Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	adam_n	body_n	spirit_n	4,811	5	5.6331	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32022	The happinesse of those who sleep in Jesus, or, The benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints even while they are in the grave, sleeping in Jesus delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral of ... Lady Anne Waller, at the new church in Westminst[er], Oct. 31, 1661 : together with the testimony then given unto her / by Edm. Calamy ...	Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.	1662 (1662)	Wing C255; ESTC R1658	30,610	40

the man but only a quiet and comfortable sleep Verse 13 14. 4. Because they are so far from being abolished and utterly extinct that they are asle●● in Iesus They are even while they are in their Graves at rest in the Arms of Jesus The Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that sleep by Jesus But as Grotius observes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so it is taken Rom. 4.11 1 Tim. 5.14 And so it is expressely said v. 16. of this Chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the dead in Christ. And also 1 Cor. 15.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They that sleep in Christ. 5. Because at the great day of Judgment they shall be raised from out of their Graves and raised to the resurrection of Life and raised by the power of God and by vertue of their Union with Christ v. 14. For if we believe that Iesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Iesus God will bring with him Even so That is as Christ died and rose again so shall all that are dead in Christ rise again by vertue of their Membership with Christ For if the Head be alive the Members must live also and by the Power of God The same God that raised Christ from the dead will raise all that are united to him and bring them with him at the dreadful day of Judgment 6. Because Christ will carry all his Saints whom he shall raise up into Heaven with him where they shall be for ever with the Lord in perfect Happiness The Text that I have chosen contains three of these Arguments which I shall sum up in these three Doctrinal Conclusions Doct. 1. That the death of a Saint is nothing else but a quiet comfortable and blessed sleep Doct. 2. That the bodies of the Saints even while they are in their graves are asleep in Iesus Doct. 3. That Iesus Christ will raise the dead bodies of the Saints and joyn their souls to them and bring them with him to judgment and then carry them into heaven where they shall be ever with the Lord. Doctrine 1. That the death of a Child of God is nothing else but a quiet comfortable and happy sleep For the understanding of this I shall answer to three Questions Quest. 1. What part of a Child of God is it that sleepeth when he dieth Ans. There are some who say That the soul sleepeth as well as the body and that when a man dies both Body and Soul lye asleep till the Resurrection And this they prove from the example of Stephen because it is said of him That he fell asleep But still the question is What part of Stephen fell asleep Not his Soul For he commends that into the hands of Christ Lord Iesus receive my Spirit And he saw the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God ready to receive his Soul immediatly It was the Body of Stephen fell asleep but his Soul was presently received by the Lord Jesus into heaven When a man dies his body returns to dust from whence it came but the soul returns to God who gave it either to be judged to everlasting happiness or everlasting misery Indeed In one sence the soul may be said at death to fall asleep that is It is at rest in Abrahams bosome But it is not asleep in the Anabaptistical and Socinian sence so as to lie in a dead Apoplexy or Lethargy neither capable of joy or sorrow of happiness or misery till the Resurrection This is a most uncomfortable and unscriptural opinion When St. Paul desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ he doth not desire to lye asleep till the Resurrection and neither to see know or enjoy Christ but to be made happy with him and by him When Christ promised to the penitent Thief That that day he should be with him in Paradice his meaning was That he should enjoy unspeakable pleasures with him Thence the Jews write upon the graves of their dead friends Let their souls be gathered in the Garden of Eden Amen Amen Amen Selah The Souls under the Altar of them that were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held are not in a dull Lethargy without sence or understanding but cry with a loud voice How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth c. The Souls of just men made perfect in heaven are not asleep but enjoy Coelestial felicity And the soul of Lazarus was immediately upon his death received into Abrahams bosome and filled full of consolation Polycarpe that ancient and stout Champion of Jesus Christ when he was at the Stake amongst many other excellent words which he uttered this was one That his soul should that very day be represented before God in heaven The truth is This opinion of the Soul-sleepers is as pernicious as the opinion of those who say That the Soul dies with the Body and riseth with the Body For this sleep must be either Natural or Metaphorical Of the first the Soul is not capable and the second is nothing else but Death it self Therefore Calvin in his Book written on purpose against these Hypnologists saith excellently They that say that the soul lives when out of the body and yet deprive it of all sense and understanding do feign to themselves a Soul which hath nothing of a Soul in it and divorce the Soul it self from it self For the nature of the Soul without which it cannot any way consist is to have motion sence and understanding And as Tertullian saith That Sence is the very soul of the Soul So much in answer to the first question Quest. 2. Is not the death of a wicked man called a sleep as well as the death of a Saint Answ. This cannot be denied It is said of Baasha Omri and Ieroboam who were three wicked Kings that they slept with their Fathers But then I answer 1. That this is but very seldome used 2. That the death of an ungodly man though it be a sleep yet it is not a quiet and comfortable but a disquietting and terrifying sleep As Nebuchadnezzar was much troubled in his sleep and as many sick men have very unquiet sleeps so as they are more sick when they awake than before they slept so is it with a wicked man Both good and bad saith St. Austin sleep at death But it fares with them as with those who dream in their sleeps Some dream of things delightful and are comforted Some of terrifying things insomuch as when they awake they are afraid to sleep again left their terrifying dreams should return So saith he every man sleeps at death according to the condition of the life he hath led and accordingly riseth and is judged The Souls of good and bad at death have different receptacles The

are perished The Apostle speaks of such who had been long in their graves and yet all that while were asleep in Christ. The bodies of the Saints in the grave though turned to dust are yet notwithstanding united to Christ and Members of his Body and though separated from their Souls yet are not separated from Christ Even as the Body of Christ while in the grave was even then united to his Divine Person Though soul and body were separated one from the other yet neither of them were separated from the Divine Person So the Body of a man in Christ though separated by death from his Soul yet it is not separated from Christ. Though it say to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the VVorms Thou art my Mother and my Sister yet it may say also to Christ Thou art my Brother and to God Thou art my Father And therefore the Saints even while they are in their graves are said to be Christs 1 Cor. 15.23 Afterwards they that are Christs at his coming And are said to be dead in Christ 1 Thes. 4.16 Not only to die in Christ but to be dead in Christ that is to continue in Christ even while dead And that they do so appears further by these two Reasons Reas. 1. Because the Union between Christ and a true Christian is spiritual and everlasting 1. It is spiritual and therefore needs no vicinity of place to preserve it A Husband and Wife a Father and his Child are really united together though a thousand miles distant 2. It is everlasting Hos. 2.19 I will besroath thee unto me for ever c. Herein it exceeds the Union between a Man and his Wife which is only till death them do part But the Union between Christ and a true Christian is not separated by death Once in Christ ever in Christ Joh. 8.35 Reas. 2. Because Death is Christs purchase and part of the Saints Ioynture The Apostle tells the Corinthians All things are yours whether Paul or Apollo c. or life or death c. and ye are Christs c. These words teach us these two lessons 1. That Death is part of the Saints Magna Charta as well as Life Death is the Believers rich Portion and peculiar priviledge 2. That Christ hath purchased death for his children as properly as life He hath made over death for their joynture and rich portion as much as Paul Apollo or Cephas nay as much as heaven it self Christ hath altered the nature of death insomuch as that now it is become our best friend next to Iesus Christ For we shall never be rid of sin nor perfected in grace nor see God face to face till we dye It is become a gate to heaven an outlet to all misery and an inlet to everlasting happiness Now then if Death be Christs purchase and a part of the Saints Ioynture without doubt it doth not separate us from Christ for then it would be but an ill purchase and joynture obtained not for our good but our great hurt contrary to the express words of the Apostle and also contrary to Rom. 8.28 All things work together for the good of those that love God Et mors praecipue and especially Death as St. Austin saith The second thing propounded is To shew what those glorious benefits and advantages are which the bodies of the Saints enjoy while they are in their graves asleep in Jesus For answer to this you must know That as soon as ever the soul departs out of the body the body presently loseth all its beauty and comliness and becomes a rotten and stinking carkass It goeth down to the house of rottenness to the dungeon of darkness and is layed in the cold earth dust to dust ashes to ashes And yet even then it hath a six-fold benefit by being asleep in Jesus 1. Though the body be turned to dust yet that very dust is pretious in Gods sight As the death of the Saints so also their dust is precious to God There is a twofold dust that God loves 1. The dust of Sion 2. The dust of his Saints First The dust of Sion Psal. 102.13 14. Secondly The dust of the Saints The golden Ore in the Mine is not so pretious to us as this golden dust is to God Iob tells us That out of the earth comes the dust of gold but I may truly say That in the earth there is golden dust even the dust of Gods Saints As Balaam saith concerning the people of Israel Who can count the dust of Iacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel So may I say Who can sufficiently express the love that God bears to the dust of Iacob and to the bodies of his people while in their graves The Apostle tells us That neither life nor death is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. God loves the bodies of his Saints as well as their souls and their bodies when turned to dust That very dust is part of Gods election for God hath elected the bodies of his Saints unto eternal life as well as their souls and it is part of Christs Redemption and the Spirits Sanctification O what a comfort is this to a dying Child of God! Though all his friends will forsake him when brought to the grave the Husband will leave his dear Wife and the Children their dear Father yet God will not forsake him but go down to the grave with him and the watchful eye of his providence will be over his dust and ashes And as Rispah kept the dead bodies of Sauls seven Sons and spread a Tent over them so as the birds of the air could not hurt them by day nor the beasts of the field by night So will God keep the dead bodies of his Saints and spread the Curtain of his protection over them and as he took care of them while they were in the sepulchre of their Mothers wombe so he will also take care of them while they are in the sepulchre of their Mother earth He that loved them in Sepulchro uteri will love them in utero Sepulchri 2. They that sleep in Iesus have this benefit by it That Christ by his burial hath sanctified the grave and sweetned it and perfumed it insomuch that though in its own nature it be as loathsome prison a house of rottenness and a place of terrour yet to a man dead in Christ the nature of it is altered and to him it is as a soft bed wherein he is laid down quietly to take his rest and there to remain asleep free from all cares fears and troubles till the Resurrection of the dead Though the grave in its own nature be a dreadful place a stinking charnel-house and a rotten prison to the wicked and ungodly where they lye waiting for the Great Assizes yet to the Children of God Christ hath made it a Magazin and Store-house to keep their

bodies safe till the great Resurrection And he hath also made it a beaten and plain way to heaven Christ Jesus himself went to heaven thorough the grave and so must we and all the Godly We must first put off the rags of Mortality before we can put on the robes of Immortality To a wicked man the grave is a thorough-fare to hell but to a man asleep in Jesus it is a passage to heaven where Christ is And if St. Austin was willing to go even thorough hell to Christ in heaven much more may we be willing to go thorough the grave to him 3. They that sleep in Iesus have this benefit also That by their Union with Christ and by the watchful Providence of God there is a substance preserved so as they are not utterly extinct and annihilated by death but something of their bodies remain undestroyed There is nothing utterly totally and finally destroyed in a Child of God by death but sin and misery The rotting of the body in the grave is but as the rotting of the Corn in the earth as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.36 The Seed is cast into the earth and there it dieth and rotteth but is not utterly extinct but rotteth in the ground that it may be quickned again So the bodies of the Saints rot in their graves that they may be raised again and made like unto the glorious body of Iesus Christ. And this is another reason why the death of a Child of God is called a sleep because as a man asleep is not extinct no more is he in the grave There is a substance preserved and as David saith of an afflicted righteous man that God keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken So God keepeth the dust and ashes of his Children so as they shall not be utterly and totally consumed Object But is there not a substance preserved also in the bodies of the wicked Answ. It is true Their bodies are not utterly destroyed but remain not by vertue of their Union with Christ but preserved by the Almighty power of God as a terrible Lord and severe Iudge and remain as in a prison till the great day of Judgment in which they shall appear before Christ and then be condemned to hell Happy were it for a wicked man if his body were annihilated by death as it were happy for a Traytor if he died in Prison and escaped hanging But herein consisteth the difference between him and a man asleep in Jesus A man out of Christ is not properly preserved in the grave but rather reserved by the power of Christ to be afterwards tormented in hell But a man in Christ is not only reserved but by vertue of his Union with Christ and preserved to enjoy Eternal glory with their souls at the Great Day of Judgment 4. He that sleepeth in Jesus hath this benefit also That though his body lieth rotting in the grave yet his soul is all the while in heaven where it enjoyeth the glorious presence of God and of his Saints and Angels I say his soul which is his best half which is the Man of man is in heaven Indeed his body which is but as the Box and Carkass is in the grave but the substance and Iewel is in heaven Object What benefit doth the body in the grave gain by his souls being in heaven Answ. I gains this double benefit 1. If his Soul be in heaven it is certain the Body will come thither at last For it is but as the shadow to the substance and if the substance be in heaven the shadow will undoubtedly follow 2. Though the Soul be in heaven yet it can never be perfectly and compleatly happy till it be reunited to the Body For God made the soul to be the form of the body and to dwell for ever in it And if it had not been for Adams transgression the body and soul should never have been separated This separation is the fruit of sin and therefore the soul in heaven hath appetitum unionis a desire to have this breach made up and to be united again to his body because he shall have a more perfect and compleat being with it than without it The Scripture tells us That it waits for the redemption of his body and that it prayeth that God would accomplish the number of his Elect that so they may again be joyned to their bodies and have Coronam perfectam publicam a publick and perfect Crown of glory The souls in heaven saith Bernard pray for their bodies in the grave They are not like the chief Butler who forgat Ioseph when he was restored to his former dignity They remember they have bodies still in the grave which were companions with them in the service of God in Prayer and Fasting and suffering afflictions for Christ. And they know that by reunion with them their happiness will be much increased and therefore they cannot cease pra●ing for them and Christ will in due time come in glory to raise them up unto everlasting life A fifth benefit that accrueth to the body that is asleep in Jesus is That Christ himself cannot be perfect till it be raised from the dead As a natural body cannot be perfect without all its members no more can Christ mystical as head of his Church be perfect till every member of his body be glorified Therefore it is said Eph. 1.23 That the Church is the fulness of him who filleth all in all which is to be understood of that voluntary condition whereunto Christ hath subjected himself in being the Head of the Body that is his Church So that as a natural body is maimed and imperfect if the least member be wanting So is Christ as Head of his Church maimed and imperfect till all the bodies that are asleep in Iesus be reunited to their souls and received into glory for ever with Christ. Lastly The body by being asleep in Iesus hath this great benefit That though it lieth rotting in the grave yet it resteth in hope This was Davids comfort Psalm 16.9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope There is not a member of Christ but when he is breathing out his last breath may use Davids words with Davids comfort My heart is glad my glory rejoyceth and my flesh also which is shortly to be put into the grave shall rest in hope in a forefold hope 1. That it shall rise again 2. That the same body shall rise 3. That it shall rise by vertue of its Union with Christ. 4. That it shall rise to glory everlasting And this leads me to to the third and last Doctrine Doctrine 3. That Iesus Christ will raise the dead bodies of those that sleep in him and raise them as their Head and Saviour and bring them with him to Iudgment and then carry them into Heaven where they shall be ever with the Lord. All these particulars are comprehended

of it so as to a man in Christ death is a Serpent without a Sting It is like the Viper which skipt upon S. Pauls Hand which did not at all hurt him It is like the Brazen Serpent which though it had the shape of a Serpent yet it hadnot the Nature of it but was a healing not a stinging Serpent So is death to a Child of God It is so far from hurting of him that it is now by Christs death become his greatest Advantage and he may triumph over it and say with the Ap. O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ. 6. There is this Spring also of Consolation against the Fear of death because he that hath an Interest in Christ cannot die suddenly though he die never so suddenly that is though he die never so suddenly in regard of time yet he can never die suddenly in regard of Preparation For he is alwaies habitually fitted and prepared for Death he is justified by Faith and sanctified by the Spirit and is above the hurt of damnation For there is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ. He hath not his Graces to seek when he comes to die which is no little Happiness 7. He can never die miserable though he die never so miserably Though he die upon a Dunghil or in a Goal or upon the Gallows or at a stake wheresoever and howsoever he dies he dies happily For so saith the Apostle Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. They are blessed though they die upon a dunghil Though Stephen was stoned to death yet he died happily for while he was stoning he saw the Heavens opened and Christ ready to receive him Though Lazarus was starved to death yet he died blessedly because the Angels carried his Soul into Abrahams B●som Though King Iosiah died in War yet he died in peace A man in Christ dieth in the Arms of Christ and though he dieth never so miserably as to his outward condition yet he may sing a Nunc dimittis with old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation 8. There are 3 Expressions which the Scripture useth concerning death which are singular Fountains of Consolation against the Fear of it 1. The Apostle S. Peter cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 1.15 I will endeavour that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after my Decease c. Death is nothing else but an Exodus out of Egypt unto our Heavenly Canaan It is not a dying but a Transmigration a passage from the Valley of death into the Land of the Living 2. The Apostle S. Paul cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2.23 I desire to be dissolved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is as Grotius interprets it That my Soul may return to God from whom it first came Others say It is a Metaphor taken from Mariners who are said to loose from the Haven when they depart from the shore Death is nothing but a hoysing up of Sayl as it were for heaven 3. Old Simeon cals it A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace The Greek Word signifieth a Release and dismission out of prison Thus it is taken Acts 16.35 Acts 5.40 Luke 23.17 And it holds forth these two Lessons 1. That the Soul is in the Body as in a Prison Therefore the Greek Words for the Body are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vincio And Petrarch saith That he that glorieth in the strength of his Body glorieth in the strength of his Prison And when Plato saw one of his Scholars overcuriously pampering his Body he said to him What do you mean to make your Prison so strong The Soul is in the Body as in a Prison in 3 Respects 1. Because the Soul is hidden in the Body as a man is hidden in a Prison As Plato saith of Vertue That if a man could see it with corporal eyes he could not but love it So may I say of the Soul If a man could see the Beauty Glory and Excellency of it he could not but admire it and highly value it But it is hidden in the Body as in a Prison 2. Because the Soul is hindred by the Body and that Three waies 1. It is hindred from Heaven For whilst we are in the body we are absent from the Lord and we cannot be with Christ till we be dissolved And this is truly a Prison wherein a man is absent from his best Friends and Acquaintance 2. It is hindred from Heavenly Operations For the Body takes up all the time from the Soul as the Lean Kine of Pharaoh devoured the fat so the Provision for the Feeding and Cloathing of the Body eats up the time that should be spent about the Soul It is with the Soul and Body as it was with Abraham and Lot Abraham had his Cattel and his Servants and Lot his so that the Country was too narrow for them So the Soul hath her work and the Body his and there is hardly time enough for both so as the one must needs hinder the other and they never will be well till separated The Cloath is too short to cover them both And this must needs be a great Bondage when the Handmaid shall be preferred before her Mistress Hagar before Sarah 3. It is hindred in all its Heavenly Operations For the Body weigheth down the Soul As a Bird that hath a stone tied to its Leg is weighed down that it cannot fly aloft So is the Heavenly Soul in the best Christian depressed by the Body that it cannot mount aloft in Prayer and other Holy Exercises The Soul and Body are like a pair of Scales the more the one is up the more the other goeth down As Sauls Armour was a Burden to David so is the Body to the Soul The Body is quickly tired in the Service of God The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak like a strong man upon a Jadish Horse c. 3. Because the Soul is defiled by the Body as a man in a Nasty Prison God gave man a Heavenly Soul and an Earthly body that the Heavenly Soul might lift up the Earthly Body towards Heaven But now it fares quite contrary Our earthly Bodies have weighed down our heavenly Souls and made them earthly and sensual Tamdiu versata est Anima in Tabernaculo ut ipsa versa est in Tabernaculum The Soul hath lived so long in a Body of flesh that it is as it were fleshified and bodified The Soul looks through an eye of flesh and every thing seems fleshly to it It is diverted by the Body from its true End The true End of the Soul is to know God to love