Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	apostle_n	heaven_n	loose_v	2,492	5	10.3143	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A11116	A most excellent treatise containing the way to seek heavens glory, to flie earths vanity, to feare hells horror with Godly prayers and the bell-mans summons.	Rowlands, Samuel, 1570?-1630?	1639 (1639)	STC 21384; ESTC S502	58,638	288

but there they must leave me my riches pleasures and such like vanities vanish before but my sinnes and conscience will never leave me the divell will still pursue me hee that tempts me now to sinne will then torment me for sinning untill I cry out with Caine My punishment is greater then I can beare A horse is but a vaine thing to save a man said the sweet singer of Israel so say I all earthly things are too vaine to save a man to make him blessed I appeale to the conscience of every man if thou hast tried the pleasures of vanity and who hath not whether thou maist not take up the words of Saint Paul What fruit have I of those things whereof I am now ashamed Shame and griefe and guilt and punishment are the fruit of vanity enough I thinke to rend our hearts from affecting of it Thinke upon this thou that art in the trace of vanity that thou maist make a retreat loose no more time herein for thou hast already lost too much redeeme the time because the dayes are evill and why are they evill but because they are vaine Whatsoever is without the circumference of evill is above the sphere of vanity Resolve therefore with thy selfe that all things earthly worldly carnall sinfull are vaine the fashion of this world passeth away saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 7. 3. The fashion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word very emphaticall it signifies first an accidentall and externall figure without substance secondly the habit vesture or cloathing of a thing Saint Paul useth this word to debase the world by intimating unto us that the world is cloathed with a vesture that is wearing and wasting the fashion of it lasteth but for a time it is ready every houre to put on a new fashion againe by intimating unto us that the world is without any substantiall forme like unto shewes and shadowes that vanish in the representation Saint Luke cals all Agrippa's pompe but a fancie David cals the yeares of a man but a tale Psal 90. 9. We spend our yeares as a tale that is told As a tale nay as a thought for so much the originall word doth import and how many thoughts may a man have in an houre Nothing is more changable then a vesture nothing more fugitive then a shadow nothing more fickle then a fancie nothing more swift then thought What a disproportion therefore is it for the immortall soule of a man to bee fastened unto things which are of such a variable nature What a folly for us to preferre those which are but momentary for so I may more truely call them then temporall unto those things which are indeed eternall Glasses are in great use amongst us yet because of their brittlenesse who esteemes them precious Wee smell to flowers because they are sweet but because they are fading we regard them thereafter It were well if we would deale thus with all other vanities viz. regard them as they are use the creatures we may but not abuse them serve our selves of them but not serve them injoy them but not over-joy in them Now because examples are very effectuall whether we use them by way of dehortation or whether by way of exhortation let me propound one or two in this matter whereof I am treating that by them thou maist be beaten off from the vanities and iniquities of this present evill world When Alexander in the height of his glory kept a Parliament of the whole world himselfe was summoned by death to appeare in another world It was a wonderfull president of the vanity and variety of humane condition saith the Historian to see mighty Zerxes flote and flye away in a small vessel who before wanted Sea-roome for his Ships When Belshazzar was laughing and quaffing with his Princes and Concubines carowsing healths in the sacred Vessels deaths secretary the hand-writing on the wall told him he was weighed in the ballance and his Kingdome was finished And before him his father Nebuchadnezzar at that time the greatest Monarch in the world as hee was strouting in his Galleries and boasting of his owne power and honour a voyce from Heaven told him that his Kingdome was departed from him that he should be driven from amongst men that hee should have his dwelling with the Beasts of the field c. And the sentence was fulfilled on him the same houre So Zedekiah was a lively spectacle of this worlds vanity and misery who of a potent King became a miserable captive saw his children slaine before his face after that had his eyes put out and died miserably in prison I had almost forgotten Salomon the wisest King that ever was having given himselfe to take pleasure in pleasant things having made great workes built goodly Houses planted Vineyards Gardens and Orchards and planted in them trees of all fruit and having gathered silver and gold and the chiefe treasures of Kings and Provinces being now full of wisedome and schooled with experience he is licensed to give his sentence of the whole world and every man knowes what his censure was Vanity of vanities vanity of vanities all is vanity This wise King travelled all the world over and the further he went the more vanity he did see and the neerer hee looked the greater it seemed till at last he could see nothing but vanity Wouldst thou know what is to bee seene or heard or had in this vast Universe Vanity saith Salomon yea vanity of vanities and what else Vanity of vanities And what else All is vanity Nothing beneath the Moone that hath not a tincture of vanity Nay the Moone it self the Sunne all the Planets all the Starres the whole body of the Heavens is become subject to Vanity The creature is subject unto Vanity saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 20. that is the whole frame of the world consisting of the coelestiall and elementary region the visible heavens with all their goodly furniture of Starres and of coelestiall bodies and the earth with her ornaments and the other elements The Heavens shall perish and they shall waxe old as doth a garment and the Lord shall change them as a vesture and they shall bee changed As a garment the older it waxeth the lesse comely it is the lesse able to warme him that weares it so the materiall heavens by continuance of yeares decrease in beauty and veitue The neerer the Sunne drawes to the end of his daily course the lesse is his strength in the evening wee feele the Sunne to decay in his heat and he waxeth alway the weaker Now if those superiour bodies then much more things inferiour and sublunary are included within the compasse of vanity But it was my purpose when I first set upon this subject so ample and large to be so much the more short even understanding can of it self scourse where such plenty of ●atter is offered I have there●●re according to the modell ●f that

torments of hell Assuredly it goes beyond the compasse of all common sence and conceit of humane reason to consider That there should be such negligent wilfull grosse and carelesse blindnesse able to enter and take such deepe rooting in the soule of man The Conclusion of all the Premises IF now all this be so I beseech thee even for the bitter passion of our sweet ●viour Jesus Christ to remember thy selfe and consider that thou art a Christian ●●d that thou beleevest assu●dly for a most undoubted ●●th whatsoever the true faith ●●sructeth thee This faith telleth thee that thou hast a judge above that seeth all the steps and motions of thy life and that certainely there shall a day come when he will require an account of thee even for every idle word This faith teacheth thee That a man is no● altogether at an end when he dieth but that after this temporall life there remaineth another everlasting life and tha● the soules die not with th● bodies but that whiles th● body remaineth in the grave untill the generall day of judgement the soule shall enter into another new country and into a new world where it shall have such habitation and company as the faith and workes we which it had in this life This faith telleth thee also that both the reward of vertue and the punishment of vice is athing so wonderfull that although the whole world were full of bookes and all creatures were writers yet should they all be wearied and the world come to an end before they should end their description and make a perfect declaration what is comprehended in each one of these points This faith informeth thee also that the debts and duties which we owe to Almighty God are so great that albeit a man had so many lives ●s there be sands in the Sea yet would they not suffice if they were al employed in his service And this faith likewise telleth thee that vertue is such an excellent treasure that all the treasures of the world and all that mans heart can desire are in no sort comparable unto it Wherefore if there be so many and so great respects that doe invite us unto vertue how commeth it to passe that there be so few lovers and followers of the same If men be moved with gaine commodity what greater commodity can there be than to attaine life everlasting I they be moved with feare of punishment what greater punishment can be found than the mo●● horrible everlasting dreadful torments in the lake of fire and brimstone to continue eve● world without end If that bonds of debts and benefits what debts are greater than ●hese which we owe unto almighty God as well for that he ●s what he is as also for that which we have received of him ●f the feare of perils doe moove ●s what greater perill can there be than death the houre thereof being so uncertaine and the ●ccount so strait If thou be moved with peace liberty quitnesse of minde and with a ●leasant life which are things ●hat all the world desires it is ●ertaine that all these are found ●uch better in the life that is ●overned by vertue and reason ●han in that life which is ruled ●y the affections and passions of the minde for so much as ma● is a reasonable creature and n● beast Howbeit in case tho● account all this as not sufficient to move thee thereunto yet l●● it suffice thee to consider further that even almighty God ● abased himselfe for thy sak● that he descended from heave unto the earth and became man and whereas hee create the whole world in sixe daye hee bestowed three and thi● yeares about thy redemption yea and was also contented ●● the same to loose his life Almighty God dyed that sin● should dye and yet for all th● doe we endeavour that sin● might live in our hearts n●● withstanding that our Lo●● purposed to take away the life of sinne with his owne death If this matter were to be discussed with reason surely this already spoken might suffice to prevaile with any reasonable creature for not onely in beholding almighty God upon the crosse but whethersoever wee doe turne our eyes wee shall finde that every thing crieth out to us and calleth upon us to receive this so excellent a benefit for there is not a thing created in the world if wee duely consider it but doth invite us to the love and service of our Saviour Jesus Christ insomuch that looke how many creatures there be in the world so many preachers there are so many bookes so many voices and so many reasons which do all call us unto almighty God And how is it possible then that so many callings as these are so many promises so many threatnings and so many provocations should not suffice to bring us unto him What might almighty God have done more than he hath done or promised more greater blessings than hee hath promised or threatned more grievous and horrible torments than he hath threatned to draw us unto him and to plucke us away from sinne And yet all this notwithstanding how commeth it to passe that there is so great I will not say arrogancy but bewitching of men that doe beleeve these things to be certainly true and yet be not afraid to continue all the daies of their life in the committing of deadly sinnes Yea to goe to bed in deadly sinne and to rise up againe in deadly sinne and to embrue themselves in every kinde of loathsome detestable and odious sinne even as though all their whole endeavours intended by the practise of sinne to resist all grace and favour in the sight of God And this is done in such sort so without feare so without scruple of minde so without breaking of one houres sleepe and without the refraining of any one delicate morsell of meate for the same as if all that they beleeved were dreames and old wives tales and as if all that the holy Evangelists have written were meere fiction and fables But tell me thou that art such a desperate willfull rebell against thy Creator and Redeemer which by thy detestable life dissolute conversation doest evidence thy selfe to bee a firebrand prepared to burne in those everlasting and revenging horrible fires of hell What wouldest thou have done more than thou hast done in case thou haddest beene perswaded that all were meere lyes which thou hast beleeved For although that for feare of incurring the danger of the princes lawes and the execution of their force upon thee thou hast somewhat brideled thine appetites yet doth it not appeare that for any feare of Almighty God thou hast refrained thy will in any one thing neither from carnall pleasures not from backebiting and slandering thy neighbours nor yet from fulfilling thine inordinate lusts and desires in case thine ability served thee thereunto Oh what doth the worme of thy conscience say unto thee whiles thou art in such a fond securitie and confidence