Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	good_a	know_v	life_n	7,850	5	4.5045	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62648	The wisdom of being religious a sermon preached at St. Pauls / by John Tillotson ...	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.	1664 (1664)	Wing T1272; ESTC R4633	37,624	58

things the knowledg of the Principles of it and a suitable life and practice the first of which being speculative may more properly be called knowledg and the latter because 't is practical may be called wisdom or prudence therefore I shall endeavour distinctly to prove these two things 1. That Religion is the best Knowledg 2. That it is the truest Wisdom 1. First That it is the best knowledg The knowledg of Religion commends its self to us upon these two accounts 1. 'T is the knowledg of those things which are in themselves most excellent 2. Of those things which are most useful and necessary for us to know First It is the best knowledg because it is the knowledg of those things which are in themselves most excellent and desireable to be known and those are God and our duty God is the sum and comprehension of all perfection It is delightful to know the Creatures because they are some shadows of the divine perfections There are particular excellencies scattered and disperst among the Creatures which 't is very pleasant to contemplate But in God all perfections in their highest degree and exaltation meet together and are united how much more delightful then must it needs be to fix our minds upon such an object in which there is nothing but beauty and brightness what is amiable and what is excellent what will ravish our affections and raise our wonder please us and astonish us at once And that the finite measure and capacity of our understandings is not able to take in and comprehend the infinite excellencies and perfections of God this indeed shews the excellency of the object but doth not at all detract from the delightfulness of the knowledg for it is a greater pleasure for a finite understanding to be lost in the contemplation of its object and to view unlimited excellencies which have no shore nor bounds then to look upon those perfections of which we can see the end and utmost as 't is more pleasant to the eye to have an endless prospect then to be terminated for this is that which properly causeth admiration when we discover a great deal in an object which we understand to be excellent and yet we see we know not how much more beyond that which our understandings cannot fully reach and comprehend And as the knowledg of God in his nature and perfections is excellent and desireable so likewise to know him in those glorious manifestations of himself in the works of Creation and Providence and above all though it be little spoken of by the Saints of the Old Testament by reason of the obscure degree of its discovery in those times the knowledg of God in his Son Jesus Christ in that stupendious manifestation of his wisdom and mercy in the contrivance of our Recovery which is such a mystery and so excellent a piece of knowledg that the Angels desire to pry into it 1 Pet. 1. 12. And as the knowledg of God is excellent so likewise of our Duty which is nothing else but vertue and goodness and holiness which are the Image of God a conformity to the nature and will of God and an imitation of the Divine excellencies and perfections so far as we are capable For to know our duty is to know what it is to be like God in Goodness and Pity and Patience and Clemency in pardoning injuries and passing by provocations in justice and righteousness in truth and faithfulness and in a hatred and detestation of the contrary of these In a word it is to know what is the good and acceptable will of God what it is that he loves and delights in and is pleased withal and would have us to do in order to our perfection and our happiness It is deservedly accounted a piece of excellent knowledg to know the Laws of the Land and the Customs of the Country we live in and the Will of the Prince we live under How much more to know the Statutes of Heaven and the Laws of Eternity those immutable and eternal Laws of Justice and Righteousness to know the will and pleasure of the great Monarch and Universal King of the World and the Customs of that Country where we must live for ever This made David to admire the Law of God at that strange rate he doth in the 119th Psalm and to advance the knowledg of it above all other knowledg I have seen an end of all perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding broad Secondly 'T is the knowledg of those things which are most useful and necessary for us to know The goodness of every thing is measured by its end and use and that 's the best thing which serves the best end and purpose and the more necessary any thing is to an end the better it is So that the best knowledg is that which is of greatest use and necessity to us in order to our great end which is Eternal happiness and the Salvation of our Souls Curious speculations and the contemplation of things that are impertinent to us and do not concern us nor serve to promote our happiness are but a more specious and ingenious sort of idleness a more pardonable and creditable kind of Ignorance That man that doth not know those things which are of use and necessity for him to know is but an ignorant man whatever he may know besides Now the knowledg of God and of Christ and of our duty is of the greatest usefulness and necessity to us in order to our happiness It 's of absolute necessity that we should know God and Christ in order to our being happy Joh. 17. 3. This is life eternal that is the onely way to it to know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ It is necessary also in order to our happiness to know our Duty because 't is necessary for us to do it and it is impossible to do it except we know it So that whatever other knowledg a man may be endued withal he is but an ignorant person who doth not know God the Authour of his being the Preserver and Protector of his life his Soveraign and his Judg the giver of every good and perfect gift his surest refuge in trouble his best friend or worst enemy the present support of his life his hopes in death his future happiness and his portion for ever Who does not know his relation to God the duty that he owes him and the way to please him who can make him happy or miserable for ever Who does not know the things of his peace and the way how to get his sins pardoned and himself reconciled to an offended God Who doth not know the Lord Jesus Christ who is the way the truth and the life So that if a man by a vast and imperious mind and a heart large as the sand upon the Sea shore as it is said of Solomon could command all the knowledg of Nature and Art of words