Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
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A76814
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Living truths in dying times: Some meditations (upon Luk. 21.30. [sic]) occasioned by the present judgement of the plague. / By Thomas Blake.
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Blake, Thomas.
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1665
(1665)
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Wing B3146A; ESTC R223024
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90,620
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229
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in his day will have to do with both It will not be as it is in outward calamity in which the body falls onely but Christ will sit in judgement upon the inward man also And therefore it is said in Mat. 23. Fear not him that can kill the body onely but him that can cast both body and soul into hell Christ is able to reach souls as well as â—odies and he will make it known that he is able to do it in the day of Christ 6. Common calamity and the day of Christ differ upon this account if in outward calamities upon the body any sin be brought to remembrance it is not such a bringing sin to remembrance as shall be in the day of Christ I confess in days of outward calamity there is a bringing of sin to remembrance but not such as shall be in the day of Christ God did bring sin to Jobs remembrance in the time of his calamity Job 13.26 Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth This was the case of poor Job he was under outward afflictions and God also did set home some sin upon his soul and brought that to remembrance And this was also the case of David Look upon my pain saies he and forgive me my sin and therefore he prays in another verse Forgive me the sins of my youth In his affliction God made him remember the sins of his youth but in the day of Christ there will be another kind of bringing sin to our remembrance then there is in any calamity whatsoever All the sinners sins shall then be presented to him at once with all their aggravations with every circumstance attending it and what dread what confusion will it bring upon the heart when it shall be at this pass Psal 50.21 These things thou hast done and I kept silence and thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thy self but I will set them in order before thee Now the great day of setting them in order it will be the day of Christ that will be the special season when the Lord will set them in order before the soul 7. Farther there is this difference In outward calamities God deals secretly with men but in the day of Christ he will deal with them in the sight of the whole world In a calamity God deals secretly and cuts off a sinner now and then and there is no great noise about it but in the day of Christ he will deal with them in the sight of all now the publikeness or solemnity of an action makes it the more eminent and terrible It puts a great deal more of dread and terror into the malefactor to be tryed and executed in the face of the Country the solemnity increaseth the terror Oh my friends when you come to stand before the Son of man you shall stand also before men and Angels the work of that day shall not be done in a corner but whole heaven and earth shall be spectators and witnesses of what is done and what passes in that day and therefore it is said in that forementioned place Rev. 20.12 I saw the dead both small and great standing before the Lord they were all standing before God Mat. 25.31 32. The Son of man shall come in his glory and all his holy Angels with him the whole host of Angels shall be present And what more And before him shall be gathered all nations This shall be a great appearance and in the sight of God Angels and men all shall be done at that day and in that respect there is a great deal of difference 8 There is a great deal of difference upon this account as for common calamities it is possible they may be escaped you may live in the midst of Gods judgements and yet be preserved yea possibly a sinner for the sake of some that fear the Lord may be preserved in a common calamity as was Noahs case he and his wife and his sons and their wives all escaped the flood but it was Noah was the righteous person the rest were given in for his sake it may be a righteous soul beggs preservation for some poor sinners or other and for their sakes God gives them a preservation but none can be indulged in the day of Christ every one must then fall under the sentence that shall be pronounced by Christ whatever it be There is no way to prevail for indulgence for thy absence at that day Heb. 9.27 It is appointed for all men once to dye and after that the judgement good and bad all must pass through the gate of death and must all appear before the judgement-seat of Christ and as the wise man speaks of death so may I speak of succeeding judgement Eccl. 8.8 No man hath power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that war so may I say No man hath power in the day of Christ and there is no discharge from that war Thou must ride out that storm and see and bear the worst of it for thou must appear before the judgement-seat of Christ 9. There is yet this difference some that fall under a common calamity suppose this of the Plague God takes away their reason so that they do not feel the dread of it it is no more to them nor are they sensible of any more pain then those that are in health and strength but in the day of Christ we shall all stand before him in our sences we shall then know and understand and feel what the weight and dread and majesty of Christ is in that day and at that time Rev. 1.5 He comes in the clouds and every eye shall see him and they also that pierced him they that would be most willing not to see and behold Christ they must see their sences shall all be set at work to understand what the dread glory and majesty of that day is 10. There is this difference also in a common calamity it may be if it lights upon thee some friend some indulgent relation will stand by thee to help support thee and bear thee up but in the day of Christ thou must stand single My friends though these be plain things they may do our souls a great deal of good if God will bless them it is a great relief in a calamity when the hand of God is upon you when you are sick and weak and full of pain if some friend will stand by to help thee to bear thee up and indeavour to relieve the outward man but in the day of Christ all will stand at a distance the knots of all relations except those onely that are spiritual must be at an end when life ends and when thou comest to stand before Christ thou must stand singly nakedly and alone none to stand by thee thou wilt have none to befriend thee at that hour unless Christ be thy friend it is well for them that have a
Living Truths IN DYING TIMES SOME MEDITATIONS Upon Luk. 21.30 Occasioned by the present Judgement of the PLAGUE By THOMAS BLAKE Isa 26.21 For behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity c. Exod. 9.13 Let my people go that they may serve me Isa 27.7 Hath he smitten him as he smote those that smote him c. London Printed Anno Dom. 1665 To all that love our Lord Jesus in sincerity peace be multiplyed IT is a law of Customes making to usher in whatsoever is made publike by an Epistle That which invites me to this general Dedication is that of the Apostle in 1 Cor. 3.21 22. All things are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas The abilities of the Saints are intended for the benefit of the Saints and those of a lower as well as of a higher Orbe he that hath but one Talent it is given him for the edification of the body as well as he that hath ten and therefore I am willing to cast my Mite into your Treasury Such who are taught of God are also taught to bear with whatever weakness may discover it self in the following Treatise If you will be at the pains to look it over you will find I hope truth useful though in a plain and homely dress Milk rather then meat for strong men and though but Milk yet my hope is It will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sincere Milk as Peters expression is 1 Pet. 2.2 I have not at all endeavored to make things acceptable by flourishes of Wit and Learning being perswaded that that fire in which the Lords people have bin held now some years hath purged you from the dross of nice and curious appetites My design through the whole is to help you a little through the distresses of the present day and after that to present you without blame in the day of Christ I think I may say before the searcher of hearts my designs in this undertaking have been upright and as far as I am able to judge I have been drawn to â—â—is Publication by the over-ruling hand of the Lord in as much as such a thing was never in my thoughts untill eight parts of â—en of this little Treatise were finished The day in which we live is a scattering day and as the sad providences of the day drew me to consider the Text which I have enlarged upon so the scatterings of poor souls and the remembrance of absent friends whose faces I have not long seen into whose hands what I have written will I hope fall hath much engaged me to send it abroad Into what hand soever it shall come whether Saint or sinner the Lord who supplyeth seed to the Sower and Bread to the Eater bless this seed and make it useful to its intended ends as is the prayer of Tho. Blake LIVING TRUTHS IN DYING TIMES Some Meditations upon this Text Luk. 21.36 Watch therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man OUR Lord Jesus in this Chapter is laying down some certain fore-runners of the destruction of Jerusalem and of his own coming He is answering that question which you will find the Disciples put to him what the signs should be and what should be the fore-runners of the destruction of Jerusalem and also what should precede his own appearance and coming and he tells them that there should be providences very amazing and dreadful that should be the Antecedents of both So it is expressed in the 25 26. verses And there shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars and upon the earth distress and distress not limited and consined to a little corner only but distress of Nations and the distress of Nations should have this effect Mens hearts should fail them for fear and for looking at the things that were coming on Now considering those things that were to come to pass our Lord subjoyns a serious and weighty piece of counsel for the directing of his own poor disciples what they were to do and how they were to carry it that ye have in the words I have read Watch ye c. In which words you have these three things observable among others 1. Dreadful things supposed and that you have in that expression These things that shall come to pass that is these wonderful amazing and tremendous providences that I have hinted to you 2. You have a double duty imposed and given in charge to the poor Disciples of Christ and that is Watchfulness and Prayer well saith he watch ye and pray I saith he and pray always not always in every time that is not the meaning but pray always in every season as the originall word is properly to be understood pray in every season be as much at it as you can get to it in every opportunity you can meet with and follow the work closely And then 3. You have a double end proposed to which these duties are a means and that is first The escaping the shock and weight of these dreadful providences And secondly after that the being enabled to stand before the Son of man For truely that is that we are to have a look unto and not onely to fix the eye upon and be anxious about present Dispensations and the weathering through such a storm but how to stand before the Son of man which will be more weighty and a greater and other kind of thing then any present providence can be it will have more of terror in it then any present providences can possibly have There are abundance of excellent truths would flow from this Scripture I shall content my self to collect four or five which I conceive to be the especial design of our Lord Jesus in these words and that through Grace may be especially useful to your souls 1. Then from hence I would commend to you this truth that there are certain times and seasons in which dreadful things sad providences must inavoidably break in upon the world this I gather thus All these things that shall come to pass as if he should have said There are sad things there are providences very grievous such as shall make the heart to ake and trembling to possess the spirits of most men upon the face of the earth yet saith he they are such as must come to pass if all the Angels in heaven stood up to prevent the breaking in of these providences there is an unavoidable necessity of it come they must 2. I would note that in and under these dreadful providences the God of heaven is especially thoughtful for and careful about his own people when he thrusts these providences into the world I say the Lord is especially thoughtful of and careful about his own people this I suppose also to be fairly gathered from this Scripture Watch ye and pray saith he