Selected quad for the lemma: church_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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B09837
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The glory and happiness of the saints in heaven:, or, A discourse concerning the blessed state of the righteous after death by Nathanael Ranew.
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Ranew, Nathanael, 1602?-1678.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing R246B; ESTC R187570
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140,390
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229
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you have continued waiting but a few days longes God will grant your Desires for when you come to Heaven whither Death will certainly and suddenly bring you Sin an unholy Heart and Nature shall never more afflict or trouble you for Sin that was here your Burthen to feel shall there be your Delight to be for ever without that impenitent unbelieving Heart those vain yea sinful Thoughts which were wont to lie down and rise up with you which did use to follow you to every Duty and accompany you in every Place and Service and which you could no more leave behind you when you went to Pray to Hear to Read or to Meditate than you could leave your selves behind you shall all be left behind you when you come to die they did and would keep you company while you lived but they shall not go one step with you beyond Death then you take your leave of them bidding an eternal Farewel to all Sin O my Soul when shall that blessed day come that thou shalt thus take thy leave of Sin never to wound thy Conscience never to defile thy Soul nor never to displease thy God thereby any more O what a blessed state will that be when Death shall send a godly Man to Heaven perfectly free from all Sin not only as to the Power of it but also as to the vexing and disquieting Presence of it where he shall spend ars Eternity in serving and praising of God without the least interruption imperfection or weariness of Soul for ever And doth not Death in this appear a Believer's great Friend in that what Prayers and Tears Sighs and Groans together with the assistance of the Spirit of God did gradually that is mortifie and destroy Sin that Death doth for a Believer at one blow perfectly freeing him from the Burthen and Being of Sin for ever Fourthly In Heaven the People of God shall arrive unto a Perfection of Grace and Holiness As all that the Saints have here is but mean compared to what they shall attain to hereafter so all that the Saints do here is but mean compared to what they shall be enabled to do hereafter Grace in a godly Man in this Life is in its minority and therefore the acting of Grace must needs be accordingly The Excellency and Beauty of a Saint lies inward in the hidden Man of the Heart or as the Psalmist speaks he is one that is all glorious within And because Grace in him is inward therefore its Excellency is not so visible and apparent Grace in a godly Man neither doth nor can shine forth in its Glory and Beauty here because Sin in him eclipses the splendor of its appearance The imperfection of Grace is discernable here but the Perfection and Beauty of Grace is neither known nor attainable here The highest degrees of Grace and Holiness that the best of God's People reach unto here comes infinitely short to what they shall attain to in Heaven It is true a little Grace in a Saint now makes him glorious in the eyes of those who have a Spirit of discerning to behold it in respect whereof the Saints are called the excellent ones of the Earth Psal 16.3 Now if the weakness and imperfection of Grace for that which the People of God attain to of Grace here it no more compared with what they shall attain to in Heaven if this weakness and imperfection of Grace be so excellent and glorious O how exceeding glorious will the perfection and beauty of Grace be hereafter How glorious have some of the Saints of God of old appeared when their Excellency hath chiefly appeared in the Oriency and sparkling Beauty but of some one particular Grace as for instance How glorious was Abraham for his Faith Moses for his meekness self-denial Nehemiah for his zeal for God and his Glory David for his Love to God and his Ordinances Job for his Patience S. Paul for his unwearied Industry and Laboriousness in the Work of God and the Service of Souls O how eminently glorious have the particular actings of these particular Graces in these Servants of God made them in all Ages insomuch that the Spirit of God hath thought good to record their Excellencies in the holy Scriptures and their Praise shall be in all the Churches of God to the end of the World Now if the Saints Eminency in some particular Graces have made them so glorious notwithstanding their Imperfections other ways how glorious and excellent will they appear when all that Grace and Holiness that shall accompany them to Heaven and is there necessary unto their Happiness that they may see and enjoy God to eternity shall be fully and compleatly perfected having nothing of the least allay of any spot or imperfection in their Graces or in their Persons to take off from the Beauty and Glory of the one or of the other for ever In Heaven Grace in a Saint is in its excellency and in its visibility there is Grace and nothing but Grace there is Grace and all Grace yea there is all Grace shining forth in its fulness and utmost perfection of Glory to eternity In this Life Grace in the People of God is never perfect in some things they are always defective in other things always wanting they are continually aiming at and going on unto Perfection though while they are here they do not attain unto it In the Work of Regeneration they are truly sanctified and made holy but it is in Heaven only that they are perfectly sanctified The Lord Jesus Christ now loves his Church and he hath abundantly manifested that he doth so in giving himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word as the Apostle speaks But he never presents it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle till he brings it to Heaven By a work of Sanctification he is now daily cleansing and purifying of it but the full Perfection and Beauty of Holiness is not put upon it till the Marriage between him and his Church be consummated in Glory Here in this Life there is much Imperfection in the Righteousness and Holiness of the Saints many Faults and Infirmities they have that others may censure and condemn and themselves ought to bewail and mourn for but in Heaven they shall be Faultless so saith the Apostle Jude 24. Whilst the Church is Militant upon Earth though she is black and hath her spots yet is she comely but when she comes to be Triumphant in Heaven then will she be as a beautiful Bride adorned with fulness and perfection of Grace and Holiness fitted and prepared for her Lord and Husband's Company Rev. 22.2 where every Saint shall behold and love the Blessed and Holy God and their dear Lord Jesus with a Love equal to Angels and Cherubims satiating and delighting their Souls in him with a Joy far exceeding the highest Joys that any of the People of God ever were