Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
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A73175
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Sixe sermons preached by Maister Henry Smith at Clement Danes Church without Temple barre. VVith tvvo prayers of the same author hereunto annexed.
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Smith, Henry, 1550?-1591.; W. S.
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1592
(1592)
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STC 22775.3; ESTC S125528
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82,174
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185
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beginneth to roote out some error or superstition at the first shall haue much a do for custome and natural corruption are the first causers of heresie and shall crie against her in the maintenance thereof and withstanders of reformation shall say great is Diana of Ephesus and so for a long time they seeme to wash the Ethiopian or the blacke More the more they wash him the more they gall him and yet he is an Ethiopian still but in the end the Arke standeth and Dagon falleth downe truth triumpheth 1. Sam. 5. ouer falshood hauing got the victorie light chaseth away darknesse with the brightnesse thereof To him that asketh what scripture haue you against it it is sufficient to answer what scripture haue you for it Is not this enough to ouerthrow it that for euerie idle word you must giue account as our sauiour Christ saith And againe saith God who hath required these things at your hands They aske what shall we not say God be with them Why should you I pray Esa 1. 2. Sam. 12. you what said Dauid of his child he said no such thing but thus he is gone and will not returne but I shal follow him If he be a good man we say the Lord be thanked for his deliuerance but if he be not then we say God graunt we may do better then he hath done that by his fall we may learne to rise from sinne Therefore as Iacob said to his wiues Gen. 35. and children giue me your idols that I may burie them so say I vnto you giue me your superstitions that I may burie theÌ„ that they may remaine with you or in you no longer to the dishonor of God offending of your weake brethren or to my griefe for I am iealous ouer you because seeing you are mine and I am yours ô that my voyce were as the whirlwind to beate downe root out and blow away all your superstitions that they may no loÌ„ger raigne among you Now to my text For mine eyes haue seene thy saluation Because the holy Ghost by inspiration had declared vnto him that he should not die til he had seene Iesus Christ therfore the same spirit led him to the temple shewed him that which it promised hauing seene the same he desireth and wisheth to die and be released from this earthly prison that he might liue with God As idle euil wishes are vaine because they are not according to faith nor grounded vpon the word of God so though we aske as cunningly as Iacob and as earnestly as the sonnes of Zebede yet if we aske not in faith according to knowledge Mar. 10. we can not obtaine for we must aske so that we may receiue that we may not returne emptie Then we see that the principal cause that moued Simeon to wish for death was because he had seene his sauiour and the true Messias which was promised by the father figured by the law spoken of by the Prophets and foretold by the fathers and pointed at by Iohn Baptist he embraced What desire should he haue of life when life and ioy and peace and the verie brightnesse of the image of God appeared vnto him for all his life is but a pilgrimage of sorow and of griefe yea a continuall combat with sin therfore what should he feare death But he might haue sayd long haue I wayted in patience but what is all the time that is past and the life that is to come to an ende My kingdome is not of this world and yet I Iohn 18. haue a kingdome whereof I am certified now I see thy saluation thou hast promised and now is thy promise fulfilled therefore blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Mat. 5. righteousnesse for none shall haue this food but they that huÌ„ger for it The murmuring Isrraelites died in the wildernesse might Num. 11. 14. and 16. and 21. c. not so much as see the land of Canaan because they murmured against their God As Moses died on the mount where he saw the land of Canaan so the godly die in the sight Deut. 34. of God in the contemplation of his glorie like Steuen who at the verie instant of Act. 7. his death saw the heauens open and Christ Iesus sitting at the right hand of his father and like Simeon here which died not till he saw the Lord of life and till he embraced him thankfully in his armes Beloued you are not ignorant that the great day of the Lord is neare at hand and therfore they that haue not yet seene Christ they that haue not yet embraced him but still sleepe without oyle in their lamps shall suddenly be ouertaken without the wedding garment and shall be cast into eternall torment for euer Mine eyes haue seâ—ne thy saluation c. Then we see that Christ was no spirit neither was his bodie a fantasticall bodie for if he were a spirit Simeon could not see him if his bodie were a fantasticall bodie then could not he haue embraced him Therfore we see that the wordes of the Scripture are true which saith that Christ was perfect man in all things sinne onely excepted For he sometime wept as at the death of Lazarus and likewise ouer Ierusalem Sometime Iohn 11. Luke 19. Iohn 4. Luke 10. Luke 5. he thirsted as at the well where the woman of Samaria disputed with him also sometime eate as at Marthaes house as also amoÌ„g Publicans and sinners which in euery thing shewed him selfe to be perfect man For mine eyes haue seene thy saluation c. O Lord saith he I desire now to be dissolued and free from the bondage of sinne which so long hath inhabited in my mortall bodie for now he is come by whom thou hast promised to free vs and set vs at liberty he is come by whom thou hast promised to breake the serpents head and he is come that will heale our infirmities and giue strength against sinne and Sathan by faith peace towards God through loue And now saith he I haue embraced him and thankfully do receiue him I beleeue and am perswaded that this is the same Messias whom the Father promised and the Prophets â—oretold all Israel loÌ„ged expected for who is the light of the Gentils the glory of Israel the God of the whole world Simeon was desirous to liue no longer in this mortall life when he saw perfect life but like Adam when he Gen. 3. came out of Paradice was desirous to come in againe or like the fish which is taken in the net out of the sea struggleth to get in againe Seeing now he is come for whom Simeon longed therfore what are the troubles that are past and the sorowes that are come to an end So they which loue the trueth of God and waite with desire to be filled with the knowledge therof such shal not die vntill they haue their hearts
we ought But we will obiect that we are Israelites and are circumcised haue receiued the sacrameÌ„t of Christs blood that we might be his people he our God but this wil not excuse vs nor make vs seem any thing the better in the sight of God but rather worse if we haue not cast away the workes of darkenesse and put on the Lord Iesus Christ for it is sayd that Christ came Ephes 6. Rom. 13. Iohn 1. amongest his owne and his owne receiued him not but despised him therfore his owne are accursed so many of them as reâ—ect their owne saluation which being freely offered vnto them would not stretch foorth their hands to receiue it And he came by the motion of the spirit into the Temple c. Luke 8. If we would thinke that his spirit doth leade vs into the Temple we would marke verie diligently the motions thereof when we are there whether it speaketh vnto vs in our owne soules or by the mouth of the minister of God who is the minister not of the 1. Cor. 3. Luâ— 4. letter but of the spirit grace of God The deuill led Christ vnto the top of an high mountaine that he might shew him the glorie of the world which deceiueth vnstable minds so would he do you if you would be led by such a guide but I would not haue you to marke the vaine motions of such a spirit which leads to nothing but to vanitie and pride for after he hath led you vp to the top and allured you by carnall pleasures as much as he can if you then fall downe to worship Mammon and embrace the world the same spirit will afterward leade you nay rather cast you downe from the top of all vnto hell Therefore I beseech you heartily intreate you that you would be the seruants of God and the seruants of the spirit of God to obey it and do nothing contrarie to his will that you can refraine that you would do all those good things which you would were done by you and that you would go thither whither you would come for all would come to heauen but all will not go to heauen If you will all heare I will teach you all yea I wil vndertake this heare and marke my words you shal be conuerted by the power of our Lord Iesus Christ For I pray vnto the Lord that I may neuer preach to the condemnation of any among you all which wisheth that euerie of you were more zelous and more godly then my selfe But to whom shall I compare you euen to the vacabond Iewes of whom Luke Act. 19. 74. mentioneth in the Actes that they tooke vpon them to abiure euill spirits by the name of Iesus whom Paul preached to whom the euil spirits answered saying Iesus we know and Paul we know but who are ye those which had the euill spirits ran vpon them and ouercame them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded and thus the deuill preuailed against them at that time because they sought to worke with anothers instrument preuaile with anothers weapon If they would haue said in the name of Iesus whoÌ„ we preach they might haue preuailed but they thought it sufficient that Paul preached him though they neuer professed him And so we leane vpon anothers staffe and thinke to be saued because God saueth others We shall be dealt withall as were those vacabond Iewes wherfore he wil answer such I know and such I know but who are ye Therefore it behoueth vs euerie one to pray vnto the Lord that he would furnish vs with weapons to encounter against all the euill motions of the spirit of Sathan that we may ouercome and not be ouercome and put to flight like these vacabond Iewes but that we may haue oyle alwayes in our lamps burning and alwayes armed with watchfulnesse against our enemies lest Sathan steale vpon vs at vnwares and spoile vs and strip vs and giue vs a fall Lord now lettâ—st thou thy seruant depart â—n peace c. If Samuell had heard the first time that 1. Sam. 3. God called him theÌ„ God needed not to call him the second or the third if Peter had Luke 22. marked the crowing of the cocke at the first time as he did at the third the cocke needed not to crow thrise Now therefore when you heare the same sound againe which you haue heard before remember now that the cocke croweth the second time for you know what discommoditie doth come by negligence what commoditie by attention for if you attend and follow iustice shall be swallowed vp of mercie Here is the example but where be they that follow it If nine leapers be cleansed yet but one returneth to giue thankes Luke 17. then one is all Vnthankfulnesse is the first guest that sitteth at the table for some will not sticke to say that they neuer said grace since they were children but if they had said we neuer had grace since they were childreÌ„ I would rather beleeue them Do they not say Giue vs this day our dayly bread If you do for shame say so no more beg no more at Gods hands vntil you be more thankful for that you haue receiued For behold the heauens Leâ—it 26. frown vpon you for your sinnes the earth denieth her fruite and is become barren because of your vnthankfulnesse Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart c. Here Simeon prayed praysed God yet but a short prayer for God delighteth not in much babling like the Pharisies or like the priests of Bal but Simeon prayed with Mat. 6. 1. Kings 18. Exod. 14. the heart like Moses and was heard Though you sing all Dauids Psalmes ouer and not haue Dauids spirit it profiteth nothing and though Dauid was heard when he song theÌ„ yet you can not be heard Therfore let vs pray so that our prayers may be heard and let vs heare so that by hearing we may profit by it Let vs not heare still so vnprofitably as we were wont to do if we do it shall be required at our hands for do you thinke that you shall neuer be called to account of that which I haue preached vnto you but as soone as ye are gone out of this place all is shut vp and all is forgotten God is exeÌ„pted from your minds our Sauiour Christ saith Iohn 12. 48 the word that I speake vnto you shall iudge Iohn 12. 48 Luke 10. you at the last day Marie is commended for that she heard our Sauiour very dâ—ligently laying vp his words in her heart and Iacob was wiser then all his children in that he Gen. 37. 11. remembred the dreame of Ioseph vntill he saw it fulfilled Those that loue the Lord with an vnfayned loue do gladly heare his voyce and become obedient My sheepe heare my voyce saith Christ and they that loue the Iohn 10. 27. Arke as Dauid