Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	world_n	writer_n	year_n	155	4	4.2523	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19189	Bee thankfull London and her sisters; or, A sermon of thankfulnesse setting downe the kindnesse of God to vs ... by Robert Abbott ...	Abbot, Robert, 1588?-1662?	1626 (1626)	STC 56; ESTC S100550	29,366	42

traitors were discouered the Plague is ceassed and our enemies are yet disappointed Oh blessed be God Secondly wee must speake publickly of them for the generations to come The Prince must speake of them to his subiects the Minister to his people the Maister to his seruants one neighbour to another and the father to his children As the Iewes are said by the Rabbins the night before the Passouer to confer with their children on this wise The child said Why is it called the Passeouer The father answered because the Angell passed ouer and destroyed vs not The child said Why do we eate vnleauened bread The father answered because we were forced to make haste out of Aegypt The child said againe Why eate we soure hearbes The father answered to put vs in mind of the affliction in Aegypt so ought wee to deale in all the great and maruellous kindnesses of God Thus Dauid saith as I mentioned before Come ye children Psal 66. 16. hearken vnto me I will tell you what hee hath done for my soule And to this wee are exhorted by the Psalmist saying Sing vnto the Lord and praise his Name declare his Psal 96 2. 3. saluation from day to day Declare his glorie among all Nations and his wonders among all people Thirdly we must speake wisely of them that is so as it may easily bee discerned which fauours wee prize most Worldly men and godly men will both speake of Gods blessing them but it is except policy preuent with as much difference as there was in Isaacks giuing a blessing to Iacob and Esau The worldly man saith Blessed Genes 27. 28. 39. be God for the fatnesse of the eartth and for the dew of Heauen from aboue as if a fat earth were his best benefit but the godly man saith Blessed be God for the dew of Heauen and fatnesse of the earth and plenty of Wheat and Wine Thus is he wise in speaking of spirituall blessings with the highest straine if not alwaies in order yet in affection See it in Dauid My soule praise the Psal 103. 1. 2. 3. 4 5. Lord and all that is within mee praise his holy Name my soule praise the Lord and forget not all his benefits which forgiueth all thine iniquity and healeth all thine infirmities Here are the chiefe fauours which hee speaketh of and then he descendeth lower Which redeemeth thy life from the graue and which satisfieth thy mouth with good things This also must be our course Wee must thanke God for outward peace and prosperity but especially for the Gospell Wee must thanke God for our deliuerance from the Plague but especiall that he hath giuen vs to know the Plague in our owne hearts and to confesse it and turne 1. King 8. 38. from it vnto the liuing God Lastly we must speake constantly of them The mercies of God are shewed in prosperity and aduersity and we must speake of them in both estates as Iob who said The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh away blessed bee the Iob 1. 21. Name of the Lord yea they are renued euery morning Lam. 3. 23. and therefore must we say with the Psalmist In the morning in the euening and at noonetide will I praise thee because Psal 119. of thy righteous iudgements Thus haue I taught you how to be thankefull vnto God by Celebration that is speaking of Gods praises to others Secondly we must be thankfull vnto God by Inuocation which is that duty of thankfulnesse whereby in one branch of Prayer we speake of Gods praises to himselfe as when Christ saith I giue thee thankes O Father Lord Math. 11. 25. of Heauen and earth Now for the better performance of this duty we must properly doe three things First wee must humbly acknowledge our owne vnworthinesse of any fauour It is impossible that we should be truly thankfull till we see what Dunghills we are vpon vpon whom God casteth his beames and gather our worthinesse not by the worth of Gods blessings seeing a precious stone may be in a Toades head but by the glorious worthinesse which is in God who accounts it little enough for him to giue though it bee too much for vs as we are our selues to receiue Hence is it that Dauid cryeth out What is man that thou shouldst bee mindefull of Psal 8. 4. him and the sonne of man that thou shouldst so regard him And good Iacob when he did swimme in Gods fauours freely confessed that hee was lesse then the least of Gods Gen. 32. 10. mercies Thus ought it to bee with vs. As if wee should say O my God how vnworthy am I that I should liue when so many haue dyed that I should abound when so many haue wanted that I should haue ease when so many haue cryed for woe and paine What am I better then my brethren No Lord I am worse then many thousands who haue made their beds in the darke in this common calamity Thou knowest mine vnrighteousnesse and mine iniquity can I not hide and yet thou hast beene gracious and so forth Secondly we must amplifie the mercies of God wee must not extenuate the least of them as if they were ordinary but we must make the least of them in the ranke of those which are too great for vs. As Hannah when she had borne her Samuel sings The barren hath borne 1 Sam. 2. 5. seuen and Dauid when hee sate before the Lord said Who am I O Lord God and what is mine house that thou 1 Chro. 17. 16 17 hast brought me hitherto yet thou esteeming this a small thing O God hast also spoken concerning the house of thy seruant a great while and hast regarded mee according to the state of a man of high degree Euen thus must we doe as if we should say O blessed God my Father was an Amorite and my Mother an Hittite and thou mightest haue cast me into Hell from the wombe yet thou keptst mee when I hanged vpon my Mothers breast yea thou hast brought me vp in a Christian Church vnder Christian Kings who haue desired to serue God according to thy Word yea and thou hast continued the Gospell to mee euen vnto this day and though I haue beene vnworthy of them and therefore thou hast plagued me and mine yet as if I had been like King Dauid worth ten thousand of others thou hast kept mee from the common misery and so forth Thirdly we must more excellently conceiue of God then we can see him in his blessings If the whole world were full of Bookes as an Ancient saith and all the Creatures writers and all the water of the Sea Inke first all the Books should be filled all the Writers wearied all the Sea should be exhausted and drawne dry before one of Gods perfections could bee absolutely described In which respect Moses singeth Who is like vnto thee O Exod. 15. 11. Lord among the gods Who is like vnto thee

so glorious in holinesse fearefull in praises and doing wonders Fearefull in praises saith he because he cannot duly bee praised but with astonishment according to that of the Psalmist God is very terrible in the assembly of the Saints And thus Psal 89. 7. should he be to vs in praising him As if wee should say O our God let not thy fauours seeme ordinary vnto vs which thou bestowest vpon vs. It may seeme a small thing to vs to haue water to our hands aire to breath in earth to tread vpon and the like but when wee doe consider who it is that giues and to whom that thou art he who art a God of glory whose glory is able to swallow vp Heu miser quid sum vas sterquilinij concilia putredinis plenus foetore August our vnderstanding and that it is to vs who are a sinke of sinne and stinking noysomnesse before thee we are confounded in our selues and cannot tell which way to returne thee thankes which in the least measure may answer thy loue and so forth Thus haue we considered that thankes which we must giue to God in word yet that is not enough for it remaineth that we bee thankfull vnto God in deeds also And wherein this stands we cannot better learne then by looking into those that haue beene thankefull vnto God in the Scriptures Now these haue performed a reall thankfulnesse vnto God two waies First by studying and caring in what particulars they may shew themselues thankfull vnto God As one that hath receiued a great kindnesse doth bethinke himselfe how hee may in some measure requite it so will he that is thankfull doe As 2. Cor. 7. 11. the penitent man careth for the remission of his sinnes and eternall happinesse by Christ and therefore careth also to vse meanes answerable thereunto so doth also the truly thankfull person See it in Dauid who hauing receiued a great kindnesse from God saith What shall I Psal 116. 12. giue vnto the Lord as if he did consult and take care with himselfe how to be thankfull to God Euen thus must it be with vs we must when wee are by our selues alone take thought and care what to doe wherein wee may shew our selues thankfull to God As a man roles euery stone and takes thought how to liue and beare about the world as we say so must all of vs whom God hath pleased to deliuer from these dangerous times either by healing our sores or by keeping vs from infection or by comforting our hearts against the feare of our enemies either at home or abroad say and thinke with himselfe O Lord what shall I doe How shall I carry my selfe in my thoughts words and actions yea and sufferings so as may pleasethee and I may testifie how highly I prize those fauours which I haue receiued from thy hands Thus we must study but wee must not there leaue this were but like a dash of raine which wets not to the root therefore answerable to our care and study we must in the second place take paines to shew our thankfulnesse in foure particulars First we must register the noble acts of God according to that of the Psalme This shall be written for the generations to come Hence was it that the Patriarkes erected Psal 102. 18. Mountaines builded Altars and imposed fit names vpon their children that they might in these things register the kindnesse of God vnto them Therefore as Ahashuerosh did cause his deliuerance from Bigthan and Teresh to be written in the booke of the Chronicles before Hest 2. 22. the King so must we haue a record of fauours that we telling our soules that such a yeare God did such a kindnesse for thee and such a yeare moneth weeke or day did he another to day thou hast receiued one euidence of his loue and yesterday thou diddest receiue another wee may not onely practise a dutie of thankfulnesse in it but prouoke our selues thereby to be thankfull in after times As Ahashuerosh his registring of his deliuerance Hest 6. made him afterwards to be thankefull to Mordecai who vnder God was the author of it And think we not thus of our selues that there are few who haue done thus before vs. I make no doubt but that thousands of Gods people of whom the world is not worthy haue taken this Heb. 11. course in secret yea and do take it And of a good man I haue often read who is said to delight in one booke which he daily carried about him and was portable enough for it had but two leaues one blacke and the other white in the black he made a register of his sinnes that he might daily be humble in the white he made a register of Gods mercies that he might be thankfull Secondly we must heartily labour the good of others For can we requite God himselfe we cannot do it Our Psal 16. goodnesse reacheth not to him onely he pleaseth to interpret some seruices which he requires as thankfull requitals to himselfe amongst which this is one to do good to others Now this wee must do by way of thankfulnesse vnto God both vnto their soules and bodies As for their soules wee must labour their conuersion and turning from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan to God Acts 26. 18. that they may receiue forgiuenesse of sinnes and inheritance amongst them that are sanctified by faith in Christ Thus Dauid promiseth vnto God when he saith Restore to me the ioy of thy saluation and stablish me with thy free Spirit Psal 51. 12 13. then shall I teach thy wayes vnto the wicked and sinners shall be conuerted vnto thee Yea and Peter was commanded thus much when Christ saith vnto him When thou art Luke 22. 32. conuerted shew thy thankefulnesse by strengthening thy brethren As for the bodies of others wee must relieue so farre as our selves bee not grieued the poore members of 2. Cor. 8. 13. Iesus Christ For do but marke how it was with the Iewes when they freely heard the word of God againe they did eate and drinke and did send away part as they were Neb. 8. 10. 11. 12 commanded to those for whom nothing was prepared for ioy that they vnderstood the words which they had taught them And we may reade of an Apostolicall ordinance of thankfulnesse in the Primitiue Church to be obserued euery Lords day or first day of the weeke that euerie one should put aside by himselfe and lay vp as God had prospered 1. Cor. 16. 1. 2. him for the necessities of the Saints Thus also must it be with vs who haue tasted how good God is in these times of troubles we must throw about these our almes both spirituall and temporall Wee must labour to do others soules good who are within our gate and iurisdiction saying as Dauid Come ye children hearken vnto me Psal I will teach you the feare of the Lord or