Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	great_a	heaven_n	saint_n	5,831	5	5.8038	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A92849	Christos kai kerdos. = Christ the life, and death the gain, of every true beleever: or, The life of a saint resolved into Christ, and His death into gain. Held forth clearly in a sermon preached at the late sad and solemn funeral of the right worshipful Rowland Wilson, Esq; a Member of the Parliament of England, and of the honorable Councel of State; and one of the aldermen and sheriffs of the city of London. By Obadiah Sedgvvick, B.D. and minister of the Gospel at Covent-Garden. Together with an epistle dedicatory: wherein is an exact account given upon some years more then ordinary experience of the superlative worth of this eminent servant of Christ, and of the Common-wealth. By George Cokayn, an unworthy teacher of the Gospel at Pancras Soper lane, London.	Sedgwick, Obadiah, 1600?-1658.; Cokayn, George, 1619-1691.	1650 (1650)	Wing S2368; Thomason E599_6; ESTC R206326	26,159	45

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΚΕΡΔΟΣ Christ the Life and Death the Gain of Every True BELEEVER OR THE Life of a Saint Resolved into Christ AND His Death into Gain Held forth clearly in a SERMON preached at the late sad and solemn Funeral of the Right Worshipful Rowland Wilson Esq a Member of the Parliament of England and of the honorable Councel of State and one of the Aldermen and Sheriffs of the City of London By Obadiah Sedgvvick B. D. and Minister of the Gospel at Covent-Garden Together with an Epistle Dedicatory wherein is an exact Account given upon some years more then ordinary Experience of the superlative Worth of this Eminent Servant of Christ and of the Common-wealth By George Cokayn an unworthy Teacher of the Gospel at Pancras Soper lane London Isaiah 57. 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come Difficile est definire extra Christum sitne mori utilius quam vivere rursum adsit Christus vitam nostram perinde ac mortem benedicet ut sit utraque nobis fausta expetenda Calv. London Printed by J. Macock for Thomas Brewster and Gregory Moul at the three Bibles in Pauls Church-yard neer the West end 1650. To the truly Religious and ever Honored Mrs Mary Wilson disconsolate Widow to the late worthy and godly Patriot Rowland Wilson Esq a Member of the Parliament of England and of the honorable Councel of State and one of the Aldermen and Sheriffs of the City of London Grace and Consolation from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ VIRTUOUS LADY IT is enacted by the Supream Power of Heaven and Earth That man the Master of the Creation should be a servant and a helper to the most contemptible creature fallen under his burden by vertue of that Law the Ox or the Ass might Exo. 23. 5. Deu. 22. 4. challenge and command help from their owners Doth God take care of Oxen Surely for our sakes these things are written to shew that the Lord in a special manner doth oblige and command all that mention his Name to make themselves to the utmost comforting and refreshing to all his people who taste the bitterness and feel the weight of an afflicted state God no sooner hears the sad cries and complaints of poor oppressed Israel in Egypt but Moses hears the news from * Exod. 3● 9 10 God of his going with a present Message of Relief to them Nay the Spirit himself God equal with the Father and the Son shall upon the same account be * Ioh. 14. 16 sent from Heaven and this shall be the great Title he shall be invested with viz. The Comforter To comfort the Saints is a work every way suitable to the highest in Heaven or Earth to perform When I consider these things but especially recollect the innumerable Obligations which are upon me from the constant flowings forth of your expressions of friendship to me I being for many years together your poor unworthy Servant in the things of the Gospel could not but in a special maner account it my duty solicitously to endeavor the bringing forth of something which through the blessing of God might be instrumental to the scattering of the darkness of that night which is now upon you through the late inexpected and sadly lamented setting of that Sun which did shine so gloriously in your Horizon And truly amongst all other things which my thoughts endeavored to engage for your refreshment I found none so exactly calculated to your condition as that incomparable peece of Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Mr Ob●diah Sedgwick that 〈◊〉 and godly Messenger of Christ at the late sad and solemn Puneral of your loving and beloved Husband And seeing the reverend Author through a modest and humble disowning of himself was unwilling to be Midwife to his own Birth I have with his consent and leave obtained through much importunity made bold to present it to you as that which through the concurrence of divine blessing may administer exceeding abundant consolation to your drooping and decaying Spirit I cannot but look upon this Text and Sermon as an exact Comment upon your prec●●us husband his life and death his life was nothing else but a continual resolution of all his actions and ends into Christ and his death nothing else but a victory over sin and a sure conduct into the blessed state of eternity And now did I not fear the further opening of the sluces of your swelling passion to the breaking in of an irresistible torrent of sadness upon your Spirit I could very easily engage my self to a voluminous Discourse of this nature but lest the lifting up of him should renew an occasion of casting down your Spirit I shall the more briefly present before you and the whole world what in my own observation was always since I know him eminently deserving in him Whereby it will plainly appear that the Life and Spirit both of Text and Sermon did clearly shew forth themselves in him The truth is when I consider the exactness of his carriage in all relations I am very apt to think that as for a complication of all perfections he while he lived was * Nulli secundus second to none so now he is gone there will scarce another appear second to him He was an incomparable Husband to you an excellent Man to the State and a precious Christian to God He was to you the sweetest yoke-fellow in the world not one of his carriages but apparently bearing the Image of that Fountain from whence it sprung viz. strong wise and intire affections He loved exceedingly and yet ruled discreetly You had I am sure all you desired which was his heart but not his head He was Plin nat Hist li. 10. cap. 62. never like the hee-viper which put his head into the sheevipers mouth What God gave him to keep he kept and what God gave him to communicate to you he did punctually perform The truth is both of you in this were ex●ct Disciples to Moses always confining your selves to your proper apparel That perfection methoughts which was amongst the rest as the Sun in the midst of the Stars was his unparalleld contentedness in the want of children like Abraham in this that he never in the least grieved you by abraiding you but excelling Abraham in this that he never either to God or man unbecomingly complained of the want of a mercy so naturally desireable but still expressed his sence of the full and compleat making up of that tryal next to Christ in your self And when it pleased God to lay a real foundation of hopes of enjoying that blessing he was indeed like a Beleever affected with the goodness and Providence of God but not at all so transported as if he had not been long before crucified to it And when it pleased God to return and blast those

Do they Not Infinitely exceed them The people of Israel quit Egypt the House of Bondage and possess Canaan the Land of Promise Would you call this a Loss which exceeds All that was enjoyed in Egypt O Christian The least Good in Heaven if there be Any thing there which can be called The l●ast Good Far surmounts All the Good from which Death can part you here on Earth The Candle is out I But Now thou Hast the Sun I leave my Earthly Father I but I Now Go to my Heavenly Father I part with my Husband O but I Go to my Christ The Streams are cut off O but Now I am at the Fountain I shall Never meet with Creature-comforts more O but I shall Now enjoy Him who makes All Comforts and who is All Comforts God My God Christ My Christ for ever 2. The Christians Estate Receives a larger Addition by Death and therefore for him to dye is Gain There are three things added unto your Estate by Death which you longed to have but Never might Nor could enjoy in this Life 1. An Absolute Remedy 2. A Perfect Fruition 3. An Invariable Eternity First The Christian hath this Gain by Death That it proves an Absolute Remedy Death doth that for Him in One Moment which All the Ordinances of Christ could Never do which All the Graces of the Spirit could Never do which All the Joys of the Holy Ghost could Never do It doth instantly cure his Soul and Body It doth perfectly cure them and deliver them From All the Afflictions of Life from All the Troubles of Life from All Infirmities and Diseases in the Body from All Sinful Corruptions in the Soul from All the Temptations and Assaults of Satan All these are at their end when Life is at an end And truly to lose All these and All these for ever is deservedly to be Reckoned amongst Our Gains and Advantages I have Read of Alexander the Great that he did once ask a Philosopher How long a Man should de●ire to live who answered Until he thinks it better to dye then to live Is it Not Better to dye and to be rid of All Sin to dye and be rid of All Temptations to dye and be rid of All Miseries then to live and carry about us a Body of Sin which so often darkens our Light grieves our God and troubles our Consciences Secondly The Christian hath this Gain by Death Not onely that he hath the Better of the contrary Estates but also that by Death he p●sseth from an Imperfect Good Estate unto a Perfect Good Estate He Now comes to be of Full Age and to be a Full Possessor One says That This Bernard Life This Present Life is Not Vita sed Via ad Vitam It is Not Life but a Motion a Journey towards Life He speaks it of the Natural Life but we may raise it even to the Spiritual Life of a Christian His Spiritual Life comparatively considered is rather Via then Vita a step towards Life then Life Compare All which you are possessed of as Beleeving Christians in this Life with All that of which you shall be possessed in that other Life you may speak of them what Paul spake of the Two Ministrations Even that which was made Glorious had No Glory in this respect by reason of the Glory that excelleth 2 Cor. 3. 10. And therefore the same Apostle comparing the Present Condition of Grace with that Future Condition of Glory saith Now we see through a Glass darkly But Then Face to Face Now I Know in part But Then I shall Know even as also I Am Known 1 Cor. 13. 12. Look how Great the Disproportion is between a dark and a clear Seeing and between our Knowing of God and Gods Knowing of Us the one being very Imperfect and the other being very Absolute So Great is the Disproportion of the present Condition of Spiritual Life on Earth to that Glorified Life in Heaven 'T is true you have the same God on Earth which you shall have in Heaven and you have the same Christ on Earth which you shall have in Heaven But yet your Conjunction with Him and your Fruition of Him in Heaven is wonderfully more perfect and exquisite then it is or can be here on Earth His Manifestations of Himself to your Souls and your Apprehensions of those Manifestations are most compleatly Enlarged You shall then Know and Love and Enjoy your God even as much as Glorified Souls can Know and can Love and can Enjoy a God And God himself discovers as much of Himself unto your Souls as will make them perfectly Blessed and Fully Happy in the clear Vision and Fruition of Himself Now this Addition perfect Addition to Our Estate occasioned by Death doth plainly prove That to dye is Gain You shall Never Reign till you dye You shall Never Know as you are Known you shall Never Apprehend as you are Apprehended you shall Never be at Home you shall Never come to a Perfect Holiness to a Perfect Sight to a Perfect Full Fruition Never be Perfectly Filled up Until you Dye Thirdly The Christian hath yet one more Exaltation of His Estate by Death and that is an Invariable Eternity Whatsoever the Christian ●inds in Himself in this Life for the Habituals of Grace It is Imperfect and whatsoever he findes for the Comfortables of Grace It is very Various Sometimes it is More and sometimes it is Less Sometimes it is High and sometimes it is Low and Sometimes it is None at all Sometimes Heaven is opened and Sometimes the Vision is drawn up and Heaven is shut One while he sees the Face of God and Rejoyceth Another while God Hides his Face and then he is Troubled But by Death he comes to a Fixed and Invariable Eternity He shall Ever be with the Lord And as the Angels so shall He always behold the Face of his Father O Christians It is always Day in Heaven There the Sun still shines in Strength and Beauty and Never Sets and Never Declines Thy Joy shall be an Everlasting Joy Never Interrupted Never Eclipsed Never Diminished Full at once and Full for ever Eternal Happiness Happy Eternity Perfect Fruition and Eternal Fruition Perfect Pleasure and Eternal Pleasure As long as God is God so long will your Compleat Happiness be and abide in your God for ever and ever and ever And Now having cast up All Accounts Tell me whether you may not say with Paul To me to Dye is Gain I have read a Fancy of one Trophonius that when he had Built and Dedicated that goodly Temple at Delphos asked of Apollo for his recompence That Thing which was Best for Man The Oracle willed him to Go home and within Three days he should have it and within that Time he dyed O Christian The Best thing on Earth is to live so as to Get into Christ But the Best thing of All is to dye and to be with Christ I have done with both