Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	holy_a	lord_n	spirit_n	6,929	5	4.9769	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33212	Eleven sermons preached upon several occasions and a paraphrase and notes upon the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth chapters of St. John : with a discourse of church-unity ... / by William Clagett.	Clagett, William, 1646-1688.	1699 (1699)	Wing C4386; ESTC R24832	142,011	306

untoward accidents of Life as any of them ever were For here is the same Reason Encouragement and Assistance to do what God requires and to be happy therein as there ever was And why should not the same causes still produce the same effects For on the one side those holy Men and Women that are now with God had the same Appetites and Passions to govern that we have they endured the same Temptations and overcome them they had the same natural sence of good and evil that we have and were encompassed with infirmities and yet they walked by Faith and performed their Duty to God not to be admired and courted by men but to be seen and rewarded of God On the other side we have the same God to trust that they had the same holy Word of God to direct us the same Promises to inflame us the same holy Spirit to assist us the same Everlasting Reward to encourage us which they had So that God hath made no difference between them and us And let not us I beseech you make so great a difference between our selves and them as to miss of that peace and satisfaction which they once enjoyed in this World and of that infinite Reward which they have in part attained to in a better A Reward so vast that 't is all one within a trifle whether with or without Tribulation whether with ease or difficulty with pleasure or pain we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven For which God of his Infinite Mercy prepare us by his his holy Word by his gracious Spirit by his wise Providence through our Lord Jesus Christ And now to God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost be ascribed all Thanks and Praise for ever and ever Amen The Eight Sermon AN Assize Sermon MATTH V. 38 39 40. Ye have heard that it hath been said An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth But I say unto you That ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain I Am very sensible that the Duty here prescribed is so contrary to the Lusts and Passions of men and to some Principles of Honour and Wisdom which are currant in the World that it will be no very easy matter to persuade most men to practice it We are beholding to them if they will allow it to be a speculation fit for the Pulpit but if we pretend to offer it as a Rule for daily use we must pardon them there for it does not seem by any means to be accommodated to the state of Mankind and 't is pursued without any respect to or regard of the daily Occurrences of life What living would there be for us in the World if we should forgive Injuries and Wrongs as fast as they are done and put up Affronts as often as they are put upon us This would incourage the insolent man that hath done us one injury to offer a greater and by our tameness in bearing the injustice of one man we invite another to deal as ill by us or worse than the former which is the way to be affronted by every Scoundrel and trampled upon at every man's pleasure No but let us make men afraid of presuming to do us any harm by letting them see what others have gotten by it we must make them Examples that dare put any contempt upon us if we would live quietly and maintain our Honour and when others sees how dangerous a thing it is to provoke us we shall be respected and courted by them they will be afraid to offend us and think themselves happy in our friendship But to sit down quietly under Abuses is the way to be scorned and insulted over by every body Tell them of forgiving Injuries that want a Spirit to resent them and have not Courage enough to revenge them this is a Principle fit for none but Cowards or Fools either for those that are so dull as not to understand an Affront or so fearful that they dare not return it but it comes too late for men of Honour and Mettle that know what is their Interest and are able to defend it And there is no reason in the world why they should expose themselves to Injuries and Abuses when they have Strength and Courage enough to guard themselves from them Thus in truth they say in their hearts as they plainly shew by their Actions revenging every little Disrespect or Affront or Injury of any kind by returning an equal or very often a vastly greater mischief upon the wrong-doer and this to secure themselves as they pretend from further wrongs by making all that observe it careful to forbear offending them in like manner as they would be encouraged to do if the present Injury were tamely past by and nothing done to revenge it But in the first place This Objection was well foreseen by our Saviour he knew it would be pretended against the Duty of forgiving Injuries that this would be to pull great inconveniencies upon our selves and invite every body that had any thing to get by it to multiply Injuries against us And therefore he prescribed the Rules of Forgiveness in those very terms that imply he considered the Objection well enough But I say unto you resist not evil resist not the evil or the injurious man but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also The latter words are not to be taken in a literal sense as if I were to offer my self to a second stroke after I had been struck once But in a moral sense i. e. venture a second injury rather than go about to be revenged of the first though it should be never so probable that the wrong-doer would take heart by thy meekness to add another abuse to the former thou shalt not secure thy self by revenge for all that And so if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also Not that I am presently to part with more to him than he has unjustly gotten by a wrong Verdict but that I am to venture another loss rather than be reveng'd for the first And so is the other instance to be understood From whence it is plain that our Blessed Saviour was not unmindful of the Objection that one would be apt to make against his Rule though if this matter had not been so plainly implied one would think a little modesty would serve to acknowledge that God is wiser than man and it is better for us to be governed by his Will than by our own foolish Reasonings at least if we would be thought to be Christians we should not think much to take the Authority of Our Lord and Master for a sufficient Reason to do as he

use left for his Reason that his Conscience is no longer in his own keeping and that he is now fit to herd with the Beasts that follow the foremost without discretion The Laws of Truth and Goodness are immutable and another man's violation of them gives me no dispensation to do so too I may not prostitute my Conscience to the Lusts of other men who are to be governed by the Laws of God as well as I if they call my resolution not to provoke my Maker an humour in this matter I were a Fool not to be tenacious of my own humour in this case there can be no reason why he that is in the right should go over to him that is wrong unless he that sets the evil example could change the nature of things and made evil not to be evil and sin and punishment to be other things than what they are Lastly The common way of excusing rash Oaths by pleading an habit implieth the greatest evil of this nature that can be for this is but to confess that a man is guilty of this sin in the highest degree an evil custom being the heighth of wickedness Thus both by shewing what those dispositions are which lead to common Swearing and by considering the excuses that are usually framed in the behalf of it I have discovered the Immorality thereof and that it cometh of evil I might here add the Authority of wise men who had no particular Revelation to guide themselves by and yet condemned this practice and disswaded all men from it for these Persons could discover the evil of it only by the light of Natural Reason which they could not have done if it had not been evil in its own nature Plato wrote smartly against Swearing upon light causes Hierocles tells us It is a dishonour to truth to confirm it lightly with an Oath Epictetus gives this advice Avoid Swearing altogether if thou canst if not as much as thou canst In a word The wise and sober Heathens were generally of this mind That an Oath was to be reserved for Cases of necessity and the practice of common Swearing was not in use amongst any but Stage-players and Slaves nor do we ordinarly meet with Oaths in any of their Writers excepting the Comedians and some of their dissolute Poets but the grave men and Philosophers took not the liberty themselves and dehorted others from it And this may serve to confirm us in the belief of its Immorality for what so many wise men agreed in condemning seems to be condemn'd as evil by reasons common to all men and possibly such as I have offered to your consideration so great a shame and ignominy it is to Christians to allow themselves in a Custom so easy avoidable that is condemned by the light of Nature however by the Authority of the Son of God whose Disciples we profess our selves to be Thus have I finished what I had to say upon this subject having been willing to say all that was any way proper to oppose a custom tending so manifestly to the dishonour of our Nation and the discredit of our Church and the scandal of Christian Society and finally to the ruin of Mens Souls for ever for without universal obedience to the Laws of Christ whereof this is one which I have been preaching to you we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven for which reason if I had chosen any other command of our Lord and Saviour to discourse upon I had been as vehement in urging you to the obedience of that as I have been in pressing this Now the God of mercy grant that we may walk before him blameless and be holy in all manner of Conversation as becomes the followers of Jesus To Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all honour praise and glory now and for ever Amen The Tenth Sermon MATTH VII 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven THE Point determined in these words is of the highest concernment to us in the world viz. Who of those that hope for Salvation by Christ shall not and who shall enter into the kingdom of heaven The former is described in that part of the Text Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord The latter in the close of it But he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven Let us first consider the former part Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord which being compared with the Clause opposed to it is evidently to be thus interpreted Not any one that saith Lord Lord and does no more than say so but neglects the doing of God's Will not any such person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven By calling Christ Lord is meant an open profession of Christianity and by calling him Lord Lord is meant a vehement profession of it such a Profession as is to be seen in all the ways of making known to the World what Religion we are of For instance When we do not only not renounce our Baptism and suffer our selves to be called Christians and call our selves so which is common to the most careless Professors of Christianity in the World but when also we do solemnly confess that Faith in the Assemblies of the Church into which we have been baptized and frequent the Table of Our Lord to shew forth his death and join in publick Prayers and are zealous for the purity of Christian Profession and contend against Error then we are those that call Christ Lord Lord i. e. who make a vehement profession that we are his Servants and Followers Now whereas our Saviour says Not every one that doth this shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven the plain meaning is That he doth not exclude this outward profession as unnecessary but that he makes it insufficient of it self in order to salvation 1. He doth by no means exclude it as unnecessary or as a Condition that may well enough be spared he said upon another occasion Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am John 13.13 And St. Paul tells us That as with the heart man believeth unto righteousness so with the mouth confession is made to salvation Rom. 10.10 Nay it is so necessary if we will be saved to confess Christ and his Truth publickly in the World that no danger will excuse us from it For the doing of this if need be we must venture all that is dearest to us in this life nay and life it self It was on this account that our Saviour told his Disciples Whoever will come after me must take up his cross and follow me It is the confession of the true Faith added to holy living that hath made Martyrs of Saints since it was properly for confessing Christ with their mouths for contending in the behalf of Truth against Error for serving God in Religious Assemblies