Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A37048
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The assurance of the faithfull, or, The glorious estate of the saints in heaven described and the certainty of their future happiness manifested by reason and Scripture / by M.D.
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D'Assigny, Marius, 1643-1717.
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1670
(1670)
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Wing D282; ESTC R24872
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26,857
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44
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sublimest felicity of Christ and of his Saints signifies as well the plenty as the eternity of their advantages He encompassed about Psal 21.3 We may hereby understand that this Crown of life shall intitle them to innumerable and immortal satisfactions it shall therefore be a true life How wrongfully do we abuse this pleasant Title in bestowing it upon the present unworthy subsistency of the soul and body O miserable estate how vainly do we flatter our beings with this gratefull conceit Can that ever be a life that drags us continually to our Grave that causeth us to die as soon as we begin to breathe and that is joyned unto death by the inward Principles of our existence Can that be a life that carries death in its bosome that makes us sensible of a thousand deaths before we breathe forth the last gasp and that is interrupted by sleep idleness and sickness as by so many deaths which deprive us of the benefits of life by which it is to be esteemed rather than by the continuance of the soul with the body at least in the judgement of a wise Moralist who hearing of a wicked man that was lately expired in a very old age Diu fuit said he sed non diu vixit At this rate how unworthy is our present subsistence of the pleasing and glorious title of life This therefore is promised in my text in opposition to that which we now lead to express the excellency and reality of that Heavenly Life free from those miseries which now do attend us Tolerantia transitoria Corona aeterna pugna modica merces immensa poena levis gloria inestimabilis dabo tibi post morzem pro morte vitae aeternitatem Aug. de civit Dei As if our Saviour should thus compare them together for the encouragement of the faithful What if my interest doth expose you to your enemies cruelty what if you are forced to lay down your lives in the maintenance of my cause what reason have you to prize so inconsiderable a loss when the Exchange brings unto you Returns of a more unspeakable value Grudg not to part with this shadow of life Grieve not to surrender it Refuse it not when I shall require it I have another life in reserve for you whose advantages do as highly excel those of this present being as the Crown doth the other enjoyments of the body a life both glorious and pleasant Erit status omnium bonorum aggregatione perfectus Boetius de consol where nothing shall be wanting to increase your satisfactions but cares trouble and pain which now do cause us to relish the sweetness of our earthly pleasures I will give thee c. This expression presents us with the greatest variety of Excellencies That they may better appear unto you take a view of them and of that supernatural estate of Heaven in these following propositions 1. It shall be an unseparable union of the soul and body for all eternity We shall live no more upon condition to die The fear of death that doth usually torment us more than the sense shall then cease with the cause Men shall never be disquieted with those importune Apprehensions that disturb us as they did Belshazzar in the midst of his carousing Cups and that cause us to be weary of life as that Roman was who being pursued by the cruelty of the Triumvirat offered himself freely to his Enemies pleasure to be delivered by death of the daily fear of dying But then we shall be secure both from the sense and apprehension of death and of all approaching evils and we shall rest in that blessed Tranquility that shall never have cause to dread an alteration there shall be no more divorce made between the soul and body it shall not be possible to separate that most loving couple Gods Wisdom and Power shall joyn them together in such a manner that neither Time nor any Accident shall be able to cause a separation For God upon whose pleasure all his Creatures do depend shall remove all deadly principles and grant us an eternal continuance which shall proceed not onely from his immutable Decree and immediate influence but also from the nature and manner of the union of the two parties that shall no longer be entertained by the assistance of the Creatures and a supply from the Elements but onely by a greater correspondency by more spiritual and more sutable Embraces At present although the soul hath a natural tendency to enliven to move and inform the body between them there is a vast difference that can never consent unto any conjunction without the mediation of the vital spirits extracted from the more subtil and purer substance of the meats refined by their successive concoctions But then our Bodies shall depose and cast off that gross and earthly matter and become more convenient companions of the soul by a nearer assimilation to that Celestial being For this mortal must put on immortality and this corruptible must put on incorruption as St. Paul teaches at large in the 1 Cor. 15 Chap. where he further declares the Mystery of the Resurrection and of the estate of our bodies in the 42 43 44. Verses The body is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body From hence we may discover the future substance of our Bodies which shall be almost as subtil as those earthly Spirits raised by the ordinary systole and diastole Mercat lib. 1. par 4. clas 4. quast 120. the two motions of the heart which Spirits have the nearest access to the soul of man and by which it is tied to its present residence for this blessed life and its eternity is established upon a resemblance and nearer relation between the soul and body whose beings must be rendred more conformable before they can be secured from a dissolution or from the sense of violence because that onely this conformity is able to render the communion unseparable and to free it by that means from the insults and affronts of all enemies It is therefore most certain that it shall not be in the power of any beings to put us to the sufferance of pain for as the pain which proceeds from the body is derived from an apprehension or a possibility of separation from that being upon which it depends or from that which tends unto it As the pain of the soul doth from a seeming or a real separation from God the fountain of all good or from that which stands us in some manner instead of God It cannot be imagined how they shall be able to suffer who are adorned with the qualities of immortality whose beings are free from alteration and not subject to the least weakness and whose senses shall never receive any contrary impressions nor convey unto the appetite
do never come to that perfect Estate they may thank their unworthy behaviour and vicious disposition But Christ that promiseth this Crown unto the faithful removes the grand impediments of Salvation Guilt and Corruption and brings them to that estate So that besides the helps of nature they only have an Almighty Power and an Infinite goodness for their assistants We may therefore conclude from the former reasons That there is such an Estate as happiness That man was designed for it that it is possible for him to arrive unto it that whoever is faithful to Christ and labours to follow the rules prescribed by him must needs according to the natural course of things become happy which cannot be in a perfect manner but by an union and communion with his God That this happiness is not attainable in this life I need not spend my labours in vain to prove therefore it must be in another Now this Crown is called a Gift I will give thee c. It is freely bestowed notwithstanding our undeservings it is recovered for us by the blood of Christ and enriched with more precious Jewels because of his Infinite merits and the means by which we are raised to this Estate is procured unto us by our Saviours sufferings and Ascension So that what Nature had intended and was not able to perform because of our Apostacy and revolt from a dependency upon God grace doth fully accomplish in the faithful In the last place I might bring to confirm this truth the common Reasons upon which the Heathens did build the hopes of a future happiness and of another life Of the Justice of God that will render unto every one according to his deeds Of the Goodness of God that cannot be forgetfull of those that mind the advance of his Glory on Earth and of the Power of God able to reward them that lead a just and a religious life From hence Zoroastes that learned Genius and great Prince taught his Disciples That the chief care of man should be so to behave himself now that he might come to happiness hereafter Many other reasons may be brought to confirm this important truth but I cannot include them all in so narrow a compass as a Sermon Some I know stumble at the difficulties of the Resurrection of our bodies when it is proved to them by their experience that it is possible Si ergo potent est Deus facere quod non fuit nonne potest reparare quod fuit Aug. lib. de catech Serm. 1. Secret dont oncomprent que quoy que le corps meure Les formes font pourtant aux cendres leur demeure Consider I beseech you if a lesser power be not required to restore what was than to create or to make what was not Where was this world before its Creation and if that be doubed where was this age 200 years ago not so much as in appearance yet now it subsists Why shall not therefore that same intelligent Being who created the World and who onely is able to have formed us in the womb with all our members so well proportioned be able to restore us to our subsistance again seeing there is as great a disposition in the essential parts of the body reduced to ashes to return to their former shapes as there is in the original substance to dilate it self and form the several members of a man I might here alledge the natural experiments which some have tried with success That have given occasion to believe that the forms of things do remain in their ashes The herb called by the Greeks * It signifies not onely a Palm but another herb mentioned by Dioscor lib. 4. cap. 151. and by Coel. Rodigin Resurrectio non est contra naturam Aug. in Sent. suis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth rise again out of the dust when it hath been consumed to ashes This causes the Fable of the Phaenix I could also bring Nature and Providence to attest this truth both are full of sacred emblems of the Resurrection they are as incredible did they not daily appear before our eyes The faithful therefore may brave this and all other difficulties in the language of St. Paul I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day I will give thee a crown c. Cast your eyes Cristians once more upon this Crown of Life View the Blessedness the Riches the Glory and Honour of this Estate and tell me whether this deserves not our obedience and a perseverance in Duty It shall be free from all weakness pain fear and inconveniency it shall be accompanied with unspeakble joyes and pleasures with the fruition of all good with the Vision of God and with an eternal communion and union with him It shall be adorned with all perfections holiness and content O rich and glorious Crown O Immortal Reward How long shall we be at such a distance from thee Earthly Crowns are troublesome and the more glorious they are the more heavy insomuch that Dioclesian having exchanged one for a Spade and the Empire for a Garden when some were sent to perswade him to return to his former State he told them they would never have undertaken that message unto him if they had but seen the Ranks of Trees and the Musk-melons that he had planted with the pleasure that he did feel in that retired condition But this Crown is of another nature the glories and honours are sweetned with unspeakable delights and there is no such wait as should make us weary of the carriage Let therefore this consideration encourage us to encounter Death without fear seeing it is a passage into this immortal Bliss and to prepare our selves for its enjoyment by a behaviour worthy of a Crown Be faithful unto the interest of Christ and his Religion maintain his honour in the management of your several employes follow his sacred footsteps shake off all vicious inclinations and customs make it your business to reform your lives and affections labour to relish the true pleasures of the soul and wean your selves from all worldly enjoyments that they may not hinder your entrance into this estate Into which God of his mercy receive us for the sake of his dear Son and our Saviour Christ Jesus Amen FINIS