Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	blessing_n	heaven_n	lord_n	5,021	5	4.3790	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09450	The reformation of couetousnesse Written vpon the 6. chapter of Mathew, from the 19. verse to the ende of the said chapter. By William Perkins.; Reformation of covetousnesse.	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.; Clapham, Henoch.	1603 (1603)	STC 19735.6; ESTC S106356	66,232	268

it After that we haue some testimony in our cōsciences that we haue gotten it wee must labour to assure our selues of it How must we doo this For this purpose read 1. Tim. 6. Charge the rich that they bee not high minded c. Marke there how by liberalitie and bountie we are exhorted to lay a good foundation What must wee bee saued by our almes-deedes No this foundatiō is not laid in heauen for that is our electiō which God laieth vp there But our foundation is our conscience that is by good works by which as by fruites mē may assure themselues that eternall life appertaineth vnto them Workes of mercie done with simplicitie singlenes of heart are markes of the children of God signes of true faith and of the true treasure For this cause Paul would haue rich men to lay vp a foundation in their consciences Lastly wee must vse it as a treasure when wee haue done the foure things before mentioned then come to this To this ende diuers duties are required at our hands to be performed of vs. First we must haue our conuersation in heauen If Christ be our treasure then our affection ioy comfort our heart minde and all the whole man liuing on earth must be in heauen If Christ bee thy treasure and his bloud and passion then all thy hart hope ioy and comfort is there Therfore we must send vp our hearts to heauen otherwise he is not our treasure If wee will vse him as our treasure let all our care and ioy bee in and for heauen Secondly wee must turne earthly goods into heauenly treasure How why hee that giueth to the poore lendeth vnto the Lord The Lord becomes a debter to him and boroweth of him for the poore The poore is but the Lordes bayliffe and messenger whom he sends to the rich and hee returnes a rewarde of heauenly treasure for it Marke there how by giuing almes to the Lordes poore we turn earthly blessings into heauenly Luke 12. 43. expressing these words saith Sell all that you haue and giue to the poore make your selues purses which shall last for euer When men do so thē they turne their temporall goods into heauenly treasure and so men that haue this worlds goods may by the blessing of God make great encrease of them Thirdly we must part with all for this the best thing in the world must not bee too deare though it bee our owne bloud and our life we must part with them rather then with th●● And when wee are thus minded then wee carrie our selues to Christ esteeming him as our treasure When wee esteeme any thing aboue him or preferre ought before him he is not our treasure Thus you see fiue duties all necessary to be performed that we may keepe this commaundement And when by Gods grace wee are enabled to doo these then we shall obey and practise this commaundement Therefore lette vs remember them and bee carefull to performe them so long as wee liue And marke what will follow If wee can finde it and value it c. we will bee content to endure whatsoeuer Gods hand shall lay vpon vs in body or soule and neuer bee dismayed nor discouraged with any thing that befalles vs. Nothing can daunt or discourage a mans heart that hath this treasure but they shall vanish all in time Further it will make that we shall neuer feare death nor iudgement all paines will bee nothing great comfort ease and contentation shal be to vs so long as wee liue if wee can doo thus Now a word or two of the reason Where neither moath c. The reason is drawne from the certaintie and vnchangeablenesse of the treasure Earthly riches are subiect to wormes and cankers and if no canker can come to corrupt them yet the thiefe will haue them But there is no canker moath nor thiefe that can hurt Christ and his merits Ob. Why the highest heauens the place of happinesse should bee free from that vanitie and corruption which the lower heauens and all other creatures be subiect vnto All that we see ouer our heads is subiect to vanitie euen the starres Answer To man by right of creation belongeth the earth and the heauens and they were all mans by creation euen the highest heauens to the very firmament by creation all were mans They were made for him and he was Lord of all They were his pallace all sauing Gods throne And when he fell he was punished in all these creatures but not in the highest heauen because the right vnto it is not by nature but aboue nature and is ours by right of redemption and not by right of creation Secondly by Christs death and passion they are made ours and not by nature but by grace onely and that after the fall Therefore the heauens and the starres and all creatures visible are subiect to vanitie and corruption And so much of the commaundement and the reason I beseech you remember it and learne it and put it in practise both in life and death 21. verse For where your treasure is there wil your hearts be also In the two verses next before going these words Christ gaue two commaundements First what we should not doo and the reason of it Secondly what we should do a reason therof The first a corruptione mutabilitate The second ab incorruptione immutabilitate Now he renders a common reason pertaining to both and serues to confirme both which is thus framed Where your treasure is there your hearts will bee But your heart must not be on earthly treasure but on heauenly Therefore lay not vp treasure in earth but in heauen Now touching the words and the meaning of them By treasure vnderstād things excellent and precious in our estimation laid vp for time to come in which men place and put theyr principall ioy and comfort where your treasure is that is your speciall ioye and felicitie For so much the worde treasure imports By heart vnderstand the principall powers and actions of the soule as the thoughts and affections loue ioy feare c. yea the labour paines studie care and endeuour all these are to bee vnderstood by this word heart As if hee should haue said Thus your treasure and heart are things ioyned together and inseperable therefore where your treasure is there is also your care and studie For that which men iudge to bee their principall good and felicitie in seeking it they spend al their paines and time Now for our further edification let vs see what vses may be made of this reason First wee learne here how to iudge aright of our owne hearts Indeed it is a bottomelesse gulfe as Ieremy saith yet we may in some sort search it and iudge of it by this sentence For an earthly treasure and a carnall heart goe together And on the contrary part a heauenly treasure and a spirituall heart goe together These cannot be seuered Therefore looke vpon what you spend your

thoughts and cares and accordingly iudge of your selues If vpon earthly things your minde bee set and fixed then your heart is earthly and carnall it is most certaine Christ hath giuen the sentence If you pleade that it cannot bee because you heare the word receiue the Sacraments and pray c. all this is nothing if your minde and affection be in this world you deceiue your selues for where your heart is there your treasure is And contrary if our principall thoughts and affections be in heauen and our care be for that principally then our heart is he auenly and our treasure heauenly And thus we may iudge of our selues and search our hearts whether they be carnall or spirituall Secondly hereby we may all trie our selues without deceit plainly whether wee haue any portion in heauen or no for if our hearts be on the earth only or chiefly all our portiō is here and none in heauen The man whose portion is in heauen hath his heart and affections there Though you professe Christ though you heare the word pray receiue the Sacraments yet you may be deceiued Therefore looke to this for if thy heart be here thou hast yet no treasure laid vp in heauen Thirdly by this coupling of the hart and treasure we learne that wee must not regard this world tēporall life Nay we must despise it so farre forth as it may be done without hatred of a good blessing vnthankfulnesse to God For this life is a blessing of God giuen vs to prepare our selues for a better Therefore simply we are not to despise it but in respect of heauen And as we must not regard this life so our meditation must be of heauen and not of the earth for heauen cannot bee thy treasure except thy heart be there Therefore drawe thy delight from worldly things and weane it to heauen So much for this verse 22. The light of the body is the eye if then thine eye be single thy whole body shall bee light 23. But if thine eye bee wicked then all thy body shal be dark Wherfore if the light that is in thee be darknes how great is that darkenesse This part hath diuers expositions First I will touch one of the principall though I take it not to be the rightest and thē I will set downe that which I take to bee the best And thirdly I will shew how this depends on those things that go before which will then best appeare when the sense is made manifest By single eye some vnderstand a liberall minde And by a wicked eye an enuious and couetous minde and so they expound these words of enuie and couetousnesse And this exposition is to the purpose And the words of good and euill eye will beare this sense For Salomon puts the good eye for a liberal heart an euil eye for a couetous heart Prouerbes 22. Therefore this is a good sense but not the proper meaning of this place as I take it because the single eye and the light of the body are put for one and the selfe-same thing Now the light that is in vs is the vnderstanding iudgement Againe it is said here that the eye is the light of the body Now a liberall eye cannot bee the light of the body for all actions but for liberall actions only Therefore though it be true that the single eye is a liberall minde and the euill eye a couetous minde yet it is not proper to this place Wherfore we must search further The words be similies and there bee diuers similies in thē The comparison is borrowed from a candle which serues to lighten all that be in the house so the eye serues to light all the body and giue direction to all the actions If thine eye be single To the ende of the 23. verse there is a double Simily which goeth thus As a man that hath a good and cleare sight in his bodily eye can carrie his body any way right and keepe it without wandring and stumbling But if the bodily eye haue any default or defect if it be dimme and corrupt then a man cannot walke without falling or stumbling Nay further if a man haue an eye and it bee blinde hee cannot finde one steppe of his way In the same maner saith Christ if you haue a minde to iudge rightly all is well but if the iudgement bee corrupted there is much darknesse many wants and faults This is the plaine comparison here vsed To come to the words The light of the body is the eye These words are plaine If thine eye be single Here vnderstand the mind resembled by the bodily eye The single eye is the minde able to iudge of things to be done or not to be done good or bad The whole body shall be light That is the whole life For looke as the eye is to the body so is the minde to the life Bright That is the whole course of our life shall bee well ordered if God giue man a minde well disposed But if thine eye be wicked That is if the mind be corrupted the iudgement depraued the vnderstanding darkened so that a man cannot rightly discerne of things to bee done though there be some light remembrance All thy body shall bee darke That is thy life will be full of sinne and disorder For therein stands the darkenesse when the vnderstanding is dimmed and darkened there the life is out of order If the light that is in thee bee darknesse That is if the naturall light of reason vnderstanding and iudgement which is left after the fall and which God hath put into euery man How great is that darknesse That is then there is no difference betweene the life of a man and a beast when the light of naturall reason is put out so as there is no power of iudgement or discerning c. This I take to bee the truest and fittest exposition Now hauing found the meaning let vs come to consider how this depends on the words going before I take it they depend as an answere to an obiection for the two former commaundements are hard to flesh and bloud men cannot brooke them Therfore Christ before he leaues it cuts off all the cauils which might be made against it Quest. If treasure must bee laid vp in heauen why doo all the wisest men seeke earthly treasure so much Answer The effect of the answere is this wee need not to maruell at it for they want the gift of discerning theyr eye is blinde and they cannot discerne things that differ earthly and heauenly And so it comes to passe that they omit the seeking of heauenly treasure Here some things must bee supplied by the readers minde Euery mās eye is eyther a blinde corrupt or single eye 1. The single eye befalles not all but those only to whom it is giuen of God 2. The corrupt eye appertaines to all 3. And some by sin put out the light of nature and hence it is that