Selected quad for the lemma: city_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
city_n	abraham_n	mount_n	zion_n	81	3	9.0408	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34944	Æternalia, or, A treatise wherein by way of explication, demonstration, confirmation, and application is shewed that the great labour and pains of every Christian ought chiefly to be imployed not about perishing, but eternal good things from John 6, 27 / by Francis Craven.	Craven, Francis.	1677 (1677)	Wing C6860; ESTC R27286	248,949	428

Diadem made of the pure gold of Ophir is long since dust but the Crown of glory worn in the Kingdom of Heaven is immarcessible incorruptible and lasting beyond all compass of time being without all possibility of alteration as there will be found no Cross set upon this Crown so there will be no end of this Crown It s no news to hear of Crowns in the World pluckt from the heads of Kings and Emperors but Fortune that ridiculous riddle of fools cannot reach this Crown for as it is super-eminent so it is permanent Then the head wearing this Crown and the crown then worn will be both immortal the person glorifyed and the Crown of glory both will endure for ever You will hardly hear of a King or Prince that wore the Crown of his Kingdom the whole age of a Man long a time as a man may naturally live which the Psalmist says is threescore years and ten and few come to fourscore but the Philosopher makes the life of a man an hundred years yet Saints in glory wearing this Crown will injoy not only the age of a man but In secula seculorum for ever and ever 7. The house or habitation prepared in Heaven is an Eternal habitation God is an excellent preparer He prepared a table in the Wilderness for the Israelites where he gave them water out of a stony rock and Manna from Heaven He prepared a Kingdom for Hester when she was a poor banished Maid He prepared a Whale for Jonah when he was cast into the Sea He prepared the World as an house well furnished against the coming of Man into it But of all preparations that is the greatest He hath prepared for every Believer an house Eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5. 1. v. For we know that if our Earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hand Eternal in the Heavens Here is the habitation prepared for every true believer that which St. Paul lays claim to belongs to each member of Jesus Christ so that each one of them may say Was Heaven prepared for Abraham Isaac and Jacob so it is prepared for me Was the Apostle St. Paul sure of this so am I. Was Lazarus carryed up thither so shall I I shall one day inhabit those habitations scituate in heaven An house scituate in a fruitful and pleasant Countrey is very taking with every one An house in some great City is of great esteem What would you judg of an house to have been scituate in Jerusalem that Princess and Paragon of the Earth and for Renown called the City of God But this is the new Jerusalem this is Mount Zion the garden and paradise of God here is an house scituated not in any Kingdom of the World but in the Kingdom of the Saints not in any Region of the Earth but in Heaven in the Land of Promise flowing with Milk and Honey where are fruitful Hills and pleasant Vallies whence came all those large clusters of Grapes of inward and outward comforts unto us whilst we are on this side the river This sets forth the excellency of the habitation that it is in Heaven when Christ would shew the excellency of the bread of Life he says It is bread from Heaven the excellency of Spiritual and Eternal blessings is set out in this That they are blessings in heavenly places Ephes 1. 3. v. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Because Gold is the most precious metal therefore we lay it over things not only Wood and Cloth but Silver it self we will wash over Silver it self that is a precious metal with Gold that is the most precious metal So because Heaven is so excellent we find the choicest blessings and good things guilded with this adjunct and all to shew the wonderful excellency of Heaven it self this then sets out the Excellency of this building of God it is in heaven and our Saviour Christ calls it his Father's house Joh. 14 2. v. In my Father's house are many Mansions this was created to be the Court of the great King the Praise of the whole World made to be a Non-such most magnificent stately and glorious farr above the reach of the thought of Men no man being able in words to set forth what Workman-ship and ●are pieces what Majesty and incomprehensible Excellencies are in this Palace of the great King and heavenly habitation of Saints and Angels It pleased God to create this glorious ●abrick which we see for his servants to inhabite in for some time but this is not to be compared to the Palace in Heaven When in a Kingdom we see Subjects live in stately houses what houses think we Kings live in Verum haec tantum alias inter caput extulit urbes Quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi To use the Poets words for look how much the greatest Palaces of Kings and Princes do exceed the poorest and meanest Cottages so much nay infinitely more does Heaven the greatest Palaces themselves that soon will be laid in the dust The most sumptuous Palaces and the strongest Materials have vanity written upon their Portalls and are oftentimes demolished and laid in the dust hence those ruines of whole Cities strong Castles great Abbies and Monasteries these are subject to Fire Earthquakes Storms Tempests Inundations and many other Casualties but Heaven hath Eternity written upon the gates thereof and shall stand for ever Say that many houses in the World Kings Palaces and strong Castles have stood long have lasted already many generations and yet may indure hundreds of years and be neither burnt with Fire nor shaken with Earth-quakes nor battered with Canon nor blown up with Gunpowder but continue quiet habitations not only to the present possessors but Ad natos natorum Et qui nascentur ab illis even for many years many Generations be continued to their children and to the children of their Nephews Yet who knows not that the like places have somtimes been laid waste the line of Confusion hath been stretched out upon them thorns and nettles and bryers have grown up in them they have be●n habitations for Dragons and Courts for Owls Cor●orants and Bitterns have possessed them Ostriches and Ravens have dwelt in them the wild beasts of the Desert have there met with the wild beasts of the Islands and the Satyre hath been heard to cry to his fellow the Shrich-Owl hath also rested there and found for her self a place of rest there the great Owl hath made her nest and layed and hatched and gathered under her shadow and thither have the Vultures been gathered together As the Lord in Isay 34. for many Verses threatens to deal with his Churches enemies But say they should escape such desolating Judgments yet the day is coming when they will be consumed and brought to nothing When the

ye received your consolation The first of the Beatitudes is given to the poor and needy The first of the woes is given to the rich and such who abounded with the Temporal good things of the world Riches proving two oft not only impediments to Vertue and Piety but occasions to Sin gotten for the most part they are by sin and occasions they are often times afterwards of sin and without Repentance consequently of Eternal Damnation It is an hard matter to have them and not to be hindred from Heaven by them they being fuel to mens Lusts le ts to Prayer and blocks in the ways of Piety and Devotion many times Matth. 19. 24. It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a Needle then for a Rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Here Christ alludes to a proverbial speech among the Jews and it was this When men did brag and boast they would do strange works and great matters their friends would jeer them with this you can as soon bring a Camel through a Needles eye as do it Now Christ in a solemn way useth this Proverb they knowing what he meant that as it is a thing not easie to bring a Camel through a Needles eye so it is a thing not easie neither to bring a Rich man to the kingdom of Glory How many have had them but they got no good by them they do rather poyson them then profit them What kept the Young man from following of Christ in the same Chapter Great possessions Christ tells him at the 21. v. If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven and come and follow me but at the 22. v. When the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions When Christ that spake as never Man did persuaded him to sell all come again then to follow him He was so far from obeying Christ that without any civility or good manners tendred unto Christ his Master he rudely and unthankfully departs from Christ neither love to Christ nor desire of Eternal life could prevail with him to stay with Christ any longer he was loath to part with his great Possessions that if Heaven and Eternal life be to be had upon no other tearms Christ may keep his Heaven to himself He will have none he will keep his possessions upon earth for all possessing of Eternal life How good had it been for this young man that he had never been a Rich man How many do we see in the world injoying a Confluence of temporal good things to kick against God Hence that Caution Deut. 6. 10 11 12 v. And it shall be when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the Land which he sware unto thy Fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob to give thee great and goodly Cities which thou buildest not And houses full of all good things which thou fillest not and wells digged which thou diggest not Vinyards and Olive-trees which thou plantest not when thou shalt have eaten and be full Then beware least thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt from the house of Bondage And indeed so it fell out at the 32. Deut. 15. But Jesurun waxed fat and kicked nay more then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation His heart was exalted against God though he had in his possession Houses full of good things yet for want of having his heart filled with Goodness he kicked against God like the young Mulet when it hath sucked turns up his heels and kicks at the Damm Nay that is not all for he runs from God like the fed Hawk that forgets his Master There are but few Jehosaphats in the world some I hope there are that do imitate so good a Man It is said of him 2 Chron. 17. 5 6. That he had riches and honor in abundance and his heart was lift up in the ways of the Lord in the ways of God's commands to do such things as God required and that were pleasing and acceptable unto God The higher God had raised Jehosaphat in his Estate the lower he kept his Heart in a way of obedience to the God of his Estate the more God had enriched Jehosaphat the more Jehosaphat set himself to obey God what God had given him became as Oyl to the wheels of his obedience and made him more fit and willing for service But alas it oft-times proves otherwise with very many that injoy much of these Temporal good things that they have had cause to curse the time that ever they had an Estate that ever they had abundance of the good things of this life they have found them as enchantments to draw away their hearts from God and as Trumpets sounding a Retreat and calling them off from the pursuance of Religion these things are as great weights upon the backs of thousands hindering them from ascending up the hill of God Solomon's Wealth did him more hurt then his Wisdom did him good it was his fulness and abundance that drew out his spirits and dissolved them and brought him to such a low ebb in Spirituals that it remains a question with some Whether he ever recovered it to his dying day What a sad story was that of Pius Quintus When I was in a low condition said he I had some comfortable hopes of my salvation but when I came to be a Cardinal I greatly doubted of it but since I came to the Popedom I have no hope at all For as it is the misery of the poor to be neglected of men so it is the misery of the rich to neglect God and too oft to neglect the worship and service of God Rare fumant faelicibus arae the Altars of the Rich seldom smoak But herein now lyeth the excellency of Eternal good things above the best of Temporal good things that as these are often found to do hurt to the Owners so the other good things make the owners thereof to be good not only make them happy in another life but they make them good here that they may be happy hereafter And this will appear by laying down some instances of Eternal good things that may be had in this life all which have in them this Excellent property to make those who have them to be Good I shall Instance in these five Particulars 1. In Grace 2. In God who is the God of all grace 1 Pet. 5. 10. v. 3. In Jesus Christ who is the author and giver of Grace 4. In the Spirit who is called the spirit of Grace Heb. 10. 29. 5. In a good Conscience consequent of Grace Such things as these cannot but make that man a good Man who injoys them surely he must needs be a good man that hath his heart established with Grace Heb. 13. 9. That is sanctified by