Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	body_n	earth_n	soul_n	16,341	5	5.1635	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02527	Contemplations vpon the principal passages of the holie historie. The third volume: in three bookes. By I. Hall, Doctor of Diuinitie; Contemplations upon the principall passages of the Holy Storie. Vol. 3	Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656.	1615 (1615)	STC 12654; ESTC S103660	101,087	468

suddenly cut off He saw the hope of posteritie extinguished in the virginity of his daughter It is naturall to vs to affect that perpetuitie in our succession which is denied vs in our persons Our very bodies would emulate the eternity of the soule And if GOD haue built any of vs an house on earth as well as prepared vs an house in heauen it must be confessed a fauour worth our thankfulness but as the perpetuitie of our earthlie houses is vncertaine so let vs not rest our harts vpon that but make sure of the house which is eternall in the heauens Doubtlesse the goodnes of the daughter added to the fathers sorow Shee was not more louing then religious neither is she lesse willing to be the Lords then her fathers and as prouoking her father to that which he thought pietie though to her own wrong she saies If thou hast opened thy mouth vnto the Lord doe with mee as thou hast promised Many a daughter would haue disswaded her father with teares and haue wisht rather her fathers impietie then her own preiudice Shee sues for the smart of her fathers vowe How obsequious should children be to the will of their carefull Parents euen in their finall disposition in the world when they see this holie maid willing to abandon the world vpon the rash vow of a father They are the liuing goods of their Parents and must therefore waite vpon the bestowing of their owners They mistake themselues which thinke they are their owne If this maid had vowed herselfe to God vvithout her Father it had been in his power to abrogate it but now that hee vowed her to GOD vvithout her selfe it stands in force But what shall wee say to those children whom their Parents vow and care cannot make so much as honest that will be no other then godlesse in spight of their Baptisme and education What but that they are giuen their Parents for a curse and shall one day finde what it is to bee rebellious All her desire is that shee may haue leaue to bewaile that which she must be forced to keepe Virginitie If shee had not held it an affliction there had been no cause to bewaile it it had bin no thanke to vnder-goe it if shee had not known it to be a cross Teares are no argument of impatience wee may mourne for that wee repine not to beare How comes that to be a meritorious vertue vnder the Gospell which was but a punishment vnder the Law The daughters of Israel had been too lauish of their teares if virginitie had bin absolutely good VVhat iniurie should it haue been to lament that spirituall preferment which they should rather haue emulated While Iepthaes daughter vvas two monethes in the mountaines she might haue had good opportunitie to escape her fathers vow but as one whom her obedience tyed as close to her father as his vow tyed him to God she returns to take vp that burden which she had bewailed to foresee If we be truly dutifull to our father in heauen wee would not slip our necks out of the yoke tho we might nor flie from his commaunds though the doore were open Sampson conceiued OF extraordinary persons the very birth conception is extraordinary God beginnes his wonders betimes in those whō hee will make wonderfull There was neuer any of those which were miraculously conceiued vvhose liues were not notable and singular The presages of the wombe and the cradle are commonly answered in the life It is not the vse of GOD to cast away strange beginnings If Manoahs wife had not been barren the Angell had not been barren the Angell had not been sent to her Afflictions haue this aduantage that they occasion GOD to show that mercy to vs whereof the prosperous are vncapable It would not beseem a mother to bee so indulgent to an healthfull child as to a sick It was to the woman that the Angell appeared not to the husband whether for that the reproach of barrennesse lay vpon her more heauily then on the father or for that the birth of the child should cost her more deare then her husband or lastly for that the difficultie of this newes was more in her conception then in his generation As Satan layes his batteries euer to the weakest so contrarily God addresseth his comforts to those harts that haue most need As at the first because Eue had most reason to be deiected for that her sin had drawne man into the Transgression therefore the Cordiall of GOD most respecteth her The seed of the Woman shall breake the Serpents head As a Physitian first tells the state of the disease with his Symptoms and then prescribes so dooth the Angell of God first tell the wife of Manoah her complaint then her remedy Thou art barren All our afflictions are more noted of that GOD which sends them then of the Patient that suffers them how can it be but lesse possible to indure any thing that he knows not than that hee inflicteth not Hee saith to one Thou art sicke to an other Thou art poore to a third Thou art defamed Thou art oppressed to another That all-seeing Eye takes notice from heauen of euery mans condition no lesse then if he should send an Angel to tell vs he knew it His knowledge compared with his mercy is the iust comfort of all our sufferings O GOD vvee are many times miserable and feele it not Thou knowest euē those sorrowes which wee might haue Thou knowest what thou hast done do what thou wilt Thou art barren Not that the Angel would vpbrayd the poore woman with her affliction but therefore he names her paine that the mention of her cure might be so much more welcom Comfort shal com vnseasonably to that hart which is not apprehensiue of his owne sorrow We must first know our euils ere we can quit them It is the iust method of euery true Angel of GOD first to let vs see that whereof either wee doe or should complaine and then to apply comforts Like as a good Physitian first pulls downe the body and then raises it with cordialls If wee cannot abide to heare of our faults wee are not capable of amendement If the Angel had first said Thou shalt conceiue and not premised Thou art barren I doubt whether shee had conceiued faith in her soule of that infant which her body should conceiue Now his knowledge of her present estate makes way for the assurance of the future Thus euer it pleases our good God to leaue a pawne of his fidelitie with vs that vvee should not distrust him in what he will do when we find him faithfull in that which we see done It is good reason that he which giues the sonne to the barren mother should dispose of him and diet him both in the wombe first and after in the world The mother must first be a Nazarite that her sonne may be so Whiles shee was barren she might drink what she

because he was Gods There is no so certaine way of increase as to lend or giue vnto the owner of all things Ely and his Sonnes IF the conueyances of grace were naturall holy parents would not be so ill suted with children What good man would not rather wish his loynes drie then fruitfull of wickednesse Now wee can neither traduce goodnes nor choose but traduce sinne If vertue were as well intailed vpon vs as sin one might serue to checke the other in our children but now since grace is deriued from heauen on whomsoeuer it pleases the giuer and that euill which ours receiue hereditarily from vs is multiplied by their owne corruption it can be no wonder that good men haue ill children it is rather a wonder that any children are not euill The sonnes of Ely are as lewde as himselfe was holy If the goodnesse of examples precepts education profession could haue beene preseruatiues from extremitie of sin these sonnes of an holy father had not beene wicked now neither parentage nor breeding nor priesthood can keepe the sonnes of Hely from sonnes of Belial If our children bee good let vs thanke God for it this was more then wee could giue them if euill they may thanke vs and themselues vs for their birth-sinne themselues for the improuement of it to that height of wickednesse If they had not been sonnes of Ely yet being Priests of God who would not haue hoped their very calling should haue infused some holinesse into them but now euen their white Ephod couers foule sinnes yea rather if they which serue at the alter degenerate their wickednesse is so much more aboue others as their place is holier A wicked Priest is the worst creature vpon earth Who are Diuels but they which were once Angels of light Who can stumble at the sinnes of the Euangelicall Leuites that sees such inpuritie euen before the Arke of God That God which promised to be the Leuites portion had set forth the portion of his Ministers he will feast them at his owne altar The breast and the right shoulder of the peace offering was their morsell these bold and couetous Priests will rather haue the flesh-hock their arbiter then God whatsoeuer those three teeth fasten vpon shall bee for their tooth They were weary of one ioynt and now their delicacy affects variety God is not worthy to carue for these men but their owne hands And this they do not receiue but take and take violently vnseasonably It had beene fit God should be first serued their presumption will not stay his leasure ere the fat bee burned ere the flesh be boiled they snatch more then their share from the altar as if the God of heauen should waite on their palate as if the Israelites had come thither to sacrifice to their bellies and as commonly a wanton tooth is the harbinger to luxurious wantonnesse they are no sooner fed then they neigh after the dames of Israel Holy women assemble to the doore of the Tabernacle these varlets tempt them to lust that came thither for deuotion they had wiues of their owne yet their vnbridled desires roue after strangers and feare not to pollute euen that holy place with abominable filthinesse O sinnes to shamefull for men much more for the spirituall guides of Israel He that makes himselfe a seruant to his tooth shall easily become a slaue to all inordinate affections That altar which expiated other mens sins added to the sinnes of the sacrificers Doubtlesse many a soule was the cleaner for the bloud of the sacrifices which they shed whiles their owne were more impure And as the altar cannot sanctifie the Preist so the vncleannes of the minister cannot pollute the offering because the vertue thereof is not in the agent but in the institution in the representation his sinne is his owne the comfort of the sacrament is from God Our clergy is no charter for heauen Euen those whose trade is deuotion may at once show the way to heauen by their tongue and by their foot lead the way to hell It is neither a coule nor an Ephod that can priueledge the soule The sinne of these men was worthy of contempt yea perhaps their persons but for the people therefore to abhorre the offrings of the Lord was to adde their euill vnto the Priests and to offend God because hee was offended There can no offence be iustly taken euen at men much lesse at God for the sake of men No mans sinnes should bring the seruice of God into dislike this is to make holy thinges guiltie of our profanenesse It is a daungerous ignorance not to distinguish betwixt the worke and the instrument whereupon it oft comes to passe that we fall out with God because we finde cause of offence from men and giue God iust cause to abhorre vs because wee abhorre his seruice vniustly Although it be true of great men especially that they are the last that know the euils of their owne house yet either it could not be when all Israel rung of the lewdnesse of Elyes sonnes that he onely should not know it or if he knew it not his ignorance cannot be excused for a seasonable restraint might haue preuented this extremitie of debauchednesse Complaints are long muttered of the great ere they dare breake forth to open contestation publique accusations of authoritie argues intollerable extremities of euill nothing but age can pleade for Ely that hee was not the first accuser of his sonnes now when their enormities came to be the voice of the multitude he must heare it perforce and doubtlesse hee heard it with greife enough but not with anger enough he that was the iudge of Israel should haue vnpartially iudged his own flesh and blood neuer could he haue offered a more pleasing sacrifice then the depraued blood of so wicked sonnes In vaine do wee rebuke those sinnes abroad which we tolerate at home That man makes himselfe but ridiculous that leauing his owne house on fire runnes to quench his neighbours I heard Ely sharpe enough to Annah vpon but a suspicion of sinne and now how milde I finde him to the notorious crimes of his owne Why doe you so my sonnes it is no good report my sonnes do no more so The case is altered with the persons if nature may be allowed to speake in iudgement and to make difference not of sinnes but offenders the sentence must needes sauour of partialitie Had these men but some little slackened their dutie or heedlesly omitted some rite of the sacrifice this censure had not beene vnfit but to punish the thefts rapines sacriledges adulteries incests of his sonnes with Why do yee so was no other then to s●aue that head which had deserued cutting off As it is with ill humors that a weak dose doth but stirre and anger them not purge them out so it fareth with sinnes An easie reproofe doth but incourage wickednesse and makes it thinke it selfe so sleight as that censure importeth A