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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	believe_v	church_n	faith_n	2,838	5	5.7579	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12191	The riches of mercie In two treatises: 1 Lydia's conversion. 2. A rescue from death. By the late learned, and reverend divine, Richard Sibbs, Doctor in Divinitie. Published by the authors own appointment, and subscribed with his owne hand to prevent imperfect copies.	Sibbes, Richard, 1577-1635.	1638 (1638)	STC 22501; ESTC S100975	53,245	274

God they are the three issues of a gracious beleeuing heart and where they are not there is no faith at all I beseech you let us imitate this blessed woman You see here the name of Lydia is precious in the Church the name of Lydia as it is sayd of Iosiah it is as a boxe of oyntment powred out the name of Lydia cannot bee named in the Church but there is a sweete sauour with it As soone as shee beleeued the Holy Ghost the spirit of GOD blowing upon the garden of her heart where the spice of Grace was sowed stirred vp a sweete sent of faith and of bountie and liberalitie in the cause of Christ. Let not this bee in vaine to us but euery one of us labour to bee like Lydia you see what loadestone drew PAVL heere to goe unto her house shee had Faith and shee expressed it in loue Let us labour to haue faith and to expresse it in loue to GOD vnto CHRIST to his people and word and ordinances that haue his stampe on them and let us boldly owne the cause of CHRIST let us not regard the censures of vaine men that say thus and thus Faith and loue forget danger it is bold Shee forgot all the danger that shee was in by countenancing Paul and such men Let us labour for faith and loue and wee shall not say this and that There is a Lion in the way but wee shall goe on boldly vntill wee doe receiue the end of our faith and loue the salvation of our soules FINIS The Table A. Abasement part page CHrists word powerfull in his abasement 2.92 Affections Affections to Religion strong in women 1.9 Affliction Affliction why sent of God 2.58 Prayer a remedy in affliction 2.60 Angels Praise a duty fit for Angels 2.108 Appetite To blesse God for appetite 2.46 Spiritual appetite how recovered 2.140 Attend Attention God opens the heart to attend 1.46 Attention necessary 1.54 Directions to attend on the Word 1.57 Trials of attending aright 1.69 Attire Selling and wearing rich Attire lawfull 1.17 Atheisme see Nature B. Baptisme Baptisme a seale of salvation 1.76 How to thinke of our Baptisme 1.78 Beginning Great things from small beginnings 1.11 Boldnesse see Sinceritie C. Callings Callings allowed of God 1.14 Censure Censure of wicked men not to be regarded 2.24 Command Command of God over all things 2.84 Commerce Commerce lawfull 1.15 Confirme Approbation of strong Christians confirmes the weak 1.95 Crie Gods children crie in afflictions 2.57 D. Death Gates of death what 2.49 Death how to disarme it 2.53 Deferre God why hee deferres helpe 2.81 Dishonour Only wicked men dishonour God 2.104 displease To take heed of displeasing God 2.87 Distemper What to doe in spirituall distempers 2.141 Divinitie Divinitie transcends other Arts. 2.37 E. End Fooles forget their End 2.17 Epicures Happinesse of Epicures unstable 2.45 Extremitie see Crie F Faith Faith trialls of it 1.104 Fooles Folly Wicked men fooles 2.9 Why they are fooles 2.10 Folly in Gods children 2.25 Fruitfull True faith fruitfull 1.101 G. Garments Garments the use of them 1.16 Gates see Death God God to bee sought in trouble 2.35 Gospell Gospell the ground of faith 1.50 H. Heathen God heares the prayers of the Heathen 2.21 Heart Heart opened by God 1.32.34 Heart what meant by it 1.40 Humiliation Ground of humiliation of wicked men 2.21 I. Iesting Iesting with sinne a signe of folly 2.16 Invitation Lydia's invitation 1.99 Iustifie To justifie God in his judgements 2.33 L. Labourers Labourers to be prayed for in Gods harvest 1.52 Love Trials of faith by love 1.104 M. Meanes God brings the elect under meanes 1.29 Mind The mind must be sanctified to attend to the Word 1.43 Miserie Miserie of wicked men 2.50 Why God suffers men to fall into great miserie 2.55 Murmuring Murmuring in trouble the cause of it 2.39 N. Nature Atheisme against nature 2.57 Notice God takes particular notice of his 1.7 O. Open. Trials whether the heart bee open 1.46 See heart Passion Wicked men fooles for their passion 2.12 Passion how it presents things 2.13 Patience Patience to others the ground of it 1.38 Patience in our selves 2.34 People People of three sorts before Christ. 1.19 Pestilence To praise God for deliverance from the pestilence 2.129 Physitian God the best Physitian 1.71 Power Powerfull Gods word Powerfull 2.83 Incouragements to pray from Gods power 2.89 See Abasement Poyson Sinne as poyson 2.41 Prayer What state we are fit to pray in 2.62 Prayer to God successefull 2.73 See affliction Praise All men to praise God 2.99 Other creatures how they prayse God 2.102 Prayse the end of all we doe 2.109 Helps and meanes to prayse God 2.113 Preached The Word preached the usuall meanes of faith 1.51 Preaching how to be prized 1.54 Preparation Workes of preparation necessary 1.20 Preparation from God 1.21 Preparations remove hindrances 1.22 Progresse of preparation 1.24 Preparations not to bee rested in 1.31 Providence Instances of Gods providence 2.3 R. Rod. Sinne puts a rod into Gods hand 2.40 S. Sicknesse Sinne the cause of sicknesse 2.32 Sicknesse how from God 2.38 Extremitie of sicknesse 2.43 Naturall cause of sicknesse 2.44 How to converse with the sicke 2.47 To have recourse to God in sicknesse 2.73 Sight Foure things requisite to sight 1.55 Sinne. Aggravation of sinne 2.22 Vnhappy succession of sinne 2.31 Beginnings of sinne to bee avoided Ibid. Particular sinnes to be searçhed out 2.34 What sinnes hinder prayer 2.82 Sinceritie The boldnesse of sinceritie 1.95 Soule God by his Word heales the soule 1.137 T. Table Whence the breach of the second Table comes 2.27 W. Waiting Waiting after prayer necessarie 2.79 Weake How to judge of weake Christians 1.77 Wisdome Spirituall Wisdome to bee begged 2.23 Wittie Wicked men wittie in their Generation 2.18 Women See Affections Word See Power Worldling The course of Worldlings 2.35 Wound Fooles wound themselves 2.20 FINIS A Rescue from DEATH with a Returne of Praise PSAL. 107.17 c. Fooles because of their transgressions and because of their iniquities are afflicted c. THis Psalme containeth some passages concerning Gods particular sweete Providence not onely to the Church but to other men for Hee that created all things even the meanest creature must haue a providence over all things his providence must extend it selfe as large as his creation for what is providence but a continuance of creation a preservation of those things in being that God hath given to have a being The Prophet here of purpose opposeth the profane conceits of them that thinke God sits in heaven and lets things goe on earth as if he cared not for them it was the fault of the best Philosophers to ascribe too much to second causes The Psalmist here shewes that God hath a most particular providence in every thing First hee sets it downe in generall and then hee brancheth it out into particulars especially foure wherein hee specifieth Gods providence The first instance is of those

little of her argument whereby shee forced the blessed Apostle and the rest to her house If yee have judged me faithfull IT is a most binding argument If you judge me faithfull you must judge me a child of God an heire of heaven the Spouse of Christ you must judge mee all these and the like If you have judged mee faithfull come to my house And if you judge me so can you denie me this courtesie It is a conjuring wondrous forcible argument If you have judged mee faithfull It implies that S. Paul and holy men would be more strange else And so there should not be intimate familiaritie converse there may be but not familaritie with those that are not faithfull Indifferent carriage to all alike shewes a rotten heart those that make no difference betweene good Christians and formall hypocrites No but if you have judged me faithfull come to my house As if she had said I know your spirits are such that except you judge me faithfull you will not take this courtesie at my hands Againe she supposed if Paul judged her faithfull he would not denie her that courtesie Those that upon good grounds wee judge faithfull we should be gentle to them and easie to be intreated The wisedome that is from above is so Grace Sweetnes the Carriage and alters a mans disposition Those that have felt pittie from God are mercifull to others Therefore if you have judged mee faithfull c. It was an argument of a great-deale of sinceritie to appeale to their knowledge and judgement If you have judged me faithfull If she had not beene sincere she would not have done so but sinceritie makes a man bold to appeale to God himselfe Lord thou knowest that I love thee saith S. Peter and If there be any iniquitie in my heart saith David they dare appeale to God and to Gods people if yee have judged me faithfull In this speech likewise shee desires to have confirmation of her estate from the Apostles And indeed it is a great confirmation of weake Christians to have the judgement of strong Christians that they are good If you have judged mee faithfull doe me this courtesie And would it not comfort her soule to have the judgement of so strong a man as Paul It is a great strengthening not onely to have the spirit of God witnesse for us but the spirit of God in others And sometimes in temptations the judgment of others will doe us more good then our owne in a darke state Therefore wee should appeale to those that feare God to judge us faithfull though we be in a mist and in darkenesse sometimes that we are not able to judge of our owne condition And indeed when we judge the people to be truly good and true hearted to God we owe them this dutie to thinke them good people and to shew it it is a debt we wrong good persons when wee take wrong conceits of them Shall wee not affect and loue them that God loues It is as if shee had sayd God hath taken me into his family and will admit mee to heauen and will not you come to my house when Christ shall take men to be members of his body shall not we take them into our company It is a wrong to good people to be strange to them sometimes there may by way of censure in some sin be a little strangenesse but ordinary stangnesse becomes not Christians it becomes not that sweet bond the Communion of Saints If you haue judged me faithfull That is the bond Her invitation is Come to my house and and abide there YOU see many sweet graces presently after shee beleived here is a loving heart Why did shee desire them to come to her house To expresse the loue she did beare to them for their works sake shee felt the loue of Christ by their ministery and now she desired to expresse the fruit of her loue in maintaining them And not onely so but she desired to be edified by them shee was yongly planted and shee desired to bee watered from them Shee knew Paul would drop heauenly things and giue her that that might stablish her therefore she desired that they would stay at her house that she might haue benefit by their heauenly discourse and be built vp and edified further and further So you see these two graces especially upon beleeuing a bountifull louing heart shee intreated them not onely to come to her house but to abide there a good while as they did And here was her desire to bee edified And a boldnesse to appeare to owne Christ and his ministers in dangerous times for in those times it was a dangerous thing to appeare to be a Christian they were worse hated then the Iewes were though both were hated yet Christians were aboue all Therefore false Christians would be circumcised they would be Iewes to auoid the Crosse that they might not bee accounted Christians You see in Generall true faith that works loue and workes by loue It workes loue in the heart and by loue it works all duties of hospitallity and bounty by loue When it hath wrought that holy affection it works by that holy affection You see here it is neuer without fruit presently faith brings forth fruit as soone as shee was baptized shee shewes her loue to the Apostles and their company and her bounty and her boldnesse in the cause of Christ. We say of a graft it is grafted to purpose if it take and bring forth fruite so shee being a new sience graft into Christ shee tooke presently as soone as she was baptized into Christ here is the fruite of loue and bounty and boldnesse in the cause of Christ. Zacheus as soone as euer he beleeved halfe my goods I giue to the poore So wee see the Gaoler afterwards presently upon beleeving he entertained the Apostles with a feast and washed their wounds Take heed of a barren dead faith it is a false faith if thou beleeue indeed faith will worke loue and worke by loue as it did in this blessed woman her faith knit her to Christ in heauen her loue was as the branches of the tree her faith knit her to the roote but loue as the branches reached to others her branches reached fruit to the Apostle and his company So it is the nature of faith that knits us to Christ the same spirit of loue knits us to others and reacheth forth fruit to all wee converse with As wee desire to haue evidence of the soundnes of our faith let us see what spirit of loue we haue especially loue to these three things loue to Christ to whom wee are ingrafted and loue to the ministers of Christ. We cannot shew kindnesse to Christ he is in heauen but his ministers and his poore are upon the earth when wee can buy ointment to poure on Christs feete his poore members and his Ministers and loue to the word of

then prayers are cries they are darted out of the heart as it were to heaven It is sayd Christ made strong cryes in extremity prayers are cries hence I observe breifly these things That God suffers men to fall into extreame ills even to the gates of death that there is but a step betweene them and death Why To weane them perfectly from the world To make them more thankfull when they recover for what is the reason that men are so sleight in thanksgiving Usually the reason is they did not conceive that they were in such extreame danger as they were Likewise he suffers men to fall into extreame sicknesse that he may have all the glory for it was his doing there was no second cause to helpe here for their soule abhorred all manner of meate and they were even at the Gates of death Now when all second causes fayle then God is exalted therfore he suffers men to fall into extreamity the greater the maladie the more is the glory of the Physitian The second thing is this as God brings his children into extremity So Gods children in extremity they cry to him EXtremity of afflictions doth force prayers In their affliction they will seeke me early When all second causes faile then we goe to God nature therfore is against atheisme as one observes that naturally men run to God in extremity Lord helpe mee Lord succour me so especially in the Church in extremitie Gods people cry to God and as afflictions so p●rticularly this of sicknesse of body drives men to God God should not heare of us many times unlesse he should come neere us by afflictions and deepe afflictions Out of the deepe haue I cryed God brings us to the deepe and then we crie Our nature is so naught that God should not heare of us as I sayd unlesse he send some messenger after us some affliction to bring us home as Absalom dealt by Ioab when hee fired his corne In the Gospel Christ had never heard of many people had it not beene for some infirmity but blessed are those sicknesses and infirmities that occasion us to goe to God that makes us crie to God It was the speech of a Heathen we are best when we are weakest why as hee saith very well who is ambitious voluptuous or covetous for the world when he is sick when he sees the vanity of these things This should make us submit more meekly vnto GOD when wee are vnder his hand when we are his prisoners by sicknesse when he casts us on our sicke beds because GOD is working our good hee is drawing us neerer to him Then they cryed to him So we see then that prayer it is a remedie in a remedilesse estate when there is no other remedy and this one difference betweene a child of GOD and another In extremitie a carnall man that hath not grace he hath not a spirit of prayer to goe to GOD but a child of GOD he cries to GOD hee had acquaintance with God in the time of health therefore he goes boldly to GOD as a father in the time of extremity Gods children can answer Gods dealing for as he brings his children to extremitie when there is no second cause to help so they answer him by faith in extremitie when there is nothing to trust unto they trust him when there is no physick in the world that can-charme the disease they have a spirit of faith to answere Gods dealing in the greatest misery as Iob faith though he kill me yet will I trust in him For GOD is not tyed to second causes and therefore if hee have delight in us and if he have any service for us to doe he can recover vs from the gates of death Nay from death it selfe as we see Christ in the Gospell raysed from the dead and at the resurrection he will rayse us from death much more can he rayse vs from the gates of death when wee are neere death Therefore considering that pra●er is a remedy in all maladies in a remedilesse estate Let us labour to haue a spirit of prayer and to be in such a state as we may pray What state is that First take heed of being in league with any sinne If I regard iniquitie in my heart God will not heare my prayer nay he will not heare others prayers for us oh what a pittiful state is it when God will not heare us nor others for us Pray not for this people saith God to Ieremiah and if Noah Daniel and Iob stood before mee they should but deliver their owne soules If a man be in a peremptory course of sinne and will not be reclaymed but is like the deafe Adder that will not bee charmed God will not heare prayers for him will God heare a rebell when he comes to him for mercie and is in a course opposite to Gods will As if a Traitor should come to sue for pardon with a dagger in his hand which were to increase the treason So when a man comes to God and cryes to him and yet purposeth to live in sinne and his conscience tells him that hee offers violence to GOD by his sins and lives in rebellious courses GOD will not heare his prayers Againe if we would bee in such a state as God may accept us when wee come to him let us heare GOD when hee cryes to us hee cryes to us in the ministrie of the word Wisedome hath lift up her voyce and this is GODS course hee will heare us when wee heare him Hee that turnes his eare from hearing of the Law his prayer shall bee abhominable Those that doe not attend upon Gods ordinances that will have a kind of devotion private to themselves avoid the publike ordinance that feare perhaps they shall heare somwhat that would awaken their conscience and they would not bee tormented before their time Let them consider it is a terrible speech of Salomon Hee that turnes his eare from hearing the Law his prayer shall be abhominable Let us take heed it is a fearefull thing to bee in such an estate that neither our owne prayers nor others shall bee regarded for us and let any man judge if wee will not heare GOD speake to us is it fit that hee should heare us speaking to him And before I leave the point let mee presse it a little further at this time wee have cause to blesse GOD for the deliverance of the Citie Oh! but let all that have the spirit of prayer that have any familiaritie with GOD improve all their interest in heaven at this time doe wee not conceive what danger wee are in What enemies wee have provoked What if wee be free from the sicknesse are we not in great danger of worse matters th●n the sicknesse Is it not worse to fall into the hands of our enemies Have wee not great provoked cruell Idolatrous enemies therfore let us joyntly now all cry