Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	beast_n	earth_n	fowl_n	2,016	5	9.9276	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90260	The souls excellency or, A sweet meditation of the preciousnesse of the soul of man. A subject fit for every man and woman in the world, to fixe their best and choisest thoughts upon: who desire to begin heaven here, and to live with God in heaven for ever. By J.O.	J. O.	1648 (1648)	Wing O7; Thomason E1189_16; ESTC R208303	9,123	21

THE SOULS EXCELLENCY OR A sweet Meditation of the preciousnesse of the Soul of Man A Subject fit for every man and woman in the world to fixe their best and choisest thoughts upon who desire to begin heaven here and to live with God in heaven for ever By J.O. Onely take heed to thy self and keep thy soul diligently Deut. 4 9. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward but he that keepeth his soul shall be far from them Pro. 22.5 Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell Matth. 10.28 London Printed for R. W. at the Star under Peters Church in Cornhill 1648. DEUT. 6.7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talke of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou sittest down and when thou risest up THE SOULS EXCELLENCY OR A sweet Meditation OF The preciousnesse of the Soul of Man c. POore men and women yong and old your manner is to sooth up your selves in your own vain fancies and conceits of something or other here below wherein you place a great part of your happinesse and upon which you set your hearts and for which you bestow a great deale of paines and time And you doe esteem most precious of all things else in the world ye it is your manner to dote after these low and empty shadows as though there were some superexcellency in them When God knows the best creature under heaven is but meer vanity and he that enjoyes the most of it doth enjoy it but with vexation of spirit and yet poore soules you are not willing to be crost in your hasty pursuit after them but run the hazard of soul and body and all to gaine that which is but losse and lose that which is the greatest and most happiest gaine True it is that the mighty Creator hath adorned the World with abundance of his works of wonder and hath made every thing beautifull in its time but yet not comparable though all set together with the least glimps of Gods countenance to the Soule Indeed we have a larg book of the creatures in which we may read much of the Creatour and see much of God in but we have one more neer and should be more deare unto us then ten thousand Millions of worlds were there so many which is our deare and most precious souls which is the master-piece of the whole Creation And yet poore people how basely doe you esteem of your precious souls that very hardly can you bestow one houres serious meditation upon the peace and welfare of your souls in all your life time Very hardly can you spare out of that masse of love you have to the world one dram of love or pitty to your poore souls O the precious soul can no man value the price of it is beyond any mans reach and the losse of it beyond any mans recovery You rich Merchants that fetch your treasures from far and finde out the treasures hid in the sand and bowels of the earth did you ever amongst all your rich jems and precious pearls and costly stones finde out any thing to counterpoyse the soul can all your treasures laid together ransome one poore soul from destruction No here the whole Creation must be silent the soul is beyond all nothing is found in them to be compared to the soul St. Augustine sayth One soule is worth a thousand bodies what are ten thousand bodies to one soul The body is of much worth but in comparison of the soul ten thousand bodies are worth nothing they differ as much as flesh and spirit as light and darknesse as heaven and earth and why not as much as heaven and hell what are so many bodies without the soul but so many stinking carions and lothsom dungeons S. Augustine is so bold as to say that the soul of a flye is of more excellency then the glorious Sun in the firmament of what worth and excellency is the soul of man then think you ô most precious soull what may be compared to thee surely nothing come down to the dust all things in the world then in comparison of the soul Stand by on the left hand or sit down at my footstool all you creatures yea the best of creatures yea the very heavens with all their glorious ornaments the Sunne Moon and Stars with all the Coelestiall bodies the earth with all her wonders mountains and valleys pleasant medows and woods fruitfull trees birds beasts sheep oxen lambs and horses little or great beasts or curious fowls with all the seas admirable wonders gold silver precious stones and what ever the heart of man can conceive to be most beautifull and glorious stand by all pleasures beauty riches honours wisdome learning Arts and Sciences Kingdoms or Empires yea all that is on this side heaven all created excellencies whatsoever I say If I were Lord Paramount of all these had them all at my command what is all this to my precious immortall soul true I may say with David Psal 104.24 25. O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdome hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches so is the Sea also great and wide c. But what is all this tome if I lose my precious soul My soul my soul is more precious than all these The soule is all in all to us sayth Tertullius The soule is a little demi-god or Angell many have so called it sayth Clemens Alexandrinus the soul is a part of heaven sayth Hipparchus The soule is the Idea and Sampler of all the world for excellencie and worth sayth Paphinous and what can be sayd more to set forth the excellencie of the precious soule Yea farther Plato is of opinion that the soul is next in degree to the eternall God of Heaven and earth Alas then what will it profit a man though hee win the whole world and lose his own soul Mat. 16.26 The very Angels and Archangels the Cherubins and Seraphins and all the powers of heaven are not so deare to us as our own souls be alas if we lose our souls what are all they to us The soul then it seemes is a very precious piece nothing in the whole Creation so precious Oh! what heart is able to think or conceive the excellency of the soul The soul is the best thing in the world were there as many worlds as there be sands on the sea shore as many as the Epicureans Diog Laert thought infinite of worlds what could all these profit if we should lose our souls Oh! what fools and mad men are we to slight our precious souls to prefer a base lust before the precious soul to take more pains cost and care about our poore fraile perishing bodies a lump of clay then about our most deare and precious fouls