Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	angel_n	body_n	spirit_n	8,316	5	5.4481	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62089	Being for ever with the Lord, the great hope, end and comfort of believers what it is, and how to be obtained and forethought of / preached by Matthew Sylvester ; and published at the publick request of Mr. Ri. Baxter, at the hearing of it.	Sylvester, Matthew, 1636 or 7-1708.	1688 (1688)	Wing S6329; ESTC R34636	31,001	96

of Christ Mat. 11.29 Heaven could not bear the Pride of Angels no more can Christ endure the Pride of Man. Please not your selves or others till you have answer'd all your Master's Claims Rom. 15.1 2 3. Gal. 1.10 Be knit to nothing but to your Lord in Heaven for why should he be made an Underling or Cipher here below Christ ours in Heaven a better Patrimony and Inheritance than States and Kingdoms here Be more sollicitous about the temper tendency and genuine Issues of your Hearts and Ways than about the Events of Providence 2 Cor. 5.9 10. Your best Concernments are with Christ if they succeed you cannot lose Treasures above and your exalted Head in Bonds in Power and in Possession to secure them speak you too safe and rich to be undone Be silent Prostrates at the foot of Christ if his presence be your Happiness he must needs be much above you every way therefore observe the Words the Looks the Steps of Christ and let them rule you And let his Dispensations here below be all admir'd by you and rested in Christ is in Heaven about your Work and that he be pleased by you doth most concern you and best become you And when you come to be with him for ever how deeply and quickly will he make you sensible of that great Wisdom wonderful Grace and mighty Power which brought you safely to himself in Glory 11. And O what a Figure will Christ then make in Heaven when that State is compleatly filled and when he hath gathered all his Family up to Glory 2 Pet. 1.11 If in those preparatory Scenes of Providence wherein the Redeemer addrest himself to Action and began his glorious Atchievements and was priviledged to open the Sealed Book there were such Acclamations and solemn Congratulations of this his peculiar Priviledg Prerogative by all in Heaven Earth and if there were such prostrate Venerations of him as we find in Rev. 4 8-11 5 9-14 and this conjunctly with his Father How will his Name and Glory be aggrandized when all his Favorites shall be with him All the Mysteries of Godliness relate to Christ and have their undoubted Aggravations from him 1 Tim. 3.16 and how wondrously glorious hath God represented him to us below Col. 1 15-19 2.2 3 9 10. Heb. 1 2-13 Rev. 1.5 6. John 14.6 And if these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these earthly things these shadowings forth of Christ and of his Kingdom to us even by Schemes accommodated to our Capacities in this our dark and distant State be looked upon as scarcely to be credited by Masters in Israel and yet so wonderful in the Eyes of the discerning Christian What would the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be then thought to be were they discovered to us in words more suited to their Excellency than to our Capacity John 3.12 with 1 Cor. 1.23 24. 2 9-14 2.12 2-4 We find great notices taken of him by the Heavenly State whilst in this outward Court ministring in the Port and posture of a Servant For as the Spirit of Prophecy foretold him Types represented him and the Word of Promise entitled us to the hopes and benefits of his Appearance and propitious Mediation So the Spirit forms his Body Angels declare his Birth Miracles attest his Dignity Doctrines and Authority and Ability to form us for and bring us to Himself Nature obeys him Devils fly before him Moses and Elias talk with him Souls come in by Multitudes and value nothing like his Person Conduct Government and Grace God owns him as his Son as his Royal Oracle and Agent by a Voice from Heaven 2 Pet. 1 16-21 1 Joh. 5 6-12 and all the Institutions and Transactions of the Kingdom of God amongst Men must have the Name of Christ enstamp'd upon them And when Christ had finished his Course and Work below God raises him from the Dead and shews him openly commands the Angels to worship him and to report his Resurrection makes this the great Base and Pillar of his Gospel-Kingdom carries him up to Heaven many hundreds of credible Witnesses beholding his Ascension and sets him at his own right Hand putting the Reigns of all Government into his Hands And then the Father sends the Holy Spirit in the Son's Name to glorify him as Christ had said before John 16 13-15 to seal this Truth to enable Persons to declare and prove it and to make the Gospel prosperous in its great Design But as to Christ himself he in the heavenly Places and Affairs for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports both sits far above all Principality Power Might Dominion and every Name that is named in even the World to come having all things under his Feet because he is given as Head over all things to his Church which is his Body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Ephes 1 20-23 Hence the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named of him Eph. 3.15 The Church in the compleatness of its Triumphant State is called his Everlasting Kingdom 2 Pet. 1.11 And when he shall have put down all Rule Authority and Power he will deliver up the Kingdom to the Father as a fit Present to the Majesty of Heaven as a clear Proof and Monument of his own Mediatorial Faithfulness and as fit Subjects of his own Paternal Government and Delight or as his acquired Inheritance to possess for ever 1 Cor. 15 24-28 For who can any way imagine that the delivery of these Subjects to the Father shall be the deposing of the Son from his triumphant Government that well considers Christ as placed by God upon the same Throne with himself Rev. 3.21 Is not Christ said to reign for ever and ever Rev. 11.15 O what a Pleonasm or fulness of expression is there in that passage Ephes 3.21 It is a Doxology richly phrased and that as in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereto I never yet read or heard of any Parallel in any Greek Author See also 2 Pet. 3.18 so vast is the reach of the inspiring Spirit so deep the Thoughts so full the Heart of the inspired Pen-man because so great the Dignity and Prerogatives of our enthroned and glorified Redeemer in this his Day and Kingdom What Eye so sharp and strong on Earth as to comprehend or tolerably to reach the sense of that great Passage in 1 Tim. 6.14.16 〈◊〉 Timothy is charged to keep the ●●●mandment till the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ mind now what follows which in his Times he shall shew who is the blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who only hath Immortality dwelling in Light which no Man can approach unto whom no Man hath seen nor can see to whom is as well as be Honour and Power everlasting Amen And here O that my heart was equal to wha● poor purblind I discern in this great Passage as shewing what notice must and will be taken of Jesus Christ hereafter For tho

accurately to their Capacities Tempers and Concerns and every way preserving all his Subjects and all their Entertainments and Employments in all the harmony and decencies of a Divine Kingdom and then how very kind he ever is and will be to them Witness their conformity to his glorious Self their intimate conversation with him and the inundations of Delights that ever flow from him upon them such a Prince such Subjects under such Laws and circumstances and in such order 3. The Time and Manner of its Commencement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ descends and we ascend to meet him in the Air and then we part no more peruse the Account hereof as given by inspired Persons see Mat. xxv 31-34 1 Cor. xv 50-54 1 Thess iv 15-17 Then come those Visions Dispensations and Employments and those reciprocal Satisfactions which cannot be but where Christ and his Favorites are gotten and kept together II. The Evidence of this Truth 1. Why else was Jesus Christ Incarnate Heb. 2.14 He took not hold of Angels but of the Seed of Abraham Vers v. ib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is there the word and it is used of Christ when he took hold of timerous and sinking Peter on the Waves Mat. xiv 31. No doubt but Christ's assuming to himself our Nature was a great hold thereon Such an alliance and approach to Man as intimated yea demonstrated Christ's fitness and resolution to be both visible and delightfully conversible to all his Saints for ever even in their own Nature Became Christ visible that he might not be seen Would he be Man to be eternally retired from humane view We are told that the Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us full of Grace and Truth and that there were Eye-witnesses of his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father John i. 14. And O how ample and emphatical is this Passage if well considered by us and how pertinent and cogent as to the Case in hand The Word that living quickning Word by whom God made the World and us Ephes iii. 9. John v. 26. and whom God promised to be the Root and Prince of Life 1 Joh. v. 11. by whom and for whose pleasure all Things both are and were created Rev. iv 11. and upheld Heb. i. 2 3. Who is the Image of the Invisible God the first-born of every Creature See further Col. i. 15-19 That Word which was to be and was and is his Father's Oracle to tell us fully what we are to know be do avoid and trust to Heb. i. 12. Acts iii. 22. Mat. xvii 5. 2 Pet. i. 16-18 Yea and with whom and what and where we are to be for ever 2 Tim. i. 10. Whatever then this Word shall say may we expect and rest upon John i. 17 18. Rev. iii. 7 12 14. Think here then upon that insinuating charm of Speech In my Father's House are many Mansions were it not so I would have told you John xiv 2 3. This Word made Flesh See Heb. ii 16-18 Rom. viii 3 4. and in that Tabernacle dwelling amongst Men And why that he might be our Kinsman Surety Brother Heb. ii 11-13 that he might thus be conversant and sympathising with us and strike our very Hearts even through our very Senses and thereby make us fervently desirous to be with him for ever Good to be here said the Apostle Peter when he had seen his Master's Glory in but a transient glimpse Mat. xvii 4. And we saw his Glory full of Grace and Truth Grace poured into his Lips and prosperous Majesty because of Meekness Truth and Righteousness Psal xlv 2-4 6 7. Isa xi 2-5 And now can we imagine that Christ should meet us in our Nature and transmit such Glory to us through his very Flesh and thus allure us and conform us to himself and so make us fit and long to be with him and all to drop and leave us here 2. Why else was Christ incarnate so spirited employed and exercised towards and for us whilst in this outward Court Acts x. 36-40 1 Pet. ii 21-27 Heb. xii 2 3. As to his personal Accomplishments and Deportments he was the Pattern of our Duty and the Mirror of our Glory in his Presence Phil. ii 5. 1 John ii 6. with Phil. iii. 21. 1 John iii. 2. And as to his Sufferings he was the purchaser of our Persons and our Glory that his own Grace and Name might thus be glorified in us 2 Thess i. 12. 1 Cor. vi 20. 1 Pet. i. 17-21 And wherefore all this waste if Christ and we must part at last The Soul and Spirit is the Man and if that be not right the Joys and Treasures of the Heavenly Kingdom cannot relish well nor be esteemed of to purpose Hence O the visible Beauties of Christ's Soul Such Wisdom in Self-conduct such Purity Vigour Tenderness Sweetness Constancy Sincerity Fervour and Impartiality How inwardly evenly readily and chearfully was his Soul kept for God! and how entirely were his Thoughts taken up with God! And all to let us see what frame we must be in for an eternal Fellowship with himself in God In him we see what Spirit we must be of in Heaven All his Conversation in this World was but the genuine Efforts of the devotedness and resignedness of his Soul to God and to the good of others by his Will. And all the Excellencies of humane Nature that a right Spirit and Behaviour towards God and Man could reach and shew were so advanced and conspicuous in Christ as that they challenged all Mens Observation and bad defiance unto all Impeachments and Arraignments Joh. 7.18 8.29 46. 1 Pet. ii 22. His Aim and Business was our conformity to him in Sentiment in Heart and Life in this World that he might thus present us to his Father as fitted for the Work and Joys of Heaven and for the Freedoms and Delights of his own eternal Pretence Never was humane Nature seen before nor since as it was in him Such Knowledg of God! such Wisdom in the conduct of Affairs for God! such Obedience and Submission to the Will of God! such Dependance on God Delight and Acquiescence in him such Expectations from him and such Fulfillings after him John xvii 4. these shew what Christ will bring us to and so meet us in at last And in this holy Course God met him with a sweet Prelusion to his exalted State and ordered Peter James and John to be Eye-witnesses of his Glory in the Mount and Moses and Elias to attend him and to be clouded whilst his Glory shone Mat. xvii 1-3 2 Pet. i. 16-18 Which Christ liked well in that hereby it might appear with whom we are to be for ever and unto whom we shall be like And as to his Sufferings and Death they were the purchase of this State Ephes i. 14. Heb. v. 9. ix 15. ii 9 10. x. 20. The Expiation of our Crimes the Ransom of our Souls and the

severe and awful Reprimand Who is this that darkens Counsel by Words without Knowledg Job 38.2 But this may shew how little our Words or Thoughts can reach God's own essential Perfection Yet is this Godhead united to the Man Christ Jesus But how I solemnly profess I know not though I believe it to be true and think it easily demonstrable from Sacred Writ And I think it as copiously asserted and plainly proved as almost any Article of the Christian Faith and I take the Gospel to have very little Mystery comparatively if so far diluted as to lose this central Mystery 1 Tim. 3.16 And hence it plainly follows that to be with the Lord is a great aggravation of the Glory and Delightfulness of the Heavenly State it being not improbable to me that Christ himself will be the Mediator of Fruition as he hath been of Acquisition And therefore to proceed we cannot think that to be with Christ infers a Peerage with him or Partnership in his Divine Excellencies and Prerogatives Rev. 3.21 We are to worship him and not to be worshipped with him Rev. 5.13 Phil. 2.10 11. John 5.12 13. What is Worship but Obsequium alicui praestitum propter excellentiam A reverent acknowledgment of Excellence and fit Respects and Homage paid thereto And if then Christ the Mediator be God-Man hath he not therein the preeminence above all other Creatures in the Universe and the Respects which must be paid thereto what Worship will you call it Names are to be suited unto things they cannot otherwise duly represent them Christ then as Mediator is more excellent than any meer Creature therefore as a middle Person to be more regarded And what then will you call this over-plus of Respects if I may call it so I know we may distinguish where we cannot divide and whether Divine Worship may fitly be distinguished upon or not I leave to the more accurate to determine But I conceive that God expects that the Humane Nature as individuated in that exalted Person Jesus Christ shall have such Honour paid thereto as none besides in Heaven or Earth shall be allowed to have In a word Christ as Mediator is not so great as God therefore the Worship must not rise so high Yet as Mediator he is above all Creatures and more than they to be respected Consider well Heb. 1 3-6 As Man there is Humane Excellence in its Height as God there is increated Excellence As Mediator there is a sitting at God's right Hand and he that sits there must and will be accordingly acknowledged and had in reverence by all in Heaven And now let us see a little what that State imports that we may form right Notions of it And here we will 1. Premise the Excellence of the Place as suited to all the Grandieurs of the State Ephes 4.10 the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1.12 the Building made by God 2 Cor. 5.1 Heb. 11.10 16. 13.14 Joh. 14.2 But where and how 't is situated divided and accommodated no Pisgah high enough on Earth for us to see it from Rev. 21 9-23 22 1-5 And 2. the Perfections of the Subjects to make them receptive of that State. Defecated Souls and Spiritual Bodies Heb. 12.14 Mat. 5.3 1 John 3.3 with 1 Cor. 15 50-54 2 Cor. 4.14 1 Thess 14 14-17 For none must go with Christ to Glory nor live with him for ever whose Hearts and Lives are not for him whilst here and whose Spirits are not transform'd and so adapted or suited to the Privileges and Ministrations of the Heavenly Kingdom Rev. 21.27 And therefore 't is supposed and concluded that the Constitution of the Soul be sound and sweet and fit for its immediate entrance into Heaven and its abode with Christ for ever Rom. 8 9-11 The Spirit of Christ imprinciples Providence exercises all these heavenly Principles our Covenant-state obliges us to the most lively exercise thereof Habits are fix'd and strengthned by Acts and the Soul's first immediate look at Christ compleats its Transformation and then is it admitted into the presence of its Lord. So that in strictness of Thoughts and Speech the Temper of the Person must be distinguish'd from his State as that which qualifies him for his admission thereinto And then as to the Body it must not be Flesh and Blood for that will be too weak and gross for Christ his so glorious and majestick Presence and for the Visions and Employments of the State above Saul could not bear the Glory of Christ's personal Appearance to him without astonishment and blindness Acts 9 3-12 And in his Extasy he knew not where and what he was embodied or not 2 Cor. 12.2 3. And the appearance of an Angel made others as dead Men Mat. 28 2-4 And the Royal and Great Prophet when he saw his Glory cried out Wo is me I am undone Isa 6.5 with John 12.41 How strangely did Christ's Transfiguration confound Peter James and John Mark 9 2-6 So that the Body must it self be changed in order to its meeting and being with the Lord 1 Cor. 15.52 53. These things are then to be distinguished from the State it self as needful Preparations for it Now therefore to the State it self and here I shall avoid all fond Imaginations and Conjectures and speak hereof as God shall enable me and doth instruct me This State must then include these things and how much more I know not 1. The Visions of the Glory of our Lord or beholding Christ in all his Glory And so our being where he is Joh. 17.24 and that not to astonishment and consternation but to delightful admiration John 16.22 Jude 24. And here both Mind and Body have their looks at Christ to feast them both for ever The symmetry and delicate Proportions of his Humane Body the Beauty of his Face the Majesty of his Countenance the Pleasingness of his Speech the placid Aspects of his smiling Looks at us the Glory of his Throne the orderly Disposals Attendances and Ministrations of all his Favorites and Attendants with all the awful and yet delightful decencies of his Gestures and Deportments towards all with him and the Expressions of Divinity in all this O what an ocular Entertainment will this amount unto What shall our Souls say then to all his evident Prerogatives his wise Conduct his excellent Government his bounteous Dispensations his intimate Converses with us and the delight he evidently takes in the Harmony and welfare of that State And who knows what besides But this I now remember was touch'd upon before 2. The glorious Benefits and Pleasures that will result herefrom There is Glory given as well as Glory seen John 17.22 called an Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1.12 the Crown of Life Jam. 1.12 A Kingdom prepared to be inherited Mat. 25.34 The Joy of our Lord ver 21. Fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 We shall be honourable triumphing Members of the glorified Church