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	live_v	spirit_n	4,077	5	5.2407	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12177	The Christians end. Or, The sweet soveraignty of Christ, over his members in life and death VVherein is contained the whole scope of the godly mans life, with divers rules, motives and incouragements, to live and die to Iesus Christ. Being the substance of five sermons preached to the honorable society of Grayes Inne, by that learned and faithfull minister of Gods Word, Richard Sibbes, D.D. and sometimes preacher to that honorable societie.	Sibbes, Richard, 1577-1635.	1639 (1639)	STC 22485; ESTC S117259	45,936	138

they bee not Christs they are the Divels Our thoughts are not our owne but all should bee dedicated to Christ. Therefore wee should bee content that Christ should set up a regiment in our soules that hee may rule our thoughts ●desires our language and members that they may be all weapons of righteousnesse Wee have nothing our owne much lesse ●inne from which we are redeemed And not onely from grosse sinnes but from such conversations as are vaine in themselves and will be vaine to thee And when wee are redeemed from sin and from vaine conversations we are redeemed from our selves from the world from the Divell whom now hath a man to serve none but this Lord. Wee have renounced all other in Baptisme and we are revolters and rebels and renounce out covenant in baptisme if we renounce not the world and the lusts of it in our lives Our selves we must not serve for we are redeemed from our selves and not onely from our carnall selves but naturall selves Christ is Lord of our natures And a Christian ought to say Lord of thee I had this body of thee I had this life of mine these goods of mine this credit of mine this reputation and place in the world As I had all from thee so I returne all to thee againe And as we are not our owne we must not bee other mens we are not servants of men as the Apostle sayth wee must not take upon trust the opinions that others would put upon us or what wee list our selves in religion wee must not have mens pesons in admiration for advantage we must not Idol●ze any creature for as we are not our owne so we are not any others but we are the Lords The happinesse of a Christian is to bee independent on the creatures hee may use them as subordinate helpes but hee is to depend onely on this Lord what to believe what to speake and not to take up this or that opinion to please this or that man thereby to rise to greatnesse It is a base thing to say I believe as my pa●ents believe are you your parents your parents are the servants of this great Lord whose you are and to whom it is your dutie to yeeld your selves And therefore in sollicitation to any sin make that use of it that the holy Apostle doth in that grosse sin that reignes ●o m●ch in the world and brings many to h●ll Defile●ent of body Saith hee Our bodies are bought with a price And shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of an 〈◊〉 So when wee are tempted by corruption and Satan joyning with it reason thus Shall I de●●le this body of mine my body is not mi●e it is th● Lords my members are not mine they bee dedicated and consecrated to him What should such base abhominable 〈…〉 to Christ I am his my thoughts his my desires should bee his Let those that bee given to swea●ing and blasphe●ing a●d idle ●alke consider that their tongues are not their owne and yet for whom doe they imploy their tongues as an instrument but for Sa●●● So when wee come to dye make use of it not onely for comfort but for duty We are Christs and therefore if hee doth call us by any kinde of death if hee sends for us by a bloudy death goe to Christ that way because he is Lord and disposeth of whatsoever befalleth us and determineth by what death wee shall glorifie him Bee of Saint Pauls resolution to glorifie God both living dying He knew God should be glorified by his death as well as by his life So wee may glorifie Christ by any death bee content to yeeld our selves any kind of way to him There bee two vertues wee ought specially to exercise in the houre of death Assurance of faith that wee are Christs And a resignation to his will that in faith and in obedience wee may commit our selves to him as to a faithfull Creatour and Redeemer This is our dutie And it is no easie a matter to do this Many bequeath themselves to God but alas they have alienated themselves before to the world They have given their bodies to wine to women as the Scripture phrase is Or they have given their spirits to the world As wee use to say in our common speech of some men They are given to the world But when they have given their strength to the flesh before and doe at time of death bequeath their spirits to the Lord will hee owne them Alas they are alienated before and so put out of their owne disposing And therefore ordinarily unlesse the Lord worke a miracle it is impossible to dye in the Lord● If a man have not lived to the Lord before which may teach us to give our selves really to him in our life time that our lives being a service to Christ wee may comfortably die to him and have our soules to dispose of The like subjection must bee shewed in all conditions whatsoever If God will have mee to honour him in a meane calling I am not mine owne I am his my life and all my condition of life are onely to him My calling my estate it may bee is low that my pride may bee humbled But God hath set mee in my calling he will have mee to honour him in it In the meanest calling a man shall have enough to give an account of and therfore there is no reason to be ashamed of our calling I am the Lords in my life in all the passages of it in my calling in all the troubles of it I am to looke for support and protection and provision and direction from God I am here by his appointment And therefore he that hath set me in this place will provide for me protect me guide mee by his Spirit what to doe in my place And so it is a ground of contentation in all conditions You see then there is great reason why wee should not live to our selves but to the Lord that wee should not dye to our selves but to the Lord. For it is a great comfort a speciall duty and therfore in a word We cannot have a more comfortable experiment in all divine truths than this That God in Christ hath passed over himselfe to be ours and wee have passed over our selves to him i● wee have grace to doe i● And then to plead and improve it when it is done there is not a comfort of greater comprehension and therefore the Apostle dwelleth on the poynt No man liveth to himselfe no man dyeth to ●●●selfe but we live to the Lord and dye to the Lord. To what end is all this but that we should settle it as a bottome ground of comfort and contentment and happinesse that wee are not our owne but the Lords Think therefore of this one thing that wee are his that hath a command in heaven and earth to whom all knees bow with subjection his

The good things promised are everlasting likewise we may build upon them wee cannot build on riches here or life here but we may build on eternall life eternall glory and happinesse So that cast a Christian into what condition you will he hath God and Christ in covenant with him and the love of Christ and all the gracious promises and the things promised And these doe not vary life varieth We may live now dye to morrow but whether we live or dye these foure things mentioned are certainly ours A Christian cannot say of any thing here that it will be his long his estate is his now and many wayes there are to take it away his friends are his now but their friendship may decline any thing in the world may bee so ours to day as not ours to morrow And therefore were it not that in this varietie of conditions we had something that is afterward ●here were our comfort wee may out-live all com●orts here but wee cannot out-live our happinesse in Christ For whether wee live or dye wee are the Lords To speake of this a little as it yeeldeth comfort in death wee are the Lords not onely while we live but when wee dye Why because we have a being in Christ when we dye Christ is a living root because I live you shall live also This Lord is the Lord of life and therefore whosoever is one with the Lord of life hee can indeed never dye Death is only a change of a naturall graccious life here to a glorious life in another world from the Church warfaring here to the Church triumphant in heaven It is not properly death for misery dyeth Death it selfe dyeth wee doe not dye Death overthroweth it selfe but a Christians life is hid with Christ and when he dyeth he dyeth to live and is found in Christ at the day of judgement and shall bee for ever with Christ. Therefore it is no great matter what kinde of death a Christian dyeth because he dyeth in the Lord. Blessed are they that dye in the Lord. Hee sayth not them that dye a faire death A wretch an opposer an hypocrite may doe so and goe to hell But blessed are they that dye in the Lord because Christ is their Lord in death and so sayth the Apostle Heb. 11. All these dyed in faith Hee sayth not they all dyed a faire death for they did not but many of them dyed a bloudy death yet they all dyed in faith and so they dyed in the Lord. And therefore when wee read in the Histories of the Church that some were torne in pieces with wilde beasts that they gave the bodies of the Saints to the Fowles of Heaven as David hath it which may discourage some to bee Christians let us not thinke that any matter they died in faith And as the Psalmist sayth Pretious to the Lord is the death of all his Saints For he taketh notice of them in their lives not onely in their lives but the haires of their head they being all numbred Hee taketh notice of the teares that fall from their eyes and will not hee take notice of their bloud Hee taketh notice of their persons their haires their teares and will hee part with their lives for nothing No hee will be payd for the lives of his children when hee parts with them his enemies shall bee sure to pay for it Hee will bee avenged on them for it as the bloud of Naboth was on Ahab so hee will bee revenged on all the persecutours of his Church and take a strict account of every droppe of bloud that hath beene shed for their persons are pretious God taketh speciall notice of them they are his members his Spouse and neare unto him And then hee will not have them dye till they have done their worke Hee taketh speciall notice of them all their life And when they have done what they came for as Christ sayth of himselfe I have done the worke thou gavest mee to doe Then hee sendeth for them home They dye not at adventure but under the care of one that knoweth them well both in life and death And therfore it is that God so revenged the Persecutors of his Church for the bloud of his Saints from the bloud of Abel unto this day And as the death of his Saints are pretious so are all the things the Saints have their credit is pretious their goods are pretious God taketh notice of everie thing they part with for his sake As he and all his is ours himselfe his happines his spirit his priviledges so when wee are his all ours are his hee taketh care of our lives of our deaths of our credits of our riches of our estates wee part with nothing for him but he considers it and will reward it aboundantly Hee that dyeth in the Lord is a blessed man so sayth the spirit the flesh will not say so but rather will inferre who would bee so religious for such venture their lives and are counted as the off-scowring of the world The Divell will teach this Lesson and the world As they have lived in the flesh and will sell all to bee some body in the World though they goe to hell when they have done But saith the Spirit blessed are they who not onely die for the Lord as Martyrs but that die in the Lord whether to seale the truth of God with their blood or other wise they die happily so this is a ground of speciall comfort And as it is a ground of speciall comfort so it is a ground of direction Whether we live or die we are the Lords Therfore it may bee a foundation of living to the Lord. If we be the Lords surely we ought to live to him I● we be his all our endeavours whatsoever is ours are his Fructus and Fundus goe together the fruit and the soile and therefore if we be the Lords in life death we must not live to our selvs as our own but give our selvs to him not to anything else we are not our owne nor mans but the Lords And therefore wee ought not to yield up our selves to our selfe-wils selfe-wit self-love to be at or owne disposing and to live as we list We are redeemed from our selves yea from all our vaine conversations Some thinke Christ dyed and therefore they may be vaine especially at the solemn time of Christs nativitie The divell hath so prevailed with the world and will till there bee a new face of the Church they never honour the Divell more than when they seeme to honour Christ. For say they Christ came to set us at libertie Did hee so But it was to deliver us from wickednesse yea from vaine conversations and not to purchase us liberty to live as wee list Our tongues are our owne say they in the Psalmes I but Christ sayth they are not your owne they are his And if

his enemies Those that have the mark of the beast absolutely cannot bee Christs nor have communion with him but are enemies to Christ though under pretence of religion But where a man is truly Christs hee is none but Christs Satan is content with any part but Christ must have the whol heart Gods children have something in them that usurpeth some corruption in them which is not absolutely removed but it is but a rebell and they have an enemies minde to it all that is contrary to Christ is renounced whereas in them that bee carnall sin is as a Lord but in Gods children it is as a thiefe hee is there yet they owne him not but get strength against him he ruleth not there but as a Tyrant there is a renunciation of Lordship and dominion of sin though they have inclinations to this and that sin yet they have no liking to that liking no inclinations as spiritual to that inclination as carnall but make it an object of mortification They renounce all other Lords when all other men that have not the spirit of Christ are under the dominion of some reigning lusts And as it implyeth a possession so likewise an estimation as God esteemeth us so we esteem him above all And therfore God calleth his Church his Portion his Iewel and we call Christ our portion our treasure our pearle our all S. Paul counts all dung and drosse in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Christ. And all that belongeth to Christ he esteemeth And therefore the Church glorieth that God is their God and makes claime to him as S. Paul I live by the faith of the Sonne of God who loved mee and gave himselfe for mee And as Thomas My Lord my God This is the best evidence of a true Christian whose estate is no way knowne better than by his estimation Whom have I in heaven but thee or in ●arth in comparison of thee sayth David It implieth likewise a duty of resignation to Christ in life and death because we are not our owne and therefore are in all things to bee at his disposing to bee led what way hee pleaseth and to pursue his directions though to the crossing of our corrupt nature to be content to goe to heaven as he will lead us by faire wayes or foule wayes by faire death or bloudy death if by any meanes wee may attain to the resurrection of the dead as S. Paul sayth it Besides this wee must have a care to implead this and to improve it as the Apostle doth here Whether wee live or dye we are the Lords He will have care of us and therefore we ought to serve him It is a speciall after-part to bee able to make it good to God in all troubles and conditions whatsoever I am thine Lord save me I am thine Lord teach mee I am thine Lord protect me Avouch and make it good against the temptations of Satan urging thee to distrust I am not my owne I am Gods and Christs and therefore if thou hast any thing to say to mee goe to him that hath paid my debt Thus plead the goodnesse and graciousnesse of God Plead it against temptation to sin I am not mine owne I am bought with a price My body is not for uncleannesse but for the Lord. Plead it against our own Consciences in times of desertion search narrowly wha● we have of Christs in us and doe not cavill against our selves too much in times of temptation If wee have but desires of the soule to God lose not any thing that is good if I renounce my interest in Christ I am where the Divell would have me then hee can doe any thing with us And therefore plead it against our owne distastfull hearts in times of darknesse I give my selfe to him and my desires are to him my faith is little but yet something my love is litle but yet I love the Lord I believe help my unbeli●f We must take notice of any thing Christ hath wrought in our spirits that we may implead our interest on all occasions for if wee yeeld to despairing hearts in times of temptations we are gone Therefore say with Ioh If thou kill me I wil trust thee Lye at Christs feet if thou wilt damne me so it is I will lye here and wait here For if I have not present audience I shall have it God wai●eth to doe them good that wait for him Hee will try our spirits whether wee will take a seeming repulse therfore we must as the woman of Samaria grow on Christ and catch at his words And as the servants of Benhadad who retorted on Ahab presently Thy servant Benhadad And as we must implead our interest so we must improve it in the whole course of our life and in all conditions what soever if we have any losse or crosses yet the soul can say Christ is mine and I am Christs Though a man taking a journey lose things of lesse value yet if he hath a pearl left him he is content for hee hath that that will make him a man And therefore be not much disconsolate for any crosses They cannot take away my Christ my promises the comforts of the Spirit I have a Christ and in him all that shall be for my good Improve it in all opposition of flesh and bloud hell and the instruments of hell Satan and wicked men they are mine e●nemies but it Christ be my friend it matters not Christ can make our enemies our friends And all things are ours if we be Christs we have a general charter things to come are ours life ours death ours and therefore if wee be Christs make use of him As it is basenesse of spirit to rest in any thing in the world but Christ so it is basenesse of spirit for us that are Christs to bee dejected for any thing in the world wee have the treasure wee have the Mine wee have the Sunne what if we lose a beame we have a spring what if the streame bee dried up It Christ giveth us himselfe it is no matter what we lose But we are sure of him For in life and death wee are the Lords And therefore let us hence answere all objections Oh that we should have such grounds of comfort and stabilitie and yet make no more use of them I● these things were fresh in our thoughts nothing would ●iscourage us If you ask● how shal we know in particular that it is so indeed that wee are Ch●●st● I answer if we have given our selves to him by a contract of our owne if wee bee married to him you know mariage must have consent of both parties Those that give not themselves up to Christ to bee his they are not his They that live under the power of any sin against conscience as their Lord that love any thing better than Christ and will not part with it for Christs sake Christ is not theirs