Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	death_n	sin_n	wage_n	3,467	5	11.7433	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44434	An exposition on the Lord's prayer with a catechistical explication thereof, by way of question and answer for the instructing of youth : to which is added some sermons on providence, and the excellent advantages of reading and studying the Holy Scriptures / by Ezekiel Hopkins ...	Hopkins, Ezekiel, 1634-1690.	1692 (1692)	Wing H2730; ESTC R17498	215,674	332

We may and ought but our Care must be onely prudent and provident not perplexing and desponding Q. Why is that Expression this Day added A. To shew us that every Day we stand in need of Supplies from God and therefore should daily pray to receive them Q. Since we pray for daily Bread why is it called our Bread A. To note that we ought to use lawfull Means to acquire what we pray for Q. What pray you for in this Petition A. 1. That God would give us the good Things of this Life as the Acquisitions of our lawfull Endeavours 2. That he would bless the Increase of what is lawfully ours 3. That he would bestow upon us a spiritual Right in whatsoever we injoy through Jesus the Heir of all Things 4. We pray that we may not desire nor covet what is anothers 5. We pray for Life it self that it may be prolonged whilst God hath any Service for us to do in this World 6. For all the Means that may lawfully preserve our Life and Health 7. That he would strengthen our Faith and Dependence on his Providence who is the giver of all good 8. That he would give us Contentment in that Portion of Earthly Blessings which he allots us Q. What is the fifth Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors Q. What things are observable in this Petition A. The Order and the Matter of it Q. What observe you from the Order of it A. That after we have prayed for our daily Bread we are taught to pray for Pardon of Sin Which Method is most rational 1. Because the Guilt of Sin many times with-holds from us those Temporal Comforts which we stand in need of Isaiah 59.2 But your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear 2. Because without Pardon of Sin our Temporal Injoyments are but Snares and Curses Q. What observe you in the Matter of this Petition A. Two things The Petition it self Forgive us our Debts And the Condition or Proportion or Plea and Argument for obtaining this Forgiveness As we forgive our Debtors Q. What mean you here by Debts A. The same which St. Luke 11.4 Calls Sins And forgive us our Sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us Q. How stand we indebted to God A. We stand indebted to God both as we are his Creatures and as we are Offenders on the former Account we owe God the Debt of Obedience on the latter the Debt of suffering Punishment Q. Which Debt do we pray God to forgive A. The latter onely for the former is irremissibly due to our great Creator Q. How come we to be thus indebted unto God A. By the Sentence of the Law which condemneth every Transgressour of it to undergo the Penalty it threatens which Penalty is all manner of Woes and Curses and Everlasting Death Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them Rom. 6.23 For the wages of Sin is Death Ezek. 18.4 The Soul that sinneth it shall die Q. Since the Suffering of these is the Debt we owe to Divine Justice why say you that Sin is that Debt A. Because Sin alone is the meritorious Cause of these and we owe the Suffering of them onely as we are Sinners Q. Are there no Sins venial in their own Nature so as not to deserve Eternal Damnation A. No not the least for the wages of every Sin is Death All therefore are Mortal in their own Nature and all are Venial through the Mercy of God in the Merits of Christ excepting onely the Sin against the Holy Ghost Q. Can we no way pay off these Debts so as to satisfie the Justice of God A. No for neither can we do it by Obedience nor yet by Sufferings Not by the Duties of Obedience for these are a Debt we owe to God's Holiness and Soveraignty and therefore cannot pay the Debts we owe to his Justice and we cannot pay Debts by Debts Not by suffering for Sin being an infinite Evil must be punish'd with an infinite Punishment but we cannot suffer a Punishment infinite in Degrees therefore it must be infinite in Duration so that the Damned in Hell shall never be able to say It 's finish'd Q. How then may we hope to be acquitted of our Numberless Debts A. Onely through the free Mercy and Grace of God pardoning them in Jesus Christ and therefore we pray Forgive us our Debts Q. What is Pardon or Forgiveness of Sin A. It is the removal of the Guilt of Sin Q. What is the Guilt of Sin A. The Guilt of Sin is either the intrinsecal Desert of Punishment or else an Obnoxiousness and Liableness to it through God's Designation of the Sinner to undergo it Q. Doth pardon of Sin remove both these Guilts A. No it removes not the former for still the Sins of those who are pardoned do in themselves deserve Eternal Death But it removes the latter viz. it takes away our Appointment unto Death 2 Sam. 12.13 And David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said unto David the Lord also hath put away thy Sin thou shalt not die Q. How is it consistent with the Justice of God to pardon Offenders without Punishment A. Though Believers are not personally appointed to Punishment yet Mystically they are which Punishment they have already suffered in Christ their Surety with whom they are made one by Faith Q. To whom is this Prayer for Pardon of Sin directed A. To God onely whose Royal Prerogative is to forgive Sins Isa 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins Mark 2.7 Who can forgive sins but God only Q. Have not the Ministers of the Gospel power to forgive sins according to that of St. John 20.23 Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted A. They have a ministerial and declarative Power as Officers not an authoritative and judicial Power as Soveraigns As the Prince onely pardons the Herauld proclaims it So God alone by the Prerogative of his Grace grants pardon the Minister by his Office publisheth it to all that repent and believe Q. What then must we judge of that absolute and plenary Power which the Pope assumes of pardoning Sins A. That it proves him to be Antichrist in exalting himself above God 2 Thess 2.4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God For whosoever can forgive wrongs done against another must be superiour to him and have Authority to cause the Person offended to surcease the Prosecution and sit down by the wrong done him Q. If God onely can forgive Sins how then are we bound to forgive those who

considering both the Advantages the Devil hath against us and the great Dis-advantages under which we lie he a Spirit we but Flesh he wise and subtle we foolish and ignorant he experienced we raw and unpractised he diligent and watchful we careless and negligent he laying a close siege to us without and we betraying our selves within It must needs be ascribed only to the Goodness and Grace of God to deliver us from the commission of that Evil to which we are so fiercely and cunningly Tempted And thus I have demonstrated the Proposition That it is only the Almighty Power of God that can preserve us from Sin It now remains to shew you the Ways and Methods that God takes to do it and those are in the General Three By restraining Providences by common and restraining Grace and by sanctifying and renewing Grace First God delivers us from Evil by his restraining Providence putting an Hook into Men's Nostrils and a Bridle into their Jaws and by a powerful Hand reining them in when they are most fiery and furious And thus he often doth with the worst and vilest of Men whose Lusts though they estuate and boyl within and are like the raging Sea raging and rolling in their Hearts yet God sets bounds to their proud Waves and saith to them as he doth to the great Sea hitherto shall you proceed and no farther It is to this we owe it that the Wickedness of Men hath not yet made the World an uninhabitable Desart that Solitudes and Wildernesses are not as secure Retreats as frequented Cities and savage Beasts as safe Company as Men. To this we owe it that almost every one is not a Cain to his Brother an Amnon to his Sister a Judas to his Master and a Devil to all the World for where Grace doth not change Divine Providence doth many times so Chain the Sinner that he cannot bring forth that Wickedness he hath conceived that although he be permitted Sin enough to destroy himself which his very Will and Affection to Evil is sufficient to do yet through God's with-holding Opportunity or Abilities from him his Sins are not permitted to break out to the ruine and destruction of others Though God doth as it were permit them to give up their Hearts to the Devil yet he ties up their Hands let them imagine and intend as much mischief as Hell can inspire them with yet none of all this shall they execute any otherwise than as his Holy and Wise Providence permits Yea Divine Providence is effectual not only in keeping wicked Men from the outward Acts of Sin but even God's dearest Children and Servants they also have a great deal of Corruption stirring in their Hearts and even in them Lust is too fruitful conceiving those Wickednesses which God often by his Providence so stifles and strangles in the very Birth May not the best of us with thankful acknowledgements of the Divine Goodness towards us reflect back upon many dis-appointments that we have met with to which we had given our consent and entertained purposes of sinning May we not all say Had not God denied Opportunities or cast in Diversions or cut off the Provisions which we had made for our Lusts we should at such or such a time have dishonoured the Gospel scandalized our Profession opened the Mouths of wicked and ungodly Men to blaspheme the Holy and Reverend Name of God and contracted to our own Consciences black and horrid Guilt by the commission of some infamous Crimes of which we were guilty by consenting to them God hath hedg'd up the Broad-way with Thorns that so he might turn us into the Narrow-way that leads to Eternal Bliss and Happiness Now the particular Methods that Divine Providence makes use of to prevent the Sins of Men are many and various and all of them wise and just First Sometimes God by his Providence cuts short their Power whereby they should be enabled to Sin All that Power that Wicked Men have is either from themselves or their Associates whom they make use of to accomplish their Wickedness and sometimes Divine Providence strikes them in both it cuts off their Instruments for Counsel And thus Providence over-ruling Absalom to reject the politick Counsel of Achitophel prevents all that mischief that so Wise and so Wicked a States-Man might afterwards have contrived upon which he goes home and hangs himself and as if his Sagacity forsook him not in his Death by that last Action gave a Prophetick Omen of his Masters attending Destiny Sometimes God cuts off their Instruments for execution So God miraculously defeated the huge and vast Host of the blaspheming Rabshekah and by unseen strokes slew almost two hundred thousand of them dead upon the place Sometimes God immediately strikes their Persons and disables their Natural Faculties so he smote the Men of Sodom with Blindness and put out those very Eyes that had kindled in them the Flames of unnatural Lusts Thus likewise when Jeroboam had stretch'd forth his Hand to lay hold on the Prophet God suddenly withers it up Sometimes he hides their Wits from them and besots them So the Jews in Job 7.30 sought to have apprehended Jesus and though he was in the very midst of them and there was enough of them to do it yet God so astonishes them that they only stand gazing on him whilst he passes through the Crowd of them and escapes away And indeed it is a great Mercy of God to take away that Power from Men that he sees they will only use to their own destruction And though Wicked Men would think that if God should now strike them Dumb or Blind or Lame or Impotent that it would be a heavy Plague or Curse inflicted upon them yet believe it it is far better that God should strike thee Dumb than that ever thou shouldst open thy Mouth to rail at him and his People Better thou wert stricken Blind than that ever the Devil and filthy Lusts should enter into thy Soul by the Windows of thine Eyes Better that thou wert maim'd than that ever thou shouldst have power to commit those Sins which will damn if but intended but if executed will sink the Soul seven fold deeper into damnation Secondly Sometimes Providence prevents Sin by raising up other opposite Powers against a Sinner Thus God defeated the designs of the Scribes and Rulers who hated Christ and oftentimes they would have put him to Death but it is said they feared the People whom his Doctrine his Miracles and his course of Life had obliged to himself Instances of this nature are many and occurr familiarly Thirdly Sometimes Providence casts in some seasonable diversion which turns Men off from the Commission of those sins which they had intended Thus the Providential passing by of Merchants induced the Patriarchs to sell their Brother Joseph whom before they had determined to famish As skilful Physicians when one part of the Body is oppressed with ill and peccant humours draw them