Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	creature_n	heaven_n	world_n	8,020	5	4.5844	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A00776	A spirituall consolation, written by Iohn Fyssher Bishoppe of Rochester, to hys sister Elizabeth, at suche tyme as hee was prisoner in the Tower of London. Uery necessary, and commodious for all those that mynde to leade a vertuous lyfe: also to admonishe them, to be at all tymes prepared to dye, and seemeth to bee spoken in the person of one that was sodainly preue[n]ted by death	Fisher, John, Saint, 1469-1535.	1578 (1578)	STC 10899; ESTC S109711	49,974	144

cōmeth not of a singular loue shewed vnto you by your lord god before all them And shall not this cōsideration pearce your harte and moue you muche to loue him againe The fifth consideration THe fifth consideration is this Peraduenture after that thus by your repentance askyng mercy you were taken to this grace of your God yet far more gréeuously and farre more vnkindly you fell againe to sinnne and kepte not the purpose and promyse that before you did make but more without shame and dread of hys hyghnesse tooke your libertie in your sinfull wayes abusing his gentlenes presuming vppō hys mercie not regarding any benifite or kindenesse shewed by his most excelent goodnesse vnto you before so defiling your soule by innumerable wayes and makyng it filthie more vngoodly then is the Sowe that waltereth hir self in the foule myrie puddle and more pestilently stinketh in the sight of God then is the stinking carion of a dead dogge being rotten and lying in a ditch yet neuertheles for all these misbehauiors your Lord God of his farre passing goodnes hath called you agayne from your sinfull life and hath graciously stirred your soule to forsake your sin to leue this wretched worlde to enter the holy relygion Wherby after the sentence of holy doctors your soule is made as cleane as it was at your baptisme and restored agayne to the puritie and cleanenesse of your first innocencie And not onely that but also hée hath appointed you to be of the number of them that be assigned for hys best beloued spouses And what hygh point of singular fauour is this How many weomen farre better then you be lefte behinde in this worlde not called to this high dignitie nor admitted to thys most speciall grace When the noble Kinge Asuerus as it is written in the scripture commaunded many fayre yong maydens to be chosen out and to be séene vnto with all things that might make them fayr● and beautifull and pleasaunt to his sight to the intent that they at all tymes when it should like him to appoynte any of them to come to his presence and to be his spouse they might be the more readie This thing no doubt of it was to them that were thus chosē a comfort that they were preferred before other and also euerie one of them might lyue in hope to come to the kings presēce haue some likelihood to be accepted for his spouse in so much that all other but they were excluded In like maner it is with religious women All they by the gracious calling of the great king of heuen be gathered into Gods religion and disseuered from thother seculer women that be of the world there a season to abide vntill they be sufficiently prepared by the holy sacraments and the holy obseruacions of religiō to come to his gracious highnesse presence and to be brought into his secret chamber aboue in heauen there to abide with him in endles ioy and blisse Blessed is that religious woman that so doth prepare her selfe for this litle time that héere she shal tarry by prayer by meditation by contemplatiō by teares of devocion by harty loue burning desyre that after this transitory life she may be admitted to the most excellēt honor not with shame rebuke be repelled therfro whē the day shal com The sixt consideration THe sixt consideration that you call wel to your remembrāce who it is that doth thus exhorte you for to loue verely he is the person that if eyther you wil fréely giue your loue or els sell your loue he is most worthie to haue it aboue all other First if ye were of that mynd to giue your loue frée it were good yet there to bestow it that you shoulde choose suche a one as both in goodlinesse of person as also in prowesse wisdom and good gentil maners may be worthie your loue For if there be any deformitie in him whō you would loue it is an impediment and great let for to loue hym But in our sauiour Christ the sonne of God is no deformitie for hee is all goodlye and surmounteth all other in goodlynesse And therefore of hym the Prophet Dauid affyrmeth in thys maner Speciosus forma pre filijs hominum that is to say he is goodly before the chyldren of men And of truth much goodlie must he néedes be that hath made so many goodly creatures Behold the Rose the Lillie the Uyolet beholde the Pecockes the Feasaunt the Popingaye Behold all the other creatures of this world All these were of his making all there beautie and goodlinesse of hym they receyued it Wherfore this goodlinesse discribeth that he him self must néedes of necessitie be verie goodly beautifull And for that in the booke of Canticles the Spouse discribeth his goodlinesse saying Dilectus meus candidus et rubicūdus electus ex millibus That is to saye hée that I loue is whyte and redde chosen out amōgest thousands And this beautie and goodlines is not mortal it can not fade ne perish as doeth the goodlinesse of other men which lyke a flower to day is fresh and lustie and to morrowe with a little sicknesse is withered and vanisheth away And yet it is sensible to the goodlinesse of mans nature for the which also he is more naturallie to bée beloued of many For lykenesse is the grounde of loue lyke alway doeth couet like and the néerer in lykenesse that any person bée the sooner they may bée knit togither in loue The same lykenes he hath you haue like body and lyke soule touching his māhood your soule is also like vnto him in his godhead For after the Image similitude of it your soule is made Furthermore of his might and power you may bée likewise a certayne season He made this world by the onely commaundement of his mouth and gaue to the herbes and all other creatures their vertue might that they haue And may also by his power saue dampne creatures eyther to lifte them vp in bodie and soule into heauen aboue or els to throw them downe into euer during payns of hell If ye doubt of his wisdom behold all this world and cōsider how euery creature is set with an other and euery of them by him selfe how the heauens are apparelled with starres the ayre with Foules the water with Fishes the earth with herbes trées beastes how the starres be clad with light the Foules with feathers the fish with scales the beastes with heare herbes trées with leaues and flower with sent wherin doth wel appear a great merueilous wisdō of him that made thē Finally his good gentil maner is all full of pleasure cōfort so kinde so friendly so liberall beneficious so pittious and mercifull so readie in all oportunities so mindfull circumspect so dulcet swéet in communicatiō For as scripture saith Non licet amaritudinem conuersatio vel tedium cōuetas illius Sed letitiam

diebus vestris quod nemo credet quum narrabitur marueyle and wonder you for a worke is done in your dayes which when it shall bée shewed no man will beléeue Is it not a wonderfull thyng that he whych is most to bée dreade and feared would be in so muche feare that for verie feare and dreade of payne hée had to suffer he swet water and bloud Is it not a wonderfull thing that he that was most inestimable in price and moste precyous woulde suffer hys bodie to bée solde for so little a pryce as for the value of thyrtye pence Is it not a wonderfull thyng that hée that is the Lorde of heauen and earth and all other creatures would suffer him selfe to be bound of those vyllaynes wyth ropes lyke a théefe Is it not a wonderfull thing that he that hath so great might and power would suffer him selfe to be taken of his cruell mortall enimyes and so led vnto all these paynes Is it not a wonderfull thyng that hée that is the Iudge of all the worlde woulde thus wrongfullye be iudged Is it not a wonderfull thing that hée that had in hymall wisedome would thus bée mocked and reputed as a foole Is it not a wonderfull thing that he that is so strong mightie would be made so weake and féeble that he fell vnder the wayght and burthen of the Crosse Is it not a wonderfull thing that hée that is the Lord of Angels would be spytted and bobbed of a sorte of Lorrelles in that moste dispytefull maner Is it not a wonderfull thyng that he that is the Kyng of euerlastyng glorie would suffer his head in mockerie to be crowned with thornes Is it not a wonderfull thyng that he that giueth lyfe to euery creature would suffer this most shamefull sorowfull and so painfull death Is it not a wonderfull thing that he that is the Lord and Aucthor of all libertie woulde thus be bounde with ropes and nayled hand and foote vnto the Crosse Thus who that list with a méeke harte and a true fayth to muse and to maruayle of this most wonderfull booke I say of the Crucifixe hée shall come to more fruitefull knowledge then many other which dayly studie vpon their cōmon bookes This booke may suffice for the studie of a true christian man all the dayes of his life In this boke he may finde all things that be necessarie to the health of his soule Sainct Fraunces coulde passe hys time with this booke was neuer wery thereof and his great studie was in the compasse of a fewe wordes Quis tu et quis ego domine That is to say who arte thou Lord and who an 〈…〉 Thys thought alway dyd run from hym selfe to Christ And agayne from Christ vnto hym selfe And so euer he meruayled of the most excelent noblenesse of Christ and compared it with hys owne naughtynesse alwayes meruaylynge that Christ being of so incomparable worthynesse woulde suffer that moste paynefull death for so vnworthye sinners which lesson is so playne and so common that euerie man be he neuer so simple may somewhat profite in it And agayne it is so hygh that fewe can attayne to reach to the specyall fruite of it This holie Sainct Fraūces so profited in this lesson that it caused in hys hearte such a feruent loue such a deuotion suche an affection to Christ that the capitall woundes which he behelde in the handes and féete and syde of Christ ware by myracle imprinted in hys owne handes and féete This thing the B. of R. Innocent and hys Cardinalles dyd sée and had verye proofe thereof The meditation and imagination of this booke was so earnest and so continuall that the token of the fiue woundes of Christ were imprinted and ingraued in thys holy Saynctes bodye But to this hygh fruite as I sayde fewe or none besides him doth attayne It is a singular gyfte of almightie God and not common to bée looked for of other persons Neuerthelesse who that will exercise this lesson though he come not to this hygh poynte of perfection he shall neuerthelesse greatly profite in the same and come to a great knowledge both of Christ of him selfe A man may easily say thinke with him selfe beholding in his hart the Image of the Crucifixe who arte thou and who am I. Thus euerie person both ryche and poore ▪ may thinke not onely in the church here but in euery other place and in hys businesse where about hée goeth Thus the poore laborer maye thinke when he is at plough earyng hys grounde and when hée goeth to hys pastures to sée hys Cattayle or when hée is sittyng at home by hys fire side or els when he lyeth in hys bed waking and can not sléepe Likewyse the rich man may do in his businesse that concerneth him And the poore women also in theyr businesse whē they be spinning of their rocks or seruing of their pullen The ryche weomen also in euerie lawfull occupation that they haue to doe It is an easie thyng for any man or woman to make these two questions wyth them selfe O my Lorde that wouldest dye for me vpō a Crosse how noble and excelent arte thou agayne how wretched and myserable am I Doubtlesse O thou christian soule he that hunge for thy sake on the Crosse was verelie the sonne of God as the noble Centurio sayde when at the death of Christ he sawe so many wonderfull tokens He saw the sunne withdrawe his lyght and the ayre in darkenesse and felte all the earth tremble and quake and the stones brake a sunder then he sayde vere filius dei erat iste That is to say verely thys person was the sonne of god Thinke with thy self O christan soule how great a person he is that is the sonne of God And thinke againe how vilaynous and how wretched thou art in cōparison of him What art thou but asshes ciuis es and vnto ashes thou shalt returne et in cinera reuerteris Abraham which was a man of high perfectiō yet when he should speake vnto almightie God he sayde quū sum puluis et ciuis loquar ad dominū that is to say I am but dust and asshes and yet I must speake vnto my Lorde Dauid also sayth vniuersa vanitas omnis homo viuens that is to saye man contayneth in him all vanitie Furthermore Iob speaketh of man saying in this maner Qui puasi flos egreditur et cōteritur et fugit velut vmbra Man is lyke a flower he dooth issue foorth into the worlde and soone after he is troden downe and so finally hée passeth lyke a shadowe Man is but earth and asshes shall passe away lyke a shadow and lyke a méere vanitie Contrarywyse Christe was is and euer shal be the prince of heauen the Lorde of Angells and the creator of all creatures Qui fecit coelum et terram et omnia que in eis sunt He made heauē and

for very payne it myght haue brast O thou sinfull creature If thou can not sorrow come learne of thys blessed woman to sorrow for thy sin Thinke that thy sinne was the cause and occasion of all this payne and sorrow that thy Lorde and sauiour dyd suffer on the Crosse. And not onely she giueth the example of sorrowe but his blessed mother abundantly thē sorowed at his death Sainct Iohn sorrowed Sainct Peter sorrowed and wepte bitterly All the Apostles were in sorrow But wherevnto speake I of reasonable creatures the vnreasonable and the vnsensible creatures shewes a maner of sorrowe The earth quaked The mighty stones brast in sunder The monuments opened the dead courses issued out of theyr monuments All these were moued with compassion And onely thou wretched sinner for whose cause he suffred all this paine and gréeuance hast no pitie nor compassion vpon him Alas howe great is thy hardnesse Howe obstinate is thy harte that will suffer no pittie to enter in to it Uerely thou arte more harder then are the stones for they were moued by his passyon so myghtely that they brake in sunder Petrae scissae sunt When then the harde stones and all the other vnreasonable creatures were thus moued and stirred to take some compassyon of the paynfull death of Christ and yet felt no profite by his death Thou much rather shouldest be moued for whose loue he dyd endure all this gréeuous pains Looke thou therfore vpō this booke thou shalt here fynde great cause matter of sorrow Fourthly if thou canst not sorrowe yet thou maiest here learne to hate Thou maiste learne to hate sinne which was cause of all this trouble It is not for nought that the scripture sayth Quasi a facie colubri fuge peccatū dentes leonis dentes eius interficientis animas hominum Flée from sinne euen as thou wouldest flée from the face of an Adder for as the téeth of the Lion deuoureth the body of man so death doth sleay their soules Sinne is so odious and so great an iniury to god that it was necessary for the recompence of this iniury that the sonne of god should suffer this most paineful death of the crosse Sinne so prouoked almightie god the father so déeply to displeasure wrath to take vengance vpon sinners that without the sacrifice of his owne sonne in the gybbet of the crosse he wold not be appeased ne recōciled vnto sinners againe Sinne so deadly wounded blotted the soule of man that with out shedding of the most precious bloud of our sauiour Christ Iesu no lyfe could be restored vnto sinners nor the soules might be washed from the fowle abhominable corruption of sinne Sinne so debarreth and shutteth frō sinners the gates of heauen that they might not haue béene opened but only by the merit of this moste bytter passion suffering this most painfull torments on the crosse Sinne set the gates of hell so wyde open brought all this world into that daunger and thraldome of the diuell that all we should haue béene deuowred of the pyt of hell vnlesse we had béene raūsomed with this most precious treasure that was shed for vs on the crosse-O sinful creature hast thou not great cause to hate sinne that hath brought thée into that miserable cōdicion that by thy sinne thou hast done and committed high iniurie against almighty god and hast prouoked him to vengeaunce That by thy sinne thou hast thus mortally wounded thyne owne soule That by sin thou haste brought thy selfe into the daunger of the dyuill and be dampned in hell perpetually That by thy sinne thou hast shut the gates of heauē against thy selfe Alas man where canst thou fynde greater occasion of hatred If thy neyghbour doe vnto thée but a lyght iniurie thou canst anon hate him yea and so hate him that thou wilt say thou mayest not finde in thy harte to loue him Sinne hathe done vnto thée all these great iniuries and yet thou loueste sinne and canste not hate it Alas what madnesse is this Ioab sayde vnto Kyng Dauid dilegis odientes te et odio habes diligentis te Thou loueste them that hate thée and thou hatest them that loue thée The same worde may well be sayde vnto euery sinner that followeth the course of sinne And lykewyse vyce doeth procure the dystruction of sinners and yet the sinners doe follow after them Our sauiour with all grace vertue procureth the saluation of sinners but him they will not heare nor take any wayes after his counsayle And this is nothing els but an extreame madnesse for they should contrarywyse loue our sauiour that so louingly for theyr weale indured the gréeuous paynes of the Crosse and hate the diuill and sinne which was the very cause of death By thys then you may perceyue that in this booke ye may fynde matter inough of lamentation sith you may read in this booke so much cause of dread of shame of sorrow and of hatred And this is the first wryting wherof we promised for to speake The secōd writing that I said was also writtē in this booke was Carmē that is to say Songe Surely if eyther loue or hope or ioye or comfort wil make a soule to sing here he may take great occasion to sing Fyrst here is great matter of loue and so great that if any person will eyther gyue hys loue fréely or els for some certayne pryce sell it hée that died on the crosse is best worthy to haue it If thou search in heauen in earth one person vpon whom thou maist best bestowe thy loue Thou shalt fynde none comparable vnto Christ Iesus so wyse so myghty so gentle so kynde so amyable far passing all other and there to he is much desirous of thy loue for when Moyses had rehearsed the great benifites which almightie God had giuen vnto man he sayth Et nunc audi quid dominus deus tuus requirat a te nisi vt diligas eū Now here what thy Lord God dooth require of thy parte truely but that thou loue him So now if thou wylt fréely giue thy loue thou canst not more wysely nor better bestow it then vpon him which is so excelent and hath all the condicions aboue saide and there to also is so desirous to haue thy loue And if thou wylt sel thy loue I trow there is none that wyl giue vnto thée more liberally for the same than he hath done Where shalt thou finde him that wyll shedde one droppe of bloud out of his harte for thy sake Where shalte thou finde hym that will giue hys owne soule and lyfe for thy loue There can no more bée asked of any man then that Maiorem charitatem nemo habet nisi vt animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis. No man can shewe greater charitie then for to put hys owne life in ieopardie for his friendes But thou peraduenture wilt say Syr if he had done this

earth all that is in them His power is infinit most to be dreade Omnipotens rex et metuendus nimis His wisedome is incomprehensible O altitudo diuitiarum sapientiae et scientiae dei His greatnesse passeth all measure Magnus dominus et laudabilis nimis et magnitudinis eius non est finis Shortly to saye when a man hathe spoken or thought all that can be to the prayse of his excellencie yet he dooth farre passe and surmount all that as the Scripture sayth Glorificantes dominū quantum cūque poteritis super valebit ad huc et admirabilis magnificentia illius Now then O thou sinfull creature maruell at his excellent worthines that was thus crucified And maruell also at thy naughtinesse for whose loue he was thus crucified Thus I say dyd the holy sainct Francis Quis es tu et quis sum ego domine Who arte thou my Lord so excellent and who am I for whome thou wouldest endure all this payne O Christen soule often beholde this booke and saye with this holy man Quis es tu et quis sum ego Marueyle that his inestimable goodnesse would thus dye for so myserable a vanitie And so maruelinge thou shalt profyt in a gracious knowledge of Christ and thy heart shall taste maruelous swéetenesse and be replenished with a deuoute sauour of his most excelent goodnesse But you maruell peraduenture why I call the crucifix a booke I will now tell you the consideracion why A booke hath boardes leaues lynes wrytinges letters booth small and great Fyrst I saye that a booke hath two boardes the two boardes of this booke is the two partes of the crosse for when the booke is opened spread the leaues be cowched vpon the boardes And so the blessed body of Christ was spred vpon the crosse The leaues of this booke be the armes the handes legges and féete with the other members of his most precious and blessed body Neuer anye Parchement skynne was more strayghtlye stratched by strength vpon the tentors then was this blessed body vpon the crosse These lorells that crucifyed him drewe by vyolence his moste precious armes with ropes vnto either braunche of the crosse that the sinowes burst in sonder and so nayled his handes fast with spykinge nayles of yron vnto the crosse After they stretched his féete lykewyse vnto an other hole beneath in the crosse and there nayled them with the third nayle thorough bothe his féete And so they reared vp this body a loft against the sunne euen as a parchment skinne is sette foorth before the heat of the Sun for to drye It was set vp a loft to the entent that all the worlde might looke vpon this booke This booke was written with in and without Fyrst within was wrytten but one worde neuerthelesse this one word compryseth in it as sayth saint Paule the whole treasure of al cunning and wisdome partayning vnto God In quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae dei in whome are all the treasure of the wisedome of god Of this worde Saint Iohn speaketh saying In principio erat verbum the word was in the begynning before all creatures thys worde is the second person in the godhead the sonne of God which by the holie Ghost was written in the inward syde of thys parchment For the Godheade of Christe was couered and hidde vnder the lykenesse of man The holy Ghost was the penne of almyghtie God the father He set hys most mightie word vnto the body of Christ within the wombe of the Uyrgine Marye and so this booke was written within For as Sainct Paule sayeth si cognouissent nunquam dominum gloriae crucifixissent That is to saye if they had knowne the sonne of God whiche was and is the Lorde of euerlasting glorie they woulde neuer haue crucified hym They sawe his manhood which was in outwarde sight but they sawe not hys Godheade whych was couered within the same The Godhead was the inward syde and the manhoode was the outwarde syde Furthermore when a booke is spread you sée that in the leaues are many lynes drawen And many letters some read some blacke and some blewe so in this booke the moste blessed bodie of Christ was drawne many lynes for it was all to scourged with whippes so that euery where the print of the cordes of the scourges was left behynd that in euery place from the necke downward vnto the soles of his féete so that there was no margent lefte in all thys booke there was no voyd place but euery where it was eyther drawne with lynes or els wryttē with letters for these scourges fylled not onely his moste precyous bodie with lynes drawne euerie where but also left many small Letters some blacke some blewe some reade For the bloud by the vyolence of the schourges sprunge out in euery place And for bycause no parte of thys booke shoulde bée vnwritten hys head also was pearsed with sharpe thornes These cruell Iewes put vpon hys heade a Crowne of thornes and pressed it downe vpon the same as harde as they myght presse it by vyolence beatyng it downe with a strong Réede Et Arundine percuciebant caput eius And hys blessed heade so Crowned they dyd beate it downe with a gadde or a harde Réede Thus you perceyue that this booke was full of lynes and small Letters whyche were of dyuers coulers as I sayde some black some blewe some reade some blewyshe that is to saye full of stroakes and lasshes where by the skynne was toarne and rente in a thousande places Besides these small letters yet was there also greate Capytall Letters precyouslie illumyned with Roset colour Roset is a reade colour lyke vnto the coulour of a Rose which colour that most precyous bloude whiche issued out of his hands and féete doeth represent vnto vs with this most precious blud was illumined the fyue great Capital letters in this wonderful booke I mean by these capital letters the great woūds of his body in his handes and in hys féete and in his side These fyue great woundes were ingraued with sharpe vyolēt pennes that is to say the sharpe nayles and the speare And they doe represent vnto vs the fyue capytall Letters of thys booke Thus then you maye perceyue what bée the boardes of this booke and what be the leaues howe it is written within and without howe it is lyned and leathered and what bée the Letters as well the small as the great Now wée shall heare what maner of wryting is contayned in thys booke But first héere let vs make our prayer for grace beséechyng almyghtie God to gyue vnto our hartes the gracyous lyght of his beames whereby wée may the more clearely perceiue the writings of this booke and that they may bring foorth some good fruite to our soules health Now you shall heare what wrytings be contayned in thys booke in the booke which Ezechiel did sée was written thrée maner of