Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	call_v	word_n	write_v	5,518	5	5.5370	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81211	Ioy out-joyed: or, Joy in overcoming evil spirits and evil men, overcome by better joy: set forth in a sermon at Martins in the fields, to the Right Honourable the Lords assembled in Parliament, upon the day of their solemn rejoycing and praising God, for reducing the city of Chester by the forces of the Parliament, under the command of Sr William Brereton, February 19. 1645. / By Joseph Caryl minister of the Gospel at Magnus neer London Bridge.	Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.; England and Wales. Parliament.	1646 (1646)	Wing C780; Thomason E323_3; ESTC R200591	20,183	35

of that chanell wherein it was into another chanell wide and capacious enough to hold all the inundations of it Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice in this that your names are written in Heaven I shall not stay upon any anxious division of the text There are two clear parts in it The one Corrective The other Directive The Corrective part lies in the first words wherein Christ checks and stops the suspected excesses of their joy for victories gained over evil spirits Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you The Directive part lies in the later words shewing them a joy wherein there could be no excesse but rather rejoice in this because your names are written in Heaven Notwithstanding in this rejoice not Joy is the opening and dilatation of the heart upon the receiving of some present good thing as sorrow is the coarctation the shutting or locking up of the heart upon the pressure of some present evil Rejoice not that is let not your hearts open too much in receiving this object The negation is not absolute but only comparative so it is expounded in the next clause Rejoice not but rather He doth not forbid but qualifie and moderate their joy That the spirits are made subject to you Angels are spirits and they are either good or bad That these spirits were bad Angels we have warrant at the 17 verse The Devils are subject unto us These were once good Angels Now they are fallen and by their fall they have lost their condition but not their constitution their honour but not their nature they are spirits still The spirits are made subject to you Subjection is two-fold Either compulsory or voluntary The subjection here meant is a compulsive subjection They are not subject to you as the Saints are to Christ by a professed subjection of their wills but they are subject as a slave to his Lord whether they will or no by an imposed subjection Good Angels faithfully serve the Saints and evil Angels are made subject to them The former are ministring spirits sent out for the● good of those who are the heirs of salvation The later are kept by the power of Christ and the ministry of his servants from doing hurt to the heirs of salvation To be enabled for this is a great priviledge yet the Disciples must not rejoice greatly in this In what then Christ shews them a better and a nobler object of joy But rather rejoice that your names are written in Heaven There are no literall records in the Court of Heaven there is no pen or ink no paper or parchment there To be written in Heaven is only this to be elected unto eternall life and adopted sons of God to an inheritance among the Saints in light Moses of old spake this language Exod. 3● 23. Blot me out of thy book which thou hast written David in allusion to this phrases a prayer against his enemies Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written among the righteous Psal 69. 28. And Christ promises the Sardian victor That he will not blot his name out of the book of life Rev. 3. 5. God is said to have two books in Heaven First He hath a book of those things which we have done or the book of conscience Rev. 20. 12. I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works Secondly He hath a book of what himself hath done or the book of election called often in Scripture the book of life Phil. 4. 3 Rev. 13. 8. c. ●7 8. c. 20. 15. c. 21. 27. c. 22. 19. Further God may be said to have in Heaven a black book wherein every word is a blot a blot fallen from the lives of wicked men here upon the earth And he hath as I may so speak a white book a book written with the fair letters of all the holy acts which his Saints have done upon the earth Again God hath a book of death wherein all the names of reprobates are written with the gall and wormwood of his everlasting wrath And he hath a book of life in Heaven written with the golden raies and beams of his own eternall love Our being written in this book of life is the matter of that exceeding joy to which Christ calls his Disciples in the text But rather rejoice in this that your names are written in Heaven The words thus opened yeeld plenty of seasonable and profitable instructions First this Evil spirits are subject to the power of Christ working in his Saints and servants The Devil is subject not only to the immediate and personall power of Christ but to his mediate and ministeriall power The subduing of the Devil was not a businesse confined to that age wherein Christ sojourn'd on earth such victories are obtained every day Such conquests as the Disciples obtained are very rare And I intend not a discourse about the possession or dissposession of evil spirits but there is an ordinary way of subduing the power of the Devil in the ministration of the Gospel The Gospel is the ministration of the holy Spirit and therefore it must needs be victory over the evil spirit Thus the unclean spirit is made to dislodge The Divel is seldom permitted to possesse the body of any man but he possesses the souls of all wicked men And though the Divel be cast out of the souls of all beleevers yet he never ceases to oppose their souls Every time a sinner is converted an evil spirit is subdued and every time a temptation is resisted by the Saints an evil spirit is foiled The Divel is a great prince and he hath more then halfe the world his subjects Many millions and among them many Kings of the earth doe him homage and stoop to his commands But how great soever he is and how many soever follow him yet he is made to stoop to the least of the Saints That roaring Lion couches to them and they tread upon this serpent The God of peace bruises Satan under their feet Rom. 16. 20. Besides as evil spirits are subdued which work in or against the souls of men So evil spirits are kept from hurting and afflicting the bodies and outward estates of men For as good Angels incamp about the godly to guard and protect them so evil Angels incamp against the godly to anoy and vex them If the power of Christ to this day did not master and subdue the power of those evil spirits they would make strange confusions in the world quickly The Divels are under a twofold chaine First under a chain of justice So the Apostle Iude at the sixth verse of his Epistle They are reserved in everlasting chains they can never wear them out or file them off under darknes to the judgement of

rejoyce that your names are written in Heaven The names of the Saints are written in Heaven If so Then first they are safe their estate is setled their names are taken into the list of blessednes 2. They are honourable A man under disgrace hath his name written in the dust but to have a name enrolled in Heaven is an expression of the highest honour 3. They shall be had in everlasting remembrance nothing shall be able to obliterate or rase out a name that is written in Heaven Eusebius reports of Herod that he burnt all the genealogies of the Jews that himself might be mistaken for a Jew But no Herod with his power and pride shall ever burn or deface the roll of election Names written in that shall not be blotted out The land of forgetfullnes lyes all on this side heaven Is not this a ground of great joy and strong consolation to the Saints Possibly their names are blotted here upon the earth but there is no blot upon them in heaven God doth not delight to take notice of the failings and miscarriages of his servants much lesse will he deface their names when they miscarry In Scripture some miscarriages of the Saints are recorded which in themselves are blots but the end why they are recorded is for our warning not for their shame which yet is the intendment of most on earth who industriously write books of the Saints ● rata's whether in opinion or in practice It it very dangerous to blot names which are written in heaven Christ would not have any sin flattered in any man but Christ would not have all sins discovered in all men therefore he hath provided a covering not that which is the ordinary covering self-flattery or the flattery of others The covering he hath provided is charity charity covereth a multitude of sins 1 Pet. 4. 8. Surely their charity is very narrow or if it be not narrow I wonder what use they put it to who will hardly cover one infirmity of an offending brother Yea some are so greedy after offences that though they are covered yet they uncover them and are so far from casting a garment over what appears that they pull off the very seals of secrecy to make all appear It doth not become men to do so much lesse Saints But as to suffer these blots is the patience of the Saints on earth so it is their joy to hear that there are no blots upon their names in heaven Be of good comfortt though men blot God will not For as he speaks to Moses desiring not a blot upon his name but the blotting out of his name Exod. 32. 32. Blot me I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written Blot thee Moses saith God No I will never blot thee I will put no blots upon such names as thine much lesse blot such names out There was a failing in that speech of Moses and some interpret that desire of his to be his blot yet God doth not put it as a blot upon Moses but saith Whosoever hath sinned against me him will I blot out of my book God is so far from desiring to blot the names of his people that he will not blot them though they themselves should desire it He will neither blot them out of his book nor blot them in his book He will do neither he keeps the names of his Saints fair written for ever Then which is the last point It is matter of great joy to have our names written in Heaven This is a priviledge worth the having To be in Gods books Heer 's honour indeed To be of the Church of the first-borne whose names are written in Heaven Heb. 12. 23. They who have their names written highest in the earth should be most desirous to have their names written thus high They that are honourable and great they that are men of name in the world as the giants are intitled Gen. 6. 4. at that time there were men of name men of renown such should be most ambitious of being men of name above My Lords your names are written very high here below And it is my prayer that your names may be written higher that even your earthly honours and dignities may encrease and that your Fame may be as an ointment poured out perfuming not only this Kingdom but the world with your just and heroicall actions Yet let it not suffice You such ambition is a vertue I say let it not satisfie You who have so great a name upon the earth to have a name upon the earth I would not have it content the meanest man upon earth much lesse should it content your Lordships who have Great estates Great dignities Great titles Great families Great Ancestors Great spirits to have names narrowed up to this earth this little molehill of earth It is a duty for the greatest persons if God call them to it to be contented with a little of the earth but it is a sinne for the meanest person to be content with all the earth Luther spoke himself a Protestant indeed while he protested I will never be satisfied with the creature The great world is not big enough for the epitome of it The little world My Lords there are not very many names if we speak comparatively written in heaven at all the roll is not large which contains those inscriptions And the Scripture speaks of the Noble and Honourable which it doth but of one sort of men more with a diminution 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called There are not very many in all called and of those there are not many mighty nor many noble This should not be a discouragement but a spurre to your Honours Do not think that this Scripture necessitates any of You to be left out many will not be called though all your Lordships be There are Nobles enow in the world in whom this text will be verified and made good though it be not in any of your Honourable number Let it fill all your hearts with holy jealousies concerning your selves not with despondencies much lesse despairs concerning any of your selves When Christ said to his twelve Disciples One of you shall betray me it put them all upon this suspicion who it should be and one said Master is it I another Master is it I When the Holy Ghost in this Scripture saith Not many noble are called it should put all that are Noble upon this Inquisition Lord am I called Lord am I Is my name written in Heaven is mine It may be asked but with what spectacles shall we reade at such a distance How shall we discern whether our names are written in heaven or no I intend not to enter upon a discourse of signes and tokens but as the Apostle answers them Rom. 10. 6. who were making Quaeries about Christ Say not in thine heart Who shall ascend up to heaven they made great difficulties how to get neer Christ how to know him say not in thine heart saith he have not these reasonings Who shall ascend up to heaven With what ladders shall we scale the clouds or with what wings shall we soar up thither Trouble not thy self saith the Apostle with these thoughts thou shalt not be put to so long a journey for the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart the word of faith which we preach I say likewise to these Quaerists Say not in your hearts who shall ascend up to heaven to see whether his name be written there or how shall we send a messenger thither to search the records You may save that journey the word is neer you the word is before you even the word of faith and of obedience which we preach If the name of God be written in your hearts your names are written in Heaven If you in your actions daily write out a copy of this book assure your selves the hand of God hath written you in his book The lives of the Saints should be a continued copying out of the book of God He that writes out the book of God in his life may rest assured his name is written in the book of life FINIS