Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	lay_v	moth_n	treasure_n	2,139	5	9.7940	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07828	Two treatises concerning regeneration, 1. Of repentance, 2. Of the diet of the soule shewing the one, how it ought to be sought after and may be attained vnto, the other, how it being gotten, is to be preserued and continued.	Morton, Thomas, of Berwick.	1597 (1597)	STC 18200.5; ESTC S4792	100,213	251

if the hypocriticall humiliation of Achab did preuaile howe much more forcible will it be when it is ioyned with the inward contrition whervnto god hath made this promise I will resist th● proud and giue grace vnto the humble CHAP. III. Of resolution to repent and the hinderances thereof Sect. 1. WHosoeuer desireth to haue that spirituall regeneration without the which there can be no hope of saluation wrought in his soule by the spirite of God must in the first place set himselfe to seeke it with all care and diligence by all means possible For so it hath pleased god to saue men not as dead and sencelesse creatures vnable to moue or to do any thing for thēselues but rather to make them the workers of their owne saluation by enioyning them this taske to vse what meanes they can of renuing and sauing their owne soules Wherein God hath not dealt hardly but most reasonably louingly with man for if the lest commoditie in the world be worth the seeking and he altogither vnworthy of it who scorneth or irketh to take paines in seeking it what is more meete then that spirituall regeneration and eternall saluation bee sought for before they be had Againe we know that God and man being now separated by sin and as farre distant the one f●ō the other as the heauen is from the earth it is vnpossible for them to meete vnlesse the one moue towards the other And therfore as it is meete and needfull that the inferiour seeke to the superiour the begger to him who is rich and liberall the sicke man to the Phisician the offendant to the mercifull Prince so it is the dutie of man to seeke for remission of sinne for spirituall life health and wealth at the hands of GOD the onely giuer of all good things To this dutie the Scripture doth euerie where exhort vs. Amos 5.6 Seeke the Lord and liue Matth. 6.5 Seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof Matth. 11.28 Come vnto mee all yee that are wearie and laden and I will ease you And yet it is generally neglected of men who contemning this counsaile and commaundement of God and being altogether carelesse of their owne saluation spend all their time strength and wit in seeking and enioying worldly pleasures but as for this spirituall life of their soules they neuer thinke or dreame of any such matter as Christ witnesseth of the Iewes Iohn 6.26 That they sought him not for his miracles or doctrine but because he had filled their bellies with bread But that we may be stirred vp to the performance of this so needfull a duty which we owe both to god to our own soules we will first set down briefly a fewe motiues or reasons perswading thervnto and in the second place remoue hose hinderances by the which men are vsually kept back frō this seeking of regeneration saluation at the hands of God For the first we shal not need to go farre for arguments if that we would but consider our present estate in this worlde the which for the most part is so full of troubles griefes crosses and miseries that it maketh men wearie both of it and also of thēselues yea to desire at one time or other to be rid of it at al aduenturs although they know not of any better or of any other estate Yea a litle paine of bodie or sorrow of mind from the which no condition can be free marreth a great feast of pleasure and happinesse making vs forget it quite yea making it bitter and vnpleasant vnto vs. And if wee should suppose an earthly paradise hauing in it the perfection of worldly pleasures yet we must needes acknowledge the vanitie of them in that wee are not sure to enioy them for the space of one houre not knowing how neare our bodies and liues drawe to their end and if they continue long they will of themselues waxe loathsome vnto vs. And therefore as we account that man very vnprouident and foolish who hauing things needfull for one or two daies therin resteth altogether carelesse of the time to come so wee may well iudge all carnall men more then mad who hauing no certaine state of life in this worlde no not for one quarter of an houre do not seeke for it at the hāds of god yea they reiect it being offered an euerlasting and vnchangeable state of life ioy glory and happines in the world to come Let vs therfore giue eare to that good counsell which Christ himselfe giueth vnto vs Iohn 6.23 Labour not so much for the meat which perisheth as for that meate which endureth vnto euerlasting life And Mat. 6.19 Lay vp f●r your selues treasures ●ot on earth where the moth canker wil corrupt yea where the wormes will consume your selues but lay vp treasure in heauen where there is no corruption to be feared Sect. 2. NOw wee come to the hinderances by the which men are staid from seeking for regeneration and saluation the which although they be many and diuerse as men do diuersly conceaue amisse of the truth yet the most vsuall of thē are errors or false conceits about this doctrine of regeneratiō To this head we are to refer first the ignorance of spiritual regeneration secondly despaire of attaining it as being a supernaturall and an impossible thing For the first The doctrine of this supernaturall and miraculous regeneration hath beene in all ages and is at this day receiued by many liuing in the church who cōfesse indeed that man is sinfull must be holy righteous before that he can please God and attaine to saluation yet they think that this sinfulnesse is not so deepely imprinted into th● nature of man as are the spots into the skin of the leopard as the scripture speaketh but rather that it may be easily shaken off and laide aside as a loose vpper garment a● mans pleasure that it cōmeth rather by imitation of those with whom we liue then by propagation frō the fal of Adam by the particular default wilfulnes of seuerall men who might be holy and pure if they would then from any generall corruption of the nature of mankind and lastly that it is not a total spreading it self ouer al the faculties of mans soule and bodie but onely in this or that part as men are by nature or custom giuen to this or that vice some to one others to another as they think of mās sinfulnes so they do must of necessity think of the cōtrary holines to wit that man hath it in part by nature may haue it wholy at his pleasure by good education moderatiō such other means as he may vse without any supernaturall worke of God Hence cōmeth or rather foloweth of necessity that greeuous error of iustification by works inherent holinesse mans owne righteousnes wherwith the church hath bin hitherto will be alwaies hereafter infected as with a cōmon plague popular disease For that it