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
A67173	The mourners memorial in two sermons on the death of the truly pious Mris. Susanna Soame, late wife of Bartholomew Soame of Thurlow, Esq., who deceased Febru. 14, 1691/2 : with some account of her death / by Timothy Wright, Robert Fleming.	Wright, Timothy.; Fleming, Robert, 1660?-1716.	1695 (1695)	Wing W3712; ESTC R25216	54,544	137

we here converse with are also Or 2. If the carnal Rationalist and Philosopher further object and argue against this Doctrine from the consideration of Deaths being the Destruction of nature I Answer 1. that to speak properly there is no such destruction of nature by Death as many imagine For the Soul is not destroyed by it but acts and lives more nobly than before Neither is the Body properly destroyed but only reduced into its first Principles in order to be new moulded and more gloriously re-edified than before And therefore since the two Essential constituent parts of man remain in being man can't be said to be destroyed For tho' the immediate Tye between Soul and Body be loosed yet it is for a time only and in the mean time the relation they stand in to one another continues even when the actual union is suspended And besides all this it being the Soul that is principally the Man we are therefore to reckon that the man is in being still even when unbodied But 2. let it be considered that Death is not preferred to Birth or Life meerly as it is the dissolution of nature as now existing but the formal Reason of this is upon the account of the excellency of the future Life which death is the passage into For upon this account only is it that the Apostle prefers death to life 2 Cor. 5. 4. Not for that we would be unclothed says he but clothed upon that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life But 3. as to what many poor sincere-Christians are apt to object against this Point from the expressions that sometimes Death goes under in Scripture of its being as the punishment of sin our enemy and to be destroyed 1 Cor. 15. 26. I would for Answer propose to them besides what hath been already said this one consideration That tho' Death be indeed our enemy as it is inflicted as a punishment of sin since the fall Yet it has now altered its nature and end with respect to Saints since Christs death especially Christ having slain death and him that had the power thereof Indeed Death passeth still upon all men but in very different respects For to the wicked death is still continued as a grim Messenger and King of Terrours But as for the Saints Death is now become Christs servant to convey home the Souls of his own to himself Therefore as Christ is said to have abolished death 2 Tim. 1. 10. So he is said also Rev. 1. 18. To have taken into his custody and keeping the Keys of Hell and Death Upon which accounts we may perceive what little reason we have to fear Death when he acts only in commission under our dear Lord and Saviour and when also so blessed a Guide as he leads the way And 4. As to the Objection which the vulgar sort of groveling Mortals are apt to make against Death that it robbs them of and separates them from all their comforts friends possessions enjoyments and hopes I Answer that where the case is thus with any I must needs grant they have reason to prefer life to death If thou hast all thy portion in this life I shall not wonder to see thee prefer earth to heaven and dust to gold But O poor wretch art thou not ashamed of such an objection which militates indeed against thee but not against this Doctrine For the Saints of whom we here speak will tell thee that whereas death separates thee from all thy comforts it is in that way alone that they expect to reap the full harvest of all joy and comfort for at the right hand of God there is fulness of joy and in his presence there are pleasures for evermore 3. Infer We may see hence also the folly and ignorance of the generality of men as to their notions and conceptions of Life and Death Who seem to think that all comforts are to be found only in this Life and therefore give way to strange and melancholly apprehensions of death and what follows it As there are many poor Creatures in the world living in mean celles and cottages in some obscure corner whose low minds having never travelled from the smell of their native thatch and turff represent the world to themselves no otherwise than according to the ideas which a barren spot of earth of a few miles circumference hath afforded them So the generality of mankind seem to be so pre-occupied with the prejudices of sense and custom as never to have suitably reflected on those things which right Reason may not obscurely conclude from Scripture Premises concerning the glory and excellency of the future state of the spirits of just men made perfect For if our thoughts were more inured to such Divine Meditations we would dispise the vanities of a fading life more since we converse here but with imaginary comforts and joys tho' with too real griefs and miseries 2d The Regulation of our Practise As Practise is the end of Knowledge so my design in all that hath been said was to bring you to a sincere conscientious Performance of those Duties that the Doctrine handled doth call for from you And therefore suffer me to lay them impartially before you at this time And in doing this since not only the Doctrine in it self but the present Occasion of this Discourse calls for a particular and becoming Consideration this way I shall therefore endeavour with what succinctness is convenient to do these two things here viz. 1. to Improve the Doctrine Practically with respect to that Duty that is incumbent upon all from hence as to the good of our Souls 2. to Improve it also specially with respect to the sad occasion of this present meeting and concourse And 1 I shall endeavour to Improve the Doctrine in the General so as may be of use to all of you And what I have thus to say to you I will comprise and summ up in these three Directions or Rules 1. Direct Take heed how you carry with respect to your Spiritual state and Interest in God thorow Christ Which Advice I will take up in these three Parts which I am sure you are all concerned seriously to mind 1. Examine and Try your selves if God be your Portion and Christ your Saviour What are you secure whilst you remain at uncertainties as to this matter What ground have you to believe that Christ is yours Have you renounced Sin Satan the world and sinful self Have you accepted Christ wholly in all his offices and have you laid hold on him as your alone Saviour Be careful my friends that you found not your hopes on a mistake and thus build on the sand Religion is more than a name and Conversion more than a notion Therefore Judge your selves impartially as to this matter lest you be judged to condemnation by God for your neglect to do so 2. Be sure what ever you do to lay the whole weight and stress of your Salvation in the

or at least some tendency to it But then if we cast our eyes forward upon that blessed state that is to ensue upon the back of death we may there see this invaluable blessing actually attained No cloud doth then offuscate the mind and judgment no vanity of thought no perversness of will no irregularity of affections no treachery of Memory no deficiency in duty I say none of all these things is then present to disturb or corrupt the Soul And when the great period of the Resurrection comes perfect health will be also the inseparable property of the Body In order to which it remains in the mean time in the grave in order to purification and preparation for such a state as being even then united to Christ as we see 1 Cor. 6. 14 15. 2. Full Enjoyment of Good True Life is not only inclusive of subjective but of Objective Happiness too And therefore there must not only be perfect Health considered in its notion but the full Enjoyment of Good even of all good and the supreme good But now let us reflect seriously with our selves if this be attainable here But what Are we not absent from the Lord whilst we are at home in the body And is it possible that we can be reckoned to enjoy fully true good whilst we are at such a distance from the supreme good God himself It is true we may enjoy here some tasts of Gods love and favour But these are but some drops compared with the ocean of felicity Do we not here Complain Cry and Lament that we want this and the other good thing We are still craving and never satisfied And therefore it is sufficiently evident that we want many things needful and conducive to make our life truly happy But on the other hand what can be wanting to us when we come to enjoy God fully who is the only necessary Good the only suitable Good and the All sufficient Good O this blessed feast upon the hive of sweetness the ocean of pleasure the Treasure of Happiness upon which the Celestial inhabitants are ever feasting and yet ever full Who can conceive the infinite bounty of the King of Heaven which he there lets out to the wonder and ravishment of Angels and glorified Souls Who can express the joy the satisfaction the ecstasie that sills the thoughts and dilates the affections of those happy Banquetters All tears are now wiped away from the Saints once sorrowful and weeping eyes They have forgotten their former poverty and remember their misery no more O blessed blessed ever blessed they who are now got safe into this banquetting House and who have the banner of love displayed over them to the full O how pure How perfect Are those pleasures which are at Gods right hand What can be thought to be wanting to those who see the face of God and the Lamb for ever and who are admitted to eat of the tree of life that is in the midst of the Paradise of God They thirst no more but are led to the pure fountains of living water that flows from the throne of God In a word we may easily conceive what their abundance and affluence of all things is when we have said that God himself will be to them all in all 3. True Peace and Joy And now what else can be the result and effect of both subjective and objective happiness but undisturbed peace and unmixed joy Which are such blessings as we have only some pledges and earnests of here below For we all know or at least may know what allays these admit of here by troubles and perplexities griefs and fears that constantly attend us and give us sufficient reason to conclude that our rest is not here All our mirth joy and quiet here is fleshly vain and transitory Our laughter is like the crackling of thorns under a pot and oftimes in the midst thereof the heart is sorrowful and the end thereof heaviness And if at any time we are here admitted to the manifestations of Gods love and the sight of his face as a just ground of peace and joy yet how quickly do these remove from us whereby our Sky becomes overcast again with new clouds which return after the rain But if we cast our eyes within the vail we shall perceive true rest peace and joy prepared for the Saints in so much that even Heaven it self is upon this account termed singly peace Isa 57. 1 2. Thete our praises shall be brim full with Raptures of satisfaction joy and gladness 4. The most delightful Place of Abode A pleasant situation is that which adds much to the satisfaction of ones abode here and a delightful seat and place to be in is certainly one of the greatest Conveniences of Life But can any spot of Earth bear this Character in a true and full sense when the very ground is cursed upon the account of mans sin No no we may justly cry out with David wo is me that I dwell in Meschesh and in the Sun scorch'd Tents of Kedar We are here only in a wilderness state And tho' God hath given us many eminent Instances of his wisdom and power in the admirable frame even of this lower Creation Yet alas all these are but the dark shadows of the glorious Lanskip of the upper Paradise For it is Heaven alone that can answer such a Character as being a place wholly made for true pleasure and delight If the Palace of the great God may be thought to be infinitely glorious and admirable above the clay-cottages of those whose habitation is in the dust then let us entertain more suitable thoughts of that so desirable a place Which is such as the heart of man could never conceive any thing to bear any true resemblance unto it the most magnificent representation of it in Scripture Rev. 21. Being only figurative and therefore far short of what it is in it self 5. The most Excellent Company It is Society that Alleviats in a great measure our sorrows and griefs here and makes up the defects of other things And as man is made for Society so there is nothing more desirable than excellent and suitable company But tho' comparatively speaking some such may be found here yet our best company on earth is as other things vain and short of the true Idea of such a blessing The best men are men at best and subject to unruely passions and humours which is a great allay unto their company besides that oft-times sins and scandals miseries and wants render the company of men but little acceptable to one another And if there were none of these things to disturb us yet all men are mortal and can enjoy one a-another but for a short time on earth But then if we turn our thoughts from earth to heaven we find our wishes and desires this way fully answered For there we shall be admitted to converse with the great God himself the most glorious object of delights