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	soul_n	spirit_n	17,497	5	5.6554	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93880	The teachings of Christ in the soule. Opened in a sermon before the Right Honble House of Peers, in Covent-garden-Church, upon the solemne day of their monthly fast, March 29. 1648. / By Peter Sterry, M.A. sometimes fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge: and now preacher of the Gospel in London. Published by order of that House.	Sterry, Peter, 1613-1672.	1648 (1648)	Wing S5486; Thomason E433_30; ESTC R204205	36,001	61

THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST IN THE SOULE OPENED In a SERMON before the Right Hon ble House of PEERS in Covent-garden-Church upon the Solemne Day of their Monthly Fast March 29. 1648. By PETER STERRY M. A. Sometimes Fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge AND Now Preacher of the Gospel in LONDON Published by Order of that House LONDON Printed for R. Dawlman and are to be sold at the Signe of the Crowne and Bible at Dowgate neer Canning-street 1648. Die Lunae 3 0 Aprilis 1648. ORdered by the Lords in Parliament assembled That M r Sterrey one of the Assembly of Divines is hereby thanked for his great paines taken in his Sermon Preached the last Fast before their Lo ps in the Covent-Garden Church And he is hereby desired to cause his said Sermon to be printed and published which is to be done onely by Authority under his owne hand IO BROWNE Cleric Parliamentorum To the Right Hon ble the House of PEERS Assembled in Parliament Right Hon ble I Have principally endeavoured in this Sermon to search What that is to Which we may Trust our Soules and What Foundation we are to Lay in our Religion If we were once Established in this maine Point concerning the Next World we should Enjoy our selves with much more Setledness and Security in This World For how quietly should we repose our Selves for this Outward Short Life in the Body on that Power to Which we commit the Care of our more Excellent and Immortall Part What Difficulty would there be in Trusting to Him for our Preservation from Death to whom we trust our Selves in Death for Eternity Our Lord Jesus seems to this End to be Shaking Heaven and Earth Church and State all Outward Powers and Inward Principles in Both that the True Foundation of Heaven and Earth may be Discovered Saint Paul saith Other Foundation can no Man lay than that which is laid Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3. 11. God Hath laid no other Foundation neither May we neither Can we On This alone hath God built the World His Church His Glory He hath made All Things by Jesus Christ Coloss 1. 16. On this alone must we build our Belief and Obedience in Divine Things our Wisdome and Power in the Things of Man For All Power is given to Him in Heaven and Earth Mat. 28. 18. Whoever raiseth any Outward or Inward Frame of Things upon any other Ground-worke he makes a Lie he works the Works of the Devill whose End is to be Dissolved to Vanish into Ayre or Perish in the Fire S. Paul Divides Man into Three Parts Spirit Soule and Body 1 Thess 5. 23. The Body is an Outward Image made of Dust Gen. 2. 7. God formed Man of the Dust of the Ground The Soule is a Breath of Life Inclosed in This Image Clothed with It and Giving Life to It He breathed into his Nosthrils the Breath of Life and Man became a Living Soul The Spirit is the Fountain of Life which flowes forth from God to Feed and Maintain the Breath of Life in the Body When the time of Death Comes This Spirit draws back to Their Head again Those streams of Life by Which It went forth into the Body Then the Outward Image falls to the Ground and moulders away Thus doth the Dust return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit returns to God that gave it Eccles 12. 7. Now of These Three the Higher lives In the Lower and Above It. The Lower lives by the Higher And the Highest of all Three the Spirit of Man hath a Higher than That by which It Self lives even the Spirit of the Lord Jesus who is the King and Father of Spirits Our Saviour reasons after this manner Is not the Life More than Meat and the Body than Rayment Mat. 6. 25. My Lords We are all well assured of This that Nothing can Give More than It Hath These Bodies of ours which have a more Noble Image and Life than any other part of this Outward World in which they are cannot receive Either or continue in Either by any Inferiour and Outward Thing but by a Soule which dwells in the Body as a Silk-worm in her Work which lives in the Body as a Fire in the Flame Food and Rayment may be the Fuell by which the Soule maintains the Flaming Appearance of this Bodily Image But the Vertue goes forth from the Soule Our Saviour again teacheth us that Nothing which comes from Without can make the Soule Miserable or Happy Clean or Unclean This is done by that which comes from a more Inward and Higher Principle from the Spirit of Man In like manner this Spirit it self derives Its Life from the Right or the Left Hand of Jesus Christ His Love or His Wrath. From Hence our Spirits convey Life into our Soules and thorow them into our Bodies Thus our Bodies live not by Bread alone but by that Vertue which comes forth from our Soules Our Soules live not by their Counsels and Courages alone but by every Stream of Life that descends from our Spirits upon them Our Spirits live not by their own Eminencies but by Every Word that comes forth from the Mouth of Jesus Christ S. Paul said The Head of the Woman is the Man The Head of the Man is Christ The Head of Christ is God 1 Cor. 11. 3. So the Head of the Body is the Soule the Head of the Soule is the Spirit the Head of the Spirit is Jesus Christ as He comes forth to us in the Ministery of Angels Therefore let us have a Covering over our Heads a Power over our Soules and Spirits holding them in Subjection for these Angels sakes Amongst Which and By Which Jesus Christ the Head of our Soules and Spirits doth now raigne over us Our Lord Jesus calls Himself the Sun of Righteousnesse O that men did once Know that there can be no Right Judgment made no true Distinction or Discovery of Things but by the Shining out of Jesus Christ in their Hearts Are there not Invisible Things as well as Visible Have not They also Their Sun The Sun the Brightest Body is the Foundation and Fountain of all Light Vertue Forme and Being in this Globe of Bodily Substances If the Sun be quite hid all Shapes are lost in an Utter Darkness The Lord Jesus among Spirits and Spirituall Things is the onely Foundation of Truth Life and Power All Truth and True Life is lost in Doubt Uncertainty and a Spirituall Death to those Spirits in which He withdraweth Himself Why is the Heaven of our Religion darkened with Clouds of Dispute with so much Diversity such Uncertainty of Opinions that he begins to seem the Wisest among us who is most of all a Sceptique that is a Scorner or an Atheist How comes our Reason to such a Losse that She cannot Find or Know Her self She can give no Cleer or Constant Account of Her self in any One Man or in any One Particular Thing Doe not These things

our selves our Saviour Shall not the wrath of the one and the sufferings of the other make us sore amazed and exceedingly heavy unto death even the death of all our fleshly delights It is witnessed of Christ 1 Pet. 3. 18. He was put to death according to the flesh and quickned in the spirit S. Paul teacheth us 1 Cor. 5. 5. that after the same example every Humiliation should be for the destruction of the flesh and the saving of the Spirit Who calls himselfe a Christian and yet can forbeare in these times to sigh forth such language as this Lord Jesus thou art our Master we will learne of thee to die with thee Make thou these Calamities which our eyes see our eares heare our hearts feele and feare on every side of us to be our Crosses set up by thy Crosse on thy right hand like that of the good Thiefe We have had power pompe pleasures after the flesh But now let all these languish on these Crosses till they bow downe the head and we give up the Ghost of all earthly strength and hope Thus we will dye and our death shall be sweet unto us as the Spring of a better and more blessed life My soule breathe thou forth thy griefes and feares into the bosome of thy JESUS after this manner My dearest Lord All these miseries round about me shall be thy Crosse to me Here will I lay me downe on this Crosse in thine armes who hast been crucified upon it before me This shall be my rest in the day of trouble For here will I lay me downe and dye for ever to the world that I may rise againe in thy bosome to a new hope to sweeter and surer Joyes But for what shall we mourne We reade in the Gospel of a people that said of Christ We will not have this man to rule over us For this the Lord Jesus determines to go up and slay them Have not we refused the Lord Jesus for a Master to rule and guide us Is it not for this that he hath made these slaughters upon us Let us try our selves concerning these foure Masters Out Humour Our Lusts Our Passions The Examples of men 1. Our Humour God complaines Esay 52. 3. My people have sold themselves for nought How often have we sold our selves our soules our Saviour for nought for a Humour Let us thinke and weepe that many a time the Lord Jesus hath dropt upon our soules the precious discourses of life peace and immortality like the dew from the wombe of the morning that is from the eternall Fountaines of light and truth Yet we have cast it off without consideration meerly because our Humour lay that way to be carelesse of these things O stiffe-neckt spirits Jesus Christ hath come to us eating and drinking that is filling himselfe with immortall strength and truths with divine sweetnesse and joyes that he might flow forth on us and feed us with the same bread and wine of Heaven O hard-hearted Spirits He who is the Beloved of God the Beauty of the Godhead comes to us neither eating nor drinking but weeping and dying testifying the greatnesse of his love by the greatnesse of his sufferings teaching us to hide our selves from griefes and death in his wounds and through them to passe into Paradise Yet we suffer all this to run waste making no entrance into our eares or hearts and that for a weak empty Humour for an inclination without reason because we are listlesse to such things and have no pleasure in them But now let us fall downe before Jesus Christ and say Lord thou art the Wisdome of the Father None Teacheth like thee Thy love and wisdome have overcome me Many Masters many Hamours have reign'd over me besides thee But I bring my stiffe neck to thee with a halter upon it till thou please to take it off and put on thy yoke which is light and easie I bring my hard heart to thee and lay it broken at thy feet till thou gatherest it into thy breast and make it whole there 2. Our lusts These are our second Masters Psal 12. 13. God saith of Israel I gave them up to their owne hearts lusts And then afterwards O that my people would have heard my voice Lusts lead us away from Jesus Christ and suffer us not to heare his voice Let us try our selves concerning this thing What in all the course of our life hath put us on the frequentest or chiefest actions of our life Have the Spirituall appearances of Jesus Christ within us conspiring with his Word before us been the Oracle with which we have consulted Or have our lusts prompted us and thrust us on Have our eyes been upon the Eye of Christ to guide us or on some Wedge of gold or the Babylonish garment of some power office or honour What is it in the great action of this Reformation that hath put us to travaile so far about by the way of the Wildernesse of a Warre to meet with so many fiery Serpents What is it which now hath cast us into this feare that we shall waste a weary life and drop our Carkasses in this Wildernesse before we see the Land of Rest Have we not loath'd Manna and lusted after Quails We have found no Savour or Relish in the discoveries of Beauty Sweetnesse Rest in the Spirit and Person of our blessed Saviour But have been longing for the Bravery Ease and pleasures of the Flesh Doe we thus requite Jesus Christ He hath spared no losse trouble or paine to make his way to us to make known Himself his Father and the Glory of Heaven to us Yet now every motion of Ambition Vanity Covetousnesse or foule Desire hath more power to perswade with us than the Life and Death of Jesus Christ than all his Words Teares and Blood Let our Saviour speak by his Providence as loud as Thunder let him speak by his Promises with the tongue of an Angell to our eares and affections let him speak by the power of his Spirit with the voice of God to our Spirits we cannot heare him But let a Lust whisper onely from out of the ground of our sensuall part we heare it with ease and speed Shall we not be ashamed and grieved for these things 3. Our passions You have an admonition from the Apostle Ephes 4. 27. Let not the Sun goe downe upon your wrath To that he addes ver 28. Neither give place to the Devill Passions are Devils come up into our spirits with the fire of hell burning hot upon them and flaming from them These are uncleane Spirits which for the most part haunt the high places of Power and the desolate places of Warre When Passions are loud God himselfe cannot be heard by the best men as we see in the example of Jonah What griefe is it to thinke that we should refuse the Prince of Peace for a Counsellour when we take our passions in his stead that Jesus Christ