Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	angel_n	earth_n	sin_n	2,922	5	4.1926	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09997	Remaines of that reverend and learned divine, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in ordinary to his Majesty, master of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolnes-Inne Containing three excellent treatises, namely, Iudas's repentance. The saints spirituall strength. Pauls conversion.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.	1634 (1634)	STC 20249; ESTC S115107	168,230	405

us making us the objects of their griefe and thirdly he robs the Church and Commonwealth of us by making us unprofitable instruments and beloved if you looke into the world you shall find it true as for example looke unto young men they are busied in eating and drinking and rising up to play but never regard at all the strengthning of the inward man whereby they may become profitable unto all When the soule is unto some but as salt is unto meate onely to keepe it from Putrifaction and the body that is put into the soules place but what is the reason we put it thus doth not this prove that true which Salomon saith I have seene servants ride and Masters goe afoote When you imploy your selves and spend your time and paines in getting of outward dignity in decking the outward man and little regard the beautifying of the inward man you preferre drosse before Gold Copper before Silver you set the body in the soules place you set the servant on horsebacke but the Master must goe on foote in a word you doe not things like or beseeming Christians and on the contrary you doe things like your selves when you preferre the inward man first Fourthly consider that it is an immortall soule why doe you labour for the meat that perisheth in the use of it that is why doe you dote upon the outward man that perisheth in the getting which perisheth in the using that will stand you in no stead if you keepe it and why doe you not rather labour for the meate that perisheth not why doe you not labour to get the strength of the inward man which is of an immortall substance that will never fade nor perish in the use you have built a Temple heere which is in it selfe a good worke but I say except you build also in your soules the Temple of the inward man all your labour all your paines and all your cost is but lost labour it will perish and stand you in no stead when you shall need it And this is one maine drift of the Scripture to shew you the vanity of earthly things that you should not set your affections upon them because they perish in the use and that you should not lay out money for that which profiteth not as the Prophet speakes Consider therefore that it is a spirit and againe borne and infused into this body to beare rule there and the body to be but a servant to the inward man But that you be not deceived there is a naturall strength whereby some men will goe very farre and there is a morall strength and yet take heed you rest not in that not that I speake against naturall strength because it comes from God and is good For I say we doe not take away those affections but we alter and change them and therefore I beseech you looke that you doe not content your selves with them but labour to strengthen the Inward man And here a question ariseth seeing that there is a naturall and spirituall strength how shall a man come to know whether the strength which hee hath be a naturall morall or spirituall strength yet as I said we doe not destroy naturall strength but we use it as men doe wild Horses and beasts they tame them to make them fit for service so we should use these as meanes to carry us unto their right ends We will therefore come to shew the differences betwixt the naturall and spirituall strength The first difference is this The spirituall strength goes further then the naturall strength Looke what the naturall man with the naturall strength can doe the spirituall man can doe more he can goe further both in degree and measure and the reason is because grace elevates nature it brings it unto a higher pitch grace is unto the soule as a prospective glasse is unto the body it brings that which is a farre off to be as it were nigh at hand it turnes a man to see things in a more excellent manner for as water that is elevated by fire so is he that hath this strength that is he is abler to doe more then a naturall strength can doe this was that which made a difference betweene Sampson and other men he had a naturall strength and he had another strength to doe more then another man could doe and that this strength doth goe further then a naturall strength we will proove by these particulars First the spirituall strength enables you to see more and to prize grace more the naturall strength shewes you something in your journey but it shewes you not unto the end of your journey whereas the sight that the inward man brings unto the soule addes unto it Ieremy 31. 34. Then shall yee know mee that is they knew mee before but now they shall know mee in another manner then before grace presents things unto the soule in another hue Secondly in performances all naturall strength leads a man but unto a forme of godlinesse but this strength gives a man power and abilitie to doe good Labour therefore labour for this strength that your hearts may be in such a frame of godlinesse that you may doe Gods will in earth as the Angels doe it in heaven which the carnall man will never doe he that hath not this strength he will never labour to please God after that manner because hee cares not for grace if he can but escape hell but the spirituall man will not be contented to have the pardon of sinne except he may have grace and holinesse too Thirdly it inables him to goe further in Iudgement the naturall man he cares not if hee can get but just so much holinesse as will bring him to heaven but the spirituall man will not be contented with any answer but it is with the spirituall man as it is with the Sun the cleerest Sun-shine showes the most motes the cleerest glasse the best and best water is next the fountaine even so when the spirituall man is strong in the inward man it sees the more motes and bracks in the spirituall strength and labours for more strength against weaknesses which a naturall man cannot conceive of as 1 Pet. 4. 4. They thinke it strange that you run not with them into the same excesse of riot they know not the reason or they cannot conceive what should keepe you from loving such and such vices which they love like blind men they heare the pipe but they see not the persons that dance so they heare the pipe but they see not the rule by which the spirituall man goes as a countrey-man that comes and sees a man drawing the Geometricians line he marvels what he meanes to spend his time about such a thing when as hee that drawes it knowes that it is of a great use Fourthly in degree that is in the generality of the growth when you grow in every part proportionably a naturall man may grow in

loath the creature but sinne all the imperfections and blemishes and diseases and infirmities of the creature makes not God to loath it if there be not a mixture of sinne with it because they are not contrary unto God they fight not against God but sinne fights against the purity and holinesse of God and therefore Gods hatred of the creature is onely a hatred for sinne Secondly to us it is the greatest evill the argument stands thus that which deprives us of the greatest good is the greatest evill but this sinne doth Ergo. for it doth deprive us of all things that are good but especially of two things wherin standeth our chiefest good As first it deprives us of the best outward good which is God as the Prophet saith Your sinnes separate betweene you and your God and they keepe good things from you of all other good especially they hinder the comming of grace into your hearts Now what greater evill can there be then this to keepe both God and his Grace from us Secondly it deprives us of the chiefest good within us as for example First it deformes the beautie and strength of the inward man Secondly it weakens that grace that is within that is it makes us unable to resist evill this is the nature of sinne Thirdly if you cannot see it in these then come unto the effects that it workes and it will appeare to be the greatest evill First it turnes all the faculties and parts of the soule body to evill and is the breeder of all distemperature as feare and horrour in the soule Secondly it brings all the evill that doth befall a man in this life they all come by sinne all shame reproach povertie disgrace punishment comes by sinne now if you will but consider sinne in these you will see it to be evill but especially you shall see the evill of sinne in a distressed conscience what feare what amazement what astonishment and despaire what sorrow what anguish of heart is there as upon Iudas no restitution will serve no comfort will worke no perswasion will prevaile thus if you looke upon sinne it will appeare the greatest evill Fourthly sinne is the greatest evill if you consider the medicine that must come to heale it Christ must lay downe his glory for a time hee must abase himselfe hee must come from heaven to earth he must take our nature upon him and humble himselfe unto a cursed death before sinne can be healed now put them altogether sinne is evill by nature Againe it is evill because it deprives us of the greatest good both within us and without us it is the cause of all diseases shame and reproach such an evill that nothing will heale but the blood of Christ looke upon sinne thus cloathed and it will appeare the greatest evill Make conscience therefore of little sinnes for they bring great evils though the sands of the Seas be but little yet a many heaped together make a great burthen so sinne though but in an idle word thought or behaviour seeme to be but a little sinne yet lay many of them together and they will breake the soule and make it barren and unfit to good if a man owe but little debts yet if they be many if he looke and cast them up in the totall hee will finde himselfe presently to bee but a bankerupt so it is with sinne what though the sinne be but a little sinne yet give this a little vent put it to action and this sinne will proove a great sinne give once consent and in time it will be a raigning sinne and when it is thus then it turnes the soule into evill sets it on a rage imprisons it makes it to obey and to be a slave to Sathan now what greater evill can there bee then sinne thus much for the first meanes to get the Iudgement rectified which will see sinne so as to humble it The second meanes to be humbled is this you must labour to make your hearts fit to be humble and that you may doe this you must doe these things First you must labour to get some sense of holinesse that is you must get the heart in a frame of grace for except a man get the spirit he will not be humbled but when there is holinesse bred in the heart then he will see sinne to be humble hee will see sinne out of his place Take any heavy thing especially water and in its place it is not heavy but let it be remooved out of its place and it will be a heavy burthen even so will sinne bee unto you when you have once gotten the spirit you will then see sinne out of his place and to be a heavy burthen that you will not willingly beare it but you will stoope under it and therefore the more holinesse that any man gets the more will be his sight of sinne and where there is most sight of sinne there will be most griefe for sinne and this griefe is alwayes accompanied with this humiliation that I speake of and where there is the greatest humiliation for sinne there is the greatest doore of mercy opened where there is most sence of sinne there the heart is best fitted for grace and in this case the more tender of conscience the better Christian. Secondly if you would be fit to bee humble consider another thing which is the punishment of sinne if you continue in sinne you shall be damned deprived of glory you were once good consider now wherein your happinesse consists consider that you have an immortall soule and that you must be called to an account the serious considerations of these things will make you to bee humble Nebuchadnezzar when he is brought to be like a beast then he confesseth that the Lord is God and humbles himselfe even so should wee Againe doe but consider that all things are in the hands of God and that every one of you in particular are and that he is able presently to dispose of you as he will Againe consider that God is alwayes every where that hee sees all things and that he will judge all men and that a day of judgement a day of departure to judgement is appointed unto all consider also the severity of the Iudge the sentence that hee will pronounce the punishment that he will inflict the eternity of the time I say if men would but consider these things wishly they would not goe on in sinne as they doe but the want of consideration of these things keepes men from Christ. For if the adulterer would but consider what the Scripture saith that no adulterer shall be saved or if the covetous man or drunkard c. that wholly devotes themselves unto evill would but consider that in 1 Cor. 6. 9. that none of these should inherit the Kingdome of God they would not goe on in sinne as they doe Againe if they did but consider that all sinne ends in paine that

will hinder the augmentation in other parts So when these evill humours of the soule gather together and begin to reigne and beare rule in the soule it is unpossible that the soule should grow in holinesse till they be purged away therefore be earnest with God to purge out these humours whether they be profit or pleasure or honour or any other thing and in thus doing you shall strengthen the inward man and the stronger that the inward man is the healthfuller the soule is I say it is unpossible that you should thrive in the inward man so long as you retaine any sinne and therefore our Saviour saith How can yee beleeve seeing you seeke honour one of another if you retaine the love of credit and reputation in the world before grace how can you beleeve You cannot be strong in the inward man The fifth meanes to strengthen the inward man is this you must get spirituall courage and joy you must get ioy in the new birth the contrary unto this is discouragment and sorrow nothing so much weakens the inward man except sinne as discouragement and againe nothing so availeable to make a man strong as courage and joy this was the meanes that Nehemiah used Nehe. 8. when he would build up the Wals of Ierusalem saith he bee not discouraged or sorrow for your joy shall be as the joy in harvest Nehemiah had a great worke to doe and what argument useth he to make them to hold out but this to bee full of courage and joy as if he should have said if you hold your courage you will hold your strength and then the worke will be easie unto you and this we see by experience In war great courage where there is but little strength will doe more then great meanes with little courage Ioshua can doe more with a small army full of courage then a great army with little courage Againe I say unto those that are travailing towards Heaven take heed of giving discouragements unto any for this is the property of the divell to discourage men and therefore this is the reason that hee makes men doubt of their salvation to feare their calling to question Gods love towards them in Christ that the way to Heaven is narrow and hard and God is pure and just withall and thou thy selfe art full of strong lusts thou shalt never subdue them it will be in vaine for thee to set upon them hereupon he is so discouraged that hee neglects the mortifying of sinne but be not discouraged but know that strength to resist the least temptation is not of your selves it is not your owne Well then if it comes not by any power of your owne but it is by the strength of another Then for your comfort know that hee that gave you power against a small temptation is also able and willing and will certainely helpe you against a raging lust and so likewise for the performance of holy duties though you find your selves indisposed to pray or heare the Word or the like yet know that it is God that fits the heart hee can of unfit make it fit and of unwilling make it willing and remember the promise Luke 11. 14. hee will give the holy Ghost unto them that aske him hee will give such a supply of grace that yee shall bee enabled to withstand any temptation therefore if you would grow strong take heed of discouragements and let one Christian take heed of discouraging of another Christian by any speech action or behaviour and let Ministers take heed of discouraging of their flockes for it is the property of false prophets to discourage the people from God And this is the sinne of this land especially of prophane people that never thinke themselves well but when they are casting reproachfull speeches against those that labour to strengthen the inward man but this discovers a great deale of corruption in them and it is a meanes to pull downe the Iudgements of God upon them Againe take heed of discouragements bee not cast downe when you meete with such as will revile you and speake evill by you this will weaken the inward man The sixt meanes if you would strengthen the inward man is this you must get faith you must labour to bee strong in the Lord you must goe about all things with Gods strength and not with your owne and therefore the Apostle saith When I am weake then I am strong 2 Cor. 12. 13. And I rejoyce in my infirmities that the power of God may be seene in my weakenesse that is I rejoyce in those infirmities that discover my owne weakenesse to God that I may not put any confidence thereby in my selfe Againe I rejoyce in my infirmities because they are meanes to humble me Againe I rejoyce in my infirmities and weakenesse because hereby I feele my weakenesse that I may goe out of my selfe and depend wholly upon God therefore when you goe about any businesse or performe any holy action unto God as you must doe it in Faith so you must renounce all strength in your selves and then God cannot but prosper your businesse or whatsoever good you goe about when you goe about it with Gods strength as Gideon did and on the contrary the Lord hath pronounced a curse against him that shall goe about any thing with his owne strength Iere. 17. 5. Cursed is the man that maketh flesh his Arme that is that goeth about any thing in confidence of his owne strength without Faith in me thus you see that if you would bee strong in the inward man you must get saving Faith in Christ. The seventh meanes if you would strengthen the inward man is this you must get the spirit all other wayes will nothing availe you except you get this for this is that which makes them effectuall and makes a difference betwixt men Sampson was strong and so were other men but Sampson was stronger then other men because hee had the Spirit and it is said of Iohn Baptist that hee came in the spirit of Eliah that which made a difference betweene Iohn and other men was the Spirit he came in the spirit of Eliah hee had the same spirit that Eliah had and therefore hee had the greater efficacy if Iohn had not had this spirit he had beene but as other men therefore whatsoever you doe labour above all things to get the spirit nothing will strengthen the inward man except you have the Spirit it is the Spirit that makes the inward man to grow strong in the soule And thus much for the meanes of the strengthning of the inward man and for this point we now proceed By the Spirit The next thing that is to be considered is the meanes which the Apostle layes downe whereby they may be strengthned in the inward man and that is to have the Spirit that hee would grant you c. that you may be strengthned by the Spirit in the inward man as if

Christ it is necessary that Christians have this kind of sorrow To this I answer first that it is not the greatest turbulent sorrow that breakes the heart and mollifies and softens it but there is another sorrow which I call a tempered sorrow and that sorrow hath in it both a sight of hell and a sight of heaven a sight of sinne and a sight of grace in Christ which farre exceedes this sorrow for as it is with joy the greatest joy is not expressed by laughter for that is the greatest joy that is the joy of the inward man so it is not the greatest griefe that is expressed by teares and as it is not the greatest fire that makes the most crackling and noyse nor that the deepest water that makes the most roaring so is it not the greatest griefe or sorrow that expresseth it selfe by this turbulent passion of the mind but the greatest griefe is nothing when a sinner apprehends sinne within and sees it in its owne colour then it humbles him Secondly to this I answer that there are degrees of this sorrow and this ariseth from the nature of men some men are of a more hardier nature then others and againe some are of a more softer and tenderer disposition for example some mens flesh will heale sooner then others though the wound bee the same so some haue more softer and gentle natures and therefore sooner wrought upon againe some God intendes to build a greater worke upon and therefore hee humbles them the more againe some hee will season aboue others and therefore will humble them the more that so they may bee fit for it Thirdly to this I answer that although all haue not the like measure of sorrow neither the same apprehension of sin that others have therfore are not so much cast downe in such a manner as others are yet it is not because they are not humble at all but because the condition followes it so close that it hath not power to worke that effect in them which it doth in others that see the same condition a farre off or not at all they apprehend Christ by faith and see reconciliation through him and therefore are not so deiected as others that see him not thus and therefore bee not discouraged though thou finde that thy humiliation bee not so great as others the things may bee the same and the apprehension the same but Christ the condition of thy peace is apprehended neere thee by faith and this qualifies the tempest of the soule but Christ is not seene of the other as a Sauiour and this makes the difference as for example there are two men set upon by robbers the one sees no helpe or no way to escape and hereupon hee is marvelously afflicted and astonished because hee findes himfelfe vnable to resist or make his partie good with them but the other man beset with robbers sees another neere hand that will stand close to him and thereupon hee trusts hopes and depends upon the man to helpe him this man sees the danger aswell as the other and feares but his feare is not a distracted feare neither is it so great as the other because it is mixed with joy and confidence in that he sees a way to escape yet he feares the same that the other feares and is truly humbled and thankfull unto him that saves him from the danger thus it is with many Christians they that haue a turbulent kinde of sorrow see death and hell and sinne and damnation but hee sees Christ so farre off that hee cannot depend upon Christ as a Saviour and hence for the present is marvellously cast downe but hee that hath the mixed sorrow spoken of sees the same in the same manner but withall hee apprehends Christ as a helper as a Saviour and here upon is not so much dejected and cast do wne as the other and yet notwithstanding is as truely humbled and thankfull as the other therefore labour to get a heart sensible of sinne that is labour to know sinne and the evill of it and withall labour to see Christ or else you will bee over-frighted with them as a man that is in prison for treason or a great fact hee knowes before what sentence the Iudge and Iury will passe upon him but he cares not if before he have got the Kings pardon so if you know sinne and know the punishment of sinne but know not Christ you will have no comfort in your knowledge labour therefore to get the holy Ghost for it is the worke of the holy Ghost to convince the world of sinne Iohn 16. 9. a man is no sooner convicted but there will be a change wrought in him for a man is then convict when hee is overcome every way and thus the holy Ghost will convince you of sinne seeke what way you will to keepe off the stroke of the Spirit yet you shall not be able and this stroke shall humble you if you belong unto God as it did Paul in this place But you will say how shall I know whether I am truely humbled or no For your better helpe I will lay downe some signes by which you may examine your selves and then accordingly you may judge of your estates The first signe whereby you shall know whether you bee thorowly humbled or no is this if you love much it is a signe that you are thorowly humbled this we see in the woman in the Gospel and it is Christs commendation of her that shee loved much that is she was sensible of that which Christ had done for her therefore her love to Christ was exceeding great no labour too great nothing too precious for Christ and this we see in Paul also Christ did much for Paul and Paul thought nothing too good for Christ therefore peremptorily he concludes that he is ready not onely to suffer but to dye for Christ seeing Christ saved my soule from hell and that by such a price of so much worth as his owne blood was how can I then thinke that my life is too much for Christ therefore examine your selves examine your humiliation by your love if you love him not above all things if you prize him not above all things you were not as yet truely humbled and that I may perswade you to love Christ and grace and holinesse above all things consider these two motives The first motive is this consider the goodnesse of the thing that I perswade you unto the goodnesse and excellency that is in the things of the world makes men to love them men will not love any thing except they see some excellency in it or at least wise esteeme it so but if it be excellent then it winnes their love so it will be with you in this if you see into the excellency that is in Christ and grace it will winne your love you will prize him above all things no man will prize a Iewell till hee know