Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
fire_n	cloud_n	night_n	pillar_n	4,723	5	10.5941	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95842	An antidote against sorrovv, in order to the obtaining of sanctified joy. An excellent treatise first written in French by N. Vedelius, then translated into Latine by Gallus Pareus, and now into English, by Cadwallader Winne, M.A.	Vedel, Nicolaus, 1596-1642.; Winne, Cadwallader, b. 1622 or 3, translator.	1650 (1650)	Wing V167; Thomason E1421_1; ESTC R209478	59,453	229

beautifull than the Sunne What is more wonderfull than its motion What more usefull than the light therof yet notwithstanding how few there bee that have the excellency thereof in a deserved esteem considering not the end whereunto it was designed to wit the knowledge and glory of God What is more necessary to nourish and sustaine us than bread yet because God gives it us daily we make not of it such esteem as we ought so there bee many things wee begin then to value when we are deprived thereof and understand wee can in no wise stand in need of them The reason is the same of such benefits as God conferres upon all men whereof if they were destitute would be of all the creatures most miserable but they that enjoy them in the feare of God may thinke themselves happy though particular benefits be wanting as it pleaseth God For I beseech thee how gracious is God herein that hee hath not created thee a serpent toad or the like creature but after his owne image communicating with thee his nature which with the divine and angelicall is solely capable of eternall happinesse Hee composed thee of a soule and body whose conjunction is divine a very excellent miracle yea one of the greatest that thou canst conceive in thy mind Hee hath fashioned thee in thy mothers wombe so as thou mayest say with David I will praise thee O God for I am fearfully and wonderfully made Marvelous are thy workes and that my soule knoweth right well My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect Psal 139.14,15,16 He hath endued thee with reason and common sense whereby thou may est discerne good from bad and therefore hee ranked thee not in the number of fooles as hee might who are spectacles to all men being comedies to some but tragedies to good and wise men What a pleasant spectacle is it for thee to act thy part upon the brave Theatre of this world wherein thou seest so many Characters of Gods power that may ravish thy mind For if the sight of a peece of work curiously wrought doth so ravish the beholders hast thou not cause I beseech thee to contemplate with more astonishment and delight this wonderfull universe this round ball that azurd heaven bespangled with so many glittering starres What is more wonderfull and pleasant to the sight than the Sunne which is as a bridegroome comming out of his chamber and rejoyceth as a strong man to runne his course His going forth is from the end of the heaven and his circuits unto the ends of it and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof Psal 29 5,6 What a pleasant sight doth the nocturnall inequall motion of the Moone exhibite which by wonderfull mutation is one while seene under this or that forme and sometimes not at all Adde hereunto the spacious firmament under heaven which serves for our respiration or breathing the vast sea and the earth poiz'd with its own weight hanging not without a stupendio●s miracle in the midst of the air where no prop supports it but only the powerfull hand of the Almighty and so many sorts of riches within the bowels of the earth and on the flourishing furface thereof so many kinds of living creatures in the aire water and on the earth whereof some are pleasant to the eye some deformed some for pleasure and profit and some for bravery If a tragedy or comedy being but mans invention acted upon the stage doth so ravish the eies and mind of the spectators questionlesse the innumerable spectacles thou seest in this world I meane Gods judgement which one while speaks his goodnesse and patience and otherwhile his wrath should excite thee to praise his goodnesse and divine justice In briefe wheresoever thou wilt cast thine eyes shalt have reason to crie out with the Prophet Lord thou hast made me glad through thy workes and thy thoughts are very deep an unwise man doth not consider this and a foole doth not understand it Psal 92.5,6,7 How bountifull is God herein that hee hath given thee nourishment all thy life long especially in thy mothers womb whereas thou hast not knowledge of the same so for the procurement thereof didst not care And no sooner thou camest into this world but the same nourishment was ready at hand for thee in thy mothers paps which as thou didst ignorantly seek for so didst readily find out Al this is so strange and wonderfull that thou couldst not scarce believe the beginning of thy life to bee such unlesse infants were thy daily teachers so as thou mayest say and not unworthily Lord out of the mouth of Babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength Psalm 8.2 Moreover the very same God hath preserved thee from that time till this present strengthning thy staffe of life blessing thy portion To which end hee gave thee not onely the herbs of the earth but the beasts of the fields the soules of the ayre and the fishes of the sea Hee provides for thee being oftentimes driven to such extremity as thou hast not food sufficient for a day especially in the time of searsuy and famine even in an unexpected time yea sometimes after a wonderfull manner so that thou hast personall experience that God feedeth the hungry Psal 146.7 Is this a slender benefit that he hath preserved thee from the samine which is the most raging evill and more grievous than any punishment whatsoever And how gracious is God herein that hee doth not onely nourish thee but cloath thee also with rayment whereby thou mayest not onely cover thy nakednesse but protect thy selfe against the injuries of the aire and discommodities molestations paines which the least flie were able to doe thee But if this doth seeme a small benefit behold a poore naked wretch who hath not wherewith to cover his nakednesse and consider the miseries whereunto hee is exposed Consider further what singular care hee took of thee all thy life long for assoone as hee brought thee into this world hee forsook thee not as Architects are wont to doe who assoone as they finish their work have not from that time forward the least care of the same But when thy father and mother forsakes thee the Lord taketh thee up as the Psalmist speaketh by day his cloud protects thee and by night his pillar of fire defendeth thee In all manner of adversities dangers and difficulties he helpeth thee when thou art asleep exposed to thousand dangers which thou canst not even in the least degree withstand thy sences locked up thy body being as it were dead when thou takest thus thy ease and repose hee watcheth over thee and his Angels keep a ward about thee Hee kept thee as the apple of his eye as an Eagle stirreth up her nest fluttereth over her young spreadeth abroad her wings taketh them beareth them

body shall be re-united to the soule and the whole man tormented with the devill with horrible unspeakable and eternall torments The state of that man for misery surpasseth infinitly the condition of dogs swine and serpents for these beasts are reduced to nothing affoon as they expire Whereas when he is dead his torments begin to act their parts so that what hee suffered or could endure in this world is onely a forerunner or tast of those torments he must undergo after this life Behold thy first genuine naturall state wherein God verily might have left thee and then thou shouldest most miserably and eternally perish but hee would not deale so severely but according to the multitude of his mercies had compassion upon thee translating thee into a farre happier condition wherein now thou art Consider with me what will afford thee joy and comfort how happy is thy condition that whereas God passed by many myriads of men who miserably perish for ever hee hath chosen thee out of his free grace and mercy in Christ Jesus for which purpose it was his pleasure that God should be made man that the word should bee clothed with an infants nature and that that heavenly bread as one of the fathers stiles him should bee made grasse for all flesh is grasse Hee would have him first to be conceived and inclosed within the wombe of a woman ere his vertue and power should be dispersed throughout the whole universe by the preaching of the Gospell like Gideons fleece which was first bedewed ere the dew came downe to the plaines And that through his holinesse and innocency hee might cover before Gods face our impurity and uncleannesse hee would bee borne of a virgin and that great with child not by man but by the Holy Ghost for the Arke was overlayed with pure gold within and without Exod. 25.11 And the high priest was not to defile himselfe for his father or for his mother Levit. 21.11 Further it behoved him not onely to be borne but live and die for thee that thou mightedst obtaine everlasting life remission of sinnes and righteousnesse And that this might not be fruitlesse unto thee hee is risen from the dead ascended into the heavens and sitteth on the right of God his heavenly father And that this also might tend to thy good and salvation he hath called thee unto his Church made thee a denison of that citie that is set upon the hill and saith unto thee as he did once unto Soul arise and go to the city and it shall be told thee what thou must doe Act. 9.6 He found thee in a desart land and in the waste howling wildernesse he made thee ride on the high places of the earth Deut. 30.10.13 and placed thee in the land of uprighteousnesse Esay 26.10 hee hath given for food and sustenance his word that angelicall bread when others are fed but with the chasse and straw of that darkesome Aegypt whereunto they are most miserably enslaved and that thou mightest assuredly bee perswaded that what Christ did and suffered concerned thee hee ordained sacraments as certaine assurances or pledges of his grace Further he hath communicated with thee his spirit which sanctifieth thy heart with faith openeth the eyes of thy understanding wherby thou mayest not onely with Adam behold thy nakednesse but contemplate his grace changeth thy will purifieth thy affections so that not without a miracle thou art renewed into his image much like that King of Israel who was changed into another man restrains thee from committing such sins as the unregenerate perpretate consequently preserveth thee from horrible judgements and punishments due unto the same There redounds unto thee being in the state of grace honour felicity and profit for what great honour is it to thee to have God for thyfather what advancement is it for thee to be partaker of the divine nature in Christ and therein superiour to the Angels themselves Hee took not upon him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham Heb. 2.13 And that heavenly Joseph had in such esteeme the worme-eaten sack of our flesh that he vouchsafed to put into it the inestimable treasure of our salvation On the other side Angels are but ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heires of salvation Heb. 1.14 and consequently for thee in particular Moreover what honour is it to be a Prophet Priest and Prince over all the creatures which soveraignty thou hast purchased by Christ so that all things are thine 1 Cor. 3.22 and appertaine unto thee which in due time thou shalt enjoy after thou hast fought in this world the good fight a plenary possession of The commodities accrewing unto thee in the state of grace are innumerable for thereby thou art shot free from the thunderbolt of the Law there being no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 And howsoever there be some remainder of infirmities in thee which the flesh sinfully puts in practife yet they are covered with the robe of thy eldest brother the righteousnesse of Jesus Christ yea thine owne sins conduce to thy salvation thine own experience and the sense of the deformity thereof provoking thee to hate them working in thee sincere humility and inducing thee to behave thy selfe for the future more wisely and warily Being in the state of grace thou hast freer accesse unto the throne of grace in all thy necessities so as thou mayest plentifully pour teares into his bosome hee perswades thee with precepts and allures thee with promises His providence leads and preserves thee as a cloud by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night Esay 4.5 He provides thee all necessaries that relate to this life and that which is to come his Angels are a brazen wall to defend thee Adde hereunto that the afflictions themselves are not signes of his wrath but pledges of his grace and markes of his fatherly care to thy triall and spirituall exercise yielding the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse Heb. 12.38 Hee is present with thee in all temptations and conflicts strengthning thee by the power of his spirit by whom hee ascertaines thee of thy eternall salvation perswading thee that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers not things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate thee from the love of God in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.37,38 Whereupon he plants in thy heart such a firme hope of eternall happinesse as if thou hadst already a plenary possession thereof for hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is given us Rom. 5.5 These spirituall benefits are of that nature that they will never diminish nor faile Nay look how much the faithfull man affects them so much the more they increase like to the nurses milke which the more it is suck'd the more it abounds And