Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
blood_n	will_n	work_n	work_v	473	4	6.4338	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A28372	Two useful cases resolved I. Whether a certainty of being in a state of salvation be attainable? II. What is the rule by which this certainty is to be attained?	Blechynden, Richard, 1647 or 8-1697.	1685 (1685)	Wing B3183; ESTC R15390	19,631	35

that were before pressing towards the Mark What is this but that he endeavour'd to grow persevere in his virtuous course lest by his after-negligence he might lose the Prize Thus I have given a particular Answer to the principal Scruples and Objections that may arise in some good persons minds And now in short I shall give a General One to them altogether which will deaden the force of many more that are not so considerable nor so close to my present Subject the mentioning of which would have swell'd this Tract beyond its designed bounds My general Answer is this Those considerations that would have overthrown the Peace of Conscience the Joy and the Comfort of the most Godly man that ever was and that would make our Saviours Yoke extreme uneasie they ought not to move any man Nay they themselves are faults if they do disturb us for they lessen our Notion of Gods and our Saviours Mercy and detract from the Goodness of the Covenant we are under Not but that a good man ought to strive against these smaller sins nay if he does not he will find they will lead him insensibly into greater But if he disquiets himself because he has not wholly conquer'd them he is to blame Since there are degrees of Glory and Happiness the higher our Performances the greater our Improvements of our Talents the less we have of Infirmities the nearer we approach to the Persections of the Almighty and consequently the more we shall partake of the Happiness with which he is blessed for evermore But if we do not reach the utmost height that Humane Nature is capable of though that were to be wished if we bury not our Talent in a Napkin if we are not among the bad and slothful Servants we shall as certainly enter into the Joy of our Lord as he that had the Ten Cities alloted him though by reason of our smaller proficiency we shall have a lower place assign'd us In the Invisible as well as the Visible Heavens there are Stars of a greater and a smaller Magnitude and these are as much in Heaven though they are not so High Thus I hope I have given satisfaction to the Doubts and Scruples that men are apt to question their Salvation upon tho' they have lived for a long time in a conscientious discharge of their duty without the commission of any one Wilful Sin And by doing of this I have proved even to the Doubting Christian that the Rule I have lay'd down is sufficient to secure any mans Salvation What has been said may serve also as a proof that we may certainly know our State to Godwards if we will carefully endeavour it For 't is chiefly the fore-going Objections that make men think it difficult if not impossible But there remains one sort of Objections against this Certainty and perhaps necessary to be answer'd They are taken from the words of the Prov. c. 20. v. 9. Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from sin As also from those of the Psalmist In thy sight no man living shall be justified And of Job 9.20 If I justifie my self my own mouth shall condemn me These and many more such passages signifie only this That we are all sinners and that if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us And that therefore we all stand in need of the Mercy of God and the Merits of our Saviour Now if good men may certainly know that both these belong to them as they may by the holiness of their Lives the fore-going Texts may teach us humility and the necessity of Faith in Christ but are far from overthrowing the Certainty I contend for III. There remains only one thing more to prove my Rule to deserve that name which is that it is plain and easie such as every man of common sense may apply to himself which is the third and last thing to be done Of which briefly If we have been guilty of any Crime through the violence of our Passions we are so far from being ignorant of it that it will haunt us day and night it will speak louder than the noises of the world and will thrust it self into our most secret retirements it will surprize us like the Passion that occasion'd it and we cannot get rid of it would we never so fain Then for wilful sins they are of like nature they will be constantly upbraiding us and flying in our faces And then if we have any sense of Gods Displeasure if we have any serious Concern for Eternal Happiness they will Both hunt us from place to place till they have driven us into the shelter of a severe Repentance And this being done who cannot tell whether for a long time together he has diligently avoided the like dangerous sins Whether he has lived Righteously Soberly and Godly in this present world not offending against his Duty to God or Man He that has lived thus why should he the least doubt of his good Estate why should not he give Peace and Comfort to his Soul since he has a Merciful God to deal withal since at the Right hand of God he has an High Priest that feels his Infirmities and who has also told him that his Yoke is easie and his Burden is light From what has been said 't is plain that they who obey God as to the generality of their Actions but yet for the gratifying of a Lust or the promoting an Interest now and then venture upon a sinful Action 't is plain I say that they can make no advantage of this my Rule but to let them see the dangerousness of their Condition For they are still out of the Kingdom of Heaven though they are not far from it For they resemble not the Merchant that parted with all he had to purchase the Pearl of great price they seem not to prefer Christ before all things nor to esteem their own Happiness hereafter above any Temporal and Sensual Good But that we may manifest our selves to be such not only to our selves but to all the world let us be careful to learn the whole compass of our Duty and then diligent in the Performance of it not falling into any either Heinous or Deliberate sin and striving against our Infirmities tho' we can never wholly subdue them For which end let us beg the God of Peace that brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the Sheep by the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant to make us perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever FINIS