Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	bring_v	life_n	spirit_n	4,163	5	4.8586	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78006	Christ the Sts advantage both in life and death. A sermon preached at the funerall of Ms Elisabeth Coke, wife to Colonell Tho. Coke of Pebmersh, Esquire. By Thomas Burrough, preacher of the Gospel at Pebmersh in Essex.	Burroughes, Thomas, b. 1611 or 12.	1646 (1646)	Wing B6130; Thomason E1200_3; ESTC R208763	15,668	69

if either I must forsake them or deny Christ were they a thousand times dearer I would willingly leave them Deerest friends chiefest delights coming in competition with Christ must be disregarded In this case wee must Patrem calcare c. as Jerome speaketh wee must trample upon father and cast away mother we must know no relation so as to hinder us from Christ Hee that doth not thus hate father and mother and wife and children in respect of Christ is not worthy of Christ Thus you see upon inquiry that there is no soule-satisfying comfort to be found on this side Christ As every thing moveth towards its owne proper center and is not at rest untill it come thither so the soule of a true beleever inclineth and moveth towards Christ and never resteth contented untill it come to Christ and hath the fruition of Christ As Noah's Dove found no rest untill shee returned to the Ark and as the Bee findeth no rest untill shee returne to the hive so the soule that truely desireth communion with Christ can meet with no true contentation but in Christ As David sweetly Returne unto thy rest O my soule for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee The reconciled face and favour of God in Christ is the onely true rest of the soule The soule is restlesse untill it finde this rest Now as you have seen that there is no true comfort to be found in any enjoyment on this side Christ So wee shall endeavour to give in some arguments to prove That it is Christ alone in whom this comfort is wrapped up That the Lord Jesus Christ is a beleevers greatest advantage and best comfort both in life and death REAS. 1. Because Christ onely can free the soule from the greatest evill from the greatest burthen here in this life What is it that maketh the life of many a poor soule to be as bitter as death it selfe that maketh them to walk mournfully and Rachel-like refuse to be comforted Is it not sense of sinne and the weight of remaining corruption Doth not this constraine the poor wearied soule to cry out O wretched man that I am c. Now it is Christ alone that can ease this burthen I thanke God through Christ saith the Apostle Hee hath borne our griefes and carried our sorrowes saith the Prophet Isai 53.4 Wee are naturally dead in sinnes and trespasses 't is he that hath quickened us Wee have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an hand-writing against us 't is hee alone that hath taken it away and nailed it on his crosse We are subject to the power of darknesse 't is hee that hath spoyled principalities and powers Coloss 2.15 Hee hath disarmed Sathan of all power finally to hurt his elect It is Christ alone that can free the soule not onely from the guilt and punishment of sinne but also from the power and dominion of sinne Hee was made sinne for us that is by imputation that wee might be made the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 God in his eternall councell appointed Christ to be surety for his elect and for his righteousnesse sake to accept of them as if they had been perfectly righteous in themselves Whom hee hath set forth saith the Apostle to be a propitiation for sinne Rom. 3.25 The originall word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sheweth the everlasting purpose of God to give his Sonne for the redemption of his elect So the same word is used Rom. 8.28 Christ was designed to this work of propitiation that is to bring his elect againe into grace and favour with God which hee performed By the merit of his death By the obedience of his life And also by the holinesse and purity of his birth and conception 1. By the merit of his death submitting himselfe to the whole curse of God deserved by their sinnes and standing in the gappe as it was said of Moses so bearing the brunt of Gods fiery wrath and indignation and thereby removing from them whatsoever Wrath or Justice could be offended at 2. By the obedience of his life in fulfilling Gods most righteous Law by yeelding perfect and entire obedience whereby they are accounted just and righteous And 3. By the holinesse and purity of his conception and birth imputed unto them whereby they are accounted personally as holy and pure in the sight of God as if they themselves had been conceived and born without spot of sinne And this holinesse and purity of Christs humane nature is no lesse reckoned to beleevers for healing their defiled nature then his obedience and suffering for remission of actuall sinnes and acquitting them from eternall destruction And to this purpose saith the Apostle Christ is made to us of God Wisedome Righteousnesse Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 CHRIST is made to such as beleeve in him not onely Righteousnesse in respect of his perfect fulfilling the Law of GOD for them but Sanctification also in respect of his holinesse innocency and most perfect purity of his holy and sanctified nature Thus there is from CHRIST made over to the true beleever whatever is needfull to his full and perfect justification in the sight of GOD. First There is merit and passion upon the Crosse answering for that curse and torment which hee deserved Secondly Integrity and obedidience of life answering for his disobedience Thirdly Perfect purity of nature answering for the impurity of his corrupt nature Now what greater comfort can there be to a beleeving soule then to have all his sinnes discharged and blotted out and himselfe acquitted in the sight of God and accounted as holy and pure as if hee had been conceived and born without sinne And to finde all his sinnes in CHRIST not onely pardoned but also overpowred and himselfe daily by degrees changed from one steppe of glorious excellency to another in sinnes ruine and graces reviving by the Spirit of the LORD Like as that poore cripple wee reade of Acts 3. v. 8. when hee was cured hee walked into the Temple praising GOD and leaping for joy even so the soule that findeth it selfe once thus set free by CHRIST cannot but with much more abundant joy triumphantly rejoyce in the free grace and mercy of GOD in CHRIST which hath set it free yea with a joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. vers 8. None knoweth the joy that such finde but the soule that hath laboured under the same burden and tasted of the like freedome A stranger intermedleth not with this joy REAS. 2. Because CHRIST onely can conferre upon the soule the greatest good What is the chiefest good that the soule is capable of here in this life What is it to have an heaven upon earth Is it not to enjoy GOD to have an intimate acquaintance with the LORD JESUS CHRIST to enjoy the sweet manifestations of his presence John 14. ver 21. Is not this the chiefest good and the great request of the soule To be kissed with the kisses of CHRIST'S

I am confident I may speak of her in the Psalmists words Shee did desire to preferre it before her chiefest joy Shee had learned how to sacrifice her deerest delights to the good of the publick Witnesse her willing not onely yeelding you up unto but also her earnest perswading you to accept of that call from God to serve your Countrey and Kingdome in that publick military imployment which the unanimous consent of the well-affected had cast upon you often professing that in this cause shee could as freely trust God with you in a showre of bullets as of raine being fully perswaded that the Lord could as easily protect you in the one as in the other Shee was a woman of a publick spirit truely sympathizing with the miseries of these sad times never thinking it was or could be well with her selfe or hers whilest it was so ill with the deer Saints and people of God both in the greatest part of our owne Kingdome and in many places elsewhere And as shee was exemplary in her life so was shee consolatory in her sicknesse and death With what a contented and thankfull frame of spirit shee did bear this her last visitation as her constant demeanour in generall did evidently declare so in particular I may instance in those last expressions which according to my best intelligence shee breathed out not long before her last breath when one of them that watched with her laying her eare to hearken what shee spake heard these words once and againe uttered What shall I render to the Lord for all his mercies What shall I render to the Lord for all his mercies Sir I could easily herein enlarge my selfe without exceeding the bounds of truth or intrenching upon the borders of flatterie both which I abhorre But I conceive it very unseemly to prefix a long Epistle before a short Sermon Therefore I shall humbly crave liberty to cease writing to you engaging my selfe upon all occasions not to omit praying for you That the Lord would please to sanctifie this your great losse to your abundant spirituall advantage This is and shall be the earnest request at the Throne of Grace of him who cordiallly subscribeth himselfe Sir Your Worships reall friend and servant for the good of your soul THO. BURROUGH CHRIST THE S t s ADVANTAGE both IN LIFE AND DEATH WEe are met to solemnize the memoriall of our dear friend that vertuous Gentlewoman the Lord hath lately taken from us desiring to improve our best indeavours to make some spirituall advantage of this our great losse If ever there was a time when that sad complaint of the Prophet Isaiah might be taken up viz. The righteous are taken away from the evill to come Isa 57.1 't is surely now If ever the surviving Saints might fear that their dear deceased Christian friends were taken away from future evils then surely may we now in these sad times May we not fear there is still a storm approaching when the Lord houseth his friends And that a night of trouble and perplexity draweth nigh when the great God as I may with reverence so speak dispatcheth his children to bed and thus layeth his beloved ones to sleep Providence hath chosen my Text for mee and I have willingly submitted to it When it pleased the Lord to take away this our deare friend I may truely say my wonned sleep that night immediately ensusuing departed from mine eyes and in the silent time of the night did my phantasie continually present her speaking unto me with her accustomed lively voyce Christ is to mee gain both in life and death whereupon I resolved for this time and occasion to fix my thoughts upon that portion of Scripture to which I shall now crave your attention as it is upon record The TEXT PHILIP 1.21 For to mee to live is Christ and to die is gain Or as the Geneva Translation readeth it Christ is to mee both in life and death advantage THe Apostle Paul when hee wrote this Epistle was prisoner at Rome which the Philippians understanding having formerly received the Gospel by his ministery send Epaphroditus their minister to visit him and by Epaphroditus send reliefe to his necessities Whereupon Paul taketh occasion to write this Epistle to them In the beginning whereof after his salutations he giveth thanks to God in the behalfe of the Philippians for their communion and fellowship in the Gospel confirming them with an assured confidence that the same God who had begun that good work in them would also perfect it unto the end And to this purpose he prayeth for them that they might increase daily in the knowledge of God and abound in the fruits of righteousnesse But fearing lest his present bonds and imprisonments might be an occasion of discouragement to any of them hee tels them that the cause of his imprisonment was well known both in Nero's Palace and to the Citizens of Rome yea his sufferings had been so farre from hindering that they had helped much towards the progresse of the Gospel for many through his bonds had searched more into the cause of his sufferings and were grown more bold and confident in the profession of the Gospel And although there were some that preacht Christ out of envie and contention supposing to add affliction to his bonds yet hee therein rejoyced How these thought to adde affliction to his bonds Expositors doe not absolutely resolve us Some think that they did adulterate and corrupt the Doctrine of the Gospel mixing it with divers erroneous tenents such as they conceived might render Paul more odious in the eyes of authority and so they thought to adde affliction to his bonds Others are of opinion that they observing what high place and esteem Paul had in the hearts and affections of the godly by preaching Christ they resolved that they would also preach Christ thinking thereby to eclipse and obscure his fame But what-ever was their intent in Paul wee have a pattern of a truely Heroick and heavenly spirit Hee was willing to be debased that Christ might thereby be exalted Christ is preached saith hee and therein I rejoyce v. 20. Knowing that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 According to my earncst expectation an expectation with lifting up the head or stretching out the neck as one that looketh for the coming of some speciall friend whose company he much delighteth in so much the word importeth Such an earnest expectation and assured hope had Paul that Christ should be magnified by him either by life or death And upon this perswasion hee findeth it difficult to determine whether to make choice of life or death His life and abode was better for the Philippians but for himselfe it was far better to be dissolved and to be with Christ If I live saith hee I have devoted my life to Christ if I die I am fully perswaded that Christ shall be magnified by my death Therefore Whether I live or die Christ shall be to mee advantage The