Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	new_a	prophet_n	testament_n	3,332	5	7.9706	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75459	Gods presence mans comfort: or, Gods invisibilitie manifested unto mans capacitie. The heads of which tractate were delivered in a sermon at the Abbey of Westminster, and since enlarged for the benefit of the Church of God. / By the Lords unprofitable servant, Ch. Anthony. Imprimatur: Ja. Cranford.	Anthony, Charles, 1600-1685.	1646 (1646)	Wing A3477; Thomason E328_1; ESTC R8561	58,663	111

of God but those books which are received for and commonly called Canonicall contained in the Old and New Testaments commended unto us from the Prophets and Apostles times even untill now through the power providence and mercy of God which also are not of any private 2 Pet. 1. 20 21. interpretation For prophecie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost and therefore are not to be wrested to please the strange humours and opinions or to make for the private ends of either Papists Hereticks or Schismaticks much lesse to be corrupted in the text by any but construed according to the true sense and meaning of the holy Ghost Perverters there were of the word of God in the Apostles dayes the Apostle Peter speaks of some who wrested the writings of his beloved brother 2 Pet. 3. 16. Paul and other Scriptures also unto their own destruction I could wish there were not some such in these our dayes but because there are some such I shall advertise you in the words of the same Apostle Beware seeing that yee know these things before lest Vers 17. ye also be led away with the errour of the wicked and fall from your own stedfastnesse Quest But some may say How then shall I know that Scripture which is commended unto us to be the very true word of God Answ The holy Scripture takes not its authority from the penmen who wrote the same for they for the most part were unlearned men as shepherds plow-men fisher-men and the like But the authority of the Scriptures ariseth First From the majesty of him who inspired the writers to pen things so sublime in such a familiar stile and simplicity of words and yet such is the majestie of the stile that it is unutterable being more powerfull in matter then in words which none could doe save only that God who is cloathed with Majesty Secondly The matter it selfe being of that efficacy that it divideth assunder the soule and the spirit Heb. 4. 12. and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions as it strikes terrour into the hearts of the greatest adversaries that despight it so it works an aversion from evill and a conversion to good in them that love it yea the comfort that some have taken in it hath made them abandon all sublunary things and yeeld their lives as a prey into the hands of mercilesse men rather then disclaime it so that what by convincing and converting what by affrighting and delighting all have been forced to acknowledge it to be not the invention of mortall man but the true word of immortall God Thirdly The events of the prophecies as of the promised seed the calling of the Gentiles the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptian thraldome c. How doth Isaiah prophesie of Christ to come as if hee then were already in the flesh Unto us a childe is born c and the same Isa 9. 6. Prophet fore-telleth the freedome of the Jewes from captivity by Cyrus naming him whereas Isa 45. 1. Cyrus was born about 100. yeers after so another Prophet that cried against the altar at Bethel 1 King 13. 2. named Josiah and what hee should doe upon that altar whereas Josiah was born above 300 yeers after In the New Testament S. Paul telleth us of seducing spirits of doctrines of divels forbidding to 1 Tim. 4. 1 2. marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanks-giving and this is fulfilled in that Antichristian Romish Church so Peter fore-telleth of scoffers walking 2 Pet. 3. 3. after their owne lusts and have not wee some who scoffe at Religion and hate the work of Reformation I wish we had not Thus the events of the Prophecies prove the truth of the word to be the word of Truth Fourthly The admirable consent of the pen-men all pointing at the same Messiah though living in severall ages Adde to this the consent of the Spirit mentioned by Paul and saith Peter in 1 Cor. 2. 12 13. the behalf of himself and the rest of the Apostles Wee have a more sure word of prophecie 2 Pet. 1. 19. Fifthly The wisdome of God in the penning of his Law No law of man could ever be so exactly devised but some offender might finde a shift to evade the penaltie of that law mans law therefore requires to be reviewed and amended but this law of God remaines as at first it was made and no delinquent can finde the least way to escape the judgement threatned and this also proves it to be the very word of the invisible God And if any desire to be satisfied yet farther concerning the Scriptures whether they are the very word of God let him doe this compare Scripture by Scripture and place by place let the letter and the sense goe together then let him yeeld himselfe obedient to the Spirit of truth and that Spirit of truth shall witnesse unto him the truth of the Spirit and let as many as be perfect be thus Phil. 3. 15. minded and if in any thing yee be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you But if any one will not be content to suck the wholesome milk from the breasts of the Scriptures let him continue still like the swine to feed upon the husks that he so much doth relish But as for you my brethren of whom I hope Hebr. 6. 9. better things and such as accompany salvation Receive I humbly beseech you with meeknesse sobrietie James 1. 21. and thankfulnesse this pure word of God which is the truth of God proceeding from the fountaine of Truth it selfe which is onely able to make you wise unto salvation and which will open the eyes of your understanding cleerly to see God and as for others no marvell if they never attaine unto the true and perfect knowledge of God who either know not the Scriptures at all or else knowing them search them not diligently nor reade them with a single eye Christ reproved the Sadduces concerning the resurrection You erre saith hee not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God He reproved also the Jews for their ignorance of knowing him when he proved by the testimony of his Father of John of his works and John 5. 17 32 36. of the Scriptures who hee was and therefore hee counselleth them to search the Scriptures for they Vers 39. testified of him Scrutamini Scripturas It was the honour of the Bereans in that they received the word Acts 17. 11. with all readinesse of minde and searched the Scriptures daily whether the things spoken by Paul were so or not and as it was their honour so it will be your blessednesse to be studious in the Scriptures which so evidently reveal God to you For meditation in the word of God is that key that openeth the door to

coeli gloria stellarum mundum autem illuminat Deus The beauty of heaven is the glory of the Starres but God is the glory of the world for whatsoever beauty is either in the Sun the Moon or the Starres is borrowed from God who is the Father of lights and they in their being set forth unto man that excellencie and power of God for in their order they manifest the Wisdome of God and in their obedience to his command they shew the power of his Will they taking a delight to obey their Creatour Again The Starres set forth the workmanship of their Creator both in their swiftnesse of their motions in their proper courses for in their severall spheres they are alwayes moving as also in their sweet harmony and musick observed by Job Job 38. 31. c. which harmony is not to be heard by the eare of the body but of the soul and understanding Thus from the beauty and vertue of the Sunne Moon and Starres as wee may gather not a little of the knowledge of God so wee may conceive more of that eternall blessednesse which all they shall enjoy who shall be citizens of the new Jerusalem in that they shall exceed even the * Matt. 13. 43. Sun in his lustre and glory I could long insist in this book of the creatures having a large subject to discourse on but I will shun tediousnesse and briefely discourse of them generally Man at his first creation was a perfect creature yet mutable at first hee was endowed with a fulnesse of knowledge yet subject to fall and so to come short of that first perfection Not long after mans creation through the subtill temptations of Satan Eve was beguiled and Gen. 3. shee perswading her husband to eat both sinned and fell short of that their former happinesse Since which time much of that knowledge in which hee was created is impaired for whereas before hee was able readily to discern the vertue and nature of all things yea and to give names to every creature agreeable to that their nature and vertue hee now falls short and hardly can with much labour and studie finde out the vertue of any vegetable Whereas before hee was Lord over all creatures and might both command and teach hee may now from them learn lessons worthy observation All his senses are now so depraved and weakned even in things naturall that it is no marvell if hee faile in things spirituall The oxe knoweth Isa 1. 3. his owner and the asse his masters crib but Israel doth not know c. So that now the brute creature must read a lecture to man whereby he may come to the knowledge of his Creator And if man diligently observe the varietie and nature of the creatures together with the wonderfull fabrick of the world he shall finde them as a shop or store-house full of various wonders and wonderfull variety of secret mysteries and mysticall secrets or as a Schoole wherein hee may reade large lectures of deep Divinity the world being as a book in folio every page whereof is written full of his excellent works and those in capitall letters insomuch that hee that runneth may reade Excellently doth the son of Syrach set for the wisdom Ecclus 43. and power of God in the variety of the creatures and yet saith he Who can magnifie him as he is Ver. 31. Yet neverthelesse by these his works in the world and governance thereof man may in part discern the Justice the Knowledge the Wisdom the Power and the Providence of God for God hath imparted certain sparks of his beauty unto his creatures thereby to draw us to the consideration of the love of him who is Pulchritudo ipsa Beauty it selfe and whereof all other is but as a shadow Even as a man finding a small current of water may thereby be moved to seek out the head of the spring or as happening on some small veine of gold may be thereby animated to search out the mine it selfe But wee alas like silly children delight our selves onely with the faire cover of the book not minding what is contained within Whereas in all fair creatures which daily wee behold wee should rather consider thus within our selves that if God could make one clod of earth so amiable by imparting unto it some small sparkle of his excellency how infinitely faire must hee then be in himselfe yea how worthy all-love and admiration who is sole perfection yea and how happy wee then shall be when wee shall enjoy his beautifull presence from whence all creatures doe borrow theirs But as I said commonly wee onely rest in the externall appearance of visible objects and carry not our contemplations from the creature to the Creator In the old Law God commanded that whatsoever Lev. 11. 41 42. did goe upon its breast should be abomination unto man Oh! how abominable then is reasonable man who hath his soule as it were glewed to the creatures even to this white and yellow clay yea and how vaine are they that pride themselves in their apparell borrowing from all creatures to make themselves seem lovely from one they borrow wooll from another his skin from another his furre from others even their excrements as silk from the worm and perfume from the cat and not content herewith but they borrow pearls from fishes silver and gold from the earth and precious stones from the stands and these they hang about their bodies to draw the eyes of others to stare on them as if this beauty were their own for when the stone glitters upon their finger they in their own conceit glitter also and when the silk shines on their backs Lord how proud are they in their own fancies never considering that God who infused that beauty even into those creatures from whom they borrowed it So that although the creatures of the world doe wonderfully set forth this great God yet every man seeth not God in them onely the true Christian the Spouse of Christ can discern him thorow these grates can perceive him from behinde this wall and that onely by the cleer eye of unblemished faith Not that the manifestation of the Deity is debarred any man for Saint Paul saith The invisible things of God from the creation of Rom. 1. 20. the world are cleerly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternall power and Godhead So that it is plain that God is made manifest unto all even by the works of the creation although all do not observe it Obj. But God is insensible that is invisible and therefore not cognoscible quod enim non cadit in sensum non subit intellectum that which comes not within the compasse of our sense comes not within the verge of our understanding Resol God considered in himself that is in his Essence is indeed invisible according to S. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No man hath seen God at any 1 John