Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	abraham_n	call_v	faith_n	883	5	5.7042	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15579	Iacobs staffe To beare vp, the faithfull. And to beate downe, the profane. Touching the one's assured, and the others conceited title, vnto God himself, and all his precious promises. VVherin. The saints interest is justified, to be absolutely infaillible, the sinners clayme detected, to be apparantly deceivable, notwithstanding all infernall suggestions of feare, and infidelity in the one, or of presumption, and security in the other. Formerly preachcd [sic] at Hamburgh by Iohn VVing late pastor to the English Church there, as his farewell to the famous followship [sic] of Merchant Adventurers of England resident in that city. And now published, and dedicated, to the honor and vse, of that most worthy Society, there, or wheresoever being.; Jacobs staffe to bear up, the faithful and to beate downe, the profane	Wing, John, of Flushing, Zealand.	1621 (1621)	STC 25846; ESTC S120115	141,154	226

we cannot once conceave neither can the infinite immeasurablenes of it enter our harts in any measure But in what he was and should further have beene in what he had and should further have enjoyed we see enough to assure vs of this truth sufficiently And as true as it was to him he being the roote of all mankinde and in the steade of vs all so true had it beene to vs all had he and we stood in that state of integrity and incorruption wherin he was created Nay that we may yet see the vnmoveable goodnes of God that he is still of the same minde though we are not the same men though we fayle in our obediēce he faile's not in his kindnes Beholde he is God changeth not immutable in favour constant in his compassions a sure freinde to a faithfull man a well-willer to a well-doer still and ever that howsoever we have offended against him provoked greived him enforced him to deprive vs of our happy estate yet hath he raysed vs againe brought vs into such a blessed condition as wherin yet we may be made most happy partakers of the truth of this instruction Passe we from Adam to Abraham and we shall soone see it to be still true The Lord bidd's him goe out of his countrey and leaue all behinde him as now he will have Iacob returne into his and take all with him and now let vs looke vpon the condition and tearmes of his obedience Gen. 12.1.2 cap. 35.1.2 what is promised to him in the text why even this I will blesse thee thou shalt be a blessing and againe I am the buckler thine exceeding great reward was not all this performed to him in truth was not God as good as his word with advantage yes that he was as we all know True it is never any was put to greater matter of obedience and it is as true that never any was crowned with more precious favours and abundant mercyes from God his name is as famous for Gods kindnes to him as his is for obedience to God We reade of the faith of Abraham wherin he was so famous that he is enstyled the father of the faithfull and Abraham is honoured not onely in his graces before men but also in his extraordinary prerogatives receaved from God he being called the freinde of God which honourable appellation was not by name given to any in all the olde testament but yet it is vouchsafed to all the faithfull by Christ in the new I call you no more seruants but freinds and againe Joh. 15.14 Gal. 3.14 yee are me freinds if yee doe whatsoever I command you and the blessednes we have by Christ is entituled the blessing of Abraham that the blessing of Abraham might come vpon the Gentiles c. Now what happines Abraham found in yeelding himself to God to doe as he would have him in all things the same founde his posterity also and generally not to insist vpon any more particular instances the Lord hath entailed our welfare to all his precepts as we may finde in all and every of them that nothing is more frequent then the promises of his grace annexed to the promise of our obedience still the Lord fasten's and tye's the one too the other every where Moses is most abundant in many places in this particuler Deut. 5.29.33 cap. 6.18.24 cap. 10.13 cap. 12.28 cap. 16.13 almost in every chapter of Deuteronomie no one thing is so often itterated as this Take heede doe according to all that I command you that it may be well with you with your children for ever It is ordinary almost in all chapters and often found in divers verses of some one And to the end we might be sure of all absolute assurance of all this good in thus doing the Lord doth as it were put vs into possession of the same saing And all these blessings shall come vpon thee cap. 28.2 shall ouertake thee first all in generall all these blessings shall overtake you secondly every one in particuler as it is in the verses following where thy are particulated at large Neither is Moses the only man that thus speake's but the Prophets also vtter the same words very oftē speake the same language every where as it were most easy to instance in more places then time will permitt vs now to quoate Say yee it shal be well with the righteous saith Isaiah Isa 3.10 Jer. 32 29 I wil doe thus and thus saith God by Ieremiah for the wealth of them and their children speaking of his covenant of grace Testimonies you see would abound if we should muster vp all that we coulde finde in the scriptures but we will spare them and enquire after some reasons of the point and they are these that follow First if this were not a truth that Reason 1 they that wil be ruled by God shall fare well then there were not nor could be any encouragement at all to any good for what hart can any man have to be obedient to the Lord and to submit to his law if soe be we might not be sure of something for soe doing All these good words of God were worth litle and men should have small mynde to bende themselves to the best obedience of their harts and lives to please the Lord in all things if it were not for the hope herof and that they might build vpon this blessednes wherof we speake But we must know that nothing of all this that the Lord saith is any whitt in vaine neither can be but that every jott and tittle of it was and is truly intended vnto the faithfull by him who never spake any thing but seriously as he did indeede mynde and intende the same Secondly Reason 2 if this were not so the divell would prove at least semingly to the world a better pay-master then God for why he promise's and makes proffers to such as he can bewitch to doe his will of great things Mat. 4.9 Job 21. Psal 73. So he did to Christ All these things I will giue thee So the Saints complaine in Jobs and Davids dayes how well wicked men fared in all respects being the servants of sin and Satan wondering exceedingly how and why it should be or could be soe And good Ieremiah he was even at his witts end Ier. 12.1.2.3 stumbled soe shrewdly at this that he was almost cleane downe and even driven to a non-plus when he saw how well it went with wicked men Now because the Divell who although in no sense indeede he can be and yet to the blinded sence of sinfull men he seeme's to be a better master then the Lord and also to the end that no enlightened minde should once imagine any such thing God himself will have vs know that his promises and his payment too are such and soe royall that as we say in our proverbe there is no

thy handmayd c. And soe for all other comforts of any kinde whatsoever this was ever vrged as we might abundantly instance in Moyses in Dauid in Eliah Iehosophat Hezekiah and many more who many a time pressed God with it Yea which is well worth our nothing God himself hath often rendered this as that which hath as it were wrought vpon himself to respect them in his grace as it were easy to alledge out of many scriptures That one may serve for all which we finde by the prophet But thou Israell art my seruant Is 41.8 ver 9. Iacob whome I haue chosen the seede of Abraham my freind c. Thou art my seruant I haue chosen thee and not cast thee away And if the Lord himself doe make this vse of it to magnify his owne grace to vs we may cōfortably plead it before him to prevaile with him therewith we may be well assured that that which he makes an argument of magnifying his mercy on vs would be of excellent vse and force to pleade before him to moue him to manifest the same mercy to vs. Let vs not then in any wise be sparing herin we cannot be too bolde nor too abundant the Lord like 's that prayer and loue 's that suitor the better that is most full of it And the divell will have least to doe with those which are neerest and fastest to God And therefore to conclude and shut vp this point be it now our perpetuall care and endeavour to doe according to the tennor of that truth we have heard in this our first instruction arising from this interest so stissly pleaded by this blessed Patriarch in that he enter's thus into his petition with these words O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac c. Shewing clearely that he that would have his prayers enter into heaven and be entertayned with God must goe in this way with them And soe much for our first lesson laide downe in these words The end of the first Sermon Having done with his first encouragmēt we proceede to the consideration of his secōd as it lieth in the text following Thou Lord which saidest vnto me Returne into thy countrey c. wher in he now pleadeth his warrant he had from God as before he did his interest he had in God And herein we have two things to thinke off the first is the warrāt it self the second his assuming application therof home to himself The former to wit his warrant he divides into two particulers 1. a precept Returne into thy countrey c 2. a promise and I will deale well with thee From both which we might well note vnto you in the next place this worthy lesson that VVhatsoever we doe without warrant from God is wickedly done So much warrant as any man hath to doe any thing soe much comfort shall he haue in the doing of it If this were not an absolute and an vndenyable truth why did the Lord giue Jacob this comission for his journey or why should Jacob take it and make this vse of it to God himself as he doth it were no favour or mercy to haue it no point of faith no part of our duty to vse or to vrge it if we might be justifyed in any thing we vndertake without it But wee purpose not to prosecute this point at this presēt but to take another occasion if the Lord please to handle it at large Doctrine 2 The thing we ayme at is not soe much the matter of the warrant it self as Iacobs taking of it home applying of it to himself in that he saith Thou Lord who saydest vnto me From which practise of his we may obserue and you must learne thus much That it is the duty of every chirstian to carry the word of God home to his owne hart and to apply it particulerly to himself Looke what sacred truth the Lord hath left recorded for vs and either in any generall speciall or particuler rule of his word revealed to vs as tending to our particuler estate the same soe farre as it toucheth vs in any thing that doth or may concerne vs the Lord looke's we should lay it to our harts and appropriate it to our selves as our owne Every true christian is bounde to apply every part of Gods truth to himself evermore making that his owne which is mean't to him The instance of our text contayneth so cleare an evidence and confirmation of this doctrine and this holy Patriarchs practise is so pregnant for the point that we shall not neede to seeke farre for more witnes to enforce the truth of it Let vs a litle consider his carriage herin We heard before how God had spoken vnto him about this busines of his removall into his countrey here now we have himself not only relating what God said to him herin but also applying the same to his owne hart and state now that he is to goe to heaven for direction and comfort in the same in speaking to God he speakes that which God spake to him thou Lord who sayd vnto me c. he cleave's fast vnto that which he heard from God and let 's God heare of it from him againe he claymes Gods kindnes builde's vpon his precept and promise as vpon a foundation of direction consolation and assurance sufficiently able to beare him out against all opposition what-soever The precept leade's him to begin his journey the promise hartens him to goe on hoth are good to him in the duty he had to doe And we see that as Iacob is faithfull in applying all this so is the Lord carefull in reporting this his practise vnto vs and make's Moses many yeares after it was performed to receive it from his spirit by inspiration and to register it in this his blessed booke that it may remayne written for all ages to come for his approbation for our imitation that we might follow him who hath gone before vs herin and not only know what Iacob hath done but what the God of Iacob require's of vs from this light of his truth both to know to doe in any such cases as may ever become ours in any passage betweene the Lord and vs. In a word what he here did is therefore written and related that we might goe and doe likewise walking in the same path which this true survant of God hath troden out before vs which if we shall endeavour conscionably to doe and to be vpright with the Lord in the same what our benefit and advantage shal be the sequell will shew and we shall ever finde it our happines to lay Gods truth to hart Thus we see the case is cleare in the particuler of our text If we shall looke further abroade for our more assurance in the truth of this instruction and take vp such testimonyes as we might soone finde fasten vpon to this present purpose multitudes would flow apace vpon vs and it would be