Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	prayer_n	read_v	scripture_n	2,527	5	5.9548	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10925	A sermon preached at the second trienniall visitation of the right honourable and right reuerend father in God, William Lord Bishop of London, holden at Keluedon in Essex: September. 3. 1631. By Nehemiah Rogers, pastor of Messing in Essex	Rogers, Nehemiah, 1593-1660.	1632 (1632)	STC 21198; ESTC S116117	22,027	36

Cutting Riuing or Nibbing of the Penn that it may write hard or soft as Occasion requires Thus if we would write Well and Faire let vs not affect to be dealing with those Scriptures that are Obscure and Darke Of Ambiguous and Doubtfull meaning 2 Pet. 3.16 Of which kinde there are not a few in holy Writ and none more subiect to bee wrested and peruerted Wits making such places the Palaestra to proue masteries in You know the Antient Fathers did scarce touch the Booke of the Reuelation in all their writings thinking it farre safer with silence to admire then to aduenture to expound it Such then as fasten to choose vpon such darke Texts except they haue the better parts and helps seeme to write with the Ganders quill and while men seeke to get the praise of a nimble head and sharpe wit by tying knots to vntie againe they doe with the dog leaue soft meate to knawe vpon the bones But say in our ordinary lot and course Quest. we meete with such a Scripture what must then be done In such a Case Resp to keepe me still vnto the Metaphor doe as good Penmen doe with such a Quill scrape it and pare it till you get away the Teeth what may be I meane that you would Distinguish aptly that which is Confused And Illustrate plainely that which is Obscure You know the Helps the Vse of Tongues and Authors c. And Prayer in such a Case is the Best Booke in the Studie Enquire of him who is both the Author and Interpreter of Scripture The noise of Axe and Hammer would not bee heard ouer-loud within the Temple the worke would be framed in Lebanon To reckon vp all that wee haue read with their seuerall opinions vpon such a Text is in my poore conceit with Dauid A spice of Pride in numbering of the people As on the other side at no time to Quote an Author may be thought with Rhehoboam to despise the iudgement of the wise To bee briefe if after all our paines such places remaine to vs ambiguous and doubtfull it is enough if we acknowledge confesse and religiously admire Not peremptorily determining on either part shutting vp our discourse as the Iewes were wont euery doubtfull place they met withall with this Elias cum venerit soluet dubia Or if in Case we doe determine it shall bee our wisedome to walke in the beaten roade of the Church and not to run out into any single Paradoxes of our owne to trouble the common peace Better is it to bee last in the droue of good Expositors saith our Reuerend Arch-bishop in his Exposition vpon Ionah then to bee formost inventing our owne Conceits This is not all for after wee haue Chose our Quill With the good Pen-man we must be Carefull in Cutting of our Pen. This requires Skill that it may be neither too Soft nor ouer Hard Therefore the Apostle speaketh thus to Timothy Shew thy selfe approued vnto God a workeman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly diuiding the Word of truth 2 Tim. 2.15 Gods Minister must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diuide and cut A speech borrowed from the Cutting vp of the Sacrifice in which there was great skill required the Liuer must be left hanging on the Right side the Heart and Lungs vpon the Channell bone the Milt vpon the left side and the Kidneys vpon the Rump Each Bungler can Chop a Text into Gobbets but so to Cut the word as to giue euery one their Portion and therein approue ones selfe to God is the propertie Of a Workeman that needeth not to bee ashamed Of this there are two parts Resolution and Application The Former is as the Slitting or Riuing of the Pen the Latter as the Nibbing of it Si Logica absit rationalis homo praeter rationem in linguae sono versatur Our Text must be vntwisted and vnloosed or as it were vnbowelled which cannot bee done without the helpe of Logicke the hand of Philosophie This would not bee Ouer-slight nor Ouer-curious for Aequè confusa est diuisio nimia nulla saith Fulgentius To make a long Analysis to a Short Text is with the Citizens of Mindus to build Great Gates to a Little Citie who were well flouted for their paines Or like the Boasting Traueller who comming to his Inne plucks out great store of coine and spends but two-pence And on the other side not to obserue Parts and Order is as bad A Burden well wrapped and pack't vp together wee carry with greater ease both Minister and Hearer is much help'd by Method As for the Applying part respect must bee had vnto the Auditory as the good Pen-man hath in nibbing of his Pen vnto the kinde of Paper he writes vpon that it agree with it Some hath a hard and crosse graine which soone takes off the edge of a Tender Penn here too much of the nib would not be left The Penn would bee Hard and Dry. Some paper againe hath a more fine and tender graine with which the Smaller Penn doth best agree Your Ordinarie Paper is Pot-paper of a middle nature and requires that the nib be neither too soft nor too hard but brought vnto a meane Gods Prophets must fit themselues to the Persons they haue to deale withall becomming all to all that they may saue some A Nathans tongue suits well with a Dauid's heart A Huldahs with Iosiah's And an Elijah's and Michajah's with Ahab's A Iohn Baptist with Herod's doth best of all It is worth our taking notice of how God in all ages hath proportioned men to the occasions A Mild Moses was for the low estate of Afflicted Jsrael mild in spirit saith one but mighty in wonders mild because hee had to do with a persecuted and yet a techie people mighty because he had to doe with a Pharaoh A Graue and a holy Samuel was for the quiet consistence of Israel And a fierie-spirited Elijah for the desperatest declinations of it If in later times of the depraued Condition of his Church God hath raised vp some spirits which haue beene more warme and stirring then those of common mould wee cannot censure the choise when we see the seruice As a Reuerend Prelate of our Church speakes worthily One thing more before I passe this be pleased to take notice of that how-euer you may seeme in the Nibbing of your Penn through the sloape holding of your knife in cutting it halfe way to make it thinne and then strait ouer-thwart to make Two-cuttings yet if it be not done at once it will not write Faire and Currantly So in all our Vses and Applications deriued and deducted from our Doctrines how euer they may seeme yet let them not be Two but One Syllogisme and ordinarily a Connexe Looke how many Vses we deduce from the Doctrine deliuered if they will make a Syllogisme the Doctrine being the Argument we misse not our Rule And then will our Application be more effectuall Nothing else