Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	flesh_n	put_v	stony_a	3,688	5	11.7128	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33955	A cordiall for a fainting soule, or, Some essayes for the satisfaction of wounded spirits labouring under severall burthens in which severall cases of conscience most ordinary to Christians, especially in the beginning of their conversion, are resolved : being the summe of fourteen sermons, delivered in so many lectures in a private chappell belonging to Chappell-Field-House in Norwich : with a table annexed, conteining the severall cases of conscience which in the following treatise are spoken to directly or collaterally / preached and now published ... by John Collings.	Collinges, John, 1623-1690.	1649 (1649)	Wing C5305; ESTC R24775	174,484	300

condition that the soul should be thus and thus deeply humbled O saith a gratious soul do you set me to eye them they undo and ruine me I finde the promises of Gods giving Christ to my soul run all upon conditions of hungring and thirsting Isai 55. 1 2 3. Of being weary and heavy laden Mat. 11. 29. Of being lost and undone and this is that which I stick upon I will answer thee in this particular First T is true such is the tenor of the promises they do require hungring and thirsting c. Though not as meritorious conditions yet consider That they require no more then God hath promised to giv● See this Zach. 12. 10. Ezek. 11. 19 20. and 36. 26 27. Where God hath promised to give that same tender broken contrite heart which other promises require the soul to have that doth apply them to it self Secondly Consider that those promises that seem to require humiliation and brokennesse of heart as conditions or qualifications call them what you will do no where require such and such a measure they require rem but not mensuram Lastly And for thy great comfort consider that those originall promises in which God hath promised to give that tendernesse and brokennesse of heart which he seemeth to require in other promises as a condition and qualification for the soul to whom of due it belongs to apply those promises I say those promises are absolute for this take but two instances Ezek. 11. 19 20. and 36. 26 27. which are much the same And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a● heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes c. As if he should say they cannot walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances untill their stony heart be gone and they have an heart of flesh Secondly They cannot have this heart of flesh till I give it them And thirdly I will give it them Now sit down and eye the promises say thus It is true God doth require an heart of flesh before I can apply the promises of pardon to me but the same God hath promised to give it me and there must there can nothing be done of me in relation to that first gift God hath freely promised to prepare me to apply his salvation and to walk in his statutes by taking away my heart of stone and giving me an heart of flesh and beleeve but this that God will fulfill this free and absolute promise unto mee It is thy duty not onely to beleeve that God will pardon thee but also to beleeve that God will humble thee and not to stick upon I am not humbled enough to apply the promise but to say I will labour to apply the promises of salvation and to beleeve that God will humble me more and make good amongst others that promise to my soul that he hath made to his people that he will take away their heart of stone and give an heart of flesh c. And thus I have done with the first direction to the afflicted soul Eye the nature of God more in his covenant Secondly In the dispensations of his grace Thirdly In his promises I come now to my second direction and that is Secondly Consider the nature of humiliation and this thou mayest consider First In its originall Secondly In the manner of the operation of it Thirdly In its end The two latter I have handled at large in my considerations I propounded to comfort the soul in its affliction I will but name them First Think that thy humiliation may be as great as it should be though not so deep as others have been it may be it hath been longer Secondly It may have a more inward work Thirdly Its working is not done it will have a work as long as thou livest 2. Consider the nature of it in its end First Meditate that the end of thy humiliation is but to bring thee to loath sin secondly Leave sin and thirdly To make thee prize Christ If this be done it hath done its work But this I enlarged my self upon before 3. which should have been indeed first Consider the nature of humiliation in its originall and efficient cause which is God Zac. 12. 10. Ezek. 11. 19. 20. and sit down now and say Certainly God hath a good work begun in my soul otherwise why should sin trouble me at all or why should I be troubled that I am not troubled for my sin and now how unreasonable a thing is it for me to start from applying the promises because in my conceit I am not enough humbled It is God that hath humbled me at all and it is he that must perfect the work in my soul and surely if he sees it is not enough he will work more and he must do it if he will have it for I am not able to humble my soul Thus far my direction hath reached to help thee to ease thy self and direct thee what to do in point of meditation and consideration My third reacheth thy practice Lastly Labour after more and more humiliation Neither keep thy heart from beleeving in infidelity out of a conceit of the want of it nor yet slight and neglect it Both these rocks must be avoided as pernicious rocks for poor souls and between which there is a safe passage Let the world think what they will Sound beleever p. 104. and opinion 〈◊〉 cry down that great work Want of humilitation saith Master Shepheard is the cause of so much counterfeit 〈◊〉 Ib. p. 146. as is in the world and again saith he we shall observe if there be little humiliation there is little of Christ if much of humiliation much of Christ if inconstant humiliation inconstant fruition of Christ if reall humiliation reall possession of Christ if false humiliation imaginary fruit●on of Christ Therefore though I would not have thee so weep but thou should I have a spare eye to look up to the free grace of Christ yet I would not have thee so much fix thy eye upon the mercy and free grace of Christ that thou shouldst have never an eye to weep for thy sins Humiliation and Faith are two things that are consistant together That 's the last direction Labour to get the soul more humbled I know thou wilt say how shall I do that truely I might give infinite directions Ib. p. 150. but this is so ordinary a point in which so many pious men have laboured that I shall but name to you some directions that they point out as helps to the soul in this work Master Shepheard gives those helps 1. Remember whose thou art Rom. 9. 20. 2. Remember what thou art a vild wretch Job 40. 1 3 4. 3. Remember what thou hast been and how long thou hast been so and why should God choose thee 4. Remember what thou wilt be Isa

the soule yet it layes hold if Christ will not save me saith the poor soule sure I am nothing else can to him I will go and me thinks it goes as the Messengers of Benhadad to Ahab 1 King 20. Behadad there had wrong'd Ahab and through the help of God his Army was routed and Benhadad was glad to hide himselfe in one of Ahabs Townes in an inner Chamber and sends to Ahab his servants v. 31. said to him We have heard that the Kings of the house of Israel are mercifull Kings let us put sackcloth on our loynes and put ropes about our heads and go out to the King of Israel peradventure he will save thy life so they did and said Thy servant Benhadad sayes I pray thee let me live And he said is he yet alive he is my brother the men catcht his words and they said Thy brother Benhadad and he said Go and bring him and accordingly he came and Ahab took him up into his Charriot So it is with the poor soule when the soule hath fought against God by sin the Lord overthrowes it by desertion yet it lives but dare not be seen so openly it is hidden under the dark cloud of desertion it squilks as in an inner chamber it is sensible how it hath deserved death yea ten thousand deaths But the li●e of grace being yet in the soule it sayes within it selfe I have heard that the King of Heaven the Lord Iesus Christ is a mercifull Christ come therefore I will send my Messengers of Faith and Prayer they shall put sackcloth-upon their loynes and ropes upon their heads and go out to the Lord Iesus Christ peradventure he will save my soule and I shall live Without question Benhadads servants went with trembling hearts and yet relied upon this as the onely meanes to save Benhadad their Master alive So the soule sends out at such a time a trembling faith and trembling prayers and yet truly relies upon Christs mercy and favour and the soule sayes to God Lord thy backsliding revolting servant sayes Let me live let my backslidings be healed let my renewed sinnes be yet pardoned Christ will say Thou art my brother and take thee into the Charret but yet thy faith trembles and thy prayer trembles And indeed there is very great reason for it if we secondly consider that the very essence of desertions is Gods withdrawing of his manifestative love from the soul that the soul though it be loved with Gods elective love in and under desertions yet it wants the apprehensions and manifestations of his love Now that which onely can keep the soule from its naturall temper of trembling is the apprehended manifestations of Christs love to it which being withdrawn the soule falls a trembling again and yet the life of grace being not extinct it still trusts yea though he kills the soule yet it trusts in him So I have done with the sixth proposition That the soule may depend tremblingly upon the Lord Iesus Christ and yet depend truly I come now to the seventh and last Proposition to shew what weaknesse and doubting may consist with true faith in the soule that I shall doe in a seventh proposition thus Thou mayest truly rely and depend upon the promises of God and upon the Lord Iesus Christ for everlasting salvation and dwell upon them and yet not be able fully and truly to appropriate and peculiarize all the promises to thy selfe and act accordingly to them at all times There are distinctions of promises and distinctions of times from whence will arise distinctions of causes which would be understood To make out this certaine truth 1. You must know that there is a distinction of promises the promises are many wayes distinguished there are generall and particular promises absolute and conditiall promises Promises that concerne some particular people as the people of the Iews and particular persons as to David and Herekiah and other of the people of God which if we should apply we should misapply to our selves I shall not meddle with all the distinctions of these promises but onely with what shall conduce now to my purpose to make out this truth I have laid down in my proposition and so I shall distinguish of two promises two wayes First They are temporall or spirituall Secondly They are absolute or conditionall First there are temporall promises which are or may be called temporall either in respect of the matter of the promise or circumstance of time limited in the promise There are some promises that were made for a certaine time and at the time expired were paid and now the bonds are cancell'd these were particular Such were many promises made to the people of the Iewes and to particular persons amongst them Now these wee must not look to peculiarize and appropriate to our selves they are done with Secondly There are temporall promises so called in respect of the things promised being things temporall for the body or estate for protection of our selves wives estates families Now for these promises thou mayst not peculiarize them and yet have true faith for salvation salvation and heaven being not the thing promised in them and besides there may be cause why thou mayest not have so good ground to rely and confidently rest upon God for the fulfilling of these promises as I shall shew you more when I come to handle the distinction of times and as I shewed you the last time in the case of David 2 Sam. 12. But secondly there is a second distinction of promises I meane of spirituall promises which it is our duty at all times to apply and rest upon yet these are either absolute or conditionall It is a note that I have before somewhere noted that the promises of Gods first mercies in a way of saving grace to the soule are ordinarily absolute I will give and I will give without any praevious conditions to be found in the soule as his promises of inlightning grace Jer. 24. v. 7. I will give them an heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be people and I will be their God And for the grace of humiliation Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put upon you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you an heart of flesh and so for his grace by which he convinceth Ioh. 16. 8. The spirit should convince the world of sinne of righteousnesse and of judgement Now these promises are altogether absolute being the free promises for dispensations of the first graces in order to a poor soules salvation Now there are other promises of God for spirituall mercies in order to the soules salvations which are second dispensations and these are propounded with conditions as the promises of heaven for power to rely on Jesus Christ peace assurance c. Isa 55. 1. Mat. 11. 29. and again to him that overcometh will I give to drink

them he saves We say no for even the works of Gods spirit of grace acting in us are our works and salvation is not of works but of grace And this Evangelicall lesson is hinted to us even in the Ceremoniall Law The Lord commands a yearly day of atonement Levit. 16. for the sins of the holy Place To prove this I might instance in all those Text of Scripture of which the Epistle to the Romans and Galatians are especially full and so the Epistle to the Ephesians which treat concerning the Doctrine of Justification and clear it not to be of works neither internall nor externall but of grace But I will instance but in one Titus 3. 5 6 7. But after that the kindenesse saith he and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Not by works of righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration Mark ye by it not for it Gods mercy and free-grace is the ground of the souls acceptation and therefore consider upon what principle thou runnest that concludest I have not yet been enough humbled for to be accepted as if thy humiliation were the reason and ground of Gods acceptation Indeed we ought never to think that we are enough humbled yet we ought alwayes to think that humiliation too much and that sense of our sins too much which hinders Faith for it destroyes its end Therefore why art thou thus troubled Christian with this conceit that your Faith is no Faith because before it you wept not just so many tears It is Faiths work to beleeve and apprehend the souls acceptation before God Now Gods acceptation as you have heard is never for the souls humiliation and therefore what should hinder thy Faiths working in apprehending thy acceptation before God because thou art not accepted for this work any more then any other Nay Secondly Thy humiliation is not a ground of Faith Thou doest not therefore apply Christ because thou art so and so humbled Put case that a great Prince should be willing to bestow his son in marriage upon a poor peasant onely saith he I will make this term or condition that when you come to marrie him you shal come in sackcloth to shew what ye are he shal give you a better garment afterwards wil any one say that this maids coming to the marriage arraied in sackcloth is a ground of her so rich mariage or will any say it is a meritorious condition that she deserveth such a match to come so attired Surely no the ground of all is the Princes delight in her this is the ground of his taking her to wife and yet the King commanded that attire So the Lord saith Poor vild wretch I will give thee my Christ in marriage but thou shalt come weeping to shake hands with him weeping for thy sins he shall afterwards take off thy sackcloth garments Can any say that this is either a meritorious cōdition or a ground of acceptation or Faith Consider Christian wert thou never so much humbled thou couldst not say I will therefore beleeve because I am humbled Humiliation is a necessary antecedent to Faith 〈◊〉 ground of Faith Let 〈◊〉 that therefore be a stumbling block to thee which cannot be a pillar and foundation to thee if thy Faith cannot stand upon it let it never stumble upon it And thus I have done with the second thing I propounded which was to propound such considerations to such souls as were under this temptation as might comfort their hearts and strengthen and stablish them Onely I beseech you remember to whom I have been speaking all this while not to hard-hearted stony souls but to broken and humbled souls not to those that regard not to get their souls humbled at all but to those that are humbled that they can be humbled no more and that groan under the hardnesse of their own hearts not to those that presume to apply their hot boiling lusts and corruptions to the blood and wounds of Jesus Christ flattering themselves with a notion of Faith and conceiting they do beleeve but to those that are humbled though they cannot have a good thought of themselves I would not be misunderstood to have spoken one word to slight the work of humiliation or to cherish that licentious novell Doctrine that there is no need at all of it and a Christian shall not need regard it but what I have spoken hath been not for dead men what should they do with cordialls but for dying fainting swooning Christians not for them that consider their sins too little but for them that so dim their eyes with poring on them that they cannot see the absolute covenant of God and the free-grace of Christ and lay hold upon the promises of life There is an extream on either side the sober Christian avoids either and keeps the mean So I have done with the second thing I propounded viz. to propound some considerations which might comfort the afflicted soul under this affliction and strengthen it to resist this temptation For without question as the Devil hath a designe upon many a soul to run it upon a rack of presumption and carry it on in a blind notion of Faith so he hath a designe upon some souls to wrack them upon the sands and sink them in a pit of despair The Devils devouring voice to souls is either There is no need of humiliation or there is no humiliation enough I come now to the last thing which I propounded which is to give some directions to such souls as are burthened with this affliction and groan under this temptation how to demean themselves and what to do I will reduce all that I shall speak by way of direction to these heads First Eye the nature of the covenant and grace and promises of God more Secondly Eye the nature and cause of humiliation more Thirdly Labour to get thy heart more humbled First of all Eye the nature of God declared in the free dealings out of his grace to thee This I shall enlarge in three instances 1. Eye Gods covenant and the nature of that 2. Eye Christs grace and the nature of that 3. Eye the Promises and the nature of them First Eye the nature of God in his covenant more The cause of this affliction is Christians too much eying and poring upon their sins and themselves the penitent beleever ought to have two eyes one to look downward another to look upward This is that which David comforted himself with when he considered his own unworthinesse and the unworthinesse of his house 2 Sam. 23. 5. Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is my salvation and all my desire although he maketh it not to grow David though a man according to Gods own heart yet had a wicked house Absolom had slain his brother rebelled against his Father

sinned against knowledge Thirdly Therefore consider This sin which is the unpardonable sin must be a setled sin of thy own continued in without repentance and will be more then a sin of thy heart That it is first begot in the heart as all other sin is is a truth but it goeth out of it blasphemy is properly committed with the tongue without question the heart and tongue and hand have all a portion in this sin unpardonable but it is not in the thought onely Besides 2. It may be thy blasphemous thoughts which thou hast in thy heart are none of thine own for such thoughts there are oft times in a Christian that are meerly cast in by Sathan into the soul neither bred in nor nursed by the soul nor delighted in but are like the childe that was dead laid by the true mother by another womans side It is a little question whether these thoughts be sins or no if spurned out and rejected by thee whether they shall be put upon thine or upon Sathans score The contrary is determined by most of our divines to answer for It is by all granted that if they be sins they are the least of sins as suppose I should have a thought in my heart that there is no Christ but he whom the Gospel speaks of were an impostor I know not how this thought came there I have a suggestion to beleeve it but my heart rises against it cries avoid Sathan I pray against it humble my self that my base heart should ever have such a guest for my part I make a great question whether these thoughts be a souls sins any more then if a strumpet should come and lay a childe in an open porch or entry of an honest woman it would prove that the honest woman were the mother because the bastard lay in her entry or house unlesse the law so adjudged it in regard the door or entry was open So unlesse you will say that the heart sins by being no better shut then to let such a thought be thrust in questionlesse the very thought as a formall sinfull thought or motion is not the souls but Sathans But however if it be thy sin for which thou hast cause to be humbled Yet it is far from this sin this must be a constant owner and possessor of thy heart and a sin of a far higher nature then ten thousand such thoughts are Fourthly Thou sayest O but I have sinned many times against knowledge against the light of my conscience Consider therefore That though this sin be a sin aginst knowledge yet every sin against knowledge is not this sin Without question Iacob ●inned against knowledge in saying he was his fathers son His very son Esau and David in committing murther and adultery and Peter in denying his Master All these were sins against knowledge and yet none of them sins against the Holy-ghost It must be a sin against the knowledge 1. Of a divine Truth 2. Of some fundamentall truth of the Gospel 3. Distinctly made known to thee This is plain from the sixth of the Heb. 4 5 6. and 10. 26. And from the Pharisees commission of this sin Mat. 12. 31. They were ●onvinced of it as a truth that Jesus Christ was the 〈◊〉 of God and did those miracles he did by the power of the Divine Nature yet sinned in their saying before the people This man casteth out Devils by Beelzeb●● the Prince of Devils Sins of knowledge against the law directly are far from this sin also the sin of our first parents it is a sin against the enlightening grace of the spirit of God yea though thou hast denied some truth not fundamentall c. Indeed for all such sins as these are thou hast very great cause to be humbled Christian and to ●it down and mourn bitterly that these wickednesses may be forgiven and doing so thou needst not despair of the pardon of them But alas saith a poor Christian I have in a passion or sicknesse when I knew it was the hand of God blasphemed God or I have at such a time for fear of threats of death denied the work of God and the truth of God c. Fifthly Therefore consider That though the deniall of thy knowledge and the truth of God be a great piece of this sin yet it is not enough to constitute it and besides it must be another manner of deniall then that which thou complainest of It must be a deliberate and advised deniall not rash and sudden It is not enough to constitute this sin for there must be a blasphemy Secondly An opposition to it Secondly It is true that deniall is an ingredient in this unpardonable ●in But it must be 1. A wilfull deniall free not arising from fear Peter so denied his Master and many of the Martyrs denied yea and abjured the Faith But either First Sathan by his temptations Secondly Or the weaknesse of their flesh occasioned it for they at the same time loved Christ and the truth of Christ 2. It must be a deniall on purpose to discredit the truth out of a venome and malice of heart to it I may deny a fundamentall truth in an argument and disputation to see how another can prove it yet I have not sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost I hope 3. It must be a constant deniall If they shall fall away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies falls all in shatters so as an old rotten house not well at first put together Comfort thy self therefore Christian thou hast not sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost though thou hast possibly inadvisedly spake with thy lips yea though through the violence of Sathans temptations and wickednesse or weaknesse of thy heart for fear thou hast denied thy Saviour and his truth onely go out and weep bitterly renew thy love regain thy favour confesse him before men Thus many of the Martyrs did rending their recantations or abjurations and suffring Martyrdom gloriously But yet will some poor Christian say Alas yet I fear I have sinned this sin I have hated such a godly man envied that goodnesse which I saw in him I could hardly endure such a man whom I am confident is the Saint of God c. Consider therefore in the sixth place Sixthly That the hatred and envy of every godly man nor every envy of his goodnesse or every opposition against him for it doth not make thee guilty of this unpardonable sin It is possible thou mayest hate a man that is a godly man for some civill injury he hath done thee or thy friend possibly thou maye●● do it ignorantly verily thinking he is nought possibly thy envy of him may be an emulation not being sorry that the truth lives in him but angry to see the graces of Gods spirit live in him and not thee these now are far from unpardonable sins nor is every opposition of the truth of Jesus Christ or the professors of the truth an opposition