Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	heaven_n	lord_n	word_n	16,216	5	4.2023	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89759	A pathway unto England's perfect settlement; and its centre and foundation of rest and peace, discovered by Capt. Robert Norwood. In this discourse you have cleared and proved, I. What government in its true and proper nature is; and the common errour thereof rectified. ... VI. That the laws, ordinances, &c. of our forefathers, are the onely rulers and governours of the English nation; ... VII. That neither parliaments, or any other, have any right, power, or authority to change, alter, suppress, or suspend the same; ... And in the conclusion, the nature of contracts, and the governments thereupon, made manifest and cleared.	Norwood, Robert, Captain.	1653 (1653)	Wing N1383; Thomason E702_16; ESTC R203007	38,577	71

and their very souls bless and pray for us Verily if this thing be but done all is done and then will peace and joy health strength life and salvation break forth mightily upon us and the glory of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will rest upon us walk continually with us and before us and no fear shall or can come nigh us the Heavens would then give down their rain and the earth which begins to be burnt up give forth its fatness Verily I am not in jest in this matter it is a business of the highest concernment to the Nation that can be and as the Lord God who made Heaven and earth lives before whom and in whose presence I now stand I do more earnestly beg this thing of every one whom it doth concern then I would or could do for my own life and the lives of all the particular neerest and dearest relations I have in the world And I beseech you think not that I am in some foolish pang or passion or that these expressions arise from a melancholy discontented minde and spirit no they are the words of soberness and words that proceed from the very heart and soul where verily these things lye deeply rooted I am my self upon all accounts whatsoever and I know what I speak in that which I have spoken Oh that I could but see some begin to move this way Surely they would be met and seconded by many I hope by all Verily there is no way to save and secure your selves and estates but this To ask mercy and pardon of the Lord and your brethren to make satisfaction and restitution wherein you have done amiss and it is good honourable and commendable in the sight of God and man and surely Englishmen are not I am sure were not in times past hard of reconciliation Verily I hope we shall all be found men of such nobleness of minde men of such honour men of so great and magnanimous spirits that we shall reckon and account it much besides and below our selves to be overcome with or by any injuries wrongs or affronts as we call them whatsoever but I trust we shall be found men of such and so great minds and spirits that we can easily and readily swallow up and drown them all in our own breasts and bosoms there to be buried so as never to rise any more Why Oh why may we not say to the greatest and worst of our enemies Live Oh come and let us again like brethren live and live together even we and our forefathers we in them they in us both all altogether in the Laws Ordinances Customs and Constitutions they have ordained appointed and commanded to us and all generations after us for ever for which so much blood of our forefathers hath been shed so many and so great hazards and adventures by them run so much witnessed to and contested for by many noble worthy true Englishmen and for which such and so great a hazard and adventure hath now again been run such may I not say as it were a Sea of blood shed and exceeding vast treasure spent for the defence or securing thereof and our selves therein This was the end this is the end and I trust none will be deceived of it but that all of all parties or interests whatsoever or howsoever now may I not say unhappily distinguished shall really and truly finde have it and know it so Wherefore I beg and beg again again and again that we may all now as one man joyn together for ever so to secure those the Laws Ordinances Customs and Constitutions of our forefathers and our selves and posteritie for ever hereafter in them that both our selves and ours may live in peace rest and happiness for ever after and no man or men whatsoever may once so much as dare to offer or attempt the least interruption alteration breach or violation thereof for he who touches them touches our lives wrapped up in them Verily it is greatly the honour nobility and excellency of a man to pass by offences and injuries Have we not broken one anothers heads and arms in breaking the Ordinances of our forefathers even broke one another almost quite in pieces Why let us piece and reconcile again like Englishmen for ever hereafter and away with those low base beggerly vile unworthy mercenary or mechanick-spirited men as we call them who are so far from this honour excellency and dignity of men or Englishmen that they have unworthily injured wronged oppressed cheated stoln robbed to satisfic their vain empty fond foolish appetites lusts pleasures We may not call these Englishmen untill they repent and return those who have been so far from saving and keeping whole preserving and protecting the Faith of the English Nation according to their power that they have as much as in them lay extreamly and most perfidioufly violated the same in all cases and upon all accounts whatsoever Which think you is the more noble honourable gallant excellent man he that thus injures wrongs and oppresses another man or he who bears swallows up buries and overcomes such oppressions wrongs and injuries Arise thou man Oh thou man of glory of excellency and of beauty thou Oh thou man of power of dignity and of strength and come and stand forth in the midst of us to save us and deliver us for we are nigh unto perishing He even he who cannot be moved with or by any thing or all things from his glory his dignity his excellency strength and stedfastness Come Oh come we who have been oppressed injured and wronged we will freely forgive it and forget it it shall no more be thought of by us but we will bury it for ever we will not so much reproach our selves and our Maker we will not so debase our selves nor defile our houses habitations and temples as to keep or harbour in them the low base vile contemptible unworthy dealings of other men towrds us and by us No we will surely retain our honour our glory our excellency and dignity unspotted unstained and undefiled we will so far as we are able forgive it also for our fathers friends and relations onely we beg pray and beseech for your own sakes that you will not let any thing lye upon your own score and accounts which is in your own power to remedy and help for you are of ourselves we are a body a Commonwealth and it is the Common-weal or Common-good that we defire and seek of which we hope you will continue members and can any member of the body be in danger and we not sensible Lord how can it be hence it is we so love and pity you Oh why should a farther breach be made amongst us He who hath the Wedge of Gold or the Babylonish Garment let it be done away if you have that which you cannot say with a perfect and upright heart in the fight of the Sun is justly duely truly honestly faithfully

but consider and go down into himself before he make any progress forth from or out of himself which thing alone would prevent most if not all our Quarrels and Disputes Thirdly I would intreat when we do dispute or enquire which word I had rather always use that we consider for what it is we dispute or enquire I know all men will presently answer and say It is for the Truth that is thou meanest to finde out and discover the Truth not to defend the Truth It were no small dishonour blot or blemish unto Truth to beg a Champion to defend it for it is strong enough to defend it self as you have it confessed by the King People Princes Captains and Governours of an hundred and seven and twenty Provinces in dispute of what was strongest Whether Kings Wine Women or Truth and Truth carried it And the Truth it self bears witness full and clear unto it self it is a Sun needs therefore nothing but a hand barely to hold it forth But it is to finde out and discover the Truth Thou do'st well if thou do'st it soberly quietly and stilly with meekness and moderation of spirit otherwise we shall raise such a dust such clouds foggs and mists as will darken the eyes of our Understanding that we shall not be able to judge of colours nor to finde our way which for certain we have lost witness our daily disputes questionings and enquiries Wherefore being now upon our enquiry I again pray that we may walk gently and easily being as strangers in a strange land and God is to be seen found and known in each step we take In calmness there is clearness and so I hope we shall finde our way the better and the sooner These three things being taken along with us we will hope that the Lord who is our light will meet us and direct us for it is written He is nigh unto them that fear him and that He will be found of those that seek after him It is light we want that is doubtless and nothing else can shew or bring us into our way again that is as certain It is then verily worth our seeking and happie shall we be in finding It is written in a certain place In thy light shall we see light To that light therefore I desire we may all look and again by a still soft and gentle motion to make our return even to the Beginning of days and see how we there stand In the first of Genesis we have it thus In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the heavens was without form and void and darkness was upon the deep And the Spirit of God moved upon the waters Then God said Let there be light and there was light and God saw the light that it was good And God separated the light from the darkness and the light he called Day and the darkness he called Night And in vers 16. it is said God made two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the less light to rule the night and that he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth and to rule in the day and in the night and to separate the light from the darkness There we finde that the first word God gave forth when all things were in a Chaos or confusion was Light Let there be light and there was light This then was as appears the first Creation going forth or manifestation of God as the Scriptures testific John in his first Chapter witnesseth the same thing In the beginning saith he was that Word And Moses saith In the beginning God So then in God was this Word as John afterwards hath it That Word saith he was with God and that Word was God the same was in the beginning with God All things were made by it and without it was made nothing that was made In it saith he was life and the life was the light of men and that the light shineth in the darkness though the darkness comprehends it not And that he was in the world and that the world was made by him though the world knew it not Moses saith the same thing for saith he The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the deep Until the Spirit of God moved upon the waters and then God said Let there be light and there was light So that it appears the first word of God was Light and that light was Life John also calls it The first begotten of God and so Moses The Spirit of God moved upon the waters And the first product was Light Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians calls it The image of the invisible God and The first begotten of every creature By him saith he were all things created which are in heaven and which are in earth things visible and invisible All things saith he were created by him and for him Thus you see that the first thing in which by which or through which God made the world was Light that was the first that first in which by which and through which all things were made by that self-same must they be ruled and governed as we shall see anon and that first was and is light Light therefore as it appears was the first going forth of God in and towards the Creation of the world or that true image or pattern of himself in by and after which he made or made manifest the world and himself in the world for that is one main inherent property or intrinse nature and quality of light to make manifest even those things which are not As it is written God calleth the things that are as if they were not and the things that are not as if they were Now that for which I produce these Scriptures is that if it may be we may discover and get a true understanding and knowledge of that we call Rule or Government what it is For we are very apt to mis-understand and give an untrue interpretation not onely of other mens words but our own also Let us therefore a little consider by the things that are as we finde them in the beginning It is said as is before quoted that God made two great lights and and set them in the Firmament of the Heaven to shine upon the earth and to Rule in the day and in the night Now what the nature and property of their Rule and Government is we finde and see day by day First Light we see is diffusive it diffuses it self throughout the whole circumference of the Heavens and shineth as it is written upon the earth both upon the good and the bad upon the just and the unjust it giveth so much of it self into every vessel as it is capable to receive so swallowing up casting out or destroying the darkness and the death Secondly It is very attractive nothing more nay nothing so much so strongly and yet so sweetly attracteth as the Light doth

and that because it is most pleasant and delightful to behold as in a certain place it is written Thirdly It and it onely makes manifest it not only maketh manifest it self but all other things in and with it self and thus it ruleth or is rule guide or governour to it self and all things else Rule or Government then in its true and proper nature if I mistake not is to Guide Rule Govern or Direct for the words are Synonima's the thing or things to be ruled or governed in their certain proper true just and right way to their certain proper true just and right ends Therefore it is absolutely necessary that he who would Rule and Govern aright do certainly know the very certain intrinse nature property and quality of the thing or things to be Ruled and Governed otherwise in stead of Ordering Ruling and Governing them he doth grievously disturb and disorder them unrule or make them unruly as we use to speak Government and Rule indeed therefore is not coercive or compulsive but attractive and directive It is not Rule or Government properly to force or compel a thing to this or that or the other thing besides against or contrary to its own proper true and intrinse nature For every abberration in nature is so much and so far destructive to or a ruine and overthrow of nature as that abberration or turning aside thereof is in the person or thing so forced and compelled by us No this is disorderly and unruly and not onely so but we do often thereby not onely turn aside and turn away the thing or things from us we would Rule and Govern to our use and service but also make procure cause or occasion them to be or become our hurt damage loss and detriment our deadly as is usually said foes and enemies Wherefore it becometh and behoveth man to walk wisely soberly and circumspectly with his eys in his head that is in his heart or center Now you know what the Scripture saith that as the head of the woman it the man so the head of every man is God and it is so Let us then I beseech you walk like our selves as we are in and after the image of God and so Lords Rulers and Governours in and over the whole Creation Adam he did give names unto all things brought before him as you may read in Gen. 1. No more But let us in the light of the Lord move on gently and easily so shall we the better finde and see our way and keep our feet and foundation the surer They are very hasty hurrying slippery times wherein many have lost their way It is enough to the wise and time is precious And after God had thus in with and by the light appeared brought forth or made manifest himself in and by all things in the Heavens and in the waters and in the earth according to their various kinds forms ends and uses he then made or made manifest man Come saith he let us make man in our image according to our likeness that he may bear the full impress image or character of our self in the whole Creation and so have the Rule and Dominion over the same let him be the Center from whence the whole Circumference may be ruled guided and governed And in truth were not man such he could not have had the Rule and Dominion for he who rules without contradiction must have the supremacy of light and life over the things ruled In ver 26. it is written Let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let him rule c. In ver 27. it is written thus God created the man in his image in the image of God created he him male and female created he them There you have the rule pattern or sampler of all things brought forth or made manifest for saith he Let us make man in our image according to our likeness and so as he was in after or according to the image or likeness of God let him be a Rule Guide Governour in and unto himself and all things else And if any further Rule and Government be given unto man since that time then is there expressed I know not of it but must say If one man do excercise Lordship or Kingship over another as Christ in another case it was not so in the beginning and also what he saith in the same case to his Disciples that although the Gentiles did so it should not be so with them It will be found I believe upon due consideration a grand and gross mistake as I have already said to attribute rule and government unto the Head if our meaning by the head be the top uppermost or highermost part of the body certainly that is altogether uncapable of the rule and government of the body For it is too high and at too great a distance from the feet which are mainly to be intended and attended Rule and Government I believe will be found upon search and inquiry to lie in the heart it being the center of the body and the seat and center of light and life in the body the government of the head which may I not say it hath usurped over the heart is that which hath and doth disorder and undo us And to speak truth it cannot rule and govern it self as experience day by day doth abundantly manifest If the first in order of Causes be not just and right certain and true stable and fixt that or those things which issue forth from it have their dependancy motion rule guidance or Government by it and from it must of necessity be at least so much and so far unjust irregular uncertain unstable and untrue as is their or its first moving cause Take it in Naturals in Artificials in Civils or Politiques as it is called That which is not right it self cannot possibly make another right wherefore it is written First pull out the beam that is in thine own eye and then c. and that a corrupt fountain cannot send forth pure streams Who can draw a strait and certain line by a crooked and uncertain rule I am unwilling to speak of absolute and unlimited Governours or Governments nor shall I dispute which is best fetching arguments from this or that or the other convenience or inconvenience which perhaps may be and perhaps may never be in which there is the greatest and uncertainest of varieties that can be imagined that is not mans work but to fear the Lord and do the thing that is right and just and that justly and rightly too as to the way also for the way and the end must be one both just and justly done this is mans center and resting place from which he may not move nor be moved lest he die In the beginning we finde not any thing in the whole Creation as we have it recorded in the Scriptures that was not limited bound or circumscribed even he who had the Rule Dominion or

Lordship in and over all had his bounds and limits set him for it is written Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death and whether the entertaining of our selves with the putting or going forth of our selves in such imaginations be not the eating the fruit of that tree I leave to be considered of What other limits Adam had I forbear to speak you may finde them as you go Man indeed is a very free creature when he is indeed in truth himself it lieth not in this to do quicquid libet what he list but quod licet what is just and right Man may be a slave to his lusts and passions and as much bound in and unto them as in or unto any chain or fetter And to speak truth there is no good thing in the whole Creation which is not circumscribed bound and limited neither indeed can there be God himself if I may so speak to which the Scripture everywhere bears witness hath bound himself within the golden chains of Justice and Righteousness And he which breaks and so is without limit may most properly and truly be called a Devil or destroyer for he hath broken the bond of union or oneness wherein onely consisteth rest and happiness and so is cast forth or left out to torment himself and to be tormented with his own boundlesness I conclude to me it appears that in the beginning every thing in the whole Creation had its bounds and limits and that by or in the breach thereof man broke himself broke his rest his peace his glory Soveraignty and Dominion and by his return he returns to that he lost And to speak the truth the bound or limit makes every thing to be and to be what it is and without it is nothing a meer Chimera a deep gulf a bottomless pit or abyss of thick darkness for the mind to perplex and torment it self endlesly in creating forming or imaging to it self all things any thing it may or can and yet in truth nothing Man were he indeed himself that is were he in his true and proper place in his true and proper center for then and then onely is he his true and proper self he would be found in all things and all times to shew or give forth himself in the perfection of justice and righteousness as fully and freely as the Sun doth his light For without doubt it is his being as witnesseth the Scripture it is written God made man perfect but he hath found out many inventions poor man and we all know that that whose being is perfect if it be it self cannot chuse but act and give forth it self perfectly It is its being Turn it which way you will or can it is bound it is limited It is a Garden enclosed high are the Walls strong are the Gates wherewith it is surrounded and encompassed Yet it sees knows understands and acts all things in Heaven and in Earth But is neither seen known understood nor acted with or by any thing but it self But no more lest I have given you the discovery my self hath made concerning Government what in its true proper nature quality end and use it is And in the way though much more larger then I intended something of what man in his true and proper being is I have also in this our enquiry forborn to dispute the sayings of others finding little therein except the ingendring of endless strifes and contentions but have as plainly and briefly as I well might lead you to the Spring or Fountain-head to the beginning of things where you will finde the water least troubled or mudded by our foul and beastly heads and so the more pure and cleer Neither have I disputed as they call it nor shall I in the ensuing Discourse for victory or mastery or to defend the Truth as we use to say but leave that to manifest and defend it self but as I have done so I hope I shall onely make a bare inquiry after the good old way in which our fathers walked and had peace And I think we shall finde it thus that which appears and manifests it self to be the center that is or should be the onely and alone rule guide and governour of the whole circumference and all their eys either do or should do stand strongly and firmly set and fixed into or unto it and the stronger and stabler the center unto any thing is the better is the governance and so the longer its continuance And the Center I take to be that from whence the several individuals issue forth and into or unto which they do or should again return for there must be no vacancy there We have found in the beginning that man not onely had the rule guide and governance of himself in himself given him by God but of all other things also nor as we there finde and is already shewed was there any rule or government given unto him over any other man or men nor indeed appears there any need The first we read of in the Scripture who usurped and exercised that Power and Dominion was Nimrod which was also after the flood and that neer 2000 yeers after the Creation as is believed by all or most What ground basis or foundation shall we then now finde to settle a Rule or Government upon or where shall we finde a Center wherein we may now stay and rest our selves in point of government in reference to mankinde In this inquiry let us not forget that which we have already found and discovered and I think we have found this That in the beginning as all things were made in relation to each other so all things were ruled and governed according to the several relations each thing had unto other according to the Laws and Ordinances thereof For Rule or Government is a Relative and according as our relations are so is or should be the governance or government of our selves in reference to our selves and those we are related to And so in speaking or making any thing a Governour or Government you speak it and make a Relative and so binde and limit it form and fashion it according to that which you have or would relate it to All things in the beginning related unto man he having the very essence and being of all things as in an Epitome wrapped up in himself as he was in the image or likeness of God in respect whereof he had the rule and government of all things given unto him and so was made after bound up and limited in and unto them For every thing and all things were just and justly made in a due and true assimilation and proportion each to other otherwise could not God have pronounced that definitive sentence on them when he had looked them all over again or reviewed them that they were all good very good yea and put his seal to it

good The head as the Moon is the receptacle of all corruptibility a dark confused changeable body in and of it self receiving the influences of light and life onely from another from the Sun from the heart from the center but is not the Sun is not the heart is not the center and therefore is not the true right and proper Guide Governour Ruler in of or unto the body for indeed and in truth it appertaineth and belongeth only and alone unto or is the very onely and alone true and proper work and office of the center to order and rule guide govern and direct the whole circumference of which the head is onely a part or member This therefore is and this onely and alone is our only and alone true head our onely and alone Guide and Governour Rule or Ruler and none else possible can be of or over in and unto its circumference or whole body and every particular member or officer in and of the same In these even in these did the cleer and perfect light and life of our forefathers as from the whole circumference of the Heavens meet concenter and imbody it self thereby making one most cleer and perfect Sun in and unto this our Heaven or Horizon setting it as it were in the firmament of the Heaven that so it might again remit send forth or give back that its light life and strength into or unto the whole circumference and to shine upon the earth and to rule in the day c. even unto us and our childrens children after us for ever and indeed we being herein but one there is not neither may there be any other center or foundation unto us then onely and alone this one This being indeed and in truth the onely and alone Soveraign and Supreme whom none may withstand nor stand against in by through and from which onely and alone are all the other Creations as of the moon stars c. I mean the several Officers or members in the body or Commonwealth and unto or into which onely and alone they are all again to be returned as into their onely and alone very true right proper head fountain spring and center and so there also or unto it are they onely and alone accountable and by it onely and alone to be tryed and judged acquitted or condemned For it and it onely is the very true pure and cleer light and so the Lord and judge of and unto them all There is not neither must there be by any means upon any account whatsoever any vacuum intermission or interposition here but all is and must be in an exact round or circle or a perfect and entire union as we finde it was in the beginning And to speak the truth as the truth is man being made after the image of God in his very likeness upright and perfect as he is such or so far and so much as he is such or as he retains and remains or is again renewed and brought forth in that image even so much and so far he doth form fashion create make make manifest or bring forth the very same image or likeness For every thing doth bring forth its self it s own image and likeness and cannot do otherwise But I must forbear farther to parallel things lest whilst I endeavour to make things clear obvious and plain I make them the more dark and obscure and I fear to break my limit They are our Fathers We will say no more but this is all and the only answer we will make to all They are our Fathers It was satisfactory and well-pleasing unto God in a thing of much less concernment to the Rechabites if we might so speak then this is to us and we doubt not but it will be so also in our case and that we shall be held blameless in his sight and in the sight of all men onely I will take the boldness for this once to aver and say They are the best in the whole world neither would I at all doubt were it not a sin to dispute them to maintain and prove them so with the hazard of my life and that in the face of Heaven before all the men on earth My meaning is not of particular Statute-Laws few whereof will be found to be centered in or have any foundation upon the Laws Customs Ordinances and Constitutions of our Fathers but generally altogether besides against and quite contrary thereunto Nor say I but that Parliaments may null these or rather declare them null although in truth they are null in themselves and no Court of Judicatory no Officer or Minister of the Law ought to put them in execution It is a mistake to think that Parliaments are the foundation of Laws which cannot be for they themselves if they be any thing that which they be they be onely and alone in by and from the Laws Customs Ordinances and Constitutions of our Fathers Now that which hath its being in from and by another cannot it self be the foundation but must finde it self centered and founded and so limited somewhere out of it self and so may not do any thing but what doth certainly plainly and fully center and foundation it self in that which gave it self a being To imagine that Laws were instituted ordained and appointed to the hurt prejudice loss detriment damage and destruction of any is a very gross and grand mistake and extream injurious to the Laws themselves and their makers and institutors and a very great perverting of their true and proper use and end their onely and alone true and proper use and end being to direct guide and govern and so to secure guard and protect all and every one in innocency truth and uprightness from and against any and all who shall infringe violate molest trouble and oppress them and their native liberties therein But because we have principles of tyranny in our selves we judge and would make them such also hence it is that at some times as that principle or rather that unruly exorbitancy destructive to it self and others hath taken place born sway and prevailed have some Statutes or Laws if I might so call them been made which are quite off from altogether against contrary and destructive to the foundation to the Laws Customs Ordinances and Constitutions of our Fathers which By Laws as they are usually called for as is said they are not upon the foundation have ever proved destructive to and ruine of their contrivers and makers and it cannot be otherwise as I could plainly manifest and the Scripture is full and plain in it everywhere He who digs a pit for another shall certainly and infallibly fall into it himself and he who breaks the hedge a serpent shall bite him Hence also it is that Laws have been and are so often stretched and tentered haled and pulled rent and torn this way and that way to serve the particular and private uses and ends of some private and particular

it that 〈◊〉 wise man establisheth his work by counsel Neither I ●ray let your motions be too violent lest thereby you ●●●…e not onely injurious to your selves but to others also injuring the wheat in taking away the Tares In calmness there is cleerness but yet I say do your work and do it faithfully and the Lord shall bless and prosper you yea and peoples and Nations and Kingdoms shall bless you and their and your generations for ever shall bless you And although perhaps you may not be the builders be not therein discouraged for the leveller of the way or the breaker down is as necessary as the builder and the breaker down and leveller will be found to have the better wages for it is just he should because his work is hardest And God is just And in truth both the breaker down and builder up are but one though in two distinct Offices and for two distinct uses they are one in the beginning and one in the end yea and one in the way also one in the hand of the Lord and one in one another as you have it cleer and plain in that Scripture where it is said They had their swords in one hand and their trowels in the other whilest they were building the Temple Your hearts also which are the levellers may be more upright with the Lord then perhaps the builders are or may be you have much the advantage of them many ways as I could manifest but I hasten it was so in David and Solomon David was a very great Leveller or breaker down but David built not yet David carries the Bell away in the sight of the Lord for a man whose heart was upright with the Lord above Solomon and all the Kings of Israel And in truth a truly-noble and ingenuous spirit minds more his work then his wages nay his work is his wages he carries his meat with him always in his mouth so that he cannot faint or wax weary nor turn aside to this hand or to that for he hath what he would have already it is already in his mouth hence Christ saith It was his meat and drink to do his Fathers will I remember it is recorded of an English King I take it to be Ethelstane who after he had regained Scotland subjected formerly to England as a Dukedom thereof makes it again a politique and real Kingdom saying It was more noble to make a King then to be a King What will you level and make way for a King the King of righteousness and Prince of Peace why do so and blessed are you in so doing It is enough And surely if I make another happy good or glorious my happiness good and glory may as much be seen yea and have as real an existencie therein also if not more then is in him whom I have made so It is so with God his glory his goodness is as much seen and known yea and more too and hath as real an existence in his things made as the things he hath so made possibly may or can have in their being made so and Christ faith Whoso loseth his life for my sake shall finde it sevenfold And certainly all Gods ways workings and goings forth in and unto the sons of men are in union perfectly just and right and we shall both see it and know it so soon as our eys are open and behold him so in his whole Creation and that with open face Wait but a while and we shall see the Lord face to face and yet live and not die nay that shall make us live and be our life covering and filling the whole earth And as Gods ways workings and goings forth are such to us so should nay so shall ours be unto him and one another still in a due and true proportion when we see him so and before we cannot for as it is written We shall be changed into the same image made as we were at first Just as he is right as he is be made one in him and with him as the Scriptures speak but we must first see him thus face to face God did make man in his own image and likeness upright and perfect Verily the world is full of vain empty trifling writings and disputes may I not call them so surely I may and not transgress but I hope the froth and vanity is almost spent and gone and that by how much the more the vanity and emptiness is and hath been by so much the more will the substance and fulness be in the end and that by how much the more we begin to be out of love with and so to forsake throw and cast away that we shall by so much the more and the more readily receive love and imbrace the truth and substance and that the greater this excess of vanity hath been the more easier and readier shall we part with it I hope it hath well-nigh fulfilled its measure sin hath and doth abound exceedingly our excesses in all things have been and are even to astonishment I hope therefore as Paul saith that grace and truth shall so much the more super abound Yet my brethren let us not therefore sin or continue longer in these vanities and excesses Have we not sufficiently glutted our selves with the works and deeds of darkness and the night I hope we have and so shall now loath them so much the more Brethren the day appears and the light is broken forth look upon it for it is very pleasant to behold and although we have been children tossed to and fro with every winde let us now be men setled and stablished upon such a Rock and Foundation from whence nothing may nor ought nor must nor can remove us Let us no longer embrace folly and despise wisdom I know them both and give me leave to tell you that wisdom is all in all unto all things and without it there is not neither indeed and in truth can there be any thing It and it onely doth all things in Heaven and in earth I need not tell you what Solomon saith of it that you know so well as I and dobtless he was a very wise man yet saith Christ Behold a wiser then Solomon is here whose wisdom did excel the others much in many things as might be shewed but it is not convenient therefore hear and follow him Brethren be not enemies to your selves bar not up the gates shut not up the doors against your selves Wisdom as Solomon saith cries out in the streets unto every one she would gladly possess you and be possessed of you you may have her if you please she offers her self daily to you if you will look after her and embrace her It is enough But that which hath and doth trouble me most is those dividing principles no I will not call them so but rather dividing voices whereby men both by their speakings and their writings discover much of wrath and enmity Yet here also am I