Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	abundance_n	good_a	speak_v	3,617	5	5.5017	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93788	Clero-laicum condimentum. Or, A sermon preached at a visitation in Saint Nicholas Church in Bristoll, April 16. an. D. 1644. By Richard Standfast Master of Arts, rector of Christ-Church, and one of His Majesties chaplains.	Standfast, Richard, 1608?-1684.	1644 (1644)	Wing S5207; Thomason E282_16; ESTC R200051	18,396	37

he would never require the fear of our soules but having given us both he looks for the service of both and seeing he is as well the God of our bodies as the Father of our Spirits he requires to be glorified both in * 1 Cor. 6 20. Body and Spirit and expects to be served as well with * Heb. 12.28 reverence as with Godly fear And yet who can brag of the externall homage performed to the Son of God when in the History of the Gospell he may finde that the * Mark 5 7. cum Luke 8.28 Devill himself did once fall down and worship him Once more That we hear the word of God it is our bounden duty and there 's a great deal of reason why we should affoord it our best attention for it is the * 1 Pet. v. 23. seed of our regeneration * 1 Pet. 2.2 Milk to suckle us in our infancy strong meat to nourish us in our riper yeers it is for the ingrafting of faith in our hearts for that comes by * Rom. 10.17 hearing it is for the seasoning and sanctifying of our soules for so prayes our Saviour Iohn 17.17 Sanctifie them with thy truth thy word is truth it is able to * Acts 20.32 build us up and to give us an inheritance among them that be Sanctified * Rom. 1.16 James 1.22 It is the power of God to our Salvation And yet in vain do we boast of hearing the Word if we be hearers onely * for then we shall deceive our own selves neither is the blessing annexed to bare hearing but Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it Luke 11.28 What should I speak of knowing of the Scriptures a bare speculation can nothing availe us in the cases of Divinity The Devills know much and yet to no case to no comfort and all that we shall get by an idle knowledge will be onely to know who he is that shall condemn us Or what should I speak of Godly conference true it is that if the heart be a treasury of good things the mouth will discover it for out of the * Matth. 12.34 aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh And yet 't is true also that nothing hinders but that the veriest Miscreant on earth the veriest Devill in Hell may speak holily the voice may be Iacobs voice when the hands be the hands of Esaw and if the heart and the hands be not sutable to the tongue it profits nothing The Father of ●●es can when he pleaseth speak true and Orthodox Divinity and call Christ the holy one of God and therefore what can it profit us even to preach in * Matth 7.22 23. the name of Christ if we be workers of iniquity Yea the frequenting of the Lords Table which carryes with it so great a shew of devotion and where if it be not our own fault we may be partakers of that Heavenly Banquet which will nourish us up unto eternall life yet if this be not done with due preparation it will be so far from profiting of us that it will occasion an * 1 Cor. 11.27 28 29. increase of condemnation There were some you know that said We have * Luk 13.26 27. eat and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets and yet because they could say no more God owned them not but sent them away with a nescio vas The outward performance of all these things is but a form of Godlinesse and if the power be wanting we shall lose our reward Away therefore with that Machivilian maxime That vertue it self is not to be sought after but onely the appearance because the credit is an help the use a cumber For if it be good to seeme it must needs be better to be Religious without which indeed it is not good to seeme so to be for simulata fanctitas est daplex iniquitas counterfeit holinesse is double iniquity And rest not onely in the bare outward performance of Religions actions but let the heart be uncorrupt which in the sight of God is much set by * Hieronim in Ep. ad Paulinum Esse Christianum grande est non videri saith Saint Hierome t is no great matter to seeme Religious the black Prince of darknesse can * 2 Cor. 11.14 transform himself into an Angell of light but to be religious that 's a matter both of difficulty and consequence and hereunto there is more required then a form of Godlinesse If the outward performance of religious duties were enough to make a man a sincere Christian it were an easie matter to be religious Publicans and Harlots notorious sinners even so continuing might then enter into the Kingdom of Heaven for therein the grossest Hipacrite may go as farre as the devoutest Saint But this we know that if the heart be not sound and perfect towards God all outward performances are but bodily exercise and that profits not And therefore labour also for the power of godlinesse and if you would not lose what you do if you would have your service accepted of God * James 4.8 cleanse your hands and purge your hearts let your corruptions be throughly mortified and let your hearts be throughly seasoned with the power of the word of God and Have Salt in your selves And yet think not that a Christian hath discharged all his duty when he hath had some care of the inward tempar of his heart and soule there must be also a due regard of the outward carriage the same mouth that said Have Salt in your selves requires Peace also one with another as appears by the Text. And so I passe on to the second part of my Text Have Peace one with another And this I direct in the first place to my brethren of the Clergy Have you Peace one with another Chemnitius and Lucas Brugensis refer this passage to that contention for Primacy * Vers 34. formerly mentioned and well they may For ambitious Contention among the Clergy about temporall greatnesse is but a bad friend to the Peace of the Church pacem habete inter vos mutuo nec sit inter vos contentio de Primatu so Brugensis not as if there should be no superiority at all among the Clergy but that there should be no ambitious striving for superiority among the Clergy superiority is the Mother of Peace but striving for it brings forth division To bring the Clergy down to a Parity is the ready way to set up Confusion for where there 's no superiority there can be no Order and no Order no Peacs Superiority among the Clergy is not onely lawfull but also requisite and it is not the having but the loving of preheminence that is blame-worthy as being alwayes contentious and troublesome And therefore if we desire Peace we must beware of ambition But this is not all The words require a mutuall correspondency and an harmonious agreement one

Doctrine for to them is committed the Ministery of reconciliation * 2 Cor. 5.18 and the dispensing of the mysteries of God * 1 Cor. 4.1 and by Preaching of the word they do besprinkle their Auditors and season them as with Sall whereby to destroy their lusts and to make them pleasing unto God who without this seasoning would be but as unsavoury theat yea like stinking Carrions In this place Salt doth not fignifie the Ministery of the word but that inward seasoning which is wrought in our hearts by the power of that Ministery and if these words be spoken to the Clergy then they require that they whose office it is to season others by their Doctrine should have their own hearts 〈◊〉 by the power thereof if they be applyed to the Laity then they require that men do not content themselves with a form of godinesse 〈…〉 but that they labour also for the power thereof that so their hearts may be thorowly seasoned and their corruptions mortified The words may fitly be applyed to both and therefore I shall proceed accordingly to speak to both of these in order and first to the Clergy You that are to powder others have Salt in your selves We whose worke it is to season others should be seasoned our selves the power of that word which we preach unto others must work upon our own hearts that so there may be an harmonious agreement between our Doctrine and our Conversation * Pastor p 3. c. 6. Saint Gregory saith that a Minister should be like a Cock who first claps his wings to rouze up himself and the●● owes to awaken ●hers Instruction as well as Charity must begin at home and there 's a great deal of reason for it too for otherwise we can neither reprove with that boldnesse nor speak with that life which we ought to do nor e●pect that benefit upon our labours which we might enjoy we cannot repro●e with that boldnesse that we should if our life be not answerable to our Doctrine he is not easily induced to strike that must hit himself and if he be the blowes will be gentle he is not easily wonn to passe censure that must judge himself or if the sentence must be pronounced we cannot expect that it should be heavy and how can we with boldnesse reprove that in others whereof we ourselves are guilty for in so doing we * Rom. 2.1 condemn our selves Nor can we speake with that life that we ought to do They are fittest to be sonns of thunder that tremble at the word of God themselves and they to be sons of consolation who have themselves been in distresse * 2 Cor. 1.4 Saint Paul having found comfort himself knew the better how to comfort others and having himself obtained mercy he knew the better how to preach it unto others he that speaks of points of Divinity without experience of his own is like to do it but in a superficiall way And how can he expect that his Doctrine should be effectuall to work upon others if it have no power at all upon himself he is not like to perswade others to the Oath of Allegiance that doth himself refuse it or to reclaim others from prophane swearing that is himself guilty of it or to win others to beleeve those truths of which his own actions argue his own unbelief Blurrs will never be well cleansed with blotted fingers and men are hardly drawn to be vertuous by those whose lives are vicious or perswaded by their good words whose deeds are evill Efficacius vitae quam linguae testimonium * Cypr. de dup mar he whose life confutes his Doctrine * Nonnulli quod verbis praedicant moribus impugnant Greg. past p. 1. c. 2. pulls down more with one hand then he builds up with the other and is more like with Elie's Sons † 1 Sam. 2.17 to cause men to abhor the offering of the Lord then to win them to regard it It is indeed the duty of a Christian to give heed to the truth whereever he finde it and to regard the word of God whatsoever he be that brings it we ought not to say with the Donatists Factor legis tantum debet audiri * Aug. contra Gandent lib. 2. cap. 9. our Blessed Saviour hath taught us otherwise Math. 23.2 3. Shewing that the Scribes and Pharises who said and did not yet sitting in the Chair of Moses i. e. secundum Mosen docentes as long as they taught according to the words of Moses their Doctrine was to be observed and followed And thus ought we to do and if the Vine grow so neer the hedge * Nullo modo legitur uva de spinis quia nunquam despinarum radicibus oritur Sed cumse spinosis sepibus pelmes vitis implicuit non ideò fructus qui illic pendet horretur sed spina cavetur uva decerpitur Aug. contra lit petil lib. 3. cap. 8. that a bunch of Grapes hang upon a bush of Thorns we may not refuse the Grapes but take heed to our fingers This is our duty but yet unlesse our hearts be seasoned with the more grace the unworthinesse of the Messenger will much impair the credit of the Message and abate much of that due respect which it ought to have And therefore brethren let us lay this to heart that so as we speake we may do as we preach we may practise lest having opened the door unto others we our selves be shut out It is a shamefull thing for us to be justly reproved with the ancient Proverb Physician heale thy self * Luc. 4.23 It is enough to stop our mouthes and to make us speechlesse to be deservedly questioned in the words of the Apostle Rom. 2. Thou that teachest another teachest not thou thy self c. v. 21 22. It cannot but prick us at the very heart to be examined by our Master in the words of the Psalmist what hast thou to do to declare my Statutes and to take my Covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and hast cast my words behind thee Psal 50.16 17. These are all working passages if duly thought upon And the truth is such courses can deserve no lesse then a most sharp reproof because they contract more then a single guiltinesse In the fourth Chapter of Leviticus we finde mention of the sin There needs no other teaching or commanding of sinne then the sins of teachers and commanders and the offering of the Priest and therein there are three circumstances that are very observable first in the sin of the Priest there is no mention made of ignorance as there is in the sin of the People for it is to be supposed that if the Priest sin he sins out of knowledge rather then ignorance secondly the sin of the Priest becomes an occasion of the peoples sin for where it is said v. 3. If the Priest sin according to the sin of the People the sense