Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	earth_n	good_a	lord_n	9,702	5	3.6330	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40676	Jacobs vow a sermon preached before His Majesty and the Prince His Highnesse at St. Maries in Oxford, the tenth of May 1644, being the day of publique fast / by Thomas Fuller.	Fuller, Thomas, 1608-1661.	1644 (1644)	Wing F2448; ESTC R26737	14,711	30

JACOBS VOW A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE HIS MAjESTY AND THE PRINCE His Highnesse at St. Maries in OXFORD The tenth of May 1644. being the day of Publique Fast By THOMAS FULLER B. D. And published by speciall command OXFORD Printed by LEONARD LICHFIELD Printer to the University 1644. The Text Gen. chap. 28. vers. 20 21 22. 20. Then Iacob vowed a Vow saying If God will be with me and will keepe mee in this way that I goe and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on 21. So that I come againe to my fathers house in peace then shall the Lord be my God 22. And this Stone which I have set vp as a Pillar shall be Gods house and of all that thou shalt give mee I will surely give the Tenth unto thee IACOBS VOVV WHICH words are the Vowe of that holy Patriarke Iacob who being mortally hated of his brother Esau for deceiuing him as he tearmed it both of his Birth-right and of his Blessing was forced to flie for his life And by the aduise of his Mother with the expresse consent and commandement of his Father in the first verse of this chapter hee trauailed towards Padan-Aran vnto his vnckle Laban for succour in hope there not onely to haue his life secured frō his brothers rage but also to be prouided of a Wife amongst his owne kindred which might be a helper and comforter vnto him yet he went not forth like a Woer nor like either his father Isaacs sonne or his grandfather Abrahams seruant with Camels and Men and Iewels and other prouision for such a iourney for then perhappes hee had neuer made this Vowe but hee went all alone like a poore Pilgrime with his staffe in his hand and so came wearie and late the Sunne being downe vnto a certaine place neere vnto Haran where he tooke vp his lodging for that night and as Saint Chrysostome saith Ibi dormiuit vbi nox eum comprehendit He slept there where he was benighted not in any towne or house or tent but Sub dio making the earth his bed heauen his canopie and a stone which hee found in that place the pillow whereupon he reposed his head and yet hauing a wearied bodie and a quiet conscience which are two good Engines to draw on sleepe he slept as soundly vpon that hard pillow as if hee had lien vpon a bed of Downe And in his sleepe he dreamed of a certaine Ladder reaching vp from earth to heauen vpon which the Angels of God ascended and descended and the Lord himselfe stood at the toppe of the Ladder who made vnto him a large and a mos● gracious foure-fold promise in the 13.14 and 15. verses 1. That he would giue vnto him and his seed that land vpon which he then slept 2. That hee would multiply his seede as the dust of the earth 3. That in his seed all the Nations of the earth should be Blessed And lastly that he would be with him and keepe him whithersoeuer hee went and bring him againe vnto that land and not to forsake him vntill he had performed all that he had promised vnto him When Iacob awoke out of his sleepe and perceiued that the Lord was in that place and he not aware of it and that that place was no other but the house of God and gate of heauen verse 17. he was stricken with feare and reuerence as euery one ought to bee that commeth within the gate of Gods house and tooke the stone that lay vnder his head and set it vp for a pillar and powred oyle vpon the top of it and called the name of that place Bethel that is the house of God And entring into a serious consideration of this gracious Promise which farre exceeded all that hee could either aske or thinke hee did not through vnbeliefe make any doubt of the performance thereof but certainely belieuing that it should be accomplished in due time like a thankefull Pilgrime or a man euen ouer-ioyed with vnexpected but yet assured hopes he began to studie with himselfe what hee should render vnto the Lord for all these benefits promised vnto him and not finding any better meanes to expresse his thankefulnesse he vowed a Vow in my Text saying If God will be with me c. Of which Vow there be two parts The first is Petitio a Request which he desired of God The second is Promissio a dutie which he promised to performe to God The Petition in these words If God will be with me and will keepe me in this way that I goe and will giue me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come againe to my fathers house in peace The dutie which hee promiseth to performe in liew of this benefit is three-fold 1. That the Lord shall be his God 2. That the stone which he had set vp for a pillar should be Gods house 3. That of all that God should giue him he would giue vnto God the Tenth Of which points in order as they lie in the Text And first of the Petition or request which as you see is very moderate and reasonable for whereas God had promised vnto Iacob foure things Iacob doth not desire all nor halfe nor the thirde part of that which was promised but contenteth himselfe with the last and least of all those foure things and desireth nothing but only necessaries for the present not Quailes or Manna for delight but onely bread for necessitie that is necessarie food not purple and fine linnen for pompe but onely raiment to put on that is necessarie cloathes not the attendance of many seruants but onely the protection and blessing of God without which neither his food nor raiment nor any thing els could doe him good nor himselfe either be well or be But what is the reason why Isaac who was exceeding rich sent foorth his sonne Iacob who by Gods prouidence was now lately made his Heire so exceeding poore that he is faine to petition for foode and raiment whereas Abraham his father sent foorth his very seruant vpon the like iourney richly furnished and sumptuously attended Was Abrahams seruant better then Isaacs sonne To omit the diuers Allegories which Saint Augustine and Gregorie haue obserued vpon this passage the reasons as Theodoret and others haue well summed them vp might be these 1. Vt fratris conatus melius declinaret that going poorely and priuately his brother Esau might not so easily misse him nor know which way to pursue after him 2. That this miserie might mooue him brother to compassion and reconciliation 3. Vt animus esset reuertendi that carrying no wealth with him to maintaine or detaine him abroad he might haue the more mind to returne vnto his father home againe 4. And lastly that hee might haue the better experience of Gods mercie as indeede he had for which hee returned thankes vnto God at his returne in the 32. chap. Iacobs pouertie may teach vs that although worldly

prosperitie be the good blessing of God wherewith he often enricheth his owne children yet hee euer at one time or other chasteneth those whom he loueth and traineth them vp in his schoole of affliction and nurtureth them with his Ferula of wants and crosses Virgatua baculus tuus saith the Psalmist c. they must as well be humbled and instructed with his rod of correction as supported with his staffe of comfort Abraham and Isaac Iob and Dauid and Iacob also in my Text after his returne from Padan-Aran were all rich and our Lord himselfe was Lord of all and yet none of them wanted either their wants or crosses And the children of Israel Gods owne people were not onely pinched with wants in the wildernesse but were pricked with thornes in their eyes and goades in their sides euen in the land of Promise Whence wee may learne that Aduersitie is the blessing of God vpon his Children aswell as Prosperitie Res prospera donum est consolantis res aduersa donū est admonentis Dei saith S. Augustine Prosperitie is the gift of God comforting Aduersitie the gift of God admonishing Prosperity may bee the more pleasant but Aduersitie many times is the more profitable which made Dauid out of his own experience ingeniously confesse that it was good for him that hee had beene afflicted And so it is good for vs all to be afflicted sometimes els we should forget both God and our selues and bee too much wedded to this world and say with Saint Peter Bonum est esse hic and begin to build such Tabernacles here vpon earth as would hinder vs from our euerlasting Tabernacles of blisse in heauen And thus much of Iacobs pouertie and want But now being in so great want as hee was at this time why doth he preferre so poore a Petition vnto God who is so rich in mercie And whereas God had now lately appeared vnto him here in Bethel and promised the whole land of Canaan to him and his why doth hee desire so poore a pittance as food and raiment which would onely keepe life and soule together the very foules of the aire are furnished with these And yet Iacob desires no more to teach vs how moderate wee should be in the desire of earthly things We may and ought to be euen couetous of things spirituall and heauenly so saith the Apostle Couet after the best gifts but of temporall and earthly things we may not be couetous more then is necessary for our callings estates because as our Sauiour teacheth A mans life doth not consist in the abundance of the things which hee possesseth Therefore the Apostles rule is that hauing but {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} onely food and raiment wee must be content therewith for Victus vestitus sunt diuitiae Christianorum saith Hierome food and raiment are the riches of Christians and our patterne of Prayer doth warrant vs to petition onely for our daily bread that is as it is excellently expounded in that Royall Meditation vpon the Lords Prayer onely for such temporall things as are necessary for our Esse or at farthest for our Bene esse And they that cannot be content with these but with the Horse-leaches daughters still cry Giue Giue and will needes be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtfull lusts which drowne the soule in perdition and destruction 1. Tim. 6. Iacob hauing once seene God in Bethel and set his heart vpon him who is the true treasure neither admired nor much desired more then was necessary this worldly trash Where wee may see that howsoeuer worldlings doe not onely admire but euen adore riches and honours and earthly pleasures as their sole trinitie yet the Children of God knowing that earthly honors and riches are but shadowes of heauenly and the pleasures of sinne not so much as shadowes of heauenly pleasures vse these things when God giueth them but neither abuse nor admire the same And why should men admire shadowes painted fires which flame but warme not and may fitly be compared vnto Glo-wormes or peices of rotten-wood which in a darke night shine like stars but when the Sunne ariseth and sheweth what they are the one appeareth to be a poore worme the other nothing but a rotten sticke So these glorious outward things shine like Starres in the eyes of the Children of darkenesse but the Children of light whose eyes are purged from those skales of darknesse doe plainely see that in regard of true content they be Vanitas vanissima wormes stickes before which Solomon incomparably preferred wisedome and Agur in the Prouerbs of Solomon prayed expressely against riches in the thirtieth Chapter aswell as pouertie Mendicitatem diuitias ne dederis mihi Giue me neither pouertie nor riches but feed me with food conuenient for me And this is the reason why Iacob in my Text petitions neither for riches nor honour nor any other outward thing but onely for bread to eat and cloathes to put on And yet one thing more is to be obserued in Iacobs Petition out of these words of my Text where he saith If God will be with me and keepe me in this way that I goe and bring me againe to my fathers house in peace wherein besides foode and raiment you see hee desireth the protection and blessing of God in his whole iourney going out and comming in without which neither his bread could nourish nor his cloathes keepe him warme nor any thing else doe him good For Man doth not liue by bread onely but by euery word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God that is the blessing of God vpon bread For as in Phisicke a diseased man is prescribed to boile certaine medicinable hearbes in running water and then to drinke a quantity of that water and so is cured of his disease and yet wee know that it is not the water but the decoction or infusion which cureth the Patient so it is not the bread that nourisheth nor the abundance of outward things which enricheth or contenteth but the infusion of Gods blessing which is the staffe of bread without which a man may starue for hunger with bread in his mouth and die like the children of Israel with the flesh of Quailes in their teeth Whereas on the contrary Daniel feeding vpon bare pulse strengthened by the blessing of God which is the staffe of bread and of all other nourishment was fatter and fairer then they that were fed with the Kings diet For it is the blessing of God that maketh rich and a little that the righteous hath is better then the great reuenewes of the vngodly And wee may obserue in our owne experience many a man who with a dinner of greene hearbes as Solomon speaketh that is short diet course clothes hard lodging and a poore estate looketh fatter liueth merrier