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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09963	An elegant and lively description of spirituall life and death Delivered in divers sermons in Lincolnes-Inne, November the 9.th, M.DCXXIII. vpon Iohn, 5.25. By Iohn Preston then Bachellor of Divinitie, and chaplaine in ordinarie to the Prince his Highnesse.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.	1632 (1632)	STC 20221.5; ESTC S115172	68,183	135

AN ELEGANT AND LIVELY DESCRIPTION OF Spirituall Life and Death DELIVERED In divers Sermons in Lincolnes-Inne November the 9. th M.DC XXIII vpon Iohn 5.25 BY John Preston then Bachellor of Divinitie and Chaplaine in Ordinarie to the Prince his Highnesse Ignatius Epistola 15. ad Romanos Mors est vita sine Christo. LONDON Printed by Tho Cotes for MICHAELL SPARKE at the blue Bible in Greene-Arbor 1632. AN Elegant and lively description of Spirituall DEATH and LIFE IOHN 5.25 Verily verily I say unto you that the houre is comming and now is when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare shall live THE Occasion of these words was this when as Christ had affirmed to the Iewes That God was his Father and the Iewes went about to kill him for it Hee proves what hee had said by this argument He that is able to give life to the dead is God or the Sonne of God But I am able to give life to the dead The houre is comming and now is when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and those that heare it shall live Therefore I am the Sonne of God In briefe these words shew Christs Divinity by the effects of it that hee can quicken the dead In these words we may consider these parts First the subject on which Christ doth exercise his Divinity and that is on dead men The dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and shall live Secondly the instrument by which he doth it and that is by his word which is not meant onely the bare preaching and hearing of the word barely but such an inward commanding powerfull operative word that makes men doe that which is commanded them Such a word was spoken to Lazarus being dead Lazarus come forth and hee did it This word commands men and makes them to obey it Thirdly the time when hee will exercise his divinity the howre is comming and now is that is the time shall come when as it shall be abundantly revealed the fruite of the Gospel shall appeare more plentifully and fully hereafter but yet it is now beginning to appeare there is now some small fruit of it Lastly it is affirmed with an asseveration or oath Verily Verily I say unto you And these are the parts of this Text. Out of these words I purpose to shew you these three things First what the estate of all men is out of Christ. Secondly what we gaine by Christ. Thirdly what we must doe for Christ. First we will shew you what your estate is out of Christ for this will make you to prize him more And the point for this is That every man out of Christ is in a state of death or a dead man that is All men however they are borne living yet they are still dead men without the living Spirit the root is dead Hence are these places of Scripture Gen. 2.17 The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Math. 8.22 Let the dead bury their dead Ephes. 2.1 You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sinnes Ephe. 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee light The meaning is that all men are spiritually dead This will be of some moment to shew you that you are dead without Christ. Yee account it a gastly sight to see many dead men lye together it affects you much but to see a multitude of dead men walke and stand before us that affects us not The naturall death is but a picture or shadow of death but this spirituall death is death indeed As it is said spiritually of Christs flesh Iohn 6.55 That it i● meate indeed Now that you may know what this death is I will shew you First of all what death is Secondly how many kinds of death there are Thirdly the symptomes and signes of this death Fourthly the degrees of this death For the first what this death is it consists in two things First in death there is a privation of life then a man is dead when as the Soule is separated from the Body so a man is spiritually dead when as the soule is separated from the quickning Spirit of Grace and righteousnesse This is all our cases In us there dwels no good there is no Spirit of life within us the Soule is so out of order that the spirit is weary of it and forsakes it When the Body growes distempered and unfit for the Soule to use it then the Soule leaves it Even as when the instrument is quite out of tune a man layes it aside whiles it is in tune he playes on it So a man dwels in a house as long as it is habitable and fit to dwell in but when it becomes unhabitable he departs so as long as the body is a fit organ for the soule it keepes it when it becomes unfit it leaves it Even so the holy Ghost lives in the Soule of man as long as it is in good temper but being distempered by sinne the holy Ghost removes You may see it in Adam as soone as hee eate of the forbidden fruite the holy Ghost left him and hee lost his Originall righteousnesse Secondly in this death as there is a privation so there is also a positive evill quality in the soule whereby it is not onely voyd of goodnesse but made ill In the naturall death when as a man dyes there is another forme left in the body so in this spirituall death there is an evill habit left in the soules of men This you may see Heb. 9.14 where the workes you doe before regeneration are called Dead workes there would be a contradiction in calling them dead Workes if there were not another positive evill forme in man beside the absence of the quickning Spirit which forme is called Flesh in the Scriptures But it may be objected that sinne is a meere privation of good that it is a Non-ens therefore flesh cannot be said to be an operative quality and forme of sinne To this I answer that though all sinne bee a meere privation yet it is in an operative subject and thence it comes to passe that sinne is fruitfull in evill workes as for example take an horse and put out his eyes as long as hee stands still there is no error but if he begins to runne once he runnes amisse and the longer hee runnes the further he is out of the way wherein he should goe and all this because hee wants his eyes which should direct him So it is with sinne though it in its selfe bee but a meere privation yet it is seated in the soule which is alwaies active Anima nunquam otiosa The goodnesse that should inlighten us is taken away and there is a positive evill quality put into it that leads us on to evill Consider farther whence this death proceeds the originall of it is the understanding mind of man which is

living man but by conjunction betwixt God and the soule God is to the soule as the soule is to the body he puts life into it and is conjoyned to it by his word when it is thus received The Word comming as from God wee doe that which is commanded us because God will have us doe it and then wee doe it simply and sincerely so that God accepts it Wee receive it as the word of God it breeds life within us when we receive it with faith with full Assurance then it comes from God then it comes in power and in the holy Ghost and makes us become followers of Christ 1 Thess. 1.5 when we receive the Word of God it workes effectually in us 1 Thess. 2.13 when we receive it as from God with full assurance it begetteth life in us To live is to have sence and motion to be acting the receiving of the word with full assurance makes us active the beleeving of it sets men on worke 2 Chron. 25.5.6 10. When as Amasiah beleeved that God would not be with him unlesse hee sent away the Israelites then he sent them away and not before Caleb and Iosuah did beleeve therefore they followed God constantly Abraham offered up his sonne Isaack because he beleeved God that he could give him another sonne or raise him out of ashes againe Let a man be perswaded that such a thing will hurt him or that such a thing will doe him good he doth the one and leaves the other Receive therefore the Word with full assurance consider what is delivered if it be the Word or no consider that it which yee heare is eyther the Word or not the Word it belongs to me or not Men take things overly and are not rooted and grounded in faith and that makes them heare unprofitably See then if your particular actions agree with the Word so yee shall be rooted in faith this makes the Word a Word of life The third rule and meanes to heare with profit is that which is set downe of the fourth ground in the parable of the seed in the eight of Luke the 15. verse that is to receive the Word with honest and good hearts having heard the Word to keepe it and to bring forth fruite with patience Heare the Word with honest hearts this is done when as a man is resolved to practise whatsoever God will reveale when he hath no reservations or exceptions to himselfe when hee is resolved to practise what he heares with an humble heart being humbled wee will doe this and not before The fourth ground was humbled men will not heare this because they are proud now pride is an evill disposition in the creature whereby it exalts its selfe above its measure There is this fault in men they will picke and chuse in the wayes of God The last ground will onely part with all for Christ. Act. 9. When as Paul was humbled hee then cried out Lord what wilt thou have me to doe I will doe or suffer any thing for thee and he was as good as his word So Act. 2.32 the Iewes being humbled cried out Men and brethren what shall wee doe wee will doe any thing to bee saved So Act. 16.30 The jaylor being humbled demanded of Paul what he should doe to be saved when as a man is thus disposed God will teach him Psal. 25. God teacheth the humble his wayes man himselfe will doe so if he see one willing to learne he will teach him The secrets of the Lord are revealed to those that feare fear● him to those that stand in awe of him and dare doe nothing against him hee reveales his peculiar truths in a peculiar manner to men those things that are effectuall to their salvation bring therefore humble hearts ready to obey But you will say we doe obey and practise what we doe heare I answer that yee may be deceived as they in the fift of Deut. they said they would obey but God saw that there was another heart in them than what they said therefore God said O that there were such an heart in them that they would feare me and keepe my commandements alwayes that it might goe well with them and their children for ever So Iohanan and the other Captaines Ier. 42.20 desires Ieremia to goe to God to know his will and they would doe whatsoever he should say whether it were good or evill But Ieremiah tels them that they did but dissemble in their hearts he knew they would not do it Looke to this in the acts and the effects what have you done when the Word crosseth you in your aymes estates names friends if you have disobeyed it then Eze. 14.4 the word is made a stumbling blocke and your iniquities before your face and the Lord will answer you according to the multitude of your Idols God will answer such men according to their comming as they come with false hearts they shall be dealt withall accordingly Come then with hearts resolved to practise whatsoever is spoken and desire God to make it effectuall to savation The fourth meanes to heare the Word and the voyce of Christ profitably is to lay up what you heare let it abide with you and continew with you This rule is prescribed by Christ himselfe Ioh. 15.7 If yee abide in me and my words abide in you yee shall aske what yee will and it shall be done unto you When yee attend to the Word if yee are affected with it but for the time it is nothing except it continue with you it will not profit you you must doe as Mary did shee layed up all the sayings that shee heard of Christ and pondered them in her heart Luke 2.51 The Disciples often questioned of Christ which proves that they pondered his words in their hearts So the nobles of Berea they searched the Scripture so Iacob he noted the saying of Ioseph and laid it up yee doe not heare thus if you doe but lend your eares for the time if yee worke it not upon your affections yee profit not The reason why there is so much preaching and so little profit is for want of this There are two kinds of ill hearers the first are such as heare as Swine and trample all they heare under feete the second such as heare as Dogs snarling at the doctrine if yee offend in eyther of these yee heare amisse Of all the foure grounds that was worst which received not the Word When men heare the Word there is more than a naturall forgetfulnesse in them the Divell helpes it Iam. 1.23.29 He that heares the Word and recals it not or practiseth it not is like one that beholdeth his face in a glasse for hee beholdeth himselfe and goeth away and straight way forgetteth what manner of man he was yee must recall it before yee can practise it else yee will be like to those that behold their face in a glasse and wipe not away their spots Be not therefore

there are degrees First in the death of guilt if you have had more meanes the guilt is greater if you make no use of them The Gentiles they shall onely be condemned for breaking the Law of nature because they knew no other Law The Iewes they shall be condemned for sinning against the Law of nature and the Law of Moyses they had a double Law and shall be condemned for the breach of it Christians having a treble Law the Gospel the Law of nature the morrall Law shall be condemned for all three and among all Christians such as have had more meanes and better education the greater shall their punishment be Secondly in the death opposite to the life of sanctification there are degrees Now yee must know that there are no degrees in the privative part of death but they are onely in the positive The lowest step in this second death is to have enmity to the waies of God being fighters against God enemies to the Saints this is the lowest step The second degree is when as men are not so active that way but yet are dead in pleasures Ambition covetousnesse the like There is a generation of men which trouble not themselves to oppose God the Saints but give themselves to pleasures and like those Widowes 1 Tim. 5.6 are dead in pleasures while they are alive The last step in this death is the death of Civility Civill men come nearer the Saints of God than others they come within a step or two of heaven and yet are shut out they are not farre from the kingdome of Heaven as Christ said to the yong man yet they misse of it as well as others Thirdly for the death that is opposite to the life of ioy the degrees of it are more sensible Some have legall terrors the beginnings of eternall death others have peace of conscience and joy in the holy Ghost the beginning of eternall life And thus much for the degrees of these deaths Now hearing that all are dead in trespasses and sinnes yee may obiect If wee are dead why doe you preach unto us If we bee dead we understand not wee moove not wee are not capable of what you say To this I answer First there is a great difference betweene this spirituall death and naturall death For first those who are naturally dead understand nothing at all but in those who are spiritually dead there is a life of understanding by which they themselves may know that they are dead men who are naturally dead cannot know they are dead Secondly those who are spiritually dead may understand the wayes of life though they relish them not yet they may heare and receive them which those who are naturally dead cannot doe Thirdly those who are spiritually dead may come to the meanes to the poole in w c the Spirit breaths the breath of life whereas naturally dead men cannot come to the meanes of life Secondly I answer that though ye are dead yet hearing may breed life the word can doe it There was an end why Christ spake to Lazarus that was dead Lazarus come forth because his word wrought life therefore though ye are dead yet because the word can worke life in you our preaching is not in vaine Lastly this death is a voluntary death Men who are naturally dead cannot put life into themselves no more can those who are spiritually dead when they have made themselves dead Men dye this death in a free manner I cannot better expresse it than by this similitude A man that is about to commit the act of murther or treason his friends perswade him not to doe it for if hee doth he is but a dead man yet notwithstanding he will doe it we say of such a one that hee is a dead man willingly So wee tell men if they doe thus and thus that they goe downe to the Chambers of death yet they will doe it Hence is that Ezek. 18.31 Why will yee dye O yee house of Israel implying that this spiritual death in sinne is a voluntary death But yee will obiect Men are not quite dead there are some reliques of Gods Image still left in them how are they then dead To this I answer that there is a double Image of God first a naturall standing in the natural frame of the soule as to be immortal immateriall So there is understanding will and reason and some sparks of life left in us as the remainder of a stately building that is ruinated but yet there are no sparkes of the living Image left in us the spirituall Image of God consisting in holinesse and true righteousnes remaines not The Papists indeed deny it but how will they answer the rule of the Fathers that Supernaturalia dona sunt penitus ablata naturalia quassata that supernaturall gifts are utterly taken away no sparkes of them remaine But it will be objected that though men by nature have nothing left yet there is now an universall ability and grace an universall sufficiency given unto them To this I answer that that which they call universall grace is the same thing that nature is but they put another tearme upon it it is found in nature and is common wherever it is therefore it cannot bee grace For in grace there is always someting that is peculiar Secondly if there should be an universall grace the Saints would be no more beholding to God than other men if God give all alike to all it should not bee God but themselves that put the difference Thirdly if there were that generall sufficiency it would take away all election there might then be prescience but no election no predestination to death or life Fourthly if there were a generall grace what is the reason that Paul made it such matter of difficulty to answer that question of election Rom. 9. If Aristotle and other heathen if every one have such a generall sufficiency Paul would not have made such a scrupulous answer and have cryed out of the depth Thirdly there is not that universall ability because that which is borne of the flesh is flesh and that which is borne of the Spirit is Spirit wee are borne of the flesh and cannot therefore have this spirituall sufficiency But yet there are some spirituall gifts in men I answer that we cannot have these spirituall gifts if we are not borne of the Spirit that which is borne of the flesh is flesh Not Bellarmine himselfe nor no man else will say that all are borne of the Spirit Iohn 15.2 Every branch in me not bearing fruite he taketh away and it is cast out and withered that is as the branch not being in the root bringeth forth no fruite so men as long as they are not ingrafted into Christ bring forth no buds no fruite they may heare the word but they cannot make use of it they cannot doe it without the Spirit and that is free it breatheth where it

Christ are dead learne to judge of the Ordinances of God and the meanes of salvation let us not undervalue nor overvalue them the Ordinances cannot bring life not the Word nor Sacraments If yee are sicke and send for the Minister hee cannot quicken you the Ordinance is but a creature and cannot give life If we speake to the eare and Christ speake not to the heart it is nothing Let your eyes bee fixed on Christ beseech him to put life into you pray to God for a blessing the Ordinances are but dead Trunkes as Pens without Inke Conduit pipes without water Learne then that God doth convay life by the Ordinances that they themselves cannot give life therefore doe not overvalew them Yet know withall that God doth worke but by his Ordinances the Spirit breathes not in Taverns nor Playhouses but in the Church assemblies Act. 10. whiles Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his family the Spirit fell upon them so the Spirit fell on others by laying the Apostles hands on them the Ordinances are the Vehiculum of the Spirit give what is just to them and no more give them neither too little nor too much Neglect not the Sacrament ye know not what yee doe when yee neglect it yee thinke that yee eate and drinke your owne damnation if yee receive it unreverently Absence from it is a sinne as well as the remisse and negligent receiving of it Sickenesse and death yee feare why then doe you neglect the Sacrament why doe you receive it unworthily Whence are those Epidemicall diseases amongst us the cause of them is from hence that yee neglect the Sacrament that yee receive it unworthily 1. Cor. 11.30 For this cause many are weake and sicke among you and many sleepe Consider the danger of neglecting the Sacrament he that came not to the Passeover must be cut off from the children of Israel the same Equity remaines still in the Sacrament the cause of that was because he was to come up with the rest to remember the death of the first borne of Egypt and the redemption from their bondage hee being passed over thereby It is now the same sinne to neglect the Sacrament the Equity still remaines Are yee to strong in faith as yee need it not To bee absent from the word yee thinke it a sinne so is it to bee absent from the Sacrament nothing can excuse you If a master bid his servant doe a thing and he goes and is drunken so that he cannot doe it will it excuse him If you have made your selves unfit to receive the Sacrament by committing any grosse sinnes the unfitnesse will not excuse you If a man hath occasion to ride a journey if he misse one day he will take the next so ye if yee misse the Sacrament once be sure to take it the next time It is devided here that so if yee misse once yee may receive it the next time take heed therefore how yee neglect it The end of the Sacrament is to worship God to set forth Christs death it is the cheifest part of Gods worship therefore give it the cheifest respect Now from hence see the necessity of this life of grace how can yee come to the Sacrament if yee are dead men Labour therefore for this life of grace And thus much for the first poynt that all men out of Christ are in a state of death We come now to the second and that is this That all in Christ are in a state of life Our scope is to shew you what you are out of Christ and what benefits yee receive by being in Christ we cannot goe throughout all particulars but wee will take the greatest life and death the one the greatest good the other the greatest evill All in Christ are living men this is the great benefit because death is the greatest evill therefore by the rule of contraries life must be the greatest good Farther men prize nothing so much as life this experience sheweth and Sathan himselfe could tell that skinne for skinne and all that a man hath he will give for his life Iob. 1. Beyond experience God himselfe threatens death to Adam as the greatest evill The day that thou eatest of it thou shalt dye the death Gen. 3. Now all that live this life are living men and have all things pertaining to life 2. Pet. 1.2 they have all that pertaines to life and godlinesse that is all things necessary for the nourishment and cherishing of them life were else unhappy take beasts and plants they having all belonging to their life are happy and they are said to live take any naturall life when as a man hath food and rayment and recreation hee is said to live A man lives when he hath life and all that appertaines unto it I will divide this Doctrine into two parts and I will shew you two things First that there is such a life as this Secondly what this life is First that there is such a life as this It is needfull to shew you that there is such a life because it is a hidden life God hides these spirituall things as he hid Christ under a Carpenters sonne so he hides the glorious mysteries of the Sacrament under the base elements of Bread and Wine he hides the wisedome of God under the foolishnesse of preaching he hides those whom the world is not worthy of under sheepes Skinnes and Goates Skinnes Heb. 11. Col. 3.3 Our lives are hid with Christ in God But from whom is this hidden I answer that it is hidden from naturall men as Colours from a blind man they are there and he sees them not But with what is this hidden I answer that it is hidden First with this naturall life wee see it not because wee have this life it is hid as the Sap in the roote or water in the spring Secondly it is hidden with a base outside 2. Cor. 6. The Saints are as poore as despised as having nothing Christ had a base outside there was no forme or beauty in him that wee should desire him and so have the Saints being conformable to him they are like other men for their outsides Thirdly it is hidden with mis-reports thus Christ himselfe was hidden he was counted a wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and sinners one casting out divels by Belzebub and therefore hee became a stumbling blocke unto many The Saints are likewise misrepresented they are evill spoken of they are presented to mens understanding otherwise than they are There are a generation of men that pervert the strait waies of God Act. 13.10 that is they make them seeme crooked though they are straight notwithstanding they pervert them as a crooked as a false glasse doth pervert a face that is beautifull representing it in another shape or as a sticke that is halfe in the water and halfe out seemes to be crooked yet it is straight in it selfe But in what is it hidden