Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	soul_n	union_n	7,019	5	9.6724	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

that sleep in him with himself into Heaven where they shall be ever with the Lord in perfect Happiness So much for the explication of the three Doctrines Use 1. Let us not mourn immoderately for the death of our Godly Friends and Relations This is the Use which the Apostle would have us to make Mourn we may but not as the Heathen who have no hope Let us remember that the death of a Child of God is nothing else but a comfortable and blessed sleep that he goes to the Grave as to his Bed and there lieth free as a man asleep from all Cares and Troubles and at rest from all his Labours that even while he is in the Grave he is asleep in Iesus and there continueth a Member of his Body that his very dust is precious in Gods sight and part of Gods Election Christs Redemption and the Spirits Sanctification That by vertue of its Union with Christ his body while in the Grave is not utterly extinct but there is a Substance not only reserved but preserved to be raised to everlasting Glory That Christ hath so perfumed the Grave as that it is nothing else to him but as a Tyring-house and withdrawing-Room In a word that he lieth down in his bed till the Morning of the Resurrection and then he shall put on stolam immortalitatis the Garment of Immortality and his vile body shall be made like unto the Glorious Body of Iesus Christ. Let us comfort one another with these words Let us not weep immeasurably for those from whom all Tears are wiped away but let us consider their unspeakable g●in Death hath put an end to all their temporal and spiritual evils and opened a door for them to everlasting Happiness Use 2. Let these Doctrines serve as a Precious Antidote to all the people of God against the fear of Death and of the Grave Why should we fear that which if it should not happen we should be superlatively miserable as the Apostle saith If we had hope only in this life we were of all people most miserable And therefore when there was a Rumour spread concerning St. Iohn that he should never die he himself Ch. 21.23 rectifieth the Mistake yet Iesus said not unto him he shall not die As if he should say God forbid I should be so miserable as never to die Though a man in Christ could live for ever in this world and be alwaies young rich and healthful yet he would account himself most miserable because while he is here he is absent from Christ who is his Life and from God who is his Happiness and full of sin which is his greatest Burden And therefore as Iacob rejoyced when he saw the Chariots which should carry him to his Son Ioseph so should the People of God rejoyce when Death approacheth which will carry them to Christ. And as God said to Iacob Fear not to go down to Egypt for I will go down with thee and I will also surely bring thee up again So methinks I hear God saying to all his Children Fear not to go down to the House of Rottenness for I will go with you and tarry with you and watch over your dead As●es with the eye of my Providence and will surely bring you out again and raise you unto Eternal Glory Let us not look upon Death as presented unto us in Natures Looking-Glass but as it is set down in a Scripture-dress Nature presents Death in a terrible manner The Philosopher cals it of all terrible things most terrible Iob cals it the King of Terrors It is terrible three manner of waies 1. Because it is a Separation between two dear and ancient Friends the Soul and the Body who having lived long together are very loath to part asunder There is nothing more contrary to Flesh and Bloud then the separation of the one from the other 2. Because it is the Fruit of sin For the wages of sin is death Had Adam never sinned we never should have died By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and this makes it terrible 3. Because of the After-claps of Death For after Death comes Iudgment and after Judgment everlasting Salvation or everlasting Condemnation This makes Death very terrible to those who have the guilt of sin upon them unrepented of and who are under the just fear of Everlasting Burnings and indeed to all men out of Christ death is of all terrible things most terrible as you shall hear in the next Use. But to you that are in Christ the sting of death is taken away and it is become of all desirable things most desirable It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle saith It is much far better It is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep a putting off our cloaths and going to bed till the Morning of the Resurrection Therefo●e Austin saith That a Child of God should be as willing to die as to put off his Cloaths because Death is nothing else to him but a putting off of his Body which is Animae Vestimentum the souls Garment and a departure from Misery to everlasting Happiness a le●ting the Soul as a Bird out of the Cage of the Body that it may flee to Heaven Death to a Child of God is the Birth-day of Heavens Eternity a putting off of its Earthly Tabernacle and a going to a House made without hands eternal in the Heavens It is an uncloathing of himself that he may be cloathed upon with his House which is in Heaven It is a going to his Fathers House where he shall enjoy perfect and perpetual Happiness There are 10 Springs and Fountains of Consolation to a true Saint against the fear of Death 1. When he dieth though his Body be laid in the Grave yet his Soul is immediatly received up into Heaven his best part is at the Instant of Death blessed and happy 2. His Body at death doth not die but only sleepeth as Christ said of dead Lazarus and is at rest and is asleep in Iesus even while it is in the Grave and is part of that man who is a Member of Christ and under the Care and Love of God 3. His Soul though it be in Heaven can never be perfectly and compleatly happy till his Body be joyned to it 4. Christ himself as he is the Head of his Church can never be perfect till his Body be raised from the dead and crowned with a Crown of Glory 5. Christ hath conquered Death for him he hath not only sweetned and sanctified it but conquered it according as it was fore prophesied I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plagues O Grave I will be thy Destruction He hath led Captivity Captive and death is one of those Captives as well as the Devil He hath disarmed Death and taken away the Sting

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