Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	let_v	life_n	see_v	7,907	5	3.2906	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12178	The Christians portion Wherein is unfolded the unsearchable riches he hath by his interest in Christ. Whom injoying hee possesseth all things else. By R. Sibbs D.D. and preacher to the honorable society of Grayes-Inne, and master of Catherine Hall in Cambridge. Published by T.G. and P.N.	Sibbes, Richard, 1577-1635.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.; Nye, Philip, 1596?-1672.	1637 (1637)	STC 22486; ESTC S117304	16,083	102

THE CHRISTIANS PORTION Wherein is unfolded the unsearchable Riches he hath by his interest in Christ. Whom injoying hee possesseth all things else By R. Sibbs D. D. and Preacher to the Honorable Society of Grayes-Inne and Master of Catherine Hall in Cambridge Published by T. G. and P. N. LONDON Printed by JOHN NORTON for JOHN ROTHVVELL and are to be sold at the Sunne in Pauls Church-yard 1637. 1 Cor. 3. 21 22 23. Ver. Let noe Man glory in Man for all things are yours whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods THe principall scope of the Apostle in this place is to cut off faction and over much dependance upon men who had crept into the consciences of people and set up themselves in steed of Christ As that is the pride of false teachers to set up themselves in the conscience where Christ alone should be The Apostle to prevent this saith let no man glory in man doe not glory in your teachers they are but your servants and Christs servants for all things are yours all the teachers in the World are your servants and Christs Having set downe this generall All things are yours to discourage them from glorying in Man he parcells that generall into particulars Paul or Apollo or Cephas or Life or Death 1 All persons are yours 2 All things are yours 3 All events are yours Persons Paul Apollo Cephas Things The World or Life or Death Events whatsoever can come for the present or for time to come All is yours For the persons Paul Apollo Cephas are yours therefore Peter is not the head of the Church he is named here in the third place among the rest and after the rest Whether it bee Paul or Apollo or Cephas he is yours You know who ground all their Religion on this Peter is the head of the Church and they are the successors of Peter but Peter is the Churches and therefore cannot be the head and commander The World is yours What world is the Churches 1 The World naturall is the Churches that is the frame of Heaven and Earth all things are made for man and he is made for GOD. As the wise Philosopher could say that man is the end of all things in a semi-circle that is all things in the World are made for him He is made for God in whom all things end As all things come from a point and end there againe so all things come from God and all end in God We are Christs and Christ is Gods but the World is ours and wee are Gods all things in the World are our servants for they mourne in blacke as it were for our miseries since the fall And in our restoring againe they shall bee restored they waite for the day as it is Rom. 8. 21. For the glorious liberty of the sons of God they have their happines and misery together with men But there is another World that is ours take it in the worst sense the World of wicked men all their plotts and the Prince of the World are the Churches How is this He and all his instruments are under the command of him that turnes all his designes contrary to his owne intention this is a hell to Satan and one of the cheife torments he hath that as his malice is limited by this power so his power is limited by Gods power who overshootes him in his owne bow what ever he designes against the head Christ and against his members the Church it is overturned for the good of the Church In the primitive Church some were given over to Satan that they might learne not to blaspheme It s a strange thing that Satan should teach not to blaspheme who is the author of blasphemy Yet by consequence hee afflicting their bodies thereupon they came to be wise and seemed to be moderate and sober and to be Christianly minded and not to blaspheme So the Prince of the World is ours in this by an overcommanding power that turnes all to good against his intentions For there is but one grand Monarch in the World Every Kingdome is under a higher Kingdome there is but one to whom all are subject there is one grand Wheele that turnes all the other and therefore Satan himselfe is serviceable to Gods end whether hee will or noe And then for the World of wicked men all their designes though for the present they seeme to bee against the Church yet they are serviceable to the Church for wicked men are but the Launderers of the Church as it were to wash the Church to purge the church to doe base services that God intends for the refyning of the Church and all their hatred is for the good of the Church for God suffers the World to hate his children That his children might not love the World for if the VVorld did not hate his they would love the World and it would be a dangerous love The Church is a strange corporation it is such a corporation as hath the greatest benefit by enemies The enemies of the Church are the promoters of the greatest good of the Church the very World is the churches take it in the worst sense for the wicked World that lies in mischiefe but I will not dwell upon that To goe on Or Life The life of others is the Churches Why doth God continue the life of good Magistrates and good pastors For the Church as Paul saith It were better for me to bee with Christ a great deale yet for your sakes I must continue I am content to be without the joyes of Heaven a while for your good And therefore my life is yours it is at your service for you I shall continue still And so the life of good Magistrates it is for the benefit of the Church it were better for them to be in Heaven the life of all that may be serviceable to the Church till they have acted their part and served God in their generation as it is said of David Acts 3. 36. Hee served GOD in his owne Generation so every Magistrate hath his generation a time allotted a generation to stand up in the Church and state and to serue God in his turne and then God takes him away And then the life of every particular christian is theirs for God suffers them to injoy it so long as life may be a benefit to gather the more assurance of salvation and to doe their worke that he hath given them to doe here and when they have done their worke they are gathered to their Fathers so that life is the Churches And indeede life is a speciall benefit Because bythe advantage of life we further our reckonings a good christian the longer he lives the larlarger good accounts hee hath all his sinnes are wiped away they

shall not be laide to his charge all his deeds to a cup of cold water shall be set on the score And he shall be rewarded there is not a sigh not a teare but it is regestred the longer a man liveth if hee should live Methushelah his days the richer he should be in good workes and the more rich he is in good workes the more he shall have his part and share in glory after and therefore Life is yours The longer he lives the happier the time in which he lives is for his good and he makes the time happy and it is happier for himselfe the more rich he is in good workes the more rich hee shall be in glory after These things being so we should be very thankefull that God yeelds to us this life for besides an advantage of doing good It is a preparative to a better This life is as it were the seminary of Heaven Heaven indeede is the true Paradice of all the Plants of God but they must have a seminary to be planted-in first and therefore the Church is called the Kingdome of Heaven because wee are first planted here Now this life is an advantage we are planted here in the Church to grow a while untill we be taken from your semina ry the Paradice of the Church to the Paradice in Heaven So Life is ours for that end I will not further inlarge the point it is cleare Or Death As life is ours So death is ours It is astrange thing that death should be ours that is a destroying hostile thing to nature The King of feares as the Scripture calls it and that terrible of all terribles as the Philosopher the last enemy as Paul saith that death should be ours Death is ours many wayes you see here it is a peice of our joynture for these words containe the joynture of the Church The Church is Christs Spouse all things are Christs and therefore all things are the Spouses and among other particular gifts given to the Church death is ours It is a strange thing that death should be given to the Church and yet so it is and we shall see this if we consider how death in the Gospell is turned into another thing it is a harmelesse thing in the Gospell the sting is pulled out it hath lost all its venome in Christ. now death is a passage to another World it is the gate of glory death nothing but divests us of these rayments that we have here on our bodies and puts us into garments of glory it puts off these ragges and puts us into a better condition that is all the hurt it doth it ends all that is ill and all is determined in death it is the last evill and it is the beginning of all that is good that is everlastingly good that is spiritually good eternally good for by death we are freed both from the labour of sin which is a labour irkesome to Gods people by reason of a principle of corruption which they have in them that accompanyes them till they be in their grave death is the accomplishment of mortification in death there is an end of the labour of sinne and of all other labours whatsoever for death is a sleepe and all labours end in sleepe as after sleepe the spiritts are refreshed so after death we shall be more refresht then we can conceive now so death is ours It ends all labours of sinne and all labours of the body and it frees us from all contagion of wicked men and from all greife from wicked men and it sets us cleare out of Satans reach Satan hath nothing todoe with us when we are dead once because here the World is the Kingdome of Satan but when we are gone hence Satan hath nothing to doe with us and that is a great priveledge so death is ours it frees us from all that is evill our death is our birth-daie indeede we never live till wedie for what is your life alas it is a dying life Every day we live a part of our life is taken away we die every day The more we have lived the lesse of our life we have to live this is but a dying life There are three degrees of life The life in 1. The Mothers Wombe 2. The World 3. Heaven The life in Heaven begins at death death is the birth-day of that life Deaths day is the birth-day of imimmortality VVhen Christ came to die to purchase life he came not to die to purchase a sorry life on earth but he came to die to purchase immortall glory that is the life that Christ came to die for and to purchase The day of death is the first birth-day of that life and for our bodies they are but refined by death and fitted as Vessells cast into the fire to be moulded and fashioned to be most glorious Vessells after so our bodies are fitted by the grave till body and soule be for ever happy at the day of Resurrection so that death is ours and here upon it is that the Wiseman saith that The day of death is better then the day of birth When we are borne we come into miserie When we die we goe out of misery It is better to goe out of miserie then to come into misery If the day of death be better then the day of birth to a Christian certainly then death is theirs and blessed are those that die in the Lord saith the Spirit A voyce from Heaven saith so and therefore write saith hee it may be written if the Spirit saith it it is testimony and argument enough Blessed are those that die in the Lord they rest from their labours and their reward followes them They rest from all that is evill and their reward followes them all that is good their workes follow them so that if all evill cease and all good follows I hope death may well be said to be ours Death is ours it is our preferment why should we be afraid of that that is a part of our portion as the Apostle saith here Death is yours I beseech you therefore let us lay up this against those darke times wherein death will be represented to us as an uglie and grimme thing it is so to nature indeede but to faith death is my friend it is become amyable indeede there is nothing in the world that doth us so much good as death for its the best Physitian it cures all deseases whatsoever of soule body it frees us from all And indeede to shut up all this point death is the Death of death it is the destruction of it selfe forafter death there is noe more death so it consumes it selfe by death we overcome death Wee can never die more wee are freed from all death to be afraid of death is to be afraid of life to be afraid of victory For we never overcome death till we die Lay up these