Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	abraham_n	david_n	zion_n	16	3	9.7549	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A94070	XXXI. select sermons, preached on special occasions; the titles and several texts, on which they were preached, follow. / By William Strong, that godly, able and faithful minister of Christ, lately of the Abby at Westminster. None of them being before made publique.	Strong, William, d. 1654.	1656 (1656)	Wing S6007_pt1; Thomason E874_1; ESTC R203660	309,248	523

first Rule for your drawing neer Be much in the use of all Ordinances But yet observe the spiritual presence or absence of God in them Secondly if you will draw neer to God Walk in a continual fear that God should withdraw himself from you That is another Rule of Communion Truly all people that know what belongeth to walking with God and drawing neer to him know they must be acquainted with such spiritual truths walk in a continual fear of Gods withdrawing of himself from you It was the Churches misery in Cant. 5. I opened and my Beloved had withdrawn himself my Beloved had withdrawn himself August Augustine I remember speaks of a chast and of whorish fear a sinful fear and he expresseth it by the disposition of a Wife and a Harlot both stand in awe of the Husband of the man but saith he Haec virum timet ne veniat illa ne descedat one fears least the Hushand will come the other fears least the Husband will depart these are the dispositions certainly of a soul that knows what belongs to Communion with God a man that hath once obtained Communion with God to approach but afterwards the Lord departs it is uncertain whether ever he shall obtain that approach of Communion again or no. Bernard I remember it was Bernards observation and truly it is a sad one speaking of those that did fall from their Communion saith he Perpaucos invenimus qui unquam redeunt ad gradum pristinum we shall find very few of those that ever obtained their former approach of fellowship again make this your business walk in continual fears least the Lord withdraw himself In the third place If you would grow in Communion and draw neer to God you must grow in conformity unto him for I have told you already that according as our Conformity is so shall our Communion be so I beseech you observe it in Iohn 15.10 Christ saith to his Disciples Keep my Commandments saith he and abide in my love as I have kept my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love abide in his love doth our abiding in the love of Christ stand upon our keeping his Commandments it is spoken here of abiding in the sense and the apprehension of his love walking in the light of his countenance there is a double love of Christ unto the Saints there is amor benevolentiae amor complacentiae there is a love of benovelence and that is the ground indeed it is free grace is the ground of all grace whatsoever this is not grounded upon our conformity to Christ for he loved us when we were enemies But there is a love of delight and that is grounded upon the image of God in us and our conformity unto his and the Lord so much the more delighteth in the creature as he sees the more of his image in it So then if you would draw neer to God grow into conformity and your communion shall grow In the fourth place Observe the times of fellowship I beseech you remember this There are peculiar times when God draws neer to you mollissima tempora sandi do you then draw neer to God call upon him while he is neer that is the expression the Spirit of God Tertullian observes Tertullian res delicata spiritus Christi is a delicate thing a delicate Spirit easily provoked to depart when the Lord knocketh and offers love and men will not entertain it Courtiers have their peculiar times of speaking when they may have Communion in all their requests with grace Observe these times the Lord thus draws neer you cherish as your life these seasons of times and these sweet warblings of the Spirit of grace observe when God draws neer to you That is a fourth Direction And in the last place Take heed of all those sins that may interrupt your fellowship it is true indeed every sin separateth between us and God and the smallest sin the smallest body hath its shaddow but yet notwithstanding there are some sins that in a more peculiar manner break a mans Communion and hinder a mans comfort And here let me give you to understand there is a sin that the Scripture calls a mans iniquity the sweet morsel that a man hides under his tongue and will not forsake a mans darling his minion lust for as in the new man though there be all grace wrought in a mans heart yet there be some graces that are a mans peculiar excellency that art more then others Abrams peculiar excellency was his faith in Ioseph his chastity in Iob his patience in David his spirituality Now so it is in the old man though there be all sins yet notwithstanding some lusts act more then others and the uprightness of a mans heart as David observes lies in this in Psal 18.23 I was upright before thee and I kept my self from mine iniquity Now there is no sin that ingrosseth the heart like to this therefore there is no sin keeps the heart so much from Communion with God as this therefore above all evils as you do desire to draw neer to God so take heed above all sins keep down the darling corruption for there is no sin I say that ingrosseth the heart so much there is no sin that casteth so much shame in the face and takes off the Spirit in all his approaches to God as this Then these be the Rules that I commend to your consideration if you would keep close Communion with God Be much in the use of all Ordinances walk in a continual fear least God should withdraw himself from them Grow in your conformity and you shall grow in your Communion Observe especially those times when God draweth neer to you And in a special manner take care to keep your selves from your own iniquity To enforce this exhortation take these few considerations First you may draw neer to God by reason of the neer Relations in which you stand to him the great promises of the Gospel be personal promises I will be thy God and give thee my Son and my Spirit Now when God makes over himself by Covenant unto the creature it s a great ground of our coming to him had he said I will be to thee a Father or a Husband c. it would have but carried with it all the comforts that could have been in such a relation but when he saith I will be thy God that is tant us quantus est what ever there is in God shall be as truly thine for thy good as it is his for his own glory my mercy to pardon thee my power to perfect thee my wisdom to direct thee my grace to heal thee my glory to crown thee and therefore David called him the God of my mercy and the God of my life and your interest in him may be a great encouragement to you to draw neer to him Secondly the more a man draws neer to God the more communion he hath with him

that hath known the terror of the Lord in himself it is a terrible thing unto him to give an account of other mens souls also Fifthly there is a different account that Officers will give at the last day some will give an account with joy and some with grief there is a double connexion First they watch for your souls obey that they may do their work with comfort watch for your souls with comfort Secondly that they may give up their account with joy for the obedience of a people is a ground of both the greatest joy of a faithful Minister of God is in this which was the great satisfaction of Christ Isa 53.10 To see the Travel of his soul the joy of harvest is the greatest joy one sows and another reaps to receive the fruit of a mans labour is as it were reaping it brings great joy 1 Thes 3.8 Now we live if you stand fast the great comfort of our lives comes in by it for it is a comfortable living to see the souls of men committed to our charge prosper 1 Thes 2.19 Ye are our glory and joy our Crown of rejoycing in the presence of the Lord Iesus Christ at his coming ye are our glory and joy next unto a mans interest in Christ and the joy that he hath at his appearance are the souls that he hath brought unto him on the contrary what they do if the people profit not they do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suspirantes its true that there shall be no sorrow of the Saints at the last day for there shall be no more sighing ou● tears shall be all wiped away but yet there will be something that will be even matter of sorrow to them First that they have lost their labour Isa 49.45 I have laboured in vain and the labour of the officers is great it is the greatest labour 1 Thes 5.12 it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wearisom cutting labour and to look upon all this as lost in reference to the main end of it is a grievous thing Secondly that the souls of the people are lost which was the greatest care that they should dye in their sins though their blood be not required a● their hands Oh it is sad for there is a great love in the Officers that are faithful unto the souls of the people and they ought to walk in a high degree of love towards them now to see those souls lost for whom I put up so many prayers and about whom I took so much pains it is grieving the Spirit of God to see men turn his grace into wantonness Eph. 4.30 And it will also exceedingly grieve them that are acted by the same Spirit Thirdly that I should be instrumental in their Condemnation and be a means to heighten it for it will be casier for Sodom in that day and the greater means men have had the greater will their condemnation be the greater pains any Minister hath taken with a people the greater will their Judgement be they that have been exalted up to heaven shall be brought down to Hell and in the day of Revelation when the secrets of God as well as the hearts of men shall be made manifest it shall appear how Ordinances did ripen sins and how God did make use of them to pour out spiritual Judgements by them the greatest curses come out of Sion as well as the greatest blessings Fourthly that I should be brought in as a witness against them at the last day Satan shall be the accuser but there will be three very dreadful witnesses against them First Christ then shall the King say c. Secondly Conscience a mans own thoughts will accuse him in the day that God shall judge the secrets of men Thirdly the Ministers when they that have been labouring for their good all their life time shall witness against them There is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust when a man shall bring in his accusation against a disobedient and a rebellious people Mark 6.11 Shake off the dust of your feet for a testimony against them it will be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah then for them c. Sixthly From all that hath been opened we may plainly by way of use gather what manner of men Church-Officers ought to be First they must be gifted and it is this must be the ground of the Churches choice for as grace fits a man for communion with God so do gifts fit a man for the edification of the Church and who ever is chosen that is not gifted was never appointed by Christ for the Holy-Ghost doth gift men before he doth set them over any people therefore you are not to look only at the grace but at the gists of Officers every godly man is not fit for an office Secondly they must be humble men for they have a power put into their hands and an honour put upon them now it will be a snare to a proud man to be in honour and he will never use power well that is not humble the great care of officers should be that they might so walk as not to Lord it over Gods heritage they must not exercise a Lord-like authority but carry themselves in all manner of meekness and humility or else it is dangerous to put such a snare upon them it is a temptation for them to be in place Thirdly they must also be holy men such as have a care of their own souls and rightly judge of the price of a soul for they that have no care of their own souls will never have a care of yours Fourthly they must be faithful men that is faithful in labour Laying out themselves to the utmost without any respect to themselves or to their own ease for the business which they are to do concerns souls and they must be faithful in their account those that shall do all things that their office requires of them upon this consideration that we must give an account for the souls that are committed to us it is not an account unto the Church that will serve but our account must be unto him that shall Iudge quick and dead Fifthly he must be a man eminent in holiness for he must be a Leader Now there are many Saints that are not fit to lead their Officers are to walk holily before them that they may follow their example and he must also be couragious or else he will never dare venture in dangers to go before them and if he be not so he will be a man apt to mis-lead and pervert there is nothing more dangerous then to have a man of great parts and eminent place in the Church if he be a leader in an evil way men will be ready to follow him and therefore above all take heed of this that he be a man eminent in holiness and of an exemplary conversation Sixthly that he be well known and acquainted with you c. if he have not all these