Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	apostle_n	bring_v	sin_n	4,680	5	5.1414	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53926	A sermon preached at the funeral of Sir Henry Johnson, Kt. who was interr'd in the chappel at Popler, November the 19th. 1683 / by Samuel Peck ...	Peck, Samuel.	1684 (1684)	Wing P1037; ESTC R33040	13,357	29

concerning the short continuance of these things that are seen and the stability or continuance of those things that are not seen affirming that he himself and others of the faithful did certainly know that after this short and transitory life was ended they should enjoy an estate Heavenly Glorious and Eternal And this Assertion and Article of Christian Faith he cloaths with variety of sweet and significant Metaphors helping the soul by the body the understanding by the sense saying We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God c. Where he compares this miserable body as it now is in this life to an earthly house and that not a Sumptuous Palace Impregnable Castle or other strong and well framed Building but to a Tabernacle a weak frail brittle Cottage of Earth or Clay We know if this earthly house wherein the soul d wells for a Time if this Tabernacle were dissolved Then He opposeth to this the state or condition of the body glorified in the life to come which he resembles to a building firm durable and lasting yea of Eternal continuance and duration the beginning of which is the blessed Estate of the Soul at Death and the perfection of it is the glorious Estate of Soul and Body reunited at the Resurrection We know we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens Where you have these Two Considerables recommended by the Holy Ghost to our Meditation seasonable to the sad occasion of this great Assembly 1. What our Body is in respect of the frailty of it in this Life an earthly house a brittle Tabernacle that must down must be dissolved 2. What house or building the souls of the faithful have after the dissolution of this earthly Tabernacle A building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens Both these together are a brief and full Metaphorical description of our Mortality and Immortality of our weak and frail Condition in this life and of our Eternally Blessed and Glorious Estate after Death 1. First What our body is in respect of its frailty in this life an earthly house a brittle Tabernacle that must be dissolved and go down to the dust These bodies wherein our souls take up their residency for a time are but earthly Tabernacles of short and uncertain Continuance The body is so called elsewhere 2 Pet. 2. 1 14. Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle and Job 4. 19. 't is termed an house of clay whose foundation is in the dust Eliphaz in the foregoing Verse speaks of Angels here of men and these Words are a description of Man opposed to Angels those Inhabitants of Heaven those Courtiers of the New Jerusalem called therefore the Angels of Heaven the place of their special residency being the Heavens in and with which they may seem to have been created Whereas men are said to be on the Earth on the surface only as a tabernacle ready to be shaken off as having no foundation Having here no abiding place no continuing city no setled abode till we come to Heaven where the Angels are Some Huts we have rather than houses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a clayie cottage an earthly tabernacle as St. Paul and Plato call the body of man which is made up of a little dust or clay somewhat sublimated and refined by art or nature What is man saith Gregory Nazianzen but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soul and Soil Breath and Body the one a puff of wind the other a pile of dust no certainty no solidity in either Pulvis umbra sumus We are dust and a Shaddow no more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Greek Proverb Man is but an earthen pot no better The first man Adam was of the earth earthly and no more are the best of men Quas ex meliore forsan lato finxit Titan who are made of the first common Mold somewhat refined And the finer the Glass the slighter the Tabernacle the more subject to break and fall and so are we to dye Mans flesh will fail him saith David Psal. 73. 26. Those whose spirits are noble will find their bodies brittle The highest the holiest mans heart will not ever hold Princes and Peasants are of the same flesh which saith the Prophet Isaiah is but grass it soon withers and fades away they are alike dust and to dust they must return What man is he that liveth and shall not see death The Psalmist here challengeth all the World to find out one man that could procure a protection from dissolution Holy Hezekiah could beg his life and compound for his death for fifteen years but could not obtain an exemption for ever No this earthly house is subject to many storms that shake it to variety of Diseases the least of which is sufficient to overthrow it So that what St. Paul said of himself in a proper sense we may say every of us in a common I dye daily My earthly Tabernacle declines and wastes daily Such is the frailty and corruptibility of the body that tho some are more curiously painted than others and tho all are fearfully and wonderfully made full of accuracy and curiosity like a Spiders Web yet like that we have no stability And thanks be to mans Apostacy for this frailty his falling from God by neglecting his duty hath brought him to the dust so the Apostle Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin Sickness and Death had never touched our bodies had not sin first tainted our souls Man in his Innocency was immortal but now in his state of Apostacy he is determined to death Had he stood he should like Enoch have been translated and not seen death he should have entered into his Fathers house but not through the dark entry of the Grave but now I know thou wilt bring me through the grave the house of all the living Now the body must die before the soul can as it were begin to live Man must now put off his house of Earth before he can possess his house in Heaven When this earthly house of our Tabernacle is dissolved then not before we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Thus you see by this Metaphorical Expression what a lively resemblance the Apostle gives of our frail Condition in this world or in respect to our bodies We dwell saith he in Tents or Tabernacles 1. And a Tabernacle or Pavilion is not made of any strong matter having only a few slight Poles for Timber and painted Cloths for Walls a weak Lodging quickly taken down easily removed or overthrown Such is the body of man a fair Fabrick but frail the bones are its Timber-work the flesh its walls all of Clay and Dust one blast mars it a little pain or grief shakes it an Ague Fever Dropsie or as the Prophet speaks

be There is an everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels ' This is my desert how shall I escape it And there is a rest to come Heb. 4. 9. an inheritance incorruptible that fades not away a building of God eternal in the heavens 1 Pet. 1. 4. This I desire how shall I obtain it Such thoughts as these would make us as prudent for Heaven as we are for the Earth as provident for our Souls as we are for our Bodies quicken us to lay up a Treasure in Heaven Or as the Apostle exhorts 1 Tim. 6. 19. To lay up to our selves in store a good foundation against the evil day that we may lay hold on eternal life Especially if you consider as the certainty of the dissolution of these Tabernacles so that death is daily stealing upon them as ruin upon an old building Here falls a Wall there a Door here a Tyle there a Rafter till at last the whole tumbles Thus the dimness of thine Eye the deafness of thine Ears the trembling of thine Hand the stifness and coldness of thy Limbs all these tell thee Death and Dissolution steal upon thy Earthly house of the body and loudly call upon thee by Faith Repentance good Works and an holy Life to prepare for it Remembring what horror and fear will seize upon our Souls when we behold Death coming or marching upon us Jehu-like furiously Men may talk wantonly of Death and make a light matter of it while they think it at a great distance but when the Sun of Life grows low when sickness shakes their tabernacle when the shades of the Grave appear when as the Wise man elegantly speaks Eccles. 12. Those that look out at the windows are darkned the strong men bow themselves the keepers of the house shall tremble the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl broken when the mourners stand about our Beds When the grim Serjeant Death lays one hand on their heads and in the other hand holds a Writ of remove that cannot be Reversed and yet they are uncertain whither they must go and what place or state they shall have in the other World Now I say that which seemed before but a trifle will appear the King of terrors to their doubting to their despairing and departing Souls 'T is a question that many ask when they are dying Whether they shall be saved or damned Whether they shall be happy or miserable when they go hence The resolution of which they never seriously minded while they lived and so continue uncertain in this great concern till Death resolve them and they are entered upon that state in which they must abide to all Eternity be it a Paradice of Felicity or Dungeon of Misery And this great uncertainty is that that makes the apprehensions of an approaching disfolution so exceeding formidable to them How happy therefore are those persons who have made their future state so much their concern in life that with our Apostle they are able to say when Death comes We know when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved we have a building of God not made with hands eternal in the heavens Which leads me 2. To the Second General in the Text namely the Blessed Estate of the Faithful after this Life after the dissolution of the Body expressed in these words We have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens Of which briefly And here you have the habitation or dwelling place of Faithful Souls of Saints departed set forth or commended to us by these specialities 1. The Efficient Cause or Founder of it God a building of God the Great Jehovah of Heaven and Earth whose Glory and Greatness we cannot comprehend but only in his Works is the Builder of it And as great men love to do things like themselves so doth God If Ahasuerus make a Feast for his Nobles and Servants it shall be such as becomes a King If the King of kings make an House an Habitation for his Servants and prepare Mansions of rest for his Children he acts like himself answerable to his Infinite Goodness Mercy and other Attributes And what a goodly what a glorious Habitation must this House in the Heavens be which hath Infinite Wisdom to contrive it Infinite Power to erect it Infinite Treasure to inrich it Infinite Glory to beautify it and the Omnipotent God the Founder of it 2. 'T is set out by the manner of its Framing Created not made with hands Termed an House 1. For the Spaciousness of it not a Cottage but an House Room enough for the Inhabitants both for necessity and delight an House wherein there are many Mansions John 14. 2. Called an House 2. For its conveniency for its security as a mans House is termed his Castle where he is safe from all assaults and dangers such is this House of the Saints a place of security from all evils penal and sinful and from all Enemies bodily and ghostly 3. An House not made with hands for its Glory and Excellency Solomon's Temple was a glorious Building and so many other Buildings in the World are but not comparable to this because made with hands and so subject to ruin and decay This being made without hands is perpetual as far transcending all Earthly glory and happiness as the curious Frame of Heaven and Earth excels these Clayie Cottages made by men or made with hands 3. Commended to us by the pleasant situation of it It is situate or placed in the heavens where God is where Christ is where the Holy Angels the Church of the first-born and spirits of just men made perfect are Where there is Heavenly Manna the Tree of Life Rivers of Pleasures and variety of fresh and overflowing Delights to make the Inhabitants continually and compleatly happy 4. By the durableness of it 't is eternal not subject to decay or dissolution but everlasting Our Saviour calls it a kingdom that cannot be shaken St. Peter an inheritance incorruptible and St. Paul here a building of God eternal Other buildings be they never so strong and stately are subject to decay by storms by fire by age but This and all relating to it is Eternal the Builder of it Eternal the Inhabitants in it the Joys and Glories of it all Eternal And the truth is when we have searched and said all we can of this Glorious estate of the Saints hereafter the Joy the Life the Glory of all is this That it is Eternal Heaven were no Heaven the happiness of it no happiness if it were not endless Eternity is that that heightens all Miseries and all Mercies 'T is this makes Hell and all the torments of it so intolerable That they shall never end Mark 9. 44 46 48. And 't is this sweetens all the Joys and Felicities of the Saints in Heaven that they are everlasting This 't is makes this Building of God the Habitation and Dwelling-place of Faithful Souls so pleasant and delightful