Selected quad for the lemma: glory_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
glory_n	let_v	lord_n	riches_n	4,751	5	9.0528	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65659	A short treatise of the great worth and best kind of nobility Wherein, that of nature is highly commended, that of grace is justly preferred; the one from humane experience, the other upon divine evidence. / By Henry Whiston, rector of Balcomb in Sussex.	Whiston, Henry.; Pearson, John, 1613-1686.	1661 (1661)	Wing W1680; ESTC R204022	110,367	185

world is not worthy The one are the Jewels of Kings the other the Jewels of the King of Kings The one are the glory of Princes Courts the other the glory of Christ and his Kingdom And howsoever there be to use the words of the Prophet in another sense then he spake them upon this glory a covering so that the world knows not their worth yet the Lord knows it and shall in due time manifest it to the world as it was said of Cassius and Brutus his image which were concealed in Iunia's Funeral when twenty others of less note were brought forth that they shone the more because they were not seen at all so may it be said of the godly The less conspicuous they are with men the more illustrious they are with God Who more despicable with men then Peter a fisher man and poor who more honourable in the sight of God What meaner creature then the blessed Virgin espoused to a poor Carpenter who higher in the favour of God her Maker To the one were given the keyes of heaven To the other it was given to be mother to the God of heaven And though all attain not here to the like honour and dignity yet all are greatly beloved of God and shall partake hereafter of the same glory Now they are the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what they shall be but when Christ shall appear they shall be like him then they shall be as he is himself glorious in holiness having sanctified and cleansed them he shall present them to himself a glorious people Though they lie among the pots here yet shall they be hereafter as the wings of a Dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold Though in this life they be black like the tents of Kedar yet in the life to come they shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament yea as the Stars yea as the Sun in the Kingdom of their father And what then is the glory of the of the Nobles and Potentates of this world compared to the glory which shall be revealed in the Saints What are all the Titles Ensigns and Badges of Honour which the various Fancies of men have invented to set out the great Ones of the earth to the splendour and lustre beauty and Majesty wherewith the wisdome and power of God shall invest the heirs of heaven That which the Apostle speaketh in honour of the Gospel above the Law may we fitly speak in honour of the spiritual Nobility above the carnal That which is glorious hath no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth For if that which shall be done away is glorious much more that which shall remain is glorious And we may close up this with the words of Saint Iames a little altered Let the brother of low birth rejoice in that he is exalted and let him of Noble birth rejoice in that he is made low and taught to seek a new Nobility in a way common to all by vertue and piety for as the flower of the grass he shall pass away and nothing but his vertue and piety shall remain and make him truly Noble and happy to all Eternity 6. And in the last place if men of Noble birth be vertuous also and pious What should be their joy and what their Crown of rejoicing but this that they have crowned their Nobility with Vertue and Piety It was the speech of dying Otho to his Nephew That he should never forget that his Uncle was Emperour nor yet let his mind run too much upon it And so we think great Personages should never wholly forget nor too much mind their Noble birth but mind this rather which will be their onely comfort that they lead a religious and godly life Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might Let not the rich man glory in his riches Neither may we add let not the Noble man glory in his Nobility But let him that glories glory in this that he understands and knows the Lord. Though a Noble Ancestry be a great honour with men yet it is onely Piety that procures them honour with God Since thou was pretious in my sight thou hast been hoouurable Though Gold be better then other metals yet it passes not for currant coin in the kingdom till the Kings image and superscription be instampt upon it and though Noble persons be better by descent then others yet they cannot pass for honourable in the Church the Kingdom of God till righteousness and holiness the image and superscription of God be graven on them Theodosius therefore rejoiced more that he was a member of the Church of God then that he reigned on earth as Emperour amongst men And howsoever it be all one in some kind for a Prince to assume a small Title to that of Kingl as it is for him to wear a garland of roses and flowers on his Crown of gold yet Lewis the ninth of France counted it his greatest honour to be called Lewis of Poissi because there he was baptized and received as a member into Christs visible Church To be born of Noble Parents is as it were matter of fortune and chance but to be Vertuous and Pious matter of divine Grace and special Providence The number of Noble men every where in comparison is not great The number of those that are morally vertuous though more then can be engraven as one scoffingly said all good Princes might on a Ring is lesse but the number of those who by true Piety seek for Glory and Immortality is lesse yet by far And the greater their paucity the more eminent and singular is their glory and as surpassing their felicity As their birth is noble so their life being holy their end must needs be happy Their names by reason of Holiness are written in heaven as an assurance of their happiness Whereas otherwise notwithstanding their Noble birth they should be written as the Prophet speaks in the earth and all their glory at their death should be buryed with themselves in the dust What one Noble man that lived an Atheist said he would have engraven on his Tomb when he was dead the same may all of them say at their death which rest only in their Noble birth This is the door that opens to the regions below this is the inlet to the Infernal pit Whereas they which add to their Nobility Vertue and to Vertue Piety may say of Death as Iacob did of Bethel This is the gate of Heaven and with the Apostle By this an entrance shall be administred unto us into the Kingdom of Christ. And whereas the former as Princes and Rulers of the earth draw multitudes after them to sin and prophaness The latter as Princes have

vain sometimes as to claim kindred with the Stars and write themselves children to the Sun and Moon but when they have gone the highest they fall yet far short of the godly who have Christ for their elder brother and all the Saints the glorious company of the Apostles the goodly fellowship of the Prophets the noble army of Martyrs all the children of God throughout the world for their brethren And for their priviledges they are the Citizens of heaven and Peers if I may say of the Kingdom of God They have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ yea and with the blessed Spirit also The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with you all So that there is not a dram of Power in the Father of Merit in the Son of Comfort in the holy Ghost but they have an interest in it So that they may alwayes delight themselves in the love of the Father relieve themselves by the Grace of the Son and solace themselves in the Comforts of the Spirit And having this fellowship with God and being as it were Peers of his Kingdom it is no wonder that they have also Tutelam Imperii the guard of the Almighty the ministry and protection of the Angels about them They are all ministring spirits sent forth for to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation So that there is nothing spoken so highly and vaingloriously of their Kindred and Priviledges by others but it is made good in a higher way to the godly in the greatest truth and reality 1. And this in the first place letteth us see the reprobate minds and dispositions of those who have the godly in lowest estimation who ought to be in highest repute with them for their Piety and Devotion Let men be singular for Learning or any art or mechanique profession they are admired and adored by all but good men are lookt upon and talkt of but as monsters of Nature or some new mixture or strange composition They that keep themselves carefully from the filth and off-scouring of the world are generally reputed as such by those that are the filth and off-scouring of the world indeed Yea let the great Ones of the world busie themselves much in matters of Piety and they shall run presently the hazard of forfeiting with some of their own rank the honour of their Nobility That which Salvian long since complained of is as true in our times If any Noble man shall begin to turn towards God presently he begins to loose the credit of a Noble man with men Oh how little is the name of Christ esteemed amongst Christian people when Religion makes a man ignoble and Noble men are compelled to be wicked lest being good they should be lookt upon as worthless The Turks are of opinion that Learning doth soften and emasculate mens minds and the like Heathenish opinion have some of Piety that it doth weaken and effeminate mens spirits and take them off from every thing that is manly True it is godly men cannot swear nor drink nor drab it so stoutly nor give a sudden stab nor enter the lists upon every trifling occasion so desperately as they that think and speak of them so contemptuously But let the glory of God and service of their Countrey require it and none shall quit themselves more nobly Let Iulian the Emperour command his Christian Souldiers saying Producite aciem pro defensione reip Bring forth the Battail for the defence of the Common-wealth and every one obeyes Let him change the word and cry Producite arms in Christianos Bring forth your weapons against your fellow Christians and they acknowledge another Superior and regard not what he sayes They are cowards arant cowards to do evil They can do nothing against but have spirit and courage enough for the truth Let sword fire beasts whips wheels wracks be prepared for the Martyr Gordius Gordius is prepared not to die once but ten thousand deaths if possible for Christ. Let Romanus be threatned first with the wrack and then be spared by reason of his noble birth he will renounce the Honour of his birth rather then loose the Honour of being a Martyr Absit ut me Nobilem Sanguis parentum praestet aut lex Curiae Generosa Christi secta Nobilitat viros God forbid that bloud of Parents saith he Or court of honour should ennoble me Christs generous sect gives Nobility Let Sanctus let Lucian be tortured and questioned of what Countrey they are They each reply I am a Christian. Of what Profession I am a Christian. Of what Parentage I am a christian To every demand I am a Christian shewing at once their courage and constancy and that Christianity is the best Nobility Did these want valour or may they not seem to have drunk of the cup of spirits which some talk of Or doth not the Spirit and life which were both in their words and actions shew clearly that they had drunk indeed at that fountain which springs up in Gods children to eternal life and that the Spirit of glory and of God did rest upon them And have not Women also in like sort played the Men and marched along with them in the same Equipage shewing that they are indeed not onely flesh of our flesh but bone of our bone by their incomparable courage We have read of a Prince that was called Tremblant by reason of the trembling of his flesh when his armour was wont to be put on who being demanded the reason by some who had his valour in suspition told them You have little knowledge of me for if my flesh knew how far my courage would ere long carry it it would fall into a flat swound But surely we have so much knowledge of those that usually vilifie the valour of true Christians that should the same conflicts be presented to them which were sometimes to the Martyrs not onely their flesh but their hearts would be tremblant and they ready for lack of spirit to encounter them to fall as Saul in his distress flat on the ground None but the Christian spirit could endure the brunts which the Christian hath undergone Well and good may those which are Noble according to the flesh want as we see too often by experience the spirit of Piety but the true Christian can never want the spirit of Magnanimity or if a Christian should possibly prove a coward he hath that as other infirmities from the flesh not the spirit even as the other if they prove Religious have it from the spirit and not from the flesh 2. This lets us see how little cause some have to please themselves with their Nobility who have no regard to godliness no respect to piety Such are not so happy upon their own account in respect of their Noble birth as

not make him more conspicuous more illustrious True it is the profane great Ones of the world will still despise those of mean birth notwithstanding their godly life and do scorn generally to have any commerce with them or society in any office not only if they be low and Mechanick persons which might give just offence but though they be as able as themselves in any politick or civil capacity It hath been observed by Naturalists That there is such such an Antipathy betwixt two Birds that though their bloud be mingled together by force yet they soon sever and divorce themselves again from each other And it hath been observed also by Moralists of the Nobility and Communalty That howsoever they sometimes joyn together upon some common services yet they soon break again and upon the lest occasion fall quite in pieces Great Ones bear themselves commonly so high upon their birth that they care not that any should come nigh them though never do well qualified for parts and life Nor can they willingly give others that honour for their own which for the most part they arrogate to themselves meerly for the Vertues of others But look now as the profane great Ones despise the godly for their mean birth so God despises them for their wicked life As they look upon the godly as a base so God looks upon them as a black brood His own people descended from fair progenitours he ranks by reason of their vicious manners which the foul-faced Ethiopians Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me O ye children of Israel saith the Lord As they reproach the godly for their mean beginning So God reproaches them for their wicked living The Princes are Rebellious The Princes are revolters The hands of the Princes were chief in the Trespass The Nobles of Tekoah refused to put to their neck to the yoke of the Lord. Thus they are branded to eternity partly for their wickedness partly for their averseness to the works of Piety And as God so all good men though they be honourable by reason of their outward condition yet hold them as vile persons by reason of their filthy conversation And Satan surely cannot but laugh to see them stand extreamly upon their birth and yet make themselves the children yea the very first-born of Hell by their wicked life as if they desired to be chief in the lower as they are here in the upper world Crassum ridet Vulfenius ingens Atque horum centum curto centusse licetur Great Vulfenius laughs at such in grossest wise And hundreds doth scarse at hundred farthings prise We hate the exposing of any to derision but we would not unwillingly have our words make some impression We would have great Ones and Gentlemen see what little cause they have to brag of their Nobleness and Gentility while they make themselves the children of the Devil and liable to the same condemnation with the Infernal spirits by their profaneness and impiety For why Are not the Devils if I may so say as well-born and descended as the best Are they not the Sons of God and the children all of them of the Highest But not keeping their first estate wherein they were created that is their holiness they soon forfeited their happiness and forsaking their proper station by disobedience at the same instant they lost that excellency which they had over others of Gods creatures and their native preheminence A wonderful measure of knowledge indeed and no less power remains in them still but their holiness being gone the good Angel is wholly dead in them and the evill spirit alone doth survive And should they now please themselves and be proud of their endowments having forfeited the honour of their Creation and exposed themselves assuredly to eternal perdition Our condition is naturally the same with theirs but that they are fallen without recovery and there is a way opened for us to redeem our selves from our misery The only thing that preserves the elect Angels and which must raise lapsed man is Holiness Shall we then content our selves with our present greatness and not seek to recover by a holy life our former happiness The righteous not the Greatman Nobleman Gentleman is more excellent then his neighbour And shall the godly though mean of birth rise up and lay hold of eternal life by Righteousness and shall the great Ones and Nobles of the earth perish as the dung of the earth in their dung their own Wickedness Men aim generally at Greatness and labour to be as high as the best and did they seek it by Holiness they would certainly attain it first or last But now this right hand and left upper place and lower precedency and concomitancy turns all things topsie turvey and brings them in the end which otherwise might stand like innocent sheep at the right hand into the place of clambering Goats on the left Nothing at the last day will avail us but faith and sanctity when Christ shall come to be glorifyed in his Saints and to be admired in all that believe If men were wise they would not only as the children of this world provide for the present but as the children of light look through the present to future advancement They that minde only the present are like those that see with one eye alone which seldom see well and are not very sightly themselves to be seen but they that look to the present and the future are like ambidexters and lay hold at once both of this life and that which is to come Let great Ones then and Gentlemen look with both eyes to the present and future felicity and attaining by their birth to present Dignity like ambidexters let them lay hold of the future by Godliness and Piety And that they may be assured let them content themselves with nothing that is less then Piety As Christ saith If you love them that love you what reward have you Do not even the Publicans do the same And if you salute your brethren only what do you more then others Do not even the Publicans so So may we say here If men have Wisdom and Learning and Magnanimity have they more then the Heathen If they affect the Religion which they profess and seek the advancement both of it and those that administer thereunto Do not the Heathen do so We have shewed that these things may be in singular manner in natural men in such as are Noble only by Nature Let not Christians therefore be they Noble Gentlemen or others content themselves in going thus far but as St. Peter after he had reckoned up many vertues Knowledge Temperance Patience bids Add to all these Godlines As if he had said Let men see that they be all managed by the word of God and all tend to the glory of God This is the nature of Godliness to make