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	show_v	soul_n	5,454	5	5.2942	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57372	A sermon preached at the Parish-Church of S. Magnus the Martyr, in the city of London, on Sunday, December 24, 1693 by Edward Roberts.	Roberts, Edward, b. 1653 or 4.	1694 (1694)	Wing R1577; ESTC R6134	14,837	34

A SERMON Preached at The Parish-Church OF S. MAGNUS the Martyr In the CITY of LONDON ON Sunday December 24. 1693. By Edward Roberts M. A. then Lecturer Imprimatur Carolus Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. à Sacris Feb. 13. 1693 4. LONDON Printed for S. Smith and B. Walford at the Prince's Arms in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1694. A SERMON Preached at the Parish-Church of S. Magnus London c. S. JOHN Ep. III. Vers 2. Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayst prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth THESE are the Words of the Favourite-Apostle of Blessed Saviour who had the Courage and Fidelity to own Him in Extremities to endure the Scandal of the Cross and behold His shameful Crucifixion They are part of this short Epistle which was directed by him to Gaius as is manifest from the Inscription of it Verse 1. About whom the Conjectures of Learned Men are various when they would point him out with more particular Exactness as to his Abode or Residence But the undoubted Account of S. John in the Context makes out what is material to our purpose viz. That Gaius was not only a Proselyte to Christianity so made by him but a generous Assertor of it before an Infidel World a worthy Man who it seems was a Master of Wealth and of a Heart also to employ it aright who made his House the Sanctuary of distress'd Professors shewing a very remarkable Kindness and Hospitality both to the brethren and to strangers who bare witness of his charity before the Church Verse 5 6. In consideration therefore of his extraordinary Usefulness S. John sends him this Epistolary Letter to be a standing Expression of his Concern for his Welfare in the largest Extent of that Word to assure him that he now did and always should wish above all things that he might prosper and be in health even as his soul prospered The Words are so very plain in themselves that there is no need of a Paraphrase to make them plainer they contain an affectionate and devout Petition of the Apostle That God would prosper Gaius in his Body his Fortune and all his outward Concerns as he had already to a high degree improved his spiritual and better part And this is the properest and indeed the only proper Return I can make this Day as to Your worthy Pastor so to You and others the Friends of the Church and mine who without any Law but that of Kindness have continued Your Civilities and Encouragements for many Years This is the great End of our Holy Calling your Furtherance in the Ways of Piety our Prayers our Publick Discourses our private Admonitions all our Endeavours within these Gates and without center here in your Prosperity The Spiritual Part of it is that we most earnestly contend for without which the largest Temporal Portion we are sure must vex and oppress the Owners The Welfare of the Soul we may humbly ask with a well grounded Confidence of being heard for that is a Petition always agreeable to the Divine Will but Prayers for Bodily Satisfactions do often return empty and should be presented to the Throne of Grace with great Indifferency of Mind and an entire submission to Providence The Words of the Text will greatly direct and assist us in our pursuit of this Comprehensive Happiness and shew us the way to reap both the Blessings of God's Right Hand and Left In speaking of which I will insist on the following Heads of Discourse First Shew wherein the Prosperity of the Soul properly consists Secondly Add to this an Account of that Bodily and External Welfare the Desire of which is strongly rooted in human Nature and too often made the great the darling Consideration of our Lives Thirdly Comply with an essential and inseparable Duty of the Ministerial Function by falling in with the Apostle and fervently Wishing that You and all others the Inhabitants of these Two Parishes now united in Law I wish with all my Heart I could say united in Religion and met together in the same Congregation may prosper in both respects I begin with that which lies first in the Order of Nature and Religion tho placed last in the Order of the Text namely To consider Wherein the Prosperity of our Souls does consist And here as a necessary Introduction to all that follows as the Groundwork and Foundation of the whole Discourse I hope it may be taken for granted in a Christian Congregation that we all carry about us such immortal Beings this may fairly be thought the settled Persuasion of all who frequent the Assemblies of Publick Worship that they repair hither under the particular influence of it with a full entire Design to receive the End of their Common Faith even the Salvation of their Souls If indeed we look abroad into the World and view the Temper of the Age with a careless Eye there are to be found too many who decry the Doctrine of Spirits that Branch of it in particular which relates to the Immortality of the Soul But this Design most unworthy of the Reasonable Nature is carried on by such as are in their Practises degenerated into Brutes who stifle as much as they can all Intellectual Operations and maintain a strict Converse with things purely Corporeal And when the Subject of their Morning thoughts and coolest Recollections is no other than the Fulfilling of their Lusts it becomes their Interest to hope that the Higher Principle shall never awake to a future Account but utterly perish with the Body Whereas to the Pious and Unprejudiced the contrary is most apparent When the Mind lies fairly open to its own Notices and Deductions we are taught by it that there is in us a Principle distinct from the Body this is the common Dictate and Result of Reason but the Duration of it must be fetch'd from Divine Revelation This shews its Immortality with the greatest Evidence and Authority God who made our Souls expresly telling us that they are Essences which can never be destroyed by those who have power and malice sufficient to kill the Body and that upon the Dissolution of it they shall pass into a State in which Death shall have no more Dominion over them Wherefore acting consistently with our selves and maintaining a due Regard to the Principles of common Christianity we ought to secure to our Souls the Preeminence These Nobler Beings should be always the peculiar Objects of our Care whose Prosperity must be carried on and perfected by Ways agreeable to their spiritual Nature I will mention Three 1. By our judicious and deliberate Professing of the Truth by the assured Light of which our Souls may have a full view of and be conducted to the Regions of Bliss This was the leading Method by which the mighty Growth of Gaius was happily cultivated even by his Walking in the Truth and resolute Adherence to it stiled here by way of Eminency The Truth and called