Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	contrite_a	humble_a	revive_v	2,916	5	11.4354	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09365	The whole treatise of the cases of conscience distinguished into three bookes: the first whereof is revised and corrected in sundrie places, and the other two annexed. Taught and deliuered by M. W. Perkins in his holy-day lectures, carefully examined by his owne briefes, and now published together for the common good, by T. Pickering Bachelour of Diuinitie. Whereunto is adioyned a twofold table: one of the heads and number of the questions propounded and resolued; another of the principall texts of Scripture vvhich are either explaned, or vindicated from corrupt interpretation.; Cases of conscience	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.; Pickering, Thomas, d. 1625.	1606 (1606)	STC 19669; ESTC S114066	314,224	686

the Commandements When he replied that he had kept them from his youth Christ tels him that he must goe yet further and sell all that he hath and giue to the poore And Iohn tells the Scribes and Pharises who came vnto his Baptisme and confessed their sinnes that if they would flie from the wrath to come they must repent and bring forth fruits worthie amendment of life From these places then I frame this answer to the Question in hand The man that would stand in the fauour of God and be saued must doe foure things first humble himselfe before God secondly beleeue in Christ thirdly repent of his sinnes fourthly performe new obedience vnto God Sect. 2. For the first Humiliation is indeode a fruit of faith yet I put it in place before faith because in practise it is first Faith lieth hid in the heart and the first effect whereby it appeares is the abasing and humbling of our selues And here we are further to consider three points first wherein stands humiliation secondly the excellencie of it thirdly the Questions of conscience that concerne it Touching the first point Humiliation stands in the practise of three things The first is a sorrow of heart whereby the sinner is displeased with himself ashamed in respect of his sinnes The second is a confession to god wherin also three things are to be done first to acknowledge all our maine sinnes originall and actuall secondly to acknowledge our guiltinesse before God thirdly to acknowledge our iust damnation for sinne The third thing in Humiliation is supplication made to God for mercie as earnestly as in a matter of life and death and of these three things we haue in Scripture the examples of Ezra Daniel and the prodigall sonne Ezra 9. Dan. 9. Luk. 15. 18. The second point is the excellencie of Humiliation which stands in this that it hath the promises of life eternall annexed to it Esa. 57. 15. I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to giue life to them that are of a contrite heart Psal. 51. 17. A contrite and a broken heart O God thou wilt not despise Prov. 28. 13. He that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall finde mercie 1. Ioh. 1. 9. If we acknowledge our sinnes he is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sinnes and to clense vs from all vnrighteousnes By all these and many other places it is manifest that in the very instant when a sinner beginnes truly in heart and conscience to humble himselfe he is then entred into the state of saluation So soone as Dauid said I haue sinned Nathan pronounceth in the name of the Lord that his sinnes were put away And Dauid himselfe saith alluding to the former place I said I will confesse my sinne and loc thou forgauest the wickednes of my sinne When the Prodigall sonne had but said I will goe to my father c. euen then before he humbled himselfe his father meetes him and receiues him The third point is touching the Questions of conscience concerning Humiliation all which may be reduced to foure principall Cases I. Case What if it fall out that a man in humbling himselfe cannot call to minde either all or the most of his sinnes I answer A particular humiliation indeed is required for maine and knowne sinnes but yet there are two cases wherein generall repentance will be accepted of God for vnknowne sinnes One is when a man hath searched himselfe diligently and by a serious examination passed through all the commaundements of God and yet after such examination and search made his particular offences are yet hidden and not reuealed vnto him so as he cannot call them to remembrance then the generall repentance is accepted For this is answerable to the practise of Dauid who after long search when he could not attaine to the knowledge of his particular slippes then he addresseth himselfe to a generall humiliation saying Who knoweth the errours of this life clense me Lord from my secret faults and vpon this he was no doubt accepted Againe when a man humbleth himselfe and yet is preuented by the time so as he cannot search his heart and life as he would his generall repentance will be taken and accepted of God The truth hereof appeares in the theefe vpon the crosse who hauing no time to search himselfe made no speciall humiliation yet vpon his generall confession he was accepted Now the ground of this doctrine is this He that truly repents of one sinne in this case when he is preuented is as if he repented of all II. Case What must a man doe that findes himselfe hard hearted and of a dead spirit so as he cannot humble himselfe as he would Answ. Such persons if they humble themselues they must be content with that grace which they haue receiued For if thou be truly and vnfainedly grieued for this that thou canst not be grieued thy humiliation shall be accepted For that which Paul saith of almes may be truly said in this case that if there be a readie minde a man shall be accepted according to that he hath and not according to that he hath not III. Case Whether the party that is more grieued for losse of his friend then for offēce of God by his sinne doeth or can truly humble himselfe Answ. A man may haue a greater griefe for an earthly losse then for the other and yet be truly greiued for his sinnes too The reason is because that is a bodily naturall and sensible losse and accordingly sorrow for it is naturall Now the sorrow for the offending of God is no sensible thing but supernaturall and spirituall and sensible things doe more affect urge the minde then the other Dauid did notably humble himselfe for his sinnes and he did exceedingly mourne for the losse of his sonne Absolom yea and more too then for his sinnes Would God I had died for thee Absolom O Absolom my sonne my sonne c. Againe I answer that the sorrow of the minde must be measured by the intention of the affection by the estimation of the thing for which we sorrow Now sorrow for sinne though it be lesse in respect of the intention thereof yet is it greater in respect of the estimation of the mind because they which truly mourn for their sins grieue for the offence of God as the greatest euill of all and for the losse of the fauour of God as for losse of the most excellent pretious thing in the world IV. Case Whether it be necessarie in Humiliation that the heart should be smitten with a sensible sorrow Answer I. In sorrow for sinne ther are two things first to be displeased for our sinns secondly to haue a bodily moouing of the heart which causeth crying and teares The former of these is necessarie

offered First choise must be made of the most fitte and present remedie and that must be vsed in the first place Now the most fit and present remedie is to bring the partie troubled to the personall exercises of faith and repentance by and in himselfe For this ende he must examine his conscience most straightly and narrowly of all the sinnes of his heart and life Secondly he must humbly confesse against himselfe all his knowne sinnes and withall acknowledge the due condemnation that he thereby hath deserued Thirdly he must crie to heauen for mercie intreating the Lord most instantly for pardon and for the restraint of his wrath due vnto him for his sinne Dauid beeing in this distresse performed all these duties as we may read in the 6. Psalme and he saith further of himselfe that whilst he concealed his sinnes the hand of God was heauie vpon him but vpon his earnest confession and deprecation he receiued mercie And if we read the booke of Iob we shall finde that the principall scope thereof is this namely to shew vnto vs that Iob was throughly exercised with this temptation and that in the ende hauing beene rebuked both by his friends and by God himselfe his recouerie was made by humbling himselfe when he saith Behold I am vile againe now I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes Some may here demand If it fall out that the person himselfe cannot performe any good dutie of himselfe by reason of his distraction in soule and bodie what must then be done Ans. If the partie can but sigh and sobbe vnto God for mercie and comfort it is no doubt a worke of Gods spirit and a practise both of faith and repentance We know not saith Saint Paul what to pray as we ought namely in our distresses but the Spirit it selfe maketh request for vs with sighes that cannot be expressed and therein lies our comfort Thus Moses at the redde sea beeing in great distresse and not knowing what to say or doe sighed and groned inwardly in his soule vnto the Lord for helpe and protection and his very desire was in stead of a loud crie in the eares of the Lord. The second thing is that triall must be made whether the partie hath in him any tokens of grace or not These tokens are the small beginnings of grace which before I haue declared As for example a griefe because we cannot grieue for sinne as we should a serious will and desire to beleeue and repent a purpose to sin no more and such like If these be found in the partie then by them as by sure pledges he may bee assured of the fauour of God towards him and where any of these be found the saying of God to Saint Paul must be vrged My grace is sufficient for thee and therewith must the distressed partie stay his minde Yea we are to be content with any condition in this life be it neuer so miserable so long as we are in the fauour of God though he should lay vpon vs euen the paines of hell till the time of our death So did Dauid who when he was pursued by his owne sonne vttered these words vnto God Behold if I please thee not do with me what thou wilt And the like was the mind of Paul who being assured of the fauour of God was content for his glorie the saluation of the Israelits if it had beene possible to be separated 〈◊〉 Christ and to indure the very pangs of hell The third thing in this cure is to Applie to the said distressed partie such promises of God made vnto afflicted persons as are most large and comfortable For example that The Lord is neere to them that are of a contrite heart and will saue such as be afflicted in spirit Psal. 34. 18. Againe I came not saith our Sauiour Christ but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel Matth. 15. 24. He saies not to the straying sheepe but to such as are now in the pitte readie to be drowned or in the Lyons mouth readie to be deuoured Againe The Spirit of the Lord is vpon me therefore he hath annointed me that I should preach the Gospell to the poore that is to such as are distressed in consciēce and poore in spirit he hath sent me that I should heale the broken hearted that I should preach deliuerance to the captiues These many other such like promises are in this case to be vrged and the partie mooued to endeauour to beleeue them to hold to them and rest himselfe vpon them though he loose all things els Fourthly the partie must be brought to a serious consideration of his owne life past and of Gods mercifull dealing with him others in his case in former times and therwith is he to be comforted for the time present For if aforehand he hath receiued any tokens of the fauour and loue of God by them he is now to stay and to settle his minde The reason is plaine the gifts of god are without repentāce whom he loueth once he loueth to the ende whom he chooseth he calleth iustifieth and sanctifieth and will also in time glorifie Dauid beeing in such affliction that he could hardly thinke vpon God yet he tooke this course praied to the Lord for comfort communed with his owne heart and called to remembrance how God had formerly dealt with him and with this meditation of the continuall course of Gods mercie in his preseruation he confirmed his faith and staied his heart in his greatest troubles Sect. 5. The fifth and last thing to be done is the remooueall of such reasons and doubts as the partie distressed vsually makes against himselfe for his owne ouerthrow For it is the manner of those that are troubled in minde to dispute against themselues and commōly they are woont to alleadge three things First beeing instructed how to humble themselues and to depend on Gods mercie they will graunt that all these indeede are good things but they belong not to them for they neither do nor can feele any thing but the tokens of Gods anger and that they are alreadie entred into some degrees of condemnation This obiection may be taken away by informing them of the manner of Gods dealing in all his workes For commonly he workes all things in his creatures in and by cōtraries if we could know the whole frame of them Thus in the Creation euery creature had his beeing of that which had no beeing and something was made not of something but of nothing After the flood the signe of Gods coueuant for the preseruation of the world from destruction by raine is the Rainbow which indeed is a naturall signe of raine When Elias was to prooue the Lord to be the onely true God against the Idolatrous priests of Baal and that by burnt offerings he powred water vpon the sacrifice fills a trench with water round about and in this contrarie