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
A81105	A sermon preached in the parish-church of St Nicholas, in the city of Bristol, August the 27th, 1691 Being the anniversary festival of the natives of that city. By Thomas Cary, M.A. and vicar of the parish of St Philip and Jacob, in the city of Bristol.	Cary, Thomas, 1648 or 9-1711.	1691 (1691)	Wing C743BA; ESTC R222493	16,665	34

his God the ambitious Man's God is Honour the Epicure's Pleasure the Gluttons the Belly and the Covetous Man's Riches the World is the Idol he adores because the gain of it is his ultimate end therefore the Apostle calls Covetousness Idolatry Col. 3. 5. The Covetous Man's Heart is wholly departed from the Lord with the Children of Israel he forsakes the true God to worship a Golden Calf with those in the Parable of the Gospel-Banquet he prefers his Farm or his Merchandize before his God and Saviour he knows no God but Gain no Paradise but an earthly Patrimony Bonds and Mortgages from Men are with him of greater Value and a better Security than the precious Promises of God give him Earth here he cares not for Heaven hereafter neither will he part with an Estate in hand for the Kingdom of Glory in reversion The Rich Man in the Gospel could boast much of his Morality yet he had not learnt so much Self-denial Go thy way saith Christ sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven but he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions Mark 10. 21. Our blessed Lord took occasion from hence to declare the difficulty of Salvation to those that are covetous by proportioning it to the passage of a Camel thro' a Needle 's eye How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God vers 24 25. The Covetous Man's Practices demonstrate the infidelity of his Heart he is always laying up on Earth because he believes not that there is an Heaven his restless pursuit after Temporal Riches is an argument he expects no other Satisfaction than what this World can afford his continual Labour for the Body is an evidence he thinks his Soul shall die with it he that believes in earnest that he hath an immortal Spirit to be happy or miserable for-ever will not wholly neglect his better part and lay out all his care on that which must perish the Covetous Man would not forsake God for the World did he not apprehend to be a greater Good Mammon is the only Master he serves Worldly Gain the only Good he desires and Worldly Loss the only Evil he fears Covetousness incapacitates the Heart to perform any Religious Duty after a Spiritual Manner How can he pray devoutly whose Heart is devoted to the World How can he profitably hear the Word of God whose Ears are never attentive but to the Sound of Gain whose Thoughts are on his Worldly Affairs No! the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful Mat. 13. 22. The most Divine Discourses can no more affect his Heart than the most Melodious Musick doth the Ear of a Beast When our Saviour exhorted to Charity the Pharisees who were covetous heard all these things and they derided him Luke 16. 14. How can he value the love and favour of God the Language of whose Heart is Let my Corn and Wine increase and let God lift up the Light of his Countenance upon whom he please How can he bless God for his Mercies whose unthankful Heart is not satisfied with too much but always ravenous after more God and the World are so contrary in their Natures that both cannot have our Hearts the love of the one doth imply a contempt of the other it remains therefore that a Covetous Man is a profane and graceless Person without God in the World 2. Covetousness is an Argument of a base and sordid Nature It lodgeth only in narrow Souls and earthly Spirits a generous Mind disdains to entertain this filthy Lust the Covetous Man acts from and for Self he is unprofitable both to Church and State and useless in every relation he hath not a Heart to prefer the Publick Good before his Private Interest Of all Persons in Humane Societies the Covetous are most unfit for Publick Offices How unqualified are they for the Power of Judicature who never want Hearts when they have Opportunities of taking Bribes Covetousness perverts Justice either from fear of displeasing some great Personage or from hope to oblige him To what base Flatteries to what servile Compliances to what slavish Drudgeries doth this Vice expose Men That Mind cannot be free and ingenious which is inslaved with the Love of Money Magistracy is never more disgraced than when misplaced on Covetous Men this sin is inconsistent with that State and Grandeur that should keep up the Honour of it exact Justice and a generous Charity tend more to secure it from Contempt than all the Ensigns of Authority Liberality and Hospitality render it more honourable than Swords and Maces or a tedious Train of Attendants and therefore Jethro advised Moses to provide for Magistrates Able men such as fear God men of truth hating covetousness Exod. 18. 21. The Covetous Man is at the best but a Slave in a Mine of Ore a Captive in Fetters of Gold the Jaylor rather than the Injoyer of his Estate This Vice bows down the Soul towards the Earth hinders its flight to Things above and eclipseth it by interposing the World between it and Heaven The first sin was Pride this cast Angels out of Heaven the next to that was an Affectation to be as Gods to know Good and Evil this cast our first Parents out of Paradise these sins are very great and cannot be sufficiently aggravated but they were sins of a more generous nature than this of Covetousness they aspired to be greater than they were but the Covetous Man debaseth and lesseneth himself they would have raised themselves higher towards Heaven but the Covetous Man stoops lower towards the Earth as if he lay under the Curse of the Serpent Vpon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life Gen. 3. 15. 3. Covetousness is a most cruel and unnatural Vice It fills the Head with Cares the Heart with Sorrows and the Mind with Fears What discontents at Providence what melancholy damps what excruciating thoughts do torture the Minds of Covetous Men Covetousness is a sin and a punishment together a Vulture in the Heart a Wolf in the Breast a Serpent in the Bosome it oppresseth the Spirits drieth up the Radical moisture depauperates the Blood degradeth the Soul and consumes the Body a Covetous Man starves at a Plentiful Table thirsts in Rivers of Water and is poor in the midst of abundance he lives in want of what he hath and in this is most miserable that he only knows the Cares and Sorrows not the Comforts of being Rich For what hath a man of all his labour and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured under the sun For all his days are sorrows and his travel grief yea his

heart taketh not rest in the night Eccles 2. 22 23. Nature is contented with a little but the cravings of a Covetous Mind are boundless Rivers of Potable Gold will not quench this Hydropick Thirst Crowns heaped up to Heaven cannot satisfie this Ambition Contentment renders little much but Covetousness makes much but a little 4. Covetousness is a sin of prodigious folly Were it lawful to make Satyrs and Invectives against any Persons it would be against the Covetous their Vices may be exposed to shame and contempt although their Persons ought to be pitied For what folly is it to hoard up that with care and sorrow which is good for nothing but to be enjoyed Or to sweat and labour all our Lives for those things we must leave for ever in a moment What an unprofitable bargain is it to gain a transitory World with the loss of an immortal Soul What madness to render our Lives uncomfortable by denying our selves those Blessings God hath plentifully given us to make them comfortable We laugh at Children when we see them fond of gaudy Rattles and gilded Trifles the Covetous Man doth act the Child's folly in a higher Sphear he is taken with Gold not for its use but for the value the World hath put on it he admires it more for its luster than its convenience it is only the fancy that giveth such a great worth to this Metal were it not for Custom a Barr of Iron would be as precious as a Wedge of Gold where Shells are used for Money they are as serviceable as Plate is among us Gold and Silver are of no other use than as they serve to purchase the Necessaries and Conveniences of Life and therefore are never to be desired for their own sakes 5. Covetousness is the root of all evil The Schoolmen reckon up seven Branches growing from this Prolifick Root Aq. 2da 2dae quaes 118. Treachery Fraud Vnfaithfulness Perjury Discontent Violence and Vnmercifulness And St. Paul saith expresly They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows 1 Tim. 6. 9 10. I shall briefly enumerate the principal Vices that do necessarily attend Covetousness 1. Uncharitableness Covetousness makes Men hard hearted cruel and insensible of the Miseries of others the greatest Objects of Pity make no impression on their Affections their Ears are deaf to the most clamorous Necessities the Tears of Widows and Orphans affect not their obdurate Hearts where this sin reigns there is always a savage barbarous and unmerciful Nature He whose whole work it is to heap up will not spare any thing So far are the Covetous from supplying the Poor that it is well if they do not oppress them the rich Glutton in the Parable would not afford so much as the Crumbs his Dogs did eat to poor Lazarus he found more mercy from the Dogs that licked him than from their Covetous Master Churlish Nabal surfeited himself but denied Food in extremity to David and his Company the hands of a covetous Man are never open to give but to receive The Uncharitableness of Covetous Men is a demonstration of the Infidelity of their Hearts God commands us to give to the Poor he sends daily Objects to the Doors of the Rich and hath promised to reward Charity both in this Life and that to come but the Covetous do not believe a promising God or will not take his Word they prefer a small Interest on Earth before Bags that wax not old Treasures that fail nor a Hundred-fold in this life and in the World to come life everlasting 2. Oppression The Covetous Man measures Good and Evil by Profit and Loss Just and Unjust are with him but vain Notions Right and Wrong are with him but insignificant words Whence come Rapine and Violence Oppression of poor Neighbours Invasion of other Mens Rights breach of Contracts litigious Suits of Law secret Underminings of one another false Weights and Ballances fraudulent Bargains come they not from Mens covetous Hearts The Covetous Man forestals the Market ingrosseth the Blessings of God and contracts the largeness of his immense Bounty his Coffers are the bottomless Pit wherein the unmeasurable Plenty of God is lost his Barns are full when the Poor want Bread to stop their Mouths from Complaints 3. Inhumanity When this sin grows predominant it makes Men unnatural in denying themselves the Conveniences of Life sometimes they starve their Families while they live that they may leave them rich when they die the Curse of God is on such covetous Persons he judicially suffers them to be infatuated by this base Lust or else they could not be so cruel to Themselves and their Relations Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun there is one alone and there is not a second yea he hath neither child nor brother yet there is no end of all his labour neither is his eye satisfied with riches neither saith he for whom do I labour and bereave my soul of good this is also vanity yea it is a sore travel Eccl. 4. 7 8. So again There is an evil that I have seen under the sun and it is common among men a man to whom God hath given riches wealth and honour so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof but a stranger eateth it this is vanity and it is an evil disease Eccl. 6. 1 2. 4. Many Doctrinal and Practical Errors spring from Covetousness This impure Lust blinds the Understanding and clouds the judging Faculty he can never have the due exercise of his Reason who is addicted to an immoderate love of worldly things the Judgment is biassed to believe those Doctrines to be true and those Practices good which tend to our Temporal Interests be they never so false and evil when Covetousness prevails in the heart St. Paul saith That while some coveted after money they erred from the faith 1 Tim. 6. 5. St. Peter hath foretold That there shall be false teachers who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction and many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of and through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandize of you 2 Pet. 2. 1 2. They are farther described Having an heart exercised with covetous practices and loving the wages of unrighteousness vers 14 15. For an instance of this we need go no farther than the present Church of Rome many erroneous Doctrines and unchristian Practices among the Papists were first invented and are since maintained to gratifie the covetous desires of their Clergy their pretended Supremacy Infallibility

that eat them And what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes The sleep of a labouring man is sweet whether he eat little or much but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt Eccles 5. 11 12. The greatest Crowns have Thorns as well as Jewels in them a glorious Scepter is also weighty Magistracy itsself is but an honourable Burthen Great Men are liable to the Envy of Great Persons whosoever sits upon the highest Pinacle of worldly Honour is in this more miserable than the meanest that he is liable to a greater fall Contentment is oftner found in a Cottage than in a Palace Quietness is oftner cloathed in Rags than Robes Worldly Pomp and Grandeur only make it possible to be more extreamly Unfortunate Happiness is more in Solitude and Retirement from the busie World than in the crouded Courts of Kings Agur had much reason on his side when he preferred a Competency before either of the Extreams he deprecated Riches least being full he should deny God and say Who is the Lord and poverty least he should steal and take the name of his God in vain Prov. 30. 9. He desired rather to steer a middle Course or to be placed in a middle Station than to run the hazard of either of the Extreams certainly he who is blessed with a competent Portion of the good Things of this Life and hath a holy Soul in a healthy Body is the happiest Man on Earth he is not seated on the top of the Mountain so as to fear a Storm nor in the bottom of the Vally so as to fear an Inundation he is not so high as to be afraid of a Fall nor so low as to be trampled on he is not so great as to attract envy nor so little as to provoke contempt he hath enough to maintain him while he lives and to bury him when he is dead Again Abundance exposeth Men to many destructive Lusts Riches betray Men to Pride Luxury Sensuality Ambition and Contempt of God and Religion the Rich are careful and troubled about many things and neglect the one thing needful they seldom think of God their Souls the invisible World and a Future Account because they are well pleased to continue here the Pleasures of this World benumb the Powers of the Soul exalt Sensual Appetite render the Way to Heaven more difficult and dull Men asleep in a Carnal Security 4. Abundance of worldly things is of little use to the Soul They serve only for the purposes of the Body be joyful in the day of prosperity Religion allows innocent Mirth and sober Festivals It is good and comely for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life which God giveth him for it is his portion every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth and hath given him power to eat thereof and to take his portion and to rejoyce in his labour this is the gift of God Eccles 5. 18 19. But then God's Blessing must go with the use of the Creatures else they cannot render Life happy and comfortable he is truly rich who hath God's Blessing on all that he hath whether he hath much or little A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked Psal 37. 16. The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it Prov. 10. 22. There is that scattereth and yet increaseth and there is that with-holdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty Prov. 11. 24. When Daniel had only Pulse to eat and Water to drink yet because God blessed his Meals his countenance appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the King's meat Dan. 1. 15. 2. The happiness of Humane Life consists in the resignation of our selves and all that we have to God Then we are truly happy when we are fully perswaded of the Providence and All-sufficiency of God are the Objects of his peculiar Care and can entirely give up our selves to his wise Conduct The only way to satisfie our desires is to keep them within bounds the only way to have our own wills is to make God's will our will he that desires nothing but what pleaseth God always obtains what he desires it is not possible to bring up worldly things to our carnal desires but we may by the assistance of divine Grace bring down our desires to our present Enjoyments thus did St. Paul I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every-where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me Phil. 4. 11. An unsanctified heart is unsatiable and he that hath unsatiable desires can never be happy because he can never obtain his desires Self-will opposeth God's will and so can never be satisfied because God's will contradicts it and his will must be done whether we will or not God's will over-rules all and then we obtain our wills when they are subjected to the will of God When God gave the Children of Israel Manna from Heaven they were not contented with Angels Food they murmured against his Providence an evident demonstration that Bread from Heaven will not stop the mouth of an unsanctifi●d Man from murmuring against God the unholy are always unthankful Suppose God should spread before us all the Treasures of the World and give us liberty to take what we would could we do better than to refer our selves to the All-wise God and desire him to chuse for us If we believe him to be All-sufficient Wise Good and Faithful we must conclude him to be fittest to distribute to every Man his Portion we cannot be better provided for because he knows what is most convenient for us we cannot be more secure than under the guidance of infinite Wisdom to acquiesce in the will of God is to discharge ourselves of all troublesome thoughts because it is to cast all our care on him who careth for us the insufficient Creature is then most self-sufficient when it goes out of Self into the All-sufficient Creator Self is a vain Idol that deceives all that depend on it God is an all-sufficient Good to all that rely on him an unreserved Resignation of our selves to God is the great ground of true Content every Dispensation of Providence is welcome to him who believes that all good and evil things come from his hand and submits his will to the will of God a will resigned up to God doth not only submit to him by a passive Patience but actively