Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
fire_n	earthquake_n	lord_n	wind_n	4,960	5	10.8107	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19493	Three heauenly treatises vpon the eight chapter to the Romanes Viz. 1 Heauen opened. 2 The right way to eternall glory. 3 The glorification of a Christian. VVherein the counsaile of God concerning mans saluation is so manifested, that all men may see the Ancient of dayes, the Iudge of the World, in his generall iustice court, absoluing the Christian from sinne and death. Which is the first benefit wee haue by our lord Iesus Christ. Written by Mr. William Cowper, minister of Gods word.; Heaven opened	Cowper, William, 1568-1619.	1609 (1609)	STC 5919.5; ESTC S108989	320,789	380

glorification and that through calling and iustification which two haue inseperably following them the sanctification and renouation of the whole man The Lord make vs wise in time that we may consider the course of our life and thinke of the end whereunto it leads vs for as Moses protested to Israell so doe I vnto you I haue laid this day life and death before you the Lord giue you grace to make choise of the best In these causes of our saluation linked together in this Chaine we haue first to looke vnto Gods decree consisting in his foreknowledge and predestination secondly to the execution thereof which is made by his Calling Iustification and Glorification The decree hath in it these two acts or preordinances so to call them Prescience and Predestination which this manner of way are to be distinguished by foreknowledge the Lord sets before him the whole number of mankinde whom of the good pleasure of his owne will he purposed to saue so that the first preordinance is this these are they whom I will saue by predestination againe he concluded to saue them by such and such meanes so that the second preordinance of the decree is this those whom I haue decreed to saue I will saue this manner of way so that prescience lookes to the person to be saued predestination to the meanes whereby they are to be saued Where wee must consider that this decree of God is thus distinguished by the Apostle in these two words for our capacitie who being but mortall creatures endued with reason conceiues vnderstands and discernes one thing after another and cannot doe otherwise but it is not so with the Lord our God who being himselfe a most perfect vnderstanding by one act without prioritie or posterioritie knowes conceiues and discernes all things We come first now to speake of Gods foreknowledge the properties of God are either absolute as namely that he is a Spirit simple and infinite or else such as haue a relation to the creature And of this sort is foreknowledge which improperly is ascribed vnto God for properly there is no fore not after in God nothing past nothing to come but foreknowledge is ascribed to God in respect of the creature because he knew vs before that wee were This foreknowledge is two wayes considered first generally as it is extended to all his creatures and so it is compared to a common booke of register wherein the Lord hath written all things which were afterward to be and of this speakes the Psalmist My bones sayth he are not hid from thee though I was made in a secret place and fashioned beneath in the earth thine eyes did see mee when I was without forme for in thy booke were all things written which in continuance of time were fashioned though they were not before Of it also speakes the Apostle All things are manifest in his sight with whom wee haue to doe This manner of way foreknowledge is Gods vniuersall eye by which vvith one looke hee knoweth all his creatures vvithin and vvithout their nature their shape their actions their beginnings their ends but foreknowledge this manner of vvay considered is not a lincke of this Chaine it being certaine that there is not one of these lincks more patent not largely extended than another as yee shall afterward heare Foreknowledge then in this Chaine of Saluation is specially considered as it is conioyned cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the loue and liking of God as it is all one with Election extended to none but vnto the children of his good will this way it is affirmed of the Godly the Lord knoweth who are his but denyed of the wicked depart from me yee workers of iniquitie I know you not that is albeit I know your persons yea your most secret actions yet your selues I know not so that I loue you and this way foreknowledge specially considered is called the booke of life vvherein the Lord hath written the names of those vvhom hee hath ordayned to life Predestination is also two manner of wayes considered first as it is generally extended to all his creatures for as he knew them all before they were so he appointed them by middes vnto their owne end other artificers when they haue made a worke know not what will be the end of it hee that buildeth an house knowes not how long it vvill stand whether fire shall consume it or the winde ouer-turne it or the earth-quake vndermine it but the Lord as hee hath made his creatures so hath he appoynted them to an end which hee knoweth himselfe but here Predestination is specially considered and is no larger than Election respecting the Elect onely whom he hath ordayned vnto life by his owne middes for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here not onely signifieth to ordayne to an end but also to appoynt all the limits borders and middes within and by which thou art to come to that end Where before wee come to the doctrine of instruction wee vvill shortly encounter vvith our aduersaries who read these words in this manner that the Lord predestinated those whom hee fore-knew to be conformed to the image of his Sonne that so they may establish here out their errour of fore-seene merits It were sufficient to bring against them the best learned of their owne side some wherofread these words no otherwise then wee doe as the Iesui●s of Rhemes others plainely impugne that reading and the errour of foreseene merits founded vpon it for so Caietane writeth vpon this place Ad confutandum dogma illorum qui primum salutis nostrae locum tribuunt diuinae praescientiae futurorum qui praescientiam meritorum ponunt rationem definitionis diuinae ad confutandum inquit haec primum nostrae salutis locum tribuit diuino proposito dicendo ijs qui secundum propositum vocati sunt To confute saith hee the doctrine of those who giue the first place of saluation to Gods foreknowledge of mans merits which hee was to doe and so puts his prescience as a reason and cause of his predestination to confute these I say hee giues the first place of saluation to the purpose of God while hee saith to them that are called according to his purpose Aquinas in like manner writing vpon this same place sayth Ponere quod aliquod meritum ex parte nostra praesupponatur cuius praescientia sit ratio praedestinationis nihil est aliud quam ponere gratiam dari ex meritis nostris quod principium bonorum operum est ex nobis consummatio ex Deo To affirme that any merit vpon our part must be presupposed the prescience whereof was the cause of predestination is no other thing but to affirme that grace were giuen of our merits and that the beginning of good workes were of our selues and the consummation thereof were of God therefore saith hee the words are to be read this way more

in this that Christians are without a Crosse yea rather he shewes it is the lot of Gods children to be exercised with all sorts of crosses but herein hee reioyces that no crosse can seperate vs from the loue of God In this quarrell the Apostle prouokes all enimies whatsoeuer corporall or spirituall present or to come and against them all he takes vp the triumph in his owne name and in the name of all the children of God Neuerthelesse in all these things we are more then conquerours through him that loued vs. By the loue of Christ we are to vnderstand here that loue wherwith God in Christ hath loued vs for so he expounds it himselfe through him that loued vs. It is true also that the sense of our loue to God once shed abroad in our harts by the holy ghost can neuer fully nor finally be taken from vs I say fully and finally because of those inward tentations wherewith Gods children are so exercised that the sense of that loue in them is greatly diminished but in all those spirituall desertions oppressions Faith ouercomes at length and lets vs see the face of God our mercifull father shining toward vs in Christ we may be cast downe but we cannot perish if Peter be ready to sincke Iesus Christ shall succour him But as I said by the Loue of God I vnderstand that loue which hee hath borne toward vs from this most constant loue it comes to passe that wee who are weake and silly creatures cannot be ouercome notwithstanding the multitude of mightie enimies that are against vs. If our saluation were in our owne custodie and wee stoode by our owne strength the smallest tentation would ouercome vs our feet are ready to slide and then our feeble hands le ts goe that hold of mercy which once wee had gotten but howsoeuer we loose our hold the Lord holds it fast for vs wee may change but hee remaines the same because the Lord hath loued vs and whom once he loueth he loueth to the ende therefore is it that it cannot be but well with vs hee loued vs before wee were yea before the world was made If we search the beginning of Gods Loue towards vs wee may runne vp in our thought to the beginning of the world but cannot attaine to the beginning of this Loue before the mountaines were made and thou hadst formed the world euen from euerlasting to euerlasting thou art our God Likewise we are taught here that the end vvhich Sathan proposeth to himselfe in all tentations is to seperate vs from the loue of God vvhich notwithstanding he shall neuer effectuate There is a couenant knit vp betweene God and man the band whereof is Iesus Christ this Couenant Sathan doth what he can to dissolue it by alluring vs to sinne and accusing vs to God on Gods part he cannot preuaile on our part he assaults continually but in vaine also because the Lord vvho hath made a couenant with vs keepes vs also vvith him so that though vvee be tempted vve cannot be ouercome This is euident in Iobs tentations it was neyther the affliction of his body the losse of his children nor goods which Sathan craued so much as to empty his heart of the loue of God and make him to blaspheme If vve remembred this it vvould make vs endeauour to possesse our soules in patience in all our troubles for so oft as those things vvhich vve loue are seperate from vs Sathans end is to seperate vs from our God vvhom vve should loue aboue all things And in very deed this is a proper mark of the Children of God that hovveuer their outvvard estate change their heart is neuer changed from the loue of God they are Godly in prosperitie but more Godly in aduersitie the more they are troubled the neerer they draw vnto the Lord as fire in not quenched with wind but made greater so the loue of God waxeth stronger in the hearts of Gods children by tribulation whereas the wicked not rooted in Iesus Christ are like vnto chaffe and the dust of the earth carryed away with euery winde there is no pleasure so small nor profite so vaine which they preferre not before God Now before the Apostle subioynes the answere he maketh an enumeration of some perticular crosses and demaunds if they will doe it these crosses do eyther concerne our bodies our goods our dwellings or our mindes for we are not to thinke here that the Apostle beates the ayre triumphing against such enimies as we haue not No we haue both crosses of body and of minde which wee must prepare our selues to suffer so vsing all the helpes of this our mortall life as being content for the loue of God to want them for this is the tryall of true religion we must not looke to our houses as Nabuchadnezer did to his pallace of Babell as a place of his glory but remember that which Micah said to the Iewes This is not the place of your rest and whatsoeuer thing else wee vse for maintenance of this mortall life let vs so vse them as if we vsed them not that wee be not found when it comes to the tryall louers of them more then louers of God Blessed is the man who loues nothing otherwise but in God Nam solus is nihil charum amittit cui omnia chara sunt in eo qui non amittitur Againe perceiue here in this enumeration a gradation of seauen steppes by which the Apostle ascends It is a great thing to be in trouble but to be troubled and in anguish also is yet greater and for him that is in anguish to be banished in banishment to sustaine hunger and nakednesse and with these to be in continuall perill and last of all to dye by the sword euery one of these last is greater then the former yet all of them saith the Apostle are not able to seperate vs from the loue of Christ. Our warning is here that when we see vnto how many crosses Christians are subiect and how few of them God hath laid vpon vs wee should acknowledge the Lords fatherly indulgence toward vs who regarding our weakenesse hath hitherto dealt tenderly with vs. And againe it should prepare vs for greater afflictions so long as wee haue not resisted to the bloud nor laide downe our liues for Iesus we should remember that greater battailes than any which as yet we haue foughten are before vs wherein we must fight if it please the Lord to enter vs into them Shall tribulation Now hee commeth to the perticular enumeration The first is tribulation the vvord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich the Apostle vseth signifieth a pressing out from the effect vvhich it vvorketh in the godly to vvit that it presseth out and maketh manifest that grace of God which before vvas latent in them like as in the vvicked it presseth out their vile and filthy