Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	great_a	see_v	world_n	7,593	5	4.4143	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14187	Obedience to the gospell Two sermons, conteining fruteful matter, both of doctrine, and exhortation: very needefull to be knowne, and practised in these our dayes: vpon the words of the holy ghost, written by the Euangelist S. Luke, chapter 2. verses 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. conteining the effect of the birth of Christ, (reuealed by the Angell of God) in the sheepeherds, and others that heard of it. Gathered out of the sermons of Iohn Vdall, preacher of the worde of God, at Kingston vpon Thames, and published at the request of some of them that heard them preached.	Udall, John, 1560?-1592.	1584 (1584)	STC 24501; ESTC S102077	39,758	110

then reason thus with your selues this is not agreeable to my profession this is contrary to that I haue learned this will procure the name of God to be dishonoured my religion to be defamed and my selfe to be discredited therefore though it might be gainefull delightfull or any other way pleasure me I may not doe it this you had neede to marke very well for I tell you you haue many lookers on that would laugh to see your fall you dwell in a country where the Gospell is very litle preached insomuch that your ignorant neighbours make them selues sport to mocke at you that will be so foolish as to suffer your selues to be seduced by the Scriptures you haue godlesse and profane men that doe deride you Libertines and freewill men that doe despise you worldlings and bellygods that doe carpe at you insomuch that you haue very great neede to walke warily that it standeth you vpon to behaue your selues circumspectly therefore doe thus be diligent in publike hearing and as it may stand with your calling priuate reading of the worde of God for that is the onely schoolemaister to teach you all truth vsing daily and hartie prayer vnto God for the presence of his holy spirite to teach you the true meaning thereof looke what you finde therein required of euery Christian be carefull to doe it in your dealing with others deale faithfully without facing out of ill matters without swearing or lying reproue others with the spirite of mildnes that doe amisse in your presence shewe your selues obedient vnto all authoritie that is appointed of God and that for conscience sake Bring vp your children and seruants in the feare of God instructing them in the principles of religion detract no man secretly but tell them plainely of their faults to conclude shewe your selues approued vnto the Lord in the testimonie of a good conscience being alwaies carefull to seeke the glorie of God and benefit of your brethren be alwaies in worde and deede that which according to the Scriptures ye professe and then let Satan broach his lyes let the wicked carry them abroad let godlesse persons hate you as long as they may it shall turne to their shame at the length as to our great comfort we see it doth daily and being a triall of your patience to your greater glorie in the kingdome of heauen and let not the glory of this world bewitch you for ye are not of this world let not the successe of godlesse persons dismay you for the world loueth his owne and is liberall vnto them let not the slaunders of the wicked discourage you for because you runne not on into the same excesse of riot with them therefore they speake euill of you let not the multitude of your aduersaries feare you for God is strōger then all men let not the threatnings of great ones daunt you for their heartes are in the handes of the Lord to be guided at his pleasure let not the pronenesse of your owne nature seduce you for he that liueth after the flesh shall die let not the crosses that accompanye the Gospell wearie you for they bring the ioyfull fruite of righteousnesse to all that are exercised thereby so shall the name of God be glorified by you so shall your foes be put to flight your profession known to be the truth of the eternall God that liueth for euer Now to come to speake of these present sermons which I haue dedicated chiefly vnto you partly for that by that calling which the Lorde hath layd vpon me I am at this instant bound by all lawfull meanes to doe you good partly because it is the earnest sute of some of you to haue them penned partly for that they contain in them sundrye pointes of religion which you doe professe and for which you are of the world condemned that euery man may see thereby the impudencie of Satan that dare note Gods owne word with the marke of infamie onely let me craue this at your hands as a recompence for my trauaile that you woulde expresse the doctrine in your liues that I haue expressed though simply yet truly therein that I may once see in you all that zeale which the example of these sheepeherds may teach you then shal I thinke my labour well bestowed when the beames of righteousnesse doe breake forth as the sun at noone day which the Lord for his mercie graunt in his Sonne our Sauiour Iesus Christ to whome with the father and the holy ghost be all honor and glorie both now and for euer Amen Your seruant for Iesus Christes sake his vnworthy messenger IOHN VDALL The table The birth of Christ reuealed by the Angells did worke effectually in the sheepeherds in whome are to be considered these things their conference the time when it was 1. the maner of it 2. their iorney in going with haste vnto the place where the childe was 3. the fruite of the conference and iorney 1. founde the child 4. 2. published it abroad 5. returned praysing God 6. the people who wondered at the thinges which they had heard 7. Marye who kept all these things 8. pondred them in her hart 9. Two sermons of obedience to the Gospell Luke 2. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Verse 15. AND it came to passe when the Angels were gone away from them into heauen that the sheepeherds sayd one to another let vs goe then vnto Beth-leem and see this thing that is come to passe which the Lord hath shewed vnto vs. 16 So they came with haste and found both Marie and Ioseph and the babe layde in the cratch 17 And when they had seene it they published abroad the thing which was tolde them of that child 18 And all that heard it wondered at the things which were told them of the sheepeherds 19 But Marie kept all those things and pondered them in her heart 20 And the sheepeherds returned glorifieng and praising God for all that they had heard and seene as it was spoken vnto them WHEN the birth of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ was made manifest vnto the shéepeherds that were kéeping their shéepe by night it wrought effectually as you haue heard first in the Angels of God that they were moued to praise and glorifie God saying glorie to God in the highe heauens and peace in earth towards men good will Whereby they both declared that all praise honor and glorie was due to God for the work of Christs incarnation and also made knowne the blessing of god y e was shewed vpon mankind thereby to wit that here on earth they should féele themselues at peace in conscience because of the full perswasion of the remission of their sinnes and also should be tyed together one to another in a true league of spirituall vnitie all which floweth neither from mans will nor desert but onely from the frée fauour and good will of God our heauenlye father Secondly it wrought most effectually in mankind generally

other for hast Which teacheth vs what we are to do in matters of religion Forsomuch as in the worde of God we séeke the same Christ yea farre more glorious than he was when they sought him we are to contend with all possible indeuor that we may euē go before our teachers that as Dauid did we may excel them in wisedome zeale vnderstanding and godlines But do we so Alas no we are maruellous manerly herein we giue place to euerie one to go before vs and we would be so fine after the fleshly maner that we looke at men and follow them and though we sée manie goe forward before vs if anie in whom wée haue anie confidence procéede not wée tarrie also and this is our excuse loe say we is not such a mā wise and learuedder is not he of great accoumpt with the best trowe you if it were the right way to heauen that he would so little regard it I know him to haue more skill then I and therefore looke how he doeth so will I doe for he is an honest substantiall man And thus we builde vpon men forgetting the rocke Iesus Christ vpon whom we should settle our ground and of whome we must learne both knowledge and example of life but in our worldlye matters which should be meanes to induce vs to the cōsideration of heauenly thinges we doe not so for if we heare of a benefite or preferment or any other thing whereby we may gaine we say not he is a man more worthy to haue it then I he hath more néede of it then I but we striue by all meanes to preuent our neighbor then happie is he thinke we that can rise eareliest and can spurre his horse to runne the fastest then is our mannerlinesse that we vse in Gods matters clean forgotten the gredy desire of gaine hath so rauished our heartes that we cleane forget nay that we are carelesse whom it is that we goe before father or mother friend or foe Whereby we doe euen condemne our selues to be méere worldlinges wholly addicted to the mucke of this worlde not caring what become of all our dearest friendes yea of our owne soules after this life so that we may haue present gaine O that we were thus minded towards heauenly thinges that we had such a care to get vnto vs true wisdome vertue and holinesse O that we were as vigilant to increase in knowledge faith and righteousnes as we be in dignitie welth and worldly pleasure O that we could consider the excellencie of the soule aboue the body and thereby compare the ornamentes of the one with the other and the necessitie of the one beyond the other then doubtlesse would our righteousnes burst foorth as the starres and our holinesse as the sun at mid-daie then should not wée poore preachers of Gods worde crie out so much as we do for religion and reformation with so small profite then should not Christ be turned behind ●…s and our owne denises be preferred then should not the counsel of God giue place to the decrées of men nor follie beare the sway and wisedome be despised as it is euerie where to the great dishonour of our most louing and bountiful God and griefe of the consciences of all that feare his holie name And found Now foloweth the fruit of this trauaile of the shéepherds in thrée points as you heard in the beginning first they found that they sought for secondly published it abroad and thirdly glorified God for it And found both Marie and Ioseph and the babe laid in the cratch The first fruit which is this that according to their expectation and earnest desire they vsing the meanes and taking the course that was inioyned vnto them obteine their desire find Christ as it was told them wherein we may behold generally the truth of the word of God that euer commeth to passe according as it is foretold to teach vs to repose vnfained confidence in it And perticularly we may sée that veryfied in this place that our Sauiour Christ promised saying aske and it ●…halbe giuen you séek and ye shal find ●…nocke and it shalbe opened vnto you ●…r whosoeuer asketh receyueth and he ●…hat seeketh findeth and to him that ●…nocketh it shalbe opened God is not ●…ke vnto worldly men that are very li●…rall in promises and sparing in per●…rmāce but what soeuer he promiseth we vse those meanes that he prescri●…eth for the obtaining of it he perfor●…eth it yea and that not niggardly so at if at any time thou beest not parta●…r of those thinges in particular which God hath generally promised vnto his ●…ure thy selfe that the cause is only in ●…ee and no part in him for the most ●…dlesse that euer were coulde neuer ●…ccuse God of this to be shorte in ●…e performance of his word And ●…herefore let vs make this vse of it vnto ●…ur selues y ● séeing he is so free in word ●…d so bountifull in déed let vs cast all ●…ur care vpon him let vs cleaue with●…t doubting vnto his mercy and take ●…at course of life that he inioyneth vsing all the lawful meanes that he hath sanctified in his word then shall we proue what is the good will of God acceptable and perfect then shall we to the greate comfort of our soules séele that it is no vaine thing to serue God that we haue not washed our handes in innocency for naught But here we are to be very wary that we tempt not God and so accuse him of breach of promise For in truth●… there be many that séeke and finde not that aske and haue not that beg and obteine not that would enter in and cannot Whereof S. Iames giueth the reason for that saith he they aske amis that they might consume it vpon their owne lustes which wee doe sée moste euident in our owne experience for euery man wisheth that he were perswaded of the loue of God towards him that he coulde serue God as he commandeth and might come to the kingdome of heauen and yet the most part neuer the nearer For either they dispise and contemne y ● meanes that should bring them to the thing that they desire as he that doth wishe he were religious condemneth word preached he that would be holy refuseth to striue against the lusts of his ●…wne flesh he that would be rich refuseth ●…he paines to trauaile for the same or else ●…edoth it so distrustingly that he reposeth ●…ot y ● confidence in God which he should The world is full of both these sortes of people the former are espied folishe euen by naturall reason the latter séeme to haue greater colour for thinke they I coulde be verye well contented to be religious and so inioye the reward of y ● same But what is now in this world I sée yet what is there I cannot tell I will not therefore be so foolish as vtterly to renounce these present pleasures so farre as

more in it nor so much as hée did therefore I will be gone But Marie was not of this minde for shée considered that the shéepeheards could not come to the knowledge of the thing without the will of God and that the Lord who guideth all things had directed them to come thither and therefore it was méete forher to harken diligently and marke euerie word verie attentiuely Which vse also we must make of the like for if a Sparrowe fall not vppon the grounde without our fathers will then can not wée neither shal we heare anie part of his heauenlie worde without his appointment Therefore I must make this vse rather of it reasoning with my selfe thus I thinke that I know this point that is now in handling well ynough but yet I am deceiued for God woulde not then haue it spoken to me againe therfore I am now to heare it as diligently and marke it as carefully as though I had neuer known ●…rst what it meant and on the other side the partie who hath heeretofore refused to obey such or such a doctrine and heareth it sounding in his eares againe may reason thus with himselfe why doth God offer it vnto me knowing that héeretofore I haue despised it Surely because hée hath a loue vnto me and would haue me repent and not be condemned Beholde the greate loue and mercie of God vnto me vile and wretched sinner therfore now will I goe vnto him and saie Father I haue sinned against heauen and in thy sight and am not worthie to be called thy seruant I haue done wickedly in contemning so often thy holie worde in casting it behinde me despitefully and now Lord for thy mercies sake be fauorable vnto me and receiue me vnto thy mercie Happie is that man that can make this vse of Gods word but if they doe not they may take it thus for it is vndoubtedly so that the oftener they be inuited to amend aud conuert not the more horrible shall their condemnation be And pondered them in her heart The second thing that Marie did they beeing kept in the chest of her heart it is saide moreouer that she pondered them that is called them often to her remembrance and was alwaies muzing of them Wherein wée may beholde an example of most Christian modestie that hauing so great matters reuealed vnto her she maketh no bragge of it as though she were to be honoured of all men and admired for it but is rather carefull to make vse of it vnto her selfe By whose example is corrected that proud spirite of worldlings who albeit they neither knowe one point of religion aright nor yet can tell how to begin the practise of a godlie life yet notwithstanding they wil oppose them selues both in knowledge against the learnedest and in godlinesse against the most holie whose helpe in déede Sathan vseth to out face the true seruants of the Lord with their bragges and to the vttermost of their power to bring them into hatred and contempt But Marie was not of that minde she was inspired with that spirite which teacheth true humilitie which instructeth the godlie to be lowlie in their owne conceit and humble in their owne imaginations bicause it doth bring them to the sight of their manifold sinnes and the desert of the same wherby they are brought low and taught to depend vppon the méere mercie of God to boast in nothing but their owne infirmities to desire to knowe nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucified Againe wée are to obserue that shée therefore pondered them in her heart because shée did not yet beholde what would be the euent of these things and yet shée would not neglect them By whose example we may learne a profi-table lesson to teach vs how to vse the doctrine that wée learne from the Lords messengers It may be that at that present time when we heare it we cannot tel how to haue the present vse of it as they that be certainely perswaded of Gods fauour to them haue not present or so great néede of the comforts against distrustfulnesse they that be sufficiently humbled néede not greatly the seuere reprehensions of the Law yet notwithstanding when they heare the doctrine they are not straightway to thinke they néed not harken vnto it but rather they ponder it in their heart and lay it vp there as in a store house We may learne this lesson by the example of a good housholder who finding anie implement in his house which he presently knoweth not how to bestow wil saie I wil keep it seauen yeares and once in that time I shall haue vse of it euen so it fareth with Christians they are to prouide for warre in the time of peace to arme them selues as wel where Sathan striketh not as where he doth strike and to be furnished with the complete armor of God to be instructed with doctrine euerie waie that wheresoeuer or whensoeuer he shall assaile vs his blowes may be warded and kept backe with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God for we are not worthy to be so much of Gods counsell as to know with what trial he wil search vs next therefore we are to be euerie way prouided persecution sicknesse pouertie and all other Crosses that we are subiect vnto come very sodenly whē it wil be too late than to séeke armour of proofe for our comfort if we lacke it then we had as good lacke it still and therefore lette vs prouide for it aforehand that we neuer be found as the foolish Uirgins without oile in our lamps And the sheepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seene as it was spoken vnto them This is the third and last effect that is sette downe vnto vs to be wrought in the shéepeheards by the knowledge of the birth of Christ which containeth in it three things first their returning second their glorifying and praysing of God third the cause wherefore for al that they had heard and seen as it was shewed vnto them The sheepeheards returned The first thing as you sée is that when they had séene and were fully instructed in the birth of Iesus Christ they returned back againe from Bethlem vnto the place of their former abode to exercise the dueties of their ordinary vocation wherein we may beholde in what place they set the workes of their calling euen in the last place of al for we sée that they first went in haste to the place where Christ was to be séene then published it abroade tothe worlde and lastly when they had done they returned wée are to learne then if we mean to profit by their example to preferre the knowledge of Iesus Christ and the spreading abroad of his will whereby he may be glorified before our owne matters of this world For the first end of our creation is Gods glorie and the second our own saluation