Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	according_a	lord_n	soul_n	3,217	5	4.7786	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93751	A sermon on Phil. IV., 11, 12. For I have learned in whatsoever state I am in therewith to be content I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; every where, and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.	Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.	1698 (1698)	Wing S5131A; ESTC R230357	23,094	32

from Sin for the time to come and that I may finish the Work which he hath sent me on Earth for to do and that I may perform all the mean and preparatory Acts which are necessary that my Soul may be committed into the hands of God and received up into Heaven after it shall be dislodged from this Body or Tenement of Clay wherein now for a very little time longer it doth inhabit and reside These are the desires of mine heart and I do again truly declare that I have not the least desire or coveting whatever but what comes within or in subordination under these first and great desires If I have any further desires after more Money or Estate than now I have it is not that I may consume it upon my Lusts James 4. 3. or upon my Pleasures according to the Marginal reading there or the pride of Life but that I may hononr the Lord with my substance and consecrate my gain unto the Lord and my substance unto the Lord of the whole Earth Micah 4. 13. for then I would be ready to distribute the same towards the outward charge and labour for the publishing and propagation of his Eternal Truth I would to God there was th● same and alike mind in the Rich and substantial People That they also would be Rich in good Works ready to distribute willing to communicate 1 Tim. 6. 18. and contribute towards it for the Work of the Lord is common and should be the joynt endeavour of all his Servants The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble the name of the God of Jacob defend thee Grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill all thy Counsel Psal 20. 1 4. But if the Lord grant me according to mine own heart and fulfill all my Counsell then as it is elsewhere written the Lord hath d ne great things for us whereof we are glad Psal 126 3. So the Lord would do great things for me he would do even my all that I am capable of that is to serve him here according to his will so that I may be accepted of him at the last and obtain and be invested with Eternal Salvation The same Lord who Created the Soul Created those Desires also that are in the same Soul and it may be observed that these Desires are in relation and tendency unto and they reach after somewhat which again is not vain for the same God who first implanted in a desire towards it will afterwards give the thing it self And this Desire puts us upon using the Means Labour Endeavour and seeking after it Now the Complex and whole of the Desire of Man is after these things which are also connected together Life Happiness and Salvation As the hungry craves after Food the covetous Riches the ambitious Honour and every one Rest and Satisfaction and they will use also the common means in their own Power towards the having them So likewise there is a desire ingrafted into Man after those things which God hath promised And it is but reasonable he should do so much towards obtaining them as the Men of the World do for the things of this World for otherwise he will come short of them And those pertaining to the Kingdom of God are set forth by the very same things in a greater degree then what is so earnestly followed after here We should do well to give heed and attend unto the working of those desires within us which way they make and after what they do point and reach forth If those desires be after Temporal and worldly Things Here the best way is by contracting and lessening of them for a Man may sooner draw off those boundless and unlawful desires then he can fulfil them He may be more quickly contented then great and he will find it better to have been innocent then to have been Rich. But if these Desires do rise up after Heavenly Spiritual and Eternal Things there let God enlarge thy Heart and in his Name desire as much as ever thou wilt The more thou desirest if thou dost accordingly labour after it with diligence and earnestness the better it will be for thee and the more thou wilt receive for here the sure word of promise is Open thy Mouth wide and I will fill it Psal 81. 10. the wider it is opened the more it will receive And nothing is a more certain Truth though we must apprehend and lay hold upon it by Faith because it will not be all fulfilled in this Life and on this Earth then that God will at length satisfie those Desires he hath put into us He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him Psal 145. 19. This is expressed in the future tense and in ver 16. it is said He satisfieth the desire of every living thing That is spoken in the present tense because that belongs to the living and unreasonable Creatures for we may perceive evidently that Beasts Birds and Fishes are contented and satisfied with the things before them whereas Man is not It is the same Creator of all But hereby is shewn forth that God will do somewhat more for Man in the future state of things which he will not do for them And hereunto is another Promise The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me Psal 138. 8. And we are to wait his good and appointed Time Here this great Expectation from the last end and distribution of things should quiet and silence our Spirits every time they begin to rise and be troubled Who is much concerned for the pleasantness or dreadfulness of a Dream after that it is over and past For there is no odds and it is all near the same as to the good or evil nature thereof All this may be learnt and understood as a Man But then the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ doth set before us such very great wonderful and enduring things that the present is or ought to be no more minded in comparison to them then one who is in pursuit and likelihood to obtain ten thousand Pounds doth value or regard the loss of a Pin or of a Farthing However unconcern'd he stands to it now yet the reasonable Creature can never be content to miss of Happiness and Salvation and so he will manifest and make it appear when this Happiness and Salvation comes to be present and ●ust before him for therefore it is that People do so little regard it because 〈◊〉 seems future and to be at a distance and there 〈◊〉 this disadvantage against all our Preaching concerning which they imagine He prophesieth of Times afar off Ezeck 12. 27. Whereas all this great matter which is cryed up so much to be at a distance and to be afar off is no futher off then the death of each Man or Woman which for ought we know may be this Night to Morrow within a Week or a Month or a Year as to the healthiest youngest and lustiest of us

it shall never be lost again by changing it into Life for evermore But herein especially is that promise fulfilled at this present Time When the Poor and Needy seek water and there is none and their Tongue faileth for Thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Jacob will not forsake them That is what is of God and appears forth in any of his Saints Servants and Creatures This Godlike Nature and Disposition doth actually reach forth Bread and Water to them that need it So much as is of God in any Man or Woman will hear the Poor and Needy so as to give what they ask and to grant their Requests and will not forsake them for it is a certain Rule that where any one is hard hearted or close fisted towards the Poor and Needy there is little of God or Goodness in that Man or Woman As again on the other hand where is Compassion or bounty towards them according to our several Ability It is not so much we which do that Good deed but God and Christ that dwelleth in us It is the Spirit of him doth Act in and through us who hath promised and doth perform it When the Poor and Needy seek Water and there is none and their Tongue faileth for Thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Jacob will not forsake them Having Discoursed these Truths in the General and by way of Introduction to the following matter which same Truths are necessary and useful to be made known Let us come somewhat nearer to our intended Subject in hand It hath been said That Nature is content with a little but certain it is that Grace is content with less We are expresly told that Godliness with contentment is great Gain 1 Tim. 6. 6. Which exactly Answers to what hath been aforesaid how that Paul had so Learned in whatsoever state he was in therewith to be content That what would be really and indeed want unto others was no want unto him Even so it is here again for speaking in the foregoing Verse of Men of corrupt Minds and Destitute of the Truth supposing that gain is Godliness That is they imagine that to get Gain that is serving God and Answering the ends of their Creation and minding their business that is Religion We have many that talk after the very same manner in these our days In Answer to whom comes in this Precious Truth Godliness with contentment is great Gain That is Godliness with contentment is Equivalent and doth contain in it and is altogether as Good as real Gain for it doth all one and as much I say more help and contribute to the well Being and Happiness of Man as the other doth But this is a mystery to Wordlings and an Art which cannot be by them understood and apprehended How that a little that a righteous man hath is better then the riches of many Wicked Psal 37. 16. Better is a little with Righteousness then Great Revenues without right How that the having neither Poverty nor Riches but being fed with Food convenient for us when this is joyned with the knowledge and fear of the Lord with the Practice of Universal Christianity shall make Men and Women to live more sweetly and comfortably then ten times the quantity and abundance without it All this is Parable and Mystery tho the thing is true and experienced by his Saints and Servants and as a strange thing to the People of the World Besides that assured Preparation and Tendency which it hath unto Eternal salvation Thou hast put gladness into my Heart more then in the time that their Corn and their Wine increased Psal 4. 7. But how common is it with the People of the World in their Contracts and such like to judge and esteem of each Person according to what Money or Lands they have more then according to what and Person is For alas In this thing they are Ignorant that Grace and Goodness Knowledge and Wisdom in any Man or Woman will lay in a better and more sure Foundation for a comfortable contented and happy Life even in this World then Thousands of Gold and Silver Besides that all this is the only means towards the being saved and blessed in the World to come into which we are all just entring But observe further with what kind of unanswerable reasoning the Apostle Paul doth back and confirm the aforementioned Truth Godliness with Contentment is great Gain Thereupon He immediately adds and subjoyns For we brought nothing into this World and it is certain we can carry nothing out Then He takes up again the same Exhortation and having aforeshewed the excellency and also the reason thereof And having Food and Raiment let us therewith be content 1 Tim. 6. 6 7 8. This State of having just Food and Raiment is neither Plenty nor yet Poverty but that even middle State between them both And if we can be content therewith as also be content with Plenty and what is yet harder Be content under Poverty Why then every where and in all things we are instructed both to be full and to be hungry to abound and suffer need There is no such great matter in being content amidst Plenty and Prosperity may some imagine but even in them the Lesson of Contentment is to be Learned and Practised for there is a tiresomness and unsatisfactoryness even in Plenty and Prosperity it self for the Spirit may be observed to be even then restless and troubled Which doth partly arise from the insufficiency in the thing it self to give real contentment and satisfaction to the Soul and Heart of Man For Plenty and Prosperity do cheifly relate to outward things and these do pertain only to the Body So that it is no more to be wondred that the Soul should still remain unsatisfied even whilst the Body hath them then that the Body should suffer hunger even whilst the Soul is fed with her proper Food the Words of Knowledge and Wisdom As also a discontent doth arise even amidst Plenty and Prosperity when People do not know fully and throughly the Nature of things and then they do not subordinate things rightly according to their several Ends and Objects Or they do not suffer the stream of their affections to fix on those Objects which are most worthy and that is God and Immortality They imagine and place too much good in Temporal and Visible things and again they imagine and place too little or less Good and esteem in Eternal Invisible and Spiritual things then really there is in them Or rather they do cross and act contrary to that Rule and Direction of the Apostle Set your Affection on things above and not on things on the Earth Colos 1. 3. For it is too evident and certain That most People even among those who seem to be Religious also do set their Affection or as it is in the marginal reading their mind on things on the Earth and not on

hereby he serves the great Ends of his Kingdom of Darkness in beating People off from God and good things But to answer them in their own familiar way of speaking All is well that ends well It is the same old thredbare Imagination of the People of former Generations which is come down amongst us also and dwells in the Hearts of many People of the present Generation Ye have said it is vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in the day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a Man spareth his own Son that serveth him Then shall ye return and discern between the Righteous and the Wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Mal. 3. 14 16 17 18. So we refer our Objectors and Unbelievers those ignorant and ungodly Persons that think thus in their Minds over unto the day of Death and of Judgment when they shall see that twofold Distribution of things that is to be made in the after State True indeed the End and Event is to prove all things But whoso suspends his Faith until then his Condition will be without Remedy Then shall they return that is to the proper Understanding of Men and discern what before they might have believed for it was declared and told unto them over and over that there should be a diversity made of Happiness to the one and Misery to the other between the Righteous and the Wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not As to that great doubt and surmise which is in the Thoughts of the Heart of almost every one How that all things happen alike to all and that there is one and the same Event to Godly or Ungodly Righteous or Wicked I have in a printed Sermon on Deut. 8. 2. opened and explained that Mystery wherein I have shewed and assigned the very Reason thereof Why God ordained it so to be Namely That it is to prove the Children of Men To know what is in their Heart whether they will keep his Commandments or no. Indeed if People were not still puzzled and perplexed if they did not alway err in their Heart Heb. 3. 10. whereat his Soul is grieved they would never imagine and talk after that manner That it was the same thing whether they heard or received into their Knowledge words of Comfort or Contentment or not for they may yea and they do think and say the same as to the other words of Grace and Salvation al●o I would ask such vain Imaginers and foolish Reasoners Is it the same thing as to natural ●…ife Whether they do eat and drink or they do not No here they will say It is not for except we eat and drink we must famish and dye Even so it is here in the like manner though they can be hardly made to apprehend this for the natural Man discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolish●ess unto him neither can he know them bec●us● they are spiritually discerned As Simeon waited for the Consolation of Israel so the Soul cannot be comforted without the words of Consolation The Soul cannot possibly be saved and happy without the words of Salvation and Happiness As the Body would die for want of Sustenance so the Soul may be indeed held in suspence a little longer time even all the days it is in the Body whereas that cannot be much longer without Food then fourteen days So without the words of Knowledge and Salvation the Soul would die Eternally and fall down into Misery Send Men to Joppa and call for Simon whose Surname is Peter who shall tell thee words whereby thou and thy House shall be saved Acts 11. 13 14. Even so God hath sent unto us Men and Women the reasonable Inhabitants of this Earth Moses and the Prophets Christ and the Apostles who have and do tell us words whereby we and all such as receive and obey the same words shall be saved Christ in an emphatical manner is called the Word John 1. 1. and the word of God For all the words which God made known through Moses and the Prophets the Evangelists and Apostles do all relate unto and meet in him as lines in their Centre And all things were made by him the Word and without him was not any thing made that was made Here the Evangelist hath reference unto John 1. 1. Psal 33. 6. So the certain consequence is That all Men and Women will be saved by him the Word that shall ever be saved For there is no other way under Heaven given unto Men whereby we must be saved And as Moses of old time had even so at this day Christ hath those that Preach him every Sabbath day Therefore see that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven Heb. 12. 25. For though Christ is long since ascended on high and sits at the right Hand of God yet he speaks to us even now by his Word and by his Ministers He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my Words hath one that jud●eth him the Word that I have spoken the same shall judge him at the last day John 12. 48. And if we will not hear that Word nor yet his Ministers neither would we be perswaded if Christ should come once again into the World after the same manner as he did But his next coming is unto Judgment I have often mentioned these and the like things to the froward Inhabitants of this my Country and Generation who are Non-Hearers or Non-Readers of the Word where-ever it is faithfully and truly Preached or made known I have warned them often and I do hereby warn them again and I could almost tell them weeping for my Soul hath Grief and Indignation at them for their stubbornness and refusal herein That since that his Word is every Sabbath day or Week day purely truly and faithfully Preached or made known God will require it of them and impute it as Sin to them severally for as often as they have neglected to come to hear it Hereby also may be seen and perceived How much this Ordinance of Preaching the Word doth further and is absolutely necessary unto the Salvation of Mankind and how that such Men and Women who would indeed have their Souls be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus ought and must attend continually upon the Ministry and hearing thereof for this same Preaching of the Word which doth lead direct and help