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	life_n	separation_n	4,198	5	9.8832	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77504	The mystical brasen serpent: with the magnetical vertue thereof. or, Christ exalted upon the cross, with the blessed end and fruit of that his exaltation, in drawing the elect world to himself, to believe on Him, and to be saved by Him. In two treatises, from John 3. 14, 15. 12. 32. Whereunto is added A treatise of the saints joint-membership each with other. As they were delivered to the Church of God at Great Yarmouth, by John Brinsley, minister of the gospel, and preacher to that incorporation. Imprimatur, Edm. Calamy. July 30. 1652.	Brinsley, John, 1600-1665.	1653 (1653)	Wing B4719; Thomason E1249_1; ESTC R208891	155,986	284

Deprived of life that life which the Text speaketh of viz. Eternall life which is begun in Grace perfected in Glory of this life are all men naturally deprived Being destitute of the Life of Grace so saith S. Paul of the Gentiles before conversion Eph. 4 18. They were alienated estranged from the life of God That life whereby God liveth in his Saints the life of grace they were strangers to it they knew not what it meant destitute of this Spirituall life and shut out from the life of glory Rom. 3.23 All have sinned saith S. Paul speaking of the universality of man-kind and are deprived of the glory of God They come short of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deficiuntur they are cast behind A Metaphor saith Beza taken from runners in a Race Beza Gr. Ann. who through naturall weaknesse or by a fall or some like impediment are so far cast behind as that it is not possible they should ever fetch it up again so as to win the prize So fareth it with all men naturally through the fall of Adam in whose loyns then they were and through their own naturall weaknesse thereby contracted they are so far cast behind that do what they can improve the power of nature to the uttermost they can never of themselves come up to the goal so as to win the prize never attain eternal life All deprived of life And 2. All subjected unto death 2. Subjected unto death Gen. 3.17 and that by vertue of that first threatning The day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Gen. 3. All subjected to a threefold death Temporall Spirituall and Eternall Temporall of the Body Spirituall of the Soul Eternall both of Soul and Body Being all inevitably subject to the first lying under the power of the second and under the sentence of the third Having their Bodies mortall their Souls dead Dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2.1 Souls and Bodies bound over unto Eternall death which consisteth in an eternall separation from the presence of God in whose presence is life an eternall confinement to that place and state of torment prepared for the divel and his angels all which if need were might be made good in particulars And herein is the forlorn perishing state and condition of all men by nature that it is so it cannot be denyed But how cometh it to be so See the ground and cause of it in the Type This hath the Serpent done Reas This hath the Serpent done The Israelites being stung or bitten by those fiery serpents though both strong and healthfull before they were now but dead men carrying death in their bosomes and so fareth it with the sons of men however created in a blessed state and condition in a healthfull constitution as I may say with a posse non mori a possibility of being immortall yet upon the stinging of the serpent the old serpent fastning his sting in Adam through him transfusing his poyson the deadly poyson of sin to all his posterity hereby they are become so wretched so miserable all dead men in a perishing condition so the Apostle layeth it down clearly and plainly in that knowne Text Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all for that all have sinned Mark it Here is the head and spring of all that evill of sin and misery which hath broken in upon mankind Adam sinned and sinning died being thereupon subjected to that threefold death Now Adam thus dying and perishing all his posterity perished in him and with him even as it is with a tree the Root dying all the Branches die in it and with it So standeth the case betwixt Adam and his posterity Adam was the common Root of mankind all others of the sons of men were in him Tanquam in radice as Branches in the Root and so consequently he dying they all die in him and with him Thus briefly you see both the truth of this first Conclusion and the ground of it As briefly bring we it home by way of Application and so passe to the other Conclusions which are here more expresly layd down in the Text. 1. By way of Conviction Vse 1. Conviction See this to be our state Is this the state of all men by nature Be we then convinced that this is our estate in particular An easie matter it is to beleeve confesse and acknowledge this truth in the gross in the generall that all men by nature are in a perishing state lost men and women children of perdition to bring it home to a mans selfe in particular to be convinced and made sensible that this is my estate thy estate here is a difficulty a thing which few do or endeavour to do and hence it is that men being in the state of nature are so little or nothing affected with the dangerousnesse of that condition They can lie and continue in that estate wherein they were born and yet never be troubled at it never affected with it What is the reason hereof Why they look upon this truth only in the grosse in the generall notion of it Now Generalities doe not affect Genera nec agunt nec patiuntur Certainly were men but once throughly convinced and perswaded that this is their estate in particular they would not so quietly and contentedly sit downe in it they would never be at rest untill they have got some evidence some assurance unto their own souls that they are gotten out of that estate brought out of this state of nature into a state of grace And therefore in the fear of God as many of you as were never yet throughly convinced of the truth hereof now let it into your souls and do not suffer vain thoughts to lodge within you as viz. that you shall do as well as others so you may and yet be miserable enough or that whatever become of others yet it shall go well with you what saith our Saviour to the Jews flattering themselves with the like thoughts viz. That however the judgements of God might light upon others yet they should escape Not so saith he Except ye repent Luke 13.3 ye shall all likewise perish Let it be spoken to every secure sinner that stands before me this day that lieth sleeping in his naturall state and condition flattering himselfe with a selfe conceited apprehension that he is not as some others as the Pharisee said of himself no Swearer no Drunkard no profane no scandalous person and hereupon speaks peace to his own soul promising to himself immunity from that wrath of God which shall fall upon others I tell you nay but except ye repent except ye be renewed changed brought out of that estate of nature and brought home unto God by Christ ye shall likewise perish Your estate being for the present that estate wherein you were born it is a perishing state a state of perdition so as living

unespied so doth Sathan insinuate himselfe into the most sacred societies Job 1.6 into the most holy duties I even into the bosomes of men secretly closely 2. A Serpent for his poison The Serpent is full of venome and so is Satan of malicious wickednesse 2. In malicious wickednesse O thou full of all subtilty and mischiefe thou child of the Devil saith Paul to Elimas the Sorcerer Acts 13. Acts 13.10 Such was the child and such is the father Satan full of wickednesse in himself thence called sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wicked one Matth. 6.13 Ephes 6.16 And full of poisonous malice against God and his people which upon all occasions he is ready to vent and spit forth in mutuall accusations accusing God to man and man to God seeking to communicate his poison to infect and impoison and destroy others Here is the Serpent which stung our first parents and in them all their posterity But what is the sting of this Serpent sin 2. The sting of this Serpent sin Serpents have their stings or teeth whereby they convey their poison wounding where they fasten so hath this old serpent whose sting is sin The sting of death is sin saith the Apostle and so of Sathan 1 Cor. 15.56 who hath the power of death Had it not been for this Heb. 2.14 Satan could never have hurt our first parents A serpent may wind round about the body of man yet unlesse it fasten the sting or teeth in him it hurts him not Had not Sathan fastened the sting of his tentation in our first parents drawing them to sin against their God all his assaults had been to no purpose Hence was it that our blessed Saviour came off safe from those incounters with this old serpent both in the wildernesse and in the garden The Prince of this world cometh saith our Saviour but hee hath nothing in me John 14. John 14. He assaults him as he did our first parent in the Garden but he could not hurt him because he could not fasten the sting of his tentation in him to draw him to sin But in our first parents hee did wounding first the woman then the man drawing both into the transgression and so by that means impoisoning the whole nature of man inwrapping all their posterity both in the guilt and stain and dominion of sin Hence is the sting of this serpent 3. And what is the effect of this stinging 3. The Effect of this stinging why behold that not onely painfull and dangerous but deadly Hereby whole mankind was poisoned and the whole of man Like as those serpents stinging the one part of the body the poison spread it selfe through all the members Thus the poison of sin entering by one man it hath poisoned the whole Masse of mankind and every part of man so as every power and faculty of the soule and every member of the body they are all poisoned and that mortally Such was the stinging of those serpents it was mortall deadly Rom. 6. last incurable by any naturall means and such is the effect of sin The wages of sin is death Death not onely temporall but spirituall and eternall Of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter Lo here then the condition of all the sons of men by nature Mans naturall condition very miserable A condition how miserable Who is there but so looketh upon the condition of a poor Israelite being stung with those fiery serpents what was his smart his anguish Thinking of them learn to pity our selves or others being yet in the state of nature having the sting of sin sticking in our soules O what horrour what torment will this procure to us if not speedily cured That we feel it not now it is because we are asleep An Israelite being asleep possibly he might not feel the anguish of his stinging but being awakened hee could not but be sensible of it Hence it is that wicked men now feele not the smart and anguish of their sins Alas they are asleep but if ever God awaken them as sooner or later hee will in this life or in hell what horrours what torment will these procure unto them See it in Judas when the old Serpent had fastened the sting of his tentation in him and brought him to betray his Lord and Master at first he feeles it not but so soon as God had awakened his conscience see now how in the anguish of his soule he runs to the Chief Priests even as these Israelites being stung did to Moses bewailing his condition complaining of his sin and misery Matth. 27.4 I have sinned in betraying innocent blood but all in vaine without either cure or ease The poison being got to his heart he swels and bursts and dies upon it And here is the first thing which I propounded to be taken notice of Mans misery by nature represented and shadowed out by the condition of an Israelite stung with these fiery serpents Vse 2. Gods mercy in providing a remedy 2. In the second place behold we also in the same glasse the height of Gods mercy in providing a salve for this sore a remedy for this misery What a mercy do we account it in God that hee was pleased to provide a brusen serpent to cure the stinging of those fiery serpents And so indeed it was specially if looked upon according to the circumstances of it That he who was justly provoked to wrath against them for their sins their ingratitude their murmuring and repining against him that he should provide a remedy for them and that hee should then do it when all other means had left them desperate that he should step into them in this their great necessity what a mercy Behold the like a far greater mercy in the thing signified That God should provide a way and means of deliverance for us when wee were enemies to him Rom. 5.8.10 and that he should then do it when neither men nor Angels could do any thing for us behold here as infinite wisdome so infinite mercy And who can behold it without a thankfull admiration That God should turn Physician to such a Patient that he should devise for them and prescribe to them who spared not to devise and speak and act against him then taking them in hand for cure when all other means had given them over how doth this commend the mercy and love of God both towards them and us Behold here the truth of that prophetical protestation Ezek. 33. Ezek. 33.11 As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked That God punished some of the Israelites with death for their rebellions it was but justice making them exemplary to the rest Poena ad paucos terror ad omnes That he spared the rest providing a cure for them this was mercy wherein God declared that hee was not delighted in the misery and destruction of

in them which heard it The same may we say of the Sacraments God's Sealing Ordinances so they are to the Beleever sealing up unto him his Interest in Christ and all his Benefits but meeting with a Faithlesse heart they are but like Seals to the Blank assuring nothing conveying nothing And what wee say of Word and Sacraments holding forth Christ wee may say it of Christ himselfe Him hath God the Father set forth to bee a Prince and a Saviour induring him with vertue enough to heal and save the world of mankind yet without Faith this vertue cannot reach cannot extend to us The vertue of the Brasen Serpent extended only to those who having eyes made use of them in looking upon it as for those who either could not or would not look upon it they had no Benefit by it There is in Jesus Christ an All-sufficiency of Merit and Vertue for the healing and saving of all poor lost sinners but as for those who either cannot or will not beleeve on him that cannot as Pagans and Paynims who never so much as heard of the name of Christ Rom. 10. How shall they beleeve on him of whom they have not heard that will not as profane and secure Christians how should they have any benefit by him How should that Vertue extend to them this is the Office of Faith to apply Christ Now a Plaister be it never so soveraign and sanative yet if not applyed to the sore it will do a man no good No more will the Blood of Jesus Christ if not applyed to the soul by faith And therefore to draw to a close of this Conclusion whatever other graces we have or want seek after Faith Faith will do that to us which no other grace either will or can Were it possible that all other Graces could bee severed from Faith yet could they not advantage us in the great businesse of Justification and Salvation In this case a weak faith will be of more use to us then any then all other Graces Even as a dim weak eye was of more use to an Israelite being stung then any then all the other members of his body It was not a quick ear an eloquent tongue a strong arme an active hand a nimble foot that could stand him in any stead It was his eye which next to the Brasen Serpent healed him It is not knowledge though Angelicall it is not repentance sorrow for sin though never so deep aversion from sin though never so serious it is not patience humility not any inward qualification or outward performance that can justifie can save us Onely Faith Faith looking up unto Jesus Christ Here is the necessity of our beleeving 6. To this in the last place Adde the great utility the great benefit accruing from 6. The Benefit accruing from it this our believing on Christ Faith though in it selfe it may bee weak yet great matters depend upon it even as great estates are somtimes held by small acknowledgements hundreds a year by a pepper kernell Upon this depends our eternall happinesse and salvation Believing wee shall not perish Believing wee shall have eternall life So runs the insurance in the Text. The Son of man must be lift up that whosoever beleeveth on him should not perish but have eternall life And so I am fallen upon the fourth and last Conclusion which I shall dispatch with all convenient brevity Whosoever believeth on Jesus Christ shall have full and perfect salvation by him Conclus 4. Whoso beleeveth on Christ shall have perfect salvation by him where consider he shall not perish but have eternall life For the opening and prosecuting of this Conclusion two things here may be taken notice of 1. The benefit insured And 2. The Extent of that benefit The benefit it selfe is partly Privative partly Positive Privative deliverance from death He shall not perish Positive fruition of life and that eternall life He shall have eternall life The Extent of it is Indefinite Universall to all that performe the condition Whosoever beleeveth c. Of each of these severally and briefly by way of Explication Illustration joyntly by way of Application The Benefit it selfe accruing to the true beleever is Hee shall not perish 1. The Benefit it selfe which is 1. Privative They shall not perish There is the privative part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non pereat May not perish The phrase alludeth to the Israelites who being stung by the fiery Serpents in the wildernesse before the Brasen Serpent was set up in an ordinary course they perished They were destroyed of the Serpents 1 Cor. 10.9 saith the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word is the same with that in the Text They perished by those Serpents that is they died upon their stinging So the story maketh it out Numb 21.6 Much people of Israel died Quest But what do men then perish in death Whether men do perish in death Ans I answer properly they do not To perish properly it imports a cessation of being when a thing ceaseth to be what it was so as never to return to that state again Thus the bruit creature perisheth Psal 49.12.20 The bruit beast that perisheth saith the Psalmist Being resolved into its principles it ceaseth to be what it was so as never to live never to be againe This is properly to perish but thus men do not perish no not wicked men they die indeed but they perish not well were it for them that they might do so that death might put an end as to their Life so to their Being but this it shall not do Their souls being immortall they cannot die and their Bodies though they die and bee turned to the dust from whence they came yet they shall be raised up again at the last day Joh. 5.28 29. All that are in the graves shall come forth Properly men do not perish in death I but they seem so to do though they do not perish as the bruit Beasts yet they seem so to perish Man is become like the beast that perisheth Like it as in other things Psal 49. so in his perishing That which befalleth the sons of men saith the Preacher befalleth beasts Eccl. 3.19 even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dyeth the other Eccles 3.19 In the outward appearance there is no difference between the one and the other Ibid. They have all one breath so that a man hath no preheminence above a beast much less a wicked man as the bruit beast dieth so dieth he both dying without hope without hope of a better life Thus dyeth the bruit beast and thus dyeth the Wicked man As he lived without hope so he dyeth without hope Having no hope Eph. 2.12 and so he perisheth his Hopes perish When a wicked man dieth his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth Pro. 11.7 I and himselfe perisheth Hee so dieth as never to