Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	power_n	sin_n	sting_n	7,486	5	11.7460	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A06524	A treatise, touching the libertie of a Christian. Written in Latin by Doctor Martine Luther. And translated into English by Iames Bell; Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen. English	Luther, Martin, 1483-1546.; Bell, James, fl. 1551-1596.; Leo X, Pope, 1475-1521.	1579 (1579)	STC 16996; ESTC S108948	46,058	126

through iustice But whē God doth sée truth to be ascribed vnto him that he is worshipped with the faith of our heart which is as much honor as he desireth then doth hee honour vs againe imputeth vnto vs truth righteousnes for this faithes sake for faith in yelding to God his own doth work truth righteousnes and therfore God doth recōpence our righteousnes again with glory for it is true and iust that God is true iust So also to ascribe vnto God iustice truth to cōfesse the same is to be true and iust To this effect we read in the 1 of the Kings the 5 Chapter Whosoeuer doth honor me I will glorify him and whosoeuer doth despise me shal be naught set by The same also pronounceth Paul to the Romans the 4 Chap. That to Abraham his owne faith was imputed vnto righteousnes because through the same he gaue vnto God the glory most absolutely that if we beléeue faith shal be imputed for the same cause vnto vs for righteousnes The third arme of faith which is a iewell inestimable is this that it coupleth the soule with Christ euen as the spouse with her husband By which sacrament as Paul ●eacheth Christ the soule are made one flesh If they be one flesh then is there a ●rue mariage betwixt them yea rather a mariage of all other most perfect abso●utely accomplished betwixt them for the mariages betwixt man wife be but slen●er figures of this vnion whereupō it fol●oweth that all things are cōmon betwixt thē as well good as bad so that whatso●●er Christ doth possesse the faithfull soule may boldly presume vpon the same triumph ouer them as though they were his own Likewise whatsoeuer appertaineth ●o the soule the same may Christ chalenge vnto himselfe as if they were his owne Let vs cōpare these together wee shall perceiue inestimable treasure Christ is full of all grace life and sauing health the soule is fraught full of all sinne death and damnation Now let faith come betwixt these two and it shall come to passe that Christ shall be loaden with sinne with death and with hell but vnto the soule shall be imputed grace life and saluation for it behooueth Christ if hee bee the husband to accept and ioyntly possesse the things appertaining to his spouse and withall to communicate to his spouse the things that appertaine to his possession for he that giueth unto her his body and himselfe wholly how can it be but that he must giue her all things else withall and he that is possessed of the spouse how doth he not withall possesse also the things appertayning to the spouse Here commeth loe to the view a most swéet spectacle not onely of communion but of a comfortable battell of victory of saluation and redemption For in as much as Christ is God and Man and such a person as neuer yet sinned neuer dyeth nor is damned yea such a one as neither can sinne no● dye nor be damned and that his iustice his life his sauing health is vnvanquishable euerlasting and omnipotent when as I say such a person doth communicate to himselfe yea rather doth wedde as his owne the sinne death and damnation of his spouse through the weddid Kyng and vnion of Fayth And that the case now standeth none otherwise then as if they were his owne proper peculiar euen as it himselfe had sinned were trauelling dying and descending into hell to bring all things in subiection And that sinne death and hell could not swallow him being all of necessity cleane swallowed vp in him by a miraculous conflict for his righteousnes is greater than the sinnes of all men his life surmounteth in power all death his sauing health is more victorious than all hell euen so the faithfull soule through the assurednesse of her faith in Christ her husband is deliuered from all sinnes made safe from death garded from hell and endowed with the euerlasting righteousnesse life sauing health of her husband Christ On this wise Christ doth cople her vnto himselfe a glorious Spouse without spotte and wrinckle clensing her with the fountaine in the word of life that is to say through faith the word of life of righteousnesse and of saluation Euen so doth he marry her vnto himselfe in faith in mercy and compassions in iustice and iudgement as he testifieth in the second of Osée Wherefore who is able to value the roialtie of this mariage accordingly who is able to comprehend the glorious riches of this grace where this rich and louing husband Christ doth take vnto wife this poore and wicked Harlot redéeming her from all euils and garnishing her with all his owne Iewels For it is impossible now that her owne sinnes should destroy her sithens they are laid vpon Christs shoulders and swallowed vp in him sithens also it doth now possesse the same righteousnesse in her husband Christ of the which she may now embolden her selfe and presume vpon them as in her owne right against all her owne sinnes against death and hell and may with confidence encounter the enemy and say if I haue sinned yet my swéet husband Christ in whom I doe beléeue hath not sinned all whose riches are mine and all mine are his As in the Canticle of Salomon My welbeloued husband to mee and I vnto him This is that Paul speaketh of in the first to the Corinths the fiftéenth Chapter Thanked be God which hath giuen vs victory through Iesus Christ our Lord Euen the victory ouer sin death And in the same place he bringeth in that sinne is the sting of Death but the force of sin is the law Hereof therefore you doe vnderstand againe what the cause is that faith is so highly commended that it is able alone to fulfill the law to iustifie without any helpe of workes For thou dost perceiue how the first commandement Thou shalt worship one God only is now accomplished by Faith only For if thou were nothing els frō the sole of the foot to the crown of the head but good workes yet shouldst thou not be iust nor shouldest thou worship God nor fulfill the first commandement for as much as God cannot be worshipped vnlesse the praise and glory of all truth and all goodnesse be truly ascribed vnto him but this cannot works bring to passe only the faith of the heart must atchieue this For wee doe glorify and confesse him to be true not by working but by beléeuing In this respect Faith only is the righteousnesse of a Christian man and the accomplishment of all the Commandents For hee that doth accomplish the first Commandement doth fulfill all the rest with no labour at all For works being things without sense cannot glorify God though they may be practised to Gods glory being ioyned with faith But wee at this present enquire not the works wrought of what quality they be but we doe

by what meanes a Christian man is frée from all and Lord ouer all so that to become iust and saued he shall not néed any works at all but through faith only obtaineth all those things sufficiently who if he would be so mad as to presume to be made a iust a frée and a safe Christian by force of any good work he should surely lose his faith forthwith together with all his good works which folly is aptly moralized in that fable of Esop where the Dogge swimmeth in the water carrying flesh in his mouth deluded with the shadow of the same flesh glittering in the water whiles gaping with open mouth he snatcheth after the shadow he both loseth the true flesh and the shadow withall Héere you will aske of me If all be Priests that bee in Christs Church by what title then may they whom wee call commonly Priests now bee discerned from Lay men I doe answere There is a great iniury committed against these words to witte Priest Clarke Spirituall Ecclesiasticall whiles they be translated from all the rest of the Christians and be abridged to these few which through euill custome are tearmed Church men For holy scripture doth make no difference betwixt them sauing that it entituleth them by the names of Ministers Seruants and Stewards which doe now vaunt themselues to be Popes Bishoppes and Lords which ought to minister to others in preaching the word to teach the faith of Christ and Christian liberty For albeit this be true that wée be all Priests indifferently yet can wée not all nor yet ought we all minister teach publiquely though we were all able to doe so For so doth Paul teach in his first to the Corinths the fourth Chapter Let men so esteeme of vs as ministers of Christ and Stewards of the mysteries of God. But this Stewardship is now enhaunced vnto so mighty a Potentate pompe of power and vnto a certaine terrible tyranne that no kingdomes of the Gentiles ne yet any Empyres of the whole world are not able to counteruaile the same in statelinesse As though lay people were a certaine somewhat besides and no Christians at all Through which peruersenesse it is come to passe that the true knowledge of Christian grace Christian faith and Christian liberty yea of Christ himselfe is come wholly to vtter ruine whiles in the meane space an importable clogge and intolerable bondage of mens workes and traditions are crawled vp in his place and we according to Ieremies lamentations are become vassalles of the most vilest varlettes of the world which doe abuse our misery to worke all infamous filthinesse and shamefull reproaches of their beastly licentiousnesse But to returne to our purpose againe I suppose that by the foresaid demonstrations it is made manifest that it sufficeth not to a true Christian man to preach the workes life and doctrine of Christ after an historicall manner and vtter the same as in telling of tales as though to know them to bee patternes of framing our liues were enough like as they vse to preach which are now accompted the best much lesse if it bee vtterly concealed and instéede thereof mens constitutions and traditions bee taught to supply the place There bée some now a dayes and they not a few which to this purpose doe preach and teach Christ that they may mooue the affections of the people to bewaile the passion and torments which Christ suffered and to bee displeasant against the Iewes and such other childish and fond matters of no great importance But Christ ought to be preached to this end that faith in him may encrease that it may appeare that it is not enough that there is a Christ but that hee may bee a Christ which is a Sauiour vnto thee and vnto me And that he doth work the same in vs which is mētioned of him is agréeable to the name whereby hee is named which faith springeth florisheth and is preserued by this if the preaching doe notifie the cause wherefore Christ came what he brought with him what he gaue and to what vse and purpose hee is to be embraced And this commeth to passe where Christian liberty which we doe attaine by him is truly taught and by what meanes all wee Christians are Kings and Priests wherein also wee be Lords ouer all and vpon what this our affiance that whatsoeuer wee doe is well pleasing and acceptable to GOD is grounded as I haue said before For whose heart hearing these things will not melt for very ioy and waxe rauished in loue of Christ hauing receiued so great a consolation to the which loue hee can neuer possibly attaine by any lawes or workes at all what is hee that can hurt such a heart or may apall the same with feare If conscience of sinne doe rush vpon him or horror of death amaze him loe it is ready to trust in the Lord nor is afraid for any such euill noise nor is disquieted vntill it do despise the enemies for it beléeueth that Christs righteousnesse is become his owne righteousnesse and that his sinne is now no longer his owne but Christs sinne But it behoueth that all sinne bée swallowed vp at the very sight of Christ through the faith of Christ as hath béene declared before and learne now with the Apostle to treade vpon and triumph ouer sinne and death and to say Death where is thy sting Death where is thy victorie the sting of Death is sinne but the power of sinne is the law God be thanked who hath giuen vs victory through Iesus our Lord for death is swallowed vp through the conquest not of Christ onely but our owne also because it commeth to passe by our Faith that the conquest is made ours and that in the same wee doe ouercome Let this suffice touching the inward man touching his freedome touching the principall righteousnesse of Faith which neither neede th●awes nor workes which will turne to his destruction that dare presume to be iustified by them Now let vs returne to the other part to witte the outward man For in this treatie answere shall be made to all them who being offended with the word of Faith and with the things that haue béene spoken of before doe reply on this wise against vs If Faith doe accomplish all things and if Faith bée onely and alone sufficient vnto righteousnesse to what end then are wée commanded to doe good déedes we may goe play vs then and worke no working at all being furnished sufficiently with faith I doe answere Not so yee vngodly not so In déede this matter would euen so fare as you say if we were perfectly and altogether the inward and spirituall men which wée cannot bée in any wise before the last day at the rising again of the dead So long as wée be clothed with this mortall flesh wée doe but beginne and procéede outward in our course towards perfection which will bée consummated in the life to

enquire of the person that maketh the works that glorifieth and bringeth foorth the works And the same is the very Fayth of the heart the head and substance of all our righteousnesse whereupon it followeth that the doctrine that teacheth the satisfaction of the law by meanes of works is blinde and perilous for as much as before all works it behooueth that all the Commandements bee accomplished and that works doe follow after this fulfilling of the law as wee shall heare more at large afterwards But to the end wee may more manifestly behold this grace which this our inward man doth possesse in Christ it is to be obserued that in the old Testament God did sanctify to himselfe the first borne of euery mankinde the first brith was wonderfully estéemed surmounting all other in double honour Namely in the Priesthood and in the kingdome for the first begotten brother was Priest Lord of all other vnder which shadow Christ was prefigured vnto vs the true and only first begotten of God the Father of the virgin Mary and the true King and Priest but not according to the flesh and the world for his kingdome is not of this world he raigneth and sanctifieth in spirituall and heauenly things which are righteousnes truth wisdō peace saluatiō c. Not as though all things of this world and of hell were not also in subiection vnto him otherwise how could he preserue and defend vs from them all but because his kingdome doth consist neither in them nor of them Euen so neither his Priesthood doth consist in outward pompe of apparell and gestures such as the humane Priesthood of Aaron was and as our ecclesiasticall Priesthood is at this day but in spirituall things by the which he doth make intercession for vs vnto God the father in heauen by a certaine inuisible office and there doth offer vp himselfe and performeth all things that behooued a Priest to doe Euen as Paul doth describe him by a figure of Melchisedech in his Epistle to the Hebrues Neither doth he only pray and make intercession for vs but also doth teach instruct vs inwardly in spirit with the liuely doctrine of his spirit which two are the peculiar properties of a Priest which also is figured in carnall Priests by praiers visible preachings And euen as Christ by his first birth did obtaine these two dignities so doth he impart and communicate the same to euery his faithfull spouse by the right of the foresaid mariage wherby they are al spouses whosoeuer are espoused to the husband And hereof commeth it that we all that beléeue in Christ are Priests and kings in Christ as in the first of Peter the second Chapter You be a chosen kindred a people of adoption a kingly priesthood and a priestly kingdome to the end you should shew forth his power who hath caled you from darknesse into his maruellous light which two are thus to be taken First as concerning the kingdome euery faithfull Christian through Fayth is so aduanced aboue all other things that in spirituall power he is become Lord ouer all so that none of all the creatures can doe him any harme at all Nay rather all things are made subiect vnto him and compelled to serue for his safety according to the testimony of Paul in the eight to the Romans All things doe worke together to the elect to good Likewise in the first to the Corinthians the third Chapter All things are yours whether it be life or death things present or things to come but you are Christs Not that to euery Christian all préeminence is giuen in bodily power to possesse and rule ouer all things which furious frensie hath bewitched many our Prelates euery where for this dominion is proper to Kings Princes and Potentates of the earth whereas the very vse and manner of our liues doth sufficently teach vs that we are subiect to all that we doe endure many tribulations yea euen die the death Nay rather by how much a Christian doth excell in Christianity by so much the more is he subiect vnto all inconueniences vexations and deaths as wee may easily sée in the very flower of the first borne Christ himselfe and all his holy brethren This power is spirituall which doth beare dominion euen in the middest of enemies and is mighty euen amiddest the very tortures which is nothing else in effect but that power is made perfect in weaknesse and that in all things I may make gaine for my safety insomuch that the crosse and death it selfe may bee compelled to serue for my behoofe and to worke my saluation and this is that high and notable dignity yea that true omnipotent power the spirituall kingdome wherein nothing is so good nothing so bad which shall not worke to my good so that I beléeue And yet haue I néed of nothing sithens only faith doth suffice to saluation but that faith may in the same exercise her force the dominion of her liberty Behold now this is that inestimable power and liberty of Christians So also we be not only most frée kings of all other but we be Priests also for euer which doth farre surpasse all kingdomes For through our Priesthood we are made worthy to appeare before God to plead and pray for other men one to instruct the other the things that are of god For these be the offices peculiar vnto Priests which can in no wise be committed to any vnbeléeuer Such a prerogatiue hath Christ obtained for vs that as ioynt brethren coheires and ioyntkings so also we should be vnto him ioyntpriests presuming boldly with confidence through the spirit of Faith to preach vnto the presence of God and to cry vnto him Abba Father and to pray for each other and to doe all things that we see to be executed figured by the visible and corporall function of the Priests But vnto the vnbeléeuer nothing serueth or worketh vnto good but hee is become seruant of all other to whom all things turne vnto euill because he doth wickedly employ all his endeauor for his owne behoofe and not to the glory of god And by this meanes he is neither Priest but prophane whose prayer turneth vnto sinne nor doth appeare before God because God doth not heare sinners Wherfore who is able to comprehend the preheminence of Christiā dignity which through her own kingly power executeth dominion ouer all things ouer death life sinne c. and which through her priestly glory is able to work all things in the sight of God because God doth bring to passe the things for the which he doth pray wish as it is written He shall worke the will of them that feare him shall heare their petitions shall saue them To this glory surely is no possible accesse by working but onely by faith and beliefe By the premisses may euery man easily perceiue