A92849:65
Christos kai kerdos. = Christ the life, and death the gain, of every true…
Christos kai kerdos. = Christ the life, and death the gain, of every true believer: 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 honourable Council of State; and one of the aldermen and sheriffs of the city of London. By Obadiah Sedgwick, 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 Supper lane, London.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.
London: printed by J. Macock for Thomas Brewster and Gregory Moul, 1650
Title page typeset from the transcription.
PHILIPPIANS 1. 21. To Me to Live, is Christ; and to Dye, is Gain.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Nay, let me add one Obligation more which lies upon you, and that is this; You are the only People in the world, whom Jesus Christ doth intrust with his Glorious Interests: He forms you for his Praise, he trusts you with All his Honour here below amongst the sons of men. And truly, as it is your Great Honour to be trusted with the Honour of Christ, So are you thereby the more obliged to live and act for his Honour and Glory.
Nay, let me add one Obligation more which lies upon you, and that is this; You are the onely People in the world, whom Jesus Christ doth intrust with his Glorious Interests: He forms you for his Praise, he trusts you with All his Honor here below amongst the sons of men. And truly, as it is your Great Honor to be trusted with the Honor of Christ, So are you thereby the more obliged to live and act for his Honor and Glory.
5. To direct and act the whole Course of Life for Christ; This is the Highest and Noblest Improvement of Life. Beloved! Our Actions have their denominations, partly from their Formal and intrinsical cause, and partly from their Final and extrinsical cause. The Actions of Man are more Noble then those of Irrational Creatures, because They do flow from a Cause, from a Soul, which is more Noble. And the Actions of a Christian are ⟨p. 15⟩more Noble then those of a Man, because they do spring from Principles which are divine. And as Actions are thus dignified by their Formal Causes, so likewise are They by their Final and Extrinsical Causes. The more low and sordid the Ends are, the more base are the Actions of Life; As when they are unworthy of such a state and condition. If a Man should form his course of Life only for such ends which do bound the Appetites of Brute Beasts, in satisfying of himself with Sensual Objects, this sordid End makes his Life a most sordid Life. And so on the contrary, the more excellent the Ends are for which our Lives are improved, the more are our Lives raised in the degrees of Beauty and Perfection. The more perfect Ends do always grace our Actions with the more perfect Glory. The Actions of God himself are therefore the most glorious, because they are Levelled at, and come up most perfectly to His own Glory, which is the chief End of Himself. And so it is with the Actions of our Lives, when they Rise to Christ, and are Terminated in him; This is their Dignity and Glory, they cannot be Raised unto a more choice Nature or degree of employment; They are Now carried on and lifted up to the highest End. As far as Christ and His Glory are above Sinful Lusts and Worldly Lusts, above Earthly Pleasures and Earthly Profits, and Earthly Honours, and above our Selves; So Far is a Living unto Christ above and beyond a Living unto Any or All of these.