Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	hand_n	house_n	tabernacle_n	2,823	5	9.9204	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30701	The believer's groan for heaven in a sermon at the funeral of honourable Sir Richard Hoghton, of Hoghton, baronet / preached at Preston in Amoundernes in Lancashire, Feb. 14, 1677, by Seth Bushell ...	Bushell, Seth, 1621-1684.	1678 (1678)	Wing B6236; ESTC R4461	12,496	34

Licensed W. Jane March 27. 1678. THE BELIEVER'S Groan for Heaven IN A SERMON At the FUNERAL Of the Honorable Sir Richard Hoghton of HOGHTON Baronet PREACHED At Preston in Amoundernes in Lancashire Feb. 14. 1677. By Seth Bushell D. D. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo lib. 1. de vita Mosis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Act. 26. LONDON Printed for Tho. Sawbridg at the Three Flower-de-luces in Little-Britain and Philip Burton at Preston in Lancashire 1678. To the Honorable Sir CHARLES HOGHTON Of HOGHTON Baronet And the Honorable Lady The Lady SARAH HOGHTON His Mother Mercy Grace and Peace THE ensuing Discourse is most properly yours being had upon that occasion wherein your selves and Relations are concerned so nearly and therefore this Publick tender thereof is firstly made unto you and that not in point of concernment only as your interest but of his duty too by whom the tender's made Who does ingeniously acknowledg as your Candor and kindness and therein the many engagements laid upon him so his readiness to express a due sense thereof in all things on your account wherein he 's capable of doing Service or may testifie the sense of an obligation And who in the mean while is an humble suppliant at the Throne of Grace for the continued influence of all grace upon you and yours in order to a prosperous well-being in this life and everlasting happiness in the life to come So praies Your Honours humble devoted in all love and Service SETH BVSHELL THE BELIEVER'S Groan for Heaven 2 Cor. 5.2 For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from Heaven THE door into the Text and the discourse thereon shall open at no further distance then the foregoing Verse wherein the Apostle stiles not unelegantly the frail mortal body of man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the house of this Tent or Scene or Tabernacle which may seem to be Metaphorically taken either from War or the Stage If from War it expresses our life a warfare and that we are in a flitting ambulatory condition ever and anon in danger engaging or expecting to be engaged by the enemy and our Tents are to be removed when the battel is done and the Victor is then rewarded If from the Stage where the word Scene is still used it expresses the whole world to be but a great Play where some act the Prince some the Captain some a Beggar as they have their several parts assign'd to them by the Master of the Drama Therefore Epictetus adviseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to personate that which you have undertaken and to act your part as well as you can considering what critical spectators and judges you have But when the Comedy is done the Scenes are removed when the parts are acted the properties must be pulled off and all are equal behind the Curtain But possibly the Apostle may allude to the Jewish Tabernacle that portable moving Temple in the Wilderness opposite to that so firmly built at Jerusalem This was given for a time to the Israelites but afterwards was to be chang'd and that from a house of skins to a sumptuous Cedar building Thus St. Peter says that he must put off his Tabernacle 2 Pet. 1.14 And God is said to dwell in us as in his Tabernacle 2 Cor. 6.16 This expresses our condition as Strangers and Travellers we cannot stay here long for we have here no continuing City Hence the Apostle infers that we ought to long for a better and more perfect Tabernacle that is to say not of this building not a Manufacture not earthly not to be dissolv'd not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an house not to divert but dwell in eternal in the heavens For in this says he we groan That is in this earthly Tabernacle we groan Forasmuch as we are surrounded and oppressed with the miseries and afflictions of this present state and our heaven-born Souls are cloy'd and constring'd with these earthly bodies and the infirmities of all sorts that attend them therefore in the interim we groan that we may be dissolved which is St. Paul's wish that had a plerophory of a better state We groan It implies something he would be from i. e. the burden he labours under And something he would be at i. e. an heavenly Mansion an heavenly body In the words we may note these Two particulars 1. St. Paul's Passion 2. The motive and object of that Passion 1. His Passion express'd here by two vehement words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we groan earnestly desiring which denotes a longing desire impatient of delay 2. The motive and object of this desire express'd here in a double Metaphor denoting the glory of the Resurrection 1. By a house from heaven 2. In the manner of being possessed of it viz. by being clothed upon A complication of Metaphors taken from several things is usual in Scripture and here carries on the same sense 1. From St. Paul's Passion express'd in groaning observe that Our present state is a burden under which we groan That this present mortal state should be a burden and this life spent with sighing as there 's nothing more certain so nothing is more duly sens'd by true Believer's Let us enquire therefore into the reasons why and we shall find that it is a burden in respect of Corporal and Spiritual evils 1. Corporal evils such are these viz. 1. Chastisements from the hand of God 2. Injuries from the hands of Men. 3. Pains and infirmities of the Body 1. Chastisements and corrections from the hand of God These are to subdue our corruptions to purge away our dross and take away our Tin the end is good and the design our benefit though the means be bitter and the work unwelcome The Physick is from Heaven yet 't is sharp and griping and makes the heart to ake the belly tremble the lips to quiver and rottenness to enter into the bones The hand of the most High is heavy and turns the moisture of man into the drought of Summer Thus we are chastened of the Lord but it is that we may not be condemned with the world 2. Injuries that we sustain from the hand of men For whilst we are in this world it is impossible but that offences will come And they that will live godly must expect to suffer from the men of the world They shall have tribulation they are killed all the day long and are accounted as sheep for the slaughter the rod of the wicked lying upon the lot of the righteous 3. The pains of the body and the manifold infirmities weakness and sicknesses thereof these render this present mortal state a burden We are born to these troubles as the sparks fly upward And as we grow in years so in diseases the older we are the more infirm and death is the best Physitian that cures us of all our maladies which in our lives do so superabound For ipsa

better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you And having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all But men must be careful in bounding and moderating this desire lest they flatter themselves out of an over-love to this present life that they are more necessary for the Service of their Generation than indeed they are 2. This Christian desire to die may be consistant with some lothness to change and that for fear of those things that lie betwixt us and the other world such are 1. A separation by death the divorce between soul and body the parting of those so old and close companions Nature shrinks at it and St. Paul is not willing so to be unclothed as to be found naked 2. There is also in death a dissolution and corruption of the body turning it into dust becoming vile and loathsom the meat of worms This body is sown in corruption and dishonour 1 Cor. 15.43 This strikes nature with a kind of dread which good men cannot wholly put off 3. The dreadfulness of the last Judgment approaching before the infinite greatness and Majesty of that God from whose face Heaven and Earth fled away who is Inexorable in his Justice Irresistible in his Power and Intollerable in his Wrath This may make one say with David My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments This may make men desire time to gain better assurance of their state which is but imperfect and attained by degrees Therefore life is a precious mercy not so much for what we enjoy here as for that a blessed eternity and the assurance thereof depends upon it and he that will find a treasure in Heaven hereafter must be careful to lay it up here and give diligence to make his calling and election sure And hence it is that men when they are visited with sickness may pray for recovery and are to use the means appointed in order to the obtainment of it They are also to pray for others in their sickness and to make Sackcloth their clothing and to humble their souls with fasting Psal 35.13 And further they are to give thanks for such recoveries as a great mercy and value the time so granted and improve it as a choice and signal blessing that must strictly be accounted for He that does thus loves Heaven better than Earth and this present life only in order to that which is to come But 3dly There is a lothness to die which is an evil disease and may be truly stil'd Antichristian which proceeds from men's inordinate affecting their present state when men sit not loose from the world but their hearts are glew'd to it that they cannot part with it When they love the things in this world better than the things of Jesus Christ and prefer their lusts before their Saviour and would rather feed upon husks with Swine than the bread of life in their Fathers House These are struct dead with the very thoughts of death and their heart like Nabal's becomes cold as a stone upon the violent darting in of an unacceptable apprehension of their latter end Thus Adrian the Emperour breaths out when ready to die Animula vagula blandula Comes hospesque corporis Quae nunc abibis in loca Pallidula nudula rigida Nec ut soles dabis jocos This evil frame of heart is dangerous and destructive So Ben Sirach O death how bitter is the remembrance of thee c. When linquenda est tellus domus placens uxor as he saith haec sunt quae faciunt invitos mori And thus much for the former particular in the Text viz. the vehemency of St. Paul's Passion express'd in groaning earnestly and desiring I come now to the latter particular viz. the Motive and Object of this desire for death is desirable but accidentally and indirectly and this is express'd in a double Metaphor in these words viz. clothed upon with an house which is from heaven Clothes are for a covering an ornament defence a distinction and such is the glory of the future State For clothed upon signifies not any clothing in this life as putting on Christ and the Robes of his Righteousness or the putting on the Newman or the Wedding-garment or the like but a Vesture of Immortality which the followers of the Lamb are clothed with stil'd White Raiment and fine Linnen white and clean Rev. 3.5 and 19.14 to denote their Joy their Dignity and their Triumph 2. Nor Secondly does it mean any clothing before the Resurrection but then either the soul with a body or that body with glorious Endowments The Apostle distinguisheth between being naked and being clothed and being clothed upon which the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text does intimate and offer to us 3. Neither thirdly does this clothing upon necessarily imply death but a change which shall be the condition of those that are found alive at the day of Judgment and second Coming of the Son of Man 1 Thes 4.17 1 Cor. 15.51 This day the Apostle look'd upon as near at hand and did suppose it might come in his time how much more may we expect it every moment Surely the night is far spent and the day is at hand therefore let us wait earnestly till our change come This of clothing is the former Metaphor The other Metaphor is the House from heaven denoting the glory of the Resurrection the stability and permanency whereof is hinted in that it is called an house and the sublimity and spirituality of that glorious condition is expressed in that it s said to be from heaven Only here must be thrown off two heretical Expositions that would fondly be put upon these words 1. Of the Socinians that suppose the Soul to sleep till the Resurrection and then to have a new heavenly body fitted for it which consumes and swallows up the old mortal body And this they would have to be the house from heaven 2. Of those that would raise upon these words the Platonick Vehicles As if this house were the Aetherial Vehicle to which the Souls of the just are to be advanced which is all the body design'd for them at the Resurrection For they make three sorts of these Vehicles viz. Trrestrial Aerial and Aetherial The Terrestrial say they is that into which Souls are thrust as into a Prison for misdemeanours in a former world and this is their earthly Vehicle Then those that have done well and squared their actions according to the meet rule of justice these have an Aerial Vehicle But thirdly those that have abounded in well-doing and by living up to the height of vertue have raised themselves and arrive at Heaven these are advanced to the Aetherial Vehicle the Terrestrial like the Prophets Mantle dropping from them in their assent thither And they suppose this place of Scripture clinks to their thinking as all Hereticks do coin notions and then stretch and

disallows Then the body shall be wholly governed by the spirit performing spiritual actions employed in spiritual services and in all things suited to the state and condition of heaven which flesh and blood cannot inherit And thus the body at the resurrection being made a spiritual body does denote not only the infirmity but the corruption of our nature done away And in these four respects chiefly it is that the body at the resurrection is stiled an house from heaven Thus we have gone through the latter particular in the Text viz. the motive and object of the Believer's desire to die Now to close up all in a word Let us well consider the many evils and miseries we are liable to Vse and labour under whilst we are here in this present world as also the everlasting rest and blessed eternity that is before us and then we shall see how cogent the reasons are for groaning in this present state We shall groan to be set at liberty from the bonds of evil and groan to come to the enjoyment of the adoption to wit the redemption of the body Let us long for heaven for that is our Countrey our better Countrey whilst here we are not at home but strangers and sojourners as in the wilderness O let the Canaan that is before us take up our thoughts and invigorate our endeavours so as the serious consideration of the certainty and sweetness of the end may facilitate the difficulties of the way and spirit us in our journey In heaven is our Estate there are our Relations where we shall be void of sorrow and pain of lust and sin and have the blessed fruition of God and Christ in everlasting peace and joy Did David so earnestly long after the earthly Temple made with hands so as his soul fainted for the Courts of the Lord Did he so fervently desire communion with God there How much more should we breath after the heavenly Jerusalem to enjoy communion with the general Assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in heaven and with God the Judg of all and with the spirits of just men made perfect We have renounced the world and by our baptismal vow bound our selves heaven-wards Our friends are gone before us and are there expecting us the goodly fellowship of the Prophets the glorious Quire of the Apostles the noble Army of Martyrs the whole race of Believers Let us make hast to them there is the best place the best condition the best company Therefore hasten your work gird up the loins of your mind make full preparation for your journey loosen your hearts from the things of this world and the tedious distractions of concerns below forget the things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before and press toward the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Your full and complete happiness is before you you cannot expect the enjoyment of it here and you are to pass thereto through the gate of death every one of them that appear before God in Sion do pass through the Valley of Baca. Therefore acquaint your selves with death in the nature thereof and ends thereof as to true Christians that so the thoughts thereof may be sweetned to you and by this means you may learn that great and needful lesson of dying daily which once throughly understood and practically improved will not only make death less fearful but truly desirable as being an inlet into your everlasting joy Into the which joy the Lord of his infinite mercy conduct us all Thus I have done with my Text. Now give me leave to add a word or two as to the present occasion and I have done It has pleased Almighty God the wise dispenser of all his providences though many of them dark to us yet all of them evident to and ordered by his allseeing and foreseeing eye by a sudden stroak to make a sad breach in a worthy Family in taking away the chief head thereof a person of great worth and honour of an honorable extraction of a generous disposition and of a courteous kind and affable temper Whose high degree was so seasoned with an humble carriage towards all inferiours as laid upon them a just obligation for true honour and service And that I may give you no other Character of him but what is just and due and becoming this place I may truly tell you and your testimony goes along with me herein that He was free and hospitable in the entertainment of his friends and most pleased with their kind and cheerful visits His comportments at home and abroad were like himself ever bespeaking a generous and worthy mind and suitable to that eminency of interest and repute which upon just accounts he held in his Country 'T was his great and deserved commendations that he was free from those vices though there is no man without Sin which are the grand stains of true honour I meane intemperance debaucheries revellings dissolute practises profligate courses and the like with which these evil times and daies of iniquity do so much abound That he was a profess'd Protestant I need not tell you 'T is well known to those that knew him how real and forward he was that way And his publick receiving the holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by my ministration in this place and in this Congregation according to the usage of the Church of England as you can testifie bears witness for him He was a person of many moral virtues and divine graces too That expression of his to a friend of his not long before he died that God accepts of a little grace if true and saving and that none knew what had passed between God and his own Soul in secret argued more than an ordinary stamp of grace upon him which might be evidenc'd in divers particulars were there time convenient for it He had some forethoughts and previous apprehensions of his death approaching or at least that he should not live long which may be hence inferr'd in that not long before the distemper seiz'd him whereof he shortly died and when he seem'd to be well in health as to his bodily state yet then he discours'd of his death and latter end as coming on and of several particulars which he foresaw would be incident thereupon as representing that state to himself in his own thoughts by a previous Survey and so was a proceeding to give divers directions and monitions which the love his dear relations had to him would not suffer them to hear uttered upon such an occasion God sometimes does preimpress the thoughts of his servants with apprehensions of their latter end approaching when there 's little outward appearance for it and yet then it may be near at hand So that such impressions are not to be pass'd by without their due remarks In a word I may truly say that the Country has lost a good Patriot the Gentry an eminent person in their number the poor Neighbourhood a constant and charitable Supporter Friends an hospitable Receiver Kindred an honourable and respective Relation Servants have lost a good Master my self a worthy Patron Children an indulgent Father an honourable and vertuous Lady a dear Consort But though the loss be great in these respects on earth yet the gain is far more exceeding and weighty to him in Heaven Let the consideration hereof quiet our thoughts and compose our spirits in setting the one against the other Now to God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost Three Persons but one everliving and only true God be ascribed and given as meet and due is all Power Praise Honor and Glory Majesty and Dominion henceforth and for ever Amen FINIS