matter And whereas it is further on If ye have not been faithful in that which is another Mans who shall give you that which is your own ver 12. from this same Similitude of words it may be again truly reasoned that he which gives Alms of Goods unjustly gotten he gives away another Man's and not his own And so he that takes or grasps more of lands or goods than of Right or Equity do belong to him he also gives that which is not his own but another Man's Do not your Hearts and Consciences assent that these things are so And so when the Lord cometh to judge the World with Righteousness and the People with his Truth Psal 96. 13. and the People with Equity Psal 98. 9. He will lay open many such like things as these from out of the whole Scriptures of Truth and applicable to all the doings of the Children of Men considered whether in Nations Families or single Persons Whatever mistakes in matters of Religion Men frame now unto themselves or whatever wrong imaginations they take up and receive into their Minds by which they are acted and do act for the Heart of every one of them is deep yet in all this Man may be and is deceived but God cannot be deceived The Lord will recompence to each one according to his Righteousness and according to the cleanness of his hands in his eye-sight By the way it is one thing to have ones hands clean in the sight of Man and another to be clean in the sight of God With the Vpright Man thou wâ—lt shew thy self Vpright now Uprightness signifies standing bolt upright without inclining or leaning or stooping or bending any way with the Pure thou wilt shew thy self Pure and with the Froward thou wilt shew the self Froward Psal 18. 24 26. As Cicero the Eloquent Orator did say Nihil tam absurdum est quod non dixerit aliquis Philosophorum holds true as to the Mulitude of the called Religious and outward Worshippers There is nothing so absurd but what some seeming Religious People have imagined or spoken or what some outward Worshippers or others have not practised So strangely and miserably hath Satan deceived and be-fooled poor Mankind both in the general and also in their several individual Persons Whereas Religion as it lies in the Book of the Lord especially the great things of the Law of God and the things to be done by us is the most reasonable and conceivable thing in the World But if we look upon it as it is in the Lives and Manners of Men it is altogether as perplext and we do not know what to make of it To hear all their several Notions and Sayings concerning it to see their Divisions for the Divisions of Reuben there was great thought and searching of heart to behold and observe how one is for this thing another for that some are for one part of the Word of God and others for another but few do care to take it whole as it lies all together And then farther to conceive of and see that infinite multiâ—ude and changes for it is rather so than any great variety of all the several Thoughts Words and Actions of all the numerous Inhabitants of the Earth which differ from one another as their several Faces though it be all made of the same Lump and Clay What shall we say as to all Why we are here in the Wilderness and under the Cloud We are in a Confusion Perplexity and in the dark until we come into the Sanctuary and see the end of those Men. Until we get out from the Multitude and go into our Chamber and are still and take up the Book of the Lord and read and that will set us right again Which will teach us in thy waâ— O Lord and lead us in a plain Path Psal 27. 11. Thy Word is Lamp unto my Feet and a Light unto my Path Psal 119. 103. and will be a sure Guide through this Earth towards Heaven As the Prophet Micah saith For all People will walk every one in the name of his God and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever Micah 4. 6. So I have several times thought within my self as I have beheld and observed People some going to the Church some to such and such Meeting Houses called by their several distinguiâ—hed names some to the Mass House others to the Jewish Synagogue And so if you conceive and in mind go over beyond the Seas and run throughout the several Sects and Sorts in Christendom And then there are divers sorts amongst the Mahometans Jews Proselites Gentiles Greeks Abyssines and of all Countries of the habitable parts of the Earth I have read that in some places they Worship Devils or Demons All these vast medly of Religions doth confirm the truth of this short Word of the Prophet All People will walk every one in the name of his God For who Worship the Devil they make the Devil their God But will all these Worshippers be saved No. Will then some few of all these sorts be saved It is hard to affirm that also For certainly they that Worâ— ship Devils or Demons will not be saved And inasmuch as all they are cursed and will be consounded who Worship Graven Images Stocks Sticks or Stones And Idolaters shall noâ— Iâ—herit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6. 9. but shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Bâ—imstone Rev. 21. 8. So that Idolatrous Worshippers who are knowing or who may be knowing and who continue therein shall not be saved It doth not belong to any Mortal Creature to determine who shall be saved or who shall be damned Bâ—t yet in our Preaching and Ministry we may make use of the Scripture words which say of one and of the other He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damâ—ed Mark 16. 20. All Judgment is the Lord's For he is Judge himself and he shall make a right Decision among his People And before him shall be gathered all Nations and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats They seem to run too hastily and to stick too much in the words of the outward Letter who at once damn all the Heathen World from that one saying of Peter Neither is there Salvation in any other for there is none other name under Heaven given among Men

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