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	whole_a	5,727	5	4.9325	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35029	A second call to a farther humiliation being a sermon preached the 24th of Novemb. last past / by the Right Reverend Father in God, Herbert, Lord Bishop of Hereford, in his Cathedral Church of Hereford.	Croft, Herbert, 1603-1691.	1678 (1678)	Wing C6973; ESTC R4769	18,017	45

run on dancing and capring till they leap into Hell Others there are who clean contrary are so dejected with any Affliction as if they expected their Heaven in this life and constant felicity in this mutable world where nothing continues in the same condition not only every year we see so great a change as from beautiful and delightful Summer to dirty cold and pinching Winter but every month a various face of the Earth every day an ebbing and flowing of the Sea and in the Heaven a change from glorious Sun-shine to dismal darkness How then can any one be so sottish as to expect that Fortune must give him quite contrary to the whole course of Nature a continued day without night a constant Summer without Winter Nay he would not have one storm surprise him nor a cold blast touch his tender flesh Others there are who instead of mourning and lamenting are murmuring and repining vexing and fuming As cold water cast on hot iron in the Forge makes it bounce and sparkle about so Assliction falling on these hot impatient persons they clamour and flie about at all that come near them they increase much the evil by their Passion afflicting themselves and all they have to do with As for this impatient sort of Men if they be neither Atheists nor Quakers sure they will acknowledge themselves guilty of sin and that the wages of sin is death eternal death and are they not willing to exchange and suffer a momentary evil instead of an eternal evil Had they not rather have a hand scorched or cut off than have the whole body cast into Hell flames Let them consider with what fury they fall on those who offend them in matter of Estate or Reputation and then reflect with what mercy God deals with them for their sinning against his divine Majesty Will not one Worm endure a trivial injury from another and must the infinite Majesty of God endure injury upon injury from dirty Worms without any Correction Were they not mad with passion sure they would rather give humble and hearty thanks for his mercy than brutishly murmur at his justice which really is mercy and not justice to inflict Flea-bites for Scorpions I wish these grumblers would rake and shovel together the trash and dirt of their foul Conscience on a heap see what a vast bulk that will make then let them borrow from Isa. xl 12. the Scales wherein God weigheth the Hills and Mountains put this mountain of dirt in one scale the dram of Gods merciful Correction in the other they will find their punishment to be so exceeding light and so unproportionable to their excessive sins as that in justice they have reason to expect far greater torments yet to come then doubtless instead of murmuring at the present affliction they will so dread those torments to come as most fervently to pray unto God with St. Austin Hic ure hic seca ut in aeternum parcas A man that hath a grievous sore in his leg and very much fears a gangrene sends himself for the Chirurgion and willingly stretches forth his leg to be lanc'd and sear'd yea and to be cut off to save his life So St. Austine knowing the dangerous corruption of his heart and fearing eternal death prays earnestly to God to lance cut sear do any thing to his body here to save his soul from everlasting flames hereafter There is no man in the world so impatient but had he a right apprehension of the eternal torment his sins justly deserve he would both patiently and chearfully suffer any affliction in this world to avoid that eternal evil to come And in like manner the weeping Lamenter at his sad affliction would he but fathome the Ocean of his iniquity and by that measure his deserved punishment not one more salt tear would drop from his mournful eye but his heart would be filled with gladness and his mouth with thanks-giving that he is not swallowed up in an Ocean of Torment Lastly as for those mad-headed persons who fear neither God nor men who put far from them the evil day who chaunt to the Viol and drink Wine in bowls who hearken not to the voice of the Charmer charm he never so wisely it were but lost labour to talk to them there is nothing else to be done but to pitty their madness and pray for their soberness and so commit them to the infinite mercy of God But I trust in God there are none here but such as fear God and tremble at his judgments Wherefore leaving these desperate ones I shall now proceed to the third thing proposed the method of Humiliation taken from holy Writ where we are told That the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome And there is no product in the World more natural than fear springing from guilt and humiliation from fear The guilty conscience still fears the severe Brow of an incensed Judge and a fearful heart will soon teach the trembling knees to bend and supplicate for pardon Wherefore there cannot be a better and speedier means of Humiliation than to look into the sacred Records of God and there see what fearful judgments by the Divine Decree have been executed on rebellious Sinners which are there written for our example As that upon Korah Dathan and Abiram they with their whole Families Wives Children Servants and Kindred all in an instant swallowed up quick by the gaping and devouring jaws of the earth Or look on those horrible showers of fire and brimstone poured forth upon Sodom and Gomorrah consuming every creature both man and beast houses and goods reducing all to Ashes Consider I beseech you what hideous howlings what confused roarings the numberless multitude sent forth in the midst of those raging flames renting the Heavens with their piercing cries Or look on that universal Deluge upon all mankind Noah and his Family only excepted when the windows of Heaven were opened pouring forth not showers but whole catarracts of Water to overwhelm them in the midst of their festival jollities and whilest they run from the Valleys to the Hills for rescue the speedier floods get to the Mountain tops hurrying them along faster than they intended and hoising them up from earth even unto the clouds from whence those waters fell And then think what sad farewels the fondling Parents and tender Children the new married Spouse and enamoured Bride gave each other floting on those dismal waters and by the boistrous billows often dash'd together to receive a bitter parting kiss And with what vexation of spirit did they behold Noah and his Family securely sailing in the Ark of Salvation which in their desperate folly they had contemn'd with scoffing derision So sottish and faithless is sinful man never to believe and fear the approaching misery till swallowed up by it And as these are dreadful patterns of God's fury against impenitent sinners in former Ages so we read in the Revelation of great calamities

swells with excessive pride and expects an universal homage to be paid by every one to his transcendent worth and then you may be sure that in this world of pride he meets with some other haughty person to confront affront him which like Wormwood mingled with his Wine imbitters all those things which otherwise might afford him great content And the greater his ability and excellency is the greater is his indignation and torment to have it slighted and thus his felicity becomes his misery Haman that great and proud favourite of King Ahasuerus who lorded it over the whole Kingdom having all at his command how did one affronting neglect of resolute Mordecay like the Mowers Sithe cut him down as a flower of the Field in the height of all his glory and cast him on the bed of sorrow as the most unfortunate wretch of the whole Land And mighty conquering Caesar when he had brought great Pompey level with the earth who could never endure parem in republica and when he had made Rome the commanding Empress of the World his Vassal entring now triumphantly her streets most gloriously adorned for his reception and filled with loud applauding Spectators one silent stiff-neck'd Pontius Aquila with a sullen look so pierc'd his swelling heart as to leave him little sense of that great felicity O unfortunate Pride which can never be happy in any condition high or low but is sure to meet with many a bitter Pill in both whereas the lowly-minded man is happy in all conditions he envies not the great ones exalted above him for he acknowledges God the supream Lord and free disposer of all lawful for him to do what he will with his own as our Saviour expresses He despises not those that are under him but according to St. Paul 1 Cor. xii looks on all as his fellow-members neither the Head nor the Hand doth say unto the Foot I have no need of thee and therefore though he be adorned with any special gift of Nature or exalted to any degree of splendor wealth or authority he doth not thereby challenge any homage to himself from his fellow-members he knows he can as little subsist without them as they without him but ought mutually to serve one another and all join to give glory to God the Creator and giver of all from whom the lowly-minded man receives every grace and gift as an undeserved and unexpected favour which gives a high and pleasing rellish to it And when he meets with the cup of assliction the bitterness is very much abated by the sweet composure of his mind arising from his own demerits which in his humble ballancing thoughts still seem to out-weigh the calamity and so retains a joyful and thankful remembrance of God's goodness who lays so light a burthen on his shoulders for such heavy sins Humble then your selves under the mighty hand of God Secondly As thoughts of Humiliation are useful for all persons so are they seasonable at all times in prosperity or in adversity In prosperity men are apt to be puffed up and insolent even so far as to forget God that gives it A strange corruption in our nature that favours and blessings which should make us remember and love God the more are apt to make us love him the less and forget him As wholesom meat that increases the strength of a healthy person received into a foul stomach oppresses and decays the spirits of the sick the same effect have the good things of this World in a foul sinful Soul This our provident God foreseeing in the Israelites when they drew near to the land of promise as a careful father gives them timely warning of Dent. vi 10 11 12. And it shall be when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which be sware unto thy fathers to Abrabam to Isaac and to Jacob to give thee great and goodly Cities which thou buildedst not and houses full of all good things which thou filledst not and wells digged which thou diggedst not vineyards and olive-trees which thou plamedst not when thou shalt have eaten and be full then beware lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the bouse of bondage By this beloved you see how necessary it is in prosperity to busie our thoughts in humbling our selves under God's gracious Hand and to consider our own unworthiness and Gods infinite goodness in conferring daily favours on us who justly deserve punishment for our daily sins and thereupon implore his Divine grace to rectifie and purifie our carnal hearts and dispose them to employ his blessings to his glory and not to the encreasing of our own Lusts which provoke us to sin more against his Divine goodness St. Austin on the 7th Psalm lays before us another very pious consideration telling us that such worldly things as we commonly esteem and call Blessings may proceed from God's Anger and not from his Favour Irritavit Dominum peccator ut ista patiatur id est ut correctionis flagella non patiatur It may be that God provoked by our sins instead of a careful Fatherly correction gives us those things as an Enemy to our hurt just as a cunning Neighbour who intends to supplant some Prodigal person and work him out of his Estate in great appearing kindness supplies him plentifully with money day by day which helps forward the spending of his Estate and hastens his ruin Wherefore all Godly persons upon any great access of prosperity with much cautionary fear examine themselves whether any sin lies concealed in some corner of their heart and if so they then conclude this Prosperity cannot be a favour from God for God cannot have a love and favour for Sinners and therefore they fear this may be a giving them up to greater opportunities of sinning leaving them to their own Lusts and so to fill up the measure of their Iniquities according to that Rev. xxii 11. He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he which is filthy let him be filthy still Whereby you see thoughts of Humiliation are very necessary in times of Prosperity lest we be exalted too much by it or cousened with a belief of Gods favour in it for which diligent search ought to be made Secondly In time of Adversity no man can doubt but that Humiliation is very requisite Nature it self teaches this to lament and bewail our miseries we commonly over-act that part And yet there is a perverse Generation amongst us so irreligious and so head-strong as that nothing can take them off their mad-brain'd mirth but when God by his chastising Hand calls to weeping and mourning to baldness and girding with Sackcloath as it is Isa. xxii 12 13. They as it were in defiance of his Almighty Hand call to joy and gladness slaying Oxen and killing Sheep eating Flesh and drinking Wine let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die Desperate wretches