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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	earth_n	glory_n	kingdom_n	7,618	5	5.7127	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66341	The advancement of Christs interests the governing end of a Christians life a second sermon preached before the Right Honourable Sir John Shorter, Knight, Lord Mayor of the city of London at Grocers-Hall, January the 9th, 1687/8 / by Daniel Williams.	Williams, Daniel, 1643?-1716.	1688 (1688)	Wing W2644; ESTC R13642	27,450	42

of Jesus was the Design of this plain Discourse and is the Prayer of Your Lordships most humble Servant Daniel Williams A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir JOHN SHORTER Kt. c. PHILIPPIANS Chap. I. ver 21. For to me to live is Christ. THE Apostle was in a happy Strait from his Fitness to live and Readiness to dye He knew not well how to fix his Choice because both Life and Death had a desireable Tendency There was Service to Christ by his Life and great Happiness to himself by Death Affection to Christ swayed his Inclinations both ways he loved Christ and therefore must desire death that he might fully enjoy him he loved Christ and so might incline to a longer life that he might more advance his Interest Rational Self-love would move to the Former yet Regard to Jesus and his Members overswayes him to the Latter He is content to expect the Crown rather than quit his Work And tho Heaven was the better State in it self and happier for him he prefers his stay on Earth as better for the Church which could not bear his Absence A wonderful Instance of a Publick Spirit how enlarged is this Soul that was assured of Glory in Heaven and of very sore Tryals on Earth and would yet tug longer at the Oar for Publick Good rather than be at Rest The great Purposes he resolved to live to are manifest from his Contentment with the Delays of Glory Had sensual Enjoyments and trivial Employs been the Advantage proposed by a longer Life how impatiently must he have endured a Moments Absence from Heaven He that knew Death could not lay his Soul asleep but that it immediately passed into a State of the highest Activity and Receptiveness yea and would be admitted to a near Converse with Christ and other glorious Objects which must fully employ these active Powers of the Soul and fill it with Good to the utmost of its Capacity to receive Could he I say desire an Abode on Earth to relish carnal or animal Delights which with him is a being dead while one liveth By no means But my Text represents to us the Design and Tendency of the Apostle Paul's Life To me to live is Christ. I know there are many things to be inferred from the Words besides what I think is their principal Scope As 1. Christ is a Believers Happiness while he liveth q. d. Life were worse than Death were not Christ known and enjoyed by me in this Life 2. A Christian's Life is a meer dependance on and a manifest discovery of the Power and Grace of Christ. Emanations of his Power supports it and his Grace is displayed in our Lives when useful to any valuable purposes or employed in any momentous Actions But I pass by these to the Chief Design of the Text which may be expressed under two Heads 1. An entire dedication of Paul's Life to Christ exclusively of any Carnal Designs of his own As if he should have said I devote my Life to the Glory of Christ I propose the Advancement of his Interests my Design is to be Instrumental in his Work and the propagation of his Concernments There is no base selfish Turn of my own intended nor shall my life waste in idle Uselesness I will be active and that for him to the last Moment and the utmost of my Abilities This my Judgment dictates as my Duty to this I am devoted and on this only I am intent II. A perswasion that Christ had been and still would be advanced by his Life and Labours This he expresseth in v. 20. As my expectation and hope that Christ shall be magnified in my Body whether by Life or by Death q. d. I have by his Grace promoted his Interest I fear not but the same Aids and Blessing will still concur to the like serviceableness and so the Issue of my living will be his Gain This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in v. 22. It 's no secular Interest of my own is like to be advanced The building of my House or erecting Trophies to my Name I expect not Nay I am sure Poverty Contempt and Hardships in those respects will attend me but Christ in his Gospel-Interests will be contributed to and he will over-rule my Sufferings and Labours to his own Advancement The Text may also include an Hint at the Reason of this Confidence as to this decribed Success it being introduced under such a respect For to me to live is Christ. Sincere devotedness to Christ is ordinarily successful and upright Designs duly managed prove not Abortive When the best Endowments of a man indisposed to the service of Christ produce not equal Fruits to the lower Gifts of a Soul engaged for his concerns The first of these will be the Subject of my Discourse viz. The Dedication of the Life to Christ. This was no Duty peculiar to the Apostolical Office and tho it 's predicated of St. Paul in his own Person yet he affords us an Example which binds our Imitation Yea it is the fundamental Duty resulting from our Baptismal Vow included in all our Christian Profession and supposed in all acceptable Service So that the Obligation is universal it 's the Duty of all here even of such who least regard it yea live in greatest repugnancy to it By living to Christ must be meant living to the promoting and defence of the Interests of Christ in this World. This his designed Endeavour had a respect to and to this he devoteth his Life That is all the opportunities for acting which Life includes all the Abilities which Life imports and all the good things he possessed which are comprehended in the word Life as being less valuable than life is Even all these he designed to lay out for the Interests of the Blessed Jesus He valued living for no meaner uses and determined to live to no lower purpose When the advancement of Christ's Interests governeth our Time and Abilities then to live is Christ. For herein is our living to him within our reach by this it is expressed and the evidencing thereof in this instance is what he hath appointed and still expecteth from all his Members and Servants I need say no more to introduce the Doctrine I purpose to insist on which is this Doct. It is the duty of all Christians to dedicate and employ their lives to the advancement of the Interests of Christ in the World. It 's not sufficient to be religious in Contemplation or mental Acts our Lord expecteth and real Piety enclineth to a vigorous activity in our holy Profession He will be served by his Members as they expect to be saved by him They must imitate him in his Communicative Goodness and express their resentments of his Grace to them by these powerful acknowledgments They must not grudg his Service tho he redeem them freely they shall sacrifice all to him and while he is managing our Interest in Heaven as Intercessor he

what will be most for Christs Glory 5. Dir. Mortify those Lusts which most hinder and improve in those Graces which most forward your living entirely to Christ. Mens Lusts are their greatest obstacles to Service and it 's impossible to advance Christ considerably if improved Graces afford not willingness and strength Therefore trample on your Pride which will disdain low Service and fret at any Contempt which attends your Labours But be more Humble and you 'll agree to be any thing so Christ may be all Be more free from Covetousness which grudgeth all expence and loss for Christ selleth Truth to get or save a little Dross But get more heavenly Mindedness which disdains Earth so it may but get more Treasure in Heaven Cast away that slavish Fear which betrays Conscience to a mortals Threatning But be more endued with holy Courage which will dare to be zealous for Christ in the very Face of Danger Silence Unbelief that still suggests Difficulties but hides from you both supplies of Strength and the promised Rewards Whereas more Faith will still enlarge your Service in the view of sufficient Aids and an eternal Crown Above all trample on Selfishness which most devoureth our Talents Whereas a publick Spirit and superlative Love to Christ would constrain your Consecration of all to him as one well deserving of it 6. Dir. I might add that you ought to manage all your designed Service as may be most conducive to the advancement of these Interests of Christ. Great Prudence is necessary to give an advantage to all our Undertakings that the Success we aim at be not prevented But I have no more time than to conclude all with a few Motives to this Duty 1. Mot. It 's the Interest of Christ I am persuading you to dedicate your Lives to It 's that Christ who hath so amazingly denied himself for you to whom you owe so much from whom you have received and still expect such great things Can you behold any thing as his Concernment and not be enflamed with Zeal Oh! What Honour is it to serve him Being his Interests they must needs deserve our Regard and command our Industry This glorious One would not stake his Glory and set his Heart on Trifles And who but the unbelieving and ungrateful can grudge him any thing Methinks a Reflection on any thing as his Concern would inspire with all that can envigorate our Attempts 2. Mot. It 's but our Lives at most which are to be dedicated to him They are short and so it 's but a little while and the Hardship is over They are but poor and mean things to be an Offering so acceptable to him Alas How inconsiderable is all we can do or suffer that they should reflect any Glory on him who fills the Heavens and is now by us raising a Monument which will be admired for ever Who would not strive to contribute most to his blessed Designs How can our little Matters be laid out to so great Purposes 3. Met. In serving the Interests of Christ we do in the best manner serve our own What we do for him he doth not need but if we refuse it we are undone We must shortly reckon for all Talents And how uncomfortable will the Account be when little can be reckoned as placed to Christs Account But there is Gain by the most costly Service and Profit by the worst of Hardships The Advantage is more than an hundred fold if you live to him you shall ever live with him a share in his Glory will be yours if you partake in his Concerns If any Man serve me him will my Father honour How wisely is our All laid out when it will yield such great Returns Look upward and see what Mansions Christ is preparing for you whiles you are labouring and laying out your selves for him And he is like to receive the most illustrious Crown who yields the greatest Service Surely you are injurious to your selves in sparing any Seed now when you have Christs word for so vast an Increase He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly but he that soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully Oh! into what a State will you soon pass from an useful Life To die will be Gain if to you to live be Christ. In Eternity you will find all your Endeavors carefully Recorded and abundantly Rewarded Must not you say from this moment Whatever I can do and all that I Possess shall be devoted to Him and his Interests Engage then in his Service you have Angels and all Saints sharers with you in the undertaking and Christ at the Head of this Royal Company They are Interests will stand tho you refuse to assist they do still advance tho invisibly to us If you dedicate not your Lives to the Concernments of Christ you must lay them out for the Devil one of them is served at all times and by all Persons Faithful Service will give a great Testimony to the Lord Jesus and yield wonderful advantage to such under your Influence whose Good you are enclined to endeavour You will prejudice no Interest by this but the Interests of the Devil which commenced and grow still on the manifest Ruins of Mankind And ought you not to oppose him to whose Usurpation are owing all the Disorders and Calamities in the World which Evils are redressed to the Degree of the Advancement of the Interests of Christ and no further Can you after all this refuse to bemoan the World where so many opposite Interests are set up against Christ and pity Sinnes who so blindly resist and impatiently bear the merciful and just Attempts of the Lord Jesus Must not every Soul Eccho to the Apostle in my Text Now to me to live is Christ The whole Discourse is so applicable to your Lordship and Brethren that I need no more than intreat yea charge you to Act in your Places as Men to whom to live is Christ. Let not any opportunity for Service to him bring your Souls under the Guilt of Negligence nor yield Christ matter to upbraid you with A Trust is in your Hands see that the Ends of God be faithfully answered Consider that place Thou hast given a Banner to them that fear thee that it may be displayed because of the Truth Resolve then in your Station that if Christ gain not by our Power our Consciences shall not reproach us with refusing to dedicate all our Abilities to him whose Glory we chiefly aimed at and to whose Interest we are fully devoted FINIS p. 18. p. 22. p. 8. 1 Tim. 5. 6. Gal. 2. 20. Eccl. 7. 29. Gen 1. 27. Eph. 2. 2. 1 Thess. 2. 18. 2 Cor. 4. 4. Mar. 8. 33. 2 Cor. 11. 14. Rev. 12. 3 15. 2 Pet. 1. 12. Rev. 13. 3 11 12 13 14. 2 Cor. 4. 4. 2 Thess. 2. 8 11. 1 Cor. 1. 23. Acts 3. 50. Acts 24. 5. Amos 7. 10. Phil. 3. 3. Col. 3. 23. 24. Luk. 21. 2. Mal. 3. 16. 1. Sam. 3. 13. Mal. 1. 8 14. Hag. 2. 4. Zech. 8. 13. 1 Cor. 3. 7. Is. 49. 4. Rom. 6. 23. Luke 17. 10. 1 John 3. 8. Rom. 14. 9. John 10. 15. Eph. 4. 13. Is 62. 2. Rom. 12. 1. Acts 20. 24. Rom. 12. 11. Phil 1. 27. Heb. 11. 25 26. 1 Cor. 15. 32. Jer. 22. 28. 1 Thes. 2. 19. 1 Chron. 29. 14. Rev. 21. 26. Reason 1. Mar. 23. 37. Deut. 10. 20. Psal. 16. 2. Mat. 25. 40 45. R. 2. Eccl. 6. 2. Luk. 16. 2. Pro. 16. 4. Heb. 1. 14. Act. 27. 2. 1 Chron. 29. 14 16. Mat. 25. 27. Job 13. 7. 1 Cor. 6. 20. Ex. 13. 15. ch 13. 15. v. 19. Rev. 14. 4. Joh. 12. 26. Col. 4. 23. 1 Cor. 9. 21. Mat. 28. 19. Ez. 20. 37. Luke 9. 23. Ps. 80. 17. Gen. 18. 19. Phil. 1. 17. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Isa. 43. 21. Heb. 10. 23 25. Joh. 16. 2. 1 Cor. 2. 7. 8. Luke 13. 3. Act. 9. 4. Jud. v. 15. 1 Thess. 2. 16. Rev. 21. 10. 16. 2 Cron. 17. 6. Eph. 4. 15. ch 3. 19. 1 Cron. 29. 17. Phil. 1. 15. Mat. 6. 2. Act. 5. 3. 2 Cor. 9. 7. Heb. 10. 34. Rom. 10. 2. Dan. 3. 13. 2 Tim. 1. 12. 2 Cor. 4. 18. 3 Cor. 5. 13. 14. Mat. 19. 29. Joha 12. 25. 26. 2 Cor. 9. 6. E● 4. 14. 1 Cor. 15. 25. 28. Ps. 60. 4.

will have us employed in his Concernments on Earth as Instruments dedicated to the advancement of his Name and enlargement of his Kingdom To do thus is agreeable to the inclination of every holy Christian love to Jesus fills with zeal in this enterprize Therein they are employed nothing delighteth them more than any visible success yea they bemoan their uselesness when their industry seems greatest A Hermite's Cell for rest is not esteemed by them as an opportunity for service tho difficult and dangerous I Shall manage this Subject in this method I. I will lay down some preliminary Propositions II. Acquaint you more fully with the nature of this Duty of dedicating our Lives to the Interests of Christ. III. Offer plain Reasons to put it out of doubt that to dedicate our Lives to Christ is the indispensible duty of all of us And then apply these things more particularly Prop. I. Satan the World and the Flesh have an interest among men in the overthrowing whereof much of the Interests of Christ consisteth The Interests of the former are one and principally stated and managed by the Devil He set up the World as an Idol and the Flesh as a Ruler by introducing Sin into the World so that the whole may be called his Interest the inclinations of the Flesh affording him advantages and the World yielding him means to advance that Interest by This Interest of Satan is fixed 1. In opposition to the original Dominion of God among Men. 2. To the Attempts and Successes of Christ in restoring of God's Dominion and advancing some additional Interest of his own with respect to fallen Man. 1. The Interest of Satan is fixed in opposition to the original Dominion of God among men Man was made upright loyal to God glorious in the image of God on the Soul and expressing the Nature of God in light love justice and purity c. Satan hastily engageth in a Design of overthrowing the Authority of God defacing his Image and introducing his own Temper and Power in the hearts and practices of Men. He soon effected this by the Compliance of our first Parents with his Snares and pursueth it from one Age to another still working in the Children of disobedience Hence you may easily conclude that his Interest lieth in Man's rebellion against his Maker darkness of mind as to Divine Matters Injustice Cruelty Irreligion Blasphemy Uncleanness Intemperance Wrath Earthliness and all things which render Men devilish or bruitish His great Concern was to dethrone God whom he hated and to destroy Man whose happiness he envied tho he concealeth the latter that he may the better effect it 2. Satan's Interest is in opposition to the Attempts of Christ for restoring of God's Dominion and advancing some additional Interests of his own with respect to fallen Man. Satan hoped from the sanction of the Law and God's dealing with himself that his Design so far accomplished by the Fall would never miscarry but that such Rebellion and Misery begun so to be executed could never be retrieved He enjoyeth the prospect of a quiet Throne but a small moment then a Curse which affects him tho spoken to the Serpent seizeth him as a Tempter and Christ sets up as his Antagonist to recover the Elect revive the trampled Interests of God among rebellious Sinners and erect to himself a glorious Name and Body as the Mediatoral Head. Satan endeavoureth the blasting of these Attempts of Christ and the support of his own Interests thus threatned and hereby we see there is an Interest of Satan's which tho to the same ends is yet managed more directly in opposition to Christ as Redeemer This lieth in obstructing the Gospel hardning the heart to impenitency blinding mens minds lest they should believe advancing Idolatry and Superstition in opposition to the Worship of Christ perverting the mind with Errors contrary to the Truths revealed persecuting the Members of Christ silencing a faithful Ministry dividing the Church destroying godly Discipline causing Backslidings and Apostacy with whatever else may hinder the Attempts of Christ or blast the Successes of our Redeemer in any place person or matter that by all he may obviate the gracious Purposes of Jesus towards men and make his Enterprize abortive How vigilant subtil and unwearied is Satan in managing this Interest he engageth all instruments he takes advantages of all Tempers and Circumstances oft influenceth good men to serve his Purposes transformeth himself sometimes into an Angel of light at other times as a Dragon poureth out a flood of persecution Innocent things he oft abuseth by things seemingly indifferent he propagates his Designs as well as by grosser matters He waits every Age to obstruct the Points Christ seems designed to gain called by the Spirit the truth of the present time as if he were content to endure past instances of Christ's Conquest which he could not hinder He refineth his Interests according to the light that groweth that they may be the more likely to be complied with tho every step he gaineth be but a degree which he would improve to the utmost villany by a gradual process The more eminently any thing Constitution or Party expresseth his prevalency or serveth the Devil's purpose the more his Interest is staked therein and his Power exerted thereby Thus after Rome Pagan failed his Design he begins an Idolatrous Apostacy in the Christian Church and giveth the Head of that Apostacy under the emblem of a Lamb with two horns wonderful skill and power by him he corrupts the Church and encounters the growing Kingdom of our Lord as the great Antichrist By him Satan's Interests are kept up for many Ages over many Nations wearing a Christian name and the remains of his infection disturb the Interests of Christ in Churches relieved from grosser Pollutions which is effected by Customs and Officers uninstituted by Christ by Errors eclipsing the Authority Operations Merits and free Grace of our Blessed Lord wherein many departed from Babylon are too deeply engaged In every one of these Satan's Interest consisteth either as a means which Satan makes use of or as it stands in opposition to any Truth and Institution of Christ. Much of the Interests of Christ consists in opposing each of these and blasting those Counter-designs of Satan Wonderful will be the Scheme of Christ's Counter-acting and baffling these various Efforts when the methods and seasonableness of all shall be at once made known Prop. II. All men by nature are devoted to the Interest of Satan the World and Flesh. Satan executeth his Purposes by Men as Slaves in Chains It 's true this is generally by uniting his Interests with theirs and so serving himself by them while they are acting their own Lusts and consulting a fleshly Interest They are bribed by advantage engaged by grandure or politick reasons whereby they seem to justify the Devil's drudgery They favour some Errors as the lusts of the Mind others as leading to