Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	desire_n	eminent_a	great_a	44	3	2.1117	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53333	The blessedness of good men after death a sermon preach'd at the funeral of the Revd. Mr. Henry Cornish, B.D., who died on Sunday, Decemb. 18th, in the eighty ninth year of his age and was interred on Thursday, Decemb. 22d, 1698, in the Church of Bisiter, in the County of Oxford : with a preface to rectifie some misrepresentations &c. in a late pamphlet, entitled Some remarks on the life, death, and burial of the said Mr. Cornish / by John Ollyffe ...	Ollyffe, John, 1647-1717.	1699 (1699)	Wing O286; ESTC R7832	31,135	36

not he had learned from his Great Lord and Master who was kind unto all and who by his Pattern and Precepts had made Universal Love the great Character of his Religion And by this means one would think He could not have many Enemies For who could find in their Hearts to be Enemies to one in whom there was resplendent so much Goodness And this Goodness was set off by a profound Humility and low Condescension and Respect to the Meanest the Lowest the Least By this He was apt to prefer others before himself and to set a Value upon the Parts and Performances of some Young Persons above his own Gray headed Knowledge and Experience By this Kindness and Humility his Self-distrust and Self-abasement He was preserved from the Fiery and Furious Zeal which is the Blemish of some of all Parties that differ in some Circumstantials of Religion and Worship He could not imagine why a Difference in some Circumstantials should make Men Hate and Curse one another among whom there was a good Accord in the Main and Substantial Points of Christian Doctrine Therefore He could bear a Kind and Friendly Respect to other Good Men of other Perswasions besides his own as He would hope for the like from them He had a great Calmness in his own Temper but He was Forward and Fervent in Spirit in the Service of his God as appeared in his Devotions in a Private but much Honoured Family where I have heard him And his long and continu'd Labour in the Service of God in that Way wherein He thought He might Glorifie God even to extreme Old Age is a great Instance of his Delight therein of his Pious Zeal for the promoting of Religion and of his Earnest Desire of the Eternal Welfare of Men. He always appeared to me to be one of Eminent Piety of Exact Walking of an Healing Spirit and to be full of Love to God and Good Men of different Denominations He was not for a Wrangling or Disputative Divinity which tends to Gender Strife but for Plain Practical Godliness in its Life and Power which hath always indeed most Sweetness in it and so will especially appear to have at the last His Afflictions I hear in many Respects have been many but that his Faith and Patience also have been as Eminent Wherein He deserves as in many other Things your Pious Imitation In a Word He Lived long in the Exercise of Piety towards God and of Good Will to Men and how He Died you know I could gladly have enlarged much more upon his Character but these few Things I could not but mention being always bound to have his Memory in Honour For I must ever acknowledge I have had him of Old in many Respects my Friend in some Respects as my Father and Patron and in some others a Guide and Director when I first entred my self upon this Sacred Function This Acknowledgment I cannot but take this Opportunity to express nor do I know any just Reflections that any can make upon it I shall now only make an Inference or two from what I have said on the foregoing Subject and then Conclude First To Comfort and Prepare Good Men for the Expectation of their Death that they may not be Frighted at the Approach of it as such a Dreadful Thing it being most certain that when they remove out of this Tabernacle they enter into an Estate of present Bliss in the presence of their Lord. If the Soul indeed were to lye in a stupid Lethargy in the Grave and have no more Sense or Reflection or Enjoyment after the time of Dissolution they should desire to continue here as long as they can that they may bring more Honour to God in the World and so might further their Reward hereafter thereby And they might have just Cause to take Death for their Enemy whensoever it comes that should deprive them of so great Advantages here and bring them none in the room But there is no fear of all this The Soul is an Active Spark the Breath of the Almighty which whilst it is in the Body by the Laws of Union that were fix'd in the Original Creation by the great Creator must sympathize with it But when the Body is no longer a tolerable Habitation for it it will then Dislodge and take its Flight and the Holy Angels wait to carry it aloft through all the Airy Armies of invisible Fiends to place it above out of the reach of all their Malice For the Soul is a Thinking Substance which hath no Relation to Matter but is of another Nature from it and hath quite other Properties in its Idea And being Immaterial it is not subject to Putrifaction or Dissolution of Parts because it hath no Parts and therefore none to be dissolved but must in its own Nature Subsist and Live still But whatever the Philosophy of the Soul may be we have full assurance from Divine Revelation of its continued Life and greater Perfection and Enjoyment after Death than before Mat. 10.28 Our Saviour told his Disciples That Men tho' they might kill the Body yet were not able to kill the Soul and therefore bid them not be affraid of them Rom. 8. The Body indeed must Die because of Sin but the Spirit the better part is Life because of Righteousness So that Good Men have no Cause to be mightily Affrighted at the Approach of Death For tho' it be the King of Terrors to outward appearance yet they may look upon it as a Routed or Conquered Enemy as a Serpent that hath lost its Sting and Strength which howsoever it may Hiss and show its Rage and Fury yet cannot hurt So that Good Men may Triumph over it and over all Things else besides because neither Death Rom. 8.38 nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate them from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But in and over all these Things they are more than Conquerors through him that Loved them Death is now rather a Friend to them the Messenger of the great King to invite them to his Supper which he hath prepared for them The same Comfort there is at the Departure of Others Friends and Relations that Die in the Lord. For now they are past from all their Labours and Troubles from all their Fears and Dangers their Pains and Sufferings whatsoever and are gone but to take Possession of the Promised Crown It is a Loss to us indeed that they are gone and Self-Love makes us to Mourn and Complain at it But what do They lose in leaving us or the World and the little Accommodations of this Life that are now entered upon the Possession of the Inheritance Tho' we lose by them because they are gone yet we ought not sure to Grudge at their Happiness Secondly To Exhort all to the Faith and

another And that he often chose to make as it were some Apology for keeping up a separate Meeting in opposition to the Church and would say he was brought thither by the invitation and importunity of such as were good People And that it was not his Intention to keep them altogether from the Church but should sometimes set them an Example of going thither himself And that he did at first resolve to begin and end his Publick Exercises at such Hours as should not interfere wirh the Solemn Service of the Church but dismiss them from one place to attend at the other And that he seemed to desire no better Character than what had been freely given to his Predecessor Mr. Troughton by one who as this Reflector saith had not the Custom to flatter that Party who was very moderate c. And that he seemed to value himself on this Happiness that he had received Holy Orders from a Bishop of the Church of England That he Married one of his Daughters to a Conforming Divine and used his Interest to possess him of a better Benefice under the Condition of Subscription and Declaration which the Law required Concerning which Relations and others which he adds I know nothing except that barely of the Marriage of his Daughter and therefore could say nothing of them But I think even from this Reflector's account of him I have Reason also to conclude That this Good Man's Pains and Zeal were intended by him not for the promoting of Divisions and Disorders but of the Service of God and of true Piety and Holiness which was what I aimed at in that which I said of him in that part of his Character Therefore to conclude this I cannot yet be perswaded but that what I said of this Worthy Man was downright Justice to his Memory and not Fawning or Flattery as this Reflector would insinuate But there is another Thing it seems that raised the Indignation of this Reflector viz. That in all my Discourse there was not a word of Exhortation to Unity and Peace nor so much as wishing those People to come more frequently to that Holy Place where they were now Assembled and where their Beloved Teacher chose to lie at Rest That there was nothing he saith but an Applause of the Person and then a silent Consent to the Merits of the Cause And thereupon he insinuates as if I made Conformity and Separation indifferent Things as if I was an Advocate for Indifference in Communion and had cowardly betrayed that Altar to the Service whereof I had been legally Ordained For my part I cannot but wonder at this Reflector's Discourse and by what Logick he could ever infer That the Applause and Commendation of a Person for his Goodness and Zeal for the promoting of Piety which was all that I designed and my omitting of that which did not concern me at that time could be a silent Consent to the Merits of a Cause or that it was to be an Advocate for indifference in Communion to say nothing at all about it But a little Wit and a great deal of ill Nature by the help of spightful Innuendo's will be able to infer any thing from any thing But I must tell this Reflector That that was no part of my Business at that time which he expected of me My Business was to Preach a Funeral Sermon at the Interment of an Old and Good Friend from whom I had received formerly many Obligations to which I was called by the Friends of the Deceased and for the doing of which they had obtained leave of the Minister of the Town In this Sermon I did endeavour plainly and familiarly which it seems was a Fault with some to represent some Things which might be for the Consolation of Good People against the fears of Death and to exhort and encourage others to espouse Religion which had so great Advantages attending upon it And this I think by this Reflector's leave was a proper Subject for such an Occasion And this Subject I having chosen this I was to pursue But yet could not omit saying something tho' it was but a little and I think if I committed any Fault it was in saying too little out of Gratitude and hearty Respect to the Memory of my Reverend and good Friend Departed But I could not think it any part of my Business upon that Occasion to insist upon the Points of Unity and Schism Let my Thoughts or Opinion about them have been what they would or tho' they were never so much such as this Reflector would have them therefore I think the Reflector blames me without Cause as guilty of a grand Omission of that which was nothing to the purpose of what I was then about but it seems to me would have been a downright Solecism at a Funeral Solemnity And I have never observed That Excursions of this Nature have ever had any good Effect but directly the contrary Yet I can assure this Reflector and do profess to him That I have as much desired and longed for the Peace of the Church its Security and Establishment and the Union of Dissenters to it that all our Animosities might be composed our Breaches healed and our Differences happily brought to an end as ever any hungry Man did long for his Meat and Drink and would be glad to promote it by all proper Means I am sure it is for the interest of Religion for the advancement of the Name and Honour of our great Lord and Master to have the Church of God at Unity within it self It is that which would make the Church it self Glorious and Venerable and formidable to all its Enemies or rather it will be the way to have no Enemies at all when they shall see the happy Effects of the Christian Doctrine upon the Lives and Spirits of Men and Love Charity and good Will planted and fructifying in the Christian World I am very sure from the Apostle That the whole Body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every Joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the Measure of every part maketh encrease of the Body unto the edifying of it self in Love Eph. 4.16 And therefore all that could be done should be done towards the procuring of this mutual Love and the settling of Concord among all the Members of this Body All proper Means should be made use of all Methods taken any way any expedient tried that can be unnecessary occasions of Contention should be removed Concessions made and yielding on all sides and if one Thing will not do then another and another should be tried like Physick in a difficult Case And it would be all worth the while for the promoting of Christian Love and Charity which is so great a part of Religion and which is so helpful to all the rest And 't is Religion that we must aim at and which all Things whatsoever should subserve to Order Government Discipline Ordinances Ministers and Ministry

follow them IN these Words we have Three Things considerable which we have an account of from the Voice and Spirit of God First That they who Die in the Lord are Blessed Secondly The Reason or Parts of this Blessedness They rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them Thirdly The time of the Beginning or Commencement of this Blessedness From henceforth First They that Die in the Lord are Blessed But here the Question is who they are that may be said to Die in the Lord Or what it is that is intended in that Expression or Description of those to whom the Blessing here doth belong I make no doubt as it is also generally understood that these Words were especially and principally intended for the comfort of such Christians who were then like to suffer in those Days of Persecution of the Church of God whereby the Patience of the Saints of which he speaks ver 12. was so much Exercised The outward State of the Church was then very dismal and sad in those dark and afflictive Times And therefore it was but need to give a Word of Comfort and Support to such as were like to bear the Burden of those direful Calamities that were about to fall upon them This seems to be mainly intended here in this Blessing that they might be encouraged thereby to hold out in their Faith and Profession notwithstanding all that should fall upon them In this Sense then by those that Die in the Lord the Holy Martyrs must first be intended who laid down their Lives for the Lord that is for his sake or for their Adherence to his Faith and Gospel This being a very grievous Case God was pleased often in the Scriptures to provide for their Encouragement 2 Tim. 2.11 It is a faithful saying saith the Apostle if we be Dead with him we shall also Live with him If we Suffer we shall also Reign with him Rom. 8.16 17. And that we shall be also glorified together and that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 that shall be revealed in us For saith he our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Thes 1.6 Seeing it is a Righteous Thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe And a great many more such Promises and Encouragements there are to Suffering Christians who Die in the Lord. But then it must be likewise supposed That those who Die thus in or for the Lord and for their Adherence to the Faith of Christ do Die in or under the sanctifying Power of that Faith also the great Design of which was to Purifie the Heart and Work by Love Without which Effect obtained Martyrdom it self if it could be supposed would not at all profit them as we have the Apostle's own Resolution in the Case 1 Cor. 13.3 For saith He Tho' I give my Body to be burnt and have not Charity which is the great Christian Vertue and comprehensive of all the rest it profiteth me nothing For the great End of the Faith of Christ and of the belief of the Gospel is to make Men Holy to recover the Image of God in Men that they may Live to his Glory So that there is no Salvation without this let Men's Sufferings for the Faith seem to have been never so great But then on the other side they who Live and Die in the Power of that Faith having felt the transforming and sanctifying Vertue thereof and so have attain'd to the great End of it tho' they have not undergone the Sufferings of Martyrdom surely may be said to Die in the Lord also They Die United to him adhering to his Interest and Cause Yea they Die for him fighting under his Banner and in his Quarrel against all his Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil And these are also Martyres Animo in the Disposition of their Minds and they would by his Grace maintain the Field for his Sake to the very Death And the sufferings of Mortification which they have endured already are a kind of Martyrdom in cutting off their Right Hands and plucking out their Right Eyes in bringing down the Old Man and crucifying the whole Body of Sin Therefore there is no doubt but that to these also the Blessing here mentioned doth belong For these the Apostle tells us being made free from Sin and become Servants to God have their Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life Rom. 6.22 And all these shall partake of the Inheritance which are sanctified by Faith that is in Christ Acts 26.18 In which Sense 't is a very comfortable Consideration to all truly Penitent and Sound Believers and Good Christians For the evidencing of which these few Things may be farther considered to perswade us that it shall be so First Because the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ is in them so that they are led by the Spirit and live in the Spirit by the Dictates and according to the Rules of the Holy Spirit of God Now there is no Condemnation saith the Apostle to them that are in Christ Jesus that walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made them free from the Law of Sin and Death Rom. 8.1 Rom. 8.11 And if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Ver. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God and if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Christ These Men are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and God will no more destroy those Temples than he will allow others to do so But the Spirit of God with the Blessed Fruits of it which is in them when they Die is a sure Pledge and Earnest of more Blessings to be received afterwards Secondly From hence it will follow That the Image of God is upon them and that in a more eminent manner than it is upon any others They being renewed after the Image of him that Created them in Righteousness and true Holiness So that they have not only the Natural Image of God as it may be called for distinction sake in the Spirituality Powers and Immortality of their Spirits but they have the Moral Image of God also which is the Glory of the Divine Nature which is wrought in them by the transforming Power of the Holy Ghost to whose Holy Dictates and Motions they have been brought to submit themselves And by this Means they are

in the strictest Sense Die in or for the Lord but also to all the Faithful Servants of Christ who may be truly said likewise to Depart hence in the Lord in his Faith and Service in Relation to him and Union with him as their Lord and Head So that Verily Men shall say Ps 58.11 there is a Reward of the Righteous And therefore say to the Righteous Is 3.11 it shall be well with him for they shall Eat the Fruit of their Doings For God shall reward every Man according to his Works Mat. 16.27 But here is the Place of Work and then hereafter of Reward When whatever any Man hath done heartily as to the Lord He shall receive for it the Reward of the Inheritance Col. 3.24 So that in this World there is Striving and Fighting and Working and then is the time of Recompence for all their Work and Labour of Love which they shall find shall not be in vain in the Lord. 1 Cor. 15. Ult. And this shall be so great that it is a time of Coronation and Glory to them when it shall appear what shall be done to the Men whom God will Honour 1 Pet. 5.4 For they shall receive a Crown of Glory which fadeth not away For be thou faithful unto Death saith our Saviour and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 Then they come to receive their Robes and to have Palms of Triumph in their Hands and to be set upon Thrones of Glory For to him that overcometh saith He will I grant to sit with me on my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father on his Throne Rev. 3.21 And this shall be the Portion of all the Faithlul Servants of God For God will render to every Man saith the Apostle according to his Deeds to them who by patient continuance in well Doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality He will give Eternal Life Rom. 2.6 This indeed is all of Grace but therefore because it is of Grace it shall be so much the greater For if it were to be given in proportion to our Merit then it could be but little because our Merit is but little or rather properly speaking none at all But now being to be of Grace it will therefore be exceeding great to set forth the Glory and Love of God who as a great King will give like himself and to set forth the Price of our Redemer's Merits and to shew how high and valuable they are This is most certain for One Thing that there will be a most intimate and transporting Manifestation of the Ever-blessed God himself to his Beloved People Then they shall not only see his Back Parts as Moses did that is some little and low degree of Splendor and Beauty but then they shall see him with open Face in his highest Lustre and most inconceivable Glory Then they shall see Christ in all his Glory and they shall be with him Then is the time of the great Supper of the Lamb when He will manifest and display himself in all his Loveliness and Beauty to all about him Here is the place of Faith and Hope but there is the place of Vision and Fruition Here we sip a little by the way as in a Land of Drought but we are not yet come to the Rivers of Pleasure Ps 16.11 they are at God's Right Hand in whose Presence is fulness of Joy so that there the Saints and Servants of God shall never Hunger or Thirst more Here we have the Tastes and first Fruits of the Spirit Eph. 1.14 as a Pledge and Earnest in the way but there is the full Enjoyment of the Purchased Possession We cannot expect here so much in the way as when we come to our Father's House Here we are but at the Footstool it can't be with us now as when we come to the Throne of God Yea such is our State here That we must be tried and Disciplined and Corrected sometimes there is a Necessity sometimes for it And therefore if need be for a Season 1 Pet. 1.6 we are in Heaviness through manifold Temptations We are Sinners and live among Sinners and therefore sometimes we must expect Sinners fare Our Corruptions must be melted down in the Furnace of Affliction when there is no other way to purge us from them And our Father must sometimes Frown upon us and Chastise us because the Best of us all are sometimes apt to be wandring and neglectful of our Duty Before I was Afflicted the Psalmist observes I went astray but now have I learned thy Ways Afflictions tend to File and Polish us to clear us of the Rust and Rubbish that is apt to cleave unto us Heb. 12.10 God Chastens us therefore for our Profit that we might be Partakers of this Holiness For tho' no Chastning for the present seems to be Joyous but Grievous nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable Fruits of Righteousness to them that are Exercised thereby But then hereafter there will be no occasion for any of this Discipline any more because of that perfect Transformation into the Image and Likeness of God which then his People shall have For his Servants shall serve him and they shall see his Face Rev. 22.3 So that there will be the fulness of Light and Love and God shall never withdraw from them the Light of his Countenance any more I have not time to tell you as much as I might what all the Reward will be And besides I have prevented my self in part already in what I have said before Only in short it will be A State of all Perfection And that is enough For there is the General Assembly of the Church of the First-Born and the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect Heb. 12.23 So then That which is Perfect shall come and that which is in part shall be done away 1 Cor. 13.10 Where the Apostle doth certainly mean a Perfection of Knowledge and Grace of that Divine Grace of Charity which He elsewhere tells us is the Fulfilling of the Law And that must needs imply an Enlargement and Perfection of our Faculties and a Cure of all their Weakness and Infirmities For full and perfect Habits of Light and Good in the Mind and Heart can never subsist without a full Extention and Purification thereof And then from thence we may certainly infer that there shall be a perfect Communication of Good to answer to the fulness of their Enlargement Or else the Enlargement of our Faculties would rather be a Torment and Vexation than a Satisfaction if they have not Objects proper to suit them And from all this there must needs flow an intire and unspeakable Satisfaction a fulness of Delight and Pleasure running over in the Soul To which this will be a wonderful Addition the consideration of the everlasting Duration and Continuance of all this Blessedness That it shall for ever continue without Interruption Intermission