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	rise_v	soul_n	5,336	5	5.5152	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88148	A sermon preached before the Honorable House of Commons: at Margarets Westminster, upon the 26. day of August 1645. being the day of their solemne monethly fast. / By John Lightfoot, a member of the Assembly of Divines.	Lightfoot, John, 1602-1675.	1645 (1645)	Wing L2068; Thomason E298_14; ESTC R200237	25,560	36

posse in the last dayes c. Conceits are taken up by divers in our times upon this place as if visions and prophetick gifts and I know not what should bee powred upon men toward the end of the world misconstruing the phrase of the last dayes to meane the later end of the world whereas it meaneth the last dayes of the Jewes world or state and misconceiving the terme the great and terrible day of the Lord to meane the day of judgement whereas it meaneth nothing else but the day of Jerusalems destruction Were I then to Chronicle these 1000. yeares in the Text I should begin them from this date but I shall not bee punctuall to determine that at this time Begin them whether you will either there when the Gentiles onely began to bee the Church or begin them when first the Gospel came among the Gentiles either by Peter to Cornelius or by Paul to the westerne parts of the world for the publishing of the Gospel to the heathen was the binding the devill that hee should no more deceive the nations begin at whether date you will it is easie to cast where the 1000. yeares end according to your choice of their beginning Fiftly from either beginning the end of them will fall in the very pitch of the Kingdome of Antichrist as I may so call it when now the world began to be in deepest darkenes again to become heathenish anew and then is Satan in justice loosed againe and deceiveth the nations a fresh by Antichrist and for a season the world becomes no better then the old heathens for Ignorance and Idolatry Sixtly in this thousand yeares space persecution haunted the Church in a most miserable extremity partly by the Heathen Emperours partly by Antichrist when hee appeared and many thousands were put to death for the witnesse of Jesus and for the word of God and which neither worshipped the beast of the Empire nor his Image Antichrist when hee was risen up and these though they were miserably tortured and slaughtered in regard of the body yet their soules reigned with Christ and were in happinesse And the Evangelist in the fourth Verse speaketh but in the tenor that Daniel doth in his twelfth Chapter and second Verse where treating of the miserable afflictions to bee caused by Antiochus hee comforteth those that should fall under them with assurance of the resurrection and eternall felicitie So the Apocalyptique here being to discourse of the persecution that should befall by Rome first heathenish and then Papall hee solaceth and incourageth all chose that should suffer it with this assurance that though their bodies should be destroyed yet their soules should reigne with Christ and as for the others that worshipped the Beast and his Image they never obtained the first resurrection of recovering out of their heathenish and blind estate into the imbracing of the light but they continued dead in ignorance and error till even after these thousand yeares and then the world slipped into the darknesse and delusions of Antichrist as into heathenisme again And so I have given you the sense of this place and as I conceive the very sense of the holy Ghost If I have been a little overlong in it it is but according as the difficulty of the thing it selfe requires and I hope you will pardon mee Before I come to take up the words I cannot but observe this to you from what hath been spoken last namely that Errour and deceivednesse in the things of God is a verier devill and more dangerous then open persecution For the Text accounts the Devill bound when hee is tied up from deceiving though hee bee at liberty for persecuting I do but name this here I shall have occasion to make use of it hereafter And now in the Text you may observe two things first a description of Christ and a description of the Devill and secondly a mastery of Christ over the Devill The description of Christ in the first Verse a description of the Devill in the second and the mastery of Christ over the Devill in the conjunction of both I might observe many things out of the words in either verse but I shall onely take up that which both the Verses conjoyned doe mainely and clearely hold out unto us and that is That bee the Devill never so devillish Christ hath power to over-power him It is worth your observation that the Text seemeth to bee at strife with it selfe whether to set out the Devill in his devilishnesse or Christs power over him in the higher expressions for as on the one hand it hath set out the Devill in five of his attributes if I may so call them as that hee is a Dragon a Serpent an old Serpent the Devill Satan so in as many termes on the other hand hath it set out Christs power and victory over him namely that he layes hold on him binds him casts him into the bottomlesse pit shuts him up seales him up for a thousand yeares as if it purposely intended to proclaime this to us which I cannot but repeate againe That bee the Devill never so devilish Christ hath power to overpower him The truth of this doctrine was the very first thing that was held out in the world after sinne came into it and as soone as the Devill had shewed his devilishnesse in the overthrow of Adam the Lord proclaimes the power of Christ to conquer the devill and that before ever any censure or sentence bee passed upon Adam Gen. 3. 15. And this truth shall bee one of the last things that shall bee held out in the world when the devill shall receive the reward of all his devilishnesse when hee his Angels and his instruments shall receive this sentence from him Goe yet cursed c. And as for the space betwixt these two periods or from the beginning of the world to the end of it the Scripture is so full of testimonies and the world so full of experiences of Christs power and mastery over the Devill that it is needlesse to prove it the Devill himselfe dare not deny it Matth. 8. 29. I shall confine my discourse upon this subject unto these particulars Namely to shew you how the power of Christ meets with the Devill to master him first in the utmost evilnesse of his nature as hee is a Serpent Secondly in the utmost vigour of his power as hee is a Dragon the greatest of Serpents thirdly in the utmost practise of his subtiltie for hee is an old Serpent and fourthly in the utmost exercise of his malice for he is a Devill and lastly in the utmost violence of his cruelty for hee is Satan the utmost of any of these the utmost of all these either in himselfe or in his instruments or members all the Devills in hell all the wicked on earth Christ is too big for them hee can hee doth master quell and conquer them at his pleasure The first thing to bee

never turne again from God to delight in sinne then certainly on the contrary to behold the devil in his colours and complexion would so fill the will with the abhorring and detestation of him that it would not readily turne againe to the devill to forsake God And therefore if I were to make a threefold wish as Austen once did I cannot tell what to wish for to more profit and advantage then to know God as hee is the devill as hee is and our selves what wee are But to pursue what wee are about As you have seene the evilnesse of the Devils nature especially in these two particulars in the incorrigible frowardnesse of his will and the irrecoverable cursednesse of his condition So now looke how the power of Christ meets with him and over powers him for all this his crooked and cursed disposition And this is considerable also in two particulars First in that though the will of the devill bee thus desperately and precipitately bent upon evill yet Christ doth so overpower him as that hee produceth good out of the devils actions to his owne people Can any good thing come out of Nazareth much more can any good thing from the devill can any bring a cleane thing out of an uncleane not one but one Hee that brought light out of darknesse at the beginning fire out of water at the sacrifice of Elias sight out of blind eyes stopt up with clay the same can bring good out of evill good to his people even out of the wickednesse of the devill by that mighty working whereby hee is able to subdue all things even the devill to himselfe I might bee copious in shewing what good the Lord produceth out of the devils temptations practised by himselfe what good out of the devils persecutions practised by his instruments even honey for Samson out of the very carcasse of the devouring Lion and meat for Elias out of the mouth of the carion Raven I might shew you how Adam had a better condition Job a better estate Joshua the high Priest better cloaths gotten out even of the assaults of the devill I might shew you what carefulnesse is wrought in the people of God what clearing of themselves yea what indignation yea what feare yea what vehement desire yea what zeale yea what holy revenge as the Apostle speakes in another case and all this even from the very devils temptations I might shew you how the Church hath beene increased the Gospel propagated God glorified Atheists converted and the enemies confounded even by the devils persecution But I need not to goe farre for examples and experiences in this kind looke at home in these times and distractions where the devill is so busie and as we may sadly see him raging and let loose in these dolefull warres so may wee as visibly see Christ doing good to this poore kingdome out of this his evill For First how many rotten hearts and how many rotten members hath the devill or God rather out of the devils activitie discovered in this nation in these troubles which like a moth and corruption were devouring a poore kingdome and shee knew not who hurt her What Junctoes of hell have beene found out what plots discovered what Cabinets of letters detected what actions described what hearts anatomized Popery Prerogative Protestations Plotters Prelates all come to light and found desperate and devilish and all this done by the great businesse of the devill God overpowering him and making him to prove a tel-tale of his own counsels and as it were a false brother to his owne hell and fraternity Secondly how have these troubles beaten men and the kingdome out of their fooleries and superstitions their trumperies and ceremonies customes and traditions which how hard it would have been to have got off from them if they had not beene thus brayed in this morter the great tenaciousnesse of them with divers even in this morter is evidence sufficient This drosse would never have beene got away if it had not passed such a furnace and our Israel would never have shaken hands with Egyptian Idolatry if it had not beene beaten out of it by Egyptian affliction So that let me take up the manner of speech of our Saviour with some inversion Oh England England Satan hath desired to winnow thee as wheate and hee hath winnowed away a world of his owne chaffe Thirdly how many prophane and ungodly wretches hath this warre cut off Papists Atheists Epicures Devills incarnate that would not onely have layen in the way as so much rubbish to hinder the worke of the Temple but that would have proved Sanballats Tobiahs Geshems and such Samaritans utterly to oppose it with all their might It is a sad thing to see so many of Israel perish in the matter of Baal Peor yet there is this comfort in it that the entring into the land of promise will bee the speedier when these untowardly and ungratious ones are taken a way Fourthly how many prayers and petitions at the throne of grace hath hee pressed out in these extremities the foole making a whip for his owne back for so prayer is stiled flagellum Diabolo and helping forward his owne destruction And thus all things even the very evilnesse of the Devill himselfe worke for the good of Gods people and hee that would have run Phereus thorough cures his impostume and kils him not and all through the overpowering power of Christ who is able to subdue all things unto himselfe and doth dispose all things for the good of his Secondly Christs mighty power meets with this evilnesse of the Devils nature and overpowers it when hee delivers men out of the very same evilnesse of nature and works it out of them by the work of grace and renewing and brings them to become new creatures Wee have heard a sad story of the dolefull nature and constitution of the Devill wee may say each one to himselfe as Nathan once to David by thy naturall condition thou art the same As one Blackmore may see his complexion in another Blackmores face so may wee our owne nature in the devils he is our father by nature we as like him as we may looke and the two Sosiaes in the Comedie were not liker one to another then we to him in our originall temper God at the first made us like himself but our degeneration hath made us so like to Satan that all the evilnesse perversnesse cursednesse that wee heare or read of of the Devill is all our own and who shall deliver us from this body of death I thanke God through Jesus Christ our Lord Hee hath a power that can pull and redeeme us out of this estate and surely this power is not small And therefore the Apostle speaking of this worke wrought upon a poore soule hee cals it the exceeding greatnesse of his power to them that beleeve Ephes. 1. 19. 1. This is the next worke of wonder and power to the worke of