Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	eternal_a	life_n	11,601	5	4.9057	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55741	Christ's revvard of a Christians watch and ward, or, A sermon preached at the burial of Mr. John Berry of Thorverton in the countie of Devon, Aug. 23, 1654 by John Preston ...	Preston, John, b. 1598 or 9.	1655 (1655)	Wing P3297B; ESTC R1152	15,552	24

holy observation of the day and carefull performance of the duties of the day he might convay over to thee his blessings for such a servant he blesseth and he shall be blessed which is the third and last part The Encouragement Blessed is that servant c. Doct. Blessing attends and goes along with watching If thou wilt be blessed then watch for the Lords coming Blessed are these servants c. Those that keep their souls in a watchfull frame are blessed And it is truth The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Vse What a Motive is here to give our souls to watching In Blessedness all good things whatsoever meet as in a centre It is a confluence and concurrence of all good whatsoever either honest profitable or pleasant And this Blessedness shall meet the watchfull soul in death and embrace it The watching Christian his life is blessed his death is blessed blessed by grace blessed by glory blessed in body blessed in soul Blest soul that immediately enjoyes blessedness in the Kingdom of Heaven where God is all in all to his elect 1 Cor. 15. 28. where is eternal life and perfect glory Eternal life which is that Fellowship with God whereby God himself is through the Lamb Christ Life unto the elect For in the Kingdom of Heaven the elect shall not need meat drink sleep air heat cold physick apparrel or light of Sun or Moon but in place of all these shall they have Gods spirit by which immediately they shall be quickned for ever Revel. 21. 3. 23. And perfect glory which is that wonderfull Excellency of the Saints whereby they shall be in a far better estate than heart can wish For first they shall everlastingly behold the face of God which is the Glory and Majesty of God Rev. 22. 4. Secondly they shall be most like to Christ to wit just holy incorruptible glorious honourable excellent beautifull strong mighty and nimble 1 Iohn 3. 2. Phil. 3. 21. Thirdly they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven 1 Pet. 1. 4. Matth. 25. 34. whence proceeds Eternal joy and the perfect service of God immediately Eternal joy had Peace with safety safety with security security with Eternity The joyes above are for Matter spiritual for substance real for use universal for continuance Eternal Psal. 16. 11. Psal. 36. 8. There the King is Verity the Law Charity the Peace Felicity and the Life Eternity The service of God consists onely in Prayse and Thansgiving Rev. 21. 3. and Rev. 5. 12 13. and 11. 17. see the Texts The manner of performing this service is to worship God by God immediate●y In Heaven there shall neither be Temple Ceremony nor Sacrament but all these wants shall God himself supply together with the Lamb that is Christ Rev. 21. 21. I say no Temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it The service ●hall be dayly and without Intermission Rev. 7. 15. They are in the ●resence of the Throne of God serve him day and night in his Temple Vse The consideration hereof should stir up us to a constant ●atch and ward over our souls If immediate communion with God through Iesus Christ which is the life eternal if to have whatsoever heart can wish infinitely beyond that which is perfect glory where we shall for ever behold and admire the face of God be like our blessed Saviour inherit the Kingdom of glory with the priveledges thereof in eternal joy where our exercise shall be singing and praysing God In a word if we would be Blessed if Blessedness which contains all these and more may prevail to move us or else what can to the duty of watchfulness then be we stirred up to be in a frame of soul fit to meet Christ have all the graces of the soul in exercise this is to watch Look about you the Phylistines be upon you Every day is clipping your life and taking away part of it what should we now do but fit our selves for Christ seeing he is coming to us and we are going to him by death You would be fit at the hour of death That which will be good then is good now and the work which of necessity must be done or we are everlastingly undone let us first go about it and make an end of that once The worst of men when death comes will wish he had watched done these and these good things abstained from these and these evil things I exhort you to nothing but that which is fit for you to make you fit for Christ When your Faith and Hope and Love have their right Object and all the graces of the soul are in exercise then you watch and Blessed are those Servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall finde watching So much for the Text My Auditours are of three sorts either Morners of our deceased Brother or Rejoycers at his death or men indifferent neither affected with grief or joy at all at his sudden fall a word to each of these First for you Mourners Wise lamenting the death of her carefull Husband Children bemoaning the death of their carefull Father Labourers and servants Mourning for the loss of a work-contriving labour-rewarding Master Friends for the lack of their discreet advising Friend To you I say no more but this look up to your Husband Father Friend Lord and Master in Heaven It is the Lord hath done it as it is marvellous so let it be well pleasing in your eyes His will is done subject your wills to his We are the Clay he is the Potter Psal. 64. 8. shall not the Potter do with his clay as he pleaseth Rom. 9. 21. We read Exod. 15. that the waters of Marah were so bitter that the people could not drink of them then Moses at Gods commandment cast into them a tree and the waters were made sweet In the bitterness of soul upon the death of our Brother God shews you a tree that will turn your bitter Waters of affliction into sweetness This tree is Christ Take up this blessed tree in your hands by Faith who willingly presents himself unto you in this your Agony cast him into your bitter waters or cast your self upon him hide your self in the boughes and branches of this blessed Tree till the Lords indignation be past For his anger endureth but a moment in his favour is life Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Psal. 30. 5. you will faint unless you believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living Psal. 27. 13. To the second sort that rejoyce because now death hath shut him up in his Cave the spirit of God directly meets with you Prov. 24. 17 18. Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth Let the Lord see it and it displease him and he turn away his wrath from him upon thee Why shouldest thou run from thine own watch to fault finde his now Death found him not from his calling all the day at Mid-night when he pierc'd him at the heart dost thou know his Vigils his Preparations his Meditations what they were If death had come to thee that same hour at the second watch should he have found thee better prepaed than he was what art thou that judgest another mans servant he standeth or falleth to his own Master He hath past his day thine is to come If the Lord finde thee in thy swearing sabbath-breaking coveting wandring out of his ways not guiding thy life by his Law unprepared unappointed thy doom is set down Luk. 12. 45. to vers. 48. see the place If there be a third sort of Hearers Indifferent men without affection of the one side or other nor caring whether he had lived or dyed neither partake with the Mourners here nor with such as are well pleased at his death are nothing toutcht or smitten with this stroak Besides that they proclaim stupidity do they not walk contrary to the command weep with them that weep Be of the same affection one towards another Rom. 12. 15 16. And shew themselves Athiestical It is the Athiesm of these times to be without dread or fear When God gives one of his houshold-servants a blow the rest should fear This use should every one of us make of it If God had so smitten me in what case had I been how had it been with my poor soul surely I was not prepared as I ought ought not I to accept of this acceptable time this day of salvation and to act and exercise my self in all these duties that tend to salvation that is to watch Blessed are those servants c. When our Saviour said to his Disciples One of you shall betray me Every one of them suspicious of himself questioned him again Master is it I so whilst I say one of you Beloved shall be the next that shall dye it behoves every one of you to question with himself Is it I Is it I what if it should be I am I prepared to meet the Lord is my soul in a watchfull frame and posture do I perform my sentinel-charge till I be relieved do I wait all the days of mine appointed time untill my chang come Job 14. 14. the same shall be blessed For Blessed are these servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall finde watching Amen FINIS

CHRIST'S REVVARD OF A CHRISTIANS WATCH and WARD OR A Sermon preached at the Burial of Mr. JOHN BERRY of Thorverton in the Countie of Devon Aug. 23. 1654. By JOHN PRESTON Minister of the Gospel there Upon these words of our Saviour LUKE 12. 37. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching LONDON Printed by W. Bentley for F. Eaglesfield at the Marygold in S. Pauls Church-yard Anno Dom. 1655. To the Worshipfull THOMAS BROWN Esquire Alderman of LONDON Grace and Truth by JESUS CHRIST SIR IT may be said of your famous City as sometimes of Tyre She is the Crowning City whose Merchants are Princes whose Traffiquers are the honourable of the Earth Isa. 23. 8. But what became of Tyre that noble and ennobling City her Crown was laid in the dust and her Honourable in the streets And why They were haughty and knew not the Lord neither regarded they the God of Jacob They did not know in their affairs they eyed not the Crown of Righteousness neither were Traffiquers with Heaven therefore they perished from off the Earth Your City as a stately Princess wears a goodly rich Crowns on her head Crowns her Merchants and inhabitants with wealth and honour and you confess that it is not for your Righteousness that the Lord hath spared you but that It is of the Lords mercies that ye are not consumed because his compassions fail not Lam. 3. 22. I will not accuse you for Pride and haughtiness for trampling under foot the glory of England the Preaching of the Gosple of Righteousness nor for Blasphemy Heresie Apostasie Oppression self-love and self-seeking serving your selves upon Christ and upon his Gosple for I have often heard you upon your publick fasting-daies and daies of humiliation to accuse and condemn your selves for these and the like City sins onely I grieve to see these Rebels and Traitors against God to get a Reprieve and I heartily wish that the day of their Execution were come for the putting of these to death will be your life For the Prophet Micah tells you how you shall be still renowned the Crowned and the Crowning City To do justly to love mercy and to humble thy self to walk with thy God Micah 6. 8. You must meet God every day upon the Royal Exchange Here you must barter Nature for Grace Error for Truth your own Righteousness for Christ and who will not part with dross for Gold Pibbles for Pearls Rags for Robes you must put off saith the blessed Apostle concerning the former conversation the Old Man corrupt through the deceitfull lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your minde and put on the New Man which after God is created in Righteousness and true holiness Ephes. 5. 22 23 24. Your main case must be for your religious Factorage and to keep up your noble Trade with Heaven Your Merchandize must be for them that dwell before the Lord to eat sufficiently and for durable cloathing Isa. 23. 18. Let Prayer continually go forth with your loaden vessels and the Spirit of God will Pilot ye Then shall ye have good Markets indeed and Oh the rich returns that will flow in unto you Blessed are the Merchants that walk and talk with God daily upon the Exchange When God and the Soul are Partners Oh the sweetness and fullness of that Communion and entercourse See how our Saviour loveth such a soul as is busied in heavenly negotiations when he likens the Kingdom of Heaven to such a Merchant who seeking goodly Pearls when he had found one Pearl of great Price he went and sold all that he had and bought it Matth. 13. 45 c. The true Christian is this Merchant a Merchant adventurer he ventures riches honours pleasures life and all he trades for Pearls that is he seeks with labour cost and danger for heavenly knowledge the Pearl of great Price or the peerless Pearl is Christ Iesus A Pearl is bred of a caelestial humour or dew in shell-fishes Christ by heavenly Influence was formed in the womb of the Virgin Emanuel God with us or God-man is this Pearl The value and worth of this Pearl no Arithmetician can sum up it is infinite of wonderfull virtue most precious A Pearl that makes Pearls it makes vile sinners to be Pearls and costly Jewels Malac. 3. 17. and turns every evil thing into Good for us Rom. 8. 28. as the Philosophers stone turns every thing it toucheth into Gold This Pearl Christ Iesus with all his gifts graces virtues merits and Priveledges is derived to us by the means of his ordinances These are the Cabinets and Caskets of this Pearl God offers Christ in his word he is willing to barter with us Come buy Isa. 55. 1. I Counsel thee to buy Rev. 3. 18. In it God desires us to be good to our own souls to receive the soul-saving soul-enriching Pearl thus offered as these Texts 2 Cor. 5. 20. Deut. 5. 29. Luke 13. 34. do testifie As there the Merchant went and sold all so doth the true Christian sell all That is first he parts with the estimation of all in comparison of Christ Secondly he hath a heart prepared actually to part with all if he cannot enjoy it and Christ too Thirdly and especially he parts with his sins all not reserving a Zoar or a Rimmon not keeping any one beloved lust or forbidden pleasure Yea Fourthly he parts with his Affections with all their Branches and Objects if they will not stand with Christ Whatsoever comes into competition with Christ whether honours riches pleasures yea his own life he declineth it and looseth all for Christs sake And the gain of this Merchandize no tongue is able to express Thus do wise Merchants traffique whilst they live here on earth a Countrey that is not theirs venting their Commodities and transmitting all they can into Heaven their own Countrey against their Arrival and Receit there with joyfull acclamations of Saints and Angels and most rich and most honourable dwelling with their blessed Redeemer soul-solacing and hearts-satisfying friends in perfect joy compleat comfort and fullness of all good things for evermore The Lord remove and take out of the way whatsoever letteth you in this blessed Merchandize which is better than the Merchandize of Silver and the gain thereof than fine Gold Prov. 3. 14. Let your Merchandize be HOLINESS TO THE LORD Isa. 23. 18. here so in the ballancing of your Accompt at the last day you shall be clear out of debt with your heavenly Creditor and receive a full and final discharge together with a full remuneration of eternal happiness to you and all carefull Accomptants with him wayters and Preparers for him Which negotiation and traffiquing with Heaven O sedulous and rich Merchant is set forth under many other Notions in Scripture Amongst which is that of Watching for the Masters coming What it is How this watch is to be set and kept Motives to it and the Reward of it is