Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	die_v	eternal_a	life_n	13,347	5	4.9974	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29110	The eye of faith, looking at eterntty [sic] being the sum and substance of a sermon, preached in the Cathedral Church of York, the sixth Sunday after Trinity, July the second, 1665 / by Christopher Bradley ...	Bradley, Christopher, d. 1678.	1666 (1666)	Wing B4124; ESTC R20241	13,160	32

may receive the Crown of life We that are Ministers of Gods Holy Word and Sacraments let all our preaching be for Eternity Let the Glory of God and the salvation of Souls be our chief aim let conviction conversion and edification be the end and scope of our teaching Dan. 12.3 they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many unto righteousness as the stars for ever and ever but who are they that are wise Intellig●nte● Err●a●nt●● the Hebrew word which is translated wise is also rendred teaching or Teachers as it is in the Margent of our Bibles They that are wise are such as by their painful teaching turn many unto righteousness Let us see another excellent place Prov. 11.30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth Souls is wise The Tree of Life was a type of immortallity and you see here again who is wise he that winneth Souls the Hebrew word signifies to take or catch and it is a Metaphor taken from Fowlers or Fishers who use all art and industry to catch birds or fish The Devil is very busie to catch Souls from us let us be very industrious to catch Souls from him the wiles of the Devil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epa. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are in the Greek called Methods let us use all our method to recover Souls from him and let us oft reade and meditate upon that counsel which St. Paul gives to Tymothy 2 Tim. 2.3 last verses thus doing when the chief Shepheard shall appear we also may receive a Crown of Glory You that are Citizens of this ancient and famous City labour to be free Denizens of Heaven That ye be no more Strangers and Forreigners Eph. 2 19. but Fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Phil. 3.20 Let your Conversation be in Heaven go about earthly business with Heavenly minds the Greek word translated Conversation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Citizen-ship 〈◊〉 13.14 therefore remember that you have here no continuing City but must seek one to come You that are Merchants and Trades-men trade for Heaven and Eternity And remember that the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Merchant man Mat. ●3 45 46. seeking goodly Pearls who when he had found one Pearl of great price he went and sold all that he had and bought it This Pearl is Jesus Christ with all his benefits which you should diligently seek wise Merchants when they go beyond Sea use to buy such Commodities as are cheap there but are vendible at home at a good rate even so while you are here not at home but Strangers and Forreigners buy such Commodities as will give a good rate when you come at home in Heaven the benefits of Christ Grace and the new-Creature are cheap here in regard of the paucity and fewness of men that look after them but they will be of great price in Heaven which is our home our own Country Let no worldly profit hinder your care for your Souls What will it profit a man Mat. ●6 26 if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul saith our Saviour Be not so careful how to lay a foundation of greatness for Posterity as how to lay a good foundation against the time to come that ye may lay hold on eternal Life 1 Tim 6.19 It was a complaint of devout Salvian that men Salvian ad Eccl. Cathol Lib. 2. to leave others rich for a short time did often condemn themselves to eternal poverty Lastly You that are poor Labourers take our Saviours counsel Jo. 6.27 Labour not so much for the meat which perisheth as for the meat which endureth to eternal Life And remember for your comforts that if you be true Believers in Christ and look at Eternity that God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdome which he hath promised to them that love him James 2.5 Now that I may give you some few Motives and encouragements to this Duty The looking at Eternity will make us the less to love and prize the things of this world and be well contented with our Condition It will make us patiently to bear all Afflictions and troubles when we consider that strait is the Gate Mar. 7.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and narrow is the Way or as it is in the Greek full of Affliction which leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it and that if we suffer with Christ 2 Tim. 2.12 we shall reign with him This will make us that we shall not envy the prosperity of wicked men read Ps 37.1 2. This will sweetly bring on the Meditation of Death why is Death so fearful to the wicked Heb. 9.27 but because it is appointed for all men once to dye and after that comes Judgment and after that Eternity Why is death so comfortable to the godly But because their temporal death is a passage to Eternal Life when they can say believingly we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved 2 Cor. 5. ● we have a building of God an House not made with Hand eternal in the Heavens The next lesson we learn from this Doctrine is for Caution to take heed of all sin even the least sin is of an eternal guilt being committed against an eternal God and must have an eternal expiation by the Blood of Christ or else an eternal punishment Lastly that I may hasten to conclude with the time this may teach us an use of Gratulation to be thankful unto God that hath given us immortal Souls and a true Faith in Jesus Christ that he hath given any of us Grace carefully to look after our eternal estate and condition and that he hath prepared eternal happiness for us And that we may be better stirred up to thankfulness I shall allude to that of David 2 Sam. 7.18 19 20. Read the place I pray you we may apply it thus Lord who am I that thou hast brought me hitherto that thou hast preserved me to this day but thou hast spoken of thy Servants House for a great while yet to come thou hast appointed me to happiness to all Eternity And what can David say more this surpasseth the speech of all created Eloquence This should mightily affect us we should be so ravished with the Contemplation of the gloryes of the life to come that we should not only praise God with our lips see Ps 103.1 2. but also with our lives that so glorifying him a few days upon Earth we may be glorified with him and by him to all eternity in Heaven Now let us turn our praise into prayer that through the Grace and Guidance of Gods Holy Spirit we may so pass through things temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS

two Scripture-Truths 1. The immortality of the Soul and 2. the happiness or misery of the life to come which will last to all eternity As for the first though it hath been oft impugned both by ancient Hereticks and modern Schismaticks yet that the Soul of man is not only a spiritual Essence which actuates the body in which it is but an immortal Essence too which shall overlive the body we have good proof both from the Old and New Testament see Eccl. 12.7 Luke 23.46 and not only the ancient Fathers but the learned Gentiles by the light of Nature and dull spectacles of Philosophy have asserted this Truth If I were to speak to Heathens I might imitate St. Paul who confuted the Athenians Cretians and others out of their own Greek Poëts but seeing thanks be to God I speak to Christians I need not tell you what opinion Plato Pythagoras Aristotle and others held of the Souls immortallity seeing it is a received Axiom in Philosophy Anima rationalis est immortali● that the rational Soul is immortal And if the Soul be immortal and shall be re-united to the body at the Resurrection then it must have an Vbi a place of eternal bliss or misery And not only the Scriptures but the Greek and Latine Poëts do make mention of Heaven and Hell their Elysian fields and Tartarean Dungeon and the like As for the glories of the life to come and miseries of the second death Heathens as well as Christians have much written Now if we would know wherein the blessedness of the life to come doth consist both the Scriptures and the Fathers tell us that it consists in the Beatifical vision of Almighty God Mat. ● 8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God In thy Presence is fulness of joy Ps 16. ult and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore saith the Psalmist And St. Austin tells us Visio Dei beatifica sola est summum bonum nostrum that only the beatifical vision of God is our chiefest good As for the miseries of the life to come they consist in a separation from the Presence of God as St. Paul intimates 2 Thes 1.9 Rev. 20.6 this is called the second Death not properly but Analogically for as the death of the body is the separation of the Soul from the body so the death of the Soul is the separation of the Soul from God Poena damni est p●●talior quam poeta sensus Mortem sine morte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this Divines call the punishment of loss which they say is greater than the punishment of sense Hence it is that some of the Fathers call this second Death a death without death or a never-dying death it is a liveless life such is the miserable condition of the second Death 2. This Doctrine reproves and condemns those that mind only earthly things Phil. 3.19 Whose end is destruction whose God is their belly whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things Sensual Atheists Epicures Epicuri de grege porci Libertines called not only in Scripture but in prophane Authors swine and dogs Heb. 12.16 Prophane Esau sold his birthright for one morsel of meat and prophane men sell Heaven for a little earth the joys of eternal life for the pleasures of sin which are but for a season Whence is it that any should hold the Soul to be mortal but from a principle of Epicurism when for ought that I could ever read the immortality of the Soul was never positively denied by any Sect of Philosophers except the Epicures who placing the chief happiness or summum bonum in corporal pleasures were as it were engaged to cry down the Soul The third lesson we may learn from hence is to teach us the Reason why they that truly fear God and mind the salvation of their souls dare not run with others to the like sensuality and excess of riot and therefore saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 4.4 5. they think it strange speaking evil of you who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead They look at the reckoning-day they look at eternity they consider how they may get through this troublesome world with good Consciences 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They give all diligence to add to Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge c. but he that lacketh these thingr is blind and cannot see afar off he cannot look at Eternity but the other labour to grow in Grace that they may be prepared for the Kingdom of Glory The fourth lesson which is the main instruction of this point is to exhort us in all things to look at eternity And this indeed is that which we must all aim at if we have any of that zeal to the Kingdom of Heaven which was so eminent in the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors as to be left upon Record for our instruction Now that we may look at our spiritual and eternal condition 1. We must labour for a lively and saving Faith in Jesus Christ Faith is the eye of the Soul to see as the hand of the Soul to receive 2. Labour to live by faith 2 Cor. 5. ● and not by sense Let us not so much consider what shall become of us in this Life as what shall become of us to all Eternity And let us alwaies remember that eternal life is begun in this life called the life of Grace Grace and Glory differ only in degrees Grace is the imitation of Glory and Glory the consummation of Grace none can live the life of Glory but such as live the life of Grace here without Regeneration there is no salvation Christ told Nichodemus Jo. ● 3 Except a man be borne againe he cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heaven So that while this life lasteth eternal life must be acquired or lost for ever Now give me leave a little to speak to all conditions of men that hear me Heb. 13. ●1 and I beseech you Brethren suffer the word of Exhortation by a particular Application 1. You that are Magistrates and Governors either in Church or State let all your actings be for the glory of God the honour of the King the Good Peace Welfare and Tranquility of the places where you live fulfil the end of Magistracy which is to suppress sin and vice and to encourage vertue and piety that people may lead under you 1 Tim. 2.2 a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty And may more cheerfully and willingly 1 Pe●● 13 14 Submit themselves to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well That so you may give a good account at the last day and