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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	great_a	life_n	open_v	3,184	5	7.3311	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77990	Jacobs seed or The generation of seekers. And Davids delight : or The excellent on earth. / By the late reverend preacher of the Gospel Jeremiah Burrough.	Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.	1648 (1648)	Wing B6090; Thomason E1162_1; ESTC R210094	70,993	190

onely tell them that they should seek me but I shewed by what way and means they ought to seek me in a right manner that my speaking to them might not be in vain For if a Minister come in Gods name to put you upon any duty and exhort you to do such and such a thing and barely tell you what you should do without showing how you should do it where you shall have strength and in what manner you should do it he shall speak in vain There are abundance of Sermons in vain when onely good things are commended to people and they are taught what they should do but not the way how and the manner and where they should have strength to do it then the word is in vain But saith God I said not unto you in vain that is I did not onely bid you seek me but I taught you the way how and in what manner you should seek me Thirdly and lastly I suppose that the principall scope of the holy Ghost is that which the words plainly present to our view I required not the seed of Jacob to seek me to no purpose that nothing should come of it but I required that they should seek me and they have found abundance of good by seeking of me So then this point ariseth plainly out of the words When God requires a people to seek him he will make it good to them that it shall not be in vain Before I open this point I will give you a Scripture or two one in the old Testament and another in the new Deut. 4.7 For what Nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for Here is an experiment of the fruit of seeking God and it is spoken to shew the honour of Gods people the priviledge of the seed of Jacob and the eminent condition they were in God is nigh to them in all things they call upon him for therefore they are not required to seek God in vain So Matth. 21.22 And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive A very strange expression Here might seem to be a tautologie One would think that it had been large enough to have said Whatsoever ye shall ask ye shall receive but here is all things whatsoever We would not speak so in ordinary language I will give you all things whatsoever Yet it may be this may be intended and I believe it is And all things here is the generall promise that all things that ye ask ye shall receive and whatsoever may referre to particulars every particular thing that ye ask ye shall receive You will say Any one that understands reason or Logick knoweth that particulars are included in the generall But there is this illogicall reasoning of unbelief that though we agree to the premises in generall yet when we come to particulars we think they will not be made good to us I suppose you find your unbelieving hearts so irrationall that though they believe the generall promise yet when it comes to particulars and you cannot but say that such a particular is in the generall yet your hearts will not come up to it Therefore our Saviour saith not onely all things in generall but also whatsoever in particular So Jam. 5.16 The effectuall fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much There is but one word in the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the working prayer but it is translated by two effectuall fervent Surely then prayer and seeking of God is the ordinance which he hath appointed for the turning about of the great affairs of the world This is the engine that doth it inwardly There are indeed a great many outward wheeles used but the spring of all is within prayer turns all about God never made use of any created power so much as of this He never did such great things by any created power as by the ordinance of prayer The Word is appointed for the converting of souls but a great part of the blessing of the Word dependeth on prayer In the opening of this point I will First give you some evidences of it Secondly shew you what great things prayer will do Thirdly wherein the efficacy and power of it lyeth Fourthly the objections of troubled unbelieving spirits against it And then come to apply all The evidences hereof are first the many famous records in Scripture of the noble and glorious exploits of prayer If any of you should come to me to ask as that King did of the prophets servant 2. Kings 8.4 What great things hath thy master done so what great things hath prayer done in the world truly we might spend houres and dayes in returning you an answer a great part of holy Scripture being spent in this very argument And it is a very good exercise for you in the night when you cannot sleep or at other times when you are troubled to do as that King did Esther 6.1 call for the book of the Records of prayer You that reade the Scriptures mark what you reade The word of God will tell you how prayer hath stopped the Sunne in the firmament opened heaven and shut it again raised from death to life opened the prison doores and what not Secondly all Gods people are able to tell you great stories of what they have gotten by prayer This poor man cryed saith David of himself Psalm 34.6 and the Lord heard him Who is it that cannot tell histories of Gods gracious dealing with him upon his seeking of him To be sure our Nation hath many things to say this way and every particular godly soul hath many things to say they would not lose their income of prayer for all the world Thirdly surely it is not in vain to seek God for there was never any faithfull seeker of him that ever would leave off but would continue as long as he lived seeking him he would seek his face evermore if it had been in vain he would have left off When we see a Bee stick on a Flower and will not be driven off or if she be driven off she will come again we conclude certainly it finds honey there So all the Saints of God that have ever sought God truly they would never be beaten off this way Let the world do what it will persecute them set spies to watch them in their meetings of prayer let it punish and imprison them let all the malice and rage of men be against them yet they cannot hinder them either from praying in their closets or from injoying the benefit of the communion of Saints in prayer Daniel had rather lose his life then be kept from his prayers though but for a day but pray he would and that openly yea three times a day as he was wont he would not forbear one time He did stick to prayer finding honey and sweetnesse in it Oh how unlike are we to Daniel

that we should honour those that God honours Therefore it is observed in the message of the king of Babylon to Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32.31 When Hezekiah was sick and God had given him a sign of his recovery that the sunne did go backward It was a wondrous honour that God put on him that the sun should go backward The ambassadours of the king of Babylon came to congratulate with Hezekiah after his recovery but what was the businesse not onely to congratulate with him for his recovery but to enquire of the great miracle so the text saith the ambassadours of the prince of Babylon were sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land Why did they enquire of this wonder there were many wonders done but they were not sent to enquire of others but of this Because they worshiped the sun for their god and because their god had put such an honour upon Hezekiah they perceived the altering of the sun that it went backward and they enquired of the matter concerning the alteration in the sun and after enquiry there was news that it was for the sake of Hezekiah Now because they worshiped the Sunne as their god and so apprehended that their god had put such an honour upon Hezekiah they honoured him too Though Hezekiah were king of the Jews and they were enemies one to another Jerusalem and Babylon yet when God had honoured him they sent to congratulate one another then they put hohour and respect one upon another upon that occasion That should teach us if the heathens when they see their God put honour on any they honour such as God honours then when you see or hear that God honours gracious and godly men and women do you so too prize them let them have high esteem in your hearts You have heard this day what honour God puts upon his saints therefore learn you to honour them And much might be said to draw the hearts of all people to the love of the people of God Somewhat for the people of God to walk as excellent ones not to defile one another And for others if they would be those here in the world that be excellent and glorious it is the outward things that you hang on you clothes and riches that make you excellent ones in the eye of God but it is grace and godlinesse by faith the fathers obtained good report Some think there is no way to get esteem but outward bravery great livings fine clothes and the like and men esteem that the way to be accounted eminent more then others So there are many ministers that think to get esteem if they be honoured before great ones and go brave But you know by experience that a faithfull godly minister that walks faithfully and conscionably he gets more esteem in the hearts and consciences not onely of those that are godly but of those that have enlightned consciences then a hundred of those and they vex at it that they should do so Why they go a way to work to get more esteem but they are deceived they look at excellency where it is not It is not such things but in the work of grace that prevails with the consciences of men Boniface the martyr when he was asked the question if he might have the sacrament if he would drink it in a wooden challice saith he the time was that there were wooden cups and golden priests but now there are golden cups and wooden priests There was a time in the primitive times they were very mean they were content with wooden vessels but the men were gold in regard of grace and godlinesse and so they were highly esteemed but now they have golden cups that is a great deal of bravery and glory but they have wooden priests those that have no true excellency in them The heart of the wicked is little worth It may be his estate his houses his lands may be somewhat worth but what is his heart worth he hath nothing in himself to commend himself But now the excellency of Gods people is in that it is in the soul and heart It were an uncomfortable thing to any of you if suppose you have a servant along with you where you go and all the respect you have is for your servants sake if any entertain you into their house it is not out of respect to you but respect to your man they love your man and for his sake they entertain you this would deject your hearts if you should know that you have no respect for any good in your selves but for your servants sake So the men of the world they have respect but what is it for for their riches for their honour for their brave clothes for their money all servants under them they have no respect for any thing in themselves they have no spirituall excellency especially when they are to deal with God and the consciences of men they have no respect But godly men have not so many servants to gain respect by outward things but that respect they have of Gods saints and in the consciences of men they have it from an internall excellency But we let this go It follows the second point The excellent of the earth In whom is all my delight It is but little that can be done I see though it were the point I intended most That that hath been said already makes way abundantly into the heart that if they be the excellent of the earth there is cause that we should delight in them That is the point that A gracious heart takes great delight in the saints on earth First in their persons Or else in their society and communion with them Or rather thus they take delight in them severally or joyntly If they look upon any one saint of God they have delight in him but they have more to look on all together joyntly so they can say their souls delight in them there is a sweet complacency take them joyntly And that is that which I shall speak to at this time the delight that is to be taken in the saints took joyntly together The delight in the saints in regard of the sweetnesse of their society and communion with them for so this delight of David is to be taken in a large sence not onely in one particular because of the good that he saw in their persons but in regard of all the good he saw in them and by them in joyning with them take them altogether joyntly All the good that came from them so he delighted in them There is a great deal of delight and contentment to be had in the saints of God especially joyntly If you look at one sometimes though in never so mean a condition there is a great deal of delight there As Doctor Tayler the Martyr that we read of in the book of Martyrs coming to Bradford he professed that it countervailed all his trouble in prison that he was acquainted