Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	body_n	soul_n	unite_v	2,581	5	9.8377	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12705	A sermon preached at Cheanies the 14. of September, 1585, at the buriall of the right honorable the earle of Bedforde, By Thomas Sparke Doctor of Divinitie	Sparke, Thomas, 1548-1616.	1594 (1594)	STC 23023; ESTC S114843	60,544	120

Because no doubt of it there are fooles in the world Psal 14.1 which in their hearts thinke though they dare not for shame with their congues say there is no God and consequētly that there is neither Hell nor Heauen resurrection of the body nor immortality of the soule let vs marke The same body shall rise againe in the meane time resteth in peace what doctrine this text teacheth vs to the cōtrary to the stopping vp for euer of the mouths of such prophane Atheistes Wherefore to begin with all I say how could it be here said that they that die in the Lord are thenceforth blessed vnlesse in respece of the whole man it were so in some force Euident it is that if either the body were vtterly perished so that it should neuer rise againe or the soul dead that it could feel no ioy they could not at al be sayed to be blessed For blessednes as you haue hard confirmed vnto you euē out of my text it selfe consisteth not only in ceasing from labor woe and paine but in a possession and fruition of a most heauenly reward Nay it is most certaine that if either the body in the meane time vntil the resurrection were not at rest and peace or in the end should not rise again the soule coulde not bee said to be blessed to enioy the reward of works done by it in the body For it were a kinde of misery vnto it to haue the body disquieted especially to be without hope of beeing euer restored and ioyned to the body again Wherfore in that they that dy in the Lord are here pronounced blessed first for the bodies of such we learn that they are in rest and as the scripture speaketh as it were a sleepe in the bosome of their mother the earth Acts. 7.1 Thess 4.15 and therefore free from all woe and pain and not to be disquieted by diuels enchanters or witches any manner of way and that most certainely they rest in hope of a blessed resurrection which according to the Scriptures Mat. 25.1 Thess 4.1 Cor. 15. at the last general day of iudgment by the power of the Lord shal be brought to passe Wherof we must needs be perswaded in that otherwise God shuld not be perfectly merciful nor Christ a ful sauior And why should Christ take vnto his godhead vnite therwith in person as wel the body of man as the soul of man vnlesse he ment to be a ful sauior of both He our head rose again in his own body one in substance with that it was before though altered in properties and so shall it be with his members 1. Cor. 15.1 Thess 4. Notable therefore was Iobs faith his time considered I know saith he that my redeemer liueth that I shal see God in my flesh though after this skin the wormes destroy this bodye whom I my selfe shall see mine eies shall behold none other for me Iob. 19.25.26.27 Euen the dying of the corne first in the earth and the after growing vp of the same the reuiuing of diuerse worms and other creatures at the spring towardes sūmer the laye for deade all winter are glasses in nature our God hath set before vs to make vs ashamed of this point of infidelity and Atheisme once to call the truth of the resurrection into question The soule is immortall And as touching the soul that it dieth not but if it depart out of the body in the Lorde that it passeth streight to the Lorde with whome it not only ceaseth from al woe and pain but also enioieth the reward of blisse hereby also we are plainly taught For otherwise how should it bee true that immediatly thenceforth such as die in the Lord are blessed in not only ceasing frō their labours but also in present receiuing rewarde of their works For hereupon it must needs follow to be most true which wee reade Eccl. 12.7 that the soul returneth to him that gaue it And that also Mat. 10.28 that tyrants cannot kil the soul Wherfore we may with Peter count death but a flitting of the soule out of the tabernacle of the body 2. Pet. 1.14 and with Paul a going from an earthly house to an heauenly It sleepeth not nor is without feeling of ioy assuredly vntil the resurrectiō 2. Cor. 5. c. and therefore with him vpon good cause desire to be dissolued to be with the Lord Phi. 1.23 and when we dye dying in the Lorde with Christ Luk 23.46 and with Stephē Act. 7 59. cōmēd our souls into the hands of God Whereupon it followeth that there is a soule and that it dieth not when the body dyeth but is immortal Yea further in y● as we perceiue by Christs placing of Lazarus immediatly in present fruition of ioy after his death in Abrahams bosom Luk. 16. the souls of such as die in the Lord are sayd here to haue their works accompany them hereupon it followeth that the reward thereof is not drousie sleepe but a ioyfull feeling of heauenlye blisse and that therefore the soules of such departed sleepe not but are awake and in a liuely feeling of ioy in heauen Which fancy of these sleepers is confuted also in that Ioh. Apo. 6. seeing in visiō soules in heauen heard them cry a loud vnto the Lord to hasten his second cōming Herevpon also in that of contraries there is contrary condition may well be gathered in that the state of those that dye in the Lord is blessed that the state of those that dye not in the Lord That is no purgatory for any that dy in the Lord to goe vnto is accrused Now in that it followeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immediately thenceforth and their works accompany thē and they cease from their labours by three most euident reasons it must needes follow that to such as dye in the Lord there is not any meane place or Purgatory and therfore to none other by our aduersaries owne confession For they themselues hold as wel as we that al that dy out of grace and fauor of our God they for their sins in soul go straight to hel and that none go to purgatory but such as dye in the Lord which yet before their death haue not sufficiently satisfied for their sins But here I say this their doctrine is flatly confuted first in that they are imediatly after their death thenceforth without any exceptiō said to be blessed Secōdly in that it is said They rest from their labours Thirdly in that it is said Their works accompany thē None of all which could bee true if any of them went to purgatory And yet our Rhemists vpon this place are not ashamed to write in their notes notwithstanding it be their known and receiued doctrine that the p●ines that souls suffer in purgatory be equal to the paines of hel for the time that one principal torment there is the gnawing worme of conscience that soules in purgatory may well be

life there from and therefore withereth and if it abide in it then it liketh and fructifieth and as the hungrie thirstie haue not the benefite of meate and drinke to liue by by comming where it is seeing it and knowing it but by eating and drinking thereof and digesting it so that by the force of nature there may growe an vnion betwixt them their meate euen so it is as necessary that the Church be vnited to her head Christ engrafted into him and grow in him and that euery one that would bee saued eate him and drinke him and that so effectually as that hee may be their spirituall foode For if it be thus they shall liue for euer by him otherwise they remain in death wither and must perish And therefore Christ Iohn 15 5. saith He that abideth in mee and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit And in the next verse he addeth If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch withereth men gather them cast them in the fire they burn What a comforte is it then to al those that be the Lordes to reade how Christ whose prayer wee may be sure was heard hath prayed vnto his heauenly father Ioh. 17.23 that hee might be in them his father in him that so they maie be made perfect in one And hereby we may be assured that hee will finde the meanes so to marie himselfe in spirite vnto all the elect that they shal bee sure to bee vnited vnto him and made one in him and he in them It hath pleased the father that in him should al fulnes dwell Colos 1.16 and yet such is his goodnesse towardes his Church in that hee hath taken vppon him to bee the redeemer thereof that he accounteth himselfe as it were imperfect without his body the Church therefore it is saide to bee his fulnes Ephes 1.23 Whereupon it is that he and his Church ioyned together by spirituall bondes appointed for that purpose as the head and body of a mā be by natural and bodily meanes are accounted in the sight of God as one perfect man whereof hee is the head and the Church his body as it is euident to the diligent reader Ephes 4.13.15.16 1. Cor. 12.12 Gal. 3.16 These things thus considered may breede in vs al here present and I hope they haue an earnest desire to knowe howe to get vnto this vnion and coniunction with Christ wherby we may be in him and so to be the readier when it shall please the Lorde to call vs hence to die in him And this is the thing that nowe next wee haue to Consider of Concerning which we are to vnderstand that on Gods part offering this blessed vnion and fellowshippe vnto vs his outwarde meanes is the whole ministerie of his worde and Sacraments For we reade Ephes 4. that hee hath appointed it namely to this end to gather together his Saints for the edification of the body of Christ till we all meete together vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of the age of the fulnes of Christ in the vnity of the faith and knowledge of the sonne of god by whom all the body beeing coupled and knitte together by euery ioint for the furniture therof according to the effectuall power which is in the measure of euery part receaueth encrease of the body vnto the edifying of it selfe in loue verse 12.13.16 And Saint Iohn 1. Epist 1.3 plainely confesseth that the ende of his ministery and his fellowes the Apostles was this saying That which we haue hearde and seene declare wee vnto you that yee may also haue fellowshippe with vs and that our fellowship also may bee with the father and with the sonne Iesus Christ By the worde preached generally the doctrine of this vnion is laide open to our eares in the administration of the sacraments it is also the better to make vs to embrace it not onely set before our eies but confirmed particularly offered and ratifyed vnto vs. Gods inwarde meanes whereby hee maketh this outwarde effectuall vnto vs is the effectuall operation of his spirite in our heartes For it was hee that opened Lydias heart to attende vnto the thinges that Paul spake to her saluation Act. 16.14.15 And Paul may plant and Apollo water but it is GOD that must giue the encrease or else the other will be to no purpose 1. Cor. 3.6.7 Now the meanes on our part whereby by the foresaide meanes we are enabled to take apprehend this vnion offered is a sound and a right faith in Christ Iesus I say sound because it must be vnfeined and right because it must not bee erronious nor hereticall in Christ Iesus because to the apprehension of this fellowshippe with Christ and consequently to all the mercies of GOD layd vp for vs in him it is not enough to beleeue either that he is or what he is vnlesse we beleeue also rightly in him being such a one But in this I speake but of them of sufficient age and descretion For as for children borne in the Church dying in their infancie and others borne and dying idiots in the same borne of such parents as the couenant Gen. 17. I will bee thy GOD and the GOD of thy seede after thee belongeth unto no doubt of it the Lorde can and doeth by the force of this election and other extraordinarie meanes vnite vnto his sonne And therefore we are to hope that such die in the Lorde Vnderstand therefore that I heerein haue spoken and in that which followeth meane to speake only of those to whome the Lorde giueth yeares and discretion so that if the fault bee not in themselues they are capable of the doctrine of faith That by faith this vnion is attained Nowe to proue that faith hath this office appointed vnto it of God to apprehend Christ to make him our owne by the former meanes offered vnto vs the scripture is most cleare and euident For we read Iohn 1.12 that as many as receiued him to them he gaue power to be made the sonnes of God For explanation whereof it followeth immediatly euen to thē that beleeue in his name And Ephes 3.17 Paul praieth that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith And in the 4. chapter of that epistle 13. ye haue heard that by the vnity of faith and knoweledge of the sonne of God we all meete together vnto a perfect man in Christ And who so duely considereth what is written in the 6 of Iohn from the 27. verse vnto the 57. of the same he shall there plainely finde the premises whereupon this conclusion is directly to be inferred ergo to eate the flesh of the sonne of man and to drinke his bloud is nothing else but to beleue in him plainly at large handled For first there this proposition is handled that to eate the bread of life is to doe nothing else but to beleeue in the son then this