Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	life_n	misery_n	sin_n	6,420	5	4.5542	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67184	A sermon at the funeral of the right honourable Henry, Earl of Warrington, Baron Delamer of Dunham-Massy, Lord Lieutenant of the County-Palatine of Chester, and one of the Lords of their Majesties most honourable Privy Council preached at Bowden in Cheshire / by Richard Wroe ...	Wroe, Richard, 1641-1717.	1694 (1694)	Wing W3728; ESTC R12138	16,713	33

on new and contrary tempers and dispositions Death I know makes a great change but it is more in respect of the outward than the inner man and is a change of condition rather than of complexion And tho the putting off these mortal bodies will leave the Soul and its faculties much more free and exalt its powers and better its operations and thereby heighten and improve those minds which were before disposed to Virtue and Goodness yet I cannot conceive how it should possibly effect so great an alteration as in one moment to change the whole temper of the Soul and superinduce new habits of Virtue and strong dispositions to Goodness where there were none before Now if men carry their good or bad dispositions with them into the other world suitable to these must their portion there be since there must be likeness and correspondence between the Object and the Faculty before Happiness can result from them Happiness consisting in the agreeableness of the one to the other which unites the Soul to the Object of Bliss and endears the Enjoyment of it So that we may presume to say That a wicked man cannot be happy even in Heaven it self and were such an one caught up with St. Paul into the Third Heavens he would find himself uneasy amidst all the satisfaction of those blissful Regions as being wholly a Stranger to such pure and spiritual Joys and should God forbear to punish wicked men in the other World yet they cannot be happy there with the Joys of good men because their minds are altogether indisposed for them and even the delights of Paradise would afford no relish to their vitiated and depraved Appetites As all true happiness and satisfaction of mind springs more from an inward than an outward cause so is the happiness of Heaven to be estimated not so much from the place as the temper and disposition of its blessed Inhabitants and their fitness to be received into and made partakers of its ravishing Glories but they that have never accustomed themselves to the divine relish of true Goodness cannot taste the delights of the heavenly Manna they only that have been nourished with the true Bread of Life here are fit Guests to sit down with Christ and eat and drink with him in his Kingdom St. Paul says of the vital energy and life of Christianity Our Conversation Phil. 3. 20. is in Heaven And so must ours be before we can be in a capacity to be received into those glorious Mansions and welcomed into the blessed Society of Angels and Saints Let not any then that retain their Sins talk of going to Heaven No 't is too heavy a Clog for any to ascend with thither or suppose they could alas poor Souls how would they stay what would they do there there 's nothing to gratify their sensual Appetites nothing agreeable to their carnal Desires all the Enjoyments there are chaste and pure all the Delights spiritual and cannot be relished by unhallowed minds And if ever we hope to enter there we must predispose our Souls for it by an holy that is an heavenly Conversation and then we have trimm'd our Lamps and are ready to enter in with the Bridegroom and are cloathed in the Wedding Garment and shall be made acceptable Guests at the Table of the Lord and taste the Dainties that are there prepared Now if these things be so as the Wise-man says Righteousness tendeth to life but he that pursueth evil Prov. 11. 19. pursueth it to his own death If the paths of Piety certainly lead men to Bliss but Sin by its own fatal tendency plunges men into Misery then we see how reasonable it is to conclude That there are two opposite states of Rewards and Punishments hereafter wherein mens condition shall be correspondent to their Conversation here besides the express Revelations of God's Word that so it shall be And there is nothing can shake this Belief or make men doubt the certainty of it unless they can imagine what some have fancied that there is a third state after Death wherein men may repair and better themselves and so after some time recover their lost estate To remove this Scruple I add That there is no middle state after Death no change of Condition or altering it for the better the Tree must fall South or North and where it falls it must lie there it shall be Perhaps it may be thought that this Consequence is not necessarily enforced from the words and it may be said that possibly the Tree may fall some other way for though only South and North are mentioned yet there are more Points in the Compass And I know the Romish Commentators are very jealous of interpreting this place of a future state lest it should seem to thwart their darling Doctrine of Purgatory and Lorinus craftily endeavours thus to shuffle it off That if it should be understood in that sense it would not consist with the Notion of Limbus Patrum the place wherein they suppose the Souls of the Patriarchs to be detained till Christ by his Sufferings had overcome Death and first opened the gate of Heaven to all Believers And we cannot help it if the place be as repugnant to the Notion of the one as it is to the other and since both of them are uncertain and want proof themselves neither of them can be evidence for the other nor evade the force of the Argument drawn from these words against the being of any such middle state or place as these men fondly imagine For the force of the proof lies not in the former part its falling South or North but in the relation that its lying has to its fall which way so e're that be directed there it remains fixed and unmoveable And though I will not insist on that as a sufficient Argument that there being only two opposite extremes named therefore there cannot be a third a negative Argument from Scripture being not always conclusive yet in matters of Doctrine and Objects of Faith where the Scriptures are silent there they are not to be urged as necessary Points since Scripture is the Rule of Faith and contains every thing necessary to be believed Suffice it then to say That since Scripture mentions but two states the one of the faithful in Heaven the other of the unrighteous and impenitent in Hell we acknowledge no other we believe no more I have already accounted to you how emphatically the Scripture represents how particularly it describes the nature of both I shall here only add to it that had we no other evidence than what this Book of Ecclesiastes affords we may safely infer that all Notion of a third or middle state is utterly excluded We are told that at our dissolution The dust shall return to the Chap. 12. 7. earth as it was and the Spirit to God that gave it there 's a different place assigned for each part of our Compositum And of the

death the tree may fall toward the South or toward the North States as opposite as North and South distant in place and scituation different in quality and condition the South that denotes the Region of Light of Rejoycing and Pleasure the North that implies the Land of Darkness Sorrow and Sadness so are those terms frequently used both in phophane Authors and in Sacred Writ and very appositely to denote the Distance and Opposition that is between them Man who in the Wise man's words was made to be immortal created to a never-ending duration being put into being was never to cease to be was by the bounty and kindness of his Maker design'd for a blessed Immortality and made capable of the enjoyment of it but life and death being set before him with a liberty to make his choice by refusing the one he made himself liable to the other forfeited happiness and became obnoxious to misery That the first of human Race did so we learn from unerring Revelation that we are all prone to make the same wrong choice we are sensible of by sad experience and tho Heaven and Hell Life everlasting and eternal Torments be Articles of our Creed yet they seem to have no more influence on the generality of men than things of meer notion and uncertain speculation since most men live as if born meerly for this world and never trouble themselves about the Interest of the other A fatal mistake this and which directly tends to Atheism and Immorality for if men be made only for the enjoyments of this life then it is natural to conclude that they may make the best on 't and live as they list nor can there be any effectual Remedy to this dangerous Error but the firm belief and certain perswasion of a future state wherein men must give account of their actions and receive according to their doings and therefore it hath been the great design of all Divine Revelation to impress on men's minds the notions of Rewards and Punishmets hereafter as the most powerful Argument to influence their actions and behaviour here and 't is the great Prerogative of the Gospel That it hath brought Life 2 Tim. 1. 10. and Immortality to light viz. has revealed Heaven more plainly and threatned Hell expresly and given the greatest evidence and assurance of both viz. the Testimony of God himself Now if we consult his Sacred Oracles we cannot doubt of the Truth nor be ignorant of the nature of that State with relation to the different portions therein allotted to good and bad men for Scripture every where tells us in general That Glory and Happiness is prepared for Good Men and Hell and Torments are reserved for the wicked more particularly 1. It describes the nature of both states in most Emphatical Charactars 2. Heaven is expresly promised to the Righteous 3. Woe and Misery are positively threatned to the reprobate and impenitent 1. The nature of both states is plainly described Under the Old Testament indeed in more dark Characters and more general Expressions yet such as all centre in the notion of two opposite States the one of Happiness the other of Misery and tho we should grant that Heaven tho frequently mention'd in the Old Testament yet is generally tho not always to be understood of the upper Region of the Clouds the Firmament or the starry Skie and that Hell there usually imports no more than the grave or state of the dead yet in the New Testament Heaven is the Name of a state and place of happiness and Hell is the seat of Torments prepared indeed for the Devil and his Angels but assign'd in common with them as the portion of hypocrites and unbelievers On this account the Revelations of our Blessed Saviour are call'd the Gospel of the Kingdom and the St. Mat. 4. 23. Doctrine of the Gospel is stiled the Kingdom of Heaven as that which most fully discovers and directly leads to it and all the Characters there given of it are such as tend not only to rectify men's notions and raise their conceptions of that Blessed State but also to excite their Affections and invigorate their Endeavours after the attainment of it 'T is Life and Glory Light and Joy a Kingdom and a Crown Pleasure for evermore an Inheritance that fadeth not away and in one word everlasting Life which includes all that can conduce to make man happy for ever both in Soul and Body Opposite to this there is another place as distant in situation there being a great Gulph fixed between them as different in quality being the place of Torment everlasting chains of Darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched where there is every thing that speaks horror to humane Nature nothing wanting that can torture the Body or afflict the Soul of Man I need not mention all the places which are so many that you cannot miss of them so plain that you cannot be ignorant of the meaning of them And lest any should surmise that they are only Legends of a state we know not the Gospel gives us the greatest certainty and assurance of the reality of them For 2. Heaven is expresly promised to the Righteous and greater assurance we cannot have of any thing than the word of God himself who cannot be deceived and will not impose on us and as we cannot without injury to the Divine Wisdom imagine That the Son of God was sent to purchase with his precious Blood any thing less than Happiness and Immortality so can we not without the highest affront to his Goodness and Truth doubt of his readiness to confer it on those for whom it is prepared No his Word is faithful and true his Promises certain and unalterable and that there are Rewards for Good and Righteous Men is as evident as any Object of Faith as certain as the Being of God For he Heb. 11. 6. that comes to God must believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him doubtless he is so himself having said it and all his promises are yea and amen Now to us are given exceeding 2 Ep. 1. 4. great and precious Promises as St. Peter speaks and the New Covenant is said by St. Paul to be established Heb. 8. 6. upon better Promises in respect of the clearer dicoveries and greater assurances that the Gospel gives of a Future state of Life and Glory Our Blessed Saviour has assured his followers that in his Father's St. John 14. 2. V. 2 3. house are many Mansions and that he is gone before to prepare a place for them and his Apostle St. Paul who in a Vision was caught up into and had a prospect of those beatifick Mansions has assured us That when he shall come again with crowds of 1 Thes 4. 17. Angels we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds