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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	great_a	life_n	write_v	5,211	5	5.2860	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30702	Cosmo-meros, the worldly portion, or, The best portion of the wicked, and their misery in the enjoyment of it, opened and applyed together with some directions and helps in order to a heavenly and better portion, enforced with many usef[ul] and divine considerations / by Seth Bushell ...	Bushell, Seth, 1621-1684.	1682 (1682)	Wing B6237; ESTC R40782	133,437	408

their share why Ou● Saviour tells us plainly Verily ● say unto you saies he they hav● their reward They have it the● have it in this World they hav● it now What they look for an● what falls to their share th● have it in hand present pa● down right and without dela● They look for reverence respe● and applause amongst men a● they have it They would b● called of men Rabbi Rabbi 〈◊〉 men call them so They would be fat and shine according to that of the Prophet Jer. 5.28 and have their cup with the good things of this life to overflow and they have their desire This is the reward they look for and they have it Verily I say unto you they have their reward And here is all that ever they are like to have Thus Hypocritical services sometimes meet with Temporal good things here but they never reach Eternal §. X. Tenthly Let me ask the question hast thou been heretofore forward in the profession of Religion having had some works of Conviction and Illumination passed over thy conscience and so hast tasted the good word of God and the powers of the World to come hast thou formerly heard the word preached and with joy received it Heb. 6.5 Luk. 8.13 Isa 58.2 Si quis Christo temporalia praeponat non est in eo fundamentum Christus Aug. de Civit Dei lib. 21. cap. 26. hast thou taken delight in approaching unto God and to know his waies and now art turned back to the old Vomit and hast forsaken the waies of God so as those Ordinances which sometimes were sweet to thee are as unsavoury laid aside and have lost their wonted relish in thy account oh this is a fearfull sign that the World and Lusts thereof have gotten a strong hold in thy heart and sway the Scepter there and that thou art one of those who shall have all their good things here There is ● dreadfull Scripture for this i● Jerem. 17.13 O Lord the ho●● of Israel all that forsake thee sha● be ashamed and they that depar● from me shall be written in th● Earth because they have forsake● the Lord the fountain of livi●● waters All that depart fro● God shall be written in the Earth An heavy Doom is this for all those that have profe●●●● the knowledge of God and his wayes and yet turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them Oh 2 Pet. 2.21 it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness then after they have known it to turn aside To depart from God after there has been a turning to him is so evil in it's nature Multi amissa charitate propterea non exeunt foras quia secularibus emolumentis tenentur sua quaerentes non quae Jesu Christi non a Christi unitate sed a suis commodis nolunt recedere Aug. de Bapt. Contr. Donat lib. 4. cap. 10. that it is a grievous provocation As in all sin there is a departing from God so this is attended with an extraordinary aggravation Hence the Lord expostulates the case with Israel about this sin in an upbraiding manner Jer. 2.5 Thus saith the Lord what iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone farr from me and have walked after vanity and are become vain And threatens them ver 9. Wherefore I will yet plead with you saith the Lord and with your Childrens Children will I plead I will not only plead with you but with your Childrens Children I will remember this your sin to suceeding generations And here they that depart from God and forsake his waies shall be written in the Earth The names of true believers are written in Heaven Luk. 10.20 they are enrolled there in those everlasting records ne'er to be razed nor blotted out They have an everlasting name that shall not be cut off Isa 56.5 But those that depart from the Lord have their names written in the Earth they may take their Portion there their name and substance is lodged in the Earth and after a while shall rot and perish Sad is the sentence of having the name written in the Earth which when it is sought for is blotted out and cannot b● found yet thus it will be with all those that depart from God they shall have their names written in the Earth Psal 109.13 He loved the Earth saith God of the worldling and let him take it he had rather have had a great name in the Earth to call his Lands after his own name Psal 49.11 than to have his name written in the Book of Life and so he forsook my waies therefore his name shall be written in the Earth and let him take his good things there But when my People come up in remembrance before me and the Book of remembrance shall be opened Mal. 3.16 to give them Eternal Mercies the memory of this man whose name is written in the Earth shall perish Therefore if thou hast been forward heretofore and now when thou commest to be more antient thou art remiss and dull and careless in the way and work of the Lord here 's a text for thee go home and tremble least thou be the man or woman whose name is written in the Earth and so art never to enjoy the good things of Heaven §. XI In the Eleventh place consider whether God at present do not curse thy blessings so as thou findest that the more thou hast the worse thou growest Thou art not bettter but worse from time to time by the good things of the WorId that are heaped upon thee The outward Portion thou enjoyest it worketh not for the better but for the worse unto thee True it is thou art better as to thy body thine eyes may stand out with fatness Psal 73.7 8. Job 20.6 Job 21.7.12 13. and collops of fat are upon thy flanks as Job has it chap. 15.27 thy head it reacheth unto the Clouds and thy tongue it walketh through the Earth Psal 73.9 thou art mighty in power and thy House is safe from fear thou spendest thy daies in wealth rejoycing at the sound of the Organ Thus thou hast got a belly-full of the good things of this World but how fares it with thy soul all the while Alas it 's poor and lean and thin and bare thy body 's in good likeing but there 's leaness sent into thy soul Psal 106.15 It 's worse with thee now than it was formerly Since thy brests are fashioned and thine hair is grown Ezek. 16.7 't is worse with the than when thou wast naked and bare In former daies thou wast more humble and holy and self-denying more pitifull and compassionate to the needy more upright and conscientious in thy dealings Job 20.23 But now in the fulness of thy sufficiency pride compasseth thee about as a chain and violence covereth thee as a garment Psal 73.7 The more thou hast the worse thou art grown This is a sign that together with thy

COSMO-MEROS THE Worldly Portion OR The best Portion of the Wicked and their Misery in the Enjoyment of it OPENED and APPLYED Together with some Directions and Helps in order to a Heavenly and better Portion enforced with many Usefu● and Divine Considerations By SETH BVSHELL D.D. Imaginaria in seculo nihil veri Tertul. de Coron Mil. Cap. 3. Omnis mihi copia quae Deus meus non est egestas est Aug. Con● lib. 13. cap. 8. LONDON Printed for Will. Thackeray at the Angel in Duck-Lane Anno Dom. 1682. TO THE Honourable and worthy Gentleman Sir Charles Hoghton of Hoghton in LANCASHIRE Baronet Grace and Peace SIR THE Price that Gregory Nazianzen Orat. 1. that famous Divine did set upon all his Athenian ●earning wherein he greatly ●xcelled was no other but only ●his That he had something of Worth to esteem as nothing in ●omparison of Christ Herein imi●ating the Example of St. Paul ●ho though he profited in the ●ewish Religion above many o●●ers yet when the Son of God ●as Revealed in him Gal. 1.14.16 Phil. 3.8 laid it all ●de as Loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. And it was the Devout Profession which St. Austin once made of himself Confess lib. 3. c. 4. when speaking of the great delight which he took in Cicero's Hortensius as containing a most liberal Exhortation to the love of Wisdom without any byass or partiality towards Sects he affirmeth that the heat of this his Delight was by this onely Reason abated because there was not in that Book to be found the Name of Christ without which Name nothing though otherwise never so polite and elaborate could wholly possess those Affections which had been trained up to a nobler study The consideration of which Sacred Affections in those holy men and the like in all such who are principled with the like precious Faith and Grace so as the Loadstone upon their Affections is as Bucer used to say that Aliquid Christi is undoubtedly the strongest Motive and Encouragement emboldning many Persons beyond their proper Inclination and inviting them to the Publishing of those Papers which otherwise might have been shut up and smothered in the confused rubbish of a private Closet So much of Encouragement is contributed unto Christian Labours from a faithful and ready acceptance of them Who amongst men but under a due reflection upon themselves must needs be conscious of their insufficiency especially in matters of such Import for which the Apostle implies None to be suffificient 2 Cor. 2.16 2 Cor. 3.5 The sence whereof could not but shut a man up in silence did not the consideration of that Christian Candor and Love to the least Glimpse of Truth wherewith gracious Hearts are endued on the one part and a desire to help in the building of the spiritual Temple on the other part bear a man out beyond his proper temper and inclination especially in an Age wherein Critical Censure holds an universal judgment 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the Mystery of Godliness great also is that Natural Blindness that is upon the hearts of men and those who are Enlightned 1 Cor. 13 9 they see but in part and know but in part and if but in part then there is a part they do not know In which respect the best may truly take up the Apology of that good Father Si nihil aliud profecerim saltem Socraticum illud habeo scio quod nescio SIR The many Experiences of your Abundant Favours and of your Family and free Expressions of Love towards me have not only obliged but emboldened me to Prefix your Honoured Name before these poor Pieces of my Labours in God's Church Other Argument in these Papers there is none to procure either your Honours View or Patronage than this One which that good Father could not find in all the Writings of Plato and Cicero That they have for the Subject of them the Discovery of the emptiness and insufficiency of all Creature Comforts and Worldly Enjoyments as to the true satisfactory and saving Enrichment of the Soul and this in order to the advancement of the Kingdom and good Things of that high and holy Person the knowledge of whom is not only our Greatest Learning but our Eternal Life In this Confidence I have presumed to present these Papers to your Honour as a Publick Testimony of my most Humble Duty And that I might with most Hearty Prayers Commend you and yours to the Good of God's Chosen Psa 106.5 ●●d after a Plentiful Enjoyment of the Blessings of Life here to the full Fruition of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1.12 hereafter Now that God may be the Strength of your Heart and your Portion for ever is the unfeigned desire of Your Honours Beneficiary In all humble Observance SETH BVSHELL TO THE READER Courteous Reader THe Ensuing Treatise is the Substance of several Sermons under some Abridgments though not altered as to their Method Our Lot is fallen I must confess into a forward age wherein men are rash for and ripe in censure and usually those who are least able to judge we find to be most free in passing sentence I know from what I dayly see that some will presently be ready upon the first view to spend a puff of breath in some sudden and undigested Quaere as to what purpose is this Why this Subject Why in this Form To such and this Preposterous Frame I shall onely say That we live in an Age that 's over Squeamish whose Nauseous Frame through sin and faction is so indisposed that let Divine and Sound Truths thoug● in what Mould soever cast be presented they shall scarcely find acceptance Sin has filled our Stomachs with bad Humours and wholesom● food will not be digested We are loth to stay by Truth till it take hold of us only with Pilate if we have any they are some sudden flashing Quoeres about it as what is Truth Joh. 18.38 And then we turn aside Exceptions enough Treatises of this Nature shall meet withal from men of the World as to matter manner words form method This say some is too flat others too sharp This too high that too low This too plain that too polite Here is too short there is too long Here too concise there it is tedious Thus all men almost as to the Books they meet with pass a d fferent Censure according to the severall sense they have of things and their various fancies Jam. 4.10 Psal 25.9 All become Judges of the Law but the meek humble-hearted learners to whom the promise is made of being taught are but a very few As it was in our Saviours time so 't is now men are hardly gain'd Though there is no net comparable to that of the Gospell as ordered and fitted in all Respects to take yet the men of this World have their cunning shifts to evade