Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	covenant_n	promise_n	seal_n	4,049	5	9.6971	5	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

was at the Baptisme of Christ so euery infant that is baptized is the Child of Christ. And it is a speciall thing that we should meditate of We slight our baptisme and thinke it needlesse you see the holy woman here would bee baptized presently shee would haue the seale of the covenant There are many that are not booke-learned that cannot read at least they haue no leasure to read I would they would read their booke in their Baptisme and if they would consider what it ministers to them upon all ocasions they would be farre better Christians then they are Thinke of thy Baptisme when thou goest to God especially when hee seemes angrie it is the seale of the covenant bring the promise Lord it is the seale of thy Covenant thou hast prevented mee by thy grace thou brough test mee into the Covenant before I knew my right hand from my left So when we goe to Church to offer our seruice to God thinke by baptisme wee were consecrated and dedicated to God we not only receiue grace from God but we giue our selues to God Therefore it is sacriledge for persons baptized to yeeld to temptations to sinne we are dedicated to God in baptisme When we are tempted to despaire let us thinke of our baptisme wee are in the Covenant of Grace and haue receiued the seale of the Covenant baptisme The divell is an vncircumcised damned cursed spirit hee is out of the Covenant but I am in the Covenant Christ is mine the holy Ghost is mine and God is mine therefore let us stand against all the temptations of that vncircumcised vnbaptized damned spirit The thinking of our baptisme thus will help us to resist the Devill he is a coward if hee bee resisted he will flee and what will better resist him then the Covenant of grace and the seale of it When we are tempted to sinne let us thinke what haue I to doe with sinne by baptisme I haue union with the death of Christ he died to take away sin and my end must be his I must abolish sin in my nature Shall I yeild to that that in baptisme I haue sworne against And then if we bee tempted to despaire for sin let us call to mind the promises of grace and forgiuenesse of sins and the seale of forgiuenesse of sinnes which is baptisme For as water in baptisme washeth the body so the blood of Christ washeth the soule Let us make that use of our baptisme in temptations not to despaire for sin And in conversing among men let us labor to maintaine the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace to live peaceably Christians must not fall to jarre why There is one faith and one Baptisme have wee not all one father one inheritance one baptisme one Religion and shall wee breake one with another for trifles they forget their Baptisme that are so in quarrells Thus if wee would thinke of it it is such a booke as would be readie at hand for all services And then for our children those that God hath committed to us let us make use of baptisme do they die in their infancie make this use of it I have assured hope that my child is gone to God he was borne in the Covenant and had the seale of the Covenant baptisme why should I doubt of the salvation of my child If they live to yeares of discretion then be of good comfort he is Gods Child more then mine I have dedicate him to God and to Christ he was baptized in the name of Christ Christ will care for him as well as for me If I leave my Children behind me they are Gods and Christs children they have received the seale of the Covenant baptisme Christ will provide for them and he that provides heaven for them will provide all things in the way to heaven necessarie God hath said I will be the God of thee and of thy children they are in Covenant thine they were Lord. A man may commit his Children to God on his death-bed thou gavest them me and I commit them to thee againe as before I did by baptisme All this wee have by thinking of our baptisme If we looke no further as prophane spirits doe not then the water and the elements we can have no comfort by these things but wee should consider Gods blessed institution and ordinance to strengthen our faith And to our children when they come to yeares baptisme is an obligation to beleeve because they have received the seale before hand and it is a meanes to beleeve Shee was Baptized And her houshold SO good is God where the governour of the familie is good he gives all the familie good because he makes conscience in governing and instructing them God crownes their indeavours with successe that they shall be all good As we see Abraham and his houshold the Gaoler and his houshold Zacheus and his houshold Oh! it is a a blessed thing to be a good governour in a familie he brings a blessing upon his house the Church of God is in his house There cannot be a more honorable title to any house then to say it is the Church of God that the Governour of the familie brings all in subjection to God that as he will have all serve him so he will have all serve God that he will not have a servant but he shall be the servant of God nor a child but he shall be the child of God and he labours to make his wife the Spouse of Christ. Thus it should be said of every Christian familie and then they are Churches Alas in many places now they are hells because there is little regard had of instructing of them Beloved many poore soules have had occasion to blesse God forever that they haue bin grafted into such good families And put case sometimes thou hast instructed them and taken paines and there is no good done When thou art dead twenty yeares after it may come to their minds all those instructions when they are in worse families Oh! in such a place with such a Master I had such instructions but I had no grace to take good by them but now I call them to mind so the seed that was sowen long before may take effect then This should incourage those that are Governours of families to be good Lydia was baptized and her houshold And she besought them saying if you have judged me faithfull to the Lord come to my house and abide there HEre is the fruit of Lydia's conversion when shee was converted and baptized shee intreated the Apostles to come to her house and abide there and she prevailed shee constrained them by a morrall kind of violence they suffered themselves to be overcome If you have judged mee faithfull c. Come to my house and abide there Here is her invitation and the argument that she forceth it by If you have judged me faithfull to Christ then come to my house To speake a

wee should doe to attend to purpose And that we may doe it let us adde some meditations to these practises Consider first of all whose word it is It is the word of the great God and the word of God for my good It is the good word of God and the word of God that brings me much good eternall salvation if I obey it it is the word of God that brings eternall damnation if I obey it not It is the word of the great King a Proclamation a Law whereby I shall be judged and perhaps that word that I shall not heare another time perhaps the spirit may worke more now then at another time therefore I will be wise give way to the spirit of God and not beate it backe perhaps I shal never have such a gale of the spirit offered againe it may be the last Sermon I shall heare while I live we should have such meditatiōs we that speak as if it were the last time we should speake and you that heare as if they should be the last things that ever you should heare for how doe wee know but it may be so It is another manner of matter to heare then we take it Take heed how yee heare saith our blessed Saviour We heare nothing but it sets us forward in the way of Grace to heaven or forward to hell we are helped by it to heaven or else hardened by it further to hell We had need to take heed how we heare we must be judged by that wee heare and that that wee heare now negligently and carelesly God will make good at the day of judgement We may shake off as prophane spirits doe the Ministers exhortations but will you shake off depart ye Cursed at the latter day Will you shake off that sentence you would not heare me and I will not heare you Oh! no Therefore shake not that off now that will be made good then If thou entertaine the Gospell now God will make it good then if thou receive mercie now he will shew that thou art acquitted then before Divels and Angells and Men. Let us regard this and let it make us heare the word with attention as this good woman here God opened her heart and shee attended to the things that were spoken of Paul But you will aske how shall I know a man whose heart is opened and attends better then another man doth I will give two or three briefe rules of discerning He that by the spirit of God attends to the good word of God to purpose with an opened underding he not only knowes the words and the shell in preaching the word of God but the things he knowes not only what faith and repentance is in the words but he hath a spirituall light to know what the things are what repentance is and faith and love and hope and patience hee knowes the things And likewise he that hath attended to purpose he can do the things he not only knowes what he should doe but by the grace of the spirit and attending upon the word of God he knowes how to doe them Grace teacheth him not onely that hee should denie himselfe and live soberly and righteously and Godly but it teacheth him how to live soberly and righteously and Godly Grace when we attend upon the word as wee should teacheth us to doe the things not only that we should repent and pray c. but to doe them it opens the things and gives abilitie to doe them And in the next place those that attend as they should doe there is a spirituall eccho in their soules to every thing that is taught that is when they are exhorted to beleeve they answer Lord I will beleeve Lord I will heare I will repent and I will take heed of such sins by thy grace when God saith seeke my face Lord thy face will I seeke This is the answer of a good conscience this eccho where there is attention to the word of God by the spirit there is an eccho to that the spirit speaks Lord it is good and it is good for me if I yeeld to this if I doe not it is naught for me to put off repentance till another day I desire to yeeld now and oh that my heart were directed if it be rebellious and not yeelding there is a desire that the heart may be brought into subjection to every truth revealed there is a gracious eccho in them that attend to purpose Then againe those that doe attend from a sanctifing grace they see things by another light by a spirit of their owne by a heauenly light by a species in their owne kind spirituall things with a spirituall light Many come and heare sermons and can discourse and wrangle and maintaine janglings of their owne and all this out of naturall parts and out of pride of heart but a gracious holy man sees spirituall things by a spirituall light in their owne kind A man that is borne in a dungeon and neuer saw the light when he heares discourse of the Sun and stars and earth and flowers and plants he that Imaginations what they should be but he fancies other things so a man that neuer had spirituall eye-sight to see spirituall things in their kinde he fancies them to bee this and that but he sees them not by their owne light many speake and talke of good things but it is by the spirit of other men out of books and hearing and not by a spirit of their owne He that attends by grace speakes out of a spirit of his owne and not out of other mens spirits he sees spirituall things in their owne colours Thus wee see how to discerne spirituall attention And he that knowes what this meanes what is it to haue his heart opened to attend when he goes from hearing the word he judgeth of his profiting by it not by what he can say by heart but by how much the meeker hee is how much more patient how much more able to beare the crosse to resist temptations and to haue communion with God so hee values his attending upon the meanes and hearing the word by the growth of his grace and the decay of his corruptions Shee attended to the things that were spoken of Paul And shee was baptized and her houshold SHEE had the meanes of salvation and shee had the seale likewise which is baptisme We haue all need of seales wee haue need to hane our faith strengthened God knowes it betthen wee our selues We thinke Baptisme and the Communion small matters but God knowes how prone wee are to stagger hee knowes that all seales are little enough therefore it is sayd here shee was baptized and all her houshold Baptisme is a solemne thing it is the seale of the Covenant of grace you are well enough acquainted I imagine with the thing therfore I will not enter into the common place it is needlesse As the whole trinitie

malice David thought this a favour even that God would single him out to punish him with the Plague of pestilence that he might not fal before his enemies The mercies of God are wondrous great when we fall into his hands hee is a mercifull God hee hath tender bowels fu●ll of pitty and compassion but The very mercies of wicked Idolaters are cruell there was a mercie therefore in that that God would take us into his owne hands In the third place we see when he had taken us into his own hands how he hath stopped the raging of the pestilence and hath inhibited the destroying Angell even in a wondrous manner that the Plague when it was so raging that it should come to decrease upon a sudden God was wondrous in this worke is not here matter of praise Then againe it is a mercy to us all here that he should give us our lives for a prey as God sai●h in Ieremiah to Baruch Wheresoever thou goest thou shalt have thy life for a prey might not Gods arrow have followed us wheresoever wee went Whither can a man goe from this arrow but that God being every where might smite him with the pestilence now in that hee hath watched over us and kept us from this noysome contagious sicknes and hath brought us altogether here quietly and freely that so there may bee entercourse betweene man and man in trading and other callings this is the fourth ground of praysing of God And that it did not rage in other parts in former time God scattered the pestilence more ouer the kingdome It is a great matter to blesse God for I beseech you let us say with the same spirit as this holy man h●re Oh that men therefore would prayse the Lord for his goodnes and for the wonders that he doth for the children of men For his goodnesse that hee would rather correct us here then damne us for his goodnesse that hee would not giue us up to our enemies For his goodnesse that he stayd the infection so suddenly and that he stayd the spreading of it further For his goodnesse vnto us in particular that hee hath kept us all safe What shall wee doe now but consecrate and dedicate these liues of ours for he giues us our liues more then once at the beginning there is neuer a one heere but can say by experience GOD hath given me my life at such a time and such a time let us give these lives againe to God labour to reforme our former courses and enter into a new covenant with God this is one part of thanksgiving to renew our covenant with God to please him better and indeed in every thanksgiving that should bee one ingredient Now Lord I intend and resolue to please thee better whatsoeuer my faults haue formerly beene I resolue by thy grace and assistance to breake them off without this all the other is but a dead performance Now breifly by way of analogie and proportion to rayse some meditations from that that hath hath beene delivered concerning the body to the soule for God is the Physitian both to soule and body If God with his word can heale our bodies as the Psalmist sayth here much more can hee with his word heale our Soule There are many that their bodies are well thanks be to God but how is it with their soules here you haue some symptomes to know their spirituall state and oh that people were apprehensiue of it haue you not many that their soule loatheth all manner of meate and they draw neere the gates of death their soules are in a desperate state they are deeply sick how shall wee know it their soule abhorreth all manner of wholsome meate how many are there that relish Poets and history any trifle that doth but feed their vaine fancie and yet cannot relish the blessed truth and ordinances of God Where is spirituall life when this spirituall sence is gone when men cannot relish holy things if they relish the ordinance of God it is not the spirituall part of it so farre as the spirit toucheth the conscience but something that it may be is sutable to their conceit expressions or phrases or the like but it is a symptom and signe of a fearefull declining state when men doe not relish the spirituall ordinances of God which should be as it were their appointed food when they doe not delight to acquaint themselues with God in hearing of the word and reading and the like let such therefore as delight not in spirituall things know that their soules lye gasping they are at the gates of spirituall death all is not well there is some fearfull obstruction upon the soule that takes away the appetite the soule runnes into the world ouermuch they cloy themselues with the world when men cānot relish heavenly things they are eate vp with the delight and joy of other things pleasures and profits Let them search the cause and labour for purging sharpe things that may procure an appetite Let them judge themselues and see what is the matter that they doe not delight more in heauenly things let them purge themselues by confession to God and consideration of their sins and labour to recover their appetite for it is almost a desperate estate They are at the gates of death Especially now when we come to the communion what doe we heere if we cannot relish the food of our soules let us examine if we desire to tast the loue of God and to be acquainted with God here if not What shall wee doe in these spirituall distempers Desire of God cry to God that he would forgiue our sinnes and heale our soules by his holy Spirit that hee would make us more spirituall to relish heavenly things better then we haue done before that as the things that are heauenly are better in their kind then other things are so they may be better to our tast A man may know the judgement of his state when hee answereth not the difference of things what the difference is between the food of life and ordinary food what the difference is between the comforts of the holy Ghost and other comforts betweene the riches and pelfe of the world and the riches of the spirit the graces of God that will cause a man to liue and die with comfort the true riches that make the soule rich to eternity there is no comparison beg of God this spi●ituall relish to discerne of things that differ that we may recouer our appetite God by his word and spirit can doe it not only the word written but the in ward spirituall word written in our hearts desire God to joyne his spirit with his word and sacraments and that will recover our tast and make us spirituall that we shall relish him that is both the feast-maker and the feast it selfe he is both the meat and the provider of the banquet For whence is it that all other things are