Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	fruit_n	good_a	tree_n	4,708	5	8.6623	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60347	A funeral sermon occasioned by the death of Mr. William Rathband an aged and learned servant of Christ, and preached Octob. 13. 1695. at Highgate. By Samuel Slater, M.A. minister of the gospel.	Slater, Samuel, d. 1704.	1695 (1695)	Wing S3965; ESTC R220549	27,757	34

get ready that we may not have cause to desire its stay Thirdly Though they be gone yet it was not before they were fit to go Some of thm liv'd but a little time but they liv'd much in a little time and how are they to be commended and the grace of God to be admired in them who do happily dispatch that work in twenty years or less which others and those holy Souls too are threescore or seventy years about Some die young it is a sign they ripened apace The Husband man careth not when he plucks up his Weeds because they are either for the Furnace or the Dunghil but his Corn shall be white to the Harvest before he puts in his Sickle So a wise man will let the Fruit of his Orchard hang till it be ripe and when it is so he gathers it So doth the wise and ever-blessed God as for wicked men he is not so curious about them they only cumber the ground they bring forth wild Grapes down with them saith Justice it will be a good riddance let better be planted in their room but he doth otherwise with the Trees of Righteousness the souls of holy persons are prepared for glory by that time their bodies drop into the Grave The marriage of the Lamb will not come before his Bride hath made her self ready Now is not this enough to satisfy you give one good reason if you can why any should remain upon earth after they are once truly fit for Heaven why they should have their days prolonged when their work is finished they shall not die before it why should they live here after it why should they not receive the Crown of Righteousness when they have fought the good fight and finished their course and kept the faith To what purpose I beseech you should they live when they have no more grace to get here and no more good to do To such an one as loves God dearly and is set for his glory an useless barren and unprofitable life would be an heavy burden and a great deal worse than death Such an one in such a case would not know how to enjoy himself an hour but would long and pine and cry out for the coming of death as the Mother of Sisera did for her Son Why is his Chariot so long in coming why tarry the wheels of his Chariot Fourthly As they are gone to God so they had excellent company by the way It is not a little distance between this earth which the Saints now inhabit and the highest Heaven unto which at death they go the habitation of God and seat of the blessed and tho the holy Soul be exceeding swift in its motion when it is once freed from the heavy clog of dull flesh and got upon the wing yet will it be some time before so long a Journey can be dispatch'd and it arrive at its desired home At the beginning of Daniel's supplication the Commandment came forth and the Angel Gabriel was caused to flee swiftly yet he came not to him till the time of the evening oblation And there is an innumerable number of wicked spirits in the way Legions of Devils in the Regions of the Air which envy the happiness of those who are to have an everlasting abode in those places out of which they themselves were cast and therefore will be sure to do their utmost for the disturbing them in their ascent But for the preventing of it the great and holy God hath appointed them a strong Guard in Hebr. 1. 14. the holy Angels are said to be initistring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be the heirs of salvation and they take pleasure in doing so Little do we know the obligations we lie under to them how much we are beholden to them how they watch over us and pitch their Tents about us and are Assistants to us Many and many are the good offices which the good Angels do for the Saints while they live and when they die they are a strong Convoy to their Souls that will keep off from them all Enemies and Dangers and bring them with safety and honour into the King's Palace the Presence-Chamber of their God and Father Upon all these accounts I counsel you not to lay the reins upon the neck of your passions nor to mourn over them who died in the Lord as those who have no hope for they are blessed When they lived they were the habitations of God through the Spirit when they died they died in the Lord and their bodies sleep in Iesus their Souls upon dissolution are the charge of Angels It was they that carried the Soul of poor but precious Lazarus into the bosom of Abraham tho the rich Glutton suffer'd him to lie in his Rags and Sores starving at his door neglected and despis'd and both their souls and bodies at the Resurrection of the Just shall have a consummate happiness in the full uninterrupted and eternal enjoyment of God Therefore I say again mourn not for them there is no cause they are in a far better condition than you turn your Grief into another Channel and as our Saviour directed weep for your selves and for your children on the score of what you have lost and what you may feel in this world of sin and uncertainty The second Branch of this Use of Exhortation will be this Be you willing to go to God also whensoever he shall please by death to send for you You I mean who have been indeed made partakers of grace who love God and have made him your choice and have good hope yea assurance of your interest in him It would be a shame for any of you to be unwilling and loth to die God may very well take that unkindly at your hands and you for it have reason to be displeas'd and angry with your selves What is there upon earth that should make you unwilling What is there in Death that should affright and scare you Have you great affliction and trouble here would it not be better for you to be out of it to exchange a tempestuous Sea for an Haven of Peace Do you now swim in Delights and abound with Creature comforts shall you not find better in Heaven than those you leave behind you Would you stay yet longer that so you might provide for your Children and see them setled well and comfortably in the World Will you not commit them to the care of your heavenly Father who is their God in Covenant as well as yours Can you trust God with your Souls and will you not trust him with your Seed Do you think it is an hard thing to die cannot God strengthen you for it Is there a bitterness in it cannot God sweeten it to you Cannot he make it easy to you as he hath made it to many of his People Cannot he by the light of his Countenance and the witness of his Spirit and the shedding abroad of his love