Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
faith_n	abraham_n	believe_v	impute_v	7,639	5	9.9008	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07200	Christian humiliation, or, A treatise of fasting declaring the nature, kindes, ends, vses, and properties of a religious fast: together with a briefe discourse concerning the fast of Lent. By Henry Mason, pastor of Saint Andrews-Vndershaft London.	Mason, Henry, 1573?-1647.	1625 (1625)	STC 17602; ESTC S120999	101,549	174

(e) Ezra 10.6 He did cate no bread nor drinke water for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had beene carried away And lastly (d) vers 19. he tooke order that they did both put away their wiues and being guiltie did offer a Ram of the flocke for their trespasse In which practice of this holy man it appeareth that fasting was one meanes by which he sought pardon for the sinne And to like purpose the Lord himselfe appointed the Iewes to ioyne fasting with repentance (e) Ioel 2.12 Turne ye vnto me with all your heart saith he and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rent your hearts c. For he is gracious and mercifull c. And for this cause some of the Learned say that (a) Act. 9. Paul did fast and pray for three dayes space that he might obtaine pardon for his former sinnes committed before his conuersion 2. If a man be lyable to Gods Iudgements and eyther be vnder the sense of some present crosse or in feare of some future euill fasting is a good meanes to preuent the one and to remoue the other Examples heereof wee haue in Scriptures For of the Nineuites we reade that when GOD had threatned (b) Ion. 3.4 Yet forty dayes and Nineueh shall be ouer throwne they beleeued God and proclaimed a Fast and put on sack-cloth and so they (c) vers vlt. preuented the iudgement And Ichosaphat when he and his people were in great danger by reason of a great Armie of Moabites and Ammonites that came against them (d) 2 Chro. 20.2 3. he feared and set himselfe to seeke the Lord and he proclaimed a Fast throughout all Iudah and by this meanes (e) v. 15 22 c hee escaped the danger And Dauid when his child was sicke and in danger of death (f) 2 Sam. 12.16 he fasted and prayed for his life And though God saw it not good at that time to spare the childs life yet by this it appeareth that Dauid knew fasting and prayer to be an ordinary and effectuall meanes to auert Iudgements or else hee would not haue vsed it Yea and so powerfull is fasting for this purpose that (g) 1. King 21.27 29. Ahab by his though no sound fasting did preuent a worldly iudgement And our Sauiour telleth vs (h) Mat. 17.21 that there are some such diuels as cannot be cast out of the possessed but by prayer fasting assuring vs heereby that when no other meanes can yet prayer and fasting may preuaile 3. If a man haue neede of some speciall blessing or merey from God fasting is a good meanes to obtaine it This may be declared by the example of Ezrah For he and his Country-men the men of Iudah were to goe vp to Ierusalem from Babylon the place of their captiuity and many lets they found in the way and little help for so great a iourney and heereupon (a) Ezra 8.21 I proclaimed a Fast saith he that we might afflict our selues before our God to seeke of him a right way for vs and for our little ones and for all our substance Where we may note that the thing which hee desired was that God would direct them and leade them in a right way in safety and without danger and the means that he vsed to obtaine this was fasting The successe whereof what it was is declared afterward where Ezrah saith (b) vers 23. So we fasted and besought our God for this and hee was entreated by vs. And to like purpose it is that the Church of Antioch when they were to send Paul and Barnabas about the worke of the Ministery and preaching of the Gospell (c) Act. 13.3 they fasted and prayed and layed their hands on them and so sent them about the worke Yea and our (d) Mar. 4.2 Lord himselfe being to enter vpon his Propheticall office began with fasting and thereby prepared himself for that glorious worke as may appeare hereafter more fully in the proper place By all which we may see what commodities and benefits we may reape by this exercise not onely for our soules our spirituall profit but for our bodies also and our welfare in the world And hence for conclusion of this poynt I deduce and inferre three Aduertisements for our further vse 1. We may hence obserue one speciall reason why we are many times afflicted and after long griefe finde little ease and it may be because we do not repent of our sinnes before we beg mercy or if we vse some kinde of repentance yet it is not with that sorrow such chastening of our selues as God doth expect and the case doth require For in Scriptures we finde that Gods people if eyther they felt any present scourge or feared any future danger then they betooke themselues presently to their prayers and fasting and sackcloth and by this meanes they haue gotten victory ouer enemies and reliefe in time of dearth and freedome from intended mischiefes and case and comfort in all cases of distresse And if wee should vse the same meanes why might wee not expect the same successe For the Apostle speaking of Abrahams faith (a) Rom. 4.23 24. that it was imputed to him for righteousnes addeth that it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for vs also to whom it shall be imputed if we beleeue on him that raised vp Iesus our Lord from the dead And elsewhere he saith of the many examples of Gods Iudgements vpon sinners that (b) 1 Cor. 10.6 11. these things happened to them for examples and are written for our admonition that we should not lust after euill things as they lusted And so seeing such things are recorded in Scriptures concerning Fasting wee may and must conclude that these things were not written for those ancient seruants of God onely that they by this meanes obtained such great blessings but for our sakes also and to admonish vs that if we vse the same meanes we shall attaine the same end And therefore if any of vs haue beene long afflicted and yet are not deliuered let vs consider whether we haue not beene defectiue in this dutie and for want of humiliation haue missed of the blessing Surely if we find not ease eyther we haue not humbled our selues as we should or the thing that we desire is no such blessing to vs as wee doe imagine 2. We may from hence learne how to make our prayers powerfull with God For God hath appointed vs to aske and hath tyed himselfe to giue but it is vpon condition that we (a) 1. Ioh. 5.14 aske according to his will and in such sort as we ought to aske For (b) Iam. 4.3 ye aske receiue not because ye aske amisse saith the Apostle But what is that condition that God requireth in our prayers And how may wee aske that we misse not of our requests Why surely one meanes