Selected quad for the lemma: glory_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
glory_n	eternal_a	exceed_a	weight_n	6,870	5	9.1543	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59883	A sermon preached before the Queen at White-hall, June 26, 1692 by William Sherlock ...	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1692 (1692)	Wing S3354; ESTC R11058	9,582	34

for unjust Reproaches which are the effects of Ignorance or Malice That undeserved Honours unjust Praises and Commendations are only the Entertainments of Fools and that unjust Reproaches ought not to put Wise men out of countenance And thus it is in other Cases There is a vast difference between the natures of things and mens Opinions and were our Passions and Resentments governed by Reason and proportioned to the nature of things not to the Opinions of men about them it would make our Condition in this World much more easie and tolerable But I cannot now particularly shew you all the variety of Arguments whereby men may support themselves under several Calamities of Life it is sufficient to my present purpose that Reason gives a new strength and vigour to the spirit of a man to sustain his Infirmities Thirdly But the greatest Supports of all are the Arguments Religion furnishes us with as to name but two at present 1. That whatever we suffer is not the effect of a blind Chance or fatal Necessity but is ordered by a Wise and Good Providence 2. That if we bear our present Sufferings with patience and submission to the Will of God and make a wise use of them to our improvement in Grace and Vertue our very sufferings shall be greatly rewarded in the next World These two Principles are the Foundations of all Religion and as certain as any thing in Religion all other Arguments without this belief cannot support us and there are no Sufferings too great for a man to bear who is throughly possessed with a firm belief and vigorous sense of these Can we our selves or the kindest Friend in the World chuse better for us than God Do we suspect his Wisdom or his Goodness Can he mistake our Condition who knows our Frame Can he be wanting in his care of us or in good will to us who made us What is it we desire but to be happy and if God intends our happiness in his severest Corrections why should we complain Religion teaches us that the care of our Souls is of much greater concernment to us than bodily Ease or Pleasure and if God sees Pain and Sickness Poverty and Disgrace necescessary to cure or restrain our vicious and distempered Passions or to improve and exercise our Graces have we any reason to complain that God takes such severe methods to save our Souls Had we rather be miserable for ever than suffer some present want and pain The Soul is the best part of Man and to take care of a man is to improve his better Part and this is the Design of God's Providence towards particular men to train them up to Vertue by such methods of Kindness or Severity as he sees them want This I confess may be very grievous and afflicting at present but then we have the hopes of Immortal Life to support us and can that man be miserable can he sink under present Sufferings who has the hope of Immortal Life as the Anchor of the Soul both sure and stedfast To believe that all things at present are intended for our good and shall work together for our good if we love God and that when we have out-rid the Storms of this World by Faith and Patience and Hope These light afflictions which are but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory This if any thing will make all the Sufferings of this Life easie if natural Courage or natural Reason fail the Spirit of a man supported by Religion will sustain his Infirmity Thirdly Let us now consider what is meant by a wounded Spirit This is a metaphorical Expression and signifies a Spirit which suffers pain and trouble A wound in the Body is a Division of one part from another which is always painful and tho a Spirit cannot be thus divided yet because a Wound causes Pain a Spirit which is disordered and suffers pain is said to be wounded As for instance Some mens Spirits are wounded with the disorders and violence of their own Passions they love or hope or fear or desire or grieve immoderately and all Passions are very painful when they are in excess Upon this account the Wicked are said to be like a troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace saith my God to the wicked Other mens Spirits are wounded with a sense of Guilt their own Consciences reproach and shame them and threaten the Vengeance of God against them they have gratified their Lust or Revenge their Ambition or Covetousness and dreamt of nothing but ease and pleasure the Temptation was very charming as it came towards them but now the heat and impetus is allay'd and the enjoyment over they can't reveiw what they have done without horror their affrighted Consciences draw the most amazing scenes of Judgment and paint their Fancies with all the blackest Images of Terror The Sinners of Sion are afraid fear hath surpriz'd the Hippocrites Who shall dwell with devouring fire who shall dwell with everlasting burnings 3dly This is the wounded Spirit and such a wounded Spirit who can bear This is Matter of Sense and therefore for the Proof of it we must appeal to the Sense of Mankind and there is no danger in this Appeal for though some Men may scorn to confess what they feel yet if all Mens Minds be of a make we can feel in our selves what other Men feel And then we all know that Anger when it grows immoderate and encreases into Rage and Fury worries the Mind and sharpens it self into such a keenness as cuts deep into our own Souls that an immoderate love of Riches or Honours or Pleasures creates us infinite Trouble torments with an impatient Thirst with restless and uneasie Expectations distracts us between Hopes and Fears kills with Delays and Disappointments and there are but few Men who can long dissemble their inward pain and uneasiness but confess it in their Looks and Words and Behaviour by external and visible Symptoms of Frenzy and Distraction And yet all this is nothing to the Agonies of a guilty Mind as any Man must confess who knows what it is to be Self-condemned and to live under the Apprehensions of God's Wrath and the terrible Expectations of endless Torments for with what Courage and Patience can any Man bear such a Thought as this that he must be miserable for ever some Men may laugh away the Thoughts of Hell but it is certain that no Man who believes in good earnest that there is a Hell and that he himself is in the most apparent danger of falling into it that can bear this Thought The many sad Examples of despairing Sinners who at the last moment groan out their Souls in Agonies and Horrors are an undeniable Proof of this Men who do not believe a Hell may laugh at it till they feel it but for experiments sake let them only suppose that there were