Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
blood_n	abel_n	city_n	slay_v	405	4	7.3904	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26892	A Christian directory, or, A summ of practical theologie and cases of conscience directing Christians how to use their knowledge and faith, how to improve all helps and means, and to perform all duties, how to overcome temptations, and to escape or mortifie every sin : in four parts ... / by Richard Baxter.	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1673 (1673)	Wing B1219; ESTC R21847	2,513,132	1,258

consciences and obey their God while they do no hurt to any others If they had deserved execution an ingenuous nature would not be forward to be their executioner Much more when they deserve encouragement and imitation It is no honour to be numbered with blood-thirsty men § 15. 8. It is a sin that hath so little of commodity honour or pleasure to invite men to it that maketh it utterly without excuse and sheweth that the serpentine nature is the cause Gen. 3. 15. What get men by shedding the blood of innocents or silencing the faithful Preachers of the Gospel What sweetness could they find in cruelty if a malitious nature made it not sweet § 16. 9. It is a sin which men have as terrible warnings against from God as any sin in the world that I can remember 1. In Gods threatnings 2. In sad examples and Judgements in this life even on posterity 3. And in the infamy that followeth the Names of Persecutors when they are dead § 17. 1. How terrible are those words of Christ Matth. 18. 6. But who so shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the Sea How terrible is that character which Paul giveth of the Jews 1 Thess. 2. 15 16. Who both killed the Lord Iesus and their own Prophets and have persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their sins alwayes for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost Such terrors against persecutors are so common through the Scriptures that it would be tedious to recite them § 18. 2. And for examples the captivity first and afterward the casting off of the Jews may serve in stead of many 2 Chron. 36. 16. But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy And of their casting off see Mat. 23. 37 38. O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how oft would I have gathered thy children together as a Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not behold your house is left unto you desolate And vers 34 35 36. Behold I send unto you Prophets and wise men and Scribes and some of them ye shall kill and crucifie and some of them shall ye scourge in your Synagogues and persecute them from City to City that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar Verily I say unto you all these things shall come on this generation To give you the particular examples of Gods judgements against Persecutors and their posterity after them would be a Voluminous work You may find them in the Holy Scriptures and the Churches Martyrologies § 19. 3. And by a marvellous providence God doth so over-rule the tongue of fame and the pens of Historians and the thoughts of men that commonly the names of Persecutors stink when they are dead yea though they were never so much honoured and flattered while they were alive What odious names are the names of Pharaoh Ahab Pilate Herod Nero Domitian Dioclesian c. What a name hath the French Massacre left on Charles the ninth And the English persecution on Queen Mary And so of others throughout the world Yea what a blot leaveth it on Asa Amaziah or any that do but hurt a Prophet of the Lord The eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews and all the Mar●yrologies that are written to preserve the name of the witnesses of Christ are all the records of the impity and the perpetual shame of those by whom they suffered Even Learning and Wisdom and common Virtue hath got that estimation in the nature of man that he that persecuteth but a Seneca a Cicero a Demosthenes or a Socrates hath irrecoverably wounded his reputation to posterity and left his name to the hatred of all succeeding ages Prov. 10. 7. The memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot § 20. 4. The persecution of Godliness as such in Ministers or private Christians is one of the most visible undoubted marks of one that is yet unsanctified and in a state of sin and condemnation For it sheweth most clearly the predominancy of the Scrpentine nature in the persecutor Though Asa in a pievish fit may imprison the Prophet and those Christians that are engaged in a Sect or party may in a sin●ul zeal be injurious to those of the contrary party and yet there may remain some roots of uprightness within Yet he that shall set himself to hinder the Gospel and the serious practice of Godliness in the world and to that end hinder or persecute the Preachers and Professors and Practisers of it hath the plainest mark of a child of the Devil and the most visible brand of the wrath of God upon his soul of any sort of men on earth If there might be any hope of grace in him that at present doth but neglect or disobey the Gospel and doth not himself live a godly life as indeed there is not yet there can be no possibility that he should have grace at that present who hateth and opposeth it and that he should be justified by the Gospel who persecuteth it and that he should be a godly man who setteth himself against the godly and seeketh to destroy them § 21. 11. And it is a far more heinous sin in a Professed Christian than in an Infidel or Heathen For th●se do according to the darkness of their Education and the interest of their party and the principles of their own profession But for a professed Christian to persecute Christianity and one that pro●●ss●th to believe the Gospel to persecute the Preachers and serious practisers of the doctrine of the Gospel this is so near that sin which is commonly said to be the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost that it is not easie to perceive a difference and if I did consent to that description of the unpardonable sin I should have little hope of the conversion of any one of these But however they make up such a mixture of Hypocrisie and Impiety and Cruelty as sheweth them to exceed all ordinary sinners in malignity and misery They are a self-condemned sort of men Out of their own mouths will God condemn them They profess themselves to believe in God and yet they persecute those that serve him They dare not speak against the preaching and practising of the doctrine o● Godliness directly and in plain expressions and yet they persecute them and cannot endure them They fight against the interest and Law of God the Father

Love of God and therefore it is Best 20. The grand impediment to all Religion and our Salvation which hindereth both our Believing Loving and Obeying is the inordinate sensual inclination to Carnal self and present transitory things cunningly proposed by the Tempter to ensnare us and divert and steal away our hearts from God and the life to come The understanding of these Propositions will much help you in discerning thr Nature and Reason of Religion DIRECT II. Diligently labour in that part of the life of faith which consisteth in the constant use of Christ as the Means of the souls access to God acceptance with him and comfort from him And think not of coming to the Father but by him § 1. TO talk and boast of Christ is easie and to use him for the increase of our carnal security and boldness in sinning But to live in the daily Use of Christ to those Ends of his Office to which he is by us to be made use of is a matter of greater skill and diligence than many self 〈…〉 Professors are aware of What Christ himself hath done or will do for our salvation is ●●●● directly the thing that we are now considering of but what Use he requireth us to make of him Paul S●aiiger Thes. p. 725. Christus solus quidem secundum utramque naturam di 〈…〉 Id. p 725. in the life of saith He hath told us that his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed and that except we eat his flesh and drink his blood we have no life in us Here is our Use of Christ expressed by eating and drinking his flesh and blood which is by faith The General parts of the work of Redemption Christ hath himself performed for us without asking our Consent or impos●●g upon us any Condition on our parts without which he would not do that work As the Sun doth illustrate and warm the earth whether it will or not and as the Rain falleth on the Grass without asking whether it consent or will be thankful so Christ without our consent or knowledge did take our nature and fulfill the Law and satisfie the offended Law-giver and Merit grace and conqu●● Satan Death and Hell and became the Glorified Lord of all But for the exercise of his graces in us and our advancement to communion with God and our living in the strength and joyes of faith he is himself the Object of our Duty even of that Faith which we must daily and diligently exercise upon him And thus Christ will profit us no further than we make Use of him by faith It is not a forgotten Christ that objectively comforteth or encourageth the soul but a Christ believed in and skilfully and faithfully Used to that end It is Objectively principally that Christ is called Our wisdom 1 Cor. 1. 30. The knowledge of him and the mysteries of Grace in him is the Christian or Divine Philosophy or Wisdom in opposition to the vain Philosophy which the Learned Heathens boasted of And therefore Paul determined to know nothing but Christ crucified that is to make oftentation of no other knowledge and to glory in nothing but the Cross of Christ and so to preach Christ as if he kn●w nothing else but Christ. See 1 Cor. 1. 23. 2. 2. Gal. 6. 14. And it is Objectively that Christ is said to dwell in our hearts by faith Ephes. 3. 17. Faith keepeth him still upon the heart by continual cogitation application and improvement As a friend is said to dwell in our hearts whom we continually love and think of § 2. Christ himself teacheth us to distinguish between Faith in God as God and faith in himself Namqu●●mp●●●●n● involute non ●●●●haec so●um sed q●●●●unqu● Divinae ●●e●ae pr●dunt credit de quibus tamen n●n omnibus interr●gatur quod e● expresse ●●i●e omnia illi minime opus sit omnia 5. c 6. p. 461. Christian Religion beginneth not at the Highest but the Lowest with Christ incarnate teaching dying ●●●● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 1●1 out of I●●t●r as Mediator John 14. 1. Let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God or Believe ye in God ● believe also in me These set together are the sufficient cure of a troubled heart It is not Faith in God as God but Faith in Christ as Mediator that I am now to speak of And that not as it is inherent in the understanding but as it is operative on the heart and in the life And this is not the smallest part of the life of faith by which the just are said to live Every true Christian must in his measure be able to say with Paul Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me The Pure Godhead is the Beginning and the End of all But Christ is the Image of the invisible God the first born of every creature and by him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things do consist And he is the Head of the Body the Church who is the beginning the first born from the dead that in all things he might have the preheminence Col. 1. 16 17 18 19. In him it is that we who were sometime far off are made nigh even by his blood For he is our Peace who hath rec●n●iled both Iew and Gentile unto God in one body by the Cross having slain the ●n●ity thereby and came and preached peace to them that were far off and to them that were ●ig● For through him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father so that now we are no more i● 〈…〉 s and for●●igners but fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Ephes. 2. 1● ●●●●●●6 17 18. In him it is that we have beldness and access with confidence through faith in him Ep● ●●●●● He is the Way the Truth and the Life and no man cometh to the Father but by him John 14. 6. It is by the blood of Iesus that we have boldness and liberty ● to enter into the holiest by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the vail that is to say his flesh Because we have so Great a Priest over the House of God we may draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith c. Heb. 10. 19 20 21 22. By him it is that we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and boast in hope of the Glory of God Rom. 5. 1 2. So that we must have all our Communion with God through him § 3. Supposing what I

do it And so sweet is Revenge to their furious nature as the damning of men is to the Devil that Revenged they will be though they lose their souls by it And the impotency and baseness of their spirits is such that they say Flesh and blood is unable to bear it § 11. 10. Another cause of murder is a wicked impatience with neer relations and a hatred of those that should be most dearly loved Thus many men and women have murdered their Wives and Husbands when either Adulterous Lust hath given up their hearts to another or a cross impatient discontented mind hath made them seem intollerable burdens to each other And then the Devil that destroyed their love and brought them thus far will be their teacher in the rest and shew them how to ease themselves till he hath led them to the Gallows and to Hell How necessary is it to keep in the way of duty and abhor and suppress the beginnings of sin § 12. 11. And sometimes Covetousness hath caused Murder when one man desireth another mans estate Thus Ahab came by Naboth's Vineyards to his cost And many a one desireth the death of another whose estate must fall to him at the others death Thus many a Child in heart is guilty of the murder of his Parents though he actually commit it not Yea a secret gladness when they are dead doth shew the guilt of some such desire● while they were living And the very abatement of such moderate mourning as natural affection should procure because the estate is thereby come to them as the heirs doth shew that such are far from innocent Many a Iudas for Covetousness hath betrayed another Many a false witness for Covetousness hath sold anothers life Many a Thief for Covetousness hath taken away anothers life to get his money And many a Covetous Landlord hath longed for his Tenants death and been glad to hear of it And many a Covetous Souldier hath made a trade of killing men for Money So true is it that the Love of money is the root of all evil and therefore is one cause of this § 13. 12. And Ambition is too common a Cause of Murder among the great ones of the World How many have dispatched others out of the World because they stood in the way of their advancement For a long time together it was the ordinary way of Rising and dying to the Roman and Greek Emperours for one to procure the murder of the Emperour that he might usurp his Seat and then to be so murdered by another himself And every Souldier that looked for preferment by the change was ready to be an instrument in the fact And thus hath even the Roman seat of his Mock Holiness for a long time and oft received its Successours by the poison or other murdering of the possessours of the desired place And alas how many thousand hath that See devoured to defend its Universal Empire under the name of the spiritual Headship of the Church How many unlawful Wars have they raised or cherished even against Christian Emperours and Kings How many thousands have been Massacred How many Assassinate as Hen. 3. and Hen. 4. of France Besides those that fires and Inquisitions have consumed And all these have been the flames of Pride Yea when their fellow-Sectaries in Munster and in England the Anabaptists and Seekers have catcht some of their proud disease it hath workt in the same way of blood and cruelty § 14. 2. But besides these twelves great sins which are the nearest cause of Murder there are many more which are yet greater and deeper in nature which are the Roots of all especially these 1. The first cause is the want of true Belief of the Word of God and the judgement and punishment to come and the want of the Knowledge of God himself Atheism and Infidelity 2. Hence cometh the want of the true Fear of God and subjection to his holy Laws 3. The predominance of selfishness in all the unsanctified is the radical inclination to murder and all the injustice that is committed 4. And the want of Charity or Loving our Neighbour as our selves doth bring men neer to the execution and leaveth little inward restraint § 15. By all this you may see how this sin must be prevented and let not any man think it a needless work Thousands have been guilty of murder that once thought themselves as far from it as you 1. The soul must be possessed with the Knowledge of God and the true Belief of his Word and judgement 2. Hereby it must be possessed of the Fear of God and subjection to him 3. And the Love of God must mortifie the power of selfishness 4. And also much possess us with a true Love to our neighbours yea and enemies for his sake 5. And the twelve fore-mentioned causes of murder will thus be destroyed at the Root § 16. II. And some further help it will be to understand the Greatness of this sin Consider therefore 1. It is an unlawful destroying not only a Creature of God but one of his noblest Creatures upon earth Even one that beareth at least the natural Image of God Gen. 9. 5 6. And surely your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require it and at the hand of man at the hand of every mans brother will I require the life of man whoso sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man Yea God will not only have the beast slain that killeth a man but also forbiddeth there the eating of blood v. 4. that man might not be accustomed to cruelty 2. It is the opening a door to confusion and all calamity in the World For if one man may kill another without the sentence of the Magistrate another may kill him and the world will be like Mastiffs or mad Dogs turned all loose on one another kill that kill can 3. If it be a wicked man that is killed it is the sending of a soul to Hell and cutting off his time of Repentance and his hopes If it be a Godly man it is a depriving of the World of the blessing of a profitable member and all that are about him of the benefits of his goodness and God of the service which he was here to have performed These are enough to infer the dreadful consequents to the Murderer which are such as these III. 1. It is a sin which bringeth so great a guilt that if it be repented of and pardoned yet Conscience very hardly doth ever attain to peace and quietness in this World And if it be unpardoned it is enough to make a man his own Executioner and tormenter 2. It is a sin that seldome scapeth vengeance in this life If the Law of the Land take not away their lives as God appointeth Gen. 9. 6. God useth to follow them with his extraordinary Plagues and causeth their sin