Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	believe_v	faith_n	hope_v	1,483	5	7.8841	4	false

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

conceiue for all things beegin with heauenly light of the understanding all grace comes into the soule by the understanding There is no sanctifying grace in the affections but it comes by enlightning the understanding we see the grounds of it in the understanding first God opens the understanding and then he opens the memory to retaine That the memory may bee as the pot of Mannah to hold heauenly things he opens and strengthens it with retention to keepe them and he opens the will to close with holy things and the affections to joy and delight in them So the heart is the whole inward man he not only enlightens the understanding but infuseth grace into the will and affections into the whole inward man We must take it in that extent for else if God should only open the understanding and not through the understanding flow into the will by the power of his spirit the will would alway rebell as indeed it is a poysonfull thing there is nothing so malicious next the divell as the will of man God will haue one way and it will haue another Therefore God doth not only open the vnderstanding to conceiue but he opens the will to close with and to imbrace that that is good or else it will take head and take armes against the understanding in that that is good and neuer come to the worke of grace Therefore take it so he opened the will and affections as well as the understanding though what-soeuer is in the will and affections comes through the understāding as well as heate comes through light God opened her heart to what end To attend to the things that were spoken of Paul THe word signifies to applie and set her mind to the things that Paul said to joyne and fasten the mind to what Paul sayd First you see then here is the opening of the heart before there is attending before there can bee any attending and applying of the mind the mind must be sanctified and strengthened the soule must be sanctified before it can attend The reason is nothing can flow but from a sutable facultie and ability to attend is a power and act of the soule it must come from a sanctified power of the soule the heart must first bee opened and then the heart attends God sayth he will circumcise the heart and then we shall loue him he sanctifies the heart and then it loues him God changeth and altereth the frame of the soule and then holy actions come from it First grace begins with the abilities and powers of the soule the heart is opened and then come holy actions sutable There is no proportion betweene holy actions and an vnsanctified soule the heart must first be opened and then it attends Whose heart the Lord opened that shee attended c. YOU see then in the next place that God opening the heart of any Christian it is to carrie the attention to the word God by grace carries the heart to the word shee attended to what Paul spake Where true grace is wrought it carries not to speculation or to practise this or that idle dreame but where the heart is open grace carries to attend to the word especially to the good word the Gospell of Christ. As grace is wrought by the word so it carries the soule to the word And therefore it may be a use of tryall to know whether wee haue our hearts wrought on by the grace of God or no whether GOD by his spirit haue opened our hearts or no if our hearts be carried to the blessed word of God to rellish that If they be God hath opened our hearts to attend to the word And there is no better evidence of a child of God then that that is fetched from the affection that hee carries to the word and blessed truth of God Oh! he rellisheth it as his appointed food he cannot be without it take away that and you take away his life My Sheepe heare my voyce you are none of mine because you heare not my word A delight in the blessed truth of God is an argument that God hath first opened the heart Therefore poore soules when they want good evidence when they doubt whether their estate be good or no Let them consider what rellish they have of diuine truths Whether it be connaturall to the word or no whether it be savourie or no whether they could be without the meanes of salvation or no and let them judge of themselves by their delight in Gods truth her heart was opened to attend to the word Shee attended to the things which were spoken of Paul WHich were the blessed truths of salvation The forgiuenesse of sinnes The free mercy of God in Christ. The particulars are not set downe but it was the Gospell and shee beleeued upon it therefore it must needes be the word of faith We see heere then that The seed and ground of faith is the Gospell Her heart was opened to attend to that that Paul spake which was the Gospell And indeed so it is The foundation of faith the word of faith is the Gospell nothing can breed faith but the word of God for how can wee hope for heauen and happinesse but by the mind of God discovered Can we looke for any thing but GOD must discover his mind to bestow it and where haue wee the mind and bosome of God opened to us is it not from the scriptures the word of God from the good word especially It is called the word of grace and the word of the Kingdome and of glory The word of life because by it all these blessed things are conveyed to us Now it is not the word simply here but the word spoken by Paul that is the word preached by an authorized minister is the usuall meanes of faith her heart was opened to attend to what was spoken by Paul an authorized minister so the word preached is the ordinary though not the sole foundation of faith Therefore the Apostle saith that God by that converted the world by the foolishnesse of preaching And in the ladder of heauen in Rom. 10. How shall they call on him of whom they haue not heard and how shall they preach except they bee sent so there is no faith without teaching The point is playne you heare it oft The word is the ground of faith and the word especially as it is preached by a Paul by a Minister unfolding it Therefore be stirred up as yee fauour the soules of Gods people to pray to God to send labourers into his harvest and to pray that the Gospell and the preaching of it may haue a free passage that God would set vp lights in all the darke corners of the kingdome and every where to those that are in darkenesse and in the shadow of death And blessed are their indeauour that labour that the Gospell may be preached in euery part of the Kingdom For we see here it