Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	harden_v	israel_n	pharaoh_n	2,701	5	10.6543	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15445	The delights of the saints A most comfortable treatise, of grace and peace, and many other excellent points. Whereby men may liue like saints on earth, and become true saints in heauen. First deliuered in a sermon preached at Pauls Crosse the second day of December, being the second Sunday of the Parliament. And in other sermons within the Cathedrall Church of Saint Paul, London. By Gryffith Williams, Doctor of Diuinity, and Parson of Lhan-Lhechyd. The contents are set downe after the epistle to the reader.	Williams, Gryffith, 1589?-1672.	1622 (1622)	STC 25716; ESTC S102808	185,617	476

of the most base and impotent creature the will of the most omnipotent is frustrated And therefore as Tertullian said of Tertul. in Apologet. ea 5. the heathenish Romans because they had a law that their Emperour might not deifie any man to be a God vnlesse he were approued by the Senate that so the deitie depended vpon mans fauour vt si Deus homini non placuerit Deus non erit if God pleased not men he should not be a God homo iam Deo propitius esse debebit man had that power to shew such fauour vnto God as either to make him or marre him to giue him his deitie or denie his esse Euen so deale these men with the will of God de saluandis hominibus touching the sauing of men it must stand to the curtesie and liking of men If men like to beleeue and will receiue grace then Gods will shall stand that he shall haue men saued and so his desire effected but if men will not yeeld vnto his desire but refuse grace to be saued then his desire shall be void and his will of none effect and so by this meanes if men will not God shall haue no man saued But the word of God and the learned S. Aug. de bono pers Fathers teach vs otherwise that touching those he will haue saued Iubet credere facit vt credant he biddeth them to beleeue and worketh faith and beleefe in them And so S. Gregorie saith Superna gratia prius Greg. Mor. l. 16. c. 10. agit in nobis aliquid sine nobis The heauenly grace doth first worke in vs without vs before we can worke with it So another saith Deus obsignauit pactum in cordibus electorum per internam regenerationem quam ille ipse operatus est in ipsis God sealeth his couenant in the Abbas de ver grat Christi hearts of his chosen by an inward regeneration which regeneration he himselfe worketh in them As therfore he worketh grace faith hope and charitie and all other spirituall graces in all those that are saued so would he worke the same in all if he would haue all to be saued But against this it may be obiected Obiect what S. Peter saith that he would haue 2 Pet. 3. 1 Tim. 2. 4. all men to be saued and to come to the knowledge of his will And therefore either there are diuers and contrary wils in God or it is his will that all should be saued but yet are not because they will not beleeue The will of God is not diuers Damasc l. 2. c. 46. I answer That the will of God is diuersly distinguished by the Doctors As Damascen into an 1. Antecedent will 2. Consequent will will Lombard and the Schoolemen Lib. I. c. 45. Into his 1. Signified will 2. Well-pleasing will Tertullian into his 1. Efficient Lib. Exhort ad castitatem will 2. Permissiue will Whereof he calleth the first voluntas pura and the other voluntas indulgentiae S. Augustine into his 1. Effectuall working omnipotent will Enchirid. cap. 102. 103. 2. Not working or not efficient will Others into his Absolute will Conditionall will Others into his Secret will Reuealed will All which and all such like distinctions of Gods will if they be diligently obserued and well vnderstood doe fall into the same end and doe no wayes proue either diuers wils to be in God or any contradiction to be in the will of God For it is most certaine that as the essence of God is most simple without composition or diuision so the will of God which is nothing else but his eternall decree concerning all things is one and the selfe same immutable and vnresistible in so much that the wicked who as much as in them lieth doe resist the will of God reuealed and commanded vnto vs in his word yet notwithstanding will they nill they they fulfill the will of God decreed in himselfe from all eternitie as you may see most plainly in the example of Pilate Herod and the wicked Iewes who in crucifying Christ rebelled and resisted the will of God reuealed in his word yet herein they did performe the secret will of God which before all worlds he had determined should be done as S. Peter sheweth Acts 2. 23. Aug. in Enchirid. cap. 98. Et sic in hoc ipso quod contra voluntatem Dei fecerunt de ipsis facta est voluntas eius And so in this verie thing wherein they did against Gods will God effected his owne will Et de his qui faciunt Idem de cor gratiâ quod non vult facit ipse quae vult And touching these men which doe against his will he doth whatsoeuer he will Quia voluntas Dei Alia quam fieri vult à nobis Alia de nobis saith Zanchie Zanch. cap. 3. de Nat. Dei The will of God is either that which he would haue done of vs or that which hee meaneth to doe concerning vs. And if this seeme to be diuers and contrarie that he should command one thing and doe another as to command Abraham to sacrifice his son and yet to hinder it to command Pharaoh to let Israel goe and yet to harden his heart that he could not let them goe to command the wicked to keepe his lawes and yet to deliuer them to vile affections to say he willeth all to be saued and yet to decree their reprobation c. I answer That herein indeed it may seeme to be diuers and contrarie but that is not in respect of his will simply considered but 1. Partly in respect of the diuers things which God willeth 2. Partly in respect of the diuers manners wherewith he seemes to will the things that he willeth For he willeth 1. Good 2. Euill Sed alio atque alio modo But not after the same manner For he willeth good simply of it selfe and for it owne sake He willeth euill sed propter bonum for to effect a further good as he willed the death of Christ but for the saluation of all the Elect. And therefore the first is called voluntas placens his well-pleasing will and the second is called voluntas permissiua his permissiue will and sometimes he willeth things simply and this is alwayes performed and therefore this is only the will of God properly spoken sometimes he wils things conditionally as when he willeth all to be saued if they beleeue and this is not alwayes fulfilled and therefore properly cannot be said to be the will of God because his will properly taken is alwayes absolute and most certainly accomplished And so in all the Commandements Zanch. quo supra of God we must vnderstand the will of God to be either 1. Declarans 2. Efficiens The first is that which sheweth what should be done and so the Law is called doctrina a rule which sheweth vs what pleaseth or displeaseth God The second is

motion and euery action is from God and therefore euery sinne To this it is briefly answered that in euery sinne there are three things to be considered 1. The act 2. The obliquity 3. Obligation to punishment 1. For the act we say it is from God Rom. 11. 36. for of him and in him and for him are all things i. aswell actions as substances as Augustine saith 2. The obliquitie or corruption of Aug. to 7. de grat lib. arb c. 20. the action is only from man and no waies from God as from an efficient cause thereof Neither should this seeme strange to any man that in the selfe same sinnefull The action and the obliquitie of the act two different things act we consider the act and the obliquitie of the act and doe affirme the one to be from God and therefore good and the other from our selues and therefore euill for howsoeuer the obliquitie doth alwaies reside in the act as priuation in a subiect yet they be two distinct things and may in our vnderstandings admit a seperation of the one from the other And the action must needs be good or else the obliquity could not subsist for sinne hath not any being in rerum natura if we consider it simply in it selfe but as it is subsistent in some subiect that is good as the Philosophers doe most truly affirme And therefore we say that there is no being nothing that doth subsist in rerum natura whether it be a substance or an action that can be so euill but it is also good but in diuers respects as euill in regard of the priuation of good and good in regard of the subiect wherein this priuation of good doth inhere And so you see that although euerie action is from God yet the sinne and the obliquitie of the action is from man But then againe it is obiected that God knoweth we will commit the sinne when we doe commit the act and he knew Adam would sinne when he created Adam and therefore he should either hinder vs to sinne or not complaine that we doe sinne I answer that knowledge being a The knowledge of God that man will sinne is not the cause that he doth sinne meere conceining of a thing which is a thing proper to the vnderstanding and not to the will cannot worke any thing outwardly and therefore cannot be the cause of any thing for I know that an old man must needs die and that a rotten house will soone fall if it be not re-edified and yet I am the cause of neither euen so Deus nos peccatores noscit sed non facit God knoweth that we will sinne but he doth not cause vs to sinne saith Saint Augustine Aug. l. 7. d● anima And I confesse that God can as easily hinder sinne as to suffer sinne to be committed and could as easily haue hindered Adam to haue sinned as to forgiue him when he had sinned for we must not thinke that God suffereth sinne against his will because he cannot hinder it for that doth derogate from the power of God but vpon iust reasons and for many excellent causes he made man so that he might either stand or fall 1. To shew a difference betwixt the Why God made man mutable Creator and the creature for immutability is proper only vnto God and therefore he made all intelligible creatures both men and Angels so that they might either stand or fall 2. That they might be the more praise-worthy if they did stand or most iustly condēned if they did fall Nam si diabolus seductionis potestatem Chrys oper imperfect ho. 55. non accepisset homo probationis mercedem non recipisset for if the deuill had not receiued power to tempt vs and man that libertie of will either to haue yeelded or resisted then man could not haue had the reward of his resistance or the reproofe of his deficiencie saith Saint Chrysostome And so you see the reasons why God made man so that hee might stand or fall And there bee many reasons why hee suffered him and doth suffer all others to fall into sins Among which I finde these three reasons chiefly alledged 1. For the declaration of his iustice Why God suffered Adam and all the sonnes of Adam to fall in the punishing of all sinnes 2. For the manifestation of his mercies in the pardoning of many sinnes 3. For the suppression of our pride and the declaration of our weake and miserable estate that without his especiall grace wee cannot keepe and preserue our selues from any sinne But yet further it will bee obiected Ob. that the Scripture seemes plainely to attribute the verie sinne vnto God as the Lord turned the hearts of the Aegyptians Psal 105. that they should hate his people and deale vntruly with his seruants that hee hardned the heart of Pharaoh and the heart of Eglon and such like Iudg. 3. I answer that in euerie sinne there are three concurring agents to be considered And the sinne is ascribed sometimes to the one and sometimes to the other but euer in a different respect As 1. It is ascribed to God as the author How sinne is ascribed to God to the deuill to man by whom we receiue power to doe euerie action and motion And as the voluntarie sufferer of the obliquitie or prauitie of the action for the reasons aboue shewed and thus God is said to harden the hearts of the wicked or to deliuer Psal 81. 13. Rom. 1. Aug. tom 7. de gratia lib. arbit cap. 20. them to vile affections Non malum efficiendo sed gratiam denegando Not by effecting the euill but by suffering man to haue that power to doe the euill and by denying his grace to hinder and preuent that euill 2. It is ascribed to Satan as the inticer and suggester of man to the prauitie of each action motion and so Satan is said to haue moued Dauid to number 1 Chron. 21. 1. 2 Cor. 4. Israel to haue filled the heart of Ananias and to haue blinded the eyes of the wicked not by giuing any power to doe any action or motion for that is only from God but by enticing man à directo Tullius in parad scopo aberrare to passe the prescribed bounds and so to peruert to corrupt euerie action 3. It is ascribed to man as the next author of the action and the sole doer of the sinne by auerting from the right scope and yeelding to the enticement of Satan to depraue and corrupt the action And so Pharaoh is said to haue Exod. 7. 22. c. 8. 16. hardened his owne heart and all the wicked are said to walke in their owne Gen. 6. 5. wayes and according to the lusts of their owne hearts And therefore all sinnes Psal 8 1. are properly the works of men because they are the next and immediate authors of the same Lastly it is obiected

heed vnto our selues and not harden our hearts any longer but let vs hearken vnto his voice lest he sweare in his wrath that we shall not enter into his rest But indeed all these kinds of outward callings are but in vaine and bring no benefit vnlesse the Lord calleth vs inwardly by his spirit for 1. Nisi spiritus adsit cordi audientis In vaine is al outward calling vnlesse we be inwardly called by Gods Spirit Greg. hom 30. super Euangel inanis est labor docentis In vaine do we preach vnto your eares vnlesse the Spirit of God doth open your hearts as he did the heart of Lydia that you may beleeue our preaching as she did the preaching of Paul 2. All the blessings of the world will but puffe vs vp with pride as they did the Israelites as Moses sheweth dilectus Deut. 32. 15 meus impinguatus calcitrauit my beloued fatted and inlarged spurned with his heeles vnlesse God doth giue vs the grace to vse those blessings to the glory of his name 3. All punishments and all iudgements will sooner worke desperation then conuersion in a sinfull soule vnlesse the grace of God worke true humility in vs to make a right vse of his fatherly chastisements And this experience daily sheweth First the word is preached the one beleeueth the other refuseth it Secondly God bestoweth his blessings vpon men the one is puffed vp with pride the other is truly thankfull Thirdly God sendeth his iudgements the one groweth desperate with Saul the other is humbled with Dauid And what is the cause of this to the one sort hee sendeth his messengers onely to call them outwardly to the other sort he sendeth his spirit and giueth his grace to make them yeeld vnto his calling and this effectuall calling of the Saints to beleeue the Gospell and to obey the voyce of God is the effect and fruit of the loue of God Whensoeuer therefore wee be outwardly called by what way or meanes soeuer it bee let vs presently pray to God that hee would inwardly worke in our hearts to incline them to yeeld vnto his calling else will the outward calling bring no benefit but only make vs without excuse And so much of their vocation 3. Touching their sanctification called to bee Saints wee must vnderstand that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is deriued frō the p●iuatiue particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the earth as if it were a separating from earthly things So it signifieth a pure and a cleane thing free from all contagion and touch of inferiour things and it is taken two waies 1. simpliciter 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 simply or in some respect 1. In the first sense God onely is of himselfe and of his owne nature simply holy and the author of all holinesse for God is light and in him there is no ● Ioh. 1. darknesse at all and the blessed Virgin saith holy is his name Conueniunt rebus nominasaepe suis And this name sheweth his nature and the greatest praise of God for the glorious Seraphims which Esaias saw Esay 6. and those wonderous creatures which S. Iohn did see cryed three times holy Apoc. 4. holy holy Lord God of hosts which we doe not read of any other attribute of God And therefore Damascen reporteth Damasc l. 3. c. 10. that when the people of Constantinople were terribly afraid of some dangers did humbly pray vnto God against the same a childe was suddenly rapt vp on high and was taught by the Angels this holy Song Sanctus Deus Sanctus fortis Sanctus immortalis miserere nostri holy God holy Almighty holy immortall God haue mercy vpon vs and when he was restored downe and declared the same vnto the people the whole multitude sung the same incessantly and so were deliuered from all the dangers that they feared And for this cause the third person of the blessed Trinitie as by a proper name is called holy spirit and therefore in that golden plate that was to adorne Aarons forehead was ingrauen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 28. 36 as the Septuagint translate it that is sanctitas Iehouae as Tremellius or sanctum Domino as the vulgar hath it holines to the Lord or all sanctity is to be ascribed vnto the Lord and doth onely proceede from the Lord. In this respect our Church in her highest straine of deuotion immediately after the receiuing of the blessed Sacrament sings vnto God tu solus Sanctus thou only art holy thou onely art the Lord that is simply in all respects essentially in himselfe and causally the fountaine of all holinesse and purity in all his creatures And yet of all Gods attributes this is most contradicted and murmured against by the wicked as if he were not pure vpright and holy especially 1. In the election of his creatures 2. In the distribution of his graces 3. In the remuneration of our deserts But for the first wee answer that he hath ius absolutum in creaturas an absolute right ouer all his creatures so that hee may doe with it what he will euen as the Potter hath power of the clays Rom. 9. as the Apostle sheweth and yet we say that hee doth not vse the same nor preparare filios ad patibulum but finding them all in the masse of corruption by Adams transgression hee doth shew mercy vpon whom he will and whom he will he leaueth still in that state wherein they were not created nor intruded by him but most miserably fallen in the loynes of Adam So that herein God sheweth vnto his elect indebitam misericordiam more then deserued mercy to the other nothing but debitam institiam what they most iustly deserued To the second wee say that although hee giueth to one fiue talents to others but one to others none at all that hee exalteth one pulleth downe another and so of all other gifts and graces whether temporall or spirituall yet wee say that hee doth no wrong to him that hath least or that hath none at all quia non tenetur Creator creaturae because hee is debtor to none and hee is not bound to giue vnto any and therefore may most iustly and freely doe what he will with his owne as our Sauiour sheweth most excellently in the Parable of the Labourers hired vnto his vineyard And to the third wee answer that in giuing vnto them which by continuance in well doing seeke glory and honor and immortality eternall life hee sheweth himselfe most gracious mercifull Rom. 2. as all men will confesse and in rendring vengeance to them that obey not God indignation and wrath vpon euery soule that sinneth hee sheweth himselfe most iust and vpright And therefore the Prophet Esay ch 5. after hee had set downe many of Gods iudgements against the wicked lest any should thinke God vniust therein hee addeth that the Lord of hosts should be exalted in iudgement and the