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	power_n	principality_n	1,953	5	10.9253	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64745	The Mount of Olives: or, Solitary devotions. By Henry Vaughan silurist. With an excellent discourse of the blessed state of man in glory, written by the most reverend and holy Father Anselm Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, and now done into English.	Vaughan, Henry, 1622-1695.; Anselm, Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1033-1109.	1652 (1652)	Wing V122; ESTC R203875	62,277	216

heaven and to Iesus the Mediatour of the new Covenant and to ●he blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel See then that thou refuse not to come to this great marriage of the Kings Son with thy soul and see withall that thou comest not without a wedding garment that is to say unprepared For whosoever shall eate this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworth●ly shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord But let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of that b●ead and drink of that cup of the Lord for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himselfe not discerning the Lords body 1 Cor 11.27 28 29. These are the words of a faithful witnesse and thou maiest beleeve them When therefore thou doest intend to be a partaker of this merciful and mysterious Sacrament be sure for three daies at least not to intermeddle with any worldly businesse but all that time redeeme those many daies which were vainly spent by thee enter into thine owne bosome examine what thou hast there and if thou findest any sons of darknesse lurking under those fig-leaves conceal them not but turne them out of doors and wash their Couch with thy teares have a care that in the Bridegroomes bed instead of myrrhe and flowers thou strowest not thornes and thistles The Evening before thou art to communicate feed but moderately and after supper use no corrupt communication but converse inwardly with thine own heart and meditate what an Almighty guest thou art to entertaine there next day Consider seriously thine own unworthinesse and desire of him that he would sanctifie and furnish the roome where he is to eate the Passeover with thee Intreat him to defend thee that night from all sinful Illusions and temptations and to keep the house cleane and garnished for himself When thou hast thus commended thy self into his hands let thy sleep that night be shorter then usual be up with the day or rather with thy Saviour who rose up early while it was yet dark Meditate with thy self what miracles of mercy he hath done for thee Consider how he left his Fathers bosome to be lodged in a manger and laid by his robes of glory to take upon him the seed of Abraham that he might cloath thee with Immortality Call to minde his wearisome journeys continual afflictions the malice and scorne he underwent the persecutions and reproaches laid upon him his strong cries and teares in the days of his flesh his spiritual agony and sweating of blood with the Implacable fury of his Enemies and his own unspeakable humility humbling himself to the death of the Crosse a death accursed by Gods own mouth Consider againe if thou canst of what unmeasurable love was he possessed who having designed and spent his time of life here for thy salvation did not onely leave thee those divine Oracles and Instructions to be guided by but to seale up the summe and make heaven sure unto thee did by his last Testament give himself with all the merits of his life and death to be wholly thine and instead of them took upon him all thy transgressions bore all thine iniquities and to appease the anger and satisfie the Justice of his Father became the holy harmlesse and undefiled sacrifice and perfect satisfaction for the sins of the world reconciling all things unto his Father whether they be things in earth or things in heaven When thou hast thus considered him in his acts of love and humility consider him again in his glory take thine Eyes off from Bethlehem and Golgotha and look up to the mount of Olives yea to heaven where he sits now upon the right hand of his Father Angels principalities and powers being made subject unto him Call to minde his Joyful resurrection his most accomplished conquest and triumph over the world death and hell his most gracious and familiar conversation with his Apostles before his Ascension with his most loving and comfortable carriage towards them at his departure leading them out as farre as Bethanie and lifting up his hands and blessing them Lastly close up these thoughts with a serious and awful meditation of that great and joyful though dreadful day of his second coming to judg●ment promised by himself and affirmed at the time of his Ascension by the two men in white apparel Yemen of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same Iesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall waile because of him Amen! even so come quickly Lord Iesus ¶ These are the duties req●ired of thee and which thou must faithfully and punctually performe if thou wouldst be a worthy Communicant and receive those sacred and mystical Elements to that blessed end for which they were ordained But when I speak of three dayes preparation I do not impose that proportion of time nor conclude it sufficient as if it were enough for thee to recede from thy corrupt inclinations and the myre of thy sins for such a terme with an intention to returne and wallow in it again when that holy season is over for our whole life had we the purity of Angels and the innocence of infants bears no proportion at all nor can it without an immediate sanctification from God himself any way qualifie or make us fit for the reception of this unmeasurable mercy But when I spoke of such a proportion of time I did onely propose it to my Readers for the performing of those holy and necessary duties which have particular relation to this solemne Feast and which indeed are required then from every Christian. And as for a regular sober and holy life we should in all places and at all times labour for it for without holinesse no man shall see the face of God much lesse be partaker of his merits and by this spiritual eating and drinking become a member of that body whose life and head he is A Prayer for the grace of repentance together with a Confession of sins O Holy blessed and glorious Trinity three persons and one eternal God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner O who will give mine head waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I may weep night and day for my infinite transgressions ingratitude and rebellion against my most milde and merciful Creatour O God my God be not farre from me hide not thy face from the work of thine hands reject not my sighing and mournful spirit nor the earnest endeavours and desires of mine undone and miserable soul O thou that breakest not the bruised Reede nor quenchest the smoking Flax quench not in me these weak sparks this dawne and beginnings of the promised earnest Take away O my God! this heart of stone and give

with a loud voice saying Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. 3. And one of the Elders answered saying unto me Who are these which are arayed in white robes and whence came they 4. And I said unto him Sir thou knowest And he said unto me These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 5. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them 6. They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heate 7. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall leade them unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes MAny men when a holy conversation and good works are proposed unto them and when they are advised to exercise themselves therein and not to follow after the vanities of this world are wont to question for what end reward or retribution shall they do so The answer to these men must be this Because it is written that Eye hath not seen not eare heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2. Which words because they cannot plainly understand what is meant by them must be expounded to them by other circumstances and it must be told them that the reward which in the life to come shall be given unto those that serve God in this life is everlasting life eternal happinesse never-ending pleasures and a fulnesse and sufficiency of all accommodations to their own desires without any scarcity or want at all When these things are thus told them they seeme to be as they are indeed very great and very good But because that neither by this expression they do perfectly apprehend what those things are which they shall receive in the life to come nor can they of a sudden rightly perceive what is meant by a sufficiency of all accommodations without any want at all they continue still in a doubtful minde and are not effectually drawn to take any relish or delight in the things so told them What course then shall we take to render these eternal rewards more relishing and delightful to them I hold that the best way is to feed them as Nurses feed their little children who if at any time they give them a large faire apple which for the tendernesse of their teeth and the narrownesse of their mouths they cannot feed upon cut it according to the capacity of the child into several bits or parts and so give it them to eate by peece-meales We shall therefore divide this great sufficiencie of all accommodations in the life to come into several parts or portions that by so doing they may with those things we shall deliver be fed to eternal life And because they may appear more plainly to them we shall consider what those things are which the minde of man most affects in this life and by those as farre as we may we shall make it evident that they shall enjoy them after a more excellent manner in the life to come if being placed here in the midst of dangers and worldly temptations they stick fast to the precepts of Christ and when they have kept them they will of themselves quickly perceive that by no meanes they shall lose nor be deceived of the utmost of their desires This Course we shall take in the Explication of this Doctrine and beginning with the least passe on to our desired end That we may then in the first place briefly summe up all those things which have reference to the body I suppose them to be such things as are indeed desirable of themselves and for whose service or use all other things are desired of men and those are Beauty Activity Strength Liberty Health Pleasure Long Life But if amongst these we have reckoned there are some things which the servants of God have no respect to but take special care to neglect and avoid them as for instance sake beauty and pleasure are yet do they not therefore despise them because that naturally they affect them not but because they would not offend God in them for if they certainly knew that by caring for such things they could not offend God nor have their affections with-drawn from heavenly things without doubt they would take more delight in the fruition of them then in a contrary state These things being now thus premised I shall as briefly as I may treat of every one of them distinctly or by it self and labour to demonstrate unto you as God shall enable me after what manner they shall be enjoyed by us after the resurrection of the body To begin then Beauty is a certaine good which all men naturally desire to have But in the life to come the beauty of the righteous shall shine equally with the Sunne this the sacred Scripture testifies Matth. 13. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdome of their Father Adde to this that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ which none I hope will deny shall out-shine the brightnesse of the Sun But by the testimony of the Apostle we shall be made like unto him for he saith He shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body and this is the confession of that authority which to contradict is blasphemy Now if any man would have this proved to him by reason I beleeve it ought not to seeme incredible to any that the righteous in that life which is to come when this mortality shall be swallowed up of life shall shine as bright as the Sun seeing they are truly called and truly are the temple and the seat of God himself which as I remember is no where in sacred Scripture spoken of this visible Sun As for Activity which is every way as desirable as Beauty we shall be indued with such a measure of it as shall render us equall for swiftnesse to the very Angels of God which in a moment passe from the highest heaven unto the earth and from the earth again into heaven which swiftnesse if it were necessary to prove it so in the Angels we might for instance produce that place of Scripture where it is written that the Angel of the Lord took Habakkuk the Prophet by the haire of the head and carried him through the vehemency of his spirit when he was yet in the flesh from Iury into Babylon and having delivered the dinner unto Daniel brought him again immediately to his own place Therefore I say again that a swiftnesse every way equal to that which is in them shall be given to those who labour in their lives here to be like unto them The Apostle also who affirms

that our bodies shall in the twinkling of an eye be perfectly raised notwithstanding that our limbs be separated or dispersed one from another and the distance of place never so great hath thereby sufficiently proved that our very bodies which in that day shall be raised incorruptible shall be gifted with the very lame swiftnesse for he testifies that this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality 1 Cor. 15. An instance or demonstration of this swiftnesse we have in the beams of the Sunne which as soone as ever the body of that Planet appears above the earth in the East passe in a moment to the utmost West By this consideration we may conclude that what hath been spoken touching our velocity in the life to come is not impossible especially because that animated bodies have in them a greater agility then those which are inanimate To this instance of the Sun-beams we may adde another of the like nature which we have in our selves for the beams or ray of the Eye when we open our eye-lids passeth immediately to the utmost point of the Horizon or visible part of the sky and when we shut them returnes wholly and unimpaired into it self Again it is a thing certainly known that the souls of the Elect which are in the hand of the Lord have not yet enjoyed the fulnesse of felicity untill their bodies shall be restored unto them incorruptible which when they shall enjoy there will be nothing more left for them to wait for and desire But these bodies whose redemption they long and grone for if they would retard of hinder their swiftnesse they would rather abhorre their fellowship then long for it therefore it is certain that such a swiftnesse or agility as we have spoken of shall be given us of God in the life to come The next thing we are to treat of is Fortitude or Strength which most men affect as it is opposite to imbecillity and faint-heartednesse But they who shall be worthy to walk with the Citizens of the new Ierusalem shall excell so much in strength that nothing can have power to resist them whether their desire be to remove or over-turn any thing out of its station or by any other way to divert it nothing can hinder them nor shall they in compassing their desire be put to any more trouble or pains then we are put to at present when we move an Eye or turne it towards any object we desire to look upon But let us not in this place forget to instance in the Angels to whom we labour in this life to assimilate our selves for if in this branch or in any of the rest which we are to handle we can finde no other example or demonstration we must apply to them I suppose there is none will deny but that the Angels excel so much in strength as to be able to effect whatsoever shall be enjoyned them But here some body may ask of what use shall this fortitude or strength be unto us in that life when all things shall be put in such perfect order that there cannot be a better when there shall be no need of mutations eversions or reformation wherein this fortitude or strength may be imployed Whoever shall ask this question let him attend a little to me and consider what use we make at present of the faculties given us in this life and he shall finde that we do not alwayes imploy some of those abilities with which we are now gifted in the body as the faculty of seeing our utmost strength and our knowledge of some select things with many more In the like manner shall it be then with this fortitude we are now speaking of for the onely possession of it will be an incredible pleasure and joy unto us though we shall have no use for it all things being as it is said before in the state of perfection If this objection be made concerning velocity or any of the other branches which are to follow in this discourse I hold this solution if we finde not a better satisfactory enough We are now come to the fourth branch which is Liberty and is no lesse desired then any of the former Whoever then shall leade and Angelical life here upon earth shall without doubt be admitted into an equal liberty with the Angels in heaven Therefore as nothing can resist hinder or confine the Angels but that they may passe freely through all things according to their own desires so shall there be no obstacle or restraint of the Elects there shall be no inclosure that can hold us nor any Element which shall not be pervious or passable for us when and how we please An eminent and most certain example of this we have left us in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ to which blessed body Saint Paul affirms that our vile bodies shall be fashioned and made like according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Now the Scripture beares record that he rose from the dead after the Sepulchre was made sure and sealed and that he came in to his Disciples the doors being shut upon them and at the same time caused Thomas to thrust his hand into his side all which without doubt was laid down for a strong and comfortable demonstration to us of the glorious liberty of the children of God Rom. 8. In this fifth place comes Health which of all temporal blessings is the principal and the most to be desired And of this what can be better said then that which hath been already spoken by the Psalmist The salvation of the righteous cometh from the Lord Psal. 37. What infirmity then can lay hold upon those whose health or salvation is from the Lord But what example or similitude to introduce whereby you may perceive what manner of health that shall be which we are to enjoy in the world to come I do not know for neither I in my own body nor the holiest man that ever lived in the flesh can finde in himself any state of health which may be compared or liken'd to this eternal and incorruptible health For in this life when we finde our bodies without any paine or disturbance we conclude that we are in health and yet are we therein oftentimes deceived For it happens very frequently that we are infirme or sickly in some particular member which yet we can by no means discover but by motion of the said member or by touching the place affected But to come to those that are not thus affected but seeme to themselves to be in perfect health what shall we judge of them that they are in health or that they are not Propose to thy self some one of a most healthful constitution and that thou shouldst enquire of him concerning the state of his body he will tell thee that in his own judgement he finds himself in perfect health But let his body be examined and