Selected quad for the lemma: body_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
body_n	nature_n	soul_n	unite_v	6,882	5	9.6339	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27168	Claustrum animae, the reformed monastery, or, The love of Jesus a sure and short, pleasant and easie way to Heaven in meditations, directions, and resolutions to love and obey Jesus unto death : in two parts.	Beaulieu, Luke, 1644 or 5-1723.	1677 (1677)	Wing B1571; ESTC R23675	94,944	251

by his Father It pleased God to give him up to the cruelties of wicked men and the sorrows of death and that his Divine Nature though personally and inseparably united to his humanity should for a time suspend the effects of its beatifying union and leave him suffer as a man in soul and body the greatest pains without the least comforts They that saw our Crucified Saviour suffer so patiently as not to open his mouth to complain might have thought that he had no sense of pain therefore he crys out so bitterly My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why dost thou suffer me to be plung'd into this gulf of sorrow so that I have nothing but anguish within and without Why dost thou suffer me to be almost overwhelm'd by so great a distress and art so far from helping me and from the words of my complaint Psal 22. Lord we had deserved to sink and evermore to cry and groan in the bottomless pit and to rescue us Thou art pleas'd to descend very low and with strong crying and tears to say de profundis clamavi out of the depths have I cryed unto thee Psal 130. O Lord hear my voyce be pleased to hear us dearest Lord when we call upon thee and make thy voice sink into our hearts and there find a cheerful admission and a constant and sincere obedience §. 12. The height Now we have only the heigth of the Cross to look on that is the sublimity the greatness of the torments of Christs crucifixion that in this sense his Cross was very high appears already by what hath been said and yet we may consider further that he being conceiv'd by the Holy Ghost of a most pure Virgin was therefore of a most healthful constitution so that his senses being very quick and apprehensive were sensible of pain beyond other men's and so all the blows and wounds he receiv'd and his being nail'd and stretch'd three long hours on the Cross as upon the rack must needs have been a most exquisite torture Also the vigor of his nature being neither weakned nor spent by age or distempers he being full of strength and in the flower of his age was capable to taste the smart and sharpness of his pain to the very last moment of his life and so 't is written by S. Luke that he cryed with a loud voice when he gave up the ghost to shew that he was still very strong and that his death was bitter and violent to extremity There was likewise an invisible Cross which afflicted his soul and made it sorrowful even unto death his heart was like wax Psal 22. melted in the midst of his bowels and in the midst of so many and such intollerable pains his murtherers shook their heads made mouthes at him scoft at his sorrows by cruel and insulting mockeries and by their tongues and derisions aggravated those sufferings which their hands could hardly increase but that the Cross of Christ was higher in the greatness of it's pains than that of any Martyr of any man that ever suffered is evident enough only by considering who it was that was crucified on it for it was more that JESUS being perfect God as well as Man should shed one drop of blood than that all Men and Angels should for Millions of years bear the greatest torments Lord we were wonderfully made by thy power but we are yet more wonderfully redeem'd by thy mercy Lord what is man that thou shouldst thus be mindful of him or rather what is man that he is unmindful of thee §. 13. What an infinite love is exprest by the Cross Now we have seen the whole frame of the Cross writ all over in blood with characters of love expressions of the greatest kindness for a testimony that JESUS lov'd us unto death Not any sorrow or anguish in his soul not any gap or wound in his body but are as many mouthes to cry aloud in the ears of all men Behold what manner of love God had for his enemies his sinful and unworthy creatures to suffer such things to die in such a manner for to redeem them and make them happy Now let us if we can comprehend the breadth and the length O dilectio quam magnum est vinculum tuum quo ligari potuit Deus Idiot the heighth and the depth of the love of JESUS that love which bound him much harder than the cords of the Jews and nail'd him to his cross much faster than those Irons which pierc't his hands and feet for he that could with one word cast his enemies to the ground could easily have broke their bands and escap't from them but that his love did constrain him and make him desirous and willing thus to die What man would suffer one half of what Christ did for his dearest Benefactor And then how immense and wonderful was that charity which he exprest in suffering the ignominy and pains of the Cross for those that were his enemies and had highly injur'd him and from whom he could expect no reward but only to be lov'd again Let us therefore remember it throughout this whole book or rather throughout our whole life that we have been redeem'd from eternal despair and misery and from our vain and sinful conversation not by any corruptible thing as silver and gold but by the precious Blood of Christ shed with great pain and great ignominy §. 14. Of the eternal happiness Jesus merited for us by his death This love of JESUS is more already by far than ours can answer Could our hearts burn perpetually with those brightest flames of love which beatifie the Cherubims could they contain all the most passionate affections of all Saints both in heaven and earth yet we could not love JESUS so much as he deserves for having died to save us from eternal death and yet he did more he suffer'd death that we might have life that we might have eternal life Not only that we might not be intirely miserable but also that we might be perfectly happy Heaven is the purchase of the Blood of Christ as well as Redemption from hell God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us when we were dead in trespasses and sins hath quickned us together with Christ and hath rais'd us up Ephes 2.5 together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Let us meditate a while upon that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory reserv'd in heaven for us 2 Cor. 4.17 and in it consider the same dimensions as in the price wherewith it was bought the Cross of our Saviour and it will greatly press and increase our obligations to love him It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Paul calls it each word is a part of its dimension First the Breadth it comprehends all joys and pleasures all things that are good and desirable all that can yield satisfaction and create

necessity and comeliness and then admire the great goodness as well as wisdom of thy creator and say with the Psalmist that thou art fearfully and wonderfully made and that Gods works are very marvellous After this let thy thoughts dive deeper and consider thine interior senses the mysterious union of thy soul and body with the beauty of that Divine Light which we call Reason thy memory thy will thine understanding which are the faculties of thy precious soul which is not only created after Gods image but is capable and desirous to enjoy him and then see how numerous or rather innumerable are the benefits which God hath bestowed upon us in our creation and how just it is that we should love him that we should glorifie God in our Body and in our Spirits which are Gods §. 3. Of Preservation Preservation comes next to be consider'd a benefit of very large extent and well deserving that rank the Church hath plac'd it in in making it the subject of our daily thanksgiving for ever since man chang'd the impenetrable armour of Original Righteousness for a thin covering of fig-leaves he became so defensless and yet expos'd to so many sharp and wounding arrows that should not Divine Protection interpose for to shelter and secure him his temporal Life would be a true and a sad emblem of Eternal Death It appears by the history of Patient Job that if we were not senc'd about with the hedge of a gracious providence we should find that all creatures conspire our vexation and ruine God had no sooner broke the inclosure but afflictions crowded in so fast upon that happy man that in a short time there remained nothing of his former prosperity but a bare and bitter remembrance to make the sense of his present misery more grievous There is no man but is expos'd to all the greatest Calamities that ever befel any of the Sons of Adam and there is none able by his own power to defend himself against the least of them Fortune and accidents sport themselves if I may so speak with our goods and estates Moths fret our garments rust cankers our mettals thieves break through and steal our riches or else they make to themselves wings and fly away besides their own corruptibility which of its self would consume them they are expos'd to so many hazards that it would be as impertinent as 't is impossible to number all the ways and means whereby men are afflicted with losses and brought to poverty only from hence we may justly infer that the same God who gives us all things richly to enjoy must also secure them in our possession or else we certainly lose them If we look on our selves we shall like the Prophets man in Dothan 2 King 6. see armed enemies on all sides of us our spiritual enemies are many strong and full of rage and malice and yet we have no defence against them but that God makes his heavenly host to wait on our safety incamps his Angels about us to be an invisible guard against our invisible enemies and not only so but to secure us also from thousands of sudden and sad accidents which might every moment befal us All creatures are now furnish'd with a sting wherewith they may either vex or kill us The elements and all compounded bodies the air we breath and the food that nourisheth us all things in nature and all things in chance may become our tormentors or murthers Nay we carry swords and daggers in our own bosoms we have within our selves the matter of all sorts of distempers not one joynt in our bodies but may be afflicted with the gout Not one humour but may overflow its banks and quench the light of Reason or the fire of Life Not one pore or part within or without but may unexpectedly at all times and in all places become an entrance to death and sorrow In the midst of so many and great dangers it were impossible for us to stand one moment but that God defends us under his wings and keeps us safe under his feathers Psal 90. as the Psalmist speaks and so the blessings of immunity which most men slight or over-look are never enough to be acknowledg'd but deserve the thanks of a whole life We dwell under the defence of the most high and abide under the shadow of the Almighty therefore let us set our love upon him and glorifie him §. 4. The Positive blessings of this life The Positive blessings of this life are now to be exposed to view but of them I may use the words of the Psalmist Psal 40. If I would reckon and speak of them they are more in number than can be numbred Health and strength and comliness with industry and learning are shar'd among the sons of men in several proportions and so are good friends and a good name peace plenty and pleasures any one of those single might make a rich portion for one man for each within it self contains many rich and precious blessings yet oftentimes God unites all or most of these together to crown us with loving kindness and tender mercies Psal 103. The works of creation and the works of providence are not more numerous then the graces and gifts of God to mankind any one that should seriously meditate upon this subject would find it multiply and increase almost to immensity and would be forc'd to break off with the exclamation of David Lord Psal 8.4 what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou so regardest him God renews his mercies to us every day together with our lives every hour Psal 36. we eat of the fatness of his house drink of the river of his pleasure and receive the sweet emanations that flow continually from the fountain of life But of those benefits which God pours open hands upon us how many are there that pass unregarded we usually mind not what we receive but what we desire Let heaven rain Manna never so thick upon us if we wish for Quails Angels food shall be unsavory and perhaps distastful They that long for great and well covered tables find no relish in their daily bread they that pursue after wealth look not on the blessings of competency they that aspire to honour receive health food and raiments rather with a disdainful anger than with thankfulness all the favours we receive from God are unobserved or slighted as long as he doth not gratifie our humour with what we desire and even these gifts whereof we are most sensible are soon laid in oblivion an hours pain will cause many longer pleasures to be forgotten and if God sends evil upon us only for one day it makes us forget the many good things which we for many years received from him This I say because many mens unsatiableness and ingratitude makes them overlook most of Gods blessings despise what they have and value only what they have not and