Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	faith_n	justification_n	sanctification_n	4,477	5	10.0495	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93833	Rupes Israelis: = The rock of Israel. A little part of its glory laid forth in a sermon preached at Margarets in Westminster before the honorable House of Commons, at their monthly fast, Apr. 24. 1644. By Edmund Staunton, D.D. minister at Kingston upon Thames, in the county of Surrey, a member of the Assembly of Divines.	Staunton, Edmund, 1600-1671.	1644 (1644)	Wing S5342; Thomason E48_6; ESTC R11555	28,150	40

prizing of Christ what cleaving to Christ the voyce of David is the voyce of every beleeving soule Psal 122.2 3. The Lord is my rock in him will I trust c. Lastly he that hath a property in this rock builds upon it by acts of faith and by renewed obedience he that heares and doeth Matt. 7.24 c. he builds wisely laies Christ the rock for a foundation and so builds roome after roome story upon story grace upon grace justification as it were the first story Sanctification the second glorification the highest even as high as Heaven and all this upon and from the rock the Lord Jesus Christ Vse 3 In the next place what hath beene delivered speakes comfort to beleevers who are in this rock I may say to each of them if there be any comforts in God in Christ in promises in providence it s all thy portion if thou wantest whereon to build all thy hopes God in Christ is a rock of foundations if enemies annoy thee men or Devils he is a rock of defence and shelter if the sense of thy sinne and Gods wrath lies burning and scorching upon thy spirit he is a rock of shade to coole and refresh thee if thou hunger and thirst after righteousnesse assurance of Gods love peace of conscience increase of grace c. he is a watering rock a feeding rock to thy soule onely speak to the rock by prayer and smite the rock by acts of saith and the living waters of consolation will flow abundantly upon thy soule yea suck this rock lay thy mouth close unto it thou shalt suck honey out of it even the sweetest graces and consolations that thy soule can wish for if thou fearest thou shalt fall off from the rock fall quite away then know thou art in that rock that is a rock of Ages thy safety lies not in thy holding the rock but in the rocks holding thee this rock of Ages will preserve thy soule to all eternity Israel murmured rebelled the rock onely is smitten mankind sinned Christ onely suffered and that God which gave waters out of a rock to rebels for a corporall temporall salvation gives waters of life out of Christ more freely and abundantly to beleevers for their salvation spirituall and eternall God put Moses into the rock and laid his hand upon the hole of the rock kept in Moses and he was safe God puts beleevers into Christ by election from eternity and by a hand of love of power and providence holds them in Christ safe to eternity Solace thy selfe against the guilt of sinne the horror of conscience the curses of the Law the malice of Satan and all the powers of Hell O thou trembling and yet beleeving soule Cant. 2.14 thou art as the Dove in the clefts of the rock safe from all these fowles of prey that would devoure you the portion of every beleeving soule is what Balaam laies out as the portion of the Kenites Numb 24.21 Ainsw thinks there is 〈◊〉 to the Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a nest Strong is thy dwelling place and thou puttest thy nest in a rock the Kenite thought himselfe secure because he dwelt by Israel O how great is the safety of a beleever who dwels in the God of Israel Vse 4 The same truth which sparkles out comfort to the friends sends forth flames of terror upon the enemies of God his Christ his Cause his People they beat as waves against this rock but dash themselves in peeces the same Hebrew word that signifies a rock signifies also an edge a sharp knife 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Exod. 4.25 Zipporah took a sharp knife or stone or stone so that al opposers of God in his Cause people do but run upon the knives point upon the edge of Gods sword which he wil sheath and fat in the bowels will bath and make drunk in the bloud of his enemies The privative misery of the ungodly or enemies is that this rock will not save them the positive misery that this rock will break them the murmuring Israelites drank of the rock in Rephidim as well as the beleeving but of the spirituall rock Christ and of the waters of life flowing from Christ none drink but beleevers only Gideon slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb and God will slay and sacrifice idolaters upon their Idols Judges 7.25 that rock which is a rock of defence to Israel proves a stone of stumbling 1 Pet. 2.8 a rock of offence to the enemy who stumble at the word being disobedient and that by the designe of God the Father Rom. 9. last who hath laid in Sion this stumbling stone this rock of offence Heare and tremble at that terrible Proclamation of vengeance Matth. 21.44 Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken but on whomsoever this stone shall fall it shall grind him to powder whosoever be he Prince or Potentate shall fall upon this stone shall justle or brush against this corner stone Christ shall be scandalized at him shall oppose and persecute him in his members in his ordinances in his work of Reformation shall be broken it may be in his judgement be crased in his intellectuals filled with errours broken in his morals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza observes out of Arist that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were such things as being broken fell into small peeces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza ad verbum ventilabit i. ita comminuet ut paltae sordes minutissimae ventilabr● excussae given up to vile affections broken in his name and his state with dishonour and penury There is a dreadfull Emphasis in the originall against him he shall be broken all in peeces into small shivers and fitters as glasse ice or earthen vessels irreparably with a barre of iron but on whomsoever this stone shall fall it shall grind him to powder this word also hath a dreadfull emphasis in it and implies the grinding of him so small that he may be cast as dust into the aire and the wind scatter him The poore man is in a sad case when a great man his enemy fals upon him with all his power it beggers him and his makes him to flie his countrey and become a vagabond the troublers of our Israel look upon it as a thing full of terrour to have Parliamentary justice fall upon them and therefore stand it out to the death and chuse rather to be cut off by the sword of warre then that of justice as deeming it a lesser staine to their bloud and families to fall by the bullet or the sword then to die under the axe or halter oh then how dreadfull and bitter a thing must it needs be for any to live and die in their naturals upon whom Christ this great rock will fall in the day of judgement with the fulnesse of his fury they who now are not hid in the rock shall not then be hid from the rock but

humble hearts and beleeving spirits to hold these waters in Some ancients fancie it that Israel took this rock of Rephidim along with them and as often as they pleased fetcht water out of it it is the fiction of some Rabbins and Schoolemen that the rock was contracted into a little flint which Miriam carried up and downe with her in her bosom all this is but fabulous yet there is a truth in this that every beleeving Israelite carries the rock Christ in his breast and bosome when he acts faith he smites the rock and then the waters of grace and peace flow upon him in all abundance Israel was in great straits ready to perish for want of waters and waters were not to be gotten in all the wildernesse had it not beene for the rock all Israel had perished Even such is thy case O man thou didst need a Redeemer couldst find no water in the wildernesse no salvation in thy selfe or in the creatures and had it not beene for the rock Christ all mankind had perished and that eternally Fifthly our rock is a feeding rock to every hungry soule that comes unto him the Lord made Israel to suck honey out of the rock and oyle out of the flinty rock Verse 13. honey that is from the nests of Bees hived in the rock or else the Lord fed them with Dates from the Palme-trees which grew among the rocks and with such kind of fruits as sweet as honey and he fed them with oyle from the Olive trees thus God fed the beleeving Israelite and was willing to feed him to the full Psal 81. last and with honey out of the rock to satisfie him And how is Israel fed still but out of the rock Christ fed by the word the Gospel which is sweeter then the honey or the honey-comb fed with the graces of Gods spirit faith love evangelicall obedience as oyle from the two Olive-trees in Zacharies vision Nay more yet Zach. 4 12. John 6.55 Israel is fed with the bread of life the Lord Christ whose flesh is meat indeed and whose bloud is drink indeed Lastly our rock is a rock of ages Trust in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Isa 26.4 or as in the Hebrew a rock of Ages all the rocks of enemies are sandy gravelly rocks soone washed away and crumbled into nothing this rock is solid and lasts to eternity and this crownes all the rest for this rock is a foundation-rock to eternity a sheltering-rock to eternity a shadowing-rock to eternity a watering-rock a feeding-rock to eternity eternity makes Heaven Heaven and the rock of Israel to be of transcendent excellency above all other rocks whatsoever Observ 5 The fifth observation is but a proofe of the fourth from the testimony of Adversaries even our enemies themselves being Judges I might make out this truth from sacred Scriptures and Ecclesiasticall Histories and tell you how after the time of primitive persecutions under the Roman Emperours Pareus in Apoc. capis 6. vers 4. God raised up Constantius who died at York Anno Dom. 310. and Constantine the great heire of his Crowne and vertues Euseb Pam. lib. 8. cap. 14. A●g de Civit. D●● A Theodocii partibus in adves●ios vehemens ventus ibat et non solum quaecunque in cos jaculabantur concitatissimèrapiebat verùm etiam ipsorum tela in corum corpora retorquchat Claudian O nimium dilecte Deo cui militat aether Et conjurati ve●iunt ad classica venti Numb 23.19 20 c. I might tell you of the thundering Legion and of Theodosius who fighting with Eugenius a mighty wind arose and beat back the darts into the enemies bosomes in whom as in many others God shewed himselfe a rock for Israel but I will content my selfe with the testimonies and open acknowledgements of adversaries which the Text points me to we find their testimony arising from severall grounds First from conviction of conscience hence what Saul said of David Thou art more righteous then I the enemies are forc'd to say of the God of David Thou art wiser then we or our Idol-gods and stronger then we or all our rocks whatsoever thus Balaam though a covetous cursed conjurer God is not a man that he should lie nor the Sonne of man that he should repent hath he said and shall he not doe it or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good the Lord his God is with-him the shout of a King is among them he hath as it were the strength of an Vnicorne c. Secondly from the terrors of God upon their spirits so the Egyptians Exod. 14.25 when the Lord took off their Chariot wheeles that they drave them heavily they cried out Fugiamus 1 Sam. 4.6 7 8. fugiamus let us flee from the face of Israel for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians So the Philistins when they heard that the Arke of the Lord was come into the Camp of Israel they were afraid for they said God is come into the Camp And they said Woe unto us And againe Woe unto us who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the Wildernesse Thirdly from their miserable experience they dash against this rock and it breaks them in peeces hence the men of Ashd●d 1 Sam. 5.7 when they saw Dagon fall before the Arke cryed out The hand of the God of Israel is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god The enemy finds that the God of Israel hath really what theirs fictitiously though woollen feet yet iron hands they feele his blowes to be waighty and terrible and thus that their rock is not as out Rock the enemies themselves are Judges * Calvin Experientia potius quam affectu judicant Junius Annot. H●c testimoniu● in controversiis bujusmodimaximt esse ut par est solct Calvin in loc Cornel. à Lap. in loc Qui poten tiam justitiamque Dei nostri prae suis Idolis experti sunt c. not from love and affection but from sense and experience yet in a controversie of this nature the testimony of an adversarie is of great strength and validity and wrests from an adverse spirit an acknowledgement of the power and justice of God above what they fancie to be in their Idols Having thus laid a Doctrinall foundation let me crave your patience to sum up all together in a joynt Application Vse 1 First what hath beene delivered may informe us First whence Israels safety ariseth in evill times from Israels standing on a rock on a high rock above all the winds and waves of boysterous and menacing calamities the perplexed enemies run as in a storme from hedge to hedge from bush to bush from friend to friend from plot to plot but the tempest beats through all and soakes in upon them but Israel then is in a state of

and no sooner hath it but is weary of it and cries as fast Away with it away with it or like the giddy Jewes shouting Hosanna Hosanna and with the same breath Crucifie him Crucifie him or like the fretfull Patient who drinks downe the Potion but when he feeles it worke doth up with it againe or as the hand that laies on the plaister because it smarts a little the same hand teares it off againe and would the unnaturall Parliament and Kingdome-deserters speak out their reason would be the enmity and the rancour of their spirits against Christ and his work of Reformation the prophane selfish people would have had mans carnall yoake taken off from their shoulders but not Christs spirituall yoake laid on longed to have the wals and houses of Jerusalem built but not the Temple the affaires of the State setled but not of the Church this Kingdoms peace and plenty they greedily desired but not the glory of Christs Kingdome and though often they patter over their Pater-Noster yet they never say in faith and truth thy Kingdome come and the cause in a word why these are so little for the Parliament is because the Parliament is so much for God for Christ his cause and people Lastly Build upon this rock for all good personall and Nationall for all evill to the enemies they shall fall Deut 32.35 build upon it to God belongeth vengeance and recompence their feet shall slide in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things that come upon them make hast live by faith that is a building grace lie low in humiliation selfe-judging sin-abhorring that is to build also if thou sayest I cannot beleeve cannot get into the rock yet then intreat the rock to lead thy soule unto and to set it upon the rock so David Psal 61.2 from the ends of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher then I. If againe thou object and say I cannot mourne for my owne sinnes much lesse for the abominations of the times Job 29.6 alluded to Jer. 23.29 yet still goe to that God who makes the rock to powre out rivers of oyle to that God whose word is a fire to melt thy heart a hammer to break that rock in peeces Again Psal 18.2 3. Matth. 7.24 build in prayer So David The Lord is my rock I will trust in him I will call upon the Lord. Yet further be single hearted in obedience that is building also yea it concerns those that have power in their hands to give out an act of obedience to God in execution of judgement upon his enemies 1 Sam. 15.22 there is a time when obedience is better then sacrifice yea obedience in putting of Agags to the sword according to Gods command * Thanksgiving for the victory obtained by the Lord Fairfax at Selby in Yorkshire Psal 106.30 yester dayes feasting was good and this dayes fasting good and let none think it bloudy divinity if I say execution of judgement is good also Phineas stood up executed judgement and so the Plague was staied Joshuah prayeth and prayeth till the eventide rents his cloaths puts dust upon his head c. But what saith the Lord to Joshuah Joshua 7.10 11 Get thee up wherefore liest thou upon thy face Israel hath sinned and they also have transgressed my Covenant which I commanded them c. Whereby God tutored Joshuah to this that the readiest way to conquer Ai was to stone Achan I know many sad thoughts concerning this lie in the spirits of beleevers and therefore wonder not though I become your remembrancer herein this day Let me beseech you the Worthies of the Nation in the bowels of Christ to goe on resolutely in the Cause of Christ true your oppositions have beene and probably will be great and many yet may you for the present set up a Marble Monument of praises and name it Eben-Ezer 1 Sam. 7.12 the stone of help and say with Samuel Hitherto hath the Lord helped us Me thinks I see you like Jonathan and his Armour-bearer 1 Sam. 14. climbing and clambring up the rocks upon your hands and upon your feet yet know your successe shall be glorious the Philistins slaine and vanquished it was a good saying that the Event of that warre cannot be dubions where the Lord of Hoasts is Generall Eraz. Mar. Deo dace non potest esse dubius belli eventus Rev. 10.5 6. c. God hath sworne the fall of Antichrist and his adherents and that with such solemnity to strengthen Faith and quicken Prayer that scarce the like in all the Scriptures The Angell that sweares is Christ his swearing gesture or posture was he stands upon the Sea and upon the Earth and lift up his hand to Heaven and whom sweares he by by Him that lives for ever and ever who created Heaven and the things that therein are and the Earth c. his Oath is by the Eternall Creator and what sweares he Par. in loc that there should be time no longer to wit that Antichrist should be ruined his adherents scattered Let my closing counsell be in the words of Jehosophat to Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem 2 Chron. 20.20 Beleeve in the Lord your God so shall yee be established beleeve his Prophets so shall yee prosper And in his words also 2 Chron. 19.11 to the Priests and Levits Deale couragiously and the Lord shall be with the good the good God with a good cause and a good people and when things are at the lowest let our faith be then at the highest triumphing over dangers and feares because their rock is not as our Rock even our enemies themselves being Judges FINIS