Selected quad for the lemma: saint_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
saint_n	body_n	glorious_a	vile_a	1,567	5	10.2595	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62392	The faithful souldier's reward, or, A glimpse of the saints happiness discovered in two sermons, occasioned by the death of that truly vertuous and religious gentle woman, Mrs. Katherine Disney : the former preached at Kirkstead, the place of her last abode here upon the earth, on the 18th day of May, 1690, being the Lord's Day, and the latter at Swinderly, near Lincoln, where she was interr'd the Tuesday following / by William Scoffin.	Scoffin, William, 1655?-1732.	1692 (1692)	Wing S933; ESTC R11432	41,514	126

the Apostle there from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his Glorious Body according to the Working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself O blessed Change indeed They shall be fashioned like unto his glorious Body Now the Bodies of the Saints are vile but then they shall be glorious For Christ's Body now glorified in Heaven is surely a glorious Body indeed * Rev. 1 13 16. Mat. 17.1 2. And the Bodies of the Saints shall be like his O how joyfully will the Soul reunite with the Body when this glorious Change is passed upon it And what a blessed Union will this be nevermore to be broken O then will the Saints be in a Capacity of enjoying the highest Felicity 3. Their Bodies and Souls thus re-united shall be received into Mansions of Bliss and Glory where they shall for ever be with the Lord and be perfectly happy to all Eternity And O how should the Thoughts of this chear our Hearts and fortify us under all our Trials Let not your Hearts be troubled Joh. 14.1 2 3. saith Christ ye believe in God believe also in me In my Father's House are many Mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a Place for you And if I go and prepare a Place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also O comfortable Words indeed Yea and Christ has left them for our Comfort Wherefore comfort one another with these Words 1 Thess 4.18 saith the Apostle With what words Why that Jesus Christ will come in the Clouds Ver. 16 17. and meet Believers in the Air and they shall for ever be with the Lord. O blessed and glorious Day when Christ shall pronounce that blessed Sentence to such as have been his faithful Followers Mat. 25.34 Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World The Members of Christ are now look'd upon by the World as a Company of Hypocrites and vile Miscreants even such as are unfit to live in a Common-wealth but Christ pronounceth them Blessed The World saith Act. 22.22 Away with such Fellows from the Earth for it is not fit that they should live but Christ saith Mat. 25.34 Come ye Blessed And Christ calls them the Blessed of his Father shewing thereby the Orignal Cause and Fountain of all our Happiness The beginning of our Salvation was from an higher Cause than our own Holiness yea than Christ's Merit even from the free Grace and Favour of God the Father He is the principal efficient Cause of the Saints Blessedness Christ as Mediator is but the way to the Father Joh. 14.6 It is the Father that appointed Christ and gave him to Sinners Joh. 3.16 And in time brings them to close with him Joh. 6.44 It is the Father that prepared this Kingdom for them before the Foundation of the World They are not less beloved and blessed by the Father than by the Son who redeemed them but whosoever is dear unto the Son is dear also unto the Father O what Soul-enravishing Joys will the Saints be filled with when Christ shall pronounce this blessed Sentence Come ye Blessed of my Father To the Wicked he will say Depart but to the Saints Come as the Quintessence of all Misery lieth in the one so the Consummation of all Blessedness lieth in the other We see here what the Sentence will be at the Grat Day the reason of this Sentence followeth For I was an hungred and ye gave me Meat I was thirsty and ye gave me Drink I was a Stranger and ye took me in Naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came unto me Mat. 25.35 36. These good Works are mentioned by Christ and given as a Reason of the Sentence not as if Heaven was merited by them but as the undoubted Evidences and Fruits of a true and saving Faith And that a true Faith is implied in the Works here mentioned is very clear and evident 1. From the Expression it self For I was an hungred and ye gave me Meat saith Christ 't was Christ they respected in his Members Now it requireth Faith to see Christ in a poor needy Person or Prisoner to love Christ in them above our worldly Goods and to part with our Wealth for their Relief because they belong to Christ This is a great Piece of Self-denial and doubbless the Fruit of a saving Faith for 't is not meerly the relieving the Poor but the doing of it as in and to Christ 2. Faith and good Works are very nearly linked together for Faith is not sound and saving unless it produce these good Works and these Works are not acceptable unless they proceed from Faith and are done in Faith Heb. 11.6 1 Tim. 1.5 Where there is true Faith there will also be good Works as the genuine Effects and Fruits of it yet certain it is that the best of those Works do no ways deserve Heaven Luk. 17.10 Ephes 2.8 9. And the Saints will be so far from pleading their Works in a way of Desert or Merit that they will rather altogether disown them being sensible of their many and great Imperfections and how far short they came of their Duty Then shall the Righteous answer him saying Mat. 25.37 Lord when saw we thee an hungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee Drink Ver. 38. When saw we thee a Stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed thee Or when saw we thee sick Ver. 39. or in Prison and came unto thee And the King shall answer and say unto them Ver. 40. Verily I say unto you in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me By the way we may observe these three or four Particulars 1. The wonderful Love and Humility of the Lord Jesus Christ the King of Glory in owning the poorest Joh. 20.17 Heb. 2.11 12. and least of his Members for his Brethren In as much as ye have done it saith he unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me O wonderful condescending Love that the great God should take such poor Worms as we into so near a Relation unto himself 2. Observe that Christ takes that which is done to his Members as done to himself I was an hugred saith he and ye gave me Meat I was thirsty and ye gave me Drink I was a Stranger and ye took me in Naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came unto me For in as much as ye have done it to one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me So that we

several Metaphorical Names as sometimes it is called Paradise 2 Cor. 12 2 4. Sometimes it is called an House Joh. 14.2 sometimes it is called a City Heb. 11.16 sometimes it is called a Kingdom Luke 12.32 And sometimes it is called a Crown as here in my Text. For the Pleasantness of it it is called Paradise to note our Abode and Rest in it it is called an House for the Amplitude of it it is called a City and for the Splendor of it a Kingdom And to shew the exceeding Height of Glory that Believers are advanced to it is called a Crown Sometimes a Crown of Life Jam. 1.12 sometimes a Crown of Glory 1 Pet. 5.4 And here in my Text a Crown of Righteousness Why is it called a Crown of Righteousness Answ It may be so called on several accounts 1. Because it is the Purchase of Christ's Righteousness Ephes 1.14 Heb. 9.12 Rom. 5.18 2. Because it is given as a free Reward to such as lead a righteous Life Rom. 2.7 10. chap. 6.23 Isa 3.10 3. Because the Righteous God hath promised it and therefore will bestow it Jam. 1.12 Heb. 6.10 Now the whole Verse may be thus paraphras'd Henceforth or as to what remains there is appointed prepared and in safe keeping for me eternal Life and Happiness an immortal Crown of Glory which the Righteous God hath promised and therefore will bestow it a Crown which is the Purchase of Christ's Righteousness and ample Reward of mine though I have no ways merited or deserved it Another kind of Crown is this than what the Conquerors used to have in the Grecian Games even a great and most excellent Reward a Glory with which my whole Man shall be encompassed as a Man's Head is with a Crown Such a Crown of Righteousness will the Lord the righteous Judg give me at the Day of Judgment Mat. 16.27 Rom. 2.6 10. when all shall be rewarded according to their Works and not to me only shall this Crown be given as my particular Reward but whosoever shall truly believe in Christ and shall so lead their Lives in this World as that they can desire wait for and be well pleased with the Thoughts and Hopes of his coming to Judgment unto them will he give the same Reward also Thus much shall suffice for Explication I come now to the Doctrine And that which I shall build my present Discourse upon and which naturally ariseth from the Words of my Text is as followeth Doct. There is eternal Life and Happiness an immortal Crown of Glory yea the highest Felicity that the Heart of Man can wish or desire appointed purchased and prepared for every believing Soul who overcomes in the spiritual Warfare and continues faithful unto the Death Jam. 1.12 Blessed is the Man that endureth Temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him Rev. 21.7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him The Eye may have seen much and the Ear may have heard of more but the Heart may conceive of a far greater Happiness than either Eye hath seen or Ear hath heard of yet all comes infinitely short of that Happiness which God hath prepared for his faithful People Mat. 13.43 Then shall the Righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Many more Scriptures might be brought for the proof of the Point laid down but these which I have mentioned are sufficient to evidence the Truth thereof Now the Method which I shall observe in speaking to this Doctrine will be to shew you so far as the Lord shall enable me 1. When Believers shall come to the Enjoyment of this Happiness 2. Wherein it will chiefly consist 3. Vpon what account the Lord will confer it upon them And 4. Make Application I. Then When shall Believers come to the Enjoyment of this Happiness I answer They shall enjoy it in part at their Death but fully at the Resurrection For 1. At Death the Souls of the Faithful do immediately pass into Heaven and their Bodies lie asleep in their Graves as in Beds of Rest Isa 57.2 They shall enter into Peace they shall rest in their Beds The Death of the Righteous is a sweet Sleep out of which they shall be awaked and their Graves in like manner are Beds of Rest out of which they shall rise again That the Bodies of the Saints do thus rest in their Graves till the general Resurrection I know none that will deny but that their Souls the mean while are in the actual Enjoyment of Happiness with Christ is denied by some though I know not the least Grounds they have to deny it And it has often been a wonder to me as it may be to any who considerately reads the Scriptures that ever so plain a Truth as this is should be so much as questioned by any Yet some professing the Christian Religion do positively deny it affirming that the Soul doth sleep with the Body till the general Resurrection But surely St. Paul would never have been in a Strait as he expressed himself to be Phil. 1.23 if he were to be reduced upon his Dissolution into a Condition of stupid Sleep without any Capacity of glorifying or enjoying God See Dr. Manton on 2 Cor. 5. v. 8. p. 67. I am in a Strait betwixt two saith he having a Desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better To be with Christ is to be in Heaven for there Christ is at the Right-hand of God Col. 3.1 Now the Apostle speaketh not this in regard of his Body but in regard of his Soul for his Body could not be with Christ presently upon his Dissolution till it was raised up at the Last-day but he knew that his Soul should and that it would be in a far better State than the estate it enjoyed here But is it not better you will say to remain here and serve God than to depart hence It were so if the Soul was in a State wherein we neither know nor love Christ Yea it would certainly be far worse for Paul to have his Body rotting in the Grave and his Soul without all Fruition of God if this were true But he well knew that if once his Soul was separated from the Body he should enjoy a far greater Happiness than he was capable of enjoying whilst he was here Many more Scriptures might be brought for the proof of this Truth I shall name a few Luk. 16.22 And it came to pass that the Beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom By the Bosom of Abraham is meant Heaven and Hell

is opposed to it and 't is explain'd ver 25. He is comforted but thou art tormented Heaven is a Place of Comfort and Hell is a Place of Torment No sooner did Lazarus die but he was carried by the Angels into Heaven No sooner did the rich Man die but he was dragged by the Devils into Hell Ver. 23 24. And in Hell he lift up his Eyes being in Torment and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his Bosom Therefore I argue not only from Lazarus his being in Abraham's Bosom but also from the rich Man's being in Hell for God is not more prone to punish than he is to reward If the Wicked be in Torment as soon as they die then the Saints are in their Happiness presently upon their Dissolution Another Place is Luke 16.9 And I say unto you make to your selves Friends of the Mammon of Vnrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting Habitations i. e. Do good with your worldly Riches and thereby evidence your Faith to be true and so consequently make God your Friend that when you come to die he may receive you into Heaven 1 Tim. 6.17 19. Luk. 19.8 Act. 10.4 Mat. 25.34 36. When ye fail What is that time failing It cannot be meant of Condemnation in the Judgment for there is no escaping or reversing that Sentence therefore 't is meant of the Hour of Death then are Believers received into everlasting Habitations and their everlasting Habitation is in Heaven Another Argument which proveth this Truth is that with which Christ silenc'd the Sadduces Mat. 22.31 32. Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living The Sadduces denied the Immortality of the Soul as well as the Resurrection of the Body and Christ disproveth both by this Argument I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Exod. 3.6 These words were spoken by God unto Moses long after the Decease of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and it is not said I was but I am the God of Abraham c. Now saith Christ God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living therefore Abraham Isaac and Jacob though long ago deceased are yet alive So the Souls of all the Faithful departed out of this World do live to God in Heaven Luke 20.38 Another Scripture which clearly proves this Truth is Luke 23.43 The penitent Thief had desired Christ to remember him when he came into his Kingdom And Christ answered him again and said Verily I say unto thee To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Christ sheweth that he would not defer his Hope but his Desire should be accomplished that Day 't is not adjourned to many Days Months or Years but to Day saith Christ q. d. Thou shalt immediately enjoy thy Desire Now what Christ promised to him he promised it to him as a penitent Believer and what belongeth to one Believer belongeth to all in a like Case Therefore if his Soul in the very Day of his Death was translated to Paradise the Souls of other Believers will be so in like manner Rev. 2.7 To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God No doubt but by Paradise is meant Heaven and so the Apostle explaineth it 2 Cor. 12.2 4. Thither the penitent Thief went immediately after his Death and so doth every believing Soul Another Scripture that proves this Truth and the last that I shall name is 2 Cor. 5.8 We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. This is so plain a Text for the proof of this Truth that if we had no other Scripture to prove it by even this alone were sufficient For we know saith the Apostle that whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord ver 6. But are will rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord ver 8. So that as soon as the Souls of the Faithful are separated from the Body they are taken immediately into the Presence of the Lord in whose Presence there is Fulness of Joy Psa 16.11 and at whose Right-hand there are Pleasures for evermore And thus I have sufficiently prov'd that the Souls of the Faithful at Death do immediately pass into Heaven and their Bodies lie asleep in their Graves as in Beds of Rest Now 2. At the general Resurrection when Christ shall come to Judgment the Bodies of the Saints shall be raised in Glory and re-united unto their Souls even these very self same Bodies which now we have 1 Thess 4.16 For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a Shout with the Voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the Dead in Christ shall rise first So Joh. 5.28 29. Marvel not at this saith Christ for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation This will be a joyful Day to every believing Soul but a Day of Terror and Amazement to the Wicked When the Lord Jesus Christ shall be thus revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vongeance on then that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power When he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe 2 Thess 1.7 10. The Thoughts of this most Blessed Day which Job foresaw by Faith did much refresh his Soul under his heavy Afflictions Job 19.25 26 27. I know saith he that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter Day upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall behold and not another though my Reins be consumed within me Job was well assured that the self-same Body which had suffered so much in the World and which should not in the Earth and be eaten with Worms should be raised again at the last Day Yet this we must know that tho the same Body shall be raised again yet a very great Change shall pass upon it 1 Cor. 15.42 44. It is sown in Corruption it is raised in Incorruption it is sown in Dishonour it is raised in Glory it is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power It is sown a natural Body it is raised a spiritual Body So Phil. 3.20 21. Our Conversation is in Heaven saith