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	torment_n	4,875	5	9.1881	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15334	A Christian and learned exposition vpon certaine verses of that eight chapter of the Epistle of that blessed Apostle Paule to the Romanes, and namely, vpon verse, 18.19.20.21.22.23. VVritten long agoe, by T.W. for a most deare friend of his in Christ, and now lately published in print, for the benefite and good of Gods people wheresoeuer.	T. W. (Thomas Wilcox), 1549?-1608.	1587 (1587)	STC 25620.5; ESTC S106381	90,228	156

his manhoode he hath merited as indeede it is their common assertion then yet we say that that is absurd and erroneous likewise bicause his manhoode is a creature euen as wee our selues are though he be freed from sinne and hard is it yea it was yet neuer heard of that creatures could indeed deserue at the hands of the creator who hath indued them with breath and being and filled them of his owne free fauor with the fulnes and riches of al his mercies For what can the creator by his infinit liberalitie goodnes wisedome and whatsoeuer else is excellent and high in him purchase at the handes of his creatures more than by wel-doing towardes them to deserue their loue and obedience againe towards him and so they with an vnfained affection imbrace loue and honour him Dauid a man according to Gods owne hart was content to confesse Psal 16.2 O Lorde my voel-dooing extendeth not to thee And in an other place Psal 116.12 VVhat shall I render to the Lorde for all his benefits to me as if he shoulde say I cannot tell what Of a trueth I haue nothing that will answere the least of them much lesse deserue the best And if they wil say that he had the fulnes of goodnes in himselfe wee answeare that that will nothing helpe them For though that be true yet hee had it not as from his manhoode though it were in his manhoode but from the fulnes of the sanctifieng spirit and the excellencie of his eternall godhead which did so plentifully replenish his humane nature with all manner of grace and goodnes Iohn 1.16 that of his fulnes vve haue all receiued euen grace for grace and yet notwithstanding he hath neuer a whit the lesse in himselfe no more than God by induing vs with immortall soules or giuing vs wisdome righteousnes and such like hath either spoiled himselfe of or diminished his owne immortalitie iustice wisdome and other essentiall properties in him Now then if Christ haue not merited neither in his person nor in his seuerall and distinct natures as we haue already sufficiently proued I hope and we know not neither beleeue any more in Christ than his person and natures to work by either they must of necessity let this curious dotage of Christs meriting for himself passe vanish away like smoke in the aire and so imbrace the contrarie truth togither with vs or else shewe something besids in him which hath performed this so high and excellent work that they wil haue euery man that not only for auoiding suspition of heresie but vppon paine of condemnation of their souls vnfainedly to beleeue In the third point namely concerning the matter hee merited to himselfe they are as hardely distressed and as much at their wits ende yea and at as great iarres and contentions also amongst them selues touching the same as they were in the former some affirming that he merited immortalitie to his bodie and impassibilitie as they call it to his soule and of this minde is the maister of the sentences in the place aboue quoated othersome that he merited life euerlasting and the glorie of heauen as our Rhemists vpon Rom. 8. and othersome againe that hee merited all and euerie one of these matters togither For answere wherevnto and to take no aduantage of this that they can not agree nor resolue what it is certainely that hee merited to himselfe sauing that by this wee may perceiue that we haue little hope that they will consent with vs in truth that be at daggers drawing among them selues in falshoode bicause he verily will hardlie agree with any that diffenteth from himselfe we tell them that hee merited neither any one of these things seuerally nor all these things iointly and that therefore whatsoeuer they holde herein is but some swimming imaginations of their owne heads For first touching the immortalitie of his bodie and the impassibilitie of his soule if they say he deserued these before his sufferings why had he not then his due deserts giuen him that in due time For the thing deseruing being once performed the merit presently groweth due and if there be anie delay made there is iniurie and iniustice offered to the party deseruing by the party that shoulde recompence in as much as hee deteineth and vseth that which is proper to another And so by this doctrine the Lorde is found both greately in debt to man and iniust to all those whose wel-dooings hee rewardeth not euen presently after the worke is performed But to vs ouer and besides the reason before alleadged it seemeth impossible that hee could deserue either the one or the other of them specially sith the articles of our religion teach vs to beleeue that he was dead and buried and the scripture assureth vs that hee sustained most greeuous pangs and passions in his soule specially when he affirmed that his soule vvas heauie euen vnto death Mat. 26.38 and againe when hee cried out vppon the crosse in the anguish and bitternesse of his spirit My God Mar. 15.34 my God vvhy hast thou forsaken me What was not God of power to performe that which Christ had deserued Or was he not willing to satisfie and pay that which his onely sonne had merited Doe you not see that these absurdities errours yea blasphemies must of necessitie follow vpon these lewse and lewd conclusions What will you say he had these graces bestowed vpon him after his death and resurrection by the power of his passion I answere that then you say as much as if indeede you had said nothing at all first bicause that the withholding of his deserts before touched remaineth notwithstanding still vnsatisfied and not taken away Secondly bicause that if he merited those things by his conception as the master holdeth it is vnseasonable to ascribe these merits or things deserued to an other matter Thirdly bicause that in that meriting what had Christ that we haue not I meane the faithfull For after naturall death they haue as in respect of their soules Reuel 7.17 all teares vviped avvay from their eies and be freed from the sufferings of this present world and the torments of that that is to come and at the resurrection their base and vile bodies though otherwise dissolued into dust and powder shall according to the mightie povver Philip. 3.21 vvhereby Christ is able euen to subdue all things vnto himselfe be raised againe and be made mortall and glorious as the scripture plainly teacheth in many places and namely 1. Cor. 15. Wherevpon also it will follow directly that as men in their doctrine may merit so they may merite as muche to themselues as Christ didde for himselfe But of a truth the mortalitie of Christs body standeth not as they suppose vppon Christs meriting of it but vpon the trueth and certainetie of the promises passed long before hee was clad with our flesh Psal 16.10 The prophet saying Thou vvilt not leaue

vppon them from GOD Yea sunder this if it could be which is the accomplishment of all from all other the mercies of God towards vs in Christ and his merits and then what good as a man would say can they do vs For if wee respect worldly things as meate drinke health and such like what are they without this though otherwise they seeme neuer so delightful and plesant vnto vs but so many instruments and meanes to fatte vs as stall-feede oxen against the day of our slaughter And though it be true Rom. 4.25 that we might haue thorow Christ his death the forgiuenes of our sins thorowe his resurrection the imputation of his righteousnes and be inabled so to stand before God as pure and cleane being clothed with his holinesse and innocencie yet if we should not come to that eternall inheritance through the strength and power of his glorious ascension but liue heere vppon the earth subiect to so many infirmities of our own both in bodie and mind as we continually carrie about with vs and lie open to the buffetings of Satan and the blowes of the wicked as his seruaunts who in the rage of their spirites are ready euerie minute of an houre with violence death and destruction to rush in and fal vpon vs what were it els but after a sort to be as it were euen in the pains torments of hel it selfe Let vs therfore sticke fast to this thinke vpon it often and make much of it as a notable bulwark or buttresse to our faith pacience and all other the particular fruits thereof whatsoeuer There followeth a third argument for comforte in afflictions and troubles euen in the very beginning of this text that wee haue now taken in hand to interprete namely in the eighteenth verse and these wordes For I account that the afflictions of this present time c. Which as it is drawn from the great oddes as you would say that is betweene the pains that we indure in this world and the eternall ioyes that are prepared for vs in the life to come the one sort being in it owne nature finite as all things in this life are though perhaps innumerable as in regard of vs the other both as in respect of God the creator as also in respect of it selfe being infinit and vnmeasurable so doth it not onely wel but necessarily also depend euen vpon both the former resons and may fitly be fastned vnto them in this sort that whereas he had in the former made mention partly of manifold afflictions and partly of heauenlie glorie now in this he laboreth to shew that though our troubles and trialles bee neuer so great or many that yet it should not any whit at all discourage vs in as much as there is a farre more excellent glorie by infinite degrees laid vp for vs in heauen than al our sufferings can amount vnto whatsoeuer they be or can be and so deliuereth vnto vs a singular commendation of the woonderfull excellencie and infinitenesse of the said glorie Men we see by daily experience wil force themselues far for worldly preferment for from whence commeth it that in games yea and those of no value to speake of men take such extraordinary pains Psal 127. ● and in ordinarie trades trauell rising vp earlie lying dovvne late cating the bread of sorrovve and running thorow fire and water as you would say but for som hope that they haue either of gaine or of glorie the markes commonly that men set before them to aime at and hit Yea the more excellent the price is that is prefixed before thē or the reward that they promise vnto themselues or is promised them by others as th end of their trauels the more they striue and straine themselues why should not that adde sharpening as it were and giue a notable edge vnto our corage and constancie in the time of our conflicts and distresses whether they be of bodie or of soule there being as no comparison at all betweene our earthly afflictions and heauenly ioies so much lesse if lesse may be between earthly heuenly rewards 1. Cor. 9.25 Euery man saith thapostle in an other place that prooueth masteries abstaineth from all things they do it to obtain a corruptible crovvne but vve for an incorruptible Wherevnto that hee might the better excite and stirre vp the people to whome he wrote he doth in the same place set before them his owne example vvho did so runne but not as vncertainely and did fight but yet not as one that beateth the aire but did take dovvne his bodie and bring it into subiection to the spirit that so hee might be the more fitte for the performaunce of those his spirituall exercises In all this doubtles we may plainely see and behold two speciall points well woorth the weighing as first our owne backewardnes dulnes vnaptnes and inabilitie to good things which also appeareth by this that we haue neede of so many spurs to prouoke vs thereto as admonitions exhortations reprehensions consolations godlie mens examples and many such like and yet all of them little or nothing preuaile with vs a matter which beeing rightly looked into should make vs so far off from the prowd thoughts of any desire in our willes or abilitie in our power to wish or to doe anie thing good that if wee were truelie humbled before the lord our brethren as we ought to be would make vs go continually with moornful harts and countenances cast down til such time as God had both reformed our wils giuen vs power also for it is he alone that vvorketh in vs both the vvil and the deed of euery good thing ●…p 2.13 that according to his ovvne good pleasure Secondly we may here after a sort feele the greatest loue and singular kindnes of our God towards vs who though he might by his soueraigne authoritie ouer vs command vs and if we did not yeelde obedience might not onelie threaten vs but punish vs also and that with al maner of plagues both temporal and eternal as who hath the fulnes and seuerall sorts of them prest and ready in his owne power to poure them foorth when it pleaseth him is yet notwithstanding pleased by gentle words to intreat vs and by promises of al sorts to allure vs yea by the very example of his sonnes and seruaunts to draw vs on to that which indeed doth most directlie tend to our owne good and wherevnto though indeede wee had none of all these things to mooue vs yet if we were but led by the light of reason wee should carefully and earnestly stryue and labor Neither doth this great and vnspeakable bountifulnes of God once onelie and no more deale after this sort with vs but standeth continually knocking as it were at the doore of our conscience and waiting when by the comforts of his promises hee may haue a free entrance and ioyfull passage into our seuerall soules

let vs come to that verse which remaineth of this text wherein the Apostle affirmeth that which he had doone before touching the groanings of the creatures and the sighs and sobs as it were of the children of God And yet this is no vaine tantologie or idle repetition but a more vehement affirmation of that whiche went before which may appeere in that the Apostle vseth this terme not onely and a more plaine and particular declaration of that which he had somewhat darkely expressed before namely in the 22. verse affirming that the creatures vvith vs did groane and trauell in payne togither not onelie shewing heere what he meant by that terme vs which hee expoundeth in these words vve vvhich haue receiued the first fruits of the spirite but also what it is that vvee both sighe and vvayte for to wit our adoption that is the full manifestation and declaration of it which shall then indeede and not before bee perfectly accomplished When that our bodies shall be raised againe out of the dust of death and vntied to their owne soules and so wee both in bodie and soule made perfect partakers of eternall life and blessednesse But let vs more particularly examine the wordes and obserue some doctrines out of the same that so also we may come to the end of this treatie Vers 23. And not only the creature To wit groaneth and trauelleth in paine as before verse 23. vnderstanding the worde Creature here as there True it is that the word creature is not in the Greeke text but yet it is wel supplied both by reson he hadde made mention of it before twice or thrice and minding also by amplification to inlarge the point by that terme not onelie hee sheweth that that affection is not proper to them alone but that the sons and seruaunts of God haue it in greater excellencie by much than the creatures themselues If any man therfore should not thinke well of laying that word to the rest he hath his answere before and yet may the better beare it also bicause it is doone for euidence and explanation sake Neither should any man thinke this short kinde of speaking strange sith it is vsuall in our owne toong and very rife and common with the Apostle as in other his writings so in this his epistle to the Romans for proofe whereof the learned reader may look vpon Rom. 5.3.11 Rom. 9.10 But vve also I take it to be as much as if he shold say euen we our selues do perform the self-same duty that the rest of the creatures do although as was said before in a more excellent sort and maner that this should be the Apostles meaning we haue not onelie this reason for it bicause they do it not by others neither indeede can others besides them performe it for them but also bicause the Apostle himselfe doth afterwards emphatically as wee saie repeate the same againe in this verse saying euen we doe sigh in our selues By which also the Apostle woulde teache vs both how necessary this duty is and how carefull we our selues shoulde be to do the same But alas wee are so farre off from the practise of it that our thoughts are not busied about it or anie such other good matter but rather as the Prophet saieth Our hearts goeth after our couetousnesse VVhich haue the first fruites of the spirit He meaneth by that worde haue Ezec. 33.31 not onely the receiuing of those graces but euen the very actual and present possession of them yea the perpetual possession of them which may appeere by this that he vseth a participle of the present tense noting as it were thereby not onely the beginning but euen as it were the continuāce of them The knowledge whereof is not onely profitable to confute suche as suppose that the spirite it selfe and the graces of it go and come according to the seueral state of goodnes and euill wherein menne are by reason of their sinnes and their disposition to better thinges as they imagine but also comfortable for suche as through the erroneous opinions of other men and the want of feeling in their owne soules are greatly distressed and beate downe as in that respect Now whereas hee addeth the first fruits of the spirite wee are to knowe that it is a metaphor borrowed from the ceremoniall lawe The Lorde appointing that the first fruits of all their increase should be dedicated as a holie thing vnto his maiestie and serue for these two endes specially the one was the maintenaunce of the priests and the other to be a pledge that the remainder that was left in the handes of the owners for their lawfull vse was nowe sanctified vnto them in as much as God the author of holinesse hadde vouchsafed to receiue a portion of it for his owne seruice and other holy vses all which is plainely putte downe in manie places of the bookes of the lawe and namely in Leuiticus and Deuteronomie From which wee may learne many good and profitable instructions as first in that the first fruits of euerie thing were consecrated to the Lorde that therefore in the seruice of our GOD wee shoulde imploie not onelie the meanest thinges that wee haue a fault as heeretofore so nowe Mal. 1.8.9 c too common in this vnthankefull worlde either in contempt will yeelde GOD nothing or in carelesnesse offer him the woorst of all the flocke but euen the best wee possesse and inioye if wee haue any thing better than an other either within vs or without Neither was this obscurely onely figured in the lawe by this ceremonie but plainelie and expresly putte downe in these termes Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God vvith all thyne hearte vvith all thy soule and vvith all thy minde wee knowing and confessing that wee haue nothing more excellent than our inward partes as wherein consisteth all our affection reason yea and naturall life it selfe Secondly in that the Lorde in this behalfe demanded nothing of them that was in their owne power to performe but that which hee had commaunded the earth to yeelde them euen as his owne speciall blessing vppon the earth and them also for though their labour might seeme somewhat and the earth naturallie to giue her increase yet wee knowe on the one side that it is in vayne for men to rise early and to lie dovvne late Psal 1●● ●● and to eate the breade of affliction or sorrovv and on the other side that it is the Lords blessing that maketh men rich and prosperous 〈◊〉 10. ●● with which also hee addeth no sorrovves as the Holie-ghost telleth vs he would hereby teach vs not onely howe vnapte and vnable wee are to the performance of good and holie duties before him a matter which ought to humble vs greatly in our owne eies but also that hee will not refuse but accept rather the best good grace that he himselfe hath giuen vs though sometimes it sauor of the naughtinesse