Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	king_n	lord_n	psal_n	6,173	5	7.6754	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26309	Dying infants sav'd by grace proved and the blessd man with his blessedness described in a sermon preached near Namptwich in Cheshire at the burial of a deceased infant, July 25, 1695 / by S.A.	Acton, Samuel, d. 1740?	1699 (1699)	Wing A452; ESTC R28175	24,873	32

turned into a frightful Visage by Death whether natural or violent as Absalom's was whose Beauty surpassed that of Women What is Wit but a Flash and tho it be excellent and deservedly coveted by all yet alas how soon is the sharpest Wit spoiled and confus'd by Melancholy or Phrensy And as of these so it may be concluded of all the rest of Nature's Endowments which loudly proclaim that true Blessedness is not in them Nor is it in the Goods of Fortune I confess Fortune may render you very prosperous in having the Advantage of her favourable and beneficial gales but the most she can do for you is to raise you by the wings of Fame exalt you to the highest pitch of Honour set upon your Heads a fading Diadem and waft you into the port of your wish'd for Possession Wealth enabling you to accommodate your selves with every thing desirable to the Heart and delightful in the Eyes of vain Man as in the case of Solomon But it 's not in Fortune to make you happy tho she would at once empty her self to fill you If Crowns or Kingdoms could make Men happy then Saul Ahab and Nebuchadnezzar had been blessed Neither can Honour or Wisdom else Haman and Ahitophel had been Blessed Nor can Riches and great Possessions if they could the young and rich Man in the Gospel had been blessed who from his increasing Goods thought himself a very happy Man he sang a Requiem to his Soul and caressed himself with a Come eat drink and be merry thou hast Goods laid up for many Years Luke 12.19 as if he had said Come Soul forbear to weary and perplex thy self with plodding contriving and projecting Means and Artifices for the gaining of more cease to weary thy self by toilsome Labour take thine ease thy fill of Pleasure eat drink and be merry thou hast Goods laid up for many Years But notwithstanding the great Advantage he had of other Men in appearance he was in truth no wiser than a Fool nor happier by his trusting in those things than one miserable beyond all Expression as is evident from the Lord 's own estimate of him and what he says to him in the 20th Verse And God said Thou Fool this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided Neither can the highest attainments in Tongues and Languages make Men Blessed else Herod had been happy who in his Oration to the People delivered himself so exquisitely that they concluded it rather to be the Voice of a God than of a Man Acts 12.22 Also on this foot of Account the Learned Greeks had been Blessed whose attainments in the Learning of the Schools were such as raised them above the having any venerable esteem of the Wisdom of God accounting Christ in the ministration of the Gospel to be but Foolishness 1 Cor. 1.23 Now were it possible for Man to possess himself of most or all these good things at once he might notwithstanding be of all Men the most Miserable as may be concluded from that amazing and direful outcry to the weighty Hills and Mountains to fall upon them and crush them as it were into nothing so that they might be but hid from the Presence of God and the Wrath of the Lamb Rev. 6.16 But who were these that thus courted the Hills and Mountains to fall on them Were they any other than the silly shrubs of the Earth poor Men Men of a mean Figure in the World Yes for the 15th Verse tells you that they were Kings of the Earth that is such Kings only whose Sins the Lord had marked and imputed upon their living repugnant and walking in a course that ran counter to those Laws which the King of Heaven and Earth had given them and by the Conduct whereof they should have order'd all their Affairs in obedience to him their Rightful Lord and Soveraign With these also you find ranked great Men rich Men mighty Men and chief Captains which may serve as a Memorandum to the Rich and Mighty of this World that they do not crush the Poor nor hurt the Needy nor by their Power and Austerity unjustly force the Poor from their Right nor by the use of Violence and Oppression increase their Wealth insulting over the distressed like that Imperious Pope of whom I have read that trod upon the Emperor's Neck to help himself on Horseback For a day of Accounts will come when such will be convinced with great Horror and Dread that it is not in the power of Riches and Royalties to make Men Blessed And on the other hand there is no Distress so great nor Poverty so extreme nor Affliction so deep as to render that Man miserable whose Sin is not imputed Such a Man is taught to believe that his present Evils with respect to his Afflictions shall work for his good and turn to his Advantage by the disposition of God's good Providence which is ingaged for him Else the Royal Prophet had never proclaim'd it good for him that he was Afflicted Psal 119.71 Nay further by Faith in the Promises the Good whereof is that Man's Portion alone whose Sin is not imputed he is helped to peirce the Clouds of the thickest darkness and look into that delightsome Region of Heaven it self and there behold the smiles of a loving Father towards him the endeavours of a wise faithful and compassionate Advocate for him yielding him such a taste and sense of the sweetness of Divine Love as raises him above the sense and bitterness of Affliction It was this that made St. Peter and John rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer Stripes for the Lord Jesus It was this that made St. Paul and Silas tho laden with heavy Shackles and their feet made fast in the Stocks to sing the Praises of God Acts 16. 'T is not the Evil Accidents or Indisposition that attends our Bodies or Interests in the World that can make the Man whose Sin is not imputed unhappy or miserable for the wise Man tells us That the Spirit of a Man sustains his Infirmities Prov. 18.14 A Man may have a sound Spirit in a weak and sickly Body a free and chearful Spirit in a Body closely confin'd and oblig'd to undergo the last Severities of Art and Physick as blistering blooding cupping and dismembring nay in a Body sinking by the power and prevalency of a Distemper into dissolution which of all things is most dreadful to humane nature But under such a Circumstance what matter of Joy would it be to a Man to have his weak and languishing Body restored to a sound and healthful frame and habit for which how are Physicians courted their assistance sollicited and some Men do let their Gold fly as if they had no regard unto it But to have Sin pardoned and be freed from the imputation of its guilt is much rather and more truly a ground of joy to the Soul tho dwelling in a Body

weak and impotent as is certain from what our Blessed Saviour says to the Man sick of the Palsy Son be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee Mat. 9.2 Mark it 's not be of good chear for thou art made whole but thy Sins are forgiven thee This is enough to make the Lame to walk the Deaf to hear the Blind to see here 's that which is sufficient to turn our Weeping into Laughter our Mourning into Rejoicing our Death into Life and to settle us in a belief that he and he alone is blessed whose Sin is not imputed Now such are blessed 1. In Life as thereby God takes the Children of Men into a state of Grace and Favour with himself For God's not imputing Sin is the removal of that which begot the difference and hath maintain'd the distance betwixt him and his Creatures Isa 59.2 Of all Evils Sin is the greatest because it hath not the least mixture of Good in it to make it tolerable nor doth it produce the least good to any Creature It was Sin that turned the Angels out of Heaven that cast Man out of Paradise that brought the Curse upon the Creation and Wrath upon Sinners To be freed therefore from so great an Evil is one part of our Happiness and that which compleats it is God's taking us into Favour whose Favour is better than Life as the Psalmist says Psal 63.3 in whose Favour you may rest assured of all Advantages necessary to render you happy in this Life as the supply of your Wants Psal 34.9 10. Prov. 10.3 protection from Dangers Psal 33.18 34.10 guidance in all your Ways Psal 37.23 c. Prov. 3.6 strength against Temptation 1 Cor. 10.13 a sanctified use of Afflictions Rom. 8.28 and deliverance out of Trouble Psal 34.19 22. Such unto whom the Lord imputes not Sin may no less rest confident of Peace For being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 5.1 Which Peace of God will fill our hearts and keep us in peace when others are in trouble and quiet tho the World be in an uproar And tho many are hurried to and fro by cutting Perplexities fretting Disappointments and growing Fears God will make their Habitations quiet resting-places there is scarcely any thing that shall offend and molest them for Peace is always the sure Effect and Fruit of Righteousness to Justification as Isa 32.17 18. As they have Peace and Provision so they shall have every thing necessary to render them blessed in Life Psal 84.11 for God will withhold no good thing from them to whom he will not impute Sin 2. They are blessed also in Death because God's not imputing Sin is to dispoil Death of all Power that otherwise might render it hurtful to us Guilt which is Death's fiery Sting is taken away and he ceases to be a King of Terrors They fear him not how terrible soever he may be in his march towards them They whose Sin is not imputed are ready to receive and entertain him knowing that in this his last and most violent Effort he is like to go away with a poor Conquest the greatest execution he can do upon them is to cut the Thread of Life and send their frail brittle weak and sickly Bodies to the dust for a while to sleep in the Grave whilst blessed Angels wait the fatal stroak to take the fleeting Soul into their embraces and with Wings extended carry them swiftly into the happiness of Abraham's Bosom I confess there is reason enough for the Man whose Sin and Guilt is bound upon him to dread the approach and tremble at the sight of such an Enemy arm'd with nothing but Terrors and ready to wound the Soul with his flaming and siery Sting ready to cut the thin-spun Thread of Life which when done he is violently seized by some of the Infernal Crew and hurried unavoidably to the Confines and Region of utter Darkness to suffer the Pains of Eternal Fire O that Sinners would timely consider of this to break off every vicious Course by Repentance laying hold on the Righteousness of Christ by a lively Faith exprest by sincere obedience to the Commands of the Gospel lest their Sin hasten Death and in death proves their ruin But Death is so far from being hurtful to the Man whose Sin is not imputed that it is truly necessary as the only means by which blessed Souls are conveyed from sojourning in these tottering houses of Clay to live for ever with their Saviour in that house and building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens This made holy Paul chuse rather to die than live that he might be with Christ which was best of all Phil. 1.23 and 2 Cor. 5.1 2. So that the Man to whom the Lord imputes not Sin is blessed in Death and not only so but in the 3d place Such are blessed after death in that death lands them safe on that shore where they shall for ever rejoice in celebrating the Memory of the Grace of God in not imputing Sin unto them Their entrance into Heaven is made sure and every thing removed that otherwise might obstruct it who shall there be blessed and happy in the highest degree if we consider First The perfect freedom they shall have in Heaven from all Evil. On Earth holy Souls have often the greatest share of Affliction and Trouble as one Link follows another in the Chain or as one Wave another so deep calleth unto deep Psal 42.7 Here with Lazarus they have their evil things Poverty Pain Sickness Sores Crosses Troubles Temptations Afflictions Diseases and Death but all these evil things and more shall be left behind them in death and in Heaven they shall have no sense of them For God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away Rev. 21.4 Tho it will be quite otherwise with the Wicked who here on Earth had their good things but shall then have their evil things they shall no more enjoy the precious things their Souls lusted after and the things that were dainty and goodly being departed they shall find them no more at all Rev. 18.14 no not one drop of Water to cool their flaming Tongues Such as affect Sin here tho God so earnestly sollicites them to the contrary must for their contempt of his Grace be content to lie down in everlasting burnings where without relief they must roll in tormenting flames and shall have no rest day nor night Rev. 4.8 The Wicked then shall have their evil things but the Godly their good things who shall be for ever raised above the sense of any thing afflicting and in this respect they are blessed Secondly The Man whose Sin is not imputed is blessed after Death considering he is then put into such a condition as renders it utterly impossible for him to