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	life_n	1,585	5	4.9703	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B02276	The spouses hidden glory, and faithfull leaning upon her wellbeloved. Wherein is laid down the soules glory in Christ, and the way by which the soule comes to Christ. Delivered in two lecture sermons in St. Andrewes church in Norwich. / By Iohn Collings Master of Arts, and preacher of Gods word in Saviours parish in Norwich.	Collinges, John, 1623-1690.	1646 (1646)	Wing C5340A; ESTC R174086	70,368	91

into him and sup with him Revel 20. and he shall sup with him O let mee intreat you to pittie the yerning of your Saviours bowels toward you pittie the groanings of his tender heart for you pittie your selves if not your Christ and O come come out of the wildernesse of sinne into this wildernesse of sorrow that of a drunken profane creature thou mayest be a mourning pious soule of a proud carelesse sinner become a poore humbled poenitent that the world may admire Saul amongst the Prophets and Paul amongst the Apostles and thee amongst the Saints of Christ and say of thee who art now a profane Swearer and Blasphemer Behold hee Prayeth Of thee that wert a filthy Wanton Behold hee Mournes Of thee that wert a filthy Drunkard and Glutton Behold hee Fasts And may in time say of thee Who is this that commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her Beloved But Secondly Is there any before the Lord this day that is in any other wildernesse of Sorrow Affliction Temptation Desertion c. O leane Come out of your wildernesse leaning upon your Beloved First Is there any one here to whom the Lord hath shewen their owne sad condition too and yet hath not revealed the fulnesse of his free grace to them O leane upon the Lord Jesus Christ and leaning come out of thy wildernesse Beleeve and thou shalt be saved But here 's the hard taske to perswade such a soule to beleeve Consider but these few things 1. That now thou art in a capacitie of beleeving Povertie of spirit is the nearest capacitie of faith Blessed are th●y that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse Now thou art weary Christ hath promised to ease thee now thou art heavie laden he hath promised to helpe thee Secondly Consider that thou hast ground enough to build thy faith upon Christs power and love are two Pillars able to hold up the weakest faith First Beleeve leane upon Christ for he is able to pardon thy sinnes thou shouldest blaspheme in thy thoughts if thou shouldest not thinke this Can infinite mercy be fadomed thinkest thou Can any one plead his undeservings against free grace Were thy burthen farre heavier then it is cast it upon Christ for he is able to beare it Art thou thick darkenesse he is infinite light Art thou all sinne he is all pardon Art thou altogether lovely why Christ is altogether lovely Secondly Beleeve because Christ is as much love as he is power he is not onely able but he is willing to pardon thee free grace thirsts after thee Nay beleeve me thou canst give Christ no greater satisfaction then to receive his mercies Christ is withchild of free grace to speake it with reverence and he desires nothing more then to be delivered in thine heart He is a Sea of mercy and he would rejoyce to emptie himselfe by drops into his peoples hearts But why did I say emptie Can the Sunne loose any light by communicating his light to others When the creature speakes of God he must speake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he would fill thee and yet continue full himselfe He is satisfied when thou art full He shall see of the travell of his soule and shall be satisfied Thou art not so willing to receive as he is to bestow free grace O then leane upon him Thirdly Consider thou canst not dishonour thy God more then when thou art humbled by him for thy sinnes and cast downe in thine owne thoughts and cal'd to beleeve in his mercies and secured upon his word if thou wilt but trust him If thou wilt not then beleeve in him Surely then thou art of a little faith if not an Infidell Thou couldst not beleeve when thou wert an impaenitent hard-hearted creature Why because thou knewest no need thou hadst of faith Neither couldst thou heare Christs invitation because thou wert not weary and heavie loaden but now that the Lord hath humbled thee now the promises belong unto thee what darest thou not take Christs word Suppose a Traytour were condemned to dye and the King should send a Pardon by the hand of his owne Sonne to this forlorne wretch and hee should refuse it saying The King cannot pardon me what hath hee to doe to send me a Pardon I know hee doth but mocke mee he meanes nothing lesse c. Were not this a piece of unworthinesse by which he should dishonour his Prince as much as with his Treason before O take heed of provoking the Lord still it is enough that thou hast provoked him once yet he will pardon thee And on the contrary thou canst not honour Christ more then in beleeving for thou acknowledgest the unfadomable depth of his free love and mercy Thou proclaimest God to be a God gracious long-suffering a God that may bee trusted by the creature which hath deserved nothing at his hand that he is so pure an Essence of love that he will create himselfe a cause of love where is none And though he could find nothing in thee to pardon thee for thy sake yet he would pardon thee for his owne Name sake So likewise you that are in any wildernesse or shall be of Affliction Desertion Temptation c. O leane leane 'T is that which God requires at your hand 't is that which will ease you when you are weary helpe you when you are heavie laden Beleeving will ease you when complaining will not 't is that which honours God and honours Christ It gives him the glory of his Power and Providence and Dominion and free Grace and mercy Christ beleeve me will take it kindly at your hands that you will try him in need and trust him even in despaire though he kills you yet you will trust in him Those that venture upon Death with such a faith cannot dye Those that have such a Spirit must live eternally The way to live is to dye beleeving and the way to stand is to leane falling O come all yee that love the Lord ● and trust in his mercies I have done only I conclude with my Text. O you that are falling as you thinke into the pit of despaire that are lost in the wildernesse of sorrow Beleeve beleeve and you shall be saved Come out trusting upon God resting upon the fulnesse of his mercy and the freenesse of his grace come out come out leaning upon your Beloved O you that are in a wildernesse of afflictions leane upon Gods staffe let his rod comfort you beleeve that he smileth while he smiteth thee beleeve in affliction you shall have no more then you are able to beare he will let his grace bee sufficient for you all shall worke for your good And come you out of your wildernesse leaning upon your Beloved O you that are in the wildernesse of temptations in the snare of the Divell beleeve and leane your Christ was tempted and he knowes how to succour those that are tempted leane upon him to beare you up in and to give you an happy issue out of your temptations in which you are in for the triall of your faith and come you out likewise leaning upon your Beloved You that are in the sad wildernesse of Desertion cry My God! though you be forsaken keepe your faith retaine your Interest O leane loose not your hold you have upon the Almighty leane in and come out of this your wildernesse leaning upon your Beloved Finally All you that are in the wildernesse of sin the worst wildernesse of all Let me conclude with you And once more as the Emba●●adour of Jesus Christ in my Masters name as if he himselfe were here I beseech you by the many and tender mercies of him whose bowels yerne towards you by his precious bloud which was powred out upon the Crosse for sinners and who knowes whether not for you as well as others as you tender the life and happinesse of your owne soules the joy of your faithfull pastours nay which is most of all as you tender the honour of God come out ô come out of your sad wildernesse be humbled and mourne sit down in dust and ashes that you may rise up adorned with grace and be crowned with glory that you may leane upon your Beloved and O that my first or last words might prevaile with some great sinner this day for whom we might all rejoyce concerning whom we might all say who is this that comes out of the wildernesse leaning upon her welbeloved FINIS

as welcome as any thing to him but he is loath to sue a divorce for this Beloved he is loath to part with his old love for a new till he seeth how he can love him But at a venture he will take him in p●rtem amoris O wretch flatter not thy selfe if Christ be thy Beloved he will endure no Polygamy you must leave your sins or be without your Christ The true Spouse leanes upon her Beloved not upon her Beloveds upon her now Beloved she forsakes her old Lastly this may serve to reproove 1. Those that would leane upon Christ but they dare not trust their soules upon Christ alone Forsooth he will be the Spouse of Christ but he must leane upon Christ with one hand and his good workes with the other The whore of Babylon commits adultery with her selfe 2. Under this lash comes a better ranke of people that when God hath shewed them their owne sinfull sad condition they do not only performe duties pray and mourne and repent and be humbled all which they ought to do but they are ready to rest in them and make them their Beloved It is naturall to the soule that God hath made to loath its sins to love its duties it finds duties almost as consentaneous to its nature as sins were before and it is too ready to thinke that its saving or damning depends upon such a quantity of teares and humiliation Hence you heare soules in this condition often complaining oh I could beleeve if I were humbled enough if I could but mourne enough This soule doth well to be sensible of the hardnesse of its own heart and it is too true it can never mourne it can never be humbled enough But it doth ill to thinke that free-grace stints its operation and blessed influence to such a quantity of teares if it be humbled enough to see its want of Christ The water runs through the river that is the way to the Sea but it doth not rest in the river but with a swift and continued motion runs betwixt the banks till it comes and is swallowed up in the Sea Even so the soule ought to run through duties but not to rest betwixt the bankes of duties but to run through till it come to the Sea of free-grace where it will be swallowed up of infinite mercy and our imperfections will be drowned in his infinite perfection we ought to take duties in our way to Christ but not to make duties our Jesus God hath ordained that they should fit us for him but it is written My glory will I not give to another The glory of the Lords free-grace is his greatest glory he will not give that to any other None shall share with him in his Spouses love he is a jealous Saviour The Spouse leanes upon her Beloved not Beloveds Thus I have done with my use of reproofe The next use is for examination here may every one try himselfe whether he be the Spouse of the Lord Jesus Christ or no Even by what hath been already said I will reduce it all 〈◊〉 three heads First Examine thy selfe whether thou beest out of the wildernesse of sin yea or no. Secondly Whether thou wert or art in any other wildernesse yea or no. Thirdly What was or is thy demeanour in these wildernesses thou hast been or art in and how hast thou come or dost thou come out Examine whether thou beest not in the wildernesse of sin yea or no It was given as the Character of the Spouse to come out of this wildernesse O but how shall I know that will the soule say I will name two or three notes by which thou mayest suspect thy selfe as from probabilities 1. The wildernesse it is an incult place a place where the soyle was never tilled it is as hard almost as a milstone the over-growne Trees were never pruned the unruly boughs never lopt the bushes never cut or stubbed dost thou finde thy heart in such a condition that it is as hard as ever neither judgement breakes it nor mercy melts it the fallow-fallow-ground of it is not plowed nor the seed of righteousnesse sowne in it Thy unruly lusts are not tamed thy life is as much overgrowne with sin as ever it was thy sins were never yet cut off from the body of thy life O friend suspect thy selfe Thou mayest justly feare yea and know too that thou art not the Spouse of Christ thou art in the wildernesse in thy naturall estate Secondly The wildernesse is a barren place it brings forth no corne for the sickle no wholesome fruit no figgs no grapes for mans pallat for can a man gather grapes of thistles or figgs of thornes No pastures wholsome for the beasts The fire hath devoured the pastures of the wildernesse Joel 1.19 And God complained that Nineveh was dry like a wildernesse Zeph. 2.13 Art thou a barren and unfruitfull creature that dost nothing for God thy heart is a barren heart no seeds of good are sowne there thy tongue is a barren tongue no good words come out thence thy whole soule a barren soule not a good action upon the record of thy life Indeed no soule can be barren the soule is of a working nature but sinfull workes are unfruitfull workes in the Apostles language The unfruitfull workes of darknesse and what fruits had ye of those things whereof you are now ashamed Gods Spouse is a fruitfull creature Gal 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering c. A barren soule is alwaies a wildernesse soule Those that are borne of God bring forth fruits unto God Thirdly Thou mayest know whether thou beest in the wildernesse or no by the company thou delightest in It is a known rule Noscitur ex socio qui non dignoscitur ex se He that is a wildernesse creature loves wildernesse company the wolves and beares and foxes but he that is out keeps the company of men dost thou love the wildernesse company the swinish drunkard the politike Foxe the malitious Lyon the venemous lyar and slanderer the lascivious wanton more then the Children of God oh suspect thy selfe By this we know saith John that we are translated from death to life if we love the Brethren Lazarus when he was raised from the grave we do not read he went to keep the dead men company again those that God hath raised from the death of their sins live amongst living men and delight in living mens company Thus examine whether thou beest come out of the wildernesse of sin or no. Secondly As comming out of the wildernesse is a sign of the child of God so being in the wildernesse is likewise a note whereby thou mayest know thy selfe Gods Spouse comes out of one wildernesse into another out of the wildernesse of sin into the wildernesse of sorrow and out of that to their Saviour Wouldest thou know whether thou art found or no Examine whether thou wert ever lost or no wouldst thou know whether ever