Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	pomp_n	renounce_v	vanity_n	3,174	5	10.1762	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16485	An exposition vpon the prophet Ionah Contained in certaine sermons, preached in S. Maries church in Oxford. By George Abbot professor of diuinitie, and maister of Vniuersitie Colledge.	Abbot, George, 1562-1633.	1600 (1600)	STC 34; ESTC S100521	556,062	652

in their power to performe if the Lord did continue his ordinary blessings ouer them And these were rather praises thanksgiuings to the Almighty indeed perhaps in the open Temple or great publike congregation then any materiall gifts although those also were not wanting Dauids Psalmes do make that plaine for wheresoeuer he speaketh of vowes there commonly he ioyneth praises to them and in my text thanksgiuing and vowes are coupled together by Ionas as noting that the one hath a reference to the other And I doubt not but we may make such vowes in sobriety in knowledge and in faith to bind our selues to God and seale it as with a couenant that we will serue his Maiesty while we liue here in this world that we will giue among profane persons a good testification of his honour that we will sing Psalmes vnto him that we will teach our children religion and true faith yea further in particular that if God would giue vs leaue we which be of the ministery will looke carefully to our charge and will be diligent in the word if the Lord send no great let will preach at least euery Sabaoth or if we haue not that strength once or twise in a moneth which taske if we do inioyne our selues and vse the ordinary meanes of reading and of study and pray to God to assist vs his Spirit will ayde vs more then we euer did imagine Then we do not vtterly deny vowes but we willingly allow whatsoeuer is iustifiable by the prescript of the Law and the Gospell But because many kinds of men make question in this matter the Papists for their votaries other men for other causes I thinke it not amisse to limit this whole doctrine by some Aphorismes or Positions which shall cleere the whole controuersie 14 Then the first rule maybe this We in no case may vow euill things that is such as are contrary to piety toward God or charity toward men For these are sinfull vowes and ought not to be made in as much as it beseemeth vs not to bind two sinnes together but an euill deed is the one and swearing to performe it is no lesse then another Hence we condemne the act of them who being angry with Paule did bind themselues with an oath that they would neither eate nor drinke till they had murthered Paule A most malicious and vngodly and vncharitable promise and yet there were more then forty of them who had combined themselues together in that wickednesse And as it is a sinne to make entrance into such an action by speaking it or swearing it so it is a greater sinne to performe it being sworne Saint Bernard hath a good saying to this purpose Among the French men it is accompted a reproch to breake an oath although it be sworne euidently amisse although no wise mā doth doubt that vnlawfull oathes are not to be kept Within this compasse such rash vowes do come which inferre some euident euill although when they were made no such thing was intended Of which nature that oath was which Herode did take when being delighted with the dauncing of the daughter of Herodias he swore that he would giue her whatsoeuer she should aske to the one halfe of his kingdom A hastie fond promise as appeared by the demaund made thereupon for the head of Iohn the Baptist which he would neuer haue graunted if he had not purposed to go on in his iniquitie and tye two faults together For as Origene saith disputing vpon that deede The head of Iohn the Baptist vvas cut off for an oathes sake vvhich vvas rather to be broken by forswearing then to be kept For it vvas not so great a fault to haue made an oath hastily as it vvas for a hastie oath to be the death of a Prophet The vow which Iephthe made to sacrifice whatsoeuer liuing thing he first met at his returne from his victorie is by this position found to be made without iudgement but his fault was the more grieuous that he obserued it so precisely as to destroy his daughter Take heede of vowing euill things directly or by a consequent 15 The second rule is this that there be many good things which all of vs ought to vow and earnestly keepe because they touch the glorie of God immediatly by a duetie vnauoydable as that we will serue him truly and euermore accompt him that mightie one which is to be honoured Such was that vow of Iacob of which Moses reporteth thus Then Iacob vowed a vovv saying If God vvill be vvith me and vvill keepe me in this iourney vvhich I go and vvill giue me bread to eate and clothes to put on so that I come againe vnto my fathers house in safety then shall the Lord be my God The couenant of the Israelites is also of this kind where by the motion of good Iosuah they do promise solemnely to put away their idols and to serue the true God onely So is that promise also of the people of Iuda vnder king Asa where both great and small do enter an oath to serue Iehouah alone the true God of all the world Among vs who are Christians the celebration of Baptisme doth include as much in it selfe to which whosoeuer commeth as all of vs should come doth bind himselfe by a vow to renounce the pompes and vanities of this spotted filthy world and manfully to fight against the flesh and the diuell How much do they forget this whose whole delight is vanitie and idlenesse and security aiming at nothing more then at voluptuous pleasure Now when any goeth about to breake such a vow as this he maketh a separation betweene God and his soule and as farre as is in him doth diuorce himselfe from the spouse and husband of all the faithfull Do thou make these vowes aduisedly and pray earnestly to God that being made thou mayest keepe them 16 The third rule may be this some things there be indifferent neither in themselues good nor euill which if a man do vse they make him not the better and if he do refuse them yet is he not the worse If occasion should be offered in deuotion toward God or in charity towards men to promise to do such or to abstaine from the custome of them I doubt not but we may vow But in these we must put some limiting circumstances as first that it be apparantly for good and not for euill Secondly that we vndertake that action with great iudgement not rashly nor vnaduisedly but vpon iust occasion Thirdly that we put no kind of superstition therein as imagining that our deede should bee meritorious with God Fourthly that we be assured that it is in our power to do it in which respect that condition is also to be put if God will or if the Lord do not hinder vs. Within this kind I find the vsage of the Rechabites who were bound by their fathers charge and as it seemeth

rest looking downe vpon the city from some hill-side or ouerground and beholding it to be one of the fairest which then was on all the earth he could not chuse but weepe Which as partly he did for ioy to see such a conquest gotten so the author doth not dissemble it that partly it was againe with remembrance of the auncient glory of that braue city where when so many things of fame had bene done in former ages and so many gallaunt things now were yet at this time the glasse being fully runne out and the period being come in a moment of time it was all to be burnt to ashes He made better vse of his hill then Ionas did in this place and so also did Scipio of his seeing of Carthage when it could not be remedied For as Appian mentioneth he wept when he beheld the walles and buildings thereof to be vtterly ouerthrowne and openly deplored the fortune of his enemies considering long and deepely that euen cities and kingdomes are subiect to dissolution and great states as well as those of priuate men Perhaps therein he imagined that the time might come when Rome his countrey and the earths glory might drinke of the same cup. Our Prophet in his looking vpon Niniue might haue dreamed that Hierusalem or Samaria this of Israel that of Iuda might come to the selfe same miserie which now hanged ouer other and what he could haue wished should in like extremitie haue bene done to his owne that he might haue wished to this other That is a great ouersight in men when they long for the falles of their brethren and helpe to set them forward not remembring that the same may very well be their portion What measure we meate to other shall be measured to vs againe Most men are beaten with their owne rods The stone cast at our neighbour may rebound on our owne heads Therefore it is good that euermore we should do reason to other men that the thing which falleth on vs may be so much the milder And this be spoken of the East side He made himselfe a booth and sate in the shadow 9 My third note is the ease which he there procured to himselfe He made a little booth Be it that he cut downe boughs as some men do interprete it and so made him a shadow or be it that the gourd was prepared ready for him and vnder it as vnder a couer he did furnish himselfe a seate it maketh not to our matter God knoweth when it was at best it was but a silly house a cottage or a cabben or such a place as beggers do sit in by the way to aske almes of the passengers This was the receipt and hosting place of Ionas the Lords Prophet Here was not any harbenger to take vp his lodging before him no cariages to conuey his tents and bedding for him no traine to make all decent but poore Prophet he is glad to get a shrowd for his head although a sheep-coate thatched or couered with reede had bene better See how the Lord entertaineth his owne seruants in this world when it standeth with his good pleasure They are not to expect pallaces and goodly manner houses and other things accordingly but the meanest and basest matters oftentimes shall be their portion And thus he doth with those who are most deare vnto him Iacob shall be glad when he goeth to his vncle Laban to haue a stone vnder his head instead of a pillow and that the ground may be his bed Moses must not thinke scorne to keepe sheepe in the wildernesse Dauid shall be forced to send to that churlish Nabal to begge bread for his traine Elias shall thinke himselfe well if he may drinke of the brooke and haue the rauens to bring him bread and flesh in the morning Lazarus is not the worse in Gods sight that he lyeth at the gate when other be in the house and would be well apayd with the c●ummes which is a short reuersion other in the meane time sitting at full dishes and when the dogges with their licking did yeeld him more comfort then all mankind in whose possession were so many things fit to relieue him Yea the sonne of man himselfe he who made the world and all in it that thereby he might teach vs patience was in worse state then the birds in worse case then the foxes for the one of them haue nests and the other of them haue holes but the sonne of man had not where to repose or rest his head If it were thus with those holy ones who were deare to the Almighty that although they lacked many things of beauty and of pleasure yet he loued them not the lesse and so shewed that worldly accidents are not those which make men blessed then why doth wormes-meate boast of that which it holdeth his glory but indeed is but a toy of pyed and coloured clothes which sheepe and wormes send vnto them of gold which is but thicke clay of musicke all whose sweetnesse is ended with the stroke of curious sumptuous houses which haue lesse rest then a cottage of dainty faire which once eaten hath no farther vse in the world Why should other be despised for the want of these vnnecessaries when the worst oft times enioy them and the holiest seldome touch them It is a vanity of all vanities to set our rest vpon that without which a man may well be 10 Now concerning the vnpatient soule which doth vexe and disturbe it selfe with the wants which it endureth what reason hath it for that This party fareth not or lodgeth not or is not clothed with the best Therefore the spending of the day is anguish and bitternesse and murmuring complaint is his passing of the night And wherefore is all this Giue me leaue to speake to him a little Art thou not the child of God and doest thou not call him father Thou art not Then he doth iustly punish thee because thou art none of his But doest thou loue him and serue him Why then wilt thou be wiser then he who is perfection of wisedome Is it not a most likely thing that he best vnderstandeth what it is that is good for thee When he seeth thee fit for better then thou shalt haue better from him These things are but as fire wherewith thou wouldst play like a child or as a sharpe pointed knife wherewith thou wouldst hurt thy selfe therefore he putteth them from thee But in the meane while thou liuest and hast clothes and such foode as whereby nature is sustained Yea but other men who serue not God nor feare him haue more Why but that is onely to fat them and make them fit for the slaughter Yea but Gods children haue more Yea and many of them haue lesse But impatiency replieth there was neuer any like to my selfe Indeed he who beareth a burthen thinketh that no other man beareth so much But what is that wherein neuer any