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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	church_n	great_a	read_v	2,510	5	6.0813	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88592	The souls cordiall in two treatises. I. Teaching how to be eased of the guilt of sin. II. Discovering advantages by Christs ascension. The third volum. / By that faithfull labourer in the Lords vineyard Mr. Christopher Love, pastor of Lawrence Jury, London.	Love, Christopher, 1618-1651.	1653 (1653)	Wing L3176; Thomason E1230_1; ESTC R211061	183,257	401

doth say that the Saints that were beheaded that they should live with Christ a thousand yeares yet the Text doth not say that Christ shall come to reigne with them a thousand yeares Secondly though the Text saith that they should live and reigne with Christ a thousand yeares yet the Text doth not say that they shall reigne with him here upon the Earth Thirdly that though it be said that the Saints shall live and reigne with Christ a thousand yeares yet living and reigning with Christ doth not necessarily imply to be in the same place where Iesus Christ is for then you would pervert many Scriptures For loe saith Christ I am with you to the end of the World it doth not therefore follow from that time hee will be upon the Earth to the end of the World but Christ being with us or wee with him it doth not follow wee must be with him where hee is but it is his Spirit Romans 8.17 And if Children then Heires of God and joynt Heires with Christ if so bee that wee suffer with him that we may be also glorified together The Text it doth not denote the samenes of place and the onenes of scituation I give this to take off that which is made of this Text. Fourthly it is evident that this Scripture cannot be a Foundation to build on that Christ shall come to reigne a thousand yeares on the Earth then it will not onely follow that men shall live so long but shall reigne with Christ so long on the Earth Methuselah lived but nine hundred sixty and nine yeares and David saith the life of man is cut short The Text saith they shall live and reigne with Christ in that sence taking living properly and all the Phrases properly they must necessarily say that men shall live when that time comes that men shall live a thousand yeares together Then it cannot be the sence of the Scripture because that cannot be the sence of this Scripture which crosseth the sence of other Scriptures to make this Scripture to affirme that Christ shall reigne on the Earth a thousand yeares for other Scriptures tell you that Christ shall stay in Heaven in person till all men shall rise from the Dead every man shall rise then cometh the end 1 Cor. 15.23 24. But every man in his owne order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming Then cometh the end c. 2 Thess 2.1 Now wee beseech you Brethren by the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him Then besides it doth crosse the Scripture to say that at Christs coming onely some men shall arise but not all Job 14.10 11 12. But man dieth and wasteth away yea man giveth up the ghost and where is hee As the waters faile from the Sea and the Flood decayeth and dryeth up So man lieth downe and riseth not till the Heavens be no more they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleepe Job telleth you expresly That the dead shall not be raised till the Heavens be no more and that cannot be the thousand yeares for there will be a Earth and a Heaven then And in Peters phrase The Heavens shall melt away like a scrowle c. Now to make a Resurrection before a Resurrection it is that which the Scripture doth no where mention John 5.28 29. Marvell not at this for the houre is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall heare his Voyce And shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of life and they that have done evill unto the Resurrection of damnation The judging of the just and unjust shall be the same houre and upon Christs coming all men shall be judged 2 Tim. 4.1 I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdome So that Christs appearing and Christs coming is a judging of the quick and the dead Now Beloved then to make this Scripture to say that Christ shall come on the Earth before his last coming this is to crosse other Scripture then of necessity it cannot bee the scope of this for there is no jarring between one phrase of the Scripture and another Fifthly when the Scripture saith here That they live and reigne with Christ a thousand yeares it may be as well and they have as strong a ground to plead it is not spoken whether it be a reigning with CHRIST in Heaven or on Earth so the phrase neither carryeth it one way or another Sixthly John doth not say that he saw the bodies of men that were beheaded and they reigned with Christ but hee did in a Vision see the Soules of them that were beheaded now to say that they must come to reigne on the Earth for a thousand yeares it were a great inconveniency to them it is said I saw the Soules of them the thousand yeares cannot be applied to Christs personall Reigne for either it must be applyed to him as hee is simply God and it cannot be applyed to him for so Iesus Christ hath an eternall Kingdome hee doth not reigne a thousand yeares on Earth or in Heaven but everlastingly Kingdomes and States of this World have lasted a thousand yeares and to make Christs Kingdome to last no longer it is to give Christs Kingdome too narrow a confine I have consulted with many Authors and I finde the concurrent of Interpreters generally runne this way though some doe fancy that Text speakes of the binding of the Divell for a thousand yeares and during this time the Saints should live and reigne with Christ for a thousand yeares The sense and scope of this First for the period of time when this time began that the Divell was bound Interpreters doe unanimously give this Opinion that it began in the reigne of Constantine the Great hee being the first Christian Emperour in the World hee coming after 300 yeares Persecution by the Roman Emperours who made great massacre and havock in the Church of God Insomuch that in the booke of Martyrs wee reade that there may be for every day in the year five thousand Christians slaine this is a dreadfull persecution and the Divell raged and stirred much Now upon Constantines reigne the Divell was bound up that is the Roman Emperours who were acted by the Devill to all this cruelty when Constantine a Christian Emperour came to reigne hee gave out impreiall Edicts and Lawes for Establishment of the Christian Religion and that put an end to the Heathens Persecution the Roman Emperours and of this Opinion many Interpreters give in their consent Brightman Napman Gerrard with multitudes of others for the thousand years when the Divell was bound did end 300 yeares and more and this is given to be the scope and sense of the Scripture Obj. I but then you will say Though the Divel was bound how comes the Divell to be loose againe

have not only the confession of one man but the doubts and fears of the Church in generall Lament 3.42 We have transgressed and have rebelled thou hast not pardoned we have rebelled c. Yet God had pardoned and God had forgiven them yet here was their fear and their doubt they lay under suspense of pardon God may pardon a sin unto the Elect and yet they not know that they are pardoned and in the manifold Wisdom of God there are divers reasons for it first by keeping them under a suspense of pardon they may sympathize with and carry more tendernesse of compassion towards them that are troubled in minde it was one end of Christs sufferings his Soul was in an agony and under a desertion crying My God my God why hast thou forsaken me what was the end of it it was for this that Christ might carry more compassion and more bowels of tendernesse towards persons that are under deep desertions Let a scholar that studies many things read in a Booke the Art of Navigation and where are rocks and shelves and sands yet by all he reads he cannot pity men in a storm if he have never been in a storm himself lot one read what the Scripture mentions of the pangs of a woman in travell she cannot so compassionate a woman in travell unlesse she have had the pangs herself so in Divine things it is experience that makes men have compassion Secondly It is for this reason to raise up in mens hearts a higher esteem of pardoning grace things highly come by are highly set by What is the reason that birds doe chirp and sing more sweetly in the spring then in any other part of the year it is for this because after the vanishing away of a long and tedious winter the refreshing Spring comes in Beloved The Lord makes his people chirp and sing in the sense of pardoning grace rejoycing in that the more the longer the winter of desertion hath bee when God lets them have long desertion then they do the more rejoyce and sing when pardons are attain'd Men do then prize the Land when they have been tossed by a tempest on the sea Those that have been tossed on the waves of spirituall trouble that have had a storm and a tempest in their consciences they will prize pardoning grace most Thirdly God doth sometimes pardon a mans sin yet not tell him of it and it is for rebuke to him because he hath not lived in the exercise of grace thou keepest back obedience from God and God keeps back comfort from thee this is a main reason why sometimes God pardons a sinner and yet doth not tell him of it in his own conscience It is done in heaven the pardon is written there but it is not done in the conscience it is not written here It is to give thee a rebuke a check in thine own heart surely I have not exercised grace therefore surely God will not give me the comforting work of his Spirit when thou art not much in grace then thou shalt be but little in peace it is just with God so to doe Fourthly The Lord pardons a sin when he doth not tell that it is pardoned it is to make the repentance of men more visible and satisfactory to the world that hath been offended by their sin The Lord will make the world see that if men will sin notoriously they shall smart bitterly to make the world see that repentance is no slight work and to make peace with God is not easie Fifthly To make men to taste the evils and bitternesse of sin should a man that is notoriously wicked presently attain the sense of pardon it may be he would not taste the bitternesse of sin Another reason is this to teach doubting Christians that assurance is not essentiall to pardon it is separable from pardon it is separable from faith therefore from pardon A man may beleeve yet know not that he doth beleeve the Lord doth it for that end to teach doubting Christians that though they have not assurance yet they may have faith though they want the sense of pardon they may be pardoned there cannot be fruit but there must be a tree yet there may be a tree when there is no fruit there may be grace in the heart when there is no peace in the conscience to have peace is additionall to grace now the Lord for these holy ends doth sometimes pardon a sin in heaven when the pardon is not sealed to the conscience Thus much for the first Case A second Case of conscience is this If God pardons a sin whether or no doth he afflict and punish men for it after it is forgiven this is an usefull question and the reason is because there are errors and mistakes about it mistakes on the right hand and on the left The Antinomians say that a pardoned sinner is never afflicted for sin and say they to say that a man whose sin is forgiven is afflicted for sin doth derogate from the satisfaction and sufferings of Christ Then the Papists say that men are afflicted and punished for sin and that these punishments are for satisfaction to Divine Justice and they are meritorious and on this ground they bottome Purgatory That after a man is dead he must for some years lye in Purgatory to satisfie for some notorious grosse sin done in his life Now beloved to keep you from swerving either way I shall lay down the true genuine state of this Question and resolve it to you First consider this That God doth not afflict any man but where sin is that is my first position God doth not cruciate an innocent creature indeed the Schoolemen have a question whether God by his soveraignty may torment an innocent creature but that is but a nicety but this is most certain that God in the dispensation of his Judgements doth punish no man but where sin is sin entred into the world and death by sin Secondly Though God afflicts none sinlesse yet sometimes it may be for triall and not for sin so was Jobs affliction it was not for sin but for tryall to try Jobs grace Thirdly and chiefly It is apparent from the Scriptures that pardoned sinners may be punished for their sins Would not this be partiall for a father to beat the servant for a fault yet not beat the childe for a worse fault Now beloved the Lord will not leave such a plea as this in any wicked mans heart In all the kingdomes of the world where sword where pestilence where famine and where plagues have been the good have fallen with the bad the righteous have fallen by the sword as well as the wicked the reason is that the world shall not say that he is a partiall God Now to satisfie and to establish your thoughts in this point I shall give you two expresse testimonies in the Scripture that God doth punish his people for sin though their sins be pardoned The one

depart and to be with Christ which is far better So that the Apostle doth only make these two conclusions a departing out of the World out of this Life and a desire to be with Jesus Christ hee mentions no place for a good soule to goe to hee mentions no Purgatory nor Limbus Patrum And so likewise a fourth Text you have in 2 Cor. 6.8.9 Therefore wee are alwayes confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body wee are absent from the Lord. Wee are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent wee may be accepted of him Marke That the Apostle doth onely make these two conclusions to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord so that the soule is present with the Lord whilst absent from the body Then againe that Prayer of Stephen proves it likewise in Acts 7.59 And they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit It had beene uncomfortable for him to have thought that hee should have beene stoned for Jesus Christ and it must have beene above 1600 yeares before Christ should have received his soule but hee prayed Lord Iesus Christ receive my Soule which hee would not have done if hee had not believed that his soule would have beene received by Jesus Christ imediately after death And thus I leave those Scriptures to confirme you in this that the soule doth not sleepe in the body but at the parture from the body it doth imediately goe to Heaven Fourthly I prove it to you by shewing those grosse absurdities and inconveniencies that will arise in case it should be denyed that God doth not receive the soule of any Elect man till hee doth come to judge the World First it will follow that the godly will be in a worse condition after they are dead then they were in when they were alive for when they were alive to live is Christ Christ dwelt in their hearts by Faith Now if the soule doth sleepe with the body and perish with the body then Christ doth not live in them Christ doth not dwell there by Faith so that this would be uncomfortable that a believer after death should be in a worse condition then during this Life for here he lives in Christ by Faith Secondly then it will follow that God the Father would be more cruell to his people then hee would have other men be to their servants which have done their worke Marke that Text Levit. 19.13 Thou shalt not defraud thy Neighbour neither rob him the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night untill the morning That the Master was not to keepe the hire of the Labourer long from him that the Master should not keep the servants wages long from him Now will the great God keepe you who are his servants that have served him here in this World and have done him faithfull service and will hee keepe any reward from you till his last coming No but when you have ended your Life and done your worke you receive your wages when your work is done you have your reward Thirdly observe this if this should be true that the Soules of the Elect men doe not goe to Heaven after death then it will follow that the soules of wicked men doe not goe to Hell after death and how repugnant this is to the Scripture you well know when the Scripture saith in the Epistle of Jude That the men of Sodome and Gomorrha suffered the vengeance of eternall fire And of Judas Acts 25. That hee may take part of this Ministery and Apostle-ship from which Judas by transgression fell that hee might goe to his owne place I could give you multitude of Instances where the wicked are in Hell 1 Pet. 3.19 20. By which also hee went and preached unto the Spirits in prison Which sometimes were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah while the Arke was a preparing wherein few that is eight soules were saved by water That is Jesus Christ by his Spirit in the Ministery of Noah did preach to the old World who were disobedient to that Preacher of righteousnesse who is now in Heaven To say that a godly man doth not goe to Heaven imediately after death it will follow that a wicked man doth not go to Hell imediately after death Fourthly it would follow that there should be onely Angels in Heaven and no Saints whereas the Scripture saith expresly that Christ shall come from Heaven with his Saints And wee reade in Scripture that there are the Spirits of just men made perfect as well as the innumerable company of Angells Fifthly this would follow that it would be a great discomfort to a godly man on his death-bed if hee should be so many hundred yeares before Christ would bring him to Heaven what comfort shall a godly man have to die when hee shall say it shall be so many hundred yeares before my body and my soule shall be thought of by Jesus Christ it would be a very uncomfortable Doctrine for a man to thinke that I shall die like a beast that my soule after death shall not be taken up into Heaven And thus I have proved that imediatly after the godly die their Soules are received into Heaven I have proved it by pregnant Instances in the Scripture by generall expressions in the Scripture and by those expresse passages in Scripture and have given you those absurdities that will arise in case it should be denyed A word now from what hath beene spoken If it be so that Christ doth receive thee O thou Believer receive thee to himselfe before his totall and compleate reception I would then give you this use for to comfort you Vse First O feare not a dying time let not death be dreadfull and terrible to thee Beloved were this true indeed that when thou diest thy soule should perish with thy body then a Life is not worth the having but when thou shalt thinke on thy death-bed here now is a Disease a consuming of thy nature and sending of thee to thy grave and now there is but a little time betweene thee and Heaven that when I am a dying I am in the very Suburbs of Heaven a little breath betweene mee and Heaven O how should this comfort a dying man when that hee hath good evidences for Heaven O this should greatly comfort thee against thou comest to die to thinke that thy death-bed is the very Suburbs of Heaven I have read what John said that wrote the Revelations when hee was ready to die I do believe saith hee that in this very day my soule shall be represented before the Lord Jesus Christ. O think now thou art leaving thy friends but it will not be a day before Christ and I shall meete in Heaven As in the Booke of Martyrs wee reade