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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	lord_n	name_n	write_v	5,698	5	5.8489	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42554	A prospect of heaven, or, A treatise of the happiness of the saints in glory wherein is described the nature and quality, the excellency and certainty of it : together with the circumstances, substance and adjuncts of that glory : the unspeakable misery of those that lose it, and the right way to obtain it : shewing also the disproportion between the saints present sufferings, and their future glory : many weighty questions discussed and divers cases cleered / by William Gearing ...	Gearing, William.	1673 (1673)	Wing G437; ESTC R31518	196,122	394

to it An Infant in the day of his Birth may be like the Parents but not equal to them Adam was made in the likeness of his Maker but when he sought to be his equal it was his ruine So great is the difference between likeness and equality that the former the Lord gave him freely but his affecting and seeking the latter was so displeasing to the Lord that he deprived him of the former also so that whereas being like to God he sought to be equal also he became neither equal to him nor like him but contrary to him So in this case the faithful shall be like to Christ but not his equals as the Stars are in some degree like the Sun but not equal in glory and brightness Now 1. Christ being God and Man having two Natures united into one Person each Nature hath a peculiar glory The Divine Nature being infinite incomprehensible eternal the glory of Christ is his very Nature it is infinite incomprehensible and eternal glory it is called light inaccessible The Humane Nature of Christ being a finite being the glory thereof is but finite this glory was given him by his Father God raised him from the dead and gave him glory 1 Pet. 1.21 Our Natures being the same with his Humane Nature we shall be like him in this glory our Natures being capable of the same glory 2. Yet although the glory of Christ's Humane Nature be but as his Nature finite yet this glory doth above all measure exceed all the glory of all the Angels and glorified Saints All the glory of Saints and Angels compared to Christ's glory is no more then all the light of the Stars compared to the light of the Sun The Moon exceeds the other Stars in light but the Sun a thousand times exceeds the Moon and all the Stars and if the Sun be wanting it will be night for all the Stars So one Saint may excel another in glory and the Angels may excel the Saints but yet the glory of the Humane Nature of Christ doth a thousand times exceed the glory of Angels and Saints One reason is because the Humane Nature of Christ is more nearly united to the Divine then Angels and Men the nearer union the greater participation of glory and can there be a nearer union then a personal union such an union is the union between the Humane Nature and the Divine in Christ If a Body that is capable of the light should be united into one substance with the Sun that Body must needs shine more glorious then the distant Stars The Humane Nature is united to the incomprehensible glorious Nature and Essence and therefore far more glorious then all other Moreover that which is the measure of things Quod est primum in unequoque genere est mensura reliquorum must needs be the chief of all those things of which it is the measure that which is the first and chief in every kind is the measure of the rest Now the glory of the Humane Nature of Christ being the measure of our glory must needs excel in glory The Sun being the measure of all the Starry light and all the Stars borrowing their light from him must needs excel the lesser Stars in light Our glory is but a borrowed light it is of his fullness of his grace and glory that we receive grace and glory his human Nature is a vast Cistern full of glory and our Natures are but the smaller vessels receiving glory flowing from this vast Cistern 3. Therefore when the Apostle saith we shall be like to Christ it is meant secundum proportionem non secundum aequalitatem our glory shall be proportionable to his we shall not equal him in glory it is meant quoad partes non quoad gradus we shall have the same glory for substance though not the same in degrees Christ shall so far excel the biggest Vessel of glory as Job in his glorious estate did excel himself when he lay upon the Dunghil full of nasty sores as Solomon in all his glory did excel himself being in his Mothers Womb. 4. Saints shall be like Christ in glory yet notwithstanding one Saint will exceed another in glory God will cloath all his Children alike yet their garments shall be made proportionable for their stature All the Saints shall be vessels of Mercy yet one Saint shall be a larger and more capacious vessel then another Christ in his answer to that curious request of Zebedees Wife Mat. 20.23 implyeth that there shall be degrees of glory and granteth that some shall sit at his right hand some at his left hand in his Kingdom They shall all have the same glory and happiness ratione objecti faelicitatis gloriae non ratione participationis in respect of the object of glory and blessedness but not in respect of participation God in Christ is the object of happiness but in regard of participation of the object one may and shall see more clearly then another In my Father's house are many Mansions saith our Saviour John 14.2 Patris domus is put for one and the same object of glory saith Aquinas Pluralitas mansionum the many Mansions sheweth there are divers degrees of glory And this is his comparison there is but one Centre unto which all things tend but some bodies are nearer to the Centre then other bodies are So God in Christ is the Centre of all our happiness Seneca calleth God Animae Centrum the Centre of the Soul but one Saint tendeth more near to God then another 5. Yet notwithstanding all the Saints shall be full of glory and happiness as Christ Jesus is Christ will give to every Saint his measure of glory Danaeus saith well that there be two things that the blessed Saints want in Heaven Carent omni invidia carent omni rerum ad beatitudinem necessariarum indigentia They want envy one Saint doth not envy another Saint's greater measure of glory because they shall be all full of glory and then there is no want of any thing for whatsoever pertaineth to make a Creature happy every Saint shall enjoy and such fullness of happiness shall he have that nec plus quaerel quam habebit nec minus habere doleit quam habet he that hath the least measure of glory shall seek for no more nor grieve that he hath so little CHAP. IV. Of the reasons why God will glorifie his Children in respect of the Lord himself SECT I. The reasons hereof are as follow 1. GOD hath Predestinated them unto glory 2 Thes 2.13 14. We are bound alwaies to give thanks to God for you brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth The Salvation of God's Children is built upon a stronger Foundation then the very Heavens even upon God's Counsel his hand hath written their names in the Book of Life in Characters that cannot be

the Christian race and have run over Mountains of difficulties and encountered with many tryals and tentations and at last have run them all down and are come in sight of the Promised Land of the Heavenly Canaan how will their hearts then leap for joy crying out Oh here is the Land of promise here is Heaven that blessed place here is the Kingdom we have so often prayed for Lord let thy Kingdom come here is the Crown we have run for then will a Christian say had this race that I have run been much longer and more tedious then it was and should I have met with a thousand dangers and difficulties more then I have done they had been nothing to this glorious Crown Brethren a few moments in Heaven will make you amends enough for all your watchings praying fasting for all your labours of love for all the time you have spent in the service of God be therefore faithful to the death he that endureth to the end shall be saved CHAP. XIV SECT I. HAving spoken of the circumstance of time I shall now consider the other circumstance sc of the place of the Saints happiness This also is very considerable When man was created holy and happy Heylin Geograph Willet Synops Papismi the Spirit of God vouchsafeth to give us an exact description of the very place where God set him shewing in what coast of the World Paradise was scituate sc in Eden which the Learned say was part of Mesopotamia with what goodly and beautiful Plants that Garden was furnished Paradisum vocant Graeci locum irriguum an oenum omni florum varietate distinctum sempiternis arboribus consitum aprissimum ad aetatem feliciter degendam Ossor Lusitam de Nobilit Christiana lib. 1. with what Rivers it was watered Genes 2.8 9. this being a great addition to mans happiness in that condition and St. Paul 2 Cor. 12. calleth the third Heaven Paradise as if this Garden of Eden had been a shadow of Heaven the place of the Blessed When the Lord chose Israel out of all the Nations of the World and planted them in Canaan a figure of Heaven you may see what an exact Geographical description is given of it in the Book of Josua Chap. 15 16 17. and elsewhere the fertility and pleasantness of the Country is frequently commended How incomparable then is the pleasantness of the heavenly Paradise and the beauty of the Celestial Canaan I. It is called in Scripture the house of God and the habitation of the Saints Melchizedeck called God the Possessor of Heaven and Earth Gen. 14. The whole created World is his possession but the Heaven is his glorious Palace as a Prince that hath a whole Kingdom under him keepeth his Court in the principal place of his Dominions 1. As a Man's House is or should be scituated in the best and most convenient part of his possessions so of all things created Heaven is the goodliest and most glorious part The Earth is beautiful especially in the prime of the Spring and Summer when the face of it is renewed but yet when it is in its greatest glory it is but a dunghil in comparison of the Heavens That glory of the Heavens which we see on the outside and afar off is incomparably beyond the beauty of the things below but that which we cannot see doth far surmount that which we do see I mean that most glorious habitation of the Angels and Saints though that which we behold hath incomparably more beauty and glory in it then our weak sight can discern at such a distance and therefore the Heavens for their surpassing beauty and glory are called the House of God 2. As a Man is commonly to be seen at his own house more then at another place besides so doth the Lord in Heaven more especially shew forth his glory The Lord hath been but seldom manifested on the Earth as when he gave so many visible signs of his glorious presence upon Mount Sinai and then when Moses was admitted to see his back parts and when he spake from Heaven at the Baptism of our blessed Saviour This is my beloved Son c. but in Heaven his presence is more notably manifested continually our Saviour sheweth that in Heaven the holy Angels do always behold the face of God Matth. 18.10 his glorious presence is always manifested there 3. In a Man's dwelling house usually his Children and Servants are abiding and although Kings and Princes have more Servants and Officers then an house can hold yet their principal Attendants are commonly with them in the Court so Heaven is the place appointed for the Lord's Servants though all of them are not yet there not for want of room but because the Lord hath appointed them other work to do elsewhere for a time yet thither shall they be gathered and in the mean time there are his principal Attendants there are the glorious Angels who are called the Angels of Heaven Matth. 24.36 there also are the blessed Saints of God departed 4. As a Man's house wherein he dwelleth is furnished for the most part so that his riches appear in some sort in his house so Heaven is the place which is most royally furnished the Earth is but a Country Farm-house in comparison of it Heaven is richly adorned and furnished with perfect Holiness all the Vessels of that House are of pure Gold there is neither dross in them nor any uncleanness cleaving to them all the Saints and Angels there are free from all impurity no unclean thing hath entrance into this house of God Holiness becometh thine house O Lord for ever Psal 93.5 it is full of all holiness and happiness It is said Rev. 21.25 that the Gates of Heaven shall not be shut at all Heaven Gates shall always stand open yet no unclean thing shall enter in The Streets of that City are of pure Gold the walls built of precious Stones there are twelve Gates of twelve Pearls A good Expositor observeth that all those precious Stones there mentioned have a contrary virtue against uncleanness to shew unto us that Heaven will not admit of any impure and defiled thing God will not suffer the dirty feet of impure Sinners to tread upon his pure Pavement of Gold When God drave sinful Adam out of Paradise he caused a Cherubim to stand before the Gates of Paradise with a flaming sword in his hand to keep him out of Paradise if he should attempt to come in again Sin is like the sword of the flaming Cherubim to keep out all wicked men from entring into Heaven Heaven is also a place of holy Exercises Here our best services are stained with sin and tainted with corruption but there all the services of the Saints do bear a lively impression of the fountain of holiness upon them there they must warble forth the Song of the Seraphims Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty Isai 6.3 It is said of the Saints of