Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	earth_n	see_v	world_n	12,890	5	4.5277	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35029	A second call to a farther humiliation being a sermon preached the 24th of Novemb. last past / by the Right Reverend Father in God, Herbert, Lord Bishop of Hereford, in his Cathedral Church of Hereford.	Croft, Herbert, 1603-1691.	1678 (1678)	Wing C6973; ESTC R4769	18,017	45

run on dancing and capring till they leap into Hell Others there are who clean contrary are so dejected with any Affliction as if they expected their Heaven in this life and constant felicity in this mutable world where nothing continues in the same condition not only every year we see so great a change as from beautiful and delightful Summer to dirty cold and pinching Winter but every month a various face of the Earth every day an ebbing and flowing of the Sea and in the Heaven a change from glorious Sun-shine to dismal darkness How then can any one be so sottish as to expect that Fortune must give him quite contrary to the whole course of Nature a continued day without night a constant Summer without Winter Nay he would not have one storm surprise him nor a cold blast touch his tender flesh Others there are who instead of mourning and lamenting are murmuring and repining vexing and fuming As cold water cast on hot iron in the Forge makes it bounce and sparkle about so Assliction falling on these hot impatient persons they clamour and flie about at all that come near them they increase much the evil by their Passion afflicting themselves and all they have to do with As for this impatient sort of Men if they be neither Atheists nor Quakers sure they will acknowledge themselves guilty of sin and that the wages of sin is death eternal death and are they not willing to exchange and suffer a momentary evil instead of an eternal evil Had they not rather have a hand scorched or cut off than have the whole body cast into Hell flames Let them consider with what fury they fall on those who offend them in matter of Estate or Reputation and then reflect with what mercy God deals with them for their sinning against his divine Majesty Will not one Worm endure a trivial injury from another and must the infinite Majesty of God endure injury upon injury from dirty Worms without any Correction Were they not mad with passion sure they would rather give humble and hearty thanks for his mercy than brutishly murmur at his justice which really is mercy and not justice to inflict Flea-bites for Scorpions I wish these grumblers would rake and shovel together the trash and dirt of their foul Conscience on a heap see what a vast bulk that will make then let them borrow from Isa. xl 12. the Scales wherein God weigheth the Hills and Mountains put this mountain of dirt in one scale the dram of Gods merciful Correction in the other they will find their punishment to be so exceeding light and so unproportionable to their excessive sins as that in justice they have reason to expect far greater torments yet to come then doubtless instead of murmuring at the present affliction they will so dread those torments to come as most fervently to pray unto God with St. Austin Hic ure hic seca ut in aeternum parcas A man that hath a grievous sore in his leg and very much fears a gangrene sends himself for the Chirurgion and willingly stretches forth his leg to be lanc'd and sear'd yea and to be cut off to save his life So St. Austine knowing the dangerous corruption of his heart and fearing eternal death prays earnestly to God to lance cut sear do any thing to his body here to save his soul from everlasting flames hereafter There is no man in the world so impatient but had he a right apprehension of the eternal torment his sins justly deserve he would both patiently and chearfully suffer any affliction in this world to avoid that eternal evil to come And in like manner the weeping Lamenter at his sad affliction would he but fathome the Ocean of his iniquity and by that measure his deserved punishment not one more salt tear would drop from his mournful eye but his heart would be filled with gladness and his mouth with thanks-giving that he is not swallowed up in an Ocean of Torment Lastly as for those mad-headed persons who fear neither God nor men who put far from them the evil day who chaunt to the Viol and drink Wine in bowls who hearken not to the voice of the Charmer charm he never so wisely it were but lost labour to talk to them there is nothing else to be done but to pitty their madness and pray for their soberness and so commit them to the infinite mercy of God But I trust in God there are none here but such as fear God and tremble at his judgments Wherefore leaving these desperate ones I shall now proceed to the third thing proposed the method of Humiliation taken from holy Writ where we are told That the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome And there is no product in the World more natural than fear springing from guilt and humiliation from fear The guilty conscience still fears the severe Brow of an incensed Judge and a fearful heart will soon teach the trembling knees to bend and supplicate for pardon Wherefore there cannot be a better and speedier means of Humiliation than to look into the sacred Records of God and there see what fearful judgments by the Divine Decree have been executed on rebellious Sinners which are there written for our example As that upon Korah Dathan and Abiram they with their whole Families Wives Children Servants and Kindred all in an instant swallowed up quick by the gaping and devouring jaws of the earth Or look on those horrible showers of fire and brimstone poured forth upon Sodom and Gomorrah consuming every creature both man and beast houses and goods reducing all to Ashes Consider I beseech you what hideous howlings what confused roarings the numberless multitude sent forth in the midst of those raging flames renting the Heavens with their piercing cries Or look on that universal Deluge upon all mankind Noah and his Family only excepted when the windows of Heaven were opened pouring forth not showers but whole catarracts of Water to overwhelm them in the midst of their festival jollities and whilest they run from the Valleys to the Hills for rescue the speedier floods get to the Mountain tops hurrying them along faster than they intended and hoising them up from earth even unto the clouds from whence those waters fell And then think what sad farewels the fondling Parents and tender Children the new married Spouse and enamoured Bride gave each other floting on those dismal waters and by the boistrous billows often dash'd together to receive a bitter parting kiss And with what vexation of spirit did they behold Noah and his Family securely sailing in the Ark of Salvation which in their desperate folly they had contemn'd with scoffing derision So sottish and faithless is sinful man never to believe and fear the approaching misery till swallowed up by it And as these are dreadful patterns of God's fury against impenitent sinners in former Ages so we read in the Revelation of great calamities

Parliament will take such a course with them as they shall never be able more to hurt us Is there any man so simple as to think this Hath God no other avenging Arrows in his Quiver than this which now seems to be broken Or hath he no other Workmen to make him Arrows and Darts than Papists When ever God pleases to wound a Nation he never wants instruments the world is too full of such evil workers But truly there needs no more than the Popish Priests whom though you Banish the whole Land you may be sure they will not sit idle abroad but night and day labour to make assisting Parties in Italy Spain and France We find they all have contributed Mony to carry on that devillish work and doubtless they will go on to contribute both Money and Men also as occasion shall serve they will not easily sit down and suffer themselves to be baffled in this design they thought themselves so sure off The Pope and his Emissaries will never rest but strive with all imaginable endeavour to regain England once the prime flower of his triple Crown But put the case we were encompassed with walls of brass as high as Heaven and secured from all the Papists in the world what then Have we not divisions and factions too many amongst our selves to execute Gods a venging wrath one on another God setting Aegyptian against Aegyptian Brother against Brother Father against Son Son against Father till we are utterly consumed And were there but one man left in the world God can cause Worms and Lice to come out of his own Bowels to devour him Humble then your selves under the mighty hand of God 'T is his hand only that can deliver us Except the Lord keep the City the Watchman waketh but in vain and therefore cursed be the man that maketh flesh his arm If this present discovery work so happily upon us as to move us out of love and gratitude to God to humble our hearts in sincere repentance and amendment of life it will be a wonderful Blessing indeed But if as little amendment follow this very great Blessing as the several past judgments I fear this may prove as in dying persons a seeming recovery of Gods favour before our final destruction by his fury Really Beloved I look on this seeming great blessing with a very doubtful heart divided betwixt hope and fear The great sins of this Land make me fear we are no way fit for blessings but according to St. Austins rule mentioned before rather fit for scourges as this may prove and increase the Judgment if no amendment follow Wherefore again and again I beseech you in Christs stead Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God as Nineveh did We cannot have a better pattern for our Humiliation seeing they sped so happily by it See Jonah iii. 6. c. You see Beloved here was entire Humiliation both outward and inward Outward they laid aside their Robes of state and splendor they fasted and mourned and cried mightily to God And so it ought to be when God visits a Nation as I shewed you out of Isa. xxii 12. When God calls to fasting and mourning Sackcloath and Ashes then mirth and jollity feasting and sporting rich and gay cloathing which at other times were tolerable are then very sinful a sin never to be forgiven saith Isay there Beloved I pray you mark it well 't is no such slight matter as many make of it for mirth at such a time is to make a mock at Gods call to Mourning and as it were to out-face him a sin not to be forgiven And now I pray you tell me have we imitated Nineveh in such outward Humiliation or have we done any thing like it Who have laid aside their splendid Garments and gay Cloathing Nay have they not bought new ones new Laces new Ribbands which might very well have been spared in times of mirth and now much fitter employed in buying something to cloath the Naked Whose body is macerated and abated one hairs breadth Nay who hath spared one joynt of meat from his Table and sent it to feed the Hungry Whose Countenance is dejected Whose Mirth abated Whose Laughter stopped What one outward sign of Humiliation doth appear I grant in our own particular Humiliations We are not to put on a sad Countenance as the Hypocrites do but not to do it on publick Humiliations when God calls to Sackcloath and Mourning is as the dissolute Mad-brain'd do who fear not God nor regard Man Were your Father and Mother very sick and in great danger would you flant it and frolick it about sing and dance And when the Father of our Country the Kings sacred Majesty the holy Church our Mother our Laws and Liberty are all in apparent danger will you then do such wild foolish sinful things Consider better what God by his Holy word requires at this time and be not stiff-necked but humble your selves under Gods mighty hand Who doubts but the inward humiliation of the heart repentance of sin and amendment of life is the principal part and that which I chiefly aim at for without this all the rest is mere Hypocrifie But as our Saviour saith This ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone For those outward parts of Humiliation are very much conducing to Repentance as it is Eccles. vii 3. By the sadness of the Countenance the heart is made better Contrariwise A merry heart maketh a chearful Countenance Prov. xv 13. The great sympathy between our Soul and Body makes the one part still partake with the other I pray you observe how the Ninevites humbled their very Cattel by fasting as well as themselves and why St. Gregory answers That the bleatings of the sheep and lowings of the Cattel with such other doleful notes might move the hearts of Men to sadness which is a great preparative to Repentance for then 't is but converting that Passion to the right Object and the work is done Wherefore I earnestly recommend unto you the use of all outward Motives and all little enough to bring us to that true compunction of Heart which our sins deserve And 't is a great evidence our hearts are not truly sorrowful that we are so averse to this outward Humiliation for that Man or Woman that is deeply affected with grief for the loss of their Beloved cannot easily be brought to cloath or eat necessaries and Mirth and Laughter are madness to such Were then our hearts truly sorrowful both for our own sins and the sins of the Land our countenance would not be so jolly nor our clothing so gay nor our diet so luxurious We are all to blame God forgive us Let us then every one humbly and fervently undertake this blessed Work of Reformation the best of us all need it But perchance there may be many well disposed to Reformation yet much discouraged by those more exorbitant Sinners of whom there is little or no hope and you fear lest their crying sins may outcry your penitent tears and bring down some heavy judgment on the Land wherein you shall be sharers however you demean your selves I desire these despairing Creatures first to remember God's most merciful condescension to Abraham supplicating for wicked Sodom who moved the infinite clemency of God to promise to spare that sinful City if he found but ten Righteous persons in it Let your Repentance add ten more and make them twenty and then you will have a better foundation of hope Secondly There is hope that your Repentance may draw on theirs As evil communication corrupt good manners so good will correct evil manners Your Vertue will set off their iniquity so foul as will make the less brazen faced ashamed of their ways and turn to the Lord. Besides Your humble fervent Prayers may move the mercy of God to give some of those greater Sinners Repentance who pray not for themselves And thus the number of wicked ones daily decreasing may come to be so small as God may be moved to root out those few wicked and spare the Land The Husbandman finding but a few Thistles and Briars in his Meadow stocks them up but if they much overspread the ground he plows it up all Thirdly Put the case the worst that may be That God hath decreed the destruction of this Land yet by your humiliation you may escape the Calamity as in Ezek. ix 4 5 6. And the Lord said unto him Go through the midst of the City through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof And to the other he said in mine hearing Go ye after him through the City and smite let not your eye spare neither have ye pity Slay utterly old and young both Maids and little Children and Women but come not near any man upon whom is the mark What Heavenly comfort is here for all you that now humble your selves and cry both for your own sins and all the abominations that are done in the Land the Angel of God shall set a mark on your foreheads to preserve you from the evil O beloved we have a most gracious God who never fails to reward those that seek him diligently as I formerly shewed you your tears shall be put into his sacred bottle not one shall fall in vain to the ground but shall be converted into Pearls to be set in a Crown of immortal Glory which our blessed Saviour Christ hath purchased for us by his precious bloud To whom with the Father c. FINIS