Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	holy_a	mercy_n	miserable_a	4,748	5	11.1845	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01935	Certaine sermons preached upon severall occasions viz. The vvay to prosper. The vvay to be content. The vvay to vvell-doing. A summer sermon. A vvinter sermon. Vnknowne kindnesse. The poore mans hope. By Iohn Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex.	Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to prosper.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to be content.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to well-doing.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Summer sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Winter sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Unknowne kindnesse.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Poore mans hope.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Oracle of God.	1636 (1636)	STC 12071; ESTC S120526	199,234	334

Iacob that we are lesse than the least of all Gods mercies there is not the least of Gods mercies but it is too great and too good for us And yet t is strange to see how few there be that thinke ill of themselves and well of their estates I meane that are well contented with Gods allowance but rather with the Prophets wife 2 Reg. 4. 6. who desired one vessell more when all was full before Nay some are so unreasonable and unsatiable that as the Prophet saith they enlarge their desire as hell some mans minde is like hell it selfe which though it swallow up a world of soules yet t is never satisfied but still gapeth for more that is the reason such a one can never be contented because though he may have a house full of money he can never have a heart full of money for why He hath a hell in his heart that never can be filled with meanes nor monies Why hath Satan filled thy heart saith Peter to Ananias when he lied to the holy Ghost to save his money Act. 5. 3. There is the hell in the heart that mans heart which is filled with the devill filled with covetousnesse and ungodlinesse must needs have a hellish heart yea his heart is a hell it selfe the very habitation and house of devils and woe be to that sinne that brings a hell into a mans heart in this world and brings a mans heart and soule into hell in the world to come Thus you see what comes of being covetous where God would have men to be contented Learne therefore from henceforth to set bounds to thy appetite to moderate your cares for the things of this life and to frame your desires to Gods appointment and that is the way to be content I have not yet done with this point for as I searched more narrowly into the originall word I found that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 goes before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that selfe goes before sufficient which put me in mind of another consideration and that is this namely That a man must be himselfe ere he can be sufficient I meane a man can never attaine to any true reall sufficiencie or contentment of mind till first he be himselfe Every man is not himselfe not onely fooles and mad men and drunkards are not themselves as we say not their owne men but every unconverted unhumbled unwakened sinner As it is said of the Prodigall sonne Luke 15. 17. that when he was converted Then he came to himselfe which implies that before that time when he lived in riot and excesse and in that wastfull way of wickednesse when he was glad to feede upon those siliquae daemoniorum those huskes of Devils which the text speakes of all that while he was not himselfe he never began to come to himselfe till he began to come to his father so to speake properly a man never comes to himselfe till hee come home to God by true repentance he is never his own man til he be the Lords Three things there be that make a man not himself and consequently make him unsufficient and uncapable of true contentment 1 Nabals drunkennesse 2 Nebuchadnezzars madnesse 3 Satans villenage That 's the reason that the Scripture cōpares unregenerate men to drunkards and mad men and slaves who of all others are truely said to be not themselves S. Paul saith 2 Tim. 2. 25. that a Minister that hath to doe with refractory sinners must waite if at any time God will give them repentance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they may awake out of their drunken sleepe and become sober so the word signifies implying that as long as we muzzle our selves in our ignorance and goe on securely in our sinnes not grieving for them not striving against them not making conscience to reforme them all that while we are like drunken sots void of understanding we are not our selves As there is a wet drunkennesse too common in these dayes God forgive the world that sinne so there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kinde of dry drunkennesse as the Prophet saith in another sense Esay 51. 21. Thou art drunke but not with wine Every sin that a man is bewitched unto doth for the time so infatuate and besot him that he is not himselfe hath not power over himselfe to refraine or repent of it till God awake a man out of this same drunken sleepe and give him wisedome to see into his sins and grace to forsake them Then and not till then doth hee come to himselfe Now as some are not themselves through drunkennes so others are not themselves through madnesse The heart of man saith Salomon Eccles 9. 3. is full of evill and madnesse is in his heart while he lives Now mad men are of two sorts 1. Some are furentes furious or raging mad like those Pharisees Luke 6. 11. that were filled with madnesse at the sight of the miracles which Christ wrought or like those that stoned Stephen Act. 7. 54. They gnashed upon him with their teeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word they grated and ground their teeth at him as if they had bin cutting with a saw for so the word signifies they were so mad and devillish that they could have found in their hearts to have sawed him torne him with their teeth Such mad men as these let them be never so little stirred or provoked or crost either by God or man how bitterly doe they curse sweare and rage and damne themselves to the pit of hel that it would make a mans heart ake and his soule tremble to heare and see it for feare least God should take them at their words Cursed be their anger for it is fierce and their rage for it is cruell Gen. 49. 7. 2. Others are Amentes foolishmad I have said of laughter thow art madnesse faith Salomon is it not a mad thing for a man to laugh when he should weepe to sing and shoute when hee should sob and sigh to make himselfe merry with that which makes God and his Angels sorry Though we account this cheerefulnesse the holy Ghost accounts it madnesse Lachrimanum causas tripudiantes peragunt ridentes mortis negotium exequuntur saith a Father They that make a sport of sinne doe but dance a Galliard about the brinke of hell and if that be not the madnesse of folly judge yee Too many such mad men there are in th● world of both these sorts and kinds I pray God of his mercy convert them and bring them into a better minde that they may see and bewaile their owne miserable estate through sin before God and so may come to themselves for yet they are not themselves and consequently can never attaine to any true contentment Adde hereunto those that are the servants and slaves the drudges and vassals of sinne and Sathan You know a servant is totius alterius is not his owne man is not a man of himselfe Even so and more

their mirth so that even in laughter their hearts are heavie It followes then that as that was the best wine that was of Christs making Iohn 2. when he turned the water into wine so that is the best content that is of Gods making when he turnes our carnall joy into a spirituall joy and mingleth heavenly content with earthly Let no man therefore have a misopinion of contentment as if it were a sensuall or carnall thing for he that truely understands it shall find that it is Res sacra a sacred and holy thing 3. It is Res pretiosa a precions thing not onely as t is said 1 Sam. 3. 1. That the word of God was precious in those dayes that is rare unusuall and seldome heard of for so is contentment too it is a rare thing to finde a contented man but it is Rarum and Charum too not onely precious for the rarity and strangnesse of it but for the worth and excellency of it as the bloud of Christ is called precious bloud for the worth and excellency of it above all other bloud for one drop of it was able to redeemē a world in this sence is true content a precious thing it s indeed the onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only heaven upon earth that this world affords without which a man is even dead while he liveth and many times through griefe and discontent is even ready as Iob speakes to chuse strangling and death rather than life Iob. 7. 15. Let a mans house be never so well situated never so well furnisht and fairely built if he have no content in it it is but as the Citty of refuge was sayd to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a prison without fetters though it be not a place of durance t is a place of bondage to him Let a mans wife be never so vertuous if he have no content in her she is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a snake in his bosome a continuall heart-sore and vexation to him though a man have many children and meanes enough to leave them if he have no content in them they will be to him as Jacoh sayd of Simeon and Levi a meanes to bring downe his hoary head with griefe and sorrow to the grave Let a mans table be never so richly deckt as David speakes if he have no content in it it is but with him as it was with the Israelites when God gave them Quailes to eate but sent cleannesse withall into their soules All your Cupboards of plate without contentment are but as Moab was said to be Olla lotionis no better than washpots or as the prophet expresseth it They are vessels wherein there is no pleasure In a word there is no earthly blessing within doore or without that is of any price or worth or value to a man except it have contentment joyned with it Therefore judge ye whether it be not Res pretiosa a rare and precious thing If thou separate the precious from the vile thou shalt bee as my mouth saith God Ier. 15. 19. there is a vile a base contentment that consists in sensuality and beastly lusts when men like Swine lye and wallow in the myre of their owne sinnes but ther 's another contentment when a man like Enoch can walke with his God and enjoy the comfort of a good conscience to himselfe and this is that which I terme pretious 4. Lastly t is Res petenda a thing to be prayed for For this shall every one that is godly make his prayer unto thee saith David Psal 32. 6. for other things the prayers of the godly differ and very exceeding much one prayes for faith another for patience another for wisedome c. according as every one knowes the state of his own soule the necessities of his own life but this is such a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a universall good thing that every one that is godly wil be sure to pray for though they differ in other things in this they all agree all their prayers jumpe and meete in this center there is not a godly man upon earth but he doth heartily desire of God that if God will not give him meanes to live richly nor health to live soundly yet that he would give him grace to live contētedly Super hoc for this shal every one that is godly make his prayers unto thee It is indeed a grace that comes immediatly from God as the Apostle implyeth in the next verse to my text having said here he had learned to be content hee useth another expression there and saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am Divinely taught or I am taught of God to be content it is not mans teaching then but Gods teaching his inward effectuall working that must learne a man the Art of contentation Non lectio sed unctio as S. Bernard speakes t is not all the reading in the world that can bring a man to it but t is that same Annointing which the Scripture speakes of 1 Iohn 2. 27. that must supple and soften a mans heart and make him pliable to any condition A man must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inwardly taught and wrought of God before he can come to the true understanding and application of it to himselfe It is true that all other blessings besides this doe come from God but not so immediatly as this grace doth if a man want money friends may supply him if he want counsell the Lawyers may helpe him if he stand in need of physicke there be those that can doe him ease but if he want a heart to sive comfortably and grace to live contentedly it is God alone that can furnish him therewith Hes is the God of all Grace as S. Peter cals him 1 Pet. 5. he hath the treasury the monopoly of it in his owne hands want you wisedome want you faith want you contentment c. to him you must repaire It is Hee that giveth his beloved sleepe as David speaketh He that would sleepe quietly and awake contentedly must be a suter to God Contentment will not come alone t is Res petenda a thing to be prayed for and happy are we that we may have it for praying And here I cannot but commend unto you the prayer of Agur for this very thing Prov. 30. 8. that holy man knew that if the world afforded any perfect contentment it was in a middle estate equally distant from penury and from excesse he knew it was a hard matter for a man that is either very poore or very rich to live contentedly therefore he desired of God to give him neither poverty nor riches but to feede him with food convenient for him That God would grant him such an indifferent such a midling estate that he might neither be so poore as to be despised nor so rich as to be envied but onely so happy as to be contented this was the summe and substance of his prayer Give mee leave I

that knew how to tender and succour our infirmities because himselfe had a feeling of them in his owne nature This made him so tenderly affected towards the hungry multitude Matt. 15. because himselfe knew by his owne experience what an unsufferable misery hunger was This made him so compassionate towards the sorrowes of Mary and M●●sha Io● 11. because himselfe was 〈…〉 acquainted with gri●●● and sorrow And such was his compassion toward Peter in that state of desertion wherein he lay Luk 22. because himselfe knew and felt in his owne soule what a wofull thing it was to be forsaken of God And this is the assurance which the Apostle gives us that we shall obtaine mercy and grace from Iesus Christ to helpe and comfort us in time of need Heb. 4. 16. because himselfe had a feeling of the same infirmities and was a man subject to the same passions that wee our selves are sinne onely excepted In a word then as there is no Rose since the Creation but hath his prickles as well as his sweet leaves so there is no man living since the fall of Adam except our Saviour forementioned who was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and man both but hath his passions as well as his perfections his infirmities as well as his graces As Cyril observes there is no Rock of stone so hard but hath some cracks some clefts and seames in it whereat weedes spring out and grow so there is no mans heart so sanctified and filled with grace but hath some cracks some flawes in it whereat his sinnes and corruptions sprout and issue out to his no small regret and griefe And as we see by experience that there is chaffe about everie corne in the field and bitternesse in every branch of Wormewood and saltnesse in every drop of water in the Sea so is there infirmity and frailty corruption and passion in every man woman and child of what estate of what degree of what profession soever Eliah was a holy man a zealous man a man of God and yet a man subject to passons Let no man therefore be too forward or too severe in censuring and condemning the follies and frailties the weakenesses and passions of godly men or of the men of God such as Eliah was for alas they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subject to the same passions that other men are Salomon tells us Pro. 27. 19. That as in water face answereth to face so doth the heart of man to man A man that lookes into the water or into a glasse shall see a face there in all points answering to his owne the same spots the same warts the same wrinkles and blemishes that he sees in the face in the water they are all the very same in his owne face there is face answering to face so doth the heart of man to man the same evills the same corruptions lusts and sinnes that thou seest in another mans heart breaking out into his life the very selfe-same are in thy owne heart his heart to thine is but as a face answering to a face in the water Observe the Apostles demand 1 Cor. 4. 7. and apply it to thy selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who makes thee to differ from an other man For by nature all are alike all equally devoid of spirituall grace and goodnesse and all equally prone to sinne and wickednesse how comes it to passe then that one man differs from another that one is holy blamelesse and undefiled in his way another licentious and loose and spotted with the world Answ It is not any thing in nature beleeve that for a truth but meerely that same Gratia discriminans as Divines call it that distinguishing Grace of God it is that which makes the difference betwixt one man and another Let no man therefore ascribe any thing to himselfe for his freedome from great offences but give God the glory of his grace which had made him to differ from the greatest sinner and if at any time thou seest another man breake out into passion or miscary in his way by some ill temptation reprove him in Gods name and pray for him when thou hast done and withall reflect upon thy selfe and say as Plato did Num ego talis uspiam Am not I such a one Have not I beene or may not I be as vile and as vicious as he Be not therefore too censorious nor too supercilious as the manner of some is but incline rather to thinke everie man better than to thinke any man worse than thy selfe if thou seest thy brother overtaken in a fault doe then as the Apostle adviseth thee Gal. 6. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 restore him with the spirit of meekenesse or as the word signifieth bind him up gently and lovingly as a Chirurgian doth a bone that is out of joynt Considering thy selfe saith he least thou also be tempted considering I say that thou art as he is and all men are as Eliah was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too like one another in that which is naught all subject to the same passions All as the Apostle saith shut up under sin And I pray God of his goodnesse have mercy on us all Amen Againe the consideration of this if it be rightly conceived may serve for a comfort and a stay unto such tender consciences as have sinned of infirmitie and like Moses in their haste have spoken unadvisedly with their lips not being able for the time to over-rule and bridle their passions It is some comfort to consider that the greatest Saints of God have sometimes beene of the same temper yea there is not a soule in heaven the soule of Iesus Christ onely excepted but hath beene sometimes subject to the very same passions And I said This is my infirmity saith the Psalmist Psal 77. 10. but I remember the yeares of the right hand of the most High i I consider and call to minde that God in former times and in the dayes of old hath had compassion upon the same infirmities in other men and why should I misdoubt he being still the same compassionate God but that he will have pitty and compassion upon the same infirmities in me But some man may say How shall I know and be assured that my sinnes are sinnes of infirmitie such as God will winke at and not rather sinnes of presumption and iniquitie such as his soule abhorres Answ A sinne of infirmity may be knowne two wayes 1. By the antecedent which goes before it and that is an honest resolution of a mans heart against sinne and evill when a man doth stedfastly resolve by the assistance and grace of God to separate himselfe from every knowne sin and to sanctifie himselfe in all holy duty and obedience to God striving by a holy desire and an hearty endeavour in nothing willingly to sinne against God but in every thing to please him and approve himselfe unto him if such a man chance to fall by occasion into a fault or be overtaken

am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake and will not remember thy sinnes there 's a gratious promise but marke the condition in the next immediate words put me in remembrance saith God and I will doe it and not otherwise for though God remember all our sinnes and can tell them better than our owne soules yet he doth not remember them to our comfort but rather to our confusion unlesse we tell him and put him in remembrance of them so that the onely way to put our sinnes out of Gods remembrance is to put them into his remembrance the onely way to make God forget them is daily and hourely to declare them and put him in minde of them If therefore thou canst not be so good as thou wouldst be not ashamed be not afraid to tell God how evill thou art tell him how ungodly how unthankefull how unprofitable a servant thou hast beene unto him and desire God to mend thee and make thee such a one as he would have thee And as Ioseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and begged the body of Iesus so goe thou to God and begge the Spirit of Iesus even that spirit of Grace and Supplication which the Prophet speakes of Zach. 12. 10. which will come downe from heaven and bring into thy soule first Supplications to prepare thee secondly Grace to assure thee of the free and full forgivenesse of all thy sinnes And then let thy sinnes bee what they will be sinnes of death sinnes of blood sinnes of hell if thou canst finde in thy heart to pray God will finde in his heart to pardon for his Grace is sufficient to doe it That 's the first 2. The second thing whereto the sufficiency of Gods Grace doth belong is Adconsolandum to comfort those sad and heavy hearts that can no other way bee comforted I should have fainted saith David Psal 27. 13. for all my worldly comforts but that I steadfastly beleeved to see the Lords good grace in the land of living that is to see it before he dyed therefore we reade 1. Sam. 30. 6. when he was in great distresse had neither house nor home to shelter him neither wife nor child nor friend be any to comfort to him but his owne very souldiers began to takle of stoning him Then saith the text David comforted himselfe in the Lord his God Heare this thou poore disconsolate man that art as thy Saviour was said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sad round about thou that lookest into thy purse and there is no comfort money is gone that lookest into thy cubbord and there is no comfort provision is gone that lookest into thy barne and store-house and there 's no comfort corne and wares are gone that lookest in thy heart and ther 's no comfort cheerefulnesse and joy is gone Then looke up to God and there is comfort to bee had if there bee any water it is in the sea if there bee any light it is in the sunne if there be any comfort it is in God Therefore the Apostle justly calleth him The God of all consolation 2. Cor. 1. because when all other comforts faile theres's comfort to bee found in God For beleeve this for a truth there is no mans case no mans estate no mans soule is desperate to God but when they are at the lowest ebbe at the rest stay at the most forlorne hope then doth God speake peace unto their soules then doth hee draw out those same vbera consolationes those breasts or dugges of consolation which the Prophet speakes of Esay 66. 11. and drops downe that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that sincere milke of heavenly comfort to revive the spirit of the humble and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart The Hebrewes observe that one and the same word nakam signifieth first to repent and then to comfort and it may bee well applyed to this purpose that true comfort belongs to none but such are truly penitent So our Saviour tells us that the holy Ghost whom he calles the comforter when he commeth the first thing he will doe is to convince the world of sinne that is first put men quite out of comfort in themselves then put them into comfort by their Saviour In a word then forasmuch as comfort cannot be had without repentance nor repentance bee endured without comfort nor either of these bee attained without God it remaines that as the daughter of Caleb besought her earthly father Iud. 1. so we beseech our heavenly Father to give us the springs above as well as the springs beneath I meane that Irriguum superius the spring of grace comfort from above as well as that Irriguum inserius the spring of sorrow and repentance from beneath and then let our discomforts and discontents be what they will wee shall have grace sufficient from God to countervaile them al and as Philip said to our Saviour Iohn 14. 8. Lord shew us the father and it sufficeth us so though our sinnes confound us and our consciences condemne us Lord shew u● thy favour as t is sufficient for us 3. The third is Ad sanandum His Grace is sufficient to cure and heale us of all those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those bodily ailements and infirmities which God for sinne doth inflict upon us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from those scourges and roddes as the holy Ghost termeth sore diseases Luc. 7. 21. for indeed they are the very rods which God useth to chasten and correct us for our follies I say there is no rod so sharpe no disease so sore but Gods Grace is sufficient to heale it and to take it off I am Ropeca saith God Exod. 15. penult I am thy Physitian or I am the Lord that healeth thee and if God be the Phisitian his Grace is the Physicke for whosoever be the instrument of our health God is the Authour his Grace is it that doth the cure Therefore in common speech when any outward malady doth befall us whereof we know no second cause wee use to say and we say well that it came by the Grace of God now if thou beleevest that it came by Gods Grace beleeve this also that by the same Grace it shall in Gods good time be remedied and removed and done away for as S. Iames saith in another case God giveth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 4. 6. He giveth more grace and sheweth more favour to heale those that are sicke and broken in heart than to breake their hearts with sickenesse that were well and whole both are from the same Grace but the one more especially the other But then the maine point for satisfaction will be this seeing it is in the power of Gods Grace to cure all infirmities and that in a moment with a word-speaking as the Centurion said Speake but the word and my servant shall be whole Why will God suffer so many of his owne Patients that have no Physitian but