Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	love_n	love_v	worldly_a	3,021	5	9.1436	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20725	The Christian arte of thriving, whereby a man may become rich to God, or, A sermon vpon Matth.6.33 preached by the right reuerend father in God, George, Lord Bishop of Derry.	Downame, George, d. 1634.	1620 (1620)	STC 7109.3; STC 7109A; ESTC S120077	25,870	48

and profane folly of those who chiefly seeke worldly things For first their eye being euill their whole life is answerable as was said before 2. They which professe religion and chiefly seeke earthly things as all worldlings doe are notorious hypocrites giuing their face and outward profession to God but their heart with all their chiefe desires studies and endeuours to Mammon 3. Those that chiefly loue the world and the things of this world the loue of God is not in them Yea being louers of the world they are found to be haters of God for the amity of this world is enmity against God 4. Those who remouing their harts from God doe set them on the world are Idolaters or as Saint Iames calleth them Adulterers who haue no inheritance in the Kingdome of God 5. Those who chiefly affect the world doe subordinate the profession of Religion and the care of keeping a good conscience to worldly desires and therefore in time of triall they fall away Whereas contrariwise they whose treasure is in heauen and haue their Anchor of hope fixed there will not suffer themselues either to be allured to that which is euill by the desires of the world which they esteeme as vanities in comparison of heauenly happinesse or to bee terrified from that which is good by the afflictions and calamities of this life which are not worthy of the glory that shall bee reuealed 6. That which is said of couetous persons is true of all worldlings that they haue set their soules to sale taking for them as the price thereof the vanities of the world And therefore are more foolish and profane than Esau who sold his birth-right for a messe of pottage For these men for matters of like value and lesse necessity make away an euerlasting inheritance in the Kingdome of heauen Finally those which professing themselues Christians doe chiefly seeke earthly things doe cast away their soules not onely losing their inheritance in heauen but also plunging themselues into hell For they which walke that is make profession of religion and yet chiefly minde earthly things the Apostle saith that their end is damnation And they which sowe to the flesh must looke of the flesh to reape corruption Fourthly consider the doctrine of the Gospell teaching vs to deny all worldly lusts Tit. 2. 12. the vow of Baptisme to renounce them the duty of all true Christians and the practice of Gods children For so many of vs as are true Christians are also to be perswaded that we are elected called redeemed regenerated vnto life eternall in the kingdome of God And consequently that we are heires yea Citizens of heauen and pilgrims and strangers vpon earth who ought to vse bac vita vt via this life as a way to a better life and the things of this life as helpes onely and not as hindrances in our way not to set our hearts vpon them but to vse the world as not abusing it being weaned from worldly desires and minding the things which are aboue For it were a foule shame for vs who are appointed to heauen and called to Gods Kingdome to be wholly or chiefly addicted to the earth like earth-wormes or Serpents that crawle vpon the earth like vncleane fishes which wanting finnes doe lie in the mud like blind beetles which hauing wings notwithstanding are for the most part poring in the dung of the earth And lastly consider the practice of the Godly of Moses who when he was forty yeeres old refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ so hee calleth the afflictions of the members of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt And the reason of all this was because hee had respect to the recompence of reward that is preferred the saluation of his soule to all worldly respects for he that hath an eye to the reward both of the godly and wicked will not onely chuse to be a bond-seruant among the people of God rather then to be a Gallant in Pharaohs Court but hee will also chuse to be as poore a Lazar as Lazarus himselfe rather then to be another Diues Of Dauid in the fourth Psalme There be many that say Who will shew vs any good seeking chiefely after worldly profit But Lord saith he lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs shew thy selfe fauourable and gracious vnto vs in Christ our Sauiour This he would more reioyce in then the worldlings themselues in all their prosperity For though he were a great and glorious King yet he reposed not his happinesse neither in profit nor in pleasure nor in promotion but in the saluation of his soule and the degrees thereof as iustification and sanctification And in Psal. 27. 4. This is that one thing which he desired of the Lord and which hee saith hee would seeke after being indeede that one thing whereof by the testimony of our Sauiour there is necessity Of the Apostles who forsooke all they had in this world to follow our Sauiour Christ. But chiefely of the Apostle Paul who though hee had many things to glory in yet hee esteemed all as dung yea as losse in comparison of his iustification and saluation by Christ. The vse hereof is two-fold reproofe of worldlings instruction to our selues And first we are to reprooue the folly of worldlings who throughout the whole booke of the Prouerbs are Salomons fooles who are not as wee say penny-wise and pound-foolish but body-wise and soule-foolish For what greater folly can there bee then for momentany fruitiō of earthly vanities to lose an euerlasting kingdome in heauen for the pleasure of a moment as this whole life is no more nor yet so much compared to eternity to incurre euerlasting misery for the trifles and vanities of this world to make away our soule which is of more worth vnto vs then all the world besides And secondly the profanenesse and wickednesse of worldly-minded men who either prefer the obtaining and enioying of their worldly desires before not onely the meanes of their saluation as those in the Gospell but also before the glory of God and their owne saluation or else subordinate their profession of Religion to their worldly respects who when they ought to affect the things of this life so farre onely as they concurre with their spirituall good contrariwise affect and professe Religion onely so far as it may stand with the obtaining or enioying of their worldly desires And therefore euen in their profession of Religion wherein they would seeme to seeke the Kingdome of God they chiefly seeke like hypocrites their worldly ends The instruction which wee are to learne from hence is also twofold For first if we are chiefly to seeke the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse then must

suppose we attaine to our vvorldly desires hauing not yet sought the Kingdome of God nor cared for the saluation of our soules then will not these worldly goods be good vnto vs for as the wise man saith All these things are for good to the godly so to the sinners they are turned vnto euill For to a worldly man that seeketh not the Kingdome of God and his righteousnes what is pleasure but the lust of the flesh what riches but the Mammon of iniquitie what honour but the pride of life what learning and wisdome but armata nequities whereby men are enabled to doe the more hurt what long life it selfe but a longer continuance in sinne But on the other side if we first seek the kingdome of God and his righteousnes all these outward things shall be added vnto vs as blessings and fauours of God and pledges of his loue or if we may seeme to want any temporall blessings the seeming want thereof shall not hinder our happinesse Blessed are you saith our Sauiour to the faithfull though you be poore blessed though you mourne c. for though they seeme poore yet are they truly rich yea rich to God Luke 12. 21. not onely because they haue a treasure laid vp in Heauen but also because godlines with contentednes is great riches neither is any man so rich as hee that is contented though they be abridged of worldly pleasures yet they onely haue the true delight to them a good conscience is a continuall feast and hauing peace of conscience they haue also the ioy in the holy Ghost which as S. Peter saith is vnspeakeable and glorious Though they may seeme base in the eyes of the world yet who are so truly honourable as they who are the sonnes and heires of God and coheires of Christ Though they are simple yet who so wise as those that feare God who so learned as those who know God to bee their Father Christ to be their Sauiour and the holy Ghost to be their sanctifier Though their life sometimes be short yet is it recompenced with immortality and who may be thought so long-liued as those in whom our Sauiour hath begun a spirituall life which neuer shall haue end 6 Vntill we seeke the Kingdome of God and his righteousnes we remaine in the kingdome of Satan and in the state of damnation out of which we haue need to haste 7 Lastly vntill wee seeke the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse we doe nothing but sinne this duty being the first which we can doe without sinne And therefore by delaying this duty which ought first to bee done we doe nothing but adde sinne to sinne and hoord vp wrath against the day of wrath You see what our duty is let vs now consider our practice Do not very many that would seeme Christians deferre their seeking of Gods Kingdome and care of their saluation vntill their old age or time of sicknesse making choice of that time which is most vnfit to beginne their repentance and yet when age or sicknesse commeth they still defer their turning vnto God and seeking of his Kingdome so long as there is hope of life For what is the course that these men take when God by sicknes summoneth them as it were to appeare before him first they send to the Physician That they send to the Physician I mislike not so it be done in due order But first we should labour to make our peace with God humbling our selues vnder his hand confessing and bewailing our sinnes whereby we haue prouoked him to anger turning to him that smiteth vs and flying vnto him by hearty earnest and faithfull praier for the pardon of our sinnes that the cause of our affliction being remooued the affliction it selfe may either be remooued or sanctified vnto vs. Then are we to vse Physicke and other lawfull helpes depending on the blessing of God in the vse of them But these men first send to the Physician and whilest they haue any hope of life they neuer seeke to God nor take care what shall become of their soules But when the Physician giueth them ouer as past recouerie then and neuer till then they send for the Minister then and neuer till then they seeke God and his Kingdome As though their meaning were whē they leaue to liue then onely to begin to liue to God and hauing all their time led the life of the Reprobate to dye neuerthelesse the death of the iust But be not deceiued qualis vita finis ita such as hath bin the life such commonly is the end and ordinarily the Greeke saying is true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of an euill life there is an ill end I take not vpon mee to reftraine Gods mercy from those who at the last turne truely vnto him but I speake of that which is ordinary It is to be feared that not one of an hundred who haue al their life time deferred their repentance doth repent at the last houre and therefore it is an hundred to one that thou shalt not then repent if thou deferrest till then But the Kingdome of God is also to be sought first aboue all things that is chiefly and principally and that for these reasons 1. Because the saluation of our soules in the Kingdome of Glory and the degrees of saluation in the Kingdome of Grace is our true happinesse The former as beatitudo patrie the other as beatitudo viae and being our happinesse and consequently our chiefest good are in our iudgements to bee esteemed in our affections to be desired in our endeuours to be laboured for aboue all other things nothing else being to bee desired or sought for otherwise than as it may bee a furtherance or at least no hinderance thereunto As for the things of this life they are so farre from being the chiefe good as that to them that set their hearts vpon them and seeke them chiefly they are not good at all All these things saith the Wise man are for good to the godly but to the sinners they are turned into euill For to those that seeke them chiefly they are not onely vaine and vnprofitable as Salomon testifieth but through their owne default hurtfull also and pernicious vnto them as being not onely thornes to choke the seed of grace in them but also the baits of sinne and snares of the diuell For which cause Salomon saith The prosperity of fooles destroyeth them Againe The saluation of our soule is an eternall good These things if they be good are but momentany For as the whole earth compared to the heauens is but as a poynt of no sensible quantity so our whole time vpon the earth is but as a moment or poynt of time in comparison of eternity Who therefore would preferre the momentany vfe of earthly vanities in this world before the euerlasting fruition of the superexcellent eternall waight of glory in heauen Thirdly consider the wickednesse