Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	flesh_n	law_n	sin_n	20,113	5	5.9622	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53333	The blessedness of good men after death a sermon preach'd at the funeral of the Revd. Mr. Henry Cornish, B.D., who died on Sunday, Decemb. 18th, in the eighty ninth year of his age and was interred on Thursday, Decemb. 22d, 1698, in the Church of Bisiter, in the County of Oxford : with a preface to rectifie some misrepresentations &c. in a late pamphlet, entitled Some remarks on the life, death, and burial of the said Mr. Cornish / by John Ollyffe ...	Ollyffe, John, 1647-1717.	1699 (1699)	Wing O286; ESTC R7832	31,135	36

follow them IN these Words we have Three Things considerable which we have an account of from the Voice and Spirit of God First That they who Die in the Lord are Blessed Secondly The Reason or Parts of this Blessedness They rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them Thirdly The time of the Beginning or Commencement of this Blessedness From henceforth First They that Die in the Lord are Blessed But here the Question is who they are that may be said to Die in the Lord Or what it is that is intended in that Expression or Description of those to whom the Blessing here doth belong I make no doubt as it is also generally understood that these Words were especially and principally intended for the comfort of such Christians who were then like to suffer in those Days of Persecution of the Church of God whereby the Patience of the Saints of which he speaks ver 12. was so much Exercised The outward State of the Church was then very dismal and sad in those dark and afflictive Times And therefore it was but need to give a Word of Comfort and Support to such as were like to bear the Burden of those direful Calamities that were about to fall upon them This seems to be mainly intended here in this Blessing that they might be encouraged thereby to hold out in their Faith and Profession notwithstanding all that should fall upon them In this Sense then by those that Die in the Lord the Holy Martyrs must first be intended who laid down their Lives for the Lord that is for his sake or for their Adherence to his Faith and Gospel This being a very grievous Case God was pleased often in the Scriptures to provide for their Encouragement 2 Tim. 2.11 It is a faithful saying saith the Apostle if we be Dead with him we shall also Live with him If we Suffer we shall also Reign with him Rom. 8.16 17. And that we shall be also glorified together and that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 that shall be revealed in us For saith he our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Thes 1.6 Seeing it is a Righteous Thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe And a great many more such Promises and Encouragements there are to Suffering Christians who Die in the Lord. But then it must be likewise supposed That those who Die thus in or for the Lord and for their Adherence to the Faith of Christ do Die in or under the sanctifying Power of that Faith also the great Design of which was to Purifie the Heart and Work by Love Without which Effect obtained Martyrdom it self if it could be supposed would not at all profit them as we have the Apostle's own Resolution in the Case 1 Cor. 13.3 For saith He Tho' I give my Body to be burnt and have not Charity which is the great Christian Vertue and comprehensive of all the rest it profiteth me nothing For the great End of the Faith of Christ and of the belief of the Gospel is to make Men Holy to recover the Image of God in Men that they may Live to his Glory So that there is no Salvation without this let Men's Sufferings for the Faith seem to have been never so great But then on the other side they who Live and Die in the Power of that Faith having felt the transforming and sanctifying Vertue thereof and so have attain'd to the great End of it tho' they have not undergone the Sufferings of Martyrdom surely may be said to Die in the Lord also They Die United to him adhering to his Interest and Cause Yea they Die for him fighting under his Banner and in his Quarrel against all his Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil And these are also Martyres Animo in the Disposition of their Minds and they would by his Grace maintain the Field for his Sake to the very Death And the sufferings of Mortification which they have endured already are a kind of Martyrdom in cutting off their Right Hands and plucking out their Right Eyes in bringing down the Old Man and crucifying the whole Body of Sin Therefore there is no doubt but that to these also the Blessing here mentioned doth belong For these the Apostle tells us being made free from Sin and become Servants to God have their Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life Rom. 6.22 And all these shall partake of the Inheritance which are sanctified by Faith that is in Christ Acts 26.18 In which Sense 't is a very comfortable Consideration to all truly Penitent and Sound Believers and Good Christians For the evidencing of which these few Things may be farther considered to perswade us that it shall be so First Because the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ is in them so that they are led by the Spirit and live in the Spirit by the Dictates and according to the Rules of the Holy Spirit of God Now there is no Condemnation saith the Apostle to them that are in Christ Jesus that walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made them free from the Law of Sin and Death Rom. 8.1 Rom. 8.11 And if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Ver. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God and if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Christ These Men are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and God will no more destroy those Temples than he will allow others to do so But the Spirit of God with the Blessed Fruits of it which is in them when they Die is a sure Pledge and Earnest of more Blessings to be received afterwards Secondly From hence it will follow That the Image of God is upon them and that in a more eminent manner than it is upon any others They being renewed after the Image of him that Created them in Righteousness and true Holiness So that they have not only the Natural Image of God as it may be called for distinction sake in the Spirituality Powers and Immortality of their Spirits but they have the Moral Image of God also which is the Glory of the Divine Nature which is wrought in them by the transforming Power of the Holy Ghost to whose Holy Dictates and Motions they have been brought to submit themselves And by this Means they are

shall ever come near to hurt them more For the Devil and Wicked Men as you have heard are all to be by themselves and there shall be a great Gulf fixt between them and the Servants of God so that they shall never be able to bring their Fire and Faggots their Wheels and Gibbets near them there There shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all that Holy Mountain But if the Servants of God should be freed then from all these kind of Labours yet if there should be any of some other kind for them to undergo it could not be perfectly well with them not could they be said to be perfectly Blessed which yet it is designed they shall be So that we may well conclude that it is not only the Labour of Persecutions and Martyrdoms that then they shall be freed from but from all Labour and Pains whatsoever that should bring any Sufferings along with it First Most certainly Then there shall be no more Labour for or about the Body to nourish or feed to maintain or preserve it Because then there shall be no more weakness of the Body no more Sickness or pained Limbs or decay of Spirits to seek a Remedy for The Body indeed will not presently after Death be raised to this State of Life and Blessedness but must lodge a while in the Grave which is appointed for its Dormitory till the Judge shall come and the Trumpet shall sound to raise up all that are asleep in Jesus But when once it hath been strained thro' the Grave then it shall leave all its Corruption behind it And it shall be a weak and natural Body no longer It is sown indeed in Weakness but it is raised in Power it is sown in Corruption but it is raised in Incorruption it is sown in Dishonour but it is raised in Glory it is sown a Natural Body but it is raised a Spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15.42 And therefore it shall not need those Supports and Refreshments then as now it doth Then there will be no need of Meats and Drinks to maintain it Meats are now for the Belly and the Belly for Meats but God shall destroy both it and them 1 Cor. 6.13 For the Body then shall be Hale and Well and Strong without them all Phil. 3. Ult. For He shall change our Vile Bodies saith the Apostle and shall make them like unto his Glorious Body When our Saviour himself saith Mat. 13.41 That the Righteous shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father So that tho' they shall have the same Body for Substance yet not of the same Constitution or all its parts for the same Offices and Purposes Our Bodies then will be no more such Dead and Lumpish Things as they are now but Active and Vigorous even as Spirits themselves and therefore without Fainting and Weariness Therefore all those Trades and Callings which are here so necessary to provide for their Support or to secure and defend them from Cold and Ill Weather shall then be at an end There we shall have a Building of God an House not made with Hands 2 Cor. 5.1 Eternal in the Heavens It shall never decay or grow leaky more There will be no Winds or Storms to annoy no ill Airs or bad Weather no dirty Roads or painful Travelling no Darkness or Night For there is the Throne of God all Lightsome Pure and Blissful there shall be no Night because no need of Rest and yet no Weariness in the perpetual Day where the Servants of God tho' they are always at Work yet are never tired they shall be so Holy and Strong and their Work so Good Rev. 48. Cap. 5.13 that they rest not Day nor Night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come but are singing Halleluja's to God and to the Lamb for ever and ever Secondly Moreover not only Bodily Labour but the Labour of Study and Mortification for the improvement and refining of our Souls shall then be over likewise it is a great deal of Pains and Labour we must be at here for a very small Improvement We must read many Books and much Reading is a weariness to the Flesh Eccl. 12.12 as it is in the Margin It tireth the Spirits and impares the Health And yet this we must endure in the getting of Knowledge we must go through many Studies and spend many wearisome Nights and Days and be a long time either in making Observations of our own or gathering from others before we can come almost to any thing And in this we must sustain many times a great expence of Spirits For the Intense Exercise of our Minds will draw our Bodies into consent And the Spirits being so much taken up one way there are hardly enough left many times to discharge the Vital Offices of Nature So that the Blood becomes Impoverish'd the Face Pale the Limbs Languid and Weak and the Vessels obstructed within that are the very Channels of Life And yet after all this it is but a little Knowledge for the most part that we are able to attain unto of any kind whatsoever That which we get indeed is very Pleasant as little as it is For Wisdom exceedeth Folly as far as Light excelleth Darkness Eccl. 2.13 Yet in much Wisdom is much Grief too and He that encreaseth Knowledge encreaseth Sorrow Eccl. 1.18 And after all a great deal of that Knowledge which we spend so much of our Time about I doubt is hardly one degree above Folly it self But in that State hereafter there will be none of all this Toil for the improvement of our Minds For there is the Land of Vision where we shall see God the chief Good as He is and shall with open Face behold his Glory 1 Cor. 13.12 Now we see but through a Glass darkly saith the Apostle but then Face to Face now we know but in part but then shall we know even as also we are known And if we shall have such a Vision or Sight of God himself then we may be sure the Knowledge of no other Thing shall be hid from us as far as it may be of any use to us for our Comfort and Happiness For he that giveth us the greater will not withhold from us the less Then we may expect to see and behold many Things by an immediate Intuition and to have a clear and plain Introspection into their Natures and Properties Or at least the longest train of Reasoning will be easie and quick Principles will be open and plain the Impressions deep the Connexion between Things clear and apparent so that the Mind will be no more in Pain or lose it self in long or tedious Deductions For the Powers of the Minds will be advanc'd and perfected the several Objects distinct and manifest Idea's of Things will be present to us or ready at a Call so that the turn of the Mind to its several Objects