Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	angel_n	descend_v	ladder_n	1,870	5	11.7110	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96727	The vertuous wife: or, the holy life of Mrs. Elizabth Walker, late wife of A. Walker, D.D. sometime Rector of Fyfield in Essex Giving a modest and short account of her exemplary piety and charity. Published for the glory of God, and provoking others to the like graces and vertues. With some useful papers and letters writ by her on several occasions.	Walker, Anthony, d. 1692.; Walker, Elizabeth, 1623-1690.	1694 (1694)	Wing W311A; ESTC R229717	136,489	315

thy Soul and with all thy Strength the second is like the first Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self On this brief Account Christ put so great a stress he said On these hang all the Law and the Prophets And St. James saith 28. If ye fulfill the Royal Law according to the Scriptures thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self which God requires not in Word only but in Deed also relieving their Necessities if any be naked or destitute of daily Food to feed and cloath them to say depart in Peace and give them not those things needfull to the Body it will not profit therefore with-hold not good from them to whom it is due if it be in the Power of thy Hand to doe it it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive He that gives to the Poor shall not lack but he that hideth his Eyes shall have many a Curse Do not say I have but little now to give but I will give hereafter remember the poor Woman's Mite was more in Christ's Esteem than those who had of their abundance cast into the Treasury Dear Johnny It may be something might be spared from unnecessary Expence buying Fruit or the like of which too much may be prejudicial to thy Health and may be laid out to a better account Do not give grudgingly by constraint lest it be as the Lame or Blind which was not to be brought to God like Cain's Sacrifice which he brought with an unwilling mind not acceptable to God Let the object stir up thy Compassion that thou mayst not give too sparingly God loves a chearfull giver Dear Johnny He that gives to the Poor lends to the Lord he that makes all Grace to abound will repay thee in temporal and spiritual Blessings good Measure shaken and pressed together and running over shall be given to thee God hath given many Promises to the Charitable to hint but a few The Lord will deliver him in time of Trouble and will not deliver him to the Will of his Enemies The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be Blessed upon the Earth The Lord will strengthen him upon the Bed of Languishing he will make all his Bed in his Sickness Psal 41. For thy Encouragement read Isaiah 58. Yield Obedience to God's Command He hath said Deut. 7. If there be among you a poor Man thou shalt not harden thy Heart not shut thy Hand against thy poor Brother thou shalt shurely give unto him and thy Heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him but thou shalt open thy Hand wide unto thy poor and to thy needy for for this thing shall the Lord bless thee in all thou puttest thy Hand unto Dear Johnny Thou art also bound by an obligatory Promise to thy Grandfather and to me we have sometimes given thee Money for this Purpose to inure thee betimes to be Charitable that something of it thou mightest give unto the Poor as thou hast promised a Penny in every Shilling it is but a little do not withold that lest it become an accursed thing to thee like Achan's wedge of Gold at the Last Day the Day of Judgment This duty of Charity in right performance of it will be a distinguishing Character of those who shall stand at Christ's Right-hand from those who shall stand at his Left-hand whose Hands were as strait as their Hearts were hard they would have no Pity on the Poor therefore they shall find none But Christ will say unto them Depart ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels with that Infernal Company But those at Christ's right-hand which fed the hungry cloathed the naked visited the sick and imprisoned which Christ will take as done unto himself he will reward with the Kingdom of Heaven Dear Johnny Make thee friends of the Mammon of this World that when this Life fails thou mayst be received into everlasting Habitations Dear Johnny As God may bless thee with the things of this World let not thy little at present be the measure of greater plenty He that sows sparingly shall reap spearingly but he that sows bountifully shall reap bountifully not only in this Life but in that to come There are degrees of Glory in Heaven the better here the happier hereafter though not of merit but of Grace God will pass by the Imperfections of his People which cleave to their best performance Dear Johnny With other religious Duties continue thy custom of private Prayer at least twice a day Morning and Evening besides publick and family Prayer Ejaculatory Prayer is also of great Benefit it is short but holy Desires lifting up thy heart to God Let them be thy last thoughts before sleep that God may give thee as his Beloved sleep the like as soon as thou wakest in the Morning before more solemn Prayer and with both render him Praise for the Mercy thou liest down in peace and risest in safety always under God's Protection These holy Desires may be oft sent to Heaven and bring thee Blessings the World cannot give and will defend thee from the Sin and Vanity of it keeping thy heart in a good frame they may be as the Angels ascending and descending upon Jacob's Ladder where God is above it ready to receive thee that thy return to secular Employment may be sanctified and blest that God may by thy holy wrestlings with him as he did Jacob bless thee in thy way to Canaan and New Jerusalem above And in thy more lengthened Prayer with thy own necessities and receipts from God remember the Church and People of God as need requires with Prayers and Praises Go to God with filial Fear and holy Reverence of Body and Mind God is in Heaven by his Greatness Superiority and Majesty thou on Earth in Weakness and Indigency Bring thy wants to his all-sufficient Fullness and immense Goodness ready able willing to supply all thy Necessities beg thee pardon of thy Sins and what thou needest for the sake merits and ever-prevaling Intercession of Jesus Christ Ask that thou mayst receive his holy Spirit as the Seal of his Love to thee With the imputed Righteousness of Christ reconciling thee to God Beg that thou mayst also have an inherent Righteousness from him renewing thee in the Spirit of thy Mind into his Image that thou mayst become one with him his Law being writ on thy Heart that he may guide thee by his Counsel in this troublesome World that no temptation may be above thy strength These things ask with thy daily Bread which implies the supply of all the necessities of humane Nature and be not desirous of more than God sees good for thee and for all the Receipts for Soul and Body be thankfull forget not to render Praises to God for what he bestows on thy self and others Forget not Zion pray for the peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love her Pray for the Conversion of Enemies that the

most afflicted Condition with them Good Madam they teaching you you may by the Art of Divine Chimistry extract and draw from Afflictions the refreshing Cordials of the Love of God by his sweet composure of them in his Love and Faithfullness to you you may get from the most unpleasant bitter Potion a healing Medicine you may get Meat out of the Eater God will make all subservient to his People though in their own nature contrary like Elisha's Ravens which were Birds of prey to bring the Prophet bread and meat By the over-ruling goodness of God Afflictions bring God's Children meat to eat the World knows not of and those Afflictions that look most terrible and most affrighting great in Stature like unto the Philistine's Champion that did so terrifie the Israelites Good Madam You may as David did overcome with that smooth white Stone St John speaks of wherein is that new name written which none can read but they that have it In that Stone it is written Be of good chear your Sins are forgiven It was the Custom of the Romans to which St. John alludes they gave a white Stone to those their Law acquitted and a black Stone to those their Law condemned this white Stone St. John speaks of is that Stone cut out of the mountain without hands Christ Jesus Good Madam On this Rock you may build safe and sure that if the boisterous Winds of Affliction beat vehemently upon you you may be able to stand in the day of your Visitation If God should suffer Afflictions like unto St. Paul's which he call'd Deaths oft they may be to you as they were to him they were lifts unto his greater degrees of Glory which made him to call them Light Afflictions that lasted but for a moment and that they shall work for God's People an exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Good Madam As the Afflictions of this Life shall not last long so the Prosperity of this World is but short also they are but Pageantry Delights that pass away and leave Dissatisfaction behind them but God would not have his Peoples Spirits always flag they have their intervals in the day of Prosperity to rejoyce but in the day of Adversity to consider God having set the one over against the other and both on the Wing of Time which many drive away not considering a dependant Life which of it self flies away so fast the things of this World and Life also they do make haste to give up their Accompts to God for a short work will the Lord make on the Earth and finish his Work in Righteousness He will say to the North Give up and to the South keep not back bring my Sons from far and my Daughters from the ends of the Earth and all shall as faithfull Depositors restore to God yea every one shall give an account of himself to God and if God suddenly call for them they hasten their speed and swiftly fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven Good Madam You have experienced it dear Lady Essex she hath taken her flight from all mutations of this Life and is gone to God whose she was that lent her you but for a time She is not lost but restored again where she is in an unalterable and happy Estate Good Madam What cause of complaint Do not account her gain your loss the most and best she could have enjoy'd of the Blessings of this Life Relations Friends Pleasures Riches all promised well in her Marriage but all uncertain but is now in a fixt uninterruptable more blessed Condition to which nothing in this World hath any proportion and the most splendid things of this Life comparatively are but shining Glow-worms which must have the advantage of the disappearing Sun for their glimmering Beauty Who would chuse Candle-light rather than the clear light of the bright Sun Dear Lady Essex she hath the sweet smiles of God's reconciled Face which shine on her by the Sun of Righteousness Christ Jesus the Bridegroom of her Soul and is with her best Relations God and Angels and is one of that blessed number of his Triumphant Saints made perfect in endless Glory never more to die She hath passed the dark Valley and is got safe to her Inheritance in the highest Heavens purchased for her by an invaluable Price bought for her by her best Beloved Jesus Christ Good Madam Why do you greive You would not have her back again into a Sin-defiling-World where the happiest Estate or condition is intermix'd with intervening troubles accompanied with sorrows which would have been as jointly yours as hers from which God hath freed you both Good Madam Believe God means you no ill he doth sometimes by one great Affliction free his People from many that might be greater than that which God onely can foresee sometimes a large Orifice effects the perfectest Cure and the bitterest Potion the best Health Good Madam chearfully take the Cup your heavenly Father hath put into your Hand of this relation you can receive no hurt Christ hath told his People That through many tribulations they shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven be not afraid of your way it is no untrodden path the best of Men have gone that way God hath one Son without sin none without suffering If Suffering abound your Consolation shall superabound that being made Conformable by suffering you may be more fitted for greater degrees of Glory Good Madam If God sees fit to lengthen out your Days it is to give you more work to exercise those Gifts he hath given you to improve for his use and your own advantage your Love Patience and Submission to him with the rest of the Graces of his Spirit he hath bestowed on you let them have their perfect Work and be not grieved that he hath given dear Lady Essex a less task than your self Good Madam Run with patience the race that is set before you finishing your work in well-doing unto which God will afford you his assisting Grace God will not deal with you as Pharaoh's Task-Masters over the Children of Israel they would give no straw and yet required the full tale of brick God will afford you his strength and extricate your difficulties his Providences shall comply with you and his Grace assist you in your hardest work he will put to his helping hand God will order the whole Series and Frame of this World for his Peoples best advantage then when all have acted a part God will take down the Stage of this World by the hand of undistinguishable Eternity Then Good Madam a past Errour cannot be retrieved when Time and Place in this World is taken away A little while the longest Life is so but he will come and will not tarry when his Peoples work is done he will bring his reward with him and acquit them from all the troubles of this Life and receive them where there is no pricking Briar nor grieving Thorn Sin Sorrow and Sighing shall flee

writ upon the two Tables of thy Heart and Practice with his own Finger the Holy Spirit that thou mayst receive the Truth in the Love of it being renewed in the spirit of thy mind He that is in Christ is a new Creature and he that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his It is the one thing necessary to serve God and save thy Soul chuse that good part that may never be taken from thee Dear Johnny Let no day pass if in health without reading the Scriptures one or two Chapters in the Old-Testament the like in the New-Testament read with intention of Mind and so hear the good Word of God in publick and as God hath commanded keep Holy the Sabbath-Day do not violate that Holy Rest with Play Recreation vain Talk Sleep or Idleness or omitting any Duty it requires Eat moderately that Fumes from a full Stomach may not cloud thy Intellectual Performances withdraw from that Company and those Objects which may hinder thee from thinking on the Sermons or any other Religious Duty in them exercise thy self and if God ever give thee opportunity be helpfull unto others in the like for their Spiritual Advantage that all within thy Power may serve the Lord hearing the good Word of God reading it Meditation Prayer and Praises to God are the Duties of the Sabbath-Day spend no part of that in Visiting except to the Sick and Afflicted and allow it not to be done to thee by others sequester thy self from them and all Worldly Discourse but endeavour to keep that one Day in seven like the Angels and Saints in Heaven who serve and do not cease The Seventh Day is God's Tribute out of the Week he hath allowed thee Six for thy secular Concerns out of them bring thy free-will Offering sometime for thy Spiritual Advantage for which the Sabbath affords much and upon the due observation of it is assured from God to his People a communication not only of Spiritual Blessings but of Temporal Blessings also Read the latter part of Isa 58. Let no part of the Sabbath day slip without some Improvement for thy best concern for which also every day must be accounted for The Sabbath is an Hedge and Fence to all Religion if that be broken down there will enter all disorders of Life which Men are prone to to prevent which God seems to guard the fourth Commandment with the Authority of the three foregoing placing it in the midst and the fifth Commandment next on the other side bearing the Sword of the Civil Magistrate and by God's own appointment Numb 15.35 Moses caused the Man gathering Sticks on the Sabbath-Day to be put to Death Dear Johnny be affraid of the Powers though Men be remiss to punish the Breakers of God's Laws yet himself beareth not the Sword in vain Do not gather the Sticks of a mis-spent Sabbath a Day on which God hath set a special Remark a Remember to keep it Holy the great neglect and contempt of this Duty makes it more necessary to be prest more earnestly Keep all God's Commandments to break one link of the Ten violates the whole Chain Jam. 2.10 Keep it intire have respect to all God's Precepts in the latitude of them do not wander from them in the by-paths of a sinfull Life they are better than thousands of Gold and Silver they were of such a concern to David that he begs of God an Holy Compulsion make me to know thy Precepts Statutes and Commandments And Moses useth this Excitation to the Children of Israel for their observing God's Law Thou shalt keep the Commandments of the Lord thy God for they are for thy good Deut. 10.13 and 11.18 Therefore shalt thou lay them up in thy Heart and in thy Soul and doe and teach them Dear Johnny this doe thy self and as far as it may be in thy Power excite others in the same Duty that thou and they with Joshua's Resolution may serve the Lord Jos 24.15 Own God in this World as thou wouldst have him own thee hereafter Some glory in their Shame be not thou ashamed of thy Glory be not ashamed of the Profession of Religion Christ hath said He that is ashamed of me before Men of him will I be ashamed before my Father and his Holy Angels Dear Johnny God hath been very good to thee thou hast lacked nothing good for thee but God hath provided well for thee do not ill requite the Lord by the neglect of any known Duty or doing any thing contrary to the Law of God Sin is a very ungrateful thing do not provoke him to withdraw his Loving Kindness from thee for Soul or Body Woe if God depart What is said of a Tale-bearer That he separates near Friends the same will Sin do if not watched against it will separate between God and thy Soul and will bring an Evil Report to God with worse Effect than Joseph of his Brethren to their Father and will be of worse Consequence than stripping Joseph of his Coat not only the external Blessings of this Life but it will deprive thee of all Internal Comforts God's favourable Countenance which is better than Life and exclude from his Comfortable Presence for ever Sin put the Flaming Sword into the Angel's Hand to debarr our first Parents from the Tree of Life divested and stripped them and all their Posterity of their Original Righteousness and left them and their sinfull Off-spring naked exposed to all the Afflictions and Miseries of this Life and under God's Displeasure to their Eternal Ruine had not Free Grace recovered that lapsed Estate Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ Dear Johnny That thou mayest know that thou art one of those whom he so loved manifest thy Love to him by that Test that Christ put to his Disciples If ye love me keep my Commandments Love is a reflective Act if thou lovest God according to this Discrimination thou mayest know that he loveth thee and gave himself for thee and hath chosen thee one of his peculiar People zealous of good Works therefore if Sinners intice thee consent thou not go not with them lest thou learn their ways and get a blot unto thy Soul Let God's Law be the prohibition of every Evil Way set it with its drawn Sword against all Irregularities of Life that it may be unto thee as the Angel in Paradise to defend in thee the Tree of Life that no ill Practice with the evil Consequences of it may touch thee Dear Johnny Shew thy Love to God by thy Love to his People and poor Members of Christ Christ saith Hereby shall Men know that ye are my Disciples that ye love one another God requires the duties of the second Table of the Law as well as the first and Christ gives a concise and full account of both he being asked which was the first and great Commandment saith Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart with all thy Mind with all

this but with his I desire that this may be usefull to thee when neither he nor I can write or advise thee all things in this Life are uncertain Life is so The World passeth away and the things of it but he that doth the Will of God shall abide for ever All things on this side Eternity are on the wing of Time they hasten away to their fixed Estate Dear Johnny Time is precious let it not be ill spent but improved for thy well-being in this World but let all tend to attain and secure thy Eternal Happiness which hath great dependance on thy manner of Living in this World and there is no retrieving an Errour on the other side of Death in time is thy time that that is past cannot be recalled that to come cannot be assured that present is onely thine and will not tarry let it not unprofitably slide from thee Acknowledge God in all thy ways and he will guide thy Path that none of thy steps shall slide and when God takes thy Earthly Parents and Friends from thee thy Heavenly Father will take care of thee Therefore Dear Johnny acquaint thy self with God and serve him with a perfect Heart and with a willing Mind for the Lord searcheth all Hearts and understands all the Imaginations of the Thoughts if thou seekest him he will be found of thee but if thou forsakest him he will cast thee off for ever 1 Chron. 28.9 This Scripture thy Dear Grandfather hath oft minded thee of I do the same let mine with his Counsels and the Word of God be to thee as a threefold Cord not to be broken but let them bind thy Obedience to God's Righteous Law there will be no greater joy to thy Dear Grandfather and my self than to see thee walking in the Truth Dear Johnny It is my earnest Request that God will direct guide counsel and conduct thee in and through this troublesome sinfull World Sin hath made it so The Good Lord give thee his preventing Grace bless thee with Spiritual and Temporal Blessings and when God will take thee out of this World receive thee to those Coelestial Habititions in Eternal Mansions of Glory prepared for them that love him and keep his Commandments of which happy number I beg God will make thee after length of Days in this Life preparatory for the fuller fruition and enjoyment of God and of thy dearest Frinds with all the for-ever Blessed Saints and Angels in that unchangeable Blessed Esta●e in Heaven which make sure of Dear Johnny This is my request to thee a●d Prayer to God for thee I am Thy truly Loving and very Affectionate Grand-mother Elizabeth Walker Dec. 9. 1689. I shall add no more of her Pious Papers nor give any farther Character of her Person or exemplary Life than the Book presents supposing nothing can leave a more savoury relish on the Godly Wise or be fitter to conclude such a Work which is designed to render them so who read it than this plain but prudent honest Letter written so providentially so immediately before her Death that it may be called her last or dying Words which usually leave the deepest and most lasting Impressions and that with so strong and endearing tender Affections with so undisguised and native Simplicity without Art or pretence to Learning or any other acquired Abilities than wise observation and an Holy Heart and as it performs more than could be expected from the Writer I humbly beseech God it may effect ever beyond what might be ordinarily hoped for in the young Reader especially the dear Child to and for whom she wrote it Amen Amen FINIS